I sat there waiting for Sam as I felt the babies kicking against me hard. They had been since Jared had left. I still couldn't believe that he'd imprinted on me. I'd always hoped that's what our bond had been, but now it was the full thing. The connection I felt to him was now the very same that I felt towards Sam, and it made me smile.
"I can't say that I expected you to be smiling." I heard Sam say, leaning up against our doorway with his arms crossed, looking at me. "J showed me your conversation."
"And?" I asked.
"I think it's safe to say that we both made mistakes today, Bella. Big ones. I can't apologize enough for making you think that I growled at you. I realized my mistake right after it happened, but it was already too late. I understand what you meant by how that would have looked to our enemies." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I know that Jared explained to you why I was so upset about you being there, why we all were. When it was just the rest of the Cullens, it was one thing. They weren't an active threat that was attempting to attack. The danger level was much higher this time and we were worried about what could potentially happen."
"I know that now, but I didn't then. I'm sorry for putting us in so much danger, I just knew he wouldn't leave without seeing me and I wanted to protect our family." I told him as he walked over to the bed and sat down facing me. I turned to face him as well.
"I know, honey. I don't want to fight. I love you too much for that." Sam said to me while he reached out to grasp my hand.
I pulled on his hand and hugged his body to mine as he kissed my mark and melted into me. I knew things would be okay. After a few minutes I pulled away and looked at him with a wistful smile.
"Did Jared tell you?" I asked him, knowing that he probably had already.
"He didn't have to, honey. I knew the moment it happened." He said, making me look up at him in curiosity.
"How?" I asked quickly.
"He imprinted on my imprint, honey. I felt it. J and I already have a bond, you know that, but now we share an imprint." He explained.
"What do you think about it?" I responded, curious about his feelings to having a double imprint.
"I feel relieved for Jared. Him and his wolf have been right on the cusp of imprinting the whole time, and now he has that. We were already serious about this being a life-long commitment for him, so it's really not too much of a change, it's just more intense for him now. I wish so badly that you could see inside our minds to fully understand what it feels like for us. You are the center of our universe. Everything revolves around you. This is the reason my wolf never had any jealousy toward him, I was never threatened. My wolf knew subconsciously that he belonged with you, too. It was just a matter of time. You needed that closure before the imprint could take hold. You have a big enough heart for the both of us, we always knew that." He explained.
"But what do you feel?" I asked him seriously.
"I'm happy, Bella, truly. I'm not angry that I'm not your sole imprint anymore. It's not like I get half of you and Jared gets half of you, we both get all of you. Even the elders of the tribe couldn't deny our relationship now. This is how it was always meant to be. You're mine and you're his. Imprints don't lie, honey. We're equal now." Sam told me leaning back down to kiss me. "If there's anyone else -other than me- on this earth that I'd trust to love you forever, it's Jared Cameron."
"It keeps running through my mind just how much I would've lost in the other timeline. I always felt so incomplete, and now I know why. My destiny was right here all along and I never got the chance to see it before. I would have never felt true love, let alone twice over. I wouldn't ever have been able to have so many things that I have here. I'm so grateful to whatever deity decided to give me another chance to right my wrongs." I cried into his chest as he held me.
"You don't ever have to worry about that other timeline again, Bella. You have us, forever and always." Sam told me as he soothed my back.
"Sam, what'd you do to make our girl cry? I swear, man, I leave for 10 minutes and she's a puddle on the floor." Jared joked as he walked back in, trying to lighten the mood.
"Hormones." I blamed as I laughed through the tears, wiping my eyes with the back of my hands.
"Happy family again?" Jared asked the both of us which made me smile.
"Yeah, J, everything's good." Sam told him happily.
"Good, cus it's my turn to get my imprint tonight. Shower time, babe?" Jared said proudly. I knew the imprint made him incredibly happy and it was definitely infectious, especially when I could feel his happiness inside me. I nodded cheerfully before giving Sam a kiss and following Jared to the shower.
What I hadn't expected was that Jared had the same intense urge to mark me, just as Sam had. He ended up biting me and marking the opposite side between my neck and shoulder.
He'd never had the urge before, so I assumed it was an effect of the imprint. It felt just as sacred as Sam's and carried the same pleasure when Jared touched it. I was now marked on both sides, each corresponding to the side of the bed the boys slept on, which I somehow didn't think was a coincidence.
The next day we told Charlie everything that had happened, leaving nothing out. We sat him down and told him about the entire ordeal with Victoria, the Cullens, Edward's threats, and the new imprint.
He wasn't happy that we'd kept the information about Victoria from him, especially for so long. He also wasn't happy with the fact that I'd been there when the Cullens were there, especially when Edward had come.
He was, however, very happy for Jared. I could tell that it had relieved whatever leftover reservations he'd had about our strange arrangement, even though he hadn't voiced anything.
A/N- So that was Sam's side of things. I know that when I first started writing this story, I intended it to be a Sam/Bella story, but I write stories as if it were real life (obviously with a supernatural twist). In real life things change. People change. Situations change. Ideas and ideals change over time. You never fully know what the outcome is going to be. I may have intended for it to be a Sam/Bella story, but it grew into something so much bigger and as I kept writing, it evolved and changed. I feel like that's what makes a good story.
