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Jacob's POV

Leah makes sure to drive slowly the entire way to their home. The windows are all rolled down to let some air in, hoping that it will help keep River from getting sick. Just in case, I am sitting with him in the back seat with the garbage bin I took from the hospital. When we arrive, I help him out of the car. He nearly falls after a few steps. He is completely disoriented due to the muffled hearing in his hurt ear.

"Careful," I say, grabbing him before he could fall and help him get back to his feet, "I gotcha," I am still planning to have it out with Sam. I know that if I ever initiated anything that got Misty hurt like this, he would want me dead.

"Stop! Stop!" River says, pushing me away and walks a few feet away from us, leaning his hand on his knees and finally throws up in the grass. I am kind of relieved and hope that this will help him feel better. Despite him wanting me off of him, I follow and stand close behind with my hand hooked under his elbow so he doesn't lose his balance.

"Are you good?" I ask him after a while when the illness seems to have passed.

"Yeah," he whispers, breathing heavily. I can't imagine how he feels right now. Actually, most of the time I am in complete awe over how patient he is. Ever since he was a small kid he has been fiercely independent and would rather fail at doing something over and over again until he figures it out than ask for help. He's stubborn. Reminds me of someone…

I help him get inside and sit down in the living room. Misty follows with a glass of water and damp cloth for River. I go to Leah who is in the kitchen looking through the freezer for something to cook. "Sorry, I'll hose off the lawn," I promise.

"Don't worry about it. It's supposed to storm tonight, anyways… and I have an 18-year-old, it's not the first time a kid has vomited on the lawn… the only difference is that I don't smell rum," Leah says and closes the freezer.

"Thanks, mom!" Misty says sarcastically from the living room having overheard her mother bust her.

"I think we can just order dinner. I hate everything in the freezer," Leah says, ignoring her daughter's remark.

I look over to see Kalen coming upstairs from the basement with a couple of bottles of wine.

"Hey, man," I greet him. Kalen nods.

"Oh," Leah smiles when she sees her husband with the wine, "yes, please."

"It's been a long day. I figured everyone could use a drink," he says, limping over, leans his cane against the counter and starts opening bottles. His limp is always more pronounced before the rain. Which means he is pretty much limping all the time around here.

I peak over to the living room to check on River. Misty is sitting on the arm of the chair that River is in, pressing a cool cloth on the back of his neck. Poor kid. At least he has a good friend like Misty. Then I notice River's hand is rested on Misty's knee while she dabs the cloth.

"Hey, Leah…" I whisper, "what's this? Is this a thing?" I nod over to the two on the chair.

Leah glances over while pouring some wine. She does a double-take and then smirks, "I don't know. Why would I know? She doesn't tell me anything," Leah says, sliding over a glass of red wine towards me. I glance at it. I'm not really a wine drinker but fuck it. It's been a shitty day. I take a sip.

"Hey, Misty?" Leah says and takes a sip of her wine, "why don't you show River where the guest room is so that he can lay down for a bit."

"Sure, Mom," Misty says, helping River to his feet and the two walk slowly down the hall so that he doesn't fall. River towers her but she manages to hold her own, being sturdy support. It takes a lot to topple Misty. She is about 5'8" and muscular. She plays on about every sports team at her school which keeps Leah busy on evenings and weekends driving her around to matches. Leah is pretty sure that she will get accepted into any university of her choice just based on her athletic ability. This means everything to Leah because Misty had gone through a rough patch where Leah was worried that her daughter might not even see graduation let alone see her 18th birthday.

When Misty returns from helping River find his way to the guest room we are all basically standing around in the kitchen with glasses of wine, staring at her.

"... What?" Misty frowns and then grabs a glass, pouring some wine into it.

"Woah, hey… are you okay with this?" I mumble to Leah about Misty drinking wine.

"It's just wine," Leah replies at my judgmental face, "...calm down, she's not doing Jäger Bombs… my daughter is an adult, I try to treat her like one."

I roll my eyes. 18-year-olds being called adults... How did I become the prude parent?

"Everyone is acting weird," Misty observes.

"Your mother and Jacob think that you and River are secretly dating," Kalen says.

"What?" Misty's eyes widen, "ew, no!"

"Ew?" I look at her, offended, "hey, you can do a lot worse than River Black," I defend my son.

Misty laughs, "I didn't mean it like that... River is cute and really sweet… but he's 15."

"16," I correct.

"Whatever. 16... I'm 18… I hardly want to date boys my age," Misty replies.

I nod, "fair." I recall how stupid boys are at that age. I was one of them once.

"Wait, now. Hold on a second," Leah teases, "age is just a number."

"Are you asking me to date River, mother?" Misty takes a longer sip of wine and looks at her mom.

"I'm just saying that he is a good kid, not bad looking and… yeah… you could do worse," Leah defends River. She is totally messing with Misty. I smirk. "You should give him a chance," Leah pushes.

"Okay, well… Ya'll have fun planning the wedding, I'll be in my room finishing homework," Misty said taking her wine and walking up the stairs.

"She's so easy," Leah chuckles and then looks at me, "the guy she is seeing is actually the worst," Leah confesses to me, "if she and River started up that would be a godsend."

"All teenaged boys are garbage," I remind Leah, "River is my kid and I love him but remember, at this age, they are all a mess of hormones and indignation. If River could just hold off dating until he is about 25, that would be perfect."

"You might get your wish if he keeps on pining after Misty. She's sweet to him but she's into the wrong type of guys," Leah grumbles and sips her wine, "like mother, like daughter," Leah says, obviously recalling her relationship with Sam.

"Misty is smart and athletic. All she has to do is finish her senior year without any problems and she'll be off at some ivy league university and you won't have to worry about that res punk," I reply.

I appreciate the banter. The last 24hrs have been hell for me. When Kalen heads out to grab a few Pizzas for dinner Leah finally has me alone and that is when she digs in to get all of the details about what happened.

"So Nessie shows up, ya'll get tequila-drunk, have some good sex-," Leah begins.

"Great sex," I interrupt.

"Okay, great sex," she corrects with an eye-roll, "... argue... and because of that she is going MIA for the foreseeable future?" Leah asks. We are both perched on bar stools at the kitchen island. I nod. Leah pours me a second glass of wine. "Did you really ask for her back?"

"Yeah… and got rejected," I reply, sipping the wine.

"I'm sorry, Jake. What are you going to do?" she asks.

"I don't know," I reply, honestly.

"I don't get it. You lived all of these years without her. I mean… bro... you dumped her... Cold… it was a cold dumping... And for the past 16 years, you gave her no hope that this would work out... and now you have one good—excuse me—one great night together and you want her back?"

"Yeah…" I chuckle.

"Wow… does she have, like, a magic vagina or something?" Leah asks while I am mid-sip. I choke on the wine, laughing.

"...Things just felt different," I struggle to compose myself, still laughing at Leah's jab. I clear my throat, finally. "Being with her last night... it was like we were adults… And it made the dumb shit we went through that caused us to ends things… seem… seem like really dumb shit. It kind of just hit me how dumb when she drove away."

"Awww, Jacob... You're growing up," Leah teases me in the way that only Leah could. She is really my best friend. Being a single father would have been impossible if I didn't have a friend like her.

"I guess I am," I reply.

"It was never my place to say this but… The thing with her having a child by Foxworth… I get that it was messed up… but… what were your expectations?" Leah asks.

"I don't know," I reply.

"Come on… you gave her an ultimatum," Leah pushes.

"I guess I was expecting her to… give up the kid?" I reply honestly, "it just sounds so awful now but I truly felt like the other child stole River's sight. But… I guess we don't know that for sure," I sigh. "Emma," I struggle to say the name, "I blamed her. Nessie said something to me before she left… it made me feel like crap."

"Oh yeah… what?" Leah asks.

"She said that her kid 'could have really used a father like me'," I reply, "it just made me think of you."

"How so?" Leah asked.

"Because I think that Kalen was a really good dad to Misty… and maybe I could have been there for both kids… Anyways… here we are," I reply. "There is no use in dwelling on it. Wanting her back was probably just a momentary lapse in judgment. She should know about River, though."

"Have you tried reaching out to Dr. Cullen?" Leah asks. "I know their coven split but they might still keep tabs on each other."

"Carlisle might know how to reach Nessie," I have the same realisation that Leah had.

"It's worth a shot," Leah replies.

"I think that if they are in touch he might be expecting me to call. I called Edward. His phone disconnected mid-call," I grumble.

"Oh… don't worry. I got this," Leah said pulling out her phone. "Okay, give me the blood sucker's number."

I give her a scolding look at using the term bloodsucker and hand her my phone with the number displayed. She dials and then waits.

"Hello, Dr. Cullen… Uh… This is Leah Clearwater. I don't know if you remember me-," Leah begins, "... oh, good… Listen, it has been brought to my understanding that Nessie and the others have cut off Jacob…. I know bu-... yes I underst-... OKAY! Can you just listen for a second!? …. River's been hurt and was hospitalized, please let Nessie know that he is staying at my house… Okay… Thank you," Leah hangs up and then looks at me, "now we wait."

Within five minutes my phone starts to buzz. I am about to answer it when Leah grabs it out of my hand and sends the call to voicemail.

"What are you doing?!" I freak out.

"I'm getting her to come here," Leah says, turning it off, "if you answer her, she'll know that River is just fine and that will be that. This way... let her freak a little … she'll be here and then you can figure out if you wanting her back was just a momentary lapse in judgment."

"This is a horrible idea.. River got hurt because Sam was looking for Nessie to start a fight.. If she comes back here…" I shake my head.

"Let me deal with Sam," Leah says.

I hear the door click. Both Leah and I glance over to see Kalen come through the door with a few pizzas. He is wet from the rain. I am suddenly aware of the silence.

Kalen looks to me then to Leah and then back to me somehow sensing that we're up to something, "do I even want to know?"

"Let me help you," I jump up and take the pizzas from him and put them on the counter, "I'll go see if River is up to eating anything," I reply and try to retrieve my phone but Leah snatches it and tucks it into her back pocket. Foiled.

I wander down the hall to the guest room. The guest room is impressive with a queen bed and two white arm chairs on each side. I wonder if Kalen and Leah find much use for it. They don't really have guests. I look in to see River in the bed resting with his eyes closed… one eye closed. The other is concealed by gauze, which reminds me, I will have to put the antibiotic drops in that later.

"Who's there?" River asks, sensing my presence.

"It's just me," I reply, "there's pizza. Did you want something to eat?" I ask.

"No," he replies shortly.

"Something wrong?" I ask.

"No," he replies in the same tone.

I sigh and wander over to the bed and take a seat on the side, "are you in pain?" I ask, wondering if his attitude is due to his injuries. I brush his hair back.

"Cut it out!" he swats my hand. He is very moody. I am not used to this attitude.

"What's wrong?" I frown.

"Can I just be left alone?" He turns over, facing the wall.

"Look, I get that you're having a shitty day, kid, but I just want to make sure you're okay," I reply to his sass.

"I'm fine," he mumbles.

"I have all night," I warn.

"Can't I just have this? I don't want to talk about it! I just want to go to sleep! My head is pounding," River says sitting up to yell at me. I allow him to have his tantrum "... I'm sorry," River says after the moment passes. "I know that everyone … and you, and Misty and Leah and... everyone... is just trying to be nice but… this whole thing... it's humiliating," he admits.

"I know," acknowledge his feelings on the situation. "But, River, everyone loves you and no one is embarrassed for you. Okay," I reply. I try to put myself in his shoes. His disability puts him at a disadvantage and he hates pitty.

"Sure," he mumbled sarcastically and lays back down.

"You know… Misty was really worried about you," I mention and lean forward to see if I can get a reaction out of him. He just lays there, "she thought you were really hurt. She was crying and everything."

"...Really?" River asks after a long moment.

Hah, I knew it. "Yeah, it was hard to watch. She was all torn up," I reply and watch his mood lift. "Are you sure you don't want any food?"

"I'm okay," he replies.

"Alright," I lean forward and kiss his forehead despite his objections, "love you, kid."

River sighs, annoyed, "love you too, dad," he mutters.

It's finally happened. My kid is too cool for his parent's affection… Teenagers.

I return to the kitchen it see that Misty has joined Leah and Kalen for Pizza, "River isn't hungry...Poor kid… Sam knows he's dead, right?" I look to Leah and then realise that Misty is there. I often forget that Sam is her dad, "sorry."

"Hey, don't apologize to me," Misty replies, "I don't care," she says. Misty and Sam are not close despite the effort that Leah initially put into trying to cultivate that relationship. For a while Sam and Emily were trying anything to have a family of their own, IVF and then when that failed they started a process to adopt. But that fell through as well due to some financial troubles. Eventually they gave up. Leah had confided in me that Misty acted out a lot during that time, skipping school and sneaking out. That behaviour was just the tip of the iceberg. Misty had been secretly cutting herself. Leah found out when a concerned parent called and told her that one of Misty's swim teammates had seen the marks on her skin. Leah pulled Misty out of school and they spent some time in Sacramento which I later found out was at a treatment facility for eating disorders among other things. It put Misty behind a full academic year. When they returned, Leah decided to let Misty choose the kind of relationship she wanted with her father. We were all so relieved when Misty started to return to her happy self, getting back into sports, doing well in school and even accepting a tutoring job.

"River won't eat, don't bother," I say to Leah when she hands me an extra plate.

"He has to eat," Leah looks concerned.

"Mom, he's not feeling well, it's not an E.D." Misty replies to Leah's panicked face.

"I think he's just upset … actually embarrassed about this whole thing," I admit.

"That's dumb, he didn't do anything to be embarrassed about," Misty argues, crossing her arms.

"You have to understand that anything that happens to him that robs him of his independence-no matter how temporary-is kind of an ego-killer for him," I reply.

"I get it... Maybe I should talk to him," Misty offers.

"Oh… uh, hey… I don't want to embarrass you or anything or make this awkward but if there is anything you are doing that may come off as flirting… stop," I say quietly to make sure that River doesn't hear this for sure.

"Wha… What? I mean I'm not-River is like a brother," Misty's eyes dart between mine and her mother's.

"Listen to Jacob," Leah says softly, "I know I was teasing you before but that boy has obvious feelings for you…You're seeing someone... And you're going to break his heart. So just… tread lightly."

"Wow, y'all are ridiculous. You know that a guy and a girl can be just friends, right?" Misty says, ticked off at us.

"If I could interject…" Kalen finally speaks up. We all look to him, "while that is true… River does display body language which indicates that he may be interested in you as more than just friends."

"Thanks professor," Misty glares at her stepfather.

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