Moonlight
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.
Chapter Thirty-Eight-Pancakes
Charlie's voice thundered impatiently. "Bells? Bella? Where are you?"
Jacob let out an annoyed groan as Bella frantically tried to disentangle herself from his arms, but her efforts were in vain.
Charlie gave one quick rap on the bedroom door before thrusting it open. "What do you think you're doing?" He bellowed, his face turning a frightening shade of puce.
Bella was completely lost for words, her mind going blank as she stared at her father in shock. Charlie was clearly in a combative mood. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was eyeballing Jacob grumpily.
Jacob wasn't intimidated by Charlie's posturing at all. He stifled a yawn as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "I didn't want to leave her alone." He draped an arm casually around Bella's shoulders. She envied his confidence. "Nothing happened."
Billy chuckled in the background. "Get a grip, Chief. They're both fully clothed-well mostly." He added as an afterthought when he noticed Charlie's angry gaze shoot straight to Jacob's bare chest.
"Jacob is half dressed." Charlie continued suspiciously.
Bella had finally recovered from her shock awakening and found her voice. "For goodness' sake, Dad. Unless he's in school, Jacob's always half dressed!"
Jacob grinned while Billy started laughing. Charlie turned his laser like stare onto his best friend, still not appeased. "I warned you this would happen. Trust them you said – "
Billy rolled his eyes impatiently. "Your daughter is officially an adult, Charlie. I don't think you can police her love life anymore. If she wants to wrap herself around my boy, well, I'm sure there are worse ways she could spend her time."
"What did you just say?" Charlie demanded hoarsely, his voice rising an octave.
"Way to go, Dad!" Jacob muttered under his breath. He rubbed Bella's upper arm soothingly as her face blazed with embarrassment. If it was Billy's intention to deflect attention away from them and onto himself, it had worked only too well. Charlie was incensed. Someone was going to have to take control before war broke out, and it looked like it was going to have to be him. "I'm hungry." He announced loudly. "Are you all hungry? Let's have breakfast."
"On its way." Bella flashed Jacob a grateful smile. It would give her something to do. She clambered out of the bed and slipped past Charlie and Billy in the narrow hallway and headed for the kitchen.
Breakfast was soft pancakes and berries, as warm as they would be in the sun, maple syrup threaded upon the top. It remained by far Jacob's favourite breakfast, yet it had nothing at all to do with the food. It was more the memories associated with it. He loved it because it reminded him of his mom.
One of his few childhood memories of Sarah was her standing at the stove, barefoot in the kitchen, and playfully teasing him and his sisters as she served up the delicious smelling pancakes. He had shared this precious memory with Bella only once, and he was touched that she had gone to so much effort to replicate his mom's recipe. He knew she had done it deliberately to please him, and if it were not for Billy and Charlie staring daggers at each other across the table, he would have swept her up into his arms and kissed her senseless.
Jacob ate greedily. As big as he was, Bella still wondered where he put it all. She gazed at him fondly as he shovelled in the pancakes, love oozing from his eyes as he gazed back at her. She felt a warm glow in her stomach, which helped dispel the frosty atmosphere between Billy and Charlie. She felt like knocking their heads together, they could be so childish.
After eating her own pancakes, Bella bustled about the kitchen making more. It gave her something to do with her hands. After what had happened with Edward, she was surprised she hadn't had nightmares about it. She put that down to having Jacob wrapped around her for what remained of the night. He was so warm. His embrace felt good. Safe. Comfortable.
A knock at the front door broke through her introspection. As she was the only one standing, Bella went to answer it. Quil bowled in, soon followed by Embry, Paul, and lastly, Jared.
"Nice hair, Bella." Embry quipped.
Bella's hand immediately went to her hair, she had forgotten to brush it, and it was like a tangled halo around her head. She glared at Embry crossly, swiping at his shoulder in irritation when he passed her. Her reaction set the others off laughing.
Jacob pushed his chair back and rose to greet his brothers. "Leave my girl alone, guys." He warned them with a teasing glint in his dark eyes.
"Food!" Paul whooped joyfully as he grabbed Jacob's vacated chair and immediately began helping himself to the pancakes Bella had stacked on the table.
"Jeez, Bella, I think you've outdone yourself here." Embry shoved Paul to one side and grabbed a few for himself. He was practically salivating at the smell.
Jared and Quil also helped themselves, before quickly retreating to the living room as the kitchen was getting overcrowded with all the warm bodies. Jacob had one arm draped casually over Bella's shoulder, he watched the chaos unfold in the kitchen as his brothers took over and demolished what was left of the food.
Charlie was practically vibrating with indignation at all the bare chests on display. As usual, the pack were only dressed in the usual minimal amount of clothing. Paul's shorts were so low on his hips, they looked in danger of falling down altogether. Billy was smirking at Charlie's outraged reaction, it was clear that the police chief was struggling to keep his mouth shut, and was only doing so because it wasn't his house. He was only a guest. It wasn't like he could order the boys to cover up and leave.
Soon things started to get rowdy, which often happened when there was so much testosterone floating around. Bella noticed the vein popping on Charlie's forehead as he slowly began to lose his cool when Jared sneaked one of his pancakes off his plate. His mouth opened to reprimand Jared, but he soon shut it again when his daughter unexpectedly intervened by cuffing the boy around the back of the head. He watched in surprised silence as Bella took control of the unruly boys and ordered them out of the kitchen, and he was even more surprised when they quickly obeyed her.
"Is it always like this at breakfast?" Charlie whispered in an aside to Billy, completely forgetting about their previous falling out.
"Some days." Billy answered amiably. "But as you can clearly see-your adult daughter-can clearly handle Jake and his friends." He placed the emphasis on the word adult.
"Huh." Charlie muttered as he regarded his only child with fresh eyes.
While Charlie went off to call the ever-elusive Anne, Jacob and Bella did the dishes together. While she washed, he dried. "Perhaps when he finally manages to go on a date with the mysterious Anne, it'll take the focus off of us." Jacob joked.
"Dad says she's in Oregon at the moment." Bella answered as she rinsed off one of the plates before passing it to him.
"Is that where she's from?" Jacob asked as he quickly dried it and stacked it on top of the others.
"I'm not sure." Bella shrugged. "Dad says she's been travelling a lot because she's been researching her family history. He hasn't told me that much about her, even though he talks to her all the time."
Jacob caught the unhappy frown on her face and he nudged his shoulder gently against hers. "Don't take it to heart that he's not oversharing too much yet, Bella, honey. You know how taciturn he can be, it's just his way. Dating again is a whole new territory for him. When he has something significant to say, he'll tell you."
Bella's face relaxed and she rewarded Jacob with a smile. "You always know how to make me feel better."
"Just call me the Bella whisperer." Jacob leaned down and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek, setting her off laughing as she flicked some of the soapy dishwater at him.
They were interrupted by the arrival of Sam. He wasn't alone. He had brought Emily with him. The atmosphere immediately dropped by ten degrees.
"I thought you two girls could hang out together today." Sam suggested nonchalantly.
Bella struggled to hide her irritation at Sam's presumption. She could tell by the surly expression on Emily's face that she wasn't keen on the idea, either.
"Hi, Emily." Bella tried. "Its good to see you again. It's been a while."
"It has." Emily answered in clipped tones. Her dark brown eyes left Bella and wandered over to the boys-who had taken over the Black's living room and were lounging on the floor and old couch-before moving to the half-finished pile of dishes still waiting to be put away in the kitchen. Hurt flashed on her face. "So, you fed them. That explains why my house was so empty this morning."
"Emily." Sam cautioned her with a pained smile. "I'm sure you enjoyed the rest."
Emily regarded him resentfully for a moment before nodding her head sharply in agreement. "Of course. I should thank you for the break, Bella." She didn't bother hiding the sarcasm in her tone.
"Only say it if you mean it." Bella gave up all pretence at politeness as Emily continued to press her buttons. She had already run out of patience with the girl's pathetic animosity. They were only rivals in Emily's mind.
Before Emily had a chance to respond, Charlie chose that moment to walk back into the room. He seemed surprised to see Sam and Emily and greeted them quickly in confusion.
"Right, Jacob, we need to leave." Sam said, taking advantage of the distraction. "I was out early and found a fresh trail on the north side of the reservation." His words were cryptic in order not to arouse Charlie's suspicions.
Jacob pressed his lips together in annoyance. He didn't like being ordered about in front of Charlie. He was also angry that Sam had brought Emily with him, he could see how upset it was making Bella. "It can wait." He replied scathingly.
"I'm afraid it can't." Sam insisted.
"Hey." Charlie met Sam's eyes impatiently. "You're not taking these boys out after those wolves, are you?"
"We can track as well as anybody. We can handle anything we come up against." Sam's gaze flicked to Bella. "I mean, I was the one who found your daughter, remember?"
Charlie's face drained of colour. "I remember." He muttered. "Alright, just be careful." He clearly wasn't thrilled with the idea, but Sam's pertinent reminder had drudged up painful memories. "I'll leave you to it. I've got to go to work."
When the police chief was out of earshot, Jacob rounded on Sam. "Why the hell did you say that to him?"
"To stop him asking too many questions." Sam said shortly. He frowned. "Everyone's rested now. Its time to go."
Jacob swallowed down his resentment. He turned around to face Bella. Her arms were crossed and he was painfully aware she was secretly fuming at being forced into Emily's company. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He promised. "Will you be alright while I'm gone?"
"I'll cope." Bella gave him a wan smile. "Don't worry about me."
"K.'" Jacob leaned in for a kiss. They smooched for a while, until the cat calling from the other guys in the living room forced them to quit with the mushy stuff. Jacob sighed, caressing Bella's face one last time before taking his leave.
A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.