I drove the little yellow car home from the airport, my hand holding Daisy's in my lap as she scrolled through messages sent in by online customers. She had a lot of sewing to catch up on from her couple of weeks off. I'd connected my phone to her car, and we were listening to music between conversations, but it cut out when my phone started ringing.
I turned to Daisy at the sight of the name on the small screen on her dashboard, and she smiled at me, silently telling me to answer.
"Hey, Ness," I greeted with an excited smile. I was finally home, close to my family, and I couldn't wait to see them all and tell them about the past couple of weeks. "Daisy's here, we're just heading back from Seattle.
"Hi, Daisy!" Nessie answered immediately, her voice bright and without hesitation. "I'm so excited to meet you, Seth has told me so many good things! I'm really sorry Jake and I couldn't hang around on Thanksgiving. We had a bit of a family emergency."
"Hi, Ness," Daisy squeezed my hand with nerves, and sat a little straighter in her chair. "Seth explained you had something going on, don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll meet you soon."
"Yeah, that's actually why I was calling…" Nessie's voice trailed off, and I frowned as I waited for her to keep talking. "Seth, there's another bonfire tonight. I don't know if you noticed the group chat kind of died out there for a while…Jake's, um…hired a few more guys to help out on the rez."
"Really?!" I asked, too loudly for the way she'd phrased her statement. "When?"
"In the past couple of days. My family came to Forks for the holidays, and I guess all of them being here helped with finding some new workers for you guys."
"Wow," I breathed. The majority of the Cullens had continued with their regular migration patterns years ago, leaving those of the clan I was closest to in their little cottage. Bella and Edward hadn't wanted to uproot Nessie and take her away from Jake and their imprint, and I knew my brother was grateful for that. It had been a long time since the large group of vampires had inspired the change in anyone on the reservation. I felt Daisy staring at me, and I threw her a small smile before I continued.
"So, tonight?"
"Yeah, the guys wanted to wait until you were home, have everyone together. They're just going to have a small thing, tell the legends, and I know Daisy only heard them recently, so Jake suggested she head out once all of that's out of the way and catch up with everyone. He and I are both excited to meet her."
I eyed my imprint warily, not answering for longer than necessary. I knew she was going to meet them eventually, whether I was comfortable with it or not, and if Nessie was inviting her, she was sure she could control herself.
"We're both pretty tired from travelling, Ness, but I'll be there. I don't want to force Daisy to come out if she's not feeling it."
"I would love to come," Daisy spoke for herself. "I can miss out on all the things I heard last time, and get Seth to tell me when to head out. I know he wants me to meet you."
"Great," Nessie's voice was happy, but guarded, and I wondered if she was really as in control of herself as she was making out. "Seth, we're set to start at five. We want to get it all over and done with, and have some time for catching up afterwards before it gets too late. Everyone's still got time off from work with it being New Year's and all. We'll see you tonight,"
"See you," I hung up the phone, and saw Daisy raise an eyebrow at me out of the corner of my eye.
"Well, now I kind of feel like I'm intruding."
"You were very obviously invited," I reminded her with a small grin.
She hummed unsurely, "They don't want me there for the first part of the night. I don't have to come out after, if you'd like some alone time with your friends."
"They don't want you there to hear the legends because they're worried you'll get bored. You only heard them just over a month ago." I lied. They didn't want her there because I was taking my time telling her what exactly was going on with my group of friends and they didn't want to ruin anything for me and scare her off in the process. "You heard Nessie – they're excited to have you there. Everyone really liked you."
"I don't want to be the weird girl that just keeps showing up for no reason. It's not like I work with you guys."
"The rest of the girls don't work with us," I reminded her. "Nessie, Emily, Claire and Kim and Rachel and Samantha don't feel out of place."
"That's a bit different, though," she murmured, looking torn between wanting to go, and not wanting to overstep her boundaries. "Emily and Kim and Rachel are married into the group,"
"And the others are in relationships with our friends," I told her. "Samantha is just Collin's girlfriend, and a couple of years ago she was showing up to these things without knowing anyone. You're coming as my girlfriend, you're a part of the group." I knew what I was saying, I wanted to assure her of her place in our lives. I also wanted to see her reaction.
She was smiling at me gently. "Do you think of me as your girlfriend?"
"Yeah," I said softly. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
"I do," she nodded, and then laughed quietly to herself.
"What?"
"I don't know, I'm constantly waiting for you to tell me it's been fun, but you're running away from me. I don't know why you're so interested in being with me, honestly."
I squeezed her hand, still resting on my thigh. "I'll keep telling you I'm not going anywhere until you believe me. Not all guys want to keep the people they're seeing at a distance."
"You're too nice to me."
Hugo was more than happy to see his owner when she picked him up from her neighbor's house. He jumped up on her to rest his hands on her chest, almost knocking her off Stacey's porch, and she caught her balance and grinned, bending to kiss his face and tell him she missed him.
We'd parked on the street, so I could get my car out of her driveway when it was time to leave. She seemed to be waiting for me to tell her I was sick of her company and needed some space, but I made her tea and set it on the coffee table in the living room, her suitcase unopened and waiting to be unpacked in the hall.
We emptied our mugs, and then reclined on the small couch, my arm holding her from slipping to the floor as we blinked heavily, trying to keep up with conversation but failing due to exhaustion. I set an alarm on my phone, giving me enough time to get home, shower and change before making my way to the beach. It woke us from our long nap, and Daisy sighed heavily, disentangling our legs to escape from my warmth.
"I'll call you when all the boring stuff's over," I told her as I stood and grabbed my bags. "If you want, come out to my house and I'll pick you up from there. That way you won't have to join us on your own."
"Look at you, caring about my social anxiety," she smirked. "You don't have to do that, Seth. I'll be super brave."
"Well, let me know when you've parked at the beach and I'll walk up to meet you."
"Okay," she agreed, following me to the door. "Are you going to tell them we're dating?"
"They'll probably ask," I told her. I'd kept in touch with Nessie, who was aware we'd kissed after the first time, and that probably meant the entire pack knew by now. "But I won't go saying anything if they don't. If you're too tired, you really don't have to come."
"I want to," she insisted. "Remember, I'm trying to be more brave and outgoing. I'll see you soon."
I kissed her quickly, pulling the door closed behind me and heading to my truck.
It was amazing, how good a shower could make you feel after a long flight. I changed into a comfortable pair of shorts and a t-shirt and headed to the beach, where I was met with my sister and the majority of our group. Three guys I hadn't met before, but I recognized from seeing them around the reservation, hovered on the sidelines uncomfortably, their eyes flicking around the group, landing on Nessie for a moment longer than anyone else. It was always an adjustment for the new ones to accept her as a part of their new extended family, and I tried to understand their point of view rather than be annoyed that they were thinking of my best friend in a negative light.
"Hey," I chuckled, scooping her off her feet and turning her in a circle, a mess of bronze curls following our movements before I set her back down. She'd run to me, faster than human speed, and hugged me tightly. "How are you going?"
"So good," she told me with a wide grin. "Better now that you're home. How is everything going? Are you happy?"
"Happier than I've ever been in my life," I greeted Jake, and my sister, shaking my brother's hand as he threw an arm around Nessie's shoulders. "You guys look to be doing well,"
Nessie rolled her eyes, and Jake grinned down at her lovingly. Leah sighed, "Looks like I'm one of the last with a level head. I'm going to have to latch myself onto Embry at these things now," she shuddered.
"Hey, my head's completely clear," I insisted. She studied me for a while, and then smirked.
"We heard things were progressing nicely,"
"She's not putting out yet, Seth?" Brady called over the sea of dark heads, and the majority of them chuckled. I threw him a threatening look, which settled on Ness.
"I only told Jacob!" she said, raising her hands in defence. "It's not my fault you guys can't keep anything to yourselves."
"Everyone was thinking of you, and it just slipped out when I was on patrol with Cooper," Jake cringed apologetically.
"If it helps, everyone knows what I look like naked, now," Nessie scowled.
"Join the club," Leah sniffed.
"Is your family still here?" I asked Ness, changing the subject.
She shook her head. "They said to say hello, they were sorry they'd missed you, but they were all very happy to head you'd found your imprint. After the third change, they decided they shouldn't stay for New Year's. Mom and dad being here are enough for the pack, at this point. It's been so long since anyone's phased for the first time, they were worried they'd double the pack."
The new guys were nice enough, though a little on edge and having way too many questions about patrol schedule and pack life. I was grateful Daisy hadn't accompanied me for the start of the night, the secret would well and truly be out and I didn't want the entire reservation witness her reaction to what I'd kept from her for months. They were older than the last group that had changed, seventeen, nineteen, and twenty; well and truly past the minimum age we knew to be at risk of phasing for the first time.
I sent off a message to Daisy as the legends ended and things started wrapping up. The youngest of the new members, Jack, headed home as soon as we were done, telling us his mom wasn't overly happy with him after he'd run off for almost two days and hadn't come home with a reasonable explanation.
Jake gave the other two, Isaac and Chase, strict instructions to keep the secret for the rest of the night, telling them there was an imprint coming who wasn't aware of the situation. I felt a little guilty, but Jake insisted it was fine, and it would give them practice for day-to-day life with regular humans.
"When are you going to get the balls to just tell her already?" Quil asked me, receiving a gentle slap from Claire.
"I didn't feel like telling her when she was stuck with me overseas was a great idea," I said uneasily.
"Don't listen to him, Seth," Claire told me. "He's just worried he's not going to be able to keep his big mouth shut for much longer."
"Do you want me to go?" Nessie asked me quietly. "I can tell you're not feeling okay about all of this."
"You're staying," Jacob told her, eyeing me instead of his imprint. I nodded.
"Ness, if you say you can stay in control, I believe you. Just…don't let it get out of hand if you can't deal with it, okay?"
"It's fine, Seth," she reached for my hand and squeezed it with her promise. "Jacob took me hunting today, I'm so stuffed I couldn't even dream of wanting anything else. And what my dad said was right – I'm only half-vampire. That's going to take half the amount of restraint to stay in control, and he married my mother when she was human. It just caught me off guard last time, and I won't let it happen again. It was the shock of it all that caused me to not be in control of myself."
"Just…don't push yourself if you're worried about it."
"I promise, I won't. This will be like you guys staring at a hamburger. You know you can do it, you just don't have the strength to stop yourselves."
"Yeah, relate his imprint to a hamburger, that will make him feel better," Embry chuckled.
My phone rang, and I stood immediately to answer it. "You here?"
"Yeah," she sighed nervously. "How is it going?"
"Good, the new guys are nice. I'm walking up now."
"Okay,"
She was still in her car when I arrived, and jumped out quickly when she saw me coming, dressed in the same pair of jeans as last time. I liked those jeans. I realized, looking at her now, that I'd felt a little off since leaving her this afternoon. Now that we'd made things official, it was harder to be away from her, and I breathed out a sigh of relief I hadn't noticed I was holding without having her near me. Her hand found mine, and I walked her back to the beach slowly, trusting my best friend with her promise to stay in control, but dreading our arrival and what it could mean.
Our small group stayed seated as we neared them, except for Leah who jumped to her feet and embraced my imprint tightly. I raised my eyebrows at her. I hadn't received a welcome home like that.
"You got more tanned," Leah grinned down at Daisy.
"We went to the beach," she said. "You cut your hair shorter."
"Yeah, it was starting to bother me."
Jake was talking quietly with Nessie, who I watched breathe deeply and nod in response to his question. Her shoulders were taught with restrain, but her hands were unclasped, and she managed a genuine smile as she and my alpha stood, waiting for us to come to them for their introduction.
"Guys, this is Daisy," I said, as easily as I was able to. Jake shook her hand, and she smiled through her nerves as he welcomed her.
"Hi, Daisy," Nessie said excitedly, throwing me a quick glance to let me know she was okay. "I'm Renesmee."
"It's really nice to meet you," Daisy smiled, and I watched closely as the two girls pulled each other in for a gentle hug. Jake shook his head at me when I took a step forward, and I forced myself to relax.
"No Kim tonight?" Daisy asked when we sat down on the large piece of driftwood, her eyes scanning over the crowd.
"Nah, Jared said she's locking herself indoors until the baby decides to come."
"The poor thing, she's so over it all by now. She was adamant this one would come early, as well." Nessie mumbled.
"Well, she never has to do it again after this one's here," Leah said, a little uninterested with the conversation of babies. She'd wanted a child, once, but had struggled when she made the change and ultimately made herself completely cut-off from the thought of children. With no imprint, and a dating life that didn't surpass physical intimacy, she'd resigned herself to a life of work and patrol, though I was glad she'd done something about her social life and found friends outside of our extended family.
Claire, Ness and Daisy fell into a comfortable conversation, the girls asking about our trip and Daisy telling them all the small details of our time overseas. Claire seemed more and more interested in a holiday as they spoke, and she raised her eyebrows at Quil, who pretended he didn't notice.
I knew I was being too involved in their girl time, but my eyes continually flicked between my imprint, and Nessie, who kept her hand laced with Jake, perhaps letting him know how she was going with keeping her vampire side at bay. She seemed completely natural in her mannerisms, only small shifts of her hips and shoulders telling me she was a little uncomfortable being so close to her new friend.
Daisy ate a full plate of meat, bread and potato salad, not leaving anything for me to clean off once she was finished. She seemed a little on edge the first time I kissed her openly in front of my friends, but once she cast her eyes around and saw no one was paying us any mind, she relaxed and kissed me again and again without objection. It probably wasn't what she was used to, in a large group of people, but the other imprinted couples weren't shy about public displays of affection, so we didn't look out of place at all.
We left earlier than most of our friends, both of us still drained after our trip, and she stood beside her car instead of getting in straight away.
"You're back at work tomorrow," she sighed.
There wasn't much of a break for someone in a hospitality role, and I nodded sadly. "Only a half-day though, and then I get my Wednesday and Thursday off."
"Well, let me know if you want to do anything," she said unsurely.
I grinned down at her, pulling her into me to hold her gently. "Can you please stop worrying that I don't want to spend time with you? Of course we'll do something tomorrow afternoon."
"Okay," she chuckled into my chest. "It will be weird not sleeping next to you tonight."
"I know," I agreed, my stomach sinking at the thought of having so much time away from her for the first time in a couple of weeks. "I feel like you won't even notice, though. You look like you're about to get home and pass out."
"I'm tired," she smirked. "But it's cold here. Thank God I have Hugo to keep me warm."
"Give Hugo heaps of cuddles," I instructed her, holding her door open so she could climb into her little car. If I didn't make a move to leave, we would stay in the little parking lot forever.
"I like you," she said with a restrained smile, before pulling out of her space and starting her way home.
I watched her go, before I started my way back to my little house.
I decided that I hated my job, the next day at work. It was too far from my imprint, and though I needed to make money, I hated any time I had to spend away from her. Grace asked me how my trip had been, but she was more closed-off than usual, not lingering to talk to me the way she usually would have. I was grateful, but felt a little bad that she was disappointed I was obviously seeing someone.
I met Daisy at her house, where I cooked for her, not letting her help so I could spoil her a little. She sat at the counter and watched me, stitching something in a small hoop to send out to an online customer.
I'd resigned myself to knowing I would have to start spending nights away from her, though the imprint constantly tugged at me to be close, torturing me and making me wake at all hours of the night to consider sneaking off to be closer to her.
We were seated on the couch, both of us yawning widely, but neither making the move to end our night together. Hugo was snoring loudly on the floor beside us, and Daisy focused her attention between the television and staring at me.
"Do you want to stay here tonight?"
"Yeah," I told her instantly. "I don't have anywhere to go in the morning, so we can start the day off together."
"And practice kissing," she joked lightly. "Sorry my bed's too short for you."
"It doesn't bother me," it was much more comfortable than being in my bed, on my own.
We showered and changed, hopping into bed quietly. I'd taken to keeping a pair of shorts in my truck, knowing there was always a chance she'd ask me to stay over, and I thought about leaving them on her dresser in the morning so they were here when I needed them. She didn't seem to mind that I'd come prepared.
She kissed me first, tonight, and I responded the way I usually did, getting light-headed from the smell of her and keeping my hands at a respectable place on her waist, over the blanket. I'd started feeling the cold, after the couple of weeks I'd spent without phasing, but I'd gone for a run before work that morning and was back to sticking to just sleeping under a sheet. I felt her push herself up, onto her elbow, her other hand at my neck as she kissed me, and then I felt her tongue shyly reach out and brush my bottom lip.
And then, I lost control, tightening my hand on her waist, tugging her toward me, feasting on her lips as my tongue reached out to hers, the tips of them stroking gently and leaving me dizzy and urging my more primal instincts to take over.
I understood the struggle my brothers had had when their relationships had been taking a more physical turn, how Quil had been at war with himself with wanting to keep Claire pure and wanting to take her for his own. I was focused hard on keeping a clear head, which I almost completely lost when she adjusted herself again to throw her leg over me, straddling my waist as she kissed me forcefully, my head off the pillow as I responded hungrily.
She kept her hips raised, and I was grateful. I didn't want her feeling what she was doing to my body, and honestly, I don't think I would have been able to handle it if I felt her against me there. I could smell her arousal the longer we kissed, and it drove me crazy to the point that I almost didn't hear my phone ringing on the nightstand, inches away from my ear.
She grinned against my mouth, pulling her leg back to sit on her side, watching me as I groaned and rubbed at my face, sitting up and pulling the corner of her blankets into my lap to hide what I didn't want her to see. Her eyes flicked to my crossed legs knowingly, and she smirked, watching me answer the phone.
"Yeah?" I sighed breathlessly. There was a pause, and Jacob chuckled.
"Was I interrupting something?"
"Yep," I replied shortly, not really knowing what else to say.
He laughed loudly, and I rolled my eyes. "I just wanted to let you know that Kim and Jared are at the hospital. She's having the baby. Apparently it's going to be a quick one, Jared told Sam they'd only just made it. We'll keep you updated."
"Oh, that's great," I relaxed my shoulders and ran a hand through my hair. "Thanks, Jake. I'll take over some food when they get home."
Daisy smiled at me innocently when I tossed the phone back to the nightstand. "What's up?" I didn't miss the double meaning when her eyes flicked back to the blanket covering me, but I ignored it.
"Kim is having the baby. Jake was just calling everyone to let them know."
"Oh, wow! She'll be so happy to get it all over and done with," she pulled her legs to her chest, wrapping her arm around her knees, and I swallowed against the smell of her. "Are you going to cook for them?"
"Yeah, most of us take stuff over to make the first couple of weeks easier on them. With Sam and Emily's first, they were eating pizza most nights. She was calling me to save them and cook for them," I chuckled. "I'll take you over with me. They were home within the day with the last one. And if you're going, it'll give me a better excuse to drag Leah over there to be a good friend."
"Leah doesn't seem too interested in all the baby stuff,"
"Leah's a bitter old woman," I told her, and she frowned at me. "You can't take it for granted that she likes you the way she does. She's usually pretty hard to crack."
"I think Leah's the greatest," Daisy told me. "Why do you say she's bitter?"
I sighed and leaned back against the headboard, raising my arm to let her rest her head on my shoulder. "Leah went through a bit of heartbreak a long time ago, and she hasn't been herself since. She's a bit…resentful of her life. We all thought she'd pack up and move away ages ago, but she's really loyal to Jake and the reservation."
"It makes me sad that she's not happy," Daisy mused. "What happened, with her heartbreak?"
It was odd, having someone so close to me who didn't know the ins and outs of the pack situation. I'd never had to explain my sister's situation to anyone before, my previous relationships were so closed off from my other life that they'd hardly gotten to know my friends, let alone their history. Not to mention Leah hadn't been overly friendly with either of them, even after two years of them being in my life.
"Leah and Sam were together, in high school and after. They had a really serious relationship, and both of them were well and truly set on spending the rest of their lives together."
"Wait…Sam, as in Sam?"
"Yeah, that's the one," I chuckled quietly. "Leah wasn't overly impressed that Sam met our cousin and fell head-over-heels in love with her straight away. She was basically waiting for a proposal from him when it happened."
"That's…that seems a little unfair, to Leah. I mean, don't get me wrong, Sam and Emily seem absolutely perfect for each other, but to be with someone for a long time, and then leave them for a family member, of all things…" she trailed off and shook her head. "That's…I can see why Leah's still angry, honestly."
"Sam and Emily are perfect for each other," I insisted. "That's part of the reason why Leah was so unhappy for a long time. She didn't like that there was something more Emily could give to him. And our father died not too long after that, and she kind of…blamed herself. She'd been angry at everyone, and she was unhappy that our father was trying to tell her to let him go and let them be."
"What happened to Emily?" she asked suddenly. "I didn't want to ask, when I met her. Was she like that when they met?"
It took me a second to understand what she was talking about, Emily's scars were so much a part of her now. I chewed on my lip before I answered. "Uh, no, she was attacked by a bear just after they started seeing each other. She'd been trying to tell Sam to stop their affair and go back to Leah, she felt so bad about the whole thing. Sam basically nursed her back to health, and she fell in love with him right back. Leah's over it, I think. She loves them both, and she knows they're meant to be together. She's just angry in her nature from it all."
"Poor Leah," Daisy sighed, running her fingers along the edge of my hand. "So, you believe in love at first sight, and soul mates and all of that, then."
"Of course," I frowned to myself. Didn't everyone? Or was that just something that had been so set in stone since I was a young age, that I hadn't realized it was normal for people to think that way? "Do you?"
"I don't know," she hummed to herself, tracing the patterns of the lines in my palm. "I think the universe will make certain things happen. But I also believe love is just an addiction to another human being. We just get addicted to the chemicals they release in our brains, and we tell ourselves that's love."
I grinned and kissed the top of her head. "I think I'm getting addicted to you." I admitted, half-expecting her to tell me it was too soon to admit I was falling in love with her and make me leave. But she just tilted her head back to grin at me, and wrapped her fingers around my hand.
"Me, too. I feel pathetic that I want you to stay with me every night."
"Not just tonight?"
She shrugged, holding back what was on her mind. "I'm cold when you're not around, and I feel on edge. You make me feel better."
"You make me feel better, too," I said honestly. There was no trying to hide things with her. She'd find out the truth soon enough, and understand why we were so drawn to each other.
My body relaxed with our now gentle intimacy, and we fell asleep holding each other, Hugo making his way into the room and sighing as he fell to the floor, annoyed that we took up the entire bed. I'd have to get him his own bed to sleep in, so he wasn't just on the rug.
We woke late into the morning, and I had a message from Jake.
Kim didn't get the girl she'd been hoping for. Theo Cameron. They're all doing really well, should be discharged and home this afternoon.
Three boys. Jared would be over the moon. I felt a little bad that Kim didn't get the little girl she'd wanted, but I knew she'd be happy having another baby around. Three boys under five seemed like a handful, and I messaged Leah to tell her she would be going with us before dinner to leave a few trays of food for them.
Daisy made breakfast, and we sat around the counter and ate while Hugo ate his own breakfast beside us. We took him for a walk, though the edges of the forest, waiting for him to sniff at anything that caught his attention. He was on high alert when we wandered through my usual little spot to sit and watch her house, and I was wondering if he was picking up on the far-off scents my brothers had left from their patrols.
We took my truck back to La Push, and Daisy helped me cook, dishing everything into smaller containers and clipping them shut. They would be able to freeze and reheat things as they needed them.
Leah came home ten minutes after the time I told her we'd be leaving, seeming a little annoyed we were still there.
"There's going to be a crowd there. You know how everyone gets when there's a new baby."
"We're just going to drop this off, say hello, and see if there's anything else they need," I scolded her, for a moment feeling like the older of the two of us. "Besides, they've been home for a couple of hours. I feel like a lot of people would have been there and left by now."
"It's kind of weird how you're all so close," Daisy told me with a small grin. "When my own sister had Noah, I didn't meet him for almost a week."
"Yeah, but Nena's situation was a bit of a mess," I supplied at an attempt to make her feel better.
I wasn't surprised to see Sam and Emily's car in the driveway when we arrived, as Sam and Jared had been best friends for a long time. Kim and Emily had helped each other through all of their pregnancies, baby sitting and cooking for each other, and just running errands when the other wasn't able to. Leah shut her door harder than was needed, muttering something about getting it over and done with, and followed us moodily to the house. Daisy grinned at me when I rolled my eyes in response to my sister's attitude, and slipped through the door that I held open for her.
"Hey, hey," I announced us, quieter than normal. The four older children were talking animatedly somewhere in the back of the house, and Kim and Emily looked up with wide grins, a bundle of blankets in Kim's arms. "We made enough food for a week, at least. I'm sure you'll be set with whatever Emily brought with her."
"Thanks, Seth," Jared helped me fit them into the already packed freezer, and Sam chuckled at our struggle, sipping on his beer from where he leaned on the wall at the edge of the couch.
"Do you want to meet him?" Kim asked Daisy, who hovered unsurely by the front door. Daisy smiled and wandered over, seating herself beside Emily, who seemed as infatuated with the tiny child as his own mother did.
"This is Theo," Kim murmured, adjusting him to slide him into my imprint's arms. Daisy smiled brightly at the small baby, running her fingertips gently through the small amount of black hair on top of his head. I moved closer to stand with Sam, smiling down at her holding my new nephew.
"He's so tiny," Daisy murmured happily. "Hello, Theo. Can you see me? Are you wondering why everyone's staring at you? You're so cute,"
"Leah," Emily called, her eyes gentle as she motioned with her head to join us. "Come and say hello."
"I'm not holding him," Leah grumbled, standing beside our cousin and eyeing the blankets uncomfortably.
"That's your aunty Leah," Kim cooed, reaching out and smoothing the blankets so Theo's dark, mostly shut eyes could see the rest of the room. And then he moved his eyes, from my imprint who was gazing at him lovingly, to my sister, who sucked in a deep breath, her knees buckling before she lowered herself to the couch, using her hand to steady herself as she leaned toward him.
I swallowed, not taking my eyes off my sister, who reached out instantly, ready to snap him out of Daisy's hands and hold him to her greedily.
"Leah…" Kim started with an uneasy smile. She looked torn between wanting to be ecstatically happy, and wanting to pick Theo up and lock him away. She looked up at Jared, who was frozen in his place, and gave up on her husband. "Do you want to hold him?" Kim asked gently.
Leah nodded desperately, and Daisy allowed the baby's mother to take him, exchanging the embrace. My sister's arm cradled him gently, her shoulders hunching over as if she was shielding him from the world. I don't think I'd ever seen her hold a baby before. She usually waited until they were a little older, less breakable, to pay them any attention. Her arms were awkward as she held him, not really knowing what to do, and looking as though she was at risk of letting him shatter to pieces if she moved a single muscle.
Daisy watched on, unaware of the magnitude of what had just happened, falling into conversation with Kim about her labor.
Sam chuckled awkwardly and raised the glass bottle to his lips, eyeing Jared, who was still stiff as a board beside him.
"Well, it looks like you've got yourself a new baby sitter."
AN
I think it's a little easier for people to imagine Leah imprinting on someone older and established, but the girl's been through a lot and I wanted her to have the chance to be a mother figure in someone's life, seeing as she might not ever have the option. Let me know what you think!
Also, just out of curiosity, who would we like to see an different imprint story with? I used to have a Claire and Quil story that had close to two thousand reviews on my old account, which I can't get into, so I was thinking of doing something different with those guys, but I also thought about maybe Embry? Nessie and Jacob were meant to be a bigger part of this one, and I know their time will come with me as well, but there's something about the underdogs that I love outside of Jacob's delicious Alpha-ness. Emily and Sam would be great to write as well, but I wasn't sure what everyone wanted to sink their teeth into, so let me know!