All characters that are from the TWILIGHT saga by Stephanie Meyer belong to Stephanie Meyer. All others belong to me. I do not receive profit for these stories except for the joyous enjoyment of reviews.

This story follows right after When I'm Gone: Third Installment to GONE Saga, so if you haven't read that one or the two before, please do.

The timeline of the story will coincide with Gabriel Michael Laskaris' growing up years, starting at Seth and Rosa's wedding day, April 12th and will progress from there.

AN: Emmie, 7yrs old/fourth grade: Bailey, 12yrs old/seventh grade: Brad, 12yrs old/seventh grade: Marc, 11yrs old/seventh grade and as always, Gabe's age is next to the chapter and he's in sixth grade.

I am sorry it took me so long to update the last time: work piled on me, then friend obligations and followed by a sinus infection...not cool. Anyway, enjoy what you read, and don't forget to review! That goes for everyone!

Chapter Forty-Four (10yrs old)
December 20th

"I need your help."

Emmie looked up from her pin board where she had been working on her butterfly display, pushing her glasses up her nose as she gave her older brother a quizzical look, "With what?"

Gabe shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he hunched his shoulders, "I don't know what to give Vivi for Christmas."

Emmie's eyes looked bigger than they normally would thanks to those glasses, "Christmas is four days away!"

"That's Christmas Eve," Gabe corrected her, his dark hair falling over his forehead; "We have five days 'til Christmas morning. That gives me an extra day."

Dark eyebrows arched above the black rims of her glasses, "You need to work on your math."

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"Mhm," Emmie tapped a finger to her chin for a few seconds before giving him a big smile, "Okay but you're going to owe me one."

He swallowed back a groan as he moved into her room, sitting on the edge of her neatly made bed due to Tyra's being much smaller and taken over by stuffed animals, "Fine, I'll owe you one. So what do I give her?"

"What do all girls like?"

Gabe's eyebrows lowered in thought, "Uh…"

Emmie let out a sigh of suffering as she spun her chair around to face him, "Flowers! What's Vivi's favorite flower?"

Gabe grinned because he knew the answer to that one, "Daisies."

"Ah, bellis perennis," Emmie hopped off her chair, missing Gabe's struggle to keep from laughing –perennis was one funny word, "You can make her a collage of pressed flowers."

Gabe watched her as she pulled her flower press from one of the low shelves in her closet to set it on the table before looking at him in time to catch that 'duh' look he'd perfected long ago, "It's the middle of December –where am I going to find flowers to press?"

Emmie wrinkled her nose at him, "For your information, there are many flowers that grow well into the winter, including daisies, but if you're too impatient, you can use some from my collection –under one condition."

He dropped his chin to rest against his chest with a groan, wondering how the hell he'd ended up with a seven year old sister that knew how to bargain, "What?"

"You go flower picking with me when the summer comes."

His eyes snapped up to give her a look of horror, "Flower picking? Me?"

Emmie gave a nod, her mouth pursed to keep from laughing –she did enjoy teasing her big brother, "You'll hold my basket for me."

"A basket," Gabe's blue eyes grew wider, "Why not a box…or a brown paper bag?"

"They take the moisture out of flowers, causing them to wilt and lose their color so it has to be a basket."

He fell back onto her bed, eyes closed as he realized if his friends from school –hell, if Marc and Brad, as well as Bailey –ever found out he went flower picking with a fucking basket, they were going to be merciless…bastards won't let him forget it.

Was it worth it?

He was still pissed at Vivi and the way she'd acted at that stupid dance. Fuck, the only reason he even bothered to ask Uncle Seth to teach him to dance was so he could dance with her but she acted like it had been his fault that airhead Megan got in his way.

He'd tried looking for her after that but couldn't find her and when he finally saw her, she was dancing with Ray –fucking Ray of all people!

They never got to dance with each other and to be honest, he had been so damn mad seeing her dance with all his friends to even bother approaching her at all. His mama had picked them up and they'd spent the entire ride back to La Push in complete silence, neither one looking at the other.

Should he even bother?

"Fine," he growled under his breath, sitting up as he gave her a glare that only seemed to make her smile widened, "I'll go…flower picking with you."

She couldn't hold back the giggle, going back into her closet before returning with a shoebox decorated with pieces of fabric and colorful ribbons courtesy of her cousin Lili, "You can look through the ones here. There's construction paper on the second drawer of my desk and you can find the glue in the first drawer."

Picking out a piece of white paper, he closed the drawer before opening the first one and pulling out a bottle of Elmer's glue. Moving across the room to stand at the table, he set the paper and glue down, removing the lid to the shoebox, his eyebrow arching in surprise.

There were dozens of plastic baggies containing flowers, each neatly labeled with the common and scientific names of their contents.

Sifting through the bags, he found one holding several white daisies, the yellow centers bright despite them being pressed and dried. Setting it aside, he searched through the rest, pulling out some black-eyed Susans (rudbeckia hirta), blue periwinkles (vinca minor), purple violets (viola odorata), and pink pansies (viola tricolor hortensis).

He looked at the five bags he'd pulled out, each one containing at least five flowers. Turning the paper sideways, he took the glue bottle and twisted the top open as he looked over at his sister, watching her open the lid of a small jar and carefully tip a dried butterfly out into her hand, "What are you doing?"

Emmie set the jar on the table, the nearly transparent blue butterfly resting in the middle of her open hand, "Working on my butterfly display. This is a glaucopsyche lygdamus…Appalachian Blue. They're mostly up in Canada but occasionally migrate down to the northern States like Washington, Idaho and Montana. This one's a male."

He watched her place it on an eight by eight piece of smooth foam board, her little fingers sifting through the silver pins in the small tin box between them, "How do you know it's male?"

"The females aren't as colorful," she made sure it was positioned exactly centered above the label of its name, handling it by its edges so she wouldn't rub off any of the colorful scales, "The males have more color because they have to attract females. Did you know that butterflies don't have mouths?"

Gabe stared at her as she concentrated on what she was doing, "How do they eat?"

"Well, they have this body part that's like a straw –it's called a proboscis. The coolest thing is, though, that they have tiny taste sensors on their feet."

"So it would be like us walking with our tongues?"

Emmie laughed, reaching up to push her glasses up her nose as she gave him a big smile, "Exactly! Another cool thing –butterflies don't poop."

This time, Gabe was the one laughing, turning his attention back to his own project as he fingered the corner of the bag holding the black-eyed Susans, "A collage of flowers seems kinda…simple."

Emmie looked over at him, frowning for a few seconds before an idea came to her, "You can make it into a picture frame! Glue the flowers around the border. Aunt Rose may have a picture of you two together and Daddy can help you make a frame out of wood -he might even have some glass left over from making Aunt Rose's windows."

Gabe tilted his head to the side, biting the inside of his cheek for a few seconds, "That does sound better. Yeah, that could definitely work. Good idea Em!"

"I know," she nodded as she slipped a needle into the middle of the butterfly's thorax, "Especially since you only have four days."

"Five."

Looking up at him, she cocked her head to the side as she gave him a look of pure exasperation, "You really need to work on your math."


December 28th

Dear Diary,
It's been an eventful year…and now it's almost over.

I've been writing in you every day and I'm going to run out of pages soon –Tio Seth promised me a new diary for Christmas, just like last year and the one before that…I guess it's becoming a tradition of sorts.

I don't know –I guess it helps me think stuff through when I write in you…I can read back on things and see it from a different perspective…maybe even understand what it is that's confusing me so much.

Right now –I don't know. I guess it's just that growing up seems too complicated. Things were simpler back when all I had to worry about was Marc seeing Gabriel touch my hand.

Back then, it seemed to be the biggest hurdle because Marc just plain didn't like Gabriel –now, he doesn't like him but only whenever he's too close to me which doesn't happen as often as it used too.

Why does it seem so complicated? We're only ten years old and it's like the biggest thing hanging over my head…is it gonna get worse?

I'm still feeling hurt about what happened at the school dance. He never did ask me to dance just kept looking at me with angry eyes while I did my best to pretend I was having fun. I told Nika about it and she tried to get me to talk to him because it seemed like he was planning on asking me to dance before Megan got in his way but Beth says I can't let him know how much it hurt me.

I don't understand why I can't tell him the truth –I like him so much…and some of the things he does hurt me –and make me mad.

It's not just Beth telling me to keep it to myself –something inside me just won't let me show him the truth…

How much he matters to me.

I guess, in a way, I'm hoping he'll figure it out himself…

I think he may have, to some extent, understood the way I felt that night because he gave me a really great Christmas gift –one he made himself.

Well, sort of. It's sitting on my desk right now and I can't help looking at it –he said his dad helped him make the frame and that Emmie let him have some of her pressed flowers…and I know Tia Rosa gave him the picture of us.

I still remember the day she took that picture –it snowed on Thanksgiving Day and we were all playing outside. Nika and I were making snow angels with Tyra and Gabriel came over to watch.

He helped me up, held my hand and told me I made a really pretty angel…then Marc hit him square in the back of the head with a snowball and he took off after him.

Its little moments like that…such brief yet wonderful moments that make my heart beat so fast it's almost like I'm falling and falling without any possibility of hitting bottom.

Vivi put down her pen, letting out a soft sigh as she looked at the picture –Tia had developed it in black and white, the whole thing standing out against the background of bright colored flowers. Touching a finger to the glass, she smiled as she traced the petals of a daisy, wondering if he had used them along with the others because he knew it was her favorite or because they were available.

Looking at the opposite corner of her desk where her alarm clock was, she wrinkled her nose at the time, closing the diary and placing it into her desk drawer before getting out of her chair, already dressed in her purple plaid pajamas.

As soon as the room's light was off –her bedside lamp with its beautiful rainbow hued glass base casting a soft glow over her bed –she climbed under the covers, her long hair in its customary braid coiling on her pillow as she settled her head into it.

She stared up at the ceiling, one minute bleeding into the next as she wondered what Gabriel was doing…being it was so late into the night, he was probably already asleep, maybe even dreaming…

Tossing the sheets aside, she got out of bed, moving across the soft plush rug that covered the warm wooden floor of her room to climb into the window seat, pulling Emmett into her arms as she looked out the window at the moon hanging high above the sky, wondering if he was dreaming of her…


February 23rd
No Moon Night

Seattle, Washington

The back of his fingers brushed over her bare shoulders, a shiver running down her back as he set her coat in place, chuckling softly as he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, his words hot against her skin, "You look so beautiful tonight."

Looking over her shoulder with glittering brown-green eyes, she gave him a soft smile full of seductive promises, "You're only saying that to get laid."

Rick laughed, placing his hand on the small of her back as they made their way towards the restaurant's exit, "Well, baby, I do hope to get rewarded for stating the truth."

Leah laughed, the dangling diamonds on her ears –a birthday gift from her wonderful husband –dancing as they caught the lights and turned them into rainbows, "You were already going to get rewarded for such an amazing birthday."

Rick chuckled, looking out to see it was raining quite hard. Turning to smile at his wife, he took the sides of her coat, pulling them over her round stomach, hiding the strapless black dress she wore, the diamond necklace around her neck a match to her earrings, "Wait for me here, agape mou. I'll pull the car around and get the umbrella from the backseat."

Leah smiled into his blue eyes, reaching up to cup his jaw as she pressed her lips against his, a shudder wracking her body as he smoothed his hands down the sides of her stomach, "Okay."

Moving to the side, she watched him step outside, drawing his black coat close as he ran around the corner of the restaurant towards the back parking lot where they had parked. Letting out a sigh, she looked to the inside of the restaurant, watching as people walked about, the smell of food lingering in the air as conversations melded together.

Looking at her watch, she felt a shiver of nervousness run through her, looking out into the street before pushing the door and stepping outside, the overhang keeping the rain from reaching her. Stepping to the side, she looked down the street beside the restaurant, able to see yellow headlights slowly inching up the street, the rain falling harder.

"Give me your purse."

Leah frowned, stepping forward before turning around, eyes settling on the guy –about three inches shorter so that meant he was her height since she was wearing heels, he had a dark blue sweater with the hood pulled over his head and she could smell the body odor coming off of him, "Excuse me?"

"Give me your purse," his dark eyes shifted around nervously, his hands in the pockets of his sweater, "And those earrings."

Seriously? He was actually mugging an obviously pregnant woman?

"No."

His eyes snapped to her in surprise, "I have a knife."

She lifted her shoulder in a dismissive gesture, "I don't care. You have got to be seriously desperate to mug a pregnant woman."

"Look, lady," he growled, shifting his weight as he moved closer, Leah staying put despite the unpleasant odor, "I don't want to hurt you but I will if you don't listen so just shut up and give me your fucking purse and earrings."

She saw the familiar color of their car out of the corner of her eye pulling around the corner but didn't turn towards it as she cocked an eyebrow at the mugger, "You're the one that's going to seriously get hurt if you don't turn around and walk away."

"You uppity bitch."

She got a brief glimpse of the knife he pulled out of his sweater's pocket right before an arm wrapped around his neck from behind, a large hand clamping on his wrist and squeezing until the knife clattered onto the sidewalk, "I really do not appreciate having you pull a knife on my wife or calling her a bitch."

The guy gasped, a squeak escaping him that Leah was certain to be an apology but Rick was putting enough pressure on his throat to keep him from getting any oxygen.

He pulled at Rick's arm with his free hand to no avail, his face starting to turn an alarming shade of purple before Rick shoved him to the side, "Get the hell out of here."

Without looking back, the guy ran across the street, narrowly missed getting hit by a passing car as Rick stood where he was, watching him until the scruffy guy disappeared into the dark rain.

Leah could feel the heat settling deep in her belly, biting her lip to keep from letting out a moan –God, it always turned her on when he got all Alpha on her behalf.

She stepped towards him but halted when he turned heated blue eyes towards her, the muscle in his jaw ticking visibly, "Why didn't you give him what he wanted?"

"What," Leah's eyebrows lowered, a little slow in realizing he was angry at her, "I knew you weren't going to let him hurt me."

"And if I hadn't gotten here in time?"

Leah shrugged, finally catching on to the tightness in his voice but not understanding why he would be mad –he knew very well she could protect herself just fine, "I would have taken him on."

Rick took a deep breath through his nose in an attempt to tamp down the rising anger but it didn't work, "Gami̱méno skatá, Leah! Eísai októ̱ mi̱nó̱n énkyos, tha prépei na skefteíte prin energí̱sete!" *Fucking shit, Leah! You're eight months pregnant –you need to think before you act!*

Leah bristled, not understanding a word he'd said but knowing from the tone of his voice it wasn't good, "I can take care of myself just fine –and there was no way in hell he was going to get my earrings when you just gave them to me this morning."

He grabbed her by the shoulders, growling just before he slammed his mouth over hers, "The earrings I can replace."

Leah pushed her body into him, fingers holding on tight to the lapels of his coat as she responded to his heated kiss with the same degree of fire and need –desperate need as her disbelief over the whole situation melted, leaving her trembling in his arms as the danger she had been in crashed over her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in a broken sob as he moved his mouth down her throat, moving her hands to hold on to his broad shoulders as he curved his body against hers, "Oh God, Rick, I'm so sorry…I wasn't thinking…that was so stupid –"

"Shh," Rick placed a line of wet kisses along her jaw before sucking her bottom lip into his mouth, biting it softly then releasing it, "It's okay, baby…I'll never let anything hurt you."

She nodded, a strand of hair slipping lose from the up-do it was in, "I know –he could have hurt our baby because of –"

He didn't shush her again, simply covered her mouth with his, tongues delving into the deep recesses of mouths, his hands moving down her back to squeeze her hips before moving them to the sides of her round stomach.

A clearing of a throat then an amused voice broke into their bubble, "Excuse me?"

Regret welled up as he broke the kiss, sliding his fingers up her back and into her hair as she buried her face into his neck, his blue eyes moving to the police officer standing a couple of feet from them, the rain a drizzle now.

"The valet saw what happened –the concierge called us," the officer –Rick's eyes flicked to the name plate above the breast pocket, "We need you to come to the station to file a report."

Rick jerked his head in a nod, his arms still tight around Leah as he nudged the knife with the toe of his shoe, "He dropped his knife."

Officer Reseda cleared his throat as he bent to pick up the knife, "Hopefully his prints are still on it. Would you like to ride with me or drive yourselves?"

Rick shook his head, rubbing soothing circles on Leah's back, "We'll drive there."

The police officer nodded, writing down their names and basic information before he moved towards his cruiser, the lights flashing as a crowd began to gather.

"This is not how I wanted our night to end," Rick muttered as he led his wife towards their car, the cruiser still in place behind them –looked like Officer Reseda was going to be escorting them to the station.

"Wasn't exactly planning on it either."

Chuckling, he gave her a soft kiss, opening the passenger door and holding her hand to steady her as she climbed in, the coat she wore opening to reveal the black skirt of her dress riding up her long legs, "I should have made dinner at home."

Leah laughed at him, the fear that had crowded in on her now dissipating as she reached up to grab a fistful of his coat and pull him down, pressing a sweet wet kiss against his mouth before she whispered, "When we get home…we'll pretend this never happened."

By the time they got home, Leah was dead on her feet, her protest weak as Rick swept her up into his arms soon after helping her out of the car.

It wouldn't have been easy to make the trip up their driveway to the back of the house with a five foot nine inches and eight months pregnant woman in his arms had he not been one to keep in shape, his strong arms secure around her.

Reaching the back door, he turned the knob –nobody in La Push locked their back doors –and stepped into the dark kitchen, Leah's head resting on his shoulder, the soft puffs of warm air against his neck letting him know she was asleep.

Once in their bedroom, he gently laid her on their bed, removing her three inch heels, his thumbs rubbing the soles of her feet pulling a soft moan from her as she snuggled into her pillow. Smiling, he patiently and efficiently undressed her, leaving her in silk boy-cut panties and nothing else, only struggling when he had to pull the covers from under her.

Kissing her forehead, he tucked the sheet and comforter around her shoulders, taking her clothes and draping them over the back of her vanity chair before undressing himself, pulling on a pair of comfortable lounge pants then climbing into bed beside her, wrapping his arms around her as soon as she rolled into him.

Closing his eyes, he pressed his lips against her forehead, the citrus mint scent of her shampoo making his senses hum but he was just as content holding her while she slept as he would have been making love to her.

There was the morning, after all…


Sunday, March 1st

"So they're not letting you boycott your birthday this year, uh?"

"Nope," Marc's voice still had a tinge of anger in it as he moved his pedals back and forth, using his front brakes and keeping the handlebars at an angle so he could just stay on his bike without moving his feet from the pedals, "Uncle Seth says it'll be a great party and I'll forget all about the fact that I hate my birthday."

Bailey nodded, wiping the excess grease from her bike chain before shoving the rag into the back pocket of her jeans. They were in the parking lot of Forks High School being it was Sunday so there was plenty of space for them to work on their bike tricks but Gabe and Brad were still missing, "How old are you gonna be?"

This was why Uncle Seth and Tia Rosa had insisted on a stupid party –because it would make it easier to jump right into, "Thirteen."

"Seriously," Bailey shoved the kickstand back before pushing off with one foot, the other already in the pedal, "You're older than me?"

"Yep," Marc turned in a tight circle, widening slightly with every turn until he had enough speed to pull his handle bars up, locking his back brakes and standing on the pedals, the sun casting a long shadow of him and his bike across the asphalt –a perfect wheelie, "Just some months. You're gonna be thirteen this year, right?"

Bailey nodded, slowly turning her bike into figure eights as she caught sight of Brad and Gabe making their way towards them, "In July. Having a summer birthday means we're younger than everyone else in our class for the entire school year."

"I am too except for the last three months."

"So are they like double teaming your parties," Bailey pulled her handlebars, barely getting off the asphalt before she landed again –she was still having trouble with the wheelie and it ticked her off, "You and your sister's?"

"Vivi said she just wants a sleepover with Nika," Marc spun his pedals backwards, kicking up a small spray of loose gravel, "So the party's all mine...like I care. You need to lock your back brakes at the same time that you pull the handlebars. It'll work even better if you stand and lean back."

Bailey did as he said but with a little more enthusiasm than necessary, jumping and landing on her feet as the bike flipped back, "Shit!"

Marc chuckled as Gabe and Brad reached them, both of them sporting big grins, "What took you two so long?"

"Nothing, really," Gabe slid to a stop, dropping his feet to the ground, "Just got to talking with Uncle Sam."

"Ah, fuck," Bailey pushed off the ground, swinging her leg over the back wheel and settling back onto the seat of her bike, "Is he reinstating the ban to include weekends?"

Brad laughed, rocking back onto his heels, the front of his bike turning sideways since he didn't have a hold on his handlebars. Saving himself from falling on his ass, he grabbed the handlebars and straightened his bike, "No but I'm sure he was thinking about it after agreeing to Gabe's request."

"Which was?"

"Uncle Sam is going to let us use one of the trails –just one of them –in the forest so we can race our bikes."

"One trail?"

"Yup."

They all looked at each other, their grins wider than their eyes as they thought of the possibilities…oh, they were endless…