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: An entire month! I hope to Zeus and my muse y'all haven't abandoned me. I've been working too hard, too long and too often. It's getting harder and harder to keep chapters coming constantly because there are issues arising between myself as the writer and my characters. There is a dark period looming ahead and I seem to be dreading it while at the same time, looking forward to exploring my abilities as a writer.
Please review, let me know I've not lost you. Enjoy as you read and, once again, review for the sake of my muse.
Chapter Sixty-Nine (15 years old)
Late at night, March 25th
Forks
Julie let out a satisfied sigh, her moist skin cooling as soon as her husband rolled off her, "Wow."
"Yeah," Lian nodded as he stared up at the ceiling, letting out a long breath before turning on his side, Julie smiling as he moved into her side of the bed. He snuggled right in beside her, placing his head on her chest, his arm wrapped around her waist under the bed sheet she had pulled up to cover her breasts while wedging his thigh between hers, "We definitely needed that."
Julie chuckled as she rested her arm along his, her other arm across his shoulders while she ran her fingers through his damp hair, looking over to the bassinet a couple of feet away from their bed where their four month old currently slept, "Yeah, we did."
Lian closed his eyes, rubbing his cheek against the soft, warm skin of her chest. He'd waited until after she'd changed, fed and placed their baby back into his bassinet before attacking her, his hands and mouth exploring her body in a way only someone who knew it very well could.
It had been hot and fast but they'd still enjoyed each other immensely, in the same soul stirring way as making slow love.
They were both halfway to falling asleep when a slight noise by their bedroom door had Lian looking up, eyebrows lowering at the sight of his little girl standing just a couple of feet inside the room, her arms crossed over her chest, tiny hands tucked under her armpits as she scratched furiously, "Baby, what's wrong? Why are you scratching your armpits?"
Jillian's slanted eyes widened slightly as a wolf's howl sounded in the night; being they lived a couple of houses down the street from Charlie and Sue Swan –their three bedroom two bathroom house bordered the forest leading into La Push –they'd been hearing the howling of wolves for the past three nights, "Daddy, I scared."
"Oh, baby," Lian moved away from Julie, making sure the sheet was still covering his lower body as he sat up, holding his hand out to her, "Is that why you're scratching your armpits?"
Jillie nodded as she ran up to the side of the king sized bed, her pink night shirt hitting her mid-shin, "They itchy."
Easily lifting his thirty two pound four year old, he settled her in the bed between him and Julie as another howl sounded in the night, "Baby, the wolves are out in the woods –they won't get anywhere near our house. They don't like people."
Julie smiled as she held the sheet to her chest, turning on her side to face Lian as Jillie looked up at her father, violet hued eyes glittering in the dim light of the moon's beams coming in through their window as she kept scratching at her armpits, "Not thems, Daddy. Thems are good."
"You're not scared of the wolves?"
She shook her head, her shoulder length hair, blue-black and straight, falling over her oval shaped face as she wiggled closer to him, "No –I scared of it."
Lian's confusion made Julie smile as she combed her fingers through her daughter's silky hair, "She's scared of the cold one."
Lian let out an aggravated sigh as he looked over his baby girl's head at his wife, "I told you it wouldn't be a good idea to take her to last week's tribal bonfire."
Julie rolled her eyes as she moved in closer, placing a kiss on the crown of her first born's head, "It can't hurt you, baby –it can't hurt you or me."
Jillie turned her head to look up into her mother's purple eyes, her own wide and filled with fear as she scratched at her armpits, "Why not? They's bad, mama."
"Yes, they are," Julie stroked her fingers over her small forehead, smiling as Lian gently stopped tiny fingers from continuing with the scratching, "But mermaids are immune to them –and if they bite a mermaid, they will die. You and I don't have to worry about them hurting us because they can't."
Jillie blinked as she looked at her Daddy then back at mama, "Daddy and Donny?"
"They can't be hurt either because we'll protect them."
Jillie's eyes brightened as she smiled, looking up at Lian, her tiny teeth bright as she reached up to hug his neck, "Mama and I protect you and Donny, Daddy."
Chuckling, he pressed a kiss against her forehead, moving slightly to get away from the tiny knee digging into his side, "Thank you, Jelly Bean. Are you ready to go back to sleep?"
She nodded, snuggling into his side as he asked, "Would you like me to tuck you back into your big girl bed?"
Her eyes widened as another howl, followed by a second then third, sounded just a few yards away from their house, "I sleep with you and mama?"
Lian chuckled then groaned as a pointy little elbow dug into his side, "Okay, baby, you can stay here with us but you need to be still."
She gave a furious nod, wiggling and squirming into her father's side as she drew up her little knees and pulled her nightshirt over them, the slanted black-lettered slogan across the front –DRUM*MER: one who beats things with sticks –stretching with the pink fabric, "Sing my song, Daddy."
Julie reached down for the comforter at the foot of the bed, pulling it up and tucking it around her baby's small frame as Lian teased her, "Which song do you want me to sing, Jelly Bean?"
She wrinkled her little button nose, stretching her legs as she pulled her arms free of the comforter, "My song, Daddy."
Both Julie and Lian let out a chuckle, Julie looking over her shoulder at the sound of a soft whimper, listening for Donny's cry but silence followed so while Lian began singing Rock Me Baby –the one Jillie had commandeered as hers, rightly so being it was part of the CD they'd specifically put together for her –she got out of bed, picking up her night shirt from the floor and pulling it on, the hem a couple of inches below her bare bottom, moving to check on her baby as another howl sounded in the night.
Tucking the soft blue blanket around his little legs, she smiled at the splayed out position Donny seemed to prefer while asleep, his dark lashes resting over chubby cheeks, the little light blue t-shirt he wore –keep watching me, I might do a trick written across the front in dark blue letters –rising and falling with every breath he took.
Stroking his cheek, she looked over her shoulder to see Jillie had fallen asleep; Lian was stroking his fingers through her fine hair as he finished the song, pressing a kiss on her small forehead before looking up at her, "Are you coming back to bed?"
Julie smiled, leaning in to kiss Donny's pudgy little cheek before moving across the small space and back into bed, the howling fading which only meant the wolves were moving away from Forks and back into La Push or possibly even up into the mountains. She wasn't privy to the information concerning whatever was going on with the pack but being what she was, she could sense the danger out there, could feel the cold deep inside her warning of an unnatural being within the sphere of her existence.
"July?"
She looked away from the window and into the dark brown eyes of her soul, smiling as she slipped her hand into his as he asked, "When is she going to…you know…turn into a mermaid?"
Turning on her side, she dropped her eyes to study the sleeping features of her little girl, able to see a bit of Lian in the sharp lines of her cheekbones and the arch of her dark eyebrows, "She'll turn into a mermaid the half-moon after her first broken heart."
He arched an eyebrow at his wife, "A broken heart? How old were you when you had your first broken heart?"
Julie smiled as she reached up to push her tangled curls over her shoulder, Lian's thumb rubbing the center of her palm making her sleepy, "I was seventeen. I got into a lot of trouble earlier that year and ended up having to do five hundred hours of community service. I got assigned to Camp Away in Idaho for my two months of summer break, which is where I met Derek, Lance and Daisy. I had so much fun and being Derek was director of the music program, he was assigned to oversee my work with the kids. I was basically his shadow and he was mine –we would spend hours working together, planning song hour and dance hour, practicing musical skits and campfire sing-a-longs. We got to know each other pretty well –we would spend hours after closing campfires talking…about anything, really. We never ran out of things to talk about."
Lian felt a twinge of jealousy but he pushed it away, knowing whatever she had felt back then was no longer an issue. Readjusting his side position, he placed his head on his bicep, their inter-locked hands resting against the headboard of their bed, Julie's position mirroring his own, "What happened?"
"Well, as you can imagine, I ended up with this huge crush on him," Julie chuckled as she thought back to the young girl she had been, the memories fond now they were no longer tainted with pain and disillusionment, "By the end of the summer, I was positive it was true love."
Lian studied her face, his hand resting lightly on his daughter's small torso, Julie resting her own hand over his as she continued, "I missed him like crazy once I got home but we kept in touch –we e-mailed, wrote letters, even talked on the phone often. I still had another hundred hours to go on my community service so Derek suggested I come up to the camp for their winter program. I started thinking perhaps he felt something for me too."
Lian nodded as he looked down at their little girl, gently stroking a finger down the bridge of her turned-up nose, seeing how its straight lined shape was reminiscent of his own, "I can see how you would think that."
Julie chuckled as she scooted in closer, smiling at the weight of her husband's hand as it settled on her hip, "Everyone came back to camp for the winter season –along with Susie. Derek had this huge smile on his face when he introduced us, told me how they'd been together since sophomore year of high school. She was a nursing student, just a year away from finishing while he was in the process of getting into graduate school. I've never felt anything like it before –this tight sensation in my chest before it released, kind of like a snapping rubber band. It took everything I had in me not to show how much it hurt."
He traced the high arch of her cheekbone, moving his finger down her jaw before slowly thumbing at her lower lip as he asked, "What did you do?"
She stared into his dark brown eyes, feeling like she could fall into them as time ticked by. She took a nipping bite at his thumb, avidly watching his pupils dilate. He swallowed her chuckle in a kiss, his fingers sliding into her hair to grip the back of her neck and pull her in closer. What started as a simple kiss morphed into something deep and dark, full of sweet desire, having them both humming with the intensity of it.
Jillie let out a soft sigh, wiggling to turn on her side and bury her face into her Daddy's pillow; a reminder they were currently sharing their king sized bed with their four year old little girl.
Julie giggled at the look on his face, reaching up to touch her fingers to his mouth in a silent promise as she answered the question he had asked before they got sidetracked, "I pretended like there was nothing wrong but it wasn't easy –I was feeling this odd tug right at my chest, which seemed to get stronger every day I avoided talking to Derek. Eventually, I started hearing it…I knew what it was because my mother had once explained it to me, back when I broke up with my first boyfriend, thinking it may happen then but it didn't. No surprise being I didn't really have any deep feelings for Teddy. But Derek –that was a whole different thing."
Lian nodded, not interrupting as she kept explaining how difficult it had been to ignore the call of the ocean, "Every time I saw them together, I could hear it calling my name and it was a struggle –a very painful struggle considering I was in Idaho and nowhere near the ocean but I could still hear it…there were times when the call of the ocean seemed to intensify the heartbreak."
"How did you get through it," Lian asked, looking down at his baby girl as he promised himself he would do everything possible to make sure she never experienced heartbreak –not because he didn't want her to become tied to the ocean as all mermaids were but because he didn't want her experiencing the pain his wife had.
"I avoided Derek as much as possible, which after the summer break spent following him like a puppy, it was quite obvious," Julie ran her fingers through Jillie's silky fine hair, studying the exquisite features of her china doll face –she was practically a clone of Jiao, Julie's mother, except for the small little things she'd inherited from her father: the beautiful straight line of the bridge of her nose, the high arch of her eyebrows, her high cheekbones and defined edge to her jaw line, not to mention the faint copper tint to her dusky skin, "Susie, on the other hand, I couldn't avoid without coming off as rude. She was really sweet and friendly –there was no way not to like her."
Lian rolled onto his back, kissing the back of Julie's hand before letting it go so he could stack both hands under his head, his eyes studying her face while she lightly traced the delicate lines and curves of their little girl's sleeping face, "You two are practically siblings –Derek treats you like another little sister so you must have worked it out."
Julie nodded, leaning in to place a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead before snuggling under the comforter, getting comfortable on her side as she slipped her hands under her pillow, purple eyes staring into chocolate brown, "Two weeks into the winter break, Derek cornered me and asked if there was something he needed to apologize for. It was embarrassing but the whole thing came out –he apologized for hurting me but also pointed out he'd done nothing but be a friend and mentor. It took me a few days to see he was right but by then, the damage was done."
Lian nodded, closing his eyes as Julie's voice dropped a couple of octaves, her words painting a picture of the wonders she'd seen at the bottom of the ocean the very first time she'd gone under. He could hear the awe in her voice, could understand the need she had felt back then –a need to feel nothing.
He had once been there so he couldn't help but be grateful for his wife's strength in surviving her first broken heart, and the subsequent ones after, instead of giving in to the ocean's promise of a numbing nothingness to replace the pain of a broken heart.
"What do you mean Uncle Robert called you?"
Emily gave a sigh as she looked into her cousin's brown-green eyes while tilting her head towards her husband, "He asked to speak to Sam."
Leah arched an eyebrow as she looked over at Sam while rocking from side to side to soothe Erick as he sniffled into her shoulder, little fingers kneading into her neck and arm as she held him chest to chest.
Except for Vivi who was still in the hospital with Gabriel by her side and Marc who had gone to Forks High to pick up the day's missed school work for both him and his sister, they were all currently congregated at the Uley's small sea-side home, the older children looking out after the younger ones while they played outside in either the front or back yard.
Such a large amount of children, of course, meant possible accidents and cross words, which was why Erick was currently cuddled into his mother's arms, taking much needed comfort for a skinned knee courtesy of the sidewalk getting in the way of a game of tag.
Sam let out a sigh as he leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms over his wide chest, "About two years ago, a couple of boys up in the Makah reservation went missing. There was no sign of foul play or forced abduction so after the initial investigation, they were ruled as runaways."
Rick let out a heavy breath as he ran his fingers through his sandy blond hair, "The vampire the boys cornered?"
Sam gave a jerky nod, "Robert called because they found the first boy –up in the mountains. He was badly decomposed but it was obvious his blood had been drained."
"Why is he calling you now," Leah shifted Erick in her arms, his heavy weight letting her know he had fallen asleep, "The vampire was destroyed so it's no longer a threat."
"He called because five months ago, two more boys went missing," Sam sat forward to place his arms on the table, dark eyes steady as he looked around the small kitchen where they were all congregated –both those who still phased and those who didn't, as well as their imprints, "And two days ago, they found the first one –between Makah and La Push, completely drained of blood."
"Oh shit," Seth rubbed his hands over his face, letting out a groan as he leaned back into his chair, Rose's small hand on his shoulder a source of comfort, "It had a partner."
"So it would seem."
Leah opened her eyes at the slightly cool draft hitting her warm skin, closing them again as Rick closed the bathroom door. A couple of minutes passed, the sound of clothes being removed and dropped to the floor having her warm body slowly heat up but she didn't open her eyes, too relaxed in the hot scented water she was currently submerged in.
"Move forward."
"No," she murmured, lifting her foot out of the water to hook it over the curved edge of her claw foot tub, a birthday gift from Rick –a gift solely meant to indulge her love of baths, "I'm too comfortable."
"Alright."
She smiled at the sound of him stepping into the water, its level rising dangerously close to the edge as he settled himself between her legs, leaning back and resting his weight against her, his head fitting perfectly in the hollow between her shoulder and neck.
Wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, she kissed his temple before softly asking, "What are we going to do, Rick?"
He didn't pretend not to know what she was referring to, being it was the one thing heavy on everyone's mind –everyone being those in the pack and in the know – "What we are meant to do, Leah. We patrol, we protect, and we destroy."
"I'm afraid for the boys."
He wanted to tell her not to be but as their mother, she wasn't going to stop feeling fear over their safety just because he'd said so, "They know what they're doing and I won't allow them to take any risks."
She bit her lip to keep from saying anything else, instead settling on another one of her fears as she thought of the coming full moon, shy of two weeks away, "I don't want Xavier and Erick out there."
Rick closed his eyes, letting out a heavy breath as the hot water helped his muscles to relax along with Leah's long fingered hands moving in broad strokes over his chest and stomach, "I need Embry with me, Leah, so he can help Gabe and Zak while I do the same with the twins, if it comes down to a fight. I can't put him out of commission by baby-sitting Xavier and Erick."
"Then I'll keep them indoors."
Rick let out a scoff as he looked up at her face, seeing she was seriously contemplating the foolish idea of keeping two wild wolves inside the house, "Do you have any idea what kind of havoc they'll create? For all intent and purpose, they are wild wolves –you can't keep them indoors."
"What do you suggest, then?"
"Have the girls spend the night with Sue and you stay out in the campground with Xavier and Erick," Rick could see the tumultuous thoughts in her brown-green eyes, reaching up to cup her face, "You won't have to worry about the girls because Quil will be keeping an eye on Forks, what with Claire spending most of her time there being Daisy is helping her with wedding plans."
"It's crazy, really," Leah closed her eyes as she buried her nose into her husband's neck, her hands moving over his chest and around her shoulders then down his well-defined arms as she thought of Quil and Claire –they had flown in from Los Angeles just two days ago, Quil falling into the patrol schedule and into the pack like he'd never left in the first place, "Planning a wedding at a time like this."
"Life goes on, baby," Rick murmured as he too closed his eyes, slipping just a little deeper into the water, his head comfortably pillowed on her chest, "Besides, it's about time they took the next step."
"It's been almost six years since they left La Push," Leah pressed a kiss against his shoulder, her hands moving up his arms and across his chest, delight in simply having him to herself filling her with every passing minute, every wet touch, "It's definitely about time they got married."
"Being they've only been together for about six months –"
"What are you talking about," Leah lifted her head to give him a look of incredulity, "They were together when they left."
"They broke up about nine months after," Rick gave her a lazy grin, enjoying the touch of her hands on his skin, "Claire didn't take it all that well when she found out he was a shape-shifter, not to mention the whole imprinting thing which had her thinking the only reason he was with her was because he had to be."
"How did I not know this?"
Rick almost swallowed the laugh he was about to let out at the feel of Leah's slick hands sliding down his stomach and wrapping around a decidedly tense part of his otherwise relaxed body, "Ierá gami̱méno skatá! A little warning, Leah." *Holy fucking shit*
Leah giggled as she gave him one long stroke, squeezing the tip before letting go, knowing he wouldn't be able to continue with their conversation if she kept her hand on his cock, "Now tell me how is it you know about Quil and Claire and I don't."
"You seem to think just because you don't do patrols anymore, you can't keep up with the pack gossip," Rick grabbed her hands, lacing his fingers through hers and settling them high on his flat stomach, "Now that the kids don't need as much supervision, you should make it a point to visit more with your brothers –despite my being your Alpha, they still are your brothers."
He felt her smile against his shoulder, the feel of her wet mouth moving up the side of his neck causing goosebumps to break along his arms despite the now lukewarm water, "I can see you have something other than gossip in mind."
"Maybe," her whisper brushed against the hollow of his ear, a shiver running down his back followed by another as she tugged at his earlobe with her teeth before sliding her tongue along the edge of his ear to tug at the helix –the upper curve of the ear.
Rick let go of one of her hands, knowing without a doubt it would migrate south of the border once again, several seconds passing before he was proven correct, "If you want to get naughty, there's a need for a change in position, don't you think?"
Leah placed sucking kisses along his jaw, her hand working him over in a slow and torturous rhythm, "Actually, I was thinking of taking advantage of you."
He groaned as she sucked on his neck, already knowing she would leave a hickey behind as proof of their activities, "Well, then…who am I to argue?"
"You are my Alpha," she whispered into his ear, knowing full well what those words did to him and his libido, "But for now, I'm in charge."
"As you wish."
March 27th
It was organized chaos, yells and laughter of children in the air as they ran around the large backyard in celebration of a fifth birthday. Leah had ordered a bouncing castle for the day, while setting up other stations for the younger kids, such as painting mini canoes with the help of Bradley and Gabriel, making beaded bracelets and necklaces with the help of Daisy and Lili as well as entertainment in the form of Nika, Vivi and Bailey, who were performing a dance/gymnastics combination they've been working on specifically for today. Collin and Lyn had been able to come and were currently holding court with about five of the toddlers with their balloon animal stories, the kids cheering excitedly whenever they got one to keep.
Leah was truly grateful to everyone –without their help, she wouldn't have been able to pull it off. Not only was it the usual pack kids –all twenty-five of them –but there was also the entire Forks kindergarten class along with several kids from the tribal school and a couple of invites, such as Betty who was currently helping Marc with the relay races.
Sam, Rick and Seth were manning the grills while Emily and Kim helped the kids at the food table, Lian and Julie in the front yard doing sing-a-longs with Jillie helping them out.
It was obvious everyone was having fun, all kids enjoying themselves as they moved from one activity to another. Leah looked about the kids swarming the backyard, realizing there was one kid missing –the one this whole party had been organized for.
"Daddy! Daddy!"
Rick looked away from Sam and Seth, stepping to the side in time to catch his little girl as she threw herself into his arms, her sandy blond hair in braids down her shoulders, brown-green eyes bright with unshed tears, "What's wrong, moli mou?"
A tear rolled down her pudgy cheek as she placed her arms around his neck, "Patty won't play with me 'cause Aly told him I have cooties."
Seth and Sam struggled to swallow back their laughter, knowing Tyra's tender feelings wouldn't fare well but it got harder when Rick turned to give them a look of confusion as he asked, "What the hell are cooties?"
Working hard to keep his face serious, Sam answered in a slightly strangled voice, "It's a disease little girls get and if little boys play with them, they die."
Seth looked away, focusing on the hot dogs on the grill, bottom lip caught between his teeth as Rick gave Sam a look of disbelief, "Are you serious?"
Nodding as he tightened his jaw to keep from grinning, he cocked an eyebrow, "Leah should know what to do about it."
"Am I gonna have to go to the doctor," Tyra gave her Uncle Sam a wide-eyed look, her bottom lip trembling in a pout, "I don't want Patty to die but I want to play with him."
Sam reached out to give her little turned-up nose a gentle tweak, grinning as he gave her a solution, "Your mama will know what to do."
Rick wasn't all that certain Sam wasn't pulling one over on him, especially when Seth was avoiding looking his way, his shoulders occasionally shaking as if he were holding back laughter, "Why would Leah know what to do?"
Seth swallowed as he looked over at his brother-in-law, brown-green eyes twinkling as he explained, tongue in cheek, "Leah was once a little girl –I refused to play with her until mom gave her a cooties shot."
"I don't want a shot," Tyra cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as she gripped her Daddy around the neck.
"Oh, this one doesn't hurt, ten footer," Seth used the nickname he'd bestowed on her from the moment he found out his sister was pregnant, again –it came from having made a comment of needing ten feet between his sister and Rick to prevent another pregnancy, "Especially when your mama gives it to you."
"How do you know," Tyra sniffed as she scrubbed the back of her hand over her cheeks, "Have you gotten a cooties shot?"
He finally let himself laugh, Sam joining in as Rick shook his head, adjusting his eight year old higher up his hip as he moved to go in search of his wife, "I'll find a way to get back at you two."
Tyra buried her face into his neck as Sam and Seth continued to laugh, peeking over his shoulder in time to see Aly, Ady and Patty come around the corner to the backyard. Sniffing, she buried her face back into Daddy's neck, not seeing the look of regret on Patty's face as he watched her get carried around the opposite corner.
Patrick "Patty" Hatch was, by default of their age, her playmate whenever they weren't in school. Not only that but they both excelled at Uncle Billy's Quileute language lessons, which he and his siblings had started going to some two years back, along with Tyra's siblings and the Lahote kids.
In the past year, Patty had gotten into the habit of following after Tyra like a lost puppy, taking her bossy nature in stride whenever they played together. Tyra herself believed the world revolved around Patty and he was pretty much perfect except for one little thing –the nine year old boy idolized her trouble making brother Alyx, which meant the annoying terror had yet another way of driving her crazy –by turning her best friend against her.
Like this cooties thing –it was ridiculous. There was no way it really existed –it just sounded too stupid for it to be true but Daddy didn't know what it was so maybe it was true…maybe they just didn't have cooties in Greece.
Tyra was sobbing in earnest by the time Rick found Leah, Greek endearments offered up to comfort as he rubbed her small back in gentle circles, "Eínai prókeitai na eínai entáxei , glykiá mou . Mana tha to ftiáxo̱." *It's going to be okay, sweetie. Mama will fix it.*
Tyra took in a shuddering breath, her little shoulders shaking with the effort as she looked up at the sound of her mama's voice, "What's wrong? Is she hurt?"
Rick shook his head as he placed his little girl into her mother's outstretched arms, her words garbled as she began to cry all over again, "I d-don't wanna shot! I don't l-like them b-but I wanna p-play with P-patty!"
Leah gave Rick a look of confusion, laughter escaping her as soon as he explained, "Alyx told Patrick she had cooties so now he won't play with her."
"Oh, honey," chuckling as she kissed her daughter's damp forehead, she leaned back to be able to look into her watery brown-green eyes, "A cooties shot doesn't hurt."
"Promise?"
She smiled at her beautiful little blond, touching a finger to the turned up end of her red nose, "I promise. Just tell me when you're ready, okay?"
Tyra took in a shuddering breath, nodding as she stuck her skinny little arm out and screwed her eyes shut, holding her breath in preparation for the pain. Rick watched with interest as Leah began to draw on their daughter's forearm as she chanted, "Circle, circle, dot, dot. Now you got a cooties shot."
Tyra's dark lashes swept up as she gave her mother a look of disbelief, looking down at her arm then back up again, "That's not real."
"Neither are cooties."
Her eyebrows, just a shade darker than her sandy blond hair, lowered over eyes identical in color and shape to her mother's, "They don't exist?"
Leah laughed at seeing the same look on her husband's face, turning her eyes back to her daughter, "No, they don't."
Mouth falling open in shock, she stared at Leah for a heartbeat or two before wiggling to be put down, "I'm going to tell Aly he's stupid."
"No, you are not," Leah stopped her before she ran off, crouching down to look into her baby girl's eyes, "You'll tell him and Patrick you got a cooties shot and are now cured but you will not call your brother stupid. Understood?"
Wrinkling her nose, Tyra let out a heavy sigh, knowing there was no way she could get away with doing as she wanted without her mother finding out, "Fine…"
Letting her go, she watched her run off in search of her brothers and Patrick, chuckling as she rose to her full height, eyebrows arching in surprise when Rick pulled her into his arms, laughter escaping her as Rick gave her a teasing grin, "I'm going to have to get your brother and Sam back for taking advantage of my ignorance over cooties."
Leah's giggle had Rick's grin grow as he bowed his head to press a kiss on her smiling lips, "Well, just tell me how I can help."
"Will do," he kissed her again, giving her jean clad bottom a covert squeeze before stepping back in time to avoid her slap to his arm, "It looked like you were searching for something when we found you."
"Someone, not something," Leah let out a sigh as she looked around the front yard again, quickly finding Emmie and Ian organizing a game of tag, Alyx and Andrey being chased by Tyra, Erick and Harry chasing a ball along with a couple other toddlers on the empty driveway, "I can't seem to find Xavier –or Zak, for that matter."
He looked around the front yard, giving his wife a smile and her hand a reassuring squeeze, pretty sure he knew exactly where to find his two quietest boys, "Don't worry about it. I'll find them."
"Thank you," she kissed his cheek just as she heard one of the toddlers let out a loud cry, knowing instinctively it wasn't hers but somehow thinking her own three year old may have something to do with it –when it came to making trouble, Erick could give Alyx and Andrey lessons.
Rick headed into the house, deciding to check the likeliest place they'd be before he began looking into other places –such as the tree house despite it being prohibited for today to keep the other kids from wanting to go up in it.
Closing the front door behind him, he crossed the living room and headed down the hallway, looking into the bedroom Erick and Xavier shared, which was right across from the bathroom, Emmie and Tyra's bedroom beside it.
Sure enough, Xavier was sitting on the rug, a picture book opened over his crossed legs, Zak lying on his little brother's bed, feet hanging off the edge of the toddler sized bed while he read one of his many comic books.
"Hey, you two," Rick smiled as two pairs of blue eyes looked up at him, "There's a party going on outside, you know."
Zak gave his father a good natured frown, not responding as he returned to his comic, Xavier holding up his book to his father, the silent question apparent in the way he looked up at him.
"You want me to read to you?"
Xavier nodded, grinning as Rick took the book from him, clumsily getting off the floor to follow his father and climb up into his lap as soon as he sat down on the cornered rocking chair.
This is how Leah found them an hour and a half later, when it was time to cut the cake, open presents, hand out goodie bags and send everyone home. She leaned against the door frame, making sure to stay out of sight as she watched her five year old climb up into his father's lap and hand him a book, a small stack beside the rocking chair evidence this had been going on for a while.
She enjoyed watching Rick be a father to their children, loved to see him interacting at their level while at the same time, encouraging them to grow and learn from the world around them. He was a fair disciplinarian, a dedicated playmate (very amusing whenever Tyra had the desire to play dolls and asked him to join her), a willing assistant in homework and school projects or events, a wonderful teacher and instructor, especially with his unofficial martial arts class he taught out at First Beach –with the years, his student population had grown from their children and Marc to include the Uley twins, Ian Hatch, the Lahote girls and a couple of other children from the reservation.
He was always willing to set aside whatever he was doing when one of their children seeked out his attention. He made an effort to spend quality time with every single one of their eight kids, taking the girls out once a month for a breakfast date and the boys to who knows where to do only they knew what.
She loved to see him interacting intellectually with them, from Emmie's genius fast processing capabilities down to Erick's constant trial and error, learning by doing methods. He was understanding when the twins made mistakes yet unrelenting in teaching them actions always came with consequences. He pushed Gabriel to look to the future and how his attitude and actions might affect it while giving Zak the needed space for him to open up.
He was always available to cuddle with Xavier, who seemed to be their touchy feely kid out of the eight, and played with Erick without holding back. He would sit through Tyra's long winded stories concerning her day's activities and actually remember and comment about what she had done and said with who and when.
It was hard for her to see their children growing up because, in a sense, she didn't get to see Rick in certain roles anymore –it was a good thing her youngest wouldn't be going to school for another year because she sure wasn't ready to let him go yet.
Not when the rest of them seemed to be eager to become more than just her babies –with Emmie starting her junior year of high school and already filling out applications for scholarships and college –not even thirteen and she was filling out college paperwork! –and Gabe getting ready to finish high school and looking into joining the Air Force, she just felt like time was flying by way too fast.
Especially with their newest development concerning Tyra –due to her fourth grade teacher's recommendation, as well as the principal and school counselor, she would be skipping right into sixth grade the coming school year, which frightened Leah with the possibility of having another little genius in her family.
She loved Emmie's brilliant mind, loved her thirst for knowledge, but most of the time, she didn't have any idea how to relate to her daughter –if it weren't for Rick and Embry, she would be completely lost in attempting to understand her little genius…and now, to possibly have two of them…
At the least, with Alyx and Andrey in the same grade with her, Tyra wouldn't have to deal with the constant teasing and bullying Emmie did –at least Leah hoped that would be the case.
A soft sigh had Rick look up from the book he was quietly reading to Xavier, his smile growing at the sight of his wife leaning against the doorframe, "Hey –how long have you been standing there?"
Zak moved to sit on the side of the bed, setting his comic book aside as Leah moved into the room and sat beside him on the small bed, her fingers ruffling his dark hair as she answered, "Not long. We're going to be cutting the cake soon. You three want to join us?"
Zak smiled at his mother, leaning in to kiss her cheek before standing up to his lanky height of five feet, five inches –he was the tallest boy in his sixth grade class, "Cake sounds good."
Leah let out a soft chuckle as her eleven year old walked out of the room without saying anything else –Zak seemed to think the less said, the better –Xavier giving his mother a begging look, "Can I have ice cream?"
"Of course," Leah stood up, easily lifting him out of his father's lap and onto her hip, "It's your birthday, after all."
"I don't want cake," Xavier wrapped his arms around his mama's neck, laughing as she buzzed his cheek, "Just ice cream."
"Well, then, ice cream it is."
April 2nd, 5:32AM
Leah let out a sigh as her husband slipped into bed beside her, his skin cool against hers, hair still damp from his shower. He pulled her into his arms, his breath minty fresh as he whispered into her ear, "Good morning."
Leah turned in his arms, opening her eyes and giving him a sleepy smile, her fingers skimming his smooth face, "Good morning. How were patrols last night?"
"We caught a scent two or three times but it led us nowhere," Rick kissed the middle of her palm, running his fingers through her hair, which she'd cut to her shoulders again, "How was your night?"
"Alyx and Andrey 'accidentally' let out their pet snake when I told them it was bedtime so I spent about an hour standing on a chair while chaos ensued as they searched for it –Erick was laughing so hard, I thought he would choke."
Rick chuckled, dipping his head to press a kiss on the expanse of her neck, his mouth moving over the smooth warm skin as he slipped a hand under the hem of his t-shirt, which she was currently wearing as pajamas, along with cotton boy-cut panties, "Never a boring day with those two around."
"Not just them," Leah sighed at the sensation of his fingers skimming over her skin, her blood heating up slowly as she pushed her hips into his, "Tyra taught Erick how to open jars."
"Well, that sounds like a good thing," Rick arched an eyebrow as he slipped a muscled thigh between her slim ones, hand cupping her firm bottom to pull her closer to him.
"Not when he still doesn't grasp the concept of hands off when it comes to Emmie's specimen jars," Leah's look of incredulity had him chuckling as she pulled back to look into his blue eyes, "I found that huge spider she calls Tiny on my kitchen window –Tyra wouldn't let Gabe kill it so dinner was late because I wasn't going to be in that kitchen until Emmie got back from Sam and Emily's to catch it."
"Why didn't Gabe do it?"
"Are you kidding me," Leah giggled as she linked her hands behind his neck, giving his mouth a pecking kiss, "Gabe hates spiders just as much as I do."
Chuckling, he moved his hand up her back and around to cup her bare breast, "What of Xavier and Zak? Did they get into any trouble with you last night?"
"No," Leah sighed as he rubbed his thumb over her hardening nipple, "Those two are the calm in the storm that is the rest of your kids."
"My kids," Rick gave her bottom lip a nipping bite before smiling against it as he stared into her beautiful dark eyes, "If you recall, I told you we should stop at two."
"You're never going to stop reminding me of that, are you?"
"Not as long as you point out how my kids are driving you crazy."
Leah laughed as she pulled him down for a proper good morning kiss, a little moan escaping her at the familiar weight of his body settling over hers, her long legs wrapping around him.
She could feel him, hard and thick, pressed up against the inside of her thigh, his hands pushing the t-shirt she wore up her torso and knew, without a doubt, they would be getting lost in each other in no time at all.
A loud, drawn out scream had them springing apart, giving each other a brief look before the jumped out of bed, Rick grabbing his pajama bottoms and yanking them on before following after Leah.
It wasn't even two minutes before their daughters' room was crowded, Gabriel holding a crying Erick while Tyra sat on her bed, staring at her sister wide-eyed as Leah and Rick tried to get her to wake up from whatever nightmare was making her scream bloody murder.
"No! No! No! No! No! Mou!"
"Baby," Leah cupped her daughter's face, thumbs brushing over closed eyes in an attempt to wake her, "Baby, wake up. It's just a dream –it's not real."
"No!"
Emmie's blue eyes snapped open, tears rolling down her cheeks as she reached up to grab her mother's wrists, "Mou…mama, Mou's hurting."
"Baby, it's just a dream –"
"No, no," Emmie shook her head, looking over at her father as tears kept falling from bright blue eyes filled with fear, "He's hurting –Daddy, please."
"Baby, he was fine when he finished his rounds at three this morning –"
"No, no, no," Emmie drew her knees up into her chest, sobbing as she tried to get her father to understand, "Please, Daddy –he's hurting –please…"
Leah's comforting words were having no effect on Emmie so Rick finally gave in, "Okay, baby, I'll call him."
"Please," Emmie sobbed, her face blotchy and shoulders jerking with every painful breath she took, all of her siblings looking worried as they watched in silence. Erick quieted down to hiccups, blue eyes bright with the remnants of tears as he looked around the room from the vantage point of his older brother's height.
Rick turned to walk out of the room, giving Zak a smile of thanks as the eleven year old handed him the cordless phone from the kitchen, his other hand resting on Xavier's shoulder, the five year old holding on tight to the pants' leg of his older brother's pajamas.
Dialing the number to Embry's cell by memory, Rick stood in the middle of the room, watching Leah as she held Emmie's slight frame in her arms, her own face expressing the pain she was feeling on behalf of their daughter's distress.
The busy signal took him by surprise, eyebrows lowering as he moved the phone away to give it a look as if it would actually make it do something, "It's busy."
"Mou, no, no" Emmie moaned as she rocked in the confined space of her mother's arms, her fingers digging into Leah's arms, "Daddy, please…please…"
Leah looked over at Rick, watching as he re-dialed the number, both realizing this was something more than just a bad dream. At times, the connection between Embry and Emmie seemed to be one sided but there were other times where there was evidence Emmie was as connected to Embry as he was to her.
Such as this –it had happened once before, back when she still didn't have the ability to communicate her distress to them. She had been inconsolable all day, fussy and crying, not wanting to eat, cuddle or play.
Leah had been worried but since there was no fever, she hadn't taken her to see the pediatrician –later that same day, they'd found out Embry –back then he was working with a construction company –had fallen from a ten foot scaffolding and broken his arm. There had been no one to witness the accident so he'd been able to find a solitary place to reset his own arm before it healed, which he'd said had been even more painful than the original break.
Dialing the number once again, Rick began to pace in the small space, the purple and pink butterfly rug smooth under his feet from years of wear.
He answered on the fourth try, Rick able to tell from his voice there was indeed something wrong.
It was a short conversation, Embry informing him of what was going on, Emmie's sobs dying down to shuddering hiccups as she watched her father's face, gouging the expressions flitting across it to measure the severity of what was hurting Embry.
"Right," Rick nodded, placing a fist on his hip as his eyes landed on his daughter's intense look, "I'll let Sam know what happened…yes, I know. She'll understand, don't worry about it."
Hanging up, he moved to sit on the side of Emmie's bed, reaching out to tuck in a loose hank of hair behind her ear before moving his fingers over the long braid resting on her back, "Embry's mother is in the hospital –she had a car accident. She's in critical but stable condition. He'll let us know what happens next once the doctors give him more information."
Emmie's blue eyes welled up with tears, her hand clutching at Leah's arm as she turned to bury her face into her father's chest, letting out the pain she was feeling, instinctively knowing he was holding back.
Rocking her back and forth, he looked over at Leah, the look on his face letting her know there was more than what he had shared.
By the time Emmie settled down, it was time for the kids to get ready for the school day, Leah going in search of her husband as soon as she'd settled Erick back into his crib, the three year old falling asleep quickly.
She found him in the closet, dressed in gray slacks and a muted blue dress shirt as he tried to do his tie, a shade darker than his shirt, without a mirror. Taking the ends from his hands, she carefully did his tie as she looked up into his blue eyes, "What happened?"
Rick's eyes dropped as he tucked his shirt into his slacks, pulling up the zipper and buttoning up before doing his belt buckle, "Embry got to talk to her for a few minutes before she coded a second time –"
"She coded twice?"
Rick cocked an eyebrow at her, a silent reminder of how he hated being interrupted, "Yes. She has extensive internal bleeding –they had to do several emergency transfusions to be able to stabilize her and take her into surgery, which they were getting ready to do when Embry answered."
Nodding, she walked out of the closet, Rick following behind her and heading into their en suite bathroom –it had been added about three years ago and was finally complete, "What did she say to him?"
"Apparently, a dark haired girl with red eyes stepped into the street as she was halfway through Forks. She swerved to miss hitting her but the girl grabbed the undercarriage of the car and flipped it, then send it flying into the trees."
"Oh god," Leah covered her mouth as she stepped out of the bathroom, feeling nauseous as she sat down at the foot of their bed, "How did she –did she know who she was?"
"Apparently, the girl approached her once the car settled, told her to tell her son this was only the beginning."
Leah stared at Rick in open mouthed shock, her brain not grasping what all of it meant, "How did she –how did she know?"
He let out a heavy sigh, running his fingers through his hair as he stepped out of the bathroom, blue eyes serious as he studied his beloved wife's frightened expression.
"She's watching us."
