Emily was especially happy for her cousin. It had been hard on her having this strain between her and Leah. They had always been so close, and they were almost like sisters until the Sam imprinted on her. Of course, Emily understood Leah's bitterness and anger. She and Sam were engaged before he imprinted on her and she always felt terrible about splitting them up, but this was something that could not be helped. Emily hoped that now that Leah had found her imprint she and Leah could become friends again.
For her part, Kagome was happy for her son. Shippou had spent his adult life in one meaningless relationship after another. She honestly thought that he would never settle down. Kagome wasn't sure how she felt about Leah being his mate, but then again she's had minimal contact with her in the past.
At 6:00 on the dot, the pack shows up for dinner. Sam, Paul, and Jared go and greet their imprints while Quil heads out to his imprint's house to have dinner there. The girls bring out the food and set it on the table. Kagome takes the opportunity to serve Emmett.
"Thank you, Baby," Emmett tells her.
"You're welcome, Sweetheart," Kagome says as she runs her fingers through his hair. She serves herself then sits down next to him.
About that time, Leah and Shippou come back into the house. Emily looks at Leah expectantly. Leah nods and Emily rushes towards her cousin, "I'm so happy for you!"
Leah, for the first time in a long time, smiles and hugs her cousin tightly. "Thank you, Emily, and I'm sorry for being such a bitch. I understand now what imprinting means, and I should have never taken it out on you and Sam."
"I know, Sweety, I'm just glad you finally found your imprint. And that you'll finally be happy."
The young ones looked at Leah and Emily confused, "What's going on," Brady asked.
Sam smiled, "Leah has imprinted on Shippou."
"I knew it," Paul said.
"I think we all knew it except for the kids," Jared tells Paul.
Shippou turns to Kagome, "Mother, are you alright with this?"
Kagome stands up, "I am more than alright with this, Shippou, and I am so, so happy for you."
She goes over and hugs her son. Leah shuffles her feet and looks down at the floor. She then looks up at Kagome and blushes, "Kagome, I'm so sorry about how I treated you."
"That's alright, Leah, You and I don't know each other, and it's only natural for you to be suspicious of me."
"But I never even gave you a chance."
"Well, now you can. Today we start over, but I have to tell you. Hurt my boy, and I'll purify you ass."
Leah stares at Kagome blankly then laughs, "Don't worry, Kagome I would never hurt Shippou. I'd rather cut out my own heart than do something like that."
Kagome smiles and hugs the older woman. Everyone suddenly starts clapping, and both women blush. Shippou comes over and kisses Leah on the cheek while Emmett wraps his arms around Kagome and does the same thing.
"Alright enough with the sentimental stuff, let's eat," Paul tells them.
Everyone agrees, and they all sit down to a beautiful meal.
After dinner, they hang out for a little while longer then Kagome and Emmett head home. Shippou is going to run back to the Cullen house with Leah.
When Kagome and Emmett arrived back at the house, Bella and Ginjiro had already arrived. Kagome smiles at her cousin, "So how did everything go with Uncle Charlie?"
"Everything went great, and It turned out that he took it better than we thought thanks to your dad telling him a little bit about Kisune Youkai. What happened when you went to the reservation?"
"Oh, they congratulated us, we spent some time with the pack, and it turns out the Leah and Shippou are mates."
Bella's eyes widen, "No way!"
"Yep. It's so wonderful after 500 years my little boy has found his mate."
At that moment, Jacob comes in with Renesmee, "What's going on?"
"Leah imprinted on Shippou," Kagome tells him.
"That's great; I'm happy for Leah. How did Shippou take it?"
"Very well, he discovered that she is his mate also."
"That's even better," Jacob says.
When Leah and Shippou get home the Jacob, Seth, and all the Cullens congratulate them. Leah blushes and hides her head in Shippou's chest. Shippou rubs her back, "Thank you all for your good wishes, Leah, and I truly appreciate it."
"Well, you both deserve to happy," Carlisle says to them as he shakes Shippou and Leah's hands.
Everyone else does the same thing while Jacob and Seth hug Leah and Shippou. After that, they all go about their business. Leah and Shippou go into the living room with Bella and Ginjiro to talk about their day while Emmett and Kagome go upstairs to get ready for bed.
As Emmett lies in their bed waiting for Kagome to come out of the bathroom, he starts to think that maybe it's time for him and Kagome to get their own house. But first, he'll have to discuss it with Kagome.
When Kagome comes out of the bathroom, she sees that Emmett has his arms behind his head and has this pensive look on his face. She walks over to the bed and gets under the covers cuddling up to Emmett she runs her fingers down his jaw.
"What's the matter, Emmett, what's with the frown?"
"I was just thinking that this house is starting to fill up with a lot of people and that maybe it's time that you and I get our own house."
Kagome sits up, "Where would we move, into town?"
"No, of course not, I didn't think that you would want to be far from Bella and Renesmee so I thought that there's some land for sale not too far from this house, just across the river that you and I can buy. And then I can build our own house on it with plenty of room for the baby, our pack and anyone else that wants to come to visit."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, sweetheart, but do you think the others will mind if we move out?"
"No, I don't think so. It was bound to happen we're starting our own family, and we need the space."
"Alright. Let's talk to the others tomorrow," Kagome tells her husband.
Emmett smiles he leans over to kiss Kagome. But Kagome grabs Emmett by his t-shirt and deepens the kiss which leads them to make love all night.
The next morning while they have breakfast Kagome and Emmett happily tell the others about their plans to buy the land across the river and build a house there. But their happy bubble soon burst by what Carlisle tells them.
"I'm sorry, you two but that land has already been sold to someone."
Kagome and Emmett look completely depressed; they were so looking forward to buying that land so that they could be close to the family. Emmett looks at Kagome who looks like she's about to cry.
"Carlisle, do you think if I offer more money the owner will sell me the land?"
"It's doubtful, Emmett."
"I can at least try, who bought the land?"
"Esme and I did."
"What?! And you wouldn't be willing to sell it to us?"
"I'm afraid not, Emmett. But we will give it to you."
Kagome and Emmett look at each other, "Come again?" Kagome asks.
"Esme and I are giving you the land as a wedding gift. We knew that eventually you and Emmett would want your own house and we didn't want you too far from the family, so we decided to buy the land for you."
Kagome's eyes begin to well up with tears. She stands up then walks over to Carlisle and hugs him, "Thank you so much, Carlisle, you have no idea how much this means to Emmett and me."
Carlisle pats Kagome on the back, "You're welcome, sweetheart."
Kagome then moves on to Esme thanking her and hugging her as well, "You're welcome, Kagome if you want I can help you design the type of house you want," Esme tells her.
"Oh, that would be wonderful, Esme, when can we get started?"
"Whenever you want."
Kagome squeals, "How about now?"
"No, not until you finish your breakfast," Emmett tells her.
Kagome huffs and sits back down to finish her eggs and pancakes. After breakfast, Kagome and Esme went up to Esme's office so that they could get started on designing Kagome and Emmett's new house.
Kagome and Emmett had discussed the night before that they wanted a log cabin style house, something that would blend into the surrounding. As Kagome began to describe what she and Emmett wanted, Esme began to sketch. She wanted several rooms just in case they had more children and of course, room for their pack, and several baths.
Esme ended up designing a stone and timber home with six bedrooms, six baths, and two partial baths. At the heart of the house, a spacious kitchen and family area that would create a warm and inviting space, with more formal entertaining being offered in the grand room with vaulted ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. She also added an outdoor living area, a hot tub, and a wine cellar.
When Esme was finished with the plans, she handed the drawing to Kagome. Just from the sketch alone, Kagome loved it. She called Emmett up to see what he thought of the house. Looking over the house, Emmett smiled, "I think we have our new home."
Kagome squealed and hugged her husband, "Thank you, Emmett!"
He hugged her back and kissed her head, "Anything for you, Babe."
"I'm glad you both like it," Esme tells them, "I'll get started in drawing up the blueprints."
Kagome and Emmett thank Esme then head downstairs with the drawing of their new home to show the others they all loved the drawing. When Esme had the blueprints drawn up, she went to downstairs to consult with the others. She called everyone into the kitchen to show them the blueprints.
Kostas studies the plans and nods, "I think between all of us we can have this built within two months or so."
Shippou, who also had a real estate business in Europe, agrees with Kostas, "I can also call in some additional help so that we could finish it a lot sooner."
"Will they be youkais as well," Alice asks.
"Yes, they will, one of the businesses that Kouga has is a construction company. All of his employees are Youkais. I'll go call him right now," Shippou tells everyone then leaves the room with Leah.
He comes back several minutes later with a grin on his face, "Kouga sends his regards and agrees to send a crew up here in a couple of days. He'd also send some landscapers later to fix the place up."
Kagome hugs her son, and thanks to him for helping out. Now that everything was planned out, all the men head out to start clearing the land of the trees. The job was made a lot easier when Shippou and Ginjiro used their true forms to knock down the trees. With a single swipe of their paws, they were able to take down a lot of trees. Then Emmett and the vampires would collect the lumber and set it aside. When the construction crew gets there, they will start getting the stone for the house.
While they do that, Bella, Kagome, and Leah make lunch for Emmett, Shippou, and Ginjiro. They make fried chicken, collard greens, baked beans, fried okra, red-skinned potato salad, coleslaw, and buttermilk biscuits and peach pie. They got a cooler of water and beer for the men and made a pitcher of lemonade for the ladies. When they finished Alice, Esme and Rosalie helped carry everything across the river to the construction area while Bella takes Renesmee.
Emmett was in the process of carrying a load of timber to where they were stacking it when the wind shifted, and Kagome's scent strikes him along with the food that the girls are carrying. He smiles at her and waves, "Hey, Babe!"
"Hi, Honey, we brought you guys lunch."
"Great, I'm starved! Let me just set this down."
Shippou and Ginjiro notice that their mates have also arrived. They retake their humanoid form and walk towards Bella and Leah. Renesmee cries out when she sees Ginjiro shrink down to size. She begins bouncing in Bella's arms with enthusiasm making grabby hands towards Ginjiro, wanting desperately to be in her father's arms. Ginjiro laughs at the baby's antics.
When he reaches them, he takes Renesmee from Bella and kisses Bella. Then he turns his attention to the baby, "What has you so excited, Kit?"
The baby puts her hand on his neck and shows him the image of Shippou and him in their true forms. Seeing them like that causes her to become excited and confused at the same time. Ginjiro laughs, "Ah, you saw us. Well, Kit, that's what we look like."
Her eyes widen, and she places her hand on his neck again, showing him an image of him in his true form then of her with a question in it. Understanding what she means he shakes his head, "No, Kit when I officially adopt you, you won't be able to do that. Only pure Youkai can take their forms." The baby furrows her bow and huffs causing everyone to laugh.
By this time, Emmett has put down the timber and made his way over to Kagome. He bends down to kiss his wife then hugs her, "Well, what do you think?"
"I think you guys are clearing the land incredibly fast. How much space are you planning on clearing?"
"About four acres of land. I want there to be enough room for our little one to run around on."
Kagome nods, "That's perfect, that will give Kouga's landscapers plenty of room to work with."
Emmett agrees, "So, what did you bring us for lunch?"
Kagome informs Emmett what they brought them for lunch. While she and Emmett are talking Esme and Rosalie put down a large blanket so that the couples can sit down and have their lunch in peace.
Kagome takes the basket and begins to pull out the food, plates, and utensils. She opens the Tupperware and begins to serve Emmett some chicken and all the sides. When she finishes, Bella and Leah do the same for their mates. Kagome then serves herself grabs a beer from the cooler and hands it to Emmett then pours herself some lemonade.
They all sat around and enjoyed their meal together as a family. Carlisle and the others joined them so that they could sit around and talk. Once lunch was over, the vampires went back to work while Emmett and the others lounged around for a bit longer. Emmett laid his head on Kagome's lap while she ran her fingers through his hair. Slowly he began to dose off. Emmett slept for about 30 minutes, then got back to work.
At the end of the day, Emmett, Ginjiro, Shippou, and the Vampires cleared out four acres and had piled up enough logs for Kouga's crew to get started when they arrived in two days.