2. Dull Red Paint
Renesmee gave Jacob's arm a squeeze.
"I'll be right here if you need me," she said as she stood with Jacob's sister, Rachel, and two of her three children in the small barn like home.
Jacob only nodded as he made his way to his father's room.
Just moments before they had arrived, Rachel and her two boys, four year old Finn and nine year old Calvin, came out to greet them with Young Finn exclaiming, "Auntie Nessie, Auntie Nessie, Auntie Nessie!"
Paul had taken his eldest son, sixteen year old Will, to go have a visit with Sam, Emily and their infant boys Thomas and Levi.
"How bad is he," Jacob asked.
"It's bad Jake," said Rachel, "I've tried to call Rebecca but she won't come.
"It's best if she doesn't," said Jacob.
Rachel crossed her arms, "How can you even say that?"
Jacob looked down at the boys. Renesmee took this as a cue to ask the boys to show them the garage, the same one where Jacob had once put in countless hours working on the Rabbit and later his motorcycle which he had since passed on to Will since he had no use for it.
"You know why," Jacob said when the kids were out of hearing range, "The second she gets back here, with me and the vampires in town the gene in the twins will be activated and Kona will have no idea what he's in for. Do you really want to put Rebecca through that? Do you want to risk her marriage based on our legends? Do you really want Sara and Mack to go through what Leah suffered as a girl wolf?"
"Paul and I came back," Rachel countered.
"Yeah by choice. No one told you but now it's because of us that Will is off with his dad and Sam right now so he can be taught."
"How did you know he-," Rachel said not being able to say it.
"I'm still a wolf, sis, I can sense when a transition is in the air. Tell me, how it is it having a son as a giant dog?"
"Okay Jacob, I get it."
"I'm sorry, I just don't want to put Rebecca through all of this when we don't have to especially when she doesn't know the legends are true."
"Not even when our dad is dying? If we don't want her to come aren't we making the choice for her anyways?"
"Yeah we probably are but at least this way we're keeping them all safe."
"But for how long, Jacob?"
"Hopefully until the girls are twenty-five, then we don't have to worry about it," Jacob said with a smile, "Come on, let's go inside."
"Boys," Rachel called out.
"Aw mom," the two whined as they came out of the garage with Renesmee close behind.
"Now please," said Rachel.
With Rachel, Finn, and Calvin ahead, Jacob took Renesmee's hand.
"You're not ready to have one of those yet are you?" he asked.
"What a kid?"
Jacob nodded, "I'm sure it's possible since we were made for each other and it has been seventeen years since you reached adult size. I mean I know we haven't exactly talked about this sort of thing yet."
Renesmee stopped him, "Are you ready?"
"I don't know. I do think about it sometimes but considering we have all the time in the world I don't want to rush it, unless you do."
Renesmee grasped Jacob's shirt, "Tell you what, why don't we table this topic for now, focus on your dad and the packs, and then come back to this later."
"Sounds like a plan."
Renesmee placed a light kiss on his lips, "Let's go see your dad."
It was hard to see Billy like this: his body frail, his hair completely white and close to balding. A nurse from the reservation was in the small room looking after him. Billy's diabetes had finally started to take a real toll on him. Over three years ago he had lost sight in his left eye. Among other issues he was having, were more serious such as kidney and heart disease, organs which were now starting to fail. And given his age he most likely would not survive the transplants, nor did he want it. He wanted to go in peace with his own body and not those that had belonged to someone else.
Taking advantage of Billy being asleep the nurse came to the doorway and introduced herself.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Jacob. Your father never stops talking about you."
"Can I sit with him a while?"
The nurse nodded, "Take as much time as you want. Call me if there is anything you need.
Jacob simply nodded. If it was one thing he was certain he could handle, it was his father's needs. IT had been a while but back when his sister's had left, he had been the one to take care of his father.
Once the nurse was out, Jacob walked over and sat on a nearby chair.
Billy's eyes slowly opened.
"Hey old man," Jacob said with a smile, "You're supposed to be asleep."
"I'll sleep when I'm dead, which shouldn't be long now," said Billy. Jacob didn't laugh at the joke. "You look good son."
"So do you."
"Don't lie. Did Renesmee come with you or do I need to ask?"
Jacob smiled. It was a question his father all ready knew the answer to. Though Billy himself had never gone through the transition and didn't know what it was like to imprint, he had spent enough time around the young generation of Sam, Paul, Jared, Quil, and even his own son to know how deep the bonding of imprints went.
"She's with Rachel and the boys."
"That's good. That's real good. They like her."
Billy sat up and began to cough into an old t-shirt. Jacob noticed and could smell the blood. He looked behind himself knowing that if he could smell it, so could Renesmee but she remained where she was in the living room, not wanting to disturb them.
He knew his father had gotten worse but he hadn't expected anything like this.
Once the coughing was over, Billy began to speak again despite Jacob's protest.
"I'm glad you found someone, son. I know it's not what you were expecting and the way things turned out with Bella-,"
"Was a very long time ago," Jacob said cutting him off, "but you know over the years since Nessie first wanted to go out with me I've been thinking a lot about what happened in my life before her. I love Bella and I always will but not in that way. I think the reason why I was drawn to her in the first place was because there was a part of me that belonged to a part of her. Even when she left for Italy, I can't even begin to describe how much it hurt. And as hard as I tried to stay away from her I just couldn't because she had something that I was connected to."
"You think this reaches down to a cellular level?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense. We're driven by our genetics: our phasing, our imprinting- but what if that bond goes down to the core as well? Quil did imprint on a two year old after all and the reason I hadn't been able to tell at first was because I had no set of eyes to look into but that moment when I locked eyes with Renesmee just as she looked into mine, minutes after she was born, I knew. None of the others had this type of experience because their imprints had all ready been born, they existed in the world. Mine hadn't, except through Bella."
Billy pondered this for a moment, "That's an interesting theory," he said, "One we'll have to pass on to the others. Though if true why not have the same connection with Edward since he carried the other half?"
Jacob laughed, "Because dad, I was never gay. And all jokes aside I think it's because we're brought into this world by our mothers."
"Well regardless of how it happened, I'm glad it did. I want you to be happy son and the thought of leaving you alone is worse than this family magic. Tell your sisters I'll be seeing your mom soon. Tell Bella how grateful I am and how happy I am to have her in our family. Tell the Cullen's that I'm sorry for doubting their intentions. And tell Renesmee that I love her."
Billy's coughing began again, this time there was a lot more blood.
Jacob could hear his father's heart beat a lot faster.
He could hear the pounding of wolf legs running faster from over a mile away, knowing that Sam with Emily on his back, and their seventeen year old boys Thomas and Levi were on their way. Paul, Will, Seth and Raven were trailing behind, Seth and Raven, remaining in wolf form.
Edward, Bella, Carlisle, and Esme were also quick to arrive, the family having heard Billy's heartbeat come to an end and Edward having heard Jacob's thoughts.
Jacob patted his father's arm, "We know dad. We know."
Billy's heart continued to race until it finally slowed down. There was one final breath and then silence.
"Dad! Dad! Renesmee, Rachel!" Jacob called out.
Renesmee was quick to Jacob's side, seconds before Rachel. Rachel came in with the nurse.
Outside the living room, Finn and Calvin clung to their father and older brother; Paul taking them outside where Sam and his family waited.
Rachel was the first to emerge from the home. Paul could see her sadness and instinctively went up to her with the younger boys, letting her cry on his shoulder.
Jacob was tense as he walked out. He had known that some day he would lose his father since he was human. Now more than anything he had wanted to give Billy some of the magic that was within him. Anything to help bring him back and prevent the way he was feeling.
Embry had lost his mom a couple months after their winter confrontation with the Volturi, having suffered, like Seth and Leah's father not long before, a heart attack after she caught him phasing one night. So on that level Jacob could feel the pain of what his brothers and sister had gone through but nothing could prepare him for the loss of his own family. It was one thing to lose his mom as a kid and another to lose his final parent.
Sam was the first to step up. "I'm so sorry Jacob," he said to his once, long ago pack brother.
Jacob however wasn't in the mood for anyone's condolences. He walked right past the gropu and began to sprint, phasing on the fly.
"Jake," Bella called out but still he wouldn't listen.
Seth looked at Raven and the two followed Jacob into the woods.
Jake.
Jacob, they called out.
Their pack leader was running quicker than he ever had before.
Go back, Jacob ordered, who rarely issued orders to anyone.
The two could see Jacob's pain, feel his loss. That was why he didn't want them around.
Seth and Raven stopped short, knowing it was best to listen. They made a turn around and saw that the group that was still gathered at the dull red painted home. They listened as Jacob, now deep in the woods howled into the sky, registering the sound of his loss.