Chapter Eleven: Reunions, Reconnecting, and Some Pretty Unbelieveable Stuff Too! Could Life Get More Complicated? Apparently It Can Because It Just Did!
"So are you guys going to introduce me to the humans you brought? You all remember Edward and Jasper, right? Do they know about all this?" I asked, making hand gestures toward who I was speaking about.
"That can wait for a minute. We missed you Jake." Quil said and strode forward to hug me.
As I hugged Quil, Seth came and hugged Edward. "Hey man. How's it going? Hope Bella and Nessie are ok."
"Hello Seth. It's good to see you. Yes, everything and everyone are fine. Thank you. I see you aren't alone anymore." Edward said, gesturing to the girl behind Seth.
"I guess it's time for introductions. Quil, you first." Leah sighed.
"Ok. The three humans here are people we imprinted on. Its been a while since you've seen her but I'm sure you remember Claire." Quil said to me and took Claire's hand. I blinked, confused. The last time I had seen Claire, she was in her awkward puberty phase. I guess she must be twenty-three now. She was very pretty, thin, and was radiating joy.
"Wow. Claire, is that really you?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yep. Hey Jake. It's great to see you. I wanted to come and let you know the good news." She said as she wrapped her arms around my waist.
"It's great to see you too. What good news?" I asked her as I pushed her away to look at her. She smiled widely up at me then moved to stand next to Quil. Claire wrapped her arm around him and he held her to his chest.
"Claire and I are getting married in two months. Will you be my best man, Jake?" Quil announced with a huge smile.
"Wow. Congratulations. Sure, I'll be your best man, Quil. I wish Nessie were here so we could give you our good news." I told them.
"You got your wish. Here I am." Nessie trilled as she bounded to my side.
"Nessie, what are you doing here? I thought I asked you to stay at the house." She just smiled at me.
"Since when do I ever do anything I don't want to do?" she said playfully. "Uncle Emmett told me what was going on so Momma and I came to see the wolves. So what did we miss?" she asked and took my hand. Bella had now entered the clearing and was taking her place next to Edward. Emmett was not far behind her.
"Quil and Claire were just sharing their good news with us. Nessie, you remember Claire." I gestured to them.
Nessie looked mystified. "Claire? Is that really you?" she asked as she stared, wide eyed, at Claire. She nodded and smiled at Nessie. "Oh my gosh, Claire. Look at you. You're so pretty. I'm so glad to see you!" Nessie squealed before running forward to hug Claire.
"I'm happy to see you too. Wow, you haven't changed a bit. I'm not nearly as pretty as you are. I'm full human and you have vampire beauty." Claire replied as she and Nessie hugged.
Quil interjected than. "You're beautiful, Claire. The most beautiful woman to me." Claire let go of Nessie and went to kiss Quil.
"You are so sweet. It's why I'm marrying you." Claire said in a loving voice.
"What? You guys are getting married? When?" Nessie asked quickly. She looked extremely excited.
"yes, we are getting married in two months." Claire replied.
"I was just asking Jake to be my best man." Quil started.
"And I would love for you to be one of my brides maids, Nessie." Claire finished.
"I would be honored. It just so happens that Jacob and I are getting married, too." Nessie told them and came to wrap her arms around me.
"I proposed to her about an hour ago. Same exact time, place, and date that I imprinted on her." I told them as I held Nessie. The clearing was filled with the sound of them congratulating us.
"Awe, that is so romantic." I heard the other human girl sigh.
I looked at her for a moment. She was short; nearly three feet shorter than me. Her skin was pale, clearly not a member of the local Indian tribes. She had long, brown hair that draped down her shoulders and back. Her round face was stretched into a wide grin. A pair of glasses obscured her brown eyes. She was pretty and also the youngest person in the clearing. The girl couldn't be older than eighteen and she was perfectly comfortable with Seth holding her hand in her left side and Emmett two feet away on her right.
"So, Seth. Are you going to introduce the human you brought?" I asked him after a minute. Everyone went quiet at my question; Nessie and the other vampires must be just as curious as I am.
"Sure. Everyone, this is Amanda, the girl I imprinted on." He turned to her and smiled. He had that familiar 'man seeing the sun for the first time' look on his face as he watched her.
"Sup, gangsters." Amanda said to us in a cool voice, like mythical creatures didn't surround her. "Hmm, I bet I can figure out who everyone is on my own, Seth." She let go of Seth's hand and stepped toward me. "You must be Jacob. I mean 'Most High Alpha'. Cool." She joked. I couldn't help but laugh with her.
"Yeah. I guess I'm not surprised Seth imprinted on someone like you. A sense of humor, always smiling and I bet you don't really care what I think of you; perfect for him." I told her. There was something about her that said 'I'm totally confident with who I am so don't waste your time trying to bring me down.' I already liked her for that.
She smiled widely and said, "Thanks, Alpha dog." She turned to Nessie then. "And you must be the halfer."
"The what?" Nessie and I said together.
She laughed, "Isn't that cool that you are so in sync that you can do that. Seth and I do that sometimes too; say the same thing at the same time. But anyway, moving on. The halfer. Half human, half vampire, Nessie. You almost got my Seth and the other wolves killed twenty years ago." She clarified.
Nessie looked remorseful and guilty. It was kind of cute to watch her dig the toe of her shoe in the dirt and hang her head. "Twice, actually. Sorry 'bout that. It was unintentional." She said in a small voice.
Amanda shrugged. "No big deal. He's alive and that's what matters. Besides, my mom wouldn't want me to be mad at the daughter of one of her closest friends." She turned to Bella and added, "My mom talks about you every now and then. She misses you."
"I know your mother? Who? Who are you?" Bella asked, bewildered.
I heard Edward's breath catch as he read Amanda's thoughts. No one paid him any attention because we were focused on Amanda.
"You're Bella, aren't you? Married to Edward Cullen, right?" she pointed to Edward as she said his name and they both nodded. "Let's see. Emmett is the dark, curly headed vamp. But which one is blondo? Probably Jasper, right?" she asked and they nodded.
"How do you know that?" Bella asked in disbelief.
"Some of it from my parents, a bit from Seth. Where's Alice? Mom liked her a lot too. She said Alice was interesting to sit next to at lunch. Dad always had her help him in French class." Amanda said in a matter of fact tone. I still didn't have enough information to guess at her parentage.
"Holy crow!" Bella yelled. "Angela and Ben. Amanda Cheney?" Bella continued to stare at Amanda. I guess she was looking for similarities to her old friends.
"Yep. Amanda Isabella Cheney is my name. Mom says you were her closest friend in high school. You gave her the courage to marry dad two years after you married Edward. They had me not even two years after they got married. I'm sixteen and I have a little brother, Brandon Edward Cheney, who's thirteen." She said as Bella stared dumbfounded at her. Bella looked over at Edward but caught my eye and read my expression.
"Amanda, why don't you and I go somewhere else to talk? I'm sure Jacob wants to see everyone else." Bella suggested pointedly.
Sure, later Jacob. Seth, Edward, you guys coming with?" Amanda asked. Seth followed immediately.
Edward turned to me. Everything is fine. Jasper and Emmett can go back to the house. We'll be fine. I thought at him. He nodded in agreement than turned to Jasper and Emmett. He inclined his head toward to house, a gesture of dismissal, and they left. Edward followed Bella, Seth, and Amanda into the woods. I turned my attention to the last human stranger.
It was a man. He was tall, just a head shorter than me. He had deep brown skin and high cheekbones. He was obviously a member of a surrounding tribe but not Quileut. I wondered who he was. I was pretty sure Leah had imprinted on him but I had to ask.
"So, the last human is a man. Either Embry's other half is a male or Leah was wrong. Which is it?" I joked with them. Embry snorted in annoyance.
Leah stepped forward and said, "I was wrong. On more than one thing." She placed her hands on her round stomach in a familiar way and my mouth dropped open.