Recap: That made Emily and Noni laugh. Emily came over and took the sheets from Noni, shooing her from the room while she took over, ordering Sam to do the smaller tasks that he was less able to mess up.
Sam and Emily finished the guest room later that evening. Emily had insisted on cleaning the windows and floor too, so Sam had to lift the desk, dresser, and bed while Emily quickly vacuumed underneath them. Noni brought in some picture frames filled with pictures of Sam and Dekan when they were younger, and handed them to Emily to decide where to put them. After another half hour, Sam practically dragged Emily out of the guest room.
"Come on Emily. I'm sure Dekan won't mind if the pictures aren't aligned with the stars." Sam teased.
"I just want everything to look nice. I kind of get carried away." Emily said.
"No, you don't say!" Sam said, dodging Emily's playful whack.
"Keep that up, Mr. Uley, and I'll give your food to Jake." Emily jokingly threatened.
Sam dramatically gasped, grabbing at his chest. "Oh no! You can't do that to me, Em! Oh my poor heart!"
Emily laughed until she snorted, which made her laugh even harder. Sam shook his head, chuckling as they walked into Emily's house. Emily immediately went into the kitchen and set the chickens into the oven to bake for the pack's dinner tonight. "What time do you have to go pick Dekan up tomorrow, Sam?" Emily asked as she was stirring mashed potatoes.
"I think Mom said around 9. Do you want to go? Its in Seattle." Sam replied.
"Nah. I think you and your cousin need some time together to get reacquainted. I'll be fine here with Kim and Claire." Emily replied.
Sam nodded. A few moments later, howling could be heard outside. Sam sighed and looked over at Emily just in time to see her wave to him, knowing that the howling was his pack wanting his attention. Sam smiled and walked outside, stripping and tying his pants to his leg before he transformed into a wolf. He raced to the forest to find Quil, Jacob, Embry, and Seth waiting on him.
What did you all want? Sam asked.
Who is on patrol this weekend? Seth asked.
Sam gave a wolfly sigh. Leah and Seth are on Friday. Jake and Quil on Saturday. Embry and myself on Sunday. Sam said.
You sound a bit stressed, Sam. What's up? Jake asked.
Sam whined, hating sometimes how the pack could just read his mind. My cousin Dekan is coming to live with us. Her stepfather is a sorry bastard. I want you all to be nice to her, you hear me? Don't pester her. Just…yeah, be nice. Sam said, almost using the Alpha double timbre.
Fine, fine. We won't rag on her for being related to you, oh great Alpha. Jake said, humor in his voice.
When you all get done with patrol, Emily has dinner ready and waiting. Sam said as he ran back to Emily's house, transforming back and putting his pants and shirt on before leaving the woods.
Do you think she's hot? Seth asked the rest of the pack.
I don't know, she is related to Sam…Jake replied, smiling wolfishly.
Don't let Sam hear that. He'll roast you gladly. Quil said.
Yeah well whatever. Let's get this patrol done. I'm starving! Embry all but shouted.
Sam, Emily, Quil, Jake, Seth, Leah, Jared, Kim, and Paul all sat in Emily's living room/dining room, contentedly happy now that they've eaten.
"Tell us about your cousin, Sam. What's she like?" Seth asked.
"Well, the last time I saw her was about ten years ago. I'm sure she's changed since then. But back then, she was great. Sarcastic. Very sarcastic. But great. She was my best friend growing up. I remember a time when Eric Stone called me a stupid injun and Dekan gave him a black eye! I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. He ran home crying to his mommy because some girl hit him!" Sam said, chuckling.
"Oh man he still hasn't learned, has he?" Jake asked, laughing as well.
"I remember in Junior High, he kept bugging me to go to the dance." Emily mused. "Then Sam heard about it and I don't think Eric has walked right since!" Emily laughed.
Hearing this from the usually quiet Emily made the whole pack erupt in laughter. Emily blushed while everyone laughed, but caught Sam's eye as he mouthed "I love you" to her. Emily smiled and mouthed it back. "Do you think your cousin will need any clothes to wear? Your mom mentioned something about her belongings not arriving for a few more days. I'm sure Kim and I could scrounge together some extra clothes." Emily said.
"Oh yes! I have some old clothes that I don't really wear anymore that she can have!" Kim piped in, happy to help. Jared then pulled Kim to sit on his lap so he could, as Jake would complain, "make kissy face" with each other. Jake and Embry and Seth groaned in sync. Jake reached over for the remote to turn a movie on, in hopes of drowning out the sounds of making out. Finally settling on the original Blues Brothers, Jake set back and relaxed.
Embry leaned over slightly and whispered to Jacob "Do you think that you'll ever imprint?" Embry asked.
Jake sighed softly, having asked himself this question a hundred times per day. "I don't know. I hope so. I thought Bella might have been my imprint, but I don't think she is. She prefers that…that…leech." Jake said with disgust.
Embry nodded sadly, feeling bad for his brother. "I don't think any of the girls around here are for me. I mean I've went around La Push and quite a bit of Forks looking for her. With my luck, she'd be half way around the world, marrying some other guy." Embry confided quietly.
Jake nodded his head, thinking the same thing about himself. "This conversation never happened, by the way." Jake said, not wanting the rest of the pack to be privy to their discussion. Embry smiled and said "What convo? I don't remember any convo. Jake, man, you're losing it. Having conversations with yourself…" Jake and Embry chuckled, earning them glances from the rest of the pack. They just shook their heads when asked what they were laughing about. The rest of the pack didn't need to know.
Dekan Breckinridge came home from school that Thursday, rubbing her forehead as she came through the door. 'Thank God he's not home yet' Dekan thought, seeing no sign of Jerry, her stepfather. She did see her mom, however, talking on the phone but hanging up quickly as she came into the kitchen.
"Oh you scared me, baby!" Lola said, going over and hugging her daughter.
"Sorry mom. Who were you talking to?" Dekan asked, grabbing a sandwich from the fridge and sitting down at the bar counter.
"Oh, that was your Auntie Noni. You know that Sam is engaged?" Lola said.
"That's great. I miss Sam." Dekan said wistfully. "Maybe I'll get to go to his wedding."
"Well that sounds great, baby. I'm sure he misses you too." Lola said.
The loud sound of a truck could be heard pulling into the driveway. Lola checked the clock on the wall and sighed. "Five o'clock on the dot. You better go upstairs and do your homework, baby." Lola said quickly, shooing her daughter up to her bedroom. Dekan quickly grabbed her backpack and ran up the stairs to her room, setting her books out and pretending to read and do homework. Dekan just prayed that her stepfather wouldn't come upstairs. She froze when she heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and stopping at her door. Dekan squeezed her eyes shut, biting her lip. The steps continued on finally after a few moments, and Dekan let out a shaky breath.
"Get your sorry ass down to dinner, girl!" Jerry said, pounding on the door a few moments later.
Dekan gasped, covering her mouth with her hand before anything louder could escape. She stood up and made sure she was wearing clean clothes before she went downstairs and helped her mother carry food to the dinner table. Lola and Dekan finally sat down after a few minutes, after Jerry had been served. They kept their heads bowed as they ate so they wouldn't incur any anger from Jerry.
"You've got a meeting tomorrow evening, young lady. I will pick out your outfit and you will go to my acquaintance's house. Do not disappoint me. Ronald is a very important man." Jerry said, looking directly at Dekan. Lola swallowed hard, glancing quickly at Dekan.
"Y-yes sir." Dekan replied quietly. Lola smiled to herself at her plan to keep Dekan safe. Lola had been stashing away money for a few months now, saying it was for bills and other such expenses. She had enough money accumulated now to send Dekan to La Push and to rent herself a small apartment for a few months under a false name and get a new life started away from Jerry.
"Dekan, will you help me with the dishes?" Lola asked her daughter. Dekan nodded, more than eager to get away from the table and away from her stepfather. Dekan picked up a few dishes, but tripped and sent the dishes flying across the floor. She looked back to see what tripped her, only to see her stepfather's foot moving quickly back under the table.
"You klutz! Clean that up! Now!" Jerry shouted, pushing her to the ground in the broken china. Dekan gathered all the pieces she could in her hand, taking them quickly to the kitchen to dispose of them. She gave her mom an apologizing look, but Lola just nodded sadly, knowing the reason why Dekan tripped. Lola wished she could pull a Lorena Bobbitt on Jerry.
"It's okay baby. Just help me clean up in here, okay?" Lola whispered.
Dekan nodded and started washing the dishes carefully, then giving them to her mother who rinsed, dried, and put them away. An hour passed, and finally Dekan and Lola were finished with the dishes and the kitchen. Lola kissed her daughter goodnight and sent her off to bed. Dekan rushed upstairs and changed quickly, grabbing her flashlight and a few photo albums from her secret hiding place in her floorboards, getting into bed and looking at them. Seeing the pictures of her and Sam so long ago made her cry. She truly missed her cousin, her best friend. She wished she could see Sam again, and meet his fiancée. Dekan clicked off her flashlight and set her photo albums under her mattress and cried herself to sleep. 'Tomorrow will be better…' she told herself. She hoped.
Author's note: Thank you to my first reviewer, coco swift! I'm glad you like it! We're getting closer and closer! Just stick with me and leave me reviews! You won't be disappointed! Mwaaaah!