Melody's POV
I was cold, tired, and pissed off. It had been three weeks since Embry and I had gotten back together, and I was slowly moving my stuff back into his apartment. The last few weeks had been good with not too much drama, surprisingly. Leah still threw glares at me whenever we were in the same room, but she's quit with the heated insults, at least while I'm around. For the first time in months, Leah had nothing to do with why I was angry.
I had gotten a job at Newton's about two weeks before because business at the salon had been really slow, and I needed something to do while Embry's patrolling or doing baby stuff with Leah. I had worked pretty much every day for the last two weeks, even though Mike Newton harbored such a huge crush on me that I could've asked for any night off and probably still have gotten paid double for it too. Tonight was my scheduled night off, and Embry promised to bring me to Port Angeles. That wasn't going to happen, though, because macho asshole Sam had to command Embry to do a double shift which meant goodbye shopping and uninterrupted sex for us! I couldn't even go alone because last week two bodies were found on the outskirts of Port Angeles drained completely of blood-obviously a vampire attack. Even though I had really wanted to buy a dress for my friend Lana's, a girl who I work with, wedding, I wasn't about to subject myself to murderous vampires in order to do it.
I glanced at the time- 7:00. Embry wasn't going to be home for another eight hours. I sighed and lay down, not caring if I messed up my neatly curled hair. I closed my eyes and started to doze off when my cell phone started ringing. Whenever Embry was on patrol, I felt like the mother of a teenager: my heart dropped every time the phone rang. I got up and sighed in relief when I saw the caller ID, but then confusion overwhelmed me: why was Anna calling me?
Anna was a sweet woman, and I wish we had stayed closer after she moved back to North Carolina, but we barely talked. We would send each other birthday cards and Christmas presents, but that was pretty much it. Anna and I really had never had any time to bond; her dislike for Embry had started many fights during the time I stayed with them here. I'd gone years with my just real mom, and we both knew very well that the signing of some papers wouldn't make her Mom. I owed her though, more then I even knew.
"Hello?" I answered quickly while pulling the blankets up closer to me.
"Hi Melody, how are you?" Anna's warm voice came through my phone, and for some unknown reason, she sounded pretty nervous.
"I'm good. Just trying to move my stuff back into Embry's."
"Oh, is he with you?" she asked hopefully, and I knew right then something was definitely wrong. Anna had never liked Embry, especially now- after what had happened. For her to wish that I was with him and not start her lecture on why I'd be better without him was a sign in its own that something was not right.
"No, he's working. Is something wrong?" I asked, not wanting to beat around the bush for much longer.
"Did your mom ever tell you anything about your father?"
My mom and I only had one short conversation about my dad. His name was John, and he was my mother's drug dealer. He was 19 and my mom was 16, but the most important thing she had told me was that he had wanted nothing to do with me.
"Uh, not much. His name is John, and he should be around 38 now. Why?" I asked. I rarely talked about my absentee father, and when I did, it was only with Embry who could honestly understand.
There was a pregnant pause from Anna's side of the line, "A man named John called here today. I don't know how he knows we adopted you, but he does. He asked if you still lived around here, and I told him you live in Washington. He--he wants to contact you because--because he says he's your father," she finished, leaving me with the feeling that my heart was in my stomach.
I was nineteen years old, meaning that whoever my father was he knew for almost two decades that I was out there. He wasn't there for me when I wanted to go to those father-daughter dances as a little girl, but obviously couldn't, because I didn't have a father to bring with me. He wasn't there the day I had to bury my mother, or when I was thrown into foster care. He had been absent the day I had graduated high school. I put my life together without him, and he had gone on living his life as if he hadn't created a child along the way. After all these years, why did he want to talk now?
"Are you there, Melody?" Anna's voice said, bringing me back to reality
I nodded, even though I knew she couldn't see me, "Why now?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.
"Sweetie, I can't answer that. It takes some people more time than we would like to confront their mistakes," Anna said, with the voice of a therapist.
"It's been nineteen years," I said shortly.
"I know. I won't give him your number or anything without your permission; it's your choice."
It was my choice, but I was sick of having to make all these life-changing choices. I'd hung out with some girls my age when I was living with Brittany, and I watched as the biggest choice they had to make were what flavor wine cooler to drink or what bra to wear out. I envied them because just once, I wanted my life to be that simple. I'd grown up too fast, and I deserved the chance to slow down.
"I don't know…I want to talk to Embry about it," I said honestly. It was times like this that I thanked fate for giving me Embry. We were far from a perfect couple, but Embry and I understood each other better than anyone we had ever known. He was the only person I had ever had in my life that actually understood when he would tell me 'I understand.'
"You don't need his permission to do things," Anna said, and I knew without seeing her that she was rolling her eyes.
I desperately wished that Anna would give Embry a chance. It was rather irritating that on the rare occasions that we talked, by the end of the conversation we were both pissed at each other. In Anna's mind, Embry was no good, a part of a gang, and had proven not to be faithful. Like many people, Anna didn't and would probably never understand our connection.
"You're right- I don't need his permission to do anything, but since his father left him before he was born too, don't you think he'd have some advice?" I asked with my attitude kicking in.
I was extremely defensive when it came to Embry. I couldn't remember a time in our relationship where I didn't stand up for him, and I think that has a huge part of why I was so devastated to find out about him and Leah. I acted as if Embry was a god that could do no wrong, and I looked so stupid when he cheated in many people's eyes. I look even more stupid now that I had given him a second chance.
Anna sighed loudly, "I don't want to fight with you tonight, Melody."
"We wouldn't fight if you didn't criticize who I chose to be with," I reminded her.
"You're so much better than him, Melody! He's having a baby with another girl, but I'm not going to go over this with you again. I have hope that you'll end up with that nice Quil boy," Anna said with complete seriousness, and my loud laughter echoed through the whole apartment.
"Quil? As in his best friend, Quil?" I said, trying to contain my laughter. It seemed like decades ago that I had had a crush on my 'big brother,' Quil Ateara. It had been during the stage where Embry did whatever he could to ignore me, and I spent my days with Quil and Jacob. But, that was another story. I couldn't ever see myself with Quil or anyone besides Embry. Anthony had been the only exception to this, at the time.
"Yes! He was always such a sweet boy," Anna said in awe.
"Sorry to burst your bubble Anna, but he's taken." Quil was technically taken because since he'd imprinted on Claire, he hadn't even looked at a girl his own age. I wished he and Embry would have shared that quality.
"Melody, do you ever think about coming home?" she asked bluntly, "Lord knows you could use a vacation."
I laughed humorlessly, "Yeah Anna, I can barely afford gas to get to work and I still owe Britt rent. The last thing I need to do is buy a plane ticket to North Carolina."
"I'll pay for your ticket and you can just stay here, no need to get a hotel room. You haven't been home in years, Mel, and if you want to talk to this John guy, you'll be able to if you're here," Anna explained, and the idea was tempting. I hadn't seen any of my old friends in a long time, and I always had wanted Embry to see the town I had grown up in. I knew, with the baby coming, we were on limited time.
"Can I bring Em with me?" I asked, although I'd bring him with me even without her permission.
"You're not a child; I learned many years ago. I can't tell you what to do. He can come, but I will be having a very long conversation with him," Anna threatened, and I knew from experience that her long conversations were everything but fun.
"I'll talk to him and get back to you on everything," I paused, "Bye, Anna."
"You don't have to make a decision in a day. Bye, Hon," she said as her line disconnected, and I was left in the most overwhelming silence.
The thought of my father hadn't entered my mind in a long time. In my younger teen years, he used to consume my thoughts frequently, but as I grew up, I realized I didn't have time to be thinking about someone who lived his life as though I didn't exist. Father was just an empty word, one that had stopped meaning anything to me years ago. Now that Anna had brought him up, I was thrown into many thoughts I had tried to avoid for years.
What kind of man was my father? Was he still a drug user with a number of convictions on his record? Had he changed his ways like my mother always promised she would? Maybe he was the all-American dad, but just not to me. Did he ever think about the life he created 19 years ago, or were there whole days, weeks, and years, that I didn't even cross his mind?
I didn't remember falling asleep, but I knew I must have when I felt warm arms gently pick me up from the couch and place me softly on the bed. I rubbed my eyes with my tiny fist and looked over at Embry who was stripping his sweats and white T-shirt.
"Em," I said softly, and he looked over at me quickly.
"I didn't mean to wake you up. Sorry," he apologized, while he got into bed and secured his arm around my waist.
"Anna called me tonight," I said, not wanting to wait 'til morning to have this conversation.
"And?" Embry questioned before leaving a warm kiss on my forehead that made me to smile.
"My dad called her, and I..I want to go home for a week," I paused, "with you."