Chapter 6 – School Gets in the Way
Jacob's POV
As the guys piled out of Sam's house, I can see Kaitlyn sinking into the couch more, her eyes slowly close, and after a few minutes pass... she's fast asleep. I walk over, taking her in my arms, and carrying her into the spare bedroom... placing her softly on the bed. I cover her up and just stare at her, she looked so peaceful when she slept, I bet it was the only time she could escape hearing everyone's thoughts. I still wasn't sure how all that worked, but I had a lifetime to figure it out. I pulled out a ring from my pocket, placing it on her left ring finger, I inspect it for a minute, then remove it. It used to be my mom's engagement ring, but while Sam's house was filled with the pack earlier, my dad placed it in my hands with a smile. It was a little too big for Kaitlyn's skinny finger, I'd have to take it to the jewelry store in Forks sometime. Movement in the doorway drew my attention, I looked up to see Emily standing there wearing a sweet smile, I knew she already saw the ring. I walked to the door and closed it behind me quietly.
"You're going to ask her to marry you?" She whispers to me.
"I'd thought about it." I answered while walking to the kitchen table. I sat down beside Sam.
"Can I see the ring?" Emily asks while sitting beside me. I handed her the ring and she inspects it carefully. "Wow, it's very beautiful, where did you get it from?" She asks while handing it back to me.
"I leaned back on the chair, sliding it in my pocket, then answered, "It was my mom's. Billy gave it to me a few hours ago."
"Awe, that's so romantic! I didn't think Billy had a romantic bone in his body, but I guess you had to learn it from somewhere." Emily said while pulling her hands together under her chin, letting out a small, loving sigh. After staring off into space, her mind drifted back to Earth, she looks at me again. "So... when are you going to ask her?"
"I don't know yet, I haven't decided when would be a good time." I informed her.
"Why wouldn't it be a good time now?" Emily asked, confused.
"Well, I don't have any money. With school and pack duties, that leaves me with no time to work a job. Maybe in a few years, I'll graduate and be able to take a job on at the fishing plant. Then I'll be able to afford a nice house and a wedding that Kaitlyn deserves. If I ask her now, it just means she'll have to wait a long time and I'd rather not make her wait that long." I explained.
Sam spoke up this time, "Do you really need college to work at the fishing plant?"
I knew what he was implying and he was right. I had only agreed to go to college cause Billy had the extra money saved up and everyone felt it would occupy my time. "I guess not." I answered him, but I was sure he didn't need one.
"Then if you drop out, will you get back some of the money you already paid?" He asks.
"I'm not sure, but it would be worth checking into." I told him.
Emily joined in the conversation, I looked at her when she started to speak, "That should be more than enough for a small First Beach wedding. You can even get the ring resized... I'm sure Billy wouldn't mind you using your college fund on that. Then when you start working, you can slowly work on building a nice house right here in La Push." She says this while a spark of happiness flashes in her eye.
"I guess." Is all I managed to get out, my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of how to work all this out. "I'll need to buy some land here first, Kaitlyn's just renting her small shack and the land it sits on."
Sam gives Emily a glance and I see Emily nod, then Sam speaks up, "I have too much land for this house, even if we add on to it, there's still a couple acres that I'll never use. How about we give that land to you guys? It can be our wedding gift to you both." Sam announces.
"And maybe we can take up a collection around La Push... to try and raise the money to build the house. I'm sure most of the guys will pitch in some money for supplies and offer their help to build it." Emily added.
Kaitlyn walks up behind me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, "Now that sounds like a good plan. I'll even drop out and get a job. I should be able to help since it's for us." She said. All three of us at the table jump slightly, she was so quiet that no one noticed her approach.
"Kaitlyn, I wanted this to all be a surprise." I scold her.
She smiles while kissing my cheek, "You should know by now that it's hard to surprise me. I mean there were so many thoughts coming from this one area that they woke me up... it was kind of hard to ignore." She informs me, giggling as she releases her grip on me and goes to flop down on the couch. She grabs the remote and clicks on the tv, flipping to a good channel.
"Ok, it's settled then..." I say in an annoyed tone, "Kaitlyn gets to help. Tomorrow, we'll go to the college and try to get some of the money back, then we'll try to get jobs. I guess that Kaitlyn can come over here to work out the wedding details with Emily? While I drop the ring off in forks." I announce.
Emily nods with an excited smile and Kaitlyn says, "Sure, sure." Then giggles.
With that, I stood and walked to the back of the couch, I lean over to kiss Kaitlyn's neck asking, "Are you ready to head home?"
She stands, clicking the tv off, "Sure hon." She goes over to hug Emily and Sam, promising them she'd be back after everything was taken care of. We walked out the door and to the rabbit. It was a short drive to her house, I tried hard to cloud my mind to her. I pulled up to her house and then turn the rabbit off. I exit the car quickly and open the passenger side door for her. She exits the car wearing a smile, she knew something was up, but I was she she couldn't read my mind to find out. I take her left hand and get down on one knee while pulling the ring from my pocket. Her smile radiates warmth as it grows larger.
"I know it's sort of too big for your finger, but I'd like you to wear it tonight." I explain. She nods bitting her lip, still smiling though. I slide the ring on her left ring finger asking, "Will you marry me?" Knowing the answer already, but I wanted this to be as proper as I could get it.
She breaks from knolling her lip to answer, "You know it." She says through a few giggles as her cheeks are invaded by the rush of blood that turned them a light pink. Before I came to a full stand, I swept her off her feet, she lets out a playful yell, resting in my embrace. I open the door, enter, then kick it closed again... placing her on the bed.
"Is your two day restriction up yet?" I ask her, turning a little red myself.
"Is that all you want from me?" Her eye brow raises, but she still wore a smile, "Just holding me isn't enough?" She strips down to just a tee-shirt and a pair of underwear as I pull off everything but my boxers. We lay on the bed, I reach over to turnoff the small lamp beside the bed. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close, feeling her rush of emotions. I intended to hold her all night and prove that I could hold her forever and be completely satisfied. Slowly the plans of what we wanted danced in my head and before I knew it, sleep covered my body.
The hot mist licked at my face, forcing me to open my eyes. I was alone, laying there, trying to get my brain to function. Once, fully awake, I realized that Kaitlyn was in the shower. Her sweet, steamy scent filled the house, dragging me into the bathroom. I shook off my boxers and stepped into the shower with her. She turns to greet me with that wide grin I loved. "Hi there." She pushes through the grin. Her body looked amazing normally, but when it was wet, it took on an angelic glow. I pressed my lips to her skin several times, lightly kissing each spot I made contact with til she pushes me away saying, "We have things to do today, we should talk to Billy before going to the school... you better hurry." She giggles and exits the shower. She was right... she's always right. I quickly bathe myself and step out of the tub. She was already dressed, putting the final touches on her hair. I pull on some clothes then run my fingers through my hair. We grabbed everything we would need and slide into my rabbit. When we pulled up in front of my dad's, he rolled out to greet us. Getting out of the car, I could see his smile, the twinkle in his eye, Emily or Sam must have already called him.
"Congratulations, to you both." Billy yells to us.
"Thanks Billy." Kaitlyn softly spoke as we drew closer to him. I just wore a big goofy grin that said it all. We all go inside the small house to talk.
"I take a seat on the little couch, asking my dad, "Do you think I could use the rest of my college money... if I'm able to get any back, on the wedding?"
"It's your money Jake. I gave it to you so that you could use it for whatever you needed it for." Billy says, in a pleased tone.
"Thanks dad.: I say as I heave myself to my feet and steer myself into the kitchen, Kaitlyn right behind me. She may not be pregnant now, but she still had a stomach that was almost as big as mine. After we ate, we left to head for the school.
There was a more pleasant looking lady sitting at the desk in the corner, as we entered the office she asked, "Can I help you?" With a smile.
"Yes ma'am, we both would like to find out how to unregister here. Also, if we could get a portion of the money we paid back." I informed her.
Her smile fades, "Is there something wrong?" She asks.
"No, not at all, we just have other plans now and college makes them a bit harder to achieve." I assure her.
Kaitlyn's ring caught the lady's eyes and she regains her smile. "Oh! I see. Well then, let's see what we can do. Your names?" She asks.
"I'm Jacob Black..." I say, then motion towards Kaitlyn, "And this is Kaitlyn Brown."
The lady punches a few buttons on the keyboard in front of her. "Will you be returning your books?" She asks. I place them on the desk in front of her and she inspects them, then goes back to punching more buttons on the keyboard. After a few minutes, she looks up to us, still smiling. "Alright, you can't get the full amount you paid back, but you will get most of it back." She informs us. Then she pulls out a long book of checks and fills in one for me and then another for Kaitlyn. She hands them to us, "There you go, anything else I can help you with?" She asks.
"No ma'am, thanks." I say to her with a smile.
We turn and exit the building, once outside looks to me and asks, "Fishing plant?"
I didn't like the idea of her working, specially at the fishing plant. I wasn't being sexist or anything... it's just a hard job, but I knew Kaitlyn could handle it. I was raised to be old fashioned and I wanted to be the 'bread winner' while she took on an easy job. I thought about the corner store in La Push, I had seen a help wanted sign in the window. The corner store was just like a small gas station, though they didn't sell gas, it would be perfect for Kaitlyn. She was already reading my thoughts. "Jacob..." She said as she nudged her body lightly into mine.
"I know, but look at it this way babe... some time apart would be good for us and you can make decent money at the corner store." I said while shooting her my cheesy grin.
She sighs playfully, "Fine, I suppose you have a point."
"Come on, I'll drive you to Emily's." I suggested.
She reaches in her purse, grabbing a pen and then turning me around to use my back to write on. She signs her check and then replaces her pen in her purse... pulling out her ID. She hands both her check and ID to me, then pulls her ring off to and it to me as well. "Here, do what you need to... I'll walk to the corner store, then to Emily's." She says. I began to protest, but she cuts me off, "You have to go in the other direction to the fishing plant. It's not like it's a long walk to the store or to Emily's." She added.
"Ok babe." I agree with her while leaning into her, hugging her, and kissing her sweet lips briefly. "I'll see you later at Sam's."
She smiles and walks off. I hop in the rabbit and in no time at all, I arrive at the fishing plant. The manager in charge of hiring was friends with my dad, I hoped this would work to my advantage. When I walked in through the doors, he was the first person I saw, so I headed over to him. "Hey Ron." I greeted him.
"Hi Jacob, what brings you here?" He asks.
"Well... I'm looking for a job. In need of some help?" I asked.
"No, we have all the help we need, but... I'll tell you what. You fill out an application, then I'll hire you. I owe your old man one... can you start Monday?" Ron pushed out in one breath.
"Yeah, I can start whenever." I told him, happy I caught a break.
He turns and steps into a small room, then returns with a piece of paper and a pen. He ands them to me, "Here you go." He said. "I'll be right back, just fill that out." I stepped in the room an took a seat at the small table to fill it out. I never really done this before and I struggled with it. I had no work history, unless you counted werewolf duties. In the end, the paper didn't have much more on it, but as Ron returned and looked it over, it seemed to be good enough for him. "See you Monday Jacob." He said while patting me on the back. I slide back into my car, heading for Forks to cash the checks and drop the ring off. As I passed the corner store, I didn't see Kaitlyn, but the help wanted sign was gone... I hoped she got the job. I pulled up to the bank window, placing both checks and IDs in the extended tray. The tray slid closed and moments later, it opened revealing two full envelops. I snatch them up and head off to the jewelry store. I had the ring half way on my pinky finger when I entered the store.
A sales lady greeted me, "Hello sir, how can I help you?"
"Hi, umm..." I answered while sliding the ring off my finger and walking to her... handing the ring to her. "Well, that ring was my mom's, but it's too big for my girlfriend... can you resize it?" I explained.
She eyes the ring for a moment then answers, "Yes sir, we can. What size would you like it to be?" She asks.
"Well... I know how much needs to be taken off..." I take my finger and draw an imaginary line across the band, "'Bout that much." I tell her.
She pulls out a big loop with a lot of little loops attached to it. The small loops here all different sizes and she holds up a few, comparing them to the ring and where I had drawn the imaginary line. "Hmm, I would roughly say you need it to be a size six and one eighth... " She suggests while holding up that size loop, 'Does this look like it would work for you?" She adds.
I eye the loop, placing a hand up to cup my chin, "I believe so." I agreed with her, removing my hand from my face.
"Alright then, it will be ready for you in a couple days..." She informs me, then hands me a business card, "Just call before you come."
"Sure, sure, Thanks." I say.
"Just fill this out with your name, address, and phone number." She says while handing me a pen and a small plastic bag with a label on it. I comply to her request, then hand it back to her with the pen. "Thank you sir." She says while sliding the ring into the small bag.
As she does this, two wedding bands catch my attention. "Excuse me ma'am, but can I buy those two wedding bands?" I ask while pointing out the ones I wanted.
"Sure sir, let me get your size." She says while sliding a loops around my left ring finger, it was a perfect fit. She unlocks the case, pulling out two small boxes, and opening them for me to see. One was a size six and one eighth and the other was a size eleven and three quarters. She locks the case back up and carries them to the register as I follow her. "Will you be paying for the resizing of the other ring now too?" She asks while punching buttons on the register machine.
"Yes, if I can." I reply.
"Sure, just keep your receipt" She informs me. She places everything in a bag after I pay for it and hands me the receipt.. I shove it in my wallet for safe keeping. I grab up everything and retreat back to my rabbit, driving back to La Push. When I pull up to Sam's, I can smell Emily's wonderful food. I exit the car to enter the house full of hungry wolves stuffing their faces.
"Hey guys." I announce, surprised to see Paul, Quil, Embry, and Jared. "What are you guys doing here?" I mindlessly ask.
Paul looks up from his plate, "What? We aren't allowed to come here now?" He jokes.
I scratch the back of my head, "No, I just mean that school's not out, I wasn't expecting to see you guys here yet."
Quil started this time, "Emily was up bright and early this morning, telling everyone the good news... congratulations, by the way... anyways, we all decided to help you guys out." He explains.
"I've gotten everything done that I needed to today, you guys didn't have to cut class." I scold them.
Paul looks up again, "Who said we cut class?" A grin tickled his lips as he said this. I raised an eye brow to this statement as he continues, "We all agreed that there's no point in spending all that money on something we'll probably never use. Not like we'll end up outside La Push and you don't really need a college degree to work here. So... we all got our money back this morning and Embry drove us all to the bank already." He confessed, then he hands me a huge wad of money. "That's not all the money we got back, but it'll definitely help you guys out. Consider it a wedding present from the pack. And, we're all also helping you build your house." He adds.
I glance at Kaitlyn, her grin confirms that she already accepted the money and the help, so how could I refuse? "Thanks guys." I say while shoving the money in my pocket and pulling up a chair beside Kaitlyn as Emily slides a full plate my ways. We all ate, talked, and laughed. After we ate, Kaitlyn and I decided to call it a night and said our thank yous and goodbyes to everyone before leaving.