Chapter 19: Party

After my 'birth minute,' Seth told me that he had a few more surprises for me. I was feeling lighthearted and ready for anything, so I just nodded and smiled. Until Seth altered my plans of a nice hike back.

"I'm going to change back into my wolf form and you're going to ride on my back, okay? It'll be faster."

Vehemently, I shook my head. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" He seemed genuinely confused.

"Because I'm heavy!" I cried.

He sighed. "Did you see how big I am?"

"That's beside the point!"

"How so? I can carry you no problem. I probably won't even feel your weight!"
"I doubt that." I said with a frown.

"Kayla, would you stop being so hard on yourself, please? It hurts me to hear you talk about yourself that way. Like physical pain!" He looked tragically sad.

"Why? It's my problem, not yours." I said stubbornly.

"But you're wrong. All your problems are my problems. Do I need to remind you about the imprint thing again?"

"No, but…" He put a hand gently over my mouth.

"Shh. Just relax and have fun! It's your birthday!" He smiled at me, but I could still see the pain in his eyes. I felt bad that he had to deal with me, but I tried not to let it show. I couldn't stand seeing him in any more pain over me.

"Ok." I gave in.

He ran into the woods, changed forms, then ran back to me and crouched on the ground. I clambered on and wrapped my arms around his neck. My knees gripped near his shoulders as tight as I dared so I wouldn't fall off. He started in an easy jog, most likely to let me adjust. Soon, he was sprinting through the forest, effortlessly dodging obstacles and not even breathing abnormally. It was the fastest I'd ever moved, faster than being on a freeway in a car. Maybe not as fast as an airplane, but I had to way to judge that since we weren't in the air. We arrived back to the car in less than ten minutes.

I slid off his back and almost fell over, but he steadied me with his head. I walked slowly back to the car, regaining my balance, while he changed.

"That was kind of fun." I told him when he got into the car.

"And it was easy too. No problem."

I relaxed then, and tried to just enjoy myself like he'd asked me to. We were driving towards the Cullen's. I wondered if we were eating there. But when we pulled into the lengthy driveway, I was shocked. Lining the drive were hundreds of rainbow balloons. Was this for real? They hadn't decided to throw me a party had they? Seth parked the car and led me around to the back of the mansion. There on the lawn was a huge barbeque style party.

"Surprise!" All of my friends screamed. Aimee and Levi, all the Quileute's in the pack and their imprints, Alice, Bella, Edward, Renesmee and even a few people who must be the Cullen's I hadn't met yet. There was a big cake on the table, a mountain of food, and an even bigger pile of presents. I couldn't believe it!

Alice skipped over to me. "Ta da!" She said excitedly.

"You did this?" I asked, shocked.

"Parties are my specialty." She informed me. "Well, besides fashion and beauty. And Esme helped."

"Thank you so much!"

She smiled and led me over to the food table. I piled my plate, knowing that the food would be gone once the wolves got to it. I sat down at a different table and Seth sat next to me, using one hand to shovel food into his mouth and draping the other arm around my shoulders. The food was amazing. Then, they made me open the massive amount of present. Strangely, most of them seemed to be from Alice. I quickly found out why. All of her presents were clothes. Not just any clothes either, really nice clothes that I would never be able to afford. And like she promised, they all looked like they would fit me perfectly.

Edward and Bella got me a bunch of books, and Renesmee gave me an over the shoulder tote bag that she said she picked all by herself. That too, was just right. The pack gave me a lot of Quileute items, like a book of their 'legends' and a carved wooden wolf statue about the size of a water bottle. Aimee gave me best friend necklaces for us to wear.

"You guys are all amazing!" I said in wonder. "I don't know how I can ever thank you. This is all too much!" They all told me it was no problem and to enjoy it. One big slice of cake later and I was officially blissful. We all hung out for a few hours after that. Renesmee and Claire pulled me over to the swing-set and begged me to push them and I met the remaining Cullen's. Then Seth pulled me over to the trees. He put a braided bracelet on my wrist, and explained that it was like a Quileute promise ring. The other girls had one and I hadn't even noticed.

We said goodbye to everyone and thanked them again, and a few people had to help us load up the presents, then Seth drove me home. It was about six o'clock and I wasn't ready for Seth to leave, but he told me he'd promised my dad that I'd be home by then. When I got inside, I learned that, surprise; they hadn't forgotten me and were taking me to dinner. However, it almost ruined the whole day for me. My mom had seen all the clothes that Alice bought me, (apparently the Cullen's were like super rich), and she was lecturing me about taking handouts. My dad tried to quiet her but they just ended up fighting at the restaurant.

When we got home and I went up to my room, there was a whole bouquet of roses on my bed. There was a note attached that said: "Hey Kayla. I know dinner probably didn't go very well, so I left these to let you know I was thinking of you. Love, Seth." Suddenly, I felt all better. If only Seth could heal all the disappointment I would suffer in the weeks to come.

A/N: Just a filler/transition chapter featuring lots of fluff! What did you think? Also, guesses/reactions to the last sentence?