Hey, guys! Chapter 4! Woo hoo! I am awed at the want for Walker's return. I didn't expect so many people to like him. But you know what? Here ya go. Not exactly how'd I pictured his return, but they told me what happened.

*Disclaimer*

Please Enjoy!

A couple weeks later. -Early November.

JPOV

"Jacob! For goodness sake! Get up!"

My body budged as Nessie shook me. My face was buried into her pillow, her scent floating through my sinuses. As I slowly started waking up, I thought, man, it's good to be home. I still want that bed in Hawaii, but still, good to be home.

I swatted at her hand.

She made disgruntled sound. "Get. Up." When I didn't move, she huffed. "Fine, I won't fix you breakfast."

Ok, I was up. Groaning, I pushed myself onto my elbow, turning to look at her. Her eyes roamed my body, which was bare since the sheet had slipped, before returning to my gaze.

I smirked. "You rang?" I asked, sarcastically.

She swallowed hard, trying for the hard tone once more. "Yes, I did. Get your butt outta bed. We have shopping to do."

I groaned, smashing my face back into the pillow.

Sighing, she picked up a pillow and smacked me in the back of the head.

I rolled over, grabbing her around the waist as I went. She ended up sitting across my hips.

"Ness, baby, it's like, a whole month before Christmas."

Those chocolate eyes narrowed. I rolled my eyes.

"Good. I win. Now, I've already ordered everything I could online. I had it all sent down to the mechanic shop you work in. I know Frank won't peek, even if one of the gifts is for him. And he told me that you'll never find a thing. However, we need to go to Seattle. There are several things we need to get, and I actually want to do the shopping."

"Of course you do," I yawned.

She pinned me with a venomous glare.

"Anyway. Besides, a lot of it is for Brayden. Shelby and Seth would never ask the family for money, so they're having a gigundous Christmas. Aunt Alice even snuck in to do inventory of everything they need. Some things they got from Sue and Emily. The necessities anyway. We basically get to do the fun stuff."

I gripped her hips, thumbs playing over the skin that peeked between her shirt and jeans. "The fun stuff I can handle." I wasn't worried about Christmas, only because I'd already gotten her gift. Well, her main gift. There was, however, a necklace in Port Angeles that she'd loved instantly. I'd never been more jealous of an inanimate object in my life. But I had enough to pay for it myself, so I was quite proud of that. Edward, Seth, and I were going to go into town next week so we could finish up gifts for the women, and I could, grudgingly, buy the necklace.

Leaning forward, she splayed her hands over my bare chest. "Please come with me? I know you hate shopping, but Seattle scares me a little and I don't wanna go with just Lucas and Morgan. I want my husband to go with me. It's our first Christmas as husband and wife."

And then her eyes got wide as if she'd just realized what she said.

She smacked her forehead. "Oh my god. It's our first Christmas together in this cabin, and as a married couple!"

Like that explained her revelation? I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah. And?"

Her hand came down in a slap against my skin. "Jacob, we have to decorate the house! It's so...cold right now. No warmth! Wow, I have so much to do. I mean, we can't skip Thanksgiving of course. I need to buy stuff for that, too. Geez."

While I was trying to figure out what the hell she was on, she swung herself out of my grip and ran to the closet. And I mean, booked it to the closet, not even missing a step. Waking up even more, I got out of bed, stretched, and went to the bathroom. When I came out, clothes were spread out on the bed for me. Sounds from the kitchen told me Nessie was still going to cook breakfast, no matter how much of a rush she was in, and despite her earlier threat.

By the time I got upstairs, there was a steaming pile of eggs, bacon, and sausage on a plate, and a bowl of oatmeal in front on Nessie. Her momentary rush seemed to have calmed because she wasn't scarfing down her food.

I kissed the top of her head before sitting down. "You know I was joking, right? Of course I'll go with you."

She smiled at me. "Yeah I know. We still need to shop for Henry, Leila, and Claire, and I know you want to help pick everything out. For Claire, I was thinking maybe an easel? She loved the art set. Emily bought her a huge sketch pad though. She has to practically lay on it."

I nodded while shoveled food into my mouth. After a gulp of orange juice, I said, "That sounds pretty good. Is there an art store in Seattle that you know of?"

"Actually, I Googled it. I found one that looks like it'll have what we're looking for but I printed off the others just in case. I put the maps on our phones."

After I nodded, she stared down into the bowl, her lip between her teeth.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Can I ask Shelby to come?"

Wiping my mouth with the napkin, I sat back in the chair. "Ness, you know she won't go without Brayden. He's only two weeks old. And Seth won't let the two of them out of his sight. He's off patrols for a while."

She leaned forward. "I know, and they've been cooped up in that cabin. Let's invite them out. The kid needs sunshine. It's good for you."

Smiling, I sat forward to put my hand over hers. "Ness, something tells me that being a new parent doesn't make you rational about that kind of stuff, especially when those parents are territorial werewolves with enemies prowling around. Besides, Seth would want to double or triple the 'security' detail." I did the quotations in the air with my forefingers.

She squeezed my fingers. "And that's fine, Jake. I just want them to get out. Having a group outing would be fun."

I sighed. "Fine. I'll call them, see if they're ready to introduce him to the big, bad world."

Grinning, she went back to her oatmeal. "It's only as bad as we paint it."

If that wasn't the God's honest truth, I thought as I pulled out my phone.

RPOV

A few hours later, we'd made it to Seattle. Shelby was glowing as she pushed the stroller. Every two minutes, she'd lift the blanket covering the opening to check on Brayden. Every time she wasn't doing it, Seth was. Otherwise, his sharp eyes surveyed the surroundings despite the fact that we had Morgan, Lucas, Patrick, Alana, Leah, and Caden as security. And they took their jobs seriously by attempting to look like what they were. They wore dark clothes and dark sunglasses. It also helped that they radiated "bad ass". Embry and his partner, Colby, had dropped us off. They'd each driven a vehicle to pack all of us. Another wolf, Amelia, had driven one of the larger SUVs to haul all of our stuff in.

The weather was cold enough to have to bundle up. All the wolves had, grudgingly, put on warmer clothes than tanks. Shelby and I were wearing coats, knit hats, and gloves.

When I pulled Jacob to a stop in front of the baby store, Shelby stared at me.

"What are we doing in here?"

Jacob smirked, holding the door open for us. He'd told me how she would react if we went ahead to get the stuff for them. I knew he was right, but I didn't care. I'd already put the things I wanted on hold and had asked them for the wrapping service. She'd never see anything unless she managed to nab the receipt, which wasn't possible. I'd printed it out at home.

"Just come on." I got out my phone to dial Amelia. "Hey, I'm about to pick up our stuff. Just swing by in like ten minutes. We'll throw everything in and walk two stores down to the art store."

"Sure thing. On my way."

With that, I walked up to the counter. There was a young woman there with a bright smile and curly brown hair. Her name tag read, Melanie.

"Hi. How may I help you?"

I smiled back, getting my ID out of my wallet. "Hi. My name is Renesmee Cu-er, Black, but the receipt will probably be under Cullen. I'm here to pick up my order. Mr. Rosco said it would be ready by today."

"Alright." She turned to computer and started typing. We waited about two minutes. "Ok, I found you. And it was under Black." She gave me a smile. "Did you just get married, if you don't mind me asking?"

I felt flush creep up my neck, but my smile was all joy. "Yes, I did." I looked up at Jacob. "We did."

Her eyebrows went up as she looked at Jacob, but the smile never left. All genuine. "Oh! Well, congratulations. A lot of women forget that they've changed their accounts to their new name. Totally understandable." She picked up the phone. "Let me just call Mr. Rosco."

"Thank you."

Jacob pulled me to him with a grin. "I really like the sound of Renesmee Black. You know that, right?"

Grinning like an idiot, I got up on my tiptoes to kiss him. I tried to keep it short and sweet by pulling away, but he held onto my hips, keeping us close.

"Uh, guys. I know I just had a baby and all, but, please. We're in public," Shelby said. I could tell she was smiling, though. Turning around in my husband's arms, I gave her a look.

"You know that baby coming along started from a kiss, right?"

"The same could be said for you, Mrs. Black."

"I don't have kids nor am I pregnant."

She patted my cheek. "Oh, you will be, sweetie. You will be."

I smiled, but it was kind of half-hearted. Seriously, was something wrong with me? Jacob and I had made love so many times. There was no way we could use condoms. And the pills? They'd given me the worst of the side effects. I'd tried everything, but my body hated it all as if it didn't want me taking contraceptives. But why if I wasn't pregnant by now? What if I couldn't have kids? What if Cricket was wrong?

Jacob tensed around me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the skin around his eyes was tight, lips drawn into a line. I'd projected. But I really couldn't help it. He hated the mental block, and I couldn't deny him anything. Besides, we'd promised not to hold anything from the other.

Sorry, I sent out.

He leaned down to kiss my temple. "We'll talk about it later."

I nodded.

"Ah, Mrs. Black!"

Jacob turned with me in his arms. Mr. Rosco was tall, painfully thin, and looked like a butler. He reached forward to take one of my hands in both of his.

"It's so good to see you again. Everything is set and ready to go."

Against my back, Jacob's chest rumbled a little, as if he didn't quite like the attention Mr. Rosco gave me. Fortunately, or probably unfortunately, he turned to Shelby and the stroller.

"Is this one of young ones you told me about?"

I nodded and smiled. "Yes, just two weeks old."

He looked at Shelby. "Would you mind if I-?"

Grinning like a proud momma, she nodded, moving aside the blanket. Seth stepped up beside her with a menacing look and low growl.

"Seth!" Jacob hissed.

The growling stopped but that was it. He kept the glare and didn't step back.

Mr. Rosco smiled anyway. "You must be the father."

Seth gave a terse nod. Mr. Rosco looked down into the stroller, his features softening.

He smiled up at Shelby. "He's beautiful."

She beamed. "Thank you." And then she looked at me. "But how does he know? I thought it was Leila we were picking up for."

I shrugged noncommittally. Mr. Rosco excused himself telling us that he was going to get the order ready and into a large cart.

Instantly her features changed. "Nessie Black, what did you do?"

"Being a good auntie. That's what I'm doing. Now quit bitching."

Her expression turned sad. "Ness, I told you-"

"And I didn't listen." Stepping out of Jacob's arms, I went to hug her. " I know you'll never ask for money. And that's ok because that gives us reasons to shower you guys in gifts. You didn't have a baby shower where you would have gotten all this stuff. Just let me do this. Please. Consider it a giant gift from all the Cullens. I just happened to pick most of it out."

"And what about the Blacks?"

Jacob crossed his arms over his chest. "We got our share covered."

Eventually the tension left her body and she hugged me back. "I love and hate you right now."

"I know. But I'll always take care of you, ok? And so will the family."

She sighed. "I wish you wouldn't."

Jacob stepped up behind me. "Well too bad. You and Brayden belong with us. Seth is one of ours and you two are his family. Period."

"I hate you, too," Shelby pouted to Jacob.

He chuckled. "Eh, I'm used to that. You did punch me in the face and broke my nose."

"Well, you were being a dick."

"That's true. But, Shelbs, no matter what side of the family, pack or...other, we always take care of each other. We share what we can."

Seth wrapped an arm around Shelby's shoulders before she could say anything. "She appreciates it. As do I. She's just not used to it." Smiling, he put his lips to Shelby's ear, but didn't whisper. "Don't you know by now that they never listen? Besides, the Cullens have enough money to support this entire side of the country all the way through to their great-great grandkids." He looked up at me. "Not that I'm saying we use you for money."

I grinned. "I know that, Seth."

He shrugged. "I mean, if someone wants to splurge on you and have the means, I say let them."

Shelby bit her lip. "Yeah, but-"

Seth put a finger over her lips. "You are plenty special. Everybody in this family is."

She was about to reply when Mr. Rosco returned. Two men were pushing a U-boat apiece loaded down with wrapped goodies. Shelby's eyes got wide. I patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry. Not all of it's for you. Some is for Leila." I hugged her. "You can yell at me later, when we get home."

After she finished gaping, she nodded. "You bet your sweet ass, I will."

TriciaPOV

Crazy. I was going frickin' crazy, pacing my room. Embry had gone with a group to Seattle for a shopping trip. That had been hours ago, and now the sun was setting through the trees. I wondered, not for the first time, if he was going to come back tonight. Maybe he had pack business. Every night since we "got together", he'd snuck into my room to sleep beside me. When Jacob had been hurt, he'd told me he had to stay at the Cullen house. That night had been hard on me, and somehow, he'd known it. He'd gotten permission for me to go over there to be with him.

Of course, mom and dad hadn't liked it. But I'd told them that I was there to support Embry and that there were other people there.

Hands itching for my phone, I forced them into my jeans pockets. I was not going to annoy him by asking if he was coming over. We, I, needed to remember how it was before he came into my life.

Going over to my window, I stared out into the chilly night. Cool air breezed in when the trees moved from side to side. Mom would kill me if she knew this window was open, but I couldn't help it. The cold kept me calm.

Turning away, I caught the movement of something out of the corner of my eye. Swiveling back around, I realized it was something big.

Embry. It had to be. He always came from the woods so that nobody would see him coming around the house to sneak in. Excitedly, I waited for his big body to stroll out, eyes smiling at me. But it didn't happen. Five minutes passed, and I knew it wasn't Embry. But someone else was out there.

Whoever it was, stepped into the light coming from the back porch. And I almost screamed.

No thinking required. I hopped into my shoes as I stumbled out my door, grabbed my jacket, and flew down the stairs, jumping the last five. Mom and dad were watching a movie with high-def surround sound. The home movie experience. They hadn't heard the thump. I had to go out the front door because they'd see me go out the back. Jumping the porch steps, I darted behind the house. Skidding to a stop, I scanned the treeline.

"Walker?" I called.

No answer.

"Walker, I swear I know you're out here. Don't you dare run again. I'll never forgive you if you do."

Leaves rustled to the left. A moment later, with my heart in my throat, Walker rounded a tree, a hand wrapped around his midsection.

"Hey, little sister," he said weakly, with a weak smile.

He collapsed against the tree, sliding down to plant his butt in the dirt.

"Walker!" I ran to him, falling to my knees beside him.

Up close, he looked terrible. His hair was a knotted, longer mess. Skin pale, eyes sunken in. He'd lost a lot of weight, cheekbones sticking out over sunken cheeks.

"What happened to you? Where have you been?"

He coughed and winced. "Jeremy's."

"Liar. He called me after I told him you might end up down there. Where were you?" I asked sternly.

"Running. Like a coward. Happy?" He leaned over to spit something dark onto the ground.

"Are you injured?"

For some reason he found that hilarious, but the laughing caused him to double over in pain.

"Tricia?"

At the sound of that deep voice, I tensed and relaxed at the same time. "Embry! Get over here."

No doubt, the alarm in my voice brought him jogging over.

"Whoa." He knelt down beside my brother. "Walker, man, you look like hell. What happened?"

Walker grinned, and I could see blood on his teeth. "You sure know how to compliment someone."

Noticing the blood, Embry pried Walker's hand away from his side. The shirt he was barely wearing was shredded, covered with blood in that area. Embry's eyes came up to mine as he sighed.

"We have to get him to Carlisle. He won't make it otherwise."

"No," Walker said weakly.

"Walker, you're going to die if we don't get you to Carlisle."

Walker's strength returned for just a moment as he gripped Embry's wrist and barked, "No!"

I turned him back to me. "Do you want to die? Is that it? I have been worried sick over you. Mom and dad are dying a little each day. And Christa? She's frantic and depressed and just wants you to come home whether you hate her or not."

His dark eyes softened. "I don't hate her. Never did."

I gripped his bloody hand. "Then, please, let Embry get you to the Cullens."

Shaking his head, he gritted his teeth, a couple tears slipping down his dirty face. "I can't."

Embry made a frustrated sound. "Sorry about this."

"About what?" Walker asked.

Embry didn't answer. Instead, he punched Walker in the face, knocking him out cold.

"Embry!"

Embry started messing with Walker, positioning him to be picked up. "He wasn't going to come voluntarily. He'd have fought with what little strength he has left and can't afford to lose." Hefting up my brother, Embry positioned him into a fireman's carry. "Come on. We gotta go through the woods. Call Carlisle or someone at the house."

"I don't have my phone," I puffed out as we traipsed through the woods. Even with my brother's weight, Embry moved fast. I had to trot just to keep up.

"Mine's in my front right pocket. Grab it."

For a moment, I hesitated. I'd never touched him purposefully below the waist. But it wasn't like I was going to grope him. I just needed the damn phone.

"Trish?"

"Oh, sorry."

He chuckled. "I'll enjoy it later, but we gotta let them know."

"Right." Taking a deep breath, I dug into his pocket. The phone was warm from having been so close to his body. Scrolling through his contacts I found "Doc C." and hit dial.

When the call was picked up, I didn't even let him get in a greeting. "Hi, Dr. Cullen. This is Tricia, Embry's...girlfriend."

"Ah, yes. What can I do for you?"

"I found Walker outside my house. He's got a bad wound, bleeding a lot. He's really weak and thin."

"Bring him here."

"Thank you. We're already almost there. Embry had to knock him out because he was being stubborn."

Carlisle chuckled. "Oh, dear. Get him here quickly. I'll be ready."

The phone clicked dead. It didn't take us five more minutes until we got to the clearing. The front door opened as we neared it. Embry darted in, and I went in after him. We hustled it up the stairs where Carlisle met us at the top. He helped Embry position Walker on the bed. Once he was arranged, the doc pushed us back, Edward coming in to help.

Carlisle was all business, yelling out stats. "He's severely dehydrated. Heart rate is erratic. He looks like he was beaten severely."

Their rushing brought out my panic. Walker was worse than I'd thought. Maybe Embry had been able to assess the damage better than me because of his wolf.

"He just said he was running," I managed as Embry wrapped his arms around me.

Carlisle and Edward shared a look. Edward turned to us.

"He's going to need surgery. The two of you need to leave."

"But-,"

Embry tugged me toward the door. "Come on, Tricia. The sooner they can get started, the faster he'll heal."

"He's right," Carlisle said.

I nodded, letting Embry pull me out into the hall. Shelby appeared at the top of the stairs. Just two weeks after her son was born, she looked the same as she had before she'd gotten pregnant. With worry in her eyes she rushed over to us.

"Alice texted me. Are you ok? Is he?" she asked.

I gripped her hand hard, fear making me seek comfort. "We don't know. All they said was that he's dehydrated and needs surgery. He looks awful." And then I thought of something. "Someone needs to call Christa. He's her imprint. Maybe her closeness can help."

Shelby nodded as she pulled out her phone. "Good idea." She put the phone to her ear and waited. "Hey, Christa. Listen up. Walker's back but he's in bad shape. Tricia and Embry managed to get him to the Cullen house. Carlisle's doing surgery on him right now, but he needs you, Chris. He's your imprint. The closeness will help…Yes, I'm sure. It helped with me when I got attacked and Seth was there with me."

I motioned for the phone. Shelby gave it to me. "Christa, listen to me. It's Tricia. He doesn't hate you. He told me that just before…" I looked up at Embry. "Just before he passed out. He never hated you."

There was a pause before, "Ok. I'm on my way."

The phone went dead in my hand. Apparently, people in a hurry didn't like to say goodbye.

Shelby took the phone out of my hand and pulled me into a tight hug.

I gripped her as hard as I could, praying that my big brother made it out alive.

ChristaPOV

As soon as I hung up the phone, I stripped and phased outside my house. Though I'd hesitated on the phone, I'd known the second Shelby had said that Walker was back that I'd be at that house in an instant. My gut had been tugging all night in the weirdest way, and now I knew why. The need to be near him nearly made me mental. Snapping and snarling at anything or anyone in my way, I darted into the woods so as not to be hazardous to the community, because no doubt, I was violent right now. Not with Walker but for whoever had caused him to need surgery, whoever had caused the fear in Tricia's voice.

Before I knew it, I was flying the steps of the Cullen porch. Flinging open the door, I found Caden and Leah curled up on the couch. Morgan was waiting with Lucas. Morgan threw a blanket at me. I wrapped it around myself as I raced up the stairs. Tricia was curled up in Embry's lap, her eyes red, finger's clutching her man's shirt.

"Any news?" I demanded.

Tricia flinched but shook her head. Embry fought between a glare and sympathy.

The door to my left opened. Edward poked his head out. "Good, you're here. Get inside."

I went in as fast as possible. The door shut, but I couldn't bring myself to look over at the bed right now. Deep breaths.

Edward pointed to the sink. "Step on the pedal to get the water going. Use that soap and scrub up to your elbows. Touch nothing else. Before you do, there are some clothes in the closet."

Quickly, I stripped out of the blanket and threw on whatever my fingers touched first. Then I went to the sink and did as I'd been told. Once I was done with that, Edward pointed to the towels. After I was done with my cleaning, Edward brought a chair to the far side of the bed next to the window. The wound was on Walker's right side so I needed to be away from it on his left.

"Sit here. Don't move. Hold his hand, talk to him, whatever. But don't distract us."

I looked at Walker's haggard face. "He's that bad?"

Edward debated for a moment on whether to say anything or not. Finally, he sighed. "There are a lot of internal wounds that have healed on their own and incorrectly. Carlisle is working to first stop the freshest that's bleeding out into his body. This is going to take some time. So, yes, he's that bad."

Settling in the seat to get comfortable, I tentatively reached out to Walker's hand. It should be Tricia in here. She was his sister, but the pull of him wouldn't let me leave. When I finally made contact, something in my chest loosened.

Not much because of the fear and worry, but enough to let me know I was where I was supposed to be.

RPOV

Jacob and I ran for the house after we'd gotten the text from Seth. We bypassed everybody in the living room, and ran into Aunt Rose and Uncle Em on the stairs.

"What's going on?" I asked a little breathless.

Aunt Rose looked a little worried. "Edward said that there are multiple internal wounds that have already healed, but not well. And there is one fresh wound bleeding out. Carlisle is working on that one right now."

Uncle Em rubbed a hand up my aunt's back. "Christa's in there with him. It helped. His heart rate evened out. The whole house could hear it. Tricia and Embry are sitting outside the door. It's gonna take a while. They should take the recovery bed."

Jacob and I shared a look before finishing up the staircase. Shelby was sitting beside them, one of Tricia's legs in her lap. Both women had their heads resting on Embry's shoulders.

"Hey, guys," I said softly.

When Tricia met my eyes, hers filled with tears before she turned her face into Embry's neck. He stroked her back and whispered in her ear. I went to sit beside Shelby.

"Any news yet?"

She nodded. "They got the crucial wound fixed. Now they're just working on the improperly healed scars. That's what's going to take the longest."

I linked my fingers with hers as Jacob sat next to me, squeezing my thigh comfortingly as I rested my head on my best friend's shoulder. I sighed.

"Embry, how bad did he look?" Jacob asked.

Tricia flinched.

Embry kissed her head, then rested his cheek there. "As far from good as you can get without being dead. Lost a lot of weight. Looked like he hadn't had a hot meal or shower since he left. Dirty, matted hair, ratty clothes. Jake, he knew he was dying. And he wanted it." He squeezed Tricia as she started crying again, tears flowing faster. He whispered to her. I patted her leg where it rested in Shelby's lap.

Jacob's hand massaged my neck as I transferred my head to his shoulder.

We were all settled in for the wait. And not going anywhere.

Well, then...dum, dum, duuuuuum. Hmmmz. I liked this chapter. Yes, it was short, and I apologize, but hey, at least I didn't wait a month! Love you guys! Don't forget to review. They keep me going, good or bad. Or if you wanna PM me go for it. xoxoxoxo