**All characters are © Stephenie Meyer.
**A/N: I really need ya'll to give me some feedback on this chapter. I have discovered that I love writing for Leah…I think she is one of the most misunderstood characters in the series. I had a very specific plan in mind when I introduced the character of Ethan Pelletier, but now the characters are leading me in a totally different direction.
Keep reading…surprises are ahead!
Chapter 9
"Who Gives a Flying Flip Anyway?"
Leah Clearwater rolled over slowly to gaze incredulously at the gorgeous face of the man who had written her future just as surely as Quiluete legend had predicted it. But no one in their feeble attempts to describe imprinting had even given the experience justice. Leah's very existence had gone from who gives a flying flip to you rock my world in the course of one traffic ticket. Yes, Ethan Pelletier had given her a ticket for running that stop sign. Leah chuckled quietly as the memory of what followed soon after flooded her thoughts.
Leah had just returned home from a liberating jaunt through the local forest of Hoonah, Alaska. It was a week before Christmas, and she was feeling a little homesick now that her heart was no longer full of hate. She desperately wanted to see her mom and Seth over Christmas but knew the time still wasn't right to return to Forks. That reunion would have to be very carefully choreographed and people would have to be well prepared in advance.
Dread lay heavily in her stomach as she anticipated the reactions of Edward Cullen and Jacob Black to her return home. Leah had spoken to her mom every day since the infamous speeding ticket and hoped the change in her attitude was clearly evident. She had been truly concerned when Sue had told her about Renesmee's brush with death. Her heart had gone out to Jacob because the thoughts of living without Ethan were unbearable, and they had not even spoken since the day he'd left her sitting open-mouthed on the side of the road holding a very expensive ticket in her hand.
Rap! Rap! Rap!
Three sharp knocks at the door jolted Leah out of her worried trance. As she peered curiously through the peep hole, her heart fell into her stomach and dread was replaced with nervous twitters. Standing sheepishly at her door was Ethan Pelletier, out of uniform and looking heart-stoppingly beautiful in a pair of jeans and a tight fitting
black turtle neck. His long raven hair was pulled back in a loose pony tail just below his shirt collar. Despite Leah's best efforts to calm herself, her hands shook as she opened the door.
The two stood in the doorway for an excruciatingly long couple of minutes, neither speaking nor moving…simply staring into each other's eyes.
Suddenly, without warning, Ethan grabbed Leah by the shoulders and pulled her off her feet and into a crushing kiss. By the time he sat her back down she was breathless and holding onto the door frame for support to keep from passing out cold.
"I have not been able to get you off my mind for the last two weeks,"
Ethan had said as his chest heaved up and down. Leah noticed that he, too, was leaning heavily against the door frame.
"That makes two of us," had been Leah's breathless reply.
Since that day, the two of them had been inseparable, spending every waking minute together either talking or making love long into the night.
Today, they were going hiking in the few hours of daylight the Alaska winter would allow. So, Leah reluctantly turned to ease out of the bed to shower and dress. But, just as her feet hit the floor, Ethan grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back under the covers.
"Where do you think you're going, Miss Clearwater?"
Ethan locked his eyes – two pools of pure liquid jade – on Leah, making it impossible for her to concentrate.
"I thought you wanted to go hiking today, so I was about to go shower and get dressed. We only have about five good hours of daylight left."
Leah's heart was doing flip flops as Ethan, grinning like a Cheshire cat, inched his face closer and closer to hers as she spoke.
"Five good hours, huh?" Ethan hovered above Leah, his arms creating a steel cage around her. "Hmm. In that case, we better get a move on!"
And in one fluid movement, Ethan had vaulted out of the bed and swung Leah over his right shoulder headed straight for the shower.
Bella gazed dreamily out the frosted window panes of the little cottage in the woods she and Edward had made their home since after Renesmee's birth and her transformation from human to vampire. On the ground lay a billowy blanket of virgin white snow, the smooth terrain disturbed only by two sets of footprints – one big and one small – where Edward and Renesmee had trekked only minutes ago. Father and daughter were enjoying some quality time making snow angels and building a snow man while Bella was curled up on the sofa going through pictures of their Christmas and New Year's family celebrations to hand over to Rosalie so she could add them to the family scrapbook.
Bella laughed out loud as she came to a picture of Charlie sitting in an arm chair with Renesmee on his lap, Sue sitting on the arm of the chair to his left, Renee on the one to his right, and herself standing behind him. It wasn't the Santa's hat Charlie was wearing on his head or the goofy grin on his face that made her laugh…it was the fact that all four females had their hands, or lips, on him in one way or the other. Renesmee was kissing his cheek, Bella had her arms wrapped around his neck, Sue was holding his hand, and Renee had her arm linked with his. To anyone else, this picture would present a quandary, but to Bella… it was the epitome of happiness.
Such was the stuff this Christmas had been made of…contentment and joy…appreciation of life and celebration of all things past, present, and future.
Bella chuckled as the next picture summed it up perfectly. It was a group shot of the Cullens, the Blacks, and the Clearwaters - minus Leah; Charlie, and Renee. What an eclectic collection of subjects! Charlie sat in the middle of the couch with Sue on his right and Renee to his left. Pale beautiful faces meshed fluidly with tanned beautiful faces as the Cullen coven and the Quiluete clan huddled around them on either side, and in the center of it all stood Jacob with Renesmee anchored atop his shoulders. This one photo embodied the past struggles, present alliances, and future unions between vampires, werewolves, and the humans who somehow found themselves, however oblivious, entrenched in their supernatural world …in Bella's perfect world.
But her euphoria only lasted for a minute because as she glanced back down at the picture, her mind wondered to the missing person who should have been standing beside Seth.
Sue had pulled Bella aside at Christmas dinner and told her that Leah had changed. Sue couldn't be absolutely certain, but she thought maybe Leah had imprinted on someone in Alaska. In any case, she wanted to come home…to make amends with the Cullens and the pack.
Sue had practically begged Bella to speak with Edward on behalf of her daughter. Bella had promised to see what she could do, although not quite sure about her own feelings on the subject. Leah had threatened to kill her only child, after all. But, Leah was practically family now that Charlie and Sue had made their intentions of marriage known. So, to give Sue some peace, Bella could give Leah a second chance…with the understanding that she would kill her herself if she ever laid as much as a finger tip on her daughter.
Bella sighed as she recalled the conversation with Edward about the prospects of Leah returning to Forks. He had been more receptive to Bella's becoming a vampire after her high school graduation – which was not at all, by the way – than he had been to Leah returning home and remaining alive for more than two minutes.
Bella suspected that Jacob's reaction would mirror that of Edward's.
Leah Clearwater would do well to stay clear of Forks and La Push…if she valued her life.
Renesmee squealed as Edward plopped down in the snow beside her and began flapping his arms and legs to make his own snow angel. The two had been out for most of the morning spending a little daddy-daughter time together. The snowman they had made sat proudly in the backyard wearing Bella's favorite wool scarf and Edward's best black Bowler hat he'd had since the 1920's.
Edward smiled wryly as he stood up, brushing the snow off his back and rear end.
"Don't even try it, Jake. I heard you coming from five miles away."
Edward turned to see Jacob standing in the clearing holding a large bowling ball sized snowball in his hand with a dejected look on his face.
Laughing heartily, Edward sent his own basketball sized snowball crashing square into Jacob's chest, sending him sprawling butt first into the snow. Edward had moved so fast, Jacob didn't even see him make the snowball, let alone aim and hurl it across the two acre clearing. Now, after another Superman fast move, Edward was standing in front of Jacob guffawing with an outstretched hand, offering to help him up.
Jacob took the helping hand, shaking the snow out of his long flowing black hair as he stood.
"Man! I really thought I had it this time!" Jacob whined.
Edward slapped Jacob on the back and grinned.
"You're getting better. I didn't hear a single thought until you were about five miles out. You've cut the radius down by about two miles already!"
Jacob smirked and taunted, "Maybe by the time Nessie is 75 or so, I'll be able to totally block your radar, Dad!"
Edward rolled his eyes and pleaded, "Please perfect your technique much sooner if you value my sanity and our friendship. Otherwise, Bella will just have to make me a permanent fixture under her shield."
Edward had recently been reminded of how free boys thoughts could be concerning girls when Seth had brought his latest love interest to dinner at Sue's. Even though Renesmee had roughly four and half more years before she was anything besides a little girl in Jacob's eyes, Edward had decided to be proactive and begin preparing himself, and Jacob now for what would surely come.
"Jake, come see the snow man that Daddy and I built this morning!"
Renesmee ran over and grabbed Jacob by the hand, pulling him towards the huge frozen statue in the backyard.
Jacob picked Renesmee up and held her in his arms for a second, kissing her on the cheek.
"Can I talk to your Dad for a few minutes first? Then, I'll help you build old Frosty a girlfriend if you want."
For a split second, it looked as if Renesmee would poke her lip out to pout until Edward held up one index finger in a warning and suggested, "Why don't you go in and see what Mama has been up to all morning? I bet she's got some pictures to show you by now."
"Okay, Daddy."
Renesmee flipped herself backwards out of Jacob's arms and took off running into the cottage.
As the door closed behind her, Jacob turned to face Edward with a stoic expression.
"After almost losing her last month, it'll be a cold day in hell before Leah Clearwater gets within one hundred miles of that little girl. I don't give a flying flip who she's supposedly imprinted on while in Alaska!"
Edward exhaled slowly, appreciating the fact that he had a staunch ally in the campaign to keep Leah as far away from Forks as possible.
"So, I see that Sue spoke with you about Leah wanting to return home and make amends."
Jacob delivered a humorless laugh before admitting, "Actually, Charlie and Sue tag teamed on this one. Sue took Bella and Charlie went for me. How does Bella feel about it anyway?"
Knowing that Bella could hear every word that was being said, Edward chose his words carefully.
"My wife, being the best that humanity has to offer even as a vampire, would be inclined to give Leah a second chance."
Jacob rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "That figures."
Louder than before, Jacob asked, "And you?"
Looking straight ahead with no expression playing across his face, Edward replied, "I, however, am not quite so inclined. By the way…"
THWAP!
"Oww!" Jacob, rubbing the back of his now soaking wet head, turned to see Bella standing in the doorway of the cottage grinning.
"…She heard you," Edward confessed through his chuckles.
