Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all Twilight Saga and characters.

Leah

Life in general was great. I was finally freaking happy but as usual there always had to be some shadow in my life. The most current one was named Embry. He stopped by for family get togethers and cookouts but other than that he barely came to visit and he would always find some excuse to skip dinner whenever I went over to their place. It was frustrating as hell. To top things off, on Thanksgiving, he announced that he was transferring to Washington U. at the end of the year. I felt so guilty about being so happy but I couldn't help it. Kal made me happy. Embry was such a good surrogate father to Harry that I was heartbroken for him when he told us he was leaving. Harry got angry. He left the picnic table and ran off into the forest.

"I'll talk to him." I told Embry.

"No. I will." He said and he went after my son. Everyone else at the table looked at each other. Kal was looking out into the forest where they both disappeared.

"He loves you." He said, referring to Embry and me. Everyone at the table looked at us and one by one they made excuses to leave.

"You know this story already. Embry had feelings for me. I told him that we couldn't be together because I wasn't his imprint. I was afraid it would be like Sam all over again." I had already explained all of this to him but he still looked upset. He studied my face for a moment.

"Harry is attached to him and it makes you upset that he is leaving."

"Yes. He was like a father to Harry, more so than the other guys. I care about him Kal. We've been through a lot together." I wasn't going to lie to him. Embry was a part of my life and the sooner he got used to that the better.

"Then you should talk to him." He got up from the table and walked away in the direction of the house. Jake sat next to me again and Nessie and Bella sat across from me.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Maybe he's jealous." Jake offered. I looked at him and rolled my eyes. 'Well that was pretty obvious! Moron!' I thought but decided not to say it out loud.

"Maybe he's hurt." Bella offered. That suggestion actually worried me.

"He's both." Edward said as he sat next to his wife.

"Spill it, Eddie!" 'I will beat it out of you in front of your wife and kid if I have to' I warned him with my mind. He rolled his eyes at me.

"He was thinking that you and Harry would be better off with Embry instead of him. He was thinking that he would never be able to live up to what you had. He feels very unworthy of you. He's very hard on himself because he doesn't understand this generation. It's a problem that we all have. That's why he likes Carlisle so much."

I looked back at Carlisle and he was smiling as he read with Eve on his lap. I smiled at them and got up from the table.

"I'm going to talk to the boys and then I'll talk to Kal. I think I need some time to digest this info."

I walked into the forest and found Embry talking to my son. I remembered how not so long ago I had found Kal and Harry talking in the forest. If there was truth to what Edward said then it was going to take Kal even longer to adjust to our family. That thought made me sad.

"Hey." I said as I approached them. Harry was sitting on a rock.

"Great!" Harry said sarcastically.

"Hey, don't talk to your mom like that. I told you, I'll be around for both of you. I just think its time for me to move on, find my own piece of happiness."

"And you're not happy here with your family." Harry said.

"Harry don't say it like that. Embry deserves to find his own happiness. Just because we'll miss him doesn't mean we have to be selfish."

"You'll miss me?" Embry asked me skeptically.

"Of course I'll miss you dumbass! I miss you all the time! I never see you anymore!" I was getting a little exasperated with him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You got your imprint. You got your happy ending." I heard the bitterness in his voice and it made me angry. This imprint situation wasn't my fault. I told him from the start that this could never happen between us. Now I was going to loose him.

"Yea. I got my happy ending without one of my best friends!" I said back at him. We both looked at each other angrily. Harry just looked at us both annoyed.

"I'm sorry Leah. I know this is exactly what you didn't want. I'm not trying to punish you. I'm actually happy for you. You deserve this happiness and its all I want for you. For both of you. But its time for the three of you to be a family and its time for me to find my own. That's all this is about. I want what you guys have." He crouched next to Harry. "I'll always be here for you kiddo. You can call me any time, day or night. And if your mom is ok with it, you can come spend some time with me at my new place. I got a two bedroom just for you." He told Harry. My son looked at him sadly and nodded.

"I definitely think that can be arranged." I told them. Embry mouthed 'thank you' at me and then he grabbed Harry into a bear hug.

"Embry! You're such a doush!" He said as he fought Embry but finally he hugged him back. Embry extended his arm so that I could join in. I rolled my eyes but he was close enough to just grab me and make me join in. I felt a sharp pain and then I saw my imprint fly off. I don't know how he did it but he had some way of closing off his connection and sneaking up on me.

"Shit was that him?"

"Yea. Don't worry about it. You're my family and he'll understand." I said sarcastically but I was secretly worried that this made things worse somehow.

When I returned home Kal wasn't there. I waited for him for 2 days until he finally returned. He wasn't gone far but he didn't come home. It was early morning when I finally heard him fly into his room. I waited for a minute so that he had time to get dressed, though I don't know why, and then I headed straight in there.

"Leah. What are you doing here at this hour?" He told me with a stupid shocked look as if he didn't know his ass was in major trouble.

"What do you think I'm doing here?! You've been gone for two days Kal! Over what? A hug. I was saying goodbye to him. He's in important part of my life and Harry's. That's not going to change just because I'm in love with you." I yelled. I was planning not to yell but I was so angry and hurt that it came out as yelling. I also realized that it was the first time I said the words 'I love you' to him.

"I know." He said angrily but I got the impression that he was angry at himself.

"I'm not in love with Embry. I love him but I am not in love with him. I'm in love with you." I said the words again hoping that he would say them back this time. He took a deep breath and tuned away from me. I almost vomited.

"I know that too, Leah."

"You're supposed to say I love you too you big jerk." The hurt in my voice was pretty clear. He turned around and stunned me into silence with his look. It literally took my breath away.

"You know very well that I love you. You are everything to me."

"Why did you fly away from me for two damn days? Why were you so angry and hurt by me saying goodbye to my friend and pack brother?"

"He knows you. He belongs to this world and I do not. If I had died when I was meant to, you would be with him now. Harry would have the father that he wants instead of the man who alienated him and his mother for the first years of his life over something was neither of your faults." His voice was strangled. He was always so hard on himself. I wanted to go over to him but when I took a step forward, he took a step back. I sighed.

"You're probably right. If I would've never met you, if it was just Embry and I, after the way that he treated me and after the way that he treated my son, eventually I would have chosen him. But if I would've met you, if it was a choice between you and him, imprint or not, there's no question I would have chosen you. I would always choose you. I don't give a damn that were generations apart. I don't give a damn that you were my ancestor in another life. All I care is what we have here and now. You're the one I want. I have been waiting for you too and you are worth everything that I've been through to get here."

"No." He came close to me and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips. "You are worth everything; you are the one I survived for, my reason for being. I love you so much. I'm sorry I hurt again you by leaving. I just needed time to think."

"Don't ever fly away from me again. I will pluck all of your feathers. I swear it." He smiled and kissed my forehead.

"I swear to you, that I will not leave you. I just wish that I could be a better man for you. All I want is to become a man who is worthy of you. A man like Embry or Jacob or Seth. I do not understand these times. I wish nothing more than to become your husband and to make you my wife but I cannot provide for you. It angers me that I am at such a disadvantage. You and Harry would be much better if I were more like Embry." I took his face into my hands to get his attention.

"I. Love. You. Go it? I don't care about any of that."

"You say this now but every wife wants her husband to provide for her. Its always been like this. I cannot even provide you with shelter. The Cullens have had to step in to do my duty, even in that aspect." I decided to take a different approach because if I had to explain feminism and women's rights I would loose him.

"In your time, people used to live in community. Right? They all helped each other, the men hunted together and the whole village benefited from their group work. Well, that is what we are now. The Cullens and the packs, we are all a community like the one you used to live in. You don't need to provide for me in the sense that you need to put a roof over my head or buy me things and neither does Jake, or Embry or Seth or any man for that matter. We help each other, we all built these houses together, we provide for each other. The men and the women all contribute equally and that is why our little community works. I am not smooching off the Cullens. We are all a family now. We raise our kids together, teach them together, eat meals together, share in each others wisdom and strength. That is what being in a family is all about. You and I have different strengths and weaknesses but it will take both of us working together to make this relationship work. You have plenty to contribute to our lives. What you bring into my life and Harry's is so much more than what money could buy, anyhow. Happy and I never needed material things. We needed you and what you give us now. You give us love, safety, stability, happiness... For the first time in his life, Harry gets to be a kid. He doesn't have to worry about me because I'm finally happy. I could never be happy with Embry because I was meant for you. Can't you see that? Can't you see that you are the best provider either one of us could ever hope for?"

"I think I am beginning to."

"Good. Because being your wife would be like a dream come true." I confessed. My heart was beating fast as I said this, bracing itself for any negative whiplash. He wrapped his arms around me tighter and rested his forehead on mine. He didn't laugh at my comment and my heart was hopeful.

"Then I shall make it so. Nothing would make me happier than to have you as my wife and to have Harry as my son. Our son." He told me. I nodded hoping that the tears that were threatening to come did not make an appearance. I didn't want to ruin the moment with tears and snot. I took his lower lip with my own. I wrapped my hands around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist and brought me even closer to him. I could feel him completely against me and I loved every part of it, every curve, every bump, especially the one I felt hardening against my lower belly. I needed him so badly. There was no doubt in my mind that he could smell my arousal even if his sense of smell wasn't as sharp as mine. His hands gently pulled the hem of my shirt and he pushed the material aside until his hands reached my skin on my back. It felt amazing to have him touch me like this but also a little shocking. A part of me kept waiting for him to spaz out and push me away. He surprised me further when he suddenly swooped me off my feet and laid me on the bed. His kissed slowed and he started pecking my lips with kisses until he just laid his head on my breast. His arms here still wrapped around me, holding me to him.

"Its not nice to get me all excited for nothing." I told him. He lifted his head slightly so he could look at me.

"You may sleep here but I will wait until we are wed to make you mine." There was fire in his eyes. I knew that he must be picturing that day just like I was.

"Emmett is ordained. We are a phone call away from being married." I said tryign to lighten the situation because I was about to pin him to the bed and have my way with him.

"I don't think either of us really want to get married by a cold one. No, we will go to the tribal elders and have them bless us. Then we will have them marry us at the beach where all our ancestors have been wedded before." I really liked that idea. More than I would ever admit to anyone.

"Ok. That does sound kinda nice. So when will this wedding take place."

"Traditionally, I would make those arrangements with your father but he is gone, so I will need to speak to your brother and mother." He stoked my harm as he thought about how he would do this.

"Nowadays you make those arrangements with me and we let the family know what we decided together." I smiled at him hoping he wouldn't be offended by my suggestion.

"You want us to make marriage arrangements before I even meet your mother?" He asked me amused. I shook my head. No. My mother would kill us both if we didn't include her.

"No. I guess you can meet mom first and then we can plan it." I could feel my excitement building. The feeling that took over me surprised me and made tears come up to my eyes again. I guessed he felt something stirring in me because he looked up at me. He maneuvered himself so that he was hovering over me. His arms were at either side of my head and his face was directly above me, examining me.

"You are happy." He told me. I nodded, unable to trust my voice with all the emotion I was feeling. He kissed my forehead gently and tears finally spilled over and he kissed them as they fell.

"Why are you crying?" He whispered.

"I never thought this could happen. I never thought I could feel this way about anyone. I remember being in love before but this is so much more than that."

"The animal imprints to find a mate, but the human imprints to find the person they are connected to. You are Quileute. You are descendant from spirit warriors. Our spirits became one with creatures that have the ability to find the being who will become one with their body and, from them, we have inherited the ability to find the person who will be one with our spirit. The bonding of two spirits is an intense connection. It is life changing. The only love that can compare is the love for a child."

I nodded. He kissed my lips softly and then he laid next to me, taking me into his arms so that I was laying against his chest. That night I fell asleep in the arms of my true mate, friend, and family. I was finally getting my happily ever after and he was laying right beside me ready to fall down the rabbit hole with me. It wasn't perfect but at the same time, that was what made it so right. I had the love of my life finally with me and he loves me and my son. He was never going to leave us for something better because we were it for him and he was it for us. I never had such a peaceful sleep of my life.

Embry

Moving back to Washington was more difficult than I thought. I missed my pack, my family. I still had some pack brothers in Washington, and Harry came to stayed over with me for a week but it wasn't the same. I was starting to feel a little bit like an outcast. I felt lost and I wasn't sure how to make it better. I wanted to find a way to become human again but the idea of breaking the one thing that linked me to my brothers was terrifying. I was a wolf, I was a descendant of Taha Aki and that was the only claim I had in their lives. Soon they would all start their families and move on without me. Even Harry would forget about me after he bonded with Kal. He would forget about those first two years where I was his father. But I shouldn't complain. If I had to be replaced by someone, who better than our ancestor? Still… I was going to miss him most of all. I needed a connection of my own. I needed something more permanent than the tittle of surrogate father, best friend, or pack brother. Especially because I was going to be giving up that last tittle. This is why I came home and why went to my mother. The problem now was that I wasn't sure how I felt about what she had to say.

I kept debating whether or not I should knock on the door as I walked to house but somehow I managed to bring my hand to the door. Rachel answered it with a smile. Paul was one damn luck bastard to have gotten her. Actually, I was the bastard but that wasn't my point.

"Hey Rach. Um, is Paul here?" I asked even though I could hear his rapid heartbeat inside.

"Yeah, come on in Embry."

"Hey man. What's up?" He asked me without turning away from the game.

"Not much. The new apartment is nice. Quiet…" I told them as I sat on one of the chairs by the sofa.

"Too quiet?" Rachel asked smiling.

"Yeah. A little." I said sheepishly. I was still working up my courage to tell them what I had to tell say so I appreciated the small talk. She handed me a beer and went over to sit on the arm of the sofa next to Paul.

"Well at least we got one of you close by. I really hate this divided pack shit."

"You could always go back to Sam."

"Hell no! Sam really gets on my nerves sometimes. He just can't let shit go. I swear he's worse than Leah. Even she got over her 'the Cullens ruined our lives' phase."

"Some of us are slower than others." I reminded him. He was the last wolf to join our pack.

"Hey I converted!"

"Not without me practically threatening you." Rachel corrected him. She wiggled herself next to him on the sofa. She was about ready to pop but she looked beautiful pregnant.

"So… um… there's actually something that I have to tell you guys. Its about my father." Both of them looked at me at the same time in surprise. Paul took the remote and tuned off the tv.

"What's going on Em? Did your mom finally tell you who your dad is?" Rachel asked me.

"I confronted her. Meeting Kal and everything that's happened recently really got me thinking about my lineage so I asked her about him."

"So what did she say?" Paul asked. He looked like he was wondering why I was talking to him and Rachel about this instead of Quill or Jake.

"Did you know my mom was a stewardess when she was younger?" I asked him.

"No. What does that have to do with anything?"

"She worked for a small airline that mainly traveled between Alaska and Seattle but my mom actually lived near Tacoma." I saw Paul's muscles tensed when I mentioned the city where he was born in.

"She told me that one night she was at a local bar when she saw someone she recognized."

"My dad?" Paul said as if something was clicked in his head. Rachel looked between the two of us, trying to see the resemblance. I looked a lot like my mom and Paul was a combination of both his parents so it was hard to see any. Maybe our eyes…

"Yeah. She had never seen him there before. He was older than her and from a different tribe but she knew he was from LaPush. She introduced herself to be polite and they started talking. Apparently he was upset because his wife, your mom, had just told him that she was getting menopause or pre-menopause or something like that. Anyway, he really wanted children. He told her they had been trying for years without success and well, you know that part. He was drunk and he kept buying her drinks. She felt bad for him so she just kept drinking with him. My mom was much younger than him so she wasn't really interested. She excused herself so that she could go home but as she was getting her coat some asshole was trying to coax her to stay and dance with him. He got handsy and your dad shoved him off her. He walked her home and she claims that the alcohol started to sink in because before she even realized what was happening they were…"

"Ugh! I got it."

"Anyway, the next day your dad was really apologetic. Apparently, he was actually a gentleman to her and he confessed to her that he never had those intentions with her because she was young and kind. He didn't want to hurt her or lead her on because he was very much married and so on. She could tell he had never cheated on his wife before. He was really torn up about the whole situation. She told him everything was fine and he left. My mom went on with her life just brushing it off as a one night stand but like a month and a half later she realized that she was pregnant. She decided to tell your dad but she didn't have his contact info so she had to do a little digging and that's how she found out that his wife had not been menopausal after all, she was pregnant with…"

"With me." He interrupted. He ran his hand across his face angrily. Paul and I were 3 months apart. I never really thought anything of it.

"I can't believe this bullshit! Why the hell didn't they tell us?!"

"Your dad didn't know for a long time. My mom didn't tell him. She didn't tell anyone. My grandparents were pissed and wanted to know but she wouldn't tell them because he was a married man so they disowned her. She had to quit her job because her parents were unwilling to help and she couldn't leave me alone to go on flights. She needed help, she needed a community so she decided to come live here because she knew that you guys came to LaPush to visit. She was hoping that someday we would run into him so when I asked her who my father was, she could tell me I had already met him. She was only 19, she was a kid. The problem was that she never ran into him but she ran into your mom. She told me that we were at the store one day when I was around 8 and she came in with you, I was playing with something and she kept looking at me and getting angrier and angrier. My mom assumed that she figured it out or maybe he had told her about his infidelity and she recognized her. I don't know... Either way, a few months later you and our dad moved back here."

"So you're the reason my parents got divorced?"

"Paul!" Rachel smacked his leg and gave him an evil look.

"No, its ok Rach, its true. My mom kept waiting for your dad to show up at our doorstep but he didn't until he finally ran into us like your mom did. He saw me with my mom and he knew too. They talked about it and they decided not to tell us because you were going through such a rough time with the divorce. Then we were both teenagers and you were still angry and rebellious, then we started phasing and in their eyes we were both acting out, and then you stated dating the chief's daughter and you were finally happy so they didn't want to ruin that, then we became friends and they didn't want to ruin our friendship, then I left and apparently there was never a good time to just sit us down and say hey, 'you got a half-brother'!" Paul got up from the couch as put some distance between him and Rachel because he was starting to shake.

"This is fucking unbelievable! I can't believe those two kept this from us for so damn long. I mean come on!" He kept walking back and forth across the perimeter of the couch.

"Trust me I know." Rachel shook her head and started to get up from the couch so I helped her. Once she was up she turned to her Paul.

"Alright so now you both know. I mean it sucks that they didn't tell you but does it really change anything? You both were brothers before you knew you were related. Would you two be any more or any less brotherly if you had known?" Rachel asked us. Paul stopped pacing and looked at her and then he finally looked at me.

"I guess not but it would have been nice to know." He grumbled. He finally calmed down.

"Yeah I don't think I would have found you any less of an ass if I had known." I told him smiling.

"Jackass!" Paul grumbled as he sat on the couch again.

"Alright good. Now as glad as I am that I have an official brother-in-law and uncle to help me with this kid, I am getting hungry so I am going to get dinner ready. Embry, you are staying for dinner and don't even think about arguing with me." She said as she disappeared into the kitchen.

"I wouldn't dream of it." I told her. Paul looked at his wife and shook his head.

"Welcome to the family bro." He sat sarcastically. He opened a cooler that was next to the couch and took two beers out. He threw one my way and we finished watching the game. Rachel was right. It wouldn't have changed anything before but it did change some things now that I was trying to build a new life and possibly stop phasing. Paul was going to have to stop phasing soon now that he was going to be a father and I was glad to know that even if I stopped phasing, I still had a family, a human family.