A/N: Sorry for the wait, guys! Hope you enjoy it, and please don't forget to leave a comment at the end :)

Special thanks to Happy2BeeMe, kikikiki, SasoLOVE111, 'Lil Obsessed, TempusSimia, brightglo, Mythical Words, lunajadenyx, MintCcIceCream and LoneWolfPack for their lovely reviews! Keep em coming, guys (:

. : Chapter 18: Mother's Love : .

After running around the house for a while escaping Sam, who had finally snapped at my taunting and declared he was going to chuck me off the cliff - we're actually related, who knew? – and happily letting Black intervene (he got pretty upset with Sammy about the cliff comment) I settled for lounging around.

I was currently using Seth as a foot rest, since he was conveniently sitting on the floor at my feet, while most of the 'gang' were packed into the living room, engrossed in yet another football game. It's such a stupid sport. Why were there never any races on when I actually had time to relax and watch TV? Karma apparently hates me. And I'm not entirely sure what I've done to piss it off.

Ben was situated on my lap, eagerly taking in the demented game as it played out and enjoying all the attention he was getting as the guys (who didn't all go for the same team) tried to get him to back one or the other.

I rolled my eyes and slapped Embry's arm, he was sitting on my left, Black had commandeered my right. It automatically had me in a bad mood. I could feel the warmth rolling off him, and his eyes seemed to be on me constantly. It was making me feel…odd, in an indescribable way. "Cut it out will you? I can't give him back to his parents a flippin' football addict."

Embry raised his eyebrows. "Flippin'?"

"I will only warn you once, don't."

"Leave her alone, Em." Jacob said idly with a lazy grin. I doubt I was the only one who picked up that he wasn't really asking, though. "You know how she gets when she's pissed off."

"You'd be the expert on that one." Paul chimed in, cocky grin in place. He was a lot worse when Rachel wasn't around to put him in his place.

Unfortunately, somehow due to my own stupidity, I was the only female who'd stayed with the boys for the game, which, I already knew I wouldn't like. The girls were all somewhere else in the house, smartly avoiding the scene. I think Leah had actually left. I was going to kick her for not taking me to.

"Paul, if you start him again, I swear to the spirits I will kick your ugly arse into the middle of next year. Understand?" I all but growled at him. I'd do about anything to avoid another Jacob-attack, the boy was simply wound up far to tight. And he did. Not. Give. Up.

He got points for persistence, that's for sure. But even with my very public conversation with CJ, he still hadn't stopped. Now he seemed to be going for a more laid-back approach, which I still thought was annoying but it was an improvement on his previous attempts.

Paul's grin got a little wider and I had to bite my lip to stop from groaning, this wouldn't be good.

"You've been checking out my arse, have you, Eves? Not that I'm not flattered, but I'm engaged, sweet cheeks."

I rolled my eyes as Jacob started growling low in his throat. Like a dog will if it thinks you're going to take its food form it. "You lot take 'surrounded by idiots' to a whole new level. Paul, the day I check you out will be the day the sun falls. You're not nearly as irresistible as you think you are, you moron. And Jacob, shut up!"

"Stop harassing them, Paul." Sam grunted, annoyed we were disrupting his concentration over watching men in too-tight pants run up and down lawn with a ball that isn't even round.

Football is so stupid.

"Yeah, Paul, lemme alone." I grinned, battering my eyelashes sweetly. If he called me sweet cheeks ever again, he'd not be reproducing.

He glared at me and muttered in a low tone, so as to not upset Sam the Man any further. "Suck up."

"Ya'll just have to get used to me bein' the favourite." I smirked and winked.

"Shh!" Ben chastised me.

I blinked and then glared at the guys accusingly while they tried badly to stifle their laughter. "I hate you lot."

"Nah you don't." Embry grinned, throwing an arm casually around my shoulders. "You secretly love us. You just won't admit it."

I scoffed. "Love you? I most certainly think not."

"Denial." He sang back, grinning so wide I thought his face would break. Oh, how I hoped it'd break.

"Will you get rid of that smug look yourself, or do you want me to help you?" I challenged. I would not have my own words used against me. No, nada, nope, never.

He just continued grinning and shook his head, leaning in like lightening to press a kiss to my cheek.

"Call!" Jacob snarled, making Ben cower in my lap.

I reached over and slapped him. Hard. "Do you want me to hurt you, Black? Hmm? Do not ever, and I mean ever, scare my godson. Are you suicidal? Sam, is he suicidal?"

"You all will be if you don't shut up and let me watch the game!" Cousin snapped neatly. "Right, stop tormenting Jake, all of you."

I nearly flinched at the hardness in his voice. It was an order, no doubting it. But, of course, I had something to say to that. "Tormenting Jake?" I yelped disbelievingly. "What about me? No one's said anything to Black! Well, apart from Merez, but he's a dick so he doesn't count."

"Hey!"

"Enough!" Sam massaged his temples tiredly. "Grow up, the lot of you, your grating on my nerves."

"They started it." I grumbled.

"Evie."

"…Sorry."

He sighed, shook his head and turned back to the TV. I glared at each and every one of them as I cuddled Ben closer to me. I hummed to him softly, and before long his tense little muscles relaxed and the whole incident was a forgotten-memory to him. I envied his ability to bury unwanted memories. Wouldn't it be nice if we could select what we wanted to remember? It'd sure as hell make high school a lot more bearable, and I didn't have a regular high school experience. Or any kind of 'regular' anything. But I'm whining, and I gave that up a long long time ago.

It was silent for a precious few moments as the boys got engrossed in the game again, then, my phone started singing madly.

I sighed in utter defeat, resigning myself to the fact that I would never have a tranquil moment that lasted more then five seconds, shifted Benny to the couch, and got up. Mumbling incoherently to myself about the evils of technology, I reached for the device on the table and checked the caller id.

I swore.

My mother.

Crap.

Carefully, I put the phone back down and flicked it away to the centre of the table while it continued to screech at me.

"I know, go to voicemail already!" Talking to my phone was nothing new, just a continuous reminder that my sanity was teetering on the edge. And that woman would surely push the scales.

Honestly, what had I done to turn the world so against me? I hadn't realised I was such a bad person. I mean, I know I'm a right bitch to most people, but they don't know that it's really for their own good, so that doesn't count. As if the Adam issue wasn't punishment enough for everything, now Mother was calling me? Something which she hardly did at all, mind you. And when she did decide to connect to her daughters, she mostly did it through Tashie, since she and I didn't see eye to eye as a rule. Don't know why, really. We just…clash. Just because I left with her all those years ago, doesn't automatically make us tight.

"Something, er, wrong?"

I looked up at Black's hesitant voice, only to find him standing at the end of the table. Close but not suffocating. Although, at the moment, I was so confused and borderline panicked it felt like he was on top on me.

Of course though, I didn't let anything but the calm exterior show. "No."

"Then aren't you going to answer that?"

"No."

"Why not?"

The phone stopped ringing, and I let out a silent breath of relief. "That, Mr Black, I don't believe is any of your business." My phone then tinged, telling me I had a message. Oh, goodie…

He made a noise in his throat that clearly announced he was exasperated. Tich tich. I plucked up the phone, curiosity and foreboding rippling through me, and dialled my message bank. Pressing it to my ear, I turned away from Black and went out onto the veranda as the so-obviously computer voice informed me I had one new message, and the time and date of which it had been received. I rolled my eyes.

"Evangeline, I know your there."

I cringed, either at my Mother's pristine voice or my full, much hated, name. I wasn't sure, probably both. Her tone was flat, a sign she wasn't amused.

"You're being utterly childish, dear. I don't have time for it. I thought it would be nice if we met up. I'm in New York for a few weeks and decided time with my daughter was in need. I will call you later. And Evangeline? I expect you to answer next time."

Yeah. That was about as affectionate as we get. Great, a reunion with Mother was just what I didn't need right now. The woman was…I didn't even know how to describe her. Cold, collected, always in control.

I cringed again. That sounded awfully like how I was turning out to be. Most of the time, anyway, when I wasn't suffering small breakdowns. What was the deal with that, anyway? I'm not like this. Sure, Adam is a big cause of my current stress, but…really? It must be La Push.

I snapped my phone shut and stuffed it into my pocket, then swayed back inside. It was tempting to stay on the veranda, in the fresh air and away from the hustle of inside, but the brightness and happiness of Emily's endless amount of flowering pot plants was grating on my nerves.

I couldn't have happy right now-though I probably needed it. Jacob's weird arse moods were almost more suitable to my current disposition.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked me as I came back to the lounge.

Black had actually returned to his seat, instead of hovering around the door waiting for me. It was odd, and unexpected.

I sighed and picked Ben up so I could sit down, then settled him in my lap and began stroking his soft hair. "Mother. She wants to meet up when I get home."

Cousin actually managed to take his eyes off the game long enough to give me a sympathetic smile. "Ouch."

"I know. How would you like a quality luncheon with your Aunt, Sammy? While I mysteriously develop a hideously terrible disease that's really, really contagious."

He spared time from the precious game to give me a dry look that said it all.

"Work on my marketing skills?" I mumbled.

He nodded. "Lots."

"Arse."

"She's your mother, Eves. It won't be bad."

"Are we remembering the same woman, here?"

"Aunt Jackie isn't that bad." He said, but his attention had again been consumed.

I snorted. "Yeah, and the sun isn't hot."

"What's the deal?" Kevin asked. "What's wrong with her?"

"Well," I began, holding up one hand and began checking things off on my fingers. "For one, she'd have a heart attack if anyone called her Jackie. It's Jacqueline, with a French accent, mind you. Mam, or, if we're lucky, Mother. She never calls us. We're lucky to get a card or a phone call on our birthdays. I doubt we'd even know if she died, or if anything else important happened to her life. She dumped us both in boarding schools practically as soon as we set foot in New York. I spent every holiday at friend's houses instead of with my own family. She was late for my graduation. She had ridiculous expectations of us, and, she has the general personality of a troll."

'She wasn't even in the same hemisphere when my fiancé betrayed everything I am and left me whilst killing our child and ruining my life in general, let alone there for me.' I added sulkily.

"Wow…your Mum's a bitch." Vinnie summarised.

I cast him a dry look. "Well, gee, how'd you figure that?"

He grinned cheekily at me. "I have no idea."

"You don't have to go, you know." Jacob said softly. Well, as softly as a six foot plus, steroid popping male can be.

Alright, now I'm being spiteful. Even if it is Black. This is the effect my Mother has on me.

"As nice as that would be, I'm afraid it isn't an option. When Mother says jump, we have to jump…and preferably ask how high. It's just the way it is. She's not like Daddy was, but she used to be. I don't know what happened." I leaned down and inhaled Ben's sweet smell, biting the insides of my cheeks all the while.

I still imagine what my son would have looked like. What his skin would have felt like. What he would have smelled like.

What colour would his eyes have been? Would his smell have calmed me like Ben's does? What would his smile have looked like? What would he have wanted to his, his first words, steps, tooth, birthday, Christmas, school day…the questions tortured me.

"You used to be different to." Jake's voice broke through the wall of pain I had unintentionally built around me in those few moments. "What happened to you?"

I looked up at him, and met his chocolate eyes. It took me a moment to understand that the blurriness across my vision was because of tears.

He reached for me, but I swiped at the drops slowly trickling down my cheeks and stood. I cupped Ben's confused little face in my hands, the face of my son fading away, and kissed his forehead before all-but-fleeing the room.

A/N: Apologies again for the lateness of this one, and the shortness. I've been away from home again for almost a week. And I've been hit with a wall of writer's block with all my stories :/ Hideously annoying, but…know I'll always get it done eventually.

Next chapter-although I'm not sure when you'll get it-will be rather big *wink wink, nudge nudge* Lol.

I'm half asleep at the moment, having had about 4 hours in three days (spur of the moment trips, not good.) So I wish you all a good night (:

Love,

Meg xx