It took three, seemingly long, days to get a celebration party sorted. Making sure the Phoenix gang was informed, giving Leah some time to adjust and making enough food; it was all on the list. The gang had boarded the first plane they could get and arrived at three this morning. I drove, blinking the fatigue from my eyes, to the airport and picked them up, while Sam was curled up in bed. He offered to come, but I didn't see the point in making him. I pulled up at the pickup spot at about half three. The gang was waiting there, huddled together in the cold with their duffle bags at their feet. It was going to be a major squeeze in my car, but the girls could squish in the back with Wyatt and Nate could get in the front. Most of their bags would fit in the trunk but one or two would have to be in the front. Ferrari's were not built for space.

"AH MY GAWD!" Ava yelled as I got out of the car, wearing a pair of Sam's boxers and one of his t-shirts that I had grabbed in my sleepy state before I left the house. My hair was falling around my head in wild mess and I didnt have any makeup on but I didn't care. "Our Bella!"

I laughed as I was sandwiched in the middle of them all as they all tried to hug me at once. "Hello to you too."

"Bella, we missed you!" someone said, I couldn't quite gather who but I was guessing that it was Evelyn.

"I missed you guys too. Come on, let's go home and get some sleep before tomorrow." I hustled them all into my car, which took about fifteen minutes due to all the shuffling and rearranging of people and bags but in the end the arrangement of people was exactly the way I thought it would be. It was quite a drive home, catching up with all of them, telling them about the birth and trying to stay alert at the same time.

"So what does she look like?" Ava asked.

"Beautiful I bet." Sofia added. I looked at them in the rear view mirror and smiled.

"She is. She's the most amazing thing. It's weird, the way I feel about her already. It's been three days and I couldn't imagine being without her. She's not even my child."

"Yeah but she's your family and she's cute. I don't blame you." Wyatt chuckled, shaking his head. Nate stayed quiet and I sent him a brief look but he was just looking straight out of the window screen, his eyes blank. I frowned, wishing that he would understand and lighten up a little.

As soon as we got home, I let them in the house and shoved them in the spare rooms. Trying not to listen as they got themselves ready for bed. The girls sharing as were the boys. I knew Ava, Sofia and Evelyn would be curling up together for warmth while Nate and Wyatt slept turned away from each other on the edges of the bed. Men.

I snuck quietly back into my room, smiling at the lump curled up under the covers. I pulled off my clothes and slipped in behind him, pressing up against his back and flinging my arm over him, rubbing my thumb against his chest. He rolled towards me in his sleep, so I moved to make room for him, and pulled me closer, nuzzling his cheek against my head. The action sent butterflies fluttering in my belly and I smiled to myself before closing my eyes and letting myself fall back to sleep.

I was woken again around nine-thirty by my mate kissing and licking my neck, nibbling the skin and sucking gently. I rolled my head to the side to give him more room but kept my eyes closed. The sensation so good that I didn't want to get up and make him stop. I could feel his lips spreading into a smile against my skin as his hand settled on my stomach, his fingers trailing up and down and tickling me slightly.

"I guess you're just too tired to receive a proper awakening." Sam muttered quietly, his voice thick with lust and amusement.

I faked a yawn and rolled towards him, slowly blinking my eyes open to take in his face. My lips curved involuntarily as I stared at him; his dark eyes surrounded by thick inky lashes, his straight nose and delicious lips. I love his strong jaw and russet colouring and having him this close meant that I couldn't stop myself from leaning in and kissing him. It was a wet, hard kiss but that's what made it great. His fingers gripped my hair and mine dug into the hard curve of his biceps, feeling the muscle twitch under my touch.

He rolled on top of me, pressing against my body tightly. I wrapped my legs around his waist, crossing my ankles over his backside and pulling him impossibly close. We kissed more, sending wet sounds and moans up into the air. His hips undulated against me, grinding his bare erection against my groin. I tried to keep as quiet as possible, knowing that we had a house full of guests, but it was hard. I've never been one to curb my voice during any intimate act of ours.

"Sam." I whispered as his mouth travelled down my throat again. He groaned and hummed, a sound of query. "We can't." I huffed, as unhappy about it as I knew he would be. I was right. He lifted his head, an expression of discontent on his gorgeous face.

"It's our house." He grunted.

I rolled my eyes and my hips at the same time, eliciting a deep groan of pleasure from his lips. "We have guests, Sammy. Guests that have no reservations about barging in and being an audience. Do you want that?"

"No" he pouted and I felt distinctly like a teacher telling off her student.

I pecked his lips again, "I can hear them downstairs, I better go make some breakfast." I said as he lifted off of me to let me up. I got off of the bed and chucked on some loose track pants and Sam's t-shirt that I had grabbed to let the gang in last night. Heading downstairs, I padded quietly into the living room where the guys were sitting around in their sleepwear watching Spongebob Square Pants.

Nate, Wyatt and Ava were squished up on the couch while Sofia was in the armchair, her fingers twirling in the drawstring of her pyjama bottoms, and Evelyn was lying on her stomach on the floor, head propped up on her hands as her feet bobbed in the air behind her. I leant against the doorframe and grinned at them.

"Good morning." I greeted.

They all turned around to look at me at the same time, the concentration on their faces morphing into happy smiles. It was moments like this that I realised just how much I missed them. When they were away, I didn't feel it so much because I was so caught up in the pack but when they were here, looking at me, it was like it used to be. Flashbacks of Phoenix flickered through my mind and I chuckled quietly. I treasure those moments, but I know that I should behave more like a friend sometimes.

"Good morning!" they called in unison, their little faces all cheery.

I smirked and padded over to the couch, squeezing in between Nate and Ava, the former of which immediately put his arm around my shoulder, "Did you all sleep okay?" I asked.

"Yep, like a baby." Wyatt grinned, winking at me.

"I love this place, Bella." Evelyn said, "Show me the ring, we didn't see it last night."

I held out my left hand, revealing the rock on my finger. The feminine gasps of wonderment made me chuckle and I saw the boys leaning in to look closer. They knew that Sam and I were engaged, I hadn't hidden that from anyone, but they still hadn't seen the proof. Neither had Landon and the guys, in fact I haven't seen them in ages and a little bit of me misses them. I can't really believe how much of my time the pack has taken up and while I wouldn't complain, I really needed to learn to balance my time properly.

"So when are we getting our invites?" Nate asked from beside me, with only the slightest bitterness in his voice which was more than I could ask for. I had worried whether this would be a problem, but now that he's had some time to get used to it, he was only a little bit put out by it. I don't really think that the problem is the fact that it's me getting married, rather than another one of the group. To Nate, we weren't supposed to be married while we're still teenagers and definitely not having babies until we were in our thirties.

"Soon. The wedding is on the second of July, so I expect you all down."

"We going to be bridesmaids?" Ava beamed, batting her eyelashes.

I dropped my hand to my knee and bit my bottom lip, "Sorry but no." I said as fast as I could. Her face screwed up and she huffed playfully. I knew she wasn't actually mad so it was okay but I had been worried about this moment. "It's just there are too many to choose from. Leah is going to be my maid of honour and Paul is going to be Sam's best man, but that's it. Otherwise we'd both have a line down to the water behind us if we picked everyone we wanted."

It hadn't really taken long for us to decide. Leah was my first choice because she's my sister and that's just what you do. Also, I know she would be helpful and she's always around for me to get opinions from. Sam had had a little more difficulty. Paul had been the first person he had shared the role of werewolf with, but Jacob was his beta. In the end, I told him to go with his heart, and that Jacob wouldn't mind if it wasn't him. I had been right, of course, and I was pretty sure Paul had almost cried when Sam asked him. I made it clear to the others that it didn't mean they were less important, all of them meant the world to us and there was a bigger role for them to play on our wedding day. The role of our family.

Sofia yawned and shook her head, "It's no biggie, Bella, we're just happy to be there. We're gonna bring the party with us, don't worry."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes, "Sure, you do that, just no getting me into trouble with the ole ball and chain."

"Oi you." Sam grumbled as he walked in, dressing in his usual denim shorts. I saw the girls staring at his chest and abs and tried not to get jealous, telling myself that they couldn't help but admire the god that was my fiancé. "I heard that." He raised an eyebrow, his eyes flashing briefly towards the arm around my shoulders and its owner before returning to me. At least I know he felt the same way and that I wasn't the only one with a pang of jealousy in my gut. Something about imprinting that bugged me was the relentless amount of insecurity. I know how possessive he is but I always worry that, like a switch, it'll turn off at some point and one day I'll find him not caring about Nate's arm around my shoulder or the men that try it on with me. I know it won't happen and I know he worries I'll do the same, but it's always there in the back of my mind.

"You heard nothing." I blinked innocently, "I didn't say a word."

"Sure you didn't." He said, "Anyone fancy some breakfast?" he asked, looking around.

All the girls perked up, their stomach rumbling on cue. "Yes please." Evelyn said, rolling onto her back before manoeuvring herself onto her knees.

"Bacon and eggs?"

"That would be perfect." Wyatt groaned, his eyes half-mast.

"Thanks, mate." Nate said, "Need a hand?" he added and I paused, looking towards Sam and silently begging him to make the right choice. I knew he was smart but he was a man and they tend to let petty things get in the way.

Sam considered the offer, his eyes searching Nathaniel's face before he lifted his shoulders, "Yeah, that'll be good, thanks."

"No prob." Nate grinned, removing his arm and pushing himself off of the couch, "You'll have to tell me what to do though, I'm not exactly a natural."

Sam chuckled as they walked out of the room, "Don't worry, I'll put you on bacon duty." I heard him say.

"That's a good sign." Sofia motioned towards the door with a jerk of her head.

The others nodded and I had to agree, "I wondered when Nate was going to warm to him. He's still a little hung up on you." Wyatt said with a sympathetic quirk of the mouth.

"I don't get it though. The break up was mutual and he knows we weren't the best for each other." I sighed, wondering if maybe I had missed something important that should have been addressed at a much earlier stage.

"Doesn't stop him loving you though." Evelyn shrugged.

Ava nudged me, "And it was easier when you were single. He wasn't worried. But now you're engaged and so obviously in love with someone ten times better for you then he is. Its gotta suck in his shoes."

"I suppose."

I know that I had loved Nate as much as I could for what we had been. We spent more time in bed then we did out as a couple. Most of the time we just behaved the same as we did when we were just friends. I didn't hurt much when we broke up and I didn't think he did either, but maybe there was a part of him that wasn't as satisfied with what happened as I was. Or maybe it was as simple as jealousy, not because I was someone else's, I didn't quite believe the issue here was that he didn't have me specifically. Just that he didn't have anyone yet. He was being impatient because those around him were getting things he wasn't, but he'd have to wait for his time to come.

"So what time is the party?" Evelyn asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Around twelve." I shifted on the couch, "It's at Leah's and Rye's place but I set most of it up yesterday. Everyone is going to be bringing some food and drink so there wasn't much to do. The main thing was getting you lot here."

"And now we're here the fun can begin." Ava grinned, throwing her arms out. "I can't wait to see Lola though."

"She is gorgeous."I nod, thinking about my little niece. I had visited them every day and still couldn't get over the wonderment of this tiny girl; every molecule of my body wanted to protect her and I could tell that she would have a hard time being a teenager with the pack around. God forbid any boy that tries to date her is all I have to say.

"Breakfast's ready!" Nate called from the kitchen and we all made our way in, grabbing a plate each and loading up with perfectly crispy bacon and over-easy eggs, there was also a pile of toast, of which I grabbed a slice.

We stood around the kitchen, eating and chatting our way through the morning. It was weird being around people who didn't know about what we were and I caught myself a few times before I said something that would have sounded stupid or, even worse, let them into the fact that not everything was as it seemed here. I didn't really know how I would be able to keep our secret from them for the rest of my life...how would I explain the fact that I may not grow older as quick as they would or every time they visited I would have to pretend my family was just like them. My children would have to hide their nature should they inherit the werewolf gene. Or would it be that our friendship fizzled out after a few more years of not seeing each other often.

It was too much to think about now.

I left the guys talking and slipped upstairs to get ready. I used half a bottle of body wash and had the water about as hot as it would go, making my skin turn an angry red, yet it helped to sooth the knots in my muscles and stop me thinking too much. When I stepped out, wrapping a towel around my body, Sam was standing at the sink brushing his teeth. He looked at me through the mirror and winked.

"You alright, love?" He asked after spitting out a mouthful of foam.

I nodded, "Yeah...why?" I towel dried my body before folding it and placing it back on the rack, walking over to him and hugging him from behind, pressing my bare skin against his back and hooking my thumbs in the waistband of his cut-offs.

"No reason, just want to make sure my woman is happy."

I rolled my eyes and kissed his back, "Im always happy when you're around." I said, pulling away with a smile and padding back into the bedroom.

"Fucking sexy." I heard him mutter to himself, which only made my smile widen and a giddy feeling rise in my chest. It was like falling in love all over again, that exhilarating feeling when you realise that its more than just affection you feel.

I chose a black maxi dress with a long split up the side and chucked on some silver accessories and some patent flats. Nothing too dressed up but enough for a nice celebration. When Sam came out of the bathroom I chucked a plain white shirt at him.

"What's this for?"

"You need to wear a shirt today. What with the gang here, they shouldn't have to look at your body all day."

He smirked at me as though he knew the reason was my jealousy but he didn't say anything, he just watched me as he pulled the shirt on and buttoned it halfway while I fiddled around with my hair in the mirror, scrunching my hands in it to add volume. I slicked on some red lipstick and turned to face him again.

"Are the others getting ready?" I asked, moving towards him and doing a few more buttons up. It was nice seeing him in a shirt every now and then.

"They came up the same time I did." He nodded, "Let's go wait downstairs."

We ended up waiting for another thirty minutes before everyone was ready and I wasn't surprised, I remembered how long they took when I was back in Pheonix with them. I set them all up with a plate of food, from pizza to whoopie pies and we made our way to the cars, piling up. I took mine and Sam took his and we both shared the load of passengers before heading off to Leah's.

"I never thought you'd be late for this, Bella." Rylan chuckled as he opened the door.

"Blame these lot." I said, motioning with flippant wave of the hand to the group behind me. "Enjoy." I grinned, stepping past him into the house that was already full with the pack. The loud greetings behind me made me chuckle as Rye was victim to a lot of hard squeezes and a few forceful pats on the back. "And how is my beautiful little niece doing?" I cooed as I saw Leah sitting down with her bundle of joy in her arms.

"Great as always." Leah said as she lifted her little girl and passed her to me. Lola was tiny in my arms and her little eyes blinked up at me as I rocked her slightly, making silly little noised that were apparently involuntary when babies were around. I bent down and kissed her forehead, taking in the sweet scent that all babies seemed to have.

"Hey Lola." I grinned before I was swarmed by the guys wanting a look in. There were a lot of 'ooh's' and 'ahh's' and even more high pitched coos. I had to hand her over and Sofia was the first one who got to hold her. Lola was passed around and ended up nestled against Nate's chest, sleeping happily.

"Well done, man. She's beautiful." He said to Rylan, looking down at the first of his mate's offspring.

"Yeah, she is." Rye gave the most genuine smile and for some reason it made my chest ache. Not in bad way though, I'm sure. Just in a way that called for my attention.

"Hey you." Dad said as he put an arm around my waist and squeezed me. "You been ok?" we hadn't really spoken in the last few days. Both of us too busy with Leah at different times to really think about each other. Or at least that's how I felt about it. Since the time in the hospital, where the selfish, jealous me arose, I ended up feeling guilty every time I looked at him.

Not just because I had been jealous at the time, but because it still stirred in me somewhat, when I saw how he acted around his granddaughter. It was something that I wouldn't be proud of, at all, but I wasn't really sure how to control it. probably because I couldn't. There was no way that I could force my emotions, I had learnt that within the first few weeks of moving back to forks. Looking over at Sam reminded me of that.

"Yeah, fine." I smiled at him, hoping he wouldn't sense my odd behaviour and call me out on it. I looked at his face. He was exactly the same as usual; his skin as white as mine and his dark hair in need of a cut, he had a day or two's worth of stubble on his jaw and his eyes looked slightly tired. No doubt from working all day and then spending hours with family before catching a few hours sleep.

He smiled at me, smoothing his hand over my hair, "Good." He said, "I was wondering where you got to these last few days."

"I've been here and working at the diner. Same old."

He tilted his head at me, his eyes scanning my face, "Well, you and Sam should come over for dinner tomorrow. Sue has spoken to some people about stuff for the wedding and she says that you need to go shopping for a dress already."

I nodded, "She's right, I do need to do that." I wondered what I would wear. What kind of dress I would pick and exhilaration flared in my gut. I couldn't help but think finally. That's what I wanted to feel when it came to myself. I had to remember that exciting things were happening in my life as well as the lives of my family. That I should think more about myself sometimes.

Over the next few hours I watched the others interact more than joined in. Preferring to be observant, watching how my pack and my gang spoke and laughed. I was thankful that they did get on well enough because my friends were my second family and seeing everyone together was a good feeling. There was eating and talking and the every now and then I said something in retaliation to a question or a comment, but other than that I mainly sat and tried to ignore the way Sam would send me a brief look. I didn't know what it was but his concern for me sometimes got to a point that made me annoyed and like the other day, today was one of them.

Us girls left the boys in the living room, chatting away about sports and, for some reason, sex. We shut ourselves in the kitchen for some girl talk, a couple of us leaning against the counter and a few, including me, taking a seat at the table. Lola had been put in her moses basket to sleep, left in living room with the men. Sue poured us all a glass of wine and sat up on the countertop, raising her glass.

"To my beautiful daughter and her wonder family." She tilted her glass, grinning happily at Leah, who smiled back. The rest of us followed suit.

"So what was it like? Giving birth." Sofia asked, her eyes wide with anticipation, her dark hair falling into them, she was sitting on the counter too, her short legs dangling.

Leah scrunched her nose, "Painful." She said, making everyone chuckle slightly, "But worth it."

"Aww." Sofia cooed, a soppy look on her face.

"It wasn't exactly glamorous." Leah added, "I looked like crap and I wanted it to end as soon as possible."

"It's always the way." Sue nodded glumly, "I'm glad I won't be going through it again."

"At least seven or eight years for me."Kim scoffed, "I'll keep myself happy playing with Leah and Bella's kids."

All the phoenix girl's shot their heads towards me, eyes wide and mouths slack. I could see their thoughts written on all their faces and couldn't help but roll my eyes. We were here again and I was tired of it. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for the onslaught.

"You're pregnant!" Evelyn yelled so loudly that I knew all the boys would have heard.

"AHHHHH!" Ava screamed and I could tell whether it was an excited scream or a scared one.

I shook my head vehemently, "I'm not pregnant." I sighed. All their faces dropped.

Sofia sniffed, "Oh, why not?" she asked.

I sent Kim a glare and she shrugged apologetically. "Because I'm not married." I said after a few minutes, "Besides, I'm still only eighteen."

Sofia pulled a face, "So what. You're getting married in a few months."

I rubbed my temple with two fingers, "Whatever." I muttered, knowing I was being horrible but not being about to talk about it anymore.

"That reminds me, we need to go shopping for dresses soon, before it's too late." Sue said, looking at me with eyes that held something I didn't want to decipher. I knew they were all looking at me and I didn't really know what to do, so I smiled widely and pretended that everything was normal.

"Yeah, we should go to Port Angeles soon."

"Can't wait to see what you choose." Leah said, clapping her hands together.

"And we have to wait until the day." Evelyn pouted, "How unfair."

I smiled, lifting a shoulder, "Think of it as a good surprise."

"These next few months better hurry along." Ava huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. I sipped my wine and nodded.

"I'm with you there." I muttered.

We talked for a while, chatting excitedly about so much stuff that I had trouble keeping tabs on the topics. I enjoyed it and needed it but after some time I knew there were other things I needed to do. It was four o'clock by the time I was itching to get out. The urge was like bugs crawling beneath my skin; irritating and constant. I saw Leah watching me and smiled tightly, standing up and walking over to her.

"I think I'm gonna head off for a little bit, grab some fresh air." I said quietly. She gripped my wrist, her fingertips pressing into my skin.

"You're okay?" she asked, looking worried.

"Of course." My voice was a little higher than normal and I mentally scolded myself. These were my family members, I was stupid to think they wouldn't notice if something was getting to me. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Sure." She said, "We'll have pizza ready for you."

I slipped out and into the living room just as Jacob said "Personally there isn't much I can say about that, though ask me about sucking dick and I could tell you loads." I choked on my laughter as I watched some of the guys laugh and some wonder what to say. Dad was pulling a face as though it was way too much information.

"I could too but I didn't really think you guys would need the info." I giggled.

"We don't." Dad deadpanned, looking slightly sick.

I rolled my eyes, smiling widely, "I'm just heading out for a bit. I'll be back later."

Sam frowned, sitting up straighter, "You alright?" he asked.

I nodded, "I'm fine, seriously...I just need some fresh air."

"You want me to come with you?" he asked.

I shook my head, "No, no...I'm just going to take a walk."

He leant back in his seat again, giving me a slow nod while staring at me as though he was trying to figure out some big puzzle. "Okay."

"See you guys in a bit." I said to the others. They smiled and waved me out as I left the house and started walking in the direction of the beach.

If I knew what was wrong with me, it would make this all so much easier. One minute I was fine and the next I was so irritated or annoyed that I couldn't be in the same room as the others. It was exhausting and it was making me feel like a right shitty person. Sighing, I pulled out my phone and scrolled down the numbers, coming to a stop on the one person that I hadn't spoken to in a long time. Maybe spending time away from the pack was my best bet, just to settle me. I pushed call and held the phone up to my ear.

"Well, well, well...if it isn't the long lost Bella." the voice on the other end answered.

I huffed, "I know, I'm a bitch. Would it help if I said I was sorry and would you and the guys meet me on the beach for a catch up?"

Landon gave a long whoosh of breath, chuckling slightly, "You know we would. We've missed you majorly."

"Brilliant, I'll meet you there in a bit then."

"Sure thing, babe." He said before hanging up on me.

I was excited to be seeing Landon and the boys again. It had been months since I had spent any time with them. I couldn't quite say that I've missed them, because just like with the phoenix guys, I didn't think much about them at all. I've been too busy in my own world were the only people that exist are my family. Thinking about it, even some of them don't really pop up in my head too often, such as mom and Phil. I'll never stop loving them, but the things around me just take up my time.

I tried to push my worries out of my head as I headed towards the beach, my footsteps making patting sounds against the pavement. The breeze picked up my hair, making the curls flutter as it licked at me. I suppose the weather was quite cool and as soon as I spotted Landon, Colton, Archer, Kyle and Luke all wrapped up in leather jackets with gloves on, I knew that the fact that I wasn't wearing any coat would seem a bit odd. I pretended to be cold, folding my arms over my chest and rubbing my hands along my arms.

"Bella!" Archer and Colton called out at the same time. The smiles on their faces splitting their cheeks. All the boys looked the same; Landon with his blonde hair and blue eyes, the twins with their bloody eyeliner, Luke with all his piercings and Kyle with his floppy locks and quirky grin. I didn't know what they were even up to these days, but they just looking at them made me feel like I was back at school.

"Hey." I beamed as they ran at me, swallowing me up in a hug that practically squeezed every ounce of air from my lungs. "Whoa there." I wheezed, chuckling. They all stepped back and looked at me, their eyes wandering from my head to my toes.

"You are looking hot!" Colton smirked, winking at me, "You left Uley yet?" he teased.

I shook my head, "Nope." I said, holding up my left hand and flashing them my ring finger.

"Fucking hell." Luke burst, grabbing my hand and bringing my ring right up to his eyes. "That's a nice one."

"Tell me about it."

Landon rolled his eyes playfully, "He must be good if you're marrying him."

"I don't blame him for putting a ring on it, that's for sure." Archer took his turn to grab my hand and stare at the proof of my relationship. He looked up at me and smiled, "You're still happy, yeah?"

I tilted my head, "Of course." I said as I took my hand back and walked closer to the water, the boys following. We all sat down on the sand in a rather misshapen circle, looking at each other with wry smiles. It was a bit different now, we basked in each other's company for a while. I wondered briefly what would have happened if the pack didn't exist; if there was no such thing as vampires and werewolves and god knows what else. Would I have been with Landon? Would I have chosen to stick with these guys rather than Jake's friends. Or would Sam and I have fallen in love anyway? I had no answers for these questions, so I just shook my head and smiled at the boys.

"So how come you've decided to get married so young?" Landon asked, looking down.

I pressed my fingers into the sand, feeling the tiny grains slip through my fingers, as hard as tiny diamonds. "We would have married later on anyway." I said, "There was no point in us waiting." They weren't going to understand, but that was okay. I no longer expected normal humans to understand. I knew they would be more able to believe the idea that the world was full of supernatural creature then the fact that soulmates existed, or that I could love someone so irrevocably that nothing apart from death could keep us apart.

"How do you know that it'll last? A lot of teenage marriages don't make it." he muttered, casting his eyes up to Colton, who furrowed his brows quickly, lifting a shoulder. There was a wave of silence as I thought of a way to explain.

"Sam isn't just a boyfriend." I started, "He is the only man that I see myself with. There is no me without him anymore and that may not sound right to you, but when you love someone as much as Sam and I love each other, you will know that the only thing that matters is being with them for the rest of your life." I wiped my hands on my thigh, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my chin on them. The boys looked at each other, possibly trying to think of a way to question me more, ways to prove me wrong.

"You're still only eighteen." Luke said, his voice quiet, he put his hands up. "Not that I think there is anything wrong with what you are doing, it's just that we care about you and we don't want you to do anything you will regret."

I sighed, "Trust me, the only thing I would ever regret is not marrying Sam. You may not get it, but that's fine, I'll see you again in ten years and then you'll know I wasn't lying."

Archer beamed, "Ten years with Uley. I'll be feeling sorry for you."

My only reply was to stick my tongue out at him, scrunching up my nose. He launched at me, throwing me back into the ground and rolling us over, laughing. I escaped, sitting back up and slapping his stomach as he laid beside me.

"So we are invited to the wedding aren't we?" Kyle asked, smirking.

I rolled my eyes, "Of course. You should get your invites soon enough. We don't have too long to wait, so I better start getting things in order."

"When is it then?" Landon asked.

"The second of July."

He raised an eyebrow, "Only a couple of months."

"I know, but with the baby coming I've been putting things on hold a bit." All of their eyes shot wide open, their jaws dropping to their chests. They stared at me, which confused me a bit.

"You're pregnant?" Landon yelped, his eyes dropping to my stomach.

"What!" I squeaked, a little less dignified then I was going for. "No! I was talking about Leah's baby. Lola, she was born the other day."

Landon took a deep breath of relief, running a hand through his hair, flattening it. "Thank god." He sighed.

Colton shook his head, "You had us worried then."

I frowned, thinking about Lola. The little girl that has opened my eyes so much in just three days. There was a part of me that was jealous, I knew that as soon as Leah started to give birth. A part of me that was telling me that it should be me, not Leah. That was a part of me that I was ashamed of and that I didn't understand. Sometimes I thought it was because of the attention Leah was getting but now, realising that I had wanted, for a moment, to think that they believed that I would be having a baby, made me think that I could just be jealous of the fact that I didn't have one when my sister did. I had denied the idea of having a baby for so long and even now, sitting here, I knew that I didn't actually think I was ready, but for some reason my mind was telling me that it should have been me. That I should be the one with the cub rather than my sister. The thought of that was enough to make me feel slightly nauseous.

"Don't worry, I doubt there will be any little half Bella, half Sam's soon." I eased their fear of finding me up the duff to try and ease my own anxiety of my feelings about it all. I let out a huff of air, looking out at the choppy waves.

"But in ten years?"

I could hear the amusement in Luke's voice. I think he liked the fact that my relationship with Sam got on Landon's nerves and I reckon that he doesn't really care much about what I'm doing. He was happy to let me make my own choices without trying to dissuade me and I appreciated that. I wished there were more people in my life like that.

"I'm sure there will be a few by then." I grinned, whipping my hair out of my face with a jerk of my head.

"So is it weird? Know that you have your future planned out already." Colton asked, "I mean, its marriage and kids now for you."

I frowned, not really liking that at all. "That's not all there is for me." I looked away, watching the ocean as it undulated and listening to it as it crashed to shore and lapped at the cliffs. "There are things I want to do. Things that I will do." I wouldn't let being a wife or a mother take away the things that I wanted to do. If I wanted to do a business course, I'll do it. If I want to open a bakery, I'll do it. I'm not going to disappear into the fog that married life brought to most people; there was no way I could be happy like that.

"I didn't mean..."Colton drifted off and I turned back to him, giving him a soft smile.

"No worries." I said, "I better get back. I left a party to be here. I'll see you guys soon." I stood up, dusting the sand from my butt.

"Bella." I looked down at Landon as he looked up at me, his blue eyes crinkling at the sides. "You are definitely alright, aren't you?"

I didn't answer straight away. I wondered whether being stupid came under being alright. Jerking my head in a nod, I sighed softly, "Yes, Landon...I'm absolutely fine."

He paused for a second, before nodding slowly, "Good stuff." He winked. They waved me goodbye as I headed off, wandering back to Leah's place.

I was just turning down the road to my sister and Rye's place when I noticed that there was a hulking figure standing in front of the hedges on the boarder of their bungalow. Sam was paused, looking towards me, his arms crossed over his huge chest. I was too far away to see his face, but there was something about his stance that told me he was deep in thought. The closer I got, the more I could sense it. I was going to be questioned about what was wrong and I don't blame him for it. I was so up and down that I was struggling to keep up, god only knows what was going on in his head.

"Hey," He muttered quietly as soon as I within hearing distance. "You alright?"

"Yeah." I nodded, "Just went to the beach. Met up with Landon and the guys."

His face fell, his eyebrows pulling together, "Why did you see them?" he asked, his voice hard. I stepped up against him, ignoring his hostility to press my face into his chest. His arms came around me without hesitation and he held me closer, he dropped his head to kiss the top of mine.

"Because I needed time away from all of this."

"All of what?"

I sighed again, "All of the happy family business. I know that makes me a bitch but I cant help it."

He was silent for a minute, rocking his body from side to side. The movement soothed me like it would a child, which was exactly what I felt like most of the time recently. "I've been thinking." He started, "These feelings seem to come up when you are around Leah and Lola."

"I'm jealous." I admitted, my cheeks flaring. I felt him nod against my head.

"I know." He hummed, "But I think there is more to it then you think. This is what happened to me when I found out that Leah was pregnant. I got jealous that I wasn't having the first baby. I felt that as alpha of the pack, it should be me creating cubs with my mate. I think your jealousy is just that. You are alpha female and technically you should be the only female having babies in the pack, but because we are human, it didn't turn out that way. And now your wolf side is reacting to the fact that your subordinate had a cub first."

I sniffed. What he was saying was actually making sense. In normal wolf packs, only the alpha male and female had cubs. No wonder I was jealous as the animal inside of me felt as though I should be in Leah's position. And my confusion was coming from the fact that my human side didn't feel the same.

"She's not my subordinate." I muttered.

Sam scoffed, "You know what I mean." His hands rubbed my sides and I tilted my head up to kiss him.

"I love you."

He smiled, "I love you." Something flashed in his eyes and it made me raise an eyebrow, "Y'know...if you wanted to put an end to this jealousy thing we could just─"

"Don't even go there." I rolled my eyes and pulled away from him, heading towards the house. Sending a glance back to see him chuckling behind me.

"Why not?" he asked innocently.

He was my life. Looking at him, hearing him, smelling him...it all made me realise that. Suddenly, whatever happened in from now on didn't matter so much. I was stupid to think that the other stuff would make a difference to my life. A business or qualification is nothing compared to what we have. That stuff couldn't stick by me through thick and thin and it wouldn't care about making me happy or keeping me safe. Sam was everything I would ever need and no one else could persuade me otherwise, no matter how hard they tried.

I winked at him, "'Cause we have a party to attend." I drawled, turning on him and sauntering inside. He followed me, watching my back, just as he would until the day we died.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Sigh of relief there! You know the drill, REVIEW...unless you hated of course, in that case silence would be wonderful ;P xxxxx