Do you ever feel like breaking down?

Do you ever feel out of place?

Like somehow you just don't belong

And no one understands you

Do you ever wanna run away?

Do you lock yourself in your room?

With the radio on turned up so loud that no one hears you screaming

No you don't know what it's like

When nothing feels alright

You don't know what it's like to be like me

"Welcome to my Life"

-Simple Plan

Chapter 23:

Oh Joy, Family Bonding

I learned pretty quickly that the conversation between Jacob and Sam was pretty dull. The most interesting thing about it is that neither one of them had ever phased out. Apparently, Alpha's could communicate with each other when they were in their wolf form. It wasn't the same as when you spoke to the pack. Jacob explained it like it was on a different frequency channel. What was he? A CB radio?

Sam had waved the white flag. I always knew he'd pussy out. They were officially no longer interested in killing the Cullens or Nessie. Once Jacob explained to Sam about his imprinting on Nessie, Sam had no choice but to call off his troops. In fact, he went as far as to telling Jacob that we were all welcome back in La Push any time that we wanted. That would make our situation a little easier. To my surprise, Sam also went back to the Cullen's place with Jacob to talk to Carlisle about renewing the treaty.

Seth and I went back to say a quick hello to our mother as soon as we had heard the news that we wouldn't be killed for crossing into town. She was so ecstatic to see us. I gave her that big hug I had been craving to give her. She fixed us a big spaghetti dinner. It felt great to be able to eat real food again.

"It is so great to see you guys. I've been worried about you." My mother doted on us.

Seth cowered down a little. He looked guilty as hell.

"I'm sorry, mom."

"Ha. Mama's boy." I mumbled as I slurped down my noodles. She glared a warning at me.

"I certainly hope you're nicer to him when you guys are running together," she frowned at me.

I smiled innocently, "Of course. Right, Seth?"

He gave me an odd look, and then shook his head. "No."

I kicked him under the table. He barely even flinched as he twirled some more spaghetti on his plate.

"I hope we didn't freak you out too much when we ran off." I glanced at her to see what her reaction would be.

She didn't look upset or angry. She just smiled back at me. Thank God she didn't freak out.

"I understood once I read your note. Though…you could have gone easier on the colorful language. Some of the things you wrote about Sam…" She suddenly remembered that Seth was at the table, too. "Well, needless to say that I could tell you were angry when you wrote it."

I smirked when I thought of the letter. I had been angry when I was translating my thoughts on to the paper. I think I had scribbled something in there about Sam being a butt-fucking asshat. I bet my mother had laughed when she read that. She was used to my foul mouth, so it didn't really bother her. Every now and then she'd tell me to watch my language in front of Seth, which I found hilarious considering he belonged to a pack of werewolves who were constantly swearing.

After dinner mom walked us out. She knew that we couldn't stay long. Bella was due to wake up from her little vampire trance any minute now. And Seth and I wanted to be there in case she flew off the handle at Jacob for imprinting on her baby.

Seth embraced her in a tight hug. When he let her go, I saw her gasp for air. Sometimes Seth forgot his strength.

"Thanks for dinner, mom. It was really awesome." He smiled. "And thanks for not freaking out about…well, you know…everything. I really love you."

"You're my son, Seth. I will support you no matter what you do." She pat his shoulder. I looked at the two of them standing next to each other. Wow, had he grown? He looked so much larger than he had a few days ago. Guess it was that wolf gene really kicking in.

"What if he runs off to Vegas, marries a stripper, and starts gambling on street corners? How much support would he get then?" I couldn't help but be a smart ass.

My mom just rolled her eyes at me and hugged Seth again.

"You two promise me you'll be careful."

"Of course," Seth piped happily.

I reached in to hug her again. She grabbed my cheeks and kissed my forehead. "And you…watch your temper."

"I'm working on it," I said sincerely. "Hey, do me a favor. Take care of Charlie. The coming weeks aren't going to be easy for him." I was also suggesting this so she wouldn't be home alone all the time. Charlie would be good company for her with me and Seth gone.

I could see from my mom's expression that he was already having a difficult time. Once he got the news that Bella had "died", he was going to be devastated.

"Billy and I are doing all we can to keep his spirits up."

"All you can?" I gave my mother a suggestive glance. I figured the insinuation would go right over Seth's head.

"Leah…" My mom smacked my arm to scold me.

"I love you, mom." I kissed her cheek.

"Love you, too."

Seth and I jumped off of the porch and started to walk towards the woods.

"Take care of your brother!" she called after me.

"Aw, mom…" Seth frowned disapprovingly. He apparently didn't need my protection.

I laughed, "What do you think I've been doing for the last two weeks?" I questioned. I looked at Seth. "You probably would have been vampire chow had I not come around…"

"Yeah, right," I heard him mumble.

Seth and I glanced back at our mom before disappearing into the woods to phase. We ran back to the Cullen's place with mom on our mind.

You think she's really okay with this? Seth questioned.

Seth, it's mom. If she was unhappy, we'd know, believe me. I hadn't just acquired my temper problems out of the blue. When my mom was unhappy, she let us know.

Good point.

When we got to the Cullen's, we laid in wait. Jacob had said something to us about Edward taking Bella out to hunt after she woke up. Jake had this brilliant plan that he would interact with Bella first to see if she could handle being around someone with a beating heart before they let her anywhere near Nessie.

We didn't have to wait very long. Apparently, Bella had come out of her coma almost an hour ago. Edward had immediately taken her hunting so it would decrease the chance of her wanting to eat their baby.

What was she? Some kind of Praying Mantis?

That's the mate, Seth interrupted my thoughts.

Huh?

Praying Mantis's don't eat their young, they eat their mates.

Yeah, because that was so much better. My brother, the science nerd. I suddenly smiled thinking of Bella as a giant insect devouring Edward's head. That would be funny to watch.

I scrunched my nose up in disgust when I smelled them coming through the trees.

I'm telling you, this is a bad plan. I shook my head.

That's why we're here. If Bella overreacts, we can help subdue her. Seth tried to make me feel better.

Still doesn't make this idea any less idiotic. Bella was an unpredictable newborn.

I watched as Edward soothingly spoke to Bella like she was some moronic two-year-old. I laughed. She certainly had the capacity of a two-year-old.

"Careful, Jacob." Edward warned him. I couldn't believe that Edward was cautioning Jacob. Even after Jacob had imprinted on his daughter, he still didn't want him to get hurt. Or maybe he just didn't want Bella to feel bad that she had killed him. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

Here, here. I actually agreed with the vampire.

You're taking Edward's side in this? Seth was amazed.

Jacob is an idiot who doesn't think things through. Anyone with a brain would be able to see that this isn't going to end well. Well, that explained it. "Anyone with a brain." Jake didn't have brains...

I watched as the situation registered on Bella's face. She understood that if she was able to not attack Jacob, she would be able to be in the same room as her daughter. She looked horrified at first.

"Well, it's your neck." Edward shrugged as if he had suddenly changed his mind. He didn't seem to care anymore.

Watch it, you fucking leech, I snarled at Edward. I knew he could hear me. If your snotty little wife lays a hand on him, I'll rip you both to shreds.

Edward just ignored my hostility. But I had gotten Bella's attention. I saw her glancing around looking for where the growl had come from.

Over here, dipshit, I snarled again, letting my growl echo through the trees.

I saw her deliberating in her head. She watched Jacob carefully. He looked oddly at ease considering that he was about to royally piss her off. Bella looked incredibly confused as she took one step forward.

Jacob tried to lighten the mood. "Damn, Bella, you're a total freak show." He waved his hand across his nose. "Phew, you stink."

Why the hell was he antagonizing the vampire? Bella smiled at the joke, while Edward mumbled to himself. That jackass had no sense of humor. I watched as Bella and Jacob teased each other back and forth.

I couldn't help myself as I mocked the both of them, Oh, I'm a manipulative little whore who always gets my way. I love you, Jacob. No I don't. Okay, yes I do. Okay, now I don't again, I said in a high pitched voice. I quickly lowered it to joke about Jacob's response, I'm a manipulator, too. Only I'm more sly about it. I love you, too. Oh no, wait, I'm just kidding. I don't. I love your infant child.

Bella quickly became suspicious that Jacob and Edward were hiding something from her. I barked a laugh.

"What's going on? I feel like you two are keeping secrets from me…" Ha! If she only knew…

Maybe we should tell her that he and Edward are lovers. She might take that a little bit better than the actual truth.

Seth couldn't help but snicker. But we both snapped to attention when Jacob slowly started to walk towards Bella. I hated to see him put himself in such a dangerous situation. I whimpered as I walked forward out of the shadows. Seth quickly followed my lead.

That's close enough, Jacob, I warned him.

Yeah, she's doing good so far. No need to push her too fast. Seth nodded in agreement with me.

"You two stay out of this," Jacob scolded us. He walked past us. I ignored his comment as I followed him slowly. Seth did the same. "Come on, Bells, do your worst."

I don't think she can be any worse than she already is, I hissed.

She grabbed on to her dopey husband for support as she took in a small breath. I tensed up, ready to leap on top of her and rip her apart if I needed to. I smiled. I kind of hoped that I would need to.

But, she had no interest in Jacob's blood at all. She seemed very proud of herself. I rolled my eyes. Big whoop, a vampire who didn't want to drink a werewolf's blood; like that was anything special?

Seth loped forward to bark happily at how well this had gone. I shrugged and backed up a few steps. The rest of the vampires weren't far away. I didn't want to be in the middle of the big happy vampire reunion.

Edward and Bella slowly walked towards the house, but Jacob quickly jumped in front of them. He wasn't convinced that Bella would be able to contain her thirst. Edward argued that Bella has passed Jacob's test. I watched in amusement as Bella's confusion washed over her stone face.

For God's sake, just let her see the kid before she finds out about Jacob's claim on her, I mumbled to myself. He can't really be that concerned. There's seven vampires and three werewolves here. I don't think even a newborn can overpower all of us.

I could see the paranoia on Jacob's face as he bolted into the house. He looked guilty, and Bella was going to see right through that. It wouldn't be long before she knew the truth behind Jacob's overprotection.

They disappeared into the house and Seth followed. I just lingered outside of the door. It was hard enough to be around the entire lot of them. At least outside the house I felt a little less claustrophobic.

I watched as Nessie saw her mother for the first time. She was tight in Rosalie's arms. Out of all of the vampire's in the house, they thought Nessie would be safest with Rosalie? The kid would probably be better off in a cave by herself somewhere.

Nessie pat Rosalie's neck, communicating with her. The little demon child had been born with this special power to talk through thoughts that she was seeing in her head. I had seen it used on Jacob a few times. It was really weird. But, a lot of vampire's had talents. I thought about which talent I would have wanted to get stuck with.

I already knew how much reading thoughts sucked. I don't think I'd want to see the future either, because it would just depress the hell out of me. And that poor empathic Jasper was in constant distress absorbing other people's emotions. Though on the flip side, it would be cool to manipulate what people were feeling. And Lord knows I could use that kind of calming down a lot of the time.

And how… Seth agreed that I had anger issues.

Considering the family that she had been born into, I guess Nessie's ability wasn't so bad after all.

I watched as the entire group of vampires and Jacob jumped in front of Nessie protectively. Alice was the only one giving Bella any credit. Damn, I was really starting to like that eccentric little dark haired vampire.

Bella promised that she was okay. The family didn't seem convinced. Edward began to brag about how Bella had been able to resist a hiker's scent when they were hunting. My jaw flapped open in shock when the normally passive Carlisle actually scolded Edward and called him irresponsible.

That did it. I started snorting out my laughter. Edward was getting reamed out by his daddy. How freaking funny was that? And here I thought that being at the Cullen's today was going to be miserable.

"She held her breath and ran away…" Edward explained to his family what had happened to the hikers. They all immediately praised her for not killing the humans. Big deal, millions of people manage not to murder others every day. I tuned them out as I got sick of hearing the "ohhs and ahhs" from the rest of the vampires.

Once Jasper was convinced that Bella wasn't a threat, he moved aside so she could meet her daughter. Jacob was standing within inches of Rosalie. Wow, was the pull between him and Nessie that strong that he could completely ignore the fact that he was shoulder to shoulder with the blonde bitch we both hated?

I tensed up as Rosalie moved forward with Nessie. Jacob had his hand on the small of Nessie's back. And when she started fussing, he was the first one that reached for her.

You better pull back Jake before she figures it out, I mumbled.

"Give her here," Jacob said to Rosalie. She made a face at him, but handed him the baby. Bella's jaw dropped. Nessie twisted in Jacob's arms trying to get to her mother.

Easy, kid. You've got your whole life to be coddled by her, I grumbled.

Bella looked freaked out that Jacob was shaking. She probably didn't know that he was trembling out of fear, not out of anger. It made me laugh again to think that Bella was concerned that Jacob might hurt Nessie. As Bella reached for her, Jake didn't let go. It wouldn't be long now before Bella understood why Jacob was being so defensive. I got ready to pounce.

Bella cooed when she found out her child was talented. Nessie had apparently showed her pictures of her birth. That must have been weird. I sure wouldn't want to relive my birth. Ew.

Jacob started to get anxious.

"Haven't we experimented enough for one day?" He tried to pull Nessie back to him.

Uh oh, here it goes. Seth thought the exact same thing I did.

I let out a low growl when Edward and Rosalie threatened Jacob. But my attention suddenly shifted to Bella's face. It was a mixture or horror and anger. She knew.

Jacob yanked Nessie out of Bella's arms and quickly surrendered her to Rosalie. He knew what was coming, and he needed to get Nessie out of the way. He didn't want to see her hurt.

Bella started throwing a hissy fit. Nothing we hadn't expected. "She's mine. Wah, wah, wah. I'm going to kill you. Growl, growl, growl." Jacob nearly tripped over me as he hauled ass out of the house. Seth was right behind him. Bella was on both of their tails.

"How dare you!" Bella screamed angrily. Seth and I were instantly at Jacob's side.

Oh, hell no. It's on, bitch, I snapped at Bella, letting her know that Jacob was not completely vulnerable here. He wouldn't phase to protect himself because he couldn't stand the thought of hurting Bella. But I had no problem sinking my teeth into her. Bella snarled back. Hmm, so the bitch did have some balls after all.

Jacob seemed determined to handle this on his own. "Back off, Leah."

No fucking way. I didn't move.

Jacob threw his hands up and tried desperately to explain to Bella what was going on. She wasn't listening. Guess that hadn't changed. She never was one to actually listen to him.

I heard Esme whimper out to Edward to stop Bella from hurting Jake. Interesting. I would add Esme to the "do not kill" list along with Alice and Carlisle.

"You are going to stay away from her," Bella snapped at Jacob. So, she was still selfish, too. She knew how impossible it was for a werewolf to stay away from the person they've imprinted on. Yet, she wanted to cause Jacob that anguish? Jake was right, she really did get a kick out of his pain.

"Come on, Bells. Nessie likes me, too," Jacob insisted.

I saw the anger flush across her face. Guess she didn't like the nickname that Jake had given her daughter. Hell, it was better than Renesmee.

"You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster?" Bella screamed.

Everything happened so quickly. I saw Bella leap forward. Jacob was still human, and he wasn't going to phase.

Jake, watch out! Seth cried. He lunged forward. Between the two of us, he was closer to Jacob.

Seth, NO! I screamed. But it was too late. He put himself between the angry vampire and Jacob. I was suddenly reminded of my mother's last words to me, "Look after your brother."

Shit, she was going to kill me.