For all, all the times you closed your eyes
Allowing me to stumble or to be surprised
By life, with all its twists and turns
I made mistakes, you always knew that I would learn
And when I left, it's you who stayed
You always knew that I'd come home again
In the end, you are my one true friend
Though love may break, it never dies
It changes shape, through changing eyes
What I denied, I now can see.
You always were the light inside of me

"My One true friend"

-Bette Midler

Epilogue:

So, happily ever after isn't bullshit

5 Years Later:

I did the best I could to suppress the intense rage I was feeling at the moment. I was already in a shitty mood. Add in the fact that I hadn't eaten all day, so of course, I felt like crap. I chanted in my head to stay calm. To stay cool.

Do not lose your temper, Leah. You can't kill him. He's human.

I had gotten better at controlling my temper over the years. But every now and then it still got the better of me. And it looks like today was going to be one of those days.

"Go to hell you goddamn asshole!" I screamed at the jackass who had cut me off in his over-sized, mid-life crisis car. He'd probably only bought the damn thing because he had such a small dick.

I hated the traffic here in California. But it was a price I was willing to pay. Embry had been accepted into the University of California. I was so proud of him. When Embry first told me that he wanted to be a Veterinarian, I thought it was some kind of joke. But when I got to thinking about it, I realized that it made sense. Who better to treat an ailing dog than a werewolf? Embry surpassed all of my expectations when it came to school. He wasn't very good at English and History. But he was gifted in Math and Science like I couldn't believe. So when he finished his pre-vet courses a semester early I wasn't at all surprised. He was skeptical about the move here, but I was ready for a change of scenery. Not to mention California is a hell of a lot sunnier than Washington. No vampires. That was the selling point for me. The Realtor had looked at me like I was nuts when I got all excited about the sun and started babbling about how we wouldn't have to worry about stupid sparkly creatures bothering me.

The guy who had cut me off changed lanes. I looked over at him with the most evil look I could muster.

"That shiny car won't make up for the fact that you can't please your wife with your tiny penis!" I yelled.

I let out a sigh. There was a voice in the back of my head that scolded me.

School teachers shouldn't say things like that. I pushed the conscience that my mother instilled in me away quickly. Shut the fuck up, I grumbled at my nicer side.

It's crazy. Out of all of the careers I could have chosen, I decided to be an elementary school teacher. Kindergarten to be exact. I wouldn't have imagined that I would be teaching the ABC's to a bunch of snot-nosed little crybabies, but here I was...one of three kindergarten teachers at a small private elementary school in Davis, California. I decided that since I wasn't going to have kids of my own, I would settle for watching twenty-five little rugrats five days a week, eight hours a day. I was certifiably insane.

In all honesty, I loved kids. Something about watching five-year-olds interacting kept me in a constant good mood. It amazed me to watch the kids explore new areas. Everything was new and exciting to them. I'm sure to see the world through their eyes was an amazing adventure. They got so excited over little things. It was really cute to watch.

And the best part about my students...they made me laugh. Constantly. Whether it was a silly little joke that they found hugely hilarious:

"What do evil chickens lay?" One of the boys in my class questioned.

"I don't know, Brent. What do evil chickens lay?"

I saw him bounce in excitement as he responded, "Deviled eggs!"

So horribly, classically cute. The kids' ridiculously adorable behavior always put a smile on my face. I once had to talk to little Lucy Bines about bullying her classmate Ryan Alexander.

"Lucy, why did you throw a ball at Ryan's head?"

Lucy stuck her bottom lip out to pout. "We were playing "marriage," and he wouldn't listen to me! So, I called him a buttfart and then threw the ball at him." Sounded like a real marriage to me.

It took every ounce of my self-control to not laugh. I had to turn my head away so she couldn't see me giggling silently to myself.

As I pulled into my driveway, I sighed happily. I had already forgotten about the jerk I'd encountered in traffic. I loved my house. Coming home to my loving husband is the thing that kept me sane when I was back at school in a room full of children hyped up on sugar and soda.

When I pulled in the garage I saw that Embry's car wasn't here. He must still be on campus.

I walked through the front door and was immediately greeted by Cooper, our Bernese Mountain Dog. At first, I had vehemently disagreed about Embry's decision to bring him home. I had been burned out on dogs for a while now. But Embry told me the story about how Coop had been diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia when he was six-months-old. He'd come to the school as a stray to have surgery. Embry was in charge of his recovery. He'd gotten attached to him. He woke up one morning and told me we were going to have a dog. And even though I argued with him he brought Coop home that night. And I instantly got all sappy and decided the dog was ours. That was two years ago. It was hard not to love the goofy pup. He reminded me a lot of my old Alpha, Jacob. Right down to the stupid expressions he wore on his face all the time.

"Hey, Coop." I tossed my keys on the table in exhaustion. With all of my lesson plans and academic paperwork that I had been doing lately, I was completely worn out. I walked into my bedroom to change. Cooper walked behind me wagging his tail happily. He would follow me anywhere. I was the alpha in this house. I grinned smugly.

Another one of Embry's strays was curled up on a ball on our bed. I didn't argue as much when Embry brought home Cami six months after we acquired Coop. I knew I would have to get used to him bringing home strays. He didn't have to argue with me about Cami. Cats were a lot less work than dogs. Plus, I had once told Embry that maybe I would adopt a cat. Cami didn't come with a back story. Embry just explained that she strolled up to him one day and followed him out to his car. She stood there and waited until he opened the door and she jumped in. That was the end of that. She'd owned this damn house ever since. Coop didn't cross her. She could be one mean bitch. I loved that about her.

As I changed into something more comfortable, Cami glared at me for disturbing her slumber. I laughed as I rolled my eyes at her.

"You keep staring at me like that and I'll make a phone call to some vampires I know. They don't hunt humans, but I'm sure felines are a delicacy among them." I teased my pampered cat. I never would have dreamed that I would end up with a house full of spoiled rotten four-legged creatures.

I glanced down at my answering machine and saw that there were three messages. I pressed play as I sat down on my bed.

The first one was from Seth.

"Hey, Leah, it's your favorite brother here. Just give me a call when you get this." There was a beep and it went to the next message.

"Hey, hon, just wanted to let you know I'm going to be a little late tonight. Do me a favor and wait til I get home before calling your mom. I want to wish her a happy birthday, too." I'm really glad that he'd said something. It had completely slipped my mind that today was my mom's birthday. That's what Seth must have been calling about. "Oh, and don't forget to feed Coop…" I looked down at our dog, who was laying his head in my lap and gazing up at me with his puppy dog eyes. I scoffed.

"Like he'd let me forget."

"I talked to Seth earlier today. He's interested in UC and is going to be out this way next month. But he doesn't have a place to stay. And don't be mad, but I told him he could stay with us for a while. I thought it would be nice of us to offer him a room for a bit. He can check out the campus and he's going to try and find an apartment." Embry chattered on. So, he was bringing home another stray. I laughed. Seth probably wouldn't be that much work. He was pretty low-key. I'd lived with him for almost sixteen years back in La Push. A few more weeks wasn't going to kill me.

Embry ended his message with a quick "I love you" and a "don't kill me" and then it went to the next message.

"Hey, sweetie. It's your mother. Call me. I haven't talked to you in weeks. I'd like to know that my daughter is still alive out there in California…" Her message was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, baby!" Speak of the devil. How had my mother managed to call while I was in the middle of listening to a message from her?

"Hey, mom."

"I was starting to think you'd been killed by five-year-olds. Are you too busy to give your mother a call once in a while?" She laid the guilt on me.

"I'm sorry." Wow, she still knew how to make me feel like shit...even out of state. That's what I called talent.

My mother laughed. "I'm just giving you a hard time. Are you guys doing okay out there?"

"We're great." I nodded. "How are things in La Push?"

"Same as always," my mother said. "Mary and Billy are dating."

"I know. Embry told me." When he found out that his mother was dating Billy Black, I was surprised at his caring reaction. He told me that he was glad that his mother had found someone. And Billy was a good guy. At least we knew she wasn't dating some manipulative asshole.

"They're getting kind of serious," Mom admitted. "He's really brought her out of her shell. Mary used to be really reserved, but now she fits right in with us."

"In other words...you've corrupted her." I teased my mom.

"You know it," she chortled. I heard Charlie in the background. My mom covered the receiver and said something back to him. Though I couldn't hear everything she said, I understood the words "bedroom" and "tonight." I curled up my lips in disgust. It didn't matter how much older I was, old people sex was still gross. But they were married now so I sure as hell wasn't going to say anything about it. Whatever my mom was doing with Charlie under the sheets was fine with me. Because he'd come along and made her happy again after my dad died.

My mom giggled, giving away her giddy mood.

"I've got to run. Charlie's taking me out tonight for my birthday. I told him he didn't have to. He's already given me so much. And now he's giving me a fancy night out as well."

"I bet that's not all he's giving you," I muttered under my breath. Luckily, she didn't catch that.

"I just wanted to give you a quick call to see how you were. I love you, Leah."

"Love you, too, mom. Happy birthday," I said with a smile. "And tell Charlie I said 'hello.'"

"I will." We said our goodbyes. As I started to put the phone back on the hook, it rang again. I guess mom had forgotten to tell me something.

"You just called here old woman." I laughed. "They say that the mind is the first thing to go…"

"Who are you calling an old woman? You're starting to get a little middle-aged yourself." The voice was not that of my mother's. There was a laugh on the other end of the receiver.

"Leah Clearwater…"

I knew the voice almost immediately.

"It's Call now, actually…"

"Hmmm, go figure. I never would have guessed that you would take Embry's last name." Jacob's laugh bellowed. "How've you been? It's been ages." I guess tonight was going to be the night that everyone in my past contacted me to catch up.

"Not long enough, you dirty dog." I teased him. "What have you been up to?"

"Not much."

"Still hanging with the Cullens?" I asked.

"Living with one them, actually," Jacob said. "Esme made a comfortable little cottage for me and Nessie just like she did for Bella and Edward. It's about five miles from the mansion. Bella threw a fit when we moved in together."

"You moved in together?" I was shocked.

"Yeah. Nessie's my age now. Well...physically, anyway."

"I thought it was supposed to take seven years. Isn't that what Nahuel said?"

"You know what they say...girls mature faster than boys."

"Wow." I grinned at the thought of Bella throwing tables and chairs through the mansion walls after finding out about Jacob and Nessie moving in together. "How'd Edward take it?"

"He did the whole "dad" thing. "You hurt my daughter, I'll kill you, blah, blah, blah." I just made fun of him the whole time. But when he sat down to give me "the talk" about, you know, bedroom related stuff I almost threw up in his face." He rolled his eyes. "Like I'm going to make Nessie do something she doesn't want to do," he said with a laugh. "You should see the way she suckers her dad, though. It's awesome. She just looks at him with her sad eyes and her bottom lip starts to quiver. He would do anything for her. I'm going to see if I can convince her to beg him for a flatscreen for our place. I bet if we play our cards just right we could get an entire entertainment center."

We chatted for half an hour. He updated me on everyone. I laughed my ass off when he told me that Emmett and Rosalie were in marriage counseling. I guess not even vampires are immune to marital problems. I could just imagine Blondie holding the counselor up by his throat growling, "How's this for sharing my feelings you miserable whackjob? You're a quack! Where'd you get your degree? Clown college?" Emmett would have to pry his wife off of the poor moron.

Everyone else was about the same. Esme had gladly offered to help decorate Jacob and Nessie's place. I'm sure that pissed Bella off. Carlisle was still practicing medicine, something I was convinced he would do for the rest of his life. It still astonished me how none of his patients found it suspicious that his hands were practically icicles. It's a good thing he wasn't a Gynecologist. That would be the most uncomfortable exam ever. "Oh, hi, Doctor. I'm here for my annual pap-smear and, OH! What the hell? Did you just molest me with a frozen beer bottle?"

Alice was still Alice. And Jasper still loved her because of that. I couldn't imagine those two without each other. As crazy as Alice was, Jasper needed to be there to balance her out.

Jacob moved on to the gossip in La Push. But since Embry and I had left there really wasn't much gossip. I had apparently been the town's person of interest. People love to talk about screw-ups. And now that I wasn't there anymore no one had anything interesting to talk about. Wow, I felt bad. Not that they were bored, but that I was the most entertaining thing about La Push. That was sad.

"Yeah, the last interesting thing that happened was when you, Embry, and I got drunk the night before you moved away." Jacob laughed. That had been a fun night. It wasn't the "drown yourself in sorrow" alcohol party. It was a "let's celebrate and have a good time" swagger. "You know, Old Quil never did find out what we did to his boat. And I swear that his cat won't come near me anymore. She's still missing a patch of fur on her side."

"I woke up the next morning with a set of keys and to this day I still have no clue what they belong to," I said. It was nice to catch up with Jake, but something told me he had an ulterior motive for calling tonight. I sighed, "So, what peril is the world in that you're calling me?" I questioned.

"Now what in the world would make you assume that I'm calling to deliver bad news?" Jacob faked a shocked gasp.

"Because the last time I saw you, you said, 'I'll give you a call if the world is coming to an end.'"

Coop nudged my stomach with his nose and whimpered. I got up and walked into the kitchen to fill his food bowl, but he didn't touch the food. He just walked over and sat down in front of me. What a weird dog.

"No, it's nothing like that," Jacob said. "There's no immediate danger. No evil plot to destroy the world or anything."

"Aw, that's too bad. My life's been kind of boring lately," I admitted. I never thought I would fall into the "normal" routine so easily. Every day was the same thing. I was an adult now. Freaky.

"Well, maybe I can change that." Jacob's grin came through the phone louder than his voice. "You know how Alice likes to constantly butt in where she doesn't belong?"

"Oh, God. Don't tell me she's coming here for a visit." I had accepted that the Cullens were good, but that didn't mean that I wanted to spend time with any of them.

"No. No surprise visits." Jacob shook his head. "But when I was at the house earlier, one of Alice's old friend's had dropped by to visit," he explained. "She shocked the hell out of me when I came in. She glided right over to me and introduced herself. At first I thought she was a weird midget vampire. She's short. Like, really short. Even shorter than Alice, if you believe that." Wow, that was short. "Her name is Josephine. She told me that Nessie had told her all about me." Aw, that was cute...and it kind of made me nauseous to think about. Nessie gushing over Jacob. I grimaced. "Anyway, the girls were all carrying on and gossiping. You know, chick stuff…" Jacob said. "Nessie was talking about the battle with the Volturi…"

More like non battle. There had been no fighting involved. I was still a little bitter about that. All that preparation for nothing. I suddenly grinned when I remembered that my pack had still gotten to rip apart Jane, Alec, and Demetri. That was fun.

Jacob continued, "So, Nessie showed Josephine some images of that day. And Josephine happened to see an image of you. She was very intrigued by you…" The way he said that made me a little nervous.

"Jacob Black, if you tell me that some vampire has a lesbian lover crush on me, I will hurt you."

Jacob laughed. "No, it's nothing like that. She was just fascinated by the idea of a female werewolf. So she asked Alice about where you were now. Which pissed Alice off because it reminded her that she can't see us." He chuckled. Alice had always been frustrated with the fact that she couldn't see our future. "But get this. Apparently, Josephine has the same power as Alice." He paused. "And she can see us and our path…"

I could just imagine how Alice must have fumed with fury after finding out about that. "What did Alice say?"

"She was too surprised to say anything," Jacob said.

"About the fact that Josephine has the same ability as her?"

The other end of the line was silent.

"Jake, you still there?"

"First of all, let me just point out that I was right…" I could still hear Jacob grinning at me. What did he have to grin about?

"Right about what?" What the hell was he talking about? I frowned. "Jacob, you better explain to me what's going on before I catch the first flight out to La Push and kick your ass."

"It's a long story."

"I've got time."

The line was silent again. He was really starting to annoy me. I guess I was going to have to wait patiently for him to tell me what was on his mind. Or I could continue to threaten violence. Either way, I was going to get the mutt to talk.

I felt like I had been waiting forever for Embry to get home from class. When he finally walked in the front door, I nearly bowled him over when I hugged him excitedly.

"Hey, babe. Sorry I'm late. Class went over today. I still don't understand why I have to take Psychology," he said.

"How was class?" I questioned.

"It was boring until I took my shirt off." Embry said that like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Excuse me?" I gave him a perplexed look.

"The professor pissed me off so I decided to call him out of that closet he's been hiding in for years. Psychologists are the worst at hiding their homosexuality. I have no problem with gay people, but I hate shrinks. And I knew that he was gay the first day of class. I mean, his first lesson was on male homosexuality and half-way through the lecture he had to 'excuse himself to go to the bathroom.'" I saw Embry roll his eyes. "Psh, I know what he was doing in the bathroom…" He prattled on. I let him. He had obviously had a long day. "Anyway, today when I tried to disagree with him on something he put me down and called me naïve and inexperienced. So, I called him an Elton John wannabe and shed my shirt just to prove a point." I would not deny that Embry had one hell of a body. That's one thing the werewolf gene was good for. "After he wiped the drool off of his chin he decided to analyze me right there on the spot." He paused. "Apparently, I'm nuts."

"Nothing we didn't already know."

"I got my point across, though. I just wish teachers would take their students more seriously."

"You sound frustrated." I didn't like it when Embry had a bad day. It made me want to hit things repeatedly until I could fix the situation.

"Nah. Just a little stressed. I don't understand why I even have to have psychology to graduate. It's not like I'm going to open up a Veterinary practice to help dogs and cats sort out their problems. I'm going to be stitching them up, not analyzing their feelings." He tossed his books on to the kitchen table. "I'm sorry. I haven't even been through the door five seconds and I'm rambling on about nonsense. I never even asked you how your day was." He kissed me.

I smiled. This is what I was waiting for him to ask.

"Well, school was fine. I got some interesting phone calls this afternoon. I got your message about Seth." He looked at me sheepishly. "I don't have a problem with him staying here. He's my brother." I shrugged. "As long as he doesn't bring any of his pet vampires with him he can stay as long as he wants." Seth had always been closer to the Cullens than the rest of the wolves.

"You didn't kick me out when I brought strays home." Embry shrugged.

"Your strays didn't crave human blood." I pointed out. He glanced at Cami as she came walking down the hallway like she owned the place.

"That we know of." He watched Cami carefully. She had always been a weird cat.

"I talked to my mom. I know you wanted me to wait until you got home, but she called me," I explained. "So I wished her a happy birthday and let her go off to have mad sex with Charlie."

"Oh, there's an image that I didn't need in my head," Embry grimaced.

I laughed. Nothing could bother me right now. Not even old people sex.

"I also got a call from Jacob…" I saw Embry smile at the memory of his best friend. We hadn't seen Jacob since we'd moved away from La Push. We talked on the phone from time to time, but other than that we never really saw him.

"How is he?" Embry questioned.

"He's still Jake," I said. "He called to catch up." I paused. "And to tell me something…interesting…"

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Apparently, Alice has a little friend who can see our future…" I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he found out. It had thrown me for a loop. Jacob thought I'd fainted. "You know, it's been two years since I last phased," I explained. Without the vampires around there was no need for me to phase anymore. And I had gotten to the point where I could actually control my temper without exploding in to fur. Instead, I usually just said a string of profanities that would probably shock a sailor.

"That's…awesome…" Embry was confused. He obviously didn't know where I was going with this conversation. That's okay, because up until Jacob had called me, I wouldn't have suspected it myself.

"Well, I didn't say anything to you at the time, but a few months ago I guess all the non-phasing caught up with my body. My menstrual cycle came back to visit me." I frowned a bit at the memory. I had forgotten how much cramps hurt. "I didn't say anything because…well, you're a guy and I know you hate that stuff. Plus, it was just the once."

"Uh huh," Embry said. "So, are you asking me to go out and buy you some Tampons or something?"

I laughed hysterically. Watching him cringe at that thought was funny to me. If he only knew that my coworkers and I called them "cottony vagina plugs."

"Oh, wait a second." An idea came to Embry. I let him think it over. "Okay, are you asking me to buy condoms?" My poor naïve husband. I just laughed. He didn't understand what I found so funny. "I mean, because we have to be…careful, right?"

"Too little, too late."

I watched the shock flash across his face. His jaw hit the floor when he realized what I was telling him.

"Leah, are you…" Embry looked at me with his mouth wide open.

"Yeah, and I have a bone to pick with you. How come you didn't tell me that twins ran in your family?"

"Wuh, I, uh…my mother was one. Her brother Richard died when I was younger." I don't think the news had completely set in yet. "Are you trying to tell me that we're pregnant?"

"There's no "we" in this, honey. I'm the one who's going to be puking my guts out for the next several months." Why the hell had I wanted to have kids in the first place? You spend nine months eating everything in sight and then vomiting it back up. Not to mention the weight gain and the mood swings. I thought for a moment. The only thing different would be the weight gain. I don't think anyone would be able to notice a difference in my moods. I was always a bitch.

"I don't…I mean, how did this happen?" he stuttered. Wow, he was even more surprised than I had been. It was really kind of adorable to watch him stutter around nervously.

"Well, when a man and a woman get together and have sex sometimes the man's sperm fertilizes the woman's egg…" I jokingly used the "birds and the bees" speech on him. It was better than a speech I'd once heard that consisted of "when two people hump, sometimes the guy knocks the girl up."

He chuckled. "I know how it happens. What I mean is, what happened to you not being able to have kids?"

"You know I've never been one to follow the rules in life."

I could see that the shock on his face was slowly giving away to joy.

"Wow. Twins, huh? I'm going to be a daddy?"

"At first, Jacob kept throwing stupid puns at me that I didn't get. He apparently thought it was funny to say "I've got some news to deliver. No kidding. Catch my drift, babydoll?" When he called me babydoll, I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him. But he finally blurted out that I was going to be a mother. At first, I thought he was screwing with me. I half expected him to shout "April Fools!" at the end of our conversation." I laughed. "But when he didn't I about fell over from shock. Jacob thought he'd killed me with a heart attack."

"Wow, two kids in one," he said with a smile. I laughed. It sounded like we were getting some kind of special on them or something.

"Two for one sale! Everything must go! All babies in Leah's uterus are half-off!"

"Yep. A boy and a girl."

"Isn't it too soon to tell that?" Embry questioned.

"Apparently Josephine's visions are better than Alice's," I said. "If I had been thinking clearly, I would have had Jacob ask her for the winning lottery numbers."

"Wow, this is just…wow." Embry couldn't find his words. Well it had been better than what I said to Jacob: "You're fucking with me, right?"

I could see that Embry was deep in thought. This was a lot to process. I don't think I had completely processed it yet, either. I started to think about it. Holy shit. I was going to have kids. Two of them. I tried not to think about what kind of child I was. I'd always heard that if you were bad a child, you were bound to end up with a kid that's ten times worse than you were. Payback's a bitch. I wondered if they would fight. I'm sure they would. They were my kids. With my luck, they'd start fighting in the womb.

"Stay on your side of the placenta!"

"Hey, get your ass out of my face!"

"Mooooom, she's in MY space!"

I looked at Embry. "What's on your mind?" I questioned. I had to wonder if he was thinking the same thing that I was.

"As crazy as it sounds, I'm already thinking of names."

"That's not crazy at all. In fact, I've already named them." I shrugged. "Embryo one and embryo two."

"I know it's kind of early to start with the names and all, but I've already got an idea for the boy."

"Oh, really?"

"I was thinking…Harold. After your dad." He suggested. "And for a middle name, I think it would make my mom happy to name him after her brother."

I put the names together in my head and frowned.

"We are not naming our son Harry Dick." I frowned at Embry. "I love my father, but that's just not going to happen." I didn't want my son to get endlessly tortured on the playground. Although, being my kid, I'm sure he would be the one doing most of the torturing.

"Yeah, that's a good point. I didn't think about that."

That night Embry and I laid awake in bed talking about names for our future children. I just hoped that I could handle this. I had never planned on being a mother. I had gotten used to the idea that I would never be able to have kids. I recalled a conversation that Jacob and I had once had. He seemed to believe that after I stopped phasing my life would get back to normal. God damn Jacob for being right.

As I tossed in bed that night, I felt Embry's arms embracing me.

"Stop worrying. Everything is going to be just fine. You're going to be a great mother." Even after being together for so long, it still always surprised me when he read my thoughts.

I was still uncertain. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Have I ever steered you wrong?" he questioned.

I thought about it. He really hadn't. He had always had an uncanny ability to know how things were going to work out. He was just so damn talented at seeing the future. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was collaborating with Alice Cullen…if she could see us.

Though things didn't always work out exactly like I planned, the point was, they did work out. I relaxed. If Embry wasn't worried than neither was I. There were many things in my life that I was uncertain about, but he was the one thing that I was sure about. I chuckled. He had once said that to me. At the time, I had found it incredibly cheesy. But now I realized what a compliment that it was.

Embry had drifted off to sleep and was snoring lightly. I looked at him and took a moment to realize how lucky I was to be with him. I felt Coop twitching in his sleep at the foot of the bed. It's a good thing we had a King-sized bed because Coop took up half of our space.

I watched Coop chasing something in his dreams. It was probably vampires...or maybe bunnies. Either way, he was focused on catching his prey. I sighed and closed my eyes. How the hell had I gone from being an angry female werewolf to a happily married, pregnant school-teacher?

Oh, well. At least, thanks to Embry, I wasn't concerned about the future anymore. As I let my head sink in to my pillow I let out a content sigh.

Tomorrow was going to be another day. And I'd probably find a way to screw that one up, too.

But hell, at least I kept it interesting…

Outtake time...