Epilogue: The Next December

I walk into the house and my eyes immediately catch Jake stretched out across the couch asleep, completely oblivious to the fact that someone came into the house. I smile and silently make my way into the kitchen to unload the groceries. Jake must be exhausted, he was on patrol late last night and he had to wake up early to go to work at the mechanic store. He was given the job by an elder in the reservation, John, in January. John informed Jake in March that he had cancer and he would die before the end of the year, he wanted Jake to take over the store. So now, Jake is running the store and he was Alpha of his pack, I had no idea how he managed all of his duties.

The shifters have been taking turns on patrol, Embry saw a vampire on reservation territory earlier this month that we know of they haven't returned but no one wants to risk anything. Speaking of vampires, the Cullens have kept in touch; Jake goes to visit them every month, sometimes Seth and I tag along. They love living in Alaska, I don't see them moving again for a while.

When I have finished putting up the groceries I find myself staring out the kitchen window in deep thought. It's been almost a year, and Jake and I are still together and stronger than ever. I still wake up in the morning and think it has all been a dream but then I look beside me and Jake is sleeping beside me with his arm around me gently.

Arms wrap tightly around me and lips find my neck. "Hey Lee." Jake says; his voice is still groggy from his nap. "How was work?"

I turn around and face him. "It was good, kind of slow, but I have no complaints. What about you?" I ask him.

Jake shrugs. "It was pretty decent; a lot of people were getting snow tires since they are calling for it in the forecast. Pretty easy stuff." He smiles. "I have a surprise for you."

"For me?" I ask him with a smile and he nods. He takes my hand and leads me out of the house. "I left it with someone though so we'll have to go walk there."

"What is it?" I ask him eagerly as I follow him down the road.

Jake shakes his head with a smile. "The point of a surprise is that it is a surprise and you don't know what it is until you see it." His hand squeezes mine. I notice we are getting close to his house.

When we get there I see Billy roll out onto his porch. He smiles to me. "Right on time Jake." He lays something on the porch rail and then rolls back inside.

"What's going on?" I ask as I get to the porch and see a blindfold.

"For the full effect," Jake motions to the blind fold. He takes it in his hands and folds it. I sigh and spin around so he can tie it to cover my eyes. In seconds my vision goes dark and I can't see anything. Jake's hands gently take my arms. He turns me slightly and leads me forward. "Careful remember there's a slight raise when you walk in my house." He warns cautiously. I nod and proceed carefully, when I feel the raise I step over it and keep moving. Jake turns me at certain points until I think I'm in front of the couch. "Okay slowly sit down," Jake instructs and I follow his instruction, sitting carefully on the couch. "Is it in my room?" I hear Jake ask.

"Yep, I just checked on it." Billy says. I hear Jake leave the room.

When I'm sure he is gone I speak, "This is a little ridiculous Billy, you can tell me what it is." I smile.

I hear Billy laugh. "You'll know soon. Jake would kill me if I ruined it. He's worked so hard on it."

I shake my head. "Your son… once he has an idea in his head he runs with it doesn't he?"

"You say that like it is a bad thing." Jake's voice cuts in. "I promise you're going to love it. Okay, here we go." He sets something heavy on the couch beside me. I feel it move towards me carefully.

"What the heck Jake?" I ask him.

"Just wait…" He says.

The thing reaches me, it steps on me with a furry… paw? I feel something cold brush against my arm and then something licks me, I jump slightly. "Jake…" I say cautiously wondering what type of animal this is. "If this is Seth or one of the pups in the pack… this is not a good surprise."

"Billy." Jake says, and then the blindfold comes off. My eyes adjust to the light and I see a puppy looking at me curiously. Its fur is a beautiful chocolate brown, tan and white. Its eyes are a stunning light blue. It sniffs me again and then licks me.

"She's a kisser." Jake smiles to me.

"This is for me?" I ask him, taking the puppy into my arms and holding it close.

"Well, for us, to share. She's a Siberian Husky/Labrador mix." Jake smiles and sits on the couch beside me.

"She's perfect." I tell him as I pet the puppy. It gets anxious in my arms and squirms out. She jumps off the couch and finds a ball I assume Jake had already given her. The ball is too big for her mouth so she awkwardly holds it. I laugh at this.

"I'm going to take her out for a walk and give you a minute to talk." Billy says as he rolls to the puppy that doesn't run from him, she just patiently waits for him to hook the leash to her collar. She's already used to Billy I notice, she walks at a pace slow enough for him to keep up.

I look to Jake. "So we have a puppy together? What does this mean exactly?"

Jake smiles, "Well there's another part of the surprise." He digs around in his pocket and pulls out a thin, braided silver band.

I look down at the ring and then back to him, and then back to the ring. "What is that?"

"A promise ring." Jake says. "I know we are both not ready for marriage or a family of our own. So I thought this was kind of a baby step, a promise ring and a puppy instead of a wedding and a baby." Jake chuckles nervously. "I had the words planned out and everything but it's all kind of gone to mush." I take his hand and lace my fingers with his. "I want there to be proof that there's a commitment here. I want that puppy to be a step to making a family for ourselves. There's no one else in this world that I want to love forever, that I need forever, that I want to start a family with. You are the most important person in my life. When I saw that puppy at the animal shelter I had to get her, I mean she's perfect and I knew you'd love her. She has a spirit in her so similar to the spirit in you. The spirit that I love. I got this because I wanted to make you a promise Leah Clearwater." His thumb draws circles on the back of my hand. "I promise to love you until I die. I promise to take care of you, to cherish every moment I have with you. It's a promise that one day we will get married and we will have children and I hope they look like you." Jake smiles to me. "I can see it now, Lee. I just really wanted to get started on all of that so this is me getting started on it."

I smile and with my free hand I cup the back of his neck and pull his lips to mine. Jake breaks the kiss after a moment with a smile on his face. He takes my hand and slides the ring on my finger. He cups my face and kisses me again. "I love you," I say through the kiss, holding him close to me.

I hear the door open, "I'm entering!" Billy warns as he walks into his house. Jake and I pull away with smiles on our face.

"How was the walk Billy?" I ask him as I get up and toss the ball for the puppy to chase. She happily chases it, her tail wagging when she gets to it.

"Peaceful. How were things here?" Billy says.

I look to Jake and we exchange a look, then I look back to Billy. "Things were great." The puppy brings the ball back to me and drops it at my feet. I look to it surprised that it already has the idea of fetch down. "She's smart isn't she?" I smile; I pick up the ball and throw it gently on the ground, careful to not break anything. "What's her name?" I ask watching her chase the ball.

Jake comes up behind me, his arms wrap around my waist. "Faith," He says to me. I watch as the puppy responds to her name, her ears perk up and she looks around. "Pretty fantastic name huh?"

"The best." I smile.

"You two are something else." Billy says as he rolls to turn on the television. "You both look so starry eyed. It is just a dog, and Leah, trust me I've been looking at Jake all of his life, he's not that great." Billy smiles.

But Billy was wrong, that was more of a dog, she was the start of Jake and my family and Jake was great, he was worth every starry-eyed look I'd ever given him. How could he pick me? How could he end up choosing me? I didn't deserve him, I'd never deserve him but somehow I have him. Jake lets me go, and he starts chasing Faith around the house since she grabbed one of his shoes. I laugh as I watch Jake chase Faith around the room, when Jake finally reaches her he picks her up, and Faith gives a slight growl.

"Bad dog!" Jake says as he pulls the shoe from her grip. I can't hold in the laugh though. Jake looks to me and shakes his head. Faith pants but the look on her face shows one of happiness. She licks Jake's cheek, and Jake can't hold his serious composure anymore. He starts to smile at the puppy.

"You both staying for dinner?" Billy asks as he moves into the kitchen, not affected at all by the display of his son chasing a puppy around the house.

"Yeah that would be great!" I say as I reach for Faith and take her from Jake's arms. I scratch her behind her ears and then I pet her. I set her down so she can run around. Jake's arms wrap around me and he nuzzles my neck.

"You just stood there and laughed," He says and I can feel his smile on my neck.

I nod. "Yep, it was very amusing you chasing a puppy around the house. I must say, I thought you'd be a little bit faster." I tell him.

He looks up to me, his head cocked to the side. "Oh really?" He says with a smile.

I nod, "Yep, rather disappointing." I say giving him a small smile.

Jake pulls me against him. "I'll have to work on it." He says and I nod. His lips crash onto mine, my arms wrap around his neck.

And throughout the kiss all I can think about is the fact that I'm so lucky to have Jake love me. Who would have thought I'd get another chance at love? Who would have thought I'd fall for this boy over and over every day?

I can't imagine anything better than this moment, than being with this guy. I could picture myself having kids with him, I could see us have a small, beautiful wedding, and I could see us growing old together, each day our love growing more.

I've changed a lot in the past year. I would have squirmed if I had heard those words from someone else last year. It's so cliché and who doesn't get annoyed with the lovey-dovey couple. Everything changes though. One day you're a cynic, looking at spending the rest of your life without someone who really gets you, and another you are at your boyfriend's house with your new puppy and a promise ring on your finger. I used to think I'd prefer to never have these moments if they weren't going to last, but now I realize how essential these moments are. When Jake and I fight, when things aren't looking so great these are the moments that make it all worthwhile. These moments we should cherish, it is when everything falls into place, everything makes sense and it is something beautiful. These are the moments we live for.

The End

A/N: Sorry for the terribly slow update! I have been really busy and I really wanted to get this perfect. Hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks for sticking with me through the whole story! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and favorites! You all are so wonderful! -Courtney