~A/N My muse has been active. I'm several chapters ahead. We can do this fast or slow. Let me know what you prefer. LOL! I have to admit, I had some fun writing this scene, not all stress and angst.

Copyright disclaimer: Twilight and all recognizable characters are sole property of Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 12: Give as Good as You Get

Barry and Monica were supposed to get Bella and Ace checked in. Jacob was sitting near the gate looking out into the crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of them soon. She could very well back out on him, but he didn't think she would. Charlie practically screamed in his ear when he called and told him they were coming back to Washington earlier that morning. He said he wished he would've called sooner because he was working and couldn't be there to pick them up at the airport. He planned to drive up the following afternoon for a visit.

He asked if they needed to stay with him for now. Jacob plainly answered that they'd be staying at his place in the garage apartment.

"Come again?"

"Yeah, I'm going to move them in the apartment. You know it's separate from the house."

"Yes, but it's still right next to it. What about Kaleigh?"

"Well, she's going to be upset at first, I'm sure. That's why they're going to stay in a hotel for a few days first, so Kaleigh has time to process it."

"Jake, are you okay? Because, you don't sound like yourself. This is the most irrational solution I've ever heard and I doubt she only needs a few days. Don't you know women better than this? Pardon my French, but she will flip the fuck out and rightly so. I love my daughter and you're like a son to me, but you both wronged this woman and you're about to make it even worse."

"I'm fine, Charlie and I know it sounds crazy, but I'm going to make it all right eventually. I was shocked to find out we have a son, of course, but I love him so much. I have to do this. I can't be away from Ace."

"Ace? Who the hell is Ace?" Charlie waited a few seconds and chanted his full name under his breath. "Oh, wait, Ace, I get it. I like that." He went onto say the offer to have Bella and Ace at his house was an open invitation. He didn't understand why Jacob couldn't find them something nearby, but not actually on the property. Kaleigh was a Realtor and he was almost certain if she didn't plan to divorce him immediately, she'd be sure to start a search as well. No one but Bella, the Cullens and Sam would understand why he needed them practically under his nose.

The guys eventually found out that Jacob phased again. He had a few offers by some of them to try again so he'd have backup, but so far it wasn't necessary. He told them all the majority of the story. He kept the sex parts between him and Sam only, but the others were not as mad at Bella as he imagined they might be. They were all happy she wasn't really dead, but Quil and Embry knew him best. They were pretty concerned he went ahead and married Kaleigh, especially Embry. Jake was a little shocked at how he reacted. Embry got along well with Kaleigh and had accused him several times of not putting enough into the relationship. Emb never thought he was fair to her. The whole truth was bound to cause another argument he didn't have the time or energy to deal with.

He was about to go fucking stir crazy sitting in the cramped seat waiting for them. He texted Barry, but hadn't heard back. At least, Mack wasn't breathing down his neck. He was at the bar probably trying to impress a few women. Kaleigh had the nerve to gripe about some of his friends' lack of ethics when it came to the opposite sex. Mack was a horn dog and Jacob was sick of hearing about all his conquests. Of course, he never could say anything, because he was saint and savior in his wife's eyes. Her real siblings were pretty aloof and wrapped in their own superficial lives. She and Mack were the more down to earth members of the family.

He was just about to stand up and take a walk. He needed to give her a call because any minute, they were sure to start boarding. Jacob worried about every possible thing that could be wrong. What if they were still in traffic? Maybe she was having trouble with security. He hated that they couldn't come together.

He saw Mack sauntering over. "If only we had another night in LA, you should've seen the Amazon goddess I was chatting up a few minutes ago. You know how I feel about hooking up with a tall women?"

Jacob didn't want to hear another word. Instead, he suggested he stay. "Hey, you only live once, why don't you go back and see if she's still around. You can get a flight tomorrow probably."

"Funny Black, but I don't waste money, unlike you. Driving home. I swear that was the dumbest shit I'd ever heard last year."

He didn't have the patience to get into it with Mack. He had to go figure out what the hold up was with Bells. Mack was facing east and Jacob was looking the opposite direction where he expected Bella. He heard Ace behind him before he could turn around.

"Uh oh, hope that screaming kid isn't going on our plane. Please don't stop, not this gate." Jacob wished he could kick the shit out of him and say it was a reflex. "Oh, maybe I spoke to soon. That is one yummy mummy pushing that howling tyke. Did I ever mention a MILF is on my list?"

He knew Mack's filthy list included any and every type of woman. He'd heard bits and pieces of it over the years. Most of it was bullshit that Mack would never cross off. His game wasn't that great, but he had money and wasn't completely hideous looking. Rachel said he was hot once and Paul instantly took a disliking to him, much like Jake.

Jacob felt the vibrations jumpstart, starting at his fingers and toes, moving up his limbs, up and down his spine. He looked at his hands in his lap shaking. His nostrils flared from the rush of heat fueled air coming in and out of his lungs. Mack could very well be speaking his last words if Jacob gave into the impulse. He pictured it like a like a stop motion sequence how it would play out. He didn't even need to phase. Jacob would jump up, grab Mack by the throat and squeeze so hard, his eyes would bulge out their sockets. He'd reach in and grab the offending organ that dared to lust and belittle Bells in front of him while insulting his distressed pup. Jacob would then shove that tongue back down Mack's own throat and watch him suffer and die at his feet. It was a frightening, horrific scene that would never happen, at least not today. Bella strolled by, he caught her in his peripheral vision. There was no way he could brutally murder a man in front of her or Ace, not to mention, he couldn't go to prison.

He cleared his throat first and pushed the beast down. "Mack, shut the fuck up and sit down. You're already drunk and we haven't even boarded." He behaved and did like Jacob asked. He was a pain in the ass, but wasn't a complete idiot. Mack was a little scared of Jake when he pushed him too far. Jacob shoved him, "Stop staring. You look demented."

"I wasn't staring, but she really is pretty and she seems super stressed. I was thinking about offering assistance. Notice, she's all alone. I'm trying to spot a ring and I don't think there is one."

"Not every taken person wears a ring and how the hell could you help her? You don't have kids or know anything about them."

Mack sat back and crossed his arms. He mumbled some crap about how Jacob seemed to take or leave his wedding ring regularly and he was surprised his cousin allowed that. He twirled the ring on his finger after being reminded of it. He did remove it often because of the wolf. Today, it was on to remind him that he made the ultimate promise to Kaleigh. There was already a battle taking place on the inside and they weren't anywhere close to living the new way of life. Everyone else was right, he was fooling himself. Had the wolf started his descent into madness?

He took a few more depth breaths. He could smell them despite the crowded airport. Bella had plugged Ace's mouth with a pacifier and he was quiet except for a wet sucking noise that Jacob could hear. She was facing the window, not him. In fact, Bella hadn't glanced his way even once. Maybe, she imagined, if they made eye contact, Mack would spot the connection between them. He actually missed her face already. He wanted to read her emotions in some way and he was usually good at knowing what was going on in that complicated mind of hers.

His thoughts were so wrapped around the two of them, he didn't even noticed when the announcement for business class boarding came on. Mack nudged him and he started reluctantly walking with him. Bella was already standing, she'd follow soon. He knew that, but just as he hit the tunnel, he swore a strong stink filtered through the air. No fucking way. Not here, not now in this God forsaken airport where she was with his son. Jacob tried to turn back, but the other passengers filled the narrow hallway. Panic filled him, he had to go back until he realized the rest of the passengers were heading that way. He saw Bella being helping by an airline employee. She was almost on board and the scent had quickly faded. He knew the plane was free of bloodsuckers, maybe he was so nuts, he invented the smell. He sure as hell hoped that was it, because he already had enough problems to worry about without those filthy demons already on Bella's tail.

One of Jake's other fears came true. Ace was unhappy. He heard him start to cry again after take off. Mack lifted his head. "Oh come on. I'm going to need another drink if that kid's going to cry the whole way."

"Shut up, it's not that bad. I'm sure he'll calm down soon."

"He, how'd you know it's a boy? I didn't see the baby, all covered up in that carrier thing. When did you?"

"Um," Jacob thought fast. "There was a blue blanket over him, idiot. I just assumed."

Mack mumbled again about Bella. "I wonder if I'd look like a hero for offering her a hand? Chicks eat that shit up when guys like kids. I got fifty bucks says I can get her number if I go back there when the fasten seat belt sign goes off."

Jacob's fists clinched tight. He pondered how fast he could deliver a blow, hard and quick to the middle of Mack's nose? Maybe, it would be so spontaneous and unexpected, no one would know why that moron was knocked clean out, pouring blood all over himself. He was going to crack, sooner than later. He was worried about his son and the stress Bella was under all because of his ultimatum, but Mack had to exaggerate everything by talking about Bells in a sleazy manner. Then there was that brief moment in the airport, when he thought he smelled a bloodsucker. It had been a long time, what the fuck were the odds? He wished he would've had the opportunity to look into it before they boarded.

There were moments of silence, but also pained cries from Ace. What the hell was wrong? He'd never heard him like that, although he'd only known him a few days. Jacob waited maybe ten more minutes after the the light was off. He couldn't take it any longer. Fuck Mack, he'd deal with him later.

"What's the matter?"

Bella was trying to hold the pacifier in his mouth while snuggling him against her chest. "Jake, what are you doing?"

"Helping."

"You can't, Kaleigh's cousin."

"Forget about him. Why's he so upset?"

She started explaining about the pressure and something about Ace's ears. Jacob didn't understand all of it, but he knew his son was hurting and was shocked to find out that he'd recently seen a doctor with an ear infection. He reached down without thinking and picked him up. Ace liked being up on his father's shoulder. He instantly calmed down and started to appreciate his new vantage point. Bella's face softened. He announced he was going to walk him a little.

"But... "

"I'll handle it." That was his new catch phrase and it was a load of bull, but he kept saying it about everything. "Why didn't you tell me, he'd been sick?" They'd had so many conversations lately, but the fact that Atticus inherited her Eustachian tubes hadn't come up. Bella said she'd tell him all about it later, but that he was fine other than his tubes had fluid recently. Jacob smiled at a nearby flight attendant. "Is it okay if I walk him around the aisle until he settles down?"

"Sure, sir, happens all the time." Jacob walked and talked to his son back and forth several times. Bella would laugh every time they passed her row. It was on about the fourth pass he saw a familiar head lean out past the seats from business class. He knew Mack would eventually wonder why he disappeared without a word. He turned around and walked back to Bella again. She commented the baby's eyes were finally closed. Jacob was going to give him back to her or put him in his carrier, whichever she preferred, but as soon as Ace's head came off his shoulder, the tears started up again, so Jake stood back up and walked again. He pretty much had the attention of the entire plane or at least it seemed that way.

They were probably all secretly begging him to walk the whole remainder of the flight if it kept the infant content. Bella stopped him again. "I could try feeding him again, but he didn't want it earlier. Maybe then he'll stay asleep."

Jacob wished like hell he could sit with them, but the window seat was occupied by an older gentleman that slept through all of it. He told her he'd keep him a little while longer. Hell, Mack saw him already. The jig was practically up, so he might even go back to his seat. Jacob asked her why she was so late. She said she was at the airport, but kept walking around since they'd be confined to one spot for so long. He didn't want to scare her about the potential vamp in the airport, but Jacob asked if she ever felt like someone was staring or following her.

"No, why?"

"It's nothing. I'm going to go sit. I'll see you in a bit. He should sleep a little while, right? It's his naptime." She nodded. Jacob already knew a lot about his schedule. He walked back to his section.

"Move." Mack preferred the aisle seat, but Jacob wasn't giving him a choice.

He looked at Jake, but Bella had tossed the blue blanket over their son before he left her, so Mack wouldn't see much other than the top of his head.

"So. This is a really fucking weird day."

"Shut up, Mack. Just sit there and don't talk. If you wake him up, I'll toss you out the emergency door."

They sat there a few minutes before Mack broke his silence and got one step closer to an entirely different type of air travel. "Let me see that kid." Jacob turned his head and gave him a go to hell look. Mack gave him a similar look. "I'm not a moron. I graduated ahead of you and I'm Downey's favorite because I'm the best. Something's off. No way would you go pick up a random baby and lull him to sleep, nor would any sane mother hand over her child to a stranger. Not to mention, you've been growling out me since I spotted the MILF." Cue Jacob's uncontrollable growl. "See, there it is again. How do you do that? Is it from the chest or the back of the throat? Never mind, here's my theory. You're a fucking douche. I knew it! I told Kaleigh back in college, you were shady as hell. No one's that broody and antisocial without having a past or secret other life. That's your kid, isn't it?"

Jacob wasn't saying anything. Most of what Mack was saying was true. He was fully prepared to sit there the whole time Ace slept without replying to any of the accusations. As usual, Kaleigh's cousin couldn't leave things alone. This wasn't new to Jacob. He was always trying to one up him. Mack's the reason he met Kaleigh because she attended an event at school with him. The fact was he knew Mack first because they had almost every class together. He hated him then and he hated him even more right about now. He was not the boss's favorite either, but he was always trying to undermine Jake's climb in the company. He wanted to get his hands on every project, second guess him, make him look bad, or inept every chance he could get. Mack was fully prepared to work somewhere else until he heard where Jacob got hired and then low and behold, he showed up for an interview as well. Their long, embattled history was tumultuous and now it was bordering on deadly.

Mack pulled his cell out of his pocket and rested it on his thigh. He lightly tapped his finger up and down. It sounded like a jackhammer to Jake's sensitive ears. He was going to call or text Kay the second he was allowed. Without interrupting his son's precious slumber, Jake swiped the phone with his other hand, crushed it like a bug and dropped it back onto Mack's crotch.

"Hey." His voice rose and the baby startled. Jacob gave him the look again and then gently patted his son's back until he relaxed again back into his dream state. Mack lowered his voice. "That's the newest iphone, you ass. You owe me 800 bucks." He dug all the remnants of the broken phone out of his lap. He swore as tiny glass shards stuck in his skin. "I'm bleeding, fucker."

Mack fiddled with the phone, trying to figure out if it had any sort of life left in it. The flight attendant stopped to see if they wanted a drink and she reminded Mack he couldn't use his phone which really got him going. He lifted the gnarled contraption. "Seriously, you think I'm trying to talk on this piece of shit. Are you stupid?"

A male attendant heard the commotion and Jacob and Mack were warned for causing a disturbance. Mack profusely apologized and asked for a trash basket and some first aid. Finally, it was just the three of them again.

Jacob told him he didn't know the whole story and he was determined to make things right with Kaleigh.

Mack was thankful the flight attendant forgave him and let him have alcohol. He was chuckling, as he swirled ice around his glass. "Go on. This, I've got to here. You're taking your mistress and bast... " Jake's furious gaze interrupted that word on the tip of Mack's tongue. Mack knew better than to call his son a name. "Um, I mean, baby home to her. That sounds like a stellar idea to give your floundering marriage a boost."

Jacob wondered how he knew his marriage was floundering, but he and Kaleigh were so close, who knew what she'd told him at one time or another.

"I've made mistakes, but I still love her. I never meant to hurt her."

"Well, you've underestimated my Kay and also Graham and Selene, they will skewer you. Jesus, Downey has an ethics clause too. You'll lose everything. That chick is hot, but is she worth your whole life?"

Jacob took those familiar three depth breaths, the ones that allowed Mack to remain living. "Remember your broken phone, unless you want that to be a body part, don't every talk about Bella again, understand. She and Ace never asked for this, just like Kaleigh. I've made a mess of all our lives, but I'm going to fix it. Bella is not my mistress, it was a one time thing. You need to hold all your judgment and commentaries until my wife and I have sorted it all out. You've known me a long time, have a little faith. Can you please keep quiet for tonight only? Give me a chance to speak with Kaleigh first. That's all I'm asking."

"Fine, but I'm doing it for Kaleigh, not you." Ace woke up about that time, and wiggled his way out of the blanket. Jacob shifted him around in his lap, so he could see who had him. He was happy his son seemed used to him in such a short time. He woke up pretty happy considering how he'd been in the beginning of the flight. Even Mack cracked a smile at him. "I have to admit, that's a cute kid, Black."

"Thanks."

Jacob noticed Bella's scent stronger. He turned and saw her moving down the aisle.

"Hey, thanks for the break, but I better take over this last hour." Mack was really staring this time.

Jacob worried what he might say, "Bella, I presume."

"Yes, hello."

He reached across Jacob and Ace. They shook hands in front of him. "Mackenzie Langston. It's very unexpected to be meeting you, but pleasant all the same. Beautiful child you have there."

"Um, thanks, Mackenzie. I'm sorry for disrupting your flight."

Jacob knew absolutely no one called Mack his full name other than his grandmother who passed away two years ago. He didn't know why he even said it.

She said he was probably hungry by now and she didn't want him to get upset again. He wasn't thinking how it sounded, but he handed her the blanket when she picked up Ace. "Here, cover up." Her eyes widened and then she rolled them. Why the hell did he say that? Bella turned around without another word and hurried back to their seats. He'd embarrassed her.

"So, you mean it, Jake. You're not still with her." He paused a few seconds. "Bella. I've heard of her, haven't I?"

"Maybe, I don't want to talk about it, but no, we are not together. I swear it."

The flight finally ended, thank God. The four of them were going after the bags together. Bella said Mackenzie a couple of more times before Jake corrected her. "Just Mack, Bells."

"Now, hold on. She can call me Mackenzie. I like the way she says it. So how long have you been away from Washington, Bella?"

"Nine years."

"Wow, but now it's calling you back?"

Bella ducked her head. She got really quiet. Jacob told him to quit and changed the subject. "Where's your buddy picking us up?"

Jacob planned to get Bella and Ace a cab. Mack's friend and neighbor was giving them a lift. He'd take him home first. Kaleigh should be home waiting, she hated the airport. He couldn't wait even a minute to start divulging all the truths now that Mack knew. As much loyalty that he showed Kaleigh, he sure was friendly to Bells. Jacob knew it was just one more way he tried to get under his skin.

He even helped with one of Bella's bags. Jacob helped with the rest, the stroller and the seat. He slipped extra money to the driver and asked if he could help her at the hotel. Jacob had already insisted on giving her some cash, but he stuck a credit card in her hand when he told them both goodbye. "For getting what you need."

"Jake, I don't."

"Take it, Bells. I want him to have everything he needs. The hotel should have a portable crib set up for you, but you'll need everything when you get to the house. I'll be in touch... soon."

The driver said they needed to get moving. The airport was busy. Jacob shut the door and looked up to find Mack tossing his bags into a car, not just any car. It was Kaleigh's car. Son of bitch. She was at the airport. Mack had already started with the double crossing. Bella's taxi drove away just as Kaleigh ran out to run towards him.

He picked her up and she peppered his face with kisses, "Babe, what are you doing here?" He was saying the words to her, but looking at her stupid cousin. He would love to walk over and permanently remove his shit-eating grin.

"Oh, well, Mack called last night, said Tyson canceled. I couldn't wait to see you anyway, so surprise."

They all climbed in with Jacob driving. Kaleigh started talking a million miles an hour like always about a closing the day before. Finally, she said what she must have seen. "Who was that in the cab?"

"Oh, yeah Jake and I, were doing a good deed for the day. We helped out a single mom with a bunch of luggage."

"Awe, that was so sweet, my two best guys. You're both so thoughtful, lending a hand and giving your time. Let me guess, you paid her cab didn't you, sweetie?"

"Um... "

Mack couldn't stop cracking himself up. "Oh Kay, our boy's full of surprises. You have no idea what all he gave that woman."

~Thanks for reading.

Believe it or not, Jacob Black is probably my favorite character ever. I'm throwing major obstacles his way, but I have faith he's strong enough to handle it. Anyone else still think this might get a little worse before it gets better?