Twenty-Nine: Mila

Ava's funeral was wonderful. Everybody who came spoke about how good she was, how much she could light up a room, how fun and smart she was. Hearing everybody speak so nice about Ava made me smile. I was holding it together until Jeff got up and spoke. I had never heard such a sweet and personal eulogy, ever. It was so good, so sweet, so heartfelt I felt like I shouldn't have even been listening to him speak about Ava. Jeff was still on leave from work so I was spending most of my time at the house with him. The girls and the packs came over to see me. We cooked, cleaned, laughed, and sometimes just sat with Jeff. He never said thank you for any of the help but I knew it was appreciated.

Jeff had decided to go visit his sister in California for the holiday. So after dropping him off at the airport on Christmas Eve I headed over to Embry's. When I woke up I found myself alone in the bed. This was usually how I woke up when I stayed over with him. Between increased patrols an Embry wanting to be a gentleman we hardly slept together. He would stay until I feel asleep then slip out. When I woke up he would be asleep on the couch or just walking in from patrol. Embry made sure to light a fire before he left. Thanks to him, the house was somewhat warm when I finally slipped from under the warm covers. I quickly jumped in and out the shower before slipping into a pair of sweats, a long sleeve shirt, thick socks, and sliding Embry's hoodie over my head. The shower had put me in a better mood. I wasn't sure what time Embry was coming back but I decided to start on breakfast.

I opened the fridge and grabbed out the fresh steak, the carton of eggs, and pulled fruit out as well. Steak and eggs was one of his favorites. Just thinking about him but a smile on my face just like it did every other time. I had just stuck the steaks in the broiler when my laptop started ringing. I grabbed it from the table and sat it on the counter while I finished prepping the eggs.

"Merry Christmas boo!" Caleb yelled to me. I turned and blew him a kiss.

"Merry Christmas baby cakes. How are you feeling this lovely Christmas morning?"

"Tired, you know I had to set my alarm to wake me up early to call you."

"Late night?" I asked him. I started to scramble six eggs in a bowl.

"It was kind of," he said as he stretched. I knew there was something he wasn't telling me. I whisked the eggs again then turned and looked at the computer screen. Caleb sat with smirk on his face. I stared at him a little longer before I finally figured out what he was saying, without actually saying anything.

"Wait a minute. Did you?"

"Maybe," he said still smirking.

"With?"

"Possibly," he replied. The smirk was slowly turning into a full fledge smile. I started screaming and jumping up and down. Most people wouldn't understand our conversations but I knew exactly what he was saying.

"OH MY GOD CALEB! If you were in front of me I would kiss you right now. You have to tell me everything. And I do mean everything."

"I know…I know…I know. And I promise I will. When I get home."

"Get home? Oh my god you spent the night?! With Alex?!" I screamed.

"Yes I did but could you be any louder? Alex is still asleep."

"No I'm not," a smooth voice said from behind Caleb "Merry Christmas Mila!" Alex said.

"Merry Christmas Alex. So you and Caleb huh? And of course you guys wait until I'm on the other side of the country. How did this happen anyway?"

"It's a long story. And I promise I will let Caleb tell you all about it. But right now he has to go," Alex said smiling at me. Caleb waved goodbye as he accepted a kiss from Alex. The screen went black and I went right back to finishing the meal. I had just finished plating everything when I heard a knock at the door. Figuring it was Emily I didn't bother checking before I pulled the door open.

"You know we don't knock around here –"I was saying as I pulled the door open. I stopped talking when I saw it wasn't Emily standing on the porch. Instead it was Bree and she looked just as shocked as me. We stood staring at each other, not saying anything. She quickly looked me up and down and I saw her eyes get bigger when she saw Embry's hoodie. I looked at her and couldn't help but notice the more than evident baby bump.

"I was looking for Embry," she said "Is he here?"

"Not right now. I'll let-"

"I can wait. I really need to talk to him," she said stepping closer to the door. I didn't have a choice but to step to the side and let her in. She walked past me and straight into the living room. She slid her bag off her shoulder and sat down on the couch.

"Can I get you something to drink?" I asked her. Bree ran her hands over the couch before turning and looking at me.

"Water would be fine; bottled if you have it. You know tap water isn't the healthiest option for EJ."

EJ? I wanted to ask but instead I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. Before walking back in the living room, I pulled my phone out and tapped the screen. As expected, Embry didn't answer. I cleared my throat before leaving him a message.

"Embry it's me. Bree is here, waiting for you. She said she really needs to talk to you." I hung up and sat my phone on the counter. I walked back into the living room and found Bree in the same spot. I passed her the bottle. She smiled and took it from me.

"Could you bring me a glass to? I don't like to drink out the bottle."

That made no sense. But I got her the glass she asked for. I gave it to her and passed her the remote. I grabbed my lap top and turned to head towards the bedroom.

"Mila, why don't you sit down with me? We can talk and get to know each other until Embry gets back."

"Sure," I said quickly as I sat down on the couch "If you don't mind that I do some work while we talk."

"No problem. Don't you just love this couch? Embry wasn't too thrilled when I picked it out at first."

I smiled at her and pulled up the paper I was working on. Embry hated the couch; he said he wanted to get another one.

"I'm sorry to hear about Ava," Bree said.

"Thank you," I told her. I opened the programs I needed and started typing.

"So you and Embry are really a thing?"

I looked up from the computer screen and over to Bree. I couldn't tell if she was asking because she wanted to know, or if there was something there to it. I had to tread lightly in the conversation. I took a deep breath.

"We are," I said back to her. I knew that my tone was short and somewhat sarcastic but I couldn't stop it.

"That's great. He seems different you know. Almost like he's happier," she said quietly. She looked at the ground before looking back at me. She had a smile on her face but I could tell there was something behind it. Bree cleared her throat.

"So will you be here for the baby shower?"

"Baby shower?" I asked confused.

"We decided to have the baby shower here. I asked him when I saw him in town shopping. He didn't tell you?" she asked me. A small smirk came across her face. I was about to say something when Embry opened the door.

"Mila Emily said we can come over whenever we're ready." He said as he walked into the house. "And we caught one of Sa-" his sentence stopped when he saw Bree. He looked between the both of us.

"Hello Bree," he said. Bree waved at him and took another sip of water. "What's going on?"

"Bree here," I said standing up "was just asking if I would be here for the baby shower. Apparently you guys are having it here…at the house. She asked you when she saw you in town." I said with a raised eyebrow. I didn't know why but I felt jealous. We didn't keep secrets. That was supposed to be the thing that made this relationship or whatever we were doing better. He could be honest with me about everything. Embry said that was something he loved about being with me. There never had to be any secrets. There were no lies between us. We had talked about his before. He had no problem talking about leeches, his family, and everything else. But he had forgotten...well choose not to mention seeing Bree. I didn't understand why he kept it. I told him that I accepted her and the baby. But I wasn't going to do that if he was going to be keeping secrets.

"I was gonna tell you about that. It just slipped my mind with everything going on you know," he said. He walked over and stood in front of me. He grabbed my hands and looked down at me. I looked in his eyes and could see that he felt bad. As soon as I looked him in the eyes, the anger I was feeling started to fade away. Bree was having his child. I would be crazy to think he would never see her. I took a deep breath and looked up at him. Our lives were crazy and probably always would be. He had enough going on being a Spirit Warrior. I couldn't keep adding to it. I kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm gonna go get dressed for Emily's. Breakfast is in the kitchen," I said before stepping back. I left the two of them alone to talk about whatever it was she needed to discuss. When I got to the room, I wanted to listen but instead I shut the door. I took a deep breath and sat down on the bed. Was this something that I really wanted to sign up for? If I chose to stick around for this, there would be more of this. We would be sharing holidays, Bree would always be around, and EJ. EJ would be Embry's son. His first son, a JR, his name sake. Embry was going to be my first in so many ways. But unlike all the other imprints and their wolves, I was just another on a list. It wasn't a long list for him; at least I didn't think so. But I wasn't going to give him his first child.

I couldn't even go to the bar with him! He had seen and done things I had yet to experience. I lost my breath as I thought about it; this was not going to work. But we were trying. He was trying so hard and I was to but was it enough? Before I knew it my eyes started to water. I tried to hold it in but failed miserably. Every time I wiped my face fresh tears would fall and replace them. I heard a door shut and Embry's footsteps coming down the hall. I quickly wiped my face and sniffed some snot that had formed in my nose.

"You're crying," Embry said as soon as he stepped in the bedroom. I should have known he would be able to tell. Even if he hadn't seen me, he could hear me and smell my tears. The wolf side of him made it almost impossible to keep anything from him. Was that even healthy for a relationship? I wiped my face and took a deep breath before I turned around and looked at him.

"I'm fine," I said and sniffed again. I really needed to get this under control. Embry stepped closer to me and wrapped his arms around me. As soon as I felt his warmth, I started feeling better.

"Talk to me Mila," he whispered. With my head pressed against his chest I could feel his heart. It was starting to beat faster. I thought about how he looked when we were apart before. I thought about how sad I was and how weak we both felt. Could I really walk away from him? His hands slowly circled my back and I knew I couldn't. I was going to figure this out. We were going to make this work. I looked up and saw Embry smiling at me. Standing on my tip toes, I grabbed his face and pulled him close. As soon as my lips touched his I felt a jolt through my body. It was Christmas and I wasn't going to ruin the day for us.

"It's nothing, really don't worry about it. But I did want to give you something."

"Mila we said we weren't doing gifts," Embry said pulling away from me.

"I know but I couldn't help it." I went over to the closet and grabbed the small box out of the bag I had hidden in his closet. My gift was small but I really hoped he would like it. I passed him the box and he smiled wide as he took it from me. He peeled away the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside was a picture. It was wolf pack standing on a cliff with the moon high in the sky. There were four wolves in the picture but the grey one was dead center and the biggest. I knew Embry wasn't the Alpha and would never be but to me he was the most important wolf out of all of them. Embry looked at me and smiled. I pointed down to the box. He looked down and I held my breath as he pulled out the picture frame. The frame held three pictures and had the word love carved on the top. There was a picture of him and his mother, him and the pack playing around. And I had placed a picture of us in there as well.

"I love it," he said. He grabbed my hand and led me out into the hallway. We went to the end and he stopped at the closed door. My breath caught in my throat as I looked at it. Embry's house had three bedrooms. He stopped and turned to look at me. "I thought we weren't doing gifts Embry." I said with a smile on my face.

"This is more than a gift." I stood confused at what he meant. Embry smiled at me and opened the door. As soon as it swung all the way open, I started smiling and my eyes prickled with tears. He had painted the walls my favorite color and there was book cases lining two of the walls. The shelves were filled with books. There was a small desk right under the window. A small love seat sat on the wall right behind me. I walked over and looked at the books. There were literally all types of books. Three out of the four shelves in each book case were filled. Above the couch there was cork board covered with pictures. I walked over and started to smile even harder. There were pictures of me and Caleb, me and Embry, and even some of the other wolves.

But dead center there was a picture of me and Ava. We took it right after I moved to La Push. And next to that was a picture of me and my dad. I didn't bother to hold back the tears at that point. I turned around and walked over to Embry. I grabbed him in a tight hug. My eyes closed and I breathed in his scent.

"You did all this for me," I said through my tears. I felt his chest vibrating as he laughed a little.

"Of course I did. But I have one more thing for you." He said before slowly pulling my arms off his waist. I wiped my face as he walked over to the book shelf. He reached on top of a row of books and came back over to me. He had a small wrapped box in his hand. He held the box out to me. My breath started to stagger. Small boxes meant jewelry right? And this box was really small. And small boxes meant one thing...right? I took the box from him and slowly peeled the paper away. I was right. It was a jewelry box. I held my breath as I pulled the top open. Inside was a ring. The band was silver and there was a small gray stone in the middle. There were smaller black stones surrounding the bigger grey stone. It was beautiful.

"Mila I know that we said we would take it slow and I still have no problem with that at all. I know how much you love those cheesy romance novels and the cheesy chick flicks. If I was in high school I would have given you my letterman jacket or even my class ring. But I don't have either of those. So I got this ring made for you instead," he said. He took the box from me and pulled the ring out. "Mila, would you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course Embry," I said before wrapping my arms around his neck. He smiled as he slid the ring on my finger. I wasn't a jewelry person but it looked so beautiful on my hand. He slipped it on the third finger of my right hand, so not to get confused for an engagement ring. I looked at Embry and smiled again before I kissed him. There it was the spark. A jolt of electricity that I had never felt with anybody else. It was there just like it was when we touched the first day we met. This was where I was supposed to be. We were supposed to be together. So what Bree was giving him his first child? I was going to give him my world. I knew I was thinking and getting ahead of myself but when I closed my eyes I could see it. I could see us getting married, having our kids, and sitting on the porch old and gray. This was right and I couldn't leave it.

"I love you Embry," I whispered. The words slipped out my mouth with such ease but freaked me out none the less. I wanted to take them back but it was too late. It wasn't that I didn't love him; I did but I didn't plan for it to come out like that. Embry still hadn't said anything which was causing me some concern. The seconds he was taking before speaking felt like years to me. Was this the end of us? My slip up had just cost me everything. I held my breath and hoped that I didn't mess up the mood or make him feel pressured. Embry stood in front of me and slipped one arm around my waist. His other hand went behind my neck and he pulled me in close for a kiss. His mouth crashed onto mine and I closed my eyes. The moan slipped out before I could stop it. My legs started to shake and I got a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I never really had before. It traveled down and before I knew it, my lady part was 'waking up' if you wanted to say.

He moved from my lips to my neck and I almost lost it. I let out a deep breath and grabbed onto his arms. The trail he took to my neck he followed back up to my lips. He licked my bottom lip before taking it into his mouth. His tongue parted my lips and found it way inside. His grip on my neck got tighter and our breathing was getting more ragged. When he pulled away he looked in my eyes. For the first time I couldn't really tell what was going on. I moved his hands from off me and took a step back. After catching my breath I cleared my throat. I started running my fingers through my hair. It was something I did when I was nervous. Even though nervous was an understatement for how I was feeling at the moment.

"You don't have to say it back. It just slipped out. Not that I didn't mean it or anything. It's just that-"Embry put a finger to my lips, putting a stop to my rambling.

"I don't want to say I love you back," he moved his finger and kissed me again. "I'm going to show you. If you'll let me," he grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. He took a step towards the door and I followed right behind him. I was going to let this man show me whatever he wanted.

I'm sure some of you don't like this chapter. But what's a good story without a little fluff? Thanks to everyone for the follows and favorites. Please review! Let me know what you guys think?And remembe tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend that they should check out this story! Please and Thank you