"Nicholas! Get up! You need to eat breakfast!" Erin shouted around the corner toward Nick's bedroom. She barely heard him shout back that he was up before turning back toward the living room, crossing it and entering the kitchen. Jake was pouring himself a cup of coffee while some eggs were frying on the stove.
"He getting up?" Jake asked.
"He shouted back that he was." Erin answered, glancing at the clock on the stove. It was almost 7:30.
"What time's your shift, again?" Jake asked, flipping the eggs over in the pan.
"Ten o'clock, and I'll get off at three, in time to pick Nick up." Erin answered, getting a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter from the cabinet. "I'm going to try and get some work done for my Lifespan Psychology class before I go to work."
"Sounds good. I'm going into the shop right after we drop Nick off, and then how about I bring pizza home for dinner?"
"Yeah, that's good." Erin smiled, smearing peanut butter onto a couple slices of bread. By the time Jake had made up three plates of eggs and toast, Erin had finished packing Nick's lunch bag.
"Nick!" Jake called.
"I'm here!" Nick shouted, running into the kitchen, wearing only a pair of jean shorts.
Erin lightly glared at Jake, who held his hands up. "Nick, you need to wear a shirt."
Nick pouted up at her. "But…Jake and Embry and Sam and everybody…they don't wear shirts. Why do I have to?"
Erin ignored Jake coughing to cover his laugh behind her as she knelt down in front of her little brother. "Because you have to wear clothes to school. It's the law. You don't to make Billy's friend, Charlie, angry, do you? He's the police chief, remember?"
"Uncle Paul would bail me out." Nick answered promptly.
Jake snorted again while Erin fought a smile with great success.
"What makes you say that?"
"Uncle Paul said so."
"Of course he did." Erin whispered, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling.
"C'mon, buddy. I'll help you pick out a cool shirt." Jake suggested, putting his hand on the back of Nick's head to nudge him toward his bedroom.
After a few minutes, Jake convinced Nick to wear one of his Spiderman T-shirts and returned to the kitchen for breakfast.
When they finished eating, they left the dishes in the sink for Erin to do when she returned.
"I've packed you a lunch for today. I won't be able to pack you lunch everyday." Erin told Nick as she put a paper bag with his lunch in his backpack, zipping it closed, and sliding the straps over Nick's shoulders.
They made the short drive in Jake's Explorer, pulling into the school parking lot. They all got out and walked a few feet in front of the car, Nick holding on to each Erin's hand and Jake's.
When Erin looked down at her little brother, she noticed he was looking nervously up at the school. Erin released his hand and knelt down on the ground, turning him to look at her.
"Hey. You'll be fine, okay? It's just kindergarten. You'll make all kinds of new friends. And I'll be here to pick you up at 3:30, and we can stop by Emily's so you can tell everyone about your day. And Jake's going to get pizza for dinner tonight."
"Pepperoni?" Nick asked quietly, his dark eyes widening innocently.
Erin smiled. "Absolutely. And if you're good all day, we can have some ice cream for dessert."
Nick smiled widely. "Okay!" His eyes shifted to look behind her and he lit up even more. "Embry!"
Erin looked over her shoulder to see Embry and Maya getting out of their car, which they'd parked next to Jake's. Embry released Maya's hand and opened his arms in time for Nick to run to him, leaping into his big brother's arms. Maya smiled warmly at the pair of them. She'd confided in the other girls once that seeing Embry with Nick made her yearn for children of their own. It was especially bad when she was on her period and extremely hormonal.
Erin stood up and gave Maya a brief hug. The other girl was practically glowing. While Embry was working at the car shop with his friends, Maya had actually started her own Photography business, and was also in the process of writing a children's book as well as a novel.
Her and Embry had tied the knot only a few weeks prior, rushing off to the nearest courthouse in the heat of the moment and getting married. On the drive back to La Push, Maya called everyone in the pack to tell them, and a huge bonfire was set up within the hour to celebrate. Tiffany Call had scolded her son for eloping and making her miss her only son's wedding, but she loved Maya too much to stay mad for long.
Jake had also complained frequently that being in Embry's head since they eloped was hell. Apparently the couple were enjoying a lot of newlywed love-making.
Embry eventually let Nick drop back to the ground. "We came to see you off to your first day of school." he told him.
"Great! Erin said we're having pizza for dinner, and if I'm good we can have ice cream!" Nick announced, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Sounds like a good deal." Embry agreed. "Does that mean I get ice cream if I don't throw a wrench at Jake today?" he asked Erin teasingly.
"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Jake asked, crossing his arms with a smirk. "I'm more likely to get annoyed at you than you are at me."
Embry shrugged. "That's beside the point."
"Guys, he should probably head in soon." Maya pointed out, gesturing to where students of all ages were heading into the school.
Erin knelt down and wrapped her arms around Nick, hugging him close while he wrapped his little arms around her neck in return. She ruffled his hair and kissed the side of his head.
"Love you, Nicky. Have a good day, and I'll be here to pick you up, okay?" she told him, pulling away and holding his shoulders.
"Love you, too, Rinny." he returned with a grin, using the nickname he'd given her a couple years before since she called him 'Nicky'.
Erin stood up and Jake stepped forward. "See you later, buddy." he told him as Nick stepped forward and hugged Jake around the legs. Jake chuckled, kneeling down and hugging him. "You'll have a good time. Trust me." Jake assured him.
When they pulled away, Jake stood up and Nick hiked his backpack straps higher up his shoulders, giving the school building a more confident look.
"Bye." he said to them, turning away and making his way toward the school.
Erin crossed one arm over her stomach, her other hand lightly covering her mouth. She watched Nick join the small group of students of varying ages as they entered the front doors of the building. When he finally disappeared into the building, she took in a deep, slow breath, a couple tears slipping down her cheeks.
"Are you seriously crying?" Jake asked gently, his voice mildly amused as he slipped an arm over her shoulders. Erin leaned her head on his shoulder as she wiped the tears off her cheeks.
"I can't help it. My baby brother's growing up!" she whined. "It feels like only yesterday I was getting up every hour to feed him. And now he's in school."
Jake chuckled, kissing the side of her head. "He'll be fine, sweetie. He's tough. He'll have a good time."
"What if he starts fights?" Erin asked worriedly. "Paul's been having a bad influence over him the past couple months. He might tell him to punch someone."
Jake laughed louder. "C'mon, it's not that bad. And Nick's not that violent. Embry's level head is balancing it out."
"Gee thanks." Embry grinned sarcastically. "Anyway, we're going to get going. I'll see you at the shop."
Both couples briefly exchanged hugs before Embry and Maya got in their car and left.
"Well, let's get going. I'll drive you home, okay? Will you be okay on your own?" Jake asked.
"Of course I'll be fine." Erin rolled her eyes. "I just had one emotional moment. I'll be just fine…I'm on my period."
Jake chuckled and kissed her lips before taking her hand and leading her back to the car. He opened her door for her and offered her a hand up into the car, making her smile. He shut the door for her and walked around the car to the driver side. Erin watched him the whole time until he got back in the car. When he looked over and saw her staring, his brows furrowed slightly, a confused smile on his face.
"What?"
"Do you think I'll be more emotional when we take our own kids to school the first day?" she asked curiously.
Jake grinned. He loved it when she brought up their future kids.
He sighed in pretend exasperation. "I'll probably have to bring a tissue box."
Erin laughed, reaching over and smacking his arm. When she started pulling her arm back, Jake grabbed it and yanked her closer, grabbing the back of her head with his free hand and pressing a firm kiss to her lips.
Erin giggled against his lips, her own hand threading through his short hair at the back of his head.
"I can't wait 'til we have to do this again." Jake pulled away just enough to speak against Erin's lips. When she looked mildly curious, he clarified, "Taking one of our kids to kindergarten for the first time."
Erin laughed, wrapping both arms around his neck. "I just can't wait for them to be here."