39 - Approval
It took me over a week to acclimate myself to the normal routine in Seattle, the laid back days of the island were replaced by long hours working at the restaurant. Initially work took up most of my time since I was trying to make up for all the time I missed when I took off to study for finals. However, after a couple of weeks Mr Peters cut me back to more reasonable hours, so I only had to work three nights a week as well as once or twice for lunch depending on everyone's schedules. As much as I liked Mr and Mrs Peters it was starting to get a little boring, there was not that much variety when taking an order for fried shrimp with fries. Oh yeah and a coke to drink, though I have admit the little old couple that came in and ordered this every Wednesday afternoon was kind of cute.
I had the rest of May free of school since the summer semester would not start until mid June, so all I had to do was work at the restaurant. This gave me a great deal of free time on my own since Phil went back to his crazy work schedule at the hospital. To say things went back to normal was somewhat ludicrous, but it was as normal as possible for a relationship between two thousand year old alien experiment and a shape-shifting werewolf. It might have been strange for some but we somehow made it work, the only difference was that everything we did had a little bit of a supernatural twist. Movies at home were great so what if some stared aliens from different planets, midnight picnics were tasty and if Phil happened to jump us to the top of Machu Picchu that was one of the perks from dating one of the family members.
Then there was my favorite activity, sex. After my big fight with Phil things really heated up in the bedroom, before that "make up sex" incident he used to treat me like a precious, fragile little girl. After the fight Phil took off the baby gloves and let out his more aggressive side - not that I was complaining, I could take anything he dished out. I got brave and actually wore the babydoll that Sassy had given to me, the next day I had to call her to ask where she had obtained the outfit. I felt it would be best not to mention that she was correct in her assumption that it would not last through one night. Phil could be such a glutton at times.
Phila was gone for a couple of weeks, she had taken a few of her students to do some research down in the waters west of Mexico - something about a spotted ray, I was not that interested in what she was doing. It was something to do with Biology, that was the extent of what I needed to know. Tiffany had not been kidding when she called herself a neurologist, she had joined a group practice of local neurologists so she was gone most of the day, and Angus was doing some freelance private detective work; both of them were technically living in the house but I did not see Angus most days. I did spend a great many afternoons with Tiffany, she was still trying to train Jasper and so I usually went along for the lesson until Phil came home at night. Tiffany learned early on that it would be best to stay out of the house when both Phil and I were home - something about walking in on us while Phil had me bent over the island in the kitchen. I was too far gone at that point to be bothered by the interruption, and Phil had just continued like she was not in the room. I don't think it was the fact that she saw us having sex that bothered her, it was more along the lines of us using the place she used to eat. Unfortunately for her those counters were the perfect height, and Phil really liked bending me over them.
Since Cindy the housekeeper took care of maintaining the house I did not need to do any housework. Which was awesome because no one loved cleaning toilets, it was much better when they became magically clean every Monday and Thursday. So when I had more than a day or so off and Phil was working I would badger one of the family members into jumping me to the cabin. It was something to do to pass the time, plus I got to keep an eye on my little brother.
It was a rainy afternoon and since it was not a work day I was at the cabin listening to the rain splatter against the windows. Since school was out for the summer Seth spent all of his free time here as well; he might have to help out my mother at the shop but there was only so much that he needed to do and with werewolf strength he could get things done a lot faster. He still had to do patrols because Sam was still freaked out about how close a leech had gotten to his Emily. Luckily the large number of new wolves that popped up last December made it so that he had plenty of manpower, it was not like last summer when there were only around ten of us. I felt kind of guilty about not joining the boys on the patrols but technically I was supposed to be in Seattle and it would have been hard to explain if I ran into one of Sam's pack members. Despite the fact I was housebound when at the cabin, it did not drive me insane like I expected it to. Especially when I had so much entertainment, who knew that my little brother would turn into such a hornball.
At first I was glad to be there to make sure that nothing untoward would happen, I did not want Sassy taking advantage of my innocent little brother, but soon I realized that I was worried about the virtue of the wrong person.
Sassy, Seth and I were currently in the study, each of us doing our own thing. Sassy was at the desk filled with piles of papers, something about a merger between two companies from different nations - that was her speciality, international business law. She was not actually a defense lawyer, but had consulted another attorney in the family and was confident she could handle my brother's case. The plan to destroy Jill Maples' reputation was slowly being implemented, the wolves from both packs had started nasty rumors regarding her promiscuity. Kim and Rachel were really being a big help, especially Kim who had hosted a couple of sleepovers with the sole purpose of badmouthing Jill. According to Kim, none of the girls were surprised, Jill may have been able to fool all the adults but the other girls knew exactly what she had been up to.
I would almost have felt sorry for Jill had she not attacked my little brother, and that is what she did - formal charges of sexual assault were filed against my brother a week after Maples took him in the first time, Seth had to go down to the police station for questioning. I was not able to go but Sassy was with him the entire time, from the sounds of it she was somewhat of a bitch and would not let them ask more than was absolutely necessary. A week after the charges were filed pictures of Jill dressed like a total slut were "accidentally" left on the Rez Rec center bulletin board, things got a little worse for the little cunt; people started remembering what a nice kid Seth was and started to question the veracity of Jills claims.
Sassy and Kendrick were also working to improve Seth's image, they were not satisfied with giving his image a superficial polishing, so my little brother was having to "improve his mind". Seth was sitting in one of the large leather chairs in the study trying to get through some of Shakespeare's sonnets; Sassy would question him regarding their meaning later in the afternoon. At first I thought that Seth was just going through the motions simply to comply with Sassy's orders but it became apparent that he actually was learning - Phil had told me Seth would eventually find something to motivate him to pay attention to school, I had not realized that it would happen so quickly.
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day
Thouartmorelovelyandmoretemperate."
Seth had started to quote Shakespeare at Sassy, I was assuming it was his attempts at flirtation.
"According to some historians Shakespeare wrote that sonnet for a young man." Sassy replied without even looking up from whatever papers she was reading, a pair of black rimmed glasses perched on her nose made her look like a prim schoolteacher.
I looked up to see the hopeful smile disappear from my brother's face, he went back to reading his book. I tried to contain my laughter but it was kind of hard. My hands were shaking so I stopped working on my project, afraid I might ruin the rows of beads assembled on the table in front of me - my current project was a gift for Phil, there was nothing I could buy for him so he was going to get a home-made necklace. I was used to making intricate patterns but they all were much too feminine for someone who looked like Phil, so it was taking me longer than usual to decide on a pattern.
While pondering the merits of square versus diamond shapes I watched as Seth continued his attempts to woo Sassy. He even got up and "accidentally" bumped into her chair; but it soon became apparent that she was determined to maintain a certain distance.
As the afternoon turned into evening I amused myself by watching the two of them interact, my brother was quick to adapt - picking up new methods of flirtation. It might have been disgusting but it was obvious that it would not lead anywhere, Sassy had him completely outmatched every step of the way. There were times when I wanted to slap Seth after he blurted out some outrageous statement but Sassy seemed to take everything in stride.
"It is really amazing how patient Sassy is with Seth. And watching how Seth has changed in the past couple of weeks is somewhat shocking." I was telling Phil about my day, we were sitting on the barstools eating a late snack before we headed off to bed.
"Seth always had it in him, but now he has a goal. He wants to be good enough for Sassy." Phil told me with a smug smile.
"He already is good enough for your cousin, Seth is one of the most amazing kids around." It kind of bugged me that he did not think my brother would be good enough for Sassy.
"Seth will make a great king one day, he just needs a little more polish," his words attempted to soothe me but was quickly sidetracked as I realized what he was saying.
I was shocked, having forgotten that Sassy was a queen, my sarcastic rebuttal was forgotten. One day she would take him back to her planet, and if marriage was in the future I guess that would mean Seth would be king. Kendrick was already teaching Seth the language, though I think he only could remember the swear words.
"Have you signed up for classes yet?" Phil changed the subject as he finished off his sandwich.
"No, I have to actually go talk to my advisor first and he has been out of town." I did have an appointment next week. I wanted to sign up for classes but I needed his signature, that was the school policy and there was no way around it. It would not hurt for me to get in a few more hours, I was twenty years old and I did not even have enough credits to be considered a sophomore.
"You know I will be more than happy to support you financially if you wish to quit your job and focus more on school." He picked up our empty plates and loaded them into the dishwasher before we headed upstairs.
"Thanks, I am well aware of the fact that I can get access to your bank accounts, but I do not want to leave my boss in a lurch. I made a deal with Mr Peters, I would work for him until he can find an acceptable replacement. It should not take too long, there are plenty of college students that were willing to work long hours for minimum wage." Some might think I should hold onto my independence, but there were several reasons for me to not work. First, it would give me more time to focus on school, but more importantly it would give me extra time with the people I loved. Between Phil and my work schedules we did not always get to spend time together, I knew we had eternity together but that did not mean I did not enjoy his company. There was another reason for wanting more free time, and that was my mother. While with Phil I could look forward to centuries my mother did not have that luxury, I would get another fifty years with her at most. I used to worry about Seth for the same reason, but now that he had imprinted on Sassy he would never wish to stop phasing so that he could start aging.
"So how goes the war on Jill Maples?" Phil asked interrupting my thoughts as we brushed our teeth in my bathroom. Yeah we were like the perfect little couple brushing our teeth side by side .
"That stupid little girl is continuing to lie about how she got pregnant," I spit my toothpaste furiously into the sink. "Though Sassy is ecstatic over the fact that her formal statement said that Seth was the only man she had ever had intercourse with."
"That will make things a little easier, it will be easy to prove that Seth is not the father." Phil snorted a little before he continued, "Has the girl not heard of a paternity test?"
"Will we let it get that far? Will they not be able to tell that there is something wrong with Seth?" This was one point that I had been confused on.
"It would be a little interesting if they actually got their hands on Seth's DNA. It would be immediately apparent that there was something different about him, since you have an extra set of chromosomes," Phil was stripping out of his clothes as we got ready for bed. He did not actually sleep more than an hour or two at most but he had gotten into the habit of falling asleep with me. I really enjoyed falling asleep snuggled next to him, the smell of citrus and sage surrounding me.
As I watched Phil slowly unbutton his shirt I forgot to worry about Seth and paternity tests. Phil kept on talking, I was only half listening as he talked about Kendrick replacing Seth's sample with one from a normal human - I was too busy drooling, there was something infinitely sexy about a man slowly undressing, especially as he lifted his arms to pull his undershirt off. The rippling muscles were giving me naughty ideas, the best part of it was that there was nothing holding me back. I crossed the room and attacked the small flat nipple with the piercing; Phil quickly realized what I wanted and he enveloped me in his citrus and sage scented embrace.
I was eating breakfast a few mornings later when Angus walked in the door. "I got good news for you Princess."
He gave me a smirk and picked up an apple from the bowl in the middle of the island. I continued to eat my cereal, there was no way to get him to talk before he was ready. Angus was one of those people who wanted to get a reaction out of you, it was best not to show him anything or next time he would try to get a bigger reaction.
Ignoring him I finished my cereal and walked over to the sink to rinse it out. I tried to concentrate on what I was having to do today. I was going to meet up with Blossom for lunch, she was in town and wanted to go check out some restaurant. Translation she wanted to find good food and lots of it, sometimes it was good to have friends whose metabolism rivaled yours. Then I would be heading to work, I would stay until closing tonight.
"One of the uncles finally caught up with your buddy." Angus told me as he realized I was not going to rise to his baiting.
"Hmmm, and which one of my friends are you talking about?" I tried to make it sound like I did not care, secretly I smiled, very pleased with myself for resisting the urge to shake him until he told me what was going on.
"The vampire doctor that wanted you to have his babies." He told me with a laugh.
I sagged against the counter, relief coursing through me. "They caught him? I am safe?"
"Yup, he will no longer bother you." The tone of his voice suggested that there was something he was not telling me, it could be absolutely nothing more than him trying to make me react or it could be some deep dark secret. I decided it would be best not to pursue it, I would ask Blossom or Phil later.
"Did anyone get hurt?" As much as I hoped the leech would die, it would have been upsetting to learn that a member of the family had been hurt.
"The doctor got torn into pieces," his tone was as casual as if we were discussing the rain that was falling outside the kitchen window. "So I guess he got hurt, but other than that everyone is fine."
It was an extremely anti-climactic end to all my worries about psychopathic leeches, for a moment it was hard to believe that things would end so easily. This would mean great things for me, like the fact that I would be able to go back to the Rez without Phil demanding that I take an escort. It looked like my days of being babysat were finally over, not that Phil was going to stop worrying about me - I understood his worry a little more now, having been the one waiting at home while he went off to fight god only knows what, but that did not mean I liked the fact that he was constantly fretting.
Lunch with Blossom was fun, my three months on the island had introduced me to numerous family members, it was great to be able to ask about them. It became apparent that while the family kept their secrets from outsiders when it came to the other family members they knew everyone's business.
"Wait till this winter, we have this thing where we get everyone together for a couple of weeks." There was a twinkle in her eyes spoke of good times, "attendance is mandatory but it only happens every five years or so."
"Is it like a family reunion where you all get the matching tshirts with your last name printed on the back?" Somehow I could not see them getting together over a picnic with fried chicken and potato salad before posing for the cheesy group picture.
"Close but it is more along the lines of one huge party, with tons of food and alcohol. Traditionally one of my aunts gets drunk and hangs naked from the chandelier, while sober she swears she won't do that again but then the alcohol starts flowing and off come her clothes." She told me with a laugh. "It is hilarious to see Aunt Violet hanging naked from the ceiling especially since normally she is very conservative."
She continued to dish out the dirt on family members, some that I had met and others who I had never heard of. Apparently now I knew all about their sex lives though, "Blossom I so did not have to hear about this."
"Hey I am doing you a favor so you won't pee in you pants when you meet Uncle Matt, he can be a total SOB. Now let me tell you about our grandma Bee."
"Don't worry I have already met her and she offered to buy me a dildo if Phil did not meet my needs." I could not help but laugh at her antics, but I guess when you were that old you were allowed your quirks.
"Yeah that sound about right," Blossom agreed with my assessment.
Blossom had asked for a secluded table so we were able to speak more freely. It was a relief that I was able to be myself without having to watch what I was saying, I could see why Phil had said it was hard to have friend outside the family; the lies you were supposed to keep prevented you from ever truly relaxing with a normal human. I mentioned this observation to Blossom.
"It can be somewhat scary for some people who join our family, the part where they essentially have to leave their old life behind. Even if you stay in contact with your human friends and family those relationship becomes superficial at best."
"Hey don't guys who abuse girls do that?" There was something like that in a show they made us watch in health class in my junior year of high school.
"Yes that is actually one of the ways they control women, that and they make them feel like they are nothing." Blossom lost her usual happy look. "The black eye will heal on its own, the bones can be set and put in a cast, the larger gashes can be stitched up but giving them back a feeling of their self worth ... that takes a lot of work. Sometimes they never truly recover and end up finding another man just like the one who did it to them."
"I guess as a shrink you see a lot of that," I had forgotten about her profession until she started talking about abuse and self esteem.
"This one case I had was this woman who had been in an abusive relationship for over forty years and all she wanted was some drugs to make her not feel anymore. The worst part was that even her adult children had given up on getting her out of that situation." Blossom continued as she looked out over the water. Shaking her head as if that would help her get rid of the memory she turned back to me. "I hope you never feel like we are trying to cut you off because we are trying to control you, being part of this family does mean you have limited choices in some things. Your close friends will always have to be family members."
"There have been days when I wanted nothing more than to be a normal human being, especially when I first started shifting but that feeling has pretty much passed. I have learned to not only live with what I am but also love it."
"It can be frustrating to try to fight what you cannot change," Blossom pointed out as we ate our food.
"Thanks yoda, where the hell were you a couple of years ago? I could have used your sage advice." I stuck my tongue out and crossed my eyes in her direction but as the words came out of my mouth I realized that this was the truth. It would have been nice to have a friend like Blossom, she would have stuck around even when I was a total bitch. Plus there was no chance that she would ever take Phil away from me, since they were cousins - yeah Emily you suck as a friend.
"Speaking of wise sages, how is your mother handling the whole ring thing?" There was amusement in her tone.
"She knows about the ring, and of course Phil managed to talk circles around her so she is confused about its significance." It was hard to tell what she thought sometimes and it threw me off that I could not predict her reactions. "She was kind of upset about it until she figured out I had imprinted."
"Which pisses you off because she does not trust your judgement but somehow she trusts the whole fate crap." Blossom's face and voice was neutral as she made this observation.
"Well yeah, I mean this is not something that happened in an instant I had to go through a lot to get to this point," I grumbled for once not caring if Blossom was doing her shrink thing.
"Leah she is your mother, she wants you to get your perfect life and she realizes that in the world today there is no such thing as a guarantee."
"Sam was supposed to be that, he is in some ways still her darling." Which was completely bullshit, he was not that special. "She supported me when I first started dating Sam, but with Phil my mom has been less then enthusiastic."
"Probably because she could push around Sam but it is impossible to do that to Phil." Blossom laughed loudly at the thought.
I could not help but join her, "it is kind of funny, every time they square off somehow my mother always comes out the loser. It has happened several times and she still gets this confused look on her face once Phil gets his way, again."
"It is a reflection of how much he adores and loves you, the fact that he is willing to compromise with you. We are all very old and extremely stubborn, pushing our will on others is second nature at this point."
Our waitress came by and Blossom hit on her, I did not think she really did it deliberately, flirting seemed to be her method of interacting with people.
"You are going to give them the wrong impression, one day someone is going to take you up on your offer." I whispered after our waitress left us.
"What makes you think I would not go for it?" There was a smirk on her face that made me think she was serious. Blossom must have seen my discomfort because she leaned over the table and smiled at me, "honey when you live long enough you pretty much try anything, men, women, both at the same time. You seem to think Phil was a choirboy, if you only knew some of the stuff we did together. Though he was kind of prudish and never went for men, he is definitely a breast man."
I rolled my eyes, I knew Phil was not a virgin, and it was obvious he had a lot more experience than me. It might have bothered some girls but I knew Phil was mine now, and he would be mine forever. "I am not going to complain, I have benefited from that experience."
Blossom laughed in reply, and went back to flirting with the waitress.
It was past eleven when I finally made it back from work, despite the werewolf strength my feet and arms were killing me. Everyone had decided not to cook on this dreary evening, and they all wanted cheap seafood - I did not get anytime off during my shift, there was simply too much to do. The only thing that saved me was the huge lunch with the Blossom.
"Hi honey how was your day?" Phil asked me cheerfully from the sofa in the living room.
"Just fucking peachy, now rub my feet." I kicked off my shoes, hopefully they landed somewhere in the vicinity of the door, and flopped down on the couch next to Phil. He had a computer on his lap but I did not care as I pushed it aside.
"That bad huh?" He slowly rubbed the arch of my feet. I rumbled something in answer as I leaned back against the arm of the couch. "So you heard that the crazy scientist vampire is no longer a threat?" Phil asked me quietly as he moved away from my feet and started rubbing my calves.
"What happened? The truth please." I gave his stomach a small push with the foot he was not rubbing, threatening violence if he did not explain.
"A family member found him in Italy, we think he might have been heading to the Volturi." I could feel him shifting around, so I poked his belly once again to remind him. "So they ripped him to pieces."
"What no questioning him? A little torture would have been nice, I mean the freak killed countless number of girls trying to get them pregnant." I had hoped for a little more pain, the bastard had put a fist through my stomach.
"What a bloodthirsty little fiend you are," he chuckled distracted from rubbing my feet for a moment. "Don't worry he was not burned, someone from the family will put him to use."
I lifted my head and cracked an eye open wondering what the heck he was talking about. Phil went on to explain about how they train the younger family members to kill vampires; they capture some leeches and then allow the guardians being taught to rip them apart, once that is done they put the leech pieces back together and do it again. It was some sick sort of cat and mouse game.
"Eventually though the vampires figure out that there is nowhere they can run, and they just tend to sit there and not run or fight back. That is when they become useless to us and we burn them." I slowly pulled my feet away from Phil as he continued to explain.
"Wow you guys take this stuff seriously." There was nothing more I could say, as sick as the game sounded it would be useful for someone to learn to take down a vampire in a controlled situation. I still could remember the crunching sound Jake's bones made when that newborn wrapped his arms around him. "So since I don't need an escort anymore I was thinking about heading up to the Rez sometime next week for a more official visit."
"Your mother was kind of distracted last time, maybe now she will have the opportunity to fully address your relationship with me." I could hear the laughter in his voice.
I leaned back again and groaned, my mother and I had not had the opportunity to speak alone since she learned that I had imprinted on Phil. There was no telling what she would say, especially considering the fact that we lived together. Phil moved his hands up to rub my thighs and immediately I was distracted. It turns out that I was not only a glutton for food.
With promises to work all weekend long Mr Peters gave me the two days off to go back to the Rez. Phil somehow managed to transport my car to the cabin, I was not going to ask how; he was a little psycho, and did not want me to drive all the way from Seattle. Something about the long and winding roads being too hazardous, it would have been foolish of me to mention the whole having faced a newborn army stuff. He was determined to protect me from reckless drivers on the road.
When I called my mother to tell her I was coming I made double sure that we would not have company again, no bonfires and no dinner invitations. It would have been nice to have all that to hide behind, but I really needed to talk this out with my mother. When I had spoken to her on the phone there was always an underlying current of censure in her voice, I needed her to understand what I was doing. I considered asking Phil or even Blossom to join me as backup but that would have been silly, how could I possibly be scared of my mother?
I had gotten used to driving in the city and had to slow down a little bit as I approached the Rez, it always amazed me how little changed around here. The sky was overcast but it had not started raining yet, the weather was cool but that did not bother me anymore; the paint was peeling on the yellow house that sat on the corner next to the small grocery store. The paint had always been peeling on that house, it probably started falling off the day after it was freshly painted, nothing changed around here. It was ridiculous to expect things to alter just because I had become another person.
I stopped by the house but my mother's car was gone so I did not bother checking if she was inside, instead I headed to straight to the shop. I should have just gone straight there in the first place, that is where my mother would be around noon on a workday. It had not taken me long to drive from the cabin to the Rez but I had overslept again. Mr Peters had been giving me the late shift ever since I had come back to work after finals, so some nights it was past midnight when I got home. I had shifted my sleep schedule and had begun to wake up later and later in the mornings, that would have to change in a few weeks time as I would be starting the first summer semester with an eight o'clock class - I was not looking forward to that one.
The small shop seemed to be busy, several boats were missing from the dock - rented out I assumed. I wondered if Seth would be hanging around as well, as much as I wanted to see my brother I really hoped he was not here, I kind of wanted some alone time with my mother - it might have sounded selfish but I knew the amount of time I could spend with my mother was limited, she was not immortal like Phil or even Seth.
I walked into building from the back, my mother was busy talking to someone and did not notice my entrance. It gave me the opportunity to unobtrusively observe her, had she always had that many grey hairs? She had cut her hair short like mine last year, but it had started growing out again. Her shoulder length dark hair was streaked with far more white hairs than I remembered, there were a few extra wrinkles that had popped up around her eyes and mouth. It came somewhat of a shock to see her this way, aging, something I would never have to worry about.
My mother finally noticed my presence and introduced me to her customer, he told me his name was Paul and then proceeded to tell me his life story. His parents got divorced when he was five and he grew up away from his father but now they were trying to reconnect using fishing.
I tried to keep a neutral expression face vacillating between boredom and humor, I guess he thought they would have a big heart to heart after drowning some worms. Maybe no one had mentioned to him the fact that fisherman really got angry if you tried to talk. I don't know how he managed to transition into flirting as I helped him fill out the paperwork but he asked me what I was doing Friday night and if I would go out to dinner with him.
I could not phantom why he thought I would go out with a guy that I knew for less than an hour. He might have mistaken my attentiveness for interest, instead of me just being polite to a customer. I lifted my hand to rub my forehead before answering his question, how was I supposed to answer this without hurting his feelings? I looked back at him with still no idea how I was going to politely refuse him without pissing off a customer - his eyes were huge, I followed his line of sight to the ring on my finger. I smirked a little as I remembered Phil saying something about wanting to make sure all the guys around me knew I was already taken. Paul immediately turned a bright red, and started to head out the door.
"Have a nice time fishing with your father." I told him quietly not really answering his question, but I guess the rock on my hand had answered it for him. There was no way in hell I would ever tell Phil this, it would completely go to his head.
"You know he assumed you were engaged when you flashed that ring." My mother walked to stand next to me behind the narrow counter. I looked down at the piles of paperwork, maybe I could talk to my mom about going fully digital.
"Have you considered putting all this on a computer?" I asked her changing the topic.
"Don't mess with my system, it has been working for longer than you have been alive." My mother moved a paper from one pile to another, trying to prove that she actually knew where things were.
"Where is Seth? I though he was helping you this summer." I straightened a pile of appointment books that looked like they were about to topple over. "Mom are you sure you don't want to go digital?" Summers were usually the busiest season for the shop but things seemed a little more messy than I remembered from when I had worked here last year.
"Seth spent most of the morning washing down the boats that are still here. He has gone to see Kendrick, something about a reading list." It might have just been my imagination but I thought there was a little resentment in my mother's voice. "I don't have the help I used to Leah, with your father gone things got a little harder." For a moment she looked out the window, there was nothing out there to see but a couple of boats and some birds; was she resenting me for leaving her with this business to run by herself - but no she was a mother, was proud that I had gone to school.
A wave of guilt overcame me, I had spent the past year trying to get over Sam and I had succeeded - all there was left was the residual pain from when he left me for Emily, but in my attempts to get away from Sam I had managed to outgrown this place. I had not only left Sam behind, but in a small way I had also left my mother here. When I was with Sam it was practical for us to come back here to live out the rest of our lives on the reservation. With Phil there was no change whatsoever of that happening. I looked around the small shop that was filled to the brim with childhood memories, this was the place of my childhood but it was no longer where I belonged.
My father's favorite poem was by Robert Frost, TheRoadNotTaken.He loved it so much it was printed out and framed on the wall behind the counter. I knew the words by heart, but I reread the words anyway:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
It was like he had written the words just for me, I looked back at my past. There had been two roads: one was staying on the Rez and doing the easy thing, get teaching degree, come back and help my mother run the boat shop in the summer when school was out. The other road was less certain, walking with Phil down the less traveled path - joining his family and becoming a guardian. Frost was right, I knew when I went down the path with Phil that I could not go back to the other safer path; the path where I stayed at the Rez and lived the normal life was not an option anymore. But like I had told Blossom, I not longer could see myself living the normal human life.
My mother pulled herself together, the narrowing of her eyes as she looked back at me was disconcerting. "You will not distract me so quickly, Leah do you have any idea what you are doing?"
So we were going to discuss this here and now, I could live with that. "Mom what would you like me to do? Break up with him?" It was a ludicrous suggestion, there was not way to separate myself from Phil.
"Leah do not be pig headed, you know exactly what I mean. I like Phil, he is a very nice man that seems to care a great deal about you, but is this not too soon?"
It was hard to keep a straight face with my mother calling Phil is a nice man, obviously whatever he had told her on their initial meeting still carried some weight. It would not help my case to laugh out loud at this point so I swallowed my laugh and tried to explain my relationship with Phil, again.
"I have known Phil for nearly a year now, it might seem sudden to you but it has not been a quick decision." It was frustrating trying to explain to my mother when I could not explain the three months I spent with Phil and the rest of his family on the island.
"Leah, I don't see what you two could possibly have in common? He is charismatic and is quite wealthy, but I don't see why he would stay with you?"
"Oh he just wants me for my body," I answered flippantly, this was a bad habit of mine. When I got nervous or upset my sarcasm would escalate, most of the time it did not help the situation. I was getting upset with my mother, not because she had done anything, but because I could not properly explain what Phil and I meant to each other.
"How do you know that is not the case, I mean you are a young and pretty girl." My mother actually had given this thought serious consideration.
I tried to keep the laughter out of my voice, "if Phil wanted a pretty young thing I assure you with his money and status as a plastic surgeon he could have gotten someone far prettier - and with a lot less attitude."
"Leah this is the rest of your life we are talking about, what will you do if Phil leaves you? How will you cope this time?" My mother was genuinely worried about this.
"Mom I am twenty years old, you were only nineteen when you decided to spend the rest of your life with dad and married him. I am not getting married to Phil at least not until I finish school, so I have a few more years to change my mind." It seemed like we had this discussion before.
"It was a different time back then, and I married your father before I moved in with him." There was a stubborn look on her face, she was not going to let this go.
"So what mom, it would all be ok if I just married him? Because if that is what you want I can call him up, Phil would do that for me if it was what I really wanted." As girls we dream of our wedding days, we line up our dolls and put on their biggest, prettiest dresses and make them marry the boy doll in the perfect ceremony that ends with a kiss - but I was not longer that girl, I did not need the marriage thing to make it real. Phil and I were tightly bound together, the past year coupled with our unique binding/imprinting process had resulted in a relationship that is stronger than marriage. My fight with him had reinforced how much I needed him in my life, and the fact that he got over being pissed off in less than twenty four hours kind of told me he needed me just as much.
"Just be careful Leah, it seems that only a few months ago you were completely entangled in Sam. I don't want the same thing happening again." I could see the fear in my mother's eyes, and there was no way to reassure her about it without giving away Phil's secrets.
"How do I say this without coming off as a complete bitch?" My mother gave me a dirty look for swearing but she did not say anything, I guess she has gotten used to it since I had done a great deal of cursing in the past year or so. "I don't know what type of person Sam is, I never really got to know him since I was too busy spinning fairy tales around him. I had this perfect life planned out for both of us, and Sam was the one that was going to be my prince. I was so busy planning our life together that I never really asked Sam what he wanted to do." I saw my mother open her mouth to interrupt but I held up my hand to signal for her to wait. "I am not going to say that I know everything about Phil either, but Phil does not allow me to make assumption, he makes sure I get to know the real man."
"Now Leah, Sam is a very nice person, it is not his fault..."
"Mother, I am going to quote Phil on this one, 'we cannot choose who we love, but we can choose what we are going to do about it'. Sam made his choices, he could have done what he did a little different, Emily made her choices as well." It was interesting to see my mother trying to defend Sam, maybe it was bitterness but I was really starting to question what I really had seen in the guy.
"How do you know Phil will not move on? I mean you are a very nice young lady.." She went back to this point, I could tell she had not been satisfied with my previous answer.
I took a deep breath, and tried to reign in my temper. I don't know why I was getting angry, I had accused Phil of something much worse just a couple of weeks ago - but there was a difference between my stupid mouth in the middle of an emotional moment and my mother believing that Phil would be capable of getting tired of me and leaving.
"Mom, there are very few things that are certain in this universe. One of them is Phil, you do not know what type of person he is. When he commits it is for eternity, forever. I have already been told to make sure that this is what I want because his family does not divorce under any circumstances." They put a lot of thought into it before they got married, it was not a drunk night in Vegas thing.
"There is always a first time for everything," my mother pointed out, clearly not understand my point.
"Of all the things you could be worried about, Phil leaving me should never be one of them. Trust me I have done enough stuff to try to push him away," I shook my head at my own foolishness.
"Like what?" she seemed a little too eager to know.
"Nothing important now, needless to say I hurt his feeling. Do you know what happened?" I did not give her a chance to answer his question. "Two different members of his family tried to come in and tried to help.
It was a relief when we were interrupted by a customer, I stood back while I waited for my mother to finish. This is not why I had come, to argue with my mother. WhatdidyouthinkwouldhappenLeah?Youguysbakecookiestogether?Haveabighearttoheartandgiveeachotherpedicures?
Sadly I knew what I really wanted, and that was my daddy, he was the one that I could always talk to. It had been my father that always understood me, I was expecting my mother to suddenly turn into the daddy I lost a year ago, he had been the one I could talk to freely. My attempts to gain my mother's approval might have been foolhardy, this seemed like such a forced situation. It suddenly occurred to me that I was talking to the wrong parent, it was my father that I needed.
I stayed around the shop for the rest of the afternoon, straightening up and helping a couple of potential customers while my mother went to the back to catch-up on customers. When my mother closed for the night I told her I was going to go see if I could find Jake and hang out with him for a few hours, I lied to my mother because I did not want to tell her where I was really going - the cemetery.
We might be native americans but our burial grounds looked pretty much like every other Christian cemetery, crosses and plaques dotted the ground. Most were covered with a generous coating of moss.
I parked across the street, there used to be a fence enclosing the space but it had fallen into disrepair over the years so there was no discernible gate or path to enter the place. The clouds had thinned a little and the sun was making a rare appearance, I wished it had stayed away. The bright rays were highlighting the signs of decay and death around me. My father's grave was in the back right, it took me a minute to locate the right one since I had not been back here since the funeral. The small square stone was relatively clear of the greenery, based on the green streaks on it I would guess someone had recently cleaned it. I wondered who it was?
I looked around me and listened, there was an old truck rumbling down the road, but other than that I was completely alone. I kneeled down next to the gravestone, the damp grass immediately soaked the knees of my jeans.
"Hi daddy, I feel pretty stupid just sitting here talking to a rock. I guess I can tell you what I have been doing for the past year...since you...left. I am going to college now, that is going pretty well." I spend the next hour kneeling by the small stone telling my father about all the things he had missed. I told my father the full truth about Phil, and his family; it might have been somewhat sad but I needed my father's approval more than my mother's. "You would like him daddy, he is a good man. Phil is my companion for my road less traveled, and while I know it will not always be an easy thing it will be worth it."
There was conviction in my words, my father would have loved Phil - just as soon as he got over the fact that Phil was taking his precious little girl away from him. I laughed at the thought; my father would have pulled out all his guns when Phil first came over - I wish my father had lived long enough to attempt to threaten Phil.
I headed back to my car, there was a beeping sound signaling that I had a text message. It was from Phil:
Hi princess, what are you doing? Love you, Phil.
I gave another small laugh, and wiped the tears off my face before I answered him.
Just talking to my daddy, going to go have dinner with my mom. I miss you.
XOXOXOXO
I woke up late the next morning, I had gone on patrols with Jake and had stayed out past three in the morning. I had forgotten how much fun and annoying it was to have everyone in my head. Seth, Quil, and Embry had all joined us on patrol; they spent a great deal of time questioning me regarding my time on the island, and the family. I tried to keep it clean but sometimes images accidentally slipped in. They were absolutely fascinated by my memories of going to the other planets.
Seth did not come home with me, instead he had gone to say goodnight to Sassy; she was going to Port Angeles to deal with some paperwork at the court and Seth was already depressed by the thought that he would not see her all day.
It was my brother's loud "honey, I'm home" greeting that woke me in the morning. I threw a pillow at him when he came to stand in the doorway of my bedroom.
"Go away," I mumbled trying to get back to sleep, but it was useless since I had thrown away my only pillow. I groaned and decided I may as well go with it, and rolled out of bed heading for the bathroom.
When I was done with my shower I grabbed a bowl of cereal and joined him on the couch.
"Mom will kill you if she sees you eating that here," Seth pointed out as he channel surfed.
"Hmmm about that, I probably should warn you about something." I was reluctant to bring this up but Seth needed to know.
"What is wrong?" Seth asked turning towards me.
"Hey wait a minute. Are you not supposed to be at work?" I asked him not really wanting to tell him what I had done.
"Mom gave me a few days off, we had a really big group of rentals this past weekend and I worked fourteen hour days three days in a row trying to make sure the boats would be ready for the next group of renters. It really sucked because there were too many people around for me to use my wolf strength." I had to laugh at his disgruntled look. "So what are you doing today?"
"I was going to go to the store to hang out with mom, but she is being totally freaky about the whole living with Phil thing. So I might hang around the house, maybe see about making dinner." I rolled my eyes at the chocking gestures he was making and used the opportunity to steal the remote.
"By the way, did you know that mom thinks that Kendrick is Sassy's boyfriend?" I asked casually as I flipped through the channels.
I heard Seth laugh, "yeah, that is really nice. Mom finally figured out I imprinted on Sassy, but she feels safe knowing Kendrick stands between us."
"Ummmm, about that. I kind of corrected mom last night." Seth gave me a horror filled look. I tried to defend myself a little, "how was I supposed to know she did not know they were cousins? I mean they freaking look alike."
"Oh come on Leah, mom is going to be all crazy about stuff now." Seth flopped back on the couch with a groan. It did not take him long to forgive me though, that was my little Seth - he just went with things, he never held a grudge.
I would like to say we did something really productive but our good intentions were totally shot when we realized there was a Farscape Marathon on the Scifi channel. I mean come on John Crichton, how much more yummy can you get - he has big muscles, he is smart, and he is super sweet to his bitch of a girlfriend. Come to think of it he kind of reminded me of Phil. I don't know why my brother and I enjoyed the show, it had been cancelled before we had started watching it. Regardless of all that we were enjoying the escapades of our favorite astronaut and his Peacekeeper girlfriend Aeryn Sun when my mother came home.
"I see you guys accomplished a great deal today," my mother eyed the two of us spread out on the couch.
"Oh come on mom, this it is a Farscape marathon." We both said in unison, before bursting into laughter. Mother just shook her head at us before heading into the kitchen to make something for dinner. She mumbled about worthless children while we went back to our Farscape fix.
I wandered over to the kitchen during commercials to see if my mother needed any help. "I can actually boil water now mom, Phil has been very patient in teaching me."
My mother narrowed her eyes, I guess she was still pissed over the fact that I was living in sin or whatever. She had brought up the living with a man I am not married to thing last night over dinner - I don't know why she bothered, it would only lead to us arguing again. She could not seem to make up her mind whether I should marry Phil or not. Since she was only reheating the leftover casserole from last night so I headed back to the living room; maybe I would offer to wash the dishes or something.
We were in the middle of watching Crichton caressing his gun Winona when we heard a truck driving towards our house, this would not normally have been an issue since my mother is a tribal elder we get people stopping by the house all the time. The screeching tires as it came to a halt in front of the house gave us the first inkling that this was not going to be an ordinary visit.
I did not recognize the truck, it was pretty much one of the typical white trucks that everyone seemed to favor around these parts, the driver had a hat on so we could not see his face as he leaned over to grab something before opening his door. Seth and I looked outside to see who the heck was in such a hurry. For a moment I could not recognize the person stepping down, but the angry frown helped me figure it out - Maples.
"What do you think he wants?" Seth asked getting up from the couch and heading to the door.
"Hey wait, are you supposed to talk to him without Sassy being present?" I got up to follow him, ready to do I don't know what. I had a really bad feeling about this, how the hell how could this possibly go bad - this was a cop who thought his daughter was raped by my little brother.
"It would be kind of hard to avoid talking to him when he is headed for our front door." Seth did not hesitate for a moment, he just threw the door open and stepped out onto the porch.
"Wait here mom, let us figure out what he wants." I stepped out next to my brother firmly closing the door behind me. I could hear my mother trying to open the door but I was holding the doorknob preventing her from coming outside. I wondered how long it would take her to realize she could just use the kitchen door in the back. Hopefully it would be long enough that we could diffuse this situation.
"Where are you... you little punk?" Maples screamed as he started walking towards the house.
He had not seen my little brother and me standing on the porch, it was barely dusk so there should have been plenty of light to see us.
Maples was not looking that great, I was used to seeing him in his police uniform but right now he was wearing a pair of dirty looking jeans with a ratty and worn looking plaid button up shirt. The normal police hat had been replaced by a baseball cap that, like its owner, had seen better days. But the worst part of it was the smell of alcohol coming off his breath, I could not believe how much a man had changed in just a few weeks. I guess some people could not handle stress, his eyes were bloodshot with huge purple bags underneath, he did not look like or smell like he had taken a shower in a couple of days.
All this was quickly forgotten as he reached under his shirt and pulled out a revolver. I did not think it was his service revolver since that had been taken away after he had hit Sassy, but that was not relevant at this point.
"It is all your fault," he screamed at Seth, waving the gun around.
"Why don't we all just calm down and talk a little bit." I tried to remember where my phone was, this was a time when we really needed to call Sassy or come to think of it any member of the family would have done well.
"You want me to calm down? I am not going to calm down! It is all his fault, and that bitch of a lawyer of yours is going to make sure he gets away with it." His speech was a slurred, he was seriously drunk. A very angry drunk with a gun, seriously how come this sort of shit only happened on the Rez. Was this not supposed to be the small quiet town?
Seth nodded in my direction, "let us circle him and see if we can tackle him." He was right we needed to get that gun away from him before he accidentally shot someone. We slowly stepped off the porch, I approached from the left while Seth circled around from the right. I could hear that my mother had come outside but she was not saying anything as we approached the drunk man mumbling obscenities under his breath.
We were about three yards away from him when he noticed us again, he looked surprised for a second but then he got an evil look in his eye, "you don't have a daughter but I guess your sister can substitute."
It seemed to happen all in slow motion as he raised the gun towards me, Seth jumped in front of him and that is when the gun went off. I watched as Seth crumpled to the ground, but Maples kept shooting at him. I rushed Maples and gave him a shove away from Seth, not taking my wolf strength into consideration Maples flew through the air. I did not pay too much attention to him, there was a large cracking sound as Maples hit a tree and crumpled to the ground. Seth was the one that worried me, I heard my mother whimper Seth's name as we both rushed to see how badly he was hurt.
I kind of went on autopilot as my mother turned my brother over so that he was lying on his back in a puddle of his own blood. I tried to remember what CPR was, since Seth no longer had a heartbeat. "Mom go to my bedroom and grab my phone. Mom! Just go get the phone on my nightstand, I need you to get my phone. Do not do anything else but that."
My mother's eye were huge I gave he a little shove in the direction of the house before I went back to Seth.
I was pushed on his chest a few times and then leaned over to try to breathe into his mouth. I needed to get Seth to the family doctors, they would patch him up. The family had superior technology plus I would not have to explain how my brother was capable of healing so quickly.
I don't know how long I continued the pattern of pushing on his chest then breaths when I felt a strong arms pull me away from my brother. Ready to fight off the person who was trying to harm my brother I looked up through the tears I had not know were falling from my eyes to see Sassy looking down at me with determination etched into her face.
"I need to take him home, you have to let him go for a while. Call Phil, he will come to help you." She was kneeling down next to me, pulling me fully away from Seth. I stepped back from my little brother, knowing she would take care of him for me. Sassy's normally calm voice faltered as she spoke.
"Will he be all right?" My voice shook as well, that was my only concern currently.
Her eyes were a deep shade of purple, she was looking into the future. "Yes he will be fine but I need to take him now. Call Phil about the other one, he is beyond help." Sassy reached down and picked up my brother bridal style before heading around the house, I heard the twinkling of bells for a few more seconds and then they were gone. Seth would be safe, Sassy would take care of him. That is what I had to tell myself, she had said he would be all right. She was a psychic, she knew these sort of things.
I stood up and looked around, the huge patch of my blood on the ground where my brother had been shot caught my eyes and it became impossible to look away from the gruesome sight. I was still staring at the blood when I hear my mother open the front door, he hasty footsteps quickly came to a halt on the porch.
"Oh my god where is Seth?" She asked in a high pitched voice, she sounded panicked and confused.
I tried to think of a lie to cover this situation, but there was nothing I could think of right now. I looked into her wide eyes and told her as much of the truth as I could. "Seth is safe, he is being taken to a hospital." Taking the phone away from her I realized that this was going to be a delicate situation and the less my mother knew the better. So I would have to get rid of her before I called Phil.
"Mom you are covered in blood, please go back inside and change shirts. Get rid of all the blood." My mother's eyes were huge as she looked up at me. It seemed like she was not fully functional anymore and so I gave her another little shove towards the door. "Go and change mom."
"Which hospital and why did I not hear an ambulance?" She seemed to get a herself together a little bit more.
"Mom I need you to not ask questions, I assure you Seth will be well taken care of." I pushed her towards the door. "Mom go wash off the blood." She finally listened to me and went back inside.
It felt like our roles were reversed this time, my mother was falling apart while I felt and unnaturally calm considering the fact that my little brother was shot up and I had just killed a man. Was I going into shock? Maybe but that was not important right now, calling Phil was. Sethissafe,Sassywoulddoanythingandeverythingpossibletomakesurehewouldbeallright. As for the dead man I would have to deal with him very quickly.
I needed to call Phil, it was what I should have done when Maples first showed up. For once he picked up on the first ring, "Hi Princess what can I do for you?"
"Phil I need you." I whispered quietly into the phone, my hands were starting to shake as I walked over to the tree in our front yard. Maples was crumples and still next to it, his heart was not longer beating. So he really was dead, the strange angle of his neck reiterated the fact that he would not walk away from this.
"Are you all right?" Phil sounded concerned.
"I am not hurt, but I think... I think I just killed someone." My voice sounded muted and hoarse but he still seemed to hear me.
"I will be right there, do not touch anything." He told me before hanging up.
I looked down at the blood on my hands, it was my little brother's blood. This man had attacked my family, I could not seem to feel sorry for what I had done. I would do it again without hesitation, no one messes with my family.
I heard a gasp and looked up at a pair of horror filled eyes staring at me. The man standing there was not the one I had expected or wanted.
"Oh my god what have you done Leah?" Sam looked from me to Maples with disgust.
A/N: I know this chapter was a bit long but I just kept adding to it, and there was no good stopping point except the end. Well some of you might not think it was a good stopping point. Yes, yes I am evil.
On a side note just for something fun to do I started writing Phil's side of the story, I don't know how it happened but he is kind of a pig. I was just writing it from his viewpoint and no matter how I twisted it he tends to be somewhat of a pervert when he is not plotting the gruesome death of Sam.
On a more serious note the story about the abuse was real, unfortunately I did not make that up. There was a point in time when I worked in a clinic and this broken woman came in to see the doctor. We ended up giving her meds that were supposed to help with anxiety and depression but she would not accept any other help. She really just did not want to feel anything anymore.
Lette2001: Glad you liked the make up sex, I tried to make it a little different.
Jamime2772: Speaking of cupcakes, why do they sell cupcakes in sets of 30? I am then obligated to eat them because you can't waste cupcakes. Work and responsibility is kind of a pain, especially when you are on a deadline. What do you think of this chapter? too long?
Connect2tjb: Thanks added some more Blossom in this chapter, I want Leah not to be only into Phil because it is kind of scary how much Bella was into Edward and only Edward.
Twilighter: Thank you for being so sweet. Yes there is such a thing as too many lemons, at least I get bored with them after a while. There is most definitely a thing called too few lemons... yeah I am talking to you author of Breaking Dawn... you know who you are. But we should have known considering I don't think there was a point where he even slipped her some tongue.
Jada91: Thanks for the support, always appreciate it.