Disclaimer: It all belongs to SM. I only own the story line and whatever future characters decide to pop up.

Beta'd BY : MADMAMABEAR Thank You So Much!

A/N: I am so sorry for the late update. I have been really busy with work and then my older kids turned 18 and 19 and so birthdays took a lot of my time. I hope everyone reads and reviews. I love to read all of them and they give me ideas and help me write much better so please read and review, Fave and Follow. I am very thankful and I appreciate all the favorites and follows, also all of my wonderful reviewers. I enjoy writing and I hope all of you enjoy my story. I know I've been saying this a lot but I am new to this, so please be kind and review. Even if it's to ask questions. I don't mind. In the words of Alice Cullen "show me the love!"...couldn't resist it, anyway here's the next Chapter.

What Could Have Been

Chapter 6

BPOV

It's been a couple of days since Jacob and I came clean with our parent's and told them about our relationship. The bonfire is tonight and Billy wants to introduce us to the tribe as a couple. The members of the council will be there as well as all of the pack members and their imprints. I hope they will accept me into their family and lives as a new member of the tribe.

I am so nervous about tonight but Billy assures me that there's no doubt in his mind that they will accept me and be happy for me and Jake. I woke up and showered and dressed for the day. I walked into the kitchen to see Billy making breakfast for the three of us and I went over and got a cup and poured Billy and me some coffee.

"Morning Bella."

"Hey, Billy."

"Would you like some breakfast?"

"Yes, please. Where's Jake?"

"I think he's still asleep. I haven't seen him yet which is surprising considering he's always wakes as soon as he smells food."

"Maybe I should see if he's awake."

"Sure, go ahead and get him up and I'll dish up the food."

I set my cup on the table and walked into the hall toward Jake's bedroom. I knocked on the door and there was no answer so I turned the knob and opened the door slowly and peeked around the door. Laying half off of the bed was a very sound asleep Jacob. He looked so cute laying there with his mouth drawn up into this adorable little pout. I am still amazed at how young he looks. It reminded me of when we were little.

He always would give that pout when he wanted something or when he was in trouble. We sure were a handful for our parents, from mud fights to skinned knees to climbing trees. We even went so far as too throw mud at Charlie once! It was an accident! I was trying to hit Jacob and my dad yelled to me and I turned and let the mud fly.

Unfortunately it was in Charlie's direction and the look on his face was priceless. I was grounded for half the day and Jacob came over to me and gave me half of a pbnj sandwich as a consolation gift. He sat down beside me and basically grounded himself too because he didn't think it was fair for just me to be in trouble for the mud fight. I loved him so much that day because he was always beside me through the good and the bad.

I walked into his room and sat down next to him on his bed and ran my fingers through his spiky hair and softly whispered "wake up Jakey, it's time to start the day." I leaned down and brushed his lips with my own in a tender kiss. He stirred and gently wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me. He said "Morning Bells. You sure know how to wake someone up."

I laughed and replied with a "get your butt up and take a shower, so I can feed you." He laughed at me and released his hold and slowly rubbed his hands over his face. He smiled up at me and then got up from the bed, and headed toward the bathroom to shower and dress. I walked back into the kitchen and waited for Jacob at the table. Billy already had the food waiting for us.

"Is Jake up?"

"Yeah, he's in the shower now. He'll be done soon."

"Ok, thank you for getting him up."

"No problem. Hey Billy, what will happen tonight at the bonfire?"

"Well, I will announce that you and Jacob are seeing each other and then the rest of the council will acknowledge you both as a couple and then we eat and have fun. No worrys I talked to Old Quil already and he's happy about you two being together. Then the council and the pack will vote in favor of you becoming a new member of the tribe. That's all there is to it really. I promise there will be no problems with you being here."

"Ok, thank you again Billy. I was so worried that I wouldn't be accepted into the tribe and then I would lose Jacob. And that alone would kill me and him as well. I love him so much."

"I know you do hon, and nothing is going to get in the way of that."

I reached over to Billy and gave him a hug as a thank you, when I heard a throat clearing. Jacob was standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a big smile on his face. Damn he is so handsome and I can't wait to be an official couple. Jake walked over to Billy and me, giving his dad a hug. He bent down and kissed me softly on the lips. He smiled and sat down to eat with us.

We made small talk for awhile and then Jake and I told Billy we would take care of cleaning up the dishes from breakfast. Billy smiled and nodded his head and went into the living room and turned on the TV to watch Sports Center until Charlie came over.

JPOV

We cleared the table and started washing the dishes. Bella washed and I dried and then put them away. We were talking about what we were going to do today. I know Emily was going to make the food for tonight and Sue was too. So we could go over to Sam's today and help Emily. She nodded her head in agreement and then kissed my cheek and smiled.

I'm so in love with this girl. I love her with all of my heart. And all I want is for us to spend the rest of our lives together and maybe one day have a family of our own. I never really thought that much about it before but I remember our families when we were kids. That kinda got my attention and maybe it would be cool to be a dad one day.

Bella tugged on my arm, pulling me out of my thoughts and asked "what's up Jake?" I turned to her and just smiled the smile she loved so much and she returned it. I didn't even need to say a word because she gave me an understanding look that said ok. We went into the living room to tell my dad that we were going over to Sam and Emily's to help with the food for tonight. My dad said, "see you later, the bonfire will start at eight o'clock tonight and Charlie will be driving me over, so I will see you kids later then?"

"Sure, sure, see you there Dad."

We walked outside to the car and got in, I started it up and we were off to Sam's. When we got there, we saw Sam working with some logs, he wanted to build a shed for fire wood, to keep it dry in the winter. He had half of it together now and just had to finish the roof and door. Embry and Quil were coming over later to help him. We came to a stop and I cut the engine and got out walking over to Bella's door to open it for her. I helped her out and we both walked over to Sam.

"Hey Sam."

"Hey Jacob, Bella."

"We came to give Emily a hand with the food for the bonfire tonight."

"Yeah, ok. Why don't you go inside and help Emily, Bella. I need Jake's help for a bit."

"Sure, no problem Sam."

We watched Bella walk into the house and Sam turned to me and asked, "hey help me get the rest of this door fixed please?"

"Sure, sure, what do you need?"

"Uh...the hinges need to be put on and the latches, I got the door put together now, then all that's left to do will be the roof. And I'm making Embry and Quil do that part."

"Ok, I'll get it done."

I picked up the tools and hinges and got to work on the door while Sam went into the woods to cut some more logs for the roof. He already had some trees down but he still needed to cut them into sections the same length as all of the others for the roof. I heard some hooting and hollering coming from the woods and Embry and Quil strolled out of the tree line with some more tools to do the roof for the shed.

"Hey Jake."

"Hey, Quil, Embry. Ready to get the roof on?"

"Yeah, where's Sam?"

"He's in the woods, sectioning up the trees he already cut for the roof."

"Embry, why don't you go help Sam bring in the lumber and I'll get the bracing set up to hold the roof on k?"

"Sure dude, no problem."

Embry walked into the woods and left me and Quil to get the prep work done. Quil went over and set up the ladders and scaffolding so we would be able to lift the roof on when it was all put together. I finished with the hinges and latches and set the door up on the side of the shed until we were done with the roof and then I would attach the door and then we were ready to put on the roof.

Quil got all of the supports and bracing attached to the beams in the roof when Embry and Sam started hauling the rest of the lumber in so we could assemble the roof. We all worked carefully to get the roof together and then put it up and attach it.

Then we had to seal it to make sure no rain would get inside and ruin the wood. It took us three hours to get it together and then up onto the shed. Nailing everything in place we started sealing it. Then I put the door on and secured it to the frame and it looked really nice once we got it done.. Sam was very proud of it and thanked us all for our help in building it.

We all sat down on the chairs on the porch and Sam pulled some beers and sodas from the cooler that he had sitting there. He even had sandwiches and chips sitting in a basket. My guess is Emily knew we were all going to be here and made it all in advance and set it out for us. So we all talked about the bonfire tonight and how much fun we were going to have.

Of course the guys had to needle me a little bit about Bella. They always did it when she was around just to get me going. Sam just sat there and shook his head a few times before he finally

said, "why don't you guys leave Jacob alone about Bella?"

"Come on Sam, we have to pick on him a little bit."

"Yeah, Embry's right man, life would be boring if we couldn't have some fun with him every now and then."

"So, Jacob, is she a good kisser?"

"Quil, that's none of your business!"

"Oh, so you have kissed her Jake," it wasn't a question it was a statement of fact that had Embry going now. I just shook my head in denial and let then think what they wanted until later tonight at the bonfire. Then they could poke as much fun as they wanted. Then I wouldn't care because after tonight Bella would be a part of our tribe. And I would have my girl here with me always.

BPOV

I left Jacob with Sam and walked up the steps to the house and knocked on the door. I heard Emily say "come in" and I went inside. She was in the kitchen cooking when I said "need any help Em?" She stopped what she was doing and washed her hands real quick and came over to give me a big hug.

"Bella! It's so nice to see you again!"

"Hey Emily. Jacob and I came over to give you a hand with the food and stuff for the bonfire tonight."

"Oh, thank you so much. I have been cooking since five this morning and I could really use an extra pair of hands in the kitchen. You know how it is, feeding a pack of wolves. Never enough food," she giggled.

"Yeah, I know how it is, Em. Jake can eat like a horse and still never get full."

"I know right? So I still need to make some salads and deserts. I got the muffins and cornbread done already and I made some sweet tea too. Sam is having Paul bring the beer, sodas and some water for the younger people and us older ones can have beer or tea."

"Is the meat done? Or do you still need it prepped?"

"Sam, marinated it and all that's left to do is put it on the grill. Jared came over earlier and picked it up to cook it. So this is all I've got left to do. Sue is making the casseroles and mac and cheese. She also made some home made lasagna and garlic bread."

"Ok, I'll get started on the garden salad, were you making the potato salad?"

"Yeah, and the pies are already in the oven. I made Dutch apple, cherry, peach and lemon chiffon. I know Jacob likes the lemon and the peach so I made three of each."

"You know him so well."

"Yeah, Billy told me what desserts Sarah used to make for Jacob and what he likes so it was easy."

"Well let's finish the cooking, so we can hang out for awhile before we have to go to the beach."

"Ok, let's get 'er done!"

We finished up what we had to make and kept most of it in the fridge and the rest were set up in warming trays. Emily and I talked for two hours while we waited for the guys to get done with the shed. The phone rang and Emily answered it. Sue and Jared were on their way and Charlie had already left to pick up Billy.

Seth and Leah along with the rest of the imprints were already at the beach setting up the fire and tables for the food. Paul called and said he was at the beach and had brought all of the drinks we would need for tonight. I could hear Jacob, Sam, Quil, and Embry walking inside the front door to come and start loading the truck up with the food and stuff that was left to take over.

The sun was just starting to set over First Beach when we all pulled up. We could see the Tribe's council members gathered around the bonfire. The rest of the Pack came over to lend a hand carrying everything down to the beach so we could finish setting up.

We got everything down there and had it all set up. We watched the guys play a not so friendly game of soccer and then it was time to get the party started. Billy was sitting by old Quil and Sue was right next to him. On his other side sat Sam. Because he was Alpha, he also had a seat on the Tribal Council. Billy told everyone to take a seat and that we were about to start. Emily sat next to Jared and Kim. Quil, Embry, Paul, and then Seth and Leah sat next to Jacob and me. The rest of the Council was spread out around the bonfire, waiting patiently for Billy to speak. He told the Tribal legends and the stories about imprinting. He also spoke about the cold ones and how they changed everything for his people as well as his only son.

He spoke of the unity of the Tribe and of family. He was very proud of his people and their ability to band together and accept the changes to the Tribe and the acceptance of new-comers into their way of life. The Council was smiling at Jacob and me, because they knew what Billy was about to say next.

"You all know that we have always been kind and accepting of new members of our Tribe and the closeness that brings us. We are about to welcome a new addition to our people. My son Jacob has found a woman who is strong and kind and thoughtful. She brings out the best in him and I thank her for that everyday. She has had his heart since the day he was born and has been a constant throughout his life. I would like you all to give a warm welcome to my son's girlfriend, Bella Swan."

Everyone looked surprised but yet they were very happy for their Chief's son finding a woman that made him happy and was very kind to his people. They cheered and hollered and gave us their blessings of a long and happy life.

Not one soul said anything negative about our relationship. The children came over to greet me with hugs and little flowers that were the color of the morning sky. Everyone went to Jacob and told him how happy they were for him. It turns out I wasn't the only paleface to be accepted into the Tribe. It had happened a few times before and they were a part of the Tribe forever.

"Now we have one order of business to take care of, and this is the vote of the Council and the Pack. Everyone in favor of Bella Swan being accepted as a new member of the Tribe please raise your hand."

Hands went up all around except one, Billy gave a look towards the only one to not raise their hand.

"Leah Clearwater? May I ask why you didn't raise your hand?"

"Because this girl will bring them danger, and I am concerned for the safety of our people."

"Leah they have left and as far as we know, they aren't planning on returning. Edward Cullen left young Bella broken and alone. He did not want her anymore, so she came to us for guidance and acceptance. Her heart no longer holds any trace of him, she has proven her loyalty to this Tribe over the years and she deserves our respect. I see no just cause in your apprehension to not grant her acceptance into the Tribe. Everyone else has voted to add her as a new member to the Tribe and therefore the vote stands. Welcome Bella to your new family. The whole tribe will be here for you anytime you need us."

Jake and I walked over to the Council and were given hugs and blessing for our relationship. Leah was sulking over by Seth and giving me dirty looks. Sam went over and told her to knock it off. She glared at him and went for a walk in the woods to cool off. Billy announced that it was time to eat and everyone came over to get their food.

Sue handed me and Jacob our plates loaded to the brim with a little bit of everything. I grabbed some of Emily's sweet tea and Jacob grabbed a couple of beers and we walked over to our log and sat down to eat. We ate in silence, just enjoying each other's company.

Seth came over to apologize for his sister's rude behavior. I told him, "it's alright, Seth. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I'm not offended by Leah, she's not scaring me away from Jacob or the Tribe. I know that she's the only one who feels this way and I'm not worried about Leah."

Soon everyone had dessert and finally just relaxed around the fire. The kids made smores and had a blast. We were finally winding down around eleven p.m. when the rest of the Tribe started heading home for the night. They thanked us for the food and said goodnight to Jacob and me. My dad came over and hugged us both and told us how proud he was of us for standing up for our love and standing by each other through Leah's tirade.

We helped pack everything up and got it loaded into the truck for Sam to take home. We said goodnight to everyone and got into the Rabbit to head home. Charlie was driving Billy and Sue was taking Seth, Leah and Quil and Embry home. Jared and Kim were driving Paul home.

Jacob and I drove to the clearing not far from his house and parked for awhile so we could talk. He said, "I'm very sorry for Leah's behavior. Ever since her dad died she's been testy with everyone. She worries too much and is so cold at times that no one wants to be around her for very long. Her bitchy side rears it's ugly head frequently."

"I understand, but she needs to understand as well, that I'm not bringing the Tribe any harm. I love you and your people Jacob. You're my family and have been a part of my life since I was a child."

"C'mere honey. Don't worry about her okay? We have our whole lives to be together now and no one is going to take that away from us, I promise."