Chapter 30
In the weeks that followed, Caevia finally began showing just a little but by the time winter rolled around, her belly was still very hard to see. With renewed materials her family was able to provide, Renesmee and her family made new blankets for everyone before the frost came and gave everyone a pair of winter boots. They provided their own coats but Bella did insist she be allowed to give Claire special mittens so she could keep practicing through the cold and, with Renesmee's assistance, made her a little purple coat that looked much like the one Bella had been wearing when the chill first came. She'd loved the pretty coat so much and wished she could have one similar. Bella and Claire had become very close since she'd taken over teaching her to play and her English, thanks particularly to Edward, was coming along great. Quil's English was also coming along very well with Edward teaching Claire to speak English as was Embry. Caevia would sometimes encourage Embry to have a conversation with her in English, though he always returned to Quileute when he became frustrated.
"It's such a complicated language," Embry complained to Jacob and Quil while they were catching fish. "First there's one rule, then it changes, then it changes again because what you're trying to say is different. I've never been so frustrated with anything in my life."
"Try learning how to read," Jacob said. "That's really frustrating."
"Never mind reading, I'll settle for knowing how to speak at this point," Quil said. "Claire's catching on a lot faster than I am. Sometimes she'll say something to Bella, then she'll look at me and ask what I think and I don't know what she said."
"It wouldn't hurt to learn how to read eventually," Jacob said. "Believe me, it'll get you out of trouble sometimes. Remember when Lovejoy tried to get us to sign everything away? If I couldn't read that, I might have signed away everything without even knowing it happened."
"You never would have signed it anyway out of pure principle,"Quil laughed.
"Sure, but it's nice to know what I colorfully told them 'no' to," Jacob laughed as well. "Maybe once Edward starts slamming reading lessons down Kevin's and Embry's throats, you two can jump on that opportunity."
"Maybe," Embry sighed. "Caevia will probably beat Edward to it at the rate she's going."
Once December rolled around and Renesmee's parents prepared for Christmas, Renesmee discovered she was pregnant with a second child. Jacob was thrilled, all the more so since he would be with her through the whole thing. Her cravings for potatoes came back with a vengeance. She also developed a liking for bread smeared with apple butter. Sara couldn't be happier about the new baby. Even she was beginning to learn English out of pure necessity so she and Bella could make any necessary arrangements together.
As they had done for their house warming, the Cullens hosted the Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations this year, all with copious amounts of food and welcoming 1904 with their own fireworks and celebration. Renesmee played Auld Lang Syne on the piano, Claire and Bella joined on the Violin and those that knew or remembered the song sang along with the family when it reached midnight and the start of the New Year.
It became very common for the Quileute children to come and go from the Cullen residence as they pleased, popping in for food or to play with their interesting things so long as Esme did not instruct to leave an item alone due to fragileness or rarity. The Cullens improved the playground they had in their backyard, trying to keep the children occupied with more durable toys as opposed to Esme's pots and glass figures. It wasn't uncommon these days for children to spend the night at the Cullen house. The tribe had become so used to them and came to trust them. When the snow melted and Easter came, Esme arranged for a grand Easter egg hunt for the children offering a prize to the child that found the most eggs. Each egg held their own taffy candy, hard sugar candy, or some berries while the child that collected the most eggs won a toy. The children searched the house high and low and searched outside and at the beach looking for any eggs they could possibly find. None of the children really understood the significance of the Easter tradition, only that if they collected eggs they got candy and could win a prize and that Esme was preparing an Easter dinner for everyone to enjoy.
"I didn't realize pale faces had so many things to celebrate," Jacob said to Renesmee while they sat on the swing on the porch watching the kids search the backyard. "What's the significance of this little gathering?"
"It's to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus."
"What do eggs have to do with that?"
"Nothing if I'm being honest. This is more so for the children. Eggs and rabbits are just symbolic of new life."
"Well, the kids seem to be having fun in any case," Jacob said. He turned his attention to Caevia, who was sitting in the grass on a blanket with Kevin and Embry Jr. Both boys were sitting up on their own by now and Embry was even started to try walking, though most of the time he plopped on his butt trying to stand up. At the moment, Caevia was trying to get the boys to stop hitting each other. Embry Sr. and Jacob thought nothing of it. It was just how they played. But Caevia and Renesmee were concerned one might hit the other too hard on accident. "How've you been feeling?" he finally asked.
"I'm feeling alright," she said. "I could actually go for some bread and apple butter if there's any in the kitchen."
"I'll go grab some," Jacob said before leaving to go to the kitchen. Esme and Bella were in the kitchen together slaving away. Bella had already started a few slices of toast and the jar of apple butter was out and waiting. "I see you're already working on Renesmee's order," Jacob joked.
"Did you want any since I'm working on it?" Bella asked.
"I wouldn't mind a few slices."
"So are the children enjoying themselves?" Esme asked eagerly.
"They're all having a great time," Jacob said. "I'm surprised none of the kids have started fighting over eggs."
"Oh, Jasper's making sure they all stay calm," Esme said. "He's gotten used to keeping the children from bickering."
"Oh, yeah," Jacob said, "that thing he can do." Esme and Bella laughed while Bella took the toast from the fancy steel toaster and plopped a few more slices in while she covered the fresh slices with the fruit butter.
"Go ahead and get this to Renesmee. Then you can come back for yours."
Jacob took the little plate from Bella and brought it over to Renesmee. He returned to the kitchen to get his share and returned to the little swing on the porch and stayed with Renesmee while they watched Kevin and Embry play fight with each other. Every now and then, Jacob would put his hand on Renesmee's belly hoping he might feel a kick or feel the baby move. It wasn't very often, though. This baby wasn't quite so hyper as Kevin had been.
"This baby doesn't seem to move around as much. Does that make things easier for you?"
"It makes things slightly less uncomfortable," Renesmee said. "Did Embry mention to you their most recent baby seems to kick constantly?" she laughed. "She likes to say the baby just can't get comfortable."
"Don't worry, he's brought it up. Apparently this kid's kicked him in the back a few times." The two of them laughed.
"She did tell me that. She said once in the morning, he'd returned to bed I suppose and she woke up to the sound of Embry yelling because the baby kicked him. Then little Embry started crying and the morning just went downhill from there."
"He was complaining about that all the next night," Jacob joked. "He's saying he's sure it's a boy based on how aggressive he is."
"I don't know," Renesmee said. "Caevia thinks it's a girl. She says whenever she'd been pregnant with a girl in the past, the baby carries higher up."
"You want to bet?" Jacob asked. Renesmee looked at Jacob with a little gleam.
"What are the terms of the bet?" Jacob thought a moment. He wasn't sure what to bet at first. Jacob thought long and hard about what the terms could be before he smiled at Renesmee.
"I've got it," Jacob said. "If this baby's a boy, then Embry and I don't have to wear those awful suits when this child is baptized." Renesmee frowned a little.
"Jacob, don't make me bet that," she said. "Going to your child's baptism in your usual clothes would be grossly inappropriate."
"Well, then you'd better hope it's a girl," Jacob joked. "And if you win, I'll do chores around this house for your parents for an extended period. I'll let you dictate how long."
"Oh, no, Jacob, hold on just a second," she said. "You aren't getting off that easy. You already do things around the house for them from time to time anyway."
"What do you suggest then?" he asked.
"If I'm right and this baby is a girl, you and Embry will have to not only wear suits, but you'll be wearing really fancy suits. The ones you and Embry have right now were more casual. Alice wanted you two to be more comfortable, but this time you will both be wearing tuxes."
"What's a tux and why is it different?" Jacob asked wearily. Renesmee reached her hand to Jacob's face and showed him the current style: a black pant and jacket sporting tails with a white shirt and cummerbund. Jacob stared at Renesmee almost threateningly. "You wouldn't dare," he finally said.
"Oh, I'd dare," she said with a wicked smile. "Are these terms agreeable?" Jacob didn't immediately answer. If he was right, he could refrain from that stupid suit. If he lost, he'd have to wear one even worse. "If they're not, Jacob, then we can drop the bet."
"No," he finally said with a cocky smile. "You've got a bet. If it's a boy, Embry and I can wear our usual clothes to the new baby's baptism. If it's a girl, Embry and I will wear those…tux things during the baptism."
"Tuxes is the plural word you're looking for," she said. Then Renesmee reached out her hand. "Shake on it?" Jacob gave her his hand and they sealed the bet with a handshake.
"You've got a deal, Renesmee. It'll be so nice not having to wear a suit to the baptism."
"And I look forward to seeing you in a tux," Renesmee taunted. "You'll both look so handsome."
Renesmee gave Jacob a kiss before she took her plate with her to where Caevia still was with the children. She simply couldn't resist telling her about the bet she and Jacob had just made. They shared the bread while Renesmee told Caevia the bet and the terms and she just laughed. She did not put an opinion either way. She didn't care if Embry dressed as he usually does for the baptism and she didn't care if he had to wear a suit. She was just eager to see how he would react once he found out Jacob had forced him into the bet.
When he found out, he was none too pleased about it. He didn't find out about it until they all went on patrol that night and he was so angry, he didn't stop biting Jacob until he felt better. The next morning, he went to Renesmee and pleaded for her to leave him out of the bet. He'd never agreed to the bet nor had he been present when the conditions were mapped out, so Renesmee relinquished him from the bet. She did, however, make it clear that by pulling from the bet, he would be required to wear the suit Alice had gotten for him before. With there being a 50% chance he'd have to wear a tux should he stay involved in the bet, Embry decided it was best to cut his losses, wear the original suit and grin and bear it. The last baptism had taken well into an hour and a half and he'd be damned if he had to wear a tux for that entire time.
"You let Renesmee know you're not participating in hers and Jacob's little bet?" Caevia asked with a gentle, but amused smile when Embry walked over to her with a look of relief. He took one of the potatoes she was working on and started assisting her with that.
"Yes, I did. I can't believe Jacob dragged me into that stupid bet," he grumbled. "Wearing a….whatever that stupid thing was through an entire ceremony. Boy or girl, I wouldn't agree to wear it." Caevia laughed and patted him on the back.
"Don't worry about it anymore, Embry. Let them enjoy their bet."
"I'm not even sure it can be called fair. If Jacob wins and we have another boy, he wears his normal clothes and Renesmee's mildly annoyed at best. She wins and we have a girl, Jacob has to wear something even more uncomfortable for the whole ceremony. He was complaining about the other thing enough as it was."
"It's in Jacob's nature to complain," Caevia said. She glanced down at her son just to make sure he was still asleep and returned her attention to her husband when she was satisfied. "We really should have this conversation in English. It'll give you some good practice."
"Slower," Embry said.
"I said we need to speak in English so you can practice."
"I don't want practice now," Embry managed. "I'm venting, Caevia. I can't vent inEnglish."
"You need to learn," Caevia smiled. "The more you practice, the easier it gets."
"Slower," he said again.
"Practice is good for learning," she rephrased.
"Plenty things good for learning," Embry said.
"Plenty OF things ARE good for learning," Caevia corrected. "You need to use your conjunctions, Embry." She stopped a moment. "Actually, I don't think OF is a conjunction. I'll have to ask Renesmee if that has a name."
"It's a preposition," Jacob said when he walked over to the fire where they were sitting.
"Well aren't you just so smart," Caevia teased.
"Shut up," Jacob said. "Honestly, I don't think I bickered this much with my own sisters."
"Conjunctions? Preposition? What does that mean?" Embry said, albeit correctly, in frustration. "I hate this language. It's so overly touchy." Caevia laughed and patted Embry on the head.
"It's not touchy, Embry, it'sgrammar," she said.
"No, he's right, this language is overly touchy."
"You seem to be doing well enough with it. And for the record, where do you get off involving my husband in a bet between you and your wife over MY kid? I already know this was your idea, so don't pretend it isn't."
"I just thought I'd do me and Embry a favor and make the next baptism more comfortable, that's all. You're having a boy, so when I'm dressed comfortably and he's in a suit, he'll have no one to blame but himself."
"Well, I HOPE we're having a girl. You deserve to be put in your place a little," Caevia said.
"Embry," Jacob looked at him, though at this point he was laughing, "are you going to let her talk to me like that?"
"Whatever she say, you deserve," Embry managed. "Since the two of you are arguing, I think I'll go inside and sleep. I'm exhausted."
"Go ahead and take Embry with you," Caevia said. Embry complied and took the baby with him to the tent where the two of them took a much needed nap.
A few weeks passed before it was finally salmon season. Several of the men, including Jacob and Embry, went to their usual spot further north and caught the fish swimming upstream. They always made a point to not catch too many, otherwise it would be wasted food. The Meat Monger would be coming soon too, so any fish that would be given to him would be packed in salt to keep it fresh. He didn't come for another week and a half since the initial catch, but when he arrived, he had someone new with him. Seth was the first to see him, so he went straight to Jacob to let him know.
"Jacob, the Meat Monger's here. He brought someone with him."
"Who?" Jacob asked.
"I don't know, I don't recognize him. He's a younger guy, though." Jacob shrugged and stopped what he was doing to get his father and the salmon for trade. Almost out of habit, Leah followed them and Jacob didn't bother telling her not to. When they were close, Mitch stopped the horses and hopped off his cart.
"Good morning, Jacob. You have the salmon for me?"
"You have our beef?" Jacob asked.
"Certainly do," he said. Then he walked around the cart to get things ready. In the meantime, Jacob looked at the new person that never got off the cart. He was a stern looking man. A little bit like the way Jacob always was with Mitch. He was taller with brown hair and a slightly curved nose. He didn't appear to be quite so young as Seth had said, but he wasn't too old either from the looks of it. "Here it is," Mitch said when he brought the beef over.
"Good," Jacob said. "So who's this?" he asked about the young man.
"Oh, you're right, I didn't introduce the two of you. This is my nephew Hailey Dauer," Mitch said with a nervous smile. "After Robert died, my work load got a little more than I could handle. I'd written my sister all about it and she'd insisted on sending one of her boys to help me. He's been a big help ever since."
"Hm," Hailey muttered. He wasn't much for talking. Jacob liked him already.
"In any case," Jacob said, handing over the fish. "Here's your share of the salmon."
"30 pounds of beef and that's all we're getting," Hailey spoke up suddenly, seeing only four fish.
"They're big fish," Jacob said, instantly no longer liking this man. "That should be more than plenty to match what we've received."
"To hell with the weight, what matters is the demand. And four 'big' fish aren't going to cut it," Hailey said.
"Then you should've brought more beef," Leah said.
"Who gave you permission to talk?" Hailey asked Leah pointedly.
"I don't need your permission to talk," Leah snapped back.
"Hailey, stop it," Mitch said. Then he looked at Leah. "Excuse him, please. He's used to the city, so he's been a bit cranky since moving here."
"Oh, does the city boy not like being sent to a small town with the country bumpkins and hillbillies?" Leah persisted.
"Better to live in bumblefuck nowhere than a squalor of tents surrounded by your own filth in bumblefuck nowhere," Hailey bit back.
"Enough, both of you," Mitch stepped in again. "Please, Leah, don't bate him."
"Wait, that's Leah?" Hailey said suddenly. "The Leah Jagger you were telling me about?"
"Yes, Hailey, this is Leah. And I'd appreciate it if you would learn to watch your mouth and your words in front of a lady."
"Lady my ass," Hailey huffed and lit himself a cigarette. "Sie ist eine dame wie ein schwein ist schön," he mumbled and Leah seethed.
"Who are you calling a pig?" she snapped.
"I didn't call you a pig, I said you're as much a lady as a pig is beautiful. I thought you said she spoke German," Hailey said to Mitch in disappointment.
"I told you her father spoke German to her when she was little. She hasn't used it since she got here, so she wouldn't remember much of it."
"Either way, why don't we just get the damned fish ourselves? Cut out the middle man and stop wasting precious resources on these Squaw."
"We don't need your beef quite frankly," Leah stepped in. "So if you wish to terminate this preexisting agreement, then by all means, don't come here anymore."
"What's going on here?" William finally spoke up, tiring of the wasteful bickering.
"This new kid is trying to say that we're cheating them." Jacob said.
"This again?" William said, rolling his eyes.
"If you're going to talk, speak English if you don't mind," Hailey interrupted.
"I was explaining to my father what's going on. He doesn't understand English," Jacob said.
"I suggest you correct that," Hailey said, taking one more puff of his cigarette and flicking it to the side.
"Don't throw your shit on my ground," Jacob said.
"Forgive me, I didn't see your name written on this shit packed dirt you call a village," Hailey said.
"Hailey, shut up!" Mitch yelled. "Anyway, Jacob, Hailey is right regarding demand. Perhaps you might be willing to give us two more fish?"
"I gave you the equivalent," Jacob said. "If you want more, than bring something else of equal value."
"We brought you all the equal value you fucking need," Hailey said.
"No, you brought me the value of what I gave you and if you have a fucking problem with it, you can take your fucking beef and get nothing."
"Fine by me, dingle berry, just means more beef for us."
"Fine by us, asshole, just means more salmon for us," Leah said.
"That's awful big talk coming from a woman, Miss Jagger," he said her name with some hint of sarcasm.
"You got some big talk too for a two legged bitch."
"Whoa," Hailey said with a laugh, "you're the only decent argument I've had since I got here. But all joking aside, Miss Jagger, Jacob, we gave you 30 pounds of beef and that's thirty more pounds than you deserve. I suggest you give us those 2 extra fish and be damned grateful for what you got in return."
"Now you listen here, you cantankerous fuck!" Leah said, but she was interrupted.
"You'd best watch your mouth, Miss Jagger. That sort of language ain't pretty coming from a woman."
"I'm not concerned with what you think is pretty or not, you ill-mannered piece of shit! We don't need your fucking beef, so either you take what we're willing to give you for what, as far as we're concerned, is already a borderline useless commodity or you get nothing. In fact, we'll be thrilled to death not to deal with you or your meat mongering uncle anymore."
"Everyone, please just calm down!" Mitch stepped in vehemently. "Hailey, I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth, do you understand? Jacob, please ignore him."
"You don't need to tell me twice," Jacob said.
"We'll take the salmon you've offered us in exchange for the beef. If we need more salmon, we'll come back with more items for trade and we'll make this fair. Is there anything else your people might need that we can provide in exchange?"
"We could actually use new pots now that I'm thinking about it," Leah said. "The ones we have now are starting to wear out a little."
"Finally concerning yourself with what you should be," Hailey said.
"I thought you were told to shut the hell up," Leah snapped back.
"That's it, I've had it!" Mitch yelled. "Jacob, thank you for the salmon. I will come back later in the week with new pots for your people to use in exchange for more salmon. Let's say six whole salmon in exchange for replacing all your pots?"
"Six salmon for 10 deep pots, and you have a deal," Jacob said.
"Good!" Mitch said, extremely aggravated by this point. He took the salmon and brought it to the back of his cart and came back around, getting back on. "Thank you for your assistance and goodbye," he said as he whipped the reigns of the horse and made him turn around.
" Goodbye," Hailey said. "And Miss Jagger, do us all a favor and work on your attitude before we come back."
"Do me a favor and fuck off!" Hailey laughed at her and lit another cigarette.
"Auf wiedersehen, fotze," he yelled back and had a small laugh when he noticed Leah understood what he'd said. "At least you understood that!" As they rode away, Leah's nostrils flared and she was turning beet red. She looked around for Seth and ran to him when she found him.
"Give me that," she said, taking his baseball, the new one that the Cullens and given him and the children to play with, and ran back to her previous spot.
"Leah, what are you doing?" Jacob asked, annoyed.
"Putting this cuss in his place," she said before she took a moment to aim, and threw the ball as hard as she could so it hit the back of Hailey's head. There was a resounding thud before he fell backwards into the cart, cursing in German from the pain. The site made Leah laugh out loud as she watched Hailey struggle to get back on his feet and recover from the blow.
"Oh great, Leah," Seth said, having caught up with her, "now they're going to take the ball and we won't be able to play. Thanks a lot. You ruined our fun."
"Oh stop complaining," Leah said as she turned around to look at them, but everyone wasn't looking at her anymore. She didn't notice. "I'm sure the Cullens will be plenty happy to-" she stopped suddenly when she felt something hard slam against her back and she squealed from the pain. The sound that followed was a loud, jubilant laugh at Leah's expense from Hailey.
"Got you, bitch!" he said as he continued to laugh, nearly coming to tears.
As Hailey laughed, barely managing to get himself back on the cart, Leah glared daggers at him before she turned and stormed off the Sokajili's tent to check the spot where the ball had impacted. Jacob and William waited until Mitch and Hailey were out of view before taking their eyes off their direction.
"What exactly happened?" William finally asked.
"The Meat Monger's new sidekick accused us of shortchanging them on fish, Leah started arguing with him and ultimately Mitch agreed to take what we gave him and promised to bring pots in a few days to replace the ones we have right now in exchange for 6 more fish. Leah throwing the ball at Meat Monger 2, she just wanted to have the last word."
"Well, that went well didn't it?" William said and shrugged. "So long as everything went well otherwise, I'm happy. He said they were bringing us new pots?"
"Yes. Evidently, the four fish we gave them won't meet the demand they're facing so they wanted more fish. I told them bring us something of equal value and we'll give you more fish."
"That's fine by me," William said. Then Jacob walked away to follow Leah to Sokajili's tent. By the time he arrived, Leah was already chewing his ear off about what happened.
"It's bad enough he accused us of unfairness with regards to a trade we don't even need! But to then insult me?! I preferred Robert, at least he was scared of us and knew when to shut up!"
"Relax, Leah," Sokajili said. "I'm sure he'll grow scared of Jacob given time and patience." He examined the spot, but otherwise did nothing. "You'll be alright, Leah," he finally said. "Nothing's broken or anything, but you will have an angry bruise for the next couple of days. Be mindful of that and you should be fine."
"I can't believe he got up after that ball to the head," Leah continued to vent. "That should have at least knocked him out!"
"What's done is done, Leah," Jacob said, but then he smiled. "It's a shame you didn't see that, Sokajili. She was laughing so hard when she hit that guy in the head with Seth's ball. Then he threw the ball right back at her and started laughing just as hard. It was pretty funny if I'm being honest."
"Funny?!" Leah snapped and Sokajili chuckled a little.
"That's adorable," he said. "You run along now, Leah. You should be fine. And Jacob, I sent Renesmee to do some herb hunting for me and she's taking a while. Go find her for me if you would."
"Have the poor thing slaving away for you when she has a baby to worry about and is pregnant to boot? Have you no shame?"
"She volunteered, Jacob. And she's pregnant, not disabled. Just go and check on her." Jacob moved and aside and left the tent as Leah did, who was still steaming over having a baseball thrown at her back. He'd give the man one thing: at least he appeared to have enough a sense of humor to throw the ball back rather than threaten them.
Jacob looked around the woods following Renesmee's scent until he finally found her hunched over a pond, her belly yet to have grown to a problematic size, picking flowers and Kevin in a little basket on her back sound asleep. She looked up and smiled at him, but otherwise kept picking the little flower Sokajili had specified.
"Sokajili's looking for you," he said. "Apparently you're taking too long getting those herbs he asked for."
"Well, he can just relax and wait for me," Renesmee smiled back. "So what was going on? I overheard a lot of yelling. And German?"
"Yeah, the Meat Monger has a new lackey named Hailey Dauer. His nephew I think he said. Apparently he speaks German and he and Leah were yelling at each other for most of the transaction."
"Arguing over what?"
"He tried saying we short changed them, Leah colorfully told him he was wrong, they got into a shouting match from there and while they were riding away, Leah threw Seth's ball at Hailey's head and he threw it right back and hit Leah on her lower back." Jacob laughed again. "We're getting new pots out of this nonsense, so that counts for something."
"Good," Renesmee sighed in relief. "Those pots are getting so old. I was planning to ask daddy if he would mind getting us new ones, but if we'll be trading them, I suppose it's fine."
"Don't bother," Jacob said. "I don't mind your parents being here, but that doesn't mean they need to take care of us like children."
"Don't say it like that, Jacob. They just want to help."
"Ahuh," he said before walking closer and kneeling down behind Renesmee to look at Kevin, still sound asleep. "Have you been behaving yourself?" Jacob asked Kevin, not receiving an answer.
"He's behaving just fine,"Renesmee smiled. "Do you know when Mitch will be coming back with those pots?"
"He said next week," Jacob said. "We'll get more fish tomorrow and save six for him."
Later that afternoon, Bella and Edward came to the village walking Claire and Quil back to the village. She was so excited to have learned another new song and started playing it for her parents meanwhile Jacob filling Quil in on what happened that morning. Jacob told the story in English and Quil managed to catch some of it, though a lot ended up needing to be repeated in Quileute. They stayed until it started to get closer to sunset and Jacob, Quil and Embry went out on patrol that night as they usually did. The rest of the week passed without incident. They caught some more fish, careful not to catch too many, and kept six salted for preservation until, as promised, Mitch returned a week or so later with 15 pots in the back of his cart, both for good measure and to apologize for Hailey's behavior. Mitch had wanted more than anything to leave Hailey behind, but he'd insisted on coming, arguing that Mitch going alone, especially at his ripe old age, was a fool's errand. Calling him old aside, Mitch was forced to agree and brought Hailey with. Jacob was the only one to meet them. William was aware at the time visiting with the Hou tribe and Leah just didn't come over.
"Morning, Jacob. How fairs your day thus far?" Mitch asked pleasantly, hoping to start things off much better.
"Fine," he said. "You brought us more than ten pots?" Jacob asked, raising his right brow. While he wasn't opposed to additional pots, he knew he didn't really have more to trade than just the six fish.
"Yes, I did," Mitch said. "Think of it as a small apology for his behavior," Mitch said, ending pointedly at Hailey, who rolled his eyes and said nothing. "I promise, he's never been this mean to my knowledge. His mother always spoke glowingly of him. He's just not used to it here yet and he's learning to adjust."
"Think nothing of it," Jacob finally said. "So it's six fish for the pots like we agreed."
"Excellent!" Mitch said, hopping off the cart to run and grab the pots. He couldn't recall a time when a trade had gone so well with no one arguing. He just hoped he wasn't thinking too soon. "Some of them are used, but most of them are brand new pots, so they should last at least ten years."
"Glad to hear it," Jacob answered.
"So where's Miss Jagger?" Hailey asked suddenly. Mitch's shoulders slumped at the mentioning of Leah.
"Why do you ask?" Jacob asked, not changing his tone.
"Well, she left a nasty fucking bump on my head from that little ball throwing stunt she pulled the other day and I have a few choice words for her."
"You gave her a pretty nasty bruise on her back, so I would think you two are even," Jacob said.
"Somehow I doubt that bruise is as bad as my bump," Hailey said. I noticed I'd started bleeding for fuck sake."
"Well serves your right for calling her….that word," Mitch said. "Honestly, boy, I know your mother raised you better than that."
"You didn't even know what I'd said to her until I told you."
"She understood it all the same and even if she didn't, you should be ashamed of yourself."
"What did you call her?" Jacob asked. "I asked her but she wouldn't tell me."
"Fotze," he repeated the word. "It means cunt."
"What's a cunt?" Jacob asked. "Doesn't sound like a four letter word Leah or my wife's uncles ever taught me."
"It's a disgraceful and derogatory word referring to a woman's nether regions, and I told you before don't you repeat that word! I'll make a point to write your mother and tell her exactly what you said and how you've been behaving."
"What is she going to do to me, Uncle? Throw me on her knee and spank me? I'm a grown ass man for fuck sake with a mother that's all the way in Port Angeles."
"That woman will find a way don't you worry," Mitch said. "Anyway, please just ignore him."
"Noted," Jacob said bluntly. Hailey continued to look for Leah until he eventually saw her at the shoreline appearing to be digging around for something. He hopped off the cart tying the reigns back and walking past Mitch and Jacob.
"Where are you going?" Jacob asked pointedly.
"I found Miss Jagger, so I'll have my word with her," Hailey answered just as pointedly as he continued walking on, all the while taking out a cigarette and lighting it.
"He's not armed," Mitch said quickly, hoping to defuse what was already almost certainly a bad situation.
"If I find out otherwise," Jacob began to threaten.
"No, I assure you he isn't. I can't imagine why he's still upset about this. Honestly, he was still laughing when we returned home."
"I'm sure he was," Jacob said.
"A few people noticed his head was bleeding and they asked us what you'd gone and done to us now. I just told them what happened and they all got a small laugh out of it."
"I bet they did," Jacob said sarcastically.
"Again, regardless, the way he spoke to Leah was not acceptable."
"No, it wasn't," Jacob said. "I'm curious why he seems so eager to pick a fight with Leah."
"I couldn't tell you. I didn't tell him much about Leah except what everyone in town already knows."
"Whatever," Jacob said. "Take the fish and I'll bring him back." As Jacob and Mitch were talking, Hailey made a bee line straight to Leah, who didn't notice him until he spoke.
"Guten morgen breite," Hailey said and Leah's head snapped up. "What are you on your hands and knees for? Something worthwhile I hope."
"Nothing of concern to you," Leah bit back. "How's your head?"
"Pounding still," Hailey replied, ignoring Leah's obvious attempt to annoy him. "How's your back?" Leah's nose scrunched and she didn't answer. "Oh, are you still mad that I got the last laugh?"
"We'll see who gets the last laugh if you keep pestering me."
"Pestering you has been the most entertaining thing I've done since I got to this backwater town. But if you apologize for throwing that ball at me, maybe I'll leave you be."
"Fuck off, city boy," Leah said, standing up with some clams in her hand. She placed the clams in a basket and went back to the water to look for more. Jacob walked over and interrupted whatever Hailey was going to say.
"The Meat Monger has his fish. It's time you both got going."
"You gave us all six fish we asked for right?"
"Yes," Jacob asked, immediately getting aggravated. "You got your fish, we got our pots."
"More pots than was agreed upon I might add. Perhaps you might want to throw something additional in there with those fish as a thank you for us being so generous."
"As I understand it, those extra pots were thrown in because of you," Jacob said. "You keep this shit up and you'll be trading the town to us."
"I wouldn't hold my breath on that one, Squaw," Hailey said. "And for the record, Leah, you still need to work on being more lady-like. Not a man in the world will marry you with a mouth like that." Leah was stunned as she watched Hailey walk away. Her blood was boiling and she couldn't think of a proper retort. So, she resorted to what she knew would work, ran to Seth, took his baseball from him and threw it right at Hailey again, hitting him in the head on the opposite side as last time.
"Ow!" he yelled before he rubbed his head and started swearing under his breath. Leah didn't laugh this time, but she did wear a cocky smile keeping her eyes on him, almost daring him to throw the ball back at her.
"You may want to learn not to turn your back on me, city boy!" Leah yelled.
"Alright," Jacob stepped in. "If the two of you can't play nice, then don't play at all. You go to the cart and get out of here," he directed the last part to Hailey. "The Meat Monger is waiting for you."
"Sagen Sie, dass die hündin nicht scheiβe auf meinen kopf zu werfen!" All Leah caught of that was shit, bitch and head. She started wishing she wasn't so out of practice with her German.
"If you don't speak English, Mr. Dogger, that might be a problem you'll want to rectify," Leah mocked with a mean laugh.
"Es Dauer!" he yelled before rubbing his head. Mitch finally came running hoping to break up the fight and grabbed Hailey's arm.
"That's enough, Hailey, we need to get back."
"Dass hündin-"
"Damn it, in English, boy, you know I don't speak German!"
"I said this bitch threw a ball at my head again!"
"What do you want me to do about it, Hailey? Send her to time out? Please just leave well enough alone and let's just leave." Jacob didn't bother stepping in. In truth, he was beginning to find the situation amusing in a juvenile sort of way. And by now, Leah was laughing again.
"I told you, Mr. Dogger, keep testing me and we'll see who gets the last laugh."
"Dauer!" Hailey yelled while he and Mitch walked back to the cart. Leah watched them go back to their cart, hands on her hips feeling proud of herself and didn't take her eyes off them until they were out of site. Only then did she return to her previous chore.
They didn't hear or see from the Meat Monger again following that incident and wouldn't until salmon season rolled around next year. By summer, both Renesmee and Leah were showing easily visible swollen bellies, though Caevia's remained just a little bit bigger. In fact, but summer, Caevia was waddling everywhere and ready to have the baby at any time. Carlisle had started coming to the tribe a lot more often through the summer to keep a closer eye on Caevia. He was in awe of Sokajili's approach as well. It certainly wasn't cold so much as it was being used to anything and everything that could possibly happen.
By this point, both Embry and Kevin were 2 ½ or 3 feet tall and were beginning to walk on their own. With this new found freedom, the boys were constantly moving around, always wandering out of Renesmee's and Caevia's site. Thankfully, someone was always able to keep an eye on them and made sure to keep them out of trouble. They weren't quite talking yet so much as they made loud noises at each other as well. It was apparent that the boys were growing to be inseparable. Then finally, within days of little Embry's birthday, Caevia woke up in the middle of the night feeling pain. She knew right aware what was happening. She looked over and saw little Embry was sound sleep in his little basket that he was starting to outgrow already. Not wanting to wake him, Caevia stepped outside and started walking back and forth waiting for her water to break. She decided this time she wouldn't call for Embry. If labor with their first son was any indicator, it would be well after dawn before she'd actually give birth.
She waited until her water eventually broke and held onto the side of the tent waiting for the wave of pain to pass, whimpering as quietly as she could not wanting to wake anyone, especially not Embry. After the initial pain from her water breaking passed, Caevia finally went back inside and laid down to rest as much as she could. She managed to get a little more sleep but she was always woken up when a contraction would hit. Embry woke up bright and early and when he did, he crawled over to Caevia and started cuddling up to her. Despite being uncomfortable, she held Embry and started petting his head while he cuddled to her.
He started grabbing at her chest, expressing that he was hungry. Doing her best to get comfortable, Caevia undid her dress and held Embry in her arms to feed him. When another contraction hit while Embry ate, Caevia removed her right hand and placed it on the ground so she could dig her fingers into the ground rather than hurt Embry. She made sure to breath as evenly as possible while the pain pulsed until it calmed down. Embry eventually released Caevia's nipple and hiccupped a little before Caevia gently patted his back with him on her shoulder. When he finally burped, she placed him on his butt on the ground and grabbed a potato cake from last night for him to eat. Now especially, she wanted to get him used to eating solid food.
Caevia kept her hands underneath Embry's while he clumsily ate his potato cake. He ultimately ate every crumb of his potato cake before cuddling back up to Caevia and falling back asleep. Caevia just laid down while Embry slept, continuing to remain calm and taking her hands off her son whenever she felt a contraction. Before long, Embry Sr. returned home and he returned as Caevia was having another contraction.
"Are you alright?" Embry asked when he realized how uncomfortable Caevia looked.
"I'm in labor," Caevia said and Embry got nervous.
"What should we do with Embry?" he asked. "Do you want me to get Sokajili?"
"Just let him know I'm in labor and bring Embry over to Jacob so they can keep an eye on him for the day."
Embry nodded and took their son and left the tent to hand him over to Jacob. Little Embry woke up from the commotion and started getting fussy, so Jacob hurried back to his and Renesmee's tent where he could calm little Embry down. Embry Sr. went to Sokajili's tent, calmer than he'd been before only because he knew now what to expect. He patted on Sokajili's door and told him that Caevia had gone into labor in the middle of the night. He waited for Sokajili to respond, saying he'd be out in a moment to check on her. Embry returned to his tent and immediately took a spot behind Caevia so her back was to his chest, ready whenever Sokajili said Caevia was.
Embry remained fussy until Jacob brought him back to his and Renesmee's tent. Kevin was still asleep, but Jacob put Embry next to Kevin in his little crib. Embry finally calmed down a little and snuggled up to Kevin. Kevin noticed Embry was there and muttered the slightest whimper of acknowledgement that he was there, but otherwise didn't move around to look at him. Renesmee woke up when Jacob came home and looked at him strangely when he brought Embry in with him.
"Is everything okay?" Renesmee asked, groggy from just waking up.
"Caevia's in labor and the mooch over here wouldn't leave her be, so Embry asked me to bring him here."
"Caevia's in labor?" Renesmee managed to smile and Jacob nodded.
"They'll be having another boy for sure."
"No, it's a girl," Renesmee teased. "I'm sure of it."
They shared a challenging smile; a reminder of their bet. Sokajili created a perfume in their tent for calm and relaxation and checked Caevia to see how far she was. She wasn't dilated enough, so he told her to continue to relax and that he'd be back soon to check on her again. Caevia didn't finally have the baby until it was shortly after high noon and when she did, the baby was born in just a push and a half. Caevia looked at the baby and started to cry a little when she looked at her little girl. She knew several of her lost children had been girls. To see her daughter born, then to get to hold her: she was beside herself.
"It's a girl, Embry," Caevia said with a tearful smile. "She's so beautiful."
"I know what we should name her," Embry said after a moment of looking at her. "I want to name her after my mother."
"Aidetzi?" Embry nodded at the name and Caevia nodded back. "I love it. It's a perfect name for her."