Wolves of the Pacific

by greenpeach20

In 1902, Renesmee Cullen grew tired of the tedious life of moving around with her family and decided to make the journey west as a mail order bride. Yet a chance encounter with a reddish brown wolf would change her life forever.

44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Later in the year when summer had come, Kevin and Embry Jr. reignited their love of competing to see who could climb a tree the fastest. It was, however, an activity they preferred to do, just the two of them. Kyle would join them sometimes, but it was usually because Renesmee made them allow him to join. Kyle seemed rather saddened by it, yet he was also very understanding about it. More so than Renesmee would have thought. However, that didn't mean she wasn't thoroughly aggravated with her son and Embry about it.

"Jacob," Renesmee finally asked one morning when Jacob had returned from patrol.

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed that Kevin and Embry never let Kyle play with them anymore?"

"Yeah," Jacob said with a sigh. "They're getting to be that age."

"Did your sisters do it to you or something?"

"May sisters did that to me when I was a toddler," Jacob laughed. "But Embry, Quil and I did do that to Seth when he was a kid. We got over it, obviously, but it's not unusual for this sort of thing to happen."

"I'm not so much concerned with whether or not it's normal. I'm more concerned about how we make them stop it. Kyle wants to play with them, but they're excluding him. Is there anything you can do?"

"I can talk to Kevin, but," Jacob stopped and thought a moment. "I don't know, Renesmee. Kevin and Embry are getting older. I know it seems insignificant, but they're getting at an age where just a year seems like a world of difference."

"I'm curious what Sara did when you three started excluding Seth."

"She scolded us and told us to include him whether we wanted to or not," Jacob said. "Though I can attests that doesn't help much."

"Will you at least talk to them? I'm beginning to feel like the bad guy and I don't like it."

"Don't worry, I'll talk to them. But part of is just children being children. There's not always much you can do about that."

"'Children being children' is not a reason to encourage unacceptable behavior," Renesmee mumbled.

As Renesmee had asked, Jacob found Kevin and Embry in the woods playing together. They'd both grown so tall recently. By now, Embry and Kevin were both up to Jacob's chest. Even though Kyle was only a year behind, he hadn't experienced the same growth spurt that Kevin and Embry had. He knew Renesmee wouldn't like it, but he realized that might be part of the reason Kyle was being excluded. He wasn't a 'big kid' like Kevin and Embry were.

"Kevin, Embry," Jacob said, getting the boys to stop what they were doing and look at Jacob.

"What're you still doing in the woods, dad?" Kevin asked. Jacob walked over to them and sat down with them.

"I'm coming from the house, actually. You're mother's concerned about why you two aren't playing with Kyle anymore."

"We play with him," Kevin said.

"When your mother tells you to," Jacob said. "She wants to know why."

"Because we don't want to," Embry stepped in. "He's such a know it all. And he's always reading our minds. It's really annoying."

"Have you asked him to stop doing that? He's not like Grandpa Edward. He can stop doing it if he wants."

"Even if we do, how do we know he's actually doing it?" Kevin asked. "It's more fun playing without worrying that Kyle will tell on us for something."

"And what, exactly, would you two be up to that he might tell on you for?" Jacob asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Embry said.

"Really," Jacob said suspiciously.

"We're not up to anything," Kevin said. "We just don't want Kyle breathing down our necks when we're trying to have fun."

"Besides, he's such a goody two shoes," Embry stepped in. "He never wants to do anything fun."

"So you don't want to play with Kyle because he doesn't want to get into trouble?"

"Kind of," Embry said. Jacob rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was just as he thought for the most part. At this point, it seemed to him as though the boys were scrambling for excuses.

"Just try to include him," Jacob said. "You excluding Kyle is upsetting your mother. And, for the record, the two of you shouldn't be doing anything that would be getting you in trouble anyway. So Kyle being around shouldn't be a concern in that respect. Do you understand."

"Yes, dad," Kevin said.

"Good," Jacob answered back and stood up. "I'll leave you two alone today, but I expect you two to start letting Kyle play with you if he wants."

"Yes sir," Kevin and Embry answered somberly and Jacob walked away. When Jacob got back to the tribe center, he saw Kyle sitting with all the other kids during their lesson. A lesson, Jacob suddenly realized, Kevin and Embry were ditching. He walked over to Rosalie while she was teaching the children.

"Rosalie," Jacob said.

"What?" she said.

"Did you give Kevin and Embry permission not to sit in today?"

"No," Rosalie said, rather irritated, "I did not. Do you know where they are?"

"They're playing in the woods," Kyle said.

"Well, since they feel they don't need to sit in today, certainly, they'll be able to do very well on a little quiz on what we've discussed," Rosalie said.

"Don't worry, Rosalie, I'll get them," Jacob said and went back to the woods where he'd found them. They weren't where he'd last seen them, so he followed their scent until he reached the bluff where he saw they were cliff diving. They were both soaking went from their first jump and Embry looked like he was about to jump. "Kevin, Embry!" Jacob said, his voice authoritative. They looked at Jacob and realized immediately they were in trouble.

"Yeah, dad?" Kevin said.

"Mind explaining why the two of you are cliff diving when you're supposed to be sitting with Rosalie for your lesson today?"

I can't believe he just noticed that now, Kevin thought, pushing it to Embry who started snickering.

"Something funny, Embry?" Jacob said.

"No sir," Embry stopped laughing immediately at Jacob's tone.

"Good," Jacob said. "Now I want the two of you back now. You two can play afterwards."

"Yes sir," both boys said and started walking back. Jacob followed them making sure they went straight home and the two of them sat down among everyone.

"Oh, Kevin, Embry," Rosalie said. "How good of you to join us. Now, based on what we've learned thus far, can anyone tell me the proper spelling for 'Emancipation'?" A few children raised their hand. Rosalie appeared thoughtful, but looked right at Embry and Kevin. "Embry, Kevin." Both boys looked instantly alert. "Seeing as you saw fit to miss this part of the lesson, surely you already know. What is the proper spelling for 'Emancipation'?" The two of them just stared at her a moment.

"Um," Kevin started. "I-m-"

"Incorrect!" Rosalie said. "Embry, surely you know." Embry was quiet a moment.

"E….m-a-n-s-"

"Incorrect," Rosalie interrupted. "Kyle," Rosalie said. "Tell them how to spell 'Emancipation'." Kyle looked at Rosalie, about to answer. But then he glanced at his brother and Embry. The two of them looked really mad. So rather than embarrass them more and make them mad at him, he decided to play dumb.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Rosalie. I don't remember." Rosalie knew he was lying, but she decided this had gone on long enough.

"The proper spelling is E-M-A-N-C-I-P-A-T-I-O-N," Rosalie said. "Moving on. Let's further discuss the political motivations for the Civil War."

Thanks, Kevin thought to Kyle. He smiled back and they all returned their attention to Rosalie and their history lesson.

Renesmee was furious when she found out about this morning, fully prepared to administer her own discipline. However, when Edward came to the tribe for the children's math and science lessons, he reassured Renesmee he would take care of it. So after science and math was taken care of, all the children got to play, except Kevin and Embry. The two were promptly reprimanded and were taken back to the Cullen house for a special lesson. Kyle followed to the house, regardless of Edward telling him he didn't have to, and the boys were all sat down in the room with the giant map for a special lesson on Japanese history.

"What the hell's Japan?" Embry asked. After which he received a firm hit over the head with a ruler for swearing and then being explain that it's a country and showing where it's located.

A lesson on Japan's history in itself isn't terrible daunting. What made it horrible was the fact that Edward was making them learn history dating back to the Bronze Age all the way through to current political state, including Japan's current war with Russia. By the time they were done, it was 9 at night with no dinner break. After which, Edward took mere minutes to write out a full test asking specifics of everything they'd learned that day including Japan's name given to them by China, the Chinese Character that represented that name, the name Japan gave itself, the Japanese spelling for that name, names of emperors and the town that was capital during their reign up until Kyoto became the capitol, a map of Japan both current and Feudal Japan when the country was divided into several warring states, a portion expecting written answers of the names and specific structure of the Shogun and Shogunate government, when the Shogun was overthrown and the Emperor was made the emperor again and so on. By the time Edward had the test written out, it looked half the length of Anna Karenina.

"You don't really expect us to take this do you?" Kevin asked, staring at the pages upon pages of questions in complete horror.

"I most certainly do," Edward said. "Kyle," Edward said. "I want you to take this upstairs."

"Why?" Kyle said.

"Because I'll not tolerate any cheating during this test," Edward said. Edward led Kyle upstairs, all the while telling him he didn't need to take the test, but Kyle insisted he would and he wouldn't read Edward's mind either. Bella stayed upstairs with Kyle while Edward stayed downstairs with Kevin and Embry.

Kyle started taking the test as did Kevin and Embry. But the moment they opened the first page, they all realized they didn't remember anything Edward had said about the Bronze Age. Kyle remembered that China had introduced Japan to rice farming, but he couldn't remember how the process had actually made it to Japan. He remembered that Japan's name by China was 'Dwarf' and that it was pronounced 'Wa' but he couldn't remember the Chinese character for it. For Kyle, the rest of the test went pretty much like that. He'd remember bits and pieces, but not specifics. By the time he'd managed, somehow, to reach the portion of the test asking what Japanese historical figure had traveled to China, the specific form of Buddhism he'd introduced to Japan, what difference he'd made to the written Japanese language, and how that effected the Japanese upper class, it was one in the morning and he just couldn't stay awake anymore.

Kevin and Embry didn't even get that far. They couldn't remember anything from the Bronze Age and only managed to reach questions regarding the initial introduction of Buddhism to Japan before they couldn't stay awake anymore. Bella came downstairs holding Kyle and his little booklet and handed it to Edward.

"He really got that far?" Edward looked through. "For someone that didn't even have to serve the punishment, he certainly did very well."

"How'd they do?" Renesmee asked, looking at Kevin and Embry.

"Poorly," Edward said. "I couldn't tell with Kevin, but Embry just drew a blank for all the questions. Both of them didn't get past King Seong Myong of Baekje officially introducing Emperor Kinmei to Buddhism in 552. Poor things couldn't even remember Baekje is Modern day Korea."

"Why Japan?" Bella asked with a laugh.

"Because it's completely foreign to anything they've learned previously. Besides, it's interesting."

"Are you planning to make them keep taking this silly test?"

"Of course not," Edward chuckled. "I think they've learned their lesson."

"I'd say so," Bella agreed.

The boys stayed at the Cullen house for the night and woke up together in Edward's and Bella's bed. Embry woke up with a headache and swore if he ever had to do anything like that again, he might break something. Kevin was in no better a mood, but he looked at Kyle, who was beginning to wake up from Embry's complaining.

"Thanks, by the way," Kevin said. Kyle looked at Kevin with groggy, bloodshot eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Kyle said

"No, I mean it," Kevin said. "I'm sorry we haven't been letting you play with us."

"It's okay," Kyle said. Kevin sighed and put his arm around Kyle's neck, bring him against his chest and started rubbing his head with his fist. Kyle fought, but he was laughing with Kevin. Jacob and Embry came to the Cullen house the check on the children after patrol. Esme was in kitchen making breakfast and Edward was downstairs glancing through the booklets.

"What are you reading?" Jacob asked.

"They're the booklets the boys had to work on last night. It was their test on Japanese history."

"Their test on what?" Jacob laughed.

"As punishment for skipping their lessons yesterday morning, I gave them a crash course on Japanese history. Kyle did rather well I must say. Unfortunately, Kevin and Embry didn't do as well."

"What the hell's Japan?" Embry asked and Edward laughed.

"I see where they boy's getting his propensity for swearing. He said the exact same thing and I hit him over the head with a ruler for swearing."

"A ruler?" Embry asked.

"It's a tool used to measure things and it's made of wood."

"Oh. Okay, that works," Embry shrugged.

Out of curiosity, Jacob took one of the booklets and started skimming through it. After asking what a 'Chinese Character' was, what Buddhism is, and what was the difference between an Emperor and a Shogun, Jacob gave up and plopped the booklet back on the table having lost interest. Renesmee was pleased following the incident when she noticed Kevin and Kyle were getting along better again. And they certainly never skipped their lessons again. During breakfast the morning after that previous lesson, Edward told the boys that if they ever skipped a lesson again, he'd make them sit through a just as grueling session of 2000 years of history for the British Isles. He was sure to clarify that meant the history for England, Scotland, Whales and Ireland. Separately.

Later that summer, Hailey was at the counter of the shop when there was a knock at the door. Mitch answered and was greeted by a man they'd met in passing that handled deliveries of large shipments. Though he didn't usually drop anything off in Forks. This time however, he had a quite large shipment meant for the Cullens. What he had in the back of two carts were 40 brand new bicycles. Hailey's jaw dropped when he saw them and so did that of everyone else that saw it.

"What the hell do the Cullens need 40 bikes for?" Hailey asked.

"You'll have to ask them. I just need my money."

"I'm afraid we don't have it," Mitch said. "I can certainly send someone to-"

"No worries, Mitch," Edward said, who'd just arrived in time for the shipment. "Forty bikes for Edward Cullen right?"

"Yes," the man said.

"And how much was that?"

"$600 for all of them. And there's another $40 for the delivery fee." Edward took a moment to count out the money and handed it to the man.

"Would you mind bringing it to the tribe west of here for another $10?"

"I beg your pardon?" the man asked.

"The bikes are for some children on the Quileute reservation. It would be helpful if you would take those to them."

"Sir, I'm not delivering anything to a tribe of squaw."

"$50," Edward said. The man appeared to think about it. "$75," Edward said, beating the man to his bartering game.

"Fine. $600 for the bikes, $40 for the travel, and $75 for the inconvenience."

"Thank you for your patience," Edward replied with a hint of sarcasm the man didn't appear to hear. "If you would follow me, I'll show you the way to the tribe."

Edward handed the man his money and the man followed Edward down the trail to the tribe. At the moment, the children were all with Rosalie finishing their lesson for the day. Jacob saw Edward and the stranger and was the one to approach them with William at his side.

"What's all this?" Jacob asked.

"A little present for the kids," Edward said. "Poor things have to either walk or take our cart to and from our house. I thought it might be good for them to have bikes."

"Bikes?" Jacob asked. Edward stepped down from his cart and went to the last one trailing behind the other man and pulled one out.

"This is a bike. It's a means of accelerated travel. It's like a horse you don't have to feed."

"So you just balance on it or something?" Jacob asked.

"Exactly. I'll show the children how to ride them. Once we've got them all dispersed. There are 40 right now. I can order more later when other children are grown."

"What is that thing?" William asked Jacob.

"It's called abike," Jacob answered. "It's like a horse you don't have to feed. Or so Edward says."

"And what are the for?"

"Apparently Edward got them for the kids so they can go to and from the Cullen home and the village in less time."

"Oh. Well that was generous of him. I'm sure the kids will love them."

"If you don't mind helping me get the bikes off the cart, I can show the kids how to use them after they're done with their lesson."

Jacob agreed and helped Edward get all the bikes off the cart. He couldn't help but notice the look on the other man's face. It was as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Upon Edward's request, or more appropriately upon his bribery of an additional $10, the man started helping them remove all the bikes from the carts. Nathan and Natalie ran over and started watching asking if they could help. Nathan looked at the man that was delivering the bikes and the man seemed to sneer at him. Nathan didn't much care for that. Once all the bikes were off, Edward thanked the man and told him he could leave. Edward remained to teach the children their science and math lesson for the day and spent the remainder of the day teaching all the children that were old enough how to ride the bikes. The other man returned to town a little stunned by what he'd just seen. He stepped inside the General Store a moment to get a few things and figured he'd ask.

"What the hell was all that?" he asked Hailey.

"What are you talking about?" Hailey asked.

"That! Cullen, or whatever his name is, spoke to those people like they were family. It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen."

"They are family," Hailey said. "Edward Cullen's daughter married the Chief's son and they have four kids together. His grandkids are half Indian."

"And he permitted that?"

"Looks like it," Hailey said. "The two of them were married long before I got here."

"Hold on," the man said as he started to remember something. "You wouldn't happen to mean that woman that was kidnapped from Olympia 10 years ago, would you?"

"Yeah, she's the same gal," Hailey said. "Apparently she was kidnapped by bandits and she and her slave got passed around until they ended up with the Quileutes. That's what I've been told. She hit it off with Jacob, the chief's son, and they've been married for 9 years."

"Such a tragic thing," the man said. "I thought the papers said she'd been returned."

"She came back," Mitch said. "Apparently, Jacob went after her after Sgt. Lovejoy took her and he was able to bring her back. By the time she returned here, she was very pregnant with their first son."

"You mean she came back? For God's sake, why?"

"She loves him," Hailey said with a shrug.

"And what about Sgt. Lovejoy? I've heard that he'd evidently come back here for some business and was never heard from again."

"We aren't sure," Mitch said. "He'd come back to arrest Jacob for assaulting him, he left to do so and we never heard back from him."

"And you've not reprimanded those devils for it?"

"Our sheriff went to the tribe to look for him, but they couldn't find him. They searched the woods for his horse, he looked for discarded clothing. We released a search party, but we couldn't find him anywhere." Hailey remained quiet. "We just couldn't find anything showing the Quileutes were guilty of any wrong doing. We couldn't find Jacob and they told us he'd gone after Renesmee and hadn't seen him since."

"That sounds suspicious," the man said.

"I suppose it does," Mitch said. "But we searched high and low for the man and couldn't find him. He may have been attached by another tribe near here, but we're just not sure. We haven't given it much thought since the Cullens confirmed Jacob was with them for months and couldn't have had anything to do with the man's death."

"Strange," the man said. Just then, Leah stepped into the shop.

"I thought you were with the tribe," Hailey said when he saw Leah.

"I was," Leah said. "Then Edward gave me one of those bikes. I was trying it out and I tested how long it would take to get from the tribe to here. It only took me twenty minutes! It's a little more than the horse, but it's certainly more efficient."

"I suppose it is," Hailey smiled. The man looked between Hailey and Leah, but said nothing. "Something wrong?" Hailey asked the man, noticing the man's apparently condescending expression.

"You just seem to be rather friendly with the Indian folk yourself."

"Of course I'm friendly with her. She's my wife." The man stared at Hailey a moment, unsure what to say. Finally, he just took the item he'd purchased and started leaving.

"White folk marrying Squaw," he started mumbling. "This world's going to hell in a hand basket," he said before finally leaving. Leah watched the man leave, then looked at Hailey.

"That man's a prick," she said and Hailey chuckled.

"You have no idea. He cheated Edward out of $75 because he wasn't willing to take the bikes directly to the tribe." Leah gave Hailey a strange look. "What?"

"Nothing," Leah said. "It's just that Nathan had given Edward $85 while he was showing them to ride the bikes."

"What?" Mitch said.

"I think Nathan might have pick pocketed that man," Leah said and started to laugh. "Nathan said that man was terrible and gave Edward back that bribing money." Leah kept laughing.''

"Nathan stole $85 from that man?!" Mitch said, rather mortified.

"It looks like it," Leah kept laughing. "That certainly explains why Edward didn't scold him for it." Leah kept laughing and Hailey started laughing too.

"Serves the old bastard right," Hailey continued to laugh with Leah.

"This isn't funny you two! What if that man notices and comes back?"

"What is he going to do? The man didn't even notice," Leah said. "I don't think he even swatted at Nathan. For all he knows, he dropped it as he left. And if so, finders keepers."

"I'm not saying anything if he does come back. Don't you say anything either, Mitch. We know nothing," Hailey said, still chuckling a little but trying to be serious.

"Fine," Mitch grumbled with an exasperated sigh and kept arranging the new inventory.

"I'm curious. What did Jacob say?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think he knows. Renesmee certainly doesn't know or she would've said something. She's not really one to allow bad behavior."

"So I've heard," Hailey chuckled.

Sure enough, an hour later, the man returned insisting that he was missing his $85 Edward had given him. As Hailey had insisted they do, he and Mitch claimed to know nothing about it. They even started helping him look around the General Store to find it. He insisted on returning to the tribe claiming one of the Indians must have stolen it. Hailey agreed he'd take him knowing Mitch couldn't be trusted to keep lying. When they arrived, Edward was showing Claire how to remain balanced. He knew what was coming, and he went up with Jacob to see what was wrong. Jacob didn't know about Nathan stealing the money, so Edward decided it best to continue withholding the information until the man was gone.

"What's he doing back?" Jacob asked Hailey when they were near.

"That $85 was in my pocket when I helped with those bikes. But then when I check my pockets, it's gone," the man said. "We've already looked all over the General Store and it's not there. So I think it's safe to assume one of you stole it."

"Oh really?" Jacob said condescendingly. "Sounds more likely to me that you dropped it on your way back."

"I already looked at the road on our way here. I didn't see it anywhere."

"Look harder," Jacob said.

"Now, now," Edward stepped forward. "Perhaps we should check the trail here one more time. If we don't find it, then I'll give you another $85. Can we agree to that?" Jacob seemed like he might say something but Edward stopped him. "Don't worry, Jacob. I'm sure we'll find his money."

Eventually, the man agreed to return to the trail and look for the money. Overhearing the whole thing, Edward dropped the money right behind him and Rosalie ran to grab it and placed it somewhere on the trail and kept watch hidden in the trees until they arrived. The man saw the money and looked right at Edward.

"There it is," Edward said. "I knew it had to be lying around somewhere."

"Yes," the man said rather awkwardly. "Sorry for the misunderstanding," he said, though his apology seemed halfhearted as far as Jacob was concerned.

"Take your money and leave," Jacob said. "And if you ever accuse us of stealing from you again, I'll give you something to accuse us for." Jacob turned and started walking back to the tribe. Edward and Hailey remained a moment.

"Please, pay him no mind," Edward said.

"I intend to," the man said meanly and Hailey followed the man back to town while Edward returned to the village. He caught up to Jacob and stopped him before he could enter the tribe's center.

"Now's the best time to mention Nathan was the one that stole the money," Edward said.

"Pardon?" Jacob said.

"The man stared at Nathan rather cruelly and it was seem Nathan didn't appreciate that. When the man left, Nathan handed me the money saying the man was being a cheater."

"Should've just told him to fuck off, then," Jacob mumbled. "Just don't tell Renesmee. She'll throw a fit if she knows Nathan stole something."

"No worries, I wasn't going to tell her. Nathan had good intentions. Besides, the man was retched, so I didn't mind letting Nathan take back that money. It helped us find some small way to put the man in his place a little at least."

"You and I seem to have very different opinions of what 'putting someone in their place' entails."

"Yes, and I'm rather grateful for it," Edward sighed. Then he heard in Jacob's thoughts that he was a little proud of Nathan. "Don't you dare encourage this behavior. I plan to sit Nathan down and scold him for this."

"I'll do it," Jacob said.

"No, I'll do it. I'll make sure he knows what he did was wrong. You seem intent on giving the boy a pat on the back for it."

"That's what you did!" Jacob said.

"And I should not have. All the same, I will speak with him."

"Fine," Jacob said and walked into the tribal grounds. As promised, Edward took Nathan aside and explained that stealing the man's money was not right and made him promise to never do it again. Later that night, Renesmee entered their bedroom after tucking the children in. She was a little surprised when she saw that Jacob hadn't left yet.

"Is everything alright?" Renesmee asked.

"Everything's fine. I'm going to check up on the twins." Renesmee watched Jacob walk past her to the room the twins were still sharing. It wouldn't be long before they'd be moving Nathan into the same room as Kevin and Kyle. Natalie seemed to already be asleep and Nathan was dozing off. Jacob placed a hand on Nathan's little head and he opened his eyes.

"Dad?" Nathan mumbled and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey. I heard about that little stunt you pulled earlier," Jacob smiled.

"Don't tell mommy. She'll be mad at me," he said, suddenly worried.

"Don't worry, I won't," Jacob said. "Your grandpa's going to kill me for saying, but I'm a little proud of you."

"Grandpa said what I did was a bad thing."

"It was," Jacob confirmed. "But that guy was a son of a bitch anyway. And between you and me, when I was a kid, I used to steal things from the Meat Monger's pet all the time. You never met him. His name was Robert. He'd acted as the Meat Monger's translator until he died some years ago. I used to have a whole collection of pennies that I'd stolen from him until your Grandma Sara told me to stop."

"What happened to those pennies?" Nathan asked curiously.

"I hid them somewhere," Jacob smiled a slightly devious smile. "And I'll tell you what. If you can find them, I'll let you keep them."

"Really?" Nathan said just a little too loudly. Jacob told him to quiet down, so he did.

"Really," he finally said. "I'll give you a clue. Look for a brown woven basket hidden where the cliffs make a crescent moon. It's up the shore from here." Jacob patted Nathan's head and kissed his forehead before standing up to leave. "I'm going on patrol. You sleep tight. And we'll keep this our little secret." Nathan nodded enthusiastically and closed his eyes trying to fall asleep even if he was too excited to actually sleep. When Jacob came into their bedroom, Renesmee looked at him slightly irritated.

"You do know I overheard all that, right?" Renesmee said.

"I do now," Jacob just smiled. "Your dad already yelled at him. Don't tell him you know."

"I won't say anything," Renesmee sighed. "Just don't encourage him. I don't want Nathan getting in trouble. Daddy was able to convince that man he'd dropped the money on the way back to town. Someday, Nathan might not be so lucky as to not get caught."

"Don't worry, Renesmee. I don't think he'll do it again."

"And don't swear in front of him either. Honestly, you and Embry are terrible about that. Leah should have never taught the two of you to swear."

"Sorry, Renesmee," Jacob said. She stared at him until she finally smiled a little.

"Were you telling the truth about those pennies?"

"Yes, I was. I'll check to see if it's still there. I'm sure if it's not, your dad can do me this favor."

"Why didn't you mention it when the kids and I were reading Treasure Island? I'm sure they would've loved to look for it."

"I don't know," Jacob said. "I guess Nathan was just the right one to tell. I'm sure he'll tell Kevin and Kyle in any case."

"Maybe," Renesmee said. Jacob walked over to the bed and placed a kiss on Renesmee's lips. "Be safe tonight. I'll see you in the morning."

"I'll see you in the morning." Jacob placed another kiss on Renesmee's lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They smiled at one another before Jacob left through the balcony and went on patrol for the night. While out, he stopped where he'd buried his little treasure and sniffed around for it to make sure it was in fact still there, hoping it hadn't somehow gotten washed away over the years. He found it right in the corner where he remember. But it was far too deep. So he dug it up, replaced the sand until the covered woven basket could be just under the sand and covered it the rest of the way. The next morning, Jacob noticed Nathan was up bright and early and was already running in the direction Jacob had told him to go. Jacob changed into a pair of pants and started following him just to make sure someone was looking after him. He kept just enough distance so he thought he was by himself. Then Nathan reached the spot Jacob had told him about, looked around, and then started digging at random. Thankfully, the waves had cleared Jacob's footprints so Nathan wouldn't get suspicious. Finally, after an hour of digging all over the area, he found the woven basket that was soaked and was nearly falling apart. He opened it and, just as Jacob had said, inside were several heavy pennies. Nathan picked up the basket and started running back to the village when he saw Jacob.

"Daddy, look! I found it!"

"I see that," Jacob smiled. "How about we go home and count it?"

"Yay!" Nathan cheered and followed Jacob back to the house. The two sat on the back porch together and counted out 200 pennies and Nathan was so excited. He was so excited, in fact, that he wanted to buy something with it. He was determined to. So Jacob went inside and went to the kitchen where Renesmee was preparing breakfast.

"Renesmee," Jacob said. "What can you buy with 200 pennies?"

"Is that how many were in your little treasure chest?" Renesmee smiled.

"That's what we counted," Jacob nodded.

"Well, I suppose they could buy candy. That's the only thing I can think they'd even want to buy. Just make sure Nathan doesn't get anything with nuts or milk. I don't want him or Natalie getting sick."

"I'll make sure," Jacob said. He looked at Natalie who was coloring at the breakfast table. Kevin and Kyle were at Embry's house. "You want to go get candy, Natalie?" Jacob asked.

"You mean like the hard candies grandma gives us?" Natalie asked with a bright smile.

"Exactly those," Jacob smiled.

"Mommy, can we?!" Natalie hopped to her feet standing on the chair and Renesmee laughed.

"Yes, honey, you can. But you can have two pieces of candy and that's it."

"Yay!" Natalie cheered and hopped down from the chair and ran to Jacob. "Daddy! Daddy! I want the fruit hard candy that tastes like grapes! Please say I can have a grape candy!"

"Whatever one you want, Natalie," Jacob smiled. Natalie jumped up and down with her arms upward until Jacob finally picked her up. "We'll be back soon."

"Remember, Jacob. They both only two each," Renesmee said before Jacob walked out. Nathan was sitting on the porch swing and leaped off when Jacob finally stepped outside with Natalie.

"Can we go now? Did mommy say it was okay?" Nathan asked, hopping up and down.

"Yes, your mother said it was fine. Let's get all the pennies back in that basket and we'll go into town."

Nathan put all the coins away just as Jacob had said and carried the basket to the end of the village when it was getting too heavy. So Jacob kneeled down and picked Nathan up into his other arm so he could rest the basket against Jacob's chest. With both kids in his arms, Jacob ran to the General Store, stopping just outside town so no one would see Jacob running. Then Jacob walked around to the front and ignored anyone staring at them. Jacob put the kids on the ground and they ran into the General Store ahead of Jacob. Hailey was at the counter assisting a woman buying string. She was a little stunned when she saw Jacob and the children.

"Mr. Dauer!" Nathan belted and tried to cut in front of the woman at the counter. Jacob grabbed Nathan's shoulder and pulled him back.

"Wait your turn, Nathan," Jacob said. The woman finished paying for her string and stepped back.

"What brings you here, Jacob?" Hailey asked. Nathan finally stepped forward and tried to reach the counter, but he couldn't quite reach it. The woman giggled suddenly and went to Nathan and picked him up so he could put the container of pennies on the counter.

"200 pennies worth of candies please!" Nathan said enthusiastically. Hailey stared at him.

"What?" Hailey said.

"200 pennies worth of candies please!" Nathan repeated.

"I want grape candy!" Natalie chimed in. Jacob patted Natalie's head. "Please," she corrected.

"Um," Hailey said as he stared at Nathan's expectant little smile. "Mitch!" Hailey yelled to the back and Mitch came forward.

"Oh, Jacob? What brings you here?" Mitch said.

"200 pennies worth of Candy please!" Nathan repeated again with just as much enthusiasm.

"Do we have that much?" Hailey said.

"I don't think we do," Mitch said. "I suppose I could let you buy what we do have, but that's certainly not very fair to the other children in town unless you plan to share that candy, young man," Mitch started saying sternly to Nathan.

"No, all mine!" Nathan said proudly.

"Renesmee said they can both have two," Jacob finally stepped in.

"That we can accommodate," Hailey said. "Your daughter said she wanted grape candy, right?"

"Yes!" Natalie smiled.

"But I brought 200 pennies," Nathan began to pout.

"I'll tell you what," Mitch smiled. "We'll give you and your sister four pieces of candy and we'll keep that between us." Nathan appeared to think about it.

"Six pieces," Nathan finally said and the woman started laughing.

"Goodness. Bartering are we?"

"How about 5 pieces?" Mitch said.

"6," Nathan said, crossing his arms and looking proud of himself.

"You drive a hard bargain," Mitch said. Then he went to one of the shelves and took down two large mason jars, one with grape hard candy like Natalie wanted and the other with cherry hard candy. Then he brought them to the counter. "How about I give you two jars of candy for 100 pennies?"

"Deal!" Nathan cheered and started reaching for the jars of candy.

"So much for just two," Jacob chuckled. The woman stepped forward again while Mitch counted out 100 pennies and handed Nathan his jars of candy.

"Now what do you say to Mr. Thompson, young man?" the woman asked.

"Thank you!" Nathan and Natalie both said. Natalie came over and grabbed the jar of grape candy from Nathan. Hailey smiled and reached under the counter and put some multi-colored candy into a little bag.

"How about I throw this in for another 4 pennies?" Hailey suggested to Nathan.

"It doesn't have nuts or milk in it does it?" Jacob asked.

"No, not at all. It's made from something called Anise, which is a star shaped spice."

"Is it tasty?" Nathan asked.

"Very," Hailey said with a small, slightly wicked smile, as he handed the little bag of candy to Nathan. Jacob was focused on Natalie, who was bouncing up and down with excitement for her candy and Mitch was counting the pennies until only 96 pennies remained.

"And there you go," Mitch said. "You're change. Now, tell me young man. You started with 200 pennies, or 2 dollars. Your total cost for your candy was 104 pennies, or one dollar and 4 cents. Can you tell me how many pennies you have left over?"

"Um," Nathan started thinking and tried counting. He started by counting on his fingers and they all waited for his answer. But the woman kneeled down to his ear and said, "You have 96 left over," and stood back up.

"96!"

"96 what?" Mitch said.

"96 cents!" Nathan said.

"Very good, young man," Mitch praised. "And no help from a single soul," he joked and laughed when Nathan held his head up proudly.

"You go ahead and keep the rest of the pennies," Jacob said. "I stole all those from Robert when I was a kid anyway."

"You-" Mitch started and sighed. "So you were stealing his pennies," Mitch sighed.

"Only for a little while until mom told me to stop."

"Well," Mitch was trying to think of any response. "Shame on you," he finally said.

"Thank you for all the candy. It made their day."

"Think nothing of it," Mitch said. "You children enjoy your candy."

"Okay!" Nathan and Natalie said in unison. Jacob left with them and when they were secreted in the trees, he picked up the kids and ran back to the house. All the kids were at his house when they returned and Nathan and Natalie ran into the house with their respective jars of candy as if doing a victory lap.

"Oh," Renesmee said when she saw them. "You bought some candy for everyone Nathan? That's so sweet of you."

"No," Nathan said defiantly, clutching his jar close.

"I told you that you could have two, Nathan. And that's a lot more than two."

"But mommy!" Nathan and Natalie cried.

"But nothing," Renesmee said. "Now you two share your candy with everyone," she continued sternly.

Nathan and Natalie pouted as they did as Renesmee told them and shared the candy with everyone. Thankfully for Natalie, only Jae and Rae favored grape candy. Not so lucky for Nathan, everyone else preferred the cherry candy and ate it eagerly. Nathan tried the candy Hailey had given him. He kept his repulsion for the candy rather secretive, however it was arguable one of the worst things he'd ever tasted. Then he looked at Natalie and had a mean idea. He handed one of the candies to Natalie professing that they were rainbow eggs and that if she ate one, a rainbow would appear. So Natalie took two and went to the back porch ready to watch a rainbow appear. Jae and Nathan followed her outside and Jacob followed after as well. But when Natalie put the candies in her mouth and bit down, she had a gag reflex and spit them out. She began crying while Nathan laughed.

"Natalie, what's the matter?" Jacob asked and went down to her level.

"Those candies were yucky!" Natalie cried. "Nathan said they were rainbow eggs, but a rainbow didn't appear at all," she continued and went to Jacob to hug him for comfort. Jacob looked at Nathan, who was still laughing.

"Nathan, apologize to your sister," Jacob said sternly.

"But dad, it was funny," Nathan continued.

"I said apologize to your sister," Jacob commanded again. So Nathan tried to stop laughing and hugged Natalie and said he was sorry through a giggle. Still mad, Natalie turned around, pushed Nathan so that he landed on his butt in the sand, screamed that he was a 'meany' and went back inside. Jae went to grab the candies on the ground that Natalie had spit out, but Jacob swatted his hand away telling him not to eat those.

Jacob tried one of the candies to see what had upset Natalie and he had the same reaction. They were horribly bitter and had a strange taste that he couldn't identify. Jae, however, tried the candies and professed that he quite liked them. But Jacob didn't let him continue to eat them until Renesmee assured him that, while gross, they were indeed a candy called 'Black Licorice'. Such a candy was usually an acquired taste. With that, Jae took the bag and started eating the rest of the bitter colorful candies. Everyone else tasted on, then found it vile and refused to eat anymore, which Jae was fine with. It meant more for him. But since Natalie was sad, he took the jar of grape candies and made sure Natalie was the only one who could eat them. Granted not terribly hard given the group preferences, but it was the thought that counted.

"I can't believe you gave those poor kids Black Licorice," Leah said to Hailey at dinner later that day. "You could have poisoned those poor kids."

"It wouldn't have poisoned them, Leah," Hailey chuckled. "It's just a gross candy."

"You made Natalie cry, Hailey," Leah teased.

"No, Nathan made her cry. I'm not the one that told her they were…..what did you say he said they were? 'Rainbow Eggs'? She shouldn't have believed him."

"Hailey, she's 2," Leah said. "You can't blame her for believing in something like that. Hell, I'll bet you believed in St. Nick when you were a child. A chubby man that went from home to home delivering presents to all the good girls and boys," Leah mocked.

"We don't joke about Father Christmas, Leah," Hailey said in a serious tone, but he was smiling. "You know, when I was a kid, my dad used to leave the tree empty of presents. And then when it was Christmas morning, Leslie and I would go downstairs and see presents suddenly under the tree."

"And let me guess. One year, you caught your mother kissing Father Christmas?" Leah teased.

"Of course not, Leah," Hailey continued to joke. "My mother would never kiss Father Christmas. She's a married woman." Leah laughed and ate a spoonful of her soup.

"You stupid ass," she laughed and bit into her bread.

"I take it your family didn't do much on Christmas when your parents were alive?"

"Not like that," Leah said. "Daddy wasn't much for Christmas. He said he never got to enjoy it when he was a boy." Hailey looked at her sadly. "Mom would get more into it than daddy did. But every Christmas, daddy would give me and Seth a toy. He never said it was Father Christmas or St. Nick. He just said they were our presents he'd gotten us."

"Nothing wrong with that," Hailey finally smiled. "Leslie was able to get her husband to do that. Putting the presents under the tree on Christmas morning I mean. It'd be wrong for him not to. Those two love to drink eggnog while watching the kids open their presents."

"I can't say I've ever had eggnog. Daddy wasn't drinking at that point and mother didn't eat things with dairy or eggs."

"Curious," Hailey said. "One of your cousins can't drink milk or something, right?"

"Nathan and Natalie are lactose intolerant I think was the term Carlisle said. I'm certain those two got it from Aunt Sara. My mother couldn't eat dairy because it made her stomach hurt."

"Did she have a peanut allergy and aversion to meat too?"

"To my memory, she was fine with nuts. Meat she would eat, but she said it made her feel bloated and heavy, so she didn't eat it very often. Mom had us living on mostly potatoes just like her family did and daddy was happy with it so long as he got to make bratwurst or leberwurst every now and then."

"Love that stuff," Hailey smiled. "My Grandma Dauer used to make the best leberwurst ever. I would spread that on toast with cucumber slices and I was a happy kid."

"I never cared for it. The taste was too strong," Leah said.

"Yeah, Leslie said the same thing. What she used to do is she would cover it with a fruit spread." Leah scrunched her nose.

"That's really gross," Leah said.

"Actually, it wasn't bad," Hailey laughed. "I tried it with a spread of cherry jam and it was actually quite nice."

"That's really, really gross," Leah said. Hailey chuckled. "Speaking of gross, Jae actually really liked those little poison candies you gave Nathan."

"Who?"

"Jae. The one that watched you fix a watch and snuck up on you?"

"Oh. That kid," Hailey said. "So he liked those did he?"

"Yes, he did," Leah smiled. "He asked me to tell you thank you for the candy."

"He's welcome, I guess," Hailey said.

"If you're willing to be nice, I'll take another bag to him tomorrow."

"No," Hailey said. "Dumb kid eating all my damn candy," he muttered and Leah just laughed. "What?"

"Nothing," Leah smiled and kept eating her dinner.

Natalie did eventually forgive Nathan for making her eat the gross candy, but only if he promised never to trick her again. Momentarily, Jae was convinced that a rainbow didn't appear because Natalie didn't actually eat the candy. So he stood outside eating piece after piece of candy waiting for a rainbow to appear. However, he did eventually give up after two days of effort producing no result. Rae sat outside with him the whole time he watched, coloring on paper while he stared.

A few months later when Christmas came around, Hailey finally got a letter from his mother begging him, not telling him but begging him, to come to see the family in Port Angeles. The only reason he agreed he would go is his mother ended the letter by saying, "Leah is welcome to come if she wishes". It'd only taken the woman three years. Leah happily agreed to go and three days before Christmas, Leah, Hailey and Mitch made the trip up to Port Angeles. Hailey still insisted he and Leah stay in a hotel just in case. Leah couldn't help but stare as they went through the busy streets. She'd never been outside Forks, so Port Angeles was overwhelming.

"What do you think?" Hailey asked as he and Leah went to their hotel room together to put away their things in the room.

"It's cozy."

"I meant the city," Hailey smiled.

"It's more people in one place than I've ever seen. It's a little too crowded I have to say."

"That's the beauty of it," Hailey smiled. "There are too many people in the city for anyone to give a shit what you're doing. To a point anyway. You still have the busybodies, but they're limited to their church group or circle of friends."

"I suppose that's true," Leah said. "I'm happy to get to see Leslie again. She's very nice."

"Yeah, she likes you," Hailey said. Once all their things were situated, he walked over to Leah and gave her a hug and kiss. "You ready to go to my mother's house?"

"Are you?" Leah asked right back with a reassuring smile.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he said. Leah smiled and hugged him reassuringly.

Before they left, Leah changed into a dress that Alice had lent her. It was the latest fashion, or so Alice claimed. As far as Leah could tell when she'd last had it on, its whole purpose was to suffocate her. It was a deep blue color to fit the season. She refused to wear a corset so Alice ensured the dress would fit her natural form properly. She refused to wear poufy sleeves, so they were flat. The neck of the dressed went half way up her neck and the sleeves went down to her wrists. She even had her hair braided and wrapped around as a bun the way she'd seen Claire do so many times. She stared at herself in the mirror after she put on the dress, feeling dreadfully uncomfortable. Hailey told her she looked beautiful and promised that he wouldn't mind in the least bit if she stripped down naked when they returned. Hailey gave Leah's butt a little pat as Leah laughed and they kissed before finally going downstairs to meet Mitch so they could leave. They arrived by that afternoon and Kathy answered the door. The first thing she did was look right at Leah. In truth, she was a little impressed the woman had evidently taken the time to put on proper clothing considering her short sleeved and simply immodest dress she'd been wearing when they first met. She invited them in and requested that Leah assist her with dinner. Mitch made Hailey go with him to the parlor room so the two could talk as Mitch assumed Kathy wanted to do. Leah helped prep some vegetables while Kathy removed a humongous bird out of the ice box and into a sink to thaw. Then turned to some stock she'd been making. They didn't talk at first. Rather than push, Leah did as she'd asked and just prepped. She'd not speak unless spoken to for the time being. Soon, she started prepping some pie dough that she'd made earlier but then she started staring at the dish. Leah kept quiet regardless.

"I don't think I ever asked how you and Hailey met," Kathy said rather suddenly. Leah was a little surprised, but answered.

"He came to the tribe with Mitch to trade Salmon for beef. He and I started arguing and I threw a baseball at his head. Then he threw the baseball at my back."

"Ah, yes," Kathy said. "That does sound like Hailey. How did you two start seeing one another? It was because he was fishing on your land, am I right?"

"Yes, I'd catch him fishing at this bluff in our territory. I kept threatening that I'd tell my cousin on him and have him forcefully removed. He kept calling my bluff and showing up anyway."

"Why did you never follow through with your threat?"

"If I'm being honest, it's because he started amusing me. I started to like being around him one way or another. The more I saw him, the more I liked him. I suppose you know how it goes from there."

"Did you always know? About him never wanting children?"

"He never hid it from me," Leah said. "He doesn't like kids, he tells me he's never wanted kids, and I supported his decision. At the time, it wasn't so much that I never wanted kids either more so that I just figured it was his life and he could do what he wanted with it. I'd said to him that he'd have a lot of explaining to do when he got married someday. I think he got a little offended because he asked me who he would marry." Leah smiled a little and even laughed. "I bet if you asked him, he'd claim he loved me from the start or something. At least, he loved me from the day he said, 'You're actually really pretty when you're not being a bitch,'" Leah said and giggled.

"That boy," Kathy mumbled harshly.

"He may have said when I'm not frowning," Leah was quick to change her wording. "Either way, that's when he started changing around me. He was nicer to me, he brought food, he invited me to sit down with him when he fished and he started teaching me German."

"He started teaching you German?" Kathy said.

"Yes," Leah nodded. "He would teach more and more words and sentences the more we saw each other and he started having me read my Oma's old bible and that book of German fairy tales."

"His father had left him that," Kathy said.

"He told me," Leah nodded. "I remember when I was little, my Oma had stayed with us for a time and she would read the bible to me and Seth every night before we went to bed. She got through it two full times. Then she passed away on our third read through. We had left off in Corinthians."

"You certainly have a good memory," Kathy said. "So your father was German I assume?"

My father was German, yes," Leah confirmed. "He would speak a little German to me and Seth. Mostly to me. But most of all, he wanted us to know English, so I only remembered bits and pieces of German. Hailey just reminded me of some and had me fluent before I knew it. Or close to fluent at least. He'll talk to me in German sometimes when he doesn't want Mitch to know what we're talking about," Leah smiled.

"Yes," Kathy sighed heavily. "He and his sister used to do that to me all the time when they were little. I'm pressed to recall a time when those two ever spoke English for any extended period. If I didn't know any better, I'd say English was that boy's second language and he was fresh off the boat from Berlin."

"My father was fresh of the boat," Leah said. "If I remember, it was Nuremburg." Leah was silent and she noticed Kathy suddenly look rather critical.

"What was your father like?" Kathy asked. Initially, Leah was quiet, but she did eventually answer.

"Daddy was a good man most of my life. He was a fisherman, so sometimes he'd be gone for a few days. But he always came home and hugged me and Seth first thing. Then he'd tell us his stories of all the fish he'd caught. He even took me with him on the boat once or twice. After we returned to shore, both times, he brought me with to the Inn in town and we'd all have dinner while I sat on his knee."

"Those sound like rather fond memories," Kathy said, somewhat harshly.

"They were," Leah agreed. "Most of my memories of daddy were fond ones. I loved my daddy."

"As I recall, you shot him, did you not?"

"Yes," Leah answered honestly after an awkward moment of silence.

"Whatever would possess you to do such a thing? And at such a young age?"

"It was either shoot him or let him kill me and Seth," Leah said.

"Surely you could have at least run away and ask for help," Kathy said.

"It didn't occur to me to do so," Leah said. "I just acted on instinct."

"Instinct you say?" Kathy said.

"Yes, Mrs. Dauer, instinct," Leah said. "I was scared and did the first thing I could think to do to defend myself. I grabbed daddy's gun, closed my eyes and pulled the trigger."

"I suppose you will say it was an accident then?" Kathy replied.

"It wasn't. I acted in self-defense. I was scared and didn't know what else to do."

"Surely you could have run away and called for help? It wouldn't have orphaned you and your brother at the very least." Kathy's condescending tone was palpable now and Leah finally decided she'd had enough.

"Listen, Mrs. Dauer, I realize you will probably think the worst of me no matter what I tell you, so I'll keep this brief. I loved my father. More than I think you can comprehend. I was close to him. Closer than I ever was with my mother. When he started drinking, he changed and I started being scared of him. I lost my father when he started drinking. That man wasn't my father anymore. I saw him strangle my mother to death in a fit of drunken rage because mother said she'd had enough and she was leaving him. My father, the man that raised me and that I looked up to, would have never done that. I know daddy would have never done any of that were he sober, but the fact of the matter is he wasn't. I don't know why he started drinking, but he did and it made him violent. And I had a choice to make that day: either let him kill me and my little brother, or kill him. Whether you think I did or not, I made the right decision that day. It was the hardest choice I've ever had to make and there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss my daddy, or wish I could have done something different or undone everything that happened. But I did what I had to so that Seth and I would live. And I sure as shit don't need your 'blessing' for it, your pity or your approval."

Kathy just stared at Leah after her speech. She was shocked that she'd been so blunt, shocked Leah had dared swear at her, and she was shocked by her nerve. No matter how mean Kathy's expression, Leah did not back down. She stood tall and kept her face stern no matter what. Kathy didn't say anything. The woman instead cleaned her hands and left the kitchen. She went right to the parlor room where Hailey and Mitch were, her hands on her hips and her expression mortified.

"Well, I hope you're proud of yourself, Hailey. You're married to a woman that swears at your mother."

"What happened?" Hailey said, trying not to sound annoyed and not ask what he wanted to, that being, 'what did you do'.

"I asked her how the two of you met, how the two of you started seeing one another, we talked about you teaching her German and she brought up her father."

"How so?" Hailey asked, raising an eyebrow. He found that rather hard to believe.

"I said you always act as though you're off the boat and she said her father was from Germany."

"Okay," Hailey said. "And how does this relate to Leah swearing at you?"

"I asked her to explain her actions," Kathy said.

"Excuse me?" Hailey said.

"You may be content to brush murdering her father under the rug, but I most certainly am not. I asked her to explain herself and she starts going on about how she made the right decision and she 'sure as shit' were her exact words, didn't need my approval or my pity!"

"Ah," Hailey said, putting down his water. He stepped out of his chair and left the living room. He ignored his mother and went right to the kitchen where Leah was. He noticed she was very still and that worried him. He glanced over his shoulder to check if they were alone and when he was sure they were, he walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you alright?" Hailey asked.

"I want to leave," Leah said through her sobs.

"Leah, I'm sorry about-"

"I said I want to leave," Leah cried more but made sure she didn't yell. She would not do this at his mother's house. She wanted to be alone. Or out of that vile woman's house at the very least.

"I'll tell them we're leaving," Hailey said and stepped to the parlor room. As he stepped closer, he overheard his uncle and mother.

"What in God's name is wrong with you!" Mitch whispered loudly. "That poor girl came here to try and help you work things out with Hailey and this is what you do? Even after your little screaming match with Hailey when you visited, Leah was in your corner ready to help at any time! How dare you do such a thing to her?"

"How dare I?" Kathy said. "That girl is married to my son! My little boy! I have a right to expect some answers out of that girl!"

"We already gave you all the answers you needed, Kathy! Now you go to that kitchen and you apologize to her this instant!"

"I most certainly will not! I have nothing to apologize for!" Kathy and Mitch continued to argue, but Hailey didn't want to talk to her. She'd figure out they left eventually. They were close enough to the hotel that he and Leah could walk back anyway. Leah would need the fresh air. So Hailey returned to the kitchen and led Leah out of the house. Mitch and Kathy didn't even notice the two of them leave.

Hailey held Leah close as they walked back. When they returned to the hotel and went to their room, Leah immediately pulled her braid out of a bun and desperately started trying to unbutton the dress she wore. She forced it off when she was able and stayed in the undergarments and laid her face in the pillow while lying in bed. Hailey sat on the edge and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Hailey asked.

"No," Leah whimpered. Hailey rubbed his thumb over Leah's shoulder a moment.

"I'm sorry about her," Hailey said. "I'll talk to Mitch and arrange for us to go back tomorrow."

"No," Leah sniffled and lifted her head from the pillow. "I won't ruin Mitch's holiday. We can stay. I just don't want to go back."

"We'll stay here, then," Hailey said reassuringly. Then he leaned down and started hugging her, resting his cheek on her head. "I'm so sorry. I would've never agreed to come if I'd known she'd speak to you that way."

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault," Leah whimpered. "I'd thought she'd accepted we were married," Leah said. "I thought she was only upset about us not having kids."

"I thought so too, but I suppose I was wrong." Hailey kissed Leah's neck. "I'll get us some food from downstairs. We can at least eat it for breakfast."

"Okay," Leah said. She was starting to calm down a little, but she was still really upset.

Hailey went downstairs and ordered some food from the restaurant at the hotel. As he waited for their food, Mitch stepped into the hotel looking like he was exhausted. He noticed Hailey sitting in the lobby and walked over to him. He sat down next to Hailey with a loud plop and leaned his head back as though he'd just run a marathon.

"Where's Leah?" Mitch asked.

"She's upstairs," Hailey said. "She was crying the whole way here. She finally stopped before I came down here to get some food." A moment passed of the two of them being silent before Mitch finally said something.

"I spoke to your mother. I've told her to apologize to Leah."

"I heard," Hailey said. "I recall her claiming she had nothing to apologize for."

"She did, but I was able to convince her that she was in the wrong and she said she's willing to apologize to Leah and try to be civil."

"Try to be civil?" Hailey asked with a hint of bitterness. "My wife is upstairs crying because mother called her a murderer. She'll need to do a lot better than 'try'. And that's assuming Leah would be willing to ever be in the same room with mother again, let alone talk to her. Leah's already said she won't go back to mother's house. We'll be staying here the rest of the trip just so you know."

"I had a feeling," Mitch sighed. "I didn't promise your mother you two would go. I just told her that, if you two do show up, that she'd better be on her best behavior."

"I'm not making Leah go over there again," Hailey said. "If mother wants to apologize to Leah or try to make things better, she'll get off her ass and come here herself."

"Hailey, watch your tongue," Mitch mumbled. "Leslie will be sad she missed you."

"She'll understand," Hailey sighed. "But for the record, I'll be sad I missed her too. Leah was really looking forward to seeing her."

"I know," Mitch said. A moment later, a young waiter came over to the lobby with the food Hailey ordered. He accepted it and stood up from the couch.

"Night, Mitch," Hailey said before walking away and going upstairs with his and Leah's food.

When Hailey returned, Leah was still in bed and wide awake. Hailey told her that he'd gotten to speak with Mitch downstairs and let her know what they discussed. Leah reiterated she didn't want to return to his mother's house and she would prefer not to have to speak to her. Not any time soon at least. Midday the following day, they got an unexpected and pleasant surprise visit from Leslie. Leslie and Leah had a pleasant reunion and apologized to one another for not getting to see each other sooner. Leslie also apologized about her mother, having heard from Mitch what happened, but Leah insisted she didn't want to talk about it anymore and would prefer to just catch up with Leslie. When Hailey went downstairs that day, it was brought to his attention that the hotel was having a little Christmas party for the members of staff that would be working through Christmas. Since he and Leah wouldn't be joining his mother for Christmas, Hailey decided he and Leah would have their own little Christmas.

Christmas morning the next day, Hailey and Leah spent the day together, just the two of them. Hailey waited until the party was set to start before mentioning it to Leah. Not wanting to be cooped up in the room all day, Leah got dressed in that blue dress Alice had given her and they went downstairs together and were pleased to see they were evidently not the only guests that were enjoying the staff party. A band was there playing Christmas music and there was a huge fire going in the communal lounge room with the fireplace where Hailey and Leah sat together on the couch before the fire drinking some eggnog and enjoying Christmas cookies laid out for everyone to enjoy. As the night wore on, Hailey went up to their room to retrieve their presents for one another and the two opened them together before the fire.

It wasn't much for either gift. Hailey gave Leah a new bracelet, this time made of silver, and Leah had managed to obtain for Hailey another pocket watch that was cooper and had it inscribed with an 'Ich liebe dich' on the inside. It was probably the most intimate Christmas she and Hailey had ever shared and, despite how it happened, she was happy she and Hailey got to do it. The following Monday, they made the trip back to Forks without having seen Hailey's mother again. Mitch said she was sad Hailey wasn't there and Hailey said the same thing he'd said before regarding the matter.

The General Store reopened that Tuesday when they returned. Because of the snow, Leah returned to using to horse to get to and from the village instead of the bike. The day before New Year's, people were swarming into the General Store for little necessities for their respective parties, although most were planning to go to the Inn for Debra's New Year's party. She boasted that there would be lots of food and drink and everyone was welcome to stay the night free of charge for the festivities. Mitch had confirmed he'd go, but Hailey and Leah would be going to the Cullens' family party they were throwing. Hailey was at the counter helping the Mayor's wife. Her husband had just been elected and she was eager to start proving herself and her husband to be worthy of office. Especially given that she was so young. She was only 24 while her husband was 45. She was buying lots of Fish that she would be proudly preparing herself for everyone to eat and candy to hand out to the children.

"That should do it, Mrs. Pierce," Hailey said.

"I do hope so," she said. "I don't suppose you will be going to Debra's little party are you?"

"Mitch is going," Hailey said. "Leah and I will be going to the Cullen house."

"How is Leah doing? I keep seeing her in passing but I don't think I've ever actually met her."

"She's doing alright," Hailey said. Then the door to the shop opened and Leah stepped in. Hailey smiled at first, but then he saw she was encumbered.

"Well, speak of the Devil," Mrs. Pierce said. "I was just asking Hailey about you."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I know you," Leah said politely.

"Oh, you're right. I'm so sorry for being rude. I'm Candice Pierce. My husband Bradley was just elected Mayor."

"Oh, yes, I recall talk of that going around town," Leah smiled. "I'm Leah Dauer, Hailey's wife."

"Yes, I've heard." Then she saw the little boy and Leah's side. "And I presume this handsome young man is your son?"

"Oh, no," Leah smiled kindly. "He's son to a family friend. Hailey and I won't be having children. I'm shocked you've not heard that story."

"Well, I don't think that ever came up when my husband was campaigning. You see, we came here from Port Angeles not long ago. When Bradley said he wanted to come here to run for Mayor, I told him he was insane. But he managed it. And I'm proud of him. But you two aren't having children?"

"No, we've chosen not to," Leah said. "I have more cousins and family friends than I know what to do with anyway," she laughed and looked at Jae. "Go ahead, Jae, say hello. Don't be so shy."

"Hello," Jae said shyly.

"Well, hello dear. Your name is Jae?" Jae nodded. "Well that's such a handsome name. What brings you here today."

"Leah said that I could have candy," Jae said.

"She did, now?" Mrs. Piece smiled. "Well, you're in luck dear, because I just bought loads of candy for the New Year's party. Would you like one?"

"Can I have the licorice candy?" Jae said and Mrs. Piece gave him a strange look.

"Licorice? I must say, I don't think I've ever met a little boy that likes licorice."

"He's the only one as far as I know," Leah smiled. "Hailey, the Cullens gave him 10 cents. How much can he get for that?"

"I'll get that weighed out for him," Hailey said and started getting some of the colorful licorice candies in a bag to weigh them. Mrs. Piece stood up and looked at Hailey.

"Go ahead and measure out 20 cents of candy please, Mr. Dauer," she said, then looked at Jae. "It's the holidays. Think of it as a late Christmas present."

"That's very nice of you, Mrs. Pierce," Leah said and looked at Jae. "What do we say, Jae?"

"Thank you," he said and went over to hug Mrs. Pierce. She nearly melted.

"Well, you're very welcome, young man," she said. She went into her little purse and pulled out 20 cents. "Just for that, make that 30 cents of candy," she said to Hailey. He signed and measured out more candy. Suddenly, Jae went around the counter where Hailey was and looked up at him. Then he pulled out the nickel he'd been given and held it up to Hailey.

"A nickel is 10 cents right mister?"

"Yeah," Hailey said and took the dime and put it on the counter. He finished measuring out the candy and once he was done, he tied the large bag of candy and handed it to Jae. "30 cents of candy," Hailey said and gave the bag of licorice.

"Thank you, mister," Jae smiled and hugged Hailey. He didn't jump this time, but he still began to gently swat him away.

"You're welcome," he said awkwardly and made Jae let go. He finally ran back around the counter to Leah.

"Look and all the candy I got!" Jae smiled and Leah smiled back.

"I see that," she smiled. "Now, you'd better make that last, okay?"

"I will," Jae nodded enthusiastically. Leah thanked Mrs. Pierce and Hailey and said goodbye to everyone and left.

"Well, he's just the sweetest little thing I think I've ever met," Mrs. Pierce smiled and looked at Mitch. "She said that was a family friend's child?"

"Yes," Mitch said. "Leah's father and I were good friends when he was alive and now that she's married my nephew, I've started becoming friends with the Quileutes. It's a little strange actually."

"Yes, I've heard many in town aren't fond of them," Mrs. Pierce agreed.

"It's tempering, though," Mitch said.

"So tell me, Mr. Dauer. Leah said you two aren't having children?"

"I don't want kids, so I've ensured that I can't," Hailey said.

"I was not aware one could do such a thing," Mrs. Pierce said. "Well, forgive my saying, but perhaps it's for the best. You seemed so uncomfortable when Jae was hugging you."

"I just don't like kids and that one seems determined to bother me," Hailey said and Mrs. Pierce laughed.

"Well, gracious, Mr. Dauer, don't be so mean to the boy." She returned to the counter and placed all her purchased items in her larger bag. "Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Dauer. And I look forward to seeing you at Debra's party, Mr. Thompson."

"Just Mitch, please, Mrs. Pierce."

"Then just Candice if you please, Mitch," Mrs. Pierce smiled and walked out of the store.

"Well, she's a lovely lady," Mitch said. "I'm surprised how young she is."

"You mean given that her husband's old as Moses?" Hailey asked.

"Watch your tongue, Hailey," Mitch said, but smiled a little. "I'll have to talk to her a little more tomorrow."

"I'm sure she'd be heartbroken if you didn't," Hailey said.

Back at the village, Jae showed off to all his siblings and friends the huge bag of candy he'd gotten. He'd eaten ten candies already by the time Caevia got to him and instructed him that he could have two after dinner until they were gone, but that was it. Although disappointed, Jae didn't argue. He did, however, sneak back into the kitchen at their house where Kyle told him Caevia had secreted them and put together a separate little bag and put a heaping handful of candies in it. Before Leah left that day, Jae ran to her with that bag and handed it to her asking her to give it to Hailey since he liked licorice. He'd even attached a little note to it on which he'd written in very sloppy, un-mastered handwriting written in blue pencil, saying Merry Christmas to Hailey. He was spelled, 'Mery Krismis,' but it was the thought that counted. Leah patted Jae on the head and promised she'd give it to Hailey.

She returned home before Hailey did, so she put the candies on Hailey's desk and went to making dinner. He came home a little later than usual, but he'd already warned her he probably would. The shop was always open late for people waiting until the last minute to get things they needed for New Year's. The little bag was the first thing he saw when he got home and he looked at it like an oddity. He read the note and saw it was terribly misspelled. Then he glanced inside and saw all the licorice candy.

"What's all this?" Hailey asked.

"Jae asked me to give that to you as a Christmas present. He wrote the note all by himself."

"I can tell," Hailey sighed. "The kid just doesn't quit does he?" Leah walked over and hugged Hailey, kissing his neck.

"Maybe like me he knows that deep down, deep, deep, deep down, you're not so bad," Leah teased.

"Damn it," Hailey sighed heavily. "You know, that Pierce woman you'd met today called Jae, "the sweetest little thing she thinks she's ever met'," Hailey said. "That stupid kid's infectious."

"It's okay to admit that you think he's a good kid, Hailey," Leah teased.

"I'm not saying he's not. I just don't understand why this kid's so fascinated with me."

"I'm sure I haven't the slightest idea, Hailey, but for some reason he is. Maybe you should give him a little present as a thank you for this candy. Do you think you can get back into the General Store and get a toy?"

"No," Hailey said and looked at all his pocket watches. He found one that was a little older that he'd had a while. It wasn't the one with the Iron Cross. Certainly not. He'd sooner part with his right hand than part with that. Instead, he singled out a watch he'd gotten from his father when he was 10. The face was standard, but the case of it was made out of wood and was carved with his family name: Dauer. "He can have this I guess."

"Well, that's very sweet of you," Leah said and kissed his neck again. "I think he'll love it."

"He'll probably lose it or ruin it," Hailey said grumpily.

"No," Leah said. "Just because you gave it to him, he'll love it." Hailey harrumphed and opened the watch and realized it wasn't ticking. He'd need to fix it.

"I'll get this fixed really quick." Hailey sat down at his desk and opened the watch to look inside. It just needed to be cleaned. So Hailey got the inside cleaned up and worked to ensure it would start working properly and then closed it once he was done. He corrected the time and had it ready in no time. He had it wrapped up in some brown paper and wrote 'Jay' on it. "There. I did something nice," Hailey said, placing the package on the kitchen table. Leah looked at it and laughed under her breath.

"J-A-E," Leah said.

"What?"

"His name is spelled J-A-E," Leah repeated. "Do you have some more paper to rewrap it?" Rather than answer, he went back to his desk, scribbled out what he'd written and just wrote 'Boy' on it instead.

"That should be fine," Hailey said. Leah just sighed.

The next morning, they left together and arrived at the Cullens' home around ten to help with some things. People were still being brought to the Cullen house in droves, so it wasn't quite packed yet. He did notice the kids playing in the corner, Jae being among them, and just stayed close to Leah. He could give the boy his present when Jae saw fit to assault him. Later in the morning, Rosalie and Alice were leading the kids in French Christmas songs they'd been practicing. Albeit it was past Christmas, but no reason not to make French lessons fun for the remainder of the year. It was also around that time that Jacob and Renesmee finally came to the house together. At the time, Hailey was sitting with the Cullens in the music room while Claire played the violin.

"I heard about what happened," Jacob said to Hailey suddenly and made Hailey jump.

"God damn it, why do you people keep sneaking up on me?" Hailey said. "Once of these days you'll give me a God damn heart attack."

"I'm sure," Jacob said. "Now about what happened."

"Before you say anything, Mitch spoke to my mother and made sure it was clear that she was out of line. Regardless, I promised Leah that I'd never put her in that situation again. I was under the impression that mother had finally accepted our marriage and my decision, but she hasn't and I'll not let her speak to Leah that way again."

"You're damn right you won't," Jacob muttered. "She was really upset about that."

"I know she was, and I've told her that if mother wants to make things better, than she needs to come here and apologize to Leah. Until then, I'll not take Leah to Port Angeles for anything family related again."

"Good," Jacob said. "Glad we understand each other."

"Leah hadn't said she'd told you guys about all that," Hailey said. In fact, Leah had not. Jacob found out about it because Kyle told him.

"She…told my mom," Jacob lied. "And mom told me."

"I see," Hailey said. "Like I said, it won't happen again."

"Good," Jacob said, ending the conversation with that.

After singing with Rosalie and Alice most of the morning, all the children went outside to play in the snow. Embry's and Jacob's kids had all spent most of yesterday building snowmen and now all the kids were pushing the snowmen down so they had more snow to play in. They started throwing snowballs at each other and Edward and Emmett sat outside with the kids to make sure no one played unfairly or got too rough as Embry Jr. and Kevin were prone to doing. Eventually, it got to be far too cold and the children were told to come inside with the promise of hot chocolate. Not wanting Natalie or Nathan to be left out of the festivities, Esme discovered how to make rice from milk, so she used that to heat up for all the children's hot chocolate. She even added a little cinnamon to Nathan's cup because he liked his hot chocolate to be a little spicy. The adults had some as well.

"She used what?" Hailey asked after tasting it and thinking it was thinner than it was supposed to be.

"Rice milk," Leah said. "Nathan and Natalie get really sick if they eat dairy and Natalie's allergic to nuts, so any nut milk are out of the question, so Esme makes them milk from rice. It's actually quite interesting. She'll blend it entirely by hand, run it through a cheese cloth so there's no solids left and adds a little sugar and vanilla to make it sweet. Nathan and Natalie absolutely love it. It's a little thinner than real milk, but it's a good alternative for them."

"Interesting," Hailey said. He took another sip and shrugged. "It'll do, I suppose."

"Actually, Esme even makes cream sauces out of cauliflower so Nathan and Natalie aren't left out when she makes casseroles."

"She's an awfully generous…what is she exactly?" Hailey asked, realizing he had no idea.

"She's their great aunt," Leah said, but then she stopped. "Wait. Actually I think she's their cousin? I can't remember if Carlisle is Edward's uncle or cousin."

"Okay, I'm asking you seriously, how old are those two?" Hailey whispered to Leah. "Edward said Renesmee's 28 right? Or is she 29 by now? Either way, that would mean Edward can't possibly be a day younger than 49. He should be 50 and yet he looks as though he's the same age as his daughter!"

"They've aged well, Hailey. I don't know what to tell you," Leah said awkwardly.

"Leah, my sister is 'aging well'. The Cullens aren't aging at all. There's no way they could all be staying the same this long and look the same age. Something's just not right."

"Busybody, Hailey," Leah said, trying to smile and sound cute to calm him down.

"Weird, Leah," Hailey said back and returned to his drink. Jae had his drink with Nathan, Natalie and Rae and they all finished around the same time. When they brought their mugs to the kitchen, Jae finally realized Hailey was there and went over to him after his mug was in the sink to be cleaned.

"Happy New Year, mister," Jae smiled and pulled himself onto the couch next to Hailey.

"Happy New Year, boy," Hailey said. He reached into his pocket and handed Jae the watch wrapped in paper. "You can have that. It's in exchange for those candies you gave me yesterday." Leah started giggling a little at Hailey's apparent refusal to call the item a 'gift'.

"You got me a present?" Jae practically cheered.

"I didn't say it was a present, I said it was in exchange for the candy. This is a business arrangement." Leah kept her lips on her mug as she forced herself not to laugh.

"Can I open it?"

"Go ahead," Hailey said. Before he even finished speaking, Jae started tearing at the paper and pulled out the pocket watch.

"What does that say?" Jae asked when he realized something was carved into the cover of the watch.

"Dauer," Hailey said. "It's my last name."

"I can't take it if your names on it," Jae said innocently. So Hailey took the little knife off the table, took the watch and opened it and looked like he was carving on the inside of the watch cover. He literally put Jae's name on it. He even remembered to spell it correctly.

"Now your name's on it," Hailey said, handing it back. Jae looked where Hailey pointed and saw his name and became very excited. Then he hugged Hailey suddenly, chanting thank you over and over before hopping off the couch to go show everyone the watch Hailey had given him and that it even had his name on it. Leah was still snickering into her cup. "What's so funny?"

"That was just awfully sweet of you is all," Leah said. "I told you he'd love it."

"Yeah, yeah," Hailey said and drank more of his chocolate. A little while later, Embry walked over to Hailey with his arms crossed and a rather odd smile.

"Jae loves that thing you gave him," Embry said.

"Well, he gave me candy," Hailey said.

"Yes, Jae did mention it was a 'business arrangement' if I recall he says you'd told him. He's bragging that he got to do a 'grown up' thing. Thanks for that. It really made his day."

"Just make sure he takes care of that watch," Hailey said.

When midnight approached later that day, everyone gathered around the Cullens' large grandfather clock to count down. Jae, on the other hand, stared at the watch with Rae, Sharisa, Nathan and Natalie and they all counted down at the same time as everyone else. Once it was officially the New Year, just as she'd done last year, Claire hugged Quil and told him she loved him. He said he loved her too, yet, just as last time, it was platonic. The following night, Embry and Jacob didn't tease him like they had last year. Claire would be 14 in the spring. It was becoming impossible to ignore that she was getting older and Quil would have to start treading very, very delicately. He was certainly not the first wolf to imprint on a child and he would certainly not be the last. But there was never a 'how to' regarding how to address the matter. When Claire was little, it was simple: keep an eye on her, keep her out of trouble, give her just enough space to grow up and be her best friend. Now? She had a crush on him. Not like when she was really little and she'd told him that she loved him because he was her best friend. He knew it was turning into more than 'best friends' and it was making him nervous, if only because he wasn't sure how he would handle this during that awkward time he knew was coming when he simply didn't love her like that.

However, with the New Year came a much bigger problem. Obviously, the Cullen overheard everything Hailey had said to Leah. Sure, he'd been suspicious previously, but it was getting out of hand now. They'd known it was coming, but this time was significantly more difficult. Before, when they knew they had to leave, it was easy. Just pick up their things and go somewhere else. It wasn't so simple as that anymore. They couldn't take Renesmee. Edward and Bella would have to leave their grandchildren. They simply couldn't take Renesmee or her new family with them. It just wasn't an option. It was a difficult decision, but whether they liked it or not, they knew it was long overdue.

"Claire, I need to talk to you," Bella said to Claire one day in January during their music lesson.

"What's the matter, Auntie?" Claire asked. Bella smiled at Claire a moment, but sighed.

"I'm afraid we'll have to leave soon."

"Leave?" Claire asked.

"We'll have to move," Bella repeated. "The people in town are growing suspicious. We just don't look as old as we're claiming we are and people are starting to ask questions."

"Oh," Claire said sadly. "Where are you going?"

"Carlisle wants to move in with our cousins in the Alaskan territory. We haven't seen them in so many years and the isolation will be a nice little vacation for us."

"Will you come back?" Claire asked.

"Eventually," Bella said. "It was pleasant living here. But until then, we'll certainly visit," Bella reassured.

"But what about our schooling?" Claire asked.

"Renesmee will be taking that over," Bella said. "With the exception of some changes to the history books, she learned everything that we're now teaching all of you. She's fluent in French, she's very good with math and science, she loves reading, and since she's the one teaching the written Quileute language to you, it makes sense for her to take over the other schooling. But I don't want you to worry about a thing, Claire. Just because we won't be living here anymore does not mean we won't be frequent visitors. We will be here every Christmas, every New Year's, every Easter, and every summer. It'll be as though we never left. It's just the people of Forks won't be seeing us anymore. That includes Mr. Dauer," Bella clarified.

"Why can't we tell him? He's understanding enough. He won't tell anyone."

"It's not a matter of whether or not he'll tell anyone, dear. There are rules that need to be abided by in our world. Humans are not to know about us. You and your people are a very rare exception that was only made because our daughter married into the tribe and we wanted to be a part of her life and our grandchildren's lives."

"Does Renesmee know?" Claire asked.

"We've told her and Jacob, yes. We've not told the grandchildren yet. I'm putting that off as long as I can. I don't want them upset over it for so long."

"But you'll come back a lot, right?" Claire asked. "This won't be so much as you going away as just being on vacation sometimes?" Bella chuckled and hugged Claire.

"Exactly that," Bella said. "Having said all that, I fully expect you to continue practicing."

"I will, Bella," Claire smiled. "You have to be here when I get married at least."

"I wouldn't miss your wedding for the world, Claire. But we have time before we need to worry about such a thing." She noticed Claire blush and heard her heart rate increase. "Are you alright?"

"I don't want to wait so long," Claire said. "You know Quil imprinted on me, right?"

"Of course," Bella nodded.

"So that means he loves me. As soon as I'm old enough, I want us to get married. I know he's being shy now because I'm too young, but soon I won't be. And when I'm not, he and I will get married."

"Just try not to rush things, Claire," Bella said. "I know marriage sounds like an exciting milestone and it is when you're marrying someone you love. But marriage has its challenges, especially once children are entered into the relationship. Even when you're madly in love, such things present complications and being too young never helps those challenges. I know you're excited, but try to wait until you're older. Do you promise me, dear?"

"But I don't want to wait," Claire insisted.

"I know, Claire, but you need to. You're too young to get married right now."

"I know girls in the tribe who've gotten married at my age. Why is that so strange?"

"I'm not concerned with other women in your tribe, dear. I'm concerned about you. And I want you to let yourself grow up some more before you start worrying about something as big as marriage." Claire kept looking defiant for a moment, but eventually sighed and let her head fall.

"How old were you when you and Edward got married?"

"I was 18, a month before by birthday. By the time I had Renesmee, I was 19. Mind you, that was in a span of mere weeks. Obviously, you and Quil will not face such an unusual circumstance, but you two will start having children shortly after you marry. And while I know it's not terribly uncommon, there's something unpleasant about having a child when you're still a child yourself. Let yourself grow up, Claire. You two can get married after that."

"Okay," Claire said.

"Thank you, Claire," Bella said. Then she gave Claire a kiss on the head and they returned to their lesson.

A few weeks passed following that incident. It wasn't until late February when they finally got word from the Denalis confirming they were more than welcome to come stay with them for a few decades or however long they wanted. As Bella said, they would return to Forks regularly to be with the family. The Denalis even confirmed they would become frequent visitors. The Cullen house would remain exactly the same. As they already were, the tribe would be able to come and go from the house as they pleased. They would, of course, come back frequently. Edward insisted it would be like they weren't even gone. They didn't leave until March and before they left, they had the tribe at their house for Easter. All the kids got to search through the backyard for candy filled Easter eggs. Two egg colors, purple and yellow, were specifically for Natalie and Jae. The yellow eggs had the licorice candies for Jae and the grape hard candies in the purple eggs for Natalie.

"So they're leaving?" Hailey said while he and Leah were getting their horse comfortable in the stable when they arrived.

"Yes," Leah said. "They're going to be with family in the Alaskan territory."

"Alaska? What the fuck are they going to Alaska for? There's nothing up there."

"They have family," Leah said.

"I guess," Hailey sighed heavily. "They weird, Leah."

"I know," Leah said. "Just try to drop it, Hailey."

"Fine," he said.