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.

156. Chapter 156

Chapter 156

The tribe celebrating well into the night and the next day both as an inauguration of the new chief and the return of the guardian falcon to the oasis; more appropriately Yvonne's freedom from the oasis. Amidst the celebration, Owota pulled Salem aside taking him back to his home and to his little medical room so they could talk.

"Never let it be said I'm not a man of my word," Owota started once they were in his medical room. "I'm not sure how you did it, but my daughter is freed from the spirits of the oasis. As such, you have my blessing to marry her. I only ask you follow expected procedure and present Yvonne with an acceptable bracelet and I will also ask that you have a Tistilal ceremony."

"Thank you, Owota. I will make her a bracelet right away. My tribe requires a moon ceremony. Do the Tistilal do the same?"

"Yes, we have a moon ceremony," he answered. "I will tell you both the night you are to marry. That is assuming Yvonne accepts your proposal. I assume you will be taking her to Washington?"

"Yes, if she will accept."

"I see," Owota said. "You will come to visit?"

"Of course," Salem said. "Once I've given her a bracelet and if she says yes, we'll come to you for a moon ceremony."

"She will say yes," Owota said. "I can assure you of that."

"I hope so," Salem smiled, "And thank you, Owota."

"Thank you, Salem," Owota answered.

It was two days before the celebrating died down and things had to return to normal. Oliver's first act as chief was to officially name their slave class as 'Tistilal '. It would be a long transition from what was centuries of standard procedure, but it was a step in the right direction. However it was a very tiny step. There was something far more important that had been on Oliver's mind that he wanted to accomplish. When he was able, Oliver requested Jacob to come see him so they could talk privately. He'd not moved his family into Barka's home; he had no intention too. However it seemed natural to change its purpose to business related. So the two of them met at Barka's home.

"How does it feel to be chief?" Jacob asked Oliver.

"Strange," Oliver admitted, "but I'm growing used to it. There's so much I want to do and accomplish that I almost didn't know where to start. Though one of those projects involves you and the Quileute."

"How so?"

"It is my understanding your tribe has a very good system of education in place?"

"My wife has done wonders in that regard, yes," Jacob said. "My granddaughter Nesia and my grandson Birdie are both teachers at the school."

"Yes, I had heard," Oliver said. "While we provide our children an education, it is a far cry from what your tribe has available and can offer. It is my hope that perhaps we could send some of our children to Washington for higher education. Specifically some of our younger children and perhaps a few of our teenagers. They can bring back what they've learned and we can build a better quality system of education from there; make it possible for our younger generation to have better lives. In the long run, I think it would bring greater productivity to our tribe."

"I assume your children would be included in this program?"

"Yes," Oliver said. "My youngest are 13, 10 and 6. My wife is not comfortable sending our youngest, but I think the others are of acceptable age."

"I think it's a fantastic idea," Jacob said. "I will speak with my wife and her family and see what we can work out. We can build appropriate lodging for the children and ensure they're looked after. Do you know how many will be sent?"

"Including my children?" Oliver asked. "Right now, there are 50 children that have been approved assuming that you are agreeable to the arrangement. If we have your confirmation that our children are welcome, I would like to send more."

"In that case, we'll need time to prepare," Jacob said. "I'll tell you what: let me speak with my wife and her family and see if it's possible to arrange for the children to start this fall. Would the parents be comfortable with that?"

"That will be fine; preferred in fact," Oliver said. "I will spread the word that our children are welcome and I will gather as many as possible. Is there a maximum you can allow?"

"I think 100 would be the maximum, but I'll talk to Renesmee and verify with her," Jacob said.

"Great," Oliver smiled, a sense of relief washing over him. "When do you think you'll know for sure?"

"I'll drive into the city and call home and have an answer for you by tomorrow," Jacob said.

"That's perfect. Thank you. I appreciate this. I don't know if we can pay you but-"

"Think nothing of it," Jacob said. "Should it be necessary, the older kids can find after-school work but for now, you let us worry about the cost."

"Thank you, Jacob. This really means the world to me," Oliver said. "I guess the next thing we should talk about is an alliance. An official one I mean."

"Yes, we should map out a proper treaty," Jacob said. "For that, I would like my eldest present. While I'm in the city, I'll get some materials so we can have everything in writing. It'll be to our mutual benefit."

"We can have Oscar and Owen present….I guess my eldest should be included too," Oliver said.

"We'll include Owota for good measure," Jacob said. "We'll reconvene tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow," Oliver smiled.

They parted ways and Jacob requested Oscar to allow him to use his car to go into the city. A small group was permitted to join him including Kevin, Kyle and Nathan at which point he filled them in on the discussion he'd had with Oliver. When they arrived, Jacob waited after those that joined him to finish calling home and then asked someone to go into town to get some paper and pens. Jacob spoke with Renesmee at length with Edward listening and contributing input of what was and was not possible. Renesmee agreed that 100 new children would be the absolute max. They discussed to logistics of how they'd get the kids to Washington, what accommodations could be made, how the children would be integrated into the community while also taking into account the special needs given they were teaching the children from the ground up and so on. As Jacob suspected, it was going to be an extremely touch and go process but Renesmee agreed it would be worth it. Since they would need to start right away, Jacob requested that Embry Jr., Anatoli, Bayaq and Taraq leave for Washington the next day so they could get a head start on the upcoming project, though they'd leave after Jacob and Oliver had a chance to talk. Anatoli and Embry Jr. stayed at Oscar's apartment for the night while Bayaq and Taraq returned to the tribe with Jacob. Bayaq stayed with Takara and Genevieve so he could spend as much time with Cidelle as he possible could before he left the next day. Taraq remained at Owota's house with the others but he asked Cidelle to do him an enormous favor and relay a message to Uilette. That night while most of the tribe were enjoying dinner, Taraq went to the usual place on the outskirts of the tribe where he and Uilette had met so many times before. He waited for quite a while but eventually Uilette appeared.

"Cidelle said you had wanted to talk to me," Uilette said.

"Yeah, I did," Taraq said. "My brothers and I are leaving tomorrow to get a head start on some work that needs to be done. I wanted a chance to see you."

"You're coming back for the weddings right?"

"Yeah," Taraq said. "About what happened…" He found he couldn't finish. He didn't regret what happened at all. If anything, he regretted the pain of nothing coming of it. Uilette seemed like she didn't know what to say either. "Uilette-"

"I don't want things to end badly," Uilette said and then was beginning to tear up but doing her best not to show it.

"Neither do I," Taraq said and came a little closer to her. "I don't know what else to say except that I love you."

"I love you too," Uilette admitted, "But I want to save my marriage."

"Do you still love him?"

"Of course I do," Uilette said, but she wasn't looking at him. Taraq came closer and gently guided her with his hand on her chin so she was looking at him. She kept averting her eyes, though.

"Does he make you happy?"

"We were happy," Uilette said. "I want to be happy again." Taraq almost argued that they could by happy together if she would just let him, but he knew it was futile and released her chin. He felt so disheartened, yet he wasn't even sure why he'd expected any different.

"I'm sorry for troubling you. I should get some sleep so I'll see you when we come back for the weddings."

"Taraq," Uilette said as he was about to turn.

The look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. He didn't want to argue with her. It was their last day together for a long time. He went to her and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She fell into the kiss with passion and they stayed like that for quite some time. Her hands dipped into the back of his shirt to touch his back and in response, Taraq lifted the hem of her dress so he could touch her bare legs. Then he pressed her against the wall of the house they were standing beside and lifted her leg so it was wrapped around his hip. She ran her fingers laced into his short hair while they kissed and she moaned from the feel of his growing erection at her belly. There was no rush this time around; just a slow dance of tongues and being together. Taraq began to move against her and lifted her up so he was nestled between her legs so she could feel him where she needed him most.

"Just one more time, Uilette," Taraq pleaded after pulling his lips away. "I'll let you go, but please be with me one more time. I'll never ask again; just once more." Uilette answered by nodding and kissing him again. They made love against that house just as they'd done before and since he'd accepted this could never happen again, he made sure it lasted. Anything he could do to ensure their love making lasted as long as possible, he did. When it was over, it felt like his heart was breaking. So was hers.

The following day, his sons at his side, Jacob and Oliver reconvened to discuss the particulars of the exchange program as well as an official alliance with Oliver's brothers, Owota and Oliver's eldest son Nazda present.

"Should we start with the children that are being sent to Washington?" Jacob asked when they'd all greeted each other.

"Yes," Oliver said.

"Before we get too far into it," Kevin said, "how many of the children only speak Tistilal ?"

"All of them," Oliver said.

"We'll need to let mom know to include that into the curriculum," Kevin said and Jacob nodded.

"That won't be a problem will it?" Oliver asked.

"No, we'll make it work," Jacob said. "Tistilal and Quileute are similar enough that I'm not worried about a language barrier among the tribe. They will need to learn English, though. We'll take care of that."

"Given the tribe's location, it may do them good to learn Spanish too," Nathan said.

"Let's get them walking before we ask them to run," Jacob said.

"How many do you think you can accept?"

"My wife agreed 100 would be the absolute max. Edward is already gathering everyone he needs and they're returning to Washington today so we can begin construction on a dormitory. We can separate the accommodations appropriately once we know how many boys and girls we're getting."

"We are sending daughters?" Nazda asked Oliver.

"We teach our sons and daughters equally; we will offer the same for your sons and daughters," Jacob said.

"So far, we only have sons approved," Oliver said, "but we can extend the approval to daughters, though I suspect you will have more boys than girls."

"Should we have separate dormitories?" Kevin suggested.

"Given the space we have available, I don't think we should. We can ensure chaperones are present and keep everyone in line," Jacob said. "How do we make sure we can get in contact with you should any issues arise? We can have Oscar as our immediate contact for now but I think it would be a good idea to get phone service out here so that parents can be notified immediately in the event of an emergency."

"I'll look into it," Oscar said. "We really do need to get phones here especially if we're going to be sending children across the country."

"It would be better if the kids could call home often as well. Once a month at minimum," Jacob said. "This is likely to be a really hard transition for everyone involved so we need to make this as easy on everyone as possible."

"I agree," Nazda said. "How long will our kids be with the Quileutes?"

"Typically the school system begins at age six and ends at age 18," Jacob said.

"So we're looking at the kids being away for years," Nazda muttered. "I don't know how I feel about that."

"We can work something out where they return during the summer at least. Maybe long holidays too. Given the circumstances, Renesmee can create a curriculum that will cater to any visitation needs you ask," Jacob said. "Summer vacation is a given. Perhaps an elongated winter vacation could be arranged as well. Our kids usually have 2 months in the summer and two weeks in winter."

"I would say that's fair," Oliver said. "So they aren't being sent away and we won't see them for years. We'll still see them."

"Alright," Nazda said.

"I should mention," Kyle spoke up, "This will give them a high school education. If they wish to pursue a college degree, that will be different and they would need to pay their own way in that regard. We do not have a college level education to offer that would be accompanied with the appropriate degrees. So if someone among your children wishes to pursue higher education, they would need to apply to college. So long as they are able to earn money for themselves, they can pay for that portion of their education."

"I see," Oliver said, "Those that wish for such things will need to cross that bridge when they get there."

"We will ensure they know it is an option available to them and they can make a decision when the time comes," Jacob said.

"They will need legal documentation, though," Kevin pointed out.

"You mean like Social Security and licenses?" Owen asked.

"And birth certificates," Kevin continued. "Basically, we'll need to ensure the kids are recognized as legal American citizens. Given they were all born here, they're already American Citizens by default, but we need to procure the appropriate documentation for them. We'll take care of that for them."

"Anything that's necessary," Oliver agreed and looked at Owen. "You still intend to leave?"

"Yes, but I'll come back to visit," Owen said.

"And Travis is moving to Phoenix to live with me," Oscar said.

"Does your tribe have any crafts that our children can train in?" Nazda asked.

"Absolutely," Jacob said. "I build furniture as a side business and Embry Jr. owns a contracting business. We can encourage some of the kids to pursue these crafts while under our care."

"Yes, please do," Oliver agreed.

"Any way that we can ensure the Tistilal can become integrated into the economy and have some money coming in, we'll do it," Kevin said. "It may take a few years but we're off to a good start."

"Indeed," Oliver said. "When is the soonest we can send our children?"

"I'll make sure they can start in the fall," Jacob said. "I'll keep in contact with Oscar and when everything's ready, we'll make the arrangements to have the kids brought to Washington. Given how many kids are coming, we may have to rely on ground travel but we'll work everything out."

"Thank you," Oliver said. "So unless anyone has anything to add, I think we should move on to the treaty."

"Anyone else have anything to add?" Jacob asked, but they shook their heads. "Alright. We'll come back to this if necessary, but for now we'll move on." Kevin retrieved the blank paper and pens prepared to transcribe everything. "Let me start by saying this exchange program will be a part of the treaty and we'll keep this available for as long as needed."

"Included," Kevin said, already writing that down as a note. "I don't think land is of concern."

"Agreed," Jacob said.

"Agreed," Oliver said. "Salem and Nesia are your grandchildren, yes?"

"Correct," Jacob said.

"I have given Salem my blessing to marry Yvonne," Owota spoke up, "and unless there union is not approved, Owen will wed Nesia."

"When the time comes," Owen said, "Not yet, though."

"And why not yet?" Nathan asked.

"Do you really want your niece married to a deadbeat?" Owen asked. "I assure you I love her but I do not want to stay here. I want to have a life of my own. I can't in good conscience allow myself to be reliant on Nesia. She's not my caretaker and she is not responsible for me; I won't ask her to be. She's already teaching me to read so that will give me the skills I need to get on my feet."

"Owen wishes to have his independence before there's any talk of marrying Nesia," Oscar spoke up on Owen's behalf.

"I can understand that," Nathan said, "I'm only concerned how long this will take. I'm not so much worried about the treaty as I am about Nesia."

"I can't pretend it will happen quickly, but I can promise I will work towards independence as quickly as I possibly can," Owen said.

"That's fair," Jacob said. "Given those sets of circumstances, marriage being added to the treaty isn't necessary in my opinion."

"We have plenty that will marry right away and that will strengthen our bond," Kyle said, "not to mention the kids receiving schooling will build a good relationship with the Tistilal as well."

"I agree," Kevin said. "We should arrange for trade among us as well. We have salmon, deer and other meets and furs, father's wood crafts; I'm sure I'm missing some things, but that's a start."

"We can offer our own crafts in exchange for Jacob's. We can trade scorpions and rattle snake meat, snake skins, chilies and beans," Oliver said.

"We can also look into selling Tistilal items in the General Store or in the city," Nathan suggested.

"We'll try that," Jacob agreed and Kevin continued writing everything down. "Obviously this will also include mutual military support."

"Of course," Oliver agreed.

They took a night to sleep on it and think things over to make sure nothing was forgotten or missed and Kevin wrote out the final draft that they all signed. Given the shift in power that led to a much better relationship among the leadership of the tribe, any talk of marriage between Blu Jae and Desarae was postponed so as to adhere to requirements. The same applied to the others. A bracelet was expected to be presented, fathers needed to approve and only once that was done would there be a wedding. Of the Tistilal , Owen was the only one that was leaving for Washington right away. In the final days they would be in Arizona, the involved parties were inseparable. Bayaq and Cidelle spent nearly every waking moment together with either Takara or one of Cidelle's brothers always close by. Blu Jae and Desarae enjoyed their remaining time together and talked about when the Quileutes (not nearly so many) would return to proceed with the exchange program. Desarae wanted to marry among the Tistilal and Blu Jae was happy to oblige. Having her sight back, Yvonne took Salem all over the desert staying close to the tribe just taking everything in but Salem's first gift was to take her into Phoenix.

"Everything looks so big," she said as they entered the city and she stared at the buildings.

"It's definitely a bigger city than Forks," Salem said. "I live in Port Angeles, though. That's where my business is."

"I can't wait to see it," Yvonne said. "How long can we stay in the city?"

"I promised Owota we'd return by tomorrow," Salem said. "What do you want to do first?"

"I don't know," Yvonne said as she watched the city go by while Salem drove.

"I think I know the first place we can go," Salem smiled. It took him a while to find a record store but when he did, he drove into the parking lot and they went inside together.

"Where are we?"

"We're at a Record Store," Salem smiled. "I believe I promised I'd buy you a Record Player." Salem guided Yvonne through the store to the section where there was a large display of record players for sale. There were several on display from home consoles to portable record players that could fold like a briefcase to carry around. "Pick whichever one you want. I recommend a portable one personally."

"What type do you have?" Yvonne asked.

"I have something like this at my apartment," Salem said, pointing at a large record player made from wood. It was bulky with large speakers that weighed at least 30 pounds. "It's in my living room but it's not meant for travel."

"What ones are?"

"This is a good travel player," Salem said, pointing at a record player that folded. But it was this hideous yellow color that Yvonne did not like. She did eventually spot a bright pink one that was considerably more visually appealing though it was the same model.

"Is that one good?" she asked.

"I'll get someone and see if we can't test it out," Salem said and walked away to get someone. Yvonne waited for him while staring at the little record player. Salem soon returned with an employee who retrieved a box from the back containing the pink record player Yvonne said she liked.

"Is this the one you requested?"

"Yeah, this is it," Salem said. "Is it alright if we play some albums to make sure it works?"

"I'll get you some samples. Any record in particular you'd like to try?"

"Led Zeppelin The Rolling Stones – both their Let it Bleed and Sticky Fingers albums if you've got them – and some Simon & Garfunkel," Salem said.

"I'll get those for you now," the rep said and walked away to retrieve the samples.

"What is he doing?" Yvonne asked.

"He's getting us some records to sample so we can make sure this player works. I asked him to bring some of my personal favorites."

"Okay," Yvonne smiled. "Can I open the box?"

"Go ahead," Salem smiled. Yvonne opened the box and inside was a bright, brand new pink record player just like she'd seen on display. She gently lifted it out of the box and a long black cord was tied up at its side. Salem undid the tie so the cord was free and brought it to an outlet. By then, the employee came back with the albums Salem had requested along with a few others.

"I brought you the albums you requested as well as Abbey Road and Pet Sounds," he said.

"I'm not really a fan of The Beatles," Salem said, glancing at the Abbey Road album, "But the Beach Boys are fine."

"Can I listen?" Yvonne asked and reached to request the albums. The employee handed them over and Yvonne held them so they were in view. "Which should we listen to first?"

"Led Zeppelin," Salem answered and pointed at the correct record that was white and black save for the orange Led Zeppelin logo in the top left hand corner and a different logo in the bottom right hand corner. She couldn't really tell what the picture was of. It just looked like a long thing. She handed it over to Salem and he showed her how to put the record into the player and get it playing. 'Good Times Bad Times' started playing and at first, it sounded alright but when the vocalist began, Yvonne wasn't entirely fond of it. "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure," Yvonne admitted.

"Is everything alright?"

"The record player works fine. Sadly, I don't think my girlfriend likes my taste in music," Salem joked.

"Do you want to listen to another album, Miss?" the man asked and Yvonne looked at Salem.

"Can I listen to one of the albums he brought?" Yvonne asked.

Begrudgingly, Salem handed over The Beatles album suspecting he knew where this was going. It looked like he would continue to be the black sheep of the family that didn't much care for The Beatles. On the bright side, his taste in music seemed to be rubbing off on a few of his nephews and Tristan, so there was hope. By now, the sound of Led Zeppelin was starting to grow on her, but she still wanted to listen to something else. Salem removed the Led Zeppelin album and put in Abbey Road getting the needle in the appropriate spot so that 'Come Together' began playing. If Salem was honest, out of all The Beatles albums he'd heard, Abbey Road was the only one he liked even a little so if she picked this album, he wouldn't be too disappointed. Besides, all the albums he'd asked for he already had back home.

"This reminds me of the first one we listened to," Yvonne said.

"Oh, no," Salem chuckled, "Led Zeppelin is rock n' roll. The Beatles are a boy band. Their later albums are better but their first albums are really gushy and they had this weird album I'm convinced was a drug induced nightmare."

"What album are you referring to?"

"Yellow Submarine," Salem said.

"I love that album," the rep smiled.

"Everyone's entitled to their opinion," Salem teased. Salem took the Abbey Road album to glance at the back and then played with the needle until he found the only song worth listening to in his opinion: 'I want you (She's So Heavy)'. "If there's a song in particular you want to listen to or you want to skip a song, you can lift the needle and put it somewhere else on the record."

"Okay," Yvonne said. She listed to the song for a moment and then shifted the needle just a little further and another song began playing. "Oh, I like this one," Yvonne smiled when the opening melody of 'Here Comes the Sun' began to play.

"Yeah, you'd like their older stuff," Salem sighed. "Can you bring some older Beatles albums?"

"Right away," the rep said and walked away to get the albums. Yvonne kept swaying her hips gently to the song and when the rep returned, he had nine records in arm. "This is everything we've got in stock from Please, Please Me to their last album Let It Be from last year."

"Oh," Yvonne smiled and accepted the albums. She looked at them and eventually picked their With the Beatles album and got that into the player. She got the needle down and jumped when It Won't be Long blared out suddenly and Salem turned down the record player. She quickly adjusted and was swaying to the song with a smile.

"This one's another personal favorite of mine," the rep smiled.

"Just put all those Beatles records on the tab along with the record player," Salem said. "If you like the Beatles, I think I know what else you'll like."

Salem walked away to browse the store to find some more albums Salem suspected she'd like including works from The Hollies, The Mamas and the Papas, The Supremes (to be fair, even he liked some of their music), The Temptations, The Lovin' Spoonful and any other upbeat pop and Motown he knew she'd like. Salem returned to her with all the albums but pulled out If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears.

"Give this one a listen," Salem said, "Although I'll warn you: if you like this band, you may just break my heart."

"Why?" Yvonne asked and replaced the albums so The Mamas and The Papas were playing. Monday, Monday started to play. The cover art was definitely strange: three people side by side in the tub with a woman laid across all of them and a toilet to the right of them all. Of course, plenty of the albums had weird art. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's a hippy band," Salem laughed a little.

"It sounds fine," Yvonne said and started moving the needle around to listen to a bunch of different songs on side A. Some of it was alright but there were one or two songs on that first side that she didn't care of. "I think it sounds alright."

"You're hurting me, Yvonne," Salem teased her and made sure it was in the pile of albums.

"Did you want me to bring these to the register for you?" the rep asked.

"Yvonne, did you want to listen to any more?" Salem asked.

"I do not want to take up too much of his time," Yvonne said.

"It's no trouble at all, Miss," the rep reassured, but Salem rubbed Yvonne's back.

"No rush, Yvonne," Salem said, "If you want to listen to some of the albums I pulled to make sure you like them, it's alright."

"I will just be a few more minutes," Yvonne said to the rep.

"No rush, Miss. Take your time," the rep smiled and walked away to allow them time to continue shopping.

It was much longer than a few minutes, but Yvonne listened to a little of each album Salem brought her so she could determine which ones she liked best even though Salem promised she was welcome to choose all of them, even The Mamas and the Papas. After she'd had a chance to listen to a little of everything and choosing the albums she liked, Salem brought everything to the register and spent more on the record player and albums than he paid for his monthly rent but it was worth it to see Yvonne look so excited.

"Thank you for all this music," Yvonne said as they walked out with everything.

"I'm glad you like it," Salem smiled. "I'll get you a generator so you can listen to it at home."

"A generator?"

"It produces energy. That needs to be plugged into an outlet to work," Salem said. Yvonne looked at the box and noticed the cord in the picture and her shoulders slumped a little. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you can listen to it."

"Oscar must have one. I've heard her listening to the record player before," Yvonne said.

"It might be one that doesn't need an outlet," Salem said. "I'll get you a generator just to be sure."

"You really don't have to do that," Yvonne said.

"Please, I insist," Salem smiled and patted her knee. "I'll even make sure it's a small one so it's not taking up too much space and can sit in your room."

"Alright," Yvonne smiled and they proceeded to the nearest store that might have a generator. The smallest one Salem could get her was still rather cumbersome, but it would last her for the month before they all returned to Arizona for the student exchange and, if all went well, a few weddings. "Father isn't going to like this thing," she said humorously when they got the generator into the back of the truck.

"I'll make it up to him," Salem promised and got the generator secured. "How about we take a break and get ourselves some lunch? I saw a few diners on the way here that sound pretty good."

"Sure," she said and they got back into the truck to one of the restaurants nearby. It was the last hour of the lunch rush so they didn't have to wait very long for a table near the window. The waitress handed them their menus and promised to be right back with some water. Yvonne touched the menu timidly and a realization hit Salem.

"Did you need help reading the menu?" Salem asked. Yvonne nodded, so Salem got up and went to the other booth so he was sitting beside her. He was about to ask what she liked then realized she'd likely never heard of most of the stuff on the menu. It was mostly burgers and what not with the odd country comfort food here and there.

"I assume they don't have bean cakes or rattle snake stew do they?" Yvonne joked.

"Let me see," Salem said, not wanting to say no just yet. For all he knew, it was a local favorite in Phoenix. Then he noticed they had fried rattle snake. "They have fried rattle snake."

"Fried?"

"It means it's crunchy instead of a stew," Salem said.

"I'll take that," Yvonne smiled.

"It comes with a side. I'd suggest fries honestly. It's potatoes that are also crunchy."

"I'll trust your recommendation," Yvonne said. When the waitress returned with their water, Salem placed their order getting Yvonne fried rattle snake with fries and ordering himself a burger.

"So what do you want to do after we finish eating?" Salem asked.

"I don't know," Yvonne said. "I'm happy to do anything while we're here. What do you want to do?"

"You know what, I think there's a Drive-In Movie Theatre near here. How about we see what they've got playing and we'll see a movie together."

"A movie is like a performance, right?"

"Yes, exactly, but it's filmed rather than performed live. You'll see what I mean when we get there," Salem smiled. "They won't be showing anything until the afternoon; probably after nightfall, so we'll find something to do in the meantime. Maybe tomorrow we'll go to the pool together. In fact, we'll get ourselves some bathing suits while we're waiting for the movie."

"Bathing suits?"

"It's something you wear when you go swimming."

"Why bother wearing anything? You're swimming," Yvonne said and Salem couldn't help the mischievous smile.

"It's for modesty's sake," Salem finally answered. "I'd suggest skinny dipping in the pool at Oscar's place but I suspect we'd get in trouble."

"I suppose if it's the way of things," Yvonne said. "That sounds so silly."

"I guess it does," Salem smiled.

"Will there be an alligator in the pool?" Yvonne asked jokingly, glancing at the tattoo in question. She could only see the ones on his arms at the moment, but she enjoyed staring at them when they were visible.

"If there is, I'll take care of it," Salem laughed. Yvonne smiled and looked at his arms to find the alligator tattoo. She'd only seen the ones on his arms since regaining her sight and it was easily her favorite since it looked so funny to her.

"I wonder what this looks like in person," Yvonne asked.

"I'll take you to a zoo sometime so you can make their acquaintance," Salem joked and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Take it from me: they're best stared at from a distance and with a barrier."

"I trust that," Yvonne said.

Eventually their food arrived and the two continued to talk as they ate. Yvonne was a huge fan of the fried rattle snake. She tried Salem's burger and enjoyed it but she liked the snake more. She tried Salem's Coca-Cola but preferred to stick with her water. After Salem paid the bill and they returned to the car, Salem drove them to the drive in movie theatre to check the times and saw a comedy called The Hospital would be showing. Figuring a comedy was a good start, Salem made a note of when the movie would start and then drove them to another store so they could buy themselves bathing suits.

"What are these made of?" Yvonne asked as she touched all the suits that were on display. "The material feels so strange."

"It depends on the maker, but usually they have elastic material," Salem said. Yvonne kept touching the suits but really didn't know which to go with. She focused on the colors and found a few that had a pleasant pallet that she liked, though she needed time to get used to how they felt. She found the bikinis and looked at Salem strangely.

"Are these considered modest?"

"So long as your nipples and crotch are covered, you'll be alright," Salem smiled. She returned his smile and then kept looking at the bikinis until she found a few that she liked the look of.

"Which one should I choose?"

"Do you want to try them on and see which you like best?" Salem asked.

"I'm allowed to try these on?"

"Yeah, you are. Let's find a dressing room," Salem said and they walked together to the dressing room in the store.

Salem was about to go into the dressing room with her when an associate ordered him to wait outside the room stating 'we are not that kind of establishment, sir'. Salem shrugged it off with a smile and waited outside. Yvonne said she'd step out as soon as she had one on and was in the room alone for a few minutes trying to get the first one on. The first one was white with yellow polka dots with a bow between the breasts, plastic clasps in the back and tight matching bottoms with only the elastic to secure itself. She stared at herself in it and felt a little strange.

"I am coming out," Yvonne said before opening the door to show Salem the first suit. Salem smiled at her but Yvonne still didn't change her opinion. "I don't know if I like it," Yvonne said.

"Okay," Salem smiled, "on to the next one."

"Do you like it?"

"I think it's cute," Salem said, "But you're the one wearing it, so you need to like it."

"Okay," Yvonne said, "I don't care for this one. I'll try another. I'll be just a moment."

"Take your time," Salem said. She was about to go back in, but turned to look at him.

"Can you pick one?"

"Sure," Salem said and walked back to the racks while Yvonne retreated into the dressing room to try on another bikini that had a floral print.

She had no clue what type of flowers were being displayed but they were pink with a green backdrop. This one was a little more conservative compared to the last one. It tied in the back with thick elastic string and there was a plastic clasp that secured behind her neck so all of her chest was covered. The bottoms were high waisted with the same pattern. She didn't care for this one either.

"Yvonne?" Salem said from the other side of the door, "I brought a few. Are you wearing a different one?"

"Yes, but I don't like this one either," Yvonne said. "I don't think I want to come out."

"Alright. Let me know when you're ready and I'll hand you to suits I grabbed. I got you three."

"Okay," Yvonne said as she was already getting out of the bathing suit. The next two that she'd grabbed were the same shape as the one she'd tried on and hated, so she did not try those ones on. She went to a string bikini that was a solid pink color reminiscent of the record player Salem had bought her and tried that one on. "Alright, I finally found one I want to show," Yvonne said and opened the door to Salem.

"I'm beginning to think you really like pink," Salem smiled.

"You don't like it?" Yvonne asked with sad eyes but Salem shook his head.

"No, I like it. Pink looks nice on you," Salem said. She smiled and looked down at it. Her hair was in its usual braid that her mother had helped her secure with the bobby pins Emma Leigh let her keep so the suit was on full display. "So did you want to get this one?"

"I'd like to try the ones you picked," Yvonne said and saw the selection in his hand. They were all the same string bikini style she was wearing now so she knew she'd like the shape at least. She accepted the suits and stepped back into the dressing room. The first one was a solid Navy Blue, no frills or anything too extraordinary but she really liked the color. The other had a pattern of sorts starting white at the center of the cup and then gradually turning pink as it reached the edges. The elastic strings were solid pink and the bottoms were the same pink color. The last one he'd brought was pure white. She started with the pink one and stepped out once she was wearing it. "I think I liked the solid one better."

"Me too," Salem said. With that, Yvonne went back inside to change, choosing the navy blue one next. When she stepped out, Salem clearly liked this one a lot more. "I like that color on you too," he said.

"Yeah, it's really nice," Yvonne agreed. "Do you like this or the pink more?"

"Truthfully, I like this one the most so far," Salem said. "I grabbed a white one too, right?"

"Yes. I'll try that one next," Yvonne said and stepped back inside. She got into the white one and found she was very font of it. She liked how in contrasted with her russet skin and black hair. When she stepped out, she was smiling and so was Salem. "I like this one a lot too."

"You look like a blushing bride," Salem teased.

"A bride?" she asked.

"It's just a traditional thing. A bride usually wears white on her wedding day; supposed to mean she's a virgin, but frankly, it's more to do with ceremony," Salem said. "I promise that's not why I picked it, though. I just thought white would look really nice on you. Glad to see I was right."

Yvonne blushed a little, "I don't know which one to pick now."

"The solid pink, the blue and this white one you like, right?" Yvonne nodded.

"Which color did you like best?"

"This and the blue," Salem said. "The white especially."

"I'll pick the white one, then," Yvonne smiled and retreated back into the dressing room so she could remove the suit and get back into her dress. She was holding the white string bikini when she stepped out and put the others on a hanger where a few discarded suits were hanging but she kept looking at the pink one.

"If you like the pink one better, we can get that," Salem said.

"No, I like the white one most. This is just such a pretty color is all," Yvonne said. Salem smiled, leaned down to press a kiss to her lips and grabbed the pink suit while she was distracted. Once he had the pink suit in his hand, he pulled away.

"We'll just have to go to the pool more than once," Salem said and started to walk towards the register with Yvonne following after him.

He'd already picked up a black pair of swim trunks that was at the register already so he could pay once they had the bikinis picked out. They still had a few hours to kill before the drive-in was open, so Salem drove them back to Oscar's house so they could drop off the generator, the record player and albums, and their bathing suits. Yvonne got her record player plugged into the wall when she found an outlet and put on one of her new albums starting with one of The Beatles albums. Since it was the only one he really cared for, Yvonne played the Abbey Road album. Once 'Come Together' began playing, starting the album, Salem took a seat on Oscar's couch and motioned for Yvonne to join him. She sat in his lap and cuddled up to him.

"I had a wonderful time today," Yvonne smiled.

"It hasn't ended yet," Salem said and looked at the clock. The Drive-in opened at 8:00 and the movie started at 9:30, so they had at least three hours before they needed to leave. "What should we do to occupy our time before our movie tonight?" Salem asked.

"Could…can I see your tattoos? The ones I haven't already seen I mean."

"Sure," Salem smiled and adjusted on the couch so he was sitting up straight and pulled his tank top off over his head. Then he unbuckled his belt, unzipped his jeans and pulled them down enough so hi very first tattoo was visible.

"Is this the one you got when you joined the Navy?" Yvonne asked, pointing at the tattoo he'd just revealed.

"Yeah," Salem said, continuing in English. "Me and two other guys I'd befriended during training came with me and all three of us got Welcome Aboard tattooed. One of them, Alex, fought with me in Vietnam."

"Who is this?" she asked, pointing at the woman sitting atop an anchor right beside the W.

"You'd have to ask the artist," Salem smiled. "I got that added later."

"Which one did you say was your favorite?" Yvonne asked and Salem shifted so Betty Crocker was easy to see. Yvonne stared at the tattoo and felt a pang of jealousy at seeing it. It was so sensual and she wondered who she was.

"I told Andy - the guy that gave me this - that I wanted a pinup tattoo and I wanted her baking. This is what he gave me. He keeps a picture of this for display in his shop and he says that he's gotten a lot more business because of it. I nicknamed her Betty Crocker. It's a brand of cake mix."

"Who inspired her?"

"No one," Salem said. "I told Andy I wanted her to be Native American and I guess he got references from there. He said he wasn't sure why he gave her blue eyes but it seemed appropriate. So you can imagine how shocked I was when I saw you and stared into your eyes."

"They aren't blue anymore, though," Yvonne said.

"Don't worry about it," Salem said and hugged her close to him, "I love your dark eyes."

"Really?" Yvonne asked with a smile and Salem nodded.

"Can I admit something to you?"

"Sure," Yvonne smiled with her hands on Salem's chest.

"After Andy had given me this tattoo, I had a crush on this fictitious woman on my side. I could never really name her because it felt like I didn't know her name. Betty Crocker just became her nickname. When I saw you for the first time, I'd thought somehow Betty Crocker came to life and she was my imprint. I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but now, there's something I've been wanting to do."

"What is that?"

For a moment, Salem was a little embarrassed to admit what he wanted, but he finally said, "I'd really like to recreate my tattoo and take a picture. Assuming you would be alright with that."

"You want me to recreate it for you?"

"If you're alright with it," Salem said. "Hell, if you aren't comfortable with me taking a picture, we don't have to."

"Can it stay between us?" Yvonne asked.

"It would stay between us," Salem said. "It'll stay between us with or without me photographing you."

"Okay," Yvonne said. "So long as it's only for you." Salem smiled and gave her a tight hug.

"Thank you," Salem said and kissed her neck.

"You direct me what to do, okay?"

"Let me see if we have everything we need. If not, it can wait," Salem said as he lifted Yvonne with him off the couch then gently put her back down. The first thing Salem did was check if there was a camera in the house. He found one, but it would require being taken to a store for developing, so that was out of the question. "I need to get a Polaroid camera," Salem said.

"Oscar doesn't have one?"

"No, he's only got this," Salem indicated the small disposable camera. "I'd need to take the pictures in for developing. I need something that'll develop automatically."

"Oh," Yvonne said, getting timid. "I can still pose for you without taking a picture. I know you want a picture but-"

"Seeing you with my own eyes is the best part," Salem said and hugged her. "The picture's just a memory. The real thing's better." Salem kissed Yvonne's cheek and walked to the kitchen. Sadly, there was no cake mix and there was no apron. "God damn it; this isn't going how I'd hoped."

Yvonne couldn't help giggling, "I guess we'll have to get the things we need later."

"Do you mind one more shopping trip before our movie?"

"Sure," Yvonne smiled. She got the record to stop playing and Salem grabbed Oscar's keys.

"Also," Salem said, "When we do this, I'm playing Led Zeppelin. Fair warning."

"Alright," Yvonne giggled and the two of them went off on their trip, starting with the grocery store to get the Betty Crocker cake mix and ingredients required according to the back of the box. They found aprons for sale as well but none of them were exactly the same. There was, however, a pure white one that suited her much better anyway, so he got that. While they were checking out, Salem grabbed a few boxes of Cracker Jacks on the unlikely chance that maybe there was a toy ring in one of them.

Afterwards, they went to a store that sold cameras and Salem got a Polaroid that auto-developed the pictures. He also got a manila envelope while they were there so the pictures would be safe once taken. They didn't have the same variety as the record store they'd been to earlier that day, but they did have some rock bands. Salem grabbed a copy of the Led Zeppelin album and got that with everything. By the time they'd gotten everything, it was nearing 8, so the dropped everything off at the apartment. Then they left to go to the drive in arriving early enough to get a really good spot. He futzed around with the speaker so it was in the car with the window opened just a crack to keep it in and then went to the concession stand to get more food. When he returned, he had two hotdogs with mustard on them, some buttered popcorn and drinks.

"I brought dinner," Salem said after he returned to the truck and Yvonne opened the door for him helping him get the food and himself inside the cab. She'd already opened one crackerjack box and had been nibbling on that when she found a little toy soldier figure inside. Not a ring, but there were plenty more boxes to go through.

"What is this?" she asked when Salem gave Yvonne her hotdog.

"It's a hotdog," Salem said.

"What does that mean," Yvonne said and Salem smiled.

"It's basically meat and bread," Salem said. "It's good; I promise."

"Okay," Yvonne said and took a small bite. It wasn't the fried rattle snake she'd enjoyed earlier, but it was alright. "It's tasty," she said. "What is this yellow stuff?"

"Mustard," Salem said.

"No ketchup?" Yvonne asked innocently, remembering liking it back at the restaurant. "That is what that red sauce was called right."

"Yes, and you don't put ketchup on a hotdog," Salem smiled.

"Why not?" She asked it so innocently and Salem started laughing, realizing joking about patriotism wasn't something she would appreciate but continued with his explanation anyway.

"It's considered un-American. There's no law you saying you can't put ketchup on your hotdog, but it's not always looked well upon," Salem said. Yvonne smiled and took another bite.

"Next time I will have ketchup on it," Yvonne said.

"Shame on you," Salem teased and bit into his own hotdog. "This is popcorn," Salem pointed at the large bucket up popcorn between them.

"No ketchup?" Yvonne joked and giggled when Salem looked at her critically, but continued smiling at her.

"Don't you get smart with me," Salem answered and made Yvonne laugh a little harder before she picked up one kernel and put it in her mouth.

"I like this," Yvonne smiled and took a few more kernels.

"No need to be shy; grab some by the handful," Salem said and took a handful for himself that he shoved in his mouth. Yvonne did the same but some dropped onto the seat and she quickly picked up the kernels. "I got you some water, but I have Coke if you want any."

"Water is fine," she said and took a sip through the straw. In no time, Salem finished his hotdog and decided he wanted another one. He bought three more putting mustard on all three and, discreetly, put ketchup on one that he handed to Yvonne when he returned. "Thank you," she said.

"Nearly got us kicked out of the theatre," Salem joked.

By the time the movie started, they'd finished all their food. They shared the boxes of crackerjacks and Yvonne found one toy ring. It was hardly an anchor. Rather, it was a plastic ring with a smiley face on it and Salem chuckled at it. Despite how silly it was, Salem suspected it would look perfect. He saved all the other crackerjack toys to give to Levi when they returned home and left the truck to throw away their garbage before the movie started. It was Yvonne's first movie going experience, so Salem didn't disrupt it for her. Granted, the movie was a bit of a mixed bag for him and Yvonne didn't get some of the jokes, but she watched all the same. When the movie was over, Salem turned off the speaker and put it back on its dock so they could get ready to drive back to Oscar's apartment.

"So how did you like it?" Salem asked and, although she looked as though she was ashamed to admit it, all she offered was a gentle shrug. Salem smiled. "It's alright. It's not the best movie I've ever seen. I promise the next one I take you to will be better." Yvonne smiled at him and then scooted closer so she could lace her arms around his and rested her head against his shoulder. Salem kissed her forehead. "So….can we still do what we talked about? Or do you want to do that another time?"

"We can do that tonight," Yvonne promised and then yawned just a little.

Salem smiled and gave her one more kiss on the forehead before shifting his attention to backing out of the space they were in and driving off. By the time they'd returned to Oscar's apartment, Yvonne was asleep against his shoulder. He woke her enough so he could get her out of the car and inside. He carried her to the bedroom and put her down on top of the bed where she soon fell back to sleep. Salem got out of his pants and tank top, got Yvonne out of her shoes and joined her on top of the bed holding her to his chest. The next morning, Salem woke before Yvonne and went to the kitchen to brew himself some coffee. He checked Oscar's pantry and fridge, but it was definitely under stocked save for the eggs that he'd bought the night before. He checked the box to make sure how many eggs it needed: four.

Saving four eggs for the cake mix, Salem cooked up a few eggs for himself and for Yvonne. He knew he loved his eggs sunny side up, but given he didn't know Yvonne's preference, he made her one scrambled egg, one sunny side up and one over easy. He got some butter resting on the counter to bring to room temperature for when they baked the cake and carried his coffee and their eggs to the tiny dining table Oscar had. When he returned to the bedroom, Yvonne was still asleep, so Salem went ahead and took a quick shower accepting that breakfast would be eaten cold that morning. After finishing his shower, Salem got dried off and dressed into the change of clothes he'd brought with him before stepping back into the bedroom. Yvonne was still sleeping, so Salem returned to the living room to eat his eggs and drink his coffee. He went outside to get the newspaper and bring in Oscar's mail like he'd promised and when he stepped back inside, he finally heard Yvonne stir and went to the bedroom to see her sitting up.

"Morning," Salem said. Yvonne glanced around briefly and stretched.

"I see I fell asleep when we got back," Yvonne said.

"It's alright. We had a busy day yesterday," Salem smiled and came over to give her a kiss. "I made you some breakfast. I'm sorry for it being a little cold; I cooked it before I took a shower."

"It's alright," Yvonne replied and got out of bed and followed Salem to the dining area sitting at the table where her eggs were. "I'm sorry about falling asleep," Yvonne said.

"Don't apologize; it's fine," Salem reassured. "Did you still want to go swimming today?"

"I'd like to," Yvonne said. "Did you still want to take a picture of me?"

"So long as you're alright with it," Salem said.

"I'm alright with it," Yvonne said. "So where do we start?"

"Let me get a few things ready. You eat in the meantime. I don't know if you've ever had eggs before and I wasn't sure how you'd like them, so I made them a few different ways."

"Thank you," Yvonne said and inspected the eggs before starting with the scrambled, then the over easy and ending with the sunny side up.

She pocked the yoke with her fork and was surprised when it burst, but Salem explained that was the best part. After having all the eggs, she determined she liked the scrambled best, but she finished all three varieties. By then, Salem had mixed yellow cake batter according to the instructions on the back of the box and got all the blinds of the windows fully and completely closed so there was no light peaking in. The apartment was dark until Salem turned on a lamp and the light in the kitchen to get the effect he wanted. He went to the bathroom so he could take another look at the tattoo for any finer details and once Yvonne was finished with her eggs, Salem helped her with her hair. He wasn't sure the messy bun was possible until Yvonne guided him through it. She helped him section off a chunk of hair surrounding her head and the center he braided and twisted into a bun. Once that was done and secured with bobby pins, Yvonne wrapped the loose hair around the braided bun to achieve the messy effect. It wasn't exact – if anything Yvonne's bun was drastically larger – but it looked exactly how it should. He realized that she didn't have any make up but Salem didn't care. It wasn't necessary.

"Okay," Salem said after her hair was just right, "I'll get you the apron and ring so you can get changed." Yvonne nodded and reached up to unclasp her necklace, but Salem stopped her. "No, keep that on," Salem said, kissed her and then went to get the outfit for her.

Once she had them, Salem returned to the living room to set up the record player with Led Zeppelin like he wanted and did what was needed to the camera so it was ready. When Yvonne finally stepped out, she was naked with only the apron covering her body. He noticed bobby pins in place to shorten the apron to be the length of the one in the tattoo, she wore the little smiley faced ring on her left middle finger and the necklace rested right on her collarbone. The top of the apron barely covered her breasts and Yvonne had her hands clasped shyly at her pelvis making her breasts press together under the material. She was blushing at him and she licked her lips trying her best not to look nervous.

"How do I look?" Yvonne asked when Salem had been silent and just staring at her.

"Like a dream come true," Salem answered in a hushed voice. Salem approached her and he could see her becoming a little more bashful. "You're sure you're comfortable?"

"I wouldn't say I'm comfortable. I'm nervous," Yvonne admitted. "Just be patient with me?"

"Hey," Salem said in a soothing voice and took her in his arms. "If you don't want to, you can tell me. This kind of thing is supposed to be for both of us, so if you aren't enjoying it then that defeats the purpose."

"It's not that," Yvonne said. "I've never done something like this before, so I'm just nervous."

"Okay," Salem said and gave her a quick kiss. "We'll take this slowly; no rush."

"Thank you," Yvonne smiled.

Salem released her so he could get the record playing and kept the volume low so it would just be in the background. Once he had his music, Salem stared in her direction to determine the best source of light. Once he had a guess, Salem guided Yvonne where he wanted her and asked her to kneel. He got down to the floor with her and gently moved her to one side until he got her in an ideal spot. He went to the kitchen to grab the cake batter and whisk then got back on the floor with Yvonne getting her in position. Then he bunched the apron so her breasts were in view. All that was left was for her to pose.

"Okay," Salem said and stepped away to take her all in. "Bring up the whisk to lick it," Salem directed and Yvonne lifted the whisk but when she went to lick it, some fell on her breast. "Leave it," Salem said when she was about to move to correct it. Yvonne complied and brought to whisk back to her mouth. The batter continued to drip down on her hand, but Yvonne stayed focused on Salem. She took a deep breath and stuck her tongue out to lick the whisk doing her best to look sultry like his tattoo. "Lower your head just a little," Salem directed and Yvonne tilted her head down until Salem gave his approval. Once her head was down, he told her to smile sensually and she did as directed. "Perfect," Salem smiled and grabbed the camera. "Okay, Yvonne. Just hold that pose for me," Salem said. He brought to camera to his eye and moved until he had just the right angle then took the picture. There was a flash but Yvonne stayed still and a little Polaroid released from the camera that Salem grabbed and looked at.

"Does it look alright?" Yvonne asked when Salem was staring at it. It was everything he'd hoped for: Yvonne wearing a sultry smile licking cake batter and the little differences from his tattoo made it unique. Seeing cake batter on her breast just made it even better.

"It's perfect," Salem said. "Did you want to see it?" Yvonne nodded her head shyly and put down the whisk and bowl so she could come over to Salem and see the picture. Once she was by Salem's side, he handed the photo to her and waited for her reaction.

"Oh," was all she could manage, but there wasn't disappointment or any discontentment. She sounded surprised if anything. "I look so…..I don't know the word for it."

"You look sexy," Salem said and Yvonne blushed and smiled. Then she glanced down at the batter still on her hand and breast.

"I suppose I should get cleaned up," Yvonne said.

"Allow me?" Salem asked.

He didn't recognize the tone that escaped from Salem's mouth. He sounded desperate and even like he might beg. Thankfully, he did not need to. Yvonne was trembling with her heart racing, but she nodded at him. Salem took back the picture and gently placed it on the floor so it wouldn't get ruined and took Yvonne's hand in his. He started by planting his tongue at her wrist where the batter had trailed down to and licked upward until he reached her fingers. Then he sucked each finger clean of the cake batter until there was nothing left, but he did so slowly. After her hand was licked clean, he leaned his head down to her breast and licked off the last of the batter. That time, Yvonne shivered and brought her free hand into his hair.

"What should we do with the cake mix?" Yvonne asked with a breathy sigh.

"I don't really give a shit," Salem answered honestly and took Yvonne's nipple in his mouth making her moan.

Salem lifted Yvonne up to straddle his lap and kept his mouth on her nipple to pleasure her. Both hands now free, Yvonne wrapped her arms around Salem's neck and lifted her chest to give Salem an easier time. She soon let her head fall back both from pleasure and from the weight of her hair all centered at the top of her head. Salem brought one hand between them so he could touch her entrance and was greeted with her clear arousal. She was already soaked and Salem slipped two fingers inside her with ease and made Yvonne cry out again. Since she was clearly as ready for him as he was for her, Salem removed his fingers from inside her so he could untie the rope behind Yvonne's neck that held up the apron and pulled it away so her chest was bare. Then he pulled her head close to his so their lips could meet in a kiss and finally returned his hand between them so he could undo his jeans. He was interrupted when Yvonne started trying to pull off Salem's tank top, so he leaned down to place her on the floor so he could sit up and pull it off for her.

Yvonne sat up so she could gently push Salem back once his shirt was off and once he was on his back, she grabbed a hold of his remaining clothes and pulled them down and off him before climbing on top of him. The moment she had, Yvonne moved her hips in such a way that Salem slipped right inside her and he groaned her name as he tightly grabbed a hold of her hips. Yvonne whimpered from his entry and immediately began to move her hips back and forth while Salem maintained a tight grip on her. Once she'd found a spot that hit her just the right way, Yvonne increased her movements so that she was moving tirelessly. Salem trailed one hand between so he could rub her clitoris and within moments, he brought her to orgasm and Yvonne fell forward onto Salem's chest breathing heavily. Salem took over and rolled over so he was on top of her and brought on leg up to rest on his shoulder before he started to thrust.

Still recovering, Yvonne moaned loudly with every forward movement of Salem's hips and her arms stayed above her head as her breasts bounced from his thrusts. In no time, he was going much faster while he had on hand on the floor to keep himself anchored. Salem kept staring down at Yvonne while he made love to her and thrust harder with each cry of pleasure she voiced until he felt himself getting close to his own release. Salem stopped so he could lift Yvonne onto his lap and into his arms so he could hold her close. Yvonne held onto Salem with her forehead resting against his own and Salem brought his hands so her hips so he could move her up and down on his erection. Yvonne started to kiss him and when she did, Salem guided her to move with greater speed and their lips stayed fused together all the while until he reached his own height of pleasure and gripped Yvonne's hips with bruising pressure. They finally took their lips away from one another and Yvonne rested her head on Salem's shoulder while the two the of them caught their breath. When he had regained enough sense to do so, Salem started planting kisses along Yvonne's neck and collarbone that was not covered by her necklace.

"Thank you," Salem whispered to her.

"For what?"

"Everything," Salem said. "Thank you for trusting me, thank you for loving me: everything." He kept kissing her neck and then hear ear, sucking on the lobe of her ear. "I love you."

"I love you too," Yvonne moaned back and pressed kisses to Salem's head where she could reach. She looked at the bowl still on the floor and smiled. "Should we cook the cake?"

"Sure," Salem said, lifted his head to kiss Yvonne on the lips and then released her so he could grab the bowl of cake mix and find a dish to put the batter in. "Shit," Salem said as he looked at the oven and then started pressing buttons.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot to turn on the oven," Salem answered. "We've got a bit before that's ready, so let's get cleaned up."

Yvonne followed Salem to the bathroom so they could shower together while they waited for the oven. Yvonne kept her hair up while they showered and by the time they were done, the oven was ready and Salem got it in to cook for the specified time on the back of the box. Salem suggested to Yvonne to get into her swimsuit so they could go to the pool together like he'd promised once the cake was finished. Yvonne wore her white string bikini and kept on the little smiley face ring for fun. The cake too far too long for Salem's liking since he was staring at Yvonne in her little string bikini but once the cake was out of the oven and cooling, Salem turned the oven off, grabbed Oscar's keys to get the pool pass to the building and the two of them walked hand in hand to the pool together. It was packed with families and tiny children running around with their mothers chasing after them. They were able to find room in the deep end of the pool where they swam around together, though Yvonne was preoccupied with keeping above water.

"Are you alright, Yvonne?" Salem asked and swam to her side.

"I admit I don't know how to swim," Yvonne said.

"Let's get out of the deep end," Salem said and made sure he had a hold of Yvonne to relieve the stress of staying above water and swam the two of them to the portion of the pool where their feet could touch the floor. "Now that we're in shallow waters, how about I teach you how to float on your back?"

"Okay," Yvonne said and watched carefully as Salem got onto his back so he was floating on the surface of the water. Yvonne did her best to copy what he did but it took a few tries. Finally, she got onto her back and started floating and once she relaxed and allowed herself to drift, it was really pleasant. Salem was standing by her the whole time. "This is so nice," Yvonne sighed contentedly. Then as if on cue, there was the sound of a young child screeching as he played and Yvonne started giggling. "Not tranquil perhaps, but still pleasant."

Salem chuckled, "Yeah; they're noisy at that age."

"You have nephews, right?"

"Four nephews and two nieces," Salem said. "The girls are twins and they're the youngest. They're about seven I think."

"Your brother JJ is the one with children, right?"

"Yeah."

"Are he and Eun Mi having more?"

"As far as I know, they're stopping with the twins, but they may change their minds," Salem shrugged. He then noticed some kids roughhousing in the pool that were getting too close, so Salem pulled Yvonne to stand up and avoid the kids. "I'm really sorry it's so busy here. I should have figured. All the kids are on summer vacation, so it figures they'd all be out here."

"It's alright," Yvonne said.

The two of them stayed in the pool for a while before finally getting out when the kids began taking up every inch of the pool. Regardless, Yvonne had a wonderful time. Salem realized there were a few moms at the pool that clearly noticed his pinup tattoo and were none too pleased with seeing it when their children were present, but Salem laughed it off and kept his attention on Yvonne. Around noon was when they returned to Oscar's apartment, got changed into their clothes and tossed their suits into the dryer so they could get going back to the tribe. They were already running behind but they weren't really in a rush. When they returned, as Yvonne predicted Owota was not pleased at all to see a bulky generator being put in his house but he didn't complain too much about it. Especially when Yvonne showed Myta her new record player and the two of them were playing with it listening to and enjoying the music together.

The pack remained one more night and in the morning said their goodbyes to Oliver and the flock promising they'd return in a month to pick up all the kids that would be coming to Washington as exchange students and also for the weddings that would be held on Tistilal grounds following a moon ceremony and, of course, those to which it applied brought their bracelets to present. Salem made sure that the picture he'd taken of Yvonne was well hidden in the manila envelope and in his carry-on so no one would see it and while on the plane home thought about what to make her. He had a feeling he knew exactly what she would like. Owen joined the Quileutes and sat beside Nesia while they were on the plane. Though initially planning to bring Haseya with him, Oliver promised she'd be well taken care of so Owen could focus on earning work and finding his own way before they sent Haseya to come with him. Once they'd landed and were outside, Owen was struck with the temperature.

"Shit," he said, "I forgot how cold it is here."

"Don't worry; you'll grow a thick skin and get used to it," JJ said patting Owen's shoulder as they walked to their cars to get home.

Owen went along with Nesia and the family, desperate to be home, got in their respective cars to leave the airport. When Kevin arrived home, the house was empty since Amber was still at the candle shop and the kids were still at school, so he went to the bedroom to shower and went straight to bed, not waking up until he felt little hands patting his shoulder. When he opened his eyes, Lilliana and Tristan smiled at him and jumped onto the bed to give him a hug and welcome him home. It was the best welcome he could ever ask for. JJ and Eun Mi got the same reception when they arrived back to the tribe and went home. Natalie noticed them return and sent the kids to go welcome their parents and made everyone dinner. Dinner was accompanied by the news of Blu Jae's and Salem's engagements and Natalie meeting Owen formally.

"It's good to see you again," Natalie said to Owen. "Now, do I call you Owen or Ahiga?"

"Ahiga," he answered. "When I get all my legal documentation, that'll be the name I go by. Nesia's helping me learn to read and your brothers and father agreed to help me find employment. I'll find my own place as soon as I possibly can."

"Are you not staying with Nesia?" Natalie asked.

"I am for now, but I need my own place for when I bring my mom here. You'll meet her when we return to Arizona for the weddings."

"The weddings?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah, Blu Jae, Uncle Bayaq, Uncle Taraq and I imprinted. We'll be going back in a month with bracelets and getting married," Salem said with a silly smile.

"Hold on, the two of you are engaged?" Suerro asked once Blu Jae and Salem relayed the news.

"What are their names?"

"Desarae and Yvonne," Salem answered.

"That's wonderful! So when we go back there'll be, what, five weddings?"

"Wait," Ahiga spoke up, realizing what Salem said, "Taraq imprinted on someone in the tribe? Who?"

"Uilette," Salem answered and for a moment, there was an awkward silence.

"What's wrong with that?" Natalie asked.

"Uilette's married," Ahiga said matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Natalie said, "oh no," she continued. "What is he going to do?"

"What can he do? Hawk's a good guy; they're happy as far as I know," Ahiga said.

"It's a little more complicated than that," Blu Jae said. "I guess the issue with fertility has put a damper on things for them."

"Oh, yeah; that," Ahiga said but then shrugged. "They just need to work through it."

"Do you mind if I ask whether or not your tribe practices divorce?" Natalie asked.

"Sure, but you need to go to Owota to get it done and at least one of the people involved in the marriage has to agree to a divorce. A parental figure for instance can't barge into Owota's home demanding a marriage be dissolved. That's up to the couple. Besides, the man's been mixing potions for those two for years to help them get pregnant. It has to work eventually."

"Yeah, but it's been seven years as far as Desarae told me," Blu Jae said. "She'd said Hawk doesn't love her the way he used to; maybe they should just end things if they aren't in love."

"Desarae said that?" Ahiga said. "Well, if Hawk would be honest with anyone, it'd be Desarae. If he's not happy, then yeah he should go to Owota, but that's his responsibility. As far as I know, there's been no desire to get a divorce, but hey: Hawk and I don't really talk enough that he'd tell me otherwise."

"Would….what is her name?" Natalie asked.

"Uilette," Ahiga said, "And I wouldn't count on it. I wouldn't count on either of them going to Owota for a divorce."

"I suppose we'll have to see what happens," Blu Jae said.

They moved on to much happier topics getting to know Ahiga and asking Salem and Blu Jae about Yvonne and Desarae. The two of them wound up talking for hours on the topic and Natalie couldn't wait to finally meet them come July. Salem eventually returned to Port Angeles and called Arturo to let him know he was back and would be at the shop the next day. When Salem walked into the shop with a big spring in his step, Arturo almost laughed.

"You're in a good mood today," Arturo said, "You win the lottery during this family emergency?"

"You could say that," Salem said. The shop wasn't open yet and Arturo was getting his station ready for their first client for the day. "I met someone."

"Did you now?" Arturo asked and rose a brow. "And what's her name?"

"Yvonne," Salem smiled. "We met while my family and I were out in Arizona."

"Do you have a picture of her?"

"Not one you can see," Salem joked, "But don't worry; you'll see her soon. My grandpa worked something out with that tribe we were helping out and we'll be going back in a month to collect some kids for an exchange program."

"What kind of family emergency was this exactly?"

"An extremely touchy and complicated one," Salem said, "But it wasn't all bad clearly. Anyway, I'll be going to Arizona again and Yvonne and I are getting married."

"Wait, what? Hold on a second, you're getting married? How long have you known this woman?"

"How long did you know Esparenza before you knew you loved her?"

"When I fell in love and when she and I got married are two very different timelines," Arturo said. "Look, Salem, usually I trust your judgment, but this seems a bit fast."

"I know it does," Salem agreed, "but I love her. I already spoke with her father and he gave me his blessing. All I need to do is make her a bracelet to present to her. Honestly, if I were talented enough, I'd tattoo a bracelet on her, but I don't have the artistic skills for that."

"You should know not to do that, Salem. Couples tattoos are a kiss of death to any relationship," Arturo said.

"I know," Salem said. He still had a big smile on his face and Arturo was struck by it.

"You're sure about her?"

"Yeah," Salem said and looked at Arturo genuinely. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"I'll trust you," Arturo said. "So tell me about her."

From there, Salem talked Arturo's ear off telling him about Yvonne but leaving out certain parts that, to be blunt, he just couldn't explain to Arturo. He was still a little skeptical given how quickly this clearly happened, but Arturo offered Salem his congratulations and agreed he couldn't wait to meet her. He suggested that when Yvonne was in Washington, they all go out to dinner together to celebrate and Salem gladly agreed. Ahiga stayed with Nesia at her house and went straight to bed after they'd arrived at her house. When he woke the following morning, he could smell the strong scent of coffee and he walked downstairs to see Nesia in nothing but a t-shirt.

"Morning," Ahiga said and Nesia smiled at him.

"Morning," she said. "How did you sleep?"

"Great," Ahiga said and began to approach but was stopped when he nearly tripped over something. He looked down and saw a cat run away from him after suffering an accidental kick. "So is that Tina or Pippy?"

"That's Tina," Nesia said and put down her cup so she could go grab Tina. She picked Tina up, gave the cat a little kiss on the cheek and scratched the cat's chin making her start to purr. "It's okay, Tina. Ahiga didn't mean to kick you." She walked back over and presented Tina to Ahiga. "She'll love you forever if you scratch her chin."

"Forever, you say?" Ahiga smiled and lifted his hand to start scratching Tina's chin. As he brought his hand to her, Tina made a gentle peeping sound and grazed her teeth over his finger, but it wasn't painful.

"It's alright; she's just giving you a little love nip," Nesia said.

"If you say so," Ahiga smiled and started scratching Tina's chin. She continued to purr and tilted her head so more of her neck was presented. "She's sweet."

"Yeah, Tina's a little love bug. My first cat Willow hated everyone except me and Pippy also hates everyone except me and even me she will only let me pet her for a limited amount of time before she'll swat my hand and walk away. She's mostly an outdoor cat and she'll come in to have some food from time to time and relax, but she prefers to keep to herself. She's not here right now otherwise I'd introduce you to her."

"That's alright. Tina's making me feel plenty welcome," Ahiga said. "Can I hold her?"

"Of course," Nesia said and handed Tina over to him. Tina stayed mostly still but her claws came out to hold onto Ahiga.

"Ow! Shit, her claws hurt," Ahiga said but he didn't release her.

"It comes with having a cat. You just get used to them. I do need to trim her claws though. Would you like to help with that?"

"Sure; why not?" Ahiga said.

"Good. You hold her and I'll get the clippers," Nesia said and then went to her basket where she kept the grooming tools for her cats and grabbed the clippers. She walked over and Tina was already snarling a little. "Hold onto her without hurting her, okay? As you can see she hates getting her nails clipped but if I'm to protect my furniture, it needs to be done."

"Does it hurt her?"

"You'd think so the way she acts, but it doesn't. As long as you only clip the nail and stay away from the quick, it doesn't hurt them. Cats just find it particularly annoying as far as I can tell."

Ahiga held Tina snuggly while Nesia clipped Tina's nails. As Nesia said, the action clearly didn't hurt Tina, but she was no less discontent with the inconvenience. Once her nails were clipped, Nesia told Ahiga to go ahead and let Tina go so she could run to her little cat tree and be alone to recover from being so bothered.

"Would you like some coffee?" Nesia asked.

"No, I'm alright. I don't really like coffee," Ahiga said. "I'm starving, though."

"I'll make you some breakfast," Nesia said. She took out some eggs that she scrambled in a bowl and then got into a hot pan. "So what do you say we practice reading today?"

"I'd like that," Ahiga smiled.

"Good. I'll write something while you're eating and once you finish breakfast, we'll get started." Ahiga walked over and pressed a kiss to Nesia's lips.

"You're the best," he said.

In the meantime, preparations were being made at the tribe to accommodate their upcoming influx of students. Embry Jr. and the others worked tirelessly on the dormitories and Oscar – on his end – was working with Oliver to get phone service out in the tribe. It was an extremely expensive and tedious process so it would not be done at the same time as the kids leaving, so they agreed that Oscar would have the parents at his apartment throughout the month so they could take turns calling their children until they could have a phone line installed. The Cullens would take care of that phone bill and were paying for the line to be added. That did, however, mean that the state of Arizona was suddenly involved as this was a tribe the state had not previously known about.

"I'm sorry that you had to come out here so soon, but under the circumstances, we really need a lawyer," Oscar said to Kevin once he'd landed in Phoenix.

"Nothing to apologize for," Kevin said, "I suspected this would happen so I'm prepared. I don't think there'll be anything to be concerned with. If anything, this may lead so some kind of government support, but my goal is to get you established as a sovereign state. The Tistilal would be put on the map as a Reservation and I'll make sure we get a favorable deal."

"Good," Oscar said. "Oliver about had a heart attack when I told him the state of Arizona was suddenly taking an interest in us."

"Given the way you told him was to say you're wanted by the state: yeah, I'd say he has reason to be concerned," Kevin said.

"Does us being referred to as a Reservation mean we receive financial support?"

"Not a chance in hell," Kevin said bluntly. "I'm sad to say the United States doesn't do the best job where it relates to Native Americans. The only thing that will ensure the tribe thrives and is taken care of is education and industry."

"I assume that means taxes?"

"Yup," Kevin said. "We'll work out the particulars; don't worry."

Kevin spent two long weeks in Phoenix on and off the phone with the right people, in and out of meetings with those same people and a court date was scheduled but it wouldn't happen until end of the year. Oliver was a little annoyed with the process but Kevin reassured that this didn't mean they couldn't proceed with their previous plans regarding the exchange and regarding setting up a phone line. By the time Kevin returned to Washington, the dorms were nearly done and Renesmee was in the midst of hiring someone to act as the Dorm Manager that would be in charge of the dormitories. Embry would be on retainer to send someone out to make repairs whenever they were needed, the cafeteria was moved around to ensure the new kids would be able to have breakfast and dinner as well as the usual lunch hour (though it was determined they officially needed 2 lunch hours to prevent overcrowding) and there were two large bathrooms in the dormitories for the girls and for boys which were kept well away from one another. Once it was done, Jacob got into contact with Oscar to notify Oliver who flew up to Washington to see the place for himself, his son Nazda in tow.

"This is the dorm?" Oliver asked when Jacob presented it.

"Yeah," Jacob said. "It can house a total of 200 kids, though I'd still suggest we stick with the originally predicted 100. If we go over 100, they'll have to share rooms and that would be a draw of the lottery to see who needs to share."

"We could always have siblings share," Nazda suggested. "Can we look inside?"

"Absolutely," Jacob said and led them with into the building.

It wasn't right by the school, but it was within walking distance for ease. He gave them a tour of the grounds and all the rooms were fully furnished, albeit plainly. Any decorative touches would be left to kids occupying the room. They then walked to the school grounds itself during hours of operation so Oliver and Nazda could see what their kids would be doing every day depending on their age. Renesmee went over scheduling plans, curriculums and anything else that they'd want to know and by the end of it all, Nazda had warmed up to the idea of sending his own children here. Sure, they'd miss the kids when they weren't home, but this would give them a chance at a better life and that was all he could ask for; all that any parents that agreed to this could ask for. Oliver and Nazda left extremely happy with the results and thanked Jacob again for all his help on this and his tribe's generosity.

After that came the grueling process of figuring out transportation for the kids. Oliver confirmed they'd only send 100 kids and if this was successful they may send more kids in the future. They had to rent a few buses that could go cross country and Emmett, Jasper and Boris agreed they would drive the buses to and from Arizona and when it was the end of July, they made the trip back to Arizona. The whole tribe did not come but immediate family of those that were getting married came including Taraq. Travis had made the arrangements he'd needed to and packed everything in his own car and made the drive to Phoenix ready to move in with Oscar though they would be looking for a different place the moment it was possible. Even if it meant they needed to be 'room mates' that was fine. It was no one's business and so long as they were careful in public, there wouldn't be an issue.

Bayaq, Blu Jae and Salem all had their bracelets prepared and while they'd be acknowledging tradition of the time alone for three days, they all had their own honeymoon plans. Salem was looking forward to taking Yvonne to Florida. He knew she'd love it. Kevin had given Blu Jae and Bayaq permission to stay at his homes, so Bayaq decided he'd take Cidelle to California while Blu Jae and Desarae would go to New York together. When they all finally made it to the tribe, everyone was exhausted and the first task was getting some sleep. Owota allowed them to stay at his home as they'd done before. He recognized Caevia in an instant when she entered his home.

"Your name is Caevia? You're Salem's grandmother?"

"Yes," Caevia answered.

"Caevia, you and Embry can stay with me, Travis and Wisteria if that's more comfortable for you," Oscar suggested.

"I would like that; thank you," Caevia said.

"Caevia," Owota said calmly, "I know nothing I say can undo what I've done to you and to many others in your position, but I am deeply sorry. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

"You're right," Caevia said, "Nothing you say can change what happened…refusing to forgive you won't change what happened either." Caevia was quiet for a moment before she finally said, "I forgive you." After that, she left the house and her children as well as Embry Sr. followed after her in case she needed comfort. Salem remained behind but because Owota was clearly distressed. Or as visibly distressed as the man could seem to portray.

"Thank you for doing that," Salem said to Owota.

"It's the least I could do," he answered and returned to his work.

The followed day after they'd arrived, Jacob and Oliver had a chance to start talking and approached Barka's old home. "So you're turning this into a sort of City Hall?"

"Yeah," Oliver said. "I don't want to live here but it's a waste not to use it for something. I figure if this place should be used for anything, it should be tribe related."

"Good idea," Jacob said. "So did you have that list of names of the kids that are being sent to Washington?"

"Yeah, I've got it here," Oliver said and picked up a notebook Oscar had bought and written down all the kids' names. "Most of them are my kids and grandkids but a few are from other members of the flock."

"They'll all be treated the same: fairly," Jacob smiled and read through the list. Each name had a number beside it that ranged from 7 to the oldest ones being 13. "I assume these numbers are their ages?"

"Yes," Oliver said.

Jacob nodded and continued reading through the list. There were a lot more kids in the 11-13 age range than there were other age ranges. Jacob kept the list for roll call when it was time to leave but Renesmee requested she be able to meet all the kids and brought Nesia, Suerro and Blu Jae with her on the task given they'd be their instructors. Under the circumstances, Nesia was assigned to be the teacher for the elementary age students, Suerro would be the instructor for the junior high/high school age kids and Blu Jae would remain the music teacher. Oliver had all the selected kids gathered in the village center so they could meet their new instructors and they gawked at Suerro who was wearing a hooded jacket so the sun wasn't hitting him.

"Aren't you hot?" one of the slightly older kids towards the front asked Suerro.

"I don't get hot, kid," Suerro said. "What's your name?"

"Dakota," the boy answered. Renesmee glanced at the list to see the boy was 13.

"It's good to meet you, Dakota," Renesmee smiled. "Are you excited to go to Washington?"

"I guess so," Dakota answered timidly, appearing intimidated.

"He's scared to leave home," a young girl standing beside the boy said in a teasing tone and he pinched the girl making her yelp and start swatting at him.

"Enough!" Nazda barked at the two and they stopped.

"I take it these two are yours?" Nesia asked with a giggle.

"Yes, they're mine," Nazda answered. "Dakota already introduced himself. This girl is my daughter Shyann."

"It's very nice to meet you too, Shyann," Renesmee said kindly and the girl smirked a little.

"Nice to meet you too," Shyann answered.

"How many children in this group are yours?"

"Only Dakota and Shyann. They're my eldest," Nazda said. "The rest of these kids are either my nieces and nephews, my little brothers or children of the flock."

"Alright," Renesmee smiled and then looked back at the children, "Since we're introducing ourselves, my name is Renesmee Cullen. I am Jacob's wife, but I'm also your school Headmaster. This man here is Suerro Rouge: he will be your instructor if you are 12 and older. This is Nesia Dauer: she will be your instructor if you are 11 or younger, and finally this is Blu Jae Rouge: he will be your music instructor."

"You can all call me Birdie," Blu Jae said to the kids.

"Oliver, would you mind terribly if we all went inside so the kids can introduce themselves out of this hot sun?" Renesmee suggested.

"Sure," Oliver said and ordered all the kids to go to their tribal building (formerly Barka's house) and once inside Renesmee got to work getting to know all the kids by name and little things about them.

She could tell who among the children were immediately related (i.e. brothers, sisters and cousins) based on the way they all interacted with one another. They were shy at first but once she'd started going down the list talking to the kids one at a time, the dynamics of the group became very apparent as they teased and joked with one another. After having had a chance to speak with all the kids, Renesmee released them to return to enjoy the rest of their day and waited until the kids were gone before speaking with Oliver and Nazda.

"They're all very sweet kids. I look forward to having them in our classes," Renesmee said.

"Thank you for saying," Oliver said. "They were really nervous about meeting all of you so I'm glad they're starting to get more comfortable."

"We'll do everything we can to make this transition as easy on them as possible," Renesmee promised. "Forgive me for asking, but how was Barka with the children? Jacob gave me quite an earful about the man. Given these children did lose their grandfather not long ago, I can only imagine what they must be feeling."

"Grandpa barely interacted with anyone of us," Nazda said. "He never acknowledged us as his grandchildren I suspect because there were too many of us to keep track of and he didn't care to remember any of us. His great grandchildren and so on were no different. I think my kids have been in grandpa's presence twice in their whole lives."

"My father was very….hands off with his grandkids to say the least," Oliver said. "My brothers and I were a completely different story, but he was never that way with my children or my grandchildren."

"I see," Renesmee said. "I would be remise to not say I'm sorry about your father's passing, but based on what Jacob's told me alone, I feel rather silly saying anything at all."

"It's alright," Oliver said. "I just want to move forward from it."

"I understand," Renesmee said. "Well, on a brighter note, the children will be well taken care of while they're with us. And if you ever want to fly to Washington to visit them, you'll be more than welcome."

"I appreciate that," Oliver smiled and shook Renesmee's hand.

In the meantime, Bayaq presented his bracelet to Cidelle and Salem gave Yvonne the bracelet he'd made for her. The bracelet Bayaq made for Cidelle was made from wood and stained to be a dark color. With Jacob's help, he'd carved a large rose into the wood and used springs so she could pull it on and off, but the spring was tight enough to keep the bracelet on. With a lot of help from the jeweler in Forks, Blu Jae's bracelet for Desarae was made from brass, the same material used to build his favorite instrument: the saxophone, which he'd made sure to bring with him so he could play it for Desarae. It was a very simple design, just a thick band of brass that was large enough to fit over her hand when she tucked in her pinky and thumb but small enough that when her hand was in its normal state it would stay in place. Salem's bracelet for Yvonne was more reminiscent of the necklace he'd given her. He'd bought pink or rose quartz and sanded those rocks down to smooth flat ovals that, with the assistance of the Jeweler, got small holes drilled into the long way centers of the stones so he could string them together with metal string and used a gold clasp to secure it.

After presenting their imprints with their bracelets, Owota performed a moon ceremony for each couple starting with Salem and Yvonne. Their wedding was to be held during the new moon. Then Owota performed the moon ceremony for Desarae and found they were to marry under the waxing moon and finally he performed the ceremony for Bayaq and Cidelle to determine they were to marry under the half moon putting their weddings within days of each other. They couldn't have planned it better if they'd tried. With their days picked, the tribe was able to start preparations for the ceremonies and had two days to prepare for Salem's and Yvonne's wedding. While the village was preparing for the weddings, Oscar brought Wisteria with him to speak with Owota.

"What brings the two of you here?" he asked after the two of them asked to speak with him.

"Wisteria and I would like a divorce," Oscar said and Owota looked between the two of them. Despite the request, there were no hurt feelings. If anything, they both looked rather happy.

"Why do you wish to divorce?" Owota asked despite already knowing the reason.

"Wisteria and I were never truly a married couple," Oscar explained. "I have no desire to be with a woman and never have had a desire to be. Wisteria has known this of me for the entirety of our marriage. She's been remarkably supportive and understanding and for that I am grateful. But there is someone I want to spend my life with."

"I see," Owota said. "Are you in agreement to the divorce, Wisteria?"

"Yes, I am," Wisteria said kindly.

"One moment while I mix everything," Owota said once they'd agreed and obtained his oils and herbs that he would mix to dissolve a marriage. He mixed two portions of a thick paste he mixed with some water and put aside those same herbs that would be burned along with some chilies. Owota handed the two of them their cups and instructed them to drink as soon as he tossed the herbs into the tiny fire he'd made. Once they drank and the herbs were set ablaze, they waited until the fire extinguished itself and once it had, Owota said, "Your marriage is dissolved."

"Thank you, Owota," Oscar said, "And thank you, Wisteria. I'll make sure you're still always taken care of."

"So long as you're happy," Wisteria said and stood. "I'll leave you two to talk."

They waited until Wisteria had left before Owota asked, "What is it you're requesting to talk about?"

"It's about Travis and me. We'll never get married in the eyes of the United States. I would, however, like us to be married in the eyes of the tribe. I realize it's unconventional, but I hoped you could give us a moon ceremony?"

"Have you already talked to Travis about this?"

"Not yet," Oscar said. "I wanted to surprise him. Honestly, I don't really want to make a big thing about this. I've already had this obscene, extravagant wedding when Wisteria and I married. I just want a moon ceremony and on the night of the wedding just give us a tiny fire, do your thing and call us husband and w-, well, husband I mean."

Owota smiled, "That last part I'd suggest you discuss with Travis. You may have been there, done that, but this would be his first marriage as far as I've been told. Perhaps he would want a big wedding."

"He may want close friends there, but that's about it," Oscar said. "Besides, if he wants a party, we'll all go out to dinner that day or something. Honestly, I should have done this decades ago."

"You weren't ready decades ago," Owota said.

"Maybe," Oscar said, "But I know I'm ready now assuming he'll have me."

"I'm sure he will. Talk to Travis and then come to me when you're ready and I'll perform a moon ceremony for the two of you."

"Thank you, Owota," Oscar smiled.

"So are you two giving each other bracelets? Or how is that going to work?"

"Fuck the bracelet," Oscar said. "This whole thing is already unconventional. My proposal gift will be the same. Then maybe we'll get gold bands or something."

"What will this unconventional gift be?"

"I haven't decided yet," Oscar said.

"Well….get on that," Owota said and made Oscar laugh.

"Sure," Oscar said and finally left.

All this time while there was merriment in the air for the wedding planning and preparations to send the children up to Washington, Taraq was miserable. He'd seen Uilette when they'd arrived and all sat down for dinner. She'd seemed to avoid making eye contact with him and he couldn't figure out why. He tried requesting Cidelle to have Uilette meet him, but he waited about an hour before Cidelle showed up to tell him Uilette wasn't coming. That had crushed his spirit and since then he'd been a bit of a recluse. On the day of Salem and Yvonne's wedding, after spending days feeling extremely ill, Uilette went to Owota requesting a checkup. After relaying her symptoms, Owota performed a physical after which he looked extremely pleased.

"Wonderful news, Uilette," Owota smiled, "All these years of hard work paid off. You're pregnant."

"Really?" Uilette said, yet she couldn't muster the excitement. She was over the moon about the baby, but the instant Owota told her, she immediately thought of this baby's father. It's real father.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes," Uilette said and forced a smile. "I'm so sorry. I'm just shocked. I'm so happy; I just couldn't believe it for a moment."

"Well, believe it, Uilette. You're with child. I'm extremely happy for you: really," Owota said and then went to retrieve some materials. "I will have you begin taking these notices. It will be good for the baby. Of course, you must eat very healthy. If you're still hungry after a meal, you're to eat more. And don't overexert yourself. No heavy lifting, keep running to a minimum and absolutely no acrobats from the Pedestal. This child is a miracle to say the least. You don't want to do anything that would risk the baby's wellbeing."

"Of course," Uilette said and accepted the herbs.

Owota gave her the proper instructions of how to mix the herbs together and instructed her to return to him the moment she ran out so he could replenish her supply then congratulated her again telling her to tell Hawk immediately. All she could do was nod. When she'd left Owota's home, Uilette looked for her sister going around the tribe until she found Cidelle and pulled her away from whatever she and Bayaq had been doing despite her twin's protests. The two of them retreated to the only place they could really, unashamedly be alone: the top of the Pedestal. No one was up there or anticipated to be up there given most everyone was focused on the wedding.

"What's the matter, Uilette?" Cidelle asked once they were atop the Pedestal and she'd more or less gotten over being dragged away from Bayaq.

"I went to Owota today about how I haven't been feeling well. He said I'm pregnant," Uilette said. Cidelle gawked a moment then screeched with joy grabbing a hold of Uilette in a hug.

"That's fantastic! Oh, Uilette, this is wonderful!" she cheered but when she pulled away and looked at Uilette, there didn't seem to be any joy in her face. "What's wrong? You don't look happy about this."

"I am happy," Uilette said as she rubbed her lower belly tenderly. There was nothing to feel yet, but knowing the baby was there was enough. "It feels too good to be true. I'm almost scared it is too good to be true and this is all a dream."

"It's not. If Owota said you're pregnant, than it's certain," Cidelle said. "When are you going to tell Taraq? It has to wait at least until after the wedding! When Bayaq and I have had our day then you can announce that you're pregnant. I don't wonder why you're nervous; Hawk will be furious, but that's his loss."

"I'm not telling Taraq," Uilette said and that stopped Cidelle in a second. She stared at Uilette as if she were insane and when Uilette didn't continue, Cidelle began to get angry.

"What do you mean you're not telling Taraq? Are you trying to say Hawk's the father? I think we both know that's not possible at this point," Cidelle said.

"Of course it's possible!"

"Bullshit," Cidelle said, beginning to become far better versed in the art of swearing in English. "Taraq's the father and you know it! You and Hawk have been trying for years. Years! And nothing. You and Taraq sleep together, what? Twice? And look! Here you are with child at long last. You look me in the eye and tell me you believed for a second Hawk is the father!"

"What matters is Hawk will be the father," Uilette said in a defeated tone. Cidelle continued to stare at Uilette in disbelief in silence that she eventually broke.

"How could you use Taraq like that?"

"I want to save my marriage."

"So you use a man that loves you to give you a baby so his child can be raised by another man? You think that will save your marriage?"

"A child is what Hawk and I have always wanted."

"So much so that he tried to make me give the two of you a baby," Cidelle snapped and now it was Uilette's turn to be mortified.

"What?"

"Years before when it was clear there were issues with fertility, Hawk approached me asking that I bare him a child seeing as I clearly could. I told him that I would do no such thing and if he valued your love he would never approach me about it again."

Uilette shook her head gently and was about to cry, "Hawk wouldn't do that."

"He would and he did," Cidelle bit back. "Honestly, given what you've done, you have no business being upset about it."

"You're just trying to change my mind. Hawk wouldn't do something like that to me."

"Oh, so you don't believe me now? You really think I'd lie to you about something like that? Fine. Be that way," Cidelle said and stood to go to the later. "You do what you want, Uilette. I won't say anything. But for the record, I think what you're doing is wrong. And you know it."

Cidelle left the Pedestal to leave Uilette alone so she could stew. Uilette rubbed her belly over and over as she felt tears start to burn her eyes. She didn't want to believe it was true, but Cidelle was right: if it were, Uilette had no business judging. It didn't matter, she resolved. She was finally pregnant. Now everything could be as it was supposed to. Hers and Hawk's love would rekindle with the news and everything would return to how it was when they first married; when they were happy and madly in love. Although despite her resolution, she didn't feel any better or any happier. If anything, she felt like the scum of the earth. While she was rubbing her belly thinking about the baby, she kept thinking of Taraq. Would the baby look like him? Would anyone see him or her and know the truth in an instant? How long would it be before Taraq heard of the pregnancy? Would he know he was the father? If he did, what would he do? She ended up atop that Pedestal for several hours just thinking and sulking until it was nightfall and the wedding would proceed.

Yvonne's and Salem's wedding ceremony was a mirror of what Jacob and the others recognized as their own traditions. However the story that was told was different. Instead, Owota and Oliver told the story of a people traveling through the desert and, when it seemed like hope was lost, a falcon landed atop a cactus on which a flower bloomed and an oasis formed, leading to their salvation. Included in the ceremony was the couple sharing a drink of the water from the oasis mashed with cactus that matched what was at the center of the oasis. Yvonne had snake skin braided through her hair and right at her hairline she wore the skull of a rattle snake and she wore a dress made from fox fur. A group of women with their newborn or toddler aged sons on their backs danced for them to encourage fertility and finally their marriage became official with the lighting of the bonfire. The guests rose to dance around the bonfire for good luck and it felt like they were back home in Washington enjoying a wedding on the beach, cool air and all.

Taraq made a point to at least look like he was enjoying the festivities. His nephew didn't deserve for him to be sulking at his wedding. He also didn't try to talk to Uilette during the party not wanting to risk making a scene. After they'd danced around the bonfire, Edward helped them fill out a marriage license and after some practice, Yvonne signed her new name: Yvonne Dauer. They stayed for a portion of the party but soon retreated back to Owota's house where they would stay for three days remaining undisturbed as per tradition.

"I don't know about you, but I think Yvonne Dauer has a nice ring to it," Salem said to Yvonne in English while they were walking to the house together hand in hand.

"I think so too," Yvonne smiled.

"Not that I'm rushing our three days alone mind you," Salem said, reached down to bring Yvonne into his arms suddenly so he was carrying her, making Yvonne start giggling, "But after that's done, we'll be going into Phoenix to get on the next plane to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. You and I will stay on the beach all day, stay at a really nice hotel and I'll introduce you to the artist that gave me some of my best tattoos."

"We're going to Florida?" Yvonne asked with a bright smile.

"Yes, ma'am, and we're going to be there for a whole week. I'll take you to The Seagull where I used to spend a lot of time and if they still work there, I'll make sure one of the waitresses there can attest to my alligator wrangling story. Then we'll fly to Washington together. I apologize in advance for my tiny apartment. We'll be there for a while, but we'll start looking for a house of our own right away."

"A tiny apartment like Oscar's you mean? I don't mind a tiny apartment."

"For just us it's fine," Salem said, "but I don't suspect it'll be just us for very long. Wouldn't you say?" Salem asked as he walked into the house and made a b-line for Yvonne's room.

"I suppose that's true," Yvonne said with a deep blush that deepened when Salem rested her on her feet and closed off the door with a heavy blanket for privacy. "Do you want as many children as your brother has?"

"I won't ask for that many, but I'd like a few," Salem smiled and approached Yvonne so he could take her in his arms. "You just tell me when we're done having babies and that'll be it."

"Okay," Yvonne smiled and tilted her head so Salem could start kissing her neck.

The following day, preparations began for Desarae's and Blu Jae's wedding which would be the following night. Salem and Yvonne would come to the wedding for the ceremony and one dance but would quickly retreat back to solitude the their last night alone. Then they'd stay until after Cidelle's and Bayaq's wedding before leaving for the airport to get on the first plane to Florida. While the tribe continued to make the arrangements and a general sense of joy filled the air, for Taraq and Uilette, the tension was palpable and even painful. Taraq was desperate to at least talk to Uilette even if just to ask how she was. He missed her. For Uilette, she was holding in the pregnancy, not having told Hawk yet. She didn't want to overshadow anyone's wedding least of all Cidelle's but, also, she just wasn't ready for what she was going to do. The reality was too much. She would tell Hawk, he would be the father, he would rejoice and they would be happy. The baby's real father's identity would stay silent. But Cidelle's words continued to fester in Uilette's mind. Truly she was the most hateful type of person to take something so precious then refuse to speak to the man that had made such a gift possible, but it's how it had to be.

The next day come nightfall, Desarae and Blu Jae had their wedding which mirrored the one from before. She wore the same dress, had her hair in braids and when the ceremony was over and everyone danced for good luck around the fire, Blu Jae and Desarae retreated to her parents' home where they would spend three days before their own retreat. Then the next day there was a break and the festivities would end with Cidelle's and Bayaq's wedding. The day of, Cidelle was being prepared and Uilette was at her side. Genevieve beamed with joy at her daughter being dressed in the bridal fur and cried expressing how beautiful she was. Uilette was silent the whole time. Genevieve tried to ask what was wrong, but Uilette insisted she was just tired and not feeling well. Cidelle asked Genevieve to give the two of them a moment alone and waited to speak until Genevieve had left and they were alone.

"Have you told Hawk?" Cidelle asked.

"No, not yet," Uilette said. Silence persisted for a moment and the air in the room was horribly awkward. "I'm sorry about the other day. If….or being that Hawk came to you in such a way, I'm very sorry. I am ashamed he did such a thing."

"That shame is not yours to bear," Cidelle said. "I know you loved him once. I was happy for you when I knew you were in love. Now I know you don't love him. Yet you insist on raising a child with this man. A child that was given to you by a man that loves you and would do anything for you. A man that loves you as Bayaq loves me."

"I never stopped loving Hawk, Cidelle."

"You're in love with the past and what you two used to have. You're too blind to see that it's long gone and something better is staring you in the face waiting for you to finally open your eyes."

"You don't understand, Cidelle."

"Explain it to me, then," Cidelle said.

They stared at one another and as they did, Uilette couldn't form any words. So she didn't bother to. Instead, Uilette walked out of the room and left. Genevieve noticed her leave but Uilette wouldn't say what was wrong and just walked back to her house. She went to her bedroom and sat on the blankets staring at the wall with her hands on her belly. After being alone for several minutes, she hears someone enter the house. It was Hawk.

He came right to the bedroom looking for her and when he found her he said, "Why did you leave your parents' house? Genevieve said you'd left all upset and wouldn't talk to her."

"I've just had a lot on my mind," Uilette said. She waited for Hawk to ask her to elaborate, but he didn't.

"Are you able to go back? You're mother's really upset. She's worried you and Cidelle had an argument."

"I need to be alone," Uilette said.

"Look, Uilette, I don't know what's been wrong but you're starting to worry everyone."

"I'm sorry," Uilette said. She heard Hawk try his best not to sigh heavily and he came to the blankets and kneeled down beside her.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Uilette felt like she might vomit. She looked up at Hawk and remembered how they used to be so in love. She couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled at her or cuddled with her or kissed her: anything. She looked away as her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest. Hawk waited but soon just sighed and stood so he could leave.

"I'm pregnant," Uilette said, stopping Hawk in his tracks. She turned to look at him and saw the look on his face. He was shocked.

"You're…you're pregnant?" Hawk asked and Uilette nodded. She managed a small smile and turned around on her knees so she was facing him.

"Yes, Hawk. I'm pregnant." Hawk's face lit up. How long had it been since she'd seen him smile. For just a moment, the guilt that she'd battled with for so long seemed to pass away and he even laughed a little.

"I can't believe it," he said and started pacing. "Finally!" he said and his happiness was infectious. "When did you find out? How long?"

"I found out when I visited Owota. I didn't want to say anything yet until everyone's weddings had passed."

"You're pregnant," Hawk repeated as if he still didn't believe it. Yet he didn't approach her. He didn't go to her and hug her or show her any affection. He only expressed this sense of triumph.

"Hawk?" Uilette said and got his attention. When he was looking at her, she opened her arms to him. "Won't you come hug me?" Uilette asked. Hawk didn't hesitate for very long, but she noticed that he did. He came to her and gave her a hug but it felt….platonic. It felt distant. She couldn't even make herself say 'I love you'. She was beginning to cry again and Hawk pulled away to look at her.

"What's wrong? You're finally pregnant; what could possibly be wrong?" He sounded so frustrated when he asked the question. This wasn't what she'd hoped for. He showed her no love or affection whatsoever.

"We've waited so long for this moment," Uilette said. "When it finally happens, you don't even hug me unless I ask."

"Uilette, don't ruin this," Hawk said and stepped away from her. "We're having a baby; that's what we've been working so hard for. Why does it matter if I hug you?"

"Because it's what a loving husband should do!"

"I don't love you anymore!" Hawk blurted out and for a moment, the two of them just stared at each other. Hawk looked shocked he'd admitted it while Uilette was shocked he'd said it. It hurt to hear it but that wasn't what made her feel sick to her stomach. Like that, everything she'd known was true but refused to accept came crashing on her shoulders. "I'm sorry," Hawk said. "I'm sorry I said that. I've felt this way for a long time. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to hurt you. We're finally having a baby. Maybe we can fix things between us but right now, the baby's what's important. Okay? Can we agree on that?" She was at a loss for words. When she finally did find the words, she spoke without thinking and out of anger.

"You're not the father," she said. Her confession hung in the room for several seconds. She looked at Hawk and he was shaking. His eyes were wide and he looked horrified.

"What?"

"You're not the father," Uilette said again after a brief hesitation. It was too late. There was no taking it back. She waited for his full reaction and started shaking a little herself when his face began to contort to anger.

"What do you mean I'm not the father? Who is?!" Uilette didn't answer at first, but then Hawk approached her and grabbed a hold of her hair and forced her to look at him. "I asked you who!" Hawk yelled. She'd never seen him like this before and it was scaring her. She wouldn't take her hands away from her belly though no matter how much he was hurting her.

"Taraq," Uilette finally admitted.

Hawk kept gripping her hair painfully after the admission. He couldn't speak. He was seeing red. For just the briefest moment, he'd been the happiest he'd been in years only for that joy to be ripped out from under him. His hand balled into a first and for just a moment, he was about to hit her, having no other idea what to do with the rage that bubbled in him, but he didn't. He released her and stood up. Hawk began to pace and stared at her before he finally left the house. When Uilette regained her senses, she ran after him. She was panicking. She didn't know what to do now. She went back to her mother's house in a panic to get Cidelle and her mother while Hawk prowled the grounds looking for Taraq. When he finally found the man, Taraq was with his brother helping him get ready for that night. Taraq saw Hawk coming and when he saw the look on the man's face, he prepared himself for a fight.

"Taraq, what's the matter?" Embry Sr. asked when Taraq stood up.

"I think he knows," Taraq admitted.

"Knows what?" Owota asked. There would be no answer. By then, Hawk had made it to Taraq.

"You son of a bitch!" Hawk yelled and threw a punch right at Taraq's face. He managed to block the jab with his forearm before Embry Sr. grabbed a hold of Taraq while Owota stepped in and restrained Hawk.

"What's going on?" Oliver asked, overhearing the commotion and coming to see the problem. Takara was there and Genevieve, Cidelle and Uilette were approaching the group.

"This slave's son slept with my wife!" Hawk yelled, "Now she's just told me she's pregnant!" Taraq stopped fighting. He looked at Uilette. It was the first time since he'd returned that she finally looked at him in the eye. There was such a mix of emotions playing across her face and all of them mirrored his own. He was going to be a father. The news sank in and for a moment, all he felt was happiness. Takara looked at Uilette horrified with the news.

"Taraq, is this true?" Oliver finally asked.

"Yes," Taraq admitted without hesitation. Hawk lunged for Taraq but Owota managed to hold him back. By now, Desarae and Blu Jae had come outside.

"What's going on?" Desarae asked Genevieve once they'd arrived.

"Uilette's pregnant," Genevieve mumbled. Desarae looked at Uilette and saw the look on her face. Then she saw Hawk clearly enraged and trying to attack Taraq. When she put two and two together, she was furious.

"You whore!" Desarae screamed and Blu Jae caught a hold of her.

"Desarae, it'll be alright!" Blu Jae tried to sooth but she wasn't listening.

"How could you!? How could you do this? You whore!"

"Get away from her!" Cidelle screamed and pushed Desarae against Blu Jae who'd made sure she didn't fall backwards.

Bayaq came forward to restrain Cidelle from attacking Desarae while Genevieve got Uilette away from everyone but when Uilette saw Hawk lung for Taraq again, she tried to get closer. Takara restrained Uilette before getting between Taraq and Hawk yelling, "Enough!" When he yelled, Hawk finally stayed back and Taraq stood straight ready for whatever Takara was about to say. By now, Uilette was close enough to the three of them for Takara to look his daughter in the eye.

"Uilette," Takara said, "Is what Hawk's saying true?" Nervously, Uilette nodded her head. "And you're pregnant as a result?" Takara continued and once again, Uilette nodded nervously. Having her answer, Takara had to do everything in his power to remain calm, but his feelings on the matter were written all over his face and Uilette had to take a step back. Takara then looked at Taraq and the rage on the man's face might have been the most frightening thing Taraq had ever seen.

"Takara, I know you're angry but please hear me out," Taraq said, but Takara's reply was to punch Taraq square in the nose causing him to fall back into Embry Sr.'s arms, but he quickly got back on his feet and covered his nose with his hand so the blood wouldn't fall on his shirt. Then Takara looked at Uilette again, then Bayaq and Cidelle.

"There will be no wedding today," Takara said.

"Daddy, please!" Cidelle said and Bayaq was about to argue as well.

"I will not reward this humiliation with a wedding," Takara interrupted and looked right at Owota. "Can you grant me an audience?"

"Yes, of course," Owota answered.

"Good," Takara said and then looked between Taraq and Hawk. "Both of you come with me." Takara said in a hushed yet horrifying voice before following Owota. In an effort to keep the peace, Oliver guided Taraq and Hawk, keeping them separated.

"Oliver," Jacob said.

"We'll talk about this later," Oliver said though he didn't sound angry. A little embarrassed and frustrated, sure, but he wasn't angry. After they'd walked away, Cidelle was crying and Bayaq took her in his arms to comfort her.

"It'll be alright, Cidelle," Bayaq said. "He just said there would be no wedding today. He didn't say there wouldn't be a wedding at all. We'll fix this, okay?"

"Cidelle, I'm so sorry," Uilette said and Cidelle sniffled but extended a hand to Uilette that she met with her own hand.

By now, Blu Jae had managed to get Desarae to calm down and encouraged her to return to her parents' home with him, but she gave Uilette a nasty look before following Blu Jae back to the house. She had begun crying when they were on their way back and Blu Jae rubbed her shoulder trying to make her feel better. When they finally got back, Desarae said she would go to visit Hawk as soon as it was possible to do so. Meanwhile at Owota's home, the men all went to his medical room to talk. Hawk and Taraq were kept on opposite sides of one another and Owota sat across from Takara and Oliver. Owota gave Taraq a wet cloth so he could clean the blood from his face. By now, his nose had healed anyway.

"So," Owota said and looked at Hawk, "What happened?"

"Uilette told me she was pregnant. I was happy about it but she was upset with me because I didn't hug her or express any affection to her. I admitted I'd stopped loving her a long time ago and that's when she told me Taraq was the father. I went looking for him and you know the rest."

"And is there validity in what Uilette is saying?" Owota said to Taraq as if giving him a chance to retract any confession he had relayed.

"Yes," Taraq said. Rather than try to explain that he'd imprinted on Uilette fearing the proclamation would fall on deaf ears or make the situation worse, he continued by saying, "Uilette and I got to know one another while we were here and….well, one thing led to another and we started having an affair. She'd told me she wanted to work things out with Hawk. This is the first I'm hearing about a baby."

"She had initially said you were the father?" Owota asked Hawk.

"Yes, but she changed her tune the moment she got upset with me," Hawk said. It wasn't even the affair the man was angry about clearly. He was angry because the baby wasn't his.

"Do you wish to have a divorce?" Owota asked Hawk. He seemed to think about it for a moment before answering.

"No," Hawk said and left Taraq in shock. "I don't care about the affair. I waited a long time to be a father. This slave's son won't take that away from me."

"Over my dead fucking body!" Taraq yelled and Oliver grabbed him by the shoulder and made him calm down. "I don't care what he says: he's not raising my baby."

"You can't prove I'm not the father," Hawk said.

"Oh yes I can," Taraq said. "Never mind the simple fact that you've been trying for seven years with no result meanwhile she and I are together twice and she's pregnant. Our medicine man is able to do a test that can prove paternity."

"I won't submit to it," Hawk said.

"You don't need to. It's not yours," Taraq answered back. Hawk moved to lung for Taraq again but Owota held the man back.

"Hawk, you say you are willing to accept this child as your own regardless of paternity?" Owota asked of Hawk.

"There is no question of paternity. It's my baby," Hawk said.

"You know it's not. It's mine," Taraq said.

"Then prove it," Takara said. "If you're so sure you're the father, than prove it. We will continue this discussion then. As to your brother marrying Cidelle-"

"Takara, please don't take this out of Bayaq and Cidelle. They had nothing to do with this. This was strictly me and Uilette. Please don't refuse their union because of me," Taraq said.

"You should have thought of that before you made my daughter a laughing stock," Takara said bitterly and stood up. "We're done here. Prove you're this child's father or this conversation is over. And you," Takara said to Hawk getting the man's attention, "I suggest you make things right with Uilette if you want to be a father to this child either way."

"Don't talk as if this is my fault," Hawk said.

"Don't back talk me!" Takara ordered. "You have some nerve telling my daughter you don't love her anymore only to act surprised that she would find love elsewhere. The both of you have humiliated Uilette and made a mockery of the announcement of my grandchild. On top of that, what should have been Cidelle's wedding day has been completely ruined!"

"Take a deep breath, Takara," Owota said and Takara did lower his voice just a little.

"I expect a resolution to this immediately. If the two of you saw fit to cause this nonsense, you will correct it." Takara left Owota's home having had enough of this conversation. When Takara had left, Hawk stared Taraq down but stood up getting ready to leave.

"You know full well this baby isn't yours," Taraq said. "The moment I can prove its mine-"

"What? What will you do? She only brought you up to make me angry. If you were really the father, she'd not have said it was mine."

"That was when she thought there was a chance the two of you could work things out. The way I see it, you've burned that bridge pretty spectacularly."

"A burned bridge can always be rebuilt," Hawk said and finally walked out, leaving Taraq alone with Owota and Oliver.

"Oliver," Taraq started, "This won't….negatively affect anything with our tribe's alliance will it?"

"A domestic dispute like this is hardly worth ending an advantageous alliance over," Oliver said. "I will reassure your chief as much. I'm not the one you should be worrying about anyway."

"Does your medicine man really have a method for determining paternity?" Owota asked.

"Yes he does and I can call him today and ask to have the test performed right way," Taraq said. Owota and Oliver exchanged a look until Owota eventually shrugged.

"Proceed then," Oliver said. "What is the plan exactly if you can prove you're the father? If neither of them agrees to a divorce it's not as though you can marry her."

"You let me talk to Uilette and we'll figure that out," Taraq pleaded. Oliver and Owota looked at one another again and then Oliver nodded.

"I will tell her to come here," Oliver said, "In the meantime I'll be speaking with Jacob."

Oliver stepped outside and found Jacob first, asking him to please go to the tribal building so they could talk and he'd be there as soon as he found Uilette and ordered her to go to Owota's house. When he did finally find her, she was at her parents' house with Cidelle, Genevieve, Takara and her brothers. Takara was still in a rage, shouting about the whole ordeal asking how Uilette could let something like this happen, what were you thinking, you've singlehandedly ruined your sister's wedding day and so on. Genevieve was trying to defend Uilette but the truth of the matter was she wasn't too happy about the situation either. When Oliver said Uilette needed to go to Owota's house, Takara was not initially compliant but eventually let her go though he demanded she return home the instant Owota was finished with her. Oliver walked her to Owota's house and then left to meet Jacob so they could talk. Uilette stepped into Owota's house and when she saw him, she looked so apologetic.

"I will let you two talk," Owota said and left his medicine room to give them some privacy. When they were alone, she didn't know what to say. Taraq stood to meet her and once Owota had left, he started to approach her.

"I'm so sorry," was all she could manage.

Taraq eventually broke the silence that started after her apology when he said, "You used me, didn't you?" The accusation hung between them and when Uilette didn't speak and only stood there with a guilty look, he had his answer. "He's not raising my child. Hawk is trying to say this baby is his so I'm reaching out to our medicine man to come out and prove paternity."

"You can do such a thing?" Uilette said with surprise.

"Yes," Taraq said, "And your father said if I can prove this baby is mine, then we will talk."

"I'm so sorry, Taraq," Uilette said after another silence passed. "When you had expressed interest in me, I realized maybe there was a chance that I could finally give Hawk a child and save my marriage. But when I began to fall in love with you, I told myself that I was being foolish and I needed to focus on me and Hawk. I thought if I told Hawk he would be a father he would love me again."

"And you really thought I wouldn't figure it out? You thought I wouldn't hear about you being pregnant and know it was mine?"

"I don't know what I thought; I only knew I wanted a baby more than anything in this world. When it became clear that the news was not enough to rekindle what Hawk and I had, I realized I was about to make a horrible mistake and I told him the truth," Uilette said. Taraq was torn between wanting to take her in his arms and hold her and being hurt and furious.

"So what are we going to do?" Taraq finally asked. "When the medicine man proves the baby's paternity, are you going to divorce Hawk?"

"Father said that Hawk doesn't want a divorce."

"I don't care what Hawk wants. I'm asking you what we're doing about our child," Taraq said perhaps more harshly than he'd meant. "Look, Uilette, I'm not going to lie and tell you I'm not upset. I'm hurt that you preferred to use me rather than embrace what we shared. I'm especially hurt that you were going to let Hawk think this child was his. But that doesn't mean I won't step up and take care of you and our child."

"I know I've hurt you and I'm sorry," Uilette said. "You're right: I should never have used you and for that I'm sorry." Her apology was sincere and Taraq hated seeing her so upset. Putting any hurt feelings aside, Taraq closed the distance between them and took Uilette in his arms to hug her. She hugged him back and started crying. He stayed silent while she cried, letting her get it all out. He rubbed her back tenderly and rocked her back and forth to comfort her. She did eventually calm down a little but she stayed in Taraq's arms. "Are you angry about the baby?"

"No, I'm not," Taraq said. "When Hawk said you were pregnant, I was happy. I still am. I want us to be together and I want us to be a family. I'll go into the city today and get a hold of Kyle so he can prove this baby's paternity. After that, we'll work this out. I promise."

Taraq held and comforted her until she was finally feeling a little better. Owota agreed he'd walk Uilette back to her parents' house and Taraq located Oscar to obtain the man's apartment keys. Oscar was not the least bit happy with Taraq and tossed the keys at him before telling him to correct what happened now. Bayaq demanded to go with Taraq into the city but he wouldn't say a word to Taraq as they were walking to the cars. Once they were on the road, he'd still said nothing and soon the silence had become painful.

"I'm sorry about today, Bayaq. I never meant for this to happen," Taraq said.

"Yeah, I know," Bayaq said but the rage was still thick in his voice.

"Please don't give me this. I'm already getting it from Takara and Oscar."

"Taraq, my fiancé – who should have been my wife tonight by the way – is at her parents' house in tears because Takara has retracted his blessing for us to marry! Now my marriage basically hinges on your love triangle. So yes, I'm a little fucking angry with you right now."

"Bayaq, my imprint used me! Do you understand that?! She used me to get pregnant and was going to pass that child off as Hawks! This is the first I've found out about this pregnancy and I only found out because Hawk attacked me! Now I basically have to prove this child's mine when it should be fucking obvious!"

Bayaq groaned and started rubbing his face, "I know, Taraq. I get it." Taraq needed a moment to regain his senses and stopped talking to focus on the road. "I swear Cidelle never said anything about this to me."

"I know," Taraq said. "If she had, you would have told me."

"She couldn't have known," Bayaq said.

"Of course she knew," Taraq said. "Those two share fucking everything. I know because so do we. She fucking knew about this whole thing."

"Hey, just breathe. We'll figure this out. Let's just start by getting either Kyle or Carlisle out here to do the paternity test and we'll go from there."

"Thanks, Bayaq," Taraq said.

Meanwhile, Jacob and Oliver had a chance to talk about what happened. Oliver reassured Jacob what happened had no bearing on the original plans since it was a domestic issue. However, that also meant that the catastrophe from that day was the responsibility of the family involved to resolve. All they could really do was acknowledge the awkwardness of the situation and move on. Desarae took some time to calm down before she finally went to her brother's house to see him. When she arrived, Hawk was sitting on the blankets of his bed. He looked over his shoulder at Desarae, surprised to see her.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in solitude with Blu Jae," Hawk said.

"I wanted to check on you," Desarae said and approached the blankets to sit beside him. "I'm sorry for what happened today."

"So am I," Hawk said. He held his head down and rubbed his face. Desarae rubbed his back trying to comfort him. "For the first time in a long time, I'd felt so happy. For a few minutes, I was going to be a father and I was elated. Then she tells me I'm not the father and all these years of trying have been for nothing. Taraq says he's this baby's father and says his medicine man can prove it."

"Shame on Uilette for doing this to you," Desarae said bitterly.

"No. Shame on me for not being honest from the beginning and ending things years ago," Hawk said, surprising Desarae.

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't loved her for a long time. I told you that. My mistake was thinking we just needed to try harder and a baby would be enough. If I'd ended things when I realized I wasn't in love with her anymore, none of this would have happened."

Desarae kept rubbing Hawk's back and then hugged him a little. "Do you want this baby to be yours?" Desarae asked.

"I don't know," Hawk said. "I just don't know anymore. If the baby's not mine, I want a divorce."

"You have every right to want a divorce," Desarae said. Hawk didn't cry, but he kept his head in his hands and Desarae stayed at Hawks side.

When Taraq and Bayaq made it back to Phoenix and called home, they were able to get a hold of Carlisle who agreed he'd fly out to Phoenix and be there by the following day. Taraq and Bayaq stayed in the city and picked Carlisle up from the airport when his plane landed early the next morning. They explained the situation to Carlisle as they made the drive back to the tribe and by that point, staying on schedule, they kids going to Washington were getting their things together and getting ready to leave.

"Remember," Oliver said to all the children after they'd been gathered by the buses but before Renesmee began row call, "You are to show the Quileutes respect and follow their guidance. They are offering all of you an education none of your fathers or grandfathers had the privilege of receiving. Renesmee is going to take all your names. When she calls your name, you're to answer her. Understood?"

"Yes, Chief Oliver," all the children answered in unison.

All the parents were present as Renesmee read off the list calling out children's names and waiting to hear them answer her. Once everyone was accounted for, the children were told to give their parents one last goodbye before they were escorted onto the buses. By the time Taraq and Bayaq made it back to the tribe, the buses were already driving off for the two day drive back to Washington. They brought Carlisle and all his equipment to Owota's home where Carlisle prepared what he needed. He took a blood sample from Taraq first and foremost.

"How will you test who is the father?" Owota asked Carlisle as he was drawing blood.

"It's a test in which I separate the DNA of the child in utero from the mother and compare that to the potential father," Carlisle said. "You can obtain the father's DNA through a mouth swab as well. Once I have a blood sample from Uilette, I will need a few hours to separate the DNA and then compare it."

"Do you mind if I watch you work?"

"Be my guest," Carlisle said.

Owota retrieved Uilette so she could give a blood sample after which she was sent back home so Carlisle could work. Taraq waited outside the house with Bayaq at his side while Uilette stayed at her parents' house for the time being. The waiting was excruciating. Taraq was sure of the results, but the waiting was enough to drive him mad.

"What if I'm not really the father?" Taraq asked Bayaq after they'd been sitting outside for an hour.

"There's no way you're not," Bayaq said. "Don't worry about whether or not the baby's yours. You know it is. This is just a formality at this point. Worry about making things right with Takara."

"He won't speak with me about it until I prove I'm the father," Taraq said.

"Hopefully by the time Carlisle can give the results, he'll have calmed down," Bayaq said and then rubbed his face in frustration. "Either way, it'll be a month before Cidelle and I can get married."

"I said I was sorry," Taraq said.

"I know; I'm not trying to start anything," Bayaq said. "I'm just frustrated."

"Me too," Taraq said. "Why did it have to happen this way?"

"You can't pick who you imprinted on. If she's already married, you'll just have to deal with the inevitable drama that comes with having an affair with a married woman," Bayaq said.

"I guess so," Taraq said. "This just isn't how I wanted things to play out. I'd have rather she'd left Hawk and married me, then we have children."

"Just take it in stride," Bayaq said.

It was another hour before Carlisle had finally obtained the results with Owota watching all the while. Carlisle requested Owota to bring the involved parties and he would relay the results. Being outside already, Owota told Taraq to go inside then went to retrieve Takara and Uilette. Finally, he went to get Hawk and returned to his home.

"Is this everyone?" Carlisle asked Owota.

"Yes," Owota said and sat beside Carlisle. Takara sat by his daughter while Hawk and Taraq were staying as far away from one another as possible.

"I was able to isolate the baby's DNA from Uilette's blood sample and compared it to Taraq. The results show that Taraq is the father," Carlisle said.

"I fucking told you!" Taraq yelled at Hawk and Owota grabbed Taraq's shoulder and squeezed it silently telling him to shut up. Angry of the results, Hawk walked out of the house without a word and no one tried to stop him. Taraq looked at Uilette trying to gage her reaction but she was keeping herself quiet and straight faced. Given Takara was still visibly irate over the situation, Taraq didn't wonder why. Clearly his outburst had not improved Takara's mood or opinion of the situation. Taraq kept his mouth shut waiting for Takara to say something.

"You're positive?" Takara finally asked.

"Yes, I'm positive," Carlisle said. Takara looked right at Taraq as though he'd say something but at first he didn't. It was the most uncomfortable Taraq had ever felt in his life.

"Well? What are you going to do about this?" Takara finally asked.

"If Owota can grant Uilette a divorce and she'll have me, we'll marry and I'll take care of my child," Taraq said in a confident voice despite Takara intimidating him.

"Is this acceptable?" Owota asked Takara and Uilette given she would need to agree to the divorce portion of this discussion.

"I want a divorce," Uilette agreed then looked at Takara.

Begrudgingly, Takara said, "Fine. You can marry my daughter. Be done with it, Owota."

"Does Hawk need to consent to a divorce in order for it to be official?" Taraq asked.

"Not necessarily, no. Especially given the paternity of this child," Owota said.

Owota directed Uilette to come to him so he could mix the correct herbs for her to drink and those same herbs were burned granting her a desolation of her marriage to Hawk. Immediately after, Owota performed the moon ceremony but it didn't hold the joy that Taraq pictured it's supposed to. After Owota performed the rites, Owota announced for greatest prosperity they needed to marry under the half moon same as Bayaq and Cidelle.

"That will give them time for this whole thing to blow over," Owota said after the moon cycle was determined.

"There will be no wedding here," Takara said. "My daughters will be married among the Quileute to prevent further embarrassment over this whole thing."

"Will you permit Bayaq and me to bring Uilette to Washington with us?" Taraq asked.

"They will be sent to Washington for their wedding days and not a moment sooner," Takara said and stood. "If you do any less than make my daughter happy, I will have your head on a pike," Takara continued and then finally left. Uilette watched her father leave and held her head down once he was gone. Taraq took Uilette's hand and pressed a kiss to it, giving her a reassuring smile.

"I promise I'll make you happy, Uilette, and I'll be a good father."

"I know you will," Uilette said, finally smiling back at him.

"I love you," Taraq said.

"I love you too," Uilette answered and she was smiling at him as she said it, realizing that she really meant it. Perhaps this wasn't what she'd meant to happen, but now that it had, she wouldn't change it for the world.