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Chapter 156
Boston
Jake
"Go on. Get out of here!" Mom smiled at me.
Immediately I grinned. I hugged my mom and gave her a kiss on the forehead as I stood up. Dad reminded me, as did Mom, to drive carefully. I took note, rolling my eyes.
After all, no car had ever gotten even a scratch because of me! Never! ... Okay. A dent. In the trunk lid. But I wasn't the one driving.
I was decently dressed, even by parental holiday standards. The presents for Becky's family were already ready in the hallway. I had eaten so many breakfast that I was certainly satiated for a good hour. I grabbed a little bottle of lemonade from the kitchen for the road, and then I sat in the car.
In my car. My Mercedes Coupé. It was really awesome! A cute little two-door car. In sporty elegance, as Dad called such things. It smelled new. To start the engine, you just pressed a button and the sound that followed sounded like power. Simply cool!
A soft beeping distracted me from my general amazement.
My cell phone had connected to the car via Bluetooth. That's what the touchscreen on the center console said. Then that I could select music from my phone. Mmm ...! 'The Three Investigators', episode 175, 'The Mystery of the Shadow World'. Since I mostly listened to the radio plays while falling asleep, I usually didn't get to hear how the detective case unraveled. So the almost one hundred miles would pass easily.
I entered the address Becky had written down for me into the GPS and I was on my way.
About two and a half hours later - I had made a small snack stop on the way - I was looking for a parking space in the tree-lined one-way street.
Dad had been right. The interstate had been cleared of snow. And only that one. Almost.
I had to drive past the house for a bit until I found a parking spot.
There were only a few structural differences between the house numbers. The houses were built right next to each other, all with red bricks and all about the same height. A few steps up to the front door, then three floors plus an attic and below a basement that still stuck half out of the ground. Partly there was a separate front door for this. Some with a bay window, the shutters were painted differently, the staircase railing was different in each house. But that was almost it with the differences.
Nevertheless, it looked somehow cozy. Especially with the Christmas decorations everywhere.
I rang the doorbell.
"Jake, there you are already," Becky's aunt greeted me.
The esoteric-aunt. I had met her when she had visited her sister - Becky's mother - for the weekend. Thereby I remembered that I had to ask why Becky's grandmother lived together with the sister of her daughter-in-law. I thought that was strange. Or let's say, unusual.
"Hello, Nikki," I replied in a good mood. I didn't care today what my chakra told her! Long story. Long nerve-wracking story! She had wanted to cleanse my desperate aura and ... No! Long story! "Merry Christmas!" I put therefore emphatically cheerfully after.
I presented her with a bouquet of flowers and politely thanked her for the invitation.
Christmas balls were incorporated in it. Pretty. Had Dad picked out.
Nikki's husband Simon also came to the front door.
I already knew him, too.
This guy was just as enthusiastic about all this esoteric-stuff as I was. We got along excellently.
While Becky's parents came to the hallway to greet me, there were calls up the stairs for Becky. Happy holidays were wished, various hands were shaken, Becky's Mom even gave me a quick hug, I bumped fists with her brother, and in the middle of it all, my star came rumbling down the stairs. Directly into my arms. I had just been able to catch her, so she hung quite clumsily against me, which prompted the bystanders to chuckle.
Graceful or ladylike was undoubtedly different.
"Hi," I smirked as I looked down at Becky.
She sorted herself out, whereby I helped a little so that she stood properly on her own legs again. So she stood on the bottom step and just looked at me.
So did I. I had not seen my star for almost three days. Missing her closeness was already hurting me. It always burned when Becky wasn't with me, but the more separate hours passed, the more painfully the fire blazed inside me.
Only a moment passed before we were in each other's arms.
God, how much I had missed her! Her soft lips on my neck, my fingers in her long hair, her warm body that pressed against mine. If we didn't do anything wrong, I wouldn't have to miss her for the rest of the Christmas vacations. Nothing wrong was, according to our parents' definition, that we let ourselves be seen regularly by both sets of parents and would not just squat on each other day and night. Anything was fine with us, as long as we would be together every night.
"Finally, I have you back!" Becky whispered what was going through my head.
I nodded and gave my star a gentle kiss on the lips.
"Now where is this supposedly great Native American chief?" I suddenly heard an unfamiliar female, slightly croaking voice coming closer, who sounded quite critical.
I smirked.
And I was curious. Becky had told me about her Quileute granny. A woman with whom one could steal horses. Even now, at her age. She had turned sixty-six in the summer.
"Mother!" Becky's father tried to rebuke her.
He seemed embarrassed by her dismissive tone, but Becky had prepared me for her.
I disengaged from Becky a bit, but intertwined my fingers with hers and pulled her along as I faced the thoroughly good-looking lady.
The long hair had a distinct gray tint and was braided into a messy braid. Her skin was rusty brown, typical Native American skin, but surprisingly smooth for her age. Her eyes a warm brown, but with an exuberant glow in them. She wore all sorts of Native American jewelry with fashionable but understated clothing. And she was quite tall and slender, which – to be honest – I had not expected.
I had imagined a little old lady who sat in her rocking chair all day and did some kind of manual work. Obviously a mistake.
"Granny. This is my Jake," Becky introduced me and I could not overhear how she pleasantly emphasized the term 'my'.
"I wish you a Merry Christmas, Miss Young," I extended my free hand to her with a friendly smile. She insisted on being addressed as 'Miss'! That was made clear to me several times. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Becky has told me so much about you!" I said cheerfully and also sincerely.
She took my hand and examined me from head to toe with a very skeptical look.
"How does such a young fellow as you come to want to be the chief of my tribe?" she asked suspiciously.
The pride in their origins was unmistakable.
"The blood of Ephraim Black flows in me," I said unequivocally, without avoiding her gaze.
I would have mentioned my father, but the name would mean nothing to her, as young as she had left the reservation. And whether she could do anything with Billy Black, I didn't know either. Because I was also proud of my ancestry. And certainly not less than she!
Her eyes twitched briefly as her gaze grazed my wrist.
The one that my father's little wolf was attached to.
She nodded barely noticeably.
I was not sure. Was there something like conspiratorial approval in her gesture? She knew our common legends, but whether in all details, and to what extent she believed in them, I could not say. This brief reaction, however, made me suspect that she at least didn't think it was entirely superstition.
"Just as in my twin sister!", I honestly followed up. After all, I was not chief alone. That term struck me as rather silly, though, so I began to smirk. We were supposed to be the leaders of a tribe that was over 5,000 miles away from us. Someone should understand that!
"And you love my granddaughter!" she stated in a rather serious voice.
"Granny!" interjected Becky into our conversation, looking irritably toward her grandmother.
"More than that!" on the other hand, I put right.
The grandmother took a step towards me and held her stern index finger in front of my eyes.
"If you hurt her, I'll sic the wolves on you!" she threatened me.
"Mother! That's enough!" Henry Young tried again to restrain his mommy, who obviously overheard him.
"Spare Jake your scary stories! He's much too old to believe those stories. Besides, Jake is a very good boy!" said Becky's mother.
Becky chuckled by the way.
She probably imagined Leah chasing me through the woods at her Granny's behest. Or perhaps how I was chasing myself. Like some dogs pursuing their own tails.
"That will hardly be possible!" I answered the grandmother quietly but clearly.
She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes a bit and tilted her head a little. Then she laughed at the top of her lungs and led me into the living room with an arm around my shoulder.
She wouldn't have meant any harm at all, but just wanted to find out how good the new chief was. I should call her Ciara. Or Granny, if I were spunky enough.
Since one had also only breakfasted here and I was just already there, we went directly to the large dining table.
Helping to set the table or something like that was forbidden to me.
We chatted very cozily over cherry pie, speculoos ring cake, and lemon muffins. Everyone had something to tell. On Monday there had been a small Christmas party at the hospital and all the doctors and nurses would walk around with Christmas accessories these days.
Esme's idea. Was clear.
The service would have been very nice this year on Christmas Eve. A child from the neighborhood had participated in the nativity play and had apparently been terrific.
The punctual snowfall on Tuesday is good for the chakras and supports the positive aura? ...
I took note of this sympathetically.
I handed over my small gifts when the cake plates were empty.
That had been really delicious!
Nikki received a framed photo that included her sister and her family.
A picture from Halloween. We had photoshopped in Becky's little brother because he had spent the evening with friends. But he was also dressed up. As the hero of a computer game.
I had heard Nikki complain at the time that she didn't even have a recent photo that had them all in it. For Granny, I had something sent to me from La Push.
A picture of her family there. Of all those who were still alive. Among them was her mother. I knew from Emily that Granny had not yet dared to come to La Push herself. She was too embarrassed by her hasty departure, which she had told absolutely no one about. But she had talked to her relatives a few times on the phone. The picture was accompanied by a letter in which her sister and her mother cordially invited her to visit them as soon as possible, promising not to get upset about things that had happened in the past. It had happened and could not be changed by anyone.
I explained who everyone was in the photo.
Granny wrote it down on small post-it's and stuck it on the frame accordingly. She cried at the sight of her mother, who was already ninety-eight years old but had the temperament of a seventy-year-old at most.
I gave Becky's brother a USB flash drive with a 'The Three Investigators' tag on it.
The entire radio play series was on it. As it were, as ordered. The series wasn't particularly popular in this country, so he didn't know it. He had accidentally listened to it the other day while I was waiting for Becky and found it quite entertaining.
Becky's parents received a CD.
With Dad's music. Becky had enthusiastically played them our song, which they were quite taken with. Also about what else Becky played to them from her phone, however she didn't have all of Edward's songs on her phone. The memory was too small for that.
"We also have a Christmas present for you," Becky's father then said when the CD was in the player and everyone had commented on my father's talent, very impressed.
Eliza Young slid an envelope across the table toward me.
I had not expected that at all.
I opened it and took out a strange card with quite a few small letters and numbers printed on it. It took me a moment to find the most important sequences of letters.
Boston - Seattle, two people. Valid until 06/2025. One round-trip voucher.
I looked up in disbelief and Becky's parents looked towards me smirking.
"Becky should see where she got her Native American roots," Becky's mother said.
"And who could watch over our daughter better," her father stated.
I didn't even know what to say.
Direct flights cost several hundred dollars. In addition, Henry Young let me fly away for a few days with his daughter? To the other side of the country? Alone?
Becky processed this faster than I did and was already hugging her parents.
I slowly got up from my chair, I was still a bit in shock or something, and just slowly walked towards the two of them.
"Thank you," I managed to get mumbled out of my mouth, by which time Becky's mother's arms were already around me. "For the trust!" I added, when I stood in front of Henry.
Instead of taking my hand, which I thankfully extended to him, he placed his hands on my shoulders.
"If I've learned anything in the past few months, it's that I can't stop my little girl from growing up. And if she does it with you, she'll be happy in the process. I can't ask or expect more than that as a father," he said meaningfully.
"I promise that she will be!" I vowed.
He nodded appreciatively and slapped me on the shoulders in a father-in-law manner, in which he turned me in Becky's direction.
"I'm happy!" she confirmed, sliding her arms around my neck and kissing me.
I was happy too. Overjoyed!
"And now the silly Mr. will stop, okay? I'm Henry," he said immediately.
"Jake," I introduced myself kind of instinctively and caught off guard, and we joined hands laughing.
I was allowed to help then clear everything away, nevertheless. So it came that I eventually stood alone with Becky in the kitchen and kissed her stunningly.
Really stunning. She had to hold on tight. I had three days to catch up on, after all!
"Do you mind if I borrow Jake?" Granny had snuck up on us unnoticed.
She smiled while we must have blushed together.
We weren't brought up like Marcus, but the way we had just kissed here, we didn't necessarily do it in front of our parents. Or grandparents.
I followed Granny to the second floor.
A small room. In the next room I saw a bed through the open door and suspected that these were Granny's private rooms, so to speak.
She pointed to a cozy-looking armchair and took a seat in a rocking chair herself. Between us was a small round table.
"Tell me about your grandfather," she asked, and I told her about Billy Black. The intimidating man whom everyone respected and whose word was never doubted.
"I wouldn't have expected any less from Billy," she chuckled furtively.
I looked towards her questioningly.
"Yes. I know your grandfather. We went to school together ..." she began to tell and took out a photo album from a cupboard.
She leafed through it wistfully until she found the picture she was looking for and handed the book to me.
Apparently a class photo.
"That's me there. Young and naive," she pointed to a cute girl with thick braids.
"You were very pretty ... Like today still!", I said charmingly. That I had copied from Dad.
"Charmer!" she titled me, but smiled so rapturously that there were many little laugh lines around her eyes that made them sparkle. "There's Billy Black," her finger continued to run over the picture.
I actually recognized him.
The dark menacing eyes. The stocky build. The long hair he had even then.
"The two guys to his right are Harry Clearwater and Quil Ateara IV, his best friends."
"I can't help but think that those three looks kind of arrogant," I opined. They all three had a look that was so challenging and dangerous.
"The three of them were always loitering together, acting as if they were entirely responsible for our tribe and that absolutely nothing should be done without their consent," Granny chuckled.
"I can damn well imagine that!" I uttered at the sight of the three teenagers in the picture. Cocky arrogance was so clear in their faces. Moreover, it completely corresponded to Billy's behavior today.
"Yes, you can certainly think that by their looks," Granny admitted.
She leaned back, rocked gently with the chair, and said nothing for a long moment. She seemed to be thinking about something.
I let her while I continued to look at the very few old photos.
Then Granny breathed deeply.
"There's a specific reason I wanted to talk to you alone," she said, and I lifted my gaze to her. "I told Henry our legends when he was a child, as well as my grandchildren. You then told it in full to Becky, and she in turn told it to me. In fairness, I want to tell you that I know very well what exactly wolves play a role in our legends. Even if I had many of our stories only very incompletely in memory, however, I have never forgotten the importance of the wolves in it. I had no possibility to do that ... Because I also knew your great-great-grandfather. Ephraim Black. And his friends Quil Ateara II and Levi Uley," she began to tell, flipping through the album until she found a picture of the three of them. "That was during a council meeting."
Three spry, graying men who looked childishly mischievous into the camera. They seemed nice and friendly, but also ... sublime. And wise. The weather-beaten faces. The traditional tribal costume, as I knew it only from books with corresponding old drawings. With bearskins around their shoulders, they sat around a small campfire. The only thing that didn't quite fit into the picture were their wristwatches and sneakers.
"They formed the council of elders at that time. The only people your grandfather had respect for. And this did not come by chance ... I never saw it, but Billy, Quil, and Harry lived in a world that was actually touched by magic. They witnessed the explosive transformation that was to change their own lives."
"How do you know that?" I asked in between. It had been drilled into me that we were not allowed to tell anyone about our secrets. Even no tribal kinsmens that had nothing to do directly with this world.
"Sarah Wilde, Joy Quehpa and me. We spent a lot of time with Billy, Quil, and Harry and we had no secrets," she smiled softly, scrolling back to the class photo and pointing to two other girls.
Mmm ... now that she said it. Said girls were standing right in front of the haughty boys and they had laid a possessive hand over the girls' shoulders. I mentally brought to mind the family trees that Sam and Emily had shown us when we were as fresh wolves in La Push.
"Joy married Quil and Sarah married my grandfather," I went over the Quileute family relationships. It was a complicated science. There were only a few families that were not somehow related to each other through umpteen corners. And in the meantime, one followed the relationships quite closely in order to know how our gene was distributed.
"Oh ..." Granny made amazed, so that I lifted my gaze surprised. "Well, with Joy and Quil it was to be expected ... But Sarah and Billy just teased each other for a long time. She thought he was stuck-up, and he thought she was nagging. Apparently they got over that crabbiness," Granny laughed heartily. "Sarah stuck more to Harry then, who was much calmer in character."
"And who did you have a soft spot for?" I asked just curious.
Her cheerful laughter died away, but she was still smirking as she looked directly at me.
"For Billy Black."
I gulped and the album slipped clumsily out of my hands. I immediately picked it up again and apologized for possibly damaging the old recordings.
"Becky told you why I left La Push," Granny stated mildly.
I nodded ponderously.
She was pregnant. At fifteen or so. Were Becky and I possibly related? Did we have the same grandfather? Billy? Were we even allowed to be together? Where did incest already begin?
"Don't worry, Jake. If I'd had a child by Billy, for one thing, I would have said something by now, and for another, I probably never would have left La Push," she helped my thoughts along.
I breathed a sigh of relief and ran with both hands through my hair.
"Henry's father was a tourist who wanted to explore the West Coast with his friends for the summer. It was the seventies. The racial segregation had been officially abolished for a long time, but still they didn't like to see the races mixed at that time. He wanted to stay with me, but I sent him away because of this problem between the different races. A Native American girl and a white man. That was not possible. That's why I fled. I was afraid of my family and that they would be ostracized because of my behavior. When I found it out, the boy had already moved on. I knew nothing but his name. Steve Bishop. I went down the coast first, hoping to maybe find him. To no avail. So I went as far away from Washington State as I could. With all my savings and a few mementos, I jobbed my way across the country. Henry was born here, an hour after I reached Boston. I liked the city right away, so I stayed here."
"Must not have been easy - all alone and with a baby - to get a foothold here," I reflected.
"No, it wasn't, but I made a good friend while I was still in the hospital. Her name is Mary, and she lives three houses down on the other side of the street," she smiled.
We came back to the youthful gang of her youth.
"Billy, Harry, and Quil lived to inherit their grandfathers' legacy. They also prepared excessively for it. They listened very carefully to the old stories to learn from them and to be as prepared as possible. They did a lot of sports to be in the best physical shape as soon as the time would come. Every free minute they roamed haphazardly through the woods, as if they were already on patrol at that time. They eagerly awaited the day when they would be the heroes of the tribe."
"That day never came," I muttered, lowering my gaze back to the class photo. I don't know, but that kind of explained to me why Billy had become so ... intransigent. I could really picture him looking forward to being a strong wolf. Maybe for years and years. How he waited for it. Every day. Until it was too late. Whether it had probably taken him very much that he did not belong to it? "As far as I know, Quil drowned in a storm and Harry Clearwater had a heart attack when ..." I said, but faltered. How much could I possibly get to the point? How much did Granny really know about the Spirit Warriors?
"When he was hunting the 'Cold Ones'?", Granny understood on her own and raised an eyebrow.
I nodded surrendering.
"He was not one of those who should do such a thing. The next generation was there. Among them was my father. Jacob Black."
"How come it took so long for the legends to repeat themselves?" she inquired.
"The gene that makes the transformation possible reacts to the presence of our enemies. Also to their number, as far as we know today. At that time, there were three of them. When my father died, there were eight wolves."
"And yourself?" she again raised an eyebrow. Curious. Interested. Smirking.
"I am the chief of the Quileute. With my twin sister. Although we are only seventeen," I smirked, and Granny smirked with me.
"That means you've already made acquaintance with the 'Cold Ones'," she summarized.
A trace of fear in the look, which did not surprise me. It meant that this side of the legends was also true.
"More than you know," I said vaguely, running a hand through my long hair. How was I going to explain this? "But things aren't always black or white," I tried to say, but of course Granny didn't understand me. How could she?! "The 'Cold Ones' are as real as our myths. Leah and I do our duty, insofar as we encounter them. But there are also some who are anything but our enemies ... One of them I call Dad and I love him as if he were my biological father!" I gave up talking around it from the beginning.
"How come?" she asked rather composedly.
I would have expected her to sort of crack up. In her opinion, I would probably only be putting her granddaughter in danger.
"Can you remember the treaty?" I asked.
She nodded irresolutely.
"An agreement between the Quileute and a group of 'Cold Ones' ..." I began, but was interrupted.
"Enough with the excuses and embellishments now. They are vampires! You are a wolf!" she rumbled in between, but directly made a prompting hand gesture that I should continue speaking.
Okay, in plain language then.
"Spirit Warrior!", I then immediately set the record straight. "Or shapeshifters, if you prefer!"
Granny chuckled and nodded.
"Continue, proud warrior!" she made a benevolent gesture.
"This group of vampires was different. They did not attack humans, but fed on animals. This family," I emphasized that word, "lived near the reservation, so the gene reacted in Ephraim Black and the other two. Vampires do not change and do not grow older, so they regularly change their place of residence. These ones want nothing but a normal life. At least as far as normal as they can manage because of their species. One of them is even a practicing doctor and is constantly saving people ..."
Granny was noticeably amazed and nodded appreciatively.
"... Ephraim Black and this doctor negotiated a truce. Mutually the entrance to specified areas was forbidden as well as one committed oneself to mutual silence. In addition, the truce was valid only as long as the vampires would not bite a human. And both sides kept to this contract. They stayed for a few years, living peacefully on their own, until they moved on ... They came back when no human could remember them there. When they arrived, there were no wolves and they believed that the last pack had taken this ability to the grave. They wanted to enjoy the constant bad weather for a few years ..."
Granny smirked and made a reminiscent remark about it.
"... and then move on as usual. The family had grown somewhat without violating the treaty and some Native Americans were of the right age. My father, among others. Thus the next pack of wolves was born. That the vampires themselves were responsible for it - just by their presence - they didn't know, but the former agreement was still valid ... But something happened for which they were not prepared," I told, and Granny's eyes grew bigger and bigger with curiosity.
"What?" she asked excitedly.
As if she were listening to the climax of a horror story and could hardly wait for the end.
From tension, her chair also no longer rocked.
I laughed.
Too bad it was going to be a love story.
"One of them fell in love with a human girl," I replied.
"Oh ..." Granny only said in amazement.
There the creepiness was gone, and she resumed the gentle rocking.
"That girl was my mother. When she was seventeen years old ..." I said and told her how it went on.
How Edward had gone to save her life, but things had happened beforehand, which was why they were hunting my mother. How my father had died in the process, not knowing about Leah and me. How bad Mom had been. How we got new classmates after summer vacation.
"... Edward has become our father during all these weeks and months. He loves and protects us. And he also loves Becky as if she were his daughter. Neither of them would hurt us! They are engaged, they are going to get married, and they will never separate again! And last night they had a child together."
Meanwhile, Granny was crying, touched.
I knelt on the floor in front of her and held her hands after handing her a handkerchief and looked into her eyes.
I had taken extra time to emphasize the incredible love between my parents. It had worked. Better than expected.
"What about ... Becky?" she asked with strangled emotion in her voice.
"Becky knows everything! From the very beginning. Although we can't tell anyone about these things. But I am supernaturally bound to Becky," I said.
"So the imprinting thing is true too," she looked at me in surprise.
"You can believe all our legends, Granny. They're all true!" I smiled. "I imprinted on Becky. She is the center of my life, and I will always be what Becky needs. A friend, a protector, a ...", I enumerated.
"... lover," Granny interjected, raising an eyebrow in interest.
Actually, I had wanted to say 'companion'. I don't know where I picked up the word all of a sudden.
"That too, if that's what Becky wants!" I chuckled a little sheepishly. Certainly I blushed at that.
"But that means you're not with Becky by choice," Granny considered attentively.
"Yes and no. The imprinting occurs only after the first transformation. Only when I saw her again after that did I belong to her unconditionally. Everything in my life became secondary when I looked into Becky's eyes. That moment was so incredible. Everything around me was spinning. The earth's gravity no longer applied to me. There was only one thing left in my life that mattered. Becky. In that respect, I really don't have free will. But I was lucky enough to have been in love with Becky before. And she in me," I declared meaningfully, with full conviction and with all the fierceness that this feeling of imprinting brought.
Granny looked me just as seriously in the eyes, from which a few tears were already flowing again.
There was a knock at the door of the room.
"Jake. Do we have to ... Granny? Why are you crying?" Becky appeared in the doorway, glaring angrily at me from the side as she walked anxiously toward her grandmother.
"Nothing, sweetheart. I'm just so touched. Jake told me some things," Granny smiled and rose from her rocking chair, wiping the last tears from her eyes with the handkerchief.
Becky smiled again.
Apparently, I had not scared her grandma.
"Becky. None of this scares you, does it? Wolves? Vampires?" Granny asked her in a whisper, because the door was open.
My star paused for a long moment and looked at me in irritation, but I nodded encouragingly at her.
"No, Granny. I'm not afraid. Jake protects me. From everything! I'm happy!" Becky made clear.
Granny nodded and gave her granddaughter a soulful kiss on the forehead.
Meanwhile, dusk had set in, and we should leave soon.
While Becky was packing up her things, I got another little tour of the house.
I was told how this rather unusual living situation came about.
This house belonged to Granny. Becky's father had grown up here, gone to college in Boston, and met his wife. When Becky announced herself about eighteen years ago, he wanted to leave the big city and sought to work in a pretty little place better suited for children - Saco.
That sounded very familiar to me. Sonya had also not been so enthusiastic about Philadelphia with her so far three children.
However, the house was quite large for Granny alone. On the other hand, Nikki and her family were currently looking for a new home, as she too was in an interesting condition and the two-bedroom apartment would become too cramped with the offspring. So Nikki and Simon had moved in here - and their son Randy.
I had already wondered where he was. Becky had told me about him, and she didn't like him very much. He was a clumsy womanizer. Becky suspected that the only reason he won most girls over was so he would finally stop his unimaginative and snotty pick-up attempts. Randy had a date, apparently. All the better.
I thanked them again for the invitation, for the Christmas gift, said how nice it was, and passed on the dinner invitation from my parents to Becky's parents now.
For Sunday evening.
They wanted to stay here in Boston until Sunday, so the invitation came just right. Eliza didn't know whether she would have enough food in the house and whether she would even feel like cooking that evening.
This is how we said goodbye.
I took Becky's bag.
Gentlemanly. Like Dad.
"So? What did I miss with you guys?" asked Becky impatiently as we strolled down the street to the car.
Where should I start now?, I chuckled to myself. Well, let's start with the most important thing.
"I got a little brother for Christmas," I said, emphatically casually.
Becky stopped in her tracks and looked at me.
I had called her yesterday, but I hadn't told her yet. I was afraid that she would say something rash in surprise. Possibly in the presence of her family. But as before, hardly anyone was allowed to know that our family was getting bigger. How were we going to explain this to anyone after just four weeks? Also, we did not know yet how Ced would develop. I had asked Granny to keep this quiet and she had nodded conspiratorially and understandingly.
"Really? A brother? Did everything go okay? How is Bella? Are you happy? Edward must be going crazy with joy, right? What's his name? ..." she asked without taking a breath.
"Becky! Take it easy! Everyone is doing great, and they are all happy!" I tried to calm my jittery star.
I succeeded only by kissing her persistently and sensually.
She smiled at me afterwards as if she was completely high.
I grabbed the collar of her jacket and slipped it over her shoulders to take it off.
"What are you doing?" came Becky back down to earth, sobered. "It's freezing cold!"
"Yeah, but do you want to keep it on during the long drive?"
"Let's arrive at the car for now," she determined.
I pulled my bunch of keys out of my jacket pocket, pressed the button, and right behind me a discreet honking made it clear that the vehicle had been opened.
Confused, Becky looked past me.
"Uh ... what's that?" she asked.
"My Christmas present from my parents," I held up the Mercedes key presentingly.
For a moment her gaze lingered indecisively on it, until I was of the opinion that it was enough - considering the real freezing cold.
I took her hand, opened the passenger door, and form-fittingly helped her get in.
Just according to the old - one hundred and twenty-three years old - school.
I put the bag in the trunk with our two jackets and off we went.
On the long drive I reported everything Becky had missed in the three days. Especially, of course, about little Ced and his gift.
I was so excited to hear Becky's thoughts through Ced. I also wanted to experience what I had seen with Mom and Dad and with Leah and Marcus. That incredible silent declaration of love. Even the other couples had experienced this. They had all looked the same. So intimate and so deeply connected with each other. Except for Esmé and Carlisle. From Carlisle, after all, Ced would not let himself be touched.
Becky laughed out loud at this information.
On time - about fifteen minutes before dinner - I drove into the underground parking garage.
We put our things down in the hallway and I gallantly led Becky into the crowded kitchen. She was greeted loudly by everyone, and a little hugging and Christmas wish marathon broke out. My parents, however, were not there. Leah pointed down the hall.
Aha ...
While Becky was being 'passed around' from one to the other, I walked over to Ced's temporary room. I leaned against the door on the inside for a moment to give my parents another moment.
It was exactly what I wanted to experience on my own body. Exactly this love, which the two just gave each other. This kiss was so intense, but had absolutely nothing disreputable or purely passionate about it. It was pure love that surrounded them. I was fascinated by it. It was so beautiful. I wanted it myself.
"Um ... I'm back!" I cleared my throat.
No response.
I smiled.
How much I wanted to experience this for myself!
I walked closer - head shaking.
"Are you once again depriving our parents of any attention that they can't respond to anything?" I asked the little man, who also promptly giggled at me as I scratched over his little belly.
My parents' heads flew in my direction and if I didn't know better, even Dad was embarrassed.
"Well, back from the Matrix?" I asked with a grin.
"You can't wait to finally experience this with Becky!" Dad immediately countered, as confident as ever, as they got up out of the rocking chair.
"You got it," I admitted. Everything in me was craving it!
"Well, go get her," Mom prompted me.
"She's in the kitchen, with the others ..." I started to say. Why should we hide in this small room? The others were already curious, too. The reason for the generally considerable curiosity was my imprinting. We were not only in love like Marcus and Leah. We were also not soul mates such as the vampires were. I had imprinted and absolutely nothing was more important to me than Becky. Dad knew my thoughts on the matter, Jazz knew my feelings, and Leah shared it with me as a wolf. But the effect it had under Ced's gift, no one could say.
"And do you want to explain to Charlie and the kids beforehand what's about to happen between you and your girlfriend, or afterward?" mused Edward casually as he placed Ced in the crib.
"I'll get her," was all I said, and I was gone.
Becky was with Emma, who was still lying on the sofa. Nestled in lots of blankets. With Oscar. Cookie was lying at her feet. Her head was red with heat, and she was coughing. But she was laughing, though not as chirpy as usual. Emma was also telling her what she had missed.
"How is our smooch ball? Are we going to have a snowball fight together tomorrow?" I asked her, and she nodded vigorously. I dared to doubt that. I'd probably rather read her a story or something, from the looks of her. "Can I steal Becky away from you?"
"If you bring her back!" Emma sternly determined, and I promised it.
After dinner at the latest. Her Majesty was generous today.
So I went back to my parents with Becky, but Leah and Marcus followed us.
That was clear. After all, my little sis was also curious, and she made no secret of it.
"Charles Edward David Swan," Becky said.
I had to chuckle.
Ced looked completely irritated. After all, nobody called him that.
Dad said what Ced showed her, and I watched my star as she was swept away by his memories. She smiled incredibly.
Then it was finally time.
Becky looked at me invitingly and I stepped closer to the cradle.
Everything inside me was tingling with excitement. I took her hand, intertwined my fingers with hers and offered Ced my other one.
For a moment I followed Ced's thoughts. He could do something with Becky and showed me what he had already seen of her through us. He knew she belonged with us. While I was already sinking into Becky's sapphires, however, I felt how foreign thoughts mingled with his memories. Becky's thoughts. I heard my star whisper. Warmth flooded my body. The words and images stretched into every fiber of my being that I took in, which triggered intangible sensations in me. Wow ... And I felt that this was only the beginning ...
But before it could get more intense, something flashed in Becky's eyes.
Sheer horror.
I was startled by this.
She backed away, blindly detaching herself from Ced and me.
"Becky?" I asked, confused. What had gotten into my star? I didn't know what was going on. It had all been so beautiful, after all, and it was about to get even stronger. I didn't understand the world anymore, but she kept backing away until she bumped backwards against Dad.
"Jake! Get out!" he commanded me as his hands protectively clasped Becky's arms.
Of course I followed this request.
I had no choice, although everything in me resisted it. Even the human hairs on the back of my neck bristled against it.
But I was powerless. Becky looked at ME fearfully. She was afraid of ME!
So I stood indecisively in the middle of the hallway.
Marcus and Leah were standing in front of me talking, but I didn't hear anything.
I just realized how much it was really true. I had no free will when it came to Becky.
Thanks for reading!
