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Chapter 217

Jake

Little Grace was really sugary sweet. And how she always smiled at me. To melt away. David and Sonya had said something about flatulence, Dad and Carlisle also said that a baby after not even two weeks could not do that yet, but I insisted. She smiled at me! Period! After I had told this proudly, Becky had even become a little bit jealous.

"At least now you know how I feel when Ced always adores you!", I had matter-of-factly explained in response.

I just sat in front of the cradle again and watched the cute little thing sleep. Emma was sitting on my lap. She was very excited about her little sister and was already diligently practicing to be a mommy.

For her fourth birthday shortly before Easter, she had received a baby doll to match. She just dragged it everywhere with her. Or pushed it around in a doll carriage.

However, not every child in this house was so happy about the new addition. That's why I was here. I was waiting for Deacon to come home from school. According to Dad, he had some approaches that seemed very familiar to me.

It was Wednesday, no practice, which is why I was home before the school bus.

Since last weekend, the Mitchell family was back home.

Sonya had not been doing so well for two days after giving birth, but then things had started to look up. Mom had said that it was partly due to the birth, because without a C-section it would probably have been as dangerous as with Emma. Also, it was because of the C-section itself and partly it was just because of the adjustment. Sonya breastfed the little one and she asked for breast milk about every two hours. Also at night. In doing so, it was difficult to recover. But in the meantime everything healed as prescribed, and Sonya had gotten used to this breastfeeding rhythm again. She had breastfed all her children. Now, too, little Grace seemed to get hungry and whined.

"Doesn't that hurt?", I inquired as Sonya sat with her on the sofa and pushed the baby under her blouse to her breast.

"You get used to it," she smiled at me.

She told me that she had struggled with pain for a long time with Luces. At Deacon, she then had a lactation consultant from whom she had gotten some tips to prevent pain, even preventively during pregnancy and a lot apparently also depended on correctly latching on.

How to latch on? Strange designation.

With Emma and now with Grace it had only hurt for a few days, although you couldn't really call it real pain. But every woman feels that differently.

"But the pain is countered by the fact that, on the one hand, it's the healthiest milk for the baby. On the other hand, it's just beautiful. A feeling of harmony."

I could confirm the harmony. I saw it live. Sonya had such a subtle smile on her lips. I wonder if Becky would breastfeed our kids too? Later! ... Never mind.

The school bus came. The boys jumped around, David came down to his 'pack' from upstairs, they wanted to talk excitedly about school, but Sonya asked for silence after greeting the boys from the sofa with the baby at her breast.

So, it should not be a mice silence, but the guys just whirled through the area and talked in confusion and thus louder.

Luces nodded when he spotted the baby and then turned to his daddy. Deacon nodded as well, but shuffled sullenly toward the hallway.

Sonya looked at me.

I nodded.

"Hey, Deacon. Feel like going for a walk in the woods before dinner?", I asked.

"Okay," he shuffled back in my direction.

If that wasn't thunderous enthusiasm.

We strolled along the path.

Deacon was silent, had his hands in his pants pockets, and kicked rocks out of the way.

"What do you think of your newest family member?", I asked.

"I don't know. She sleeps most of the day," he said vaguely.

"Must be a pain to have to be quiet all the time because of her, right?"

He nodded cautiously.

"Or if everyone just takes care of the baby," I added.

Astonished, he looked up at me.

Of course, I had hit the bull's eye with that. Knowingly.

"You know. When Ced was born at Christmas, I had the same impression ... Nobody seemed to take much notice of me anymore. Everything was about the baby. It's easy to feel lost. Superfluous and unloved."

Deacon just nodded, continuing to kick rocks and branches out of the way.

So I continued to tell.

That I felt like I had lost my dad because he only had eyes for Ced. That Mom was completely blown away by the baby, but seemed to have forgotten about her former babies.

However, I did not tell him that I had scrapped Dad's Maserati in this fear and anger. It was my fault, but I hadn't done it on purpose.

Deacon broadly agreed with me on all points.

That's how it was for him right now. He was somehow drowning and the fact that you had to be so considerate of the baby, all the time, was annoying him.

I went on to speculate that it might have been that way for Luces twice before. Once with Deacon when he was born and then with Emma.

He objected that that was something completely different. Emma was a whirlwind, certainly even as a baby. And he couldn't remember that he had ever slept through the whole day and that it had always had to be quiet in the house.

And yet it was so, I assured him. I had been ten when he was born. I could remember that. Sonya and David had taken care of him then just as they had taken care of Luces before, Emma later, and Grace now. I acknowledged that with multiple children, it was difficult to juggle them all. To give them enough time, to make them feel like they belonged and were loved. As soon as the baby cried, the parents were there. So his impression would not be unjustified. But this change didn't mean his parents would love him any less now. If they could, they would continue to care for him and his siblings as they had in the past. Play and romp with them, listen to their stories. But a baby needed a lot of attention because it was just completely helpless. It couldn't say what it wanted. It could do absolutely nothing on its own. So Grace was now dependent on her parents, and Sonya and David were naturally concerned about giving the baby everything it needed. As they had done with all their children in this phase of life.

Deacon even understood that.

"Besides, it won't be like this forever. Grace is a baby, an infant. But she will grow up and little by little she will be able to do more and more. So, little by little, the attention of your parents will also change again, and it will be like before the baby. Only with one more sister in the house ... And you are her big brother!"

"So?"

"Well. She'll look to her siblings as role models. Luces, Daniel, Emma and, of course, you. As a big brother, you also have some responsibility. She'll learn from you, even if she's just watching you. Among other things, how you treat each other or your parents. Later, you can even really teach her something. How to play hide and seek, for example, and help her crawl or even learn to walk so she doesn't fall or crawl ahead somewhere. Or how to eat Oreo cookies the right way! You're in for a really cool time as a big brother where you can be her big hero in little things too!"

He seemed to like the idea.

He smiled.

"You just have to be able to overlook how much Grace needs her parents right now. They know they're neglecting you guys a little bit besides Grace, but they don't like to do it and they don't do it to spite you. They've already thought of something for you to do this weekend, though, so you can all get your money's worth together fun-wise."

"Really? What?" he inquired curiously.

"I won't tell!", however, I said.

It would definitely meet the family taste. I'd even like to go, but it wasn't my family. David had planned a hiking tour. Really with a handcart, picnic in the wilderness and so on. The destination was an old brewery in the Alfred area. There you could eat rustic food and spend the night on hay floors - if you didn't want the cozy little rooms. There were many things for children of different ages. A huge playground, a small water park, various animals kept there, live music. There was also a huge meadow next door, where you could play soccer or badminton or whatever. The older kids – so the Daddies - could help with the beer bottling. Sonya, of course, wasn't allowed to hike yet. She would follow behind in the car with Grace, join them at an extended picnic stop, and then pull up to the brewery. It was a popular excursion destination, and we had been there many a time. Earlier with Mom and David, later with our friends. We could actually do it again sometime ...

Deacon was now a little more enthusiastic about being a big brother. He tried it out a little bit with Emma, about being a great role model and hero and all that. With Emma, however, he was a little late for that.

Then on Friday, I was standing in the gym in Portland.

High School Basketball League Finals.

School had already been out at noon because of this event.

It could have been that our opponents would have had to drive forever if they had come from one of the other districts. But now Marcus and his team were facing me. I still wasn't sure whether I should be happy or angry about it. Our fan community in the stands also seemed pretty quiet, even though they were all there. Our friends, David's family including baby, Marcus' mom including both sisters and fiancée, our family with Ced of course. About Leah, I smirked. She would have loved to stay away. Her face hidden in her hands, she wished it would just pass. She hadn't wished me or Marcus luck.

We were warmed up, Bran and I were in an extremely good mood, our team was motivated.

However, it didn't look any different on the other side, as Marcus and his friends had already told us.

In the locker room our coach gave us final instructions, even the principal came to give a little motivational speech.

No one was really interested.

Then it was off to the hall.

I looked to the trophy that was already in the background waiting to be picked up.

Fancy piece, the way it shone in the glare of the gym. It would look extremely good next to the trophy from last year. That one was already in a display case at our school.

The Portland Bulldogs cheerleaders were still dancing, we took off our practice suits, had another drink, I carefully tied my hair, and Becky threw me another good luck kiss from the stands.

We entered the playing field. We spread out and the referee in the middle waved the team captains over.

So there we were. Marcus and me. Opponents!

We smiled bittersweetly.

The referee gave the usual of himself. Fair play, respect for the opponent and so on. Then the obligatory high-five before kickoff.

"What's that? A new trend?" asked the ref cheerfully when he recognized the small carved wolf on each of our wrists.

"Not exactly," Marcus opined.

"We are something like siblings," I added.

"So I'll have to keep a special eye on you two then!" the ref stated to himself, and he was to be proved right.

It became the hardest game of my life!

We had to fight hard for every single basket. And we did not let every single basket be scored without a fight.

I was actually a little out of breath after the first quarter. A very little bit. Wolf genes and all that. Still got on my nerves.

The second quarter, Marcus and I spent what felt like most of the time on the floor - fouled by each other.

In the third quarter, I broke off his engagement to my sister.

His team was in the lead. But we caught up again.

Normally, each quarter lasted ten minutes, but that was also the actual effective playing time.

If the game was interrupted, for example after a foul, during a player change, medical treatment, need for discussion with the referees or who knows what, the time was stopped. The last quarter then lasted over half an hour with all these interruptions. Not that we played less than twenty minutes even once in the first three. Still, it ended in a tie. That meant extra time of five minutes. Pure playing time again, mind you. However, both teams were at the end of their rope. Except for me, of course, but I gasped along in solidarity as usual.

We sat in our cabin, and everyone held some ice packs, chilled drinks or wet towels against some bones, joints, in the nape, or otherwise. All of us were ailing in some way.

I guess our coach didn't really know what to say either.

We had fought doggedly as a united team up to this point and given everything we had to get this year's championship, so he had nothing to complain about.

A siren sounded after some time.

The sign that the teams should return to the court.

"You guys are playing a great game out there. No matter how it turns out, it will go down in the history of the league," our coach told us and left the locker room before us.

I believed him at his word. I did not know if a high school final had ever lasted so long.

We players stayed behind for a short while. There was still our little battle cry, but Bran took the floor instead of intoning our motto.

"I have to admit, I had my doubts that you would give your all in this game," he began, looking at me. Others on the team nodded and murmured in agreement. He continued, "With Marcus as our opponent, I would have thought you would handle each other with kid gloves. So that Leah in particular wouldn't have a reason to get mad, and we all know what Leah's like when she's really mad! ... We were undecided how we would have reacted. Whether we would have been mad or understood your predicament. But the exact opposite is true. This game will not be decided between Portland and Saco, but between you and Marcus. And we thank you for taking this game seriously and not making it a silly sibling slap fight! For making us bring everything out of ourselves and fight just as you do against each other. If we win, we can take home the trophy as proud winners. If we lose, we can congratulate our opponents with our heads held high."

Everyone nodded in agreement again and I didn't know what to say to that.

Bran held out his hand.

"Let's make history!" he said invitingly, and I put my hand on his. The rest of the team, including substitutes, followed.

"GO, TROJANS, PLAY AND WIN!" our motto resounded loudly in our booth, whereby our hands flying up.

With Brandon, I separately high-fived once again.

"Let's slaughter him!" he murmured to me.

I nodded resolutely.

I wouldn't let Marcus take this trophy without a fight.

As a result, Bran and I came out last and we ran right into our positions.

The ref was already in the middle with the ball, but I looked around for my team. They looked determined. This was followed by a rather victorious look sideways to Marcus ...

But it wasn't Marcus.

"Nate?", I wondered.

They had similar hair and the body had been covered by the ref on the way to the center of the field, so I hadn't recognized him right away. However, I had also not expected to have someone else standing next to me.

"Where is Marcus?", I therefore inquired.

"He's not playing any further," he simply said.

My gaze went to the players' bench, where I expected him to be sitting. But he wasn't there either. I looked up at the bleachers. Leah and Carlisle were no longer sitting there, and Dad looked anxiously focused.

I looked around me in confusion, searching for the context.

What did that mean?

"Jake? Are you okay?" Bran noticed my uncertainty.

"Are you ready?" the referee asked.

"Captain?", I heard Piet behind me.

"No, damn it!", I heard Marcus swear loudly.

After that, something rattled deafeningly.

It came in not really loud to me, since the sounds seemed to be coming from the booth, but if I heard it here on the court, it must have been really loud in there.

I ran off.

My coach called after me uncomprehendingly, some opposing players from the bench pushed their way into my path, but I pushed past them as well and kept running. Down the few steps and along the narrow hallway.

"Marcus. It's no use. You can't keep playing!" spoke Carlisle.

"With the knee you would not be a help, but a chosen target!", I heard another voice, but I did not know it.

"Don't do this to yourself, Marcus," Leah said as I reached the booth.

Marcus was sitting on the floor leaning against a rather battered locker and Leah was squatting in front of him, his face in her hands. Behind I saw the outstretched knee that had obviously been talked about. It was blue and quite swollen.

"What are you doing here?" the foreign voice nagged at me.

Now that I saw him, I recognized the doctor of all the sports teams at this school.

"Jake?!", Marcus looked in my direction in surprise. "Why you are not in the process of tearing my team apart!" he then said angrily.

"I'm waiting for you," I replied.

"Well ... I'd love to, but they won't let me!" Marcus thundered.

I looked questioningly at Carlisle.

"Marcus fell on his knee for the umpteenth time during your last clash. So far it's only a bruise, but after further falls, irreparable damage could remain," he explained to me.

"He might never be able to put full weight on his knee again, or it might get stiff if he falls on it wrong," Leah added worryingly.

"But it's just a ridiculous bruise!" insisted Marcus thickheaded.

"Until now!" his team doctor replied just as stubbornly.

During this exchange of blows, it took me a moment to understand. To realize the implications.

A stiff leg. Or one that he would no longer be able to put full weight on. He would never be able to play sports properly with it again. Running, biking, taekwondo, tennis with his sister, basketball with me, volleyball against our girls. Surfing. None of that he would be able to do anymore. What about his studies in sports science? Was that even possible then?

"Then I guess we're both not playing!", I thus clarified and demonstratively pulled the ribbon out of my hair.

"Are you crazy?!", Marcus looked at me aghast. He angrily scrambled to his feet, with Leah helping him. "There's the endgame going on up there, and what a fucking endgame it is! You're going to miss that?"

He shimmied between the lockers and Leah in my direction. He could not really play.

"You get out there and win that trophy, damn it!" he demanded, standing right in front of me.

"Forget it. If I play, it will be against you. And I won't let you on the field with that knee!", I thundered back.

Leah looked at me gratefully because I was siding with the medics.

But I didn't deserve any thanks for that. Rather, I felt guilty because he had been on the floor most of the time because of me. Just as I had been because of him. We had really given each other absolutely nothing up there on the field and I had forgotten that his knee was preloaded and accordingly not paid attention at all. He had to take a break last season because of a torn cruciate ligament. Therefore, his knee was preloaded. Therefore, I could not remember on him as anything other than Leah's boyfriend. But that had also led to him wanting to study medicine and sports science together.

"Besides, it's not nearly as much fun to kick your asses without you!", I added truthfully.

If I already had to play against Marcus in the final, I wanted to play against Marcus himself.

"Our teams know how to play basketball without us. And without us, maybe it really will be a fair game after all," I added with a grin.

"That could really happen," Marcus chuckled after a moment to that.

We hit it and Leah was visibly reassured that Marcus now realized he couldn't continue playing.

"Then may we please continue to doctor you now?" inquired Carlisle.

They were allowed. Marcus got a shot in the knee, with Leah and me looking the other way.

That hurt just watching!

He laughed at us for it.

In the meantime, someone came by and told us the score after overtime. A draw. So another five minutes of play.

Marcus also got a nice bandage and Carlisle ordered a few days of absolute protection.

"No bed rest?" Leah dug deeper.

"He said protection, not excitement!", I teased my little sister.

Between Leah and me, Marcus then limped down the hall.

If we weren't going to play anymore, we at least wanted to see what kind of nonsense our people were up to.

We sat down on one of the steps of the grandstand. Right between our teams. Through the loudspeakers we could hear the sports commentator.

He had noticed us and demanded a thunderous applause for Marcus for his sporting performance so far. And for me, because I behaved so sportingly as his opponent.

"I guess he didn't see that I'm actually out because of you!" noted Marcus.

"He didn't see many things," I said.

When the whistle blew for the next game time, someone held out a bag of popcorn, nachos with cheese sauce, and Coke cups over our shoulders - Leah and Becky. We rewarded that caring with an extended kiss and let them share in everything.

It continued to be an exciting game. A few times I stood up and yelled at my team.

Marcus could not get up, but yelled at his people just the same.

Another draw. That was unbelievable!

But then the game was over. Marcus' team won by one point after the longest and most nerve-wracking final match in league history. His team picked Marcus up at our place. Actually completely finished, they still had enough energy to carry their team leader to the cup.

Even a little disappointed, we did not begrudge them the victory. They had gone down so mercilessly last year. On top of that, this tough game. It was a deserved victory. But that's probably what they would have said if we had defended our title. It had been such an awesome game!

Both teams occupied the diner where Marcus had worked. There they had the obligatory piece of winner's cake for their team. Afterwards, we all celebrated together as well.

Through Marcus' connection to Leah and to me, our teams had become friends over the past few months. Nate and Brandon had even developed a very special relationship. They would verbally hit on each other every chance they got. However, they arranged to gamble on X-Box in the same tone and met regularly in 'X-Box' live chat. Anyway, the overall situation had led to us having a joint party in Nate's backyard that night, with all of us contributing financially. Our teams, our cheerleaders, our friends. Not all of us, of course, that would probably blow-up Nate's parents' backyard, but it was quite a boozy affair.

Marcus was sitting around somewhere most of the time. His knee was really banged up hard and he put it up mostly on a chair. They took sufficient care of him. I brought him beer, his cheerleaders brought hot dogs.

One of them remained sitting on his lap and supervised the meal. But she was just as cheeky-cheerful in character as Abigail.

Leah knew the girl and they got along famously.

He was also teased with silly remarks because he had not been man enough to have witnessed the end of the game.

Leah checked his vitals regularly, with him seemingly needing regular 'mouth to mouth' resuscitation.

I sat with Becky in Nate's old tree house at one point, and we watched the party from above.

Unless two meters could be called the top. A more stable tree did not exist.

Our feet dangled down the 'porch' and Becky's sweet lips consoled me very persistently over our defeat. What I would have gotten from her if I had won, she would not tell me until later.

The trophy stood illuminated under the gazebo, closely guarded by the winning team, telling anyone who did not escape in time exactly how they had won it.

I joined them and I immediately made it clear that I had been there and did not need a report.

Marcus was there too, sitting a bit sideways on the railing, whereby he had his bruised knee lying on the banister with him. His best friends, Nate and Leo, were also there, along with a few others.

They were a pretty easy-going bunch, and Bran and I got along with them pretty well. Nate, the eternal single. Not because he wanted to be, he just couldn't find anyone he liked. Or who wanted him.

He just came back from another unsuccessful attempt.

With one of our cheerleaders.

It was in this gazebo that I made the acquaintance of the self-proclaimed Queen of the Portland High School.

Such girls were apparently part of the inventory of every school. At our school, her name was Carrie and she had made a sensational appearance on New Year's Eve. The motto at the time had been 'Black & White', but she came in a red lace catsuit. And she had shown up, as usual, two hours after the party officially started. That seemed to be a royal characteristic.

This one had also shown up two hours late.

While we were all dressed pretty casually after the sporty encounter, she was perfectly decked out for a prom. Evening dress, makeup, jewelry, handbag and high heels.

With it one ran certainly very pleasantly on the lawn.

"Since you can't escape on your own today, do you want us to carry you away?" someone addressed Marcus.

"Or would you rather we leave you alone with her?" asked another.

"Just don't!" replied Marcus to the last statement.

I bristled, looked over my shoulder at Marcus with a grin, and waited for the explanatory context I could already think of.

The explanation came from Leo: "She's been after Marcus since Lily left."

"Actually, before that. Lily and her got into a hot fight on the beach once. Almost resembled a 'wet t-shirt' contest. Was very much worth watching!" added Nate.

"They're exaggerating, aren't they?", I dug deeper with Marcus, but he shook his head.

"No. They would have clawed their eyes out if we hadn't intervened."

"Why did we get in the middle of this again?" pondered Nate, seemingly regretting it.

"Have you told Leah anything about her?", I asked to be sure. I knew my little sis, after all. It could end the same way with her, but she would win a fight faster than the competition would realize.

"Sure. The wildcat has sharpened its claws and was already very curious about them," Marcus murmured.

That calmed me down. A little.

"Hello, Sabrina. Are you sure you're in the right place?", Nate asked the girl who had almost arrived at our place, while everyone in the immediate vicinity giggled.

"But of course," she purred sweetly.

She came up the step and looked benevolently at the cup. With gentle fingers she ran over the precious metal.

"So you guys won. Congratulations. You deserve a reward," she said.

I suspected that her voice should sound somehow seductive. However, I was not sure.

"And what's our reward?" Nate wanted to know.

"What would you wish for?", Sabrina put her fingers stimulatingly under his chin.

"How about a phone number?" he offered.

They smiled meaningfully at each other. A moment passed. Then he raised his head and seemed to be looking for someone.

"From the hot brunette back there!" he pointed to a girl in the area of the grill.

Everything laughed.

Except for Sabrina. She skilfully passed over that, probably due to continuous experience, and pranced lasciviously towards Marcus. Seemed somehow quite cheap.

She slid her arms around his nape.

"And, Marcus? Have you finally come to your senses, or have you still not realized that we are perfect for each other?" she asked him.

Wow ... That was a clear and very unambiguous announcement. I would not have expected that.

Marcus closed his eyes and shook his head.

A gesture that clearly showed that he could hardly believe her words. So in an annoyed way.

Apparently Marcus wanted to say something in reply, but someone next to me was quicker.

"You might want to start thinking about a plan B, Sabrina!" the latter said.

"In four weeks, Marcus will be off the market for good!" added another.

Sabrina took note of this.

"What do you mean already off the market!? I can have a lot of patience," she indicated.

Then she looked at me, released only one arm from Marcus and then put the hand for it against my upper body.

"Maybe I'll comfort myself with you until then. You're cute!" she informed me trying to use a stimulating eye look.

This clumsy pickup coupled with the rapid change of target surprised me for a second.

In that brief span of time, Leo put an arm around my shoulders, laughed in amusement, and pointed his bottle of beer at me.

"You don't have a clue who that is, do you?" he asked the girl.

"Not so far, but that can change quickly," she murmured offering, not taking her eyes off me.

"Well, let me introduce you to him!" he noted, but took another sip first. "This is Jake Black. Team leader of the Saco basketball team ..." he began, but Sabrina interrupted him.

"You're bringing your opponents' captain to the party?!" she asked in amazement.

"In case you haven't noticed, half the party is his team and their friends," Marcus interjected.

Sabrina peeked around the garden indecisively. She was clearly confused. Her gaze was fixed on the small group of cheerleaders.

Theirs and ours were obviously busy with technical discussions about dancing.

"Where was I? ... Oh, yeah... Jake. He's got a pretty hot twin sister ... Leah. She's here, too. And she's with Marcus. And they're getting married in not even four weeks. So Jake and our Marcus will be brothers-in-law then. That's why he'll be off the market. That's why we're celebrating the finals together. That's why you can topsy-turvify yourself naked without having a chance with him!" he ended by explaining.

"Married?!" she repeated, looking at Marcus in shock.

He nodded in affirmation.

"And there is the happy bride already!", was added.

The entire girls, who belonged to the guys present here, had noticed at some point what was going on here, had gathered and had approached unnoticed. Now Leah was standing right behind Sabrina.

It looked funny. Leah was more than a head taller, crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked down at her defiantly.

Intimidated in advance, Sabrina turned around cautiously.

"Hi ...", Leah smiled at her endearingly, without neglecting her threatening attitude.

Sabrina winced considerably when she saw her competition. With her head bowed, Sabrina then hurriedly slipped away. Not only away from this pavilion, but away from the whole party.

A hearty laugh from all of us accompanied this journey.

I still saw how she turned around again in a huff before she reached the garden gate, when the girls here had already thrown themselves into the corresponding men's arms. On that we drank to all.

Marcus and his boys gave a few exhilarating performances of Sabrina. It became more and more boozy, more and more funny and later and later. It wasn't until around three in the morning that we called Dad to come pick us up.

The next day we had a hard time getting going. We had headaches, but no one took pity on us. Fortunately, we had a quiet rest of the weekend ahead of us.

Lisa and Brandon had gone to the cabin by the lake. They wanted to relax before final exams on Monday.

Jason didn't stress about it; he wasn't a senior, after all, and spent the day with Claire.

Other than that, nothing was going on this weekend either, because everyone was either studying or relaxing before Monday.

So we sat idly in the workshop. Actually, we didn't really do anything except sit there tiredly and listen to stupid sayings from Dad and Rose, but by the afternoon we did perk up.

I was able to do my secret dance lesson after all.

Marcus' knee seemed to be a little better. He was limping around for the most part, but at least he didn't need crutches. He took it easy, as instructed. Elevate, cool, and rub with an ointment.

In the late afternoon, Akai and Tom came over for wolf training.

The first steps as a wolf had turned out a bit clumsy for Leah and me, but it helped to finally shake off the last short night.

Perhaps it was also due to Jazz and Em, who had no understanding whatsoever for taking it easy after a night of partying. Rather the opposite. They took us far a harder run. We flew through the area, something in me broke again, I was bleeding, someone had stepped on my tail. But I was not alone in this. The other three wolves had to suffer as well.

For that, Em and Jazz were very satisfied at the end and praised us. And they promised us Esmé's peanut cookies when we got back home.

The first of us would get an extra cookie.

In this respect, the way back degenerated into a race in which we pushed each other out of the way.

Okay, we chased each other and pushed each other aside unconscionably. And Mom's genes, of course, had to prove their presence once again.

We jumped down a small ledge, but I had slipped a bit on the jump.

This was not a problem in itself. I was also able to make a clean landing. The only problem was that Emmett was right behind me.

To avoid being trampled by him when he landed, I had to swerve immediately. But apparently Em had already switched, and we dodged to the same side. We met halfway in the air, we got caught on each other, he pulled me along with him and I slammed my head right into a rock with full force. I blinked, saw blurry movements in front of me until the lights went out completely.

Damn! Why always me!?

"Jake," I heard in what felt like three days later.

A soft melodic voice. Cold I perceived. I did not know exactly where, but it was pleasant. Helped to wake up. Among other things. I had a headache that seemed to go away with it. But maybe they were just frozen. I don't know. I concentrated on that. A little more cold came along. I also noticed something warm, which I tried to hold on to.

"Is he coming to?", I heard a beautiful voice. As if from a star.

"Yes, slowly," replied the gentle fatherly voice. "Take your time, Jake," I was advised by this one.

I took my time. I felt so peaceful. Except for the headache. But those were subsiding more and more, and I was feeling more and more. Becky's hand was holding mine, Dad's hands were against my forehead and on my neck. I smiled. I think.

"Maybe we should take the opportunity to draw his blood directly for a new painkiller. That was the last injection," I heard Carlisle somewhere behind me.

I winced considerably.

On the one hand, I had not noticed him at all. On the other hand, it was the content of his words. These immediately triggered my instinct to flee, and I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. I did not get far.

I sat up with a jerk, whereby I widened my eyes, but I immediately slumped down again.

But Dad held me. Laughing. And put me back.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Jake. You have a concussion," he said.

"For now, at least," Carlisle added.

"There can't be much shaken!", I heard ...

Marcus? I hadn't seen him at all. Or heard.

"Your senses probably need another moment. Leah is there too," Dad said, and then I saw Leah coming closer next to him.

I looked at her urgently.

'Save me! They want my blood!'

Dad laughed out loud and relayed my thoughts.

Now everyone was laughing. Great!

When one had generally recovered from this, Carlisle loomed over me, leaning over the daybed at my head.

"At the same time, you'd probably hardly notice at the moment," he indicated feigning sympathy.

I did not believe a word. Where was Mom anyway? She was my mother and therefore responsible for freeing me from the clutches of these violent criminals!

"She's with Ced at Tom and Akai's and they're trying not to let him know that you are lying up here."

Aha ... And how long have I been lying around here?

"Not very long. Only a few minutes. You were apparently unconscious only because of the force of the impact, which resulted in a concussion. No fracture, hardly any blood, but excellent vital signs. And to the question of why something like this always happens to you of all people, I would only have your mother to offer as an answer," Dad smirked.

As well as all the others.

It took me a few more minutes before I had all my limbs and senses completely back with me.

Could have been due to the medicine. Peanut cookies administered by a star.

Tom and Akai let themselves then also be seen with me.

Ced, of course, had to make sure his big brother was there unharmed. And so did Mom.

But the Native Americans quickly said goodbye. They had an appointment in their Native American village.

I let Carlisle and Dad talk me into letting them draw blood for new syringes after all.

Just the thought of it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. However, I had to admit that I was often hurt enough that I preferred the injection.

For general amusement, to further annoy me, Carlisle put sensors for the ECG machine on me beforehand.

So that everyone could see my panic. And to hear it.

The thing beeped in an annoying constant rhythm. It took time for my heartbeat to return to normal. Considering the panic that was about to happen. I was skillfully distracted from what lay ahead. The beeping became quieter and quieter. Until, at one point, it went completely crazy. Becky, who was sitting on the daybed with me, had turned to me, looked at me lovingly, tenderly brushed her fingers across my lips, and then kissed me stunningly, causing me to fall back onto the daybed with her. If it hadn't beeped so annoyingly more and more, I probably would have forgotten where we were. It also beeped frantically while Carlisle then helped himself to my blood, but quieted down when Becky devotedly distracted me from it.

Curious. My star could upset me, but also calm me down.

"When was the last time you had a health checkup?" mom asked Marcus afterwards.

"I don't know. Could have been a while ago," he reflected.

So they also took blood from him, much less than from me - ! - and Carlisle also did an ECG.

The two doctors looked sympathetically at the strange lines coming out of the device.

Marcus did not appear to be in mortal danger. How surprising.

The medics bristled with concern, however, when the beeping first stopped and then quickened. They first checked the cables on the box and then immediately turned their attention to the patient.

The rest of us were already chuckling.

Leah apparently wanted to test the device in her own way and was all over Marcus. In a nice way.

Other than that, we spent the rest of the day sitting around with all the vampires for ages, chatting about mostly unimportant stuff.

Monday exams started and the first thing on the schedule was math.

We were asked, completely out of the blue, a few things about it. It had been going on like this for weeks. Every now and then, a casual question on all kinds of topics relevant to the exam. But we got better.

A small video reached us by cell phone.

From the hiking trip of our neighbors.

The video was probably taken by David, since he was the only one not to be seen.

A bit of nature first. The camera panned to Sonya, Deacon, Daniel, and Luces playing badminton. Another pan to Emma, who was sitting on a spread blanket, just laying out Memory cards or something similar. And behind, Grace was safely strapped into a baby swing. Cookie sat next to her, with one paw on the edge of the swing, giving the baby gentle but constant pushes. How cute.

Cookie had been very watchful of his youngest family member from the beginning and rarely left Grace unattended.

But we didn't last long that evening. We still lacked the sleep of the previous night.

But the next morning we felt excellent again and I was in a really good mood.

And hungry.

Breakfast dragged on in high spirits. Dad and Becky were practicing the piano piece for the graduation ceremony. Alice, Mom, and Leah were busy in the kitchen with some wedding magazines. Marcus was lying on the sofa because of his knee, reading to Ced.

I was bored. I had even started cleaning my room by mistake!

At one point, Dad, Leah, and Becky disappeared to their usual dance lessons, and Alice suddenly pulled out dress sheaths.

The suits for our wedding. Custom made ... 'Made by Alice'. They were almost finished, and we were to try them on again before she finally sewed the individual pieces. They were exactly as we had requested. Almost. Just Alice.

Since we had a double wedding coming up, we didn't want to go with completely different suits style-wise.

Marcus and I hadn't been able to decide what to wear for a long time, though.

In the end, the decision was made for plain black tailcoats.

When did you get the opportunity to wear such an elegant part, if not at your own wedding? We didn't want to look like we did at other festive occasions.

Alice had not quite stuck to simplicity. The fabric was slightly shiny. The suit jacket wasn't really a tailcoat, but it was still much longer than that of a regular suit. The lapels and pocket seams were an even shinier shade of anthracite, with a subtle floral pattern. The vest underneath was also made of this, which had a slanted button placket in the current modern style. There, the pocket attachments were again black.

When we got the suits on, Mom stood in front of us speechless and like she had to pull herself together not to start crying.

I hugged her tightly and promised her that she would never get rid of us. We would always come back to our parents and not move to the other side of the country.

Alice tortured us with a few pins, which she offset and additionally poked into us, but then we had to take the suits off again already.

Although not yet finished, it had felt quite festive to have them on.

We chatted some more details.

The rough plan had been set for some time, but there were still questions of detail. It wasn't that we let the girls decide everything on their own. After all, it was our wedding too!

Dance class had been pretty long today. It was late afternoon when Leah and Becky were back with Dad.

And somehow all three of them seemed quite amused. They giggled furtively.

"Did we miss anything?" inquired Marcus.

"Just a little bit," Dad said. "Your fiancés have something to show you!"

Continuing to giggle, Becky and Leah approached and Marcus and I stepped toward them excitedly.

I noticed that they were both holding their hands behind their backs, but then they each handed us their left hands, backs up. No idea what that was about, but I took Becky's hand.

"What do you want to show us?", I asked, looking at them both in turn.

I also looked at Marcus, but he understood just as much as I did.

Namely, very little.

The girls giggled briefly at each other, looked at us, and turned their hands over. It took me a moment to understand what Becky was showing me.

Her wrist was covered with transparent foil and under it shone a new tattoo. It really shone. Red. The skin was irritated and swollen at the image. The image itself took me another moment. A line, so to speak. Gently, I traced it with my fingertip. It began on the left with a small 'J' in elegant cursive. The 'writing line' continued and oscillated up and down, like the heartbeat on an ECG. A little heart ended the line on the right. I liked it. Very much. Especially because I just understood what it probably was. It was subtle, but the message behind it meant a lot.

"It's pretty. Like you," I said.

"That's your heartbeat," Becky murmured explaining what I had already figured.

Gently I embraced her wrist, trying not to touch the injury that it was simply at the moment, and kissed her hand. I was really touched by this little sign of love and hugged my star.

"Then that's why I should be checked through?", Marcus just dug deeper next to us.

Leah had the same tattoo on her wrist. Only starting with an 'M' and the heartbeat was slightly different. With her, however, it was not covered with a foil, but already completely healed. So I took a closer look at it while the rest of my sister's body was already busy elsewhere.

"How did you manage that, given our aversion to all needles?", I asked.

"I even have another one," she said proudly, turning her head a little to the side.

Marcus put a hand to her neck and ran his thumb over the picture, which he then kissed.

Leah didn't flinch at all from the tickling sensation, even though it had been behind/under her ear.

"Looks great. Feminine and mysterious. Just as you are," he said and kissed my little sis.

I hadn't really seen it yet, but waited patiently.

"It turned out really pretty," Mom admired.

"Pretty great!", Ced was also excited about it before I had seen it.

But then. Tiny ornaments seemed to 'fall down' behind her ear. Actually completely unrelated things, but that's what made it somehow special and by the simply kept uniform style, only black without further colors, it seemed coherent.

"Each sign represents a person," Leah explained while we were still looking at it. "For our family. A butterfly for myself, the little heart for Mom, the drop of blood for Dad, the little star for Becky, the fish for Ced, the Native American feather for our dad, the wolf paw for Jake ... actually for both of us ... and the caramel candy is Marcus," she smiled at him.

Okay, that it should be caramel, you saw now not necessarily.

"How did you survive that?", however, I asked again. I really didn't understand. Just thinking about it made me break out in a sweat.

"The agony didn't matter. The result was important," she simply opined.

I let that run through my head.

"I would love to take this on. But with your heart line," Marcus stated, lifting Leah's wrist as he did so.

"We were expecting that. The EKG machine is already at Emmett's and he's expecting you," Dad cheerfully stated.

I swallowed, glancing at Becky's wrist.

Yes, I liked it. Yes, I had also thought about immortalizing Becky in some way on my skin. Like she had a picture of a wolf on her groin howling at the moon. But that involved needles! In my skin! Was there anything worse? ... But Becky would surely like it, if I would get over myself. If Marcus would now also wear this tattoo, it would be a sign among the four of us.

"Me too," I suddenly heard myself say, a little shiver running down my spine at the same time.

Everyone looked at me in amazement.

And I also nodded in confirmation. How could that have happened now?

I felt rather queasy when we all walked to Emmett.

First, we needed EKG lines from our girls.

That was the easy part. The pleasant part. You see, the girls had chosen the exact strokes in which they had kissed us. So we wanted exactly those too.

Marcus was up first, and he didn't bat an eye as long as Emmett tortured his wrist.

I took over the whole-body shaking for him for so long.

"Where did you get that device anyway? And why can you do that?" I tried to distract myself.

"Becky has been toying with the idea of this tattoo for some time," Mom said.

"When we were in Portland together a while back. Bella actually gave me the idea for this design. I liked it more and more and she said she would get me your heartbeat via Carlisle," Becky added.

"Then at the tattoo parlor where she asked about the price, I saw a photo. A woman had three stars behind her ear. I thought that was pretty," Leah interjected.

"With Leah, though, the problem was that we didn't know what the wolf had to say about it," Dad began to explain.

"Whether the color is accepted as a foreign body at all. No wolf has yet made this attempt and could say anything about it. I was sure that your wolf healing would intervene immediately. It would be noticeable if the fresh wound healed immediately. Therefore, Leah could not just go to one of those studios to try it out. So the only thing left was for someone to get familiar with these things who knows your secrets. Emmett volunteered, since he's already been involved with this as a human."

"Oh, what?", I looked at Emmett in surprise.

"Yep ..." he noted, pointing to his upper arm. "I used to play a lot of poker. That's why I had a 'royal flush' of all crosses here, held by a cute 'pin-up' girl. The highest hand you can have. My lucky charm!"

"And how much luck did it actually bring you?" mom asked, chuckling.

"I've won enough times to believe that!" said Emmett quite seriously.

I laughed at this anecdote.

I could really picture that. The intimidating giant Emmett, drinking beer and gambling in a dodgy pub at night, asking his little picture for luck. It distracted me from why we were here.

Marcus finished, it was covered with foil so nothing got to the fresh wound, and he let Leah reward him.

"Your turn!", I was then informed.

There was that ice-cold shiver down my spine again. But I had to go through it. In fact, I wanted to get through it. I wanted to have something that connected me to Becky. And with Leah and Marcus. We were one. Marcus had casually sat on a chair while doing this. In the best of moods. I was more for lying down. Far from in a good mood.

"You don't have to do this, Jake. I love you. With or without that. Nothing is going to change that," Becky said, but with that she only strengthened me even more.

I bravely persevered. Very bravely! I suffered through agony, the whirring of the machine roared in my ears, I felt boiling hot, I was drenched in sweat. But I survived. As if by a miracle.

Thanks for reading!