Chapter One
I had come to Forks looking for a fresh start, a break from the real world and a quiet place to study before I went back to college. My grandparents had lived on the small reservation only ten minutes from Forks and I had visited the place many times in my childhood. The place was still filled with fond memories even if my grandparents had passed on a few years prior to my return.
I had signed a yearlong lease on a small one-bedroom unit, which would run out just in time for me to go back to Seattle for college. But after only six months in the small town, I had made a life altering choice. I now needed money and a distraction from what was going on in my head. I found a few job adds online and applied for everything. Front desk attendant, waitress, house cleaner, receptionist, I wasn't fussy. Within two days of looking, I had locked in a job at the age care home in Forks. Considering I had been studying nursing it was a small step in the right direction. At least it was better than waiting tables. It was four days a week and I was enjoying it until they moved me to house the visits.
I had eight people to visit in Forks and three in La Push. I took them meals, helped with housework and took them to appointments. Mrs Owens spent every visit telling me either about her cats or her late husband Earl. Leo an ex-army vet would tell me war stories and complain that I didn't fold his clothes correctly. Mildred would always bake me something to take back to the home and Tom simply asked me to read him the paper as his eyesight was too bad. I enjoyed my visits with everyone for different reasons even if some visits were very repetitive. Well almost everyone. Billy Black was the one visit I dreaded.
He was pretty independent, but wheelchair bound so he wasn't able to do much housework. He refused to eat any food I brought for him or offered to cook. If I tried cleaning anything he would start arguing with me over it, even if I was only washing a dish it would turn into an argument that took up my whole visit. He would complain about everything and anything. He was downright rude and after three weeks of this he had driven me to the edge of insanity. He went as far as calling my boss to complain I was doing a bad job. It was only after that my manager told me he was the reason the last lady had quit house visits. Melissa explained that Billy had been being looked after by his oldest daughter but now she had two kids and a third on the way she didn't have the time needed for him. Melissa had spoken to his daughter about Billy, and she said if at home visits didn't work out, he would have to go to the age care home permanently. I felt bad for him but that still didn't make me feel any better for the next home visit.
June 16th
I was running an hour early for my next trip to La push. One of my Fork regulars had family visiting so I wasn't needed that day. Since I was running early I thought about stopping at the Fork's diner to eat before starting my rounds. I was almost to the diner parking lot when a sickening feeling made my stomach flip. I felt like I was going to be sick, and I pulled the car to the side of the road. I didn't know where the feeling came from. I sat there for a minute, but the feeling only grew. With a reluctant sigh I turned the car around and went straight to La Push. If I was going to be sick, I needed to get these visits done and get home. But strangely the feeling seemed to fade as I drove to La push. By the time I reached Billy's house I was back to feeling like normal.
The rain was heavy outside with a strong wind, and I rushed to get into the house as quickly as possible. I knocked on the front door three times and got no reply. With the wind blowing cold rain at my back, I gave up and pushed my way into the house.
"Sorry Billy I couldn't st- Billy?" I was surprised to find the house dark, no lights on and Billy not in his normal place in front of the TV. Rachel would have told me if she or someone else was taking Billy out for the day. I walked through the silent house in search of Billy. I came to his bedroom door, only to find it closed. I knocked loudly on the door to be sure anyone inside would hear me over the storm outside.
"Billy are you in there?" I called out.
"Go away!" Billy yelled from the other side of the door. His voice sounded odd, and I was put more on edge.
"Billy are you okay?" I asked.
"Get out of my house! I don't need you!" I heard a bang as something hit the other side of the door. And that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"Your daughter thinks different! You really think she can take care of you anymore? You really think she wants to spend time with an angry old man who doesn't care about anyone. So, if you want, I can leave, but just know you're going to the nursing home if you can't work with me." It was silent as I caught my breath after so much yelling. After a minute passed and I got no response I opened his door. I don't know what I expected to see. Maybe Billy sitting in his wheelchair by the window watching the rain come down. But no, Billy was on the floor propped up against his bed. His wheelchair was next to him, one wheel was off it. He was still dressed in his red pjs with a large wet spot on his pants and the floor around him. He couldn't look at me as I saw the state he was in.
"Billy! How long have you been like this?" My anger was fully gone now, replaced with worry.
"My chair broke this morning, I-I couldn't get back up," his jaw trembled as he stared away from me.
"I'll go call help," I said spinning towards the kitchen phone.
"No!" He cried out stopping me. "Please don't, I don't want anyone to know. Rachael has been trying to get me to go to the home for months. If she finds out about this, she'll send me away," he sounded weak. "Please," He whispered looking up at me, his eyes red and watery.
"Maybe that's for the best," I say.
"Please I can't lose this house, it's all I have left of my wife, of my son. I'm sorry for how I treated you. I had no right," He was begging me. After weeks of angry words and rude comments I was shocked this old man could actually say the word sorry. That's what stopped me from moving to the phone.
"Come on, let's get you up," I say moving closer. I lowered myself to his level and he hooked an arm around my neck. We moved slowly but together we managed to get him up onto the bed. I walked over to the wheelchair and examine it. "I don't know how I'm meant to fix this Billy; I'm going to at least have to call Paul".
"No, no, no. It's just a few screws, it's broken before, my son used to fix it. There are spare screws under the sink in a toolbox."
"Okay, I'll have a look." I was definitely no Bob the builder, but I could turn a tool as good as the next girl. I found some replacement screws under the sink along with a few tools. I reattached the wheel in silence and gave the chair back to Billy once I was sure I couldn't tighten the screws anymore. He went to the bathroom to get cleaned up without making any eye contact. I got a mop and cleaned up Billy's bedroom floor. No matter how much he has angered me I did feel sorry for him.
He was still in the bathroom when I finished cleaning the floor and stripped the bed to wash the sheets. I went to the kitchen after putting on the washing. I made eggs for breakfast. They were meant to be sunny side up but ended up being scrambled on toast, not perfect but a lot better than whatever Billy was going to burn for himself. I put the food on the table and grab a book from my bag. I study as I eat. I pretended not to notice when Billy joined me at the table ten minutes later. He ate his eggs without complaining about my cooking for the first time ever. Once I was finished my food and that chapter of my book, I cleaned up the kitchen.
"So, what are you studying?" Billy asked as I filled the sink with hot water.
"You don't have to make small talk; I won't tell Rachel. But you're going to have to get Paul to look at the wheelchair to be sure it's not going to break again." I said washing the dishes in the sink.
"I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Rachel didn't ask me if I wanted help, you people just showed up and I... didn't want to admit I need some help. I hope we can start over." I let his words hang in the air for a minute and start drying the dishes before I look back at him to respond.
"Nursing," I answer.
"You want to be a nurse?" Billy asked, he sounded actually interested.
"One day, yes," I say sitting the dry plate down. "There's a lot to work out before then though." I press a hand to my growing stomach without realising.
"Kids aren't the end of the world. Trust me that baby is going to bring a whole lot of happiness into your life. When me and Sarah had the twins, we were so excited, young, but excited. They'll test you that's for sure but it's worth it in the end." My only response was a small nod before I return to drying the dishes.
August 13th
Two months had passed since I found Billy on his bedroom floor, and things are going pretty well. We were on talking terms and haven't had any disagreements since. Today Rachel was taking Billy to a friend's house for a few hours, so I decided to get some cleaning done in the time I had rostered for him. I normally stayed in the kitchen or the laundry not wanting to interrupt Billy and his shows but now I was free to move around the whole house. I had only been in the living room, kitchen, bathroom and Billy's bedroom. There were two other rooms to the house I had never been in, the doors were always closed.
The first room I looked in must have been Rachel's room that she shared with her sister as a young girl. The walls were pink, there were bunk beds on one side of the room and a lot of boxes on the other. Very dusty but nothing noteworthy. I did a quick vacuum and got rid of the few spiders who had made themselves at home.
The other room belonged to Billy's son. I don't know much about him, he left La Push a few years ago after one of his close friends died suddenly. No one spoke about him, so I didn't pry. This room was much smaller than the other, a single bed and small chest of draws took up most of the room. One thing that court my attention was the pictures on the wall. They weren't framed, just stuck up with some tape.
The other pictures around the house were very outdated, from back when Billy's son was hardly a teenager. These pictures showed people I knew from the res. Embry, Quil, Jared, Sam and a few of the younger tribe members. They were mostly at the beach. In every picture was one person I had never met. I pulled one picture off the wall to get a closer look.
He was beyond handsome, tall with chiseled features. I couldn't believe someone so stunning could be real. He was smiling in the picture, with his arm wrapped around the shoulders of a girl I knew to be the late Bella Swan. I don't know how long I stayed looking at the picture before a knock on the bedroom door makes me jump to attention.
"I knocked on the front door but got no response," Embry says, leaning in the doorway.
"Sorry I was distracted," I say, turning to face him.
"Does Billy know you're in here," Embry asked.
"What do you think," I say with an eye roll before looking back down at the picture. "He looked so happy," I can't help but say out loud.
"Yeah?" Embry said taking the picture from my hands. "That was taken on Bella's last trip to La Push, almost two months before she... died."
"Billy never says his name," I say dropping my hands to my growing stomach.
"Jacob," Embry says, and I swear the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
"Jacob," I repeat quietly.
"Should probably get out of here before Billy gets back," Embry says dropping the picture onto the bed.
"Yeah, good idea," I agree. I leave the room and Embry shuts the door behind us. We go to the living room and I take a seat on the sofa, only now realising just how tired my legs were. How long had I been looking at that picture? "So why did you drop by?" I ask as Embry takes a seat on one of the recliners.
"I was driving by, saw your car out front. Just thought I would drop in to see how you're doing," he says not looking at my face, but at my stomach.
"We're good," I say rubbing circles on the top of my stomach.
"Good, good. My mum wants to have you over for dinner again, says she's been looking up baby names she wants to pitch to you." He chuckles dryly.
"I'm glad she's excited to be a grandma," I say with a soft smile. "My mums still against the idea a hundred percent."
"She'll come around to the idea. How did the last scan go?" Embry asks. He's a good guy, trying to make the best out of the situation. We had only gone on two dates, I liked him, he's a great guy, but there just wasn't a spark so we agreed not to have a relationship. A month later I found out I was pregnant, and things are still a little awkward between us.
"Ten fingers, ten toes. I still don't know if it's a boy or girl, I didn't want to know yet."
"Cool, cool. If you let me know when the next scan is, I'll get the day off work. I would love to see it," he says, wringing his hands together nervously.
"Yeah definitely, it won't be for a few more weeks but I'll let you know closer too. I should really get some cleaning done before Billy gets back," I say standing up.
"Yeah of course. Sorry I dropped in unannounced," Embry says standing up as well.
"No, it's okay, thanks for dropping by."
"Well, I guess I'll see you around," he says going to the front door.
"Yeah. Umm just text me when your mum wants to have dinner next," I say.
"Will do."
"Bye Embry."
"By Blue." And with that he was gone.
###Author notes
Please let me know your thoughts. I have three more chapters of this story ready to post if people are interested in it. I don't plan on it being a long story maybe 10 chapters. but I'm hopping the story line is a bit different to others out there. i feel this chapter is a little messy but the next chapters should flow better, i am bad at giving back stories sorry I focus more on the now and the future of a stroy.