two weeks later
…
The darkness closed in around me like a physical, visual panic attack and I felt my heart stop.
…
february, 2013
…
I sat up straight when I woke up and I looked over at my calendar with the memories flooding in.
February 1st, 2013, it's Friday.
I didn't wake up how I usually do. There's a baby crying. A shiver of pulsing pain struck my brain to expend and pulse against my skull threatening to explode.
I'm so… tired. I'm in so much pain.
Was it right to really hate Seth right now? Yes, yes, right it was. I'm so tired of this. Constant repeat after repeat, after another. Different lives and different households. I don't think anyone can claim that this is most annoying fucking thing on Earth. I really pray that I'm in one of dreams of endless consistent dreams and nightmares. This is ridiculous.
Absolutely ridiculous.
I'm a fucking mother. She made me pop out a kid. Paul and Bella are still together as the others. Seth is still Seth Clearwater and we are not on good terms, and there is… no imprint… again. I want to go back to sleep.
"I need this to be over!" I yelled getting up from my bed and storming out of my room, shaking in anger.
I stopped in the doorway of the nursery right across from my room in a house with two stories. I had stopped phasing when I turned 20, and I will not go into details. But yes, what j said before isn't a lie. My head hurts so much. Do you know how long it's been since… anything was reality? I don't know, I couldn't tell you.
I stopped for two reasons.
One, this is my child, my daughter, my eight month old daughter, I should say, and she's screaming her head off because most likely she pooped or is hungry, or both.
Two, I needed to calm down before I phased and took my anger out on this purple, some pink and light grey, and pristine white room that is giving me more of a headache. Or it was mostly the screaming the baby in the wooden crib.
And… maybe another one, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. There's… there's no motherly instinct, I don't even want to go and comfort her. I searched for my phone around the house before I found it in my room after searching there twice, and speed dialed Bella and she answered on the third ring.
"Hey, Naomi. Good morning!" Her voice is like a melody of bells.
"What the hell do I do?!" My voice was three octaves high.
"Whoa… wait, no good morning? What is that? Is Sarah screaming?"
Sarah. I almost dropped the mobile phone, "Bella, I don't know what I'm doing?! I can't do this!"
"Breathe. You're going to be okay, Nao. I can't help right now."
"Bells, please."
"Naomi. Breathe, okay? You're going to be okay, you can do this. None of us know what we're doing but we're figuring it out." That was dangerously condescending.
"Are you mad at me or something?"
"Naomi, I don't have time for this. I'll call you later to make sure Sarah's still breathing." And then she hung up.
I looked down at the cellphone. Is everything worse than I can process right now? I walked into the nursery with my hands shivering, my stomach in knots and her screaming was increasing my headache. But she said Sarah. I named her Sarah.
I named her after Mom. I gazed down at the wailing baby girl, her copper skin was darkening on her face from her cries, her long eyelashes thick in moisture was her face wet and her full head of hair everywhere. Her tiny fits were balled up and her little tummy rose and fell with each rage filled cy from deep in her little body. She has some lungs. I guess she gets that from me.
This is my kid? A baby I popped out? Are we ascertained that this is my kid?
She started to settle down and stare back at me and her face slowly began to spread into offense. Looking back at me trying to figure out what I'm looking at me, and offense for my staring. She may be five months but she looked just like me, her eyes are… a different brown and their distinct but I don't want to… think about that, get my hopes up, my head hurts. She cooed at me, curling her fingers into fists.
Yeah, this is my kid. I sighed in acceptance.
And then it started to kick in… I scooped my baby up and took her into the bathroom. I bathed her, and I bathed myself with the door locked and she was placed on towels and swaddled, and then got ready for the day. I looked down at her, once I was dressed and she was in a diaper and dressed, as she looked back up at me.
"What is going on here?" I asked aloud, thinking aloud.
Sarah cooed at me softly, her white long sleeve onesie with pants and little white socks, she cooed again smiling. She kicked her legs and I smiled slowly, my chest swelling with warmth. My baby. That is so strange but she's my kid, I don't want to deny it and I can't. She's a little baby and babies automatically have my heart, and she's my baby.
"You know? Spill your secrets."
She cooed again, smiling wider.
"Oh really? I didn't think of that. I'm going to have to remember that."
She cooed again.
"Oh! That's a good one," I gasped dramatically and she smiled, chuckling lightly as I picked her up, and settled her in my arm. "You're such a smart wittle girl."
"I'm going to have you saying wittle in my mind for the rest of my wretched existence." I looked over to Jake leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, I jumped on the first two words of his remarking response of his presence. And he wasn't alone. Damn I was really out of it, my gaze wasn't just a look it was a gaze to bring death for making me almost loosen my grip on Sarah.
Asshole.
"I didn't hear you come in. Tell anyone about this, I'll castrate you."
"I know. To both of those. I've been here since Sarah started screaming. You didn't see me. Or Sam, or Paul, or… baby daddy."
"Baby daddy?"
Paul steps in the doorway, he looked around swiftly before replying casually, "Seth."
What did he just say?
I felt myself sway on every bone in my feet, and my heartbeat started thudding in my ears and throat, "Huh?"
"You had a baby with Seth. She's in your arms." Paul says smirking while Jacob casually walks into the room.
I tipped backwards.
"Timber!" I hear Paul say before the darkness consumed my vision.
…
I rinsed my face in the bathroom sink and sighed heavily closing my eyes and placing my hands on the rim of the sink.
Okay so everyone was here but there are a lot of changes again as I tolerated the pulsing throughout every part of my head, my eyes, my nose, eyebrows, lips, cheeks, everything. I truly think my head is going to explode.
Okay, okay.
So Paul didn't imprint on Bella back in 2006 in this life, Jacob, Sam, Quil, and Embry did. Bella went back to Edward, Edward. They got married in August of 2013, and had created a lot of tension between Paul and her, the pack and the Cullen's. If I can remember correctly with this fucking migraine and my internal battle to fight off these supernaturally intrusive memories. Jacob and Milena, Sam and Emily, Quil and Fiona and Embry and Iris. Seth and Leah phased in late March around the time Bella flung herself off a cliff. And also, Jacob is my twin brother and he's like five minutes younger than me, I don't know how I feel about it, she had came to see him about the motorcycles. And that had created a big thing between Bella, Paul, Jacob, and Edward until Bella married him and they had a kid. They had a fucking kid and Bella's a fucking vampire.
I smacked my forehead on the wall next to me.
Bella's a vampire.
I smacked my forehead on the wall again.
She married Edward Cullen. She had a kid with a vampire.
I threw up.
I brushed my teeth again.
Bella is a vampire.
I ran out the front door and phased before I even got out the door. My vision went hazy as my stomach churned as tumbled around in the driveway before I got on my feet and darted into the forest.
How is this even possible? What the fuck … is going on?
I tripped over myself as my stomach churned and everything went numb. My thoughts moving a mile a minute, the pulsing in my skull, intensifying, and I tumbled before I phased back and was staring up at the sky through the treetops. My body stilled but my head continued to spin.
This is… unbelievable. How? Did… what? I was patrolling, waiting, spending time with Dad. What?... Did I do this? Did I… have an effect? Am I losing my mind? Am I cracking? Wait, the curse, I have a curse on me. This tournament. This apart of the tournament, I… we had time before and then a trigger. Fucking triggers. Wait a minute. It's a curse, everything is combined in the curse, all this fucked up shit and everyone's on their tipping point. Literally.
But we're all here and we're dealing in some way. Trying to.
Hold on, let's try something. The black box. Let's see something. I closed my eyes.
Black room.
Black room.
Black room.
Black room.
Black room.
Black room.
Black room.
"You summoned?" she asked calmly, casually, but an edge of happiness.
I opened my eyes. Darkness. "Yes!"
I looked around and my hip smacked against the wall of the box. Darkness everywhere. It worked. I looked back at her sitting casually with her hands on her lap, a smile on her face.
"You're figuring it out, Naomi. Congratulations." She claps, grinning wider. "You're getting there."
"I would hope so."
"You are. You know, Naomi I want to be honest with you."
Oh please. I scoffed and crossed my arms. The migraine was nowhere in sight.
"I'm serious. That's what you came here for right? Answers? You all are on the last phase of the tournament. So what you were thinking about. You're right."
"I should've picked up sooner that you are a mind reader."
"I was hoping it'd catch on sooner, I suppose. Edward is a mind reader."
"He is but Edward is a vampire. He makes it obvious and they're not psychopaths." Or I don't assume so.
"Either way, I had to let you know. Because well …"
Another change?
"That but you only have one life left. And I will be fair. Because I have to admit if I want to fight you in a real battle I need to relax and conserve my energy."
Conserve energy. You really think highly of yourself don't you?
"Isn't it quite obvious Naomi? How many times have you lost, already?"
Shut the fuck up.
"My point. I will give you time. And I will stick to my word."
Oh please.
"I swear, on my very life I will give you time."
You are claimed yourself as a celestial what does your life have any meaning to me? Power? No, never.
"I am not the only ghoul on this earth. And honestly, I'm one of the weakest. You're bunch is making me look very good right now. I look forward to claiming your souls."
I stared at her stunned, "…You are the weakest—oof!"
She smacked me out of her black box world, and I tumbled backwards on the forest floor with the sound of massive animals scurrying away with the vibrations of the feet around me in the trees.
I sat up and started laughing hysterically, "She's the weakest Ghoul!" I guffawed, I fell backwards onto the wet ground.
Oh the fucking challenge is on. I was laughing for fifteen minutes straight realizing that I was fucking weak. I laughed about it and then I cried like a baby.
And then something snapped in my head. I stopped crying.
Are you fucking kidding me? My mind said to myself. Are you serious? How many fucking times did you lose… to a loser? Too many too fucking count huh? Are you fucking kidding me? Dad doesn't call us butterfly for no fucking reason. What the fuck is wrong with you? Wake up!
Another snap in my head.
I inhaled deeper, Oh fuck no. I thought as I heaved a sigh and ran my hands through my hair.
Mediate.
I mentally gasped and then got into position. Breathe, relax, focus Naomi.
I inhaled and exhaled, inhaled and exhaled, focused on my breathing, focused on the fire. The fire.
That fire in my veins. That hot bubbling sensation of fire in veins, that insane powerful feeling. The color, the movement. The energy, the power, the ability of it. My charkas, let's do this again.
…
I changed into the clothes that were left out.
I showered as soon as I got in the house, and then I sat under the stream staring at the wall for a while. The water drumming against my skull massaged my head and quietened everything inside. Soothing me until I almost fell asleep, I turned off the water and got out.
Sarah cooed at me when I got downstairs into the living room, she wasn't hurt, I had fainted and then phased. She's there smiling at me, and I still felt guilty but I wanted to… hold her. In the this very same living room of the same red two story house that's always freshly painted after a dry spell in the weather of the Olympic Peninsula. I've been buying over and over and over again. I looked over at her sitting up on the couch with pillows lined up like a fort to keep her from moving. I snorted and crossed my arms examining it, only men would do this and it was obvious. Especially knowing Jacob, every sleepover included forts so this was his doing.
I looked over at a anxious inhale to Seth staring at Sarah with wide eyes, he looked pale. Sarah cooed again and he looked like he peed himself, I gazed back over to Sarah smiling all innocent and all pretty.
"She is the weakest Ghoul," I said absentmindedly looking up at the ceiling. "The weakest Ghoul." I crossed my arms, and shifted weight to one of my hips before I settled on my left one, "The weakest Ghoul. Naomi that is…" I cackled and uncrossed my arms looking over at Sarah.
She smiled and clapped before intertwining her fingers and cooing.
"That's what I'm saying." I replied, smiling.
I walked over to the couch and started reassembling the fort for myself and Sarah. I propped her up in my lap and against my abdomen with my legs crossed like a pretzel, she stretched her legs and her toes and coos to herself, reaching for my hands or arms. My little baby. I'm still processing… the other part of it.
"I don't think I'm seeing… this… Are you… guys seeing this?" Seth was really pale, his eyes in disbelief and looked like he was trying not to puke, he's not processing.
"Yes." I replied.
"Yup," Jacob said.
"Yeah," Sam said gruffly, his eyes were also wide but reserved.
"This is wacky." Paul snorted, he turned to Jacob, "Did you get that? You have your camera with everywhere and you weren't sensing this?"
Jacob gave him a look, "Really?"
"Yes. Do you not see the mini Naomi on Naomi's lap? Does nobody have a freaking camera?"
"I'm going to be in the bathroom." Seth flees from the room.
"This is the last one." I said looking down at Sarah who rested against me, playing with my fingers and hands.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"This is the last life. We only have one left. And she's not going to come from the triggers."
"Bullshit."
"She's the weakest one." I looked up at them with my eyes, my tone changing and silence followed, expect for Sarah. "It's all in or nothing. Spirit journeys and patrol."
"Again?"
"You seriously believe her."
"She said we all are in the last phase of the tournament. All of us. The pack, imprints, the Cullen's. She said she was looking good, she's enjoying us dying over and over again but we're in the last phase. We need to take this more seriously. We need to stop dying. I'm tired of dying. I want to live for as long as I can and I want to literally die, casket everything. Done, I don't know about you but I don't even know how to change a tire anymore. I know how to fail as an alpha, and I know how to die, I'm done, if you don't want to believe me fine, I will win this."
Sam scoffed, and so did Paul. Jacob stayed quiet and stepped one foot away from the.
"It's humiliating to know that all of us combined have been losing to the weakest one of them. It's a severe blow to the head."
"But… we can achieve our most desired goal, right, Sarah?" She cooed, I spoke in Quileute next, "Ripping that bitch to pieces."
Paul glared at me, his shoulders shook for a moment while he maintained control of his tremors and breathing. "Spirit journey's and patrol?"
"Yup. I already went on mine."
"Huh?"
"Mediating in the woods?"
I looked up at them, "What else would you say a confirmation on your spirit journey?"
"Going wolf and then coming back."
"I thought the same."
Sam blinked a couple times, "Going wolf but also mediating. Mediating is the purpose of a spirit journey."
"You really believe in that whacky shit?"
"Paul. Stop saying whacky and watch your language."
His eyes bugged out of his head, "You—"
"One curse word a day in Quileute, I already used it."
"What?" Sam looked at me ludicrously.
Jacob blinked at me, "Since when did this become a thing?"
"Right now. It'll be different tomorrow."
"Anyways… mediation? That's it?"
"You didn't see the purple bonfire that comes out of Naomi when she mediated?" Sam inquired looking between Jacob and Paul.
"No," Paul answered simply.
"Pretty, but not that sharp. Same with you giraffe."
"Shut up." Jacob glowered at me, turning away from my view of his face.
"Kiss my as—do-ba-banana." Paul crossed his arms turning away.
"Ew." I gagged.
"That was a tough one, huh, Paul?"
"Shut up."
"All love, Paul. But no, honestly, spirit journeys. Mediation. Where is Jared, Quil, Leah, and Embry?"
"And Katelynn." Paul added.
"Funny." I snorted, dismissing it.
"No, seriously. Katelynn. And two others, Collin and Brady, their Seth's age, Collins a year younger."
"What the—" I bit my bottom lip and inside of my cheek, I winced in pain and the wound was mending the second I let go of myself. I have a migraine again. "Pumpernickel." I said in a accusing tone, rubbing my temples and my scalp.
"What—never mind."
"What time is it?"
"Near 11 at night." Jacob replied, calmer.
"Same day?"
"Same day." Jake replied again.
"Okay," I sighed, "Home and then come here when you wake up and eat or whatever." I kept rubbing my head, the pain is irritating, "My head hurts. I'm sorry, I need this to end. Meet back here tomorrow morning around 9."
"See you in the morning." Jake says, walking to the front door.
"See you."
"Yeah."
Jake turns to me before leaving, he gave me a hard look, "Make sure you reconcile." And then he was gone.
Sarah coos once the front door closed. I looked down at her playing with my fingers and hands again. A little baby, just a little baby. She grunts in disapproval when I gently smoothed out her hair on her fragile head, she's keeping her head up but I probably should give her a break. Right? I don't know, I scooped her into my arm and Sarah wiggled, I put her back in my lap, she kicked her legs lightly when she was settled again. Eventually I got up with Sarah to check on Seth upstairs in the bathroom, I stopped in the doorway and knocked on the doorframe while he was staring down into the sink. He looked over at me, he looked at Sarah and then back to me and then Sarah, this happened a couple more times swiftly before he covered his face with his hands and heaved a sigh.
Sarah got fuzzy, wiggling and reaching for Seth.
"Little miss wants you," I said holding her out to him, she scrunched up. One of her socks are gone, I almost had a heart attack, "Aww my God, did you see that?"
"Huh?" Seth is still pale and looking between us.
"Her scrunch," I unconsciously gushed before bringing Sarah back into my arms. She cooed at me, "Really? Spill your intel," I left the room with her and went into the nursery.
"This is going to be a long night." Seth mutters from in the bathroom.
…
"Breathe. You know, inhale, yes, exhale, breathe."
"We have a kid." Seth informs me.
"I know."
"A breathing, living kid. Infant, actually, a baby."
"I know."
"How?"
"Sex, Seth."
"How did this happen?"
"Um."
"Everything was… going fine…"
I just watched him stare at Sarah in her crib asleep from my position in the rocking chair, Seth's hands were on his head as he sat on the small couch that was propped in the room. He still wasn't processing this.
"A baby…"
"I think I should leave you two alone." I stood up to grab a blanket from the bedroom.
"Don't move. She'll notice the absence of your presence."
"She's knocked out, snoring. I will be right back." I walked out of the room and into the bedroom, I snatched up the quilt from end of the bed and left the room.
"I can't believe this." Seth mumbles rubbing his face, seeming to be on the edge of cracking. He looked at me with just his eyes, "Why would she do this?" all of his panic and anxiety was gone within that question, his hands started shivering, "Why would she do this? This is sick."
"Do what?"
"Make us have a baby. Make us together…"
I blinked in confusion a couple of times, "Umm… what hasn't she done so far that isn't mind boggling."
"Yes but us…"
I felt my heart drop in my stomach, I looked down at my lap as I settled in the rocking chair, "What about us?"
"This. Our… baby, it's sick for her to do this to us… not there ever was an us."
My heart dropped again but he sounded hurt just saying that, "There… wasn't? Isn't?" I inquired in a whisper.
"There is?" he asks.
I believed there to be. I thought we both agreed us against the world? The feeling of the imprint, I missed the feeling on both ends. I missed him, I miss him. I'm so tired of the constant replay of new events and then death… I'm wholeheartedly, body and soul willing to kill the bitch. I need my real life back, I need him back, I need for this to be over. And I want him, I need him, for the rest of my existence, no matter fucking what. I was a freaking dumbass for giving up, it was weak and cowardly, I'm an alpha for crying out loud, I need to get my shit together.
I picked at the skin around my nails, I glanced at him with just my eyes, "I thought there was."
"Do you… want there to be…?" Seth asks still looking at me with just his eyes when I was able to meet his eyes like a scared 15 year old girl.
"Yes," I whispered with a sharp, encouraging inhale, "I do. And I know that I have been running from this for a while now, and I was proved over and over we're supposed to be together and everything is different now. I can't run from this. It was selfish, and it was cowardly… I really need to know that you're not going anywhere…" I met his pretty brown eyes again, "Ever… I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Us against the world, right?"
A short pause of silence as Seth keeps eye contact with me, I couldn't read him.
"You have me… imprint or not…"
Next thing I remember was trying to get the adult bedroom closed and trying to get my clothes off.
Seth followed me to the bed taking his clothes off too. I got into the bed and he was right there. When he hovered me my heart started thundering against my ribcage and I opened my legs for him, he leaned down to me with his arms on either side of my shoulders as he entered my body. My legs enclosed around his waist, pulling him closer and he stole kisses from me.
"I'm pretty sure if Sarah hears the smallest sound, her alarm will go off. And I don't want to stop."
"We'll be quiet."
Seth smirked at me, "You be quiet? I don't think that's possible. Did you hear her lungs? She gets them from you."
I narrowed my eyes at him, I shimmied my hips, "I'll be quiet."
"Absolutely not." He kissed me and backed his hips back slowly, "I want to hear you."
"Sarah will start screaming."
"She can scream a little bit. I wanna hear her mama scream."
"What a great dad, you are."
"I'll kill every boy on Earth." He promised with a low growl in his chest.
I chortled and then he didn't accept any more conversation unless it was from my eyes.
My arms wrapped around his neck and his back as my legs tremors around his waist, my nails dug into his skin, my back lifting off the bed and then I started to convulse with tremors. I bit the shit out of my bottom lip to stop from crying out. I needed this to happen again before Sarah started screaming, I needed him one more time or two more times… He was always the best. But it wasn't just because of this. This house, the occupants within.
This is the last one and I can feel it. If this is the last one I need to accept that I've been stupid, very stupid to believe that I would be happier when I gave up. It was just it always was when he wasn't around, there wasn't anything in the world that brought the physical sun into the dreary and grieving Olympic Peninsula.
Out of all these lives since I have given up, since she acknowledged I gave up, I have been a nun without the uniform or religious belief. I traveled the world, and I lived for decades upon decades. The life I lived until year of 10000, no the world was taken over by zombies or terminator's, but the world turned into a world similar to Futurama and they found out about me, I was a sacrifice and I don't want to think about that.
"One more time." Seth pants nipping my neck and his hips were unsteady and his hands on my waist tightened.
He bit me, he bit me a couple of times, I didn't think he'd be that kinky or aggressive. He bit my neck, my shoulder, my cheek, my waist and places on my inner thighs. He wouldn't let me do anything to him and I couldn't bite him back, he wouldn't let me. He matched my strength and my stamina, and he knocked me out after the second time. Sarah started crying after my cry, and I swear I couldn't move. I couldn't keep my eyes open. Sleep consumed faster than the bitch's sneak attacks.
…
I woke up to Seth murmuring to Sarah and they were both looking at me when I opened my eyes.
Naturally I was confused on if I was on Earth and they were aliens for a few seconds before my brain came back to reality, I stretched my legs and my back. Groaning and sighing groggily as I curled my legs back up and Seth let Sarah lay on the bed, she grunted as she wiggled and rolled onto her stomach. She tried to keep her head up as she struggled to lift herself up into a crawling position.
"What you doing, baby girl?" I asked tiredly, trying to keep my eyes open.
She cooed as I helped her up into the position she wanted, she smiled at me as she crawled over to me.
"She's been up for an hour now." Seth says pulling in a shirt, Sarah cooed as she lifted herself up from the help of my hip. She's dressed in a cute purple onesie, and a pair of beige pants, he managed to get her to keep her socks on, "We had some disagreements on food and what to do until you woke up."
Seth laid back down on the bed as Sarah was crawling over to him and she flopped herself down into his arms. She squealed kicking her legs as he blew raspberries on her neck and kissed her face. I wanna give him another baby.
I smiled, propping my pillow up under my head, "What time is it?"
"It just turned 8." Seth was grinning from Sarah's chuckling as he tickled her neck, she wiggled and kicked her legs to try to get away but was unsuccessful.
"Did you get to shower?"
"Yeah. She woke up when I got out. I can't believe you didn't hear her screaming."
"Well, I only remember what knocked me out so there's my alibi."
Seth grinned wider, a glint in his eyes, "My apologies, ma'am. Sorry I tried you out, you weren't supposed to fall asleep so fast."
I smiled wider, "I tried my best but I was severely unsuccessful."
"That was the plan either way. Anyways, these spirit journeys. How is it going to work?"
"Well, I don't know the correct procedure for a spirit journey but from mine it was going wolf for the first part. Getting in tune with the wolf and fully merging with her/him, and then for the flesh I mediated and that lead to opening cleansing and strengthening my charkas and unlocking that bonfire."
"Purple fire… that was awesome. Is everyone going to have fire?"
I shrugged, "I don't know honestly. I guess you can pick or focus on what your power could be without details. I didn't know what I was searching for but this… energy in me, it's a different kind of energy and indistinct."
"I don't get it."
"You know I'm not the greatest with explainations. I can't even give good directions and I've lived here my whole life."
I was hoping he would remember all the way back before the tournament before we were in high school equally. I don't do well in public speeches or giving directions, horrible really. I swear as soon as someone says time for your speech or do you where such and such is, I have a complete blonde moment and my mind goes blank and refuses to function properly. English is like Chinese, I can't understand a thing but I know they hate me.
He snorted a laugh in recollection, "That poor guy."
"See?"
Sarah grunted, her bottom lip pouting out, balling up her fists, Seth gazed down at her, "Well, I am sorry. Am I not paying attention to you?"
She grunted again, kicking her legs on the side of his ribcage. She loves him and she was most definitely a daddy's girl. I was smiling like an idiot. "She's feisty," I chortled, smoothing out her hair.
"Just like her mom. Especially last night." Seth grins sitting up and scooping Sarah up into his arms and sliding off the bed.
I rolled my eyes, smirking, "Whatever."
Seth squeezed my left ankle from under my quilt, "Okay." He grins, "Take a shower… my slut."
I sat up quickly and tried to swat his arm but he leaped out of my way and out of the bedroom with his chuckling cascading down the hallway.
"One curse word a day! You already used it."
He just laughed again until I heard Paul and Jacob downstairs and then Sarah squealing with chuckles. I need fled to the bathroom so fast in my life.
…
I glared at Paul, he wiggled his eyebrows. He knows, freaking doofus, I tossed my remaining piece of toast at him, "Shut up, Paul."
Sarah chuckled, clapping from her place in her high chair when the piece of toast clattered against his face and fell onto the tabletop.
I turned to Sarah, "Rule one, there are always food fights with Paul around."
"No." Seth sighed at me when I gave Sarah one of her cereal pieces and she chucked it but it hit the tabletop in front of me.
Sarah chuckled and clapped.
"Again," I handed her another piece.
"Naomi." Seth sighed again when Sarah successfully chucked the captain crunch cereal piece.
It smacked against Jacobs forehead. Sarah chuckled madly when he looked up and around until he found her and she chuckled harder, she started clapping and I clapped with her which made her more excited.
Sam snickered as Seth looked around the table, "Two peas in a pod."
I handed Sarah another piece, "Get daddy." I said to Sarah and Seth narrowed his eyes at me.
"Don't encourage this."
"Daddy's got his hands full with the baby… and mommy." Paul commented slyly, grinning like Cheshire cat.
Sarah threw the piece of cereal and it flew past Seth's head, Sarah was chuckling and clapping again. Seth glared at me with that glint in his eyes again and he sighed again.
I smiled wider and turned back to Sarah, I held up another piece, "One more time."
"No—" Seth was cut off by Sarah's cereal piece smacking lightly against his left cheek and Sarah squealed with chuckles as Sam, Paul and Jacob laughed. I smiled at Seth, "I'll talk with you later."
"Oooh!" Paul sing songed slyly, wiggling his eyebrows again. He threw his hands up in surrender from Seth's glower, "Hey, I don't have any entertainment expect for my right hand and/or my left. I have no wife and no kids, give me a break."
That, honestly, broke my heart. And then Jared, Colin, Brady, Quil, Leah, Embry, and Katelynn came in from the back door or the front door with knocks and normal volume whoops. Sarah greeted everyone with cereal pieces until Seth was fed up and took her upstairs, the roles were… switched and definitely unexpected. I don't know how I feel about it, another thing to talk about with him.
Leah sat took Seth's chair and pulled it next to mine, Katelynn was in the back and everyone else was just scattered around the conjoined kitchen and dining room.
"Alright, we good?" I asked looking around, nods or words of confirmation, or a irritated grunt from Katelynn. "Okay, so, I don't think I have to go over what has been going on, do I?" Not a word, "Thank God… I know you guys feel it, that this is it, our last one. I do. And as humiliating as it is, she's the weakest one. There's about what eleven of us, and nine of the Cullen's, and we have time, I don't know how much time but we have time; so spirit journeys are a must as of now. She changed things and I know more are coming, I'm going to be running patrols with the Cullen's until everyone has returned. Any questions?"
Not a word.
"Alright. Everyone will go as they are, no bags, just the clothes on your back and your leather cord. I will be waiting for your return, and pray for prosperity and justice. Are your ready?"