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Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
Part Seven-Questions
Jacob's announcement was greeted with silence as Charlie and Billy exchanged an exasperated glance.
"What? Why are you both looking at each other like that?" He demanded, hurt by their underwhelmed reaction.
Charlie stood up and placed Ethan gently in his baby seat before turning to look at the disappointed young lovers. "I left you both alone so you could talk things through rationally, and this is what you come up with."
Bella's face reddened as she stared at her father in shock. She hadn't expected this reaction from him or Billy, either. She thought they would have been pleased. "We thought you would be happy for us."
Billy sighed. "Under any other circumstances, Bella, we would be. But both of you have only just started speaking again. You have only been back in town for a couple of days after being apart for a whole year. Add into the mix little Ethan here, don't you think you're rushing into things?" He asked gently.
Jacob bristled at his dad's statement. "You are unbelievable. Bells and I know how we feel about each other, we..."
"We are not disputing your feelings, Jake." Charlie interrupted him. "But something happened in the past between you that had my daughter running off to marry another man. You can't tell me you have sorted through those issues already."
"He's right, son." Billy agreed, giving Jacob a meaningful glance.
"I was wrong to marry Edward." Bella confessed sadly.
"Why did you then, kiddo?" Charlie dared to ask her straight out. In the past he had always circumnavigated the issue, not wanting to alienate his daughter completely, but things were different now because of his precious grandson.
"Why are you bringing up Cullen?" Jacob snapped, getting angry at the mention of Bella's ex-husband. "That's all history."
"Is it?" Billy looked intently at Bella. "Is he out of your life for good?"
"Yes. I told you I left him when I found out I was carrying Ethan." Bella said a little too quickly, making Billy think she was hiding something. He couldn't press the matter while Charlie was there as he did not know what the Cullens really were.
"See." Jacob tucked Bella into his side. "We've worked everything out. We don't want to waste any more time."
"So, you'll be moving back here then, Bella?" Billy questioned cautiously.
Bella swallowed nervously. "Eventually. I can't just pack up my life overnight. I have a job in Jacksonville."
Jacob frowned as he looked at her. "Just hand in your notice."
"It's not that simple, Jake. I need the money to support Ethan. I don't know how long it will take for me to find a job around here." Bella was trying to be practical.
"I'll support you." Jacob was dismissive. He couldn't see the problem.
"How, Jake?" Billy interjected, a little impatiently. "I know you are making some money now that you are doing your furniture carving on a more permanent basis, but you still don't earn enough to support all of you. Bella will have to work, and she's right, there are not that many well-paid jobs around here."
"Why are you all doing this?" Jacob was becoming angry as all his euphoria at Bella agreeing to marry him melted away. He turned to Bella and took her face in his hands. "You said this is what you wanted…to marry me."
"I do." Bella tried to get him to see reason. "But as much as I hate to say it, our dads are right. I need to work. This is something that is not going to happen overnight."
"So, you are just going to go back to Jacksonville and take my son with you. I can't believe this." Jacob was finding it hard to control his temper. "I need some air." He quickly fled the house before he ended up phasing in the middle of the living room.
"Where is he going?" Charlie asked in confusion.
Billy and Bella knew exactly why Jacob had needed to leave. "He'll be back, Dad. He just needs to walk for a while and get his head together."
"Well, he better get out of that habit. He can't just run off when he hears things he doesn't like." Charlie complained.
"Calm down, Chief." Billy warned him. "It's probably best that he left otherwise we could have all ended up arguing in circles."
Ethan began to cry and Bella quickly hurried over and lifted him up and cuddled him. The potent smell coming from his diaper indicated that he needed changing. "I'll just take him into Jake's room and clean him up." She picked up Ethan's changing bag and left the room.
"I might go and give Bella a hand." Billy said as an excuse so he could have a private chat with Bella.
"Well, I might go out and hunt down your son then." Charlie suggested.
Billy nodded, knowing full well that Charlie wouldn't find him. "Okay, see you soon."
Charlie just nodded as he walked out of the house without looking back.
As soon as Jacob phased, he knew he had made a mistake. Quil and Embry were out on patrol. This was the first time that Jacob had turned wolf since Bella's return. None of the pack had any idea that she was even back in town, or that she had his son, Ethan with her. They certainly knew now as his two best friends heard his thoughts as he replayed the frustrating conversation with Charlie and Billy in his head. Once he started thinking about things, he couldn't stop, so Quil and Embry were unsuspecting witnesses to what had happened over the last two days.
"Whoa, dude!" Quil was shocked. "Bella's back?"
"And you have a son?" Embry finished for him. "This is unreal."
"You slept with her before she married the bloodsucker?" Quil was finding it hard to get his head around it. Jacob had managed to keep that little bit of information to himself, until now.
"This is all so messed up, Jake." Embry still couldn't believe it. "You asked her to marry you?"
"Quit it." Jacob was getting irritated by their comments. "This is no one's business but my own."
"You made it ours, man, when you replayed everything through the pack mind. How long do you really think you could have kept that quiet anyway?" Quil pointed out. "Especially from Sam."
"This is none of Sam's business." Jacob retorted angrily. "Or yours."
"Chill, Jake. We're your friends." Embry reminded him. "We want to help."
"I don't need your help. Bells and I are sorting it out." Jacob brushed their concerns aside irritably. He was deeply regretting phasing now. He should have tried to keep his shit together instead of giving into his anger.
"You can't marry her, Jake." Quil said, his own sadness washing through both Jacob and Embry. That was one downside to being part of the pack, you shared your brothers' pain whether you wanted to or not. "When you imprint Bella will get hurt. It's not fair to her when you will eventually have to walk away."
Jacob stopped running, he was nearing them now, but Quil's words had shocked him. "I am not you."
"You are just as susceptible as we all are. You can't keep thinking it won't happen to you." Quil was full of regrets. His life had basically stopped when he had imprinted on Claire. He was now at the mercy of a toddler's whims and he was finding it hard to cope with the fact that this was his immediate future. He hated what had happened, but he couldn't change it. Claire was still too young to make any informed choices about anything. Quil had pinned his hopes on the fact that as she grew, she would decide she didn't want him in her life, then he would be free to meet a girl his own age.
"Imprinting is rare." Jacob retorted, refusing to believe that it could ever happen to him.
"We all thought that, Jake." Embry replied sympathetically. "But Sam, Jared and Quil have all imprinted. The elders are wrong."
"You haven't." Jacob responded, getting angrier by the minute. It wouldn't happen to him. He had always been certain of that. Why couldn't they see it? "Neither has Paul or Seth."
"Yet." Quil pointed out grimly. "I can understand why Bella ran."
Jacob's temper flared at Quil's words. He took off at high speed, reaching his friend within moments. He launched his huge wolf body at Quil and knocked him flying. Quil flipped back onto his paws easily. They stood opposite each other, growling and digging at the earth as they circled each other with bared teeth.
"Stop this!" Embry tried to intervene. "Stop taking your anger out on us just because you don't like what you hear, Jacob!"
Jacob growled at him too. He was sick of hearing about imprinting. None of his brothers understood. He swiped at Quil one last time before sprinting off between the trees, his huge paws tearing up the earth as he headed back home. He needed to see Bella and his son; he should never have left. One thing was for certain though, he had to keep Bella away from the pack. The last thing he needed was for them to make her begin to doubt his word about never imprinting. As soon as he reached the spot where he had left his clothes, he quickly phased back and got dressed.
Billy rolled his chair into Jacob's room where he found Bella changing Ethan's diaper. She gave him a curious look as he waited patiently for her to finish up what she was doing. Ethan was getting sleepy so Bella carefully lifted him up and placed him in an old crib that Billy had found. It had once belonged to Jacob and his sisters. She leaned down and kissed her son's head gently.
"Sweet dreams, Ethan." She whispered. She backed away and motioned for Billy to follow her out of Jacob's room. "Is something wrong?"
"I just wondered if we could have a talk, Bella. Your dad has gone out to see if he can track Jake down. While he's out I wouldn't mind having a little chat." He suggested.
Bella ran her fingers through her hair in annoyance. She was tired of answering questions. "Haven't you and my dad said enough? I get it, you think we're moving too fast."
Billy parked his chair in front of the kitchen table while Bella took a seat opposite him. "You have to admit, Bella, this sudden need to get married has come right out of the blue."
"Jake asked me, Billy. I love him, I always have."
"But yet you left him behind to marry his mortal enemy. Why was that?" Billy asked bluntly.
Bella flinched at his tone. "It wasn't as simple as that. I had my reasons."
"Did you tell Jake what they were? He was a mess when you left. He couldn't understand why. It was me and his brothers who had to deal with the fallout." Billy reminded her.
Bella began to fiddle with the cuff of her shirt, shame dragging her down as she was again forced to confront just what trouble she had left behind. "I'm sorry, Billy. I can't say that enough. Jake knows why I left and he wasn't happy about it, but he understands."
"Does he?" Billy frowned darkly. "Or did he suddenly ask you to marry him because he's frightened that you'll bolt again?"
Bella gasped at his assertions. "That's not true!" She denied.
Billy eyed her shrewdly. "I know my son loves you, Bella. That's painfully obvious. He really suffered when you left. I don't want to see him go through that again, especially now that we know about Ethan. Why did you go and marry the Cullen boy?"
Bella put her head in her hands so she could avoid looking at Billy. "Isn't it obvious?"
Billy guessed by her reaction exactly what had made her run into the bloodsucker's arms. "You were worried about him imprinting." He said softly.
"Yes." Bella confessed; her voice full of despair. "That's why I left. I thought what was the point of even beginning anything when we were doomed anyway."
"Then why the sudden turnaround now? Why agree to marry Jake if you still hold that fear in your heart, Bella? Deceiving him about how bad you are still feeling about the issue will not be healthy in the long term. It will end up coming between you and perhaps destroying what you have so tentatively started to rebuild." Billy pointed out wisely.
"He told me that it would never happen to him, Billy." Bella began to sob. "I so want to believe him, to believe that he really knows deep down inside. I was just so happy to have him back and that Ethan got to know him. These last two days have been amazing. I don't want to lose that, so I agreed to marry him when he asked."
"Oh, Bella." Billy murmured. He took her hand and squeezed it in sympathy.
"What do I do?" Bella begged him, finally looking him directly in the eyes.
"The best way to deal with your fears is to confront them head on." Billy said firmly.
"How?" Bella questioned.
"I think you should spend time with the pack and their imprints. Go and see how they interact and just what their relationship involves." Billy advised.
"How will that help?" Bella asked in confusion. "It will just make me feel worse."
A small smile played across Billy's lips. "I don't think so. I think after you observe the imprints you will finally be able to put your fears to rest. I know my son and he would never say something so definite if he wasn't one hundred percent certain about it."
Bella shrugged. "I'll give it a try. It's not like I can avoid the pack forever. Although, I doubt they will be over the moon to see me."
"You assume the worst too often, Bella. Now I have one last question and then I promise that I will leave you in peace."
"Go on."
"Are you still in touch with the Cullen family?" Billy asked.
Bella winced; she knew Billy would never be fooled. "Yes." She said honestly. "But only by e-mail. Alice made me promise to let her know how I am faring. I haven't actually seen them since I left, though."
"If you intend to stay with Jake, you know you will have to cease all contact with them." Billy warned her.
"Yes, I know that." Bella assured him.
"Okay, thank you for being honest with me."
"You're a hard man to lie to." Bella quipped as she gave him a wry smile.
Jacob was walking back toward his house when he bumped into Charlie. "Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you."
"Look, I'm sorry I left like that. I just needed to cool down." Jacob apologised. "I know that you are just concerned about me and Bells, but honestly, we're fine. We know what we are doing."
"Jake, nothing would make me happier than to see you two get married and settle down, but you have only just begun to reconnect. There are a lot of practicalities to sort out. Just slow down a bit, son, and talk things through more. That's all me and your dad are asking." Charlie pointed out.
"If it makes you both feel better." Jacob replied grudgingly.
"It will." Charlie said firmly as he led the way back inside.
Jacob was relieved to see Bella sitting at the kitchen table with his dad. She had made lunch and was just waiting for him and Charlie to return before she served it up. Jacob went to help her as she headed into the kitchen to fetch the plates. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest.
"I'm sorry I left like that." He apologised, kissing the nape of her neck. "I just needed to run off some steam."
"I know." Bella turned her head and gave him a small smile.
Jacob rested his chin on her shoulder. "It doesn't matter what our dads say, honey. We know what we're doing. We don't need their blessing to get married. We can elope or something." He suggested, only half joking.
Bella turned around in his arms and gazed up at him. "I've been thinking, Jake."
"Have you?" Jacob smiled at her affectionately as hooked a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Yeah." Bella took a deep breath to steady herself before she lost her resolve. "Jake, I want to see the pack."
A/N-thanks for reading!