Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Intensity

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 04:

Paul’s POV

Why Taha Aki? Why? Why are you getting my imprint all messed up in the bullshit that is the pack? While I was happy to see Jared and Sam again, I wasn’t happy to see Jake. I nearly phased in the middle of Disneyland for God’s sake. Then add to it the fuckery of Leah delivering her baby in the middle of a Motel 6 in Anaheim, California and Bella having to help. Leah Clearwater didn’t deserve my Bella’s help. I remembered how she treated her like dirt when Bella was still in Forks. My future wife has a big heart though, and last night, she was completely professional and had her medical head on straight. The pack had no idea how lucky they were to have her there to help.

The other thing bothering me was the BS about my having to live on the reservation now that I’ve imprinted. Like hell that was going to happen. I left the reservation to make a life for myself and there was no way they were going to order me around like some lackey. I also didn’t plan on raising my kid there. There’s a reason why Bella and I live in my house in Paradise Valley rather than in her house in Camelback East-the school system is much better there. We both wanted our kid to have a good education.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m older and I’ve experienced life; maybe it’s the fact that I see the value of a good education; maybe it’s the fact that I grew up with parents who simply didn’t care about my future-the fact is that I, Paul Lahote, care about my yet to be conceived child and I knew I was capable of giving him or her more opportunities than the reservation or Forks could ever offer and so did Bella. I was not going to hold my own kid back and I wasn’t about to move back to a place just because of some messed up tribal order. I knew there was trouble coming by way of the elders and I was ready to fight for Bella’s and my sake, and for our future child.

It was eight am and Bella was still knocked out-completely exhausted by last night’s events. She fell asleep during the short car ride between the motel and our hotel. I carried her up to our room and put her to bed because I knew she was stressing just as much as I was about running into the pack. I decided to order some room service for breakfast so it would be ready for her when she finally woke up.

About a half an hour later, right after room service was delivered, Bella finally strolled out of the bedroom. “Mmm… that smells wonderful,” she said, giving me a kiss on the lips.

“Dig in, baby,” I urged as I poured some coffee for her.

“I am completely wiped out today. Last night was ridiculous. Let me check your rib and shoulder before you eat, hon.”

“Aw, Bella, I’m hungry. Can’t I at least drink my coffee?”

“It’ll take three minutes tops. I promise.” Bella checked that both my rib and shoulder were in working order. “Amazing. You’re completely knitted together. Did you carry me upstairs and put me to bed last night?”

“Yep.”

“When you had injuries?”

“I was fine, besides you were completely zonked out and needed your sleep.”

“You’re too good to me, Paul.” Bella eyes met mine. I could get lost in those beautiful eyes.

“I could say the same about you, baby.” I put her on my lap and kissed her. Our breakfast was completely forgotten, and I was kissing her beautiful body. Forget about the food-I needed Bella now.

I took her to our bedroom and made love to her, slowly and completely. Maybe I was too slow because suddenly, she flipped me onto my back and started riding me like a cowgirl. Oh, yes, daddy like-damn she looks perfect bouncing up and down like that. Before I knew it, she had collapsed onto my chest and we were both climaxing together. My wolf took over, and I marked her-again. What the hell? I don’t know of any wolves that have bitten their imprints twice. What is wrong with me?

“Sorry, baby. I know that hurt,” I apologized as I licked her bite to help soothe it.

“Mmm… keep doing that-it feels good.”

I held her tight to my body. I didn’t want to let go of her ever. I secured her to my chest and we fell asleep. A couple of hours later, there was a knock on our door.

“Dude, open up! I can smell you both in there.”

I threw a hotel robe on and opened the door to a grinning Embry and Quil. They saw the now cold breakfast spread on the dining table and helped themselves to it. Fine by me. I liked my food hot. At least it wasn’t going to waste. The food was gone within minutes.

“Is this all you have?” Quil asked.

“Uh, no, we were just about to get some lunch.”

“Oh, good. I’m starved.”

What the heck? Did the little shit just invite himself to lunch? I guess so.

“What the hell are you two doing here?” I asked.

“We’re just getting away from the baby action back at the motel. We’re going back to Disney in a couple of hours. We thought we’d visit you.”

Bella strode out into the living room wearing a matching terry cloth robe. The hotel provided them so naturally they had Mickey Mouse embroidered on the front.

The two idiots started guffawing when they saw Bella. “What are you two? The bobsy twins? What’s with the matching Mickey Mouse robes?” Embry laughed as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “This coffee is cold-in fact, the whole breakfast is cold, you should chew the hotel out, man.”

“Babe, Quil and Embry just invited themselves to come to lunch with us.”

“Yeah, you don’t mind, do you? Nice rack.” Quil smacked his lips and peered into her cleavage. I growled at him.

Bella pulled her robe closed tight. “Um, no, it’d be great to catch up. Let me just get dressed, I’ll check your injuries, and we can leave.” She walked back into the bedroom with me following.

“Don’t ask,” I mouthed.

“Wasn’t about to.”

The two of us quickly got dressed, and then Bella checked their injuries. We decided to just eat at one of the restaurants downstairs. Quil and Embry didn’t care where we ate. They were just hungry. They each ordered a whole mess of food and had margarita after margarita before the food even arrived.

“So, Bella,” Embry stated, “Jessica wants to hang out with you.”

Uh-huh, so this is what it’s all about.

“So does Rachel,” Quil piped in. Okay, now Rachel I could understand. Bella and she have known each other since they were babies.

“That’s nice, Embry, but I don’t really know Jessica too well. We hung out together in big groups a couple of times during high school, but other than that…”

“She really wants to hang out with you, Bella. Give her a chance, will ya?”

“Um, sure. What’s she been up to?”

“Well, as you know, she was married to Mike Newton until she caught him in bed with her ex-best friend, Lauren.”

Bella’s eyes bulged. “You mean Lauren Mallory-the walking whore house of Forks?”

“Yeah, that would be her.”

“It turns out Lauren and Mike had been sleeping together since high school.”

“Oh, poor Jessica.”

“In fact, she found out that both of Lauren’s fatherless kids were Mike’s. The worst thing is, they had both been her students at the elementary school in Forks.”

This is like a soap opera. I should write this down and sell it to a Hollywood studio. I’d make millions doing it.

“Do Jessica and Mike have any kids?”

“No, that’s the thing, Mike and she had been trying to have babies throughout their seven year marriage and she could never get pregnant. Anyway, after her divorce, she applied for a new position teaching at the reservation. Last year, the La Push Tribal School hired us to rewire the entire building-that’s when I imprinted on her.”

“Quil and Embry are both master electricians. They have a business together,” I explained. “Actually, I think they’re two of only three electricians in the area.”

“Wow,” Bella said to Embry. “I feel bad for Jessica about Mike, but I’m glad she met you. What grade does she teach?”

“Well, you know how the schools on the reservation work-you have the same teacher for two years in a row. So, she teaches fifth and sixth grade. Right after her, they have Rachel who teaches seventh and eighth grade.”

“The same teacher for two years in a row? I’ve never heard of such a thing. It must be nice, though, because you’d really get to know your students on a personal level.”

“Rachel says it’s okay, but you can get sick of the same students, too,” Quil said. “You’ll find out yourself once you have kids and live on the reservation.”

“That’s not happening,” I stated. “Bella and I are staying put in Arizona. Besides, our house is in a really good school district.”

“I don’t blame you, man. Once you have babies, keep your family away from the reservation. There are families that do well-like Rachel’s and mine or Embry and Jessica’s, but most of the families are living on the fringes. Unemployment is at seventy percent most of the time if you take seasonal workers like the fishermen and construction workers into consideration. The health clinic hasn’t been able to get a full time doctor in there for ten years. The poverty is out of control-just be careful of the tribal council, man. Remember the Quileutes are a sovereign nation within the United States. It might help you to keep in mind that a sovereign nation operates under the jurisdiction of the United States government, which is supreme law.”

“Why are you telling me this, man?” I asked.

“Now that Jake knows about Bella and you-shit’s gonna go down. He’s a traditionalist. He’s not on the council, but his dad is and so is my grandfather. I tried to leave a few years back, but I couldn’t. It doesn’t matter, though, if Jake is eventually going to be a tribal elder so am I. It puts us all on a level playing field. Jake also forgets that Rachel has as much right to the council as he does. She has a college degree too, we’re prepared to pull that card if necessary. Oh, and Billy hasn’t been happy with Jake for a long time.”

“What do Rachel and you want out of this?”

“We have three kids-they deserve to have a better education than the one provided by the tribal schools. Hardly any of the kids go to college. Seth, Rachel, and you are some of the few who did go. My kids are all going-they know that they don’t have a choice in the matter. Embry and I are two of the lucky ones who have associate’s degrees. Jessica and Eric have degrees and Emily went to trade school, but that’s only because they’re not from the reservation. Had they been raised there-things would have been very different.”

Damn it. I’d better find a lawyer who specializes in constitutional law. It shouldn’t be a problem, though. I’ve been hitting the links with a lot of politicos trying to muster up a contract with the state of Arizona for the reworking of the highway system. It would be worth an estimated twelve billion dollars, probably more if we took inflation over five years into consideration. I still have to rework the numbers. My personal income was generally about ten percent of the value of the contract-which would leave Bella and I set for life. I’m only thirty-one, though, so I didn’t plan on retiring anytime soon. If my kid didn’t see me working, he would think that he didn’t have to work for anything in life.

“One more thing,” Quil said in a serious tone of voice. “If I were you, I’d get married as soon as possible, and not on tribal land. The first thing they’ll try to do is order you to get married in La Push-that way, they can indoctrinate Bella as a member of the tribe, therefore making all of your kids full members of the tribe. Rachel and I were both already full tribal members so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, but in your case-Bella is not and neither is Charlie so the laws won’t be able to extend over her. Embry and Jessica ran to Vegas and eloped before the elders could give them a direct order.”

“Wait. How come Charlie is not a tribal member?”

“Sue and Charlie got married in Reno,” Bella informed me. “They didn’t want to have a big ceremony because it was the second marriage for both of them.”

Well, screw L.A. I think we’ll be flying to Vegas tomorrow as soon as we check out. Time to make Miss Bella Swan, Mrs. Paul Lahote.

The waitress delivered the check, and Embry took care of it. I tried to protest, but he said Jessica and he were dual income no kids for the time being, and they had more than enough in the bank to treat us to lunch. We thanked him-it was nice to be treated for a change. Bella asked if they’d like to join us for dinner with their wives. Both of them gladly accepted and said they’d meet us at Ruth’s Chris Steak House at 9 pm. The steakhouse was my idea.

After they left, Bella turned to me. “Paul, I’m putting my foot down. If we’re having steak again tonight, I want you to have filet mignon-it’s leaner. You’re going to turn into a giant ball of cholesterol.”

“How about if I have a salad for appetizer?” Bella raised an eyebrow. “Babe, don’t look at me like that. Besides, if I don’t have the porterhouse how am I going to compare whether Ruth’s Chris has better steak than Morton’s?”

“You and your steak.” Bella sighed, resigned. “And you know damn well you’ve been to both restaurants before.”

“Yeah? Well not in Anaheim. Oh and you look me straight in the eyes and tell me that you’re not going to have steak tonight?”

“Of course I’m going to have steak-how am I going to compare between the two steakhouses?”

“My point exactly. Now I have a proposition for you. What do you think about forgoing our trip to Los Angeles and flying to Vegas to get married?”

“You mean and not have a high-falutin’ wedding? I think I fell more in love with you just now.”

“That’s my girl. Keep it from the pack, though-okay? You heard what Quil said.”

“Mum’s the word,” she said and tipped her chin up for a kiss. I could never deny those lips of hers.

Bella wanted to pick up some necessities for Leah’s new baby before going to check up on them so we drove to a nearby Target. We looked for a Babies R Us, but the nearest one was about an hour away, and we still wanted to hit Disneyland again. After purchasing a ton of crap that neither of us had any idea even existed, we headed over to the Motel 6. Eric answered the door. I asked him to come and help me unload the stuff while Bella checked on Leah. Bella was done by the time we came back in.

“What’s all of this?” Leah asked.

“Oh, well, we thought you might be missing some baby essentials here since you weren’t expecting the baby for another three weeks,” Bella stated.

“Thank you. We have all of this at home from the other three, but it would be nice for this one to have some new things-especially since this is our first girl. Eric was going to run out and pick up a car seat, but you two took care of that, too. Thank you, thank you for everything.”

“Thank you,” Eric agreed. “Especially you, Bella, we don’t know what we would have done without you.”

“No problem-it’s what I’m trained to do. Well, let me check on the baby, and then Paul and I will get out of your hair. What did you name her?”

Leah looked up sheepishly at the both of us. “Isabella Paulette Clearwater Yorkie.”

“I’m so honored.”

“So am I. Thank you,” I said.

“No, we’re honored. If you two didn’t happen to be here, we would have been up shit creek. We knew we were cutting it close coming to Disney so near the due date, but we wanted to take the other three to see Mickey Mouse so we risked it. Thank God you were both here.”

“Well, the baby is nice and healthy. I’m sure you both know all about cord care and what not, right?”

“Yes,” Eric replied. “Is there anything else we should know since this is our first girl?”

“Um, well, just with girls especially-when you’re changing them, you need to make sure that you wipe from front to back. They’re more prone to yeast infections. How often are you feeding her?”

“Oh, about every two to three hours?” Leah said.

“Okay, well keep that up for the next two weeks, then try to feed her less during the night so you can get more sleep. I think it would help if Eric actually got up and brought you the baby to feed then returned her to the bassinet for you. Paul maybe you can set up the portable playpen for them, it has a bassinet insert.”

“Which one is that?” I asked. I had no idea what was what.

“I can get it, I’m an old pro at baby equipment by now,” Eric chuckled then turned to me and asked. “So, when are you two going to start a family?”

“Not for a few years yet. We aren’t even married yet. We’re both at the peak of our careers and we want to make sure we can give our baby all of the time and attention it deserves.”

Leah shook her head wildly and bulged her eyes out. “What happened to Paul Lahote and where can I find another one?”

“Alright, well, we’re going to get going. Call Bella or me if you need anything. We’ll be leaving this area tomorrow-when are you heading back to Washington?”

“Tomorrow. Twenty-one hours on the road. We’re thinking of breaking the trip up into three days instead of two for the baby’s sake, though,” Leah explained.

I kind of felt bad. Here Bella and I only lived five hours away and we flew in because we thought five hours was a long drive. They had to drive for twenty-one hours-with kids. Yikes.

“I think that’s a good idea. I would even break it up into four days if you could. Make frequent stops. You might want to see if the others will take your other three home with them because I think it’ll be hard on them to have to sit with the baby for that long. You want to keep their sleep schedule as stable as possible,” Bella suggested. “I also want you to sit on a pillow on the car ride back, Leah.”

“Okay, we will and, um, Bella?” My imprint looked at Leah to acknowledge her. “Would you mind if I called you sometime after we get back? We are sort of related now with our parents being married to each other.”

“Sure, no problem. I’m usually home from work by six or seven pm. Saturdays are bad because Paul and I are usually in and out trying to get home errands done, but any other day is fine.”

“Thanks, Bella.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Oh, and thanks for kicking Jacob in the nose twice while you were in labor, Leah.” I smirked at her, and she gave me a huge grin and a wink back. I knew those kicks to Jacob were done on purpose, they were too well placed to be done while in complete agony.

We left the Yorkie’s and walked down the hall towards our car. We heard an argument coming from Kim and Jared’s room.

“ What do you mean we only have seventy-eight bucks left? That’s not enough to feed the kids and get us home, Jared.” We both overheard Kim saying to her husband. “Are you saying the kids can’t go to Disneyland today?”

“ Kim, it hasn’t been easy. I told you we should have postponed this trip. With me being unable to find work it’s been rough.” Jared argued. “Sam and Emily are in the same predicament. The area is depressed, there just aren’t any construction jobs right now.”

Bella yanked me into the lobby and whispered so we wouldn’t be overheard, “You have to do something, Paul.”

“No shit, you don’t think I’m thinking that? Neither Sam nor Jared mentioned their job situations to me. The thing is, I can’t hire Jared because he doesn’t even have his GED. I have a strict rule that I only hire people who have earned their high school diploma or at least their GED-even then, I prefer it if they’ve gone to tech school or earned a degree.”

“Well, can you hire Kim?”

“She doesn’t have one either. She works the register at the trading post in La Push for twenty cents above minimum wage.”

“How the fuck can this be allowed, Paul? I can’t believe they even got this far without at least a GED. You know, it pisses me off how the tribe used you guys for protection, forced their ridiculous laws on you-designed to keep you in La Push, and yet did nothing to ensure your futures.”

“Baby, you’re right and I’ll figure something out. I swear to God, I will. Just let me give Jared and Sam some cash so they can get home for now and then we’ll brainstorm once we get back to Phoenix.”

I looked at my imprint and she had tears in her eyes. I pulled her to my chest to hold her. It wasn’t really her problem, but she had a big heart and it hurt her to think of others hurting.

“Shh… I’ve got you, babe. I’ll make it better for them, I promise,” I soothed, trying to calm her.

We drove to a branch of our bank in Anaheim and had two prepaid Visa debit cards issued for ten thousand dollars each. We then drove to Walmart and purchased two gift cards for a thousand dollars each. I stopped to gas up at a Shell Station and bought a couple of one thousand dollar gas cards there, too. We drove back to the Motel 6 where the pack was staying. I could smell that most of the group had left-probably for Disneyland. Actually, aside from Leah and Eric who were in their room with their baby, Jared’s family and Sam’s family were the only ones left. They were hanging out in the same room watching TV.

I knocked on Jared’s door. He opened it immediately. “Hey, bro, nice of you to stop by!”

“Hey, I need to talk to Sam and you,” I said, motioning them outside.

“Sure. Sam, it’s Paul! He needs to talk to us.”

“I’ll go and hang out with Kim and Emily,” Bella said. I winked at her and kissed her on her cheek.

“Let’s go for a quick drive,” I suggested.

“Alright. We’ll be back in a bit,” Sam told the girls.

When we got in the car, Jared asked, “What’s up?”

I had no idea how to bring this up, but decided it was best to just get straight to the point. “Look, I don’t know how to put this, but Bella and I overheard Kim and you arguing today when she was checking on Leah and the baby. How come you two didn’t tell me about your job situations?”

They both looked down and didn’t answer so I spoke again. “Hey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You both know that I know what it’s like to go without. So does Bella-her mom was on food stamps on and off when she was growing up. For God’s sake, my mom was on welfare my entire life. We lived off of food stamps and welfare checks. During college, there were times when I was so poor that I’d have to phase and go after animals just so I could eat. I’ve been there, but the thing is-it was only me. You have your wives and kids to worry about.”

“It’s just that there are no jobs around Forks or La Push,” Jared argued.

“I know that man, but right now you need help. Kim’s right, seventy-eight bucks isn’t going to get you anywhere and you really should take those little ones of yours to Disneyland. You have the tickets, right?”

“Yeah, but no spending money for when we get in there.”

“Just hear me out. Bella and I want to help by…”

Sam interrupted me. “We’re not charity cases.”

“No, you’re not and I know you both work hard, but sometimes we all need a helping hand. I wouldn’t have my company now if it weren’t for the kind bank owner who overlooked the fact that I had absolutely no credit and a hundred and twenty-three bucks in my account, yet still loaned me the capital to start my business solely based on the vision I had for my business. I’m going to look into finding construction jobs for both of you when I get back to Phoenix. For now, though, take these.” I handed both of them envelopes with the debit card and gift cards inside.

“This is too much,” Jared said after looking inside. He tried to hand the envelope back to me.

“No, it isn’t. I bet you’re behind on your bills too. You have five kids, Jared. You and I both know what it’s like to grow up poor-it’s not fair to the kids. You know damn well they’re hurting and not telling you. Besides, how many times did your parents feed me because my mom traded in all of her food stamps for alcohol? It’s my turn to help you out.”

Sam, then, tried to return his envelope to me. “Oh, you’ve got to take your shit up with Bella. Do you want to hurt her feelings? She doesn’t want to see Emily or the kids hurting.”

I know I shouldn’t have pulled that card, but I did because they were both being so stubborn.

Sam sighed and turned to me with a look of gratitude in his eyes. “Thank you, Paul. This will really help a lot.”

Jared actually had watery eyes when he thanked me.

“Alright, so why don’t we all hit Disneyland together? Then we’re going out to dinner at 9 pm-just the adults. What do you say?”

“Sounds great. More steak?” Jared asked.

“Yep, I’ll catch hell from Bella later about the cholesterol, but we’re doing some more of that double porterhouse tonight.”

“You’re a great friend, Paul.”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed. “Thank you.”

I drove back to the motel. They rounded up their wives and kids, and we all headed to Disneyland together. When we got to the main gate, I purchased ‘fast passes’ for everyone so we could just zip onto the rides. Once inside, Ryan and Sammy kept asking for their photos to be taken with Bella. I snapped one of them with an oblivious Bella smiling for the camera with Ryan and Sammy standing on either side of her wide-eyed and ogling her tits.

“Sorry, man,” Jared said. “They’re both thirteen and hormonal.”

“Uh, Bella, I have a school dance coming up in May. Would you go with me?” Ryan asked.

“Honey, I’m older than your mother is,” Bella replied, nicely.

“That’s okay, chicks dig me.”

“You’re a bit too young for me.”

“I’m a month older than Ryan is and I can totally do cougar,” Sammy piped in.

“Sweetie, you really should find a nice girl your age. I prefer to date guys who can drive at the very least plus I’m engaged to your Uncle Paul.”

“I can drive! Yep, just ask Uncle Seth. He knows I can drive.”

“Legally,” Bella said, spiraling both love struck teens into abject dejection. We left Disneyland at 8 pm after going on a ton of rides, feeding the kids, and buying them loads of souvenirs. Their parents thanked us gratefully because it was something they, themselves, couldn’t afford to do. Bella and I just wanted the kids to have a memorable experience at Disneyland because it was something that we as kids never had the opportunity to do.

We rushed back to our hotel to shower and get dressed for tonight’s dinner. We threw a quickie in there too because, damn it, whenever I saw Bella naked I needed to have her. At exactly 9:10 pm, ten minutes after our planned meeting time, we arrived at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Everyone was waiting for us.

“What the hell? Were you guys fucking? I’m starved,” Quil complained.

“You and your mouth,” Rachel chastised.

“What? I can smell the sex on both of them.”

“Well, you don’t have to announce it to everyone!”

We walked in and were immediately seated at the reserved table being held for us. When the waiter came to take our order, Sam and Jared immediately ordered a Porterhouse Steak for Two each. Bella narrowed her eyes at me, but I ignored her and ordered the same. Not to be outdone, Quil and Embry ordered the same thing with Jessica chewing us all out about cholesterol and fat content. Bella smiled triumphantly as the five of us were forced into ordering salads to accompany our dinners. The girls each ordered their filets-I threw in side dishes and appetizers for everyone and we were ready to start enjoying the evening.

“So, Bella, it’s been awhile,” Jessica greeted, nervously.

“Yeah, it has. What have you been up to since high school graduation? You went to Whitman College, right?”

“Where is that?” I asked, curiously.

“Oh, it’s in Walla Walla, Washington about four hundred miles southeast of Forks.”

“So, it must be near Oregon, then?”

“Yes, it’s actually right on the border. If you guys like wine, you should visit-they have wineries there and the famous Walla Walla Onion is from there.”

“Ooh! That onion sounds interesting. I wonder if it’s like the Maui Onion,” Bella mused. When we went to Hawaii last year, I had to carry a twenty-pound sack of Maui Onions home for my gourmet wife. I couldn’t say anything because I actually had to buy an extra suitcase just for the Kona Coffee.

“Where did you go to school?” Rachel asked.

“I went to the University of Miami for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees.”

“Wow, so you went straight through?”

“Yes, my goal was to be a nurse practitioner and midwife from the beginning, and for that I needed a master’s degree. You went to the University of Hawaii, right?”

“You remembered!” Rachel said, excitedly.

“Of course-it’s beautiful there, Paul and I were just there this summer.”

“Really? Did you stay in Waikiki?”

“Yeah, at the Halekulani,” I replied.

“Fancy-that’s a nice hotel.”

“We liked it. Our room led directly out to the beach. We want to retire there.”

“So do Quil and I. One day, it’ll happen. We’ve been saving up for our retirement for years now-that and our kids’ college educations.”

Rachel was very different from Jacob. While Jacob’s life was tied to the reservation, Rachel always knew there was more out there. As soon as she graduated from high school, she went to the University of Hawaii with her father’s blessing. When Quil imprinted on her, she accepted the imprint immediately, but she refused to drop out of college. Rachel only had a semester of school left and Quil was still a junior in high school. She went back to school, but found out she was pregnant with Number Six. She hid it from everyone, knowing they’d force her back to La Push, and graduated from college before returning to La Push to have the baby.

It was around the same time that I destroyed the red-headed bloodsucker who was going after Bella. When I think about it now, I was completely obsessed with finding her, ripping her apart, and torching her. I didn’t even like Bella then, but I was hell-bent on keeping her safe. I wonder if I felt some strange cosmic connection to her way back then.

After Quil graduated from high school, Rachel, who had been hired to teach at a public school in Port Angeles, forced him to attend the community college there to earn his associate’s degree. She went against tribal order and refused to marry him or live on the reservation unless he had the means to support Number Six and her. Embry went with him because he thought it was a good idea. Two years later, they had associate’s degrees and their electrician’s certification. They started their own business out of a beat up red truck formerly owned by Bella Swan. Charlie Swan gave it to them in exchange for a few electrical repairs in his house.

Three years after that, I finally graduated from college. I had a job lined up as an entry-level bridge engineer in Seattle. I lucked out when I found a design flaw in the suspension system, which would have resulted in the bridge collapsing, that no one else was able to detect. Later, I was given a promotion and transferred to the Phoenix office. I stayed in the position for about six months, but I wanted more. I decided to start my own construction business. I went to a small local bank where I still keep my business account and spoke to the bank owner. Somehow, without any collateral except for a 1994 Ford F-150, the owner had faith in the vision of my business. He gave me a loan, and I started my business. He gave me some good advice, too, “In your line of work, if you want to make it big-you need to learn how to play golf and tennis. The golf course and the tennis courts are where the big deals are made. If you stop by tomorrow, I’ll give you a set of my old golf clubs.”

I took his advice and, for the first time in my life, I learned how to play a sport-two in fact. Nine months later, while working on a new home construction in Paradise Valley, the owner of the house invited me for a round of golf. While golfing, he probed me on what I could and couldn’t do. I told him that my background was in civil engineering with a strong knowledge of building technology. I also mentioned the design flaw that I had found in the suspension bridge in Seattle. The Monday after the round of golf, I received a call from the mayor of Tempe, Arizona. He asked me to look at some blueprints of the city’s drainage system. I went, of course. It turned out the man I golfed with was the mayor of Paradise Valley, and he recommended my services to his friend, the mayor of Tempe. He asked me to submit a proposal by Friday. I worked like a possessed man on it and kept the costs low by figuring I’d take only ten percent of the contractual value for my personal income-most owners of companies like mine skim off about thirty percent for themselves, sometimes even fifty. I was hired, of course. The Tempe mayor was impressed with my work and before I knew it-I was golfing with political types all over the state of Arizona. A city councilman buddy of mine suggested I incorporate the phrase Engineering Design into the name of my company because I’d attract more business then. That’s how Lahote Engineering Design Concepts and Construction was born.

I peered across the table at Sam and Jared and felt bad for them. They had the same upbringing as I did, hell mine was worse-at least they had loving parents, yet they were stuck in the same cycle of poverty brought on by having no education and having their kids too young. Sam and Emily, at least, stopped at two, but I don’t think Jared and Kim used any birth control at all. I knew she was pregnant again because, with my enhanced hearing, I could hear a second heartbeat inside of her. Unfortunately, the tribe would just enable her by being overjoyed that a new Quileute was being born, and then not doing a god damned thing to get them out of their endless financial rut. It pissed me off to no end.

Bella eyed me pensively from where she was sitting between Emily and Kim.

“Later,” I mouthed. She nodded to acknowledge me, but not without a look of concern. I must have been showing my emotions on my face. I quickly put a smile on my face and joined the others in conversation. They were discussing how Number Six, Sammy, and Ryan were all grounded.

“Why are they grounded?” I asked.

“The idiots decided to take a joyride in Sam’s truck. They parked in front of Sully’s and tried to pick up chicks there. When they were unsuccessful at their attempts, they hopped back in the truck and tried to drive to Forks High, that’s when Seth pulled them over. He handcuffed all three of them, took them to Charlie at the station who threw them in jail overnight to teach them a lesson. By the time we picked them up in the morning, all three of them were crying for their mommies.”

We had a good laugh at that. “Hey, remember when Charlie Swan threw our asses in jail overnight?” Jared reminisced looking at Sam and me.

“My dad threw you guys in jail? Why?”

“He was fishing with Billy Black and Harry Clearwater and left his police cruiser parked right in front of the Clearwater house with the keys in the ignition. We knew they would be gone all day so we thought it would be fun if we took it for a ride. We went all the way to Port Angeles, and then ran out of gas on the way back. We were almost home, too. The three of us were standing outside of the cruiser like the dumb fucks we were when Harry, Billy, and Charlie drove by. They, of course, spotted us, and the cruiser, right away. Harry went to get some gas for the cruiser, then, after he put it in the tank-Charlie threw the three of us in jail overnight. Sam’s and my parents were more pissed than we had ever seen them when they came to pick us up the next morning.”

“What happened to you, Paul?”

“Oh, my mom never came to pick me up. Charlie actually got me out of jail later that evening, fed me dinner at the coffee shop, and then took me home to speak to my mom. She actually yelled at him for letting me out of jail,” I explained to Bella.

“Oh my God! Why did she want you to stay in jail?”

“She didn’t like me very much.”

We finished off dinner and desserts, then sat and had drinks at the table. A couple of hours later, I settled the check and we finally called it a night. We said our goodbyes because they were starting back to La Push at seven in the morning.

Sam, Emily, Jared, and Kim thanked both Bella and me for everything.

The four of them left, leaving Quil, Rachel, Embry, and Jessica behind.

“We wanted to let you know that Jacob has already called the tribal elders,” Embry said. “I eavesdropped on the phone call from the hallway. They’re planning on ordering the two of you home because of the imprint after we all get back from Disney.”

Rachel, then, jumped into the conversation, “That gives you roughly two days to get married. Please, please, take my advice and do it. I know my Quilly talked to you earlier. It’s pertinent you do this so they don’t have control over Bella.”

“Bella, you and I are in the same boat,” Jessica said. “We have to stick together in this. Once they find out you’re married, they’re going to try and get you to move onto the reservation. Stick to your guns, though. Embry and I actually live in Forks, and not on the reservation so it’s usually safe to contact one of us.”

“Alright, I think now is a good time to exchange contact information,” Quil stated. “We use the Star Wars theme as a ring tone when we call each other that way we know it’s one of us.”

“Is it necessary to go to that extreme?” I asked.

“Trust me, it is. The ones you have to watch out for are my grandfather and Brady’s father-Tony Fuller. Billy Black, Joshua Uley, and Sue Clearwater are actually on our side. They want improvements on the reservation as well. Among the pack, be careful of Collin and Jake. Oh, and Angela is a snippy bitch. Brady is fine-he actually wants out of La Push. The poor kid is twenty-six, has four kids with his imprint, and has been unemployed for over a year. His wife works with Emily at the clinic. We all try to help him out when we can.”

We exchanged numbers and email addresses and said we’d keep in touch. They thanked us for dinner and we went our separate ways.

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was close to one am. I quickly checked for flights from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and found one, which left at six am. “Baby, I hate to do this to you, but I have a bad feeling about what Quil and company said about Jake. I think we need to haul ass out of the hotel and leave for Las Vegas on the first flight out of here.”

“Are you kidding? I’m with you on this-I’m completely creeped out right now.”

“Alright, let’s pack and get the hell out of dodge. I’ll book the tickets and the hotel now and cancel our hotel reservations in L.A.”

Bella had our luggage packed in minutes. Something I loved about her was that she was a minimalist when it came to packing for travel. She didn’t bring along twenty outfits for a two-day trip, and she didn’t mind doing laundry during longer trips.

We checked out of the hotel, made our way to the airport and, in no time, it was time for our flight. We both fell asleep as soon as the flight took off and an hour later the flight attendant was waking us both up.

We hopped in a cab to Caesar’s Palace where I had booked a suite and spa package for us. Bella and I didn’t even bother touring the room. We both hit the sack and fell into a dreamless sleep in each other’s arms for the last time as an unmarried couple. I couldn’t wait to make Bella my wife.