It was a hot, humid day in mid-July when Daniel Lahote found the woman curled up on the porch of his cabin, her rounded stomach stretching the worn cotton of her t-shirt and sweat pouring from her face as she tried to find shade from the blazing sun. The July heat was reaching record highs and for once, the frequent rain showers that Forks was famous for were nowhere to be seen. The air was hazy, the weather report claiming nearly 98% humidity with no relief in sight.

Seeing the tiny slip of a girl, no taller than 5'4" and probably 100 pounds soaking wet if you didn't add in the heavily protruding stomach that looked as though she had swallowed a beach ball whole, he knew he had to take care of her. His mom, if she had still been alive, would have lost her mind if she saw him leaving a woman, let alone a pregnant woman, outside to bake in the outlandish heat wave.

As they sat in the air-conditioned living room with iced lemonade and soft music playing on the radio in the background, he had done some info gathering. Amanda, she had told him her name was. Amanda Parker, homeless and 8 months pregnant with a baby that had sent her boyfriend packing as soon as the little white stick had shown two lines. He had felt sympathy for the 16-year-old girl who had been abandoned by her family and friends simply because she let a college boy fill her head with dreams that had been shattered when he vanished.

He knew something about broken dreams himself. His own wife had abandoned him to take care of their infant son after she realized she didn't care to stay on the reservation where she was only a part time waitress. She had run home to Tacoma leaving only a note behind to tell him she planned to get custody of Paul eventually. Maybe that was the reason he had invited Amanda in, she knew what it was to be lonely and so did he.

They were in love by the end of the first month. She had taken over where he needed it, helping him with Paul on the nights he was bone tired and in turn he helped her with the impending birth of her daughter. He set up a second crib in his son's room for her and when the time came to rush her to the tribe's hospital at 4am, he did it with no complaints. He held her hand as she pushed and screamed her way through the birth, not even batting an eye when the doctors mistook him for the father.

After all was said and done, Amanda named the baby Danielle Jade. Jade because of Amanda's pastime of jewelry making and Danielle for the man who had saved them both because she was sure if she had stayed in the weather for much longer, she wouldn't have made it. Danielle was a tiny little thing with a shock of thick black curls on her head and light caramel colored skin that reminded Amanda that no matter what she did to pretend otherwise, Danielle would never be Daniel's baby. She was the living proof and memory of the pale, green eyed UDub student who had gotten scared off by the prospect of responsibility.

Daniel knew what she was thinking. As he held her at night, he could practically feel the emotions tearing through his young lover's mind. She was afraid, and rightfully so. At only 16, she was the mother of a beautiful newborn daughter and a near year old stepson she had claimed as her own. Even Daniel had his moments of fear; at 20, he only had his battered old work truck and a sturdy cabin built on the edge of the Rez that he had inherited from an uncle. If he ever lost his construction job, they would lose what little they had and with two kids and a young lover, he couldn't let that happen.

But bigger than the fear of their financial trouble was the fear of abandonment. Amanda was terrified that once the allure of having the perfect little family wore off, Daniel would kick her and Danielle aside just as her first love had done to her. It also drove a wedge between the couple that Daniel was still married to his wife who refused to sign the appropriate papers and he didn't make enough money to pay a lawyer to get it taken care of.

So, he did what he could to make ends meet and tried to make the best of their circumstances. Accepting odd jobs around the reservation, bouncing from construction job to construction job, occasionally traveling to Seattle for work. Amanda sold her handmade jewelry at swap meets and festivals, gaining a valued group of admirers who were always willing to purchase new items. They made it through their money troubles, saving every penny they could in case of a rainy-day emergency.

Before either of them knew it, Danielle was a year old and Paul had acclimated himself to the term 'terrible two' with a surprising gusto. Screaming, throwing toys, kicking and hiding when it was nap time or dinner time. Yet whenever he would see his baby stepsister crawling alongside him, her green eyes shining with curiosity, he always calmed down. He would slow down just so that she could keep up with his longer, stronger legs.

It was like they complimented each other. Danielle was a mild-mannered baby, small for her age and content to sit and watch the world happen around her. Paul had no such patience and seemed to love causing trouble. Be it flushing his parent's belongings down the toilet or drawing on the walls with his crayons, he was there with a bright grin. And at his side was Danielle, watching with her smaller hand clutching the side of Paul's shirt like a security blanket as she oversaw his activities with a toothy smile and childish innocence.

And it went on like this for years. The children grew closer and closer and Paul took his role as protective brother with the utmost seriousness. As Danielle grew into a skinny girl with huge doe-like eyes and thick black hair that hung in waves to just below her ear where she kept it cut in a simple, wavy bob, Paul grew into a tall and lean boy with long black hair and a carefree smirk that usually suggested either impending pain or mischief to those around him.

Amanda and Daniel agreed that the children wouldn't be hidden from the truth. After all, Daniel was truly Danielle's father figure as much as Amanda was Paul's mother figure. There was no doubt in that; however, it would be a stretch to convince the reservation that the pale, green eyed girl was anything but mixed.

And so, it was open knowledge. Danielle knew that although Daniel was not her father, he was her dad. He had chosen to love her and her mom and that was enough for her. Amanda and Daniel never used her paternity as ammo against each other, even through rough patches when Amanda would disappear to Seattle with threats of finding someone else and Daniel would run off to George's bar in Forks where he'd have a beer and a waitress for the night before returning to make up with his girlfriend.

When they fought, Danielle would creep into Paul's bedroom across the hallway and they would lay together, her body curled against his and her face tucked into his silky, shoulder length hair as if to hide from the sounds of the yelling and arguing. His arms wrapped around her like a cocoon protecting a delicate caterpillar as they slept, and it became common for their parents to find them asleep together even on the nights they hadn't been arguing.

Their nights together ended when Paul turned 14 and discovered that girls were capable of so much more than cuddling. On the nights when their parents ran off after one argument or another, Paul would have a girl over in no time flat. It was on those nights that Danielle would end up sneaking into the Call residence and playing PlayStation with Embry until the early morning hours while his mom was working overnight at the hospital. The quiet, kind boy was always there waiting with Mortal Kombat and junk food when she couldn't take seeing Paul's girlfriends prancing in their panties anymore.

Slowly, the stepsiblings grew apart and seemingly lost some of the connection they'd formed as children much to their parent's surprise. Nonetheless, Paul was the first one to throw a punch if he heard anyone disrespecting the dark-haired girl. Likewise, she was the first to get into a fight if she found out any of his girlfriends were unfaithful. Despite her small size, she had learned how to fight from watching Paul over the years and she could hold her own in any catfight, using her small size and agility to her advantage.

And they still found comfort in each other's presence. Sometimes without realizing it even, they gravitated towards each other like two ends of a magnet trying to cling to each other. They balanced each other; Paul found the strength to cool his hot temper with her serene, laid back attitude and Danielle found her passion for things through Paul.

Yet it was no less shocking when one hot summer, much like the one all those years ago when Daniel had let Amanda into his house, their relationship was turned on its head.

Hello! This is only the preface, so the next chapter will be longer but please give this story a chance. Review please, tell me what you want me to include!