Amber

Within months of finding out about the new penthouse and hotel, Oscar and Travis picked out all their furniture together and moved in once the bed frame and mattress were moved in. The hotel itself was functioning and opened by the end of the year. It would take time for the hotel to become as popular as the one in Phoenix, but it was definitely heading in the right direction. Moving the cats in was the harder part since they were so used to living at his apartment in Port Angeles. This new place was so big and there was more space than what they knew what to do with. Travis filled the house with some cat trees and properly located litter boxes to help the cats feel more at home. They eventually came to feel really at home in the penthouse and pranced around like they had in the apartment with confidence and a strut.

"It's like they've been living here all their lives," Travis said to Natalie, who was sitting with him at the kitchen counter, about the cats. Natalie had seen the finished product a few times before, but today was the first time his parents and his brothers had come to see the house. Kevin came with Heather after he'd finished at work, Nessie and Jacob made their way here after they'd closed the shop early, and Travis had just finished taking everyone on a tour of the penthouse.

"It's pretty swanky," Maxi said. "It'd be prettier if it weren't for all the cat shit."

Rachael swatted Maxi's arm, "Don't say that."

"Sorry mom," Maxi chuckled, as did Jason.

"So how are you and Oscar adjusting to living together?" Rachael asked.

"We haven't killed each other yet, so I'd say we're doing alright," Travis joked.

"Where is Oscar by the way?"

"He's not downstairs?" Travis asked.

"I don't think so," Jason said. "We asked the receptionist about it and she said he'd gone out for something."

"I don't know, then. I'm sure he'll be home soon, though."

"He knows about us coming today right?" Paul asked.

"Yeah, I told him yesterday. Don't worry; he said he'd be up by the time dinner was ready."

"So what are we having?" Maxi asked, then glanced at the sink seeing chicken in a zip-lock bag thawing, "I mean, besides chicken."

"I was just planning to do fried chicken. That's a crowd pleaser right?" Everyone agreed they were alright with that and stayed in the kitchen to talk. Around six was when Travis got things ready for dinner. Natalie stayed seated at the counter after taking two more Benadryl. She was getting drowsy from the medication and, despite the meds, her eyes were still getting watery.

"Honey," Jacob said, rubbing Natalie's back, "are the meds not working?"

"I'm fine," Natalie said. "Nathan said he can't come?"

"No, he's on a late shift tonight and so is Ada."

Natalie groaned, "I'm not sure Ada should be a nurse."

"Honey," Nessie said, "I know you're getting crabby, but don't bring it out on Ada."

"I'm not getting crabby," Natalie said, rubbing her eyes, "I just don't think Ada María of all people should ever be a nurse." Jacob patted Natalie's back.

"Don't be so mean, Natalie."

"I'm not, daddy," Natalie said. Then she heard a meow and looked down to see Ginger, Max, and Zoe at her feet, no doubt expecting food. "Hey, Travis, the cats are hungry."

"Of course they are," Travis chuckled. He turned around and looked at Natalie with a pitiful smile. "Would you hate me if I let them have some canned tuna?"

"Go ahead. Who am I to deny these cats their overcooked canned fish?"

"That's right, Travis, don't ask either of us if we're bothered," Jason teased, "so long as Natalie's alright with it, that's all that matters." Travis chuckled and put three pieces of chicken in the oil before grabbing a can of tuna and portioning it evenly on a paper plate. The cats, that had swarmed at his feet the moment they heard the can opened, meowed viciously as they waited for their tuna and Travis had to gently push the three cats away so he could put the paper plate on the floor for them.

"I don't get what cats like about that stuff. It smells vile."

"I'm inclined to agree with you," Travis said.

"I wish we could've had cats when we were growing up," Rachael said.

"Are you kidding?" Jacob laughed, "Dad hated cats."

"That's why we never had cats." Rachael brushed her eyes so she wouldn't cry. "I miss daddy so much."

"I miss him too," Jacob said. Rachael got a hold of herself and took a deep breath.

"I got to talk to Rebecca yesterday."

"Did you?"

"Yeah," Rachael said. "John's officially retiring soon, so they're going to come move here."

"Really?" Nessie said with a smile. "That's great! We never get to see them, this way we can see them whenever we want."

"Certainly more frequently at least. She said they're planning to move to Port Angeles. John doesn't want to move to Forks since it's so small. She said he'd rather live in a slightly bigger city, though my understanding is they'll be more in the suburbs."

"I don't care so long as they live here," Jacob said. "I know I don't show it, but I love you two."

"Oh yeah," Rachael teased, "You love us so much you put dead things in our drawers." Jacob chuckled.

"Nothing but the best for my big sisters."

The conversation continued as Travis finished making the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. By the time it was seven, Oscar still wasn't home, so Travis texted him. Oscar promised he'd be home in a few minutes and to start eating without him. They were, of course, to save a plate or two for him or there would be hell to pay. About ten minutes later, the group heard the ding from the elevator indicating that he was home.

"Hey Travis," Maxi, who was facing the elevator and saw Oscar first, said. "Your boyfriend's holding a scrotum."

"What?" Travis got up from his chair as he heard Oscar start laughing and walked around to see what Maxi was talking about. It wasn't a scrotum, but it was certainly wrinkly. It also honked and snorted while it breathed. "What is that?"

"It's a pug," Oscar said. He put down the dog a moment so he could get all the dog things into the house from the elevator. Ginger, Zoe and Max, upon seeing the little pug, went over to investigate. Ginger kept a further distance while Max and Zoe went a little closer to actually sniff the dog.

"Why did you bring home a pug?" Travis asked, realizing what Oscar did before getting an answer.

"To tell you the truth, I'm tired of you getting to have your pets, so I went and got myself one. I named him Bowser."

"Oscar, buying a dog isn't a spur of the moment thing."

"I know it isn't. I've had that little guy picked out for over a month now."

"You knew you were getting a pug for a month and you didn't tell me?"

"You would've gotten upset."

"I more upset because you sprung it on me! Oscar, we've got three cats to think about. What if they don't get along with him?" Oscar looked at Bowser, who was surrounded by all three cats now, and watched the cats sniff him and eventually Max took a firm hold of the puppy within his paws and started licking his head.

"They look like they're getting along fine to me."

"Okay, but what happens when that puppy gets too rough with one of the cats? They could injure each other."

"Relax, Travis, it'll be fine."

"Okay, fine, and who's going to take care of this puppy? It sure as hell won't be you Mr. I'm-Downstairs-Working-All-Day." Oscar made his argument while Travis rubbed his face. He felt like he was lecturing a kid. While Oscar talked, Natalie walked over to the puppy and picked him up. Bowser kept panting and licked her fingers as she scratched his chest.

"I think he's adorable," Natalie said. "If you don't want him, I'll take him."

"No way," Oscar said. "That dog cost me five hundred dollars. We're keeping him. And don't worry too much about it, Travis. I know I sprung this on you, but you'll like this dog eventually."

"A-huh," Travis mumbled and walked back to the table to finish eating.

"Doggy!" Heather yelled when she saw Bowser.

"Do you want to pet Bowser, Heather?"

"Yes!" Heather said as Natalie walked to the table with the puppy. Heather was sitting on Kevin's lap and he held her close while she leaned over to pet the puppy and play with his wrinkles. Bowser licked her hands and Heather started to giggle happily.

"Your little cousin likes the puppy," Oscar smiled.

"A-huh," Travis answered back. Oscar helped himself to some of the food left over and sat next to him, but Travis didn't really talk to Oscar nor did he look at Bowser who Natalie was still holding and letting Heather play with. Kevin made Heather eat a little more of her dinner before finally letting her down so she could play with the cats and the new puppy on the floor with Natalie.

By the time the family left the house, the cats and puppy were completely worn out from being played with by a two year old baby that had recently learned the word, "No!" The cats went to their little cat tree after the guests had left and went right to sleep on their respective floors. Bowser tried to climb the tree, but a swift whack to the face from Ginger's paw let Bowser know that it was no longer play time, but sleep time. Oscar picked up the puppy and smiled at Travis.

"I'll let Bowser outside, then we'll go to sleep."

"Oh no, you're crate training that thing from here. I need sleep."

"You're making me sleep out here?" Oscar asked in surprise.

"Yes, Oscar, I'm making you sleep out here with your pet. You wanted a dog, now you're going to learn how to take care of it." Travis made his way upstairs while Oscar went outside with the puppy. When he got back inside, Oscar went upstairs, leaving the puppy downstairs, to talk to Travis. He heard the shower going, so he stripped down and let himself into the bathroom and stepped into the shower. Travis glanced at him, but didn't say anything else.

"You aren't really making me sleep on the couch are you?"

"Yes, Oscar, I am," Travis said. "I know how puppies get when they're being crate trained and I'm not putting up with it. I need to get some sleep."

"Oh come on," Oscar said, wrapping his arms around Travis' waist kissing his neck. "I know you, Travis. You'll melt eventually."

"You're still sleeping on the couch." Travis washed away the soap and stepped out of the shower. Once he dried off, Travis walked out and caught Bowser chewing on one of Travis' nicer dress shoes. "Damn it, no!" Travis ran to the puppy and grabbed the shoe from him, but it was too late. The shoe was ruined.

"Oh shit," Oscar said after he stepped out of the bathroom, hearing the commotion. "Travis, I'm sorry."

"This dog," Travis began to yell, "owes me one hundred fifty dollars!" He groaned and rubbed his face. Bowser started scratching at his leg and he walked away. "Get him in his crate and go downstairs."

This time, Oscar didn't argue with Travis. He just took Bowser with him downstairs so Travis could seethe. He would need to buy him new shoes as an apology. Thankfully, they were the same shoe size, so if he found nice pair that fit him, they would fit Travis too. It figures, even when Oscar and the dog were downstairs, Travis could hear the puppy whining loudly and it made it difficult for either of them to fall asleep. He couldn't believe it; Oscar didn't want a baby, but he wanted a puppy which does just about the exact same things as babies do. Eventually, everyone including the dog was able to get some sleep. By the time Travis woke up, he felt something licking his face. He smelled it next and made sure not to jump. He didn't want to risk startling the puppy and, God forbid, causing him to pee on the bed. He wondered a moment how the dog had gotten onto the bed, then he remembered there was a little bench at the end of the bed that a puppy could jump with enough determination, even a pug.

"What do you want?" Travis mumbled a little, still mad about Bowser eating his better pair of shoes. Bowser stared up at him with those bulgy puppy eyes while he pawed at his hand. Travis picked up Bowser and took him downstairs to check and see if Oscar had fed him. Travis sighed heavily when he got to the kitchen. The bowl wasn't even taken out of the damn Petsmart bag. And Oscar thought he could take care of a dog? "Wait a minute, Bowser. I'll make you some food." He needed to get the cats their breakfast anyway. They were meowing at him vehemently, demanding that he pick up the pace. After all, the cats had important things to do today, like nap.

Travis saw a little piece of paper that seemed to be from the breeders instructing how to feed Bowser for the first couple of weeks. He'd need initially three meals a day, then they could reduce it to two once he was about a year old. When all the animals had their food, Travis attended to his own breakfast. He felt something scratch at his leg while he was cooking his eggs and realized it was Bowser.

"I just fed you," Travis said, looking at the empty dog bowl. Travis ignored Bowser and finished making his breakfast, but once he got all his food on the plate and was seated, Bowser's stupid cute eyes got to him and he gave in, giving Bowser a small piece of egg, but that was it!

After breakfast, Travis went to his office and started working. Bowser followed after him with a small toy in his mouth and rested it at Travis' feet, hoping to evoke Travis into playing with him. Initially, as had been the habit since this morning, Travis ignored the puppy, but those God damn eyes got to him and he started playing. To his delight, Bowser finally ran out of energy after an hour's worth of catch that funny whatever the hell it was. Bowser started scratching at Travis legs and this time, only because it hurt, Travis picked up the puppy and rested him behind his back on his chair and Bowser fell right asleep against him. He could always put Bowser back on the floor when Oscar got back home. Travis wouldn't give him the satisfaction just yet of Oscar knowing that he was starting to like this stupid dog with it's cute little eyes and it's God damn sweet demeanor. No, he wouldn't give Oscar the satisfaction for an instant, not after he'd made such a fuss about it the night before.

There was nearly another accident later that day, but Travis got Bowser outside in time for him to pee in a more desirable area. Oscar had at least thought to get puppy grass for Bowser to use since going outside in real grass would be a problem. He checked the Petsmart bag when they came back inside to see if there was a leash. There was, but it wasn't a harness leash that a pug would need. Travis groaned, realizing Oscar really hadn't thought this through. He may have picked the puppy months ago, but that seemed to be all the more thought he'd put into this purchase. It's not like he could return a puppy either. Travis made a note to go to a pet store during his lunch break to get Bowser a proper leash. He would need to make sure Oscar didn't see him, though. He would probably be in his office, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Travis got some work done while keeping Bowser in his lap. He couldn't really work and play at the same time, but Bowser seemed content to let Travis work and pet him at the same time. That he could do reasonably. He set up his voicemail so anyone who called would know he'd be out of the office and that he'd return soon, then he got Bowser in the bad leash (he had no intention of putting him down, he'd seen a proptosis before and it'd scared the shit out of him). Travis took the elevator all the way down and snuck past staff and Oscar to the car garage and put Bowser in his lap in the car. While they were driving, Bowser stared out the window with so much excitement. At a red light, there was a dog being walked that Bowser saw and he started barking (more like yapping) at the other dog. They finally arrived at a pet store and Travis carried Bowser in with him and went straight for the leash section and found a good harness. Bowser wouldn't grow too much more, but he verified with a staff member and bought a harness that would fit Bowser now and one that would fit when he got at his biggest. Travis also bought some dog treats and a few more toys for Bowser to play with before leaving. He'd planned to go straight back home, but he decided to treat Bowser to a walk through the park. Thankfully there were spaces near the park where he could park his car and Travis got Bowser into his new harness before walking him across the street to the park.

It was, it seemed to Travis, the longest walk he'd ever taken in his life. Bowser sniffed everything. He sniffed trees, he sniffed other dogs and received plenty of compliments from other dog owners of just how cut he was (which Travis was almost certain Bowser understood because he was getting a little strut in his step with each compliment) although as far as Travis could tell Bowser looked more like a cartoon character. Maybe that was part of the cuteness appeal. They walked through the park for an hour before Travis realized he really needed to get back home. Once again, after parking his car in the massive car garage where he had his own labeled parking space, Travis snuck around past staff members and avoiding Oscar as he made his way to the elevator and up to the penthouse. When they got home, Bowser pranced over to Max and started pouncing and playing. Travis couldn't recall Max displaying quite this much patience with anyone. He seemed to eventually lose his patience and swatted Bowser when he started playing too hard. Then, suddenly, Max grabbed a hold of Bowser and started licking him clean. Ginger and Zoe seemed to, for the most part, ignore Bowser, but it seemed that Bowser and Max would end up the best of friends. One thing was for sure, Oscar was damn lucky Ginger, Zoe and Max were really mellow or this arrangement would've never worked.

He got back to work and didn't see from Bowser until a few minutes later when he scratched at his leg asking for attention. Travis couldn't imagine this little dog still wanting to play after the workout he'd had in the park, so Travis picked up Bowser and rested him behind him between his back and the back of his chair and Bowser just plopped to sleep. Curse this puppy for making Travis like him!

Travis was through with work at about four thirty and when he walked away from his chair, he heard Bowser start to whine. Travis picked him up and went to the living room to see what was on TV. Max was still on the couch and Bowser cuddled right up to him wanting to play. Max sat still for a while, letting Bowser nip his ears and jump on him until Travis took pity on poor Max and played with Bowser with one of his new toys. Travis discovered Bowser was a worthy opponent to tug-o-war and had fun tiring little Bowser up. He took Bowser out to do his business before making dinner for all the animals. By the end of all that, Travis was exhausted. He'd put more energy in taking care of Bowser that day than he'd ever needed to when taking care of three kittens. After eating his dinner, Bowser ran to the couch and tried to get into Travis' lap so Travis picked him up and rested him on the couch. Bowser crawled onto Travis' lap and patted, pawing at Travis' hand so he would pet him, so Travis complied. Oscar didn't come back up to the penthouse until nearly seven at night and when he heard the elevator being used, Travis picked up Bowser and put him on the floor. Bowser started playing with his shoelace, so Travis enticed Bowser with a different toy and let Bowser play once he was thoroughly amused by the toy. Travis kept his attention on what he was watching when Oscar came into the penthouse.

"Travis," Oscar got his attention and presented a big box. "I got you some better shoes." Travis accepted the box and looked inside to see black leather shoes.

"They're nice," Travis said, "thanks."

"So how was Bowser?"

"Tolerable," Travis said.

Oscar took a deep breath, "Still mad at me I see."

"A little," Travis said. "I think I'll be able to live with it though."

Oscar smiled, "I take it you're starting to warm up to Bowser?"

"I never said that," Travis lied, but Oscar chuckled, knowing Travis was lying.

"I knew you'd melt eventually. I just didn't think it would happen so fast."

"Considering I'm the one that stayed home and took care of him, yeah, I'd say it didn't take much. By the way, you forgot to feed Bowser this morning."

"Did I?" Oscar sat down next to Travis and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Good thing you were here."

"Meh," Travis mumbled.

"Oh don't be that way," Oscar said. He looked towards the kitchen and saw the pet store bag and smiled. "I see you weren't really home all day after all."

"You didn't buy him a harness," Travis explained.

"Why would he need a harness?"

"Because what if he starts to run while he's on his leash and he gets forced to stop by his collar? Pugs are prone to a proptosis, so you need to keep the pressure away from their necks and keep it on the chest so they aren't in as much risk."

"What the hell's a proptosis?"

"It's when their eyes pop out!" Travis said a little louder than he'd intended.

"Ew," Oscar said.

"Yeah, ew, so I bought him a harness."

"And some new toys I see," Oscar said, looking at the toy Bowser was playing with. "Are those dog treats I see on the table?"

"Yes they are," Travis said.

"I'll have to watch out," Oscar said. "If I'm not careful, this dog will love you more than me."

"I think he already does," Travis said with a mean smirk.

"So much for getting myself a pet," Oscar said, still smiling. He scooted a little closer to Travis, moving his arm from around Travis' shoulders to around his waist, and kissed his neck. "Still mad at me?" Oscar asked again.

"Not as much," Travis admitted.

"Can I sleep upstairs tonight? Bowser might not be so fussy tonight."

"The moment he is, you're both going back downstairs." Oscar chuckled and continued his kisses on Travis' neck and helped himself to moving his hand under his shirt.

"We could always let him sleep on our bed."

"Pigs will fly first," Travis said, earning a chuckle from Oscar who was now tickling Travis' sides. He was trying not to laugh. "And what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm trying to seduce you," Oscar said. "I'm horny."

"You're always horny," Travis was snickering now, but he kept it contained. Oscar forced Travis into an angle where Travis was facing him. He was smiling completely now. "What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Don't toy with me; you know exactly what I expect you to do about it," Oscar teased. Travis kept laughing while Oscar came on top of him and practically mauled him. Travis' laughter eventually stopped when Oscar finally kissed him on the lips.

With seemingly no effort at all, Oscar lifted Travis from the couch and walked him upstairs. Travis heard Bowser follow them, but he wasn't focusing on that. When he reached the bed, Oscar dropped Travis and pulled off his old white t-shirt and sweat pants. He wasted no time getting his own clothes off until they were both naked and when they were, Oscar manhandled him just the way Travis liked it. As an apology for surprising Travis with a dog, Oscar licked his way from Travis' neck all the way down to his erection and took it in his mouth while using his free hand to rub Travis' chest and abs. Oscar was the first to notice Bowser hop on the bed and Oscar took a moment to put him back on the floor before returning to what he'd been doing to Travis.

"Would you put him in his crate or something? I don't want the dog watching."

"What?" Oscar asked after he came up for air. "The dog doesn't give a shit. Believe me, if rabbits can fuck on a front lawn not giving a shit, we can do it in front of the dog."

"Oscar," Travis said sternly.

"Oh Christ, fine," Oscar said, going to pick up Bowser. "I'll just walk around the house with my cock standing proud for all the cats to see." Travis just couldn't help but laugh while Oscar walked out of the room to get Bowser's crate. Oscar finally came back with the crate and got Bowser in for the night.

"I hope you're proud of yourself," Oscar teased. "You interrupted the moment."

"Oh, shut up," Travis smiled and pulled Oscar down on top of him.

They picked up where they left off, but this time with Travis doing onto Oscar what he'd done previously. Oscar laid on his back with his hands behind his head to tease Travis, but he wasn't paying attention to Oscar's teasing arrogance. Eventually Oscar tired of teasing and forced Travis on top of him so that he could enter him while Travis was on top. Travis moved up and down with Oscar, making sure to stay up straight. It felt better that way. Then Oscar pushed Travis onto his back for more control and so they could make out when Oscar decided to. Several minutes of thrusting and kissing later, the two came closer to completion and clung to each other as it happened. When they'd both climaxed, Oscar laid on Travis and kissed his neck tenderly.

"You never said what you expect me to do about you being horny," Travis said, breaking the silence.

"Very funny," Oscar chuckled and kissed Travis again.

Bowser didn't really whine at all the second night. He seemed to be getting used to his new surroundings and the cats still got along with him just fine. As predicted, Travis ended up being the one that took primary care of Bowser. It also meant that Bowser stuck with Travis much more than Oscar. A few weeks later, Bowser was pretty much completely potty trained and Oscar put in a doggy door to the patio (thank God there was no open space where Bowser might fall) so he could come and go as he pleased, but just to be safe, Oscar also made the patio fence a little higher as well and added a patio cover to protect from rain and snow and too much sunlight. Travis eventually broke his own rule and allowed Bowser to sleep in bed with them. He always slept at Travis' feet and Travis always had a mini victory over that.

Two things happened that following spring that were of great importance. First of all, Embry and Caevia had gotten to a point where they were (more importantly Caevia) comfortably intimate and Caevia had no trouble with having sex. She'd come to terms with life before Embry and she reached a point where she realized she could either look back in terror or look forward in hopefulness. She chose the latter and Alice was sweet enough to hold a small wedding (Embry made the small part very clear) for the two in March. Brie ended up being the maid of honor, which shocked everyone, even more so that she was more than happy to do it. The twins acted as flower girls in little lavender dressed and a basket lined with small colorful Easter eggs and purple and white lily petals, matching the flowers Caevia held in her bouquet. Caevia insisted on not wearing a white wedding dress once she knew why a bride usually wore white. She didn't like the concept of lying and, let's be honest, she had a child (and had been pregnant several times). The secret was out.

She instead wore a black wedding dress, whether Alice liked it or not, and had her hair in a bun with a lavender barrette. She didn't bother wearing a veil and no one walked her down the aisle, a decision she thought was appropriate. No one was giving her to Embry, she was giving herself to him. Jacob acted as best man and held Ej, who acted as the ring bearer, though the small, just barely over a year old baby was more concerned with sucking his thumb than holding a pillow with rings. Besides Brie, the wedding was held with no more than the pack members and immediate family. After they kissed and signed their license, the marriage was official and it was the happiest day of her life. Jacob and Nessie agreed to look after Ej while Brie kept the twins of the weekend that Embry and Caevia were secluded downtown not to be bothered unless in extreme emergencies. A month later, Caevia found out she was pregnant and they were both elated about it. The twins were eager too. They couldn't wait to have another baby sister (assuming they had a daughter).

Once again, like the last pregnancy, Caevia became a frequent visitor to the Cullen house and took any vitamins that Carlisle told her to take and avoided anything Carlisle told her to avoid, just as she'd done before. It was a Monday, so the twins were with Brie and it was late enough that Ej was tucked into bed for the night. Embry and Caevia had just made love; Caevia was excited that she'd gone a week without morning sickness and she thought that was cause for celebration. Embry wasn't one to disagree.

"Do you want it to be a boy or a girl?" Caevia asked after they'd laid together for a few minutes in silence.

"I'll be happy with either. Will you want to be surprised like last time?"

"Yeah," Caevia said, snuggling into Embry's neck. Then she maneuvered onto his lap and straddled him so they were looking right at each other, though admittedly Embry was often drawn away by the site of her breasts bare before his eyes. "We already have an Embry Junior," Caevia said.

"Yeah," Embry said, trying hard to pay attention.

"I don't know many boy or girl names that aren't Tistihlal."

"If you want to give the baby a native name, that's fine with me. Let's just make sure it's not too eccentric, like Ut Napishtum."

"Who's that?"

"The Mesopotamian version of Moses I think. At least, that's what Kyle tells us. He's been minoring in English since he started his master's degree."

"I don't know what Mesopotamian or Moses are."

Embry smiled, "I admit my knowledge of the old testament is horribly limited too. Mesopotamia is an old civilization from the middle east. I'll show you the general area on a map one of these days. As far as Moses, I think he's the one that parted the red sea and saved the Jews…or something." Caevia smiled.

"I'll take your word for it."

"I wouldn't," Embry teased. "Our tribe, or at least myself and most of the pack members, aren't exactly Christian. Jacob will joke that we worship nature, but it's more complicated than that. It always is."

"The Tistihlal worshipped the desert hawks from where they descended. It's said that it was a hawk that helped us find our landing place and saved us from certain death in the desert, that this bird landed on the head of a cactus and a large oasis appeared."

"Sounds like something a bird would do," Embry teased.

"What about the Quileute? I've never really heard anything about your founding."

"The short version is that a Trickster was traveling the woods and righting the wrongs of humanity. He found a wolf that wanted to be a man and turned the wolf human. He prophesized that we would be a great people."

"Where do you think that Trickster is now?"

"Running a casino for all I know," Embry joked, but the humor was lost on Caevia. "Never mind."

"So," Caevia changed the subject, "baby names. What would you want?"

"Well, let's see. I've got a Jenna and a Lauren, so those names are out. We've already named a son after me," Caevia smiled as Embry continued. "You know what, I think I've got it. If it's a girl, Anna. If it's a boy, Jayden."

"I think I could live with those," Caevia smiled and leaned onto Embry's chest to kiss him. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Embry answered and gave her another kiss. They cuddled in bed together until they fell asleep in each other's arms until they fell asleep and didn't wake up until the next morning when Ej began to cry.

"I can't believe she's pregnant again," Suerro said to Natalie while she was changing out of her dirty clothes getting ready for a shower. "She's like a baby machine."

Natalie smiled, "You need to grow a filter my love."

"I don't need a filter, Natalie. I do just fine without one."

"Ahuh," Natalie laughed. "Are you joining me in the shower or not?"

"I suppose I could," Suerro teased. Suerro put away what he'd been working on and went to the shower with Natalie so they could get 'clean'.

"So how goes preparing a final?" Natalie asked when they were out of the shower and she couldn't have sex anymore.

"It'll be hard," Suerro chuckled. "My students are going to hate me for it. Apparently, I've got a reputation around the school as a hard ass."

"Really?" Natalie asked. "Why would they call you that?"

Suerro chuckled at Natalie's teasing. "I think it has to do with how hard I grade and how I run a class."

"I just can't imagine it," Natalie continued. Suerro laughed and kissed her. "I'm just glad I never had to take a class with you. I dread the idea of you grading me."

"I'd go easy on you," Suerro said.

"No you wouldn't have," Natalie said. "You would've been just as hard on me as you are with everyone else. And then when I awoke to my wolf, you would've been fired for sleeping with a student."

"You know full well it wouldn't get that far," Suerro smiled.

"You sure proved that over two years."

"Indeed I did," Suerro kissed Natalie again. "Do you want to see my Quileute finals and see if you think they're too hard?"

"I barely speak Quileute anymore. I think anything will either be too hard or take me forever. Don't you teach an AP French class too?"

"Yeah, but they take the AP test instead of final. I won't make up their test."

"So naturally the AP test will be easier."

"Much easier," Suerro said and Natalie giggled. "Isn't that some sort of a fantasy for humans though? This idea of having an affair with a teacher?"

"Under the right circumstances maybe. I never wanted to have an affair with any of my teachers."

"You just never took my class," Suerro teased and kissed Natalie again as she giggled.

"That is true."

A few days later, Natalie managed to get a day off from rehearsal to hang out with Travis. She went to the penthouse first to see how Bowser was doing (who was now much bigger than the last time she'd seen him). She brought Caliban and Prospero so they could all go for a walk through the park. Caliban and Prospero (being much older dogs) weren't as playful as Bowser and didn't really respond well to his playfulness. They never bit each other, but they growled and barked, or at least Caliban and Prospero growled and barked. They kept the walk as long as possible before dropping the dogs off at their respective homes and going out together for lunch.

"Have you seen Embry and Caevia lately? I feel like I haven't seen them in forever," Natalie said.

"I haven't seen them either. Embry's usually on patrol different days than me. As it is, you and I barely go on patrol."

"I thought we'd established we were only doing the bare minimum needed to maintain immortality."

"Did we say that officially?"

"Maybe I thought we did. I'd say it was a better idea than us getting married if neither of us found anyone by the time we were thirty five."

Travis chuckled, "No offense, but I'm more than pleased that didn't happen."

"I know, me too. I love you to pieces, Travis, but I don't want to make babies with you."

"The feeling's mutual daddy's girl." The two shared a laugh until the waiter came over to take their orders. Both ordered water and something that looked good. "Speaking of baby making, how stand you and Suerro in that department?" Natalie stopped a moment, half smiling half nervous. Travis stopped her before she could answer. "You're already pregnant?"

"I think so," Natalie answered. "Yesterday, I was so sick that I kept throwing up through rehearsal. Everything made me ill, even the smell of Gretchen's perfume. You know how much I love her perfume."

"Yeah, Chanel Noº 5. That's good stuff."

"Things aren't tasting the same either I noticed. If this sandwich tastes like dirt, it'll be official."

"Sounds like you're expecting a demon baby," Travis teased and made Natalie laugh.

"Don't be so mean, Travis. This is your little cousin I'm carrying."

"Have you told Suerro yet?"

"No, not yet. I don't want to say anything unless I know for sure."

"Suerro wants kids right?"

"Eventually," Natalie said. "When we got married, he said he thinks I should do my own growing up before we think of bringing a kid into the world."

"A little late for that it looks like." Natalie smiled. "I'm sure you'll be fine. I'm more concerned how you'll be handling a two and a half week pregnancy."

"At least we aren't opening for a little while." Natalie thought a moment. "Oh God, what if I can't lose the baby weight?"

"Relax, Natalie. If your mom did it, I'm sure you can too." Travis thought a moment. "Then again, didn't Aunt Nessie just go right back to her normal size? One day she was pregnant, the next it was like she never had a baby?"

"That's what I hear."

"My mom complained about it enough," Travis laughed. "Don't worry about it so much, Natalie. Everything will turn out just fine. I'm sure you'll go right back to your trim figure right after having the baby."

"I hope so," Natalie said. "It's bad enough my ass is fat. I don't want everything else to be fat too."

"For the love of God, Natalie, if your ass is fat, then I'm the one ton man. You don't have a fat ass, Natalie. That's just Gretchen trying to scare you out of eating Twinkies and cheese."

"But I love cheese," Natalie said.

"Since it's one of the few things you're not allergic to, I imagine that's the case. Now enough of this talk of you being fat. You're deluding yourself."

Natalie sighed heavily, "If you say so." Travis just rolled his eyes and drank his water once the waiter brought it over. Natalie took a sip and Travis looked on curiously.

"That tastes the same, right?"

"Water is water," Natalie said. "Suerro tells me that whenever he wants to convince people that he does eat and drink, he'll heat up boiling water and fill it with black food coloring so people think its coffee. It seems to work whenever he does it."

"That's one way to lie about food consumption." Travis sipped his water. "So how do you think Gretchen will react when she finds out you're pregnant?"

"She'll ask if I mind the kid playing Gavroche when we do Les Miserables next spring." Travis started laughing. "You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. I know she will."

"Has she already cast you as someone?"

"She said she's torn between making me Fantine or Eponine."

"Who would you prefer?"

"I'm fine with either. I'm familiar with all their songs, so it's just a matter of does Gretchen want me in a role where I die sooner or a role where I die later."

Travis chuckled. "So will you say yes to your kid playing Gavroche?"

"If he or she wants to do the part, then I won't mind. I'm just not too keen on her making my kid follow my footsteps. There's nothing wrong with my footsteps; I wouldn't change a thing. But someone besides me might not like the idea of going into theatre. I mean, not everyone can be a Meryl Streep or Hugh Jackman. Wait, was Hugh Jackman in theatre before going into movies?"

"Considering he played the Phantom and Jean Valjean, it wouldn't surprise me. But yeah, not everyone can end up successful."

"As it is, the closest I've come any international recognition was that Cosmopolitan commercial I did."

"Yeah, and you know how Uncle Jacob felt about that one." Natalie and Travis laughed.

"I just thought it would be fun," Natalie said. "I've done it once; I got it out of my system now." The waiter finally arrived with their food and Natalie took a bite of her sandwich and spit it out after tasting it. "Yeah, I'm pregnant," she said.

"Congratulations?" Travis said and Natalie laughed again.

"Thanks for your support," Natalie teased and moved her food towards Travis. "Do you mind eating this?"

"I guess I can scarf it down. So you'll tell Suerro tonight?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Should I make it romantic or should I just tell him?"

"I say make it romantic. It's not like he'll be angry, but it'll be nice to surprise him with something nice before you tell him about the baby. Think of it this way; if you do something special, the news will be all the better to hear."

"Sounds like a plan. Maybe I should surprise him with a bubble bath. He likes those."

"Whatever works," Travis said. "Do you have names in mind?"

"Something different. That's the best answer I can give you."

Different was a broad term, but she didn't want anything too different. Like naming the baby after food. That would be a little too different for her liking, but she still wanted something that no other kid in Seattle would be named. When she and Travis finished having lunch (or Travis finished both their lunches) Travis walked her back to the condo so Natalie could get ready for when Suerro got home. He'd be home by around five, so at four thirty she got the hot water going and poured in some bubble solution. When the tub was full and the bubbles high, Natalie got in and waited for Suerro to get home. She'd made a trail of rose petals (cliché yes, but what can you do) that led to the tub and she got a little nervous when she heard Suerro come home. He followed the trail as she'd hoped and he just smiled at her when he saw her naked in the tub.

"What's all this for?" he asked.

"Come in the tub with me first." Suerro smiled and stripped down so he could come into the tub. When he was seated, he pulled Natalie to him and hugged her.

"So what's the occasion?"

"Well, I was really sick yesterday and my food tasted horrible today. I tried eating something before you got home and that tasted horrible and made me sick too."

"What's wrong?" Suerro asked.

"Nothing," Natalie assured. "I just think it's safe to assume that I'm pregnant." Suerro looked at her for a moment without saying anything. Then he turned Natalie around and pulled her up so he could get a decent look at her abdomen. He had to push bubbles away, but he got to it eventually. He put his hand over where he'd find the baby and held it there a moment as if to check for life. He didn't feel anything, so he brought his ear to her abdomen to listen. When he heard another heartbeat, he smiled.

"That's how it sounds," Suerro said. Suerro hugged her now. "You know, I never thought I'd have children one day." He kissed her belly. "We'd better make Carlisle double check."

"Are you excited?"

"Very," Suerro smiled and brought her down so he could kiss her.

"You don't think it's too soon?" Natalie asked and Suerro shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, the baby's coming. We'll get the hang of it, don't worry." Natalie and Suerro hugged tightly and stayed in the tub together talking about names. Suerro insisted that, since they had a baby coming, that they needed to find a larger place to live. They currently had a one room apartment (albeit an expensive one) and that was far too small for what would soon be the three of them.

"I want our child to have a unique name."

"Define unique," Suerro said somewhat defensively.

"Something that the average child wouldn't be named. I was hoping you knew some obscure names."

"I know plenty of Quileute names, but that might be a little too different."

"I was thinking along the lines of French names. They'll go well with your last name. And not many kids in Seattle have French names."

"You do," Suerro pointed out. "In fact, Kevin does too."

"Kevin is a French name?"

"It is according to my understanding, though there's plenty else that goes into that name. I assume by unique, you mean something more obscure than Natalie?"

"I was," Natalie said. "I only know the common French names or whatever's used in Les Miserables."

"No," Suerro said. "Since the Hugh Jackman movie, those names have been a bit common. But if we have a girl, I want to name her after my sister."

"Zurra," Natalie thought about it a moment.

"We'll call her Zurra Leigh to make it more modern." Natalie smiled.

"That's actually really pretty. I like it. And for a boy? What was your father's name again?"

"Too long," Suerro said and Natalie giggled.

"Define long. I don't think you ever told me your parents' names."

"My mother's name was Ahleila and my father's name was Urakkateshyi." Natalie's eyes widened. "Unless you want to name our son Urakkateshyi Leigh Roux. We could just call him Urak. That's what my mother used to call him."

"Too long," Natalie agreed. "What about my father's name? Daddy would be tickled pink if we named our son after him."

"We'll make that his middle name. I can think of two names that I like that are French."

"What would those be?"

"I've heard the name Armand and it's nice. I've also heard the name Nazaire. It's a French spelling of Nazareth. I think that's where Jesus was born."

"Nazaire," Natalie said the name again. "It sounds middle eastern when you say it out loud."

"It's middle eastern regardless I guess."

"Nazaire Jacob Roux…..it might need to grow on me."

"It's unique at least."

"It is that," Natalie smiled. "I like it," she finally said.

"Really?" Suerro said.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's different, no kid in his class will have that name I promise you."

"No, they won't," Suerro agreed.

"Hey, you're the one that recommended Nazaire. Take responsibility for me liking it." Suerro chuckled and carried Natalie out of the tub.

"We have some time before we have to worry about names."

"I still like Nazaire. It's so different."

Suerro hoped that, maybe, after Natalie slept on it, she'd change her mind about the name, but by the morning, she still loved it. He regretted the suggestion. When they went to Jacob and Nessie's house for a family dinner, he told Jacob the name hoping he'd whole heartedly agree that Nazaire was a little too weird and help make Natalie change her mind. Suerro never realized how bullheaded Natalie could be. By then, Natalie was showing a little and Carlisle had her scheduled to be at the house by the Wednesday of next week. No matter how many times Jacob called the name 'strange', or 'weird', Natalie would not change her mind. Suerro tried getting Nessie to say something but all she said was, "My name's Renesmee. Who am I to talk about weird names?"

"At least Renesmee is pretty," Jacob said.

"You hated it at first," Nessie said. "Daddy told me, Jacob, so don't bother saying it's not true."

"It grew on me," Jacob said.

"And Nazaire will grow on you too," Natalie said. Ada María laughed a little.

"Forgive me, Natalie, but I didn't realize you and Suerro were Arabic."

"For your information little miss Raised-Catholic, Nazareth is in Israel. They're not Arabic."

"They most certainly are. They speak Arabic and the city consists of mostly Arabic Muslims and Christians. It's Arabic my pet."

"Please stop patronizing her," Nathan asked.

"I like it," Gabriel said.

"Don't encourage her," Nathan said to him.

"Oh come on, dad. Ariel and Gabriel are archangels right? What's so weird, then, about Natalie naming her kid after the city where Jesus was born?"

"How about the fact that neither of them are Christian?" Kevin said. "Did you even know that was where the name came from?"

"Suerro mentioned it," Natalie said.

"Juliette made me read the bible, so yes I knew that's where it came from."

"If you're so displeased, why did you suggest the name in the first place?" Ada asked.

"She wanted unique and I was spouting ideas. I assumed she would think the same thing I do and consider Nazaire to be a little extreme."

"Even Armand is a little too much," Kyle chimed in his two cents.

"Armand?" Jacob asked and rubbed his face. "Can't you just name the kid after me and be done with it? At least Jacob is normal."

"Also biblical," Gabriel said.

"It's normal biblical," Jacob said. "And I can promise you my parents didn't name me Jacob because he was…..an apostle?"

"He was a son to Isaac and Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of Israel," Ada said. "Christ, I don't even go to church and I know this stuff."

"I remember Paul, John, Peter…right?"

Nessie sighed heavily, "It's Andrew, Bartholomew, James son of Alphaeus, James son of Zebedee, John, Judas, Jude, Mathew, Matthias who replaced Judas after he betrayed Jesus, Peter, Phillip, Simon, and Thomas."

"Even named them alphabetically," Ada said with a light laugh.

"What about Paul? Wasn't there a Paul?" Jacob asked.

"He was a follower, but not one of the twelve apostles," Ada said.

"Look at you being a good little Catholic girl," Nathan teased and earned a pinch from Ada.

"There you go, we've got Andrew, James, John, plenty of normal names to pick from."

"I like Nazaire. I'm not budging daddy and neither you or Suerro can make me."

"Please tell me the girl's name is more reasonable, then we can just hope desperately for a girl."

"It's Zurra Leigh," Natalie said proudly.

"I'll take it," Jacob sighed heavily. "It's better than Nazaire. So is Gretchen giving you some maternity leave?"

"Of course," Natalie answered. "She was happy to give me time off so I could relax."

"I bet the old bat is seeing dollar signs from this conception," Nathan mumbled.

Over the weekend, Natalie went to Carlisle for a checkup and it correlated with Caevia's day. She was still early and one would never guess she was pregnant unless she were naked and her pouch was visible. Caevia had never seen a pregnancy go by so fast and she was shocked when she saw Natalie. She knew Natalie had found out she was pregnant, but not seemingly five months pregnant. She let Caevia touch her belly and groaned when she felt a kick.

"Are you alright?" Caevia asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. The baby's just kicking. How've you been feeling so far?"

"Normal," Caevia shrugged. "I'll be sick for three months, then after that I just feel like a….it's a big thing, it lives in water, it has horns.."

"You mean a manatee? Wait, those don't have horns."

"The point is I feel heavy."

"Forty pounds of baby and water will do that to you." Caevia and Natalie laughed and it made the baby kick Natalie again.

As is typical, Carlisle couldn't see the baby through the amniotic sac so he couldn't tell her whether it was a boy or a girl. He asked the baby names and took another shot at trying to find out the gender when he did, praying that it was a girl. Zurra Leigh was lovely and so was Nazaire, but it seemed really culturally inappropriate. Indeed, Renesmee is a strange name, but Bella came up with it by combining Renee and Esme so she could respect both mothers and fathers (in the case of Carlie). Natalie picked Nazaire because it was weird and unless her son went to school with a number of children from Iraq or Northern Africa, chances are no other kid would have that name. It was better than Motorhead, but that wasn't saying much. Thank goodness that singer's girlfriend had the sense to pick Moon instead of Motorhead.

"Nazaire," Rosalie said out loud after Carlisle told them once Natalie had left.

"And you thought Renesmee was bad," Edward said.

They laughed and went about their business. When it was time, Natalie went straight to the Cullen house and waited for her water to break as Carlisle had instructed. Suerro took that day off from work and had the school arrange for a substitute to handle the class for him. The substitute wouldn't be teaching anything really, he'd just be handing out homework that was to be complete by tomorrow. When she'd arrived at the house, nothing was hurting, but after five hours of walking back and forth while talking to Suerro, Nessie, and Jacob, her water finally broke and it started hurting. She was instructed to lay down and wait out the contractions. This process wouldn't take long he knew. After four hours of contractions, crying about it hurting, and waiting for it to be over, Natalie gave birth to hers and Suerro's son Nazaire Jacob Roux (whether anyone liked it or not). It was made official when they signed their son's name and their names on the birth certificate. After Natalie had the baby, she gave Gretchen a call and let her know she had a candidate for the part of Gavroche.

Latter that day, Romney and Elinor (who'd remained inseparable for months now) came to see the new baby. Upon hearing the name, Elinor asked, "Isn't that a little too Arabic?"

"Aramaic, actually," Carlisle clarified.

"Wouldn't it be Hebrew since it was a town in Israel?"

"She said it was French," Rosalie pointed out. "The way it's spelled is French at least."

"If Nazaire is French, then I'm black," Romney said.

"Who the fuck cares?" Jacob mumbled to himself, taking a sip of his beer. "My daughter really is an actress. She gave my grandson a stupid fucking name."

"Jacob," Nessie lectured, patting his back. "I'm sure it'll grow on you eventually. I'm starting to like it." Jacob just grumbled and took another gulp of beer.

"So my nephew's name is actually Nazaire?" Kyle asked when he and Evalina walked into the house through the garage.

"Yes," Jacob mumbled.

"I like it," Evalina said. "It's unique."

"If I hear that word one more time," Jacob said to himself, then sighed heavily. "His middle name's Jacob right? Can I just call him Jake and be done with it?"

"NO!" Natalie yelled from upstairs, apparently hearing the conversation.

"I'm still gonna," Jacob mumbled to himself. "What the hell's the point of my grandkid being named after me if I can't actually call him Jake?"

"Because Jacob is his middle?" Romney pointed out.

"Shut up," he mumbled again.

Suerro came downstairs to great Romney while Elinor went upstairs with roses and a small teddy bear. By then, Nazaire had gone fast asleep and didn't see his present until much later when he woke up. Carlisle also insisted that Natalie not breast feed directly. Nahuel had explained, though many years ago, that it seemed boys had venom and not girls so if she breast fed directly, she'd risk being poisoned and there was no safe way to be sure how venom would affect her. Bella and Edward bought her a really nice breast pump that she could use and Rosalie was more than happy to look after Nazaire while she used it for the first time.

"He looks just like you," Romney said to Suerro when he saw Rosalie carrying Nazaire. "I hear you're the one that suggested Nazaire."

"I did, but I was just pulling names out of the air. I never thought she'd actually like Nazaire."

"Well," Romney chuckled, "the moral of the story is don't suggest a name when you don't like it."

"I don't mind it, I just would've preferred Armand or something."

Having learned that it was a boy, Elinor and Romney retrieved some blue toys and blankets for the baby. There'd been plenty of time for family to stock Natalie up on baby things, but now they could get her more gender specific items and toys. In November of that year, Caevia gave birth to hers and Embry's first child together: a boy named Jayden. Nazaire grew up just as Nessie and the other half breeds had aged, so by the time Gretchen was setting up for Les Miserables that spring, Nazaire was old enough looking to play Gavroche, but he made it clear to Gretchen that this would be the only time he did any acting for her. Just because he could sing didn't mean he wanted to do it for the rest of his life. Natalie could put up with Gretchen, but Nazaire either couldn't or chose not to.

Nazaire had proven to not only look a lot like Suerro, but act like Suerro too. They boy was fascinated with Jonathan Swift and one of the first books he ever read on his own was Gulliver's Travels, though he still preferred A Modest Proposal. Much like his father, Nazaire also had no filter. Natalie was beginning to wonder if the mean spirited disposition Suerro had wasn't simply an inheritable trait, though it was more likely that Nazaire thought that, since Suerro can be a sarcastic asshole, he can be to. He had a very adult sense of humor since he was growing up so fast. This made it take a lot for Natalie to treat Nazaire like her son, not like her friend. Suerro was usually the one that made sure that line remained very clear.

A few months after Jayden was born, Caevia and Embry agreed that between the two of them they had enough children (that being five) and Embry agreed to be the one to get a vasectomy. To save money, Carlisle agreed to perform the procedure for Embry and he was in and out of Carlisle's office in thirty minutes. It took a few weeks for Embry to feel better, but when he did, he and Caevia went back to their normal routine. Unfortunately, a month following Embry's recovery, Caevia came to Embry with the shocking news that she was pregnant again. Embry responded by nearly chocking on his coffee and calling Carlisle asking what the hell went wrong. Turns out, as Carlisle had told Embry but he wasn't listening since he'd just had his penis snipped into, that he and Caevia needed to wait at least 12 weeks before engaging in intercourse again, even if it didn't take long for Embry to recover. Since they didn't wait the twelve weeks required, Embry was still technically fertile and lo and behold Caevia got pregnant. Natalie had mentioned to Gretchen during rehearsal that Caevia was pregnant and Gretchen called her an egg timer. Extremely rude on her part but somewhat true under the context. This, for sure, Carlisle promised, would be the last time Caevia got pregnant, unless of course she were to sleep with a man that wasn't fixed, but that was just a factual matter.

Since she was pregnant, Caevia hoped she would have a girl. She'd lost all her girls and having one she wouldn't lose would make her happy. She decided that, this time, she wanted to know as soon as Carlisle could tell her whether the baby was a boy or a girl. When she found out she would have a little girl, she was elated. While Embry was at work, she called his boss, demanded to speak to Embry, and told him that they were having a girl. Alice, always happy to have a girl around to dress up and spoil, took Caevia out shopping for baby things for little girls. Caevia was so excited for the baby and Embry thought it would be good to expand the girls' room so the baby could share a room with the twins when she got older. Then he rethought it, thinking perhaps the twins should keep the room to themselves. They already had to share a room with each other. Sharing a room with someone who stayed in the room every day might not be as good, so he got to work on adding onto the house again with the help of the Cullens.

The addition to the house was finished by the end of the summer. It wasn't as big as the twins' room, but since the new baby wouldn't be sharing the space, she could have a little less of it. He also didn't want the twins to get jealous. They were excited when they heard they had a little sister on the way. When October came around, Caevia gave birth to a little girl they named Anna Kelly Call. It sounded nice when said all together.

For everyone, life went on normally for several years. The children grew and Heather was as sweet a little girl as anyone could ask for. She was Kevin's pride and joy and he always made a point to keep her first in his life and work second. Around the time that Heather was five, she became curious about her mother. Kevin told Heather all he knew (keeping his information dominantly positive) and kindly told Heather that Page had not been ready to have a baby. He was in no position to claim whether or not Page had ever loved Heather, but he knew she'd not been ready or at the very least simply never wanted children. Out of her curiosity, Heather began writing letters to Page in her best (though admittedly far from perfect) handwriting and asked him to mail them to her. Kevin tried to tell her that he didn't know Page's current address, but it didn't stop Heather's determination. Kevin was put in a situation where he didn't know what to do. Page had made it clear that she wanted no involvement, but there was no nice way to tell Heather that. If he didn't mail them and told Heather he did, he'd be lying to her, but if he sent the letters, Page might get upset and react poorly or, worse, decide she wants to be involved with Heather now despite their written agreement that Kevin would retain full custody. But Heather begged and pleaded with Kevin that he send her the letters, so Kevin found out Page's current address in Oregon and sent the letters.

When Kevin told Heather that he'd sent her letters, she was so excited that every day after she came home from school, she would wait downstairs watching cartoons, anticipating a response impatiently. It was a week and a half before a response finally did come, but it was addressed to Kevin instead of Heather. He decided to look at it in his office just in case it was something he'd need to pad. Rosalie looked after Heather for a bit while he went upstairs and put his things on his desk. Once he was relaxed, he opened the letter. Inside was a typed letter to him and another typed letter to Heather. He read the one addressed to him first.

"Kevin,

It was my understanding that we had an agreement regarding the unfortunate incident that was our sleeping together and the resulting child. We agreed that if I didn't get an abortion, then you would take on full responsibility for her and that I would be left out of her life. I understand that, being a child of her age, Heather wants to know about me and I will not start legal proceeding over this. After all, I was her age once too. But I would like to make it clear that, as we agreed upon, that Heather and I remain unacquainted so that I may continue with my life as I'd intended. She sent me a school picture of herself, and that I kept only because it's nice to know that she is doing alright. I'm sure you think I'm being a cold, heartless bitch, but I do not, and never will want children, so it's for the best that Heather and I cease any contact. Enclosed is a letter to Heather breaking down the truth as gently as possible. If you feel it is too cold and will upset her, then by all means tell her in a way that will be gentle, but the fact remains that I wish to no longer have further contact with Heather. Now that I've made that clear, I wish you both the best, especially Heather. She looks just like you, so be proud of that; she's a beautiful girl, and as I disdain to admit such a thing, just like you. With any luck, she'll be as smart as you too.

Courteously,

Page"

Kevin groaned a little, wondering about the letter she'd written Heather. The way she wrote this letter out, who knows what the one to Heather would be like. He switched to the other letter and finally realized, after it fell on his desk, a picture of her with her parents in front of some wooded area. He put that aside and went right into the letter.

"Heather,

I'm pleased to know that you're doing alright. It pains me to be so blunt, but I must request that we no longer send letters to one another. I know this will seem hateful, but I assure you that it is not. I was never meant to have children so when I got pregnant with you, your father loved you enough to take care of you. That's not to say that I hold no love for you. A part of me will always love you no matter what, but the fact remains that your father loves you more than what I could give you and you deserve all that you can have. Thank you for the picture you sent with your letter. You look so cute with the little pink bow tying your hair into a ponytail. I've given you a picture of me with your grandparents. Keep that picture and know that I am out there and that I'm alright just as I will do the same with your picture. Please understand that what I did, I did because it was for the best and that I did do it out of love. And you remember every day how much your father loves you and how much he really wanted you.

Love,

Mommy"

It was a strange feeling that Kevin had. For one, he was pleased that Page made an effort to be kind, but she was also being blunt. He wasn't completely sure if Heather would really understand, but it was kind enough that he felt comfortable letting her read it. He wrapped the photo back up into the paper and walked downstairs with it, leaving his own letter behind. He told Rosalie she could leave for the day so he and Heather could have a private talk about this. He first of all told her that her mother had responded and handed her the letter, letting her read it. She was excited when she saw the picture and pointed at the younger woman saying, 'Isn't mommy pretty?' When she finally got to reading the letter, Kevin needed to explain a few of the words, seeing as Page's language was often times a little hard to grasp for a five year old. When Heather understood the letter, she lost her smile and looked really deflated. She might be young, but she knew when she was being told she wasn't wanted. Heather left the letter and photo downstairs and ran up to her room, locking herself in. Kevin tried to talk to her, but she wanted to be alone. That night, Kevin complied and allowed her some space, but the next night he insisted she talk to him about this.

Heather told Kevin that she was mad that her mother never wanted her and Kevin did his best to explain that her mother does love her, as she claimed in the letter. Heather eventually calmed from the incident, but she never so much as asked about her mother again after that. She'd felt so betrayed over the matter and she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

On a happier note, Kyle finally graduated from college for good, earning his PhD in Psychology, specializing in abnormal and child psychology and was able to rent a space in a hospital for his practice, meaning he was technically running a private practice that consisted only of him. It took a few months, but Kyle eventually found a ring to present to Evalina. He made the moment as special as he could think, taking her to the water in Port Angeles. As they walked along the coast line, Kyle waited until it was sunset. The water glowed from the colors of the setting sun; yellows, pinks, red and purples. When the scene was perfect, Kyle stopped Evalina in her tracks and pulled her into his arms for a kiss. Then he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. Alice being her usual self, having known in advance about Kyle proposing, already started planning the wedding down to the date. All that was left was to get Evalina fitted for her dress. Kyle and Evalina got married in June and spent a week in Russia for their honeymoon.

Everyone seemed to have their own happy ending. Kevin didn't usually let it concern him, but he couldn't pretend for a moment that the fact that all his siblings were happily married to their imprints while the only woman he'd ever loved betrayed him twice. Kevin didn't go on patrol often; he had a full time job at a law firm and a daughter that took up ninety percent of his time. The other ten percent was used to get some much needed sleep. Years went by without incident; no eccentric or disgruntled ex-lovers, no vampires that were causing trouble, it really was The Pax Forks as Kyle had put it. Everyone agreed once Carlisle explained that Pax was Latin word for peace to those that didn't consider that common knowledge. That's what so many years at college do to an individual: the line between common and acquired knowledge becomes really blurred.

Things didn't begin to get interesting again until after Heather's eighth birthday. Her birthday was greeted with the beginning of second grade and she was beginning to bring home spelling and math homework that Rosalie would help her with when Kevin was still at work. He always made a point to be home by six now that Heather was in school and would probably need his attention more since she'd started her school life (school life meaning once she entered elementary). It was a colder day in November when Kevin tucked Heather into bed for the night and went right to bed himself. He had a case to prosecute in the morning at it would probably keep him most, if not all, of the day well into the night. It was his first murder trial that the district and himself have been working on for nearly two years, and another year to actually get this trial to court. It was a trial against a man that had supposedly (he's still innocent until proven guilty) murdered his wife by drowning her in a bath tub. The case had initially gone cold until three years later, the same man's wife 'drowned' in the bathtub; a rather unlikely coincidence to say the least. The most recent wife was given an autopsy and the previous wife had been exhumed to receive a more thorough autopsy upon which the doctors discovered there were bruises on the first wife's neck that indicated strangulation. All his notes were ready, he had all his questions lined out for both his witnesses and the defense's witnesses, and he'd made sure that Kyle had personally interviewed the guy for a psychological analysis and, if we're being honest with ourselves, to see if this guy had really murdered both his wives. Kyle told Kevin that, indeed, this man had murdered both his wives and that he seemed to show traits of narcissism, but was more of a bipolar personality and that he should really hound on the man. If Kevin questioned him hard enough, the man would likely crack under Kevin's famous 'Iron Thumb' as his coworkers had so kindly labeled his interrogation methods.

While Kevin was investing in some much needed sleep, those members of the pack that were out that night ((those pack members being Jacob, Kyle, Nazaire (who'd awakened to his wolf many years ago), Embry, Ariel and Gabriel)) patrolling the area. Since there'd been several years without incident, many of the pack members either retired or decided to release their wolves so they could live their lives without that concern. Jacob, Gabriel, and Embry were taking a nap while the others were patrolling, making sure it was clear. Somewhere between midnight and one in the morning, a vampire came through the woods. They chased him initially, but then Kyle realized it was a vampire they knew and told the active members to leave him alone. Kyle only remembered that his first name was Robert. He waved at them with a smile when he noticed them before running off. He noticed that he looked concerned, but that was his business.

The next morning at six on the dot, Kevin went to court. He stopped in Heather's room and gave her a kiss goodbye on the cheek before leaving her in Rosalie's hands. The trial was likely to go on for weeks. Kevin's opponent was a defense attorney that, though he respected, was just as much of a viper as he was and would be a hard ass on Kevin's witnesses. The only solace in this was that, though he was a brilliant defense attorney, he'd never received the title of 'the iron thumb' by his colleagues. Kevin kept his opening argument brief. He knew that if he kept it too long, then he would bore and confuse the jury. He made his point clear: this man, Andrew Beckon, got away with murdering his first wife and thought he could get away with it again. The more Kevin heard the man start to fume, the more he hounded his point. A violent reaction would sway the jury to his side undoubtedly.

They only got through three out of forty witnesses that day and each witness was questioned for several hours. How do you know the defendant? How long have you known him? How do you know the victim(s)? The questions went on and on for each person and they became more intrusive and in-depth. Both Kevin and his opponent brought the witnesses' moral standing and character into question to either prove a point or to discredit their testimony. Above all, though, most of the witnesses were able to attest to the fact that, indeed, the defendant was prone to a violent temper and vicious mood swings. One minute he would be happy (or manic) and then the next he would be in a rage (or a narcissistic rage as Kyle had put it). Kyle had made it clear to Kevin, though, that this man was not technically a narcissist because he didn't meet at least five of the criteria. He met the violent rages to criticism for sure, though, and every witness (both the persecution and the defense) admitted that this was true of the defendant. Rugar (the defense attorney) did have an explanation for this, however. He claimed that his client was simply a sensitive man. True, he could react rather harshly to things, but that certainly didn't make him a killer. After the three witnesses finished their testimony, the judge called a recess and announced court would reconvene the following Monday. Kevin didn't get home until eleven that night and was exhausted, but he went out on patrol as he'd promised.

Nathan was out that night with him and Travis agreed to come out that night too, as did Natalie. Since Travis was the only one that wasn't about to fall over from sleep, the others napped and agreed to help out in the event that anything came up. By one a.m. Kevin woke up from his nap and started walking around the woods. This was one reason he retained his wolf: the sight of the moonlight in the woods. He'd never see it in the city and this was a way for him to have nostalgic moments and positive memories. Were it not for the comforting aspect of it, Kevin would've rejected his wolf years ago. Who's to know whether he would remain immortal or not regardless. Nathan, Natalie, and Kyle (for rather obvious reasons) refused to give up their wolves and find out. Kevin considered it heavily seeing as his daughter was, to put it frankly, so far removed from the vampiric gene that she was certainly mortal and Kevin refused to outlive his daughter (baring incident of course). He'd come to the choice to give up his wolf once Heather hit high school. It would certainly be a time in her life when she would need him at her disposal as much as physically possible.

Staying under the cover of the trees, Kevin followed the coastline so he could get a good view of the moon. As he walked along, he heard the faint sound of music that seemed to come from headphones. He thought nothing of it until he heard humming accompanying it. He finally paid attention to the song to find out what it could be. He vaguely recognized the song as being a Simple Plan song, probably a later work. It certainly wasn't one of their songs from the early 2000's. It was still old enough, however, that his dad and his dad's friends listened to it and liked it. Eventually, he recognized it as You Suck at Love and he smiled a little. He couldn't believe he'd not immediately recognized it before. His first roommate in college had introduced him to Simple Plan (in the sense that he'd convinced him to actually listen to them) and he used to listen to this song whenever he was depressed and trying to study. It made him feel better about what happened with Megan. After the second time around, though, the song just mocked him. When that song ended, another song came up that he knew instantly as a Gorrilaz song called Clint Eastwood. It was a song he remembered his dad listening to all the time. That and Melancholy Hill. The voice still hummed along with the music and the humming wasn't awful; the only reason the person's humming along wasn't annoying him.

When Kevin finally found the source of the music and the humming, he was near the peak from which a lot of kids would jump from for cliff diving. It was a blonde woman that, from what he could see based on the way she was seated near the edge of the peak, seemed to be wearing a blank tank top (that looked to be a man's sixe) and a pink bra underneath that (or another tank top). The jeans that she wore seemed to be too big for her and were being held up by a studded belt that was actually a woman's size. Her hair was mid-back length and shiny in the moonlight. Since she was sitting off the edge of the peak staring at the moon, he couldn't see her face.

Meanwhile further into the woods, Nathan and Natalie (while Travis took a nap) walked around and overheard a man yell followed by a defining silence. They both ran towards the sound and saw a young woman holding the man in her arms with her death dug into his neck. Telepathically, Natalie yelled for Travis to wake up and for Kevin to come where they were. Reluctantly, though why he couldn't tell, Kevin left the coast where the woman was sitting on the peak and ran where Natalie called him to be. Travis made it to the spot where the woman was. Kevin took control and told everyone to sneak up on her so they could surprise and surround her. The woman, a dark haired women (basically black though shades of brown seemed to show in moonlight) with tan skin wearing tight blue jeans, a pink sweater, and pink high heeled pumps; hardly the appropriate outfit for being outside in the woods. She didn't seem to notice their smell as they approached her, which made things a lot easier for them. They noticed she had a heartbeat, meaning she was a half-breed, though her origins were of little importance under the current circumstances.

They stayed silent and crept closer to her. Natalie had heard a snapping and the man wasn't moving, so saving him wasn't an option. What they could do was take her down for his slaughter. When she was done, she came up with a satisfied, contented sigh and it was only then that she realized the pack was there and they'd surrounded her. She went rigid and became extremely nervous. Kevin noticed the look in her face. She seemed to portray that she'd known not to and now she'd been caught, like a child getting caught putting their hand in the cookie jar an hour before dinner's ready. Natalie stood behind the woman so she wouldn't see her as they all growled, intimidating her. The woman started trembling violently as Kevin and the others got closer and closer to her. When they were each roughly three and a half meters from her, she began to mumble 'a', as if about to say something. It was when they were three meters away when she finally screamed, "Amber!"

She repeated the name in a hysterical scream over and over again, so Natalie lunged towards her and sunk her jaws into the woman's left shoulder. Kevin, Nathan, and Travis made a move towards the woman when someone stomped on Kevin's head, smashing his face into the ground nearly breaking his nose, and kicked Natalie in the face so she would let go of the other woman. The stranger grabbed a hold of the woman who was now crying, put her in a piggy-back position and ran off. Kevin rubbed his nose until it stopped hurting while the other three immediately followed after the two women. From their thoughts, Kevin realized it was the woman he'd seen from the cliff. Those pants that were way too big were tied at her ankles so they wouldn't drag and the headphones she'd been wearing were around her neck. Travis tried to attack while the woman turned, but couldn't catch her. Kevin went the opposite direction hoping to intersect her, but she seemed to be one step ahead. She must've overheard Kevin coming because once he got close, she jumped into the air and landed on her feet and continued to run. Kevin followed after as he overheard the two women yelling at each other as they approached the cliff from earlier.

"Amber, what are you doing?!" the brunette asked.

"We're going into the water; they'll stop following us!"

"But Amber, I can't swim!"

"Well, Amanda, you'd better figure it out!" They finally reached the edge and Amber threw Amanda off her back into the water and dived.

Kevin knew in his current form, he'd lag behind. In his human form, he'd never catch up, so he fused into a vampire and sped up just enough that when he leaped from the edge of the cliff, he landed several meters away from the two women so he could sneak up on them. Before having jumped, Kevin instructed the rest of the pack to meet each other at the edge of the beach so they could intercept. Kevin got close enough to grab Amber's foot. Seemingly out of reflex, her foot acted before the thought occurred to do so, she kicked Kevin in the face hard enough to crack his nose again. Kevin would give her one thing: she could kick like no other. The kick surprised Kevin and he had to fix his nose again, making it possible for Amber and Amanda to swim away. They reached the shore as the others were approaching ready to attack. With Amanda back in a piggyback position, Amber started running and leaped over Natalie so she could run away. The group went after and Kevin finally followed and fazed back into a wolf once he was on the sand. They managed to catch up to the two, but Amber was still keeping ahead. They came across a small pond, so Amber leaped over the pond. This time when she landed, she didn't land on her feet and the cracking of bone that followed was enough to stop them in their tracks. The scream that followed the crack and the resulting fall was enough to make everyone cringe from how loud it was.

"Amber!" Amanda yelled in alarm. "Amber, are you okay?"

"My bone is jutting out of my leg!" she yelled back. The pack came closer and, indeed, the bone was exposed and it made Natalie feel a little light headed. Nathan had seen this sort of injury a few times with the number of accidents he's been called to. Nathan and Kevin started getting closer while Travis tried to help Natalie get used to the image. Amber was on her stomach crying from the pain and Kevin and Nathan felt a great deal of pity for her. As they got closer, Amanda began to panic and nudged Amber's arm over and over.

"Amber, Amber they're coming closer! Amber, do something!"

"What do you want me to do? Call 911?" The sarcastic question came through heavy crying and her face was still buried to the ground in pain.

"Amber!" Amanda yelled and finally, Amber grabbed a rock that was close to her and through it at Kevin's head. He narrowly dodged what would've been an undoubtedly consciousness losing blow.

"There!" Amber yelled, "I did something!" Still in pain, she went onto her back and kept crying. It was the first time Kevin really saw her face. She had such a pretty face with a dainty button nose, full pink lips, a slender face framed by golden hair with eyebrows just as golden and eyelashes that went on for miles. Her eyes finally opened still stained with tears and Kevin finally saw her big blue eyes.

Gravity shifted and he was entranced like he'd never felt before. His sympathy increased and he walked closer, no longer growling. The rest of the pack stopped growling too as they watched Kevin approach Amber cautiously. They all noticed she was wearing a gold chain with the name Amber spelled out in cursive letters and Nathan finally remembered exactly who she was: it was Amber Lynn…whatever her last names were. He remembered a guy named Robert had taken her in after the incident fifteen years ago. Who the dark haired woman was remained a mystery. Kevin continued to approach Amber and Amanda kept screaming louder. Kevin made an effort to no longer look threatening and going down to the ground in a submissive manner. Amber tried pulling away, but it hurt too much to move away and Amanda began hitting Kevin on the head in a vain attempt to make him back away. Kevin growled at her, making her jump away, and then returned his attention to Amber giving her a submissive stare, letting her know he wouldn't harm her. She still cringed, but Amber noticed the strange human eyes the wolf had. Kevin was able to get a good look at her leg and there was no telling how long that would take to heal. He needed to get her to Carlisle. She'd recognize Carlisle and would feel comfortable hopefully. Kevin needed to get her to the Cullen house and he needed to be human to communicate with her so he asked the pack to keep an eye on the two while he went a distance enough away so he could faze and change into the sweat pants still tied around his ankle (that were soaking wet). When he was human and dressed, he came back to where Amber and Amanda were. They looked at him nervously, especially when Kevin came to Amber's side with a kind, loving smile.

"Who are you?" Amber asked him.

"I'm Kevin Black. You know my father Jacob? He's the one you might remember."

"I didn't know he had a son named Kevin."

"He does," Kevin smiled. "Look, we need to get you to Carlisle. You're hurt bad."

"Really?" Amber began, "I hadn't noticed." The comment was meant to be cruelly sarcastic, but the tone didn't come out quite right. "What about Amanda?"

"Don't worry about that right now." Without bothering to ask permission, Kevin lifted Amber into his arms, her injured leg away from his chest, and Amber started yelling at him.

"I didn't say you could pick me up!"

"How else would you get to the Cullen house? Walk?" She sneered halfheartedly at him as he started walking and he smiled. "You're not the only one who can be sarcastic." Kevin looked at the pack. "Let her go," Kevin indicated Amanda, "Just keep in mind," he warned, "If this happens again, we won't be so lenient."

"Look, leave her alone," Amber insisted while trying to nudge away from Kevin's powerful hold. "She just forgot you were in this area, that's all."

"Like I said, she's free to go, but consider this a warning." Kevin continued through the woods at a running pace, making sure nothing touched her injured leg. "You remember Carlisle right?"

"Yeah," Amber mumbled. Several moments of silence passed as Kevin ran through the woods and through Forks, remaining unseen.

"I heard you humming," Kevin finally said, though he immediately regretted it. Amber looked creeped out. "I don't mean that I was stalking you or anything. I just overheard your music from your headphones."

"Ah huh," was all she said.

"You have beautiful hair," Kevin commented.

"Look, dude, the fact that you were watching me hum is creepy enough. Don't say anything else creepy and we'll get along just fine." Ouch, Kevin thought. So this is what it felt like for Kyle when he was having trouble with Evalina. He suddenly had a new appreciation for his stupidity that Christmas.

"It wasn't meant to be creepy; it was meant to be a compliment."

"Shut up and get me to the damn doctor."

Kevin took a deep breath and just kept running. Edward heard Amber's thoughts and let Carlisle know Kevin was bringing her to the house. When Kevin walked in through the back patio door, Edward was the one that greeted them. He smelled the blood from meters away and the bone exposed (despite her legs being covered by oversized man jeans) poking out sharply through her jeans was enough to make even him shutter.

"It's been a while, Amber," Edward said. "How've you been," he glanced at her leg, "besides the obvious most recent occurrence?"

"You'd know; you're a mind reader aren't you?"

Edward smiled kindly. Considering her current condition, her attitude was understandable. "Carlisle's getting some plaster ready upstairs in his office."

Kevin walked Amber up the stairs to Carlisle's office. The door was open and the medical bed was ready with a wide bucket on a stand near the bed holding the necessary wrapping for the cast. Kevin gently placed Amber on the bed and she held in a whimper from the pain with changing positions.

"Long time no see, Amber," Carlisle smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

"I wish it were under different circumstances," Amber answered, still whimpering a little.

"Believe me, I understand. Realigning the bone will be the worst part, so once I'm done with that, the rest will be a walk in the park."

"Oh God," Amber cried a little. Carlisle took off the shoe on her right leg, the tie around the pants, and used scissors to cut away the fabric to get to her leg. The bone protrusion was all the more gruesome when her pants were cut away.

"Jeez, you really did a number on that leg. How'd this happen?"

"I was carrying my sister on my back running away from this asshole," Amber pointed at Kevin, "and I landed on bad footing and my leg broke under my sister's fat ass."

"You have a sister now?"

"Well, a stepsister," Amber corrected. "Daddy found her in a dumpster in Newark and decided to keep her."

Carlisle was silent a moment, a little stunned. "You found her in a dumpster?"

"Yeah," Amber said. "Sorry to cut the conversation short, but could you get the realigning thing over with?"

"Alright, Amber." Carlisle went to his desk and came back with a piece of wood. "Put this in your mouth and hold Kevin's hand."

"I don't need to hold his hand," Amber said as she took the wood and put it in her mouth. She started shaking the closer Carlisle got to her right leg and when he brought his hands to her broken bones, he gave her a countdown and forced the broken bone back in alignment. Amber gave a piercing scream and her teeth broke through some of the wood. Amber grabbed Kevin's arm instinctively and started crying again. Kevin went closer and allowed Amber to clutch onto him without saying a word.

"Alright, Amber, the worst of it is over." She kept breathing heavily and held onto Kevin's arm. It was when Kevin began gently rubbed her elbow with his hand that she pulled away and rested back onto the bed. As gently as possible, Carlisle cleaned the gash and used some numbing medication on her leg so he could stitch the open wound. "So where is Robert?"

"I don't know," Amber said. "I ran off after daddy and Amanda found me downtown and I haven't seen them since. Amanda was probably looking for me when the wolves caught her drinking that guy's blood."

"Was she?" Carlisle said while staring at Kevin.

"We let her go," Kevin answered Carlisle's silent question. "I guess you could say we let her off with a warning." Carlisle nodded and turned his attention back to Amber's leg. He pulled the bucket over and went to his desk to grab several packets and soft cautioning materials. When they were all on the stand, Carlisle showed Amber the different colored packages.

"What color do you want the cast to be?"

"The lavender one," Amber finally picked.

"Alright then." After that, Carlisle finally started on the cast.

He bandaged the injured area first so that could heal on its own, then he slipped on the first layer sleeve of the cast. Carlisle asked Kevin to help him position Amber into a sitting position. Once she was sitting upright, he took great care to position her foot on the little stand so he could apply all the other layers. He started with the soft padding layer and brought it up to her knee. She was very lucky this break was only on her calf instead of a whole leg break considering the type of impact she suffered.

"How long will this take to heal?" Amber asked.

"For a normal human, this would take at least three months. For you, I'd feel comfortable leaving it on for three weeks. It probably won't take that long to actually heal, but it's better to leave it on and be sure."

"Damn it," Amber mumbled.

"Just be glad it'll only be a few weeks instead of a few months," Kevin said. Amber didn't answer or look at Kevin.

"I guess that means I'm stuck here for a while," she mumbled more to herself.

"I would prefer you move around, but certainly not in a nomadic fashion. Stay here and move around when possible and you should be alright. I'm afraid it'll have to wait until I get back home from work tomorrow with some crutches for you to use." Moments later, Robert came in through the back patio with Amanda following and he went straight to Carlisle's office. When he saw the cast, he groaned and ran over to Amber.

"My God, Amber," he said. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Amber answered.

"A bone sticking out doesn't sound fine to me."

"Well it's not sticking out now, so it's fine."

"Robert," Carlisle interrupted, "The bone is back in alignment and she should be back on her feet in about three weeks."

"Just three weeks?" he asked, relieved.

"Yeah, she'll be in top shape in no time. She's welcome to stay here while she heals if that's alright with you. You and Amanda are more than welcomed to stay as well."

"No," Amber mumbled.

"My God, what is your problem?" Amanda asked rather loudly. "I get it; things didn't work out with Adam. Get over it!"

"You know what, kid, you're in no position to bad mouth me when I just broke my leg trying to save your fat ass from being eaten."

"I'm. Not. FAT!" Kevin finally really looked at Amanda and, indeed, she wasn't fat, just full figured. Amber was full figured too, but not quite in that classic hour glass way. For Amber, she had a fuller butt than anything and Kevin certainly wasn't complaining.

"Okay, both of you stop," Robert said, getting exasperated. "Honey, I know you want to be left along right now, but I don't want to leave you alone when you're in this condition."

"Maybe we could come to a compromise," Kevin spoke up at last. Once he hand everyone's attention, he continued. "Let's face it: there's always a number of people coming in and out of this house at any given time and I don't think it's a great place for Amber to relax and heal. If she wants some peace and quiet and privacy, she can stay with me for a while. I'm always at work most of the day and Rosalie usually keeps Heather occupied downstairs until I get home. You can use the spare bedroom and I'll make sure Heather knows to leave you alone."

"How is that a compromise? Amanda and I would still be all the way out here."

"Yeah, but considering the way vampires have a habit of driving, you're really not that far away from Amber and you're welcome to see her whenever you want. I'd offer to let you both stay too, but I only have the one guest bedroom and I imagine Amber's not in the mood to share it right now."

"What if she needs something?" Robert asked. "You said you're at work all day, so what if something happens and you or Rosalie or Heather aren't around to help?"

"I'm injured, not bedridden," Amber said. "Look, as long as you promise to leave me alone and let me heal, I'm fine with this arrangement. But I mean it; I want you to leave me alone." Christ, Kevin thought. He'd certainly have to ask Edward what was the problem before he left and find out who Adam was.

"I say let her," Amanda said. "If all she's going to do is sit around and feel sorry for herself, then I'm content to leave her alone."

"Amanda," Robert said sternly. "Are you sure about this Amber? I know it can get loud here, but at least Carlisle will always be here after work in case of a problem."

"I just want to be left alone. By the way, do you still have my things? I was planning to get them, but well…you know the story."

"I'll bring them later," Robert answered and then looked at Kevin. "I'd rather you waited to move her until later. Wait until tomorrow after work before you come get her."

"Alright," Kevin agreed. He smiled at Amber kindly. "I'll come get you tomorrow then." Amber hummed an acknowledging, dismissive sound and Kevin finally left, as did Carlisle, to give the three a little more time to talk assuming Amber would allow it. "Hey Grandpa," Kevin said when he was standing next to the couch where Edward and Bella were seated, both reading.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you a bit privately?"

"Of course," he answered. Edward gave the book to Bella and told her not to read any further until he got back and then Edward and Kevin ran to the cottage a mile away to talk. "So what's on your mind?"

Kevin sighed. "Sometimes I forget you can't read my mind."

"Considering I can read everyone else's except yours and your siblings, I suppose it's easy to forget."

"Yeah," Kevin said awkwardly. "It has to do with Amber." Awareness flashed in Edward's eyes.

"You imprinted on her then?"

"Yeah, I did." He smiled. "Can you believe it?"

"All things considered, I'd say it's about time. If anyone deserves it, it'd be you."

"No kidding," Kevin mumbled.

"I assume, then, that you're concerned with why she's being so hostile?"

"Yeah. That and I want to know who this Adam guy is and if he's someone I'll have to deal with."

"No, you won't have to deal with Adam, at least not the way I assume you're thinking. Adam was a vampire Amber had run off with about two years after Amanda came along. A few months ago, he evidently left her and she's been a bit depressed ever since. When you were hitting on her, it made her uncomfortable."

"Oh," Kevin said, scratching his head. "I guess that explains why she's being so testy with me. Is that why she's so eager to be away from Robert and Amanda?"

"She just feels like she wants to do soul searching and Robert isn't helping in that endeavor. He's trying to comfort her and tell her that things will get better, but she's not really taking that right now."

"Did she feel a connection to me?" Kevin asked after a moment of contemplation.

"If she did, she wasn't thinking about it. I think she was more concerned about her broken leg than about you."

"I can understand that," Kevin sighed. "This is going to seem like an out of nowhere question, but what are her favorite flowers?"

"I don't know. She wasn't thinking about that. I'll see if I can get Robert or Amanda to tell me and I'll get back to you. Why, are you actually planning to buy her flowers?"

"Yeah," Kevin nodded awkwardly. "I can pass it off for 'Get Well Soon' flowers can't I?"

"I suppose you could," Edward shrugged.

"Well, be sure to get back to me as soon as you know. Just text me and I'll get it eventually."

"Alright, Kevin. Just remember not to be too forward. If you are, she won't respond very well. She still thinks you're a little creepy and she only agreed to stay at your home because you'll be gone most of the day and she'll have time afforded to herself. Go ahead and buy her flowers, but don't go overboard."

"Alright, dually noted. Will she at least be open with me once she's calmed down from tonight?"

"I wouldn't count on it. Like I said, don't be too forward and she'll be more agreeable with you."

"Sure, sure," Kevin sighed. "Get back to me," he finally said before walking out of the cottage and making his way back to his house. He was too eager and he wanted to get the guest bedroom ready.

He hadn't stepped foot in this bedroom in years. It was supposed to be the bedroom David would have when Megan and he moved in together. It was still male oriented colors, like blues with some white thrown in there. The bed sheets themselves were actually dinosaur bed sheets. Megan had said David like dinosaurs and would've loved this room. Even walking past this room made him uncomfortable. Walking into this room was even worse. It was like a nagging reminder that he couldn't shake. He could call off work early to buy more appropriate sheets that weren't dinosaurs, but knowing his luck, he'd be at work so late the stores would be closed by the time he was done for the day.

Kevin didn't bother going to sleep for that night as much as he probably should've. He instead went downstairs and started prepping to make Heather pancakes. It was a rarity for him to be able to make her breakfast, so he was happy to leap on the opportunity. He made the batter and let it sit for a while before making three throw away pancakes. Nessie had taught him the first three were always the worst. Once it was around time for Heather to wake up, he started making chocolate chip Mickey Mouse pancakes just how she liked. When the Mickey Mouse pancake was done, he put it on a plate, put on two slices of butter, and poured over it some maple syrup. He went upstairs and gently woke up Heather, letting her know that he'd made her breakfast. Though still groggy, Heather came downstairs happy to have Mickey Mouse pancakes. After she finished breakfast, Kevin sent her upstairs to get ready for school, then surprised her with telling her that he'd be driving her to school that morning. He hadn't done that since she'd started her first day of school. That had become their tradition; whenever it was her first day of school, Kevin would drive her to school and wish her good luck.

"Heather," Kevin said as they were driving, "I need to fill you in on something."

"Yeah?" Heather looked up at him with her full attention from the front seat. That was her other favorite part about getting driven to school by Kevin. She got to sit in the front seat!

"We're going to have a visitor stay with us for a while. She broke her leg in a fall and she needs a quiet place to recover. She'll be staying in the guest bedroom and you'll be sharing your bathroom with her for a bit. Now, she said she wants to be left alone, but as long as you be polite with her and be the sweet little angel you are, she'll be nice to you too." Kevin tickled Heather's chin at the angel comment and she giggled.

"Okay, daddy," she answered. "I'll be nice to her."

"Her name is Amber by the way. She'll be over really late tonight, so you might not see her today, but when you see her, just be a good girl honey."

"Okay daddy," Heather answered again.

After dropping Heather off at school, Kevin went straight to work. Besides the murder trial he was already working on, he had several other cases lined up mostly dealing with mapping out business contracts and a minor fraud case that has gotten substantially less attention than would be normal since the Beckon Murder Case hit the newsstands. He refused to give any interviews and advised his witnesses to do the same, however Rugar was taking a different approach. He was constantly speaking with the press, telling his client's story as it were. It was one of those sentimental tactics lawyers would sometimes use in order to win sympathy from the public. Rugar claimed on the news that "Mr. Black is a brilliant lawyer, but he's also a vicious one. He won't stop until he proves my client guilty of something he didn't do." Kevin never let that sort of thing bother him. It happened all the time. He'd been called far worse by lawyers he didn't remotely respect and on lesser cases, like a fraud and embezzlement case years back. His opponent had called him a, quote "Ruthless viper that enjoyed watching the innocent squirm." Either way, he got attention that allowed him to make more profit when people were impressed with his legal performance.

As he predicted would happen, Kevin got so caught up with work that by the time he left the office, it was eight thirty, far later than he normally worked. It figures. Kevin made his way to the Cullen house as fast as he could, but he still didn't get to Forks until ten. Then he remembered to check his phone for messages, but there was nothing from Edward. He groaned and went to a flower shop deciding to just get roses. That was safe right? When he got into the flower shop, he looked around and stopped on some white Gardenias. He looked at them a moment and smiled. They fit her, he thought, so he asked the shop keeper to give him a dozen white Gardenias and a 'Get Well Soon' card for him to sign. Once he had the flowers, he finally went to the Cullen house much later than he'd wanted. Edward let him in and informed him that Robert and Amanda had spent the whole day for the most part with Amber and he'd been unable to ask about flowers. Kevin said it was fine and went right upstairs to Carlisle's office. Amber was walking around on her new crutches, having spent a good part of the afternoon trying to get used to using them. When Kevin stepped in, she looked up and almost seemed bashful, but that didn't last long at all.

"What took you so damn long? I've been ready for four hours."

"I'm sorry, but I got held up at work. Here," Kevin brought the flowers over to her. "They're Gardenias."

"I know what they are," Amber said, but she looked flattered. Kevin smiled, but retained his excitement that she seemed to like them. "How'd you know I like Gardenias?"

"Just a hunch," he answered honestly.

"Well," Amber started awkwardly, "Thanks."

"I guess I'd better help you to the car."

"I don't need you to help me." Defiantly, Amber went to where he large bag of things were placed and stood on her left leg so she could throw on her bag. She tried moving around with that thing on her shoulder, but the crutches made it virtually impossible.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help?"

"Really, it's fine," Amber said. This time, Kevin ignored her and grabbed her bag from her and carried the flowers while she chased after him as best she could on crutches yelling at him for taking her things without her permission. Kevin put everything but the flowers in the backseat and helped Amber, whether she liked it or not, into the passenger's seat of the car. When she was seated, he handed her the flowers and closed the door for her. "Thanks for this," Amber said after they'd stayed silent for thirty minutes. "I appreciate you letting me stay with you. I could really use some time to myself."

"Don't mention it," Kevin said. "And don't worry, Heather will leave you be. Rosalie usually keeps an eye on her until I get back home from work."

"Who is Heather?"

"She's my daughter."

"Oh," Amber said, somewhat surprised. "I didn't realize you had a kid."

"Yeah," Kevin smiled. "She's my pride and joy that girl." They stopped at a red light moments later, so Kevin pulled out his wallet and opened it to where a picture of Heather was. It was last year's school picture so it was a more recent photo. She was wearing a pretty silk blouse and her long brown hair was dolled up and curled to frame her cute little face, all thanks to Alice. "That's her," he said after he handed his wallet over.

"She's beautiful," Amber said.

"Of course she is. She looks just like her daddy." Kevin smiled at Amber and she smiled back a moment, though it quickly faded away as she handed back his wallet.

"Let's hope she's more humble than her father then," she said.

Kevin lost his smile too and the awkward silence ensued. Perhaps his joke was an example of being too forward, but he couldn't help himself. He wanted to get to know her and in respect let her know him but she wouldn't seem to stand for it. By the time they arrived back at his house, it was very nearly one in the morning. Rosalie was downstairs reading and they talked for a moment. Heather had done her homework and was eagerly awaiting the weekend, as was Kevin. He'd have to stop by the office tomorrow anyway, but he'd made a point to let his bosses know it would only be briefly. He'd promised Heather he'd take her to the Aquarium tomorrow and she'd been looking forward to it all week. Kevin showed Amber to the guest bedroom after he'd said goodbye to Rosalie and he opened the door wide enough so she could crutch her way in. He walked in first with her bag and flowers and rested everything close to the bed. The flowers he put on the dresser and her bag he put on a chair that he brought closer to the twin size bed. When Amber walked in, the first thing she saw was the dinosaur bed sheets.

"Do you have a son I don't know about too?"

"No," Kevin said, though it came out uncomfortably. "It's a long story."

"Then I'll pass. I want some sleep." Amber crutched her way to the bed and sat down. Since he was over there, Kevin took her crutches and rested them against the nightstand so they stood upright and close by.

"My room is the one with the double doors at the end of the hallway, so if you need anything, come and get me even if you just want to talk."

"Thanks," Amber said. "Where's the cast cover? I want to shower."

"Can I ask you to wait until morning? Heather might wake up in the middle of the night and she's not used to sharing her bathroom. I don't want her to accidently walk in on you or anything."

"Fine, I'll wait until morning." Heather reached for some clothes in her bag that were more cottony than her current jean shorts (that were a woman's size) and that masculine black tank top with her pink bra underneath from the day before. "Do you mind?" she asked when he didn't immediately leave while she grabbed cotton pajama pants.

"Oh, sorry, I'll get out of your hair."

"I'd like that," she answered and waited until he left, closing her door, before she started changing. Kevin sighed heavily as he walked to his room. Honestly, this woman would be one hell of a nut to crack. He couldn't help but wonder whether Amber was just in a really bad mood, which very well may have been the case, or if she was always this bullheaded. He knew once she opened up to him, he'd find it cute and appreciate it, but since she was being so hostile, it just made him nervous.

Kevin would've slept in had Heather not come into his room, hopped onto his bed and jumped up yelling, "We're going to the Aquarium!" over and over again. Kevin groaned as he woke up and managed to eventually get out of bed. It was seven in the morning, so he could make him and Heather some eggs before he had to go. As he worked on breakfast, he decided that he would go ahead and take Heather with him to work since he wouldn't be there very long. He thought to say something to Amber, but she seemed to still be asleep when he listened through the door, so he left her alone. When they got to his office, Kevin let Heather play in his large desk chair while he worked on some paperwork. He kept his work quick before he and Heather finally left to go to the aquarium.

"Daddy look!" Heather said while they were in the underwater dome. She pointed at a salmon that was swimming around in the giant tank. "It's a fish, daddy!"

"Can you guess what fish it is?"

"Is it salmon?"

"Yeah, it is!" Kevin said. "Can you guess what that fish is?" Heather looked at the big brown spotted fish that Kevin pointed at and thought a moment. "I'll give you a hint. It's your grandpa's favorite fish."

"Cod?"

"There you go," Kevin praised. "Try to find the other fish in the tank." Heather went around the tank in a circle looking for all the other fish that were in the tank and naming them off if she knew what they were.

Their next stop was the Windows of Washington Waters exhibit and Kevin spent most of the time making sure Heather didn't go to close to the glass. Heather's favorite exhibit was the pool where she got to touch the starfish and other shallow pooled animals. It took them three hours to see the whole aquarium and Heather would not stop for something to eat until they saw the whole park. When they did finally stop for something to eat, Heather finally realized she was really hungry.

"Did you have fun looking at all the fish?" Kevin asked.

"Ah huh," Heather affirmed enthusiastically. "I wish we could pet the otters. They're so cute."

"At least you could play with the starfish and hermit crabs." She nodded with a bright smile and devoured her chicken salad sandwich.

"Did the lady come over yet?" Heather asked when she finished her sandwich.

"Yeah, she did. I got off work late, so I wasn't able to bring her home until late. Sorry I didn't get home for dinner."

"It's okay," Heather smiled. "We got to do this." Kevin smiled back and changed the subject to school. When they arrived back home, Heather ran to her room and then ran back downstairs with a big puzzle for her and Kevin to work on together while Heather had up a cartoon channel. After Heather poured out all the puzzle pieces from the box, she blurted out a thought she had. "We should ask the lady upstairs if she wants to join us."

"I don't know if she'd want to, honey."

"But it would be mean if we didn't." With that innocent logic backing her up, Heather ran upstairs to the guest bedroom and knocked on the door. "Miss, miss, do you want to make a puzzle with daddy and me?" There wasn't immediately an answer. Instead, there were sounds of movement and crutches hitting the ground as Amber came towards the door. She opened it as best she could and looked down at Heather strangely.

"No thanks," she said politely.

"Oh, but it'll be fun! We'll put together a picture of horses!" Amber looked at her and actually cracked a smile. Then after a deep breath, Amber started to crutch her way out.

"Who could argue with horses?" she finally said and Heather cheered and led her downstairs. Heather waited patiently and eagerly at the bottom of the stairs while Amber carefully hopped down as fast as hopping would allow. Kevin smiled at her from behind the couch once she reached the living room, but she kept her mouth in a hard line. Heather sat to Kevin's left and pointed to across the coffee table.

"Sit across from me. We'll tackle this from three sides." Amber came around the couch and Kevin, again without her permission, helped her around the couch and helped her sit down comfortable.

"I'm not an invalid, Mr. Black. I can sit down on my own."

"It's faster to lend you a hand," Kevin said. When she was on the floor, he went back to his own spot and Heather assigned parts of the puzzle, dividing all the pieces among themselves and exchanging pieces if need be. Kevin was constantly looking at either Heather's or Amber's pile of pieces and more often was exchanging with Amber's pile.

Amber tried to just focus on making her part of the puzzle and wouldn't take from Kevin's pile. When Heather finished her portion, she ran around the coffee table to Amber's side and started helping her with her portion. When all their parts were finished, Heather put them together to make the big picture. When it was done, Heather smiled and asked Kevin if there was a spare frame for her to put it in so she could hang it. Kevin found it for her and helped her put the puzzle in the frame. Kevin was about to hang it in Heather's room, but she pulled on Kevin's pant leg and led him to the guest bedroom. Heather would not be deterred in her determination so Kevin placed the newly finished puzzle on the wall right above the armoire.

"I think we should get Amber new sheets," Heather said after the picture was hung. "Dinosaurs aren't for girls."

Kevin laughed, "Don't say that in front of Uncle Kyle. Mr. Gender-Is-Skin-Deep will tear you a new one."

"But boys like boy things and girls like girl things. Why would Uncle Kyle say otherwise?"

Kevin patted Heather's head. "You'll understand when you have to take a gender studies course. Everything you think you know about gender norms will be turned on its head."

"You're weird daddy," Heather said innocently and ran out of the room to go back downstairs so she could announce to Amber that they'd hanged a pretty picture in her room. Meanwhile, Kevin was biting his lip trying not to laugh. He stopped when he overheard Heather promise Amber that the three of them would go out together and get her some new bed sheets. Kevin finally came back downstairs and Amber was actually smiling at Heather. "Come on, let's go buy sheets! Those dinosaur bed sheets are really ugly right?"

"You don't have to, honey. I won't be here that long."

"But what if daddy invites other people over? We can't have them sleeping in dinosaur bed sheets!" Amber laughed a little and pulled herself to her foot with her crutches.

"I suppose it would be cruel to future guests not to replace them."

"Yay!" Heather yelled and went to the stairs where Kevin waited and dragged him to the living room. "Daddy, daddy, Amber said we can go shopping for sheets! Can we go? Please, please, please!"

"Well," Kevin started, glancing at Amber who seemed uncomfortable, "Are you really okay with going out shopping?"

"I said I would," Amber said with a shrug.

"Alright then," Kevin said, "We can go shopping."

"Yay!" Heather yelled and ran to the garage to put on her shoes and go into the garage. She sat right in her usual spot in the back seat and waited patiently for Kevin and Amber to come. He took a moment, though to talk to Amber privately.

"Are you really alright with going shopping?"

"I already said I would," Amber said. "She's right, though. Those dinosaur sheets are really ugly. What possessed you to put those in a guest bedroom exactly?"

"I thought you didn't want to hear a long story."

"Well, give me the abridged version so we can get going. I've gathered so far from Heather that she's not always one for patience." Kevin smiled just a little at the last comment.

"There was a woman I was seeing and we were supposed to move in together, so I painted the room for her son. Things didn't go through and instead of changing the room, I just avoid it."

"See? That wasn't such a long story." Amber started to make her way to the garage and Kevin followed, holding his tongue. Now wasn't the time to talk about anything.

They finally joined Heather in the car, Amber going in the back with her, and they made their way to the closest mall. Amber was starting to get better at moving around in the crutches, but thankfully there was an elevator for them to use so they could go to the bedding and décor section of the Kohl's and the Sears. Heather picked a purple silk bed set that she said would look pretty with the blues and whites of the wall colors.

"What's your favorite color, Amber?" Heather asked. "Mine's purple."

"Oh," Amber started and shrugged, "I like purple too."

"Really?" With a smile, Heather hopped onto the display bed and patted the comforter. "I knew you would like that color. Daddy, can we get this one?"

"Let's see if there's a twin size," Kevin said, walking to where the sheets were lined up. Heather went over too to help look and pulled out the first twin size she found.

"Here's one, daddy!" With the bed set in arms, Heather started running towards the register and Kevin and Amber followed after. After paying for the set, Kevin drove them all back to the house and he set up the bed sheets on the bed, replacing the dinosaur sheets. "It's so pretty!" Heather said exuberantly. "Don't you think it's pretty?" she asked Amber.

"Yeah," she said, "It's very pretty." Heather grinned, victorious.

"Daddy, can we have dinner now?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see what's in the freezer."

"In the freezer?" Amber asked, looking at Kevin strangely.

"Yeah, I probably have something we can cook up. How does macaroni and cheese sound?"

"You're feeding her frozen macaroni and cheese?"

"Well, I don't know how to make it from scratch."

"Are you serious?" Amber asked, then rolled her eyes. "Show me where everything is; I'll make something for dinner."

"You can cook?"

"It's not rocket science," Amber said.

"My sister-in-law would disagree," Kevin said with a chuckle, Evalina's incompetence in the kitchen coming to mind. Being married to a Black, not knowing how to cook was one of the worst possible traits a wife could have, but she was trying.

"Well, your sister-in-law is clearly an idiot." Amber crutched her way down the stairs and went straight to the fridge to see what was there. All she found were a bunch of fruits, veggies, fruit juice packets, and some Pediesures. Amber looked in the freezer to see if there were any steaks or chicken available, but there was nothing but plentiful frozen dinners. Pulling up nothing, Amber went to the pantry, Kevin and Heather watching from the hallway, and looked inside. All she found were varieties of crackers, some cans of beans, cereal, and some old garlic. Having had her fill, Amber used her crutches to turn and look at Kevin, torn between being angry with the man and being in awe. "When was the last time you went grocery shopping? Last winter?"

"My Aunt Rosalie usually does the grocery shopping. I don't usually have time."

"What the hell do you do for a living that you don't have time to buy food?"

"I'm a lawyer," Kevin answered and Amber scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Ew," she said. "No wonder you're so hopeless."

"What's wrong with being a lawyer?" Kevin asked, offended.

"The poor girl will go hungry by the time I adequately explain. Take her out somewhere nice. She deserves real food not that processed frozen dinner crap." Amber crutched over to Heather and patted her on the head. "You make sure your dad takes you somewhere nice. I'll stay here."

"Are you like Grandma Nessie?" Heather asked.

"What?" Amber asked Kevin.

"She's asking if you're half vampire."

"Oh," Amber smiled back at Heather, "Yeah, I am. So I don't really like human food."

"How'd you learn how to cook if you don't eat?" Heather asked.

"I used to work at a diner," Amber said, immediately becoming unnerved. "You two get going. It'll be a pain getting into a good place on a Saturday, so you'd better leave now."

"Alright," Heather said. "Come on, daddy. I want fish!"

Kevin chuckled, "She's the only eight year old in the world that will gulp down raw oysters with a smile."

"Ew," Amber said, though this time she was teasing. "That's weird, kid."

"Alright honey, let's get going. I'm sure Amber would like some time to herself."

Kevin and Heather finally left together, giving Amber the much needed alone time she wanted. She went back to the guest bedroom and sat down on the plush new comforter. It had been a strange day for her. She'd gotten a call from her father saying that he would come over tomorrow to come see how she was doing. She'd tried to tell them not to come, but Robert insisted and wouldn't take no for an answer. She wasn't even sure what he could say to make her feel better about what happened with Adam. She reached into her bag and pulled out a photo album that had all their pictures together. The first page was filled with pictures from their first date. They'd taken a few pictures in a photo booth with their faces close together, sharing a kiss on each other's cheek, and a kiss on the lips. He was human, so naturally Robert hadn't been too thrilled with the two of them dating to begin with. She'd not told him that she wasn't technically human, only half. Adam Lynx had been in culinary school when she'd met him, but it was a month after he graduated and got a job at a restaurant when they actually started dating. After only two months, she spent the night at his new apartment and had stayed there for about two weeks. Eating was really the only part of those two weeks that she didn't enjoy. It was a shame too; the man was an excellent cook. He's the one that taught her all she knew and taught her even more when he decided to open his own restaurant and gave her a job. Things were great for three years until her 'I'm human' story was beginning to unravel. She would have to go out hunting for human blood, which would take her hours. He never said anything about it, but she eventually noticed Adam was getting really distant and wouldn't talk to her and they stopped having sex as frequently. Before she knew it, she was filling an order for a Loaded Omelet and several orders of varying skillets when a waitress came up to her with bad news: the waitress's sister had been sleeping with Adam for the past six months.

"I just found out about it," she'd said to her, "and I couldn't think of a good way to tell you. My sister doesn't know that I told you, but I'll let her know later."

Amber had been speechless. She told the waitress thanks for telling her and just filled orders for the rest of her shift. She confronted Adam about what the waitress had told her, but he flat out denied it, so she decided to take matters into her own hands and follow him when he was supposed to be 'out with the guys'. Just as she suspected, he wasn't really out with the guys, but he was with the waitress she'd been told about. She waited, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt, just in case this was all a big misunderstanding. But the longer she watched them, the clearer it was that they were in an intimate relationship. The two would kiss and share food and even started making out and touching each other's knees. Having seen all she needed to see, Amber came out of her hiding place and walked right up to the table while the two were kissing. What happened from there was a big blur. She remembered him saying this wasn't what it looked like, she remembered slapping him, she remembered pulling out some of the other woman's hair, and then she remembered police lights. Robert had found out about this, naturally, and it was the second time in her life that he'd maneuvered her out of the police station in the blink of an eye. She later found out that 'slap' had shattered Adam's jaw and after 'pulling the other woman's hair' the woman had a huge bald spot on her head and there were scratches there too that caused massive bleeding. She lived, but the fact remained that Amber had done a lot of damage without even realizing she'd exerted that much strength.

The police had taken her fingerprints before Robert got her out and they found out from Maricopa County in Arizona that Amber was the 'Jane Doe' that had gone missing from their police station after Amber Dymek's body was discovered. It was all over the local news and the Maricopa news, though it wasn't a nationwide story unless one read the end of the paper. That revelation ended up getting Adam in a lot of trouble too. He'd soon be going to court accused of statutory rape. It wasn't like he could tell the police the night of the fight that his girlfriend caught him cheating and then turn around and say that they never had sex. The best he could tell the police was that he thought Amber was over eighteen. She'd told him that she was twenty one and had the false identification to prove it. So much for that, Amber thought to herself. Amber tossed the photo album aside, not wanting to think about any of it anymore. She took a hold of her necklace and rubbed it between her fingers nervously. It took a moment for her to realize that she was crying, but she pulled a pillow over her face so no tears would get in her freshly washed hair. She couldn't seem to fall asleep and she was still awake when Kevin and Heather came back from dinner. It was roughly nine when they got back, so Kevin tucked Heather into bed for the night and Amber was expecting Kevin to do whatever he was planning to do for the rest of the night. But after she heard Heather's bedroom door close, there came a knock at her door.

"Amber, can I come in?" Still puffy and red eyed from crying, Amber shook her head.

"I'd rather you didn't," she said.

"Look, you and I should talk so why don't you come downstairs to the kitchen?"

"Talk? About what?"

"Just meet me downstairs, okay. I don't want to talk through a closed door." Kevin left the upstairs hallway and went downstairs to the kitchen to wait for Amber. Amber took a moment to clean up her face before going downstairs to the kitchen. Kevin waited until she was seated with her crutches nearby. She smelled the beer before she saw Kevin drinking it and she noticed it was a brew called Arrogant Bastard with a large Devil on the label. How appropriate, she thought to herself, a beer for this man to drink.

"What is it?"

"Heather's fed and put to bed, so now you can tell me what's wrong with lawyers."

"Are you trying to be funny or is that actually your question?"

Kevin sighed heavily, "That's the other thing I wanted to talk about. Look, I didn't ask Edward too many details, but I have to be blunt. I'm getting a little fed up with your attitude."

"Fair enough," Amber shrugged indifferently.

"Maybe if you told me what's making you so damn irritable, I might be more inclined to be understanding."

"I'm sure you asked Edward enough to know it's about a guy. It's really not your business."

"Fair enough, but if that's the case, don't make it my business by being such a bitch to me." To Kevin's surprise, Amber seemed deflated.

"I asked to be left alone. You were the one that made me socialize."

"You could've easily said no. I know Heather is rather convincing, but if you'd been nice about it, I'm sure she would've understood."

"I couldn't say no to her," Amber said. "It felt wrong."

"She does that," Kevin smiled. "I don't want you to think I'm forcing you to tell me anything. But why don't you tell me what happened? It might make you feel better."

"Talking about it to daddy and Amanda hasn't made me feel better. Why would speaking to you about it make me feel better?"

"Because I won't lecture you. I'm trained in the art of remaining unbiased and only passing judgment once I've heard the whole story. I assume your father passed judgment the moment he heard the whole story for better or for worse."

"I think you may be overestimating your ability to remain unbiased. Isn't the whole point of being a lawyer to pass judgment and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you're right?"

"It is, but I don't make that judgment until I've heard every possible facet of the truth and am confident in my judgment. Besides, you're not on trial for murder, you're just telling me what's bothering you." Amber took a deep breath and started fiddling with her fingers. She looked at Kevin for a moment as if trying to determine whether or not she was convinced, but eventually she began to speak again.

"I was dating a man named Adam, I thought we were in love, but after being together for three years, I caught him with another woman and I got overzealous. I shattered his jaw and ripped out a good portion of the other woman's hair. The police were called, I was taken into custody, daddy had to sneak me out, and now that the police found out I'm the infamous Jane Doe of Maricopa Country, Adam is facing charges of statutory rape because in the eyes of the law, he's had sex with a fifteen year old girl."

"Shit," Kevin said frankly and it actually made Amber smile.

"You could say that. That's certainly a better reaction than either daddy or Amanda had. Daddy was livid about what happened. Amanda just laughed at me."

"Is it safe to assume this Adam fellow is human?"

"Yeah, he's human. He'd just graduated from culinary school when we started dating. I guess I started dating him for the wrong reasons really."

"Why'd you start dating him?"

"If you must know, I didn't like having Amanda around. It'd been just me and daddy for so long and suddenly I had to share him with some guidette throw away he found in a dumpster. I dealt with it for about two years before I met Adam and saw a way to be away from Amanda. As I'm sure you can imagine, we don't get along very well."

"You seemed to love her at least."

"Of course I love her," Amber said. "I just don't like her. Just because she's my stepsister doesn't mean I have to like her."

Kevin smiled, "I guess that's true. You weren't with Robert when we found you, though."

"I wasn't with Amanda either. I was trying to have some time alone to think and wallow in my repeated rejections. Daddy thinks he can fix everything for me, but he can't."

"Yeah," Kevin sighed knowingly. "I know that."

"Am I to presume you speak from experience?"

"From your end no less," Kevin said. Amber looked at Kevin waiting for him to explain. "You remember how I told you that guest bedroom upstairs was meant for when my girlfriend and her son moved in with me?"

"Yeah," Amber nodded.

"Well, that woman and I go way back. We started dating when we were in high school, but the summer before senior year, she went on a college visit to California and cheated on me. All my siblings new but me and none of them wanted to be the ones to tell me, so they went through this elaborate scheme to make Megan's friend Kathy tell me about it. It all blew up in my face when their plan went wrong. This all happened after my brother Kyle and I were finally back on good terms too. He'd told on me and Megan when we had a pregnancy scare and what turned out to be nothing turned into a whole lot more. Believe me, I know how it feels to have family try to fix your problems for you."

"They say they do it out of love, but they end up doing more back than good."

"Amen to that," Kevin held up his mostly empty beer bottle and took a sip.

"I'm a little confused."

"About what?"

"Well, you said you and this….what was her name?"

"Megan," Kevin answered.

"Yeah, Megan. Anyway, you said that the two of you go all the way back to high school. Did you forgive her after you found out she'd cheated on you?"

"Yeah," Kevin said solemnly. "Yeah, I did. My siblings were furious about it, but I took her back anyway. I thought that she really felt bad about what she'd done and that she still loved me. I loved her too."

"You're a better person than I am then."

"I wouldn't say that," Kevin said. "I like to think I took her back because I really believed that she was sorry, but I knew better. I was just too stubborn to admit Kyle was right. Even if he's a mind reader, that doesn't make what happened easier for me to accept. Anyway, I took her back and I spent the rest of the school year in terror, waiting for her to end things. I knew Kyle was telling me the truth but I didn't want to believe it. So when graduation came along, lo and behold Megan broke up with me. She said that she didn't think we should put ourselves through a long distance relationship and I didn't really take it well. I ended up burying myself in my studies because it was easier to be the best law student I could be than face my problems. I'd be kidding myself if I said I was the first nineteen year old to assist my teacher with a fraud case just because of my natural talent. A lot of it had to do with the fact that I studied so much. Seven years later, Megan came to my office saying that she was having a divorce and she wouldn't trust anyone with her case but me. She was willing to pay a lot of money and that money's what paid for this house. In full I might add. I agreed to be her lawyer and one thing led to another and we were sleeping together again. We were making all these plans to be together after all these years and that now would finally be the right time and so on. The day she was going to finalize her divorce, she came into my office and told me that she and her husband were going to try and work things out. That was the same day Heather was born. If it weren't for her, I don't know what I would've done."

"Geez," Amber said. "And here I thought I'd had it bad."

"Yeah," Kevin said. "That guest bedroom's been that way since then. I never want to go in there because it makes me uncomfortable."

"Interesting," Amber sighed. "Did getting rid of the dinosaur sheets help?"

"A little," Kevin said honestly. "Putting up that puzzle helped too."

"It is a nice puzzle of horses," Amber said. The two smiled at each other and Amber took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I've been so cruel."

"Do you feel a little better now that we've talked?"

"Not much, but at least I've gotten some of this off my chest."

"You said that you felt repeated rejections. Did you and Adam have an on again off again."

"No," Amber said. "It's more complicated than that. I have a lot of parent issues on top of being a woman scorned."

"Based on what I've heard about you, I can imagine so."

"I bet. I never knew either my mom or my dad. All I have left of my mother are her things, this necklace, and the face she gave me right before she died…she looked so contemptuous. That look has haunted me all my life. And my father, all I have of him are his clothes and a story his friend told me."

"You have his clothes?"

"I was wearing them when you caught me and Amanda. I stole them from the prison he'd escaped from in '75. I can't believe they kept those clothes, but they did."

"I only know about Krueger's criminal behavior. He raped and murdered a woman, correct?"

"Yeah," Amber nodded with a weak voice. "My father had befriended someone after he'd been changed. I had the chance to talk to him when I'd encountered him."

"He didn't tell you he wasn't guilty or that he wasn't that bad a guy did he?"

"Not necessarily. Harold was his name by the way. Harold told me that my father had, yes, raped and murdered a woman and that he wasn't exactly the most understanding or easily dealt with man. Harold did give me a little perspective on the matter."

"What kind of perspective?"

"He mostly told me about my father's childhood. He was a half black child to a white supremacist—"

"Half black?" Kevin interrupted. "You're a third black?"

"Yeah," Amber smiled shyly. "My grandmother had been a very pale black woman. Instead of living the life of a black woman in the forties, she decided to pass as a white woman. I've seen her picture before and she certainly fooled me. Since she was passing for a white woman, she married a white man and had a child with that man. My grandfather eventually found out that my grandma was a black woman and that's when he became violent. According to Harold, my father lost a lot of respect for my grandma because she was so subservient to her husband despite his cruelty. He hated women." Amber started to tremble just a little. "Harold had told me that my father wanted a son; a companion was the term he used. Sometimes I wonder how he would've treated me if he'd had me or if he would've hated me because I'm a girl." Kevin didn't say anything. There really was nothing he could say that would be remotely comforting. "What about Heather's mom?"

"What about her?" Kevin asked, surprised by the change of topic.

"When does she see Heather?"

"She doesn't," Kevin said bluntly. "She didn't want to be a mother, I wanted to be a father and take responsibility for what had happened, so we agreed that I would take full custody of her and Page would walk away."

"Wow," Amber said. Kevin noticed her get somewhat teary eyed. "Does she know?"

"More or less," Kevin said. "She tried writing Page letters so they could get to know one another but Page made it clear she wanted no further contact. I think Heather still has that letter, but I don't know where she keeps it. I just hope she doesn't look at it or has forgotten about it, though the latter could just be my wishful thinking."

"I guess I'm not the only one in this house that was thrown away."

"Heather wasn't thrown away," Kevin said somewhat defensively. "No matter what Page's decision was, I took her because I love her. She doesn't need Page."

"You don't think she needs a mother?" It took everything in him not to jump on that opportunity. Now wasn't the time to bring up his affections for her despite her cold brashness since they'd met.

"I think she has enough aunts and a grandma to make up for it. At least until I meet the right woman." Kevin left it at that.

"Easier said than done," Amber said.

"That's why I'm still a single father after eight years," Kevin said back. "I do the best I can, but sometimes I feel like it's not enough."

"It wouldn't kill you to keep food in the house," Amber said, though she was smiling and it made Kevin smile back.

"I'm off work tomorrow, so I'll go grocery shopping then. Seeing as you know how to cook, would you mind coming with us?"

"I guess I could. Daddy said he was coming over tomorrow to check up on me, so I guess I could tell him to wait until the afternoon."

"So how'd you learn how to cook?"

"Adam opened his own diner about a year after he graduated from culinary school. He'd been teaching me how to cook since we got together and once that place opened, he hired me on as one of his cooks. It was the first time I'd ever felt really independent."

"Knowing how to cook never hurts," Kevin smiled. "I'm usually at work most of the time, so by the time I get home, Heather's already had dinner."

"This is what's wrong with lawyers," Amber said. "You work so damn much that your job and being on top means more to you than your family."

"I resent that," Kevin said. "Heather always comes first to me. I know I'm at work a lot, but I always try to get home by six or so. I don't work nearly as much as I used to before Heather came around. Before I was a father, I would work from six in the morning to nine at night. Sometimes I wouldn't even leave the office depending on the cases I have. Right now I'm prosecuting a murder and it's been hell on my home time."

"You mean the guy that drowned both his wives? I read about it in the paper."

"One in the same. I'm the prosecutor for that case. I've been more of a divorce attorney since Heather was born. It allows me more time at home, but I'll take on a fraud case from time to time. I've been a coveted fraud lawyer since my second year out of law school."

"Where did you go?"

"Yale," Kevin said, admittedly with some arrogance. "I got a full ride because of my grades and because I was able to prove I'm half Native American."

"Well aren't you high and mighty," Amber said, again with a teasing smile and it made Kevin chuckle. "Thanks for listening to me. I guess I really did need to talk about everything."

"Think nothing of it. I just want you to enjoy your stay while you recover."

"Thanks for that," Amber said. "I think I should go to bed. It's late."

"Yeah, I'll let you go. I should get some work done."

"It's too late for that. Go to bed and get some sleep too. Whatever you want to work on can wait until tomorrow. I'll keep Heather occupied if you need."

"Well," Kevin said, a little surprised, "I guess we could do that."

"Good. Now help me get upstairs." Kevin stood from the table and went around to Amber and helped her out of her chair and into her crutches. Then he helped her up the stairs and to her room. "Also, thanks for the talk. It really did help."

"I'm happy to help," he said. "Well….good night."

"Good night."

After that, Amber closed the door to the bedroom and went to bed. Kevin went back downstairs to throw away his beer bottle. He went to his office and grabbed a few things to work on in his bedroom. On top of this murder trial, Kevin was working on a messy divorce between two people that had no business getting married in the first place from what he could tell and keeping this divorce collaborative was a pain in the ass. They both wanted completely different things out of the divorce and neither would budge, so making them both happy was next to impossible. He fell asleep working and woke up to the sound of Amber and Heather talking about going grocery shopping. He forced himself out of bed and got dressed before going downstairs where the two were. Amber was still wearing her pajamas as was Heather and they were watching a cartoon together.

"Oh, there he is," Amber said after she glanced back towards the stairs.

"Morning daddy," Heather said. She ran to him and hugged him. "Amber says we're going grocery shopping today."

"Yes, honey, we are. So you two better get dressed." Heather ran upstairs and Amber began to follow but Kevin stopped her a moment. "Did you already call your dad about waiting to come until the afternoon?"

"Yeah, I did. He and Amanda will be here by three."

"Alright. Heather and I usually go to my parents' house for dinner on Sundays. Do you all want to come with us?"

"I'll ask daddy about it."

Kevin waited downstairs until Heather and Amber were dressed and had come downstairs. Amber did most of the food selection. Heather would tell her 'I don't like spinach' or 'I don't want to eat steak' and Amber always said 'You'll like it once there's cheese on it' or something like that. The first thing Amber did when they got back to the house was make Heather and Kevin something for lunch. She kept it simple, some grilled cheese sandwiches and chips. As promised, around one thirty Robert came over with Amanda to come visit. They both went to the living room where she was playing with Heather and Kevin went back to his seat at the couch, once he'd answered the door, so get some more work done.

"How do you feel, honey?" Robert asked.

"I'm feeling better. Kevin's been a lot of help." Kevin smiled a little, but kept his eyes on his work.

"That's good to hear."

"At least she's not so cranky anymore. The pity party was getting really old."

"Saving your fat ass from trouble is getting really old too."

"I'M NOT FAT!" Amanda yelled.

"Really? The way you broke my leg in half, I would think you're a mammoth."

"Stop it, both of you," Robert ordered. "Honestly, the way you two fight."

"If Amber would stop calling me fat, there would be nothing to argue about. If anyone has a fat ass, it's her. She's the one that's black."

"Oh," Amber started defensively. "We're going there now are we? Well, Miss Thang, better black than Italian. At least I don't have to worry about growing hair on my chin." Amanda screamed a little as she tried to attack Amber, but Robert grabbed Amanda as Kevin moved closer to Amber completely out of reflex, something Robert immediately noticed. Though now wasn't the time.

"Amanda, she's just teasing but Amber, you shouldn't be so mean to your sister."

"If she keeps being a bitch—"

"Amber," Robert interrupted, "for God's sake, there's a child in the room. Sensor yourself." Amber looked at Heather, who just smiled.

"A change of topic then," Amber said. "Kevin and his family usually have a family dinner on Sundays and he invited us to come along."

"What's the point? None of us eat," Amanda said.

"Maybe it's polite and it would be nice to socialize. Did you ever think of that?"

"That sounds like a lovely offer," Robert interrupted to stop the arguing. "It might be nice for Amber to get out of this house. Remember what Carlisle said about moving around. Just because you have a broken leg doesn't mean you have to stay cooped up in the house."

"Don't worry, daddy, I've been moving around plenty. I went grocery shopping with them this morning. Mr. Lawyer here barely had any fresh food in the house and someone needed to straighten him out."

"You certainly seemed to move on," Amanda said. "And it only three months." Amber shot Amanda a look of death and Kevin got nervous. They'd been getting along so well. Who knows how this would set their relationship back.

"He's letting me stay here while I recover. I'm bound to interact with them. That doesn't mean I'm sleeping with him."

"Can we not talk about this," Kevin asked, gesturing towards Heather who, thankfully, wasn't listening. She was watching her cartoon.

"Indeed," Robert said, though Kevin noticed an odd hint in his voice of irritation. "Do your parents still live on the reservation?"

"Of course they do," Kevin said.

"You're the son that was off at college last we were here correct?"

"Yeah. I was at Yale at the time."

"Really?" Robert said, admittedly a little impressed. "That's an impressive school."

"Indeed it is. I got a full ride there too."

"I bet your parents were happy about that."

"It certainly made it easier on me, yes. I had plenty of money saved up from those years working at the convenience store on the reservation so if there was anything I needed, I could usually take care of it myself. The only thing I ever asked for help for was getting a new washing machine."

"Why did you need a new washing machine?" Amber asked.

"Long story short, my roommate had thrown a party, one of his friends spent the night because he was too drunk to walk let along drive and in the morning he mistook the washing machine for the toilet."

That's gross," Amber and Amanda both said.

"No kidding. No amount of cleaning would make that piece of crap usable again. I couldn't afford a new one, so I called mom and dad and asked to burrow some money for a new machine. I paid them back as soon as I got my first paycheck at the law firm."

"Well aren't you a dutiful son," Robert said.

"I try to be."

"You're the oldest too correct?"

"Yep, I'm the oldest."

"That's what I thought."

For the rest of the early afternoon, Robert was subtly grilling Kevin. He wasn't stupid. He knew a man enamored when he saw one and he also knew the Quileute wolves were prone to love at first sight. Imprinting as it had been explained to him. He saw the way Jacob looked at Renesmee and the way other pack members looked at their imprints and it was the same look of admiration and adoration Kevin was showing to Amber, albeit whenever she wasn't looking. At least he had the decency to allow Amber some space. Kevin sent Heather to her room around four thirty to put on something nice. From what he'd heard, the Cullens would be coming and if Alice saw Heather in any less than her Sunday best for dinner, she would never let Kevin live it down. "She's too adorable not to be dressed in her Sunday best for dinner," she would say. Amber stayed in her jean shorts and oversized black tank top and pink bra. One of the good things about the Cullens coming, the moment Alice noticed that Amber was still wearing the same thing she'd been wearing when they met, she'd drag her to the mall to buy some desperately needed new clothes whether she liked it or not. Since there would be a lot of people in the car, Amber sat up front so she'd have some leg room and Heather sat in the back with Robert and Amanda. They got to Jacob and Nessie's house by five thirty and Nessie was already in the kitchen with Ada working on dinner. Jacob was in the living room with Nathan, Ariel, and Gabriel when Kevin and his party walked in and Jacob came to the front to say hi to Kevin.

"Hi Mr. Black," Amber said nicely.

"Jacob's fine. I may be sixty, but you don't need to address me as such."

"If it's worth anything, you don't look a day over twenty four," Robert said.

"Thanks for that," Jacob said. "I heard about what happened." Jacob took a moment to shoot a knowing look at Kevin before immediately returning his eyes to Amber. "How's your leg doing?"

"Much better, thank you. It still hurts to put pressure on it, but it's getting better."

"Just keep moving around. Just be happy Carlisle only had one bone to put back into place. Years ago, we had an issue with a newborn army and one of them broke every bone on the right side of my body."

"That must've been awful," Amanda said. Kevin looked at her, noticing her voice had softened substantially.

"Believe me, it was. It got worse when Carlisle had to re-break all my bones so I would heal properly."

"The one was enough," Amber mumbled, cringing.

"Come on, let's get you to a chair." Jacob led Amber with him to the living room and helped her sit on the couch. Ariel, Gabriel and Nathan said hello to her as she sat, but it was when Amanda took a seat next to her that Ariel really took notice. Gravity shifted for him and Ariel couldn't take his eyes off Amanda. She had olive toned skin, clearly Italian. Considering the deep tone of her olive skin, it was safe to assume she was Sicilian to be specific. Long black hair that was curled, deep brown almond shaped eyes with long eye lashes, full pink lips, a classic angular Roman nose, and a square face with subtle features.

"Hey," Ariel said to Amanda. She glanced at him and smiled.

"Hey back," then she turned right back to Jacob, who sat at his usual chair. "So what do you do for a living Jacob?" It took a moment for it to dawn on Ariel that his imprint had just blown him off for his grandpa, but when it fully dawned on him, he was flabbergasted. Jacob, however, didn't initially notice Amanda's flirtation.

"I'm a mechanic," Jacob answered. "I own a shop down in Forks and I've had that shop well over thirty years now."

"Wow," Amanda said. "I wish I knew how to fix cars. I can barely change a tire let alone fix a car."

"I hear that a lot," Jacob shrugged, still oblivious to Amanda's flirting. Either that, from what Ariel could tell, or he was simply ignoring her. Either way, his imprint was swooning over his grandpa and it was pissing him off.

"I help out there sometimes," Ariel said. "I'm actually a bartender by profession. I just opened up my own bar in Port Angeles last year."

"I don't drink," Amanda said.

"Neither do I, but mixology is an art. You should come and see it. I own the Brasilia Tapas Bar on East 1st Street. I have a balcony area where guests can get a good view of the water while they're eating."

"Do you operate as a blood bar too?" Amanda asked.

"No way," Ariel smiled. "Gretchen's a shark. She'd run me out of business if I did that."

"Sounds like a monopoly to me," Jacob said, irritated.

"As much of a monopoly as any bar could possibly be," Ariel laughed. "I stick with good old fashioned alcohol and food and I've been doing great since I opened."

"That's nice," Amanda said politely, but she still didn't look the least bit impressed. "So Jacob," she turned back to Jacob, "based on my math, you're a nineties baby right?"

"Born in December 1990. Why?"

"It's just, the nineties was a weird decade. I hear it's the age of techno."

"I'm not sure I'd say that. I'd just say it was the age of experimenting our way out of the eighties until we found something bearable. It was the great special effects age, though. I might not care much for Titanic, but I have to give James Cameron one thing: he made a beautiful movie. He mixed CGI with real stages and miniatures and it was one hell of a realistic look he gave the Titanic. It's almost a shame it had to sink."

"Well thanks for ruining the ending," Amanda teased and Jacob gave her a strange look.

"Ah fuck, I really am old aren't I? So old that kids don't know the Titanic really happened."

"I knew it'd actually happened," Amanda said. "I was just joking. I've actually never seen the movie, but I've heard plenty about the Titanic."

"I say just watch the second half of the movie where some of the best special effects are shown and call it a day," Jacob said.

"I think the Cullens own it. I'll be sure to do that when I get back. Unless you have it in which case we should all watch it together."

"Sorry, I don't have it. Anything I have to watch isn't really child appropriate," Jacob said, glancing at Heather who was sitting on Kevin's lap.

"We could watch a Disney movie," Heather spoke up. "Maybe we could watch Wreck-it Ralph!"

"That works."

"Yay!" Heather yelled as she leaped from Kevin's lap and went right to where the DVDs were kept. She looked for the movie she wanted and got it set up all on her own. When she got past the menu screen and started the movie, she went to Jacob and sat on his lap. The movie started and as it continued, there were several videogame reference that Jacob either remembered really well or vaguely remembered.

"See," Jacob said to Amanda, "this is what being a 90's baby does. I get all these videogame references." Then Jacob patted Heather's head. "You don't even know who that blue hedgehog is do you?"

"Nope," Heather said proudly.

"Damn it, I'm old," Jacob said with a heavy, amused sigh.

"You certainly don't look old," Amanda said. This time, Jacob did glance strangely at Amanda, but he said nothing. It was then that Natalie, Suerro and Nazaire finally came and they all went right to the living room to say hi to Jacob first. Natalie hugged Jacob around his neck and kissed his head.

"Hi, daddy," she said.

"Hey Natalie. How's the theatre treating you?"

"Well," Natalie said. Natalie glanced over at Amber. "So how's your leg?"

"It's getting better. So you're the giant fur ball we've heard about so infamously? Forgive me for not having a laugh at your expense the night we met. I was more concerned with Amanda whining in my ear while I had bone poking out."

"I understand," Natalie said with a smile. She could tell Amber was in much better spirits since she was teasing. Perhaps Kevin had already begun to work his arrogant magic. "You won't be laughing when I win the blue ribbon," she joked. "Oh, excuse me, I should probably introduce you. I don't know where my manners went."

"They've been gone all your life," Nathan teased and Natalie swatted his head with an equal smile as he laughed.

"Anyway, this is my husband Suerro. And this is my son Nazaire."

"Nazaire?" Amber looked at him strangely.

"If you ask if I'm Pakistani, I will murder you," Nazaire said.

"I was actually going to guess Israeli. Am I to assume you simply have a Muslim name?"

"It's not a Muslim name, it's a divination of the city where Jesus was born with French spelling. Aside from my grandma's influence, I'm 75% Quileute."

"I would never guess with a name like Nazaire."

"Am I to presume you're a prehistoric rock then?"

"I'm sorry about him," Natalie patted Nazaire's back. "He takes a little too much after his father sometimes."

"Doesn't every son," Amber said with a smile.

"I don't know about Kevin," Jacob teased, looking at Kevin. "He takes more after his mother."

"Is Nessie an arrogant prick too?" Amber said and Kevin chuckled.

"He's referring to my good looks," Kevin said. "The arrogant prick part is all me."

"What's a prick?" Heather asked.

"It's what a needle does to your finger," Jacob rushed to make false clarification.

"You would lie to the poor thing?" Amanda asked with a smile.

"I'm not lying to her. 'I pricked my finger with a needle'. It's an appropriate definition."

"You're in the right, naturally."

"Hey," Gabriel said, "I'm grabbing a beer from the kitchen. You want to join me in the dining room?"

"Why?"

"Porque está fervendo," (Because you're seething) Gabriel said. Ariel looked at him a moment before nodding and following Gabriel to the dining room. Gabriel took two beers from the fridge, saying hi to Ada and Nessie as he passed, and joined Ariel in the dining room. He opened both beers and handed one to Ariel, continuing to speak Portuguese. "Então, o que o fez com tanta raiva?" (So, what has you so angry?).

"Minha impressão é de amor com o nosso avô. Por que diabos você acha que eu estou tão bravo?" (My imprint is in love with our grandpa. Why the hell do you think I'm so angry?).

"Ah," Gabriel said, "So that's what it is. I'm sure everything will work out eventually."

"Me viu tentar falar com ela. Estava completamente desinteressado," (You say me try to talk to her. She was completely uninterested).

"It might help to talk about common interests."

"How am I supposed to do that when I don't know what those common interests are?" Ariel barked back under his breath.

"I don't know," Gabriel said. "I'm just the little brother. What would I know?" he threw back at him, and it only made Ariel more irritated. "Just keep talking to her. She'll come around if the two of you get to know each other. Our dad managed to get our mom to love him. I'm sure you can accomplish the same with a lesser challenge."

"I don't know that," Ariel said. "How do I know she won't be just as difficult?"

"You won't know until you interact some more."

"Dinner's ready," Nessie called from the kitchen. It was just about that time when the Cullens finally arrived at the house. They wouldn't be eating naturally, but they would be interacting. Carlisle asked Amber how she was feeling and she reassured him that she was doing much better already. Ariel tried to sit next to Amanda at the dinner table, but she'd taken a seat right to Jacob's left, eager to talk to him more. Nessie had overheard her talking to Jacob and had thought nothing of it until she saw the way Amanda was looking at him. She wasn't really sure whether to feel embarrassed for her or extremely angry with her. "So, Amanda, I hear you're the new addition to the Rouche family."

"Oh, yes, I am. I've been with them for five years now, so I'm not quite that new."

"We found her in a dumpster behind a strip club," Amber blurted with a mean smirk.

"And daddy found you in a house with a dead body," Amanda said right back. "Which is worse? A strip club, or a dead body?"

"Enough," Robert said. "Can we all have a conversation without the two of you arguing?"

"I'd say I'd rather be found behind a strip joint than in a house with a dead body," Ariel said, hoping to amuse Amanda or get on her good side.

"Gee, I wonder why that would be," Gabriel said in a teasing tone. "Amanda, you might find it interesting to know that Ariel—" Gabriel stopped Ariel pinched him so hard that it left a huge bruise, forcing him to refrain from mentioning the briefly dated Miss "Bambi" as he called her. What her real name was, who the hell knew. All he knew was that she was a stripper that worked at the Pussy Cat Gentleman's Club in Port Angeles.

"That you what?" Amanda asked Ariel, intrigued.

"Nothing. Gabriel's a bit of a story teller and he tends to make shit up. It's what happens when you're a writer for the newspaper. Isn't that right Gabriel?"

"He used to date a stripper named Bambi," Gabriel finally got out.

"Really?" Amanda said. "What was that like?"

"He had to tip her," Gabriel said as he started laughing.

"Por que de repente Aare tentando me envergonhar?" (Why are you suddenly trying to embarrass me?"

"Porque voce odeio," (Because I hate you) Gabriel said.

"Are you two speaking Spanish?" Amanda asked.

"They're speaking Portuguese you nitwit," Nessie of all people accidently blurted out without thinking. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

"Don't feel bad," Amber said. "I've called her worse."

"Indeed she has," Amanda said.

"It's understandable," Ariel jumped in. "Plenty of people mistake Portuguese for Spanish." Gabriel gave Ariel a strange look. Ariel was usually the first to criticize anyone that mistook them for Spanish. God help that person if they dared to mistake them for Mexican. Now here he was being uncharacteristically understanding and patient. Gabriel almost preferred his brother being intolerant.

"So who's kid are you?" Amanda asked.

"He's ours," Nathan said, gesturing between him and Ada.

"I didn't realize you guys were Portuguese."

"Only a percentage," Ariel said. "We're Quileute on dad's side and whatever grandma is and on mom's side we're Portuguese and Brazilian."

"We're Chilean," Gabriel corrected.

"No we're not. We're Brazilian."

"We're Incan," Gabriel started, "and the Inca Empire spread mostly through Chile. The empire as a whole stretched from Talca, Chile all the way to a small tip of Colombia. So if we're being realistic, we could technically be Chilean, Argentinean, Bolivian, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, or Colombian, but not Brazilian. The actual military headquarters of the empire was in Cusco, Peru, so we may just be Peruvian. Grandpa was a soldier, so it stands to reason we're Peruvian. Besides, Grandpa never spoke Spanish and neither did Aunt Huilen or Uncle Nahuel or any of our Aunts. They all spoke Quechua or a dialect of that first and then learned the language of the region they were in. In grandpa's case, that was Portuguese."

"Aunt Huilen speaks Spanish."

"Only a little. She pretty much speaks Quechua with Nahuel and any Portuguese she uses is just for Grandpa Raphael's sake. If she had it her way, she'd only speak Quechua."

"Okay, whatever, the point is we're Inca, Quileute, Portuguese and whatever Grandma Nessie is. So let me ask, are you really Italian?"

"As Italian as they come," Amanda said proudly.

"Hairs on her chiny chin chin and all," Amber said. Amanda glared at Amber.

"You don't have any," Ariel rushed. "Your face is perfectly clear."

"Of course it is. She plucked not too long ago."

"Will you shut up!" Amanda yelled. She took a deep breath and smiled at Jacob. "You know, one time, I stapled Amber's pajama pants to a tree because she said I'd gained eight pounds or something. She had to crawl out of her pajama pants and walk around in a t-shirt and her panties."

"You don't say," Jacob said awkwardly.

"I had to walk around like that for hours. Some guy mistook me for a prostitute and offered me eight hundred dollars to sleep with him."

"See, the night didn't turn out all bad. So how'd it go?" Amanda asked, expecting the worst having never really spoken to Amber about the following occurrences. Amber had been in such a seething mood afterwards that Amanda just assumed the worst.

"Fantastic actually. He had handcuffs in his trunk and when he got them, I handcuffed him to the light post and stole his money. I took his keys and left the driver's side door open with the keys in the car, so hopefully that car got stolen. I lubed up the light pole so he couldn't climb up and escape and once that was all done, I went to the nearest k-mart and bought new pants. I put them on in the dressing room after everyone saw me walk around in my underwear and sat on the register so the guy could ring them up." Kevin started snickering when she mentioned handcuffing the man and he kept laughing harder the further she got in her story.

"You had eight hundred dollars on your person and all you got was a pair of pants?" Alice asked.

"I saved it for a rainy day."

"By rainy day, she means using that money to help pay rent for that asshole."

"You know," Nathan spoke up, sensing another fight brewing and wanting to temper it, "I had to be a part of a sting to bring down a prostitution ring. The first step was to arrest a prostitute and make her give us information about her pimp and what not. We had to catch them actually accepting money for sex, so I went out in plain clothes and a plain car and night and drove up to a woman that was scantily clad and asked, 'How much?' And get this, she was charging $1200 for sex. I mean, I got her in the car and arrested her once she said, yes I'll sleep with you for money, but Jesus, $1200 just for sex?"

"Did she say just sex or was she saying that's how much for something kinky?" Ada asked.

"Nope, just regular sex. I don't even want to think what she could charge for anything weird. Anyway, we brought the whole things down. Turns out the pimp in charge of that area had about fifty women under his thumb and every last one of them needed extensive drug treatment once they got to prison. Just about all of them were heroin addicts. Some of them were crack addicts, but most of them used heroin. It was really sad honestly."

"It always is," Ada said. "Still, kudos for robbing the man blind," she said to Amber. "Lubing up the pole was a nice touch."

"I thought so," Amber said with a smile.

When Kevin and Heather had finally finished eating, Kevin decided, seeing as Amber and Amanda were arguing again, that it might be best to take everyone back to his house. Amber was happy to leave. Amanda was angering her and Robert was so tired of making them stop arguing that he simply didn't have the energy. Draining a vampire out of energy? That was one hell of an accomplishment. When they got home, the first thing Kevin did was take Heather upstairs and get her ready for bed. She begged to stay up for at least one more hour and Kevin caved. But when it was nine o'clock, Kevin told Heather it was time for bed and tucked her in. When Kevin came out of Heather's room, he saw Amber crutching her way to the guest bedroom.

"You turning in for the night?"

"I was just going to change into something more comfortable. I'm not really tired actually."

"After all that arguing you did over dinner, you're really not tired?"

"Nah," Amber said. "I've been arguing with her since we picked the garbage off her blanket. I'm used to it after all this time. I'll give my relationship with Adam one thing. Up until I caught him cheating, it was the quietest three years of my life."

Kevin chuckled, "I bet. I have court tomorrow, so I should probably get to sleep."

"Oh," Amber said, "I was actually going to ask you to watch a movie with me downstairs. I don't know how to use your TV and watching a movie alone is so boring."

"Oh," Kevin was torn. He knew he'd have to be at the courthouse by seven tomorrow morning, but he couldn't resist having an even remotely intimate date with Amber even if she didn't consider it that. "I'm sure I'll be fine," Kevin said. "I'll meet you downstairs."

Amber smiled and agreed and then stepped into her room to change (though admittedly only her pants). Kevin waited for her downstairs, grabbing himself a beer before going to the living room and setting up the blu ray player. As for what movie they'd watch, he waited for her to come downstairs so they could choose together. When Kevin heard Amber come from her room, he went up the stairs to help her get down safely.

"I'm not an invalid you know," Amber said, but this time she was smiling. "So what are we watching?" she asked after she was sitting on the couch.

"Well, I thought we should choose together since this was your idea."

"Okay. What movies do you have?"

"Lots of Disney and Pixar movies," Kevin joked. "Anything that's on the bottom shelf is for Heather. Anything that's mine is on the top shelf and well out of Heather's reach. I wouldn't want her to put in Django Unchained now would I?"

Amber laughed, "I would certainly say so. Can we watch something else, though? I'm not a fan of Quentin Tarantino."

"No one is, but I admit the man was good at what he did. What kind of movie are you in the mood for?"

"Do you have anything old?"

"Define old."

"Something really old, like from the sixties or something."

"No, I'm afraid I don't." Amber nodded slightly sad.

"Go upstairs to my room and check my bag for Sense and Sensibility. It's the one with Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman."

"Professor Snape was in a Jane Austin movie?"

"Indeed. He plays Col. Brandon. Have you never seen any movie reenactments of Jane Austin novels?"

"No, I haven't. I think I saw bits and pieces of Pride and Prejudice when I was in high school."

"Which one?"

"The one with Keira Knightly."

Amber scrunched her nose, "That's not the one to watch. She did a good job in Anna Karenina though. Weirdly artistic if I'm being completely frank, but she did a decent job. I think they were basically making a movie of the book based on the play rendition, so that would explain why it's weird. If you want a good Pride and Prejudice, the one to go with is the 1995 version with Collin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Granted it's a mini-series, but it's a really good rendition of the novel."

"I've never really been into Jane Austin. I pretended to read Pride and Prejudice and wrote a paper about it and I passed. So I'm happy."

"Well, I'll settle for showing you Sense and Sensibility for now."

"Do we have to?" Kevin asked, though smiling.

"You said I would help pick the movie and I've picked it. It's one of my mom's movies." Kevin finally relented and went up to the guest bedroom and looked through her bag for the movie. He saw the DVD full set of America's Next Top Model with a picture of all the contestants on the front. On it, he saw a woman that looked strikingly like Amber wearing the same namesake necklace around her neck, though her lips weren't as full nor were her breasts as ample as Amber's. He assumed it to be Amber's mother. He also saw the torn jeans that were far too big for her and a handful of other DVDs and blu ray movies. He finally grabbed Sense and Sensibility and walked out of the room, not wanting to impose on her privacy than he already had.

"Is this is?" Kevin asked, holding up the movie.

"Yep. It's the only copy of Sense and Sensibility that I have. Pop it in and let's watch the movie." As Kevin started setting up his DVD player, Amber continued. "The only weird thing is they cut some of the smallest things from the book. For instance, in the book, Fanny and John have a son, but they don't in the movie. Either that or he's never mentioned. Based on the movie, as far as I can tell, Mrs. John Dashwood only has a small Italian Greyhound or something along those lines."

"Don't worry," Kevin teased, "I won't notice." Amber smiled and laughed a little. Finally, Kevin got the movie started and sat on the couch with Amber, closer than they'd ever sat together he noticed. It wasn't even five minutes into the movie before he made his first comment. "What's this woman's name again? The one holding the dog?"

"Mrs. John Dashwood a.k.a Fanny."

"Fanny's a huge bitch." Amber started laughing and so did Kevin.

"Indeed she is. Believe me, it gets better."

"Are all British people this backhandedly polite or is it just here?"

"It's people of that class that share Mrs. John Dashwood's sentiments about penniless women. Now hush, you, we're watching a movie." Kevin stayed silent through most of the first half of the movie at least until they finally met Alan Rickman.

"Holy shit, Professor Snape used to be blonde?"

Amber started giggling, "It's not Professor Snape, its Colonel Brandon. Now stop it, Marianne is singing."

"Alright," Kevin said and stayed quiet, again until they came to a surprising part. "Wait a minute. Mr. Willoughby got a girl pregnant?"

"Yes sir he did and now he's penniless unless he can marry that woman with a fifty thousand pound dowry. You may find this surprising, but even the 19th century British had illicit love affairs that resulted in unwanted pregnancies."

"If you say so," Kevin chuckled. "Am I the only one that thinks Sir John and his mother are bat shit insane?"

"No, I agree, they're a little silly. But they're a fun silly."

"Depends on your definition of fun I'd think." Amber smiled and stayed silent. "So wait, Colonel Brandon's in love with Marianne? Isn't Marianne, like, sixteen."

"And Colonel Brandon's only thirty five. For that time in England, it's a rather lucky age different if you ask me. I consider men in their thirties to be of higher quality than men in their twenties, heirs to fortunes or not." Kevin said nothing. "I like to think that by thirty, men have gotten the philandering out of their systems."

"Men that philander don't usually stop when they're in their thirties."

"So you're still one that sleeps around?" Amber asked without thinking.

"I haven't had sex in six years," Kevin admitted. "The last girlfriend I had was some woman that had been an opponent of mine in a minor case seven years ago and as it is, we weren't really dating. We were arguing over something, I was still really depressed about what happened with Megan and, I'm not proud to admit this, I needed some reassurance that I wasn't a complete throw away. We slept together for a while, then I found out she was married only after her husband found out about me and then it turned kind of ugly. I just told him I was sorry and that I'd have nothing more to do with his wife and that was the end of that. So really, it didn't solve anything at all."

"I'm not surprised. So six years you say?"

"Yep," Kevin said, "six years. Work and Heather have pretty much taken over my life and free time."

"Does it bother you?"

"No," Kevin said honestly. "After what happened with that woman, I promised that I wouldn't let another woman into my life until I found my imprint." Kevin stopped a moment, realizing he'd jumped the gun.

"Ah yes, that sordid business."

"I would hardly call it sordid. In fact, it's one of the purest types of love I've ever seen in my life."

"All I know is it's love at first sight."

"Let me ask you something," Kevin decided to be so bold. "Have you felt anything for any of the wolves that you've met?" Amber stayed silent and watched the sisters make their journey back to their cottage from London.

"I may have," Amber said. "As far as I can tell, anything I've felt for anyone has been blind infatuation. I admit that many of your siblings are extremely good looking. I think Amanda may be taken with your father in fact."

"Next you meet her, I'd recommend you tell her to lay off. My mother may seem like a loving, patient woman, but she doesn't tolerate nonsense at all. If Amanda get's too presumptuous, mom won't hesitate to put her in her place and remind her that Mr. Black is very married and very off limits."

Amber giggled. "How long have your parents been married?"

"Thirty five years," Kevin said. "And there's a good reason my siblings and I prefer not to go on patrol with our dad. He and mom are still very much intimate with each other and we prefer to know as little of it as possible."

"I don't blame you."

"So…which of the wolves did you find especially appealing?"

"I'm hardly in a position to voice any affections for another man. I was just bailed out of jail for aggravated assault on my ex and the bitch he cheated on me with." Amber caught herself becoming harsh and took a deep breath. "I'm in no position to set my sights on another man. Let's just leave it at that."

"Not even if he were far better?" Amber looked at Kevin someone defensively and slightly unnerved.

"What's your definition of better?"

"A man that won't fool around on you for start. I've been on the receiving end and I would never do the same to another. I know how much it hurts. I may not have attacked Megan and those two guys she cheated with, but believe me I had enough rage to want to. Secondly, there really isn't much money or free time in being a chef. You should be with someone that has more to provide and more time to spare."

"I would be inclined to agree. Maybe once I have the sting of an assault charge off my mind, I'll consider seeing another man. Hopefully that'll happen soon. I dread the idea of resuming travel with daddy and Amanda."

"You don't have to," Kevin said in a rush than hurried to add to the thought. "I admit, as much as I love having Rosalie look after Heather, I think it would be beneficial for her to have someone here at all times."

"You mean like a live-in nanny?"

"Pretty much. I've considered hiring an Au Pair, but that would mean paying for her college fund and, frankly, if I'm sending anyone to college, it'll be Heather. I don't want to send another person's kid to college. Anyway, I could pay you for it. Name any price and you'll have it and I'll give you money whenever it's time to buy groceries or if any other necessity comes up."

"You've known me three days and you're offering me a job as your nanny? You really are creepy."

"I just thought to offer an alternative to you going back with your dad and sister. You don't have to say yes."

"I'll consider it," Amber said eventually. By now, the movie was almost over and Elinor and Edward were finally admitting their love to one another. When the movie was finally over, Kevin turned it off and Amber took a hold of her crutches lifting herself from the couch. "Thanks for watching a movie with me. I'll let you go to bed now. I'll turn in myself."

"Yeah," Kevin said as he followed her up the stairs after having turned off the TV. "Rosalie will be here early. And I think it only fair to warn you that Alice is almost certainly repulsed by your lack of clothing variety and will force you to go shopping with her tomorrow."

"She can't make me go," Amber said.

"I wouldn't count on that. Alice has a way of persuasion that even I haven't quite mastered though I can assure you that I'm working on it."

"I imagine so. Well, good night," Amber said.

"Good night."

Kevin left early the next morning as Rosalie was coming in. He finally arrived at the courthouse at nearly seven and worked on some paperwork, getting his argument and questions fine tuned before the trial at nine. The courtroom was packed by the time the trial started and when the defendant came in with his lawyer, he could tell the man was in ill spirits for one reason or another. All the better for Kevin as far as he was concerned. The more he could press the man's buttons with his questions to witnesses, the worse he'd look before a jury. The way the man had been acting and seething so far, the jury wouldn't be arguing more than an hour. Though Kevin liked to think that, on top of the poor presentation on the defendant's part, he was dealing with a case of common sense.

The first witness of the day was the defendant's girlfriend (or so she claimed). The defendant swore up and down that he'd never met this woman or had an affair with her a day in his life yet the woman was able to produce pictures and gifts given to her by the defendant, some of which had belonged to the defendant's late second wife. The evidence was staking up and, according to friends of the defendant that had been questioned last meeting, the defendant was seeing his second wife long before his first had died. The defense attorney tried his hardest to put doubt in the jury's mind that these were simple coincidences but there was plenty of damage done already. The defense would have to pull the defendant out of a frightfully deep hole to get the jury back on his side.

The day ended eventually and the judge looked through the schedule book to find a suitable day to reconvene. He appointed the trial to continue at nine o'clock on the following Monday again. It was Kevin's hope that they could keep this trial under a month, but that was looking to be unlikely. The defense had so many witnesses and as it was, the defendant was insisting that he be allowed to take the stand in his own defense, but was being heavily advised against it. Kevin didn't get home until ten at night. Rosalie left after telling Kevin about Heather's day and then he saw Amber in the living room in, surprisingly, a sheer white blouse with a purple tank top underneath and a pair of white spring shorts.

"Your aunt made me go shopping with her," Amber said when she looked at Kevin.

"You look beautiful in any case."

"Thank you." Kevin noticed Amber blush a little, but that quickly went away. "Heather's already in bed, so I guess you can turn in too. I imagine you had a hard day."

"Dealing with a bipolar man always is difficult. I was actually hoping to speak with someone rational at least once today."

He earned a smile from her. "I suppose I could spare some time. I admit I'm tired myself. Your vicious aunt wouldn't let me rest a single moment and she spent well over a thousand dollars on me. I don't know what could've possibly possessed her to do such a thing. Mind you, that thousand dollars went towards blouses and pants alone. You could not imagine the amount of faux jewelry she bought me and some purses and shoes. I don't think I've ever had such a vast wardrobe even when I used to steal my clothes."

"Alice does that," Kevin smiled. "Can I see the other clothes she bought you?"

"I suppose you could," she said. Kevin followed her up the stairs to the guest bedroom and he saw several bags from several different stores, even some Victoria Secret bags.

"I see she even bought you panties," Kevin chuckled.

"Don't you look at those. That's private." Amber pulled out several blouses and shirts and showed them to him. "She thinks these flatter me, but I can't imagine wearing these while traveling. I'd hate to get any of this dirty."

"I think you look beautiful," Kevin said without thinking. He remained silent, monitoring her reaction which seemed muted. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or concerned.

"Well thank you for that. I admit, it's nice to wear different things for a change. She got me blazers, pleated shirts and skirts, sweaters, jeans, shorts and skirts. She also bought me two bags." Amber held up the two purses, one a patchwork bag with varied colors and a buckle around the top and the other a pure white cylindrical purse with silver pieces. "I couldn't decide which I liked better, so I just got them both. And," Amber held up a smaller clutch, "she bought me a wallet. And I officially have more cardigans and sweaters than I know what to do with. She even got me a cashmere sweater!"

"I do love cashmere," Kevin smiled.

"I didn't used to, but now that I've actually felt cashmere, I can honestly say it's the softest thing I've ever felt."

"My mom wears a lot of cashmere," Kevin said offhandedly. "I have a very positive association with cashmere sweaters." Amber pulled out a pink cashmere sweater and put it on over her current shirt (all while standing on one leg with her crutches against the wall) and hugged herself in it.

"This one's my favorite. I so rarely wear pink and this is such a tasteful pink." As she spoke, Kevin came a little closer to her. "I have at least eight other colors of this sweater. One thing's for sure. When winter comes around, I'll be good and cozy. She even bought me a heavy coat to protect it. I don't know how I'll carry all these things around with me."

"If you took me up on my offer, all you'd need is a closet," Kevin said. It was then that Amber realized that Kevin was much closer than he'd been before. She also noticed the look he was giving her. It was a strange look that she couldn't quite explain that set her stomach in a flutter. It would be dim of her to assume that he wasn't attracted to her based on the things he'd asked her the night before, but what she saw at present wasn't simple attraction. There was something more to it that she couldn't quite pin down. Whatever it was, she could sense herself feeling something similar and it was making her uncomfortable.

"So you were being serious about that?" Amber asked nervously, though doing her best to maintain a steely façade.

"Of course I was being serious. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it."

"You do realize the only experience I have with children is my little sister? And you see how well I handle her."

"Amanda's a different story. She's your stepsister and you don't like sharing a parental figure with her. Heather isn't like Amanda in that she doesn't enrage you or bring out your natural snarliness." Kevin was, of course, teasing about the last part, but it seemed she didn't quite take it that way. "My point it you get along really well with Heather and I know she likes you. It would be nice for her to have a woman in her life that's, one, closer to her age and two, can act as a non-biased caregiver unlike Rosalie. Don't get me wrong; Rosalie does a fantastic job taking care of Heather, but she needs someone that's more, 'I'll help you with this' as opposed to 'Don't you worry dear, I'll just do that for you'. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"She needs someone that'll challenge her, not hand everything over to her?"

"In the most basic terms, yes. And she really does like you. That always helps." Based on the look Kevin showed, she assumed he was the one that liked her more so than Heather.

"I should probably get to bed. You especially should get some sleep." Realizing she was dodging his statement, and for good reason, Kevin backed off and smiled.

"Yeah, I should. Good night." Amber wished him good night as he left but neither of them ended up sleeping well that night. Kevin knew why he was bothered but Amber didn't. She just knew something about the way he'd looked at her made her tremble and it wasn't what she wanted right now. She wasn't so dim to assume he wanted her to stay just to "babysit Heather". She wanted to resent him for considering her a sexual object, but she couldn't bring herself to assume such a thing of him.

They didn't talk as much as they had following that little encounter. Kevin had a feeling that he'd stepped over a boundary and Amber was too embarrassed about it. She also felt ashamed. Here she was trying to recover from going into a rage over a man and now, suddenly, she was attracted to Kevin more so than she'd ever been for Adam. She wouldn't tell him that, though. It wasn't the time and it was inappropriate. Heather was the first to notice the change, but she didn't say anything. It was grown-up stuff and she knew better than to poke her nose into anything where she didn't know the whole story. For the rest of that week, Kevin would go to work and Amber would be left alone with Rosalie until Heather came back from school. She and Rosalie spoke from time to time, but they had virtually nothing in common and neither wanted to torture themselves by forcing conversation that simply wasn't there.

Robert would visit often, but Amber noticed Amanda would come see her less and less. She thought nothing of it until she heard from Kevin that Nessie was getting irritated with her. Evidently, Amanda was genuinely interested in Jacob and went to several different lengths to earn his attention, including going to the shop and striking up a conversation with him while he was trying to eat his lunch. Nessie had been patient with Amanda initially, but it was no time before her patience began to wear thin and she couldn't take it anymore.

"She really showed up at the shop?" Bella asked Nessie, having come over after getting a call from her informing her that she was upset and wanted to talk. She'd gone to work in the morning but she finished all her paperwork before it even reached noon. Jacob knew Nessie was upset, so he told her to go home and relax. Jacob would be at the shop all day working on a hefty remodeling job and Nessie needed someone to talk to that knew Jacob almost as much as she did.

"Yes, mom, she did. She started flirting with him and the cashier has been informed that she's to be escorted off the premises as gently as possible should she come back with any non-car related intent."

"I have to say, I'm surprised you're handling this so calmly. You remember that receptionist he used to work with before he had his own shop? You never bothered being polite to her, but you're being very nice to Amanda."

"I'm tolerating her," Nessie corrected. "She'll leave as soon as Amber is recovered, so I don't see the point in starting something with her but my opinion is beginning to waver."

"How do you mean?"

"Well," Nessie thought a moment. "First it was a little funny. Then it swiftly became sad. Swifter still it became annoying. Now she's really starting to piss me off. And now Ariel's getting mad at Jacob because Amanda's paying more attention to my husband than to her imprint. I don't see how any of this is Jacob's fault but Ariel seems to see it that way. God forbid he admit his imprint may have the IQ of a pile of rocks."

"Why do you say she has the IQ of a rock?" Bella asked, somewhat amused.

"It's the only conclusion I can come to that explains why she's so damn determined to flirt with a married man. A happily married man I might add," Nessie hissed the last part. "I've been married to him for thirty five years. I think I know him a little better than she does and she doesn't get it. Jacob isn't exactly pleasant about not being interested anymore. He was gentle at first, but that didn't last long."

"What has Ariel been doing to improve the situation? I assume he's been making an effort to get Amanda to be interested in him."

"I don't know what to say about Ariel," Nessie sighed heavily. "You know him. He's always difficult."

"I can't imagine who they get it from," Bella muttered, though she had a bright and clear image in her mind of exactly who they got it from and it certainly wasn't Nathan. "Perhaps imprinting is becoming flawed. Kyle imprinted on a good girl and Jacob imprinted on you, so they're alright, but Nathan imprinted on a loose woman and now Ariel's in love with what I would go so far as to call a childish delinquent. And what's this I hear about Kevin imprinting of Amber?"

"I prefer Amber over Amanda."

"Agreed, but she's still….I don't know."

"She's better than Megan," Nessie pointed out. "After everything that girl did, I'd sooner let Kevin marry a troll than that girl. What I don't understand is why doesn't Amanda feel anything for Ariel?"

"That's certainly strange. Perhaps she's simply wearing blinders."

"They're some huge blinders then," Nessie mumbled. "Do you think Amber will be alright in less than three weeks? I just want Amanda to leave."

"Do you think Amber will go with them?"

"How should I know? Knowing Kevin, I'm sure he'll get her to stay with him. I don't mind if Amber stays, I just don't want Amanda to stay."

"Well, if Ariel finally wins her over, she will be staying."

"Yeah, but it'll be in Port Angeles and out of my husband's face. Honestly, I'm a hair away from slapping this girl."

"You already called her a nitwit, so you might as well slap her too."

Nessie finally smiled again but it went away when she got a text from Jacob saying he had to lock the door to the work shop since Amanda came into the shop. Hoping to get something done about this, Nessie texted Ariel to let him know that Amanda was at the shop again and he needed to come and get her out of there. Eager to do just that, Ariel left his bar in the hands of his manager for a time and drove straight to Forks. Amanda wasn't at the shop when he got there, but the cashier pointed him in the direction of the movie theatre where she'd asked him to offer an invitation to Jacob. Now was his chance to be alone with Amanda and finally win her heart. When he got to the theatre, he asked the ticket vendor if a woman that fit Amanda's description had come in and what ticket she bought. He mentioned an action movie that was showing at seven that day but that she left immediately after buying two tickets. Ariel thanked the vendor and kept close to the theatre waiting for Amanda to come back.

Several hours passed. He got a few calls from his manager whenever something came up, but that was the extent of his phone calls for the day. Otherwise he was working on some sales charts and mapping out paychecks for the week. His manager he could get away with paying only twice a month seeing as he was a full time guy with benefits and all. The waiters were usually paid once a week not counting their nightly tips. Around six thirty is when Amanda finally showed up again at the movie theatre. She waited outside, so Ariel paid for his coffee (he hates coffee but seeing as he was sitting there for several hours, he felt obligated to pay for something) and went outside to meet her, though he made an attempt to make his coming down the street seem natural. She didn't seem to notice him thankfully, so he was able to surprise her when he showed up.

"Hey Amanda," Ariel said, pretending to be surprised to see her. "What brings you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing here?"

"I was passing by," Ariel said.

"Bullshit. What are you really doing here?"

"Do I need a reason to walk down the street?" Ariel asked seriously and Amanda just sighed heavily.

"I suppose not," she finally said. "I don't suppose you've seen Jacob have you?" Ariel took a deep breath so he wouldn't show his anger and just smiled.

"I can't say I have. You do realize my grandpa is married right?"

"I'm not asking him to marry me," Amanda said as if it were obvious.

"You are hitting on him, though and my grandma's starting to lose her patience with you. You keep this up and she may just make an example of you."

"Oh, what is she going to do to me? Yell at me?"

"If you have angels flying out of your ass," Ariel more mumbled than anything. "You don't know my grandma. She's one of the sweetest women I know, but you cross her and you don't live to tell the tale."

"Oh, I'm so scared," Amanda said and it made Ariel laugh.

"You should be. I've seen Grandma Nessie get really mad. It'll give you nightmares for the rest of your life."

"If you say so," Amanda said, unconvinced.

"I'll be blunt with you. Jacob isn't going to show up. He's not interested in you."

"Married men can be stubborn."

"Oh God, you're basically my mom," Ariel said. "She was a big whore too."

"I resent that," Amanda said seriously. "I know what I want, so sue me."

"I'd set your sights on one more available."

"No thanks," Amanda said. "I'm not interested in younger men. I prefer them older."

"Especially when they look twenty," Ariel said rather pointedly.

"That's not the point. The point is that I find older men attractive because they're more secure. And not impugn on your prowess but I want my first time to be with a man that knows what he's doing."

"Hold on a second," Ariel said, a little dumbfounded. "First of all, what the hell makes you think I don't know what I'm doing? And secondly, you're a virgin?"

"Of course I'm a virgin. Who would I possibly have sex with when daddy's breathing down my neck all the time? Honestly, Amber ruined any opportunity I would've had. When she and Adam got together, daddy became overly protective and wouldn't let me go anywhere on my own ever. The only time away from him I've had since I was younger was when he broke Amber out of jail and she ran off so we went looking for her. Even then, he would text me constantly asking if I'd found Amber yet."

"He's certainly leaving you alone right now."

"He's more concerned about Amber right now. She's the one with a broken leg and a shit ex-boyfriend. With that to worry about, he's not keeping tabs on me or the shenanigans I could possibly get into. What kind of shenanigans could I possibly get into in a bumble fuck town like this?"

"I can't say I'd know. I grew up in Port Angeles. I grew up in a city where there was plenty of shit to get me in trouble." Amanda smiled just a little and then looked down at her tickets.

"So much for buying two movie tickets."

"We can watch it together if you're interested," Ariel offered hopefully. He glanced at his watch. It was seven, so the credits had at least started, but if they went in now, maybe they wouldn't miss the beginning of the movie. "We can still catch it if we hurry."

Amanda shrugged, "Might as well."

Ariel wasn't completely happy with her lack of enthusiasm, but agreeing to see the movie with him was a start at least. They managed to catch the movie in time, only missing the first three minutes. Thirty minutes into the movie, Ariel knew it was going to be awful. It certainly wasn't a Die Hard or anything for sure. The theatre was virtually empty, so Ariel used that time to find better entertainment.

"You never answered my first question," he whispered in Amanda's ear. She looked up at him, right into his eyes, and for the first time since they'd met, she seemed flustered.

"I forgot the question," she whispered back.

"I asked what made you think I don't know what I'm doing."

"Oh," Amanda said as she licked her lips. "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm certainly not one to talk about experience obviously."

"It's not about experience; it's about what feels good. You can start experimenting and gaining 'experience' once you know what you like and what you don't like. And trust me; the finding-out-what-you-like stage is a lot of fun."

"Am I to assume you're hitting on me?" Amanda asked, this time not looking at him critically or with no interest at all.

"To put it bluntly," Ariel began, "Yes, I'm hitting on you. Also, this movie's really boring and flirting with you is a lot more fun." Amanda smiled! She actually smiled genuinely. Getting bolder, Ariel rested his open palm on the armrest, hoping she would give him her hand. When she noticed, Amanda gave Ariel her hand and their fingers laced together.

"You're eyes are brown," she said suddenly. Ariel looked at her a little strangely, but smiled and allowed her to elaborate. "I never noticed you have brown eyes."

"So do you," Ariel said, but Amanda shook her head.

"No, my eyes are black."

"Perhaps in the dark, but in the right light, they turn brown. It makes things interesting when your eyes change colors." He noticed Amanda blush a little. "You're very sweet when you want to be."

"I guess I should apologize for being so rude to you."

"You can always make it up to me," Ariel teased.

"Your name's Ariel right?" He nodded. "You certainly look like an Ariel."

"Thanks for not assuming it's a girl's name."

"I know it isn't. I personally think it suits a man far more than a woman."

"I'm inclined to agree with you." Ariel rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "I don't suppose you'd allow me to be so bold as to kiss you." Blushing a little, Amanda nodded and allowed Ariel to give her lips a firm but gentle kiss.

Nessie wasn't sure nor did she care how Ariel had managed it, but from then on Amanda paid Jacob no mind. She focused her time and energy with Ariel. She never really went with Robert to visit Amber, but since all the two ever did was argue, it was probably for the best. A week and a half into her recovery, Amber and Kevin still weren't speaking like they had been before. And her leg was beginning to feel much better, so it was looking like she could have her cast removed by the end of the second week. Kevin was running out of time. After taking her back to his house from seeing Carlisle, Amber insisted on going straight to bed and Kevin didn't argue. She'd been there for hours waiting for him to come pick her up. He'd been at trial all day and now they had to wait for the jury. So far, they were taking four hours, though they certainly closed one day of deliberation after two hours. Court let out really late. Either way, the longer the jury took, the more nervous it always made him. It meant they were arguing over his guilt and a hung jury was the absolute worst case scenario. If that happened, they'd have to pick a new jury and do this all over again.

After Amber closed her door, Kevin went to his office, looking over his pages and pages of argument, already looking for anything that would indicate to him reasonable doubt. He needed to prepare for the worst. Every good lawyer did. He ended up spending a good three hours going over his paperwork and highlighting anything and everything that was less than a perfect point. As he was working, he felt his eyelids getting heavy, so he changed into his vampiric form, stubbornly trying to stay awake. He finished looking through everything a lot faster after he changed and once he had everything highlighted and ready to be reworked, Kevin changed back and managed to wobble tiredly to bed. He didn't bother changing putting his clothes in the laundry bin. He just stripped to his boxers and fell into bed. It felt like he'd just fallen asleep when he felt himself being woken up by a hand on his bare back. The hand was too big to be Heather's and the nails were too long. Kevin groaned a little from sleep and turned over under the covers until he was on his back and could bare to open his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he say Amber sitting on the edge of his bed, both her crutches held in her right hand, staring at him with a light smile.

"Is everything okay?" Kevin asked, trying to sit up.

"I can't sleep," she said wearily. "I guess I just want someone to talk to."

"What did you want to talk about?" Amber stayed silent a moment, looking at her fingers in nervousness…no, not nervousness. It was more like an awkward discomfort.

"I've given some thought to your proposition," she finally said.

"And?"

"I'm not comfortable taking your money to raise your child. I'm not qualified to be a nanny nor am I one to be a live-in toy."

"A live-in toy?" Kevin asked, baffled that she thought so low of him. "It was never my intent to make you think that of me."

"Why else would you offer me a position like that in the first place? I told you I have no experience. And I'm not stupid."

"Amber, if all I wanted to do was sleep with you, I would tell you. I'm really not one to beat around the bush."

"And I'm supposed to believe that you really just wanted this woman you found in the woods to live with you and raise your child with no sexual obligation?"

"It's more than that," Kevin said bluntly. He was too tired to be coy or to dance around the truth of the matter. "You know what imprinting is right? You've had it explained to you before?" Amber didn't look repulsed. Instead, she looked somewhat amused.

"So that's why you're such a creeper," Amber said. "It certainly explains why daddy is so tense around you."

"So does it make sense now why I would offer you a job and a place to stay?"

"Is it how you knew I love Gardenias?"

"That was actually a guess," Kevin answered with an honest smile. "So you did like those?"

"I did. I love Gardenias. I actually assumed Edward told you or something."

"I asked him to but he never got back to me and I had to guess."

"It was a really good guess," Amber said. "Did you hear that Amanda and Ariel are getting along famously?"

"Yeah, I heard about that. If they move in together, she'll be all the way in Port Angeles. That's a good hour or so away. Two hours if you drive the legal speed limit." Amber laughed a little. "Even if you stay with me, you won't have to be around her at all."

"I'd be even further from her if I just went with daddy. It would be just the two of us again." Kevin didn't say anything. The awkward silence was palpable until Amber eventually smiled a little. "That sounds pathetic doesn't it?"

"Maybe a little," Kevin said honestly. "But then, I've spent my whole life sharing my parents with three siblings, so I guess I'm used to it."

"It was just me and daddy for ten years."

"Natalie manages to be a daddy's girl just fine with me and my brothers around."

"She's the only girl," Amber corrected. "Even with the three of you around, she's still the only little girl and hence she's the only one that calls Jacob daddy. It's something special when you're the only girl. When I wasn't the only girl anymore, it made our relationship less special in my opinion."

"He'll always be your dad," Kevin said. "Just because there's another little girl in his life doesn't mean he loves you any less." Amber kept smiling, though it was sad now.

"You just don't get it," Amber said.

"This seems like something you and Natalie should talk about."

"Maybe," Amber said. "I lose either way I guess."

"I wouldn't say that," Kevin said. The two of them shared a look that said everything. He loved her and she was growing to understand she loved him too. The problem still remained that she didn't want to make a rebound of him.

"I'll try getting some sleep." Amber moved to get her crutches set up, but Kevin rested his hand on her knee.

"Stay here," Kevin asked, throwing all ounce of subtlety out the window. "Nothing will happen. I just want you to stay with me." He, of course, was referring to her sleeping in his bed, but they both knew there was more to his request than that. Amber rested her crutches against Kevin's nightstand but she didn't immediately lie down with him.

"What if I said no?"

"Then you said no," Kevin answered. "Are you saying you want to go back to your room?"

"No," Amber said. "I guess I wanted your word that you wouldn't do anything."

"I won't do anything you don't want me to do." Finally, Amber laid down and Kevin scooted over so she could have her own space. Amber scooted close enough to Kevin so that her back was against his chest.

"I'll think about it," Amber said.

"About what?"

"About staying." Since Amber was against his chest, he went ahead and wrapped his arms around her. She didn't push him away, so he held her just a little tighter. She reassured him by rubbing his arms with her hands and getting comfortable.

Amber managed to fall asleep in Kevin's arms. His scent was soothing and he was so warm. It was comforting in a way she couldn't explain. She couldn't compare it to what she'd had with Adam. It wasn't like this and that was the best she could explain it in her mind. The fact that he was still holding her even after he'd fallen asleep was all the more comforting. The next morning, she woke up at around nine o'clock and Kevin wasn't there. She was disappointed initially, but she knew better. She was surprised when she saw a note near her crutches when she went to grab them.

Amber,

I didn't want to wake you. I should be home before six assuming the jury doesn't come back today. Rosalie will let you know if I'll be late. You're welcome to sleep in my room again tonight if you want.

Kevin

With the note in hand, Amber crutched her way to the guest bedroom so she could get changed. Firstly, she took out her mother's Top Model blu ray set and tucked Kevin's note inside. She noticed that she didn't want to watch it today. It had been her practice to watch some episodes whenever she was depressed, but she found that today she was in a better mood than she had been in a while. With nothing better to do and no way to occupy her thoughts, Amber went around the kitchen and made sure she had the ingredients to make cinnamon buns. It figures, she had everything she would need but the vanilla pudding mix and the yeast. She still had some money on her, so Amber went to the nearest grocery store and bought some yeast and vanilla pudding mix. No one seemed to recognize her, so she had a breath of fresh air when she got back to Kevin's house without incident. It would certainly be interesting to see how well she would do making Cinnamon buns with only one leg to support her while kneading. She had a movie on for all the time consuming things like waiting for the yeast to act, waiting for the pudding mix to thicken so she could mix the pudding and yeast together. She also mix in a little cinnamon and nutmeg into the pudding mix. She wasn't sure how much of a difference it made in the final product, but they always sold well, so she could only assume it did good.

After all the wet ingredients were mix together, now came to mixing in of sugar and finally flour. Eight cups of it to be exact. It was easy initially. She put in a little flour at a time and used a fork to mix it in. Around the fifth cup of flour, the dough became harder and harder to incorporate more flour into. It was after that fifth cup that she finally put the dough on the table (she was sitting on a bar stool she'd found in the basement. She wouldn't do this all on one leg) and started kneading the rest of the flour in. As hard of work as it was, she loved making bread. There was something relaxing about kneading dough and pounding on it in two hours, taking out your extra energy onto the dough. After it was all kneaded together, Amber found a huge bowl, lined it with some butter, placed the dough in, covered it with a fabric towel and let the dough sit for an hour and forty five minutes in the laundry room. It needed a nice warm place to rise. After that time, she punched it down then let it rise again. After it rose the second time, she let it rise yet again for a much shorter amount of time. While the dough was rising for the last time, Amber found some baking pans and lined them with butter and got more butter ready for covering the rolled out sheets of bread. She got together her cinnamon mixture before the final rising was done and divided the dough in half so she could roll out the dough more easily. After each rolled out piece of bread was covered with butter and cinnamon, she rolled the bread back up and cut them into individual cinnamon buns and let them rise another fifteen minutes before putting them in the oven for only nine minutes. All together, it was at least six hours of work. Heather came through the door with Rosalie when Amber was letting the buns rest and was making the cream cheese frosting.

"You mad cinnamon buns!" Heather yelled in excitement the moment she came through the door. She went right to the kitchen and tried to grab one, but Amber took a hold of her hand. "Wait until they're frosted, Heather."

"They aren't frosted yet?" Heather looked sad. "But the frosting's the best part."

"And it'll be done in a minute."

"Can I lick the spoon?" Heather asked. Amber wasn't using a spoon, but a flat frosting spreader that she would need to finish the buns. So instead, Amber reached for a spoon and dipped it into the frosting and handed it to Heather.

"There you go, honey." Heather cheered and eagerly took the spoon, licking away the frosting with a smile on her face.

"I didn't know you could bake bread," Rosalie said, really impressed. "Even Nessie has trouble with bread."

"Does she?"

"Well, more appropriately, she doesn't like making it. She considers it too time consuming, especially when Jacob will eat most of them in a day. How that man isn't monstrous is beyond me."

"Men are just lucky that way I guess. A woman cuts out junk food, she loses a pound, a man cuts out junk food and he loses six sizes." Rosalie snickered.

"I've heard that complaint. I've been this size since I died, so I won't complain."

"Same here," Amber smiled. "I just like baking though. I find it relaxing. The kneading is a good workout too."

"I bet it is." With the icing finally mixed the way she wanted, Amber frosted all the buns generously and called Heather in so she could have her cinnamon bun.

"How do you like it?" Amber asked.

"It's so yummy! I only get Cinnabuns, and this is a millions times better."

Amber grinned, "Of course these are better. Now don't have any more okay. I don't want you spoiling your dinner."

"You know," Rosalie started, "Embry tells me his mother used to make donuts and he'd make himself sick off them."

"What kind of donuts?"

"Hell if I know. All I know is his mother used to make them and she would cover them in glaze."

"I usually make bread donuts. I've heard of some people making donuts with potatoes though."

"You can do that?" Heather asked, surprised.

"Oh, yes, plenty of bakeries do it. Like I said, I prefer the bread method, but to each their own. Either way, it's fried dough and humans love that stuff."

"Indeed," Rosalie and Amber shared a laugh. "I can't believe in the near two weeks you've been here this is the first time we've ever had a real conversation."

"Yeah," Amber said. Heather finished her first bun and went to the sink to wash her hands.

"Can I please have another one?" Heather asked, giving Amber a puppy dog face.

"Now, Heather, I said I don't want you spoiling your dinner. How about this? You can have another cinnamon bun after dinner."

"Okay," Heather said, a little put down. She recovered well enough. "Can we work on a puzzle? Aunt Rosalie bought me a pretty Disney Princess puzzle! Ariel's in it and so are Belle and Aurora and Cinderella," Heather named off all the princesses as she dragged Amber with her to the living room. Rosalie reminded her that she had homework to do and she could work on the puzzle when she was done with that.

Most of her homework was pertaining to math, but there was a short answer portion assigned in her little work book that was due the next day as well. Heather worked on it all with Rosalie close by to help her when she needed it. As Heather did her homework, Rosalie received a text that, turns out, was from Kevin.

"Kevin said he might be late," Rosalie said. "The Jury let out with a verdict. Court reconvenes in an hour to read the verdict."

"Can we go see?" Heather asked. Amber was so relieved that she'd asked instead.

"I don't know, honey. We'd have to leave Amber here alone again."

"She can come with us," Heather said. "You want to go right Amber?"

"I suppose we could go," Amber said coyly. Heather smiled, somehow more knowingly than Amber would think for an eight year old, and tried to convince Rosalie that they indeed should go to the jury reading. Rosalie finally agreed since Heather finished her homework and Rosalie helped Amber quickly get into something nicer while Heather got dressed into something nicer as well.

Amber made sure to wear sunglasses until they got to their seats once they reached the courthouse. They sat in the back of the room and, yet again, no one seemed to recognize her. Either no one watched the news or Amber didn't look as much like her mother as she thought or a combination of the two. Either way, it made her able to sit peacefully and watch Kevin. Surely he'd noticed her come in. She saw him slightly turn his head towards the viewers in the courtroom before continuing to speak with the man sitting next to him. She heard people talking, speculating to what the verdict would be. It seemed the entire right side of the room was hoping for a guilty verdict. The left was either intrigued onlookers or family of the defended that either adamantly believed in his innocence or weren't sure but wanted to be by the defendant's side in this trying time. The judge and a bailiff came in first. A few minutes later, the defendant and his lawyers came in. When the jury finally came in, the tension in the air thickened. She noticed Kevin getting somewhat nervous. She found it so bizarre to see Kevin nervous.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked when all the jurors were before their respective seats. Juror 1, an older woman in a nice suit, stood up with a piece of paper in hand.

"We have your honor," she answered. The Bailiff came to Juror 1 and took the small piece of paper she held and handed it to the judge to read. When the judge read the verdict, he handed it back to the bailiff.

"Would you please read the verdict?" he asked the bailiff. The bailiff nodded and faced the courtroom as he unfolded the piece of paper.

"We the jury," the bailiff said, "in the case of Washington vs. Andrew Thomas Beckon do find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree of Miranda Beckon." It was a chore for anyone in the courtroom to stay silent. After the relief on the right and the surprise and (in some cases) outrage over the verdict, the judge hit the table with his mallet to silence the room. When the room was silent, he instructed the bailiff to continue. "In the case of Washington vs. Andrew Thomas Beckon, we the jury do find the defended guilty of first degree murder of Lesley Marie Beckon."

The courtroom roared. The right side, obviously the families of the deceased, began to cry with relief after some roared a cheer of delight that the man responsible was going to be put behind bars. Some on the left were simply dumbfounded while some started crying too. Amber saw the smirk on Kevin's face. That was the Kevin she knew, the arrogant smug Kevin that looked like he could conquer the world with his charm. It made her blush just the smallest bit. The judge announced that court would reconvene for sentencing the following Monday. After shaking the hands of his partner and then the defense attorney's, Kevin grabbed his briefcase and walked down the aisle to Rosalie, Amber and Heather.

"Did you win daddy?" Heather asked.

"Yes, honey, the prosecution won." Kevin looked up at Amber with a smile. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Rosalie told me you'd be here for a reading and I've never seen one of these before. I knew you were getting nervous and I thought we could offer moral support."

Kevin chuckled, "I think it may have swayed the jury," Kevin joked. "So, Heather, are you starving too?"

"Yeah," Heather said. "Amber made cinnamon buns and she won't let me have another until after I finish dinner." Kevin looked at Amber, surprised.

"You made cinnamon buns?"

"Scratch made," Amber said. "I spent all day on them."

"Well," Kevin grinned, "I do love cinnamon buns." Kevin looked at Heather. "Since we're the only ones eating, what do you want for dinner?"

"I want macaroni and cheese!" Heather announced.

"We can stop by the grocery store and get the things we need," Amber said. "I make a mac'n'cheese that'll blow your mind. Even grown-ups like it."

"I never claimed to not like it," Kevin smiled.

"Can we have mac'n'cheese daddy?"

"Sure we can." Heather cheered and the four of them left the courtroom. Rosalie congratulated Kevin and went home in her own car. Kevin drove Heather and Amber to the grocery store near the house and bought the groceries Amber needed for dinner. When they got back, dinner took roughly thirty minutes to make and she made enough for just Heather and Kevin. Before tasting it, Kevin covered his mac'n'cheese with red pepper flakes.

"You should've told me you like it spicy. I could've easily put some pepper-jack cheese in there."

"Not spicy enough," Kevin said with a smile.

"There was some habanera cheese we could've used."

"Next time," Kevin said and took a bite of the mac'n'cheese. "This is really good by the way."

"It's the best mac'n'cheese ever," Heather said.

"Thank you, sweetie," Amber smiled.

After dinner, Amber and Kevin helped Heather with the puzzle Rosalie had bought her that day. Heather surprised them both when she asked Amber if she liked Kevin. "It's okay if you do," Heather had said. "I like you." Amber kept her answer simple saying she did like Kevin and left it at that. Naturally, she wasn't going to talk to Heather about attraction and feelings she still hadn't really come to terms with herself. Kevin put Heather to bed around nine and went back downstairs with Amber. The finished puzzle was on the table ready to be hung in Heather's room. They couldn't put the puzzles in a frame anymore. There just wasn't enough room.

"How are you going to fit this in her room? She already has so many puzzles hung in her room."

"I actually have an idea that I want to keep secret for a while more."

"And what idea is that?" Amber asked. Kevin glanced towards the stairs before walking over to the couch and sitting down with her close enough so they could whisper.

"There's a section of Heather's room that's mostly clear wall aside from the puzzles of course. What I'm thinking is maybe we should arrange for those puzzles to be like wallpaper on one wall. We can put up a blank wallpaper and paste the completed puzzles to it. I think Heather would love it."

"That sounds like a great idea. When were you thinking of doing it?"

"I'm trying to get one of Heather's friends to invite her to a sleepover or something so she's out of the house long enough for me, Emmett and Jasper to set it up."

"How're you going to do all that with your work schedule?"

"I'll make time," Kevin said. The determination in his voice cute. "For Heather, I'll make all the time in the world."

"She's lucky to have you. She really is."

"Yeah," Kevin said. "I just wish I could do more."

"How could you possibly do more than you already do?" Amber teased. Kevin just smiled and didn't say anything. "You never ate one of the cinnamon buns," Amber finally said.

"That's right, I haven't." Kevin went to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest cinnamon bun there was and took a bite. "These are amazing," Kevin said after that first bite.

"Thank you," Amber smiled, blushing.

"I'm serious, I may force you to stay with me so you can make me these cinnamon buns."

"So now you're offering me a job as your live-in chef?"

"If you're asking for that job, you sure as fuck have it," Kevin teased, finishing his bun. "Damn it, these are good." Kevin grabbed another one.

"Don't eat too many. You'll make yourself sick."

"And I'll be damned grateful," Kevin said and earned a laugh from Amber.

"You know, Kevin, for a stuffy attorney, you're really not bad."

"I told you I was different from other lawyers. I'm superior," Kevin said with a smile and Amber laughed again.

"You're such a pompous asshole," Amber said.

"That's why I'm good at what I do." Kevin finished his second bun and grabbed a third. "This is my last one, I swear."

"If you promise. It might be time to go to bed once you finish that up."

"I'm not really tired. I'm still exhilarated from that verdict. With how long the jury was taking, I was getting nervous that they might say not guilty. But they read guilty and I couldn't be happier. If anyone deserves to be in prison, it's that man."

"Still, it might be for the best if you get some sleep." Kevin just smiled and finished his third cinnamon bun and reached for another, but Amber stopped him. "You said that was your last one. Save some for Heather, I beg you."

"Oh, fine," Kevin said. "Also, I've been meaning to ask. I know Carlisle's thinking of taking that cast off you this Friday."

"Yeah, that's what I'm told. What about it?"

"Well, Saturday night, my firm is throwing a party at the Four Seasons Hotel for our most prominent clients. By prominent clients, I mean people that are in court more than their own homes. I'm serious, I've represented people that have been in court for years and you'd be surprised what people will spend years in court over. There's a couple I represented collaboratively for almost four years because they couldn't agree on anything besides hating each other."

"I thought lawyers specialized."

"They can if they want to. They usually do, but I like to keep things interesting. I'm qualified an most facets of the law. The only case that I can think of right off the top of my head that I'm not qualified to represent are malpractice cases. That requires a little more schooling and I'm not really interested in malpractice. It's a shame too. I could be a billionaire off malpractice."

"That's unsettling," Amber said.

"That's why I'm not a malpractice attorney." The two shared a small laugh and when they relaxed, Kevin dared to ask his next question. "So are you sleeping in my room tonight or the guest bedroom?"

"Um…" Amber seemed to think a moment and that blush was the sweetest thing Kevin had ever seen. "Only if you promise to hold me again."

"You got it," Kevin said. "Also, about Saturday. Would you like to go with me? I'm sure Alice would be more than happy to help you find a nice gown."

"Oh," Amber laughed as he helped her up the stairs, "It's that kind of party."

"Yes ma'am it's that kind of party. Heather was conceived after such a party."

"I'll go if you don't get me pregnant," Amber said with a laugh.

"You have my word," Kevin said. "I'll let you get changed. Come in whenever you're ready."

Amber nodded and closed the door behind her so she could get changed and Kevin went to his room and threw his clothes into the laundry basket until he was in his boxers. He took his normal spot on the bed and waited for Amber to crutch her way in. She managed to close the door behind her and went to the empty space on the bed, resting her crutches against the nightstand. As promised, Kevin wrapped his arms around her and let her sleep against his chest. The next morning, like he'd done the morning before, he snuck a kiss on her cheek before getting out of bed and taking in a shower before having to go to work. As promised, on Friday Carlisle took off Amber's cast. He asked her to move it around and when she felt no pain from that nor from his touches to her leg, he asked her to try walking on it. Her leg was slightly sore, but it was nothing that wouldn't heal within a few more hours, so Carlisle told her she could continue to walk around on that leg and get better adjusted.

Amber was so relieved to be out of that cast that she actually tolerated a day of shopping with Alice, Robert and Amanda. Alice found out about Amber going to the party with Kevin and knew she needed to get Amber a ball gown. Alice knew exactly what to get Amber: a tasteful, black, backless evening gown that was a halter top in the front with no fritz or frills and a plunging backline. Robert argued that it was vulgar, but Amber insisted she loved it and Amanda insisted it would make Amber's butt look bigger (Amber let go of that backhanded compliment only because she didn't feel like arguing for a change. She was too excited) and Robert got outweighed, especially since Alice was the one buying the dress. Amber made sure to hide the dress in the guest bedroom so Kevin wouldn't see it until the dinner party the next night. Kevin made sure to get Saturday off. Most of the attorneys weren't working that day because of the party anyway, so it wasn't so shocking. Rosalie came by around mid afternoon to look after Heather while Amber and Kevin were out. Kevin went to change into his suit while Heather and Rosalie helped Amber get ready by doing up her hair in blonde curls and putting on some makeup. Heather insisted that Amber had to wear purple somehow, so Rosalie found a way to give her a touch of purple eyeshadow while her eyes were lined with black and her eyelashes painted black as well. She wore a pink lipgloss to finish the look. Amber had never felt prettier in her life and she felt more so when Kevin saw her and said she looked stunning.

"That's one hell of a backline," Kevin said as they pulled out of the driveway and started making their way to the hotel.

"Yeah, I thought it was nice. You don't think it's too much do you?"

"Of course not. I think it looks perfect. You'll be the bell of the ball."

Amber giggled, "You've been waiting your whole life to say that haven't you?"

"I've been waiting my whole life to mean it," Kevin answered honestly and earned yet another smile from Amber.

"I don't have to talk to anyone do I? I don't know how I'd contribute to a conversation."

"Don't worry about it so much. Stay by me, I'll do most of the talking, if they ask you something, answer them, and if they get to convoluted, pretend you know what they're talking about."

"Will do," Amber said.

They arrived at the hotel a few minutes later and a valet parked the car for them as they walked in together. Amber was surprised how many women where there that looked about the same age she looked (that being early twenties). There were a handful of older women among the group, but she counted more young women with the men and even a much younger man with an older woman in the room. She'd thought she would be the most scantily dressed, but there were so many young women there that plenty of them had exposed skin showing proudly, some more than her. She actually felt conservative for a moment. As they walked in and Kevin grabbed a glass of Champaign for himself, a black man with a black woman at his side came to Kevin with a smile.

"There you are," Jeremy said. "Who's this lovely lady?"

"Jeremy, this is my date, Amber. Amber, this is my soul brother Jeremy and his wife." They all laughed.

"It's nice to see you actually bring someone to this thing. You can't keep coming to this party alone. You start drinking too much if you do."

"Dually noted," Kevin laughed. They talked for a while before Jeremy had to say hi to a client of his.

"They're nice."

"Yeah, he and I have been friends since I started working here. I'm the only Native American and he's one of the only black guys, so we tend to stick together."

"That's nice."

Amber stayed by Kevin's side the whole night listening to him speak with coworkers and clients and doing her best to pretend she was interested in a word any of them were saying. Once they started going into the legal crap, they just started to lose her. Sometimes, she was convinced they were speaking Greek when they talked about legal matters. Kevin could tell Amber was getting bored, so before she could start to lose consciousness from boredom, Kevin wished his friends good night and led Amber with him to the entrance and waited for the valet to come back with his car. When they got back, Rosalie had already put Heather to bed and she was sound asleep. After Rosalie left, Kevin led Amber upstairs.

"Are you tired?" he asked her, but Amber shook her head. "Did you want to watch a movie in my room?"

"I'd like that." Kevin and Amber smiled and parted ways so they could both change into something comfortable. As always, Kevin stripped down to his boxers and waited for Amber to come back in her own pajamas. This time when she came in, though, she wasn't wearing any pajama pants. She was wearing a tank top with no bra and a pair of panties. It was the least amount of clothing he'd ever seen on her. "I brought a movie with me." Kevin finally realized she was holding a movie in her hand: Pride and Prejudice the miniseries. "We don't have to watch every one, but can at least watch one or two episodes."

"How long is each episode?"

"An hour each," she said. "I figure two hours is a movie's worth."

With a smile, Kevin put the DVD in and they watched the first episode of Pride and Prejudice together. Amber rested her head on Kevin's chest as they watched the show together and neither said a word. Kevin just held her and stole quick glances her way to admire her. When the first episode was over, they continued to the second and again, they stayed quiet. When the second episode was done, they turned off the DVD.

"Is the book better?" Kevin asked.

"The books a little dryer than acted renditions in my opinion. That tends to be the pattern with Jane Austin and her books."

"I'll take your word for it." Amber just smiled and rolled her eyes a little. "I'm sorry you were bored at the party."

"I just didn't really have anything to add conversationally. It got boring watching you all talk about depositions and whatever else you were talking about."

"Sorry about that. Newman wouldn't take no for an answer regarding any of his cases. He's a little irritated with me that I got assigned the murder trial and he wasn't so he was kind of trying to get back at me in his own little way."

"That makes no sense."

"I never said it did," Kevin said.

"There is one thing I've been meaning to talk with you about though," Amber said after they'd stared at each other a moment in silence.

"And what's that?"

"I've given some thought to your proposal. About me staying with you that is."

"Yes?" Kevin asked, interested immensely.

"I've decided I'm going to stay." Kevin stiffened for a moment. He had to otherwise he would've smashed his lips to her in a kiss and wouldn't stop until he damn well wanted to. "Did you hear me?"

"Of course I did, I'm just trying to stay calm." Kevin took a deep breath. "You're really staying?"

"Yeah," Amber said. "I can tolerate Amanda being close by and daddy can always visit whenever he wants. I've noticed something since I've come to stay with you. You seem to make me happier than I've been in a long time. I think it's because I love you."

"Do you really?" Amber nodded.

"I do," Amber said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Kevin said. He'd been waiting what felt like a lifetime to tell her that and now he finally was. "Let me kiss you," he said, hoping desperately she would allow it.

"Go right ahead," Amber said and the two finally kissed.

He was eternity that seemed to flash by in an instant. After their lips met, Kevin pulled Amber right on top of him so he could hold her tightly and never let go. Amber wrapped her arms around Kevin's neck and kissed him with just as much vigor. She didn't care about the past anymore. Adam, the incident, nothing mattered except now and she wouldn't let herself be guilted out of what Kevin was doing to her. When Kevin started kissing her neck, it tickled and it made her feel beautiful. When he brought his hands under her tank top and touched her bare skin, then dared to touch her breasts, she felt like a natural woman (call it clichéd all you want). And when he took off her shirt and suckled her breasts, she felt like she was loved. Amber trailed her fingers through Kevin's hair as he suckled and kissed her nipples and when she felt his erection between her legs, she felt weightless and eager. Kevin eventually began to kiss her belly, but he was obstructed by his inability to hunch down further, so he laid her down on the bed and moved on once she was on her back.

Kevin was so tender with every kiss, yet when he began to kiss her thighs, her heart began to race further and her breath became labored. She'd never had that done to her before. So when Kevin pulled off Amber's panties, the cold air tingled and tingled more when his mouth came so close to her core. She never imagined his tongue could do so many things, but it all made her belly tighten. She kept her fingers in his hair and whimpered, staying silent as she possibly could. Most of her pleasure was expressed through her hands in Kevin's hair and her toes rubbing up and down his back. Kevin didn't stop until she whimpered just a little louder and felt her climax around his fingers. She went limp after that as Kevin cleaned off his mouth and fingers. Before she knew it, Kevin was on top of her, kissing her neck tenderly.

"You did promise not to get me pregnant," Amber managed and it made Kevin laugh a little.

"So I did," he said. "Hold on a second." Kevin pulled away so he could grab a condom from his nightstand. Once he slipped it on, he climbed back on top of her and started kissing her again. Amber embraced Kevin as he pushed his erection inside her and when he was all the way in, he took a firm hold of her legs and just moved.

Her mind went blank and all she did was feel. Had it really been so long since love making had made her feel so cherished? She couldn't remember a time before this. At points, for fear of tearing out Kevin's hair, Amber grabbed a hold of the bed frame and bit down on her lip so she wouldn't moan too loud, though as she approached her second climax, that was becoming harder and harder for her to do. When that climax hit, she squealed just a little bit and went limp again. She grabbed a hold of Kevin while he continued, working himself to his own climax while giving her pleasure at the same time. When Kevin finished, he clutched her thighs and seemed to growl under his breath as he kissed Amber's neck. When he finally let go of her thighs and took his mouth from her neck, they embraced with Kevin's head resting on Amber's breasts.

"Thank you," Amber finally managed.

"For what?" Kevin asked.

"For loving me." Kevin smiled and kissed the globe of flesh before kissing her again. Finally, finally after a moment of hugging, the two fell asleep in each other's arms.

And readers, he married her not long after that. Alice being Alice arranged a huge ceremony with Heather as the flower girl, Amanda as the maid of honor (though admittedly that was more Robert's choice than Amber's) and Ej was the ring bearer. When the vows were said and the reception came, Heather got her father daughter dance and later complained to Kevin that Ej purposefully got cake in her hair. Kevin was finally no longer the odd guy out in the family. He'd found a woman to share his life with that he loved more than he'd ever loved before. Kyle and Evalina did eventually have a child, a young girl they named Angelica. Since Nathan and Ada weren't using the name, he decided it was fair game. When Amber and Kevin had their child, it was a small boy they named Robert. Thankfully, Heather wouldn't have to share her daddy with another little girl. When Nazaire was about fourteen, Natalie and Suerro unexpectedly had their little Zura Leigh and when Suerro saw her, he was close to tears (as close as vampiricly possible of course). She looked just like Zura and Zura Leigh was no less than the apple of her daddy's eye. The Cullens did eventually move to Alaska for a while. It'd been the longest they'd stayed in one place, but Carlisle was the one that worked and he needed to work somewhere else where he wasn't trying to pass for forty. Jacob and Nessie visited often as did the kids, but Jacob and Nessie did open a shop further west from Forks and from the reservation. They were in the same boat as Carlisle. Jacob assigned a pack member to manage the shop in his name while he handled the new one. As for the rest, that's up to you.

FIN