Stay (Part 2)

Banner by: EnjoyYourJacob is posted with the first part below.

Rating: MA (language, sexual situations)

Pairing: Jacob/Bella

Genre: Romance

Universe: AU

Beta: Mist

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Summary: This is the sequel to the original one-shot that I did for the Tricky Raven Silent Auction. This second part was donated to Fandoms4Animals first and is now being posted for all to read. In this new one-shot, Jacob reflects back on various parts of his life with Bella while perusing the collectibles in the hutch their children have set up in their living room. While it can be read alone, reading the first one helps to lead into this one.

**********Stay (Part 2)**********

(Jacob POV)
You know, I often hear people say things like “She’s staying with him because she has nowhere else to go,” or “Oh, he’s staying with her for the kids’ sake,” and those kinds of remarks always make me feel bad for the person involved. Those remarks always make me feel so grateful that it would never apply to me and my family.

Bella and I had celebrated our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in style, at least according to those in our cozy little Quileute community in La Push, Washington. Since our wedding had been held on the beach, so had our anniversary party. Bella had looked radiant in her peach, knee-length, satin dress while I had worn soft khaki pants with a peach t-shirt that matched the color of her dress. Yet, halfway through the party, true to form, Bella had discarded her sandals and I had removed my shirt since I had arrived barefoot.

Everyone else had been just as comfy as we were, getting more comfortable as the evening wore on. We had all enjoyed the food that Emily and Embry’s wife, Nicole, had made for all of us until it all ran out. Then later, we had danced by the light of the bonfire and the moon until sleep had begun calling for all of us.

Our youngest daughter was the only one who still lived with us since she was fifteen and in high school, but tonight she was staying with one of the twins and her family so that Bella and I could have some privacy. We were grateful to Emma for taking in Beth despite the fact that her and her husband already had a full house with their own kids and a mother-in-law. Thankfully, the other twin, Ava, was married to a man who was able to afford a comfortable hotel room that could fit not only the two of them, but their baby girl and our son, Logan, who was down from college.

In comfortable silence, Bella and I made the walk to our home, which wasn’t really that far from the beach. As the sprawling one-story log home came into view, I thought about how far Bella and I had come from that night in Charlie Swan’s house when she had asked me to stay.

Not only had I been able to start a relationship with the girl I loved when I had only been sixteen to her eighteen, but our relationship had been encouraged by nearly everyone who knew us. Our staunchest supporter to this day was Charlie, who had been extremely grateful that his daughter had left Cullen in favor of the boy he’d always thought of as his son. Charlie had made no bones about how he had always thought Cullen was a master manipulator and controller of those around him.

Leave it to the Chief of Police to figure that out through observation, just like he had figured out that there was something not quite…human about the Cullens or me. When he had first told us his thoughts on Cullen, we had stared in shock until he had scoffed, “Hey, there is a reason why I’m the chief, you know.”

“Then why didn’t you ever say anything?” asked my father.

“Because it was Bella’s choice and we all know how much she tends to listen to me. Sure, I could put my foot down, but she would have still found a way to be with him. So, rather than lose my only child, I played along, hoping something would happen to make her come to her senses. Thank God something did!” He had looked at me with a huge smile and pride in his eyes when he’d said the last part.

Needless to say, Bella and I had rarely been apart since we had gotten together, getting married as soon as I had graduated from high school with the complete blessing of both our families. Along the way, we did have some bumps in the road of our lives, but it was never anything we couldn’t handle together. Never once did we face a time where we ever became that “staying together for whatever reason” kind of couple.

Because of my wolf side, I had never been able to leave the reservation and Bella had refused to leave me even if it was only for a few years of college. Instead, she had commuted when she had to, then finished off the rest by internet. We had planned to wait a few years to start a family, but the twins had not wanted to wait to join us. Despite our precautions, Bella had become pregnant almost as soon as we were married, making me a father at the ripe old age of nineteen.

We had been living with my dad at the time, but I had begun to build the log home with the help of the rest of the wolf pack. Originally I had planned to make it smaller, like a starter home, but once we found out that Bella was pregnant with twins of all things, I had decided to make it big enough to hold a family of five at least. Over the years it had been expanded or remodeled, so that now it was a huge sprawling home, but it still exuded the wealth and comfort that having a huge extended family brings.

With my wife’s hand in mine, we walked up the front steps onto the long porch that led to the front door. Bella waited patiently for me to unlock the door, then let out a soft squeal when I swung her up into my arms to carry her over the threshold.

“Jake! You don’t have to do this! The tradition only holds when you first get married, not anniversaries!”

I beamed down at her. “So? We can make our own traditions, right? Besides, I love carrying you!”

She chuckled as I shut the door with my foot then carried her to the couch in our living room. Setting her down, I curled up next to her, pulling her into my arms as she settled against my chest with a sigh.

“It was a great party, wasn’t it?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Mm hm,” I replied as I buried my nose in her hair, inhaling her familiar and comforting scent.

We sat that way for a few moments until my eyes caught sight of the children’s memory hutch that still remained in our living room. I smiled as my gaze landed on the displayed photo that was a close-up of Bella’s pregnant belly covered in a plaster cast. Bella had gotten the idea from her friend Angela, who had in turn gotten it from someone in her pottery class.

I remembered Bella had told me that some first time mothers had liked to make a cast of their pregnant bellies as a way to immortalize the birth of their first child, sort of like other parents liked to have their children’s feet or hands pressed into cement. Granted, we had done that too, but the plaster cast had been something new and rather intimate to the both of us. Back then, we had displayed the cast up on a high shelf in the living room, but once our daughters were grown and out of the house, the cast had been stored away in the attic.

Still, no one but Bella and I knew exactly what had happened during the making of the cast. Most people, including our twins, thought Bella had simply sat somewhere and applied the plaster herself since the photo we have shows her hands smoothing over the plaster. While she had done some of it, I had helped too, in more ways than one.

That day, Bella had only worn a pair of panties and a tank top, lifting it up so that only her breasts were covered and her stomach was bare. I had joked that since it was just the two of us, she didn’t even have to wear any clothes at all. She had blushed and said she felt more comfortable that way. I had known she was a bit self-conscious about her body ever since her pregnancy had started showing, so I had let it go even though I had constantly tried to let her know just how beautiful I thought she was even while carrying my children.

Once she was ready, I had begun to apply the strips of plaster to her stomach with care, enjoying every chance to put my hands on my wife’s body until she would insert her own hands beneath mine. We had continued that way, me putting the strips on, then her finishing them off until her entire mid-section was covered up to her sides. Once she was satisfied that the cast was thick enough, I had helped her lie back on the bed then lay besides her as our hands still smoothed over the cast, waiting for it to dry.

One thing had led to another, as it usually did when I got my hands on her, so that eventually her tank top and panties had come off along with my own clothes. I had then given her my version of a full body massage, starting with her limbs, shoulders and breasts. Then when the cast was mostly dry, I had carefully removed it before finishing with her torso, back and finally between her legs. By the time the cast had been fully dry, we were both very sated and Bella had fallen asleep while I had cleaned up the mess we had made.

Every time Bella and I looked at the picture or the cast since that day, we shared a secret smile about it. I was already smiling as Bella lifted her head from my chest to glance up at me.

She tilted her head to the side. “What?”

I kissed her forehead before gently setting her aside so I could retrieve the photo. Holding it up so that she could see it, I smiled some more.

“Just remembering,” I said.

She laughed as she got up to join me near the little hutch. “That is a great memory, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I answered as I set the photo back into its place.

Bella leaned against my side as her eyes roamed over the various collectibles in the hutch. “We’ve had so many great memories though, some of which we’ve shared with our family, our children.”

I wrapped my arms around her, leaning down to whisper against her ear. “But, you know what I was thinking?”

“What?”

“None of them would have been possible if I had left that night.”

She leaned back to look up at me. “That night?”

I nodded. “Yes, when you asked me to stay.”

I watched as her smile lit up her face. “Ah, now that was a night to remember.”

“Yep,” I paused for a moment to get my thoughts in order. “You know, all night during the party, I kept thinking about that one word, stay. I thought of how you had used it that night at Charlie’s. How you asked me to stay, so you could love me forever. You told me that you would stay by my side back then and you haven’t left it since.”

She sighed. “That’s right. You still don’t know how terrified I was that you weren’t going to listen to me that night. I was prepared to beg as long as it took to get you to stay with me. And then you crawled into my bed and stayed the night with me.”

I smirked. “Yeah, and after that, not even the threat of Charlie’s gun could pry me from your bed.”

She laughed and I knew she was remembering all the nights I used to sneak in her window to sleep in her bed with her even under Charlie’s nose. There had been times we were certain Charlie knew, but he had never said a word in all these years nor had he ever prevented me from being with his only daughter.

Bella turned to look at the hutch again and I leaned my forehead against her temple. “But I was also thinking that we’ve been so lucky. That all these years, we’ve stayed together not because we don’t have a choice or because of the kids. We’ve stayed because we love each other, because our lives have been fuller, happier with each other.”

“And because I can’t live without you, Jacob. It’s like I’ve always told you. You mean everything to me, you’re everything I’ve always wanted. Everything I’ve always needed, but I was too blind and too stupid to realize that until it was almost too late.”

I held her closer, “I’m so glad you figured out that you loved me before it was too late.”

“Me too,” came her soft reply.

She let go of me to walk over to the hutch. I watched as she let her fingers trail over the dream catcher that I had given her for her eighteenth birthday. It had remained over her headboard until I had made her a bigger one as a wedding present. That one still hung over our bed and the original one had been dug out of our closet by one of the twins when they had been scrounging for stuff to put into the hutch.

When Ava had found the dream catcher and gotten the story out of Bella how it had came to be, she had begged to use it in the hutch. It had been a staple ever since. So had their Grandma Renee’s old camera and several black and white photos she had taken of Charlie and my parents back before Bella and I were born.

Bella’s fingers continued to trail over the things in the hutch from the pictures of us dancing during our wedding, over the few candid pictures of us cuddling at the beach or on the front porch, to the doll with the blue jumper that resembled Emma since she had been the tomboy of the twins. There was even a doll with longer hair dressed in a white shift that resembled Ava, who was the twin who loved frilly, feminine things.

Bella’s fingers touched the white toy car that Logan had added to the collection while saying it looked like Grandpa Charlie’s car without the lights, when really it was far from it. Three-year-old Logan had simply found the car in the sandbox at the playground and decided to bring it home with him to add to the collection just so he could say he had done so. Over the years it had been left in the hutch as a joke that someday that car would be Logan’s when he was old enough to drive.

Bella picked up the red car that resembled the 1968 Camaro SS that I had rebuilt a few years ago and still owned to this day. She grinned as she wriggled it in her hand at me. “Remember when you and Logan added this to the hutch?”

I nodded. “Yeah, Beth never liked it when Logan and I argued with each other.”

Bella chuckled. “No she didn’t.” She shook her head as she began to retell the tale. “Logan had just turned sixteen a few months before you finally finished rebuilding the Camaro, it had taken you a couple of years to get all the parts and to find the time to finish it, yet he thought you were building it for him.”

“Well, he had been by my side while I rebuilt the thing. I think he thought he was entitled to a piece of it after all that time.”

Bella laughed at my statement before adding, “Even when all he did was hand you the tools, he still claimed that he helped you build it.”

I nodded as she went on. “And then when we both had sat him down and tried to explain why that kind of car was too much responsibility for a teenager…”

“…not to mention a huge temptation to get into trouble,” I added.

“He had been so furious with you! I was right there backing you up, but it was you that he was angry with. He kept trying to say that he was responsible enough because everyone kept telling him that he was just like his father, so there was no way he would wreck the car.”

I rolled my eyes as Bella continued. “So you gave him your old Harley Sprint as a way to appease him, but he promptly went out and totaled it. Thank God it was only the bike that was totaled.”

“Yeah,” I replied with a shudder as I remembered the close call our son had on that bike. Logan had barely walked away from the accident with a broken leg, but the bike had been put to rest for good. It was while he had been in the hospital getting the cast that ten-year-old Beth had dragged Bella to the toy store and found the toy Camaro to give to Logan.

“See,” she had announced in a voice still wobbly with tears, “this way you and daddy can both have a Camaro and everyone can be happy again.”

The close call had made Logan realize that he wasn’t as responsible as he should have been, plus his little sister’s tears had made him feel even guiltier for trying to fight with me. Beth had always been a daddy’s girl and by default, she had also loved Logan as much as she loved me. Since people had always said that Logan was the spitting image of me as well as sharing my personality, it had gone to his head as well as Beth’s.

Growing up, Beth had followed Logan around like a little puppy when she wasn’t following me. So whenever Logan and I had butted heads, Beth had always been the one to come between us to try to calm us down.

Beth was the romantic of us all, the perfect combination of the best things from Bella and I. She was the one who always wanted everyone to be happy and went out of her way to make it possible. She was constantly trying to make everyone smile or trying to make sure they had what they needed to do so.

Sure she was only fifteen now, but from the moment she was born, she thought of everyone else before herself. That’s why she had gotten the toy Camaro for Logan. She thought if he had a Camaro of his own, even though it was just a toy, he wouldn’t be angry at me anymore.

Her gift and her words had definitely done something to Logan because he had accepted the toy car while trying to hold back tears. After he had left the hospital, he had immediately apologized to me for being ungrateful and reckless. Honestly, I had known how he felt since I had been a teenager too, plus I had witnessed Bella’s strange recklessness back then. Still, I had accepted his apology after a heart to heart talk with him, then we had placed the toy Camaro in the hutch as a way to say all was right in our world again.

From that moment on, Logan had begun to shed his teen years, growing into a smart young man who was now in his third year of college, striving to get a degree in Engineering. Once he may have been just like me, but these days he was surpassing all of our expectations, making both Bella and I extremely glad that there had never been a reason for him to be tied to the reservation the way I had always been.

I moved closer to Bella’s side to peer into the hutch, smiling at the evidence of the time when I had shared my body with a wolf. There was a picture of my wolf standing next to Bella who was in a hoodie. I remembered when that picture was taken. It had been a cold day when Christmas was just around the corner and Bella and I had decided to finally look for a tree to put up in our new home.

She had insisted on coming with me, but as the day wore on and we had yet to agree on the perfect tree from the woods, it had gotten too cold for Bella to handle. The twins had been just infants then, safely in their bed with Charlie watching over them.

When I had noticed that Bella was shivering, I had phased into my wolf form before quickly curling my body around hers. She had leaned against me, giving me a grateful smile while trying to talk through chattering teeth.

“I know you think I’m crazy for coming with you in this weather, but it’s going to be our first Christmas in our new home, Jake. I just wanted to share these things with my husband. I wanted to make this wonderful new memory with the man I love.”

I had nudged her cheek with the tip of my nose before slightly nodding my head to let her know that I had understood and that I wasn’t upset with her. We had stood like that for a while, until the color came back to Bella’s cheeks and her teeth had stopped clicking. It was just as I was about to unfurl myself from around her when we had heard the camera go off.

I had known it was Seth immediately since he had become the resident shutterbug after taking a photography class one summer during high school. After graduation, he actually went off to college to study it more before traveling to photograph the world. Before he had left though, Bella and I had been his favorite subjects. We were constantly being caught in candid poses, some of which were now visible in the little hutch.

Aside from the one of my wolf next to Bella, Seth had also taken one of the wedding photos, as well as the one where I had just phased back into my human form after a particularly nasty fight with a stray vampire. All the photo showed was my face and Bella’s, so close together that our foreheads were touching. Bella had been hugging me, her relief that I was still in one piece had been clear for all to see.

Besides me, Bella chuckled, making me look her way. “What?”

She reached down to pick up the little plaque that was near the toy Camaro. The plaque read, “Never Let Mom Brush Your Hair When She’s Mad At Dad.”

I couldn’t help but grin at that one too. Ava had put that there after making my dad carve it for her. She had been twelve at the time, but the incident that it referred to had occurred years before that. It was something Ava had never forgot since her hair meant everything to her.

Bella shook her head. “You know, to this day, Ava has never let me live that down. She still won’t let me get near her hair. In fact, last year it was up to Emma to make sure Ava’s hair was perfect before her wedding.”

I gave her a sympathetic grimace, “Sorry. I mean, I know it was partly my fault that it happened, but look on the bright side, Emma still let you touch her hair. So did Logan and Beth.”

She rolled her eyes. “Logan doesn’t count. He’s a boy.”

I shrugged. “So? He had long hair as a kid. Hair which you were able to brush and braid and all that other…stuff.”

Bella laughed at my look of fake horror before she bumped shoulders with me. “Oh come on, Jacob! You used to braid your hair too!”

“Yeah, but I did it myself! And it was for traditional reasons, not to…look…pretty.”

Bella continued to laugh at my stricken expression which I couldn’t hold because seeing her so happy always affected me. Soon, I was laughing along with her. We continued to laugh as we remembered the incident that had produced that plaque.

Ava and Emma had been six while Logan had been just a few months away from his first birthday. Bella had already brushed Emma’s hair out for the night and was just about to start on Ava’s when she heard Logan’s wail. I had been in the garage when I heard the wail too, but the instinct that had me running for Logan’s room was different than the one Bella had.

See, Bella was a mother, so her protective instinct was always constant for her children. My instinct that night had been prompted by the fact that I had sent Embry and Quil inside with Logan since Embry had insisted that he could put the baby to bed without a problem while I finished the new headboard I had been constructing for Logan’s first birthday.

My supernatural speed had allowed me to reach Logan’s room just as Bella had begun screeching at my two best friends. “What the heck are you two doing?”

Looking back, the scene I had slid into was comical, though at the time I had feared for Embry and Quil’s life.

Wide-eyed Quil, face covered in white baby powder, had been holding a screaming Logan up and away from his body. His huge hands had been folded around Logan’s torso while Logan’s little arms flailed in the air. Logan had been completely naked, yet looked like he had been dipped in a vat of baby powder. Not an inch of him had escaped the white stuff, even the black of his hair had been completely hidden by the white powder.

Embry had been holding a dripping towel in his hands that were outstretched towards Logan. While he hadn’t worn the same deer-caught-in-the-headlights look as Quil, he had grimaced slightly.

He had tried to diffuse the situation with a, “It’s not as bad as it looks, Bella.”

At that moment, Logan had turned his head towards his mother, wailing even more. It was then that I had seen what had prompted Bella to suddenly gasp.

“Oh my God! It’s in his mouth!” She had rushed towards Quil. “Are you trying to suffocate him? Give me my son, you idiot!”

As Quil had quickly handed Logan to Bella, Embry had tried to wrap the towel around the baby’s body. Bella had twisted away as she glared at him.

“Bella,” Embry had said, in a voice meant to soothe a wild animal, “I wet this towel to get the powder off of him.”

“It’s already too cold to put on him,” growled Bella. That sound and the way she had been glaring at both of my friends had almost made me believe there was a wolf inside of Bella too. In any case, she had certainly been acting like a mama wolf protecting her cub.

“I’m going to give him a bath, you two get out of here. And where is Jacob?”

Knowing what was coming, I had swallowed. “I’m right here.”

She had whirled around to aim her glare at me. “Where have you been? You were supposed to be watching our son! Instead I find him with these two clowns!”

I had winced as her voice rose with every word. “I was in the garage finishing the headboard and Embry offered to change his diaper for me. I trust Embry.”

“Really?” she had snapped. “Just because he’s your Beta doesn’t mean he can take over your duties as a father, Jake!”

Quil had stepped forward despite the fact that Embry had been frantically trying to gesture to him to be quiet. “Bella, Embry didn’t even…”

“Not another word from you!” interrupted Bella. She had then turned to look at Embry. “Since you’re so responsible, you get to clean up the mess in this room while I bathe my son.” Turning back to Quil, she had ordered, “And you get to leave right now or you’ll leave in pieces.”

As she had turned towards me standing in the door to the hallway, she snapped at me. “As for you, too bad we don’t have a doghouse for you to sleep in. As it is, you’ll take the couch.”

I had closed my eyes with a whispered, “Shit” before turning to follow my wife. Unfortunately she had never stopped stomping to the bathroom where she had slammed the door in my face, locking me out despite my pleas for her to talk to me.

While Bella had bathed Logan, I had helped Embry clean up the baby’s room then saw both him and Quil out, after trying to reassure them that I’d be fine. I had decided to go back to the garage to put things away, thus giving Bella a little time to calm down. By the time I had returned to the house, Logan had been clean and lying contentedly in his crib watching the baby shadow animals dance on the wall from the revolving lamp, all while gnawing on his favorite baby blanket.

I had left him there and went to find Bella. She had been in the twins bedroom, brushing Ava’s hair, but I had been able to clearly see that she hadn’t calmed down a bit. Poor Ava had tears in her eyes as she winced in pain, her little hand reaching back to try to push her mother’s hand away from her hair while Emma had huddled under her blanket in the corner of her bed as far away as she could get from them. Bella had been in her own world, muttering under her breath while ignoring Ava’s hands and sniffles.

I had winced at a particularly loud whimper from my daughter after Bella had nearly yanked the hair from her scalp. Stepping into the bedroom, I had tried to get my wife’s attention before she had completely scalped Ava.

“Bells, honey? Why don’t you go have a nice, long soak in the tub and I’ll finish Ava’s hair for you.”

She had glared up at me as she once more yanked on Ava’s hair, making Ava cry out as a tear finally made its way down her cheek.

“Don’t you dare try to smooth talk your way back…”

I had moved closer, waving my hands towards Ava. “Bella, you’re hurting Ava.”

Whether it had been my words or my actions, something had registered with Bella enough to make her remove the brush from Ava’s hair before turning the girl around to look at her face.

Bella had gasped, “Oh Ava! Oh baby, I’m so sorry!” She had wiped the tears off of our daughter’s face with her thumbs before pulling her into her arms. “Are you okay? I’m sorry!”

Ava had sighed as she hugged her mother back. “I’m fine mommy, but daddy is right. You should go soak and he can brush my hair.”

It had taken a few more moments for Ava to reassure her mother that she was fine before she would leave the room. Bella had handed me the brush without looking at me, then walked out of the room.

As I had sat behind Ava, she’d turned her gaze up to me and said with a tiny grin, “I’m glad mommy can’t handle tears coz my hair would be gone now.”

I was grinning at the memory as Bella set the plaque back down. Waiting until she was looking at me, I asked, “Did I ever tell you what Ava said after you left to take your bath?”

Bella shook her head. “No, what did she say?”

I chuckled. “It seems she was smarter than she let on…or at least she was in tune with you.”

When Bella tilted her head in question, I told her what Ava had said. “She turned to look up at me with this sly grin and said, I’m glad mommy can’t handle tears coz my hair would be gone now.”

Bella’s eyes widened. “She did not!”

I nodded. “Yep. I remember it clear as day because as soon as she said it and I saw the grin and heard Emma giggling from beneath her blanket, I was laughing too. The three of us spent a good amount of time laughing about it before I could settle Ava down enough to finish her hair, then get both of the girls to bed.”

Bella shook her head with a grin. “I never knew that! By the time I had gotten out of the bath the girls were fast asleep.”

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close to me. “And before the night was over, you had forgiven me.”

Bella swatted at my shoulder. “Well, geez it’s really hard to stay mad at you when you give me those puppy dog eyes.”

“Oh, so it wasn’t because of my super seduction skills?” I said, smirking.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh please, you know I’m the one with the seduction skills.”

My smirk turned into a full smile. “Hm, you do have a point, your skills definitely have staying power.”

She giggled as I nuzzled her neck, letting my hands wander up her back in a slow caress. I trailed my lips up to her jaw, then moved to tease her lips with mine. When I pulled back to gaze at her, she looked at me with love in her darkening eyes.

“I love you, Jacob Black. Stay with me and let me love you forever. Please, stay.”

“Forever,” I agreed as I scooped her up into my arms to carry her into our bedroom where I intended to spend the rest of our anniversary in the arms of the woman I loved.

We both knew that it was a given. At her side, I would forever…stay.

THE END

Stay

I was very flattered that one of my all-time favorite wolf-girls, whether it was as a writer, administrator, Jacob lover or just a friend in general won me in the Tricky Raven site's silent auction. I knew I'd have a lot to live up to and I still don't think I've measured up to anything she's done in the past. Still, here's JB's prompt to me:

Bella and Jake are about to celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary!  The plan is to renew their wedding vows. They have at least 2-3 children and still live in LaPush.

 

Jacob reflects back to the night in Bella's room at her dad's house, which had changed their lives forever: 

 

Bella had finally broke it off with Edward  several weeks before, after she had realized that she did indeed loose her best friend Jacob due to her initial stupid plans to marry Edward. She realized that she did indeed love and need Jacob more than live itself. He had been refusing to see her, he has pride too, but gave in that night, however, he still does not trust her words 100% so she 'shows' him. Bella had a plan to seduce him.....

JB also wanted this to be told in Jacob's POV and since that is always a challenge to me, I accepted it. As further incentive, JB had her fellow wolf-girl (another wolf-girl I fangirl over like JB) EnjoyYourJacob, make me a banner to go with the one-shot. The title and main theme comes from Rhianna's song, Stay, which JB says reminds her of Jacob.

 So, without further ado....

Bidder: JB

Author: Shadowlynx

Banner: EnjoyYourJacob

Pairing: Jacob/Bella

Rating: MA for lemon

Genre: Romance

(Jacob POV) 

Stay.

One word was all it took. Over the years, that one word had echoed in my mind over and over again. It had made so many different emotions rise up inside of me when she had said it in that soft whisper of hers.

Stay, Jacob…please? Stay.

I sighed contentedly as my eyes roamed over the little hutch that my kids had set up on a couple of crates covered in a sheet, in the corner of our living room. Back when they were six, my eldest twin daughters had put the crates there, then filled it with things that were special to them. Later, my son and youngest daughter added their own things to the mix too, creating a sort of treasure trove of memories of our family life.

Today was our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and all I could think of was the day my wife had changed our future for the better with that one little word. Even though I had let go of my wolf years ago, I still retained some of the enhanced senses it had given me, plus my body was still in better shape than most forty-three year olds. Bella had been lucky too, at least in my mind she was still as beautiful as the day we had gotten married. She may have a few grey hairs like I did, but I still wanted her as much as I had wanted her that day in Charlie’s house when she had asked me to stay.

I remembered everything like it was yesterday, even now that emotional time was still fresh in my mind. Bella was supposed to be marrying her leech in a few days but I had already cut off contact before that day. Once I had received the wedding invitation, there had been no going back for me, so I had lost myself in my wolf side, deep inside the Olympic National Forest.

I had remained in wolf form for weeks, ignoring the voices of my wolf pack in my head and the occasional mournful wolf howls that I could hear in the forest. Living off of the land while sleeping beneath the trees, I had let go of the human side of myself so that I couldn’t feel the way my heart bled from losing the girl I loved.

It was Seth who had finally found me, having been asked by Bella to bring me back if he could. At first I had resisted, my wolf’s hackles rising as I growled at him, baring my teeth in warning. Even back then, he hadn’t been easily scared of me, sending me messages from Bella through our mind link.

She had been trying to get a hold of me for a while, it seemed. Calling my house and even venturing down to La Push to try to find me. She needed to talk to me, she had said. Seth had told me it was important that I talk to her, but he wouldn’t say why. How he had managed to keep secrets from me through our minds was beyond me at the time because I had never thought he was as strong as I was.

It had taken another two days for Seth to get me to at least call her, even providing the cell phone to do so. I phased long enough to grab the phone from him, dialing Bella’s number, then waited for her to pick up.

“Hello?” The sadness in her voice over the phone nearly had me walking back to Forks in my birthday suit.

Instead, I had shoved down the need to comfort her as I growled into the phone. “What do you want, Bella?”

“Jake,” she gasped, “Where are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I snapped. “Seth said you wanted to talk to me, so talk.”

She sighed. “Not over the phone, Jacob. Can you come to Charlie’s? Tonight?”

I huffed. “Whatever you need to say, just say it. You know I can’t see you anymore.”

“Please, Jake, this is important.”

“Whatever, Bella.”

“Just give me a chance tonight, Jacob. I can explain everything.”

“There’s nothing else to say Bella!” I had growled, trying not to crush the cell phone. “You made your choice and…”

“Please!” she begged. “I need…Jake…please come see me tonight. I need to…talk to you.”

There had been something in her voice, something I couldn’t ignore no matter how much the human side of me had wanted to. She had hurt me, yet I could feel myself being drawn to her side once more. My mind had told me to tell her no, but that’s not what came out of my mouth.

“Fine,” I groused. “I’ll be there.”

I had hung up before she could say another word, then tossed the phone back to Seth with a glare. “Happy now?”

He’d grinned at me. “Want me to call Leah to pick us up?”

I shook my head as I began walking away from him. “You can go. I’m running back.”

I hadn’t stuck around to see if he was following. Phasing on the run, I made it back to my father’s house within a few hours. He hadn’t been home that day, so I went to shower and clean up before I had to meet Bella at her house. My hair had grown a few inches in the weeks I had been gone and I needed a shave badly, so I knew that would keep me busy until it was time to go.

It had felt strange being back in clothing after living as a wolf for so long. Despite putting on a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt, my skin had still protested the feel of the worn cotton against it. I fought the urge to constantly scratch or yank the clothes off of me so I could return to wolf form.

I went to the kitchen where I made me a couple of sandwiches to tide me over until the talk with Bella was done. Swallowing them whole, I’d washed them down with a warm soda then made my way out to the garage. Luckily my bike had seemed to be running well despite not being used for a few weeks.

Later that night, it hadn’t taken me long to get to Bella’s house, despite not having been there in a while, I still knew the way well enough that I could have done it with my eyes closed even while driving the bike. Apparently she had been waiting for me since I didn’t even have to knock but once before the door had flown open and she threw herself at me.

“Oh Jacob! I was so worried about you! I’m so glad you’re okay! I’ve missed you so much!”

I remember standing there in shock, blinking my confusion away as she hugged me as tight as she could. When I realized she wasn’t letting me go any time soon, I had slowly wrapped my own arms around her although it wasn’t like the hugs I used to give her.

“I’m fine,” I said, adding hesitantly, “I…I missed you too.”

Finally she had stepped back, but only so far so that she could look up at me. “Come inside, I made lasagna. We can catch up while we eat.”

I had allowed her to tug my hand, knowing even then that she had wanted me to follow her while ignoring the grumble of my stomach that seemed excited at the prospect of more food despite the two sandwiches I had eaten earlier. Bella looked back at me with a hesitant smile, clearly she had heard my stomach too, but she didn’t say anything about it.

In the kitchen, she had me sit down before bustling around the room fixing me a plate of food and something to drink. Then she sat across from me, silently eating her own meal for a while until I was almost finished with my second helping.

Picking at what was left on her plate, she had finally spoken up. “So, where have you been?”

I let my fork drop to my plate as I sat back. “No where.”

She had glanced up at me before looking down at her plate again. “Are…are you okay?”

“Fine,” I’d answered, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Seth said you took off and you weren’t talking to anybody. Even Charlie was worried and…”

“I said I was fine!” I interrupted. “What’s it matter anyway? You should be busy planning your wedding!”

Her head had finally snapped up so that her eyes met mine. I was glaring at her, but even I could see the sudden fire in her eyes.

“I care about you because you’re my best friend!” she snapped.

I had arched an eyebrow at her. “So?”

Her jaw had actually clenched as she threw her fork down on her plate. “Ugh! I swear, Jacob! Why are you being such an ass? I’m trying to talk to you, damn it! To tell you what has happened since you’ve been gone and all you can do is growl and snap at me!”

I could still remember the way I had stood up, towering over her and ignoring the fact that that was the first time I had ever heard her swear. I had even growled. “I’m not interested in hearing about your wonderful new life with those leeches!”

She had stood up too, clearly not intimidated by my height or anger. “Oh really? So, you’re not interested in hearing that I’m not gonna marry one of your enemies after all, are you?”

I had blinked, thinking to myself, did she say what I thought she said? “Wait. What?”

She gritted her teeth. “You heard me!”

I swallowed. “You’re…you’re not marrying the le…um, Cullen?”

She arched an eyebrow at me when I had gaped at her. “Seriously?”

All of the fight had suddenly went out of her as she plopped back down into her chair and sighed. “I called off the wedding.”

Those were words I’d wanted to hear for so long before that day, so I couldn’t understand how she could blame me for the disbelief that I knew was on my face. Slowly I had sat back down in my chair, staring at her while trying to find the right words to say.

“What…happened?” I asked.

She had shrugged as she looked everywhere but me. “I thought about it, it just seemed like the right thing to do.” Instead of waiting for me to answer, she’d gotten up to clear the table. I sat there feeling like I’d just been sucker-punched, my mind a jumble of thoughts.

It wasn’t until I felt her hesitant touch on my shoulder that I had looked up into her eyes. For the first time ever, and the only time since then, I hadn’t been able to decipher the emotions that were floating in her brown eyes. She had given me a shy smile before stepping back, motioning towards the living room. “Come on, let’s go sit on the couch and I’ll tell you what happened.”

I had nodded, then followed her out of the kitchen, letting my body sink into the couch like I had no bones. Really, I was still trying to recover from being blindsided. As much as I had begged Bella not to marry the leech, it was still such a shock to find out that she wasn’t going to. Suddenly, I wanted to know what the hell I had missed over those last few weeks.

Bella had waited until I was looking at her before she began her story. “That night, when I went to see you after the fight with the newborns, the talk we had…it stayed with me. When I left, I couldn’t stop thinking about you and what was said. I had some time alone after that and I began to realize that I wasn’t telling myself the whole truth.”

She’d sighed as she shook her head. “Later, when Edward came over and we talked, I was so upset over what I was feeling and he tried to comfort me, but he couldn’t. Then later, he took me to see Alice so we could talk about the wedding plans and it just hit me. As Alice went on and on about colors and fabric, I lost interest. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, about what I was giving up.”

Bella had reached out towards my hand, pausing a moment as if she was unsure before taking it in hers. Giving it a gentle squeeze, she continued in a softer voice. “You’re my best friend, Jacob, and I realized that I didn’t want to lose you, not like that.”

I remember looking down at our linked hands for a moment before asking, “So you called off the wedding? For how long?”

She had huffed as she suddenly jerked her hand from mine. “We’re not getting married Jacob. Ever.” When I had given her a skeptical look, she proclaimed, “I broke up with him for good.”

I’d laughed, knowing it sounded strained. “Why don’t I believe that?”

Narrowed eyes had glared at me. “It’s the truth. The Cullens are getting ready to leave for Alaska soon.”

I’d snapped my gaze to hers, hackles rising. “What? Does Sam know?”

She’d nodded. “Yes, he and Carlisle have been making plans on how to deal with the Volturi. How to convince them to leave me alone since I’m not becoming a vampire like they thought I was.”

I had growled. “We can handle any vampires that come here.”

She had smirked. “I know that, but Carlisle and I feel that the pack has to know everything that the Volturi are capable of. Forewarned is forearmed, right?”

At that time, I had shrugged even though I agreed with her. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Anyway,” she had continued, “Once Carlisle has told the pack everything, they’re leaving.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, all of them. Even Edward and Alice.”

“Just like that?” I asked.

Even then, I had known she could hear the skepticism still in my voice. She’d sighed in exasperation. “Jake, it’s over between Edward and me. I made that clear to him, so he knows and he’s agreed to leave. He said he made that vow to you in the tent and he means to keep it. He said you would know what he was talking about.”

Yeah, I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I hadn’t believed him even then. Figured the leech wouldn’t want to give up his tasty treat even under the guise of love. It’s why I had fought so hard, even tried to be sneaky, but those last words Bella had told me while I was laid up in bed from the injuries that the newborn gave me, made me think there was no way I was going to win.

Now there she was, telling me I had won after all. Yeah, like I was going to believe it had been that easy. “You believed him?”

She had thrown up her hands in exasperation. “It doesn’t matter if he spoke the truth or not. He’s leaving, Jacob! Carlisle has promised me that! So has Alice! They’re leaving and I get my life back. Edward knows I refuse to be with him now. I made sure he understood that.”

At that point, I’d gotten up and began pacing. “What makes you think anything you said to a leech would keep him away from you? He didn’t stay away last time.”

“He’ll stay away this time.”

“Right.”

“Jacob, I told him that I’m not in love with him.”

I had stopped pacing and turned to see that she was on her feet too. She was looking right at me as she continued. “I told him that he wasn’t worth giving up my entire life for. That there were things I needed more than I needed him.”

I hadn’t been able to breathe as she said those words. Back then, I couldn’t believe that she had finally realized everything I had been trying to get her to see ever since I knew she had hooked up with the leech. Why now?

I hadn’t realized I had said that last part out loud until she had answered me. “It didn’t happen overnight, Jake. I told you. After our talk that night you were hurt, I started thinking about it more. Later, when he tried to comfort me, I realized it wasn’t his comfort I needed and it started to sink in. But it was really when I was listening to Alice drone on about the stupid wedding that I knew the truth. So, I spent the next couple of days alone before I finally told Edward that I didn’t love him and I didn’t want to marry him.”

“He seemed to know it was coming. I think he knew he couldn’t give me what I wanted. We both knew you had finally rubbed off on me,” she had said the last part with a smirk.

Slowly I’d nodded. “Okay, so you don’t love him and you’ve broken up with him. Good for you. Guess you’ll be staying human too, huh?”

“Yes, of course! It’s what I want. I don’t want to lose you, Jacob. You mean everything to me. More than Edward ever did.”

I ran a hand through my hair. Bella wasn’t going to become a leech. That was good news, so why was I still twitchy?

Her soft voice had intruded into my thoughts. “Jacob?”

I’d lifted my gaze to hers. “Yeah?”

She’d given me a hesitant smile. “Did you hear what I said? You mean everything to me. More than Edward, more than…” she paused, then sighed. “Jacob, I…I love you. I chose you, instead of him.”

My eyes had gone wide with that revelation. “Wh…what?”

She nodded. “After I broke up with him, I had time to think about you. While everyone was looking for you and I sat here worrying about where you were, I realized that I loved you. That I wanted you here with me. It’s why I begged Seth to look for you, to bring you back to me. I wanted to tell you how I feel. That I love you so much.”

As if it was only yesterday, I could still feel the way my heart had pounded in my ears that night. The girl I loved was finally telling me that she loved me, yet I couldn’t bring myself to listen. I couldn’t let myself just give in and believe the words she was telling me.

“Jake?” she had whispered.

I shook my head. “I…I can’t do this again, Bella. I can’t.”

I had turned to leave, but her hand on my arm stopped me. “Stay, Jacob…please? Stay.”

I had closed my eyes as she moved to stand in front of me. “Why?” I whispered.

“For me. Stay because I love you. Because I need you. And because…because you love me too.”

I hadn’t been able to look at her as I answered her. “I gave in to you before and you…”

She nodded when I couldn’t finish. “I know. I know I hurt you and I’m so sorry. Please, Jake, you have to believe me now. Trust that my words are true this time. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay. With you.”

I’d taken a step back and tried to breathe again. “God, Bells, you have no idea how much I want to believe you.”

She’d looked down at her feet for a moment before looking back up at me. “I know. I get it. Fine, you want proof? Here’s your proof.”

Next thing I knew she had thrown herself at me, wrapping her legs and arms around my body as her lips covered mine. Instinct had me wrapping my arms around her to keep her from falling. Then when it registered that she was kissing me, I couldn’t help but respond to it.

That kiss wasn’t like the kiss on the mountain. It had been much more desperate and heated. Much more intense.

I had gripped her body closer to mine and when she touched my bottom lip with her tongue, I had whimpered. Yep, like a needy puppy, I had whimpered.

That hadn’t stopped her though as she pushed her tongue past my lips into my mouth then began teasing my tongue with hers. I had nearly dropped her at that point. Geez, someone should have warned me that those kind of kisses could be lethal. Especially when it was with the girl you love.

I’d stumbled back onto the couch with her in my lap. Sliding my hands to her hips, I’d pulled her closer to me and gave as good as I got. Her hands had slid down my chest, dipping under my shirt before once again sliding up my skin. When she had tugged at my shirt to remove it, I lifted my lips from hers.

We were both breathing hard at that point and she still had been tugging at my shirt. “Bells,” I said, in between breaths. “What are you doing?”

A blush had stolen across her cheeks as she looked down at her hands where they rested against my chest, still clutching the ends of my shirt. “I’m trying to seduce you.”

She’d looked back into my eyes then, and I could see the sparkle in them that went with the cheeky grin she had worn back then. “Is it working?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Uh, yeah, I think it is.”

We had been silent for a few moments, just looking at each other, trying to get our breathing under control. Finally, I had lifted a hand to brush back a lock of hair from her face.

“You don’t have to do this, Bells. I think I believe you now.”

She had sighed as she let go of my shirt to trace a trembling finger along my jaw. “What if I want to? Would you…would you let me make love to you?”

I swallowed. “You want to…now?”

She’d nodded, the blush coming back in full force. “Yes, Charlie won’t be back tonight and…I want you Jake. So much.”

I had closed my eyes. The chivalrous side of me, the boy, had wanted to say that it was still too soon. The wolf side of me, the man, had wanted to throw manners to the wind and take what he wanted.

I guess Bella had sensed my hesitation because she leaned in to begin nibbling on my jaw. I inhaled sharply at the feel of her lips against my skin. The words had caught in my throat, enabling her to continue teasing me with lips and tongue all the way down my neck.

Then, she had bitten the junction where my neck met my shoulder before speaking in a husky voice. At that point, I had known I was done. “I want this, Jacob. I want to make love to you. Please say you want this too.”

I’d groaned as my wolf side won the war inside of me. “Upstairs, now.”

I hadn’t waited for her to answer. Instead, I rose to my feet, keeping her wrapped around me as I took the stairs four at a time. When I held her with one arm while using the other to tug off the shirt that still made my skin itch, I had realized that sometimes it was good to be a supernatural wolf who’d learned all sorts of neat, sexual tricks from the pack mind. Tricks that my wolf was more than eager to put to good use at that moment.

In her room, I had tossed the offensive shirt carelessly to the floor and nudged the door closed with my foot before pressing her against it to resume kissing her. That night I took possession of her mouth, my warmer tongue quickly heating the inside of her cooler mouth. Her legs had wrapped tightly around my hips just as her arms wrapped around my bare shoulders. I had devoured her as I felt my human side fading away even more, all because she had bitten me in a place that had triggered my wolf side.

I had kissed her until she began trying to tear her mouth from mine so that she could breathe. A breathless “Jake” fell from her lips, but I had ignored it as I let my lips and teeth taste her skin from her cheek down to her shoulder. Moving my mouth back to the junction of her shoulder and neck, I’d bitten down harder than she had, making sure I’d leave a mark that would last for weeks.

She’d gasped and tossed her head back, one hand flying up to bury fingers in my hair. Instead of tugging me away to stop the pain, she had seemed to enjoy the brief sting, digging her nails deep into both my scalp and my back in an effort to keep my mouth attached to her skin. Her reaction had only spurred my wolf on, making me eager to get closer to her.

Suddenly there had seemed to be too many obstacles in the way of what I had wanted. My mouth wanted to taste more of her skin, so I had grabbed hold of her shirt in one hand and yanked it up over her head. Again she had gasped, but when my eyes met hers, I didn’t see any hesitation or fear in them. She’d bitten her bottom lip and leaned back against the door, letting me see the lovely, pale skin that was still covered partly by her bra.

I had growled at the material like it was preventing me from enjoying my treat, prompting a soft chuckle from her lips along with the spread of a rosy tint over her cheeks.

“Off,” I’d barked, then rumbled with satisfaction when she quickly undid the bra and tossed it over my shoulder.

I hadn’t even waited for it to leave her fingers before I lifted her higher so that I could latch my mouth to one of her pink-tipped breasts. I suckled like a man who hadn’t had a drink in weeks, desperately trying to find relief in that small, soft swell.

I had been vaguely aware of the faint mewling sounds coming from Bella as I indulged in first one and then the other creamy peak. Even the brief burn of her nails down my back hadn’t distract me from my treat. My mouth had continued to suck and torture her, making her rub her jean-clad center against my stomach.

The smell of her arousal and the slight dampness against my skin told my wolf just how much my attentions were turning her on. A rumble of pride had vibrated through my chest, knowing that I was the one drawing out such a sensual response from her. My wolf had salivated at the thought of devouring her, the small treat I’d already had of her chest only made it worse.

I’d drawn on the lessons I’d learned from the pack’s mind, my hands making quick work of her jeans, ripping both those and her panties off of her body with one tug. I’d heard her gasp, but ignored it as I used my speed and strength to push her against the door while I went to my knees. Taking a deep breath, I’d inhaled her scent a split second before I plunged my tongue between her already moist folds.

Her gasp had turned into a long moan and I’d felt her legs trembling against my hands as I held her up while my mouth continued to feast on her. Had Bella ever wanted to stop, she would never have been able to make me do so since my wolf had been in total control at that point. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had been vaguely aware that her fingers were tugging at my hair, but it was only so she could push my face closer to where she had wanted me to be.

I had lapped and sucked, eventually adding my fingers to the mix in an effort to produce the results my wolf had been hungry for. A swipe of my tongue here, a nibble of my teeth there and a few thrusts of my fingers finally had Bella’s thighs gripping my shoulders as her nails dug into my scalp while my name was torn from her lips.

It would be a while before my wolf had taken his fill, leaving Bella a shuddering mess in my arms. I had licked my lips, still tasting her as my eyes drank in the sight of her relaxed body against mine. Slowly, my wolf seemed to recede a little, leaving me aware of the fact that she was completely naked while I was still clothed from the waist down.

I remembered how I had suddenly felt guilty for what I had done. It had made me rise to my feet to carry Bella over to her bed where I hastily grabbed the comforter and wrapped her up in it.

Backing away from the bed, I had started to stutter. “Bells...I...I…God, I’m…I didn’t mean…” I ran a shaky hand through my hair as I continued to back away. “I’m sorry,” I had finally whispered.

Blinking, she had suddenly shot up and reached out to me. “No! Jacob, don’t! Don’t you dare tell me you’re sorry! I wanted this! I wanted you!”

I had stopped moving, but shook my head, still not believing she would’ve wanted what my wolf had. Maybe she had sensed the difference in me, maybe she knew that I hadn’t been myself when that had happened because she was giving me a gentle smile.

Rising to her knees on the bed, she had held out her hand to me and spoke in a soothing voice, as if she were trying to calm a skittish animal. “Jake, come here. Please? Stay the night with me? Let me make love to you. I promise, there’s nothing you can do to me tonight that I’ll ever regret.”

When I had still hesitated, she dropped the comforter, but I refused to let my eyes leave hers. “Jacob, I need you to hear me. What I’m saying, you have to know that I mean it all.” She had paused for a moment before giving me a full smile, one that shone in her eyes along with something else. It was that something else that had fallen from her lips next.

“I’m in love with you, Jacob Black. I always have been and I always will be. So stay. Stay with me and let me love you forever.”

That time it had worked. That time I had finally lifted my hand and tangled my fingers with hers, letting her pull me into the bed with her. The rest of that night, the wolf inside of me had remained hidden as the boy inside of me finally had the chance to become one with the girl he loved.

The memories of the rest of that night, were still running through my mind as I felt a soft hand touch my shoulder. Blinking away the images, I looked up into the smiling face of my wife, Bella Marie Black.

She wore a peach, knee-length, satin dress which made her naturally pale skin seem to glow from within. Her long hair was swept up in a relaxed bun with tendrils framing her face. Even with strands of white glimmering through her hair and the laugh lines around her eyes and mouth, she still took my breath away.

“You okay, Jake?” she asked, a concerned look shining from her eyes.

I took her hand and pulled her down next to me as I motioned to the little hutch in front of me. “Just remembering our past, is all.” I replied.

She grinned as she stared at the pictures our kids had added to the memory hutch, along with some of their favorite toys and other trinkets. There were a few pictures of our wedding and of Bella’s pregnancies. There were even a few candid pictures of the two of us looking like we were so wrapped up in our love for each other, whether I was in wolf form or not.

Once I had become Alpha, I had managed to convince the council that we shouldn’t keep the secret of what we were from our families. My children had grown up knowing of their heritage and what I had once been. Only the twins had ever seen my wolf though they were still very young when I had stopped phasing.

Bella sighed next to me. “Yeah, we’ve had a great life together, haven’t we?”

I nodded. “Mm hm.” I reached up to run the back of my fingers over the skin of her cheek. “And all because you asked me to…”

“Stay,” she finished with a smile, clearly remembering that night just like I had. When I returned her smile, she continued. “Stay, Jacob. Please stay with me forever.”

“Forever,” I whispered before claiming her lips with mine.

It was only our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, but we both knew we would have more memories to add to our forever from this night forward. Memories of our life together…and all because I had stayed.

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Author's Note: Due to time and RL (boo!) I didn't get to add everything I'd wanted. All those memories in EYJ's banner were just glimpsed at in this OS, so I want to do a second part to this eventually. Keep your fingers crossed that I can do so!

Thanks again to JB for choosing me (blushes) and EYJ for creating such an inspiring banner! Jacob hugs to you both!