The Beta's Daughter

14 | The Twins

10 YEARS LATER...
*sam is a girl, fyi
*8/31/15; i changed harrison's name to logan

"Mom, Sam stole my hat!" "Mom, Logan's lying!" "Aunt Julie, make them stop yelling!" "Shut up, Joss!"

I glanced over my shoulder, forcing a smile at the three kids- well, two kids. Joss was twelve.

"Sami, give your brother back his hat," I ordered, trying to keep the weariness out of my voice. The three were usually arguing and running Lily, Mel, and me all over the place, but today was especially hectic. "And don't lie. Joss, remember to say please, dude. Sami, Lo, don't tell Joss to shut up," I added, turning back to the cake I was currently cutting. "He's older than you."

It was the twins' birthday party- they were turning ten. Sam had tackled Joss and forced a birthday hat onto his head, giggling the whole time. (We were fairly certain they were mates, but we wouldn't know until Joss turned eighteen.) all of their friends from school had come and were giggling and running around with huge smiles on their faces.

A boy- I'm pretty sure his name was Steven- was blindfolded and hitting the piñata Mel had put up. My friend had to jump to avoid getting hit.

I chuckled, handing Joss a piece of cake. He smiled his thanks, before letting Sam take it and run off to the table. He sighed, looking up at me with baleful eyes.

I gave him a sympathetic look, before Logan stepped forward and held out his cake. "Here- you can have mine," he chirped, grinning widely.

God, he's so sweet.

After the two boys left the table, and an adorable girl with bouncy blonde curls came and asked for her slice of cake very politely and with a big gap-tooth smile, Mel made her way over with a huff, putting her hands on her hips. "I hate this," she muttered, looking around our backyard. "I really do."

Melissa Tate was twenty-five, my age. I'd met her nine years ago, in my junior year of high school. I was proud to say- and bragged about it so much that it annoyed the hell out of Jake- that I liked her before we found out she was Jacob's mate. Aside from Lily, and Jake, she was my best friend.

She used to be a Werewolf hunter, and we all called her Mel.

"Oh, trust me, you'll love it," I assured her, handing her a piece of cake. "I mean, it's exhausting, but you'll love it. They laugh, you laugh, they smile, you smile..." I shook my head, grinning. "It never gets old."

Mel hummed, shrugging. "Yeah, well, you make being a mom look easy. Every time they ask you where their dad is I want to throw them out the window," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "And the sleeping! They never sleep! What's with that?"

I turned to look at her, and we kept straight faces for about five seconds before bursting into laughter.

*

That night, I had to carry Logan up to bed and half-drag Sam up the staircase.

"Hey, Mom?" She yawned, covering her mouth with one small hand.

"Yeah, honey?" I asked as I pushed Logan's bedroom door open with my hip.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" She asked, picking up her twin's pillow off the ground and stuffing it under his head. I smiled fondly as I tucked him in, pressing a kiss to his temple.

"C'mon, Sami," I whispered, before padding quietly out of his room, leaving the door cracked open and the hall light on when I got to my own bedroom.

It was a simple room with a bed, a nightstand, a couple posters I hadn't taken down from high school, and a family photograph- not my real family, from Golden Blood. It still hurt to think about them, especially Dani.

This photograph was from when the twins were about five, at Mel and Jake's wedding- they were twenty, because he wanted to marry her early- and we were all in it, Lily and Reid and Joss and me, and Mel was wearing her dress and Jacob was looking at her with this look that was just happy, and Sam and Logan were gripping my dress and looking up at me and practically begging for cake. It had been a good day.

But it had also made me think about Lennox and my mom and my dad and Dani- was she still playing soccer, even at twenty-five?- and even Dhiren, who I hadn't even thought I'd miss. No offense to the guy, but we weren't close.

But maybe we could've been.

And there, laying in my bed with Sam curled up against my side and hearing the door creak open as Logan crept in, I realized that I was being pretty damn nostalgic.

Which was weird. For the past decade, since the twins were born, I'd been focused on the future. When would I have to move out of the Freemans' house ("You can't," Mel said.), how would I pay for college ("We can do that," Caleb, Reid and Jake's dad, had told me.), who'd take care of the kids ("I can get you a sitter," Lily had said.), and what I would do if Dani ever showed up.

That was a terrifying thought that I'd never voiced aloud. Dani was my bestest friend, and I missed her, but I didn't want her to find me.

All I wanted- all I had that Margo fucking Montoya couldn't get her manicured nails into- was lying right next to me, out of her knowledge.

And they looked just like their father.