I'll be home for Christmas

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - I'll be home for Christmas

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Old Quil came back with Embry. He took one look at Josh and Bella asleep together on the bed and ordered everyone to stay out of the room. He leaned over and pulled a dream catcher from in between the bed and the wall. It must have been shifted out of the way by Jake when he was leaning against the headboard. He rubbed it between finger and thumb, studying the sleeping couple. He grunted to himself.

"Fetch a cedar sprig, now," he ordered Embry.

And then he pulled out a small handful of sage leaves and lit them, waving the smoke around the room and over the couple as he sang softly. When Embry got back, he waited until Old Quil's wrinkled hand was held out. He placed the cedar on his palm and backed out before he could be dismissed.

Old Quil tied the cedar to the dream-catcher, brushed his fingertips still heavy with the resin of the tree, across both their foreheads, left the room and shut the door firmly behind him.

"No-one enters. No one disturbs them," he ordered Embry. "You guard." Embry opened his mouth to argue. "You guard," the old man repeated.

Bella fell into a dream world. The familiar forest. The one between the mountains and the sea. It was the same world she had been dreaming of for a while now, she recognized it. She walked towards the sea. She knew that was the direction she should go.

Josh had told her that where the sea met the land was the place of change and it felt like the right place to be; things were changing. As she stepped carefully through the undergrowth she could see a figure looking towards the water. He was standing where the tiny waves broke over his bare feet. Her heart leapt and she started to run towards him.

"Josh!" She went to say 'you're okay' and then she realized her error. This wasn't the real world; of course he was okay, here. He turned as he heard her coming.

"Izzy," he called back.

"Josh, what are you doing in my dream?" she asked, as she hurried to him and he hurried to her.

He hugged her. Oddly, he felt real and substantial. "Your dream? I thought this was my dream." He chuckled. "You know what that makes you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh puleez. Don't say it."

"I knew you in the bar," he whispered, "You are the girl of my dreams."

She was secretly impressed by that. "You did?"

"Yeah. You looked a little different at the bar. It took me a while to recognize you."

"Different?"

"Thinner, more tired. Less happy."

"I was happy in your dreams?"

"Yes."

"How different did I look?"

He gave her a wicked smile.

"Oh, for heaven's sake… tell me I was not all pregnant or something."

He didn't answer her but the grin got wider.

She smacked him with the back of her hand. "You have enough sons," she told him.

"Yeah? Well, maybe I want some daughters."

"You are freaking me out talking about pregnancy when I have known you for days."