The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter CXLIX

Between my dad, Billy, and Jake, I was informed that if I thanked anyone again, they were going to tape my mouth shut with duct tape. That's what I get for trying to show my gratitude. Nessie was bouncing up and down on her knees like the little girl she was, grumbling about the presents. "Ness, I don't know if Santa comes for -" I elbowed Jake in the ribs before he could say anything else. Especially things that shouldn't be said in front of his sisters. His face came down to my shoulder, making it look like an embrace. "You bruised your elbow, huh?" he whispered.

"It wouldn't have been necessary if you hadn't started talking about her family," I countered. "Therefore, it's all your fault."

"How do you know what I was going to say?" he asked, his eyes narrowed in a dare. I just turned and stared at him. I knew everything about this kid, including knowing what he was about to say. "I was going to say hybrids," he continued in a whisper.

"And then your sisters would have wondered why you called her a hybrid," I replied.

"Annie, we have a present for you," Rebecca and Rachel announced.

"I already got the car," I replied, thinking that there was nothing else that I needed, nothing else that I really wanted. "And I don't think you understand how -" Jake slapped his large hand over my mouth.

"Give her your guys' gift, Rachel," he instructed. They both sprinted to the tree where Nessie was eagerly tearing her paper off her gifts with a bright smile. "She looks happy," he commented with his palm still over my lips. I opened my mouth enough to lick the center of his hand, but it did me no good. "After all the things we've done together, you think licking my hand is going to gross me out?" I blushed beet red and turned my attention back to his sisters. They held out a neatly wrapped box to me with bright smiles. After a quick squeeze to my cheeks, he let go of my mouth and allowed the girls to hand me the box.

"Shouldn't we just let Nessie have her present opening first?" I begged. I could tell by the gleam in the girls' eyes that this was something big and it scared me. I was the person who liked to hang in the background, you know, the one who stuck to what she was good at. I had no desire to be the person that everyone focused on just because of the gift.

"No; she's happy right where she is. The dads are devoting all their attention to her. Now open your damn present," he said.

Cautiously, I slid my finger along the tape line until it opened, but I still couldn't see anything. "Why don't you open yours? Or the girls? I can wait," I suggested. Jake just lifted his eyebrows and gave me a look that was reminiscent of the one that I had give him. So I continued opening the present until there was nothing but a wooden box staring at me. Like the recipe boxes that I had given them, my name was laser burned into the lid. "What is this?" I asked then, looking at the ornate latch on the box.

"You'll just have to open it and find out," Jake said, squeezing my arm. I lifted the latch and lifted the lid to find the most ornate quilt that I had ever seen lying in front of me. Jake's lips tweaked in a smile. "A wedding ring quilt," he muttered. "Could we stop with the fucking hints already."

"Language," I murmured. The creams wove around the brown and the teal and some reds. I fingered the delicate pattern, tracing the circles and twirls. "Did you know about this?" I asked him. He shook his head and lifted the tag that had been dangling from the package. To: Ryanne & Jake it read. "And I had to be the one to open it by myself," I mocked. He smiled and took the box from me, lifting the ornate quilt until it was completely unfolded and lying over our laps. "Where — — what?" I knew what I was trying to ask them, but I couldn't quite form it.

"After you gave us those things you kept of Mom's, we decided to go through anything else that we could find of hers," Rachel explained.

"And while we were looking, we came across a box that had your names on it," Rebecca cut in.

"So we opened it and found all of this," the other twin said. "She'd been planning the quilt for a while, we just finished it." I shook my head, trying desperately to keep up with the conversation but the two kept jumping back and forth.

"And, while it is for the both of you, we thought that you should have it, Annie. You've done a lot more for my family than I will ever be able to repay you for," Rebecca whispered. "And we got Jake something else." I laughed out loud, looking down at the pattern. I had little snippets of memories, visions where I could see her working on the fabric in her quilting corner. I ran my hands over the smooth fabric, getting out the wrinkles that weren't actually there.

"This is beautiful," I whispered, looking down at the blanket still. I bolted myself into Rebecca lap, wrapping my arms around her neck. Rachel wrapped her arms around my waist in an awkward three way hug. Dabbing underneath my eyes to make sure that I hadn't shed any tears, I pulled away. "You guys should get your presents. Go on," I waved. They both smiled and found their presents among the others under the tree. "You swear you didn't know about this?"

"Annie, I would have told you if I had known," he promised. It was on the tip of my tongue to inform him that he really wouldn't have said a damn word to me if he had known, but I looked up into his face first and saw the glassiness of his eyes while his fingers traced a gentle swirl of the pattern. He hadn't known. And this was just as important to him as it was to me.

"You should go get your presents," I whispered, patting his arm affectionately.

"Why do I feel like I was just friend-zoned?" he muttered in response. I laughed and watched him make his way across the room to the tree. Rebecca and Rachel had found their respective gifts among the pine needles and had brought them back to me. "They're from me too!" Jake shouted while he looked over what Nessie had been given.

Rachel's eyes were already watering when she pulled out the skin that I'd had customized for her computer. "I, uh, we went through some pictures of your mom and put them together," I explained. "I know that it's not super extravagant and we could always -" She launched herself at me, the collage of pictures still clutched in her hands. And then there was a gasp from Rebecca. I looked up to find her peeling away the last of the paper from the canvas. She looked from me to Jake to the painting that we'd ordered. It was one of her and Sarah, a few years before Jake and I were born. The two of them were sitting on First Beach, bright smiles on their faces, their hair being whipped around by the wind.

They both thanked me over and over again. Rebecca promptly proclaimed that she wanted to go get her picture hung the instant that we were finished here. Rachel went in search of her bag so that she could put the skin on her computer right then and there. Jake was holding the small box in his hands, a smile on his face. "You're really amazing, you know," he muttered. I didn't say anything, just looked down at the ground. "I would have never thought to get those things for my sisters." I just smiled at the ground.

"You just don't think about things like that," I replied. At least, not for everyone else. Jake always figured out what I wanted and was able to surprise me with some of the best presents that I could dream of. "Open yours."

"Okay, Mr. Bossy," he joked in a really bad Dory voice. I bit my lip with anticipation as he carelessly ripped the paper from the box and lifted the lid. "A bracelet?"

"I had your dad teach me," I muttered. Unlike the one that he had given me, this bracelet didn't have any color or beads, just the tanned leather. "He said that it was what you gave a Quileute boy before you got married."

"Like the week before," he laughed. "I mean, that's tradition."

"I don't think there's anything traditional about us, Jake," I said, pulling my lip up in a half grimace. He smiled and laughed.

"I would have to agree with that," he laughed. "Open yours." He pushed the little bag into my hands, excitement bubbling in his eyes.

"I don't know, Jake. Maybe I should wait a little while," I said with teasing glint in mine. He growled at me. "There's other people opening presents and we wouldn't want to -"

"Open the damn bag," he snarled.

I laughed at his impatient behavior and reached for a piece of tissue paper. Jake bit his lip, a smile on his lips as he tried desperately to keep his grin from coming forward. Whatever this was, he was clearly excited. "Dad! We're here!"