Homecoming - Paul Lahote

Chapter 66: Hoping

      Embry was sitting on the couch with Olivia in his lap while all of the wolves are scattered around the living room and kitchen with their imprints. Paul's sitting on the kitchen counter watching me cook everyone some breakfast. "I can't wait to come home to you for the rest of my life", he said as he hopped down and moved so that he was next to me. 

      "Yeah well don't fight today and you can", he nuzzled his head against my neck and placed gentle kisses along it before moving to my shoulder. 

      "I am coming home to you. I am going to hold you in my arms every night. I am going to marry you. And I am going to spend the rest of my life with you", he kissed a different part of my face between each sentence. 

      "Alright, go back over there and sit. I need to finish breakfast", I pointed at the counter with my spatula. He laughed but took his seat again, smiling every time I handed him something to put on the table. 

      Once all of the food was sitting on the table, I called out to the others, "Guys come eat before you have to leave". Everyone made their way to the dining room, taking seats around the table and shoveling food onto their plates. Embry put Olivia in her bouncer on the floor between Paul and I before taking his seat across the table. 

      We all ate in silence, just enjoying what may be the last moments we have together. Even though everyone keeps saying that we will be okay and that everything will be fine after this, I can't help but think of a worst case scenario. I looked down at my still empty plate, my loss of appetite being prominent as I thought of different situations for the day. I grabbed a little bit of eggs, putting it on the plate and nibbling at it so that Paul wouldn't yell at me. The small bites that I was taking even though I don't want to, were ended when Olivia cried out because it was time for her to be fed again. Paul started to move his chair but I scooted out of mine, "I got her". He just stared at me and I gave him a smile and walked up to the nursery so that I could breastfeed her. 

      I sat down in the rocking chair, pulling my shirt off and exposing myself before I picked Liv back up so that she could begin drinking. I watched as she started to slow down to see if she was falling asleep, but she quickly picked back up when there was a knock on the door. 

      "Hold on a second, let me grab a blanket", I tried to reach for the blanket on the floor as the door opened. 

      "It's just me, baby. I have seen your boobs before". He closed the door behind him and gave me his sweet smile, he knows I can't resist it. He sat in front of me, running his hand along Olivia's face, "What's wrong baby?". 

      I looked up and him and met his eyes with mine, "You know what's wrong, you're going out there against a coven of royal vampires with special abilities. I'm just worried", I said while letting out a sigh. 

      "How about you stop being so worried and you have some hope. Being worried will hurt you either way, being hopeful will help you take care of our daughter and yourself today. I plan on coming home to you in a little while, so please just have some hope", he pulled my free hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on it. 

      "Fine, I hope that you make it home and you don't have to fight. I also hope that you and I can spend some time alone after this. I love Olivia, but sometimes I just need you", he smiled and leaned in to give me a kiss as Liv stopped drinking. He took her out of my arms and burped her before laying her in her crib as she fell asleep. He reached his hand out to me after I slid my shirt back on, pulling me out of the room with him. 

     "I love you more than you could possibly know Cameron Mercia. I will be home later, but for now I have to leave so that I can protect the people that I love", I nodded and followed him down the stairs where the rest of the pack was waiting for Paul. 

      "Paul, we have to get going", Sam said with seriousness that I had only seen him with once before. Paul nodded and turned back to me, pulling me into a hug without saying anything. 

        He pulled away and kissed my forehead, letting his lips linger there before he pulled away, "Alright, you need to go and I need to do the dishes", I said as I pushed him away from me and watched as they all walked out of the door. 

      In about an hour and a half, Olivia cried when she woke up but before I could get up and get her, Madison and Kim were running up the stairs for her. I stayed in my seat with Emily's sleeping head in my lap as I watched the crime show on the television. The girls returned with Olivia, immediately going to the other couch and making faces, causing her to giggle.

      Hearing the sound of her laughter was my second favorite thing in that moment because as I listened to her from the couch, I also heard the back door open. I heard muffled voices until Quil got into the room and yelled, "We are back and we are done with the Cullen's". Emily stirred awake as I gave Quil a dirty look for waking her up. He gave me his goofy smile before crashing on the arm chair next to me. Emily got up and followed Sam out to the kitchen so that they could have some alone time. Paul took his spot on the couch next to me, he just smiled at me before I leaped to him, knocking him over as I wrapped my arms around his neck. 

      "Cammy, I told you that I was coming home. Why are you so happy?", he laughed while laying his hands on my ass. 

      "I told you that I would hope that everything would turn out okay. Now I actually have that, I just want you safe forever", he laughed at me as I tried to get up. 

      "Nope, now your stuck here", he tightened his grip until Olivia cried and tried to reach for us. "Olivia, daddy and mommy are right here", he got up and grabbed her from Kim who was cuddled into Jared's side as Madison got up to hug Jake. 

      I watched as he kissed all over her face before sitting her in his lap so that he could watch her play with a small toy. "I love watching you with her, you're the best dad", I grabbed his hand and turned a little so that one of my legs was locking Liv onto his lap. 

      "Well you do the hard parts, you literally use your body to feed her and you grew her inside of you. The least I can do is give you a little bit of a break and take care of her", he leaned down and kissed my hair before reaching his hand out to tickle Olivia. 

     Her laughter was music to my ears for another hour as the entire pack just hung out in our living room, enjoying each other's company. Emily and Sam were cuddled on the couch laughing as Sam kissed Emily's stomach. Watching them was how I imagined Paul and I were while I was pregnant and I can't wait to have more moments like that with him. 

      At about 5, I got up off of the couch and didn't really feel like making dinner so I ordered a bunch of pizzas for everyone. I dialed the number and waited for them to pick up, "Fork's Pizza, how can I help you?". 

      "Can I get 10 pizzas delivered 12 Northern Path Road", I said as they just made a noise to show that they heard me. 

      A warm hand wrapped around my waist as I hung up my phone and placed it on the counter, as Paul turned me around in his grasp. "I want us to have a date night soon, so we can have that alone time. We have to keep the romance alive". He placed a kiss on my cheek and then my neck before there was a noise from one of the boys. 

      "I get that this is your house, but can you please not do that in front of me. It's kind of gross", Seth said while he rummaged through the fridge for some orange juice. Once he found the bottle, he just looked at us like he was waiting for us to go away. 

      "Seth you do remember that you're in our house right, we can do what we want", I said before turning back to Paul. 

      Paul leaned down and kissed me again, "See Seth, I  can do this as much as I want". He kissed me again and again until Seth finally left the kitchen. I pushed him off of me playfully so that I could go back to the living room with everyone that I love.