Jacob wakes up a bit groggy. He's sluggish, slow to put his clothes on, his feet feel like they're made out of lead as he drags them around. He's so tired that he doesn't realize that Edward hasn't moved from his spot on the bed. Jacob assumes that he's a bit more drained that he'd usually be. Maybe he hadn't had enough cups yesterday and the exhaustion had hit him like a truck. It hadn't helped that Bear had been extra fussy, refusing to be in her car seat for most of the day as Edward shadowed Jacob. Jacob decides to let him rest for a little while longer, instead heading downstairs towards the coffee maker. He practically pours a cup with his eyes closed before leaning against the island to slowly drain his mug. 

He's so enthralled in his first cup that he almost misses the walking pile of pillows headed for the stairs. 

"Leah?" He calls out and watches as she pokes her head around the pile to get a good look at him.

He raises his eyebrows in a silent question.

"They're for your boyfriend," she answers, turning back for the stairs.

"All of them?" He asks, eyeing the stack. 

There must be about seven or eight pillows clutched to her chest. What the hell was Edward going to do with that many pillows?

"Yeah," she says as if it's a no-brainer, "he's going to need them." 

Jacob blinks a few times, wondering if his coffee wasn't strong enough this morning, as he tries to figure out what she means by that. Why would he need them? Had he had some kind of talk with Leah that he hadn't mentioned to Jacob? Maybe they were supposed to help with his arm pain. He wasn't sure how, but maybe his mattress was older than he thought.

"For?" Jacob asks, eyes going towards the stairs as if that was going to help him understand.

Leah looks at him with this expression that he's been getting a lot lately. He can feel the disappointment all the way on the other side of the kitchen. 

"He's nesting," she says, once again, like it makes complete and utter sense. 

Nesting? 

"He's a vampire, vampires don't nest." Jacob reminds her, arguing a case that he knew he wasn't going to win. 

His brain was foggy, though, so he throws the statement out there anyway.

"Vampires also don't raise werewolf children, don't share a bed with a werewolf, don't eat human food every once and a while, and don't break and bleed easily," Leah informs him, "but yours does and right now, he's nesting." 

Then, he's watching her scurry up the stairs with her hoard of pillows that she plans to hand off to Edward.

Jacob heads up after her, coffee long forgotten, as he peeks in to see a pile of pillows starting to form on the bed already. Edward's meticulously placed them so that they cushion the wall next to him and the headboard above him. Within the pile is Edward and on top of him, pressed to his chest, is Bear. 

He's nesting. 

Leah quietly dumps the pile of pillows on Jacob's side of the bed before quickly exiting the room. He heads over, knowing it's fruitless before he even tries, and slowly shakes Edward's shoulder to get his attention. He doesn't even open his eyes as he snuggles further into the pile.

"Baby, we're going to be late for work." He whispers and gets nothing in response.

So, he's going it alone today. 

He stands up from the bed, walks towards the doorway, and finds himself lingering. He heads back over, checks to make sure Bear's alright. He checks to see if Edward's arm is in a good position. He puts his scent on some of the pillows Leah brought up before turning for the door. 

About five minutes later, he forces his legs to take him downstairs and climb into his car. 

He stops at the diner, sauntering in and ignoring the feeling that he's being watched as he follows Darlene over to his table and takes a seat. 

"The usual, Darling?" She asks, eyes flicking over to where Edward and Bear would usually be seated before quickly focusing on Jacob.

"Yeah." He sighs out before pulling out his phone. 

He was hoping the entire way here that Jessica or Angela would shoot him a text saying that they'd narrowed down the list or anything to take his mind off of the fact that he was going to have to entertain himself. It's been so long since he'd been alone in this booth that he almost feels out of place. 

Darlene comes out with his food a couple of minutes later. He knows she's going to linger, questions on the tip of her tongue, but he still feels just as awkward as she waits to be acknowledged.

He peers up at her and watches as her eyes once again saunter over to Edward's side of the table.

"Is he alright? You two didn't get into it again, did you?" She finally says, concern clear on her face.

"No, we're good, he's just nesting." He admits and watches as her face lights up as if it's the best news she's heard all week.

"Nesting?" She says it in a way that definitely implies something, eyes going wide and head cocking to the side.

He can practically see Edward scrunching up his nose and hiding his face at the thought and he can't help but smirk. Darlene must take this as some kind of confirmation because she looks absolutely elated.

"Is he...?" She ducks her head to ask, eyebrows raising.

With child? Not unless another one was dropped off on their doorstep.

"Uh, he's just a bit more protective over Bear lately due to the accident. So, he's just started nesting again." Jacob supplies and watches as Darlene's expression shifts a little, but her enthusiasm doesn't wane.

 It makes him wonder what kind of gossip they've been swapping in the kitchen.

Work, while animated due to Jacob's new theory, isn't the same. When he steps into the station, he can hear the quiet whispers starting before he can even get to the rest of his team. Once he's seated, ready to hear what his team has come up with, he then has to deal with their questioning stares as they look towards the door like Jacob would run off and leave Edward standing outside. They eventually come to the conclusion that he isn't, in fact, going to miraculously appear, and the questioning stares turn to Jacob.

"Where's Eddy?" Jessica asks, expression becoming a little worried as she looks over Jacob. 

"His arm was bothering him. He's at home today." He answers without looking up from the stack of papers that they'd left for him.

It proves a good enough excuse as their concerned expressions subside, but it doesn't end the interrogation. 

"And you left Bear at home with him?" Angela asked, looking perplexed by the choice. 

"Leah's there. Plus, if I tried to pry her away from him, I'd end up in the hospital." Jacob informs them. 

He ignores the way they all nod their head in agreement before finally turning back to the information that they would be presenting to Jacob today. 

Turns out, there aren't a lot of deaths regarding childbirth within the Uley household. There are about five families on the list for complications and three mothers who have died from said complications. It narrows down the suspect pool significantly. Though, one name stands out to Jacob.

"Rachel Black..." he mumbles to himself and he can feel his brain stutter to a stop. 

He hadn't seen either of his actual sisters in years, but her death had felt like a punch to the gut. Neither her or his nephew had survived. He'd expected it, but it still made him pause as rubs a thumb over the letters. 

He's about to keep going, keep looking as he feels his team's eyes on him, but something keeps bringing him back to her name before his eyes make it over to the father's name. 

"Paul Lahote." 

He was the only police officer on the list. 

Jacob looks up to all four members of his team watching him. 

"He's most likely your guy." 

Jacob wasn't a fan of being in the Chief's office. Nothing good ever came from finding himself in one of the uncomfortable chairs she kept in front of her desk, yet he sat there patiently waiting for her to finally look up at him.

"You need to what?" She asks, eyes squinting over her glasses, as she eyes the man as if he'd just said something ridiculous.

"Excuse myself from this case." Jacob repeats, shifting in his seat.

"Why?" She asks, sitting back in her seat and slipping off her reading glasses.

He finally has her full attention.

"We think we have a suspect and he just so happens to be the widow of my dead sister." Jacob says bluntly, hoping that if he's crude enough, she won't ask too many questions. 

She stares at him like she's seen some kind of ghost, mind taking a moment to reboot before she finally sits her glasses down. 

"To what extent?" She finally says, letting out a sigh.

To what extent? He'd just admitted to her that he thought the murderer was technically a family member. 

His confusion must be written all of his face because she goes on to clarify her question.

"Would you like me to find a new place for the baby to stay?" 

The words felt like a punch to the face and he has to ease back in his seat. He'd somehow forgotten that Bear was technically a major part of this case. He's surprised she's even giving him a choice. She doesn't anything about the family member, yet she somehow trusts him not to trust them. 

"No, I can handle that." He informs her, mind frantically running over the last couple of weeks, as he wonders how the hell he'd gotten here. 

"Alright," she says with a definitive nod and, for the second time today, Jacob's legs feel heavy as he drags himself out of her office.

Edward's in the same place Jacob left him. The only difference is that Bear is clearly awake and trying to tell him something important if her insistence on holding her head up is anything to go by. She's getting pretty good at it as she watches Edward watch her. 

"It's 10:00 AM." Edward informs him from inside of his pile of pillows which has grown since he left two hours ago.

"Yep," he mutters as he crawls onto the bed and collapses onto about three that just so happen to cross over onto his side.

"Something happen?" Edward asks, giving Bear a kiss on the forehead as she stares him down.

"Good news or bad news?" Jacob mumbles, watching as Bear attempts to reciprocate only to find herself headbutting Edward's chest.

"Good news?" Edward says, finally looking over at Jacob.

"We have a suspect to investigate." Jacob mumbles, hand reaching over to smooth down Bear's bedhead.

"Bad news?" Edward asks, watching as Bear's hair returns to it's weird mohawk.

Jacob pauses, realizing that he's never actually explained anything about his family tree to Edward. As far as Edward knew, Leah, Quil, Seth, and Embry were his family.

"I had two sisters," Jacob starts, mind trying to collect the right words as he speaks, "one of them died during childbirth. We think that her husband is a suspect." 

It's quiet for a moment as Edward takes in the information, eyes going from Jacob to Bear, who has given up on looking at Edward and has instead begun a staring contest with Jacob. 

"That's...a lot." Edward finally mutters.

"Mhm..." Jacob answers with a sigh.

"Ah!" Bear includes for good measure.

Jacob spends the rest of the day watching Edward tuck blankets and rearrange pillows.

"Is my bed that uncomfortable?" He finally asks after Edward moves a pillow from one corner to the other.

"Hm?" Edward mutters while moving a blanket into a more suitable spot.

"You need like eighteen pillows to replicate your king-sized bed and four hundred thread count sheets?" He asks, prodding Edward in the side before getting smacked in the face with a spare pillow Edward decides that he doesn't like.

"No..." He mutters, continuing to move things around before scooting back to look at his work. 

"Then, may I ask what all of this is about?" Jacob asks, wondering what Edward thinks it is. 

Maybe he isn't nesting, maybe he's got other reasons for his actions.

"I...," Edward starts before getting distracted by the sound of Bear rustling around in her bassinet, "I just wanted Bear closer so I could see her so I put some pillows next to the wall just in case."

"Okay, so what about the other twelve?" Jacob asks, looking at the pillows poking out from underneath Edward and the blanket that's partially draped over the headboard.

"Well, you can never be too safe." Edward mumbles, seeming far less certain about this answer.

"And the blankets?" Jacob points out.

"It was cold." Edward says, turning his back to Jacob as he fiddles with something else.

"You're sleeping next to a human furnace." Jacob points out. 

"Well, you left." Edward poses, yanking the blanket from the end of the bed to pull over himself.

"She's the size of a small dictionary and you brought five blankets to keep her warm?" Jacob's up on his hands and knees now, smirk on his face, as he leans over Edward. 

"I was cold." Edward grumbles.

"You're always cold and you're like a hundred and thirty pounds soaking wet." Jacob points out and gets a light shove for his troubles.

"What is your problem today? I just wanted a couple of extra blankets and pillows. Is that a crime?" Edward huffs into his blanket.

"No, but it is incredibly weird if it is what Leah thinks it is." Jacob points out, going to lay back down. This time he makes sure to lay partially on top of Edward.

The comment seems to catch Edward's attention as he turns to get a good look at Jacob. 

"What'd she say?" 

"She thinks you're nesting." Jacob informs him and watches as his forehead scrunches in confusion.

"Nesting?" He repeats.

"Yes, werewolves nest for different reasons, but it's usually a motherly thing. Like, when they'tr pregnant or have had a baby, they nest to protect and comfort they're baby." Jacob explains and watches as Edward's expression morphs into one of annoyance.

"That's not funny, Jacob." He grumbles, turning over and tucking his blanket under his chin.

"I'm not joking, Edward." Jacob says, turning over so that he's right behind the man, his chest pressing into his back. 

He can hear Edward huff as he presses his face into the pillow underneath his head.

"You already told Darlene, didn't you?" 

Jacob can't help the laugh he lets out. 

"What was I supposed to tell her? You know how she gets when you're not around, I feel like I'm going through a messy divorce." Jacob mutters into Edward's neck before placing a kiss to his jaw.

Edward just lets out a pained whine, turning around to push against Jacob who takes the opportunity to shove his tongue in his mouth.

"Mm, stop whining. Pregnancy rumors are the least of our worries. If I don't claim you soon, she might actually kill me."