I hurried through the courtyard outside the student center on my way to the little coffee shop on campus where I was meeting Nessie, Bella, and Alice. It was our last day of classes for the summer and I'd just taken my last final. I found my family quickly and plopped down on the seat next to Ness. She greeted me with a "Hey, baby." I kissed her cheek and said "hey" back. I was happy that the school year was ending. The stress of work and classes at the same time was draining and I was looking forward to having more free time in the coming months. Nessie loved college and I knew for her the summer would mean isolation from friends and social events. Alice felt the same way and was currently trying to convince Nessie to take a trip with her as I joined their table.

"Where did you have in mind, Al?" Ness asked.

"I was thinking England! Or Island Esme, maybe. We should all go, just the girls!" she exclaimed.

If anyone could use a vacation it was Bella. It had been five months since her "car accident" and I could tell she was in need of a change of scenery. This must be phase 3 of Alice's plan to cheer her up. She'd been keeping Bella busy helping Esme with projects around the house and day trips to nearly towns. She even flew Charlie in for a surprise visit. Bella looked more enthused than my wife at this idea of an all girl vacation.

"I haven't been to the island in years. I miss that place" she said.

"Wait, I'm finally getting a break from my crazy schedule and you want to take my wife thousands of miles away? For how long?" I asked.

"Not long" Alice responded. "How does two weeks sound?"

"Perfect" Bella said. "Nessie, you'll love it there."

I wasn't thrilled at the idea of two weeks away from Nessie. It didn't matter how utterly human I now was, the imprint still had a strong presence.

"What do you think?" Ness asked me.

"Well, I'd miss you like crazy. But, maybe I could go visit my dad while you're away" I replied.

That was something I'd been putting off for months now, ever since I confessed my plans to become a member of the undead. My fathers' reaction surprised me when I told him. He wasn't angry or shocked, he didn't try to change my mind, and he didn't disown me on the spot. Of course, he wasn't thrilled for me either. I explained my reasons and he knew enough about imprinting to understand that whatever made Nessie happy would ultimately make me happy too.

It took Alice about a week to sort out all the vacation plans. I drove Nessie over to the Cullen's house to see them off with the other men. Edward and Bella had a sappy drawn out goodbye which was more than I could stomach. I'd given Nessie a proper goodbye before we left the apartment. I focused hard not to think about that with Edward in the room. I was exhausted by the time the girls waved goodbye from the limo that would take them to the airport. They had to travel at night, obviously. I said goodnight to Edward and the other guys and headed back to the apartment to spend my first night alone since the wedding.

I left for Forks early the following morning. I couldn't be away for the entire time Nessie was, but I'd planned to spend at least four days on the res before heading back to Idaho and my job. I really wanted to make it into town by nightfall. There was a bonfire being held that night in Rachel and Paul's honor. They had just announced they were expecting their first child. It was exciting to think of becoming an uncle. Sam's kids already called me Uncle Jake but it meant something more being linked by blood. As I drove the lonely highways from Idaho to Washington I pondered what it meant for the pack I once led to be passing on their genes to the next generation. First Sam, and now Paul were passing their supernatural DNA on to offspring. Would their kids someday form a pack of their own? Years ago I had no doubt that I would be an important contributor to that cause. Now I wasn't sure how my decision to become one of the undead would affect my ability to do the same. I knew a wolf didn't have to possess the ability to phase at the time his heir was conceived in order to pass along the gene. My father's generation never had a need to phase or create a pack but the wolf gene was still passed along through him to me. Would my wolf genes pass down to my children even after I was made vampire?

Nessie and I had discussed at length what we wanted to do about having children. Nessie was strongly biased towards the superiority of the vampire race. It was likely the most challenging difference between us. She felt being a vampire was preferable to human. She shared that opinion exclusively with Emmett, and occasionally Bella and Alice. The others generally considered it a punishment or eternal purgatory of some sort, from what I could tell at least. Nessie had been blessed with the best of both worlds. She enjoyed the vampire traits that were useful and fun like strength and speed, but wasn't plagued at birth by the traits that prevented a normal life like the inability to eat, sleep, or walk in the sunlight. Nessie never got sick, she didn't crave blood as strongly as her parents, and could eat food if she chose. She healed fast if she ever did get injured, she was given a gift unique to vampires and unheard of among humans, and she slept but could go days without sleeping if she had to. Who knew a half vampire half human was just about the perfect creature! Coupling those characteristics of herself with growing up amongst her vampire relatives, she came to the conclusion our children would absolutely be born after I was turned.

Carlisle backed her up in saying that combination- being one part human and three parts vampire- would be the closest match to the family and most easily dealt with when it came to the pregnancy. Since Nahuel was the only other of Nessie's kind we knew of, and he had no children of his own, Carlisle was once again at a loss in predicting what would happen when Ness and I conceived. I disagreed with his logic, thinking the more human the child was, the less dangerous pregnancy and birth would be for both Nessie and the baby. I had not forgotten how my wife had come into this world. It was not something I wanted to ever experience again.

Edward sided with me, a rare occurrence let me tell you. He thought a baby that was mostly vampire would be highly unpredictable, perhaps growing even more rapidly than Nessie had. I know I had felt traumatized after Bella's pregnancy; and there were no words strong enough to describe Edward's experience. He was more worried about our decision to have kids than I was. Carlisle seemed to be confident he could handle whatever happened, he only wanted to be sure we discussed it beforehand. Which we did, at length, not long after the wedding. Maybe he wasn't as nervous because he hadn't been present at Nessie's birth. He might feel differently had he witnessed Edward performing a cesarean without anesthesia while I held Bella still. As I crossed the border into Washington State I made a mental note to check the date on Carlisle's medical degree. All this time we trusted him completely and his medical training might have been from the 18th century.

I arrived at my family's home a little after 7. The house was dark so I made my way to the beach where the bonfire was being held. The first person to notice my approach was Leah. She was wearing a tank top and a knee length skirt. Her hair had grown out a little longer than it had been when I saw her at the wedding. I wondered if that meant she was quitting the pack. She'd wanted to quit for years. I was surprised to see her looking so feminine. She ran to me and hugged me tight, which was even more unusual.

"Hey there, Jackass" she greeted once she pulled away from our embrace.

"Hey yourself" I replied, smiling down at her.

Leah and I had kissed once, when Nessie was a little over a year old. We had been in a heated argument over my devotion to Nessie and the Cullen's during that time. The pack had split when I left to guard Bella while she was pregnant. I hadn't realized at the time that I felt so strongly about protecting Bella because my imprint was living inside her. It caused all hell to break loose among the pack members for a long time afterwards. I can't even remember now the specifics of our fight but it was the kind of moment where if I hadn't kissed her I would have punched her lights out and I was brought up never to hit girls. Even Leah. I'd lied by omission when Nessie asked me how many girls I'd kissed. Sharing that with Leah had been exciting and passionate for about twenty seconds before she pushed me back with all her strength and punched me right between the eyes. We never spoke of it again and I'm positive she understood it was my way of hitting her without having to actually hit her. I bet Leah would have preferred being hit in the face than having to admit she'd enjoyed a kiss from Jacob Black. If Ness ever asked me I wouldn't lie again, but it was even more embarrassing than my first kiss with Stacey Brown so I hoped she'd never ask. She had already known that Bella punched me after our first kiss. I didn't want her to know not one, but two girls I kissed had followed it up with a punch to my face. A man's got to have a little pride.

"You look happy, Leah. It suits you" I told her.

"Thank you. I met someone. His name is David, I'll introduce you later, but you have to go find your dad. He's been checking his watch every five minutes waiting for you."

I thanked her and took off in search of my father. I found him sitting with Sue Clearwater and Charlie. I hadn't known they would be there. I gave my father a long hug and sat on the ground at his feet. He filled me in on what I'd missed since I'd been gone. He'd paid Seth to do some renovations and repairs to the house. Paul had been busy with Embry at the garage and tending to Rachel or he would have helped. I felt guilty for not being around to work on the house and save him the money he'd paid Seth. I was his only son. I asked about Rebecca and was glad to hear she was still happy in Hawaii. Thinking of Rachel having a baby reminded me that Rebecca and her husband still didn't have kids even after being married all these years. Charlie broke me from my reverie when he mentioned Renee. He said she had been calling him nearly every week in tears the first two months after the funeral but seems to have finally turned the corner on her grief. More than anything else, Charlie explained, Renee suffered with her regret from having not seen Bella in the years since the wedding. I nodded my head. We all told Bella she was making things worse by letting it go one so long but she was so stubborn. I was glad to hear Renee was doing better and I told Charlie so. He asked how Bella was and I didn't lie when I told him it was harder on her than we all thought.

"I think Alice planned their vacation as much for Bella spirits as her own pleasure. She's been kinda down the last few months, but seemed honestly excited to travel with the girls" I said reassuringly. "She called me a few days ago and I could tell from her voice that she sounded better" he agreed.

"Edward's been worried about her, I think, but she'll be fine. She'll be relieved to hear Renee is doing better" I said.

I told him Nessie's plan to visit Renee and he seemed glad to hear it was more than a few years away. As well as Renee might be doing, she apparently wasn't ready to meet a long lost grandchild just yet. Rachel told me more than I needed to know about the first trimester. She just reached 12 weeks, and I saw the sonogram picture. She left early since apparently pregnancy makes you need extra sleep. Paul took her home at 9 and I promised to visit the next day. I spent some time with my friends after the older folks went home to bed. We kept the fire going into the wee hours of the night, poking fun at one another and talking trash like old times.

"Jake, I've been meaning to ask you, does Nessie ever use her "gift" during sex?" Embry asked, placing his hands on his own cheeks. The other guys laughed.

"Yeah, does she ever give you visions of really hot girls when you're doing it? Like Megan Fox or something?" Seth asked, excited.

Last time I checked little Seth was still a virgin. Sam had brought a 12 pack and I was drunk enough to answer a bit too honestly. I hadn't spent my early twenties building up a tolerance to alcohol and it showed.

"It's freaking amazing, dude" I said to Embry. "Sometimes she holds it back until she's just about to come and then let's me feel her orgasm and my own at the same time."

Their mouths were gaping open. Maybe I'd shared too much. Jared passed me another beer.

"Holy shit" said Quil, another virgin. Claire was 11 years old; still many years away from making a man out of the current pack leader. I was feeling a little lightheaded. I scooted forward onto the sand and leaned my head back against the log I'd previously been sitting on.

"How's the pack doing? Anyone experience the fever recently?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, there has been one" Embry said. I sat up a little straighter and turned to Quil.

"Who? Someone new?" I asked desperately. My only chance to rejoin the wolves again and stop this incessant aging was if the packs numbers starting increasing again. The last member to phase was years ago.

"No, sorry man. It's Leah" Quil said, bursting my bubble. Dang.

"Wow, really?" I said. "She stopped phasing, didn't she?"

"When she met David" Seth informed me. No wonder she seemed so happy earlier.

It seemed the key to regaining human status was to stop phasing cold turkey and wait for the fever to set in. Despite my fuzzy minded state I thought it might be a good time to discuss with the guys my thoughts on pack evolution. I took another sip of the bottle Jared gave me.

"Have you guys talked about my idea that you all might have the fever set in soon?" They nodded. "At some point you all will have to start aging again or people will get suspicious. It's been nine years and you all still look like teenagers. I think Sam and I, and now Leah, experienced it early since we stopped phasing. But it'll happen to you all soon enough. I mean, the pack members from Old Quil's time aren't still around so it must happen sometime, right?"

"Our pack needed to exist longer than past generations because the Cullens' stayed in Forks so long. Usually covens don't stay in one place for so many years" Sam said. Bella and Nessie were the unusual circumstances that kept them in town longer than even they anticipated.

"The question is not whether or not it happens. We know from the legends that every wolf returns to human form at some point. The question is how and when does it happen?" said Quil.

"If a member is only supposed to be in the pack for a few years, then why didn't I get the fever a long time ago?" Jared asked. Good question.

"Because the Cullens didn't leave?" asked Seth.

"Jared's right. If the fever returning was involuntary then he would have experienced it by now to protect the secret, and the pack would have replenished itself by adding new member to replace him since the threat remained" said Embry.

"So then it must be voluntary. As long as the need exists, the pack continues. Members decide when their time comes to 'retire' and they stop phasing to bring on the fever" I concluded.

"That's what I think" Sam stated.

"There haven't been any new pack members to replace Sam, Jake, and Leah since the Cullen's finally left." Seth added.

"Seems logical" Jared said.

"So now you have to each decide when to give it up and the pack will be gone" I said grimly.

"Shit. Well, it's been fun" Embry said, raising his bottle. We all clinked our bottles in a toast to our friendship and the pack.

I finished off my bottle and tossed it into the sand by my feet. I was feeling good. The somber mood our conversation had taken reminded me of one other piece of information I needed to share with my pack brothers. There was no easy way to segway into this topic and the beer washed away any filter I had on my thoughts.

"So I'm gonna be a vampire soon" I blurted. Embry spit out his drink. Everyone was staring at me.

"I promised my wife" I said, as if that was enough of an explanation.

"Are you crazy?" asked Jared.

"Seriously, dude?" was Quil's response.

We talked for a while about my decision to join the Cullens. The guys had all imprinted, except Seth, so they understood the forces that were drawing me to Nessie. They didn't fight me for long after she was born. This was a larger pill to swallow but after a while, and a few more drinks, they ran out of questions and comments. It might have been the alcohol soothing us, but after I poured out my heart everyone sat quietly and stared at the fire. Sam poked the flames to keep it going.

"Are you guys still gonna hang out with me after I change?" I asked warily.

"Of course, man" Embry assured me with a pat on the back. I was a little farther gone than I thought and the strength of his pat toppled me over into the sand. The guys roared with laughter as I cursed and wiped sand off my cheek. I shook my head to get sand out of my hair which caused me to feel a wave of dizziness pass through me and I fell, face forward into the sand. Embry rolled me over onto my side so I wasn't eating sand and I groaned.

"You alright, buddy?" Embry asked, a wide grin on his face.

"I drank too much" I replied.

"No shit."

"You guys are lucky this stuff doesn't affect you."

"You kidding? It sucks. I've had four beers and I've only managed a slight buzz" Embry said.

"This is a nice change for me, Jake" Sam told me. "I'm not the only one drunk for once."

"Glad to be of service" I said, feeling extremely sleepy.

I had a mind to just stay there by the fire all night. The beach wasn't so bad since the fire had warmed the sand. I felt myself being lifted off the ground and vaguely realized they were helping me to someone's car. I didn't remember the drive home, and woke up the next morning still in my clothes from the night before. At least they left me in my too-small bed and not the couch or the floor.

I cleaned myself up and made my father some scrambled eggs before dragging my hung over ass over to Rachel and Paul's. I spent the day with my sister. She had Advil, bless her heart. We talked a while and then I went with her to the grocery store. She wasn't showing yet but there was something about her that made her look motherly. She looked so much like our mom. I decided not to tell her my big news quite yet. She had enough going on with the baby. There'd be time to tell her after he or she was born.

Later that night Nessie called me from Island Esme. She said she was having a good time with her aunts, and was enjoying the quality time with her mother. I asked how Bella was feeling since the vacation began and Ness said she was having fun. Alice wouldn't have it any other way. Talking to my wife made me realize just how much I missed her. I felt like I'd never survive another ten days without her. She told me about swimming with sea turtles and shopping in Rio de Janeiro. I told her the guys had gotten me drunk and made fun of me. She laughed and said, "I'm sorry, baby." After we said our 'I love you's' and 'goodnight's' I hung up the phone and looked around my childhood bedroom. I loved being with my family, and it was oddly comforting to know my father was sleeping in the next room, but after hearing Nessie's voice all I wanted in the world was to be with her. I wasn't looking forward to sleeping alone again tonight. I was so used to snuggling up against my warm blooded wife. As I drifted off to sleep I wondered if it was going to bother Nessie to sleep next to me once my skin was ice cold.

By the time I arrived home from work ten days later I was bursting at the seams. Nessie had texted me an hour and a half earlier to let me know she'd gotten home safely. She was doing laundry when I got inside our apartment. I could hear the humming of the machines. The washer and dryer are behind a bifold door in the hall bathroom. I appeared in the bathroom doorway and Nessie jumped. It's not easy to sneak up on her, but the washer was on spin cycle and making a lot of noise. She threw her arms around me and I kissed her feverishly. It felt so good to hold her.

I took her face gently in my hands and said, "I missed you, honey."

She beamed up at me and replied, "I missed you like crazy, Jacob!"

She placed her hand on my cheek and showed me the highlights from her trip. Her ability was way more convenient than uploading the pictures from her digital camera. She whizzed by an image of her in a tiny bikini on the beach.

I sucked on her neck and whispered, "Go back, baby. I wanna see that one again." She giggled and showed me another image of herself on the beach wearing a skimpy pink swimsuit.

"God, I missed you." I said, grabbing her hips and lifting her onto the washing machine. I watched the spin cycle giggle her breasts to and fro while I pulled off her gym shorts and panties in one swift movement. I made short work of my own clothes and Nessie reached behind her to unclasp her bra. She seemed to need this as much as I did. I was instantly hard when I saw her beautiful breasts bouncing around freely. She inched forward to the edge of the machine and tightened her fingers in my hair.

"I want you inside me, Jake" she said sternly. Yes, maam. I spread her legs gently and then gripped her hips in my hands. I usually disliked being so tall but my height turned out to be perfect for this activity. I thrust forward and entered my wife roughly. She moaned in pleasure and wrapped her legs around my waist. Her fingernails dug into my back as I dipped my head to taste her neck and shoulder. I pulled out almost completely and pushed forward again, feeling her stretch around me. I plunged inside her deeper and deeper, reacquainting my body with hers. She crashed her hips into mine with each thrust and before long I was close to coming. I slipped my finger into her folds and started making gentle teasing circles against her soft wet skin. She cried out and I soon felt her muscles clenching my cock. The jumble from the washer combined with her climax set me off in a painfully pleasurable way and I groaned as I came inside her.

"That was amazing, Jake" she said; breathless and still holding me close.

I kissed her lips a few times and began untangling our bodies. As I glided myself out of her I felt an odd sensation and looked down between our bodies.

"Fuck, baby. I forgot to put on a condom..."

Hey guys! Oh my I can't believe Jacob forgot to put a condom on..... Oh wait I believe it! Because I wrote it! Haha anywho please like, comment and share!
-Love Nisha AKA Miss-Traveler