Baby Fever [Jacob & Edward]

21

Edward hadn't asked Jacob to elaborate. He'd just turned over with a huff. Though, now that he was downstairs with Leah by his side as he bathed Bear, he couldn't help but be curious. What had Jacob meant by 'claim'? He assumes by the way the he'd clamped his mouth shut, that'd he let something slip that he hadn't meant to. Was it something serious? 

Edward stops his rinsing to look over at Leah, who's holding Bear's head. Something about the sudden lack of movement causes her to stop as well before peering over to meet his gaze. 

He clears his throat, suddenly nervous. What if it was something personal that he shouldn't be sharing? Just because Darlene asked doesn't mean Jacob wants his entire family to know. He seemed like he regretted even muttering it to Edward, despite making it seem like it didn't mean much. 

"You alright? You want me to finish bathing her?" Leah asks, looking down at Bear, who's staring up at him as she wriggles around in the warm water.

"Uh, no, I'm fine. I just -", he glances up before going to clean Bear's face, "I was just wondering..."

He stops, frowning to himself, before significantly lowering his voice. He was in a house full of werewolves, there wasn't a whole lot he could do to stop them from hearing him, but he could at least make it a little harder for them to do so.

"What does it mean to claim someone?" He mutters. 

He assumes the "to a werewolf" part is implied. 

He's not sure how he thought she'd react, but he's not prepared for her to go stock still. Her eyes are wide as she stares at him, clearly searching his for more information. She's like that for a millisecond before she snaps back into trying to be casual.

"Did you hear this somewhere?" She asks, peering around the kitchen as if she's looking for something.

"W-Well Jacob mentioned it..." He somehow says even quieter.

The answer has her head snapping back towards him, eyes somehow wider. 

"What exactly did he say?" She asks, gaze suddenly only focused on him.

Edward doesn't want to repeat the full quote. He doesn't exactly need everyone knowing that Darlene was the one to spur on whatever this was just in case it was deeply personal. 

"He said he needed to 'claim' me." He all but whispers, and watches as Leah begins nodding to herself as her eyes begin to roam again.

"Okay. How about I get Bear and you go upstairs?" Leah says with a smile that's not working to hide the sense of urgency that she'd just had. 

Edward's not sure what any of it means, so he just turns to head for the staircase.

Jacob's keeping himself busy. He'd spent the rest of the previous afternoon looking over the evidence and he'd spent this morning writing down alternative theories just in case his hunch was wrong. However, none of it truly works to keep his mind from wandering. Maybe Quil had sensed his frustration when he stumbled downstairs to clumsily throw a sandwich together, mind clearly elsewhere as he inhaled it, 'cause he offers up an alternative. That's how Jacob finds himself stumbling around the perimeter of the woods. The run is long and arduous and it gives Jacob time to just think without the possibility of acting. 

Though, once he's back to Jacob without fur covering him from head to toe, his mind can't help but focus back on Edward. He was about 80% sure the man didn't know what Jacob was talking about when he'd let slip that he needed to claim him. Though, now that the words were in between them, said aloud for Edward to hear, he couldn't stop thinking about it.