The Carver Café [Edward/Jacob]

29

A/N: I do lie sometimes. I hate ending on odd numbers. 

Jacob's been through a lot. The miscarriage had shaken him up, leaving him with this hollow feeling. For a long time, he wasn't sure if he could get past it. He's not sure why he thought he'd manage to make it to the end of such a harrowing case unscathed. He understands that loss is a part of the job. He'd made the decision to protect his cousin and, at the time, his newborn baby. Though, for the longest time after, he couldn't even look at Ember. 

A couple days after Jacob got home, Quil toddled into his room with Ember. He wanted to sit with Jacob while Edward was out, just like he used to. He slowly made his way over, hoping not to wake Jacob, but Jacob was wide awake. He couldn't fall asleep on his own, the only thing that put him to sleep were the pain meds. He wasn't doing well. He didn't need Leah to tell him that he was going to struggle after, but didn't realize just how bad it would be. The smell of Ember, the sight of him was enough to set him off. He couldn't even school his face to pretend like he was fine as the tears began to well up in his eyes. He could tell how much it hurt Quil. It was his firstborn and he wanted to share him with everyone, but Ember's six months old before Jacob's okay again. 

He's not even sure why at first. He'd limped his way down the stairs to grab something out of the fridge, only to find that Ember's also seemingly trying to get in as well. He's leaned up against the fridge, hands and feet rigid as if, one wrong move and he was going to topple over. He peers up at Jacob, then looks over at the fridge, and then looks back over at Jacob as if Jacob's mere presence near the fridge was going to send his little, chubby baby body floating into space. 

He can hear the quiet chatter that had been coming from Leah and Quil stop as they quietly take in the situation. He can hear his cousin holding his breath, leaning forward as if he was going to have to intervene. 

Jacob bends over, scoops Ember up, and pops open the fridge. Ember looks slightly confused by it, clearly having significantly different plans, but he goes along with it. They both quietly peer into the fridge before settling on apple juice.

"What are you even allowed to have?" He asks Ember, who looks at him as if that's a question that's beyond him. 

He swings the door closed, sits the juice down, and turns to grab a glass before he realizes that he's being watched. Not just by Leah and Quil but, at some point, Embry and Edward had stepped through the front door and were staring at him as if he had a second head. 

He looks over at Ember, who proceeds to drool on his shirt, offering absolutely no help. 

He takes a couple of steps, hoping that if he handed Ember over, it'd stop the staring contest. Though, once the moment somehow seems to be broken, Quil's the one with tears in his eyes. 

It doesn't take long before he's being watched. He'd had eyes on him since he'd been in the hospital, but this was different. They weren't casting somber looks his way before promptly turning away when they realized they were caught. Leah and Quil were analyzing him as if the small interaction had changed his anatomy somehow, eyes roaming over him as if there would be some kind of difference. Seth insisted upon carrying a new desk chair upstairs for him despite the fact that Jacob's mobility had gotten significantly better and his insistence that he could handle it. He'd looked to Leah for help only for her to back Seth for some reason. 

Edward was scenting him more and it wasn't to see if was crying again. He spent a solid thirty minutes just breathing in Jacob's scent as if it was different from the last hundred times he'd smelled him. He breathed in as if it was intoxicating. Jacob would let him because he could feel the tension drop from his shoulders every time he pressed his nose against Jacob's skin.