Love Comes from Unexpected Places

Chapter Eighty-Five: End of Summer Bonfire

Paul took a deep breath as he watched Mia with Jason, he felt odd watching the man fuss over the little girl; they rarely spent any time together and he knew he was still adjusting with having to share Mia.

Paul knew that he had very little right to the little girl, he was only linked to Mia because he was with her mother; he would one day by the little girl's step-father.

Sophia wrapped her arms around Paul and kissed his cheek, she knew that he didn't really like having to watch Jason with Mia; it was something he would have to get used to and she wished there was some way to ease his mind.

"I can't believe that summer is officially over," Sophia mused trying to distract Paul, it was a nice evening and she wanted nothing more than to relax before things got tense.

It had nearly been a month since Bella had married Edward and Sophia knew it would only be a matter of days before the news arrived that Bella had 'died'; she didn't see her cousin putting the change off for long.

Paul nodded his head in agreement and turned his attention back to Sophia, he smiled down at her wanting to spend more time with her; he had just returned to school for his junior year and things were starting to get busy again for the pack.

Paul had a feeling that things would be a lot quieter when the Cullens left the area, they didn't want the leeches hanging around when Bella was turned and they had made them swear to make sure that Charlie would never find out the truth.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look?" Paul asked smiling at Sophia, she looked nice in her orange long-line tunic and white crop linen shorts and he didn't blame her for dressing coolly; it had been a nice day even for La Push weather.

Sophia shook her head and kissed Paul, she was glad that they were able to all relax before everyone was too busy with school and work.

***

"Mama," Mia babbled as Jason handed the little girl back to her mother, he was going to head home since he had work early the next morning; he enjoyed working alongside Charlie and it meant he could keep an eye on him.

No one was sure how Charlie would react when he was told that Bella had died in a terrible accident; they wanted to make sure that there was always someone there that he could rely on.

Sophia smiled down at her daughter, Mia had started speaking a couple of days earlier and she couldn't have been happier; she adored that moment and she wanted nothing more to see them all.

"I will give you a call," Jason murmured smiling at Sophia, he was glad that they could be around each other like this and he hoped that things would stay this way.

Mia needed both her parents in her life and the former couple were doing their best to make sure there was no tension between them; they wanted to make sure Mia had a stable environment around her.

Sophia nodded her head smoothing out Mia's blue floral playsuit and peeked over at Leah who was also getting ready to leave; she knew that Leah didn't like to be around Emily or Sam unless she needed to be.

Leah might have moved on with her life but that didn't mean that she was able to forget what her cousin and ex had done to her; they had broken her heart without even a second thought and then blamed imprinting for what had happened.

Sophia balanced Mia on her hip, she held her close knowing that Mia was the best thing that had ever happened to her and Jason; they had found real happiness because of her and things were only going to get better for them.

Paul watched Jason and Leah leave before he got to his feet and approached Sophia, he had no idea how the four managed it but things were getting better between them; they had to keep things calm for Mia's sake.

Sophia peeked at Paul, she smiled at him a little before Mia yawned and she knew that it was nearly time for them to be heading home as well; she looked around the gathering seeing that most of the imprinted couples were also ready to leave.

Fiona and Jacob were whispering to one another while Jacob had a sleeping Austin in his arms, they were mainly living with Jacob's father since Paul had moved in officially with Sophia.

"Do you want to go home?" Paul asked softly, he could feel a chill entering the air and the bonfire was winding down now; he knew that it had been a long day and he didn't mind heading home.

Sophia nodded her head, she peeked at Mia in her arms knowing that it would be best to get her to bed; she didn't want to keep her daughter up past her bedroom.

Paul kissed Sophia before he walked away to say goodbye to everyone, she watched him walk away and she hoped that things would be okay; she could see that they were all going to be busy in the next few weeks.

Sophia waved to Fiona, she was sure her friend wasn't going to be sticking around much longer and she had Austin to think about; it was starting to get a bit cold.

Paul returned to Sophia's side and smiled at her before they started to leave, they walked down the beach towards the car so that they could go home and put Mia to bed.

***

Irina pursed her lips staring at her sisters, she didn't understand why they wouldn't side with her on this; she wanted revenge for what had happened to Laurant and they wouldn't let her.

"Irina you need to let this go," Tanya whispered staring at her sister, she knew that Irina was suffering but the wolves had done the right thing and Laurant couldn't have loved her sister that much if he was feeding on human blood.

Garrett had made the change and while he did struggle he was open about it and Kate was always there for him; Laurant had kept horrible secrets from Irina and had been helping Victoria with her own revenge plans.

"How can I ever let this go?" Irina snapped furious that her sisters wanted to just ignore what had happened, Laurant had been killed by those wolves and no one was punishing them for what they had done.

Tanya sighed wishing that Irina could see that there was nothing that could be done to change what had happened; she wasn't going to start a war over someone who had been punished for doing the wrong thing.

Laurant had brought his death on himself, he had tried to kill Edward's mate and had betrayed the Denali coven's trust by giving information that they had told him to someone who wanted to destroy their family.

"Irina there is nothing we can do," Kate said trying to sooth her sister, she knew that Irina was suffering but they had betrayed the Cullens once and they wouldn't be doing it again.

Irina was the reason that they hadn't fought with their cousins to defeat Victoria and her army, they had turned their backs on them because Carlisle had refused to step aside for Irina's wish to destroy the wolves.

"Then I can't stay here a moment longer," Irina spat glaring at her sisters, if they weren't willing to help her then she would get her revenge on her own; she turned on her heel and ran out of the house as she started to plan her revenge for what had happened to Laurant.