Charles and Rebecca (3rd in werewolf series)

Chapter Five

Rebecca woke up the next morning and smiled when she remembered it was Christmas Eve. Rebecca had heard Charles come home last night long after everyone else had gone to bed. Rebecca wondered what was going on in his head. She hadn't spoken to Angela about her time with Charles. Rebecca knew though that if there was anyone in this house who could get through to him and get him to open up it was Angela. Angela had that kind of open nurturing soul about her that made people want to be better.

Rebecca got up out of bed and realized how quiet the house was. Bethany, Jordan, Raquel and their mates and the kids must already have left this morning to go spend time with their mates families. Rebecca heard laughter outside and looked out the window.

A foot of fresh snow had fallen the night before and Lane, Joey, Laney, Angela and Jake were outside playing in it.

She could hear them talking and realized that Laney was pretending to be a slayer like her aunt Joey had been and she was hunting the rest of the family. Laney threw a snowball and though Jake could have easily dodged it he allowed it to hit him directly in the face. He put his hands over his face and fell to the ground laughing.

"I got daddy!" Laney shouted proudly. Angela grabbed a handful of snow and was going to dump it on Jakes head when his eyes flew open and he reached out and grabbed her legs and brought her down on top of him.

"I got mommy!" he shouted. Angela kissed him and he wrapped his arms tighter around her.

"Alright you two you're going to make the snow melt." Lane said matter-of-factly.

"Only two more to go." Laney said making another snowball in her gloved hands. She let the snowball fly and it would have hit Lane but he grabbed Joey and shoved her in front of him and it splattered on her cheek. Laney broke down into fits of giggles and Lane quickly jumped away from Joey who was swinging her fist out to punch his arm.

"You jerk! You sacrificed me!" she said in disbelief. Lane grinned sheepishly and held up his hands.

"If you wanted a noble protective mate you picked the wrong brother." he said. "I'm a selfish asshole." Lane waited for Angela to yell at him for cussing in front of Laney but she was still busy making out with Jake in the snow.

Joey admitted defeat and fell down into the snow. Laney looked at her uncle Lane with an evil little grin on her face.

"It's just me and you now pal." she said. Lane started laughing so hard that he was helpless to dodge the snowball as it hit him in the chest. He grabbed his chest and with all the drama and theatrics that one would expect from Lane he fell to his knees and then down face first into the snow. Laney shrieked triumphantly and ran in circles around them all.

Rebecca smiled and moved away from the window. She dressed in jeans and a cream colored oversized sweater and started downstairs. She stopped when a scent came to her nose. It was her tea... The earthy scent of that special tea that held so many memories for her. She wondered why Angela or Joey would make it. Both of them had made it clear to her how nasty it was.

She walked into the kitchen and was overcome by a strong sense of déjà vu. There was Charles standing in the kitchen. He had shaved his face and gotten a hair cut. His hair was now cut short above his ears the way he had worn it before Jake was born. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a grey sweater. He looked nervous when she walked in but he offered a smile and held out a cup of tea to her.

Rebecca's hand reached out for the cup automatically. Once it was in her hands he walked over to the table and pulled out a chair and motioned for her to sit down. She didn't' understand what was going on. Was she still asleep? She walked on weak legs to the chair and sat down. He walked around the table and sat down across from her.