Early Imprint [Book 3] ✔️

5 • Training Wheels

QUIL'S POV

"Hey Claire-bear, how was your first week of kindergarten?" I asked as I saw Claire walk towards me. I bent down to pick her up, but she backed away and looked around quickly.

"I'm too big for that now, Quil," Claire said with serious brown eyes. Her new found maturity was ruined by her pink overalls and pigtails.

I was a little hurt by her rejection. She had only been in kindergarten a week and she already didn't need me. I shrugged to show her it was okay and we headed down the hall to where Cora's class was. As though Claire couldn't help but seek contact with me, she put her hand in mine as we walked.

"So how was school?" I asked again.

"I don't like school. I want to quit," Claire said in a determined tone.

I snickered. She already hated school and still had a lot more to go.

"Don't you want to grow up to be smart?" I asked.

"No," Claire replied stubbornly.

"What about the kids in your class? Do you like any of them?"

"Yeah, there are some really nice girls. One girl, Lindsey, is my bestest friend already."

"Well, if you quit school you wouldn't be able to see any of your friends," I informed her.

Claire scrunched up her forehead at that thought and didn't reply. I smiled to myself knowing that I had won that particular battle for now. Cora soon joined us and we headed to the car.

Ronnie and Stacy had given their permission to the school to let the girls leave with me. The siblings were going to spend the weekend in La Push. Nessie Cullen was going to be turning two in a couple of weeks, and Jake and I arranged for her to have a slumber party at Sam's house with Cora and Claire. It wasn't a birthday party, as her parents and her Aunt Alice had something else planned, but it was a way for Ness to do something fun and childish.

Nessie may have only been two, but she physically looked like she was about seven or eight. She also had the mind of a Rhodes Scholar, but her parents were worried that due to her rapid growth she wouldn't have much of a childhood. This weekend was supposed to be a chance for Nessie to have a rare childhood experience. Plus, all the girls had gotten along really well at Sam and Emily's wedding a year and a half ago.

I knew Bella and Edward were nervous about this weekend for several reasons. For one thing, they had barely let Ness out of their sight after the vampire enforcers, the Volturi, had tried to attack the Cullens a week before Sam's wedding. The Volturi had used the pretense that Nessie was a potential danger and had threatened to destroy the whole family. Luckily, they had decided against attacking and fled the area of Forks in shame.

I knew another big reason that Bella and Edward were worried was because Nessie hadn't been around humans a lot and they weren't sure how she'd do in "society." She saw her grandfather and Sue Clearwater a lot, now that Charlie Swan and Sue were dating seriously, but she had never spent the night at Charlie's.

It was because of her parents concern that we decided to let the girls have the slumber party at Sam's. Ness would be surrounded by wolves who would willingly die to protect her, but she'd also be close enough to home where she could go back to her house quickly if she needed too.