Cherry Blossoms

C12

" Hey ,Jake", Cherry greeted her bestie , walking up to him with a bright smile plastered on her face .

" Hey , Birthday Girl", he greeted back with an even brighter smile , " I see Charlie listened to my Dad to bring you over ".

" Yeah , your Dad can be very persuasive if he wants to . Um... there's cake in the cruiser . I wanted to bake one myself ,but Dad said it's going to take too much time . I hear since it's such a great day ,your Dad's hosting a barbecue ".

" Yeah . Kinda . It's actually a party for you and since you don't like surprises ,Dad said I can tell you . Sue Clearwater baked a cake too and so did Emily . You remember her from the bonfire ,right ?. Anyway, now there's lots of cake for everyone that's coming . "

Cherry shook her head at his excitement . He looked like a real happy puppy .

Jake helped her carry the cake out to the back yard where there was already some people helping to set up some tables .

" Hey , Cherry , happy birthday ", Seth Clearwater said from where he was helping his mother wiping down a table .

"  Hey ,Seth, and  thanks ," she said giving him a smile .

" Happy birthday,Cherry ", Sue said coming over to give Cherry a hug .

" Thanks ,Sue ."

" Hey,Cherryldene , how's it feel to be sweet sixteen ?!", Paul called from across the lawn .

Cherry rolled her eyes at him . " Ask me again tomorrow ,Pauly !", she called back before walking off to where Billy sat beside Harry Clearwater and old Quil .

" Good morning ," she greeted them bending down to give old Quil a hug first before she hugged the other two .

" Morning ,Cherry . Happy birthday ", Billy said giving her a pat on her back .

" Oh, thanks , Billy . My Dad said he'll be here soon . He just had to make a call and Bella couldn't come because she's got something going on at the Cullens' house ."

" Alright, Cherry . You're sister should know she's playing with fire hanging around those Cullens ", Billy said .

" Yeah ,well, what did you tell me and Jake when we were little?. Oh yeah, he who doesn't listen will feel . But I don't think she'll listen anytime soon . Anyway I'm off to torment Quil over there . He's hands isn't far from that cake and I'm sure if I don't go there now I'll see finger prints in the icing ".

The three Elders broke out laughing at that .

She left them and stalked Quil silently before jumping on his back in the last second causing him to squeal like a girl .

She burst out in a fit of giggles , clutching her stomach tightly and tearing up  because it was so funny .

" Cherry ,you almost gave me a heart attack!", he scolds her while holding a hand to his chest .

" Well, Feather Quil  , if you hadn't been so fixated on that cake in front of you , you'd have seen me coming ", she said ," Seriously , I hope you didn't touch it because I'm not sure if you're hands are clean and I'm not eating it if you're hand aren't ".

" Ugh, I didn't touch it . And honestly you've eaten mud pies, remember ?. So you can't complain . "

Placing her hands on her hips in defiance she said " Give me a break ,Quil, I was like... four and if my memory serves me right you ,Jake and Embry ate more'n me ."

" Yeah , because you hid the chocolate in them ."

" Because you told me to".

" Seriously ,are you two going to argue about this again ,this year?," Jared spoke up from behind them," it's getting way too old".

" He started it ", Cherry pointed out earning a glare from Quil who stomped off to Embry and Jacob , leaving her with Jared .

" Sam asked me to come get you . He's over there by the fires
".

Cherry looked over at the barbecue stands seeing Sam watching over one of them .

" Okay, lead the way , Cameron ", she said .

Throughout the night she'd come to terms with what he'd told her and she'd been looking forward to seeing him again .

She wanted to know more and she wanted to be with him . Talk to him .Touch him. Even kiss him .

He looked up and smiled as she approached him , holding  one arm open so he could hug her and she didn't hesitate to close the gap between them letting him hug her while she herself wrapped her arms around his waist ,as far as her arms would go ,that is , and pressing her cheek against his chest .

" Hey,Cherry ", he greeted softly ," Happy Birthday ".

That was the sweetest music to her ears .
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" So , Cherry , what're you going to do once you graduate from high school ?", Sue Clearwater asked her while they all sat at a pair of tables ,eating her birthday lunch .

" Go to College ", Charlie Swan said before she could ," and get a degree . And she's not getting married until then".

" Daaad , " she protested from where she sat between Sam and Jacob," I'm not even eighteen . I won't graduate for a few years and who says I want to go to College . That's all Bella's style . What're you gonna do without me anyways ,Dad . You'll probably call me every five seconds to baby me ."

Charlie pulled a face as a round of laughter erupts from around the table .

" I'm just saying ," he said in a goofy voice that caused her to burst out laughing .

Beside her Sam couldn't help but smile a lot.  He felt strangely giddy with happiness sitting there and being able to share her birthday with her .

Some people had given her presents . Small , but useful ,like Jacob's dreamcatcher and his   necklace with the howling wolf hanging from a chain of leather .

Old Quil had given her real homemade moccasins and Sue a patchwork quilt with funnily enough little wolves dancing in the wind . Billy had given her a book with handwritten legends of the Quileutes .

She seemed to love everything like it was precious gems .

" Okay ," Sue called attention to everyone ," who wants cake ?. There's three and Emily and I placed sixteen candles on them for Cherry to blow out . Four each on two and eight on the third . So, Cherry , you'll have to blow very hard today , Okay?".

Cherry smiled and nodded . She was prepared to blow as hard as she could like the wolf in the story of the little pigs .

Emily and Sue fetched the cakes with Seth's help and everyone around the table sang the birthday song .

Cherry smiled the biggest ,brightest smile while a feeling of great happiness rushed through her .

Spending time on her birthday with her family and friends was the biggest gift of all .

And this time her Dad was here and her Aunt didn't have to drive her all the way from Seattle just so she could spend the day with her friends. 

So, she was the happiest girl alive and no one could say otherwise.
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See ya . We're getting into New Moon's events now .