Motherly Love

I was cooking yet another meal for Jacob and his pack mates, Seth, Quil and Embry. Leah never ate with us, and the other two only ate here on special occasions, like today. It was Jacob's birthday!

The sound of four sizzling steaks the size of turkey platters, and one the size of a fist for Renesmée, drew my attention away from the seventh piece of a massive cake sitting in the oven. I moved over to our indoor grill, inside for simplicity's sake, and flipped the five steaks over to be cooked for another two minutes. Medium rare for my wolf boys. It almost made the steaks smell good. Almost.

"Boys! Get ready, the steaks are almost done! So are the vegetables." I shouted, a series of groans cutting off the cheers when I mentioned vegetables. "No groaning. It may be Jake's birthday, and you may be part dog, but you are still also part human. Humans cannot survive on meat alone. You will each eat at least one spoonful of vegetables, or no cake." I said normally, knowing full well that they could hear me. "Yes, Mother." Seth replied.

I laughed quietly. Out of all four of them, Seth was the only one to ever call me mother, even joking like that. If it weren't for Jacob imprinting on my granddaughter, I would have loved Seth more than even Jacob. Well, probably. I could not decide that, as it could never happen.

The buzzer rang out from the oven, just as the steaks were being finished. "Steaks." I said, and rushed to the oven as Bella appeared next to me, stampeding feet storming towards the table. "Bella, get the cake. Put this piece on top, it should finish the third layer." I instructed as I took all of the steaks to the table.

Renesmée, now the size of a large three year old at eight months old, jumped up into her booster seat. She touched Jacob's arm as he sat down next to her, and he chuckled. "Eat up. Jacob, help her cut hers into smaller pieces. I said, dashing back to put the final layer of cake in the oven. "No prob." He said, putting the smaller steak onto her plate.

I rushed back to find Bella spreading the icing all onto the top layer of cake. "Thank you, Bella. This helps me a lot." I said, mixing the ingredients for the final layer of cake, the size of a real, normal piece of cake. "Esme, I think that this cake cold rival a very expensive, large wedding cake made for hundreds of people." She laughed, making the violent swirls on the sides.

"I know that, dear, but do you honestly think that the wolves won't eat most of it? Besides, if they don't, there will be leftovers for Jacob and Seth. Here, let me take that, Honey." I said, taking the squeezer from Bella. I continued to paint on the red scars of icing, giving the cake the appearance of having been mauled by a wolf. The dark chocolate icing that covered the entire thing as a base made it seem more realistic, especially since the blood-red icing dripped down the sides.

Bella came back with hundreds of little white chocolate triangles, which looked like teeth. "Perfect, Bella!" I cried, seeing her idea as she placed the little 'teeth' around the edge of each layer.

"Mommy! The boys won't ea-mmph. Mmph!" I heard Renesmée say, then scream. Someone had covered her mouth. "Bella, go make the boys eat their vegetables. And make Embry let go of Renesmée." I said, knowing that only Embry would cover her mouth against her will. Jacob was her imprint, and Quil knew how someone would react to that happening. Seth was just too sweet to do anything. "I am eating them!" Seth yelled from the dining table. I turned and saw that he had already finished half of his scoop, and the others were just now getting theirs at Bella's demand.

"No, Nessie. I will not eat your vegetables for you. Now…No, I won't! Nessie, stop! You need to eat them too. Agh, fine. Give them-" Jacob said before being interrupted by Bella.

"No, Nessie will eat them. You can't give her everything that she wants, especially eating her food." Bella said, ordering both of them around. "Fine. Sorry, Ness. Bring it up with your mom." Jake said, his voice sounding somewhat sad at not being able to give Nessie everything.

I listened to the harmless table banter as I finished up the cake, completing the icing job just as the final layer was finished. I pulled it out of the oven, and iced that too, vampire speed making short work of it. I quickly placed eighteen candles on it, and then grabbed it to take to the table.

"Okay, everyone. Clear up your plates, and then get new ones. It's cake time!" I said, the wolves immediately jumping up to dump their dirty plates into the sink. I set the cake down on the table, and pulled out the candles. "Lights!" I called, Emmett turning off the lights so that the candles glowed brightly.

Renesmée suddenly reached her hand up and touched mine, and an image of me taking a picture of Jacob blowing out the candles flashed through my head. "Okay, Nessie. Jake? Picture?" I asked, looking at him. "Uh…sure." He said, looking at Nessie emphatically bobbing her head.

I dashed upstairs, returning two seconds later with our digital camera. "Okay, everyone, on the count of three, we sing. One…Two…Three! Happy-" we all began to sing. All of the rest of the family had entered the kitchen, and they were singing too.

I noticed Seth holding back a laugh as the song came to a close, Jacob blowing out all eighteen of his candles. "What's so funny, squirt?" Quil asked, looking at Seth's open grin.

"Nothin', it's just that Embry sounds like a donkey that tried swallowing too much food!" He said, cracking up as he bent over to support himself. "Hey! We can't all have angels' voices, you know!" Embry retorted, jumping around to Seth's side of the table. Seth jumped over to the opposite side, standing next to Bella and Carlisle.

"Get back here, squirt!" Embry yelled, trying to jump back around to get Seth.

"Mommy, Mommy help me! The big bad wolf is trying to eat me again! Save me, Mommy!" Seth called playfully, jumping behind me. Embry wouldn't dare push past me to get to him. "Alright, go settle down. Jake and Quil have already started eating. Play later." I said, looking pointedly at the cake, two massive slices already piled onto the two plates, Jake serving a smaller one to Nessie.

"Thank you, Mommy! I knew you would save me!" Seth said, his voice still high as he jumped back to his spot to cut off an equally huge piece for himself. "Shut up and eat, Seth." Edward said, laughing slightly. Bella was shaking her head, Emmett was roaring with laughter in the other room.

A half hour passed by, and there was only one large slice of the huge cake left. Jacob was lying on the floor, chocolate oozing around his cheeks, while Nessie rested against his side, her face just as messy. Quil and Embry were lying against the far wall, their heads knocked together as they slept. Seth was nowhere to be seen.

I then heard the tap water running, and the sound of steel wool scrubbing against glass plates. I dashed to the kitchen to see Seth cleaning up the dishes, then drying them. "Oh, Seth! You don't need to do that! Here, you go sleep, or hang out, or something." I said, rushing over to take the steel wool and towel away from him. "Oh come one, Esme! It's the least I can do, after you made that awesome dinner, and the totally cook cake that bled chocolate!" he said, begging me to let him do dishes. "No, Seth. Go play. Or sleep. I'll take care of it." I said, pushing him out to the other room.

Jasper came into the room then, taking over the drying. "Not you too!" I cried softly.

"No, I just want to talk." He said, taking another plate and drying it. He would then rush to the cabinets and put it away just in time to take another plate. "About Seth." He said, rushing to put another away. "I don't think that we should talk about him while he's right in the other room." I said, but then I heard the light snoring from the couch.

"Exactly." Jasper said, catching my noticing Seth's snores. "You know, Esme, that kid absolutely adores you. He likes you almost as much we do, considering you exactly like a normal human thinks of their mother."

"And? I think it's wonderful that Seth likes it over here. I wouldn't want him to be uncomfortable!" I said, shuddering at the thought of someone not being comfortable here.

"Well, it wasn't really anything, just an observation. He isn't entirely joking when he calls you 'mom'; he really means it, to some extent. He only ever says it joking though, because he doesn't want anyone else to feel uncomfortable with him calling you 'mom'."

We had finished dishes, and I just stared for a little bit, taking it in. Wow, a werewolf son. Never saw that coming, did I? I thought, liking the idea.

"Just thought I'd let you know." Jasper said, walking out normally.

I was walking out to the other room, when there was a knock on the door. "It's Leah." Edward said, and then called, "Come on in, Leah."

"No thanks, just came for Seth. Mom wants him home." She called back. I walked over to the front door, and opened it. "He's asleep. Should I wake him up? Or do you want me to drive him home?" I asked, wondering what she would prefer. Seth came up behind me though, and answered sleepily. "No, it's okay. I can run home. Thanks though, Esme. And thanks again for the awesome food! Leah, I think you would have loved it." He said, turning away. "Bye, people!" The two ran off then, disappearing into the darkness.

I returned into the house, to see Quil and Embry waking up. They left after saying goodbye and thanks, running off just after Seth and Leah. I quietly went up to mine and Carlisle's room and took out one of my books to read.

It was nearly nine in the morning when I heard Alice suddenly gasp. I ran downstairs, to see her shaking her head, while Edward, stared for a few seconds. "What is it?" Carlisle asked quietly, not wanting to really know. "It's Sue. She…She is about to get into an accident." Edward said quietly. I gasped as he continued. "She is only going to be about thirty seconds from her house, when a tourist will come speeding from around the corner. It doesn't have enough time to stop and…" he had switched to present tense, the accident occurring right then. "Her future disappears." Alice said quietly. She seemed in shock.

"Seth…" I said, then burst out of the front door. I dashed into Edward's Volvo, the least conspicuous car. I pulled out of the driveway, no one following me out, and drove quickly out to the main road. I sped as fast as I dared, even as a vampire, down to La Push, crossing the boundary line without a second thought. My cell phone rang, and I picked it up immediately. "Yes?" I asked, unable to make my voice harsh, even with this dire situation. "Esme? It's fine. I just told Sam, you're clear to cross the line. No one will stop you." Jacob said from the other line.

"Good, because it was too late anyways, about thirty seconds ago." I replied. I made a sharp turn down towards Seth's street, then took the last turn, and saw the accident. I hung up and jumped out of the car.

I ran at a human speed, and I saw Seth running up the street, flying really "Mom!" he screamed. None of the humans around saw him sprinting towards the crash. I got to the smashed remains of the car, and I could immediately smell all of the blood. Two different scents, two different people. No heartbeats. A dry sob escaped my throat as I acknowledged this fact.

I walked over to Seth, trying to find a way to get into the wreckage, and said, "Wait for the police, Charlie is on his way." I gently grabbed his shoulders, and pulled him away. I knew that he could smell the blood as well, and was just as unable to hear a heart beat as I was.

Seth suddenly became very loose, and nearly fell. I caught him just before he hit the ground, and he did not even flinch as my icy arms wrapped around him, holding him up. I repositioned him so that I was carrying him, and ran into his house. I sat down on the couch, and I could feel his trembling now. His sobs were louder than the sound of the destroyed cars, hissing until they ran out of steam.

Seth had his head in the crook of my neck, his arms around me as tight as he could, and he cried harder than I had ever seen anyone cry before. I put my arms loosely around him, not wanting to crush him. I let myself cry a bit too, as much as vampires are able to cry, and then just sat there, letting him run himself dry.

Seth began to talk, sobbing things. Things about his mom, things about his dad, his sister, his house, everything. I just sat there, half-listening, as I muttered reassurances that it would be okay.

Leah walked into the room, and immediately jumped back with a snarl. Then she saw Seth. "What happened? What did you do, leech?" She yelled, jumping forward. I merely sat there, holding Seth tightly. "Leah, your mother was just in a car crash. It's down the street. I had just arrived when Seth saw it." I watched her in stunned silence. She sat there, speechless, for a few moments and then asked, "W-What happened? Is she…Is she okay?"

I sadly shook my head, feeling the dry pricking of my eyes that meant I would be crying. "No, Leah. I'm so sorry, but your mother…She was killed instantly. The only good thing, is that she didn't feel any pain at all." That was the only consolation that I could give to her. Seth, I could hug, but Leah refused any kind of contact.

Leah stammered wordlessly for a while longer, and then ran out the door. She vanished from sight as my phone began ringing again. Careful not to jostle Seth, still shaking heavily, I answered the phone. "Yes?"

"Esme, how is everything going? Are they okay?" Carlisle asked from the other line.

"Not really, Carlisle. Seth is sitting here, very upset, and Leah just ran out to see the crash. I'm worried about the people that are gathered there, in case she loses her temper."

"I'm sure that Sam, or someone is on their way. They won't let Leah hurt anyone." He replied to my concerns. Wait around at the house. We're on our way down, and Jacob had Sam call the rest of the wolves. We're all going to have a meeting, to see what should be done."

"They're letting all of you come down here?" I asked, incredulous that the wolves would do something like that. "It was a bit difficult. The only reason they are letting us have a say, is because Jacob is literally part of our family, and Seth is in his pack, so technically Seth is part of the family as well. That was the only reason we are coming. Alright, we'll see you soon. I love you."

"Love you too." I replied, hanging up the phone.

Seth sniffed heavily one more time, then sat up. "Seth, are you okay?" I asked, my worry completely unsuppressed. "Yeah, I'll survive. The pack is coming here? And the rest of you? Wow. That will be quite a sight." He said, smiling weakly in an attempt to lighten the mood. That is just like him.

I heard the several pairs of feet approach the door, then open it without knocking. Sam, Jared, Paul, Brady, Collin, Embry and Quil all stepped through the door, almost entirely filling the room with their massive presence.

Seth stood up to go greet them, all of them giving him a big hug. It was heartbreaking to see the normally happy kid in such an awful state. His eyes were swollen and red, his breath still hitching occasionally, despite the smile he was putting on. He trembled often too, as though he would explode at any moment.

"Where is Leah?" I asked, attracting their attention for the first time since entering.

"I don't know." Sam replied, looking like he didn't care too much. "Jake said that he would get her. "Emily is bringing the others who were around before Seth split off. I figured, none of the others really matter in this debate, since they never really knew Seth or Leah." He continued.

I then heard two cars pull up, alerting me to my family's arrival. They appeared in the doorway suddenly, cringing slightly at the overpowering smell. "Sam, did they really have to come? And since when did we let them cross the boundary line?" Paul groaned, his face crunching up in an attempt to block out the smell a bit. He then just plugged his nose.

"Paul, enough with the boundary line thing. Jacob's pack practically lives there, clear across the boundary. I think that the treaty is dead, Paul. We already went over the other part. No more complaints. Or grumbles." Sam ordered, ending Paul's little rant.

Seth had returned next to me, sitting up straight, even though he was leaning against my arm somewhat. I gently grabbed his hand, comforting him slightly and causing him to smile just a bit more. Edward flashed over to Seth's other side, grabbing him in a tight embrace, "I'm sorry, man." Jacob, along with Carlisle, Bella and Alice, were the next ones to give Seth small hugs, apologizing for the reason they were all here.

Finally, another five cars pulled up, and Emily led a few other wolves into the house, along with Leah. "Okay, we're all here, let's get this over with." Sam spoke up again, drawing everyone's attention away from Seth. "First off, let's figure out what loose ends weren't tied up.

"The house wasn't all paid for." Leah said quietly. "Neither of us can afford to pay the bills for it, so I guess that is one big loose end."

"No, that's completely fine, Leah. My family will take care of that." Carlisle said, speaking up for the first time. A few hushed murmurs went through the gathering, mostly from the late arrivers. "Carlisle, it's okay. You don't have to pay for the house for us." Seth said, once again trying to be nice, this time broaching unintelligence. Edward coughed lowly at my thought, finding it somewhat funny that I would call Seth dumb.

"Shush, Seth. It's completely fine, as Carlisle said." I told him, making my voice firm.

"Does anyone here have any arguments with that?" Sam asked, eyeing some of the pack members specifically. A few murmurs of 'why should we let the bloodsuckers pay?' and 'think they're all that, with all that money?' went through, again from the newer pack members. "Shut up you guys. I wasn't exactly asking you. No one has any reason to complain, so this issue is closed." Sam stated, brooking no comebacks.

"Are there any other things that still need to be finished up?" Sam asked, again to Leah.

"Well, pretty much anything that is paid in installments is only partly paid for. Cars, big furniture, not to mention all of the house utilities."

"Again, we'll take care of all that. Really, anything that has to do with money, let us care for." I said before anyone else could speak up. "Esme, you can't expect me to let you pay for everything!" Seth said, still trying to think of other people when he was the subject of discussion. "I can, and unless Sam has something to say about it, I will." I said, turning once again to face Seth. A real smile, although still small, curved up his mouth. He wrapped his arms around me and said, "Thanks."

His breath began hitching slightly again, and I looked to Edward for an answer. "His mom. He misses her, and you being so nice reminds him, even though it has only been about twenty minutes." Edward mouthed, not letting any sound escape. I saw the other pack members flinch slightly at Seth's quiet crying. Leah sat down next to him and began gently rubbing his back, stubbornly refusing to let out her emotions.

"Alright. Well, I guess that there is only one more thing to discuss." Sam said, and I saw Edward flinch at whatever he was thinking. Uh oh. I thought. This isn't going to be good.

"Who are they going to stay with?" he began, and Leah's head shot up immediately.

"Why is that an issue? I'm old enough to take care of us!"

"Leah, you may be old enough, but we have to think strictly practically here. You don't have a job, and the only way you could get a good enough job to support both of you, would be for you to move away." Sam said, crushing Leah's resistance. She glowered at him, but was unable to argue with his logic.

"I think the easiest way, would be for you two to live elsewhere, until you can support yourselves entirely. The house will be staying open, thanks to the Cullens, so you will be able to move back here when you can.

"So…What are…are the options?" Seth asked, his voice catching, breaking his sentence.

"Yeah, it's not like we can both live with you and Emily." Leah said, acid leaking from her voice.

"Sadly, that is true." Emily said, looking down at the floor. "We may be able to live decently, but we can't feed three wolves every day, and our house just isn't big enough for that many people."

"My parents…Yeah." Quil said, looking ashamed. A chorus of voices, one by one, mumbled that they didn't have the room, or that their parents wouldn't allow it. This caused me to worry, since I didn't want to make the suggestion that was almost bursting from my lips.

"I have a suggestion, although some people here may not like it much…" Started Carlisle. "Seth, along with anyone else I may add, is always welcome at our home. He can stay with us." Good old husband, always saying the right thing.

Everything in the room fell silent at that. After around ten uncomfortable seconds of silence, Jacob woke everyone up. "Well, I think that it's a good idea. Not only because he will have a place to live, and access to all the necessities, and crap, he'll also be near me, and better able to help out if we need it."

Collin and Brady spoke up after this, outraged. "No! Seth is-"

"He's our best friend! We can't-"

"-Bloodsuckers can't be-"

"He'll get mauled by-"

"-Blondie and-"

"Shut it you two." Sam said quietly, but they both heard him. They turned on him then, and continued ranting. "Sam, you can't let Seth go and live with bloodsuckers!" Collin pressed.

"Jacob does it. He hasn't even been close to being attacked yet. Right?" Sam pointed out.

"Guys, if it's Seth's safety that you're worried about, don't be. The Cullens are the good guys. Besides, Seth has practically been living with them anyways, just not at night.

"What do you think, Seth?" Jacob asked after the two fell silent.

Seth remained silent for a few seconds, obviously thinking about how to word his answer. "I don't know…I can't just…It wouldn't be right to…"

"Seth, we would love to have you live with us," I said, cutting off his weak protests. "We know that it might not be a good time for a permanent arrangement, right now, but you're more than welcome." He stopped trying to answer then, and just looked at me. Smiling weakly, he hugged me again. "Thanks, Esme."

"Ha. Alright." Sam said, clapping his hands tiredly. "I guess that everything is settled. Let's head home, for now."

Rosalie looked angry, and Emmett was trying to calm her down. "Rose, come on. Let's just go home for now. Chill, Babe." She turned on her heel at Emmett's words, and sped out of the house.

"Okay, Seth. We have a room upstairs that we can clear out for you. You can use one of our beds, since we don't really ever use them anyways. I'll have Jake do all of the laundry and setting up, so that it doesn't stink too badly." I said, already planning out how to do Seth's room.

"Don't worry about it, Esme. I was never really bothered by the smell. It may not be the best scent in the world, but it's not as bad, to me, as the others think." Seth assured me. Jacob threw him a 'thank you' look, then turned to go out to the car.

"Leah, you know that you're just as welcome, right?" I said, including her in the decision. "I know that you probably don't want to rely on us too much, but if you ever need anything, just let us know, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." She said, turning to go deeper into the house.

As we walked out, Seth tightened his hand which was still around mine, as we saw the police cleaning up the wreckage. We walked over to Charlie, handing out instructions to other people. "Hey, Seth. Hey Cullen clan. What are you guys doing down here? You're never around La Push."

"We're here to help the Clearwaters out. Seth is going to be staying with us, at least for a little while, and we're going to be paying all of the bills, and things like that, for Leah." Carlisle answered, helping Charlie move some stuff briefly.

"Hey, Seth. Sorry about this. Why is it, that tourists never obey the speed limits? They're there for a reason!" Charlie fumed.

"It's alright, Chief Swan. I'll be okay." Seth replied as we started walking back towards the cars. Seth got into the car with me and Carlisle. Seth and I were in the back seat while Carlisle drove.

"Don't worry, Seth." I said, grabbing him in a hug again. "It may not seem right, at the moment, but eventually you'll cope. Time heals all wounds."

"I know, Esme. Thanks again, for everything."

"Any time, Seth." I said as he closed his eyes. Now I have a werewolf grandson, and a werewolf son. If only he hadn't come at such a high price…

The End! Isn't Esme so awesome?

hey, be sure to check out my other stories, particularly the one series I have right now, starting with Frozen love.