Naturally

Naturally (A Jacob Black Fanfic) -30-

Olivia’s POV

Despite the situation, I don’t think the house could have been any happier. Instead of crying, Merris was grinning. Her eyes were dry and warm, not wet and intense. In fact, I swear they faded. I couldn’t see a trace of black in her wide pupils. It reminded me of Jacob’s photos posted in his office of their younger days, a specific picture actually where she was sitting on Jacob’s porch with Seth and Embry. The trio was bright eyed, wide smiled, and pink cheeks from the cold, fall cheeks. Of course, her cheeks were the brightest due to the light complexity.

In fact, I was tempted to go pick up the picture and just compare the scenes. Marisol wouldn’t care if I left for a second. She was too busy whispering secrets into Annie’s ears, which in return, the girl would giggle and stare at the row of cards in Merris’ hands. I don’t think she really understood the game of poker but that didn’t matter, the adults were happy and the anxious 6 year old behaved in Marisol’s arms. Emily would be so happy.

“Hey,” I interrupted the light humor of our circle, “I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t peak!” Annie replied with a mischievous grin, one that mimicked Marisol’s. It was uncanny. A spurt of giggles escaped Marisol’s lips and she struggled to keep her back straight when her body fell over the table as the result of her hard laughter.

“Shh! Now you gave her the idea we will!” Marisol joked, veiling her face with the little girl’s long hair.

Kim laughed hardily beside them, patting Merris’ shoulder. “She’s just like Sam. She sucks at keeping secrets.”

Annie pouted at Kim and then up at Marisol. “I’ll give you a lesson in bluffing, young grasshopper.” Marisol said, concluding in a wink and then focused back onto the game of poker.

“You’ll see, in life,” Marisol started, holding Annie closer to her, as if she was her own child, and it made my heart tug a bit, “if you keep quiet, no one will know what you’re going to do. Therefore you can do something, have time to cover it up, and when they finally have an idea of what you did, they can’t prove it. Acquitted, just like that!” She demonstrated with a snap. Annie giggled and stared up at Marisol’s teasing face. “A straight face gives nothing away.”

That was for sure, I thought sullenly. Even though Marisol was happy, she had yet to give us any answers. If anything, the kid was a distraction for her. Annie certainly did ease her mood but that didn’t change Marisol’s trust issue with the other woman. The mood was lighter though. From the look on Leah’s face, it was a miracle Marisol was smiling.

“What does acquit mean?” Annie asked.

Marisol bit her lip and her eyes swooped to the ceiling and around the room, obvious thinking, a habit I noticed throughout the night she had.

“It means you’re excused to a crime, most of the time because there isn’t any evidence to prove it.” Annie only nodded. I doubted she understood most of that.

“Accused,” Annie repeated.

“No, no, excused.”

“Speaking of acquitted, you won’t believe what happened to your mom.” Kim spoke up.

Everything went silent as all eyes were on Kim. Leah’s were wide with silent pleading and mine were wide with curiosity, while Merris’ were narrowly slit. The air pressure dropped and I could feel my heart anxiously beating, anticipating the once warm atmosphere to burst into chaotic flames.

“She disappeared right after you left, just packed up her bags and left. We wouldn’t have noticed if it wasn’t for Jacob shouting all over town the house was empty. He was frantic about it. Heck, he even broke into it to see if she took everything.”