Flowers for Lilah (Seth Clearwater)

twenty four

"Who is that, sweet girl? Is that mamma?" I coo in baby Aimee's ear, as I bounce her on my hip. Her round eyes land on Emily's small frame, and her chubby hands shoot out towards her mother.  Emily, who had just arrived home and set down the bags of groceries on the counter, looked more visibly more refreshed than when she left me to babysit earlier this morning.

        "Ma ma," she repeats. Emily clads across the room and takes her daughter from my arms, smiling at me, "Thank you Lilah for watching little Aimee."

        "No problem," I situate myself on the counter of Emily and Sam's home, dodging the groceries that laid on the wooden surface. "Have you found a babysitter yet for the wedding this weekend?"

        Another wedding. It felt like just last week we were celebrating Sam and Emily's wedding, when all actuality it had been over two years ago. Now, it was Kim's turn. I was nervous, as one of her bridesmaids. The shoes she picked out for me to wear were tall, and knowing me, I would trip on my way down the aisle. The dress she had assigned for me to wear was nicer than anything I'd ever owned, a dark navy with a plunging neckline.

        It seemed like life was moving so fast. My grandmother had officially retired from knitting, her fingers were getting to sore afterwards. My Papa and Nana had slowed down considerably since I had graduated high school a year earlier, luckily for me, Sue Clearwater had become inseparable with my Nana. Sue helped take a lot of the pressure off of me to be their sole caretaker. I worked most days as a florist at the Nursery Seth had taken me to on our first date. Me, and Mr. Andrews, the old man who owned the building, were a two-man team, and business was doing great.

        "No yet." Emily sighed, bouncing the small child on her hip, "I might have to bring little Aimee."

         Beyond just the changes with me, everyone else seemed to be evolving into their life. Sam and Emily were married with a child. Jacob was head over heels for his new vampire girl, and now Kim and Jared were tying the knot. Kim had just passed her nursing exams and been hired in Forks, a 'big girl' job was her requirement before finally marrying Jared. Though they had been engaged since before Emily and Sam's wedding, now it was finally coming to life.

        Kim had slowly become one of my closest friends over the past four years of knowing her, yet still the person who had become my other half was Seth. It seemed every part of my day had to do with him in some way. I loved him, plain and simple. There was no hurry with our love, we were content just how we were.

     Seth was still busy with pack business, but he actually had a job he was pretty happy at. That wasn't saying much, as Seth was happy with anything,  but he loved working as a carpenter. And with La Push's ancient houses, he was kept busy with repairs, painting, fixing, building, anything really. And I couldn't deny that seeing him working up a sweat at work was like candy to me.

        "That wouldn't be-" I began, but I'm cut off by the sliding glass door connected to the kitchen rushing open with a loud squeak, and irritated looking Kim marching in in a huff, "It's official! If anyone asks me to do one more thing, I'm eloping!"

        I exchange an "oh brother" look with Emily. The three of us had developed into our friendship roles. Kim was a bit more brazen and dramatic than Emily and I, Emily was very motherly and naturally head-strong, and I (like always) was the quiet one. Kim was in one of her moods, something that became more common as the wedding approached.

        "What is happening now?" Emily asks, concerned, like we hadn't heard a rant about some distant relative of hers being unreasonable every week. Last week it was that her mother had added two to the guest list without any warning, the week before had been that Jared accidentally waited too long to order his tuxedo.