Homecoming - Paul Lahote

Chapter 46: Finally Home

     I turned back to the five very worried adults, their attention all on me while Paul made his way to sit next to Jacob. I joined them at the table, taking the end seat so that I was between Sam and Paul, as soon as I was down my father spoke, "How are you feeling?". I looked up at him, making eye contact like he taught me when I was young.

      "I'm alright dad. My shoulder hurts a little still but other than that I feel fine. The baby is completely healthy which is the only thing that I could ask for". He nodded his head to me and then turned to Katie, both of their gazes looking toward Billy for a moment. 

      "Well sweetie, Charlie called me and told me that they can't find the driver that hit you", I felt my breath hitch as I felt Paul's grip tighten on my thigh. I didn't move an inch in attempt to keep him calm, his grip tightened more which made me lay my hand on top of his. 

      He must have looked down and realized how tight his grip actually was because as soon as he looked down he moved his hand from my thigh and just held my hand instead. "Are they still going to look for him?", I asked with a shaky voice. 

      Katie reached across the table and took my other hand, "Charlie said that he will do everything that he can to find the person who did this, but for now we have something that we want to give you. If you don't want to keep it you don't have to, but you and Paul need something to get around in until his truck get fixed". I tilted my head at her confused, but then I heard a car pull up outside, my dad shoved his head to the door as if to tell us to go look. I noticed my dad's old blue truck sitting in the drive way, I had always told him that I could take the truck and that I loved it more than I loved most things. It reminded me of my childhood on the reservation before my parents split up. I looked up to Paul and he had a similar but not so excited expression on his face as well. Embry jumped out of the truck and tossed the keys to Paul, knowing that I most likely wouldn't catch them. We turned around and looked at my dad, "You're giving us your old truck?", I asked the surprise still completely evident. 

      "I know how much you love that truck, and it was my plan all along. I originally wanted to give it to you for your birthday but we couldn't find the parts for it so we had to go all over Washington to find them. If you guys don't want to keep it after you get Paul's truck back then you don't have to but it is on our insurance and we will pay for all of that. You just need to pay for the gas". I took couple steps between us and closed the space to give my father a hug, in the moment, things finally felt normal again. The amount of times that I wished my father and I could go back to the way that things were, and here we are. All of us standing at Sam and Emily's, getting along and it all feels normal again. After I pulled away from the hug, Paul and Sam started asking my dad questions about the truck, making sure that it 'was safe for me to drive'. They were in their own little world, so I pulled Katie and Emily into the house with me. We all at down in the living room, letting Quil leave for his patrol while we watched Claire. She came to sit next to me on the couch, laying her head on the pillow that she put in my lap and started to drift off for her nap. 

      I slowly rubbed circles on her back until I could hear her even breathing, my hand just rested on her back after that. I was just watching Jackson play with his cars on the floor when Katie turned to me, "Have you decided on the name for my granddaughter?". I was surprised that she referred to herself has a grandmother, my father seemed totally against the idea of me having a baby and even though I knew she didn't feel the same, I was surprised. 

      "Well, Emily and I came up with one. Paul loves it, so her name is going to be Olivia Andrea Lahote". I smiled as I finished her name, the way that the beautiful name flowed with Paul's last name that I plan to take one day. 

      I brought my attention back to Katie, the smile on her face showed that she was happy, "This is a beautiful name. Even though I didn't know your mother all that well, I can tell you that she would be extremely proud of you. You are handling this like an adult and you are going to be an amazing mother, I can't wait to see this little girl". She got up and gave me a small hug before my father and the boys came back into the house.