Defined - Jacob Black {2}

Chapter 22: The Banana

One week later...

Jacob's POV

The sunlight across her smooth and perfect skin set the room alight with a golden glow. Her chest rose rhythmically as she laid on her back, her dark hair splayed out around her across her pillow, the fabric of one of my old t-shirts from my pre-shifter days pulled tight across her bump. She looked glorious, so incredibly beautiful. I could spend all day looking at her and would never get bored... especially now that our child was growing inside of her.

The sunrise across the mountains had woken me from my sleep as the light seeped into the room, we had gotten home so late last night we had forgotten to close the blinds in our tired stupors. Today could not be spent lounging around in bed though, it was Monday, and Monday meant work - my alarm was set to go off at 7am.

Our previous night had been a late one due to Renesmee's fifth birthday. Alice had gone all out, inviting the packs and their families and the Denalis. Ness now looked to be about fifteen and it was now obvious that she had a thing for Seth. He still doted over her but only as a friend now compared to an older brother. Her obvious attempts at flirting were making Seth, Edward and Bella squirm and it was an amazing source of entertainment to watch. She was the same height at Bella now, due to Edward's height and her growth rate Carlisle had estimated she would be around the same height at Aria at 5ft 8. You could see the family similarities now, now that Ness was older she was starting to look more like Bella, and Bella and Aria had the same lip and nose shapes.

The sharp pinging of my alarm sounded, and I rolled over quickly to my bedside table to shut it off. I felt Aria stir beside me, her back arched and her arms went out above her head as she stretched. "Morning, my love." Her voice was quiet but you could hear the smile in it. I rolled back over to meet her as she turned in towards my body, hooking her right leg over my hip as she rested her head against my chest. She hummed to herself happily as she snuggled against me.

I kissed the top of her head. "Morning, baby." She tilted her head back to look at me and opened her eyes. Like always, I expected to take in those vivid pools of blue and gold, today it seemed that wouldn't be happening. "Woah." I breathed out in disbelief, taking in my beautiful wife's face like I was thrown back in time to five years ago.

Aria's face fell into a frown. "What?" She asked warily, moving off of me slightly as she propped herself up on her elbow.

I reached out to caress her cheek, silently telling her not to worry. "Your eyes Ari, they're red again." The gold had melted away and was replaced by a red so vivid it made the blue of her eyes pop.

Over the last week she had been drinking one cup of human blood with every meal that she ate. It was still taking a little getting used to, having one of the draws in our fridge stocked with blood bags, but it was helping her. The bruises were gone, she had her strength back, she wasn't tired all the time, the colour was back in her cheeks, and she had put the weight back on. She was glowing.

From the way her eyes became distant for a moment I could tell she was looking at herself through my eyes. "Wow. They are." She mused, a small smile on her face.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked curiously, my thumb rubbing across her cheek.

"The timing. Do you remember what tomorrow is?" She asked, smirking now.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "It's Bella's 24th birthday?" It came out as a question but I knew it was Bella's birthday. The only reason we still celebrated was because of Charlie.