All Grown Up: The Story of Jacob and Renesmee Part III

5

Renesmee

Right around my youngest boy's birthday, my oldest boy had been the pack's big number two for almost six months. As the alpha's most direct descendant, A.J. was second in command. What would happen in the future was anybody's guess, but any of our younger kids who phased would be third, fourth, and so on. This bumped around some pack member's long-held statuses. It could have easily ruffled a few feathers or some fur in this case, but they are a family. The fact that Anthony was a hard person to dislike, had helped matters I think. All things considered, he'd adjusted to pack life pretty smoothly. Once he'd found the order and reason in things, I think he found it sort of comforting. There were rules to be followed, and he likes rules. Once you know the rules, you know what to expect, and what's expected of you.

He'd only phased by accident a few times, and when he did, he'd managed to calm down enough to change right back pretty quickly.

I'd cut his hair. He'd asked me to just buzz it all off. The fact that our entire family was there to watch just made it even sadder. We even had several audience members watching from Montana, via Skype.

"Mom, you don't have to cut it. I'll just go to a barber," he'd offered, twisting around in his chair in the middle of our kitchen to look at me.

"No, no. I can do it," I insisted, and turned his head back around.

"Hun, it would help if you turned the clippers on," Rebecca pointed out.

"Okay! Thank you peanut gallery," I muttered, finally turning them on. I held the ponytail with my hand to keep it from falling to the floor after it was cut. He wanted to donate his hair to charity, so it would be used to make wigs for children who are being treated for or have survived cancer. That'd been all his idea. He was surely still the sweetheart he'd always been. He was just going to look so different, but he was a man now. I knew how my parents felt now, it just isn't fair to have children who grow so fast.

I went slowly, ignoring anything going on around me, and tried not to think about things like when he was small, the way I'd run my fingers through his soft hair to get him to fall asleep. Instead, I thought of how now, I'd be buzzing his hair every six weeks or so just like I always did for Jake. This was just one more way they were alike now. Seeing so much of Jake in Anthony brought me a real sense of joy.

I got through giving A.J. his first real haircut without crying. After I'd brushed him off and removed the hair cutting cape, everybody applauded. He took a bow and laughed as he thanked all the spectators for coming. He ran his fingers through his short hair and said, "Wow, how weird!"

The one person who didn't look pleased was Xandra. I couldn't figure out why until after a quick movement, Asa put some wadded up bills into his pocket.

Oh Alexandra, ye of such little faith. At least my boy bet on me being able to do it.

That first week or two, Anthony seemed like he felt he had something to make up for. So we'd had to explain to him, that this was not the case. All new wolves have an adjustment period.

"You think Uncle Paul can be an asshole now? You shoulda been around him right before he phased. Yikes. Jared will tell you all about that one," Jake said.

"I don't think Uncle Paul is an asshole," Anthony said, looking confused.

"Okay," Jake conceded. "You were never in a pack with him, but he's had his moments. Also, he isn't imprinted on your sister. We'll see what you think of Seth in about ten years," Jake teased.

"I like Seth though," Anthony said.

"Yeah. He's a good kid," Jake said noncommittally.

Kid?