Rebecca tossed and turned all night. She didn't fall asleep until it was nearly dawn and then her dreams were full of passion, love and Charles's strong hands touching her the way she had never allowed any other man to touch her.

Charles had slept peacefully that night for the first time in longer then he could remember. He dreamed of his family. He dreamed of Rebecca. He dreamed of her welcoming him into her loving arms. He dreamed of him simply allowing her love to wash over him and letting his love wash over her at the same time. God he was a fool to ever believe he didn't need her. To hell with love making someone weak. Having that beautiful woman in his arms was worth any price.

He was awoken by the sound of a door slamming and his granddaughter Kaylee's angry shouts.

"He only does this to piss me off!" she screamed.

"He loves you, Kaylee. He worries about you." Raquel said back her voice sounding tired and exasperated.

"He doesn't love me! If he loved me he would let me wear whatever I wanted!"

"I don't care how pissed off you are, Kaylee! You are not wearing pants that tight or a shirt that shows off your damn belly button! You are only fourteen!" Evans voice entered the conversation.

"Aunt Bethany helped me pick this outfit out at the store." Kaylee said.

"Your Aunt Bethany doesn't believe in buying any outfit that uses more than one yard of fabric! She is not who you need to be modeling your wardrobe after." Evan said.

"How in the hell did I get brought into this conversation?" Bethany shouted angrily. "The girl looks fine, Evan! Let her wear what she wants"

"Stay the hell out of this, Bethany." Evan shouted back.

"See dad she thinks I look fine!" Kaylee argued.

"Yea and she also thinks the playboy bunnies dress like nuns!" he shot back. Charles rubbed his face and walked over to the door. He glanced out in the hall and saw everyone standing down at the end of the hall in their heated argument.

"Change your clothes, Kaylee." Raquel said. Kaylee screeched loudly.

"I hate this! I can't wait til I turn 18 and then I can dress however I want!" she said stomping her foot. Just then Jake came bursting out of his room in nothing but a pair of sweatpants. His hair was a mess and he was scratching his head sleepily.

"Is there a reason that I have to be woken up by you all fucking screaming every morning!" he demanded. Angela walked out behind him though she was dressed and wide awake.

"Jake, this doesn't concern you...." Raquel started.

"The hell it doesn't! It concerns me when it wakes me up every damn morning! If we're not arguing over pink sweaters then it's a holey pair of blue jeans or the perfect t-shirt! I can remember a day when a woman had one damn dress that she wore everyday and half the time it was made out of a damn potato sack! This is ridiculous!" he said. Angela laid her hand on his shoulder.

"You're showing your age, my love." she said trying to hold back her smile. Jake rubbed his hands over his face and then looked down at her.

"Laney, better not ever act like that." he said pointing to Kaylee who was storming back up to the stairs to the third floor where her room was.

"Oh yea you're such a better parent than we are!" Raquel said as she too stormed past Jake and went down toward the living room with Evan on her heels.

"I didn't mean it like that." Jake said. Bethany patted him on the shoulder.

"Least now they aren't worried about my slutty clothes." she said and then walked on down the stairs.

"Ok this is a bad morning." Jake said. Angela rubbed her fingers down his bare back.

"Laney is downstairs watching Lane and Kayleb play video games and we have thirty minutes until I have to take her to school. How about you come back to bed and I'll see if I can make it better?" she said. Jake's eyes flashed and he growled low in his throat. He didn't say a word just took her by the arm and led her back into the room closing the door behind them.

"See what you've been missing all these years?" Rebecca asked startling Charles as she walked up behind him. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Is it always like this?" he asked. She smiled as she pulled her robe tighter around herself.

"Most of the time." she said. "Someone is almost always yelling or fighting about something. And Jake and Angela are always locking themselves up in their room. I'm just counting down the days until Laney gets a baby sister or brother."

Charles looked at her. He had forgotten how beautiful she looked in the mornings. No make up. Her hair a mess of wavy auburn curls.

"I wanted to talk to you..." he started but was interrupted when Jordan yelled up the stairs.

"Mom! I need your help! Kayleb wants gravy before school but he only likes it when you make it!" she said. Rebecca closed her eyes cursing the interruption.

"We'll talk later." she said and then walked away. Charles was thankful that Jordan had called her away. He had been about to beg Rebecca to take him back and he still wasn't sure that he wanted to stay. He didn't know if he could give up hunting and it was obvious to him that he couldn't have both. He couldn't have his family and his hunting.

Charles dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and walked down to the living room. Lane, Joey, Laney and Kayleb were all crowded on the couch and Lane and Kayleb were playing a video game. Charles saw that it was something based on world war II.

"So, Lane, you were too chicken to actually serve in a war but you'll play games about them now huh?" he asked as he sat down in the recliner chair. Joey looked at Lane and saw a muscle twitch in his jaw but he smiled.

"If I remember correctly you stayed out of this war too." he said. Charles nodded and said nothing else. Instead he watched the game. Then he felt little hands on his legs.

"Hi, grandpa Charles. Can I sit with you?" Laney asked. Charles looked over at Joey, Lane and Kayleb but they were staring at the television. He nodded and helped his granddaughter into his lap.

Charles felt it then. The first new pure love his heart had felt in centuries and this little, chubby, black haired, golden eyed girl had pulled it out him.

"Today is the last day of school before Christmas Break! I am excited to put up a Christmas tree. You'll be here won't you, grandpa Charles?" she asked. Charles couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. He couldn't remember the last time he had smiled.

"I don't know, sweetheart."

"I wish you would stay. Daddy always helps me put the angel on top of the tree but maybe this year you could help me since it'll be your first time." she said. Charles couldn't seem to form words. He just smiled and nodded.

"Kayleb, it's time to go." Kaylee said walking up behind her brother and slapping him on the head. Kayleb threw his controller down and jumped over the couch grabbing her and messing up her hair.

"You jerk! Now I have to go back up and do my hair again!" she shrieked.

"Nope don't think so." Jordan said walking in and grabbing both of them by the arm. "It's time to go." she said. Charles could hear Kaylee carrying on about her hair until they were in the car and driving away.

"Laney, it's time to go." Angela said walking into the living room with Jake behind her. Charles looked up at them. Angela's face was still flushed from lovemaking and he could smell both of their scents mingled together. Jake had a happy smile on his face and Charles was surprised by how happy that sight made him.

But Jakes smile quickly disappeared when he saw Laney sitting on Charles's lap.

"Laney, come here and give daddy some kisses before you go." he said. Laney jumped down off Charles's lap and ran to Jake who was down on one knee. She jumped into his open arms and he hugged her tightly.

"I love you daddies girl. You have a good day and you make sure you be good. Daddy can't come this morning. I have to go to California today and take care of some things." he said.

"It's ok daddy. I love you." she said kissing him. He let go of her and stood back up and she ran around to Lane and Joey.

"I love you uncle Lane. Love you aunt Joey."

"Love you too." Joey said.

"Don't listen to your daddy. If you're too good your teacher will get bored."

"Ok uncle Lane." she said happily. Then she looked back over at Charles and seemed to think hard for a moment.

"Mommy?" she said her little voice sounding nervous.

"What baby?"

"Can grandpa Charles take me to school today?" she asked. Charles's eyes widened and Angela stared at him unsure of what she should say.

"Uh, Laney, I think your mommy might be upset if she doesn't get to drop you off." Charles said. Laney stuck out her bottom lip in a master pout.

"Pleeeeeaaaaase?" she pleaded. Charles had faced every sort of were creature, vamp, demon and sub demon but never before had he faced anyone that seemed so powerful as this little girl standing in front of him with her lip stuck out and her eyes begging. He looked at her and realized he'd never felt so weak.

"How about your grandpa Charles comes with you and mommy?" Angela offered. Laney's eyes lit up but Jake wasn't quite so happy.

"What?" he demanded. Angela laid a hand on his arm comfortingly.

"It'll be fine. Laney wants to spend some time with her grandpa." she said. Charles looked at Angela feeling like maybe he had been wrong about her. Maybe she wasn't just Jake's bitch. She really seemed like she might be decent. For a mortal born woman.

"What do you think Charles?" Angela asked. Charles was stuck between a rock and a really hard pissed off Jake. On one hand if he said yes he would be risking an ass kicking from his oldest son but on the other hand if he said no then he would break this little girls heart. The second choice was not an option. He stood up.

"Let's go." he said feeling awkward. Angela and Laney both smiled warmly at him and went out the door. Lane and Jake both stood in front of Charles blocking his way.

(If you do anything to hurt my mate or my child I will kill you. I don't give a damn if you are my father.) Jake said so Charles and Lane could hear. Lane nodded.

(Angela and Laney mean as much to me as they do to Jake. Don't you dare lay a finger on either one of them or... uh... Jake will kill you.) he said. Jake glanced at his brother who shrugged at him. (You know I would try but he'd kick my ass before I ever got close. So you would end up being the one to actually kill him.) Charles shook his head and frowned at them both.

(I might not have always been a good father or mate but I wont' harm your mate Jake. Or my granddaughter.) He shoved past them both and walked out to join Angela and Laney. Angela had that old chevy truck pulled out of the garage and they were sitting in it waiting on him.

"This is yours?" Charles asked after he climbed in the passenger seat. Angela started down the driveway and smiled.

"It was my dads. It was his pride and joy but Evan and Jake call it their personal... well you know." she said looking at Laney. Charles nodded.

"Why doesn't my daddy like you?" Laney asked looking over at her grandpa. Charles stared at her and Angela nearly choked on her shock.

"Laney, you are not supposed to ask questions like that!" she scolded. Laney frowned and looked out the windshield. An awkward silence fell over the truck.

"So what business did Jake have to take care of in California?" Charles asked.

"He made some investments out there a few years ago in some wineries. He wanted to go out and check on them."

"Why does he make investments? I had enough money set aside that he shouldn't have had to worry about working... For that matter why do any of them work?" Charles asked.

"Jake, has his personal reasons for not wanting to use your money unless he has to. As far as everybody else working I guess they do it because it gives them something to do everyday." Silence fell over the truck again.

"Grandpa Charles will you pick me up from school today too?" Laney asked. Charles was saved from answering by Angela.

"Actually, baby girl, I think uncle Lane and aunt Joey were going to pick you up today and take you Christmas shopping." Laney bounced up and down excitedly.

"Oh yea I forgot!" she said. "They said they would let me buy something for everybody! Of course now I have to make sure I get something for you grandpa Charles. What do you want?" she asked. Charles stuttered a few times unable to think of what to say.

"Don't' worry grandpa I'll find you something nice." Angela pulled the truck in front of the school. Charles opened the door and stepped out and help Laney jump down.

"Have a good day, baby girl. Mommy loves you." Angela called. Laney waved happily at her and then wrapped her arms around Charles's waist in a tight hug. Charles hadn't been hugged in centuries.... Just this simple show of affection had him wanting to drop to his knees and beg for forgiveness for his stupidity over the last two and half centuries.

He awkwardly reached down and patted the back of her head.

"Have a good day." he said finding that his throat seemed to be clogged.

"See you tonight." she said and then ran happily up to the school. Charles watched her until he could no longer see her. Angela waited on him patiently. He finally turned around and climbed back in the truck.

"Charles I think the two of us got off on the wrong foot five years ago." Angela said as she started the truck and pulled out. "Why don't we go out to breakfast and we can talk?" Charles looked over at her and suddenly understood what Jake saw in her. She was kind and gentle and sweet. Of course Charles remembered her temper from five years before but she seemed to be a good woman. He just hated that Jake got mated with someone who seemed so weak.

"Sure breakfast sounds good. I'm starving." Charles said. Angela nodded. Silence fellover them and neither spoke again until they were sitting in the booth at the restaurant and waiting on their food.

"Angela, how did you and my son meet?" Charles asked. He was suddenly eager to hear all he could about his oldest son. Angela smiled.

"It's a long story..." she said. He looked around.

"I'm not in a hurry." he replied. Angela told him all about Jake pretending to be a dog in order to be close to her and then finally coming to her rescue against Tyler and Abigail at the bookstore. Charles tilted his head and looked at her. The Jake he remembered would never have sunk to that level for a woman.. But then again the pull of a mate was strong and could bring even the strongest immortal to their knees...

"You said that truck was your dads. Did he die?" Charles asked. He had never been good at sensoring the questions he asked. He always just got to the point. Angela took a drink of her coffee and looked out the window at the quiet street of the small town.

"Yes. About six years ago." she said softly. He could see the sadness on her face. At first he saw her sadness as weakness but then he remembered his tear from the night before. Maybe he shouldn't judge her too quickly.

"What about your mother?" Charles saw her sadness replaced with anger. Her dark eyes flashed as she turned to look at him.

"She's dead too." she said. Charles nodded and took a drink of his own coffee.

"What happened to them?" he asked. For a moment Angela didn't want to answer. Who was Charles to think he could just dig into her life? But then she realized that since he was Jake's father she shared blood with this man. In a sense he was her father now.

"My mom was a pill head. An addict. Greedy, deceitful and horribly judgmental. My daddy he was a great man. I loved him so." Angela took a moment to fight back her tears at the thought of her father.

"After Jake and I fully mated I decided I wanted my father to come for a visit. He of course brought my mother with him. Turns out she was working with my ex Tyler. He had figured out what Jake was because Jake had started to turn in front of him once with every intention of killing him....." Charles interrupted her.

"Why would Jake do that?" he asked.

"He has a bad temper. And he's very very protective of me. Tyler kept pushing his buttons and finally sent him over the edge when he insulted me one too many times." Charles nodded. He understood completely. He had been ready to kill who had caused his Rebecca pain just the day before only to realize that he had been the one to cause the pain.

"Anyway Tyler convinced my mother to get me out in the woods without Jake and he would pay her a lot of money. We went out to pick flowers and Tyler wasn't there but a young vamp named Devon was and so were five sub demons. The subs grabbed me and put me to sleep with some kind of sedative but the vamp killed my mother."

"She deserved it. No one should ever betray their family in that way." Charles said matter-of-factly. Angela nodded.

"My father said pretty much the same thing. He said that if the vamp hadn't killed her he would have." Charles didn't reply to this just took another drink of coffee.

"How did you get away from the sub demons?" Charles asked.

"They took me back to new york to a basement where Tyler was waiting. Turns out he'd made an elaborate plan to lure Jake there and then capture him and torture both of us for making a fool out of him. He had my friend Abigail chained there as well and he had Lane locked in a cage."

"Lane?" Charles felt anger at the thought of his carefree youngest son locked up. Angela nodded.

"He'd been there for weeks. Anyways Tyler had officially gone off the deep end. He killed Abigail so that he could hear me beg for her life. I guess he thought that would break me. So when I nearly bit his finger off it shocked him a bit."

"You did what?" Charles asked. That didn't sound like a mortal born woman. Mortal born women didn't fight back when times got tough. They broke.

"He was touching me. I wanted him to stop. Anyway he had thirty subs and that vamp working for him. Jake came and killed them all within minutes." she said and he could hear her pride in her mate. "But then Tyler shot him once in the chest with some new kind of bullet. It was a melted silver capsule and it paralyzed Jake. He fell to the floor unable to move but still conscious."

"Did Lane break free and save you then?" Angela shook her head.

"No. Tyler untied me. He planned on raping me to torture Jake. He was shocked when I started coming onto him. He sat his gun down and that was the last mistake that bastard ever had a chance to make. I picked it up and emptied the damn clip in his chest. I got the key to Lanes' cage from his pocket and let him out and then Lane took us all back to the house." Charles had true shock in his eyes.

"Maybe I was wrong about you...." he said. Angela chuckled and then the waitress brought their plates to them.

"What about your father? What happened to him?" Charles asked eager to hear more about this woman sitting across from him.

"That happened about a month later. My father had gone back to his home in Kentucky. When I found out that I was pregnant with Laney, Jake and I went to go and tell him in person. When we got there we found that my father was dead after having a meeting with a were tiger that you know actually."

"Who?" Charles asked.

"Draco. Turns out you and Jake killed his pregnant mate so he lived on without her and planned his revenge." Angela was sure she saw Charles gag slightly.

"She was pregnant?" he asked. He wondered why he hadn't noticed. Charles was not a good man but he was not an evil one either and he would never have killed a baby if he'd known. Angela laid her hand over his comfortingly and he was surprised when he didn't feel the urge to pull his hand away.

"Jake had the same reaction. But yes she was. There was a vamp named Vladimir. Old vamp nearly a thousand years old. He helped Draco and together they managed to capture Jake. Lane had taken me and hidden me out to keep me safe. We didn't realize Jake had been captured but once we figured it out we went to rescue him of course.

"Draco met us outside and Lane fought him. I was scared to death that Lane was going to die and even though he was telling me to run away I couldn't just run and let him die so I found a silver arrow lying next to the building. Turns out it was one that Vladimir had sent into my mates chest. I picked it up and ran at Draco shoving it through his brain. He died of course. That's about the time Jake ran out. He had escaped from his cage and killed Vladimir."

"You're not weak at all are you?" Charles asked. Angela wasn't sure what to say.

"I won't back down from a fight if that's what you're asking. Of course it helps when I know that a 263 year old werewolf with rock hard muscles and a talent for violence has my back."

"I should have known you were brave. I saw you jump into the fight between Lane and Joseph in order to find the key to save your daughter. You could have died doing that." he said.

"Yes but my daughter would have died for sure if I hadn't." she replied.

"When you all showed up that day you told Joseph that you had killed his brother. I thought you were lying then but now I'm not so sure." Angela laughed.

"No I really did kill him. I found him and Joey at the motel. He was saying that he was going to kill her and that he had my daughter and Rebecca locked up. That didn't sit well with me. Jake is slightly overprotective and a little paranoid when it comes to my safety so I always keep a revolver full of silver bullets and a wooden stake in my purse along with silver knives in my shoes." Charles eyed her purse and she smiled.

"Yes even today." she said. He nodded his eyes looking proud. She wondered if he realized how many of his emotions he gave away in his eyes.

"How did you do it? He was a big werewolf."

"Six silver bullets to the back and chest. A silver knife through his heart and another silver knife to cut his head almost completely off." Charles looked at her with disbelief. "I know that cutting his head off was probably overkill but Jake always taught me it was better to be safe than sorry. Plus the guy pissed me off because he just assumed I was weak."

"I'm afraid I assumed the same thing. I was wrong." Charles said. Angela knew that if he was like Jake he didn't admit to being wrong very often.

"So far this conversation has been all about me." Angela said taking a bite of her omelet. "Care if I turn it to you?" She could see the uncertainty in his eyes. She knew he was thinking about refusing.. Maybe he even wanted to dash away. She smiled.

"Come on now Charles. You're supposed to be a brave warrior. Surely you're not afraid of a few questions from a weak mortal born woman." Charles felt the smile pulling on his lips. Two smiles in one day. All because of Jakes two special women.

"You are not weak but I am not afraid of anything. Ask away." he said.

"I don't think you're a bad man." she said. "I am not sure why you acted the way you did five years ago but I'm sure it had something to do with spending twenty one years in a cage. I'm not sure why you have acted the way you have with your family for centuries and I'm not going to ask you what your reasons are. I'm sure that you have them and that to you they seem valid. What I will ask you is are you here to stay or are you going to walk out on all of them again?" Charles was taken aback by her question. He didn't know how to answer because he wasn't sure what the answer was.

"I'm not sure." he said. She sat her fork down.

"Well that's just not good enough." she said. "Rebecca needs you. I don't think that you are the cold, indifferent man that you've been acting like all these years. I see a difference in your eyes and your face when you look at your family. You want to love them." Charles rubbed his hand over his bearded face and the look he gave her reminded her so much of Jake she nearly laughed.

"You're stubborn aren't you?" he asked her. She nodded.

"Very."

"I'm not going to tell you what happened to make me this way. Lets just say I came to the conclusion a long time ago that love makes people weak. I never wanted to see my Rebecca that weak so I did everything I could to make sure she didn't love me anymore."

"I don't believe you. I don't believe that you were only worried about Rebecca. You were worried about yourself. You shut your heart down to your family in order to save yourself the pain if something happened to them."

"Strong, stubborn and wise. I see why my oldest son loves you. You are a lot like him." Angela smiled proudly.

"I will take that as a compliment. Thank you."

"You should take it as a compliment. I meant it as one."

"I hope that you decide to stay. My daughter likes you, Rebecca loves you and your children need you."

"I like your daughter. I realize now that I still love Rebecca. But my children don't' need me. They don't want me around." Charles said sadly.

"I can't speak for any of the girls but I know Lane and Jake both inside out. And I know that they need you. Lane wants your approval and your love. Jake just wants you to be a father. He wants to feel like a son."

"Jake, is the one that I am sure without a doubt wants to see me leave. Jake hates me." Charles said. Angela was surprised at the way Charles was opening up to her but she was going to take advantage of it.

"He doesn't hate you, Charles. He just doesn't like what you represent about his past. He is not proud of some of the things that the two of you did together. He is not proud of the man he was for a long time. I think that he looks at you and is reminded of all he's not proud of and he worries that you will try to pull him back into that world and he does not want to go there."

Charles just sat there staring down into his coffee for a long time. He was a monster. He had turned his son into a man that his son was ashamed that he had been. But now Jake had Angela and he had Laney. He seemed to have a good relationship with his mother and siblings. He laughed and he smiled and didn't always seem to be on edge like Charles remembered.

Did Charles want to bring Jake back down to the man he used to be... No definitely not. He liked seeing Jake happy. But what did Charles want from his own life? Was he ready to give up the kill or be killed life he'd been living?

He looked over at Angela who was looking out the window. She didn't know him as anything other than a bad father and mate and yet here she sat and it was almost like she had faith in him. He thought about his Rebecca. She had always had faith in him as well. She had never given up on him until she had forced him from the home five years ago. He thought about her soft body and those blue eyes. He couldn't remember what if felt like to kiss those lips or to run his fingers through those soft auburn waves.... God he was a fool.

Charles had not ever considered a life without hunting. Not when his hunting had been to save mortals and not even as his hunting had turned into more of a cold blooded sport with the bloodlust to kill. So why now was he wondering what it would be like to just stay with his family. To watch Laney grow up into a beautiful woman like her mother? To listen to Jake yelling and cussing every morning because Kaylee was having some sort of tantrum.

To listen to Lane's dumb jokes and wisecracks and allow himself to laugh. To finally tell his daughters how much he truly did love them and how proud he had been the day each of them had been born. Angela could tell that he was lost in thoughts so she just let him think.

She rose from the booth and he looked at her questioningly.

"Where are you going?" he asked. She smiled.

"I promised Rebecca that I would help her get all the Christmas decorations up around the house today. Do you want to come with me?" Charles shook his head.

"I'm going to stay in town for a while. I'll be home later," he said. Angela nodded and walked away. She wondered if he realized he'd just called his families house his home.