The suitcase Jessie mentioned was ram-packed, so she clearly wasn’t planning an overnight visit. It had been a good call to suggest bringing her to Holly’s apartment building and getting her set up in Emma’s old room. Jessie said she would have gone looking for a motel next, and when she didn’t find one, that would have been weird. Glen Valley didn’t have motels, hotels, or even B&Bs. Why would they? The residents didn’t go anywhere, and they didn’t encourage tourism for obvious reasons. That was a red flag Emma managed to dodge, at least. 

Caleb had dutifully informed Holly of the plan, so she and her podgy baby boy, Joshua, were waiting for them at the door with a key. 

“And who is this little bundle of squishy-wishy-cute-ness?” Jessie locked onto Holly’s baby, arms out stretched, but Emma wrapped her arms around her friend’s waist to stop her. “But I want to touch the squishy-wishy?” 

“You do not just touch someone’s baby without permission, idiot.” Emma groaned and shot Holly an apology smile. One, it was damn rude to just touch someone’ else’s baby without asking. Two, Emma recalled being around Caleb’s cousin when she’d recently given birth at Portland hospital. To Emma, her midwife, she was happy with her being near her newborn. Everyone else? She would have bitten them if they got too close. Emma didn’t want to find out if touching a werewolf’s baby would result in her friend losing a finger, or three. “She means well.”

“Yeah, she means well.” Jessie parroted, and Holly laughed at her antics. “Can I please touch your adorable little-widdle-baby?” 

“Erm, well?” Holly’s voice inclined awkwardly at the end. It turns out Emma’s instincts were on point. She didn’t want Jessie to touch her son. Especially as he was curled up asleep on her shoulder.

“In one ear, out of the other. Here, take your heavy suitcase and start unpacking.” 

“Sure, I just need to pay for the room.” Jessie opened her clutch purse to retrieve her wallet. “How much do I owe you?”

“That depends on how long you plan on staying?” Holly asked in such a way, it was clear to Emma she’d rehearsed that line. Caleb definitely told her to ask that question. Of course he did. He will need to prepare the pack for how long the black alert will be in place this time. Nice of you to make a damn appearance, bitch. Emma fought hard not to dart her eyes to the right at her spectral wolf as Fido sauntered over to her right side. Where the hell have you been?! Stormfang has more stamina than Caleb. Fido’s answer said it all, as did the cocky chuckle at the end. Are you seriously telling me you two have been boinking this whole time? Do you even know what shit we’re in right now? Of course I do. I-

“Well, I guess I’ll just pay monthly for now?” Everyone’s train of thought crashed and set on fire at Jessie’s giddy answer. “There’s two weeks left of this month, right? I’m happy to pay up front now.” She pulled out a massive wad of cash and spoke to Holly’s baby with a baby voice, though she still spoke to the landlady. “Are the utilities included?”

“Yes, th-they are.” Holly flashed Emma a worried look, but schooled her features in time for Jessie to look up. “Well, it’s $1,500 a month.” Emma raised a brow. That was more than three times the price she paid when she rented this apartment from Holly. Of course she didn’t want to charge you the full price. By the time you moved into this apartment, you were the only midwife the pack had. You were going to become her pack sister. She only charged me some money so I wouldn’t be suspicious. 

“Oooh, I tell you what?” Jessie counted out her bills and then thrust the wad over to Holly. “Here is a month and a half’s rent. That should cover me until December, right? I can always pay you monthly moving forward.” 

“R…right.” Holly accepted the money, adjusted her baby on her hip, and then started to hand the key towards Emma. The redhead saw this move, and ducked behind Jessie to grab the suitcase. 

“Thank you.” Jessie intercepted the key, gave the baby one last look like she wanted to pinch those plump cheeks, and then bid her landlady farewell. “I’m going to order pizza tonight, and I have a friend coming around to join us, but don’t worry. I don’t party in my apartment. I save that for nightclubs. Does Glen Valley have a nightclub?” She transitioned the conversation from Holly to Emma, as she followed her inside the room. 

“E-erm, there’s a Dance Hall?” Emma answered, flashed Holly her best ‘trust me, I’ll sort it’ look, and then shut the door. When she turned around, she found her friend giving the apartment a scathing look. 

“Oh, dear Lord. It’s a skeleton in here. Bare bones.” She walked around and wasn’t impressed with this place. There was a brown sofa, a bed, and a wardrobe with a mirror. It was mostly open plan, with a door to her right for the bedroom, another one for the bathroom, and to her left was a small kitchenette. There wasn’t a table, so she’d have to eat on the sofa, and there wasn’t a TV. The walls were plain cream and the floor was faded pine. She pulled the curtains open and blew her cheeks out. Did Emma really live here? There isn’t a single personal touch in this place. “Did you live at the clinic before you hired the other midwives to help out, or something?” 

“N-no.” Emma said defensively. “I’m just not a knick-knack kind of person.” 

“Unlike your Ma?” Jessie sniggered and dramatically swanned around the apartment. “I’m sure if your Ma lived here, she’d have doilies and crystal ballerinas covering every surface.” 

“Yeah, she would.” Emma laughed and followed Jessie to the bedroom. She leaned her shoulder against the doorframe and watched her unpack. In truth, Ma hasn’t seen this apartment. Other than right after I was turned, and I was pissed off with her. Don’t you have your reconciliation meal with her at Levi’s soon? Fido came to sit by her side and rested her furry, spectral face in the dip of Emma’s waist. Next week. Nice and public so she and Ben aren’t shunned anymore for being on my shit list. Caleb said that the pack isn’t boycotting your mother’s bakery anymore. Good. Jessie hung up her clothes, focusing on her dresses and party outfits first. Next, her heels lined the bottom of the wardrobe, and she looked around and didn’t see a chest of drawers for her folded clothes. With a shrug, she kept them in her suitcase and pushed it under the bed.

“Is there a hair dryer in here?” Jessie went on the hunt into the bathroom, but Emma didn’t hear her. The second her friend was out of sight, Emma turned to look down at Fido. This doesn’t bode well. I saw her unpack her pink tassel dress. That’s her favourite party dress. She never just brings that dress overnight. She has more clothes with her than you own, and you live here. Jessie has never packed light. Fido huffed, and Emma resisted the urge to smile at her wolf’s grumbling. You heard her. She’s planning to stay in Glen Valley for at least a month and a half, and then said she could pay monthly moving forward. Your friend isn’t just passing through. “Like, anywhere? I mean, I didn’t bring one, as I thought the hotel would have one, or you would if I could stay with you. I mean, I could buy a new hair dryer. Is there a store nearby we could hit up?” Emma didn’t answer her, so Jessie walked back out of the bathroom to see her friend with her arms folded and a worried frown on her face. “Erm, Em? Are you okay?” 

Caleb is going to lose his shit. What do we do? I can’t just tell Jessie to leave. I can’t warn her to play nice since she’s surrounded by werewolves. Shit. How do we keep our pack calm about- “Earth to Emma?” Oh shit. Emma turned her head, mildly alarmed that her friend might have just caught her having a telepathic conversation with thin air. “Emma?”

“Yeah?” Jessie narrowed her green eyes on her friend and walked over to her with her hands on her hips. 

“…what did I just say?” The blonde bombshell folded her arms and jutted her hip to one side. Emma chuckled nervously. Shiiiiiit. We were talking and I spaced out. What did Jessie say? No idea. I wasn’t listening to her either. Fuck. “That’s it!” Jessie put her hands up, marched over to her highly strung friend, and held her shoulders. “I have arrived just in time.”

“You have?” 

“You’re doing that in-your-head grumbling you do when you have a problem to deal with, or something’s bugging you. Or you have five things to do and you’re trying to balance them all. I’ve seen it all before, remember?” Jessie tutted at her friend, turned her by her shoulders, and walked her over to the sofa. “It’s just like every year when we had our end-of-year exams.”

“It is?” You finished your exams with Deloris, didn’t you? Yeah, but I’ll totally let Jessie fill in her own blanks if I need to. 

“You had to work long shifts to make rent, find time to study, balance your Ma nagging for you to come home every weekend, and chase after Beth to get an update on her life. When her face wasn’t pressed to a camera or lurking in her dark room.” 

“Yeah. My plate is pretty full at the moment.” That comes with being the Luna. Emma was pushed down to sit on the sofa, and Jessie landed with a bounce beside her.

“Well, girl, I’m here now.” Jessie did a mock bow. “You have more midwives at the clinic to lighten your load. I bet you’ve still been working yourself to the bone, right? With no self-love?” She cupped and pinched at Emma’s face, which made the Luna laugh and halfheartedly try to swat her hands away. “Girl, you have more baggage under these eyes than I brought with me. When was the last time you let your hair down and had some fun?” 

“I have fun.” Emma sank into the sofa and smiled, but Jessie simply smirked at her to silently say ‘oh really?’ “I do.”
“By choice?”

“Well…no.” Emma shrugged, and she had to be honest. “Most of the time, I’d just keep working if Caleb didn’t…you know.” She blushed with a coy smile and recalled him mounting her that morning. 

“Ooooooooh.” Jessie smirked and bounced on the sofa to face Emma. Her right hand drummed on the backrest of the sofa and she grinned like a maniac. “Does Fiance-man make sure that you have your feet in the air as often as possible?” 

“…mm hmm.” She chewed her lips. 

“And?” Jessie snorted. “Come on Em-train? Spill the T. I need deets!” She moved her hands to form an invisible scale. “Mini-weinie? Average banana? Or colossal cucumber?” Emma laughed and pulled a cushion from behind her to smack her friend upside the head with.

“You are a bad, bad woman.” 

“So he porks you often, then?”

“Yes, damn it.” She admitted, and Jessie backhanded the pillow away, only to pounce on her for a big hug. Emma had to admit? She’d missed this. Jessie had this way of unwinding Emma and making her laugh like only a best friend could.

“Excellent. Porking is important, but what about down time? There is more to life than work and dick.” 

“Such as?”

“Like spa days, going to the movies, take out and rom-coms, bottomless brunches, dancing to a sick beat, and, of course, meeeeeee!” Jessie hugged her tighter, and Emma returned the embrace fiercely. 

“Moron.” God, I’ve missed her. Fido regally lowered to her belly in the middle of the living room to watch her keeper and her best friend. Her golden eyes analysed just how happy this woman made Emma. She hadn’t felt such joy in their bond around anyone other than Caleb, but that was a connection only mates shared. Emma liked Venessa, her Second, but their friendship didn’t hold a candle to the inferno of warmth Jessie seemed to bring to Emma’s world. 

“I’m serious.” Jessie laid across the sofa so her head rested on Emma’s lap and her legs overhung the end of the couch. “If I didn’t know you as well as I do, I would have thought you were ghosting me. But I’m here now, and you are in good hands. Mr. Mayor can see to your sex life at will, and he absolutely should, but I’m here to see to your fun-life.” 

“My fun-life?” She snorted, and Jessie winked up at her. 

“Tonight we catch up, drink bubbly, eat pizza, and talk all things wedding-related. Like, yours, and oh! Your Ma’s wedding is coming up, and where the fuck is my invitation?” She pouted cutely and pointed up at Emma. “Honestly. She always assumes I’ll be at your family events, and of course I am, but I want a cute little memento, and the invitation would go wonderfully in my scrapbook, you know?” 

“H-her wedding? You mean her Christmas wedding?”