DISCLAIMER: Here is the beginnings of a sequel to Flightless Bird. I don't know how this will work out but we'll give it a try.
A puzzled look crossed Bella's face at Alice's words. "Your eyes. They started out red and then faded to the beautiful brown they were when you were human." She sent another look at Carlisle asking for an explanation.
"I don't know why, Bella," Carlisle began, correctly interpreting the young woman's question. "Maybe that's your talent. The ability to change your appearance to allow you to blend in completely. We'll have to wait and see."
Bella put a hand to her throat, indicating that she could feel the burning sensation in her throat. "You're thirsty, darlin'. We'll need to take you for a hunt."
She looked up at Jasper with sorrow in her eyes. She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Carlisle bent down into her line of sight. "There is no guarantee that you'll be able to speak again. The change usually cures all physical defects. But there is the possibility that the change couldn't fix the problem soon enough. It may just take a little more time."
"But what about with Esme? The change healed all of her injuries."
"This is something a little more severe than broken bones, Alice. And the injury has been evident for almost a year now. I don't know what kind of effect that would have on the change. As I said, it's possible that the change will still fix her larynx. It may just take a little more time. We'll have to just wait and see."
'I hate waiting.' Bella was pouting and Jasper chuckled. The sound vibrated deep in his chest. Bella felt a shudder go through her at the thought of what the two of them could do now.
"Bella, are you alright, darlin'?" Jasper asked. The vibrations of his voice continued to send strange feelings through the newborn in his arms.
Jasper decided that the best thing he could do is turn her over to someone else for her first hunt. It wouldn't be right for him to go when all he wanted to do was lay her down and have his way with her. His lust raged through his body and he noticed that the others were all twitching as well. He quickly tamped down the emotion and looked up at the rest of his family apologetically. "Sorry."
Alice knelt down beside them. "Bella, can I take you for your first hunt?" The hope in her eyes shot straight to Bella's heart and she knew that she couldn't tell her best friend no. There would be plenty of time for her and Jasper to be together after her thirst was slaked. She nodded. Alice squealed with glee.
Jasper helped her to her feet and she stretched up to kiss him. Lips met and parted. She threaded her hands through his tousled blond locks and pulled as if to bring him closer.
Carlisle flinched a little and cleared his throat. The two of them broke apart. Bella looked more than a little embarrassed. 'Sorry.'
"We're both sorry, Carlisle. I guess that blood-lust isn't the only hunger that we have to deal with now." Jasper smiled apologetically at his family before turning to Bella. "Go with Alice now, darlin'. I'll take care of the other later. I promise."
Edward cringed at the thought that flashed through Jasper's mind. It was pretty graphic.
Jasper noticed the move out of the corner of his eye. He looked at Edward as he urged Bella to follow Alice. Esme and Rose decided that this was a situation where they wouldn't be needed and thought they could go with Alice and Bella for the first hunt.
"Rose, where you going, baby?"
"I think the testosterone is going to be getting a little deep around here in a moment or two. It would be a good idea if we left now."
Emmett nodded sadly and watched his mate walk away. But he figured he'd better stay in order to make sure that neither of his brothers killed the other. He had noticed the look that had crossed Edward's face when Jasper made his promise.
"Did you have to picture that?" Edward hissed.
"Edward, I can't always control the thoughts that run through my head. It's not as easy as you make it sound. I've been wanting Bella since the night of her birthday ten years ago. I just stayed away because I thought that Carlisle was right. We owed it to you to do as you had asked. And everyone made their disappointment in me crystal clear. Most everyone probably thought that I had lost control of the blood-lust. Everyone but Bella."
Edward sighed. "I know what happened that night. You suffered from the blood-lust that I felt. She was my singer, Jasper. I finally found out why I was much more drawn to her blood than the rest of you. I wish I could have stifled it. On top of everything else, you had to suffer from my blood-lust. It spiked the moment that first drop of blood welled to the surface. I'm so sorry that I did that to you. I know that you would have never lost it like that if I hadn't been fighting the urge to drain her myself."
"I know. But, Edward, do me a favor? Stop trying to control her. She's not yours anymore. You walked away from her ten years ago and look at what happened. We almost lost her because of that."
"You think I don't kick myself every single day for that? Jasper, I feel guilty every time I look at her. And it hurts to know that I'm the reason she can't talk now. That it might as well have been me that put those marks on her." He hung his head. "I want to be her friend but I'm still not sure that she's safe around me. It doesn't matter who she's with, she's still my singer. I'm terrified that she'll never be safe around me."
"Edward, she isn't your singer anymore. She's one of us. Not human. She's safe now. Safer than she ever could have been as a human." Jasper chuckled. "Especially considering the fact that she lacked any sense of self-preservation at all."
Edward couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered how she had been. Never afraid of anything the family had thrown at her. She hadn't even been afraid of the vampire that wanted to kill her. She had walked right into James' trap. It wasn't easy for him to sit in that hospital room and watch her suffer through the healing process. But now, yes, now she was safe.
And for her first year as one of them she would be stronger than even Emmett. It would be interesting to watch.
"How about this, Jasper? I will try to remember that she isn't my singer anymore. I will even try to keep in mind that she is your mate and not mine. But in exchange can you try to remember that I can't always turn off my gift and try to control your thoughts of what you would like to do with Bella?"
The two laughed and shook on the deal. Then, talk turned to other topics such as how to teach Bella about her new life.
As the four vampire women ran nimbly through the forest, Bella stayed out in front just enough to know that she was ahead and yet close enough to know that, should something go wrong, the other three could move quickly to intercept.
Esme, Rose and Alice were surprised at the amount of control Bella displayed for being a newborn. Jasper had told them how unpredictable newborns usually were and how volatile their tempers.
But Bella, as always broke all the rules. She was calm and collected. She ran as if she knew exactly what she was looking for as a meal.
As she ran she felt herself tremble with the thought of what Jasper may have had in mind when he promised to take care of her other problem when she got back. 'How are we going to do anything like that after what Mike did to me? Am I going to be able to be with Jasper like that? I mean, I want to be. I want to be a true mate to him now that I'm free of Mike and a vampire. I know that he'll be gentle. I just don't know how it's going to happen for us.'
"Bella, dear, how far do you plan on running for your first hunt?" Esme called after about twenty minutes of running full-tilt.
Bella stopped running and signed to Esme, "I want something specific." She stared up at the large cat laying on a branch in the tree directly above them. 'Hello, kitty.' And with that she leapt straight into the air all the way to the branch holding the obviously well-fed mountain lion.
With all the grace she now possessed, Bella snapped the cat's neck before settling on the branch to drain it dry before dropping it to the ground. She followed it and buried the remains.
'I'm ready to go home now.' She started back toward the house as soon as she finished signing.
Once they had arrived back at the house, Bella noticed Jasper standing in the yard with his shirt off. She noticed the scars and slowed down. Her instincts were screaming that this vampire was dangerous to which her mind was stating that this was Jasper and he would never hurt her.
Uncertain of how exactly to react to him, Bella walked up to him slowly, as if she were waiting for his reaction to her move. She held out one hand and gently traced one of his scars. Looking up into his eyes, she signed to him. 'Who did this to you? And why? Did you kill them for this?'
"It was a long time ago, Bella. They were newborns who didn't know any better. And yes. Some of them were killed for this. They served as examples to the others that I was training."
'I wish I could have killed them for you.' The words meant so much to Jasper that, if he could have, he would have cried.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. He couldn't seem to bring her close enough. He sighed, grateful that she wasn't afraid of him. Of his scars.
He pulled back for a moment. "Take a walk with me, darlin'?" She nodded, a smile creeping across her face. He smiled down at her and turned to Carlisle. "I don't know when we'll be back. We have a lot to talk about."
"I understand, Jasper. We'll be at the house when you get back." Carlisle was glad to see Jasper so calm and confident. It was as if he was a whole new person now that Bella was one of them.
Although no one was certain what to make of Edward and the fact that he seemed rather upset by the fact that Bella had been turned. He acted as if she were still in danger around them even though now, she was probably the safest of them all.
Jasper and Bella walked off into the forest, perfectly content in just holding each other's hands.
"Well, let's get back to the house and see if we can't get things set up for when the two of them get back. I don't want Bella to come back right in the middle of us cleaning up the house," Esme started, shooing everyone else in the direction of the house. "We have a lot of work to do.
"That we do, Esme. That we do." He turned around and looked at Edward who was staring off into the woods in the direction that Jasper and Bella went. "Come on, Edward. You can help us clean up the house after all the damage. We could use every pair of hands to be ready when Bella and Jasper come home."
Edward turned and sullenly followed the others back to the house to begin the clean up.