I own nothing Twilight related, I just like to play with them a bit.

Thank you to my beautiful, wonderful, amazing preareaders, Frankielynn and Twaggie, and beta's AJasperforMe and Britt01. Thank you for fixing all my dumb mistakes and dealing with my freak outs. You ladies are the best!

Previously:

Rosalie grabbed the keys from Jasper, knowing he wouldn't be in a good state to drive. They walked to the front door together. Rosalie pulled it open and started walking out the door…

"Wait!"

Chapter 4: Explanations

Jasper froze at the sound of Carlisle's voice. He wanted to stop; he wanted to wait, but he wouldn't stay if his parents weren't going to accept him. He looked between his girls, hoping they would be willing to wait. Bella had an expectant smile, and Rosalie looked guarded, but he could see the hope behind them as well.

They listened to the hushed voices coming from the dining room. Rosalie shut the door quietly, leaning back against it. She prayed silently for Jasper, hoping he would not have to go through what she had with her parents.

Carlisle and Esme's voices grew over the hum of whispers. They were still unintelligible, though they could hear the conversation become heated.

Bella walked over to Jasper, who had sat down on the entryway bench. He was hiding his face in his hands. Kneeling down in front of him, she pried his hands away and looked deeply into his eyes.

"We will get through this. They will accept us, and we will be a family. Ok?" She watched his hazel eyes go from torment to love. "I love you. No matter what happens, we are in this together."

Jasper nodded and kissed her lips lightly. Rose walked over, and Jasper grabbed her around the waist. He pulled her in for a quick kiss as well before putting their foreheads together. They were a unit. Together they could weather any storm thrown at them.

"Guys?" It took a moment before Jasper pulled his face away from his loves and looked over at his aunt. "They want to talk to you three." Jasper stood and helped Bella to her feet. They walked toward the dining room together, hands clasped tightly in each other's.

Carlisle was standing at the table with a stern look pointed toward Harlon and Stella, who both looked slightly embarrassed.

"Why don't you kids sit down?" Carlisle told them without turning his gaze away.

Everyone sat down in the chairs surrounding the table. Esme and Carlisle decided to flank Harlon and Stella, leaving Bella, Jasper, and Rosalie to sit at the opposite end.

"Now, before you three run off again, I think we need to sit down and all calmly talk some things through. Jasper, your parents have some questions."

There was silence throughout the room. The only sounds that could be heard were the rustling of fabric and the creaking of chairs as people shifted in their discomfort.

"Ok, I'll start," Esme said, breaking the silence. "I know most of this information already, but just so we can inform your parents, why don't you tell them how and when you three got together?"

Bella looked over at Jasper and Rosalie. She noticed Jasper was staring at his parents' faces with a guarded look; he didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation around him at all. Rosalie, who Bella knew was not comfortable being open with people she didn't know very well, was avoiding eye contact and ignoring everyone.

Bella turned back to the group in front of her and took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, Rose and I met when I moved to Forks, WA, when we were freshman. We didn't actually start our relationship until we were seniors, though."

Bella took a moment to collect her thoughts. She had known they were going to have to go through this, and they would have to do it again with her own mother, but she was especially nervous because of Harlon and Stella's initial reaction. "Um...Rose and I went to college at UW; we were supposed to get a suite to ourselves, but there ended up being a third person, who just happened to be Jasper." Bella felt a hand slide onto her leg and looked over at Jasper. His eyes were still trained on his parents, but with a quick squeeze of her knee, she knew Jasper was showing her his appreciation for taking the lead on this.

She laid her hand on his, linking their fingers and squeezing tightly. "Basically we all just got to know one another, and Rose and I both felt attracted to him. We talked about it with each other, wondering what we should do about it. Neither of us knew how Jazz felt, so we just kinda let it go until Thanksgiving that first year. He didn't have anywhere to go that weekend, but we were going to stay in Rosalie's father's apartment for the long weekend, and go up to my dad's for Thanksgiving Day. That first day at the apartment, we talked things over and decided we wanted to try to be together."

"So, wait," Stella spoke for the first time since Jasper broke the news. "You have been together since Thanksgiving of 2001? You have been together for almost three years? And in those three years, you have not thought to tell us that you were in a very serious, committed relationship?" She was looking into Jasper's eyes with an expression of confusion and hurt.

When Jasper didn't speak, Rosalie took over. "What Bella didn't want to tell you, or rather what she hadn't gotten to, was that one weekend when we were staying in the apartment, my father walked in on Bella and I kissing and got angry. Jasper wasn't even there; he had run out to grab something. I don't even remember what, but anyway, my father threw us out and cut me off completely, telling my mother to do the same. So I have basically been orphaned for a few months now, it didn't happen that long ago. We were nervous about everyone's reactions. I knew how my parents were going to react, but we didn't know how you would."

Everyone was looking at Rosalie now. Jasper put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, while Bella reached over to grab her hand, pulling it up to kiss her palm quickly. Stella and Esme both had tears in their eyes, while Harlon looked guilty.

"I'm sorry I have to ask this, but how are you affording this new apartment then?"

Jasper's head snapped to his father; he saw red. He knew his father was insinuating his girls were only after his money, and he wouldn't let his father talk to his girls that way.

"They are not living off of me and my money. I know you think everyone just wants a hand-out, and all they see in me is my money, but you are wrong. Bella is going to be an editor when she graduates. She works in the library and gets help from both of her parents for her financial needs. And Rose-" he continued but was cut off.

"I have a nice little trust fund from my grandparents my parents can't touch. I am doing fine. Plus as soon as I graduate, I am going to open my own garage. I don't need your son's money. I don't even know how much money he has." Rosalie's voice had risen as her anger grew. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "And Bella…Bella fights hard when you even attempt to buy her a cup of coffee. She hates when we spend money on her." Rose wouldn't stand by while Harlon was accusing Bella and her of going after Jasper for his money, and she definitely wouldn't let him think poorly of Bella because she didn't come from money.

Jasper started laughing quietly, a brilliant smile breaking out on his face. He pulled Bella from her chair and into his lap, wrapping his arms around her. Bella put her arm behind his neck, her hand playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

Rosalie looked at them lovingly before speaking softly. "Do you remember two Christmases ago? When we tried to buy her that new phone? Her old phone was falling apart, and the battery cover was duct taped on. She unwrapped the box, looked at it for a minute, then got up and put it on the table by the door. We were both so confused. I asked, 'What are you doing? Don't you like it?' and she just said, 'I'm not keeping that. I don't need a new phone.' It took us a week before she finally gave in and let us set it up for her."

Jasper, Bella, and Rosalie were all laughing fondly when she finished the story, not even aware they still had an audience. Bella pulled Rosalie in for a kiss as their laughter dissipated. The others were watching the scene play out in front of them. Carlisle and Esme had grabbed hands across the table, watching the love flow between the three 'kids'. Esme looked over at Stella, who had tears streaming down her cheeks, a huge, bright smile wide on her face.

Harlon couldn't deny it after watching the moment that just passed between Bella, Rosalie, and Jasper. He could see the love between the three of them. It was palpable. He loved his son and decided he would support him and the two new additions to his family in any way that he could.

~~~R,S,CH~~~

"So, who all knows about the relationship?" Stella asked as she cuddled down into the loveseat with Harlon.

They had all moved to the living room, getting into a more comfortable setting. Carlisle and Esme sat together in an armchair in the corner, and Bella and Rosalie were sitting in the other large armchair with Jasper on the floor at their feet.

"Only a few close friends know about our relationship and Bella's dad, Charlie." Jasper said in a relaxed voice as Bella's hand ran through his hair.

"I never really had any friends from high school that lasted and haven't made any good ones in college. I have a few school buddies, but we never really talk outside of schoolwork." Rosalie answered. She had curled herself around Bella, one leg behind her girlfriend and the other on the floor by Jasper.

"My best friend from high school, Angela, knows, but she's actually at Harvard with her fiancé, so I don't see her very often. And my dad found out about us that first Thanksgiving. He said he noticed the giddy looks on all of our faces when we looked at each other." Bella smiled at the memory. "He came right out and asked us at the dinner table with his girlfriend and her kids sitting right there. 'What is going on with you three?' We couldn't really deny it so we told them first."

"So only your friend Angela and your dad know? That's it? How do you deal with that, having to hide yourselves?" Stella asked, thoroughly impressed by the care they had to take with their relationship.

"Peter and Charlotte, too," Jasper said. His best friend, and old roommate, had noticed something different about him as soon as the girls moved in with him. Jasper and Peter had grown up together in Texas, and when it was time for college, Peter and his girlfriend had moved up to Washington for school.

"Still, how do you hide that part of your lives?" Stella still felt sad for them.

"We don't usually have to hide it," Rose said defensively. "We still go out on dates, the three of us, and we go to the movies together. We do everything together; we just keep the PDA to a minimum. No one asks questions."

Stella looked over at Esme and Carlisle, who had been silent through the whole conversation. "When did you two find out?"

"At Jasper's graduation we found them in a corner, the girls were hugging him. They had such pride in their eyes. It wasn't hard to see there was something going on. We ended up taking the three of them to dinner, and we got to know the girls. By the time we went back to their apartment, I knew something was up. I asked them, and they told us the truth," Esme answered.

After a few minutes of silence, Harlon looked at his son. "What are your plans for the future?"

"Which plans? Our plans as a trio? Or as individuals?"

"As a trio."

"We haven't really discussed it. I know I love them both and want to be with them." Jasper looked up at his girls. They both nodded at him and smiled. He turned back to his parents, waiting for the next question to be tossed at them.

"So you are going to Florida next to talk to Bella's mom?"

Bella nodded her head, not quite stifling the yawn trying to get out.

"Why don't we pick up this conversation in the morning?" Jasper announced, wanting to get his girls to bed before Bella fell asleep. "We had to get up early for our flight. Do you guys mind?"

"No, not at all." Stella said, getting up off the couch. Esme and Stella hugged Jasper and the girls before they went upstairs for the night. Carlisle and Jasper quickly ran outside to get the rest of the luggage before following them up the stairs.

Jasper, Bella, and Rosalie decided to take one of the guest rooms instead of Jasper's old room. They chose one on the far end of the hallway, away from the other bedrooms. It had its own en suite bathroom and a king size bed, plenty big enough for the three of them.

They took their turns in the bathroom, each getting ready for bed. When Jasper, being the last, walked out of the bathroom, he had to stop and take stock of the blessings in his life. He watched as Rosalie curled up behind an already sleeping Bella, wrapping her right arm over Bella's body.

Jasper allowed Rosalie to finish settling in before climbing in on Bella's other side, resting his arm over both his girls. "I love you both so much. Thank you for being here for me."

"We love you Jasper. There is nowhere else we would rather be," Rosalie answered for both a sleeping Bella and herself.

Jasper once again thought about their relationship and how lucky he was to have his girls. He fell asleep thinking about their future together and the steps they would need to take to get there.