A/N: - 'O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us!' from To A Louse By Robert Burns (1786).
Left alone in the room unaware of Peter's call or Charlie's growing disdain for them, Esme and Carlisle Cullen just looked at each other.
" Well, that was just plain rude!" Carlisle huffed,
"Do you think so? I think he's quite correct! We really are prone to double standards!" sighed Esme.
"What on earth do you mean Esme?" he asked, shocked that she felt this way.
"Let me ask you, how do you feel about me and Emmett? Do you watch me like a hawk? Do you feel he's going to kill every second of every day?" she asked quietly,
"No of course not, you both just slipped it happens, we recover and move on darling!" he said meaning every word.
"So why do we all feel the need to tell people Jasper's new to this life we lead? Why do we watch him all the time? He, who has never slipped in the last sixty years! Why Carlisle?" she asked patiently,
"Well, because ...! It's just that ...! " he blustered not having an answer,
"That's what I thought! Now tell me when you started to feel that way about him? When did we all start to judge him so harshly! " she demanded.
"Well ..." he started to say and Esme stopped him saying,
"Before you finish that sentence, I'm going to take a leaf out of Emmett and Jasper's book! I'll bet you the entire Cullen fortune, I know what your first three words will be, in fact, I'll write them down now. Okay?" she told her baffled husband.
Esme scribbled down the three words quickly and then nodded to her husband to now answer her questions,
"Well, Edward said that Jasper thought about blood and feeding all the time! He daydreamed about it and killing the other pupils in the schools or the colleges they attended! So he suggested we keep a close eye on him until it got better, but it never did!" stated Carlisle.
Esme held up the piece of paper in her hand, on it were the three words 'WELL, EDWARD SAID!'
"Alright so as the family head and coven leader, you asked Jasper how he was coping? You tried to help and guide him through the rough patches right? You never asked me to speak to him, I know that! But you must have asked the other boys, you surely encouraged them to help him?" she quizzed,
"Eh, No, You see, Well Edward said he didn't want any help, that he needed to do it alone!" he answered once again, a little less sure this time.
"So everything this family, this coven, has done for the last sixty years since Alice and Jasper joined us, was all based on what Edward said he heard from Jasper's mind? Is that about right Carlisle?" she seethed, as he stood there with an increasingly strong sinking feeling, would Edward really have done that? But Carlisle knew the answer already.
"You let a boy! A boy who blatantly hated Jasper openly ridiculed and demeaned him in public, which you did nothing about that I'm aware, by the way!" she heaved out a huge breath of air that was unnecessary.
"You let him dictate how we all treated him! You told me on several occasions, it was your opinion that we should watch him closely!" Esme was spitting mad with her husband now.
"Your opinion Carlisle! Do you actually have one? Or should I phone Edward so he can tell you what it is?" she was so angry that venom was running down her chin and Carlisle had never seen Esme like this before,
"I'm ashamed of you Carlisle! Sixty Years! Why in the name of Hell did he even stay? We can never make that up to him, you allowed that boy to ruin our relationship with Jasper!" Venom tears filled her eyes as she looked disdainfully at him.
"Let's face it, Carlisle, you let that boy ruin your relationship with the whole family! Why? Why would you do that?" she pleaded for an answer, something to make sense of this nightmare.
Carlisle just stood there, head hanging down and shoulders drooped in abject misery, Esme sobbed then grabbed up her bag and headed to the door.
"I don't ever want him back Carlisle! If Edward ever returns then I'll leave, do you hear me? It up to you, him or me! The choice is yours!" with that she slammed the door of the hotel room shut and went in search of Jasper.
She had to try to make some sort of amends for the way he had been treated over the years.
WWWWWWWWWW
Carlisle dropped into the seat beside him, he had never heard Esme so angry before or so resolute. She was rightly ashamed of him, as he was of himself and he could blame no-one! Not even Edward for this.
He had done nothing to stop this from happening, he knew, deep down he knew how wrong it was. But it was easier to just let Edward have his way. He thought Jasper was strong he could take it, but why should he have had too.
All this to save Carlisle's embarrassment! He could have just told Esme what happened, or what didn't happen more to the point. God, when did he become this coward, he deliberated, Oh yes! When Edward blackmailed him about an errant thought!
One Carlisle could barely remember having, as Edward lay changing from human to vampire and unfortunately his mind reading had kicked in and it had been a fairly graphic momentary thought.
Carlisle was now sifting through all the years since he turned Edward, saw all the little digs and innuendo's, The blatant threats and just how much he had let him away with over the years.
It had impacted on everyone, Rose and Emmett didn't get the same time or guidance from him because Edward was jealous. He was their sire too, but he never gave them as much of himself as he did to Edward.
He had knowingly lied to Esme and the others several times, telling them all that any decisions made were his when they had been Edwards.
But the worst was his treatment of Jasper, treating him like the weakest link in the family. When in truth he held them all together, he stopped many a mistake, he had also carried and controlled all their emotions from the moment he arrived.
It was time to own up and be judged, for a fool and a coward. Not fit to lead this coven, all because of one stray thought. It wasn't even the thought that was wrong, it was who it was directed at, a puritanically repressed Edwardian boy!
If he had not been a mind reader it would never have escalated to this level, but he read the desire, need and lust in Carlisle's mind.
Edward then made him feel small, unnatural and dirty for thinking it in the first place, foisting his immature Edwardian views on to a man who'd lived three centuries. He began to use it to beat him over the head with for ninety odd years.
Even after Carlisle married Esme, Edward often threatened to tell her and Carlisle didn't want her to know he had once entertained the idea of having Edward as a true companion and lover, something that many other single vampires had done in the past.
He mistakenly thought if Edward said it was wrong and degenerate so would she, being as they were from the same time period. But as usual, he never asked, so he never found out, except through Edwards lies, telling him what was going on in her head.
WWWWWWWWWW
It was now early evening in Phoenix, Charlie had made some progress with the police department, he was given permission to take his daughter home. She would have to return once she was recovered, the case needed to be closed and she was the primary, well only witness.
Renee's body too would be released but only after the coroner's report was completed and the evidence from the crime scene had been collated. This was all normal procedure, but it was slow and laborious to those who waited.
He had also been giving a lot of thought to his meeting with the Doctor and his wife, there was more going on in that family than he was really aware of, that was for sure. He knew that Jasper had been given a raw deal because of it and that was not sitting very well with him.
Strangely he felt connected to that young man and his feelings were fatherly and quite protective, he shook his head, how could that be he barely knew the boy? Also his brother Peter, after only one phone call, Charlie knew he'd like and get on well with him.
WWWWWWWWWW
In the air above the Atlantic ocean, Alice had had a vision and asked for the flight plan to be changed, they needed to head to Phoenix and not Seattle. Emmett and Rose were concerned, what the hell had happened while they were gone?
"There has been a shift in loyalties, the family is going to be divided if Carlisle doesn't get his act together! Charlie Swan has just taken over the position of father figure for Jasper and strangely enough Peter Whitlock too!" she told the stunned pair.
"He called Carlisle out on his treatment of Jasper and Esme later agreed, she has given Carlisle an ultimatum regarding Edward, You'll be happy to know Emmett, he will never be allowed back into this family as long as Esme's a part of it!" Alice continued,
"Alice, That sounds as if she might be leaving? What's going on?" Rose asked tentatively as if she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"Family meeting, when we arrive. Well, family plus one! Charlie will be there at Jasper's request!" she said sighing, things were changing so fast, she hadn't foreseen most of this.
WWWWWWWWWW
Back in the hospital, no one was privy to the chaos that swirled around them, but they were slowly making headway with the problem that the 'Major' had brought up earlier.
Jazz was telling Bella he thought maybe because fear causes adrenalin to kick in, they would go into an autopilot type of mode. That would allow their alter egos out to take charge because it's a subconscious reaction! Humans often can't remember what they have done during these time periods.
In the background, they heard the 'Major' shout "That's it, Cowboy, you cracked it!"
Jazz smiled he liked that better than being called Jazz, "Okay, Bella from now on we call him 'Cowboy', you got that?" the 'Major' called out from outside the door.
Bella smiled, "I like that, it suits you!" she said in a firmer voice than before. Things were coming together, starting to make sense she felt, her head was clearing a little, but she knew that soon the 'Event', as she called it would have to be addressed.
WWWWWWWWWW
The door to the hospital room opened slowly and quietly, the couple who entered looked at the scene before them. "You could almost believe he was sleeping!" the woman whispered.
"It's the damnedest thin' I've ever seen!" replied the man, they both sat and watched while waiting for the return of Jasper to his body.
They had been sitting for half an hour when the door opened again, Charlie stiffened as he took in the couple with the bright red eyes.
"Hey Chief daddy!" the man said and Charlie relaxed, he recognised that voice,
"Hello, son! Who's this beautiful woman with you?" he enquired and they all smiled,
"Hi, Chief Swan, I'm Charlotte, Peter's better half!" she quipped and Charlie nodded as if saying that was more than obvious.
Charlie turned his eyes to Jasper and looked confused, "What's going on? Any ideas Peter?" he asked,
"Looks like he's communin' with your daughter, she obviously can't come out, but it looks like he can get in!" Peter said grinning.
"I said somethin' was brewin' and I was right, we've come to babysit for ya', as you two will be attendin' a Cullen family meetin' in the next couple of hours. Yer' just waitin' on the others arrivin' back from Italy, now that they've dumped the trash!" Peter explained laughing.
"I'm presuming Edward was the trash in that scenario?" Charlie questioned, the other two nodded their assent. Jasper had just surfaced and heard the last comment,
"He's bloody lucky I didn't rip his head off and shove it up his ass!" he growled and they all burst out laughing.
Once Peter had explained their presence, Jasper introduced them to Isabella, they didn't act like she was in a coma, just saying Hi and Charlotte told her she was going to wash and fix her hair while Jasper and Charlie were meeting the Cullens. Isabella relaxed a little and Jasper squeezed her hand letting her know he knew she was happy with that.
Jasper's phone chimed with an incoming text, he glanced down and said, "Alice! It's time, you ready Chief?",
Charlie stood clapped him on the shoulder and said: "Right behind you son, let's do this and then you can tell me all about visiting my daughter inside her head later!"
