Chapter Seven
Alice
Two weeks of absolute heaven came to an end far too quickly, but Jasper had left so Justin could get to know the family and we as a couple could fit in so it would be unfair not to do just that. I did wonder if Justin might complain, but I should have known better.
"Of course, we should go back, Allie. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting to know your family. I want to fit in, but I don't want to make it hard for Jasper, he's been a perfect gentleman and I can do no less."
I pulled him down and kissed him again, gaining another few hours before we finally got up and got ready to return to Forks. As I finished packing I stopped, I had a glimpse of Jasper watching the young girl and smiled. Justin put an arm around my waist,
"What did you see? I know that glazed look, Allie."
"He's found her Justin, now I know she'll be OK, they both will and I'm so happy."
We traveled back to Forks and the closer I got the more nervous I became, would the family really warm to Justin or would they see him as a rival to Jasper's position? I really hoped not and I thought Esme and Carlisle would be OK but Rose especially was close to Jasper and I wasn't at all sure how she would react. As we pulled up the door opened and Esme came running down the steps to put her arms around me,
"Alice, you look radiant."
Then she turned to Justin and took his hand,
"You are certainly good for my daughter. Come in and please ignore Emmett, he refuses to take down the Halloween Decorations until you've seen them, he's so proud of his handiwork!"
Inside I could see why Esme was glad to see us, the house was covered in fake cobwebs, giant spiders, huge white sheeted ghosts with glowing eyes, bowls of fake blood and bats that caught in my hair everywhere I turned. In the lounge, Emmett stood grinning widely still wearing the plastic fangs and crimson-lined black cape.
"OK, but don't you think it's a little OTT? Not to mention late for Halloween decorations?"
"Hey, they were epic! I took some to the school for the dance and everyone was wowed by them."
"Of course, they were Emmett but please...can I have my home back now?"
Justin rubbed his hands together,
"Well, Count Dracula where shall we start?"
Within minutes, Esme was shouting at the two of them to slow down as we were buffeted by the wind of their passing.
"Where are the others? I was hoping Rose would be here."
"Don't worry, she'll be back soon. She just went to pick up Carlisle, his car is in the garage, a sticking pump or something and I can tell you she was not happy when she found out he had called the garage instead of her!"
I hesitated,
"Is she going to be OK with Justin?"
"Yes, so don't worry. She had a long talk with Jasper yesterday which helped of course. She was only worried that he was in pain, but he's been extremely mature about the whole thing. Let's hope Justin does the same, is he really as crazy as Emmett? I'm not sure I can cope with two in one house."
As she said this she glanced at the two guys who were fighting with the giant spiders on the stairs and I couldn't help laughing,
"I think you might have to learn."
She agreed with me ruefully then ushered me past the two of them and upstairs pushing open the door of the guest suite and I could see it had been freshly decorated and refurbished.
"I did this for you, Alice. I didn't want to push Jasper out of his room and I thought you too might be more comfortable in your own space."
She looked at me anxiously waiting for a response and I hugged her,
"Thank you, Esme, it's perfect and I quite agree, our room always was more Jasper's than mine, well except for the closets that is."
"Yes well, I made sure to put in more this time so you won't be complaining about a lack of space. You will be staying won't you?"
Again there was the anxious tone,
"I hope so, Justin wants to make it work."
"So does Jasper although it's so difficult. If only he could find his mate too."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that, I think he's very close to doing so."
Of course, I was grilled mercilessly after that and Esme felt much happier as did Rose when she got back and heard the latest. That was after she was almost knocked over by the two guys rushing past with the last of the ghosts taking them out and ceremonially burning them.
"Couldn't you have saved them for next year? There's plenty of room in the old boat house."
Emmett and Justin both looked affronted by Esme's suggestion,
"We have big plans for next year. Besides as soon as this is burned we plan on starting our next project, building a mechanical turkey for Thanksgiving."
We looked at each other then Rose held up a warning hand,
"Don't ask girls. Just nod politely and maybe they'll go away."
We soon settled into the family, far easier than I had expected in fact. Justin got on well with both Edward and Carlisle and of course, he and Emmett became the terrible twins. We hadn't seen their latest project yet, but there were a lot of strange noises coming from the attic and plenty of laughter. Justin struggled a little with our diet although he had been trying before I even saw him in anticipation. He drove away from Forks and well away from the Quileute lands on a couple of occasions, early on, when he felt he couldn't control his thirst, but Emmett soon took charge of teaching him fun ways to hunt and fun prey. Justin had never thought of mountain lion or grizzly and found them much more to his taste.
"That's because they are carnivores and their blood is that much richer."
From that day on Carlisle was his mentor in many ways, just as he had been to the rest of us when needed.
I wondered how Jazz was getting on, but I knew it wouldn't be fair to phone him and besides I had seen a little and I knew we would all be together again pretty soon. In the meantime, I helped Esme with the arrangements for the Thanksgiving Dinner in Forks Community Center. Every year the town put on a dinner for anyone who wanted to attend and transport was arranged for the elderly or anyone who couldn't get there under their own steam. Of course, all the posters contained the cryptic comment about the Turkey Who Escaped and of course as they went up well in advance so we would have a good idea of numbers, especially as we brought people from nearby dwellings too, we were hounded by people wanting to know more. By the day of the dinner, I thought we would all be ready to throttle two unnamed males and I wasn't alone!
Carlisle
It was strange having Justin in the family in Jasper's place but then Esme pointed out that really he wasn't.
"Jasper's place in this family is unique to him. Justin has fitted in well as Alice's mate but don't forget it's going to be as strange for her seeing him with his new mate and she will have her own unique place too. This family is big enough to accommodate a few new additions and everyone will have their very own spot. I think by this Christmas we will all be one complete happy family again, I can feel it inside."
I hoped she was right, she usually was and the more I saw Justin slot in, even with Rosalie who didn't like strangers much, I thought she probably was on this occasion too, but time would tell. For now, I was just happy with all the bright eager volunteers I had for the Thanksgiving party as it was extremely popular and then we would have to gear up for Christmas, sometimes I wondered how humans managed the pace.
