Hi there—one more note: I'll be camping this weekend, so I'll probably post the next chapter on Friday (rather than updating on Sunday like I usually do). Just so you know…

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns "Twilight," not me, and ONLY 103 DAYS UNTIL NEW MOON!!!

1950: Home

Jasper's POV

"There it is!" Alice whispered, her voice ecstatic. Jasper sighed. She was looking forward to this, but he wasn't. Meeting unknown, and no matter what Alice said, potentially hostile vampires wasn't his idea of a good time. But Alice was certain about the Cullens, so here he was. After nearly a century of immortality, Alice was the only thing he felt certain of, so today they were going to introduce themselves to their new family.

The house was just a few yards away, and it was in a deeply wooded area not far from a lake. The hunting, Alice had told him, was good, lots of carnivores, which didn't make Jasper feel any more enthusiastic about his new diet. He was happy not to be killing humans anymore—that part was worth anything, Alice was worth anything, but it was still hard to adjust to the new tastes of the blood of nonhuman animals. Still, carnivores were something to look forward too: the stronger the animal, the better the blood in most cases, though nothing could equal…Jasper blinked and tried not to think about it, and beside him, Alice squeezed his hand.

"Let's go," she said, her voice at a normal volume, and then she pulled him out of the trees.

Jasper took a step forward without thinking, but then he had to struggle not to pick her up and carry her back to the tree line.

"What, we're just going to go knock on the door?" he wondered tensely. Alice had described all of the Cullens, and Emmett especially wasn't someone he wanted to tangle with. Or Edward, the mind-reading one.

"That's the plan, yes," Alice said calmly, tapping her forehead and smiling. "I told you, Jazz—everything's going to be fine."

"Fine," he repeated, following her slowly and trying not to drop into a defensive crouch as he caught the scent of other vampires.

As soon as they stepped onto the front porch, Jasper had to bite back a growl—there were clearly vampires inside this house, and almost a hundred years of hard-earned experience was telling him to leave before they attacked. When Alice saw his expression, she simply looked into his eyes until he calmed down a little.

"I'm sure that this is our home now," she whispered, and he believed her, so he stayed where he was and tried to relax. Then Alice knocked on the door.

The vampires inside could obviously smell them now too. The approaching footsteps were slow, cautious, and then an immortal with blond hair and golden eyes opened the door and stepped onto the porch.

"Hi, Carlisle!' Alice said eagerly, hopping forward and giving the man she saw as her new father a hug. Jasper barely suppressed the urge to grab her and get her behind him to defend her against attack, but the other immortal was too surprised by Alice to even avoid her embrace.

"I'm Alice, and this is Jasper. Oh good, Esme's here too!" Alice bounded forward and gave a second hug to an equally startled vampire. Esme actually went so far as to pat Alice on the back slightly before she stepped away. The couple, for Jasper could see that they were mates, were looking at each other over the top of Alice's head, but they didn't seem hostile. They just looked…surprised. Jasper relaxed ever so slightly, but he expected a more violent reaction from the other Cullens.

"I saw you," Alice explained brightly. "It's so nice to finally meet you, but I've been seeing you for years now in visions."

"Visions?" Carlisle repeated, finally finding his voice.

"Alice, slow down a little," Jasper said quietly, calming the situation slightly. Carlisle and Esme weren't a threat, and their emotions were by no means volatile, but if another member of the coven showed up and didn't understand what was going on…

Esme looked at Jasper, startled. "Did you do that?"

Now it was Jasper's turn to be unnerved. "How could you tell it was me?"

"I just…felt calm all of a sudden. For no reason," Esme said, frowning. "But then I wondered why and…" She shrugged helplessly. Jasper studied her for a moment: she had no extra abilities, but she was perceptive. She wasn't afraid of them either—Jasper surprised himself by feeling relief at this—she was merely curious, like her mate.

"It seems that the two of you are very talented," Carlisle said, moving to Esme's side

and putting his arm around her—that calmed her better. To Jasper's surprise, Carlisle didn't sound covetous when he spoke—Maria was over the moon every time a rumor of an immortal with extra abilities surfaced, for such creatures were always a valuable addition to a coven. But Carlisle was merely puzzled at the sudden arrival of two strange vampires on his doorstep.

"Would you like to come in and explain how you know us?" he offered.

Alice grinned at Jasper and took his hand to pull him into the house. Her smile quite plainly said, I told you so. "We'd love to," she said.

It took a surprisingly short amount of time to explain things. Alice told Carlisle and Esme about how she'd seen her future as soon as the change had ended: she'd seen herself finding Jasper, and then she'd seen them going to live with the Cullens. Then Jasper told them how he'd been changed, his life with Maria, and how he'd wandered until Alice had found him. It was surprisingly easy to discuss his history with what were, to him, total strangers, but having Alice at his side, beaming at their new parents certainly helped.

'Parents,' he kept thinking, was an odd way to describe Carlisle and Esme—they had both been changed young, when they were in their twenties—but somehow, the description fit. Esme certainly seemed to be a maternal sort of person: she was looking at them with quiet delight, and Jasper could feel how happy she was at the thought of two new additions to their family. Carlisle too felt enthusiastic—he explained that he'd met few immortals like them before, vampires who developed a conscience on their own being apparently very rare. Then the four of them went upstairs to his office, and Carlisle told them about himself.

Jasper had never heard anything like it: no wonder Carlisle had had to create a companion as opposed to finding one. It wasn't unheard of for a vampire to grow weary of the endless slaughter of humans, but for one to resist their thirst even as a newborn was uncanny. And though Esme's history was far shorter than her husband's, Jasper was still rather startled to find himself engrossed in her tale, even sympathizing with the story of what had led to her death. He'd certainly changed since leaving Maria.

"You're welcome to stay," Esme said after Alice had given her another hug. "Though I guess you've seen that happening already."

"The things I see change with the actions of the people involved," Alice explained with a smile. "If the two of you had told us 'no,' then what happens next would be different. But since we're staying, do you mind if I go pick out a bedroom?"

"Go ahead," Carlisle said, looking bemused. Alice grinned, opened the door and ran down the hall.

"Thanks!" she called. "I already know which one I want!"

"Thank you," Jasper said quietly. "For having us."

Carlisle and Esme both smiled at him, and Jasper could feel that they were happy to meet him. They…liked him, which was an unfamiliar prospect. They also liked Alice, which came as no surprise at all. Suddenly, Jasper realized that they were finally finished wandering. These were the people they'd been looking for all this time: they'd finally come home.