A/N: Special thanks to my beta, Stitch, who worked through a stomach virus to make this update happen. A full round of hugs and gropes to Hammerhips and Jasper's Destiny for giving me much-needed feedback as my pre-readers. And last but not least, thanks to you (reader who is probably skipping this A/N in the first place) for coming back yet again. Much appreciated!

Chapter 10: Deceit

She bucked and writhed.

Her pain making her impatient and her frustration at the memories fleeting like water through a sieve multiplying every irritant a hundred-fold. She kept trying to catch them, but the more she reached for them, the faster they seemed to flow away. She had lost so much already. Losing her purpose was unacceptable. She stilled her burning limbs by force of will alone, and then dug through her mind for the memories she required to fuel her revenge.

Three feet from her left, she felt his approval wrap around her, her soul, and the hell she was existing in like a cocoon as he tried like he had time and time again to dissect how they had come to this point.

Deceit. Since Edward and Bella had come home with their unexpected news, the house was rank with it. Deceit. Layer upon layer, it filled every room, stretching to reach every nook and cranny, leaving no place to turn for respite, for a break from the emotional weight of the last few days or the weeks to come. He felt it pressing down upon him. Jasper rubbed the back of his neck and stretched out his legs in front of the leather chair he'd been parked in for the last several hours. Old human habits die hard, even if he was as far removed from being human as one could possibly be. What the venom hadn't robbed him of, his training under Maria most certainly had.

No, he wouldn't allow himself to reminisce right now, not with so many other emotions – true and false alike – hefted upon him. Each member of his coven was shuffling through their emotions like a nimble-fingered dealer with a stiff pack of Steamboats fresh out of the plastic.

Pride, anticipation, fear, submission, love, guilt, longing; Esme was busying herself in the kitchen. Even without his particular gift, they each had their tells. Esme fled to the kitchen or the drawing board when the family was struggling with something she couldn't just kiss better. Work was her escape.

Protectiveness, anger, alertness, love, excitement, anticipation and his perpetual, underlying lust; Emmett was downstairs immersed in the latest Need for Speed. Jasper didn't know how the game could hold even a fraction of Em's attention, but then again, perhaps that's the very reason he chose it. Emmett served as the family's self-appointed protector. But for everyone else's sakes he needed to appear unaffected, even in his vigilance. Emmett had been a favorite of Jasper's since first entering the Cullen Coven many years ago. Though some may mislabel his simplicity as stupidity, Jasper knew different. Emmett was simply transparent. What you see is what you get. Jasper found that to be a rare quality and one worthy of respect.

Disappointment, sadness, sympathy, nervousness, compassion, love, grief, remorse, and that ever-present current of hope, faint but still there; Carlisle was shuffling around in his office. Jasper could more feel his movements rather than hear them. The walls of Carlisle's office were as sound-proofed as possible in a house filled with supernatural beings. It wasn't perfect, but the sounds from within were muffled, and just the act of sound-proofing made everyone try a bit harder to play deaf to whatever happened behind Carlisle's closed door out of respect for their leader, and hope that when they were the ones on the other side of the door that respect would be returned. Of course, mischief happened. They were only vampires, after all.

Today, Jasper knew precisely what Carlisle was doing. It was the same thing he'd been doing since the family vote. He was searching for answers that didn't exist to a problem no one had ever anticipated. Under normal circumstances, Jasper tried to avoid the pitfall of reading too much into the emotions gleaned from the others in moments of solitude. It was impossible to know where their thoughts were, and thus impossible to guess the source from which their emotions stemmed. However, he hoped the remorse he was picking up was for his newest daughter, not his good-for-nothing-'cept-breeding son. Just thinking of Edward made Jasper's jaw clench and the venom pool in his mouth.

Nothing of Edward's behavior indicated that he was a man by any standard beyond the physical requirements, and even then there wasn't a lick of chest hair on the ninety-year-old. Jasper snorted. No matter how pissed-off his decision to vote pro-hybrid had made Alice, he wouldn't have changed it. He'd given much for his wife, and would continue to for the rest of his undead days, but he would not give what little remained of his conscience - a conscience that he (with the help and support of this very coven) had nursed back to health for decades before he'd even trust himself again. But he knew his own mind here. Bella was a member of this coven and soon would give up her mortality to join them for however long their eternity should last. How could Carlisle claim she was mature enough to marry and to give up her humanity, but not mature enough to know her own mind about the child? It was simply irrational. True that she did not know what would come to pass when the little tadpole made its appearance, but no-one did. Of course, therein lay the crux of the matter. Fear of the unknown. Fear of what the pansy-ass Victorian boy would do if things didn't go his way. Just plain fear.

It wasn't that Jasper was impervious to the fear of the unknown. No, on the contrary, he understood the risks inherent probably better than anyone. With his healthy respect for the Volturi, Jasper had to give Edward props in his choice of bait during his recent recruitment trip. It was clever. Disgusting, appalling, gutless, yella-belly, spineless, shameful behavior but clever. While it was true that the Volturi were known for shredding and burning before asking questions, Carlisle's relationship with Aro must account for some leeway. And who would discover their secret if they all just shut the hell up? Jasper shook his head.

Ultimately, it was the love that swayed his vote though. Standing against the dining room wall that day, amidst the storm of emotions and hurling insults, when Bella reached out for Edward, he felt her pain. Having to choose between a mate and a child was a choice no woman should have to make. Damn him to a fate worse than hell for this! Then, he felt her determination – almost as strong and clear as a vampire – as she searched for someone to corroborate her words. And when her liquid, steady gaze found the object of her desire in his, he felt her love. Love only a mother could feel for a child. The age of the babe didn't matter; it was hers. What Edward failed to grasp was that taking that child would kill her quicker than any of their coven could have. A kinder fate would have been for him to have been allowed to drain her after they first discovered Ed's infatuation with her sweet-smelling blood. If Edward wanted his Bella, then the choice was obvious. Obvious to Jasper, that is.

There were so many reasons, moral and logical, to vote for Bella, but none – not a single one - to vote to kill the innocent. Thus his stand and Alice's 'disappointment' in her custom-made man. He hated to upset her, his Alice, who had given him a better life than he'd ever dreamed possible, but he'd done it anyway, and now he was paying the consequences. Jasper closed his eyes, seeing with that damned perfect recall the last time she'd visited him here in his office, here in this very chair. She'd teased and tormented him until he begged for her to ride him into the sunset. With her bare knees spread, one on each arm of his chair, her heaven hovered above him and she ran a lazy finger down his chest, ever-so-slowly, until it reached the button of his Dockers. He shivered. She giggled.

Jasper rubbed his face to clear the image. Damn, that'd been a mighty fine day, but it'd also been the last time she'd so much as batted a lash his way. It'd been the day after the wedding. He'd always known Alice was a peculiar one, but this whole situation had struck a chord. He couldn't put his finger on anything solid because whenever she was actually in the house, she shuffled though her emotions too rapidly for him to catch the tenor and much too fast for all of them to be honest. If Alice would just talk to him, maybe he could help, but he was receiving nothing but frost.

That's all right, though, Jasper thought as he readjusted the seam of his jeans, I'll wait. She'll come around. Although…

No, he wouldn't finish that thought. He'd want her for as long as she'd have him. If he was nothing else in this life (and he really wasn't) he was faithful.

A small knock on his study door shocked him out of his thoughts. Ah, Bella, he thought, smiling as he heard the beat of her heart, a little weaker than it had been yesterday, and the strong flutter of the tadpole before his nerves took command. This past week was the most direct interaction he'd ever had with their little human. It was…unsettling. Not unpleasant, necessarily, just unsettling. He was unsure of himself around her, which was something he hadn't been around any woman ever. Her scent was no longer tempting, but he had no idea how to act around a human he wasn't either fixing to eat or trying not to. It was disconcerting. In addition to that, he tended to close himself off from the emotional climate as much as he could when she was near. This morning sickness, or whatever it was that plagued her, was a hell he didn't wish to feel constantly.

At the second knock, he heard Rosalie huff and caught her floral scent, though if he'd been paying attention he would have tasted her pride, love and blatant want long before Bella knocked. Rosalie could try to hide her feelings but she knew that he knew, so what was the point? This time, Jasper also remembered to call, "Come on in."

"I told you he knew we were on our way. You know, if Carlisle catches you not resting as ordered he'll most likely want to stick you with something unpleasant," Rosalie told a slightly-waddling Bella who ignored her as she made her way slowly, demurely into his private quarters, while Carlisle chuckled tersely from his near-by office. Jasper didn't contradict Rose on either account. One would simply place him on another woman's shit list and to dispute the other claim would inevitably lead to an unwanted conversation about what exactly he'd been thinking of that distracted him so thoroughly.

"Anything I can do for you fine ladies this evening?" Jasper said smoothly, folding his hands in his lap. He was truly curious about why they were here. When he opened himself up to the emotional climate out of curiosity, Bella's trepidation and raw nerves made his foot tap. Her fatigue made him want to lay down for a nap he could never take. Her longing had him glancing at the old black-and-white of that day by Crystal Lake with his wife, before she was his wife, perched on the nearest end table. But his eyes never strayed from Bella for long. She paused in front of his couch.

"May I?"

"Of course, pull up some leather. You look like you could stand to take a load off." The words were no sooner out of his mouth than he winced from the onslaught of Rose's righteous anger and Bella's small sting of hurt. She chuckled quietly as she eased down.

"You know, you're right. No matter how long I sleep or how much I lay around I'm always tired. Sick and tired…" Her emotions twirled and tangled, tripping over one another as too many things queued impatiently, all clamoring to be felt and heard immediately. Jasper felt the storm brewing within her as she tried to squelch the rising current, which seemed to buffet her with every new thought or every random memory. He sensed more than felt that it had nothing to do with his thoughtless comment, though, and honestly, he was relieved. After all, there was little he could do about the rest of the drama that seemed to hound her every waking moment for the last few years. Edward was right about one thing: the girl was a danger magnet.

"It's hard growing the most perfect baby the world has ever seen," Rose stated matter-of-factly as she sat elegantly on the other end from Bella. "Up," Rose commanded pointing to her lap and Bella sighed, exasperated. "Carlisle said the elevation will help with the recent swelling."

"I didn't even notice any swelling," Bella grumbled as she obliged Rose's demand and placed her feet in Rosalie's lap, petulantly. Jasper was tempted to laugh at the sight of Rosalie pampering someone else, but then she began rubbing Bella's right foot and Bella moaned. Long and low and throaty, she moaned and her head sagged back onto her shoulders. Jasper watched enraptured as her pulse beat a tantalizing rhythm in the snowy column of her neck, perfectly exposed to his more wicked desires, and a feeling of desire mixed with euphoria filled the room. His hands (luckily still folded in his lap) clenched tightly.

"Jay?" Rose hissed quietly, and he looked to her quickly. Rosalie quirked one of those perfectly-manicured brows. He resisted the urge to look like a boy who'd just been caught trying to lift a forbidden cookie from the jar on top of the ice box. He hadn't done anything wrong, he assured himself as he met her challenging stare. Since the pregnancy, her blood was not nearly as tempting as before. Oh, Bella still smelled sweet; just not in an I'm-gonna-eat-you type of way.

"Not that I mind the company, but-" Jasper trailed off looking to Rosalie for information, but his answer came from the edible one he was trying his damnedest not to look at. He sighed. He couldn't be rude now, could he?

"Oh! That's my fault. I'm tired of staring at the walls of the guest room, no matter how perfectly lovely they are," Bella tacked on quickly. Jasper imagined it was hard for her to remember that everyone could hear her every word, and then harder still to not dwell on that fact when doing normal, everyday 'human' things. "Emmett's downstairs in the living room and my head can't handle all that. Esme tries to feed me something on sight and my stomach can't handle that. And if Carlisle examines me one more time this week, I think he's gonna have to put a ring on it," Bella grumbled before turning a brilliant shade of red. "Basically, I…I needed somewhere quiet to hang out before I go crazy." Jasper sat there still and quiet after she finished her hurried confession. "You're surprised?"

Yes.

"No, it's-" weird, strange, awkward since they've never had much contact and don't have a lick in common, "fine. Mi estudio es su studio." He could do his part in the family Bella-sitting rotation, he guessed. She had to sleep sometime…

"Um, I don't speak French, Jasper," Bella deadpanned.

"Oh, I said-" Jasper stopped mid-explanation as he felt the humor rolling off of her and Rose. "Funny."

"I thought so," Rose laughed and then picked up Bella's left foot. Either Bella was too busy looking around the office or she had grown accustomed to the workings of Rosalie's magic hands, but no moans escaped her and Jasper was incredibly grateful. After seeing her exposed bulging, bruised stomach a few days back, Jasper was appalled that he could think of Bella in anyway sexual. She was so fragile. Add to that the fact that she was still very much human, and he was completely mystified. But looking at her delicate rounded features, her big doe eyes and her rosy cheeks, maybe he was being too harsh on himself. It wasn't the first time he'd admired a woman since becoming married to Alice. After all, venom or none, he was still a man.

A man who will be servicing his own needs for the foreseeable future, unless Alice takes pity, Jasper thought chagrined. A small part of him understood her anger at him, but what he didn't understand is why their marriage had to take a backseat in the light of Edwardian drama, yet again.

"Bella," Rose warned. Bella rolled her eyes and continued leaning over to reach for the stack of magazines, which rested on an exact replica of a trunk of his Momma's that he used to hide in when he was a ruddy young'un. Esme had hunted it down just for him.

Jasper felt Bella's determination and Rose's trepidation on the couch as Bella reached for the trunk and her growing belly hung in the thin air between. Jasper sent out a quick burst of curiosity and groaned, stretching out, making a show of folding his hands behind his head (now that they were no longer needed in his lap) and as both women looked to see what he was doing, he nudged the trunk with his left foot closer to the sofa by just a mite and counterbalanced his curiosity with a shot of contentment. No longer inexplicably interested in Jasper, Bella reached for the magazines once more and bingo! She held the stack up victoriously, proud of her small accomplishment and in a small show of defiance to her constant keeper as well. Rosalie opened her mouth to clue Bella in on the assist, but Jasper hissed quietly and she promptly shut her mouth. Why ruin this moment for her? With all of the doom and gloom, they could give their favorite human this small win.

Jasper smiled as he felt Bella's glee and then frowned when he felt a wave of mischievousness and a small underlying guilt. "Jasper, is there something you want to tell us?" Bella asked, tilting her head and batting her lashes innocently, but he knew better.

"No, ma'am," Jasper drawled slowly, smirking. "Nothing comes to mind."

"Oh, I just thought since we're all family now you could feel comfortable coming out. I mean Teen, Jasper," she said, displaying her prime exhibit for her case of his confused sexuality, "I recognize a cry for help when I see it. Come on, J-mo, let it all out," Bella plead with shining eyes and false sympathy oozing from her. Staring into his dark eyes, she bit her bottom lip to hold back her smile. As Emmett hooted from downstairs and Rosalie worked not to fall off of the couch in her fit of laughter, Jasper sat stunned, frozen with the cocky smirk he'd been wearing when she busted him out. When Bella was around Edward, she was always so quiet and kept. Sure, Jasper had felt bursts of random humor at times or caught the frequent spike of irritation that only he seemed to notice when Edward and she spent time at the house, but this girl actually had a personality. Even in her weakened state, Bella had spunk.

Bella sat crosslegged, absentmindedly rubbing her swollen belly as Rose re-situated herself on the couch with last month's Vogue she had swiped from Bella.

"Nice, Bella, but J-mo? Surely you can do better." Bella shrugged lightly. "As for the Teen, I like to stay up on pop culture. You know, you are what you eat. I don't want to accidentally digest a Brittney freak and wind up dancing scantily clad all the way to the nuthouse. That'd be a crying shame."

While Bella stared slack-jawed and dull-eyed, he felt Carlisle's disapproval wash over him at such a casual mention of taking a precious human life. Jasper started to worry that he'd crossed the line in this human/vampire coven. He was about to apologize and make a vow of silence in the human's presence when life came back to her eyes and she nodded, "Makes sense."

Rose rolled her eyes and Jasper chuckled. Only to Bella would that have made sense. "The magazine is Ali's, of course."

"Oh, I figured that. I was just messing with you, but-" Bella trailed off uncomfortably. It seemed like Jasper wasn't the only one unsure of boundaries in this new family dynamic.

"Go on. We don't do secrets here 'cause it's nigh impossible to keep 'em. Not much is off limits, so shoot."

"Oh, well…I was just going to say," Bella began looking around, "that it doesn't look like Alice spends much time in here."

"True, but I also like to read samples of what she has and at times, she does the same for me. I find it gives us more to talk about in the quiet moments, and she likes fashion and gossip."

"Yeah, but Teen?" Bella blurted out before she could stop herself. Jasper felt her instant chagrin and sent some peace to sooth her conscience. He scanned the house once more for Alice, but finding her still absent he answered Bella.

"Alice doesn't remember any of her youth, Bella." He hoped that provided some clarification, but Jasper didn't feel right about saying any more about his wife in her absence. Everyone knew Alice had her quirks. All of those peculiar habits meshed together formed the woman he loved.

"Ah," Bella said, covering her reddened cheeks with her hands. Her embarrassment was kind-of endearing. It was comforting to know, once more, that his wife had found such a caring friend. Bella truly loved her.

Jasper tilted his head a bit as heavy steps thundered up the stairs, Emmett. He'd taken his own approach to making Bella feel at home. At least that had been his defense when Esme rebuked him for his new base noise level, but in truth, Emmett simply enjoyed the excuse to be loud. Although, his projected determination and concern announced his coming much louder to Jasper.

Probably Em's brotherly attempt at a covert head's up. Rosalie's not gonna be too happy about whatever he's got to say, Jasper thought. But there was no guilt or dread, so at least Jasper knew Emmett hadn't damaged her BMW. That was never pleasant for anyone within range.

As Emmett burst through the door with his massive chest puffed up, Jasper wondered if it was too late to ease some extra calm into the room. Couldn't hurt.

"You need to hunt," Emmett announced unceremoniously. He didn't waste his breath trying to butter Rosalie up. He knew his mate well, and knew it wouldn't do a damn bit of good.

"I'm not leaving," Rosalie turned a page in her Vogue and crossed her legs.

"I'm not askin', Rosie." And he truly wasn't. Rosalie was letting her emotions get in the way of her physical needs. Of course, Emmett had the good sense not to say as much, but where she was looking out for Bella, her mate only had eyes for her and her welfare right now.

It was truly irresponsible to be with Bella when her thirst was so strong, too tempting. Jasper felt the burning now that Emmett drew it to his attention, even if Rosalie could ignore it for the time being. He also felt her resolution weakening as she looked up to her concerned mate. That is until Alice suddenly appeared in the doorway, as she had developed the habit of late. Jasper hadn't even felt her come back into his range – that was something new.

"Oh, don't worry, Rosalie. I'll be here the whole time! And Esme and Carlisle are just down the steps if Bella or I need anything." Rose stood with her arms crossed defiantly, but the slight warning rumble in Emmett's chest was enough to make her drop her stance and look to Jasper helplessly.

"Jay? You staying?"

Jasper nodded, hating that Rosalie had dragged him between her and Alice. He understood why, but damn. This would not bode well for him later…

And right on cue, Alice huffed. "Why does he need to stay? I think I can look after my best friend and my favorite sister without a chaperone. What exactly do you think I'm going to do to her, Rosalie? Paint her toe nails with a poisoned pink? Flat iron her hair to death? Though it could use a little freshening up, if I do say so myself," Alice added under her breath with her nose wrinkled. "Just what kind of a person, of a monstrosity, do you think I am?"

Quirks in his wife that he used to find endearing and charming even, Jasper suddenly found repulsive. Bella's pregnant with a vampire-hybrid, which seemed to be sucking the very life from her in her fragile human state and his wife, his love, Alice was repulsed by her limp hair? Jasper's jaw clenched and he looked to Rose for a much-needed distraction from this unpleasant thought.

"I think you are Chanel's fall line and the season has changed, sister mine. Hence, I'm over you."

Her pain spiked, bringing his complete attention back front and center. After all, did it matter how they had traveled so far down this path to this ring of deepest hell? No, they were here. They were together. That was all that mattered anymore.

Well, that and their revenge.

Yes, he would continue to remember just as he had asked her to do, and when she arose as a phoenix from the ashes, he would be here ready for what he knew must come next.

A/N: Review?