Alice and I were sprawled on my bed. True to my word, I had allowed her to help me choose an outfit (i.e. she took over and I ended up wearing clothes she had purchased for me in Paris) and was now dressed. Apparently, the mini was in, so Alice had me in a denim mini skirt, knee high boots and a short silk tunic over a cami; she'd also gotten me lots of new lingerie. I'm pretty sure that if I was still human, my clumsy would have made an appearance and the entire family would see my Le Perla. Thank God for small miracles.
"Thank you, Alice."
She looked up from the fashion magazine we were perusing through together.
"For what?"
"Your acceptance… It's been hard, not to have you to talk through this with. Then, I show up not only with your ex-husband, but as a vampire mated to your ex-husband. Yet, you are genuinely happy for us. I love you so much, Pix; you're the very best sister and friend I could have asked for."
Alice grinned and wrapped her arms around me. We giggled together like schoolgirls.
"I couldn't do anything but, Bells. I love you and I could never begrudge you happiness."
She tapped the side of her head and winked.
"Besides, I know things. Jasper was never the one for me, as much as I loved him. I've seen my mate; this time, I'll never have to let him go. If not for Jasper, I never would have appreciated just how precious that is."
-
Jasper eventually wondered back to my room, Alice and I had been discussing a possible trip to Fashion Week in New York. She had wanted to go to Milan, but that was just a few weeks away and I wanted to spend some time with Jasper after we settled the family issues.
"Hey love."
Jasper sat next to me on the bed, his hand resting on the small of my back. Something in his voice made me look up at him. He looked upset, not at all what I expected after leaving him with Esme. The front of the house was far enough away that we could easily tune out conversations we didn't want to listen to. I sat up and took his hand. Alice sat up as well, gathering the fashion magazines into a neat pile and setting them on the nightstand.
"What is it?"
I glanced over at Alice, but her eyes were glazed, another vision.
"Edward. Esme and I had gone out into the west gardens to talk and after she went back in, I stayed out for a few moments. I was about to head back in when Edward came out. I've never felt such anger from him before. He was volatile as a newborn. He didn't even say anything to me, he just lunged at me, I barely had time to react. I was able to get him under control and pin him to the ground without either of us hurting each other but when I let him up he just stalked off without saying a word."
I was angry, very angry. Edward had no right to take his aggression out on Jasper. I was about to respond when Alice interrupted me.
"The Volturi are coming here. Of course, I can't see anything that happens, just that they've decided to come here."
She paused, her eyes glazing over as she searched the future. Jasper and I glanced at each other; I'm sure his look of concern was mirrored on my face.
"I think it's soon – while we're away at Bella's funeral. I think it's going to be okay, I can see Charlie deciding to call Jasper afterwards and I can see us leaving. No one seems upset."
She growled in frustration before continuing again.
"I just can't see anything that happens here."
Jasper stroked the back of my hand, I knew he felt my anxiety and I smiled slightly when I felt the now familiar 'love potion' sensation. It didn't seem quite as overwhelming as before; perhaps, I was becoming used to the idea of being mated to him. I turned my attention to Alice. Her smirk was enough of an indication that no matter how I felt it, she still did too. I shrugged and she smiled.
"I imagine it's very much like how you described what a warm cup of tea and the local did to you when you were feeling stressed out in college, Bella. I don't feel like I'm in love with either of you – I just feel inexplicably happy. It's a pretty good feeling."
I nodded, though a warm cuppa was no longer possible for me, I still listened to the local. No matter what my mood, their music always put a smile on my face. In all honestly, I could use a listen right now. However, before I could get too distracted by these thoughts, Jasper turned the focus back to the Volturi.
"I would assume that they're coming here to check up on Bella. I don't trust them, but it seems like they're not going to cause any trouble. Did you see who they're sending?"
"Demetri and another guard. I don't recognize him. I don't see anyone else, but as soon as they knock on the door, the future disappears."
"Can you see their future, say, a week later?"
"Good idea, let me check."
A thought occurred to me as Alice was scanning the future; I was certain that the Volturi were unaware that Edward and I were no longer together. I wondered if they knew about Jasper and Alice – it was something they hadn't really discussed outside of the family. I'm not sure why, but I somehow felt it was important they the Volturi not know about my relationship with Jasper or lack thereof with Edward.
"Jasper?"
Jasper had been focused on Alice; he turned his attention back to me. I tilted my head up slightly, meeting his gaze.
"Just how much do the Volturi know about our family – do they know that you and Alice have divorced?"
Alice opened her eyes just as I finished asking; to my surprise, she answered my question first.
"I am confidant they don't. The Denali family knows, but I asked them to keep it quiet."
Jasper raised his eyebrows at this.
"You did? Why?"
"I'm not sure actually, I just felt I needed to."
"Strange."
Both of them turned to me; they had, of course, caught the word I murmured under my breath.
"It's just – as odd as this sounds – I feel it's important that the Volturi do not find out about my relationship with Jasper. Not that I think we should lie – but perhaps some slight misdirection. Tell as much of the truth as possible – you are all gone to my funeral, Jasper is here with me as he has the most experience with newborns… be as non-specific as possible with the date of my change. I think they will make all the right assumptions on their own. I just can't help but think they're up to something. I'm not sure why I feel this way, but I do."
Jasper pulled me closer to him, dropping a kiss on the crown of my head. Alice looked pensive.
"Interesting – their futures look fine for the moment; I see them returning to Volturi. Of course, just don't touch in front of them. That'd take some explaining."
"I think we can manage, Ali."
Jasper grinned at me before continuing.
"We really should go talk to Carlisle now, first Edward, now the Volturi. He should have some insights as well."
In the light of the Volturi's impending visit, I had pushed my anger at Edward to the back of my mind. Jasper's mention of him brought it back. I wanted to say something, but I wasn't sure what, I'm sure it wouldn't have been polite. However, Alice stood up to leave before I could utter a word. She said Carlisle was in his office but that she had to take care of a few things and would join us shortly. She left the room before Jasper or I could respond.
Jasper stood from the bed and offered his hand to me; I slipped my fingers through his. I took advantage of the moment alone with Jasper to wrap my arms around him, losing myself in his love for me without having to deal with any love potion comments. He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear before lowering his head and capturing my lips with his own.
-
Author's Note (I admit, they're habit now, I just love saying hi to ya'll): Vegas prezzie! I wasn't planning on even working on this until this weekend, but I got inspired (or I drank too much, one or the other) and here you go! Thank you again to all my wonderful reviewers. Also, thank you very much to all of those who've subscribed to alerts or added me (or the story) to your favorites! You chase away the mean reds for another day. As always, you can find me on twitter (diphataphata) and I own nothing but the plot. Robala sentle, gentle readers.
