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Chapter 21

Jasper Hale

When we got back from the clearing Bree was very confused. Rosalie and Emmett were doing their best to re-assure her that everything would be fine. I helped them by sending a wave of calm in Bree's direction.

I was keeping Bella close to me. Edward had shown great confidence in me by allowing her to come home, with me as her guardian. I knew only too well that it hadn't been easy for him to do that, considering my history with the love of his life.

I was monitoring Bree's thirst, I didn't want to take any undue risks with Bella's life. I had to give Bree due respect though. She hadn't thought of Bella in that way at all. Not once. She was focused solely on what what had taken place in the clearing.

Whenever there was talking to be done in our family home, it was always happened around the dining room table. It would be no different on this occasion. We all knew this and made our way there.

Bree sat with her parents on one side, I sat with Bella on the opposite side, facing them.

"Bella, what is imprinting?" Bree asked. "I heard Sam talking to Jacob. He said that he didn't think that Seth had truly imprinted on me. What does that mean?" She looked very puzzled.

"It's not easy to explain," Bella answered gently. "From what I know, and I don't know much," she continued. "It's part of Quileute history. When one of their kind meets their true other half, their destiny, if you like, they imprint on them. It's like love at first sight only much more powerful. They will be whatever the object of their imprint wants or needs them to be. They'll be a protector, a friend, a confidant or a lover. Sometimes a combination of all of these things."

"And Seth thinks that he's imprinted on me?" Bree asked, shocked. "He thinks that I am his destiny? How can that be? He's never met me before. What am I supposed to think about this?"

Bella shrugged her shoulders, her hair falling over her face as she leaned over and took Bree's hand.

"I can't answer that Bree," she replied softly. "In my opinion, Seth's imprint is likely to be genuine. He feels tied to you for life. He'll do anything for you, be anything for you. It's up to you now. I'm sure that if you chose to stay away from him, he'd honor your wishes. You have to understand, though, if that was your decision, it would be very painful for Seth."

Bree looked distraught. Her emotions were all over the place. I sent some happy vibes to her.

"I would never want to cause anyone any pain." She spoke in a whisper. "The pack are our friends, they've helped all of us so much. They fought with you against the other newborns, Sam spoke up for me, allowed me to stay with you. I would never forgive myself if I hurt any of them."

She was very upset. I tried calming her as much as I could.

"Bree, darling." Rose implored. "Please don't be upset. None of this is your fault. You didn't ask the mangy mongrel to fall for you. If you don't want to see him, then you don't have to. Your dad and I will make things okay with Sam. I promise." She said sincerely.

"I could kill that mutt," Emmett added, always true to form.

The discussion came to a halt then as the others arrived back. I noticed right away that Alice wasn't with them. I wondered where she had gotten to.

Bella got up immediately and rushed to Edward's side. Their mutual love shone from them both.

Esme announced that Seth and Jacob were coming to dinner that evening and suddenly I was bombarded by anger and annoyance from both Rose and Emmett.

Rosalie had one of her "little" outbursts. I threw calm at both her and Emmett. It was clearly just in time because Emmett's words seemed to have the desired effect and she apologised.

She even offered to help Bella and Esme in the kitchen.

"There's no need, really." Esme said. "Why don't you and Emmett take Bree out for a little while, maybe go for a quick hunt?" she suggested.

"We could do that," Rose responded, relief emanating from her. "If you're sure you don't need my help?"

"You go guy's." Bella laughed. "I'm sure mom and I will manage just fine."

The didn't require any further prompting. They were out of the door in a flash.

Bella left Edward's side and walked with Esme towards the kitchen. Their heads together discussing what they'd cook for the wolves this time.

Carlisle excused himself and went up to his study. I guessed that he'd be looking for scientific answers to our latest dilemma. Or at least studying Quileute history books, to get a better handle on the whole situation.

Finally, my thoughts returned to my missing wife.

"She's gone on her own little mission." Edward answered before I'd even had the chance to ask the question.

I looked at him questioningly.

"Alice had the feeling that there was more to this than met the eye. We both found it almost impossible to believe that a wolf could imprint on a vampire. It's mortal enemy." Edward told me. "I believe that Alice had a notion of what might have allowed this to happen but she was clouding her thoughts, not wishing for me to know exactly what she was thinking." He continued.

"She only does that when she's hedging her bets." I pondered my thoughts aloud. Even though it wasn't necessary.

"I know." Edward replied. "She can't be entirely sure of herself on this matter."

"Understandably, it surely is a strange situation." I returned.

Edward and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing chess. It was a pointless exercise for me. He always won but it was relaxing.

The revolting stench coming from the kitchen told me that dinner was well under way.

It was just after six o'clock when I heard the soft, skipping footsteps of my beloved outside. Alice was back. I hoped she'd have some answers.

She danced through the door, smiling at all of us.

"Esme cooking again?" She asked. "What's the occasion this time?"

"Seth and Jacob are joining Bella for dinner," Edward answered. "Will you please stop that, Alice?" He asked.

This was one of those moments when I had no idea what was happening between them.

"She's reciting Shakespeare in her head," Edward cleared things up for me. "She obviously wants to keep her findings to herself."

I laughed. It always amused me when Alice annoyed Edward by doing this.

"Okay Alice, spill." Edward was clearly impatient. He wanted to know what was going on. How this had happened.

"I don't know if I should tell Bree what I've found out first?" Alice said. "I'm sure she'll be interested."

"We promised Sam that he'd be in on the reveal." Edward responded. "But I think we should be able to consider how he'll react to your news. Same goes for Bree." He added.

"Okay, I agree." Alice said. "Get the others who are here and I'll tell you what I know."

"Carlisle, Bella, Esme." Edward called. "Could you join us please?"

They joined us in a flash. We sat around the table.

"What did you find out Alice?" Carlisle asked.

"A lot." she replied instantly. "As you know, after Bella's encounter with James in the Ballet studio, I got quite interested in genealogy. I learned how to trace lost family members."

Edward physically winced at that particular memory. Alice continued.

"I found it incredibly strange that Billy took to Bree so well. I wished at that point that I had Edward's gift of reading thoughts. I couldn't see anything, but I felt that Billy had a connection to Bree. I felt that I should follow it up."

"What kind of connection do you mean?" Bella asked.

Edward joined in the discussion.

"I read in Billy's thoughts, that Bree was oddly familiar to him. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me."

"That was my feeling too." Alice said. "I went to the records office. The Quileute's don't always record all of their details in the same way we do, but I found out that Billy had a sister. Her name was Nadie. She married Thomas Tanner around 17 years ago in Seattle. They had a daughter just over a year later and named her Breeanne.

"So you think that Bree is Billy's niece?" Carlisle asked.

"I think that it's not only possible, but likely." Alice answered.

"Well that would explain things." I added.

"It would." Edward said.

Bella joined in then.

"I've known Billy and Jacob for a long time. We've talked a lot about family and Jake has never mentioned having an aunt. I know his mom died a long time ago and he has two older sisters who've both left home, but that's the only family he's ever mentioned."

"But, if Bree is Nadie and Thomas's daughter, then Seth's imprinting would be easier to understand," Edward commented.

"Exactly." Alice replied, understandably pleased with herself.

"How, exactly can we find out though." Carlisle questioned. "I wouldn't like Billy to thing that we were bringing up painful parts of his past."

"I don't think we would be." Edward commented. "Most of the tribe will be aware of Nadie's existence. Even if they don't mention her."

"Jacob doesn't though." Bella said. "I'm sure he'd have mentioned her to me at some point."

"So how do you suggest we deal with this?" Alice asked.

Esme joined the conversation.

"I think that we should ask Bree what her biological parents names are, firstly. If they are Nadie and Thomas, then we'll know for sure that we're on the right track. Then we should speak to Billy. Even before we tell Sam. If it turns out that he is Bree's biological uncle, then he should make the decision whether to tell the rest of his people what's happened."

"I agree," said Carlisle. "What do the rest of you think?"

We all nodded in agreement.

"So we speak to Bree when Rose and Emmett bring her home?" I asked.

"No," Edward's response was immediate. "We have guests to entertain this evening. We should get that out of the way first. We can talk to Bree once Jacob and Seth leave."

"That sounds like a plan." Carlisle agreed.

It turned out that we had no time to discuss this further as Rose, Emmett and Bree arrived home just a few minutes later.

They were laughing, playfully, clearly having enjoyed their hunt.

We instantly went back to where we'd been, not wanting to give away the fact that we'd been talking about Bree's possible family just a few seconds ago.

Esme and Bella went back to their cooking. I joined Alice for a hug on the sofa and Carlisle went back to his study. Edward joined him.

"Did you have a good time?" Esme called from the kitchen.

"The best," Bree replied. "We had a game of catch on the way home. I won."

Rosalie and Bree headed to the kitchen to join Bella and Esme. Emmett took up his regular spot in front of the wide screen and immediately put the sports channels on, flicking through them quickly and settling on the highlights of last week's ball games.

"Can we do anything to help?" I heard Bree ask Esme.

"Yes, you can help, actually." Esme replied. "Bree, you can take the bread out of the oven and slice it? Rose, can you please toss a mixed salad?"

The girls pulled a disgusted face at one and other and laughed. Then they set about their given tasks.

"What have you made for dinner?" Rosalie asked, trying to appear interested.

"Mushroom stroganoff, rice, baked potatoes and fresh crusty bread." Bella answered proudly.

"Followed by lemon meringue pie and ice cream." Esme added.

"And a tossed salad," Rose smiled.

"Of course, we couldn't possibly forget your contribution, darling." Emmett called from his place in the living room.

"Don't be dissing my salad," Rose warned him playfully.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he laughed.

The emotions of everyone were so different to they way they'd been earlier. Everyone was much more relaxed, for now at least.

I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be enjoying this happy atmosphere for long.

I was right.

No less than fifteen minutes later, we heard the rumbling engine of Jacob's rabbit trundling up the drive.

Carlisle and Edward came back downstairs to join the rest of the family and we positioned ourselves in our best welcoming positions around the room.

The dining table was set and the unappealing food had been laid out.

Carlisle and Esme went to get the door. Alice and I stood a few steps back from them.

Edward had joined Bella in the kitchen and they were filling pitchers of juice from the huge refrigerator that we had, but rarely used, until recently.

Bree stood between Rose and Emmett. She was nervous again now. Emmett was stroking her arm and telling her not to worry.

Jacob came through the door first, dressed in his signature cut off jeans and a skin tight white tee shirt. Seth followed behind him. I could sense that he was very nervous and a little bit afraid. He had made more of an effort with his clothes. He looked quite smart in a pair of black jeans and a blue button down shirt. His short hair had clearly seen quite a lot of product and was sticking up in a spiky style. He suited it.

"Hi boys." Esme stepped forward and ushered them in. "Dinner is ready, I hope you're both hungry."

"Oh, you know us," Jacob replied. "When are we ever not hungry." he smiled casually.

They stepped past Alice and I and stopped in front of Rosalie, Bree and Emmett.

"I.. er.. wanted to apologise for earlier. To all of you." Seth indicated to their little family as a whole. " I don't know what came over me, Please believe me when I say that I didn't mean to embarrass myself like that. I would never want to make any of you uncomfortable. I'm so sorry."

"Seth," Emmett piped up. "We've all calmed down now. Your actions came as quite a shock to us all but Bella has explained. She told us that you had no control over what happened, so we understand a bit better now. Please try to relax and enjoy your meal."

"Thank you sir." Seth was still worried.

"Oh and for God's sake, stop with the sir. I'm Emmett, same as I was yesterday," he continued, "you know Rosalie, and this is our daughter, Bree."

Bree and Seth looked at each other sheepishly. Seth's face was flushed pink. I was sure that Bree's would be too, if it had been possible.

"Hi Bree," Seth said. "Like I said, sorry about earlier."

"Hello Seth," she replied. "Don't worry about it, in retrospect it was kinda funny." She smiled.

"Something smells great." Jacob commented, clearly trying to diffuse the slightly awkward situation. "I'm starving."

"Come and sit down then." Bella called. "Everything's ready.

Seth and Jacob wandered to the table. They sat down opposite each other. Bella sat at the head of the table between them.

"Shall I be mom?" She asked.

They both nodded and Bella started heaping piles of food on each of their plates. She then took a much lesser amount for herself.

"Okay boys, dig in." Bella commanded. "All of us girls helped with the cooking," she announced. "Even Rosalie and Bree."

Bree walked timidly towards the table.

"I didn't really help with the cooking." she said, honestly. "I only helped take the bread out of the oven and slice it."

"You've sliced it very well." Seth blurted out.

Jacob snorted loudly.

I struggled to suppress the laugh that was trying to escape. I looked at Edward. He was having exactly the same difficulty.

Do you mind if I sit down?" Bree asked.

"Of course not. I'd really like it if you did." Seth beamed, turning pink again in the process.

Bree sat at the far side of the table.

"Is that good?" she asked. "To be honest, it smells pretty horrible to me."

"It's wonderful." Jacob replied. "You girls sure can cook." he added stuffing more food into his mouth.

Rose sauntered over.

"Juice?" she offered.

"Mmm," was the joint response from both boys, they nodded, both of their mouths full.

She took the filled pitchers from the kitchen and poured large glasses for both boys and Bella.

They finished their main course. Bree got up and took the dessert out of the refrigerator. I could tell that she was partially nauseated but, with great effort, she served a large portion of pie to each of the boys and a smaller one to Bella. She then got the ice cream out of the freezer and asked each of them how many scoops they'd like, before adding the ice cream to their plates.

I felt a huge wave of pride coming from Rose, Emmett, Carlisle and Esme.

Bree had overcome her nerves and was beginning to enjoy her evening. She was relaxed around Seth.

When dinner was over, the boys thanked us for our hospitality.

I sensed some nervousness coming from both of them. They were unsure of what to do now. They didn't know whether or not they should leave now.

I aimed a little calm in their direction and the relaxed visibly.

"I foresee a games night!" Alice exclaimed. She jumped up clapping her hands and bounced on the spot.

"Come with me Bree." She ordered.

The two of them ran upstairs and came back down seconds later, their arms filled with boxes of board games.

"What will we play first?" Bree asked, almost as excited as her aunt.

"I think we should play in pairs." Alice suggested. "Carlisle, I know you are going to the hospital, so maybe Jacob would partner Esme?"

"I'd be honored." Jacob said sincerely.

"Can we play scrabble?" Bella asked.

"No way!" Jacob exclaimed. "We wouldn't stand a chance. We've missed so much school, our spelling skills are not what you'd call brilliant."

"What about good old fashioned Monopoly?" Rose asked. "Everyone can play that."

Everyone nodded.

"It's agreed then." Bree said. "Now Edward and Alice, there's to be absolutely no cheating." She insisted.

"As if we'd cheat!" Alice exclaimed, feigning hurt.

We all laughed.

The game began...

Some of you may think that Rosalie and Emmett calmed down too quickly in this chapter. I'm sorry if I disappointed any of you with that. I felt the need to keep the story moving though, so didn't want to dwell on any negativity.

I'm sure daddy bear will have his chance to give Seth the talk!

Please review if you want more...