Family and the Fortress
***Jasper's point of view***(Early November)
By the time Rosalie arrived, the first phase of the house had been completed and phase two was well underway, a full two months ahead of schedule thanks to vampire stamina. Bella was working day and night to make the house habitable and seemed to find a release for her anxiety while doing so.
She had been extremely tense these last few weeks and I was worried about what she would be like when the ones who had really hurt her arrived. She had finished the moldings; painting, wallpaper, and most of the decorating in the first phase of the house, the only rooms that she left unfinished were the ones that she had reserved for our family members. I was displeased to note that not only had she given me and Alice separate bedrooms but also one to share. When I asked her about it she simply shrugged and told me it was just in case.
I asked her if she had a room picked out for her and I and she simply smiled and said 'but of course'. I loved that she was prepared for anything but I didn't think she needed a bedroom for my ex-wife and I… Bella was more secure in our relationship then that; wasn't she? When I confronted her about it she told me that it was easy to be over Alice when I hadn't seen her in months but it might be harder to be over her when she lived just down the hall. I conceded the point but I knew that my mind would never change; I had found my true mate.
Rosalie hid out in the first few weeks that she was here. I think she was afraid to face Bella without an apology and she feared Bella would reject her apology which kept her from talking their problems out.
I was thankful that Esme arrived when she did. She sort of smoothed the way for Rosalie. Esme and Bella had had a heart to heart the night she arrived about everything; her love for Edward, his departure, how she felt about the family abandoning her, her love for me and all about the house. I don't know what Esme said but it was the perfect thing. Bella was lighter in her approach to the family and was no longer withdrawn and nervous.
Esme also talked Rosalie in to helping Bella and her in the completion of the house. It is amazing that the two women bonded not only with their mother but with each other over tile, paint and plaster. I was stunned when Rosalie and Bella came out of the grand ballroom one evening with their arms linked and laughing over something Emmett did years ago.
I was glad that my twin and my hopefully soon to be wife. I hadn't asked her yet but I felt that I needed to show Bella that I was committed I knew that it wasn't as big of a deal in today's world as it was when I was young but I would make the gesture all the same.
I knew that Emmett would be very pleased that his wife and little sister were getting along. He had never told Rosalie but he was really hurt that she wouldn't try to be nice to Bella for his sake; he loved Bella from the first day that Edward brought her home and he couldn't stand the fact that Rosalie was so jealous of her.
Since the three girls were working almost none stop they had soon finished furnishing the first phase of the house and moved on to the completed parts of phase two. When they finished with that they began to help the construction crews.
I knew the house would be finished in a fraction of the time that had anticipated but it would still be worth it in the end. As long as Bella was happy with it, I didn't care when it was finished.
The girls had worked extra hard on Rosalie and Emmett's room, and Esme and Carlisle's bedroom and his study; they spent more time in the families rooms then they did on any of the individual rooms.
Carlisle arrived and quickly settled, I didn't know it at the time but Bella had set Carlisle up with his own practice on the mainland. She made it a gift from us. He was thrilled and was extremely happy. People were fairly poor in this area and were grateful to our family. By putting in a resort Bella was bringing tourist to their area and helping the local businesses. They were also extra excited to have a Doctor who would adjust prices and make healthcare affordable to them, it was especially important that they had a one because it was about a hundred miles to the next hospital, the only thing even remotely close to a Doctor were people who offered home remedies.
I could feel how pleased he was everyday when he returned from work. He had always taken pride in saving lives but these people made him feel like he was really making a difference. He felt more fulfilled in this community then he ever had before at the hospital.
Esme was also exceptionally pleased. Bella had allowed her to take over the designs for the resort and Esme had taken off running, it was also coming along much faster than anticipated, at this rate we would be able to have guests by the first of the year.
As it became closer to the time that Alice would arrive at the manor, Bella started to become nervous again, she spent many nights telling me how she felt about the family and their leaving her, with my support she had decided that she needed to speak to each member of the family the way she had with Esme. Since Rosalie and Carlisle were already here she started with them. Rosalie was the easiest because they had only really started to get to know each other in the last month. She spent hours talking with Carlisle but once again when she returned it was with a lighter heart and a brighter smile.
So far the transition and reacquainting with the family had gone smoothly; I knew she would have no trouble talking with Emmett, Just Alice and Edward. She became increasingly upset as it came closer to the time that Alice would be here. The night before she was a nervous wreck and there was nothing that I could do to make her feel at ease.
She feared Alice, she knew Alice was my past and I think she felt that Alice would also be my future. I also think that Alice's abandonment hurt Bella the more than Edward's. She could understand Edward, he had left to protect her, but Alice had left because Edward had said so, and Bella couldn't understand why Alice would just walk away so easily. Bella had turn to her other best friend in this time of need, she figured that Jacob would be the most objective person to tell her what she should do about Alice. Jacob also kept her informed about Renee and Charlie. She had spoken to each of her parents over the phone, telling them about all the business classes she was taking and sending them pictures of the house telling them it was a dorm room, at a private college.
Bella and I were as close as ever but whenever we had intimate moments, there was a desperation in the way she clung to me, a fierceness in her kiss and even when we were just silent and wrapped in each other's arms I could feel the sorrow radiating off of her.
I think she was trying to hold me as close as possible while simultaneously pulling away to make the separation easier when I returned to Alice. I had no intentions of doing so but she always told me I might feel different when Alice stood before me. I couldn't make her trust in my love no matter how much I desperately wanted too. She told me that she wanted me to be able to go back to Alice if I choose to without feeling torn or guilty about leaving her. We both knew how much we loved one and other, we could feel it but at the same time, there was a small part of our hearts that remembered our old loves, we both feared that when our old loves returned we would leave our new one.
We often discussed our exes. We also discussed what we would do if we did go back to our exes or if we stayed together, I could talk forever about Bella and I but I had very little to say about me and Alice, she seemed to have the same trouble with Edward.
The hours passed and Alice was finally here. Bella refused to leave the bungalow and suggested that I go and see her; she even talked me into spending a few days at the big house with Alice before I made my final decision to be with Bella.
As per my loves request I went up to stay at the big house. I stayed in my private room and sulked for hours on end. I finally decided to man up and made the decision to go to my study, which Bella had beautifully decorated in hunter green and a rich chocolate brown. I left the door open so that anyone could walk in and talk to me.
Alice's room was a floor above mine so I was quite surprised when she solemnly danced past my door a few times before she finally decided to come in and speak to me. I was hesitant to show her the room Bella had made for "us." The door was open and she commented on how lovely it was but I kept quiet and continued on to the room that I had deemed "Alice's only."
She was just as she had always been; she even looked at me with those same adoring eyes. The way I had missed terribly in the last months of our marriage. I didn't feel that stirring in my soul the way I had. She was a fond memory and a dear friend but the spark that use to tingle so pleasantly through my body when she was near was no longer present. I was vastly relieved that I was truly over her and could move on with my life. I only hoped that the same could be said for my sweet Bella and Edward.
Alice was disappointed that Bella wouldn't come and talk to her and Alice was too ashamed of leaving Bella to seek her out. Edward was scheduled to arrive in three weeks and we were all feeling the strain. The tension was so thick it could suffocate you. It didn't help that I still needed to tell Alice that she and I were truly over. I hadn't known if I needed to say it but our talks were strained and I had a feeling that if I didn't acknowledge it she would not either.
I was over a week before Alice came to my study again and asked if we could talk. She looked like if she had been able to cry she would have been sobbing uncontrollably. She told me everything. All about the visions, and the need for me to believe we were over so that I could physically love Bella and change her. How I was supposed to return and still love her, and how she didn't know what had happened.
I was angry and hurt that she had deceived me so. That she would destroy everything we had built together because she wanted someone to turn her best-friend and was not strong enough to do it herself. I almost screamed with rage but quickly stifled the urge after all her deception led me to the truth. I forgave her because I could understand the logic of her reasoning and knew she had done it as much for the family as herself. Alice wasn't hurt that I had fallen in love with Bella, but she was heartbroken when she learned that I was no longer in love with her. She accepted it gracefully and expressed that she only wished the best for Bella and I, with both her words and feelings. She knew how hard it was to resist our instincts, especially as Arazils. She had always known that I had chosen her to be my wife but that my vampire self had not. I think she always had a small doubt that I would find a real mate and that is why she let me go so easily. She was sad we would no longer be mates but she had vision of a future with someone if I hadn't taken her back. I knew she would not begrudge us our happiness but the same couldn't be said for my brother.
After our little heart to heart, Alice informed the rest of our family everything that had happened that led us to this moment. I knew that some of the details were known but not all of them. The family was a little upset with Alice but she was forgiven by us all, she only needed to obtain the forgiveness of Bella and Edward now. Since I had made my choice, Alice's visions cleared up and was filled with love and happiness, Bella's future with me was happy but a lot of it was hazy because Edward had made no decisions, because he was still mostly out of the loop. I hoped he wouldn't do anything rash.
During this family meeting, Alice was struck by a vision that Edward and Emmett would be forced to come early because the Volturi were visiting and they were in terrible danger if they didn't leave immediately. They were interested in Bella because of Demetri. Luckily only Edward was home and didn't know Bella's location so he was not lying when he told them that he didn't. This wouldn't stop them for long, they would track the boys and attempt to follow them, and the only way to save us is if they were under Bella's shield when Demetri attempted to track them next time. It would take them some time to track them the old fashioned way which would allow us to settle our differences and formulate a plan.
Thankfully the guards lost interest quickly and forgot about Bella, almost as soon as they had left the house but I knew Aro would not forget and it wouldn't be long before he sent the guard out after her. If Aro didn't remember, I am sure Demetri would remind him, from Bella's memories he was quite interested in her, I was insanely jealous but I knew that the only rival I had was Edward. Aro wouldn't be satisfied until he had met Bella, tested her powers and attempted to make her join his guard. I feared his inability to read her would increase his curiosity instead of diminish it.
It was then that I was thankful that Bella and I had kept all of her powers under wraps with the exception of her shield, which everyone already knew about so it was pointless to keep it quiet. I prayed Aro would lose interest in her quickly, since he already had a physical shield, I knew he was greedy but it wouldn't be worth it to him to fight us for something he already had.
As usual hope was in vein, the fates truly hated me. Bella was a black hole for danger, sucking it in all across the galaxy. It seems that Bella's beauty had been spread thought the guard by Demetri and both he and Felix often asked Aro about her, thank god that Bella allowed Alice to see or we would have been blind to their movements.
Demetri knew I was married to Alice, but assumed Bella was single especially because the only single Cullen had been hiding in an attic halfway around the world. He had missed our little show above the club. He had brought a letter to Edward and Emmett, informing them that if they could not make it to Volterra soon, then Aro would bring the guard to them. Demetri could still find my brothers; they needed to get to the island quickly.
Alice hadn't seen Demetri arriving because it had been a split second decision, the three weeks they had to close the house and settle all of our affairs in Alaska were cut short to the three days they had had and four hours after Demetri left, she refused to give them any more time than that. She said those hours were clear and that they had to be on the plane by the end of three hours.
After a family discussion we figured when the Volturi couldn't reach us in Alaska they would try the white house. When we were still not to be found they would begin to track us. Hopefully none of us would be outside of the shield when they did that. Even Carlisle practice fell into the shield so he wouldn't have to give up working. We experimented and it seems that as long as Bella had already shielded someone she could hold it not matter the distance but we had only tried it for about twenty or thirty miles. We were too afraid to try it any further than that.
This helped the soldier in me to calm down a bit. We could only hope to be ready. Hope for the best and plan for the worse. It was this thought that had Carlisle and I pouring over the blueprints. Together we discovered that in addition to Bella's shield we were also protected by Bella's little fun house, which also served as a fortress. She had created the house for two purposes to distract vampires and to protect us from invaders whether they were outside the house or within.
There were sliding panels, trap doors, secret passages. Cells designed to hold vampires that if they tripped the traps they would end up going through a series of tunnels and being locked into one of those cells. The only way out was if someone released them from the outside; which if they were here to kill us was highly unlikely. Everything was very strategic, she must have been planning this out for a long time, she had planned this house perfectly, and I almost wondered if she had somehow tapped into Alice's gift and foresaw a battle.
I had thought she was merely distracting herself form her emotions and the future. I had never realized that there was method to her madness. I was frankly amazed, when I had told her about Aro and his guard and the newborn armies, she hadn't seemed very interested but she must have been paying apt attention to build the perfect place to battle either force.
I used my experience in the south to develop a series of plans- some for peaceful gatherings, some for battles or escape routes. It was the perfect place. I studied the plans and gave a detailed outline for each of the scenarios I had planned. It was the perfect place for a battle, at least against enemies… but what do you do when your biggest enemies is your very own brother.
I know that I had told myself that I would step aside for my brother if that was what Bella wished but now that the time was almost upon me I wasn't sure I would be able to keep my promise. I wasn't sure if I could gracefully stand aside and be happy with the time she had allowed me. I wanted to do the right thing but what if the right thing for Bella and Edward wasn't the right thing for me. I loved Bella, I would be the man she needed me to be, I would either love her forever from beside her or if she chose Edward from afar; but either way I would always love her and be there for her no matter what the future held.