Chapter 28- Finding Home.

Maine 1950.

"Let me fix that for you." As Jasper leaves the bathroom of our hotel room I step over to him and straighten the collar on his shirt. I smile at him and stand on tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips. "You look perfect."

Jasper gives me a wry look. In the year and a half we've been together his sense of style has come along in leaps and bounds- he's much more debonair than he was and no longer looks like he dressed in something he found in an alleyway (which was in fact where he usually obtained his clothes!) - but he doesn't have the same appreciation for the little details that I do.

"Don't give me attitude," I say with mock sternness. "Not today, of all days!"

"Of course not, ma'am," Jasper bows, and then runs his fingers gently over my hair. "I know how you've been looking forward to it."

I can't resist hugging him, and he laughs as he hugs me back. "It's going to be wonderful," I whisper fervently. "Home with our family at last."

Jasper looks at me with eyes as clear and golden as my own and nods. We've come such a long way together in these past few months; in some ways it feels like it's passed in moments and in other ways it feels like it's already been forever that we've been together.

The transition to an animal diet has not been easy for Jasper. It is still not easy. Eighty five years of feeding from humans is a hard habit to break when every instinct in your body demands it and every sense cries out for that satisfaction.

We spent several months roaming the Canadian wilderness, away from all human scent and temptation while Jasper grew accustomed to hunting animals. Since then we have moved in and out of towns and cities as Jasper learns to hear the siren call of the blood and feel the demanding burn of the thirst and close his mind to it all, maintaining the human façade at all times.

There have been mistakes during that time, many of them. For so long he lived on instinct, his body trained to react to stimuli even before his mind caught up, that it requires a constant, exhausting vigilance for him to keep control. I have slipped too; in the face of his ecstatic, desperate feeding on an unfortunate who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time my control broke too and I tore into the body beside him and shared the forbidden feast.

My visions have shown me that it will likely always be a struggle; but there have been more successes than failures for us and I believe we have much to be proud of. Golden eyed and controlled and able to move among the humans undetected as something other…we have done well, Jasper and I.

Our relationship too has only grown and deepened during our time together. In the beginning it was sometimes difficult because I had known him in visions so long that it was all so sweetly familiar and comfortable to me…and yet to him I was almost a stranger. He had to learn to accept love and understand that it came without strings attached or dark motives underpinning it- it was merely there, his for the taking. Oh, Jasper has learned not only to let me love him, but he learned to love in return and he has bloomed like a flower in the sun with the joy of what he feels now. Alone we have lived in a bubble of perfect passion and caring and happiness, being everything to each other as we learned and explored together.

There is still darkness in his soul and pain in his heart for what he has lived through but he looks for the light now and he usually finds it. And held safe in my embrace he has learned to laugh.

We're ready to go to the Cullens now. I didn't understand at first; just as I didn't want to wait for Jasper I didn't want to wait for our family either, but now that it's over I can see that it was necessary. Jasper was not ready for me, not ready for our life together when I was first made; and I needed time alone for experience, and to learn to be who I am and discover who it was I wanted to become. We have needed this time together, just the two of us, to build a foundation for the relationship that is going to carry us through forever and I have treasured it.

But now we're ready for them. Jasper's control is getting better and I know that being with them will help him. I have loved them from a distance for thirty years and I am aching for it all to become real, finally. So we looked for them and have found them living on an isolated property outside a small town in Maine that they only recently moved to, and today we will at last go to them.

I skip over to where I left my suitcase and toss the book I was reading in on top and snap it closed. Jasper buckles the duffle bag he carries and slings it over his shoulder, then looks at me with a half-smile.

"Ready darlin'?"

"Only for years!" I giggle, tossing my suitcase over to him. Not that I can't carry it just as easily myself, but it is very large and I am very short so people do tend to stare if I do. Much less odd just to have Jasper carry my things…I really do appreciate being a girl.

I pick up the red leather bag that matches so delightfully with the cherry print dress I'm wearing- the same one I wore to meet Jasper, and that is still my very favourite thing I own. I check inside the bag where I have the money I need to pay for the hotel room, and a few other bits and pieces. Briefly I touch the inside pocket that holds my poem and the tarnished, glass beaded bracelet I won in the carnival so long ago…they are my talismans and I want their luck today.

"It's going to be all right, isn't it?" I say, and for the first time ever there is a note of uncertainty in my voice.

Jasper gives me his crooked smile. "Sure it is Alice. Haven't you been telling me so all along?"

I square my shoulders. "You're right. I have…and I'm always right." I giggle at the sceptical look he throws my way, and then together we leave the room.

We walk to the Cullens through the thick forest that surrounds their home, the miles disappearing under our rapid vampire strides. It is only as we get closer that we slow to a more human pace, both of us feeling the same mixed emotions of happiness and anxiety.

"This is it?" Jasper pauses on top of a small rise. Looking down through the trees I can see the outline of a large old wood framed house, the trees growing up almost against its sides.

I nod. We are downwind of the house and I suddenly grip Jasper's hand in mine as a scent, new but familiar, drifts past my nostrils. Vampire. "It's them," I breathe.

Jasper smells it too and his hand tightens on mine, but whereas I feel nothing but excitement I can see the wariness in his face. I stroke his cheek and when he bends down towards me I place a gentle kiss on his tense lips. "It will be fine," I whisper tenderly. "Please my darling, please don't be anxious."

Jasper's hand curves around my head and he presses his forehead against mine, his golden eyes glowing as they look at me from only inches away. "I know. I trust you…let's go."

My face breaks open in a smile, and with a deep breath I lead the two of us down the slope to where we will meet our new family, all currently quite unaware of our existence, let alone our proximity.

Carlisle and Esme are sitting together on the porch. The both rise to their feet as Jasper and I appear from behind the trees, identical looks of shock on their faces as they take us in. I can barely restrain myself from running up the steps and flinging myself into their arms, but I know I shouldn't and instead I squeeze Jasper's hand and give a little hop of excitement.

"They're just as I always saw them!" I squeak. "That's Carlisle and Esme, Jasper!"

Beside me he shivers and makes a quiet noise of surprise. "They're wary," he murmurs. "She's afraid, a little. He is curious…oh."

There's a noise behind them and Rosalie steps out on to the porch, her eyes trained on Jasper and I, her face a mask of suspicion.

"She's frightened," Jasper murmurs, so low I can barely hear him. "Be careful Alice, she will turn aggressor if she feels too threatened…"

I know he only wants to protect me, but there is no need. This is my family, and once they just understand…I move to the bottom of the porch steps and beam at them. "Hello!" I chirp. "I'm Alice and this is Jasper."

I can feel the giggles bubbling up inside me. How can I be speaking such banalities when I have known them and loved them in visions for thirty years? How can I introduce myself when everything about this feels like coming home to me?

Jasper inclines his head but doesn't speak, and I can feel the gentle waves of calm he is sending out. Carlisle's expression doesn't change but I visibly see Esme relax and although Rosalie doesn't stop scowling she shakes her head as if she feels something odd. Carlisle steps forward, regarding Jasper and I with calm curiosity.

"Hello there. You'll forgive us if we were a little surprised to see you. We don't often have visitors, and others of our kind…well." He smiles his familiar smile. "I'm…"

"Carlisle Cullen, I know," I interrupt. "And Esme and Rosalie…where are Edward and Emmett?" I had expected them all to be here and I am disappointed to find that they are not.

"Not at home just at present," Carlisle says. He doesn't elaborate, and I flick through visions, seeing them coming home in the evening with the light golden eyes of having recently fed.

"Oh, hunting," I say, disappointed. "They won't be back until this evening."

Carlisle looks warier now, and Jasper places a hand on my shoulder.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he says, in his gentle drawl. "I am Jasper Whitlock, and this is Alice. We've come a long way to see you. If you'd be prepared to listen to what Alice has to say, she can explain it all." He smiles his crooked smile at me and I kiss his fingers on my shoulder and look hopefully at the Cullens.

"Of course," Carlisle steps back and indicates the comfortable looking solid wood porch furniture. "Sit down and welcome."

I bounce up the steps, dragging Jasper with me. He leaves our bags at the foot of the steps, and the two of us sit together on a long bench seat. Carlisle and Esme sit on the chairs across from us and Rosalie, clearly less than comfortable with our presence, leans against the porch railings with her arms folded defensively.

I have to force myself to sit decorously still, since all I want to do it jump up and down and clap my hands with glee at finally being home. "I don't really know how to start," I say at last. "I've been seeing you for such a long time, I feel as though I know you." I look at their familiar faces and smile. "But you don't know me at all."

"Perhaps you should start from the start," Jasper murmurs at my side. I can tell he is keeping the emotional level around us all low and smooth.

"Yes." I take a deep breath. "I became a vampire back in 1920. I woke alone, and I don't know what happened before that. I don't remember being human at all, or who changed me. But right from the moment I became conscious I began seeing things in my mind. Flashes of knowledge and visions of the future. I saw Jasper right away, and I knew that I would find him eventually and we would be together. And then I saw you." I hesitate. "I saw all of you…us…together. A family." I clench my fists, feeling awash in the same desperate feeling of longing I felt so long ago.

Jasper strokes my hand. "Alice found me about a year and a half ago. She told me about what she had seen and she taught me to hunt animals and live without feeding from humans, as she herself had been doing for some years. As she saw you did."

Carlisle leans forward and I meet his gaze. He's smiling, still looking a little confused, but I know he can see the clear gold of our eyes and that backs up our words. "You saw that?"

"Not at the start," I say honestly. "I saw your eyes, I knew what you all looked like but I didn't understand the visions then. I wasn't sure at first about the time of it, you see- it took a little while before I understood that I could be seeing things from any point in the future. It was Garrett who told me about hunting animals."

"You know Garrett then?" Carlisle leans back in his chair. It is clear he finds my story intriguing.

"I met him early on," I tell him. "He was the first vampire I ever met, fortunately for me because I was making something of a mess of things!" I giggle. "All I had were my visions and my instincts. Garrett taught me about secrecy and blending in, and when I asked him if he knew you all he told me about you, Carlisle. He said you were alone when he'd seen you last, which was a few years before."

Carlisle looks thoughtful. "You said 1920? Yes, of course it was only Edward and I then, and he didn't meet Garrett until later."

"I saw the others join you over time," I say, glancing at Esme. "I saw you…fall. And I saw Carlisle bite you, and I was so happy to know that you were together. I saw you save Emmett from the bear," I say to Rosalie, deliberately not mentioning her own end. "I was so lonely all those years that I was waiting, but it comforted me to know that you all had each other. I have wanted to come home to you so much! I know that you might find it hard to understand just yet, but we're all going to be a family, and it's going to be so good for everyone."

Carlisle and Esme are smiling at us, but Rosalie's face is nothing but unfriendly as she looks from Jasper and I to Carlisle and Esme.

"You believe this story?"

Carlisle raises his eyebrows at her and she rolls her eyes.

"And really, if it's true, does that make it any better?" Rosalie says aggressively. "Isn't it bad enough having Edward around eavesdropping on everyone's private thoughts? Do we really need another psychic in the house?"

"Rosalie," Esme murmurs soothingly, but I can't help giggling.

"I'm not like Edward," I tell Rosalie brightly. "I can't read your mind, I just see what you're going to do, and the visions change if you change your mind…you won't mind me once you're used to it. Well, you won't mind me much," I amend, feeling the need to be honest here. I look back at Carlisle and Esme with pleading eyes. "You do believe me? We can stay?"

Carlisle glances at Esme and Rosalie, and nods. "We'd be happy to have you stay. I'm not sure I fully understand your visions Alice, but it will be a pleasure to get to know you both."

I beam at him. "You won't be sorry. I've seen it, we're meant to be a family, all of us." I look at Jasper. "Our room is at the top of the stairs."

Rosalie laughs suddenly, and her beautiful face is transformed. "That's Edward's room," she says.

I giggle back at. "Not anymore," I say as she looks at me with a gleam of amusement in her eyes, and it's the first moment of connection between me and this beautiful vampire girl who is going to be my sister.

AN- Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone reading this! I hope you all have a lovely holiday, and thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to review or pm me~ I appreciate it so much, and it makes the whole writing process so much more enjoyable to have that feedback as I'm going along!

I don't know how I'll go updating this over the next week or so, but I will be back and it will be finished off, promise. But for now it's Christmas Eve and I get to go and play Santa for my little ones…yay!