SM owns Twilight

Chapter Thirty Seven: Mated

Songs: In The Darkness - Dead By Sunrise

Sadness (Part 1) - Enigma

Jasper POV

Bella and I walked hand in hand back to the house just as the full moon began making its presence known in the sky. She shivered in the cold and I wrapped my arm around her, even though I wouldn't be giving her any heat. Her happiness and mine flowed around us, a living, breathing entity.

The day had not gone as I had planned, that was for sure. It had gone better. My mind kept twirling over the images as Bella said yes. Soon Bella would be my wife. We were just as the back kitchen door and walking in when my phone began to ring. It was Carlisle with a text message to call immediately.

Bella's stomach growled as she smelled the kitchen. Whatever smelled rotten to me, obviously was wonderful to her. Her hunger took a turn toward fear when she saw who was standing at the stove. His back was to us, but that didn't stop Bella's feelings. She was afraid to see his red eyes again.

I sent Peter a dose of what Bella was feeling and I felt his back stiffen, then his shoulders hunched. He was incredibly sorry for teasing her and hoped making her dinner would start the apology period.

"Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes, I can bring it up if Bella would like to rest?" His voice was low and sad. Peter didn't turn around and kept himself busy, trying to stay out of Bella's sight. I could tell it was important for him that Bella liked him. Hell, it was important to me.

"I would like to go lay down. I'm not feeling well." Bella's voice was small and I could feel her fatigue, it had been a rough day on her.

"What's wrong, darlin?" I began steering her through the kitchen.

"Headache. I just need to lay down for a few." I could smell the flush in her cheeks but she wasn't blushing. I hoped that being out in the chilly air hadn't made her sick again.

Behind me I heard a rattle and caught the bottle of pain relievers as Peter threw it at my back. He was still afraid to talk. Bella kept walking and swayed slightly, grabbing the newel post on the stairway.

Before she could ask, I scooped her up and flew to the upstairs, laying her on our bed. "Do you want some aspirin, sweetheart?" I held out the bottle that Peter had thrown me. She shook her head.

"I missed my pills earlier. Can you get them for me, there in my bag?" Her eyes tightly closed and I could feel the pain from her head. I'd kept her outside in the damp too long. Carlisle was going to have my head.

"I'll be right back." Running out to the helicopter I grabbed her bag and was once again at her side before she could move.

Just as I was remembering that her pills needed to be taken with food, there was a knock on the door. Going to the door, I opened it. There was a tray of dinner, a long stem red rose sat in a vase with a square box with a bow and a small card. Smiling at their thoughtfulness in giving Bella a gift, I picked up the tray and said my thanks to the empty hall.

"This wasn't exactly the romantic dinner I had planned." Setting the tray briefly aside, I help Bella sit up on the bed. She groaned and clutched her head in pain. I felt like an ass for not waking her for lunch on the plane, Carlisle had told me that missed dosages in her medication could cause headaches and dizziness and in my excitement over the day, I'd forgotten.

"It looks wonderful." She smiled even as she winced and began eating. Curiosity ate at her to the contents of the box and the card, but put her need for medication first.

Twenty minutes later, she finished. Already she was looking and feeling a little better. According to Carlisle the medicine was powerful and side effects from missing a dose could be severe. He hadn't liked giving it to her, and now I felt crappy for making her miss a dose. Leaning back, she closed her eyes briefly, the quick acting medicine starting to take affect.

"How are you feeling now?" I removed the empty dish and was back in a flash to sit by her side.

"Better, dinner was good. Tell him I'm sorry for being so afraid. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings, and to thank him for dinner." Bella's eyes looked downcast. She felt silly for being afraid of Peter, even with his red glowing eyes.

"You could always tell him yourself. I think he'd like to apologize to you as well." I knew I was goading her, but I didn't want her afraid of him needlessly.

"I will try, I can't say that I won't be afraid, but I'll try." She tried to find the courage in herself to face her fear and I was incredibly proud of her.

"Are you going to open your present?" I was curious to see what my wayward friends had gotten for her.

"You didn't have to get me anything, especially after this." She looked at the square cut diamond in its antique setting, surrounded by smaller diamonds and smiled. I would have loved to have given her my mother's, but alas it remained buried with her. I had taken an old family photo to a jeweler in Seattle and had him create a reproduction. Considering the smallness of the picture he'd worked with, it was damn close.

"That is from Peter and Charlotte, and I have no idea what it is." Bella's curiosity and embarrassment picked up again. She felt so ashamed for the way she had treated Peter.

Slowly she opened the card first, her pain picking up again as two tears fell from her eyes. I took the card from her. "Bella, in loving Jasper, you give us one of our greatest wishes, that he would find his true mate. We look forward to having a sister and to being a family." It was signed by both Peter and Charlotte.

I never thought much about what I had taken from them when I'd left. While I'd had life with Alice and the Cullens, I had left them to walk the world alone. I had done so wrong by them in not giving them the guidance and counsel that Carlisle had given me. I had robbed them of what I'd grown so used to having, a family. Alice had never approved of Peter and Charlotte, feeling they were a bad influence to my new vegetarian lifestyle. Yeah, I checked in with them now and then, but that was it. Somehow I would find a way to make it up to them, to prove my love for them, now especially. Without Peter and Charlotte's love and friendship, I wouldn't be here now with my mate, my Bella. I think Carlisle knew it was time, time for me to start my own coven.

Bella was staring at me and I could feel her love and understanding. Grabbing my hand she squeezed it. I was glad to feel her and that she was feeling better. Almost as if she knew my mind, I heard Bella's words and they made the final decision.

"I will follow you anywhere and stand beside you."

"So you would be okay with it, then, living apart from the Cullens. I know how much they all mean to you, and I won't take that away. This has to be your decision as well as mine." Gripping her hand, I thought of the possibilities and felt the excitement begin to grow. I was ready for this, because of Bella, I was ready to take the responsibility for the family that I had and would create.

"They will always be family, Jasper, for both of us. Just because we will live apart from them doesn't mean that we won't see them. It's what families do, they grow and evolve. We're not leaving the family. We're just adding to it. Besides, I'm not planning on being a Cullen, Jasper. I fully plan being Bella Whitlock. Peter and Charlotte will be just as much a part of the family as Emmett and Rosalie. I won't have it any other way. They're family too, no matter the color of their eyes. Your venom is in their veins, just like someday it will in mine. If the Cullens can't or won't accept that, then it is their loss, and I hope we will all stay at least friends."

Even knowing her fear of them that Bella would stick up for Peter and Charlotte made my love for her soar. I didn't understand what I had done in life to deserve her, but I was thankful. As long as I had her by my side, I could do anything. That she accepted Peter and Charlotte as family was a testament to the amazing woman, Bella was.

"Go on, open your present." Squeezing her fingers, I let her go.

Tentatively she picked up the box and opened it, letting out a huge gasp. Inside was a beautiful Victorian era silver locket. Her fingers shook as she opened it and yet again tears began running from her eyes.

"What is it darlin?" I hated seeing her cry, even if it was happy tears.

"Take me to them please. I have to say, thank you."

Gently she handed the locket to me, and I opened it. Sealed behind the glass was a small picture of me in uniform. It was a picture taken for officer identification papers. Where they had gotten it, I had no clue.

Bella's fingers were shaking as she took the locket back from my hand and fumbled with the clasp. Taking it once again I quickly opened it and put it around her neck. She touched it lovingly and I could see how much it meant to her.

Scooping her up, I ran out of the house and into the night. On the other side of the pond, Peter and Charlotte had redone the old slave quarters into their home. I had tried to get them to use the nicer foreman's house, but they preferred the water.

Peter and Charlotte were just opening the door as we came up the steps. Even with Peter's red eyes, glowing in the moonlight, it didn't stop Bella as she all but flung herself from my arms and into theirs.

Bella's thank you, and I'm sorry, met with curiosity, bewilderment and instant love. I watched as my oldest friends both wrapped Bella up in their arms. Bella's love for them felt so much like the love she had for the Cullens, stalwart and true.

"Would you like to come in?" Peter kept his eyes downcast and tried to stay into the shadows. Bella in her unfailing way of overcoming her fears, bent and looked up into Peter's eyes, the earlier fear, gone.

"Yes, I would." Playfully she flicked his cowboy hat back and with Charlotte marched into the lion's den.

"She is special, isn't she." He looked at me in shock and awe as if he just found out there is a Santa Claus.

"Yes, she is, and I don't deserve one hair on her head."

"Yeah you do. You've changed man. I've known you forever and I could tell the minute you got here."

We turned as we heard familiar female laughter from inside the house. It warmed me to see Bella so at ease with Charlotte, and Char with her. Alice would always put her nose out of joint and try to fix her, but Char would never allow it. Bella and she were going to be two peas in a pod before long.

"Crap, I can see it now, there's going to be trouble with them two. We're in for it."

"Trouble, how?" All I could pick up from them was friendship and happiness. I watched as Peter lit a cigarette and leaned against the railing, looking out over the water.

"Thick as thieves already. We're never going to get away with crap now. Listen to them, I bet you ten bucks they're in there formulating a plan to give us hell. Just wait and watch."

Suddenly the house was quiet, all I could hear was scratching and a giggle from Bella. They both came to the doorway looking and feeling mischievous. Peter was right, damn it, they were up to something.

"So Major, what's this I hear about you not even having the nerve to get past second base." Char looked at me, pure evil in her eyes as she rubbed seductively against her husband. Bella followed suit and I wondered just what in the hell had they bonded over in five minutes.

"I told you man, trouble." Peter groaned and tried to shove off his adoring wife.

"I'm beginning to see that." Bella obviously feeling better, was now acting like a minx. She was taking to tormenting my frail libido by running one finger under my T-shirt, just along the top of my jeans. Her breasts were rubbing against my back as she wrapped her arms around me, placing her hands just inside the front of my jeans, jeans that were now too tight. God, what was she doing to me?

Looking to my right, I saw that Peter was grabbing the railing as tight as I was. He was right, these two were up to no-good, but damn it felt nice. Giddiness spiked in Bella but I paid no attention as her fingertips reached lower, just brushing against me. From the darkness of my lust-filled daze, I heard Charlotte say 'Now!"

The hard shove from Bella came from nowhere and being unprepared, my body went forward, hard and over the railing. Peter hit the water milliseconds before me. We both came up sputtering and glaring at the two women who dared to high five each other on the deck.

"Now you know how I've been feeling for the past two months, Major, all wet and left in the cold."

"Hey Pete, wasn't the last time you got me hot and bothered that night in the 60's when we ate a hippy and got stoned?"

The delight and laughter radiating from Bella and Charlotte at their prank, made my heart light. For so long Bella had been tired, sick, withdrawn and just too damn depressed for her own good. If it took me getting thrown into the pond to make her happy then I'd let her do it a million times. Teasing me however, especially with my aching libido was a whole different story. For that she would pay.

"Didn't I tell you that those two would be trouble? Now I've got fish swimming in my shorts and their laughing at us. I don't know what you're going to do to yours, and don't want to, but I know what I'm going to do to mine." Peter was out of the water in a shot, and chasing Charlotte out into the night.

Slowly I stood, water dripping from me. Bella was still giggling on the deck, but it was becoming nervous. One step at a time I made my way from the pond, growling at her. Bella began to back up, still happy but her nervousness was building. She began feeling for the door and couldn't find it.

I went to climb on the deck, my feet planted, all I had to do was cross the railing. Suddenly Bella's demeanor changed and I felt a crash of pure evil. Running forward, she pushed me, again. With my hands, yet to grab the deck, I went back, splashing into the murky water yet again.

As I broke through the water, Bella was laughing. Looking at me, still laughing, she took off running for the house. Luckily for us, Carlisle had been getting her to exercise on the treadmill to strengthen her heart, or she would have given me the heart attack.

I let her get about fifty yards away before I jumped from the pond to the deck in one go. Her heart beat was the strongest I'd heard it in months as she ran and laughed, occasionally looking over her shoulder. I let her get almost to the house before I sped up and caught her, flipping her over my shoulder. Her laughter was the sweetest music I'd ever heard, and the strength of her heartbeat, the greatest song.

"You, woman, just cost me one of my favorite pairs of boots." I cringed at the squish of water as I walked. Opening the back door, I paused long enough to pull the offending boots off with one hand as Bella wiggled in the grip of the other.

Not only were my jeans just as tight in the groin as they were before, but the wetness made them even worse.

Flipping her over to the front of me, I pulled her hard against me, the hardness of me rubbing tight against her. She gasped, her eyes wide. "Between this morning and now, I've had just about as much teasing as I'm going to take from you, woman. I'll show you who can't pass second base." Winding my hand in her hair, I found her mouth with mine. Her lips and mouth were hot as I swirled my tongue around hers.

Bella's hands were bunching in my wet T-shirt and I stopped just long enough to take it off and toss it aside. Her sweater had become wet from being over my shoulder and quickly I tugged and had it off her before she could blink.

Lifting her by her thighs, I wrapped her legs around my waist and again claimed her mouth. Her breasts felt so good against me. With a flick of my hand, I undid her bra strap in the front and pulled it from her. I needed to feel her skin against me. Bella gasped slightly at feeling my cold wet skin and knotted her hands in my hair.

My lips left her mouth and began trailing down her neck. I began walking through the house and up the stairs, all the while nibbling and sucking on the pulsating vein of her neck and shoulder. For an instant the Angel of Death reared his head at being so close to the blood it craved, but I reeled him in. Her hot hands were touching me everywhere they could, leaving a trail of fire that I never wanted quenched.

Tonight was the night that I would make her mine, my mate. Kicking open our bedroom door, I walked to the bed and set Bella down. For a moment she looked disappointed. Standing, I pulled off my wet socks and began undoing my belt buckle.

Just as I was undoing my belt buckle, my phone on the nightstand rang. Damn, Alice, and her timing. Forget ringing her neck the next time I saw her, I was going to pull it from her shoulders. Letting the phone ring, I bent forward and kissed Bella making sure her lust was still strong. Again the phone rang, and again. This had better be important.

"I'll be right back." Luckily Bella understood, any call we got from family was important enough to answer. Snatching the phone, I turned and strode into the hall, closing the door behind me.

"This had better be good, and I mean, really fucking good." The angry whisper that came through me was loud enough just for Alice to hear.

"Are you sure you're ready for this step, Jazz?" Her voice was soft and unhurried like it had been in the past.

"Damn it Alice, you can't keep doing this." My grip tightened on the phone and I forced my hand to relax.

"I'm sorry. I had to let you know what could happen. For God's sake, Jasper, she's a virgin, have you thought of that?"

I hadn't. "I always assumed that she and Edward . . . I could feel how much she wanted him, and him, her." The lust that had poured off the two was enough to make me run.

"You've got to be kidding me. Edward barely kissed her let alone anything else. She's gone the farthest with you she's ever been, Jasper. She's not embarrassed around you." I could hear Alice's exasperation and exhaustion. The metallic sound of springs told me she'd just sat down. Her voice had me worried, what if I hurt Bella?

"What could happen? Tell me what you saw, Alice." I was fighting the urge to yell at her through the phone, but didn't want to alert Bella. Her mood was going toward frustration and jealousy.

"There's different scenarios. One, you kill her; two, you change her, the change doesn't work and she dies; three, you change her and it works; four, she's perfectly fine, content and happy. I want to believe in the happy one, but the odds are too close to call.' By her silence I could tell that Alice was searching her visions. 'Well, good news at least you don't kill her outright anymore. My calling changed that. But the change still might not work, Jazz. She could still die."

"Search again. Damn it. I don't want to lose her Alice. I can't." Worry gnawed at me. Just knowing there was a possibility that Bella could die was too much. Slowly the seconds ticked by until Alice came back.

"It's still there, Jasper. Please be careful, I know you can control yourself. I know you love her, Jazz. I'm glad that you do. Bella's your true mate, Jazzy. I have faith in you, be happy, and congratulations. Tell Bella that I love her, but I won't make the wedding." A click and then dial tone told me that Alice had hung up her phone.

I hadn't needed Alice's approval to be happy, but did sense a weight lifting from my shoulders. Maybe I had been looking for her approval since walking into that damn diner. Right now I could feel Bella's lust almost waning away. Sending it back to her through the door, I opened it and found her waiting. She didn't ask who it was, but I could tell she knew.

Thankful that I'd left the phone in the hall, I closed the door and stalked the few feet to Bella, sending her a heavy dose of lust, the lust I was feeling just looking at her.

Bella's excitement and nervousness rose exponentially. Her teeth began biting down on her lower lip and I all but growled. Did she know how hot it made me when she did that? Quickly I removed my wet jeans, almost ripping the fabric off when it didn't come quick enough. I was left in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs. I'd begun wearing underwear since Bella began living with me. Now I would go back to commando without having to worry.

I knew that Bella had seen the scars on my arms, chest, neck and jaw, but never the lower parts of me, which in same cases was worse. I knew with her human eyes she wouldn't pick up all of them, but some were too big not to be noticeable.

Waiting for repulsion or even sadness, I didn't expect the overwhelming lust that hit me as if aiming for a bullseye. Bella's breathing picked up as well as her heart. Without saying a word, she held out her arms and I went to her, going to my knees in front of the bed. Her hands caught in my hair as I took her left nipple in my mouth, sucking hard enough to make her cry out. She tasted so good. I moved to the other nipple, doing the same, loving the sounds coming from her throat and the smell of her arousal.

Slowly I worked the tab and zipper down on her jeans. The smell of her was potent and I breathed her scent deep into my lungs. My hands roamed her body, caressing her breasts, her back and stomach. Everywhere I touched was soft and warm. Raising my head from kissing her belly, I saw her head thrown back and her eyes closed.

"I want you, Jasper, please make me yours." The words came in pants as her eyes opened, catching mine staring at her.

Inch by inch I began pulling her jeans over her hips, hooking her panties and taking them along and down her legs until she was bare. As her scent assuaged me, all I wanted to do was drown in it. I couldn't wait to taste her, to hear her screaming my name. Once her jeans lay tossed aside, I bent my head toward what I wanted most and that was to taste her. A small patch of dark curls, hid what I wanted. With one finger I touched her, loving the gasp that drove from her chest. She was already so wet for me.

With the utmost gentleness I ran my finger around the opening to heaven. She was so hot I was sure she would burn me to ash, but what a way to go. In infinitesimal amounts I moved my finger inside her. The heat of her was only next to her tightness. Bella was gasping for breath above me, having laid-back on the bed, her hands were clutching at the quilt. I stopped when I reached the barrier of her virginity.

It filled me with an ultimate sense of joy to know that I would be Bella's first. It had always been a running bet between Emmett and Rose to how far they'd gone. I alone had felt Bella's sexual frustration too many times, I should have guessed earlier that she was a virgin. In small strokes I began pumping my finger in and out of her, loving the way her hips bucked against me. Bending forward, I sucked her clit into my mouth and within moments rewarded with her first orgasm. Bella bucked up hard against me and I replaced my finger with my mouth, drawing her orgasm out of her as she cried above me.

Her taste was heaven, and better than any blood, human or animal, that ever crossed my tongue. Even Bella's blood was no comparison to this. Just the taste of her alone was worth dying for. My cock set to burst as she came down, panting hard on the bed. Pausing I listened to her heart, feeling relief when it kept beating strong and steady.

"I need you, my love, my Jasper, I need all of you." The words panted staccato as I climbed up on the bed with her. Bella's hands roamed my body freely and I relished in it. Lightly her hands traced every scar, before kissing them tenderly. Her love overwhelmed me as her hand traveled further south, tracing down my hard cock before taking it in her hand. The warmth of her touch and just knowing it was Bella was almost enough to make me explode.

Turning us so I was on top of her, I took her face in my hands. The look of love in her eyes was almost enough to make me weep. Pure love, the purest I'd ever felt or known flowed from her and into me. Kissing her tenderly, I brushed my fingertips across her face before kissing her lips.

"If this hurts too much, let me know. I promise to be as gentle as I can, if you want I can use my powers to help." She nodded her head, only slightly afraid of the pain.

"I trust you. I want you to be mine as much as I want to be yours." Bella ran her fingers down my jaw, before kissing my lips.

I prayed that I would not hurt her too much before I was able to bring her to pleasure again. Spreading her legs, I placed myself fully between them and carefully placed myself at her entrance. Compared with what I'd seen in the war and later, I was no slouch in the manhood department, but just my size alone was going to hurt her before I'd even broken her hymen. I began filling her with lust until she was writhing. I was fit to burst.

Bella hissed and groaned as I first entered her and I almost stopped. I let her get used to the feel of that before pushing in a little further. She was so tight, I thought I'd never make it all the way in before I came. Again she hissed and I began sending her small doses of calm with lust as her pain slightly began to build.

Another inch and I pushed at the barrier of her virginity. She was panting slowly, a light sheen a sweat on her brow. "I'm sorry Bella. I love you." Faster than before I forced my way though her virginity and into her fully. Stopping at her cry of pain, I sent her my love and strength and tried to alleviate her pain. Tears were rolling from her eyes and she clutched at my shoulders, digging her fingers as far as possible. My cock ached as I waited for her, she was tight, so tight it was almost painful.

I didn't care about me. I just wanted her to be okay. "I'm so sorry, darlin'. Are you okay?" I wiped her tears away, careful not to move too much and trying to close my nose from the glorious smell of her blood.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, give me another moment. It's starting to go away. I love you." Bella's eyes were still full of love as she looked at me and I swore that I would never bring her pain again.

The Angel of Death was fully awake now and wanting his own reward. Trying, I could not block the smell of her blood, like a drug it pulled at me, so sweet and wonderful. Physically, I shook my head, trying not to give into the temptation like a junkie face with a line of coke. My hands grasped at the silken sheets, digging deep and into the bed. Still, I couldn't fight the temptation as the beast in me roared, he was too powerful to fight with his most treasured desire mere inches away.

Bella whimpered in pain as I withdrew from her, still fully erect. Within a second my mouth was between her legs. When face with this potent drug, I knew my demon wasn't going to be as gentle as I fought for him to be. The closer I got to my addiction, the more the red hazes behind my eyes grew. Trace lines of her precious life's blood were inside her thighs, caused by my withdrawal. Those were gone first in long strokes of my tongue. Fireworks exploded behind my eyes. Bella shivered, her pain, lust, and twinge of fear forcing my beast over the edge, there was no stopping him now.

Blood pooled dark and rich just inside the folds of her labia. I wanted it. I would have it. With my knees on the floor, I pulled Bella to the edge of the bed. In one smooth motion, my mouth covered her and I sucked deep. Pleasure burst through my body as I ached for release. Bella cried in pain as I sucked hard at the ravaged flesh of her hymen. My beast craving every last drop, her body was giving freely. Continuously I laved at the spot until the blood stopped flowing.

High on blood and lust, my need for release overpowered everything else. Standing I picked Bella up, lining her with her opening. My cock was ready to explode as I buried it inside her in one stroke, to the hilt. Her cry cleared my head enough to force me to slow. Moving us back onto the bed, I moved my hand, finding her clit, I began rubbing it like before. She was so hot and tight that I could swear I was turning to cinders. I began stroking at a steady pace, and with rubbing her clit, it wasn't long before Bella's whimpers turned to moans. Wetness from her arousal allowed my cock to slide in and out easier. Her lust caused me to thrust deeper and faster.

Her hips now bucked against me, taking me fully inside while her hands clutched for purchase on anything they could find, from me to the covers. Raising her, my hands firmly planted on her hips, I was able to deepen my thrusts and it was the wonderful feeling of her breasts on my chest that caused me to shoot like a rocket. Bella followed calling my name, and burying me all the way insider her while she clung to my shoulders.

Beads of sweat clung to Bella's brow and I wiped them away from her face. Her eyes remained closed and her lungs panted with every breath. Laying my head against her breast, I listened for any irregularity in her heart. Every minute it would skip exponentially. Carlisle was not going to be happy with that. I hope it was because of the exercise and not my hurting her.

The smell of her blood still clung in the air, but my demon remained tamed and tranquil. He was finally happy to have his mate, a mate not only in body but soul. Turning so I was on the bottom, I pulled Bella on top of me, then pulled the covers up over her. The house was warm but I didn't want her catching a chill being so close to my cold body. Feeling the purr build up in my chest at the feel of our bodies wrapped together, I pulled her close and seeped some of her own lethargy into my body, napping with her.

A/N: Yes, I know this chapter has been a year and a half in the making. This story is just now starting to reach it's halfway point. Thank to everyone for the past year and a half. We have finally made it to 1000+ reviews. In honor of that I have asked the 1000 reviewer givemesomevamp to pick any character and any subject for a one shot dedicated to her. From this point on, for every 250 reviews I get, I will do the same. If every person that has this story as a favorite reviewed each chapter that would equal one one shot per chapter, so get out there and get reviewing. I would love to write for the readers.

Again that you for this journey and rest assured that it is no where near finished yet. Heck, we don't even have Alice back yet, and let me tell you that part is going to be a doozy. Thanks also for the patience with updates. I took some time off this summer to spend with my children. This fall may be tight as well. Thanks to all of you out there, I have decided to return to college for English and History degrees.

Aerialla