AN: Hi All!

Glad to see so many people are still interested in this one! This one is basically my ideal utopia, so I'm definitely grateful that others are enjoying it as much as I am!

Huge thanks to: kouga's older woman, ShamwowGirl, catgrl, WPear, and lawless23, for reviewing last chapter!

Now, I give you Chapter 15!

Much love, Lads and Lassies!

Blessings,

-BMW

Chapter Fifteen: A Secret Revealed

Hunting with Jasper was entirely different now than it was before we mated. After taking down my prey, I felt the familiar feeling of being watched. Usually, if I felt that someone other than Edward was watching me feed, I would look up, and they would smile and look away.

It was natural to become aroused watching another vampire feed. It happened all the time. In fact, I'd had many fantasies over the years that began with Jasper watching me hunt, or me watching him. But now that we were mated? I knew the fantasy was about to become a reality.

When I looked up and saw him watching me, he grinned and began stalking toward me as though I were the prey.

And then he pounced, attacking me with kisses, as we fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. When he entered me this time, it wasn't the same kind of passion we'd shared in the bedroom, which had the flavor of love and romance. This was different. It was just as passionate, but it was a passion born of need and desire. We both knew what we wanted and unlike before, there was no hesitation or uncertainty. We took what we wanted, claiming each other greedily on the forest floor, felling a few of the weaker trees in the process.

I half expected to find Alice watching us when we finished, but she had clearly gone farther afield to give us a semblance of privacy for our first mated hunt. I appreciated it. Not because I didn't want her around. I loved Alice and her presence was always welcome. It was just nice, because her desire to give us our space reassured me that she was truly recognizing mine and Jasper's mating bond as being separate and sovereign from her bond with him and from mine with Edward. It truly was its own entity, this new relationship. It held equal weight and equal importance.

Which was why I knew it was time to let the family know. So, when Alice came to collect us for the family meeting, we got dressed and headed back with her to face the music.

"It's okay, Darlin'." Jasper smiled gently, stroking my hand in his. "You'll talk to Edward and then Alice will gather everyone and we'll tell them together. I can use my gift to keep everyone calm, and it'll be fine. Even if they have a hard time understanding...at the end of the day, they'll still love us. Try to have faith in that, alright?"

"Yeah. I know. I just can't help but worry. And especially...well…I can't help but feel like this is probably going to be an issue for Rose. I mean...we all know what a huge thing it was for her, changing her booklet like that. And we all know she did it because of you specifically. And then this ends up coming to light immediately on the heels of that? I just...well, let's just say I don't want to be on the receiving end of Rose's big feelings. But I know there's probably no avoiding it." I sighed.

Jasper smiled and stopped walking for a moment.

"Bella, you don't have to be as worried about that as you think you do. The dynamic that Rose and I have doesn't resemble a mating bond in any way at all. That's never something that she would be looking for from me and I seriously doubt she will be jealous. In fact, the reason Rose and I have such a good time when we get together, is because there's nothing remotely vampiric about it.

"Rose likes being with me because when we're sitting under the stars together or reading a book or whatnot, it's just a girl and a boy, hanging out. It reminds her of being a human girl with hopes and dreams and no responsibilities and no concept of forever. No baggage. No pain. So while I can definitely understand your cause for concern, I think you can rest easy on that front," he explained.

"Oh. Yeah? Okay, I guess I can sort of see that. I mean, I guess we'll find out for sure pretty soon, but I'm glad you don't think it will be much of an issue," I said.

We were close enough to the house that Edward should be able to hear my thoughts, so I opened my shield to allow him to hear me.

Edward? Is this a good time to talk? I'll be out in the back pasture.

"You two can head inside and I'll come in after I talk to Edward?" I suggested.

"Okie dokie. Good luck." Jasper winked and kissed me goodbye.

"Don't worry, Bella. It really is okay, okay?" Alice smiled, hugging me tightly.

"Thanks." I smiled softly as they headed inside and Edward emerged. At that distance I wouldn't have been able to tell it was him if I'd still been human but my eyesight was much sharper these days. So we'd be totally out of earshot from the house as long as we didn't raise our voices. I hoped there would be none of that anyway.

"Hello, how's it going so far?" Edward grinned, clearly having an inkling what this was about.

"Cut the crap, please." I laughed, speaking softly. "You've known since the beginning, right?" I confirmed.

"Yes. I would have told you, Bella, but I couldn't. You know how Alice's gift works. Some aspects of the future are more malleable than others. This was one that needed to happen in it's own time," he insisted.

"And you...loved me anyway?" I confirmed.

"Always," he insisted. "In fact, I actually knew you were Jasper's mate before I knew you were mine."

"What? How?" I puzzled.

"That day in biology when the fan caught your hair, my first reaction to you as my singer was to drain you. I must've thought of doing so intently enough that Alice had a vision of me killing you. Followed immediately by Jasper destroying me for your murder. That was how I was able to restrain myself. I knew I'd be dead if I didn't," he began.

I shook my head because one thing didn't make sense. "But after the incident with Tyler's van, Jasper himself wanted to kill me for knowing the secret, right?"

"Yes, but he'd never been close enough to you to smell your pheromones. If he had...he never would have been advocating in that direction, he would have just offered to change you. And later, once he had spent some time with you, he did think, quite often, of changing you. He only refrained because he also thought he had no rightful claim on you."

"Okay, so, if my scent would have driven Jasper, as my mate, to change me...then why didn't you have that same compulsion?" I wondered.

"I did. I just ignored it, the same as Jasper, but for different reasons. He ignored it because he thought it wasn't his place. I ignored it because you were my singer. As well as because of my beliefs," he reminded me.

"So...you kept me human because you didn't want me to lose my soul and also as a snack for later?" I teased.

"Something like that, Miss Smartass." He laughed.

"Okay, so in summary...you've always known, and you've always been okay with it?" I confirmed.

"Mostly. I'll admit that when Jasper and Alice accompanied you to Phoenix, I was deathly afraid you might just decide to run off with them and not come back. And there were a few other times when I was similarly worried. But I never doubted that you'd one day be with him. I only ever doubted whether you'd still want to be with me. Not because of Jasper, just because I know that I am a handful. Being married to a petulant seventeen year old boy can't always be easy. Especially for someone who was so mature for her age." He shrugged.

"Yes, well, thankfully, I've had twenty years to get used to your emo moments. But I know I wasn't always easy either." I smirked.

"I suppose not. But we've always made it work. And we will make this work as well. It will require some adjustment, of course. But Alice and I always knew this was coming, so it's not upsetting and we're probably much more prepared for it than you and Jasper are. So whatever you need, I'm here." He smiled, pulling me in for a hug.

"Perfect, thank you, Edward. Your support and cooperation mean so much. And your unconditional love is amazing to me. I don't know if I'd be handling this as well as you and Alice are, if the situation was reversed," I admitted truly in awe of him.

"Yes, well, we've already established, I am amazing," he grinned, puffing up his chest.

"Alright, Mr. Amazing, now that I know that you're okay and that we're okay, I guess it's time to attempt to explain all this to the rest of the family." I winced with trepidation.

"Sounds good. But can we please wait on telling Renesmee until we know how the rest of the family is going to react? On the off chance anyone isn't able to be supportive about this, I wouldn't want that to color her opinion of the situation," he suggested.

"Good idea, yes, let's wait and see whether there ends up being any backlash," I agreed as we began walking back to the house.

"I should probably also warn you though...this might be particularly hard on Carlisle and Esme," he stated.

That surprised me and I know I must've looked very confused because he stopped walking and looked at me while he spoke.

"It isn't something they have ever talked about with any of the family, to my knowledge, and I only know because of their thoughts. It might come up when you and Jasper reveal your mating, or they might choose not to discuss it. But let's just say, they had a similar situation with someone once upon a time and it didn't resolve quite as nicely," Edward admitted.

"What, for real? Are you saying Esme had another mate?" I confirmed.

"No." Edward shook his head.

"But then, what are…wait…Carlisle had another mate?" I puzzled.

Edward winced and nodded. "He technically still does. But this person chooses not to be in the picture. It's a very upsetting situation and one that they try their best not to think about. I just thought I should warn you, since this may bring up some rather difficult emotions for them."

"Wow. Okay, yeah, I guess we better tread lightly," I agreed.

"Thank you, Bella. And I know they'll appreciate your discretion," he said as we began walking again.

"Yeah, no problem. Man, that really sucks for Carlisle though, I can't even imagine." I frowned.

"Yes, well, not everyone gets a perfect happy ending in life. Sometimes, people just make the best of what they have."

When we went inside the house, I immediately tracked down Jasper and Alice.

"Don't worry, Bella. I saw your conversation with Edward in a vision, so we know as much as you do." Alice assured me.

"Oh, good! That's so crazy, right?" I whispered. "I dunno about you guys but I had no idea."

Jasper looked thoughtful. "I didn't know, but in hindsight a lot of the emotions they exhibited over the years which didn't make sense to me at the time make a lot more sense now."

"And because my visions are based on decisions, I mostly had no idea. But, there was one time I had a really bizarre vision that made no sense. We were in South America looking for Nahuel at the time, so I think I just assumed something in the jungle was messing with my visions. Now, I have to assume, I know who it is." Alice sighed.

"I'm not gonna ask who because it's none of my business. But do you think they might ever change their mind?" I wondered.

"It's hard to say. I mean, that almost happened once. But...centuries of stubborness are likely hard to overcome." She shrugged. "But now, if you two are ready, I can call everyone together?"

I looked at Jasper and he sent me his emotions with a smile.

"Yeah, let's do this." I nodded.

"Okay great!" Alice bounced excitedly.

"Can I get everyone to gather in the living room, please?" Alice called loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Slowly, everyone filed into the room in pairs. Arthur and Esme arrived first. They had been in the kitchen working on preparing meals for the wolves.

Next, Ceit and Rose came in, having just put Baby Fergus down for a nap.

Edward had been tending the animals after our talk and came in from outside just as Carlisle emerged from his office.

"Where are Em and Fi?" I asked since they had yet to appear.

"They haven't come up for air yet." Alice laughed. "Can you two please put your clothes on for just twenty minutes? I promise you can go right back to it afterwards!" Alice yelled up the stairs.

"Ugh, fiiine! But this better be important." Em grumbled. We heard them get dressed and head downstairs quickly taking a spot on the couch.

"I assure you...it is." Alice nodded. "Alright, I'm going to turn the floor over to Bella and Jasper because this is their big reveal, not mine." She smiled, blowing a kiss at us as she went to go sit down.

I motioned for Jasper to speak first, since I wasn't sure what to say.

"Alright, well, usually everyone just assumes that they wake up as a vampire and then, somewhere out there, they will eventually find that one person who is destined to be their mate. And sometimes, it does work that way. But other times...there isn't one perfect person who is the other half of our soul. Sometimes...there are two," he began.

Esme gasped and looked at Carlisle. I think for a moment she was worried we were talking about his situation. So I spoke before it became a total misunderstanding.

"I never understood throughout the years why I always felt drawn to Jasper. Just like most of us in the vampire world, I always believed one plus one equalled happily ever after," I admitted.

"Of course, our little Pixie knew better. She saw it from the very beginning. And as such, so did Edward by way of his gift. And yeah, it would have been a lot easier if they'd told us, but this was one we needed to figure out on our own." Jasper stated.

"For instance, if Jasper had known I was his mate as well as Edward's, he would have turned me at the first sign of trouble and then Ness never would have been born," I explained.

"And if Bella had known I was meant to be her mate as well as Alice's, then she probably never would have had the chance to bond with Jacob, and we wouldn't have the close connection we do now with the wolves," he reasoned. I hadn't even thought of that, but he was right.

"I guess there were a lot of reasons it couldn't happen right away. But those reasons don't change the fact that it was always meant to happen, whether we knew it or not." I concluded.

"Yeah. But we also know this falls waaay outside of anything the Rules for Temporary Unions were ever designed to cover. Because it isn't temporary. We're properly mated now. So we figured we should have a family meeting to discuss this and what it means for everyone and answer any questions anyone might have," Jasper said gently.

I was pretty sure he was sending calm to Carlisle and Esme at least, though I didn't know if they were the only ones.

"Wait so...you two knew about this? Before they did? So you're okay here?" Emmett asked Alice and Edward protectively before addressing us.

"Yes, Em." Edward nodded. "Alice and I have known about this ever since that first day when I met Bella in biology."

"Holy shit," Em whispered.

"Jazz, since it might be hard for some, having not experienced something like this themselves, to understand...perhaps some projection might help?" Alice suggested.

Jasper nodded.

"Perfect! So first, please let everyone feel your feelings for me." Jasper clearly spent a few moments focusing on thinking about Alice and sent us all his emotions. They were powerfully intense, no one could argue that.

"Great, now please send out your emotional feelings about Bella," she encouraged.

When he did so, many people seemed very surprised. The emotions themselves were subtly different from his feelings for Alice, after all, we were different people with different qualities. But the intensity...was totally equal.

"Now, if you could send everyone Bella's feelings for Edward," she asked him.

"And now her feelings for you, if you please,"

Everyone again seemed surprised and relieved to know that even though the flavors were different, the intensity and overall feel was the same.

"Dang, they really are mates." Em laughed shaking his head.

"If that is how it feels to be mated, I cannae wait to find my mate." Fiona grinned.

"Yes, it is pretty intense." Carlisle whispered. "At least, it has been for me, both times I have experienced it."

Several heads whipped around to look at him quizzically.

"Darling, you don't need to talk about it..." Esme told him gently.

"I think I do, Esme. I think it's time." Carlisle sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I have never told anyone this, because it is very painful for me. Though I do suspect Edward must know, having read as much from my thoughts over the years. And possibly Alice via her visions, though I'm not too sure about that one. But yes, I myself have another mate besides Esme. This person however, chooses not to be a part of my life, or of this family. It has been this way for me since the seventeenth century."

"But, I don't understand," Rose asked softly. "How do you know they are your mate if you haven't been intimate?"

"We have. Every once in blue moon, I do see this person, and we do mate. It just doesn't happen very often. And I would prefer not to disclose their identity in the interest of respecting their privacy." He answered forlornly.

"I don't get it, Pops. How could anyone not want to be mated to you if that was an option?" Emmett frowned.

Carlisle shook his head. "It isn't that. The problem isn't between the two of us. It's a little more complicated than that. Actually, it would make a lot more sense if you knew who it was, but I promised my mate long ago that I would not share their personal information with anyone. This person is very fond of their privacy."

"Oh daaang. I think I...nope nevermind forget I said anything, la la la." Emmett backpedalled, making a motion of zipping his mouth.

He clearly thought he'd solved the mystery. I was starting to think that I might know whom as well, but I wasn't going to say anything. But if I was correct, then Carlisle was right in saying it made a lot more sense once you knew who it was.

The person I was pretty sure it had to be, fit the description perfectly. But I had to wonder if there was a way to change their mind. Because if my suspicions were correct, the problem really didn't lie with Carlisle at all. The problem was people in general. I really had to wonder if there were such things as anti-anxiety meds for vampires.

"Alright, so now that everything is out in the open, does anyone have any questions for Bella and Jasper?" Alice asked, pulling everyone's attention off of poor Carlisle and directing it back onto us.

"I do. Are you still planning on participating in the lifestyle?" Em asked. "And if so, how would that work?"

"We haven't talked about it yet because we wanted to wait until everyone knew before we made any other decisions," I answered.

"Well I think you should." Em decided. "I mean, I'm super happy for you guys, don't get me wrong. And we'll all be happy for you either way. But I gotta say, I think I'll be a little less happy if it means I never get a shot at boinking Bella," he teased.

"Emmett!" Rose and Fiona both chastised in unison. We all burst out laughing at that point.

"He's not wrong." Edward smirked. "He's only saying what the rest of you are thinking."

"Ooch, yeah, I gotta say, I was thinking something along those lines meself." Fiona giggled.

"Okay, well, we'll take all of that under advisement when we discuss it amongst ourselves." I laughed. "But as far as the question of how it would work if we did decide to continue in the lifestyle, I think we were hoping Carlisle might be able to shed some light on that, having made the rules as they stand now?"

"Oh. Alright. Well...I guess, probably, it would just mean that when deals are made involving either Jasper or Bella, they would need to be approved by both their mates. And they would have to work out for themselves how they divide their time when they aren't in a temporary union," Carlisle pondered.

"How would the maximums work though?" Rose asked, since they had always been set per couple, but Jasper and I would each be part of two separate couples going forward.

"I guess, they would need to be set separately for each individual with the approval of their mates." Carlisle suggested.

"So...is there a chance all four of you might choose not to participate anymore?" Ceit asked.

Alice fielded that one. "A very slim chance, perhaps. But we will let everyone know more once we've had a chance to discuss it. Carlisle, you don't mind if we borrow Edward while we hash all this out?"

"Of course not. Issues pertaining to mates take precedence," he assured us.

"Alright, we'll call another meeting once we figure things out. Any other questions first?" Alice asked, everyone shook their heads. "Okay, we'll see you all shortly."

She dismissed the meeting and led the three of us out back into the woods beyond the pastures.

AN: Okay, so apparently finishing The Phoenix prior to working on this one has put me in the mind frame of spontaneous plot twists, oops!

So yes, there will be a few more twists before we get to the end of this one. For instance, I already know who Fiona's mate will be. And if you haven't guessed yet from this chapter who Carlisle's other mate is...well, maybe go re-watch or re-read Breaking Dawn, lol ;-*

And eventually we might meet someone else from someone else's past, if I decide I feel like bringing back the (presumed) dead, lol.

Anyway, it's time to hit me with those beautiful words, you courageous fanfictionistas!