And we're back, back again. Really excited to share this chapter with y'all, so without further ado...
As always, I do not own Twilight or its characters.
"I brought snacks."
Alistair dropped a large styrofoam cooler on the table in front of Peter and Charlotte, causing Charlotte to raise an eyebrow up at him.
"Snacks?" She leaned forward and lifted the lid up a smidgen, a grin appearing on her face. "Oh why Alistair, you shouldn't have."
Peter peered over Charlotte's shoulder.
"Blood bags? Where did you get so many blood bags?"
Alistair shrugged, holding up a grocery store bag as well.
"Is the Princess awake yet? How bad is it? I got some human food for her." Alistair frowned, his brow furrowing as he looked in the plastic bag. "I tried to get some of her favorites, but I also asked the clerk what would be best for someone who is sick...What happened?"
Charlotte gave Alistair a grateful smile.
"You really are quite sweet under that gruff exterior aren't you, Alistair?" Charlotte stood up and flitted to the door. "Let me get the McCarty's, they can fill you in."
"Why would the McCarty's know?" Alistair asked the thin air where Charlotte used to be, before reluctantly turning to Peter. Peter grinned at him, the one that always made Alistair a little uncomfortable.
"Well, their mom is the one who got Bella back alive, so she knows all the fun information."
"Their mother? You mean Cullen's wife? I wasn't aware she was around, I didn't get a read for more than three people ever at the house." Alistair asked in confusion.
Peter shrugged but gave Alistair a serious look.
"I wouldn't call her that if I were you. She don't take kindly to being associated with Cullen. Says that she is a McCarty now."
Alistair shrugged, shuffling his feet.
"If she saved the Princess, then she has my gratitude. I will call her whatever she wishes."
Peter nodded, a smile on his face.
"Good. She's a feisty one, hate to see ya lose an arm just cuz you called her the wrong name."
"Hey Al! I heard you brought snacks!" Emmett's voice boomed in the small room, and Alistair repressed a flinch at the sound. He turned to greet the McCarty's, his bag clutched before him as if it was a shield.
Emmet came into the room with Rosalie on his arm, followed by a soft looking woman with caramel curls framing her face.
Emmett looked into the cooler, his smile faltering just a bit before turning to look back at the woman that Alistair was still staring at.
"Heads up Mom, it's capri suns."
Alistair watched a grimace pass over the woman's face before it slid back into a smile. Ah, so this was the mysterious Mother.
He watched her back away from the cooler, finding himself unable to look away from her.
"Well, thank you for the warning Emmett, I'll make sure to go catch a deer or something when you and Rose decide to eat."
"You aren't going to switch your diet?" The words were out before Alistair could stop them, and he flinched when beautiful whiskey eyes looked in his direction. She eyed him with suspicion, her gaze sharp enough that Alistair immediately dropped his own. "My apologies, madam, it is not my place to comment upon your choice of diet."
"No, it certainly isn't." Her voice was friendly enough, but Alistair didn't glance up until he realized she was making her way towards him. "We haven't met. My name is Esme McCarty, and I'm afraid that the taste for human blood has been quite methodically removed from me."
Her expression was bemused, and Alistair noticed that she had extended a hand out for him to shake. Old courtly habits snapped into place, and Alistair bowed slightly before her, leaning forward to place a chaste kiss upon her hand.
His lips touched her skin, his fingertips just barely grazing her wrist, and the entire world seemed to snap into place.
"Oh." He breathed, barely a sound at all really, and unconsciously stumbled forward when Esme snatched her hand back.
"Fuck!" He looked up and felt an absurd amount of pleasure when he saw her hand pressed against her face, her lips brushing against where his lips were a mere moment before.
Her eyes were wide and frantic, her chest rising and falling in a horridly endearing mockery of breath, and she was the most stunning creature he had ever seen in the centuries of his existence.
"Beauteous." He said under his breath, and she pointed a shaky finger at him, her face shifting into disbelief.
"No. No! None of that now! I am absolutely a thousand percent not ready for any of that!" He straightened at the sound of her lovely voice with a wide smile, a smile that almost hurt as it had been so long since it had graced his face.
"Mom? What's wrong?" Emmett was making his way towards them, Rosalie a few steps ahead, but Alistair didn't even bother looking at them. Instead he was focused on how Esme, what a stunning name, swiveled in their direction. Her wide-eyed expression landed on Rosalie, but not once did her finger move from him.
"I'll tell you what's wrong! Not once, not fucking once in the decades I suffered," Alistair growled at the thought of this beauty suffering anything but he was ignored. "Did I feel anything like this!"
She turned drastically towards Alistair then, her finger jabbing in his direction as if it was a weapon.
"Where the fuck were you? How dare you show up now! After I finally got away! How dare-!" She collapsed then, and Alistair was there, bag forgotten on the floor, to catch her in his arms as she sobbed. "Where the fuck were you?"
He cradled her close to him, a purr stirring from deep in his chest as he curled his tall form around her small one. He ran his fingers gently through her hair, curls breaking apart and becoming a fluffy cloud around her delicate face. Distantly he heard the rest of them shuffling from the room, the squeak of the styrofoam box being picked up, as well as the crinkle of the plastic bag.
"Wait. Why are we leaving? I'm so confused, what just happened?" Emmett's whisper was like a toddler's, and Rosalie shushed him as they left.
The last thing he heard was Peter's voice, ranging clear before the door shut behind them.
"Well kids, ya just witnessed one of the most dramatic matings I ever seen. Congrats on the new dad!"
Garrett watched from his perch a few buildings away, as the Cullen's filed out of the warehouse and into a frankly ostentatious vehicle. The car had barely turned the corner before the phone in his pocket buzzed. With a grin, Garrett checked it, his excitement growing when he saw the one word text message.
He slid the phone back in his pocket and turned to the group he was assigned, mostly familiar faces with only a handful of new ones.
"Alright everybody, gather round! Time to party!"
Bella awoke with a groan. She felt, for the first time in her life, like she might be suffering from a hangover. She went to sit up but strong arms wrapped around her and stopped her movement.
"Easy, kitt'n. Don't move too fast." She relaxed immediately at the sound of Jasper's voice, turning her face and shuffling forward until she could have her nose pressed against his neck. She breathed in the scent of her mate, letting her lips brush against his textured skin, feeling his hand tighten slightly at her hip before loosening again.
"Jasper…" Her voice was merely a breath, but she knew he heard her. "How am I here right now? Did you tear Edward apart?"
Jasper growled at the sound of that name, pulling Bella closer to him.
"Unfortunately not. Seems like someone from ya past came in handy." He paused, burying his face in her hair before pulling away again so she could hear him clearly. "A woman named Esme broke ya free, 'parently tore Edward apart in the process."
Bella sat up straight, groaning in the process as her head started to swim.
"Damnit kitt'n, I said go slow!" There was a slight growl to Jasper's tone as he fussed over Bella, but she waved him off, slowly removing her hand from her head and peering into the light.
"Esme? Really? Is she here?"
Jasper chuckled at Bella's rapid-fire questions, shaking his head at how she always seemed to ask about someone else before herself.
"Yeah, she's here. Heard a bit of commotion 'while ago. Best I can figure is she found her mate in Alistair an' it came a bit of a shock."
"In Alistair?!" Bella's voice rose an octave and Jasper outright laughed, pulling her close so he could kiss her.
"Honestly woman, ya almost die, again I might add, and you're more int'rested in the latest gossip." He nipped at her neck, and wanting a taste of her skin, soothed the blossoming mark with his tongue. Bella shuddered underneath him and he practically purred in response.
"Hey! I warned you that I was a walking disaster, it's your fault that you didn't believe me!" She shifted a bit in his lap, turning so she could look at him face to face. "But really, I'm okay Jasper. It's alright."
Jasper frowned at her, but let himself be lulled into complacency by the gentle kisses Bella gave him.
"I'm still gonna burn that mind-reader piece by piece before I'm satisfied." He grumbled, and Bella laughed delightedly before kissing him once more.
"I would expect nothing less, my love."
Jasper pulled away reluctantly, and Bella smiled at his grumpy expression.
"Already?" She asked, her voice a gentle whisper. Jasper nodded, climbing out of bed with a predatory grace that she would never tire of staring at.
"I hafta end this, kitt'n. Can't risk it goin' on any longer." He made an effort to smile gently at her, as gently as he knew how. "I know Alistair got some food for ya, before his unexpected matin'. Why don't cha shower and we'll move on from there?"
Bella got out of bed with a brief steadying hand from Jasper, and gave a tired smile before she saluted him cheekily.
"You got it, Major."
He growled at her playfully, and smacked her gently on the ass as she headed into the bathroom. Then he turned and headed to Peter's room.
He found Peter and Charlotte, and surprisingly Emmett and Rosalie, gathered around a tv set. They bizarrely had straws stabbed into blood bags and were sipping at them. Before he could comment, he caught a blood bag right before it hit his face, confused at it's warm temperature. He looked up to see Peter casually holding out a straw over his shoulder, his gaze still locked on the television before him.
"Heya Major, take the straw so you can enjoy your caprisun. We're watching this movie called 'Vampires vs. The Bronx. It's fuckin' stellar."
Out of curiosity more than anything, Jasper stabbed the straw into the blood bag and took a sip. Warm blood slid down his throat as easy, and nearly as satisfying, as fresh prey. He hummed in surprise, and drained the bag before he knew it.
He glanced up at the sound of the microwave opening, and Charlotte handed him another bag.
"Make sure ya shake it, Major. Helps even out the temp for the whole bag." She looked down at the empty bag in his hand and raised an eyebrow. "You can use the same straw."
Jasper shook the bag, feeling the warm liquid slosh around, before he stabbed his straw in and idly sipped.
"Where'd these come from? And what the hell is a capri sun?"
Emmett shrugged a big shoulder, not taking his eyes off the movie where some kid threw a water balloon at a vampire's face and the vampire burst into ash. "Daddio got them from somewhere, won't tell us where, but shit, at least he's sharing."
"Sick." Emmett muttered under his breath as another vampire went down, before he turned to Jasper. "A caprisun is a juice pouch that humans drink. They stab a plastic straw in it and go to town. Bella could tell you more about it."
Jasper shook his head at the absurdity of it all before turning to Peter.
"Captain. Where do we stand?"
Peter snapped to attention, looking at Jasper as if he wasn't just immersed in a bunch of kids taking down vampires on screen.
"Everything is in place. Garrett has confirmed that his part is done, and we should be heading the Cullen's off from getting on their plane at 15:00 sharp." He paused, tilting his head. "Make that 15:30. Don't know what keeps them but they will be running late."
Rosalie snorted. "Probably Alice. Damn Pixie probably holds them up with what shoes to bring."
Jasper nodded, glancing at the clock.
"So we have five hours an' some change." He stretched out onto an open chair next to the couch, looking towards the tv. "Plenty of time for everyone to get 'n position."
Peter studied Jasper for a moment more before relaxing back into the couch next to Charlotte.
"Just a matter of waitin' really."
How do we feel? Excited for the big confrontation next chapter? Shout out to Angel JJK who was one of the few who predicted that I'd pair Esme and Alistair up! I'll be honest with you guys, I loved writing every second of that interaction. The softness that Alistair feels towards Esme, ugh, I can't. And surely y'all know by now that Alistair would do anything for someone he considers worth his time, and his mate is most definitely worth his time. I couldn't help putting the two characters most like parental figures to Bella together okay? Don't judge me, I love them.
