AN: Thank you to my wonderful readers and my beta Bell 1. I'm sorry I was so slow to get this posted but here it is! I hope you all enjoy, it's really just a filler chapter but we have to transition smoothly somehow. And I'm hearing most people want Charlie to change. We'll find out soon what he decides ;)

Charlie kept to himself for the next couple of days. Char and Peter were certain it wasn't a big deal because he would choose to be a vampire with us. Bella called him, and they spoke for a few minutes, but she didn't know how to bring up the topic; and he didn't.

I was surprised Carlisle called about four days after telling Charlie about vampires. He was pleasant but concerned.

"Jasper, I know a lot has been going on, but I have some important information," he began. "I was reading through some old texts, searching for information on true mates, when I came across something very troubling. I'm very worried about you and Bella."

He had my full attention now.

"What wrong, Carlisle? What did you find?" I also wanted to ask how he knew what had been going on around here, but I didn't bother. If something was worrisome about Bella that was more important.

"It stated, in order to complete the mating bond, venom must be shared between mates."

"I know. Well, I figured it out anyway." I wasn't going to tell him about my conversation with Aro, nor with Marcus on the subject.

"You know? Have you shared your venom with her?" he asked worriedly.

I was exasperated. This really wasn't any of his business. I guess I still had negative feelings about him being involved in anything concerning my mate.

"I have." Just a straight answer, no details.

"Jasper, her body is not made to process our venom. Is she ill? Showing any signs of anything being wrong?" he questioned earnestly.

I thought about it momentarily. She seemed a little more tired than normal, but I thought that was due to all the stress as of late. I listened to her breathing and heartbeat, where she was sitting in the living room with Char. I was in our bedroom just wasting time, giving them some privacy while Peter was off hunting.

"All I can see is, that she's been a little more tired lately, but she's been really stressed too," I finally answered. I didn't want to give him information, but I needed to know if something was wrong.

"That could be a symptom. I know since Charlie found out about us, she must be very worried. And since the Volturi's visit, things must be of constant stress around there. So, it could be stress. No other signs? No fainting, weakness, breathing, or stomach issues?"

"Wait how did you know we told Charlie?"

"He called and spoke with Emmett and Rosalie a couple days ago. They should be arriving there any minute now. I thought you knew. I'm sorry."

"Oh…" there was nothing else I could say. He had spoken to someone, just not one of us. I thought for sure it'd be me or Bella he spoke with. I know he'd formed a close relationship with Emmett and Rose when they moved in with him for three months last summer before we started college. It just surprised me he went to them for questions.

Focusing back on the topic. "No, she's been fine. Why? What do you know, Carlisle?"

"All I can really say is, humans are not made to ingest venom. The text doesn't say much about humans becoming true mates. It says: if the mating relationship is not consummated with the human early, then the human will perish. The joining process begins when the couple gives each other their hearts, their bodies, and then their souls.

"In fact, this text, did actually allude to the fact that vampires have souls. It is quite interesting…"

"Carlisle," I interrupted, chastising him for getting off topic.

"Yes, sorry. As I was saying… it only mentions when humans are found as a true mate, they are meant to be turned immediately. The sharing of those three things - love, body, and soul - completes the pairing. It does not refer to humans after the sharing of the hearts. I'm guessing, because the vampire changed his beloved.

"It does mention, humans cannot live on as a true mate, and venom must be shared between vampire mates. If you have shared your venom with her, but she has none to share with you, it could mean the death of her, of possibly both of you. Your bond has not been fully formed yet.

"Why did you share your venom with her?" He just had to ask that question.

With a sigh, I sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed a hand down my face. Char was going to hear this too, but I began to relay the whole story to Carlisle. I told him about the visit from the Volturi and trapping a Volturi King. I told him about the darkness that surrounded Bella and my conversation with Marcus. I left out the fact that Didyme was Marcus' true mate, that Aro killed her and was planning on killing him. I also left out that he asked me to be a king.

I only spoke of my relationship with Bella; how we became animalistic in sharing our bodies, our hearts, and our souls. And at the end, how I shared my venom with Bella, which seemed to heal her.

"But don't you see, Jasper? It isn't healing her. If we inject venom into the bloodstream, it changes the person because it is pumped throughout the body by the heart. But venom in the stomach, is absorbed by the internal organs. If she's not changing because of it, it must be killing her.

"The text said if the bond is not sealed within a year, the couple could die. Not that they will, but they could. You're already past the year mark, since realizing each other as mates. But I'm still worried because she does not have venom to share with you. I'm also worried what your venom will do to her in the long run. When will you be changing her?"

I thought about this for a moment and listened to the conversation downstairs between Bella and Char as if nothing was going on up here. Char was great at keeping things to herself. In this case, it was a good thing.

"We still have a year, but now that her dad knows… I don't know." I sighed again trying to release the building tension in my body.

"Jasper, you need to change her. It's not safe, especially since you have shared your venom with her. You're not safe either. You cannot complete your bond. And if what the book says is true, it could be fatal."

"You don't think me drinking her blood would help complete the bond?"

"Did you?"

If I could explode from anxiety, I would. I didn't want Carlisle involved in our life. I may have left out that detail from the night we connected. Maybe I left it out because I didn't want to hear his bullshit. But maybe, it was relevant information.

"Yes."

"I see. When?"

"The same night I shared my venom with her." He hummed in acknowledgement and we both waited in silence while he considered the information. I was waiting on him to berate me, hoping he wouldn't.

"Which happened first? Did you drink from her, or share your venom?"

"I drank from her. I gave her venom to help replenish her."

"Did it make her sick? Was it distasteful to her? Or did she like it?"

I was a little put off by where these questions were going. I snapped at him. "What does that matter? It did not make her sick."

"I'm sorry, Jasper. I was merely trying to determine how her body might react, based on her reactions, that's all. If she disliked it, then I would think it was something that shouldn't have been done and could hurt her. If she liked it, then maybe she will be okay. That is all." His voice was innocent and sincere, but I could still hear the question in his tone.

"She liked it," I answered barely more than a whisper. It wasn't that I didn't want Char to know, but it was a private and intimate moment. I had already guessed Peter knew it happened, so that could be why Char is not reacting to this conversation at all.

The front door slammed, and Emmett's loud voice boomed through the house, "HONEY, I'M HOME!"

"Ah, I can hear that Emmett and Rosalie have arrived," Carlisle said, pulling my focus back to him.

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll continue to research this issue. But Jasper, if anything unusual happens, let me know."

"I will," I answered before I hung up. Last thing I needed was for Emmett to hear any of our conversation.

Bella and Char were exchanging hugs with the new arrivals as Peter walked in the door. He gave me a knowing look before giving Emmett a man hug and kissing Rose, Char, and then Bella on the cheeks; causing them all to giggle.

I asked jovially, "What, no love for me?"

"Nah, you're too manly for that." He smirked and walked into the living room.

"We didn't know you were coming," Bella announced. "How was your trip?"

"It was nice. Carlisle and Esme were happy to have us home for a while. We actually came back early because we got a call from Charlie," Rose answered.

Bella was halfway to sitting on the sofa next to me when she paused upon hearing that Charlie called them. She blew out a breath and fell the rest of the way into her seat.

She seemed almost angry as she asked, "And?" But her emotions told me she was worried, not angry at all.

"We came home. It seems we have a lot to talk about as a family," Emmett supplied. Rose seemed taken aback by Bella's tone, raising her eyebrows at my mate.

"Well, he won't hardly talk to me and hasn't talked to anyone else since he left here four days ago. So, when did he call you?"

Watching Bella closely, Emmett answered, "Two days ago. We didn't know he wasn't talking with you guys. We thought you knew we were coming home."

"What did he tell you?" Bella inquired.

Rose answered this time, softly, "He told us, that you told him about vampires, about well… everything really. He wanted information. He wanted to know what it was like to change, to live with a mate, without a mate, and on a human diet, or a vegetarian diet."

"And did you both tell him you've never lived on a human diet?" Peter asked.

Anger was starting to grow between everyone, and I sent a wave of calm around the room. It bounced off Bella and calmed me more, but I was saddened she was protecting herself from me.

Rose glared at Peter. "We did. In fact, we told him he needed to speak with you and Char about that."

"And why is he not speaking to me or Jasper about any of this?"

"He knows that you'll persuade him to change and he just wanted different perspectives."

"Should we be talking about him like this?" Char finally asked. I was grateful for the change in tone.

"No," Bella answered and pulled her phone from her pocket dialing his number.

"Dad, Rose and Emmett just got home. I think you should come over. We need to talk," she nearly growled at him.

We all heard as he answered, "Okay."

Bella turned towards me. "I want my dad to be happy. Just everyone…" she turned to look around the room and then back at me, "be honest."

"Honestly Bella, he doesn't have much of a choice. We will face the wrath of the Volturi if he doesn't choose and choose soon," Rosalie spoke looking down. She didn't want to say it, but felt it had to be said. I could feel her fear and concern for both Charlie and her family.

"I know, Rose. I just don't want him to be forced into something. Just… Please?" Bella pleaded looking at Rose, and then Emmett, who nodded in agreement.

XXXX

Later that afternoon, Charlie arrived, and we spoke. He had few questions. The conversation was shorter than expected. It appears he was going to choose to change.

I think Bella was so worried she didn't even realize she was blocking me. It wasn't the norm with us, and it was upsetting to me. She hardly ever blocked me anymore.

I pulled up to the grocery store with Bella sitting quietly in the passenger seat. When she made no move to get out, even after I turned the engine off, I said, "We're here."

"Huh? Oh." She moved to get out of the truck.

I followed, placing an arm around her waist and drawing her to me. Before we entered the store, I stopped her.

"You okay, darlin'?"

She continued to stare straight ahead for just a second too long and I noticed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry just thinking about a lot of things."

I nodded and kissed the top of her head. "I know." With that, I led her into the store. She grabbed a cart and I took it over after our first stop in the fruit and vegetables.

"You know I'm here for you, right?" I asked softly, as she examined various melons.

"I know. I'm sorry, Jasper. I just really don't know what to think. For the first time, I feel like I am having to choose between family."

I went to her. "No! You aren't. No one wants you to choose anything. This is Charlie's choice. Who made you feel that way? Did someone say something?" I kept the growl out of my voice, but barely.

"No, just Rose. She is so worried about the Volturi, it seems like she'll push for Charlie's decision and, ultimately, his change. I just don't want him forced into anything." She chose a cantaloupe and set it in the cart moving on to lettuce.

"She's scared, but no one is going to force Charlie into anything. I promise."

Bella nodded absently and continued to pick out salad fixings.

"I… what do you think about…" she looked around for a moment, noticing no one was near, "your job offer?"

Well, this was something I wasn't expecting to talk about. "Bella?" I hugged her in front of the tomatoes and gave her a quick kiss on the nose.

I answered, "I don't know. I don't trust them. Aro killed his own sister to keep Marcus with them." I released her as she nodded and continued her shopping.

We moved to the meat section after she had everything she wanted for her salads and she was staring at a steak. I just waited, not sure what she was doing. Her emotions opened to me for the first time since before we left for the store. She was feeling curious.

She finally picked up a package with a single steak in it and began poking at the meat. I've been to the store with her many times, but never saw her do this when picking out meat. Her curiosity continued to grow.

Not being able to take it anymore, I finally asked, "Bella?" When she looked at me quizzically, I nodded towards the meat she was manhandling. "What are ya doin'?"

"Oh!" She tossed it back with the rest of the packaged cows and moved on.

I wasn't going to let it drop though. Her embarrassment had me curious. "What was that about?" I asked with a smile, trying to tease her.

"Later," was all she said as she walked on towards bread, having tossed a couple more things in the cart along the way.

The rest of the grocery trip went quickly with just basic conversation about what to buy and how long it would last.

In the truck on the way home, I asked again, "So you wanna tell me about the meat thing, now?" I smiled at her. I was certainly curious.

"I was just wondering about drinking blood. There was blood in the meat and I just was wondering what it would taste like. Can blood from meat like that, work?" My eyebrows were in my hairline. Not where I thought this was going. We had been talking about Charlie prior to that, so I figured it was Charlie she was thinking about.

"Well, there's not much, and it's cold. I guess I don't really know, but I'm not planning on going around sucking on steaks." I smirked at her as she smiled back at me and nodded.

After a moment, she added, "See it was nothing. I don't know what you were so worried about."

"Do we need to talk about Charlie?" I asked, just throwing it out there and her breath caught.

"I don't know what there is to talk about. It's his choice. I made mine." She reached over, grabbed my hand, and gave me a knowing look.

I squeezed her hand back and nodded, dropping the subject.

Back at home, Emmett and Rose got settled. We told them about the Volturis visit, well, most of it. Some of the more intimate moments were skimmed over.

Finally, Rose asked Bella and Char to go shopping with her. Char declined, but Bella, wanting time with Rose, accepted.

Plopping down next to me as he handed me my chess box, Emmett said, "So man, the Volturi," like that explained something.

I set the game up quickly and looked over at him. "What about them?" I asked as I made the first move.

While we played, he asked about the idea of being a king – if I wanted it and if I took it, if I would change things. I wasn't sure how to answer. I knew I had time, but it felt like time was slipping away quickly. A year was really nothing.

Now that Charlie knew, was there really a reason to wait? Part of my reasoning was I had promised Charlie; and I am a man of my word. Other than that, there was Bella's personal goal of being 21 when changed.

By the time I beat Emmett for the third time in a row, we had become silent on the topic of joining the Volturi.

"What if Charlie doesn't choose to change?" he asked in nothing more than a whisper. Of course, I could hear him clearly, but it caught me off guard.

"Do you think that's really an option?" I asked, looking at him and searching his emotions.

Emmett shrugged. True to his emotions, he didn't know.

He finally answered a couple minutes later. We were half way through our fourth game. And he was losing again. He never won at chess. I didn't know why he wanted to play. "I just worry that Bella will be devastated if he doesn't, ya know?"

I didn't answer, didn't know what I could say, other than nodding at his statement. Bella would be hurt, but it was Charlie's choice. A choice no one else had.

A short time later, Bella and Rose returned with smiles and several packages. Bella pulled me to our room, where I got a wonderful fashion show of new underwear and a sinfully dark green, silk nightgown that barely covered anything.

After we made love, Bella snuggled on my chest. It brought back my conversation with Carlisle.

"Bella?" I asked to get her attention.

"Hmm?" she responded, hugging me closer as she snuggled in and wrapped a leg around mine. My arm came from behind my head and hugged her, resting on her side.

"I spoke with Carlisle earlier."

"Mmmhmm."

"Maybe we should talk later, when you're more awake." I hugged her again, thinking that would be the end of it.

"Nooo, I'm wake," she mumbled and turned her bleary eyes to look at me.

"No, later. Okay? It can wait." I kissed her forehead and she laid her head back down. She was breathing deeply before I could even think about saying anything else.

I couldn't help but lay there and wonder if telling her about the conversation would do her any good.

I laid with her for a couple of hours. Deciding what I needed to do, I finally got out of bed and dressed.

I ran for a quick hunt and then found a fallen tree to sit on. I stared at the phone Demetri left for a moment, before I dialed the preprogrammed number of someone I honestly thought I'd never talk to again.

"Pronto," answered the melodic male voice.

"Marcus, it's Jasper Whitlock again. I need ta speak ta ya about my mate."

AN -

*Pronto- is the traditional greeting when answering a phone in Italy, meaning "I'm ready to listen or speak."

So guesses on what Jasper may want to talk with Marcus about? Is it Bella, true mates, Didyme, being king, Marcus' death, Aro, changing Charlie... sooo many choices for Jasper to seek out guidance from the elder vampire. Thoughts?