Based on the characters created by Stephanie Meyer, in her Twilight Saga series of books

Home by Twilight

Chapter 8

"Jenna," Tony caught her attention as she came down the stairs, and rounded the corner to the dinning room, for breakfast. "Did you catch the news this morning?"

"No," Jenna said as she grabbed a plate and began serving herself from the mounds of food in front of her. Connie had greatly increased the amount of food cooked, since Jacobs arrival.

"Some earthquake activity west of here last night." Tony announced.

"Earthquake," Jacob had come in, in the middle of the conversation. His nose had finally gotten the better of him. He grabbed the pancake plate and began pouring syrup on it. "You guys get earthquakes 'round here?"

"Not very often," Bill told Jacob. Edward and Bella had just joined the group to listen to the morning discussions. "This one was over near McCarty spring," Bill finished. Jacob began to choke as Edward and Bella burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Tony asked as the rest of the Cullen's all appeared in the room, either grinning or laughing. All but Rosalie and Emmett.

"Tony," Bella started, "You be sure to tell Rose and Emmett about this, when they get back." and Bella couldn't stop grinning.

"Tell Rose and Emmett what?" Emmett asked as they came to a screeching halt, just before they entered the front door.

"I don't know what's so funny," Tony looked around the room with a serious eye. "It was just a good thing no one was around to get hurt."

"Get hurt by what?" Rosalie asked as she took a seat next to Jacob, who refused to lift his head to look at either one of them.

"Earthquake centered around McCarty spring, west of here," Tony finished. Again he looked around and watched the Cullen's and now even Jenna, try to keep from going into spasms of outrageous laughter.

"I'm sorry for my families reaction to something you consider quite serious," Carlisle started. "But have you met my son, Emmett McCarty Cullen?"

Emmett was smiling so broadly that Rosalie was embarrassed. She got out or her chair , slapped Emmett on the leg with a sharp smacking sound, and proudly left the room with a resounding "Men!" and a small smile on her face.

"Ouch," Tony cringed at the sound. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"Only when she smacks me up against a mountain," Emmett replied with a huge grin.

Tony finally got the joke and began laughing with the others.

Breakfast finished on a happy note, as those gathered began to separate into groups for the day's activities.

"Edward?" Carlisle asked. "Will you give me a hand in the lab?"

Edward gave Bella a kiss and went to join his father. Esme and Connie had already began to clear away the breakfast dishes, when Jacob peeked his head around the corner of the kitchen door.

"Esme?" he asked tentatively, "I thought that … under the circumstances, that a couple friends of mine might come in handy."

"That's really not a bad idea, Jacob," Esme smiled at him. "You should ..." and Esme gave Jacob a sly look. "Jacob," she started sweetly, "what did you do?"

"Well, they're 'running' down here now," he announced with a wide grin. "They should be here by lunch."

Esme turned away from the sink to stare at Jacob. "How many!" she demanded.

"Just my four," and Jacob ran for the front door, and was wolf and gone before Connie could turn around to see what all the excitement was about.

"Jacob Black!" Esme called from the front door. "You just remember, I know just about where you sleep," and she returned to the kitchen to give Connie the bad news. "Rose … Alice," she called as she went.

"What is wrong?" Connie was concerned for her hew friends.

"You bellowed," Rose said, as she and Alice appeared in the kitchen at the same time.

"Jacob has invited four of his friends to come and help," Esma told them all. Then to Connie, who still did not understand the problem. "Four just like Jacob," Esme told her. "For lunch."

Connie sat down hard, on the closest chair, "Oh my!" As the gravity of the situation began to sink in, Connie took control of the situation and began to make adjustments. In less time than Esme and her daughters had the kitchen cleaned and everything put away, Connie had more beef being brought up from the smokehouse, as well as huge quantities of staples. In no time at all, she had Esme, Rose and Alice organized and cooking for the growing number of guests. To all their amazement, she opened a partition and revealed a second kitchen, complete with sink, and three ovens.

Jasper and Emmett, hearing the excitement of the soon to be arrivals, ran out to pick up Jacob and meet the four. They had ideas of their own, on how to help the situation. With everyone gone or doing required chores, Jenna took Bella by the arm, and they disappeared first into the front room.

"Before we go to far," Jenna told Bella, "you should call your mom and dad." She handed Bella the phone, then gave her the privacy to use it.

Bella punched the number she wanted and listened while it rang. "Mom?" Bella wasn't sure how her mom would take the news.

"Bella," Renee responded. "I thought you'd never call."

"It's been a little busy here, mom."

"I imagine so. So … what do you think of your real mom?" Bella didn't know what she was expecting, but this wasn't it.

"It's Aunt Jenna," Bella responded in a whisper. She heard the laughter from the other end of the line, and was completely surprised.

"I know honey," Renee got out. "I've always known. Jenna wanted me to know that she never intended to take you away, so we thought it would be best to just have her in your life, all through your life."

"But dad said..."

"Oh honey," Renee started, "God love him, but he is just a man. He couldn't possibly be expected to understand an arrangement made between two women. Jenna is your mother. I will always be your mom."

"He said that you were too fragile ..."

"He was probably right. But that was then. Enjoy yourself, OK?"

Bella talked to her mom for a few minutes more, then she called her dad. She told him that she was having a wonderful time, that she still loved him and he would always be her dad, and that she wasn't sure how much longer she would be. When she finally hung up the phone, Jenna was waiting for her. She led her to the basement of the house.

"This is where I hide most of my past," she announced to Bella.

"Hide?"

Jenna shrugged. "Seems a fitting term."

Bella looked around the huge room. There were shelves on every wall, and the shelves were full of all sorts of objects. Bella reached out for a statue of a rearing horse. It was heavy, and looked as if it were made from black marble, but there was not a single straight line on it. She held it up for Jenna to see, with a question in her eyes.

"Drifter, my stallion." There was a small table and a couple chairs in the middle of the room. Jenna took the statue and set it on the middle of the table, then sat down and motioned for Bella to join her. "Soon after I … acquired this property, I was out riding the area to check it all out. I found a small herd of mustangs that had been run off a cliff. Probably a bunch of kids from Lamoille or Spring Creek. Most were dead. Others had to be put down, to many broken legs and backs for me to take care of. I did find a mare, just barely alive, and in labor. By the time I got to her, she was breathing her last breaths, but he foal was still fighting. I used my knife and cut him out of her. I wasn't sure he would survive, but I wrapped him up in a blanket and brought him back here.

'Of course none of this was here then. I just had a small trailer. Drifter lived with me, in the trailer, for about four months, until he simply got to big for it. To this day, he will still try to follow me into the house at times." Jenna and Bella both gave a short laugh, then Jenna went to a shelf and put the statue back. She brought back a large, flat, ornate wood box, and a bottle of wine and one glass. "Would you like some?" she asked Bella. Bella shook her head.

"This will be your's someday," Jenna turned the box toward Bella. "Go ahead, take a look."

Bella opened the box and her eyes widened. "They're beautiful," she breathed. Inside the box was a necklace with matching earrings. "Diamonds?" Bella picked up the large necklace carefully. "It looks like it was made for a queen."

"It was," Jenna finished one glass of wine, and poured another. "They were a gift. Not from your father, but from someone I cared for deeply." Jenna took a long drink. "He came before I met your father." Jenna closed her eyes and began the story of her life.

"I was married when I was a teenager, like you. But, unlike you, he didn't really love me. He was a drunk, and one day his drunk driving killed us both." Jenna gave a small chuckle. "Well … almost. I spent almost a year either in the hospital, or having surgeries. Then, one day it all changed. I began to realize that I could do things. I had to be careful to not draw attention to myself. I was a big enough freak just for surviving. When I was well enough, I took off. I ended up here, in these mountains. I worked at discovering and honing my new skills. I did a very good job. Almost too good. I decided to go to Vegas and make a little money. Once again being careful not to draw attention to myself by winning too much at any one casino. It all worked out pretty well, until one day the security chief at one on my favorite places, had his team surround me. They 'invited' me to meet the owner.

'Sylvester turned out to be a very sweet man. He knew I was doing something, he just didn't know what. Anyway he offered me a penthouse suite next to his, on the top floor, as long as I would stop gambling at his casino. It worked out very well, and we became great friends. I suppose if I were to ever find out who my real father was, I would wish he was just like Sylvester.

"Anyway, he got himself into a … situation." Jenna shifted in her chair. "A rather delicate situation. You see, every once in a great while, Sylvester would do a 'favor' for the State Department. I accidentally got drawn into the middle of things, largely because I can't seem to stay out of other peoples business. I saw a friend in trouble, and went charging in, guns drawn you might say. I succeeded in getting Sylvester out, but I got myself into a bit of a tangle at the same time. Some of my secrets got out. Just a couple, but enough that they were able to get a handle on me."

"Who?" Bella asked quietly.

"The government of course. OUR government. I had to make a deal with them, to keep any amount of freedom. The deal was pretty simple. I would do ten suicide missions for them, and they would pay me an obscene amount of money, and this land. But after the ten were done, I was done. I was over half way through when I got pregnant with you. I was afraid that they would take you, experiment on you, to find out how I worked. Being there when your mom and dad were at the hospital was pure luck. I'm sorry they lost their child. At the same time, I'm glad they did. You were given the chance at a normal childhood, because of it. I knew that Charlie and Renee wouldn't stay together. But I also saw that they would be good parents."

"How did you end up there at that time?"

"Believe it or not, I was dropped out of a helicopter off Cape Alava. There had been a boat capsize that same night. It all just worked out perfectly."

"You got lucky," Bella told her mother

"No Bella, you got lucky. You got parents that love you. I never had to worry about you. And you avoided the orphanages, and foster homes." Jenna finished her second glass of wine, then directed Bella to a block of marble on a shelf behind her. Bella picked up the heavy six inch square block of white marble. "There's a smaller piece next to where this one was," Jenna told Bella. "Get that one for yourself." Bella did as asked. "Now, it's time to learn something useful," and Jenna grinned at Bella. "The statue of Drifter," Bella looked at the marble statue on the shelf, then back to Jenna. "I made that, and I'm going to teach you how to do it yourself." There was a commotion coming from upstairs that consumed both their attentions. "After lunch."

Bella and Jenna raced up the stairs to find out what the problem was. Bella smelled the blood, before Jenna opened the basement door. Most of Jacobs pack, along with Emmet and Jasper, were surrounding a figure on the dining room table. Jenna cleared a path and began to examine Embry. After checking his wounds quickly she turned to Jacob.

"Bella, would you please get started here. I'll help in just a moment. Bleeders first, please." Bella placed her hands on Embry, one on his chest, the other on his forehead. "Good positioning," Jenna commented. "Jacob, would you care to explain?"

"It was my fault," Jasper spoke up. "I thought that it would help to have a better idea of what we were dealing with, if Jacob's pack could do a little reconnaissance, in Deeth. We were discovered. Embry was injured in the escape."

"Did you gain any information that was worth his life?" Jenna asked. "We needed to wait a while for things to calm down, after our raid the other night. They're still on high alert from having a pack member of their own go missing."

Jasper hung his head, "of course, you are right. We should simply have had the wolves remain in hiding until a more opportune time."

"Nothing to be done about it. Jacob, take your friends upstairs and let them clean up. You will find clothes in the spare room, last door on the left," then Jenna turned her attention to Embry. Together, mother and daughter worked to save the shifter. In less time than it took for the first of the pack to shower and change, Embry was sitting at the newly scrubbed table and eating a large lunch.

"You got to check this out!" Embry was excited as Leah, the first down the stairs, came around the corner. "This is some good food," he continued with a full mouth.

Connie and crew had begun serving lunch. The humans rushed in hoping to get something to eat, before the wolves ate it all, but Connie had been warned and she was ready for them all. She even supplied Embry with a few extras to help with his blood loss. Everyone was able to find a place at the table, even those that didn't eat. Renesmee and Nita decided to take their plates to Nita's room, so they didn't interfere with the adult conversations.

"I don't think I've ever seen Nita so happy," Tony commented. "Thank you, Bella … Edward, for having such a delightful daughter." Bella looked at Edward and smiled.

"Testing is coming along," Carlisle informed Jenna. "We won't have anything to go on, until tomorrow morning. The … subject is remaining calm, and only threatens to rip off our limbs about once an hour now." Everyone at the table began to giggle or laugh.

"Jacob has invited the rest of his pack, in case backup is needed, should more problems arise." Jenna rose and lifted her water glass to her newest guests. "Embry is healed, but will need to take it easy while his body replenishes the lost blood."

"What happened to Embry?" Carlisle asked.

"We a …" Jasper started, "I thought that, with them just coming in, the werewolves wouldn't know that they existed. So we, Emmett and I, ran out to meet them. We made a quick run by Deeth, to see what we could find out."

"They were ready for us," Emmett continued for Jasper. "We spotted about eleven of the filthy beasts."

"We're wolves too," Leah had been doing better about speaking her mind. She had truly blossomed, as Jacobs second.

"You didn't see what they did," Jacob told her. "I'll fill you all in, after lunch."

"There was no one we could mark as the Alpha," Quill spoke up.

"Well, I'm glad you were able to get Embry here in time. The one piece of information we do need is just who is their Alpha." Jenna announced. "But we'll save that for another night. Everyone, please relax for the night. I'm sure that there are enough of us here, to protect the house, and the girls."

Lunch broke up then. Welcomes and catching up conversations kept the group buzzing for a while. Jenna was finally able to grab Bella and drag her back to the basement.

"Time to finish what we started earlier." Jenna and Bella sat back down in their chairs. "You have to get the image straight, in your head, before you start."Jenna picked up her piece of white marble. "You have to try to see into it's core." Bella picked up her piece of white marble and held it at eye level. "Try to see what shape is in it. Turn it anyway you want. But some where in the stone you will find an image that has meaning for you."

There was silence for a long time. Bella turned the stone in circles before she rolled it so it stood with only one corner toward the table. "I have it," she smiled at Jenna.

"Good. Now you have to remove what you don't need. Simply think about it slowly peeling away. Shape the stone by removing or moving it. Once a piece has has been removed from the stone, it can not be replaced. Watch."

Bella watched as Jenna began to modify her piece of marble. She removed large pieces, and moved others to flesh out the piece. Bella went back to work on her piece, trying to do what Jenna had done. Together they worked, each on their own work of art. Bella's work was slow going, but Jenna supported her the entire afternoon and evening. Bella had not even noticed that Jenna had finished her piece, when Esme was calling everyone to dinner.

"I want to finish this, before I come up," Bella told Jenna. I'm almost done."

"OK," and Jenna left Bella to finish. She took her piece upstairs with her, and left it on a low table, near her seat at the table. "Bella will join us soon," she nodded to Edward. "She has something she wants to finish." And the humans, and half humans, began to eat with a vengeance. The conversation was mixed, as tactics began to consume the minds of several of those seated at the table. Bella was hardly noticed as she took her seat next to Edward. Alice was across the table from her.

"Alice?" Bella began, "You're my best friend. When Jenna gave me this piece of stone, it took me a while to see what was in it. But I finally found it, and it was you." Bella handed Alice the white marble piece she had spent all afternoon working on. It was a ballerina, about four inches high. "She can stand on her toe," and Bella showed Alice how to stand the tiny statue. "It's you."

Alice picked up the tiny ballerina and studied it's face. "It is me!" Alice was amazed at the resemblance. "Oh, Bella," and Alice held the white marble dancer carefully.

"A beautiful piece," Jenna told Bella. "Very well done. I have made one for you." Jenna got up and walked her piece around the table to Bella. She set the larger piece of white marble on the table in front of her. Bella's eyes wanted to cry, for the beauty and memory of the day that had inspired the piece.

"It's me," she stated, "Healing the mare."