Chapter 19 - Settling Down

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse. I just like having fun with the characters and world the wonderful Stephenie Meyer created.

A/N:Clarification - this story is having Bella date Jake AND Bella date Edward. She isn't kissing one in front of the other because she's nice, but they both know she's spending "quality time" with both of them. It's not cheating. I hate the idea of cheating on someone or adultery. HATE IT. this is different - google polyamory if you want more info. I couldn't live like this, but then I've never had two really hot guys both want me when I want both of them. :)

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Jacob POV:

Once we had emptied the car into the new house, I made a bunch of sandwiches, and we sat on the floor, looking out at the broad expanse of land that would soon be ours. Bella, of course, sat between me and Edward, and I found myself needing to touch her occasionally, just to make sure she was there. I had accepted her decision to love us both, and I loved every moment I was with her, but I still felt a little insecure. Bella seemed to know this, and she'd touch me, too. I think she was doing the same with Edward, but I was trying not to notice.

"OK, Jacob. Now that you've eaten half the food in Fort Duchesne, can you tell us about the meeting you had with the Elder?" Edward asked me.

"Of course," I replied. "He's got about a half dozen teenage boys who suddenly phased into werewolves about a month and a half ago at the full moon. The Kapota have stories about the spirit warriors, but so many tribes have mixed together within Utah to become the Ute people, the Kapota legends aren't being told as often. The families freaked out and called Parker because he's one of the Tribe Elders, and also one of the keepers of the old legends. The boys have mostly been running around at night, and they don't understand why they are werewolves, so they aren't doing much that's useful - they're mostly scaring the cattle."

I paused for a breath and a drink, and saw that Edward and Bella were still watching me closely.

"How did they find out about the red-eyed vampire?" Edward asked.

"Parker was worried about there being a vampire nearby, because the legends tell about them in relation to the spirit warriors, so he told the boys about them. Well, after a couple weeks, the boys went out as a group and smelled something that they felt the instinct to track. It turned out to be a vampire. They didn't understand how to kill a vampire, so they just fought it, and when they had damaged it, they left. Unfortunately, they didn't succeed, and now there have been a few people missing in the area. This isn't like Seattle, so a few people missing is quite noticeable."

"I'll bet!" Bella said. "This place makes Forks look like Phoenix. So they want you to train the boys, and help them defeat the vampire?"

"Exactly. Plus, because I'm an Alpha, they want me to lead the group. They also want me to stay to help teach the legends to the next generation - they don't want to be caught off-guard again." I replied.

"When are you going to meet the boys?" asked Edward.

"Tomorrow morning. It's going to be a pretty intense time at first. Once I get them settled, though, I'd like to have Bella come and help me. I might even ask you to come, Edward, to talk about the treaty and how to recognize vegetarian vampires by eye-color."

"Thanks. I was going to ask you to do that, but it's even better that you suggested it. I'm happy to help. While you're gone, I can help Bella get the house bought and furnished, and all that stuff. You're going to be incredibly busy with the new pups, let us worry about everything here." Edward said.

"Thank you," I replied, honestly feeling very grateful. There was a twinge of jealousy there, too, though. I knew what I was doing was important, but it meant that Edward would have a lot more time with Bella than I would. I had known they would have the nighttime hours while I slept, but I hadn't thought about my pup training time. I would barely see her until she could come with me.

In my head, I knew that the only way for me to be with a happy Bella was if she was also with Edward. In my heart, though, I still wanted to have her all to myself.

Edward must have listened to my thoughts, because he said, "Why don't you and Bella go into town and make the arrangements for buying the house? I can set up the stuff we brought with us, and all that. You two won't get much time together for the next few weeks."

Bella blinked. I don't think she believed that Edward was being so agreeable about the whole dating-both-of-us situation. "Thanks, Edward. That does sound good."

"Thanks, man." I said to Edward, and took Bella's hand to walk with her to the car.

We had a great day together! It had been a long time since we had spent that much time alone together, and it was wonderful. We were known to the community as boyfriend and girlfriend, so we could hold hands and kiss without it looking odd. It felt wonderful.

We talked to Parker Sawock again, and Bella told him that she can phase too, and that she would be happy to help me teach the pups once they got settled with me. He looked very happily surprised, and became even happier when he heard we wanted to buy the house. We ended up paying a month's rent that day, and figured during the next month we'd sign papers and close on the house. That felt good, too - we weren't freeloading, we were paying our way. OK, so it was with Edward's money, but still. If we could share a girlfriend, we could share money. heh.

We drove out to the reservation, and got a sense of how big it was. La Push is small, and the U & O reservation is huge. We didn't meet anyone, but we had a wonderful walk through the area, seeing some of the natural beauty. As we walked, I could feel the tension ebb away. We sat down on a rock, and looked out at the sun setting. Even with the cloud cover that made it safe for Bella to be out with me, the bright colors of the sunset illuminated the beauty in the wilderness.

"This is lovely. I could sit here forever." Bella said, her head on my shoulder.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking that!" I replied, smiling at her.

"I'm glad we got to do this today. The next couple weeks are going to be very intense for you, and I know we won't get days like this one for a while." Bella looked up at me, her red eyes covered in chocolate brown contacts. She was so beautiful, and the emotion carried through her eyes despite the contacts.

I leaned over and kissed her. It was so easy to get lost in that kiss. Right then, there was nothing I wanted to do in life other than kiss Bella. She wrapped her cool arms around my neck, playing with my hair. I had my hands warm against her skin, rubbing slow circles on her back. I wanted to do so much more, but not out in the open, and not before we talked about the two relationships.

Eventually, we broke away, and walked back to the car in a companionable silence. We drove home, only stopping for me to get some more food from the general store, now that we knew we had refrigeration. All too soon after eating, I had to go to sleep - it had been a rough few days, and I would be busy the next day. Sleep was hunting me down, and I needed to give up the fight.

Edward POV:

I have dealt with a lot in my life, but today was one of the hardest days. Seeing my girlfriend being identified (however accurately) as someone else's girlfriend. Hiding in a car. Listening to one of those dogs talk about training more of them to kill vampires. OK, they are evil vampires, but still. Offering to help your mortal enemy isn't easy.

It's also not easy to willingly send your girlfriend out for the day with her other boyfriend. Yes, I know, it was the right thing to do. Bella will be very grateful that I suggested it, but I knew she'd suggest it if I didn't, so it wasn't as altruistic as it might have appeared. Jake would be gone most of the day, then sleeping most of the night for the next couple weeks, so I was going to get a lot of Bella's undivided attention. It was only fair to let Jacob have the time while he could.

My head knew that this compromise was what was best for Bella. My heart broke every time I thought of sharing her, though. I knew that if I hadn't left her, I would have her all to myself, but since I did leave her, she now had Jacob as well.

As I put away our belongings, I smiled at the stereotype of fundamentalist Mormons as a man with a few wives. The idea of one wife with two husbands wasn't as stereotypical, but maybe we could fit in after a while. For now, it made sense to keep quiet and under the radar.

Bella and Jacob came home after sunset, Bella bearing good news about the house, Jacob bearing more food. After Jake ate, he went to his room to sleep, and Bella sat on my lap on the couch.

"Thank you for today," she said, kissing me. I couldn't answer right away, I was enjoying the kiss too much.

"You're welcome. This is harder than I thought it would be, though." I finally replied. "I know we all agreed to this, but it's hard to share you."

"I know, love. But I feel almost like I'm two people - the werewolf me and the vampire me. Each one is in love with a different person, and since I cant tear myself in two, I couldn't be happy another way. I am so grateful that the two of you agreed to do this. I know it wasn't your first choice, but thank you for giving it a chance." Bella said, leaning her head against my chest.

"Bella, I would do anything for you. Anything. You're right - this isn't my first choice. But neither was Changing you. I want you to be happy - that's why I left, and that's why I am staying and won't leave you again."

Bella looked up into my eyes, and I felt like our souls had connected. I kissed her deeply, lost in her eyes, her scent, and everything that was her.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews make me so happy!