A/N: Time to finish our tale...
"It's really a date this time, right, Mom?"
"Yep." I pause in my primping and take a close look at her little face. She hasn't quite learned to school her emotions yet. "You okay with that, Shortcake?"
"Well, yeah," she says, like it's the most obvious answer in the world. I guess for her, it is.
"It's okay to ask me some questions if you're confused, Tab."
"No. That's okay. I told Jasper a long time ago that it was fine if he went on dates with you."
"Uh, you what?" I am so glad that I stopped applying my mascara to talk to her. I think I'd be blind right now.
"Jasper is funny and nice and cool. I like him. I told him he could go out with you on dates. BUT the rule is I get to go sometimes. He said okay."
My daughter pimped me out. And negotiated her own terms. I am surprisingly all right with that. I smile to put her suddenly concerned pout to rest.
"I like him, too."
"Are you nervous like when we went to the barbeque?" She walks up to me and hugs me around the waist. My kid is so awesome.
"Not really, no. Jasper is our friend, right?" She nods. "So I know we will have fun together."
"Did you have fun when you were going on dates with Daddy?"
Such an innocent question, asked with an innocent heart. So hard to answer. I hug her even closer before I can speak.
"I had tons of fun when I was dating your Daddy. But Jasper is a different person, so it won't really be the same."
"I miss him, Mom."
"Me, too, Shortcake. But it's okay to miss Daddy and still like Jasper. Understand?"
She nods again. "Good. I'm glad. I was a little bit scared about that," she admits quietly.
I pick her up and sit us on my bed. Holding her so she faces me, so she gets a really good look at me, I tell her, "I was, too. But you know what? Your Daddy loved us so very much. And he would want us both to have friends, and have fun, and be happy. And he would never want us to be scared about that. Not ever." I hope she can grasp this truth faster, and so much easier, than I did.
I shouldn't have even worried about that.
"Okay," she chirps, smiling brightly. The question is answered, the fear laid to rest. It's all good in Tabitha's eyes. And, I think, in mine, too.
Two hours later, Jasper and I are seated on the deck at Creekside Restaurant, just a few minutes outside Forks at the Kalaloch Lodge. The view, even for the two of us who were raised here, is breathtaking.
"So, not the diner?" I joke as our meals are brought to the table. Delicious. Cioppino for me, fried calamari for him, a crisp Kalaloch Lodge white to ease any silly lingering tension.
"Ha, no," he replies, eyes and dimples smiling. "I wanted an official date-like place. Tab would be so disappointed if I took you to the coffee shop."
"Yeah, I've heard about her well-laid plans," I smirk. He has the good grace to chuckle and look sheepish. It's a good look on him.
"She's an amazing kid, Bella."
"Yeah. She is."
We're quiet for a minute, neither of us wanting this to be about Tabitha. Every single thing else is about her, and i want it that way. And if this works out to be more than just a date, it will most definitely be about her. But tonight, it's just us. Seemingly by mutual agreement. He always knows the right thing to say, or, in this case, what not to say.
"You look beautiful," he says, draining his glass.
"Thank you. I love that jacket. I always did love that leather jacket on you."
It's not an overly formal place, being here on the beach at a family resort. He's wearing a dark blue button up that forces his eyes to shine, a very well fitting pair of dark jeans, and that leather jacket that carries teenage memories. I'm not any fancier with my striped dress, boots, and jean jacket. Just two locals, out for a nice dinner.
Two locals. I've just considered myself local. Things are not exactly turning out the way I'd planned when I left Oregon. A house. A job. A lovely dinner date with a childhood friend. Whose life is this?
We finish dinner with an incredible apple, rosemary, and cheddar pie. We split it, of course. Even though he knows I eat like a linebacker, this IS a date. We decide we just aren't ready to get back to the real world of curious, Machiavellian little girls, not-even-close-to-finished remodeling projects, surprising new jobs for which to prepare, crews that need to be supervised two hours outside of town, and all the other pressing issues present in our lives. A walk on the rocky beach seems a much more pleasant idea, and so we make our way down off the restaurant deck and walk into the absolutely perfect sun, just now beginning to lower toward the ocean. Somehow, without our realizing it, we are holding hands. And it's right. It's good. It's supposed to be like this. Finding a tide pool hidden among the fallen timber, we stop.
"Bella," he begins. I look into that familiar face, that face I've grown to look forward to seeing so much, and wait for him to say what he needs to say.
"Are you staying? Really staying?"
"I - ," I begin, but he isn't finished.
"You came here looking for something, or running from something. It was so hard to figure out at first. But then I realized, you were doing the same thing I was. You were doing both."
"Why did you come back here, Jasper?" Finally, I've asked. Finally, I feel like he's ready to answer.
"A woman. Isn't that always the answer?" He laughs, but it is a sound without humor. He drops my hand carefully and begins to shift on the feet at which he is now staring intently. "I was involved with a professor at school. One of MY professors. She was older, and exciting, and forbidden. So, of course, I had to have her."
"Always with the James Dean, Jasper." I want to lighten his mood, and he did carry that rebel persona all through high school. Not a bad kid, just one who did as he saw fit, o matter what anyone else thought of him.
"Yeah, right. Only this time, heavy consequences attached, you know? More for her than for me. Or so I thought. We sneaked around for over a year. Then the guilt, mydamn guilt; I was afraid we'd get caught and she'd get fired. I switched sections and got into another professor's class. Turns out," he says as he turns his head to face me again, "it was the danger that excited her. The forbidden fruit aspect was got her going. It wasn't me, not really. She ended it. A month later, she had another guy. I graduated, and came home to lick my wounds."
"Oh, Jasper." What else can I say?
"I thought I loved her. A year together! But Maria, she was just using me to liven up her boring life in academia."
"What a bitch!" We both laughed, loudly, and his admission became just a moment from his past.
"I thought I was just going to be back in Washington long enough to pull my head together, put together a resume and line up some interviews with headhunters. But then Seth came along, I bought a little house, I reconnected with the friends I hadn't realized I'd missed. And now I'm really home."
He stops talking, takes both my hands and locks his blue-green eyes with mine. "Are you, Bella? Are you home? Are you ready to leave that old life behind?"
Before he asked me that, I would have said maybe, or I'm not sure, or I'm getting there. Riley will never not be a part of who I am. Even if there had never been a Tabitha, there had still been Riley and Bella. I will love him with a piece of my heart for the rest of my life. But there is room, now, for more.
"Yes, Jasper. I'm home."
He has to bend low to kiss me, and it's that awkward first kiss, and we're nervous, but it's perfect. I know we'll have many, many chances to work out the kinks and find what works for us. It's what we've been doing since the moment he woke me up with a hammer on my door. We were leading up to this the whole time.
***MOL***MOL***MOL***MOL***
A bright, clear, crisp September morning has begun very early. Turns out, Tabs doesn't actually hate her uniform. She is twirling her way around the kitchen in her little black shoes, in serious danger of scuffing my newly laid tile floor. Whatever. Houses are built to be lived in. Besides, I have my own personal handyman to fix whatever my kid destroys. Also, turns out I hate myuniform. White shirt, black skirt, and shoes that aren't flip flops. Guess I've gotten used to being at home. It's not that I have to wear the top and skirt everyday, I just would rather have on a t-shirt and jeans.
It's the Friday of our first week, and Tab and I have both had a lot work and adjusting to do. Her curriculum is challenging and getting to know all new kids is intimidating. But Daniel has helped her so much. She smiles a lot and complains very little. To hear her tell Sue and Dad about her day gives me reason to think I made the right choice for her. She already has Uncle Seth lined up for a Show & Tell. And her Strawberry Shortcake backpack is the envy of all the girls in her class, though she did have to explain why she thought wiggling her nose at difficult math problem is funny.
I have completely arranged and supplied my new art room. Mrs. Cope and I agreed that I would focus on the elementary children for the first semester to get my feet wet. She also thought that would give me ample time to get up to speed in my new administrative job. Hello, Isabella Biers, Lower School Director. Our headmistress thought I'd be perfect for the position once she got a look at my degree and experience. She's making sure I stick around, that crafty old sweetheart.
Jessica and I are having a celebratory dinner in honor of my first week survival skills this evening while Mike wrangles the five children. Poor, wonderful man. In the morning, Jasper, Shortcake, and I will be heading out to the Res for some camping with Leah, Jake, and their kids, along with Dad and Sue, before the weather just gets too cold. Next weekend is a dinner party with our high school friends. Alice is feeling particularly deprived of first hand details.
Tab and I, we're doing okay here. Our lives are happy and full. We have purpose and goals and love and laughter. We have a life. I have a life. My new life.
A/N: I don't think this is the end of their story. Just the end of the beginning. I have no real plans set in place to begin a sequel at the moment, however. My heart currently belongs to another fandom. I have ideas, though. So many ideas.
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