A/N: most of the info and such is taken straight from the wiki with some minor changes to accommodate for the fact they weren't Victoria's newborn army and Riley doesn't exist. I made up the thing with Jake at the end. I'm sure the Quileute tribe really have their own coming of age rituals, I looked but couldn't find them, but in order to work for my story I chose to make Jake take a little foreign exchange trip.

this one is shorter than I usually do. Mainly because I felt like I was trying to push it out and also because last chapter was so massively long. :) I'm posting this early because I will be unable to post both stories tomorrow. This story is almost done. :'(

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Bella

After we hugged our children tight and assured them that the wounds we had would heal, though the scars would remain, Jasper and I went upstairs to change our clothes and when we came back down, Jake and the others were gone. We're told they headed back to the Res to sit with the rest of the pack and wait for the prognoses on Leah. She was hurt badly from what I saw, but nothing life threatening thankfully. We would have to wait for Carlisle to return to tell us how she would be. So until then we all sat down to get to know our new guests a little better. We knew they were mates, it was clear with the way neither wanted to leave the others' side, but we learned more about Diego than we previously knew and learned all about the girl named Bree Tanner.

Diego Gonzalez was born in November, 1987, in Los Angeles, California. As it would seem with most of the newborns in the Romanian's army, according to him and Bree, he grew up in a lower-class, single parent home. Diego worked part-time jobs to help out his mom while he went to school. Jasper had been right, he had a goal to leave his street life and go to college. He struggled, until one day Mele came asking if he wanted a new, better life. One that would guarantee him everything he'd ever wanted. Being a young naive kid he agreed. He was seventeen then, now he is eighteen- having turned so just before we met him, or caught him I guess. Whatever.

He was among the first created during the beginning period of creating their newborn army, others included Fred and Raoul and the twins Hare and Rabbit- both of which disappeared during the battle and Demetri will have to track them down once his arm healed.

During his next months as a newborn vampire, Diego acted as the most responsible member, always looking after the wilder ones, even if they didn't want to be looked after, and cleaning up their messes. This is why he was eventually made into Mele's right hand. He has two weeks to go before he hits the twelve month mark and his first year is over and he's no longer considered a newborn. He laments the fact that he can't go home, but understands that his mother more than likely thinks him dead. Emmett promises to look into her for him, so he knows how she's doing. I'm sure there will be times that he stops in just to watch her, maybe help her anonymously in the future.

Bree is a slender thing with past shoulder-length dark hair. She's sixteen, not fifteen like originally thought by Jasper. She possesses the glowing red eyes indicative of a newborn vampire, unlike Deigo's which are slowly turning a more subdued crimson and mine which are now an amber color due to my diet. She's only about eight months old and still a little wild, though Diego seems to have a calming influence on her. She has a high-pitched voice, but it's smooth and even thanks to her vampire traits.

She didn't like being a vampire at first, but she's grown used to it and wouldn't trade it for anything since it means she gets to be with Diego forever. She's a bit like me with a penchant for reading. She originally would pretend to read when she was bored or just wanted to stay out of trouble, but it soon became the one thing that kept her safe. Their friend, Fred, is a real science geek. Loves to read science related books, so she would occasionally steal from bookstores at night to get books for him and herself. This led to him becoming good friends with her and being very protective of her. No one wanted to get near him, so she remained safe anytime Diego had to leave on an errand for Mele.

We ask how it was they came to know they were meant for each other. Bree answers this one. "I was initially very intimidated of him, just like I was intimidated by everyone else in the army, but I was also very cautious because of his close relationship to Mele, the army's only authority. One night, we went out to hunt together. We used the time to bond, he even showed me undue kindness by letting me drink the blood of a girl he had knocked out—something no one else in the group did. After that the two of us became good friends. My love for him came later.

"I fell in love with him after seeing him sparkle in the sunlight," she says with a smile. "He grinned at me, his face beautiful with the light, and suddenly- with a deep lurch in my stomach- I realized that he was more to me than just a friend. It was just that fast… then he shifted and the light stopped dancing off his skin. But even though he looked like his normal self again, I knew he would never look the same to me. That tingly sensation in the pit of my stomach was still there. I had a feeling it would be there forever."

She reaches over then and takes his hand in hers and smiles up at him sweetly. It reminds me of me and Jasper when we first got together. Hell, who am I kidding, we're still that much in love and always will be. She then continues her story and I can see that the newborn army never really had a chance. Mele had warped them well, Diego, Fred and Bree were just smart enough- or perhaps lucky enough- to not fall for the lies completely.

"Diego told me, on the way here to your home, that what we were told about the Volturi is lies but he hasn't told me much else. He didn't have the chance, you all came home soon after and we started our little get to know each other chat. Perhaps now you can address some questions I have?"

Like the others in their army, she was told the lies about the Volturi. We found out that Diego hasn't been able to tell her anything up to now for fear that she wouldn't be able to keep Edward from her thoughts and he didn't have time really to teach her how either, like we had had those five days to teach him to.

Jasper smiles at her. "Sure, though I'm sure Caius would be better suited to do so as he is one of the brothers and was around during the time that the Romanians ruled before. If you'll excuse my mate and I, we need to prepare lunch for our children." He and I get up, carrying the twins as they hadn't left our laps since we sat down, and head to the kitchen. I glance at Bree as we walk away and she has a look of longing much the same as Diego had those weeks ago when he first saw us all. We shall have to see what direction they go in.

Will they stay with us? Turn to an animal diet or continue on a human one? Will they go off after they spend some time with us? Only they know what their future holds at the moment. For now we have other things to worry about. The kids need lunch, we need to feed to help heal our wounds faster and we still need to plan our trip to Argentina. At the moment though, everything is looking up. I can't find myself feeling any worry if I'm honest. Now that we've defeated one enemy, the enemy of lack of knowledge and time doesn't seem so daunting. I know in my cold, dead heart that everything will turn out fine.

Jasper

Now that the day is finally over, I take Bella off into the mountains for a decently long hunt and some alone time. After what happened with Edward I need her. I need her badly. We come across a small heard of elk and drink our fill and then I take her off to a small cave I know of. We may not feel the cold, but that doesn't mean we want to roll around and make love in the snow, but I don't feel like being around the others at this moment. What I want to do to Bella is going to be rough and long and I don't want to worry about the others hearing us. Esme promised to get the twins to bed on time and I know they're safe now that Edward is dead and the Romanians and their army gone.

After lunch, I left Bella talking with the others and came up here alone and set some things up to make the cave more cozy. I just hope she likes it. When I pull her in with me, she sees the candles and the blankets and gasps in delight. "Oh Jazz. You did all this for me?"

"Of course darlin'. Do you like it?"

"I love it, but what I think I'd love more is if we use those blankets for their intended purpose. Make love to me cowboy. Stake your claim like I know you want to. Make me forget Edward and everything that happened today."

"Yes ma'am."

I take her face between my palms and ravish her mouth with my own, licking along the seam of her lips until she opens to me. Then I sweep my tongue inside and taste her sweetness. The kiss lasts forever, but it's not all that I want. In my impatience to taste her skin I rip her shirt from her body. Good thing I brought extra clothes in the event this might happen. She retaliates by ripping my own shirt from me as well and suddenly we're on the blankets, skin on skin as I kiss and lick every inch of her upper torso.

I kiss my way down her belly until I reach the waistband of her jeans. Kissing the button I undo it with my teeth and she growls, damn that's sexy! I need her, need to taste her. I sit up, undo her zipper and pull her jeans and panties off, then I lean over and continue my exploration down her legs and back up again then I flip her onto her stomach and kiss and lick down her spine, biting a fleshy butt cheek and making her squeal. By the time I reach her moist center she's squirming.

I pull her up onto her knees and slide beneath her on my back and feast on her with a hunger I don't think I can satisfy. She moans, sits up so she's sitting on my face, and begins to grind as best she can until she comes, my screamed name echoing off the walls of the cave. At vampire speed I divest myself of my own jeans and underwear before I'm kneeling behind her and plunging into her warmth. This coupling is hard and fast and I come with a roar of her name.

Pulling out I rub her clit hard and fast until she comes a second time. Then I flip us so she's on top and sheath myself in her again. We love each other the rest of the night. Trying to satisfy our craving for the other until the sun rises and we're finally sated. We get dressed, kissing and touching the whole time, and head home to our children. Like every morning, we make them breakfast and then take them tonto something outside.

Carlisle came back while we were gone and we find out that Leah will be just fine. It hurt her badly to have her bones reset due to their rapid healing, and she'll burn the morphine off quickly, but he set up a drip and she's feeling no pain anymore. It'll be a day or two until she's healed enough to get up and around, but she's just fine.

With the danger finally past, I feel like we can finally, truly, move on and have a happy life without any of the worries we previously faced. I'm not even worried about the unknown we are still facing because I know in my cold, dead heart that everything will turn out just fine.

After we come back from the kid's out door activities, the family having left us alone- which we really needed and I'm glad they did leave us alone-, we all sit down to discuss what comes next. "Diego, Bree, have you decided what you're going to do yet?"

Diego leans forward and smiles. "We discussed it last night and, with your permissions of course, would like to know if we can join you or the Denali coven and learn how to hunt animals. I want to be able to go to college one day, we want to be able to live a life we might have had, had our human lives not been taken from us with lies."

"That is fine. Perhaps it is best you join Eleazar and his family for now," Carlisle says as he looks at his friend, who nods. "With us having things we need to do, we aren't really settled enough at this moment to help you the way you need to be helped, but perhaps you can come stay with us later on. You're always welcome here. We appreciate what you had to do in order to help us. So it's no chore to help you."

"I thank you for that. Perhaps we will come stay with you one day, later on. For now we will take your advice and join the Denali."

"Ok, so that's settled. Jasper, son, have you guys come up with a plan yet on how we should go about this trip to Argentina?" Even with all that happened yesterday and this morning, I've had time to come up with a plan.

"Yes, I think we need to call Aster and have him contact the tribe he said might help us. That way they know we're coming. I say we take a week or so to get some things in order though. You know Jake will want to go with us, so we need to get Billy to come up with a reason for him to miss school again." He hasn't really missed any, but they did just get off winter break and now he's going to go off again? Most schools frown on that, but I want- we want- to get this whole thing over and done with so we can live a more normal life without having to always question things.

"Besides, his birthday is in six days, the big one six. Perhaps Billy can persuade the school to allow Jake to take a little time off, maybe say he's sending him to another tribe for a week or so to learn their culture as a sort of coming of age thing? What do you think Jake? We shouldn't be gone more than a week after all." Jake came in about five minutes ago, just in time to join the planning for our trip.

"I think Dad can get that done, as long as I don't miss anymore school after this."

I nod. "Good, now that that is settled, who all is going?" We discuss plans for another hour or so. Once we're sure we have everything in place talk turns to after this trip.

"So, we should probably get started on planning your wedding. Do you want it on the exact date you met, or the weekend before or after?"

"Well Esme, I would like it on the exact day. Alice, any chance you can see how it turns out?"

Alice loses focus for a moment, then she smiles. "Perfectly. Do it that day for sure."

Bella claps happily and the girls go off into plans for dress shopping and themes and all that and it's at that moment we men realize we need to just bow out. We take the twins outside, Carlie just as bored with the women's conversation as we were, and let them play in the snow that really came down overnight. We've seen about five feet and between them and us, we build these massive forts and start a snowball battle. Peter gets a particularly nasty face full of snow and we hear laughter and realize the ladies have come to join us and it becomes a women versus men battle after that.

We have a grand time until it's time to feed and put the kids to bed. When we come back down the stairs the others are in conversation, one that stops once they realize we've joined them again. I can feel a secretive emotion coming from them all and wonder what they're up to. I try to ask, when Esme cuts me off.

"If we wanted you to know Jasper Whitlock Hale, we would tell you. So shut it and don't ask and no snooping or eavesdropping later on. You'll both learn what we're up to soon enough."

I'm sure I look completely dumbfounded at Esme telling me to shut it, but I don't care. I do know, however, not to push it. So I keep my mouth shut, but exchange a look of curiosity with my mate. Now I really want to know what they're up to. We pass the rest of the night in various pursuits, some go off on their own, others find a corner of the room to talk or read, Diego and Bree are sitting with Eleazar and discussing when they will leave and what to expect and learning more about being vampires and how to live among humans.

I have a feeling those two will be just fine. I just sort of wish Fred had stayed so we could help him, but from what we were told- he'll learn well enough on his own. I doubt we'll ever hear from or of him again. Smiling with contentment I turn to Bella and grab her hand. Even though we had an all night fuck fest last night, I feel the need to make love to her so I pull her outside to one of the forts. As we lay in each others' arms sometime later, I sigh with the contentedness I feel. Could our lives get any better than they are right now? I look down at the ring on her finger and think to myself that yes, yes they can. She'll finally be Mrs. Whitlock in just a few months. Ones that tend to fly quickly when you're immortal.