Chapter Fifteen
The family had welcomed him back with open arms, even Eleazar. Jesse still felt bad about causing so much trouble for him, but the other man had dismissed his apologies. "You have already apologized Jesse. Nothing too bad has happened. They way it was all set up, no one has questioned our story. I know you did not mean to kill her."
Jesse and Eleazar had shared a 'man hug' and it seemed all was forgiven. Carmen had kissed his cheek and welcomed him back, telling him how much more beautiful his golden eyes looked compared to the red. If he could have blushed, he would have. Jesse had kissed her cheek and embraced her in return.
Kate and Garrett, his champions from the moment he left, had both given him hugs on his return, and Kate too had kissed his cheeks. "Welcome home, Jesse," she had said quietly in his ear. He had kissed her cheek too before stepping back and wrapping a strong arm around Tanya's waist.
It seemed his life couldn't get much better. He had a family who loved him, and he loved in return, which was a strange thing to him, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. And the girl of his dreams. Well she would have been if he could dream. He and Tanya fit together so well, in so many ways, it was uncanny. He didn't really want to talk sex with his brothers, (and that's exactly what they now were, marriage or not) but he did wonder if it was the same way for them. Were their wives a perfect complement to them in all aspects?
A few weeks after returning home, they all decided to take a trip down to Seattle. They would stop in and visit their cousins, the Cullens, and also introduce Jesse to them while they were in town. Jesse suspected that Tanya wanted this trip specifically for that reason, but she denied it. It didn't matter, he had something he wanted to do while he was in the city anyway.
They all packed a bag and decided which cars to take. After much debate and discussion they decided that Eleazar and Carmen would take the Avalanche, and Kate and Garrett would ride with them. Tanya and Jesse would take Jesse's car. Tanya had called ahead and let Carlisle know that they were going to be coming, though she suspected Alice already knew.
Jesse led the way down, with Eleazar staying close behind. While they drove, Tanya told Jesse a little bit about the Cullens. "Carlisle and Esme are the heads of that family. They really do keep their growing bunch in line," she said, smiling. "Then there are Rosalie and Emmett, Alice and Jasper, and Edward and Bella, and their daughter, Nessie." Her voice wavered just slightly when she spoke of Edward and Bella and their daughter.
Jesse looked at Tanya, his brow raised in question, though she wasn't sure if it was because he heard the slight break in her voice or because two vampires had a child. "A daughter? You mean, they adopted a young vampire, the way Carlisle and Esme did?"
Tanya shook her head. "No, Renesmee is Edward and Bella's biological child."
Jesse just stared at her, incredulous. "How is that even possible?"
Tanya shrugged. "Apparently, a male vampire can get a human female pregnant. The resulting child is half-vampire, half-human."
She didn't seem to be inclined to say more, and Jesse was still in shock over the fact that it could happen at all. After a long while, Jesse reached over and took Tanya's hand in his, lacing their fingers together. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
It was Tanya's turn to be surprised. "What for?"
"I can't give you a family."
Tanya smiled. "I have a family. Carmen and Eleazar, Kate and Garrett. And now you. You complete our family. So what if there aren't any kids running around? I never cared to change diapers anyway."
Jesse raised a brow looking at her. He didn't press the issue this time. Squeezing her hand, he guided the car off the exit that would take them into Washington. Glancing in the rearview mirror he saw Eleazar still close behind. "Tanya, are we going to Seattle first?" The thought had just occurred to him, and if he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure he was ready to meet their cousins yet.
Glancing over her shoulder out the back window, Tanya waved her free hand at the others in the Avalanche then looked to Jesse. "Well, I thought we'd go to Forks first, Carlisle said we could stay with them. We could go get settled, then take a drive into Seattle."
"Well... alright. How do I get there?" he sighed.
Tanya gave him the directions. When Jesse was silent after that she didn't push it, just watched as he navigated the sleek car effortlessly through the traffic. Finally, she asked, "What's wrong? Don't you want to go to Forks?"
He let out a long breath. "It's not that I don't want to go. You do understand that up until now, the largest group of vampires I've been with is the Volturi. And their lifestyle is infinitely different from the one I am now leading. I guess I'm just nervous."
Tanya hid a smile. "Jess, you'll be fine, they'll love you. Alice has probably already seen you coming and knows that we all love you, so they will too." When he gave her a funny look, she explained. "Alice has visions, she sees the future. It's not always one hundred percent, but she's usually pretty accurate. And she will know that Carmen and Eleazar, Kate and Garrett and I all love you."
Jesse smiled. "I love you too. Lets get this show on the road, shall we?" Pushing the accelerator down even more, the car jumped forward. Shifting into the highest gear, he let the car fly. The Avalanche, while a great truck, didn't match the Viper in speed capability, and soon was left behind them.
Tanya's phone started ringing shortly after they left the others behind. Picking up the phone and answering it, both she and Jess started laughing when they heard Eleazar good naturedly cursing them out. "Sorry Eleazar, but I gotta let the car go, or I'm gonna be insane by the time we get there!" Jesse said.
Tanya quickly explained, "Jesse's a bit nervous about meeting the Cullens."
Jesse could hear Eleazar say, "But there's nothing for him to worry about, they'll love him."
"I know, I told him that. I think he just wanted to see if your truck could keep up." Tanya laughed. Looking over at the dash she grinned. "We'll meet you in Everett for gas."
Eleazar laughed. "Alright Tanya, talk to you soon." He hung up and Tanya disconnected, putting her phone back in her pocket where it had been.
Jesse laughed. "None of you will let me out of this will you?"
"No way in hell, Jess. You wanna be part of our family, that means all the family." She said it gently though, to soothe. "You should know--"
"Here we go with the 'by the way, you should know, Jess,'" he said with a laugh.
Tanya glared at him. "You should know that they have... shapeshifter friends. Um... they are wolves. And one of the wolves... has some kind of attachment to Nessie. I don't know all the details, but just so you know before we go in."
Jesse arched a brow. "Wolf shapeshifter friends? What have you gotten me into Tanya?"
"I'll let them explain. Take this exit here, we'll get gas and wait for Eleazar to catch up."
He did as she instructed, chuckling. "It might be awhile before he catches up."
"Then we have a while to wait don't we?" she shot him a smirk. "That's not my fault. Maybe you should let me drive the rest of the way."
Jesse pulled into the gas station and parked near the pumps. He laughed. "Maybe. If you're lucky." He leaned over and pecked a kiss to her cheek before getting out of the car. He went around to get the nozzle and suddenly stopped. He could smell her, and a moment later, a voice he'd hoped never to hear again spoke.
"Jesse Macgillivray?"
