Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story line, SM owns the characters I'm just having fun with them.

Peter POV
Running home holding my newborn mate in my arms was an experience I will never forget. My heart felt almost whole for the first time in over forty years. I still missed Jasper and wanted him with me but I had my new mate to focus on and she needed all of my attention and my complete care. This time I was the one who was needed and I was the caretaker, teacher, and advisor. I would help my mate learn to live in this world and I would prepare her for my world when she was old enough to be changed. As the thought hit me I stopped dead in my tracks, still about a mile outside of Boise.

I looked down at the sleeping angel I was holding and thought, she needs me. She actually needs me. She cannot survive without me. Jasper always claimed that he needed me, that his life was meaningless without me, but when it came down to it, we survived just fine without each other. I mean, yes, I was miserable, but I moved on with my life and actually had a little fun moving around and exploring new places with Edward. But this tiny person I was holding was completely dependant on me for her survival. If I walked away, she would die. End of story. No over-dramatization, just the plain and honest truth.

Just as quickly as the awe wore off, terror rushed in. What if I wasn't good enough? What if I did something wrong and she ended up hating me? What did I know about a tiny human's needs? Maybe I should find a human family to give her to and keep an eye on her from the shadows, meet up with her later when she's older...

"Hey, Pete, stop it ok? You're making me dizzy with your thoughts churning so fast. First of all, look at her. Look how content she is with you. Deep in her soul, she recognizes you, she knows you will keep her safe and make her happy. Second, think about this. What if you give her to a human, let them raise her in their world. She falls in love with a family of mortals, and when you show up she resents you for wanting to take her away. Would you be able to walk away and let her live her human life without changing her?

"Wouldn't it be better to raise her with us from the beginning? Let her experience vampire life so it is all she knows and what she considers normal? Teach her everything before she is changed so she will know what she is going into when her heart stops beating? Think about it- her change would be nothing more than a temperature drop and diet adjustment. She wouldn't lose her family, her friends, her life; she would just grow into the life she is supposed to be living. You are irrevocably bound to her and I would say that based on her reaction to you she is just as bound to you. Will you give that all up based on your fears?"

He had a good point. I knew how much she already meant to me and there was no way I could walk away. I wasn't sure she would be leaving my arms anytime soon for that matter. She seemed happy and my purr seemed to be soothing her- wait, how long have I been purring? "Since we left the house." Oh, thanks Edward. "No problem- let's just get home and get her comfortable and then we can discuss this more." With that we picked up running again and headed straight into the house.

Edward ran in long enough to get his wallet and the keys to the Mustang saying he would go out and find some baby books and whatever she needed to eat and stuff. We could go back tomorrow for the big stuff together. Hey Edward- I thought as he headed out the door. I'm sorry we didn't make it to the club tonight. He just laughed and said, "Believe me, I would rather find your mate than go to a club any day. I had planned on picking up a human girl to bring home but I think the one you found is worth so much more."

Now that I was alone with my mate I took her to my room to find her a place to settle in. I didn't have a bed, just a long couch and an overstuffed reading chair, so I took a thick quilt down from the closet and folded it up to put on the floor. I pulled the little bracelet from my pocket before I sat down on the floor and pulled my mate down from my chest to rest in my lap. I took another moment to study her; she was just so perfect. Wispy brown curls covered her perfectly round head, and her eyelashes fanned out so full and thick across her cheeks. I couldn't resist leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her tiny button nose and breathe in her scent.

"Well, little mate. I guess I should find your name out so you can get used to hearin' it. Let's see what we have here. Swan, Isabella Marie. Born Sept 13- wait, you're only four days old? Oh my goodness, no wonder you're so tiny. Well, Isabella, that's certainly a mouthful for such a tiny person. We'll see if we can't come up with a nickname. And your last name will have to change as well, this is the Whitlock Coven so you'll be a Whitlock too. Isabella Whitlock, I like that.

"Anyway, my name is Peter and I'm your mate. You don't know what that is but I'll explain it to you when you're a little older. What it means is that I am going to love you and take care of you and cherish you for the rest of eternity. We actually have another mate as well, and I love him very much too but I haven't seen him in a very long time. His name is Jasper, or the Major, and I really wish he could be here with us right now. He would love you so much and you would even be able to talk to him, he could feel exactly what you are trying to say without any words. God, I miss him so much. We have to find him, baby girl. He needs to be here with us."

I didn't realize my eyes were closed until I heard a small whimper and looked down to see wide brown eyes staring back at me. She had a frown on her heart shaped mouth and she was reaching her tiny hand up to me. I put my finger in her little fist and she brought it back to her mouth to suck on. For a minute I wondered what I tasted like to her, then I worried that my skin was too cold against hers, but she hadn't been bothered so far so it must not be too uncomfortable. I laid her down on the quilt in front of me and unwrapped my shirt from around her. I choked on a half growl/half sob when I saw her creamy skin. There were dark bruises on her arms and legs. Matching handprints spanned her entire torso with finger marks on her back and thumbs around her ribs. For a horrible moment I worried I had damaged my mate but as I looked closer I realized the bruises were already set in, at least a day old. My hands were also larger than the prints that marred her perfect skin. How could this happen? She has only been on this earth for four days and she was already hurt.

I started to move away so my anger wouldn't cause me hurt her even more but as soon as I stepped away from her she began crying loudly and thrashing around. I immediately picked her up and pulled her close to me. "Shhh, little one. It's ok, you're gonna be ok. Pete's not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again." I concentrated on her scent to calm myself and noticed I could smell the humans she was living with. Standing up I walked into the bathroom to get a washcloth and clean her up. After her sponge bath I manged to get her diaper changed, then I wrapped her in another one of my t-shirts. I was going to burn those clothes we brought and buy her all new ones with no ties to those monsters.

Just as I got her bundled back up, Edward came in with his arms full of bags and a pensive look on his face. He stared at Isabella for a minute and then turned to me. "I need to talk to you about something, Peter. It has to do with the baby.

"I realized when we were running home earlier that I couldn't hear any thoughts from her. I assumed it had to do with her age, as I had never really paid attention to babies before. But when I was shopping there were three other babies in the store and I was able to pick up thoughts from all of them. Some were just faces and colors, a few sounds, general thoughts of hunger; but your mate is completely silent to me."

"Is there something wrong with her? Does she need a doctor? Oh God, I can't lose her! What do I do? I-"

"Peter, stop! Stop! I don't think there's anything wrong with her- I think she's gifted! I think she's a shield, kind of like you, but she's going to be very powerful if it's already manifesting this early in her human life." A gift? I never even considered the fact that our mate might be gifted. I loved the fact that it was so similar to my gift, I can't wait to tell Jasper about it.

"Wait, Peter. That's something else we need to discuss. We're going to have to guard her closely until she's old enough to be changed. Most vampires would understand the situation but if the Volturi caught wind of it, she is way too vulnerable. I know you want to go look for Jasper again, but I don't think it's a good idea for the family to know about this yet. I'm honestly not sure if we can trust them to keep quiet, especially Alice and Carlisle. I think you should cover her scent as well, a human who smells like a vampire would raise questions for anyone who crossed her path."

Not look for Jasper? I didn't want to keep our mate from him but if it would be safer for her I had to think about it. Jasper could take care of himself, Isabella could not. Man, that name sure is long, what else can I call her?

"What about Bella? It's shorter, and I think it suits her- it means beautiful." Edward must have been following my thoughts again. But I liked it. Bella.

"What do you think little one? Do you want us to call you Bella? You certainly are the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!" I raised her face to mine and she looked so serious for such a small baby, her brown eyes just studied my crimson ones intently. As I lifted her my shirt shifted, exposing her right arm. Edward's eyes zeroed in on the bruises and his eyes turned jet black almost instantly.

"What the hell is this?! What happened to her?" He was so angry he was shaking and I slowly backed away with her, turning to put my body between them.

"It's bad Edward. She has more. Handprints on her body. Those so-called parents of hers had her less than a week and couldn't keep from hurting her for that long. I'm glad we found her when we did, I don't want to think about what could have happened. It's bad when a baby is safer with two human drinking vampires than with her own parents." I brought her up to my face to kiss her again but she surprised me by leaning over and sucking on my nose. It broke the sudden tension as Edward and I both broke out in laughter. "Well, I hope you brought Bella something to eat, she's about to take my nose off!"

"Yes, and I asked one of the moms how much she should eat so I'll go mix up a bottle and see how she likes it. Did you figure out where she can sleep?"

"Um, not yet. She hasn't really let me put her down much yet." And I had absolutely no intention of ever letting her go.

Jasper POV
"Hey, Dad? Can I talk to you for a minute?" I was really not looking forward to this conversation. I knew what Carlisle was going to say, but I didn't know what he would do. Would he change his mind or react the same way he did when Edward came to him?

"Son, are you ok? I think you're projecting, I can feel that you're nervous." I tried to rein in my gift; that was another thing I wasn't happy about. I never had issues with my gift until I switched to animal blood.

"Well, I want to talk to you about something and I'm pretty sure you won't like it, but I hope you will keep an open mind." I paused until he nodded, and felt his curiosity change over to apprehension. I had carefully planned out what I wanted to say to him; I knew I couldn't mention anything about feeling another mate. We had talked several times over the years of the danger the Volturi would pose if they found out I was part of a triad. So I knew I would have to keep what happened to me while I was out hunting a secret from the family and try to use another method to get him to see things my way.

"Dad, I know we have talked many times over the years about my relationship with Peter. You and Esme have been very supportive when I have missed him so much I felt like it was killing me. I still don't understand why he and Edward never came to us back in Maine all those years ago but I never gave up hope that he would come for me one day. I realize he may not want me anymore, but I feel like I need to find him. See if I can't make things right between us again, and maybe if Edward is still with him I can get him to go back home to you.

"The only way I know of to find him is to follow my mating bond. But ever since I have been on this diet I just don't get a strong pull from him anymore. I get a general direction, east or west, but nothing definite enough to follow. Sir, I want your permission to switch back to human blood, just long enough for me to find my mate." With my speech out of the way I slowly raised my eyes to his and was shocked when I felt pity instead of the anger I was expecting.

"Jasper, son, I know you're lonely. But I think you really need to face the fact that your mate could have found you at any time in the past forty years and he chose not to. He has moved on, and he did that without you. What are you going to do if you give up all your hard work, track him down, and he sends you away again? You'll be completely alone then, no mate, and no family. What will-"

Carlisle was interrupted when Alice burst into the room and looked at me in a panic. "Jasper, what were you just thinking about? I had a vision of you with red eyes and you were fighting in the wars again! Why would you go back to that? I thought you hated that life!" What? I checked her emotions in case she was lying to me, but whatever she had seen had her panicked and angry. I still couldn't believe I would go back to the south again. Unless...

I didn't want to imagine it, but if I did find Peter, and he was happy with our new mate and didn't want me around anymore... The thought itself brought a sharp pain to my chest. I couldn't live with myself if I found out for sure that he hated me. I probably would go back to the wars, because it would be the easiest way to make myself disappear. Just step out on the field and let the newborns take me out.

I looked up at my father's horror-filled eyes and knew he was right. I couldn't leave my family for a mate who didn't want me anymore. "Don't worry, Dad. I'm not going anywhere. You're right, it was a bad idea." I resigned myself to my lonely fate, clinging to the fantasy that Peter might still come for me one day. If he did find me, I would do whatever it took to be worthy of my mates.