Alright, ladies and gentleman (if there are any gentlemen reading this), I'm going to try to get the story progressed a little in the next few chapters, so I apologize if they seem rushed. I am having a little trouble deciding where I'm going with everything and how long it's going to end up being.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, any of the characters in Twilight, or anything related to the books and/or movies. If I did, I would be way too busy- doing dirty things with the Cullen boys- to sit down at my laptop and write this story. The scenes and general plot ideas that I did borrow from Stephenie Meyer have been revamped to fit my story.

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Learning to Live Again

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Family Meeting

Jasper and I walked down the stairs to find seven pairs of eyes looking at us impatiently. Well, five pairs at least. Alice and Emmett just smirked, thinking it was hilarious that we had managed to make them all wait for the last hour while Jasper and I did unholy things to each other in our bedroom and shower. Oh well, I don't care. My boyfriend is hot, and I'm proud of myself for not constantly dragging him into nearby closets for a little fun. I was never so happy that Edward could not read my thoughts than at this very moment.

"Do you have something to say for yourselves?" Rosalie asked with a scowl. She was perched on Emmett's lap while he sat in one of the oversized chairs that was a part of the Cullens' living room set. Esme had an almost identical expression on her face except not as bitchy. She was seated next to Carlisle in the loveseat next to Rosalie and Emmett's chair.

"Not really," Jasper shrugged as he plopped into the other oversized chair that was across the coffee table from the other one. He pulled me down into his lap, and I couldn't hold in the small giggle that escaped my mouth. I knew that we were going through a serious time right now, but damned if I didn't deserve to have a little joy in my life brought to me by how in love I was with Jasper.

Rosalie hissed at Jasper as Emmett rubbed her shoulders to try and calm her down. "Have you forgotten about our current situation, brother?!"

"Yeah, Rose. It totally slipped my mind that there's a vampire bitch out there who is adamant on killing my future wife," Jasper responded with anger in his voice. I couldn't tell if it was because he was feeling Rosalie's annoyance or if this was his own building up. I'm betting it was both. I was just proud of myself for not going stiff or passing out when he called me his future wife.

Of course, I wasn't the only one that caught that slip. I saw Alice and Esme share a smile with each other. Cameron had to hold Alice down to the couch they were sitting on. Thank God, because I didn't need her bounding over to me and breaking me with a hug. I tried to gauge Edward's reaction to the words, but he only closed his eyes. He was still adjusting, and I understood that it would take him some time before he could think of Jasper and I like that without cringing.

Jasper wasn't noticing the reactions of our family, because he was still upset by Rosalie's comment to him. "I'm not going to apologize to you, Rosalie. Bella and I have done nothing wrong, and you know it. She is dealing with a lot right now, and she deserves a damn break every now and then. If I want to steal her away from the world for one damn hour so that she can enjoy herself then I will."

"She wasn't the only one enjoying herself, Jazzy," Emmett teased.

"Get bent," my boyfriend replied as he slouched back into the chair.

"Enough, guys. I'm not going to sit here and listen to everyone argue and mine and Jasper's sex life. It's none of your business," I broke into the conversation. I knew that I was blushing from ear to ear and sunk down further into Jasper's lap.

"Bella's right, everyone," Carlisle stated. "We need to give them some privacy and just move on to what we need to speak about." Carlisle paused for a moment while everyone settled down. He looked at me and offered a small smile. "Bella, Jasper, while you were upstairs, we filled Cameron in on all that happened last year with James and then this year with Laurent. He knew some of the details, but Victoria had managed to change the story to make her look like the victim."

"She's the victim. Yeah, that's hilarious," Alice interrupted. "The only victims are those who have to suffer through her disgusting fashion choices."

Jasper and I both chuckled softly, thankful for Alice breaking the tension in the room.

"We also let Cameron know that Jake and his friends have agreed to help us in our fight against Victoria and her army of newborns," Carlisle continued. I looked at him with a surprised look crossing my face. "It's alright, Bella. We can trust Cameron. The werewolves will be safe. You know that I would never put them in harms way, especially since they're being so helpful."

I nodded at Carlisle and relaxed as Jasper started to lightly stroke my back and send calming waves through my body. Edward continued where Carlisle left off.

"We're still planning on meeting with the wolves tonight. We all need to learn from Jasper the best way to combat and kill the newborns, and the werewolves need to see the speed and strength they're up against. Having Cameron on our side now can only be an advantage for us, because he can help us get an insight into the newborns as well as all the experience that Jasper has had in the past."

I felt Jasper tense underneath me and noticed Edward nod to him. It was obvious that they had explained Jasper's past to Cameron as well, and I was upset by this. Jasper's story was his own, and Edward knew that it should only be shared with his permission. As I was about to speak up, Jasper stopped me with a pinch to my hip.

"It's alright, darling," he whispered in my ear. "He needs to know. It will help us all work together better," he rationalized.

I planted a soft kiss on his cheek before turning back to Edward with a small scowl on my face. He only smirked, having been on the other end of the scowl before. He knew that nothing would come of it.

"Well, you know everything that we know now," Jasper said, looking at Cameron. "What do you know?"

Cameron looked around the room as Alice squeezed his hand in reassurance. "Now that she's had contact with you, she's going to be expecting you to react quickly. With me being here, she's going to expect that we attack them where they're staying right now. I don't think that would be a wise idea. I think it would be best to wait for awhile until she could be surprised," he offered.

"No," I said. All eyes in the room turned to look at me in surprise. "I can't wait anymore. I can't live in fear and always looking over my shoulder, wondering if today is the day that she kills me or Charlie or one of you. I need this to be over," I whispered. I could feel tears starting to build in my eyes and tried to sniff them back.

"Bella's right. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can all move on with our lives," Rosalie agreed. I looked up at her with surprise and was pleased when she smiled softly back at me. It looked like she wasn't going to go back to hating me as easily as I had expected.

"Yeah, let's this show on the road," Emmett agreed. He had different motives than I did, but I didn't care as long as he was on my side.

"How many newborns does she have right now?" Jasper asked Cameron, changing the subject. He was going to look at this from all angles with as much information as he could gather before making any decisions.

Cameron thought for a moment, calculating in his head. "She has around fifteen, but the number keeps changing. They keep fighting with each other, killing each other off. And she keeps creating more. I'm worried that she'll add more to the mix now that she knows I've crossed enemy lines."

"I worried about that myself," Jasper agreed. "That's another reason for us to act as quickly as possible. That way, if she does add to the mix, it won't be by much. There are eight of us and six werewolves right now. Jake told us that they were still changing, though. I don't know how many we'll end up with."

"Jasper, they aren't just for our personal use," I grumbled to him.

"I know, Bella, but I have to look at this from a statistics point of view," he replied. "We need to go into this with our eyes open."

"That's fourteen for our side; we're still outnumbered," Edward said.

"I spoke with Irina today, and she's too distraught over the loss of Laurent to help us. Her sisters will stand by her side," Carlisle said with a disappointed tone to his voice. It hurt him to be in an argument with the Denali vampires. They were the closest the Cullens had to family.

"I'm sorry, Carlisle," I whispered, causing him to look up at me. The sadness was gone from his eyes, replaced with surprise and worry.

"Bella, everything will work out between us. They will come to understand that Laurent made his own decisions in wanting to hurt you. There was nothing else we could do," he stated.

"Well, we're not completely outnumbered. I have my new power to work for us," I offered.

"Hell yeah," Emmett cheered. "It's going to be hilarious to see you throw the newborns all over the place." Rosalie chuckled at his excitement.

"That's not going to be happening," Edward said, voicing his own opinion into the mix. I turned to him with a snap of my head and didn't need to voice my question. "You are not going to be anywhere near the fight, Bella."