What can I say? I'm so overwhelmed by all of your wonderful reviews, faves, and alerts. Thank you! Melons for all of you!
On another note, a part of this chapter was inspired by my recent visit to a local nail salon to have my nails done.
This story is AU/OOC.
All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.
Mature readers 18+ only.
Bella's POV
We had returned from a short trip to India during which we dropped off Amrita and Sushmita to their mates a month ago. Eleazar and Carmen came with us and, while Jasper and I left because we had school, they stayed on to begin our friends' training for when they face Maria. I was sad to see my Indian sisters go, but they missed Amar and Sahil so much. Now that I've been back, though, I had to admit that it was nice having the house to ourselves again.
It was odd. After Sushmita's epic soul reading, I felt so much more at peace with myself. My relationship with Esme still wasn't repaired, but it wasn't for lack of trying on my part. I decided to just let it go because I couldn't worry about things that I had no control over. In time, I was sure that things would get better.
It was Thursday night and Jasper and I had just gotten home from school. I was doing some reading while Jasper worked on plans for a trip to North Carolina with Felix, Rex, Garrett, Emmett, Carlisle, and Peter this weekend. This time they were going to go through a mock army boot camp during which they would live and train as if they were going through basic training over the long weekend. They were doing this because Rex wanted to prove, once and for all, that the modern military was superior to the ones in the past. Carlisle was going along because he wanted to hang with the dudes. Whatever. They were all nuts as far as I was concerned.
I went back to work with my highlighter in hand and started attacking the pages of my textbook. I felt a hand worm it's way into my shirt and unhook my bra. Jasper.
"I really hate when you wear these things," my mate said as he deftly removed my bra and cupped my breasts.
"I'm trying to get some reading done. I have a quiz tomorrow."
"You'll pass." Jasper put my book and highlighter down and started kissing me. I was aroused in an instant and pulled him as close as I could to me, wrapping my legs around him so I could feel his hard cock against my core. I knew I was dripping wet and I was about to rip our clothes off when the doorbell rang.
"Aaarrrgh! Fucking cockblockers!" Jasper growled as he got up to answer the door. Behind it stood, Rex and Garrett with huge smiles on their faces. They were carrying a wooden crate as they made their way into our house.
Rex inhaled a deep breath through his nose. "Ahh...the scent of Stripper Wifey's essence, so mouthwatering."
"Fucker!" Jasper replied.
"How did you like that move she learned in last night's class?"
"It was okay."
"Okay? That's not what you said last night when you tried it out with me, Jasper."
"Alright, alright...I liked it—a lot."
"I did, too," Rex said. "The only thing is, when I had Tanya try it she fell flat on her face with her ass sticking up in some strange angle. It kind of lost it's appeal after that."
"Hey guys." Emmett and Rose walked into our house. They must be done with work.
"Alright, what the hell is everyone doing here and what the fuck is in that crate?" Jasper asked, clearly annoyed that our session was interrupted.
"Check this out." Rex opened up his box and whipped out some strange, round metal pine cone looking thing.
I picked one up and examined it. There was a small ring dangling from the side, but as soon as I touched it, the guys all yelled, "Don't pull the pin!"
Holy shit. It's a grenade. "Aaaagggghhhh! Aaaagggghhhh! Aaaagggghhhh!" I screamed, completely terrified that it was going to explode.
Rosalie was freaking out too. "Aaaagggghhhh! Get that shit out of this house! Aaaagggghhhh!"
"Well, where the fuck are we supposed to store it? Katie, Tanya, and Gianna don't want it in our house either either," Garrett informed us.
"You are not storing grenades in my house! No way! No how!" I yelled. My hand was shaking with the grenade still in it. Jasper took it from me and placed it back in the crate.
"Mine is off limits too, so don't even think about it!" Rosalie screeched.
"What the hell were you two thinking bringing grenades into this house?" Jasper asked. "This shit can blow us up and actually char us to ashes."
"That's the point, fucker," Garrett stated. "Rex and I were talking and when Maria comes, we can just hurl a couple of these and take out a whole mess of newborns at once. Felix said that the Volturi use grenades all the time."
"It's not a bad idea, but I'm sure there's more to it. Besides, Maria ain't coming to this house. It's too populated around here. It won't be at Rose and Em's either. The houses are too close together. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think it'll be at any of our homes. We all live in pretty densely populated areas."
"Where the hell did you get this stuff anyway?"
"I have my ways," Rex smirked.
"Tell him, fucker." Garrett put his arms across his chest angrily.
"Okay, well, I have a friend who has a little side business going out of Camp Lejeune. He owed me a little favor considering that I saved his life twice in Iraq. Anyway, I called him up using my old name and he hooked me up with these and a few more select items. In exchange, I told him I won't report him to the MP's. The rest are all in the bed of Garrett's truck."
"Fucker! Do you know how many fucking federal laws you're breaking here? We have to figure out a way to stash that shit away quick! You're both fucking school teachers, you should know better! Fuck! No wonder kids nowadays are coming out all fucked in the head. Come on! We're going to Pete's."
The bed of Garrett's truck was loaded to the hilt with weapons and ammunition. They had to transfer some of the stuff into the Tahoe for safety. Emmett decided to ride with Jasper in the Tahoe while I rode with Rose in her BMW.
"Oh my God! Are they out of their flipping minds?" I asked my sister.
"Uh, yeah...why they think military weapons are going to work on Maria and her newborns is beyond me. Bella, how come you aren't wearing a bra?"
"That would be because Jasper and I were in the middle of something when we were interrupted by moron one and moron two."
"Ah...well, let's stop and get you a bra. Maybe we'll get manicures too. The guys can handle this shit on their own. Personally, I'm too terrified to be near those things."
"Good idea."
"Nooo! Don't cover Bella's boobies up!" We heard Garrett call out from his truck.
"Take your mind off of my wife's tits, fucker!" Jasper yelled from the Tahoe.
"I was joking, besides, my woman has better tits than yours."
"Does not!"
"Does too!"
"Hey, assholes, no one has better knockers than my Rosie does!" Emmett joined into the fucked up fray going on between the two vehicles carrying weapons and buffoons.
"Hell, no! You don't know what perfection is until you've seen Tanya's 34 C's."
"C? C? That's tiny. My Rosie wears a D-cup!"
"Yeah! So does Bella!"
"Oh, yeah, well Katie sports a 34 DD. What do you peons say to that?"
"Only that Char's tits are bigger," Rex stated.
"Oh, man, those are mammoth. How does she walk with those melons?" Emmett asked.
"Are you kidding, the little sprite can fight with those jugs in front of her, too. I wonder how she manages," Jasper added.
"How do women fight with tits anyway?" Garrett asked.
We heard several murmurs of "yeah."
"Oh my God! I'm getting the hell out of here." Rosalie sped up, passed the truck and the Tahoe, and left the men in the dust. "Is it possible, in their minute pea-sized little brains, for them to think about something without sex becoming involved for even a short amount of time."
"No, it's like Gianna says, their brains reside in their dicks."
About fifteen minutes later, Rose and I were sitting in a traffic jam in the middle of the Holland Tunnel. There appeared to be some sort of accident up ahead a few miles.
Tap, tap, tap! What the fuck? Rose and I both turned to look out of the window on my side to find Alice smiling and holding a Walmart bag.
"Holy shit! Get the hell inside before someone calls the cops on you!" I chastised while opening the door. Alice hopped in.
"What in hell are you doing here?" Rose asked.
"Actually, I had a vision of you running out bra-less on the night when your shield was down so Sushmita could do the soul readings. So, here, I brought you one."
"Thanks, Alice," I said while I slipped my t-shirt off and threw my new bra on. My new comfortable bra. I jiggled around a bit to test it out and it was great. "Oh my God, this is comfy Alice! This is way better than the shit they have at Victoria's Secret. What brand is it and how much do I owe you?"
"It's Fruit of the Loom and you don't owe me anything. It was on clearance for three bucks and with my employee discount it was only two dollars and seventy cents. Aren't they great? I have one on myself."
That's when I noticed Alice's breasts. Alice's breasts? Huh?
"Um, Alice, how did you get boobies?"
"Oh! I'm glad you asked." She reached into her shirt and grabbed something out of her bra. She handed me a clear, teardrop shaped pad filled with water. "They're water push up pads, they're meant to enhance the appearance of your breasts."
"Yeah, but Alice, those look too small to do anything to your breasts," Rose noted.
"Uh-huh, I know. That's why I'm wearing ten on each side."
"You're fucking with me?"
"Why would I do that? I think they look great. I can now fit an A-cup instead of a training bra. If I throw twenty of these pads in on each side, then I'm a B-cup."
"I think it's a great idea Alice. So, did they have anymore of these bras left on clearance?"
"I'll look for you and Rose tomorrow."
"Alright, let's go get our nails done," I suggested. "My treat."
Rose pulled into a strip mall where there was a nail salon lodged in between a Wegmans and a Kohl's. Charlotte was standing in front with her arms crossed over her abundant breasts and tapping her feet. "I can't fucking believe you were going to leave me to fend for myself against those asshats. They kept asking me how it was possible to fight with melons protruding from my chest. By the time I left, Jasper and Rex were running out to the grocery store to purchase melons and Emmett had the nerve to ask if he could borrow one of my bras."
"Sorry Char, we didn't realize they were going to take it this far."
"That's okay. Pete told me where you'd be. Alice! You have titties!" Char smiled a huge smile, reached out, then squeezed Alice's boobs. A fountain of water shot out from Alice's now deflated bosom and we were all sprayed with water. "Or not."
Rose licked her lips. "There's something other than water filling those pads. I can taste it. Blech. Let's go get new shirts at Kohl's."
"Yeah, but I don't get my employee discount there," Alice complained.
"Live a little Alice, my treat since I'm the one that got you all soaked. Why the hell would you want to throw water balloons in your bra anyway? You should be proud of whatever assets God gave you."
"You're right, Char. Thanks."
The four of us went shopping at Kohl's. We were all blown away by how budget conscious Alice had become. I actually got chastised by her for buying a shirt at full price. She kept telling me that stores generally markup their merchandise at an average of fifty to eighty percent so, by paying full price, I would be making the store that much more money; and that I was being extremely irresponsible with Jasper's money. Great, now I'm suffering from buyer's remorse. Wait a minute!
A thought came to my mind, then. "How come you got to spend his cash when you were married to him, but I can't?"
"I wasn't in my right mind at the time, Bella. I won't let you go down the same path."
"Oh, damn it, I'll be right back!" I walked back into Kohl's and returned my 34 dollar shirt and came out with a four dollar tank top that I found on clearance.
"That's better, Bella. It shows your cleavage off nicely," Alice said, confidently. That's it, I'm going on a mother fucking shopping spree if it kills me. It should at least make Jasper happy.
We put on our new shirts and went into the nail salon to get our nails done. "Gee, can the lady doing my nails stop yapping on her fucking cell phone for ten seconds?" I said at vampire speed to my sisters. The lady was chatting to her friend in her native language and I had no idea what she was saying. I think she was talking about me because she kept looking up at me.
The woman paused her conversation for a second and asked in a thick accent, "Where you from?"
"Um, Manhattan."
"No what country you from? You talk different language!"
"Uh...I'm American," I replied.
"We all US Citizen. I American, too. Where you from?"
"Originally from Turkmenistan," Alice answered quickly.
"So, what language you talk?"
"That would be Turkmen," Alice stated.
The lady went back to talking to her friend. I think she just called all of us turkeys because I could swear I heard her gobble.
"That was fast thinking Alice," I said, again using Vampire speed.
The lady put down her phone and yelled, "You rude. I no understand what you say. You talk American!"
Now, where the fuck does she get off saying I'm rude? She's the one gabbing away on the phone in a foreign language instead of giving me, her customer, her undivided attention.
"You like rounoskway?"
"Excuse me?"
"Rounoskway?"
"Pardon me?"
She drew a picture on paper. "ROUN OH SKWAY NAY?"
Oh, round or square shaped nails. "I'll take square."
"Okay skway. You nee take American lessow. I know goo place. Cheap. My fren teach American talk."
"Huh?"
"American lessow. You nee American lessow—you no talk goo American. You take lessow over there, you talk American goo like me."
"Just say, thank you, Bella," Rose urged at vampire speed.
"Uh...thank you."
"You nee American lessow too! It rude speak turkey language when I no understand!" The lady said to a stunned Rose, then turned to me. "You goo girl. All feeneesh. You way nay dhwhy."
"Pardon?"
The woman shoved my hand in front of a small fan, "Nay dhwhy!"
"Oh, you want me to wait for my nails to dry. Got it."
"Goo girl! You lurn American fast. NEXT!"
We left the nail salon a few minutes later. I had a card in my pocket that read, "Lurn Speak American Skool".
"How the hell does a school like that stay in business? They can't even use proper grammar or spelling on the card," I noted. "I mean, come on, American isn't even a language."
We went back to Char's house and headed inside. The guys had come to a conclusion. "We decided that you chicks can't fight as well as us guys cause of your tits," Garrett stated with conviction.
"Come again?" Charlotte asked looking pissed off.
"You can't fight cause your titties get in the way," he repeated.
Rex spoke then, "You see, our theory is that you can't fight because your tits get in the way and you can't think during battle because you keep thinking about your tits."
"That's it!" Alice raged. "We're coming along on your fucking boot camp. We all are!"
"Well, now, that's not really fair. You don't really have titties, Ali," Jasper commented.
I slapped my insensitive mate on the back of his head. "Ouch, babe!"
"That was mean, Bella, he was only telling the truth. Alice has no titties to get in the way!"
It was Emmett's turn to get a slap on the back of his head by Rose this time.
"Fuck, Rosie!"
"Listen, we scientifically tested out your theory with Char's bras and cantaloupes and you just can't fight with tits in the way!" Rex insisted.
"Did you try it too?" Char asked Peter. He grinned sheepishly at Char instead of answering her question.
Char looked on the coffee table where her bras were lying—stretched out and shredded. "You ruined my bras! I can only buy them at Lady Grace because they don't have my size elsewhere and they usually have to be special ordered!"
"Jasper Whitlock! You're buying twenty new bras for Char!" I demanded. "Sign us up for the boot camp! All of us! Prepare to meet your maker!"
Jasper's POV
We were all suffering—each and everyone of us. All of the women were indignant at the results of our scientific analysis. When Katie heard about it, she drove over to mine, Emmett, and Pete's houses and shocked the shit out of each of us. Our wives didn't even offer us comfort afterwards—instead, they all went to stay with Katie; and Garrett, Rex, and Felix came to stay with me.
"Garrett, your wife is evil," Felix stated. "I wasn't even involved in this and now I'm suffering too. Gianna called me a bastard in Italian."
"Oh is that what she called you? It sounded really hot. It made my dick hard. I like it when your woman gets angry. She starts swearing at you in Italian." Ding dong. "Who's at your door man?"
"Dunno. I'll go see." I opened the door to find Edward, Mike, Riley, and Laurent carrying luggage.
"Hold the fucking door!" Peter yelled from the bottom of the front steps. Emmett was with him. They also had bags with them.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?"
"What the fuck do you think? Our women booted us all out," Riley stated. "All I said was that there were physiological differences between men and women and Vicky went all bullshit on me and told me to get the fuck out until after the boot camp. I don't even want to go to this thing. Because of you fuckers, I'm not getting any sex until Monday at the earliest—that's five days!"
We all groaned at hearing that. Five days, no sex? I don't know if I can make it that long.
"Why are you two here? Your wives are staying with Katie, aren't they?"
"Apparently, we're not welcome in our own homes," Pete stated.
"Yeah, Rose told me to go live in a cave since I'm acting like a caveman," Em piped in.
"Oh, yeah? Alice had both mine and Edward's bags packed when we got home and she told us she'd see us in North Carolina. I asked her for what and she said army training. We didn't understand until Riley told us what happened."
"Why are you here, Laurent?"
"Oh, they tried to stay at my place first, then Irina came home from work fuming mad after receiving a phone call from Kate and declared our apartment a no male zone. Whose fucking idea was it to throw melons into Char's bras anyway?"
"That would be Emmett's idea. He mentioned that Char's tits were roughly the same size as cantaloupes so he suggested we pick a few up, throw them in her bras, and we try to fight with them on. It was really hard," I explained. "The melons really kept getting in the way."
Laurent ran his hand down his face. "You fucking idiots! Of course they're gonna be angry! Don't you realize that you insulted all of them?"
"How the hell could the result of our scientific test be considered an insult?" Garrett asked.
"Fucker! If the women walked around with strap-ons on and concluded that we couldn't fight because we had dicks, what would you think?"
"Strap ons? Hell, that shit would turn me on. Do you think they'd wear them for us?"
"He's hopeless, forget it," Riley told Laurent. "Now tell me about this boot camp we're being forced to report to."
"Oh, it's a three night, four day intensive boot camp that simulates what they do in real army boot camps. We get real fatigues that we get to keep, weapons training, combat training, and, of course, the physical conditioning that goes along with it. On the final day, they simulate a combat situation during which they pit two teams against each other. I believe we use paint ball guns instead of real weapons. Also, they have smoke grenades instead of real ones," Rex explained since he was the one that found the camp.
Emmett started laughing. "You know something guys? The women think that they can beat us in the combat simulation, I doubt they can win. You should have seen Bella and Rose scream at the sight of the grenades. Bella was actually shaking."
"Yeah, so were Tanya, Kate, and Gianna." Rex grinned maliciously. "There's no way those women can win, on top of that they can't use any of their powers and they have to keep everything at human strength and speed because there will be humans there."
"You know what else? They have to learn to fire guns, we have one up on them already," I said.
We all grinned and started chuckling at the predicament our women had gotten themselves into. By the time this boot camp ends, they'll be begging for our forgiveness for throwing us out.
"Guys, I'd worry about Bella. She's from Forks and her dad was the Chief of Police. She can probably fire a gun or a rifle with the best of them."
"Bella?" Riley and I both started howling.
"Don't worry, I know for a fact that she hates hunting. She used to say, 'Ew! No way am I killing a cute deer!' to Dad whenever he wanted to take us hunting. Vicky was the same way. I always went with Dad alone. Don't worry about Bella, she definitely can't fire a gun."
5 a.m., Sunday Morning
Rambo's Boot Camp, Somewhere in North Carolina
"Rise and shine recruits! Last day! Come on! Everyone up and at 'em!" The humans all groaned and we vampires fake groaned at being awakened at such an early hour. I could hear the women in the other building doing the same thing. We were being trained separately from them so I had no idea what was going on with them. We were all breezing straight through this, but I had to admit that I did learn some new combat strategies. Today, after breakfast—ick, and calisthenics we would be putting everything we learned all together and facing the women. Usually they combine the men and women and split them up into two even groups since not too many women sign up for the camp, but this time they had an even number of men and women so they decided to do things differently. They said it was actually their biggest group ever. Yep, it was definitely their biggest group, we vampires outnumbered the humans three to one and that included the drill instructors.
Three hours later, we were all standing at attention, listening to the instructors. It was the first time since our arrival on Friday that we actually saw our mates and I could feel the lust being emitted by everyone. The drill sergeant for our team kept winking at Tanya. Rex looked like he was about to rip him apart. "Stay calm, Sergeant Major," I whispered at vampire speed and sent him some calm. He nodded at me in acknowledgment.
We were given our instructions and sent on our way. Our mission was to take control of the territory we were on. The women would be attempting to do the same. During the process, we could take hostages, wound, or shoot to kill. We could use any of the strategies we learned to achieve our goal. We were each issued a paint ball rifle and a sidearm, both of which shot blue paint pellets. The women would be using pink. The key was to work as a team. Pete and I high-fived each other because it would be a piece of cake, this is exactly the kind of shit we did while we were with Maria and we were high ranking, unlike Char and Vicky, who were the best bet for the women. The team with the most members standing would be declared the winners.
We were driven to our starting points on opposite ends of the camp and given five minutes to strategize before we could start. There were four human women on the other team along with our wives. We agreed to take them as hostages first, then work strategically to take out our women. We were pretty sure that the women would take the three human men on our team as hostages first, too. We dazzled the human men to go along with our plan. We would kidnap the four women together as a group, which served two purposes: it would allow us to deplete their numbers by four and serve the three human men up on a platter for the women so we could start the real vampire game. Afterwards, our wives would be weeping and begging us for mercy. I chuckled at the thought of that. I'll go easy on Bella, though—she had no idea whatsoever about the severity of what she was getting herself into.
We approached a heavily forested area on high alert and our rifles at the ready. Our sidearms were in their holsters ready to go as well. Garrett put his fingers to his lips, the four human women were about to cut through our area. They, too, had their rifles ready to fire. Our entire group quietly surrounded the women who immediately put their hands up. We were in the process of cuffing them when a battery of shots were fired. Pfft! Fucking careless idiots firing out into the open like that.
"Fuck! I'm hit!" Rex cried.
"So am I!" Felix yelled.
That's when I noticed that I had been hit square in the chest. Damn it! Garrett, Riley, and Mike were also down. This left the three human men, Emmett, Peter, Laurent, Carlisle, and Edward. They managed to take out most of the best shooters on our team in one fell swoop.
The remaining guys continued on their mission and were moving the four women into custody. They were about a hundred yards from where we fell. Emmett, Peter, and Laurent were providing back up with their rifles in position when they were ambushed by Vicky, Char, Alice, Rose, Irina, and Tanya. They started engaging in hand to hand combat when, one by one, our men started to fall beginning with Peter, then Edward, the three human men, Laurent, Carlisle, and finally Emmett. In a matter of seconds the rest of our men were either shot in the head or their back by pink sniper bullets. What the fuck? This wasn't even a contest. This may actually be my greatest strategic fuck up ever. The women were all smiling smugly at us.
Gianna and Amanda had crawled out from under two separate bushes with their rifles and big smiles on their faces. From their positions, they had taken out Garrett, the three human men, Edward, Carlisle, Laurent and Riley.
Bella jumped down from a tree a minute later. She looked proud of herself. "Well, that was easy."
"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" Felix asked, completely bewildered.
"Are you kidding? Come on, I'm from Forks. My Daddy was a cop and he loved to hunt. He took me hunting with him from the time I was three years old and on the weekends during the summers when I visited him. I also practiced at the firing range in the basement of the Forks Police Department at least once a week under my Daddy's orders—it was one of his rules. He got me a gun permit and a pistol for my eighteenth birthday. He wanted to make sure I'd always stay safe."
"I didn't know this," Riley stated. Neither did I. Shit! Charlie Swan sounds cool, I wish I could have met him. A gun permit and a pistol as a birthday present? That shit's awesome.
"What the fuck did I tell you guys? I told you not to underestimate Bella! Charlie Swan was one of the best customers at Newton's Olympic Outfitters! He was the Chief of Police. There was no way in hell he wasn't going to teach his kid how to fire a gun! Motherfucker!" Mike yelled. "She singlehandedly took out Jasper, Felix, Rex, Peter, Emmett, and me!"
The drill instructors showed up and declared the women winners. The boot camp weekend officially ended and we all headed to the airport for our flight home. We were all glum because our mates had proven us wrong. They could definitely fight. Tits and all.
"What I want to know is, who came up with the strategy. That was sheer genius!" Garrett stated.
"That was all Bella," Irina informed us with a look of pride. Shit. I was proud of my mate too.
"How the heck did you come up with the plan to take out the best shooters first?"
Bella smiled, "The Patriot."
"Huh?"
"You know in the movie, 'The Patriot', when Mel Gibson goes to get his son back from the British? He told his younger sons to take out the officers first and work their way down. I used that theory and took out the best shooters first."
"I noticed you took me out first, Stripper Wifey." Rex grinned.
"Uh, no, I actually took Felix out first. He's the best shooter, after all. You were just the first one to notice you were shot." Bella started giggling, so did the other women. We were never going to live this shit down.
"Ahem! Some of you owe us an apology!" Charlotte ordered.
We all apologized. It was pretty stupid and insensitive of us to underestimate the women because of their tits. I don't know what we were thinking.
"I'm sorry, we were being ridiculous. We weren't using our brains," I stated with remorse.
"You must stop thinking with your penises. You have a second, actual brain in your head," Gianna said.
I think she's right, maybe we do think with our dicks.
A few hours later, the plane touched down and we all went our separate ways. As soon as we entered our house, I had Bella naked and in bed. I hadn't been inside of her since Wednesday and I was cockblocked on Thursday so it had been six days.
"Jasper?"
"Hmm?"
"Get that little bondage kit that Char gave us. Why don't you try it out on me?"
Thank you, God! My confidence was pretty low right now and I think my mate knew exactly what I needed to bring me back. "I love you, Bella."
"I love you, too. I missed you."
"Me too, baby." Fuck the bondage kit. All I needed was my mate in my arms and her love to get my confidence back. I made love to her instead—over and over again, bathing in her happy emotions and just letting myself become one with her. Yep, I'm a lucky dude.
Three months later...
Carlisle's POV
"Bella, can you look over my English paper and tell me what you think?"
"Sure, Daddy. Give it here."
We were sitting at her house studying for finals. Pre-med majors and English majors both had to take a core set of classes. I was having trouble in my second semester freshman English class while Bella was dying in her math class. Fortunately, it was the last math class she'd have to take while at Columbia. I knew Vicky was helping her, but she was still having problems.
"All I need is a 'D'," Bella kept saying.
"Okay, I think you're a bit long winded. This is a basic English class. The professor is looking for clarity and succinctness. They want to make sure you can get your point across without rambling. You should have four to five pages typed at the most, eighty-six is a bit much."
"I wanted to make sure that he understood that I understood."
"Okay, let me try to explain this to you a different way. Your task is to explain the causes of the expansion of fast food restaurants and the effects of their popularity on society. So, this is a cause and effect essay. What you've gone and done is written a detailed history of each fast food restaurant and how they rank in popularity, then you end it without explaining the effects of the popularity on society. What you need to do is think of fast food restaurants collectively rather than individually. Don't go into too much detail. We don't need to hear about why the cheeseburger is more popular than the hamburger at each restaurant."
"Alright, I'm going to restart it now," I sighed.
At around ten am, the two of us headed to the university so we could turn in our essays and take the last of our finals. All I knew was that I was looking forward to summer vacation. I thought college would be simple, but it turned out to be more challenging than I thought.
Bella and I were done by four and we decided to celebrate with some of our college friends at a dive bar called the 1020. After a few hours there, we decided to unwind and go listen to some live music. We hopped on the subway and made our way to Joe's Pub in the East Village.
My life had changed considerably since I left Esme. Things like taking the subway, fraternizing with school friends, listening to music became natural and normal to me. At least once a week, I'd go do something with my brothers, be it playing pool or just hanging out at one of their homes and having drinks—we made it a point to at least spend time together.
I was finally able to talk to Esme in March. I went over to her house and tried to explain that our mating bond was broken. That didn't go over too well. I recall the heated discussion, clearly, as if it happened only yesterday.
"Esme, we need to talk," I stated as I walked into the house. I knew no one else was home because they were all going away for the weekend.
"I have nothing to say to you...you...you...infidel."
"I know what I did was wrong and I can assure you that I have not cheated on you since that night. I promise you that I won't, at least, while we're still married."
"What do you mean by WHILE we're still married, Carlisle?"
"I think you should sit. I need to tell you what Charlotte discovered about our bond." So, I told her. I told my wife about how our bond weakened slowly, then fast-tracked itself to a clean break until there was nothing left to tie us together. Esme was stunned just like I had been when I first heard about it.
She denied that it was true. "No, I refuse to believe it. A mating thread can never break!"
"Esme, you have to accept it. We just weren't meant to be."
"Carlisle! What are you saying? What are you trying to tell me? Are you leaving me permanently? Carlisle! Answer me!" Esme was hysterical.
"Yes, I think it would be the best solution."
"What about our children? We have children together! They need their parents together!"
"No, Esme—they're grown adults. They've proven themselves to be much more mature than you or me. They don't need parents."
"No, children need their mother and father forever. How else are we going to prevent them from making mistakes?"
Esme, mistakes are healthy. You can learn a lot from them."
"What will everyone think? I'll be an estranged wife. A scorned woman who has been abandoned along with her children by her cheating husband. I won't be able to show my face in society again!"
"Esme, you won't be an estranged wife. I'd like to file for a divorce."
Her face took on a new expression, showcasing agony, rage, and desperation. "D...d...divorce?"
"Divorce," I said, calmly. "I am at fault here. I am the one that cheated—not you, but I cannot live a lie any longer. Esme, there's nothing left between us. We shared some wonderful experiences together in our one hundred years, but at the same time neither of us were able to fully grow to be the people we were meant to be. I didn't want children, you still do. I'm happy to let them go and be their brother rather than their father. You can't seem to do that. That's okay, though, you and I are two different people. You like to keep a clean, beautiful, organized and decorated house. My apartment is a pig sty. I like being able to leave my clothes strewn all over the floor or leave a stack of papers piled high on the dining table. We're just too different, Esme. We have different wants—different needs."
"Please, Carlisle. Don't do this. Don't leave me."
"I'm sorry, Esme."
"No...no...no..." Esme sobbed. "Please...no...not a divorce...please...I'll do anything...please...Carlisle! This can't happen! Our children, Carlisle, think of the children—what will become of them?"
"They're doing fine by themselves, Esme. They're all married anyway."
"Still, they need their parents."
"No, Esme, I can't find it in my heart to be their father. I can be their brother, their equal, and offer them knowledge and guidance if they need it, but I can no longer be their father."
"It's Rose and Bella, isn't it? They put this idea of divorce in your head, didn't they? Do their husbands know Carlisle? Do they know that you're fucking their wives?"
"How dare you insult my girls that way. It wasn't that long ago that you thought of them as your daughters, too. How fucking dare you even think that either they or I would be capable of such an act." I was boiling. The bitch had just crossed the line.
"Well, Carlisle, the fact is that you're unusually close to them—especially to Bella. I heard you're even going to school with her. You can't seem to let her out of your sight can you. Are you spending as much time with her as you can while my son is working hard in school? Is that what you're doing?"
"Esme, stop! Right now, before you say something you regret. I know in your heart, you don't feel that way about Bella or Rose."
"Carlisle, I gave you a hundred years and you're just throwing it all away. Please...please...let's give it another chance...this can't happen...I can't...oh God...oh God...no...please, no...OH GOD!"
We were each sitting on the floor on opposite ends of the living room with our backs against the wall.
"You cheated on me, Carlisle. You cheated on me! How could you? You bastard! You fucking bastard! I hate you! I hate you! Have you thought about what that did to me? How it made me feel? I felt so...so...violated. You had someone else's tongue in your mouth. You had someone else's hand on your penis. Not mine. Someone else's. That one act cheapened every single sexual experience we've ever had together!"
"Esme, what we shared together when we were intimate, I'll always remember. We had some wonderful times together. I regretted cheating on you as soon as I realized what had happened. I live with the guilt of the hurt that I caused everyday. Esme, I still love you, it's just that...well...it's a different kind of love now."
"It's me, isn't it? It's me. I drove you away, didn't I?"
"No, Esme, it wasn't just you. It was a combination of things. It was mostly my fault. I was living a lie. I was pretending to be something I'm not. I wasn't ready to be a husband or a father. I was tired of being a doctor, too. I wanted to explore new career options, but it didn't happen."
Esme was bawling uncontrollably. I got up from my side of the living room and went to comfort her. One thing led to another and we ended up having sex right there on the living room floor. I knew that our bond had broken when I had no desire whatsoever to mark her after my release. She didn't mark me either.
"Is she as good as I am?" Esme asked.
"Who?"
"Bella."
"Fuck you, Esme!" I left after saying that, I haven't heard from her since. It's been over two months. We were still married and, honestly, I was about ready to fast track a divorce through Jenks.
"Bella, can we stop in at the Walgreens at Astor Place before going to Joe's Pub? I want to grab a new iTunes card."
"Sure, let's go." Bella followed me inside. I purchased two one hundred dollar iTunes cards and gave one to my daughter. "You didn't have to do that. Thank you, though."
"Well, I figured I was picking one up for myself anyway. Hey, why don't we text Jasper and see if he wants to meet us at Joe's Pub?" I suggested.
"Good idea. I'll do it." Bella quickly sent a text message over to her husband. They had such a wonderful relationship now that they've worked out the issues plaguing their marriage in the beginning. Esme and I skirted over all of our issues or I would just bend to her issues. There was no give and take in our marriage—it was either her way or my way with no room for compromise by either of us.
We walked into Joe's Pub and managed to find two open seats at the bar. The place was a madhouse—there were wall to wall people here to listen to the band. I ordered whiskey for the both of us and we tuned into the music on stage.
A few minutes later, Bella gasped. I looked in the direction where my daughter's eyes were transfixed and gulped. It was Esme, she was sitting in a booth in the arms of a man that I knew and they were locked at the lips, oblivious to those around them.
"I think we should go," I suggested. Bella nodded in agreement. I took her hand and led her quickly out of the establishment. We walked for a bit and came to a secluded area when, out of nowhere, I was attacked. Bella screamed and moved quickly to assist me, but the vampire who had me in a chokehold was extremely powerful.
"Let go of my father—you bastard!" Bella cried.
"Whore!" The vampire yelled and tossed my daughter easily into the wall of a building.
"How dare you address my daughter that way, you don't even know her, Alistair!" I managed to get out of the chokehold and shoved him down onto the pavement.
"Leave him alone!" Esme came running to assist. She grabbed hold of my neck and I lost my balance.
Bella, who had recovered, shoved Esme off of me and slapped her across the face, "Bitch!" The two women were fighting and Bella was easily winning. Esme had no real fighting skills, neither did I for that matter.
Alistair, angered at the sight of Esme being attacked, shoved me off of him and rammed my head into the pavement. I was momentarily incapacitated. He quickly punched Bella in the face. He, then, grabbed her neck with one hand and squeezed. "You dare lay your filthy hands on my mate! You—a cheap piece of trash who slept with my mate's husband!"
"Bellaaaa!" I screamed, desperately, still unable to move. My scream got her attention because she was able to get out of Alistair's hold and throw her shield up around herself and me. The momentum of the shield sent Alistair flying and slammed him onto the pavement. He got up and ran for Bella, but before he could get to her, help arrived. With a whoosh, Jasper and Felix ran towards Alistair and had him ripped apart in five pieces in seconds. Emmett grabbed Bella out of harm's way and helped me up.
"Sis!" Rosalie pulled up in Emmett's brand new Hummer from out of nowhere. Upon seeing her sister and me encased in her shield, my other daughter punched Esme in the jaw. "What did you do to her? What the fuck did you do to her, you evil bitch?"
"Major! People are coming," Felix yelled. We climbed inside of the Hummer bringing Alistair's parts and shoving Esme roughly inside. She looked terrified and she should be. I don't know what lies she told Alistair, but now she had crossed a line from which I doubt she could ever recover. I know one thing, I'm filing for divorce immediately and she'll have no rights to the Cullen name—ever!
Jasper had Bella in his arms and was trying to comfort her as best as possible. I was helped inside by Emmett. My cell phone buzzed, it was Alice. "Go to the Denali's house, if you attempt to drive to New Jersey you'll run into police trouble. They're doing random traffic stops as soon as you exit the George Washington Bridge."
Rosalie made a u-turn and high tailed it to Connecticut. We were greeted by a sea of worried faces. As soon as the Hummer came to a stop, a feral looking Victoria who had her fingers in her mouth, yanked Esme out and shoved her fingers deep inside her master's bite. Esme shrieked in agony. I didn't give a fuck. Vicky dragged her by her bite into the Denali home. Meanwhile, Alistair's torso was carried haphazardly into the house by Felix.
Vicky came running outside. "Major, we're awaiting your orders."
"What happened?" Jasper asked me and Bella. We told him our end of the story—how we saw the two making out at Joe's Pub, how we left without disturbing them, and how we were subsequently attacked.
"He called me a whore and accused me of sleeping with Daddy," Bella stated.
Jasper's face took on a savage expression. "Riley, Kate I need your gifts. Bella, Carlisle come with me."
"Please, son, please spare him. Please don't hurt him, he's my mate," Esme begged upon seeing Jasper.
"I don't think you're in any position to beg, Esme," Jasper scowled then turned to Alistair. "Who are you and what business do you have with my mate and her father?"
Alistair stayed silent. He stared into Jasper's eyes. He always was a stubborn fucker. Felix slapped him across the face. "Answer him!"
Alistair didn't speak. I decided to speak for him. "His name is Alistair. I've known him for roughly three hundred years. He's a nomad from England. Apparently, he's now Esme's mate."
"Is that so?" Jasper chuckled maliciously. Felix and Victoria soon joined in. "Why did you attack my mate and Carlisle?"
The question was, once again, met by silence. Felix pulled Esme up, roughly, and twisted her hand off from her arm.
"Leave my mate alone! She did nothing to them!" Alistair cried.
"Why did you attack Bella and Carlisle?" Jasper repeated.
Again, no answer. Esme's other hand and her two feet were easily twisted off by Felix. "Unhand my mate! You dare place your hands on another man's mate! I will do to you all that you do to my mate! It is an unwritten vampire law!"
"Ahem! I'd like to say that this man threw me into a wall, punched me in the face, and tried to strangle me. I'm pretty sure he was trying to rip my head off and he would have succeeded if I hadn't put my shield up. Does that mean you can do all those things to him too, my mate?" Bella smiled prettily at Jasper.
Jasper grinned at her, "I believe it does. He seems like a pretty knowledgeable fellow and he seems to know all about unwritten vampire laws. Felix, you were with the Volturi, what do you know of this unwritten vampire law?"
"Well, Major, I haven't exactly heard about that law, but this guy sounds pretty intelligent. Let's test his theory out first. I, mean, he did attack your mate first so that means you've got dibs."
"Good, uh, Katie, is there a wall I can throw him into?"
"Why don't I just shock him and you can call it even, I'm kind of partial to my walls."
"That sounds fair. Go ahead."
Katie stalked up to Alistair and started shocking him. He started screeching in pain and his torso was lying prone on the floor.
"Stop it! Stop it! Please!" Esme screamed. "He's my mate! Please don't hurt my mate!"
Jasper motioned for Kate to stop, then approached Esme. "What gave your mate the right to hurt my mate?"
Esme sealed her mouth shut. "Tell him, pet," Victoria growled.
"I told my mate everything she's done to me. She's sleeping with Carlisle. You have no idea how it felt to be betrayed by my own daughter and my husband like that."
"She's not lying. She actually believes Bella and Carlisle are having sex," Riley stated. "Esme, you know that I can tell when people are being deceptive, right?"
She nodded at Riley who turned to his sister and asked, "Bella, are you sleeping with Carlisle?"
"Ew, no. Incest isn't my thing," Bella replied.
"Carlisle, are you having sex with Bella?"
"Absolutely not. She's my daughter." I answered unequivocally.
"Esme, neither of them are lying. There's not a hint of deception from either of them. My personal opinion is that you made yourself believe that Carlisle and Bella were having sex because you couldn't deal with the fact that neither of them needed you anymore. You felt betrayed," Riley stated. "I'd like to know what you told Alistair about Carlisle and Bella. Why would he feel that he needed to attack Carlisle and Bella?"
"I...I..." Esme was interrupted by Alistair.
"I came to visit Carlisle a month and a half ago. I tracked him from New Hampshire all the way to Connecticut. That's when I found Esme alone. She told me that Carlisle had cheated on her with their daughter, Bella, and moved out. I was outraged that my friend could do such a thing to his wife. I moved to comfort her and that's when I felt the pull and I knew that Esme was my mate. I vowed, then, to destroy them both for causing my mate such pain. That's why I attacked them. If it helps, I had no idea that Bella was mated. I've never raised my hand to a woman in my life, I'm just very protective of my mate. I apologize."
"Why didn't you tell him I was mated, Esme? Do you hate me that much? Did you want him to hurt me?"
"I...I don't know...I was enraged...I just want to know why? Why don't you want me as a mother, Bella?"
"Esme, you can't have everything go your way all of the time. Life doesn't work that way. I just don't feel close to you at all. I thought I did, in the beginning, but I think I might have deluded myself into thinking you were like a mother when I was in high school. You should know that when I was dating Edward all those years ago, I was cared for and coddled for the first time in my life by a mother figure. For that, I thank you. Now, though, things have changed—I can take care of myself. It's not that I don't need a mother, it's just that I need to be allowed to make decisions on my own. You need to accept that. I'm happy that you found your mate, though. Maybe this time, you'll be able to find some balance and stability in your life. Good luck." Bella quietly walked outside after that.
Esme burst out into tears. "I'm so sorry. I made a mess of things, didn't I? I need help...Riley...if you even want to counsel me, still."
"Of course, I'll counsel you," Riley replied and pulled Esme into a hug and let her cry. "Jasper, can I speak to you in private for a minute."
The two of them went outside to talk. When they returned, Jasper spoke directly to Alistair. "I'm going to have Felix and Victoria put you back together for Esme's sake. I need a promise from you that you won't approach my mate ever again. If I detect your scent within a hundred yards of her, I won't hesitate to turn you into ash. Esme, I'm sorry, but the same goes for you. I'm cutting off any and all contact between you and Bella. You crossed the line when you told vicious lies about her, I don't give a fuck if you deluded yourself into thinking she was having sex with Carlisle. You have issues that you need to deal with and Riley's agreed to help you. I'm only doing this because you've been like a mother to me for almost eighty years and I appreciate that. My mate's safety comes first, though, and your mate attacked mine and so did you—I will keep her safe at all costs."
Rosalie walked inside. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I have something to say."
"Go ahead, sis."
"Esme, I'm sorry, but I'm cutting my ties with you. I won't make any decisions for Emmett, he can think for himself; but in my eyes, the way you treated my father and sister were selfish and unforgivable. You had a mental collapse, I've been there; but spouting lies about two innocent people just because you were jealous of their relationship, then allowing your mate to actually attack to kill—that proves how small of a person you actually are. I really don't have time in my life to deal with someone like you; I'm in a good place and I can no longer make space for someone like you. Good luck with your life."
Rosalie walked outside and an initially stunned Esme started sobbing. She had just lost her eldest daughter—permanently, it seemed.
"Oh God! Oh God! I'm losing my children!" Esme cried.
"Esme, I think it's been awhile since you thought of Rose and me as your children," Bella said, as she walked inside. "I want you to know that the decision to cut ties with you was not made easily. I already forgive you for your behavior since it was done while you were under mental duress. I forgive your mate, too, since you caused him to believe something that was wholly untrue. His reaction was quite normal, his mate was hurt and he attacked those he believed caused her to be in pain. Now, just because I've forgiven you, doesn't mean that I've forgotten about how you and he have the potential to harm me. I'm going to be proactive and not put myself in that situation—that's why I will no longer see you. I owed you this explanation at the very least. You were very good to me at one point and I know that Jasper still sees you as family. I think, Esme, that you need to learn how to love yourself. Hopefully you can learn to do that together with your mate. I wish you all the luck in the world and I hope that one day you find true happiness." Bella kissed Jasper on the cheek, then me, before leaving the house, once again.
Esme was stunned speechless and so was Alistair, who turned to Jasper. "Your mate has a very big heart and soul. In attacking her, I missed an opportunity to meet a genuinely good person. I will regret acting without knowing the whole situation for the rest of my existence."
Alistair was pretty much a recluse. He's been a nomad for roughly seven hundred years. I met him about three hundred years ago and we 'd developed this strange friendship in which he'd come to visit me once every century or so. Esme and Edward had met him during his last visit. I was still Esme's mate, then. Now, though, I doubted he'd be a nomad any longer because that certainly wasn't the type of life Esme was suited for.
"You really screwed up Alistair," I said, because I don't have as big of a heart as my daughter does. "Bella loves literature and history much more than even Edward does. She's a scholar."
I said that because Alistair was always looking for someone to talk about literature and history with. Bella would have been a great match for him.
"In any case, Esme, it's time we discussed our divorce. You're obviously mated and it's not fair to me or Alistair for you to hold on to our marriage. You've obviously been having an extramarital affair without my knowledge. We need to meet up to discuss the terms, I'd like Jasper to accompany me if he's amenable."
"Of course, sometime this week would be best. Bella and I are going away for ten days starting Saturday."
"Esme, is there a good time for you?"
Esme sighed, "The day after tomorrow, around three pm, in my office. I have the afternoon free and I'll send my secretary home early with pay."
Amanda and Tanya brought in Alistair's limbs. I noticed that they painted his finger and toenails a brilliant shade of purple. Vicky and Felix fused him back together and Esme tumbled into her mate's arms and started bawling. An enraged Peter, who apparently had just arrived, suddenly flew into the house. He grabbed Alistair and started beating on him. Alistair was in at least twenty pieces before Jasper and Felix were able to restrain him.
"If you fucking touch my granddaughter again, I'll rip you apart and bury the pieces in all fifty states!" Peter turned to Esme next, "Stay away from her or you'll meet the same fate."
After Peter left the house, everyone helped re-fuse Alistair then worked on reattaching Esme's hands and feet. They were both howling in agony because they didn't have enough of their own venom left to fuse their limbs back on and had to use our venom instead. Riley and Victoria took the two of them hunting immediately.
After they were gone, I turned to Jasper and Felix, "You both need to teach me how to fight. I was incapacitated within seconds. Bella had to defend me for God's sake."
Jasper and Felix both started laughing. Felix slapped me on my back. "That's pretty bad, Carlisle. Okay, old man. We'll teach you what we know."
Everyone started trickling back into the living room. We sat around and talked while we drank some whiskey. We were family, gathered together and mellowing out after a crazy evening. I kind of felt bad for Esme because this was something she'd never have again and this was exactly the type of gathering that warmed her heart. I was happy for her, though. She found her mate quickly. Charlotte just confirmed it saying that she saw a bond between the two that was stronger than mine ever was with her. Maybe, one day, I'll meet my mate. I was in no rush though, I planned on enjoying my life and surrounding myself with my family for awhile. After all, I had all the time in the world.
I know there was some fluffy fun, but-more importantly, some serious stuff went down. I'd love to hear what your thoughts and, in particular, your feelings. I will always respond to your reviews. XOXO