I'm so happy that you all liked the way Maria came to her demise. She died having been forgiven for her transgression and with the knowledge that she was loved by someone at one point in her life. Thank you for all of your heartfelt reviews. I truly appreciate it. A steaming mug of hot cocoa for everyone!
This story is AU/OOC.
All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.
Mature readers 18+ only.
Three months later...
Bella's POV
Life rolled along and our family went through many changes in a matter of months. Eleazar and Carmen decided to stay in Darjeeling with Amar and Amrita. Amazingly, Alistair and Esme stayed on too. They were helping Amar and Amrita out on the farm and in the palace and teaching them to become self-sufficient.
Edward, Amanda, Mike, and Alice were now living in Seattle, Washington. Edward, Mike, and Amanda were running Newton's Olympic Outfitters while Alice worked as a manager at Walmart.
Jasper and I were living in Colorado in my house. We fell in love with it and couldn't bear to leave. Rex, Tanya, Garrett, Katie, Felix, and Gianna lived together in a house just down the mountain from us. Katie and Tanya opened up a clothing boutique in Telluride which was such a hit that it was featured in a couple of fashion magazines. Garrett was a middle school history teacher in Telluride.
Irina, Laurent, Vicky, and Riley also lived in Telluride. The house that Riley grew up in was up for sale so he purchased it and fixed it up. Riley was working at the hospital in Montrose as a supervising emergency room physician. Irina was attending Mesa State College working towards her nursing degree while Laurent was attending the same college majoring in physical therapy.
Rose, Emmett, Charlotte, and Peter lived in nearby Montrose. Surprisingly, they went in together on a house and were living together happily. Rose and Peter opened up another auto repair shop in Montrose and business was, of course, booming for them. Charlotte worked as a cocktail waitress at a bar in Telluride. She made a ton in tips because she was so cute and perky. Emmett was a computer science professor at Mesa State College.
Now, you would think that Jasper and I would be living alone, but that wasn't the case. Claude, Tony. Carlisle, and Chelsea were living with us along with Sahil and Sushmita. Claude was attending beauty school in Montrose together with Gianna. Meanwhile, Tony was hired as a hotel manager at a boutique hotel in Telluride while Felix worked as a hotel concierge there.
As for the rest of us, we were at a place that I never, ever thought I'd be again, high school. It started off with Sushmita begging me to attend school with her and Sahil. I was still thinking about it at that point when suddenly Chelsea announced that she wanted to attend school, too, since she's never been. Then, I knew I had to go because who knew what Chelsea will do to those poor school kids. As soon as Chelsea said she was going to attend high school, Carlisle jumped on board. How fucked up is that? I tried to back out since he was going, but Sush and Chelsea both started whining and pouting.
Here's where it get's really fucked up. The school district made massive budget cuts and there was a mass exodus of teachers so there were a lot of openings. Vicky, Rex, and Jasper were hired to fill the positions of math teacher, social studies teacher, and English teacher. To make matters worse, this is such a small school district that the three of them taught all four years of those classes, which meant that I would get Vicky next year, too. Tyrant.
Playing the role of parents are Tony and Claude. The backstory is that Carlisle is Claude's son from his first marriage while Chelsea and I are Tony's children from his. Their wives both divorced them and abandoned their kids. They met, fell in love, and got married. They adopted each other's kids and decided that they wanted to adopt two additional children of their own from India, Sahil and Sushmita. It actually worked well because Claude and Tony were at an age where they would have children in high school. Carlisle and I were sophomores while Chelsea, Sahil, and Sushmita were freshmen. We were all using the last name Whitlock.
"Bella, which property is used to write a(x + y) = ax + ay?" Vicky asked.
Huh? How the fuck am I supposed to know that?
"Ahem, Bella." I looked around me and every single student had their hand up including my asshole father who had a smirk on his face.
"Um, the algebra property," I replied. From another room, I heard Jasper chuckling.
"The answer is the distributive property. I'd like for you to stay after school for help today."
"No, problem Mrs. Biers," I sneered, then added so only Vicky could hear, "You do realize that you wouldn't have made it through college without me, don't you?"
"Touche," she whispered.
Carlisle started guffawing out loud. "Is there a problem, Carlisle?"
"No, Mrs. Biers."
"Then I suggest you pay attention to the lesson."
"That was mean of you to laugh, Daddy!" I complained in a whisper.
"Will you fucking pay attention, I swear, Bella, you're going to fail the next quiz," Vicky bitched so only Carlisle and I could hear.
Yeah, some teacher she is, using the F-word with one of her students.
At lunch, the five of us dug out our thermoses filled with "soup" and ate along with everyone else. Bringing blood filled thermoses to school was actually my idea. I noted that it would be better than buying lunch and tossing it. The humans all notice anyway.
The other thing was that none of us were supposedly "dating" each other because I pointed out how creepy that actually looked in Forks. So, everyone agreed to a no touching policy during school and around town.
"God, Vicky is a tyrant in class," I complained.
"I heard that!" Vicky said from somewhere in the building.
"Fuck you," I replied.
"I don't think she's that bad," Chelsea stated.
"That's cause you're getting straight A's in her class." Chelsea was a math whiz. She would be taught a concept and then she would be able to apply it immediately. Everyone was doing well in math except for me.
After lunch, it was time for social studies. Sophomores studied American History. Each time, Carlisle and I walked into Rex's classroom the entire room was permeating with the scent of female arousal. The girls all stared longingly at their incubus professor as he reviewed the American Revolution for an exam we were having tomorrow.
"From which country did the thirteen colonies declare independence from on July 4, 1776?" Rex asked the class in general. Every single girl raised their hand. "Molly."
"Um, France."
Huh? Carlisle and I both shook our heads at hearing that one.
"Anyone else?" Rex asked. Another girl answered correctly after her.
"What was the name of the document that declared the thirteen colonies as independent states and thus no longer a part of the British Empire?" He looked around the classroom. "Carlisle."
"Would that be the Declaration of Independence, Mr. Denali?" Rex was using Tanya's last name because we were using his and it would appear too fishy.
"Correct. Now, what was the name of the war that was fought as a result of the thirteen colonies declaring their independence from Great Britain? Uh, how about you, Dave?"
"That would be the Civil War, Mr. Denali."
"You have my permission to drain that kid," Jasper growled from another classroom.
The class soon ended, but not before a frustrated Rex asked to see Dave and Molly after class for extra help.
Our next class was Jasper's English class. We were reading Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' as a class. My request, of course. Jasper had no problem with it. He hated being a teacher, he was just there to keep an eye on all of the horny teenage boys in the school and, especially, on Chelsea. Case in point, for the next six classes, we were watching the BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice. I can tell you this much, every single student in school loved Mr. Hale's English classes. We watched a lot of DVDs in this class.
Jasper and Carlisle were having a conversation at vampire tone and speed while the other students watched the show. "Carlisle, Alice called with a stock tip. She said that we need to sell off our shares of IntelliTec. They're gonna tank due to insider trading next Thursday. The stocks are at an all time high right now."
"Can you take care of that for me when we get home?"
"Yeah, do you want to reinvest everything into Apple or do you want the cash?"
"What do you think?"
"I'd reinvest, Apple's doing well right now."
"Okay, I'll do whatever you do."
"Fine."
"Um, wouldn't Alice giving you tips be considered insider trading?" I asked.
"No, that's called smart investing, baby."
I rolled my eyes at both of them.
"Okay, class is over. For homework, I want you to read and summarize chapter three of Pride and Prejudice in one paragraph."
The students all left the class happy to have such an easy homework assignment. I was at my locker, switching out books when a boy walked up to talk to me.
"Hi," he said.
"Hello."
"So, um, you're new in town."
"Yeah," I said.
"I'm Eddie Newton. I'm a junior here. You're Bella Whitlock." Eddie Newton? Oh, it just figures. I heard Jasper cracking up as he watched from the doorway.
"A bunch of us are going to the diner for some ice cream after school. Do you want to come along?"
"No, thank you."
"Aw, come on. It'll be fun. Your sister Chelsea's coming." I heard Carlisle slam his locker door shut upon hearing that.
"Uh, no. I've actually got tons of homework and I have to stay after school for Mrs. Biers."
"Ugh, she's a battle axe," he noted.
"Yeah, the worst. Anyway, thanks for asking. Gotta go."
I was about to go to Vicky's class when I heard an announcement on the PA system asking that I report to the principal's office. What the heck did I do?
I went straight to the office to find out what this was all about. Claude and Tony were sitting in the office waiting for me.
The principal started the meeting immediately. He was openly gay and friends with both Claude and Tony. They met a couple of months ago at a Civil War Roundtable Meeting along with Jasper, Rex, and Garrett. "Thank you both for coming. I've asked you both here today because I was reviewing Bella's performance in math and it's dismal considering the amount of effort she puts into it. For the last two weeks, the school psychologist, as well as the special education teacher have been observing her. We believe that she may have dyscalculia. Are you both aware of what dyscalculia is?"
"I know what it is, but you'll have to enlighten Claude as to what that is Greg," Tony said.
"Dyscalculia is a learning disability specifically related to mathematics. Generally, a child with dyscalculia has superior intelligence, but has innate difficulty in learning and comprehending simple mathematics. Some people call it 'math dyslexia.' Your daughter shows all the symptoms of a child suffering from dyscalculia. With your permission, I'd like to have her tested for it."
Oh, now that's messed up! I go to school for Sush and Chelsea's sake and I'm being told that I have a learning disability. This is so unjust!
"What makes you think Bella has dyscalculia, Greg?" Claude asked.
"These are Bella's math tests over the past year. As you can see when you look at them, her highest grade is a 63 which puts her solidly in the low D to F range. Now, I want you to look at her calculations. She has difficulty with simple math computations like addition and subtraction. All of her tests are like this. She often transposes numbers and she has an inability to grasp and remember mathematical concepts. She also has poor fact recall. She does well in science until she gets to scientific computations. Her science teacher reported that even with a calculator, Bella has difficulty with simple computations."
Holy shit, the principal is right, maybe I do have dyscalculia.
"What does her math teacher have to say about this?"
"Claude, her math and science teacher both recommended that she be tested," the principal informed us. "Now, at home, does Bella have trouble following step by step directions, especially when there are numbers involved? For example, setting the clock on the microwave or driving a manual transmission car, scratch the second one, she's still too young to drive."
"Actually, yes, she's always had trouble with setting the clock on the microwave and we have to program numbers into her cell phone for her because she often transposes the numbers if we don't," Tony admitted. "She has no problems with scrolling down her contact list and finding who she wants to call though. She also has trouble remembering to do things on a specific date, even if she's written it down in her planner. We all have to remind her."
Okay, he was obviously referring to me forgetting to feed. Being unable to drive a stick shift because of dyscalculia was a surprise, though.
"That's because the contact name doesn't involve numbers, it's all letters. Now, trouble remembering tasks set on a certain date is a very common trait of someone with dyscalculia because her brain has trouble understanding time as a concept."
"Tony, Bella is your biological daughter, right?"
"Yes, she is."
"You mentioned knowing what dyscalculia is, do you have any relatives with that learning disability?"
"Actually, I do. I have a brother with dyslexia and another with dyscalculia. You're right, Bella has many similar traits as he does. They both have advanced verbal abilities, they both need phone numbers programmed into their cell phones; and as far as driving a manual transmission vehicle is concerned, he can't drive one to save his life. My father, mother, and older brother all tried to teach him, but he could never grasp the concept. The thing about him is that he's also a civil war buff and he has phenomenal strategic planning; albeit he does it in a creative way."
"That's because, unlike the rest of us, he doesn't use his visual reasoning ability; he uses his verbal reasoning ability to strategize with. Someone with dyscalculia generally has a high IQ and highly developed verbal abilities, persumably to make up for their lack of number sense. I'm not surprised that your brother has strong and creative strategic planning skills."
The principal paused for a minute and put a document in front of Tony and Claude. "Now that I think we've established that we suspect that Bella has dyscalculia, we'd like to begin testing her. For that I would need your written permission. If you were to sign this today, we can begin testing on Monday and if she's found to have that learning disability, we can draw up an individualized education plan for her and the school can draw on it's resources to get her the help she needs. I suspect that she'll need a classroom aide in math and science as well as a specialist to help her with strategies so that she can grasp mathematical concepts. The choice is up to you, of course."
Tony and Claude looked at each other and started discussing my problem. I sat there twiddling my thumbs. The principal noticed and started talking to me. "Bella, I had the opportunity to read your most recent paper on the American Revolution. That was excellent work. I, particularly, enjoyed how you researched the time period thoroughly and were able to tie in the cultural expectations of that era with the political activities surrounding the war. That was very advanced work and, most certainly, a college level paper at the very least. You must have inherited your father's love of history."
Shit, maybe I should have dumbed down the paper a bit. I keep forgetting that this is high school. "My dad has lots of books. I like to read them," I said, hoping to appease him.
"Well, you certainly did an excellent job. You should be proud of your work."
"Greg, Claude and I have decided to jump onboard with the testing. If our daughter has a learning disability, we'd like to get her the help she needs."
What? "But, Dad, shouldn't we discuss this more at home?" I protested.
"Sweetheart, there's nothing more to discuss. The facts are right in front of us and you need help. If your math teacher has recommended the testing, I'm sure the decision wasn't made lightly," Tony said.
"But..."
"Bella, it's up to your Dad and me and we've decided that you need help with math. The decision is final," Claude shut me down with that statement.
"I brought you into this world and I could just as easily take you out," I whispered so only they could hear.
Tony and Claude both chuckled as they signed the paperwork and shook the principal's hand.
"Bella, would you wait outside on the bench for just a moment. I have something else to discuss with your fathers."
"Sure." I got up, left the room, and sat on the bench just outside his door and eavesdropped.
"Tony, Claude, we need to discuss your other daughter, Chelsea."
Uh-oh. Now what?
"Of course, what did our little firecracker do this time?" Claude asked.
"The teachers are becoming increasingly frustrated with your daughter. She doesn't complete her assignments, she's disruptive during class, and she's actually cut class and left campus twice. Today, the school nurse caught her and another student walking off campus at nine am. When we asked them what they were doing, they replied that they were going shopping. When the nurse offered to drive them back to campus, they told her that they can't accept rides from strangers knowing full well that it was the school nurse. The only class she seems to have interest in is math. Of course, Mrs. Biers tends to have a solid hold on all of her pupils. The point is, Chelsea doesn't seem to realize the importance of an education like your other children do. I think that point needs to be driven home with her before, God forbid, she drops out of high school."
Yeah, that's because Vicky's students are all terrified of her and with Chelsea, she threatened to bite her if she didn't show up to class and toe the line.
"I apologize for Chelsea's behavior, Greg. Claude and I will talk to her as soon as we get home. He and I both know the value of an education and it's very upsetting to hear that she's been shirking off her responsibilities. How are our other children doing?"
"They're fine. Carlisle seems to be particularly strong in science and while Sushmita and Sahil have some difficulty with academics, they do their best and don't hesitate to ask for help. That's understandable considering that English isn't their native tongue. One thing that concerns me about all of your children is the fact that none of them participate in any extra-curricular activities. Participation in sports and club activities are looked at with scrutiny by colleges. They can be the deciding factor on whether or not one student is chosen over another when it comes to college acceptance. I can give you a list of what we offer and perhaps you can go over them with your kids."
"Sure, Greg. We'll talk to them and have them each sign up for an activity. Thank you."
"No problem, it's part of the job description. So, my house for the game on Sunday?"
"Absolutely, we'll be there."
Claude and Tony walked out of the office and I followed them out to the parking lot. As soon as we got into Claude's Suburban, they turned around to face me while we were waiting for Carlisle, Sahil, and Sushmita to show up.
"Don't start, Bella. We had to sign you up for testing. It would have looked fishy if we didn't, and at least now we know why you were having so much trouble with math."
"So, do you really have a brother with dyscalculia?"
"Yes, I do. He's your brother, too, Bella."
"Rex?" I asked, curiously.
"Yes, Rex, but back when he was in school, there really wasn't much research done on dyscalculia. They just termed it a non-specific learning disability and they also blamed it on his attention deficit disorder. At least now they have targeted programs to help you."
"Yeah, but, I'm only in school as a favor to Chelsea, Sush, and Sahil."
"I know, but at least now we have a reason for some of your quirks and you have an excuse to buy an automatic transmission Ferrari," he chuckled. "Now, where is everyone? I want to get home."
"Some kid told me that Chelsea was going to the diner for some ice cream after school."
It was so funny, Tony and Claude played the role of parents phenomenally. They were much better at it than Carlisle and Esme. One of them always dropped us off and picked us up since none of us were supposedly old enough to drive yet. They also kept in touch with all of the teachers and Claude went to PTA meetings. And when any of us went to hang out with our human friends, they always called the parents to double check. Plus, Tony was in his late thirties and Claude was in his early forties so it really didn't look weird at all. That's where it ended though. They knew their boundaries and they knew they were only playing the role in town and in school. Home was declared a no parenting zone.
"Alright, what was the name of the kid that told you that Chelsea's going to the diner?"
"Some kid named Eddie Newton."
They both arched their eyebrow and started guffawing. I laughed along, too. The irony in that kid's name was just way too funny.
Three years and two months later...
Carlisle and I graduated from high school last year. Thank God. The two of us were just waiting for Chelsea, Sushmita, and Sahil to graduate in June. After that, our whole family was relocating again. We still hadn't decided on a location yet, but everyone agreed that we wanted to move to a more metropolitan area. Still, we enjoyed this area. The townspeople were friendly and during ski season, this place was tons of fun. I could see why Riley enjoyed growing up here.
Every single one of us now skied or snowboarded. How could we not? Our house was located on a mountain in a prime ski area. It was secluded and beautiful and we were able to ski in and out of our back door. During ski season, Edward and Mike were frequent visitors and they always brought new equipment from their shop for us to test out.
Claude and Tony loved the fact that Telluride hosted Gay Ski Week every year in February. They were on the planning committee along with the high school principal. We all got into gay ski week and even marched in the parade along with Claude and Tony. Yes, everyone did, even Jasper.
After the school district tested me and confirmed that I had dyscalculia, I was moved out of Vicky's class and put into a special math class where a specialist tutored me, and three other kids with dyscalculia, in math. I had to admit that it helped tremendously. Now I wasn't so afraid of numbers anymore.
The other thing that helped was that everyone in the family instantly stopped ragging on me and Rex for being unable to drive a manual transmission car. Carlisle and Riley dove into research about dyscalculia. They didn't realize that learning disabilities could carry over after being transformed into a vampire.
Right now, Carlisle and I were both working. Carlisle was working in the deli department at the supermarket because he said he needed a humbling experience. Whatever—if slicing ham and serving up potato salad floats his boat, then more power to him. On the other hand, I was working at a local bookstore and absolutely loving it. I got an employee discount of twenty percent and I got a ton of advanced copies of books for free. Neither of us could go out and get better paying jobs because we had supposedly only just graduated from high school. I really didn't mind, though. I truly enjoyed working and earning some money of my own, even if it wasn't much.
Jasper, Vicky, and Rex were still teaching at the high school while Garrett was teaching at the middle school. He was just named Colorado Teacher of the Year for his dedication to teaching and for being an inspiration to his students. I think he was completely touched. We all traveled to Denver to see him accept his award. We were so proud of him.
Claude and Gianna finished beauty school and were now working at beauty salons in Montrose. They were both loving their jobs and they planned on opening up their own business at wherever we moved to next.
Sahil and Sushmita were adjusting very well to life on their own. Sush was now a straight A student and on track to becoming valedictorian. Sahil was still struggling in school, but he was a hard worker and adamant about getting into college and at least earning a bachelor's degree.
Then there was Chelsea, oh Chelsea. Either Claude or Tony were still constantly being called into school to discuss her behavior. She got a kick out of getting a rise out of the teachers. Last year, she and another student decided that it would be a hoot to start a food fight in the cafeteria. Carlisle, Sush, and I didn't join in, but Sahil did. Chelsea, Sahil, and six other students were sentenced to a month of Saturday detention and were forced into scrubbing the lunch room clean. Jasper, Rex, and Vicky were all at their wits end trying to keep her in control. It gets worse, she got pissed off at two of the cafeteria ladies so she mated them to each other. They were now on the planning committee of Gay Ski Week together with Claude, Tony, and the high school principal.
This week was Gay Ski Week so Claude and Tony were ridiculously busy. Things were easier now that we were all at an age where we could have driver's licenses. We all had to go through the high school's driver's ed program in which the instructor declared me to be his best student in thirty years and Carlisle his worst. Oh! And Grandpa Pete gave me the best gift ever. He had been laughing about the fact that I was banned from driving for a year because I was supposedly too young to drive so when I finally got my license again, he gave me a brand new Toyota Rav-4, custom painted hot pink. Rose had gotten the auto body shop to match the paint with my favorite shade of nail polish. Jasper refused to drive it, actually so did most of the men, but Tony had no problem driving it. In fact, he was hitting himself for buying the purple Beetle instead of the hot pink one.
I had the day off from work so I settled in to read a book. Some of the employees at work had a romance novel book club and I was invited to join. I loved it. Sure I love the classics, but nothing beats a good, trashy romance novel—especially one about vampires. It was around three pm so Jasper, Sush, Sahil, and Chelsea were due to arrive home soon. I had just finished baking a hundred brownies that Claude had promised the PTA for a bake sale.
The doorbell rang so I went to answer it. Jasper was expecting a delivery from FedEx so I figured that's who it was. I had the shock of my life when I answered the door and saw two golden eyed vampires that I never thought I'd see ever again standing there dressed in ski gear.
"Hola, do you remember us? I am Manuel Amante Dulce and this is my mate Rodrigo Pene Grande."
I instantly threw my shield over myself. In fact, I couldn't say anything. I thought we took care of these guys when we offed Maria. Now that I think of it, though, I think we all forgot about them as soon as Tony used his gift on them. Holy fuck.
When I didn't say anything, Manuel spoke again, "Guapa, we are not here to harm you. We've been looking for you for many years. We want to thank you."
I still couldn't say anything. They seemed non-threatening to be sure. Thirty seconds later, Jasper came running up the drive followed by Rex. The two of them had Manuel and Rodrigo in choke holds, whisked them into the house, and shut the door.
"What business do you have with us?" Jasper questioned.
Manuel choked out an answer immediately, "I was telling this beauty here that we intend no harm. We've been looking for you for many years so we could thank you for sparing our lives and helping us to escape from Maria. She was an evil woman and muy loca. My mate and I are happy just living peacefully now."
Jasper and Rex released the two of them, but kept an eye on them. Manuel continued speaking. "I want to introduce ourselves formally. I am Manuel Amante Dulce and this is my mate Rodrigo Pene Grande. We were changed by Maria about thirty years ago. She manipulated us as vampires and we were made to believe that she loved us. We realize now that she was only using us for her own self-gratification. The pull that we both had was not for her either, it was to each other. She was always with us so we never realized it until the day this guapa showed up."
"Okay, you keep calling me guapa. What does that mean?" I asked.
"It means good looking, darlin'," Jasper drawled. Then he turned to Manuel and Rodrigo. "How did you find us?"
"We're here for Gay Ski Week. When we checked-in to our hotel, we noticed that the scent of vampire was extremely potent so we decided to track it. It led us up the mountain and to this house and this beautiful woman answered the door. I'm afraid we may have frightened her. For that, we apologize."
Jasper's POV
I didn't know what to do. When I honed into their feelings, I could feel nothing but honesty. These two vampires were genuine in their intentions and very kind. They were exactly the kind of people that would easily fall prey to someone like Maria. When I thought about it, me, Peter, Charlotte, and Vicky were all kind and gullible as humans when we were nabbed by Maria.
I decided that they deserved a chance and introduced myself, "My name is Jasper Whitlock, this is my mate Isabella, and our brother Rex Whitlock. A pleasure to meet you."
We sat in the living room and got to know our guests. Eventually, the family started arriving home. And by family, I mean everyone who lived in the area. To say they were surprised was an understatement. We had all forgotten that we had inadvertently let these two go. Talk about a group memory lapse.
Manuel and Rodrigo lived in San Francisco in the heart of the gay scene. They apparently had enough savings built up from the wealth that Maria had shared with them to buy a small apartment and live out an eternity. Rodrigo was an investment banker in Santiago, Chile. He was changed by Maria while he was on a business trip in Mexico City. He invested the money that Maria had paid him and Manuel and built it up in secret from Maria.
Manuel was a native of Almolonga, Guatemala. He was working as a chef in a fine dining restaurant in Mexico City when he was changed on the same weekend that Rodrigo was changed. When they woke up, they were in a secluded cabin deep in Texas with Maria telling them that they were her forever. They suspected that Maria was lonely when she changed them. At that point, she had no newborn vampires. She tried to restart her army several times, but failed each time because Manuel and Rodrigo purposely played stupid in front of her because they hated the idea of leading an army or training newborns. She never caught on. She thought they were idiots.
About ten years prior to her final destruction, Maria decided to go on an extended vacation taking Manuel and Rodrigo with her. She fully relaxed, integrated with humans, pooled all of her resources and came up with a plan to find me, Pete, and James. Her big break came when she ran into Amber Putain who told her all about Alice and her gift. She knew that in order to abduct us, she'd have to work around Alice's mind reading. Maria's also the one that decided that she would come to abduct us in Cheboygan, Michigan; taking a chance that Alice would see it in a vision and that we would move there in order to wait for her. She had sent scouts into the territory to check up on us so she knew that her plan had worked. Again, I was reminded of the fact that I had played right into her hands.
When Maria moved everyone to Hinsdale, Colorado she had everyone feed off of animals so as not to arouse suspicion from the area humans. She had Amber Putain, Violetta Fisher, and Jeanine Ratson go out and recruit around the world for her. The other thing she did was send out letters promising free, all expense paid ski vacations to a few hundred unsuspecting humans. The ones that responded flew into Telluride, were met by Maria and Brittany, and were changed as soon as they arrived at the camp.
"Wow, who knew she was so resourceful," Rex stated. "So, what have you guys been doing these past three and a half years."
"Ah, well, we went to Italy first. Maria always told us to avoid the Volturi so we figured that they were good people. How wrong we were."
"You went to the Volturi lair?" Chelsea asked in shock.
"And they let you out alive?" Felix added.
"Si, senor, we were shocked upon arrival. These vampires were feral and they hadn't fed in years. They were obsessed with having sex with each other. They paid absolutely no mind to us. We thought that it would be unwise to leave insane vampires alive so we burned all of them," Rodrigo said.
"You burned the Volturi?" We all gasped in shock.
"Why yes. Was that wrong of us?"
"No, but how?" I asked.
"Oh, it was very easy. Each couple was in their chambers so we went room by room and simultaneously ripped their heads off while they were having sex. Then, we brought them down to the incineration room and burned them. The only room we had a bit of a problem in was one where there were two men and one woman in the throes of passion. In that room, we took the heads off of the men first and left the woman. The woman, seeing that the two men were destroyed, walked into the flames herself."
Fuck me.
"How many vampires did you take out in total?" Chelsea asked.
"Twenty-nine in total," Manuel informed her.
"Um, you missed two."
Fuck. Now what? Will this shit never end for us? I couldn't think about this now.
"Let's discuss this more in detail later," I suggested. Everyone agreed.
Tony helped to change the subject, "So, Manuel, you said you were a chef in Mexico City?"
"Si, I was the head chef at a five star French restaurant."
Bella, Tony, and Rex donned grins upon their faces.
"Come with us to the kitchen," Bella said with a huge smile.
Oh shit. They were gonna start mixing blood again. I had to admit, though. We've all been having pretty good soups for lunch. Other than steak and fried chicken, we had beef stew, vegetable beef soup, french fries, and something called beef with broccoli. We also had Bella's lasagna. Now, in my day, we didn't have beef with broccoli or lasagna, but damn...that stuff tastes good, especially my Bella's lasagna.
Since the vampires in the kitchen were completely occupied with blood mixing. I decided to pick Rodrigo's brain about financial futures. Wow, he really knew his stuff. He gave me a couple of stock tips that I planned on looking into.
We talked until about ten pm when Rodrigo and Manuel decided to head back to their hotel promising to return tomorrow after they get some skiing in.
"Bella, can you help me correct some tests?" I asked nicely.
"Hey! No fair Jasper! I was gonna ask her to help me!" Rex whined.
"She's my mate, fucker!"
"Yeah, well, she's my wifey!"
"That doesn't entitle you to jack shit!"
"When are you two idiots gonna learn to do your own work? I do everything myself and so does Garrett," Vicky chastised.
"Give it here," Bella huffed to both of us. She took some from me and some from Rex and we all started working on correcting homework. This is how many of our nights were spent. Rex, Garrett, and Vicky came over and we corrected the work we assigned to our students together. This way, we could talk, discuss our students, and if there were issues that needed to be addressed we could figure it out together. I used to hate teaching, but somewhere along the line, I learned to enjoy it. I got my teaching degree years ago in the eighties. I forged my papers to update them in order to get my current job.
"Um, Jasper, this girl claims that Hamlet and Rosalind ran off together and are living happily ever after."
"What?" I asked, aghast. "'Hamlet' and 'As You Like It' are two completely different plays. Wait a minute! This test is on 'The Merchant of Venice'."
"I know that!"
"Who wrote the paper?"
"Chelsea Whitlock."
Shit. Why? Why me? She was currently upstairs fucking Carlisle and there would be no chance to talk to her until tomorrow at school.
"Rex, do you have anything from Chelsea?"
"Oh, yeah," he sighed, then handed the paper in his hand to me.
I read it out loud, "Adolf Hitler was a total prick and the leader of the Nazis. He was a mass murderer and he tried to rule the world, but he couldn't. He had a fucked up looking mustache, too. His mistress, Eva Braun, was a model. She didn't really look like one, though. She liked to party and she was a lot of fun unlike her psycho boyfriend. Hitler and Braun got married and less than two days later, the fucker forced her to commit suicide with him cause he knew he was done for and didn't want to go out alone. Like I said, the man was a prick. If I had met him, I would have ripped him apart and turned him into ash."
I looked around the table. Garrett was scratching his head. Bella looked absolutely perplexed. Rex had an 'I told you so,' look on his face, while Vicky murmured, "Oh, dear."
"What was the essay topic?" I was afraid to ask, but I did anyway.
"Describe how Adolf Hitler singlehandedly turned Germany into a totalitarian dictatorship."
"You guys are going to fail her, right?" Garrett asked.
"What other choice do we have. She refuses to put any effort into her school work and Carlisle is so pussy whipped that he refuses to get involved."
"What's her GPA in your classes?"
"She's in the solid D minus range in my class."
"Same here," Rex said.
"Nothing, but A's in my class and in science she's running a C," Vicky informed us. "That's only because there's math involved in science."
I remembered clearly the day the science teacher called a meeting with all of us to discuss Chelsea. One of the short answer questions on a biology exam was to describe the process of reproduction in mammals. Chelsea's answer was, "They fuck. How else do you think babies are made?"
We had no answer for her. Poor Tony and Claude were called in to discuss her progress and her behavior and we each had to put in our two cents about how she was doing in our classes. We had a chat with her at home, later that day. Chelsea just smirked and said, "I wasn't wrong, though, was I?"
Here's the amazing thing, though. We just got her SAT results and she scored a 740 on each of three 800 point sections. While Bella surpassed her on verbal reasoning and critical writing, she only scored a 520 on the math section resulting in a lower score for her. Carlisle and Sushmita scored in the 680 range on each of three sections while Sahil's scores were in the 460 range for each section. After seeing Chelsea's scores, Bella got pissed off at her and told her that she clearly has the ability to do well in school so just do it. She tried for about two weeks then went back to her old ways.
We called it a night and everyone went back to their own homes. I was sitting up in bed holding Bella looking over at the trashy romance novel that she was reading for her book club.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute! It says here that 'a vampire's sweat tends to be a wee-bit pinkish in color, just like their tears.' Bella, how can you read this shit?" I asked.
"It's for my book club. And his sweat and tears are pink due to a steady diet of blood."
"Yeah, but vampires don't sweat or have tears." I took the book from her. "And they certainly don't drink synthetic blood and if this dude's lived in the States for many centuries, how come he still has a Scottish accent? It just doesn't make sense."
"Jasper, he has an accent because the readers find it sexy."
I raised my eyebrow, looked into my wife's eyes, and drawled, "Really, darlin', cause I can turn on that Texas twang anytime you like."
She put her book to the side and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Keep going, baby, you know what that accent does to me."
Now we're talking. She planted kisses on my face until she reached my desperate lips which needed to get kissed deeply. Then, she started making her way down my body and slid my pajama pants down to set my little guy free. As I continued cooing to her in my lilt, Bella wrapped her full lips around my cock and worked her wet lips up and down my length until she sent me straight to heaven.
Damn, maybe we'll move to Texas next so I can keep using my accent with her. That's not wrong of me, is it?
Two days later, it was Saturday, and we hit the slopes with our new friend, Rodrigo. Edward and Mike were up for the weekend and we were currently racing Rosie who was probably the best skier in our family aside from Riley. Being a native of Rochester, New York, she had been skiing from the time she was three years old. She was fearless on the mountain, just like she was whenever she drove her Pagani Zonda. She was carving the slopes like a mad woman and we were all having trouble keeping up with her.
Suddenly, Riley did some kind of aerial twist and landed a hundred yards in front of her. He was another one that could ski the shit out of the rest of us, on top of that, he knew this mountain like the back of his hand. We would be skiing and, suddenly, Riley would pop out of seemingly nowhere and start skiing with us. The race was on, Rose and Riley left the rest of us in the dust as they flew down the mountain at top speed. When we finally made our way down the mountain, they were laughing. We could see why too. Their skis were splintered into about a hundred pieces and their poles were bent at a weird angle.
"We crashed into each other when we stopped abruptly to avoid the humans," Rose chuckled.
"I guess those skis we brought up for you to test didn't hold up very well, did they?" Mike guffawed. "Come on, we brought more skis up. You guys can test out the Fischer's now."
Can I just say how handy it is to have professionals in the family being able to adjust our skis?
"Hey, Mike, I think mine need to be re-adjusted, too. Look at how easily my boot slips out of the bindings," I said.
"Well, come on, let's get this done."
Mike and Edward had set up their own ski adjustment booth in the mudroom that Esme designed for us. It actually worked out well since everyone in the family either skied, snowboarded, or both.
Bella came barreling into the mudroom balancing a tray with mugs on them. She, Rex, Manuel, and Emmett had proud smiles on their faces. We all took a mug and drank and...oh, dear God in heaven...what the fuck is this delicious concoction?
"Chocolate," Edward breathed.
"Oh my God! I love you!" Rose dove into Bella's arms and started kissing her face. Now, Rose hardly ever loses her composure like this.
Vicky looked equally excited and so did Charlotte. Tanya, Katie, Irina, Sushmita, and Chelsea had puzzled expressions on their faces.
And Gianna, oh well she started purring in Italian turning all of us on, "Sì, è cioccolato. Grazie. Ha un sapore come cielo." She was moaning and licking her lips as if she was having an orgasm.
"Felix, man, what's your wife saying," I asked.
"Yes, it's chocolate. Thank you. It tastes like heaven," Chelsea translated for me because Felix was completely transfixed with his wife. Actually, all of us men were. Gianna was just sexy when she spoke in Italian.
The skis all but forgotten, we rushed into the kitchen for more. As we drank the last batch of chocolate, Chelsea asked the question that was on all of our minds, "Why are you, Rose, Vicky, Gianna, and Charlotte making such a big deal out of this chocolate stuff?"
"Are you fucking with me?" A feral Vicky got right into her face, "Chocolate is the cure all for PMS!"
"Um, Vicky, you don't get PMS," I pointed out.
Slap! Rose impaled my face with the palm of her hand. "You insensitive jackass!"
"Okay, maybe those two still get PMS," Mike noted. "Actually maybe Vicky was changed while she was PMSing."
Whack! "Ow! Gianna! I'm sorry."
"You know, I've never had PMS in my life," Charlotte informed us.
"Never?" Rose asked in shock.
"Nope, never. My periods were like clockwork. I've never even had a cramp."
"Why you little bitch!" Rose yelled.
She and Vicky started rounding in on poor Charlotte. Gianna joined them.
Char hid behind Riley who announced, "Dysmenorrhea isn't necessarily experienced by every woman, you know."
"That still doesn't make it fair! Why the fuck did God give her a break?"
"Actually, I've never had PMS either," Bella said. "But I was on the pill from the time I was fifteen so that tends to regulate your periods."
"Why would you need to be on the pill from that young an age?" Edward asked.
"Oh, get your head out of the Victorian era, fucker. It's so she wouldn't get knocked up in case she did the deed," Mike pointed out.
"Yes, but..."
"Edward, lots of young girls use the birth control pill from the time they're teenagers for various reasons. Some use it to regulate their periods, others use it to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancy. In Bella's case, her mother took her to the gynecologist who suggested she use the pill for both of those reasons."
"Wow, times sure have changed," he mused.
"Okay, so I want to say something," Bella announced. "The reason why Chelsea, Irina, Kate, Sushmita, and Tanya aren't making a big deal out of chocolate is because chocolate as a sweet confection wasn't discovered until 1528, when Hernando Cortes prepared the first mug of hot chocolate using cocoa beans, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon. For a long time after that, only the wealthy could afford cocoa beans. Just to put it into perspective for you, in 1513, a slave was worth one hundred cocoa beans, a night with a hooker was worth ten cocoa beans, and a roasted rabbit dinner was worth four cocoa beans."
"Where the fuck do you get this shit?" Claude asked.
"History. Chocolate played an important role in history. It was even used as currency at one point and it was of key importance in the Spanish trade route. Anyway, my point is, they don't find chocolate to be as big a deal as those of us from modern times do because it wasn't readily available as it was for us. They couldn't just run to the store and buy a Hershey Bar."
"It's true, even in my day, chocolate was only for very special occasions. I've only had it twice in my life before this," I pointed out.
"How did you concoct this?" Garrett asked.
"It was Manuel's idea. He pointed out that some cultures use cow or pig's blood for cooking things like blood sausage in Korea or blood soup in Poland. So, we put two and two together and started calling some ethnic stores to see if they had any for sale. Sure enough, we found that both types of blood were readily available so we picked up a batch of both. They're only available in five gallon buckets. We figured the cow's blood would do the trick, but it didn't. It was actually a little pig's blood mixed with deer and wolf that did it," Rex explained. "Then, Emmett spilled some of the coconut oil that Sush was extracting for her hair infusion, then voila."
"I heated it just until it was about to come to a boil. I didn't want it to separate at a high temperature," Manuel informed us.
"I think it's possible that Manuel has a gift," Emmett added. "His sense of smell seems to be more refined than the rest of ours. I mean, he could actually pick out spices whenever humans walked by us."
"We'll have to have Eleazar look into that, one day," Carlisle said. "How do I smell to you?"
"Well, there's a hint of cumin, mixed in with some salt, and mirepoix mixed with butter. Actually, you smell a lot like the base for curry," Manuel answered.
"Well, that's a new one. I always thought Carlisle smelled like musk and sandlewood," Chelsea pointed out. "And what's mirepoix, I've never heard of that."
"It's a combination of onion, celery, and carrot sauteed in a touch of oil or butter. In Carlisle's case, it would be butter."
Yep, he's a fag too. Anyone that knows what a mirep...whatever it is can't possibly be straight. That's okay, we like fags in our household. We have a couple of pretty cool Whitlock ones.
"That's the thing, you know how Mike says that I smell like a whopper with cheese and fries? He says he detects the scent of fried lard in my veins," Emmett explained. I mean, aren't french fries cooked in lard?"
"They used to be, now I think they use a canola, corn, and soy oil to fry their products in," Bella told us. "You know, cause of the ban of trans-fat from fast food restaurants.
"Again, where the fuck do you get this shit, Bella?" Claude asked. No kidding, I'm with him on this one.
"I read the newspaper."
"Well, forget what everyone smells like, girlfriend. Get in the kitchen and make us more chocolate."
"Yeah!" we all agreed with Claude and sent our chefs back into the kitchen so they could cook more. Riley turned the game on and we all turned our interest to football.
A couple of hours later, there was a knock on the door. Laurent went to answer it.
"Hello, I'm looking for Carlisle Cullen," a slow, methodical voice said.
"Fuck," Chelsea and Felix both said at the same time.
"Who is it?" I whispered.
"May I ask who you are and what business you have with him?" Laurent asked.
Before they could answer, Carlisle motioned for me and Emmett to flank him. The two of us went and so did Sahil and Peter.
"My name is...ah, Carlisle, I'm glad that I found you. I've been searching for you."
"Marcus, what brings you to Colorado?"
So, this was Marcus Volturi. He was accompanied by a petite raven haired woman who was glued to him as if her life depended on it.
Carlisle, Renata and I have been searching for you for the last five years. We need your help.
"My help? Why? Why don't you and Renata come inside?"
Marcus thanked Carlisle and was led into the living room where everyone else was. "Felix, Gianna how are you? And Chelsea, why am I not surprised to see you here."
Carlisle sighed, "Marcus, why don't you tell us why you're here and you can catch up with Felix and my mate later."
"Your mate?" Marcus focused on Carlisle and Chelsea. "Yes, I can see that."
"Have a seat, my friend." Marcus sat down and placed Renata on his lap protectively. He took in all of the vampires in the room. He was young, maybe about my age and so was his mate. He looked tired, almost as if he was thrust into a position of responsibility before he was ready.
"To make a long story short, the Volturi are no more. I left five years ago because something overcame the whole of the castle. Every vampire was consumed with making love to their mates. And by consumed, I mean possessed. It was almost as if they could think of nothing else, but their mates. I was the same way and somehow, I don't know how, I was able to snap out of whatever was possessing me, grabbed my documents and some cash, took my mate and ran from the castle. My immediate thought was to search for you since you have a medical background. Three years passed and without Demetri, I was unable to locate you. I ran out of funds so I returned to sneak back into the castle, but it was empty. Carlisle, I seek your assistance in finding out what happened to the members of the Volturi. I fear they may have been assassinated."
Oh-oh. Hmm...how the hell are we supposed to explain this shit? Thank God he's asking Carlisle and not me.
"Marcus, we can give you the answers you seek. However, rather than having me explain it to you, let me introduce you to my brother, Major Jasper Whitlock. He is in a much better position to explain what transpired than I am." He pointed towards me.
Why that little coward! What the fuck? Why do I have to explain this shit to the leader of the Volturi?
"The great Major of the Southern Wars. I am honored." Marcus bowed his head to me.
I introduced myself and everyone in our living room, then delved into an explanation of what's been happening to us and what happened to the Volturi. An hour later, there was no more to tell.
"Rather than being upset, I am quite happy that things turned out this way. I never liked Aro or Caius's ambitiousness and I fear that I was being controlled by Aro rather than being allowed to voice my thoughts."
"You were being controlled, Marcus," Chelsea admitted. "Aro forced me to create a loyalty bond between you, Caius, and him. Renata was also bonded to Aro. I apologize for my actions."
"My dear, we were all being manipulated. I can't fault you for something that you had no control over. I must say that I'm happy that you took matters into your own hands and released us from the hold he had over us even if it was in an unorthodox way."
Bella came flitting out of the kitchen with a tray in her hand. She, Rex, and Manuel had been absent from the discussion. They had been hibernating. "Hello, I'm Isabella Whitlock, would you like some refreshments?" She placed mugs in front of Marcus and Renata.
"Thank you, my dear. My name is Marcus Volturi and this is my mate Renata. I can see by your bond that you are the Major's mate."
"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you."
He took a sip from the mug, then turned to me, "I might have to steal your mate away with me. What is this delicious blood?"
"Um, it's a combination of wolf, deer, pig, and coconut oil," Bella replied.
"It's delicious," Renata spoke for the first time.
"Thank you, we concocted it today. We like to come up with different recipes to make feeding more of a meal rather than something that you have to stomach."
"I see. May I help you?"
"Sure, come on into the kitchen. We only use animal blood though."
Renata looked to Marcus for permission, he nodded his head and told her to go on ahead.
"This is the first time I've ever seen Renata take to someone so quickly. She's generally very shy."
"No shit," Chelsea agreed in shock.
"Chelsea! Get in the kitchen and do your homework in front of me!" Bella yelled from the kitchen.
"Fucking battleaxe!" Chelsea moaned as she got up to grab her backpack. She also glared at me, Rex, and Vicky as if we were the bad guys. Bella was the only one that seemed to have some semblance of control over Chelsea so she's taken up the role of Chelsea's keeper, at least when it comes to homework. We just need her to pass with a D average so she can graduate in June.
"So, Marcus, where did you search for us these last five years?"
"Everywhere in the United States. I went state to state beginning with Maine, but I couldn't detect your scent anywhere. We ended up coming here by chance. We met some nice people on the plane ride over named Kenny and Randy and they told us there was some sort of festival in this town so we decided to begin our search for you in this state here."
"Um, Kenny and Randy are here? Did they happen to be flying over here from Boston?"
"Yes, do you know them?"
"Probably," I said.
"Wait a minute! Are you talking about Kenny and Randy Mac Neil?" Tony asked.
"I don't know, I never asked what their last name was."
"They used to be huge fans of Rex when he was dancing at Climax."
"Yep, that's them," Peter said.
"Claude and I have been friends with them since college. Kenny was president of the Gay/Lesbian club. They're staying at my hotel. Thank God, they had no idea that I was dead."
"Wait a minute! You're Major Junior!" Claude howled. "Which one of you is Santa?"
"That would be me," Emmett said glumly.
"And who's Yoda?"
"Who do you think?" Pete asked.
"And is Carlisle or Riley, Dr. DILF?"
"That would be Carlisle, I'm the hot straight dude," Riley explained.
"And I'm Buzz Lightyear," Garrett offered.
Tony eyed Edward, "And you're Edward the delicious looking morsel that hadn't come out yet. Haha!"
Claude and Tony were howling up a storm. "You have no idea how hot those two thought you guys were. Jasper, Randy was really upset when you broke it to him that you went straight. How the fuck did you assholes get into that quagmire with those two?"
"They wouldn't shut up to listen," I explained.
"Yeah, they do have a habit of running their mouths. Anyway, you guys should probably avoid the hotel until Wednesday, that's when they're checking out. Marcus, I'm surprised that you're so open about the gay festival," Tony commented.
"Why wouldn't I be? All festivals are happy events, aren't they?"
Yep, I think the old fucker's got the wrong idea.
"Erm, Marcus, by gay they don't mean happy, they mean homosexual," Carlisle explained.
Marcus's eyes widened. He looked between Tony and Claude then between Manuel and Rodrigo. "Oh, I see. That would be like Caius and Afton."
"You've got it old man," Chelsea yelled from the kitchen. "We're talking men who suck cock and women who eat pussy!"
"Chelsea, get back to your fucking essay on Mother Teresa!" Bella chastised.
"How the world has changed," Marcus said. "Well, as long as everyone is in love, I suppose it's okay. Renata and I hadn't left the castle in centuries in her case and in almost three thousand years in mine. We were shocked to see how the world had evolved. I'm happy that we finally got out to see it, this is where we run into some difficulty. I no longer want to return to Volterra. The place holds no happy memories for me. I just have no idea what to do. Would it be considered shirking my responsibilities if I don't return to the throne? Then again, with Aro, Caius, and the guard all gone, how am I supposed to even rule? By the way, you never mentioned what happened to Jane."
"I ripped her apart and threw her in the incinerator!" Chelsea called out from the kitchen.
"Oh, thank God!" Renata said, in relief. "I really hated her."
"No, shit, she was a bitch, wasn't she?"
"Mother Teresa, Chelsea!" Bella yelled.
"Alright, alright, you don't have to be such an evil bitch. You know, you'd give Jane a good run for her money."
"I swear to God I will beat you to within an inch of your life if you don't focus on your fucking homework! I'll have Vicky bite you while Katie stands behind you and gives you intermittent shocks to your system. What do you say about that?"
"Carlisle, your daughter is being mean to me!"
"Listen to her, sweetheart, she's only doing it for your own good," Carlisle chuckled, then cleared his throat. "Ahem, I apologize Marcus, things are a little crazy in this household. My wife is failing high school so my daughter is whipping her into shape."
"Perfectly understandable, Chelsea always was a handful."
"I heard that! OW! What the fuck? Gianna!"
"Dovete ora studiare!" Gianna said.
"Merda. Sto provando. Ciò sta alesando."
"What does that mean?" Garrett asked.
"Gianna told her that she needs to study now. Chelsea replied, 'Shit. I am trying. This is boring.'" Marcus translated. He scanned the room before he spoke again, "As I observe this household and analyze your bonds, I see everything that is beautiful and wonderful. I would like this sort of thing, but I can't do it while I'm tied to the Volturi throne. What I would like to do is tear down the castle, sell it, and live my own life in peace with my Renata."
Bella came out of the kitchen, "Now, why would you tear down a historical artifact? Why not spruce up the interior, make it accessible to the public and turn it into a museum? If you no longer want ownership of it, you can either sell the castle to the city of Volterra or, better yet, donate it."
"I like your idea, but the problem lies in the fact that some semblance of order must be established in the world of vampires."
"How often did you run into problems with vampires?"
"Not very often. Once every few decades. Our main problem was in the American south, but your family seems to have taken care of that issue. There's also the issue of exposure, humans finding out about our world. That's the main law that we need to enforce."
"I'll tell you what, we'll brainstorm and help you come up with an idea. We're a pretty smart bunch, I'm sure that if we put all of our heads together, we can come up with a workable plan. I just know it. Now, do you have a place to stay because I know the hotels are all booked and I see that you still have your suitcases with you. You're welcome to stay here if you'd like."
"Thank you, Renata and I will take you up on your offer."
"Anytime," Bella replied.
"I can see why you're the Major's mate, you're very bright and exceedingly kind."
"Don't let her deceive you, Marcus, she's a real bitch when she wants to be! She's downright vindictive and cruel. Look at how she's treating me!" Chelsea yelled from the kitchen! "Ow! Renata! Let me out of your fucking shield!"
"Focus on your damn schoolwork!" Renata ordered. "I'll keep you bubbled up in my shield until you complete everything, do you hear me?"
"I'm really going to like your mate, I can just tell. Now that locking Chelsea up in the shield thing is a new one, I'm gonna have to use that myself," Bella chuckled.
God damn, life has sure taken an interesting turn. Who knew that a Volturi king would be sitting in our living room asking us for help. I suppose all I can do is just roll with the changes, just like Charlie told Bella to do all those years ago. Thank God, he left his legacy in my care.
I walked out to the front porch, looked up to the heavens, and said a word of gratitude to my father-in-law, "Thanks, Chief Swan, for trusting her to me. You have my word that I'll look after her, but you probably already know that she looks after me even more, don't you?"
I felt an incredible warmth fill my veins right at that moment. For just one minute, I felt almost human, and I just knew that Charlie was sending me a message from above. I looked up at the night sky and smiled at him in gratitude. Yep, life sure is great.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. What did you think of poor Bella having to attend high school? Did the dyscalculia diagnosis make sense? Should Chelsea the truant ever be allowed near school children? What did you think of her in high school? We had four visitors in this chapter, did you like them? Manuel and Rodrigo are actually pretty intelligent in the way they thwarted Maria for all those years and how they offed the Volturi. Speaking of the Volturi, Chelsea was pretty efficient in forming that extra tight bond, wasn't she? What did you think of Marcus and Renata? Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. I promise to respond to your reviews-as long as your Private Messaging system is turned on. *wink* XOXO