Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! I was so overwhelmed by the response. Free tickets to the Vampires Bite Tour for all of you.
This story is AU/OOC.
All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.
Mature readers 18+ only please.
Ten years later...
Edward's POV
After Marcus Volturi, showed up on Jasper and Bella's doorstep, life changed in a huge way for all of us. Marcus took Bella's advice and turned the castle, from the ground floor up, into a museum. It was a huge money maker. The office in which Gianna worked in at one point in her life is now the welcome center for the City of Volterra. It's laden with maps, brochures, and pamphlets for tours and attractions within Volterra and the surrounding area. The welcome center is staffed by humans who are fluent in several different languages. It's managed by none other than Amber Putain. This was Chelsea's brilliant idea. The woman has such a tight loyalty bond to our family that she would never betray us. Both Amber and the humans are paid for by the Saint Marcus Association which, for all intents and purposes, is our family.
How did that happen? It turns out that eighty percent of Volterra was owned by either Aro or Caius. Upon their deaths, their property went to Marcus. Marcus was wealthy enough by his own right so since he joined our family, he wanted to make that portion of his wealth community property. By community property, I mean he wanted eighteen couples to share in those assets.
We all brainstormed and came up with the idea to form a company called the Saint Marcus Association. Now, of course, Volterra has a working human government and infrastructure, we let them handle that portion themselves, but they wouldn't be viable without the Saint Marcus Association being diligent about paying all of their taxes, on time and in full.
Volterra was now teeming with tourists. There are many who come to the museum and even more who sign up for the Vampires Bite Tour run by the Saint Marcus Association. The tour takes them through supposed known vampire hiding places strategically placed throughout the city. The tour guide runs through the history of vampires, including how to protect themselves using garlic, and how to destroy vampires using a wooden stake through the heart. The tour ends at the gift shop where tourists can buy everything from plastic vampire fangs, fake blood, t-shirts, to DVDs such as True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Underworld. The gift shop also sells trashy vampire romance novels in many languages. Surprisingly they're a huge seller.
Now, as far as a vampire government was concerned, we were monitoring the situation in Volterra using a secure connection. On top of that, Amber kept her eyes and ears open for us. What we discovered through talking to Marcus was that the Volturi found out about any infractions in our world through word of mouth and by monitoring human news stories. This was easy to do from wherever we were, especially in the age of the internet, and if anything got out of hand, we could easily fly to wherever we needed to go to handle the situation. We haven't run into one problem yet.
Our individual lives had changed tremendously. We had four new family members including Marcus, Renata, Rodrigo, and Manuel. They were a welcome addition to our family, especially Manuel because he brought his talents as a chef to our family and we were all having Sunday dinner once a week. We brought him whatever animals he requested and he would whip up something delicious for us to feast on.
Almost everyone had just moved to Texas except for Esme, Alistair, Carmen, and Eleazar who were really enjoying life in India with Amar and Amrita. We all saw them at least once a year. Either they would come and visit us or we would go and visit them.
Alice, Mike, Amanda, and I had spent fourteen years in Seattle. The humans were becoming increasingly suspicious so it was time for us to pack up and move. It was actually the perfect time for us to relocate since everyone was doing the same thing.
Mike and I still ran Newton's Olympic Outfitters. We still had all four locations of the store. We had trusted humans running each store for us and keeping in touch with us through video conference. It was a pain in the ass, but Mike and I had to don stage makeup to progressively age us so we wouldn't look too fishy to our employees.
Alice now worked at Target. She wasn't aging so things started to look very weird. She was okay with it, though. She saw in a vision that she would be able to return to Walmart in twenty years. She really enjoyed working retail and, personally, I was happy because I preferred the long hours that she kept. The Pixie's long hours at work kept Amanda, who quickly became irritated with Alice, happy too.
Riley, Vicky, Irina, and Laurent purchased a house in the Dallas area. Riley, Carlisle, and Sushmita opened up a private practice together. Irina, who was now a registered nurse, worked in their office. Laurent was a physical therapist for an area hospital and he taught karate twice a week at the YMCA.
Garrett, Katie, Felix, and Gianna also lived in Dallas. Katie and Amanda opened up a boutique in an upscale Dallas shopping area and it was taking off like wildfire. Meanwhile, Gianna and Claude owned and operated a beauty salon and spa on the same street. It was frequented by the rich and famous and, of course, our family. Garrett and Vicky were still teaching. Garrett really enjoyed teaching at the middle school level and Vicky switched to teaching the fifth grade. God, those poor children. Felix was now a college professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. His specialty was, surprisingly, Italian Language and Culture.
Sushmita and Sahil purchased their very first home in the same development as us. They were seeing what it would be like to live independently for the first time in their lives. Sushmita was now a family practitioner while Sahil was a spray tanning artist in Claude and Gianna's salon. He was considered the best in the area and his schedule was always fully booked with clients flying in from as far away as New York. Our family could only get into see him after hours. It was quite funny actually, he was the only one in the family that has seen all of us fully in the buff.
Manuel and Rodrigo also lived in the same development as we did. Rodrigo worked as an investment banker and he was making a ton of money. He had many clients with huge portfolios that trusted him implicitly. Manuel, on the other hand, was a homemaker and that's how we all wanted it. He loved experimenting in the kitchen and he spent his time working on new recipes for us.
Another couple that lived in our development was Marcus and Renata. They were both currently attending college at the University of Texas, they were still undecided as to what they were going to major in.
Now, it was a good thing that four of the couples decided to move to our development because it was a small one and there were only five houses. Amar called from India and asked us to purchase the fifth house in his name so that anyone who lived in India could use it whenever they visited. He wired the funds to us right away. I had to laugh, there were absolutely no humans living in our housing development. If only the developers knew.
Charlotte and Peter lived in their Dallas home which was located next to Jasper's property. Pete was taking a break from running a business and was now attending classes on auto body and collision repair. Rose, too was attending the same type of course, but in the Houston area where she and Emmett lived. I'm sure that Pete and Rose had huge plans in store for their future. Meanwhile, Emmett was working as a software engineer for a huge tech company in Houston while Charlotte opened up her own upscale adult toy shop in Dallas, together with Chelsea. Their business was known as being very discreet, female friendly, and professional. Charlotte said that Chelsea hasn't mated anyone this week. That was a good thing.
Carlisle also purchased a house next door to Jasper's, but on the other side. Of course, Jasper's land was so huge that next door meant that there were several acres separating them. Tony and Claude lived with them.
Another couple that chose to live in the Houston area was Rex and Tanya. Rex found a job as a history teacher at a Catholic girls' school there. Apparently, he was their most popular teacher. Tanya was taking a break from working and just being a happy homemaker.
So, now, all we were doing was waiting for Bella and Jasper. Those two took off on a short honeymoon ten and years ago and we had no idea where they were. Alice had a vision placing them in Dallas soon. That's why we were all here, we missed the hell out of them and we wanted to be near them again. I was just wondering when exactly they were planning on moving back. I really missed them.
Six months later...
Jasper's POV
"Mmm...Jasper," my wife moaned as I pushed my length inside of her.
"Slow and steady, or hard and fast?"
"Start with slow and steady, then end with hard and fast."
"Your wish is my command, my mate."
I eased my length in and out of her while I stared straight into her beautiful golden eyes. She closed them for a moment as she immersed herself in the feeling of pleasure and opened them back up again.
"Kiss me, Jasper."
I did as she asked, never once taking my eyes off of her. Her breathing became erratic suddenly as she started moving her hips and responding to each of my thrusts with one of her own.
I quickened my pace and watched her eyes as they became darker and darker by the millisecond.
"More, Jasper. Harder. Keep up the pace. Harder. Go faster now. Jasper. Jasper. Jasperrrr!" she screamed as her walls clenched down on my cock sending me into a frenzy. I didn't last much longer after that. I came straight into her core while staring into her beautiful eyes.
I pulled her up into my arms and we sat holding each other for a while. We had been back in the United States for roughly two weeks now, Port Aransas, Texas to be exact. Bella and I decided to go on a honeymoon six months following Sush, Sahil, and Chelsea's graduation. We hadn't decided what to do yet, at that point. On a whim, we flew to San Diego, California. While we were out playing tourist, the sun started shining high and bright so we broke into someone's private yacht to hide. That's when we decided to go sailing.
The next day, Bella and I signed up for sailing lessons and a couple of weeks later, I purchased a yacht and the two of us started cruising the seas. Initially, we were planning on sailing for three months then returning to Telluride. Three months turned into four, then five, then a year. After that, we kind of lost track of time. We've sailed to every continent in the world and have anchored at ports in a myriad of countries. We were now going on ten and a half years and we made a decision to move to Texas.
Currently, our yacht was docked at Port Aransas, Texas and we haven't left except to go feed. A part of us didn't feel like leaving our private haven and dealing with family members again, but another part of us missed them tremendously and we knew that visits were long overdue. Hell, we were gone so long that we had no idea where they were.
Part of the reason why Bella and I left was that everyone had grown increasingly dependent on us for one thing or another. It was after Marcus Volturi joined our family and he kept asking me for advice that I decided enough was enough. Bella, on her end, had sacrificed enough by attending high school for Sushmita and Chelsea's sake. Of course, there was a plus side to her repeating high school, she found out that she had a learning disability that was keeping her from performing well in math. In subjects like history and English, though, she knew as much, if not more than me and Rex. In fact, she frequently put together our lesson plans because she was so completely bored in high school.
"I suppose we should go buy a truck, babe," I said, warily.
"Yeah, I guess so." The two of us reluctantly left the yacht and made our way to a car dealership.
Two hours later, I drove off the lot in a new Ford F-350. This is Texas, a truck was an absolute necessity. It wasn't the place for a fufu SUV. We started packing the truck with our belongings. We didn't have much, we were on a yacht for ten years and the less weight we had, the more momentum we had so we had about a suitcase each of belongings. I locked up the yacht and hopped into the truck where Bella was waiting. As soon as I started the engine, she climbed onto my lap and that's exactly how we drove all the way to Dallas to my Mama's home.
We cruised up the long drive and pulled into the garage. This was the first time Bella and I had been here since the rebuild. It was gorgeous and built in a way that my Mama would have wanted. Bella started giggling as we toured the house.
"What is it, baby?"
"We have no furniture, no sheets, no towels, no washer and dryer, nothing really. At least the kitchen has appliances, but what good is that going to do us? Things were so much easier when we were living on the yacht, at least everything was right there in front of us."
True, we didn't live on an extravagant mega-yacht, the two of us sailed around the world in a standard Azimut S-Range motor yacht which only had one bedroom, a full bathroom, and a living room. Our one luxury was the jacuzzi on the upper deck. This was our private yacht and we agreed that it was ours only and we wouldn't be sharing it with family. If they want to go sailing, they can go out and rent or buy their own yacht.
"I think we're gonna have to take care of some shopping tomorrow," I said.
"I think so, at the very minimum we need a bed."
"A big bed," I agreed.
I was about to kiss my wife when the doorbell rang. What the hell? We haven't told anyone that we were here yet. I placed Bella behind me as I answered the door.
"The next time you two decide to go on a honeymoon, you could warn us, you know!" An irate Charlotte pulled us both into hugs. Peter was next, then Vicky, and finally Riley who cradled Bella in his arms and, apparently, had no intention of ever returning her to me. I was about to close the door when I was greeted with a slap across my face from Irina who walked inside, hugged me, then took Bella away from Riley. Laurent was next. He greeted me with a growl, then a friendly handshake, and went on to hug my wife. Within ten minutes, our entire family minus Rose, Emmett, Tanya, Rex, Esme, Alistair, Carmen, Eleazar, Amrita, and Amar were in our living room. Can we say overwhelming?
"You're as white as a ghost, you need a spray tan," Sahil commented.
"Um, nice to see you too, brother," I said.
Bella was being chastised too. "Sug, your hair looks like shit! We're gonna have to do something 'bout that." Claude, the Texan, was back in full swing—drawl and all.
We sat on the living room floor in a big circle. Bella was sitting on the other side flanked by Riley and Irina who both kept a hand on her. On the other hand, I had Vicky and Sush holding me solidly in place.
"So, where the fuck were you two?" Pete asked in his not so tactful way.
"Everywhere," I answered.
"What do you mean by everywhere?"
"Well, we toured all seven continents and a few islands, too."
"How?" Chelsea asked, so I went and delved into the details of our extended trip. It took a good two hours.
"So, you two were living it up and sailing around the world while the rest of us were working our asses off?" Alice asked. "I can't believe how frivolous you two are with money."
"Yes," Bella hissed. "And it shouldn't really matter to you how we spend our money and live our lives since it's our money and our lives."
Alice stared at Bella in complete shock as she was put into her place.
Riley broke the tension, "What are you two planning on doing now?"
"We haven't decided yet. We don't even know where we're moving to, yet," I said.
It was the truth. Neither Bella nor I had any set plans or a set time frame. And if Alice was living here in Dallas, I had a feeling that Bella's patience would be extremely limited. In the past ten years, Bella's attitude about life had shifted significantly. She wasn't adamant about working or going to school as she had been in the past. She understood that we had money and that we had the means to live life as we pleased. She wasn't extravagant in her expenditures by any means and she certainly didn't go flaunting her money the way Alice had when I was married to her. She, also, finally understood how much work it was to maintain all of our properties and financial assets. While she never ventured into the financial side of things, she put a lot of work into making sure all of our homes were intact, and she kept track of all of the charities we donated to.
"Well, then, I suppose we'll just have to enjoy your company while you're here," Riley sighed. He had a look of disappointment on his face. Actually, everyone did. Charlotte and Chelsea were both scowling at Alice for her verbal diarrhea. I had a feeling that neither of them had repaired their relationship with her over the past ten years.
"So, what have the rest of you been up to?" I asked to break the uncomfortable tension in the room.
"I received my medical degree three and a half years ago and I just finished my residency requirements," Sush said, proudly. "I'm now in private practice with Carlisle and Riley. Irina works as a registered nurse in our office."
"Wow, that's great Sush!"
One by one, everyone updated us on their lives. With the exception of Rose, Emmett, Tanya, and Rex who lived in Houston, they were all living and working in the Dallas area and a few of them lived in the same housing development which was located about ten miles from our property. I knew that Pete and Char lived next door to us. A big surprise, though, was that Carlisle, Chelsea, Tony, and Claude also lived next door to us, but on the other side. All I knew was that I was glad that I bought up the five houses that used to be located next to mine because having them in such close proximity was just way too close for comfort.
Riley, Vicky, Laurent, and Irina lived two streets away from us. Garrett, Katie, Felix, and Gianna lived across the street from them.
Wow, they all lived really close to us. Maybe a little too close. Bella looked like she was going to rip her own head off of herself at any moment.
We talked and caught up with everyone for a few more hours. There was a mass exodus out of our house at around six am so everyone could rush to work, and Bella and I found ourselves alone at last. The two of us took one last look around, locked up the house, hopped into our truck—which we still hadn't unloaded, and drove to our penthouse in Houston. Ten acres may be surrounding our home, but twenty-four family members in close proximity to us? Nah-uh.
"I hate Alice," Bella said.
"Yeah, I don't like her that much either, that's why I'm married to you. Unfortunately, she's family."
"I know, I wish I would have ripped her head off years ago. She's still fucking annoying. Mike would have still been changed. We still would have had him in our lives."
"'You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.'"
"Ah, the brilliant Harper Lee from 'To Kill A Mockingbird,'" Bella acknowledged. "I do love when you quote literature, Major Whitlock."
I winked at my mate.
Bella sighed and spoke again, "Jasper, why isn't this penthouse furnished?"
"Oh, I had it renovated about twenty years before I met you. I haven't lived here yet because I was avoiding Texas due to Maria."
"Well are you very partial to these peach colored walls? And what's with the teal wall to wall carpeting? And is the kitchen really mauve and aqua blue?"
"Alright, I admit, we're in a 1980's hell, but in my defense, this was really in the now back then," I said, brightly. Gee whiz, this was horrible looking. "Why don't we call an interior design firm and renovate? It's only eleven am, we can probably meet with someone today."
"Man, were things really like this around the time I was born?"
"Yep, it was a vast improvement over the seventies, though. You should have seen Rose and Esme, they both had their hair permed up to high heaven, but it was Emmett who took the cake. He wanted to look like one of those guys in a hair band so he grew his hair out and permed it. His hair was even bigger than Rose and Esme's."
"You're fucking with me?"
"Nope, I've got the pictures to prove it too."
"I don't think we need a design firm, Jasper. I think we just need a contractor to repaint the whole penthouse and put in some wood flooring. As for the kitchen, I'm sure we can just...okay call a design firm," she acceded staring at the neon green kitchen walls.
She walked into the bathroom and came running out. "Jasper, you have a lavender bathtub."
"I know, it was really hip back then."
"Sure it was," she chuckled.
One month later...
The renovations were complete and Bella and I were relaxing in the living room of our, now, modern penthouse. We both had our noses buried in books and had our feet propped up on the coffee table, our toes touching.
The security guard on the ground floor called our apartment, "Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, there's a Charlotte Whitlock and a Chelsea Cullen here to see you. Shall I send them up?"
"Yes," I replied, then hung up the phone. "Damn, they found us."
They were upstairs, knocking on the door in no time. I went to answer the door and let them in.
"Why? Why are you two living here? The whole family is in Dallas?" Charlotte asked. She had tears in her eyes.
"We just needed a little more privacy," I answered, honestly.
"Is it me? Am I too annoying?"
"No," we both answered at the same time because, honestly, it wasn't Charlotte. It was just that Bella and I preferred having a bit of distance between us and the family.
"It's Alice, isn't it?" Chelsea questioned.
"No, it's not Alice either," I said. Bella, however, looked up at the ceiling without saying a word.
"I knew it! I knew it! That fucking annoying midget! I'm gonna kick the shit out of her when I see her again!"
Bella sighed, "Chelsea, it's not Alice, though I'm not particularly a fan of hers. Like Jasper said, we just prefer having a bit more privacy. It's always been that way for us. You didn't know us back then, but when we lived in New England, we lived in a different state from everyone else."
"Why don't you like being around us?"
"I like being around you. I really do. I just need some time on my own as well. You have to understand that I was an only child growing up. I've always been a bit of a loner. I become overwhelmed when too many people are around me. I need my space and personal time. So really, it's mostly me."
"Now, don't take all the blame yourself, babe. If I'm surrounded by too many people, my emotions get the best of me. I need some space, too." I couldn't let her shoulder the blame for this herself because it wasn't all her. Yes, Bella needed her own space, but so did I. Another thing that bothered me was why we had to explain the fact that we chose not to live in Dallas. We didn't make everyone move here, they chose to do so themselves. Where we chose to live was wholly our decision and we really shouldn't have to make any excuses for it.
"Let me ask you this," Bella inquired. "Why did you guys choose to live in Dallas?"
"Because Alice placed you both in Dallas," Charlotte said.
"Uh-huh and Alice's visions are decision based. You knew this already. Why would you choose to believe her? I've had my shield up the majority of our time away so she's only gotten glimpses. Jasper and I hadn't made a concrete decision about moving to Dallas. It was a toss-up between Dallas and Houston. We didn't even know that you were all in Texas."
Charlotte jumped up onto Bella's lap. "You see, I need you because you're so smart. Besides, I missed ya like crazy and I wanna show ya 'round Texas." She started plastering Bella's face with kisses.
Yep, Char's definitely home. Her sweet Texas lilt has popped out from out of nowhere.
"I can't wait, Char. What part of Texas are you from, anyway?"
"You're walking distance from the street I grew up on, sug."
"No kidding, Char? I never knew that. I knew you were from Houston, just not the area," I noted.
Chelsea started gabbing next. "Did you know that Renata has finally learned to expand her shield like yours? She can cover everyone physically if we're all together in the same room now, she used to only be able to cover four people including herself at most. She can't do it subconsciously like you can, though, Bells. By the way, she fucking hates Alice with a passion. With her physical shield she has the ability to confuse anyone attacking her so that he or she forgets his or her purpose. Well, as soon as Alice starts talking, she throws her shield up so that the twit becomes completely confused. God, I feel sorry for Mike. He and Riley are the only ones that seem to be able to handle her. Amanda went so far as to purchase one of those outdoor fire pits hoping that she could throw Alice inside."
"Wow, what happened to Alice while we were gone?" I asked.
"Oh, Bella's shield covered you two, but didn't cover us while you were out of the country so Alice's visions came back in full swing and her NPD came back with it. Riley says that there's no real cure for Narcissistic Personality Disorder. She can only manage it to the best of her ability. According to him, she's in a really bad cycle with her NPD right now," Chelsea explained. "That still doesn't excuse her from being a bitch, though."
"So, when are you two going to visit us in Dallas?"
"I don't know, maybe this weekend. We have to set up the house there anyway."
"Well, are you going to make time to see us?"
"Yeah, of course."
"I really hate Alice."
Two days later...
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Who is it?" Bella called.
"Open the fuck up!"
My mate opened the door open immediately.
"Rosie!" She jumped up into her favorite sister's arms.
"Never! Never again! Don't you dare leave me for ten years!" Rose had venom tears in her eyes as she cradled Bella in her arms and planted herself on the sofa.
Emmett followed Rose in, shut the door, then punched me in the stomach. "You fucking leave me for ten years again, and I'll rip you apart so you can't go anywhere anymore, bro."
"Did you miss me, bro?"
"Yeah, I did," Emmett said, sheepishly.
"So, why the heck are you two living here in Houston instead of with everyone else in Dallas?" I asked.
"Oh, as soon as we found out that everyone was moving to Dallas, we decided to head for Houston. Rose and I couldn't fathom living with everyone in such close proximity. Besides, Rose vowed never to live in the same area as Alice ever again. Why are you two here? Alice placed you in Dallas."
"Same reason as you," I said.
"Ha! I told you they'd move to Houston, Em. Was I right or was I right? I had a feeling that you'd high-tail it out of Dallas as soon as you found out that everyone else was living there," Rosie explained. "You don't mind us living near you, do you?"
"Not at all," I said truthfully.
"Actually, I'm ecstatic about it," Bella admitted.
We chatted for hours until the security guard downstairs rang our apartment. Speaking of which, how the heck did Rose and Em bypass the security guard? "There's a Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock here to see you, sir. Shall I send them up?"
"Yes," I said, thinking it was Pete and Char. I went to open the door and Rex and Tanya were standing there.
"You took wifey away from me for over ten years. Do you know how awful that was for me?" Rex asked as he walked inside, gave me a hug, then proceeded to scoop Bella up out of Rose's arms and into his."
"Uh, nice to see you, too, Rex," I said.
"I missed you, J." Tanya planted herself right on my lap.
"So, I've got to ask. Why are you two in Houston instead of Dallas?"
"Alice," they both replied simultaneously.
"What happened?"
"Oh, well, we were going to move to Dallas. Rex had a job lined up and everything. We had all gotten together for a gathering when I mentioned that I wanted to take it easy and be a housewife for a few years. Then, Alice went on a screeching rant at me about how irresponsible I was being, how she puts in twelve hour days at work, how pathetic I was, how she felt bad for Rex for having to support us alone, the list went on and on. At that point, I lost it and before I could even make a decision, I got up and ripped her head off in front of everyone."
"Can I just interject here and say that it was a beautiful sight," Rose piped in.
"Anyway, Amanda joined in and started a fire in the fireplace. I was feral, at that point, I had Alice's head dangling by the hair, inches from the flames. It took everyone to stop me from tossing the head in. When I was finally stopped, Rex announced that we wouldn't be living in the same town as everyone because there was a good chance that I might commit a homicide. And that's how we ended up in Houston."
"My God, her NPD is out of control," Bella gasped. She told them about Alice's not so subtle jab at her for not working which ultimately sent us to Houston, as well. They weren't surprised at all.
"This is nice, though," Emmett commented. "There's less family to pry into your affairs and we all live apart so the privacy is nice."
After a few hours, we all exchanged addresses and phone numbers and the two couples left us. Oddly, neither Bella nor I had a problem with either couple living near us. Tanya pointed out in private that both Bella and Rex would be less fidgety with the two of them living in the same town. I had to agree with that statement. Over the last ten years, I had to take Rex's place as Bella's dance partner and I had to learn native dances from almost every country we stopped in. Now, I didn't mind learning how to dance, but I had to draw the line when Bella signed me up for Samoan Fire Dancing lessons when we were in Apia, Samoa. I mean, come on, we're vampires for God's sake.
Three months later...
We settled into a routine in which we'd visit everyone in Dallas over the weekends a couple of times a month. Individually, our family members would stop by to visit us, too. Everyone seemed fine with it. We had just returned from one of our Dallas weekends when we received a surprise visitor. It was Amanda laden with two humongous suitcases.
"Hi Belly Mama," she said as she walked inside of the house. "Can I stay here for a few days?"
"Of course you can, what happened?"
"I left Edward."
"You left Edward? Why?"
"Because of Alice."
"Now, what happened?"
"Oh, well, she drives me insane, you see. I don't want to be in the same house as her anymore, but Edward insists that this existence is lonely without people around. I told him that he won't know until he gives it a try and he tried to tell me that he's been a vampire a lot longer than I have, yada, yada."
"Ah, well does Edward know you're gone?"
"Not yet. He's out with Mike. I got into a huge fight with Alice and decided to leave."
"What did you fight about?"
"Oh, she was unhappy with the fact that I don't like her so she decided to hound me and tell me that she knew best about my needs. Then, she bitched about my clothes, and how expensive they were, and that I should be buying stuff at Target using her employee discount and stuff. Mind you, I do own my own clothing boutique. By the way, the hot pink suitcase has new clothes in it for you and Jasper. They're all from Kate and my boutique."
"Cool, thanks, baby," Bella said.
"Are you kidding me about Alice?" I asked.
"No, she's tapped, I'm telling you. Riley counsels her everyday, but it's taking her longer to snap out of her cycle this time around. It might have something to do with Renata fucking with her. Anyway, I flipped out, ripped her apart and left her lying in the living room—well, at least her head. I buried her other parts in everyone's backyards so they'll have to sniff out her body parts first. I doused the parts with Scent Away so they're going to have to wait until it wears off. I think Edward's going to be pissed off at me."
I know it was mean, but I had to laugh. Amanda's creativity knew no bounds. I was also trying to picture my ex-wife's head sitting on the living room floor. I sure wouldn't want to be greeted by that.
Right on cue, Edward called Amanda's cell, but rather than being pissed off, he was worried.
"I'm not coming home, Edward. I refuse to live in the same house as that beast. It's either me or her, you pick."
"Amanda, you can't..."
"Goodbye, Edward."
Two days was Edward's limit. He came rushing to our apartment begging his wife, on his knees, for a second chance. He told her that they could go look for a new place to live in Dallas right away. And, by the way, where did Amanda bury Alice's right hand?
Amanda, who truly loved Edward, went with him and the two of them purchased a penthouse in Dallas. Mike was allowed to visit, but Alice was not allowed there or at the boutique that she owned with Katie. Alice was too afraid to visit Amanda anyway. I felt really bad for my ex-wife. It seemed her disorder had taken hold of her again and she was making enemies in the wake of her path.
A week later, Bella and I had another surprise visitor. This time, it was Alice. As soon as Bella saw her, she said that she would leave us alone to talk, and left the apartment. I suspected that she was heading to Rosie's place.
"What's up Alice?" I asked.
"I need help, Jasper," she sobbed. She was emitting feelings of distress, sorrow, loneliness, and confusion.
"How can I help you?"
"First of all, you can tell your wife to lay off of me."
"Bella hasn't done one god-damned thing to you, Alice. She doesn't talk about you and she's taken it upon herself to stay away from you."
"That's the thing. As long as Bella stays away from me so does everyone else. I have no friends, Jasper."
"Alice, who Bella chooses to associate with is her business. You and she haven't been friends for a long time. I can't get involved in your relationship with her."
"You're so selfish, Jasper. All you care about is Bella's feelings and she's completely unfeeling. What about mine?"
"Alice, if I didn't care about you, I wouldn't be sitting here having a conversation with you. Also, if Bella were so completely unfeeling, she wouldn't have left the house to give us a chance to talk."
"Yeah, well, why did she leave, then? Am I that disgusting to her?"
"No, you're not, but your attitude is something that she can't put up with. You cut people down with scathing remarks and try to control their lives with your visions. You can't do that, Alice."
"I don't Jasper! I..."
"Alice, if you're not here to listen to me, then why are you here?"
"I...I..."
I sent her some peace and confidence. I was feeling an immense amount of pain, sorrow, and distress coming from her.
"It's just that you told Maria that you loved her, but did you ever love me Jasper? Or did you always love Maria more than me?"
Okay, I wasn't expecting that. Yikes.
I took a deep breath and thought hard on my answer. Did I love Alice? Yeah, I did at one point. More than Maria? That was a tough one. Maria gave me my vampire existence and the tools to survive in it. Alice led me to my mate, but she also tried to take her away from me. Both women had been malicious to me for certain.
"Alice, I did love you at one point. I really did. I can't really say whether I loved you more than Maria because both of you hurt me in ways that are indescribable. If it gives you peace, what I can say is that I'll always appreciate the time we had together when we were in love. But, I won't compare the love I shared with Maria, with the love I shared with you, because, in all honesty, I'd be doing you both an injustice if I compared the two of you."
Alice whimpered while sitting in the fetal position.
"Jasper, I'll always love you."
"And there's a part of me that'll always love you, too, but you have Mike now. He's your mate, Alice. And he loves you more than I was ever capable of loving you. Look at the infinite amount of patience he has, and he's always honest and straightforward with you. He's not a lying, conniving, scoundrel like I was with you."
There was a sudden knock on the front door. I figured it was Bella so I went to answer it. It was Mike. He looked completely worried about Alice. He walked inside, sat next to his mate, and pulled her into his arms.
"I may not always say it, Alice, but you're exactly who I need. You're always who I want and desire. I love every part of you—even your imperfections. We'll work through this cycle together, okay? You'll get better, I'll make sure of it. I promise," he soothed.
Alice sobbed into Mike's arms. He looked up at me and nodded his head in thanks. He cradled Alice to him and walked out of my penthouse.
Man, I never had that type of patience with her. I give kudos to Mike. Bella walked back inside of our penthouse a couple of minutes after they had left.
"That was very nice of you, Jasper. She didn't deserve it," Bella commented.
"I know, but she's mentally ill."
"Yeah, she is."
"I just never had the patience that Mike has."
"Mike's always been patient. It's one of the wonderful qualities about him. What's bothering you, Jasper? You're really down in the dumps."
"You're going to think I'm heartless."
"Try me."
"I can't handle living in the same state as my ex-wife. I know she's ill and I know she needs help, but she isn't our responsibility by any stretch and just having her in the same state has already affected our lives in a huge way because neither one of us are truly happy here in Houston, and the only reason why we live here is because she's in Dallas. On top of that, I'm sick and tired of hearing her malign you as if you're responsible for her current demise. I don't even want to look at her anymore!" I didn't realize that I had fallen into a rage until Bella's calming hands cradled both sides of my face.
She looked into my eyes to center me before she spoke, "I don't think you're being unreasonable at all and I also don't think you're being heartless either."
"What should we do about this situation?"
"I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. I want to live in Dallas, but not with everyone else living there. Houston's okay, but in all honesty, it's not home to me. I think we should sell this penthouse because I don't think we'll be using it again."
Just then, Bella's cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Is this Isabella Swan Whitlock?"
"Yes it is. Excuse me, who is this?"
"My name is Bill Kaleikini. I'm the lawyer representing Mr. Jason Scott Jenks, I'm wondering if you and Mr. Whitlock can fly to Hawaii sometime within the next thirty days."
"Uh, sure, we can leave immediately. May I ask what this is in regards to?"
"I have specific instructions here from Mr. Jenks that I'm not to divulge any information until we meet face to face. Let me give you my telephone number and address to my office, and you can call me when you get here."
"Okay, I'll book our flights now."
"Thank you," he said before hanging up the phone.
"Um, Jasper..."
"I'm checking on flights now." I was clicking away at the keyboard. "Let's go, there's a flight that leaves Houston at 7:20 pm. It'll arrive in Honolulu at 8:00 am."
"Alrighty, let's get out of here, then."
I threw my laptop into a bag, grabbed the cell phone chargers, locked up the penthouse, and the two of us hopped a taxi cab to the airport.
We arrived in Honolulu on schedule and called Jenks's lawyer right away. He asked us to come to his office as soon as possible. Fortunately, it was a rare, overcast day in Honolulu so we were able to abide by his request. We were sitting in the lawyer's office, waiting for him to speak.
"Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, thank you for coming. I have some unfortunate news for you. Mr. Jenks passed away in his sleep at the age of ninety-six two weeks ago."
Bella gasped and had venom tears in her eyes upon hearing that. I was a bit shocked myself. I had no idea that he was that old.
"Oh, how awful. He was such a nice man!" Bella sobbed.
The lawyer continued speaking, "Mr. Jenks wanted me to assure you that he died a content man and lived an equally fulfilling, long life. He is happy to finally be joining his wife and daughter in the great beyond, though it's possible he'll be going to hell. Those were his words, not mine. He is now interred at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery, in his family plot, along with the entire Jenks family. As his family was taken from him in an accident long ago, he had no living blood relatives so, Isabella Swan Whitlock, Mr. Jenks has left the entirety of his estate, which is in the form of cash and property, to you."
"Me? Did he give a reason?"
"Yes, he said that you were always kind to him and treated him with respect from the moment you met him."
"That's the only reason he gave you?"
"Yes, in any case, his assets include a six thousand square foot waterfront home in Kirkland, Washington worth three and a half million dollars, a fourteen thousand square foot, double gated mansion in Beverly Hills, California worth fifteen million dollars, and his final residence—a ten thousand square foot beachfront estate on Kahala Avenue in Honolulu worth seventeen million dollars. He has also transferred ownership of his brand new Ferrari to you, unfortunately it has an automatic transmission. It's housed in the garage of his Kahala Avenue home."
Bella's face broke out into a huge grin upon hearing that last part.
"Now, Mr. Jenks also had considerable cash assets. I do not know the amount, but the entirety of his offshore bank account in Switzerland was transferred into your name just days before his death. He said that Mr. Whitlock will be able to assist you in accessing it. That's about it for you, Mrs. Whitlock. Congratulations." The man shook Bella's hand, then turned to me. "Mr. Whitlock, I have a private letter and a box of journals that belonged to Mr. Jenks. I'm supposed to wink at you and tell you that he's left nothing but his memories to you. Do I really have to wink at you, sir?"
"It's in his will," I stated.
"Um, yes, sir. Ahem," the guy grimaced and attempted to wink at me. He was having trouble doing it and it took everything in me to not crack up. He, then, handed Bella a mess of keys. "Well, that's about it. Mr. Jenks has already transferred everything to Mrs. Whitlock's name so you are all set. I've never had a client be so thorough. My fee has been taken care of so you are free to leave and enjoy everything our beautiful island has to offer. If I were you, I'd start by visiting your new home in Kahala, it's magnificent."
"Thank you, Mr. Kaleikini," Bella acknowledged.
I nodded my head, shook his hand, and left the office along with my wife and box of memories. Bella and I took a taxi to Jenks's house in Kahala. We entered the sprawling estate and were both stunned by it's splendor. The interior was professionally designed and it seemed as though we were surrounded by the beautiful ocean. The estate was gated and the private beach was secluded and partitioned off on both sides with an enormous concrete wall so that we had total privacy. It seemed that Jenks, rather than sleeping in the master bedroom upstairs, chose to sleep downstairs in his large den, most likely for mobility's sake.
The master bedroom was large and airy. The room, like much of the others, had never been used. We sat down on the large king sized bed and could see the waves gently cascading onto the sand, as we took in the beautiful view of the Hawaiian ocean from the large bay window.
"I'm curious, Jasper. What does Mr. Jenks's letter say?"
"Dunno. I'm rather curious myself. I'm still blown away that he left you with so much. The property alone is worth thirty-five and a half million dollars." I put my arm around Bella and reeled her into my side before opening the envelope. I started reading the contents of the letter aloud.
Dear Jasper,
I think I've earned the right to call you that, don't you think? If you're reading this, I'm either basking in the light of heaven or frying in the burning embers of hell. Either way, I'm dead—just like you. What? Did you really think that I had no idea that you and your family are vampires? Oh, but I did, Jasper. I did. I'll get to the reason I knew this in a second.
First, let me answer the question niggling in your mind. You want to know why I decided to leave the whole of my estate to your wife. The answer is quite simple. Isabella is, and always has been, a sweet girl. I first found out about her when she was only a newborn infant. Your then wife, Alice, contacted me and asked me for every snippet of information that I could find pertaining to a newborn baby girl born at Forks General Hospital on the Thirteenth of September with the last name of Swan. I, of course, did the research, but I didn't divulge any information about Isabella to your ex-wife. I'd never trusted Alice and I certainly wasn't going to give her any information about an innocent human child. From that point on, I made it my mission to keep tabs on her.
When Isabella was about three years old, I was contacted by Alice again. She made an extremely odd request at that time. She said that she knew that Charlie and Renee were getting divorced, and she asked that I manipulate the court system and make Isabella a ward of the State of Washington. Well, over my dead body was I going to do that. Although they were having marital troubles, Charlie and Renee loved Isabella tremendously. I knew that I had to get Isabella out of Washington. This is when I decided to approach Renee and befriend her. I got to know her, gave her some money, and suggested she move to Phoenix, Arizona. I even purchased a small house in a good neighborhood with an excellent school system and rented it out to her for a mere three hundred dollars a month, never once raising the rent. I knew it was an amount that she could keep up with. It would have been fishy if I just gave her a house, plus she could have sold it for cash had I done so.
In Arizona, I had a vampire friend of yours, Veronica Miles, keep an eye on Isabella. She and I watched her grow into a responsible young lady. With her mother so scatter-brained, she had no choice but to become that way. Then, we were thrown a curve-ball when she returned to Forks to live with her father at the age of seventeen. A few months after her move, she started dating Edward Cullen. I had an odd request from him that summer after she was hurt by a vampire in Phoenix. Yes, I know about that. He asked that I forge documents and new identification for her, including a marriage certificate, using the name Isabella Marie Cullen. I denied him his request, stating that she was only seventeen years old and a minor. I told him that even I had my limits. Edward told me that he understood and apologized. He said he would contact me again once Isabella turned eighteen. I started scrambling, then. I had no idea how to protect Isabella from your family, but I knew that, somehow, I had to.
On September 10th, three days before Isabella's eighteenth birthday, I received a call from Alice Cullen asking that I write up divorce papers for you and her. She asked me to confirm whether or not you had any assets. I, of course, knew of your astounding wealth, but I told her that you had nothing. In fact, I told her that you were in debt. She asked for a straight divorce with no division of assets at that point. I gladly wrote up the papers, at record speed—I might add, and expressed it off to her that day. I did worry immensely about Isabella's safety, but nothing seemed amiss at that point.
I lucked out on the morning after Isabella's eighteenth birthday when I received hurried calls from Carlisle Cullen asking that new documents be forged and sent to Eleazar Denali's address. There were no requests made for Isabella, and I hadn't heard of any unusual disappearances in the Forks area, so I assumed she was alive. I personally checked on her, of course, and she was fine.
In November of that year, tragedy struck, Isabella's mother and step-father were killed in a traffic accident. That brought back memories of my wife and daughter who were also killed in a car accident years ago. Three weeks after that, there was an even worse tragedy, Charlie Swan was murdered in his driveway. I vowed to make sure that somehow I finagled it so Isabella got an education, but it turned out that I didn't have to worry about that. I received a phone call from Irina Denali asking for new identities and papers for Isabella, her brother Riley, his girlfriend Victoria, Laurent, and herself. I, of course, knew that Riley Biers was Isabella's brother and I had no doubt that he would care for her and make sure that no harm would come to her. I knew that Isabella was finally in excellent hands. I still kept tabs on her, though.
Carlisle Cullen, Emmett Cullen, and Eleazar Denali all requested information on Isabella's whereabouts a few months after you left Forks, but I refused to give them any information out of fear for her safety.
About five and a half years after that, you requested documents on Isabella. By then you had changed considerably, Jasper. You had become less intimidating, kinder, and I believed Isabella to be responsible for your change in attitude. I granted your request and I did so because, for the first time in her life, Isabella was genuinely happy and so were you.
I know that I still haven't answered your question as to why I left everything to Isabella. Well, quite simply, she came to be like a daughter to me that I watched grow up from afar. In all of my seedy and nefarious dealings, Isabella was the only mission that I had undertaken out of sheer protectiveness. I didn't want any harm to come to her and her safety was my top priority until you came into her life. This is why I bequeathed my entire estate to her. She was the one good thing that kept me grounded throughout these years, and she gave meaning to my sorry life.
By the way, you might want to give Veronica Miles a call. She and her mate have grown to love and care for Isabella as much as me. They watched over her until she moved to Forks and made sure that she was cared for and well fed. Occasionally, one of them would sneak into her house and replace a few items of clothing, or a pair of shoes for Isabella, or re-stock the kitchen pantry with food. They did this out of the goodness of their hearts, not because they were being compensated by me for their services. They still live in Arizona close to the home Bella grew up in—which by the way, I've put in your name, Jasper. The deed is enclosed with this letter.
Now, let's move on to how I came to know that vampires are in existence. I want you to think hard, Jasper. Did you really think that you and your family were the only vampires in need of documents? The person who told me about vampires was my father. He and my grandfather had been forging documents for quite a while for a man named Caius Volturi and his entire family. They lived in a place called Volterra, Italy. This man paid my father well to keep quiet about the existence of vampires and threatened his life with death if he didn't comply. My father, of course, did as he asked. Later, the same threat was made to me, as long as I updated the travel documents of the entire Volturi family every ten years or so, I was paid a king's ransom and my life was safe.
Now, through the course of my dealings with vampires, I came across many who required documents or legal assistance. There was a woman in Texas named Maria Asesina de la Noche, a man named Vito Guerra in New Mexico, both of whom I believe you dispatched, and there were also many nomadic vampires around the United States and the world. My journals contain records on all of them. I thought that they would be safest in your care. By the way, Beverly Hills, California has the largest population of vampires in the United States. Odd, I know, because you sparkle in the sunlight, but they live in peace and in secured homes so they can venture out into the sunlight in the privacy of their own homes. Why the Cullens and Denalis kept moving to dark, dank places I'll never understand.
By the way, the money I left Isabella is the money I inherited from my father, as well as money I earned throughout my career as a lawyer. There are ledgers inside the box with the journals along with the keys to the home in Arizona, a cell phone, and a photo album that I think you might enjoy. The black ones contain all of the transactions made with legal clients while the red ones contain my transactions with vampires.
So, now you know my story, Jasper. Throughout the years, I've watched you grow into a kind, secure, and steady young man deserving of Isabella. I know a bit of your story through Veronica. You were a major in the Civil War and terribly used and abused after you became a vampire, I'm quite impressed. I've grown to think of you as the son I would have had—rough at the edges, but with your heart in the right place. Take care of my sweet Isabella, Jasper; and in turn, allow her to take care of you.
Good luck my son and daughter. I wish you both well in your lives. Oh, and as your surrogate father, I'm ordering you both to go to law school. For God's sake, you've seen enough of the world for now. Give it a rest and make me proud. My alma mater is UCLA law school. I know it's sunny there, but I also know that you two know how to get around in the sunlight. You're both very resourceful, that's what I like about you.
Be happy, Jasper. Keep Isabella happy.
With Love,
Jason Scott Jenks, Esq.
P.S. Don't you dare sell any of my houses. I like them and I built them to my specifications!
Bella glanced up at me with her mouth hanging open in shock. I'm pretty sure that I had a similar look of shock on my face.
"I can't believe the extent Mr. Jenks went to in order to keep me safe from Alice," Bella said.
Neither could I, but even more shocking was the fact that Alice could have been so callous and cold-hearted as to try to make Bella a ward of the state. I understand that she suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but that was still no excuse for her outrageous past behavior towards an innocent baby. It was then that I decided to take a page out of Rosalie's book and cut all ties with my ex-wife. She was actually worse than Maria. At least Maria never harmed innocent children. In fact, I remembered an incident when one of the newborns killed a man and a woman. We heard a baby crying in the corner afterwards. Maria killed the newborn for committing a heinous murder, picked the baby up, and delivered her to the authorities. Later, when the baby was placed in the care of her grandmother, Maria deposited five hundred thousand dollars in the woman's bank account—which in 1923 was a great deal of money, so that she could raise the child comfortably. Even Maria, had more of a heart and a sense of responsibility than Alice did.
I also thought of Veronica Miles. She was one of my mistresses when I was married to Alice. I liked her because she always had a kind heart. I learned of the extent of her kindness, just now, through Jenks. I planned on contacting her in a few days to thank her personally.
"Jasper?" Isabella called.
"Yeah, baby."
"Can we meet Veronica Miles?"
"Absolutely. She's very sweet. Maybe we can fly to Arizona in a couple of days. I want to see the house that you grew up in since it's now mine."
"That house means so much to me, Jasper."
"It does to me, too. Do me a favor and grab my laptop and the information that lawyer gave you regarding Jenks's Swiss bank account. I want to see how he worked everything out for you."
She did as I asked and I switched my laptop on. I entered the information Jenks gave me regarding the bank account.
Fuck me. Fuck me again. Okay, fuck me one more time.
"Um, Bella."
"Yeah?"
"Jenks left you roughly 16,300,000,000 Swiss Francs."
"Oh, what's that worth?"
"About twenty billion dollars."
"Excuse me?"
"Twenty billion dollars, Bella."
"How?"
"I'm about to find out." I reached into the large box filled with Jenks's journals and his financial ledgers. I pulled the red ledger out and scanned the pages. It seemed the Volturi paid him well in exchange for silence and identification. From what I could see, he only dealt with Caius Volturi. Every ten years or so, he was paid a billion dollars in exchange for silence, Italian and US passports and driver's licenses. Maria paid a million dollars per transaction. Stephan and Vladimir of the Romanian coven paid a million dollars per transaction as well. In fact, that seemed to be the going price. Shit, I was a cheap bastard compared to everyone else. I turned the page and looked at my transactions. They numbered many. Each and every Cullen was in there, having requested either information or identification from Jenks in the past. Pete was in there. Riley was in there. Jenks took care of his requests for a mere five thousand dollars. I think he did that as a favor to him. There were names of vampires that I knew listed in the ledger and even more that I didn't know. I didn't realize there were so many in existence. Each and every transaction was spelled out clearly. Some vampires had careers, others owned businesses. In each case, Jenks was responsible for updating their paperwork. Fuck me.
I pulled out the photo album inside and opened it up. They were littered with photos of Bella from the time she was an infant all the way through college. Every single report card was in there too.
"God Bella, your report card was always so skewed. You got straight A's except you never managed more than a D+ in math and a C+ in science."
"I know, it's the dyscalculia. Isn't it amazing? It's a wonder I even got into college." She took a deep breath. "Jasper, I want to do something for Mr. Jenks, but I have no idea what I can do. He's done more for me than even my parents."
"Bella, maybe the best thing that you can do is to live life and be happy. We can start by visiting him at his grave, making sure that his family plot is maintained for eternity, then enrolling at UCLA in September for law school. We have a house in Beverly Hills that we can live in now."
"Maybe you're right," Bella said.
Three weeks later...
We stayed in Hawaii for one week, sorting through Jenk's belongings, and giving the house a thorough cleaning. Afterwards, we locked it up, and headed for Seattle. We knew we'd be using the house in Hawaii frequently since it was a short flight over from Los Angeles where we decided we'd live after we finished settling everything. We did the same in Seattle, the house had to be aired out and we called painters in to give the house a fresh coat of paint inside and out. We also replaced the furniture which was worn out and too old to salvage. We had the flooring replaced and new windows and gutters put in since Seattle had a tendency to be deluged with rain. In both the Hawaii and Seattle properties, we hired companies to maintain the landscaping of both properties regularly. When all was said and done, we fell in love with both homes.
We had just arrived in Arizona at the home that Bella had grown up in. Nothing had changed and Bella's human scent plus that of her mother and Phil were still lingering all these years later. This house was in the worst condition. It hadn't been occupied since Renee and Phil's deaths over thirty years ago. When we went to Renee and Phil's room, the bed was still unmade and there was a hamper filled with dirty laundry by the door.
Bella's bedroom was unlike how I'd expected it to be. Her walls were painted in a baby pink and she had a twin-sized, white four poster bed with white bedding in the middle of the room. Her shelves were lined with books, and on her desk was a corrected English paper on Shakespeare's 'As You Like It.' There was a Harry Potter movie poster up on her wall, as well as one of The Pirates of the Caribbean. She also had a lifesize cut-out of Zac Efron in her room. I started chuckling upon seeing that one.
"Shut up! I was a teenager," she said, laughing.
"Obviously," I chuckled. "So, you were into High School Musical, huh?"
"Hey, Troy Bolton was everyone's dream. Wow, this house sure brings back memories. Are we keeping it, Jasper?"
"Of course we are. It's Jenks's gift to me. We're going to have to call a contractor in, though, it's in bad shape."
"Yeah, I know. My mom wasn't exactly good at keeping up with the house while we were living here."
"Why don't we start by hitting Walmart and going for our usual cleaning supplies? Then we can open up the house and air it out."
"Sounds good."
A couple of hours later, we were working away at cleaning the Phoenix home. We worked all day and through the night, and by morning, we had boxed up everything going to charity, which was practically everything in the house. I called the Salvation Army up and they sent a truck right away to collect all of the items including the furniture. They told Bella that they didn't need the cut out of Zac Efron.
A contractor came and did a walk-through of the house. He said that the house had a strong foundation. It only needed a new roof, windows, and a fresh coat of paint. He could get started on it as soon as tomorrow. We asked him to install hardwood flooring and re-vamp the bathroom, enlarging it and making it more suitable to our tastes as well. After that, we checked into the Ritz Carlton where we would be staying while the work was being completed.
After relaxing in the tub and making love to Bella repeatedly, I called Veronica Miles up. To say she was excited to see us was an understatement. She invited us to her home in Litchfield Park. We told her that we'd be there after the sun went down in the evening.
I was a bit anxious about seeing her. She was formerly a lover of mine until she found her mate in the nineties. After that, we remained friends and I would speak to her once a year over the telephone. I'd never met her mate, but Jenks said that he played a role in protecting Bella too.
I pulled in front of a large steel gate and pressed the buzzer. I identified myself and the gate sprung open, then shut behind us. I drove down the long driveway then parked in front of a massive house. The house was larger than Esme's home in Amherst and the property seemed to go on for acres.
Veronica came to the door and invited us inside. She pulled me into a hug, then stood to admire Bella. Not ten seconds later, Bella had pulled her into a tight bear hug to rival Emmett's, thanking her for all she had done for her.
"It was our pleasure. Let me get Chris in here. Chris!" she hollered into the house.
Veronica led us into the large sitting room and motioned us to the sofa. Before we could sit down, a man in his thirties, about my height with curly red hair in a shade to rival Vicky's came to greet us. "Hello, I'm Christian Devereaux, you must be Major Jasper Whitlock. A pleasure to finally meet you. Veronica's told me so much about you." He then faced my mate. "You, I've known since you were a cherub, Isabella. I'm glad that I can finally identify myself to you."
Bella's jaw dropped uncharacteristically. "You were my second grade teacher, then my fifth grade teacher, then my eighth grade teacher, then my high school English teacher! I never put it together that you were a vampire."
"That's because I wasn't a vampire yet. Veronica was my mate, but we chose to hold off on my change until we knew that you were safe. It was actually my idea. I was a teacher at your elementary school, and I knew who you were, so I could keep a close eye on you there."
"It was actually a brilliant idea. When you switched from elementary school to middle school, then to high school, Chris simply applied to change schools with you. He's an award winning teacher so he knew he'd get the job no matter what."
"Wow, how many years did you put your change off?"
"Oh, about twelve years, but it was worth it to keep you safe. Now, are you still a lousy math student?"
"Yes, I returned to high school once about ten years ago, as a favor to my sister, and can you believe it? I was diagnosed with dyscalculia. I'm glad it happened because suddenly it all made sense. I thought I was an idiot or something."
"You were never an idiot Isabella. You were actually one of my more memorable students. Not just because I knew about your special circumstances either."
We sat and talked for hours. Veronica and Chris wanted to know what happened since Bella left Phoenix. It took hours to catch them up, of course. Later, they showed us around their enormous property. Not only did they have a stable where they kept about six horses, but they had an eighteen hole championship golf course on their land as well. They invited us to stay with them instead of at the hotel because we could venture out in the sunlight during the day as long as we stayed on their property. We took them up on their offer, and at the end of three weeks, we were actually sad to leave. We knew we'd definitely be seeing the two of them often.
Bella and I decided to go back to the property in Dallas for awhile to visit our family. An hour after we got there, Pete stopped by.
He looked contemplative as he spoke, "You're moving again, aren't you?"
"Not right away," I replied.
He nodded his head. "Where are you going?"
"California. You can visit us anytime."
"What made you decide to go to California?"
So I told him about Jenks and the extent he went to in order to keep Bella safe. I told him that Alice's vindictiveness went way further than she had admitted to in the past. I also said that there was no way in hell that I could live in the same town as her. Then, I ended by telling him about Bella's large inheritance and Jenks's final wish that we attend law school at UCLA. Pete sat there stunned silent by the revelations.
Pete understood why we had to leave because that's just how he is. He loved me like a brother and loved Bella with everything that he had in him. He also knew that we'd be living in the same town again soon enough, just not with Alice.
So, this is how we ended up telling everyone we were moving—one or two family members at a time, methodically and carefully, instead of announcing it to all of them at once. They all understood our decision and wished us luck. They all thought we were nuts that we were going to be moving to such a sunny place as vampires, though.
I talked to Riley about how best to handle Alice. I told him that I wanted minimal contact with her and explained my reasonings. I also told him about how Alice repeatedly tried to harm Bella while she was still a child. As Bella's brother, he was furious. He was so furious that I had to go running with him so he could take out his frustrations on a few trees. As Alice's therapist, he said that this information would help him a great deal. Alice obviously had many indiscretions that she was still hiding and she would have to come clean in order to get better.
As far as me dealing with Alice was concerned, Riley agreed that she was not my responsibility at all. In fact, the point he had been trying to drive home to Alice was that she's responsible for her own choices and the consequences that accompany them. Riley said that I didn't owe her any explanations whatsoever, and urged me to go on with my life without paying any mind to her, so that's what I decided to do.
I signed over the deed to our penthouse in Houston to Charlotte. She was jumping up and down for joy. She was happy to have a home in her hometown, on top of that, it was the very first property she owned solely. The other properties were all in Pete's name. It was weird how some couples did things. In Bella and my case, we owned everything jointly for tax purposes. I added her name to all of my properties and she added mine to the house in Telluride, and to the homes that Jenks bequeathed to her. We both felt that a husband and wife should share everything, but to each his own. The only things we owned separately were a couple of offshore accounts, but that was done more as a precaution than anything.
There were two couples making the move with us. They were, of course, Emmett and Rosalie, and Rex and Tanya. Neither couple was willing to be so far away from us again and frankly, Bella and I were relieved they were moving with us. Both couples were already in California. With the exception of Emmett, they all couldn't stand Texas so, as soon as their leases were up at the end of June, they bolted out of the state and left for California.
Rex and Tanya purchased a house in Brentwood while Rose and Emmett purchased a house in Westwood Village. Tanya and Emmett were going to start an internet business together selling what I had no idea, but Tanya was a creative genius when it came to retail so I had no doubt that whatever it was, it would take off. Meanwhile, Rose and Rex enrolled at UCLA Law School with us. I had to grease a few palms to get the three of us in. I didn't have to for Bella because she filed a late application, took the LSAT's while we were still in Arizona, and got accepted. She refused to attend college unless she got in on her own power. She said she would be making a mockery of the educational system if she did otherwise. Whatever. The point is, we were all going, and several underprivileged students would be receiving well deserved scholarships because of the Whitlock Foundation—that was the name of our charitable organization, alright, so it was a cover for our tax shelter.
Summer was coming to a close and I couldn't wait to start our new lives in California. So far, the adventure that Jenks has sent us on has been a whirlwind of new experiences. I couldn't wait to see what was in store for us next.
Do you like how the family dealt with Volterra? Do you blame Jasper and Bella for moving to Houston away from the family? What do you think of Alice and the way she's treating her family? What did you think of Jenks? What do you think of Alice in light of Jenks's revelations about her? Do you agree with Jasper that Maria had more of a sense of responsibility than Alice? Should Jasper write off Alice? Are you glad that only three couples are moving to California with them? I dearly would love to hear your opinion on this chapter. It was a tough one for me to write. As always, I will respond to your reviews. Thank you! XOXO