[Disclaimer] Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight. I own the plot for this story

[A/N] Welcome back to a new chapter. Thanks to all of you who are still reading. I know I am being slow with updating.

It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life

(Rita Rudner)

Chapter 15

I never thought it could be possible to develop such an unbearable hatred about someone. Aro Volturi is much worse than I have already been assuming. My hands clench into the artificial leather around my steering wheel.

Bella has told me that Mr. Volturi had his older brother being cut out of their parents will. Aro had talked them into it, because his brother had spent some time in jail when he was young. I wonder what they locked him up for.

It must have been drugs. Aren't rich people always into drugs in one way or another?

The engine of the car rattles. It's a strange noise that I haven't heard before. Instinctively, I do what every sane person would do to cover the rattling sound. I turn the volume of the radio louder. For a few minutes it seems to work. The rattling doesn't get louder and since the car is still driving perfectly fine, I don't think anything too bad is wrong. Then, after I stop at a light, I can't manage to get the stupid thing going again. The engine rattles; grey smoke comes out of the hood.

This doesn't look good.

Crap.

I get the guy who is honking behind me to push the car a bit to the side. Grabbing my cell, I first call work to let them know I am going to be late. I am grateful when Jasper offers to call his soon-to-be brother in law to come and get the car to his garage for free. An endless thirty minutes later, a tow truck stops beside me. The guy who jumps out is tall and tanned. He has too-white teeth. His hair is greasy and pulled into a thin ponytail.

"Are you Ali?" he asks, chewing on a toothpick in his mouth. Jeez, can it get trashier?

I force myself to smile politely. "Yes, that would be me. You must be Jake." He takes my hand and shakes it, almost crushing my fingers. I move back and forth on my heels while he opens the hood and more of the grey smoke comes out.

"Your cooler is fucked up, Missy. I have to get this baby to the garage and take a closer look at it there."

"Will it be expensive?"

"For most people, yes." Jake says, spitting the toothpick into the grass. "But you work with Jazz, right? My Blondie would have my ass if I charged one of his co-workers."

Inside his truck it smells like peppermint and cigarettes. At least Jake doesn't smoke during the ride. I can't stand it when people do that in the car. When we arrive I get out of the truck, finding myself in front of a tall blonde. She cradles her rounded mid-section with one hand while the other hand stays pressed at her lower back like she's in pain.

"There are you again!" She calls at Jake. "How about answering your phone? It's not only there to play stupid games or text your friends. You are driving me insane."

He steps closer and tries to kiss her cheek but she quickly turns her head.

"I have a broken cooler here."

"The next thing that will break here is my water. And it will happen while I am trying to reach my stupid Fiancé. Who can't for fucks sake answer his goddamn cell!"

He pets her stomach and grins. "Your mommy doesn't mean it when she is mean to us. She is just a bit agitated about the upcoming wedding."

The woman frowns and leans back against a lifting ramp. "Your father called. If that man ruins my day, I will push his wheelchair of a cliff. Now, go and call him back. I handle the cooler."

Jake walks off, whistling through his teeth while I remain standing next to Preggozilla. She groans, stretching a bit backwards. Is she in pain? Maybe she shouldn't be working anymore at this point of her pregnancy.

"Hi," I say, trying to be as nice as possible. "You must be Rosalie, Jasper's twin sister."

Preggozilla grants me a perfect smile. I wonder if all her bitchiness is reserved for her fiancé because he knocked her up. "You can call me Rose. Everyone does. Now, what's wrong with your car?"

I clear my throat. "Jake said it must be the cooler being overheated."

She leans closer to the car and bends over the opened hood. "I need to check if he's right." She grabs a flashlight and shines it into the motor compartment. "Can you hold this for me, please?"

I do as I am told and wait patiently while Rosalie pulls some greasy cables out. One of them looks like it is melted. "There we have the little fucker. The cooler? My ass! Jake is the worst mechanic I know."

Rose pants heavily and sits down on the floor. Her dirty hands cradle her stomach. "Without me this garage will go downhill."

I kneel down next to her. "Are you in pain?"

"I'm fine." She pants. "Just need a little break. Jake is still in the office, isn't he? Can you look?"

I catch a glimpse of Jake's back through the window in the office at the other side of the garage. "He's still there."

"Good," Rose sighs. "He would make me stop working if he saw me like this. I can't stop working. We need the money."

Slowly she gets up, wiping her sweaty forehead. "I didn't expect being pregnant to be so awful."

I cross my arms in front of my chest. It is cold inside the garage, the AC is turned low to the temperature of a gigantic fridge. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing," she protests. "You work with Jazz, right? That's almost like family. I don't take money from people I know."

"I insist on paying you."

For a moment, Rose nibbles her bottom lip and scratches her temple. "I have a better idea for you to pay me than money."

I raise an eyebrow. "What would that be?"

Rose grins, hissing through her teeth before pressing both hands against her lower. "Would you be Jasper's date for the wedding?"

I hesitate. Doesn't she know her brother is gay? She must know it right? They are twins. Don't twins tell each other everything? Does Bella tell her twin everything?

"Uhm, I don't think I am his type."

She laughs. "I know he's gay like…it doesn't get much gayer. I don't mind. He can love whoever makes him happy. But some of our relatives are old-fashioned. Don't need a drama at the reception."

I nod my head. "I understand. When's the wedding going to be? I need a dress."

"Babe!" Jake calls out as he rushes towards us. "Promise me not to flip when I tell you, right?"

Rose shakes her head. "What's wrong? Don't tell me your father got kicked out of the retirement home? How can he be this stupid!"

He tries to put his arm around her small shoulders. "Babe, there is some problem with our wedding location."

"They can't get the yellow lilies? Fine, we find other flowers. The lilies were above our budget anyway."

Jake chews his lower lip. "It's more like a little problem with the location itself." He coughs. "We can't use it."

Preggozilla's eyes turn into small slits. She clenches her hands to fist. For a moment it looks like a vein in her forehead is about to pop out of her now red-flushed face. "What does that mean we can't use it? Is the place burned down? Was there water damage? Hell, Jake!"

He starts another attempt of putting an arm around her but she shakes him off. "Don't touch me now. That's what started all this mess in the first place. What is wrong with the location?"

"Well, I called Dad and he said he spoke to the council. They discussed it…but in the end they agreed on not to allow the wedding at the council hall."

"But why?" Rose snaps, her breathing still unnaturally loud. "You said they always hold wedding receptions there."

"Yeah, but…I am sorry. I didn't know the rules. I didn't know the council only allows it for wedding among tribe members."

xxx

It doesn't take long to convince my mother about using the garden behind the restaurant for the wedding reception. Mom loves weddings and everything that comes with it. I swallow back a sigh when she makes a comment about how beautiful my own wedding is going to be one day. If she only knew, that there will never be a traditional church wedding for me, it would most likely break her heart. I need to tell my parents soon. I need to tell them soon.

"Aren't you hungry, princess?" my mother asks as I push the potatoes around on my plate. "Or are you sick?"

She places her palm on my forehead. "Carlisle she feels warm. Maybe she has a fever?"

Dad looks up from his newspaper. I don't know why he always has to read while we are eating. "She looks healthy to me. Maybe she already ate?"

"I had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. They were filling."

"Where did you go to have breakfast?" Mom asks. "You can always eat at the restaurant, you know that right?"

My mother dislikes the thought that I could prefer anyone else's food above hers. I quickly shake my head. "I ate them at home."

Dad laughs. "You cooked them? Is the apartment still standing? Didn't you burn yourself?"

I smirk. "I am not that helpless in the kitchen."

"Yes, I know, sweetie." Mom says. "But you don't like cooking very much."

"Had a…friend over, she did most of the cooking." I feel my ears beginning to get warm like always when I lie. It feels wrong to refer to Bella as a friend. She's not my girlfriend either, at least not yet. I would like to very much change this fact though.

"Can you work as a waitress during the wedding?" My mother asks me. "I need your cousins in the kitchen to help me there."

"I can't. I have a date." I tell her. "I am going to the wedding with Jasper. Can I borrow your pearls?"

Dad grins. "So, you and that Hale boy, right? From what you told about him, I would never have guessed you like him very much."

I giggle to overplay the awkward situation. "Yeah, sometimes opposites attract."

Mom shakes her head. "Didn't this Jasper tell Irina he's dating another guy? How does this fit together?"

"Maybe he's swinging both ways?"

I am completely embarrassed that my father even knows such terms. I shift on my chair, trying to think of a good excuse to leave even before we had dessert.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Mom snaps. "Jasper can swing wherever it pleases him, but not anywhere near our daughter." She wipes her mouth on the napkin. "You will tell him no, right, Ali?"

I get up from the table. "Mother, I am not twelve. I can date whoever I want to."

The phone rings and while my mother picks up the call, Dad makes me sit down again and pets my hand. If I like Jasper I should go for it, he encourages me. Maybe he was just going through some phase? I feel like the only thing that Hale and I have in common is the gay forever phase we are stuck in.

"I'll get the rest of my clothes I still left here." I tell my father, stacking the plates into the sink. "I will be right back."

Upstairs in my room it is cold and smells like fabric softener. Mom has washed my clothes and piled them neatly on the bed. She misses me being a baby and having me around to take care of all the time.

I don't understand why my parents didn't have half a dozen other kids after I was born. My phone vibrates. I fish it out of the pocket of jeans and hit accept.

"Hi Bella,"

"It's good to hear your voice, Ali."

She sounds sad and I don't like it.

"How's the best pancake-maker in the world?" I purr into the receiver, trying to cheer her up. "I miss you."

"I miss you too. Are you at home?"

I click my tongue and sit down at the corner of the bed. "No, I am at my parents' place for dinner."

She laughs a bit. "Do you ever feed yourself?"

"Why would I cook when other people are way better at it than I ever could be? Plus, I love seeing my family. They are important to me."

There is a crack in the line. When she speaks up I can hear some rattling and sizzling in the background. Someone in the distance yells in Italian.

"Have you told them yet that you are gay?"

I know I have to come out to my parents. It's just so hard. I am a coward and change the subject of our conversation.

"My car broke down today. It had smoke coming out of the hood."

"Oh my dear, that sounds bad. Is it a big damage?"

I lean back against the headboard. "No, was just some cable. Jasper's sister is a mechanic. She fixed it up."

"That's good. Do you think she could take a look at my poor truck too? Embry can't find what's wrong with it."

I promise to ask Rose. Then I tell Bella about the upcoming wedding and my fake date with Jasper.

"This is ridiculous." She states. "Jasper is out, you know? He is not ashamed of being gay."

I grab the phone a bit too tight. My hand is sweaty. "I am not ashamed." I hate myself for not speaking louder than a whisper. "I am not ashamed of being gay."

Bella sighs deeply. The sound is followed by more sizzling noises in the background. "Oh yes, you are. That is why you haven't told your parents."

I feel cornered. It's like I can't breathe fully for a couple of moments. "I am not ashamed. I know it's nothing bad to be gay."

She breathes loudly into the receiver. The line cracks again and so does Bambi's voice when she speak up. "I don't want to be someone's dirty secret, Ali."

"You are not my secret." I protest. "You are my…you are my girlfriend. Would you please be my girlfriend, Isabella Swan?"

Her response is a loud gasp, followed by an enthusiastic chant of yes, yes, yes. I whisper a tender goodbye to her before I hang up.

Downstairs in the kitchen, my Dad's face is buried behind his newspaper again. Mom looks weird. Her eyes are glassy. Her mouth is quivering slightly.

"Is something wrong?" I ask, stepping closer to her. "Is something with Nana?"

Mom places her hand on my stomach. "Why didn't you tell me?" She is almost crying now. It's scaring me. "You know you can tell me anything. Carlisle! Put that newspapers down now or I'll burn it! Say something o her!"

Dad coughs and slowly folds the newspaper together. "Esme, maybe we should talk about this tomorrow, when you have calmed down again."

My mother smacks her hand on the kitchen counter. "I am not agitated. I am happy. I just need a moment to collect myself."

She hugs me tightly and kisses my forehead. "My baby…by baby is having a baby. I can't believe it."

I step back. It's like I have been burned. Why in heaven's name would she assume I am pregnant? Did I gain weight?

"Your mother is sad that you told your cousins before us. I assume the father is a young man named Jasper?"

I assume my parents have lost their mind. Why on earth would they think I am pregnant? Why would any of my cousins tell such nonsense to them?"

I see the glow in Mom's eyes. She is thrilled about the news. In my head I count to five before I cough. "I am not pregnant."

See it is so easy to destroy people's happiness with a simple sentence. "I never was either. Who told you I was?"

Mom sighs. It's hard to tell if she is relieved or sad. The sadness clearly overpowers I think. She is the kind of woman who's are all crazy about babies.

"Irina told your aunt and well, of course Sasha had to tell me."

Irina is the dumbest person walking the surface of the earth. Why does she think I am pregnant? Do I look fat? Do I look like I could be pregnant? My hands move to my stomach. It is not washboard flat but still. I do not look pregnant.

Then I remember my conversation with Tanya and telling her the news about Jessica's unwanted pregnancy. Irina must have overheard us talking and drawn wrong conclusions.

"I think Irina got something wrong when she heard me talking to Tanya." I tell my parents. "I I am not pregnant but Jessica is."

As soon as the words are out of my mouth I know that Edward is going to be pissed at me. He wouldn't want Mom to know about it. My brother is an ass. I feel sorry for Jess and the baby.

"I need to call her. Does your brother know?" Mom asks. "Are the two of them back together now?"

I shrug my shoulders. "You should be asking these questions Edward not me."

Dad nods. "She is right about that Esme. Come sit down, we didn't even finish dinner. Your mother made these little berry tarts that I love for dessert."

I sit down with a sigh. The mood is so tensed. I just want to go home. I want to call Bella to talk to her until I fall asleep. A smile flashes over my face.

"Why don't you tell your mother and me about your new boyfriend?" Dad suggests. "So, you work together, right?"

I take a deep breath, my hand grips the table cloth. "Mom, Dad, there is something I need to tell you about me."