Chapter 127

Jasper

I was relieved to see that after a few days with Charlotte and Peter around Bella seemed to come out of the depression finding her dad had got married in secret. I could only imagine how hurt she felt by that and the fact that the people she had regarded as family had kept it from her. It didn't matter that she was a newborn struggling with all the complicated feelings and thirst, she should have been told, invited to meet her dad's fiancée and to become involved in the wedding arrangements not completely ignored.

I could have kept her calm around people and once in the citadel the temptations would have been far fewer. It had occurred to me that perhaps with everything that had been going on the wedding had been a quiet affair without guests and just a couple of witnesses, not that it would have made any difference to the fact that Bella should have been there. However, when I spoke to Darius about it he was able to fill me in.

"Chloe is a friend of Athenadora's who never visited because she hated Caius, they had grown up together and were changed at the same time but while Athenadora was taken as Caius' mate Chloe was left behind and she always hated the Volturi for that reason. I'd heard of her but then I hear about most vampires sooner or later. I'm only telling you this so you understand the rest. Athenadora invited Chloe to visit and as soon as she and Charlie saw each other they knew. Charlie wanted to get married straight away, but Athenadora insisted that the wedding would be a great way of allowing our kind to meet their new ruling council. She arranged a huge spectacle and invited as many of the covens as she could. I told Charlie he should invite Bella as his daughter, but both he and the two women thought she would be a distraction and could ruin Chloe's big day. I'm afraid they were embarrassed at the idea of a newborn taking center stage. I spoke to Charlie, but he was adamant this was Chloe's day and she could have whatever she wanted.

"And she didn't want Bella there?"

"Or you, after all your reputation could have scared a lot of guests away and as Athenadora pointed out they couldn't have Bella without you coming too."

Darius left it to me to decide whether to tell Bella the complete story or not but there was no contest in my eyes, she had a right to know however painful it might be. It also underlined the price she might pay for having me as her mate. I took her hunting and once we had drunk our fill we sat down and I told her everything.

"I couldn't keep the truth from you Bella and I'll never lie to you no matter how painful the truth might be."

"Thank you, it's nice to have someone I can trust and I don't need anyone else Jasper, not as long as I have you. I guess we should start thinking about our life now and finding a house would come at the top of the list."

"Only if you are ready. Until then we can go back to the cabin."

"Actually Charlotte and Peter suggested we might like to stay at the place they just bought in Texas, it'll be like going home."

"You want to live with them?"

"No, we'll be alone, they have other plans but it would be nice to be in a real home."

"OK then, it would be kinda fun to be back home for a while. I could show you all the sights."

"OK, but not your hometown, there are lots of places we can visit I have a list I made out."

"Right, not forgetting we're house hunting too."

She smiled at me,

"I haven't forgotten, I guess I just need a little time, this business with dad and Chloe really knocked me back."

I understood that, but I was a little confused, hadn't she mentioned house hunting just a few minutes ago?

When Peter and Charlotte finally left leaving us with the keys to their new house and orders to "Make yourselves at home" they didn't say where they were going and for just a second I wondered if they were on their way to Volterra to tell the others how Bella was now. Charlie had rung me twice and both times I told him the same thing, Bella had no desire to speak to him or see him or his "wife". He pleaded with me to speak up for them, but I refused bluntly.

"What do you want me to say, Chief Swan? That Bella is being unreasonable? That she should give you a chance to explain your actions? Because I can't and won't."

When he got nowhere Carlisle and then Esme rang both begging to speak to Bella, but they got the same answer,

"Bella has nothing to say to you. She feels you betrayed her."

They tried justifying their action, or inaction, to me but as I pointed out I wasn't the one hurting, Bella was, choosing not to forgive them and I stood at her side. Whatever she decided was fine by me.

We moved to Texas. Into the small ranch house, Peter and Charlotte had bought. It was run down and in need of some work to make it comfortable and that was what I found so odd. Why would they just go off leaving all this work to be done? It wasn't as if they had anything else that urgently needed their attention and I knew Peter had always wanted a home of his own so why leave it in this state? I was tempted to make a start for him but as Bella pointed out we had no idea what vision they had for the place so instead we made ourselves at home and started house hunting on the internet to start with.

At first she seemed eager to look writing down the details for house after house but then suddenly she seemed to lose interest becoming increasingly difficult to please, every place we saw she picked holes in. It was too small or too big, too close to a town or too remote, too old or too new. She was driving me crazy and in the end I tried talking to Charlotte about it although getting hold of her wasn't easy either. Half the time her phone went straight to voicemail.

"Oh I wouldn't worry too much, it's a big decision deciding on your first home together. Maybe she's nervous, had you thought of that? She wants everything to be just right, it'll be your first home too since you became a vampire, don't rush into it."

"Rush into it? Charlotte, we've looked at over a hundred properties from New York to New Mexico on the computer and she doesn't like any of them. Please talk to her, find out what's wrong, she won't speak to me. Can't you come back? I'm getting desperate."

"I'm really sorry Major but we are busy right now. Just give her a break, do some sightseeing, relax."

So deciding to take Charlotte's advice I told Bella we were going to take a week off to do some sightseeing and she seemed relieved, maybe this business with her dad had upset her even more than I had realized. She threw herself into making a list which included everything from the Dallas World Aquarium to Padre Island, and The Space Center Houston to Six Flags, San Antonio. It was good to see her laugh again, her eyes filled with joy and excitement and I decided the week off was well worth it although I was still eager to find a home, after all it would be the first since my parents when I was still a human.