A/N: It's another two chapter day. The next chapter is one of those short interludes I'm so weirdly fond of, so I'll be posting it straight after this one.
Sending each of you my gratitude for reading, and thanks to those taking an extra few moments to review:)
What a Heart Can Hold
Before everyone went their separate ways from the cliff, Bella pulled Carlisle aside.
"Any chance I could give you a lift home?" she asked quietly. "I know you ran here but I wanted to ask you something. Privately," she added.
"Of course," he nodded.
Bella saw Alice looking at her hopefully and smiled at her. "You can come too," she laughed and Alice gave her a beaming smile. Bella grabbed Jasper's hand and pulled him down for a kiss. "I'll meet you there."
Jasper couldn't deny he was curious but he also respected his mate's right to privacy, so he just gave her an extra kiss and then took off with the rest of the family along the coast.
Before Bella, Carlisle, and Alice split from the wolves at Bella's truck, Carlisle caught Sam's eye. "I'll keep you informed after I speak with Aro."
Sam nodded his thanks and the wolves headed back to the village.
Once they were on the road, Bella glanced at Carlisle. "So how will this work? You're going to call Aro and invite him here?" she asked.
"That's my plan as of now, yes. I'm going to be honest with you, I'm not sure I can convince Aro to make the trip. He and the brothers don't often leave Italy these days as they tend to send the guard out to deal with any issues that arise. He may tell me we need to come to Volterra instead."
Bella nodded her understanding. "I'd wondered about that, and I'm not too eager to have my dad walk into that castle. I think I may have an idea that might encourage them to come to us."
"Oh? What's that?" he asked curiously.
Alice was practically giddy with excitement as Bella told Carlisle what she'd been trying to plan, and Carlisle's smile was almost equally as wide by the time she finished.
"When were you thinking?" he asked her.
Bella shrugged. "Initially I thought maybe my birthday but that's still almost six weeks away. I doubt Aro would be willing to wait that long. Maybe the middle of August? That gives us about three weeks."
Carlisle thought on it a minute and then looked at Alice. "Can you see if he'd agree to that?" he asked.
"Yes," Alice smiled. "If you call him as soon as we get back to the house and we send a formal invitation in the next couple days, he'll be willing to wait. He may even bring Marcus along as that'll give him confirmation about Bella and Jasper's bond."
"Alright," Carlisle nodded. "This might just work out for the best, Bella. If they arrive during a celebration, there's less of a chance that they'll be adversarial. And it might also make your father slightly more comfortable than he would be meeting any of the Volturi on their own."
"That's kinda what I was hoping," Bella agreed. "If we can reframe it as us inviting them to a party rather than this being a trial or confrontation…" she trailed off with a shrug.
"It's a great idea," Carlisle smiled at her.
Bella breathed a sigh of relief. Volterra had been an intimidating and scary experience for her, and that was after she'd known about vampires for over a year. She really didn't like the idea of her father having to make that trip.
Pleased that she may have found a solution to their problem, Bella began making a mental list of everything she needed to accomplish in the next three weeks.
The next afternoon, Alice knocked on the Swan's door with a small folder in hand. Bella ushered her into the kitchen and the two sat down at the table, where Alice handed it to her to look through.
"I chose the simplest ones I could find," Alice explained. "And because the one we send to the Volturi is the only one we'll need, we can just use the sample from the stationary store in Port Angeles."
"That's great," Bella smiled. "I was worried we'd need to buy a whole box."
"Nope. I can print it out with the text on my own."
Bella nodded as she looked over the various card stocks Alice had chosen. They were all ones she would have picked for herself, none too fancy or ornate. Narrowing it down to two she liked equally, she held them out for Alice. "Which one do you think?"
Alice tipped her head as she looked at both, then pointed to the one in her best friend's right hand. "I like this one. It's simple but not plain. Those flowers across the bottom edge give it some color and it ties in with the decorations you're thinking of."
"I agree," Bella smiled. "So you just type it out on your computer and print it on here?"
"Yep, it's fairly simple. There are some really pretty fonts you can choose from, too."
Bella waved her off. "I trust you. And thank you, Ali."
"Of course! I'm so excited!" she laughed. "So what do you want it to say?"
"I'm not really sure," Bella shrugged. "I've never done this before so I'll just trust you with that also."
"Do you have a set date yet?"
"August 21st," Bella smiled. "It's a Saturday so my dad should have the day off. And if he doesn't, that still gives him about three weeks to arrange switching shifts."
"Who all are you planning to invite?" Alice asked, practically squealing with excitement, making Bella laugh.
"All of you, obviously. Peter and Charlotte. All the wolves, Sue Clearwater and Billy Black. Angela, of course. The three Volturi brothers… Am I missing anyone?"
Alice thought on it a minute before shaking her head. "I don't think so. Any thoughts on what you're going to wear?"
"Nothing formal," Bella said immediately. "Both Jas and I are more comfortable with casual. I do want a dress, but maybe some kind of sundress? I was hoping you and Rosalie could help me with that. As for what everyone else wears, I have zero preference. You could all show up in jeans and t-shirts if you want to."
Alice huffed a laughed. "As if. But nothing fancy, I promise. And Rose and I would love to help you find something. How about rings?" she asked with a beaming smile.
"Oh! Hang on," Bella said as she hopped up and ran up to her room. When she came back down she had her laptop with her. "I found these but I don't have a credit card. Do you think you could use yours to buy them and I can give you the money for them?"
"Of course," Alice agreed immediately. "And these are perfect. I love that you'll have identical rings."
"Me too," Bella laughed. "And they're not too expensive. I'd like to get them engraved, so I called the company and the woman said if we order them in the next two days they can have them finished and delivered by the 15th."
Alice looked through the website's order form. "What do you want them to say? All I need to do is add it in this text box."
Bella gave her a nervous smile. "I was thinking 'I'll always walk beside you'. Is that stupid?"
"No," Alice said softly as she shook her head. "Not stupid at all. It's absolutely right for you guys."
Bella breathed a sigh of relief as she nodded. "Now all I need to do is get the groom-to-be on board," she laughed.
"He'll agree in a heartbeat, Bella," Alice smiled. Seeing her best friend look a little uncertain, she reached over and took her hand. "You know that, right?"
"We've only talked about getting married once," Bella admitted. "He said he'd never given much thought to a wedding because of how long he lived a life where human celebrations didn't mean anything."
"But they do now. And pretty much everything means more to Jas now that he's found you," Alice reassured her gently. "Knowing that you want this, that you want him to be your husband as well as your mate? It's going to mean the world to him."
Bella breathed another sigh of relief and walked around the table to hug Alice. "Thank you," she whispered. "I needed to hear that, especially from you. You know him better than anyone. And for helping me take the ideas in my head and turn them into a reality, not making me feel like our wedding needs to be something that neither of us were comfortable with."
"That's what friends and family are for," Alice smiled as she hugged her back. "And this is your wedding, Bella. Yours and Jasper's. What the two of you want is all that matters. We all love both of you, so your happiness is what we care about. Not fancy clothes or an elaborate affair."
"Holy shit," Bella laughed as she pulled away. "I'm getting married."
Alice's laughter joined hers. "You're getting married!"
Later that night, with Charlie on an overnight shift, Jasper and Bella were tucked up in her bed with the twinkly lights giving the room a soft glow.
Jasper could feel his mate's nerves and tugged her closer so her head was resting above his heart. He gently ran his fingers through her hair, knowing that tended to soothe her. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked softly.
Bella took a deep breath and then pushed herself up to sit beside him. "Yeah, I do actually," she nodded. "Um… I… damn, this is harder than I thought it would be," she laughed nervously.
Jasper sat up and took her hand. "There's nothing you can't talk to me about, sweetheart. Nothing."
Bella looked at him with a soft smile. "Yeah. You're right. Hang on," she said and then climbed off the bed and grabbed her laptop. When she sat back down beside him, she scooted as close as she could and rested her head on his shoulder. Setting the laptop on his legs, she pointed to the screen. "What do you think about that?"
Jasper looked at the photo and saw it was a ring. It was a simple, thin silver band that had the infinity symbol etched in a continuous loop around the center of the band. He looked at Bella with his head tipped to the side. "I like it. Did you order this for yourself?" he asked curiously, not sure why that would make her nervous.
"I actually ordered two," she said quietly.
Jasper looked at the ring again. "Why two? Who…" Jasper trailed off and snapped his head around to look at his mate. Bella had a small smile on her face and her emotions had calmed. She was now filled with her usual mixture of love, happiness, and contentment. He was almost afraid to say the next words out loud. "Two? Did you get one for… me?"
"I did," she laughed softly. "I was kinda hoping you wouldn't mind wearing it. You know, for eternity," she said with a casual shrug, though she had a beautiful smile on her face.
Jasper carefully set the laptop on the floor and took his soulmate's hands. "A ring for eternity? Are those… I mean, are you…"
Bella decided to put him out of his misery. She climbed into his lap and kissed him, then pulled back so she could see his handsome face. "I don't know if you already have plans on August 21st, but if you're free… wanna get hitched, Whitlock?" she asked, echoing his words when he asked her to be his girlfriend.
Jasper was frozen solid for one beat, two beats, three… and then the brightest, most brilliant smile Bella had ever seen broke across his face. He cupped her face in his hands and leaned in to kiss her, letting her feel everything inside him. Bella smiled against his lips at the elation and joy and awe as it filled her chest.
"Is that a yes?" she laughed.
"It's a hell yes!" he shouted and then pulled her in for another kiss. When she needed to breathe, he broke away and gently rested his forehead on hers. "You really want to marry me?" he asked, his smile still a mile wide.
"I do," she nodded. "I want to be a Whitlock from the moment I wake up."
Jasper frowned a little. "You don't need to marry me for that, sweetheart. You can be a Whitlock any time you choose. You know that, right?"
"I know," she smiled. "But I want it to be official. I want to tie myself to you in every way possible, and I want my dad to be there when I go from a Swan to a Whitlock."
Jasper pulled her close and just held her for a few minutes. "I'd be honored," he whispered, then pulled back to look at her. "We could hyphenate if you want. So you don't have to leave the Swan half of you behind. Swan-Whitlock? Whitlock-Swan? I'd take your name in a heartbeat for you."
"You would?" she asked, tears stinging her eyes.
"Of course I would," he assured her softly. "Why wouldn't I? I'm tying myself to you just as surely as you're tying yourself to me. And it would mean getting to take a piece of your dad with us into our new life."
A single sob tore its way up Bella's throat as she threw her arms around him and tucked her face in his neck. "I'd like that," she sniffled. "Whitlock-Swan. I like it," she whispered shakily.
"Me too," Jasper agreed as he rubbed soft circles on her back. "Think he'll mind me becoming a Swan?"
Bella snorted a laugh as she pulled back to look at him. "He'll be thrilled, Jas. Really. You know he already calls you son."
Jasper gave her another brilliant smile. "This is…" he shook his head. "I keep thinking I'm as happy as I've ever been and that I couldn't possibly be happier. But you continually prove me wrong. Meeting you, getting to be your friend… you accepting our bond so easily, the day you agreed to be my girlfriend. Our first kiss, hearing you say 'I love you' for the first time. And now this. I didn't know it was possible for a heart to hold this much happiness. This much love," he said quietly, venom tears making his eyes shine. "Thank you, Bella. Thank you for giving me all these things I never dared dream of."
Bella leaned in to kiss him softly. "I feel the same. Sometimes my happiness feels too big to contain inside me. Like I'm going to crack right open and it's going to come spilling out of me. I love you, Jasper Whitlock. Soon to be Jasper Whitlock-Swan," she added with a laugh.
Jasper smiled and kissed her. "I love you, soon to be Isabella Whitlock-Swan."