A/N: We're getting closer to the end, y'all. As it stands, it'll be fifty chapters and an epilogue. But most of the upcoming chapters are longer than usual. And 50 isn't even finished yet and is already about 8000 words. The epilogue is shaping up to be hella long also.

Thank you all for leaving such lovely reviews! It never fails to make me smile that there are people out in the real world who find this story enjoyable and who like this twist on canon where they're all just one big, weird family, lol.

Until tomorrow! ~ M. x

The Not-So-Secret Secret

The day before the wedding, the Cullens, Whitlocks, and Bella were hanging out at the river at the bottom of the meadow that passed as the Cullen's backyard. It was a warm day so they'd taken a break from wedding preparations to go for a swim.

Peter and Charlotte had come back from Canada the night before, and there was a bit of determination and alertness in Peter that had Jasper a little on edge. When he asked his brother about it, Peter had just smiled and said everything would be fine. That, of course, did nothing to ease Jasper's worry.

Bella had just climbed out of the water and plopped down on a blanket beside Jasper to snack on some of the fruit Esme had brought along when Jasper felt the annoyingly familiar toxic cocktail of Edward's emotions approaching.

"Motherfucker," Jasper cursed and hopped up, pulling Bella with him. "Alice, Charlotte! Bella, go with them and please do whatever they ask of you."

"Of course," Bella agreed immediately. "Try not to ruin Esme and Emmett's hard work, I'd like to still get married in the garden. I love you," she whispered quickly and gave him a kiss before hurrying over to Alice, who hustled her into the house, Charlotte right behind them.

Bella didn't let herself panic. They'd all known that Edward would show his face again at some point, so they'd put plans in place to keep Bella protected. Charlotte was the best fighter after Jasper and Peter, with Alice a close fourth, so those two were chosen as the ones who would stick to her side like glue.

When Jasper had shared that Edward seemed surprised the whole family was at the cookout at the Swan's, Bella had immediately shielded Peter and Charlotte. When she asked if she should shield Carlisle and her dad, Jasper and Peter debated it but decided keeping some of them unshielded gave them the best chance of catching the telepath off guard.

Emmett, Rosalie, and Esme all flew inside, hoping to trick Edward into thinking they weren't home. Carlisle ran up and stood just inside the back door, while Jasper and Peter quickly climbed to the top of a tree near the back of the house.

When Edward appeared and started slowly walking towards the house like the overly dramatic dick he is, Carlisle stepped outside as if to keep Edward from getting in. Jasper felt Edward's anticipation and satisfaction, and smiled to himself that he seemed to have fallen for their little ruse. All of their scents were so heavy around the Cullen's house that Edward wasn't able to tell they were nearby.

Carlisle stood at the back steps, arms crossed, only thinking about keeping Bella protected so as not to tip the telepath off.

"Edward," he said calmly. "What are you doing back here?"

Edward gave him an arrogant smile. "I came to get what's mine."

Carlisle gave him a skeptical look with one eyebrow raised. "What's yours? And what would that be?"

"Don't play dumb, Carlisle. I know she's here. I can hear her heartbeat in the house," Edward chuckled.

"And you really think I'm going to let you get near Bella? I won't allow you to hurt her, Edward."

"You're here all on your own, Carlisle. You really think you can stop me?" he asked with a cocky smirk.

With a quick glance and a nod from Jasper, he and Peter dropped from the tree to land behind Edward so he was between the two Whitlocks and Carlisle.

"He won't have to," they both growled in unison.

Edward spun around in surprise and then flinched back slightly at seeing Jasper and Peter without their shirts on. That had been a calculated decision on their part. They'd had time to pull their t-shirts on, but Jasper knew their scars would be a good reminder to Edward that he had no chance of besting either of them in a fight. It was the tiniest trace of another emotion, quickly squashed though it was, that caught Jasper by surprise.

"Still think you have a shot at my girl?" Jasper smiled.

"Your girl? Better she be dead than mated to you," the telepath sneered.

"What is it about me that you hate so much, Edward?" Jasper asked calmly, not letting the telepath's words get to him. "You've disliked me almost from day one. And that was before you even knew about the horrors of my past or who I was. So what is it about me that bothers you so much?"

Edward stared at him silently, black-eyed and filled with loathing for both the empath and himself.

Jasper looked at him for a minute and couldn't help the tiniest bit of sympathy he felt for the boy in front of him. It was minuscule, really, but it was there. Jasper quickly glanced at Peter, who was watching Edward with the same small trace of sympathy. It was overwritten with a whole lot of hatred and disdain for the kid who wanted to steal his brother's soulmate, but like Jasper, that smidgeon was there.

When Jasper turned back to Edward, he spoke quietly so that the others wouldn't hear him.

"That's it? You saw my memories of Peter?" he asked gently. When Edward clenched his jaw and remained silent, Jasper nodded. "You saw those memories, Edward, so surely you know how much I loved him? How much he loved me? How can a relationship built on love like that be anything less than beautiful?"

Peter spoke just as softly. "With the life we lived back then, with what you've seen from Jasper, from me, can't you understand why we both grabbed onto that love and held onto it tightly? Nothing about life in that army was beautiful, Edward. Not a thing... but one."

"You call each other brothers," Edward sneered. "That wasn't brotherly love, that was a sin."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "He is my brother now, asshole. In every way that counts. As soon as he laid eyes on Charlotte, I felt the love he had for her. And from that very first moment he saw his mate, the love we had for each other shifted and changed. Surely you've seen that in my thoughts, too. Why would I ever want to stand between the man I loved most in this world and the woman he loved most? All I felt was profound happiness that he'd found his other half."

"And do you really see it as a sin, Edward?" Peter asked, head cocked to the side. "Has your moral viewpoint not changed in a hundred years? You don't live in the same time anymore, Edward. And even if you did, vampires exist on a whole different spectrum and with a whole lot more fluidity than humans."

"I'm sure your Charlotte would disagree," Edward said with a condescending smile. "Perhaps we should tell her."

Jasper rolled his eyes again. "Hey Charlotte?" he called in the direction of the house. "Could you come on out a sec?"

Edward's eyes went wide with surprise before breaking out in that arrogant smirk of his, always assuming he was smarter than everyone else.

"What's up?" Charlotte asked a few seconds later as she dropped from a tree to land beside her mate.

"Edward has something he'd like to tell you," Peter smiled.

Some uncertainty crept into Edward's emotions but he kept the smirk on his face.

Charlotte turned to look at the telepath with a frown. "I hope it's nothin' rude, Edward, because I'll tell you right now that I don't like you. Not only have you treated my brother like shit for fifty years, but now you're trying to kill the girl I consider a sister."

"Your brother," Edward scoffed. "I don't think you'll want him as your brother after I tell you what he's done."

Charlotte looked at Jasper in confusion, but he just shook his head and smiled, so she turned back to the telepath and crossed her arms. "Alright. I'm listening."

"Did you know Jasper and Peter were… morally depraved before you came along?" he sneered.

"Morally depraved," Charlotte laughed. "How were they 'morally depraved'?" she asked using air quotes.

"They were intimate. With each other," Edward snapped, not liking that she seemed to be making fun of him.

Charlotte gasped and turned to her mate. "Is he saying you two…" she trailed off with a laugh and shook her head. "I can't even play it off seriously, y'all. I tried."

"You knew?" Edward asked incredulously.

Charlotte stopped laughing and looked at him with a hard glare. "There's not a thing I don't know about my mate, Edward. Just like there's not a thing I don't know about my brother," she snapped. "You're really going to stand there judging them for grabbin' onto love where they could find it in that hell hole? I always knew you were a judgmental dick, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

Edward's eyes narrowed and he started taking a step forward but Jasper's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"If you think I'm so morally depraved, why the jealousy?" Jasper asked calmly. When Edward's eyes went wide, Jasper just smiled. "I'm an empath, Edward. Remember?"

Edward, realizing that he hadn't squashed that flicker of emotion as quickly as he thought he did, was suddenly flooded with shame. "I don't know what you're talking about," he snapped.

Peter shook his head with a smile. "It's not wrong to look. He's a handsome fella."

Charlotte nodded her agreement. At seeing Edward looking at her in surprise, she laughed lightly. "Are you expecting me to get upset that my mate thinks Jasper's a looker? You'll be waitin' a long time, if that's the case. Peter and Jasper's intimate relationship ended when they realized he and I were soulmates, but that doesn't mean Peter doesn't have eyes. And why on earth would I judge him for thinking Jasper's handsome? He is handsome. And Jasper loved him, Edward. Just like Peter loved him in return. There's no need for us to sweep that under the rug and pretend it didn't happen. Why would we even want to?"

Edward looked to Jasper with that same patronizing air he was so good at. "And Bella? How will she feel knowing you slept with your brother?"

Jasper shook his head. "Hey Ali?" he called. "Can you bring Bella out for a sec? Maybe keep hold of her and stay back a little ways just in case Mr. Impulsive here tries to grab her."

Not five seconds later, Alice's voice rang out from the tree above them. Everyone on the ground looked up to see her and Bella standing on a wide branch, Alice's arm tight around Bella's waist to hold her steady and ready to yank her out of harm's way if the telepath made any sudden moves.

"What's up, Jas?" Alice asked with a smile, already knowing why he'd called them out.

"Bella, sweetheart, Edward has something he'd like to say," Jasper told his mate.

"Unless it's an apology and a promise to stay far away from me, I don't want to hear it," she snapped at her ex-boyfriend.

Edward scoffed. "I just think you have a right to now who your mate is, unlike the Whitlocks."

"Uh," Bella hesitated, looking at Jasper and letting him feel her confusion. He quickly sent back his reassurance and his love, so she nodded and looked back to her ex-boyfriend. "Go ahead."

"The 'man' you want to spend eternity with isn't who he claims to be," Edward started, sounding every bit the arrogant dick he is. "Before he left the army, he and Peter—"

Bella's laughter cut him off. "First of all, using air quotes with 'man' is ridiculous, even for you. Have you seen him, Edward? He is a man, whereas you are cursed to forever walk the world as a boy. As for him and Peter? Are you going to shock me by telling me they used to be in love? Jasper told me that the very first time he told me about Peter. It was like, the second sentence after 'I sired Peter' so you're about a year and half too late, asshole," she snapped.

"You knew? All this time, you knew and still wanted to be friends with him?" Edward asked incredulously, which made the disbelief and anger in the group skyrocket.

"Jas, heads up!" Alice said before Bella could respond, then lowered Bella into his open arms.

In the blink of an eye, she had the telepath face-down in the grass and tore off his right leg. She snapped his left leg off at his knee and then flipped him on his back and sat on his stomach, his arms pinned at his side so he couldn't move.

Seeing Edward's shock that she'd overpowered him so easily, she smiled brightly. "I'm fast and deadly, Edward. Jasper made sure of that. And if you think I'm going to just stand back and let your sanctimonious ass try to make my best friend think there's anything wrong with him, then you've misread me for fifty years. Did you think this was some deep dark secret? Why would it be? There's nothing shameful about loving someone. You think you're gonna reveal some hidden well of guilt inside Jasper, or make his loved ones turn on him, by blurting out your bullshit opinions about him and Peter? Guess again, Edward," she sneered and then raised her head. "Can the rest of you come join us please?" she called towards the house.

Within seconds, Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie, and Emmett had joined the group, standing between Edward and where Jasper was holding Bella. Bella scooted around so she was perched on her mate's back. That way she could still see but Jasper could get them away quickly if needed.

Alice looked up at her family. "How many of you knew about Jasper and Peter?" she asked.

"I did," all four answered.

"And who told you?" she asked.

"Jasper," they all said.

Alice looked down at the telepath with a sunny little smile. "See? Not such a big terrible secret. The only reason you didn't know is because we all knew you'd judge Jasper and Peter just as severely as you are now," she said, then looked at her family again. "Raise your hand if you think Jasper and Peter are 'morally depraved' please."

Of course, not a single hand went up. The looks of disgust towards the legless boy on the ground, however, were unanimous.

"Now," Alice said, poking her finger in Edward's chest. "You want to know about moral depravity? Let me tell you a story. Actually, better yet… Carlisle? Why don't you let Edward see your memories of the talk we had with the family, when Jas and I told you everything from my very first vision of Bella. That way he can see everyone's reaction also."

Carlisle looked at the boy he'd called a son and loosened the tight control he'd kept on his thoughts. He pulled up the memory of the conversation he'd had with Alice and Jasper in the woods the night Edward had hurt Bella at the family meeting, and then his memories of the meeting around the dining room table the family had a few days later.

"Hold on, sweetheart," Jasper said quietly to Bella, who tightened her arms and legs around him. Once he knew she was secure, he jumped for a branch of the tree beside them and hauled them up. "Better safe than sorry," he shrugged.

Bella kissed behind his ear. "Thank you," she whispered.

The whole group watched Edward's face as Carlisle mentally showed him what Alice and Jasper had been through in trying to protect Bella.

Jasper suddenly felt foreign emotions getting closer, and from more than one person. Looking at Peter, he saw he had a small smile on his face and was practically overflowing with happiness.

"Charlotte," Jasper whispered, then motioned for her to jump up. "Stay with her, please."

Charlotte nodded and helped Bella off Jasper's back, and then he quickly climbed higher for a better vantage point. There were six figures approaching, three of whom he recognized from a painting on Carlisle's office wall. But it was a fourth face that had Jasper frozen in place for a full two seconds before his entire being exploded with joy.

"Holy shit," he whispered, then quickly looked down at Alice. She was busy death-glaring her former brother and didn't seem aware of what was coming. Jasper dropped from the tree with a heavy thud. "Ali!" he shouted.

Alice startled and looked up at him. "What? What's wrong?" she asked quickly, then saw the wide grin on his face, his eyes lit from within with happiness.

Jasper pulled her off Edward and into his arms, spinning them around in a circle, his bright laughter filling the air. Alice just held on as she laughed, the empath's joy spilling out of him to touch everyone in the yard.

"What is it, Jas?" she laughed.

Jasper set her down on her feet and turned her in the direction of their arriving guests. "He's here," he said softly, pointing at the face of the man Alice had drawn more than five years before.

Alice gasped. "Holy shit, he's here," she whispered.

As the six figures walked ever closer, the Cullens, Charlotte, and Bella all looked at Alice and Jasper in confusion. Peter, however, was watching them with a soft smile, happy beyond belief that Alice's other half had finally been found.