A/N: All your comments have me cracking up! I've never heard the phrase douche canoe but I'm already planning out when I can use it on my loved ones, so thanks for that traceybuie!
Also, I just now realized there was a little review counter thingie and at the time I'm writing this note, there are exactly 85 reviews for this story, which is exactly 85 more than I thought there would be! I don't know how to say a big enough thank you so I'm just going to have to shout it. THANK YOU!
I'm grateful for each and every one of you:)
Take care, M. x
Family Meeting Part II
As the group sat on the porch, Bella's hands were still shaking slightly from the adrenaline that had flooded her system a few minutes before.
"Jas, could you, uh…" Bella trailed off, not sure what she needed.
Jasper nodded and gently took her hand, slowly feeding her some calm. When she tucked herself in a little closer to his side, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and added in some reassurance to let her know without words that everything was going to be okay.
It didn't take too long before she felt her frazzled emotions settle back to normal. Just as Jasper was lifting his head to glance in the window behind him, Alice gasped.
"Bella, shield Esme!" she whispered quickly.
Hearing the urgency in the pixie's voice, Bella closed her eyes and Jasper practically flooded her with calm determination. That instinctive need to protect those she loved made it easy to find her shield, but she wasn't sure how to do what she needed without having physical contact with Esme.
Jasper must have understood because a second later, Esme was kneeling in front of her, hands resting gently on her knees.
"Bella, are you alright?" she asked softly.
Bella quickly reached out and took hold of her hand as she nodded, eyes still closed. "Yes, just… give me a minute."
"Okay, whatever you need," Esme agreed quietly, moving slightly so she could run her fingers through Bella's hair.
When Peter described how he thought she could shield her friends and family, Bella was both skeptical and amused. But because following his initial advice - to imagine her shield as something tangible that she could see and manipulate - was what led her to be able to protect Alice in Volterra, she didn't hesitate to follow his advice again.
She focused all her attention inward and pulled up the visualization she and Peter had come up with. Once she felt where her shield was, she pictured herself holding a tiny heart-shaped cookie cutter and gently pressing it against the 'soap bubble' around her mind. Rather than popping, the way she'd initially feared it would, she was able to carve out a little heart. She then focused on imagining a line straight from her heart to Esme's and 'sending' the heart-shaped shield to her. That gave her the ability to leave a 'piece' with her loved ones rather than trying to extend her shield over too many people at one time.
She heard Jasper laugh quietly beside her as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Well done, sweetheart. If Edward's emotions are anything to go by, he just lost Esme's thoughts."
Bella let out a relieved sigh as she blinked her eyes open. "That gift of yours is handy. I have no way of knowing on my end if it works."
"His gift is handy? Bella, you've given us privacy for the first time!" Rose exclaimed with a wide smile. "Edward was here before every single one of us who Carlisle changed. We have never had privacy in the Cullen home. Ever."
Bella smiled tiredly at Rosalie. "I'm happy I can help. I'm not sure what'll happen when I'm not nearby, I don't know if the heart stays with you or disappears when I do."
"Heart?" Esme asked.
Jasper felt Bella's embarrassment as she blushed. "That's how I picture it. As a heart I sort of… cut out of my shield and send you."
Esme pulled the girl in for a hug. "Thank you," she whispered.
Alice must have nipped inside to make her a cup of coffee because she was passed a steaming mug when Esme released her. "Thanks, Ali," she sighed, cradling her hands around the mug for warmth. "It's tiring trying to use a gift as a human."
Jasper laughed. "You use your gift every day without even noticing. It's manipulating it that's exhausting for the human."
Bella jabbed her elbow in his side but couldn't hide her smile. "True."
"You know that might not necessarily change after you're turned. Sometimes offensive and—"
Jasper was interrupted by a low snarl as Edward practically came flying through the door onto the porch. "No one is changing Bella."
Before Edward could take a single step towards Jasper's mate, Jasper had the telepath pinned face down in the yard, knee between his shoulder blades.
"You are just begging to get your ass kicked today, Edward," he growled.
"Edward, you don't get to decide if I'm changed or not," Bella snapped.
Edward thrashed in Jasper's hold but couldn't get himself free. "We're getting married, of course I get to decide."
Jasper felt bright flares of shock all around him and started laughing. "Maybe wait until she accepts your proposal before you start spreading the happy news."
"Proposal?" Bella snorted. "He never actually asked me."
"Yes I—"
"Shut up, asshole, it's not your turn to talk," Jasper snapped, pressing his knee down a little bit harder.
Bella let out an annoyed sigh but before she could say anything, Rosalie stood up and walked over to where Edward was being restrained in the grass. "And why do you get to decide even if she does agree to marry you?"
"Which I don't," Bella huffed.
"What! Bella—"
"I swear to god, Edward, I will take your fuckin' tongue out if you can't keep your goddamn mouth shut," Jasper growled.
Bella rolled her eyes and turned to Esme, who was now standing beside Carlisle. Bella hadn't even seen him come outside. Honestly, sometimes being the lone human in a gaggle of supernatural beings sucked.
"Maybe we should restart the meeting. All of this is connected… the Volturi, my turning, and Edward's non-proposal."
"Alright," Carlisle nodded and turned to the trio in the yard. "Edward, can you control yourself?"
"Me? They're the two who keep attacking me!"
"There's the seventeen-year old we know and love," Emmett rolled his eyes. "Seriously, for someone who's been around as long as you have you sure haven't grown up any."
"Like you're one to talk about being mature," Edward scoffed.
Rosalie stomped down on the back of his leg. "Watch it," she hissed.
"You think Emmett is immature, Edward?" Esme asked, her voice hard. "Not only did he help support his human family before he was turned, but when he and Rosalie go off and live on their own for extended lengths of time, he and Rosalie work to support themselves, not wanting to use Cullen money when they're not living with us. Have you ever supported yourself, Edward?"
Jasper smiled at feeling Emmett's gratitude for Esme's words, so he caught Emmett's eye and tipped his head towards Esme, letting him feel Esme's pride in and respect for her bear of a son.
Emmett's grin grew impossibly wider. "Thanks, Esme."
Esme gave him a proud smile before turning back to Edward. "Did you never hear that in his thoughts?" she asked. "Or did you hear it and ignore it because it wasn't something you could use against him?"
"Oh daaaamn!" Emmett crowed, making nearly everyone laugh, breaking some of the tension. "Esme, you're on fire today!"
"Shall we continue the meeting out here?" Carlisle jumped in. "I'd hate for there to be any more broken furniture and it seems like we're going to be broaching the most fraught topics of the day."
"I'm fine with whatever you decide, but I need a human moment and I wouldn't mind some more coffee," Bella answered.
"I'll come with you," Alice said and hopped up. At Bella's skeptical look, she laughed. "For the coffee, not the human moment."
Bella smiled. "Alright, come on."
Once the two were inside, Carlisle turned back to where Edward was still being held down in the grass. "If you think you can control yourself, Edward, I'll ask Jasper to let you up. If not, I'm perfectly happy to let him continue as he is now."
"I'm fine," Edward snapped, then sighed and tried again a little more politely. "I'm fine."
"Alright," Carlisle nodded. "Jasper?"
With one last hard shove into the ground, Jasper stood up and walked up onto the porch, retaking his seat on the little couch where he was sitting with Bella. "Keep your distance, asshole. If Bella gets hurt because of your impetuous temper, no one here will be able to stop me before I have you in pieces."
Rosalie walked up and sat on the floor in front of Bella's spot. "He'll have to get through me first," she sneered.
Edward got up with an indignant huff and brushed the dirt from his clothes. "You could at least give me my finger back."
Rose looked at Jasper who shrugged. "I don't care."
Alice and Bella walked outside then and Alice tossed Rosalie her purse, who then took Edward's pinky out and threw it straight at his face.
Edward, the pussy that he is, instinctively ducked, which meant his pinky flew past him to land in the grass.
Everyone on the porch burst out laughing - Carlisle included, though he did try to cover it with a cough or three - and Edward let out a growl as he walked over to pick it up, trying to wipe it off on his shirt.
"Betcha wish you'd taken Jasper up on those lessons now, huh?" Emmett wheezed out between laughs. "What vampire ducks?"
"Shut up, Emmett," Edward snarled while he picked blades of grass off his pinky, which was sticky with venom.
Once the laughter had died down and Bella was back in her seat, Carlisle cleared his throat and gestured to her. "Bella, the floor is yours."
Bella nodded and looked at Edward for a moment. "Edward, as I'm sure you can tell, I'm not going to marry you. I think—"
"But Bella—"
"Edward," Esme cut him off. "I'm only going to tell you this one time. You will have your turn to talk, but you will not interrupt Bella, or anyone else, when it is their time to speak. If you don't think you can manage that most basic level of respect, we are fully capable of having this family meeting without you."
Edward looked at Esme incredulously for a moment before petulantly nodding. "Fine."
"Good, thank you. Bella?" Esme nodded.
"Thanks," she said, giving Esme a grateful smile. Edward never wanted to listen to her so she was pleased that the rest of the family was giving her the time to explain things in her words. She had no intention of letting Edward give the Cullens his own spin on events to try to get them on his side. "As I was saying, Edward, I won't be accepting your proposal. I've had a lot of time since you left to look at our relationship more closely. And it was never even. You always had more power than I did, and honestly, you continually interrupting me just shows me that hasn't changed. You were never willing to hear me when we were together. And when you told me why you broke up with me, the lies you told, the choice you were making about my future… even if Volterra hadn't happened, I'm not sure I could've given you another chance."
Edward's scowl deepened but Bella ignored him as she went on to explain to the family exactly what happened when Edward had taken her for a walk in the woods.
The rest of the family's anger grew and Edward found himself on the receiving end of more than one hard look. But of course the telepath could never admit he was ever wrong about anything, so he just ignored them, fully convinced he'd done the right thing. Jasper had lived with the family for sixty years by then and he knew his 'brother' well enough to know what he was thinking based on his emotions. All it did was piss Jasper off even more than he already was.
Once Bella had finished relaying that portion of her story, Carlisle turned to Edward. "Is there anything you'd like to add here, Edward?"
"Nothing except that I did what was best for Bella. She wasn't safe in our world. I wanted her to have a happy, human life," Edward said with a dismissive shrug.
Carlisle and the others looked at Edward skeptically. "And why are you the one who gets to make choices about Bella's future? Especially without first having an open dialogue about your concerns?" he asked.
"She's my mate, of course I can decide," Edward snapped, and boy, the anger that bombarded Jasper on all sides was intense.
"Edward, have you ever seen me making decisions without Esme's input?" Carlisle asked. "Have you ever seen me try to limit her choices just because she's my mate? Have you ever seen me attempt to control her actions? Have you ever seen Emmett do those things to Rosalie?"
Edward, of course, refused to answer.
After Carlisle's words, the rest of the family waited for Bella to respond to Edward. This was her life they were discussing, she was in charge of how this conversation unfolded. Rosalie couldn't help the low growl that escaped her, though. Edward's words struck a painful chord with her. It was a little too reminiscent of the way she'd been treated by her fiancé when she was human - the same man who had attacked her with his friends. Royce had seen Rosalie as a possession to do with as he pleased.
Jasper, feeling Rose's turbulent emotions, knew where her mind had gone. He gently put his hand on her shoulder, not using his gift to calm her, simply being a silent support and letting her feel his love for her. Rosalie gave the smallest nod of her head in thanks.
Bella smiled seeing the brief and low-key exchange between the two, then turned back to her ex with a sigh.
"Edward. You and I aren't mates. We both know that to be true. I'm not sure why you feel the need to keep insisting that we are."
"Bella, would you mind if I cut in for a moment?" Carlisle asked. At Bella's nod, he turned to Edward. "Edward, you know of the Volturi's gifts, yes?"
Edward froze for a split second but then gave a resigned nod.
"So you are aware that Marcus sees bonds. When you were in Volterra, did you hear nothing from his mind?" he asked.
"I did," Edward admitted. "But… Just because Bella and I aren't mates doesn't mean I don't love her. All I've ever wanted was what was best for her. And she loves me. Now that I'm back in her life, we could be happy together. Isn't that what matters most?"
Bella let out a long sigh. "Edward, I feel like we just keep repeating the same thing over and over again. You don't get to decide what's best for me. I do. This is my life, my future. I decide what it looks like. And… I'm not in love with you anymore, Edward. I think that ended in the woods behind my house," she said, shaking her head when she saw her former boyfriend open his mouth. "No, let me finish. It may have taken me some time to see that, but Edward, any love that might possibly have been left inside me died in the throne room."
Edward snapped his mouth shut at the reminder. While he still believed he wasn't in the wrong, he knew the rest of the family likely wouldn't agree.
Emmett was starting to get impatient. They'd mentioned the throne room more than once and he wanted to know what Edward had done to his sister. "Will somebody please just explain what happened in Volterra?"
"Sorry, Em," Bella smiled. "Aro was going to let us leave, on the condition I be changed. I was a human who knew the secret, so there were only two choices - be changed or die. Aro was even willing to give me time, rather than forcing me to be turned immediately. I thought everything was going to be okay, Edward had reluctantly nodded his agreement, but before we could leave, Aro said to Edward that he had to mean it. Had to really intend to change me. And if not, they couldn't let me leave alive. I'm assuming he heard in Edward's thoughts that he had no intention of me ever becoming a vampire."
At hearing the gasps and low growls around her, she figured the others already knew where this was heading. She gave Alice a wide smile. "Don't worry, Ali jumped in to save the day."
"I'd already seen Bella as a vampire, so I offered to let Aro see it," Alice explained.
"I never wanted Bella to—"
Alice cut him off with a glare. "It was never your decision to make, Edward. I saw Bella as one of us before you'd ever met her. Fate decided, not the all-mighty Edward Cullen," she snapped.
Alice and Jasper both sent up their gratitude that their thoughts were shielded. It allowed Alice to tell part of the truth without Edward having the opportunity to try and delve into her mind for more information.
"I never would have taken her soul from her… turned her into a soulless monster," Edward snarled.
Jasper couldn't help but laugh at the telepath. "Do you even hear yourself, Edward. Are you going to sit there and tell me that Esme is a 'soulless monster'? That Carlisle - who hasn't taken a single human life in his three centuries as a vampire - is a soulless monster? Or Rosalie, who's never so much as tasted human blood? What about Emmett, who is just about the happiest, most good-natured person I have ever encountered? How about Alice, who would do anything at all for the people she loves? Are they all soulless monsters?"
When Edward opened his mouth, Jasper cut him off before he could start mouthing off more bullshit.
"And what about me? The one you have always judged most harshly, always thought you were superior to. I spent eighty-five years on our traditional diet. Eighty-five years, Edward. And yet the second I found out that I could survive on animal blood, I changed my diet. Was I perfect in the beginning? No. But did I ever give up? No. Would a soulless monster have even bothered trying? If I was such a monster, I wouldn't have given a shit about killing humans. You, on the other hand, knew you could live on animals, yet you chose to go out and feed off humans for years. The number of humans I've killed in slips since I started this diet is the barest fraction of how many you killed during your 'rebellious' years. So tell me, brother, who's the monster in this scenario?" Jasper snapped. "Don't try to shift your own shame onto us."
Edward growled - his muscles coiled, ready to spring - but Carlisle quickly moved to put his hand on Edward's shoulder. "Don't, Edward. Don't even think about moving."
When Jasper tore his gaze away from the telepath, he looked around to see all the family and Bella smiling at him with wide, beaming smiles. Their pride and love was practically a visible entity on the porch.
"What?" Jasper laughed. "It's true."
Bella squeezed his hand, her heart full of love for her empathic best friend.
"Thank you, Jasper," Esme said, silently sending him her gratitude before she turned to Edward. "If you believe we have no souls, Edward, how would you explain mates? You seem to believe in those."
Seeing Edward's confusion, Rosalie couldn't help but laugh. "What's another way to explain mates, Edward?" she asked. When he stubbornly kept his mouth shut, she rolled her eyes. "Soulmates, Edward. Soulmates. If we didn't have souls, we wouldn't have souls to mate with, asshole."
Most of the porch started laughing at that, but then Bella let out a huge yawn. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I know none of you get tired, but I'm still mortal and we've been at this for hours. The only thing left to talk about is my change, but I'll just go ahead and tell you where things stand and you can discuss it after I leave. I have to be changed. The Volturi is giving me the choice, and I have no intention of dying just because Edward is stubborn. If none of you are willing to do it, or you don't want me as part of your family, that's okay. I've already spoken to Peter and Charlotte and they've let me know I'm welcome to come to Texas."
Jasper hadn't known that piece of news but he wasn't surprised by it. He gave Bella a wide smile, grateful that she trusted his other family that much, but quickly snapped his eyes back to Edward when he felt his possessiveness and anger spike.
Before he even turned his head completely, Edward had thrown off Carlisle's hand and lunged for Jasper.
In Edward's blind rage, he forgot about the human he claimed to love who was sitting beside Jasper.
Rosalie spun around to grab Bella and get her out of the way at the same moment Jasper stood to intercept Edward. It all happened faster than Bella eye's could keep up with, but even if she couldn't see it, she definitely felt it when Edward collided with Jasper, sending the couch spinning and knocking her into the air.
Bella let out a pain-filled scream just as her world went dark.
