A/N: Anyone who read Fate Unfolding knows how much fun I had writing that first family meeting. The initial confrontation with the Cullens starts in the next chapter and I've had just as much fun writing that!
Thank you, each and every one of you, for taking the time to read this:) ~ M. x
Reputations
Bella, Jasper, Peter, and Charlotte walked into Aro's study to find all three kings waiting for them. As they got settled, Jasper was laser-focused on their emotions, but only ended up frustrated because he was running into the same problem he had the day before. The kings were an unknown to him. Was Aro's worry because of Bella or some other government matter on his mind? Was Caius' anger directed at them or a result of some other issue on his plate?
Jasper had always hated being blind in any situation related to his own safety or that of Peter and Charlotte. Add in that his pregnant, human mate was in uncertain fuckin' water and Jasper was grumpy before anyone had even spoken a word.
"Thank you for meeting with us," Aro started. "Before we begin, have any of you had contact with any of the Cullens?"
Peter, Charlotte, and Bella all shook their heads, while Jasper nodded. "I have. Carlisle called me last night and I called Rosalie directly after," he said, not sure how much information to give away at that point.
"And none of the others?" Caius asked with a smirk, feeling amused by something. When Jasper shook his head, Caius actually laughed and the other two kings smiled. Even Marcus. "So you didn't run into Edward Cullen earlier?"
All four guests laughed at the reminder. "Let me guess, he tried to whine and complain about what monsters my mate and his family are?" Bella said as she rolled her eyes.
"He did," Aro smiled. "I very politely reminded him that he was the one here because he committed a crime, not Jasper. I also told him that I would be more than happy to change his accommodations and that I imagined he would be safe from his former brother in the cells beneath the castle."
"I would've loved to see his face when you turned it on him," Jasper laughed. "He always treated me like I was the most reprehensible being he'd ever come across. Never mind that the hypocritical little shit lived on humans for years."
"So you both know of your connection now?" Marcus asked, changing the subject.
"We do," Bella smiled. "Jasper figured it out yesterday and told me once we were alone."
All three kings smiled. Finding one's mate in this life was a precious gift. Even Marcus, with his tragic history, found a very small piece of happiness whenever mates connected.
"We're going on the assumption that Alice seeing that Bella and I are mates is the starting point for everything that's happened in the last two years," Jasper said. "Every bad thing, anyway."
"You are correct," Aro answered with a nod.
"Are we also correct that the three nomads didn't just happen to stumble on the Cullens the night of the baseball game?" Peter asked.
When Aro nodded again, Jasper had to grit his teeth against his anger. "Did the others know? Edward, Carlisle, did they know?"
"I don't believe so," Aro shook his head. "Edward has his suspicions but isn't certain, and that was only after the fact. He didn't suspect anything at the time. From their thoughts it appears Carlisle didn't know then and still hasn't put it together. But I won't know that definitively until I read him."
"I didn't know her at all, did I?" Jasper said quietly after a minute of silence. "All those years together…"
Bella scooted herself a little closer and took his hand. "I know she was only in my life a very, very short time compared to the rest of you, but she had me fooled, too. I knew she was pushy and kinda manipulative with her gift, using it as a way to get what she wanted, but I never would have guessed she hated me so much and wanted me dead. She was good at plastering on those fake smiles while manipulating everyone behind the scenes."
Peter nodded his agreement. "Carlisle always put more stock in Edward and Alice's word because of their gifts, you know that. The sky could be sunny right out the window and Alice could say she'd 'seen' that it was cloudy and he'd take her word for it. Even if you, Rosalie, Emmett, even Esme tried pointin' outside to show him the sun, he'd shrug you off."
"It's true," Aro agreed. "There were many, many times over the years when Edward and Alice wanted a particular outcome and lied that they'd either 'heard' or 'seen' something that pushed Carlisle into agreeing with them. Nothing so serious as the events related to you and Bella, but it was a system that had always worked for them."
"It's why they were so certain they could manipulate the family into leaving after Miss Swan's party," Caius added with a sneer. "They knew your explanation would merely sound like an excuse once they told Carlisle what they wanted him to believe. Namely, that you were out of control and a danger to Bella."
"It did not, however, work quite as well when they attempted to get the entire family to turn on you. Carlisle, yes, though he had begun treating you with contempt long before then. But Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett never ceased in their defense of you," Aro told him. "Even after you left the family, they continued to stand up for you."
Jasper was almost afraid to ask the next question. He'd felt so fuckin' lost when he left the family, the people - well, some of them - that he'd loved for decades. He fully trusted that Rose didn't know Bella was his mate. She never would have kept quiet about something so serious, especially because it was such an absolute law in their world. The thought of Emmett and Esme being complicit… it made him feel breathless and shaky, like whatever solid ground he'd managed to find between then and now was gonna dissolve under his feet.
Charlotte saw the struggle on her brother's face and felt a sharp pang of anger and sadness on his behalf. "Did Esme and Emmett know Bella was Jasper's mate?" she asked quietly, holding her breath and sending up a heartfelt prayer that the answer was no.
"No," Aro answered immediately. "They were not part of the initial scheming that went on when Alice had her first vision of the two, and If they ever figured it out along the way, or had any suspicions, they never spoke to either Edward or Alice about it. And Edward heard no thoughts and Alice saw no visions in which they did."
Jasper let out a shaky breath and was surprised when he felt venom tears sting his eyes. His relief that he hadn't been betrayed by the three people in that house he'd loved the most was so profound that it spilled over to touch everyone in the room.
When Bella's breath caught in her throat and tears filled her eyes, she huffed a laugh and elbowed her mate in the ribs. "Rein it in, Whitlock."
"Sorry," Jasper laughed as he tightened his control over his gift. "I'm just really relieved."
"I'm sorry, Jasper," Caius said softly, surprising the hell out of the Whitlocks. "No one should have to worry about that level of betrayal. I'm glad that some of those you loved were innocent."
"Uh… thank you," Jasper said through his shock. Caius was always described as the most cold and bloodthirsty of the kings. And going by the laugh Caius let out, Jasper's shock was clear on his face.
"Don't believe everything you hear," Caius smiled. "Sometimes the reputation you're believed to have prevents others from acting against you. Given your history and your reputation, I'm sure you can understand."
Jasper could only nod his agreement. When other vamps knew Jasper was the Major of the Southern Wars they tended to give him a wide berth.
"So what happens now?" Bella asked.
"Now we simply wait for the rest of the Cullens to arrive and I read them all," Aro answered. "Once we have all the relevant information, we decide on appropriate punishments."
"The punishment for separating mates is death, right?" Bella asked, and all three kings nodded. "And how is the sentence usually carried out?"
Jasper smiled as he gently squeezed her hand because she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Typically when a vampire is sentenced to death we have Alec remove their senses and then they are dismembered and burned," Marcus answered. "They feel no pain."
"You said 'typically'," Peter pointed out. "What qualifies as atypical?"
"If one's crimes are particularly heinous, if they relished causing pain in others, we exclude the initial step with Alec, thus allowing them to feel a measure of the pain they themselves have caused," he explained.
"Good," Bella nodded. "I'm not all that bothered by what happens to Edward or Carlisle, though Jasper's opinion may differ, in which case I support whatever he feels is fair. They mean nothing to me in the face of Alice's crimes. I'm hoping you consider those atypical."
"I do," Marcus agreed, the other two kings nodding.
"I got the impression that you, Jasper, already have a punishment in mind," Aro said with a pleased little smirk.
Jasper just laughed and shrugged. "I might."
Jasper had every intention of keeping his ex-wife on her toes. If for some reason she had the use of her gift again, or Edward of his, he didn't want anyone else's thoughts or decisions giving him away. Let the bitch think he changed his mind or that she just caught a flash of a possible future that wasn't likely. It would just make the satisfaction when he ended her that much sweeter.
Jasper's life in the south was hell on earth. And he was going to take every tortuous second that went into creating that reputation of his and use it to make Alice's last moments in this world as painful as possible.
Bella's day had already been long and emotional and it was barely the middle of the afternoon. After stifling a yawn or two, she sent Jasper some impatience and hoped it would get her point across that she was ready to get back to their suite.
Jasper squeezed her hand in understanding. "Is it rude to ask if we can cut this short? We still have some time before the Cullens arrive, and my mate is both human and pregnant. I'd like to get a meal in her and give her a chance to rest before we see them," he said, hoping he wouldn't be offending the kings.
"Of course," Aro nodded immediately. "My apologies. Perhaps you were correct, Bella, in reminding me you needed to eat a meal at least once a day," he laughed. "I'm not accustomed to working on a human schedule."
Bella smiled and waved him off. "I sometimes forget myself, so I'm hardly going to judge you for it. But I do need to take better care of myself now, so I'm grateful for your understanding."
When Jasper caught Caius looking at his mate's stomach curiously, he couldn't help laughing. "It's only the size of a pea right now, Caius. I don't think you're going to see anything."
Caius smiled and shrugged. "I've been a vampire for so long that I don't know an earthly thing about pregnancy."
"Neither do we," Bella laughed as she stood up. "Jasper and I are going to do some reading and take a quiz in a week to see who knows more. You're welcome to take part if you'd like."
Caius simply smiled, but if the flash of resolve Jasper felt in him was anything to go by, he imagined Caius was going to be doing some reading of his own. Vamps were competitive as hell, Jasper had found, and the thought of a Volturi-wide pregnancy quiz had him chuckling and shaking his head.
Bella let him feel her curiosity, so he sent her caution and patience. When she nodded her understanding, he grinned that they were getting their empathic shorthand down so quick.
Charlotte and Peter decided to go out and explore Volterra while they had a cloudy afternoon in which to do it. Because of Maria's cautionary tales about their kings, they'd never been to Italy in all their time spent traveling the world. Besides, it gave Bella and Jasper some alone time. So after saying goodbye, they made their way out of the castle while Jasper and Bella went back to their suite.
When they walked in the door, Jasper immediately smelled that another vamp had been there. Before he could worry his way into an assumption that someone was up to no good, his mate laughed as she walked into the small kitchen area.
"Someone upgraded my kitchen and left some supplies," she explained when she saw Jasper looking at her. "There's a toaster-oven and a hot plate now, and a pot and pan, along with eggs, bread and soup, and some fruits and vegetables."
Jasper smiled when he saw what was there. "Whoever it was might've been doin' some pregnancy reading of their own. Whole grains, lean proteins, green vegetables, almonds… all things recommended for pregnancy."
Bella's eyes stung with grateful tears. "It's not a scent you recognize?" she asked, and Jasper shook his head. "Then we'll have to find out who it was so I can thank them," she said quietly as she went about making toast and slicing an apple to eat with some almond butter.
After Jasper had her cup of tea made and they were settled at the table, he asked the question he'd been so curious about. "Don't feel like you have to tell me if you don't want to, you have every right to privacy if you want it, mate or not, but what's the story with the daddy?"
Bella smiled at him, grateful that he was nothing like Edward. If he had found out she was pregnant, he would've hounded her unrelentingly until she told him every scrap of the story. Jasper had given her space to tell him in her own time. It probably helped that they had such a heaping plateful of things to worry about, but even if they didn't, she knew enough about the man from their friendship to know he'd respect her right to privacy.
"It's not a particularly spectacular or exciting story. Probably pretty typical for a lot of girls," she shrugged. "I'd been traveling for months, a few days here, a handful of days there, not really putting much thought into my life. I felt a weird combination of grief-stricken and edgy and restless. I'd been in Boston for a few weeks, and I'd found a bookstore that had a coffee shop attached that I liked to spend time in down the street from the hotel I was staying in. I got to know one of the guys that made coffee. Not much, I didn't feel at all comfortable talking about my life, but enough that we made small talk," Bella explained with another shrug. "He asked me if I wanted to go out with him one night to a bar. I told him I wasn't twenty-one yet but he said his friend was the bartender so it'd be fine. So… I went."
When she didn't say anything more, Jasper shook his head and laughed a little. "I know I'm a little ignorant about pregnancy, what with being dead and all, but I'm almost entirely certain you can't get pregnant sittin' on a barstool next to somebody."
Bella laughed and shrugged again. "I got drunk for the first time in my life. Which was quickly followed by having sex for the first time in my life."
When Jasper felt that same little flash of hurt in her, he reached over and took her hand. "Consensual sex?" he asked softly.
"What?" Bella looked at him in surprise, then quickly nodded. "Yes, definitely consensual. I'm assuming you felt my hurt?" she asked, and Jasper nodded. "Right. No, he didn't force me, Jas. When I went to the bookstore the next day, he ignored me. When I tried to ask him why he was being weird, he told me it was just a night of fun and not to read anything else into it," she explained.
"What a dick!" Jasper exclaimed, completely offended on his mate's behalf.
"Yep," Bella nodded. "Which is why I told you it's no one I'll be seeing again."
"What a lowdown, rotten, dirty, rat bastard," he muttered under his breath, making Bella laugh.
"I think you're more upset than I was," she smiled, touched that he cared enough to be upset for her. "I'm far from unique, Jasper."
"That doesn't make me any less pissed, Bella," he laughed. "Damn, today's human men are real assholes," he said as he shook his head.
Bella looked at him a little incredulously. "I'm pretty sure 'human men' were assholes in your day and age, too, old man," she laughed.
Jasper shrugged. "Coulda been," he smiled. "I don't actually remember. So, uh, what was his name?" he asked, aiming for casual indifference.
"Absolutely not," Bella immediately laughed. "I am not sentencing someone to a painful death just because he hurt my feelings. It's not like I have a reputation he tarnished. And don't look at me like that, Whitlock, I know you," she reminded him.
Jasper huffed a little. "I wouldn't have killed him painfully," he said, rolling his eyes. When Bella just gave him a pointed look, he huffed a couple more times. "Fine. I would've killed painfully."
Bella laughed as she got up to take her dishes to the sink. Before she could start washing them, Jasper took over, so instead she made another cup of tea. "What is that?" Jasper asked, nodding his head at the mug. "I gotta tell ya, it smells awful. Way worse than coffee."
"Green tea with ginger. It's probably the ginger you're smelling, I doubt green tea on its own would be bad. Ginger helps with nausea," she explained. "And as awful as you think coffee smells and tastes, I love it. My pea-sized stowaway, however, doesn't. It started making me feel sick recently so I switched to this. Green tea has a bit of the caffeine I was missing when I stopped coffee."
Jasper nodded and made a note to look up what else had ginger in it that could ease her nausea.
Once the few dishes were done, Bella took Jasper's hand and pulled him into the bedroom. "I'd really like a power nap, and you're just the man to help me with that," she said as she climbed in bed.
"What's a power nap?" he asked as he settled himself beside her. "I get the nap part," he quickly added when Bella gave him a weird look. "It's the 'power' part that I'm not clear on."
"Just a short little nap to give you a bit of energy. Usually thirty minutes or so," Bella explained with a smile to her vampire partner who hadn't slept in over a century and a half. "So if you could keep me under for about that long, you'll have my eternal gratitude."
"That's it?" Jasper laughed. "I just have to put you to sleep for half an hour and you'll be grateful for eternity? Eternity is a very, very long time, sweetheart."
"You're right," Bella admitted as she snuggled against his side. "I'll think of some other things you can do. How's that?"
"That's good," he smiled as she brushed her hair back. "Maybe start a list."
Bella smiled and hummed her acknowledgment as she felt herself falling into sleep. Finding out her connection to Jasper had been quite a shock, but Bella thought having an empathic mate was fucking great so far, if for no other reason than it allowed her to get some proper rest for the first time since her dad died.
Peter and Charlotte walked out of a third shop a couple hours later, Charlotte huffing in annoyance but smiling, Peter laughing. "It's not funny, Peter," she said, trying to hide her smile. "I wanted those!"
"I know, honey," he said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "We may have to travel a ways to find 'em. Looks like a popular topic all of a sudden."
"This is bullshit," she laughed as they walked. "Jasper's my brother, Bella's his mate. We're the most important in this whole little unlikely scenario."
"I agree," Peter smiled. "They sure are nothin' like their reputations, huh?" he laughed.
Every single book shop in Volterra was now freshly sold out of every single book about pregnancy.