A/N: I'm posting two chapters todays so make sure you don't skip Chapter 13: Disillusioned and Delusional. As always, thank you for reading and reviewing:) ~ M. x

The Quiz

The next evening, after the small group of guards returned from Oslo, the inhabitants of the castle were eagerly gathering in the largest audience chamber. When Jasper and Bella walked in the room, they both laughed to see that rows of desks were now filling the space, and on each desk was a piece of paper and a pencil.

Over the course of the previous few days, Jasper, Bella, and the rest of their family had worked on a surprise for the kings and the guard that they'd delivered to the recipients an hour earlier.

Jasper and Bella had wanted to choose a boy's name that reflected their brothers, but didn't want to use Emmett or Peter. Instead they'd played around with 'Em' and eventually settled on Emerson Patrick. Emerson's quote 'When it is dark enough, you can see the stars' resonated with both of them. They each had periods where life felt hopeless and the future dim - Jasper more than one - and it was at those times that the warmth and light of the unconditional love from their friends and family allowed them to see a brighter path ahead of them.

When they'd had a recent conversation about Leah and Paul and the way they'd risked so much to help Bella, she realized that the 'L' of Lillian could be a nod to Leah as well. So for a middle name they chose Patrick, in honor of both Peter and Paul.

Once the kings and guard had been polled about what sex they predicted the baby would be, they bought t-shirts in blue and pink, then did some more hand-painting. The blue shirts read Aunt or Uncle of Emerson Patrick, while the pink read Aunt or Uncle of Lillian Charlotte, depending on if the guard was male or female.

Bella and Jasper were both in pink t-shirts, as was most of their family, Emmett being the only one in blue. As for the rest of the guard, it was pretty evenly split. Interestingly, those who spent the most time with the expecting mother and her mate - namely the three kings, Chelsea, and Jane - were all wearing pink as well.

At the front of the room in the center, two desks had been pushed together so that Jasper and Bella could be on a team together, and someone had tied two balloons to the chair - one pink, one blue.

Once everyone had found a seat, including Aro and Caius, Marcus walked to the front of the room.

"Good evening, everyone," he started with a genuine smile on his face. "I know you've been eagerly awaiting this moment, so I will be brief. You are a highly competitive bunch, that's no secret, so I ask that you please proceed carefully. No cheating is allowed, and that means no using gifts of any kind in order to gain an advantage," he said, giving Jasper a pointed look.

"I wasn't going to!" Jasper laughed. "My mate and I don't need to cheat to crush y'all."

Marcus smiled as he looked around the room. "You have twenty minutes—"

He was interrupted by Felix calling out from the back. "What's the prize if we win?"

Jasper and Bella had thought long and hard about that. They'd learned through all their time spent with the various residents of the castle that everyone was hoping Bella would change her mind and stay in Italy so they could be around for the birth. Well, not the birth itself, but for the baby's first days in the world.

"Aside from bragging rights?" Marcus chuckled, then looked at Bella and Jasper, who smiled and nodded. "As you know, the parents-to-be will, at some point in the near future, be returning to the States. Whoever wins tonight will be given a temporary hiatus from official duty towards the end of Bella's pregnancy and are invited to Montana to be present for the birth and the first few weeks of the little one's life."

"And for those of who will already be in Montana?" Peter asked. "What do we win?"

"A temporary hiatus from duty and an invitation to leave Montana to miss the birth," Jasper laughed. When Peter gave him a playful glare, he smiled. "If it's one of you, you'll have the honor of being the first to hold the baby after Bella and myself. Knowing y'all like we do, those bragging rights will surely stretch into eternity."

"And if Jasper and Bella win?" Jane asked.

"Then everyone clears out and we have those first few weeks all to ourselves," Bella laughed.

"Any other questions?" Marcus asked. When everyone shook their heads, he smiled. "Then you have twenty minutes, beginning… now."

Eight minutes later, the only ones in the room still working were the soon-to-be parents and Gianna. Jasper was mostly content to sit back and let Bella fill out their answers, though he did correct her answers on two of the questions. Nine minutes after that, Bella put her pencil down, and two minutes later, Gianna did the same.

At exactly twenty minutes, Marcus cleared his throat as he walked through the aisles and set a red pen on each desk. "Time. Now, if you'd all exchange quizzes with someone else, we'll move on to grading them."

There was some good-natured moaning and groaning, but everyone did a swap and picked up the red pens.

"Alright, I'll read the answers out in order," Marcus said when everyone was ready. "Number one, the answer is forty, number two is raspberry, three is folic acid, four is doula, five is afterbirth…" and on and on until he reached number twenty. "Number twenty is Bella Swan and Jasper Whitlock," he chuckled. "Pass the papers to the front please."

Everyone handed their quiz to the person in front of them, all filled with anticipation and excitement.

After Marcus quickly glanced through every sheet of paper, he looked up and smiled. "The winners, with every answer correct, are Bella and Jasper."

"Yes!" the couple shouted. "Told ya, suckers," Jasper added with a laugh.

Marcus held up his hand at the good-natured grumbling. "Bella and Jasper already relayed to me that, even if they won, they'd rather the official winner be someone else. This is an experience they want to be able to share with their loved ones. They asked that one winner from the Volturi and one winner from their family in the States be announced. So, I'm very pleased to inform you that the two winners, both of whom had nineteen correct answers and who will both be entitled to the relevant prize, are Chelsea Volturi and Esme McCarty."

Jasper basked in the happiness of his mate and the room as everyone cheered for their winning friend or family member. He honestly couldn't be happier about how this turned out. He and his mate had kicked everyone's ass, Esme would get to be the third person to hold the baby, and the visiting member of the Volturi was the very first friend Bella had made in Volterra. Chelsea had been looking out for Bella since she'd first stepped foot in the castle.

Just for those few moments, life felt pretty fuckin' perfect. Jasper knew it wouldn't last, so he just let himself enjoy it while it lasted.