A/N: Thanks for reading:) M. x

One Big, Weird Tribe

Hearing the cars approaching, Bella ran to the front door and threw it open, then just as quickly slammed it shut. "Damn it's cold!" she shouted as she pulled her huge coat on, then dashed back to the door and tried again. "Better," she nodded and took off down the front steps.

Jasper smiled and followed after her at a more leisurely pace, then quickly sped up when he saw her lose her footing on the slippery path. "Gotcha," he laughed as he caught her just before she hit the ground.

"Thanks, that—"

"Bella!" Esme shouted excitedly as she shifted into park a little too early and jumped out of the still-running SUV to pull her human daughter out of her mate's arms and into her own. "I missed you, darling."

"I missed you, too," Bella laughed as she soaked up an Esme-hug.

"Bella!" Emmett shouted as he plucked her from Esme's arms into his own and spun her around, though not too fast. He'd learned that lesson the hard way. Turns out 'morning' sickness was a bit of a misnomer. Bella could puke at all hours of the day.

"Emmett!" Bella laughed, grateful her bear of a brother wasn't making her nauseous.

A delicate throat-clearing had Emmett stopping and they turned to see Rosalie leaning against the hood of her car. "Sorry, was I hogging her too long?" Emmett asked, then carried Bella over to his mate and gently dropped her in Rosalie's arms.

"Bella!" Rosalie laughed, echoing the rest of her family as she hugged the only human she held any love for.

"Hey Rose," Bella laughed as she hugged her sister as tight as she was able to as a human.

Jasper leaned on the porch railing and watched them all with a smile. Having the trial in Italy over with had done them all a world of good. Some of the darker, heavier emotions that had taken root while learning about and confronting the monsters who'd lived in their midst had dissipated for the most part. All three former Cullens felt lighter than they had in a long time.

Esme walked up the porch steps and smiled when Jasper enveloped her in a hug. "How are you?" she asked as she pull away.

"Better. Being back here, feeling settled again, I feel pretty good," he answered honestly.

"I'm glad," Esme smiled. "How's Bella been feeling?"

"She's on day three of living her best vomit-free life," Jasper laughed. "I think the trial being over has done her just as much good as it's done the rest of us. She's still queasy pretty often but it's definitely better, so I think the stress and anxiety in Italy was contributing to how often she was sick. Here she can relax as much as she wants. There isn't really much to worry about."

"Good," Esme nodded. "I remember being terribly sick through most of my pregnancy, so as thrilled as I was at being pregnant and the prospect of becoming a mother, it was also a pretty uncomfortable nine months. Are the wolves around?"

Jasper nodded his head to the side of the house, where Leah and Paul had just turned the corner to come greet them. Jasper ran down the steps to meet them and walk with them the rest of the way. He wanted them to have an ally by their side when they met three more of their natural enemies.

"Holy shit, you weren't kidding," Leah muttered under her breath. "That dude is huge!"

Having heard her, Emmett didn't even think twice, he just dropped to the ground so he was sitting down. He knew his size made just about everyone who didn't know him a little edgy. Leah and Paul both smiled at his attempt to put them a little more at ease. They couldn't help but notice that the big dimpled grin on his face made him look a whole lot less imposing, too.

Rosalie had set Bella right beside her and was standing perfectly still. She knew her twin had gone to walk over with them so they had a vampire they trusted at their side, so she blew out a long breath to try and relax. Jasper would never let the wolves near his family or his mate if he didn't trust them. And since Jasper trusted them, it was a little easier for Rosalie to be slightly warmer than she would be with other strangers. She reminded herself, too, that they'd lost everything just for trying to protect Bella and her dad. And when they couldn't save Charlie Swan, they stayed and helped Bella deal with the fallout. At that thought, the hard lines of Rosalie's shoulders softened somewhat. Leah and Paul had already proved they were good people, wolves or not. And eyeing the two, Rose saw something all too familiar in their eyes. They'd both been betrayed by those they'd loved most in the world. And if she wasn't mistaken - and she rarely was - Leah had lived through some other kind of betrayal that had left her with a broken heart.

She let out another breath and nodded to herself. Alright, she could do this.

Taking slow steps to not put them on guard, she smiled a little as she walked towards them, then smiled a little wider when her brother let her feel his gratitude and pride that she was making the first move.

"Hi, I'm Rosalie," she said from about ten feet away. "May I shake your hands or would that make you uncomfortable?" she asked.

Leah was surprised, having expected this particular vamp to be the last to greet them, but she smiled and held out her hand as she closed the gap between them. She could see something awfully familiar in the blond's eyes. They reminded her of her own every time she looked in the mirror now. "I'm Leah. It's nice to meet you, Rosalie."

"Rose," she corrected. "Family calls me Rose."

And damn, the love and pride that slammed into Jasper from Esme, Emmett, and Bella made him flinch a little.

Leah smiled and nodded. "Rose, then."

"And you're Paul?" Rosalie asked as she held her hand out to the male wolf.

Paul nodded. "I am. It's nice to meet you, Rosalie. Rose," he corrected with a laugh when she raised an eyebrow at him.

Rosalie nodded. "You're both awfully good-looking. Is that a wolf thing?" she asked, making the two wolves blush a little and everyone else smile.

"Uh…" Paul didn't actually know what to say to that. "Thank you?"

Rosalie laughed. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I just know venom makes all of us more attractive than we were as humans. Not like you could improve much on me and my twin, but the others definitely needed all the help they could get," she said with a casual shrug while fighting a smile. "I just wondered if it was similar for the wolves."

"Rose is obviously the most modest of the family," Jasper said dryly, then quickly ducked when she tried to punch him. "And the most aggressive," he laughed.

"The hotness is definitely not a wolf thing," Bella laughed as they reached where she and Esme were standing next to Emmett, who was still sitting on the ground as if he hadn't a care in the world. "The others are just as ugly on the outside as they are on the inside. Or maybe their insides make their outsides ugly, I don't know. Those good looks are purely Clearwater and Lahote traits," she said, then frowned when she saw them bristle at the compliment. "What? Is it rude I called you hot? I wasn't trying to objectify you, I think you're just as lovely on the inside as you are on the outside."

"No, Bella," Leah laughed as she shook her head. "We just don't particularly want to be associated with the Clearwaters or Lahotes. Except Seth, of course," she added quickly. Her little brother was too much of a sweetheart to be included in her hatred of all things Quileute.

"Y'all are more than welcome to be Whitlocks if you'd like," Jasper offered, then smiled at the shock in the wolves.

Esme smiled at Paul and Leah. "If you can excuse my rudeness, I'll introduce myself in just a moment," she said, then turned to Jasper. "I actually wanted to ask you about that. Since Rose has never been a McCarty, she's decided to use Emmett's name. With them being a married couple, I'd like her to have the distinction of being the only female McCarty. Feel like adopting a sister?"

"Esme Whitlock?" Jasper asked with a grin. At Esme's nod, Jasper laughed and pulled her into a hug. "I'd be honored."

Esme gave a little squeal of happiness and turned back to the wolves. "Leah, Paul, I've heard such wonderful things about you and I'm so pleased to finally meet you. I'm Esme Whitlock," she laughed as she held out her hand.

Both wolves smiled and shook her hand. She seemed just as warm as Jasper told them she'd be.

Leah turned to Emmett then with a smile. "You can stand up if you'd prefer. We're fine, honestly. Although we do appreciate the gesture."

Emmett hopped to his feet, though slower than he normally would. "Nice to meet you both. I'm Emmett McCarty. I'm Rose's other half and one of those vamps who needed every bit of help those venom enhancements gave me."

Paul and Leah both laughed as they shook his hand, then exchanged a quick glance and a smile. This family they'd just kind of fallen into seemed like it might just be the tribe they'd been needing all this time. The tribe theirs should have been all along.

"Another Whitlock, huh?" Peter laughed as the whole group trooped inside. He and Charlotte had opted to stay cuddled together on the couch when Bella had taken off running for the door.

"Perhaps I should dye my hair blond," Esme smiled as she leaned down to hug the couple so they didn't have to get up. "Everyone will know I'm the adopted sibling."

"You're perfect just the way you are," Charlotte laughed. "Besides, Bella's a Whitlock too, even if she doesn't use the name, and she's another beautiful brunette."

"Don't forget me," Emmett said as he came in and plopped down on the couch. "I'm an honorary Whitlock and I'm a beautiful brunette, too."

"And with Leah and Paul's jet black hair, we've got pretty much every shade now," Peter added. "No redheads, though. Wait, is the olive's original daddy a redhead?" he asked Bella, who shook her head. "Good. Between that psycho Victoria and Edward Cullen, I'm thinking that whole 'gingers have no souls' thing isn't quite the bullshit I always assumed it was."

"Olive?" Rose asked as she tucked herself against Emmett's side. "I thought she was a grape."

"I've never much cared for grapes," Bella shrugged. "We found another chart that used green olives, and since I like those, she went from grape to olive."

They all sat talking for a while and Jasper felt the sadness and anger building in Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie as they listened to how the Quileute wolves and elders had treated Leah and Paul. They knew some of it already, but hearing firsthand how they'd been kicked out of not just their homes, but their families and their tribe was pretty awful.

When Bella, Leah, and Paul got up to start making themselves a late lunch, Esme stood up and gestured for Jasper to follow her outside.

Once they were far enough from the house to speak privately, she let her anger out. "How could they do that to them? Their daughter! Their son! What is wrong with people?" she exclaimed, then shook out her hands and took a deep breath. "Sorry. That's not why I dragged you out here. I have a thought, but I don't know them well enough yet to know if it'll work."

Jasper smiled, having a pretty good idea what was coming. "What's the thought?"

"You are about to become a much, much wealthier man than you already are. Just redistributing Carlisle and Alice's finances alone is a shockingly huge amount of money, and that's not taking into consideration any of the property, art, and jewelry."

"You wanna give it to Paul and Leah?" he asked.

"More like change the way we divide everything up," she explained. "I've allowed Edward to keep what was in his personal savings account, but otherwise, everything else is ours. My plan had been to split it evenly between Rose, Emmett, you, Bella, and myself. But maybe we could add Leah and Paul. We all have enough money to live as lavishly as we'd like. Splitting it between seven of us rather than five won't make much of a difference to our lives. But it could make every difference to two young people who have had everything taken away from them. What do you think?" she asked nervously.

"I agree with you, and I'll back you up whatever you decide," he smiled. "I'm honestly not sure how they'll respond, though. They might like knowing they have money of their own that they don't have to ask anyone for. It's not easy to hold down a job with the life they lead, not that jobs are all that plentiful around here anyway. I'll talk to them with you if you think that'll help," he offered.

"Thank you," she smiled as she let out a sigh of relief, and the two started slowly walking back to the house. "Not having any money of my own at my disposal when I was still human made my life infinitely more difficult than it needed to be. I'd like to help them so they have money that's all theirs, so they won't need to depend on anyone else for their survival."

"I agree completely," Jasper nodded. "And framing it as just redistributing the wealth of those conniving assholes we considered our family, rather than just a charitable handout, might make it easier to accept."

"And Bella?" Esme asked with a smile. "Will she accept her share?"

"I think she might," Jasper laughed. "She got some money when her dad died, but she used a portion of it while she was traveling. She always spent just a little bit extra on hotels where she knew she'd be safer, rather than some of the more questionable motels along interstates. With the baby, I think she knows she can't be as stubborn and unyielding as she used to be when it comes to money. And the same may hold true for her as with the wolves. Having money that's her own - not mine or yours or anyone else's - might make her a little more comfortable."

Esme nodded. Hopefully they would all see the intention of the offer. It wasn't charity or pity money or anything of the sort. It was wanting to give Bella, Leah, and Paul a cushion of their own to fall back on if they ever fell on hard times again.

Besides, they were family now.

"Uh…"

Jasper had to bite back a laugh at how similar this was going to when they offered the wolves a home.

"I don't know a precise amount yet, there's an awful lot to sell, but that's a general figure," Esme said. "You don't need to give us an answer now, feel free to think about it, but I just want you to know the option is there. Because I had nothing of my own when I was still human, I was trapped in an abusive marriage. Having some money that doesn't belong to anyone but you means you have the freedom to make your own decisions without having to rely on anyone else. So please try not to view this as me seeing you as a charity case. I don't. I'm offering this because I see you as family."

"And if you twist it around enough, Alice, Edward, and Carlisle are as much to blame for you losing everything as Jacob's pack and the elders are," Jasper added. "Those three manipulated the rest of us into leaving Forks in the first place. If we'd stayed put, Victoria would've been taken care of long before she was. This money is their money, we're just trying to redistribute it to the people whose lives they fucked up."

"Well, when you put it that way," Bella laughed. "I'd already come to terms with the fact that Jasper was going to be supporting me for the foreseeable future, so it'll be nice to have some money I can consider my own," she shrugged, then smiled at Leah and Paul. "One thing I've come to learn recently is that Whitlocks take care of each other, and we're all Whitlocks now, regardless of what last name we use."

Jasper smiled and tugged her a little closer so he could kiss her temple. "It's true. Clearwater, Lahote, Swan… it makes no difference. Y'all are family."

"Just one big, weird tribe, huh?" Leah smiled.

"Exactly," Jasper laughed. "We're just a big ol' weird tribe."

"Do you think they'll accept it?" Bella asked quietly. She and Jasper had just gotten out of a hot bath and were getting ready for bed.

"I'm honestly not sure. Their emotions were pretty all over the place, so I don't know which side they'll fall on," he answered as he pulled on some pajama pants. She liked snuggling under the covers with him but he didn't like making her too cold, so flannel pajama pants and a henley were their compromise - that seemed to be Bella's favorite kind of shirt on him. Usually he didn't get dressed until after he'd made her come a handful of times, but he'd already given her just the right number of orgasms in the bath so her eyes were half-closed.

"Your legs are as shaky as a newborn foal's," Jasper laughed as he watched her walk across their bedroom. Bella laughed and flipped him off, then threw a pillow at his face for good measure. "I'd say I'm sorry but we'd both know I was lying," Jasper smirked as he put the pillow by the headboard and pulled the duvet back.

"I don't need an apology," Bella shrugged. "I'm perfectly content just as I am. And damn, I love this bed," she said as she climbed under the covers with a happy sigh that quickly turned into a gaping yawn.

Jasper smiled as he pulled her into his arms, then started gently running his fingers through her hair. It nearly always put her to sleep without the use of his gift, and going by the amount of exhaustion in his girl she'd be asleep in no time.

"Hey Jas?" she murmured as she started to doze off.

"Hmm?"

"I love you. Just in case I forgot to tell you today."

Jasper smiled and dipped his head down to kiss her forehead. "I love you too, sweetheart. Sleep now, I'll see you in the morning."

Bella gave out a little hum just as sleep pulled her under.

Jasper gave her another kiss and wished his little olive goodnight as well, then grabbed his book and turned off the lamp on his nightstand. Thank goodness for vamp sight so he could read while his mate slept and not annoy the shit out of her with a light in her face.

A few hours later, he felt a sudden jolt of anger and panic coming towards the house and carefully slipped out of bed. Just as he got to the bottom of the stairs, Leah came flying through the door.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

"Can I borrow your truck?" she asked, her words almost bleeding into each other with how fast she was talking.

Jasper nodded and walked to grab his keys. "Of course, but can you tell me what's happened first? I'd rather you were a little calmer when you got behind the wheel," he said as he handed her the keys.

Leah let out a huge breath and nodded just as Paul came in the door behind her. "It's Seth. Apparently he just found out my mom and the elders are the reason we left La Push. He didn't know the real reason Paul and I left, or that my mom was one of the ones who kicked us out. I didn't want to tell him that part. He still had to live with her, you know? Anyway, I don't know everything that happened but he knows at least part of the story. He and my mom got in a huge fight and he wants to leave. I told him I'd come get him. I'm sorry I said that before asking you but—"

"Hey, shh, it's perfectly fine," Jasper said, trying to calm her panic without his gift. "You're welcome to use my truck and your brother's welcome to come here. If he wants to get off the Reservation he can go to the old Cullen house. Or the Swan's too, I imagine. It's a long ass drive, though, are you both going?" he asked.

"Yeah," Paul nodded. "We'll share the driving. What is it, like ten hours?"

"At human speed? Probably closer to twelve or thirteen. Maybe a little less since you'll be doing a fair amount of it at night," he said, then grabbed a piece of paper and pencil from the kitchen, along with his wallet. He quickly jotted down a number and pulled out a credit card and some cash. "Here, this is the code for the garage keypad at our old house. I'd prefer y'all getting a little bit of sleep before driving back. The card and cash is for gas and food, and if you wanna grab Seth and get the fuck outta there, use it to get yourselves a hotel room a little ways outside of town. I'm not entirely sure what's around there but I imagine Port Angeles has some safe places to stay."

"Thank you," Leah whispered, her voice coming out a little shaky, then she surprised the hell out of Jasper by giving him a quick hug.

"You're welcome, Leah. We're family now, remember," he smiled. "Us Whitlocks take care of each other."

Leah nodded and said another thank you, which Paul echoed, then the two practically flew out the door. A minute later, they were gone.

Well, looked like their weird little tribe was growing again.