A/N: Thank you for reading:)
Dads, Keepsakes, and Stars
Paul stared at his father's house and had to fight the urge to turn right back around and leave. Seeing his father's scowling face glaring at them from the front window did nothing to tamp that urge down. Paul was reminded of all the times that same scowl was on his own face.
But not anymore. Now he had a huge family who loved him unconditionally, and a smile could be seen on his face far more often than a scowl.
Leah reached over and took his hand. "You're not alone, I'm right here with you. And if he's an asshole, we can leave," she reminded him.
Because Paul's dad knew about the wolves, he also knew about vampires. The meeting with the tribe was set to begin in an hour and Paul decided it was better to give his father some warning so he didn't walk into the clearing where the meeting was taking place and immediately start screaming about soulless abominations and the treaty being broken.
Jasper and Bella were perched in a tree not too far away, and feeling Paul's reluctance and worry, Jasper sent him some reassurance and confidence.
"Right," Paul nodded with a smile as he felt Jasper's gift at work. "Let's do this."
Leah and Paul hopped out of Bella's truck and walked to the door with their heads held high.
Terrance Lahote opened the door before they had a chance to knock. "Paul, Leah," he nodded. "Finally decided to fill me in on what's happening? I know you were here last week for some secret meeting."
Paul rolled his eyes. "There's a difference between secret and private. If it was a secret meeting, we wouldn't have held it here, where any of the tribe could see."
"May we come in for a few minutes, Mr. Lahote?" Leah asked, doing her best to stay polite.
Terrance nodded and opened the door a little wider, then turned and walked into the living room. Paul and Leah exchanged an uneasy glance. Paul's dad was far more hostile than they'd anticipated.
Paul sighed and followed behind his dad, then the two wolves took a seat on the couch across from the armchair Terrence was sitting in.
"Is what Jake told the elders true?" Paul's dad asked. "Did you make an alliance with the leeches to attack our tribe?"
In hindsight, they should've seen that coming. Jasper's phone call to Sue came hours after Jacob had told the elders about the 'warning' Edward had given him. In those hours, at least one of the elders must have told Mr. Lahote about the Quileute pack going to Montana.
"No," Paul answered. "Not an alliance in the way you're implying, anyway. And we had absolutely no intention of attacking anyone. Jacob believed Edward Cullen because he hated us enough to not question him. If anyone in this tribe had bothered to take a second to think logically, rather than with prejudicial hatred, you would've known Leah and I would never attack our own people," Paul snapped.
"So you don't live with a bunch of bloodsuckers?" Terrance sneered.
"We do," Leah answered, seeing Paul's fist clenched in anger. "But not because we were seeking their help in attacking you. When we were kicked out of our homes we had nowhere to go and very little money that would enable us to find somewhere to live. Through Bella Swan, some of her family offered us a house to move into so we had somewhere safe to stay."
Terrance stayed silent, so Leah and Paul gave him a brief overview of their lives since leaving La Push.
"You see vampires as uncontrollable monsters who slaughter anyone in their path," Leah said when they'd finished. "Yet none of the vampires who lived in Forks hunted humans, and no humans have died by their hands in many decades. Bella is a human who shares a home with six vampires, including two who have red eyes, and no one has tried to take a bite out of her yet."
"Our tribe's legends are based on one experience with vampires," Paul added. "And we're not even trying to tell you our legends are wrong, only that not all vampires are like the ones of our legends."
Jasper could feel that Mr. Lahote was softening a little, and based on what part of the conversation that began, it was obvious that he felt the slightest bit of gratitude that the Whitlocks had offered them a safe place to live away from those who'd made their lives so miserable. There was some remorse inside the man, and Jasper wondered how long Terrance had regretted the way Leah and Paul had been treated. Or at least the way he'd treated his son.
Jasper pulled out his phone and shot Paul a quick text.
He's feeling regret, maybe focus on what it felt like when he kicked you out.
Paul read Jasper's message, then discreetly showed it to Leah, who nodded her agreement.
"When Jake and the elders told you Leah and I needed to leave, why didn't you fight for me, Dad?" Paul asked quietly. "We'd been separate from Sam's pack for months at that point. Why did you agree with them that it wasn't safe when it had been fine up to that point? It wasn't good, but that was because of how the other pack treated us, not because it was dangerous."
Terrance opened his mouth and then closed it again, and Jasper felt the man's regret grow. "We're taught our whole lives to respect the council of elders. And yes, I knew about the wolves, but I wasn't part of the council. I never sat in on any of their meetings, or knew the details about how the pack functioned," he explained. "You and Leah were both so angry all the time and—"
"Did it really never occur to you that our anger might've been justified?" Leah asked incredulously. "Paul told you how the other pack treated us. Why did the words of the elders mean more to you than your own son's?"
"I…" Terrance hesitated. "I don't know that I have a better answer than that we're raised to put our faith in them. No one could deny that the two of you were angry all the time, so when they told me that put our tribe at risk… I believed them."
Paul sighed and shook his head as he glanced at his watch. "We need to get going. You'll hear more in the meeting about the elders and the pack and how wrong they were. They did some truly reprehensible things. All I ask is that you listen with an open mind."
Terrance nodded as he stood up. "I will."
"You understand that our family will be there, right?" Paul asked, and Terrance nodded. "I encourage you to pay close attention to them so you see they're perfectly in control. And I'd also ask that you attempt to treat them with the same respect they will undoubtedly show you."
"Most of them," Leah quickly added. "Rosalie is loyal to her family above all else and the fact that you were so willing to kick your son out of his home really angered her. She won't be outright rude, but I doubt she'll be friendly."
All Terrance could do was nod again.
"Would you like to ride with us?" Paul asked as they walked outside.
"Sure," Terrance nodded, recognizing the offer as the olive branch it was. Paul was showing himself to be the better man, and Terrance couldn't deny he got some pleasure knowing that his son had grown into the young man he'd always hoped he would be.
Even if he wasn't the one who helped guide him.
"So the vampires ate them?" a woman asked in astonishment.
"They did," Emily nodded. "And not due to a lack of control, either. Those of us who were there very purposefully allowed it to happen. And I'll tell all of you right up front, I feel no regret about that decision and I haven't lost a single moment of sleep over it."
Paul, Leah, and Seth nodded their agreement, though no one was paying them all that much attention to be honest. Emily was the one who the tribe was staring at, completely shocked and appalled at what she'd experienced.
"I don't suppose you have that on video, huh?" one man asked Jasper.
"I don't," Jasper laughed. "I do, however, have video of Seth stomping on Sam's…"
Leah rolled her eyes. "Dick. I think the word you're looking for, Jasper, is dick."
"Yes, that," Jasper smiled as he pointed at Leah. "If you give Emmett an email address and ask politely, I'm sure he'd be happy to send it to you."
The man laughed and nodded. "I may just do that."
Once they'd covered all the events of the past, they moved on to their hopes for the future.
"And you've already put money aside for the whole tribe?" a woman asked Leah.
After talking it over as a family, Jasper had created a separate account in Leah's name for the money that was earmarked for the tribe. If there was any overt hostility to the vamps, they didn't want to risk the tribe turning down the money because of who it came from. They also didn't want to imply that a bunch of pale faces - literally, in this case - had to come in to save the day. With a few exceptions, the tribe as a whole would decide where the money was spent.
"Yes," Leah nodded. "Some of it is specifically for the use of making the lives of any future protectors and their families easier, whether that's creating those same outdoor changing rooms, or supplementing a lost income, or just contributing to increased food bills. But that still leaves a great deal of money left over for the tribe as a whole. It's no secret that there are things that could be brought up to date here, and we're hoping that this can help with those projects."
"My family's also working on updating my dad's house," Bella added. "My intention is to sign it over to the tribe. How it's used is up to all of you, but my initial thinking was that it could be available if anyone works in Forks and found it easier to stay in town, or if anyone had reason to use the Forks school district. My dad may have ended his friendship with Billy, but he loved many of you and enjoyed spending time here. It felt fitting to me to leave his house in your hands, rather than selling it."
"I'm a carpenter," one man called out. "If you need a hand up there, I'd be happy to help out."
"Thank you," Esme said with a smile. "We may just take you up on that. We'd like to add a bathroom and are having some difficulty deciding where it would work best."
Bella smiled at her. She doubted a whole union of tradespeople could design or build anything better than Esme and Rosalie, but the vamps and the tribe collaborating on any project could only be a good thing.
"My family and I also wanted to tell you that if there's ever a time when the tribe is under threat, whether from my kind or not, we'll commit to every single one of you right now that we'll always come to your aid if you want our help," Jasper added. "Additionally, any protectors who want to be taught how to fight my kind, we're more than willing to train them."
"Why?" one woman asked. "Doesn't that put you at risk if they ever decide to come after you?"
"It does," Jasper agreed. "But the sole purpose of the wolves is to protect their people from any threat. They should have the skills to do that. Fighting vampires isn't as simple as just having claws and teeth that will pierce our skin. If Sam's pack had been properly trained, it's highly likely that Charlie Swan would still be alive. Even if it brings my family a slight increase in risk, isn't saving innocent lives worth it?"
"Jasper and his family are also formidable opponents," Leah added. "They've trained Paul, Seth, and myself, and the three of us together couldn't wipe out their family on our very best day. So yes, giving Quileute protectors useful training to fight vamps makes them slightly more vulnerable, but they're more than capable of taking care of themselves."
"And we'd be fighting at their side," Paul reminded them. "They're our family in every way that matters. Attack them, you attack us. And like Leah said, they've trained us hard. We won't go down without a hell of a fight."
"And our hope is that the protectors in the future won't be filled with racial hatred like the most recent pack. Ultimately, we're all on the same side," Bella said. "I'd also like to add that Rosalie, Leah, and our other sister Charlotte are great at teaching humans to fight, too. They've taught me so that I can defend myself against other humans. I'm sure they'd be happy to train non-protectors here if anyone would like that."
Rosalie immediately nodded her agreement. "Women and girls should have the tools to defend themselves if the need ever arises."
"We've been asked by the Littleseas and the Fullers to build them some changing rooms—"
"Supernatural locker rooms!" Brady called out to correct Jasper.
"Sorry," Jasper laughed. "To build some supernatural locker rooms behind their homes. After we finish that, we're more than happy to abide by the terms of the treaty between Ephraim Black and Carlisle Cullen and stay off your land, unless specifically invited."
Emily smiled at him and then turned to the larger group. "I'll just go ahead and tell you now that all of the Whitlocks, including those with red eyes, are welcome at my home any time. They have an open invitation. Chelsea Volturi, as well," she added.
"Speaking of the Volturi, you all understand how imperative it is that you keep the supernatural world a secret to outsiders?" Bella asked. "Forgetting the Italian vamps for a moment, I don't think I need to tell you what would happen to your tribe if the U.S. government found out the Quileutes carried a shapeshifting gene. I don't think anyone, vamp or human or wolf, wants to become a lab specimen that's poked and prodded."
"As far as my government is concerned, because of your separate connection to the supernatural world, the Volturi are willing to ignore the fact that you're aware of the existence of vampires," Jasper said. "Keeping your own secret is just as vital as keeping ours. So as long as no one is out there screaming about vamps, you have no cause to worry about them."
"Does anyone have questions that we haven't answered?" Paul asked.
Feeling a burst of pride from his left, Jasper looked around and saw Terrance Lahote watching his son with a proud smile on his face. He may have fucked up to an extraordinary extent when it came to his son, but he was absolutely genuinely proud of the man Paul had grown to be in his time away from Washington.
"I actually have a question for you guys," Bella said a little nervously. "I love to cook, and I often cook for the wolves in my family, so… is there anyone willing to teach me a few traditional recipes so I can make them some of the meals they grew up with?"
Bella let out a sigh of relief when four hands shot up straight away. She hadn't been at all sure anyone would want to share their recipes with an outsider and hadn't wanted to cause offense in any way.
"Can we see you in your wolf forms?" one of the men called out.
"Of course," Leah answered immediately. They'd anticipated this, so they'd already scoped out an area they could phase in private. Rosalie and Jasper followed them, just in case anyone got a little too nosy and got close enough to sneak a peek.
When the three wolves and two vamps returned to the area where everyone was meeting, just about every single jaw dropped at seeing how big the wolves are.
"Crazy, right?" Bella laughed.
"And being near the vampires in this form doesn't make you want to attack them? Your instincts don't kick in?" a man asked the wolves.
Leah looked at Jasper and let out a low growl. Jasper knew it was Leah's version of playful, but their audience didn't, and everyone got a little nervous.
"They don't know you're being playful, Leah," Jasper laughed. When Leah crouched down and took a step towards him, he nodded his understanding. "I think she wants to show y'all how we spar," Jasper told the group. "We do it for fun, but it'll give you an idea of how we both fight. Is that something you'd want to see? We'd move to the far end of the clearing."
"And no one's in any danger," Bella quickly added. "When they spar at home, I like to sit on the fence of the pasture and cheer them on, which is much closer than the other side of this clearing."
Everyone nodded eagerly, so Jasper and Leah ran off a ways to give the folks a show.
"Slow speed so the humans can keep up," Jasper reminded her, making Leah roll her big wolfie eyes.
Once they started, to anyone who knew them, what Jasper and Leah were doing was far closer to playing than it was to fighting. For the Quileutes, though, that wasn't as easy to tell.
"Damn, they're fast!" one woman exclaimed, making Bella smile.
"Believe it or not, this is actually slow. When they're using their normal speed, my eyes have a hard time keeping up," Bella laughed.
Seth was slowly creeping forward, and as soon as Jasper's back was turned, he made his move, flying at the empath and head-butting him from behind. Everyone in the crowd froze when the vampire hit the ground, afraid of what he'd do, and all were shocked when he just laughed and hopped to his feet.
"Nicely done, Seth," Jasper smiled as he gave him a quick scratch behind his ear. "Using your opponent's distraction to your advantage is an excellent tactic."
"Please," Bella laughed. "Like you didn't know he was coming."
Jasper just smiled and shrugged. "Doesn't mean it's not a useful lesson."
"Wanna show them how fast you guys are?" Bella asked with a smile. "From the very far end of the clearing to me," she said and walked a little farther forward so none of the tribe was too close. Leah, Seth, and Jasper all moved as far back as they could. "On my count, and only on my count, Seth. No cheating. Three, two, one, go!"
The three shot forward. Because of the distance, it honestly wasn't much of a race, but Bella was unsurprised when Jasper reached her first. He slowed enough that when he got to her, he scooped her up in his arms, and Bella's bright laughter filled the clearing.
Even the Quileutes who'd never seen a wolf couldn't help but laugh at the disgruntled sounds Seth was making. He'd come in third and was obviously doing the wolf version of pouting.
"Aw, better luck next time, Seth," Bella laughed.
Seth growled playfully at her and then the three wolves went to phase back to human.
Just that exercise alone put a lot of the humans of the tribe at ease. Not only could the vamps and wolves be near each other without their instincts flaring, but they could play and tease with each other. Add in that Bella had been so close to both without any trouble, and they felt more confident that their people could be safe around wolf and vampire alike. Those particular vampires, anyway.
When Paul walked by where his dad was standing, Terrance stepped forward and put his hand on Paul's arm. "I just want you to know how proud I am of you, son. You were treated horribly here, yet you've put that aside and come back to make sure no one suffers that way in the future," he said earnestly. "I'm sorry for my part in that, but I'd really like the chance to get to know the fine young man you've become."
Paul looked at his dad for a long moment, then quickly glanced at Jasper, who sent him his reassurance that Terrance was being honest. "We'll be here for another couple weeks. My phone number is on the list with everyone else's," he said. "I'm sure we can find a time to get together."
Terrance smiled and nodded. "I'd like that."
Jasper watched the two men with a small smile. Life was brutal enough as it was without factoring in family betraying you. If those two could build a new relationship based on respect, that could only be a good thing in Jasper's opinion.
"Not to sound like a broken record, but that went well, huh?" Jasper said as he walked in the old Cullen house. He'd driven with Bella in her truck back to her dad's, where she was going to do some more organizing, then he'd run back to meet up with the rest of the family.
"You didn't want to stay and help out at Charlie's?" Emmett asked.
"Bella wanted some time on her own. I got the impression she was gonna try and tackle her dad's room and wanted some privacy for it," Jasper explained.
Everyone nodded their understanding at that.
"It went really well," Leah said, moving away from the sad topic. "I honestly think Emily is responsible for a good bit of that. Hearing in her own words what they did to her and that she didn't stop Sue and Billy from being killed really made an impact."
"I agree," Jasper nodded. "Feeling their emotions through her story was pretty telling."
"Collin looked the same," Rosalie said. "I know it was just yesterday that we saw him, but there hasn't even been an inch of growth. From everything you guys have said, you grew several inches just in the days leading up to your initial transformation."
"I think over the week before, I gained something like six or eight inches," Paul nodded.
"So he's still not on the very cusp of phasing," Emmett said. "If the change in his sense of smell is the very first indicator, it'll be interesting to see how long it takes."
"He's not that much younger than the rest of us were," Leah said as she thought about it. "Jacob had only turned sixteen days before he began phasing. I think Quil was still fifteen, which is the same as Collin and Brady are now. So if Collin does phase soon, it's not out of line with how old the rest of us were. Sam was the oldest when he did, and he was still only seventeen."
"You gonna try to see your dad while you're here?" Jasper asked Paul a few minutes later. "I can tell you he was completely genuine in what he said. He truly is proud of you."
"Yeah, I suppose," Paul shrugged. "I have to tell you that I don't have much of a desire to spend time with him, but… I don't know, I guess Bella losing Charlie is a good reminder that I'm lucky my dad's still alive. And even if he was an asshole, he's willing to try and do better."
Jasper frowned a little as he heard Bella's truck pulling up their driveway a little while later, and looked at his watch. He'd only left there about an hour ago. Feeling his mate's sadness, he immediately hopped up and met her in the driveway.
When she came to a stop, he pulled her door open. "What's the matter, sweetheart?" he said softly.
Bella immediately turned and threw her arms around him and tucked her face in his neck, letting go of her control and letting her her sobs escape. Jasper just held her close and rubbed soft circles on her back, whispering words of comfort and love.
When she pulled back, she sniffled a few times and wiped her eyes. "I was going through my dad's closet and found a box with my name on it," she whispered, her tight throat making it hard to get words out. Instead, she nudged Jasper back a little and climbed out of the truck. "I brought it to show you," she said as she moved around to the back and lowered the tailgate.
Jasper pulled the box towards him and had a pretty good idea what Bella had found. The box was covered in dust and everything inside smelled dusty as well, but he could still catch traces of cotton.
"You wanna show me out here or you wanna go inside?" he asked her quietly.
Bella chewed on her lip as she thought about it. "Out here," she whispered, not sure she wanted her whole family watching her. If she'd been thinking properly, she would've just called Jasper and asked him to come over. But her mind had kinda shorted out so she hadn't been thinking clearly.
"Alright," Jasper agreed, then pulled off his sweatshirt and laid it down on the bed of the truck. He picked Bella up and set her down on it, then hopped up and sat beside her, and carefully opened the box, smiling a bittersweet smile. It was wonderful that Bella now had these reminders, but she should have been given them by Charlie or Renee, not stumbled on them while cleaning out her deceased father's room.
The first thing that greeted him was a pale pink blanket with a velvet border in a darker pink. 'Isabella' was embroidered in one corner in black thread. Jasper carefully lifted it out and put it in his lap. Beneath that was a huge collection of baby clothes, everything from onesies to footie pajamas to little girl dresses.
Bella looked at everything Jasper pulled out, occasionally sniffling and wiping her eyes, but occasionally smiling, too. She hadn't gotten further than seeing her baby blanket, and with Jasper beside her it felt less bleak than she'd been afraid it would. Her heart warmed a little that her dad had kept so many reminders of her babyhood. She knew without a doubt that her mom hadn't. The two had moved more times than Bella cared to count, and she'd always helped with packing and unpacking, so she was familiar with everything her mom owned.
When Jasper pulled out a wooden mobile, tears sprang to Bella's eyes again as she remembered their day months before at the Christmas market in Italy. She'd made a plan to turn their wooden star ornaments into a mobile for above the baby's crib. The mobile in her baby box was of planets and stars, and the stars were almost identical to their ornaments.
"Whoa," Jasper breathed. "That's… they're nearly the same," he said as he looked at the detail of the carving on the stars. "Did you remember this from when you were a baby?"
"No, and even if I had, it was you and Rose who picked out the ornaments," Bella said with a smile as she turned one over in her hand. "But it's undeniable how similar they are. Do you think we could make a mobile combining the old and the new?" she asked.
"Absolutely," Jasper answered immediately as he pulled her into his lap. "It'll be even more perfect than the one you'd already envisioned. Lilly will get to look up at the same stars her mama did, the ones her grandpa kept safe for her all these years."
Bella broke into a wide grin. Walking into their daughter's room and seeing the mobile hanging above her crib would be a tangible reminder of her dad's love, and it gave her another little piece of Charlie to carry with her into her new life.