A/N: It's a two chapter day, so I'll post Chapter 58 shortly:)

Miracles and Murders

Bella was practically bouncing with eagerness and excitement as she and Jasper watched the Volturi plane land. Jasper smiled and kept hold of her hand to keep her from darting away from him.

"Only another minute now, sweetheart. Maybe try to breathe a little bit."

Right. Bella nodded and took a few deep breaths to calm down. "It's just been so long since we've seen Seth."

Jasper smiled and nodded his agreement. Seth had gone up to Washington over three months ago and hadn't been back to Montana since. He was excited to see the kid too, but he didn't particularly want his wife to be crushed by one of those airplane wheels that were the size of a small car.

Bella let out a little squeal of excitement when the stairs came down, and once they were settled firmly on the tarmac, Jasper let go of her hand. Bella shot forward with speed that honestly impressed Jasper a little, and started shouting Seth's name.

"Seth! Hurry up already!"

Seth popped his head out with a sunny smile and came bounding down the stairs. "Bella!" he laughed as he picked her up and spun her around. "I've missed you!"

Bella just held on and did some more excited squealing.

Leah, Paul, Angela, and Gianna followed at a much more sedate pace and gave the two of them soft, indulgent smiles. Leah was patient for maybe three seconds before she yanked them apart and pulled her human sister into a hug.

Paul just skipped even attempting to get his turn and just went straight to Jasper for a hug. "I'll get mine from her once she's settled down a little bit," he laughed.

Jasper smiled and hugged the girls hello, then loaded their suitcases into the two SUVs he and Bella had driven.

"Jasper!"

Jasper turned just in time to catch Seth as the happy wolf launched himself at him. "Hey, kid," he laughed. "We've missed you."

Once Bella hugged everyone a few more times, they climbed in the cars and headed for the villa. Angela and Leah rode with Jasper, and the others rode with Bella.

"How was Washington?" Jasper asked.

"Better than I thought it would be," Leah answered with a smile. "It was nice to spend time with the Webers, and getting to know Kaya a little better was great."

"I like her," Angela laughed. "She's really sweet but she also has a sarcastic, snarky side to her that's fun."

"How's Italy been so far?" Leah asked.

"Good. Esme was right that being over here strictly for pleasure has helped all of us let go of the little bit of hurt we were still carrying from our time here last year," he answered. "And Lilly's eating up all the attention," he added with a laugh.

They spent the rest of the drive talking about their plans for the holiday, and Jasper frowned a little as he pulled in the driveway. There were a lot of extra emotional signatures in the house. Like a lot. At least seven in addition to their whole family.

"Heads up that we're entering vamp central," he warned them as he turned off the engine. "All three kings, Jane, and Chelsea are here. Emily, too. And one more but I'm not sure who. Maybe Demetri? Afton?"

"And their emotions?" Leah asked.

"All good. Excitement and anticipation."

Leah hopped out of the car, excited to see Emily again. When the front door opened and Emily stepped out with a huge smile, Leah practically launched herself at her cousin with an excited laugh.

Once the suitcases had been brought inside and everyone had greeted each other with handshakes or hug, and the arriving family members caught some cuddles and kisses from Lilly, Jasper looked at Caius curiously. "What's got you all excited?"

"We've come bearing an early Christmas present for Bella," he said with a huge grin.

"For me?" Bella asked in surprise. "Spending time with all of you is the only gift I need."

"Don't worry, we didn't buy you anything," Aro laughed.

Emmett was doing something with a laptop and the TV, and after a few moments, a video appeared on the screen. It was kinda dark and murky so Bella walked up close to the TV to try and see better. All of the Volturi vamps watched her with eager smiles, as did William, and Chelsea was bouncing on the balls of her feet. The rest of the group was just as curious as Bella.

"What is that?" Bella asked as she tipped her head to the side a little to try and understand what she was seeing. After only a moment or two the image lightened up a little and Bella realized it was a video from an underwater camera. It was still a little too dark for her to get a clear idea of what she was seeing, but she did catch a few fish swimming in and out of the frame. "What's—" Bella sucked in a sharp breath and then stopped breathing entirely.

"OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod."

The majority of the room practically exploded in shock and Jasper looked over just in time to see his wife's eyes flutter closed and flashed over to catch her as she fell.

Bella had fainted clear away when she saw that long tail fin flickering into view and realized that she was finally seeing visual fucking proof that mermaids did, in fact, exist.

"She's fine," Jasper assured the worried crowd a few minutes later. "She was already all worked up about seeing the rest of the family again and this just shoved her over the edge, that's all."

"She stopped breathing, Jasper," Chelsea said a little disapprovingly. "That's not fine."

"I promise she's okay, Chelsea," Jasper said with a smile. "She didn't stop breathing because anything was physically wrong with her, she just held her breath a little too long. She'll wake up any minute now."

"Has this happened before?" Aro asked worriedly. He certainly hadn't meant to make her faint. It was a little scary, to be honest.

"The fainting? Only once. But she occasionally gets to a state of excitement where she forgets to breathe a little. And mermaids? Seeing physical proof that her favorite mythical creature is real? I'm zero percent surprised that this happened," he laughed, gently running his fingers through his wife's hair.

Bella blinked herself awake to see her husband's smiling face. Why was she laying on the couch with a gazillion people staring at her with worried frowns. What— Bella shot up so fast when she remembered what happened that she nearly collided with Jasper's face, but he moved out of the way just in time.

"OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod. Did I dream it? DID I DREAM IT?"

"Breathe, sweetheart. You've scared a roomful of people once already, so please try to breathe," Jasper said softly, trying not to laugh at his overly excited wife.

Bella tried, she really did, but she was so shocked and excited that getting air in felt like trying to drag concrete blocks down her throat. She looked at her husband with a little bit of panic on her face.

"You want my help?" he asked, and she nodded a little frantically. Almost immediately, she felt Jasper's particular brand of calm settle over her and she gulped in a few quick breaths.

"Thanks," she said, sounding a little bit like she'd just run a marathon, so she stopped and took a few more slow, deep breaths. "Okay," she nodded. "I'm okay."

Esme walked over and handed her a glass of water. "Maybe drink that before you get up."

Bella gave her a grateful smile and chugged it down. "Thanks," she said, then turned to the worried kings. "I'm sorry, I'm really fine," she laughed. "Can I watch it again before you tell me how this miracle came to be in my life?"

At the skeptical looks they gave her, Jasper laughed a little. "I'll keep her calm now that I know what's coming."

Emmett started the video over and Bella watched the screen closely, Jasper's gift giving her just the amount of help she needed to keep herself breathing through her excitement.

"Oh my lord, there are two of them," she whispered. "And look at how beautiful they are. Just like I always imagined."

Jasper kept hold of her hand and kept up a steady stream of calm. He was a little blown away also, honestly. As just about everyone in the room was. He never in a million years would've guessed Bella's dreams would be answered like this.

When the short video ended, Bella turned back to the kings. "How did you get this?" she asked.

"You have both William and Afton to thank," Aro said with a smile. "When William came to Volterra and I eventually read him, I saw a conversation between him and a vampire in Ireland all about mythical creatures. She claimed to have seen two mermaids years before, and was quite insistent about it at seeing William's skepticism. After a little more questioning about where he'd met the woman, Afton went to Ireland to find her. She offered to show him where she'd seen them, and he spent a few weeks in the seas around Ireland, using his gift to stay hidden in the hope that he would catch a glimpse."

"Wow," Bella breathed, turning to look at Afton. "Did you talk to them?"

"No," he laughed. "They were quite skittish. As soon as I moved the slightest bit, which of course they felt in the water, they swam off and disappeared again."

Bella stood up with a smile. "May I hug you? You've made my wildest dream come true."

Afton nodded and gently hugged the delicate human, who then walked over to William and hugged him also. Figuring it would be polite to hug all the Italian vamps, she made her way around the room.

"I imagine there were probably other better uses of Afton's time for those few weeks, so thank you for allowing him to skip out on his regular duties for a while. And thank you, Afton, for your dedication to the mission," she laughed. "Sitting in the cold water for weeks couldn't have been all that enjoyable."

"I found it rather exciting, to be honest," Afton smiled. "I never imagined mermaids were real, so getting a chance to see them in person? It was very exciting. I made very detailed notes about everywhere I searched and where I eventually was successful. When you become a vampire, perhaps your mate can take you."

Bella immediately spun around and gave Jasper her best smile.

He shook his head and huffed an incredulous laugh. "You seriously think I wouldn't take you to see your real-life miracle in person?"

Bella just laughed and rocked back on her heels. "This is so exciting! Let's watch it again!" she shouted.

When she stopped in her tracks with a little bit of hesitation and uncertainty, Jasper couldn't begin to decipher where it was coming from. "What's wrong?"

"I…" Bella hesitated and bit her bottom lip for a second before huffing a sigh. "I know logically that having Lilly and marrying you are the best things that ever happened to me but—"

Jasper's sharp crack of laughter cut her off. "But this might be the best day of your life?"

Bella just shrugged and gave him a slightly sheepish smile.

"That's fine," he laughed. "I don't mind comin' in third place after our flower and your mermaid miracle."

"Thanks, hon. If it makes you feel any better, it's a really close third."

"Just watch your Christmas miracle again," he laughed.

Bella nodded and ran over to practically press her face against the TV. Just before the second mermaid swam out of view, she shouted. "Stop! What's that? Can you zoom in or something, Emmett?"

Emmett rewound a few seconds and froze the screen, then zoomed in as best he could. "I can't clean it up any better than this. Zooming is just going to make it blurry."

"Well who has the best vamp eyes?" Bella huffed. "There's something right at the bottom of her fin. See? Right there. It looks like writing."

"It's script," Jasper said as he walked closer. "Why would she have script on her fin?"

Rosalie came over and peered at the image. "That's an S," she said as she pointed at a swirl.

"Sil… Silver?" Jasper said.

"No, that's an A," Charlotte corrected him as she pointed at the last letter.

"Oh my god, it's her name!" Bella squealed. "Look! Silvia! Her name is Silvia!"

"Breathe, sweetheart," Jasper laughed and practically flooded her with calm.

"Right," Bella nodded as she sucked in some deep breaths. "Breathing's good."

"I guess if they're swimming around underwater and run into other mermaids, having their name on their fin makes introductions a little easier," Charlotte laughed. "It's a little weird, though."

Bella didn't think it was weird at all. In fact, when she and Jasper went looking for them, she was going to use a sharpie and write 'Bella' somewhere on herself where it was easily visible. And maybe 'We're friendly, I promise!' also just so they wouldn't swim off right away.

Jasper just smiled at the determination in his wife and signaled for Emmett to play it again.

Lilly's first Christmas was just as perfect as Bella had hoped it would be the year before. If the day had been made into a holiday movie, Bella would've happily watched it over and over again. As it was, Angela must've snapped a thousand photos and every member of the family had taken multiple videos on their phones, so they'd documented the hell out of it.

It wasn't an extravagant Christmas, there weren't piles of presents, but it was spent in the company of all their loved ones and there was a lot of laughing. Charlotte even got everyone dancing in between board games. Once the sun began to set and the vamps could go outside without downing any unsuspecting aircraft, the humans bundled up in layers and they all went for a long walk.

Bella collapsed back on the bed with a tired sigh. "That was a perfect day."

"It was," Jasper agreed as he rocked Lilly to sleep in his arms. It was well past their girl's usual bedtime.

"Do you think it was a good first Christmas for our flower?" Bella asked.

"I do," Jasper said quietly as Lilly's eyes started to close. "She was happy just about the whole day. Although that's true most days."

"We're pretty lucky, huh?" Bella murmured as her eyes started to close.

Jasper smiled and hummed his agreement. Both his girls were right on the verge of sleep.

Esme lightly tapped on the door about five minutes later and peeked her head in. "Want me to put her in her crib?" she whispered.

Jasper nodded and Esme carefully took Lilly so she didn't wake her up. "Thanks. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Take your time," Esme said with a smile and closed the door behind her.

Jasper carefully took off his wife's shoes, then slowly eased her out of her jeans and gently scooped her up so he could pull the duvet back. She didn't so much as stir the tiniest bit. Since Lilly had arrived, Bella had gotten accustomed to taking a nap in the afternoon. Since before then, actually, because her naps started the last few weeks of her pregnancy. They'd had a busy day and his wife had been too excited for a nap so she was dead to the world earlier than usual.

There were a lot of things Jasper loved about his wife's humanity, but he'd be lying if he said he wanted her to stay human. He understood she wasn't ready to stop breastfeeding their daughter, so it wasn't like he'd push her to change before she was ready, but the second she thought it was finally time, he'd bite her faster than she could blink. If for no other reason than he'd get at least eight more hours a day of her company that she currently spent sleeping.

He tucked the covers around her and gave her a soft kiss, then went out to join his family in the living room.

"What is it?" he asked as he collapsed on the couch beside Peter.

"I'm not sure," Peter answered with an annoyed huff. "I don't know anything specific, which is a real pain in the fuckin' ass. I just know something's coming. It might not even be anything bad. The best I can say is let's all keep our guard up."

"That's it?" Paul asked in surprise. "Keep our guard up? Has your gift ever been this vague before?"

"Often," Peter nodded. "Especially in my first few decades. I'd get the idea I should turn left instead of right, but not why. Or I'd think maybe I should hold tight wherever I was for a few minutes longer instead of takin' off. It's not uncommon to just get a… feeling of intuition, I guess, rather than detailed instructions."

Jasper sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. "Alright. We keep our guard up for now. Thanks, Peter."

"Don't thank me, it's not like I'm all that helpful here," he grumbled.

Jasper smiled at him. "Sure you are. You've made it so we know to keep alert. That's no small thing."

Peter huffed a laugh. "That's that 'daddy' thing you do where you say somethin' that's complete bullshit just to make one of us feel better."

"Do you feel better?" Jasper asked.

Peter thought about for a second, then nodded. "Yeah, I suppose I do."

"Good, then it's worth it," Jasper laughed. "Now, if y'all will excuse me. We've got a royal party to attend tomorrow and I'd like to go soak in some peace and quiet with my sleeping wife before the madness."

Bella laughed as she walked into the castle. "They decorated!"

Gianna smiled to see that her former desk had a tiny little Christmas tree on it and there was a little sign sitting in front of it that said 'Merry Christmas' in beautiful script.

The whole family had been invited to attend a party, but they hadn't realized it was a Christmas party. The wolves had been a little hesitant, but both Angela and Gianna had wanted to attend, so Leah and Paul had reluctantly agreed. Seth wasn't reluctant at all. He was psyched to be in a real live castle where real live - well, technically dead, he supposed - royalty lived.

Jasper was carrying Lilly and stopped to show her the tree. "See? It's like Nana's. You like the lights?" he asked. Lilly kicked her chubby little legs and giggled her little baby laugh, making Jasper smile. "What's that on top, flower? That's right, very good! It's a star just like at home."

Emmett smiled at his brother. "You know you're a little bit crazy, right?"

"Of course," Jasper laughed. "I've never claimed to be perfectly sane. You don't mind havin' a crazy daddy, do you, Lilly?" he asked and popped a kiss on her cute little nose. When Lilly laughed some more, Jasper nodded at Emmett. "See?"

"Come on," Emmett laughed. "I don't want them to get too far ahead of us. The wolves are antsy enough as it is without us abandoning them."

"Good point."

Jasper had just turned the last corner into the hallway where his wife was walking when he felt a sudden spike of intense bloodlust from somewhere. There were so many vamps in the castle that it wasn't a complete surprise that someone was thirsty, but it was strong enough to have Jasper falter a little. He was so accustomed to his family always staying well-fed that he wasn't used to feeling such strong bleed-off from anyone. It reminded him of what it used to be like to spend time around Edward when he was first dating Bella.

"Motherfucker," he swore as he quickly cradled the back of Lilly's head and tucked her face against his neck. "Peter!"

The warning came half a second too late and a vamp he'd never seen before came flying out of a side hallway just in front of Bella and Gianna. He shoved Bella aside, knocking her against the wall, and was latched onto Gianna's neck before anyone had even moved.

The next few seconds were a blur of absolute fucking chaos.

Paul, seeing a vamp draining his imprint, phased on the fly and lunged for the guy. Emmett was trying to safely hold him back, knowing he could just as easily kill Gianna as he could save her. Charlotte immediately jumped in the line of fire and jumped on the dude's back to try and pry his jaw apart so that he wouldn't rip out Gianna's throat when they pulled him off her. Leah and Seth had backed Angela up so she was against the wall and were standing guard in front of her with Esme, both wolves shaking slightly. Peter and Rosalie were at Bella's side where she was slumped on the ground trying to find out what injuries she had.

And Jasper was completely frozen. He had his five-month old daughter in his arms and he knew his first priority had to be keeping her from seeing any of the horror playing out in front of them, but he also knew something was very, very wrong with his wife. Both of her legs were at an angle that wasn't at all normal, and there was a very thin line of blood coming from the corner of her mouth.

When her heart started stuttering a little, he snapped out of it.

"Change her!" Jasper shouted as he tucked his crying daughter's head a little closer against his neck and gently rubbed her back. He heard the metallic screech that was so familiar to him but completely ignored it for the moment. "Either do it in the next two seconds or come take Lilly and I'll fuckin' do it, but I'm not losing my goddamn wife so somebody make a fuckin' decision."

Rosalie didn't even hesitate. She bent right over and sunk her teeth in her sister's neck and pumped in as much venom as she could. She pulled back and licked the wound closed, then did the same with both wrists. She sat back on her heels and wiped her mouth.

Jasper blinked venom tears from his eyes and focused on sending Rosalie all of his considerable gratitude, pride, and love. He knew how much pride Rose felt in never having tasted human blood and she hadn't even hesitated to save Bella, even though it meant throwing that perfect record right out the window.

Rosalie turned to look at him with a small smile. "Holy shit, human blood's good."

Jasper barked a laugh and nodded. "It is. Thank you, Rose."

"You're welcome," she answered quietly. "You know I love her, too."

Jasper nodded, he did know. He froze completely while he focused on his wife's heartbeat, and as soon as it took off, he let out a shaky breath of relief.

This was galaxies away from how he and Bella had planned her change, but at least she was changing rather than leaving him and Lilly far, far too soon. It was a bumpy start, for sure, but they'd have their eternity together.