Author's Note:

As always, thank you for sticking with me and continuing to read and review!

Not much to say here, just moving forward a little.

I don't own it…I just like to play with it.

Chapter 28

EPOV

I'd been walking around on cloud nine for the last couple of days. I knew I probably looked like a fool, and lord knew Emmett had given me plenty of shit, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I was ecstatic that Bella had finally agreed to move in with me and Maggie. I knew we still had some issues to contend with, namely my sister, but we had finally turned the corner and were embracing our future. Bella had been hesitant for the last few weeks to even talk about wedding plans, but she'd finally agreed there was no reason to put it off any longer and we'd decided to set the date for mid-October.

After work, I went home to get my girls, and then we all headed to my parent's house for dinner. The ladies were planning to start the wedding planning after dinner, and I was going to hit up the guys to help us get started on moving Bella's belongings the next day. I was hopeful we could get everything but her furniture over the weekend, and then we'd officially be living together.

We pulled into the driveway behind Emmett's truck, and Maggie unbuckled and jumped out of the truck as soon as I'd parked. I looked over at Bella and shook my head as we laughed at Maggie's impatience to get inside to find her cousins. We walked up to the door hand in hand and let ourselves in. I could hear the kids greeting each other upstairs as we entered, but I pulled Bella toward the kitchen as it seemed that's where the others had gathered. I pulled up short in the doorway, though, as I took in the scene before us. My dad was leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms looped around my mother's waist, both of them looking amused. Rose was laughing, tears running down her face, and Emmett was standing with his mouth hanging open, looking a little green.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Dude, you do not want to know," Emmett said, his voice strained. Rose just laughed harder at his declaration, her face now an alarming shade of red.

"Rose, breathe," I said, then turned to my parents. "What happened?"

"Well, let's just say your brother was quiet for the first time in his life, so we didn't know they'd arrived, and he walked in on your mother and I in somewhat of a compromising position," Dad said, looking decidedly proud of himself.

"I told you not to ask!" Emmett shrieked, sounding exactly like Maggie when she was throwing a tantrum. "I'll never get that image out of my head."

I felt the color drain from my face, and I wished I'd taken my brother's advice. I swung my head around at the sound of Bella's laughter joining Rose's, but Mom spoke up before I could say anything.

"Oh, Emmett, stop being so dramatic. It's not like you saw anything. We were fully clothed. Your father just had his hand-,"

"Stop! I know where his hand was! You don't need to say it!" Emmett cried.

"Oh, good lord," Dad said. "It shouldn't be a surprise that your mother and I have a fulfilling sex life. Do you think we had three kids via immaculate conception?"

Rose and Bella laughed harder at that, but Emmett and I just shared a pained look.

"Trust me when I say, it's got to be very fulfilling. I've been here two weeks, and I learned the hard way to make noise before I enter a room," Jasper said as he entered the kitchen behind us. That caused Mom and Dad to laugh, and I just shook my head.

"There are just some things a kid doesn't need to know about their parents," I muttered.

"Well, whether you needed to know or not, now you do. Now, get over it and let's get dinner on the table," Mom said, then planted a kiss on Dad's lips before she pulled away and turned to remove the dish warming in the oven.

After Emmett and I had recovered from our trauma and we'd all stuffed ourselves on Mom's delicious cooking, the girls had ordered us men to clear the table, then clear out of the dining area. We knew not to argue, so we got the kitchen cleaned up and made our way into the living room, each with a beer. Once we were all settled, I decided to confront the elephant in the room head on.

"Jasper, how are you holding up?" I asked.

"I'm alright, I guess," he shrugged.

"Have you talked to Alice?" Emmett asked.

"A couple of times," Jasper responded. "It's just turned into a fight both times we've talked, though, and texting isn't much better. I've asked her to see a therapist. Even said I'd go with her, but she's just ignored me every time I've brought that up. When we do talk or text, she says she wants me to come home, but when I ask her if she's ready to talk about everything, she just gets mad. She still maintains that she doesn't have anything to apologize for."

"Shit, man, I'm sorry," I said. I still couldn't believe how far this whole thing had gone. "You know, she started in about Bella and I spending time together before we were anything more than friends. Then, when we did cross that line, Alice's reaction was our main concern, but we both thought that she'd come around when we finally did tell her and eventually, she'd be okay with it. Granted, we didn't plan on her finding out the way she did, but still, we never imagined she would take it as far as she has."

"It's not your fault, Edward. Alice has been going down this road for a long time, and I wish I'd realized how bad it really was, but I didn't until this whole mess started. I don't want to admit it, but I'm afraid it's too late for her to turn back now," Jasper said.

"What do you mean, Jasper?" Dad asked.

"Alice has always had this weird attachment to Tanya. From the moment the Denalis moved to Forks when we were in high school, Alice has practically worshipped her," Jasper explained. "As you know, by the time we hit high school, Alice made no secret of the fact that she wanted out of Forks, and she was so excited to have a friend from a big city like Chicago. I guess that excitement blinded her because she thought Tanya could do no wrong."

"Bella has mentioned that before. She's never talked about it a whole lot, and I think she has downplayed it when she has brought it up, but I got the impression that Tanya and Alice left her out a lot," I said.

"Oh yeah, they did. I will say that it was mostly Tanya, but Alice always went along with her," Jasper said. "It was obvious to me that Tanya would plan things when she knew Bella wouldn't be able to join them or when we were all supposed to do something together, then Tanya would act like she had just forgotten whatever it was and make a different plan for her and Alice, knowing Bella wouldn't change her plans to join them. In the beginning, Alice did try to stick with Bella, but Tanya always had a reason why her plans couldn't be put off, and she'd whine until Alice gave in. I was always pretty sure Bella knew exactly what Tanya was doing, but she never really fought them, so Tanya would wind up getting her way."

I saw Emmett nod out of the corner of my eye before he spoke up. "Rose used to say the same type of thing, back when we were dating, and she started coming to family stuff. She always thought Tanya was kind of shady and possessive. Like she wanted Alice all to herself. There was one Christmas when we were all home, must have been the girls' senior year. Anyway, I remember Sue Swan had come over to help Mom bake or something, and Bella showed up with her. Rose and I were in the kitchen and Mom was surprised that Bella wasn't out with Alice and Tanya. Apparently, that was one time that there wasn't some ploy to exclude Bella, and Tanya and Alice had just simply made plans without her. Bella didn't say anything, but even I could tell that she was hurt. That's one time that I saw myself, but Rose used to talk about stuff all the time after we were all here in Seattle and you and Tanya were together."

"How did I never see any of that? And why the hell didn't any of you ever tell me?" I groaned.

"We thought you loved her, and nobody wanted to upset you," Emmett said.

"I get that, I guess, but I feel like such an idiot. I was so blind when it came to her, and I don't even just mean the way she was with Bella. I knew neither of us were happy in our marriage, but I never suspected she was cheating until I walked in, and she had her bags packed and confessed." I looked down, not wanting everyone to see the extent of my shame. "I always knew she was spoiled and liked getting her way, but I never realized she was that manipulative. I feel like all of this could have been avoided if I'd just seen the light back then."

"Don't blame yourself, son," Dad said. "Tanya showed you want she wanted you to see. And if nothing else, you got Maggie out of the deal."

"Yeah, of course. I'd never regret my relationship with Tanya for that reason alone, but I do have to wonder how I let myself get sucked in the way I did."

"It doesn't really matter anymore, bro," Emmett said.

"No, you're right. I can't change the past and wouldn't even if I could since I wouldn't have my baby girl," I said. "I just hate that Bella has been hurt by all of this."

"Would you have stayed away from Bella if you'd known how Alice would react?" Emmett asked.

"No," I said firmly. It didn't matter what Alice said or did, I wouldn't trade what I had with Bella for anything. Emmett nodded, then spoke again.

"Then there's no point in beating yourself up over things you can't change. Even if you'd brought the truth about Tanya to light after the accident, and talked to Alice when you and Bella became a thing, you know as well as I do that she would never have listened to reason. She would still have only seen Tanya as the victim."

"He's right, Edward. I've talked to her about this so many times over the years, but it's never really changed anything. Even leaving her hasn't changed anything. You know, there was a time when I wondered if Tanya would pull Alice away from me like she did Bella, but it never happened. Looks like she might have succeeded finally," Jasper said sadly, and I could see in that moment how much this whole situation had affected him. Not that I'd ever thought he made the decision to leave my sister lightly, but I knew we'd all held out hope that his actions would have been the wake-up call Alice needed. It didn't look like that was the case, though, and hope was rapidly dwindling.

Author's Note:

Poor Jasper. Alice has really done a number on all of them. More insight into her coming up soon. And I might write an outtake in Alice's POV. Haven't decided yet. Anyway, I'll try to be a little faster with the next chapter!

Let me know what you think!