A/N: It's not mine.

I have no beta.

This chapter took a while to get finished. We have lousy internet where we are at, so it took longer than anticipated to finish it, edit it, and then upload it.

Previously:

I'm not even sure how long we were in the position when we were startled by my Grandpa Caius. "What in all the name that's holy is going on here?" he demanded.

BPOV

Caius's booming voice startled the hell out of us as Jasper and I scrambled to untangle ourselves from each other. I swear Emmett jumped three feet in the air and managed to hit my coffee table mid-jump breaking it in half. Emmett is a natural disaster and should come with a warning.

"Uh, hi, Caius, Felix, what brings you guys by?" I asked while trying to play it cool. I took a chance and glanced over at Emmett and found him standing at attention like he was in the military and awaiting orders from his drill sergeant. I couldn't keep it in and broke down in laughter. I forgot about my inebriated state and began to teeter back and forth. Jasper reached out to grab a hold of my arm to steady me, but he was also drunk. We both ended up falling over and landing on the couch.

"Guys, come on, you're going to get us in trouble," Emmett warned in a loud whisper.

"You will find, Mr. McCarthy, that you three are already in trouble," Caius said seriously while looking at me in disappointment.

"But Gramps, we aren't doing anything wrong," I whined with a frown on my face. I didn't want my grandpa to be upset with me.

"Isabella, you are drunk and in the company of two males who are also in the same state as you are. We happened to have found you in a compromising position. Now, please, tell me how you haven't done anything wrong," he said while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Grandpa Caius, I love you very much, but this is the twenty-first century. We no longer follow societal rules that existed back in your human days," I told him as I got up and walked over to him. I gave him a hug hoping to placate him a bit. "Besides, Jasper, Emmett, and I were catching up. We haven't seen each other in such a long time."

He stared down at me for a moment and then wrapped his arms around me and returned my hug. "Alright, Bella, you have made a very valid point. I apologize for getting upset with you, little one. You must understand that I am very protective of you. You and your father are the last of my line."

"I know, grandpa. I forgive you. Come. I would like you to meet Jasper and Emmett," I said as I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him along with me. He refused to budge for a bit, and I looked up at him.

"If you promise to not call me grandpa or gramps again, I will allow you to begin introductions," he bargained.

I rolled my eyes at his continued insistence that I do not refer to him with those particular monikers. "I agree to not call you grandpa or gramps while in the presence of others," I replied with a bargain of my own. "Seriously, I don't see why you have such an issue with being called grandpa. First of all, you are one. Second, you aren't old looking, and finally, I like it."

He sent me a glare. "You are as stubborn as I am. I don't know whether to be proud or annoyed with that fact."

I just grinned mischievously, "You love that about me, and you know it. Now, I want to introduce you guys."

Grandpa Caius conceded my point and walked over to Jasper and offered him his hand to shake. "Ah, Major Jasper Whitlock, it is a pleasure to finally meet the reaper of the south."

Jasper shook his hand looking a little bewildered that Caius knew exactly who he was. "The pleasure is mine, Master Caius."

"I see that you were unaware that I knew who you were. There's no need to worry. The Volturi keep track of all covens. It's imperative that we maintain control lest humans discover our existence."

"Yea, that doesn't sound creepy at all," I joked and Emmett laughed.

"Mr. McCarthy it is a pleasure to meet you as well. For the longest time, we thought Felix was the largest vampire in existence until you came along. Felix, come meet your fellow giant," Caius said as he motioned Felix to come over and meet my brother bear.

I watched the two big lugs shake hands. Clearly, they were testing each other's strength. "Guys, come on, I'm choking on the testosterone in here," I commented as I grabbed my throat. I then turned to Jasper and Caius. "I would pay good money to watch them wrestle. Hell, I'd even pay bad money to watch those two wrestle."

"Bella, what exactly is bad money?" Jasper asked me while looking at me out of the corner of his eyes.

"Bad money is money that technically belongs to my bills and not my wallet," I informed him with a grin.

"Well, dearest, we will have to arrange a time and date for that to happen. I too would pay 'good money' as you put it to watch them wrestle," Caius said.

"Ooh, we should start a betting pool for when that happens. This has got some serious potential," I said while rubbing my hands together at the very idea of winning that bet.

"You get yourself inebriated and now are discussing gambling without a care in the world. I'm not sure I am ever going to get accustomed to the independent women of today's modern era," Caius said thoughtfully.

He is over three thousand years old. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be for him to adjust. He must always feel like he's in the Twilight Zone. I know I would.

"I know what you mean, and I was born in the 1800s. Even then, women played a completely different role than they do nowadays. I still haven't completely adjusted to it," Jasper admitted with a wry grin and a shake of his head.

"Hey, I was born in 1915, and women still played a more subservient role back then. They were meant to stay home, have babies, and run the house. My mamma was always quiet and waited on my father hand and foot," Emmett added.

"I was born back in the 1500s, and I still can't wrap my mind around the woman's liberation movement. While it makes sense, having lived in a time where women had no say in their home or government, it's difficult to grasp," Felix added with a faraway look in his eyes. I noticed that all the vampires I know tend to look just like that when discussing aspects of their human lives that they can remember.

"Yea, I'm definitely choking on excess testosterone. Men, I swear you guys always have to make everything difficult," I huffed. "All we women ask is to have a say in our own lives and equal rights. If it affects us, we should have a right to stand up for ourselves. Those antiquated ideas that women should stay home and make babies are insulting. Men who keep pushing that agenda are the same males that feel threatened by a woman's success. That's all about fragile male egos," I finished and marched over to the couch and sat down with a huff.

Jasper sat down next to me and sent out his calming mojo. "Sorry, darlin', we don't mean to offend you. We just all grew up in times where women were not to be seen or heard. We're not saying it's right. It's just the time periods we were born in."

I gave the four males in my presence a stern look. "I certainly hope that none of you still harbor ideas like that," I warned them with a very serious look.

"Not at all, little one. We have women in Volterra in positions of power, and we value each of them," Caius said. I stared into his eyes to see if he was telling the truth.

Jasper knew what I was doing, so he decided to put me out of my misery. "He's telling the truth, Bella."

"Well, okay then, that's all I needed to know." I got up from the couch to walk into my kitchen and grab a bottle of water out of my fridge. I needed to rehydrate in order to avoid having a hangover. I made my way back to the living room and plopped back down on my couch.

Emmett and Jasper stayed for another hour and Caius drilled them on everything they know about what was going on in the Cullen coven. I got to hear firsthand all the nitty-gritty details of the Cullen coven. Caius was not impressed and he certainly had no issues letting them know how displeased he was with Carlisle, Edward, and Alice. He promised retribution for the way I was treated.

"All we ask is that we get to be there and watch you fuck Edward up," Emmett said while Jasper nodded in agreement.

"Of course, you can watch. Caius is going to want everyone involved to be there. I made sure to ask him that very same question. I can't wait to see Edward knocked down several pegs. The arrogant jackass seems to think he's superior to everyone," I ranted as I slammed my empty water bottle down on the floor when I noticed the broken coffee table. "Hey, Emmy bear, you broke my table. Please clean up your mess."

Emmett bent over and grabbed the two halves of what was once my coffee table. "Where do you want me to put these?" he asked.

"Take them out the back door and put them in the garage," I ordered. He was back a moment later and I cursed his vampire speed. "I wish I was fast like that. I could get my house cleaning done in record time," I said more to myself than to any of those guys.

"We need to head on out to make a run to the store and get the list of things Esme wanted. We have to do laundry and whatnot," Jasper said.

"We're playing the happy homemakers for today," Emmett joked.

Thoughts of Emmett wearing a frilly white apron came to mind and I began to laugh. "I want to see you wearing a girly apron next time you come over."

"You got it," he said in all seriousness. I just knew for a fact that he would do it. He was such a goofball.

"I see what you mean, Bella. Emmett is very playful," Grandpa Caius said with a smirk.

Jasper and Emmett left shortly after that with a promise to return tomorrow evening. I turned to Caius and Felix and said, "Well, what do you want to do now?"

"I think it's past time that I meet Charlie," Caius said seriously.

"OK, I can call Jake and have him bring dad over," I suggested.

CHPOV

I haven't seen Bella since before she left for her competition, and I was worried. Usually, she calls me back immediately, but for some reason, it took her hours to get back to me. After Jacob returned from checking in on her for me, he told me that she was fine and that I was going to have to make a trip over to her house.

I decided to take today off from work to get some things around the house done and then go see my daughter. I try to give her the space that an adult needs but I still worry for my little girl. Ever since that emo asshole hurt her, I have been overprotective.

I heard the phone ring inside and Sue answered it. A moment late she came out to the front porch. "Jacob said to get yourself cleaned up. You two are going to Bella's. He said there's someone there you need to meet."

"Did he say if she was dating anyone?" I asked wondering who this new person was and whether or not I could trust them to be around my daughter.

"Nope, he just said to get yourself cleaned up. He'll be here in half an hour," she said kissing my cheek and heading back inside. It was way too hot today, and Sue doesn't handle the heat well.

I put the tools away that I was using to fix the railing and headed inside to grab a quick shower. Twenty minutes later I was clean and dressed in my usual t-shirt and blue jeans and waiting for Jake to show up. Five minutes later, he pulled in driving his new truck. I gave Sue a kiss and walked outside to meet him.

"Hey, Charlie, hop in," he waved.

Five minutes later we were on the main road that would take us to Forks. "What is going on Jake?" I asked.

"It's nothing bad, Charlie, so you can relax."

"Okay, so if it's nothing bad you can tell me what it is," I replied.

He shook his head. "No can do, Charlie. It's not my news to share. Just relax. We'll be there in five minutes."

We pulled up as Bella was stepping outside to greet us. As soon as Jake parked, I hopped out of the car and walked over to my beautiful daughter. "Hey, kid, what's going on?" She gave me a big hug and stepped back. She was smiling and happy and that was always my favorite look on her.

"Hi, dad, I'm glad you're here. I have someone very important for you to meet?" she told me.

I grimaced. What she just said was too close to what she had said to me the day she introduced me to Edwin. "Is it a new boyfriend?"

"No, dad, I'm not seeing anyone. You can calm down," she said and then turned to Jake. "Hey, Jake, thanks for dragging him here," she said giving him a big hug.

"No problem, sis," he replied as he returned her hug. "Let's get this party started."

Bella grabbed my hand and pulled me with her. Once inside, I saw two unknown males standing in the living room. I scowled and looked at my daughter.

"Who's this? I asked her.

"Dad, relax. There's a lot you don't know, and it's important that you listen."