Alice

I followed Carlisle into the living room. Rosalie sat in a rather secluded chair. I knew she didn't trust us. Carlisle and Esme headed toward a couch, so I walked with Jasper to a loveseat across from them. Esme smiled when she saw Jasper wait until the ladies were seated before sitting next to me. I took Jasper's hand and looked at Carlisle. "Well.. I umm... well I saw you and your family I can see the future and I don't want to kill people and neither does Jasper (Jasper and I are mates) so we came here and we're all going to be great friends so can Jasper and I please stay?" I offered in a rush. Now that that was over with I felt much better. I was proud of myself. I'd hit all the important points. I looked over to see Jasper's reaction. The proud feeling disappeared. "Umm... Alice dear... I highly doubt that made any sense to them." he said gently. "Oh." I managed.

I looked back at Carlisle and Esme. "What else do you want to know?" Carlisle looked a little excited "You.. see the future?" I couldn't help feeling a little smug "Yep. Just like Edward reads minds. My visions are subjective though." I admitted. Rosalie glared at me. "Oh wonderful!" she said rolling her eyes. I looked at Jasper, feeling frustrated. I knew everything would work out eventually, but I really wasn't expecting the possibility that Rose wouldn't even give me a chance. Jasper closed his eyes a moment. "Alice saw a vision of this coven." he explained, looking at Carlisle. "The two of you would like to stay here?" Esme asked. Her face was more excited than I'd expected. I nodded happily and squeezed Jasper's hand. "Can we Carlisle? Please?" I hadn't been planning on stooping to puppy dog eyes, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

Jasper

I couldn't believe Alice. She was talking outgoing to a whole new level. She was acting crazy, but all I could think was how adorable she was. What shocked me was that the leader and his mate seemed to be thinking the same thing. Rosalie was suspicious, but not as much as I expected. "Of course you can stay." The leader assured her with a smile. I did a double take. Just like that? He was willing to let us stay with him? Alice started to run to him, but I held her arm instinctively. This could be a trick. I wasn't willing to risk it. She looked at me with her big eyes and I let her go, but followed her closely. To my horror, she threw her arms around the coven leader's waist like a small child. "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You" she chanted.

"How long have you two known each other?" Esme asked me quietly, watching her husband snap out of his shock and return my darling's hug. "Almost five months ma'am." I said, surprising myself. I had trouble remembering my life before Alice. How had I survived? "When were you changed?" Rosalie asked as my angel walked back to me. She was slightly curt, but I could tell she was curious. "1863" Her eyes widened in surprise. "And what about her?" She demanded, sneering. I struggled to maintain my polite tone. It was going to be a long night. I'd anticipated battles. I'd anticipated being ripped to shreds. I hadn't anticipated them insulting my Alice.

Alice
They gave us a tour of the house. AMAZING!!! It made it feel like home to know where everything was instead of piecing together visions. I held Jasper's hand the whole time as he mapped escape routes in his head. My jaw dropped when I saw one of the windows. Outside was a large tree surrounded by purple flowers. I dragged Jasper to see it and he had a huge smile on his face. That might have just been because I loved it so much. I flung open the window and stepped into the tree. Once I was seated on the perfect sized branch I pulled my love into a Jasper-sized nook. He sat reluctantly, but he was leaking happiness into the room. I turned to Esme and interrupted her conversation with Rosalie about which room we would move into. "This is the most beautiful tree I've ever seen". I gushed. I looked down at my feet. "Can I take a picture of it for my wallet so I can look at it all the time?" When I asked this, Jasper really wanted to make me happy, so he manipulated Esme's emotions. He wasn't used to people as nice as Esme, so he thought it would be difficult and ended up sending stronger emotions than necessary.

"Why don't you move into this room so you can see it every morning?" Esme asked. As soon as she asked it, she seemed to remember that it was Edward's room, but she didn't go back on her offer. Less than half an hour later, Edward's worldly possessions were in the garage. I couldn't get a decent vision of his reaction. There were way too many decisions that had to be made. Jasper seemed to be doing well. He was annoyed with Rosalie, (I didn't know why) but he was perfectly polite to both her and Esme. He was respectful of Carlisle. It was a good start. He still seemed afraid, but I was sure that would pass. Things would get worse when the boys arrived, but after that they would probably get better. Rosalie was going to be a great shopping partner/sister and Carlisle and Esme were and always would be my mother and daddy. This was home.

Jasper

I honestly didn't know what the Cullens were feeling. I wasn't allowing them to feel anything genuine. Everything was calm and willing to accept my eccentric little Alice. Maybe in time they really would. I had noticed that they didn't require strong waves of false emotion to give Alice the things she wanted. That was nice at least. Still, there were two more in the coven, one of which could read minds. What shocked me was the fact that the mind-reader wasn't the coven leader. How had Carlisle remained dominant? Did he have a more powerful gift? One that I hadn't factored into my battle plans?

I was really mad at myself. I'd assumed that Alice would know better than to tell them of her gift. Keeping it a secret would have been a good advantage if it came to a fight. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought to give Alice a crash course in covens. I still didn't understand why Alice wanted a coven so badly. Or why I'd given into her. Sure, we'd have protection, but at what cost? Did she just not understand how brutal coven life was? Were my scars not proof enough? If anything happened to her, I'd never forgive myself. She was my life.