His Wolf Pup - a Jasper Hale Story

47- Carlisle's Explanation

After our wonderful reunion, I walked out back to get some air. I was hoping to be alone, but Carlisle followed me back and sat down next to me on the grass.

"Emma, can we talk?" he asked me.

I didn't look at him as he spoke. Instead, I kept my gaze focused on the line of trees that outlined our yard.

"What exactly happened when you left?" I asked. "And how did it happen?" I wanted to hear someone other than Edward tell me what happened, and I trusted Carlisle enough that he would tell me the truth.

He took a deep breath before explaining everything to me. "After the Bella incident, you went to Sam's because Edward was being annoying. Later that night, Jasper ended up coming home. When he realized you weren't here, he asked us all not to tell you he was home, so he had an extra day to get himself together. The next day, we had a family meeting without you instead of going to school. Jasper wanted to see you, but Edward convinced us that he wasn't ready. That led us down the spiral that Jasper wasn't ready to be around any humans after that slip-up."

"How did you end up down that spiral?" I asked him, hurt that they would all tell that to him.

"Edward talked to us about it all day and all night. He was convinced that Jasper would cause a problem if we stayed around. We didn't all believe him until he reminded us that Jasper also hurt you that night. That was also what got Jasper on board with the whole idea. He didn't want to hurt anyone, so he let us decide what to do. Edward came up with the idea of leaving, that way, you girls wouldn't get hurt. None of us wanted to leave you, but we couldn't think of any other way to protect you."

That made me turn to look at him. "Did it never occur to you that I didn't need protecting?"

"Honestly, at the time, no. We all still think of you as a fragile human; I forget that you're more than that." He paused for a moment. "Anyway, once we left, Jasper started hurting. It started small, with random things like his chest hurt, which I didn't think was possible. However, the longer we were gone, the more pain he started to feel. I figured it had something to do with you, but I figured it would go away with time."

"It would have gotten worse." I kept my voice even as I spoke, but I was angry, and I think Carlisle could tell.

"I truly am sorry, Emma. I know that will never be enough, and I'm okay with that, but please do not blame Jasper for any of this. The things Edward said, they messed with his head and made him not trust himself. He's been in pain from missing you for months, and now you're here, and you're mad at him for something I let Edward do. If you're going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me."

I finally looked at Carlisle to see him looking back at me. "I am mad at you," I told him. "I'm pissed. Everything you just said is stupid. You let Edward dictate what everyone in this coven should do. Considering he knows what everyone is thinking all the time, he knows exactly what to say to convince everyone to do what he wants, so he gets his way. You have to think about that  when he tells you stuff."

"I never thought about it like that," he told me. "But I will from now on. Edward won't dictate what we do, and we won't make family decisions without you. If we had had that meeting and you were here, you probably would have talked us out of it."

"I definitely would have." I looked away from him once again and focused back on the trees.

Carlisle decided it was his turn to ask me a question. "How was it at Sam's?"

"It was nice to hang out with the pack," I told him, "but it was absolutely awful to be without Jasper."

"What do you mean?" He asked me.

"I was hurting, Carlisle," I said, glancing at him. "Just like Jasper was."

He took a sharp breath, nodded once, and stood up. "I'm going to give you a minute to yourself," he said. "But, I know Emmet is standing at the door and really wants to come talk to you."

"He can come out," I told Carlisle.

He nodded once again in reply and started to walk away before stopping and saying, "I just want you to know, we would love it if you still stayed here with us, but we understand if you want to live on the Rez with Sam and only visit us." And with that, he walked back into the house.