Chapter 1: Five years old
Alice Cullen ran outside to her best friends house. That was new to her. She and Rosie had been friends since birth but she always lived across town from her. Now, they lived right next door and roses window was right across from hers. Today she was gonna meet roses twin brother Jasper. Jasper and roses parents had divorced two years after their birth. Rose lived with her father, and Jasper, their mother. Jasper had to move in with his dad because his mom was was going on a trip to find herself. (Nobody really knew what that meant). Alice skipped up to the front door and knocked. The door swung open and rose was squealing in her ear. They rushed upstairs to Rosie's playroom and grabbed their usual baby dolls. They played house for while then switched to dress up. Then Alice heard the sprinklers through the window. Rose didn't like to play outside as much but obliged Alice when it came to the sprinklers. Alice ran home to get her swimsuit, flying down the stairs so fast she collided with the boy coming up them and they both went sprawling across the floor.
Jasper sat up, indignant but shut his mouth when he caught sight of Alice. She was a tiny thing, smaller and shorter then both he and rose. She was up like a shot, apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry! The sprinklers are on! You wanna come?" The words tumbled out of her mouth, almost faster than he could comprehend. Before she could finish talking, he pushed her down again and sneered "why would I wanna play with girls?" Alice was stunned for a second then started to cry. Jasper yelled "girls suck!" Over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs. Alice ran home to her mom, crying the whole way.
Esme Cullen was just pulling her famous apple pie out of the oven, when Alice ran in crying. Esme put the pie on the counter to cool before turning to pick Alice up. The first things she noticed were a scraped elbow and a crookedly loose ponytail. Alice started jabbering a mile a minute through her tears. She heard the words Jasper, sprinklers, and mean. She knew Jasper had just moved back in with his dad and sister after his mom left. She always did think it was sad how a mother could just walk away from her kids, the way Alana Hale did. Esme's kids were her whole life. Even when she and Carlisle had their worst fights, she could never think about leaving them. Esme rubbed Alice's back and waited for her to calm down, the same way she did all those years ago when Alice was a baby.
Alice had been early and her labor had been short. The way Esme saw it, Alice was eager to meet the world, but didn't like it so much when did. Alice had been a fussy, picky baby. Emmett, on the other hand, had been overdue and stubborn. He was an easy baby though; he slept all night and ate all day. Emmett and Alice had always been polar opposites, but became best friends as they grew.
Speaking of which, Emmett stomped in from football, his steps headed towards the stairs but changed course when he heard Alice crying. He walked in looking concerned. "Ali, what's wrong?" Alice saw Emmett and the sniffles slowed down. "Jasper is a meany butt! I ran into him on the stairs and he pushed me and said girls suck!" Alice finished talking and started to cry again. Emmett went from concerned to mad "where is he! I'll beat him up for you!" Alice smiled and Esme caught him by the arm before he could charge next door to beat up poor Jasper. Esme put Alice down on the counter top. She directed Emmett to the bathroom so he could shower then turned to Alice as he sulked away. "Sweetheart, I'm sure Jasper didn't mean to hurt you. He's been having a rough time since his mommy left. Why don't you give it some time. I'm sure you guys will be good friends." Alice furrowed her brow. "Jasper doesn't have a mommy?" Esme corrected her. "Jasper has a mommy, sweetheart, but she had to go away." Alice looked even more confused. "But mommies aren't supposed to go away. Mommies are supposed to be forever." She looked at her mom sadly. "Are you gonna go away mommy?" Esme's heart broke for her confused daughter. She wrapped her in a hug and held her tight. "Alice, mommy is never ever going to leave you. I promise." Esme relaxed when she felt Carlisle's arms around the two of them. "Daddies are forever too Alice." As they pulled out the hug, Carlisle caught sight of Alice's elbow "let's get you cleaned up monkey." Carlisle easily lifted a giggly Alice over his shoulder and carried her to his study. Carlisle set Alice on the desk and deftly cleaned and bandaged the scrape on her elbow. Carlisle set her on the floor and she ran to go show Emmett her Barbie bandaid.
That night, after an early dinner, Alice went to have a sleepover at roses house. Alice usually slept on the bottom bunk of roses trundle bed. Alice woke up in the middle of the night and sleepily stumbled to the bathroom.
The bathroom connected Rosalie's bed room and playroom. They had begun converting the playroom into a bedroom for Jasper. They hadn't gotten his bed yet, so Jasper slept on couch cushions in his sleeping bag. As Alice washed her hands, she heard quiet crying in the playroom and remembered the conversation she had with her mom. She quietly slipped into the playroom and went to sit beside Jasper. He felt her tiny hand on his shoulder and jumped. When he saw her he quickly wiped the tears away and sneered. "What are you doing here?" Alice sat down next to him and he scooted away. "I heard you crying"she whispered. Jasper rubbed furiously at his eyes. "I wasn't crying!" He spat out. Alice didn't move. "My mom told me your mom went away." Jasper stiffened but didn't say anything. "Mommies aren't supposed to go away. Mommies are forever." Jasper turned to Alice. She could tell he was angry. "Then why did she go?! If mommies are forever, why did she leave?!" Jasper pushed over roses play kitchen and kicked it. Alice stood up and put a hand on Jaspers shoulder. Jasper stiffened at the contact, then turned to look at Alice with tears in his eyes. "Why did she leave me? I was good. I helped set the table, I cleaned up my toys, I ate all my vegetables… What did I do wrong?" Jasper started to cry again so Alice gave him a hug. "I don't know Jasper. Maybe some mommies are just bad. You can share my mommy; she's a good mommy." Jasper cried harder and Alice hugged him tighter and rubbed his back like her mom did for her. Eventually Jasper laid down and Alice sat down next to his head. The cries turned to sniffles and soon Jasper was asleep, holding tight to Alice's hand while she stroked his hair. Alice stood up and gently pulled her hand away from Jaspers. Jasper tugged back at her hand; "thank you Alice" he mumbled sleepily. Alice whispered "your welcome" and quietly tiptoed back into roses room.
The next morning, Rose was outraged to find her pink play kitchen knocked over. Jasper told her he ran into it when he went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and quickly righted and reorganized the pink plastic dishes and fake food.
Alice and Jasper became fast friends after that, and as promised, until Jaspers dad remarried, whenever Jasper was upset or had a booboo, Alice took him to her mommy to feel better.