It was an absolutely stunningly sunny day in Forks. Extremely rare, but welcome in a way nonetheless. Esme had decided to rearrange some plants in her garden, moving the begonias out of the shade and into the sun and was humming peacefully to herself when she heard Jasper come out onto the back porch. She looked up at him, smiled and watched as he sat down on the porch swing and started to read. Esme did a mental head count to account for the rest of her family; Carlisle had gone to work early to avoid the sun and would therefore be back after sundown, Alice and Rosalie were upstairs on the internet probably maxing out Carlisle's credit card. She chuckled to herself as she thought about that. The family, thanks to Carlisle's love for his work, and Alice's ability to see into the future, had enough money to make them very comfortable for eternity, but Carlisle couldn't deny his daughters anything, or his sons for that matter. It was Esme who routinely put the brakes on the shopping expeditions into Port Angeles. It was Esme who wouldn't allow the boys new game controllers when they broke theirs out of frustration.
Emmett and Edward were wrestling in the basement, the only room that wasn't completely off limits to their antics. When the moved to Forks, Esme had been adamant that the house they chose to live in had a basement because she was so tired of her beautiful antiques so lovingly collected being destroyed in the name of boy play. The basement was furnished with a thick carpet and padding on the walls, more to dull the noise than protect the wrestlers and Carlisle had made a media room which held the boys' game stations and their games.
"Esme?" Jasper's voice pierced her thoughts and she realized she had been very far away. She looked up at him and saw him looking down at his arms. "Yes, Jasper?".
"When you look at me, what do you see?" At first Esme was confused by the question, and then she realized exactly what he meant. Did she see a monster who was covered in scars like he did when he looked in the mirror at himself? What did she see?
"Well, let's see." Replied Esme thoughtfully. "I see my incredibly handsome blond middle son. I see my Alice's love and protector. I see a young man with a beautiful soul, mind and heart, albeit a non beating one. I see in you parts of the child I lost who I will mourn forever, but whose loss I had to endure in order to become your mom. I see a devoted brother who has wrecked far too much of my furniture and caused way too much mischief in this family but whose family would be lost without him. I see my newest baby boy who tries so hard in high school and of whom I am so enormously proud. I see my son. My beautiful, perfect, blond son with gorgeous gold eyes. That's what I see when I look at you. The son that would be equally stunningly handsome in rags as the designer clothes Alice forces him to wear. That's what I see, why? Why do you ask?"
Jasper looked stunned. It certainly wasn't the answer he was expecting. It certainly wasn't what he saw when he looked in the mirror. He got up off the swing and walked over to Esme. He stood in front of her looking at her quizzically and then hugged her fiercely. "Thank you, Mom." He whispered. "You're welcome, my love" replied Esme, as she kissed his scarred jaw and pushed his bangs off his forehead, lingering on the scar right above his right eyebrow. "You're welcome".
Jasper walked back to the porch, picked up the book and headed back into the house, probably to find his brothers and engage in whatever shenanigans they were currently up to.
"Oh, and Jasper?" called Esme.
He turned to face her. "Don't waste your time asking your Dad what he sees. His answer will be the same as mine".
He smiled at her, the beautiful, perfect white teeth gleaming in the sun and went into the house.
As he shut the door behind him, he absolutely glowed with joy. He looked up at the ceiling and whispered "Thank you, Alice. Thank you for finding me and bringing me home. Thank you".