Note: Yes. It's been ages. I suck. But that is why I'm writing longer, self-contained, cliff-hanger free chapters. It's why this won't be a plot-driven story.

This chapter is chapter one from Jasper's point of vi...wait! Don't go! I swear, it isn't a rehash of the last chapter. Give it a chance! If you'll recall, Jasper wasn't with Bella all the time in the last chapter. In this chap, you get to see how Bella's newborn status affects Jasper.

I have been getting some lovely reviews, which I put into an email folder to reply to later (now that FF has made it difficult to tell when you have responded to a review) and of course I never got around to replying to them (a lot has been going in on in my life). It seems kind of weird to do it after so much time has elapsed, but I really am grateful, I love them, and I wanted to thank you all for taking the time to leave them.

Warning: There is an incidence of Citrus Interruptus ahead (again) and one slightly violent lemon. Remember, vampires are indestructible, furniture is not, and while no furniture was harmed during the writing of this chapter, one desk may have suffered slight damage.

Touchstone67, take your nausea meds and strap yourself in. Oh and stop reading when you get to "Pushing myself away from the wall, I palmed her ass, sliding my hands down her thighs and lifting her legs to wrap around my hips." You can start again when you get to "I heard her talking to Bella as I picked up my guitar and settled on the couch to wait." Unless you hate any and all Jalice interaction, in which case you had better skip the whole chapter.

Nat, you are the best, and if you see anything else that needs fixing or doesn't feel right, let me know. Just because I posted this, doesn't mean I am done revising it.


Jasper:

I swallowed a growl of frustration and deleted the email I had just read. The last avenue open to me in the research into my ancestry had yielded nothing. Dropping my head into my hands, I raked my fingers through my hair, pushing it away from my face. It was frustrating, but there really wasn't anything I could do about it at this point. The best investigators that money could buy hadn't been able to help me; it was time to come to terms with the fact that this particular branch of my family tree would remain a mystery to me. When the only family records in existence are destroyed in a fire, there isn't much anyone, immortal or otherwise, can do. I had managed to piece together some information from letters and journals, but it wouldn't be enough to paint anything close to a complete picture. Emmett might have some suggestions, as it was his idea initially – but I wasn't holding out much hope.

Logging out of my email account, I pulled up the database created with the sole purpose of tracking my family's descendants and entered the scant information I had managed to compile so far. Unlike Emmett, who dedicated an entire wall of his room in every home he lived in to recording his findings as a tribute to his ancestry, I preferred this more pedestrian method. Admittedly, Emmett's way was more impressive. With surprising artistic skill, he had chronicled as much of his family tree as he was able to track down, starting with his parents, in beautiful calligraphy on one wall of his room. He joked that decades of painting Rosalie's toenails had given him a certain dexterity with the paintbrush. It wasn't something you'd expect Emmett to be interested in, but when someone had several lifetimes ahead of them and didn't need to sleep, their interests would vary greatly over the years. It was the first thing he did when he moved into a new place; he would painstakingly transcribe every name and date of birth and death onto his wall of choice, before setting out his furniture and personal belongings. He said it humbled him, grounded him, and connected him to his roots. It was his way of keeping close to his family, those both alive and dead.

My thoughts wandered to Alice, out with the rest of the family, and I leaned back in my chair, threading my fingers together behind my neck and looking out at the snowy landscape beyond the frost rimmed windows of my study. Hearing the sound of pages turning, I spared Bella a brief glance. Something in her body language caught my attention and I did a double-take.

I observed her unobtrusively for a moment, and frowned. Something was off with her. It was nothing that could be easily pinpointed or explained, but years of working with a wide variety of newborns had given me a great deal of insight into the signals they would unknowingly give off; clues to their state of mind, and their immediate intentions, mostly. Bella was setting off some serious alarms. I shifted my focus to her emotions, finding her closed off to me. That did not bode well; her shield often closed in on her when she was upset. There was nothing for it; it would have to come down. I was about to ask her to drop it when she suddenly stiffened, and threw the book she was holding against the wall with a flick of her wrist.

Ok, we definitely had a situation brewing. "Hey!" I said sharply enough to catch her attention and let her know she was out of line.

She must have forgotten I was there, because she jumped before turning toward me. Her eyes had darkened, though not enough to make thirst a factor in her incomprehensible behavior.

"If you want to throw books, go to your room and throw your own," I snapped. "Now pick it up."

Her face hardened. She glared at me defiantly, but made no move to comply.

Oh no you don't, child…"Bella," I said warningly, sitting up straighter.

She remained motionless, staring at me intently. Through her eyes I could almost see the wheels turning as she debated whether she could get away with disobeying me. Before I could decide what my next move would be, she got up and walked over to the wall, bending to pick up the book under my watchful eye. Her body language still concerned me; that shield definitely needed to come down, and it needed to come down now.

"Drop your shield, Bella," I ordered softly.

She spun around to face me, her eyes flashing with her ire. "What?!" she exploded. "Why? All I did was throw a book!"

I gripped the arms of my chair. "You know exactly why," I said firmly. "Now drop it."

There was no doubt now that she was on the verge of losing control. She was practically vibrating with anger; I didn't need my power to figure that out. I did need it to calm her down though, but for that she would have to drop her shield and let me in. I really hoped she wouldn't make me force the issue, but it wasn't looking good.

My concern grew as I waited for her to comply. She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking, but her shield remained up. Worried that she was close to losing it, I stood, ready to intervene quickly if necessary.

"Isabella. Do it. Now," I commanded sharply, getting tired of her insubordination and rapidly losing patience with her.

Her eyes flew open and she stared at me again, tensing.

I groaned inwardly. Aw, Hell. She's gonna blow. I was about to lunge at her when she bolted, letting the book drop out of her hands as she went. It hit the floor behind me with a soft thud just as I brought her crashing down to the ground in the hallway, immobilizing her swiftly if not easily by twisting her arms behind her back. She was thrashing around so powerfully beneath me that she almost unseated me twice. Her rage slammed into me like a fist the moment I breached her shield.

"Jesus," I muttered, struggling to fend off her anger and overwhelm it with calm. She shrieked like a banshee before suddenly going limp in my grasp as the waves of calm I was flooding her with finally took hold.

"You can let me up now," she mumbled sarcastically into the carpet. "I'm all better."

I loosened my grip fractionally. "Your shield had better be down when I let go of you," I warned, not liking her tone, "and you are leaving it down until Carlisle tells you otherwise. Clear?"

She said nothing, but at least she wasn't fighting me anymore.

My grip tightened again. "Answer me," I ground out, getting more irritated by the second.

"Yes," she muttered quietly. "Clear."

I let go of her and stood, stepping aside as she jumped up and plucked nervously at the hem of her top, avoiding my eyes. Watching her carefully, I sensed only minor annoyance and a touch of embarrassment under a whole heaping helping of sulkiness. It was nothing for me to be concerned about. The immediate danger seemed to have passed, but I wasn't going to let down my guard just yet. She kept quiet, despite the fact that I was clearly expecting her to say something.

I finally broke the silence myself. If nothing else, I was curious as to her motivations. "Why did you run?" I asked her.

"Because I was fine," she muttered, looking anywhere but at me.

I sighed. She was still copping an attitude. "Bella," I said firmly. "Look at me."

Slowly and unwillingly, she did.

Once she had given me her full attention, I spoke. "I thought you understood that it wasn't your determination to make."

She shrugged and looked down again, her hair falling into her face. She looked like the quintessential surly teenager. For some reason it got on my very last nerve.

My temper finally got the best of me. "Dammit, Bella," I snapped, "look at me when I am talking to you, and get your hair out of your face."

Her head shot up and she swept the curtain of dark hair out of the way, scowling at me. "Jesus, Major Whitlock, relax," she sniped. "You're not in the army anymore. What crawled up your ass and died, anyway?"

Her snippy twenty-first century attitude was the final straw. Carlisle could deal with her; she was his problem. I'd had enough. I was tired of fighting with her; it was like banging your head against a brick wall. Battling my own anger, I squeezed my eyes shut, pinching the bridge of my nose and frowning. "That's it. There's no talking to you when you are like this," I said curtly, throwing in the towel. "Just go to your room, and stay there until Carlisle gets home."

"Seriously, Jasper? You're sending me to my room?"

My fingers twitched. Somebody, please give me strength. "Bella," I responded wearily, "I don't care where you go, as long as you stay within the walls of this house. So pick a room – or a closet, if that's what you want - get your ass in it before I do it for you, and stay there until Carlisle comes to you. I don't want to see you, hear you, or talk to you until then. And keep your shield down."

Again she hesitated. I took a step toward her, shooting her an angry glare. She stood her ground for as long as she dared before finally heaving a bratty sigh and turning to flounce away. It made me so angry I was tempted to go after her and smack her clear into next week. Resisting the urge, I watched her until she disappeared around the corner and slammed the door to her room shut with such force that the floor vibrated beneath me. Thankful for a little peace and quiet, I headed back to my desk and dropped into my seat, leaning back and staring blindly at the ceiling, still struggling with my anger.

I had bonded very quickly with Bella. It was almost inevitable, considering I'd been charged with keeping tabs on her emotional state. Over the years, I had developed the ability to keep the emotional input from others turned way down, kind of like music playing quietly in the background. With Bella, the volume had to be turned up a little louder in order for me to pay attention to the songs. As a result, her inner workings quickly became intimately familiar to me. It was hard not to love such a sweet soul. Bella was by no means as perfect and selfless as Edward liked to think she was, but underneath all the emotional turmoil that sometimes made her snap and snarl like a Tazmanian Devil, she was still the kind and caring human that she had always been.

It took Bella a little longer to bond with me. Initially, she wasn't happy about me 'prying into her emotional state' as she loved to put it, and tended to avoid me, though I wasn't sure why she thought keeping her distance would help. It wasn't like I needed proximity to her to be able to get a read on her emotions - unless her shield was up, of course. For a start, they were very strong and all over the place in those early months. I could have helped her more often than I did, even without her knowledge, but I didn't want to do that unless her temper reached critical mass – which had happened quite a few times, although I wasn't sure she realized that. Not only did she need to experience what being a newborn felt like and learn to manage her feelings on her own, it was also important that she come to me for help of her own volition, when she was good and ready. I sensed that unsolicited help from me would feel like interference, and not be welcomed. She'd had enough controlling behavior from Edward to last her a lifetime; she didn't need it from me as well.

It was heartbreaking at times, watching her struggle with her feelings and wishing I could just step in, chase away the monsters, and make everything alright, yet knowing that there were some things she just had to work through on her own. I felt a surge of tenderness for her when it occurred to me that this was probably what being a parent felt like, and the closest I would ever get. You had to have been a newborn yourself - or like me, have special insight into them - to understand the turmoil she was going through. I knew from personal experience that something as simple as a harmless memory could trigger emotions that were then blown out of all proportion by the newborn state.

It was by no means a walk in the park for me either. When I'd agreed to monitor Bella's emotions, I hadn't thought about the ramifications. I hadn't considered how working with a newborn again would affect me. It was bringing memories to the forefront of my mind that weren't particularly welcome there anymore. Forgetting might be impossible for me, but I had become very adept at pushing unpleasant memories deep into the recesses of my mind and keeping them there. This was something all vampires had to learn in order to maintain some level of sanity, and most vampires didn't have to deal with the terrifying past that still plagued me to this day. Unfortunately, close contact with one of the most contrary and difficult newborns I had ever encountered was making it very difficult to keep the old memories and emotions at bay.

In addition to having to deal with the memories dredged up by being around a newborn, it was necessary for me to re-learn how to act around one. The last time I had any significant dealings with them, I was molding them into killers, using dubious methods at best. My job was a lot harder when the newborn in question was my baby sister, and needed to be treated with patience and tact instead of brute force. Still, old habits die hard; I had lost count of the times I'd wished I could just go back to my old modus operandi and clobber her into submission. It would certainly make my job easier.


We had already been in upstate New York for several weeks before Bella finally cracked and came to me. Alice and I had been hanging out together on the couch, talking quietly. A careless remark had led to a challenge, then a struggle, and ended with Alice on her back and me kneeling on the sofa, looming over her, her hips cradled between my thighs. She wrapped her legs tightly around me, sighing as I reverently slipped the spaghetti strap of her top down one snowy shoulder and bent down to nibble unimpeded on her collar bone, tasting her against her half-hearted protests. Just as my lips began drifting south to her breasts, she suddenly stiffened beneath me. I lifted my head to look at her, finding her eyes glazed over, irises darting back and forth; the telltale signs of a vision.

Braced on my arms, I watched her, curbing my impatience with difficulty, and waited for her to ride it out. Seconds later, she blinked and her eyes came back into focus. With a satisfied smirk, I brought my lips back to her throat, only to have her push at my chest, squirming to get away. Misunderstanding, and thinking she was simply getting feisty, my grin widened in anticipation of a struggle and some rough sex. I clamped my hands around her wrists and pressed them to the cushions beside her head, trapping her against the couch.

She let out a strangled squeak. "Get off me Jazz!" she yelped, trying to twist her wrists free. "Bella has finally decided she needs you. She's coming to see you. She and the others will be back from hunting in a few minutes, and if I don't get out of here, she won't come to you."

I ignored her and ground my hips against her, hoping to distract her, but succeeded only in ratcheting up my own lust a notch or two. "Come on, baby," she said a little breathily, drumming her heels against my back to get my attention back on what mattered. "You can do me anytime, but Bella needs you now."

Groaning in frustration, I dropped my forehead to her chest, refusing to let her go just yet. It was past time for Bella to finally realize she needed help from me, and I couldn't let this opportunity slide. Who knew when she would decide to come to me again. I reluctantly let Alice go, and straightened up as she slithered out from under me and made for the door before I could change my mind and snatch her back into my arms.

I stuck my hand down the front of my cargo pants, hissing as I rearranged myself, and flopped down on the sofa onto my back, throwing an arm over my eyes. "I need a cold shower," I muttered sulkily.

"Think of Esme naked!" Alice sang from somewhere in the house.

I lurched upright. "Jesus, Alice! That's disgusting! She's practically my mother!"

"Yeah, but it worked, didn't it?"

I looked down at myself. Well whaddya know. It was working, and I didn't even have to actually do it. I stood and went to my desk, unplugging my laptop and taking it to the armchair, settling in to work on my dissertation while waiting for Bella to show up. It took me awhile to realize she was hovering outside my door, and had been for a few minutes. I set my laptop aside, unfolded my legs from beneath me, and waited for her to knock.

She didn't. Her hesitation was barely discernible, lost as it was in the sea of other emotions plaguing her, but it was there. A minute elapsed, yet she remained indecisive. Finally I stood, walking over to the door and opening it.

She looked terrible. Gaunt, the purple shadows under her eyes much more pronounced than they should be, considering that she had fed recently. The mental strain she was under was enormous. She said nothing, and I simply stood aside, wordlessly inviting her in.

She said nothing to me during that first visit. I observed her from the door at first, waiting for her to speak, but she didn't, standing just inside my study and looking around with curious eyes. It was the first time she had been in there since I had moved my personal belongings in, and I could feel her interest slowly growing, until it had more or less overwhelmed the rest of her feelings. It spiked when she noticed my bookshelves, and like a child distracted, she forgot her suffering and made a beeline for my books. I watched her trailing her fingers reverently along the spines before pulling one of them out and opening it.

Shrugging inwardly, I went back to my armchair and folded my long frame into it. Bella was now almost completely calm, and I had done nothing to contribute to her peaceful state. When she curled up in a corner of my sofa with the book, pulling the throw cover around herself, I reached for my laptop and went back to work. We spent the next two hours in companionable silence, and then Bella rose, replaced the book and left, sparing me a quick glance and a timid half-smile.

We continued like this for the next week. I started leaving my door ajar, which in this family was an invitation to come in (a closed door meant knock, and wait for permission to enter). At some point during the day or night, Bella would slip in, quietly close the door, and with a smile at me, retrieve whichever book she had been reading and curl up in her corner of the sofa. I would go back to what I was doing, and wait.

Her silent presence in my refuge had become so comfortable and familiar, that she surprised me when she finally spoke one day.

"Did I make a terrible mistake?" she whispered almost inaudibly.

I looked at her, only to find her looking absolutely stricken. She had put the book down, and was hugging her knees to her chest. With her faded threadbare jeans and plain t-shirt, and her hair in a ponytail, she looked small and lost, and all of thirteen years old. I hadn't noticed there was anything wrong because her shield was up.

I pushed my chair away from my desk, and joined her on the sofa, taking a seat next to her. "What do you mean?" I asked softly, ducking my head a little to catch her eyes. I had a pretty good idea what she was referring to, but I wanted her to verbalize it.

"You're the expert. Am I cut out to be a vampire, or did I make a terrible mistake?"

"You can't think like that, Bella. You are vampire, so it doesn't matter if you are cut out for it or not."

She frowned and waved her hand dismissively. "You know what I'm asking, Jasper. You have experience with newborns. Is it normal for me to have so much trouble adapting?"

I ran my hands through my hair and laced my fingers behind my head, leaning against the back of the couch. "Bella," I sighed, "that's a difficult question for me to answer. The newborns I dealt with were trained to be disposable killers; I didn't need them to learn to control their thirst and their instincts. They were used and discarded without a second thought to their well-being. Until you, I had no experience raising a newborn normally, with kindness and patience, to become a stable vampire."

She shot out of her seat like a bullet. "Fine," she snarled, looking like she was getting angrier and more impatient by the minute. "If you don't know, who's the best person to ask?"

I needed to get a read on her emotions, and soon. "Bella, sit down and let me finish," I said firmly, reaching for her quickly and fastening my hand around her arm. This served the dual purpose of enabling me to break through her shield - which I'm not even sure she knew was up - and pulling her back down on the couch. She was getting dangerously agitated again, all the benefits of quietly being in my presence during the past week erased, and was trying to tug her arm out of my grip. I decided this constituted an emergency, and let the merest hint of calm bleed from me into her. Not enough to overwhelm her other feelings, but just enough to take the edge off. She relaxed infinitesimally, and I released her.

"It's far too early to know that for sure. It's barely been a month; these things take time. If it will make you feel better, Carlisle is a better judge. You should talk to him. But Bella, you need to give yourself some time. And you should also consider letting me help you with my gift."

"I haven't needed help so far," she muttered sullenly, looking at her toes and picking at the polish. Alice had painted them a pale sky blue, with a dainty cluster of daisies on the big toes.

I let out a bark of laughter. "I can think of about ten instances off the top of my head where you did need my help."

She went dangerously still. Her eyes darted to mine, hard as flint. "What?"

I shot her a level gaze. "You know I've influenced your behavior before," I reminded her. "Not much, just enough to put a damper on your emotions and make you less dangerous." I was telling her all this because it was high time that she realized that she couldn't do this alone.

She sat unmoving, staring at me blankly, both hands fisting around a handful of denim on her shins.

"Come on Bella, you knew you were going to need help from time to time," I said reasonably. "Why are you so upset about this now?"

She glared at me. "I thought you'd ask my permission, or at the very least let me know you were going to do it," she said icily.

"You were hardly in a position to be reasonable. That's kind of why you needed help," I explained patiently. "There was no time to explain it all to you and I don't need to get your permission to defuse you. You know that. I've only used my gift on you when you were almost out of control and time was of the essence. The point is I'm asking you now if you will allow me to do more. Let me help you, Bella. Not to completely eradicate your feelings; you still need to experience them, and learn to deal with them yourself. I can take the edge off, though, and make them a bit more manageable for you. Honestly, sweetheart, I don't know how you've coped so far. You are incredibly resilient, but even you have your breaking point. It seems to me you are very close to reaching it."

She seemed to shrink into herself, hugging her legs a little tighter. "I can't take it any more, Jasper," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I can't do this. The world is too noisy. It's driving me crazy, and I can't get away from it. The outdoors is noisy, the house itself is noisy…everything is so loud, even the damn furniture! I can't find a moment's peace, anywhere. Sometimes I can't even stand to be in my own head; there's too much going on, too much to process! It feels like everything in my head is happening at the same time, right now. Every painful memory, every embarrassing moment, it's all there for me to relive time and time again. I can't forget anything. I can't forget…"

Her breath had started hitching as she spoke, no doubt the precursor to an epic crying jag, and possibly a panic attack. I gripped her upper arms and shook her once, gently, to snap her out of her blue funk and catch her attention. "Bella, look at me," I said firmly.

I didn't wait for her to do as I had asked her; I simply reached for her chin and tipped her face up to mine. "You're right, you won't ever forget. But you will learn to ignore the memories. You'll get used to them. You'll get used to the noise too. Look at the rest of us. Do we look like we're going crazy to you? You have to give it time, and you have to stop beating yourself up about taking more time than others. I can't do anything to accelerate the learning process for you, but I can help make the transition easier. Please let me show you what I mean, honey," I pleaded. "You don't have to suffer like this. Please."

She was considering my words, but I still sensed resistance. Her illogical stubbornness about this was starting to anger me, but my ire was kept carefully concealed. I decided to switch tactics. "It isn't fair to me, Bella," I murmured softly, letting her go. "Shutting you out completely isn't an option, as I'm charged with keeping an eye on you, especially when you are having difficulties. Because of this, all your rage, your frustration, your sadness; every single powerful emotion you experience is forced on me as well, whether I want to feel them or not. For both our sakes, I am begging you to let me help you."

Finally I had reached her. I knew this would do the trick; Bella had far too tender a heart to allow another to suffer because of her. Her face crumpled, and she buried her face in her knees, sobbing. "Oh, Jasper, I'm so sorry!" she cried. "I didn't think about that!"

"Hey, now, don't blow things out of all proportion," I crooned, pulling her into my lap and wrapping her in a soothing embrace. She transferred her face from her knees to my neck, and wrapped her arms around me. "The important thing is that you realize it now." I rubbed her back gently, letting her cry for a few minutes. When I had decided she had cried enough, I asked her if she was ready for me to show her how I could help her. She nodded against my neck.

Focusing on her strongest emotion, which currently happened to be sadness, I dialed down the intensity. The feeling itself was still present, but it wasn't as consuming as it had been. "Do you feel the difference?" I murmured into her hair. "I'm doing more than just flooding you with calm." She nodded again relaxing a little. Reassured that she was taking it well, I worked on her anxiety, her tension, and her frustration next, bringing them all down to manageable levels. Finally she heaved a shuddering sigh, and melted against me. "Thank you, Jazz," she murmured.

"You're welcome, baby girl," I whispered, pressing my lips against the crown of her head.

From that point on, Bella sought refuge with me whenever she felt overwhelmed by the world. It made her life, and by extension mine and the rest of the family's, a whole lot easier. She no longer tried to deal with it all by herself, though asking for help outright was still difficult for her. Having spent most of her life being independent and taking care of others, it was hard for her to find herself in the position of needing to be cared for. In the early days of our agreement, she would not ask for help, though she accepted it if it was offered. After one too many times of her running to me on the verge of hysteria over something, I suggested that if she learned to come to me for help before she reached flashpoint, I might be able to relax my vigilance slightly and allow her a little more emotional privacy, and wouldn't that be nice for her?

Asking for help suddenly became a whole lot easier.

We grew even closer. Our relationship was by no means perfect; we argued, and because we were vampires, our arguments could get exceptionally heated. On one or two occasions we even came to blows. It was to be expected, and I would have been surprised if Bella hadn't taken a swing at someone from time to time. It was all part of growing up. The important thing was learning to control those urges, at least if you wanted to fit in with human society someday. And Bella couldn't wait to be around humanity again.


Shaking off the memories, I reached for the large packet of documents my investigators had unearthed, and pulled out a padded envelope filled with old photos and miniatures. Sorting through them and cataloging them would take my mind off of my troublesome little sister for a while, at least until the rest of the family got home and I would have to fill them in on her most recent escapade. I started flipping through the photos, occasionally pausing to make notes, and Bella's tantrum was soon forgotten as I got lost in my past.

Two hours later, I heard the sounds of the family returning. I packed the photos and miniatures away carefully, and stood to go join them, mentally checking on Bella as I went down. All was quiet on the emotional front, except for the growing apprehension she was feeling at the prospect of facing Carlisle.

"Where's the baby?" Emmett asked as I came into the kitchen, my eyes seeking and finding Alice immediately.

"Up in her room, sulking," I replied, making a beeline for my mate. I hooked an arm around her waist and reeled her in, flush against me. "I missed you, baby," I whispered, kissing her lightly on the lips.

Edward had been halfway out the door and on his way to find Bella, when I had spoken. He spun around immediately, and I felt his concern spike. "Why is she sulking? What happened?"

Relax, man. She's fine, I thought at him. "She and I had ourselves a little set-to," I continued out loud over Alice's head, for the benefit of everyone else. "She refused to drop her shield, and I had to get physical."

Carlisle hung up his jacket. "Do you have any idea what set her off?" he interjected, before Edward could go off half-cocked. You worry like an old hen, I teased my brother silently. He glared at me, having read me loud and clear.

I turned to address Carlisle. "I'm not sure. She was reading a book, and then she just threw it at the wall." Knowing she was listening, and knowing that some of what might be said would anger her, I lowered my voice to a vampire-whisper. Everyone, except Rosalie, gathered closer in order to hear me. I felt a powerful surge of annoyance from Bella when she realized what I was doing. "I told her to pick it up; she refused at first. She looked like she was on the verge of erupting, so I asked her three times to lower her shield. She refused repeatedly, and then ran. I took her down in the hallway. It took me a few seconds to get through; she was being incredibly difficult, and I'm afraid I lost my temper. I sent her to her room to wait for you, Carlisle."

Edward turned to him, radiating anxiety. "What are we going to do? She's not adapting fast enough, what does that mean?"

"Don't be melodramatic, Edward," Alice whispered. "She's going to be fine; I have seen it, remember?"

"Alice, you know very well that the future isn't set in stone. Something could happen to change everything!" Edward hissed.

"Why the hell are we whispering?" Emmett said in confusion, almost too loudly to be called a whisper. Esme shushed him, pointing vaguely upward. He mouthed a silent 'oh' of understanding.

"Let's all calm down." Carlisle spoke quietly, ever the voice of reason. 'There is no need to blow this out of proportion. Yes, she disobeyed you, Jasper. Yes, she ran, and yes, I do need to talk to her and find out what was behind it. But we have to cut her some slack. Edward is right, she isn't adapting as fast as I could have hoped, but there's no reason for concern yet. She's barely six months old; it's far too soon to worry. I'll go up and have a word with her, and I'd like everyone to continue about their business. The last thing she needs is to feel ganged up on. I'm guessing she already feels bad about this," – I nodded in confirmation – "and there is no point in making her feel worse than she already is."

As he passed by me, he reached out and squeezed my shoulder. "Thank you for watching her, Jasper. You did well," he said, before leaving the kitchen, a worried Edward not far behind him.

The moment Alice and I were alone in the kitchen, I turned to her and cupped her face, leaning down to touch my lips gently to hers. She slipped her hands up between my arms, fingers skimming my neck before tangling in my hair at the back of my head – which she new drove me absolutely crazy. I took this as an invitation to deepen the kiss, and before I knew it, I had backed her against the kitchen counter, lifted her up on it, and pushed my way between her knees, never breaking contact with her mouth. It was Alice who broke it – not without some difficulty, as I wasn't particularly inclined to let her go.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" she asked breathlessly, pulling my head down and touching her forehead to mine.

"Can't a vampire just kiss his mate?" I murmured, avoiding the question and lifting her down off the counter. Grabbing a hold of her hand, I towed her out of the kitchen.

"Jazz," she said softly as we started up the stairs, "cut her some slack, ok? This isn't easy for her. She needs time."

I snorted, in absolutely no mood to be charitable. "No amount of time is going to fix that attitude," I muttered darkly. "No, what that brat needs is a good…"

"That would be a huge mistake, Jasper," she interrupted me with a soft laugh, stopping on the stairs and turning me to face her. "I don't need a vision to tell you that."

I leaned back against the wall, dropping my head back against it. "I don't know how long I can keep doing this, Alice. I love her, but she's driving me crazy. She can be so infuriating. She's the most undisciplined, insubordinate, stubborn, spoiled, mmmffh…" Alice had jumped up, locked her arms around my neck and kissed me hard, effectively shutting me up.

Pushing myself away from the wall, I palmed her ass, sliding my hands down her thighs and lifting her legs to wrap around my hips. I continued up the stairs without breaking our kiss and only released her when I kicked the door of my study closed behind me. She slid down my body, her feet coming to rest against the floor. We stared hungrily at each other for a moment, and then Alice's eyes went out of focus. Pink lips parted over a soft exhale and she blinked.

"Oh Jasper!" she breathed, seeing me again, her eyes alight with excitement and anticipation.

I raised my eyebrows in question, and was about to ask for clarification when I was brushed by a touch of lust that wasn't generated by either of us. It started out as a trickle, gradually increasing in intensity until it became overpowering, impossible to ignore. By its tenor, I could tell that the majority of it came from Bella; but Edward was putting out his own fair share. Naturally it stirred my own sexual thirst, and since I wasn't making the slightest effort to keep my overwhelming desire contained, the rest of the family was feeling its effects too. Emmett had already slammed Rosalie against something metal by the sound of it, probably the hood of a car. While the younger generation was quite open about their sexuality, Carlisle and Esme had more reserve, and disappeared into the woods for a little privacy. I could hear Esme's shocked giggle as they gradually disappeared out of hearing range, and wondered what Carlisle could have possibly whispered to her.

If that weren't enough, Bella and Edward were engaged in some kind of battle for dominance. The vibration of their lust was aggressive; it was a fight poor Edward didn't stand a chance in of winning. He was simply no match for Bella's newborn strength. I smirked inwardly. She was going to be in for a rough ride when she finally lost her advantage over him. His playful desire for revenge told me she was going to be paying dearly once he had the upper hand again.

Unfortunately – or perhaps not – their aggression and frustration, coupled with my latent irritation with the newest addition to our family, overwhelmed the civilized man in me. I was suddenly tired of pretending that I was anything else but a beast driven by my basest instincts.

I longed to unleash the monster in me.

Alice was seconds away from suffering the consequences of my lack of control, although by the look on her face, she already new what was coming. And if her sharpened scent were any indication, she was not opposed to letting me take what she knew I wanted.

I asked for her permission anyway. "Alice…"

At least I tried to. She put her fingers on my lips, silencing me. "Whatever you need, Jasper," she murmured. "Always."

I sent her all my gratitude for what she was about to let me do. Then my expression turned predatory. She knew what I expected of her, but I said it anyway. "Fight me, Alice," I whispered, loosening my grip on her, a clear invitation for her to try to escape me. 'Try' being the operative word; she didn't have a snowball's hope in hell of getting away from me, and we both new it. But I would enjoy her attempts, and I'd make sure she did too.

"You'll have to be quick," she said, her voice low. "Bella…"

"That won't be a problem, sweetheart," I interrupted, not caring to find out why speed was required, and what Bella had to do with anything. I had better things to do right now.

She smiled cheekily and shot me a knowing look from under her eyelashes. My lips pulled back into a feral smirk. Oh, this is going to be good. She tensed, her posture indicating imminent flight, and I tensed in response. For a moment we faced off, and then she suddenly made a break for the window, since I was still blocking the door.

She never made it. I caught her around the waist just as he had leaped onto the couch to get to the window behind it. If we had been alone in the house, she would have been screaming bloody murder. Out of respect for the others, we kept it as silent as possible, but she fought me with everything she had, kicking, struggling, and clawing at the prison of my arms. That's my girl! I wrestled her to the desk with a snarl of satisfaction, cleared half the surface with a sweep of my arm, and slammed her face down onto it, so hard I heard the sound of wood cracking.

I kept her in place with a restraining hand to her back and got down to the business of baring her backside. It would have been easier to just tear off her skirt, but knew that damaging this particular item of clothing would put an immediate end to our activities. I happened to know it was one of her favorites. So I clawed at her thighs, pulling the scrap of denim up over her hips and to her waist. I ripped her tiny panties off her with a snap and tossed them aside while she thrashed around for all she was worth.

I didn't bother unbuttoning my jeans. I just unzipped them and freed myself, entering her so roughly I forced the desk forward about five inches. An involuntary cry escaped her and she redoubled her efforts to free herself, making me work for what I wanted. Her wild struggles only made me harder. I ground my hips into her, keeping her pinned to the desk and braced my hands on either side of her head, leaning down to whisper menacingly in her ear.

"Struggle all you want, but if you make another sound, I will gag you," I hissed.

She whimpered faintly, grasping the edge of the desk with both hands. I gripped her hips, digging my fingers into her firm flesh, and started thrusting in earnest, the dull smack of my denim covered hips against her ass the only sound we made. She reared up suddenly, twisting at the waist and flailing at me with one arm, trying to hit me. I snatched her wrist out of the air, reached for the other one, and shoved her back against the table, pinning them to the small of her back with one hand.

True to form, Alice was unable to remain completely silent as her climax approached. I released her wrists and grabbed a fistful of the back of her top and pulled her up, gagging her with my hand and holding her head against my chest, muffling the sound of her cries as I pounded roughly into her. No other stimulation was needed. She came suddenly, spasming, squeezing me almost to the point of pain, and triggering my own climax. Try as I might, I couldn't keep silent either, but I managed to keep it down to a low groan, forced out through clenched teeth.

Just in the nick of time. I felt impish glee from Emmett, followed by a sudden burst of rage from Bella, and frustration and wariness from Edward. I withdrew from Alice quickly, in case I needed to interfere.

"Don't worry," she said quietly, "she'll be fine. But she's going to be visiting you in a few minutes, so you'd better get presentable." She got me situated, then turned, shimmying her hips and working her skirt back down into place, looking adorably disheveled. She gathered up the magazines she had left here earlier, and as she turned to leave, I reached for her, spinning her around and pulling her in for another searing kiss.

"Alice," I whispered, touching the tips of my fingers to her cheek. "Thank you."

"I love you, Jasper," she breathed.

"I know."

A slow smile spread over her face as I said those words. I could feel her anticipation rise as she waited, knowing what was coming.

I didn't tell her I loved her.

I showed her instead.

All the love and desire I felt for her I shared with her in one strong but gentle pulse. She inhaled sharply. Her head rolled back, and she swayed into me, her eyelids fluttering closed. I caught her by the back of the neck and steadied her, dialing up the intensity of my feelings.

"Oh…" she cried out, "Oh Jasper, I love you so much…"

I kissed her again, softly this time, light as a spider's web, and then released her, ruffling her spiky hair affectionately. When she didn't move, I turned her and gave her a gentle push toward the door. She opened it and slipped out, giving me another warm look on her way out.

I heard her talking to Bella as I picked up my guitar and settled on the couch to wait. "Uh…Hi Bella! I…um…" She pattered off without another word.

I chuckled. Alice was flustered and quite turned on again, and if I didn't focus on something else, I'd soon be unfit to be facing Bella myself. I tracked her as she disappeared to her room, and then turned my attention back to Bella, who was hovering outside my door feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

"Come on in," I said quietly.

The door swung open, and Bella leaned against the jamb, unsure of her reception. She was watching me warily.

I wanted to be stern with her. She had really pushed me today, and I wanted to be angry at her still. But I couldn't. She was my kid sister, and I loved her. Besides, I felt too good to be mad. Letting go of the last of my anger, I smiled widely at her. "Get over here, baby girl," I said, patting her usual spot on the couch next to me.

Relief flooded through her, and she practically skipped over to my side, dropping to the couch and placing her head on my thigh with a contented sigh. I carefully propped my guitar against the sofa, and started running my fingers lightly through her hair. She always said it soothed her, and she was right. The residual tension bled out of her, leaving behind only a gentle calm. I said nothing, stroking her hair and listening to her emotions as she struggled to find a way to break the silence between us. She knew full well she was going to have to go first.

I heard her soft intake of breath and looked down at her as she stared into the flames.

"Jazz?"

"Mmmm?" I continued to softly smooth the hair away from her temple and forehead.

"I'm sorry about not listening to you earlier, and for being such a bitch," she said, staring resolutely ahead of her. "I know you were only trying to help me. I don't really know what got into me. Anyway…I am sorry."

She sounded and felt very contrite, and I was ready to let this go and forgive. Not without a little lesson, though. "I know you are, darlin'," I said, "but how about you don't fight me next time? You won't have to be sorry at all in that case. Oh, and if you could also watch your language while you are at it, I won't have to wash your mouth out with soap."

She lifted her head and punched me in the thigh, giggling.

I sighed heavily. "She thinks I'm joking," I said in a long-suffering tone.

"Of course you're joking," she retorted, amusement in her voice.

Of course I was joking…wasn't I? I contemplated the idea for a moment, and felt a sudden burst of amusement from Alice. I wondered what she had seen. Whatever it was, I was pretty sure I wouldn't like it, so I discarded the idea.

Bella raised herself up on her arms and turned to me. "Right?" she said a little more loudly than necessary.

I played with her a little, pausing a beat too long and giving her an indecipherable look. "Of course I'm joking, Bella," I laughed finally, letting her off the hook.

She looked like she wasn't buying it for a moment, and then settled back against my leg. I went back to absentmindedly toying with a tendril of her hair.

"Jazz?" she said again after a few minutes of silence.

"Mmmm?" I replied absently, absorbed by the reflected fire flickering in her dark locks.

"Why are there a pair of panties hanging from the lampshade?"

My hand froze. "Uh…what?" I croaked.

She pointed, and I looked in the direction she indicated. Sure enough, the panties I had ripped off of Alice were hanging precariously from the lampshade by the fireplace.

Shit.


Note: It has become necessary for me to point out that this is not going to be a Jasper/Bella story. I realize this may disappoint some people, but it was never intended to be that way. The whole Cullen family is going to get more or less equal treatment. The format of this story came about because I didn't get to fully utilize the other family members in my last story, and I wanted to remedy that here.

Next up, Rosalie's chapters.