Perfect Family II
Alice sat at the small breakfast table in the new house Esme had renovated. Even though they didn't need a breakfast table, Esme felt inclined to get one because it fit the house. Alice tapped her pen on the table, staring at the blank paper in front of her as though willing it to write something itself.
"Something wrong?" Jasper asked, coming up from behind her. He knew something was wrong; waves of discontent and sadness were coming off of her. Alice sighed.
"I'm trying to picture our family Jazz." Jasper was confused, their family was out hunting, but still easy to remember. He sat down opposite her at the small four seated table.
"What family are you talking about? Our vampire family or your family before the change?" Alice sighed again.
"What our children would look like." Jasper was shocked, and it must have showed on his face.
"What made you think about that?" He asked.
"Well, Bella's just joined the family officially, and she's given up children for Edward. I was just wondering, if we had met when we were human, what our children would look like."
"Oh."
"Well, what do you think?" She asked, looking at him expectantly. He frowned slightly, deep in thought. He had never thought about kids. He was a soldier, always in war. You could never think about children when you could die tomorrow.
"Well…they would have your hair." He offered, trying to help. Alice smiled, picturing a flock of children with black spiky hair.
"And your eyes." She chimed in. Alice had had midnight blue eyes, where Jasper had had brown.
"They would be tall, I guess. Definitely taller than you." He teased.
"Would they be pale? Were you pigmentally challenged as a human?" She asked as though it was an accusation. Jasper laughed quietly.
"No, I had somewhat of a tan. I was nowhere near this pale." He said, holding out his arm as proof. The sleeves of his gray button down were pushed up to his elbows, exposing his pale vampire skin and his numerous battle scars. Alice absentmindedly traced them with her fingers.
"I wasn't pale either." They sat in peaceful silence as they reflected on their human lives.
"How many children did you plan on?" Jasper asked. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer. He knew there was no way to give her these children.
"I never thought about it as a human. Never in the way Rosalie or Esme did. What about you?"
"I've always been the soldier. We can't plan for the future when we could die the next day." Alice stopped tracing the scars and gripped his arm tightly. Any world where Jasper didn't exist was a world Alice couldn't live in.
"Well, two seems like a number most couples pick." Alice said, trying to solve the complex puzzle that is families. She couldn't remember her human life and her vampire family certainly wasn't the picture of 'normal'. Jasper nodded in agreement.
"Would there be two boys, two girls or one of each?" Jasper asked. He still wasn't comfortable about planning a family.
"Well, one of each sounds reasonable." She picked up her pen and started to fill in the blank paper. The shape of two children took form.
"The boy or girl first?"
"Hmm… if the boy came first he might take on the 'protector' role, but if it's a girl I could play dress up." Jasper smiled.
"If the girl came second you could still play dress up."
"But if she comes first, I can play dress up sooner." Alice pointed out, her tone closing that discussion. Jasper smiled at his wife; her head was bent down and her hand was flying across the page where four shapes were emerging. The tallest, he was assuming was him, and the smallest was probably Alice.
"So, what would we name them?" Jasper asked.
"I'm not sure, what do you think?"
"I've always been partial to the name Jacquelyn." He replied. Alice smiled.
"Jacquelyn Whitlock. That's pretty."
"What about guy names?" Jasper asked. He didn't have a favorite name for males.
"I like…Jackson." Alice decided. "Jackson Whitlock."
They sat in silence as Alice drew the picture of their family. Jasper imagined them in Texas, living in his family's house; it's been passed down through the generations. They sat in the living room with a large fire in the hearth. Jacquelyn and Jackson would be playing on the large rug in front of the fire, and Alice and he would be curled up under a blanket on the couch with hot chocolate they could actually drink, watching their children play. Jasper longed for that dream.
"Look." Alice said, holding up her picture, and there it was. His vision brought to life in a picture.
"How did you…" He trailed off, taking the picture from her gently and looking at the window into his dream. There were two small children with black hair playing on a rug in front of a fireplace, and there was Alice and him, sitting on the couch with two mugs in their hands under a large comfy blanket.
"It's what I thought of when I pictured us." She whispered. Jasper smiled, Alice really was his soul-mate, his other half. Even if he couldn't give her this, she could give him everything he wanted; love.
"I'm sorry." Jasper apologized.
"For what? Jasper, I'm not upset that you can't give me this. I love you, and I wouldn't trade up eternity with you for this." She said, pointing to the picture Jasper held tenderly in his hands.
"I love you." He whispered, putting the picture down carefully.
"I love you too." She replied mutely, and they leaned forward and shared a kiss.
.
-Maggie
