Tuesday

Jasper

Alice walks with me through the hospital halls. She flits from one side of the hall to the other, looking out windows and poking her head in doors to say hello to patients she'd gotten to know in the time we'd been here.

This walk is as slow and laborious as all the other's I've taken and even with Alice here my thoughts begin to drift. One thought that's been rattling around in my head for a while tumbles out of my mouth when Alice comes back to my side.

"Are Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward all Doctor and Mrs. Cullen's children? The doctor and his wife seem too young to have three teenagers and the three children seem to all seem to be very close in age." and they'd been introduced as Dr. Cullen's children but I'm pretty sure that I'd heard at least one of them call the doctor 'uncle.'

"They're all adopted." She says it very 'matter of fact' like as if everyone knew this.

I was skeptical. "They took in three babies that weren't their own blood?" In my experience people were not so kind. Particularly to other's who weren't their own kin.

"They weren't babies. Rose told me they took in Edward when he was five, Rose when she was nine, and Emmett when he was eleven."

I work on processing this information. I am a bit shocked. I had heard, I suppose, of charitable people but to take in three children who weren't even your blood and treat them like your own. There must have been catch. "Maybe they were paid to do it."

"No that's not the way Rose made it sound. It was more like Dr. and Mrs. Cullen did it because they wanted to help."

I thought about that, maybe the Doctor and his wife were just that way, that charitable. I have to admit they have been surprisingly and at times overwhelmingly kind to me and Alice.

Carlisle

I had all the children and Esme gather in the family room for a discussion. Esme and I had been talking for a while. Now was going to be the first time we were going to bring up the idea of bringing Jack and Alice here to stay after his discharge from the hospital. Once everyone was settled I begin.

"Your Mother and I would like to ask…"

"You're going to bring them here aren't you?" Edward cut off my thought and was amazingly accurate in his prediction.

"Well yes, that is what we're here to talk about." I confirm.

He is incensed and sits on the couch with his arms crossed. "You didn't even ask us, it's unfair we live here too."

Esme tries to placate him. "Edward we've asked you here to have a family discussion regarding the possibility of bringing Alice and Jack here so he can recover after he is released from the hospital." she explains. "Your Father and I are seriously considering offering them a place to stay, but we've made no decision, we'd like to know how the three of you feel."

Then the flood of questions starts.

"How long do you think they'll be here?"

"Will we have to share rooms?"

"Will we have to babysit them?"

"What do we really know about him, about them?"

"Do we really want them staying in our house?"

I hush them and try to answer as many questions as I can. "We don't know how long they might be here. You might have to share rooms we'll have to see. I don't think you'll be babysitting."

Esme jumps in with her thoughts. "It is the truth that we don't know Jack or Alice very well yet, but I think that they have proven trustworthy. I wouldn't want to turn them out just because we don't know their whole life stories. We'll get to know them. They need help and we are privileged to be in a position to give it."

We all agree with her statement except for Edward who says something under his breath. "Maybe they only appeared trustworthy to get what they wanted."

"If you have something to say Edward, speak up." I know he's not happy about this and his points are valid and need to be heard too.

"We've known them about two weeks and during that time Jack freaked out on a nurse and went crazy and jumped out a window."

"They're talking about it at school." Rosalie adds.

Forks is too small. I know the children had heard some of what happened with Jack but the rumor mill was working overtime probably blowing things terribly out of proportion.

"Jack" or Jasper as only I know. "has got some frightening things he's dealing with. That is what war can do to people" and trama from abuse. That of course is not my story to share.

"His nightmares were exacerbated by a bad reaction to a medicine he was given, it wasn't something in his control and it's since been sorted out and he has not had a problem since."

"But like you just said he's not in control. Who knows what he might do." Maybe I should give Edward some of my law books to look at he might make a good lawyer with his ability to spin words.

"I hear your concerns but what is he not in control of? His medicine? I control that and will be monitor what he takes. His stress? I admit that might be something he will need help with. But he will eventually know what triggers his fears and flashbacks. With time and help he will be better."

"So then you admit he hasn't got control and you're going to move him in here?

"Again it's not quite that dramatic Edward."

"What if he has another night terror and finds his way into one of our rooms, what might happen then?"

"I think at the moment the only person he's in any real danger of harming is himself. We just need to be there and help him gain back the control he's lost. Who here can say that they've never needed help with something out of their control? He and Alice need our help will you agree to help them."

Rosalie and Emmett nodded, Edward fumed but was out voted.

Emmett

Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle went out after the family meeting, they said they wanted to pick a few things up at the store. Edward had stormed off to his room and I'm hanging out with Rose in the garage.

"The one consolation is that he's too old to adopt." I state as I toss a baseball from hand to hand.

"You really think Carlisle and Esme want to adopt Jack and Alice?" Rose asks.

"Well it could be argued that that is their track record. One day he's bringing a patient home because under the circumstances it's what will help them recover the next thing you know they're being adopted."

"You know you're talking about you right."

"Yeah I'm just saying. You think Edward will come around?"

"He warmed up to you didn't he."

"Aww, what you mean he didn't love me from the start." I think I was too drugged up to realize that Edward was not happy about me being brought home but we're just like brothers now.

"He knows we can't be angry be angry. We've all benefitted. We've all got a family now because of Carlisle and Esme and their big hearts"

"Yeah but never before have the circumstances are kind of weird right. The two of them are, well, adults? I don't know how old Alice really is but she's definitely been out on her own a long time. Who knows how the two of them have grown up. I'm just saying this seems like a bad idea to me."

"Well I guess we'll just have to trust Carlisle on this. I do trust his judgment on most things. He hasn't been wrong yet" Rose looked up from her toolbox. "and I think he knows more then he's telling."

"You noticed that too?"

"Yeah seems pretty obvious."

"Why would he keep something from us?"

"Scandal, I bet." Rose has been watching lots of soap operas lately. "Jack is probably his biological love child from his trek through the Texas wilderness to bring medicine to the cowboys and Indians."

"Well that would make for a good story."

Wednesday

Jasper

The Doctor and his wife come to my room and seem to be nervous about something. Their nerves start to make me uneasy as He starts to say something. "Jack, Alice, we were wondering... we would like to..." He is serious and doesn't say whatever it is fast enough so his wife steps in.

"We would like to extend an invitation for you to come and stay with our family while you are recovering." The words are a surprise to me and I look to Alice to see what she thinks though I can probably guess.

Alice's eyes light up and I can see she was ready to say yes without a second thought. I'm not quite so ready to say yes. I speak "Thank you both for the offer, may Alice and I have some time to discuss it?"

"Certainly, your release date is set for Friday."

"If you work out other arrangements we will understand."

"We'll be here to assist you no matter what you decide."