Chapter 3

Carlisle POV

The ride back to Forks was tense to say the least. Jasper didn't talk and when Esme or I asked something or tried to start a conversation we would only get small answers. He just stared out of the window or was looking at his hands. I knew that Esme was getting more worried by the minute and that was the last thing I wanted her to be. The mother in her probably wanted to hug him until he came out of his shell but we both saw how he reacted to being touched. He just sat on the backseat, his face expressionless and stared out of the window. His back was straight as if he had swallowed a broomstick. It seemed liked he did his best not to let himself relax. Esme could see that as well.

It was remarkable how similar Jasper was to his sister. Both of them would build up those walls around them and I had a really hard time to read them. My only hope was that once the twins were reunited they would open up more. Rosalie already talked more and I had to give Emmett credit for that. Still I wanted her to be truly happy with us. To feel at home. And maybe, hopefully, Jasper was the one who could achieve that.

But the boy was a mystery to me. Social services warned me to be careful with him since he apparently was a violent person. I knew about the first incident, when he hit his first foster father but Rosalie said he was protecting her. But apparently that wasn't his only offence. According to the social worker I talked to he repeatedly got in fights at school, has been drinking under age or argued with his teachers. I don't know how much of that is actually true but the boy that was sitting in the back of my car didn't look dangerous in any way. And the way he reacted when Esme and I first met him worried me deeply. It was obvious that Jasper didn't have the best experience with adults. I just hoped that the damage done wasn't too big.

I sighed and took Esme's hand. Only time would show. But I wanted to show him that he could relax, that he could trust us.

"So Jasper, do you have any hobbies?", I asked keeping my voice light.

"Uhm, not really I guess." As always his voice was quiet. He was looking at his hands again and Esme tried not to sigh at another short answer. I squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Now come on. There has to be something you enjoy doing." I defiantly wasn't about to let him off that easily. Jasper shrugged and shifted in his seat.

"I like to read and listen to music." That sparked my interest.

"Oh you like books? We've got a small library at home. You can take a look and read something if you like to." Jasper gave me a small smile and nodded.

"Thank you, sir."

"Carlisle is fine and I'm sure you can call Esme by her given name as well.", I corrected him. Esme smiled.

"Yes absolutely, Jasper. I would like it if you called me Esme." He nodded and turned his head to look back out of the window.

"Are you nervous about seeing Rosalie again?", Esme asked. Jasper tensed up and swallowed before he answered.

"Yes I'm nervous. But I'm also very looking forward to finally seeing her again." I had to smile. That's the most emotion he had shown since he got into the car. Esme smiled as well.

"I'm sure you missed her very much. She probably told you but let me tell you anyway, she missed you very much as well. She was so happy when we told her that we found you. I bet she can't wait for us to get home." She has turned around in her seat and was smiling at him now. He was looking at his hands again but raised his head to smile at her. It was a forced smile though, as if he was trying to be as polite as possible.

"Well she won't have to wait much longer. We'll be there in 10 minutes.", I said while giving him a reassuring smile through the rearview mirror. Jasper nodded and went to look back out of the window.

It was raining slightly in Forks when we arrived at the house as it did so often in early October. I got out of the car and stood next to Esme in front of the front door as we waited for Jasper to catch up on us. He had the hood of his hoodie drawn up and his bag on his shoulder. He didn't have his expressionless mask anymore. No, he looked downright anxious now. I took his bag and Esme opened the door.

"Rosalie is probably in her room with Alice.", Esme said smiling. She was excited now I could tell. Jasper had a questioning look on his face as she mentioned Alice. Then it hit me. We didn't mention any of our other children to him. I instantly felt bad.

"Alice is our other daughter.", I explained "She and her brother Emmett came to us about 2 years ago and Edward one year before that." Jasper nodded his understanding and looked, if possible, even more anxious than before. As we got into the living room Esme called for Rosalie to come down there. We heard her before we could see her. She came running down the stairs and for a moment I was scared she would fall.

"Jasper!", she yelled and threw herself at him to hug him. Jasper tensed but after a few seconds he relaxed and hugged his sister back. Rosalie was crying and clinging to her brother, her feet not even touching the ground.

"I've missed you so much, Jasper!" He was talking to her but I couldn't understand what he was saying. I smiled as I took Esme hand. She was squeezing it as she sniffed a bit. By now our other children had gathered in the living room. Emmett grinning like a kid who just got a new toy. Alice was curious but she too was smiling brightly. The only one who didn't look happy was Edward. I frowned at him and he quickly looked away. Rosalie was now standing next to her brother crying and smiling at the same time. He smiled back at her, the first genuine smile I saw from him. He was taller than her but they looked so alike that even a blind person could tell they were twins. No one said a word. Jasper and Rosalie were only looking at each other and it seemed like no words were needed. Until Alice, with her bubbly persona broke the comfortable silence.

"Are you hungry? Rosie and I cooked.", she said excited. Jasper looked at her and smiled the second real smile.

"I'm starving. I've missed Rosie's cooking skills.", he put emphasis on the nickname Alice used for Rosalie. I decided to take the opportunity of Jasper being more relax and started to introduce the rest of the family.

"Jasper these are Alice and her older brother Emmett. And over here we have Edward." Alice and Emmett both smiled at Jasper and greeted him friend but Edward didn't. Instead he just nodded towards Jasper and the two shared a look. Edward raised his eyebrows and Jasper tensed up. I gave Edward a stern look. Suddenly the atmosphere was tense and I could see Rosalie looking at Jasper worriedly.

"What did you two cook? Please tell me you made spaghetti!" I silently thanked Emmet for bringing back the attention to the dinner the girls had prepared. Alice laughed and started to walk towards the kitchen with Emmett. Rosalie though, was still looking at Jasper who was looking at Edward. I suddenly feared that maybe Jasper would lash out and start a fight but he didn't. Instead he looked down on Rosalie and pretended as if nothing happened. To be fair, nothing did happen but I was definitely going to talk to Edward later that night.

"Did you make spaghetti?", Jasper asked as we all walked into the dining room. Rosalie nodded and started to help Alice with the plates.

"Do you remember the pasta grandma used to make? Mom gave me the recipe and I thought that you probably didn't have it a quite a while." Rosalie gave him a sad smile as she sat down at the table and motioned Jasper to sit next to her. He didn't move and looked at me with big questioning eyes.

"Take a seat, Jasper." Apparently he had waited for that as he sat down and continued talking to his sister. Alice came in with the dinner and everyone started to fill their plates. Rosalie, having noticed Jaspers reluctance to help himself simply took his plate and filled it. We all started to eat in comfortable silence.

"Edward why didn't you invite Bella over for dinner? I thought since it is a Friday night Charlie wouldn't say no.", Esme asked after we all finished our meal. Edward threw a quick glance at Jasper before answering.

"I wanted to but then I thought that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. There are already too many people here without any visitors and besides, I didn't want to steal the stoplight." He said the last bit to Rosalie who was looking at him angrily. Jasper tensed up started to breath faster. His face has lost a bit of color.

"Edward!", she gasped. I gave him a stern looked and so did Esme. "Edward no one is standing in the spotlight and you will apologize to your sister! If you can't behave you will have to go up to your room for the rest of the evening.", Esme said in strict voice. Edward held her gaze for a few seconds before he stood up and left the room without another word. I went to go after him but Esme stopped me.

"Just let him cool down a bit. We'll talk to him later."

"Jasper I am so sorry about my son! He normally is a very polite boy. I don't know why he said that.", I apologized. Jasper nodded but I wasn't entirely sure he heard what I said. He was looking at my hands again and Rosalie was looking furious. Alice and Emmett were silent and I was trying to come up with a way to lighten the mood. Esme did that though before I could even open my mouth.

"Why don't show Jasper were he's going to sleep tonight, Rosalie? Carlisle and I will do the dishes." She nodded and took Jaspers hand. They both left the ding room and Emmett pulled Alice into the living room talking about some video game. Esme and I worked silently at first,

"What do you think Edward wanted to tell us?", she asked handing me a plate to dry.

"I don't know. I will talk to him later tonight but he will have to apologize. Not just to Rosalie but defiantly to Jasper."

"Did you see how tense he was? What if social services are correct and he's a time bomb? I don't want our children to get hurt." Esme sounded so worried. I wanted to tell her that he wouldn't hurt anyone but to be honest, I wasn't too sure about that either. maybe Edward was worried as well, maybe that's why he didn't want Bella to come. He was the only one I told about the things I heard from social services besides Esme and if he did believe them, it would explain is behavior. It would explain it but that still didn't mean it was acceptable. I would defiantly have to talk to him. And maybe a long talk with Jasper wouldn't hurt either.

A/N: so what do you think? Tell and leave a review. Until next time