A/N: Sorry about my lack of review replying this last chap. I am on death's door - which is to say I'm sick. I'm not really dying. I'm just being dramatic. Anyway. Ily all. Tysm for your reviews.
No one would ever say that dinner with the Cullens was boring.
Since the family had a habit of collecting strays, Esme and Carlisle Cullen's home more closely resembled a circus. It was Thanksgiving and on top of the Cullen children, their significant others and their children, Jasper, Peter, Charlotte, and Charlie Swan were in attendance. Edward and Esme were cooking the main portion of the meal, but everyone had brought something.
Jasper watched, a bemused smile on his face, as the chaos unfolded all around him.
"Katrina Antonia!" Tanya called as one of the twins raced outside. "No running. You are going to fall in the pool!"
"Is this... it is. These are Betty Crocker Au Grutin potatoes," Edward mumbled, glaring at the contents of one of the many covered dishes that were currently occupying nearly every available counter space. "Whomever brought boxed," he spat the word with disgust, "potatoes into my kitchen is eating outside."
"Edward Anthony Cullen," Esme admonished, a hard look on her face. "This is mykitchen, in my house and I know you know better than to treat myguests so rudely."
"Oooooo," Irina crooned. "Uncle Edward is in trrrooouuuble."
"Oooo," Arianna parroted from Bella's arms.
"I'm afraid that was me," Peter said, standing and doing his best to look contrite. "You know I wanted to cook it from scratch, Edward, but I just don't look as cute in apron as you do," he said, pinching the other man's cheek.
"Ha," Edward said sardonically, rolling his eyes as he reached for Ari who was reaching for him. He smiled, brushing his nose against his daughter's. "Ari, Grandma's being mean to me. You still love me, right?" he asked, cuddling her against his chest.
The baby responded by giving his cheek a wet kiss. Then she strained down, trying to get her hands in the potatoes. "One?" she cooed.
Edward gave an exasperated growl. "You're a traitor, Ari," he accused.
Laughing, Bella took the girl back. "Come on, Ari. Let's get out of Daddy's way before he cooks you with the turkey."
"You," Edward said, pointing at Peter. "Box Cooker. Out."
"Edward," Esme said warningly.
"Please," her son said, smiling sweetly.
Holding his hands up, Peter relented and went back to his place next to Jasper on the couch.
Bella set Ari down next to her cousin on the blanket that was spread out on the living room floor. Dash was playing with a set of stacking rings... if by playing one meant trying to fit the entire ring in his mouth. With her hands free, Bella went to sit on Jasper's other side, letting out a long sigh.
"Tired, sugar?" Jasper asked.
"She's been up since about four," Bella said dryly, nodding at her daughter. She glanced over at Jasper and Peter. "This is what you're signing up for. I'm just saying."
"Yeah," Peter answered. "But we're also signing up for that." He pointed outside to where Emmett had scooped Katie up into his arms and was holding her threateningly over the frigid water of the pool. She was shrieking with little girl giggles - a sound that could make even the most bitter heart smile again. "And that." He pointed to the next room where Carlisle and Rosalie sat at the dinning room table. They were razzing each other over a game of cards.
Bella smiled. "Well played," she acknowledged.
That evening, when the children had all conked out due to the overabundance of food they'd consumed, the adults settled down to have a drink. As could be expected, the fact that Peter, Jasper and Charlotte were going to start trying to conceive on Charlotte's next cycle became the topic of interest quite quickly.
"Are you mental?" Bella squeaked upon learning they were planning to go to the same clinic where a distracted nurse had swapped Edward and Jasper's sperm in the first place.
"Come on, Bella. Think about it," Jasper said. "After what happened the first time, Dr. Snow is going to be extra cautious with us. I bet it's actually safer to go with them given the circumstances.
"Besides, they've agreed to do each procedure at a discounted rate," Peter added. "You know we met a couple when we went in for the consult who was on their 13th try?" He shook his head. "That adds up."
"Well, you know..." Charlotte began, her voice coy. "I'd be more than happy to do it the old fashioned way." She winked, grinning wickedly at Peter. "Take one for the team, so to speak."
Jasper arched an eyebrow, putting his arm around Peter and tugging him closer. "Mine."
The gathered adults shared a quiet chuckle at that, lapsing into silence before Rosalie spoke. "Here's what I don't understand. How could you walk away from your child?"
"Rose," Carlisle said, a note of incredulity in his voice. Privately, Jasper wondered how the Cullen family's patriarch could still be surprised at his daughter's blunt attitude. No one else seemed to be, though Edward rolled his eyes.
"It's fine, Carlisle," Charlotte assured. She looked back at Rose. "I'm a little surprised you could ask me that, considering where your son came from."
Rosalie frowned. "It's different. I never asked anyone to carry their own flesh and blood inside of them for nine months only to give it away to someone else to raise."
"I've done it before," Charlotte said mildly.
"In some ways, I understand that more. You were young. You weren't exactly in love with the father. But you could have a baby now, if you wanted to," Rosalie pointed out.
Charlotte looked thoughtful as she drank her wine. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him...the baby I gave up. This society teaches us from the time we're tiny that little girls want to grow up to be mothers. I wasn't any different. I rocked my baby dolls to sleep and played house with my Barbies.
"The thing is, I'm a grown-up now. Part of that is realizing there's a difference between fantasy and reality. I love the ideaof a baby - the cooing, adorable little cuties in movies and commercials." She smiled a little wistfully.
"But here's the reality of the situation. I'm always on the go. I don't have a steady boyfriend or girlfriend because I resent being tied down to one person. Honey, in all honesty, it annoys the shit out of me when I call Alice because I want to do something spontaneous and she's like, 'Oh, but Dash can't go there.'" She patted Alice on the arm apologetically.
"I'm never going to be that girl," Charlotte continued, her voice certain. "To me, it seems like in reality, you get one page of kids say the darndest things for every ten pages of needy, crying, pooping, boo-boos, breaking things, whining, tantrums, parent-teacher conferences, expenses, sleep overs... just..." she waved her arms around. "That's a lot of things I don't want to deal with, not even for the good parts.
"And here's another reality for you. A lot of people are assholes. I mean - present company excluded." She grinned at everyone. "Big assholes breed little assholes." She reached over, mussing Peter's hair tenderly. "Yet here are these two fantastic guys. It doesn't take a genius to see that any baby raised by these two would grow up to be an amazing little person - a person I want in this world."
Jasper looked at his lover, a tender smile lighting his face as he reached out, taking Peter's hand.
"So if they're ready for this," Charlotte said in conclusion, "then so am I."
~0~
"Are we ready for this?"
Peter turned to Jasper, both eyebrows raised in mild amusement. "Baby, now is a little past the time for this conversation, considering where we are."
Jasper rolled his eyes at his lover. It was a true statement given that they were in one of the clinic's private rooms. Charlotte was just a few rooms away, ovulating and ready to be inseminated. The doctors and nurses were ready. All that was missing was the essential male component.
Chuckling lightly, Peter took his lover's hand, leading him to the comfortable couch in the room. They cuddled on the couch, Jasper's head on Peter's shoulder.
"They make it a little difficult to get lost in the romance of the moment, don't they?" Peter mused, his fingers combing through Jasper's soft hair with gentle affection. "None of this candle-lit bedrooms and satin bed sheets nonsense. We have a sterile little room," he gestured around them with his spare hand. "Doctors down the hall with needles and all that."
His finger traced the shell of Jasper's ear, making the blond man sigh. It was slightly overwhelming. Knowing he wanted to be a father was much different from making it a reality, especially when it took an entire team of people to create this particular child. He tried to beat back the wordless anxiety that was rising quickly in him.
Jasper took some solace in the fact that even at this early stage, it was already different. When he'd done this for Bella, the time he spent in this very room was relatively short, sweet and easy. He felt then like no more than a supportive friend standing by Bella's side as she took perhaps the most important journey of her life.
This was different. This was his journey. His and Peter's next step. The wonder and the responsibility alternately made him feel like flying and weighed him down heavily with worry.
"Jasper," Peter whispered, his fingers stroking that pleasurable spot behind Jasper's ear with a light touch. "Look at me, baby."
Obliging, Jasper raised his head and met the other man's eyes slowly. His breath caught in his throat, his heart fluttering a familiar, quick tattoo.
In that moment, everything faded away. Jasper forgot about his stress, his worry. The 'what if' that had dominated his thoughts for months now became indiscernible voices at the furthest reaches of his mind.
It was the way Peter was looking at him: like he was staring at all the breathtaking, beautiful things the world had to offer in one Jasper-shaped package. There was nothing to think about except each other and the love he had for this amazing, wonderful man. That two Southern boys who'd grown up three states apart had found each other in the insanity that was Los Angeles, and had then survived the ebb and flow of dating and falling in love was proof positive that magic existed.
"I love you," he murmured, his voice husky as he took Peter's face in his hands, kissing his lips with a reverence that enforced just how deeply he meant those three words.
Peter didn't need to verbalize his answer. His words couldn't express his feelings as aptly as his body could. His lips moved with Jasper's, both men gentle and yet insistent. His hands worked their way down slowly, in no rush. He stroked the long hairs at the back of Jasper's neck, ran the pads of his fingers down slowly so the other man shivered and moaned into his mouth. Down, down, down, pressing his palm against Jasper's chest, his stomach.
Jasper jerked a little when Peter's hand cupped him over his pants. His eyes opened, hooded with lust and want. Their lips parted and Jasper panted, sending little puffs of hot air across Peter's face.
The two men shifted, pressing their bodies close together and tangling themselves into the position they wanted. Jasper's right hand worked the button of Peter's pants as Peter reached across with his right hand to release his lover's length from the confines of his pants. Jasper lifted his hips, letting Peter pull down his boxers for better access even as he began to rub the other man in slow circles.
Rather than use the lube the clinic had provided, Jasper winked as he pulled a tube of warming oil from his pocket. Once he'd poured an ample amount into his palm, he took Peter's hands in his, playing with his fingers until they were both coated, their skin slick. Not dropping their gaze, they each took the other's hard length in their hands, beginning to stroke.
Jasper and Peter knew this dance well. Just as they knew each others weaknesses, strengths, moods, and pet peeves, they knew each others bodies as they knew their own. Maybe better. There was that oft waved about phrase - made for each other. Truly, it did seem like they built to connect.
There was a spot under Peter's chin that made him gasp when it was stimulated. It was only right as Jasper thought there was something undeniably sexy about a man's head thrown back, his neck exposed and vulnerable. So as he took firm hold of Peter's shaft, Jasper grazed his teeth up along the skin of his neck until he reached that sweet spot.
Jasper was a fan of any type of sexual pleasure, but if pressed he would admit that his favorite times were not when sex was rough and hard and fast. That was nice, hot even, but Jasper's favorite times were when the build that began like a tiny spark on bone dry tinder, igniting each of his nerve endings in turn until his body, his blood, was replaced by a need to come so powerful that when he finally did his entire frame would shake out of his control. Jasper had learned very early on in their relationship that Peter had this particular talent, so it shouldn't have surprised him with the other man bypassed his cock and opted instead to tease the tops of his balls.
They made love with their hands and mouths, stroking each other and mumbling very few words. Jasper begged please. Peter called him baby. Yes, they said.
"Jasper," Peter gasped finally, "I'm going to... Now."
Jasper had only enough presence of mind to reach blindly for the end table. His eyes were rolled back in his head from what Peter was doing to him, but somehow he managed to close the fingers of his free hand around the little cup that was their entire purpose here.
As Peter came, Jasper stroked him, keeping his cock from twitching so hard that his essence spilled anywhere other than the intended target.
Peter breathed deep, taking the cup. His hands were trembling so badly that Jasper had to take over, stroking himself hard and fast because Peter had brought him to the bring of combustion. He felt that if he didn't come soon, all the energy and ecstasy coiling at his core would have no choice but to go the other direction, imploding into a black hole. Peter gained complete control of his body just in time to put his arm over Jasper's stomach, holding him down as his body bucked hard with his orgasm.
Twisting closed the cap of the specimen cup, Peter set it down on the end table before he slumped forward, draping himself over Jasper's limp body.
They lay together for a few minutes, Jasper lazily stroking Peter's back as they caught their breath. With his lover warm in his arms, the sterile environment was ridiculously inconsequential, and Jasper had to laugh at himself.
"What is it, babe?" Peter asked, raising his head.
Jasper only smiled, stroking his lover's cheek with the backs of his knuckles. "We're making a baby today."
Peter's answering grin was slow but giddy, his eyes sparking with a deep joy that seemed to make his skin glow. "God. That's amazing," he whispered.
"Yeah, it is," Jasper agreed, kissing the other man adoringly. "It really is."
A/N: Thanks and love to jfka06, barburella, twitina and jadedandboring. Ily you all.
