Disclaimer:
Paul: Why don't I get the girl? I mean I am the sexiest one in this story.
Me: Full of yourself much? *raises one eyebrow*
Paul: Pfft! I just speak the truth. *Crosses arms in front of his beautifully muscled chest*
Jacob: I think he's confusing fact and fiction again... *Smiles brightly*
Paul: You're all just jealous! But it's okay because Stephenie Meyers made me and she knows the truth! In fact she owns all of us! *Sticks out his tongue at us*
Me: *Chuckles at him* Wow, you're lucky you're hot because you act like a child. Haha!
Paul: Whatever. *grumbles* Just let the people read.
Bella seemed extremely happy on our ride into town. The smile she wore was breath taking and I wanted to see it more. She laughed and joked around the whole way, her laugh sounded like bells and was like beautiful music to my ears. The ride to town was too short for my liking and I found myself wishing it was longer. It was nice seeing Bella act so carefree even after everything that happened to her brother.
We steadily approached the clothing store, hopping off of our horses and tying them to the trough. Bella rubbed Jax's muzzle happily and gave him a kiss, whispering something sweetly to him before we left both horses and headed into the store.
Several buildings lined the dirt road. You could tell how old they were by the look of the worn wood they were made of. Down the street you could see the steeple of the church. The bells from the tower chimed alerting everyone it was mid day and people bustled about the street.
There was a woman walking quickly towards the market, her deep black hair was pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck and her long skirt swished back and forth with her quick movements. She had her baby hugged closely to her breast and her other hand held the hand of a small girl.
Bella and I passed the bank and came to the general store; the sign above read Jenkins General. I pulled the door open, listening as the bell above it dinged, and allowed Bella to enter before me.
"Thank you, kind sir." She smiled sweetly.
"Anything for a beautiful woman as yourself." I leaned in to whisper in her ear as I stood behind her. I felt her shiver slightly.
"Are you cold?" I asked her in concern.
"No. I'm quite alright, thank you." She said in a hushed tone.
We walked to the front counter where an older man stood behind it, his face erupting into a grin as we entered the store.
"Mister Jasper! It's so nice to see you're home boy!" Mr. Jenkins exclaimed upon seeing me.
I've known Mr. Jenkins since I can remember. He watched me grow up in this quiet, friendly town and was such a kind soul. His once brown hair was now a dull grey, and his green eyes shown with happiness at the sight of me.
"It's good to be home Mr. Jenkins." I smiled at him.
"What can I do ya for, boy?" He asked with a wide grin.
"This is Bella, and we need to get her some new clothes." I explained to him, gesturing at Bella who was looking quite shy.
"Got yourself a beautiful one there, boy." He said causing Bella to blush. He chuckled before looking her up and down.
"Hmm, I have just your size." He stated quickly before he rushed off and started grabbing things here and there as we waited patiently. We heard some bumps and bangs and grunts and a 'Damn it!' coming from the old man's direction.
"You alright there, Mr. Jenkins?" I asked with a slight laugh, leaning forward.
"You hush up boy and tend to your girl!" He yelled over his shoulder causing me to blush this time.
I looked down at Bella and gave her a brief smile. "How ya doin darlin?" I asked tentatively.
"I'm doin fine, Jasper. I'm not gonna break on you, ya know." She smiled shyly.
"Just makin sure." I stuck my tongue out at her childishly causing her to giggle. Mr. Jenkins decided then to come back, a bunch of clothes stacked in his arms with a pair of boots on top.
"Five dresses, five undergarments, three sleep attire, five stockings and some shoes. Does that sound alright?" He placed the things on the counter.
"That's too much, Jasper." Bella whispered to me with worried eyes as she stared at the pile of clothing.
"Sounds perfect. I'm gonna need some men's clothes as well." I informed him, ignoring Bella's refusals.
"Your size?" Mr. Jenkins inquired, moving the pile of the clothes to the side.
"No, sir. I need it for Miss Bella's brother. He's quite the big fellow. Think Peter, but about four inches bigger and slightly more muscle." I told him. His eyes widened slightly before talking again.
"That big?" Shock laced his voice with some amusement.
"Like a grizzly, sir." Bella giggled. Mr. Jenkins smiled at her before rushing off to get more items without another word.
"Thank you, Jasper." Bella hugged me tightly, surprising me for a moment before I returned the embrace happily.
"No problem, darling'." I kissed the top of her head softly as if it was natural, a warm feeling spreading within me. Within five minutes Mr. Jenkins came back carrying another pile of clothes.
"Five pants, five shirts, three sleep attire, 5 undergarments, and some socks and boots. Good?"
"Perfect." I said handing Mr. Jenkins some money. "Good?" I asked as he counted.
"Very good, boy. See ya around." He waved as we walked out the store with our packages.
After strapping them to the horses I grabbed Bella's hand and lead her to the market. I marveled to myself how her hand fit perfectly in mine. I didn't want to let go but I had something I needed to do.
"I need to go get somethin really quickly, can you get the food while I'm gone? It'll only be but a minute." I asked her.
"Al-alright." She said unsure with a small frown. I handed her the bundle of money and kissed her cheek.
"I promise I'll be right back." I told her before running back to Mr. Jenkins's shop, leaving her confused.
The bell above the door dinged as I entered quickly, allowing Mr. Jenkins to be aware of my presence.
"Back so soon, boy?" He smirked knowingly as he folded some clothes.
"I wanted to get Bella a nice dress and shoes. Real fancy like, I was thinking about taking her to the ball for the soldiers in a couple of months." I huffed out of breath.
"I have the perfect one." He chuckled
.
"What you think?" He showed me when he returned from the back of the store a minute later. The dress was perfect. It was a deep red and had black lace trim everywhere. It was short sleeve and cascaded to the ground. The back had several tiers and flowed out to a small train.(A.N. picture of dress on profile.) Mr. Jenkins placed a set of heals that matched the dress on the counter.
"I'll take it." I said immediately with an excited smile. He grinned madly at me and wrapped up my purchase. After paying I took the things out to Cassiel and strapped it on him. In a rush to get back to Bella I turned and ran right into a small figure.
"I'm so sorry." I exclaimed as I looked down to see what I had hit. It was a girl. I reached down and helped her up. "I didn't see you, I'm sorry." I told her as she cleaned off her dress, my eyes darting towards the market where I badly wanted to be right now.
"It's quite alright, Jasper." I looked at her in shock as she grinned at me. I don't recall knowing her so how did she know my name? She was small, even smaller then Bella, and had raven black hair that fell to her shoulders in a cascade of curls. (A.N. They didn't have spiky black hair back then, sorry!) She was very pretty, but nothing compared to Bella.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I questioned her politely, confusion written all over my face.
"Mary Alice Brandon, or just Alice. Your momma said that you wanted to talk to me about somethin." She blushed slightly and looked down at her feet. She did, did she now?
"Oh, I'm sorry if she misinformed you." I told her, looking into her blue eyes.
"You don't need to be afraid, Jazz. I'd love to go out with you." She looked more confident, her eyes gleaming excitedly. She placed her small hand on my arm.
"Listen, I really need to be going. I'm sorry if –" Then I heard it. It was like a punch to the gut, hearing the sharp intake of breath of the girl I was falling for fast. I raised my eyes to look over Alice even though I already know who stood behind her. Bella looked at us, more like Alice's hand. The pain on her face was almost gut wrenching. Bella shook her head furiously, shaking away the feeling, before making her way toward us.
"Sorry to interrupt but I got everything, Mister Jasper." I flinched at the formality in her tone.
"Oh, Jazzy. You got a new farm hand?" Alice said looking down her nose at Bella. Jazzy? Really? I hate it.
"No," I said curtly, "She is a good friend. She does not work for me. Bella this is Mary Alice."
"Isabella." Bella said at the same time Mary Alice said "Alice."
"Nice to meet you Alice." Bella said in a dead tone.
"Likewise." Alice glared, most likely realizing what was going on.
"See you around, Jazz." Alice rose on her tippy toes and pecked my cheek. "Isabella." She flicked her hair over her shoulder before bouncing off.
Bella walked past me to the horses and strapped the food onto them without a word.
"Bella –"
"Save it. It's fine. There is nothing to say. Where to next, Mister Jasper, or should I say masta'." She muttered the end.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, lead the way." She untied Jax and hopped on. I did the same to Cass and lead her towards my brother's house, realizing she didn't want to hear anything from me. I respected that, for now at least.
*********** Page Break ************
Bella didn't laugh this ride, she barely even smiled or spoke. I don't see why she reacted that way. Did she like me the way I like her? I could only hope, but if she did then I need to make her see that Mary Alice wasn't who I wanted.
We tied down the horses and walked to the front door of the small white house of my brother's. Bella refused to look at me, not to mention talk. She shot down all my attempts, either answering with a nod or nothing at all. I brought my hand up and knocked on the door in rapid succession. After a couple of minutes of no one answering I tried to talk to Bella again.
"Listen Bells, I –" Of course it was that moment that my brother's wife decided to open the door.
Charlotte stood at the door, her belly swollen with child. Her long, curly light brown hair fell flawlessly past her shoulders. She was about 5'2" and normally very thin, the baby inside her prevented that. Her grey eyes stared at me in shock, but then turned to happiness. A large grin erupted on her face and I rushed forward to bring her into a hug, being careful of her stomach.
"Jasper! You're home!" She squealed in delight. "You left me here to deal with your pain of a brother, how could you!" She feigned anger.
"I'm so sorry, dear lady. Will you ever forgive me?" I begged clasping my hands together in front of me.
"Of course! Oh, how I missed you!" She cried, literally. Big fat tears rolled down her cheeks and she smiled at me through them.
"The baby's getting to you already?" I teased.
"Oh shut up!" She playfully slapped my arm as she sniffled.
"How's my little niece or nephew?" I asked rubbing her belly.
"Quite well." She smiled fondly. It was then she noticed Bella.
"Well hello there! I'm sorry this one here isn't the sharpest tool in the shed." She glared at me.
"I'm Charlotte, Jasper's sister-in-law. His brother Peter is inside. Please, please come in." She grabbed Bella's hand and tugged her gently inside.
"I'm Bella, it's a pleasure to meet you. I would have made something for you if I had known we were coming here." She blushed my favorite blush.
"Oh, no worries, suga. Come in and sit." Char led us into the sitting room.
"PETER! Get your butt down here!" She shrieked as if she were being killed.
"What! Is something wrong! What's wrong!" Peter yelled frantically. His foot falls were loud as they banged against the hard wood floors with great force. His face was priceless as he ran around the corner into the room where we were. He was clearly worried about his wife. We watched as the worry turned to confusion, to realization, to happiness, to anger.
"That was not funny, Char!" He whined.
"Brother, you sound like a child!" I roared with laughter. Charlotte was clutching her sides as she laughed and Bella was biting her lip as if to keep her laughter in.
"JAZZ!" Peter shrieked like a girl causing Bella to release her laughter. Peter bound towards me. His mouth opened in an 'O' shape yet he was smiling. It was hilarious. Before I knew what he was doing he tackled me to the floor.
The girls continued to laugh as we wrestled on the floor. What Peter didn't realize is that I picked up a few tricks while I was away. I flipped him over easily and pinned him.
"I win, brother!" I shouted. I got up and helped Peter up, laughing. Before I could stop him he put me in a head lock and rubbed his fist in my hair.
"I missed you, brother!" He smirked and then set his eyes on Bella.
"Ahh, who's this pretty little thing?" He smirked at Bella then looked at me. I slipped out of his hold and walked over to her.
"This is Bella, Bella this is Peter. Unfortunately I have the great pleasure of introducing him as my older brother." I rolled my eyes at him and smiled down at Bella.
"Pleasure to meet you little Bell." Peter made a grand gesture of bowing to her. Bella scowled at him.
"I'm not little. But nice to meet you Peter cotton tail." Peter's eyes widened at her remark as Char and I burst into laughter.
"Brother, keep your girl in check." Peter huffed, a trace of a grin playing on his lips as we all sat down on the chairs arranged around the table.
"I'm also not his girl." Bella muttered, a scowl still gracing her delicate features.
"So my brother hasn't made a move, huh? Maybe we can introduce her to Eddie boy?" Peter asked Charlotte. Jealousy suddenly flared up in me as I glared at my brother.
"Eddie boy?" Bella raised an eyebrow at him.
"The town doctor's son. Sweet boy he is." Charlotte told her. Bella blushed and looked down. "Although I do believe he is still not home yet…"
"Um, not home?" Bella shyly inquired.
"He's in the confederate army. Should be home soon I s'pose." Charlotte informed her. Bella blanched slightly at this information but covered in quickly.
"Oh."
"Look at that she's as red as a tomato." Peter suddenly chuckled from the seat he took next to his wife. Bella's blush only turned a darker shade of red as she looked down at her lap.
"Oh, can it, Peter." I told him as Charlotte slapped the back of his head.
"Ow, woman." He exclaimed making Char glare at him.
We sat there and talked for a while. Bella got along great with Charlotte, all traces of the anger she had before coming here seemed to vanish as she chatted away with my sister-in-law. It was also quite a sight when Bella would remark back at my idiot of a brother's remarks, and from the smile Peter gave me I knew he approved of her.
"Char, what you think you're havin?" I asked her suddenly. The previous glare she had from the remark Peter just said turned into a smile quickly.
"I think a girl, this one over here thinks it's gonna be a boy." She shoved her thumb in the direction of Peter.
"It's so gonna be a boy!" Peter exclaimed throwing his hands in the air causing Bella and Char to chuckle at his antics, the later rolling her eyes as well.
"Do you have any names picked yet?" Bella asked with a bright smile.
"Well, for a boy we were thinking about Wyatt Peter Whitlock." Charlotte grinned and rubbed her stomach.
"That's such a beautiful name." Bella complimented, her eyes twinkling brightly.
"Good choice bro." I smiled.
"And for a girl we came up with Angela Marie Whitlock." Peter boasted. Bella's smile faltered and tears suddenly filled her eyes.
"That…that's a beautiful name as well." She choked out. "Excuse me, I just…I need some air, excuse me." She sprung from her seat and dashed for the front door.
"What did I say?" Peter looked confused. I glared slightly at him, although I knew he didn't do anything purposely wrong.
"I'm not sure. Excuse me." I spoke as I stood from my own seat.
"No. Let me talk to her." Charlotte stood and wobbled out the house.
"I'm sorry, Jazz. I – I didn't mean to upset her." He told me quickly. His tone filled with sadness as he stared at me anxiously.
" I know." I stated simply, staring at the door that Bella had exited through.
We waited for about a half an hour before the girls strutted back in. Immediately I was at Bella's side.
"Are you okay?" I questioned her in concern.
"I'm fine Mister Jasper." Well shit, we're back to Mister Jasper again.
"I need to start dinner, if you'll excuse me." Charlotte began walking towards the kitchen.
"You let your poor pregnant, tired wife cook?" Bella asked incredulously, staring at Peter.
"You wouldn't want that man to cook. The house would burn down." Charlotte chuckled.
"Otherwise I would." Peter finished with a smile.
"Oh…Charlotte?" Bella called, a smile gracing her lips.
"Yes…?" She responded hesitantly while standing at the door to the kitchen.
"Please sit."
"But –"
"I'll cook. That's okay, right Mister Jasper?" Bella looked at me, raising an eyebrow. I'm getting sick of that name. Two can play at that game.
"If you wish, Isabella," I replied in the same tone, earning a glare from Bella.
"No dear. You don't need to fret, I can manage." Charlotte grimaced.
"Please?" Bella dragged at the word and turned on the puppy dog eyes.
"Fine." Charlotte huffed. "But I will sit in the kitchen to keep you company." Bella let out a squeal that shocked me.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She hugged Charlotte before dragging her into the kitchen.
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Bella made a wonderful dinner. It was delicious and I think Charlotte was going to die with all the moaning she did as she ate. Once we were done and everything was cleaned up, we bid them farewell.
We rode back to my house in silence and after cooling down our horses and setting them up in their stalls we took our packages and made our way towards my house. I began thinking of things that still needed to be done.
"I might need your help when I clean Emmett's bandages." I told her suddenly, trying to break this silence between us.
Something must have dawned on her because her eyes widened and a look of panic crossed her face.
"Emmett!" She yelled in shock and anxiety and took off in a run, me following closely behind.
"He must be hungry! I'm such a horrible sister, how could I forget!" She huffed out as she ran.
She swung the front door open with a loud bang and dropped the bags at the foot of the stairs. To my surprise she did not trip once, as she ran up the stairs towards her brother. I dropped my bags next to hers and followed her. When I got to Emmett's room, Bella stood in the doorway staring in shock at something inside, her eyes filling with rage. All traces of sweetness vanished in her expression as she clenched her small fists. She suddenly growled and spoke fiercely to whoever was in the room with her brother.
"You."
A.N. So I hope you like it! I know what you're thinking: Holy...O.O...Alice is in this! Woah. Haha! Well yes she is and yes so is darling Edward. Alice is going to be out of character so I'm sorry if you don't like that but *shrugs* oh well. And Eddie boy is going to be himself most likely. I haven't really wrote him yet I just know he'll be coming in. Peter is 24 and Charlotte is 23. Hmmm...Oh yea, I hope you like the cliffy. I bet you wanna know who it is! Can you guess? Well you'll find out in the next chapter which I'm working on.
I didn't get my 10 reviews for ch 3 but I got 9. I wanted to update soooo...I did. This time I'm gonna ask for 11 and maybe I'll get 10 haha!
I wanna thank all those that have reviewed! Each one means so much to me!
I wanna thank those who story alerted this story. I have almost 80! You know that means 11 reviews shouldn't be that hard to accomplish! :oP
I wanna give a special thanks to my beta! My lil sis, Rose TwilighterDP. She is an amazing writer and I love her to pieces! She really helps put the finishing touches on my chapters! 3
Thanks so much!
~ Krysy