Bars and Wars

Chapter 7

The next day was Graduation and I was so proud of Jasper; he was recognized for his accomplishments in PT and in marksmanship. By the time the ceremony was over, he was itching to get out of there. We took pictures and he said goodbye to his drill sergeants and took phone numbers from platoon buddies he promised to keep in touch with. We stood there waiting and he handed me a packet of paper, I could see the tears welling in his eyes and him fighting, not letting them shed.

I didn't have to look to know what it meant. So that was it. Four years apart. Four years of a hardship tour, no spouses. Four years without Jasper. A single tear slid down my cheek, Jasper's thumb wiped at it as he took a deep breath and regained his composure. It felt like he flipped a switch and turned off his emotions. That was the first time I felt that from him.

He left me holding the papers and informed his parents and Charlie of his deployment. Charlie looked straight at me and I could see the fear in his eyes. Jasper's mother flipped that same switch that her son had, and her face went from that of the warm, loving, proud mother, to the hard core soldier in the blink of an eye. I was terrified for my future in that moment.

Jasper's father audibly sighed and nodded. There was complete silence for a full minute before his mother broke it. "OK then, let's gear up and shove off," she said.

Jasper had to fall in for one last formation, we watched, not speaking, then climbed into the rental and drove him over to grab his gear, then drove straight to the airport. Nobody talked about it, his father made small talk, Charlie tried to get me to talk, but I looked away when he met my gaze. Jasper just squeezed my hand and rubbed my bare ring finger with his thumb.

Jasper had five days at home before he had to report back for duty. I slept in his arms on the plane, and stayed home the weekend. We spent every minute together. Charlie didn't even put up an argument when I insisted on staying at his house. Jasper's parents didn't even try to stop us when he led me to his room for bed the first night.

We made love as husband and wife for the first time since our wedding night. My emotions were so mixed, I loved him so much and I knew in my heart, things would work out, but I was terrified nonetheless.

"I know you are not happy about this Bella, I am not happy either, we just have to get through it," Jasper said, kissing my neck, up along my jaw line, nibbling on my ear.

"I know babe and we will," I replied, tilting my head, giving him better access.

"Bella, you don't regret marrying me, do you?" Jasper leaned into me, his nose tucked under my jaw. I could feel his eyelashes against my cheekbone as his eyes fluttered closed; the moisture of a tear against my skin.

Pulling back to make him look into my eyes, "No Jasper, I will never regret marrying you, no matter what happens, you are the love of my life and I don't care how long we have to wait to be able to start our lives together."

"I love you Isabella Marie Whitlock." Jasper's hands began to slowly move down my back and under the hem of my shirt.

"Sorry tough guy, it is still Swan, couldn't change my name when we weren't telling anyone we were married. I can't tell the University now, or I'll get kicked out of the dorm and forced into married housing, we can't afford." I braced myself for his response.

Jasper didn't miss a beat. "Don't need a piece of paper or a driver's license to make you a Whitlock baby, and you are my Isabella Whitlock." His hands lifted the shirt, and slid it up my sides, over my head.

"Thank you my curls." My hands tugged at Jasper's tee shirt, pulling it up and off.

"God, I missed you so much baby." Warm hands slid under the cups of my bra, pushing it up over my breasts. My nipples began to harden in response to the thumbs pressed gently against them.

"I have missed you so much, I missed talking to you all day, every day, I missed your smile, I missed these," Jasper chuckled, and squeezed my tits.

I moved my hand down his body tracing circles as they descended, dipping into his jeans as I reached the waistband. "I missed this too," I whispered as my fingers stroked his length.

Jasper groaned at my touch and his hands moved down my body to unzip my jeans. I realized Jasper was about to find my tattoo. I giggled slightly and wriggled under him.

"Jesus Bella…," Jasper gasped as my fingers pinched at his head. My hands made quick work of his jeans, as he began tearing at mine. We needed each other.

Jeans came off in a flurry as we both let the need and passion take over. Jasper pulled at my panties and I stopped, frozen in anticipation.

"Bella?" Jasper, stopped, his eyes darting up to mine and back down again.

Propping myself up on my elbows, looking into Jasper's eyes, playing coy, I said, "Yes Jasper."

"What is this?" he asked with my favorite crooked smirk of a smile.

"What does it look like?"

His fingers slowly began to trace the outline of the heart; the J shaped dirty blonde lock of hair that hung across it in a curl. "Bella, thank you, it's…" Jasper dropped his head to the top of my mound and began kissing the mark that would forever adorn my body and proclaim I was his, my heart belonged only to Jasper, curls, my love, my world.

His mouth lingered, his tongue tracing the tattoo, he kissed and sucked at it, his fingers moving down, gliding across my lips, sliding into me, pumping steadily, his mouth moving lower, pulling my clit between his teeth, sucking it as he gently bit down.

My body began to shake, my hands explored his head, the trademark curls gone, the close cropped cut left nothing for me to grab onto. My hands pulled at his head, grinding it against me as I moaned out in pleasure. "Oh Damn, Jasper, ohhh, gawd baby, feels so good."

He wouldn't stop, my hands twisted in the sheets, my hips thrashed wildly as he held me to the bed with his head, his other hand against my tattoo. One wave of pleasure would barley subside, before the next round began; he would change the movement of his fingers, the pressure on my clit, so slightly but it would start another chain reaction. I struggled so hard against screaming out. The bed was hitting the wall with the intensity of my writhing, I tried to calm down and keep his parents from hearing. I could hear the volume of the television increase from down stairs and knew they could hear.

"Jasper, Jesus, Jasper, your parents… they can hear us."

"I don't care Bella. I love you. I don't care if they know that."

"Please Jasper, please I need you, please." I begged.

Jasper looked up, "I need you too Bella, I need to be inside you."

"Then do it Jasper, please, I need you inside me too, I need to feel you."

He slid his way up my body, kissing me hard, his lips and tongue claiming my mouth the way it had lower. He slid inside me and our hips rocked together so hard, so fast, the need so great, we couldn't slow our movements. We kept it up for what seemed like hours, our bodies entwined in the utter need and longing for each other.

I felt so connected to my husband those few hours, knowing it was not going to last for long. Four more days and he was leaving for four years, Three days and I had to be back in Seattle for school.

We spent the entire next day running errands, setting up a joint bank account, Jasper filled out paperwork. It seemed like a never ending stream of it just to tell the Army that I was his wife.

Saturday night we all had dinner at Jasper's parents, Charlie came straight from work. We argued about it all day, but finally agreed that we had to tell them we were married.

I helped my mother in-law in the kitchen prepare the meal. I swear there was nothing that woman couldn't do. It was so intimidating. She was so nice about it though, she taught me a few things she called kitchen tricks and I giggled at her ability to control even a bland meal.

The table was set; the food was almost ready when Charlie arrived. The pit in my stomach grew immeasurably when Jasper answered the door to him. We had decided that we would tell them toward the end of dinner.

I hugged Charlie when he walked into the kitchen to say hello to Mrs. Whitlock and I. I couldn't help feel that it may be the last real hug for awhile. It was the last time he'd hug me as Bella Swan in his mind, so I guess it seemed strange when I wrapped my arms tight around his waist and wouldn't let go.

The food was ready to be plated and Mrs. Whitlock announced that everyone should sit down. I carried the vegetable and potatoes to the table and took my place next to Jasper, a lump in my throat. His hand reached for mine under the table as soon as I was seated. I squeezed so hard I felt him wince.

The chatter was idle during the start of the meal. Charlie and Mr. Whitlock were talking about local politics. Mrs. Whitlock laughed and told them not to ruin her dinner with such talk. I gulped and looked at Jasper; he was pushing the food around on his plate not really eating.

We were half way through dinner when I heard Jasper clear his throat. Oh God, this was it. I braced myself and squeezed his hand again.

"Mom, Dad, Chief Swan, Bella and I have something to ask you." Jasper started in, looking each of them in the eye.

I watched as Charlie put his silverware down and the color left his face. I knew he thought Jasper was about to ask permission for my hand.

"We would like to ask for your support and blessing, on our marriage and your forgiveness for not doing it the way we know you would have preferred." Jasper squeezed my hand but held his head high. I looked at Charlie and dropped my head at the hurt in his eyes. "Bella and I are married."

There was silence for several minutes. The only sound, Mrs. Whitlock's silverware hitting her plate as Jasper's words hung in the air.

Charlie looked to the Whitlock's before breaking the silence. "When?"

Jasper explained that we were married in Missouri before I came back for the semester and I cringed as Charlie's chair skidded on the floor as he pushed back away from the table and out of it.

Mr. Whitlock jumped up and walked the few step to Charlie.

"Dad. Please…."

"Chief Swan, I am sorry, but I love her, I will always love her, you know that Charlie." Jasper was getting up from his chair, and I went to move. Mrs. Whitlock placed her hand on my arm and shook her head, no. I sat back and tears began to fall down my cheeks.

Then, the last thing I ever expected happened. My new mother–in-law became my greatest ally and friend in one sentence.

"Well, we couldn't be happier that Bella is a part of our family now, you know we love you dear and will be here to support you both no matter what. I think this calls for a celebration don't you dear, Charlie?" She shot both of them a most commanding look and they both sat down without another word.

The tension was thick and hung in the air, but she had diffused the situation and I had a newfound respect for Army training at that moment.

I smiled at her and mouthed thank you as the men sat back down.

"Now, Jasper, go get the bottle of Champagne in the refrigerator, Bella the glasses are in the cabinet over the bar."

We were sent away to give our parents a few minutes to talk. I felt a little like a kid at the children's table on a holiday. Jasper pulled me into the kitchen with him and wrapped his arms around me, hugging.

"You did great baby, I think I love your mom." I whispered.

"Who knew she'd be the one to support us, I thought she'd kill me." Jasper chuckled, "I was more afraid of her than Charlie."

We heard them whispering and got our assigned items and lingered a minute trying to let them talk. When Charlie's voice began to rise Jasper took my hand and led me back into the dining room.

I set the glasses before my mother-in-law while Jasper popped the cork on the bottle and handed it to his mother.

"Jasper, Bella, I am very disappointed in the way you two went about this, and for not telling us right away. I hope you can understand that. I have already thought of you as a son Jasper, but you should have known better, been more responsible."

"Dad, don't blame Jasper, he didn't drag me to the altar kicking and screaming, I wanted to marry Jasper, I love him, and I don't want to live without him." My voice was shaking, tears welling up again.

"Well now, it seems that you don't really have a choice in that Bella, now you have to live apart from your husband."

"I know, and we will deal with that."

"And just how is he going to support you?" Charlie quipped.

"Charlie, I will support her, we already opened a joint account, my paychecks will be automatically deposited, and Bella has full access to everything."

"Great, Jasper, and college, do you plan of finishing college Bella?" Charlie was getting angrier by the minute.

"Yes, Dad, I will finish school while Jasper does this tour, then by the time he is finished I will be graduating."

"Then what? I didn't have the impression one tour was it for Jasper, what are you going to do then Bella, go running off following him wherever he happens to be stationed? What about your career Bella?"

"Ok Charlie, let's calm down a little, we all wish they would have waited, but we all also knew this day would come eventually, these two kids belong together and we all knew sooner or later they would be married. We can let this come between us and our children or we can support them the best way we can." My mother-in-law was quickly becoming the most unexpected champion. I thought for sure she would have been the most upset of our parents. Hell, maybe she was, but she was more in control of her emotions.

I was not surprised that Charlie was as upset as he was. All the questions that I had dreaded on my solo drive home from Missouri were flowing.

Charlie stopped grilling us, but he didn't really calm. The rest of the evening was cut short. Charlie insisted on leaving after dinner and demanded I come home. I'm not really sure why it was so important. He didn't speak to me on the drive home, and went straight to bed when we got there. He was up and gone before I woke in the morning, and I spent most of the night on the phone with my husband.

As soon as I woke I was dialing Jasper, he was already on his way over. Jasper was so distant, I knew he was worried, but he was bottling things up, he wasn't telling me how he felt the way he used to. I knew he had to be scared, I knew he hated that he was leaving me, and I knew he wouldn't admit it.

I tried so hard to stay upbeat, to make our time together a good memory and not a sad one, not one we would regret. It was one of the hardest things I had ever done. Most of our friends were at school so at least we didn't have to go through the pretense of getting together with anyone.

We just spent the remainder of our time together getting things situated; Jasper was filling out papers for the Army, notifying them of our marriage, making copies of the marriage certificates, my birth certificate. We had to run to get passport pictures for me. It was a whirlwind.

I called Alice to tell her I was extending my stay at home and asked her to get notes for me. She smirked but said nothing; she didn't ask or prod why I was staying home.

The next day Jasper left. He said goodbye to his parents and insisted on stopping at the station to say goodbye to Charlie. He refused to leave without at least trying to smooth things over with him. I cried when we walked in and Charlie got up, walked over and pulled Jasper into a tight, lingering hug. He said something to him about being his son and taking care of me, Jasper wouldn't tell me the exact words.

We drove to the airport, both of us quiet, holding hands. There really weren't very many words that were going to make either of us feel any better. We walked to the gate, Jasper in his uniform, my face, tear stained. Passersby stared, some nodded slightly to Jasper, and several older women shot me a sad smile in quiet understanding.

I didn't leave the airport until his flight was in the air. I walked to the car just numb, replaying the tearful goodbye over and over in my mind. I love you exchanged so many times, promises to call and text and write. I was glad we said our goodbye in public; I don't think I could have taken it in private.

I drove straight to school, and avoided Alice as much as I could. She knew something was wrong, but didn't push. I put up one picture of Jasper and I from graduation. He was in uniform, looking so handsome.

Alice picked it up in the frame and looked at it for a few minutes. Still holding the picture in her hands, she looked at me for a couple minutes, put it down and said, "Everything will work out." Alice smiled slightly, and began pulling out notes from class.

"Bella, I already typed the class notes out and printed you a copy, if you have any questions, just ask, but I think I got most of the lecture verbatim, so they should be pretty clear. I am starving, so let's get ready for the cafeteria, go wash up, you'll feel a little better, and I need to change." Just like always, she bounced around the room as she spoke like the damn pink bunny I always imagined when I thought of Alice.

Just like that Alice let me know she had a pretty good idea what was going on and that she wasn't going to push me on it, for now.

"Oh and Bella," Alice said as I was walking out to the bathroom with my bag, "you will tell me when you are ready, and I will be there for you."


AN: I realize I am not updating as quickly as anyone would like, including me. I do vow, not to give up on updating the story. It is fully outlined, I know exactly where it is going, even if the actual words take me by surprise sometimes. I do tend to let my characters take over and tell their story. Once again, blame me only if there are errors, I didn't get my act toegther to send it to beta or the preview versions I promised, sorry Mysticdraven, but if I get my act together on the next chapter, I will. I figured you would rather have the chapter sooner though. Hope you enjoy and as always, I am really anxious for feedback on this one. LOL.