A/N: Posting early-happy weekend!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and Alice and Jasper. The Avett Brothers, one of the most incredible bands of all time, own "I and Love and You". Go listen on my profile page. You won't be disappointed.


"Three words that became hard to say

I and love and you…."

Jasper eyed Alice warily as she stood up and skated gracefully onto the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. "Come on, Jasper," she told him, grinning. "It's easy, I promise."

Jasper shook his head. "It's not easy, don't lie," Jasper said, refusing to stand up from the bench he was sitting on.

Alice skated over and stopped in front of him. Jasper had to admit, she looked adorable in her long winter coat and the stylish hat placed perfectly over her short, dark hair. "Look," Alice said, taking his hand. "Do you see all the little kids out here?" she asked, nodding towards the ice.

Jasper glanced around the ice rink. There were an awful lot of children and parents and they did seem to be handling the whole ice-skating thing just fine. "I guess if a five year old can handle it, so can I," Jasper muttered, standing up, slightly unsteady.

Alice beamed and gripped his hand. "You'll be great," she told him, kissing his cheek before she began to glide along the ice.

"Whoa, Al, not so fast," Jasper said, his hand clutching hers as he wobbled a little across the ice.

"Jasper," Alice said, laughing a little. "We're hardly moving."

"I think it's better that way," Jasper said. "Slow and steady wins the race, right?"

Alice laughed again and moved to Jasper's side. She kept his hand firmly in hers. "Just hold onto me," she whispered. "You'll be fine."

They began to glide around the rink and Jasper followed Alice's lead. He did seem to be getting the hang of it and he didn't protest when Alice sped up a little. They circled the rink a few times and Jasper began to feel cocky. He pulled Alice to him and kissed her cheek. "Wanna race darlin'?" he asked.

"Race?" Alice repeated, cocking an eyebrow. "You sure about that? What happened to slow and steady?"

"When have I done anything slow and steady Al?" Jasper asked as he let go of her hand and took off.

"Cheater!" Alice yelled as she hurried to catch up with him.

Jasper was laughing as Alice skated after him, both of them dodging the other skaters as they sped around the rink. Jasper turned to look over his shoulder, throwing a cocky grin in Alice's direction and she knew he would fall before he did. Jasper's skate caught on the ice and Alice watched the smile slide from his face and he tumbled to the ground.

Alice skated carefully around him before turning and stopping in front of Jasper who was sprawled out on the ice. "I win," she said, grinning.

Jasper shook his head. "I knew it was too good to be true," he said. Alice reached for his hand and helped him up.

"Everyone falls at least once," Alice said, taking Jasper's cold face between her glove-covered hands. "It's part of the fun," she told him, kissing him softly.

Jasper kissed her back for a moment before pulling away and taking Alice's hand once again. "Let's keep going," he said. The two of moved at a slow, easy pace, hand in hand around the rink, talking softly and laughing together.

Alice forgot all about the fact that they were in public and that the man holding her hand was famous rock star Jasper Hale. Instead, they were just an ordinary couple doing an ordinary thing and Alice loved it. She didn't even care when Jasper would stop and pull her close to him, kissing her as snow fell softly around them, making it all seem rather fairytale-like.

After awhile, Jasper went to get them both some hot chocolate and Alice sat down on a bench, watching Jasper make his way to the small cart selling warm beverages. Alice was so caught up watching Jasper, that the voice next to her startled her slightly when it asked, "How long have you two been together dear?"

Alice looked over at an older, rather grandmotherly looking woman sitting on the bench next to Alice's. "What?" Alice asked.

"You and that handsome young man of yours," the woman asked. "How long have you been together?"

"Um, not long," Alice said softly.

"Well, you two seem very happy," the woman continued. "I love watching young couples so in love like the two of you."

"In love," Alice repeated, the words filling her with a strange sensation.

"Why yes," the woman said. "You love him, don't you?" she asked.

Alice paused for a moment and turned to look at Jasper. He was standing in line and he waved, grinning at her and Alice waved back. "Yeah, yeah I do," she said. "I love him."

Alice had never said the words out loud before but she realized they have been true for as long as she had known Jasper. "I love him," Alice repeated, turning to smile at the woman next to her.

"Of course you do dear," the woman said with a small laugh. "And he loves you too."

"Really?" Alice asked. "You really think so?"

The woman nodded. "Don't you see the way he looks at you?" she asked.

Alice's cheeks flushed and the woman stood up, patting Alice's hand as she moved away. "Merry Christmas," she said, smiling as Alice watched her make her way over to a distinguished looking older man.

"Merry Christmas," Alice called, waving at the older couple as Jasper walked back to her and handed her a cup of hot chocolate.

"Who was that?" Jasper asked, sitting down next to Alice and draping his arm around her shoulders.

"Just a friendly old lady," Alice said, snuggling into Jasper's body and taking a sip of hot chocolate.

"You look different," Jasper said. "What happened?"

Alice shook her head. "Nothing," she told him, leaning forward and kissing him deeply. "Let's go home?" she asked.

Jasper nodded, slightly surprised by Alice's sudden, public display of affection. He took her hand and they walked back towards the hotel. Alice was quiet, contemplative as they walked and Jasper nudged her shoulder as they neared the hotel.

"You're so quiet Al," he said. "It's making me nervous."

Alice stopped and looked up at Jasper. "I really like it when you call me Al," she told him.

Jasper laughed. "Oh really? Then how come you're always yelling at me about how it's not your name?" he asked.

Alice shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted.

"Well, Al," Jasper said. "Let's go inside and get warmed up." Jasper took Alice's hand again but when he moved forward, she didn't.

"Jasper," Alice said. "Jasper, I love you," Alice told him. "I always have."

Jasper looked surprised and Alice had a fleeting moment of panic that he didn't feel the same way and was about to tell her that but then he moved towards her and kissed her.

"I love you too, Al," Jasper whispered, kissing her again. "I don't deserve you but I love you."

"Don't be silly," Alice said, smiling and entwining her fingers with Jasper. "You deserve me."

"When you say you've always loved me?" Jasper asked, reaching up to brush snow off of Alice's shoulder.

"Since I was 12," Alice admitted.

Jasper laughed. "I thought I annoyed you back then. You were always so quiet. Or you would flee whenever I walked into a room."

Alice shook her head. "Only because I was a dumb love-struck teenager and you were a huge rock star and I had no idea what to say to you."

Jasper smiled as Alice stood on her tiptoes to kiss him again. "I love you," Jasper repeated. He had only said the words to once before and as he said them to Alice, Jasper realized this, what he had with Alice, was more real than anything in the past had been.

Alice's eyes were wide and bright and she laughed. "I didn't know how amazing that would sound," she told him. "And I love you too."

"Come on darlin'," Jasper said, tugging Alice towards the entrance to the hotel. "Pretty sure you promised me a reward for going ice-skating with you."

Alice grinned and followed Jasper happily towards the elevator. They rode silently together in the elevator, both of them stealing glances at each other and grinning.

As soon as Jasper opened the door to their room, Alice was pulling his head towards hers, her lips moving insistently over his. Jasper kissed her back eagerly, tugging at the buttons to her coat as she struggled with his coat.

Jasper managed to get Alice's coat unbuttoned first and Alice whimpered in protest when Jasper moved her hands away from him to tug her coat away from her body. He tore his mouth from hers in order to shed his own coat and then he kissed her again, his tongue pushing its way past her lips.

Jasper pulled Alice towards the bedroom, tossing hats and scarves and gloves and clothes around the room. By the time they fell into bed together, Alice was only wearing her underwear, a white tank top she had been wearing under her sweater, and her socks. Jasper was down to only his boxers.

"Jasper," Alice said, a bit breathless as Jasper kissed his way down her neck, sliding her tank top up and over her head. Jasper reached behind Alice and unhooked her bra, tossing it to the side as he cupped her right breast in his hand.

"Wait, Jasper," Alice said, pulling his face back towards hers.

"What is it?" Jasper asked, his hand sliding down her body.

"I'm wearing wool socks," Alice said, running her sock-covered foot up Jasper's calf. "They are making me feel unsexy."

Jasper grinned. "You could never be unsexy Al," he said, skimming his hand across her underwear before he sat up and took Alice's foot in his hand. Jasper tugged Alice's heavy sock off and placed a light kiss on her ankle.

Jasper moved to Alice's other foot and did the same thing, moving very slowly and making Alice shiver. "You have the tiniest feet I've ever seen," Jasper said, running his finger across the bottom of Alice's foot and making her giggle and squirm.

"You definitely do not have the tiniest feet I've ever seen," Alice said, tangling her legs with Jasper's as he shifted against her.

"Lucky for you darlin'," Jasper said, pressing his body into hers. Jasper kissed her again as he slid her underwear down her legs, his long, calloused fingers brushing against her skin. Alice gasped into Jasper's mouth when he pushed two fingers inside of her, his thumb brushing against her clit.

Jasper curled his fingers inside of Alice and Alice moaned and arched her back off the bed. Alice was so close when Jasper withdrew his fingers and pulled back slightly, grinning at Alice.

"What? Jazz?" Alice muttered, her eyes opening slowly.

Still grinning Jasper bent down and kissed Alice deeply. Alice reached down and rid Jasper of his boxers, her hand gripping his hard length and squeezing lightly. It was Jasper's turn to groan and Alice took advantage of his distracted state to slide out from under his body and shift until she was hovering over him.

Alice settled over Jasper, her free hand tracing the scars on his chest as she kissed him yet again. She stroked him firmly and Jasper bucked his hips against Alice's hand. Alice guided him towards her and with one shift thrust; Jasper was surrounded by Alice's warm, wet heat.

They both moaned and for a moment, Jasper held Alice's hips still against his. He reached up and gently stroked her cheek. "I love you," he whispered.

Alice smiled. "I love you too," she whispered back, leaning down to kiss him as Jasper's grip loosened against her and she began to move. They quickly found a rhythm that had them both panting and soon Alice could feel her body once again tightening around Jasper's. Jasper's hand skimmed across her breast before flicking against her clit and that was all it took for Alice to fall over the edge with a loud cry.

Alice continued moving against Jasper until she felt him grip her shoulder tightly, pulling her closely to him as he came inside of her. Alice collapsed against Jasper's sweaty chest and Jasper wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him. Alice pressed her ear to Jasper's chest, listening to his heart beat rapidly under his skin and she smiled as Jasper ran his hand through her dark hair. This was perfect.

Gently, Jasper pulled Alice to his side, covering them both with the blankets. "God, Al, we should have done this a whole lot sooner," Jasper said, still trying to catch his breath.

Alice laughed softly and leaned her chin against Jasper's chest, looking up at him. "We should have," she agreed.

"I had no idea sex could be like this," Jasper mused.

"Is that a good thing?" Alice asked, kissing Jasper's chest lightly.

"Oh, it's a very good thing," Jasper said with a nod. "It's always been just sex, you know?" he said. "I mean, with you, it's more."

Alice nodded. "I know what you mean," she said. "Must be that whole being in love thing," Alice said.

"That must be it," Jasper said with a nod. He glanced over at the clock and smiled. "It's after midnight," he said. "Merry Christmas darlin'."

"Do you want your present now?" Alice asked excitedly.

Jasper laughed. "So you're impatient when it comes to other people's presents too?" he asked.

Alice nodded and sat up. "I'm going to get it," she declared, slipping out of bed. She picked up Jasper's shirt from the floor and pulled it over her head, hurrying out into the living room of the suite.

Jasper listened to Alice rustling around and then he heard her yell, "Close your eyes Jasper!"

Jasper laughed to himself and closed his eyes. "They're closed," he called back.

Alice's feet padded softly across the floor and Jasper felt the bed dip slightly when she climbed back in. "Okay, open," she said.

The first thing Jasper saw when he opened his eyes was Alice's bright, smiling face and he couldn't resist leaning forward and kissing her. Alice kissed him back, but only for a moment, before she was pushing his gift towards him.

"Here," she said excitedly. "Merry Christmas."

Jasper glanced down and ran his hand across the beautiful guitar case that now sat in his lap. Without opening it, Jasper knew exactly what would be inside.

"Alice," he said softly, looking up at her.

"Go on, open it," Alice told him.

Jasper carefully undid the latch and opened the case. Inside, was a slightly battered, yet gorgeous acoustic guitar. It was a guitar that had once belonged to Bob Dylan—the iconic musician's very first guitar that he had written some of his biggest hits on. Jasper knew it had been in an auction that fall but he had been so wrapped up in his own life at that time, he had completely missed placing a bid on it. Later, he had tried to track it down but to no avail. And now, here it was, sitting in his lap.

Jasper gently ran his fingers across the strings of the guitar. "Alice, how?" he asked.

Alice shrugged. "I pulled some strings, called in a few favors and was able to track it down," Alice said. "I know you were disappointed you missed bidding on it."

"Al, this is incredible," Jasper said, his hand still lovingly stroking the guitar. "I can't believe you did this."

Jasper leaned over the guitar to kiss Alice deeply. "This really is turning into the best Christmas ever," Jasper said.

"I'm glad you like it," Alice said, grinning happily.

"I love it," Jasper said. "And you." Jasper set the guitar carefully to the side and slid out of the bed, pulling on his boxers. "Don't move," he told Alice. "I'll be right back."

Jasper went out to the living room where his old guitar case sat and popped it open, pulling out the leather journal where he wrote most of his lyrics. He walked back to the bedroom and climbed back into bed, taking the Dylan guitar out of the case and situating it across his lap.

"There was a reason you couldn't find your present anywhere, Al," Jasper said, opening his journal and setting it in front of him. "Now, I had no idea what to get you. You're very difficult to shop for darlin'."

Alice grinned as Jasper continued. "So, I've been feeling rather musically inspired lately and I know that's because of you and well, I'm pretty sure this is something you don't have yet."

Jasper strummed the guitar softly and then he began to play a song Alice had never heard before. Alice's eyes widened as she realized what Jasper's present was. "You wrote me a song," Alice said softly.

Jasper nodded and then he began to sing. Alice had always loved his voice and hearing it like this—soft and up close and directed solely at her, was even better than she could have imagined. Hearing Jasper sing words that had been written specifically with her in mind was a powerful, heady feeling and Alice found herself leaning close to him, so as not to miss a single note.

When Jasper finished the last line, Alice's eyes were teary. "Shit," Jasper muttered. "I should have gotten you a real gift."

Alice smiled and shook her head. "That was amazing," Alice said. "No one has ever done anything like that for me."

"Well, darlin', I don't know why not," Jasper said. "I hope you don't think that was a cop out gift though," Jasper said, biting his lip nervously. "I really didn't know what to get you."

"It's perfect," Alice said. She kissed Jasper softly, being careful of the guitar in his lap. "Thank-you," she told him.

Jasper nodded and gently set the guitar back in its case on the floor. He pulled Alice into his lap and deepened the kiss. "I suppose I'll need to properly thank you for the amazing Christmas gift," Jasper said, trailing kisses down Alice's neck and sliding his hand up her thigh.

Alice laughed against his mouth. "Only if I get to properly thank you as well," she said, shifting so that she was even closer to Jasper.

"Merry Christmas, Alice," Jasper whispered.

"Merry Christmas, Jasper," Alice repeated, pushing Jasper back into the bed once again.


Alice and Jasper were eating a late breakfast the next morning, both of them still in their pajamas, when Alice's cell phone rang. "It's your sister," Alice said, glancing down at the screen. "Why is she calling me?"

Jasper shrugged. "To wish you a Merry Christmas?" he suggested. "Don't answer. I'm planning on us both being naked again very soon and I don't want Rose distracting us."

Alice made a face and answered the phone as Jasper sighed dramatically. "Hi Rose," Alice said happily, kicking Jasper under the table.

"Alice Brandon," Rosalie said. "Are you fucking my brother?"

Alice nearly spit out her coffee. "What?" she asked. "Why would you ask me that?"

"Because Alice, I woke up this morning to pictures of you and Jasper making out all over the gossip blogs," Rosalie said. "Why did I have to find out about this at the same time as the rest of the country? How long has this been going on? How the hell did you get Jasper to go ice-skating?"

Alice laughed. "Slow down, Rose," she said. "What pictures are you talking about?"

Jasper raised his eyebrows and Alice motioned towards her laptop that was sitting at the desk. Jasper went over and picked it up and Alice put Rosalie on speakerphone as she said, "Go to any gossip blog Alice," Rosalie said. "And you'll see the lovely pictures of my brother with his tongue down your throat."

Jasper rolled his eyes and Alice opened up the webpage of one of the blogs she frequently checked. Sure enough, the headline on the front page read, "Rock Star Jasper Hale Celebrates Christmas with New, Unknown Girl" followed by pictures of Alice and Jasper hand in hand ice-skating at Rockefeller Center; of the two of them kissing at the ice rink and outside of the hotel.

"Whoa," Jasper muttered, looking over Alice's shoulder. "I didn't see anyone taking pictures yesterday."

"Jasper," Rosalie said. "Clearly you were a little distracted."

Alice laughed as she scrolled down the page. "So, are you two going to tell me what's going on?" Rosalie asked.

"I want to know too," Emmett called from the background. "I think it's cute," he added.

"Shut up Emmett," Rosalie said. "Tell me everything," Rosalie demanded. "When did this happen? I didn't even know you were in New York, Alice."

"We've been keeping it quiet," Alice explained. "Trying not to make things more complicated than they need to be."

"I'm your sister, Jasper," Rosalie countered. "And Alice, I thought we were friends?"

"Rose," Jasper started to say.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you, Rose," Alice cut in. "It's been kind of crazy lately. But good," she added, grinning at Jasper.

"So you're fucking him then?"

"Rosalie," Jasper said.

"It's a legitimate question," Rosalie said.

Alice laughed again. She had to admit that at times she loved Rosalie's bluntness. "Maybe," she said as Jasper kissed her shoulder.

"Oh my god, you are," Rosalie said. "Eww."

"Thank Rose," Jasper muttered.

"Alice, are you being careful?" Rosalie asked. "I mean, I know he's my brother and all but he's slept with a lot of skanks."

"Rosalie," Jasper hissed.

"It's true Jazz," Emmett called out again.

"I'm glad everyone is so involved in my love life," Jasper said.

"I'm just glad you're finally dating someone who's not a slut," Rosalie said. "Or Maria."

"Rose, are you and Emmett still coming out here for New Year's Eve?" Alice asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Yes, we'll be there," Rosalie said. "I need to witness you two in person."

"Me too," Emmett added. "This is perfect. We can double date."

Jasper shook his head as Rosalie said, "Jasper, listen to me."

"What Rose?" he asked.

"You're my brother but if you do anything to mess this up with Alice, I'll castrate you, okay?" Rosalie said.

Alice laughed and Jasper had to smile. "Fair enough Rose," he said.

"Hey, Jasper," Emmett said. "You know if Rose doesn't, I will, right?"

"Yes, Emmett," Jasper said.

"Merry Christmas," Rosalie said. "You can go back to fucking like rabbits now."

"Emmett, can't you control her at all?" Jasper asked.

"Nope, it's a lost cause," Emmett said. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Alice and Jasper said in unison.

"Aww, listen, they're already saying the same thing at the same time," Emmett said.

"Yeah, yeah, so cute," Rosalie said. "We'll see you lovebirds in a few days."

"See you soon," Alice said, hanging up the phone.

"My sister," Jasper said, shaking his head. "Always a trip."

Alice smiled. "I like Rose," she said.

"You like everyone darlin'," Jasper said, pulling Alice's chair close to his. He kissed her gently. "Are you okay with this?" he asked, nodding towards the computer.

Alice nodded. "I guess," she said. "I just don't want the whole world to know every detail of our relationship," Alice said.

"We can still keep it low key," Jasper said. "It doesn't have to be a big deal."

Alice nodded. "You're right," she said, kissing Jasper's cheek. "It's fine."

"Good," Jasper said, taking Alice's hand and standing up. "Because I'm kind of excited to show you off."

Alice laughed and allowed Jasper to lead her back to the bedroom. "But I'm going to keep you all to myself for a little while longer," he whispered, pulling Alice towards the bed.


The day before New Year's Eve, Alice and Jasper were waiting at the arrivals gate for Edward, Bella, Rosalie, and Emmett to arrive in New York City.

Jasper had his arm around Alice's shoulder and Alice was tapping her foot impatiently. "Al, we didn't have to come pick them up, you know," Jasper said.

"I know but this is so much more fun than waiting around at the hotel for them," Alice said. "I kind of love airport reunions," she said.

"It's only been like a week since you saw all of them," Jasper pointed out.

Alice poked him in the stomach. "Shut up," she said.

Jasper laughed as a stream of people came through the gate. Alice stood on her tiptoes, watching eagerly for their friends. She spied Emmett's hulking frame first and waved excitedly.

Emmett waved back and the two couples hurried towards Alice and Jasper. "Hi," Alice said excitedly, hugging Bella and Rosalie at the same time as Jasper greeted Edward and Emmett.

"Look at you," Rosalie said, looking Alice up and down. "My idiot brother must be treating you well, you look happy," she observed.

Alice nodded and reached for Jasper's hand. "He's great," she said, kissing his cheek lightly.

"Wait, you two are dating?" Edward asked, his mouth dropping open. "What? How? When?" he sputtered.

"I thought you'd know by now," Alice said, laughing at Edward's shocked expression.

"Of course I didn't know," Edward said. "Did you all know?" he asked, looking around at his friends.

Rosalie and Emmett nodded and Edward turned to Bella. "Even you?" he asked.

Bella's cheeks flushed and she nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?" Edward asked.

"I asked her not to Edward," Alice said. "Jasper and I wanted to keep it quiet at first. But pictures of us have been all over the place lately. How did you miss that?"

"It's not like I hang out all day reading gossip blogs and US Weekly," Edward muttered. He eyed Jasper carefully. "You're a crappy boyfriend," he said.

"I was a crappy boyfriend," Jasper corrected. "But now I have someone who's worth it," Jasper said, smiling at Alice.

"When did this happen?" Edward asked. "How far behind am I?"

"Um, that Christmas special you guys did," Alice said. "The one where Jasper punched Jacob."

"I didn't know that's when it started," Rosalie said. "What, did you guys hook up in the dressing room or something?" Rosalie asked with a laugh.

When Jasper and Alice didn't say anything, Rosalie's eyes widened. "Oh god, you did!" she exclaimed. "Gross."

"Rose, don't ask questions if you don't want to know the answer," Jasper told his sister.

"The dressing room?" Edward asked. "I was next door to you. Yuck," he said, shaking his head.

"Finally, we agree on something," Rosalie said.

"Come on," Jasper said. "There's a car waiting for us. The JFK arrivals gate is maybe not the best place for this conversation."

Jasper, Emmett, and Edward collected the luggage and walked towards the door. Bella grabbed Alice's hand and they fell behind the guys slightly. "So, everything's good then?" she asked. "Rose is right, you do seem happy."

"It's great," Alice said, excited to have a chance to share details with her best friend. "He's been so sweet and so perfect and we've had the best time," Alice said.

"Please don't share any details about your sex life," Rosalie said, slipping on her sunglasses before they walked outside.

Alice grinned. "My lips are sealed," Alice said. "So, Bella, what about you?" Alice asked. "Things are going well with you and Edward?"

Bella blushed again. "It's great," Bella said. "He's so moody though. I'm learning how to read him."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "He's a drama queen," she muttered.

"He's a great guy though," Bella said quickly. "Quite perfect, actually."

"Well, look at us, three girls in love," Alice said as they neared the car.

"In love?" both Bella and Rosalie said, stopping suddenly.

"What?" Alice asked.

"You're in love with him?" Rosalie asked.

"You've finally admitted it then?" Bella asked at the same time.

Alice nodded. "I love him," she said softly, glancing over at Jasper who was helping put suitcases in the trunk of the limousine.

"Alice, if I was a person who hugged, I would hug you right now," Rosalie said, smiling a little.

Alice laughed as Bella said, "Well, I'll hug you," and moved forward to do just that. Alice hugged Bella back for a long moment before Emmett interrupted them.

"Ladies, I hate to break up this love fest but I haven't eaten in about an hour and we need to fix that," Emmett said, putting his arm around Rosalie and drawing her towards him.

"Aww, poor baby," Rosalie said, kissing Emmett.

"Let's go before we're all subjected to a public make out session between these two," Jasper said.

"Hey, you'd probably learn something, man," Emmett said, a serious expression on his face.

"Trust me, Jasper doesn't need any lessons in that regard," Alice said, winking at Jasper.

"Nice one, short stuff," Emmett said, reaching out to ruffle Alice's hair as she ducked out of the way.

The three couples got into the back of the limo and they started towards the hotel. Bella watched out the window as the snow-covered streets of New York flew by. "It's so pretty here," she said. "I bet you guys had a perfect Christmas."

"It was perfect," Alice said. "I even got Jasper to go ice-skating."

"Christmas in New York? Ice-skating? How did I not know about this?" Edward asked, shaking his head.

"You're a little out of touch," Bella said, taking Edward's hand. "It's okay."

"Jasper wrote me a song," Alice gushed. "It's beautiful."

"You're writing again?" Edward asked, sitting up and leaning towards Jasper. "Really?"

Jasper nodded. "I've been feeling rather inspired lately," he said, glancing briefly at Alice.

"All this lovey-dovey, touchy-feely, gazing into each other's eyes thing is making me sick," Rosalie said.

"I thought you liked the touchy-feely stuff, baby," Emmett said, tickling Rosalie's side.

Rosalie squirmed away from Emmett's fingers and Alice reached out and put her hand on the small baby bump Rosalie had developed since Alice had last seen her. "So, tell us about the baby instead," she said.

Rosalie smiled widely. "She's good," Rosalie said. "Healthy and all that and we're so excited."

"She?" Alice asked.

"We don't know if it's a girl," Emmett said. "But Rosalie is insisting."

Rosalie nodded. "I know it's a girl," she said.

"I got a tiny, baby Chargers jersey for Baby McCarty," Emmett said. "He or she is going to look awesome."

Alice smiled at Rose and Emmett's obvious excitement. She glanced over at Jasper, remembering his outburst at Thanksgiving but he was smiling as he listened to Rosalie and Emmett gush about the baby.

When they pulled up in front of the hotel and got out, Alice watched as Jasper pulled his sister aside as everyone else was distracted with the luggage. "I'm happy for you Rose," he said softly, kissing his sister's cheek.

Rosalie looked surprised but she smiled and hugged Jasper. "Thanks, Jazz," she whispered back.

They entered the hotel and Alice took Jasper's hand. "That was sweet," she told him.

Jasper shrugged. "I hate how I acted at Thanksgiving," he said softly as they headed towards the elevator.

For a moment, the old look of sadness passed through Jasper's eyes and Alice frowned slightly. It passed quickly though and Alice once again didn't ask him about it, telling herself it still wasn't the right moment.

"So, food?" Emmett asked when they stepped out of the elevator on the top floor. He leaned away from Rosalie and whispered, "The whole pregnancy thing makes Rose eat like a horse and when she doesn't eat, she gets crabbier than usual."

"Do not blame your constant need for food on me and your unborn child," Rosalie said.

Emmett raised his eyebrows as Rosalie hit his shoulder. "You guys go get settled in and we'll meet you downstairs in fifteen minutes?" Alice asked. "And we can go get some food."

"Yes, please," Emmett said, walking towards the suite him and Rosalie were sharing. Edward and Bella walked the opposite direction towards their room and Jasper opened the door for him and Alice.

"Rosalie looks so happy," Alice said. "Pregnancy suits her."

"It does," Jasper agreed.

"You're okay?" Alice asked, wrapping her arms around Jasper's waist and hugging him tightly.

"I'm good," Jasper said, running his hand through Alice's hair. "Let's get ready for dinner."

Alice nodded as Jasper went to change his clothes. Alice sighed softly. She didn't want to ruin the fairly tale her and Jasper had been living in lately but Alice knew she was only putting off the inevitable.

She followed after Jasper to change as well before meeting the others, telling herself that she'd talk to Jasper soon.