A/N: So, we heard a little from Esme in the last chapter…isn't she fabulous?! I LOVED writing her. Anyway, we switch gears a little in this chapter, and I am very curious about what you guys will think of this. My Jasper is a bit of an enigma, but…well…you'll see.

Thanks again to torisurfergirl and starpower31 for all of their help. They make my words pretty, and really, I couldn't do this without them.

Read on, my friends.

Chapter 21 – A Start

"A relationship is like a mountain: it starts off with nothing then gradually increases until it reaches the peak. Life is good up there. But then things start to go downhill. Until there is nothing. It is up to you to climb back up."

Unknown

APOV

Last night had been the longest night of my life. Not only did Jasper snore—when he was asleep—but he also kept so quiet when he was awake that he made me very uncomfortable. He barely said two words to me the entire night. Outwardly, I tried to appear as if it was totally fine with me, but given the situation we were in, it would have been nice if he at least tried talking to me.

I had enjoyed Esme yelling at him the night before, though. She seemed like a wonderful person and was probably embarrassed a little by Jasper's behavior. If he were my son, I would have been. But, boy did she tell him. Watching her made me wish that my child would end up as strong as her. I was too weak for my own good most of the time, but Esme had some balls—metaphorically, of course.

The hospital released me around ten in the morning, and Jasper drove me home. He dropped me off out front and sped off the second I was out of the car. I shook my head and walked into my apartment.

The rest of the weekend passed by quickly. Esme called a couple times to check on me and so did Bella. She always asked if I had eaten. Begrudgingly, I took the pills the doctor had prescribed. And I did notice a difference. I was able to eat better, and it didn't come back up. I admitted to Bella that I was eating and that the pills had helped. She laughed, telling me that I should go and thank that doctor for giving them to me. Especially considering that I had fought him so hard on taking them.

Bella and Edward were doing pretty great. Apparently, they were discussing moving in together. While I was extremely happy for my best friend, I still felt a sadness enveloping me. I was completely alone. Esme would have been upset at that statement, but my relationship with her was very new. No matter how nice she was, I couldn't quite count her as someone who would be here for me no matter what.

Sunday evening was very low key for me. I ate my cheap TV dinner, watched a stupid movie that I streamed from Netflix, and cleaned up my apartment. I had just finished packing my boxes when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Um, hi, Alice." It was Jasper.

"Hi, Jasper. What can I do for you?" I sat down on the couch, trying to stay calm. This was the first I had heard from him since he had dropped me off yesterday. What could he possibly have to say?

"Uh, I just wanted to call to see how you were doing?"

"Oh, um, I'm doing OK."

"Did you eat anything today?"

"Yes, I took the pills the doctor gave me, and I've been able to keep down all my food." This conversation was really out of character for Jasper. Maybe his mother's talk really did get to him.

"Are you busy right now?" he asked.

"I was just packing. Why?"

"I wanted to take you out, if that's OK."

Um…what? "Uh, sure, I guess. I've already eaten, so what did you have in mind?"

"I wanted to take you grocery shopping. Make sure that you have lots of food to eat."

OK, his mother definitely had something to do with this. "Jasper, that's really not necessary. I can get my own food."

"Alice, I want to make sure that both you and…our baby are healthy. Please let me take you grocery shopping." He almost sounded like he was pleading with me.

Sighing in defeat, I agreed. He told me that he would be over in about half an hour, so I ran to my room to change. I looked at myself in the mirror. There were slight bags under my eyes; my hair was sticking out a little more than normal and my lips still looked cracked. I quickly wet my hair, throwing some moose on. There wasn't much I could do about the bags under my eyes, but I put some lip gloss on, hoping it would hide the cracks in my lips.

True to his word, Jasper knocked on my door almost exactly half an hour later. We didn't say very much on the way to his car, but he was polite at least. He drove us to Wal-Mart, starting in the home and beauty section.

"Pick out anything you want or need. Shampoo? Conditioner? Make-up?" Jasper offered, grabbing a cart.

"Oh, that's OK."

"Alice…" His voice was warning.

"Oh, all right," I conceded.

We walked down every aisle. He persuaded me to get soap, shampoo, fingernail polish and a new DVD. The cart was half full by the time we got to the food. Once again, we walked down every aisle. He didn't let me cheap out on anything, getting name brand food of all kinds.

By the time we left—$250.00 later—we had more than filled the cart. He helped bring everything into my apartment, and then proceeded to help me put it all away. I was able to get all the foods that I loved, the gourmet items that I couldn't afford myself anymore, and I was really happy.

"Jasper, I just wanted to say thank you for all of this. I really do appreciate it."

"Well, you're welcome," Jasper said, looking a little uncomfortable. "Please tell me when you need to go back. From now on, I will take care of your grocery budget. OK?"

I was in shock by his statement. There was no way I could let him do this… "Um, Jasper, I can't let you do that."

"You said that earlier, also. Alice, I want to. Please let me help. Also, I would like to have dinner with you on Tuesday night. Is that OK with you?"

Unable to figure out what else to say, I nodded. We had just finished putting away all the groceries, and I was walking Jasper to the door when he leaned in and hugged me. I was so shocked that I didn't respond right away. Eventually, the shock wore down and I put my arms around him also. It wasn't long before he released me.

"Goodnight, Alice."

"Goodnight, Jasper."

EPOV

Waking up next to Bella was always amazing, but when she woke me up with her mouth on my cock, I was in heaven. I woke up with her warm, wet mouth moving up and down. It didn't take me very long before I was exploding into her mouth.

"Love, that was amazing. We must be feeling better today?" I whispered, pulling her up to rest on my chest.

"Yes, much better. I actually slept last night, and I feel like I have much more energy. According to the app I downloaded, I'm 14 weeks today. Officially starting my second trimester. More energy!"

Chuckling, I kissed her softly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Would you like breakfast? I'm starving!" Bella said, shuffling off the bed and grabbing her robe.

"Really? You want breakfast?" I started getting up, grabbing my own robe from the chair next to the bed. We both started walking toward the kitchen. I was surprised because Bella didn't normally eat much in the morning. She was usually so sick.

"Oh, yes, eggs, bacon strips and toast."

"Bacon? You? Really?"

"Well, I got these veggie bacon strips made out of tofu that I want to try. You know I don't eat meat," Bella explained, pulling a box out of the freezer.

"OK, let's try it," I said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

She turned to me, raising her eyebrows. "You want some, too?"

"Of course. I want to try everything you do. I can't promise that I'll like it, but I will try anything once."

"Wow." Bella came over and sat on my lap, kissing my cheek. "You are too good to me."

"Who was it that woke who up this morning?" I teased, tweaking her nose with my finger. Bella blushed, which was quickly turning into my favorite color.

She gave me another quick kiss, and then started making our breakfast. She microwaved the bacon strips, which smelled pretty good considering what they were. Bella placed a plate of eggs, bacon strips and toast with butter in front of me, and I dug in.

Bella sat down across from me and smiled slightly before turning to her own breakfast. "Oh, these bacon strips are good!" she exclaimed.

Admittedly, the smell was good, but I wasn't too sure. I tried them, just like I said I would. The taste was OK, but the texture was totally different from bacon. It was just…wrong. I explained to Bella that it wasn't the best flavor for me, and she agreed to make me bacon the next day. Hoping she wasn't mad, I made sure to compliment the rest of the breakfast.

After breakfast, a quickie in the shower, and dressing quickly, we separated at the parking lot. I kissed her softly, wishing her a good day before making my way to the car.

Work was filled with long meetings, angry customers and annoying co-workers. I have to admit that I was more than a little frustrated by the time I got to Bella's that night. It was later than I originally told Bella that I would be home. Knowing that I should have called her, I felt a little guilty as I opened the apartment door.

The apartment was dark, which surprised me. Bella should have been home over an hour ago. I walked through the apartment, looking around and finally saw Bella huddled under the blankets in her bed. She was so quiet that I thought she was asleep. I set my bag down and crawled in bed, sliding my arm around her.

"You're late," she whispered, sounding a little choked up.

"I'm sorry, love, the day got away from me. I should have called you."

Bella was silent. I got up, sliding around the bed so I could face her. In the dark, I could see that her eyes were puffy. She had obviously been crying.

"What's wrong, love?"

"You were supposed to be home a while ago, I called and you didn't answer. I got worried." Her voice was very quiet. I leaned in and kissed her forehead, not understanding why she was so upset.

"I'm sorry, I know that I should have called. What were you worried about, love?"

Again, she was silent. This was completely foreign to me, and I didn't know exactly what to say. "Bella, what should I do?"

"Nothing. I'm tired, I think I'm just going to sleep."

"Want me to make you some dinner?"

"No. I'm not hungry. I ate when I got home."

"OK, love, I'll let you rest. Please let me know if you need anything. And, again, I'm really sorry." I stood up and walked out of the room, silently closing the door.

I stayed just outside of the door for a minute, wondering what I should do. Walking into the kitchen, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed my mother. Maybe she would know.

"Hello, Edward, how are you?" Esme answered.

"Hey, Mom, I need your advice."

"OK, shoot."

"I got home a little late, well more than a little…I was over an hour late. I didn't call, and Bella is upset. She's in her room, crying, but she won't tell me what's wrong. She just said that she was worried." I shifted the phone to my other ear, while pulling out some leftover lasagna from the fridge.

"Did she try calling or texting you?"

"Yes, I didn't answer because I was on the phone with a client. By the time I was off the phone, I forgot that she had called. I was so tired, I just grabbed my stuff and came home."

"Edward, Bella is pregnant. Her hormones are going crazy, and your relationship is still fairly new. She was probably scared you were in an accident, or cheating on her or something. Pregnant women tend to overthink things and create situations in their head."

She paused for a moment. I didn't say anything…I was still waiting for her to tell me what to do.

"Go to her, comfort her, tell her how much you love her and how sorry you are. Make her listen. Her brain is telling her not to listen to you."

"Are you serious? How do I do that?"

"Just do your best, Edward. Show her that she is the only one. Go now, don't wait too long or she'll create more ideas."

"OK, thanks, Mom."

"Anytime, sweetie. Let me know if I can help," Esme said, hanging up the phone.

Abandoning the lasagna in the microwave, I set my phone down in the kitchen and went back to Bella's room. She hadn't moved from her original position. I took my shirt off, leaving my undershirt on. My shoes went next, and then I slid into bed, tugging her close to me. She didn't resist me, but she didn't move on her own either.

Kissing the back of her neck, I tightened my grip on her. "Baby, I'm so sorry that I'm late. My day was horrible, and the highlight of my day is being able to come home to you," I whispered into her ear. "I love you, beautiful."

"I was really worried," she whispered back.

"I'm so sorry, baby, what can I do?" Seriously, she gets this upset over me being a little late? Jeez, the hormones really must be out of control.

"Nothing."

I kissed her neck again, breathing in the intoxicating smell of Bella. Being this close to her was making my cock spring to life. Nestling her closer to me, I pressed myself into her. I still didn't understand what had her so upset, or how to pull her out of it.

Before I could register her moving, she had sprung up and out of the bed. "Stop that!" She practically yelled. "I'm not going to sit and wait here like some moron, only to be treated like your resident whore when you do get home!"

To say I was completely shocked by her words would be a vast understatement. Getting up slowly, I was careful to keep a safe distance from her. There were tears streaming down her face and she looked pretty angry.

I held my hands in front of me, gesturing defeat, and took a tentative step toward her. "Bella, I know that I made you worry, and I am truly sorry about that. I promise I won't do that again. I love you." Seriously, what else can I say? How do I make her calm down and listen to me?

"Edward, we haven't been together that long. How do I know that you don't have some hot chick on the side. One who isn't getting fat?"

Suppressing the desire to roll my eyes, I took another small step toward her. "Bella, you are the only woman I want. You are everything to me…and have been since I met you. And," I added, hoping to defuse the situation a little more, "you are not getting fat."

"Aren't I? My bras don't fit me anymore, and my jeans wouldn't button tonight. I am getting fatter!" she exclaimed, sitting down on the bed with a huff.

"You aren't getting fatter…you're getting babier. And I'm totally OK with your boobs getting bigger, although they were always perfect before."

To my astonishment, Bella actually cracked a smile. Taking that as a good sign, I sat down on the bed next to her, reaching out and grabbing her hand. "Are you OK now?"

"Yeah, I guess I freaked out a little bit, huh?"

"It's perfectly normal to do that now and then. But try to remember that—I'm here because I want to be, and I wouldn't dream of going anywhere else." I slowly kissed her hand, hoping she would believe me. There really wasn't much more I could say.

"OK, I'll try. I'm sorry I freaked out."

"It's all right, beautiful. Now, I'm starving. Want to come into the kitchen with me while I eat that perfect lasagna that you made the other night?"

She smiled, standing up and holding out her other hand to me. "Sure, let's go eat."

A/N: OK, so, honest feedback…what do you think of Jasper? Confused? The answers are coming…also, anyone who has been pregnant should understand Bella in this chapter. Hormones raging…

Still, I love hearing from you guys. Let me know what you think!