A/N: Oh, the reviews from the last chapter were just all over the board regarding Alice's behavior and Bella and Edward's fight. I truly thank you for reading and investing in these characters. Even if you hated Edward or Bella in the last chapter, the fact you felt compelled to comment makes me happy.

This chapter is short, but it needs to end where it does. So sorry about the length, but it gets the job done.

SMeyer owns…I borrow.

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Chapter 19. Time to Grow Up

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"Hey, don't beat yourself up. You guys put up a hell of a fight," I told JC as we drove back to Bella's house after his game on Friday afternoon. They'd lost, but it wasn't because he hadn't been in there trying.

Thanksgiving at my parents' house had been great, and Emmett came over for dessert after he and his dad finished their dinner together. Apparently, Big Mike's girlfriend, Celeste, tried to cook them dinner, and when Emmett described it to my mother, she made him a plate and fed him. I wasn't surprised at all.

We all spent the night at Bella's, and on Friday morning, Bella called Alice Brandon and invited her over that night for dinner that night. JC's team was out of the playoffs after the game that afternoon, and maybe it was bad timing, but he had to know the truth, sooner than later.

"Yeah, well, at least we got into conference. What's for dinner?" he asked from the back seat. Rosalie and Emmett were going to his father's house at my request because we needed to keep the family issues separate.

"I thought we'd get Chinese," Bella stated as she squeezed my hand.

"I was hoping you'd make chicken parm," he complained from the backseat.

I looked at her and smirked. "You can't blame me because he's spoiled."

She giggled. "Nope. That's on me." She turned in her seat to look at him, and I caught his face in the rearview. "I don't feel like cooking, JC. Grandma and I made a meal yesterday. I thought Chinese would be good since it's not turkey and dressing."

"Yeah, but you always make me chicken parm after I lose a game," he whined.

She looked at me and smiled. "Your dad wants Chinese, and we're having company. No Italian tonight, son."

Alice told Bella she couldn't tolerate the smell of tomatoes, so no Italian. It would definitely be his first lesson in learning to sacrifice for someone else…his child.

I looked into the rearview and saw the scowl. "Hey, you're no longer the man of the house, son. Well, not your mother's house. I've taken over that job," I told him with a laugh he didn't appreciate.

"Whatever," he complained as I pulled into the driveway. Bella told him to shower and come back downstairs for dinner, and he was pissed about it. I wondered just how the night would go, but my girl had a plan.

We went inside and after he went upstairs to shower and change, I pulled Bella onto my lap on the couch. "How was she when you talked to her this afternoon?"

"She's absolutely petrified, and I'm worried whether we're handling the news the best way we could," she told me as she rested her head against my shoulder.

"Well, we can stay around until she delivers the news, and if things are okay, then we can go for a walk and leave them to talk. They need to talk, Bella."

"I know. It just feels wrong we know before him. He's going to be so upset about this, Edward. She handled this badly," Bella complained quietly.

"I blame myself for that because when I talked to them after that first night I stayed over and they came to dinner at Mom and Dad's, I gave both of them hell. I didn't know she was already pregnant then, and she was trying to do the right thing for JC. I have to give her credit for trying to handle it, even though she went about it the wrong way," I whispered as I kissed her neck.

At exactly six o'clock, the doorbell rang. Bella answered it, and after some hushed discussion, she escorted Alice into the living room. The poor kid looked like hell, but I couldn't blame her. I was sure she was a mess of nerves.

"Hi, Mr. C," she whispered.

"Little One, how are you?" I asked as I stood to hug her. She truly looked like she needed one.

"I haven't thrown up in a few days. That's a plus," she stated quietly.

"Alice, what would you like to drink?" Bella asked.

"Do you have any orange juice? It's very strange, but it's the only thing that can quench my thirst lately."

"Sure. Edward? Beer?" I nodded and Bella left the room.

"I was at the game. He played his heart out. I hate they lost. That won't impact his scholarship, will it?" Alice asked quietly.

"No. He has his offers. It's fine. How was your Thanksgiving?" I asked.

She started crying, and Bella wasn't back in the room. I never did well with tears from a woman, and I certainly didn't know what the hell to do with Alice crying. Thankfully, Bella came into the room with a glass of OJ and two beers.

"Honey, don't cry. What's wrong?" Bella comforted.

"Mom and Dad went to my grandparents' house for dinner, but I'm showing, and they didn't want me to go. They're ashamed of me. I don't know…" she began crying harder.

"Oh, honey," Bella whispered as she held her close. I sat on the other side of Bella and placed my hand on Alice's back. She'd been shouldering the whole thing by herself, and it was time for it to stop.

"Why the fuck is she here?" we heard from the bottom step, not having heard him come downstairs.

"Jasper Carlisle, knock it off and sit down," Bella demanded.

"I didn't realize it was 'Feed a Cheating Whore' night," he sniped.

Alice cried harder, and I rose from the couch, walking over to my son and grabbing him by the shoulders. "In about five minutes, you are going to regret ever saying that, you little jackass. You will sit down in that chair and keep the fucking commentary to yourself, do you understand me?" I stated harshly.

I was in his face, and thankfully, he was still intimidated by my Army voice. Thank God because I was sure if the boy put his mind to it, he could kick his old man's ass as big as he was.

He sat down without argument but I could tell he was pissed. I could understand it because he was operating under false information, but it was time for everything to be laid on the table. It was time for Jasper to grow up.

"Alice," I prompted.

She reached into her large purse and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Bella. My lovely girl looked at it and immediately had tears in her eyes. "Oh, Alice!"

She hugged her and handed it to Jasper who looked at it and then tossed it on the floor. "What the hell is going on?" he snapped.

I walked over to where the paper had fallen and picked it up. I looked at it and saw it was a very good image of the baby Alice was carrying. I then understood why Bella was crying. It was our grandchild, and it was incredible. I remembered seeing those pictures of our babies when Bella was pregnant, and I remembered how happy I'd been.

"Tell him, honey," Bella whispered.

Alice cleared her throat. "Jazz, I owe you an apology. I lied to you and I shouldn't have. I should have talked to you and told you the truth, but I didn't want to interfere with your future," she sniffed as she looked at me. God, the guilt was like a yoke on my neck.

"Oh, you want to apologize for cheating on me? Well, that's all nice and stuff, but I don't give a shit," he snapped. He started to get up, and I shoved him back down into the chair. I also owned a piece of his attitude about which I wasn't proud, but we were going to get through it.

"You stay until I tell you that it's okay to leave," I told him as I stood next to him.

"I never cheated on you, Jasper. I lied. The, um, this baby is yours," she whispered.

He started laughing. "Yeah, right! I heard Mr. Crowley isn't happy about this, so you're gonna pin it on me now? Sorry, Mary Alice. Too late, sweetheart." He was a cocky little fuck, just like me.

"Tell him the rest, Alice," I prompted.

"Wait. You two believe this bullshit?" he asked with anger in his eyes.

He turned to Alice again, venom evident in his voice. "It's not mine. You cheated on me, and you're not going to come back now and say it's mine because TJ isn't willing or able to step up to the plate. Not gonna happen."

I was done with his attitude, even though I knew in my heart he was entitled to it because he didn't know the whole truth, but the nastiness needed to stop. "TJ Crowley is gay. He's involved with that Yorkie kid who works at the bakery, JC," I announced because he wasn't listening to her.

The doorbell rang. I looked at Bella, and she shrugged, so I went to the door and opened it to see TJ Crowley and his boyfriend standing there. "Hi, Mr. Cullen. Alice asked us to stop by," TJ told me.

"Well, guys, you're just in time. We're going to have Chinese if you're interested," I invited.

We walked into the living room, and when Jasper saw TJ, he started for him, which gave me hope that he still had feelings for Alice. I grabbed him around the shoulders and slammed him back in the chair. "Down, tiger," I told him.

Alice, TJ, and Eric told their story. They told him how it had come to be that everyone thought TJ was the father of Alice's baby, and Alice sobbed through her explanation of why she did what she did. I'd sat down on the couch next to Bella who was sitting next to Alice, holding her hand like I was holding Bella's. Yes, it was a fucking disaster, but it was best the truth come out.

"I'm moving to Wisconsin with my aunt, and after the baby comes, I'm going to give it up for adoption. My aunt has a friend who wants to adopt a baby. They were never able to have one of their own, and they have a lot of money. They'll be able to take care of it and give it a good life, JC, and you can go to college wherever you want. I never wanted to…" she broke down yet again.

"I guess we're not needed anymore?" Eric asked. I nodded and the two of them left, leaving me, Bella, JC and Alice to wander through the quagmire of how to make it work.

JC was bent over in the chair looking at the floor with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped in front of him. Alice was sitting on the couch next to Bella, and I was holding Bella, very worried about the next words to come out of my son's mouth. He was a hot head, to be certain, and I prayed he wouldn't make any stupid comments.

"You didn't cheat on me with TJ?" he asked.

"No, Jazz. I love you too much to ever do anything like that, but I wanted you to believe I did so you could go to college and play football. I thought about having an abortion, but I couldn't go through with it. Maybe we won't raise this baby, but I couldn't fathom doing that," she sniffled.

"Can you guys give us a minute?" Jasper asked. I took Bella's hand and led her to the kitchen. I knew she didn't want to go, but they needed their privacy. Fortunately, we could see them from the kitchen and we could hear every word.

JC rose from the chair and walked over to her, dropping to his knees in front of her. He placed his hand on her tiny stomach, and looked into her eyes. "This is my baby?"

She nodded as she cried, and when he leaned forward and kissed her stomach, Bella began sobbing next to me. I held her close, mostly to muffle the sound. "Shh. I love you, but be quiet."

She laughed a little. "You old softie."

"Alice, why on earth didn't you tell me?" JC asked.

"Jasper, you have such a bright future, and I didn't want to mess it up. I love you too much for that," she sniffled.

He pulled away and took her hand. "No, Alice, we have a bright future. We'll figure this out, but if you ever lie to me again, I'll turn you over my knee."

"Okay, maybe we should stop listening," Bella whispered. I agreed, so we closed the shutters that separated the kitchen from the dining area and living room.

I sat down in a kitchen chair and pulled her onto my lap. "Hey, I need a favor," I told her. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever met in my life, and as I looked at her, I knew in my heart it was the right time.

"Sure. What? House sitting? Weeding? Kidney?" she teased.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the velvet box I'd take with me on a whim. I flipped it open where she couldn't see and pulled out the ring, dropping the box on the floor. "No, I just need your left hand," I told her.

She cracked up. "You know I'm right handed, and really, is this the best time for you to want a hand job?" she whispered as she kissed my lips.

"God, you're a beautiful pain in the ass. Gimme," I demanded.

She held up her left hand as if she was going to give me a high five, and I grabbed it, kissing it. "You are the most incredible woman I've ever met in my life. I've been walking around for a hell of a long time in blinders, but they're off now, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt what I want. I won't say I can't live without you because we both know that's not the case. What I will say is I don't want to live without you, ever again."

"Oh, is this where the hand job comes into play?" she teased as she squirmed in my lap over my semi. I couldn't help that because Bella …in my lap…yeah, I was going to get a hard on in short order, and I was fucking grateful for it after the one night when things took a little too long to measure up.

I looked into her gorgeous eyes and smiled. "No, Isabella, this is where I ask you to marry me. Will you marry me? I didn't ask the first time, but I'm asking now. I'll give you time to think…"

"YES! Yes, Edward. I'll…fuck, I love you," she told me as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

She kissed me so completely I nearly shot off in my shorts. It wasn't the first time she'd held that power over me, and I hoped it wouldn't be the last time. When I pulled away, I saw the smile on her face. I placed the ring on her finger, and when her eyes grew wide, I was a happy bastard. Apparently, the diamond and emeralds were the way to go.

"I love you, Mrs. Cullen. Oh, hell, you won't even have to change your name," I teased as I nuzzled into her neck and kissed it. Things weren't perfect, but damn, they weren't horrible.

"When are we…crap," we heard from the doorway of the kitchen. I was too busy kissing Bella to care, but apparently, she had a lot more self-control then me. She pulled away and looked up, which prompted me to as well. Jasper had his arm around Alice, and they looked very happy.

"When are we what?" I asked as I held Bella on my lap.

"Ordering food? My girl and my baby are hungry," he stated with a kiss to the top of Alice's head.

"So, things are good?" Bella asked as she got up from my lap and walked over to them.

JC looked at Alice and smiled. "They're getting there. I'm going to go over to her house tomorrow and we're going to talk to Mark and Denise. I'll probably get a beating, but I'll take it. I probably deserve it," JC told us as he gazed at Alice with a smile I recognized. It was the same one I had just given his mother when she agreed to marry me again.

I laughed a little. "We'll be there with you. If he hits you, I won't stop him, but hopefully, it won't go that way. I remember when we told Grandma and Grandpa Swan about Rose."

We ordered Chinese and we had dinner. We didn't mention to JC anything regarding the fact we were going to get married again, and we didn't make any plans regarding the baby. It was one of those rare moments in time where we just enjoyed being together.

It would definitely be a memory I'd never let go because as complicated as things would be, Jasper kept Alice close and his hand would drift down under the table. She turned to look at him and smiled, and he kissed her lips. I remembered it. I remembered being that guy, and as much as I wanted to see Bella pregnant with a baby we made together, maybe we had to postpone that dream because we had a much more immediate mission…raising our grandchild until our son and his girlfriend got out of college. That was the most important thing, after all.

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E/N: I know, short, but tomorrow night's chap makes up for it in many ways.

Thank you for reading.

Till tomorrow…xoxo