"Alice? Alice!" I yelled. "She and Rosalie are shopping." Esme said. "Esme, I wanted to talk about the wedding. I want a small wedding. A few friends and family. Old-fashioned." I said. "Okay. I'll talk to Alice." She said. "Thanks, Esme." I said, hugging her. "My pleasure, Dear." Esme said. I left and went to our room.
I began to clean our room. I sighed. Jasper and I had made a mess of our room. It took hours to clean our room. I left Jasper's guitar and music stuff for last. The papers were scribbled on furiously. Lyrics on some and stanzas of music on others, but the title was the same. Jasper was writing a song for me. I was about to look at the lyrics when two arms wrapped around my waist and twirled me around. "Now, Darlin', you know I don't like people reading my work before it's done." Jasper said. "But, I've always got to read it." I argued. "Well, you'll have to wait." He said. "I hate waiting." I muttered. Jasper kissed my cheek and said, "I'll play it for you the morning after the wedding." I had forgotten there would be a wedding. I was happy just to be with Jasper.
Alice had said Jasper was happier when he was with me. I wondered how he would be during the days my transformation took place. "What's wrong?" he asked. "I'm just thinking about if you'll be okay during my transformation." I said. "Three days. I can handle it." He said. There was a soft knock on the door. "Chailyn, we should begin." Carlisle said. "Alright, Carlisle. We'll be there shortly." I said. "We've set up in the study." Carlisle said. I took my necklace off and looped it around his wrist. We didn't say a word. We didn't have to.
We headed to Carlisle's study. I saw a hospital style operating room table. I felt suddenly nervous. Jasper's arms snaked around my waist. "Jazz…" I thought. "Everything will be fine." He thought. "It's going to hurt." I thought. "I've never let anything hurt you before and I'm not starting now." Jasper thought. "I love you, Jasper." I thought. "I love you too, Chai." He thought. I took a deep breath and we went in.
"Okay,Chai, climb up on the table. Jasper, are you ready?" Carlisle asked. Jasper nodded. "You know what you have to do?" Carlisle asked. Jasper nodded. We were both alittle nervous. "J, I believe in you. I'm safe with you." I whispered. Carlisle took care to make sure I would be taken care of. Jasper leaned in and kissed my neck. "You can do it." I thought. I felt pain. "Jazz, love. Make me feel love." I thought. My pain decreased alittle as Jasper tried to manipulate me. "That's good. Now, keep going." I thought. I felt his grip on my hand tighten and the feeling of love disappeared. The pain intensified. "Jasper, stop. Jasper…stop." I thought. "J, please…you have to stop." I thought. As a last resort, I thought about his funeral and the soldiers. How I had felt and what I had seen.
My body burned. "It'll be worth it." I thought. I knew it would be worth it to come out living with Jasper. I'd been through so much pain, mostly emotional. This wasn't too bad…I was on fire and the dark emptiness was unnerving, but I had conscious thought. I obviously hadn't died. I was in limbo. I began to mull over my life. Typical childhood. When I had met Carlisle, things had changed. He had shown me the potential in the typical. But, all that had done was foster a desire to find that potential in myself. The day I left Italy, I had tears in my eyes, an ache in my heart and a flicker of hope that I would find the potential I had. America had been overwhelming. Immigrant. That had been my label. My name…at the time I had gone by Cullen. But, my memory tugged at a different word. Dimóra. It was a dance word. A 16th century dance word used to describe a pause in a dance. My father had told me stories about the women on his side of the family being dancers. It had become our last name. Chailyn Cheyenne Dimóra.
Jasper. The day I had met Jasper had been one of the worst days ever. I had stumbled into Houston late in the day. I was covered in dirt, my dress was badly ripped and my feet bare. I had collapsed in town square. I couldn't remember if it had been the heat or exhaustion and starvation. When I came to, I was laying on a wooden pew. The pastor of the church had taken me in. I ate little at first, but, as the days went by I had my appetite back. Pastor Guyll taught me better English and I was able to help him with preparing the church for Sunday service. One day, Pastor Guyll had given me a new dress and new shoes, alittle food and money and let me enter the world. I hadn't found anywhere to stay, so I commonly stayed out all night. I still helped out with the church on Sunday mornings. I had been invited to a party. I had kindly refused. It had been a mistake. People had cast me out. Some of the boys my age had chased me in hopes of catching me and teaching me a lesson. As I ran, I had tripped and stumbled.
"Careful." He had said. I hid behind him as my chasers found me. "well done, you caught our little runaway." One boy said. "I don't believe she wants to go with you." Said my savior. "Not her choice." A second boy said. "Fine, you want her? Come and get her." He said. There was a fight and the boys who chased me ran away. "Are you alright?" he asked. I had nodded. I helped him home. "You don't want to keep company with them. They're alittle abusive." He said. "Thank you for saving me from them. You didn't have to fight them." I said. "It was better than handing you over. Pastor Guyll would have my head." He said. "You know Pastor Guyll?" I asked. "he and I talk a lot after service. My name's Jasper by the way." He said. "Nice to meet you. I'm Chailyn." I said. "You must be Pastor Guyll's new help." Jasper said. "I am. I help before service and after." I said. "it's about time someone did." Jasper said. "well, he helped me get back to my feet." I said. "Is there somewhere I can take you? Where are you staying?" Jasper asked. "Wherever I can." I said. "You can stay here for the night. We'll find somewhere for you to stay tomorrow." He said. "I'll be okay." I said. "Please, I have an extra room. You can use it." Jasper said. "Alright, Mr…"I stopped. "Whitlock." He supplied. "Mr. Whitlock." I finished. "And your last name?" he asked. "Cullen." I said. "Chailyn Cullen." He said. "Chailyn Cheyenne Cullen." I said. "Parents have a thing for names beginning with C?" He asked. We laughed.
As I stopped dreaming, I realized the fire and pain were easing. I heard voices. "what do you see?" asked a calmly frazzled voice. Carlisle. I could picture him disheveled and worried. "Starting to clear up. She should wake soon." A happy voice said. Alice. "…I swear, if she's hurt, I'll kill him." An angry voice said. Bella. There was a soft whisper. Edward? Probably trying to calm Bella. "She's strong. She'll pull through." "Lucky us." Emmett and Rosalie. "poor dear. She's been through hell." A sweet voice said. Esme. "They both have." Carlisle said. Where was Jasper? "Should we stop him?" Esme asked. "No. Let him play." Alice said. Play? I listened. Guitar. Jasper. The tune was yellow rose of Texas.
I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. Everything was sharper and clearer. I looked around. "Carlisle, you look like hell." I said. My voice sounded more melodic. I stood up. Carlisle smiled. "Where is he?" I asked. "Try your car. He's been there a lot." Emmett said. I took a few steps. Wow…I felt light, airy. I headed to the garage. "if you don't get out of my car, we'll have problems, Jasper Whitlock." I said. He looked up and ran to me. He hugged me tightly. "I thought I'd killed you." He said. "You can't hurt me." I said. "I saw the funeral and you crying." He said. "Last ditch effort at stopping you." I said. "It worked." He said. . "Of course it worked. I'm a genious." I said. I kissed Jasper and asked, "Well, how do I look?" Jasper shook his head and said, "Darlin', you look as beautiful as the day I met you." "That's not really a compliment, Jazz. I looked horrible the day you met me." I said. "That's your opinion. Not mine." Jasper said.