I found it quite easy to be incandescently happy now that Jasper was back. We hunted almost every day for two weeks, trying to gain Jasper his strength back. He was soon as hale and hearty as before, but his time without drinking had made him all the more susceptible to scents and tastes, and I knew that any journey into town would be too hard on him.

Even so, we were content to stay in the house, talking or reading or making love in whatever place took our fancy – save the bed, which I still felt the urge to burn and did the same day we ordered a new one from the Sears Roebuck, a beautiful four-poster mahogany affair. It arrived a month later, just a week before Christmas, and we spent a great deal of time there too.

It hadn't taken any time for me to find a gift for Jasper, thanks to my visions. I had already seen – and ordered – a handsome new leather-bound set of encyclopedias and a top-of-the-line typewriter. As tidy as Jasper's handwriting was, his haste while writing often left the page spotted with ink. And while my shopping was done quickly, I still had yet to see a definitive gift from Jasper appearing in my visions. Sure, there had been many options flickering through his head and mine, but nothing was absolute. It was almost annoying, especially when he hadn't chosen anything by the twenty-third and was still rapidly flipping through his choices.

"You're giving me a headache!" I called out to him in the study that morning from my place where I sat listening to the radio in the living room. Jasper poked his blond head out of the door, looking mischievous.

"If you weren't meddling and trying to peek, then you wouldn't have a headache," he chastised. I hopped up from the sofa, skipping to his side and wrapping my arms around his waist.

"If you'd only come out and make a decision, my love, then I wouldn't have to peek," I retorted with a peck on his cheek.

He laughed. "Maybe I've already got your gift and I'm just trying to hide it from you."

"You wouldn't!" I cried, stepping back to place my hands on my hips, making him laugh again.

"No, I wouldn't," he replied. "But I think I'm going to go into town today to pick up something nice. The stores should be open until five or so."

"Town?" I repeated warily. He hadn't been into town in months, not since he had been so blood starved. Could he handle being around humans again?

"I'll be fine," he assured me, sensing my fear. "I'm not going around here; I think I'll go to Worland."

A vision of the picturesque town popped into my head. I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off with a kiss, sliding his tongue in saucily for a brief moment before pulling away.

"Besides, you like my yellowy eyes too much," he teased, darting back in for one more quick kiss.

"True," I replied, "but I still worry about you, yellowy eyes and all."

"Tell me, do you see me coming home with red eyes?" he asked quietly. I scanned my mind, seeing Jasper enter a few unremarkable stores in Worland before returning home to me, his irises still a heavenly butterscotch hue.

"No," I admitted, shaking my head.

He smiled proudly. "Well, then, I suppose I'll be off."

I crushed myself to his chest one last time, and he buried his face in my hair, taking a deep breath. Even now…or maybe especially now…I hated to see him leave.

"What are you so worried about?" he asked against my scalp.

"I don't want to lose you again," I said quietly.

"You know you're not going to lose me, my fortune-teller," he insisted, using his new pet-name for me. "I won't be gone long. And I won't take a single breath of air while I'm there."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I tilted my face up while he moved his down, our lips meeting in between. I used that kiss to comfort me as I went about the day, keeping an eye on Jasper as he traveled to the human-filled town. He was true to his word, yet my heart broke to watch him walk the streets, his lungs stopped up and his eyes never leaving his feet. I tried hard to spy on whatever it was he was buying for me but gave up after he left the fifth store empty-handed, likely on purpose to deter me from peeking.

To keep my mind away from his gift-hunt, I did three loads of laundry and put them through the tumble dryer, taking my time folding them while listening to Fibber McGee and Molly on the radio.

After the clothes had all been put away, I cheated and excitedly glimpsed Jasper leaving a nondescript glass-fronted store, holding a red gift bag. Knowing it would still be at least a half hour before Jasper came home, I tried to settle my nerves by listening to the next program, Our Miss Brooks. The show was almost done, and I was growing more interested in Jasper's idea of buying a television, when my gaze became dull and unfocused, my mind traveling elsewhere.

Carlisle was looking rather comfortable on the sofa, his beautiful blond head resting in his wife's comfortable lap as he thumbed through an outdated medical journal that had been lying around the house. Esme's knitting needles flashed like lightning above his head, whatever amalgamation of yarn she was fashioning growing longer by the second. He picked up the edge of the bright pink concoction, staring as if it were a specimen he had placed under a microscope.

"It's a scarf, dear," Esme said quietly, never looking down from her work.

"A scarf, of course." Carlisle let the pink thing drop back down behind his head.

"I was thinking of donating some to the church," Esme announced, somehow still managing to sound modest. Carlisle lifted his head just enough to kiss her cheek before laying back down.

"That sounds like my Esme," he said fondly. She smiled a sweet smile and finished the pink scarf, folding it gently before picking up a green ball of yarn and starting a new one. Carlisle returned to his journal, losing himself in an article about chicken pox.

"Did you speak with the realtor?" Esme asked as she worked. Carlisle dropped his article to his chest.

"Yes, she said the house won't be ready for at least another week," he replied. "Do you mind spending more time here?"

Esme shook her head. "Not at all. I was going to go antiquing with Kate tomorrow."

"Is Rosalie going to join you?" he asked.

"No," she answered, "you know Rosalie. Only interested in shopping if it's for her."

Carlisle chuckled. "Then take your time with Kate. 'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,' because you won't get another shopping companion for a while."

Esme stopped in her knitting just long enough to hit her husband's shoulder good-naturedly.

"Ouch," he said with a wince, clutching his arm. She laughed and leaned down to kiss him.

"I'm sorry, darling," she apologized.

"Forgiven," he retorted.

"You know, since we've been here, I've been thinking," she said softly.

"About what?"

"About the same thing you've been thinking, enlarging our number."

Carlisle sat up, taking her hand in his. "And do you think it's a good idea?"

Esme bit her lip. "I just want our son to be happy. Yes, I'd love another daughter, but she needs to be right for him…perhaps we should let him make the choice?"

He nodded. "That sounds about right. Unfortunately, if Tanya has her way, he won't have a choice."

"Don't be silly," she insisted, kissing his cheek.

"You two are looking very happy."

A tall, unfamiliar man with long black hair and a breathtaking face came into the room.

"Eleazar," Carlisle greeted.

"Comfortable in our humble abode?" Eleazar asked, gesturing around to the magnificence of the house, certainly not a 'humble abode.'

"We always are," Esme replied. "You're so kind to us."

"Denali always feels like a home-away-from-home," Carlisle added.

"Please, keep treating it as such," the man requested. "It's nice to finally have some male companionship."

"And Esme was just saying how much she enjoys your womenfolk," Carlisle teased.

"Really, Carlisle," Esme said embarrassedly. "Eleazar, you know you have a special place in my heart as well."

"As always, Esme, as always," Eleazar replied, placing one long white hand over his deadened heart.

"Won't you join us?" she invited, gesturing to one of the comfortable-looking chairs.

Eleazar shook his head, making him look like a nimbus of jet hair. "I'm afraid I can't, I'm taking Carmen into the park."

"Ah," Carlisle said with a nod. "Have your fun then."

"Who's having fun?" Emmett asked, bounding into the room with Rosalie slung across his back. She slipped daintily down to the floor, sitting on the second couch and pulling Emmett down beside her.

"Eleazar and Carmen are going out to the park," Esme explained. "And I need you to help move one of the trees that fell during last night's storm." She nodded out the large window to where a massive fallen oak lay across the back yard. Emmett's eyes lit up.

"Can I play with it for a while?" His voice was thrumming with excitement that threatened to blow over when Carlisle nodded.

"Be careful, Em," Rosalie called as he raced out the back door. "Don't let it hit the house like in Hoquiam."

"I won't!" Emmett shouted back.

"All it takes is a tree to please that boy," Esme said with a smile. They watched Emmett swinging the tree around for a while, laughing as he bench-pressed the enormous trunk. Their laughter was promptly cut off when a very angry-looking Edward came striding into the room, stopping just in front of Carlisle and Esme.

"Did you put her up to this?" he asked through clenched teeth, his dark eyes blazing with fury.

"You know we didn't," Carlisle replied as he rose to his feet and put a calming hand on his son's shoulder.

"I think I'll go see how Emmett is," Rosalie said coolly, standing and walking towards the back door.

"I will go with you," Eleazar offered, shutting the door behind them.

"Edward, please calm down," Esme pleaded.

"How can I calm down when everyone thinks they're helping me by trying to force the two of us together?" he cried, dropping to the couch next to Esme.

"No one is forcing you," Carlisle replied. "If you just took a moment to think, you'd see this is something she is trying to do, not us."

"I want to leave," Edward said angrily. "Now."

"The house won't be ready for a week," Esme said, placing a hand on his. "Do you think you can make it until then?" Edward sighed huffily.

"I'll try."

I sat straight up on the sofa once my mind cleared.

Denali! I finally had another destination! Leaving the radio playing, I hurried to the study, reaching for the massive atlas Jasper had lying on his desk, searching the index until…

Alaska! Freezing, cold, barren, wonderful Alaska! I couldn't help myself, I danced around the study, skipping through the living room and into bedroom, throwing open the closet and pulling out clothes. We'd only take enough to get us by for a few days and come back for the rest once we were with the Cullens.

My mind began racing. A family, a real family…everything I had been waiting for for months was just at my fingertips. We would be Cullens, part of a loving whole. If Jasper were here celebrating with me, everything would be just about perfect. I glanced at the clock, and furrowed my brow. He had left Worland more than an hour ago, he should have been home by now.

I ran to the front of the house, peeking out the curtains at the wintery sunset. Jasper and the Buick were nowhere to be seen. I gulped nervously, sitting down on the sofa to focus.

Jasper's mouth locked onto the neck of an unsuspecting human.

Jasper leaning over the steering wheel of the Buick, the mangled metal of the car wrapped around a tree.

Ashes floating by, the only remains of what Jasper had been.

But, no, those weren't visions, just my mind overreacting. They couldn't be visions. I tried to concentrate and see what was really happening just as the sound of an approaching car met my ears. I flew back to the curtains to see my blue car pulling into the drive, Jasper behind the wheel. I threw open the door, bounding to the driver's side and opening that just as fast. Jasper looked up at me with unnaturally bright eyes, his gaze telling me that he had just hunted.

"So that's where you've been," I said, taking his chin in my hand.

"I'm sorry I didn't call," he apologized quietly. "I thought you would see."

"I was trying not to peek," I explained as he got out of the car, the little red bag from my vision in his right hand. I took the other one and pulled him along. "Come on, let's go inside."

We walked hand-in-hand into the house, Jasper promptly collapsing onto the couch, looking undeniably weary. I sat next to him, smoothing his hair back from his face with my hand.

"Did something go wrong while you were shopping?" I asked nervously.

He shook his head. "No, nothing went wrong. It was just…hard. I didn't think it was going to be that difficult, but being around all that blood…I had to hunt as soon as I got back to clear my mind."

I sat up to kiss his forehead, letting my lips linger there. "You didn't do anything, though. You were strong and brave and I love you for that."

My heart was at ease now that he was back again, having refrained from our greatest fear and biggest temptation. My brain was going a thousand miles a minute, planning on how to tell him about the Cullens, on how to travel to Denali, on how to introduce myself to this wonderful, breathtaking, mind-encompassing family.

"You're just a jumble of feeling now, aren't you?" Jasper said, a hint of a smile in his voice. I tilted my face down, pressing my forehead to his and smiling widely. His happiness rubbed off so easily, however slight and even without his gift.

"I have something to tell you," I said excitedly. Jasper nodded thoughtfully, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to sit in his lap.

"Go ahead, then," he prodded. "I can tell you're fit to burst."

A sense of peace settled over me with his words though a small vein of exhilaration still ran underneath it.

"I had another vision," I announced with pride in my voice.

"About these Cullens of yours?" he asked. I nodded.

"They're in Alaska. Denali, Alaska," I clarified.

"And you want to go," he guessed. Once again, I nodded, and he sighed in response.

I took his face in between my hands. "Are you still having a problem with me wanting to join them?"

"No," he insisted. "I have no problem with what you want. Whatever you want, Alice, I will get it for you. And if it's the Cullens you want, then it's the Cullens you shall get. I…I just want to make sure that I'm first. It might sound selfish and childish, but – "

I stopped him with a hand to his lips.

"Jazz," I said so soft it was almost a whisper, "my heart is not breaking being apart from that family. If you were to leave me, it most surely would."

"I only want what's best for you," he said softly.

"What's best for me is you," I replied. "Even if being with this family is like heaven on earth, I would choose you over them if it came down to that."

In one quick movement, Jasper crushed his lips to mine, his hands around the back of my neck holding me close to him. I ran my fingers over his chest and shoulders, forever savoring the feeling of him in my arms.

"What did I do to deserve you?" he whispered against my mouth, and I smiled.

"I could say the very same thing."

He laughed and pulled away, keeping one hand against my cheek. "So, when do we leave for Denali?"

I squealed and hugged him tightly. Really, I couldn't imagine doing anything so good that would bless me with such a wonderful, giving, perfect man as my Jasper.

"I could go pack now," I offered, jumping to my feet.

"Go on then," Jasper said with a grin, smacking my rear teasingly. I gave him a mock-glare before hurrying off to the bedroom, tossing our necessities into the open luggage waiting on the bed.

"Alice?" Jasper shouted at me from the living room.

"Yes?" I shouted back, staring at my shoe collection and wondering whether I would need heels in Alaska.

"What about Christmas?"

I could have slapped myself, I was being so stupid. How does a person forget Christmas?

"We can exchange gifts before we go," I called out as I grabbed my red heels. Better to be safe and good-looking than sorry.

"Then I'd better go wrap mine," Jasper countered loudly. I started to shout back an affirmative when his immediate future sprung into my mind, fully-formed.

Jasper was hunched over his desk, fussing with a scrap of wrapping paper that didn't seem to fit around the small jewelry box he was holding. Exasperated, Jasper threw the wrapping paper aside and cracked open the box to reveal an exquisite engagement ring.

I gasped as I came to, knowing that this vision had to be true. A ring? That was what Jasper had so secretly guarded? And now the surprise was ruined, poor thing…but my mind was too busy silently screaming for that to bother me. A ring, an engagement ring! A real one, so much nicer than the little gold band he had given me, given Josie. So that's what he wanted…to marry me. Me. Silly little Alice, somebody's wife. I wanted to shout to the heavens that I was loved and wanted and would soon be Mrs. Jasper Whitlock. Forgetting the half-packed suitcases, I danced from the bedroom to knock on the closed study door.

"Don't come in!" Jasper shouted from within. I heard him unlock the door and he cracked it the tiniest bit, shoving his head outside so that I wouldn't see whatever he was hiding. I grinned. He still didn't know that I knew!

"Can I help you with something?" he asked casually, as if whatever he was hiding was some everyday gift. I shimmied with excitement, wondering just how I could tell him I had seen it.

"Alice, calm down, will you?" he requested, and with his help, I soon grew still enough to speak.

"Yes."