Author's note:Three bonus chapters for the week! Yay!
This prequel takes place before the beginning of Tetragametic Chimerism, and details how Esme and Carlisle met. Rosalie and Edward just turned eight, and Jasper is six. All three children recently lost their biological parents.
We are learving Jasper's POV and switching to Carlisle for the time being. One thing you might notice is that while Jasper put up a hard shell in his naration of his story, he has a soft emotional center that he tries to hide. His family can see through his shell, and therefore have a slightly different take on events. Plus, that is one of the reasons Esme treats Jasper "like a girl." Also, Jasper's birth defect does cause minor medical problems that he never mentions. For example, in the hospital, that was not the first time he fainted, as he is prone to fainting.
Also, Jasper has not exactly been an unbiased narator. He has left out critical information from his past, such as why he was so mad at Edward in the beginning of chapter one, that made him look like a wuss. He told the current events of the story truthfully enough, for the most part, but he glossed over scenes were he was crying and emotional. As the pregnancy progressed, he became even more emotional than normal and he started letting some of this leak through to his naration.
Carlisle's POV:
I adopted Edward when he was seven because his dying mother, Elizabeth Masen, begged me to. Her husband, and the boy's father, had just died of SARS, she was dying of SARS, and I was fairly certain that within a few hours, the boy too would loose his battle with SARS. So I agreed to grant a dying woman her last request and take her boy.
But, I did ask her why she had chosen me. She said that they had no living family, as her parents had been quite old when they had her, and had already died of old age. Plus, she and her husband were both only children. Her husband had never met his father, and his mother had died of breast cancer.
"But, why not let the boy go into the system and be adopted by a loving couple?" I had asked. "I'm single and have no mother for the boy."
"Children do not need a mother. I myself did not have one: I had two fathers. And like my fathers, my Edward is gay. I do not want to risk him ending up with a homophobic family. You seem like a nice young gay man: you take him and raise him for me. Please?" Liz had begged.
"But he is only seven. You can't possibly know he is gay," I protested.
"He was Tinker Bell for Halloween when he was two. He was Cinderella when he was three. Last year he was Snow White. He was kicked out of preschool for touching another boy's crotch and kissing him. I know my boy Dr. Cullen, and he's a fairy. We even call him Tink."
"Well that may be, but I'm not gay. I don't have a problem with homosexuals, but I like women, and I would not know what to do with a gay child."
"That's nice dear, but still, my delicate fairy will not survive if placed with just any family. Most men abuse boys who are queer. My Tink plays dress up everyday and has a room full of baby dolls and Barbies. Do you really think he would be better off in the system than with you?"
"I guess not," I conceded, thinking that it did not matter anyway, as the boy would not make it. "I'll call in a lawyer to sign the adoption and other legal paperwork. Do you think you can hold on for me Mrs. Masen?"
"Better make it quick," she had replied in between fits of coughing.
So I complied and adopted her boy and by some miracle, the child had pulled through and made a full recovery. And Liz had been right: her boy was definitely gay. But, that left me as a single straight male fresh out of my first residency raising an adopted gay orphaned boy who was dealing with the traumatic loss of his parents.
I quickly realized that I was out of my league, and signed him up for grief counseling, and myself up for a support group for adoptive parents. They were scheduled at the same time at my hospital, so that while I was with my support group, Edward had group therapy with other orphans, as well as an individual session with a therapist.
I was in my support group when I first noticed her: the most breathtakingly beautiful woman I had ever met, Esme Whitlock. She had soft caramel brown hair that wrapped her soft heart shaped face, and full pink lips that I just wanted to kiss. And she also was in the process of adopting her late sister's two children, Jasper and Rosalie.
Jasper and Rosalie were in Edward's therapy group, so I would see them every time I went to pick him up. Jasper was an adorable six year old boy with brown eyes and curly blond hair. Rosalie looked like she could be his twin, except for the fact that she was two years older, six inches taller, and had vivid violet blue eyes.
Esme told me Rosalie's blue eyes had been a surprise, as the mom had brown, and the dad green. Jasper's brown eyes were the same shade as Esme's, so I was sure his mother had had those same deep brown orbs. I loved catching a glimpse of Esme's eyes.
I used every excuse I could think of to see more of her and those eyes. I even used Edward to my advantage: he had made friends with Rosalie, as she was the only girl in the group, and therefore the only one who would play Barbies with him. Their assignment last week had been to bring in their favorite toy. Jasper had brought a history book on the Civil War, and Rosalie and Edward had each brought a Barbie doll.
Esme had explained in our support group that she had been arguing with little Jasper for over an hour before the start of the session, trying to convince him that a book was not a toy, and that he needed to take his toy truck to share. The group leader commented that a book seemed like an acceptable thing for a boy to bring, and then asked each of us what our children had brought.
I was not embarrassed in the least when I answered that my boy had brought his favorite Barbie. But, my answer apparently earned me sympathy points with Esme. That made me slightly concerned over her attitude towards homosexuals, but she seemed nice and accepting afterwards when she saw Edward playing Barbies with her Rosalie.
So, I took the opportunity afforded by the new found friendship and asked her and her children out to the park that weekend for a play date with me and my new son. She agreed, and we had a nice time at the park. Rosalie and Edward hit it off right away, and being older, they quickly went to go play.
But, little Jasper was shy, reserved, and reluctant to play with the other kids. He was just sitting cross legged on the picnic blanket reading a book while Esme and I talked.
"I don't know what to do with him," Esme confessed. "Rosalie I can relate to, but all Jasper wants to do is read about violent wars and watch sports. He hardly ever speaks."
"I bet he is just scared of being with new people. I know you are related and knew him before, but he is young and may not remember you that well. It is scary for kids this young to be in a new place."
"Well, if you are so good with kids, then let's see you win him over."
"Fine, I will. Jasper? Can you come here and show me your book?" I asked and his face lit up with a huge smile.
I had not seen the kid smile before then, and apparently neither had Esme, because she gasped in surprise. Jasper nodded and came over to me. I pulled him down on my lap and let him show me the book. I was quite surprised when I saw it, because it appeared to be at least twelfth grade material. That is how I first realized that little Jasper was gifted.
My Edward could not read a book that advanced, and he was two years older. So I sat there with Jasper on my lap for an hour while Jasper told me all about the civil war and lynchings in the South. He even read me his favorite passage. Esme shuddered as the boy described the violence, but I assured her that it would be alright. Letting him read about violence would not permanently damage him anymore than he had already been damaged by the loss of his parents.
Jasper told me that his father had read him books like this, so I figured taking away his link to his past would be more detrimental than letting the reading continue. And history seemed to be a way in with the reclusive little guy, so we quickly bonded. Esme was so amazed that he had opened up to me, that she agreed to more play dates.
Author's Note:
Reviewers for last chapter: Master of the Boot, VoldieBeth, and EsmeAliceRose! Thanks!
Review counts for this week (counting from Saturday morning):
ShadowCub- 3; VoldieBeth- 7; Just A Reader90- 1; Master of the Boot- 7; Samablue38- 9; halerosalie100-1; Megan Geyer- 4; EsmeAliceRose -1
8 rollover reviews from last week. Plus 33 new review for this week, equals 41 reviews!
Up next: Carlisle's prequel continues!
