-MAISIE-

Dad brought Ava with him when he came over to the Cullens' to more formally meet Jett. I didn't ask, but I figured that really pissed Mom off. Ava loved babies and Jett was no different. The fact that I let her hold him while seated in one of Esme's plush armchairs in the living room practically sent her over the moon.

"But he's not really your baby?" She asked, eyeing my stomach suspiciously. Ava's kindergarten teacher had been pregnant during that school year. At the very least, Ava understood that babies spent time in their mother's stomach before being born.

"No, he's really Jasper's sister's baby, but we're taking care of him because she can't." Ava nodded sagely at that, obviously in approval. Her world view was still very much black and white when it came to good vs. bad behavior.

On my dad's part, he was hesitant to take Jett from Ava. She was enamored with him despite their visit coinciding with Jett's morning nap. Much like I did, Ava kept running her finger over his soft, gold-blonde hair while he slumbered. Eventually I coerced him into taking a turn holding the sleeping baby. Dad fitted Jett into his arms with ease.

"He's a cute little thing," he whispered in that reverent way one always does over a baby. "A month old, you said?"

"Yeah, just about." I was at a loss of what else to say, rocking back on my heels. Jasper and Esme were gone, under the guise of 'grocery shopping'—actually, Jasper was accompanying Esme on a quick hunting trip despite his complaints of feeling akin to a water balloon with all the blood he had gorged on before we came to Forks. "He's a good baby. Sleeps through the night, pretty much."

Dad chuckled, a rumble in his chest that shook Jett and had him sighing in his sleep. "Don't get too used to it, Maisie Daisy. You used to do the same until you were six months old. Total sleep regression. Between you and Gunner when he came four months later, I'm surprise me and your mom didn't drop dead of exhaustion."

We both fell quiet for a moment after Dad said 'mom', an unease filling the air. Ava was unaffected. She had wandered over to Edward's piano stationed in the corner, poking out a disjointed tune with one finger. Dad sighed, shuffling Jett's weight into one arm so he could wrap the other around my shoulders. I leaned into him, resting my head against his side.

"I didn't mean to make anyone mad," I murmured. He gave me a squeeze.

"I know, Maisie Daisy. I know. Your grandpa used to tell me, 'we can only go forward'. You're nineteen now, baby. Old enough to make your own decisions, and sometimes those decisions will hurt you. But even when we make those kinds of decisions, we can only go forward. Your mom is mad, and you're hurt, but both of you can only go forward. Does that make sense?"

I nodded, wrapping my arms around his waist in a sidelong hug. If only my dad knew how long I had been moving forward without his knowledge.

I wasn't sad to see Forks in the rearview mirror. We didn't stay longer than we had to, though we did make a quick stop to visit Jasper's good friend J. Jenks.

"Be nice to him this time," I cautioned Jasper as he held the door open for me while I unbuckled Jett from his car seat. His little knit beanie was all askew. I righted it before wrapping him in his blanket and turning to Jasper. "You're gonna give the poor man a heart attack."

"I've always been abundantly kind to Jenks," Jasper insisted. I was sure he was, in terms of money at least. After all, Jasper did have a manila envelope full of bills tucked under his arm for payment. I tucked Jett closer against me despite his little wiggles. He was always so curious, wanting to look all around him, but I didn't want him touching anything in the seedy hotel that Jenks had insisted we meet him at. Apparently his office had been… compromised… whatever that entailed. I didn't ask. I had my suspicions that Jasper was the only… respectable client Jenks kept, but I had no desire to have that confirmed for me.

The man was just too good at forging documents for me to trick myself into believing his other clientele was made up of teenagers looking for fake I.D.s, though I did try. Jasper led the way through a sparsely decorated lobby to an elevator. "I wouldn't think Jenks would want to do business in a place with cameras he's not in control of," I whispered once the doors had closed us in.

"I wouldn't doubt if this hellhole were owned by Jenks, actually. This 'hotel' would make Esme weep." Jasper kicked at the peeling linoleum tile underfoot with the toe of his boot.

"I feel like we'll all need baths once we leave." I wiggled my fingers in front of Jett's face to distract him from the mirrored wall behind us. The glass looked clean, but I wasn't going to take any chances. Even if Jett did make dramatically disgruntled noises when I stepped away from the wall, which I guess he thought he desperately needed to touch.

On the top floor, in the very back room, we met with J. Jenks to get officially forged documentation for Jett. The Volturi had been kind enough to provide a passport for him, but we would need a birth certificate and adoption paperwork to really sell this whole cover story.

"Mr. Jasper, Miss Maisie, come in, come in." Jenks was characteristically nervous; so much so that he didn't initially see the blanketed bundle of Jett in my arms. "Oh! Oh, congratulations are in order, I see."

Jasper gave Jenks a tight smile. I looked around the room, convinced there was a too-loud clock somewhere in there. A rhythmic beat was coming from somewhere. "Yes," Jasper said, his voice muffling the beat somewhat, "our family has grown. This is Jett, our son."

Jenks moved toward me, hands fluttering nervously, and I let Jett escape the confines of his blanket to meet the conman. That was the first time either of us had said it out loud that way. Our son. Jasper's wording threw me for a second. When Jenks was close enough I could see the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, it hit me—it was his heartbeat I was hearing. I stared pointedly at Jasper's cheek, but he kept his face forward so I could only see the serene almost-smile he had plastered on in profile. Brat.

"He's a very sweet boy," I told Jenks. Unlike his father. "Just a little over a month old."

"And strong," Jenks complimented, blinking in surprise when Jett raised his head to smile at him.

"And very undocumented," Jasper tacked on. He set the manila envelope plump with cash on the desk, drumming his long fingers on top of it. "We're hoping to change that today, J."

"Oh, yes, yes, of course, Mr. Jasper." Jenks squeezed through the space between Jasper and the bed to reach the desk drawer. The room was tiny, and it was most definitely not lost on me the way Jenks flinched away from Jasper in the confined space. Or the way his racing heartbeat somehow quickened even further. I reached out and grabbed Jasper's arm while Jenks rummaged through the desk, giving him a squeeze. Jasper finally met my eye, expression still blandly polite. I glared up at him. Stop it.

His mouth quirked into a devious smirk, very much not the response I was hoping to get from him. I rolled my eyes just before Jenks turned back around, holding a manila envelope of his own in his shaking hands.

"Here you are, Mr. Jasper. Take a look over 'em."

Jasper did just that, pulling out first a birth certificate that listed his fabled sister as the mother with the father line blank. Next were the adoption papers, which looked official enough to me. However, Jasper held these close to his face as if he needed the proximity to see any clearer. I sighed, knowing he was putting on a show to make Jenks nervous. And it worked, too, the nervous shakes of the man nearly vibrating the whole damn room. I tapped Jett's nose, making him giggle, trying to distract myself from the unnecessarily stressful atmosphere Jasper was creating. I'm not sure who was more relieved for Jasper to drop his act, nod, return the documents to the folder, and tuck it under his arm.

"Excellent work," Jasper threw the compliment out like bait, which Jenks gladly took. The man nearly deflated with relief, smiling and nodding.

"Thank you, Mr. Jasper. It makes me happy to make you happy."

The smile Jasper gave this time was a smidgen more sincere. He held the envelope of cash out to Jenks. "We'll be in touch, soon, Jenks. Our wedding is coming up."

"Oh, double congratulations! Yes, yes, anything at all that you need, Mr. Jasper."

We excused ourselves with more well wishes from Jenks. Somehow, I had Jett all strapped up before Jasper lost it laughing in the driver's seat. "You stop that!" I smacked him lightly on the arm. His eyes glittered golden with his mirth, mouth unable to stop its twitching even after he recovered from his laughing fit and tried to school his expression into seriousness. He failed miserably and leaned across the console. His hand caught me by the back of my head, fingers tangling in my hair as he angled my face upward to kiss me.

"I could hear his heartbeat!" I chastised Jasper once he pulled away. He only chuckled again, tipping his forehead against mine.

"I'm sorry, mi amor." He didn't look it. Not an ounce. "Between Jenks' nerves and your irritation…"

His sentence trailed off so he could laugh again. I glared at him. "I hope you got it out of your system. I'm coming alone to get that marriage license."

"Oh, are you?" He pulled away from me and brought the car to life, pulling away from the hotel.

"Yes," I insisted. I hunkered down into the passenger seat. Driving from Forks back into Alaska should have been a two-day trip, at least, with good traffic. Considering Jasper didn't have to stop to sleep and he sped, we were able to make the trip down in just over twenty-four hours—and that was with stops to take care of Jett's needs. I had insisted on driving over flying, for the privacy and also the extended time to build myself up and wind myself down from the trip to Forks. "Mind if I sleep for a bit?"

"Might as well. Jett's already out back there." I was getting better at using my heightened senses. Focusing in on the sound of Jett's little breaths, I could tell Jasper was right by the deep, even cadence. I leaned my head against the chilly window and closed my eyes, letting the gentle sway of the car lull me under the veil of sleep.

Jasper woke me up somewhere in Canada. He must have flashed mine and Jett's passports at the border for us all to pass with two-thirds of us sleeping. Once again, we were parked outside of a hotel, though this one was much nicer than the one Jenks was doing his business out of.

"What're we doing?" I asked, rubbing at my eyes as Jasper guided me out of the passenger seat. He left me to my own devices leaning against the car and sleepily watching him retrieve Jett from the back seat.

"You both need rest," he said, huddling Jett into his blankets. There was an icy chill in the evening hair, likely portending snow. "Real rest. In beds, not the car."

"I was supposed to go back to class this week," I pointed out, though I didn't argue when Jasper slipped his hand into mine and led me forward. Stepping into the lobby was like stepping into a warm hearth, the heater blasting over us as soon as we crossed the threshold. Jasper booked us a room for the night and walked Jett and I to said room before going back downstairs to get the duffel bags we had packed for the quick trip to Forks.

"You know, I was supposed to go back to class tomorrow." Jett was wide awake by then. We were playing a game where I wiggled my fingers in front of his face to make him giggle. His little arms were just a touch too short to reach my fingers, but he made a valiant effort in his endeavors.

"What's one more day?" Jasper countered. I had used a classic 'family emergency' excuse in emails to my teacher and boss at the campus library to explain away my absences. Extending it past a week would probably wear too thin on university sympathies, but I knew that wasn't what Jasper was referencing. He sat beside me on the bed, plush mattress dipping under his weight. What's one more day in the face of eternity?

That brought my mind back to what my dad had said to me. We can only move forward. I leaned back, fitting myself into Jasper's side. Jett had tired of our game and was now making a very serious attempt—if his furrowed brow and pursed lip were any indication—at rolling over. He had tiny fistfuls of duvet to help maneuver his little body, rocking side to side. So far, only his legs had successfully made the turn.

We watched Jett's hard work together in silence. I couldn't say the same for Jasper, but my mind was definitely racing. Mom's icy contempt kept replaying in my mind, not to mention Sam's ire over Jett's existence and Leah's leaving. I was responsible for all these things.

Jett managed to get his torso to follow the direction of his legs. With a roll and turn that surprised him as much as it did me—his eyes widened, hazel swimming in a sea of white—he completed his roll-over so that he was laying prone on his belly, head angled up and smiling at us.

"Yay, Jett!" I told him, clapping automatically. "Look at you! Such a big boy."

How to move forward? I found the answer in Jett's gummy smile, self-pride shining from his little face. I scooped him up from the tufts of duvet, pressing his cheek to mine, eyes drifting shut as I inhaled the scent of baby shampoo and my own perfume and Jasper.

Still holding Jett to me as if he were a balm for the words I was about to say, I turned to Jasper. "We can't go back to Forks."

His eyebrows drew together, mouth falling open, but I shook my head. "Between Sam and my mom… I've done too much damage there. Besides, I have to start thinking long-term. I have to move forward." I nodded here, reassuring myself. "I can't go back to Forks. I can't."

With a tenderness that nearly broke my heart, Jasper framed my face with his palms, kissing me in an achingly soft way. When he pulled back, he tipped his forehead against mine, Jett caught between us in my arms.

"Okay," he agreed easily enough, but I could still read the tension in his features. His hands slowly withdrew from my face, passing over my own as he worked Jett loose of my hold. I let him take Jett, though I was left chilled in the absence of his warmth. Jasper kissed me again, this time softly on the forehead, before smoothing a hand over my hair.

"You don't agree." It wasn't a question, but not quite an accusation, either. Jasper paused, letting Jett wiggle in his arms. He was trying to peek out the hotel window, full of stars in the night sky, over Jasper's shoulder.

"I don't want you to make any rash decisions," he said after a beat, tacking on a rueful smile, "even though that is your habit. But if you aren't comfortable with returning to Forks any time in the near future, then we won't. I had assumed we would be married in Forks, but I know from far too many ceremonies revolving around Emmett and Rose that Alaska makes for a fine wedding locale." I pursed my lips. There was a shadow of doubt in Jasper's deeply golden eyes, it seemed to me. He turned from me, though, hefting Jett in his arms and turning him so he could get a real look out the window.

The dark outside created a great reflection of the two of them in the glass. I watched as Jett's face lit up, eyes roving over the stars and city lights. Poor baby barely had a shred of a sleeping schedule left at this point, with all that we had been traveling, and we still had Nahuel to visit. I sighed and flopped back on the plush pillows at that thought. Not that I didn't like Nahuel. I did. But he was currently the source of my anxiety, having now dealt with my parents.

I was ruminating on the unfortunately necessary trek to South America for so long that I missed Jasper feeding and then rocking Jett back into a peaceful slumber. "It's not nice to use mood manipulation on the baby."

"I didn't," Jasper gloated. "I've just figured out the very specific bouncing and rocking rhythm that immediately makes him comatose."

"Valid, that's actually a good summary of how infants work." I rolled myself across the bed onto my stomach, watching Jasper lay Jett down in the crib that came outfitted with this hotel room. That crib, like everything else in that hotel room, was excessively and obviously expensive. Jett was probably sleeping on a higher thread count than any adult, never mind baby, could ever appreciate. Or perhaps he did appreciate it, because Jett did look unbelievably relaxed swaddled in his blanket in that crib.

"C'mon." Jasper took me by the hands, pulling me up from the bed.

"C'mon where?" I asked, but Jasper wordlessly led me into the bathroom. He sat me down on a tufted vanity stool before turning to rummage through a cabinet filled with what looked to be glass bottles of bath oils. His long fingers rifled through the bottles for a moment, plucking two of the bottles from the masses crowding the shelf. He poured the oils into a stream of steaming water filling the tub.

Jasper took me by the hands again, this time to raise me up and help me slip out of my clothes.

The bath water was silky against my skin, smelling of sweet honeysuckle and bright orange. Though I had been wondering since stepping into the hotel room—with its gilt-framed artwork and sinfully plush bedding, not to mention the square footage of the whole thing and the private balcony—exactly how much it all cost, I hadn't asked. The giant tub and assortment of bath oils had again piqued my curiosity.

When I say 'giant tub', I mean 'literally big enough to comfortably fit both of us'. Leaning back against Jasper in that silken, warm water, I felt my muscles relax for the first time in days. Tension drained from my spine, shoulders sagging in the absence of that weight. I sighed, resting my head on the center of Jasper's chest.

He dipped his head low, kissing me just below the ear, in the hollow where jaw meets neck. A reflexive smile tugged at my mouth, though my thoughts were on less savory subjects. "What was on your mind earlier? When I said I didn't want to go back to Forks?"

My hair was loose, the ends soaked in the bathwater. Jasper took one of those sopping locks, twirling it between his fingers contemplatively. There was a long pause where, with my back pressed hit chest, I rose and fell with the cadence of his breathing while I waited for his answer.

"Maisie, mi amor, I have lived much longer than anyone has a right to. Yet even my life is a blip on a timeline compared to Carlisle's. The Volturis' lifespan, in turn, makes Carlisle's look like a footnote."

"Yes, y'all are all very ancient. Or getting there, in your case." His chuckle reverberated along my back, sending little ripples through the bathwater. A dripping wet finger tapped me on the temple, a little rivulet running a course down my cheek.

"The inner workings of your pretty head are a mystery to me. That's the only thing I envy of Edward and his brooding. But my own mind has been a behemoth of a tangled mess, one that would surely give my brother a migraine." I was under the impression that Jasper was stalling, which was not his usual nature. Shifting away from him, I turned so that I could see his eyes.

"Tell me about these tangles, then."

Jasper sighed. He was good with words, but better with his gift. There was no holding back, either, which made me realize just how much he must have been keeping to himself recently. The wave of his own guilt he allowed me to feel may as well have been an undertow come to drown me in that tub. Not to mention a deep sadness that surely would have turned my bones to stone and kept me from fighting the currents. My brow crumpled in on itself, my own guilt over not noticing he was feeling this way battling with the emotions Jasper was sharing with me.

My mouth fell open, but Jasper sealed my question away when he ran his thumb across my slack lips. "I can't ignore the glaring truth that each and every misfortune of your life within the past three years has been directly connected my own presence in it, Maisie."

I held up my right hand, exposing the thick scar that ran along my thumb. "This was Mike Newton's fault, not yours. Oh, also, Leah broke my arm that time, not you. You're off the hook for at least two things so far."

My intent was to lighten his mood some, but I only achieved marginal success when Jasper gave me a weak half-smile. He took my hand, pressing a kiss to the scar—the misfortune, in his words—that had been the beginning of everything else between us.

"I know there's no need to catalog it for you, mi amor, but I do worry that I have cost you far more than I could ever give, even with an endless life of giving. If I could sleep, I imagine all the thoughts running through my head would keep me up for days on end."

He drew my hand up out of the water, turning my wrist right-side up and tracing a finger along the imprint of his own teeth. I shivered at the touch; the healing skin was sensitive. A trailing burn followed his finger along the pattern of the forming scar, like an echo of his venom.

For a moment, I really thought about it. Not because I had any doubts within myself; my love for, and decision to stand beside, Jasper had never once wavered. But he knew that. No, I ran it all back through my head, leafing through memories like one would do a magazine, because I knew it was what Jasper needed me to do in that moment.

James, with his cocky grin and feline swagger, red eyes burning bright in a face shattered by the impact of my bullet. Maria, her tenuous hold on sanity thanks to her insatiable need for power and victory. Irina, a lover scorned who, I was certain, would not have been contained by the edges of the world when it came to her quest for revenge. The Volturi, ancient and damn near omniscient within vampire society, a vice grip on my life. I didn't think it was really fair to blame any of it past James on Jasper. It was Irina's intel that brought Maria to Forks and forced Jasper and I to Italy.

Fighting and confronting vampires paled in comparison to the hurt of this past weekend. That was too raw, still being processed now that miles had been put between myself and my family. I pushed those thoughts away. Though they hurt me to my very core, they didn't change anything.

I shook my head, wet hair swinging in ropes about my shoulders. You can only move forward.

"We've gained, as well," I pointed out to him. "Jasmine, for one. She chafes Rose, but that's most things in life—have you ever seen professional brooder Edward happier? Not to mention Jett. You can't deny he was a pretty great surprise. This weekend sucked, but Gunner made out of it pretty well. We gained Leah, too, fully now. We shouldn't ignore any of that."

I shrugged, continuing, "Besides, you gave me an engagement ring and we have fake adoption papers for Jett. You're pretty stuck with me at this point."

I may not have any idea what moving forward would look like, but that couldn't be helped. Not with Alice rendered blind by Jett's very existence. I was certain of only one thing, and that was that my way forward was with Jasper.

He rewarded me with a slightly widened smile this time around. These jokes and small reassurances did little to lessen the weight of Jasper's guilt. I could still feel it weighing heavy over us, and I knew discussions like these were far from over, but any further progress we might have mad was interrupted by a massive yawn on my part. Jasper chuckled again, the sound rueful in his chest.

"We should get you in bed, too." He stood, taking me with him in that fluid motion, before pulling a towel off a nearby hook on the wall and wrapping it around me. I plucked Jasper's discarded shirt off the floor, slipping it over my head once I was dry. In the bedroom, I paused to check on Jett. He had rolled himself onto his stomach though I had watched Jasper lay him down on his back. We were never going to break that bad habit started by his first caregivers it seemed. I shook my head at him and gathered my hair in one hand so the wet strands wouldn't brush his face when I bent down to kiss him.

Jasper came with me to bed to lay with me until I fell asleep. I curled into him while he drew soothing circles across my back with his fingertips. My eyelids were heavy and drooping in seconds.

"Hey," I said, just before sleep could pull me under. My arm felt heavy, my finger thick and almost numb when I tapped Jasper on the temple. "Try not to live so much in there tonight while we're sleeping, okay?"

If Jasper gave me a reply, I didn't catch it.

I went back to school that week. In high school, when everything was happening with Maria, school had been a haven of sorts. That's where my friends were and where I could still act like a normal teenager. The solace I had found in Forks High School was entirely absent from Alaska Pacific University. That was mostly my fault; I hadn't put forth much effort to have a typical college experience. There were familiar faces in my classes, but that was the happenstance of a campus that was on the smaller side, not friendship.

Going back now just felt like a farce. Was this how the Cullen siblings felt? I was pretending at this life, taking notes in this biology class, while Jasper was at home with Jett. Which really sucked, because I liked that biology class and I needed to pay attention so I could have a good grade and take the environmental science class I already had circled in the spring semester catalog. I felt less like I belonged in the Uncanny Valley when I went to work my shift at the library after class. A curt nod exchanged with Mrs. Wortham, the head librarian, and I was upstairs in the stacks, re-shelfing encyclopedias.

I liked the repetition of organizing the books. It was almost mind-numbing, which was a much-needed break from all the heavy things that had been happening lately. Here, in the quiet and alone, I finally had a reprieve. I took my time shelving those encyclopedias, working past my shift by a whole hour. I wouldn't get paid for it, and I knew that, but I didn't care.

"Libraries are good for the soul," Mrs. Wortham commented when I passed her desk on the way out. My electively extended shift hadn't gone unnoticed, then. "There's something soothing about being surrounded by words in the quiet. I have plenty that needs tidying in the historical records we keep on the third floor, if you need more time with the words."

Her words stopped me at the doors, hand lingering on the handle while I looked at her over my shoulder. Did she know something, somehow? Was this a simple extension of compassion? Or something more?

But there was nothing more than bland kindness in her warm brown eyes and wrinkle-bracketed smile. I found myself smiling back before I could give it a second thought. "I would like that, Mrs. Wortham. Thank you."