A/N: Hello Everyone! I hope you all had happy holidays. Thank you all for the reviews last chapter, and sorry to those whose review I wasn't able to personally respond to. But I read and loved each and every one of them, and every single time I'm astonished that so many people enjoy this story. I can't say 'Thank You' enough! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Twilight and characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. Only the plot is mine.

Chapter 15

EPov

"Okay, now go down one note, that's F. You're going to play that note twice," I waited patiently while Tenny scrunched up his face before forcefully striking the piano key twice. He beamed up at me.

"What next?"

"Okay, now you're going to go to the next note and play that one twice, then the next one twice, before you return to the first note you played. Got it?"

Tenny nodded determinedly, stuck his tongue between his teeth, and concentrated as he played each of the notes before returning to C. I could hear him humming to himself whenever he played a key. When he was done he looked up at me expectantly.

"I did it! Now what next?"

"Hold on, do you remember what key you're on?" I asked.

"C," Tenny said. I had learned that Tenny had an ear for music. I had been playing on the piano in the living room, needing to spend a little time away from the Whitlock crew when Tenny was suddenly at my side watching me play. I asked him if he wanted me to teach him something, and though he was hesitant, Tenny agreed.

I taught him the easiest tune I knew off the top of my head: "Twinkle, Twinkle." And the kid could play.

"You know Tenny, this is one of the first songs I taught your Uncle Jasper, and you're already doing better than him."

"Really?" Tenny looked shocked, and I imagined that he never though he could do something better than a grownup. His chest puffed out a little bit with pride, "Better than Uncle Jasper?"

"Oh yes. Much better. You can tell him I said so too. You're one talented kid." Tenny's face lit up.

"Can I do it again so I can show my mommy?" Tenny asked quietly. He placed his tiny hands back on the piano and waited.

"Of course, Tenny. Do you want to learn the names of the keys you played? It might help if you sing along."

I went through the notes with Tenny, singing each of the notes along with him. After he became more confident I let my attention wane. Soon I was watching Jasper out of the window as he was bringing a bag of chips to his mother in the backyard. We had been at his family reunion for three days, and I had learned a lot about Jasper in those two days. For one, Jasper expressed his love for his family loudly. In fact, their whole family was rather boisterous. And Jasper's love of Emmett was sometimes expressed violently. No, scratch that, always violently.

The first time Jasper had wailed in a way that I had only heard in "Tarzan" movies and then ambushed Emmett knocking both of them to the ground, I couldn't help but look at my boyfriend and wonder where the hell that came from. And where the hell my caring, loving boyfriend had gone. But I quickly learned this was common between Jasper and Emmett. It was a test. Whenever one wasn't paying attention, the other would try to attack them. It was hilarious to watch both of them unravel in complete paranoia as the game progressed. Jasper had started standing in the corner of whatever room we were in watching the entrances out of the corner of his eye. I tried to pull him outside once, but Jasper refused to leave until he knew where Emmett was.

Of course Emmett was doing the same. Rosalie had confided in me that Emmett's MO was to hide in one of the upstairs rooms and watch out the widows, waiting for Jasper to let his guard down. I warned her that, in the interest of my relationship, I would have to tell Jasper this if he asked. She seemed to like that because she grinned evilly and commented that it was about time Emmett was taken down a peg. Apparently, Jasper rarely won this game because Emmett also used his kids as decoys. With Jasper distracted by James or Tenny, Emmett was free to sneak up on him.

I spent most of my time with Rosalie and Diane, mostly talking about Jasper. The Whitlock's were the close-knit family that I had wanted growing up, and it was nice that they made me feel a part of theirs. Even with all the extended family around someone always tried to find me and talk to me. Usually it was Diane, Milton, Rosalie, or, when they weren't trying to attack each other, Jasper or Emmett. Well, except for the one time Uncle Chuck and Grandpa Dan wanted to share a beer.

And James and Tenny… I had never spent a lot of time around kids, or any to be honest. But I was falling in love with the little boys. James was a lot like Emmett, and usually he was outside with his relatives and cousins playing games. He was lovable and easily accepting of everyone. He had stared calling me Uncle Ed almost immediately and he always wanted me to chase him around the yard or play a game of football.

Tenny, though, was who I really bonded with. He was quiet and thoughtful and I think he recognised another kindred spirit in me. He followed me around a lot, and I was surprised when I didn't care in the least. I actually enjoyed the small conversations I'd had with the little boy. And I knew that my friendship with Tenny was what ultimately got me into Rosalie's good graces, so I was careful to not do anything that would upset Tenny and get Rosalie pissed off at me.

"Was that good?" Tenny asked. I redirected my attention to the little boy at my side.

"That was great Tenny. You should get your mommy to get you piano lessons. You'd be brilliant." I ruffled his hair, smiling as he giggled.

"Brilliant, huh?" Rosalie said from the door. I turned to see her watching us and wondered how long she had been there.

"Yep, Tenny's got talent." I replied, fondly.

"Mommy, look, I can play." Tenny said, his excitement finally bubbling over. Rosalie walked over to us and sat on the other side of Tenny and watched him as he played each note, slowly plunking through it. When he was done he quickly pulled his hands off the piano and leaned into his mother.

"That was great Tenny." Rosalie said softly. She kissed his head and pulled him onto her lap. "Do you like playing the piano?"

Tenny nodded, "Yes mommy. It was fun. I like it." Tenny let out a big yawn and leaned his head on Rosalie's shoulder.

"I think you need to take a nap," Rosalie stood up and put Tenny on the ground, "But first you need to say thank you to Edward for teaching you."

Tenny left his mother's grasp and threw his arms around my neck.

"Thank you Uncle Edward," He whispered softly into my neck before he quickly pulled away and ran off to Rosalie to take a nap.

I tried to say goodbye to them but my voice caught in my throat. That was the first time that Tenny had called me uncle, and because of Tenny's tentative nature, it seemed more important with him. With a smile, I turned back to the piano and began playing the piece that Jasper had influenced. The one I had entered into the competition.

It had been a while since I had thought about the competition. I would find out the results next month, and I was already anxious for that month to go quickly. Winning wouldn't make me famous. I wouldn't make a livelihood from winning this one competition, but it would put me on the map and I'd be one step closer to being where I wanted to be.

I had been thinking about my life in the months since I had met Jasper. Before I had met him my life consisted of work. Because music was the only thing in my life that brought me joy, I found my joy diminished when students weren't as enthusiastic about playing as I was. As a result, I no longer wanted to teach people who didn't appreciate the thing closest to me. But then Jasper came along.

While it was not my dream to teach lessons for the rest of my life, I now felt that I could be happy even if I never became a composer. As long as Jasper was with me, my joy didn't rely only on music.

It was a new feeling for me. I had never been able to feel secure in or satisfied by something outside myself before. In many ways I was still terrified of how Jasper could make me feel, how he could turn my life and dreams upside down so quickly. It was a new experience to share my life with another person and going too fast still terrified me. A small part of me was still clinging to the independence of my life 'pre-Jasper'. I wasn't completely ready to give up that part of me, to share every aspect of my life with Jasper. It was one of the reasons I hadn't brought up Jasper meeting my father yet. I had to keep something to myself for the moment.

"I love watching you play."

I turned my head slightly to acknowledge Jasper watching me but continued playing. He continued to talk to me though, and I found myself again surprised that I didn't want him to shut up while I was playing.

"And I love this song. Is it one of yours?"

"Hmm," I hummed absentmindedly. When I reached a slower part of the song I said, "You should love this song. You inspired parts of it."

"You wrote a song for me? That's so lame and corny," Jasper teased, though I could see he was immensely pleased with this revelation.

I stopped playing instantly and whipped around to glare at Jasper, "I did not write this song for you. I started it before I knew you. But some parts were inspired by you, but not written for you. There's a difference."

Jasper smirked and help up his hands in surrender, "Whatever you say, Romeo."

"I didn't."

"Me thinks thou doth protest too much…" Jasper sang.

"I don't know why I put up with you." I retorted. I turned back around and began playing a different song, ignoring Jasper's laughter.

"Hello boys," Diane came in carrying glasses of iced tea and set one on a coaster on the piano for me, "Edward this is lovely. Are these your songs?"

"Yeah, the last one and this one are both songs that I wrote."

"Yeah," Jasper interjected, "The last one was written for me. Isn't he so romantic?"

"No, I – " I stared to say, but Diane cut me off.

"Jasper, I love you, but you aren't someone that would have a song written for you."

"Hey," Jasper said in mock offence, "Someone could write a song for me."

"They could. But they wouldn't. Because anyone who knows you would know that you'd make fun of them for writing a song for you." Diane said. She handed Jasper a drink and stood next to him beside the couch.

"Edward, tell my mom you'd write a song for me." Jasper whined.

"I'm not sure you deserve a song, Jasper. You were pretty mean about having parts of my piece inspired by you. I don't think you could handle a full song written for you."

"You're mean," Jasper pouted playfully.

"No, we're family," Diane countered. She kissed Jasper's curls before squeezing my shoulder and leaving us alone in the room.

We hadn't been able to get a lot of alone time since the reunion, and at night we were both too tired to do anything but fall into bed and go asleep. So as soon as Diane left, Jasper got up and sat on the piano bench next to me. Just having his arm press against the length of mine seemed to centre me in a way nothing else could. I leaned into him a bit more, finding comfort in the familiar contact.

He turned his head into my hair and breathed deep, "Have you had a good day, love?"

"Yeah. I taught Tenny how to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little star. He's good."

"Of course he is, kid takes after me in that area."

"Seriously Jasper, if we had a play off, he'd kick your ass on that song."

Jasper snorted, "No way. No way he's that better than me. He'd mess up and I'd crush him."

"He's six and has been playing the song for a day. Do you really think your victory would be that wonderful?" I teased.

"Details," Jasper retorted. He angled his head so that he could run his nose along my hairline.

"He called me uncle," I said quietly. Jasper paused and pulled away slightly. I could see the happiness in his eyes but when he spoke it was dismissive and casual.

"You are his uncle."

"No I'm not. Not really. I'm just his uncle's boyfriend."

Jasper grasped my shoulders and turned me towards him. "Edward, you're their uncle. I love you and I'm sure about you. I'm not leaving you unless you make me leave. So unless you're having doubts…" He trailed off and looked at me with worry.

I immediately felt bad for putting any doubt in his mind. "There's no doubt Jasper. Honestly. I just," I struggled to find the words to properly explain my hesitation, "If this doesn't work out, I don't want them to grow attached to me. That happened sometimes with my father. On the rare occasion he would bring a woman home to meet us, and we would grow attached, it was always hard when that relationship ended and we never saw her again. I don't want to do that to James and Tenny."

"If I'm a part of your family then you're a part of mine," Jasper said simply, effectively ending the conversation.

"When did I ever say you were part of my family?" I questioned.

"Alice said it first when we went to dinner with her and Alec. You said you didn't mind. Ergo, I'm part of your family and you're part of mine. You're just going to have to get over it."

"But – "

"Nope. I understand your worries, but I honestly have no intention of letting you ever break up with me. And because I'll never let you leave me, then you'll never leave them. So you're good." Jasper concluded with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to punch him or kiss him.

So instead I leaned against him again and resumed my playing.

"Psst."

I heard the whisper, but when I looked to see who it was there was no one around. I shrugged it off and went back to the conversation Jasper was having with his father and uncle about football and Uncle Chuck's latest tailgating experience. I was bored out of my mind, but Jasper's hand on my lower back kept me from moving.

"Psst… Edward."

There was that damned whisper again. I tried to ignore it, assuming that one of the kids was messing with me. But then I heard it again, more forcefully, and I couldn't help but look around again. Then finally I spotted it: a hand was poking out of the door from the hallway. The hand curled its finger, beckoning me to follow.

"I need to pee, I'll be back," I whispered to Jasper. Jasper was too distracted by the conversation to pay attention to where I was going, so when I went in the opposite direction of the bathroom, he never noticed.

I turned the corner into the hallway and smashed right into a solid, muscled chest.

"What the fuck man?" Emmett hissed at me as he steadied me on my feet, "I've been trying to get your attention for five fucking minutes! You almost ruined this."

"Well I thought you were one of the kids fucking with me. What do you want?" I hissed back.

"Keep your voice down," Emmett dropped his voice even lower. He looked around us and when we saw that we were totally alone he grabbed my elbow and pulled me upstairs. He ignored all my protests and questions until we reached one of the bedrooms and Emmett dragged me in. He quietly shut the door and pressed his ear against the door to listen and see if anyone had followed us. When he was satisfied that we were truly alone, Emmett turned back to me. Determination and mischief filled his eyes.

"Hey Eddie," He said brightly.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, "What do you want Emmett?"

"I need your help with something. Now, I don't know if you're aware of this little game that Jasper and I play…"

"That one where you play Tarzan and tackle each other? No, somehow that slipped my attention."

"Yeah," Emmett mused, fondly, "it's a great game. Anyway, I need you to help me. See for all the tackling that we do, there's only one of them that matters. Whoever is the winner is not the one that gets the other the most, even though that would be me," Emmett said proudly, "but really the winner is whoever gets the other tackled into the pool."

The pool was a feature at the reunion. If someone was missing, the pool was the first placed you looked for them. It wasn't big enough for someone to swim in it, but in the Texas heat it was a great place to cool down and drink a beer. I also had a suspicion that the pool wasn't as clean as it normally would have been with all the people that were coming in and out of that thing. And I also had a feeling that Emmett made sure the pool was worse for "The Tackle."

"So why am I here?"

"I always win, Eddie. Always. But Jasper's more on his guard this year. I think he doesn't want to look like an idiot in front of you. But I can't look like an idiot in front of my boys either. You aren't gonna make me look like a dick in front of my boys, would you Ed?"

I knew that I was being primed for a horrible task. Emmett wanted to use me to beat Jasper and he was trying to guilt me into going along with it. Well, I'd show him.

"So you want my help?"

"Yes. I want your help," Emmett leaned in close, "be on the winning team Edward. Start this thing off well. It's really nice on this side. Jasper always loses. Always. I'm giving you an in. Do you accept?" He held his hand out to me and waited.

I immediately shook his hand. "So what do you need me to do?"

The smile on Emmett's face was triumphant and gleeful, "Okay here's the deal. On the last day that we're here I want you to take Jasper on a little walk. He's more distracted when you're nearby, god what a gift you're going to be to this game," He added as an afterthought. He got a glazed look in his eyes for a few seconds before he shook it off, "Anyway, I want you to say you want to walk the field, which will require you to walk past the pool. Not too close that he becomes suspicious, but close enough that I can easily push him in without walking too far. Can you do this?"

"Sure, just let me know when you want me to do this."

"Dude you rock," Emmett gave me a huge bear hug, "You're gonna fit right in here."

I followed Emmett downstairs, trying not to laugh at the little skip in his step. All the while I was trying to figure out a way to make this backfire on him. First I would have to tell Jasper and then we could decide how to beat Emmett. Maybe Rosalie and the boys would help, I wondered.

We made it back to the living room, but Emmett's arm stopped me from going inside. I followed his eye line and noticed that Jasper was still engrossed in the conversation with Milton and Chuck. And his back was to us.

I sighed at the exact moment when Emmett let out a thunderous scream and rushed into the living room with his arms flung out. Everyone in his way immediately stepped back, but Jasper didn't have enough time. The last thing I saw was Jasper's wide-eyed horror before he disappeared beneath Emmett's hulking mass.

"I think I have fucking bruises," Jasper companied once we got back to the hotel room. He sat on the bed and removed his shirt to examine his arms and shoulders. "Yeah, look at that. They're huge."

"Well maybe you should pay more attention and get Emmett before he gets you," I pointed out. I grabbed the tube of Arnica that I had thankfully brought in case of emergency.

"I don't do it on purpose," Jasper pouted, "Emmett's just a fucking bear. I think he speeds up just before he reaches me just to make sure I hit the ground harder."

"Who started this game between you two?" I asked. I sat down next to him and began applying the Arnica to one of the bruises on Jasper's arm.

"Me," Jasper admitted, "But I didn't know he'd get better at it than me. I don't know how he does it. He comes out of no where."

"That's because he hides upstairs and watches for a good moment to sneak up on you," I said casually. I smirked when I felt Jasper tense beneath my hands.

"He does what?"

"Rosalie told me. He's been doing it for years. He also enlists James and Tenny to distract you so he has an advantage."

"That motherfucker. I knew it wasn't me. He's just cheating. Well, he'll pay, I'll make him regret it," Jasper growled. I felt my cock harden at his growl, it had been two days since we had been able to do anything more than kiss each other and it was taking its toll.

"That's not all," I finished with his bruises and after removing our clothes, guided him to lie back on the bed, "he wants me to help him too. He said I could be on the winning team."

Jasper's head jerked up, "But you aren't going to right? You wouldn't do that to me, love."

I sighed exaggeratingly and moved my body to straddle his, "Well I don't want to. But I do want to win. And apparently, I distract you too much." I ground my erection into his to emphasis my point, smirking at Jasper's soft moan. I brought my mouth to his nipple and sucked and nibbled until they were hard. Then I moved to the other, ignoring his breathy words.

"Edward… please." His breath was already heavy, evidence of how much we both needed this. It wouldn't be slow and loving, but a much needed quick, needy fuck. But I wasn't quite ready to release him yet.

I kissed him, plunging my tongue into his mouth. He responded immediately and I soon lost myself in the feel and taste of the man I loved. I thrust my hips against his again and Jasper broke our kiss to throw his head back as he thrust back against me.

"Do I distract you?" I asked. I lifted my hips off his slightly to give Jasper a chance to compose himself.

"Yes, fuck yes Edward," Jasper said. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me flush against him before rolled and switched our positions.

I sank into the covers and wrapped my legs around Jasper. He gave me one long fiery kiss as he reached for the condom and lube. He rolled the condom on and again covered me with his body. I could feel his cock pressing against my entrance.

"We're just gonna have to make sure you win this time, huh?" I breathed. Jasper nodded and kissed me deeply as he pressed his erection into my body.

I met each of his quick, sharp thrusts, driving us both to our peak. Jasper reached between our bodies to grasp my cock and began rubbing it in time with our thrusts. I tightened my legs, bringing him deeper into me with each stroke and soon we both reached our release and collapsed on the bed.

I could hear Jasper's Aunt Betty snoring in the room next to us, and suddenly was stuck with an overwhelming need to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Jasper asked.

"I just think it's horrifying and hilarious that the first thing I hear in my post-coital bliss is your aunt's snores," I couldn't contain the laughter no matter how hard I tried.

"You're weird," Jasper said simply. That just got me going more. Jasper rolled his eyes and got up to get a washcloth and clean us up. When he got back to the bed I had managed to contain myself.

"You good?" Jasper asked, though I could tell that he was amused.

"Yeah, I'm not really sure where that came from." I admitted. I curled up next to him and Jasper wrapped his arms around me. We stayed like that, silent for several minutes, before Jasper spoke again.

"So how are we gonna make Emmett pay?"

I smirked, "Oh I have some ideas. Though it'll mean that you're going to get a lot more bruises before this weekend is through. You have to make him cocky. He has to feel like he's invincible. Then he'll let his guard down."

"But I don't want anymore bruises. They hurt and I already have enough."

"But what if I kiss every bruise? Would that make it better?" Jasper cocked an eyebrow at that.

"I think I can handle that," he said. Before I could respond Jasper had flipped us so he was lying on top of me again and captured my mouth. This time it was slower and more satisfying, but just as desperate. Who knew if we'd get another chance to fuck before the weekend was over?

A/N: Well that's this chapter. Hope you liked it and I'll see you next time! ~AJ Kelly