Happy Sunday! The next update will be Wednesday!

Chapter Twenty-Six

I looked at my phone when Edward texted me and sprayed myself with perfume before running out to his car. Tonight was the pre-wedding party, and I was attending as a guest. I was kind of nervous. Edward's entire family was going to be there.

I had bought a cute cocktail dress for tonight. It was purple, and scoop neck. It was covered in lace and was longer in the back. Alice helped me pick it out. She couldn't go with me, but it was the one she said was the prettiest out of the five.

"Hey," I said as I got in.

"Hey beautiful," He smiled, leaning over, and kissing me, "You look amazing."

"Thanks," I smiled, "You look great too."

He snorted, "Alice coordinated us I see. I was wondering why she made me wear this specific outfit."

"Well, you look great," I said, "So, where are we going tonight?"

"Jasper's mother rented the space at the Midtown Loft and Terrence. She's been working on the party since Jasper proposed to Alice. It's a nice place." He said.

"Sounds fancy," I said, "So, what did you end up getting Alice?"

"I went with the wine club membership. The three year gold package." He said, "Alice has a great wine cellar in the house that Jasper bought for them. She wants to start a wine collection, so I figured she's appreciate this."

"That's so nice of you," I said, "They'll love it."

"Here we are," Edward said as he pulled into a parking garage, "Ready?"

I was reapplying my lipstick; it had been smeared off during one of our mini kiss sessions at a red light.

"Yep," I said, shoving the lipstick back into my purse, "I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" He asked.

"I mean, I'm meeting all of your family. I'm very nervous." I said.

"Don't worry about it." He said, "They're going to love you."

"I hope so." I said.

We hopped into the elevator and went to the top floor. Jasper's mother went all out. She had the roof decorated beautifully. It was cold out, but there were large heating lamps everywhere. Lights were strung up on the roof. There were huge flower bouquets everywhere. There were several lit fireplaces around the room and firepits outside.

"Wow," I said, "It looks so beautiful."

"Yeah, Mrs. Whitlock did a fantastic job." He said.

"Awe, thank you," A tall woman with dark hair walked up behind us. She was very beautiful, long curly black hair, dark brown eyes, and tanned skin.

"Hello, Mrs. Whitlock. You're looking as lovely as ever," Edward said, kissing her cheeks.

"Oh Edward you're so formal," She said with a smile, "Please call me Maria, I'm not going to tell you again."

Edward chuckled, "Maria, this is my girlfriend Bella. Bella, this is Maria, Jasper's mother."

"It's nice to meet you," I said, shaking her hand. I was trying to find the resemblance between Jasper and his mother; they looked nothing alike. He must take after his father.

"A pleasure to meet you too," She smiled, "Esme has told me so much about you."

Edward sighed, shaking his head, "Of course she has."

Maria laughed, "We had lunch yesterday and she was telling me that you've met someone."

"Mrs. Whitlock," A man dressed in a suit tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me," She said.

I placed my arm through Edward's as we walked to where Esme and Carlisle were. Esme was wearing a navy blue, formfitting cocktail dress. The top half of it was sheer and had multiple navy flowers that covered her breasts.

"Bella, it's so nice to see you," Esme said as she hugged me, "You look beautiful."

"I was just about to say the same thing," I chuckled, "It's good to see you too."

"You're looking lovely Bella," Carlisle said as he kissed my cheek.

"Thank you," I said, "It's good to see you."

Emmett and Rosalie walked through the door. She was wearing a tight black dress that showed off her curves. This was the first time I've seen her since the miscarriage. She looked beautiful. They walked over to where we were.

"Hey Em," Edward said, "Rosalie, you look beautiful."

"Yeah, you look amazing." I added, "It's so nice to see you."

"Thank you," She smiled, "It's good to see you too."

"I am starved," Emmett said, "When are we eating."

"When Alice gets here. You know she liked to make an entrance." Edward said with an eyeroll.

We stood around talking for a few minutes while more people arrived. I met Peter and Charlotte; Peter was Jasper's cousin and Charlotte was his girlfriend, who was a close friend of Alice's. They were both very nice.

"Edward!" A woman who looked like Esme walked over to us. She was a bit thicker than Esme, but she looked just as great.

"Aunt Mary," Edward smiled as she hugged him, "It's so good to see you."

"And you too," She beamed, "Who's this?"

"Aunt Mary, this is my girlfriend, Bella. Bella this is my aunt Mary and that's my uncle Randall and my cousin Bree."

"It's nice to meet you," I said, extending my hand to shake hers, but she pulled me into a tight hug.

"It's so good to meet you Bella. I'm Aunt Mary," She said, "You call me anytime my nephew acts out. I'll set him straight."

I laughed, "So far he's been wonderful. But I'll definitely remember that."

"Nice to meet you," Randall said, shaking my hand, "You look lovely."

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you too." I smiled.

"Nice to meet you," Bree said, shaking my hand. She reminded me of a little bird; she was so tiny and had wide eyes.

"It's nice to meet you too. I love your dress."

"Thanks." She smiled.

About thirty minutes later, Alice and Jasper arrived. Alice was wearing a long, white halter dress that fanned out at the bottom. She looked so beautiful and elegant. Everyone clapped when they entered.

"Hello everyone! Thank you for coming!" Alice smiled, squeezing Jasper's arm tightly. She looked up at him with complete adoration.

They walked around through the crowd hugging people and thanking them for coming. When she came to us, she grabbed me in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you came Bella!" She said when she let me go.

"I'm glad to be here," I smiled, "You look so beautiful."

"Awe, thank you."

Maria walked up, "There's my beautiful soon-to-be daughter in law!" They hugged each other tightly.

"Maria, this is so beautiful," Esme said, "You did such a wonderful job."

Maria smiled widely, "Thank you. It took a couple months to get it all together, but it did. Thank you for that." She winked at Esme.

Esme waved her hand dismissively, "This was all you."

After a few minutes, Maria announced that dinner was being served. We sat down at the dinner table; I was seated with Edward's family. I don't know why I was surprised by that.

Dinner was an event. We started with appetizers; we had a choice of three. Then was the main course, and then was coffee and dessert. It was amazing, and I was completely stuffed by the end of it.

"So, Bella," Carlisle said as he sipped his coffee, "I heard about what happened with Mr. Newton. I wanted to apologize for his inappropriate behavior."

I shrugged, "It's okay. I'm over it. And I guess he felt badly about it because he ended up giving me the scholarship."

"Good. His behavior was completely unacceptable. We don't associate with people like that. I hope you know this."

"Of course," I said, "I figured you didn't know about that. I just hope he doesn't do anything like that to anyone else."

"Oh don't worry," Edward said, "I doubt he'll be trying that again."

"Carlisle, do you want to give your toast now?" Maria asked as the champagne was being served.

Carlisle nodded, and stood, walking to where Alice and Jasper were seated. He tapped his champagne glass with his spoon to get everyone's attention.

"Hello everyone," Carlisle started, "I want to start by thanking you all for joining us tonight to celebrate Jasper and Alice. We're very touched that you could make it," He smiled wistfully, "I remember the day Alice was born. When the doctor laid her in my arms, I was overcome with joy. She was absolutely perfect. And as she grew, she became even more perfect, and I became even more panicked," He chuckled to himself, "Since the day she was born, I had been dreading this day, when she'd find someone she loved, and she'd get married. I knew it was coming, and I prayed that the man she choose to marry would be someone that loved her unconditionally and would be too terrified of me to ever do anything to hurt her," everyone laughed, "And I believe Jasper is that man. I will admit, the first day I met him, I hated him. But I only hated him because I knew he was perfect for Alice. And I knew this day was coming very soon. Jasper is a great man, and I know he will make a great husband," Carlisle looked at Alice and Jasper, "I wish you two nothing but a long and happy marriage. Jasper, welcome to the family."

He finished his speech, and everyone clapped before taking a sip of their champagne. Maria took Carlisle's spot.

"Thank you all for joining us tonight," She said, "I hope you're having a wonderful time. I just wanted to add to Carlisle's speech, if you don't mind," She smoothed the front of her dress out, "The day Jasper came into my life was the best day of my life. I'd never expected to be a mother, but then along came Jasper, and boom, I was a mother. Raising him was the best thing I've ever done. Watching him become the man he is today has been such an amazing gift. I'm so proud of who he is. And I know that he will make Alice very happy. And Alice, I have to thank Carlisle and Esme for creating such an amazing person. Alice is absolutely delightful. I'm proud to call her my daughter," Maria smiled widely, "Alice, Jasper, I wish you two nothing but the best. I love you."

As I raised my champagne glass, I happened to catch sight of a beautiful blonde, staring daggers at me. I gulped, wondering if it was one of Edward's cousins. She was very intimidating looking; I wondered why she was glaring at me. I quickly averted my gaze.

Jasper stood and kissed his mother's cheek. At this point she had tears dripping down her cheeks. Alice hugged Maria and whispered something in her ear. Maria nodded and kissed Alice's cheek.

"So I have a question," I said to Edward as we were headed home.

"What's up?"

"Was Jasper adopted?" I asked, "He doesn't look much like his mom. And some of the things from her speech made it seem like he was adopted."

"Yeah, he was adopted," He said, "Technically, he was abandoned. Maria found him when he was six months old on her doorstep."

"That's terrible," I said, "What happened to his biological parents?"

"Both of them were crackheads. They figured Jasper was better off on a stranger's doorstep than with them. Or at least that's what we think," Edward said, "Jasper did some research on himself and found out that his mother O.D. a couple years ago and his dad is serving a life sentence in West Virginia for armed robbery and homicide. He was a drug addict too."

"Wow," I sighed, "That's just so awful. Poor Jasper."

"Jasper is fine," Edward said, "He's got Maria and he has Alice. Plus he has a new family."

"How did Jasper and Alice meet?" I asked.

Edward chuckled, "You're full of questions tonight. Well, Jasper started working for our family a few years ago. He met Alice at one of our events and then the rest is history."

"That's sweet. They seem to really love each other."

"They do," He said, "And I do like Jasper. I know he won't hurt my sister."

"Want to come inside?" I asked as we pulled in front of my building.

"Of course," he said.

He put his arm around my shoulders as we walked to my apartment. It was freezing outside.

"Jeez it's so cold," I said, shivering, "I'm going to need to pull out my parka."

He chuckled, "It gets cold in New York. You need a good winter coat."

"Want some coffee?" I had bought a coffee maker just for Edward. I didn't really drink the stuff, but he drank a lot of it.

"Sure," He said as he slipped off his suit jacket and sat down.

I made him a cup of coffee; I knew how he liked it. I gave him his coffee then changed into something more comfortable. I walked back out, happy to be out of those heels.

"So, I had a question," I said, "Who was that blonde chick that was looking at me?"

Edward sighed heavily, "You noticed her?"

"I couldn't help it," I said, "If looks could kill, I would've been dead."

Edward rolled his eyes, "Yeah. That was Tanya. Just ignore her. She's a bitch."

"Is she your ex?" I asked as I sat down.

"Yeah." He took a long sip of his coffee.

"She's really pretty." I said.

"Yeah, but you know what," He smiled, "You're a thousand times prettier. You put her to shame. She doesn't hold a candle to you."

I blushed, shaking my head, "I wasn't fishing for compliments."

"It's not a compliment, it's just a fact." He said.

I rolled my eyes, "Well, she seemed kind of angry."

"She's probably upset." He said, "She wanted to get back together with me, but I turned her down. Twice. And she has a problem with jealously. It was a big problem with our relationship."

"Why did you guys break up?"

"Well, we were like fire and oil. When things were good, they were good. But when things were bad, they were very bad. We both made mistakes. It was just better for us to be apart."

I nodded, "How long did you two date?"

"On and off for about three years." He said, "It doesn't matter. Tanya my past. You don't have to worry about her."

I smiled, "I'm not worried about her."

I got out of my chair and walked around the table to sit in his lap. He sat his coffee down and smiled, placing his hands on my hips. I pressed my lips against his and ran my hands through his hair.

Bella met all of Edward's family and the infamous Tanya. Plus, we learned a little about Jasper's past. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And I want to apologize for my describing skills on the clothing! I honestly just google search images of fancy dresses, pick one I like, and try to describe it. If there was a way I could post the outfits and other things, I would post it so you all could see. But ff isn't allowing any links, which really sucks. If there's a way you all know of to post the images and certain info, let me know! Anyways, don't forget to leave me a little review and let me know how you liked it!