Jasper had made a point to avoid Renesmee. She was small and half human, hence, he didn't want to do something he would regret.
But all he managed to avoid her was a week for as he sat on the couch with book at hand Bella came to stand before him with Renesmee in her arms.
He stared at the kid for a moment before glancing up at Bella with a questioning look.
-Hold her. You fought for her too didn't you?
He nodded. He could hear her heartbeat and her blood flowing and still her scent was nothing but as tempting as a pleasing perfume. She was a week old and she looked like she was already one year old in human standards.
"She's so weird." Came The Major's voice.
"Shut up."
-You want me to hold her?- He asked not sure he had heard right.
-Yes. You can't avoid her forever you know?
-But-
-Hold her.- Bella cut off and before he could have a chance at escaping, Bella was depositing the toddler on his lap. He tensed at it. Her little fingers curling into fists as she gripped the front of his shirt. She giggled as if this was the most hilarious thing ever.
And then Bella left him.
She.
Left him.
He was being trusted with something so small. Half human. Frail . He couldn't even bring himself to touch her. Because what if he hurt her?
He left the book on the couch and let her crawl on him. Keeping his arms as far from her as possible while also making sure to keep them close to her in case she was to topple back. She tugged at his shirt. Fiddled with the buttons. Tugged again. Shrieked in delight for God knows what. Bounced on her little legs on his lap as she stood up.
She was the oddest thing ever and he felt both fascinated and suspicious of her. She looked harmless the same as she looked weak. Frail.
At some point he poked her cheek, feeling curious on how her skin felt.
Her skin was warm . Soft. She curled her little fingers around his finger and squeezed with quite the strength before shaking her hand without releasing his finger. Giggling to herself.
Not weak then.
She had such a deep brown hair. Brown eyes. Pink cheeks. She looked so human.
And she felt so frail God. It made him feel tense. The scent of her blood... She had blood coursing through her veins. A pumping heart...
That meant she was stronger than the poisonous vampires here and as strong as a newborn. The blood would never leave her tissues. She was powerful.
Much like him.
Her little hand reached out to touch his cheek.
Rosalie was sitting before the chimney. Smiling and humming softly at her. Love and adoration clear in her face.
Jasper blinked and the images were gone at the same time the little hand left his face. Right . He had heard about her gift.
And it wasn't the first time he had been faced with a gift like this. There had been a newborn with a similar gift; David .
But instead of his memories he could show the memories of those he touched to whoever else he touched. He had been a great asset.
He hadn't lived long of course, Maria didn't let the gifted ones live for longer than a week. She feared that their gift could grow and therefore make it harder to keep them under her control.
He poked Renesmee's cheek once again and smirked as that got him a smack on the chest. Her emotions were a strange thing. Curious was what she felt the most. He dared to hoist her up with the same care he used to pick up flowers. He held her up in the air for a moment and Renesmee shrieked in delight. Kicking her legs in the air and oozing such intense glee it stole a smile from him.
He brought her closer and stared into her brown gaze. If he focused hard enough he could swear he could make out golden freckles in them.
Her little fingers buried into his hair. For a moment that's all she did and he could feel her little fingers clenching and unclenching in his hair.
And then she tugged. Hard . He bit back the reflexive growl and instead took advantage of when she unclenched her fingers to pull her back. She pouted at that.
-Don't give me that look young lady, how would you like it if I pulled your hair?- His answer was a face he could have sworn he had seen Edward do when someone told him he was acting like an idiot.- I kind of feel bad for you, I think you inherited your father's horrible face.
She giggled at that.
-You're happy about that?
She mumbled some nonsense at that and he decided to plop her back down on his lap. She went once again for one of the buttons of his vest. Fiddling with them for a moment before growing bored and standing up on his lap once again in order to reach for his face. She poked at one of his scars. Scratching on it almost as if attempting to remove it. He caught her hand at the third scratch.
-Please don't do that.- If she scratched them they would start itching, he hated that feeling. She tried to go for them again but he didn't let her.- Look at you, stubborn, just like your parents, ain't that an amazin' trait?- He couldn't help but say.
Still .
He had to admit that despite all the girl wasn't so bad.
~~~~~~~~~
Jasper's alter was known to be as unpredictable as he could be problematic. In fact. He was 80% problematic and 10% peaceful.
The three golden rules to follow and avoid upsetting him were; answer whatever he asks and he will leave, give him his space and do not, under any circumstances, touch him, the last one applied only to the females for some reason.
So when he stepped through the door and Renesmee decided to tackle his legs Edward almost flew to grab her. Bella didn't let him though and sure to what she had thought the alter did nothing.
And Renesmee could be nothing but a week old and looking like a toddler but even she noticed that the person she just tackled wasn't her uncle for she released him and took a step back.
The Major for his side stared at the little thing. She was so small and strange. He could smell her blood. Hear her heartbeat. She was so eerie. Her emotions at the sight of him weren't as frightened as he had expected. She was curious. There wasn't wariness. No fear. No anxiety. Weird .
And against his better judgement he crouched before her. He hadn't gotten to see her from up close. He usually avoided taking the reins when she was anywhere close. Something about her compelled him to keep himself at bay. Strangely, he didn't felt like he would like feeling her fear. Maybe that's why he had avoided her.
If humans and vampires held such strong reactions to him how would such a small child react?
But she seemed to be reacting better than he had anticipated.
She smiled up at him and happiness explode from her with such force he tensed under the bright emotions. He had almost forgotten how intense children's emotions could be.
And without missing a beat the little thing brought the half eaten banana to his face. As far as he knew she was still prompt to forgetting that no one but her and the dogs could consume human food in the house, hence, she offered food to vampires that couldn't eat.
Well, he could eat, but it wasn't as if he could eat infront of the Cullens.
Thus he shook his head.
-Ya should keep it little lady. Ya need it more than ah do.
She pouted at that and waved the banana at him.
And before either of the Cullens could intervene The Major decided to take a risk and take a bite from the banana. He wasn't a fan of this particular fruit due its texture but feeling the little thing's explosive glee was worth it. He never expected that such intense emotions would make him feel so light.
So different from the explosive rage and hatred from the younger newborns. Fear. Miss liked most of them to be as young as possible so they would be easier to manipulate, of course she never crossed the line of creating an immortal child but still...
He smirked at the happy shriek from the little girl.
-Darling, why don't we go upstairs?- The angel's sudden words made him frown for a moment before remembering that he had eaten something that he shouldn't had. At least from the Cullen's perspectives.
Thus he took her hand and let her lead him upstairs.
~~~~~~~~~~
Turns out The Major became Renesmee's dealer when it came to candies and no one but Alice was aware of this. He took advantage of the fact that she seemed to be smarter than her appearance gave the impression of to convince her to keep the secret if she wanted to eat candy so much.
He liked her emotions. Feeling her happiness was his favorite thing and he found exhilarating how much he could intimidate the mutt. He didn't care if she was his "imprint". She was a child and he would tear the mutt to pieces if he dared to see her as nothing but a companion. Friend. Partner in crime. Even a friggin' sister . He didn't care what the mutt decided to label their relationship as as long as he didn't think he could become more in the future.
She was a child. Growing with the mutt at her side would make her develop a brother kind of view of the mutt.
And that's how he would make sure it stayed.
-Morning daddy!- The little star's sudden voice pulled him out of his thoughts and truth to her words there was the mind reader, standing right infront of the cottage with his arms crossed over his chest and oozing irritation.
And still his face held nothing but happiness.
-What? Bella said ah could take her huntin'.
-You? Hunting?- Edward almost scoffed at the absurdity of it, he didn't felt comfortable with the idea of Renesmee being alone with him , he had no troubles if it was Jasper but this ... He didn't trust him . Not because he feared for his daughter's safety but because of his antics.
He didn't accept their diet and he didn't seem to care about acting out infront of humans. What if he took Renesmee hunting a human? No one knew what would happen if she were to taste human blood now that she was born. What if she couldn't control herself?
But she seemed like her usual self. Sitting on the shoulders of the most lethal family members as if it was an everyday thing, she even had her little hands buried into his hair. It was like a newborn kitten sitting on the shoulders of a lion, completely unaware of the danger and safer than any other living being on Earth.
The alter seemed to have grown quite attached to Renesmee. He would let her feed him at random intervals despite the fact that he couldn't eat. He would carry her around on his shoulders and he would also let her climb all over him. He's even growled at Jacob a few times when this one gets a bit too intense which Edward secretly enjoyed.
To be honest it was rather amazing how his little daughter had wrapped around her little finger the two most problematic members of their family; Rosalie and Jasper's alter.
And it was also interesting how thanks to Renesmee his relationship with these two seemed to have gotten a bit better. Neither of them seemed to despise him as much as before.
-He taught me how to hunt a mountain lion.- Renesmee told puffing out her chest with pride. Excitement clear in her face. Edward's eyebrow twitched.
-Did he now?- He glared at the alter. He knew perfectly well that she wasn't allowed to hunt something so big on her own, she didn't even look two years old, she shouldn't be hunting such big animal on her own.
"Dun't be a wussy. She's stronger than she looks, give her some credit."
Edward scowled at the sudden thoughts that invaded his mind. The alter had become quite prompt to giving him passive-aggressive insults through his thoughts, only times he allowed him past their mental barrier.
-Here. Ah have things ta do.- The Major told as he removed the little star from his shoulders and passed it to her father.
-Do these things involve humans?- Edward asked with a raised eyebrow, shifting Renesmee on his hold. The alter sneered at him.
-No, they involve yer sister, why? Wanna know the details?- At the mind reader's grimace and jolt of disgust The Major couldn't help but smirk. Messing with the mind reader would never not be funny.
-Just leave.- Edward shooed away. The alter snickered and Edward couldn't decide if the sound was haunting or foreign in him.
-Bye bye little star.
-Bye bye uncle Jor.
Edward frowned at his daughter's words and when the alter had disappeared he turned to look at her.
-Uncle Jor?- Renesmee was smarter than the average child so she was more than aware that there was a hidden member of the family, but she also knew he didn't have a particular name aside from the one Emmett gave to him or how Edward secretly called him sometimes. But Jor?
-He said I could call him Jor.- Renesmee told as a statement. Edward raised his eyebrows at that, had his daughter seriously managed to get a name out of him in such short amount of time?
His daughter really was pulling some miracles in this house.
~~~~~~~
-Ah cain't believe I've been reduced ta this.
-Hush and keep on working.
The Major glared at Alice who did nothing but throw him a kiss. Chuckling when he scoffed with indignation before going back to crawling on the ceiling of Renesmee's room. Esme had just finished making a room for Renesmee for when she stayed to sleep here.
And Alice had decided to put those glowing stars on the ceiling. To make him put them on the ceiling. Of course for that she had to lie about wanting it to be a surprise.
-Why do I have ta do this? Why not J.J.?
-Because Jasper helped with the worst part which was painting. Everyone has done something for the room. And you aren't going to be the exception.- Alice told as a statement of fact. Smirking when she heard him scoff. Yeah, she could make him use a ladder but it was funnier this way.
But as amused as she was she also made sure to keep an eye on his grip, lately, his grip wasn't as precise as before and he would slip from the walls, like a lizard walking on the wrong surface and eventually falling from it.
Watching him crawl on the walls and ceiling was something that she would never cease to find fascinating.
-Done.- He announced as he got down, landing right infront of her and leaning in for an eskimo kiss, he had taken it to give her eskimo kisses and Alice couldn't help but find them endearing.- Are ya happy now?
-Yes, very much.- She grinned wrapping her arms around his waist. He touched her face and leaned down to press a kiss on her cheek.
"Stop kissin' my wife."- Jasper growled in warning and The Major smirked.
"Oh J.J. but she's our wife."
"Our wife my foot! She married me not you, and don't you dare pull the ' we are like peas and carrots we must share' card because I swear to God I will punch you."
The Major's answer was leaving a trail of kisses across the angel's cheek. Her hands coming up to push him off enough to meet his gaze with a disapproving look. Her emotions both amused and disapproving.
-Stop trying to get a raise out of him. I don't need you two fighting.
The Major smirked.
-Sorry.