2 months until due date

"Yeah, it's all online," Jasper says as he clicks on his laptop. "I don't go into a school building anymore. Mom and Carlisle pulled me out of the public school because there were these boys that wouldn't leave me alone and we kept getting in fights and the school was suspending me over it, even when I didn't start it."

Esme taps on the table to get Jasper's attention, then taps on the time listed at the bottom right corner of the laptop screen. He has five minutes until his live class with his teacher. Jasper nods to let her know he understands but continues to talk on the phone.

"I take Algebra, English Composition, Family Development, Health, and American History. Oh, Family Development is about baby milestones and stuff. My textbooks are all online. My teachers and classmates and I meet online for a live lesson a few times a week, and if I need help from them I just email them. Carlisle and Esme can usually help me if I have any questions, though, so I don't really email my teachers a lot."

Esme sighs and pulls the laptop away from Jasper. She clicks over to the correct page to find the link for his virtual meeting.

"Three minutes." She tells him. Jasper nods again.

"Yeah, Rose still goes to the public school. She graduates this year. Carlisle has helped her apply for scholarships and stuff. He says that she could get free college since she aged out of foster care. She wants to go for cosmetology. She's done really good in school."

"Jasper," Esme taps the laptop again. "Two minutes. You need to say goodbye."

"I really like online school. I can get all of my work done early and then I get to ride my four-wheeler. I'll get to ride it tomorrow because today is my last day of wearing this stupid sling. Yeah, I'm definitely going to be more careful. Carlisle says I'm lucky because I didn't need a lot of physical therapy. He said some people need eight weeks of physical therapy to recover."

"Jasper. Last warning. Say goodbye." Esme whispers.

"Uncle Beau, I have to go. I have my meeting with my teacher now. I'll talk to you later. Love ya."

Jasper hangs up and passes Esme's cell phone back to her with a smile. She smiles back and points at the laptop. He clicks the link, and within seconds he is connected to his online meeting.

Esme stays in the kitchen as Jasper and his online classmates listen to the teacher explain the lesson. It's only been two weeks since Carlisle got ahold of Beau, and the relief it has brought into their home has been tremendous.

When Carlisle spoke to Beau the first time two weeks ago, they were on the phone together for almost three hours. Beau did most of the talking and shared stories of when Jasper and Rosalie were kids. He told Carlisle about how Rosalie always wanted to hold Jasper when he was a newborn, and how Jasper took his first steps in Beau's house. He shared the story of how he and Avery met at work and were instantly best friends, and how Beau was there for every milestone for the kids.

Carlisle didn't share too much information with Beau. He told him of Rosalie's grades, how much she looks after Jasper, and how willing she is to help and eager to learn. He struggled more when it was time to talk about Jasper. He didn't want to share too many negatives, which left him searching for some positives. Thankfully, Esme was whispering in his ear. He's caring, he's confident, he's genuine, she listed for her husband. Carlisle was grateful for her, because all he could think of was the lying, the stealing, the screaming and throwing.

The next afternoon, Carlisle and Esme told Jasper and Rosalie about contacting Beau. Jasper was thrilled and practically jumped up and down. Rosalie was a little more apprehensive and nervous about talking to Beau. Jasper talked to Beau first as Rosalie tried to pull herself together. She cried when she heard Beau say "Hey there, Rosie," and even Jasper shed some tears. Jasper and Beau reminisced, and Rosalie listened in. When it was time to say goodbye, Jasper swore to call Beau every day. He's kept good on that promise, too. Every day at ten o'clock he borrows Esme's cell phone and talks to Beau until eleven. He calls again in the afternoon around therapy and physical therapy appointments and chats even more. He loves listening to Beau tell stories of his childhood, and Beau asks him what Jasper's life is like now.

Jasper has told Beau about AJ, but has worked hard at keeping Maria a secret. Although Rosalie has assured Jasper a thousand times that Avery wouldn't be ashamed of him, Jasper is still apprehensive. Beau knows that Jasper has fathered a baby, that the baby is due in two months, and that it will be named AJ after Avery. Jasper is thankful that Beau doesn't pry too much for information about Maria. He did question who the mother is, and Jasper simply said she's a mean person who's already agreed to sign away her rights.

"Hey, Mom, where's that paper I wrote?" Jasper pulls Esme from her thoughts. "I'm supposed to read it to my class."

"Check your folder. That's where you're supposed to keep everything."

Jasper digs through the folder, apologizing to his teacher for not being prepared. Esme goes over and starts flipping through his notebook. She finds the stapled pages tucked into the middle of the notebook and hands it to Jasper. He gives her a big smile as a thank you before he starts reading his paper about infant and toddler emotional expression. Esme listens closely. He had to use his textbook and two other resources for this paper, so Esme found a parenting book at the local bookstore and Carlisle helped Jasper find another resources online. Although he wasn't thrilled about it, he didn't push back and welcomed Carlisle's and Esme's help. Once he was done with it, he was so proud of the three-page paper. He even read it to Uncle Beau over the phone.

Esme still worries, though. If he can't keep track of where he puts his schoolwork, how is he going to keep track of AJ's things?

It's not that AJ has a lot of things, though. They still haven't been able to make it to the store to pick out nursery furniture, or more clothes, or bottles, or anything else that they need. There's not much to keep track of at this point.

—JWiD—

"Jasper presented his paper today. He did a good job." Esme tells her Carlisle as she settles next to him in bed. He nods, moving his eyes from his computer screen to Jasper's cell phone in his hands. "I'm glad you're putting that program on his phone. He's been grounded for far too long."

"There," Carlisle smiles as he enters the parental control password on Jasper's phone, successfully finishing the account set up. "Now we'll be able to monitor everything he does. We can see his texts, what apps he's downloaded, who he's calling, what he's doing on his social media accounts, and what he's searching online. He can't download any other apps without the password, either."

"What about the other aspects of his grounding? We've been very laxed about not allowing him to watch television, so we might as well give him those privileges back too."

"I agree."

"I really think we could lift the grounding completely."

"No. He can't go to other peoples houses." Carlisle says with a shake of his head.

"Why not?"

"Because the only person he would go visit is Alice, and we both know there's no supervision there." Carlisle explains. "She'll end up pregnant next."

"What about the computer? Can he use the computer for anything other than school?"

"We don't have a program to monitor him on the computer. He can get on it when we are around. It can't go in his room."

"Alright. We'll tell him tomorrow. He'll be so excited." Esme smiles. Carlisle nods in agreement and puts Jasper's phone on his nightstand and clicks from the parental controls tab on his browser to his email. "Rosalie has been pretty quiet lately, hasn't she?"

"I noticed that too. That's unlike her. Don't you two have a nail appointment coming up? Maybe she'll tell you what's on her mind then."

"She has therapy before our nail appointment, so hopefully that helps her open up."

"I got an email from the airline about our miles," Carlisle sighs. "We probably won't make it to the timeshare in Florida this summer, will we?"

"Flying will be very difficult with the baby." Esme points out. "It might not be able to happen this year."

"Edward and Emmett will hate missing it."

"It will be a six-hour plane ride. It will be even longer if we have layovers. Remember a few years ago when it took twelve hours to get there? Can you imagine doing that with a baby?"

"Well, some of our miles are going to expire. Maybe you, Rose, Emmett, and Edward can go to Florida this year. I'll stay home with Jasper and AJ." Carlisle suggests.

"That's not fair to you or Jasper, though."

"Jasper will have to make sacrifices for AJ, and Florida will have to be one of them. I don't have any problem staying here with them. You've done so much this year. You deserve to relax on the beach."

"It still doesn't seem fair."

"It's also not fair for the others to miss out on Florida because of Jasper and AJ." Carlisle points out.

"I guess so." Esme sighs. "If we do, you'll have to do something special with Jasper while we're gone."

"I don't think Jasper would even want to go to Florida." Carlisle says. "If he were to go anywhere, he would want to go to Texas."

"I wish we could take him to Texas. It would make him so happy," Esme adds on.

"It's not practical, Esme. There's only two months until the baby is here." Carlisle responds quickly. Esme shrugs.

"I didn't suggest anything."

"I know that tone. You're thinking about it." He explains. "It's not practical to take such a big trip with such a small amount of time for planning. We also have tons of things to get done before that. We have no nursery furniture and barely anything ready for AJ."

"Right, but it wouldn't hurt to just look at tickets there."

Carlisle sighs, but clicks the link in his email to go to the airline's website. Esme smiles and leans closer to get a better look at the screen.

"We really shouldn't be leaving the state at this stage of the pregnancy. With Maria's age, she's at risk for having the baby early." Carlisle says.

"Right, but her doctors have said they don't foresee any issues."

"But the chance is still there, and—"

"Can I come in?" Jasper interrupts Carlisle mid-sentence as he knocks on the bedroom door.

"Yeah," Carlisle answers and shuts the laptop so there's no chance of Jasper seeing the screen. Jasper flings the door open and makes a beeline towards Carlisle's office door. "What are you doing in my office?"

"I sent something to the printer earlier today and I forgot about it," Jasper answers. He comes back from the office with his eyes glued to the papers in his hand. "There's a newborn essential items checklist in my Family Development textbook, so I printed a copy."

"Oh, that's a good idea." Esme says. Jasper scrunches his eyebrows.

"I don't have nearly enough things for AJ. Can we go shopping soon?" He asks.

"Of course we can, Jasper!" Esme smiles proudly.

"Can we go to that baby store you were telling me about?"

"Absolutely! When would you like to go?"

"Whenever." Jasper shrugs. "Uncle Beau was asking what I still need for AJ, so I told him what I have so far and he pointed out that I don't have much. He's going to send some things, too. He wanted to know if AJ is a boy or a girl so he can shop for clothes and stuff, so I think I'm going to open that envelope soon, too. Anyways, I'm going to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Esme can't hide her excitement when Jasper leaves. She squeezes Carlisle's hand.

"Did you hear that? He actually wants to shop for the baby!" She exclaims and leans into Carlisle's shoulder.

"It's about damn time." Carlisle sighs. "What do you think made him change his tune?"

"It doesn't really matter what changed his attitude. What matters is that he's ready to get things prepared. Maybe we can squeeze a visit to Texas in before the baby."

"It's not going to happen, Esme."

—JWiD—

"This is AJ's closet." Jasper explains to Rosalie and Alice as they watch him assemble the garment rack in his bedroom. Esme empties the two large plastic bags of baby supplies on Jasper's bed. "There's two bars to hang clothes on, and Mom helped me pick some baskets that will sit on the bottom to store socks and stuff."

"That's a good idea." Rosalie says and turns her attention to Esme. Alice nods in agreement.

"Esme always knows what to do." She says.

Alice watches as Rosalie and Esme fuss over the newest items. There are tiny hangers, three gray baskets, packages of socks, plain white onesies, a colorful rattle, a package of diapers, baby body wash, shampoo, lotion, and powder. It makes Alice's stomach twist a little. Jasper seems okay with it, so she should be too. Afterall, she's a good girlfriend, and a good girlfriend would be excited with him. She can't shake the nervousness, though.

"There, all done," Jasper smiles as he tightens the last screw with the small hex-wrench, then stands back to examine the garment rack. He looks over at Alice, but quickly notices her worry. He goes over and wraps his arms around her. She hugs him tightly as he whispers in her ear. "It's going to be okay."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Jasper!" Rosalie calls out excitedly and turns to face her brother while holding up a little black onesie with a red heart and the words "my aunt loves me" printed on the front. "Did you pick this out?"

"I knew you would love it," Jasper states proudly.

When Alice pulls from the hug to see what Rosalie is so excited about, she can't help but smile too. Jasper holders her hand and walks over to the bed. He only drops her hand to pull his newborn essential checklist from his pocket, digs for a pen in his nightstand drawer, and starts tallying up his items.

"So, I have enough socks now, and enough newborn size onesies, and enough bibs. I still need to get hats, pajamas, and no-scratch mittens." Jasper lists. "What are no-scratch mittens?"

"They're little mitts that you put on the baby's hands so it doesn't scratch itself." Esme explained.

"I still need to do a lot of shopping. I'm not even close to having enough for AJ." Jasper sighs. "It looked like I had plenty in the cart."

"Don't worry, dear. We'll go to the store again." Esme says.

"I guess next time I'll listen to you when you suggest checking my list again."

Esme nods. She knew he was only making minimal progress with the items he picked out today, but the cart seemed full enough to him.

"Remember that we will need a stockpile of some items. AJ is going to spit up, and blow out the diapers, and drool. We need to have enough clothes, crib sheets, bath supplies, diapers, and baby wipes that we can get AJ clean quickly." Esme explains. Jasper wrinkles his nose.

"Blow out the diaper? That's not going to happen a lot, right?"

"Hopefully not, but we need to be prepared for that. We also need to get other sizes than just newborn. AJ is going to grow very quickly and won't spend a lot of time in newborn sizes."

"Really?" Jasper questions. "They didn't tell me that in Family Development."

"Can I come shopping with you next time?" Alice asks. Jasper smiles.

"I'd like that. But only if you want to." He says.

"I do."

"Of course you can come with us," Esme says. "We have plenty of shopping left to do."

Alice nods and takes a deep breath. It's alright, she tells herself. It's not like it's her baby. It's not her commitment or responsibility. Shopping isn't a big deal, and she'll get to spend time with Jasper. It'll be okay.

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Alice asks.

"Not yet. I have the envelope on my nightstand, but I haven't opened it yet." Jasper admits. "Uncle Beau wants to know so he can buy some things for AJ."

"It would make shopping a lot easier." Rosalie says. "There's a lot more gendered clothing than there is gender neutral clothing."

"That's true." Jasper nods.

"You should open it." Alice encourages him.

Jasper pierces his lips together. Every time he picks up that envelope, his heartrate quickens. AJ will be here in two months, though, and Rosalie is right. Trying to find gender neutral baby clothes is difficult. Everything is either pink and sparkly with ballerinas and princesses, or blue with trucks and sharks and dinosaurs and cowboys. Plus, no one in his family has seen AJ yet. Rosalie watches him with excitement in her eyes, and it sparks an idea.

"Rosalie, I want you to open it." He says. Rosalie beams, and smiles even bigger.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Jasper insists with a nod. He gets the envelope from the nightstand and hands it to his sister. "You should be the first person to know, and the first person to see AJ's sonogram."

Rosalie smiles, then instantly grabs Jasper in a tight hug. He smiles and hugs her back. It only lasts for a second, though, because she's been waiting to finally know if she's having a niece or a nephew. She carefully tears the envelope open and pulls the sonogram out. Her smile grows as she reads the white print on the black and gray picture that shows AJ's full body and labels the head, foot, hand, and spine. She flips to the next sonogram that focuses on AJ's face. Although the details are unclear, it shows the curve of AJ's nose and outline of AJ's lips. Alice, Esme, and Jasper watch her earnestly.

"Congratulations, Jasper," She smiles and flips the sonogram around so he can see. "AJ's a boy."

—JWiD—

"What about Jeremiah?"

"Maybe."

"I like Jack, or Jackson."

"Possibly."

"What about Justin?"

"No, I knew a Justin when I went to Hanford High and he was a jackass."

"Watch your mouth, Jasper."

"Sorry, Mom."

Carlisle shakes his head as he listens to his family chatter throughout the living room. Jasper and Emmett are kneeling on the floor, trying to piece together the parts of a brand-new portable playpen and all the accessories for it. Rosalie, Esme, Alice, and Edward sort through the mountain of new items for the baby. They open the packaged clothing, like the socks and multipack of onesies, and pull the tags off of outfits before putting them in a laundry basket to be wash. They wash the other items with cleaning wipes.

"I think we lost a piece," Emmett says as he frantically scans the floor. "It's the corner piece."

"It's right there, under the coffee table," Rosalie points out.

"What about Joshua?" Esme suggests. "That's a cute name."

"Maybe. I'll keep that one in mind." Jasper says.

"Come here, Jasper. I need you to pick out a nursery set." Carlisle says. Jasper sets the instructions for the playpen down and sits next to Carlisle on the couch. Carlisle shows Jasper all the options of cribs and changing tables.

"I like that changing table, but can I get one of those oval shaped beds?" Jasper asks.

"A bassinet?"

"Yeah, a bassinet. I read online that the baby will sleep better if he's near me, and I can move the bassinet so it's next to my bed."

Carlisle adds the changing table to his cart, then clicks over to see the bassinets. They look through them together and Carlisle points out the different features of each one. Jasper points to one.

"I like that one."

"Great." Carlisle adds that as well and goes back to the cribs. "So, even though your plan is to use the bassinet, we should still pick a crib because AJ can only use the bassinet for the first year. We'll get a crib that we can convert to a toddler bed."

"Oh," Jasper scrunches his eyebrows. "How long does he have to be in the crib?"

"It depends on his sleep behavior. If he tries to climb out of the crib, then we'll move him to a toddler bed earlier, but if he doesn't climb then he could use the crib for three years or so."

"Wow. I didn't know that. Well, which crib do you think I should get?"

"This one is a good choice."

"Okay. Let's do that one." Jasper nods, then smiles. "Thanks, Carlisle."

Jasper returns to help Emmett, and Esme smiles at her husband. He quickly looks away from her, though, because he knows she's going to use that moment towards pushing Carlisle to take Jasper and Rosalie to Texas. When Esme's phone dings, however, she stands and pats Carlisle's shoulder.

"We just got a delivery. Can you help me bring it in?"

"Sure." Carlisle moves the laptop and follows her to the door. As soon as they're away from the teens, Esme lowers her voice and whispers to Carlisle.

"He almost has his entire list finished. Look at how happy he is putting the playpen together. He's ready for this baby."

"Esme, it's only been a week since he printed that list. There's no way you two have bought everything he needs."

"Well…" Esme trails off as Carlisle opens the front door and his jaw drops.

Multiple boxes are stacked on the porch of varied sizes. Some of the larger boxes have pictures of the products inside, like the highchair, stroller, and car seat. The others aren't specified. He looks to Esme with raised eyebrows.

"What is this?" He asks.

"This is what Jasper did when I told him he could use the computer outside of school assignments. Carlisle, this is a good thing. He spent hours making a wish list online and carefully picking out each item. He was so focused. He kept the list from his textbook right next to him and was referencing back to it to make sure he had everything he needed." Esme explains. "He was so proud of himself."

"How did he pay for it? You didn't give him our credit card, did you?"

"Oh, stop that, Carlisle. He took your credit card one time, and you can't let it go. He's not a thief."

"How did he pay for it, Esme?"

"When he showed me what he did, I asked him to send me the wish list. I paid for it on our Amazon account. He didn't have access to any of our credit cards."

"How much did this all cost?"

"The money was going to have to be spent on AJ either way. We just spent it in one lump sum instead of spending it in multiple trips to the store. Come on, help me get these inside."

Esme grabs as many boxes as she can and hurries inside. Carlisle is still stunned by the number of boxes.

"It's the rest of AJ's stuff!" Jasper declares happily as he leads Rosalie, Emmett, Edward, and Alice to the porch. The four teenagers all grab some boxes and pulls them outside. Sighing, Carlisle grabs the last of them and follows everyone else inside.

Carlisle sits back down on the couch, defeatedly. Esme sits next to him and they watch as Jasper pulls his list out and checks off each item as he opens the Amazon boxes.

The rest of the family smiles and listens as Jasper tells them how he read that this baby monitor is the best on the market and that these blankets are to swaddle the baby with, and all kinds of other information about everything bought. Alice joins in helping him open the boxes and gushing over the new items.

"It's like giving him a baby shower," Esme whispers to Carlisle. "Look how happy he is."

"Mmhhm," Is all that Carlisle pushes out.

"This is so cute!" Alice smiles as she pulls out a tiny brown hat with ears on the top, and a bear face stitched on the front.

"It matches the slippers Rosalie got him." Jasper says.

As the evening goes on, Jasper keeps opening boxes, then finishes the playpen with Emmett. Once it's finished, he joins Esme in organizing the newest baby products. Time flies for him, and soon Edward says he's going to bed and it's time for Alice to head home. Carlisle offers to drive her home so she doesn't have to walk through the melting, slushy snow, and Jasper tags along with them. When they're in Alice's drive way, Jasper gets out of the car to kiss her goodnight and walk her to the door before returning to the vehicle. Carlisle turns around in the driveway, and Jasper takes advantage of their time alone.

"Hey, Carlisle," Jasper says nervously. "I uh, I need to tell you something."

"What?" Carlisle huffs.

"I know AJ is super expensive and I was being a brat about all this, but I really appreciate all that you've done. Thanks for not giving up on me."

Carlisle is speechless. He looks over at Jasper, wide eyed and partially expecting to wake up and realize that he's dreaming this conversation.

"AJ and I wouldn't really have a chance if it weren't for you and Mom." Jasper continues.

"You're welcome." Carlisle says. "What brought on the sudden change of attitude?"

"I've been talking to Uncle Beau about the baby, and he kinda chewed me out a little when I complained about you guys pushing me to get prepared for AJ." Jasper admits sheepishly. "But he was right. It was stupid of me to get upset over you and Mom encouraging me to be a good parent. My Daddy didn't raise me to be so selfish. I'm sorry for how I was acting."

"I appreciate the apology, Jasper." Carlisle lets out a sigh.

"Are you okay? You look pissed." Jasper questions.

"I'm not," Carlisle says. "I just have something I need to talk to you and Rosalie about."

"I'm not in trouble, right?"

"No, not at all. Quite the opposite, actually."

Carlisle pulls into his driveway and parks in the garage. Jasper happily follows him inside. When they reach the living room, Carlisle sits next to Esme and Jasper sits next to Rosalie. Carlisle whispers to his wife.

"You're right. I want to take them to Texas." He says quietly, making Esme smile. She nods, and he turns towards Rosalie and Jasper. "Esme and I have been talking about our yearly trip to Florida. Jasper, when it's time for that trip, AJ will only be a few months old and flying with him will be extremely difficult. We thought that it would be better if you two and I visited Texas before AJ is born instead of going to Florida."

Jasper's eyes grow along with an excited grin. Seriously? Is this really happening? His mind is filled with all the memories he has from Texas. Staying up late to look at the stars with Avery, ducking his head under the hose as the temperature rose, riding horses and the four-wheeler down dusty trails. Even the short walk from their park to the ice cream shop seems like paradise. He pats Rosalie's knee as he turns towards her.

"Rose, we can visit home!" He tells her happily. His excitement is not matched, though. Rosalie frowns and just shakes her head no. Jasper's face falls. "What's wrong?"

"I," Rosalie pauses as she collects her thoughts. "I don't want to go."

"What?" Jasper asks, completely baffled. The memories are pulled

"I don't want to go to Texas."

"You don't want to go home? Rosalie, we've been gone for so long. We could visit Uncle Beau. We could drive past our house. We could go to the cemetery where Daddy is buried. What do you mean you don't want to go?"

"Because I remember Texas differently than you do," She attempts to explain through her shaky voice. She takes a deep breath to steady herself, because she knows Jasper is going to have more questions.

"What do you mean?"

"So, when you remember Texas, you remember Dad, and Uncle Beau, and all the good things that happened." Rosalie says. She puts her hands over Jasper's and looks him in the eyes.

"Because it was good."

"Not all of the time, Jasper."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jasper admits anxiously. "Things were great at home."

"You don't remember Mom."

"Yes, I do."

Rosalie looks over to Carlisle and Esme, then Emmett.

"Can we talk about this later?" Rosalie asks.

"I want to talk about it now." Jasper tells her. "I can't believe you don't want to go. I know Mom was a pain in the ass, but everything we did with Daddy, all the time we spent at Uncle Beau's house, all the horseback riding and the four-wheeler and everything else was great."

"Mom was not a safe person. Do you remember how we would spend the night at Uncle Beau's with Dad and Mom stayed home? Sometimes it would be for a few days, but sometimes it was for weeks."

"Yeah."

"That was because Mom would have these episodes where she would be so angry and irate that we couldn't be left alone with her." Rosalie carefully reminds Jasper. "Dad would take us to Uncle Beau's so we would be safe."

"What do you mean she wasn't safe?"

"She was sick, Jasper. She would go through these episodes where she would be so depressed that she couldn't get out of bed, then all of a sudden she would be up, but she wouldn't sleep and everything we did irritated her. Dad did his best to keep it from affecting us, but he couldn't always do that."

"But," Jasper scrunches up his face. "Mom isn't in Texas anymore."

"But whenever I think of Texas, I think of when she put dinner on the stove, then forgot about it and it caught on fire. I think of how scared I was when she would lock herself in her bedroom all day while Dad was at work and I had to take care of you. There was very little warning before she fall into an episode, and she wouldn't take her medicine regularly." Rose describes. "So sometimes she would be okay for a few weeks, and then things would change unexpectedly. The thought of Texas reminds me of all of that. It doesn't make me excited; it makes me nervous."

"Oh," Jasper mutters.

He tries to think back to what Rosalie is talking about, but it's clouded by the memories of Avery.

Rosalie remembers it clearly, though. She remembers when Mom was screaming at her for putting on a yellow dress when Jasper was wearing red shorts and Avery came home just in time to see Joann grab Rosalie by her shoulders. Avery scooped her up and took her to Jasper's bedroom where she sat with her brother while Avery blocked the door. Joann screamed at Avery over the unmatched outfits. Jasper could always tune it out. He played with his toys while Rosalie listened to their parents.

Depressed was always tough to handle, too. She was only seven years old when she tried to call Avery at work because Joann had locked herself in her room and she and Jasper missed the school bus. Rose tried desperately to find Phoenix Construction and Development, the company that employed her father, in the phonebook but didn't know to look under P instead of F. It took an hour of searching the phone book before she remembered how Avery always had business cards with the company's information on it in all their vehicles. She found Joann's spare key to her car, unlocked it, then ran outside and dug through the pockets of the door and glove compartment before finding one and running back inside. She dialed the number, got ahold of Avery's boss, and told him that she needed her Daddy because Mom won't get up and they're alone in the house. His boss drove as quickly as he could to Avery's house while his wife called Avery at the jobsite. His boss got to the house first and waited with the kids for Avery to show up a ten minutes later. Jasper thought it was the coolest thing ever to meet Daddy's boss, but Rosalie knew this was bad.

Normal was never easy either. Rosalie always knew the next episode could start at any minute. Avery tried so hard to let his daughter know that she had no responsibility for her mother's moods, and that he would always keep her safe, but the anxiety was always there. The newest episode always seemed worse that the last. Avery brought his concerns to Beau and the two created a plan. Beau's spare bedroom became the Whitlock's room. Rosalie and Jasper would stay with Beau when Joann was having an episode and Avery was at work. If it got really bad, Avery and the kids would spend the night there. She remembers when they stayed there for a six weeks.

Just thinking about it fires up anxiety. She can't imagine how bad she would feel if she was back there.

"I love Dad, and I love Uncle Beau, but I can't go back to Texas." Rosalie sadly tells her brother.

"You don't have to go, Rosalie," Esme interjects.

"I'm sorry, Jasper. I can't go." Rosalie apologizes. Jasper nods and squeezes Rosalie's hand.

"It's okay," He sighs, then turns towards Carlisle. "But, can we still go?"

"Yeah, we can still go," Carlisle promises, and Jasper grows a small smile.

"Tell Uncle Beau I said hello and that I love him." Rosalie requests. Jasper nods.

"Of course, sis."

Rosalie gives him a big hug, holding him as tightly as she can before pulling away. Emmett puts his hand on her waist.

"Are you ready to go?" He asks. Rosalie nods, sees the confusion on her family's faces, and hurries upstairs to get her bag.

"Is she going with you?" Carlisle asks Emmett.

"Well, yeah," Emmett shrugs while rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "It's not a big deal."

"Come with me. We need to talk."

Carlisle and Emmett leave the couch to talk about this surprise sleepover. Jasper scoots over to Esme.

"I can't believe I get to go home." He tells her happily.

Rosalie returns with her bag, tells Esme and Jasper goodbye, and goes to Emmett and Carlisle. Jasper watches the interaction, wondering what's being said. There's no way Carlisle is okay with this. Carlisle wags his finger, Rosalie raises her eyebrows and crosses her arms over her chest, and Emmett shrugs as he tries to downplay the situation. After a minute or two, Carlisle sighs, and Emmett and Rosalie smile and leave the house. Carlisle drags his feet to the couch and sits next to Jasper.

"So, just you and me are heading South?" Jasper asks.

"Sounds like it."

"When do we leave?"

"I haven't bought the tickets yet."

"I'm going to call Uncle Beau and tell him."

"It's late, Jasper. Call him tomorrow morning." Carlisle suggests.

"Alright," Jasper sighs. "Do you work tomorrow?"

"No."

"Okay. I'll call Uncle Beau first thing tomorrow morning then." Jasper says and stands from the couch. He stretches his arms as he suppresses a yawn and heads to the stairs. He takes one step up, then pauses and looks to his adoptive parents. "Uh, Mom, Carlisle?"

"Yes, dear?" Esme says.

"Thank you."