A/N: Okay, so here's the next chapter. Ya'll are getting anxious with the questions so I thought I'd post this chapter. It has all the answers you're looking for. Thanks to those who thought of any theories. Some of you were on track while others were a little off.
Thanks to saturngurl123 for pointing out the timeline problem. Jasper was gone for thirteen years, not twelve.
Anyway, Enjoy.
Chapter 3
As children, we grow up listening to fairy tales about princesses who have rotten childhoods, with horrible stepmothers or cruel stepsisters. We see from these stories that these beautiful princesses live these horrible lives with no one to care for them. Then we learn that someone is always there to watch out for us: Cinderella had her fairy godmother; Snow White had her animal friends and the seven dwarfs. And then we learn that a man will always save them in the end and they live happily ever after.
Real life is not like that.
That's reality. Most people don't live happily ever after. Real life is more than just living happily ever after. It's about compromise, communication, love, and so many other things that make a relationship strong. In our society now, children grow up with divorced parents. They spend their childhood going from one home to another, hearing one parent bashing the other.
Is there really such thing as love anymore? Or is it just another word we throw around, without actually meaning it? Does a man tell a woman that he loves her just so he can have sex? Is it okay to hit a child and then tell them it's because they love them?
I never believed in love. At least, not until I met Jasper.
Once Upon A time…
***
It was going to rain soon. I didn't care. I needed to get away. Away from the pain, away from the look in his eye every time he saw me. I needed an out.
The farther I ran, the more the clouds started to darken.
I didn't last much longer until I tripped and fell to the ground. I simply curled into a ball and cried. I felt dirty. I felt tainted. God, why is this happening? My hand slipped my stomach. The flat surface. I knew, God I knew…
Someone whispered my name. I looked around, my eyes wide with fear. I struggled to stand up, nearly falling over again when I succeeded.
A cold hand wrapped around my arm, keeping me upright. Automatically, I pulled my arm away and stared into the golden eyes of my saviour.
"What do you want?" I croaked my voice dry and hoarse from crying.
"I need to talk to you."
"Why? Who would want to talk to me? I'm nobody important."
"That's not true. You are important. To so many people,"
"Don't lie to me." I snapped. The rain started falling down. I didn't care.
"I'm not lying. You are important."
"To who?" I challenged.
"You're important to your father." He took a small step forward. "You're important to your mother." And another. "You're important to your friends." Before I could object to that, he held up his hand and I closed my mouth. "And most importantly, you are important to me."
"Why would I be important to you?" I demanded. "Why do you care what happens? Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"I don't want to leave you alone. You already feel more alone than you want to admit." He took another step forward. He was getting too close. I didn't like having him that close. "You feel abandoned. And sad. You're hurt and you want to tell someone but you don't know who. You want someone to hold you and tell you that they care." He stared at me with those beautiful blazing eyes.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because I care! When are you going to see that?" He demanded. "You are so important but you can't see that because of all the pain you're buried under." He took three long strides until he was standing right in front of me, holding my shoulders. "You are worthy of love."
"How do you know?" I looked away, too tired to fight anymore.
"Because I love you,"
My head snapped up. Anger was back. "Why the hell would you love me? You are perfect and beautiful. I am ugly and dirty and tainted."
The rain fell harder, soaking us both.
"You are none of those things. You believe what they say so easily. Why can't you accept the fact that I love you? Trust me; I know what it's like to feel those things. I've felt them much longer than you have." He growled. "I am far from perfect."
His eyes blazed with anger.
"You can't want me." I whispered.
"I do." He came to me and wrapped me in his arms. "I want you so much. I want to wipe away all the pain your under." He pulled back to look me in the eye. "Give me that chance."
"But I'm pregnant."
"It doesn't matter."
"You still want me after all this?"
"No matter what, I'll never stop loving you."
I stared into his eyes for several long moments. After finding what I wanted, I sighed and leaned my head against his chest.
"Jasper,"
"My Bella,"
***
Bella
I woke with a start, shivering from the dream.
"Darlin'?" Jasper whispered. I peeked at him from over the comforter.
"Good morning." I answered in a whisper.
He gathered me into his arms and held me. "Sugar, what were you dreaming about? You had quite the number of emotions."
I stared at him and smiled weakly. "You are my happily ever after."
"What?"
"I used to believe that happily ever after was only meant for fairy tales." I whispered, staring into his beautiful eyes. "And then you walked into my life, told me you loved me and I believed you."
Realization flashed through his eyes. "You dreamed about that?"
I nodded. "You have no idea how much those words touched me. You saved me from myself that night, Jasper."
"Too bad I couldn't save you from the horrible cold you ended up with."
I kissed him, pushing everything I had into that kiss. Jasper only pulled me away so I can breathe. He stroked my face. "You saved me that night as well, Bella."
"Who would have known two broken souls could find such tremendous love?"
"Certainly not I."
"I love you."
"As I love you."
Jasper and I stayed in bed for as long as we could before the twins came looking for us. "Come on you lovebirds, get up. We have places to go, people to see." Peter banged on the door.
We sighed and pulled away. I went to get ready while Jasper checked on Abby.
After showering and changing into a pair of tight fitting black jeans and a white long sleeved top, I clipped my hair up and put on the soft black flats.
Jasper was dressed in his favourite worn jeans and a tight black t-shirt. My lust spiked at the sight. He smirked when he felt it and winked.
He was doing that on purpose!
"Don't worry sugar. We'll work something out." Peter said, appearing beside me.
I glared at him and shook my head. "I don't even want to know."
"Let's go." Jasper said. "It should take about forty-five minutes to get to the Cullen house." Jasper said. "Are you coming Peter, or will we meet up later?"
"Later, Jazz. I'd rather not be there when that shit hits the fan."
"Please watch what you say around my children, Peter." I said. "Especially Abby. She's been picking up all sorts of words lately."
"I'll try." He smiled widely, flashing his teeth.
I rolled my eyes and followed Jasper out to the car.
Forty-five minutes later and we were driving up the long driveway towards the Cullen house. "You ready, Bella?" Jasper asked.
I stared at the house while Jasper pulled the keys out of the ignition.
"Bella?"
I gulped back nervously and looked at him.
"You don't have to be worried baby." He said. "Nothing's going to happen."
"Yeah, Mom. They're Pop's family. How bad could they be?" Trevor asked, getting out of the car.
"I don't think I want to answer that." I said, opening the door. I leaned against it, taking a couple of slow breaths to calm my nerves.
"Bella, would you like me to help calm you down?" Jasper asked, taking Abby from Sophie.
I nodded once and immediately felt the waves of calm. I relaxed against the door and smiled weakly at him. "Thanks Jasper." I took Abby from him, holding onto her for dear life.
"Make sure you don't squeeze her too hard, Bella." Jasper warned.
I stuck out my tongue. "I'm not hurting you, am I baby?" I asked. She shook her head and stared at me with those wide blue eyes of hers. "There, see?"
He chuckled as we walked to the door. It flew open before we had a chance to knock.
A tiny girl with black spiky hair stared back at me.
"Uh, hello. I'm Bella."
Jasper
Bella's voice was strong when she spoke to Alice. I was rather pleased. "Hi. I'm Alice."
She stiffened immediately and held Abby a little harder. Abby's pain shot through me and I took her away from Bella. "You're hurting her."
"Oops. Sorry, baby." Bella kissed Abby and turned to look at Alice. She was no longer standing there.
"Are we going in or are we going to wait until it starts raining?" Trevor grumbled from behind us.
I gently walked Bella inside and Sophie closed the door. I could feel her awe as she looked around the house. "This place is huge." She whispered to Trevor.
"Jasper," Alice's voice pulled me away. I looked at her. Her bottom lip was trembling. "Why didn't you tell us you had children?"
"It was a surprise." I said coolly. "Everyone, this is Trevor and Sophie," I pointed to them, "and this is Abby." I could feel the shock coming from everyone, along with a little jealousy from Rosalie as she stared at Abby. "Guys, this is Alice, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle and Esme."
"It's nice to meet you." Sophie said politely.
"It's very nice to meet you as well." Esme said, coming closer and smiling at her. Sophie smiled hesitantly.
"You don't have to be afraid, darlin'. Esme's not going to hurt you." I told her.
She nodded.
"Well, Bella. It's nice to finally meet you." Carlisle said, stepping forward and taking her hand.
"It's nice to meet you as well." She said. "Jasper's told me so much about you."
"Has he?" Edward asked, his eyes black.
I recognized that look, even if I couldn't feel his emotions. "Emmett, Rosalie, get Edward out of here!" I ordered before he could lunge. I gave Abby to Bella and crouched protectively in front of them.
They reacted without a second thought and grabbed a hold of his arm, leading him outside.
Bella looked at me with terrified eyes. "Sophie, take Abby and go outside for a while. One of us will get you soon." I said, standing up slowly.
"Dad,"
"I mean it, Sophie. Now." Trevor and Sophie headed outside with Abby.
"What was that?" Esme asked in alarm. "What happened with Edward?"
I ignored them and turned to Bella. She was frozen still, her eyes wide with fear. "It's okay, baby." I whispered, pulling her towards me. "Bella, you're safe. Nothing is ever going to happen to you." I moved away and stared at her. "Do you understand?" I asked.
She nodded her head, resting her forehead on my shoulder. "Why did he react that way?" She whispered.
"Perhaps we should sit down so Jasper can explain," Carlisle suggested.
I nodded and let Bella to the living room. I sat down in one of the armchairs and pulled her down onto my lap. Alice was burning with jealousy as she took a spot on the couch next to Esme.
"Bella, do you remember when I told you humans all have different smells?" She nodded. "Your blood is very sweet. It appeals to Edward in a way that he is a dying man in need of water." Bella stared at me in horror. "You're his singer, darlin'. Your blood sings to him."
She shivered in my arms and curled against me.
"Well, I suppose that answers that question." Carlisle said. "Jasper, you must keep Bella away from Edward at any means."
I nodded.
"Jasper, why didn't you tell us you had children?" Esme asked, speaking softly.
"It would have been difficult to explain and I wanted to have Bella with me when we told you." I said.
"Will you tell us?" Alice demanded. "I think we have a right to know."
"Alice," Carlisle warned.
She shut her mouth but her jaw clenched.
"I guess we can answer the obvious. They're not yours." Carlisle mused.
"I may not have fathered them but those are my children in every sense of the word." I said.
"Tell us, Jasper." Esme said.
I nodded and looked down at Bella. She was curled against me, staring down at her hands. "Bella and I met in her senior year of high school. I was working as a History teacher at the high school she went to. We became close. We didn't have a romantic relationship. She came to me when she was feeling upset. She didn't know what I was but she felt very comfortable around me." I kissed her head, wrapping my arms around her waist. Emmett and Rosalie came in and sat on the love seat across from where we were sitting.
"Bella's boyfriend was a prick. He wanted something from her that she was unprepared to give. She wanted to wait but he was too impatient." Bella shuddered against me. "Sometimes she would come and tell me she was scared but I couldn't get her to tell me why. I had my suspicions but I couldn't exactly come and ask her outright. So I waited, hoping one day she would be comfortable enough to tell me. My feelings for Bella grew the more I got to know her. She was such a quiet student but when you talked to her about things that were important, she would grow passionate about it.
"One day, I was sitting in my class when Bella came inside. She was crying. I begged her to tell me what it was but she wouldn't. She left, running through the forests. As soon as my confusion cleared, I ran after her. I followed her through the woods until she just stopped. She yelled and screamed at me until I told her that I loved her. And she told me she was pregnant."
Bella was staring out the window, his face devoid of any emotion. I could feel all the pain talking about this was bringing her. "I told her it didn't matter. I loved her and I would have done anything to help her. After a couple of weeks, when she was convinced that I was staying, she told me what happened. Her boyfriend raped her. He took her to a hotel after prom and when she refused to have sex with him, he decided to get it anyway." Rosalie started growling. Much like Bella, this hit a nerve with Rose. Only instead of getting pregnant, she wound up dead, in a manner of speaking.
"I wanted to kill him. I wanted to show him just how much pain he caused Bella. But she talked me out of it. I don't know how but one minute I was ready to kill, the next I was calm. I convinced Bella to talk to her father. He was Chief of Police. Suffice to say, Bella's ex was thrown in jail for five years. It may not have been ideal but at least Bella was safe."
Esme was close to tears as she listened to the story. Carlisle wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her against him.
"Bella had the baby. While the baby was conceived by rape, we both fell in love with her. Abby was born and I convinced Bella to name me as the father." I smiled as I remembered holding Abby for the first time. She was so tiny and she looked so much like Bella, you could barely see any resemblance to her so called father.
"That doesn't quite explain the twins." Rosalie said, her gaze softening at Bella.
Bella cleared her throat and started speaking. "After Jasper and I got married, we moved into our first house. Sophie and Trevor lived next door to us and they would spend so much time over at our house. They loved it when I cooked and they liked to play with Abby. Jasper and Trevor would play baseball in the backyard when it was nice out. The twins' parents weren't exactly the best. They're father often left in fits of rage and wouldn't come back for days, if not hours. They're mother was a crack addict. When she would get into one of her moods, she would send them out and they would come over to us."
"One morning, Jasper had gone hunting, I came downstairs and saw the twins sitting out of the porches, shivering and crying. I brought them in immediately and warmed them up. They told me what happened. Apparently their mother was dead. She wasn't breathing and they were only nine years old. They didn't know what to do so they came over to our house. I called Jasper and then called the police." Bella looked at me, silently pleading for me to continue.
"She was dead and apparently their father got into a bar fight and got stabbed. He was dead too so the twins were all alone. The police wanted to take them away but Bella didn't want that. I managed to pull some strings and we had a closed adoption. Three months after Abby was born, we were then saddled with a newborn baby and two very emotional children."
"Jasper had a particularly hard time with that. More times than not he would have to leave to get away from the emotional climate." Bella added. "The only time he would ever get any peace was when he was with Abby. She gave off such strong emotions of love that you couldn't help but be pulled to her."
"She was so tiny." I mused.
"Didn't she react to your cold skin?"
"In the beginning." I admitted. "But she grew so used to it that it doesn't bother her anymore."
"How old is she now?" Esme asked.
"Almost two." I smiled. "She's a very intelligent child."
"Do the twins know that you're a vampire?" Carlisle asked. "Because it could be very dangerous for them."
"They do know, actually. To an extent." They seemed nervous by that but it's kind of hard to keep something like that from them.
"Do they know the dangerous of that knowledge?" he asked.
"Of course they do." I snapped.
The room fell silent when Sophie and Abby came in with Trevor in tow. "Dad, Abby's sleepy but she wants you to tell her a story."
I smiled and moved Bella away so I can stand up. "All right." I took her from Sophie and kissed her on the forehead. "Esme, is there a room I can put her down in?"
"I've made up a room for you, Jasper, in case you ever came back." She said. "It's on the third floor."
"Great. Thanks." I smiled at Bella and took Abby up to the room.
A/N: That's all for today. Forgive me for any mistakes. I'm too tired to edit.
Review Please.