Chapter Two

Eternity

POV: Jasper Whitlock

My mouth was parched. Panic was building up in me. The white walls and bleaching smell of this stupid hospital was making me want to implode. The bleach didn't cover up the blood. I knew that there were probably bags of it somewhere close by. Bags of blood. Oh my God…

"Alice," I said quickly, grabbing her arm. Her dark, doe eyes flashed to mine. "Alice, I don't know about this. I'm not sure, I mean. What if I…?" I trailed off, unable to finish. What if I did something? What if I hurt that baby, that poor, innocent child? I could almost see Bella's anguished face…Edward would never come near me again…I would be totally dejected by my entire family, not just as a killer, but one who had murdered a child in cold blood.

My wife reached out and touched my arm, laying her head on my shoulder. "Jasper…they trust you. They want you. You won't do anything."

I took a deep breath and followed Alice down the corridor to the room where they had taken Bella after the birth. Alice gently pushed open the door and walked in before me, a wide smile on her face as she danced to Edward's side to look over at the baby, a blue bundle in Bella's arms. I closed the door after me and moved to the other side of the room, beside the window. There was a wealth of emotions in the room - emotions that Edward and Bella had had to protect themselves against for the last nine months, the emotions that they were facing here and now as they looked into their son's eyes, Alice's happiness at the fact that she was an aunt, and most of all, an overwhelming peace as Edward and Bella looked at their baby, a mixture of each of them, and something that they could both love so much.

And I could take that away from them.

The happy coincidence was that I had been hunting the day before. If there was any time that I was less thirsty, it was now. And yet…

I shook those horrible thoughts out of my head.

"Jasper," Bella called my name and I looked up into her warm, trusting eyes. That trust made me feel better about myself, if not confident. I smiled back sadly. Bella tilted the bundle, oh, so slightly, and moved the blue knit away from the baby's face so that I could see. "Meet your nephew."

I braced myself for the onslaught of temptation.

There wasn't any.

The little baby stank of blood, but the smell didn't appeal to me in the slightest. Alice had told me a hundred times that she couldn't think I could harm an innocent baby. I hadn't believed her, but now I knew that it would be alright.

I looked over at Edward. A calm smile was spread on my older brother's face. "I…I don't feel anything," I looked back down at my shoes. My confusion was irritating me. "Nothing at all. No thirst, no temptation…" I looked over at Bella, whose kind face was now intrigued. Then I looked over at Edward, who looked relieved. "Why?"

Alice skipped over to my side, rubbing my arm as a comforting gesture. She smiled up at me. "Maybe the good Jasper outweighs the bad Jasper," she smiled. "Maybe you couldn't hurt your own nephew, a helpless baby? I don't see you doing anything."

"I can feel it. It's clear as a bell." Edward said, nodding to what Alice had said. "Come a little closer to her, Jasper."

I moved a step closer, then another. Then I stopped, cautiously poking around in my head to see what I felt. I felt nothing.

"Still nothing," Edward clarified for the others in the room.

"Jasper," Bella commanded my attention, and I looked politely at her, ducking my head like the Southerner I was. "Meet Jasper."

At first I thought she had mixed up her words. I looked from her, to Edward, to the baby, and I was still confused. I looked again at the baby. The few tufts of hair he had were wild and curly, and they had a shocking bronze tint to them. His eyes, drooping with sleep, were a deep, dark blue, like the ocean at night, and they were the same shape as Bella's. Then I saw Bella's smile, so trusting and warm, and I knew that she had been serious.

"Really?" I could feel a smile stretch out on my face. I looked down at my feet, embarrassed. I probably would have been blushing, if I could. I scuffed at the cheap linoleum. In one moment, a snap decision, Bella had named her child, her son, and she had opted to name him after me. It felt as if she had given me back something I had lost long ago - so tired of being the weakest link, I was now someone after whom a woman may name her child, a figure of respect - the kind of person I'd wanted to be in my first life, and the kind of person I was now. I looked back up at Edward's Bella and felt a rush of gratitude - my own.

"Thank you, Bella."

Edward pulled Bella a little closer and I felt that it was time for them to be alone. I signified for Alice and I to leave, and we did, leaving them alone - Edward, Bella and baby Jasper, who was named after me.

POV: Carlisle Cullen

Esme's phone had rang in the middle of a long talk with Aro concerning Bella. We had gone to Volterra to discuss with him the fact that she had disappeared, vanished into thin air, and what we were going to do about it. Edward had not wanted us to go, and that was putting it lightly. But the fact remained that Edward could have been anywhere in the world, and we needed the Volterra to help us find her and bring her back to Washington safely.

Esme apologised to Aro for her rudeness, and was about to switch it off when Aro raised his hand. "No, no, please," he smiled at her, a genuine smile. "We cannot have you missing out on small-town gossip."

So Esme answered the phone. She greeted Alice, and after a few moments of stunned silence, she began to speak in low, rapid tones. Aro and I exchanged changes before our gazes became, once more, fixed on Esme.

"Yes. Yes, of course, we will leave right away." She said, and she hung up the phone.

"What is it that troubles Alice?" Aro asked. "Is it so bad that you have to leave so suddenly?"

"They've found Bella." Esme said, replacing her phone in her purse. "She was in Florida this whole time, with her mother. Apparently her parents took her away from Forks so she wouldn't be with Edward."

"Where is Bella now?" I asked. Aro's gaze shifted from myself to Esme as if we were actors in a mildly interesting soap opera.

"In a hospital in Florida." Esme rose from her seat, and I did the same.

"Hospital?" I asked, concerned. "What's wrong with her?"

Esme's hands flailed. "Alice…Alice had a vision of her for the first time in months. She was in labour."

"Bella's pregnant?"

"Well, not any more. She's had the baby."

"She was unfaithful to Edward?" Aro gasped. I fought back a groan. Were Aro human, he would be one of those people who want nothing more than their food and their stories.

"No, no…nobody is quite sure what happened. But the child is Edward's, undeniably. Alice says that he's the image of him."

"He?" I asked, smiling.

"Yes," Esme said, pulling on her coat. Aro stood, rubbing his long, spidery fingertips together absentmindedly as he listened intently. "Bella gave birth to a baby boy, apparently…I would have asked his name, but I forgot…Alice says he's healthy, albeit premature by just a couple of weeks."

"Oh," Aro smiled. "Marcus! Caius! Come and listen! Bella's had a baby, isn't that lovely? A nice little addition to the Cullen clan!"

He turned to me. "I understand that you have to leave, but you will come soon, and bring us a nice little picture, won't you?"

"Of course," I said, grateful I had not been asked to bring the real baby as a snack, like one might bring a dessert to a dinner party.

We left swiftly, catching the first available plane. You need not be bored with the details of the long plane ride.

Thoughts swam in my head as to how Bella could possibly have gotten pregnant by Edward. My only theory was that his venom must have contained some sort of DNA, perhaps not sperm, but something else, and because Bella was human, her womb was fertile enough to support life. The only difference between her and, say, Rosalie, was that Bella was alive, and able to support life, and feed and nourish a growing child inside of her. However, Emmett's venom would be unable to impregnate Rosalie because she was dead.

I was sure that that was it. It had to be - what other explanation could there possibly be? And I supposed that no other vampire had ever gotten close enough to a human to try this - Edward and Bella were truly unique.

We both ran faster than either of us ever had, and got to the hospital in a matter of twenty minutes of leaving the airport. We went to a waiting room, and found Alice and Jasper there, along with Rosalie, Emmett, Charlie Swan, a woman who must have been Bella's mother and a man I did not know.

"Hello," Esme shook the woman's hand. "I'm Esme Cullen, Edward's adoptive mother. I have to say, your Bella is like another of my children. She truly is one of a kind."

Bella's mother accepted Esme's handshake, and smiled fleetingly at her. "I'm Renee Dwyer and this is my husband Phil."

I was introduced, and shook hands with both of them. I inclined my head to Charlie.

"Chief Swan."

"Doctor Cullen." He said, politely. "Have you seen the baby?"

"No, no, we've just arrived back from Italy. We were visiting with some friends there."

"Oh," Charlie raised an eyebrow in mild interest. "Nice there?"

"Very pleasant, thank you." I said.

"Carlisle!" I heard a voice from behind me, and turned to see Edward, who must have heard my thoughts. He looked happier than I'd seen him in a long while, and the sight of his overjoyed expression made me happy. I could tell that either Esme's heart was going to burst out of happiness, or Esme herself would burst - into song.

"Will you come and see the baby?" Edward asked politely. "Everybody else has. Bella is absolutely dying to see you."

"Oh!" Esme smoothed her hair, giggling happily. "Oh, I love being a grandmother already!" She turned to smile at Renee, who just nodded and grimaced. Mrs Dwyer was, notably, slightly less happy about this step up in ranks.

We followed Edward to Bella's room, where he offered Esme his seat beside Bella. She did not take it, but when Bella offered her the baby to hold, she accepted gracefully, and took the blue bundle from the young mother, who sat back a little further into Edward's arms. Bella lay her head back into Edward's shoulder as they watched Esme smiling at he baby.

"Well done, you two," I said, and Edward and Bella smiled at each other.

"Bella obviously did everything," Edward said. "I didn't help."

"Edward, you have two medical degrees - you should know by now that you did, in fact, help this child, this miracle, to occur."

Bella laughed and linked her fingers with Edward's.

"Oh, children." Esme sighed, "He is absolutely beautiful. He looks just like you, Edward, Alice was right. But look at those eyes, Carlisle. Look, he's got Bella's eyes."

"He has," I said. "Have you decided what to call him?"

"I told Jasper," Bella said, and she nodded at Edward, who smiled down at her before.

"Bella has decided to name our son Jasper Cullen," I smiled at the name - Jasper probably had been overjoyed. But Edward continued. "Jasper Carlisle Cullen."

I looked first at the young couple sitting in the hospital bed, and then at the baby in my wife's arms, and I smiled. "Thank you, you two." I said, feeling my smile broaden. "That means the world to me."

Bella smiled, and Edward simply nodded. "It was Bella's idea," he said, handing the credit over to her. She rolled her eyes and then Esme handed me the baby while she chatted with Bella about childbirth. Edward walked over to me, and I smiled at him as I rocked the baby back and forth to get him to sleep.

"I've got a son, Carlisle." Edward said quietly, and I saw the affection in his eyes as he surveyed the infant in my arms.

"Yes, yes you have."

"It's unimaginable…how much I love him already." Edward whispered. "I never thought it possible that I could love someone as much as I love Bella, but…" He looked away, first towards Bella, then down at his feet, then back at me. "But here he is." A quick, weak smile flashed on Edward's face.

I said nothing, only handed Jasper back into Edward's arms and waited for Esme to finish her conversation with Bella.

We left arm-in-arm, and I was a grandfather. Perhaps not biologically, but in every other way, that child, that tiny baby with the dark eyes and the shot of bronze in his hair, just like his father, was my grandchild, and I was his grandfather, and I would love him for all of eternity.

After all, I had eternity to give.