A/N: Thank you for your lovely reviews. I'm so sorry for not answering them. I had an Internet outage that was just recently solved that made it difficult. Will do better this time. Just know you are appreciated.

Calling his mother wasn't always a chore. Sometimes she was downright pleasant to talk to. He missed his Texas family on occasion, especially his little sister.

But sometimes... his family worked his last nerve.

"So how's my grandson doing? You know, you should send me pictures. A grandmother shouldn't have to frame a tabloid to show off her grandbaby."

Jasper closed his eyes and counted to five before he even thought of answering his mother.

When Dash was three months old, a paparazzo had caught the first picture of Jasper out with Alice and the baby. He hadn't thought anything of it until his mother had called, furious and excited. It seemed the picture had been sold to a tabloid. The paper had correctly guessed at Dash's biological parentage, but then had gone on to talk about the torrid affair between he and Alice.

Rose Devastated! the headline read.

Actually, Rose thought it was hilarious. It was finally a tabloid rumor that was all wrong. It wasn't her parents she had to justify any action too.

Jasper knew his mother, Maria, struggled to be open minded. It wasn't that she was bigoted or hateful, she was simply very traditional. When Jasper returned home after his first year at USC she had, as mothers were prone to do, asked about his love life. In his calm, even tone, Jasper had explained that he'd dated here and there...several fine young men.

Deacon, Jasper's father, hit the roof, screaming about normalcy and heathens and Bible thumping his way through a belligerent conversation. Jasper had rolled his eyes, refusing to engage his father further than to tell him to stop being so cliche. That evening, Jasper overheard his parents' hushed arguing. Maria told his father to be patient. Jasper was young and away from home for the first time - it was expected that he was going to explore new things and challenge the way he'd been raised. It was a phase he would grow out of.

In his third year of college, Jasper had become involved with a kind, intelligent man named Benjamin Amun. When their relationship looked to be more lasting, Jasper started to drop his name in conversation when he spoke to his parents. When Jasper brought Benjamin home over the Christmas holiday, Deacon had been nothing short of embarrassing, grumbling, among other things, that he'd apparently paid for Jasper to go out to California and piss all over the morals he'd been taught. He treated Benjamin as if he had the plague. Maria, however, remembered her manners and basic human kindness. She treated Benjamin with respect and politeness, tripping and stumbling her way through awkward situations she never could have dreamed she'd have to deal with.

Time had tempered Deacon's reactions somewhat. By the time Jasper brought Peter around to meet the folks his father had graduated to stiff pleasantries. He would make small talk with Peter but often didn't look the other man in the eye.

On the other hand, Maria was almost natural with her son's significant other. There were large chunks of time where she almost forgot that there was something different about Peter and she could laugh with him and converse normally. Still, there were those needlessly awkward moments when she didn't know what to say, or where to look when Jasper and Peter were cuddling innocently on the couch. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the concept that her only boychild would never bring home a lovely daughter-in-law, would never live what she thought was a conventional life.

Needless to say, when he told her how Dash had been conceived, she didn't quite see things the way Jasper did.

"Mom," Jasper started slowly, "I don't have a son, therefore, you don't have a grandbaby. Unless Lucy popped one out without telling me."

She sighed, sounding frustrated. "Honey, I understand that you don't want to take any responsibility for him, but that shouldn't mean that I can't be a grandparent to my grandchild."

"Mom..."

Before he could go off on his mother, Jasper felt a calming hand on his shoulder. He breathed deeply as Peter began massaging his tension away. "I need you to listen to me," he continued, his tone under control again. "I was trying to help my friend. You remember Bella, right? We've had this conversation."

"You can justify it all you want, Jasper Whitlock, but I've raised you better than this. One day, that little boy is going to want to know where his daddy is. What are you going to tell him then? Rosalie Hale didn't get that little gal pregnant. You did."

Slamming his hand down on the table, Jasper tried to keep his cool...and failed. "You need to get this through your head, okay? That baby is Alice and Rosalie's, not mine. Give it up. I'm with Peter. I'm not going to have children." He chuffed. "At least you still have Lucy," he growled before he slammed the phone down.

Instantly feeling guilty, Jasper slumped forward on the table, burying his head in his arms. He reflected that as much as having children had to, at times, be an irritable and thankless task, the same could be said for having parents.

"Did you mean that?"

"What?" Jasper looked up, his tone still reflecting his vexation as he looked over his shoulder at Peter.

"That we're not going to have children," he explained.

Jasper snorted. "I don't know if you noticed, doll, but neither of us has a uterus."

The silence that followed was distinctly uncomfortable. Jasper got the feeling he was in trouble, but he couldn't figure why. He knew for sure a moment later when Peter made a vague noise. "You know, babe, my stomach is feeling a little funny. I'm really not up for Query tonight."

Jasper twisted in his seat. "Peter," he called to Peter's back as his lover walked away. The other man didn't stop. "Fuck," Jasper said, slumping over the table again.

For a few minutes, Jasper just stewed, trying to calm the boiling hot edges of his irritation. The last thing he needed after his mother essentially accused him of being a dead beat dad was Peter's passive aggressive retaliation. Frustration and his rising temper made it difficult to think, and Jasper didn't want to get into a screaming match with Peter.

Pushing back from the kitchen table, his chair grating against the tire floor harshly, Jasper decided he needed to take a drive.

~0~

Edward looked severely irritated when he opened the door twenty minutes later. His expression softened somewhat when he saw Jasper there. "Quiet," he cautioned as he let Jasper in. "I finally got Ari down for... well, the time being." Jasper clucked in sympathy, knowing that Edward and Bella's baby daughter Arianna wasn't known for being a great sleeper. "Bella isn't here."

"I know," Jasper said, holding back a snicker. "She told me that when I called to ask if I could come over. Actually her exact words were, 'Oh, thank God you called. Edward is alone with the baby.'"

"What?" Edward exclaimed, coming to a sudden halt. He gave an exasperated growl. "I can take care of my own daughter!"

His loud voice was immediately followed by Arianna's whimpers as she woke. Edward slapped his hand over his eyes, looking a little haggard. "Ah, fuck me," he muttered under his breath.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm in a relationship." Chuckling, Jasper clapped him once on the shoulder before moving over to the stroller in the middle of the living room. When she wouldn't sleep, Edward and Bella sometimes put Ari in her stroller and walked her around the house. She was more likely to doze off that way.

Jasper picked the baby up out of the stroller, holding her firmly against his chest as he settled down on the couch. Ari fussed but soon settled, laying her head on Jasper's chest and running her chubby little fingers through his hair. Most of her free hand was stuffed in her mouth.

Sighing, Edward sat beside Jasper, pulling Ari's fingers out of her mouth and replacing them with a pacifier. The little girl made a disgruntled noise but didn't protest further.

"So, what's on your mind?" Edward asked finally.

Jasper didn't answer right away, instead running his fingers around Ari's chubby legs as he sorted through the irritation in his head, trying to arrive at the root of the problem. "Peter wants to have babies," he muttered.

When Edward didn't respond Jasper looked over only to find the other man's lips quirking up and down, as if he wasn't sure he should be so amused. Jasper arched an eyebrow. "It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them," Edward said in a surprisingly good British accent.

Instantly remembering that scene in Monty Python, Jasper chuckled lowly. "But... he can't have babies," he returned in his own - admittedly terrible - accent.

"Don't you oppress him." Edward wagged a finger in Jasper's face.

"I'm not oppressing him, Edward," he continued in mock indignation. "He hasn't got a womb! Where's the fetus going to gestate? Is he going to keep it in a box?"

The men laughed quietly as possible, trying not to stir the sleeping baby on Jasper's chest. "Seriously, man," Edward said when they'd quieted. "I thought that was a sealed deal. Bella said you were talking about having kids right after Ari was born."

"Sure, but talking about having kids and actually having them are two different things. It's not that simple. I can't exactly knock Peter up," Jasper said, his tone a little defensive.

Edward snorted. "Look who you're talking to. You of all people should know that there are many options out there. It's just a matter of choosing one."

His expression became tender as he ran the backs of his knuckles over his sleeping daughter's cheek. "This little girl and her mother are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I can't regret the way she was conceived. Still," he mused, "sometimes I think it would have been nice to plan a family with the woman I love more than my own life. You know... create a family rather than stumbling into one." He laughed. "But I think however you get there, it's worth the journey."

~0~

When he got home, the house was quiet, the lights out. Jasper's heart gave a contrite twist. Peter only went to bed early when he was upset.

Jasper knew Peter's sleeping habits enough that he wasn't fooled at his lover's attempt to feign sleep. Peter was turned away from the door on his side, his breaths too even. Still, Jasper said nothing as he quietly stripped down to his boxers and climbed onto his side of the bed.

Jasper was silent at first, not knowing quite what he wanted to say. He wasn't entirely sure what had set Peter off in the first place - not exactly. He rolled onto his side, looking at the expanse of Peter's back. He smiled to himself, remembering the very early morning after the first time they were together. Studying Peter's nude form as the other man slept, Jasper explored his body with his eyes. Peter's back was a star field of birth marks and freckles. Feeling mischievous, and wishing Peter would wake the hell up already, Jasper had taken a Sharpie and begun playing connect the dots.

Now he used the pad of a single finger, tracing a line from the birthmark at the small of Peter's back, all the way up the freckles of his right shoulder. Peter's breath caught but he still said nothing, and he didn't roll over.

Determined now, Jasper continued along an invisible path, catching as many birthmarks under his finger as possible. When he got to a sweet spot right below Peter's armpit, he wiggled his fingers along the skin there, knowing his lover's ticklish spots better than he knew his own body. Peter squirmed and quickly reached back to bat Jasper's hand away. He rolled over, chuckling in spite of himself. "Real mature, Jazz," Peter said, but there was no real venom behind his words.

Jasper snorted. "Because pretending to be asleep is the pinnacle of adult behavior," he teased lightly. Sobering, Jasper caught Peter's hand, holding it. "I'm sorry for leaving. I just needed to clear my head."

Giving in, Peter rolled over so he could look the blond-haired man in the eye. "I'm sorry for ruining our date."

Tenderly, Jasper brushed the hair off Peter's forehead, twirling a lock around his finger. "So... are you going to tell me what I did? I mean... I have a vague idea, but it would probably be better if you laid it all out."

Peter was silent and Jasper sighed. "Look, I know you want to talk about having kids-" he began but Peter's laugh cut him off.

"I know it's not easy on you. I can see that," Peter began, his tone musing and a little sad. "It's not like you thought it would be, is it?"

"What?" Jasper asked cautiously.

"When you told me what Bella asked, I was nervous. I had this irrational thought... like you were going to take one look at her, and the baby and you were going to want something I couldn't give you. Something..." he trailed off, a small smile on his face.

"There are many, many reasons that I love you," Peter said softly, sincerely. "But do you know what first attracted me to you?"

Jasper tilted his head, looking at the other man curiously. "You mean it wasn't this ruggedly handsome face?" he quipped.

Peter chuffed, smiling adorningly. "Rugged," he snickered. "Besides that, stud. You were the first man I'd met that treated us like we were normal."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when we met, you started flirting with me like it was the most natural thing to do in the world. You weren't nervous. You weren't looking around to see who else was listening. It was such a huge difference from the boys I was used to."

Jasper snorted. "You mean the inhibited college boys who still giggled a little after making out? That's the difference between being with a boy and a man."

Drawing his finger down the bridge of Jasper's nose, Peter's smile waned. "In all the time we've been together, you've never made me feel like there was anything… unnatural about us."

Peter rolled over, straddling Jasper as he sat up. "Not being able to have kids on our own isn't an abnormal situation for a couple to face," he continued evenly. "So when you talk about how you can't have kids because you're with me, it really pisses me off."

Sighing, Jasper put his hands on the other man's waist, stroking his fingers against the small of his back. "You know I didn't mean to say it like that."

Peter regarded him warily for a moment, and then leaned down, aligning their bodies so that his head was inches away from Jasper's. "Sometimes, when you're with Dash and Alice, you look at them like you want… that instead of us."

"That's not-" his protest was cut off as Peter thrust his hips forward.

"Do you remember when we bought this house?" Peter asked, his voice calm though he continued to move over his lover.

Jasper was having a hard time concentrating. "Of course," he muttered, breathless.

Peter bucked his hips harder, grinding so that Jasper gave a little cry. "Do you remember what you said? Room to dream, right? That's what you said."

"Yes. Fuck. Baby..."

"Do you still want that?" Peter asked, moving his hips faster, knowing damn well that he was driving Jasper crazy.

"Yes. Please, Peter." Jasper's fingers were digging into the skin of his lover's back then, his thoughts a blur. He'd have agreed to anything the other man asked but just then but his words were nothing but the truth.

His confusion about Dash hadn't diluted his dreams of the future with Peter... a family with Peter. It had just put blinders over his head, obscuring his clear view of what he wanted.

"Tell me," Peter demanded. "Tell me that you're mine." He was leaning so close now that Jasper only had to tilt his head up to kiss him, but every time he tried, Peter would pull back, always just out of reach.

"You know I'm yours," Jasper whispered, his voice raspy. "It's you and me, Peter. Always." The last word trailed off into a whimper as Peter kissed him. It was a firm kiss, a little desperate despite the confidence in his tone throughout the conversation. He wasn't as sure of himself - of their relationship - as he was trying to make out.

Jasper ran his hands through Peter's hair, gripping hard as their mouths and bodies moved together. It killed him - the doubt he heard in Peter's voice. He just hadn't realized how his indecision had hurt his lover. He realized now how unfair it was - that he'd put the man who should have been his first priority on the shelf while he grappled with his feelings for an entirely different family.

Rather than try and put words to how sorry he was, Jasper let his actions speak for him. His hands traced the lines of Peter's back, alternately caressing and kneading - desperation and tenderness vying for their chance to speak. Peter was pressing him into the bed, dominating his body, which wasn't the norm for their relationship.

But Jasper was far from arguing. No matter what the situation in his muddled mind, there never should have been doubt that he wanted Peter at his side. Always. For everything.

Pressing his lips to Peter's, and then to the other man's chin, cheeks and neck, Jasper let his hands drift down, bringing his boxers with him. He let his fingers caress the line of Peter's ass, teasing and titillating until the neediness had left the atmosphere between them.

Their kisses were sweeter now, Peter's hands not as possessive as he cupped Jasper's face. He wasn't as rough when his hips thrust forward, but instead he moved at a slow, steady pace.

Jasper pushed his lover back only far enough that he could roll over - a silent message that he was Peter's for the taking. Peter peppered kisses across his back, nipping lightly. He fumbled in the nightstand drawer for lube, coating himself and Jasper's entrance quickly.

When he was sheathed inside of Jasper completely, Peter aligned their bodies, preferring the intimate touch instead of deeper penetration. Their fingers entwined, stretching toward the headboard. Peter rested his head on the other man's shoulder, his lips taking quick love bites along Jasper's neck.

"I love you," Jasper said, his voice fervent as he pushed up to meet Peter's thrusts.

"I know," Peter assured, kissing his neck tenderly.

Their words faded to moans and, completely lost in the feel of Jasper surrounding him, it wasn't long before Peter came, his release and Jasper's fingers squeezing his the last salve he needed to mend his hurt.

They shifted and Peter tried to bring Jasper to his release but the blond-haired man batted his hands away. Instead, Jasper gathered Peter to him, stroking his sweat-slicked skin as he kissed every reachable part of his face with slow, tender lips.

Peter drowsed off, smiling.

As Jasper looked on his dozing lover, he thought over his own words from years before. This house was really too big for the both of them. Many times he'd reflected that it was waiting to fulfill its potential, waiting for the clutter and noise of a growing family.

The more he thought about it, the more Jasper realized those dreams were still an unrealized ache in his heart. Maybe he was confused about his feelings for Dash, but when he thought about raising a family of his own, it wasn't the beautiful little boy he thought of.

He wanted it. Despite everything, now more than ever he wanted a family with the man he loved.

"Hey, Peter?" Jasper said, shaking the other man's shoulder a little.

"Hmm?"

"Let's do it."

That roused Peter a bit more, and he raised his head, smiling sleepily. "Baby, we just did it. Maybe I'm getting old, but you're going to need to give me a little more recovery time... and maybe a nap."

Jasper chuffed. "Not that, jackass," he said affectionately.

In Los Angeles, it never really got dark, and so Jasper was able to see Peter's features clearly with the light from the uncurtained window. He saw the love in the other man's eyes, the perfect pout of his lips and the way his hair fell haphazardly across his forehead.

"I love you," Jasper said sincerely, rubbing the pad of his thumb along the stubble of Peter's cheek. "I want to share all my life with you. So let's do this. Let's start a family."

A/N: Thank you to TwilightMundi for helping me name Jasper's father and SweetDulcinea for helping me figure out the lemon. Barburella and jadedandboring for support and full length discussions in mah docs.

So… what are we thinking now?