Extended Immediate Family

"Santiago's eyes were such a beautiful shade of green. They would look just precious on a baby, I think. Don't you think, Peter?"

Jasper bit into a roll, ripping off a chunk with more force than was necessary. He tried to brush aside his irritation, reminding himself that this woman had given birth to the man who was the greatest gift of his life so far. It wasn't easy since Peter wasn't arguing. But they'd been down this road before. Peter never argued because arguing only made an annoying situation ugly.

"I don't remember what Santiago's eyes were like. That was a long time ago," Peter said, his tone carefully even.

"Oh, of course you remember his eyes. You went on and on about them, once upon a time."

Glancing to his side, Jasper saw that Peter was glaring at his mother who was eating with a nonchalance that indicated she was oblivious to how rude and hurtful her comments were. That assuaged his wounded pride. "I'm kind of hoping he or she has Peter's eyes." He bumped his lover's side gently and smiled. "Prettiest blue I've ever seen."

Peter's features eased as he looked over, smiling back. Under the table, their fingers entwined.

"Woman, did I hear you running your fool mouth about that Santiago asshat again?" Mr. Damon said as he came into the room. He set a box down on the empty chair beside them.

"We're having dinner, Warren," Nettie groused. "What are you doing with that box? It's covered in dirt."

"Nettie, I love you, and because I love you, I'm going to ignore you so you don't annoy me," Warren muttered, and Jasper had to cover his mouth to hide a chuckle.

"What are you doing, Dad?" Peter asked, curiously craning to see what his father was rummaging for.

"Looking for something I want to give my grandbaby," Warren muttered. His eyes lit up as he grabbed at something in the box. "Ah, here it is," he said, pulling out the first piece of a train set.

Peter grabbed at the engine. "Hey, I remember this."

"It was mine and then it was yours," Warren said, smiling hugely. "And now it will be my grandson's."

"What if it's a girl?" Jasper asked softly, loving that Mr. Damon was already so involved.

"Then it will be my granddaughter's. I imagine train sets have as much appeal for little girls," Warren mused.

Peter looked at Jasper and the two shared a private smile, both of them bursting with curiosity about their baby.

"Oh," Nettie said, putting her hands to her cheeks as if she was trying to contain her grin. "I hope it's a little girl. "I still have my old dolls...and my teddy bear. I loved it so much." She patted her son on the arm. "Maybe she will too."

The evening devolved into conversation surrounding the baby, from names to the obligatory sage, parental advice. Warren just cackled, reminding them that children becoming parents was the best revenge for grandparents the world over.

~0~

Early risers, the elder Damons had long since retired to bed by the time the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve. Jasper and Peter were stretched out on the couch, Peter lying against the blond man's chest as they watched the replay of Times Square. As the fireworks went off in the distance, Peter craned his head back and Jasper tilted his head forward as they shared a thorough New Year's kiss.

They parted with a wet smack, both of their phones going off at the same time.

"Hey, Momma, happy New Year," Jasper said at the same time Peter answered, "Charlotte!"

Jasper idly played with Peter's hair, more curious about his conversation than he was with what his mother was saying,. "You sound really tired, Mom. Why don't you join Dad in bed?... Yeah, I love you."

"It sounds like a really happening party over there," Peter was saying, chuckling into the phone.

"Where is she?" Jasper asked, frowning at the idea that Charlotte would be out partying. That didn't seem like the best idea. Even if she wasn't drinking - and Jasper was sure she wouldn't...really - she would be around rowdy people who were drinking.

Peter eyed him. "Relax. She's just with the Cullens," he said, his voice admonishing.

Jasper felt slightly sheepish.

"No, Jasper's just being a worry-wart. He thought you took our baby clubbing," Peter said into the phone. He waited a minute than nodded, handing the phone to Jasper. "Bella wants to say hi."

Jasper took the phone from Peter, laughing lightly when he heard the commotion of the gathered clan and a high pitched baby babbling near the phone. "Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi," Arianna chattered, followed by a flurry of giggles.

"Sounds like you have your hands full, sugar," Jasper said.

"Sugar is exactly what happened here. Dad. Will you take her? You're the one who wound her up."

Jasper laughed so hard that both his and Peter's bodies were shaking. Peter just looked amused.

"Laugh it up," Bella said, sounding slightly frazzled. "But don't come crying to me when you have a hyperactive baby on your hands. She nearly got into the eggnog."

"You love her," Jasper reminded.

"That is well and truly beside the point," Bella said, but he could hear the love in her voice. "Happy New Year, Jasper. How's Georgia treating you?"

"We're going to be paying a fortune with the extra luggage we're bringing back," Jasper answered, winding his fingers through Peter's and pulling him closer. "Suffice to say the grandparents are excited."

"This is only the beginning. You should have seen the haul Ari pulled in for Christmas," Bella said with a sigh. "Between her, Dash and the twins, it was Santa's Workshop in here. I'm surprised there was room for all of us."

Jasper had to smile, remembering the year previous when Bella had begged him to come to Christmas with the Cullens. She was still getting used to the idea that she'd been adopted into such a large family. Somewhere, there was a picture of a wide-eyed, flush cheeked Bella with her six week old daughter in her arms, looking like she wasn't quite sure she belonged there. Now she sounded like an old hand - as if she'd been surrounded by the insanity of the Cullen household all her life.

Though he enjoyed spending time with his family and Peter's, looking around the quiet, sedate household, Jasper couldn't help but feel a pang that he wasn't there with them.

"Alice is giving me a death glare. I guess I'm hogging you," Bella said.

"You'd better hand the phone over. That one can get a little fierce," he said with a fond smile.

"Give Edward a kiss for me. Make sure there's tongue!" Peter called so Bella could hear.

"I don't know which one of us should be more worried about that," Bella muttered, but she was laughing.

A second later, she was replaced by another cheerful voice. "Happy New Year, Jasper."

"Happy almost New Year, Ali."

"Little man, did you want to say hello to Jasper?" Alice prompted.

"Hi, Ja," came a quiet, sleepy voice. "New Year!" he said, though it sounded more like 'N'yer' than anything else.

"Hey, Squirt," Jasper greeted. "Go to sleep!"

He heard Alice's tinkling laugh and a rustle as she no doubt shifted the little boy off to someone else. They talked briefly about plans for New Year's Day before Jasper became aware of Peter's increasingly dead weight against his chest.

"Looks like I have a boy of my own to put to bed, sugar," he said to Alice.

"You do that then. I gotta go anyway. Dash is crashing."

"Give him a kiss for me. And Alice?"

"Yeah?"

"Make sure Charlotte doesn't drive home tonight. There's going to be too many drunk drivers on the road to Santa Monica," he said, his mouth tightening with this fear.

Alice chuffed. "She's staying here, Jasper, don't worry." He could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

"Thank you, honey."

"Any time."

~0~

"Ugh. I hope you two realize how much I love you," Nettie groused, yawning as she got in the car. "Who flies this early in the morning, anyway?"

"Jasper has a meeting at three. We gave you a choice, remember, Mom?" Peter said, rubbing his eyes. "There was a flight that left yesterday afternoon."

Nettie bobbed her head as if to say yeah, yeah, yeah. She reached over and patted Peter's cheek. "At the time, an extra night with my boys seemed worth the effort." She yawned again. "At five thirty in the morning, though..."

A drive-thru run for coffee an what could pass for breakfast livened the three of them up a bit. Jasper was mostly silent in the backseat as he worked his way through e-mails on his BlackBerry, trying to get back in the Hollywood, mile a minute mindset. The atmosphere in Texas and Georgia was definitely a lot more relaxed.

"Oh, honey," Nettie said suddenly, her voice excited as she grabbed Peter's hand, holding it tightly. "Just think. The next time I see you, you'll be a daddy," she sighed, sounding distinctly teary. "Oh, but I shouldn't jinx it like that. It's early yet in the pregnancy, and there's a reason people tell you not to tell anyone until the second trimester."

"That's superstitious, Mom," Peter muttered. Jasper frowned, momentarily distracted from guest stars falling through. He was suddenly over-eager to get home, where he could see for himself that Charlotte was safe and sound.

"You're right," Nettie said. "Done is done. You've already told everyone." She chuckled. "I'm so happy."

"You might have mentioned that a time or two," Peter said, sounding amused.

"You're an only child, Peter. You're my only hope for grandkids. I know a thing or two about this modern world of ours. You know Miss Carmen down the street? Her daughter kept putting off kids, and putting off kids and now she's 42. Not that it can't happen - did you hear about the woman who gave birth in her sixties? Her sixties! - but before Miss Carmen gets too frail to hold them?" She shook her head. "You two have always been so busy, busy, busy, and since you can't come by babies accidentally well...I worried."

When they got to the airport, Nettie got out of the car to give them both a hug. "Remember, I want constant updates," she said, wagging a finger. "You keep me in the loop. And when she's born, I'm staying for a while. You wrap your head around that now because I'm not taking no for an answer."

Peter gave Jasper a look and both men laughed.

"We wouldn't dream of saying no, Grandma," Jasper said, kissing the woman's forehead.

Nettie put her hands to her mouth, her eyes automatically tearing. "Grandma..." She gave a giddy little giggle. "Oh, that feels better than I thought it would."

The plane ride home offered, like before, too much time to think. Jasper tried to push down the unreasonable worry. Being a Hollywood man didn't help, he expected, as some of his worries were downright ridiculous. He thought about the world of possibilities - worthy of made for TV movies. What if Charlotte decided she wanted this baby? It had happened to Bella, to an extent. He still remembered the way she'd cried, pregnant and helpless, in his arms when things were bad between them and Edward was threatening to take her to court for custody of their daughter. Suddenly, using the same clinic seemed like the stupidest idea ever. What if they'd swapped the sperm again?

What if, as Nettie suggested, something happened before the baby could form?

Frustrated with himself, Jasper pushed away those useless worries. What would happen would happen, and he couldn't deal with it until it did. That was the rub about pregnancy, he'd learned from Bella and Alice. There wasn't a lot that could be prepared for. He would help keep Charlotte healthy and happy. Other than that, life, as always, would take its course.

Instead, Jasper concentrated on the good things. Though he knew the baby would never lack for a caring extended family - the Cullens had been more than firm on that point - it was a relief that both sets of grandparents were ecstatic. The Damons had been supportive and happy from the first word. They hadn't even asked who the baby's genetic father was. After their initial bump in the road, the Whitlocks had let excitement overwrite their uncertainty about the logistics of the situation.

Jasper smiled to himself, considering the meaning of family.

Both sets of parents had remarked on the changing world more than once during that trip. It was amazing to think that they weren't so far away from a time when family had been simple. A man and a woman got together, they procreated, and approximately 20 years later, their children procreated. So many immediate families consisted of just grandparents, parents and siblings.

But, in that world, Jasper and Peter might not have been able to live together in peace, let alone been able to have a family. Simple it wasn't, but it had occurred to him more than once that a well lived life never was easy.

Looking over at Peter, Jasper could never regret that his personal life was so much more complicated than his ancestors ever could have dealt with.

~0~

The post-holiday meeting at the Saturday Night Delayed office felt horrendously long. He wanted to get home, knowing that his family was waiting.

His family.

The love of his life, and his child, nestled as it was in Charlotte's womb. Jasper was distracted by the idea that someday soon, he would come home every night to his baby.

The drive to home felt ridiculously long, and Jasper had to stop himself more than once from speeding excessively. He reminded himself that there was always that possibility that he would be the cause of the made-for-TV movie. What a story that would have been - if he died in a car accident, leaving Peter alone to raise their unborn baby.

"Honies, I'm home!" Jasper called in a truly horrid approximation of Ricky Ricardo's accent. He heard snickering further on in the house and found Peter and Charlotte in the kitchen.

Charlotte stood, holding her hand up to stop the rush of questions that bubbled up to his lips. "I feel fine - except for the tits thing, which is honestly a little bit of a turn on - the doctor's appointment is tomorrow. You obviously know the conception date and you're better at math than I am so you'd know better than I would the due date."

Jasper laughed, pulling Charlotte into his arms for a careful, tight hug. "You're incredible for doing this. You know that, right?"

"Honey, I'm amazing," Charlotte responded, squeezing him back.

His hands on her hips, Jasper sunk to his knees right there on the kitchen floor. He moved one hand over Charlotte's flat belly, looking up at her. "Is this okay?"

Charlotte waved her hand. "Anytime. This is your pregnancy, not mine."

Peter walked over, sinking down beside him. Placing his head against Charlotte's belly, he grinned at his lover. "That's our baby in here."

Jasper laid his head next to Peter's, wrapping one arm around Charlotte's waist while he entwined the fingers of their free hands. Their heads jiggled as Charlotte laughed, running her hands through their hair.

A/N: Yes, shorter chapter this time. But I do believe next chapter will be longer. And nookie might be involved. Though don't hold me to it. Those pregnancy hormones can be murder on the sex drive.

Thank you to barburella - even though she thinks old ladies SHOULD be up at 5:30 (NO ONE should be up at 5:30... ew). And many thanks to my lovely jadedandboring.