A/n: I own nothing, all known characters belong to S Meyer. This story came about because of a challenge that Christag Banners put on her blog. Beta by: JoyfulyetHesitantPen.
Summary: A cute fluffy tale of a love between two people that started when they were children and continued on into old age and after death.
Jasper Whitlock has been in love with Isabella Swan since they were kids. Isabella or Bella as she preferred to be called, moved to Texas with her mom, dad and brother Emmett, when her dad got a job with the Texas Rangers—the police force, not the baseball team—and her mom got a job teaching grade two at the school house. Emmett was three years older than Bella, and he was her protector. Anytime something went wrong, Em stepped in to beat up the bully who was picking on his little Bella Bee.
The Swans rented the house that wasn't too far from Jasper's farm, and the first time Jasper saw Bella was a late summer's evening. It was hot, something that wasn't uncommon for the state of Texas, and the Whitlock's had invited the Swans over for a barbeque. Jasper's father, Carlisle, and Bella's father, Charlie, were over by the grill, talking as if they'd known each other forever. Their mothers, Esme and Renee, were sitting at the table, talking as well while they shucked peas. Emmett was playing a game of tag with Jasper's older brother, Peter, and Bella was off trying to catch fireflies. Jasper had been inside doing a chore that his mother assigned him, so he didn't see when the Swans first arrived, but when he walked through the screen door and saw Bella chasing after fireflies, his heart did sort of a funny flip, and he gulped at the sight of her.
She was wearing a pretty, light blue dress, and her chocolate brown hair was braided into pig tails that had blue ribbons tied to the ends. She had a mason jar in her small hands. After a few minutes of staring at her, he stepped down off the steps and walked as if in a dreamlike state to where Bella was.
"Ya know, Hun, if ya stand still you would have a better time catching those fireflies," Jasper said to Bella's back.
She stopped moving and slowly turned to face the speaker, and as soon as Jasper saw her face, his heart did that funny flip again. Even from his young age, he knew that Bella was beautiful. Her doe eyes were deep pools of chocolate brown, her hair the same rich shade and besides the slight flush on her cheeks, her perfect face reminded Jasper of the porcelain doll his ma had up on a high shelf—the one that had been a gift from his grandmamma to his mama when she was a young girl.
"Are you sure that will work?" Bella replied.
"Course darlin'. Just take the top off of ya mason jar and stand perfectly still with the jar raised a bit and you're sure to catch some," he answered with a wink.
So Bella did as Jasper said. She unscrewed the lid which she had put back on because she was about ready to give up, raised the jar and stood perfectly still. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jasper come to stand very close next to her. He didn't say anything, just stood there. After ten minutes, a firefly landed on the rim of the jar, and after a few seconds, he buzzed into the jar, and then at least five more followed. Bella quickly screwed on the lid of the jar and exhaled the breath she had been holding.
"It worked!" she exclaimed with a big smile while looking at Jasper.
"Told ya," Jasper smirked back.
They sat down in the grass and told each other all about themselves while taking glances at the jar from time to time. Soon dinner was served and Jasper helped Bella up from the grass, and, still holding each others' hand, they ran over to the rest of their family.
Bella proudly held up her jar and said, "Look what I caught."
Everyone crowded around her and Jasper, looking at the fireflies, and then Charlie said, "You can't keep 'em Bells. You have to set them free."
"Why daddy?" Bella asked her father while looking up at him with her big doe eyes.
"Because Bells, the fireflies are wild and are not meant to be kept as pets. How would you like it if someone kept you in a jar for them to stare at?"
"I wouldn't like it one bit," Bella agreed.
"And they don't like it either," Charlie said.
"Okay, Daddy. I'll set them free before we leave," she promised with a sweet smile.
"Good girl." Charlie smiled affectionately, ruffling his daughter's hair and then kissing her on top of her head.
The two families sat down at the long picnic table and ate their burgers and salad while talking about the coming school year and how nice it was to have neighbors that had children the same age for them to play with and grow up together with.
A/n: So not all chapters are going to be long. Hope you all liked this first chapter, the story will follow Jasper and Bella through different stages in their lives.
