Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or it's characters.

Note: It's a short chapter, but it's something, right? I know where the next chapter is going, so I'm going to try to get that one out before homework becomes a problem. If I don't, just know I'm slowly working on it. Have no fear... I will finish this! (I want it to be by the end of the year, but I'll have to see how life goes.)

It was the end of March, and I was finally starting to become comfortable in my new skin and my new light red eyes. My strength was another story. It was hard to be delicate with objects I couldn't even dent before. By the time February rolled around, Jasper was starting to believe I was destroying the kitchen counter just so he would stop trying to teach me how to play chess. What I was doing was keeping myself busy. I was used to leaving my home, going out with friends, spending what little money I had on just about everything, but now I was stuck inside a cabin, only leaving to go to a pay phone inside town every Wednesday to talk to the Cullens and my sister. And that stopped once Jasper bought me a cell phone. He told me it was so I could call at any time, but I just saw it as the lock on my cage.

However, I couldn't say my time within the cabin was horrible. I was taught about Jasper through micro expressions and mannerisms I never would have caught with my human eyes. His favorite stories and games also taught me who the man I married was and still is. On the same hand, at least once a day, he told me to share a story about my past with him, even if I had already told it to him, just so I wouldn't lose the memories that were still very important to me.

He also taught me how to pretend to be human by fidgeting, blinking, and breathing without taking in one single breath. We both worked on making my visions work for me and not the other way around. At the end of December, after celebrating a very quiet Christmas, I finally felt I understood my gift. Of course, I knew it would be a while before I mastered it, but I was definitely on the right track.

As for my family, new and old, I made sure to keep track of them through the phone calls and my gift. Charlie, on certain weekend mornings he hung out with Billy and Harry fishing or watching a game, disappeared. The close proximity to people I learned were wolves made it impossible to see, making it hard to check in on him. There were some times I didn't even see my sister, and I knew she was with Jake.

Edward refused to say anything to me until the beginning of the March when he finally let me say, "Take Bella to prom. You won't regret it." He answered with grumbles and grunts and handed the phone off to Emmett. Bella and her lack of understanding about the men around her annoyed as much as worried me. My vision of her and Edward kissing at prom, a vision I saw soon after I spoke to Edward, was a step in the right direction for them, but a vision of her as a vampire it was not. It told me there was still a very long road ahead for the three of us.

I made sure to keep Esme and Emmett pushing Edward in their own way. Rosalie was a tough sell because of how I treated her and because she thought Bella only wanted to become a vampire to be with me again. It took many calls for me to explain that wasn't the real reason, and she would see that soon. She reluctantly agreed to go with Esme to help Bella shop for a dress under the guise of finding a dress for her and Emmett's personal party the same night as the prom.

"What's going on in there?" he asked, breaking the silence of the late morning.

With my head on the pillow and my legs wrapped up in the white sheets, I smiled, my eyes closed, focusing on his finger moving softly up my bare back. "Just thinking about tonight."

"Hmm, prom. Do you remember last year's?" He lifted his finger and moved around on the bed.

I opened my eyes. Jasper was lying on his side, his head propped up on his hand, his face only inches from mine, waiting for an answer. "Of course. That was the day I learned how good you look in a tux."

"Oh, I see." The corner of his lips turned up before he fell onto his back.

It was my turn to move onto my side with my head resting on my hand. "And, if you want me to get sappy, it was the night I knew I loved you."

"But you told me you knew before you ever met me."

"Just a lie."

"Really…"

I smiled. "No, not really, but a girl always has doubts at the beginning, especially when she hasn't actually met him yet. That's why my sister has problems. She listens to the doubts when she should be listening to her heart. But, after tonight, everything should be clear, even for her."

Jasper shook his head and sat up on the bed, placing his feet on the simple green rug below the bed. "Are you sure?"

Shrugging, I sat up on my knees behind him and wrapped my arms lightly around his neck. "The last time I looked, the night was going turn out great for them. So far, nothing's changed."

"If it did, would you warn her?"

I thought about the question for a second, but it was a no brainer; I was giving Bella a meddle free evening. "Nope."

"Good." He kissed an arm and stood up, breaking my grasp on him. "It'll be more of an adventure for her."

He walked to the sliding glass doors, and opened the curtains, allowing the few rays of sun that passed the tall trees to come in. I followed him, picking up the black shirt Jasper wore last night and put it on. Leaning into him, I knocked my head on his back before my fingers moved to play with the elastic of his green boxers.

"I just hope she realizes he's going because he wants to and not because I asked him to over the phone. The last thing I need is for her to doubt him enough to change her future."

"And what is her future?"

I dropped my hands to my side, but stayed standing in the shadow of Jasper, my head still leaning on his back. "Us. Someone in the family is going to change her. If she opens herself up, it'll be Edward."

"Are you sure about that?"

"No. What I do know is that she'll be a vampire. I saw it. She's so sure of her decision that it keeps coming back to me. But I don't know who will do it. I'm hoping Edward, but if it isn't, maybe Carlisle?"

"I don't think he will."

I stepped from Jasper's shadow, allowing the sun to dance across my sparkling skin. "Why? He's already done it before."

"When needed."

"Well, this is needed."

"Changing someone so they can stay near a loved one is not what Carlisle would call needed."

I frowned, anger building up inside. I was having a hard time not feeling as if those words were for us and our relationship. If he didn't want to… Then he didn't have to… And this whole conversation wouldn't… Finally, I said, "What about Esme? You can't tell me he did that out of necessity."

"She was dying."

"My sister will die," I said, trying to calm down. This wasn't a conversation I wanted to be having at this time.

"After a long and fulfilling life."

"How do you know? Can you see the future?"

"No. I'll leave that up to you." Jasper walked away from the window to the bathroom, stopping only to grab a pair of jeans. "I'm going out to hunt. Do you want to come?"

"I'm not hungry," I said and walked back to the bed.

888888

It wasn't until the afternoon when Jasper left. Hunting wasn't his reason; his eyes weren't the dark grey or black I normally associated hunger with, and I was usually hungry before he was. To give him the privacy he wanted, I kept myself busy with mundane activities such as laundry, sweeping the floors, and walking around the property, looking at the scenery. However, none of them were taxing enough to take my mind off Jasper's lie and what he could be doing.

It was after placing the comforter on the bed we shared that I gave myself permission to take that peek. After all, Jasper was more than likely expecting me to. Well, it was the lie I told myself, and I was going to stick to it. Plus, I wanted to make sure he was doing okay like any loving wife would.

Sitting in the middle of the bed, my legs folded in front of me, I focused on Jasper. He was in town, standing by an older gentleman with a large puffy black coat. Money was being exchanged; by the looks of it, a great deal of it. Jasper was smiling and staring at the large vehicle next to him. It was a shinier blue version of the 1950s red truck given to Bella and me.

"Oh, no you're not," I said to the room as it came back into view. "I refuse to drive Tank II."

I crawled off the bed and headed back downstairs to move the wet clothes into the dryer. Halfway down the stairs, another vision started to cloud my view. I was not looking forward to seeing Tank II or some other gag gift from Jasper and hoped it had something to do with Bella since I made sure to keep a constant eye out on her as well, something I figured out how to do in January. Since then, Jasper had been pushing me to widen it to the rest of the family, but I refused to over tax myself before I truly had a handle on it all.

The woods surrounding our cabin appeared. Two people ran from the group of trees near the front of our home into the small clearing lighted by the security lights. Neither of them was recognizable by me. One, the woman, was small, about my height with shoulder length very blond, almost white, hair. Her features were delicate and, if it wasn't for the red eyes, I would have believed she hadn't the strength to swat a fly. The other, a man, was tall, about as tall as Jasper, with the same extremely blond hair as his partner only it was longer, stopping at his shoulder blades. Both came to the front door with purpose; they had been here many times before.

Coming out of my trance, I rushed to find the large sketchbook and pencils Jasper bought me during my first trip into town. I sketched the man first, taking care to get his features right: his square chin, his long, skinny nose. His lips were fuller than in my drawing, but I had never been the best at drawing faces; my specialty lied with clothing and still life. When I saw the sketch of the woman, she looked like me except for the longer hair and smaller nose.

Jasper returned after I finished both sketches, put the laundry in the dryer, and played ten games of solitaire at the kitchen table. He greeted me with a smile and was about to kiss my forehead when he noticed the two faces looking up at him. Recognition set in his eyes, and I knew the strangers weren't going to be as bad as my imagination led me to believe.

"Peter and Charlotte," he simply said.

"They're coming tonight. There weren't any time markers other than it is dark, but I can just feel that it's tonight."

I turned from Jasper and looked around the kitchen and the living room beyond it. "Do you think we should clean up the place?"

"It looks fine. They'll be more surprised by you than the lack of dirt in the cabin."

"Take a dust rag."

I spent the evening of Bella's prom not checking up on her but cleaning the cabin until everything shined. During that time, Jasper continued to tell me the place looked worse in the many years he's had it, but I refused to listen to his veiled complaints.

"I hope he remembers to make Bella take a picture," I said, putting the cleaning supplies back under the kitchen sink.

"He will."

"Until she starts whining about it."

"It's one of the few straightforward demands you've place on him. He'll do it."

"I hope so. I want to see her in her dress."

"Which you've already seen," he said, heading to the couch in the living room.

"Yes, but a picture is better," I said, following him.

Jasper shook his head as he abruptly turned to the door. My head swung to the left to look out the window. They were here. Following Jasper, my excitement was being overtaken by my nerves. What if they didn't like me? What if they wanted to bring someone home to eat? What if they made me join in?

I stayed in Jasper's shadow as he opened the door, despite knowing it did nothing to hide me. What I wanted was to hear the tone of their voice in order to gauge their personalities before seeing them.

"Jasper," Charlotte exclaimed. "We didn't think you were coming up this season."

"Perhaps it has something to do with the quiet one hiding behind him," Peter said in a playful tone.

"In a few minutes you'll be wishing she never opened her mouth," said Jasper, joining in.

The three of them seemed like friends picking up again after a short time apart, so I walked out from the shadows with a tight smile on my lips. "Not funny," I said, not so playfully punching Jasper in the shoulder. He grimaced in pain for a second, satisfying me for now.

Turning to the other two, I offered my hand as I greeted them. "Hi, I'm Alice. I'm Jasper's wife, and I'm glad I was able to meet you. Jasper's already told me so much about you two."

"And Jasper's told us nothing about you," said Peter, taking my hand first and looking a little bewildered, a bit shocked, and overall happy to see me with his long time single friend. Those expressions were mirrored in Charlotte's features as well, only with a bit more shock mixed into her smile.

I smiled and backed up so they could come in. "It's understandable. We only met about a year ago."