Hello dearest readers! For those of you who are disappointed with the length of my chapters, please allow me to tell you a little about my writing style. I write when an idea pops into my head, and I continue to write until I feel myself exhaust the idea and my creativity. Writing to me is a coping mechanism. There are nights where I just want to write a few paragraphs (obviously, I don't post those, they're my jumping off points) and then there are nights when I write pages and pages of material. I know going from the word document to fanfic makes a difference, but I assure you, I'm going to try and keep my chapters ranging from 4-6 pages. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, I'm always around…and now back to my favorite couple!
Jasper
I can't believe I'm sitting next to this beautiful girl; no, not girl, woman. And let me tell you, Bella Swan was nothing but a woman. She has the most stunning auburn hair that falls in cascades down her back until it reaches the top of her hips. She has the most flawless alabaster skin and ruby red lips that are just dying to be kissed. But that's going to have to wait. Bella isn't one that is simply going to fall for me because of my natural tendency to attract a woman. I'm going to have to woo her into being mine, and mine she will be. I can feel the emotional roller coaster going on behind the brave front she's putting out and I'm getting drunk on the emotions. I'm also becoming concerned because her blood isn't calling to me like every other person in this town. It's like she has no blood in her body. But I know this isn't the case because I can see the flush in her skin from the embarrassment from the scene in the tent earlier. She fascinates me, and she makes me want to do things that I've never done before. She makes me want to try and be something.
"Well darlin' nothin' would please me more than if you would allow me to escort you to a dinner and a movie on Friday night. I want to show you how much of a gentleman my momma raised me to be, what do you say?" I laid it on thick, knowing exactly what my deep southern accent did to this girl (there are some advantages to being an empath). I could hear her heart flutter and see the blush slowly creep up her cheeks. "Well Jasper, I think dinner and a movie on Friday night would be great. But there's one thing you have to do first. You have to ask the Chief."
Bella
Usually, when a guy has to ask for a father's permission, they skirt around the issue or get nervous. Jasper did neither. "I already did darlin' I asked him before I came to find you. I wanted to know what I was going to get myself into once I sought you out. If there's one thing I've learned about women, it's this: get to know their moods and reactions. I knew you were upset and I wanted to make sure it would be appropriate for me to come out and talk to you, or if you would want to just be alone." Well hell, he really has me figured out. Before I had a chance to reply to his statement, Charlie and Doctor Cullen came out to find us. "Bells, it's time to go have that talk with the doctor" Charlie said upon finding us. "Why don't we take this into my office" came the voice of Doctor Cullen (or as I noticed, Doctor Yummy).
We walked into the most beautiful office, and got comfortable in the oversized chairs surround the massive desk. "Well Bella, Charlie has asked me to talk to you and answer any questions or concerns you may have. He came to see me earlier today and was complaining of a few symptoms. I ran some tests and did a physical work up on him. When I was in the middle of his physical, I noticed a small growth next to the base of his nipple. While slight bumps around the nipple are normal, you know that some growths can indicate an issue. I did a small biopsy of the growth and immediately sent it to be cultured. We got lucky that it was a slow day and the lab could have the results to us rather quickly. The biopsy showed that Charlie has breast cancer." Once Doctor Cullen mentioned the words breast cancer, the breath in my chest constricted and my vision started to blur. Not Charlie. Not my handsome, wonderful father whom I'm just now getting the chance to really know. I can't lose the only parent who has actually taken an interest in my life. I started to sway, but I stopped myself. No! I will not be the damsel in distress. This is not about me. This is about Charlie, and damn it, I'm going to do everything possible to make sure my father gets better. "Okay Doctor Cullen. What's the plan? How are we going to get Charlie into remission? Is he doing chemo? Are you doing an MRI or CAT scan? Does he have any other lumps? What are his chances looking like?" I fired of the questions in quick succession, not giving the man a chance to reply before I shot out another question to him.
Charlie
She's taking this better than I thought. I was expecting her to completely break down and not know how to handle this. But I underestimated my daughter. She was quick to jump into action and demand that the doctor fill her in on the course of action immediately. She wanted to help me fight this, and knowing that my daughter is standing beside me gives me even more motivation to do this. I will make the changes in my diet and exercise. No more going to the diner every Thursday for a steak, loaded baked potato and berry cobbler. It's going to be lean protein, leafy greens, and fresh fruits from this point on. I'm going to do the chemo and whatever else is necessary to be there for my daughter. I want to escort her down the aisle. I want to see my grandchildren born and raised. I want to watch her graduate college and start a career. I want a life with my daughter. I'm not letting cancer beat me. I'm not letting it rob me of the life I want. I am determined to fight this.
Bella
I looked at Jasper, "I'm sorry Jasper, but I need to focus on my father right now. Can we take a rain check on that date?" Before he had a chance to respond, Charlie jumped right in, "Now, wait just a minute! Jasper asked you on a date? When? Where? You can go on this date Bells. We've got awhile before I'm going to be weak from the chemo that I'm going to need help. Take this time to enjoy yourself and be young. Don't let this cancer thing stand in the way of your happiness. I'm not letting it get to me." Charlie shocked me. I wasn't expecting him to jump to Jasper's defense and encourage me to go out with someone. He's normally more reserved than this. "Fine, Jasper. You may escort me to dinner and a movie."
6 months later
A lot of things have happened in the past six months. Charlie had three lumps removed out of both sides of his chest. The scans revealed that the cancer was more aggressive than Carlisle originally thought. Charlie has gone through multiple rounds of chemotherapy and has been in a few test trials of new drugs that are supposed to be geared toward men with breast cancer. He has his good days and his bad. He had to give up his chief position as his body had become too weak to go into work most days. I've had to finish my high school work online as Charlie needs round the clock care, and I refuse to let a stranger in the house when I'm perfectly capable of taking care of him. The only times I'm not with Charlie is when Jasper comes to take me out on our weekly dates and forces me to take some time to do something fun. We've been dating for about six months now, ever since that fateful Friday night date.
Jasper pulled up to Bella's door in a big grey truck. She giggled when she saw it because it fit his "cowboy" personality perfectly. Since the night she found about Charlie's cancer, her and Jasper had become inseparable. There wasn't a night that Bella didn't spend watching movies with Jasper or he would come over and watch the game with Charlie just to keep them company and their minds off of things. Carlisle had told Bella she was free to come and see him any time she had any questions or concerns about Charlie and the plan. But for the time being she wanted to enjoy the seemingly healthy looking Charlie now before he started his therapies. As Jasper walked to her door, she couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked. He was wearing dark jeans, a charcoal grey long sleeve t-shirt that rippled every time his muscles moved and black cowboy boots. He wasn't over dressed or dressed in anything that would draw attention to him, and Bella liked it. She hated men that dressed to draw attention to themselves, men that tried to make their dates jealous by showing off around other people. If she was going to date someone, she wanted them to be comfortable and themselves. Not a façade of whom they thought she wanted them to be.
"Darlin' you look gorgeous. Are you ready to get our night started?" She shook her head yes and looked back at Charlie. "We will be home as soon as the movie is over. Take it easy and try to get some rest. I love you." And with that she closed the door and walked to Jasper's truck. "Well, where are you taking me Jasper? I know you said dinner and a movie, but you never really specified." He chuckled and told Bella they were going to a little place he had found tucked away and that they were going to watch the new vampire movie that had just come out. It was decided to go and see the movie first as neither one of them were really hungry yet. The movie was so clichéd. They described the vampires as having hard, cold skin that sparkled in the sunlight. The main vampire made a girl fall in love with him by just looking into his eyes. Apparently eye contact was all a vampire needed to know when he had found his soul mate. And these vampires didn't drink human blood; they lived off the blood of animals. They were fast, but none of them could fly. They had other powers though, and I guess that was kind of cool. I thought the movie was kind of silly and didn't scare me in the least bit. The love scenes left something to be desired, as the pretty boy didn't want to ruin the virtue of his girlfriend. Jasper and Bella talked about the differences between the vampires in that movie versus the vampires that are talked about in other movies and myths. He made her laugh, and he seemed to be so involved with what she had to say. He never looked at any of the other girls in the restaurant, which made her feel good since the majority of them were definitely vying for Jasper's attention. The night was going well, and a clear friendship was forming between Jasper and Bella. But that was before the night made a very interesting turn….