***To Build A Home***

Part Two

"Que sera, sera, my Alice... Whatever will be, will be..." His voice was soft as he blew out a breath against my earlobe and found my eyes, pulling me head long deeper. "I love you, darlin', so much... And don't you ever forget or doubt it..."

Shaking my head, I wiggled my nose against his in an Eskimo kiss as he chuckled under his breath and clutched me that much tighter to him. "Que sera, sera...?!"

He easily heard the question in my own voice and was quick to praise and teach me, like always when it came to learning a new language. "Let me help you with that, darlin'..."

Then his tongue was in my mouth as he rolled and coaxed it into the correct pronunciation. My lips vibrated with his chuckle as he pulled away not long after with a raised brow. "What is with you and learning new languages?! I thought it was supposed to be natural and easy...?!"

Rolling my eyes, I used my tongue to lure his back into my mouth as his pants tightened beneath me. "It is supposed to be... But when you have as great a teacher with as great a method as my Jazzy, you'd understand the sacrifices..."

Gripping my hips, he ground against me as I managed to get re-situated in his lap. "Yeeesss... As great as that is and all, we do have other things to be doing at the moment, darlin'..."

Sucking my bottom lip between his teeth, his hand wandered over my bare thigh. "Please don't make this any harder than it has to be, darlin'... There is tonight, after all! No pouting, or the consequences might be rather harsh..."

Pulling away, I blurred across the room and flicked the lock on my door, his arms around me in the next second. "No promises anytime now or anytime in the foreseeable future, cowboy..." Then I found his mouth. "Keep the accent up, cowboy, and we won't be doing anything other than each other for the remainder of the day... Of that, I am sure."

Then, of course, there was a knock at my door. "Ali, did your husband find you?!"

Pulling away with a giggle, I blurred to my door and flicked the lock, just barely cracking it open enough to see Kitty with a smirk on her lips. Then, I was folded in to Jasper's arms as he tugged the door open wider with a smirk of his own, chest bare and muscular beneath my hand. "She did, Kitty. She did very much indeed..."

Her eyes bugged out of her head as she quickly connected the dots between my shirtless husband and my skirt inching up my thighs from his hands around my waist. "Oh...! I'll, uh, leave you two alone then... Sorry for the interruption..."

Jasper untwined from around me and tugged her against his chest with that cocky smirk of his. "No need to apologize, Kitten- it wasn't going as well as I'd hoped, obviously, since my wife isn't stark naked yet..."

Her eyes were the size of saucers as her face flamed and she playfully pushed him back into my arms. "Too. Much. Information. Jasper Whitlock! Too. Much.! I'll, uh, see y'all later..."

His eyes met mine for a beat before he grabbed her hand and kept her from leaving. "Actually, Kitten, Alice has something she needs to tell you... All of you..." Smiling softly, his hand left hers and found mine as our fingers twined and he kissed my lips. "Don't you, darlin'...?!"

~000~

There were few things I was sorry for back then, and leaving my girls, without too much of an explanation, was one of them. But, I knew they'd be okay... After all, they managed just fine without me, didn't they...?!

A week later, as Jasper and I loaded the rather non-important non-essential boxes into a trailer we'd bought, I was still somewhat stressed about it all. But, of course, Jazzy made sure I was okay. He always did...

Speak and he shall appear... Backing out of the trailer with a sigh after loading the last box, my husband tugged me into his arms and kissed the top of my head. "Well, darlin', we just have to load the car now... Then we are quite literally home free..."

Chuckling softly, he tipped my chin as our gazes locked, his eyes now golden once again. "I love you, Alice... I'll do anything at all for you, darlin'... I'll go to the ends of the earth for you, or grab the moon, if only you'd ask."

His eyes smoldered lovingly as he dipped me toward the ground and kissed me, bending over my already angled body. "Don't let me ever forget to tell you how much I love you, or how special you are to me... Remember that, please, darlin'... Especially now, since I'm having to share you..."

Deepening the kiss, I wrapped my arms around his torso and put my hands in the back pocket of his jeans, keeping him in place as I straightened. "You're not the only one having to share, Jazzy... And if you think we're going to the Cullen's with them unsure of just who you belong to, let me remind you..." Then I crashed our lips back together as he swept me in to his arms. "Much better..."

"Too bad we still have packing to do, darlin'." Then, he released me with a smirk and blurred out of reach into the trees surrounding our home. He was gonna get it... He was gonna get it bad.

Pulling clothes off as I ran, I turned on my heel and watched with a giggle as they fluttered to the ground. "Mr. Whitlock, I seem to have lost all my clothes... Any chance you could help me?!"

I almost ran smack into him as fast as he stopped. He turned on his heel in slow motion, as if in a trance, before his eyes found mine. "Alice..."

My name was a soft purr on his lips as he tugged me into his arms and bent down as I tiptoed, our lips meeting halfway. After all that time, we were perfect in the art of compromise.

As usual, it didn't take long for that one simple sweet kiss to grow in passion and intensity- just as he pulled away. "Alice..."

Golden eyes met mine, slow to smolder beneath lowered lashes, as his fingers began to work at his buttons. Locking gazes, I easily twined my own fingers with his as his shirt finally blew open in the gentle wind. "Jasper..."

A smile just barely tugged at my lips as I slid my hands up his chest and over his shoulders, pushing his shirt off to the ground. Retracing my path, I unhooked his belt as my own eyes smoldered to obsidian and my hands continued to undress him. "Jasper..."

Stopping me in my tracks, he tipped my chin with an equal small smile as his eyes searched my face, literally sweeping me off my feet into his arms bridal style. "Let's go home, darlin'..."

A light sprinkle fell as he easily carried me towards the house, rain falling from his hair and chin onto my bare skin. Tracing the path of a water droplet along his chest with the tip of my tongue, I purred as a shiver broke over his skin. "Somethin' sexy 'bout the rain, eh, darlin'...?!"

Pulling away from the crook of his neck, I slyly winked and eased my tongue into his mouth. "There is most definitely something sexy going on here... Although, I can't exactly say if it's the rain, or my hot Southern stallion..."

His eyes were completely black now, hungry and possessive, as they met mine and a growl shook through his body. "I'll show you something sexy alright, darlin', just you wait and see..."

~000~

Jasper had never once broken any promise he'd made to me, but there was always a first time for everything. That night, as the rain poured and the thunder boomed, I was glad he did.

It'd been a long time since we had done anything really and truly slow and easy, and I missed it. I think he did, too...

Don't get me wrong; we did slow and we did easy, but never like our first night together. It was nice- real nice- to be with my Jasper like that again after so long- to reconnect and relearn and rediscover.

Laying on my side, I shivered as the cool air from the now open windows sent a nonexistent chill through me. To be completely honest, that one shiver had little to do with the cold and everything to do with my husband...

My back against his chest, I tangled the fingers of our left hand with a sigh as he nuzzled into the crook of my neck.

Pulling away a little so I had the ability to think and breathe without his enrapture, I giggled as a low growl warned me back into his arms. "Just where do you think you're going, darlin'?!"

Turning, I traced from one scar to the next until I found mine- his Mark. Lightly kissing it, my lips tilted into a small but triumphant smirk as he shivered with an unconscious tightening of his arms. "Trying to remember what it feels like to be sane and not high or addicted to you..."

Tipping my chin, he held me away from him- clearly able to see through to my plan of attack- with a smirk of his own. "Why on earth would you ever want to do such a thing for, darlin'?!"

Drifting my fingers over his chest, a teasing smile played on my lips as I brushed them across his. "Because I can..."

He then proceeded to roll over on top of me with his own smirk, elbows on either side of my head as he brushed my bangs out of my face. "Then I'm gonna do this, darlin'..." My moan was muffled only by his lips as he entered me. "Because I can..."

We made love another time, content to lay so bare and open in each other's arms. We had and always would be like that, so open and trusting with each other.

My head on his chest, I traced each scar within reach and only paused in my leisurely exploration when his fingers twined with mine. Raising my head off his chest, our eyes locked as his lips tilted into a smile to match my own. "Scars make for good stories. Even and especially yours..."

His eyes searched my face before meeting mine, reading the question there. Raising our twined hand to his lips, he placed a soft kiss on the back of my hand- my born and bred Southern man, as always. "I remember each and every one of them... Would you like to hear about them?"

Lowering my head to his Mark, my lips fluttered light as a butterfly wing against it before I nodded. "I do. But only if you're comfortable, talking about it and reliving it all again... You don't have to, by any means, if you don't want to... I just wanted to know, is all..."

Caressing my cheek, his hand cupped my face and drew it up to his so that our lips brushed as he spoke. "My past was never something I was comfortable talking about. It shamed and scared me- hell, it terrified me! Now, the only thing that even remotely scares me, Alice, is the mere drifting thought of losing you.

I'm scared every day for you, darlin'- scared I won't be able to protect you, or hold you, or make love to you. Everything scared me, before you- even my own shadow. But now, nothing in this whole entire world scares me, except the thought that you won't be mine at the end of the day." Then our lips met.

We'd kissed, obviously, many, many, many times before- a good million times, if not more- but there was something in this kiss- a spark, or a flame, or a firework- that sent a thrill through me as my body pretty much exploded.

Every nerve ending tingled as I began to relearn and re-memorize his body, the lean muscle of his back and chest like stone beneath my fingers. With one look of his dark lash-hooded eyes, I melted into a puddle- saved only by his arms of iron protection around me. His lips were buzzing and full as they moved with mine, his tongue dripping honey-venom into my mouth. Oh god...!

Pulling away just barely, my eyes fluttered open and I was met with his simmering gaze. "Jasper. MY Jasper." Brushing his lips with my fingertip, I lightly kissed him once more. "Remember when you said I'd someday know just how you felt about me, and what I meant to you?"

He nodded, lips tugging ever so slowly at the corners into a smile- so slow, that if it weren't for my acute vision, I wouldn't have noticed them move at all. Finally his lips pulled all the way into a smile as he traced my own lips with a soft caress. "I do."

"I never realized that we felt the exact same way about each other until just now... I never thought I meant as much to you as you do to me."

It took us both less than two seconds to realize what I'd just said, as a teasing, hesitant frown replaced his smile, his eyes wide to match my own. It took me less than a second more to gasp in slight shock before correcting myself. "That's not what I meant, at all... I know that I mean as much to you as you do to me... I just never thought anyone could ever possibly love someone as much as I love you..."

His smile was back, fluttering between full-on ear to ear grin, and barely-there soft. His arms were tight and possessive around me as his eyes met mine. "That, MY Alice darlin', is where you are wrong. There is one other person who loves someone as much as you love me- if not more."

His breath was a hot exhale against my bare skin as he spoke, our lips colliding. Instinct took over as easily as ever, flesh on naked flesh soft and sweet yet hard and masculine as we become one. "Now I know what you're always going on and on for..."

He nodded slowly as I kissed him and trailed a fingernail over his chest, a smile tilting my lips. "Don't you have war stories you should be telling?"

A deep, dark chuckle rumbled in his chest as he single-handedly pinned my wrists above our heads and fondled my breast with the other, his eyes smoldering. "I would, darlin', if you weren't such a perfect distraction..."

~000~

"This scar made me immortal, and essentially brought me to you, even if I had to go through hell and back to find you..." His fingers coaxed mine slowly over his chest until I found his throat and the seared flesh there. The mark of his creator. MARIA's mark.

"This one is from my first new born... His name was Seguin and I had to get rid of him the very next year..." His voice was a soft murmur as his fingers once again led mine over his body until they felt the raised skin on his forearm-all the while it was all I could do to fight off the irritation at his stark obliviousness- he clearly didn't see that I was upset over Maria, and her having left a mark of any kind at all on him, MY Jasper.

Deciding to have a little fun, my fingers wandered along his toned stomach over his bulge to his inner thigh. "Have any down here, Jazzy?!" Teach him to be oblivious to me...!

He barely managed a squeak in reply before I darted my tongue into his mouth. "Just in case you haven't noticed- and don't pretend you do or did- I don't like the way you brought Maria up so flippantly and carelessly when you know how much I despise her... Even if she's the reason you're here with me now... I still hate her!"

Then my arms were pinned tightly over his head against the mattress as he stared up at me with a glint of sexy danger in his eyes. "Oh, believe me darlin', I noticed, I definitely noticed... How could I not...?! Lemme just say that you are sexy as hell when you're jealous...!" Then he pushed into me with a growl. "Oh, and just for your information, I don't have any bites down there, but you're about to...!"

Heck if that didn't get me into some serious trouble... Not that I minded... I quite liked his method of punishment, using his body to teach me a lesson. I loved this male, carnal part of him- the one that dominated me and demanded nothing in return but my complete and absolute submission.

That carnal, dominant beast within him that I so loved didn't stop until my eyes rolled back in my head, the earth was shaking, and I couldn't breathe. It was then that I realized just how dominant he could and should be- and just how submissive I myself could and should be. "We have got to do this more often..."

A dark chuckle rumbled in his chest at my breathless admittance and I knew just exactly how much he agreed with me. By the mere look in his eye, I knew he would gladly dominate me again- and he was about to, I was sure- but he never got the chance before we heard a car coming up the road to our house. "Stay here."

As I lay still quivering from the rush of pure ecstasy on the bed, I heard him slink downstairs and listen at the door. There was a heartbeat on the other side.

He opened the door, a wave of murder rolling off him- I could feel it even in our upstairs bedroom- and faced the human. Then his facade fell as the human spoke, her voice announcing who it was. Kitty!? But what was she doing way out here?!

~000~

"Oh wow..." She was obviously stunned to find Jasper on the other side of the door wearing nothing but jeans unzipped and slung low on his hips. And what a delicious sight that was indeed! "Ummm, hi... I just wanted to come by and see how the packing and everything is going..."

"Hey... I'll, uh- I'll go see if Ali can come down..." He was just as surprised to see her... What he meant by "go see if Ali can come down," I knew, was "Ali, get some clothes on and don't be so sexy about it..."

Giggling, I stood and stretched, my muscles still quivering. Damn it, get ahold of yourself, woman, and quit acting like you've never been dominated so wholly and completely before! Tugging his shirt over my head, I raked my fingers through my hair just as he walked through our door. "You're already dressed... Good... Kitty's here..."

Nodding, I planted a kiss on his lips before walking downstairs, not even bothering to get back in to my panties- there was no point because my devil husband would just have them back off of me and in the floor before Kitty had even reached the end of our driveway. Thank god Jazzy's shirt was long enough to cover everything...!

I was halfway down the stairs when I realized what I must look like to Kitty: some perverted, sex crazed maniac who couldn't keep her hands to herself. Turning, I crashed right into Jazzy's arms as he followed me downstairs, a look of question in his eyes. "I'll be right back, Jazzy... Play nice..." Rushing past him, I froze and met his eye over my shoulder. "But not tttooo nice...!"

"For anyone other than you, darlin', never..." Then I watched his retreating figure as he walked down the rest of the stairs and greeted Kitty again. "Ali'll be down soon... Make yourself comfortable, darlin'- well, as comfortable as you can... We weren't expecting company, and most of our stuff is already loaded... We've been pretty busy lately..."

Despite my earlier thoughts, I pulled his tee shirt off and threw it back into the floor before blurring to our closet and grabbing one of his good button-up shirts. Leaving the first two undone so I showed a little flesh, I sat on the bed and laced my kitten heels around my ankles. They would both have hell to pay, dearly and truly.

Swaying downstairs, my lips formed a perfect O of surprise as I entered the living room. "Kitty! We weren't expecting you, babe...! What brings you way out here?!" Completing my sentence with a saucy wink, I slid into Jazzy's lap with my back against his chest and his erection against my butt. "Were we, Jazzy?!"

I just barely managed to hold my giggles in at the look on their faces, eyes bugging out of their heads as they locked in surprise. Kitty had exactly the right idea as her cheeks flushed beet red and she held her face in her hands. The opposite could be said for Jazzy as he shook beneath me with a murderous growl. "I assure you, darlin', that your punishment for this little stunt of yours will be swift and severe..."

He whispered this in my ear so that only I could hear, and it was all I could do not to jump him then and there, with Kitty sitting in the chair beside us. "Seriously though Kitty, what are you here for?"

Finally looking up with a clear of her throat, her eyes stared any where but at me and or Jazzy. "I just wanted to see the house... I mean, I know you're all packed and everything, but y'all talk about it so much and I just wanted to see what was so great about it... I very much obviously should've called first, though... Sorry..." Her voice was a squeak as she finally looked at me, a smirk just barely tilting her lips. "Clearly I should've called... Won't happen again... So can I look around?"

Smiling tightly, I managed to wrench his arms from around me with my own growl as I stood and took her hand. "I'm taking Kitty on the grand tour... We'll be back, unless of course you wanna come along..." Then he was wrapped just as tightly back around me as I led Kitty around the first level of our house. "If you can't tell, Jazzy and I really do love dancing..."

She raised her eyes from the scuffed wooden floor with a smile. "Oh yeah, I noticed..." Then she began looking around again, eyes bugging out of her head in shock. "You don't have a kitchen...?!"

Chuckling, Jazzy wrapped his arms around me from behind and nuzzled into my neck with a smile, Little Major prodding me in the back. "Hard as she tries, my Ali just can't cook... Figured living down in Texas would teach her what Southern hospitality's all about, but it didn't go well... Finally just gave up..."

I'm not sure if I trembled more from his hard-on or his accent... Either way, I'm glad his arms were so tight around me, otherwise I'd have melted into a puddle in the floor. I very nearly did, anyway... "Quite frankly, I'm surprised you're still with me, Jazzy... Isn't it a rule that Southern women can cook anything and everything?!"

Ignoring me after that first comment, he turned to Kitty with a smilk, that perfect combination of smile and smirk. "We knocked out the kitchen and made our dance floor that much bigger..."

Her eyes basically glazed over as she looked him up and down with a smirk of her own. "Wouldn't you be really fat by now?!"

His tongue flicked along my throat as he chuckled again with a wink at Kitty. "Believe me, darlin', we have our ways of staying fit... My Ali wouldn't let me get fat... I have her clothes on the bedroom floor as it is right now..."

And that was that...! We took our time with the "tour" and even then it didn't seem like that long before we were hugging Kitty one more time. Tucking my head into his shoulder as she walked to her car backwards and waved all the while, I watched with a smile as she drove away. "I miss my Kitty already, Jazzy..."

Kissing the top of my head, he scooped me into his arms and slammed the door against the weight of our rekindled lust and desire. "I know you do, Ali... Lucky for you, I have the perfect solution and distraction..." Then we picked up much where we left off.

~000~

The five of them ran through the trees in search of prey, all of them supernaturally beautiful and dangerous all at once. Carlisle held Esme's hand as they took the lead, watching their "children" with fond smiles. Edward eagerly passed by Rosalie and Emmett with a grimacing scowl as they so obviously couldn't keep away from each other. The sight of them all had me giggling even as my eyes stayed glassy with the vision. As if they could hear me, 10 eyes met and locked with mine.

Then the vision was over. My eyes refocused to find Jasper at my side with a hopeful smile. "I found them, Jazzy...! It's time...! It's finally time...!"

It had been a week to the day since we had seen Kitty for the last time, and I'd eagerly watched and waited for any and all signs of them- our family. When Kitty had finally left, I knew the time was coming, and a week later, I knew for a fact that we were leaving.

Large, familiar hands grabbed me tightly around the waist and swung me around the now empty house, a smile on his also familiar face as soft, warm lips met mine. "It's time, darlin'... It's finally time to go find our family!"

Kissing him back- my Jasper, my husband, my lover, my soul mate- I let all of my emotions flow over both of us as he worked my shirt over my head. Seeing that I wore no bra, he smiled almost shyly as his hands wandered over my bare chest and he walked at a slow human pace up the stairs to our once-was bedroom. Pulling me into his arms, he wrapped my legs around his torso and walked to my closet. "It's time...!"

Pulling my dress from the hook on the door, he twined our fingers as I slid down his body onto the bed and stood, finally as tall- or taller- as he was. Lifting my arms above my head, I let his fingers trail from the cup of my face down my shoulders and over my breasts as he unbuttoned my jeans and cupped my butt again. Wrapping my legs back around him, I helped him shimmy my jeans off as our eyes locked.

All without words, he slipped the dress over my head and easily smoothed it out, hands lingering as he zipped up the side. Twining our fingers, he led me to the wall of mirrors with a smile and wrapped his arms around me from behind. "Beautiful as ever, darlin'." Then I slowly spun on my heel as he leant down and caught my lips with his. "I love you, Alice."

Cupping the back of his neck, I tugged his old shirt over his head so he stood bare chested in front of the mirror, still tight in my arms. "Beautiful as ever, sugar."

Winking up at him, I turned in his arms to look at myself in the mirror. My dress was brand new, bought by my Jasper after the announcement that I'd found our family. It was pale yellow with frills and a bow around my waist, the skirt swishing and swinging as I slid my feet into my also brand new sandals. Perfect...!

I watched from the balcony as he loaded the few things left to go with us into the trailer outside. A sudden rush of excitement from me made him look up, his lips in a smile in an instant as he saw me waving frantically at him. "I am so so so excited, Jazzy...!"

"Believe me, I know... I'm excited too, darlin'...!" Then he nimbly hopped up on the balcony beside me. "Let me just remind you: I love you, Alice Whitlock. You are MINE!"

Smiling, I giggled as he swept me up into his arms and trailed a path of kisses from my lips to my cheeks and over his Mark. "How did I know...?!"

Nibbling lightly at his Mark, he pulled away and found my eyes long enough to shoot me a wink. "I have no earthly idea, darlin'... Why, do you?!"

Rolling my eyes, I returned his wink and trailed my own fingers along his still-bare chest. "Nope... I do know one thing though..."

"What's that, baby?" This was a murmur against my chest as he nuzzled deeper into the crook of my neck and deeply inhaled. God, I loved it when he did that...!

His golden eyes widened and locked with mine as I caught his chin with a patronizing smile. "You had better get dressed, otherwise I'll be leaving you all by your poor lonesome... And I don't wanna have to leave my Jazzy..."

Then his smoldering eyes left mine as he bit roughly on his Mark, quick as a flash. Sucking at my skin, he smirked triumphantly up at me. "Yeah, 'cause that'll totally happen... As. If.!"

Smiling softly, I cupped his cheek and pulled his head down to mine. "It won't, Jazzy, you know that... I looovvveee you! By the way, you are mine, as well as I am yours..."

"Damn right it won't happen... As if I'd let MY wife and soulmate- MY Alice- leave me for a house full of males and testosterone!" Then he crashed our lips together. "I really do need to get dressed though, don't I darlin'?!"

"Yeah ya do...!" I pulled away with a wink and teased a honey blonde curl that had fallen into his face. "The sooner you're ready, the sooner we can go find our family and have our happily ever after, forever and ever..."

"Oh, my Alice, I already have everything I could and would ever need right here, in my arms... You, my Alice..."

~000~

I hated making plans just to go back and change them, or cancel them altogether, but as the day wore on and my husband and I lay tangled together, I couldn't possibly be bothered to complain. The sky was dark as we curled in on each other in the floor.

Laying with my head on his chest, I looked up and found his eyes with a smile. "THIS was not my plan for today..."

"Well, darlin'," he murmured, rolling onto his side so we were chest to chest, "it was mine!"

Frowning slightly, I pursed my lips against his as he tightened his arms with a low chuckle. "You don't wanna go find our family? Are you not as excited as me?! Jazzy, we found our family!"

Tipping my chin, he shook his head slowly and caressed my lips with his. "Of course I wanna go find our family, Alice! I just wanted you all to myself just one more time before we do...!"

Snaking my legs around his waist, I rolled my hips into his as he fell onto his back. "So, you mean to tell me that you honestly think we won't be just like this at the Cullen's?! You said it, not me!" I giggled teasingly as his eyes darkened and he let out a low rumble of a growl. "I guess I'll just have to find Edward...! Or Emmett... Oh, or both!"

This didn't make him happy, even if he knew full-well that I was joking, and we spent the next few hours claimed by our pure and carnal need and possession for each other. I didn't realize just how long we'd been tangled together, much less that we'd been that way basically all day, until the sun peeked out over the horizon. "Dammit, Jazzy!"

Sliding his gaze along my body from top to bottom and back, he shrugged with an innocent smile. "What'd I do this time?!"

Rolling my eyes, I sat up on my elbows and glared at him as he traced my spine. Fighting the shiver that threatened to expose me and my wayward thoughts, I picked at my nails. "Gggeee, I have no ida... It couldn't be that you and your deliciously evil ways kept me occupied all day, instead of letting me pack up so we can find our family...!"

"I can't help that I'm so damn irresistible, darlin'- and believe me, I know I am- or that you are simply so naughty I had to teach you a lesson! I already packed everything up, anyway!" Cupping the back of my head, he tucked me under his arm and breathed a sigh. Tipping my chin, his lips just barely tilted into a small smile as he winked down at me. "Darlin', if you wanna leave in 5 minutes, by god, we'll leave in 5 minutes...! Okay?! I'm sorry I can't keep my hands to myself and made you wait to find our family..."

I did wanna leave in 5 minutes so by god we left in 5 minutes. I drove my beloved Dart in the lead all through the night, my Jazzy in the truck and trailer behind me. What would normally be about a 4 day journey for the petty humans who had to stop and sleep 8 hours took us a mere 2.5 days- we didn't even stop to hunt.

By the time we pulled through the welcome sign of the sleepy little town of Forks, our hunger wholly consumed us. Even as my Jasper slipped up and lessened the already small population by two, I ran freely through the trees in search of my own kind of prey. I knew I should've stayed with him just as I knew that if I was anywhere within earshot or smelling distance that I too would slip up. A small price to pay, leaving him alone, for the death of only 2 humans, when it could've and would've been more had I stayed. Oh well... There was nothing we could've done about it but clean our messes and move on. I knew that we would never wait so long before hunting again.

That was definitely one way to make an impression, though not a good one by any means... We would never go so long without hunting again, I promised myself as I cleaned up our meals.

Eager to find somewhere to stay for the next couple of days, I took Jazzy's hand as he moped listlessly around about feeding from innocent humans. Here we go again...! "Jazzy, it was only an accident... You haven't hunted in 5 days- how could you be around humans and NOT slip up?!"

His voice was quiet, almost a whine, as he rested his head on my shoulder- quite the feat when I considered that he was a good foot taller than me. "You didn't slip up... You haven't hunted in 5 days either Alice, and you didn't slip up. Why didn't you slip up?!"

Taking his chin, I cradled his face in my hands and gazed dead center into his black eyes. "It'll get easier, Jasper. I promise- I swear to you- that it WILL get easier... Don't you trust me?!"

Finally meeting my gaze, he scoffed as if I'd offended him- and maybe I had, but I didn't care. I just needed him to see sense and that I was there for him. "With my life, Alice... Of course I do!"

Everything caught up with me then- from finally seeing him in person after only having glimpses from my visions, to our wedding, and moving from place to place, to the Volturi and Aro, and finally my vision of our family.

A small smile lifted the corners of my lips as I once again held out my hand for him- my soulmate, my lover, my husband, my everything- MY Jasper. "Then take my hand and come with me."

~000~

For the next two days, we lay twined together after having made up for lost time, for the last time until we were comfortable enough with the Cullen's. Slowly drifting my fingers through his hair, I let out a giggle as he started a game of footsie that quickly became a game of wrestle, which quickly became a game of 'try not to get seduced by my husband'." I, Alice Whitlock, did not win.

Moments later, we were both so close to the edge of insanity, so perfectly close, when I saw them- our family. Carlisle had just started the last of his evening rounds before he came home, Edward and Emmett were hunting, and Esme and Rosalie were still at home. If that wasn't the perfect time to go, I didn't know when it was!

"Jazzy! Jazzy, Jazzy, Jazzy! Come on, come on, come on! We have to go, now! Like, right now!" Jerking my dress over my head, I rolled my eyes at his slowness and pulled him to stand with me. "Nooowww, Jazzy... We have to go nooowww!"

"Okay, okay, okay... I'm up, I'm up, I'm up..." Stumbling into his jeans, he didn't even bother to zip or button them and instead pulled his shirt over his own head. "I'm ready... Of course I would be ready before you...!"

Chuckling, he pulled me into his arms as I ran a nervous hand through my tangled hair. Shoving him away, I growled as the knots and gnarls stuck in my hair. Only making them worse, I let out an exasperated sigh. Jasper and his damn hair-twirling fingers!

Speak of the devil and he shall appear... "Alice, darlin', let me..." Then he sat on the edge of the bed with me rather contentedly settled in his lap as those exact same fingers of his smoothed out and worked through the kinks and tangles he'd created only an hour before. "Now, isn't that so much better, darlin'...?!"

Turning in his arms, I twined my own fingers into his hair and nuzzled into his shoulder with a sigh. "I love you come hell or high water forever and always, Jasper Whitlock. MY Jasper..."

"And I love you come hell or high water forever and always, Alice Whitlock. MY Alice..." Lightly pressing his lips to the base of my throat as I arched against him, he chuckled huskily and cupped the back of my head. "My Alice..." Then our lips met.

Standing with me still in his arms, he walked to the mirror in the bathroom. "Look at us, darlin'. Look how far we've come..."

Opening my eyes, I turned to our reflections in the mirror- one, a small pixie-like woman cradled close in her lover's arms, the other a tall scar-covered man clutching his meaning of everything. Their eyes were startling against their skin, darker than coal against white as snow. Simple golden wedding bands adorned their left hands as they twined them and bent their heads, kissing. That was me. That was my Jasper. That was us.

~000~

Deciding to walk through the small town to find our family, we made sure to lock everything up good and tight before leaving the hotel hand in hand.

My visions came again and led us to the outskirts of town, into the edge of the woods. The road forked to our left and we slowly followed the pathway to the Cullen property. The house was quite large, with wide windows acting as the outside walls. The inside was bright and open, nothing at all like I'd expect from a coven of vampires who didn't sleep, didn't eat, and didn't go out on sunny days. It was all so beautiful that I had to pause, if only to marvel at how I'd gotten there.

Slowly leading me closer to the house, Jasper took all that into account and memory in a matter of seconds, the military discipline distilled in him from so long ago surfacing to catch each and every detail. "Darlin'?!"

Coming out of whatever trance I was in, I looked up at him with a smile. "I'm okay... Just taking it all in..." Locking eyes, I tightened my grip on him and sighed. "Are you ready, Jazzy?!"

Gripping my chin, he smiled radiantly before kneeling on one knee- just my size- to press our lips together. "Darlin', as long as I've got you, I could take the devil on singlehandedly! Getting settled with the Cullen's will be a cinch... Having you forever by my side is just an added bonus..."

"Forever, my Jasper."

"Forever, my Alice."

Stomachs in our throats, we finally stood on the front porch. Hearts in our hands, we finally knocked on the front door. Our forever was finally here.

"Forever, my Alice."

"Forever, my Jasper."

((Complete))