(Max's POV)

I heard the back door slide shut as Jasper and Bella went off on their hunting trip.

The room was pitch black, but I could see perfectly. I walked over to the crib silently to check on Nessa (we'd all pretty much stopped calling her Renesmee by the time she was one hour old).

She was sleeping peacefully with a small smile plastered on her face.

I couldn't help but smile as I watched my niece squirm a bit before settling back down.

I reached into the crib and touched her cheek gently. "Hey Nessa," I whispered, so I wouldn't wake her up. "It's your Uncle Max."

She didn't do anything, so I went to the rocking chair in the opposite corner and pulled it next to the crib, before sitting down. Nessa was such a cutie, I already knew she would be spoiled rotten and never get in trouble with teachers or her parents... or uncles, aunts, and grandparents for that matter.

It made me a little sad, seeing her, because she reminded me of my little sister... who I never actually got to see. My mom was pregnant with her when I was changed...

I was lost in my own thoughts for a while, watching Nessa breathe deeply and smile or roll over now and then.

Her eyes shot open before long, and she let out a happy giggle as she spotted me through the bars of her crib, reaching out for a hug.

I stood up and let out a laugh as I reached in and picked her up, cradling her gently in my arms. "Did you have a good nap, Nessa?" I asked, as I walked over to the door to flip the lights on.

She just giggled again.

(Bella's POV)

Before we were even out the door, I was anxious to get back to my baby, and Jasper felt it.

He squeezed my hand gently and said, "I know you don't like being away from her, but we both need to hunt."

I sighed. "I know. But..." I trailed off.

"Let's just focus on hunting so we can get back as soon as possible."

"Okay."

We walked out the front door before taking off running into the woods.

We had to go a little farther than usual, off of our designated property, because my hunting habits lately had wiped out a lot of the animal population, meaning we had to move to somewhere else to let the wildlife regenerate. We may hunt animals, but we don't hunt so much that we wipe out the whole population, that's just cruel.

We were lucky to live in total seclusion because it made encounters with humans while we were hunting very limited. We didn't want another transformation like Max's.

I caught a whiff of a mountain lion and my mouth starting watering, or venom-ing, as the case may be.

I let go of Jasper's hand and went off to tackle my prey while he went in the opposite direction, catching a whiff of his favorite animal, a black bear.

I was done hunting before long, after I'd taken down that mountain lion and a few deer.

I caught Jasper's scent and followed it to where he was.

He was in the middle of sinking his teeth into a rabbit when I found him. He smiled at me before finishing up.

"Ready to head back?" He asked.

I nodded and he took my hand in his, completely oblivious to the spot of blood smeared on his face. I let out a giggle when I noticed it and he looked at me questioningly. "What?" He asked.

I just laughed. "Nothing." I'd let him figure it out himself.

He shrugged and we started walking home, at a human pace.

We'd been walking for fifteen minutes when a new smell hit my nose, a smell sweeter and more delectable than blood- animal blood that is.

And the mere smell made me queasy when I realized what it was, human blood, and it wasn't just one person. I could hear voices and realized they were only about a mile away.

Jasper stopped and I felt him tense up. "Oh shit," I muttered when I realized he'd let his guard down. "Jasper, look at me."

He didn't listen, and I heard a menacing growl building up deep in his chest before he tore away from me and took off running in search of the thing he'd craved constantly ever since he'd switched to the vegetarian diet.

"Jasper!" I called, taking off after him. He was already a couple hundred yards away but I pushed myself to catch up to him.

I could tell that the only thing on his mind was that blood running through those hikers' veins.

I caught up to him in a matter of seconds and managed to pin him against a large maple tree.

He struggled to break free of my hold on him, but was unsuccessful, because I was straining myself to not let go.

"Jasper, look at me!" I commanded.

He continued to struggle so I did the first thing I could think of to distract him, I kissed him.

His behavior changed immediately as he went into shock.

I pulled back. "Good that worked. Are you calm now?"

He blinked and then did the least expected, he pulled me close, crushing me to his chest, and started sobbing into my shoulder. It was moments like this that reminded me of how vulnerable he was.

I held him for what seemed like hours, just letting him cry out his pain.

"I almost killed them, Bella!" He choked out. He hated the thought of ever killing another human being, yet the bloodlust never went away for him.

I rubbed his back gently. "Shh. It wasn't your fault, Jazz. You just have a harder time than most people."

"But why? Why me?"

"I don't know. But it's a horrible thing to have to live with, and with all things considered, you've done an amazing job so far. No major slip-ups."

"Your birthday," he muttered. He'd calmed down some and had stopped dry sobbing, but his feelings of despair still remained.

"That was a long time ago and I still don't blame you for it." I hugged him tighter and buried my face in his neck, but not before placing a gentle kiss to the spot behind his ear.

His depression and guilt didn't clear up. "I'm a failure."

"No, don't talk like that!"

He didn't respond, so I took the opportunity to use one of his tactics that always worked when I was feeling worthless or sad- I sang to him.

Oh yes, I know this tension that you speak of
We're in the palm of a hand making a fist
It'd be best for one of us to speak up
But we prefer to pretend it does not exist

And you can't see past the blood on your hands
To see that you've been aptly damned
To fail and fail again

Cause we're all guilty of the same things
We think the thoughts whether or not we see them through
And I know that you have been forgiven
And I just hope you can forgive you too

The song was only somewhat relevant, and most of the "you"s were supposed to be "I"s but I changed it a bit, and it worked, a little.

I stopped singing and pulled back to look Jasper in the eye. "Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

He nodded and that shy smile I'd always loved appeared on his perfect face.

I let out a sigh of relief and leaned in to kiss the blood off of his face that I'd missed earlier before kissing him on the lips.

He crushed my body to his as the kiss quickly deepened.

"I love you, Bella." He said breathlessly as we pulled apart.

I stood on my tiptoes to rest my forehead against his. "I love you too, Jasper."

He kissed my forehead gently and then grabbed my hand. "Let's head back now. Nessa probably misses us."

I smiled at the thought of seeing my beautiful baby again. "Let's go."

We raced home this time.

When we got back, I could hear various people, namely Esme, Rose, and Alice cooing over Nessa and I raced upstairs to join them.

I pushed open the nursery door and saw Esme supporting Nessa on her hip while Rose and Alice did the cooing.

"Aww, you're such a cutie pie! Yes you are! Yes you are!" Alice said, talking in baby talk and smiling at Nessa, who giggled back.

"Can I hold her?" Rose asked Esme.

Esme handed Nessa over, who clung to her Aunty Rose and played with her hair.

The way Rose looked at her, with absolute love and adortion made me sad to think she would never be able to have children of her own.

Jasper had joined us all in then room by now and snuck up behind me, snaking his arms around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder. "How's our little Nessa doing?"

I rested my hands over his and smiled at my baby. "She's doing great. Max took good care of her."

"Where is he anyway?"

Just then I spotted him sitting in the rocking chair, and smiling at Nessa. "He's over there," I said with a nod towards the chair.

Rose smiled at me and then smiled back at Renesmee. "She's so beautiful."

"I know. She looks just like her daddy."

Jasper let go of me as Rosalie handed my baby to me and I took her in my arms.

Jasper and I had only been gone for a few hours and already I could see a change in Nessa. The changes were subtle, indiscernible to the human eye, but they were there.

She was supporting her own torso easily now (I'm guessing she'd always been able to) and her hair had gotten just a tiny bit longer.

She giggled happily at me and I couldn't help but smile.

Jasper wrapped his arm around me and said, "Hey Nessa. Did you miss your mommy and daddy?"

Max answered for her. "Nah. She loves me more than you."

I stuck my tongue out at him as he laughed.

I looked at Renesmee and asked, "You missed us. Right?"

She nodded, which showed me just how smart she was.

I looked at Jasper with a smile on my face. "She's so smart!"

He smiled down at his daughter. "Yes she is."

We all cooed over Nessa for another few hours, with Emmett coming in to say hi to her along the way.

She fell asleep in my arms soon enough and we all cleared out of the room as I kissed her forehead and then lowered her into the crib gently.

She rolled over onto her side almost immediately and got comfortable. I stroked her hair lovingly and whispered, "I love you, Nessa."

Then I turned to Jasper, who took my hand and led me back to our own room.

The bed was still there and we sat down on it, still holding hands.

He rubbed small circles into the back of my hand, like I'd done to him when he had his breakdown before we'd gone on our honeymoon.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For helping me out back there." He was referring to the hunting trip.

I smiled and scooted closer to rest my head on his shoulder. "Anytime Jazz."

A/N: Ok, here's the new chapter! =] Yeah, I decided to add a little insight to Jasper's lack of control and how that affects him... What'd you guys think? The song Bella sang to Jazzy was "Forgiven" by Relient K and it's freakin' amazing! I've been listening to it constantly. =]

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Max and the better version of Renesmee. XD