Howdy folks! I didn't forget about the epilogue I promised ya'll. Here it is! :D
I'd like to thank GeezerWench for prereading it. I added a few things after she corrected it, so if you see a mistake it's all mine.
The epilogue takes place a little over a year and a half after the wedding. Enjoy!
May 15, 1868
Oregon territory
Bella and Charlotte were down by the creek doing the washing, which was quite a task since they also had to keep their eyes on lil' Dixie. Jasper had named his daughter after the land he had came from and loved so well. She was ten months old and adept at crawling. The little girl would hardly stay on the quilt they'd laid out for her. She was raring to explore the new, exciting world around her. Down by the creek there were many interesting things to explore: rocks, dragonflies, grasshoppers. It was a chore just to keep her from putting anything and everything into her mouth. Bella smiled as she watched her daughter's tiny dimpled hand grasp and pull at a yellow flower that grew amongst the grasses.
"Your Daddy's comin'." Charlotte sang out to her niece as she wrung out one of Peter's shirts.
Bella raised her head and caught sight of Jasper riding up on Jenks at a trot. She hadn't been expecting to see him until supper. He had been spending all his time helping Peter and Emmett build their houses and till up their land on adjoining farms. Spring was a busy time for everyone.
"How're my favorite girls doin'?" Jasper smiled widely as he slid off his horse and picked up his adoring daughter who reached up her arms to be lifted.
He buried his nose in her clean, honey-brown locks as he spun her around. Nothing smelled as sweet as his daughter, but Bella was a close second. He reached over and pulled her into a family hug.
"How are things going over at Emmett's? Are you finished for the evening?" Charlotte wondered aloud as she wiped her suds-covered hands off on her apron.
"The cabin is comin' along. Pete and Em are still workin'. I just came to see if maybe Bella might want to take a lil' ride on this fine afternoon, if you don't mind watchin' Dixie for us."
Charlotte gladly took the squirming girl from his hands. "No, I don't mind at all."
Everyone was aware that she ached to have a child of her own, but the blessing of becoming a Mother had evaded her, no matter how they'd tried.
Being freed up and feeling a bit impatient to get going, Jasper mounted Jenks and reached down to help Bella up onto the saddle.
His wife stood on the edge of the river, her arms crossed, her brow creased, and she shook her head in consternation. "I don't have time for a ride right now, Jasper. Just look at all this washin'."
"That can wait. C'mon, honey."
Bella brushed a stray hair from her eyes. "Where are you planning on taking me?"
"We can go wherever you want, sweetness. Come on, times a-wastin'."
She sighed and turned her back to him. "I don't know."
Her words were weak. Jasper could tell that her defenses were falling by the tone of her voice. He would do anything to steal her away for a bit. He'd beg her on bended knee if it came down to it. "We'll just take a short ride. We can stay close. If Charlotte needs us, she'll know where to find us, down the way a piece, beside the big oak. All she has to do is holler." Jasper reached for Bella again, willing her to come closer.
Charlotte nodded in understanding. She knew the big tree provided a lot of privacy. It grew at the bottom of a hill, and if you hung a sheet over the lowest branch, no one could see you from either side. She had spent many a happy moment under the shady oak with Peter.
"I'm not going anywhere until all the wash is done." Bella looked up into the sky to check the sun's position. It looked to be around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. "No, there's no time for riding today. By the time the clothes are strung out, I'll have to start dinner."
"Will you just stop worryin' about it, and get on mah horse." Jasper's voice was stern but his eyes were pleading. He still sat waiting with his arm outstretched.
Bella huffed and took his hand. "It's not your horse, Jasper. It's mine." She settled into the saddle and leaned back on her husband's broad chest. Her shoulders relaxed when he put his arms around her lovingly.
"Whatever. You know I have the papers that say otherwise." Jasper clucked his tongue and Jenks started off towards their destination. He couldn't help but chuckle at his wife's contrary attitude. She was wound up tight, and he couldn't blame her. They'd scarcely had any time alone in the past month or two. There was always work to be done—wood to cut and stack for cooking and heat, food to put up and preserve for the cold winter. Bella stayed busy with the baby, and he was always gone working in the fields, or building houses.
It was a chore Bella couldn't wait for the men to be done with. They had all been forced up under the same roof since they arrived in Oregon and it was difficult not having any privacy. Someone was always underfoot and, despite how much she loved the former sheriff, Emmett snored as loud as a cave bear. The Marshall, who had become a close friend of the Whitlocks, had traveled along with them to Oregon to get some land for himself and start farming. Peter had promised him if he repented of his sinful ways and traded in his badge for a plow, he'd allow him to write letters to his beautiful cousin Rosalie and court her. One look at her picture, and he'd made up his mind
"We don't have to do anythin', if you're not in the mood. I just wanted to spend some time alone with you, is all." Jasper leaned down and kissed her neck, willing the rest of her tension and anger away. "I was sort of hoping . . ."
Bella covered his rugged hand with her dainty one. "I know. I've been out of sorts, and I'm sorry." She felt horrible for the way she had been acting, but it wasn't entirely her own fault. There was something she had been hiding from everyone. She suspected she was with child, and hadn't known how to break the news. She hadn't even been able to confide in Charlotte because she felt so guilty knowing how her sister-in-law wished to have a baby of her own. She knew that she would be happy for her, but didn't know how to bring it up, or when.
If Jasper removed her frock, down by the creek, in the light of day, surely he'd notice or at least suspect—
Jasper's voice pulled her from her rambling thoughts. "You don't have anythin' to be sorry for, honey. It's just been difficult, and we've been so busy, and so tired, but we need to make time for each other, too. I've missed you." His stubbly cheek brushed against her soft skin as he leaned down and nibbled the crook of her neck.
She could feel his growing need pressing firmly into her backside as the horse walked lazily across the field and down the side of the hill where the old oak grew.
Bella leaned back into his chest and turned her head to capture his lips.
His mouth slanted down over hers and took possession with a gentle, probing tongue. Instinctively his hips pressed against her as strong hands wandered across her waist and then up higher to tease her nipples taught under his fingertips.
Bella began to tremble with need. It had been a long time, too long, since she'd joined with her husband.
A small moan escaped her lips, and Jasper felt the sound travel all the way down to his toes. It was time to get off the horse and onto a blanket, but his mouth sought hers again. As he held her tightly against him, his fingers roamed down her front until he reached the apex of her thighs. He cupped her heat and ran his thumb lazily across her most sensitive place.
"Jasper." Bella gasped pleadingly.
"Yes, dear?"
"Help me down off the horse."
He could hardly think straight because all the blood in his body was situated firmly between his legs. Somehow he managed to get them both dismounted safely. He unpacked the blankets from Jenk's saddle, and sent their horse off to graze.
Jasper laid out one blanket and then hung a second one from a low branch, creating a veil of privacy.
The breeze blew soft and warm. It was a beautiful day, but the picturesque landscape couldn't rival the sight of watching Bella lay down across the blanket. She beckoned him to join her as she let down her hair.
Jasper thrust his hands down the front of his trousers to remove his shirt tails before unbuttoning the damn thing and tossing it to the side. He hung his hat on the branch of a tree, and almost fell over in his haste to remove his boots and pants.
Bella covered her mouth with both hands and stifled a giggle. It was obvious that Jasper was excited. He was unshucking so fast it was comical, and with every hurried movement something, down below, bobbed around in his under shorts. It was an obvious protrusion, difficult to ignore.
"You think that's funny, huh?" Jasper crawled on his hands and knees over to his wife. He loved the sound of her laughing—like tinkling bells. He pulled off her shoes one by one and then began to tickle her feet.
Bella convulsed and hollered, but Jasper's grip was strong and she was unable to wrench herself free from his grasp. Between squeals and screeches she yelled for mercy until tears formed in her eyes. He took pity and finally released her.
Before she could catch her breath and tell him how horrible she thought he was, his mouth was on hers, wet and hot and needy.
All the thoughts flew from her mind as she melted underneath him. He pressed his hips between her thighs and stroked her rhythmically with his length, only breaking their kiss momentarily to lament that she was still fully dressed.
Her fingers fumbled with the buttons on her dress. When they'd all been undone, Jasper grabbed at the fabric and pulled it over her head. The cloth went flying as he tossed it over his shoulder. "You are so damn beautiful." He took her face between his hands and tilted her head gently until she was lying back on the blanket, smiling back up at him. "I wanted to come to you last night, but you were asleep, and I was afraid to wake the baby. I've been crazy wanting you all damn day."
Before Bella could reply, he kissed her lips again. The blood raced thorough his veins when he heard the soft welcoming sounds she made in her throat as she raised her hips to meet his.
She fought for breath as his lips moved down lower across her neck, then lower still, between her thighs. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, then moved up to his thick golden hair, as she cradled his head against her.
"I need to be inside you," he pleaded. His voice was a husky demand.
Jasper shuddered with groans of approval as her soft warm fingers inched down to encircle his throbbing manhood. All he wanted to do was sink into her waiting heat. "Go slowly." Bella whispered as she locked eyes with him and guided him gently by the hips.
He allowed her to set the pace, even when his muscles began to tremble from holding back. He watched her face contort with passion and pleasure as he finally completed his slow decent into her and their bodies touched. "Is that good?" he whispered.
"Yes, so good," she moaned breathily.
He made love to her slowly and gently in the cool shade under the branches of the oak, and when she cried out and pulsed around him, he responded with his own strangled cry, his lips pressed against her neck.
She held him firmly in place, still inside her, content to feel his skin against hers. The blush on her cheeks rose and bloomed to cover her face and spread to her chest. She stared at him with a quiet intensity as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth.
He leaned down and placed a kiss upon her nose.
"Jasper . . . I . . . "
His calloused thumb caressed her cheek. "What is it, honey?"
"I . . . I . . . think I'm pregnant."
She felt his deep chuckle all throughout her body. He seemed to be taking the news well.
"It's too soon to tell, but I'd be happy to try again right now to better the odds." He shifted and she felt him begin to harden inside her.
"No, I mean—"
Jasper's lips covered hers again in a kiss so sweet and reverent and full of love. After he pulled away, he smiled down at her, his eyes full of mirth. "You were meaning to tell me that you're going to have a baby. I've been wondering about that."
Bella felt a bit shocked at the realization that her husband wasn't surprised. "You knew?"
"Well, I suspected. I've been waiting for you to confirm it . . . and hoping."
She smiled so widely it hurt. "Hoping?"
The moment felt so tender that Jasper had to kiss her again. "Hell yes, I was hoping. The only downside is I'm going to have to listen to Peter gloat until the baby comes."
Her face paled, and her eyebrows knit together. "Peter knew?"
"Peter always thinks he knows everythin'. He's been squawking for months that I'd have a son before the first heavy snow."
"A son?" Bella was in awe of the thought that she'd soon have a miniature Jasper to care for. Maybe he would have Jasper's blond hair. She was thrilled with the prospect, but her thoughts turned to worry over how her sister-in-law would deal with the news. If Peter knew, then so must Charlotte.
"I'll have as many babies as you'll grant me, and I'll love them all, boys or girls, both the same."
"Does Charlotte already suspect?"
"Of course, and she'll be over the moon when you tell her."
They were both so overjoyed that they made love again, in celebration, right then and there.
Jasper ended up being right about Charlotte's acceptance. She was thrilled when Bella finally shared the happy news later that evening around the dinner table, but nobody crowed louder than Peter. He knew he had been right, and held firm in his belief that the child would be a boy.
And he was right about that, too. They welcomed the little fella into the family on a clear, cold November morning. Just after the blond-haired little boy was born it started to snow—the first snow of the season—so they named him Jack, after the mischief-making sprite, Jack Frost. But the growing family didn't have to worry about the coming chill in the air—they had worked hard to have plenty of food stored for the long winter and were snug and warm in their own little cabin.
And they lived happily ever after ;)