Chapter 40

I turned back to face the doctor whose face remained the same. He looked toward Jasper whose face was full of hope.

'I am sorry sir, the nerves still contract for an amount of time after the machine has turned off,' he apologised and went to turn the heart monitor off when Jasper let out a small yell. He pointed to the hand he was holding.

'She just moved!' he said, his voice holding onto hope that was not there. Carlisle stood and walked to Jaspers side.

'Its her nerves, she's gone Jasper,' He said trying to put aside his own grief. He placed a caring arm around his now weak body and hugged him tight. Rosalie supported Emmet while Edward took Carlisles place by Esme. I sunk down by the door and the doctor excused himself. We all sat in silence; we watched Alice's face, not willing to believe that she was gone. Neo came and sat by me while Atticus cuddled into his father and grandfather. I heard the baby moan and I noticed no-one took notice of her. I stood up, careful of Neo and walked over to the tiny bassinet. The baby's face was pained. She looked up at me searching my face for familiarity. She began to cry. I looked around and saw that, still, nobody took notice. I lifted the tiny baby into my arms and cuddled her close but her crying just became louder and more hysterical. I bounced her carefully trying to hush her but she still screamed.

'Bring her here,' Jasper asked, his voice weak. I did as he asked and carried her over. He took her into his arms and swayed her carefully. She still cried hysterically. He stood up and placed her back onto Alice's lifeless chest and almost instantly she calmed. She started making gurgling noises. Jasper sat back down, carefully holding baby Hale in place. We sat for many moments when I saw Alice's hand move again. I flinched, it wasn't fair that she was no longer breathing life but she still moved. I didn't say anything, not wanting to create the false sense of hope that Jasper had just before. I went and sat beside Edward and carefully placed my arm around his shoulder. He gently wept. I joined him. It was hard to imagine life without Alice. I closed my eyes and tried to forget that she was dead. I tried to imagine that we were at her reception partying away with non-alcoholic wine. I smiled at my fake memory. My eyes snapped open when I heard someone move very quickly. Carlisle had scooted over the other side of the bed and flicked the heart monitor back on. He gasped. We heard the rhythmic sound of a heart beat. We all looked to see that Alice's chest was moving softly up and down. Jasper suddenly stood and leaned into kiss Alice's head. As he did she let out a groan. This surprised us even further.

'How is it possible?' Rosalie cried from Emmet's arms. We all agreed watching on in disbelief. Carlisle pressed a button to call a nurse in but no-one came. He let out an angry yell. He began examining her carefully.

'It appears like she is fine!' he said shock ringing through his voice. I carefully stepped up and removed the small baby from her chest so that Carlisle could listen, as he did a gasp escaped Alice's pale lips. Her long eyelashes fluttered open revealing her beautiful eyes. She looked around obviously confused. Edward now stood up and hovered over her like Carlisle.

'Alice? Baby?' Jasper asked as he looked her over like he was dreaming. She coughed slightly and looked around. She took everything in for the moment and then reached quickly for her stomach. She looked scared but Jasper placed a calming hand on her cheek.

'The baby is fine honey, she's right here,' He said indicating for me to move forward and show her her new baby. Alice, still not talking, looked amazed. She coughed again and reached her arms out. I carefully handed her the small baby. She pulled her into her chest and cuddled her close.

'Who put her near me?' Was the first thing she asked. Her voice was hoarse and she flinched from pain as she spoke. Jasper looked to me. I raised my hand.

'I did,' I said shyly. She smiled a friendly smile.

'Thankyou, its like I knew she was there. I had to see her. I had to run away from my death just to hold her,' She said looking into her baby's delicate face. I smiled happy to see her happy. Jasper looked to me and smiled thankfully. He stroked the baby's head and held Alice's hand tight in his.

'Well, I think we should give them a moment,' Edward announced trying to usher us out of the room. We all agreed. Everybody stepped forward and kissed Alice, still wary of her weakened state. We all walked out of the room, our happiness uplifted. Esme hugged Carlisle tightly.

'I don't know what I would have done, a parent should never have to bury their child,' she said sadly. I saw in the corner of my eye Emmet grimace. He had had to bury his child. Rosalie looked at the floor and i tried to swiftly change the subject.

'The baby looks just like Alice,' I said cheerfully. Rosalie nodded. Carlisle smiled.

'Actually, spitting image. When Alice was a baby she looked identical. Except for the eyes, it looks like she has her Dads eyes,' He said happily.

'I didn't get to see the little angel,' Esme commented and Emmet agreed. Neo started jumping up and down at Emmet's feet.

'Daddy! I'm hungry,' he complained rubbing his tummy. Emmet bent down and picked him up.

'Me too, Rose?' he asked looking to Rose. She nodded.

'Let's go get some lunch then,' Edward said pointing toward the cafeteria. We all followed happy at the outcome of the day. Little did we know, the day had just begun.

****

'Emmet you're teaching Neo bad habits,' Rosalie fussed as Emmet threw a piece of chicken at Edwards head. Edward ditched it back.

'Edward!' Esme snapped. 'You're food is to eat, not to play with,' she said in a mothering tone. Carlisle and I laughed. Rosalie rolled her eyes while Edward and Emmet started to pull faces at each other. Neo clapped his hands and began trying to throw his spaghetti.

'See what I mean,' Rosalie snapped as she copped at hair-full of orange pasta. Emmet laughed and gave Neo the thumbs up. Esme smacked his hand and went to help Rosalie clean her hair.

'So, is there any danger that the baby is a month early?' I asked Carlisle as I forked the salad sitting in front of me. He nodded is head.

'Well, from what I understand she appears extremely healthy. She seemed to already be very well developed. A little bit small, but it doesn't appear although there will be any problems,' He said putting a piece of chicken in his mouth. I nodded happily. We all sat and joked for a good half an hour when I looked over to the door and saw, much to my surprise, Jacob Black. I choked on the piece of food I was chewing on. Carlisle patted me on the back and looked in the same direction as me. I hoped Jacob hadn't spotted us but it appeared although he had. He dawdled over a big smile on his child-like face. He waved friendlily. I groaned internally and waved back with a fake grin plastered on my face. Since when did Jacob Black live in Alaska. He approached the table and I heard Edward growl slightly. Emmet carefully stood up and moved closer to Edward placing his hand on his shoulder.

'Hey Bella and friends,' Jacob greeted in his normal friendly manner.

'Hi Jake,' I said kindly. Everybody else muttered there greetings.

'How are you?' He asked me looking at Edward with a friendly smile.

'Good actually, Alice just had a baby,' I said grinning not wanting to go into the horrific tale of the rest of the day. He smiled.

'I always liked Alice. What did she have?' He asked genuinely interested. I smiled. I did miss Jacobs always friendly behaviour.

'Girl,' I said sweetly back to him. 'How are you Jacob, I haven't seen you in ages,' I said remembering the last time I saw him was at our wedding. He grinned.

'Wonderful, Leah and I got married and we just had a baby ourselves,' He said joyfully. I was happy to hear that he and Leah were settled.

'Congratulations! What did you have?' I asked and he glanced over his shoulder.

'Boy, Billy Junior. BJ for short,' he said puffing out his chest proud as punch. I smiled and stood to shake his hand. He looked over his shoulder once more.

'Well, I gotta go Bells, It was great seeing you,' He said as he kissed my cheek softly. I agreed and then sat back down. Emmet smiled.

'That went well,' he said surprised as I was. I nodded. I watched Jacob practically leap out of the cafeteria back up to the nursery. I smiled. I was happy to see that had found Leah. I took Edwards hand and kissed it gently, after all I was happy I had found my Edward.

****

We all dawdled back up the hall, trying to keep pace with a very slow Rosalie. She complained the whole time about severe back pain. Emmet tried to support her while Esme carried a very tired looking Neo. We came to Alice's door and knocked. No response was heard. Carlisle poked his head in and apologised.

'She has swapped rooms,' he said. I forgot this wasn't the maternity ward. I followed Carlisle as he walked calmly to the front desk.

'Alice Cullen,' he asked calmly. The nurse didn't take her eyes away from his as she typed the name in. He cleared his throat and she looked at the screen. She told us the level and room number. We thanked her and she smiled, still focused on Carlisle. Esme rolled her eyes while Emmet and Edward laughed.

'The old man's still got it,' Emmet managed between loud bouts of laughter. Esme glared at him but then her delicate face broke into a smile.

'Don't I know it,' she said and sped up and smacked Carlisle on the bum. Edward and Emmet pulled similar faces of disgust while Rosalie and I laughed away. We walked up to the ward and walked toward Alice's door but were met in the hallway. Jasper was pushing Alice in a wheelchair and Alice balanced Atticus and one side on the brand new baby on the other. Esme rushed forward to take Atticus.

'Where are you going?' Emmet asked curiously. Jasper smiled.

'We promised a wedding didn't we,' he said with a smile.

'To the chapel?' I asked grinning at Alice. She smiled and nodded. We all walked to the chapel and stood in an appropriate order. I looked down at Alice who was being wheeled by Carlisle.

'What about a dress?' I asked knowing her need for fashion. She looked up at me and shook her head.

'Bella, I realised today that if I married Jasper sporting a garbage bag it would still mean the same thing. I don't need fancy clothes to express my love for him, my hospital gown, backless and all, will be just fine,' she said. I smiled and nodded. The dodgy alter cue sounded and we all walked up the aisle slowly. When Carlisle had wheeled Alice down she weakly stood and grasped Jaspers hands. Alice was right. She didn't need a fancy party or a wedding dress to prove her love for Jasper, the evidence was clear just by the way they looked into each others eyes. The procession started, this time without a runaway bride, and it was the most beautiful event I had ever been to. The pure celebration of love was clear. At the end, when Alice and Jasper kissed, i looked over to my angel. He winked and waved and I smiled my heart a flutter. I was so happy that we were all so happy. Things have turned out for the best. I watched on as Alice (in her backless hospital gown) and Jasper stared intently into each other's eyes ignoring the room around them. They were only pulled from their daze when Rosalie let out a loud moan.

'I don't think the twins want to be out done,' she complained as we all looked at the pool of water in the middle of the alter. Oh boy, it was going to be a long night.

****

OMG totally happy with this chapter. I hope i have done Alice and Jasper justice. They are my fave couple, purely because there love is deeper than what we can see..... Im having issues naming the bub so any suggestions would be welcome. Im looking for something unusual that will go with Atticus...

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