Their loud laughter had caught Bella's attention, and she giggled at their antics, the sweet, innocent sound tinkling through the air.

Chapter 20 - Meeting the Boys

Bella pointed to the two goof-offs and looked at me. "Uh?" she grunted questioningly.

The guys took that as their cue to come over, followed by a smiling Carlisle.

Emmett pointed to himself and said, "Em. Just call me Em."

"Ehmm?" she asked, reaching over to touch his face.

I felt a growl building in my chest when I saw her fingers on his face, but I managed to suppress it. What on earth is going on with me? I wondered. I know Em won't hurt her. Why would I want to growl at him?

He smiled widely, showing all his teeth, as well as his dimples, and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Em. Way to go, little sis."

Bella poked her finger into one of his dimple and nodded back. "Ehsss! Ehm."

She then pointed to Peter, who was crouched down beside her. "Papa," he declared with a grin, pointing to himself.

"Bahbah?"

He shook his head. "No. No Bahbah. Puh. Puh. Pahpah," he explained, showing her the difference in the way he moved his lips.

"Buh. Puh. Puh! Pahpah!" she squealed in excitement, proud of herself.

"Yes! Good job, Bella!" Peter responded, clapping his hands.

Bella's eyes immediately dropped to his hands to watch and listen to what he was doing. After a few seconds, she looked down at her own hands, then raised them and brought them together hard. The resultant crack resounded throughout the forest, causing the nearby trees to dump some of their snow on the ground all around us.

Bella nearly jumped out of her skin at the noise and looked around with wide, startled eyes. Rose started giggling and scooted closer to Bella. She laid the bag of blood down on the ground in front of her and grabbed hold of Bella's wrists. "No, Bella, too hard. You need to clap softly, like this," Rose cooed, delighted to be able to teach Bella something so basic. I could feel her maternal pride as she demonstrated to Bella how to clap at human speed, with human force. After a few repetitions, Bella was able to do it on her own, and we all clapped for her. She happily joined in with our applause. Her emotions were so strong and pure, I basked in their sincere simplicity.

Bella then reached for the bag on the ground. "Mahmah, mmmmm?"

"Yes, Bella, Mama will give you mmmm," Rose quickly agreed, her sheer ecstasy nearly orgasmic in strength. She held the bag up to Bella's mouth for her.

I heard Peter and Charlotte quietly conversing behind me while Bella was drinking. "Papa?" Char teased. "What made you decide on that, Papa Bear?"

He smirked, "Well, I thought about being Uncle Pete, but I just knew she wouldn't be able to say her 't's yet, and there was no way I was going to tolerate anybody calling me Pee, not even her."

I snickered, and Peter sent me all his irritation and aggravation. I let it wash through me and into the ground, not willing to let him mess up my mood. I was having enough mood swings as it was.

As soon as Bella finished that bag, she pointed to Carlisle, whom she had noticed while she was drinking. "Uh?" she asked curiously.

Esme beamed happily and stroked Carlisle's cheek. "Daddy. Bella's Daddy."

Carlisle lit up, just as Esme had, and he nodded. "Yes. Daddy," he agreed, taking Bella's hand and gently rubbing it on his cheek. He then rubbed her hand on her own cheek and back to his, saying, "Bella's Daddy."

Bella furrowed her brow, concentrating hard to try and make the correct sounds. "Eeeee. Bah. Beeee. Bah-bee. Bahbee?"

"No," Esme answered, shaking her head. "Not Buh. Duh. Not bee, dee."

"Ooooh?" Bella asked, shaking her head like Esme did.

"Bella," I called softly. Her eyes immediately shot to mine. "Watch my tongue," I told her, pointing to my tongue just after I said the word. Her eyes followed my finger to see where I was pointing. I tilted my head back and opened my mouth wide so she could clearly see how I moved my tongue when I made the 'N', 'D', 'T', 'J', 'K', and 'L' sounds. I did each one several times and then gave her time to practice. After she made the sounds, I had her put them back into the appropriate words.

Her vocabulary now consisted of 'ehs' for yes, no, Belluh, Mama, Mahmee, Muhm, Dada, Dadee, Em, Pahpah, 'Uhmmm' and Buhllluhd for blood, JahHssGrrr, and 'Uht' for what. Not bad for being only an hour old.

Char had just finished giving her the last bag that should soothe her thirst for a few hours, when a large horsefly began buzzing around the empty bags on the ground in front of Bella. She began watching the fly in fascination as it flew around in circles, looking for a meal. Suddenly she reached out and grabbed it between her finger and her thumb. Unsurprisingly, she promptly flattened it. She looked at her pinched fingers in confusion and tilted her ear toward it, listening. She frowned and pouted. "No buhssss?"

Char smiled lovingly at her and shook her head. "No more buzz. It's dead."

"Dehd?" Bella wondered, furrowing her eyebrows.

Char nodded and pried Bella's fingers apart, showing her the squashed remains covering her fingertips. "Yes, dead. No more fly, no more buzz."

Bella pouted as she examined the remains. She sniffed her fingers, then faster than we could warn her, she stuck out her tongue and tasted it. She promptly began spitting and making a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, "Uckh! Uckh!"

Venom flooded her mouth to help her get rid of the horrible flavor, and she desperately scraped her teeth along the top of her tongue to remove the residue, as she blew everything out all over her lap and the ground. The family all began laughing at her frantic motions and the expression of horrified disgust on her face.

"Dehd buhss uckh!" Bella exclaimed emphatically. "No mo buhss! Uckh!"

"Yes, Bella," Emmett agreed wholeheartedly. "Flies are yucky." He wrinkled his nose and made a face that resembled Bella's. He winked at her. "Just so ya know, sis, ALL bugs are yucky. Don't eat anymore bugs, okay? No more bugs."

Char was staring at Emmett in confused anticipation. "Em? How do you know all bugs are yucky?"

Rose burst out laughing as Emmett got a sheepish look on his face. He seemed at a loss for words, so she answered for him. "I think maybe the bear must have gotten in a good blow to Em's head before I got to him. He awoke from the change knowing how to talk, but he was just like a little kid in a lot of other ways. I shudder to think of the things he put in his mouth that first year! Human food, dirt, bugs, fish, birds, leaves, wood, metal, you name it. He just had to know how it tasted!"

Charlotte and Peter started laughing, while Emmett huffed. I snickered quietly to myself and noticed Carlisle and Esme share a smirk. For the first time, I found myself wondering what it had been like for them, raising Emmett for two whole decades before Alice and I joined them. He was bad enough back then, but what was he like before television was invented? Especially without me around to send him enough calming waves to take down an elephant? Damn, I realized just how much I'd underestimated my 'parents'. They deserved to be nominated to sainthood. Surviving newborn Emmett alone was worth more than what St. Marcus had supposedly done, not to mention the two decades after that. I had a pretty good idea of how much mischief Em could get into, based on the few occasions he'd been 'grounded' from electronic devices over the years. By the time Alice and I came on the scene, the Cullens had already perfected the quick disappearing act. Now I had a pretty good idea why.

"At least he'll be able to relate to Bella, with her curiosity and flights of fancy," Esme offered, trying unsuccessfully to hide her grin.

"Curiosity may have killed the Emmett, but satisfaction brought him back," Em chanted smugly, throwing his arm around Rose's shoulders. Rose rolled her eyes, but still smiled at him and snuggled closer to his body.

I looked down at Bella to see her watching everyone, processing all their expressions, body language, words, attitudes, and actions. I noticed she still had venom coating her lips and chin, and without thinking, I leaned over and licked them clean.

"Eww, Jasper. That's disgusting," Alice sneered, suddenly appearing outside again. "Aren't you done using her as your own personal popsicle by now?"

I growled and turned toward her, irritated by her insulting tone and accusation. Okay, licking Bella all over was a little odd, I admitted to myself, but really it's been so long since I tasted human blood, I'm sure it's not too surprising the Major broke free of his cage and didn't let the spillage go to waste.

"Alice!" I snarled. Before I could put Alice in her place, Bella reacted.

"No AhlllHss! Jahsssgrr no uckhee! Jahsssgrr uhmmm!" she protested. She reached up and grabbed my face, pulling it toward her. I allowed her to do so, not knowing what to expect, but not wanting to fight her. To my surprise, she lifted her head and licked my chin and lips, as I had just done to her. "Ehsss!" she exclaimed nodding emphatically at Alice. "Jahsssgrr uhmmm!"

I snickered. "Why thank you, darlin'," I couldn't help drawling, looking down into her sparkling crimson eyes. "You're pretty yummy yourself."

"Really, Jasper? You're flirting with a baby who can't even speak English and doesn't know any better than to not eat fly guts?" Alice sneered, full of condescension and disdain.

"I'm not flirtin' with her, dammit! I'm just takin' care of her!" I roared, not liking her implications one bit. I'd never try to seduce someone with the mental acumen of a toddler. This was platonic love - there was nothing sexual about it. Sure, my body recognizes the potential attraction to her body, but I'd never push myself on someone who didn't know exactly what it was they were doing. Maybe once she'd grown up mentally to match her physical age . . . I shook those thoughts away. There'd be plenty of time to dwell on them later. Much later.

Alice had her hands on her hips, her emotions angry and vengeful, her body language aggressive, as she marched a few steps closer. I was getting ready to jump up into a defensive position in front of Bella, to protect her from any evil machinations of the psychotic psychic, when Bella suddenly threw herself into my lap.

She began growling, snarling, and snapping at Alice, wrapping her arms around me. "No Ahllhss! Uckhee Ahllhss! No, no, no! Bellah's Jahssgrr!" she began shouting. Her voice became higher pitched as she got even more upset, hissing and baring her teeth at Alice. "Mama! Dadee! Pahpah! Em! No Ahllhss! Ahllhss uckhee! No mo Ahllhss!"

xxxxxxx

AN: Yes, yes. I know. I'm evil to leave it there. But, hey, I promise to update some time tomorrow, so you can't hate me too much, right?

Well, what do you know? Three word sentences - our Bella's growing up fast. I don't think she likes Alice too much though. She certainly didn't like Alice upsetting her Jahssgrr, did she? *snicker*