A/N: I am sorry for the delay. Real life has me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I'm gonna try to update this again before I leave on my cruise on Friday.

The only one of them who had ever heard Peter speak was Bella. Back then - before his mother's violent death - he'd only spoken a few simple words.

What a vast difference.

When Edward got back inside with Jasper's two small bags, Peter was chattering away in complete sentences, apparently introducing everyone.

"An' this is Awis. She's my fwiend."

"Ma'am," Jasper greeted softly, taking her hand in his free one.

Alice's eyes were shining. "You kept your boy waiting a long time," she chided lightly.

His lips tugged up at the corners. "My apologies, ma'am," he said, kissing the side of Peter's hair lightly.

Peter continued on. He certainly had everyone's attention. They were all watching him like he was the most fascinating thing they'd ever seen.

"An' this is Shaw-lot," Peter said in whisper-voice, craning down until Jasper reluctantly set him on the floor so he could peer into the bassinet. Edward pressed his hand to his mouth, trying not to laugh at how absolutely reverent the little boy's voice was. "She is a pwetty baby."

The little boy scarcely wandered more than a few feet from his father for the rest of the evening. He only went as far as it took to retrieve a few of the gifts he'd gotten for Christmas. Concerned that Jasper had no Christmas presents, he wrapped a top Emmett had given him ages ago - he forever brought it to one of them to help him set it spinning - in the sash Jasper had entrusted to him. He thrust the 'package' at Jasper, his eyes wide and searching for approval. Edward thought he saw the blond man's eyes were shining, and respectfully turned his gaze elsewhere.

By the time Esme and Alice coaxed Jasper to the kitchen to enjoy what was left of Christmas dinner, Peter was fighting sleep. He clung to Jasper's neck, his head on his shoulder, making his father eat one handed. Jasper didn't seem to mind.

Finally, Bella led Jasper upstairs to the childrens' nursery where he tried to tuck the little boy into bed. Instantly, Peter became tearful. "Papa, is this a dweam?" he asked fretfully.

"No, my sweet boy. I'm really here," he said gently, stroking the boy's hair away from his face. He glanced at Edward and Emmett, his eyes full of questions. "I'll be here when you wake up, I believe."

Edward was slightly taken aback, hearing the ring of uncertainty in his old friend's voice. He nodded his head, silently assuring him that he had a place to stay.

"Pwomise?"

"I promise."

With the inherent trust of a child, Peter seemed completely at ease. He fell asleep promptly. Jasper gave a small sigh, stroking the boy's cheek once more before he stood, turning back to the others in the room.

"I'm sure you'd like something to drink," Edward said, interrupting the silence that fell. "Come. Let's go back down to the sitting room."

When they were all gathered and everyone who wanted one had a full glass, Jasper finally began to tell his story.

"I apologize for arriving unannounced," he said quietly. "Things happened right quickly, and if I'd had time to think, well, I might have talked myself out of coming at all," he admitted.

"I'm sure y'all know I've been struggling for some time." He stared out sightlessly, breathing deep. "And I think I've known for a while the struggle was all for naught.

"Jasper..." Bella began, but he shook his head.

"No. It is what it is, and that's just fine." He took another deep breath. "Honestly, I was lucky. An old friend of my father's offered to take what property I had left - I sold so much of it off - off my hands for a right nice price, truth be told."

"What do you intend to do?" Edward asked.

Jasper took a long drink of his whiskey, closing his eyes as he, doubtlessly, felt the burn down his throat. He attempted a semblance of a smile. "That's a very good question," he murmured. "I don't mean to impose on your kindness, but if you might offer up a room for just a few days - just long enough for me to find an apartment of my own, and I'll have myself and my boy out of your hair shortly."

"There's no rush!" Alice exclaimed.

"Alice!" Esme admonished, but Edward just smirked. He'd seen Alice practically bouncing out of her skin, wanting to contribute to the conversation.

"Well, Peter is doing well here," Alice continued, unabashed. "He's just about to start tutoring, and-"

"Alice," Edward interrupted gently. He turned to Jasper. "My home is open to you and Peter as long as you need or want, of course."

Jasper frowned. "I think I'm taking enough advantage as it is, showing up unannounced."

"Either way, our house should be ready to live in in the next few days," Emmett said easily. "I think it's best if you come with us." His tone was innocent but hinted that he was not to be argued with.

Watching the way Jasper's head snapped toward Emmett... away from his sister, Edward couldn't help but agree with his brother's assessment.

~0~

The last week of December flowed into the first weeks of the new year. As Edward expected he would, over Alice's protests, Jasper moved out of Emmett's house and into a small apartment at the heart of town. It wasn't the best neighborhood, but it wasn't the worst, and it was near the factory where Jasper found a meager job.

Because he didn't want to take Peter away from the loving family he'd been adopted into, and because there was no one to watch the boy during the day, Jasper relented to Alice's request. Whenever Jasper was at work, Peter was at the Cullen home.

Of course, that meant Jasper was a frequent guest.

It did Edward's often overtaxed heart a lot of good to count Jasper a friend again. Time had finally healed whatever wound had made him so bitterly angry in Houston. Perhaps it was that Peter had been so well taken care of. Perhaps it was that, left alone back home, he'd found some semblance of peace about what he'd lost.

Edward hardly remembered what it was like to have peers. Yes, he had his brother and his wife, but it was nice to have a friend. It was nice to realize they were not so unchanged from the boys they'd been that they could not pass many an hour without tiring of each other's company.

Of course, the return of his friend was not without its complications.

Alice never bothered to hide how much she too enjoyed the pleasure of Jasper's company. At first, Edward thought Jasper was being politely solicitous, indulging his sister's near constant chatter. Then the familiarity of their discourse struck him as strange. He began to wonder if he should have insisted on reading the letters they'd exchanged some months before.

Winter was beginning to give way to Spring. Edward looked up from his desk, staring out the window to where Jasper, Alice, Peter, and Esme sat on the lawn, enjoying the first vestiges of warmer weather.

He sighed lightly, watching Alice's face light up at something Jasper said.

"Mope, mope, mope," a teasing, lilting voice said from the doorway. Smiling, Edward turned to find his wife approaching with a tall glass of lemonade. "What are you brooding about?"

Edward smirked. "There's a list," he said dryly, "but it doesn't matter so much when you're here."

He lifted a hand, beckoning her toward him, and wrapped his arm around her waist when she came. Laying his head against her side, he spread his hand over her stomach, his grin broadening when he felt the hard swell beneath her layers of clothing. "How is our Hortense today?"

Bella grimaced, and Edward struggled not to laugh. Their argument over names had bordered on the ridiculous for some time now. He chose names that he knew she wouldn't like just to see the crinkle of skin between her eyebrows.

"Hortense," she pronounced the name with some disgust, "wonders what you will call her if she turns out to be a he."

"Fletcher, obviously," he said seriously.

Bella rolled her eyes.

"Or Agnes. Agnes works for a boy or a girl."

She groaned, a hand over her eyes. "I suppose I'll just have to hope you are far away when my time comes, and I'll name the baby myself."

Edward's features tightened. Automatically, he tightened his hold on her.

That was one of his nightmares - that he would, for some reason, not be able to get to her when the time came.

He had no idea what he thought he would do - he knew he wouldn't be allowed in the birthing room to begin with - but the idea of being away from her when their child was being born...

"Edward?" Bella's voice was soft, her hand gentle on his cheek. "Where did you go?"

With some effort, he lifted his eyes and smiled at her. "I'm sorry, my love. It's been a trying morning." His eyes flicked outside the window again.

"Why don't you come outside and enjoy the sunshine?" She tilted her head, smirking at him knowingly. "It'd be easier to keep an eye on Jasper and your sister outside."

Edward chuckled. She knew him so well. "That might be true, but it's not just my sister I'm worried about."

Bella looked at him, concerned, and Edward sighed. Readjusting his grip on her, he shuffled some of the paperwork on his desk, proffering her a letter. "The property I purchased a while back?"

"The one on which you were going to build a low rent tenement building," she filled in, nodding.

"Exactly." He grimaced. "Well, it seems there was a push from local interests," he said, his voice irritated. "By that, I mean that James Hunter figured my intentions and took steps to ensure I couldn't build. He's had the matter wrapped up in the local channels for months, and now the final verdict."

"They've rezoned the land," she murmured, reading.

He nodded.

"Build a park on the land and donate it to the city," she said after a moment. "It will serve the neighborhood, and it won't hurt to show off your generosity publicly."

Edward tapped his lips, pondering this before he grinned broadly. "You're very clever. Your husband is a very lucky man."

"My husband is very clever on his own," she returned, kissing his forehead.

"Perhaps," he allowed, looking back at his paperwork. "But he may be considering something foolhardy."

"Oh?"

"Mmm," he hummed. "I believe myself to be a generous man, and I believe what I'm doing is for the betterment of our city - our country. The issue is, Hunter also publicly appears very generous... and he's made his aspirations abundantly clear."

"We've discussed this, Edward. If you don't wish to see him take a role in government, you may do well to give people another option," she reminded gently.

"That is the most direct option," he agreed. "But as we discussed, you would be as miserable as a politician's wife as I would be as a politician. And besides, you know there's something to be said about backing. Hunter has it, where as most of the right people think me a child."

"Then what are you thinking of, my clever husband?"

He was silent for another moment, putting together this thoughts. "Two birds with one stone," he said finally. "It has bothered me for some time that the little newspaper I bought chooses to run such stories that don't cause much of a fuss. Alistair and I have already had many an argument over it already," he said tightly, recalling his numerous discussions with the newspaper's manager.

"So, tomorrow, I plan to go directly to the Editor-in-Chief. I think it's high time the paper explored the benefits of investigative reporting," he said slowly. "Beginning with looking into what the local elections will look like." He paused, watching as her eyes grew wide with realization. "People deserve to know who they may or may not be electing, after all."

"And if something untoward is discovered about James..."

"So much the better," Edward finished.

"It's a good plan," Bella said quietly. "But what if there's nothing to be found?"

"Well, I've considered that," Edward said slowly. "Unfortunately, not everything... unpleasant in life can be simply gotten rid of. If there are no skeletons in Hunter's closet, then so be it." He breathed in and out deeply, trying to reconcile the idea.

James Hunter with any level of power just didn't sit well with him. Hunter was far from the first politically minded person Edward knew whom he didn't approve of, but he simply felt more dangerous than anyone else.

"Bewa?"

Edward and Bella both looked up. It seemed that some time during their discussion, Peter had relocated. He toddled up, lifting his arms to Bella. Rather than let his pregnant wife carry more than one baby at a time, Edward pulled the boy onto his lap instead.

"What is it, Peter? Weren't you downstairs with your Papa?" he asked.

"Yes. But I wanna cookie," he said, looking up pleadingly.

"Peter, it's almost dinner time, and you've had two cookies today," Bella said, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked down at the boy. "If you keep eating all those cookies, you're going to be a big, round, roly-poly."

The little boy screwed up his nose. "Did you eat too many cookies?" he asked innocently, eyeing her rounding belly.

Edward put a hand to his mouth to smother his laughter as Bella's eyes went comically wide.

"Gracious," she muttered, ruffling his hair. "You weren't so sassy when you didn't talk."

She took a few steps backward, settling on the window seat. She held her arms out, and Peter hopped down off Edward's lap, clambering up onto the window seat beside her.

"See this?" she asked gently, tickling his stomach. Peter giggled. "Your belly is very soft, right?"

"Yes," he agreed.

Taking his little hand, she placed it against her belly. "Is that soft?"

"Not like me," he said wonderingly.

"No. I'm going to have a baby," she explained softly. "That's why my belly's getting bigger. Not because of cookies," she said with a laugh.

Edward watched them, thinking about how very unique Bella was. While babies were celebrated, it was thought impolite to mention or acknowledge pregnancy. Esme, if she were witnessing this exchange, would have been aghast at the idea her daughter-in-law was talking so frankly with a child about pregnancy, let alone letting him feel her belly.

Bella tried to be good, but many things didn't sit well with her. She made a sour face when she had to send one of the servants out on an errand she would have normally attended to. It had taken some nagging from Esme before Bella would concede being seen out and about now that her condition was obvious would have been thought scandalous. Wealthier woman often spent their entire pregnancies cooped up in their homes.

Then again, wealthy women often stayed confined to their beds because, as he'd so frequently observed, the life of babes in the womb was uncertain.

Shaking that thought away as he usually did, Edward stood. "Come along," he said to Peter and Bella. "Lets get this young man back to his papa before he's missed."

"Is okay," Peter said dismissively. "Papa is playing wit' Awis."

Edward arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" His cheek twitched. "Then we should go join them. Games are always better when shared with friends."

As they walked downstairs, Edward lowered his voice. "How long would you say before I have to really be worried about them?"

Bella laughed, sliding her hand into his and squeezing. "If it were up to Alice, you'd have perhaps enough time to walk outside before she would ask your permission. Jasper... he isn't there yet."

"Well," Edward muttered under his breath as they stepped outside. Jasper, who had been grinning at whatever Alice was saying, studiously looked away when he noticed Edward's arrival. "If it's all the same to anyone else, I'm fine with him taking his time getting wherever it is they're going."

~0~

Emmett's laugh was loud and hearty as he looked over the paperwork Edward had handed him. "You think you're very clever, don't you?"

Edward's answering smile was sardonic. "Bella likes to tell me I am, though perhaps she thinks it's her wifely duty to soothe my ego."

"Ha!" Emmett shook his head. "Your wife never fails to tell you when you're being an idiot. That's what I like about her."

"Well, she thinks this is a good idea. What do you think?"

"It's almost obvious when you think about it," Emmett said more seriously. "Hunter might stir up trouble with his connections if you simply bought another parcel of land, but what can he do if you buy a pre-existing building?"

"Right," Edward agreed. "It may even prove more inexpensive to refurbish a building rather than building a new one. Then Hunter can hang his talk of how the angels are weeping over what I intend to do to our fair city."

Emmett nodded. "It's a good idea, my brother."

Edward tilted his head as a tight look came over his elder brother's face. "Speak your mind," he prompted.

"It's nothing really," Emmett said slowly. "It's just odd how many times Hunter comes up in conversation with you. I'm glad you found a way to fulfil your plans, but I wonder if your fervor is more because you truly want to do these good works or because the man got under your skin." He shrugged. "Not that it matters. It's simply that if you're going to start a feud-"

"Not a feud," Edward interrupted. He tapped his chin, assessing his motivation. "Some time ago, when I first purchased the store, he came by to try to talk some sense into me," he began.

He recounted the story of James's visit and his unveiled threat.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Emmett asked hotly. "If he's threatening our family-"

"It's an empty threat, Emmett," Edward pointed out. "What can he do to our family? He cannot ruin us financially, nor drive us out of business. He's proved he can be an annoyance."

"Yes." Emmett agreed. "I can see why he gets under your skin." He nodded and then grinned. "Seems like the least we can do is get under his."

"And do some good in our community," Edward reminded, trying to taper his smile.

"Ah, yes. Well, that's just a bonus."

A/N: Thank you to Barburella and jfka06 for handholding and beta. Thanks to all of you for still being around.

We are coming up quickly on an end to our tale. I feel like I should forewarn. Perhaps 2-3 chaps, me thinks.