Bella's POV:

He remembered me! My cheeks were starting to hurt from grinning so wildly as I ran a brush through my wet hair.

The sound of the phone ringing cut through my thoughts and I gripped a towel tight around me as I raced to the bedroom to answer it before it could wake the kids.

Jasper looked surprised when I popped out of the bathroom and grabbed the phone "Hello?"

"Hey Bella," It was my brother "I think you should come over for dinner tonight."

"Why do you think that?" I asked teasing him because he sounded so nervous.

"Mom's coming," He said and just like that my world stopped spinning again. I felt myself sitting down on the edge of the bed and Jasper was by my side rubbing my back gently and looking concerned.

"Why would I want to see her?" I asked.

"Because she's your mother?" He said. He had always had a soft spot for her but she had after all kept in contact with him throughout the years.

"Sue is my mother," I said quietly "That woman hasn't paid me any attention since I was six years old so if it won't bother you any I think I'll skip the whole family reunion thing."

He sighed "Bella can't you do this for me?"

"Emmett I love you and would pretty much do anything for you and you know that but how can you ask me to face her? Especially since when we were still children you would get birthday cards and phone calls and I was completely ignored?"

"Bella I'm not asking you to stay for long I just need my little sister's support. I haven't seen her in just as long as you and I know what she put you through but she's still mom to me."

I groaned and thought about it. He was playing the support card- just like I had with Jasper just yesterday. "I'll be there but I'm not bringing the kids and I'm only going to be there for at most half an hour."

"Thank you," I could practically hear my big brother beaming.

I hadn't even put the phone back in the cradle and Jasper was asking "Are you alright? What was that all about?"

"I just need a couple of minutes," I sighed and stood pulling away from his comforting touch "I'll tell you later."

"Don't pull away from me Bella," He said sadly "I just remembered us and I don't want to lose you again."

I turned and kissed him softly "I promise you will never lose me Jazz I just need a little time to process what just happened and I will tell you."

He nodded and I locked the bathroom door behind me and sunk to the floor.

J&BJ&BJ&BJ&B

Jasper's POV:

I watched the bathroom door close and was saddened by this turn of events. She was pulling away from me and that kind of scared me.

The phone call from Emmett had me curious to learn more about Bella's past but I knew I wouldn't be privy to it until one of two things happened- she told me or I had a flash of memory.

I decided to give Bella a little more privacy and went down the hall to Charlotte's room.

I poked my head in and found her sitting on her little bed absently coloring. She heard me come in and smiled.

"Daddy!" She called happily.

I came and sat on the bed beside her "You coloring?"

She looked at me as if I was silly and rolled her eyes- well she was definitely Bella's daughter! "Ya momma lets me."

"Can I color with you?" I asked and she nodded.

As she handed me a coloring book and some crayons I took the time to really look at her.

She was tiny and I knew that had to do with her heart condition, she had almost white-blonde hair, her eyes were a green with flecks of gold and hazel and her skin was darker than Bella's but lighter than mine.

I had a sudden flash as she smiled at me and her eyes sparkled.

Flash:

"Hello baby girl," I whispered to the tiny infant in my arms "I know you're upset but mommy just fell asleep."

I paced up and down the length of the small room and rocked her gently trying to soothe her angry cries.

She was only 7 months old but she was already my world.

She hiccoughed and her little lips quavered and I feared she might burst into tears again so I sat in the rocking chair Bella had in the room and rocked slowly.

Charlotte stared up at me with her expressive green eyes and I felt again like I had to protect her from everything and anything the world had to throw at her.

"That's my girl," I murmured and continued to rock her until her eyelids drooped shut and her breathing evened out.

Present:

I grinned at Charlotte. "You are beautiful my princess."

She smiled at me but I could see the blush coloring her cheeks. Definitely Bella's daughter.

We were interrupted by Bella's teasing voice "Jeez I'm going to have to fight for my spot in your heart."

She looked happier but I could see the hurt in her eyes.

"Mommy," Charlotte grinned and held her arms out to Bella. Bella scooped her up and hugged her close. "Me daddy's pincess."

"I know you are baby girl," She said and settled onto the twin bed with our daughter in her lap.

"I thought you said the kids generally napped for another hour." I asked.

"Cole does," Bella laughed "Charlotte sometimes does but she knows she can get up and color or look at a book if she's not tired. She just isn't allowed out of the bedroom and isn't allowed to make a lot of noise- it gives me enough time to clean up."

"Oh," I nodded at the explanation.

"I'm going to call Esme to see if she and Carlisle can look after the kids tonight," She sighed "Does that sound good Char? You may have a sleepover with Peter?"

"Yay!" Charlotte cheered and I frowned.

"What is with the two of them?" I asked.

"They're best friends," Bella laughed "They were both adopted and they love each other."

"Oh," I said again. It was getting frustrating to have to relearn all of this stuff about my family.

"Char I am going to go and talk to daddy for a little bit can you stay in here for a little while longer?" Bella asked as she held our daughter's gaze.

She nodded and went back to her coloring happily.

Bella took my hand in hers and we walked back to our bedroom and I held her in my arms when we sat on the bed.

"Explain?" I asked and kissed her still damp hair.

She sighed "My mother is apparently coming to visit and Emmett wants me to be there."

I looked at her confused. What was the big deal about that?

"I haven't seen my mother since I was a child," She explained and I felt her body start to heave as she cried softly "She stayed in contact with Em but never with me. I was never good enough."

Flash:

It was a week after we'd brought Cole home and Bella couldn't calm him down. I came home from work and she was just sitting on the floor of the nursery sobbing while Cole laid in his crib screaming angrily.

"Bella what's wrong?" I asked kneeling beside her.

"I can't calm him down," She hiccupped "I can't get my own baby to calm down. I'm an awful mother."

I saw red. "Bella you are an amazing mother. You have raised Charlotte amazingly so far!"

I picked my infant son up and sat on the floor next to Bella.

"You're just upset and he's upset and you guys are playing off each others emotions," I explained and shifting him into her arms.

"How the hell did I ever think I could be a mother when I never had one?" She asked quietly.

"Bella you don't need a mother to be a mother. You have natural instincts and you will never abandon our children like your mother did." I hugged her close to my body as Cole's cries slowed and then died completely and he was asleep.

"I'm sorry," She whispered.

I chuckled "The doctor said these types of mood swings could be expected as your hormones level out. I'm just glad you called me when you needed me."

Present:

"I remember your freak out after Cole was born," I tried not to laugh.

Bella snorted "Which one? I did suffer Post Partum for awhile. There was a few weeks where you got panicked phone calls from me at least once a day, every day."

I leaned forward and kissed her "We have some really great kids." And then I found myself saying something completely unexpected "Have we been talking about adding a third? Cause I think we should."

She gaped up at me and I blushed. "Sorry." I muttered.

She laughed boisterously "Don't be, we talked about it and we never said one way or another but we weren't taking any precautions to prevent having another baby. I just never thought you'd ask something like that."

I grinned at her, glad I was able to make her laugh.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" I asked.

Her face fell but she didn't pull away from me. "I'm going to call Esme and see about them taking the kids like I mentioned and I really hope you'll be by my side when I go over to Emmett and Rose's."

"Of course I will be," I reassured her "Wild dogs couldn't keep me away."

J&BJ&BJ&BJ&B

Bella was packing overnight bags for each of our children when the doorbell rang.

I opened the door to reveal a massive Native man who grinned broadly when he saw me.

"Jasper it's great to see you up and running," He clapped me on my good side and I stared at him as if he was nuts.

He laughed and anticipated my next question "Bells wasn't kidding when she said you had no memories. I'm Paul your partner at work."

"Oh," I muttered and stepped aside to let him into the house.

"Hey Paul," Bella called as she carried two back packs and our son down the stairs "Thanks for coming. Is Leah going to stop by?"

"Leah is of course going to come and support her sister," Paul grinned and took Cole, tossing him playfully into the air.

I looked at my wife perplexed. Sister? I knew about Emmett but I didn't know she had a sister too.

Bella leaned up and kissed the large mans cheek and then came over to me and explained quietly "Leah is my step sister. She's Sue's daughter. I have a step-brother named Seth too."

"Ah," I said while nodding. "So they're coming tonight too?"

"Just Leah," Bella said "Seth has a school thing."

"Mommy, see Peter now?" Charlotte asked as she came down the stairs carrying both her blanket and the teddy bear she'd had at the hospital the other day.

"Yes baby girl," Bella nodded, "Paul, give Cole to Jasper and make yourself at home. We'll meet you and Leah at Emmett's at six or so."

"Sounds good," Paul said handing my little boy to me.

J&BJ&BJ&BJ&B

Bella drove to a high end looking neighbourhood and pulled through a gate into a large yard.

"Wow," I murmured glancing out the window at the large house

Bella chuckled "Carlisle's a doctor and Esme is an incredible interior designer- they bought this place not too long after they adopted Peter. Charlotte loves spending time with her 'Aunty Essie'"

I looked into the back seat and Charlotte was practically vibrating with excitement as we got closer to the house.

"Wait here and I'll be right back," Bella said as she put the truck into park.

I watched her hips sway as she walked to the front door of the massive house with Cole against her hip and Charlotte trailing a step behind her still carrying that massive bear.

That was my family and my heart swelled at the thought.

J&BJ&BJ&BJ&B

As we headed back to our neighbourhood Bella got more and more jittery with every passing mile and I tried to think of ways to reassure her or make her feel better about was about to happen.

The smile that had been on her face earlier had long since fallen and her mouth was painted in a grim line and the worry was easily read in eyes.

So I did the best thing I could think of- I took her hand in mine and squeezed tightly.