Jasper's POV:
"I can't, I can't do this," Bella said her voice quavering after she parked the car in our driveway.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," I murmured and squeezed her hand again. The clock on the dash read 6:10.
"I promised Emmett I'd be there," She sighed "And he's supported me through so much I owe him at least this."
"He'd understand," I said gently tilting her head up with my finger so she was looking at me "We can go into our home, order pizza and hole ourselves up for the night if that's what you want."
She shook her head "You won't leave me alone right?"
"I promise I won't," I reassured her and she gave me a small smile.
"Thank you," She whispered and pulled away so she could get out of the car.
I got out also and wrapped my arm around her waist pulling her flush against me.
We walked slowly to our neighbours house which I had learned yesterday was Emmett and his wife Rosalie's.
Bella didn't bother knocking on the door but walked in slowly. We followed the noise towards the back of the house and found a group of people sitting around a spacious living room.
The blonde I recognized as Rosalie gave me a tight smile and went back to glaring at the other blonde that was talking animatedly with Emmett.
I noted that Paul and Leah were also glaring at the woman so I assumed that whoever she was, she was Bella and Emmett's mother.
Bella swooned against me and I had another flash of memory- she passed out on me at the top of the Eiffel Tower after we had climbed all the way up, it was then that we discovered she was pregnant with Cole.
I bent slightly to whisper in her ear "I remember when we found out you were pregnant. You really thought climbing all 1,665 stairs was a good idea?"
She snorted in laughter and I was relieved to have her smile even if it was only for a moment because our small conversation had alerted her mother to our presence.
"Isabella," The bottle blonde, lotion tanned woman turned with a wide, slightly creepy smile. "It is so nice to see you again."
Bella scoffed "First off; it's Bella and secondly you haven't seen me since I was six years old so I wouldn't count seeing you again as nice."
Renee's fake smile faltered and she stuttered but never got a sentence out.
"I'm here for Emmett and that is it," Bella continued. She pulled me over to the empty love seat and we sat down with her leaning against me carefully. I knew she was still worrying.
A beautiful woman with russet skin, ebony hair and dark brown eyes reached out and squeezed Bella's hand gently.
"Leah?" I asked Bella quietly and she gave a little nod.
I was glad that Bella had so much support.
"Bells be nice to mom," Emmett said looking annoyed "She's only in for a day."
Bella gritted her teeth and spoke in a low tone "She may be my biological mother but Sue is my mom. I am here to support you Emmett, that doesn't mean that I have to call her mom too."
"Bella," Renee started putting her hand over Emmett's "I know you must have a lot of questions so why don't you ask them? I would really like to get to know my children."
Bella thought for a moment and then sat up straight "I have one question."
Renee nodded for her to continue and leaned forward.
"Why on earth did you think it was okay to not show up to my concert," Bella asked "I was six damn years old and you promised to be there and not only were you not there but you left and you never spoke to me again."
Renee went to speak but Bella was on a roll "I get that you never wanted a second child and that when I came along I screwed up your plans to escape Forks but I was your daughter and it hurt so bad that you just left and that you spoke to Emmett on birthdays and holidays and you never wanted to talk to me."
Bella wasn't crying but her face was red with anger and I reached out to rub her back gently.
J&BJ&BJ&BJ&B
Bella's POV:
My breathing was heavy as I stopped speaking and Jasper's hand rubbing up and down my back soothed me only a little bit.
I stared at Renee waiting for a reasonable answer that I knew would never come.
"You were always a daddy's girl," Renee said "You hated me."
My mouth dropped. "I only hated you after you left and after you never wanted to speak to me and you pretended like I never existed."
"You're right Bella I never wanted a second child," Renee admitted bluntly "I never wanted to be in Forks and if you hadn't been around I probably would have taken Emmett with me but you have to understand I was never a small town type of girl and I felt trapped."
I felt as if I'd been slapped in the face. I had known all of this before but to hear her admit that I was the reason she felt so trapped, that my brother grew up without a mother, made me feel sick.
"I'm sorry Emmett," I stuttered "I have to go. She wants to get to know her child and you're her child. Leah, Paul thank you for coming, if you guys want to drop by later Jazz and I will be ordering take out and watching a movie or something feel free to join us. Rose you and I are still on for tomorrow right?"
Rosalie nodded and I gave her and the others a grateful smile.
Jasper took my hand and started to lead me out of my brother's house. We had just gotten to the door when Emmett stopped me.
He reached out and pulled me into an enormous hug. "I'm sorry," He muttered softly and didn't loosen his grip. "I never thought of how seeing her again would affect you. She's my mom though Bells don't hate me for loving her?"
I laughed quietly "I will never, in a million years, be able to hate you." I kissed his cheek gently "I love you, you goof. You're my big brother. How about you go and enjoy your time and then we can go to lunch tomorrow just the two of us?"
He nodded and put me down next to Jasper again and the two of us headed home to hopefully enjoy the rest of our evening.
J&BJ&BJ&BJ&B
Jasper and I had decided to order Chinese take-out and watch a couple of movies and just spend some time together, not worrying about anything but each other.
He was mixing up some hot chocolate and I was crawling into something comfortable. Jasper came up behind me and hugged me tightly and then spun me around and kissed me.
It was a kiss filled with emotion and I pulled away after a moment and asked "What's up?"
"I remembered the night that you found out Edward cheated." He said and the anger was visible in his eyes.
"That was a long time ago," I said and ran my hand up and down his arm trying to calm him. It didn't bother me anymore but I knew just remembering it would of course bring up those feelings of anger again. "We have the restraining orders against him and Alice and the police are still looking for them."
He nodded and I held onto him as tight as I dared.
Our quiet moment was interrupted by the doorbell and I pulled away with a groan.
"Come on," I said smiling "Food's here."
Jasper flopped onto the couch in the living room as I grabbed my wallet off the coffee table.
A young man handed me the bag of amazing smelling food in exchange for thirty bucks and my mouth was watering.
We set the containers out around the coffee table and I put in 'Life as We Know It' before I settled next to Jasper.
J&BJ&BJ&BJ&B
"Bella," Jasper drawled into my ear and I woke out of my doze. "Let's head up to bed?"
We had finished 'Life as We Know It' and had put on 'Clash of the Titans', one of Jasper's favourite movies before the accident and I must have nodded off.
"I should change your bandages first," I said and he winced at the thought of his chest being touched.
I chuckled and he asked "Is it going to hurt?"
"It shouldn't," I said "All I am doing is changing the wrappings and making sure there's no oozing or sign of infection. Your still on the antibiotics so should be healing up alright."
He nodded "I'll meet you in the bedroom."
I agreed and we both split up- me to the kitchen to grab the bandages the hospital had provided us with and him to the bedroom to wait for me.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I had the fleeting thought 'Maybe I should put on my naughty nurse outfit.' So by the time I walked into the bedroom I was snickering to myself happily.
"What's so funny darlin'?" Jasper asked and I was filled with butterflies- it was the first time he'd called me darlin' since the shooting and it made me extremely happy to hear my nickname.
"Nothing really," I said settling beside him on the bed "Shirt off handsome."
He chuckled and with my help we were able to pull his shirt over his head.
"I think you can start going without the sling," I commented "I told Carlisle how you were doing this evening and he suggested trying a day or two without it. If your chest hurts we can go back to using it.
He nodded as I reached around him to unravel the gauze, being extremely gentle.
"It actually doesn't hurt that bad," he commented as my fingers touched his skin and I began peeling back the bandage.
I cringed when I saw his chest. It was mottled black and blue and there was a seven inch wide set of stitches just above the bottom of his ribs.
He winced when my fingers brushed along the bruises "Sorry Jazz." I worked quickly and re wrapped his chest, wanting to limit the amount of time I was touching him because I hated hurting him.
I had just pulled away when Jasper pulled me so we were laying down next to one another.
"I'm sorry about your mom today," Jasper said quietly.
I shook my head "It's not your fault that the woman who gave birth to me is a bitch." I wrapped my arm around his waist and nuzzled into his good side. "I have a mom. I didn't have one for a very long time but I had a great dad and now I have an amazing step mother who I really do think of as my mom."
"It just angers me that she could ever treat you like that," He said "You are such a great person and you have never given up on me. She's missed out on knowing an amazing person and that's her loss. I don't know how I could ever have gotten through this without you."
I gave him a smile and kissed him lightly "I love you Jazz. I'd never give up on you and I never will and I just hope that I can always make sure our children know that I love them and that they are my world."
"I love you too Bells," Jasper chuckled "They already know how much you love them and so do I. I just hope that I get all of my memories back because I hate the thought of not remembering a moment with you."