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Chapter 30

Jasper

I was just on the way to Edward and Bella.

Hopefully I did not disturb the two again in their togetherness. On my last visit, I burst in at a very inopportune moment.

Since Alice couldn't see anyone's future once that person was near Bella, I decided to leave my cell phone at home.

This resulted in an advantage. Alice couldn't torture me all day with questions, like why I was with Bella. Downside, I unfortunately couldn't let the two know that I was already on my way to them.

For decades, I tried to surprise Alice. She always saw in a vision what I wanted to buy her or what I wanted to plan. Finally, I could surprise her once, and with Bella's help, I would succeed perfectly.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't paid any attention at all to the noises coming from the house. Only when I pressed the doorbell, I heard that I disturbed again.

Son of a bitch. Why did this always have to happen to me? Those two would surely kill me now.

The door was ripped open with full force, and at first I was startled.

In front of me was not only Edward, who looked very angry, no, Bella was also standing next to him.

She glared wickedly at me, her breathing faster than normal.

Oh yeah, those two would definitely kill me right now.

"You ... you ...", Bella gasped more than angrily.

"I'm so sorry. I was just thinking about distracting Alice, but not about ..."

"Spare me your excuses. I ..."

"Bella, calm down. Jasper didn't do it on purpose," Edward tried to help me.

"You're protecting him?" she directed the question at him, with a confused look on her face.

"Yes ... no. Oh, ... I just wanted to calm you down. I don't want you to get upset, it's not good for our baby."

"So you don't want me to get upset. Then maybe your family shouldn't always bother us unannounced."

Somehow I felt worse by the second.

As it was, Bella and Edward were at the beginning of a quarrel, and I was the cause. I could not let that happen, so I tried to settle it again.

"Please Bella, Edward is right. You shouldn't be upset. I'm really sorry, and I promise you it won't happen again."

Obviously, my gift no longer had any effect on Bella either. She was still angry.

"Who believes!"

Bella brusquely extricated herself from Edward's embrace and stomped angrily toward the bedroom.

"Come in. I suppose Bella will put some clothes on."

"Edward, I ..."

'God, I'm really very embarrassed.'

"Forget it. I can understand you a little bit. Alice is absolutely not easy right now. I could have thought of you coming over today."

"I promise next time I'll call first."

"It's okay. Let's talk about something else, okay?"

"Okay."

I was so glad that Edward was not angry with me.

"Where are you going to carry my wife off to today?"

Before I could even answer, Bella spoke up.

"What does carry off mean? You're coming with me as punishment!"

"Bella, that's no way. I really need to go hunting."

Bella pulled a pout, which, after she kissed Edward tenderly, turned into a smile.

Afterwards, she said understandingly, "Okay."

Thus, we were both alone with their great car on the road.

Without having to ask her, I was allowed to drive this one.

During the car ride, Bella had closed her eyes, tenderly stroking her belly again and again.

Briefly, I had the urge to put my hand on it as well.

I wanted to know how it felt, but I didn't dare.

With Bella's happy aura, it almost felt like she was using my gift on me. I really started dreaming then.

Somehow I was jealous of Edward. He would soon have a real family. He would be the only vampire to whom this was made possible. His mastery to resist Bella's scent was already unique, but the pregnancy beat everything. He had to be the happiest vampire on earth.

In the meantime, I too was immune to the desire to kill Bella. She hadn't smelled this seductive since her pregnancy. That wasn't to say she stunk or anything. No, her scent was still special, but just not quite as human anymore. She almost smelled like a vampire! Could it be because of the baby? After all, this little creature would become a half-vampire. What gifts would it have? But this shield was already enormous, especially because it could protect Bella at the same time. Finally, something could not happen to our little klutz so quickly.

I had to smile at this thought.

Meanwhile, Bella's hand was resting quietly on her belly, and her steady breathing told me that she had fallen asleep.

Without thinking twice, I took my hand off the steering wheel and placed it carefully on her belly. It was hard and warm. I was totally fascinated by it and just as I was about to lose myself in my thoughts, it happened.

I felt a kind of blow against my hand.

Oh my god, what was that? Had the baby just kicked me?

As if struck by lightning, I pulled my hand from Bella's belly.

At the same moment she opened her eyes and immediately looked at me questioningly.

Embarrassed, I only brought out a "Sorry, I didn't mean to." out.

Her loving smile showed me that she was not angry with me at all.

"Don't be embarrassed. I felt your hand the whole time."

"Oh."

That was all I could manage.

I was confused. Hadn't she been asleep?

"I was asleep, but still felt your cold."

"Was that the baby just now. I mean, did it kick me?"

"Yeah, it kicked us. That's so cool."

As quickly as Bella was happy, she was also sad again.

Her mood swings were killing me. This emotional chaos was like a roller coaster ride.

Again I tried to send a wave of reassurance to her, and again my gift had no effect.

"What's the matter? You're so depressed all of a sudden?"

"I was just thinking about Edward. He missed that moment. I'm sure he would have loved to be there for the first real kick."

"Bella, I'm sure there will be some more kicking. He really needed to go hunting today, his eyes ..."

"I know, Jasper. So, now let's not think about it anymore, and look forward to today."

No sooner said than done, I could only say. I wanted to get as much done with Bella today as possible. First, so that Emmett had long enough for his plan, and second, so that I only had to lie to Alice once.

During the rest of the car ride, Bella and I discussed which flowers or which decorations Alice would like. Of course, we did not find a common denominator, and since I took into account Bella's feelings, which again fluctuated incredibly, I gave in on many things.

At Bella's request, we were on our way to a bridal fashion store at the end.

But I had absolutely no desire to do so. But one shouldn't refuse anything to a pregnant woman with huge mood swings.

Since I was not allowed to see the dress, I had to stay in the front of the store.

It wasn't until Bella was looking for a dress for herself that I was allowed to look around a bit.

In the process, I found an enchanting wedding dress. I carefully took it off the rack and imagined my little elf in it. A smile graced my lips at this performance. Before anyone could notice my dreamy look, I quickly hung the dress back. Alice would certainly look especially pretty in it.

If I should tell Bella about my find? No, better not. After all, I was not allowed to see the dress beforehand, so it was pointless.

I set out to find Bella.

When I found her and our eyes met, I couldn't place her emotional chaos.

She was angry, but also happy, and the whole thing was jumping back and forth like two kids in a bouncy castle. How could you have so many different feelings in just a few seconds? This woman was simply killing me.

Cautiously, I walked towards them and then I saw the problem.

Bella was wearing a stunning pale pink dress. It emphasized not only her breasts, but also her baby bump. In this dress she could no longer hide the pregnancy.

From the front it fit her perfectly, but unfortunately not from behind. Since she had already gained a little weight, she could not close the zipper. Piece by piece she tried to push it up.

I just couldn't help laughing at the desperate look on her face.

Mmm, maybe I shouldn't have done that after all?

Now I sat alone in the car and was allowed to wait for Bella until she had found a suitable dress for herself.

Well, hopefully she didn't take as long as my Alice, because then it would be another very long afternoon for me.