Chapter Six

In the morning, I walk into the kitchen where Charlotte is making some breakfast for Bella. I see that she's cooking eggs and bacon for her, and my nose slightly crinkles at the smell. The meat isn't too bad, but the eggs just smell downright nasty. I guess it's like how carnivores taste better than herbivores, that meat smells better.

I take a seat at the small table and Charlotte looks over to me with a tight smile. She looks back to the food as she speaks, "I'm sorry if I've been a little cold to you. I'm just," she trails off for a bit, furrowing her brow, "I'm very protective of my daughter. I don't trust men around her, well, except Peter. It's all because of her biological father-"

"You mean, sperm donor." Peter interrupts from somewhere in the house and she smiles, nodding her head.

"He beat her and I'm actually surprised that she lets herself around you so easily. She would close up and cry whenever we went into town and she saw an older man. Memories of her punishments I guess. So, I apologize for being cold, but, I do like how she's taken a shine to you. She barely talked for the first couple of months she was with us, because I think she was beat for talking."

"No apologies needed, ma'am. Bella's lucky to have a mama who loves her so much. It's amazing to feel." I admit and it is. I've never felt someone who loves so deeply as Charlotte. Not even Esme's love for us can outshine her love for Bella, and I guess that's because she's her real mother. "I've taken a shine to her, too. She's a sweet little girl."

Charlotte gives me a small smile at that and I hear a little yawn and look over towards Bella's bedroom. She quickly puts the food on a plate before turning the burner off and place the pan in a dishwasher at vampire speed, before walking over to the bedroom.

"Good morning, baby." I hear Charlotte say from the bedroom.

"Good morning, mommy." Bella replies, her voice laced with sleep and I smile, looking over and seeing Peter walk into the room. I see the way he's changed ever since he's found his Mate. Granted, I haven't seen him in ten years, but vampires aren't like humans in the way they change and they grow. Peter has changed, though. Sure, he's always been an upbeat, sarcastic guy, but he's more carefree and happy. His emotions of love towards his Mate and Bella are unconditional and irrevocable.

I'm kind of envious as I've felt that his affection towards me has lessened that it has been in the past. We used to only have each other, and he was the only person, besides Alice, that I really loved. Now, I loved Alice, because I thought she was my Mate. I think I just tricked myself into thinking that I did love her, because I had to. My love for my brother grew over a span of time, because I used to always contemplate killing him in the beginning. He was an annoying motherfucker! Eventually, I grew to love him like a brother, and a friend.

Thanks to my wife - now, ex-wife - he doesn't trust me anymore and he's grown to not care for me so much, and it's all my fault. I should have dominated my female, instead of letting her dominate me. I've been a pushover these last couple of years, and it almost severed my relationship with my brother.

Charlotte carries Bella into the kitchen and sets her at the table next to me. She looks over and gives me a small smile, "Morning, Jasper."

"Mornin', Bella." I reply as Charlotte puts her breakfast in front of her.

"Thank you, mommy." she says as Charlotte places a kiss on her daughter's head, before walking over to her Mate, who wraps his arms around her from behind.

"Why are your eyes like that? Why aren't they red like mommy and daddy's?"

I was a little unprepared for this question, especially by a child. "Well...because I feed on animals."

Her brow furrows even more, "Why?"

"Because that's what my family does."

"Does it taste good?"

"No, not really."

"Why do you eat something that doesn't taste good?" she asks, and Peter snorts while Charlotte tries to hide a smile, and failing.

"Because I...I don't want to hurt people."

"Mommy and daddy only hurt the bad people. Why don't you do just that?" she asks and Peter raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to answer. I project annoyance and irritation of his mirth to him, but he just brushes it off.

"I don't know, Bella." I reply and she just frowns, glancing over to Peter who nods his head, answering my unanswered question. "I'm an empath, meaning I can feel emotions."

She widens her eyes and a smile spreads across her face. I raise my eyebrows at her response, and she tells me, "You mean you have a gift?" I'm surprised at this, but nod in response, "Daddy always says he doesn't have a gift, he just 'knows shit.'"

Peter and Charlotte's jaws drop as Bella innocently curses, mimicking Peter's phrase, and Charlotte smacks Peter on the back of the head. The big baby whines and rubs the spot that was just hit, while Charlotte starts going off on him about watching his language. I snicker at my brother, who fought side by side in the newborn wars, is cowering in fear by his Mate. I have to cover my mouth to hold back the laughs that are threatening to escape.

Bella winces, looking over to Charlotte with apologetic eyes, "Sorry, mommy."

Charlotte turns to Bella, and softens her gaze, "It's okay, baby. You wouldn't have learned that word if it wasn't for your daddy." Peter just holds his hands up defense, trying to look guilty. He then turns his gaze to me and throws his annoyance, which I just reply with mirth. Oh, it's amazing to watch him get reamed by his Mate.

"Don't blame daddy. He said it all the time." Bella says, stressing the word 'he' and Peter curls his lip into a snarl, radiating nothing but contempt for her father. I can't help the growl that builds in my chest at the thought of someone hurting this child.

After her breakfast, Bella walks back into her bedroom to get changed, while Peter is working on smoothing things over with Charlotte, who is not talking to him at the moment. He keeps begging for forgiveness, saying that he didn't mean it. Then Charlotte threatens no sex for the next couple of months, and his emotions were so full of despair, I would have thought that someone was about to flay him alive.

"Jasper, have you seen the horses?" Bella asks me as she walks back out, wearing jean capris a t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers on her feet. Her long brown hair is falling in long ringlets as she looks at me with big, hopeful brown eyes. I shake my head, telling her that I haven't, while I'm actually surprised that they have horses, since animals are generally frightened of us. I haven't seen a horse up close since 1933, and I find myself excited to see them.

Over the years, I've forgotten most of my human memories, but I do remember owning a couple of horses and riding them around the land my family owned. It was one of my favorite things to do, and I owned a stallion I named Scout. I rode him just about everyday until I signed up for the Army and had to leave him.

She then turns to Peter and Charlotte, "Can I show him?"

"Sure, Little Bit. I think the Major would like that." Peter says and Bella walks over to me and takes my hand in her tiny, warm one, leading me outside. We walk across the field towards the barn near the back, where I can already see two horses grazing. I glance down to Bella, who looks excited, "How old are you, Darlin'?"

Bella looks up and smiles at me, "I'm five. How old are you?"

"I'm twenty."

"What about vampire years? Daddy's one hundred and thirteen, and mommy's only two years old." she tells me and I smile at her nonchalance, telling her that I'm one hundred and twenty-seven.

"Cool." Bella replies and I look down at her, raising an eyebrow with a smile playing on my lips. This human is definitely interesting, and she's a funny little thing, too. I mostly avoided humans like the plague, Alice always warning me to stay away so I don't attack them. I don't feel any inclination to attack this child, because I simply can't. I think it's physically impossible for me to attack her. Ha, I kind of want to take a picture and show it to Alice and the Cullens, throwing it in their faces that I'm this close to a human and I'm not biting her, like they would assume. Hell, Alice has probably seen this anyway, which is a good thing she doesn't know the phone number here. I don't even want to see her right now.

We get to the dividing fence and Bella raises her arms. I lean down and pick her up, placing her on my hip and climbing over the fence. When we get to the other side, I don't put her down, because I find that I like carrying her and I like having her in my arms. Safe. Bella doesn't seem to mind as well, since she lays her head on my shoulder and wraps her arms around my neck.

She's an inquisitive little thing as she keeps asking me questions about myself, but I find that I like to answer them. It's nice to have someone to talk to, and someone wanting to learn about me. Someone who doesn't know my reputation, because that's really all they judge me for. Someone who wants to know me, for me.

"There's daddy's horse, Clyde." she says, pointing to a dark brown American Saddlebred. A couple of yards away is another horse, a chestnut stallion. "He bought mommy that one and they named her Bonnie. They said when I'm twelve, I can have a horse of my own. Do you ride, Jasper?"

"I sure do, Bella." I reply, smiling down at her, while my accent sticking out and I realize how comfortable I feel. For the first time in forty years, I feel extremely comfortable in my own skin, being back down south and around horses. Most of all, just being around this little girl. I don't have to act prim and proper like I do around the Cullens. I don't have to act at all. I can just be Jasper Whitlock, not Jasper Hale.

"Can we go for a quick ride?" she asks and I look into her large brown eyes, hopeful and pleading. How the hell could I say no to that? How the hell could I say no to anything she ever requests? It's a good thing she doesn't know this, yet. She could probably ask for my heart and I would reach in my chest and hand it over to her. Anything to make her happy.

I nod my head and a bright smile crosses her face as I reluctantly put her down and grab a saddle from the stable. Bella clicks her tongue and Clyde comes trotting right over to her, making me smile. I place the saddle on the horse, before lifting Bella onto my hip, and pulling us up onto the horse. I place Bella in front of me, keeping an arm around her so she doesn't fall.

Bella giggles as we start trotting along and I have to say, I haven't had this much fun in a while. We ride around the land, and I'm proud of what my brother has accomplished in all these years, by himself, and I haven't been around at all. All because of my wife, and I listened to her. She always told me that Peter was a bad influence because of his diet, and I would slip.

Here, I feel like I can finally think clearly. I don't feel clouded, I feel free.

I'm then hit with a realization while glancing down to a smiling Bella, and all my questions are answered. Why the pain in my chest is gone when this child is near me, why I'm so drawn to her, why I have a pure need to protect and care for this child.

She's my Mate.

At this discovery, all I can do is smile.