Chapter 6

The day after the accident Gray decided she would be skipping school in order to spend some time with Garrett. Her little boy seemed to be more traumatized by what happened then she was, he clung to her, his tiny hands gripping her pant leg in a death grip as he followed her everywhere, as if making sure she wouldn't disappear. Thus, for the sake of both of them, Gray figured she would just hang out with her baby today, one day wouldn't hurt. So for the first time in years she slept in with her child curled into her while his two tiny fists gripped her shirt in a deathlock.

Glancing over, her alarm clock read 10:30 in the morning and Gray sighed happily, stretching out like a cat. She smoothed her child's onyx hair down as she gently pried his tiny fists from her shirt. When she knew it was safe Gray tip toed out of her bedroom, leaving the door cracked so she could hear when he woke up.

Pancakes.

Garrett loved pancakes, especially with a strawberry cream cheese topping and that's exactly what her baby would be getting today. She went about cooking breakfast while allowing her mind to wonder. Jasper's reaction to seeing Garrett for the first time really worried her, she had no idea what her blonde friend was thinking. It would break her heart if he let the fact that she was a teenage mother tarnish his opinion of her. The reality of the situation is she would always choose Garrett, without question her child came first.

It wasn't long before she heard the pitter patter of little feet, a sound that never failed to bring a smile to her face. "Mama!"

"Good morning, little bird." She opened her arms just as he jumped in the air, catching his small body with ease. Gray smiled as her baby giggled while she peppered kisses all over his face.

"Mama ok?" His little voice was laced with worry and she flinched when she thought back to the accident.

"Yup! Mama is all ok. Do you want to know why?" Lowering her voice, she whispered conspiratorially in his ear. Hushing her own giggles as his messy black hair flopped every which way with his furious nodding. "I'm a superhero."

"Really?!" Gray bit her lip to keep from laughing as her son's mismatched eyes grew wide in shock.

"Yes. I even have super powers!" If possible his eyes grew even wider.

"Really?!" Her son was practically drooling with excitement now. Eyes wide, mouth dropped open in shock and little body jumping up and down slightly with barely restrained eagerness.

"Guess what my superpower is?" Picking up her child up, she placed him on her hip before rubbing her nose against his. "My super power allows me to love you unconditionally forever and ever. That is the best super power because it makes me invincible."

"Wow!" She finally let herself laugh aloud when he hugged her tightly, singing her praises and comparing her to Iron Man.

"Alright, little bird, time to eat." Just as she was setting Garrett down at the table, there was a knock at her door. Confused, she placed a plate in front of her child before answering the door.

To her surprise it was the Cullen and the Hale's.

"Hi, ummm…" Gray wasn't really sure what to say. The last thing she was expecting was for the seriously inhumanly beautiful family to show up at her humble doorstep. It must have shown on her face or something because Edward smiled gently at her, most likely in an attempt to reassure her. Truth be told it put her on edge, he wasn't always the friendliest of folks but he wasn't the meanest either. He was pretty aloof to everything around him or so it appeared, but she somehow thought there was more to him than meets the eye.

"We wanted to see how you were fairing." Gray nodded at the bronze hair teen before opening the door wider and motioning for them to come inside. They all seemed to move with an unnatural grace that she did not envy, she didn't want the attention such beauty brought.

"Thanks for checking up on me, it means a lot." She moved away from the entrance of her home, grabbing a large sweater along the way to cover her still pajama clad body and throwing it on quickly, before heading to the kitchen. "Garrett, someone's here to see you." Gray giggled as she wiped the pancake toppings from his face as he whipped around to see who his guests were.

"Rose! It's my fwiend, Mama! Rose!" Gray leaned against the wall, arms crossed across her chest as her sweater swallowed her top half. She watched as the blonde bombshell lit up with a motherly glow that Gray found adorable.

"Hello, Garrett. How are you today?" Rose's voice held a tender, genuinely happy tone that made Gray wonder just how much pain the blonde was harboring secretly. The onyx haired woman had never heard, or even seen, the female Hale this way. It pleased her immensely that she found just as much joy in Garrett that he seemed to find in her.

A rush of cold settled next to her and she knew it was Jasper without having to look. The cold body that gave her a warm feeling was a tell that the male Hale settled next to her. He, no doubt, had plenty to say and talk about and so she steeled her heart for whatever was to come next.

"Can we talk?" She couldn't identify what emotion was hidden in his speech and even though it worried her, she agreed anyway.

Nodding her head to Rosalie, who smiled softly back before signaling with her head to go ahead, Gray led her friend to her bedroom. Once inside she closed the door, leaving only a crack open so she could keep an ear out for Garrett, before she settled on the edge of her bed.

"Alright, talk." Her standoffish demeanor seemed to shock him, his pale hazel eyes widening momentarily, but he said nothing about it.

"I'm sorry, darlin', for the way I acted at the hospital. It was just a bit of a shock." Jasper's voice was sincere, his eyes pleading for her to understand that he meant no harm. Gray gave in. She could never stand against the puppy eyes.

"You just kept staring at us, like everyone else stares at us. I had no idea what you were thinking." It wasn't often that she allowed someone to know how unsure, insecure, she could be at times. She was never insecure when it came to her child, she had a baby at a young age but she never let anyone else's attitude about it bring her down. Jasper was a different story, he was her best friend and she really did care about him and even his family. Gray loved that the rest of the Cullens and Hales seemed to adore her baby boy but Jasper hadn't yet shown any kind of feeling toward Garrett.

It scared her.

"I never meant anything by that, darlin'. Garrett is a handsome kid and I was jealous." He was struggling with his words, Gray could tell by the way he flexed his fists while rubbing them across his jean clad thighs.

"Jealous?" She didn't understand what there was to be jealous of.

"You have a child, you're an amazin' mama. You have this lil' family and I want that." The anger, the sadness and the jealousy were all there in his face, in his voice, his demeanor. He was hiding nothing from her and she had no words. "I'm jealous that someone was able to do what I can't." Gray watched as Jasper paced in front of her spot on the edge of her bed. His hands clenching repeatedly before running it through his hair and yanking on some of his curls gently. "I'm mad that he left you with such responsibility, that your sufferin' at school 'cause of him. I'm mad that he gave up a chance to have a family when I would kill for one."

Gray wisely kept her mouth shut in favor of taking one of his ice cold hands in hers. Tenderly, she traced along the veins in his palm and up his forearm in an attempt to soothe him. Gray was surprised at Jasper's passionate speech and it pained her to know that she hadn't known that her friend wanted any of that. He didn't just want it either, his tone had expressed to her a deep longing for a family that really shook her. It was such a big difference in the attitude Landon had when it came to Garrett.

She was left a little breathless to find that she thought that part of him was incredibly sexy and manly.

"Gray, darlin', talk to me." Whipping her head up, eyes meeting his, she smiled softly at her curly haired canary.

"Jasper, can you have kids?" She spoke softly as to not offend him or make him sad but she wondered throughout his ranting and she needed to know in order to understand where he was coming from.

His golden gaze seemed to pierce right through her and she, for the first time, could see the weight of his sadness within them. It broke her heart to see such a haunted expression on her friend's face. He looked infinitely older in that moment and like someone she didn't even know.

"No. I can't have kids."

"Jasper, canary, I'm so sorry." In an instant she was standing, her arms wrapped around him and her nose nuzzling his chest as she cried for him. Here stood a man who truly wanted a family to have and keep dear to him but couldn't even entertain the possibility of having one of his own. Gray remembered conversations about Jasper's family before they passed on and how he had always loved that they were so family oriented. His father had been a good man, a loving parent and doting husband and Jasper had expressed that he wanted nothing more than to be that sort of man. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh, darlin', I didn't mean to make ya' cry." Cold fingers smoothed her hair down and she stopped her sniffles in favor of clutching him tighter to her, ignoring his too cold body temperature as she always had.

"It's ok. I just really want to throttle Landon right now." She pulled away from him, using the edge of her sweater sleeve to wipe her tears away, as she plopped on her bed.

"Landon?"

"Garrett's father or as my father refers to him, the dna contributor." She giggled when Jasper chuckled.

They settled into a comfortable silence, something Gray really appreciated when it came to Jasper. He didn't feel the need to fill in silences because he was uncomfortable. As someone who loved to think and get lost in her thoughts she really considered herself lucky her best friend was the same or at least respected and understood that part of her. Sometimes all she needed was a moment to gather herself and she found nothing quite as irritating as someone who couldn't appreciate a moment of quiet time. Even her son had his quiet moments.

"We better check on the others before Emmett corrupts my kid." Smiling at Jasper's amused expression she gripped his hand before dragging him along to find her guests and child.

She found them, amusingly enough, all on the floor sitting in a circle coloring as Garrett giggled in Rose's lap at something Alice said to him. Gray watched on for several moments before Garrett spotted her.

"Mama!" His high pitch squeal of excitement as he ran towards her never ceased to make her smile like she had found the meaning of life. Scooping him up in one smooth move she cradled him as she rubbed her nose into his belly as he giggled loudly.

Propping him up on her hip she moved to face Jasper, his golden gaze already landing on Garrett. " Little bird, this is Jasper, Rose's brother and Mama's good friend."

"Jawper!" He cried happily and in an instant she saw Jasper's eyes soften, a gentle smile gracing his pink lips. She, once again, saw the man who desperately wanted a chance to have a family, a man who would and could cherish his loved ones. A man who was fiercely loyal, just as he was lonely.

A man that was slowly, but surely, going to steal her heart.

…...

I've been gone for such a long time and I'm so terribly sorry for that. Please let me know if this story is something you would like me to continue.