I must be spoiled and rotten
cause no one else will ever do
Don't you forget I get what I want
All I want is you ;;

It was amazing how much of a difference Bella felt after telling Charlie the truth.

It was as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Bella hated lying and anyone who knew her also knew that it was not one of her strong suits by any means. She was very obvious when it was required to fib and keeping such a big secret from her family had been easily the most difficult part of the entire new transition to her lifestyle as a vampire. There was still the matter of Renee, but Bella wasn't nearly as concerned. For one thing, Renee would take the news better than Charlie would simply because of the type of person Renee was. Secondly, after Charlie was told, Bella begged him to at least call her mother and let her know that he'd seen and spoken with Bella and there was no need to worry about her whereabouts. He was vague aside from that, simply because A) he didn't want to go into any detail about his daughter's new lifestyle and B) he wanted to sit back and enjoy while Bella was the one to tell Renee herself. She could get the chance in a few weeks when Renee came to visit Forks. It would be too much of a risk to go to Jacksonville when Bella still wasn't out of her newborn phase. Plus, the constant cloud coverage had given them a little bit of leeway in Forks before Bella could drop the bomb on her mother.

Watching Charlie's reaction to what happened to Bella when she was in the sun was priceless. Even Jasper had to crack a smile at the way the police chief's jaw dropped. He'd stared at her for several seconds, but then looked away as if he wasn't supposed to be seeing what he was. He wasn't afraid at all, but he was in the mind frame that he wanted to still know as little as possible and thus, he wasn't going to question it or comment much aside from 'I see what you mean' and 'Well, you're real pretty Bells.'

Jasper had chosen to stay in the shadows for obvious reasons. Bella knew he would be uncomfortable with Charlie seeing his scars, especially for the first time and so she didn't push him, nor was she offended when he watched the two of them from a small distance. It was his decision if he wanted to tell Charlie about his past and why he would have so many scars that were visible if he ever were to expose himself in the sunlight around her father. Bella wouldn't make that choice for him and Charlie didn't ask.

They'd also taken Charlie to see their house. He'd gawked at it, but attempted to hide his awe of how lavish the place was. He knew that the Cullens were well off and though Bella never seemed unhappy in their small house in Forks, he was glad that she was able to experience the finer things now. That was one good thing he knew about Jasper – with him, Bella would never want for anything. He knew Jasper would take care of her and seeing the house was a way of proving that. It also gave him some piece of mind to see where she had been when she seemingly disappeared. His mind, at the time, had thought the worst, but this house went to show that she had been safe.

What the police chief had really been interested in though, was to see the family play baseball. Both Bella and Jasper didn't tell him much about why they needed to wait until there had been a storm or how exactly it all played out; they'd wanted him to see for himself. It was also the first time he would be faced with Esme and Carlisle, as well as the rest of the family, knowing the truth about them.

He acted no differently. Carlisle expressed how good it was to see him and the two men exchanged a nod that clarified that the truth was acknowledged. He beamed at Esme when she told him that he was a welcomed asset as their new umpire.

Charlie wasn't the only one who had been looking forward to baseball. Admittedly, Bella was too.

This was the first time she would be able to play. Of course, she didn't actually work right when it came to anything with sports, but she hoped that maybe since she had a little bit more coordination now, that she would be able to keep up. Well, try to. She'd even looked the part in the shirt Jasper had given her when they went to the Mariner's game and her long hair pulled into a ponytail through the back of a baseball cap. Her father still seemed a little skeptical, eyeing her up as they got ready for the game.

"Sure you're playing, Bells? I mean… baseball…" he said, wincing a bit.

She fixed him with a look. "Well thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad."

Jasper was elated. They were going to be spending the day playing baseball with the family, and Charlie was going to be there too. It really meant a lot to Jasper. He knew how much Bella loved her father and how she had missed him. While she had not always spoken about him during their absence from the human world, Jasper could sometimes feel it coming from her. Bella and Charlie had not been exactly vocal about how close they were, but again, it was something Jasper had always been able to feel and so he knew that being reunited with him was very important to Bella. It was important to him, too.

Charlie was doing amazingly well with the fact that they were actually vampires. It wasn't exactly an easy pill to swallow but he'd been doing all right with it. Jasper attributed it to Charlie's calm demeanor and his whole approach of knowing as little as possible as was necessary. If he knew all the details then he'd likely become overwhelmed. That was a big reason as to why Jasper had stayed hidden in the shade when Bella showed Charlie what happened when she stepped into the sun. The police chief had mentioned concern about Bella going up in a pile of ash and smoke when exposed to sunlight and she'd showed him how that wasn't true, just vampire folklore. Jasper did not want to overwhelm Charlie with his story. It was a lot to take in and a heavy weight he did not want to burden Charlie with. Maybe one day in the future he'd share his history with Charlie, but today was supposed to be a happy day.

Jasper had all the faith in the world that Bella would be a good baseball player, despite her own worries and the skepticism displayed by Charlie. With everyone gathered around, it was decided that he, Carlisle, and Rosalie would be on a team, while Esme, Emmett, and Bella were on the other. Charlie would be the umpire, which was a role Bella temporarily played while human. The clouds overhead had gotten very dark, signifying that the storm approaching would soon be upon them. It was distant enough from the field, though, that no rain would hit them. Only the distant thunder would be heard.

"We've not yet seen what Belle can do on the field," Jasper said, coming over to place a light hand on her shoulder. "I'm looking forward to it." He smiled warmly at her, then grinned teasingly. "Of course, I don't think that will help her win... but we'll see."

Bella didn't take too much offense to it when she was looked upon as the obvious weak link. Charlie had been right to be skeptical and it was clear that everyone was a little wary of her skills on the baseball field. After all, gym class had never been her strong suit. Even Jasper had to poke a little fun of her when he quipped that her team wasn't likely to win.

Emmett was far less reserved about it. While he was easily the best athlete out of all of them (which is why he was on Bella's team to even things out a little), he was concerned with his teammate. While he loved his soon to be sister, when it came to sports, he was serious. That was why he strategized that she be the catcher. He figured that Esme would be best to pitch and he would be better suited in the outfield. It would be unlikely that Bella would even have the chance to practice her catching much considering the ball would almost always be hit by whichever batter was up.

She didn't mind. While she was glad to be a part of the team, she was still nervous and didn't care at all if she was situated in a position where she wouldn't see as much action as the others. Giving Jasper a 'look', she took one of the bats and pushed it into his chest to shut him up.

"You're up," she said, shaking her head as she took her spot behind the makeshift home base.

As she did, she couldn't help but to let her eyes roam over the current batter. It was only for a moment and thankfully her back was to Charlie so he couldn't see the way she was practically undressing her fiancé with her eyes in that baseball uniform. There was no harm in having a peek when he was doing his practice swings, after all.

Well, apparently there was to Emmett, who felt the need to make a comment from the outfield. One that would have actually killed Bella had she not already been dead.

"Eye on the ball, Bella. Not on his."

She could feel the heat from Charlie blushing and it forced her to immediately close her throat. Esme turned around, mid-pitch to scold her son, who smiled and shrugged innocently. Rosalie scoffed in annoyance and voiced her opinion to get the game going and Carlisle, for the sake of both Charlie and Bella, agreed.

Crouching into position (at least, how she thought looked correctly), she held her mitt-adorned hand up for the ball, watching it as it left Esme's hand. It was amazing how clearly she could see it. Every lace and speck of mud on the ball was like crystal as it came closer and closer. But just when she winced and closed her eyes, expecting it to - rather, praying it would - land in her glove, there was a loud crack that echoed off the mountains and rivaled the loudest rumble of thunder the storm had provided yet. When she opened her eyes, Emmett had already taken off along with Esme toward the direction Jasper smacked the ball and he was gone in a flash of blonde.

Getting to her feet, she turned to smile at Charlie who was gaping in awe. Even at the baseball game with the Mariners and he'd seen firsthand how good Jasper was, it was clear that he'd been holding back at the time.

"Sweet Jesus," he breathed as he watched the Cullens race after the ball.

Jasper was curious to see how Bella would put her heightened senses to use when it came to playing baseball. He did not expect her to put her sight to use on something else but the ball, but found out that she had by way of Emmett announcing it to the family. If Jasper could have blushed, he would have. He also wanted to go out into the outfield and clobber Emmett. It wasn't just because he would have wanted to defend Bella in the situation, but also because Emmett had said that in front of Charlie! Of course, he was also near-blushing because he just found out that Bella had been practically undressing him with her eyes. That made it a little difficult to get a hit.

He didn't have to wonder about that too long, though. He'd grinned when Bella handed him the bat and basically told him to get his ass up to bat. Jasper suppressed a laugh by turning his attention to the bat. He twirled it around a few times to help him loosen up, as he did every time he played baseball. It always helped him to get his mind off other things, and did not fail him that day. Giving the bat one more twirl, he then stepped up to plate and waited for the pitch.

Esme threw the ball fast and straight on, and Jasper hit it hard to coincide with the thunder overhead. He barely had a moment to hear Charlie's murmur to Jesus before he took off running the plates. Meanwhile, Emmett ran to chase after Jasper's ball. The blonde vampire had hit it directly at Emmett's head after the comments he made, but his big bear of a brother recovered quickly and took off running, Esme close behind. Meanwhile, Jasper was rounding the bases at the speed of light. Once Emmett reached the ball, he threw it as hard as he could back over the makeshift baseball diamond, yelling for Bella to catch it.

Jasper didn't want to knock over his soon-to-be wife, but he hoped to make it back to the base before the ball was caught so that he wouldn't have to. He rounded third and ran towards the home plate, just as the ball was coming rapidly towards Bella. He ran faster, but did not see whether or not Bella caught it because he was too busy sliding into home. It would be all up to Charlie's call.

When she was still human, everything had happened so quickly when she'd witnessed the Cullens play baseball, that she couldn't actually see what was going on. She, like Charlie was now, just watched in amazement and tried to comprehend the fact that this was a very different approach to baseball as everyone in the human race knew it. It was likely that they would be – rather, just Charlie now – the only ones to witness it at all. She was glad that he was getting the opportunity to see it and hoped that it would help to ease the weight of the truth they'd all dropped on him by revealing what they were. If anything could do that, it would be baseball. And it seemed to be doing the trick.

Even with everything else happening so quickly, she could hear the racing beat of his heart as he anticipated what was going to going to happen once Emmett called out to Bella to catch the ball. If her own heart still moved inside of her chest, it would be racing even faster. She glanced at Jasper rounding third base before focusing on Emmett's throw once more. She knew she had to stand on the plate in order for it to count if she caught it, but with the speed at which Jasper was coming at her, she was more than tempted to run away and just forget about the ball to avoid a full on collision. But the ball was coming right for her and something inside of herself held a sense of confidence.

She could see it. She could see the ball going into her glove and she sucked in a breath when she felt the weight of it pressing into the leather. Her other hand, as if on its own accord, came to close over it to keep it in place.

Before she could turn to see where Jasper was, he was already sliding into home. He hadn't slid into her directly, but when she turned around, her legs collided with his body and caused her to lose her balance. Toppling over the side of him, her stomach collided with his hip and nearly knocked the wind out of her. She made an 'umph' sound and winced, but she didn't have much time to react before everyone had gathered around them, waiting for Charlie's call. Even though Bella was his daughter and he wanted to said she excelled at baseball now, he still was a police chief. He had a duty to be fair.

Luckily for him, fair meant that Bella had gotten the out. Her foot had been on the base when she caught the ball and even though she fell, she'd held onto the ball and kept the play accurate.

"Out!" he called beaming with absolute pride.

But no one seemed more thrilled than Emmett who whooped and laughed as he plucked Bella off of Jasper and spun her around. "Who knew she had the gift!" he said as Bella pried herself out of his grasp, embarrassed by the attention even though there was some self-satisfaction at having caught the ball.

"It was one catch!" Rosalie said indignantly with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away from the smiles Bella was receiving from her teammates.

Playing baseball with his family was something that really meant a lot to Jasper. He really loved it, and not just because he thought it was a great game. This was how he'd really come to bond with the Cullens. He'd been very much the outsider when he first came to join their coven. Rarely ever would he be a part of conversations, or sit with them when they lounged in their large home. He simply had not known how to be a part of a family. When they all went to play baseball, though, Jasper found that he really enjoyed it. It was a way for him to loosen up and not be so tense and on edge all the time. He could be a brother, a son. The family baseball games had always meant a great deal to him, and he was very happy to share it with both Bella and her father.

It didn't surprise him too much that Bella managed to catch the ball. While she may not have been the most coordinated human or even vampire, her senses surely were heightened enough to allow her to catch a ball. Perhaps Jasper was biased because he loved her, but he had faith in her despite being on the opposing team. Jasper saw when she caught it, and had slid into home anyway. When she fell, he'd wanted to reach out and catch her but knew it would interfere with the game. As much as he wanted to be a cushion for her, he also didn't feel like getting into a fight with Emmett about fair game play. A little fall to the ground wouldn't hurt her, he knew, though the idea of letting her drop like that hadn't set well with him.

His feelings on the matter were short lived. Bella had managed to hold onto the ball and that meant that Jasper's hit was out. Ordinarily he might've been a bit bummed about that, but he was ecstatic. Jasper knew how nervous Bella was about playing; he'd been able to feel it. Now that she'd managed to catch the ball, surely she'd be more confident about it. Jasper beamed and got to his feet. Rosalie was pissed off but he didn't really care. Carlisle didn't seem mad about it either. Before Jasper could congratulate her, Emmett had plucked her up and spun her. It drew a low chuckle from the blonde vampire. As Bella scooted away from the attention, he slid his arm around her shoulders and grinned at her.

"Nice catch, darlin'," he drawled, squeezing her shoulder.

Jasper wouldn't be able to miss the emotions that were running through her after she successfully made a play. Even if it was just the two of them playing around and she caught the ball, she still would have held the same confidence and satisfaction at her small success. But the fact that this was the first time that she was playing with the family really made it all the more significant. Before, she had just been able to watch. But now, not only could she play, but she could actually make a contribution to the team.

That was a good feeling, especially since she hated feeling like before, she was just a visitor. Charlie being there to witness her actually playing as well made her even happier. He'd seen her 'hit' at the Mariner's game when she didn't have a choice but to take a turn, but that had really been all Jasper's doing. All she did was stand in position and let him swing for her. But this time, it was only Bella who managed to do something correctly. In sports. That was surprising, even for her.

While it might have usually been embarrassing for her to trip over in the way she did, to her, it made her feel… well, like her. There were still times when she looked at herself in the mirror and struggled to find herself in her new body when she was capable of doing things she'd never have been able to manage as a human and when her beauty was still something that awed her. But she was still a klutz in some ways, it seemed. That was a characteristic that had been one of her strongest as a human and while she hated it before, it was comforting now, however silly that may have seemed.

"You're not supposed to compliment the competition," she said with a grin as Jasper slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Shows weakness."

In truth, impressing Jasper had been more important to her than what anyone else though, Charlie included. While she knew that he would love her no matter how good or bad she was at baseball, it was still something that he loved and so she wanted to show him that she could participate too and give him a sense of pride in her in doing so. He was her mate – she always wanted to be able to impress him. That was why she turned her face into his shoulder and gave him a nuzzle.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Emmett rolled his eyes, but was still smiling. "Come on. We still got a game to play."

Jasper was glad to have seen Bella's familiar humanistic tendencies still within her as well. He knew she was still be Bella, but obviously there were many differences that took place during the transition from human to vampire. He also knew that it was a major concern for Bella, so the fact that she was still displaying signs of her old self would be good for her. He'd thought that it would be much longer before Bella gained enough control over herself to show signs of who she was, and who she would be as a vampire, but his mentality regarding newborn vampires had completely changed. It all had to do with the way one was brought up and raised. He'd lost himself due to his upbringing, but it would not be the same for Bella. She had been nurtured with care and love, and treated as she had been as a human. Therefore it was easier for her to make the transition. Jasper had not taken that very well (the fact that nurture won versus nature, not Bella's progress), but he was very happy for Bella's sake.

It was so much better having Charlie in the know about their situation. He could be in their lives now, and he knew that was very important to Bella. It was important to him too; he really liked Charlie and wanted to mend their relationship again. He was hoping that they had, considering he now understood why the two of them had to stay away for a while, but he had a feeling there would always be some distance there just because Jasper had taken Bella, and now she'd become an entirely different species in order to be with him forever. It was something that he hoped Charlie would be able to get past in order to keep his relationship with Bella strong, and mend what he had with Jasper. Only time would tell, but given Charlie was there with them that day he thought his odds were pretty good.

"Credit where credit is due, my dear," he said, and kissed the side of her head when she nuzzled his shoulder.

It made him happy to be able to feel the sense of pride and confidence she now had coming from inside. Jasper shot Emmett a bit of a look when he told them to hurry up, but he still took his time.

"You better get back to catching," he said, lifting her hands and kissing her knuckles. "Rosalie is up next. Good luck with that." He squeezed her shoulder again, then let go and moved to stand near off to the side with Charlie. "Thank you for coming out today, Chief Swan," he said, smiling a bit. "I hope you're having a good time."

Bella could always feel when Jasper was down on himself for the way that was she handling her transition into becoming a vampire. There was no mistaking the fact that he was happy for her and that he was glad to help her in any way that he could, but she knew when her progress upset him for the fact that it reminded him of his past and his deeply rooted insecurities. It wasn't just due to his gift that she was able to feel though self-loathing feelings; it was also because she knew him so well. It was always genuine when he expressed his happiness and pride when she grew as a newborn and became better adjusted to her new life, but at the same time, she knew what kind of effect it had on him. Bella couldn't help but to feel guilty about that. That was why it meant even more to her that she still had some of her human qualities. It wasn't just a reassurance to her, but it was one for Jasper as well. She wished for him to remember who he fell in love with – a human with no extraordinary talent whatsoever.

Charlie nodded when Jasper asked him if he was having a good time. It was better than what the chief of police could have asked for. While he still didn't know the details of her new species, nor did he want to, he was reassured just watching his daughter interact with the Cullens. He knew that, no matter what they were, she would be looked after and well cared for with them. He wouldn't be around forever.

While it was an assurance to know that his daughter would around long after he was, it was more of an assurance to witness those who she would be with. While there had been some rifts between he and Jasper at the fact that Bella had wound up missing more than once on account of the boy, now that he knew the truth, it made more sense to him while Bella couldn't be more vocal. There was no tension between himself and Jasper any longer, save for the natural weariness at giving his only daughter away to the man she loved.

The game progressed as the storm did the same in the distance. Charlie remained in awe the entire time and Bella understood how he felt; she'd been in his shoes before and maintained the same feeling (although that first friendly baseball game had a very different ending). Rosalie batting was borderline traumatic for Bella. Twice, she'd swung the bat 'late' and nearly took off Bella's head. It was clear that she could have hit the ball if she wanted to because on the third pitch, she'd gotten a perfect hit that landed her on second base easily. Carlisle hit a pop fly that Emmett snatched up to get a second out and when Jasper was up, there was no repeat of the play Bella made earlier. Emmett had only just relayed the ball to Esme by the time Jasper made it to home plate, bringing Rosalie in and earning two runs for their team. While Emmett was scowling, Bella couldn't help but to feel a surge of pride for her mate, opposite team or not and thus, she could relate to what Jasper has said earlier – credit where credit was due.

Esme fielded Rosalie's next hit (while Bella had taken an extra few steps back to catch) and made the last out, signaling the teams to switch up. Bella immediately volunteered to bat last, not wanting to be so quick to potentially make a fool of herself. Catching a ball was one thing. Hitting it? Completely different.

"Emmett, can't you punch hit for me?" she asked timidly.

Charlie, politely though unable to keep from snorting with laughter, corrected her. "That's 'pinch' hit, Bells."

Something Jasper always tried to be mindful of was Bella's guilt over her progress. He never wanted her to think even for a moment that he was resentful for her progress. It made him very happy to know that she had maintained so much of herself. He knew it was a fear of hers to lose her identity through her transformation and the possibly being out of control of herself for a year was something she was afraid of. They'd all been prepared to take care of her and help her as much as possible, but it seemed she needed very little help at all. Being in the loving environment, surrounded by those who cared for her had helped ease the transition considerably. It forced Jasper to realize some very bittersweet resolutions about himself, but that had nothing to do with his feelings for Bella's progression. He knew she felt guilt whenever he got down on himself, and tried very hard not to allow those feelings to creep up on him. At the same time, he did not want to hide his feelings from her, so it was a bit of a complicated matter.

This outing was not for dwelling over that, though. This was a time for them to get out and have fun with each other, to be a family and spend time together. They did not have to worry about anything right now. Charlie was getting to see the happy environment Bella had been in and seeing that despite the whole 'vampire' aspect of things, the Cullens were actually a fairly normal family. Jasper knew how important that was and he was very glad to show that to the police chief. He'd truly meant what he said about always making sure Bella was taken care of (without getting in the way of doing the things she wanted to do in life) and he knew that seeing first hand how that was happening would set Charlie's mind at ease.

With his expert hearing, Jasper overheard Bella's minor mixup with words and couldn't help but grin a little. Despite the minor mistake, he knew that was just a sign that Bella was still Bella. It was endearing, and had he not been in the outfield he would've probably kissed her cheek. Rosalie was pitching, Carlisle the catcher, while Jasper stayed in the outfield because he was the fastest of the three.

It was a bit of a show down, with Rosalie pitching to Bella when his wife-to-be was up to the plate, not having been able to get her way out of it. Jasper worried his twin sister would play unfairly, and watched with a bit of intensity. If Rosalie messed things up for them after everything had been going so well, the two would be having some serious words. This outing meant a lot to everyone, and to see it ruined because of some underhanded move played by Rosalie would have Jasper very upset.

He watched as Rosalie reared back, then thrust the ball as fast as she could. The pitch was far too outside, Jasper noticed, and Carlisle barely was able to reach out and catch it.

"Rose, what was that?" The doctor called out, keeping his tone playful, but also a bit of a warning to his daughter to keep it fair. Jasper set his jaw and watched again, then held his breath as she pitched again.

This one was a bit high, but still right down the middle...

Bella would really never understand why Rosalie hated her so much. She suspected that most of it came from the fact that she put her family in danger by knowing their secret. Even now, when she was one of their kind, she still put them at risk but involving her own family. Just Charlie knowing about their secret was not only dangerous for the Cullen family, but for Charlie as well.

Then there was the whole matter of the wolves. And the newborn army. And, of course, the Volturi, the latter of which was still a major lingering threat.

So really, Bella could understand why she was so disliked on paper. But what hurt her the most was that Rosalie still couldn't put aside her dislike of the brunette for the sake of her brother. The steps she had taken in the past to deliberately try and break the two of them apart still dug at Bella's heart. The wedding dress incident had been the worst and when she thought about it, Bella swore she could still feel her heart break to remember the sight she saw that day. That had been all on account of his twin. Even though they'd come a long way since then, it seemed that Rosalie would never fully accept her brother's choice.

As much as she tried not to dwell on it, that hurt Bella to know.

She could practically see the dislike dripping off of Rosalie as she pitched to her. Bella was already nervous enough to be batting to begin with. The last thing she needed was for her soon to be sister-in-law to be making matters worse. It seemed she was intent on doing so judging by the first pitch she threw. Considering every pitch she'd thrown to Esme and Emmett had been perfect, Bella was smart enough to know that she wasn't going to make this easy for her to say the least bit. Carlisle's words seemed to have had some weight and though Rose clearly wasn't happy about it, she threw a good pitch. That didn't mean Bella swung at it though. She was frozen stiff with the bat in her hands in position, even after Charlie called a strike. The next pitch occurred in the same way – a good ball, but one that Bella didn't attempt.

After Charlie called the strike, he tried to encourage her. "It's okay to swing, Bells," he said.

Bella glanced back and nodded before getting back into position. She was still a little stiff, but her concentration was resolute. She could at least try to swing. If she struck out, nobody would really be surprised, but at least she could attempt instead of just watching the ball go by. Rosalie set for the pitch and threw the same one she'd been using – down the middle, but a little high. This time though, Bella kept her eye on the ball until she thought it was close enough. Then, she swung the bat with all of her might.

The sound when the connection was made actually shook her and she didn't even fully comprehend that she'd hit the ball at first. Instead, she stared at it as it soared across the field. It was amazing. Had she done that? Had she actually managed to hit the ball?

It was by no means as powerful of a hit as any of the ones Jasper or Emmett had hit, but she hit the ball. She actually did it by herself, without anyone helping her swing. She, probably along with every single person on the field, Charlie included, was in awe. All except Emmett who shouted from somewhere behind her.

"Bella, RUN!"

She nodded, dropped the bat, and started for the bases, begging her body not to trip.

If there was one thing that Jasper would always have for Bella besides love, it was faith in her. Even if the odds really were against her actually hitting the ball, he would believe that she could do it. Even if she didn't hit it, that didn't mean she couldn't. Especially with the way Rosalie was pitching to her. It also didn't matter to him if she was the best player in the world or the worst. As long as she was having a good time, that was what mattered to him.

Jasper could feel Bella's nerves rising again, and it showed when she did not swing after a fairly good pitch. He was going to have some choice words with Rosalie after this, even if she did throw a little more fairly. The fact still remained that she was holding ill feelings toward Bella. If she had an issue with either of them, then she needed to be up front about it and stop with the passive aggressive attitude. Jasper was fed up with Rosalie's behavior and today was the final straw.

Fortunately, Bella managed to step out of her nerves and swung the bat. Right into the ball. It launched, maybe not with the same speed that he or Emmett could it it, but it was a powerful swing. Enough to hit it out of the field. Jasper ran after it and as he chased the ball, he could see it starting to descend, it was getting smaller. That would have made sense if it was getting further away, but Jasper was getting closer to it. When he reached it, he understood why.

Bella had hit it so hard that the threads woven into it had all split. She'd crushed the ball and it was unraveling as it fell. He picked it up, and it was a flattened mess, barely recognizable as having once been a ball.

Jasper ran back onto the field, laughing. More than enough time passed for Bella to round the bases.

"I think we're going to have to call the game on account of ball destruction," he said, grinning as he reached the home plate and held out his palm. "That might be a first. I know we've broken some bats, but wow, Belle. That's impressive."

One thing Bella felt a little more secure in was her speed. Once she started running, she knew she was able to get to her destination extremely quickly. And her body didn't disappoint her. She'd rounded the bases as quickly as she could and all the while, she remained upright. By the time she'd rounded third base, she'd expected Jasper to have already thrown the ball in and for Carlisle to be waiting to tag her out. But even after she ran into the last base, Jasper wasn't there. Neither was the ball. Confused, she looked out beyond the field until she spotted him returning, still holding the ball in his hand.

Rather, what was left of the ball.

When she saw what happened, Bella gasped. That could not have been possible. Surely, Jasper just couldn't find the ball she hit and found another that had been crushed. Or else, he'd caught it and his strength in doing so caused the ball to bust at the seams. But from his words, it was clear that she was the one who'd done that. Her eyes widened in horror, her first reaction being embarrassment, especially after Jasper had remarked that the game would need to be called quits.

"I'm sorry," she said, covering her mouth with her hand. "I didn't mean to. I didn't- I didn't even think I would hit it. I just- I just… swung," she said, looking around apologetically to the circle of Cullens surrounding her.

They all, with the exception of Rosalie (who looked even more pissed off now) didn't look angry at all.

"Are you kidding?" Emmett exclaimed, taking the remnants of the ball from Jasper. "I'm framing this baby. You're on our team from here on out, Bella," he said, tipping the brim of her hat down to cover her eyes playfully.

Esme then tipped it back up properly and chuckled at her son's antics. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, Bella. That was a great hit."

Rosalie laughed too, but bitterly, throwing her glove on the ground. "Yeah," she scoffed. "Some great hit that cost us the game. Guess you didn't bring an extra ball, did you Bella?" she demanded, glaring daggers at the brunette.

Before Bella could speak, Carlisle had come behind Rosalie to rest his hands firmly on her shoulders. "That's enough, Rose. The storm is nearly finished anyway. We wouldn't have been able to carry on any longer than we already have. Bella, it was great having you get to play with us. We're all," he said, pausing to squeeze his bitter daughter's shoulders a squeeze, "very much looking forward to many more games. And we hope, Chief Swan, that you'll join us for a few."

Charlie nodded at man, but he was far too enraptured with what his daughter had done and had been staring at her in utter astonishment and pride. He continued to stare at her like that, recalling her hit and her good play the entire time that her and Jasper were taking him back to the house. He hugged her so tightly when they were saying goodbye, that Bella's ribs would have broken if she were still human without a shadow of a doubt.

"Dad, you're freaking me out," she said as she gently pried him off of her. The main reason because her throat was burning from the intense close contact.

Even though Jasper assured her that there was nothing to worry about as far as the game or the ball was concerned, Bella couldn't help but to feel guilty. After they'd hunted and went back home for a few hours until it was dark out, she begged him to take a drive with her so she could go buy a new ball. They had to wait until it was nighttime and would need to drive for awhile to be ensured that no one they knew would recognize them anywhere near Forks, but it wasn't as if they had the time. She didn't listen if he told her it was unnecessary to purchase a replacement. To her, it was very necessary. Even if it was just a baseball, she felt responsible. "I don't actually know where we could get a baseball now, but I don't know anything about sports stuff. Is there like a twenty-four hour emergency sporting goods supply store?" she asked, leaning back in the seat to look over at him.

Jasper could feel Charlie's excitement and pride for his daughter the entire car ride back to his house. It made Jasper even happier about the whole experience. Any little thing he could do to help Bella and her father maintain their close relationship, he was happy to contribute. When they reached the house, Jasper formally asked Charlie to play umpire for the rest of their baseball games, to which the police chief happily agreed (as excitedly as someone like Charlie could get).

He wanted to speak to Rosalie right away, but figured it was best for him to cool down from the situation first. If he spoke to her that night, he'd just be reacting from his anger rather than speaking rationally. So instead he remained with Bella and Charlie, and would address the situation another time. Surely Carlisle was lecturing her enough as it was.

What killed him was that while Rosalie was being a cold hearted bitch - and that wasn't a term Jasper ever used to address a lady - Bella was stressing over demolishing the ball. It just made him even angrier at his sister, and more in love with Bella. He tried to convince her that they really didn't need to replace the ball, but there was no talking Bella out of it. Once they'd hunted and were ready to go, they drove off in search of a ball. They couldn't shop in Forks. Even during the night, there was the off chance that someone might recognize them. Jasper instead chose to drive out to Aberdeen, where he knew he could find, as Bella put it, a twenty-four hour emergency sporting goods store.

Or as most people referred to it, Walmart.

He pulled into a parking space and shut off the ignition. "We should be able to find a ball here. No one will recognize us."

Little did he know the horrors that awaited them upon entering the establishment. Jasper got out of the car and moved around to her side, opening the door to help her out.

One of the things that Bella loved most about Jasper was that he always supported her no matter what. While someone else might have outright refused to run out in the middle of the night in order to retrieve a simple baseball, he didn't press the issue that it wasn't necessary and instead, just went along with it. Nevermind the fact that they had to drive over an hour for them to even find a place that was open that actually sold sporting goods past nine at night in the springtime. Or the fact that this had been one of Bella's first official outings where she would be surrounded by humans ever since undergoing her transformation. It would be good for her if not still dangerous. The only reason she was even able to go through with it was because they'd hunted shortly before and her thirst was satiated. She knew though, that if she was struggling, Jasper would help to calm her or at the very worst, they could leave immediately. Hopefully, there would not be a need to take drastic measures.

But she didn't know quite what they were walking into, either. For one thing, it was after two in the morning and the parking lot was still packed with cars. How could there be so many other people so intent on shopping in the middle of the night?

Somehow she doubted any of them were there for the same reason that the two of them were. Bella had gone to Walmart plenty of times; it was one of Renee's favorite places to 'people watch'. Usually that meant that Bella was frantically trying to get everything they needed and get out as soon as possible. Even as a human, she didn't like to be in crowded places, especially when some of the people in that crowd were a bit… off. It was amazing while she and Jasper were actually of a different species, they were much more normalized than several humans they would encounter.

That became evident when, before they were even out of the parking lot, there was a couple fighting. They were screaming at one another (rather, the female was screaming and frantically waving her finger in the man's face) in partial English and partial what Bella assumed to be Spanish. The dispute, from what she could gather was over a large box that was at the feet containing a plastic tricycle for a child no older than four. Even if she didn't know Spanish that well, she knew enough to figure that the words being thrown about weren't generally used in civilized conversation. She knew for certain that the swear words thrown about in English weren't. As the two of them passed by the couple, just as the woman started kicking the box with her snakeskin, pointy-toed boot, Bella took Jasper's hand and walked a bit quicker.

"Maybe this was a bad idea…" she said with a whisper that only Jasper could hear once they were inside and out of hearing range for the belligerent pointy-toed scary woman.

Even if Bella was the most dangerous predator there was, she didn't really like the idea of those boots coming at her shins and thus, made sure to keep her voice down. She blinked several times, her eyes (covered by dark brown contacts) needing to adjust to the bright lighting. The store seemed endless and of course, the place they needed to find was in the furthest possible corner. Truth be told, she was actually a little intimidated.

Jasper had never been to Walmart before. It wasn't because he was abundantly rich and didn't need to shop for a bargain (quite the contrary; Jasper was actually probably the most careful with his money). He just generally tried to avoid people and from what he understood, Walmart was typically pretty crowded. It wasn't terrible, though. No worse than being in school, which was still hard for him but tolerable.

Shopping in stores wasn't something he did often, either. Again, it was mostly to avoid people, and it was just more convenient to shop online and have things delivered to the house. That couldn't be done in this instance, though. They needed a ball right away, to put Bella's mind at ease. That was what brought them there, and Jasper was determined to find one. It didn't matter to him what hour it was or how long it too. If nothing else, they definitely had time.

What fascinated him was the people they passed by. Jasper was a bit concerned; this was Bella's first real outing socializing with humans on a large scale. He knew he could calm her should she start to get a little uncomfortable, but he hoped he wouldn't have to do that. Thus far, she seemed all right. He was a little tense too, always having difficulty being surrounded by beating hearts. He probably glared at the person who greeted them at the door, but he didn't really understand the point of greeters anyway. Before that, he'd tried his best to ignore the bickering couple outside arguing. Jasper knew Spanish well enough due to his past with Maria, so he understood most of what they were saying. He didn't blame Bella for questioning if maybe this was the wrong place for them to be.

"Well, we're here now," he said, smirking at her a little. "May as well get what we came for."

He looked up and started scanning the signs hanging from the ceiling, looking for something to the effect of 'sporting goods' so they'd be heading in the right direction. He found it, and started walking that way. They'd have to cross through several other sections of the store, going down other aisles. One of which contained a woman crouching down near the floor. Her clothing was probably about three sizes too small, and she had neon pink string coming out of her pants that seemed to go all the way around her waist. Surely that wasn't.. her underwear? He looked at Bella with raised eyebrows.

"What is that?" he whispered, mortified.

Jasper did have a point. They were already there and so they might as well go through with getting the baseball. Every time she thought of the smashed mess of string and leather, she was more resolved to get a replacement, her guilt being a strong reminder of the reason they went to begin with. Besides, they'd driven all this way. Surely they wouldn't be put off completely just because there was a couple having a heated argument in the parking lot.

However, the thong was a completely different story. Their eyes went to the same place when they turned the corner and really, it was impossible to miss what was so brazenly on display. Bella immediately looked away, both horrified and amused at the same time.

The amusement mainly came as a result of Jasper's reaction. While some girls might fear their significant other ogling the sight of another woman's underwear and vast amount of exposed skin, Bella didn't seem to have to worry about that. His words nearly caused her to erupt in laughter and she had to use every ounce of composure she had in order to prevent that from happening. The main reason was because Jasper was actually serious in the fact that he probably didn't know what that piece of pink string was. He was from a completely different time and even through the decades, she was fairly sure he probably didn't have much exposure to that particular type of underwear. Unless he experienced it in his previous relationships and thankfully for her peace of mind, that didn't seem to be the case. Did Alice ever...? she wondered to herself, but the thought turned her stomach and she forced it out of mind.

Bella, for one, never had and never would wear such a thing. There was nothing about an uncomfortable piece of floss basically sticking in places where it should never, ever be.

She led him around another corner so she could quietly explain, leaning in closer to him. It was definitely one time in which being able to speak quickly and softly so that only he could understand would have its advantages. "That is what is apparently attractive to a lot of people. That's called a thong," she said. "It's underwear designed so that it doesn't show any lines through your clothes."

She would have started to blush if it were possible under the circumstances that she was currently explaining what a thong was to her fiancé. "Generally, I don't think they're supposed to fit… like that," she said, wincing slightly at the recollection of the image. "And they're usually supposed to be… you know… covered. I'm pretty sure they didn't have anything quite like that in Civil War times," she added with a grin.

It was as if they'd stepped into an entirely different realm. Jasper wasn't the type to judge people before he knew them, but it truly felt as if the people who shopped at this place were of their own species. He tried very hard to look away from the neon pink 'thong,' as Bella had called it, but it wasn't easy. It was like a car wreck, or when you had to check to make sure you actually squished a bug. You don't want to look, but you have to.

It was hard for him to imagine women wearing such a garment. He probably ought to have known what a thong was, having been around for such a long time, but he did not keep up with things like that. He'd seen the way women's undergarments evolved from things like petticoats and corsets to bras and such, and he probably had seen a thong before, just.. not quite like that. This one was literally just a couple of strings held together. He couldn't imagine it was comfortable. It wasn't attractive, either. Not to him, anyway. Jasper was into more classy, feminine garments.

"No, they didn't," he said, grinning back at her and holding her hand. He hurried past the thong lady into another aisle. "...Women didn't wear their curlers in their hair out in public either," he murmured quietly, raising an eyebrow again. Had that woman gone out purposely with her hair like that, or had she just forgotten? They really needed to find the sporting goods department quick. He felt like they'd stepped into another dimension of sorts.

"Don't these people sleep?"

Walmart was another dimension of sorts. They should have known from the second they pulled into the parking lot in the middle of the night and it was packed full as if it were the middle of the day. Bella didn't want to think about what this place would look like on a busy Saturday afternoon. She know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they wouldn't have been able to go, baseball or not. Her thirst would not have been able to stay sustained. Though at the same time, the type of people they were encountering were a big distraction to her thirst. That was quite an accomplishment.

She grinned at him when he pointed out the woman who looked like she just left the beauty salon before she was finished. It didn't matter if it was Civil War times or present day – that wasn't something that was considered to be the norm. She couldn't help but to laugh quietly when he asked if these people slept. Admittedly, she had been wondering the same thing considering many of them were shopping as if it were perfectly normal for them. In their case, they had a specific reason for needing to find a store open all night and that had been their goal. But these people had carts and baskets that were full and Bella couldn't help but to wonder what they actually did during the day that prevented them from shopping until two in the morning.

"Maybe they're all vampires too," she whispered with a shrug.

The funny part was, was that the two of them were getting more strange looks than anyone else – thong girl and curler head included. It was surely because of their appearance, though it was more normal than three quarters of the current shoppers. That made Bella a little uncomfortable. She wasn't used to being stared at in such a way. Jasper, yes. But not her too. When people used to look at her with strange looks, it was because they couldn't believe how someone so ordinary could be holding hands with someone so gorgeous. Maybe that was the reason she was getting looked at now too. She honestly couldn't be sure.

One thing she was sure of, however, was that she did not like a pair of girls ogling their eyes at Jasper and looking him up and down right in front of her.

While she wouldn't have minded so much when she were human, she felt a very strong surge of protectiveness. He was her mate. She didn't like the way those girls were blatantly staring at him and practically drooling at the mouth. Her hand tightened on Jasper's and she didn't bother to hide the look she gave the two females. It must have been a little more intimidating that she realized because in the next moment, both of them hurried off, glancing back at Bella as if she were about to lash out at them.

That confused her slightly. She knew that she was angry, but did it really show so clearly on her features? She wanted to rip them limb by limb and drink until there was nothing left from them. All because they'd been looking at her mate. That was something she'd never experienced before.

Jasper had learned to ignore the stares he received long ago. He understood that vampires had an allure that naturally drew humans to stare at them, and that was all he saw it as when it came to himself. He knew that if humans could see him for the way he truly looked, he would be the type of man that others crossed the street to avoid coming into contact with. It was a rare individual who could look past the scars that adorned his upper half. Knowing how he looked perhaps was what allowed him to be able to dismiss the looks he received, for he knew the truth.

That being said, he was not so quick to dismiss it when others stared at Bella. He was not jealous by nature, and jealousy wasn't even really what he felt when he caught others looking at her. It was the idea that she was being objectified by her looks that bothered him. He had not experienced it much since her transition (other than the looks she received from family members, but that was a different matter entirely that did not bother him), but even when she was still human Jasper had regarded her as his mate, and had to deal with males like Jacob Black and that idiot Mike Newton who drooled over her.

He felt a surge of anger beside him and wondered briefly what it was that had gotten Bella so upset. Immediately he felt her grip tighten on his hand and he feared that her thirst had gotten unbearable for her, that he'd pushed her too hard to be surrounded by humans like she was. Her emotions didn't feel like blood lust; Jasper understood that emotion quite well. It was anger, for certain. At what..?

He looked around, and that was when he saw two girls looking in their direction with deer-in-headlights stares as they'd been caught looking at him. They quickly ran off just as Jasper heard a low growl beside him and the grip on his hand tighten to the point that he actually felt pain. No doubt if he'd been human, she would have crushed every bone in his hand.

He understood her feelings immediately, but he also knew she needed to calm down. Her blood lust might not have been too strong right then, but if she did not dismiss her anger, it would no doubt creep up on her and the possibility of their outing to Walmart turning into a bloodbath would considerably rise. He did not want to use his power on her if it could be avoided, so instead he immediately slid his free arm around her and pulled her against him.

"Shh, Belle..." he murmured, kissing the top of her head. They were alone in the aisle now, at least for the moment. "They're gone. I don't think they're going to come near us again." He gently rubbed her back. "I'm sorry. I didn't even notice them until after you did."

Bella still felt her anger lingering even after the girls had realized what was good for them and made a hasty exit. If they looked scared, it served them right. They shouldn't have been staring at her mate like that. For one that was seldom ever really angry, this was new for Bella. She, of course had felt a protectiveness over Jasper even when she was a human and didn't have the means to back it up with much. But this was different. This was much more intense. The emotion had crept up on her so quickly that it was more instinctual than anything else.

When she had been human, she'd noticed the looks that he'd been given too. That made her feel more uncomfortable more than anything else because she felt so inadequate as far as looks were concerned and it was obvious that people were thinking the same thing whenever they would be seen out together. But at the same time, she couldn't really blame anyone for staring at him. She would have been too. He was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen in her eyes, whether those eyes were brown and weak or amber and powerful, allowing her to see him much more clearly.

She had never been a jealous person, especially when it came to the way Jasper looked or the way people looked at him. It just hadn't been in her nature. Discomfort was not the same as jealousy by any means. Never before though had she gotten angry. But there was no denying the intense emotion when it overtook her at the sight she'd been faced with. That was new for her and it was no doubt on account of the fact that she was still very much a newborn and her mate came before anything else as far as she was concerned.

Jasper seemed to understand the situation before Bella could even explain it. When he wrapped her up in his arms, she started to feel her body relax, not having realized how tense she was to begin with. She did know, however, that if she didn't calm herself down, that things could wind up very, very badly. Closing her eyes, she leaned her forehead against his chest and inhaled deeply. His scent was always something that comforted her and allowed her to be soothed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered against his shirt. "I don't know what came over me." That was the truth; she really didn't know how angry she could get so quickly. Now, she was a little embarrassed by the situation more than anything, especially since he confessed that he hadn't even noticed the girls.

"I just didn't like that."

Jasper understood exactly what Bella was going through. Not just the protectiveness over her mate, but the rush of emotions she was no doubt experiencing right now. It wasn't only because he was an empath, but because he had once been a newborn as well, and also because he'd spent so much time with newborn vampires. Even if his beliefs about newborns transitioning had been compromised, the fact remained that the effects of the change on a newborn were still the same. A vampire experienced emotions on an entirely different level than any human. Bella's anger was a prime example of such a thing.

Even if Bella was progressing along much faster than anyone could have guessed, she still would have to cope with a lot of the things all newborns went through. Everything she felt was going to be to a much stronger degree, as it was now. The fact that she was feeling extreme anger for the first time while inside a very public place was not exactly ideal, but there wasn't much he could do about it now except try to calm her down. If he couldn't do it naturally, he'd use his power, but it didn't seem like he was going to have to take that measure. Something he'd learned was that a lot of how a newborn responded to certain situations had to do with how they coped with things as humans. Bella had never really been an 'angry' person. So while her anger was amplified as a vampire, it wasn't as difficult to calm her as it would have been to try to calm a temperamental individual instead.

He relaxed a little as soon as he felt her do the same. She seemed to be calming down, he could tell, which was a good sign. Especially since it was the first time she'd experienced something like this.

"You have nothing to apologize for," he said gently ran his hand up and down her back, and nuzzled her hair, breathing in her scent as well. He could never get enough of it. "Your emotions are going to be much stronger than what you've been accustomed to in the past. It's going to take some getting used to. But you will."

He gently tilted her chin up so he could look down into her eyes. "I promise. I'll help you always, any way I can."

He took her hand again and started to walk towards the sporting goods department once more. "Let's get the ball and go home. And try to avoid anymore neon thongs."

Author's Note: This was a bit more of a light chapter to give a glimpse into the fun and happiness that exists not only between Bella and Jasper, but their families as well. We're starting to get a bit more of a routine down with our new puppy so hopefully we'll be able to get the next installments out in a more timely fashion! Thank you to all of you who are still reading, as well as to those who have just started to join us! Your feedback means a lot to us! Coming up next is a pretty intense chapter where Bella's will is tested more than ever before, and in Chapter 19 we'll finally be hearing from Peter and Charlotte!

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