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To say I wasn't surprised when I received a call from Miss. Esme is an understatement. I knew it was too soon.

"Mrs. Whitlock we have a situation with little Jasper that requires your immediate attention. Do you think you could come to the preschool as soon as possible? We can't seem to settle Jasper down," Miss Esme said over the phone. FUCK! I swore under my breath.

"Yes, Miss Esme, I'll be there as soon as I can. Have you tried giving him the Melatonin?" I said as I gathered my coat and purse.

"No, Mrs. Whitlock. I'm not sure…" she paused. "We'll try and see if that works, but I think you should still come." She finished exasperatedly.

"Of course, of course. I'm on my way," I said before hanging up the phone. FUCK YOU PETER WHITLOCK! I cursed my brother-in-law all the way to my bosses office. I had already used every and all FMLA, vacation, personal time and bereavement time off since my husband Jasper Sr. was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer before he finally succumbed to the disease. Thank God, the State of Washington is one of the few states that have a leave known as sick-child leave. So I needn't feel bad when I had to take time off from work because my son had a panic attack, seeing how I had just recently returned to work.

While my brother-in-law, Peter and his wife Charlotte were a big help, they too had to get back to their own lives. They wanted me and little Jazz to move back to Texas with them, but I felt like I needed to keep little Jazz's life as routine as possible. He loved Miss Esme's preschool, and I didn't want to take him away from his Grandpa Charlie and Gammy Sue. If truth be told, I really didn't want to go through the hassle of relocating to another state, finding a new job and all that entailed. I was comfortable here in Washington where I mostly grew up.

There were the years between the ages of seven and seventeen when I live with my flighty mom Renee in Arizona after she and my dad divorced. Then when she finally remarried, I moved back in with my Dad to give her and her new husband some space.

While in high school, was when I met my future husband, Jasper. He was my knight in shining armor. A couple of friends and I were in Port Angeles shopping for dresses for an upcoming school dance. Let's just say Angela and Jessica were shopping for dresses, I was just bored out of my skull when I decided to part from them and go to a local bookstore.

As I was making my way back to meet them for dinner, I got lost and took a wrong turn and ended up somewhere I had no idea where I was. As I tried to turn down a street that ended up being a dead end into an alley, I came across some men getting drunk and smoking weed.

"Well, well, looky, looky, Joey," one of the men said as he licked his lips while he looked at me.

"Um, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," I said as I tried to back up the way I came. But suddenly my feet got tangled up, and I was soon hitting the ground. Brilliant, Bella! You can't walk in a straight line without falling, now you're trying to walk backward? The three men started laughing.

"Look at that, she's already getting into position for us," one of them said as he was on top of me faster than I could think. I started screaming, kicking and fighting before the man's hand came across my face.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch," the man said. I just closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable. However, the next thing I heard was a fist colliding against skin.

"Whit! What the fuck man, I was just having a little fun!" the man said as he cowered under the other man's punches.

"FUN? FUN? Yah call that fun? Where I come from, tryna rape a woman ain't fun. I knew hanging out with you idiots was a mistake. So much for tryna fit in with you northern fucks!" I'd heard enough. I gathered up my shit and was about to hightail it out of there when a hand caught my arm. I was about to round on him with a fist to the face, when I recognized it was the man that came to my rescue.

"Whoa there, Darlin'. I didn't mean to scare yah. I'm very sorry for what that jackass tried to do to yah, but yah really shouldn't be wandering around these streets in the dark like that. I take it you're lost. Can I help yah find yah way back to where yah need to be?" Granted I was still scared, but something about that southern drawl was drawing me in.

"I—I—I don't know you either. How do I know you're not trying to get me away from them for yourself?" I could tell immediately I'd hurt his feelings.

"Because beautiful, my Mama,God rest her soul, would whoop my hide for treatin' a lady like that. Truth be told, my older brother, Peter, is gonna beat my ass for even hangin' out smokin' and drinkin' with the likes of them. So please, darlin', at least let me do somethin' to make the ass-whoopin' worth it." I smiled as he said that and nodded. And that was how I met my now late husband, Jasper Whitlock.

Now standing in the doorway of the office of my boss, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, I waited until he was off the phone.

"Yes, Esme. I understand. She's on her way," he said as he shooed me away from his door. Apparently, Miss Esme already called her husband to apprise him of the situation. I didn't stop to question, I just turned around and hauled ass out of the office.

Dr. Cullen and Miss Esme had been great through this whole ordeal. Miss Esme held our spot in her preschool when there were days after Jasper passed I couldn't seem to get out of bed, let alone get little Jazz dressed for school. There were days little Jazz would wake up in cold sweats screaming for his daddy. When I didn't know what to do for him, Dr. Cullen suggested giving him a more natural remedy to help him sleep, Melatonin. We both felt he was just too young for anti-depressants. After all, he was only four.

As I rushed over to Miss Esme's; yes everyone called her Miss Esme because all the kids called her that; I was still cursing Peter because I was beginning to think maybe he was right. Perhaps I should have just moved to Texas with them. After all, Jasper only stayed in Washington because of me.

That fateful night, Jasper walked me back to where I was supposed to meet Jessica and Angela at Bella Italia. We finally introduced ourselves. Jasper told me he was a student at the University of Washington studying psychology. He had gotten bored, and when some guys in his dorm invited him out, he reluctantly accepted, even if he didn't really know them that well.

"Miss Isabella, would yah allow me to buy yah dinner to at least make up for what they tried to do to yah?" He certainly was the southern gentleman.

"I think I'd like that Mr. Whitlock, but please, just Bella," I said as my cheeks flushed.

"Oh, but Isabella is such a beautiful name, why in tarnation would yah want to shorten it," he said. The way he made it roll off his tongue was like nothing I'd ever heard before.

"But if Bella is…" I cut him off quickly.

"No, I kinda like the way you say, Isabella," I said with a shy smile. He gave me his own crooked smile, and my heart soared. We finally made it to Bella Italia and were walking up the walkway when Angela and Jessica were walking out.

"OH MY GOD, BELLA! We tried to wait for you, but we didn't know where you went," Angela said with legitimate concern. Jessica was too busy making goo-goo eyes at the man that had my arm tightly intertwined in his.

"Who's your friend?" Jessica asked, still keeping her eyes on Jasper.

"Jasper Whitlock, Ma'am. It seems Miss Isabella found herself in a bit of a pickle. So if you don't mind, I'd like to take her in, get her hands cleaned up and make sure she gets some supper. I promise to make sure she gets home safe and sound.

"Are you sure, Bella?" Angela asked, again I could tell her deep concern for my wellbeing.

"Yeah, maybe we should stay and make sure you don't get yourself into any more pickles," Jessica said with a god-awful imitation of a southern drawl, while never taking her eyes off Jasper. I dramatically rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, you know you should be headed home. You know Mike may have a coronary if you aren't home when he calls," I said to her exasperatedly.

"Mike who?" Jessica said. Thankfully, Angela elbowed her in the side to break her out of her Jasper induced stupor.

"Mike Newton. Your boyfriend?" Angela said.

"Oh, yeah. Well, it was certainly nice meeting you, Jasper Whitlock. I hope we will see you around again soon," Jessica said flirting with Jasper, oh too obviously. Angela had to practically drag her away to the car.

"Your friends are quite…interesting," Jasper said after they left.

"Yeah, well. Like your's Jessica isn't exactly a friend. We go to school together. They wanted to come shopping for dresses for the school dance. I just tagged along so I could go to the bookstore," I said as I picked up the arm my bookstore purchase dangled from.

"Oh, Miss Isabella. May I ask, how old are you? Am I in jailbait territory here?" Jasper asked, now in alarm.

"No, Mr. Whitlock. I assure you I'm perfectly legal. I turned eighteen in September," Jasper let out a rough breath he'd been holding.

"Thank God! Isabella, you have no idea how much trouble I am in already. I came out with those idiots because they said they knew a place that sold beer to minors. I'm only nineteen. When I said my brother is going to kick my ass when he finds out, I ain't lying."

We then went inside the restaurant and had dinner. He immediately asked the hostess for some ice water and napkins. After wetting the paper towels in the ice water, he cleaned up the scrapes that were on the heels of my hand from where I fell. It was then I noticed, his knuckles were swollen from where he'd punched that guy that tried to attack me. After tending to each other's injuries, we had dinner and talked.

I told Jasper almost everything about myself. He told me how his father was killed in the first Gulf War when he was just a baby, and it was just his mom, his older brother, Peter who was twelve at the time and him. When his mom died of a rare form of brain cancer seven years later, his brother took custody of him. He told me how his brother had to drop out of college to take care of him. I could tell he really looked up to his big brother. He told me how Peter worked two and sometimes three jobs to make sure they had a good life. How Peter wanted to make sure he got a good education since that was something their mom and dad had instilled in him.

He told me since he'd never been outside of the State of Texas, he got accepted and was offered a partial scholarship at the University of Washington, he jumped at the chance.

After dinner, he drove me home and asked if it were possible for him to take me out again the following weekend. Of course, I said yes.

After that weekend, aside from school, we were inseparable. He, of course, took me to the school dance and prom. After graduation, I too, enrolled in U-dub, since I really didn't want to be far away from my dad, Charlie.

Jasper finally got his degree in Psychology and was a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, while still going to school for his doctorate in Psychiatry. When I graduated, I had a nursing degree. Two months after I graduated, Jasper and I were married. Six months later, I found out I was pregnant with Little Jazz. Jasper wanted to move back to Texas to be near his brother and his wife. I, on the other hand, wanted to stay in Washington. I wanted Little Jazz to be near his grandfather and Charlie's new wife Sue.

Another year into our marriage, Jasper began having headaches. Peter became concerned, saying their mom suffered from the same debilitating headaches. Our worse nightmare was confirmed, that Jasper had the same rare form of cancer as their mom.

Every time we thought he was in remission, the cancer would come back with a vengeance. It took a lot out of all of us, my dad, Peter, Charlotte and especially Little Jazz. He had been through so much at such a young age. He loved his dad so much. Not only was he the spitting image of Jasper with his golden curls and striking hazel eyes, but he acted just like his father. Even down to his southern drawl. We both took it extremely hard when Jasper finally passed away.

We had already moved from Seattle back to the little small town of Forks when it was clear, we could no longer afford our house on just my salary. Of course, there was the short-term that eventually turned into long-term disability from Jazz's job, but with the mounting medical bills that weren't covered by medical insurance, we ultimately had to move in with my Dad. Sue, being a nurse was a great help. When it became too much commuting back and forth for my job at Seattle General, Dr. Cullen offered me a job at his private practice in Forks. His wife, Miss Esme, owned a preschool, which most of his employee's children attended.

When I arrived at the preschool, Miss Esme escorted me into her office, where Little Jazz was sitting. You could tell he had been crying, but the Melatonin was starting to do its job. Jazz looked like he was ready for a nap. I could also tell there were bruises on the side of his face.

"What happened to his face?" I asked as I picked Jazz up and cradled him to my chest.

"Bella dear, we're so sorry. It seems Jasper has become quite smitten with one of the new students," Miss Esme explained as she gestured to the little girl, I now noticed sitting on the other side of the office her arms crossed over her chest and the most adorable little scowl on her face. My eyebrows almost raised into my hairline as I took in this adorable little girl before looking back down at my son.

"Are you telling me she hurt my son?" I asked.

"Well, it seems Jasper was so smitten with Rosalyn, he asked her to marry him. Rosalyn didn't quite take the proposal all too well. She put Jasper in a headlock before taking him down to the floor," Miss Esme said.

I looked between Rosalyn and my son. She finally harumphed before she spoke.

"Wittle kids aren't 'posed to get marrwied. So I put him in a headwock and took him down!" she said with way too much seriousness, with her little brow furrowed.

"Rosalyn Lillie McCarty! How many times have I told you, you can't put people in headlocks and take them down, just because you don't like what they said?" A deep male voice said from the doorway.

I looked up to see a mountain of a man standing in the doorway. He had a boyishly handsome face with the most striking dimples I'd ever seen. I'm sure my mouth was hanging open and was salivating as he stooped down next to the little girl. She brought her little arms up and wrapped them around the man's huge neck. He brought his big muscle bound arms up and wrapped the little girl up, to where she was almost lost in them.

"I'm sowwy, Daddy," Rosalyn said as she buried her face in her father's neck.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," the man told his daughter. She lifted her little blonde head up and looked her father in the eyes. She nodded her head, before getting up and walking over to us. She placed her little chubby hand on the side of my baby's face.

"I'm sowwy, Jashpur," she said before running back over to her father. He had stood up by now and she wrapped her self around his strong muscular leg. He placed a hand on top of her blonde head before walking over to me.

"I'm so very sorry, Mrs…"

"Whitlock, but Bella. Please, call me Bella," I said as I extended my hand.

"Bella, I'm Emmett McCarty, and this is my daughter Rosalyn. I'm so very sorry about my daughter's behavior. She seems to have a problem with anger management since her mom passed away," Emmett confided.

"Well, it seems our children have a lot in common then. Perhaps that's why my son thought it was a good idea to propose marriage to your daughter," I said, trying to make light of the situation. Emmett chuckled a little as he shook his head.

"So you're a widow? Then you understand?" I only nodded my head.

"Well, I'm very sorry for your loss," he said.

"And I yours. She's beautiful, by the way. I can see why my son is smitten," I told him.

"Yes she is, but mean as a rattlesnake, just like her mom," he said with an amused chuckle. It was then, I picked up a light southern twang, yet not quite like Jaspers.

"You're not from here," it wasn't a question.

"No. Gatlinburg, TN. I moved here after my wife passed away. I wanted Rosalyn to be near her grandparents," He said.

"Oh, so your wife was from here? Who was she? Would I have known her?" I asked.

"I don't know? Did you know Rosalie Hale?"

"Rosabitch was your wife?" I slapped my hand over my mouth as soon as the words came out.

"I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry. I didn't mean that. I really didn't know her that well…I'm sure she was a very sweet woman when you got to know her," I started back peddling as fast as I could. Emmett only let out a hearty laugh.

"No, it seems like you knew her quite well. That seems to be the sentiment of everyone around here that knew my Rosie. Looks like I was the only one to break through the Ice Queen. Bella, would you like to have coffee with me? I mean, not only do our children have a lot in common, it seems we do as well. I would love to know how you cope with a young child who lost someone that meant the world to them?" I was taken aback. I mean, I'd just insulted his dead wife.

"Umm, sure. But maybe some other time. I need to get this little guy down for a nap. I had Miss Esme give him a dose of Melatonin. I thought he was having another of his panic attacks. I didn't know he'd been attacked by Rhonda Rosey there," I said pointing at Rosalyn.

"Does that really work?" he asked.

"It seems to calm him, when he has trouble sleeping or when he can't seem to calm down on his own. My boss, Dr. Cullen suggested it. I would probably speak with a doctor first," I told him. He seemed to ponder that before nodding. We then fell into an awkward silence. It was then I noticed, Miss Esme had left us alone in the office.

"Well, I'd better get him home," I said as I stood up. Little Jasper was now knocked out, so I put his head on my shoulder as I picked up my purse.

"Maybe I could get your number?" Emmett asked, looking at me hopefully.

"Yeah, sure." He then pulled his phone from his pocket. I rattled off my phone number. Within seconds, I could feel my phone vibrating in my purse.

"Give me a call, about coffee or if you'd just like to talk," He said before grabbing Rosalyn by the hand and walking out the door.

"Yeah, I'll do that," I murmured

Even my silly post chapter A/N was cut off. This story is going to be short and sweet. I will not be goaded by you people to keep this story going. LOL LOL! Next Chapter will be Emmett' story, then an Epi