Thank you to all that read and reviewed last time. I know that it was a long time between updates so I am thankful to those that have stuck with my little tale. This time around, it hasn't taken so long to update, hopefully I will be able to get one chap out every 1 - 2 weeks.

Anyway, Twilight and it's characters are not mine.

This story is rated M for mature content.

Alice

"Calm down Ali, you knew that this whole process was going to take time and a whole lot of energy. Running yourself into the ground like this is no good for any of us, including little bean," Jasper said quietly as he rubbed my back in soothing circles.

He was right. I knew that I was working too hard at everything, but that didn't make it any easier for me to just let go and relax. My mind was always racing and it felt like I had so much to do in such a short space of time. Even as I lay there trying to calm down, I was still mentally going over a list of things that I had to achieve in the coming months.

First of all was getting ourselves prepared for our little bundle of joy to arrive sometime in late September. While Jasper was content to just take each day as it came, I was up to my eyeballs in paint samples and material swatches for the nursery. Not to mention furniture, clothes, toys, nappies, bottles and every other conceivable thing that according to my many baby books were 'must haves'. I knew that it was going to be hard work, but I really did not realize how many things that we need to organize before the baby arrived.

On top of all things baby, we were relocating our business to Port Angeles. Jasper was taking care of most of the details there, but I wanted to be involved in every aspect of this move. From having a say in who we hired right through to our new premises, I wanted to be there for all of the important decisions.

Last, but definitely not least was the little matter of finding my birth parents. It had been almost 2 months since New Year's Eve and I was pretty much no closer to finding them then I was that day. Not for lack of trying I might add.

"You're right, Jazz. No one knows better than I do that I need to chill out a bit, but it's all just so frustrating. I didn't think that everything would be so hard. And I mean, everything. Baby stuff, work stuff, finding my parents. It seems like I'm constantly on the go and I'm getting nowhere." I let out a little huff, my frustration about to take over again.

"How can you say that you're getting nowhere? The business is fine – you know that we have it all pretty much sorted out now. And little bean here isn't going to know if you don't have all of his socks color co-ordinated." Jasper looked at me with a smirk, knowing all too well that this is something that I absolutely would do.

I leaned over and shoulder bumped him as I tried to hide my own smile.

"Don't pick on me, Jazz. And what makes you so sure it's going to be a little boy?" I asked him.

"What do you mean?" he asked and his eyes showed his confusion.

"You just said 'his socks'. It's not the first time either. That's the third time that you said his, and just this morning your exact words if I remember correctly were 'that's my boy'. Remember when I said I thought I felt something, that small flutter."

"Huh. I hadn't noticed any of that, but you're right. Maybe it's my daddy intuition kicking in," Jasper chuckled, obviously pleased with the prospect of having a son.

"Al, if it is a boy, I kind of have a name that has been in my family for generations and would like to keep the tradition going if you don't mind. It's kind of an unusual name, but I'm sure you'll come to love it. It would really mean so much to me and my whole family, so could you please just consider it?"

Now I was worried. Jasper was generally a man of few words, so when he began to ramble about the name and how much it meant to him and his family, I knew that it must be bad. I had visions of my little man with unfortunate names such as Wilbur, Neville and Sherman. Surely it couldn't be that bad.

"Jazz, spit it out. What name are you thinking about? I can't give you an answer if I don't even know what name it is." This is where I wanted to walk away with my fingers in my ears and singing lalalala so that I didn't have to hear what I was about to. In hindsight, maybe I should have.

"Percival."

"Excuse me?" There is no way in heck that my child would ever be called Percival.

"Actually, all first born males of each generation have been named Percival Cedric Whitlock. But I'm sure we could get away with just the first name." Jasper looked at me with a smile, like he actually had made a concession for me by dropping the second name.

"You're kidding, right? Jazz, there is no way that I will name my son Percival. I can't imagine in what world you would think that this is ok." By now I was off the bed as I stared at Jasper in frustration and disbelief.

"Al, I just asked you to consider it. It would mean so much to my family. To me." He tried to flash me those baby blues but I wasn't having any of it.

"Uh uh. Don't try to sweet talk me Jasper Whitlock. No way, no how." I gave him a look that dared him to keep talking.

"Well, just think about it," he muttered as he walked from the room, clearly more than a little upset at my outburst.

Did I know that I was being unreasonable by not even talking it through with him? Sure. Could I have handled the situation better so that I didn't cause yet another argument? I guess. Was I going to go after him and apologise? No chance.

The last couple of months had been strained between Jasper and I. These damn pregnancy hormones had really started to get on my nerves, and I was positive that Jazz felt the same way. Unfortunately, I couldn't control them. The smallest thing set me off without warning and it was like something or someone has swooped in and taken control of my body and mind. I really hated to use it as an excuse, but it was what I felt myself doing day in and day out.

A few days after our latest disagreement, Jazz and I found ourselves at an impromptu dinner with all of the girls and their partners. It was one of the rare times that we all managed to get together outside of New Year's Eve, and while I didn't look forward to spending any time with Royce, I was ecstatic that I would get to catch up with my friends. I also hoped that I could talk to them about what had been going on with my life, and how I felt that I was slowly sinking with no life raft in sight.

Of course, we were the first to arrive. Jazz and I sat at our table for a full ten minutes before anyone else showed up, and it was not lost on me that we were surrounded by an awkward silence that whole time. In the whole time that we had been together, I could never remember a time that our relationship had been so strained.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Rose, Royce, Tanya and Edward heading over to our table. Rose was hanging off of Royce's arm as she whispered in his ear. He just patted her hand in that condescending way of his and turned his attention to some other woman who stood by the bar. It was typical Royce behaviour but it still made me feel like scratching his eyes out. It never ceased to amaze how a confident, smart and beautiful woman like Rose could not see through him.

Tanya followed behind them and was at least three steps in front of Edward, totally unaware that he seemed uncomfortable and out of place. Edward was in total contrast to Royce. He was a genuinely nice guy and followed Tanya around like a lost puppy. He was always supportive of her, and it frustrated me no end that she took him for granted.

"Ali," Rose called as she approached the table with a huge smile on her face. I started to get up to hug her but she stopped me and leaned over to hug me while I was still seated.

"Don't get up, Al. You need all the rest you can get, a lady in your condition and all." She smirked at me and then leaned over to give Jazz a hug.

"I'm not an invalid Rose, I can still manage the basic things," I retorted. I could already feel myself getting agitated even though I knew that I was being completely ridiculous.

"Whatever you do, Rose, don't treat her any differently than you normally would. You'll hear about it for days after," Jasper said, and though I knew that he was just kidding around, it still managed to piss me off. I huffed and rolled my eyes at the both of them. Now was most definitely not the time for another one of my hormone-induced rants.

"Tanya, Edward," I called out as I waved the two of them over to the table. I seriously needed to divert my attention and think about something else. In the background I heard Rose quiz Jasper about my behaviour, but I tuned them out as I concentrated on the recent arrivals.

"Hey guys," Tanya said as she stood by a chair and waited for Edward to catch up. I didn't realize what she was doing until I saw him pull out her chair for her to sit down on. She did so without a thank you or even a glance at her boyfriend, and now I had to return my attention back to Rose so I didn't question Tanya on it and start yet another argument. Geez, I really needed to control myself or I would be left at this huge table by myself before the evening was through.

"So, Bells is coming tonight right?" I asked them. "She's not going to back out again because she's the only one here by herself is she?" Bella had been known to on occasion make up elaborate excuses to get out of group dinners. Even though she had known us for most of her life, she still felt uncomfortable being the odd one out.

"Yeah, I spoke to her a couple of hours ago and she promised that she would be here," Tanya said. "In fact, she's actually bringing someone along with her," Tanya added while she looked over her menu.

"What, like a guy?" Edward spoke up, before he too picked up his menu to look over. Strange, he hadn't spoken a word since he had been here and it took me by surprise.

"Apparently, she's bringing this guy called Marcus tonight. She works for him, and she said that she just asked him spur of the moment." Tanya shrugged her shoulders as if to say it was no big deal when in fact, Bella asking anyone on a date was a huge step for her. She must really like this guy.

"So she works with him at the paper?" Edward asked us, to which we all just shrugged. What I wanted to know was just why he was so interested in Bella's love life.

"No, I think she walks his dog, but I'm not too sure," Tanya answered him again, this time as she studied her nails. Now I know that T can be self-absorbed at times, but her conduct had really started to annoy me. She knew as well as Rose and I did that Bella struggled with her social life, and I really thought that she would be a little bit more interested in what was going on. Not to mention the fact that she all but ignored her boyfriend. Her boyfriend who was overly engrossed in one of her best friends love life and there was not one flicker of acknowledgement from her. Interesting.

Just as I began to delve a little further, I heard a small commotion towards the front of the restaurant. It was then that I knew that Bella and her date had arrived.

"I see Bella decided to join us, but not before she tripped and landed on her ass," Rose chuckled.

Bella made her way to the table, red as a lobster.

"Making a grand entrance as always Miss Swan," Rose said as she tried to stifle her laughter.

"Laugh it up, Rose. How did I know that there was going to be a step up at the front door," Bella responded as she glared at Rose.

"Oh, I don't know, Bells. Maybe because there is a sign that says 'watch your step' on the front door."

The table all laughed quietly, well, quietly except for Rose who slapped her leg and guffawed loudly. Royce sat next to her with a look of disgust on his face. Most would think that it was aimed towards Bell, but I knew that this particular look was for Rose. He always tried to control her actions while out in public, and hated nothing more than what he described as 'Rosalie creating a scene'. Ass.

Bella took her seat, and we all fell quiet while we waited for her to introduce her date. When she finally looked up from her menu, she found that we were all staring at her.

"What," she asked, one eyebrow raised.

I tried to be subtle as I looked between her and her date, as we all waited for introductions. After a few loaded moments, she still had not said anything so as usual, Rose took the bull by the horns.

"Oh, for god's sake, Bella. Who is your date?"

"Um, shit. Yeah, sorry about that. Guys this is Marcus, Marcus these are my lovely, if not so subtle friends," she said softly as she gave us all a glare.

Jasper was the first to introduce himself. He shook his hand and then turned to me.

"And this is my lovely wife, Alice," he drawled and leaned over to give my hand a squeeze. I knew that he was trying to suck up to me, which only made me feel like more of a bitch. I hated that I felt like this, but I hated it more that I wanted to snatch my hand out of his grasp, and it took all I could to leave it there on the table in his.

Conversation flowed relatively easily over the course of the evening, and after we had all finished our meals, Rose announced that the girls all needed to use the rest room. In other words, we were going to meet up privately to no doubt discuss Bella's date.

I stood up, but not before Jazz got out of his seat to help me.

"I'm perfectly capable of standing, Jasper," I bit out loudly. He just looked at me before he sat back down and tried to strike up conversation with the guys. I could feel eyes on me, but I just walked towards the restroom without a glance back.

"So, what's going on," Rose asked and I looked at Bella expectantly.

"Not with her," Rose said, "but I will get to that later. I meant with you, Al. Why are you treating Jasper like the antichrist?"

"What are you talking about? I thought we were here to talk about Bella's date," I questioned her.

"Ali, everyone can see that you guys are having issues. Every time he opens his mouth to say something, you shoot him down or glare at him. This is not the Alice that we know and love," Bella added to the conversation.

"What the heck do you mean?" I knew exactly what they were talking about but I was too embarrassed by my behaviour to admit it.

"Cut the crap, Al. You're treating him like dirt and you know it. Spill," demanded Rose.

"I don't know guys, I just can't help myself. I mean, I knew that hormones would make me act a little crazy, but this is just out of control. Every thing that he says annoys me and I know that I am being irrational but I just can't help it. Every thing is just so fucked up." Bella let out a small gasp and Rose just looked at me. I never swore, and they knew that it must be something serious for me to drop the f-bomb.

Over the next twenty minutes I poured my heart out to them. From my freak-outs over the baby to the frustration of not being able to find out anything about my birth parents. It felt better to get it off my chest, but I still felt the load of my problems as they weighed me down.

Rose was going to help me look for my parents. She had a friend who was a private investigator who may be able to help me, and I just nodded as she talked about what steps to take in that direction.

I felt a little better as we left the bathroom, and as we were about to head out the doors and back to the restaurant, I stopped in my tracks and turned to face them all.

"Just hold up a minute. I thought we came in here to talk about Bella, and I really want the scoop on what's going on with her date." It felt good to get the attention off me, and I did really want to know what was going on.

"Well, there's not much to tell really," Bella mumbled. "He's a nice guy who asked me out. I initially said no, but then realized that I would be once again at a table full of couples so decided to ask him to come along. No big deal," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Bells, this is a big deal for you. You never go on dates," I questioned her softly.

"Look, Al, if you're asking me if he's the one, then I would have to say no. I like him, but as a friend and nothing more. Now can we just drop it?" She said as she started to move away from us. I let the others go past us, as I grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward me.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I just want you to be happy, you know that right?" She nodded her head so I continued on.

"I want you to know what it feels like, Bell to have someone to go home to, to have someone to want to be that everything for you. Like I have with Jasper. Now Rose and Royce, they are a different story and I don't even want to go there. But Tanya has that with Edward - not that she can even see past herself to see how much that guy does for her. She just makes me so cranky sometimes." I saw a look of hurt cross Bella's face and tried to remember what I said. She felt about Royce the same way that I did, and she knew what a great guy Edward was, even if Tanya didn't appreciate him. Was that what this was about? Bella and Edward were great friends, and I guessed that she was probably pissed at Tanya for the way she acted around him.

"Is this about Edward?" I asked. Again, that look of pain crossed her features. So I guessed that I hit the nail on the head.

"No!" she exclaimed much too quickly and loudly.

"Let's just get back to the table before everyone leaves without us," she muttered as she walked off.

I was left to ponder her strange reaction as I walked back to the table. She had certainly acted strange when I mentioned Edward, and come to think of it, he had acted pretty strange himself for most of the evening. For once he didn't accommodate Tanya's every whim, and then there was the way he kept quizzing us about Bella's date before they arrived. He really wasn't that friendly to Marcus at the table and I caught him as he watched Bella on more than one occasion.

Normally, I would have gone into sleuth mode, to try and figure out what was going on. Tonight though, I had problems of my own. I sighed to myself as I headed back to the table to sit down. I noticed that Jazz didn't stand up to pull my chair out for me, and unreasonably it pissed me off. Only half an hour ago I was berating him for trying to help me and now I was annoyed that he wasn't. I truly was a basket case.

Dinner was over and we all said our goodbyes with promises to catch up. The ride home was again filled with silence, and it was just as awkward as before. As we neared our house, Jasper spoke up.

"Ali, I think we need to talk. You are taking on too much and I think that it is putting a strain on your health. Not to mention the fact that we are arguing night and day about the most stupid of things." He was right of course, but again I felt annoyed that he didn't think I could handle it.

"So what you're saying is that I'm not capable. Is that it? That I should be barefoot and pregnant, at home on the couch each and every day because I couldn't possibly handle anything more than that. Thanks, Jazz. Great to know that you have so much faith in me." Nothing really made sense to me at that moment, and apart from feeling like crap about what Jasper had said, I really just wanted to get home and call Rose to remind her about speaking to her friend who could help me find my parents.

"Christ, Ali, would you listen to yourself. You are putting words into my mouth and it's taking my all to not argue with you about it. I love you, I always have, but this is not how we operate. We talk things through, we usually never fight and I don't know how to cope with all of this. Just stop shutting me out and talk to me." I could tell that he was frustrated, his hands gripped the wheel tightly and his lips were drawn in a thin line.

"Surprisingly, this is not all about you. You have no idea what I am going through, and you never will. You have your happy family, you have your job and you have me at home to deal with all of this baby stuff. I am fine with that, but I don't need you telling me what to do every minute, and I most certainly don't need you hovering over me. Just back off." The look on his face said it all, and I knew that I had gone too far.

"Fuck this, Alice," Jasper yelled as he pulled into our driveway.

"Don't you dare talk like that to me, Jazz. You think you can just…." My words caught in my throat as a searing pain tore through my abdomen.

Jasper looked at me when I didn't finish my sentence.

"Ali, what's wrong. Is it the baby?" He asked me, a terrified look plastered on his face.

"Hurts," was all that I managed to get out as I put my hands on my stomach. Jasper reached over to grab my hand as another searing pain took a hold of me once again.

I didn't need to ask Jasper where he was going as he reversed out of our driveway and sped down the road like a bat out of hell. I knew that he was taking me to the hospital, just like I knew that my baby was in danger.

I couldn't recall the trip to the hospital or what had happened when we arrived. The last thing I remembered was being wheeled away from Jasper on a hospital bed and the look of utter despair on his face.

"Jazz," I called out as I was pulled away from him. He looked up at me, his eyes full of unshed tears.

"Percy is going to be just fine." It was ridiculous to think that I had fought him on something as stupid as a name. Now, I just prayed to god that I got to even have the privilege of naming him.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. A bit of an angst filled chapter, but I knew you guys were waiting for something like it.

Don't be too harsh on Alice. She has so much on her plate right now, and those hormones are just kicking her in the butt. Doesn't make it right, but it happens.

Anyway, as always would love to hear your thoughts? Loved/liked/hated it, I'm always interested.

Bebe