"Jasper!" Maya called, skipping into the Cullens family room, hands behind her back.
"What's up Darlin'?" he asked, still mostly focused on the video game he was playing with Emmet.
"You're a father!" she cried happily.
Jasper crushed the controller in shock as his head whipped around to face her, all thoughts leaving his head. The other Cullens, except Edward who was with Bella as she still was not welcome in their house, also froze at the news, unsure about how to react or what was even going on.
"That's ... not possible" Rosalie finally managed to choke out. The others quickly nodding in agreement, as Jasper remained unmoving, still in shock.
"Of course it is silly," Maya pulled her hands out from behind her to show them the tiny black kitten she had found abandoned in the woods earlier. "See? Isn't our child adorable?"
Everyone stared at her dumbfounded for a moment before breaking down in near-hysterical laughter. Jasper himself taking a breath in relief at the fact that he had not actually managed to do the impossible and procreate as a vampire.
"Darlin' where did you find it?" He finally questioned as she moved closer to him.
"I found him in the woods. The poor baby was left abandoned! Can you believe it? Look at him, the little guy is all skin and bones! There was no way I could abandon him so I decided to take him home and from this day forth he shall be our child" she proclaimed with a firm nod.
Emmet at this point was rolling on the floor laughing and Jasper was seriously considering kicking him. "Oh my god," he gasped, "You have a child Jas! And it looks just like you!" At this point Jasper really did kick him but all it did was cause him to laugh more.
Alice skipped up to Maya then and began to inspect the kitten. "He's right. It really does look just like you guys! He's got black fur like Maya, but his eyes are golden!" (see the picture at the top for what he looks like)
This caused the whole family come over to inspect the kitten, Rosalie and Esme cooing at the poor thing, talking about how starved it looked. Maya carefully handed the little guy over to Carlisle so that he could check him over and make sure that he was okay.
Then she turned to Jasper, "So can we keep him?"
Her eyes looked at him pleadingly and he let out a sigh, sending her a smile. "Of course we can Darlin'."
"Yay!" she cried rushing over to scoop the little guy back up and spinning him around in her arms. "You hear that little guy; we get to keep you!" Everyone chuckles at this, amused at how excited she was.
"So, what you gonna call him?" Emmet questioned.
"I was thinking Lucky, because it was lucky that I found him when I did. What do you think Love?"
"That sounds perfect Darlin'" he said moving over so he could pet the newly named Lucky. "Although perhaps you want to explain to me what you were doing in the woods, alone, while Victoria is on the loose?"
She looked down and away from him at that, muttering "I was on a walk."
"A walk? You put yourself in danger for a walk?" he growled.
"Yeah, I guess. But I was super careful. I was in cat form the whole time and its not like she even knows I can shift into a house cat so she wouldn't recognize me. And besides I'm not some helpless human, I can take care of myself!" She defended, turning to face him again.
He let out a sigh and leaned his head down to rest their foreheads together, cupping her face with his hands as he did. "I know you can take care of yourself, but that won't stop me from worrying. So please, for my sake if nothing else, don't go out into the woods alone until she is dealt with?"
"Fine" she agreed. While she didn't really think it necessary, if it would make him feel better she would agree. For a while at least. She had no intention of being a prisoner in her own home after all.
Just then a cough broke the silence and the two whipped their head up to see Rosalie grinning at them, "you do remember that we're still here, right?"
Maya let out a laugh as Alice and Rosalie came over to drag her off towards the bathroom, intending to give Lucky a nice warm bath. Esme headed off towards the kitchen to get something for him to eat, muttering about how the poor thing was far too thin. Emmet continued to tease Jasper, which led to him throwing his brother out the open door and into the backyard so that they could wrestle. With a sigh, Carlisle headed off into the kitchen to join his wife, deciding that so long as the boys did not break the house, he would leave them alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that evening, everyone was gathered on the main floor again. Maya had shifted into a kitten and was now playing on the floor with Lucky. Emmet and Alice having joined them, waving toys in their face, as they laughed at the two kittens attempts to grab them. Jasper was sprawled out on the couch, alternating between watching them play and reading his book. Rosalie was perched on a stool in the kitchen reading over the day's news as she chatted with Esme who was cooking dinner for Maya, Carlisle helping her. Every once in a while, Rosalie would grab a small piece of meat she had in a bowl nearby to throw at her husband when he got too exuberant with the new kitten, reminding him that Lucky was less durable than Maya. He would pout like a child every time, but as the kittens raced each other for the treat a huge smile would break out on his face again.
Their quiet evening was interrupted however, as Edward came storming in with Bella in tow.
"Carlisle, you need to look at Bella's hand."
Carlisle sighed at his sons lack of manners but didn't argue. He could see the swelling on the human's hand from his position and at the moment that was more important. "Right, you just sit at the table Bella. I'll be right back with my bag." As Bella gave a nod of acknowledgement, Carlisle took off to find his bag.
He was back in moments and immediately began examining her hand. It was a quick process and before long he was wrapping up her hand. "It's just a sprain. It should heal fairly quickly" he reassured her.
Emmet, bored now that Lucky was too tired to play, turned towards Bella. "Trying to walk and chew gum at the same time again, Bella?" He teased causing Maya, who was still a cat, to burst out laughing. She had been in the process of curling up on Jasper's chest for a nap and would have rolled right off him from the force of her laugh if not for Jasper catching her. A smirk on his own face.
"I punched a werewolf in the face."
"Badass. You're gonna be one tough little newborn" His thoughtless statement making Rose frown and Maya stop laughing.
"Tough enough to take you on" Bella joked, glad that somebody at least was on the side they were supposed to be on; hers. Rose threw her paper down and marched out of the room at this.
"Don't worry about it" Emmet glanced over his shoulder where his Rose had gone, knowing she was upset but needed time to cool off before he went after her. Especially since it was his own comment that had upset her. Trying to distract everyone from what had happened he glanced around, eyes eventually settling on Jasper as a smile rose to his face. "So Jas, are you just the new official cat bed?"
Jasper glared at him from his position on the couch, careful not to move. Apparently Lucky had been feeling left out and jumped up on him for a nap as well. Now him and Maya were both curled up around each other on his chest.
Alice noticing the sight, rushed off to get a camera to capture the sight as they all laughed.
Bella however, glanced around at them all before moving to follow Rosalie out onto the deck. Effectively cutting off the laughter and leaving an unsure silence behind her as everyone debated on whether they should stop her or not.
As the door closed there was a long stretch of silence. Finally Alice, running out patience, broke it. "Is it just me or are awkward silences becoming our thing?"
Emmet burst out laughing at that. "You may be onto something Short Stack! Perhaps Bella's awkwardness is rubbing off."
Edward growled at him, but Emmet just shrugged and smiled. "What? It's not like I'm wrong."
A few others chuckled at this, causing Edward to storm off. Most of them moved off to do their own thing after that, trying to distract themselves so Rosalie and Bella could have privacy. Maya though, worried about Bella and Rose being alone together, freed a paw to bat at Jasper's chest. When he looked down at her she jerked her head in the direction of the deck, silently asking him how it was going.
She could hear what was being said of course. Everyone could, even if they were all working to tune it out or ignore it to be polite. What she wanted to know however, was how Rosalie was doing emotionally. Maya had always guessed based on Rosalie's behaviour that she did not have the greatest history but it wasn't until Rosalie had told her about what had led to her change that Maya understood how truly awful it was. She also knew just how hard it was for her to talk about it and wanted to make sure that Bella's insensitivity and self-centeredness wasn't making it worse.
Jasper shook his head. "She's not doing very well."
At this comment everyone turned to face him. Emmet especially focused on him. Though he may seem like a goofball most of the time and that nothing really bothered or upset him, he loved his flower with all his heart. The thought of her hurt or upset was the one thing guaranteed to set him off and he would do anything to make his wife feel better.
"Explain" he growled.
"Bella's reaction is making it harder than usual to talk about it."
At this they all gave up politeness to listen in to Bella's reaction. "Look, I get that what you went through was horrible and all. That you would give up being the prettiest girl in the room for a bunch of whinny kids, but I love Edward. I want Edward. Not some outdated dream of being a stay-at-home wife with kids. So you're not gonna change my mind."
"She's really pushing her luck" Emmet snarled. Until now he hadn't really had a particular opinion of Bella as he didn't actually know her all that well but now he was seriously reconsidering his stance. If she continued to upset his flower like this he would personally see to it that she never bothered his girl again.
Esme sighed, wishing, not for the first time, that there was something she could do to help her family in times like this. That she had a gift that would allow her to heal the hurt caused by their memories and make them feel better. But sadly she hadn't been blessed with such a gift. All she could do was be there for her family and support them however she could.
A few moments later, Rosalie came back into the house and Emmet wasted no time is whisking his wife off to their room.
Bella followed a moment later and as she stepped through the door, Maya grew to the size of regular panther and snarled at her. Had they been anywhere else Maya probably would have done more, but as it was she did not want to risk Bella bleeding in the Cullen's house. Instead she simply settled for making it clear to Bella that she was not impressed.
As Bella fled up to Edward's room, Maya decided she would wait until they were home and Rosalie could not hear before she yelled at Bella. Normally it might have made Rosalie feel better to see the human put in her place, but Maya wasn't going to risk making her feel worse by reminding her of things she would rather forget as she yelled at Bella.
Honestly though, how hard would it have been to be kind and understanding instead of brushing aside her dreams as not important when Rosalie confided in her? Surely it couldn't be impossible for Bella to put herself in someone else's shoes for once and figure out how to make them feel better? Maya thought irritably as she shrank down the size of a big house cat.
Grumbling to herself she picked up Lucky in her mouth and began to make her way up towards Jasper's room. If she had to put up with Bella's inability to show even the slightest amount of sympathy than Maya was going to have to raid her candy stash as she cuddled with her adorable ball of fur.