His Wolf Pup - a Jasper Hale Story

52- A Valentine's Day to Remember

After a month of no Victoria problems, everyone was on edge even more than normal. She was unpredictable, and everyone was afraid that she would strike at a moment's notice. That meant that on February 14th, Jasper was tenser than normal while we were hanging out.

"Jasper, what is going on?"

The two of us were having a picnic in the woods to celebrate Valentine's Day, and Jasper would not relax.

"I'm just happy you agreed to go on this date with me." He didn't relax even as he spoke, and I knew he was lying.

"Jasper, I'm being serious. What is going on?"

He let out a sigh, un-tensing slightly. "I'm just nervous that Victoria is going to show up and attack, and because you haven't phased, you're an easy target. And I'm not saying you need to phase; you don't have to at all. I'm just nervous." His rambling only stopped because I pulled on his arm to shut him up.

"Jasper, you have to relax. You don't have to worry about me."

"Emma, that's literally all I do."

I took a moment to think about that, realizing that he really was concerned about my well-being every moment of every day. This whole Victoria situation was worrying him even more than usual. "Would it really help you calm down if I phased again?"

"Honestly, yes. But I don't want to make you phase because of that. I want you to phase because you want to." He looked away from me as he spoke, making me think he was afraid of something I would say.

"Jasper, why do you think I don't want to phase?"

"Emma," he whined, trying not to answer.

"Jazz," I replied, my voice even.

He took an unnecessary breath. "Because I haven't proved to you that you can trust me, so you don't want to be stuck with me forever."

I reached out and placed my hand on his face, making him look at me. "Jasper, that is not why I haven't phased. I just like the feeling of growing a little older. I phased young, and now I've grown up a little. Ever since you've come back, I've planned on phasing again. So, if it would help you calm down a little, I'll phase again."

"Really?"

"Really."

I pulled away from Jasper, wanting to eat more food before he had a question.

"Wait, how old are you?"

"You know, that is a hard question to answer. I first phase when I was 15 and a half, but it immediately felt like I had aged two extra years."

"What are you talking about?"

I looked from Jasper to the surrounding area, trying to think of the right words. "I don't really know how to describe it. I went through, like, a crazy growth spurt and felt like I had aged two years. It's kind of just like a gut feeling. Anyways, then I stopped phasing for a few months and technically aged another year, and turned 18." I turned back to Jasper as I finished talking.

"So, you think you're 18 now?" He asked, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah. And that feels like a good age to be for the rest of eternity," I answered, smiling back at him.

"Eternity, huh?"

"Well yeah. You did promise me forever."

"And always."

The rest of our picnic was nice, and Jasper slowly calmed down. Every now and then, he would tell me that I didn't have to phase if I didn't want to, and I would tell him I did want to.

After a couple of hours of hanging out, I got a text from Rosalie saying, 'Know you don't have to, but Alice saw you decide to phase, and Edward read her mind, and now Edward and Emmet really want you to come home, and phase, but Carlisle took their phones away so they can't text you and ask you. I also really want you to because Alice and Edward are being weird about it.'

I smiled as I read the text from Rosalie, knowing the entire family was probably happy I would be phasing. I knew they cared, and they were excited to play fetch again. My reaction caused Jasper to look at me with raised eyebrows.

"Emmet, Edward, Rosalie, and Alice want me to come home and phase, but Carlisle is mad at them," I told him, answering his unasked question.

"You don't have to do that," he told me.

"I know. Rose actually said that in her text to me." I paused for a moment when I saw I got another text.

Carlisle wrote, 'I just saw what Rosalie texted. Know I took everyone's phones, and they won't be bothering you anymore. I'm sorry she said that. I hope you're enjoying your picnic with Jasper. Hope to see you later.'

I looked from the text back up to Jasper. "I think I should do it. Though it would be more fun to phase here and run back and surprise them."

"It would only be a surprise if Edward and Alice can keep it a secret," Jasper told me. "And I don't want them pressuring you."

"I want to do it, Jasper," I told him, standing up.

"Okay, I won't stop you, Emma." Jasper gave me a small smile as he spoke. He also started packing up the picnic stuff, seeing as I was done eating.

I closed my eyes and focused. Normally phasing was easy, but since it had been months since I had phased, I needed a moment to focus on doing it. I took a deep breath, focused on my inner wolf, and let go. I felt myself phasing, but I kept my eyes closed.

I was going to take a moment to enjoy the feeling again, but Jasper ruined that by yelling, "Oh my gosh! You're huge!"