Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Behind Steel Bars

By Midnight Dreamer

Chapter 13: Shopping for furniture or torture in hell?

Jasper and Charlotte were up early the next morning; Charlotte because Jasper woke her up while making one hell of a racket in her kitchen and Jasper because that is what he has been used to for the past 8 years. They sat and had coffee while Jasper looked over the newspaper. It was about an hour later that Peter finally stumbled out of bed.

“What the hell are you both doin; up so early?” he slurred.

“Well, Jasper here was up at the ass crack of dawn and makin’ one hell of a racket looking for all the stuff for coffee. So, I got up to help him and have been up ever since.”

“I’m always up this early.” Jasper said shrugging.

“Well, I’m gonna get ready for work.” Peter took his coffee and headed back toward his bedroom.

“So Jasper, do you know what your lookin’ for or do we need to stop at your place and make a list before headin’ to Ma’s?” Char asked.

“I think we should make a list. Since I haven’t had a civilian life in 8 years, I have no idea what is there or what I will need.”

“Well, at least you’re honest.”

“Always have been, always will be.”

“Well, let’s get dressed and head on over. You still need to buy clothes so I will get you some of Peter’s things to wear for today.”

“Thanks again, Char.”

“You’re welcome.”

Charlotte headed toward her and Peter’s room after kissing Jasper on the forehead. He finished his coffee and headed back to the spare room; shortly after, Peter once again knocked on the door, this time to hand Jasper a clean pair of jeans, a button down shirt and boots.

“Don’t say I never done nothing for ya,” Peter said.

“I won’t,” Jasper replied.

After getting dressed he walked back to the living room, just in time to see Peter give Charlotte a kiss and her tell him to have a good day. That is what Jasper had wanted; that was the life he had pictured coming home to. Now what did he have? An empty house, a cheating ex-wife, and nothing to show for all his hard work.

“Jasper, hun, you okay?” Charlotte said waving her hand in front of his face.

“Yeah, Char, I’m fine. Just lost in thought is all.” Char gave him a sad but knowing look.

“Well, let’s get to your place; Ma is expecting us soon.”

“Alright Char, let’s go.”

The ride to Jasper’s house was silent with only the soft music playing through the speakers able to be heard. Pulling up outside the house, they noticed an envelope taped to the door. Heading over to retrieve it, Jasper looked over the envelope to find only his name on the front: Mr. Jasper Whitlock

“Who is it from Jasper?” Char asked.

“I don’t know, Char… There is no return address on the front.”

“Open it and find out.”

Jasper nodded his head as he slowly opened the envelope, pulling out the folded paper inside. Still not recognizing the hand writing, he opened it and began to read:

Dear Mr. Whitlock,

We are the legal representatives for one Mr. Edward Masen and one Alice Cullen, the former Mrs. Whitlock. Our clients are seeking retribution for damages – both physical and psychological – in relation to a recent altercation at your home between yourself and our clients.

You are to contact us about this matter as soon as you receive this letter.

Thank you,

Stevenson and Sons Attorney’s at Law

1-800-454-0681 (AN: please don’t call this number as it is NOT an actually phone number that I know of.)

Charlotte had been reading the letter over his shoulder and saw how Jasper became angrier with every word he read.

“What the hell is she up to?”

“This looks like a desperate attempt to get your money.”

“I think your right, Char. What do you think I should do?”

“Call Jenks and let him deal with it. I mean, that’s what you guys pay him for, ain’t it?”

“Yes Char, it is.”

Walking into the house, Jasper went directly to the kitchen as Charlotte went off on her own to give him some privacy. Picking up the land-line, Jasper dialed the number he and Peter had to memorize as children. Three rings later, a gruff voice came over the phone:

“Jenks here.”

“Mr. Jenks; I’m sorry to be bothering you this early in the morning, but when I returned home I found a letter from a Stevenson and Sons. They claim to be lawyers for Edward Masen and my ex-wife.”

“Do you have the letter on you right now?”

“Yes, it’s right here.”

“Could you get it to me today?”

“I can drop it off at your office in about an hour.”

“Okay, I will see you then, Mr. Whitlock.”

The dial tone was the only thing Jasper heard signaling the end of the phone call. Jasper figured Jenks must be busy on some case and was in a hurry. Just as he hung up his phone, Charlotte came scurrying around the corner and began looking in cupboards and drawers, writing stuff down as she went. Minutes must have passed as Jasper watched his sister-in-law run rapid through his house. When she finally came to a stop, she asked how his phone call went.

“So?”

“I have to drop the letter off on our way to the store.”

“Okay, well I’m finished here unless there is something you would like to add?” Charlotte said handing him the list for him to look over.

“Nope looks like you got everything and more. No wait – I was wrong; I need to cancel Alice’s phone and get a new one.”

“Alright then let’s not keep Ma or Mr. Jenks waiting, shall we?” Charlotte said motioning toward the door.

“No, Ma’am – after you.”

“Why, thank ya.”

Jasper and Charlotte conversed playfully on the way to Ma Whitlock’s house. The two were growing closer and Jasper was certain he could label her not only family but a friend as well. They arrived at Ma Whitlock’s to find her sitting on a rocker on the front porch.

“What took y’all so long? I’ve been up since dawn; I ain’t getting any younger ya know.”

“Sorry, Ma,” they said together.

Jasper got out and helped his Ma into the passenger seat, opting to take the back and let the women have the front.

“So Jasper, dear what are we goin’ for today?”

“Everything Ma.”

“Everything? You didn’t keep nothin?”

“Just Grandma’s table, and the stuff in my office. Everything else went to good will.”

“I take it you didn’t like any of it?”

“Well, as Isabella politely put it, the house screamed single white female or gay couple. So yeah, we got rid of all of it.”

“Who is this Isabella? I have never heard of her before. Where did you meet her?”

“She’s a friend of Char and Peter’s, Ma.”

“Oh, really now? Charlotte, why have I never met this friend of yours? She sounds like my type of woman.”

“Well Ma, if ya wanna meet her I’m sure she would love you, too. But Isabella works a lot and it’s hard for her to get away all the time. She just happened to be off when Jasper got out of jail and offered to help him clean up.”

“Well, that was mighty nice of her. Why couldn’t you have married her Jasper, instead of that stuck-up little twit you did marry?”

“Ma…” Jasper whined.

“What? It’s a honest question!”

“Hell Ma – I didn’t know her then and I barely know her now.”

“Maybe you should get to know her?”

“Yes Ma.”

Jasper knew it was no use arguing with her since she always got her way. When they pulled up to the store, Jasper helped his Ma out first and then ran around quickly to help Charlotte out. As they entered the store, Charlotte and his Ma both grabbed carts leaving Jasper to simply shake his head as he followed behind the two women. He knew he was way out of his depth with this one.

“So Charlotte, what does he need?”

“Well, he needs all new bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen things.”

“All of it?”

“All but the main bathroom things.”

“Okay then, lets get started. Charlotte you get started on the kitchen and I’ll go get the bathroom things. Oh Jasper, honey, why don’t you go look at furniture?” His Ma took charge. She reminded him of his drill sergeant at basics.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

 Jasper made his way over to the furniture section. He looked around awhile before he found anything he remotely liked: a large hunter green sectional. It had two reclining seats with a table in between and ended in a chase lounge. That would be just enough for what he wanted – him and Peter would have the recliners to watch football on, and he would have the chase to nap on. It was perfect! He called one of the sales people over and asked them to load it up for him; they asked if that was all and he said no there was more. He moved along further through the area and found a long cast iron and slate coffee table and two stone lamps. He once again motioned to the sales clerk and had them load that up as well. Next he went and found his bedroom furniture: a large King size cast iron four poster bed caught his eye. He hopped on the mattress and bounced a little; then laying down he shifted his body some to check for softness. Smiling he stood and waved once more. The clerk showed Jasper the rest of the set that went with the bed and Jasper agreed that it was just what he was looking for.

He then went looking for Charlotte and his Ma. He knew it probably wasn’t his brightest idea but he wanted to see how they were fairing. Finding Charlotte first he looked into her cart and saw that most of the items were either black or stainless steel; he nodded to her and then went to locate is Ma. Still in the section with the bath products, Jasper hurried to her side and gazed over her shoulder to see what she had found so far. His bath things were all in natural shades – greens, blues, and browns. The smile he felt fill his face was reflected back at him when his Ma saw him eying the things she picked – she knew her son better then any woman ever could.

“Ma, this is perfect!” he said kissing her cheek.

“Well, of course it is. I’m ya Ma – I know what my boys like.” She said tapping his cheek.

“Your right, Ma, you do.”

Charlotte had made her way over to them now.

“Did you get what you needed for the bedroom and living room Jasper?” Char asked.

“Yeah, I think so. But I still need to find bedding and maybe some throw pillows for the living room. What do you guys think?”

“Show us what you picked and we will go get the last of the things for your house,” Ma said with a smile.

Jasper led them over and showed them what he purchased. The girls told him they were proud of him, which he took to mean they thought he did a good job and didn’t botch it up too bad. They headed to the bedding section where Jasper’s Ma stopped at the end of the isle and turned, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Ya gonna go pick it out, boy, or do I have to do that for ya too?”

“No, Ma’am.” Jasper said moving into the isle. He looked over everything and slowly took in the sizes and colors.

“Ma!” Jasper yelled.

“Yeah, boy?”

“What is better – cotton or polyester?”

“Cotton. It breaths better.”

Jasper continued his search before finally coming to the end of the isle where he found just what he was looking for: a king size brown cotton weave comforter and sheet set. He grabbed it off the shelf and turned, grabbing two extra large pillows from the shelf behind him as he headed back to where he knew his Ma was waiting. When he got there, he placed the bedding in the cart and looked over at Charlotte who was placing some black throw pillows into her own cart.

“Those for the living room?” Jasper asked.

“Yep.”

“Where to next?”

“The Mall.” Char squealed as Jasper groaned, earning a smack upside the head from his Ma.

They paid and checked out, with the store promising that everything would be delivered later that day. As they headed toward the Mall, Jasper wonder just what else they had in store for him.

They spent the next several hours going from store to store, forcing Jasper into changing room after changing room trying things on. When they finally headed out, Jasper was carrying what he assumed was enough clothes to fill one whole store; not to mention the 4 pairs of shoes he now was the proud owner of. Just when he thought it was over, they pulled into the grocery store. Jasper wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

By the time they had dropped Jasper’s Ma off home and headed back to his place, it was almost 7 pm. Earlier, Charlotte had texted Peter to meet the furniture truck at Jasper’s around 6. When they got to the house Peter was helping some of the delivery men to unload their truck; Jasper ran to help the guys, leaving Charlotte to unload her truck.

When everyone was finally cleared out and Jasper’s house was put together, it was finally time to eat. Char had cooked some grilled cheese with tomato soup and chocolate milk. (dude don’t knock it till you try it. Grilled cheese dipped into chocolate milk is the bomb.)

 After they finished, they sat for a while and talked.

“So Jasper, how was shopping with Ma and Char?” Peter asked.

“Go to hell, Peter! I’m never doin’ that shit again.”

“Awe, what’s the matter Jasper? Can’t handle it?”

“Oh, hell no – I will go into battle and fight off insurgents before going shopping with them again!”

Peter was laughing so hard he couldn’t respond. He knew what is was like to go shopping with them and most of the time, he just let Charlotte and Ma go and get whatever they wanted.

“Shut up, you ass!”

“Peter hun, I think it’s time we head home. You and I both have work in the morning, and I’m sure that Jasper wants to sleep in that extremely comfortable looking bed he bought.”

“Sure, sure. Let’s go sweet lips,” Peter said grabbing Charlotte around the waist and kissing her.

“Later, Brother.”

“Later.”