waiting ii.

seize

Her family gathering had brought together 12 people. 8 of those people were French. 4 of them stood, confused as the 8 others spoke fluently in French. Cousin Sasha and 3 of Tatum's other cousins made up those 4. She decided to escape the gathering, even though it was for her, to let Avery talk with Jasper.

So, she locked her and Avery in their room before pulling out her laptop and going to Skype. She pressed on Jasper's icon, waiting for him to pick up. Instead, he didn't answer. Tatum sighs and looks down at her nephew as he sits in her lap. 

"Maybe he's busy," she says, closing her laptop. She had tried 2 other times after the first and he didn't pick up at all. "I'm sorry, bug. We can try again later."

Avery sighs dramatically, showing his aunt just how upset he was. She smiles sadly at him. They both jump when a knock comes from their door. "Tatum, your petit ami is here!"

That had her up and walking to the door after setting Avery on the bed. She opened the door and found her grandma standing there with a grin. She was quickly dragged away, Avery waddling behind them. She was practically shoved into someone. 

The person caught her and immediately helped her balance properly. They wrapped a hand around her waist and intertwined the other with hers. Tatum looks up at the person, they smirk down at her before speaking softly, "Happy birthday, darlin'."

"JA-PER!"

Avery wraps his arms around one of Jasper's long legs while Tatum herself wraps her arms around him. It had only been a few hours, but she could never deny a hug from Jasper. She pulled back and kissed Jasper's cheek before looking down at Avery. Jasper rubs the little boy's head of blonde hair. "Hey, squirt."

"Ja-per, Ja-per, Ja-per!" the cowboy picks Avery and holds him in his arms. The 4-year-old wraps his arms around Jasper's neck and hugs him tightly. While his aunt had seen Jasper a few hours ago, Avery hadn't seen Jasper since he left Forks. "Cake time! Cake! Cake! Cake!"

Jasper laughs softly, as does everyone else. Tatum leans up to Jasper before whispering in his ear, "Can you even have cake?"

"Yeah, I just can't taste it so we never eat it," Jasper whispers back as Tatum's grandma walks towards them with two plates of cake. He thanks the older woman in French, which Tatum had taught him, making the older woman blush. 

Jasper helps keep Avery clean while they eat the cake. Tatum's aunt Elena comes up and starts making conversation while Tatum's dad stands in the corner, watching Jasper suspiciously. Why would her 'boyfriend not boyfriend' come all the way to Madrid for her birthday?

"Come one, frère. Relax, he seems like a good kid," Elena says, nudging her brother-in-law. "She's in love."

"So was I."

"Henry," Elena scolds, pinching his arm. "I've had 2 husbands. I loved both of them."

"But this kid just appears out of nowhere," Henry says, gesturing to Jasper. Unbeknownst to the two, Jasper could hear their words loud and clear. "He took Tatum on vacation, she's always at his house, she always takes Avery with; it's like I can't see my family anymore! And now he comes to her birthday? In Madrid?!"

"You said he moved away earlier this year, right?"

Henry nods.

"His family is rich?"

Henry nods.

"They haven't seen each other for months after usually spending a lot of time together?"

Henry nods shamefully.

"He has four siblings that love Avery?"

Henry huffs, crossing his arms, "I get it. I was wrong."

"Do it,"  Elena says, smirking.

Henry sighs and rolls his eyes. He uncrosses his arms and lays them at his side. In a sing-songy voice, he grumbles, "I'm wrong. I'm stupid. Never again will I do it."

Elena claps her hands, walking away from her brother-in-law to see the couple they had previously been talking about. She rests her hand on Tatum's shoulder, "So, Henry mentioned your family moved, Jasper. Where to?"

"Oh, we went to Texas. It's where my sister and I were adopted from," he says, wiping Avery's mouth with a napkin before sending Elena a small smile. "My dad got a better job offer so we all packed up and left."

"But aren't you graduated?"

"From high school," Tatum watches her lover as he calmly goes through the family's questions. They had all realized that her family stopped conversing with each other to listen. "I'm doing college online."

"Why didn't you just stay in the little town if you're doing online?" Sasha asks from behind Elena.

"I wanted to stay with my family."

"What about settling down?" Grandma Seraphine asks, peeking from behind Uncle Julian. She had a small smirk on, she was doing the grandma thing: tease them about marriage, but if they're married, tease them about kids. If they have kids and are married, tease them about more grandkids. 

Jasper looks down at Avery before looking Tatum straight in the eye. Henry unconsciously leans forward, waiting for his response. Tatum blushes as the question fully registers with her. Jasper pecks his love's cheek before speaking softly, "Soon enough."