Setting: Forks

Time: Post Breaking Dawn

Emmett's Point of View

Now that the Volturi had been and gone, everything was finally getting back to normal. It took a few weeks for our visitors from South America to head back home, and as nice as it was to meet them, and to see what to expect from Nessie at least growth and maturity wise, we were all pretty glad to see them go. Although probably no one more so than Bella. Even after Edward explained to her why Nahuel stared after her in awe, she was still irritated by all the attention. I swear, that girl hates being the center of attention more than anyone I've ever met.

Alice thinks things will be relatively calm for the foreseeable future. Great for the family, boring for me. Not that I want another encounter with the Volturi or anything else that threatens my family any time soon, but now that Bella's a vampire, and we know what Nessie's future holds, life is just getting tedious. Everyone else has their projects; Alice is designing clothes for Rose, Carlisle is busy at the hospital as always, Esme is planning an expansion to the house on Isle Esme so we can take a family vacation there, Rose is modifying Bella's Ferrari so it'll go faster (like Bella even knows how to drive it!), Jasper is working on a book about the Civil War, and Bella and Edward are doing the parent thing, taking care of Nessie and trying not to kill Jacob for being around ALL THE TIME. That leaves me with pretty much nothing to do.

I was in the family room watching ESPN when Bella and Nessie came in. Must be dinner time soon. Yeah, I know, vampires don't have traditional "dinner time," but ever since we almost lost each other, we've been making an effort to at least gather for an hour or so at Nessie's dinner time, just to spend time together.

"Uncle Emmett, do you know where is Zimbabwe?" Nessie asked.

"It's in Africa sweetie. Why?" I wasn't quite sure where this question came from, but knowing Edward he was probably already teaching Nessie geography since she couldn't attend school with regular children, and she had a voracious appetite for knowledge.

"I was just wondering." She answered, and then continued again,

"Have you ever been there?"

"Yep, Auntie Rose and I went there for one of our honeymoons. You'd love it!" as I answered Nessie I suddenly had a brilliant idea. My thoughts were disrupted by Nessie as she continued to ask questions.

"Can you take me there?" Nessie asked with excitement. "Are there lots of animals there?"

"Sorry about the 20 questions Emmett, Nessie started African geography today." Bella said. "Sorry Ness, you're a little too young to appreciate Africa just yet." Nessie frowned, but Bella hugged her and reassured her "I promise you'll get there some day though…"

"Don't worry Ness, if your Mum and Dad won't take you, your Auntie Rose and I will." I reassured her too, and watched a smile light up her face. Rose was the one that really missed that she could never have kids. I never did care much either way in my human life, and after I was changed, I had Rose and that was enough, but I am so glad Renesemee is part of our family, she brings so much joy and delight to all of us.

Alice flitted into the room, and kissed me on top of the head "don't worry Emmett, Rose will LOVE it."

"Thanks Alice" I said with a grin. Sometimes it was a pain in the ass to have people that could read your mind and see your future hanging around, but other times it was nice and reassuring.

"Dinner time!" Esme called from the dining room. She didn't call out very loud, but I knew that Jasper could hear her upstairs, and Rose could hear her from the garage. I think the only reason she spoke as loudly as she did was so that Jake and Seth could hear her in the back yard. Jacob spent more time here than anywhere else, and Seth was here a lot too. At least as I understood it, while Leah was Jacob's "beta" Seth did the day to day stuff to save Leah from any extra vampire exposure (I can't believe even after everything we've been through, she still hates us, but there you have it), plus Seth and Edward have been really close ever since that fight with the newborns, and he liked being around. Since everyone was trying to get Nessie to eat human food more often, it was good to have Seth and Jake around to eat with her, and to actually appreciate the food. At least the food never went to waste.

We all went into the dining room and took our usual places around the table. Rose came in and took her usual seat between Alice and me. I slung my arm around her shoulder, pulled her close to me and kissed her on the cheek and grinned.

"Emmett, what's going on?" Rose smiled, but I could sense a small bit of hesitation from her, like she knew something was coming.

"You might as well tell her Em." Edward said.

"Tell me what Emmett? And why does it seem like everyone else already knows?" Rose was calm, but her tone was irritated and she was completely still. Darn it, I really wanted her to be in a good mood. Man it was so hard to surprise anyone in this house.

"Thanks Edward." I scowled. "Only the psychic and the mind reader know, but I might as well tell you in front of everyone else." I paused for dramatic effect.

"Rose, I think we should go on another honeymoon, around the world in 80 days, like Jules Verne." I was really excited by this idea, and I was sure it could be heard in my voice. "We can start here, then go north to Alaska, visit our friends in Denali, then go across to Russia, and down through Asia, and…"

No one at the table was making any sound… I looked up, to see the faces of my family filled with huge smiles. "Well, what do you think Rose?" Since she still hadn't moved or said a word, I was starting to get nervous.

"I think that's a great idea! Last time we were abroad, we had to come back early for…" She stopped short, thinking of the last time we traveled, and Edward and Bella, and the trip to Volterra "… anyways, this should be perfect. Can we go to Australia? I've never been there."

"Sure! You know I've never had Kangaroo…" I was really excited now. All of the new places and all of the new animals…

My thoughts were interrupted by an excited squeal from Alice, and an enthusiastic "Alright!" from Edward.

"What's going on guys? What did I miss?" I asked, knowing pretty sure that I wasn't lost in thought for that long and didn't miss anything more than the normal members of my family.

"I see all of us on Isle Esme!" Alice squeaked.

Now that I thought about it that would be a perfect way to wind up our travels, with our family on vacation in a place where we could all be ourselves.

Jacob frowned from across the table. If Alice could see "all of us" it must mean that there were no wolves along on the trip.

"Don't worry Jake, we're only going to be gone for a week or so." Alice explained. She must have realized how he felt, because she sounded genuinely concerned for his feelings.

"Nah, it's cool. I understand the importance of family vacation… when do you think you'll go?" Jake asked. While his words said he understood, the disappointed look on his face, and the tone of his voice begged to differ.

"Well, it'll take a few days to plan, and if we want to do it like Jules Verne, maybe we can spend the last 10 days on the Island, so about the rest of the family will be around for at least the next 2 and a half months." I stated confidently. I was really starting to like this plan. New animals to hunt, new places to see, and some time alone with my wife…

"Hey Jake, it'll be summer by then, maybe you can come with us for part of the time…" Bella pondered, she reached out and patted the back of his hand. She and Edward were really handling this "Werewolf in love with my daughter" thing much better than Rose or I ever would. It probably helped that Edward could read his mind and knew exactly how innocent his feelings and thoughts towards Nessie were.

"Thanks Bells, but if it's only 10 days, I can probably manage. Besides, I'm sure my dad would love to see me for more than a few minutes at a time." Jacob smiled a sad smile. He was doing the right thing for Nessie, even if it was hard for him.

"Ya gotta do, what you gotta do Jake. All right Cullens! Let's start planning!" I exclaimed. I was so all over this vacation.