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Chapter 3
Emmett Cullen
RESULT!
What can I say? Bella did us proud. She was awesome. My little sister beat the Volturi. Almost single handedly.
That little freak Jane was furious. Aro was simply astounded.
Alice and Jasper returning sealed the deal, obviously. I mean, how could Aro argue with Nahuel's existence?
I was so happy that they were back. Our family wasn't the same without Alice's exuberance and Jasper's angst. They completed us. I knew that Jasper still sometimes felt that they didn't technically belong. They hadn't been turned by Carlisle. It didn't matter a jot to the rest of us. They were family, just as surely as Bree and Nessie.
Bree's grown up so much recently. She's had to. We've all had so much to deal with. Firstly there was Bella's pregnancy. Bree stood firmly by her mom's side. She wouldn't let either Carlisle or Edward near Bella unless Rose was around too.
She kept Rose out of the room when Edward was struggling to deliver Nessie and keep Bella alive at the same time.
She kept her head, even though my wife was almost out of her mind with the bloodlust. I had never been prouder of my daughter than I was in that moment.
She, like all of us, adored Nessie. She spent as much time with her new cousin as she could.
I noticed that she was spending more and more time with Seth too. Since Jake imprinted on Nessie there was hardly a day that passed where both he and Seth didn't show up in our home. My beautiful wife and I were, let's say, not exactly enthusiastic about this situation, however once we knew that the Volturi were coming to annihilate our entire family, we had to trust Seth and the rest of the pack to keep Bree safe whilst Rose and I went looking for help.
Of course we realised that there would be a huge risk of them getting closer when we weren't around to watch over them. I knew that although Bella and Edward would be acting as guardians to Bree, and would never allow her to come to any harm, they're fondness for Seth would probably make them less likely to stop the pair of them spending every moment they could snatch together.
We had been right to worry. The dynamic of their relationship certainly appeared to have intensified in the couple of weeks that we were away. Rosalie was seriously worried about it. I just hoped we'd manage to work it all out.
Now it was time to celebrate. Our family was back together and the danger was over, for now at least.
Our visiting allies left, no doubt keen to get back to their normal lives, with no restraints on their feeding habits.
We promised to visit the Denali's soon. They left quickly. Clearly needing to mourn their terrible loss. I was glad to see Garrett joining them. I hoped he'd ease Kate's grief. We all felt awful for them. I wished I had taken the head off Laurent's body when he came to our home that one time. It would have saved us a whole heap of trouble in the long run. Jasper was struggling with the rawness of their emotions. That was very clear. He was very relieved when they went home. Relieved but also guilty for feeling the relief.
Over the next few days, things started to settle back down into their normal routine. Bella and Edward came over most mornings with Nessie. It was a delight to watch her grow. Edward was now completely relaxed. Safe in the knowledge that Nessie would live a full and happy life. Charlie visited more often. He'd missed us during the last few weeks. He seemed perfectly happy to accept the lie that was our lives. As long as he didn't know all the facts, he'd deal with just being able to be a part of Bella's life.
Charlie was just about to leave. He'd been invited to Sue Clearwater's for dinner. I had been teasing him off and on all afternoon about it.
"She's a fine woman, Charlie." I told him. "You could do worse."
"Will you please leave it out Emmett," came his quick retort. "How many times? We're just friends. Her husband was one of my best friends. He'd want me to look out for her."
Bella joined in our conversation, from where she was in the kitchen, making sandwiches for Seth and Jake.
"Emmett, will you please leave my father alone? Stop messing around with him. And dad, stop falling straight into brother bear's trap. He's deliberately trying to wind you up."
"Jeez, Bells, stop spoiling my fun." I sniggered.
"I'll do more than that if you don't stop annoying my dad." She shouted. "And Charlie, to be fair, Emmett is right. You and Sue make a great couple. You shouldn't worry about what Harry would think. I reckon he'd be happy for both of you."
"I just can't win, can I?" Charlie was exasperated. "Outta here folks." He announced. He got up to leave.
Shit, I thought. Bella's gonna be pissed at me now.
I thought back to the time when she beat me at arm wrestling. Things were so different then. Everyone happy. Bree had found it highly amusing that Bella whipped my ass. Nessie did too.
When Bella started doing her Kung Foo moves, everyone joined in the hilarity. Edward chastised Jacob when he suggested that Bella wasn't acting as a responsible parent should.
When Charlie left, Bella hurled a large crystal ash tray at my head. I caught it in the nick of time before it hit me.
"Emmett, will you just stop irritating my dad." She shouted. "He's gonna be your in law one of these days. You might want to keep that in mind."
And she was right of course. Bree and Seth were closer than ever. There was nothing that Rose or I could do about that. I didn't like it, neither did Rose, but it felt like it was inevitable. I knew if we wanted to keep Bree, we'd need to accept her relationship with Seth.
Bree was very close to Bella too. I found them chatting into the early hours, their heads always together. It seemed clear to me that they were cooking up a plan between them. I wondered when they'd tell us what they were planning.
It turned out I didn't have long to wait.
Edward Cullen
Life was good. My wonderful wife was amazing. She'd saved us by shielding us from the Volturi. She'd gifted me with a daughter. She was trying so hard to give me access to her thoughts. The few times she'd managed that were out of this world. She concentrated on her feelings for me. The things she'd experienced when we'd made love. Unfortunately I found it difficult to concentrate when she did this, which, nine times out of ten, resulted in me being too aroused to stay focused enough on her thoughts and we'd end up replaying what she'd been thinking about.
I was so happy that she was trying to do this for me though. I couldn't have felt more loved.
Bree was a constant part of our lives now too. She and Bella were hiding something from me. I wasn't particularly worried by this, but I knew that Rose and Emmett were worrying about it. They didn't understand why Bree would be trying to hide her plans from them.
A couple of weeks passed.
Bree came to the cottage early one morning. She offered to take Renesmee to the main house. To give Bella and I some alone time. This was not, in itself, out of the ordinary. She'd done this many times. This time though, I realised she was doing everything in her power to keep me out of her thoughts. That was unusual.
She left with my beloved daughter.
"We need to have a chat." Bella announced.
Although I had expected something like this, it was unusual that Bella wanted to talk first. Normally she'd have jumped me first. I was a little disappointed.
"What's on your mind love?" I asked.
She seemed a little nervous.
"You know that Bree and I have been talking?" She said. "We've been working on an idea. Something that we'd like to do together." I'd swear she'd have blushed if she could right now.
My attention piqued. What on earth have they cooked up between them that had my reason for existence so nervous.
"Edward, I... I need money. A... A lot of money." She was almost whispering now. She looked terrified.
Suddenly I felt afraid. What could Bella and Bree have gotten themselves into that would have Bella so nervy about asking me for money. Didn't my wife know that I didn't give a shit about the amount of money my family had accumulated? I thought she knew that she was wealthy in her own right. She didn't have to ask me how to spend her own fortune.
What else could have gone wrong?
A/N – okay don't shout at me please. I know that this is short. I just wanted to give you all a small cliffy...
Again this is an un-beta'd chapter. So apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes.
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