A/N: I would like to dedicate this to my sister and my newest nephew born this morning at 7:21. Wyatt Harrison Davis is definitely going to be a little heart breaker...hint Emmett look alike ladies and gentlemen. ;)

Huge thanks go out to staceygirl aka jackbauer, qjmom, and bronzehairedgirl620 for betaing this chapter for me. Go check out their stories, they're so much fun.

Video link on my profile for the song. Someone actually did a YouTube for the Cullens using this song. lol

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns any Twilight characters that may appear in this story. The remainder is my original work. Copyright 2009 by the author writing under the pen name, OliviaJane. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without my express written authorization.

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Ch. 8 Just One of the Girls

RPOV

"We Are Family"
by Jordan Pruitt

Everyone can see we're together
As we walk on by
And we fly just like birds of a feather
I'm not telling no lie

All of the people around us to say
Can we be that close
Just let me state for the record
We're giving love in a family dose, yeah

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing

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I arrived next door, bright and early, still trying to figure out how I'd been rooked into a shopping trip with two girls I barely knew. It was a rare occurrence for me to let someone new into my life, and somehow in a matter of a few hours, Alice and Bella had weaseled their way in. Well, more like Alice did the weaseling, and Bella tagged along for the ride. She was Alice's sidekick.

Apparently, not only was charm a dominant character trait in the Cullen gene pool, but feistiness was as well.

It was clearly evident in Emmett and Alice. However, I found Edward to be a bit more reserved, level headed you might say. But that was just my first impression. Time would tell.

I stood trying to shake off a round of nerves that came out of nowhere. It's just two harmless girls Rosalie, you can handle the, I chided myself. But I really wanted them to like me, which was very uncharacteristic of me. Usually I could careless what someone thought. Lately however, I was finding myself wishing I had girls my age I could share and do things with. Life is lonely when you're a single mom living with your brother. Yes, I had Ang, but she and Ben had gone home to spend the summer with their families.

Girlfriends were something I'd been missing since Royce stole my confidence what seemed like eons ago now. Yet there were days it felt like the horror he brought into my life happened just yesterday. I really did want someone, a friend or maybe even friends, besides my brother, who I could share my deepest fears and my greatest joys with. Someone, who'd be there to hold my hand, or pat me on the back. Someone, who may not understand, but would listen all the same.

With my confidence suddenly at an all time low, a slew of ridiculous questions ran through my mind. How am I supposed to act? What does one do to make friends?

I felt like a social retard, and I couldn't fathom where all this anxiety was coming from. I had friends before. Why was this so hard for me now? My fear of rejection was consuming me.

I raised my hand to knock on the Cullen-Swan front door; when it flew open unexpectedly, nearly scaring the living daylights out of me. My hand flew to my chest as if that would keep my pounding heart in place.

"Rose!" Alice exclaimed, grabbing my hand and yanking me into the house. "I'm so excited that you agreed to come along with Bella and me. We are going to have so much fun. The mall is my home away from home."

"Uh, Alice? I thought we were going shopping for household items," I said, a bit confused at how the mall fit into our preplanned shopping scenario. Sure there was Sears, but a kitchen appliance isn't what I thought she was looking for. The more I thought about it, the mall sounded like fun. It had been ages since I'd had a day out with friends at the mall. I used to love hanging out there when I was younger, going to the movies, getting a new outfit, and boy watching. Not that Port Angeles had anything that came close to what Seattle had to offer, but it had been fun nonetheless.

"We were, but I was just too antsy to wait. I took care of all the household stuff earlier in the week." Her hands waved around the room drawing my attention to her very creative handy work. "Today's shopping trip is all about spoiling ourselves," she sighed, caught up in some weird twisted daydream about the mall I assumed.

I laughed to myself, finding her theatrics rather amusing. "Okay," I responded, not exactly sure how to take this side of Alice. I will admit though, it didn't at all surprise me coming from her.

I guess she took my lack of outward enthusiasm as a sign of resistance. Honestly, I was excited; I was just caught off guard with her high-spirited revelation. Plus, I just didn't see the need to go berserk about going to the mall. Yeah, at one time in my life I would have been over the moon about the idea, but my tragic past had stolen most of my zest for life, and I was just now realizing just how much.

This revelation angered me. How…no…why had I let myself become so consumed by this one event? When I thought about it, other than the time I spent with Angela, and the rare date I went on, I had become virtually reclusive over the past two and a half years. It was time for a change.

"Rose, really, we must do something about this…this mannish daywear you insist on wearing every day." She waved her hands wildly up and down as she assessed my attire. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you and Bella were twins separated at birth. Don't worry there's hope for you. Look at what I've done for Bella." I turned in the direction of the stairs as Alice gestured toward a descending Bella.

Bella came bounding down the stairs rather clumsily, wearing a very cute empire waist black satin top and a jean mini skirt that hit her just shy of mid-thigh. Alice winced as she eyed Bella's black Converse tennis shoes. "Okay, so she's a work in progress."She looked horrified at the sight of the dingy and well-worn shoes.

"Just ignore her, Rosalie. She's on the prowl for new blood, and by that I mean she's looking for a new shopping companion. Me, I'm hoping she'll find the buddy she's always dreamed of, so she will stop dragging me off and dressing me up all the time. And you, my friend look like the perfect candidate." Bella smiled teasingly.

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"So…Rose, what is going on between you and my brother?" Alice didn't waste time jumping right on the subject of Emmett and I as we entered Juicy Couture at the University Village in Seattle.

"Besides the fact he likes to crawl under my skin on a regular basis and is clueless to the constant barrage of bitchy vibes I send his way?" I retorted, trying my best to disguise the confusing feelings I was having for him.

"Call it what you will, but it's a mating game all the same." Alice grinned slyly, perusing a rack of over-priced tank tops.

"Mating game? Right. The guy is an egomaniac who can't take a hint. The only reason I keep letting him come around is because when he couldn't sway me, he wheedled his way into my baby girl's heart. Now if she doesn't have her daily dose of EM,1 she pitches a royal fit. I swear it's like he's some kind of drug and she's hopelessly addicted." I rolled my eyes as I focused my attention on a rack of linen pants.

I guess you could say I was a bit jealous at how taken Emma had become with Emmett. She was his number one fan, and it would appear as of late that I was coming in second in her book of favorite people. I wasn't used to having to share the limelight in her world and it was taking me time to get adjusted to that fact.

"Yeah, he does have a way with the little ones," Bella said sounding like a proud sister. "It's almost like he's the Pied Piper of little people. Alice, you remember how every summer when we helped out with Bible school, they all flocked to him during music and snack time?"

"Sure do. The scenes were definitely 'aw' moments in my book," Alice offered, confirming what Bella said was true.

I choked on my gum. I just couldn't picture big burly Emmett teaching Bible school, much less leading music time for a bunch of five year olds with Jesus Loves the Little Children.

"You can deny it all you want, but you're just as smitten as Emma Grace," Bella mumbled absentmindedly under her breath.

"What?" I asked, getting too caught up in my thoughts of Emmett sitting in the middle of a Sunday school room, surrounded by kids sitting at his feet, hanging on his every word. I had not been paying attention to the conversation going on around me.

"Face it Rose, you've got it as bad for Emmett as he does for you. Anyone can see it. Whether or not you admit it or even realize it, you want him so much; a blind man could see it. When the two of you are in the same room together, it's like everything and everyone else fades into the background. Really Rose, the two of you should kiss already," Bella suggested rather sternly.

Alice giggled as she slipped into a dressing room with her arm weighed down with items to try on. Grinning approvingly at her best friend, she nodded for her to continue, before she shut the door.

"Seriously Rose, the constant and easy banter…bickering…whatever you want to call it, is all the evidence one needs to see that you've fallen and fallen hard my friend. You my dear, are the one who is completely and utterly addicted." Bella lifted her brow in triumph as if asking me to challenge anything she'd said.

Sheesh, am I really that obvious? How can I admit to the world, what I'm not even ready to admit to myself?

"Stick a sock in it Bella!" I said defensively, praying that Alice would try on something fantastically amazing that would trump this conversation.

My snippiness only made the both of them laughed even harder. We were beginning to draw stares from other patrons.

Oh, for crying out loud!

"You know, Alice, I could say the same about you and Jasper," I shot back in an effort to take control of the wheel in this conversation. A divine intervention would obviously not be forthcoming.

"Yes and no," she came back. "Yes, we are both completely and utterly addicted to each other. I'm not afraid to admit that he stole my heart from the first moment our eyes met," she sighed, placing her hand over her heart as she surveyed the black mini dress she'd tried on in the mirror. "But no, unlike you girly, I have no problem letting my Jazzy know where I stand with my feelings towards him."

Now it was Bella nodding in agreement.

"Is your memory so short that you can't recall that the day we met I informed him that one day, not far in our future, he would make me his wife? That he's exactly what I've been waiting for all my life?" Alice was smiling so brightly at the memory that her cheeks had to be aching.

"I remember. It was only five days ago for crying out loud. I remember very clearly Jasper stumbling into the house after you'd released him from your clutches mumbling incoherently about a crazy chick, rings, and marriage. You nearly gave him heart failure." I laughed recalling just how out of it Jasper was when he came home that night. But I'll admit that over the past week they've been like two powerful magnets unable to keep themselves apart. Whatever free time they've had, they've spent it together. It's rather nauseating. It's like watching one of those old fairytales come to life right before your eyes.

"Stop deflecting, Rose. Jazz and I have no problems admitting our attraction…our love. But you on the other hand have issues." If only she knew. "Issues I'm fully capable of helping you overcome," she assured me.

If she knew about my issues, she'd understand my reluctance. She'd understand why it isn't that simple. If she knew how completely damage I was on the inside, she'd understand just how hard it is for me to deal with what Emmett was stirring within me.

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Over a Moderno Vegetarian deep-dish pizza at Delfino's Pizzeria, I learned more about the Cullen family. Like how Alice and Edward were the same age, but they weren't actually twins like I had assumed. Actually they weren't even blood siblings. Edward had been adopted as an infant when his parents, the Masens, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen's closest and dearest friends, were killed in a fatal car accident five short months after his birth.

Hearing his story made my heart hurt. What would happen to Emma Grace if something were to happen to me? I just hoped if, God forbid something did happen, things would turn out as well for her as they had for Edward.

I also learned that Bella's parents were also close friends of the Cullen's and had been since their moms met in a Lamaze class where Mrs. Swan was the teacher and Mrs. Cullen was a student.

"My mom tells the funniest stories about those classes," Alice mused. "My mom was a quiet and often reserved person but she instantly became friends with Renee. She describes Renee as the wild and wacky teacher who carried her infant daughter around in one of those Native American style papoose contraptions on her back everywhere she went." She giggled at the images her mother's stories had created.

"Yeah, it was 'friends at first sight' my mom says. She said she felt it was her duty to rescue the overwhelmed mother of a rambunctious eleventh month old with another on the way. My mom thought Esme was the crazy one. Who in their right mind has babies back to back like that was her thinking." Bella paused as the waitress set the hot and steamy pizza on the table in front of us.

"Then after everything that happened with Edward coming to live with you guys, I think she thought she had her hands full enough between me and helping Esme and Carlisle out. I swear Rose, people often had a hard time telling who the three of us belonged to. We all called both of our mothers 'mom,' which of course didn't help the situation. It was always confusing for sales clerks, teachers, new neighbors…," Bella chuckled.

"What about your dad, Bella? What does Edward call him?" I inquired; my curiosity piqued wondering what ones boyfriend called their girlfriend's father after so many years.

"Well, until recently he always called him Mr. Charlie, but after we started dating, the tension between them grew to epic proportions and now he refers to him only as sir," Bella said nibbling on her slice of pizza.

"I think Charlie has always known that one day Edward was going to steal his little girl away from him. Maybe that's why it took Edward so long to confess his true feelings for Bella, Charlie scared…or should I say scares him shitless." Alice leaned sideways bumping Bella in the shoulder.

"Ah, from just the short time I've know you guys I'd say it was Bella being shy and stubborn, and Edward being clueless like the rest of the male population inhabiting this earth," I laughed.

"Stubbornness! That's what it all boiled down too. Neither one of them thought the other could possibly be having the same feelings that the other was feeling. Ridiculous!" Alice huffed. She picked up her bottle of Pierre and took a sip.

"If it weren't for the ski trip to Aspen this past December, I think those two would still be sitting alone in their rooms twiddling their thumbs over what to do about each other. Nothing like a concussion to make my brother wake up. Good grief, if I'd known a near death experience is what it would take to light the fire under his butt, I'd have knocked you out years ago," Alice teased.

"Sitting right here." Bella rolled her eyes. "Moving along…so, Rose, Emmett seems to be quite taken with Emma Grace."

"And her momma," Alice mumbled from behind her napkin with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

I ignored her. No way was I going there…no way, no how.

"Yeah, I was wondering how a nineteen year old male can be so good with kids. But he seems to be such a natural with her and the ones he works with down at the community center."

"Daycare," Alice said as if that one word explained everything.

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

"Esme, our mother, runs a small daycare out of our childhood home, caring for five or six children at a time. Growing up, we would help her out after we got home from school. I of course was in charge of all the craft activities, Edward would read or tell them stories, and Emmett he was the team sports coordinator." Alice continued.

"Exactly how old were these children?" I inquired.

"All under the age of five."

I giggled as I mentally pictured a day in the life scene in the Cullen home; Emmett trotting into the house, rounding up all the wee children after one of Alice's craft projects involving paper plates and a lot of cotton balls, then shuffling them outside to play "team sports."

"Exactly what kind of sports did he play with these little ones?" I couldn't wait to hear her answer.

"Oh you know the typical games toddlers play, Duck Duck Goose, Ring Around the Rosie, and more often than not, just simply a game of Tag You're It," Alice said, grinning hugely at the amusement that must have shown on my face.

Huh…the way Emmett was with Emma suddenly became clear. His momma had trained him in the way he should go and he had most definitely not strayed from it. It was his destiny to surround himself with children. He came by it naturally. It was obvious he'd taken after his mother.

Then it hit me, Good God, does this mean he has plans to hook himself a woman who'd provide him a womb that would hatch him a team of tiny tots? Because if that's the case he needs to know that this womb is closed for business. I fidgeted in my seat at the thought. Why on earth am I all of the sudden thinking about birthing Emmett's babies? I've already sworn him off. What's wrong with me?

"You know Rose," Bella paused eyeing Alice. "Emmett is an education major just like you."

"Education major my ass. He's a football jock, a sports junkie. He wants to be a P.E. coach so he never has to grow up." I rolled my eyes at the comparison. Seriously, other than our love for my daughter, we have nothing in common. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that Rose.

"Sports stimulate the mind." She shook her head at my refusal to see the connection we shared.

"Among other things," Alice coughed.

Again I ignored her. If she continued with her crap talk, she and I were going to have words.

"Plus, there's a lot to learn when gaining the skills to play a sport," Bella pointed out trying to make me see the light.

Luckily for the both of them, the conversation made a detour in a different direction soon after that. As we finished up our pizza, we talked about general stuff, nothing of real importance, just girls being girls.

I was more than relieved that they never inquired about Emma's father. That was a conversation I'd yet to have with Emmett, one I never intended to have with another human being if I had my way. Some things were just best left under the rug where they had been swept.

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"Oh Bella, this is going to look amazing on you," I said holding up a white draped sleeved mini dress Alice had chosen for her.

"Yeah, it's going be perfect for all the parties we're sure to be going to. Plus, Edward won't be able to keep his hands off you when he sees you in it." Alice grinned wickedly at her in the review mirror, causing Bella to blush furiously. "I'm so glad I didn't listen to you and bought it for you despite all your protests."

"Crap, you two are tag teaming me! Rose, I thought that you would be my shopping savior. Plus, I don't need anything else that will make Edward go anymore ga-ga over me than he already is. He's been Mr. Handsy ever since…," she trailed off, realizing she started to say more than she had meant too. Smiling shyly, she turned her gaze towards the window as she chewed nervously on her lower lip.

"Oh, has that been a problem as of late?" Alice prodded Bella. "No need replying missy. I think the sounds I've heard coming from your bedroom every night this week have been more than enough to answer that for me."

"What?!" Bella asked with a hiss.

"What?" Alice repeated incredulously. "Does this ring a bell?" She loosened herself up as if she was getting herself into character.

"Oh Edward, Edward," Alice sighed dramatically. "Yes, yes!"

I watched Bella intently as Alice acted out the scene from the driver's seat. She looked as if she were going to blow her top any second.

Bella's drew her hand back in a fist, thrust it forward, and socked Alice in the upper arm hard. The car swerved to the left. Thank God, there was no on coming traffic. If Alice was a bruiser, she was definitely going to have a nice size one tomorrow if not sooner.

"Ow!" Alice cried rubbing her hand over the red mark Bella's fist had left. "Bella, really, must you resort to violence? When is violence ever the answer?"

"In this case, it is. You brought it on yourself. Now cut that out and stop making crap up. You make it sound like I'm a nymphomaniac or something. Ridiculous!" Bella fumed.

"Whatever. Can't you take a joke?" Alice rolled her eyes.

"No, not about this." Bella narrowed her eyes at Alice and then turned to face me. "Rose, it's not like that between Edward and me. Yes, we have our fun occasionally, but we are waiting for marriage to…you know…," she hesitated and then proceeded in a whisper, "To do…uh…it." Her cheeks were once again a brilliant shade of red as she looked around; making sure no one heard what she had said, even though we were the only ones in the car besides Alice.

I snorted unable to keep my laugh in. Seriously, if you can't even say the word, then you really aren't ready to do "it".

"It? Really Bella, what are you like twelve?" Alice cut in, scolding Bella on her choice of words.

"Whatever, Alice. Can we just change the subject?" Bella closed her eyes in protest as if that would stop the whole embarrassing line of questioning.

I started to laugh heartily. These two were quite a pair. I had the best time with them today. They reminded me what it was like to have great friends. "You two are a riot," I commented. "Thank you for inviting me today. I forgot how much fun hanging out with just the girls could be."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, with concern in her voice. "Don't you have any friends you can do things with?"

"Uh…sure." I cursed myself. There was no need to share why I didn't have a lot of friends. That would only lead to more question that I did not want to answer. "It's just with school, and Emma Grace, I really don't get out much."

Alice eyed me suspiciously, like she was about to ask another question. I worried it would be about where the heck was Emma's father was and why did he seem to be absent from her life. Thankfully before she had a chance, Alice came to a complete stop in the driveway, and Bella bolted from the car saying, "It was real, it was fun, but it wasn't real fun!"

After making her mad dash across the yard, she propelled herself onto the porch and into Edward's arms while Emmett watched in amusement. From the looks of it, this must be an frequent occurrence when Alice and Bella return from one of their shopping "adventures" as Alice liked to refer to them.

"What did she just say?" I asked, thoroughly amused by the sisterly banter the two had shared.

"Ignore her. She tends to be a little touchy when either Emmett or I tease her and Edward about their non-existent intimate relationship," Alice offered. "Plus, I can't explain it, but the girl always has a need to be coddled and consoled after we return for one of our little trips. It just goes beyond my realm of understanding how someone can detest buying a new outfit so much. What's the big deal?" She shrugged, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Oh, okay," I replied.

As I gathered my packages from the back seat of the Porsche, I felt a hand on my arm. "Rosalie, if you ever need to talk to me or even Bella about anything, anything at all, we're here for you. Remember that. I know I come off as spastic and half-baked at times, but I can be a very good listener when my friends need a shoulder to lean on. Okay?" She wrapped her arms around me as if she had a sixth sense about what I needed, and a friend, a real friend, was definitely it.

"Uh, sure, um, thanks," I whispered, suddenly choked up. It was obvious that she could tell that there were things I was hiding. Things I could never tell her, or anyone for that matter. Things that would make them run screaming in the opposite direction from me.

Once again I found my self-doubt over taking me. She and Bella, surely wouldn't want to be friends with the likes of me if they'd found out what kind of girl I had been. Being rejected by my high school friends, taunted by Royce and his cohorts, and berated by my step-monster, had branded the fact that I was filth and unworthy of love from anyone into my brain.

I turned my head away from her to hide the tear that slid down my cheek.

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A/N: I'd love to hear your thoughts. I know there wasn't any of the lovable and adorable Emmett and Emma in this chappie. But believe me when I say, the next chapter is going to be chalk full of them. Thanks for reading. :)

THE LAZY, YET DISCERNING FICSTER BLOG: I feel honored and privileged to have All the King's Men spotlighted in an article by bethaboo called The Red Headed Step-Couples of Fandom. This article features Twilight fanfic stories where E/B aren't the focal couple. If you're looking for something other than a B/E fic go check it out. She has spotlighted a number of amazing stories featuring A/J, R/Em, Car/Es, and even Jake/Ren. You can find a link on my profile for the blog.

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