*I obviously don't own Twilight. But I do own this. Haha! Please review. :)*

"What do you think of my gift?" he asked as he handed me the big rectangular box.

"You haven't told me yet what's inside this box," I said, grinning like a little girl.

"Oh," he chuckled softly. "It's a teddy bear. I really don't know what to give a little girl for her birthday; all I have are nephews."

"Well, this bear will do." I said with a smile.

Alice caught sight of us and jogged merrily towards us. "Hey, Emmett. Rosalie invited you?"

Emmett looked over at me and smiled, "No, Bella did. But she was with Bella when she invited me."

Alice took Emmett's present to include it with the other presents inside the house. I could already see the pile of presents even from here. I led Emmett to the empty swing which was a bit far away from other people.

"This is a big party for a little kid," he said with an amused tone.

I sat down and motioned for him to sit beside me. "Well, Alice loves grand parties."

"I remember Bella and Edward's wedding party. It was like a town event," he paused and looked at me. "Why weren't you there?"

His question caught me off guard. I looked down on the ground. "I left Forks after I graduated almost four years ago."

"Where did you go?" his tone was full of curiosity.

"Rochester." I didn't like talking about my past…but still, I felt obliged to answer all of his questions, no matter how painful the answer is.

He sat back and was silent for a moment. "Why did you go there?"

"My ex-boyfriend…he brought me there." I fought hard not to tremble as I spoke. "But life there wasn't what I expected so I came back."

"And where's your ex?" he paused and looked like he was considering something. "Well, don't answer that. I'm sorry for asking, anyway," he said with a thoughtful tone.

I managed to regain my composure and let out a small smile. "He's gone; I don't know." I hope I didn't sound too sad or pathetic.

He patted my shoulder reassuringly and grinned. "You know what; let's not talk about that anymore. It was my bad for starting that topic."

His optimism made me smile again and lighten up. There's something about him that makes me feel comfortable and light. But in that same moment, when I looked at his warm eyes, I saw something I did not expect. I saw a glint of emptiness in his chocolate eyes.

"Hey guys," Jasper called out. "Nessie's here."

***

All of us surrounded Nessie as Edward carried her to her birthday cake. Nessie beamed with delight and gushed that the cake was pretty; she is such an adorable child. Watching her made me think of Blythe and imagined how it would make me feel as I watch her grow up. I fell silent and fragile again. Although I didn't want to, I can't help but tremble slightly at the thought of my unborn child. I'm really trying hard not to make myself so…fragile.

"Are you okay?" Emmett's voice pulled me out of my misery.

He looked at me with compassionate eyes and a trace of worry. "I'm okay, I'm fine." I said and tried hard to kick out my thoughts about my baby girl. Luckily, the presence of other people, as well as Emmett's comforting voice, lightened my mood.

I turned back again and was just in time to see Nessie blow her candles. Charlie, the proud grandfather, cheered as Nessie blew the candles one by one. Esme was on the other side, taking pictures with Carlisle who was video recording the whole scene.

After blowing her candles, Esme took pictures of Edward and Bella with Nessie, and then a picture of Charlie carrying Nessie.

"Family picture!" Emmett boomed. Esme gladly gave him the camera and went to huddle with us. Edward, Bella, and Renesmee were at the middle of the group; Alice, Jasper and I were at their left side, while Esme, Carlisle, and Charlie were on the right side. We all smiled and beamed happily as Emmett took our family picture while the guests cheered and watched.

After the picture taking moment, I spent most of my time watching Emmett as he played with Nessie and enjoyed every bit of it. He looks like a good father figure.