Emmett whistled in admiration when our house finally came into view. Rosalie just grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door; she couldn't decide whether she wanted to show him the garage first, or go get a shower.

Carlisle, Esme and I were much more tense. I was anxiously listening for any humans nearby, but thankfully there were none, at least not at this hour of the night.

"Here's your first real test," Rosalie said. Emmett reached for the doorknob, handling it like a glass sculpture rather than wrought iron. He stuck his tongue out in concentration, gently turning the knob and pushing the door open.

The front door opened into the living room. The room seemed smaller than usual, with our six-foot-five newborn inside it. We watched in amusement as he gingerly lowered himself onto the couch, grinning up at us when he didn't break it. Esme sighed in relief, and he jumped up proudly, snapping the couch's wooden frame with his take off.

"Emmett!" we all groaned. He muttered an apology and then laughed along with the rest of us.

"It's all right," Esme sighed. "I'll get a new one."

He walked curiously around the rest of the room, stopping in front my piano and lifting his hand toward it.

"Don't even think about it," I growled, stepping toward him in warning. "The piano is most definitely off limits."

Emmett was especially amused by the kitchen. He sniffed the air, wrinkling his nose when he smelled the food in the cabinets.

"Just for appearances," Esme explained. "It's quite rare that anyone comes by, but you never know. And I do bake occasionally, for events at the hospital."

After the kitchen was the garage. Emmett was impressed with our vehicles, and even more so with Rosalie's knowledge, which far surpassed his own. He just watched her indulgently as she flitted around the room, showing him this tool, or that part. She was just lifting the hood of the Eagle when Carlisle announced that we should continue with the tour, and that the two of them could check out the cars later.

After a brief stop in Carlisle's study, we showed him the upstairs, ending with my room. "You'll share with Edward for a little while, until I can get the other room ready," Carlisle explained.

Rosalie frowned. "But I told-"

"My room will be fine," I said sharply, crossing my arms. All that nonsense with the human boys had merely been practice; now it was time for the overprotective brother to come into his own. I had no illusions about where Rosalie and Emmett were going to end up, but in the meantime, I intended to make sure that Emmett behaved himself. I felt a small smile creeping over my face as I imagined building iron bars over Rosalie's doorway; rather ridiculous, considering not only Emmett's strength, but also fact that bedrooms meant little to our kind. They were really just places to store our personal belongings.

Emmett looked back and forth between the two of us, his mouth hanging open. "Think I'll stay with Edward," he mumbled finally. Kinda awkward with them standing right there. And Eddie's got that creepy smile going.

Carlisle cleared his throat nervously; he was feeling the awkwardness as well. "Yes, I think that would be best," he agreed, looking down at Esme for reassurance. "Perhaps later on we can discuss some more… permanent arrangements." Well, this is a first. How does the adopted father of an adult vampress deal with a suitor, whom he has also adopted? And when that suitor is a newborn?

Esme just smiled, trying to hold back a laugh. This is going to be interesting.

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As the guest of honor, Emmett was allowed the first shower, and was given a new set of clothes to change into. While he washed, the rest of us went through the house, making sure that all the doors and windows were firmly closed. We preferred fresh air, as a rule, even in the coldest weather. But in the beginning, at least, we wanted to keep human scents as far from Emmett as possible. Even with his success on the first two blood challenges, we knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself if he unexpectedly smelled a living, breathing human. It was nice to finally be able to relax my gift, now that Emmett was sealed inside the house and my constant surveillance wasn't required.

I was in the basement, latching the last window when I heard the most peculiar sound. It reminded me of the sound a dying animal might make, or perhaps the mating call of a large bird. I ran upstairs to find my sister and parents all looking at each other with the same curiosity. Then we all began laughing together as we realized what we were hearing: Emmett was singing in the shower. It was awful. Even Rosalie winced as he hit, or rather missed, a high note. It appeared venom couldn't cure everything.

I shook my head as I headed back down the stairs, determined to make some music of my own. I stopped in the kitchen to wash my hands first. Our skin had a tendency to stay cleaner than a human's, but even with our dips in streams and rivers, we had all gotten quite dirty in the past few weeks. Emmett and I were particularly filthy, what with our reading lessons in the dirt and our endless play-fighting.

I grinned up at the ceiling as I scrubbed my hands. Emmett's joyful, carefree spirit was exactly what our family had been missing all these years. Even now, as his tone-deaf screeching carried through the house, we all found ourselves walking with a lighter step. I personally had never had so much fun before, and I had, more than once, heard Esme thinking how Emmett's presence was bringing out my optimistic side. So when I heard the bathroom door open, I sprinted up the stairs, my music forgotten.

"I'm next!" I announced, darting into my room for a clean set of clothes. But when I came back into the hallway, Rosalie shot past me, clutching her own clean laundry.

Not on your life! She slammed the bathroom door behind her, and I heard her turning the lock. I refuse to stay dirty for another second!

"Oh, come on!" I shouted, pounding on the door. "You know you'll be in there for an hour!"

"Have you looked at your hair lately?" she called as the water started running. "You're the one who's going to be in here the rest of the day!"

Emmett walked up beside me, toweling off his hair. "She has a point, man. Is there a bird nesting in there?" I slapped his hand away from my head, and he snapped the towel at my face.

I heard a beautiful sound like wind chimes behind me, and I spun around. Esme was laughing at our antics, really laughing in a way I had never seen before. You should have seen the look on your face, Edward! Well, now that our family has grown again, it looks like we might need another bathroom. Just think, a house full of teenagers, and I'm only twenty-six!

I pecked her on the cheek and flitted back downstairs to my piano; no point in standing in the hallway for an hour. I sat down, sighing in relief as my hands- still the only clean part of me- rested on the keys. I closed my eyes and began to play one of my favorite sonatas, humming along with the melody as it filled the quiet house. At least Rosalie didn't sing in the shower.

"Hey, not bad, Eddie," a muffled voice said behind me. I turned to find Emmett sprawled on his back on the living room floor, surveying the damage he had done to the couch. I stopped playing and joined him, sticking my face down on the floor beside his to peek up at the cracked wood inside the frame.

"And that's why the piano is off limits," I said, sitting back up.

Emmett shrugged. "Don't worry, not the musical type."

"Believe me, I know," I laughed.

Emmett reached under the couch, carefully straightening out the broken wood and tangled springs. "I want to fix this. I hate for her to have to buy a new one."

I directed him to the toolbox, and went back to my piano; I had an idea. I moved my fingers down an octave, a new melody bouncing out of the lower keys; this would be Emmett's theme. It was deep and energetic, and I started over several times until I was satisfied with the optimistic tone of the musical phrases. After a few measures, I shifted up to the higher keys, to work out a new theme for Rosalie. I had written one or two songs for her in the past, but they had been a bit mournful, and I hadn't even told her about them. But this time, only the ascending notes were mournful; I twisted one of my previous "Rosalie" melodies into a tune which sprang back toward middle C with an increasingly hopeful sound. This song would be about the two of them finding each other. I slowed it down just a bit, tweaking until I had a nice swing rhythm going. Emmett had returned with the toolbox now, and was tapping his foot while he worked. I switched back to the lower keys with my left hand, the bass melody drowning out the higher one, and over the course of the song, the two melodies drifted closer together until they were dancing around each other. The song ended with an energetic flourish, the notes tumbling upwards in a happy ending.

"Hey, I like that," Emmett said, his voice coming from under the couch again. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing," I said carelessly, starting the song over again. "How's the couch coming along?"

"Hmph."

"I said, how's the couch coming along?" I could see from his mind that the damage was mostly repaired now; Emmett had been maintaining a log cabin his whole life.

He pulled out, sitting back up with a dejected expression. "The couch is fine," he sighed. "But I think I broke most of Carlisle's tools."

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It only took six days for it to happen.

Emmett had gone out hunting a few times with either myself, Carlisle, or all of us. He spent the rest of his time with Rosalie, either watching her work in the garage, or sitting and talking with her in various parts of the house, occasionally stealing a kiss. He and I had been able to sneak in a couple of reading lessons here and there, but for the most part, he and Rosalie were inseparable.

So when she came sauntering down the stairs on Thursday night and announced that she was going hunting alone, I looked up at her with suspicion. I had been reclined on the couch for the past hour, losing myself in Steinback's latest novel, which I now dropped onto my chest as I zoomed in on my sister's thoughts. She didn't even bother to hide them from me this time; the plan was for Emmett to follow her one minute later.

I raised my eyebrows, and Rosalie froze on the staircase, in an uncanny resemblance to the scene several weeks earlier. In fact, her hand was resting only two inches from the gouges she had left when I had betrayed her plans with George.

She glared down at me. This is different, Edward. I'm an adult, and Emmett is the same species as I am. I'll thank you to stay out of our business. Before I had a chance to respond, she continued down the stairs and headed out the door.

I had to admit that she was right. She was an adult, and he was the right species. And even though I didn't approve of the choice they were making tonight, I really didn't have any business getting involved. And Carlisle had already lectured me twice this week about staying out of it. So for once in my life, I decided to back off and mind my own business. I picked up my book again.

Exactly one minute later, Emmett came silently down the stairs, as well. This was a terrific feat in and of itself; we had already repaired the staircase three times this week. He was concentrating-a little too hard- on walking gently. But he was still unpracticed at hiding things from me, and I easily saw the plan in his mind, as well.

"Where's Rose?" he asked aloud, following the script they had agreed upon.

"Mmm? Oh, she went hunting, just a moment ago," Esme answered.

"I'm thirsty too. Think I'll see if I can't catch up to her," he mumbled, heading for the door. "Any neighbors around, Edward?"

I dutifully stretched out, listening. "Nothing."

Sweet. "Okay, be back in a while."

I shook my head, but I didn't say anything. As it turned out, I didn't need to.

"Emmett," Carlisle said quietly.

My brother froze, his hand on the doorknob. Uh oh. "What? It's the middle of the night, and I promise I'll stay with Rosalie."

Carlisle closed the book he had been reading and indicated the chair across from him with a nod. "Have a seat, son."

Emmett swallowed nervously and made his way to the chair, lowering himself into it carefully. Mayday, mayday!

Esme gave Carlisle an encouraging smile as she stood, setting aside her drawings. "I think I'll go join Rosalie," she announced, making her escape quickly. I thought about following her, but I was also curious to see how Carlisle was going to handle this. I rolled up into a sitting position, watching my father with amusement. I had never seen him so nervous before! If he had been human, he would have been sweating and pulling his collar away from his neck. He stared at the floor for a moment, and then looked up at his newest son.

"Emmett, would I be correct in assuming that you and Rosalie aren't really going hunting?"

Busted. "Uh… maybe…" A little help, here, bro?

I finally lost it. I snickered, clapping my hand to my mouth to stop the sound. "I'm sorry," I murmured from behind my hand, "but you're on your own for this one."

Carlisle shot me an exasperated look. "I'm not angry with you, Emmett. And I'm well aware that you and Rosalie are adults, and capable of making your own decisions. But she is my daughter, and I'm sure you can appreciate my desire for things to follow a certain… order."

Emmett's brow furrowed in confusion. What?

I rolled my eyes. "He wants you to marry her first," I explained. "And I do, too."

"Oh! Oh. I guess I thought… uh…"

"You thought that vampires didn't bother with that," I interrupted.

"And it's true that many don't," Carlisle added. "But we consider ourselves to be a family, not just a coven. I'm very happy for you and Rosalie. But I want you to offer my daughter the highest level of respect, and that requires you to make the highest commitment possible. Anything less would be unworthy of her."

"But it's not like Rose has never-"

"That was not her choice," Carlisle interrupted sharply. "In fact, her traumatic experience gives me all the more reason to want to guard her virtue. And even though she might not have said anything to you, marriage was very important to Rosalie back before she was changed. I want this relationship – this marriage- to be the haven that she was denied in her human life. Surely you can appreciate that?"

I stared at my father in admiration. He hadn't planned any of this beforehand, and he was quickly working himself up into a passion. He had always been so permissive and apologetic with Rosalie, always living in the shadow of the "sin" that he had committed against her. But now that he finally had the chance to fulfill this particular role of the human father, he was jumping ahead full steam.

"I see what you're saying," Emmett said slowly, scratching the back of his head. "It's just that I was never… exactly… the marrying type." He cursed mentally, realizing how that had sounded. Please, oh please, don't ask me how many women I've been with! He glanced at me, afraid that I would betray his past to Carlisle.

"That life is behind you," I said firmly. "You're a vampire now, Emmett."

"And Rosalie is your mate," Carlisle added. "And that means that you are going to love each other and be faithful to each other for rest of your existence. It's quite different from human love. Surely you've felt the difference."

Emmett just nodded. He had noticed, all right.

"This love that you have now is far greater than anything you would have been capable of before. It's the same love that I hold for my wife, and I am proud to call her such. If marriage is a significant commitment between two humans, it takes on a far greater meaning in this existence. The choice is yours in the end, son. Yours and Rosalie's. But I hope you will do each other the honor of committing to each other in the deepest way possible. I hope you will choose to hold my daughter to be that sacred, that precious to you."

Emmett's eyes widened as he processed Carlisle's lofty speech. "Well, when you put it that way… but does she even want to get married?"

"She does," I answered. "Believe me, she does." I might not be an expert on love, but I knew my sister. Rosalie had been very careful to hide her new daydreams from me. Some of them, involving Emmett, definitely needed to stay hidden. But I had also caught snatches of white dresses, of flowers, of a ring- yes, she wanted this. If nothing else, it was the ceremony she had been gearing up for in the final days of her human life. But strangely, she hadn't seemed to let herself enjoy the daydreams. Because of the nature of her death, and because of the living death she considered her existence to be now, she didn't seem to feel that she should be worthy of such a ceremony. But most of all, she didn't want to initiate the topic with Emmett. My sister might be an unorthodox woman, but she still wanted to be asked. And even if she might feel, deep down, that she didn't deserve marriage, there was no denying the fact that she would love a wedding.

Emmett leaned forward, staring at his hands and thinking. Well now… I want to marry her too, then. He looked back up at Carlisle with a grin. "So, is this the part where I ask you for permission, or was that before you adopted me?"

Carlisle laughed, appreciating the irony of the situation. "I think we can skip that part. Sufficed to say, you have my blessing to ask her."

Emmett nodded, picturing a diamond ring. Then his smile faded somewhat. "Oh. I guess it'll be a while though, won't it? I mean, so I don't eat the preacher and all..."

Carlisle laughed, rising to his feet and shaking Emmett's hand in congratulations. "I think I can manage in a pinch, son. I was training to be a preacher in my human life, after all- and while I was never officially ordained, I do remember seeing my father preside over plenty of weddings. If you'll have me, of course."

"That's fine," Emmett said quickly, relieved to have a quicker option. "But... I mean, will it be, you know, a real marriage? Legal, and all?"

I snorted. "As legal of any of us are."

"You've probably been declared dead by now, Emmett," Carlisle said gently. "I can't acquire any legal document for the marriage, using your real name. But I'll draw something up. My own marriage certificates are always... homemade, as well. Esme and I did have an ordained priest officiate for us, but with each move, well... you understand."

Emmett coughed out a laugh, shaking his head as he imagined Carlisle forging documents and counterfeiting money in a dark room. "So... okay. I guess that covers everything except the asking part."

Carlisle nodded, looking slightly more relaxed now. "And if I were you," he said with a twinkle in his eye, "I wouldn't waste any time."

"Yes, sir!" Emmett jumped up and headed for the door again.

"Wait," I said, catching his arm. "I think I can help with this part."

We went up to our room, and he watched curiously as I dug through the contents of the upper drawer in my bureau. I finally found it- my mother's jewelry box. I carried it to my new couch and opened it reverently, for the first time ever. As a newborn, I had been unfit to accompany Carlisle when he closed up my family's home in Chicago, and so he had taken it upon himself to gather what he thought I might like to keep. And though I considered the jewelry box to be my most prized possession, I had never had a reason to open it before.

Emmett sat down opposite me and peered inside, as well. Sitting on top of the tangled mound of necklaces, earrings and other baubles was a tiny black velvet box. I opened it and caught my breath- it was my mother's engagement ring. She had always worn it, day and night; Carlisle must have taken it off her hand after she was dead. I reached out to touch the large oval diamond, carefully running my finger over the smaller ones encircling it.

"It's great," Emmett decided. "She'll love it." Now that we were home, among our worldly possessions, he had quickly learned about Rosalie's penchant for beautiful things; large gems definitely fell into that category. He held out his hand, waiting expectantly.

I hesitated, tilting the ring box slightly so that the diamonds caught the moonlight. The room was suddenly covered with faint sparkles dancing across the walls, too pale to be noticed by human eyes. Rosalie would love this ring, all right. But I was surprised to discover that I didn't want her to have it. It wasn't that I didn't want the best for my only sister; I did. But now that I was holding this ring for the first time, now that it belonged to me, I was struck with the sentimental hope that I might actually use it someday. That someday, possibly, there might be someone that I would want to give it to. I closed the box, laying it aside as I poked through the rest of the jewelry.

"That one's mine," I said simply, and Emmett just shrugged. I soon found another diamond ring: a one-carat solitaire with a tiny ruby on either side. It would do the job nicely. I held it out to my brother. "Careful," I cautioned. "The diamond will hold its own, but the gold is softer than it looks. And mind the prongs."

Emmett cradled the ring in his huge palm, picturing it on Rosalie's finger. Didn't think I'd ever be holding one of these. Well, wish me luck! He carefully closed his fingers around the ring, and disappeared, the front door slamming a second later.

I laid the ring box back inside with the other jewelry, and closed the lid. It really was a shame to let all those fine pieces go to waste; perhaps Esme would like one or two of the necklaces. I resolved to open the box again, nearer to Mother's Day next year. Nestling it back in its drawer, I headed downstairs to find Carlisle sitting in his chair again, deep in thought.

"You did the right thing," I assured him. "Emmett's glad you brought it up."

"Emmett's not the one I'm worried about." I hope she's not too angry that I interfered. I'm only trying to do what's best for her.

"I know. She'll understand." Maybe. At any rate, Rosalie was more likely to blame me than Carlisle, for interrupting their little rendezvous. I could swear up and down that I hadn't ratted them out, and she would still find a way to blame me. Oh, well.

But we were both pleasantly surprised when Rosalie burst in the front door, not five minutes later. "Emmett and I are getting married!" she gasped, thrusting her hand in front of our faces to show us the ring. I can't believe it! This is so perfect! I'm so glad Carlisle talked to him!

I leaned close to inspect the ring, as though I hadn't seen it minutes ago. Seeing it on her hand hit me harder than I had expected, and I felt an sudden rush of love for my sister. I picked up her hand and pressed it to my lips, kissing her gently. "Yes, it is perfect," I agreed. "I'm happy for you both."

Her smile grew impossibly larger as she tugged on my hand, burying her face in my neck as I hugged her. I'll bet you had something to do with this. You're the best brother a girl could ever have!

"Congratulations, sweetheart," Carlisle said, rising to embrace her as well. She clung to his shoulder for a moment, her eyes wide.

I can't believe this is really happening! I thought I would never…

"Thank you, Carlisle," she whispered. "Thank you for everything."

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A/N: I hope you all liked this chapter, even though I decided to give Emmett and Rosalie some privacy for the proposal scene... I can't imagine Emmett saying much, anyway. Leave a review and let me know what you think, and if anyone has any ideas for the wedding :) 1935 is just about done, werewolves here we come!