Rated M for Mature Content. 18 and older only please!
Emerging from the forest many hours later, Emmett and Bella strolled slowly up the deeply stained stairs of the small porch to one of the most elaborate cabins Bella had ever seen. It was made out of chiseled stone with carved wolves and trees in a border along the top and bottom of the outer walls. There were subtle sheens of yellows and blues in the stone in places that added a nice splash of color to the otherwise gray exterior. A copper patina roof covered the whole abode and a pale wooden door extended from the face of the house, leading into a spacious foyer when they entered.
"Do you like it?" Emmett asked with a quiet nervousness in her ear as he led her into the house with a hand on the small of her back.
Looking around, eyes wide with awe, Bella could only nod. Emmett loved her reaction, he could feel what she felt shimmering in his veins as she took in the expansive, luxurious living room and dining area. A spacious kitchen with shining kashmir gold countertops and more cupboard space than Bella had ever seen sat off to the right of the living and dining area. A long island ran the length of the kitchen that was filled to the brim with high end appliances and utensils with brushed copper pots that hung above. They shined brightly, buffed to perfection. A dozen wrought iron stools lined one side of the elaborate island. If Bella were still human she would have been jumping up and down at the chance to cook in this chef's dream.
The large cabin had 14 bedrooms, sizable to fit king sized beds and other furniture comfortably without feeling cramped. Each bedroom had its own ensuite bathroom with jacuzzi tub and stand up shower with heated gray and blue ceramic flooring. The living room had enormous overstuffed brown leather chairs and couches placed to face a stone hearth in the center of the room. The hearth divided the living room and dining room with large stones of many different colors and a protruding wood beam as it's mantel.
Moderately decorated with country accents and goat horn lanterns, the house was beautiful. Light, airy colors, breezy curtains on each of the windows -of which there were many- and ceramic flooring. Thick rugs adorned the floors creating a welcoming feel and Bella slipped off her sneakers at the door so she could feel the softness under her sensitive toes.
"It looks sort of familiar." She told Emmett as they continued the tour of the home. Everything was chiseled stone with large wooden beams, wood plank stair cases at either end of the living room leading to the overhead floors. Doors to each room were thick and solid with carvings similar to the outside of the house on them and all the floors were the same gray and blue ceramic tile. Her fingers traced the carvings as she wandered the halls with Emmett in a trance. "It's absolutely beautiful." She said.
"Thank you." Emmett said a little sheepishly and Bella's hair flew around her shoulder as she whipped her head to her mate.
"Did you do this?" She asked, waving her hand outward.
Nodding, Emmett looked down at the floor before looking back at Bella. "Yeah, I had help, of course."
"Why does it feel so familiar?" She asked him as they kept walking. Linking her hand with his, she could feel his embarrassment. "You've got nothing to feel embarrassed about, Em. This is gorgeous. How in the world did you come up with such a design?"
There was a long pause while they kept walking. "Skyrim." He said so quietly that had she been human, she wouldn't have heard him.
Halting her steps, she turned to face him. "Skyrim." She deadpanned, wondering if she had heard him right.
Shrugging one shoulder, he nodded again. He felt like a tool. Designing a home from a video game. It seemed like a good idea at the time when he'd been growing up. He'd always loved the game and though it was more luxurious and more modern obviously, the idea was the same. It was set up like any of the homes you could make using the Hearthfire mod, only on a much larger scale. Figuring she was about to rib him for his style, he started walking ahead, intent on getting to their family before she hurt his feelings.
"Emmett." She said as she stepped after him, her arm extended as if to stop him but he kept walking and waved a hand behind himself.
"Don't worry about it, Bella." He grouched as he kept walking.
"Shit." She whispered as she raced after him. He hadn't gotten too far ahead of her, of course and it was easy to chase after him as he turned from one hallway down another. She could hear the others in the house somewhere and wanted to explain herself before he got more of the wrong idea. "Will you wait a minute?" She asked sharply to his back.
Turning to face her with embarrassed anger marking his features, Bella ran up to him and threw herself into his arms. He caught her, unable to deny her touch and wrapped his arms around her. Kissing the center of his chest, she looked up into his eyes and waited until he looked back.
"It's beautiful and a wonderful idea." She whispered. "I wasn't making fun or anything. I promise. I was only thinking that it was like fate or something."
Scrunching his face, he tilted his head in question. "Fate?" What was she going on about?
Giving a self-deprecating chuckle, she shook her head. "Before I got to the point that I couldn't use my hands, I was glued to the Xbox. It was the only thing I could do aside from reading or watching Supernatural and mom refused to buy me more books. It ended up being easier to hold a controller in my lap and play games staring at the tv than turning the pages of a book and looking at my lap. I spent so much time playing Skyrim that I would dream of living in Heljarchen Hall. Sometimes it would have the enchantment tower and I would end up doing all kinds of magical crap and other times I would have a trophy room…" She trailed her rambling off at the look on his face.
Now it was her turn to be embarrassed. It emanated from her in waves and she heard Jasper chuckle from below them somewhere. She hid her face in her mate's chest and felt when his body started vibrating from his own chuckle. Clinging tightly to him, she didn't think she could get more embarrassed. She wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. At least in the depths of hell she could hide for eternity after that little confession. Never had she felt so stupid for having a gaming obsession.
Tilting her face up with a heavy palm, Emmett's grinning dimples stared down at her and she felt her lips twitch in response. "You are too fucking perfect, babe. You're right. It was fate." He laughed out loud and hugged her to him. He was feeling elated that they shared this together. That she enjoyed that game as much as he did.
"It's settled then. This is officially your house!" Alice bounced into the hallway. Jasper sauntered in behind her with Peter by his side.
"You guys are dorks." Jasper drawled as he stopped beside his hyper mate and wrapped an arm lazily around her waist. She kissed his cheek and grinned up at Bella and Emmett.
"It already was my house." Emmett pointed out to his pint sized pixie sister.
Rolling her big golden eyes, Alice shrugged. "Obviously but now it's yours. As in yours and hers together. Duh."
This time Emmett rolled his eyes and Bella watched fondly at the sibling banter. "Obviously." He retorted. "What's mine is hers."
Peter snickered. "And what's hers is hers too."
Alice nodded while the males collectively rolled their eyes. Bella laughed, watching all the interaction and being thoroughly entertained. "With all the eye rolling going on, I'm surprised there aren't eyeballs all over the floor. You'd think they'd fall out of your faces already."
"That'd be creepy." Alice said with an over exaggerated shudder.
Jasper nodded and Bella had to stop herself from rolling her own eyes, turning as she headed down one of the sets of stairs to the main floor. As she entered the living room, there was someone standing there she hadn't met before and always eager to meet new people, Bella approached the beautiful blonde with a wide smile and outstretched hand. She wore a long sleeved cream sweater over tight light blue jeans and tan ankle boots. Her long platinum blonde hair was held back at the crown with a brown marble swirl clip and hung over her shoulders enticingly. Bella appreciated the woman's beauty as she checked her out.
Noticing Esme tense and Carlisle start as if to speak, Bella thought nothing of it and spoke. "Hi, I'm Bella."
She waited for the beautiful blonde to take her hand and greet her but was met with a sneer and lip curl as if she was disgusted with Bella. Looking from Esme to Carlisle back to the blonde, she said, "It's customary to shake hands with new people. It's called manners." She quipped with a smile, trying to ease the vampire into conversation. She was obviously wary of the younger girl.
Her sarcasm was not appreciated and when Emmett came down the stairs with his brother and sister, Peter trailing behind them cautiously, Bella watched as the blonde vampire sped over to Emmett and jumped into his waiting arms. She kissed his cheek and before anyone could do anything, a veil of red hazed over Bella's eyes and she crouched with a hiss on her lips.
I've got up to Chapter 40 written and edited. How many reviews I get determines how quickly I post them. Thank you so much for your reviews, follows, and faves! It literally makes my day to see those, you have no idea!