Bonus Epilogue Part 1

(Fifteen years later)

Seth

The features included an on-site pancake and waffle house, two outdoor swimming pools, hot tub, water slide, miniature golf, and horseback trail rides. On a nice-sized lake with boat rental, it didn't get better than this. Leah and Jasper did a great job finding it. The kids would have a ball. Our last camping reunion was three years ago on Labor Day, in Colorado.

I was looking forward to seeing everyone, except for maybe Bella.

Gathering my bundles of campfire wood from my truck, I set them by the fire pit, then took a quick shower to liven up after the long drive and made myself at home in the cozy one-room cabin. Fighting the urge to snap one open to quiet my antsy feeling, I hauled out my cooler and put it on the deck. A somewhat familiar RV rumbled into the gate. I expected a luxury RV; I kept watching it anyway. It stopped at the camping spot down the hill across from my cabin, at the unit reserved for Jacob. Someone hopped out of the back seat, directing the driver's parking alongside the cement slab for positioning of the 5th wheel camper. But who was that?

A smile rose to my lips when I recognized him. "Jacobi." Holy shit.

I trekked down the hill, marveling the sight of him. "Need some help?" I asked.

He spun toward me, beaming. "Uncle Seth!" I reached out to shake his hand, then pulled him into a hug. For only being fourteen, he'd grown damn near as tall as me. Aside from his light skin tone, a shade darker than Bella's, he resembled Jacob mostly and had Jake's ebony hair and eyes.

The back door of the four-door pickup truck flung open, and a half pint mixture of Bella and Jake jumped to the ground, sprinting to me. "Uncle Seth," Will squealed, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Hey, look at you. You grew." I ruffled the chestnut hair he got from Bella and smiled into another set of Jake's eyes. "Not as much as your brother. But you're still growing too fast for me." The boy was ten, and carried a darker tan than Jacobi, but not as dark as Jake's. Thinking about it, none of their skin tones matched.

Jacob strolled up behind him, cool and collected. He held his balled hand out for a fist bump, then we wound arms around one another. It had been two years ago on Christmas when we last saw each other, but we talked regularly over the phone.

"What's up with those muscles? Trying to make the rest of us look bad, or what?" Jake asked.

"Muscle fitness is the fountain of youth. I don't want to get fat and out of shape like some former boxers."

"Shit, I'm not fat. I still got these." He lifted his shirt to show his bulging abs.

I laughed. "I was speaking in general."

"Where did you come from?"

"From right up there." I pointed to the cabin on the small hill. "I reserved the closest one I could get to you all when I changed my mind about bringing the RV. Too much work for one person. It made for a smooth and quicker drive."

"Tell me about it. You wouldn't believe the amount of times we had to gas up, coming from California. Driving through Wyoming was hell, pulling that thing."

"You could afford the gas."

"Yeah, I know. It was just annoying. You drive it all in one shot?"

"I left late yesterday evening and drove five hours, checked into a hotel, and jumped up at six am, and drove the other eight."

"It was a twenty-hour drive for us. Hauling that damn camper made it twenty-six. We left early yesterday and stayed over in a hotel last night."

"You guys got here just in time. I got bored and almost cracked one open. I wanted to call everyone when I checked in an hour ago, but the reception here is shitty. I couldn't get anything to go through, not even texts."

"Jasper said he was four hours away when we last talked to him, and that was..." He brought out his phone from his pocket... "Four and a half hours ago. He should drive up soon. We couldn't get a hold of Emmett this morning. He had the shortest route coming from Colorado. I thought he would have been here first."

"I can't believe how much these kids grew. Especially Jacobi."

"Yep. I don't think I hit his current height until the end of my freshman year, and he's only going into the eighth grade when school starts."

"I did all my growing my sophomore year. I didn't grow much more after that." Me and Jake were the same height, just shy of six-two.

"At my last physical, the doctor said my growth plates didn't close. He guessed I might end up six-four or six-five when it's all done," Jacobi said.

I asked about his boxing season and found out he gave it up for basketball. I wondered if there was a story behind that. He had boxing talent.

During our conversation, I took several glances toward Jake's ride, waiting for Bella to get out of their vehicle. She had to be in there, because from here they would drive back to Forks, moving home after ten years. "What's Bella doing?"

"Oh, she fell asleep before we got here. I woke her up when we pulled in, but she's probably still tired."

Yeah, right! I lifted a hand and rubbed my tense neck. "Shall we get you unhitched, leveled, and all hooked up?"

As we set their campsite up with his boys following us around, I said, "This is the same one you had three years ago. I expected you to drive up in a mansion on wheels this time."

"It's the same camper I had five years ago. This is only the fourth time it's being used. It's practically brand new. We don't camp enough for me to spend a fortune on a luxury motor home."

"Dad likes to rough it," Will said.

I grinned at his conclusion.

Jacob glanced down at him in insult. "Rough it?" He gave his youngest son a rundown of the camper's many features. "Plus, you have the most expensive video game console out, to play on the fifty-inch tv in the bunk room, and a rack full of movies. How is that roughing it?"

I turned away and buried my laughter at Jake's impersonation of a salesman.

Will gave his dad a duh look. "Because it doesn't have a hot tub."

Jacob rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Just go tell your mom the camper is ready."

"Will," I called. He looked back. "The outdoor pool here has a hot tub."

"Yes!"

"Rough it!" Jacob said. "Remember our first camping trips? We slept in tents back then. That's what you call roughing it, but fuck if we didn't have fun."

"I think we guys had more fun than the girls, and nobody had kids."

Bella hopped down from the truck. "Hi, Seth." She wore a bland expression as she waved.

Burying my apprehension, I stalked over and gave her a hug while Jacob and Will entered the RV. She hugged me, but quickly turned and opened the back door of the vehicle. I didn't sense coldness, but I didn't sense warmness either. Just distance. I offered to help her carry in the pile of blankets she gathered from the backseat. "We got it. Jacobi bring these in and those pillows, too."

I shoved my hands in my pockets. If I'd get this treatment all weekend, it would be a long weekend. A horn honked. I spun toward it, expecting to see Jasper. Emmett's grinning face helped me ignore the unease Bella gave me. He drove up in a motorhome RV, like what I had expected to see Jacob driving, and parked in the camping space beside Jacob's.

"Nice rig," I said when he rolled down the window.

"It is. I felt like I signed my life away the day I picked this up."

He climbed out, we hugged, and then he opened the door of the RV and unfolded the steps. Their eleven-year-old daughter, Remilia, who we called Remy, stepped out first, a shy grin on her lips. She wiped her pale golden bangs from her face. "Hi, Uncle Seth."

I hugged her and said, "You're your mom's mini-me."

Rosalie appeared at the door. "I call her my skinny-me."

I chuckled.

She handed their three-year-old son to Emmett and stepped down the steps. "I swear you never age, Seth." After she hugged me, she squeezed my biceps. "You're in such great shape. Tell me your secret. I can't seem to lose the last fifteen pounds of my leftover pregnancy weight."

"It's not noticeable. You look amazing."

"Are you guys really going to stand here and flirt in front of me?" Emmett said, giving us a fake angry glare.

"Better watch him close now that..." Jake said, coming up behind me along with Bella and their boys to greet Emmett's family, changing the tasteless punchline to: "Never mind."

The hug fest drowned out the moment's awkwardness. Emmett said, "Jasper and Leah are here. They pulled into the front office as we drove away."

"They're right there." Will, pointed, jumping out of his skin in excitement.

They crackled over the gravel to their spot on the next row, backing their RV camper in across the narrow path from where we stood. Everyone in our group, but me, started over to them.

Neither they nor their daughter, Charlie, and son, Little, nicknamed from little Jasper, would be as excited to see me as the others. They saw me all the time. Plus, I needed a break from all these lucky families.

Jake looked over his shoulder, noticed me not following and turned back, Jacobi close behind him. "You all right?" he asked in concern.

The pity in his eyes bothered me. "Yeah," I inhaled, trying to rid myself of the hollowness I suddenly felt. I need a drink. "Just tired."

"Who's that with them?" Jacobi asked.

I looked over. "That's Embry's niece. She's their babysitter. She dances at powwows. Her and Charlie are the reason we came to Montana. They wanted to take the girls to Crow Fair Celebration Powwow this weekend. Kill two birds with one stone." Noticing his gawking, I attempted to embarrass him. "Cute, huh?"

He turned away from her, making an annoyed face.

"He's not into Native girls. He likes white girls. Don't you, son?"

"So, do you," I said with a smile, determined to lift my mood. "You going to put your foot in your mouth all weekend?"

"Yeah, Dad!"

Jake laughed. "Bella's not white. She's just Bella, pale face Bella... Don't tell your mom I said that."

Jacobi snickered, his eyes saying, you better hope I don't.

"Let's go say hi to everyone," Jacob said.

"You guys go on. I'll be right back. I got to get something to drink," I said.

Night seized the sky. The kids tucked themselves away into the campers to watch movies, the girls in Jasper and Leah's camper, and the boys in Jacob and Bella's. We adults sat around the fire pit socializing and enjoying the bright full moon and star speckled Montana-sky, talking and joking. Though more comfortable under the influence, I still didn't quite feel like myself.

Emmett's little guy tiptoed and whispered something into Rosalie's ear. "I'll come. He needs help in the potty." She stood up, taking him by the hand.

Emmett touched his other hand. "I'll help you."

"No, no, no." He jumped up and down, upset.

Rosalie squinted at Emmett. She lifted McCarty up and onto her hip. "Dad's not helping you. I am." He stopped whining and sniffled with tears in his eyes.

"Why can't I help you?" Emmett asked him. Emmett's little twin mumbled in pouty talk, something about balls or balling over Rosalie's shoulder. Emmett grinned.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He said, 'You're a baller.'"

Jasper asked, "Baller? What's that?"

Emmett let out a boisterous laugh, getting everyone's attention. "One day he needed help in the bathroom with wiping, but Rosalie's phone rang, so I went to help him. I grabbed a ball of toilet paper. He told me to fold it like mom does. When I didn't listen, he started screaming and crying. Rosalie comes running in to see what's wrong. He repeated he wanted me to fold the paper. She looked at the wad balled in my hand with disgust and says, 'I wouldn't want your help either. Nobody wipes with a ball of toilet paper.' I told her I did."

"That's one way to get out of helping. Don't do it right," Jake said.

"I wasn't trying to get out of helping. I'm serious. I ball the toilet paper." Emmett joked so much it was damn near impossible to separate his truths from his jokes.

Leah, who stood clearing off the picnic table, grabbed a few napkins from it and crushed them in her palm, making a thoughtful evaluation. "No, you don't, Emmett. I agree with Rosalie. Nobody wipes with a ball of toilet paper."

Emmett chuckled. "Yes, I do." He pointed his finger at her and said, "You must be a folder." Then, with a humored smirk, he eyed the rest of our circle, and started with Jasper. "Baller or folder?"

Jasper smiled, but ignored him.

"Answer the question," Emmett said.

"Shit, I don't know... Baller?" The way he said it, suggested he was either unsure or attempting to guess the right answer.

Everyone laughed.

"My man!" Emmett said with a smug expression.

He moved on to Bella. "I'm not answering that stupid question!"

"Come on, Bella, everyone has to answer it."

When Bella kept shaking her head, he moved on to Jake. Jake laughed under his breath. "I'll let you know after I pay more attention."

Bella slapped Jake's thigh. "You're not letting him know anything."

Jacob grinned, shrugging at Emmett.

"Baller or folder, Seth?"

They stared at me. I figured I'd give him the quick answer of folder. I didn't want to end up on the losing end of a joke like I did when he caught us in similar stupid group-text conversation. Years ago, when we were all separated by states.

Emmett: When I took a shower this morning, I got to wondering. Who all pees in the shower when they shower? I'll go first, me

No other texts came.

Emmett: I know you guys do, too

Leah: Doesn't everybody? =D

Jacob: Take me off this group chat

Jasper: Too much info Leah

Leah: Just joking

Seth: Sure, you were

Leah: Shut up, Seth, or I'll tell everyone you pooped in the tub while we were taking a bath when we were four

Leah: Oops

Bella: 1. I don't pee in the shower. 2. Gross Seth

Seth: I did not. Leah, you better tell them I didn't

Jacob: Lol

Emmett: Have a great day everyone

Pissed off, I called Leah and cussed her out, telling her she better set the record straight.

Leah: I was just kidding. Seth didn't do that.

Emmett: Too late, Seth. No amount of bullying Leah will help you. We already know

Seth: Fuck you

Jacob: Lol

Jasper: Lol

Bella: Lol

Emmett: :-)

Emmett's hilarity could make our sides hurt from laughter. I could do the same even without talking dirty, but Bella's behavior toward me compelled me to keep my mouth shut.

Rosalie came out of their RV, carrying their blanket wound little one. She set him on Emmett's lap.

"It's funny how McCarty remembered how Rosalie folded the toilet paper. You never know what kids are picking up on," Bella said. "And they say the funniest things sometimes. When Jacobi was little and enjoyed helping me with housework, we were stripping the bedding in the rooms. It was the day after one of Jacob's fights. I made a comment about the sheets smelling like the pain cream, Bengay, as we pulled them off the bed. He goes, 'Ben Gay? Who's that?'"

We laughed, and Leah said, "I made homemade hot chocolate for the kids this past winter. I heated the milk too long. After it cooled, a film settled on the top of it. Little took a drink and said, 'gross, what's this?' I told him it was just the skin of the milk. He said, 'Oh, so that's why they call it skin milk.'"

Everyone laughed.

"When Will was McCarty's age, I had one of the worst experiences," Jake said. "I took him to the doctor because Bella was busy. I can't remember with what. Anyway, he was sitting on my lap in the waiting-room packed with kids and moms, and out of the blue he says, 'Pew, Dad, you farted.' Right then I got a whiff of a rotten one from him and thought he messed his pullup. I was about to say 'Sorry, he has the stomach flu.' But when I looked up to see everyone glaring at me with pissed off, grossed out faces, just 'Sorry' came out. After that, I didn't know what to do. If I told them he did it afterwards, they probably would have thought I was blaming it on him."

His story killed us, bringing Rosalie to tears.

"Jacobi taught Will to say that," Bella said. "Jacob was so embarrassed, he threatened never to take Will anywhere alone again."

I had nothing to offer, but their stories entertained me.

After the conversation about the kids died, Jacob said, "I rented the boat for tomorrow morning. I figured we might want to sleep in a little since we're all probably tired from the drive. I told them we would pick it up by nine. Ten at the latest."

I felt Bella's eyes on me. I glanced at her, but she shifted her eyes away. She'd hardly looked at me or talked to me all day. I tried to ignore it, but she made me feel unwelcome and uncomfortable. I didn't care about what anyone thought of me, except my family, and out of all of them, Bella's thoughts mattered the most. I expected her anger, but what was I supposed to do? I couldn't change it. So how long would she stay mad?

"I hope the fishing is good around here," Emmett said.

"I think they catch a lot of walleye in this lake," Jasper said, opening another can of beer and handing it to Leah, then grabbing another for himself.

"I love walleye. That's another reason we picked this camping resort. If you filet it the right way, you can cut out all the bones before you grill it," Leah said.

"I don't like tuna or salmon, but I love seared halibut. It has the consistency of steak and doesn't have a fishy taste," Bella said.

I loved seared halibut too, but I didn't think I should vocally agree with Bella on anything. She might throw me a dirty look.

"I love the fishy taste," Emmett said. An underlying tone made me look over at him, sensing some uncouth talk coming. With mischief in his eyes, he grinned. "I love the smell of fresh fish."

I knew Jake saw and sensed it too when a smile claimed his face, and he dropped his head, shaking it.

Emmett furrowed his brow as if in deep concentration. "I just wonder what fish would smell like if women never started swimming in the ocean."

"Oh my God, Emmett!" Bella glared at him while everyone else let out a subtle laugh.

"What?" He said, shaking with held in laughter. "Lighten up. You're not Mom."

"I don't care! Sicko!"

Rosalie covered her unruffled face with her palms. With a hint of laughter in her voice, she said, "God, you're crazy, Emmett."

Leah chugged her newly opened beer. "It's like the story of the blind man who passes the fish market, tips his hat, and says, 'Hello ladies!'" she said, using an English accent at hello ladies.

Jasper pulled back, twisting his upper body, and stared at her, then exploded with laughter. Everyone else joined in on the laughter.

Choking back his chuckling, Jasper turned to Emmett. "Quit taking my wife's mind into the gutter."

Emmett cracked up. "She has her own gutter mind."

"I told Emmett he needs to grow up and lose his boy's locker-room mentality already," Rosalie said.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "I've spent so much time in there, its ingrained in me."

"Jake, you've spent a lot of time locker rooms. Do guys really talk like that?" Bella asked.

Jake let out a small laugh. "Not that I've heard."

Me and Jasper agreed at the same time.

"Quit lying, guys. You'll get me in trouble."

We weren't lying.

"Well, this little gentleman will not hear it," Rosalie said, gazing at McCarty in adoration.

"Rosalie, I'll do you and the rest of us a favor and clear my calendar for a month straight for free. Emmett needs a lot of help."

"I don't joke like that in front of kids," Emmett grumbled.

I noticed Bella hugging herself. The fire had diminished. Using the opportunity to check her response to me, I said, "Bella, if you're cold, I'll throw some more longs in?"

Jake turned his head toward her, raising his eyebrow. "That's okay," she said to him. "I'll just go inside. Get a sweater." She stood up and vanished into their RV.

Me and Jake locked eyes. "Throw another two in, Seth. It is about that time."

A/N The Epilogue Bonus will be posted in 4 Parts. Hope you enjoyed Part 1. Get to know Jacob and Bella's fourteen-year-old son in part 2.