Chapter 8 – Emmett

Emmett Marchesseni was born into a large and loving family in a small town in Italy. He began his life as a struggling, tiny, baby. He, and his twin brother, were born premature at just two and four pounds respectfully. Anyone who knew Emmett as the giant adult he would later become, would be shocked to learn that he was actually the smaller of the two. He was small, but he was definitely a fighter. For reasons the doctors couldn't explain, Emmett's brother did not survive long enough to ever make it out of the hospital.

Emmett was far too young to remember this monumental loss, but his brother's absence in his life definitely left an impact. Their mother, who had never quite gotten over losing one of her children, always referred to her departed son as if he were still alive.

"Someday you and your brother will do big things together," she would tell Emmett.

Because of this, Emmett would grow up feeling as though he owed it to his mother, and his brother in heaven, to really make something of himself. Perhaps it was his mother's love for old American western films, but from a very early age, Emmett was convinced that the only place to do big things, was in America.

"Someday I'll go to America," he always told people in his native tongue.

However, coming from a big family with big life expenses, Emmett was a long way away from his dreams. By the time he was twelve years old, he already had to help support his family by working in the fields. Sometimes it was picking vegetables, other times he got lucky and was able to work in orchards instead. Climbing ladders was always more entertaining than being hunched over all day; for the most part, that little bit of fun was all the young boy was ever allowed.

Emmett was raised amongst the produce, and the grown men he worked besides, were his role models and only friends. Some were crass and rough around the edges, but one man in particular had the gentlest disposition. The old man, Alistair, never had big dreams. All he cared about was making enough of a living to survive on and doing work he could be proud of. He was kind, and he took Emmett under his wing and made sure he learned the value of hard work. Emmett grew to share Alistair's values, but he also still held onto his dream of one day making it big in America.

As the years continued to go by, Emmett had picked up a few English words here and there, but it wasn't until he got a job opportunity working at a big vineyard that he began to understand the language.

The owner of the vineyard was an Englishman named Carlisle Cullen. He came from a wealthy background, but after a rift in the family, he had decided to venture out on his own in the wine industry. He only hired the best, and after listening to the gossip of most of his workers, he learned that there wasn't a better harvester and land manager than old man Alistair. Making him an offer he couldn't refuse, Alistair became the vineyard foreman, and as such, he was able to bring the now twenty-year-old, Emmett, onto his team.

To most people, an authentic Italian vineyard was heaven, but to Emmett, it was just one more step towards his future – whatever it may be. Emmett made a point to learn all there was to know about grapes and the process of making wine, and it wasn't long until Mr. Cullen had taken notice of his hard work.

"What do you want to do with your life, Emmett?" Carlisle had asked him one day, speaking through a translator since he didn't actually speak Italian himself.

Emmett's answer was that he wanted to do something big in America. What? He still wasn't sure.

His passion and work ethic inspired Carlisle. He liked young Emmett, but he was uneducated, and that meant he was probably going nowhere. Even still, Carlisle had a challenge for his new young employee. "Learn English. If you go to America without speaking the language, you will fail. Here," he said, handing him his translation book. "Make your own destiny."

Emmett took his words to heart and did his best to learn English from any avenue he could find.

By the time Emmett met Rosalie, he had been teaching himself English for over two years, but there was still so much he didn't know. Not only was Rosalie the single most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, but she was also American, which to him, couldn't have been more perfect. As their love blossomed and grew so much deeper than either thought possible, so did their fluency in each other's languages.

Emmett could see his future begin to take shape. Once he saved enough money, he would marry Rosalie, and then take her back to her home country to raise their family in the land of opportunity and wealth.

Rosalie knew Emmett had a desire to go to America someday, but she had no idea just how important it was to him or that he wanted to move there permanently. It wasn't until life threw them a curveball that the couple realized they had very different long-term life goals.

"I'm pregnant," Rosalie said one evening as they were watching the sun set over the ocean. The young couple had been together for a little over two years, and they didn't have a doubt they would eventually marry, but an unplanned pregnancy was definitely going to change some things. "Emmett… say something?" she asked anxiously when he seemed to freeze from her words.

"I don't understand," he said in shock.

"Sono incinta," Rosalie told him in Italian, thinking he literally just didn't understand those words in English."

"I know what you said!" he snapped. "I just don't understand how. We are always careful."

Emmett's obvious distress over the news was heartbreaking for Rosalie. She knew they weren't exactly ready, but she was also over-the-moon excited and already so in love with the little life growing inside her.

Emmett, on the other hand, was more practical. He had always wanted to be a father, and from the moment he first saw Rosalie, he knew she would someday be the mother of his children… but not for many more years. The couple was not only still young, but they were both poor, and Emmett was nowhere near where he wanted to be before starting his family.

"I… I don't know how it happened," Rosalie said quietly. "Maybe a condom broke? We did make love on the hike a few weeks ago. We didn't use protection then, so…"

"You said it was okay, no?" he said, getting increasingly upset.

"I thought it was ok. I had just finished my period. I didn't think I would be ovulating just yet."

"You didn't think?" he spat.

"I'm sorry," she said, becoming emotional. But since breaking away from her family, Rosalie refused to allow anyone make her feel bad about herself again, so her disappointment from Emmett's reaction quickly turned into anger. "You know what, Emmett, don't even worry about it. I moved to an entirely different continent from everything I ever knew. I got myself a job and a place to live, and I did it all alone. I can do this alone too!"

She turned to storm away, but Emmett was now raging and pulled her to a stop.

"Where you going to go, 'eh? Back home to rich parents? They take care of problem for you. Make sure you forget everything about here? Maybe it's best. You can finally go college and make real life for yourself. Meet rich American man. Have blonde babies. Maybe someday tell your friends about your time with poor Italian man? Have to imagine me when you let your rich husband fuck you?"

Rosalie certainly wasn't going to take that shit from him. She yanked her arm out of his grasp and slapped him across the face.

"You don't get to talk to me like that! You're scared, and that's all this is, but that doesn't mean you have to act like an asshole! I'm not going back to my parents. Me and my baby will find our way right here. You are so fucking obsessed with America; you can move there yourself… alone!"

Rosalie couldn't get away from him fast enough, but in watching her leave, Emmett's dread over losing the love of his life overcame all other emotions.

"Mia amore!" he called after her, running to catch up and throwing himself to the ground at her feet to beg for forgiveness. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I can't live without you. Please."

He was literally hanging on her legs and crying into her long flowing skirt. Such a big, meatball of a man, completely bawling his eyes out and begging for another chance. It was almost comical. In fact, it was comical, and Rosalie found herself laughing.

"Okay, stop!" she told him, trying to smother her amusement. This was no laughing matter, so she forced herself to be serious. "This is your one and only second chance," she warned him. "Next time I won't forgive you. Now get up off the ground; you look like a buffoon."

Emmett wasn't sure what a "buffoon" was, but he figured it wasn't a good thing. Willing to do whatever Rosalie wanted in order to earn her forgiveness, he stood and waited for her to give him any type of ultimatum she had.

"Listen to me and listen good. I am having this baby, and I'm having it here. Not America. I moved away from there for a reason and I'm not moving back. I fully plan to die in this country someday, so if you want to be with me, it will have to be here. Got it? And I don't care if it takes years to save enough money to move to a bigger apartment. We will just have to make it work, even with a baby. If you don't want any aspect of this…"

"I do!" he cut her off. "I want you, and I don't care about anything else."

"Well, that's not good enough! There is no more just wanting me; you need to figure out how to care about this baby too. We are a package deal. Now, we may not ever have a lot of money, but I'm always going to make sure this baby feels like the world is at his or her fingertips. And it's going to feel loved. If I do nothing else in my life, I'm going to make damn sure my baby grows up feeling so much love that it doesn't know what to do with it all. Feeling unloved by a parent is a shitty feeling and I won't ever allow that to happen to my kid."

Emmett sighed. "How could I not love something from you? Mia amore, you are right. I'm just scared. I had so many things I wanted to accomplish before having kids. I want to give them the world too, but I have nothing."

"You have me. And I have you… You really have no idea what it's like to grow up in a family that has everything anyone could ever want… except love. My parents didn't love me; they didn't even love each other. They threw money around in place of affections, and that is the worst thing anyone could do as a parent. If we just love this baby with everything we have inside of us, there is nothing he or she can't accomplish. Just wait and see."

Emmett agreed just to appease Rosalie, but for him, he knew he would never feel like a good father and husband if he couldn't provide for his family. It was embedded into his very core, and he knew he would have to find a way to make Rosalie happy while also achieving his goals. There was just no other choice for him.

It took a few months of Emmett trying to convince Rosalie that he was dedicated to their baby, but finally she agreed to marry him. They wed in a small church at the top of a cliff, and his entire family showed up to bless the new little expanding family. Despite the pressure Emmet was putting on himself, he was genuinely happy to be marrying Rosalie. She was the only woman that he would ever love, and he vowed to spend the rest of his life trying to give her the life she deserved.

However, as the months continued to roll by, and Rosalie's stomach began to bloom, Emmett's frustration with their tiny home and their lack of funds only grew. He tried to hide it from his new wife the best he could, but he did worry that she sometimes felt it. Thankfully, just before her sixth month into the pregnancy, life finally gave him a break…

Even through his stress, Emmett had managed to maintain his stellar work ethic at the vineyard, as well as continue to improve his English fluency. His boss, Carlisle Cullen, had been watching him all along, and he couldn't have been more impressed. And then one day, he had a very special offer to make him.

"Please sit," Carlisle told him, gesturing to the chair opposite of him in his home office. "Shall I get the interpreter?"

Emmett shook his head no. "I think it's not necessary. I can keep up."

"Awesome. I'm very impressed with you, Emmett. So, the reason why I asked you here today is because I have an offer to make you. Alistair has decided it's time for him to retire as foreman. After discussing it, we both came to the conclusion that his only worthy replacement is you."

Emmett was shocked. So shocked, in fact, that he didn't even understand the offer despite knowing every word Carlisle spoke.

"As foreman, you can live here at the foreman's cottage," Carlisle added.

"For free?" Emmett asked, unsure and still in disbelief that he wasn't playing a cruel prank on him.

"Of course, for free. You get a raise in pay too, but I do have one request."

Knowing it sounded too good to be true, Emmett remained cautious with his excitement. "I have nothing to offer you except my service, Sir," he told him.

"You have your humor," Carlisle disagreed. "I hear you out there sometimes with the other workers. You tell stories and make jokes, and they all laugh. I was hoping that since you've learned a bit of English, you might let me in on some of your banter… But every time you see me, you become very serious. Why?"

Emmett shrugged. "You are my boss. I was taught to always show superiors respect."

"Emmett, it's no secret that I am getting up there in age, and I've chosen to live out my days in a country where I can't even communicate with most of the population. Sure, the businessmen all speak English, but I miss the camaraderie. Friendships. I have not found that in this country yet."

"I'm sorry for your struggle, Sir, but I cannot be your friend," Emmett told him evenly. For Emmett, there was nothing to even consider. He had always been taught to not socialize with his superiors, and not even the hope of a raise could change that. "Perhaps if you tried to learn Italiano, you might make amici."

"Aww, I see what you did there," Carlisle said with a smile, knowing Emmett was only giving him the same advice he had given him a few years prior. "You are funny. See, I had a feeling about you. We could be great friends, you and I."

"No," Emmett maintained. "I mean no disrespect, but the only way I can do this job for you, the way it needs to be done, is if we maintain a strictly professional relationship."

Carlisle was disappointed. The truth was he wanted more than a friend; what he really was hoping for was a family. Carlisle had no one. He had severed his ties with his own family and had never married. He had watched Emmett grow and mature in the short few years he had known him, and he came to believe that if anyone could handle taking over the entire vineyard when he retired himself, it would be Emmett.

At the same time, however, Carlisle could also understand his hesitation – Alistair had warned him Emmett might give such an answer. It was Alistair himself who had taught him the value of not blurring the line between employer and friend. In all of the years of his career, those types of relationships had never ended well. The employee comes to feel empowered in ways he shouldn't, and the employer comes to resent him for it. The prides of men were too great. There needed to be a separation.

Fortunately for Emmett, that separation was not a deal breaker for Carlisle.

"I understand. I wish you felt otherwise, but I can still hold out hope that you will change your mind. The job is yours if you want it."

Emmett wanted to burst out in celebration right then and there, but he remained stoic. Such a display would not be proper in front of his boss.

"Thank you, Sir," he said graciously before formally shaking his hand. "Thank you."

He refused to celebrate in front of Mr. Cullen, but the moment he was off the property, he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. He drove the truck straight to the little flower shop he frequented and bought a dozen of the most expensive roses. The shop wasn't far from the restaurant Rosalie worked at, and it just so happened to be almost time for her shift to end. So, with the flowers in hand, he ran straight there and waited for his wife to notice him across the way. Not that it took long; he was always there to pick her up at the end of her day, and she always greeted him with a smile.

When Rosalie smiled at Emmett in that way, it took his breath away. In his eyes, she really was the most beautiful creature in the world, and anytime she wasn't in his arms, they felt empty. But he had been under so much stress since learning of her pregnancy, that it had been a while since he took a really good loving look at her. Really look at her. With all her natural beauty combined with the glow only pregnancy could bring. His wife, in her rounded glory, had never been more beautiful, and Emmett was beyond grateful to finally be able to see it without stress clouding his vision.

"Mia amore," Emmett cooed the moment she was in his arms. "How is my daughter?" he asked, rubbing her belly affectionately.

"Daughter, huh?" Rosalie said, absolutely beaming from the sudden tenderness that Emmett was finally beginning showing their baby. She always knew he would love it once it arrived; she knew he loved it even now, but she could see that his stress over providing for their family had been blinding him. On that particular day, however, he seemed just as excited as she was.

"I am hoping for a daughter so she will be as beautiful as her mother. Mia piccolo angelo. Beautiful little angel."

"Boy or girl, our baby will be beautiful, no matter what," Rosalie said doubtlessly.

"Of course," Emmett agreed. "How could it not?"

Rosalie lifted her hand to caress her love's face. "I've missed you."

"I miss you every day. Every moment we are apart," Emmett told her.

"Yes, but I've missed this you for a while now. This happy you, when your smile lights up your eyes. The you I fell in love with," she told him.

"I am so sorry for the way I've been acting. I've just been…"

"Scared," she finished for him. "I know. But I also know it will all be okay. All we need is our love, and life will give us everything else along the way."

"I should have believed you from the beginning. I believe now. I just got a promotion. I'm foreman. We have a house!" he said, getting more and more enthusiastic as he spoke.

"What? Baby that's amazing!"

Rosalie shared in his joy, because how could she not? Despite having faith in their future, she definitely had her concerns as well. Emmett's news meant they would never have to worry about how they were going to support their growing family. It meant stability, and a real home for their baby to grow up in. For Rosalie, there was nothing more she wanted in the world, but she couldn't help but wonder if Emmett would finally be satisfied.

But what Rosalie didn't know, was that Emmett was satisfied. He came to the realization that he actually was doing those big things he had always wanted to do. He somehow managed to get the most beautiful woman in the world to marry him, and they were having a family together. A family, that he could now support financially, and that was enough. He finally took Alistair's teachings to heart, and he was so thankful that he had.

Not long after they moved into their little cottage on that beautiful vineyard, the couple welcomed their first child. With all of the big dreams Emmett had ever dared to dream in his life, nothing had ever come close to holding his child for the first time. Emmett could have been a billionaire and not felt as rich as he did in that moment. His wife was amazing, and Emmett was at peace. It was a peace he was convinced would last a lifetime – if only life would just let them be…