Chapter 11 – Rosalie

When Rosalie left South Carolina for her backpacking trip through Europe, she never could have predicted that just three years later, she would be a wife to a sexy Italian giant teddy bear of a man, and mother to the most amazing baby boy she could ever imagine. Their "piccolo angelo" was more than they could have hoped for and watching the instant bond her husband had for their child, was honestly the most amazing thing Rosalie had ever witnessed.

"You have to put him down sometimes," Rosalie told Emmett when she caught him cradling their newborn in the middle of the night.

"I hate having him so far from us. Look how tiny he is. What if something happened to him?" Emmett told her.

"Polpetto, his crib is right next to our bed. It's not too far," Rosalie murmured.

"What if there is a spider? You never know out here."

Rosalie could only smile and shake her head. "You won't have strength to work if you don't get some rest," she reminded him. "There will be plenty of time to hold him tomorrow."

Emmett knew his wife was right, so he sighed and reluctantly put their son back in his crib.

As much as Emmett hated being away from his wife and newborn, he couldn't lose sight of the importance of his job. Their entire livelihood relied on it.

As time seemed to speed up, their baby grew into a toddler, and they couldn't have been more in love with him.

"Angelo?" Emmett would call to him when he would come home during his breaks.

The little one would hear his father and light up, running as fast as his tiny legs could carry him, and straight into his papà's arms.

"He wouldn't stop asking for you since you left this morning," Rosalie told Emmett. "Everything is Papà, Papà, Papà, all day. I almost took him out to the vines to look for you."

"Aww, mi angelo, you miss Papà, huh? I will take you out with me. What do you say?"

"Emmett, I don't want him getting in the way out there," Rosalie said, thinking it wasn't a good idea.

"Just for a little bit. It's okay."

Emmett put his son on his shoulders, and he took him out to check on the men who worked below him. It wasn't the first time he had showed off his son, but every time he brought him out, the men all gushed over him. Big strapping burly men absolutely melting over the beautiful little boy. It was heartwarming for Rosalie to see, however there was one man who had always seemed to keep his distance.

"I want to invite Mr. Cullen over for dinner this weekend," Rosalie announced one evening. "He always looks so lonely over there at the big house."

"No," Emmett said, refusing to even consider it. He continued to play with little Angelo as if she hadn't even spoken.

"Emmett, I understand your reasoning for wanting to keep a separation between work and home, but you bring Angelo around the men that work under you, so how is that any different than socializing with your own boss?"

"It just is," he maintained.

But as Angelo continued to grow, they ran into an unexpected issue.

"He's bored," Rosalie said when the now five-year-old kept acting out. There were no schools in the area, so Rosalie was trying her hardest to teach him at home.

"So, teach him more," Emmett said, getting frustrated.

"I'm trying!" Rosalie snapped back at him. Without many resources to turn to, she was having trouble keeping up with their extremely precocious little boy's needs. Angelo was starving for mental stimulation, and the stress of not giving him what he needed was beginning to show.

"No, stop. Angelo, come back!" Rosalie called after him as he ran off into the field one day. They had just arrived home from the market, and her hands were full of groceries, but now her son had disappeared again.

Carlisle Cullen just so happened to be driving by when he noticed the young mother struggling. Without even thinking, he pulled his car over and got out to offer his assistance.

"Oh, you don't have to… Thank you," she said when he caught a bag falling from her hands.

Carlisle helped carry her things inside and couldn't help but look around at the little cottage.

"I like what you guys have done with this place. I haven't been in here in several years, but you've definitely made some improvements."

"Oh, yeah, thank you. Emmett said you told him it was okay for us to paint?"

"Of course, this is your home. Do as you want with it. It looks great."

"Thank you," Rosalie said again uncomfortably. This wasn't the first time she had met Emmett's boss, but she knew her husband wanted to keep him at a distance, so she felt a little awkward having him there.

"Anyway, I suppose I should go," Carlisle said, still admiring their décor.

Just then little Angelo ran into the house, and to Rosalie's embarrassment, he was immediately bouncing off the walls. "Angelo!" she chided him. "We have a guest. Mind your manners!"

"Mi dispiace, mammina," the little boy apologized.

"Well, hello there," Carlisle greeted him by bending over and offering his hand. "I'm Carlisle."

"Shake his hand, figlio," she told him.

He smiled widely, and then shook Mr. Cullen's hand.

"Now, go wash up," she told him.

"Sí, mammina," he told her before dashing down the hall.

"He is beautiful," Carlisle told her. "Really. Probably one of the most beautiful little boys I've ever seen."

"Thank you. He is the joy of our lives… but he is sure a handful," Rosalie said wearily.

"As young children should be," Carlisle replied with a smile. "I noticed he only spoke Italian. Does he know English?"

"He understands it, but mainly speaks Italian. Emmett doesn't like it, but I told him that this is his home and he should be speaking the native language. But we did compromise by agreeing to let me speak English to him, that way he just grows up bilingual."

"That's great. Sounds like you two are wonderful parents."

Rosalie sighed. "I hope so. Most of the time I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing with him. He is already smarter than me, and I don't exactly know how to be a teacher. It's hard to know what's age appropriate. I take him to the library whenever I can, but sometimes… I just worry I'm stunting his intelligence by not giving him the right tools at home."

"Homeschooling is definitely not for everyone," Carlisle said supportively.

"Right, but way out here there isn't any other options for him at his age. So, I do the best I can. He just has so many questions. More than I have answers for," she said with a tired smile.

Carlisle assured her she was doing right by her son, and then he said goodbye and left just as quickly as he came.

"Did I see Mr. Cullen leaving here?" Emmett asked not even five minutes later as he stormed through the door.

"Hello to you too," Rosalie asked bitterly.

"Was he here?" Emmett pressed.

"Yes, he stopped in for a moment to help me with the groceries," Rosalie confirmed, only sending Emmett into an even bigger rage.

"I told you, I don't want him here!"

"I didn't invite him, and he didn't purposely come either. I was having trouble with the bags and Angelo ran off. He was just being kind."

"I don't want to see him here again," he said sternly. Rosalie thought about shouting back at him her defense, but she figured it was best to pick her battles. Emmett had a weird thing about superiority, so she figured it was best to let it go.

The little family spent the rest of the night giggling and playing. Angelo always had so much energy, and he would climb and jump all over his father from the time he came in for the day, until the moment they put him to bed. He idolized his father, and Emmett adored him. Watching them together was Rosalie's absolute favorite thing in the world, and despite any of life's stresses, she still felt beyond blessed.

The next day, however, Carlisle returned to the little cottage, except this time, he wasn't empty handed.

"What is all of this?" Rosalie asked when she answered the door to find Mr. Cullen holding a box.

"I was in town last night, and one of the children's stores were having a sale. I saw these things and thought they would help your situation," he explained.

"Uh, wow. Please, come in," she said, knowing the box was probably fairly heavy. Despite how Emmett felt about Mr. Cullen, surely, he would be grateful for the learning supplies for their son.

"Che cos'è quello?" Angelo asked excitedly as he bounced into the room.

"Inglese, son," Rosalie told him. "Mr. Cullen doesn't speak Italiano."

The little boy smiled widely. "What that?"

"What is that," Rosalie corrected him.

"What is that?" he repeated.

"Very good," Carlisle complimented him. "Come see. Take a look inside?"

"La palla!" he said excitedly.

"English!" Rosalie chided him.

"Um… non lo so," he said bashfully.

"What does that mean?" Carlisle asked her.

"It means he doesn't know. Palla in English is ball," she told her son. "But no, sweetheart, it's not a ball. It's a globo. A globe. This is where we live," she said, pointing to Italy.

"Where America?" Angelo asked.

Rosalie couldn't help but roll her eyes. Emmett's love for America had leached onto their son. Despite her slight annoyance, she smiled and pointed out the United States.

"I just got back from New York," Carlisle told him. "It's a city in the US with some of the tallest buildings you can ever imagine."

"New York?" Angelo asked. "I go? I see buildings?"

"Maybe I will have to bring my foreman to one of my meetings, and he can bring his entire family," Carlisle said with a wink.

"Emmett would love that," Rosalie replied, but she was quickly interrupted.

"I would love what?" Emmett asked evenly as he entered the house. The very sight of his boss in his home had him fuming. "What is all of this?"

"Books," Carlisle explained, not understanding the depth of Emmett's anger towards the situation. "For your son. Your lovely wife told me how she has been struggling to find stimulating learning material, so I saw these and thought they could help."

"My son has all the books and toys he needs," Emmett said while taking the globe from Angelo and putting it back into the box with the books.

"No! Voglio globo!" Angelo cried, but Emmett ignored him.

"Emmett, it's just books to help with his schooling," Rosalie told him, but he wouldn't hear it.

"Anything he needs, we will provide it. Thank you anyway," Emmett insisted while handing the box back to Carlisle.

Carlisle almost looked sad, rather than offended, but he accepted it, and disappointedly took back the box. He got Emmett's not so subtle hint and quickly said goodnight before leaving.

"Emmett, that was really rude," Rosalie said the moment he was gone. "The poor man is just lonely, and he wanted to help. Why are you so against it? I mean, I understand not wanting to accept handouts, but this could really help Angelo."

"No!" he shouted over the sound of their son's tantrum. "I don't need him to get us anything. I will provide!"

"Globo! I go America!" Angelo cried.

Emmett was angry that Mr. Cullen had overstepped, but his son's cries did make him realize something. His dreams had become his son's dreams, and it was time that he gave them both an experience they would never forget.

"What is this?" Rosalie asked the following week when Emmett presented her with an envelope.

"Open it."

Rosalie hesitantly lifted the flap and pulled out the contents. "Plane tickets?"

"To America!" he said excitedly. When Rosalie just stared at him blankly, he added. "Round trip. A vacation."

Relieved that he wasn't irrationally moving them there without even discussing it with her first, Rosalie allowed herself to get excited. Two weeks later, the little family of three took a vacation of a lifetime. Not only was Emmett beyond enthralled to finally achieve his lifelong dream of going to America, being able to share that experience with his son and beautiful wife made it that much better.

If only that experience was everything they hoped it would be…

It all started out amazingly. The trio were on cloud-nine as they took in the huge buildings and bought souvenirs. Everything in New York City was so big and moved so much quicker than anything they had ever experienced before.

The Statue of Liberty was awe-inspiring, and their next stop was The Empire State building. As they boarded the bus to take them to 34th Street, Emmett excitedly told his son all about the famous building. It had been one of his own childhood dreams to see it, and he was finally going to achieve it with his son.

"Let's move closer to the front so we can see it as it comes into view," Emmett suggested.

"I want to see driver!" Angelo said excitedly.

"There are only two seats open up there; why don't you guys go ahead, and I'll stay here?" Rosalie suggested.

Angelo didn't wait for his father, he just got up and ran down the bus aisle, waving hello to all the other passengers as he went.

"Angelo, lento!" Emmett called to him.

But the rambunctious child refused to listen. He ran right to the driver and began talking to him with a speed no non-parent could possibly follow, especially with his broken English.

"What are you saying, kid?" the driver asked.

"Angelo!" Emmett called again but got distracted by an older woman who stopped him to compliment him on his beautiful son.

"What is that?" Angelo asked the driver, pointing to one of the many buttons on his dashboard.

"Don't touch that!" the driver yelled. Something must have caught the corner of his eye, because he abruptly slammed on the breaks, thus sending the little boy flying straight into the windshield…