A/N:

I am so sorry I forgot to post this yesterday! It was a public holiday here in Sweden so it didn't feel like Wednesday, and I didn't remember until I was already in bed about to go to sleep.

Title: Origins: Destiny in the Mountains

Author: MarieCarro

Beta: Alice's White Rabbit

Pre-reader:BitterHarpy

Genre: Family/Supernatural

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Emmett Brian McCarty never had much in life, but growing up poor didn't stop him from enjoying life and all its pleasures.

However, always seeking thrills most often means it will end badly, and one day, while hunting for game in the mountains, Emmett meets his destiny. Canon. ExR

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

CHAPTER 23

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31st 1980 - MONDAY, JANUARY 1st 1990

"Yo, Jasper!" I called out as I entered through the front door. I didn't care it was highly unnecessary to yell. I knew Rosie sometimes appreciated me doing so because she said it was very human of me to do it.

Jasper calmly walked out on the landing of the stairs. "What're you so excited about?"

"Did you hear about that new arcade game they've got down at The Crown? It's this new thing from Japan called Pac-Man. It's supposed to be really cool."

Alice came walking up behind Jasper, and he looked down at her. "The Crown? Emmett, you know that place is for kids, right? Besides, I can't go. Alice and I have plans."

"But it's Halloween," I insisted. "Anyone under twenty-one isn't allowed at The Crown tonight." I gave Alice a pleading look, hoping she'd let their plans go so Jasper could go with me. "C'mon, man, I really want to check it out."

He vehemently shook his head. "Sorry. I promised Alice, and you know I don't break promises. Ask Edward to go with you, or Rosalie."

"I'd rather tear off my own arm than go to the arcade and watch barely legal adults get intoxicated while playing childish games," Edward replied from his room, and I rolled my eyes at his dullness. "I heard that," he commented.

"Obviously, since I didn't hide the thought from you," I returned, and he shut up after that. I knew Rosie was in the garage, and I didn't want to ask her from the hall, so I dejectedly directed my steps there. When I spotted her denim-clad legs sticking out from under the car, I bent down to look at her. "Babe, you want to go to the arcade with me?"

"Not really," she said honestly. "Why do you want to go?"

"There's a new game out that I wanted to try, but no one wants to go with me."

She stopped working and slid herself out. She reached out her hand, and I grabbed it to help her up. For a long moment, she looked at me, and then she smiled. "Tell you what. I'll go to the arcade with you, but on Monday, you have to come with me to school and help me out with something."

I hesitated because Rosie was studying astrophysics at Michigan State University—she had gained more interest of space and the universe after we saw Star Wars, ironically enough—and not only was the drive there almost two hours, even with my angel at the wheel, but I pretty much wanted to choke every male specimen at that place for unabashedly ogling my wife. "What?"

"There's this little jackass in my math lecture who is the worst misogynist." She grimaced as she thought of him. "He doesn't think women belong in higher education, but at the same time, he hits on anything with breasts."

"So twist his arm and chase him off," I said, confused as to why she was asking for my help. My angel wasn't unfamiliar with unwanted attention, and she preferred handling the situations herself, as she wanted to teach the little snots that they should respect women and not just leave her alone because of my apparent body mass and height. She detested that so many men only backed off from girls if they said they had a boyfriend because a non-present male deserved their respect more than the girl who rejected them.

"I've already done that for myself, and he won't come near me now, but it's not about me this time." She sighed. "A freshman girl, her name's Meghan, has tried over and over to get him to back off, but he's relentless. I've been hoping she'd someday slap him, but she doesn't seem like that kind of girl, and I overheard the slimy cockroach bragging to his friends how he'd bang her first chance he got." She wrapped her arms around herself and appeared so small and vulnerable I just had to hug her tightly. "I think he'll attempt something soon, and I really don't want anything to happen to her."

I nodded. It was completely understandable where she was coming from, and I would definitely help her with whatever she wanted me to do. Even after almost fifty years, I would always be the one to help her with her darkest demons. "What do you want me to do? Scare him? Threaten him?"

"No because if it's you he fears, he'll go back to his disgusting behavior the minute you're gone. I want you to pretend the girl's your little sister and that you're there visiting us both. Then, even when you're not there, the worm will know Meghan is under my protection and off limits."

"But won't that mean he'll just jump onto the next girl on his list?" I asked. Her plan was good, but the holes in it needed to be filled.

She smiled evilly. "I'll take care of that part on my own. I'll make sure he knows that if he so much as breathes in a girl's direction, I'll make him a eunuch."

{=DITM=}

Thanksgiving 1986

"There is no way the Lions will win this game," I said confidently without taking my eyes off the TV screen. "Packers all the way." I gave my brothers a taunting smile. "Who wants to bet against me?"

"Just last year, you swore the Lions were the best," Jasper pointed out and laughed. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

I grinned at him. "You gotta cheer for the team where you live, right?"

"The Lions are from Detroit," Edward annoyingly reminded us. "That's on the other side of the state where we lived, and we're not in Wisconsin right now so what makes the Packers best?" He narrowed his eyes at me. "What are you hiding? I know you're blocking me."

Both of them stared at me, but I tried to play it off. "What's with the third degree? Can't a guy change which team he cheers for without all the drama?"

They didn't relent.

"Fine! Alice told me the Packers will win by four points," I admitted sourly at having been caught.

"So you thought you'd try to con a telepath and an empath?" Edward asked and shook his head, but he was smiling widely. "I have to say, Emmett, I am disappointed. You're losing your touch."

"Am not!" I exclaimed, truly distraught over his suggestion, but then I smiled again. "This was just a test. I need to see what signals you guys pick up on."

"Unless you learn to become a real statue of stone, your feelin's will always betray you, man." Jasper got up from the couch and hit me playfully on my shoulder, but it was hard enough for me to have to shift my balance. "You wear them on your sleeve. Most of the time, I don't even really need to read you to know what you're feelin'."

"Yeah, whatever," I said and dropped the subject before leaning back to watch the game, but then Esme and Carlisle came in with the girls in tow, and she shut off the TV. "I was watching that," I complained.

"But you already know how it will end."

"Just because I know how it ends doesn't mean I don't want to watch the rest of it."

"You'll see thousands of other games in your lifetime, Emmett. I want us all to do something today, so do you mind?"

I did mind, but Esme rarely asked for something, so I gave in. "Okay then," I agreed and stood up.

"What is it you want us to do?" Jasper asked her.

She smiled sweetly at all of us. "I know we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in this family—"

"Yeah because our supreme leader is a Brit," I commented and grinned at Carlisle, and he smiled back at me.

"Depends on how you look at it," he answered. "I've been an American citizen longer than I ever lived in England, and, if you want to get even more technical, Thanksgiving was something started by British settlers. Even further—"

"Carlisle, I love you, but I was sort of saying something," Esme interrupted pleadingly.

Carlisle immediately kissed her forehead and apologized. "Sorry, dear. Continue."

"As I said, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I believe, even though we happen to be a family of immortal vampires, we should take some time and think about what we are thankful for. It has been such an … eventful year with too many disasters and lives lost. I'd like to honor those who can no longer do this with their families."

"That's a really sweet thought, dear," Carlisle said and looked upon her with pride.

"I love it!" Alice said excitedly. "I think we should make it into our own tradition. Maybe not something we do annually, but at least once a decade. It will remind us of those aspects in life where we've been very fortunate."

"You mean aside from the fact that we can't live normal lives, ever," Rosie commented, and I put my arm around her shoulder and squeezed. Both in support, but also to tell her to not bring the mood down for the rest of them. There were times when I needed to remind her that she couldn't always take out her frustrations on our family because, unlike me, they hadn't promised to put up with her mood swings for the rest of eternity, and while I doubted they'd ever want to break up our little coven, everyone had their limit.

"Okay, I'll start," Esme said and then looked at each one of us. "I am thankful for the relationships we've built over the years, both romantic and familial, and the love we have for one another."

She turned to Carlisle, smiling, and he let out an incredulous little gust of breath and then he also smiled. "I am thankful my path finally led me to all of you. I honestly don't know where I'd be without you."

"I am thankful for Alice," Jasper took over. "I'd either still be wanderin' or back with Maria had it not been for her."

She hooked her arm around his and leaned her head against him for a second before she spoke up. "I'm thankful for my visions. They can be a real pain, but they made my first couple of years a lot easier."

Edward thought for a moment longer than the others, but then he said softly, "I'm thankful for music." He didn't elaborate further, and none of us asked him to. Instead, we moved on to Rosalie, and she sighed harshly, clearly not in the mood to participate.

"If I have to … I guess I'm thankful for Emmett. At least, this existence is bearable with him."

I tightened my arm over her shoulders again. "Love you, too, babe." I kissed the top of her hair and ignored her lighthearted complaints of me ruining the volume. "My turn. All right, I'm thankful for the awesomeness that is this family, and I'm also very thankful for Rose's flexib—"

"Emmett, why'd you have to ruin it?"

{=DITM=}

5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I twirled Rosie around, and she let out one of her rare, angelic laughs. "That's five, babe. Are you up for another one?" I asked her over the roar of the crowd. We had decided to celebrate the new year, and the start of the new decade, on our own by chasing the clock. We'd started in Australia and were now on a beach in Spain.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me until we were in the shadows of the trees and far from where the humans could see us. "We could continue back to America, or ..." Her tone was suggestive, and I was intrigued.

"Or?"

She pulled me toward her mouth, and she whispered against my lips. "Or we could celebrate the start of the 90s with a little more privacy."

The rumbling growl that escaped me was unstoppable, and it soon became clear I wasn't the only one who acted like an animal in the next couple of hours.

A/N:

A few tidbits for you who remember the 80s vividly here! I was very tempted to write that Emmett was the first to beat the Pac-Man Game and not Billy Mitchell in 1999, but in the end, that idea didn't make the cut :-P

Not many chapters left of this piece. 2 more and then an epilogue, and I am so excited to see what you'll think of the ending already, but I'm not going to rush it! You still have at least 2 weeks before I pressing complete :-D

Until Next Week,

Stay Awesome!