AN: I know it has been over the two-week posting schedule! Feel free to slap me with wet noodles. I have found that with my real life schedule and the little issue of writers block at this point in time I can't commit to a set schedule. I've tried and I have failed miserably. Thanks so much for the continued reader support and pm's that I have gotten to make sure that I am going to complete this story. Have no fear; I will be seeing this to completion… we still have a long road ahead of us!
A wonderful thanks to my beta's, Jela and Jess. I wouldn't be able to do this without the two of you. You two ladies are the ones that keep all my honest mistakes in order and not to mention keep me motivated with your encouraging words. Ladies, you rock!
Disclaimer: All original characters and the plot of this story are mine, copying of my work is bad and not to mention not nice at all. Please don't do it. The Cullen's and the Twilight plot belong to the wonderful Stephanie Meyer, I am just borrowing them for a while to play in my sandbox.
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Chapter 4- Emmett POVI don't know how long I had been bracing myself up against the tree. In my dazed state, I thought that I heard someone gasp. I looked up in a flash and looked around. I couldn't help but to let out a happy sigh. There she was, right there in front of me crumpled up on the ground. At that point I didn't know what to do. Did I run to her and snatch her up or did I just sit there and look like a blubbering idiot? After a few seconds I snapped out of it.
"Emily?" I asked in a dumbfounded tone. I knew damn well who she was. Put long, dark, curly hair on a much shorter and smaller version of me with boobs, and there she stood in all of her glory.
"Emmett," she called my name certainly without missing a beat.
Without thinking, I ran to her and collapsed. I wrapped my huge arms around her and just held on tight; knowing that if I spoke, I would find some way to say the wrong thing and mess the whole reunion up. At that point in time I was looking for Rosalie to smack me in the back of the head to wake me up from this hallucination. I had wanted Emily to return to me for so many years. I knew that it would make my family complete to have her with us. Inside I was bouncing up and down screaming, oh… my… god…. SHE is really here with me. I broke down in tearless sobs as the realization that Emily was there in the flesh. In that instance, I hugged her even closer to me and just relished in the fact that she was there and I wasn't messing it up trying to talk.
Just out of the blue Emily spoke, "Look Emmett, I might be durable and all, but you are hurting me with your big, burly self."
All I could muster was a goofy, "Oooops" and dropped my arms. I leaned in and kissed her forehead. I knew I was about to mess up, but I was going to keep going with my train of thought.
"Emily, how in the hell did you end up a vampire? Not that I am complaining, but seriously, how?"
At the sound of my voice, I knew that she was shocked. I felt it coming, long before she even connected.
Thhhhwwwwwaaaappppp!
"You know, an it's nice to see you or I can't believe that it's you Emmy, would have been nice you big oaf!"
The look before me was priceless. She had her hands on her hips and this fierce scowl on her face. I couldn't help it. I felt this large pressure building in my chest and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I let out a booming guffaw. Leave it to Emily to chastise me after eighty years. Even as an immortal, she hadn't changed one bit. I knew that her and Rose would get along perfectly. They both slapped me upside my head and they were just alike when I was concerned, so that would be a brownie point in Emily's favor.
"You know me, sis, I don't waste time getting to the point. While it is good to see you, there are a lot of things that I want to ask you."
"I know you do and trust me there are a lot of things that I want to ask you, too. We have all the time in the world to catch up, but I hate to tell you this, but if we don't get up right now and get into the house, we are going to get wet. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to get soaked."
I stood up and offered her my arm. I beamed at myself, knowing that Esme would be proud of me for being such a gentleman. I took in a deep breath, trying to familiarize myself with her scent. It shocked me that I could only smell the forest and the faint scent of the house. I told myself to ask her about it later, and instead just looked to her and smiled my big, goofy grin. We took off towards the house and went inside. Settling into the living room, we heard the rain pelting the roof. Yeah, I was glad also that we didn't get caught in the rain.
She sat closer to me on the couch, laying her head on my shoulder. She let out a soft sigh and all things were quiet for a few minutes. The silence was deafening to me. I wanted to say something and started to, but that was before she put her hand on my knee and started to speak.
"I'm guessing you want me to start telling you what I have been up to for the last eighty years?"
I nodded and patted her hand on my knee to encourage her to go on.
"Well, I was a wreck after you disappeared. I had lost weight, basically retreating into my own little world. After three months, folks stopped looking for you. I think that is what hurt me the most." She stopped for a moment and sighed deeply. "About a year later a man named William came into town. When I met him, something about him intrigued me. I guess it was his rich ruby eye color. I paid no attention to him for a few weeks. One evening, on my way home from work, I fell and he helped me up, asking me if I needed someone to take me home. I was honestly happy he asked, since you weren't around anymore. I was terrified of my own shadow." She paused a moment then continued. "Over time, we started spending more time together. He treated me like a daughter and helped me in a time when I needed someone the most. One night, we were out walking and he started acting very strangely. He kept trying to keep his distance and I insisted on staying close to him. He was my security blanket, and on occasion I would call him 'father'.
"That night, I couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong; the signals he was sending me were so off-key. The next thing that I knew was he had me pinned up again a tree. I felt a sharp pain on the side of my neck, which seemed to last forever. I felt myself slipping in and out of consciousness, and then I felt like I was falling. I kept hearing him scream over and over that he was sorry and that he didn't mean to. Moments later my body felt like it was on fire."
Hearing her tell me the story of how she was changed caused a wave of nausea flow over me. I gripped my right fist so hard that, even with the paleness of my skin, my knuckles were straining. She patted my other hand knowing that I was getting mad and it instantly started to calm me.
"Emmett, don't be angry. It happened, and it's in the past. I feel like you should know this so please humor me and let me finish."
I whispered an okay and motioned for her to continue.
"I didn't know what was happening to me. All I knew was that my whole body was on fire. I remembered the breeze that night during the start of my change. Now that I think about it, William carried me back to the house. He only wanted me to be comfortable, now that I look back. I know now that he really did not want this life for me.
"For three days I burned and begged for someone to kill me. During all that time he sat there with me and I thought that I heard him say that he was sorry over and over again. The night I awoke from the transformation, William told me everything. He was amazed that first night that I didn't have the normal 'newborn aggression,' as he called it. When he explained to me that he was a vampire and that I was too, I was slightly confused. I didn't know much about vampires, but I knew that they needed blood to survive. When I asked him what kind of blood that they drank and he said human, that thought alone almost made me wretch all over the place. After I calmed down a bit, I explained to him that I didn't think that I would be capable of feeding off the blood of a person. He then explained to me that there were different ways of obtaining blood. While he didn't enjoy the alternate lifestyle of feeding, he didn't force me to go the human route."
I noticed that she paused for a moment and took an unnecessary breath, then continued.
"About a year later, I finally asked William why he had changed me. He told me that the first time that he saw me, my misery attracted him to me. The closer and closer he got to me, the more that he started seeing me as a daughter. The more that he spent time with me, he said that he fed more often, but the last night he came by, the urge to feed from me was too great. Before he could stop, he bit me. He said that before he knew it he was pulling himself from my neck and laying me down on the ground. At that point in time, it was too late, so he let the change happen."
She stopped at that point. I thought that she might have realized that I was clenching my fist again. I straightened up on the couch and turned to her and put my hand on her chin, lifting it to that her eyes to meet mine.
"You don't have to stop if you don't want to, Emmy. It's just hard for me to accept that this happened to you and that I wasn't there."
She nodded and spoke, "No, Emmett, I think that I should stop for now. We can continue the story in a little bit. Right now, I want to hear how you came into this world."
Man, why did she have to ask me that… I knew deep down that once she knew, that a girl saved me, she would tease me about it. I just decided to suck up my pride and tell her.
"Well, the day that I left to go hunting, I was tracking a bear in the early afternoon. You know me and my love for a good fight, right? Well, with this bear, I bit off a bit more than I could chew. Before I could react and get a shot off, the bear caught wind of my scent and went on the offensive. Then, it was mauling me. I knew that I must have died because an angel appeared and told me that I would be all right. I thought I had made it to heaven because I blanked out and felt like I was flying."
I snickered for a minute and continued, "Anyways, a while after that, I felt my body consumed by what I thought were the fires of hell. When the change was over, I came face to face with the angel that saved me. Her name was Rosalie. She told me that she was out that day hunting and she came across the bear attacking me and scared it away. She then explained that she carried me all the way from where I was mauled to where her father was and begged him to change me. Rosalie didn't think that she would have been able to change me, only being two years changed herself, so she begged him to change me for her. When she and Carlisle explained to me that I had been changed to a vampire, I simply replied with 'If Carlisle and my angel, Rosalie, were vampires, how bad would it be?'"
Emily stopped me before I could finish. Clearly it looked like she had something to say.
"Wait a minute, Emmett, did you say Carlisle? As in Carlisle Cullen?"
"Yes, Emmy, that is who I mean. Why do you ask?"
She looked at me; a weird expression came over her face. Of all things, I really didn't think that she would be asking about Carlisle.
"You seriously aren't going to believe me, but that is the reason why I am here, Emmett. My friend, Charlotte, suggested a few years ago that I should seek out the Cullen family, mainly Carlisle, since he was the head of a coven of vegetarian vampires. I guess you could say that she thought it would be nice for me to meet others that shared in my food preferences."
I nodded to her, feeling that something wasn't right. Her body language started taking on the expression of feeling uncomfortable. Something told me that there was more that she wanted to say and even yet, I thought that she might be hiding something from me. I figured that I would let it go for now.
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Emily POV
After telling Emmett what Charlotte had said to me I felt a bit uncomfortable, so I quickly changed the subject.
"So, big brother?" It felt so good saying that again. "Are you the betting man that you were back in our human years?"
His expression changed completely; a huge grin appeared on his face. 'Victory!' I exclaimed in my head. I had successfully diverted the Spanish Inquisition from my brother.
"Whatcha got in mind, Little Sister?"
I grinned mischievously, realizing that the rain had stopped. "Well, how about a friendly little wager. We're at our human home and I don't know about you, but I vaguely remember our childhood hiding spot. So if we do this, the terms of the bet are simple. Whoever wins gets to ask the loser one question that they have to answer."
Emmett's face brightened up like a kid that had been locked in a candy store. Noting his enthusiasm, my expression matched his. The next thing that I knew, Emmett had pulled us both to our feet. He started bouncing around like a boxer getting ready for a championship match. I couldn't help but to burst into a fit of giggles. He must have thought I was funny because he started laughing too and I could have sworn that when he laughed he rattled the pictures on the walls. After our fit of laughter ceased, Emmett started to get all serious with me.
I pulled us both to the door, ushering him ahead of me. Once we were out on the porch I shut the door behind me and then breezed past him.
"So when are we going to start this, Emmy?"
Before he got a chance to realize what I had done, I called out, "Now, brother bear!"
I took off in a dead sprint heading for the place that Emmett and I had spent most of our time together as humans, laughing the whole way.
Emmett POV
For the love of everything holy, Emily was fast. She took off like a bolt of lightning and before I realized what she had done, I was struggling a bit to catch up to her. Realizing how fast she actually was, I thought to myself that she could give Edward a run for his money, if we were matching speed for speed. I would have to remind myself to make that bet with Eddie, after the family got to know Emmy.
I followed her bells of laughter and finally caught up with her, but not before she pulled out in front of me and won the bet.
"Damn, Sis! You are really freaking fast. I bet that you could give one of my brothers a run for his money with how fast you are."
She looked at me questioningly through her fit of giggles. To be honest, I thought that she would have been gloating by now. She never let up on me if I had lost a bet. After a few minutes of listening to her laugh, she cleared her throat.
"So, Emmett, are you ready for my big question or not?"
"Sure, pipsqueak. Lay it on me."
I was silently worried about what she was going to ask me. I held my breath and waited for it to come. If I knew Emily well enough, I knew that she would make it a juicy one.
"Can I meet the people that are your vampire family, tonight?" she asked quickly.
I stood there for a moment; my mouth hung wide open in shock. I really didn't expect that question at all. I honestly thought she would have asked something a bit juicier. I laughed internally, as some of those possible juicier questions came to mind.
"Well, Sis… I had expected a much more in depth question than that, especially given that we haven't seen each other in eighty years. I don't see why not, though I think I should give you a warning. I have quite an eclectic family; each and every one of them has their own unique qualities."
"What do you mean they have their own unique qualities?"
I decided to give her the Reader's Digest version of each one in the family, starting with Carlisle. Before starting, I thought that I should give her an idea of how close all of us were.
"Emmy, before I give you the run down on everyone in my family, I think that you should know that I would lay my immortal life down for them." I lifted my eyes to meet hers and continued, "Just like I would for you. You are my blood family, but please don't think that you won't fit in with them. I know that you will."
I paused for a moment to gauge her reaction. She smiled at me; however, her smile didn't reach her eyes. It seemed almost sad. I squeezed her shoulders, trying to reassure her in some way.
"It's not that I don't think they'll like me, Emmett. It's just that I have missed out on so much of your life. They are the ones that got to spend it with you. To be honest, I am slightly jealous." She paused for a moment, a huge grin on her face, "That's okay, I will just have to ask them about all of your most embarrassing moments."
I grimaced, knowing that she would do just that. "There will be no…no…none of that, young lady!" I said, stuttering. I really didn't want to relive all of those moments, but I had this strange feeling that I would. I decided that I would quickly change the subject.
"How about this, Emmy. I'll talk while we head to my home. If we run, it will take us about thirty minutes to get back, but if we walk part of the way, it should give us enough time to talk."
"Sounds good to me," she said, looping her arm in mine as we started to make our way to Casa de Cullen.
I went in order that everyone came into the family, but decided to leave out the fact that Edward could read minds, for now. I felt there was something going on with my sister and if anyone could help me find out what, it would be Edward. Since Carlisle was the father of the family, I started with him. I told her that he was a doctor at Park West Medical Center, working nights as the head of the ER. I also told her of his endless compassion and patience, especially with all of us kids. Next was Edward. The explanation of Edward was simple: overreacting, broody at times, and very musical. Esme was easily explained. She was our mother in every sense of the word. Her ability to love with her whole entire being was what made her who she was in this life.
Next was my Rose. I was slightly at a loss on how to describe her, so I went with what I knew and told Emmy that Rose was the love of my life. I gave her fair warning that while Rose may come off as very abrasive, she wasn't as bad as folks made her out to be. Describing the pixie was simple. I told her that the first person to greet her would probably be Alice, and to be forewarned that she was a short bundle of energy that was a force to be reckoned with, along with her addiction to shopping, of course. I also told her that Alice could see the future. She gave me a pointed look and I told her that I would let Alice explain how her visions worked.
I paused briefly to let her soak in all the information that was given to her about Carlisle, Edward, Esme, Rose and Alice. She turned and smiled.
"So let me get this straight. Carlisle is the father of the family with an insane amount of compassion and patience. Edward is musical, but tends to be moody and tends to overreact. Esme is the mother of the family with all the love in the world to give to anyone she meets. Rose is the love of your existence, but she is very abrasive. Alice is a pixie that loves to shop and runs around like the Energizer Bunny on speed that can also see the future. How is that for a recall of what you just said?"
I busted out laughing at how she described Alice. "Well, I would definitely say that you have them all down so far, especially Alice."
I moved onto Jasper, explaining to her that he was very quiet around folks and that he could change the emotions of those around him. I also explained that while he could change the emotions around him, that he also could feel the emotions of those around him. When describing Jasper, I saw her face take on a different expression. I couldn't quite understand it, so I thought that I would ask her.
"Hey," I said, poking her in the side. "What's got your face all twisted in several different directions?"
She was silent for a moment, then her face straightened back up as though nothing happened.
"Em, you aren't going to believe this, but I've heard of Jasper before."
I looked at her inquisitively and said, "Oh?"
She nodded her head and continued, "My friend Charlotte and her mate, Peter, have mentioned him a few times. I lived with them for a while after I was changed, so I heard a lot of the southern wars from Peter and how Jasper was close with them both."
I snorted hearing Charlotte and Peter's names. This was one small world if my sister knew them. If it weren't for Jasper entering the family, then we would have never had met them ourselves.
"Well, if it's the same Peter and Charlotte that I know, it's a really damn small world. They helped us out over ten years ago."
I proceeded to describe them impeccably; the whole while Emmy nodded her head.
"That would be who I am talking about, Emmett. I can't believe it. The whole time we've known some of the same people, and yet, we have never come face-to-face with each other."
I chuckled under my breath at the coincidence and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.
"Well, all that matters now is that we've found each other," I said matter-of-factly.
We continued our discussion about the family members, picking up where I left off with Bella. I explained to Emily that Bella was like the little sister of the family. I didn't go into much detail, as I felt that Bella's story was one that Emily should hear from her. I told her about Jacob and Nessie and how they were traveling the Amazon with friends, leaving out the part that Jacob was a shape-shifter and Nessie was a half-vampire half-human. Again, I thought that was better to be explained by either Edward or Bella, no matter how much I wanted to tell her for myself.
I didn't realize that we had discussed so much. The time it took us to get home was shorter than I thought. The outline of the house started becoming clearer in the distance. I tensed slightly at the thought of going back, especially after the way that I just bolted from the house. Emily must have picked up on my mood shift because she squeezed me slightly around the waist.
"Hey, Em, is everything alright? You seem really uptight now."
I sighed. "Yeah, Sis, I'm a bit uptight right now. When I left out of here earlier, I didn't leave in the best of ways. Alice had told us that someone was searching for us and when I saw the drawing of you, I wigged out on everyone. Needless to say, when I left, everyone's mouths were hanging and they were all in a daze. I really don't know what to expect when we get back to the house."
"I see. Man, Bubba Bear, that sure doesn't make it good for me, then, does it?"
"Everything will be fine, just trust me on that one."
In my mind I kept calling out, hoping that Edward could hear me, 'Eddie, if you can hear me, I am on my way back. Warn everyone that I have Emily with me. Man, I don't know what to do, she seems off, but that could be my imagination running away with me. I have given her a little bit of info on all the family, but I've chosen to leave some things out, like your mind reading ability. Keep that to yourself for now, man, please. I want to help her, but I think that she is hiding something.' I looked up and saw movement at one of the windows and knew then that he had heard me. I pulled Emily close to me in a hug and rubbed her shoulder for some reassurance. I was sure that she was going to need it.
"You ready, Sis?"
She nodded hesitantly and I pulled my arm from her shoulder, taking her hand in mine. We slowly made our way closer to the house, while I gave Edward time to tell the family we were on our way.
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End AN: Please tell me what you think. I have all these nice author alerts, story alerts, and story views… but no reviews. Sometimes I don't know whether to keep going with this or just let it fall to the wayside. Please review I am begging. I will trade any Cullen of your choice, dressed how you want, and will do your bidding.
Mwah!