A Deathbed Promise

Chapter Three- Childish Tantrums? Childish Tantrums!

AN: I have been forgetting the disclaimers. I do not own any of the Twilight Universe. These characters do not belong to me. Okay, now that has been taken care of, let's get down to business.

Once again thank you all for the reviews/alerts/faves you guys have been sending my way. While I may not like the number of reviews, I know that alot of people are reading this when I see the number of hits each of the chapters have. It means alot that you all like the story so far.

I'm sure alot of you are pretty upset with Emmett at the moment. He was a bit of an asshole in the last chapter. Just remember that Emmett and Anthony did not have the best brother/brother relationship. Anthony leaves, Emmett had to pick up all the pieces, Anthony returns with a pregnant girlfriend and he dies. But bfore he dies, he makes Emmett promise to marry her. Can you see why Emmett is frustrated? Always cleaning up after Anthony. Good news though: Emmett will apologize. And as a treat (because you had to deal with Emmett being an asshole) you will get to see a different side of Emmett in this chapter. Tell what you think.

And here is the chapter!

The first awareness Bella had that someone had followed her came when the bed dipped low on one side, but she never dreamed it was Emmett sitting there. She assumed it was Esme, or maybe Maria. Not Elizabeth. Anthony's mother was not one to confront or even actively comfort. She was gentle, but very submissive creature.

So it wasn't till Emmett actually spoke that she realized who it was in the room with her.

"I'm sorry, Isabella," he began with a torn sigh. "I have no excuse for my terribly thoughtless behavior other than I've been finding it difficult to deal with certain aspects of Anthony's life prior to his illness. I'm glad you've cleared up my misconception that he had somehow taken advantage of your youth and innocence. Please also believe me when I say I make no judgment of your actions, either with Anthony or with me downstairs. I have nothing but admiration for the way you defended my brother just now. A man would kill to have a woman love him as you obviously loved Anthony."

Bella lay there for a moment, unsure if his seemingly heartfelt words had soothed, or flustered her further. She did not associate Emmett with apologies.

Rolling slowly over, she encountered a face so bleak her heart filled with instant remorse. She couldn't see into his eyes for he was looking down at the floor, but the uncharacteristic droop of his head and shoulders pulled at her heartstrings.

"I…I'm sorry too," she whispered. "I shouldn't have hit you."

When his head lifted and he twisted round to face her, Bella gasped at the still red imprint of her palm in his cheek. She had no idea she'd hit him that hard. Shocked, she reached up blindly with shaken fingers, a guilty groan escaping her lips as her shaking hand made contact with the red mark.

"Don't!" he snapped, iron fingers enclosing her wrist and slamming her hand down on to the quilt, the action jerking her up into a semi-sitting position.

With the abrupt movement, her hat, which had been partially dislodged when she'd first flung herself on the bed, fell off, the large comb holding her hair up also coming adrift, sending her dark glossy waves tumbling down around her face and shoulders.

"Oh!" she cried.

When she tried to disengage her hand from his to push back her hair, his grip remain fast, his eyes boring into her with such intensity that she was completely perplexed by the whole situation. Did he think she'd been going to hit him again? Bella couldn't see why he should. She'd already said she was sorry for that.

So why didn't he say something? Why did he just sit there, staring at her like that? And why, oh why, couldn't she seem to find her own voice?

The room, which was very large and luxuriously furnished, seemed to have shrunk, Emmett looming large over her. His face was only inches from hers, so close now that she could no longer see the blue of his eyes. They were deep dark pools into which she seemed to be drowning…drowning…

In desperation she sucked in a breath of air, but this only seemed to remind her of the way her heart was suddenly hammering in her chest. The large hand cuffing her wrist tightened, and for a brief insane moment she thought he was going to kiss her again. Instead, she found her hand being ground further down into the mattress as Emmett pushed himself to his feet.

"Don't let your tender heart lead you into anymore trouble, Isabella," he grated out, his face as harsh and humorless as ever as he glared down at her from his considerable height. "I deserved the slap downstairs, and I almost deserved a slap again just now. When you touch a man like that in the future," he warned darkly, "make sure you're not on a bed with him. Not all men are as saintlike as Anthony."

Bella's eyes widen, color coming to her cheeks. So he had been tempted to kiss her.

But surely he did not think she had been deliberately provocative, or that even subconsciously she might have been inviting him to…to…

Her cheeks burnt even more fiercely at such a mortifying thought.

Emmett spun away from the bed with a scoffing sound. "I was right the first time," he growled as he stalked across the deep gold carpet. "Anthony should have been hung, drawn, and quartered for taking you under his roof the way he did. I refuse to forgive his inexcusable lack of judgment. If he couldn't foresee the consequences of such an action, then the man was more of a naïve, idealistic, air-fairy fool than I always thought him to be!"

Grabbing the knob of the bedroom door, Emmett whirled to face her one last time. "Hate me all you like for saying as much, Isabella, but that's the way I see it. I loved my brother, believe it or not, but he was a dreamer who left a trail of destruction behind him. He's left you literally holding a baby, and me in a situation no man would relish."

Bella scrambled off the bed, straightening her dress and pushing back her hair with agitated hands. "You didn't have to marry me!" she cried. "I didn't expect you to, but you insisted!"

"More fool me," he snarled. "But I'm not so blind that I can't see my own mistakes. You will have your wish, Isabella. A divorce as soon as the baby is born. I also think a house of your own is called for. Somewhere nearby, of course, where Mother can easily visit you and the child."

But not you, she thought agitatedly. I don't want you visiting me, you hateful man!

"Now I suggest you go wash your face and fix your hair," the hateful man ordered. "It's rather a mess. I will expect you to make an appearance downstairs shortly."

"But I don't want—"

"We all have to do things we don't want to do occasionally," he cut in sharply. "If you don't come down, everyone will look at me with accusing eyes, and I will be forced to return to bring you down myself. If you can't do this for me, then do it for Anthony. I'm sure he would have expected the mother of his child to conduct herself with ladylike etiquette in his home, which means keeping childish tantrums to a minimum."

With that, Emmett politely but firmly shut the door, leaving Bella to stare after him.

Childish tantrums?

Childish tantrums!

She would show him childish tantrums.

Her eyes darted savagely around the room, looking for something she could throw. Anything!

Her hat was the only item within arm's reach. She scooped it up from where it lay on the pillow and launched it in the direction of the door like a Frisbee. But, being rather light hat, it fell a good deal short of its target with a highly unsatisfying plops. Marching over to where it landed, Bella glared momentarily down at the pathetic little wisp of nothing before she gave into another irrational burst of temper and began stomping it to death.

After a few seconds, she stopped, eyes rounding with horror as she bent to pick up the poor mangled thing, the veil now ripped, the flower totally destroyed. Bella blinked her shock as she stared at what was left of the once pretty hat, a sob catching her throat.

I've gone mad, she thought. Quite mad.

No, you haven't, the voice of brutal honesty inserted. You're simply behaving very badly. Emmett was right. Anthony would not be proud of you today. Not at all.

Tears threaten as her thoughts filled with Emmett…her kind, gentle, warm, wonderful Anthony. Oh, God, how she missed him!

But not in bed, as the others in this house might imagine, she thought bitterly. In hindsight, her one intimate experience with Anthony had been an utter failure in the physical sense. How could it have been otherwise, with her a virgin and Anthony upset and unwell?

What she missed was Anthony's companionship. Their long talks into the night. Their listening to music together. His just being there, his calm and collected presence always having a soothing influence on her occasional burst of restless.

Their relationship had been a meeting of souls long before it had finally become a meeting of bodies. Bella had no doubt that in other circumstances the physical side would have eventually become just as satisfying. She had not allowed herself to be too disappointed at the time, brushing aside any dismay over the brief and rather painful experience actual intercourse had turned out to be. She'd told herself there would be other nights. Next time, it would not hurt so much. Next time, things would be different.

But there had been no other nights, no next time…

When Bella snapped back to the present, she was startled to find that she was standing there in the middle of the room, twisting the already mangled hat round and round in her hands. It took considerable effort for her to stop. What on earth was wrong with her? She had never felt quite like this before, so uptight and angry and knotted inside, as though she was a volcano waiting to erupt.

She still couldn't get over hitting Emmett as she had downstairs. And now she had obliterated a perfectly innocent hat. Yet still it wasn't enough. The urge to scream out loud echoed in her head and she bit down hard on her bottom lip.

Tasting her own blood brought her up with a jolt.

Shock was swiftly followed by shame. What would Anthony think of her, carrying on like this? It has to stop. Right now. This very second. She was married woman now, a mother to be, a grown-up, not a wild, uncontrollable child.

Emmett's parting words about her putting on a childish tantrum popped back into her mind, infuriating her with its potential accuracy. She would show him, she vowed fiercely. From this moment on she would be the epitome of female composure and maturity. There would be no more losses of temper, no more juvenile blushing. And no more silly stammering!

It was a subdued but steely Bella who walked down the stairs a few minutes later, her face freshly made-up, her thick dark waves held back behind her ears with some combs. With each step she focused her mind on her staying cool, calm and collected, but, from the moment her foot moved onto the Persian rug at the base of the stairs and she was faced with actually presenting herself at the living-room, her composure began to crumble.

What would everyone be thinking about the dreadful display she had made of herself earlier? No doubt they were wondering what Anthony ever saw in such a hysterical ninny. They were also probably feeling sorry for Emmett, having been stuck with a wife he didn't want and a child that wasn't his.

Bella groaned her inner distress. Oh, why couldn't Emmett have just let her stay upstairs? He could have said she had a headache. Maria could have brought her a tray. God, if only she were more like Esme. Esme could handle any situation. She didn't care what others thought, especially her boss.

Bella had to literally force her legs to carry her across the foyer towards the living-room. When she moved gingerly into the thankfully open doorway, no one noticed her at first. Esme was seated on the silk brocade couch, sipping white wine and chatting to a wan-looking Elizabeth. Emmett was standing with Jasper next to the fireplace, both of them with large scotches in their hands. Maria was fiddling with the food on the sideboard.

When Bella gave a nervous clearance of her throat, everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and look at her. She froze under their curious gazes, unable to take another step into the room. An awkward silence fell and she was contemplating bolting back upstairs when Emmett extracted himself from Jasper's side and strode forward, his blue eyes locking with hers and forcing her to remain exactly where she was.

"Feeling better now?" he enquired in his usual cool manner. The mark on his cheek had faded, she was glad to see.

"I'm fine, thank you," came her somewhat stiff reply, but without a stammer in sight, thank God. A sigh of relief puffed from her lungs. Maybe she would survive the next few minutes after all.

"Good. Come and I'll get you a drink, then," he said, and taking her hand in his, began to draw her across the room.

His grip was oddly gentle, such a contrast from the last time he'd held her hand upstairs, a few minutes ago. But it had no less of an effect on her, bringing a disturbing rise in her pulse-rate which she determinedly put down to nerves. Bella refused to admit it could still be fear. Why should she fear Emmett? The idea was ridiculous. Fear should be reserved for the enemy, and Emmett was not her enemy. Nor did she really hate him. That had been the silly child within her thinking that a while ago.

She didn't want anyone else thinking she hated him, either. Bella came to a sudden decision, grinding to a halt and extracting her hand from Emmett's as she turned to face everyone else in the room.

"I…I have something to say," she began, clasping her hands nervously together in front of her. "I…I'm very sorry for causing a scene earlier. And I'm very, very sorry for having hit Emmett. No, please, Emmett," she insisted when he went to interrupt, a grimace on his face. "I have to say this."

She scooped in another steadying breath before continuing in a reasonably composed fashion. "It was very wrong of me to do what I did when you've been so kind. I can see the way Anthony acted might have looked a little irresponsible to your eyes and I can understand why you feel angry with him. I can't think of many brothers who would do what you have done here today." Tears pricked at her eyes but she held them back. "I'm sure Anthony would have wanted me to co-operate with you, not…not make your life difficult. I…I feel as if I've let him down somehow."

By this time, she was also finding it extremely hard not to cry. Esme, probably seeing her distress, leapt to her feet.

"What rubbish! You have done Anthony proud today," she insisted firmly, coming forward to take both Bella's hands in hers. "Hasn't she, everyone?"

There were murmurs of assent all round. But not, Bella realized unhappily, from Emmett. He stood beside her in stoical silence.

"And I'm sure Emmett holds no grudge against you for giving him a little slap," Esme raved on. "I would imagine it's not the first time a lady had given his cheek the taste of her hand," she added mockingly.

"I can think of one woman who might benefit from the back of some man's hand," he muttered under his breath so only Bella and Esme could hear.

The interchange quite startled Bella out of her misery. Her eyes darted to Esme, who seemed delighted to have evoked such a reaction in her boss. When a drily amused smile pulled at Emmett's mouth, Bella's confusion was complete. Truly, she did not understand their relationship at all. Were they friend or foe?

"Let's sample some of this mouthwatering food Maria's been bringing in," Esme continued. "I'm starving."

The evening went reasonably well for a while after that. Maria had prepared mainly finger food which was easy to eat either standing up or by sitting with a small plate in one's lap. Conversation revolved mostly around Maria's delicious food and the recent wave of rainy weather, which were both very safe topics.

Not that Bella was really enjoying herself. The strain of the day was taking its toll, the beginning of a tension headache pressing over her eyes. When Jasper poured her a glass of iced tea she took it readily, settling down on the couch Elizabeth and Esme recently vacated. A small smile came to her lips as she sipped the drink and recalled the many evenings she had sat with Anthony either before the fire or out on the back porch, drinking cheap claret and discussing the latest book she was reading.

She was completely off in another world, not noticing when Jasper sat down beside her, so that when he said, "Penny for your thoughts," she jumped in surprise. But her reply consisted of nothing but a little smile, knowing that a man like Jasper would never understand what she and Anthony had shared; what she felt for him. In his eyes—as in Emmett's—Anthony had been a loser, a plain, balding thirty-five-year-old loser who had no right to love of a pretty young girl.

She'd seen everyone's shocked looks when she'd been brought here to Masen Mansion and introduced as Anthony's de facto wife. Even his own mother had been surprised, despite Anthony's having been her favorite son. The news that Bella was expecting his baby had initially been met with stunned silence. Bella was hurt for Anthony, once she realized they hadn't even believed he was man enough to father a child.

Well, they were wrong, weren't they? She thought defiantly as she sat there, her fingers linking over her gently swelling stomach. He had fathered a baby, and next week, after she had her ultrasound, she would know if it was a boy or a girl. She hoped it was a boy. And she hoped he was just like Anthony.

"I can see that you are in no mood to chit-chat," Jasper said quietly from her side. "I just wanted to say I think you're great and I hope everything turns out well for you. But if it doesn't and you ever need a shoulder to cry on, give me a call."

Bella was touched by the offer and turned a grateful smile his way. "That's very kind of you, Jasper. I'll remember that. Thank you."

Jasper patted her wrist and stood up, almost brushing shoulders with Emmett as he did so.

"Leaving, are you Jasper? Emmett asked in clipped tones.

Jasper seemed taken back for a second before glancing at his watch. "Not yet," he returned. "I was just going to get Bella another glass of iced tea."

"No more for Isabella," Emmett ordered abruptly, glaring down at her near empty glass.

"That's up to her, isn't it?"

Bella was thinking the same thing.

"Emmett," his mother interrupted, materializing by his side and thereby saving the awkward moment. "Why don't you put some music on? Something nice and relaxing. Mozart, I think. You like Mozart, don't you Bella? You were playing him the other day."

"I adore Mozart," she agreed. "He was Anthony's favorite composer."

Elizabeth's sigh was wistful. "Of course…You know, I played him Mozart from the day he was born. It always put him in to sleep."

"Mozart would put anyone to sleep," Emmett muttered, his irritation obvious as he stalked over to the stereo and started flipping through the CDs.

"Don't take any notice of Emmett," Elizabeth whispered as she sat down next to Bella. "For some reason he's always been a little jealous of Anthony. Lord knows why. Poor Anthony wasn't born with any of his brother's natural advantages. He was a sickly child, whereas Emmett never got colds. I couldn't even count the number of nights I had to spend sitting up with Anthony, especially when he had asthma."

Bella began thinking that maybe Emmett was jealous, not of Anthony himself, but all the love and attention that his mother obviously lavished on her older son. She'd never had any brothers and sisters herself, but could well imagine it must be very hard growing up knowing a brother or sister was favored over you. Still, it seemed Anthony's father had favored his second son so maybe the love and attention bit was balanced out in the end.

Mozart's Flute and Harp Concerto in C major brought a brief end to any conversation as its pristine notes cut through the drawing-room. Emmett's choice sent Bella's heart squeezing tight, plus a host of vivid memories to the forefront of her mind. She almost expected to look over at the empty armchair opposite and see Anthony materialize, his head tipping back and his eyes closing as they did whenever he listened to this particular piece.

"Aah," Elizabeth sighed next to her. "What magic…what bliss…"

Bella gritted her teeth against the unexpected pain the music was evoking, knowing she could hardly ask for it to be turned off. But she couldn't help grimacing a little as she glanced over towards the stereo. Emmett turned around at that moment and their eyes met, Bella shivering at the sober hardness in his face as he walked back towards her.

And sympathy for him disappeared. The man was pure granite, not the sort to ever feel deprived of a mother's love. Or any other person's love for that matter. She doubted he'd ever felt anything even approaching love in his whole life. It was no wonder his first marriage broke up. No normal woman could endure living with a block of stone.

"You're looking tired, Bella," he announced brusquely on returning. "I think it's time you went up to bed."

"Yes, you do look tired, dear," Elizabeth agreed.

She was about to argue when common sense intervened. She was tired, and her headache was getting worse. On top of that, the prospect of staying here and listening to Mozart was more than she could bear.

"Yes, you're right. I am tired."

When Emmett held out his hand, she hesitated, then resignedly placed her hand in his. It closed, large and strong, around her fingers, drawing her to her feet. Once again she was reminded of how big he is. And how tall. She had to crick her neck back to look up at his face.

"I'll walk you upstairs," he offered.

Bella's panic was instant, as was her return to stammering. "N-no, I…I…" When she tried to pull her hand out of his, his fingers tightened.

"Don't be ridiculous," he hissed. "I'm not going to eat you. I'm just taking Bella up to bed," he announced out loud. "She's exhausted. Say goodnight, everyone."

Everyone said goodnight, Esme coming forward to give her a kiss on the cheek, after which she frowned down at where Emmett was still holding Bella's hand. Bella was dismayed to feel a flustered heat sweep up her neck and into her cheeks. Esme's eyes rounded a little, which only served to make Bella even more mortified. She recalled how Esme had told her one day that a lot of women were drawn to Emmett's darkly brooding personality, finding him challenging and extremely sexy.

But I'm not one of them! She wanted to scream at her friend, her eyes flashing her distress.

She didn't manage to get her message across, however, Esme's face turning drily knowing when Emmett began to lead a seemingly meek and compliant Bella from the room. My God, she thinks I'm attracted to the man. She thinks I'm attracted to the man. She thinks I want him to hold my hand. Maybe she even thinks I want him in my bed!

Bella yanked her hand out of his grasp once they reached the top of the stairs. Emmett immediately ground to a halt to glare at her, clearly at the end of his tether. "What the hell's wrong with you?" he snapped. "Am I some kind of monster in your eyes that holding your hand frightens the life out of you? Or is it that you think Anthony is looking down at you from his place in heaven and disapproving of your allowing any other male to touch you in any way at all?"

"No!" she denied, stunned that he would think such a thing. Anthony had never been a jealous or a possessive man. That kind of thing wasn't in him.

"Then why are you frightened of me?" Emmett asked, his tone totally exasperated.

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are," he bit out. "You very definitely are. I only have to come within three feet of you and you get the jitters, stammering when you never stammer with anyone else. The only time you speak normally with me is when you're so infuriated, you forget your fear. Esme tells me all the time that I'm a natural bully, so I suppose that might explain some of your reactions. But I have to tell you, Isabella, I can't abide it. I can't abide it at all!"

"I-I'm sorry."

"See what I mean?"

She hung her head, unhappy and humiliated.

"Don't do that!" he ordered. "Look up at me!"

She did so, her eyes blurring with tears.

His groan sounded tortured. "I've done it again. Hell, I don't mean to. I really don't. God, don't cry. I can't stand it."

Before Bella could resist, he had drawn her into his arms, holding her tight and stroking her hair. "I mean you no harm," he rasped. "Honestly…if I have been brusque, then I apologize. But you've no idea…how difficult…I have found all this. God, if only you weren't so…so…"

His arms tightened around her for a few astonishing moments before he abruptly out her away from him, his breathing ragged, but his face as grim as ever. Grimmer, maybe. "I'm sorry," he ground out. "I've made a mess of things with you, as usual. Go to bed. I'll try to do better in future."

Whirling, he disappeared down the stairs, Bella staring after him. Her own breathing was as ragged as his had been, her head spinning.

Good heavens, she thought breathlessly, and stared down at the palms of her hands which were still tingling from where they'd rested against the hard expanse of his chest. Why hadn't she used them to push him away? Why had she simply spread her fingers wide, placed her cheek between them and sagged into him?

She supposed there was some excuse for her wallowing in the warmth and comfort of his embrace. It had felt so good to be held and stroked, his strong arms like a haven from all her recent pain and distress.

She hadn't thought there would be any harm in it. Or danger.

She just hadn't thought.

It was still hard to believe that what happened had happened.

Emmett…aroused. Emmett…desiring her. Emmett…not a cold, unfeeling machine after all.

There had been nothing cold or unfeeling about what had risen between them, pressing its hard, throbbing life into her stomach.

Her shock was still with her an hour later as she lay in bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. For the first time since coming to live in this mansion, her nighttime thoughts were not of Anthony, or of her coming child. Her mind was occupied trying to recapture the very moment she'd become aware of Emmett's arousal, when she's realized what it was she could feel.

There was no doubt in her mind that he hadn't pushed her away immediately. He'd given in to his frustration for a few seconds before his conscience had got the better of him.

Of course, none of it meant anything. Not really. Everyone knew men were much more easily aroused than women. Emmett might as easily have been turned on by hugging any number of women. It didn't man he particularly fancied her. He couldn't! Why, he didn't even like her. She irritated the death out of him.

But Bella was still disturbed. She wished it hadn't happened. How was she going to face him in the morning? It was awkward, and embarrassing, and…and…

She rolled over and punched her pillow. Several times. It didn't make her feel any better. In fact, it made her feel much worse, reminding her forcibly of her earlier irrational behavior with the hat.

"I am going to sleep," she told herself out loud. "I am not going to get up. I am not going to go downstairs. I am not going to risk running into Emmett again tonight."

Bella repeated this litany of advice over and over and, eventually, she did fall asleep.

AN: Well? That is a long chapter and things are slowly but surely getting started. For those of you wondering about Emmett's first marriage, you will find out some of what happened and how that ended in divorce. Maybe your opinions will change about Emmett. As always, I want your reviews. The good, the bad and the ugly. Ask questions and I will answer them. For those who review, will recieve a sneak peek at chapter four. See you next week!