Chapter Two:

Telling Them

BPOV

I closed my eyes, thinking about Emmett. I hadn't let myself think about him, I couldn't let myself have time to think about him. I had never meant to keep Emerson a secret, but I was a mother, and I wasn't going to let the poison that was Rosalie Hale around my child. It hurt that I had to choose between a man I had cared about so deeply and my child, but I had made the only decision that there was to make.

It was eleven o'clock in the morning when I pulled up to Meyer's Park. Amazingly, this was the first trip I was going to have with Emerson on this playground. Every other time we had been home, it had been too cold or raining, and I wasn't going to subject him to the elements. And in the month I had been back, I was so busy with trying to reopen Swan's, I just hadn't had the time. Today though, the weather was nice and the sun was shining, which was abnormal for Forks in September. Jake had taken him here yesterday, so I knew that there would be things that were kid friendly for him. I felt the excitement bouncing off of him as he pulled me to the swings. He even tripped over his own feet a couple of times.

He must have gotten his clumsiness from my genes. One thing that I at least passed on to him.

After I brushed him off for the third time, I looked up and saw Alice standing by the slides with Edward and Jasper. I had been expecting Jasper, but not Edward. My heart seized in fear, hoping that Emmett's brothers would accept their nephew. I didn't approach them immediately, rather I got Emerson squared away in the sandbox with Angela's two twin brothers. I looked up and saw her sitting on the bench.

"Did you really think I would let you go through this alone?" Angela whispered quietly, handing me a coffee.

"I really appreciate it. How are the boys adjusting to your new work schedule?" I asked. Angela had custody of her twin brothers. Her mother had died in childbirth when Angela was a senior in college, and she had dropped everything to come back and help out with them. Her father died of a heart attack six months later. She had been working as a waitress at the diner, but needed something that paid more, so I gave her a job at Swan's.

"They are adjusting well, and luckily, Ben and his wife don't mind watching them until eleven."

I nodded, satisfied that the arrangement was working out well. I knew, far too well, on what could happen with single parents.

Whose fault was that though? The nagging voice in the back of my head said.

"Bella, you need to go talk to them. If it gets out of hand, I'll make sure to move Emerson out of earshot. I might even just take them for ice cream."

"Just remember he is allergic to bananas, and if he begins to have an asthma attack, his inhaler is in the front pocket of the diaper bag."

"I've got it Bella, just go on now before Alice explodes."

I walked over to where they were standing and tried to force a smile on my face, I just couldn't seem to do it though. Ever step I took felt like I was walking a death march over to them. Jasper's eyes seemed to be solely focused on my twenty month old though. Edward had a fairly intense look on his face, like he was trying to fully grasp the situation.

"He is like a mini Emmett," Edward whispered, staring out at the sandbox.

"Only calmer," Jasper pointed out.

"He doesn't stay calm," I assured him. "He can be quite a handful." Right on cue, Emerson shrieked and ran out of the sandbox. "Emerson McCarty Swan, if you step foot on that pavement, so help me . . ."

Emerson ran back to the sandbox, jumping in. "Boys," I muttered.

Edward let his gaze drift from the playground, and he looked over at me for the first time in almost three years.

"So this is why you dropped out of our lives," he said softly, keeping his voice low. It wasn't accusing me, it was just a fact.

I nodded, keeping my eyes toward the ground. I was ashamed that I had kept Emerson from meeting his family, but every time I thought about it, I came up with another excuse of as to why it wasn't needed at the moment.

"How old is my nephew?" Jasper asked, sitting on the edge of one of the slides.

"He will turn two on December sixteenth."

I could tell he was doing the math in his head, so I stopped him. "It happened the night that we were all together last."

"Emmett had a concussion," Edward said.

"One thing just kind of lead to another," I whispered. "I wanted to tell him, I tried to tell him, but Rosalie . . ."

"What does Rosalie have to do with this?" Jasper asked, his voice escalating. "He dumped that bitch two days before he was with you."

"No, they got back together . . . I saw them kissing on the front porch when I came back for dinner that night," I protested.

Edward scrubbed his hand over his face. "I don't know what you saw Bella, but I assure you he didn't want Rosalie Hale. He was walking around all day on cloud nine. Emmett had wanted you since we first moved to Forks, hell we all did."

I looked at them in shock.

"But, we have a strict 'Bros before Hoes' rule," Jasper clarified. "If all three of us wanted the same girl, none of us could ask her out. No girl was worth breaking up our family for."

I nodded understanding that rule.

"I had never seen him so fucking happy," Jasper said. "Then when you didn't come back, he was crushed. He never said why though."

I slumped down on the sand, staring out at Emerson.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Jasper and Edward said at the same time. It wasn't common that they did that but it was known to happen.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I called Emmett in Chicago," I told them.

"So he knew, and that fucker just left you alone for almost three years!" Edward raged. He got up and started pacing, running his hands through his hair. "I'm gonna kill him when I see him on Friday. Mom and Dad raised us better than this! That fucker is going to die!"

"No . . ." I interrupted him. I needed to calm his rage. This wasn't entirely Emmett's fault. It was mine. "I wasn't able to get a hold of him. Rosalie picked up at his apartment," I told them. "I never had the chance to tell him."

Tears started streaming down my face. I tried to brush them away. "I swear, none of this was intentional. I wanted Emmett to pursue his dream."

"Bella, it will be alright," Alice tried to comfort me.

"I thought I lost everything. I lost my chance with him Alice. He's back with Rosalie," I whispered. "She called me back, using caller ID. She yelled, basically saying that they were back together, and that there was no way in hell I was going to be able to talk with him. She told me that she was pregnant with his child, and that he would never leave her for me."

"You didn't tell me that last night." Alice draped her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug.

"Why would he want to be with someone like me, when he could have someone like Rosalie Hale?"

"Because Rosalie Hale is a bitch, sure she may be pretty to look at, but she is nothing but a pretty face," Edward said. "What she told you was all lies. They hadn't been back together since we were all together last. Emmett's been trying for the last three years to shake her, but she just doesn't take the hint."

"All this aside though, we still have to tell Mom and Dad," Jasper said. "Why don't you bring Emerson over for dinner tonight?"

"I couldn't spring him on them like this. You guys may be understanding, to a point, but I deprived you of a nephew, and you parents of a grandchild."

Edward nodded. "I'm still a little dazed, I mean, so many things could have been avoided if you could have just told someone. I have a nephew out there who is almost two. He doesn't know us. Has he ever asked about Emmett?"

"Not really," I said. "There is a picture of Emmett and me together by his crib. He knows that he has a dad, but doesn't really realize that there is supposed to be a dad around. Emerson has had some contact with other children, but I have been rather fortunate to have my father and Jake to be around. So far, he seems to be doing okay."

Jasper looked at me. "Bella, you are going to let us be a part of his life, right? I mean, you aren't going to cut us off from us, are you?"

"I never meant to cut you guys off, I just believed all of Rosalie's lies. I was hurt and alone. I didn't have anyone to turn to."

"You have us again," Jasper told me. "Even if Emmett runs scared, which I doubt he will, I know that without a doubt that Emerson will be a part of my life."

"Mine too," Edward piped up. "You aren't alone Bella. I'm sorry that you felt that you couldn't call me or talk to me."

"I just wanted to tell Emmett first . . ."

I gazed out, looking at Emerson running around with Whitman and Harper. To my surprise Carlisle and Esme were walking towards us. Esme stopped when she saw Emerson running right past her. She held a hand up to her mouth, presumably to cover her look of shock.

Jasper broke out into a sprint, as Edward tried to calm my breathing down.

"Just breathe Bella," he said soothingly. "Don't worry. They will be fine, we just have to let them adjust to the shock."

I looked over at Angela who got the gist. She quickly rounded up the kids and took them over to the local ice cream parlor.

"Jasper, what is the meaning of this?" Esme's normally soft voice could be heard throughout the playground.

"Mom, calm down," Jasper said. "There is no need to be upset."

"No need to be upset?" Esme screeched. "What the hell is going on?"

"Why is there a mini Emmett running around?" Carlisle asked, looking around. His eyes finally landed on me, and they widened in surprise.

He brought them over to where we were all sitting.

"How did you know we were here?" Edward asked, sitting down, next to his mother.

"I think that would be the least of our worries . . ."

"Esme," Carlisle said gently. "We were at the pharmacy picking up our prescriptions when Lauren Mallory asked us why we weren't down here playing with our grandson."

Damn Mallory family. I was going to have to TP their house something fierce on Halloween. This was getting out of control.

"I assured her that I didn't have any grandchildren," Esme said, finally bringing her voice back down. "Turns out I was wrong. Why didn't you say something to us?"

"Well the past year, you guys were at Oxford," I said.

"That doesn't make up for the two years before that . . ." Carlisle shouted. "We Cullens look out for each other, we had a grandson, which apparently everyone in this town knew about other than us!" He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It wasn't like that," I stated, trying to defend myself. "I was twenty-one! Scared, out of my mind. I tried to tell Emmett, but every time I tried, someone stood in the way!"

"Really, you could have tried harder!" Esme said. "He doesn't know us!"

"Mom, Dad, he may never get to know us if you keep acting like this," Jasper shouted, trying to calm them down.

"What! Are you saying she won't let us know our grandchild," she seethed. For the first time since I had met Esme Cullen, I recoiled from her.

I was getting ready to defend myself when blue lights flooded the park. Shit.

Dad had pulled up in his cruiser and was righting his belt when he came down the path to us.

"I got a call about a domestic disturbance here," he said.

God, could this day get worse.

"Seems like there was some shouting and yelling going on. One of the neighbors called this is," Dad informed us, slowly and softly. "Look, I know that you guys just found something out from Loud Mouth Mallory Junior that should have been told to you three years ago, but it didn't happen for some reason. You guys though are disturbing the peace of my town, and I'm going to have to ask you to lower your voices."

Carlisle looked up at Charlie. "Charlie, why didn't you tell us about Isabella being pregnant?"

"It wasn't my place to tell," he explained. "What Bella does with Emerson is her business. I can only advise her to do things. And for what it's worth, I asked her to tell you guys as soon as I figured it out. Stubborn girl refuses to tell anyone who the father is, she just keeps quiet about his parentage, but you can look at him and tell he is a Cullen, so the townsfolk have a 1 in 2 shot of getting this right."

"His name is Emerson?" Esme gasped.

"Yes," I said softly.

"Like after the famous poet?" Carlisle inquired. "I knew you always like literature. I would find you asleep in the office reading. He was your favorite."

"No. I named him Emerson because it sounding like Em's son. I know it's dorky, but that is the real reason. A lot of people assume though that he was named after Emerson, though."

I sighed, taking a deep breath.

"I never meant to keep anything from you. I always wanted Emerson to have you guys in his life, but Carlisle, you just got the position at Oxford and the guys were living their dreams. You know that Emmett would have focused on me throughout the pregnancy, and he had just gone pro. I wasn't going to take his dream like that. One night changed everything for me; it didn't have to change it for you guys as well. Emmett had the right to live his life with Rosalie."

"What does that bitch have to do with anything?" Carlisle grounded out.

I had never heard Carlisle use vulgar language, and wondered what exactly Rosalie did to this family to piss them off so much.

"She basically told Bella to stay the fuck away from Emmett when she tried to call him," Jasper explained.

Esme muttered something, but I couldn't quite make it out.

Charlie looked at me, gauging my level of comfort. "Look, I think it is safe to say that Bella isn't going to cut Emerson out of your lives. Some miscommunications and lies kept you guys from coming together, but that was in the past. You have to forgive and move toward the future, otherwise you will let your life just waste away because of something you can't change.

"Now, if you guys are done disturbing the peace, I saw my grandchild eating some ice cream with Angela. I will wait for you guys to calm down before I bring him back down here. This is a family town, regardless of all the newbies flocking in here. I count us lucky to live here, to be able to raise our children here. Keep it down."

"Yes sir," Jasper told him.

Carlisle nodded, walking with my dad up to the cruiser. They exchanged some words, but it didn't seem to be anything special. I looked over at Esme, trying to figure out what to say.

"Emerson," she breathed.

"Emerson McCarty Swan," I provided. "Emmett had told me that was your mother's maiden name and his middle name. I wanted to give him something of you. I never meant to hurt you; I just couldn't find the words to tell you. I hope you won't hate me forever."

"I think I'm just in shock," she replied.

Carlisle was coming back down the hill, looking shocked as well. He slid in next to me. "How did this happen?"

"Dad, I think we know how babies are made," Edward said, trying to lighten up the situation.

Carlisle shot him a look, causing him to look down.

"I mean, I didn't even know you two were dating," Esme said. "The boys always had a certain fondness for you and Alice, but weren't allowed to act on anything. You guys were the only two girls ever allowed in the brother's circle."

"We weren't dating," I sighed. "The night I pulled Emmett out of the water, something between the two of us shifted. One thing led to another, and well . . ." I trailed off, leaving the rest to the imagination. They didn't need to know everything.

"So you took advantage of my concussed son," Carlisle said, teasing me a little.

"It wasn't like that," I defended.

Nobody was taking advantage of anyone. We were both willing participants, we both wanted it. I couldn't say that I would take back that night, I loved my son.

"Relax Bells," Edward whispered. "He was just teasing you. Emmett concussed or not, would have wanted you. It became obvious to Jasper and I that his feelings for you were stronger than we ever imagined. And then when you jumped into the water to save him, it was obvious to us that there was something there."

"I couldn't let him drown. The water was so cold and icy, I was scared I wasn't going to be able to drag him out."

I closed my eyes thinking of that night again.

I shuddered with the images.

"Mommy!"

I opened my eyes and saw Emerson running straight for me.

"Hold you Mommy, hold you!"

I scooped him up, tossing him in the air and catching him. I wouldn't be able to do this much longer, he was getting bigger every second.

"Hmm, it my favorite flavor of Emerson! Rocky Road Emerson!"

I got up and started chasing him around the park, letting him get a couple of feet away from me before I scooped him up. I walked to where my father and Angela were and grabbed a wet one from the bag and scrubbed his face. I didn't want him meeting the Cullens with a messy face.

I picked him up and balanced him on my hip.

"Emerson, there are some very special people I want you to meet."

Carlisle had a steady hand on Esme, trying to keep her in place. I could tell that she was excited, but didn't want to freak poor Emerson out.

"Emerson, these are some very good friends of mine. Can you tell them hi?"

He nodded, ducking his head into my shoulder. I brushed his hair out of his face.

"Hi," he whispered shyly.

"I'm Carlisle." Carlisle told him, when I placed Emerson on the ground. Carlisle crouched down to in front of him, and Carlisle smiled. Emerson looked at me, and I nodded.

"It's okay baby," I tried to explain to him.

Emerson touched Carlisle's knee, smiling back at him. Emerson was sizing him up, and he put his hands on his hips, swaying slightly. "My sons all did that at your age," he said smiling. Carlisle picked Emerson up and perched him on his hip. He smoothed away Emerson's curls, making me smile.

He started squirming after a minute, which really wasn't a surprise to me. Emerson really wasn't the kind of boy to sit still for long. He ran over to my bag and pulled out his little football - a gift from Jake - and it just happened to be his favorite. Like father, like son.

"Play?" He asked, running back over to Carlisle.

"Sure thing buddy. Can Jasper and Edward join?"

Emerson looked at his two uncles and smiled. He reached over and touched Jasper's hair, studying it. He then touched his own hair, as if he was putting things together in his mind.

"Like me?" he whispered.

"Yeah, I have blonde hair like you," Jasper smiled, raising up to his knees. "Wanna play?"

He picked up the child size football and tossed it at Edward.

"I get Emerson," Jasper cried, picking up Emerson and running to the field.

"Why not me?" Edward pouted, running after them. "Dad is an old man!"

"I resemble that remark," Carlisle said, running after them.

"Oh dear Lord," Esme muttered sitting next to me on the bench. She reached over and grabbed my hand. "Bella?"

"Yes Esme?" My voice sounded foreign. I was nervous, anxious.

"I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't come to us, but now that we know, what is going to happen? I can't go on pretending that he doesn't exist," Esme said, watching them run around the field.

"I don't expect for you to. How much contact you guys want with Emerson is entirely up to you. I don't expect anything from you, how can I? I kept a huge secret for almost three years, and I didn't do it to try to hurt you . . ."

"I know dear," Esme said quietly. "I just hated that I had to hear it from Loud Mouth Mallory Jr."

I watched as Carlisle lobbed the ball gently to Emerson as he caught it, and ran to Jasper. "I was going to tell you, tonight. Alice and I made plans to tell you over dinner, it just didn't turn out the way we planned. I'm just grateful that you haven't flipped out and tried to kill me."

"Sweetheart, we all make mistakes."

I scoffed, and Esme smiled.

"Granted, Emmett is just as accountable for you. Did he try to call you at all?" Alice asked. "I know he talked about it."

"No, never," I said. "If Edward was right about it meaning something, then Emmett would have called, he would have tried, but he didn't." I rationalized, staring off at my baby. Maybe it meant more to me then it did to him.

It was almost one when I saw Emerson yawn. It was definitely time for his nap, and I wasn't going to let him skip it. The last time I did, he had a major meltdown in the middle of the Thriftway. I wasn't wanting to go through that again.

"Emerson, five minutes, and then you have to go down for a nap," I shouted.

Right then I got four similar pouts from all four Cullen men. Esme let out a loud laugh.

Alice giggled. "That was priceless. You would think you were taking away their favorite toy."

I started shaking out some of his sand toys and packed up all the toys that were scattered around.

"Will you two please come for dinner tonight?" Esme asked. "I would like more time with him."

I nodded.

"Is there anything he is allergic to?"

"Bananas. He is pretty picky right now, living off hotdogs and chicken nuggets."

She smiled. "Edward is allergic to bananas, Jasper peanut butter. Emmett still loves hotdogs and chicken nuggets. Emmett will be home on Friday. You have a couple of days to figure out how you are going to tell him."

"I know," I replied quietly. I only hoped that Emmett would be accepting of his son as well as his family was.

AN: I want to thank everyone who put me on author alert/story alert/favorite author list. Awesome. To my reviewers, you asked for speedy updated, I was able to do this, but don't get too used to it unless the city shuts down again because of snow.

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