Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing in her sandbox.

Chapter 27 Siblings

Emmett POV

"Alice, you've put me off for days now and I've shopped till I dropped on more than one occasion. I promise you, if you don't fit in a hunting day soon Jasper and I will go hunt some of the wildlife in downtown Rio!", I threatened.

"Emmett! You most certainly will do no such thing!", Rosalie yelled at him, "It hasn't even been two weeks since you hunted and you can wait just a little longer, you're not that thirsty! You drank just before we left Highlands!"

"Ah Rose! I really want to hunt Anacondas while we're here. It might take more than one day to find really big ones!", I pleaded with her.

"Well, Emmett, if it's okay with everyone, let's go today", Alice offered.

"Thank God . . . ", Jasper muttered.

"Jaz! Were you really wanting to go, too?", Alice asked him as she crossed the room to sit in his lap on the sofa.

"It's not so much that I'm thirsty, darlin', it's just that I don't know how much longer I can stand the anxiety and frustration that's rolling off Emmett. He's making me crazy with this need he has to hunt big snakes."

"Alright then, I packed us a couple of changes of clothing in those backpacks by the door, I see some of us getting really messy on this hunt. We need to leave in order to be back here by the time Carlisle and Esme arrive on Thursday. Emmett, get up and let's get on with this if you're so anxious", Alice prodded me.

She didn't have to tell me twice! I grabbed a backpack and was out the door in a flash, not even waiting for Rose - which I regretted as soon as she caught up to me!

"You big dumb ox, we would have to go North two days to get closer to the Amazon to find the kind of snakes you're looking for! I checked on it for you and reserved a small plane to take us there next week, after Esme and Carlisle leave - kind of a birthday present for you!", Rose said.

I picked her up and swung her around, kissing her as hard as I could! I thought she was going to yell at me some more when she caught up to me. I never expected her to go along with my crazy idea about the snakes, much less arrange it for me! Man, I need to be nicer to my Rosie, she was one of a kind!

"So what are we hunting today if it's not snakes?", I asked.

"Jaguar", Jasper answered as he came through the revolving door of the hotel. The bellman looked at him as he handed him our ticket so that the valet could get the car. "Not the car, the car is just a rental, not a Jaguar!"

The valet looked confused but walked off to get our car never the less.

"There is a reserve not too far from here, we should find some reasonable hunting there. Jaguars aren't that big but they are supposedly very powerful and fast, Emmett".

"Alright, as long as it is something new I guess it's better than nothing for today, till we can go where the snakes are", I answered.

"You know there are very large wild boars here. Have we ever tried boar?", Rosalie asked.

"I don't ever remember us trying these large ones, at least not while I have been with you guys", Alice added.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement that we hadn't gone after large boar before, so I guessed that was on the menu as well! The car arrived and Alice moved to the drivers door.

"Alrigh, it's decided then", Alice said, "I'll take us to the place I've been seeing all morning - no humans for miles and lots of wild game. About two hours away! Everyone ready?"

We were all in the car and underway. Traffic in Rio was congested even at this early hour. Not congested in the normal way, all cars and people trying to get to work, but bicycles, pedestrians, carts, animals, you name it. It was a different way of life down here and kind of fun to notice the differences. After a while there were fewer people and less congestion in the streets. The vegetation was thick on the sides of the road and the mountains in the distance were amazing.

I always did love the mountains, guess that's what got me killed in the first place, tracking bear in the mountains. I was doing just that when Rose found me and took me from a bear. Thank God. I love my new life! I have no time limits and I can do whatever I want, go wherever I want and I have Rose! Thanks to the Cullens, I have no worries about money, that is about limitless, too!

"Hey Alice, the baby that Eddie is having, is it a vamp or is it human? How does that work anyway, I didn't think we could have kids!", I asked.

"Apparently you guys are still fertile, Emmett, but I have no idea about their baby. I can see them with a child, I can see it playing in the yard with Edward with his crazy hair on its head so it has to be his child he's playing with, but I really can't tell that much about it", Alice answered.

"You keep saying 'it'', Alice, "is it a girl or a boy?"

"Emmett, I can't tell you that. Bella and Edward need to tell me if they want to know the sex first. Edward would just read it from your mind and then the surprise would be spoiled", Alice said.

"He'll just read it from your mind, too, darlin'", Jasper added, "You can't block him for 9 months!"

"Well, according to Carlisle, she will only be pregnant for six months and there are only five left, so clearly the vampire part is playing a role in changing the normal human time frame. I just wonder what else it's changing", Alice said with a worried expression on her face.

"I just wonder what the baby will be like . . . will it want blood or human food and will it sleep like they do? What about growing up, will it grow up and get old? I just don't understand how something like this will work, Alice."

"None of us do, Rose. We just have to wait and see. Maybe Carlisle will know more about it when he hears back from some of his contacts", Alice said.

"Well, one thing is for sure - Bella knew just how to handle Edward, waiting till she had him out on an island alone to tell him", Jasper laughed, "He couldn't yell at anyone or panic or do anything but listen to her and apparently she really wants this baby. The feelings coming from her the last few days before they left, they all make sense now. She was so strong, content . . . just amazing. I guess she needed all that to keep Edward calm, he must have just lost it when he found out! I wold have loved to have been there just to see the expression on his face when she said she was pregnant!"

"He wasn't as wild as you would think. She calmed him right down, as soon as he quit being a statue and she could get a response out of him at all! I don't know how she anticipates our reactions, vampires I mean, the way she does. She always seems to give him just what he needs", said Alice.

"Well, I don't know what to think. At least now she'll put off letting him turn her, she'll be human a little longer at least because of the baby. Maybe once she has the baby, she'll see what she almost gave up and decide to remain human", Rose added.

"Rose, you aren't thinking of Edward at all. What do you think he will be like to live with if he has a family for a few years and then they get old and die and he is alone again! If he could even manage to exist without them, he would be worse than he was before. I hope he turns her as soon as she has the baby. If she has a problem with the baby, human blood and all if the kid's human then they can go off somewhere for a year or so and leave the kid with us till she can control herself. She needs to be a vampire . . . soon. Eddie can't be careful with her forever, sooner or later he's gonna slip and she's gonna get hurt. Think of what he would be like then, Rose!", I told her.

"Whatever you guys, I'm thirsty and I think we are here", Jasper added excitedly.

The idea of tracking big cars was always exciting, but the 500 pound boar sounded like lots more fun. We parked the car and headed off into the jungle. We hadn't gone far. 30 miles or so, when I caught something on the wind. The others must have a well as we all stopped to listen and smell.

Sure enough, it was a familiar yet unfamiliar smell . . . definitely big cat, but not one I had hunted before. I motioned for Jaz to take the lead and he was off. The cat was upwind so we had the advantage, coming across him as he was drinking near a stream. There was no contest, Jaz had him in seconds and I grabbed the other one before it could take off.

Really unusual to find several of them at once but I guess it was just that it was a favorite watering hole or something for them. Rose and Alice had found a herd of some form, funny looking little things lots smaller than deer but apparently a lot faster! They had managed to only get the one each before the herd took off and that was really weird. Usually when we found a herd, we went ahead and killed a couple each, then took the time to feed. These little suckers had to be like lightening to have avoided Rose and Alice!

We all climbed the top of a rock outcropping to sit for awhile and look at the view. The jungle was gorgeous, lush trees and vegetation everywhere like you see in books. The wind was in our faces, blowing from the valley below. All of a sudden, we heard a growl from behind us and I turned around just in time to see a large cat leap in our direction. It took me a split second. I could not remember an animal ever attacking us, well unless we were hunting it and it was defending itself. This cat had stalked us and was on the attack! Ha! This was awesome! I grabbed the cats paws and rolled it to one side, me and it a tangled mess of limbs and fur flying. I won, of course. The cat lay on the ground, its neck broken as we rolled, even before I sank my teeth into its neck. Man, everyone was thrilled with this kill! Alice literally bounded up and down with excitement wringing her hands together. Jasper was getting off in triplicate by absorbing the excitement and thrill around him. None of us could remember a time when an animal had attacked us! It was just unheard of!

I think all the excitement got channeled somewhat into lust as each couple went off on their own for a little while. We all had the same idea . . . sex in the jungle. Rose and I found a wide field that was halfway up one of the hills that had a view of the area. It was covered in tall ferns that were kind of soft when you crushed them down, not that it really mattered. I spent the next few hours making love with my wife and didn't break a single bed or even knock down any trees. That was really amazing. Well, we did kind of pulverize a stand of small shrubs and the rock outcropping they were growing out of, but that seemed minor. It was the side of a cave entrance, and a larger entrance could only be good for whatever lived in there anyway!

Finding our clothes was kind of hard. The undergrowth was so thick, I guess I really should have paid attention to where I threw each piece. Rose was really mad about some bra that she really liked and apparently we weren't leaving till we found it. Huh. I should have just put it all in one pile if I had been paying attention.

The bra turned up after about a ten minute search and our siblings were not far behind. We all headed out to go back to the car when we heard a scraping, thudding kind of a noise. It was an odd kind of a sound, odd at least till I realized it was a heavy animal pawing at the ground. That was odd, usually animals ran from us as soon as they got a whiff. In fact, every animal ran when they smelled us, they just knew that we were predators that were higher up on the food chain than they were, except for the cat I had just killed that is.

As we looked more carefully, we saw him. Had to be a couple hundred pounds, not so big but full of fire. Maybe he was just stupid, challenging us like that, but it didn't matter, I had him in a matter of minutes and his squealing stopped flat when I sunk my teeth into his neck. The fluid in my mouth was different than anything I had ever had, kind of salty even, more than normal. I watched the others as they caught the scent of something and took off West.

I finished my meal and headed off after them only to see Alice faced off with about a five or six hundred pound version of the boar I had just drank from. Apparently she had found the parent and they were facing off, the boar pawing the ground and growing at Alice. I had to hand it to these things, they really had balls. We had never found another animal that would stand and fight like that, except of course a cat when we had them cornered or the one that had just attacked us back on the rocks. These guys seemed to act like they enjoyed bullying other animals around and thought they stood a chance at winning! I liked that about them. Never enough fight in it for me I liked a challenge to get my dinner!

Alice had only to jump on the animals back once she tired of listening to his antics. Her leap was precise, about 20 yards and she had its neck snapped and was drinking before the animal really settled onto the ground from where it had been standing. Damn that little pixie was quick, even if there wasn't much to her.

"Five bucks says she can't finish draining it", I offered to bet Jasper.

"You can keep your money, that thing is four times her size and she already fed. There is no way she can drink all that!", Jasper replied.

"You guys are all full of it! You think she's some kind of a wimp just because she's a girl?", Rose added, "Neither of you could drink that thing by yourself either!"

"Okay, Rosie. I don't think she can finish it even if you help her, what about that!", I shouted.

"Rose, get over here. They are about to offer us two days of shopping and nightclubbing without complaining about it if we can do it!", Alice said as she looked up from her kill.

"That's right, that's the offer if you can do it. Otherwise its two days of what Jasper and I want to do, no complaints!", I threw in.

"Done", Rose said as she walked over and knelt by the huge beast, sinking her teeth into the opposite side of its neck from Alice.

It took them awhile, almost ten minutes to finish, but they did finish every drop. Jasper reminded me never to bet him in on a bet with me as he now had to suffer along with me. I'm not sure he minded though, Jasper was pretty much okay with anything Alice wanted to do just as long as they were together. I liked that about him, even if I wasn't like that at all. I enjoyed Rose's company but shopping just wasn't my thing and I hated every minute of it, even when she let me have sex with her in the dressing rooms, I still preferred not to accompany her. I just really hated shopping I guess.

After we conceded the loss and complemented them on their drinking abilities, although being able to drink too much was probably not a good thing, we headed back to the car. Night was falling now and the jungle had lots of sounds. Lots of the sounds stopped as we neared, fear I suppose, but it was cool to listen to the ones that were still there. It wasn't as though they could hear us, we wee deadly silent as we moved - the definition of stealth. It was a vampire thing, it came with the strength and all of our other attributes, including great night vision. Good thing too, I had never seen dark like it was dark here. A human wouldn't stand a chance of finding their way in this pitch blackness with undergrowth chest high and animals probably lurking all around. In our case, they were hiding and waiting for us to pass by.

We arrived back at the Copa around ten, just in time to have the girls spend a couple of hours getting ready to go out. Rio nightlife didn't really crank up till after midnight, so there was plenty of time. Jasper and I finished showering and dressing in no time and found ourselves both out on the balcony looking over the ocean.

"What do you think it's like, Jasper, being with a human? Have you ever done it?", I asked him as we both leaned on the railing.

"Well, not since I was changed. I had many a young ladies favor before that, while I was still human. Being an officer, the ladies were all over me and it would have been impolite to refuse their offers, after all. I don't remember much about it, except that they were warm and it was a pleasure, but I haven't been with a human since being a vampire. I have no idea how he does it. I would never get that far, to make love to them I mean. I would smell them, maybe be able to be alone in an enclosed room, start a kiss . . . maybe just before I drained them. The burning in his throat alone has to be almost unbearable."

"Yea, that's what I thought and yet he manages to do it for hours at a time. I have no idea how. Maybe it doesn't burn his throat anymore, maybe he is immune to it now after all these months", I said.

"No, he isn't immune. I feel his pain from time to time and the conflict in him. He ignores it, the need for her is stronger that the pain and he remembers how unbearable it was without her. It lets him be with her, but I have no idea how he controls his strength enough to actually be with her and still have it be enjoyable at all to him. He has to be barely moving and barely stoking her, otherwise wouldn't he hurt her?", mused Jasper, "We have to be so careful even just shaking hands with them, can you imagine an holding a woman, naked next to you and not squeezing too tight!"

"I have no idea. I would have turned her long ago so that I could hit it hard. I don't know how he's doing it and now with her pregnant, doesn't he have to be even more gentle with her? I don't know, Jasper. It just seems to be a messed up situation if you ask me. If he had just turned her to begin with she would be one of us and they would be a normal couple, we could all go do normal things. I have to admit, it does make us look a whole lot more believable as humans when she is with us and actually eats the meal she ordered", I laughed.

"Or trips over her own feet", added Jasper, "She really is a riot to be around."

~oooOooo~

Rosalie POV

"You boys ready to go", I asked at the glass door to the balcony.

"Sure Rosie". I said turning to face her, "Wow! you look amazing!"

Well at least the dress had the desired effect. Emmett was twirling me around, his approval evident from what I felt against my leg. Jasper had what appeared to be a similar reaction to Alice, kissing her passionately on the balcony.

"Ladies, we had better get going before we keep the both of you in for the rest of the evening", Jasper offered.

"Oh no you don't. a bet is a bet and we have the two of you captive for two days of fun!", Rose reminded us.

"Rose, I could make staying in lots of fun, I promise", Emmett said as he let my body slide down his till my feet touched the floor, palming my breast as he spoke.

I slapped his hand away, giggling like a schoolgirl instead of getting mad at him. I took his hand and led him towards the door, "Come on, you own me a good time!"

"Rose! I'm trying to give you a good time! Right here! Bed! Fun! Remember?", Emmett pleaded.

"Not a chance, sailor! You are taking me dancing this evening, then we'll see about the bed and the fun!", I said as I led him towards the elevator.

Jasper and Alice were laughing as we took the elevator down to the lobby of the hotel and headed out into the streets of Rio. It was carnival, and everyone was out to have fun. There were bands in the street and dancing everywhere.

We made a spectacle of ourselves, of course. I was an excellent dancer and the natural grace and beauty that being vampires afforded us naturally attracted humans. We found the street cleared in a space where just the four of us danced and twirled around, apparently putting on quite the show. It didn't matter, the lighting was low and diffused, so we appeared as human as the next person, just really good at dancing and I guess really attractive as I watched the faces of the onlooking men.

The first rays of morning found us still dancing, having the time of our lives. Even the boys were happy until Alice mentioned that the stores opened for shopping in just a few short hours.

"Rose! What about time alone, at the hotel . . . in bed?", Emmett asked with an eyebrow raised, "We're not skipping that part and going straight to the shopping are we?"

"Course not, baby. Let's go", I whispered into his ear.

Alice and Jasper heard, of course and seemed just as anxious to get back to the hotel.

We regrouped around 10 am, an hour or so after the shops opened but late enough to appease the boys. . . as well as the girls! Alice was in full shopping mode, having routed our path to take us to all the best shops in town. I had no idea how she knew which ones they were, much less where they were unless she had spent some hours on the internet doing research. It must have been in the days prior because the noises I heard coming from their room the last few hours didn't sound like they had anything to do with the internet or a computer.

I had no idea that the shops here would deliver our purchases to the hotel, or maybe it was just some service the Copacabana Palace offered. I didn't know. What I did know was that it allowed Alice to take us to shop after shop with no realization of just how many things we were purchasing, as there were never any bags with us! By the time the sun was setting we had made the circuit that she had planned for us and headed back to the hotel. We had just boosted the economy of the country by at least some small percentage, I was sure of it. Even I had not swiped my card that many times in quite a few years.

We were going to need an extra room. Seriously. There was no available floorspace other than a path to get to each bedroom from the front door. The entire common sitting room was covered in bags! It only took Alice a short time to unpack and sort what was for who, putting mine and Emmetts' things on my bed for me to hang and put away and those for Edward, Bella, Carlisle and Esme in the third bedroom. Her things along with Jaspers' were put away in a flash as well. The only tell tale evidence of the shopping trip were the bags neatly sitting in the extra bedroom, waiting on Carlisle and Esme to arrive.

It wasn't much of a wait. We had just started dressing to go out when Mom and Dad came in the door, smiling from ear to ear they were so glad to see us. Esme was always happiest when she had all the 'kids' in one place.

Though Esme was never the avid shopper like Alice, she enjoyed clothing and loved looking at all the new pieces Alice had bought for her.

"We saved the shops I thought you would like best for tomorrow, Esme. I saw you arriving.", Alice told her, sitting on the bed in her bedroom.

"I don't know if we will be clothes shopping tomorrow, dear, I think Carlisle has something else in mind . . . and he wants to check on Bella. Have you heard from them?", Esme asked, a concerned look crossing her features.

"I called them day before yesterday, just to check on them, but it has been what, almost 10 days since she told him. They sound fine and everything I see is wonderful but it's best not to look right now", Alice told us.

"Why in the world would you not look, Alice! you need to make sure they are well, that Bella is alright!", Esme exclaimed curtly to Alice.

Carlisle walked into the room and put his hands on Esme's shoulders as she sat on the bed to comfort her. Their concern for their youngest daughter was apparent, Carlisles' face lined with worry.

"Mom . . . Bella declared it a 'no clothing' vacation. I really have no desire to see my brother naked and most of the time, they are busy doing something I don't want to see anyway!", Alice told Esme, defending her reluctance to look in on the couple, "Victoria is up in Canada watching Jacob, so I saw no danger to Bella . . . other than from Edward".

"Yes, well, that may become quite a problem in itself. She is needing him more and more and he is finding his control harder and harder to manage. I only hope he can continue to not hurt her. The effects would be devastating for him as well as for her. Edward would never forgive himself. Anyway, I need to get there so I thought we could go over in the morning", Carlisle insisted.

"Okay, but we are supposed to call first, Bella asked us to. I'm serious Dad, they haven't even opened their suitcases except for one shirt and then only because Bella was starting to get a sunburn! They were not even at the house when Gustavo and Kature cleaned and restocked the kitchen, they only talked to them by phone. Something about bringing new pillows and cleaning up feathers, but I can't see clearly what that is about.", Alice told us.

We all laughed. Just the thought of my uptight, turn of the century morals brother walking around stark naked for over a week was beyond my ability to imagine. I couldn't wait to see Bella knowing that she was pregnant. She probably didn't look pregnant, but just knowing was enough to make me see her differently. This was going to be an interesting few months for us all!