Emmett Pov

One good thing about coming back home after Bella admitted how her mother died, was that Edward heard that in his mind, because Emmett couldn't stop thinking about it, and stopped mid sentence in demanding they talk to Bella soon about getting the full story out of her.

Emmett stood in the main room of the house, and looked around at his family, his eyes searching for his mate. If Rosie hadn't been found by Carlisle that night, as she lay dying after the brutal rapes she'd endured, she would have died just like Bella's mother. A brutal, horrific ending of a life so precious to him. He understood how Bella felt, when she said her mom, her MOM, had gone through that. There was nothing to do but repeat it in your head, and he ached that Bella understood the pain he lived with, and he hated himself a little in that he'd been grateful it was Bella's mother, and not Bella herself. That she hadn't come to him quite as damaged as his Rosalie had been. "I think we should go hunting." He told her once he's spotted her. He didn't want to tell her what he'd learned, he'd rather never tell her, but he didn't want it to come out as a surprise to her. That would be worse.

"I'm reading, and I went a few days ago. So did you." Rosalie spoke up softly, stubbornly and Emmett sighed heavily.

"Rosalie, for once, just do what your husband says." Edward spoke and his words were cutting, but his tone wasn't. Emmett glanced at Edward to see he had his head in his hands.

Rosalie looked up, her eyes hard for a moment, but when she saw Emmett, they widened. "Emmett?"

"I think we'll need to hunt." He told her flatly and she stood up and put the book down on the seat she'd been on. Her expression was wary and he tried to give her a reassuring smile. They left without saying much else to anyone, but Alice's expression was serious and she nodded to him, so it was some reassurance that he was doing this the right way. They ran from the house and he took her much further than was needed for privacy, deep into the woods so no one would hear them.

"What is it?" She asked when he stopped.

"I found out how Bella's real mother died." He moved to lean on a boulder, as he watched his mate go from puzzled to concerned. Rosalie's eyes pierced him as he forced himself to finish what he'd started. "She was attacked like you were."

Bella wasn't touched in the same way as Rose had been, but the same violence had ripped her apart and Emmett hated that. He hadn't been able to tell the others, it wasn't something you shared casually, but he had to tell Rose. Rose stared at the trees, her arms wrapped around her body, as the words sunk in. He flinched when she started to growl and he stood still and watched as she tore down trees with her bare hands. Once she slowed down he moved slowly to stand in front of her, and pulled her gently into his arms. His shirt still smelled of Bella and Rosalie was taking deep breaths of the scent. "Wasn't her, it wasn't her." Was muttered into his chest with too much desperation and he held Rosalie tight. She'd gone to the same place in her mind that he had. It was horrible for Bella, but it wasn't her, thank god it wasn't her.

The wildlife population suffered that night. She'd looked haunted for a few days, but only when she was home, being quiet, at school Rose put in an amazing effort to be normal, to treat Bella normally, and to not bring it up. She wasn't completely successful though, because Emmett noticed that Rosalie held Bella's hand quite a bit in Biology class, just under the table, where no one else would see. Bella had given him a concerned look a time or two, but she'd just let Rosalie do whatever she needed to do, and Emmett loved that about Bella.

For having shared something so painful, Bella seemed to be doing well. She was a little more touchy with Emmett, resting her hand on his arm at times, or leaning against him. She'd never treated him strangely, she didn't have the abused vibe that he'd gotten off of Rosalie when they first got together, but she was far more comfortable with him now. Even the others had noticed, and he'd gotten a few raised eyebrows, but no one asked.

The strange quiet agreement to leave Bella alone lasted a week, before Edward brought the 'story' up again. "I think it's time to approach her about that story now." Edward said from his place at the piano, while most of them sat in the main room.

"I agree." Jasper added and Rosalie didn't look upset so Emmett waited to hear the rest. "Perhaps Rosalie can ask her this weekend, since you two have called 'dibs' on her." He gave Emmett a small smirk, and Emmett shook his head with a little grin. Sending Rose after Bella was almost as unfair as sending Jasper after her with his powers. "Bella's a bit of a wreck, trying to plan your 'date'." Jasper teased and Emmett sent a wave of amusement toward him as Edward's lips pursed in disapproval.

"Well, what are you two doing for your date with her next week? Maybe that would give her some ideas." He raised his eyebrows meaningfully.

"Nothing that interesting." Alice spoke up from her place on the couch, and she didn't even look up from her book. "If you don't want to be stuck with a movie marathon, you had better tell Bella something. She won't make plans for your money, and she just started her new job, so she has no money of her own."

"Well, if we're trying to romance the 'story' out of her," Rosalie spoke up and Emmett loved how she said that, as if it really were a seduction. It was a hint that Rose was feeling better, to even be able to tease like this again. They were all fucking with Edward, because he'd made one too many insinuations about the couples taking Bella out. "Perhaps we could take her to a nice beach. It's supposed to be warm but overcast isn't it Alice?"

"Yes, no sun on the Washington coast all weekend." Alice spoke as if she were a weatherman, all while never looking up from the Anita Blake book in her hand. "You might even be able to get Charlie's permission to take his daughter overnight, he has fishing plans for Sunday."

"We can 'take' her all day and night?" Emmett teased wickedly and Edward made a disgusted sound. "That sounds downright fun."

"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" Alice smirked as she answered him.

"Stop it, stop it, it's despicable to joke about a woman's virtue like this." Edward finally cracked.

"Yes, but it's born again virtue." Jasper spoke up, "Not as virtuous."

"You fought so hard to stay with her and be her friend, but what kind of friends are you?" Edward accused with a harsh voice.

"I believe that would be friends with benefits." Emmett added with a grin. That sent Edward outside. Emmett wasn't the only one who chuckled when that happened.

"Did you really want to try the beach? Where is a good one?" Emmett asked Rosalie more seriously after they'd driven Edward away.

Alice spoke up again, this time lowering the book. "I know of a place with private access to the beach and a private hot tub. It's like a cabin on the beach."

"Oh, I like that." Rosalie spoke up. Emmett realized that Rose was serious about an overnight stay. She looked more herself than she had all week, the haunted look in her eyes was gone.

"She's going to have to work Friday night, and she really is bad about early mornings." Alice warned them.

"But she is willing to sleep in the car." Rosalie added as she clearly started to plan the weekend.

"She'll need some clothes, I didn't see any swimsuits in her room." Alice started to smile. "I'll pick something up for you to give her."

"Before you get too far, shouldn't we actually call her and ask if she likes the idea?" Emmett finally had to say.

Alice paused and stared at the wall, before she smiled. "She'll love it." Rose's smile at those words was radiant and Emmett felt a soft ache in his chest at seeing it, it was beautiful, and it was real.

…

Bella Pov

"So, your new job," Charlie sat at the dining table with dinner in front of him, talking. Bella smiled just a little at the way he tried so hard. "How was it?"

"A little cold." Bella told him with a small smile when he rolled his eyes. "It isn't bad. I'll have to develop more willpower, obviously, or I'll gain thirty pounds over the summer." She worked at the ice cream parlor. It made sense to her, they'd need someone to work more in the warmer months, and that was what she needed. Alice agreed they would keep her busy all summer, and that was worth believing, because Bella needed a car, and once she had a car she could get a better job. She had it planned. "My arm is a bit sore, I don't have scooping muscles yet." Charlie chuckled at her.

"You did tell them about that week in June?" He asked and Bella sighed heavily.

"Yeah, and the one in August too, they were fine with it." Bella was going to the wedding in June, but she wasn't planning the thing. She'd be there four days and Bella wasn't going to any more doctors. No treatment would happen without Charlie's approval, he'd put his foot down and Bella was relieved. He also made it very clear that Bella was happy living with him and didn't want to leave. She hadn't seen the argument, but he'd told her what he'd managed to make clear to Renee.

Just after dinner was over the phone rang. Charlie picked it up as Bella was putting her dishes in the dishwasher. "Bells, it's for you." That was still odd to hear whenever it happened, but Bella took the phone.

"Alice said you had no ideas, so I came up with a little trip." Rosalie spoke and her voice was animated. "We want you for Saturday and Sunday, because we're going to the beach, a real beach not the one we have here. It's a little place near Ocean Shores."

Bella started to smile as she realized they were planning a tiny little vacation with her. "Charlie, Rose wants me to go with her to Ocean Shores this weekend."

"That's a big drive Bells, we have closer beaches." Charlie looked a bit puzzled.

"Tell him we have a hotel room, and Esme's willing to lie about being a chaperone." Rose told her. Bella pulled the phone from her face before talking again.

"Esme got us some rooms at a place there and we'll get to play for two days." She smiled at him. It still felt odd to have to ask once in a while, but she did and right now she was hoping she would get a yes. Rose sounded so thrilled with her plans and that was enough reason to want to go. Rose had been a little odd for a week, a little clingy and Bella was fine with that, but it concerned her. The timing was clear, as soon as Emmett knew how Bella's mother died, Rosalie was both withdrawn and clingy. Bella knew how Rosalie's last night as a human had gone, it had been very hard to read in the books, and her heart ached even more to think about it now that she knew the blonde vampire.

"Alright, alright, but the boys better not be sharing a room with you." He muttered. Bella didn't bother pointing it out to him that he was still worrying about boys when it was women he should worry about. Making him aware of that wasn't in her best interest if she still wanted to do sleep overs and such with Alice or Rosalie, without having to explain to him why that was still okay.

"We'll pick you up at eight in the morning on Saturday." Rosalie's words started to make her regret saying yes. "But you can sleep in the back on the way there if you need to. I'll keep Emmett quiet for you. Alice is getting you something you can wear, because you need a bathing suit."

"The ocean might be a bit cold for me." Bella spoke up with a grimace. She'd have fun on the beach, but cold water wasn't fun.

"We have a hot tub as well." Rosalie told her with obvious pleasure and Bella stopped moving for a moment, wondering if a hot tub would make her smell even more like dinner to them.

"This will be fun." Bella said softly, deciding to trust Rosalie to tell her if it was too much. She'd be a little irritated if it wasn't a problem, because she'd been taking cold, miserable, showers for a month before seeing them thinking that would help. If it didn't she made herself miserable for no reason.

"Yes, it will." Rosalie told her just as softly and Bella smiled. Her life had never been this good. She never had time to get lonely. It was strange, because she was so used to lonely.

…..

Bella Pov

"So Bella Bear." Emmett spoke from the backseat, after they'd passed a billboard with a male model on it. Rosalie was driving, and they were heading over to Highway 101. "I just have to ask, now that you have a history and all," She turned in her seat to see his mischievous grin. "Have you seen a real penis before?"

"Jesus." Bella blushed and turned her head away from him. When she did that she noticed that Rosalie gave her a curious glance as well. "Sure, from across the room as I was leaving a college party. It had gotten out of control." She sighed. "And of course you can find pictures on the internet if you're curious."

"Are you," Emmett paused dramatically, "curious, Bella Bear?" His grin was wicked and evil and she gave him a glare, doing her best to ignore her blush.

"Ass." She muttered and ignored the question. She did notice Rosalie was being of no help, and the blonde vampire was smiling just a little.

"What about the ladies Bell?" Emmett pushed and Bella sighed heavily.

"A few, I've been with a few." She admitted and did her best to ignore the ringing in her ears at his amused whoop.

"So how did you line up the ladies?" It felt like an interrogation and Bella gave him a quick look, as she debated about answering these questions, but then they were her friends and they just lately found they could ask about her past.

"Usually, it was 'hey, want to go to my dorm?" Bella grimaced and rolled her eyes at her own history. "Most of my sexual history was in college Emmett. I can see you making up all sorts of exciting stories in your head, but I promise you I didn't have that much fun."

"You broke his heart." Rosalie teased.

"Actually I think I broke his growing," Bella smirked and couldn't dodge the playful slap to the back of her head. Emmett, thankfully, knew he had to be gentle. "Oh don't be embarrassed Emmett, I'm sure even if it were full grown your pants would hide the little guy just fine."

Emmett leaned into her, and whispered into her ear, "I brought speedos. After this weekend you won't be calling anything of mine little."

Rosalie chuckled. "Boys and their toy."

"Hey!" He protested and Bella found herself grinning at the two of them. "You like my 'toy' just fine."

"Of course I do dear, but I didn't expect you to want to show it off like it was the latest PS2 game. Poor Bella doesn't care." Rosalie smirked and Bella blushed just a little as she turned to look out the window.

"If Bella didn't care she wouldn't be looking up pictures of dick on the internet." Emmett sounded smug as hell and Bella found being trapped in a car with two vampires was not a good idea. Her blush grew and she gritted her teeth and tried to ignore it. She reached down and cracked the window opened, just in case. Rosalie cracked her window open as well.

"So," Rosalie spoke up slowly. "If you went to college, what did you major in?" It was obvious that the female vampire was trying to keep the topic to something that wouldn't have Bella blushing.

"I just went with Liberal Arts. They had the best times for classes, but after I got out I decided I should have majored in something else, something that would be easier to sell to employers." Bella took the hint and did her best to ignore the old topic and focus on this uninteresting one. "This time I'm definitely going to pick from the safer majors. I want to be able to find work."

"What kind of work?" Emmett asked.

"Whatever pays." Bella grimaced. "I can't expect Charlie to take care of me forever. I'm going to have to be able to take care of myself."

"So what are your big plans for your second life?" Emmett asked her and Bella glanced back at him to see a serious expression on his face.

"When you say it that way my plans don't seem big enough." She gave Emmett a small smile, but she frowned just after that as she considered the question.

"I need to spend high school building up a bit of a resume, start to move toward something I could make work through college. I'm aiming for office work at this point, but I have to start somewhere. I'll start doing the volunteer work the scholarships want me to have in Junior year."

"Where would you volunteer?" Rosalie asked. "The grade schools?"

"Ugh, no." Bella shook her head and sighed. "I don't actually like kids. I might pick an animal shelter, or a food bank. Maybe a cause, I'm not sure. I'll going to be researching what I can get too, so I can volunteer, over the summer."

"You don't like kids?" Rosalie asked and Bella stopped talking as she realized Rose was stuck on that thought. Bella grimaced as she realized her mistake.

In a softer voice, Bella answered. "I don't really have that maternal instinct. I've never been comfortable with kids and I've never really wanted any. When I was a kid people told me I'd change my mind, and when I was in college they said I would change my mind. Everyone assumes a woman will want kids at some point. I was thirty five when I died and I hadn't reached that point yet. It's not in me." Bella kept her eyes on Rosalie, even though she could almost feel Emmett staring at the back of her head, while Rose stared out the window, as if she needed to watch the road very carefully. "I've seen people who have kids because that's what they are 'supposed to do', and I won't do that to myself or kids." She could have easily just said she wasn't sleeping with men, so getting pregnant wasn't likely, but Rosalie would need more. Bella knew the vampire regretted her inability to have a child more than anything, and this was a sensitive topic to hit. She wished she hadn't accidently hit it. "I'm sorry."

Rosalie turned her head to look at her, really studied her face and Bella felt awkward in the endless second. "You know, you obviously know, I'm one of those women who wanted that, all of that." Bella nodded. "It's going to take me a little while to absorb that you could have it and you don't want it. I wanted it so bad."

Bella reached out and rested a hand on Rose's leg, wishing her big mouth hadn't gotten her into this conversation. While she hated reminding Rosalie about this, she also was afraid this was going to be the end of this friendship, that it was something Rose would hate her for.

"Why do you smell afraid?" Rosalie asked after a moment, and her hand moved down to rest on Bella's. Bella felt a large hand move to rest on her shoulder, and saw Emmett do the same to Rose.

"I don't want you to hate me for this." Bella admitted, because their senses ruined her ability to hide it.

Rose squeezed her hand gently and gave a weak smile. "You have different dreams, nothing wrong with that."

After a few minutes of silence Emmett spoke up. "If you work at an animal shelter, can you bring me home dinner once in a while? We never get take out." Bella smiled and noticed that even Rosalie managed to smile at that.