Next chapter! :D Yeah... that was quick, huh? It's incredible how fast I am... I know, blows your mind every time... um, okay, just read the chapter, please!
After the last fiasco with Emmy and his dead things at home, Esme practically forced Carlisle to have a talk with their baby before she would take up the task and deal with the problem at hand.
She was a lot less understanding with the newborn than she let through - something that surprised Carlisle but had also been quite obvious right from the beginning as Emmett was soiling their pristine home. So despite his unwillingness to quench his boy's exuberance, he took him to the side one evening to have a little talk with him.
"Emmett, son," he called from the porch, "come sit with me."
Like he wouldn't need to be asked twice, Emmett ran out of the house, stopped right in front of him and grinned. "Sure, Pops."
A smile appeared on Carlisle's face - he loved how easy it was for Em to accept them as his parents and how it felt like he had been with them for far longer than just a few months.
While Carlisle took a seat, the boy plunged down on a chair next to him and stretched his legs out underneath the table. He let out a long, satisfied sigh as he sat there next to his father and he gazed into their backyard like he had just come home from a long day at work and was now enjoying his evening.
Carlisle watched him with a raised eyebrow and a little smile on his face and when Emmett noticed it, he just laughed.
"Did you have a good day?" Carlisle guessed, because his son seemed so much at ease at the moment that he couldn't imagine that he might have experienced something frustrating or sad on this day.
"Of course I did," Em replied, grinning.
"That is wonderful, my boy," he replied, then let his facial expression turn a little more serious albeit keeping the lightness in his voice. "I heard that you like bears, Emmett."
Emmett's eyes grew large and started gleaming with excitement. "Have you ever tried one? You have to, you really have to! They are great and delicious, and so much fun to play with! You won't regret it, Pops!" he chattered loudly, making Carlisle chuckle.
"I have had bear before, Emmett, and I liked it very much, yes. But we need to talk about something different."
"Like what?" He blinked at him.
"Hm...," Carlisle muttered and rubbed his chin. "I vaguely remember that we just renovated the living room, because-"
"Oh." Emmett nodded his head knowingly, then distorted his face as the memory popped up in his head. "I know it would have looked better over the fireplace, but there was something wrong with the wall. With the other one as well, but at least the bear stuck. It must have come down when I went upstairs."
There had been something wrong with the walls... The walls had been absolutely fine until Emmett came along and decided to decorate them to his liking.
"Your mother told you not to bring them inside, Emmett," Carlisle reminded the boy, keeping his tone light. Edward and Rose had destroyed quite a bit more at that age, and even Esme hadn't always been mindful of her strength or the rules. Seeing that Emmett only wanted to keep a little trophy of his enjoyable hunts was actually a relief... but he couldn't let him continue as he needed to make sure that his lovely wife wouldn't go crazy.
"But it doesn't bother anyone when it's hanging on the wall, Pops. It doesn't take up any space and I personally think it's the best item to decorate our home with. Flowers are all right, but bears are so very impressive and sensational and there would always be a story to it! Do you want to hear the story of how I found that last one?"
"Maybe another time. Let's focus back on the topic of Esme telling you not to bring them inside."
Lightly shaking his head, Emmett sighed and said, "I think she needs to hunt one as well." And suddenly his face lit up again and he exclaimed, "We could put them on the wall next to each other... all of us! We all hunt down a few bears and then make a trophy room! Oh, can we make a trophy room, Pops? Can we?"
"We don't have a spare room for that, son, and as I just told you, Esme said-"
"We'll just take Edward's room," Emmett suggested and shrugged his shoulders. "He doesn't really need it and he can do his homework in the living room."
The talk was not going like it should, and Carlisle was wondering what would make his boy see reason. "Do you think Edward would be willing to give up his room?" he slowly asked.
Emmett scratched his head, then wrinkled up his nose as he realised that his brother would probably not do that. The little one wasn't a very good hunter when it came to bears, and he guessed that the room would probably just make him sad. He looked sideways at his father as a new idea sprang to his mind and he inhaled deeply to voice it, but Carlisle stopped him by holding up a finger, saying, "Your mother and I would like to keep our room as well. No trophy room, Emmett."
The dark-haired boy sighed deeply and his shoulders sagged.
"Emmett, you don't really need to keep bear heads, do you? You have the memory of the hunt and your stories are far more beautiful and valuable than a smelly trophy that is soiling the house, wouldn't you agree?"
"Hm... yes, I guess you're right."
Carlisle heard a hint of sadness in his boy's voice, and he felt the need to give him a fatherly pat on the shoulder.
"Esme is very impressed with you catching all of these big bears," he said softly and smiled at Emmett. "She told me so."
While newborn mood swings were often difficult to handle, he was glad that Emmett's mood mostly jumped to happiness or excitement instead of anger or rage. Just like now.
"Really?" he asked and his eyes widened while a huge smile appeared on his boyish face.
"Yes, son," Carlisle replied, then screwed up his face a little. "But she really doesn't want to find their heads in our home. Bears belong outside and not in the house."
Emmett groaned, but then slowly started to nod his head while repeating, "Outside, not in the house."
Now that went well, Carlisle thought and got up from his chair. No need to worry anymore. "Yes. Come, let's go inside and spend the night with the family."
It was once again Edward's turn to take newborn Emmett hunting. All throughout the school day the bronze-haired boy had been dreading to go home, because he knew what would be awaiting him – an extremely, overly excited Emmett who wanted to go look for yet another bear.
Esme had been nervous ever since the last time Emmett had managed to bring home another treasure. It had taken them several days to clean up, get the foul smell out of the house, patch up the broken walls and hang new wallpaper. And because Esme had been that appalled and disgruntled, she chose a different wallpaper and made them replace it in every room on the ground floor so she wouldn't be reminded of the bear trophy fiasco anymore. She had also thought Emmett would start feeling bored with having to do such a tedious work and then regret that he had brought bears home, but – too bad – he had really enjoyed it. Nevertheless, they sent him off to play with Rose as he was just too exuberant and strong - he ended up making the damage even worse and he mucked up what they had just fixed. So in the end Edward and Carlisle were the ones who had to do all the work. Esme wasn't too sad about that, because now her dear husband would finally realise that she had been right about Emmett developing a very unpleasant habit. Sure, they shouldn't complain as he was such a happy, delightful, good-hearted newborn which was actually extremely rare for their kind... but he had brought dirty body parts of wild creatures into her home and that was something she could not tolerate any longer.
Glancing at the clock on the wall over and over again in nervous anticipation of this ruined afternoon, Edward let out a deep sigh. He looked down at his hands again and noticed that there still were remnants of plaster and paste under his fingernails. He had washed his hands so often during and after renovating, but apparently not often enough.
Great.
He barely managed to suppress a groan as he thought about their last disastrous hunt together. Em had caught the bear while on his watch, so maybe he shouldn't complain so much about having to clean up after the newborn. But then again – there was just no stopping Emmett and he certainly wasn't stupid enough to try.
Emmett was the strongest vampire he had ever seen, and he had the slight suspicion that it wasn't just because he was a newborn that was still using up his own blood. No, Emmett was stronger than other vampires, and he was always going to be stronger than anyone else.
The bell rang, effectively pulling him out of his musings, and he pinched his eyes shut while letting out a long groan before he threw his writing utensils into his book bag and left the room along with the other students.
Let's get it over with...
A cheerful Emmett skipped along the way next to Edward humming a happy tune, his lips and chin bloodstained, his amber eyes bright and his thoughts twirling around this beautiful and delicious black bear he had managed to track down, wrestle to the ground and drain until there was nothing left.
The wrestling part had lasted for about an hour, which wasn't very quick but apparently very satisfying.
Whenever the fresh summer wind blew in Edward's direction, he held his breath and turned his head away while he gritted his teeth. This is going to be great...
But unsurprisingly, Emmett was completely oblivious to his dissatisfaction... just like he had been completely oblivious to his warnings and pleadings.
What he was swinging around in his right hand was proof that no one, especially not a newborn, would ever listen to a word he said.
However, this day wasn't as bad as any of the other ones. Why? Because their father was home. Finally it wouldn't be his duty to take care of Emmett and then get rid of his little prize – no, now it was Carlisle's turn.
And so Edward was already going through his homework in his mind and the novel he was going to read tonight, and that helped a lot to improve his mood.
Carlisle had turned Em and so it was only fair if he would clean up after him, he figured. Nobody had asked him if he wanted a mauled and bleeding boy to be his new brother – Emmett was already going through the transformation when he had come home from the bookshop. Carlisle was obviously starting to make this a habit, and so now he should start taking responsibility for his actions and clean up after his newborn son.
"That was the best hunt ever, don't you think?" Emmett asked and looked over at Edward, who... just nodded his head.
It seemed that nothing could quench the newborn's excitement, because Edward's passive demeanour only made him talk all the more. "If the bear would have had a name, what do you think it would have been?"
Edward took a deep breath to keep the annoyance at bay, then replied, "I don't know, Emmett."
He let out an amused snort. "Just guess!"
"I don't want to."
Edward really did not want to. All he wanted was to forget what he had been forced to witness on this terrible hunting trip and go home.
"One guess, come on!"
A long sigh left Edward's mouth, and he shook his head. "Bears don't have names, so it really is pointless talking about that."
"Let's pretend they would have names," Emmett replied and shrugged his shoulders.
"No."
"I think this one's name would have been...," he trailed off as he took a moment to think about it. A sneaky smirk spread out across his face a few seconds later and he whispered, "Edward."
Edward huffed, but then gave him a fake smile that would hopefully make the boy happy and leave him alone.
Emmett nodded to himself. "Yes, Edward. Or Eddie, that's short for Edward." He glanced at his brother, who just stared straight ahead with a clenched jaw.
"Did you know that it's short for Edward, Eddie?"
What did I do to deserve this? "Yes. And don't call me that, I've told you countless times."
Emmett laughed, but suddenly his face turned thoughtful. "Hey, what if someone's name is Eddie... could we still call that person Edward because it's long for Eddie? Like a nickname?"
"The long version of a name cannot be a nickname," he ground out and snorted angrily.
"Pfft, who's making the rules? Names don't have rules, just meanings and heritages. Is your birth name Eddie or Edward?"
Pinching his eyes shut, Edward asked through gritted teeth, "Why don't you call that stupid bear Carlisle, huh?"
"Nah...," Emmett replied nonchalantly and shook his head. "A bear named Carlisle would be male, silly."
Go to hell.
Luckily they reached home a few minutes later, and Edward had been able to lose some of his agitation by letting Emmett run ahead. The newborn was happy and sated and he checked his thoughts to make sure he would immediately know if Emmett picked up a scent that would distract him. But Emmett's thoughts were preoccupied with the joy about the bear hunt, and Edward thanked his lucky stars that their father was still home and he could run up to his room, shut the door and enjoy peace and silence for the next few hours.
He stopped at the fence for a moment and watched his brother who was currently taking off his shoes at the door and wiping his hands on the front of his shirt before entering the house.
Well, his brother was not as stupid as he looked like, Edward had to admit, but he was sure that Esme would be just as appalled this time as she had been before.
However, the hunt was over now and he had fulfilled his duty.
Shrugging his shoulders, he just headed after the dark-haired newborn, then climbed the stairs and disappeared into his room where he let himself fall onto his bed and folded his arms behind his head before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the quiet of his room.
But the peaceful silence did not last long as a loud scream ten minutes later caused him to jolt upright.
Esme was tending to her flowers once again - it was supposed to keep her hands and mind occupied while she was feeling too nervous to just sit on the sofa with her husband and relax.
Her two boys were on a hunt together and due to the flood of memories of the last few hunts she couldn't help but worry about her house.
No, she'd rather cut a few roses and weed a little to distract herself. Besides, the last few days had been quite dry, so her little babies might need some water to stay strong and healthy and in full bloom and that's why she really had to work on her garden. It wasn't just because of Em, nuh-uh!
She wanted to be able to enjoy the beautiful flower garden she and Rose had set out for as long as possible.
While she was busy weeding the backyard, she heard her sons come back home. She had half a mind to walk over to them... to greet them, of course... and yes, also to check if her little cub had brought something home the he wasn't supposed to. But then she remembered that her husband had the afternoon off and was currently in the living room with Rose. There was not a single doubt in her mind that they would stop Emmett before he could ruin anything in the house.
For a few minutes nothing unusual happened and she breathed a sigh of relief while moving to the front yard.
Finally the boy had listened to them and now the house and everything inside of it would be safe.
Humming quietly to herself, she continued to pull weeds from the dark soil – she couldn't describe just how happy she was that Emmett had finally understood that it wasn't okay to bring dead things home.
The next time she and Rose would take him hunting, she'd make sure he'd get as much as bear as he could drain. She felt so happy and carefree again while she continued to hum a tuneless melody.
Looking to the right, she saw that there was more weed in between the rose bushes, and so she walked over there, knelt down on the plush grass and reached under the lowest branches to pull out more weeds. The relaxing work went on for a few more minutes when suddenly the melody caught in her throat and she froze for a second as an uneasy feeling formed in the pit of her stomach.
There was something in between the roses that did not belong there.
She slowly lifted her gaze, and then she screamed.
Carlisle came running out of the house, his eyes wide and panicky while he looked around in search of his wife who might be in the greatest peril or hurt, but when he spotted her, she was alone and she did not look like her life was in danger.
Nevertheless, he hurried over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder while looking her up and down to check if she was indeed unharmed. "What's wrong, darling? I heard you scream."
She was still staring into the rose bushes and looked like she hadn't even noticed him, but then she slowly lifted her hand to point her finger at something.
Carlisle crouched down beside her, and when he gazed into the rose bushes, his eyes went as wide as they could go.
Emmett, their dear little boy, had listened to them and refrained from bringing bear heads into the house. However, they currently weren't in the house but outside standing in their front yard, and that was exactly where the boy had chosen to put the souvenir of his latest hunt. And to make matters worse, it wasn't just the head this time - it was the blood-smeared spine with chunks of flesh and pieces of skin as well, which he had stuck into the earth like a pole.
Carlisle blinked his eyes in disbelief as he looked the black bear straight into the face. There was a big slash right through the left half of its face that had also penetrated the eye which now looked sticky and swollen shut, giving it a slightly pirate-y kind of appearance. The tongue – or what was left of it - lolled from its open mouth in a provoking and spiteful way.
"I told you," Esme whispered.
He turned his head to look at her, and at that moment her eyes narrowed. "I told you," she whispered again, this time fiercer. A lot fiercer.
"Love, it is not inside the house," he reminded his incredibly beautiful wife with the wonderfully even temper and the lovely black eyes.
She stood up, snapped her head around and glared at him. "No, it's in my flowers!"
He cringed at the shrill tone his wife's voice had taken before he quickly said, "That is very unfortunate, yes, but-"
"Carlisle, it's in my flowers. First they were in my house, and now they show up in my garden. No, that is absolutely inexcusable and I want you to-"
"Edward?" Carlisle called while his hands hovered over his wife's shoulders. He wasn't sure if she would slap his hands away in agitation or let him lead her away, but he really wanted to take her far away from the house and go for a little walk. Or maybe a long walk.
Their oldest son appeared by the door, the look on his face wary.
This wasn't the first time Em had ripped a bear's head off, and this wasn't the first time Esme had been the lucky one to find it and then tell him to clean up the mess.
But this was the first time Em had hidden the bear in the rose bushes like a chocolate egg on Easter Sunday, and it was the first time Carlisle was home and told him to clean up the mess.
"Edward, son, would you be so kind and get rid of this?" the elder asked, then placed an arm around Esme's shoulders and started walking her in the direction of the forest. A little fresh air would do her good, he figured, and he didn't want her to flip and yell at the kind-hearted, childlike newborn who hadn't meant any harm. Well, no harm to them - the bear, however, was a completely different matter.
"How about you clean it up?" Edward asked. It came out a little rude, even though it really was just a normal question... tainted with complete and utter annoyance and truculence.
Carlisle looked back over his shoulder at the petulant, bronze-haired boy. "Edward."
Just one word, but it was carried by a slight hint of a warning, and so Edward had no choice but to comply.
All his father wanted was to bring Esme away from the reason of her upset and talk to her about the best course of action. Yes, now it slowly started to look like dear Emmy was fond of dead, smelly things – preferably bear heads. And Carlisle didn't want Esme to return and have to see it once more, because that would make every attempt at calming her completely useless.
"In my flowers... it was looking at me, Carlisle." Edward could hear his mother whisper. Anger and shock were coming in turns, it seemed.
Carlisle rubbed her shoulder while guiding her away. "Sshh, I know, love, it won't do it again..."
Goddammit, it was his job to get rid of it! He was standing right next to it, but who had to clean up again? It was Edward, the servant.
He snorted angrily, then stomped down the stone steps and over to the flowerbed that held the biggest, blooming rose bushes in the front yard. He would have never guessed that it was possible, but the stink of slowly decaying bear mixed with the fine scent of the delicate blossoms was actually quite the interesting combination.
Still gross, but nevertheless interesting.
When he saw the dirty head, supported by the thick bushes and the bloody spine, he let out a deep growl before looking around with a crestfallen look.
He so did not want to touch it.
And he didn't want to pull the sleeve of his crisp white shirt over his hand, because then it would be ruined.
He really liked that shirt.
So he did the only thing that came to his mind: He grabbed the bushes on each side of the bear and used the leaves and branches to protect his hands from the muck while he pressed down on the top of the head, pushing it further into the ground until the spine was deeply hidden in the dark soil and only the head was left.
He let go, then quickly glanced around to check if anyone was watching him, before he placed his foot on the head and slowly put pressure on it, forcing it deep into the ground. Bending down, he grabbed a handful of soil and sprinkled it over the spot so that it would look completely inconspicuous, and when he straightened up again, he looked around again before he brushed his hands together and let out a satisfied sigh.
There, it's gone now.
After walking through the forest for a while, Carlisle decided to break the silence and try to calm his wife. She was clearly unhappy, he could tell, and so it was his job to do something about that.
"I'll talk to him again, love," Carlisle said, hoping it would have a soothing effect on his wife.
Esme stopped walking and huffed. "Carlisle, my patience is not endless. First my house and now my flowerbeds. I know Emmett is still a newborn, but there are rules that apply to everyone."
"Of course, Esme, let me take care of it."
"What does that mean? You told me before that you'd take care of it and what happened? I found a bear head on a stick in my front yard in between my rose bushes."
"It wasn't a stick, love, it was the bear's spine," Carlisle corrected her, then quickly shut his mouth and looked the other way as her gaze turned penetrating and very hard to hold.
She exhaled heavily, then took a few steps back and sat down on a fallen tree. "One more bear head, just one more bear head and-"
Carlisle sat down right beside her and put his hands on her shoulders, slightly massaging them to help her calm down and relax a little. "Esme, I think you are stressed."
"You think I am stressed, Carlisle?" she asked disbelievingly, her eyes going wide. "Well, who wouldn't be stressed when you have to fear for your house every single time our boy goes on a bear hunt? This habit – yes, it has become a habit, Carlisle, don't you dare try to deny it – is disgusting and he either stops now or I will give him some incentive to stop."
Now that was unlike Esme. It had happened once or twice before that her patience snapped and she wanted to take matters in her own hands... but he couldn't let her do that with Emmett. He was quite a big boy, and he was still very strong. There was no way he would let his wife endanger herself even though he did see the problem now and realised that with Emmett it was time to lay down the law and tell him that actions had consequences. It was very unlikely that he didn't have rules and consequences in his human life, so maybe telling him that it wouldn't be any different in this life would do the trick and get through to him.
But first it was important to get his wife to calm down and distract her a little so she would get a little reprieve from the stress of raising a newborn. Emmett wasn't a difficult newborn, but he could clearly see that she was having difficulties with the task when their son was soiling the house and just wouldn't stop. Well, this time it wasn't as bad as the times before, he thought, but Esme might not agree with him as her flowers were sacred to her.
"Esme?" he carefully queried and removed his hands from her delicate shoulders, and when she turned to look at him, he put his hands on either side of her face. "I will talk to our son and make sure he understands that this is to never happen again. He can go hunting bears all he likes, but he is not, under any circumstances, to bring their heads home."
She took a deep breath. "This was the last time," she prompted.
"Yes, darling, the very last time," he agreed and nodded his head, knowing full well that he would need to take the boy in hand if this happened again. Emmett was definitely a carefree newborn, but they needed to make sure that his new instincts wouldn't take over and eventually repress his human, mature mind completely.
The couple was relieved when they returned home several hours later and saw that the despicable head was gone from the flowerbeds. The air was stench-free again, and they could only perceive the sweet scent of the roses just like before.
With his arm around his wife's shoulders, he walked her over to the front door and placed a quick kiss on her temple before opening the door and entering the house together with his beloved.
The stress of the last few months with Emmett being still so young and impulsive and the times they had to move had really burnt them out and almost caused them to forget about their anniversary. Both of them had been completely shocked and also quite embarrassed when Carlisle had brought it up after they had both drained a deer and were strolling through the forest in the direction of home. The day they got married was one of the happiest memories of their lives, and they had both completely forgotten about it.
Realising that it was dire time for them to get some time for themselves, Carlisle suggested they'd go away for the weekend of their anniversary. Just two days, and they wouldn't go far.
Having children was wonderful and so very fulfilling, but they couldn't let their relationship suffer. Apart from trying to be responsible parents for their children, they also needed to be able to lead a healthy marriage, just like Emmett and Rosalie were trying to do. They were making plans of where they wanted to travel to, in which cities they wanted to get married again and again, and what their dream house would look like. They got to spend time together every single day, but with Carlisle working double shifts to be able to support his family and afford the sometimes very sudden moves, the time he and Esme spent together had become remarkably less.
Together Edward and Rosalie would surely be able to handle Emmett for a weekend, which really wasn't all that long. Would they do that for them?
If they would, then yes – they were going to spend a weekend together. The plan of spending a few days bathing in each other's presence was making them giddy with excitement, and they couldn't wait for the weekend to come.
But all too soon they reached home and when they entered the house and closed the door behind them, Emmett was suddenly standing in front of them with a scowl on his face.
"Where's my bear?" he asked sulkily.
No, he wasn't referring to a present his parents should have brought home for him to snack on and play with like a Kinder egg – he was missing his gorgeous new garden decoration.
"It's gone, son," Carlisle replied calmly.
Emmett's face scrunched up in a mixture of confusion and frustration. "Why?"
"Because, honey," Esme said with a forced smile on her lips as the memory played out in her mind and made her feel upset again, "you are not supposed to bring bear heads home. I have told you before, and your father already spoke to you about it."
"I didn't bring it into the house," he pointed out and shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes, sweetheart, you didn't. But still, you took it with you and then put it between my rose bushes."
"It was the perfect place to put it!" he exclaimed and his eyes shone bright with excitement. "I know you love flowers, and it looked so pretty there."
He really was convinced that it had been a great idea and that it would be a win-win situation for all of them. He could keep his trophy, and the rest of the family could admire the beautiful natural garden ornament - a piece of bear surrounded by flowers. Maybe it was his definition of art, but too bad for him, the rest of his family was the paragon of philistinism when it came to that.
"Emmett, I've told you before that I don't like bear heads." Esme's voice had a strict edge to it, and judging by the way she looked at their boy at that moment, Carlisle knew that she was not going to show any sympathy if it would happen again.
Emmett frowned. "Not even outside where they don't stain anything and look great with you roses?"
"No."
"Aww..."
"Come on, son," Carlisle said and put an arm around his big boy. "Let us go to the living room and have a talk."
Yep, Esme seems to be really fed up with Emmy's collectionitis... I definitely would have let him keep the rotting bear head with the spine, sounds pretty to me ;-) Would look great in Eddie's bedroom, hm...
Okay, next chapter is basically done, just need to read over it once more, and the chapter after that is... half-way done I think, yup. Sorry for the long wait, but I hope you still had some fun reading this chapter... at least I remember having a lot of fun writing it. Oh, btw, I will update Jasper's story as well now, weee!
Thanks for taking the time to read and review this story guys! Next chapter will be up soon!