Emmett's POV

Three and a half months ago, Mom called to tell me that she was at the hospital with Bella and her daughter. I thought my Mom had gone through a psychotic breakdown… I was like 'what the fuck?'

Then Edward called and I met him at the station later on, where he fell apart completely. He had spent most of his time since finding her at the hospital, but had stepped out to put himself together at that point. Instead he literally fucking cried like a baby. But when he told me about where he found her, and how Bella's little girl looked just like her and had led him to her… I fucking cried too. Bella was practically my sister before she disappeared and her going missing had killed a small part of all of us.

It took us a few days before Rosie and I got to visit with Bella and meet Nessie. Mom had asked us to all spread out our visits so that she wasn't overwhelmed. It was good because I was kinda fucking scared to see her after all that time. Of course I had talked to Edward and to Mom and Dad, so I knew what she looked like and I knew that she had been abused and that it would be a shock. But, I didn't know what that would look like for her.

The day that we finally went to see her, Mom watched Haley while we went to the hospital. I don't think I'll ever forget the day that I walked into the room and saw the tiniest little girl, holding onto this big ole' stuffed teddy bear… and then, when she asked if I was a teddy bear too and poked my arm, she won a place in my heart forever. Nessie was the easy one to get to know. But Bella… Bella was a shell those first few days. She was quiet and didn't say much… watching anyone who interacted with her daughter like a hawk, and never letting her guard down. She was jumpy, and as we chatted a bit, her eyes never stopped moving – watching everything around us.

Seeing Bella and the way that he had nearly destroyed her… nearly broke me down and I knew Rosie felt the same way. But over the last couple of months… some of the old Bells had started to slowly come back.

Now it was Christmas and we were all at Mom and Dad's place. Ness was going nuts with the massive pile of presents that we had all spoiled her with, and Bella was sitting beside her Dad on the sofa quietly, observing the scene in front of her. Overall she looked far better than that first day that Rosie and I saw her, but even when she smiled, there was still more than a small trace of the horror she had seen hidden in her eyes. And she still, never really relaxed.

From across the room I watched Edward watch her like a hawk. Out of all of us, it was really only Edward and Mom that she really was able to relax with still… it didn't surprise any of us, although Ally was a little jealous. But I figured in time, they would be closer again too – but I also figured that part of what was holding Bella back from Ally was her engagement to Jasper, who resembled Bella's fucking abuser. That was one mess that I didn't want to get involved in, but Jasper had expressed his hurt to me a couple of times, the dude used to be one of her friends too, and now he fucking terrified her without doing anything. I kept trying to tell him to talk to her… he kept saying it wasn't time yet. I figured he would know when it was the right time.

"Thank you Uncle Emmett!" Nessie came squealing towards me, launching herself into my arms with a doll hanging from her hand. Apparently I had gotten her the one that went with her other one that she wanted or something. I didn't know… Rosie did all my shopping. But I smiled and played along, asking Ness what the doll's name was. I figured I'd better get used to dolls and shit. Haley would be at that stage in no time.

Speaking of Haley, I watched as Mom passed her up to Edward. As much as my brother pretended to be indifferent when it came to babies, I knew how much he actually loved her and he was always picking her up and playing with her when nobody was watching… even more so since finding Bella and Nessie. Haley also loved pulling his always messy hair now, and I loved it when he had to bite his tongue every time she yanked a little too hard.

Part of me wondered if I would ever see Bella and Edward tie the knot. We all knew that they had wanted to when they were kids, and we could see their obvious connection now that they had been reunited. But we also knew that Bella's recovery was not a simple process and that there was a possibility that she would never be able to have an intimate relationship with a man after the amount of abuse that she had suffered. (Mom's words… not mine). But it was easy to see that she was connected deeply to him, and it made me think that they would surprise us and it might even be sooner than Mom or even Dad thought… although Edward did tell Dad practically everything.

"So Ness," She had sat down beside me after thanking me, carefully holding her doll and sitting quietly looking around the room. There were still more presents, but I had a feeling that she was just a little bit overwhelmed. We had only gathered all of us together once before this, at Thanksgiving. Bella and Ness hadn't stayed long though because Bella wasn't feeling well. It turned out she was developing a nasty case of bronchitis and it was best that we hadn't forced her to stay.

"How do you like your first Cullen Christmas?" I asked her and she shrugged. It wasn't the response that I had expected.

"I really like it." She answered quietly and I nudged her gently, trying to get her to look back at me.

"What's wrong little Loch Ness?" Bells had nearly flipped the first time that I referred to her daughter as the loch ness monster, but had since learned to accept it, and she even smiled at the nickname herself now.

"I dunno… I guess… just… how come this is the first time I get to have Christmas? IT'S NOT FAIR!" The room fell silent, Ness had gotten louder and suddenly she bolted out of the room, running towards the kitchen with tears streaming down her face. I don't think anybody knew what to say or do, none of us had expected the outburst… but as Bella went to follow her daughter, Mom gave her a look that said to give her a minute and followed her out herself. Bells looked lost, and I could see the fear return to her eyes. Handing Haley over to Alice, I watched my brother take her hand and lead her out of the room and towards Dad's office.

The rest of us remained quiet, none of us still not quite sure what to do. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper sneak out of the room, following Edward and Bella's retreat and I couldn't help but wonder what the hell had just happened.

Suddenly Christmas didn't seem so Merry and Bright.