A/N: This is a story that has been swimming around in my mind for a little while. I'm going to be slower developing and posting this story than I am with 'At Last'. I am also working on one about Vamp Emmett and Human Bella meeting as adults in the real world as well as having a few one shot ideas wanting to come out. I just hope this story is well received. PLEASE just let me know how you like this. I really want to know!
DISCLAIMER: Ms. Meyer owns them. I just want to be the filling of an Emmett/Jasper sandwich!!!
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"Come on Jazzy…I know you don't need sleep, but I am only human and I have to go to work in the morning" Bella pleads.
"I know…but I just can't help myself. You are just too irresistible my love."
"That's really very sweet, but if you can't let me go to sleep, you're going to have to get out of this room."
"Where would I go?" Jasper fakes a pout. 'He is soooo cute when he does that.'
"Go hunting, go play with your XBOX, go read. It's not that I don't want you here, but I HAVE to sleep."
"Ok, Ok. I'll be good. I promise. Sweetheart, tell me one thing before you fall asleep. Why are you so anxious? You are all revved up tonight."
"Jaz, I can feel something is going to happen tomorrow. Something we've been waiting and wishing for a long time. And before you ask, I don't have any specifics, just a feeling." She just can't shake this. She doesn't know anything other than she's sure it's not a bad thing, in fact it promises to be a very good thing.
"Alright my love, you go to sleep. I'm going to go grab a book and be right beside you all night." He leans down and places a kiss on her forehead as she slips off to sleep.
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It's a typical gray, overcast Friday and the new employee starts on Monday. Even though Bella is technically in charge of the IT department of the small IT/Web Development company, she had also inherited the role of the trainer as well. So she has to make sure the new guy is all set up and ready to go come Monday. She had ordered some training texts for the web languages the owners want to make sure the newest developer knows.
Bella stops by the bookstore she ordered the books from on her way into the office. The lady at the customer service desk needs to go look in the back for the order, so Bella strolls over to the Technology section to see if there is anything new she can add to her own collection. She turns the corner that leads to that section and the scent hits her like a brick wall. It is a scent she hasn't breathed in forever, but had dreamed of it often. She is desperate to find its owner, she longs for it.
Her hand snaps up and there, at the end of the isle, flipping through a ColdFusion manual was a familiar mountain of a man. She stands and stares for a moment, not sure she is really seeing him. His body tenses as his head turns toward her and then she saw them…his eyes. There were only three pairs of eyes that have haunted her dreams. This man possessed one of those pairs. She quickened with anticipation, jubilation and love. Despite herself, she called to him…"EMMETT?!" The sound that came from her was a mix between anxiety and relief, between a question and a cry.
They each took two steps and they were wrapped in each other's arms. Time stopped.
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'For all that is holy. Am I really holding my dearest Bella? After all these years, this glorious creature is really here in my arms?'
"Bella? Is it really you? Here of all places?"
"Yes Emmett, it's me. I can't believe I'm looking at you! What are you doing here? Are you visiting or are you living here? Are you here with anyone…"
"WHOA Princess, calm down girl. One question at a time. Let's go find a place where we can talk."
"Oh Emmy, I am on my way to work" she looks into his golden eyes and contemplates what to do. She doesn't want to blow this opportunity. An opportunity she's been waiting for forever. She needs to reconnect with Emmett. So much she needs to say. "I think I just got sick. Let me make a call to the office then we'll decide where to go."
"I'm free for the day, so I am at your mercy" he says with a wink and a flash of his patented dimples.
He watches his goddess as she walks a few steps away from him to make her excuses. 'How did I manage to stay away from her for so long? If she's still available, I'm going to tell her how I have always felt and beg her to be mine. No more messing around McCarty…'
"Ok…all done. Good thing I never call in sick. Today probably wasn't the best day to call in. But if you're throwing up, no one wants you around" she giggles. 'Oh I missed that giggle. It's all coming back now.'
"I hate that you called in sick, but I'm also glad that you did. This is your town. Where too?"
"Let's just go back to my place. I have some stuff to show you while I have your attention. Is that ok?" she asks hopefully.
"I would love to see your home."
"Ok, just one stop by the service desk to pick up an order and we're out of here!"
He take a quick peek at the stack of books Bella is picking up. All of them are web site development manuals. "Bella? Why do you need these books? Did you take up a new hobby?"
"Actually, I sort of did. I got my computer science degree and now I work in IT. I work for a small company that does network monitoring and web development. These books are for the new guy who starts on Monday. I'm in charge of training him."
"Really? What's the name of the company?"
"BTS. Why?"
"I do believe I'm the guy you're training. I'm a web developer now." 'Now this is too much'
"NO SHIT!?!?!?! This is too much. So that answers a few of my questions. You are here permanently then. I'm so glad." She reaches up and hugs him tight.
"Well, let me pay for 'my' books and we'll get out of here." He's just too anxious to get her alone.
"No you're not paying for them. The company is." She pulls out the company card and lays it on the counter.
With the books paid for, she grabs his hand and pulls him out of the store and to her car. They drive outside the city a bit and into a long driveway. She stops the car in front of a house that closely resembles the family's house back in Fork's. Curious.
They get out of the car and Emmett reaches out to hold her left hand. Without looking down, he can feel a thick band on her finger that he didn't notice before. "Oh, you're married." He is clearly disappointed.
"Emmett, look at the band."
He lifts up her hand and looks at it closely. It was a wide, platinum band. In the center was the Cullen family crest. A recognizable Celtic tribal design wraps around the rest of the band. It is the band that all Cullen's wear once they have mated. Emmett is clearly confused. "You and Edw.." she cuts him off before he can finish his thought.
"Just come inside. We have A LOT to talk about." She leads him into the house and shows him to the living room. "Have a seat. I'm going upstairs for a moment. I'll be right back."
Emmett hears voices upstairs but he tunes them out giving them some privacy. He sits on the couch and before long, Bella comes back down and sits next to him and puts her head on his shoulder. "So, where to start?"
"How about I tell you my story, then you tell me yours?" Emmett offers.
"Ok…sounds good."
"Well, you know the part where the family fell apart. Seems like we just couldn't handle things as they were. Rose and I split up because we just kept fighting about…well you. About how I missed you, how I really felt about you." She shoots him a surprised look. He just keeps talking. "Shortly after we split, she found someone who she says was her singer, and with Carlisle's help, she turned him and they have been together 3 years now. When I left I decided to man up, realize I wasn't just a dumb jock, and go to school. Bella, I found out I am pretty smart and I love to learn. I took all sorts of classes. Not only am I smart, but I'm pretty creative too. That's what lead me to website work. I could use both sides of my brain. Anyway, that's what led me here too. It was time for me to move on to the next town and this is where I landed a job. Here with you. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you, to know I'll see you every day. I've missed you so much Princess."
"I've missed you too Grizz. More than you know. In more ways than you could know."
A voice from the staircase came forward "We've both missed you, brother." It was not the voice Emmett expected to hear.
"JASPER!" Emmett jumps up off the couch and bounds over to his long lost brother to wrap him in a brotherly hug. "What is going on with you?"
"Not much. Just been trying to get on with things. Bella and I have made an effort, but we have found through the years, a piece or two has been missing." Jasper is a bit melancholy. "Don't get me wrong, we love our life together, but something can make it even better."
"Is there anything I can do to help y'all out?"
"Let us all keep talking. Let me and Bella tell you our story, then you'll let us know if you can help." Jasper is still just as cryptic as always.
Bella gets right to the point. "Emmett, we knew about you and Rose. We do still check in with the parents at least once a month. However you do not. We have been looking for you for a while now." She walks up to Jasper and takes his hand. Emmett starts to say something, but she holds up her hand to stop him. "This is going to be hard enough to say correctly, so please let me, let us explain what we are feeling."
"Ok, but you're killing me here…"
"Well, after the final blowout at my birthday, when Edward left and insisted you all go with him, I tried to leave. Leave Forks. I couldn't stand to be around all the reminders. I couldn't stand to watch your family splinter. I know that Edward insisted that all of you leave with him, and that it caused a huge rift. The thought of the Cullen's not being together anymore was too much for me. As I was leaving town, Jasper stopped me and tried to explain a few things to me. He told me that you and Rosalie had come close to blows and you left the house and hadn't returned. He told me that Alice accused him of all sorts of things regarding me and that the party incident was the final straw. They had been having issues all along and so he left the house too. I was inconsolable. But he was persistent, and insisted on helping me through it. Since Charlie already thought I had headed to Phoenix, Jasper and I locked ourselves in a house outside of Portland and hashed all sorts of things out. He remained my friend, only my friend for six months until I confessed my love for him, and that led to us being joined and together." She took a short moment to catch her breath. She was on a roll and needed to get all of the years of explanation off of her chest.
"Once we decided to be together, we called Carlisle and Esme to try and repair our relationships with them. We had hoped it would be a first steps to being back with our family. But although they were happy to hear from us and accepted our news, Alice and Rosalie absolutely refused to budge when it came to us, so we decided to just keep in phone contact with your parents, and they have visited us here on occasion."
"Bella, before you go any further, please do not refer to them as my parents. They lost that right when they let the girls stomp all over me and Jasper and not say word one to us. They chose their side and that is that. Obviously, Jasper is way more forgiving than I am. I apologize for interrupting, but it is now and always will be a sore subject with me. Please, continue." Emmett's face showed pain and sorrow as he spoke.
"I'm sorry honey. I won't say it again. To continue, this is where I'm going to have a hard time expressing myself and Jazzy may have to help me." She sighed trying to find the words.
"Ever since Jasper and I decided to be together, it has been wonderful. We have very full lives that blend well together. And so you know, we do plan for me to really join the family and become one of you very soon. We were just waiting for the last piece of the puzzle to fall into place." She and Jasper share a knowing glance before she turns to Emmett and takes his face gently in her hands. She looks deeply into his eyes as she continues speaking…
"Emmett, Jasper and I have been very happy, very content loving each other. But not too long after we committed to each other, we both confessed to that we thought we were missing something. Something basic and fundamental. There was a piece of each of us missing and after a lot of discussion, we knew we were missing the same piece. You."
The trio sat in silence for a moment as Bella's words sank in. Emmett's eyes were full of confusion. Jasper could feel several strong emotions coming off of him.
Jasper spoke up first. "Emmett, we have both missed you and your presence in our lives. We have been looking for you for years. We want you here with us. And from what Bella told me a few minutes ago, you have been delivered to us. You are going to be working with Our Bella. Nothing pleases me more. And I can feel that Bella is beside herself."
Impatient as always, Bella jumps in. "Emmett. My heart is about to explode! The hole has been filled in, the final piece is in the puzzle. YOU FOUND US!" Bella leans forward and places a kiss on Emmett's lips. He has to fight the urge to lean in and reciprocate, but the last thing he wanted was to fight with his brother on the day they reunited.
Jasper feels his hesitation and says, "It's ok Emmett. There's more and when it's all out in the open, and hopefully you'll know it's ok that she just kissed you."
"Please, just tell me you guys. I'm dying here."
"Ok," Bella starts back up."From the beginning I had this feeling that even though I loved Edward very much, I wasn't drawn to only him. I was equally drawn to all three of you, but since you and Jasper were with the girls, and assumedly happy, I fought my feelings and redirected them all into Edward. When he left, my heart didn't just break from the loss of him, but from the loss of you and Jasper as well, equally. I love you all with everything I am. I had no idea a heart could hold so much love."
Emmett held up his hand to stop her speaking. "Hold on a second. You LOVE me too? Really?"
Bella nods and whispers, "Yes, I do."
He looks at Jasper. "And you're ok with this?"
"Emmett, I am more than ok with this. I encourage it. It's how it has always meant to be. She's loved all three of us from the beginning. You should have seen and felt how she opened up when she came to that realization. She became a whole other woman. A brighter, more beautiful woman if that was possible." Jasper kneels down next to Bella who is kneeling at Emmett's feet. He reaches over and brushes some hair out of her face. She leans into his hand. "Hell Emmett, she started glowing. She's had this glow for a few years now. But I have to say, that she's glowing even brighter today. As for me, I have missed you as intensely as she has. I missed you as a brother, a friend and in a way that I just couldn't explain until Bella and I opened up. I missed you as a piece of our whole. Ever since we split up, something was missing. It was you Emmett. You make us, you make all this…whole."
"Ok…that should creep me out" Emmett says in true silly bear style. "But it really doesn't. I have been wandering around for years now. I had never been alone as a vampire. It was hard at first, but the solitude lead to some amazing things. I remembered that I am not as clueless as I let Rosalie convince me of. I like reading and studying. I love to create things that others can enjoy. I actually started drawing. I started doing things that Rose would never do. I went to the opera and museums. Don't get me wrong, I still like my wrestling matches and monster trucks, but I found I had other interests as well." Emmett looks down at the two faces looking up at him in anticipation, listening intently to his story.
"But as much as I loved finding out these new things about myself, I couldn't help feel like something was missing. Something other than the expected missing of my family. And if I am completely honest with you two and myself, I missed Bella. Please don't hate me when I say this, but I have loved her from the first day we met her. I just didn't do anything about it because of Rosalie. My feelings were fairly easy to deal with as long as I got to see Bella on a daily basis. Once all hell broke loose and everyone was gone, especially Bella, my heart, so to speak, was ripped in half and I felt as only she could fix it. But I never thought I'd see her again so I tried to go about my life."
Jasper spoke up with a grin on his face. "Emmett, I can't hate you for loving Our Bella. I have loved her from the beginning as well. Seems like we were in the same boat."
"Yeah, and my heart seemed to be healed as soon as I saw her in the bookstore today. But she's with you. What am I going to do now?" he asks hanging his head.
Jasper lovingly reaches out and puts his hand on the back of Emmett's neck. "We're going to work this out. Bella and I have had a lot of time to think about the possibilities if you were to come back into our lives. It's going to be a long conversation and I think we need to feed the human. How are you doing? Do you need to hunt?"
"No I'm ok. I just went yesterday. Let's feed the Princess though." They all stand up and head to the kitchen.
"Really boys, I can feed myself. I think I'd prefer you to go talk. I think you need to talk about some things without me around. All I ask is that you both be totally honest with each other. Jasper, remember everything we have discussed and that I am 100 percent sure of the decisions we've made. Emmett, please know that everything Jasper is going to tell you is the truth and that he speaks for both of us at this point." She walks over and gives both men a kiss and walks into the kitchen. Jasper and Emmett walk back to the living room and sit down.
Jasper clears his throat."Where are you staying?"
"At a hotel near the office for now. I thought I'd stay there for a month or so while I get my bearings at work then I'll look for a place."
"You know that now we've found each other, you have to stay here right? We have lots of rooms and you can have your pick."
"I was hoping you'd say that. I really don't want to be on my own anymore." Emmett sighs with relief.
"Well, there's more you should think about. Bella and I would be more than satisfied to have you be our roommate...but..." Jasper hesitates a moment. "Please be open minded for a moment. Hear me out. Like we said before, we've been thinking about this for a long time. Bella loves you as much as she loves me and I am fine with that. I support it. It makes her who she is. To be honest, she is still as much in love with our brother as well. But that is another story for another day." he gets lost in his thoughts.
"Jasper?"
"Oh I'm sorry. Anyway, we would like to invite you to be our partner. To really "live" with us. Oh hell Emmett, I don't know what to call what we're offering. A trio? Triad? All I know is we love you and want you to be an equal part in our relationship. I know this is really out of left field, and if you want to just forget we offered, then please do and we'll go on about the business of being siblings."
Emmett ponders on the gift he was just offered. After a few minutes, he asks Jasper to excuse him for just a moment. He gets up and goes into the kitchen and gently takes Bella's face in his hands. He looks deeply into her eyes silently asking her the most important questions. Searching and finding the answers he was looking for, he brings his lips to hers. The past years melted away for both of them in that one kiss. He pulled away, wrapped his arms around her waist and spins her around. His verbal reply was Old School Emmett...
"HELL YES!!!" he howled. They can hear Jasper's laugh from the other room. "Oh Princess, I have no clue what's happening or what we're about to do, but I'm in! I want to be with you for as long as you'll have me!"
"Oh Emmett, you've made me so happy. You and Jasper are my life now."
"And you are ours, Bella." he replies as he kisses her forehead. "You always have been."