#renesme

Then, like the angel of messes, Nessie sits in her arms snoring lightly. Her cheek, soft and warm, is against Rose’s collarbone and has been for the last twenty minutes. Rose had happily agreed to watch Nessie while her father went off to feed. Bella was at a business meeting in Port Angeles, a monthly occurrence that the family seemed to consciously not discuss. Edward was supposed to be back forty minutes ago, which was coincidentally also the exact time that the little angel was throwing a tantrum and pulling Roses hair. 

But, Rosalie doesn’t mind watching her. She enjoys the thick teardrops that roll down her puffy cheeks when she gets mad and the melted ice cream that coats the front of Nessie’s shirt after a snack. And as soon as she starts to get fussy it seems that Rose is the only one who can truly calm her down. It’s strange, being so involved in this child when she barely has any rights to her. 

Emmett is upstairs, packing the last of their suitcases and making sure the room is in order. This is why Rosalie is frustrated with Edwards' lateness, he was going to make them miss their flight. It also just happened to be her luck that the rest of the family is happily distracted when she needs them. 

Alice and Jasper had left days ago for somewhere in South America, Alice claiming that she just had to be there and not giving a date for return. She had, instead, also bought Rose and Emmett a one way ticket to a small airport an hour outside of Brazil. The travelling was not uncommon of the couple, Alice moving as she pleases and Jasper following without question. Maybe it was his devotion to her, or maybe it was the uncomfortable silence that always followed him throughout the house. In a group of vampires it’s difficult to find a point of discussion that isn’t based in the past, and the family is not one to tolerate Jasper's discussion of the past. 

That leaves two people left to watch Nessie as Rose and Emmett catch their flight: Esme and Carlisle. Carlisle picked up a job in Seattle, working overnight at a care clinic for the elderly. He never said it, but Rose just knew that it was because he had similar interests to the seniors he cared for. She had overheard him telling Esme one night that he almost wishes he aged into his forties so that he could hold a conversation and base it on his experience, not say his grandfather told him stories. Esme was with Carlisle in Seattle, she funded a series of group homes for at-risk youth and occasionally would go and meet with the kids. If only she was here to watch her grandchild. 

“Rose,” it was Emmett at the top of the stairs. He was whispering, thankfully. He had probably heard Nessie snoring and knew not to wake her. He saw her temper tantrum the last time someone woke her up from a nap and was not looking to face it any time soon. “I have the things packed.” Rose looked over her shoulder at the staircase just in time to see him appear at the bottom, two suitcases at his feet and a neck pillow cradling his head. 

All it took was a raise of her eyebrows for him to fall into a defensive position. Palms facing her, he approached quietly. “I wanna look the part,” he explained. 

“Your neck doesn’t cramp,” she retorted with a smirk. She wouldn’t be able to talk him out of the dumb pillow, the same way she wasn’t able to talk him out of sunscreen the last time they went to Bora Bora. 

“But tourists' necks cramp, why else would they sell these things?” He went up to the main door, opening it and looking outside. “It’s not like the pillow industry is trying to scam vampires.” Rosalie doesn’t have to ask him what he’s looking for, the tenseness in his shoulders tells her enough. He doesn't want to miss their plane and wants Edward to get here already. Out of all the Cullens, Emmett is the most frugal. He hates wasting money. 

He closes the door softly and turns to his wife and their niece, taking off the dumb pillow and tossing it onto the suitcases. A smile cracks open across his face. “Can I?” She nods and his knuckles brush against her chest as he gingerly brings the toddler up to cradle her. His large arms seem brutal next to Nessie, her tiny frame nearly disappears as he hugs her to his chest. Her head lolls onto his shoulder, snores breaking for a moment as she sighs in content. His eyes dance in the light, looking down at her as she sleeps peacefully in his arms. 

Rosalie has always loved Emmett, but the first time she saw him holding their niece, the way he carefully smiled with his mouth closed and crouched to seem smaller, that was when she knew they would have a family. Emmett was initially afraid of scaring the baby, afraid he would seem too big compared to the rest of the family. Like a giant. He would talk quietly around her, always making sure to hide his teeth when he smiled and sit on the floor when she played. 

A movement pulls Rose from her thoughts. So quickly that a human would have missed it, the door opens and closes, the child blinks awake at the noise. Edward stands beside Rosalie, his shoulders slouched forward and his mouth pulled up into a painful smile. “Rose,” he nods to her, “Emmett,” he nods to his brother. 

Emmett ducks down quickly towards the little girl, pressing his lips to the back of her head as she looks over at her father. “Nessie has a lot to show you,” he says with a laugh. His heart isn’t in it. Edward must read it in his mind and politely disregards it, because he strides up to his daughter and lifts her out of her uncle's arms. 

Nessie plants a hand on her fathers cheek, his smile widening as he watches a play by play of her afternoon. 

Regretting her earlier wishes of Edward coming home, Rosalie speaks to break the moment. “We’re leaving. We were supposed to have left forty minutes ago but somebody must have never developed an interest in punctuality.” She receives a glare from Edward, his jaw rolling forward in what must be residue annoyance from some other event. 

Emmett notices this, “Bella spoken to you?” 

“Yes.” He jostles his daughter, raising her so that she can play with his shirt collar. He doesn’t say anything else. 

“Well, Rose and I are heading out so we’ll see you later,” Emmett says jovially, waving a hand at his favourite- and only- niece. She waves back with vigor, a toothy smile spread across her dimpled cheeks. Her father only watches with mild disinterest, his thoughts clearly occupied by some other matter.

They grab their suitcases quickly, Rose planting a sweet kiss on the little girls cheek as they pass by towards the door. 

Against Emmetts pleading, they’re taking Rosalie's car. She had a difficult time understanding why taking his giant Jeep, suited for off-roading, would be ideal for travelling to the airport. 

“Are you okay?” She asks him, turning the key in the ignition and driving out of the garage into the night. He hadn’t said anything as he loaded the suitcases into the trunk, and when she turned on talk radio he didn’t complain or try to change the station. All abnormal.

“I’m gonna miss her,” he pauses, his adam's apple bobbing, “I hope she doesn’t change while we are gone.” 

“I know, me too.” Rosalie doesn’t try to alleviate his anxiety, she knows it would be a lie to tell him Nessie would look the same when they get back. She’ll probably be a little longer, her teeth larger, maybe she’ll have new interests. Every change they miss will hurt them both.

“But we’ve got to go.” His voice is hard, finality ringing through it as if he’s trying to convince himself.

“We’ve got to.” She agrees softly. 

They pull into a parking spot near the front entrance of the airport just in time to make their plane. Her phone rings after take off, the face of her sister smiling up at her from the screen. “Alice?”

“Rose, tell me you’re on your way.” The girl says hurriedly, excitement layering her words. 

“Emmett and I are on the plane now,” she responds. Emmett looks over at her curiously, neck pillow adorned. 

“Jasper and I have a lead.” She then goes to rattle off the details of their current location and where they will be tomorrow night. The phone hangs up.