“Wow.” Bella whispered.

I got up from the piano and ran to her side. I placed my arms around her waist and my chin on her shoulders. It felt so incredible to have her in my arms. “You took the word right out of my mouth.”

“Edward, I did it!”

“You did. You were unbelievable. All that worrying over being a newborn, and then you skip it altogether.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. I knew how worried she was about being consumed with thirst in the beginning, but I had to admit myself that I was worried that she wouldn’t feel as strongly as she did for me when she was a human. Now we didn’t have anything to worry about. We were more in love than ever and Bella didn’t have to worry anymore about being able to resist the temptation.

“I’m not even sure she’s really a vampire, let alone a newborn.” Emmett called from under the stairs. “She’s too tame.” Who knew Bella was such a prude!

Bella snarled under her breath.

“Oooo, scary.” Emmett laughed. Is the big, bad girly gonna hurt me?

I shot him a glare hoping he wouldn’t push her further. She was already upset with him after all the jokes he had shot at Charlie.

Bella hissed at him, which made Renesmee stir in her arms. She blinded a few times, and then looked around, her expression confused. She sniffed, and then reached for Bella’s face. She wondered where Charlie had gone.

“Charlie will be back tomorrow.” Bella assured her.

“Excellent.” Emmett said. I love messing with Charlie. Rosalie even laughed with him this time.

“Not brilliant, Emmett.” I scolded him as I held my arms out to take Renesmee from Bella. I gave her a wink when she hesitated, hoping she would remember my request from a few months before. She still looked confused but handed her over.

What are you talking about? “What do you mean?” Emmett demanded.

“It’s a little dense, don’t you think, to antagonize the strongest vampire in the house?”

Bella, the strongest? Emmett threw his back and snorted. “Please!”

“Bella,” I whispered, “do you remember a few months ago, I asked you to do me a favor once you were immortal?”

She took a second to contemplate. “Oh!” She had remembered.

No way! This is going to be great! Good thinking, Edward. Emmett needs a little healthy competition. Alice trilled a long, pealing laugh.

What is going on? Jacob stuck his head from around the corner, his mouth stuffed with food.

“What?” Emmett growled. What did you ask her to do?

“Really?” Bella asked.

“Trust me.” This would be classic. There was no way Emmett could beat Bella as strong as she was and I was revealing in this fact.

Bella took a deep breath. “Emmett, how do you feel about a little bet?”

He was on his feet at once. “Awesome. Bring it.” What is she up to? Oh well, I never turn down a bet.

Bella bit her lip for a second. She seemed to be rethinking her request.

Emmett took advantage of her stalling. “Unless you’re too afraid…”

She immediately squared her shoulders. “You. Me. Arm-wrestling. Dining room table. Now.”

Emmett’s grin stretched across his face. Alright!

Not such a good idea. “Er, Bella.” Alice said quickly. “I think Esme is fairly fond of that table. It’s an antique.”

Oh, my! “Thanks.” Esme mouthed at her. It would have been difficult to find an exact replica.

“No problem.” I’ve got the perfect spot. Emmett said with a gleaming smile. “Right this way, Bella.”

We all followed him out the back, toward the garage. There was a large granite boulder standing up out of a tumble of rocks near the river. It was a little misshapen but it would suffice as a makeshift table.

Emmett placed his elbow on the rock and waved Bella forward.

Bella seemed hesitant. I knew Emmett’s size was disconcerting, but I had hoped my assurance that she as a newborn would be stronger than anyone for a while would ease her nerves. She still looked afraid as she set her elbow against the stone.

“Okay, Emmett. I win, and you cannot say one more word about my sex life to anyone, not even Rose. No allusion, no innuendos---no nothing.”

Emmett’s eyes narrowed. “Deal. I win, and it’s going to get a lot worse.” Or should I say when I win…This is going to be a piece of cake!

Bella’s breathing stopped and Emmett grinned like a villain in a comic book. She’s going down!

“You gonna back down so easy, little sister?” Emmett taunted. “Not much wild about you, is there? I bet that cottage doesn’t have a scratch.” He laughed. “Did Edward tell you how many houses Rose and I smashed?” Now there’s a woman!

Bella gritted her teeth and grabbed his hand. “One, two---.”

“Three.” He grunted and shoved against her hand.

Nothing happened.

What the? Emmett grunted; his forehead creased and his whole body strained in one rigid line. No way am I losing this!

Bella flexed a little and Emmett lost an inch. She laughed and Emmett snarled harshly through his teeth. No!!!!!

“Just keep your mouth shut.” She told him as she smashed his hand into the boulder. A deafening crack echoed off the trees. The rock shuddered, and large piece broke off and crashed to the ground, landing on Emmett’s foot. Bella snickered. Jacob and I tried to muffle our laughter.

Son of a -----. Emmett kicked the rock fragment across the river. It sliced a young maple tree in half before thudding into the base of a large fur, which swayed and then fell into another tree.

“Rematch. Tomorrow.” No way will I lose again.

“It’s not going to wear off that fast. Maybe you ought to give it a month.” Bella teased.

Emmett growled, flashing his teeth. “Tomorrow.”

“Hey, whatever makes you happy, big brother.”

As he turned to walk away, Emmett punched the granite, shattering off an avalanche of shards and powder. Stupid bet…I was just having an off day…She distracted me, that’s all…I just need to hunt and I’ll be back good as new….I’ll show her…..

The look on Emmett’s face was utterly priceless. He had absolutely no excuse for losing, even though he tried to come up with one, other than Bella was stronger than him. He was completely in denial. I was so proud of her and the fact of Emmett finally being beaten without him being able to use the “cheating” excuse, was very satisfying.

Bella was fervently pleased with herself. I wondered what she was thinking as she dug her fingers slowly into the stone, crushing the pieces as she went further down. She ended up with a handful of gravel.

“Cool.” She mumbled. With a grin stretching across her face, she whirled around suddenly in a circle and karate-chopped the rock with the side of her hand. The stone started to crack in two and with a big poof if dust it split in half. Bella started giggling.

Everybody was Kung fu fighting…Jacob started to hum to himself.

She started to punch and kick the rest of the boulder into fragments. She was having the time of her life, snickering at herself the entire time.

Yep, she’s lost it. I knew she’d eventually go off the deep end. Jacob snickered.

Look at her, Edward. She’s having a blast. Alice giggled. That actually looks fun!

Suddenly, a new little giggle surprised us all.

“Did she just laugh?” Bella stopped in her tracks.

“Yes.” I confirmed. Although it had surprised me just as much as it had the rest of them.

“Who wasn’t laughing?” Jacob muttered, rolling his eyes. It was hilarious.

“Tell me you didn’t let go a bit on your first run, dog.” I teased. I was beginning to warm up, figuratively, to Jacob. He wasn’t so bad after all.

Yeah. So what? “That’s different.” He said as he lightly punched my shoulder. “Bella’s supposed to be a grown-up. Married and a mom and all that. Shouldn’t there be more dignity?” Like she should drive a mini-van and watch Martha Stewart or something…..

Renesmee frowned and touched my face. She was disappointed that her mother hadn’t continued in her theatrics.

“What does she want?” Bella asked.

“Less dignity.” I said with a grin. “She was having almost as much fun watching you enjoy yourself as I was.”

“Am I funny?” She cooed at Renesmee as she darted back and reached out for her at the same time Renesmee was reaching for Bella. She took her out of my arms and offered Renesmee the shard of rock in her hand. “You want to try?”

Renesmee gave a beautiful little smile and took the stone in both hands. She squeezed with all her might. There was a tiny grinding sound and a bit of dust. She frowned and handed the chunk up to Bella. She was disappointed she hadn’t had the same results as her mother.

“I’ll get it.” Bella told her as she pinched the stone into sand.