Annora |E. Cullen|

NINE

"I overheard a bit of that conversation that you had with your father the other morning," Emmett mentioned as he drove us to a field where we were to meet up with the rest of his family for a baseball game. "I didn't want to overlook something, but I also didn't want to make a big deal out of something if it's actually nothing."

"Well, what part did you hear?" I questioned as I sipped at my water, I made it a habit of tracking my water intake every day to make sure I was staying healthy on that end.

"You both sounded very grave when you mentioned that you didn't mind caring for Morgan," he continued.

I sighed, "Em, I don't want to put you in a bad mood or ruin this game for you. I'll tell you some other time, we can sit down and talk about all the shit I'm carrying around with me," I suggested.

He nodded, "Can I ask something?"

"Absolutely," I encouraged.

"Does it tie in with your fear of silence?"

"Yes," I kept my answer short.

"Okay," he nodded and dropped the topic. He reached over and rubbed his thumb across my lower thigh to provide comfort.

We pulled into the field and he parked the car closer to his family so that we wouldn't have to walk for ages just to reach them. Edward and Bella seemed to show up just at the time that we did. I got out of the car with a smile on my face, I was excited about this distraction, I needed something to take my mind off of the numbers and analytics.

The best part of the whole event; it was during a storm.

Thunder rumbled loudly in the distance as I sat down a few feet away from Bella and Esme, a smile spread across my face as I looked up and waited to see lightening, "It's time!" Alice called after the first strike had hit miles away.

Just after the lightning struck, thunder boomed and filled the air, chasing away the silence. It reminded me of how Emmett's laugh operated. I connected more of his features with the storms that I had loved so much. His eyes reminded me of lightning just after he had fed. They reminded me of pools of rain water if he had been hungry. He was as quick as lightning, his laugh was as fulfilling as the thunder was.

"Hey, Edward, why are you staring at her? Let's play!" Alice whined.

He shook out of his own train of thought when I looked over at him, "I'm sorry," he said, "her mind map is just so beautiful. I've never seen anything like it," he stared in wonder for a second more before he turned back to his family to start the game.

He had no interest in me romantically, that much was evident. I understood what he was saying. He was a man that had no choice but to pay attention to the mind maps and thought processes of everyone he walked by, every day of his life- excluding Bella, of course. To find a thought process that had actually peaked his interest must have taken years.

Alice's voice shook me out of my own thoughts as her eyes moved across the field rapidly, she had seen something. "Everyone, stop!" She yelled.

To my surprise, everyone froze in place and waited for instructions. It seemed to have happened in slow motion again. I stood up and watched as the family had come from their spread out places in the field, to a tight line in the centre. Bella had been covered in clothing from Alice, Carlisle, and Edward.

Emmett seemed slightly panicked as he placed his hat on my head and then placed Esme's jacket around my shoulders. I stayed completely calm, kept my heart and breathing rates at a normal level, and watched the end of the field, waiting for what was coming. Emmett carefully snatched my glasses from my face and shoved them into the jacket pocket.