Being a vampire wasn’t easy.

Sure, there was the constant thirst for human blood and the need to hide from the sun, but for Emmett and Rosalie, there was something else. Something deeper. A strange emptiness they couldn’t ignore. They weren’t unhappy. In fact, they were deeply in love and had their family around them. But still, something was missing.

Rosalie felt it the most. She wanted to be a mother more than anything in the world. The fact that she couldn’t have children hurt her in a way nothing else could. Emmett saw her pain, and he made a promise: no matter how long it took—even if it took thousands of years—he would find a way to give her a child.

But that was easier said than done.

One afternoon, while Emmett and Edward were out hunting in the forest, a sound broke the quiet. A child’s cry. They both froze. The hunger that had driven them moments before was gone in an instant. Emmett didn’t hesitate.

In a flash, he ran in the direction the wails were coming from, an almost fatherly instinct kicking in.