"OK, now count to ten!"

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

"Coming, ready or not!"

A giggle erupted from down the hall. Jasper made a few half-hearted attempts to locate its source, before bursting into Alice's room. The sound was emanating from the closet.

"I wonder where she could be..."

He ran into the closet, directed towards the skirts. Reaching in, he grabbed the set of shoulders which were shaking with laughter.

"Found you!"

He was met by a look of awe.

"You found me! How did you do that?"

There was no sarcasm in Nessie's tones. Jasper wasn't sure what response to give: that his niece was so loud that he could have located her from downstairs? Or that it was the same place that she'd hidden the last three times?

He was saved from answering by the slamming of the door, and a booming voice: "Guys, we're back!"

"Uncle Emmett! Uncle Emmett! Come up here!"

A moment later, Emmett was in Alice's room, swinging his niece in circles. Jasper watched in bemusement as his brother proceeded to carry Nessie over to the bed, sit down on it and tickle her until she shrieked with laughter.

"Leave me alone!" she squealed, enjoying the game. "Stop it!"

"Renesmee!" Bella, who had been passing by, entered the room. "What do you say if you want something?"

"Uncle Emmett, stop - please!"

"Alright. If you insist..." Emmett smiled fondly at the girl, who had collapsed in a fit of giggles on the bed. Bella grinned, and continued down the hallway.

"How are you today, sweetheart?"

"Fine. But, do you know what happened? Uncle J and I were playing Hide and Seek, and he found me super quickly! He counted to ten, and started looking, and I counted to ten, and he found me!"

Emmett looked at Jasper.

"Is this true?"

Jasper gave his brother an aggravated look. "I'm sorry! Where's the problem? She hides, I find her, game over."

Emmett sighed. His brother was a wonderful uncle to their niece, but he obviously had a lot to learn about the ways of Hide and Seek.

He turned to Nessie. "Nessie, sweetheart, I think Rosalie was looking for you. Can you go and see what she wanted? She's with Grandma in the yard."

She nodded and skipped out of the room.

"She's a happy kid, isn't she?"

"True, that. Gets it from her aunt, I wouldn't wonder."

They sat thoughtfully for a minute, before Emmett remembered what he was doing there.

"So, what's this I hear about you finding her in twenty seconds?"

"I really don't see where the problem is. Surely the kid wants to be found. Otherwise, why would she be hiding?"

"Jasper, Jasper, Jasper..."

Jasper rolled his eyes. His brother could be so infuriating when he wanted to.

"Yes?"

"When you play Hide and Seek with a kid, the point of the game is to not be found. The point is to find the most incredible hiding place in the history of the universe, and stay there, hidden away, until you're found by the genius looking for you."

"Right..."

"So, she'll be back upstairs in a minute. Around the time that she finds out that Rose is busy and doesn't have time right now, and Edward is out."

"So, you mean I've got to -"

He broke off upon hearing the tiny footsteps pounding up the stairs. Nessie ran into the room, a confused look on her face.

"Uncle Emmett, I told Auntie Rose that you said to find her. And she didn't know what you were talking about, 'cos she was busy. And she said we'd play later. And she said to say to tell you to... um... 'take a long walk off a short pier'. She said that you'd know what that means." She ran over to sit next to her uncle on the bed.

"I do, honey. Thanks for passing on the message. Now, do you want to play Hide and Seek again? I think that you'll be able to find an amazing hiding place where even Uncle J can't find you!"

Nessie bounced up and down, nodding madly, the very image of her aunt.

"Uncle Emmett, are you going to look too? Can you count to twenty? I want to find a perfect place!"

"No problems. We'll cover our eyes right now."

They did so, and presently the footsteps were heard to go down the hall.

... sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen...

"Twenty! Ready or not, here we come!"

Emmett turned to his brother. "Now, follow my lead."

He walked into the corridor, looking puzzled. "I wonder where Nessie could be!"

A giggle burst from Edward's room. Jasper made to go in that direction, but Emmett stopped him.

"No!" he hissed. "We've got to keep on looking." He spoke louder: "I have no idea where she could be! You look in Rosalie's room, and I'll look in Mum's."

"Emmett, this is ridiculous. Why are we doing this?"

"Jasper, shut up and pretend to look."

For the next few minutes, mutters of "Where is she?" could be heard from all over the house.

"Is she in the kitchen?"

"No."

"Is she in the bathroom?"

"No."

"My goodness, she's found an incredible hiding place."

Meanwhile, the giggles were increasing in volume and frequency.

Emmett signalled to Jasper. "Go and look in Edward's room again. And find her this time. But pretend that you're about to give up."

Jasper rolled his eyes, but headed into Edward's room. "Where is she? I've looked absolutely everywhere. I have no idea where she could be. I think I've got to give up. Unless..."

He strolled over to the couch, and peered behind it. Two eyes looked back at him.

"Boo!"

His niece burst up, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Uncle Jasper, how did you find me? You're amazing. I found a good hiding place, didn't I?"

"You sure did, sweetheart. You sure did."

He stood still, with his eyes closed for a minute, while the little girl excitedly whispered in his ear: "I was really scared that you wouldn't be able to find me. I knew that it was such a good place to hide, but you found me anyway. You're so clever!"

Jasper grinned at his brother, who winked at him, as he left the room with Nessie, who called out to her mother.

"Mama! You'll never guess what happened! I was playing Hide and Seek with Uncle J, and it was such a hard hiding place that he almost didn't find me. But he did!"

"Wow, honey! That's great. He's very clever, your uncle, isn't he?"

Nessie nodded. Then she turned to her uncle.

"Can we play again?"