Bella glanced nervously out the window. It had been an hour since she and Edward sat down with Charlie and told him the truth. With Renesme growing up so fast, he already knew something was up. They both thought it was fair that he know the whole truth. Charlie was quiet after they explained their real story. Most of it, at least. They both agreed it would be best to leave out the parts where Edward had been sneaking into Bella's room.
Bella insisted on telling him everything else though, starting at the beginning when she first thought Edward hated her. He thought it was a joke at first. Then he thought she'd gone crazy. That is, until Edward ran down to the edge of the woods and back with vampiric speed, showing Charlie just how real it was.
"What about Nessie? Is she..." Charlie left the question hanging in the air. Bella flinched a bit, knowing Charlie couldn't bring himself to say the word.
"She's different from us." Edward spoke. Bella squeezed his hand. "She could live a human life if she wanted to, but she'll live forever like we will." That's when Charlie asked for some time alone.
Bella snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Renesme bouncing up the porch. She released an unneeded breath when Charlie pulled her into his lap. She heard him laughing, no doubt from Nessie telling him one of the blonde jokes Jacob had been teaching her.
She could hear the wolf himself making his way to the kitchen from the back of the house.
"How'd it go?" He spoke through a mouthful of leftovers from the night before.
"I'll tell you when I find out." She muttered. They'd left out the part about Quileutes being werewolves and Jacob 'imprinting' on Nessie.
"What did you two do today?" Bella reached between them and playfully threw a kitchen towel at him to wipe Esme's latest concoction off his face.
"Went hunting." Jacob leaned against the counter next to her, watching Charlie and Nessie. "She should be wiped out about now, almost reached the border before we turned back." Bella turned back to the window and saw what he meant. Nessie had her head on Charlie's shoulder while Charlie rocked gently on the porch swing. Bella knew if her heart was still beating it would have skipped a few beats in pure joy and contentment.
"Esme left desert in the freezer, save some for the others?" Bella arched an eyebrow at him in a playful warning.
The air was crisp and cold outside. Bella reached down and gently pulled Nessie off of Charlie. Nessie curled herself against Bella and buried her face into the crook of her mother's neck. Bella was enjoying the feeling when she noticed Charlie staring at her left arm. It was nearly sunset, but one of the last few rays of sunlight managed to reach her.
She swallowed nervously, trying to gauge his reaction. He pulled his eyes away from her sparkling arm.
"Are you happy?" He asked quietly. She looked him in the eyes and gave him a small smile.
"More than humanly possible."
Charlie stood up and pressed a light kiss to Bella's temple.
"Then that's all that matters."