A/N: I wrote this telling story last summer before Breaking Dawn came out because I am the most impatient person ever...so I wrote my own! I didnt know what the heck fanfiction was so I wrote it for my neighbors, friends, mom and sister. They said they liked because they have to. They're just nice.
It has been sitting on my computer since August and I thought I would post it and see what ya'll think. I couldnt just throw it away and delete it. I spent A VERY LARGE amount of time slacking off at work to write this:) It would be disrespectful to my boss to just chuck, he paid good money for it.
Mostly it's just fluff and since it was the 1st thing I have ever written, its basically all immature and silly and struggling. Some BD things I guessed right, and some things (like flipping Reneesme...and Jacob!) I could NEVER have thought would happen. Its just funny to read and think back to what we all THOUGHT was going to happen. Shit. We were wrong. It stops after the honeymoon because lets face it, thats all I cared about happening in Breaking Dawn. Surprisingly, there is no smut either! Its pretty clean.
Give me some feedback, yo.
I don't own Twilight.
Chapter 1: Telling Charlie
Because this wedding was his idea anyway and because I had the strange urge to make him feel some of the uncomfortable feelings I felt about it, I decided it would be best if Edward were to tell Charlie himself. Usually, I am all for the 'less is more' with Charlie conversations. But this felt like a good time to see just how smooth Edward could be with words.
"I think this might go better if you ask Charlie for his blessing rather than us just announcing it to him. Don't you think?" I said trying not to give away my indulgent plan of relinquishing uncertainties onto him. It was hard not to smile during the rare times Edward had not known what to say.
He looked over at me like I had just thrown him under the bus. I waited while he tried to come up with a better plan.
"I think we should tell him together, he will be calmer if you're in the room. I am not exactly his favorite person." He tried to hide something with his eyes but I could still see some dread behind them. "I think he'll be wishing someone else was on his couch asking for his blessing the entire time."
I knew he was right about that. Although it had been several months since Edward came back, plenty of time for Charlie to get over the fact that he left me and start to accept the fact that he wasn't going anywhere again, Charlie was constantly and unnecessarily bad-mannered to Edward and would definitely prefer if that someone Edward was referring to were Jacob. The small part of me that would always belong to Jacob smugly tugged on my heart as Edward mentioned him this way. I hadn't seen or heard from him since our last goodbyes and this conversation made me wonder how he was holding up.
Edward's distraction got me thinking but not enough to change my mind. I kept my mission going, "You know it is a customary tradition amongst humans and Charlie might obtain a touch of deference for you since you were brave enough to ask permission for my hand" I raised my eyebrows at him trying not to smile.
He picked up on my little operation "I still think we should tell him together, it is just as customary as anything and I can tell by his mind that he will respond better if we're both there. Besides, you're the one who says we have to tell him anyway. I said we could secretly go to Vegas."
I hadn't realized we were already in front of my house. I was now totally nervous. I just agreed with Edward. He would argue forever if it came down to it, and in his case, he really could. I gave him a nervous smile and slipped on my ring.
"Charlie is in an alright mood, this shouldn't be too bad." He said trying to comfort himself more than me.
"Let's just get this part over with." I sighed as I got out of the car. He silently followed.
When we got in the house I heard Charlie yell, "Bella, s'that you?" We walked into the living room where Charlie was and sat down in our usual seats- Edward in the only chair, and me next to Charlie on the couch. There happened to be a slow moving game of golf on the TV and Charlie looked at us suspiciously because it had almost been a year since we all sat together in his living room. "What's going on?" he asked casually eyeing both of us up and down.
"Dad, Golf? Come on. Can you watch anything more boring?" It probably didn't look very inconspicuous that I sat down awkwardly with my hands still in my front jean pockets.
"Oh." He eyed my hands specifically and then said with an unsure smile "There wasn't a lot on."
We all sat in silence for a few moments pretending to watch the players walk to their next holes.
"Is there something you guys want to tell me?" Charlie finally asked his mood quickly souring. I knew he had guessed that if we both had something to tell him, it wasn't going to be good news.
Edward's eyes bulged out of his head, his lips pulled together at the center as he quickly whipped his head away from Charlie and back to pretending to watch the TV. Edward was a statue whose expression confused me as he heard what Charlie was trying to guess we were there to tell him. The expression wasn't upset, but actually uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed. I chickened out. Edward was never this uncomfortable unless someone was thinking about my demise. Each second that passed Charlie turned his head to look at me and then Edward until I finally said "No, not really. Oh, it is almost five o'clock, what do you want for dinner?" Charlie didn't buy it. I quickly got up and headed toward the kitchen to see what ingredients I could put together.
I now knew I needed to make something extra miraculous so I could distract him from my news. It wasn't long before Edward followed me and eventually I heard the TV click off and Charlie was also in the room. Edward gave me a look that meant 'I told you this was a bad idea' and stood away from Charlie over by the sink.
"I am an officer of the law and I have been highly trained to know when someone is trying to hide something from me." His face was burgundy with chagrin as he asked his next question, "Now give it to me straight Isabella, are you pregnant?"
My face now matched his when I realized what Edward had heard and I slyly tried to move my left hand behind the counter. "Be serious dad! We've had this conversation already."
His face was returning to normal from the relief but the redness immediately reappeared as he realized Edward was still in the room. "Then what the hell is going on, you two don't normally come and sit in my living room with guilty faces on."
"It was nothing dad, we're just trying to spend some time with you, you know? I am headed off for college in a couple weeks; I am going to miss not being around." I surprised myself with my amazing cover. The surprise in my voice is what gave me away.
"Oh, is that all" Charlie said as he stared at me trying to figure out if I was lying.
"Well there is one thing we wanted to ask you" Edward chimed in for the first time looking slightly annoyed by me. Charlie who rarely gave Edward the time of day turned to look at him expectantly.
"I just want you to know how much I love and care for your daughter. She is my life's purpose and the reason for my existence." My face was torn. I was trying to focus on not throwing up. I listened to Edward's words and it gave me the strength I needed.
Feeling like an enormous coward I put my hand back on the counter and the metal made a loud enough noise on the countertop to turn Charlie's head. "We're engaged." I said with a scared smile and sounding optimistic, pulling my hand up to my face to show him.
All the blood left Charlie's face; he was as white as Edward. I am glad he stood mostly in the hallway because it left a clear opening for him as he fell backwards and passed out.
It took a minute to wake Charlie up. When he started breathing at a normal pace again I started back to my food preparations. I decided chicken enchiladas were my best bet at this point. It was Charlie's favorite, it was then that I realized I wanted to make all of his favorite meals and really keep up on spending time with him before I couldn't any longer.
I didn't have any time to waste; I wasn't going to be human for long and I knew I wouldn't be around for Charlie at the end of the summer. I made a nice big dinner with a green salad and a side dish of Mexican rice. Charlie and I sat down at the table to eat; Edward excused himself as usual and started walking in the living room. Charlie who had been quiet since his fall noticed this for the first time.
"Edward?" Charlie started to question. "How come you never eat with us, don't you like Bella's cooking?"
Edward, who already knew this was coming, turned and headed for the table to sit with us. I was suddenly nervous. I hadn't seen Edward eat human food since we first were getting to know each other and I dared him to take a bite of pizza.
"I usually eat before I come over because I am allergic to most foods" Edward said. "Anything made with eggs or peanuts sends me straight to the emergency room turns out to be most everything edible"
"Oh, that's terrible." Charlie said in an overdone sympathetic tone "How did your mother ever manage?" a rhetorical question no doubt. "As it turns out, I had a cousin who had the same problem when we were younger. Took him a while but he eventually got over it. That kid ate so much fruits and vegetables, he started to turn green, here you go Edward," Charlie took the salad prongs and started dishing it out on a third plate. "I better get used to having you for dinner if you're going to be my future son-in-law. What else do people like you eat?"
I was suddenly suspicious that Charlie was asking a different question. People like you? Did he know more than I gave him credit for? "Dad, I don't think Edward can have salad dressing. He said he already ate; don't make him eat just lettuce."
"No, I'm ok Bella. I don't mind if I do. I like vegetables just as much as any other human being" Edward winked at me so fast Charlie could not have caught it. "Thank you, Charlie."
Charlie and I watched as Edward ate his salad with no dressing on it. Edward made an 'mmmm' sound as if it tasted delicious. I gave him a 'don't over do it' look and he put his fork down.
"Have you told your parents the news, Edward?" Charlie asked.
"Well yes, we told them earlier. They love Bella as one of their own. They are thrilled as you can imagine, they know how lucky I am to have Bella."
Charlie grunted as if to say he couldn't wholly reciprocate the Cullen's feeling for my fiancé. I was starting to get defensive.
Charlie must have unknowingly asked a question in his head because Edward started speaking again. "They always support me with all the decisions I make." He was challenging Charlie's lack of confidence in my judgment.
"And your brothers and sisters are they also aware of this?"
"Dad," I had to start in, "There is nothing to be aware of. And yes, as you can imagine, Alice has already started planning." Charlie's face was in conflict as I mentioned both Alice, possibly the love of his life, and wedding plans.
"Well how long have you been planning this? You just graduated from high school last week. For heaven's sake, Bella…I know you're 18 and you can make these decisions for yourself, but I didn't think you were that kind of girl, Bells." Charlie was shaking his head disappointedly.
It was quiet for a short moment; this was the kind of thing I was afraid of. Oh well, I will have to face more than this when I tell Renee.
"Ya, I don't really know what kind of girl I am." I stood up to take my plate of half finished food to the sink. I suddenly wasn't hungry any more; I took Edward's salad with me.
I walked upstairs thinking Edward would follow me but when he didn't I just sat in the dark on my bed. I had to come up with a better plan of telling Renee. Well, there's no hiding it, I thought. I would just have to call and tell her flat out and I would have to hurry before Charlie did. After much arguing and debating, Renee actually handled it much better than I thought. She was happy that I was happy. She told me she would start looking for flights. "When is the date? Sometime next spring would be nice?"
"Actually, it is August 13th."
"Oh that is great honey, which gives you a nice long engagement and at least you'll be nineteen…"
"No mom," I cut in "August 13th of this year. In like 2 months."
"WHAT!?" Here we go again. "Bella, you don't have to rush into these things. Haven't you learned anything from your own life's experience?" I could hear Phil come in the back ground. 'Renee, calm down. Don't hyperventilate.'
"Hey Bella," Phil came on the phone. "Long time no talk, I'm sorry but I think she's going to have to call you back…" Click.
The worst was over. She would just have to recover and think about it.
When I went downstairs I could hear Charlie in a lecturing tone. "If anything ever and I mean ever happens to that girl, I will have the FBI, CIA, and all the other law enforcement officials I can find on your ass. Do you hear me?" he stopped for only a moment, in time to think through his words more carefully. "If you ever hurt her again or send her back home crying, you're going to wish you never came back to Forks. I will hunt you down and no one will ever find you." I suddenly realized Charlie had wanted to say these words to him for a long time now.
Edward looked at Charlie now with his piercing black eyes that held even Charlie in some sort of trance. "You have my word that nothing will ever hurt or come between me and your daughter. I will put my life before hers. I will always protect her. Forever."
Then Edward turned to look at me, the fire a blaze. He meant these words he was saying more than Charlie could ever imagine. Then Charlie did something I had never before witnessed. He put his hand out to shake Edward's and spoke with tears in his eyes.
"I believe you. I know you love her. You love each other. I give you my blessing and I will just have to support your decision." Charlie sighed. His stubbornness absolved.
Edward had a relieved look on his face. I could tell the storm was over.
I walked over and hugged Charlie and then the tears in his eyes bubbled over. He was crying for me, "You will always be my little girl, Bells." He held me there for a while to calm down again.
Just then the phone rang. I knew it would be Renee calling to argue some more. I told Charlie I had some errands to run before the stores closed and he would have to talk some sense into her. "Just tell her what you just told us. That you support us."
"Oh man," he complained wiping his face. "Your mother can be really scary when she's angry" he was already walking toward the phone. "You'll owe me one after this."
I smiled at him again before Edward and I walked out the door.
