I decided to give you a taste of EPOV, so here it is... the phone conversation with Charlie!
Bella is here. In my house. Tonight, she's going to sleep in my bed… in my sheets.
I couldn't get over it.
I was standing in my room, admiring the way her luggage looked at home with mine, lying on my comforter.
I wonder what Bella will look like sprawled out nak-
My internal monologue was cut off when I heard the opening notes of "Claire de Lune" begin pouring through my apartment.
I walked into the living area, standing against the wall as I watched Bella play. She had her eyes closed and her fingers were moving swiftly across the keys in a way that told me she'd played this piece at least a million times before. I wondered where her head was at… what the notes were making her think about.
If I had to bet on it, I'd say she was thinking about her Mum. Or her Dad.
I stood in silence, allowing myself to get completely sucked into the moment, when I noticed that she'd stopped playing, and bowed her head slightly over the keys.
The vulnerability of the position nearly broke me.
"That was beautiful." I said, my voice quiet, but just loud enough to alert her to my presence.
She spun around, looking at me, a bit of shock marring her features. Under the shock, though, I could see the immense sadness that was plaguing her. I didn't like it.
"Who taught you how to play?" I asked, walking over to sit beside her on the bench. "My mother." She said, her voice in the same tone as mine. I suppressed a smile when she scooted over next to me and rested her head on my shoulder.
I loved that she was always touching me. It was almost like she needed the phyical connection as much as I did.
I looked down, taking in her face; I immediately noticed the silent tears that were tracing their way down her cheeks. I reached up, wiping away a tear, before pressing a kiss onto the tantalizingly smooth skin of her cheek.
"You going to call Charlie?" I asked her, turning my head a bit so that I could rest press my forehead to hers. She closed her eyes, pausing a moment before nodding, her head moving ever so slightly against mine.
I smiled down at her, my insides brimming with happiness for her. I knew that this was going to be difficult for her, but it was something she needed to do, and I was immensely proud of her. I told her as much, before cradling her face in my hands and pressing a single kiss on her beautiful lips.
"You'll feel better, I promise you." I said, pressing my forehead to hers again, "And he will be so happy to hear from you. But remember, I'm here if you need me."
She has to do this. She has to do this. She has to do this.
I walked into the kitchen, plucking the phone off the cradle, leaving Bella sitting on the piano bench, thinking about what she was getting ready to do.
I knew that she needed to call her dad… she needed to make up with him. But it was pretty difficult convincing myself to let her. I didn't want to watch her fall apart like I knew that she was going to. But as her… boyfriend (or whatever I was) I needed to support her, and help her grow.
I loved the hell out of Bella Swan. I had no other option than to help her do this.
I walked back to the piano, reaching out to take Bella's hand in mine, leading her into the family room, sitting her down on one of the leather couches my mother had picked out.
"You know the international code, right?" I asked, looking down at her. I resisted the urge to ring my hands nervously as I stood over her. She nodded, her eyes locked on the phone on her hand, her face void of all emotion except for the occasional flicker of panic that would mar her features every so often.
"Do you want me to stay?" I asked. Half of me wanted desperately to stay, to hold her in my arms as this whole thing unfolded. The other half of me wanted to run off to my room and hide.
Bella just nodded and held her hand out to me; I walked over, plopping down on the couch next to her, waiting to see what she wanted to do. I sighed a sigh of relief when she climbed into my lap, buried her head in my neck, and began to dial.
I could hear the faint ringing of the dial tone, given that she was holding the phone quite closely to my ear; I was holding my breath for her.
Pick up, Chief Swan. Pick up. Your baby girl, the love of my life, needs you. Please be there for her… this isn't something that I can fix.
Just then, I heard the deep, gruff voice of a man come over the phone. "Hello?" the man asked, his voice sounding a little foggy, probably due to the fact that we were calling him from halfway across the world.
Bella began trembling in my arms, her little body shaking ever so slightly at the man's voice. I could feel her tears dripping onto my neck, the hot water trickling across my skin and breaking my heart all in one moment.
I wanted nothing more than to let her hang up and pull her into my arms, covering her with kisses and telling her that everything would be alright.
Hell, I'd give my life if it meant that Bella would never cry again.
I wrapped my arms tighter around her, kissed her head, and began whispering words of encouragement. She placed a kiss on my neck, before pulling away and said, "Hi, dad. It's me."
Her voice broke a few times, but at least she was speaking.
I could hear Charlie saying something to Bella, but I couldn't quite make out the words. Bella chuckled quietly before continuing, "I know dad. I'm really sorry… we just fought so badly… I…"
Bella began crying again. Her tears were rolling down her face, spilling onto the fabric of my shirt. I wanted to reach up and wipe them away, but I know that she needed this.
It didn't matter how much it was hurting me to watch her cry… this wasn't about me. It was all about Bella.
It always would be with me.
I loved Bella more than anything. It almost scared me to think about what I would be willing to do to keep her with me forever. I loved her more than I thought it was possible to love someone…
And to think that this whole thing between us started in a dressing room at Barneys…. Well, that and this little mission that we were on.
Maybe I should write her mission coordinator a letter.
'Thank you for picking me as Bella's mission partner….'
Somehow, I don't think that would go over well. People at spy organizations typically don't like it when you send public mail about missions that reveal the names of the officers working for the agency.
For obvious reasons.
Whatever Charlie had said had managed to dry Bella's tears, and even had her sniffling a laugh against my shoulder, her little hand reaching up to wipe away the tears on the face.
I squeezed her up against me, desperate to let her know that I was still here, and kissed her head again, before resting my head on the side of hers, letting my fingers trail along through the ends of her hair.
I was obsessed with her hair.
"Dad!" Bella said, her voice breaking into my thoughts, "I was always ready to talk. I wanted to apologize the minute the words had come out of my mouth…"
Awesome! They must have already worked things out. I'm so happy for her.
"I'd like that Dad." She said, turning to look up at me. I was smiling brilliantly at her. From the sound of her conversation, it sounded like everything had worked itself out with her father… and I was so unbelievably happy for her.
Now, I could meet her father, figure out where she spent large parts of her childhood, figure out what she was like as a kid (from a third party!), and even ask her dad for her hand.
Because I would be asking Bella to marry me as soon as I frickin' –
"…my boyfriend Edward."
I hadn't heard what Bella was saying, but the last part of her sentence busted it's way into my head, as though ignoring it was just not a bloody option.
"I'm your boyfriend?" I asked, smiling down at her.
"Only if I'm your girlfriend." She whispered back.
I wanted to scoff at her words, because girlfriend wasn't the word that I wanted to use for her. Soul mate? Future wife and mother of my children? These suited her. Girlfriend was no where near strong enough.
Either way, I smiled wickedly at her before kissing her firmly on the lips.
And then… my worst nightmare. "Yep, you want to talk to him?" Bella asked; she was smiling up at me, the grin on her face letting me know that she knew exactly what she was doing to me. I scowled at her.
"Baby?" she said, smiling up at me, "My father wants to talk to you." I frowned, but took the phone from her hand.
As though I had another bloody choice!
"Hello, Chief Swan, this is Edward Cullen." I said, trying to make my tone as formal as I could. This man was the chief of police. I don't care how small the bloody town he policed was… he still owned enough guns and ammunition to kill me, and enough clout in the community to have it go off without a hitch.
"Hello, Edward. Look, I just need to have a few words with you, if that's alright." His voice was stern, and I could just imagine him cleaning a shot gun.
"Of course sir." I said, but he cut me off, "Call me Charlie." "Er-," I stumbled over my words, trying to fix my error as quickly as I could, "Of course, Charlie."
"You love my daughter, Edward?" Charlie asked; his voice was still stern, but I could hear the genuine concern in his voice.
He was looking out for his little girl like I hoped to someday be able to do.
I smiled widely at the thought and leaned down to kiss Bella on the forehead. "More than my life, Charlie." I answered honestly.
"You'd better. And you better have plans to make an honest woman out of her. She already works for the CIA, and has half the world against her. I can't have the lord against her too." I laughed loudly into the phone for a moment, before responding.
"I plan on it, Charlie. The sooner the better, really. Though, getting her to agree right now may be a tad difficult."
Charlie laughed, "You're right there, son. If there's anything you'll learn about Bella, it's that she's as stubborn as a mule."
I smiled, "Oh believe me, I have figured that out." I could hear the smile in Charlie's voice when he responded, "Just wait until you have kids. I can guarantee they'll all have her pigheadedness. It's a persistent Swan family trait."
"I honestly can't wait, Charlie."
It was honest. I couldn't wait to have children with Bella. I wanted to be able to look down at our child and know that the love that Bella and I have had managed to create life.
The very prospect of children made my stomach churn in the best way, my cells vibrating with life.
I could imagine Bella, round with our child, her feet in my lap as I massaged away the swelling. I wanted to hold our newborn in my arms, marvel in the ways that she looked like each of us, and look into Bella's shining eyes when we both realized that we had done this.
"Glad to hear that, son. Now, you two need to come out here and see me, promise me now." I chuckled, "That's up to her, Charlie, though I'll do what I can." Charlie laughed, "You learn fast." I chuckled, before saying, "Alright, well, I have to go unpack our bags. We just flew in from Thailand… I'll hand you back to Bella."
I handed the phone back to Bella, kissed her forehead, and stood up. "I'm going to go get ready. Want me to pick you out something?" She nodded and blew me a kiss, before I turned and walked back into my bedroom. "What do you think, dad?" I heard her ask as I turned the corner out of the room.
I smiled to myself.
I thought I made a pretty good impression on her dad. I was completely honest in all my answers, and we even managed to joke back and forth a bit.
Though, I think Bella mentioned he liked baseball… which meant that our trip to Forks would be interesting.
Something tells me he's not an avid football fan. Bollocks.
I walked into my bedroom, opening up our luggage, before I began rifling through our clothes for something to wear out that night.
I ended up pulling out a pair of black jeans and a gray button up for myself, tossing them out onto the bed.
I started going through Bella's bag, trying to find something that she would look amazing in that wouldn't make me look like a pompous, presumptuous arse for picking out.
Yes, she would look amazing in this black backless number… but I would be bloody git for picking it out.
I heard Bella calling for me, and I assumed that she was trying to figure out where I was. "Down the hall, past the family room, last door on the right!" I shouted back.
She walked in a few moments later, and I decided not to turn around, keeping my eyes trained on the clothes as I fought my internal 'picking out clothes for Bella' battle.
"Baby?" she said, her voice sounding slightly amused. I spun around and smiled at her. "I'm picking out our clothes!" I said, throwing some excitement into my voice to hide my nervousness.
She reached into her bag, pulling out pair of strappy silver heels and that black backless number I'd been admiring before.
I nearly spunked in my trousers.
"You're going to wear… that?" I asked, staring at her, my jaw skimming the floor. "Just think…" she said, grabbing me by the collar and pulling my body flush up against hers, "I'll be dancing up against you all night in that."
Did I mention that I nearly spunked in my trousers?
Bella winked at me and dragged me off into the bathroom, flipping on the shower before stripping me out of my clothes.
Tonight's going to be a absobloodyluetly fantastic night.
What do you think? Let me know!
