Hey everyone! This outtake has been on my mind for awhile now, ever since one of my betas asked me if I would ever do a Charles outtake, maybe when Bella was little….and bam, here it is. Well, technically not BAM, since I haven't gotten around to finishing it until now. Though, I was able to hint at the events of this outtake in a previous chapter.

Big thanks to HopeStreet and MaggieCullen for looking this over! (Edited and re-posted on 12-27-10)

Enjoy…

Outtake: I'm A Cop, Not That Kind Of Cop

"Come on Charlie, this will be good for you," Billy said, passing me a beer. I greedily took the bottle, not ready to have this conversation again.

I took a big swig and roughly ran my hand down my face. "I don't know. It's not the right time. I'm busy with work and then there's Bella. Nine years old is a hard age. It's very…time consuming."

I avoided looking over at Billy, knowing he was giving me one of his looks. Instead, I glanced out from the porch to watch Bella running around with a jar trying to catch some sort of bug. She told me the name before coming down to the reservation, but I couldn't remember for the life of me what it was.

Little Jacob was running around after her. I think he was more interested in grabbing her attention than helping her find whatever insect she was after.

My eyes narrowed. I'll have to keep an eye on that boy.

Billy scoffed and leaned forward. "Yes, I know how raising a nine year old is. I have one right there," Billy motioned to Jacob. "And I had two others before that. You can't keep coming up with excuses, Charlie."

I glanced down at the bottle. I hadn't realized that I had started to tear away the label. Maybe if I finished the drink quickly, I would have an excuse to get up and away from this conversation.

Billy sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I don't know what's holding you back. You just had your 30th birthday last week. I don't remember the last time you even went out." Billy hesitated for a moment. I knew what…or rather who, he was going to bring up. "Do you think she is coming back?"

I took a deep breath. It seemed as though Billy wasn't going to let up on this topic. Was this persistence due to my hitting the big three-zero?

"I'm not waiting around for her, if that's what you're asking."

"Charlie…when was the last time you saw her?"

I swallowed hard and leaned back in the chair. My mind flashed to the last time she came to back to Forks, and the argument we had. I knew it wasn't the time to dwell, especially with Billy hounding me about it, so I pushed the thought aside.

"Two years ago."

"Doyou think she's coming back?"

I took another swig of my beer. It was almost gone. Huh, that was fast.

"Who knows, she might."

"Charlie…" Billy's tone was almost scolding. I could hear a hint of sympathy, which was the last thing I wanted to hear.

"I'm not waiting for her. I won't lie and say if she came back right now, I wouldn't welcome it. She is Bella's mother, and…well, I'm not waiting around for her, alright? If I met someone else in the mean time, I'm not going to say no, k?"

Billy clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Great!"

"Err." Christ, what did I just agree to?

"Saturday it is, then."

"What is?"

"Your date."

"I work during the day."

"Then it will be at night."

Sly bastard.

"I have to watch Bella." I rushed to say, eyes growing wider with panic.

"We'll be happy to watch her."

I took another sip of beer and realized that it was gone.

This just keeps getting worse.

"You guys really don't—"

Billy grinned. "It would be our pleasure."

He thought he got me. I would just need to come up with an excuse. They didn't just make me police chief for nothing. Well, Chief Jenkins just retired, but I was chosen over the rest.

Billy stood up and patted me on the shoulder. "I'll go grab you another beer and have Sarah call to set up the date."

It wasn't until I heard the porch door swing shut, that I realized Billy was in the house and away from my protests.

~*~#~*~

"What do you mean, a friend?"

Bella was in the passenger seat giving me a questioning look. I tried to distract her with music, and I even asked about that insect experiment she was doing, but the kid wasn't budging.

"I'm having dinner with a friend, so I'm dropping you off at Billy and Sarah's. You'll get to play with Jacob, Rachel, and Rebecca. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Hmm." I heard Bella say and heard scribbling noises. "And you won't be joining us?"

"Uh, no. I'm going to have dinner with a friend."

"I thought Billy was a friend?"

"Not that kind of friend."

"What does that mean?"

Ah, Jesus. I need to think before I speak around the kid.

"I mean…this friend and I...well, we're closer. Yes, closer." They need to make parenting books about these types of questions.

More scribbling was heard. What was she doing? I was about to look but the light turned green.

"I thought Billy was your best friend?"

"What? He is."

"Hmm."

I gripped the back of my neck, becoming very tense. Hopefully, the kid was done asking questions.

"Why are you bringing me over to Jacob's now?"

It seemed like a safe enough question, but I didn't trust it.

"Wait, why are you asking?"

"Well, it's only 3:30, and you said you were having dinner with a friend. We usually have dinner around 5:30-6:00."

I scrunched my eyebrows together. Where does Bella come up with these questions?

"I need time to get things together."

Sarah was pretty clear about me having to tidy up the house. This was her friend and all, and apparently, a clean house shows that I am…what were her words exactly…"a reliable man, who knows how to take care of his family."

The guys down at the station had a few other reasons for keeping the place clean, but I couldn't even think about that now. At this rate, I didn't even know if I would make it through the introductions.

"Hmm," Bella said, and I heard more scribbling.

This time, I was stopped at a light so I was able to look to see what she was doing. She was hunched over in her seat, writing in a small notebook.

"Bells?"

Her head snapped up. "Yes, Charles?"

"What are you doing?"

She smiled proudly. "I'm writing notes."

Oh. Wait…

"About?"

"Your behavior."

"My what?" My voice rose in shock.

"Your behavior. I've noticed you have been acting strangely for the past couple of days. I'm investigating and writing down my findings, hoping that I could later figure out why you are acting so bizarre."

After giving her a blank stare and having no idea how to respond, I noticed she had a magnifying glass, pens and an assortment of other items attached to her belt.

"What's all this?"

"Oh! Well, when Ms. Cope was watching me on Monday while you were at work, she brought over a movie called Harriet the Spy. Usually, I'm not that interested in watching such movies, but I thought I would give Einstein a break from my experiment. I think he is tired of running the maze. I know I would be."

"What does this have to do with all that stuff?"

"Well, Harriet is a spy! She is like a detective, and she uses tools like these to help with her investigations! After watching the video, I thought it would be perfect in helping me figure out your odd behavior."

I groaned and ran my hand down my face. While I'm happy that Bella is interested in such a career –probably taking after her old man – I can't say I'm too happy about her choosing me to investigate.

I'm really going to have to fire Ms. Cope.

What's the best move to make next? Denial.

"I don't think I have been acting odd."

"Oh yes, you have." Bella flipped her notebook to the beginning.

"Monday – pacing around and mumbling to yourself. Tuesday – laid out five different ties, varying in color and design, trying to choose one. Wednesday – still haven't chosen a tie, threw all options in bottom drawer. Thursday – after heated telephone conversation with Sarah Black, stormed back over to drawer and took out all five ties. Frid—"

"Okay, okay. I have been acting a little odd. I'm just nervous."

Bella went to speak, but before she could, I interrupted.

"And before you ask, I'm only nervous because I haven't seen a friend in a while, and I don't know how it's going to go and that's all I'm saying."

I took a deep breath. This conversation wasn't helping with my tension. "Oh, and before I forget, no more spying on me. Alright, young lady?"

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, just one thing first."

I tensed."What's that?"

"The light has been green approximately three times since we stopped." Bella pointed forward, and I realized we had been parked at the traffic light for a while.

Good thing Forks is a low-populated town.

"Oh, right, right."

I took off towards the Black residence. The sooner I get this date over with, the better. Maybe I can buy myself a couple years before Billy or Sarah push this on me again.

~*~#~*~

I dropped Bella off with Sarah. I borrowed one of Billy's ties and tried to ignore how Bella immediately wrote something in her notebook. I made Sarah promise to call if they needed me…or, just any reason at all. She gave me a look and insisted everything would be fine.

Hell, why couldn't Bella have gotten the chicken pox this year instead of last? I wouldn't have to wear this god-forsaken tie.

I left after promising Sarah I'd give the date a chance and reassuring Bella I would feed Einstein before I went out to dinner.

Arriving at home, I knew I had to start getting ready. There was a limited amount of time, and Sarah made it clear that I, and the house, had to look presentable.

So, after watching twenty minutes of the game and downing a quick drink, I started to get ready.

I did my three S's and threw on the "appropriate" clothes. It took me a couple times to get the tie right. I hadn't worn one since my grandfather passed away, and even then, Renee was around to help.

I shook my head. It probably wasn't the best idea to think of my wife…um, ex-wife, right before going out on a date.

There wasn't a lot I had to do to clean up the place. Bella and I weren't really that messy. A couple dishes to wash, vacuum the downstairs, feed and clean Einstein's cage. I wasn't even going to worry about the upstairs. No matter what the guys say down at the station, there's no way it will lead there tonight.

I pulled out the vacuum that hadn't worked properly since 1975. I never really felt the need to upgrade. If it sucked up dirt, it was good enough for me. What did it matter if it made weird churning noises and stalled once in awhile?

As fast as possible, I pushed the vacuum around the first floor. I may not have covered every inch of the place. I'm sure it was at least catching the noticeable stuff.

When I got to the living room, it made a loud noise, jolted forward and stalled. A kick in the right spot would usually start it up again, but the beast was being stubborn this evening.

I left it on the floor. I'm sure it would start working again soon. I had too much to do before my date arrived, and I didn't have time to wait around for it to start.

So, after catching the last 10 minutes of the game, I made my way over to Einstein's cage and took it off the table. The shavings were everywhere, and it would be easy enough for me to just push the shavings off the table and into the trashcan.

Shit! It was almost 6:00. I took the top Einstein's cage and put in his special "diet" food Bella made for him. I couldn't be sure, but I think she just added blue coloring dye to it. I grabbed the trash can and hurried back into the kitchen. I put away the few dishes in the strainer.

I'm sure the place looked fine by other's standards. What can they expect from a single dad?

I heard the vacuum start up again. I would just do one more sweep of the living room to make sure I got all the shavings.

I hurried to the living room grabbed the vacuum and made big sweeps of the floor with it. After glancing out the window, I noticed a black Honda pull up in front of the house.

Damn. It's her. Relax Charlie.

Good timing too, since, after making an even louder noise, the vacuum jolted forward again and stopped working.

Sarah can't say I didn't give this an effort. This was the most cleaning I had done in a long time.

I smoothed out my shirt. I was right behind the door when I heard her knock. After ten seconds of steady breathing, I opened the door.

Damn.

"Hi. You must be Charlie. Sarah has told me so much about you."

She stepped forward and held out her hand. She was a pretty thing. Brunette hair down to almost the middle of her back. She had a heart-shaped face, unlike my Renee's oval one.

I grasped her hand and shook it. It took me a couple seconds to find my voice. "And you must be Jennifer."

She smiled wide. "That's right."

She looked around the room then back to me. "Mind if I come in?"

I blinked a couple times and looked down to see that I was still steadily shaking her hand.

I let go of her hand a lot quicker than I intended to. "Right, sure. Come on in."

I stepped back and allowed her through while slowly closing the door behind her, refraining from hitting my head against it repeatedly.

What was Sarah thinking? I didn't know what I was doing. The woman was clearly out of my league. I would just have to push through the date, try not to make a huge fool of myself and go back to my happy, safe routine.

I followed her into the living room and realized that I had not finished picking it up.

"Oh, sorry for the mess, I was…" I looked to the T.V. then down to the floor. Should I say I was too busy watching the game? Renee hated when I watched sports. She complained often that she'd rather be out doing something else, not stuck at home.

"They're not having a bad season."

My head snapped up. "Huh?"

"The Mariners. Nice win they had today."

"You follow them?"

She smiled. "Sure do, listened to the game on the radio on the way over. Sarah mentioned you liked them."

Sarah seemed to forget to mention a lot of things, at least to me.

Jennifer walked over to the mantel. "Is this Bella?" She grasped the picture frame, holding it up.

I hesitantly walked over to stand next to her. "Yup. That was taken in the park last year. She was trying to make the longest kite, or something. About five minutes after she started to let it out, the damn wind pushed it into the tree and wrapped it around the branches."

She laughed softly. "Poor dear. She must have been disappointed."

I grinned and stepped back. "No, just more determined. She talked about chopping down the tree. I had to tell her just because I was a cop, it didn't mean I could demolish anything I wanted."

Jennifer laughed and placed the frame back on the mantel.

"Ah, Sarah said you had a son? Benjamin, was it?"

She smiled. "Yes, he's with his father for the summer. He'll be back before school starts up."

Then silence lapsed over the room. It wasn't long before Jennifer spoke up. "Did you want to head out now?" She motioned with her thumb over her shoulder towards the door.

"Yeah, sure." We started walking toward the door. "Oh, wait. Let me just pick up these things before we head out."

I quickly grabbed his cage, but put it down when I realized the top wasn't on. I grabbed the lid and was about to put it back on the cage, when I stopped.

"Shit."

"What?"

"Einstein is gone," I said, in a near panic voice.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's been a couple of decades."

"What? No. Einstein, Bella's guinea pig, Einstein." I stood up and looked around the room, frantically. "I took the lid off to feed him, and now he's gone."

Jennifer nodded in understanding and took off her coat. I looked at her confusedly.

"I'm sure he couldn't have run off that far."

I picked up the couch cushions. "Damn."

"Is Bella really attached to Einstein?"

"Um, yes and no. I thought giving her the guinea pig would give her a pet to take care of, she…she doesn't have many friends." I chuckled nervously while glancing under the couch. "She takes care of him, just…uses him more for school work then as a pet."

Just then, the vacuum made a weird noise and stopped.

Jennifer looked at it with an arched eyebrow. "Could he be in there?"

"No." I shook my head. "Impossible. I'm sure I would have noticed."

She leaned over and picked up the end of the vacuum. After glancing under it, she looked up at me and gave a sheepish look.

"What?" I rushed over to the vacuum and looked under it. "Shit. I killed Einstein."

Jennifer and I stood up. I ran my hand roughly down my face. "What I am going to do now?"

Jennifer placed a hand on my shoulder. Oddly enough, I felt comfortable when she did it. I couldn't even remember the last time a woman touched me.

"How old is she? Eight? Nine? I'm sure she will understand."

"Nope." I shook my head. "I can't tell her that. Her parent murdering her pet, wouldn't that traumatize a kid or something?"

"Maybe you could get another one and replace it before she notices."

"No, Bella would notice."

Well, if this doesn't make me a horrible parent, I don't know what does.

"Oh, well. You're a cop, right? You could make it look like an accident."

I laughed. "I'm not that kind of cop. I could never tamper with a body to cover up a lie. I would feel too guilty every time I looked at her."

I started to pace back and forth. I abruptly stopped and snapped my fingers.

"I'll just plant evidence that makes it seem he escaped, and no one would ever know I did it."

"Okay Clyde. So, telling her is out of the question?"

"I just can't tell her I killed her pet. That's one talk a parent doesn't want to have with their child…well, at least not this parent."

Jennifer smiled and shook her head. "You're a sweet guy, Charlie. Just be glad it's something simple as this. Imagine trying to have the sex talk with her when she's older."

I blanched. I didn't even want to think about that. That was one topic I would avoid, as if my life depended on it.

That didn't matter anyway. Bella won't date until she's forty.

Poor Charles and not wanting to upset Bella. He has no idea what future awkward conversations are heading his way. lol

Hope you enjoyed the outtake and a glimpse into Bella's past. If I do any other outtakes, I'll post them here.