Bella was struggling and Charlie knew it was time he acted like her father.
He'd buried his head in the sand for too long and now, there was only a little time before she was off, living her own life.
He'd missed so much time, mooning over his ex-wife that he didn't get to see his only child grow into the strong and independent young lady she was today.
Hi first clue had been when she was at his for the Summer and she'd willingly taken over the cooking after refusing to have pizza for the third night in a row.
"Are you sure Bells? We could go to the diner?"
"You don't need to waste your money, dad. There's food in the cupboard."
Hm, not much.
Bella was insistent and soon he found himself supervising his ten-year old as she whipped up their evening meal.
She also took the cleaning, saying she was used to it and that made him angry. So one evening, he took her on his lap, breaking his usual habit of not hovering and spoke clearly.
"Bella, you're not here to cook and clean. You're here because I'm your father and I want to know you."
She huffed. "But if I don't clean, the house gets dirty and it smells funny."
"Where's your mother in all this?"
"She has her hobbies."
Huh, it sounded familiar. "It's ok for you to do some housework but you shouldn't let your mother walk all over you. That's not how it's supposed to work."
They had pizza that night and watched a movie. She told him about her mother's love of magazines and their only use was that they were full of coupons.
"You can get a lot more for your money if you look hard enough."
Out of the mouth of babes.
He allowed her to prove it to him and was amused when she got excited about saving a dollar.
"Why spend more money than you have to?"
He put the dollar in a jar and as the jar filled, he found himself converted.
XxX
The real eye-opener came when she was fourteen and had called to say she wouldn't be able to visit Forks this year…
"It's a great opportunity for her Charlie, you could at least show some support."
Then his daughter was on the line and he had to accept that she wouldn't be visiting this year. He was disappointed knew he couldn't stand in her way, so he arranged to go to Arizona to spend a fortnight.
XxX
The novel earned his daughter some fame and launched her even further into the adult world of responsibility.
The following two summers were spent at the agency, leaving little from for being carefree and Charlie was forced to watch his daughter age before his eyes.
He made sure to visit her during those Summers, letting her decide where they went. He learned that cooking and cleaning were part of a ritual for her, clean mind, clean thoughts and all that.
It made him look at his home and decide that it could be better.
Should Bella ever visit, she deserved to have a safe place where she could let go of the self-appointed responsibilities and be a kid for once.
XxX
It was the best day of his life when Bella called to announce she wanted to move to Forks for her junior year.
Renee was engaged to a minor-league baseball player and hoped to go on the road with him.
Bella had been invited to a writer's camp in Italy and would be away all Summer before attending her mother's wedding.
Then she would be home and he could hardly wait!