Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Stephanie Meyer, the rest belongs to me sadly.
Chapter Three: Parenting 101
As I pulled up in front of my house I found myself thinking of Jacob Black once more, although those thoughts were short-lived when I spotted my father standing on the porch waving madly at me. With a frown I got out of his car and made my way towards him, obviously my confusion was a joy to him because he broke out into a smile once I reached the porch.
"I have a surprise for you..."
Oh great...Just the words to make me jump for joy. The last time someone said that I was being shipped out here. And the time before that it was a surprise party for my birthday, three months late.
"Dad...? What have you been up to?"
"Nothing... You just wait and see Mels..."
He draped an arm around my shoulders before ushering me over towards the shed, a frown still creasing my features as I walked with him. My mind was coming up with a thousand and one scenarios that all seemed more far-fetched than the previous; he had finally gone insane and converted the shed into a strip joint, he had finally caved and bought me the pony I had wanted for my birthday when I was ten, or the equally depressing fact that my mother had come to see how I was 'settling' in.
"Dad, you do know I hate surprises..."
"Yeah but this surprise you are going to love...Consider it making up for missing your last couple of birthdays..." Dad answered with a grin that could only be described as cocky, his head was even wobbling from side to side with barely contained excitement.
Dad meet sore spot. Thanks for reminding me that for the last 8 years I've received a birthday card a week late and twenty bucks for every single birthday. He used his large hands to cover my eyes, pushing me through the door into the shed before dropping his hands to rest on my shoulders once more.
"Surprise Mels...hope you like it."
Oh my god! I'm pretty sure that if he hadn't of been holding me up I would have fainted. He bought me a car! A new car! Where had he gotten the money for it? Oh who was I kidding I loved it, the shiny black number had my name written all over it. This definitely made up for all the shitty birthday's I'd spent squeezed into my mother's Manhattan apartment praying for a bus to hit me on the top floor.
"Dad, how could you afford this?"
"You need a car, Mels. To get to school, get out on your own on the weekends. I think you are long overdue for something from me..."
He dropped the keys into my outstretched hand, smiling down at me as he opened the car door for me to get accustomed to my new toy. But before I let him bask in his glory, I swung around to hug him. Relishing in the familiar smell of pine and varnish, sighing into his chest as I mumbled my thanks over and over.
"Mum will flip if she found out you bought me a car..."
"Maybe you should mention it next time she phones here, might give the old girl a little drama in her life..."
In the last five minutes, my Dad has officially become the best parent I have ever had, not that it was much of a competition.
I didn't care that we lived in the middle of nowhere, where we often ran out of hot water or the fact that I was starting at a new school in a matter of weeks. All that mattered was that I loved my Dad, and he knew me way too well.
