A/N: Wow, the title of this chapter has more to do with me than with Leah, probably, but here you go! I really meant for it to be much shorter, but Leah got really, REALLY nervous and couldn't just tell Charlie anything right up front.

So…it took a while.

Thank you so much for the adds and reviews and pimpage. I've enjoyed sharing this little story with y'all. I'm having way too much fun with Leah and Charlie!

Three: Worse than pulling teeth. Really.

I left Sam's house, completely thrumming with nerves. No, I didn't want to phase in front of Charlie. I didn't doubt for a minute that he'd manage not to faint or anything – my imprint was a cop, for Pete's sake and Bella's dad and she hadn't freaked out. She had to get her courage from her dad, right? Of course. So, I didn't worry about that.

No. I just got all liquid-like even thinking of stripping down to phase in front of him. Hell, even being in my wolf form, I'm naked, right? And I've seen the guys' memories. I know that they still get to feeling horny when they're all in their fur. So I know I'd feel that way for my man and the sheer idea of being naked with him was just blowing my freakin' mind.

Not that I could talk to any of them about it. Of course, damn it, they'd find out soon enough unless I managed to find some way to hide that stuff. Maybe I could do like Jared does and imagine my imprint naked...

His body is good; I'd felt him when he had his arm around me, earlier. I'd seen him in a t-shirt, before, coming back from fishing with Billy Black. Nice arms. I'd checked him out in the last week, too, from the back. Yes, yes I did. But he was only wearing those uniform pants they have to wear on duty. Still, not bad. No, Charlie Swan was in good shape and I knew I liked the way that shape felt. And smelled. And oh, those hands...

"Leah! You okay?"

"Embry!" I was annoyed that my face got hot. "What the hell, dude? I hadn't even knocked yet."

"Yeah, but when I smelled you out here..." He gave me this angled-head look and I got even more embarrassed. Crap. Couldn't hide a thing with these guys. "You okay?" he asked again.

I pushed past him. "I gotta talk to Bella," I told Embry. "I need help."

"Ah, you're gonna tell him, then?"

I waved Emily's little book – WG 101 – in front of Embry's face. "Yep. And Bella's going to help me."

"Embry? Who is it?" Bella's voice was really soft and sweet just now. I inhaled and caught the scents of her kids and of warm – oh.

"Look, I, um, can come back later, maybe?" I muttered, embarrassed to have caught Bella feeding the babies. "I know she's, ah, busy..."

Embry did something I don't think any of the guys had ever done for me. He smiled sympathetically and put his hands gently on my shoulders. "Leah. You've got to tell him. And yeah, I know Bella will help you. But she's got to know first, right? So hang out here a few, have a soda. I know she'll want to hear it from you."

"She's gonna be pissed, isn't she?" Why I was so worried about little Bella Swan's – Bella Call's! – reaction baffled me. To distract myself from telling her, I thought about why I was worried instead.

She knew what it meant to be mated to a wolf. She hadn't jumped into it with both feet, but had had to be won over, I know. Sure, it all worked out in the end, but not right away. She was going to know what her dad would be exposed to, and she might get all territorial, too.

I mean, I was in love with her dad! And I was only a year older than she was! She would freak out! What if – what if things "worked out" with me and Charlie, too? Would that make me her stepmother?

I needed a drink. Something harder than a Coke. I had been pacing in the living room, between the invisible boundary between the kitchen area and the living room area, but I kept going straight into the kitchen this time, flipping open cupboard doors and then the fridge.

"What are you looking for?" Embry's voice came from down the hall. I could hear the sounds of the babies being burped and the slight sounds of clothing being tossed this way and that. "The soda's in the fridge, Leah."

"Got anything harder than beer?"

"You don't even drink that stuff." Bella's steps came with her voice. "What's up? Em said you needed to talk to me," she went on, her voice wary as she shook out the ponytail on top of her head. With a nod, she invited me to return to the living room and sit down. "Sofa or chair, whatever."

Not like any amount of alcohol would have helped. I tried to sit on the recliner. It used to be Old Quil's, but Embry and Bella got it as a housewarming gift when they moved in. It was worn black leather and a loose mechanism. I rocked a little in the chair, my heart pounding.

Bella cocked her head and frowned at me. "What is it? I can't deal with another female flip-out moment, Leah. One was enough for me, thank you."

"One? Who?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Jake's imprint. Did you see her yet?"

I felt an instant and totally unexpected camaraderie with Embry's wife. "Yes! What a bitch!"

Bella leaned forward, dark eyes flashing with something like humor. "I know! Man, I know that Embry had a lot of stuff to handle with me at first but...wow. Cassi is on a whole other level." She watched me nod and drum restlessly on the arms of the chair before making a beckoning motion with her hands. "C'mon Leah. What is it? Oh, hey, you brought Emily's book? I got a copy at her place."

The book. Right. Okay. It was time. I had to tell her. I bounced up on my feet, catching Emily's little book before it fell. "Yeah. Um. I know. Um. Bella? It's not for you. It's for me."

Rising slowly to her feet, Bella wore a smirk that reminded me oddly of Jacob Black. The jerk. "For you? Leah, did you... I mean, can you...?"

Relief washed over my skin, giving me goosebumps before I remembered that Bella might have guessed that much but she didn't know who my imprint was. Yet. "Uh, yeah. I can and I did and it's – it's your dad, Bells."

I tensed, waiting for her to freak the hell out. She stood completely still, her eyes growing wide before her heart started pounding fast enough that Embry came all but leaping down the hall to reach us in the living room, one baby over each of his bare shoulders. "You imprinted on Charlie? On my dad?" Her voice was ground out as if over rough sandpaper. "But - But, I thought... I thought that... Um." She fell back on the sofa her feet sprawled in front of her.

I crossed the small space to sit on the floor in front of her. "I know it's weird, Bells. I do. But – But I, I..." My mouth went dry even thinking about what to tell her. With a quick look up at Embry, I blew out a breath. "I love him, Bells."

She didn't say anything. Just kept staring at me with her mouth open like she'd unhinged it. I rose to my feet and got Embry's attention. It was hard, because he was staring at Bella as if he was afraid she'd faint or something. Still, he didn't interrupt m. "So, Embry? Is she okay?" We could both hear Bella's heart pounding away, but it was slowing down a little, and I guessed that was good. "Sorry it sort of fell out like that." I was, but I was also relieved as all get-out that I had said so to her.

"Isabella? Sweetheart?" Embry kept his babies balanced as he moved to sink to his wife's side. "It'll be okay, Bella. It will. It's an imprint. She loves him. I've seen it."

"He's going to totally freak. My dad? But... But that would mean... Leah?" Her brown eyes narrowed a little. "You got that book for my dad, right? So you're going to tell him soon."

She didn't look so sick around the edges now, and I felt all kinds of better. "You bet. And you're gonna help me," I told her, slapping the book against my thighs.

To my surprise, Bella Call chuckled and claimed one of her children from Embry's arms. "You are so gonna need my help, Leah. Are you going to phase for him?"

"No!"

What was it with everyone trying to get me naked and furry in front of Charlie Swan?

"You've never cooked before?" Bells laughed at me over her small kitchen table. There was a bowl for some kind of fruit salad on it, and a bunch of fruit and some cans of fruit cocktail. "It's not hard, Leah. Just slice these and put 'em in the bowl. Add the topping and the marshmallows."

"I know it's not hard, it's just not something I've ever wanted to do." I picked up the long skinny knife and started halving the beheaded strawberries.

I heard the meat start to sizzle under the broiler. Pork chops. "And now you want to?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh?"

Bella smiled over her shoulder at me after she checked on the chops. "No, not really. Embry told me that some of that stuff is instinctive. That you'll want to do things that will make him happy, once you know what they are." Her lips thinned as she continued to study my face, though, and I got all nervous again. "Are you feeling all right? It's been a while, right?"

I kept chopping. "Yeah. I mean, so far. How much longer?"

"About half an hour. Sure you're okay? I mean, we can go get him if you want?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little twitchy. Where's Embry?"

"He's taking the kids for a walk."

I snorted and tossed the strawberries into the large bowl in front of me before wiping the knife on a wet dish cloth and peeling a banana. "Yeah. Just in case Old Leah, here, loses her brain and phases in the middle of the kitchen. Can't believe he left you here with me,"I finished, feeling suddenly irritated and bitter again. Which was weird, since I hadn't felt like that, really, since I'd imprinted. I started slicing the bananas, hard, so that the knife hit the table with short, sharp sounds. "Does he think I'm an idiot? That I'm not going to know if I lose it? Huh?" Banana slices joined the strawberries and I wiped the knife again. I was getting agitated and decided to take it out on an apple. I chose the paring knife Bella had on the table and started peeling the apple, grinding my teeth. "Well, Bells?"

"Uh, Leah?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't cut yourself."

"Oh, right." Frowning, I kept at the apple until the peel was gone. "So. Is that it? Is he worried about me?"

"I am not a mindreader," Bella replied mildly, checking the meat again. "But he knows you better than I do. Also, he's gone nuts away from his imprint and so I have to trust his judgment."

Imprint. Charlie. Yes. My irritation melted away as I remembered his half-embrace of the other morning. "How'm I going to tell him, Bells? He'll freak."

"Did I freak?"

"Well, no. But you're - you're different."

She laughed and picked up the manual can opener to work on the fruit cocktail cans. "I'm Charlie Swan's daughter and don't you forget it. You know," she told me, her voice casual, "I'm hoping you're okay if it takes him a while to, um, warm up to all of this."

I nodded, my heart tripping in my chest. "You know I just want him to be happy, Bells. Is he...dating?" I managed to get that out somehow. "He's been at the diner an awful lot." He told me that himself. Still, the idea that someone else might be holding my imprint made me shake inside. Hated feeling like this. Feeling vulnerable and all girly and crap. Damn.

Bella wasn't seeing all of this, apparently, because she only laughed a little. "No. He just can't cook."

"I'll cook for him. You can teach me, right?"

"It must be love, Leah!"

I felt my skin heat. "Yeah. Told you last night that it was."

She stopped mixing the fruit in the bowl. "It better be. I am not sure he ever stopped loving my mom, you know. I – I know this may sound stupid, but I remember how it was for Embry and... I really don't want you to be unhappy, Leah. I really don't."

"Right now, I'm happy, Bells. Don't worry."

"Did you bring an extra set of clothes?" she asked after a few minutes.

"No, why? Is this okay?" I panicked all of a sudden. I was wearing – hell – a dress, of all things. A freaking dress. And sandals. Ha, Jake's imprint-the-model thought she was all that and then some, but I'm in great shape. Mom said so. "It's blue. You said he likes blue?"

She shook the whipped topping and sprayed it over the top of the bowl of fruit. "He does. You look amazing. I just meant, you know, in case you phased accidentally. So you would have something to wear? None of my stuff would, um, fit."

"I'll keep it together, Bells. I will. Honest."

We heard a car drive up and she darted to the kitchen window. "Okay. It's Charlie." Her eyes ran quickly over me before she all but jumped to me and tucked a lock of hair behind one of my ears. "There. Yeah. I like it." She giggled. "Alice Cullen will get a kick out of this when I tell her."

"You will not!" I didn't know she kept in touch with the leeches anymore. I guess I was wrong.

"Oh, I will. She'll be very happy for you. She loves my dad, too, you know."

"Ew! No. I did not need to hear that, Bells."

"Smile!"

The knock on the door told me why, but I'd heard Charlie's heartbeat as soon as he got out of the cruiser. I met Bella's eyes – she was smiling at me. Yeah, she thought this was funny. "You're as bad as the guys, you know that?" I shot at her.

"No secrets in the pack!" she whispered as she opened the door. "Hey, Charlie! You're early!"

"Even brought the beer, Bells. I mean, I know you're not drinking it or anything..." He came in and unbuckled his gun and holster, setting them on the table next to the door. "Hey, Leah," he said when he'd done that. His smile, again, was warm and made me all mushy inside.

"Hi, Charlie," I said, unable to keep back my own grin. And a stupid blush. Come on! I growled to myself. Don't start going all goofy. I wanted to press myself against him and smell his skin, bury my nose against his throat and just inhale for a while. I wanted to feel his chest and back and give him a full body massage. Ohhhh yessss...

"Uh, Leah?"

I blinked and it was just the two of us in the room. "Yeah? Uh, where's Bells?"

"I'm saving the pork chops. Good thing my dad likes 'em well done."

"Well, it's pork, Bells. Of course it's got to be well done." Charlie stood there, looking around and then back at me. "Good to see you. So, how's things?"

"Great! Um, really great. Want to sit down or...?"

"Where are my grandkids?" he asked, moving to the sofa, not to Bella's rocking chair or the recliner. I wondered if he had his own chair, here. I would have to see if I could find one for him at my house. Mom would know where to look.

I followed him without even thinking about it, sitting down next to him and smoothing my dress over my thighs. Yes, he did notice and I had to bite back my smile. I might have made him uncomfortable. I could hear the subtle jump in his heart rate.

Still, that made me all excited anyway! I tried really hard not to squirm where I sat. "Embry took them in that two-fer stroller for a walk."

"It's a good day for it," Charlie said, his hands on his knees. I was so nervous to be sitting here with him, but so excited at the same time. I wanted to hold him and I wanted to laugh and dance and run but I couldn't do any of those things. He studied me a moment. "So why'd you cut your hair, Leah? I remember that you always had that long hair."

I couldn't say why, could I? Because if I don't, my fur is all long and difficult to manage is not an answer he could handle. Yet. Maybe later? "It's just easier, this way," I said. "So, how was work, today? Anything funny happen at the station?"

He grinned, making his eyes twinkle and crinkle at the sides. My heart just melted. I felt ridiculously happy. "Funny you should ask," he said in a drawl. He then proceeded to tell me about a call that came in about a cat and dog face-off on Muskogee Lane in Forks. The pet owners were being antagonistic and a neighbor decided that a police presence was needed.

While he was telling me the story, I could hear Bella finishing plating dinner and then there came the sound of the stroller up the drive. I chuckled as Charlie painted a picture for me with his words. He was a keen observer and he noted way more than the average man would have, in such a situation. I was extremely happy to hear from him that his days were, by and large, uncomplicated. I wanted him to be safe.

And I wanted to make him happy. All kinds of happy.

I'm not sure he ever stopped loving my mom, Bella had told me earlier. Well, I couldn't do anything about that, but unrequited love – as I knew from hard, painful experience – doesn't make someone happy. I wanted him happy. I could make him happy...if he would let me. I just needed him to know who I really was...

The door opened and Embry made a noisy production out of getting the stroller inside. I jumped up when Charlie did. As he hurried to take one of the babies – the girl, from the bow in her curly hair – from the stroller, I picked up Hemi. Just because he was there.

"He is a cutie," I told Embry as Charlie nuzzled Hennah's hair. My pack brother just shook his head and smiled at me and I knew the guys would be razzing me something hard, later. Stupid pack mind! Argh!

But then, Charlie looked over at me and grinned. "So I guess you guys get along okay, huh? You and the little guy?" He looked so happy about that and then, it hit me. Hard. Like – like one of those rocks they throw in track. A shot put. Yeah.

Hemeh was Charlie's grandson. If – if I married Charlie, it'd be like I was a step-grandmother to Bella and Embry's kids.

A grandmother? Before I even had kids of my own? Could I even have kids? Emily and I had talked about it, since I'd imprinted, but –

What. The. Hell? It was actually making me happy to think about!

How weird is this? How weird is my life? Heh, I'd be the youngest grannie on the Rez, that was for sure! If... If I... If I could do like Sam did, like Embry did, and win my imprint's love.

! O ! O !

"Okay, kids," Charlie said later, holding a beer bottle in one hand and cradling Hemi against his chest. I was sitting next to him again but he wasn't looking at me. "Spill it."

"What, Char- Dad?" Bella was in her nursing chair, but she wasn't feeding one of her children.

Then, Charlie exchanged a quick glance with me, as if he and I were on the same side or something. That made me feel stupidly like grinning. He could just do that to me, and I didn't even know how. It was a look that said, Can you believe these jokers?

I shrugged, helpless to answer, unable to ignore him.

Then, Chief Swan made an appearance, handing the baby over to me without apparently even thinking about it. "Leah invites me to your house. You've gone all out and made a real nice dinner. Good beer. A pretty girl," he went on, nodding with half a smile to me, though his attention was focused on his daughter. "You and Embry have both been telling me all these nice stories about the Rez and everything. Don't think I don't appreciate it; I do." He then set the beer down on the small coffee table in front of his shins. "But I know a job when I see one. What is it you're softening me up for, eh, Bells?"

The words caught in my throat as both Embry and Bella directed their dark eyes to mine. I flushed, blood racing under my skin as I tried to find a way to say it. I could; he was my imprint. It wasn't the injunction that had me silent. It was just my nerves.

"Ch- Charlie," I breathed, clasping my hands together and praying that I wouldn't phase just from sheer anxiety. Did anyone ever do that? Damn. Where were Sam and Emily when I needed them?

Emily. Oh, yeah. "Charlie," I said again, his name a pleasure for me to say, his attention focused entirely on me now. And even though he wasn't smiling, just knowing he was all there with me calmed me down. I breathed in and out and bent forward to pick up the smallish, leather-bound book Emily had given me. Gripping it, making sure I didn't rip it in the process, I gathered myself.

C'mon, idiot, I muttered to myself. You can do this. You can!

"What's the matter, Leah?" he said, his voice softer now, more coaxing. I relaxed a little as one of his hands covered mine. My breath hitched as he pressed my skin lightly. "Leah? You all right, hon? You feel a little feverish."

"I'm great," I said, the words blowing past my lips. "Just great. Honest. Mom's a nurse, remember. It's all good. Uh. Thing is, Charlie, there's some stuff happening you don't know about."

"I figured that much out, Leah. What is it? You in some kind of trouble?" His eyes were worried now, the handsome 'stache straight as he studied me.

I swallowed hard. "Okay. You know how Embry got with Bella last year?"

A nod. "Yeah. He's a damn sight better than that Cullen kid, I can tell you that," he went on, nodding with approval at his son-in-law. "And?"

"And how my ex, Sam, got with my cousin, Emily?"

Compassion passed over his face for a moment. "Yeah, I heard about that. What does that have to do with this nice dinner and the dress and all that, Leah Clearwater? Sure you're not in trouble? Is there something going on here in LaPush?"

"Yes!" I blurted. "Yes, there is."

"What is it?" He never lost the patient tone of voice, but I heard the edge of curiosity.

I slid the book to his lap from mine. "It's this. See, Charlie. Here, on the Rez, there's all the stories you've heard by the bonfires, you know?" At his nod, I continued while he watched my face. "There're stories. About Cold Ones. And you know that we all hated the Cullens, because of these stories, right?"

"Well, Cullens and Cold Ones do kinda sound the same, but what does that have to do with you, Leah? Or Embry and Bells?"

In a rush, my muscles demanded movement so I sprang up from the sofa and started pacing, giving little Hemeh to his mother in her chair. I don't know why Charlie rose to his feet too, but he did. Maybe he thought I was dangerous.

"Do you think I'm dangerous, Charlie?" I whispered, coming to a halt in front of him. I could almost taste the alert air about him. It was appealing. It was sexy. I got all hot just smelling him and I heard Embry shift uncomfortably behind me. Sorry, Em, I thought.

Charlie never took his eyes off of me. "Maybe, Leah. I know you've got me watching, anyway."

"I am, you know. Dangerous," I whispered with a nod to the book he still had in one hand. "My people are descended from wolves. And some of us... Some of our bodies haven't forgotten that, Charlie. Mine hasn't."

Worry and caution flickered in his eyes and over his facial muscles. He tossed the book to the sofa before darting looks to Embry and Bella. I couldn't follow where his eyes went, though; I was watching him. I had to.

He didn't believe me. Didn't want to believe me. "Charlie. The world is weird."

"I know it, Leah," he said, his voice soft and soothing. That wasn't going to cut it.

I shot, at last, a helpless glance to Embry. He nodded. He knew what was coming. He gathered the babies and headed back to the nursery.

"Bells?" Charlie asked, one eye still trained on me. I was the dangerous one.

Bella rocked up and put one hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Dad. I married a werewolf. Leah's one, too. The Cullens really are Cold Ones, vampires. And the werewolves protect us from them. And they find their wives – and husbands, I guess – because they're werewolves."

Charlie was shooting glances between me and Bella and, suddenly, I relaxed. "I am, you know, Charlie. And I – I think you Swans must have the best DNA in Washington because we Quileutes sure seem to be into you." I smiled – I couldn't help myself – and I moved away from him a little. "I know. It's hard to understand. I can't expect a law enforcement officer to take me at my word, either, so I'm gonna give you a little evidence." The guys were going to just love this, I knew.

"Ev- Evidence?" Charlie murmured, his hand gripping his daughter's, but his eyes still watching me.

Emily and Bella were going to laugh too. All the imprints would. I knew it. I only hoped that, one day, Charlie wouldn't hate me.

"Evidence," I murmured. And then, I don't know what it was, but something inside me cried out to touch him. To touch him one time before I went all furry and gave him a heart attack or made him run so far away from me that he'd never come back. "But first," I said, almost panting, "I really want to do something."

Neither of the humans were fast enough to stop me as I lunged toward my imprint and pressed myself against his tall, firm body. Without a second thought – hell, without barely a first thought – I wrapped one arm around his neck and found his mouth with mine. The taste of him, his scent surrounding me even in a closed-mouth kiss was heaven. I felt my own body surge with a deep need for him. The need to let him possess me, to sink himself inside me. To ride him and scream his name and –

He was too stunned, I know, to react, but that was all right. I stayed there, feeling his heart pound frantically inside his chest – almost as hard as mine! I sensed his muscles tensing, though, and moved away. Quickly.

"Leah? What the hell?"

"Sorry, Charlie!" And then, I went all naked and furry right in front of him.

A/N 2: So…what do you think will happen next? :)

Thanks again for reading! See you soon! ~LJ