Thank you to my beta coleen561 whose patience with me is worthy of a medal! As always I decided to tweak a few things so if there is a mistake, please blame ME and not Coleen! Note: there will be an author's note at the end of this outtake.

BTW...This is the letter that Charlie gives to Edward at the wedding reception (chapter 25) after he tells Edward that he knows about the Cullens, er, dietary needs. He asks Edward to give it to Bella when they are on their honeymoon.

Dear Bella,

If you are reading this letter from me, then I can only assume that Edward gave it to you and that you are on your honeymoon – destination unknown.

Except, it isn't unknown to me, kid, because there was no way on God's green earth I was letting you leave without knowing where you'd be. I may or may not have forced Edward last week into giving me at least a clue. (That kid sure does love his car!) For the record, I wouldn't really have keyed it; maybe just have had it impounded. Oh, well. It was fun getting him all worked up. I guess you can tell him the truth now, though. Oh, and also make sure to tell him that Alice had already told me where you guys were going a few weeks ago. Hah! I think I'm going to enjoy being a father-in-law after all.

Oh, Bella.

I have no idea what to say to you right now. (Shocker, I know, since I am normally so verbose. Hah, hah.) But I'm going to give it my best shot.

Okay.

I guess I should start off by telling you a little story. It might explain a lot to you, and possibly even to Edward, about a few things; namely why it is that I have been accepting of the Cullens and their little "secret."

Yes, Bella – I know.

Now before you fall apart, let me tell you my little tale, okay? It's a good one, I promise.

When I was about seventeen years old, I stayed with my grandmother Swan for two weeks at her home in Alaska. My grandfather had just died, and my parents asked me to visit her for a spell. Nana Swan was a very interesting woman, and it's a shame you never got to know her as she died before you were born. You would have loved her.

Anyway, while I was at her house, I decided to explore the woods that surround her property. My grandfather Swan had been an avid hunter in his youth, and I had inherited his shot gun. Even though I had no experience with big game and knew enough to know that this wasn't the time for me to learn, I decided to go anyway. I also knew that it was stupid and reckless to go hunting alone, but being just a kid, I did it anyway. It was in the early summer and the weather was surprisingly decent for that part of Alaska.

Did I mention the name of the town? Well, it was near the Denali National Park.

Yes, Denali. I know you're familiar with that town since I mailed several wedding invitations to that town last month.

Now, Bella, I know for a fact that you are a smart girl. You're a chip off the old block and would make an excellent cop yourself. I know that your wheels are already spinning with the mention of the name Denali. You are probably already forming a hundred different theories in that brilliant mind of yours. Right now, it's just a hunch. That hinky feeling in the back of your mind that tells you straight off that something's afoot? Yeah, I know all about that feeling, kid. I live with it every day. That's why I became a cop.

Anyway, I stayed in the woods the better part of the morning shooting and bagging rabbits and a few squirrels with my own rifle. But I got bored doing that pretty fast, so I decided to look for elk. My Grandmother had begged me not to shoot at anything larger than my fist, but I was dying to show off my hunting skills. Besides, I wanted to bring back the hide to prove myself to Billy and my other buddies on the rez. They were always so damn smug about their hunting skills. I thought I'd show them!

Now around this time, I heard a noise in the thicket that bordered on a small stream. I held my breath, and when I thought I saw the tips of antlers, I aimed my gun at the trees and fired.

Imagine my surprise when a beautiful woman with long reddish blond hair came storming at me from the direction I had shot at.

She was hands-down the prettiest gal I had ever laid eyes on in my life. I was so surprised that I dropped the rifle, and it discharged when it fell to the ground, and shot her in the chest. I fell to my knees and almost started to cry; I couldn't believe how careless and stupid I'd been. I figured that her life and my life were both over at this point, and I honestly didn't know what to do, but knew I had to do something. I started to get up and go to her when I felt a strong grasp on my arm. When I opened my eyes, it was her – the girl I had just shot! She took my grandfather's gun, popped out the ammo, and then snapped it neatly in half using her forefinger and her pinky. Then she threw her head back and laughed at me. I think my mouth was open wider than the Grand Canyon by that point. I figured that my mind was playing tricks on me, what with the shock of the gun firing and her still being alive and all that. I convinced myself that the gun was old and must have split apart after I shot at her.

She took my hands in hers and I forgot my own name. She had the prettiest eyes I'd ever seen – golden eyes.

She refused to tell me her name and told me just to call her T.

Now, I'm not going to go into all of the details about that day in this letter. It is a long story and I've never told anyone all of it, save one. I never even your mother. She would have been both jealous and intrigued. Our entire marriage would have been spent with me either explaining myself or taking her camping in Alaska every damn weekend so she could snoop. No, thank you! I'm also reluctant to put anything down on paper that could end up biting me in the ass later on. Is that selfish of me? Probably, but I do have a reputation and a retirement to protect after all.

Anyway, I know it must be weird to think of your old man as a horny, love struck teenager, but you need to know this story because it'll help explain why I have the courage to let you marry Edward and possibly to let you go forever.

I hope I won't have to let you go forever, Bella.

T was what we used to call a man's woman. She took my hand, picked up the pieces of Grandpa's gun, and took me into the deeper part of the woods. She brought me to her special hunting grounds and helped me track down an elk, and then helped me clean him and prepare his hide.

It wasn't until I saw her licking her fingers afterwards, that I realized that there was something seriously wrong with this girl.

When she saw what must have looked like disgust and confusion cross my face, she distracted me by putting her mouth on mine and giving me my first real kiss. (Okay, I know you're thinking that I was a little old to receive my first kiss, but you have to understand I was a shy and awkward kid, much like you were when you first arrived in Forks.)

T told me that she lived with her two sisters and that they had a cabin not far from my grandparents. She made me close my eyes and tied a rag over them, making a game out of it all by leading me down a path blind-folded. To this day, I'll never know how I got there, but the wind was in my ears the whole time, and I swear I felt like I was flying as she ran and pulled me down the path and to her cabin.

We ended up staying there for the rest of the afternoon. Her sisters were also hunters, and she told me that they were in Canada on a long excursion. I couldn't believe she wasn't afraid to stay alone and told her so, but she only laughed at me and told me that she was the scariest thing lurking in these woods and not to worry about her. Then she lit a fire in the great room and the conversation and my worries ended right then and there. We sat and talked about everything under the sun. I have always been a quiet fellow, but for some reason I was different with her. The rest of the day passed in a blur. It didn't even seem real; I felt like I was part of a movie or some kind of an epic novel.

I'm not going to lie and tell you that I fell in love with T that afternoon in the Alaskan woods, although my seventeen year old heart certainly thought so at the time. I will say that it was the best day I had ever known in my life and it was one I knew I would never forget. I'd never met anyone like her before and I still haven't. I probably never will.

When twilight set in, I figured it was time for me to head back to Nana's house. T kissed me good bye and told me that I was the first boy she had ever been with who'd actually left her cottage alive. I teased her and asked if she was a "man-eater" and she chuckled and said, "Something like that." Her lips and skin were so damn cold, Bella, and you're probably wondering why I didn't notice all of that earlier. But then again, being a teenager yourself you might not wonder at all. Hormones will do that to a kid I guess; they have a heat all of their own.

I promised her that I wasn't going to be the kind of boy who would lead a girl on and then never see her again. I saw the look in her eyes when I said that to her; it was a mixture of sadness, regret, and possibly even love. Anyway, she laughed off my remark and told me that that was exactly how it would turn out to be, and sadly, she was at least partly right.

After a long and emotional goodbye, I finally left her and made my way back to Nana's house with a huge smile on my face. Of course Nana spotted that grin the second I entered the house. She asked me all about my day and wondered if I used my grandfather's rifle even though she'd asked me not to take it. I was ashamed when I told her that not only had I taken it, but that I'd broken it. Nana wasn't one to take things at face value. I guess we both now know where our suspicious and problem-solving mind comes from, huh?

She marched me out to the barn and demanded to see the gun and my prey. When she finished looking at both, she gave me a hard look and told me to get back to the house and that she wanted to have a talk with me.

I swear the FBI could have used Nana Swan at the helm. She had me singing like a canary before the tea kettle had even stopped whistling.

I told her everything: how I met T, thought I'd shot her, and how we spent the day together getting to know each other. (Well, I didn't tell her EVERYTHING. A boy's got a right to have some secrets after all.) But she knew.

She told me a story that night about three beautiful, motherless girls who never changed, who never grew old, who ate and drank only animal blood, and who were more dangerous to humans than any creature in all of Alaska and Canada combined.

"Cold ones" she called them.

Vampires.

I dismissed this idea with a roll of my eyes; vampires! I figured my Nana was off her rocker.

She told me I was lucky to still be alive and that according to legend, any man that spent time with these girls was never seen or heard from again. She told me that they lusted over young boys like me and that she was the hunter, and I had been the real prey. She made me promise I would stay away from the woods.

I didn't listen, of course.

She kept a close eye on me for the first few days that followed, but as soon as she slipped out to go to the market for groceries, I headed out to the woods to search for T.

She wasn't there, and unsurprisingly, I was unable to find the path that led to her cabin. I searched all day and into the night and went back every day after that, but I never saw her again.

When I returned to Forks, I was sick at heart to think that I had found the girl of my dreams only to never lay eyes on her again. I headed down to La Push to spend the following weekend with Billy. He knew right away that something big had gone down with me in Alaska. That night, over a case of Rainer that he'd pilfered from his cousin, I sat on the beach and spilled my guts. I'll never in a million years forget the look on his face when I told him, or his reaction which involved his throwing me to the ground and pinning me there as he told me what he knew about the Cold Ones. I shrugged him and the story off, and I threatened to tell his father about the girl he'd supposedly knocked up in town back in the fall. But that's another story.

Anyway, Billy and I made a pact that night that we would take our secrets to the grave. And I would have kept that secret till my death Bella.

But then you came along and fell in love with Edward Cullen. Suddenly, that promise didn't seem so important to me anymore.

I got over T in time, of course, though it wasn't easy. I told myself that it wasn't real and that it had all been a dream; a way of coping over the loss of my grandfather, whom I had loved. My grandmother died a few months later, and I never returned to Alaska again.

The following summer, after I graduated, I joined the Navy and met your mother in Newport, RI. The rest shall we say, is history.

But Bella, those stories about the Cullens and the Cold Ones? Well, I really didn't believe any of that until Edward Cullen came into your life.

When Edward arrived on the scene I began to notice his differences right off the bat. At first I tried to dismiss them as quirks and idiosyncrasies but after a few months I began putting two and two together. That's when I realized that you and I shared more in common than simple DNA. I knew what it was like to be over the moon over someone who may or may not be of this world. And even though the feelings that I felt that long ago June day were a mere shadow of the love you feel for Edward, I remember all too well the pain of losing it and never really finding it again; not even with your mother if I were to be completely honest.

But then I wouldn't have had you, Bella, and you are the most precious thing to me in this world. You're my baby girl. Don't ever forget that, honey.

And this is why I have to let you go, Bella. I know that if I were to try to stop you from marrying Edward, I would lose you forever. And I'd rather die than lose you, Bella. Not like that.

I went to see Billy tonight and told him to lay off you and Edward. I threatened to tell the rest of the tribe about his youthful indiscretion and also about the marijuana plants that grow behind the dunes of La Push in the same caves that their ancestors used for that purpose. (For the record, I've never seen them myself, which is why I've never had to act upon it.) But I know they exist, Bella, and I suppose for a cop that it in itself is bad enough. However, everyone needs to have a backup plan in life in case something goes wrong, and this was mine.

Billy made the changes to the treaty, and we made a vow to never speak of it again. He promised me that you would remain unharmed and that is enough for me.

Well, Bella, I must close this letter for now. I imagine Edward is going to be in for quite a shock when I tell him what I know. I think I'll have a little fun yanking his chain just a bit at your reception; I never could resist having the opportunity to be a know-it-all and a smart-ass. But then you already knew that about your old man.

Honey, whatever happens, please know that I will always love you. I have no idea how any of this is supposed to work, but I am going to do my best to talk to Edward and beg him to allow me to remain a part of your life in any capacity you are both comfortable with.

Don't worry about me too much. I have started dating Sue Clearwater (as I am sure you already know). While this isn't a fireworks and sparklers type of love, it is a comfortable campfire, and I wouldn't mind taking my shoes off and staying for a while. Possibly even for the rest of my life.

Have a wonderful time on your honeymoon, Bella, and we will have a good and long overdue talk about everything when you get back to Forks.

Love always,

Charlie

PS: Yes, I know you call me Charlie behind my back. I don't mind at all because in your heart I know you think of me as Dad. And that is good enough for me.