Charlie felt better than he had in months. His daughter had learned to laugh again, somehow. The Cullens were long enough gone that he could talk to Billy again, without drawing ire, and his team had won the game. The last two in the list were entirely secondary, and quickly faded into obscurity as he heard Bella and Jacob laughing as they ran through the woods together from the Black family garage.

When they arrived, it became obvious that they were holding hands. They didn't let go.

"Hey dad" said Bella and Jacob at once.

Charlie's sense of wonder did not abate as he let a smile creep onto his face. "Hi honey" he said.

With his free hand, Jacob waved to Seth Clearwater, who stood on the back porch.

"Bella," Charlie said, surprised to hear a spark of happiness in his own voice, "Billy invited us for dinner."

Billy, in the back doorway, affected a grave countenance. "My super secret recipe for spaghetti. Handed down for generations," he said. Then he winked.

Jacob snorted. "I don't think Ragu's actually been around that long."

Bella, already smiling, allowed her grin to widen. "Thank you Billy, that's very kind" she said.

Harry was almost as excited as Charlie was to see her having fun. "You gave us quite a scare on that one fishing trip, as I recall" he said.

"I don't remember, but I guess I'm glad you do."

"Hey Jake" said Seth. "How's it going with the rabbit?"

"That's not going too bad" Jake said. "Since I got that one part I needed so bad last spring, it's been moving steadily. Slowly enough, but steady."

Harry's daughter never left the phone at first. Charlie thought she might be talking to the Call boy, but he couldn't be sure. She spoke softly, and did not volunteer much information.

Charlie put himself in the kitchen, while the others socialized in the tiny living room. He helped Billy with the spaghetti; he could reach the highest cupboards, which were out of reach to someone in a wheel chair.

"Bella seems really happy, for a change" he said, peering down the hall. She sat near Jacob, hips angled toward him, listening to the conversation the boys were having.

"Yeah, about that..." Billy lifted a wad of pasta out of the pot to see if it was ready.

Charlie looked at his friend sideways.

"Charlie, I honestly don't know what they're doing out there."

Charlie grinned. "Billy," he said, "I honestly don't care."

Billy cocked an eyebrow, the spaghetti lying forgotten beneath him.

Charlie sighed. "She's been dead on her feet since...since the day Sam had to bring her back. Yesterday I heard her laugh for the first time since then." He looked his friend in the eye. "I could let her do almost anything to get back on her feet. Anything except going back to the cocaine. If your boy makes her happy, I don't really care what they get up to."

Billy looked down at his work and nodded. "Alright then" he said. "I'll ask Jake if he needs any condoms."

They laughed.

The phone went onto the hook, and Leah came into the kitchen. Charlie pretended not to smell the pot on her. It always made him very sad when kids on the res went to drugs, especially if he knew them.

"How's the spaghetti?" she asked.

"It's fine" said Billy. "How's Embry?"

"Howling in pain. He's got some kind of bug." She frowned. "I saw him this morning. I hope I didn't catch it."

For some reason that seemed significant to Billy, but he hid it quickly. "Well," he said, "the sauce is almost ready."

"Leah," said Charlie, "I just wanted to thank you. I never got a chance to before..."

"All I did was jump into a pool. I've stayed under longer for fun. It was nothing." Annoyance showed in her eyes. Charlie usually wasn't very good at picking up emotions, but Leah was more blunt than some.

"Oh, well thanks anyhow."

"Leah," said Billy, "I don't suppose you could get something from the refrigerator for me? There's a bag of salad on the bottom shelf, and no pasta meal is complete without any."

Wordlessly, Leah opened the fridge and found what he described. She found a bowl in the cupboard, ripped the bag open, and poured it out.

"I think we may be ready" said Billy.