Leaving Me Now
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-this short story was written a long time ago. It is an angsty one shot featuring Charlie. Excuse the poor grammar, LOL :)
The proudest moment in Charlie Swan's life was not his wedding day but the moment his daughter, Isabella Swan entered the world. He had wanted to be present at the birth of his first child but relations between him and his wife, Renee, were already frosty at this stage. He had tried to be a good husband but Renee was destined for somewhere greater than a small town in Washington State. She had become pregnant by accident and it had thrown her long term plans in turmoil. Charlie had tried to be her rock and comfort her. He had proposed to her on the day she had told him about the pregnancy.
Renee had berated him for the condition she found herself in, but after calming down seemed to accept that the life she had dreamed of was over. They were married four weeks later in the local town hall. The only guests were Charlie's best friends since childhood Billy Black and Harry Clearwater plus their girlfriends Sarah and Sue. Life had been a downhill struggle ever since. Charlie had joined the local police force and was already making his way up the ranks. He was proud of his achievement. Renee was not.
The pregnancy was not an easy one and Renee suffered bad morning sickness for the first three months. This was another thing on a long list she blamed Charlie for. She became downright moody and would only speak to him in short, clipped sentences. Around this time Charlie tiptoed around her as he did not want to add to her stress.
Billy and Harry watched anxiously from the sidelines as their old friend became a shadow of his former self. As life was growing within Renee, she was draining it from Charlie Swan. Billy and Sarah would talk about the best way to help him, Sarah ventured to talk to Renee but was rebuffed with a curt 'it's none of your business.'
On the day Renee went into labour she called Charlie at the station and demanded he return as the baby was on the way. He had panicked as all new fathers do but had made it home in record time, driving the police cruiser certainly helped him to get to places quickly. She had her bag packed and he tried to help her out to the car but she brushed his attempts aside. Renee was determined to do things alone from now on and she felt she might as well start now.
She was whisked straight into the delivery room as the baby was already well on the way. Charlie had made to follow her but she angrily demanded that he let her alone. The doctors had looked with sympathy at Charlie, he was well liked within the small town and everyone knew what a hard time his shrew of a wife was giving him. Many of the town's residents never knew what he had seen in the flighty Renee.
What they didn't know was how much he loved her. He would sacrifice his life for the woman who was about to give birth to his first child. In the early days of their relationship things had been good and easy between them. He had known early on that Renee was not keen on long term commitment, but as time passed and they were still together he had fooled himself into thinking that she had changed her mind. Charlie was good at living in denial.
The birth seemed to take forever. He called his friends who came and sat with him for a while. Billy and Harry exchanged looks between them. Charlie had told them that Renee had insisted he not be there at the birth and his two friends were angry on his behalf. But the last thing he needed was their opinion, so they kept their feelings to themselves. Sue, who was training to a nurse, worked at the hospital part time. She was the one who came out to inform Charlie that he was the father to a beautiful baby girl weighing five pounds six ounces. Charlie glowed with happiness and his friend's hearts sunk as they gazed at him. They were fearful that his apparent happiness may be taken from him if they knew Renee.
Renee was discharged several hours later. Charlie took her and his new daughter Isabella Marie Swan home for the first time as a complete family. He was enraptured by his little girl and he could not stop gazing at her, admiring her sweet face, little hands and feet. He believed he was the proudest father ever to walk the earth. Surely things could only get better from here. Charlie Swan was so good at lying to himself.
He was never allowed anything good to be in his life before it was taken away from him. He always wondered what he had done in a former life to deserve what happened next. He had been a good man, tried to follow the rules but to no avail.
Six months after Bella was born Renee upped and left taking his precious daughter with her. He knew things had become rockier between them. Renee's mood had not improved and she started complaining about feeling trapped. The day she left was the worst of his life. He had begged her not to take Bella away. He loved his little girl and she was now the centre of his universe. But Renee being the selfish creature she was only thought of herself.
She headed for Phoenix, a dry place, the exact opposite of Forks. Charlie was devastated and he became like a zombie with the loss of his family all in such a short space of time. Without Billy and Harry to support him he would have gone completely under.
"Your daughter needs you Charlie Swan." Billy had berated him after finding him drunk after yet another lonely night of boozing.
Charlie finally woke up from his depression with his friend's words echoing in his ears as he tried to crawl back from the pit of despair he had fallen into. He wanted Bella to be proud of her old man not ashamed. He threw himself into work and progressed up to being Chief of police of Forks. He made sure he made the long journey to see his little girl as often as he was allowed to. Renee was not easy to pin down as she constantly changed the dates for when he was allowed see Bella.
Seventeen years passed and Charlie was a happy man. Bella was living under his roof again. Renee had remarried and was touring with her new husband, who was a semi professional baseball player. Things were good for a while. Bella settled down at her new school and made friends. But Charlie never had anything good in his life before it was taken away again.
Bella met Edward Cullen and everything changed. Her life seemed to revolve around this boy and Charlie watched anxiously as he saw history repeating itself. He knew that Edward was going to break his daughter's heart as Renee had destroyed his. Six months later Edward callously walked away from her, leaving her abandoned in the nearby woods. When Charlie looked at his daughter now all he saw was himself on the day her mother left him.
If he ever saw Edward Cullen again he would break every bone in his body.
FIN.
