A/N: Here's the latest installment. Woot! Sorry if it's a little confused, I'm a little confused. Doesn't being sick just work well with your brain? Ha.
Charlie POV
I woke up to silence…definitely not what I was expecting. I laid in bed enjoying the peace when memories of last night came flooding back. It hit me so fast that all I could do was lay there, stunned. My son in law, a vampire? Well, they did a good job of fooling me last night, but…I knew there was no way. With a newfound confidence, I went downstairs. I found Bella sleeping on the couch with her head on Edward's lap, Alice sitting on Jasper's lap on the other couch, along with Rosalie, Emmett and Esme. Where was Carlisle?
"Good morning, Charlie!" Alice greeted me with her usual enthusiasm. Edward shushed her with a reproachful look on his features.
"Bella had a long night worrying about you. She only fell asleep about three hours ago," he explained. I got whispered greetings from the rest of the family and Edward explained to me that Carlisle was in the kitchen making a few phone calls. Huh, that was odd. How did he know I was wondering about him. I saw a playful smile flash across Edward's face.
"Charlie, we're all here because we wanted to spend the day with you and Bella." Esme looked hopeful as she spoke. She really was the sweetest woman I'd ever met.
"Well, I'd love to, but police work waits for no-"
"Already took care of it! Actually, the department seemed happy for you to take a day off." Alice interrupted and smiled as she spoke. I didn't know whether to be happy or worried about this latest news. Jasper seemed to understand how I was feeling.
"Oh, relax, Charlie, it'll be fun." I started to feel excited, and suddenly remembered the sudden calm I felt last night when he came around. Then I made the connection that it was also him who put me to sleep. I fought off the feeling of excitement when Carlisle entered the room. He flashed me a grin and greeted me a good morning, then I decided to let the excitement flow over me.
"Ed…Edward?" Bella was asking for him as she stirred ever so slightly in her sleep. He bent over and whispered something in her ear I didn't quite catch. Then he started whispering a song; a loving, slightly haunting tune that seemed familiar. I quickly lost the excitement and I filled with dread.
"She…she used to hum that when she would cry, after you left." I spoke to myself out loud, and the song died. I looked from face to face, and though each was full of guilt and sorrow, none surpassed the grief on Edward's features. He looked far away for a few moments the spoke something I would never, in all my years, forget.
"Well, I'm back, and I'll be with her…for eternity." Then, with something just as small as that, I realized just how long eternity was. He looked at her with determination set into all his features except for his eyes. His eyes held a softness that I had always seen him look at her with. I had never realized, though, that that softness was only for her. He had been without her for over a century, all alone, and never planned on being without her ever again. Bella was to become one of them.
"You're…you're going to make her one of you, aren't you?" I looked at Edward and whispered with a furiousness that even startled me. He pulled himself out of his reverie and looked at me with a new wave of guilt over his features. He gently picked up her head and put it onto a pillow as he stood, then drew up to his full height when he looked at me.
"Charlie, let me tell you something. My wife is the most stubborn woman I have ever met, and she will not be denied what she wants. I've tried to convince her that this is not what she wants, but she will not listen to me. I love her more than anything, she is my life, and I couldn't deny her what she wants if I tried. When I left, it was to protect her from me, from the monster I am, but we saw how that worked. It felt as if I couldn't breathe, or think. I couldn't think about her, or hear her name, or her lullaby, or I would fall apart all over again! I had to leave my family, because I couldn't be reminded of her in anyway, and they loved her too. It felt as if there was this hole that I left with her, and I would never be okay again. Now that I'm back, I will never leave her again, and I know that I will always love her, and always need her, and if she wants eternity, then who am I to stop her? The only thing that will happen is her going behind my back and getting changed anyway. So don't give me any crap about it, got it?"
His family looked shocked, but nothing compared to what I felt like. I couldn't believe that he had just talked to me like that in my own house.
"Edward! Do you honestly think-"
"That I wouldn't hear all that?" Bella's voice drowned out my anger. We all looked at her, and found tears streaming down her face. Edward instantly was kneeling by her on the couch, wiping them away gently.
"Was that really what it felt like to you?" she whispered, and I thought about how she used to hold herself, like she was trying to hold herself together.
"Yes," was all he could manage. "Now don't cry, my angel."
I looked to the rest of his family, whose expressions ranged from touched, like Alice and Esme, to proud, like Carlisle, to pleased, like Edward's brothers. Only Rosalie and I looked as though we were slightly uncomfortable with the situation. I excused myself to the kitchen and let the rage take over. I smashed a few dishes before Jasper came in, bringing a calm feeling with him.
I was a bit taken back that anyone would want to be in the same room with me right now, especially Jasper. He was always very quiet, but not unpleasantly so.
"Charlie, I know how you feel..." he started, but my sudden outburst of anger stopped him short.
"Do you really? Have you ever had a daughter, had her marry someone you can't stand, find out he's a vampire, and that he plans on killing your baby? The only thing you have left in a mediocre existence you call a life?" He flinched, and I was a little satisfied.
"No, I haven't. But I can literally feel everything that you do." He paused for a moment while I wondered what he meant.
"Charlie, we all love Bella. Her humanity is one of the things that we love most, but honestly, after everything that Edward just told you, how do you think it was for the rest of us to leave? We all look at her as family, especially now that they're married. We all want her to be a part of our family forever, and taking away her human side is the only way to do that. She really wants this, Charlie, she always has. If she didn't, we would accept that, gladly. I know, more than the rest of them, how much Edward's life has changed since they found each other. He used to always be so distant, so numb, before he even knew what he was missing. He's always been the odd man out. The rest of us have had someone to handle eternity with, our other halves. But one day, he came home and…he was alive, or at least as close as we can be. From that day on, we knew we would do anything for him, for his happiness."
I was silent as his words seeped through my skull. I thought about it; they weren't crazy about changing her, either, but Edward and Bella made each other complete. This I couldn't deny, she just wasn't herself, wasn't happy, when they weren't together.
"But…why now? Why not years from now, after she's really lived?" I couldn't understand why they couldn't let her be human, normal, for at least a few more years.
"Because she won't let us. She doesn't want to be older than Edward, and she already is. When we get changed, that's how we stay…forever. We have to move about every five years or so, how long can we stay in one place before someone notices? Edward is forever seventeen, and she'll already be forever eighteen."
The reality of his words hit home. Carlisle was so young, and he never aged, never looked older. I sat down as reality hit. It really was true, they really were…I started to panic, but I got a wave of calm through me. I looked at him with wild eyes.
"How do you do that?"
"You mean the emotions thing. Well, some of us are created with extra powers, other than ones that are the norm for our kind. For example, I feel other people's emotions, and can either calm people down or excite them. Alice can see the future…sort of," he continued at my questioning look. "Well, the future is very subjective. When someone makes a decision, it decides the future. So when someone changes their mind, it changes the future as well."
"So basically, she sees the outcomes of people's decisions?" He smiled and nodded. "Are there others who have…gifts? How do you get them?"
Jasper seemed excited by my curiosity. "Edward can read minds," he said calmly, but he got a bit defensive at my expression.
"Don't worry, he gives people as much privacy as he can. He blocks it out as much as he can. There is one exception to the rule though. He can't read Bella's mind." At my look of curiosity, he shrugged his shoulders. "We have no idea why, but he finds it quite…annoying at times."
He allowed himself a chuckle as we heard Edward grumbling in the other room. I smirked, and was shocked when Edward replied.
"Yes, Charlie, I'm not so smug now. I know," he grumbled from the other room. I heard Bella giggle and then give a squeal of pleasure as everyone started laughing. Jasper merely shook his head.
"As to your other question, that will be answered probably sometime today. But for now, I think you've calmed down enough to enjoy our, as Alice puts it, 'Big day of family fun and adventure'. I find that sickening," he looked apologetically toward a simmering Alice who had suddenly appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, "So we will just say a day of actually meeting each other."
After shooting him a death-glare, Alice turned to me with her usual upbeat attitude. "So Charlie, ready to go? It'll be so much fun! Esme and I already packed some stuff for you and Bella, and we want to go to the meadow to explain everything else, if you're ready! If not we could wait until tomorrow, I suppose, but-"
"Alice, I'm ready. You don't need to talk a mile a minute, you know." I smiled at her, and she beamed as she grabbed me by the hand and dragged me to the living room.
"Okay, everybody, out to the cars." Carlisle spoke with an air of authority. Carlisle, Esme, Rose and Emmett got into Carlisle's car, while Alice, Jasper, and Bella piled into the Volvo.
Edward, I thought, I know you can hear me. This is pretty much the only way we can talk without being overheard, from what I've gathered. I saw him give a quick nod as he put a picnic basket into the trunk.
Okay, just nod or shake your head then, all right? He gave another nod. We got into the car, me into the passenger side, him in the driver seat. He turned to smile at Bella before he started the car.
So, Bella is dead-set on being changed before she gets older, huh? Nod.
That's my girl. Nod.
"HOLY COW, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? SLOW DOWN!" I didn't mean to yell, but he was doing ninety- with a cop in the car, no less! He flashed a grin and Bella shook her head.
"Charlie, trust me on this one. It's an acquired skill. Nothing will happen, I know what I'm doing." He rolled his eyes while he talked, and I looked back at Bella.
"Dad, I flipped to. He knows what he's doing…Don't get cocky, Edward…he won't kill us. Driving anyway." She rolled her eyes and they smiled at each other. I knew this battle was lost.
So, anyway…From what Jasper told me, I'm guessing you don't want to change her. Shake.
Scared you'll get sick of her? My thoughts sounded bitter. He quickly shook his head. I glanced at the three in the backseat; if they noticed our odd conversation, they didn't show it.
You really want her to stay human, huh? Nod.
Think you're not good enough for her? He nodded, a sad look on his features.
If it makes you feel any better, I think I approve. Look, Edward, I do like you, I'm just worried. She's my daughter, the only thing I've got left from Renee. He slowly nodded.
After seeing you last night, I don't have to worry about her safety. He grinned.
I know you love her, now it's just…what if I never see her again, you know? He didn't respond. By this time, he was stopping the car in the middle of the forest.
We got out, and Jasper took the picnic basket out of the trunk.
"Okay, Bells, you know the drill," Alice said, rolling her eyes as she picked her up.
"Charlie…" Edward said politely with his eyes clamped shut, clearly not wanting this to happen, "I'm going to have to carry you…"
A/N: Ha, I'm so mean to my darling Edward...putting him in awkward positions and such.
