I am participating in The Twilight 25, a challenge to write twenty-five one-shots &/or drabbles based on predetermined prompts within a three month period. I'm participating for fun, as well as using this as a learning experience. I would love your feedback.

Huge thanks to my lovely beta, Kristi! Someday I will learn to use comma's correctly, and I will still send her my stories to read first because she put up with my non-comma using self.

The Twilight 25

Prompt: Wood

Pen name: distantxdream (LJ) distant(dot)dream118 (FFn)

Pairing: Bella/Edward (AU AH)

Rating: T

He is sitting awkwardly in a chair that is upholstered with itchy orange fabric. His legs are bouncing nervously, and his eyes are darting haphazardly around the room.

Pictures in wooden frames hang on the walls, sit on the desk, and are propped up on the window ledge. The frames vary in size and shape. Some are smooth and polished, while others are rough and unfinished. They all have one thing in common; tucked safely under the shiny glass are pictures of her. They are of her in various stages of her life, doing an array of different things.

Any second the knock would come on the front door, and he would enter this room that was lined, floor to ceiling, with memories of his little girl.

He would come in and ask the one question that Charlie had dreaded for years.

He was asking for her. For her hand. For her heart. A heart that had belonged solely to him for twenty-five years. His girl.

She had called earlier in the week to say that they would be coming to visit at Edward's request. Her voice was bubbly and excited. She knew what would be happening, and he had spent the rest of the week preparing himself.

His hand brushed the shiny cherry wood frame in front of him.

Bella only minutes old, wrapped in a generic white, pink, and blue hospital blanket.

Nothing could have prepared him for the moment he had first held her. Someone once said that the decision to have a child is like deciding that your heart will forever walk outside of your body. He couldn't even begin to fathom the idea of this, until her tiny brown eyes found his. She was his heart, wrapped in wrinkly pink skin and shining brown eyes.

Even though she had taken his heart, she gave hers right back to him. For twenty-five years he had managed to keep it safe. While his heart had wandered through elementary school, high school, and college, her beautiful heart had remained with him. Now, he was going to have to let it go. She was willingly offering it to someone else.

It was a part of life, and he understood that. But just as nothing can ever prepare you for the monumental moment of meeting your daughter, absolutely nothing can prepare you for the moment that you will give her away.

A soft knock sounded against the door.

"Daddy?" Her sweet voice called out.

"Uh…yeah?" He's not ready. It's not time.

"Can we come in?" The door knob begins to turn, and he takes a deep breath.

He has met the boy many times. He had visited numerous times, and even attended a family vacation. Charlie had liked him well enough, until now.

He is clinging to her hand and she is beaming at him.

"Bella, would you mind if I had a minute with your dad?" He's nervous. He should be.

"Sure." She answers enthusiastically. She walks over to give Charlie a hug, and whispers in his ear, "I really love him, Daddy."

Dammit. Now he is screwed. He can't deny her anything. He's never been able to. His eyes fix on a Popsicle stick frame that sits on the window ledge.

Bella in her first cast.

She had insisted on removing the training wheels on her bike, even though her toes barely touched the ground. She had begged, and then thrown in a "Please, Daddy". Moments later, she was screaming in the passenger seat of his truck as they drove the well traveled road to the emergency room.

The boy cleared his throat, bringing Charlie out of his reverie.

"Edward."

"Mr. Swan."

Awkward silence hung thickly in the air. It was stifling, but Charlie wasn't going to ask. If he wanted to do this, he needed to ask himself.

"I need to ask you something, sir." The boy was polite, and this irked him. Why couldn't he be rude? Why couldn't he give Charlie a reason to dislike him?

Charlie nodded silently.

"Bella and I have been dating for two years. In those two years, she has become my entire life, sir."

Charlie nods again, and his eyes focus on the rough wooden frame that hangs on the wall in front of him.

Bella with her feet planted firmly on his toes.

She was dressed in a little blue dress with daisies printed all over it and a matching hat. He was wearing a blue button-up shirt with a daisy that she had tucked in the pocket.

She was his world, how could she be someone else's life?

"I love her. Very much, sir. I'd like to ask her to marry me, but I'd really like your permission."

How do you give someone permission to take the most beautiful thing you have ever known? Who on earth came up with the tradition of asking the father in the first place? Wouldn't any father in his right mind say no?

Charlie sucked in a deep breath.

"Edward, do you see that picture right there?" Charlie's calloused finger pointed to a picture that he knew Edward had never seen before.

Bella in her cap and gown at her college graduation.

Charlie stood on her right with his arm around her shoulder. Edward stood to her left with his arm around her waist. Charlie was looking directly at the camera, and she was looking at Edward.

When he had gotten the pictures back from the photo lab, this was the picture that had told him his days were numbered. They were completely lost in each other.

Edward nodded.

"I knew in that moment that this was going to come eventually. Regardless, that is my little girl. I read her fairytales, painted her toes, and held her when she cried. She has been my life for twenty-five years."

"She's an amazing woman."

"She has always been amazing. Some day you will know how this feels, and when you do you will come back and thank me for giving you this gift. It is the hardest thing I have ever done, but I will do it for her. Don't hurt her. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." By the way Edward is smiling, there is no way Charlie can doubt his feelings.

Charlie offers his hand to the boy, and Edward shakes it firmly.

"You have my blessing."

Later that evening, she bounces back through the door with a shining stone on her hand, and twinkling tears in her eyes.

She throws herself into his arms. "I'm so happy, Daddy."

In that small moment, she is still his little girl. She is still the tiny thing that pranced around in Cinderella dresses, ran through the sprinkler with purple Popsicle juice dripping down her chin, and giggled uncontrollably as his mustache tickled her cheek.

"I love you, Bella." He whispers into her hair.

"I'll always love you, Dad."