EPOV

After spending the evening guarding my Bella, I was not surprised to hear knocking on the door the next morning. The thoughts betrayed that he almost walked right in; the only thing stopping him was the fact that he remembered we weren't in his house.

"Come in." I called quietly. Charlie, picking up on my soft tone, came in fairly quietly. He was a little relieved to see me on top of the covers, but overall, didn't like seeing us in bed together.

"Doesn't she get cold, sleeping on you like that?"

"Not so much anymore, she's gotten used to it and actually sleeps better with me next to her." I whispered.

"I think I've got it pretty much figured out. You'll tell me if I'm right?"

"Yes, but you have to say it, not think it." I told him.

"Are you creatures of the night?"

"You have to be more specific, Charlie. There are lots of creatures that only come out at night, though you've seen that we can come out in the day." Esme came up at that moment.

"It's time to wake Bella. She has school today. I've already called the rest of you absent." I was instantly on guard.

"You're not going to school, why?"

"It's going to be sunny." I answered. Jasper was registering my panic.

"Edward, what's going on?" He asked.

"Charlie, can Bella miss school today as well? I'll explain everything."

"Explain first and then I'll decide."

"Tell me what we are." I demanded.

"Vampires?"

"Yes, now, Jacob knows what we are and he knows that we can't go to school on sunny days. Bella would be there unprotected. Please can she stay home today?"

"How does Jacob know what you are?" Charlie was confused.

"He's our natural enemy; just like Sam and all of those other giant kids on the reservation. Bella knows all of this too. I'll leave it to Sam to talk to you about him and his pack of friends." I said. I added the pun intentionally and I heard Esme laugh at my joke in her head.

"Yes, I'll go call now." Charlie left the room and I was content to let Bella sleep a little longer, but Alice warned me to wake her up so she wasn't too far off her schedule. I started kissing her face. Bella slowly woke and kissed me back.

"You're getting a free day off from school." I told her with a smile.

"Why?"

"It's sunny. I didn't want to leave you unprotected; you're too important to me."

"Ok, is my dad up yet?" She asked as she snuggled as close to me as she could get with her arm and shoulder in a cast.

"He is. He's in his room calling you out of school. He figured us out."

"That was fast."

"Thank you. It came to me while I was sleeping. All of the clues I was given yesterday processed themselves in my dreams. We need to talk. I have questions." Charlie said from my doorway and I turned Bella to see him. She blushed and I'm assuming that it's because he caught us in a more compromising position than he's ever seen us in. It was hard for Charlie to see his little girl behaving like a woman in the arms of another man. Respectfully, Charlie turned away from us and sadly, Bella left my arms, calling for Esme to help her dress. I walked Charlie down to the kitchen and started to cook breakfast for him and Bella. Esme brought Bella down ten minutes later, just as I was plating their food. Both of them ate in relative silence and it was after the dishes were finished that someone finally spoke.

"Where can we go to talk in private?"

"I don't advise that, but I can send most of the family out to hunt. Alice will see everything you decide to ask and I will see her visions. Plus, I'm not leaving Bella alone with Jacob on the loose." I explained. I listened for the wolves. Embry and Paul were wearing down and finishing their shift. In their thoughts, they asked me if they could get something to eat, so I called to Esme.

"Embry and Paul are hungry, they are wondering if they could get a bite to eat before they head home."

"Of course, run out there and tell them food will be waiting when they come in." She pat my cheek and I sped off while she started pulling out more food. The boys were grateful and promised to be in as soon as their relief arrived. I also asked them to have Sam ready to talk to Charlie. They agreed and passed on the message for me. Bella and Charlie were in the family room preparing for their talk.

By the time evening had rolled around, Charlie sat overwhelmed with information regarding the supernatural beings in his life. He had been shocked and then angry when he heard the true story of what prompted us to leave Forks and Bella behind after her birthday. It was then that I was slammed with Charlie's memories of the night that I left her and the subsequent months after until we returned from Italy. He caught on quickly that I was listening to his memories and refocused his attention back to Bella snuggled into my side. Her pain medication was kicking in and she was getting sleepy.

Sam had joined the conversation just after lunch and told Charlie all about being a shape-shifter and gave more explanation as to why Jacob was so dangerous. In the end, Charlie agreed to move in with the Cullens until Jacob was found. Sam and I went with Charlie back to his house to gather a few more items. Sam patrolled around the house and I listened for stray thoughts as I gathered a few items that Bella requested from her room.

As Bella had predicted, Charlie could handle knowing the truth, but what she hadn't counted on was him learning everything in one day. He was quiet and careful with his thoughts around me. He understood more, the relationship of a vampire and his mate, but he still didn't like that we were still teenagers. He didn't like that she was willing to hand over her humanity to me and possibly never see him again. I decided that I would have another talk with him in a few days after he's had the chance to process everything.

"Okay Edward, I'm ready." I heard Charlie from the door of Bella's room and quickly snatched her journal, a few books, her scrapbook, a box from the top of her closet and the quilt that her mother gave her when we visited Florida. I loved that she was sentimental. She explained that with her house unguarded, she didn't want Jacob to break in and terrorize the place, destroying her memories. These items were the most precious to her. I wondered what was in the box as I didn't even know she had it. I packed the quick bag and walked with Charlie back to my car.

It wasn't until we were driving back to my house that Charlie thoughts called out to me.

"Edward, can you hear me?" I nodded, slightly amused by cautious tone I heard in his mental voice.

"That will take some getting used to. What's the best way to keep you out of my head?" He asked. I offered up a small sympathetic smile.

"Well, that's difficult to answer. I can't hear you all of the time, so that helps. My family usually replays memories of sex with their mates to keep me out, but there is a major difference between their brains and yours. Vampires have much more room in their brain to process many different things at once, so they can replay memories at the forefront of their brains and study nuclear science at the same time. I haven't come across many humans that can split their focus like that. I try to stay out of everyone's head, but not thinking about me or talking to me in your mind helps as well. If you need me to, I can reserve a room for you and Carlisle or I can take Bella out for a few hours."

"Me and Carlisle?" He asked aloud this time.

"Yes, to keep you safe and not spread the wolves thin in their protection efforts, I'd prefer one of us go with you. You can choose anyone but me as I'd like to stick close to Bella and protect her."

"I'm glad that you care so much about her safety."

"Charlie, I would do anything in my power to keep her safe as I would for you, but she is my priority. For vampires, nothing is more important than the safety of our mates. I would and have attacked my own family in my efforts to keep her from getting hurt." I told him as we walked into the house and upstairs to our respective rooms. Bella was in the bathroom with Alice so I set her things down and left after letting her know I was back.

A/N: Well, a lot of you guessed that my favorite line was where Bella kicked Edward out of the house, but actually it was Charlie asking what would happen if he ran Edward over with his car. Thank you all so much for the continued support. I love reading your comments and reply to every one that I can. Reviews are wanted and appreciated. Have a great day!