A/N I've been remiss in not thanking the reviewers who put me over the 100 review mark. MrsAuburnCUllen was number 100 and acw1 wrote 101. Thank you ladies, I appreciate your encouragement. Thanks to all the reviewers and followers. I get a kick out of the wide range of names. My favorites this week were toold4this (sounds familiar) and perfectmess, which is often how I feel. So, in honor of Thanksgiving Day, I give you New Years.

Chapter 11 A New Year

There was something deliciously decadent about sleeping until you felt like getting up. Bella stretched her arms over her head. She hadn't rested like this since last summer.

She was a little in love with Dr. Cullen for insisting that she take the week off, with pay. She had been sleeping in, making cookies, soups and meals to freeze for the busy days ahead. She'd found a recipe for bran muffins with zucchini, applesauce and almonds, so she made a few batches and froze them as well. She was never going to be caught without eating breakfast again.

Angela and Ben were driving back from Ohio after Christmas, and she'd be very surprised if there wasn't a diamond ring on Ange's finger. Ben had not been very subtle, asking Bella to trace one of the rings Angela wore. She couldn't wait to see their faces. Jasper had flown back the night before, while Alice flew on to visit her family. Bella had told him to come by for dinner, which was just a convenient excuse. She knew Alice would demand that he check in on her anyway. After Bella told Alice about fainting at work, she wanted to come back right away. Luckily, Jasper was able to convince Alice that even she wasn't more prepared to take care of Bella than a hospital.

It was warm with the sauce and soup simmering in the small kitchen. Bella took off the button down shirt she was wearing, and cooked wearing just her shorts hitched up under her belly, and a white tank top that was both too short and too tight. She giggled at the swell of her belly showing between her top and bottoms. She'd probably let Alice draw something on it if she asked nicely.

A knock at the front door startled her out of contemplating the dimensions of her baby bump.

She yelled from the kitchen, "Come in!"

There was nothing, then another knock.

Damn Jasper and his southern manners. He probably didn't want to come in when he knew she was alone, even though he had a key. "Okay, okay, I'm coming."

She looked out the peephole, right at Charlie's mustache.

"Bella, you in there?"

Bella froze, but knew she needed to face the music. She opened the door and her father looked her up and down, one eyebrow raised. "You have something to tell me?"

…

"It would have been nice to find out I was going to be a grandpa from you, not the insurance company." He produced a print out that read 'Explanation of Benefits' across the top. "I called to dispute this claim, because I would certainly know if my daughter was in the hospital for two days over Christmas with prenatal monitoring, wouldn't I?"

Bella sat on the couch, hands covering her belly.

"When are you due?"

"April tenth."

He nodded. "Were you ever going to tell me and your mother?"

Tears rolled out of her eyes, even though she tried to stop them by squeezing them tight.

"Aw, Bells…" He came over to the couch and put his arm around her, pulling her into a hug. "I have a little experience with unplanned babies. We can work this out."

She cried harder, burrowing into his familiar flannel clad shoulder. She'd been able to pull off the brave act over the phone, but now with Charlie here, all her fears and loneliness from the past week came pouring out.

Charlie patted her hair, like he did when she was a little girl, and after a few minutes she sniffed up her tears. Charlie produced a Dunkin Donuts napkin out of his pocket, and she mopped up her face.

"Does Jacob or Quil have something to do with this?"

"Yes, no. I mean no, no."

"Who's the father, Bells?"

"This baby has no father. He wants nothing to do with her."

"A little girl? I'm going to have a granddaughter?"

She nodded her head.

"Maybe this baby doesn't have a father Bella, but you do. Remember what I told you; I'm always there for you."

He wrapped her in his arms while she cried into his shirt, which is exactly how Angela and Ben found them.

"I don't like it." Charlie spooned some more pasta on his plate, his third helping, so he certainly liked the food. "I think Bella should move home."

"Mr. Swan - " Jasper was polite as ever, "-this is the only time Bella has been by herself this year. Angela, Alice, Ben and I all plan to help her from here on. She won't be alone with this baby."

Ben had taken over in the kitchen when they arrived. Angela had been trying to sweet talk Charlie, but she was no Alice. Bella was able to take a shower and get changed into black yoga pants and an oversized light blue denim shirt, a much more father-friendly outfit than the tiny white tank and shorts she'd been wearing to cook.

"Dad, I know you want to help, but if I'm to have any shot at finishing this school year I have to stay here. You can't transfer in the middle of junior year. It would be like starting over."

Charlie swallowed, and wiped his mustache with his napkin. "I still don't like it. You're an adult, but even adults need help."

"Agreed. And I have four helpers." Bella stood up. "Now, I need help celebrating this engagement. Where's the sparkling cider?"

"You sit." Jasper looked at Bella and got up from his seat. "I'll get the drinks."

He was two steps from the table when someone knocked on the apartment door. Jasper pivoted on his front foot and changed directions. "On second thought, I'll get the door."

He checked out the peep hole, and with an odd expression opened the door. "Mr. Cullen, this is a surprise."

"Please call me Edward. Did I get the wrong address? I was looking for Isabella Swan."

"Bella, darlin', you have company."

As Bella came to the door, Jasper slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"Wow," she said, startled by the enormous gift basket Edward held in both hands. "Thank you, this is…amazing. Oh, sorry, I'm being rude, please come in, you're just in time for the toast. We're having a little engagement celebration."

He stepped in and stood stiffly. Bella cleared some papers off the coffee table. "You can put that here. You know Ben," Ben stood and put a hand out for Edward, who shook it soundly. "And this is one of my roommates, Angela, and my dad, Charlie Swan."

Edward held Charlie's firmly. "Well, congratulations sir."

"Thanks, I guess." Charlie waved to the basket. "What's all this?"

Edward looked flustered. "My mother had this made up. Baby clothes, blankets, that sort of thing. And protein bars and juice boxes. She says you are never to leave home without one of each."

Angela was poking in the basket alongside Bella, and pulled out something white and fluffy. "Oh, how cute. Is this a plush swan? It's so soft." She held the toy against Bella's cheek.

"A swan? How did she find it?"

He shook his head. "When my mother gets a notion, she goes all out."

"Please thank your mother for me. And your dad for giving me the week off. And thank you, for catching me. Dad, this is the man that caught me." She put her hand on Edward's arm. "Won't you stay for some sparkling cider?"

Jasper had filled six wine glasses. "Yes, join us. Ben, could you get the extra chair from…"

"Thank you but no. I need to run. I'm glad to see you looking well, Miss Swan, and congratulations."

A/N At last Charlie knows! I also want to give a hand to my cousin, who had never read Twilight, but in order to understand what I was doing here, saw ALL the Twilight movies in less than a week. Talk about a Twi-Crash Course! That's devotion! Thanks to Miss Winkles for her beta magic. I hope you're feeling it!