I don't own these characters. They are the sole property of Stephenie Meyer. I only borrow them. No humans are permanently harmed through my actions, though I do confess to harassing, annoying, torturing, and exasperating them – just because it's fun. I make no money from my little stories, sad day. I only play in the sandbox, I didn't build it.

Chapter 14: A Perfect Fit

Edward Cullen sat on the couch with his arms arranged awkwardly in his lap. Across the small space of the living room, Charlie Swan sat just as uncomfortably in his chair. They both looked toward the kitchen where their women had disappeared. Traitors.

Charlie cleared his throat, obviously as uncomfortable and ill at ease as Edward was. "So..." he began and then trailed off into silence again.

"So, how was your trip?" Edward asked, grasping at any straw that came to mind.

"Long," Charlie replied. Nothing more. Great. Awesome. Helpful.

"How do you like South Carolina?" Edward asked, trying again.

"Hate it," Charlie replied. Wow, two whole words.

"Oh," Edward said, unsure what the proper response was.

Another long, self-conscious silence hung between the two men.

"So..." Edward said.

Charlie looked at him and gave him an unexpected grin. "They did this on purpose, you know."

"Who did what?" Edward asked, confused.

"They abandoned us here, to our own devices," Charlie explained. "They want us to talk and bond or some shit like that." He snorted. "Women," he grumbled, as if that explained it all. And it pretty much did, really.

"Bella's pretty stubborn," Edward noted.

Charlie shook his head. "She's got nothing on Sue, believe me."

"So...what do you want to talk about?" Edward offered. Pleasedon'tletitbethefactthatI'mnailingyourdaughteronaveryregularbasis.

"Not much," Charlie replied and Edward knew he was thinking about the fact that Edward was nailing his daughter on a very regular basis. Hell, that's what he'dbe thinking about if the situation was reversed. That thought made him frown.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked.

"Nothing," Edward muttered.

"Bella says you're a teacher," Charlie finally said in an attempt to make nice conversation.

"Yeah, history, civics, stuff like that," Edward answered, relieved to have a topic of discussion that he could actually follow.

"You like it?" Charlie asked.

"Love it," Edward replied with a grin. "Best decision I ever made. Well...until recently." Uh oh. That just opened up the door on the whole "Bella is my life" conversation and he wasn't ready for that. No way. Not by a long shot.

Charlie grimaced. Good. Maybe he'd let it drop. "So you and Bella are getting along pretty good, huh?"

Shit. Maybe not. "Uh yeah, I mean...she's wonderful," Edward said lamely. Then he swallowed hard, terrified that he would inadvertently somehow mention how smoking hot Bella was in bed. For one sickening instant, he had almost been convinced that what he had actually said was "...she's wonderful inbed." And now that the thought had occurred to him, that horrifying possibility seemed to be all he could think about. He was afraid to open his mouth.

Charlie scowled and Edward wondered if he could read minds. "Uh uh," he finally said, looking at his clasped hands. Then he looked up and Edward felt those cop's eyes on him. "You aren't planning on hurting my girl, are you, Cullen?"

There was a desert in his throat now, along with a lump the size of the Grand Canyon. "No sir," he answered in a voice that was strained. Suddenly, he was sixteen years old again and picking Sheree Lablosky to go the Homecoming Dance.

"Good, because if you were-"

"Stop it this instant, Charles Swan." Sue's voice cut through the tension and Edward wanted to fall to his knees in gratitude. Charlie Swan turned a little pale as he glanced at his wife.

"What?" he asked in a vain attempt at innocence. Sue rolled her eyes and sat on the arm of his chair.

"You know what," Sue admonished him, shaking her head. "Stop it."

Charlie huffed and sat back in his chair, frowning like a child how had been told to mind his manners in church. Edward allowed himself a little smile.

Bella walked out with a tray of coffee and tea and took one look at her father and Edward. "Oh Daddy," she said. "I'm a grown up. You don't need to whip it out and-"

"Isabella Marie!" Charlie looked at her in shock.

"What?" Bella said with a look of faux innocence that was an exact replica of her father's. "I was talking about your gun," she teased.

Charlie grumbled as Sue handed him a cup of coffee. "Just not right..." he muttered.

Bella sat down beside Edward and leaned into him. "Now, if you two boys are done with your male posturing and fluffing of your pretty feathers, maybe we can all sit down and have a nice conversation?"

"Hey, Bells! You got anything good to eat in this house?" Seth's voice came from the kitchen.

Bella rolled her eyes. "There are some cookies and brownies on the second shelf."

"I don't see them," Seth complained.

"You might have to move something out of the way to see them," Sue called out with a look of exasperation. "I swear," she muttered. "That boy, won't look behind anything. Expects everything to be right there in front of his face and even then..."

"Found 'em!" Seth yelled.

"So," Charlie said again.

~~AATG~~

"So why are we going to Miss Bella's house?" Alice asked yet again as her father brushed her hair. He had gotten good at the girly stuff over the last few years, which was a good thing because his daughter was about as "girly" as they came. She had gotten that from her mother, who had been feminine and strong and smart. He still missed her. Then he smiled at the little girl in the mirror. But he still had Alice, and she had given him hope.

"Is Miss Rose coming too?" Alice asked. Again.

"Yes," Emmett replied, nodding. "I told you that already," he reminded her.

"I know," Alice said, running her fingers over the various hair bows and barrettes on the bathroom counter. This was Alice's bathroom and it was decorated in various shades of pink, purple, and bright green. It made Emmett's eyes ache every time he walked into it, but the color scheme made Alice happy. What made Alice happy made him happy, even if his eyeballs bled.

"And we're going to Miss Bella's house because her Daddy is there," Emmett said again.

"But not her Mommy," Alice observed.

Their eyes met in the mirror. "No, baby, her mommy is in heaven."

"Like mine," Alice murmured.

"Yes, like your mommy," Emmett agreed, wondering when it would stop hurting to think about Michelle.

"Is Mr. Edward's mommy going to be there?" Alice asked.

Emmett shook his head. "No, sweetie, not today anyway."

Alice seemed to take that in and ponder it for a moment. "Miss Rose is Mr. Edward's sister, right?"

"Uh uh," Emmett said, frowning as he tried to get the braid just right. Damn, her hair was getting thick. Sometimes, when he brushed Alice's hair he remembered brushing Michelle's hair. It had been thick and black and oh so soft... With a sigh, he tore himself away from the memories. In truth, he had been feeling a bit guilty lately. He still missed Michelle, and he would always love her. But recently, when he looked at Rosalie Cullen, something inside of him ached...wanted. What the hell was up with that? He was done with love and romance. Right?

"How come I don't have a brother?" Alice asked, causing Emmett to gape at her for a moment.

"Uh...well..." Now there was a loaded topic if there ever was one. How to explain to a six year old that her mother had, in fact, been carrying what would have been her brother or sister when she died? They had just found out about the baby a few weeks before the accident; Michelle hadn't even been far enough along to risk telling Alice yet. Of course, the baby had been the first casualty of the accident. Michelle had miscarried in the emergency room. "We just didn't have time to give you a brother or sister," he finally said, which was an honest answer. There was no need for gory details that she wouldn't understand anyway.

Alice accepted that truth with a nod of her dark head. "Oh."

"Miss Rose will be here soon," Emmett said as he put the band around the end of the braid. It looked pretty good, he decided.

Alice jumped up from the stool he kept in the bathroom just for doing her hair. "Hooray!"

"Slow down," he chided automatically as he wiped down the sink and put the stool in the corner.

But Alice was already running down the hall, singing as loudly as she could. The doorbell rang a moment later and Emmett hurried out to answer it, telling himself that he wasn't eager to see Rosalie for himself. No, it was all about Alice. Right. Sure.

~~AATG~~

Bella and Rose and Sue were in the kitchen. They could hear Alice's laughter as Seth amused her, giving her piggy back rides and playing Chutes and Ladders with her. Seth had taken to the little girl with surprising ease, keeping her occupied while the adults talked.

"So did your father warm up to Edward right away?" Rose asked. The two men had seemed very comfortable with each other, enjoying cold beers and dirty jokes when they thought the women were out of ear shot.

"Uh, not exactly," Bella admitted with a laugh.

Sue nodded. "We figured they'd have to get past the testosterone thing first, so we let them size each other up and get all male. Then they decided that their discomfort was all our fault and they united in their annoyance at us and we turned on some sort of sports and gave them some beer after forcing them to share some coffee and awkward conversations and voila! They were friends."

Rose laughed. "You two are sneaky," she observed in an admiring voice.

Bella shrugged. "You have to know your prey, and then act accordingly."

"Besides," Sue added. "It worked when Leah brought home her guy. So we figured we'd give it a shot with Edward."

The three women were making the evening meal, keeping an ear out for the men and for Alice. "So, how's it going with Emmett?" Bella asked quietly with a look over her shoulder toward the living room.

"Slow," Rose admitted. "I think he feels guilty."

"For what?" Bella asked.

"Because he totally wants to get all up in this," Rose said with a smirk, gesturing toward her lovely body. "And he doesn't want to want me, so he's got his boxers in a twist."

Bella snorted with laughter. "So what's the plan?"

Rose grinned and popped a baby carrot into her mouth. "Well," she answered after a moment. "I'm going to pretend I don't know he wants to jump me. But I'm going to make it very hard for him to ignore the fact for too much longer."

"Playing dirty?" Sue guessed.

"As dirty as I can," Rose admitted. Then she sighed and sat down on a chair, her shoulders slumped in dejection. "Well, maybe not dirty. Really, I think I'll just wear him down by being there for them. I just think if he could admit it, maybe act on it in some small way, we could finally work through his feelings. I understand he loved his wife, but if she loved him half as much, I think she'd want him to be happy, you know?"

"Oh sweetie," Bella said as she sat down beside her. "I'm sorry; I thought you two would be a good fit, but now..."

"That's the thing," Rose said, leaning forward. "We are a good fit. Absolutely. Actually, the three of us are a perfect fit." She smiled. "Emmett just needs to see that. And he will. I just have to have patience. We haven't known each other that long, after all. So I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. I'll be there for Alice. I'll be there a lot for her, and eventually, he's going to realize that there's nothing wrong with wanting to be a man again – not just a father. He'll come around, and I'll be waiting when he does."

"He's very lucky to have you," Sue said.

"Yeah, he is," Rose agreed. "And I'm just as lucky to have him and Alice. It'll take time, but it will happen. You'll see."