Hey guys! :D
Thank you so much for reviewing; Heal This Heartbreak, Lizzy, Lisa, Lyssa, Porcelain-Shadow, Rosaa, Lost-girl666, Alix-09, Jm1708, xWickedlovelyx, The-Elusive-Charmer, Marijne, Porkkana, Lizzie, Thari, Lil miss bella cullen, Becky, JillWithTheVampiresx, Greystorm, Wackynicolecsu, HiddenInTheWords, Amy, Jordan, Kfeve11, Gnomegirl13, AutumnOtts, Twilightluver39, Meagancullen1, xoStaybeautiful, Mouse555, Avery Shane, Sprinter1, Bella12797, Jess, Texbratt67, Cb, Maren, RPattzmania, Amber, Jasmine,She Isn't Here and SuperSayjinPanny! Free, digital hugs for all my awesome reviewers! :)
And also; Thanks Rosaa for Edward's ipod (yay! :D), thanks for the guy to sing me songs (xD), Lizzie, thanks for the dresses and the DVD, Thari, thanks for the chocolate covered strawberries (I love strawberries and I love chocolate. :D), AutumnOtts, and thanks for the Ferrari and the Edward-genie-in-a-bottle (Lol! :p), She Isn't Here!
To Marijne: Dankjewel! Ik moet toch nog even melden dat ik het superlief vind dat je al mijn verhalen zo fanatiek leest en steeds reviewt! :D Alleen nog de epiloog na vandaag. ;)
To Thari: Muwhaha, you want to marry my Mr. Cullen? I'm afraid you'll have to take a number. xD You know what, just ask him. :p You can marry him… if he agrees. :p
To Becky: Thanks! Looking forward to your reviews, hope you'll like the rest of the story as well. :)
To HiddenInTheWords: No, he won't propose, it's a little early for that. Bella will go to college first, etc. :p You'll see. ;)
To Jordan: Lol, marrying a story, now that's something you don't see every day. :p
To Kfeve11: Two updates, actually, but one after today's chapter. xD
To Mouse555: It really isn't, Dutch is my first language. xD
To Jasmine: It's very sweet of you to share your ideas, but I never drag out my stories for the sake of making them longer. :p There will be a nice, fluffy epilogue, though. ;)
So here it is, the requested meet-the-parents-chapter! It's a bit long, oopsie. xD Only one update left now. :( I will put up the last part of this story as soon as it's finished, so stay tuned!
Meet The Parents
Things went very well after that, and it was such a relief that Edward and I could be with each other more often. Of course we didn't go out in public during the first few weeks, but I frequently stayed over at Edward's place, and sometimes we hung out with Rose and Emmett at our place. It was great that we were finally allowed to act like two people who were deeply in love with each other, rather than hiding it all the time, and lately I was in a permanent state of pure bliss.
Edward was working very hard, recording new material and composing new arrangements for the movie. Luckily he owned all the equipment that was required to record new demos, which meant that he was mostly working at home; at least until the music would be recorded at an actual studio. Unfortunately he did have to make the fairly long trip to Seattle every now and then for meetings, as well as to go over his new ideas with the producers, and it made me think about the future. Seeing as he had already received other offers to compose music for several television shows after he was done with 'Twilight', chances were that he would have to keep traveling back and forth between Forks and Seattle…
These last weeks my brain had been very busy, thinking of solutions to make things easier for us, and eventually it had come up with a really good option… I'd always known that I wanted to go to college after graduating, but I'd never given it much thought where I would go to college. I didn't prefer a particular university, but the way things were now, Seattle suddenly seemed like the perfect choice. I was planning on discussing the subject of us moving to Seattle soon, but knowing Edward he would be all for my little suggestion.
It had been almost a month now since Edward had quit his job, and it was a boring Saturday morning. Rose and I were thoroughly cleaning the house, and right now I was scrubbing the bathroom floor while Rose was cleaning the kitchen. Rosalie was loudly singing along with the radio. Her version of 'Bad Romance' was a hideous crime against the human hearing, but she was in a good mood and I didn't want to ruin her fun, so I quietly laughed and otherwise didn't comment.
I heard the phone ring but assumed that Rose would pick it up, seeing as I was completely covered in bleach and all-purpose cleaner. I dutifully resumed my task, but my scrubbing didn't last long, because I heard Rosalie yelling my name.
"Bella! Phone." She called from the kitchen.
I sighed, getting up and quickly drying my hands before skipping out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.
"Who is it?" I asked her.
She rolled her eyes. "Who else but your Edward."
I snorted and picked up the phone.
"Hey you." I said enthusiastically.
"Hello, love. What are you doing?"
"Cleaning the bathroom, exciting isn't it." I joked.
"Very. The thought of you wearing a pair of ugly, yellow, rubber gloves is very tempting." He replied, chuckling.
"Funny, mister!" I complained. "So did you have a purpose, calling me? Or were you merely seeking for an opportunity to make fun of me."
"I have a purpose, my Bella. A rather good one, if you ask me." He said teasingly.
"Let's hear it." I pushed him.
"Well, it's been almost a month since I quit my job… And I sort of told Esme and Carlisle that I have a girlfriend, and they would love to meet you… Actually, Esme invited us over for dinner tonight." He explained cautiously.
I was shocked for a moment that he had already told them, seeing as I hadn't had the guts to tell Charlie, yet, but I was definitely curious to meet his parents.
"Wow, that's great, I would love to! Oh wait… but it's Saturday, you know that Saturday's my night with Charlie. I promised to cook him dinner tonight." I muttered as my overexcited brain had calmed down and recalled this little fact.
"I know, love… That's what I told Esme, and then she invited him over, too." Edward confessed, sounding a little uneasy.
"She did?" I asked in shock.
"Yeah… You see, my parents already sort of know your father, he's the chief of police and my dad is the town's doctor… In a town as small as Forks… well you get the idea. And Esme thought it would be a wonderful plan to have a nice dinner in order for us to all get to know each other. Besides, don't you think that it's time that I formally introduce myself to your father?" Edward rambled.
"No! Yes! Probably… But I haven't even told Charlie about us! He'll go berserk!" I exclaimed hysterically.
"Why? I'm not your teacher anymore." Edward said, sounding puzzled.
"I know, but you're seven years older, and even though it doesn't feel that way to me, he'll flip! Not to mention, this is Forks, either your parents or Charlie will come to the conclusion that you were teaching at Forks High during the time that I was a student there! All of us at the same dining table will end in a disaster." I ranted in panic.
"I already thought about that, love. If someone brings it up, we'll just tell them that you were in Mr. Brown's English class instead of mine, and that we hadn't really met at school before you met me at Emmett's place some time after I'd already quit my job." Edward told me calmly.
Impressive! This guy was good. "That's a convincing story." I admitted quietly.
"Is that a yes?" Edward asked. "I mean, we'll have to do this eventually, I suppose it would be best to get it over with."
I sighed in defeat. "Fine… But you know what? I'll pick up Charlie and meet you at your parents' place. I want to have a little talk with him first, so I can mentally prepare him for all this."
"Yes, preparing him might be a good plan." Edward agreed. "Around six?"
"Sure, around six." I repeated warily.
"Don't worry, Bella. It will all work out fine." He said reassuringly when he heard my anguished tone.
"Sure sure." I muttered. "I'll see you tonight… If I succeed in dragging Charlie along." I added dryly.
"It'll be fine, you'll see." He said, some amusement in his silky voice.
"Whatever you say. Bye, Edward." I responded, letting out another sigh.
"See you tonight, love. I'm counting the minutes until I'll be able to see your pretty face again." He said sincerely before hanging up the phone.
Charming, but his sweet words weren't able to take away the awful scenarios that my brain was currently coming up with.
This was just great. Truly marvelous. I would have to tell my impossible father that I was dating a guy who was no less than seven years older than I was, and on top of that, I had to invite him to have dinner with said guy and the parents of said guy. Although I had to admit that Charlie wasn't the most difficult parent in the world, usually, but when it came to dating…
He could be so overprotective when it came to boys, and I also had to take into account that I'd never dated anyone before, so this was a completely new experience for Charlie. And last but not least, he was a cop, a cop who owned a gun. If it weren't for the fact that I knew that Charlie wasn't a big fan of violence unless it was absolutely necessary, I would've feared for Edward's wellbeing.
This was going to be a very long night, I knew that much. But Edward did have a point, I couldn't deny that. This had to happen sooner or later, so putting it off any longer was useless anyway. We would just have to endure it…
xxx
A heavy feeling in my stomach was obviously present as I walked through Charlie's front door. He was sitting at the kitchen table, reading today's newspaper, but he looked up as soon as he heard me stumbling into the kitchen.
"Hey Bells! Good to see you!" He greeted me, smiling.
"Hi, dad." I replied, making an effort to sound calm and collected. "How's it going?"
"Great!" He answered cheerfully, which made me think that he was in a good mood, at least. "Did you have a nice week, kiddo?"
"Yes…" I muttered.
He seemed totally oblivious to my nervous state, and he gave me another friendly smile.
"So, what are you making for dinner tonight?" He asked conversationally.
Oh no… There was no backing out now.
"I… we… I'm not…" I tried to form a sentence, but failed miserably.
"What is it, Bells?" Charlie asked, raising his eyebrows at me and sounding slightly worried.
"Actually… We're invited to have dinner at Mr. and Mrs. Cullen's place tonight." I blurted out.
Charlie's face turned into a mask of confusion. "Ah, Doctor Cullen and his wife? I know them, nice people… But what do you mean they invited us? Do you know them?"
There it was, as if on cue, my personal imitation of a lobster. "I don't know them, yet… I am… dating their son, Edward Cullen. He asked me if I wanted to meet his parents tonight, and Mrs. Cullen invited you over, too. It told her that it was alright, seeing as Edward and I have been dating for over three weeks now, so I think it's time that the two of you meet." I managed to choke out my chaotic explanation.
A frown appeared on Charlie's face, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking. "You're dating? Their son? I thought they didn't have any children your age." He mused out loud after a short silence, squinting his eyes at me.
I bit my lip, unable to come up with any excuses, and I realized that there was no other choice than to tell him the inevitable truth. "Okay, don't freak out, dad. Edward's a tiny bit older than I am." I informed him in a weak voice.
The frown turned into a suspicious glare. "Tell me what your definition of 'a tiny bit' is." He demanded.
"Seven years." I squeaked.
Charlie merely gaped at me, and the scowl never left his face as he proceeded his gaping.
"Say something, dad." I pleaded when I couldn't take the horrible silence anymore. "I know it sounds bad, but Edward is amazing… He's the kindest, most polite guy you'll ever meet… If you could just give him a chance…"
"Sure he is." Was all he grumbled in response.
"Oh come on, please don't be difficult… I love him, dad, and he loves me. Please come with me to the dinner. You like the Cullens, right?" Insert some puppy-eyes here.
Another long silence, but after a while the grimace on his face slowly disappeared, and he huffed in what sounded like defeat. "Yeah… Well you're both adults, I guess… And doctor Cullen and his wife are good people."
I inhaled deeply in relief as both his face and tone softened.
"So you're coming?" I verified.
"Sure. Might as well find out who my daughter is dating." He muttered, doing his best to sound impassive.
"Thank you, dad! That means a lot to me… I promise that you won't be disappointed, Edward's a real gentleman."
Charlie skeptically rolled his eyes. "We'll see about that."
Yes, we would see, indeed. I silently prayed that my dad would be as charmed by Edward as I was. At least it helped that he seemed to like Edward's parents…
Nonetheless, I was still worried about the outcome of this evening. Ah well, it couldn't be that bad, as long as Charlie made sure to leave his gun at home. I inwardly giggled at my lame, mental joke, gradually relaxing a little for the first time since I'd entered Charlie's kitchen.
Perhaps Edward was right, I was worrying too much. If we both made sure to stick to the story of meeting at Emmet's place after Edward had already left Forks High, there weren't going to be any problems at all.
xxx
My eyes all but popped out of their sockets as the Cullen house came into sight. It was hidden between the trees and ferns, at the end of the long, unpaved road that we had followed into the green forest. That wasn't a house, that was a castle! Alright, castle would be exaggerating, but to say that it was huge would be putting it mildly. The mansion was mostly white, and there were a lot of windows; over all it looked very fancy, and I briefly stared at it in awe.
I parked my old truck in front of the garage and turned to crack a smile at Charlie, who had been awfully quiet during the ten minute drive.
"Now that's what I call a house." I remarked dryly, expressing my shock and at the same time hoping to lighten his mood a bit.
Charlie nodded in agreement. "Yes, Doctor Cullen is a very wealthy man."
Wealthy was an understatement, these people were loaded. Considering that, and the fact that Edward looked like a male model, I was seriously starting to wonder how it was possible that Edward hadn't grown up to be an arrogant prick.
I took a deep breath as we got out of the truck, and Charlie remained quiet as we walked up to the front door, his face straight. I rang the doorbell and in no time Edward opened the door, giving us his most charming smile. Nice work, buddy! We're going to need a hell of a lot of your dazzling-powers in order to make Charlie happy.
"Edward!" I exclaimed, not bothering to hide my enthusiasm for Charlie's sake.
"Hello, love." He said, leaning in to sweetly kiss my forehead. He turned to Charlie, throwing in another dazzling smile. "It's very nice to meet you, Chief Swan. I'm Edward Cullen." He said politely, holding up his hand.
Charlie's face was impenetrable, but at least he took Edward's hand to shake it. "Nice to meet you, Edward." He produced a nearly invisible smile as the words left his mouth.
"Come in, Carlisle and Esme are waiting inside." Edward said, the polite tone never wavering.
We followed him into a spacious hallway, and it caught my attention that the house was very nicely decorated. A lot of light colors were used in the interior, and most of the furniture was white. Everything was matching perfectly; the house was as impressive on the inside as it was on the outside.
Edward led us into the living room where his parents were waiting for us, and it wasn't hard to see now where Edward got his looks from. I'd never seen Doctor Cullen before at the hospital, because my regular doctor was Doctor Gerandy, but I was pretty sure that the nurses at Forks Hospital had a hard time concentrating with him around. He looked way too young to have a twenty-five year old son, and his face looked like an older version of Edward's. Edward's mother also looked rather young, and she had a friendly, heart-shaped face and caramel-colored hair.
They both got up from the couch, approaching us with friendly smiles on their faces.
"Charlie! Good to see you again." Doctor Cullen said, grinning at Charlie.
"Yes, long time no see. How are you doing?" Charlie's voice sounded friendly and somewhat more relaxed than before, and I heard how he and Dr. Cullen made some small talk.
Mrs. Cullen took the opportunity to turn her full attention to me."Bella! What an honor to finally meet you." She said enthusiastically.
"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Cullen." I replied shyly.
"Oh please, call me Esme, dear." She insisted, smiling at me.
I was aiming for a simple handshake, but she wasn't having that, and she immediately surprised me by giving me a short hug.
"Right, Esme." I said, letting out a small laugh when she released me.
Doctor Cullen paused his conversation with Charlie for a moment, and Esme took her chance to also greet Charlie with a hug while her husband turned to me to firmly shake my hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella." He told me sincerely.
"The pleasure's all mine, Dr. Cullen." I responded, smiling at him.
"Just say Carlisle, please. Dr. Cullen is way too formal." He said, winking at me.
I felt how Edward came to stand beside me, and he lightly placed a hand on the small of my back, as if he was trying to take away some of my nerves.
"Well, let's go to the dining room, shall we?" Esme proposed, smiling warmly at all of us.
We all followed her, and unsurprisingly, the dining room was as fancy as the rest of the house. There was a large, round table in the middle, and to my surprise Edward held out a chair for me. I sat down and he smiled crookedly at me, before sitting down next to me. Charlie sat down on my other side, and Carlisle took his place next to Charlie. Esme announced that she was getting us some drinks, and soon she returned with a tray of colorful looking glasses, explaining that she had made some sort of experimental non-alcoholic fruit cocktails for the occasion.
I saw that Edward made a face, and I soon found out that Esme had also noticed his expression.
"Don't give me that look, Edward. Some people find my fruit-cocktails very enjoyable." She scolded her son.
"Sorry mom, it's probably just me." He apologized, smirking at her.
I couldn't help but laugh, and Carlisle also seemed amused.
"I adore your fruit cocktails." He offered, smiling at Esme.
Charlie took a sip of his cocktail, and the fact that he didn't wrinkle his nose in disgust told me that he agreed with Carlisle. "Not bad at all!" He complimented Esme.
I tasted my own cocktail, coming to the conclusion that Edward was whining over nothing. "Nothing wrong with this cocktail." I said serenely, smiling at Esme before sticking my tongue out at Edward.
"Be that way." He muttered at me. "They've gotten better over time, but back when I was ten years old, those homemade cocktails were the bane of my existence." He threw in an adorable pout and I had to resist the urge to kiss it from his face.
After that, a lighthearted conversation flowed freely, and Edward was lovingly holding my hand the entire time. Esme was very curious to find out all about me, but her questions were the simple, regular ones, and for a moment I couldn't even recall why I had worried so much… Until she suddenly asked the fatal question, out of the blue.
"So where did you two meet, anyway?" She asked, expectantly glancing at Edward and I.
I bit my lip, hoping that Edward would take the lead now, seeing as lying wasn't one of my qualities.
"We met at Emmett's place, three weeks ago." Edward lied fluently. "Emmett is dating Bella's roommate, Rosalie."
"That's right. Our best friends are dating." I said lamely, adding my pathetic contribution.
Both Charlie and Carlisle nodded in understanding, not prying at all, but Esme directed a penetrating gaze at us, and although she didn't ask any further questions, it gave me an eerie feeling. I was relieved for a second when she let it go, telling us that she was going to finish dinner, but then she directly addressed me.
"Bella, would you like to help me?" She asked, friendly, but calculating.
I swallowed loudly before answering her. "S-sure." She was suspecting something, I just knew it.
Edward squeezed my hand under the table in encouragement, and I got up from my chair and followed Esme to the kitchen, my heart beating unevenly.
"Why don't you make the salad." She asked, closing the door behind us before handing me some dressing and other ingredients to make salad.
"Of course." I said weakly.
I started to work on the salad while Esme was stirring something in a saucepan, and it was quiet for a while, but I knew something was seething beneath the surface… I could sense it. And then she spoke, out of nowhere.
"You and Edward have been together for far longer than three short weeks." She wasn't even asking, she was stating.
Uh oh, run and hide! Mayday, mayday, code red! Women and children first! I was sure that my face had turned as pale as a ghost by now, and I was feverishly scanning my brain for some excuses, but I came up with none.
"I… we… we are." I mumbled, dropping my knife and looking up at her, my expression probably horrorstruck.
How did she know? I braced myself, waiting for the reprimanding speech, but it never came.
"You're wondering how I know, am I right? The two of you are so comfortable around each other, and other than that, I've never seen my son this happy before… He has changed a lot since he met you, but the change didn't take place a month ago, it was at least two." She explained calmly in a tone that wasn't angry or accusing.
"Oh… " I mumbled, defeated. "I'm sorry for lying, but we… It's complicated."
"Oh, I think I can guess." Esme said. "I can put two and two together, Bella. You're an eighteen year old girl, living in Forks, surely you're attending Forks High, and a month ago, Edward was still teaching there."
I simply gaped at her, she was right on target. We were so busted. Time for plan B! Wait, there was no plan B... "I'm sorry, I know it was wrong, Edward and I just..." Again I couldn't find the words, but Esme interrupted me before I could make an even bigger fool of myself.
She sighed. "Oh sweetie, the world isn't completely made out of right and wrong… There are in betweens. I can understand why you guys did it, and quite frankly, I think you both did very well, handling it as adults."
"So you don't have… a problem with me and Edward being together?" I asked cautiously.
She merely smiled. "No. I can see that he loves you very much, and that you return his feelings. You make him happy, and besides, the problem has already solved itself."
"Wow… Thank you…" I said softly.
"No, thank you. All a mother wants is to see her children happy, and you're making Edward happy."
She sounded genuinely thankful, and I didn't doubt for a second that she meant it. I already liked Edward's mother, a lot.
We talked some more as we continued to prepare the food, and the atmosphere had changed from tense to peaceful. I did ask her not to tell Charlie, and she swore that she would take it to the grave. When we walked back into the dining room, Carlisle, Charlie and Edward were having some discussion about baseball. To my relief Charlie wasn't looking tense anymore, and he was actually smiling as he talked to Edward, which probably meant that Edward's dazzling powers were working.
The rest of the evening flew by, and instead of the drama I had expected this night to be, I was having a great time. After a delicious dessert, Edward volunteered to do the dishes, and I offered to help him.
"Eager to get away from the old people?" Carlisle asked as we both got up from our chairs.
"You caught us, dad." Edward answered dryly, grinning wickedly and dragging me along to the kitchen.
We started working on the dishes, and Edward gave me his uneven smile as he mindlessly started to clean some plates.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" He asked, his green eyes light and untroubled.
"Nope, I've had a lot of fun." I assured him. "And even Charlie seems to enjoy himself."
"Yes. Your dad loves you very much, do you know that? When Carlisle went to the bathroom he sort of warned me to take good care of you." Edward informed me with a grin.
I groaned. "Oh god, how embarrassing, I'm sorry."
Edward dropped the plate he'd been cleaning and took me into his arms. "Don't be, you silly girl. He's only worried about his daughter, that's what fathers do."
"I guess…" I murmured as I automatically wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his shirt and contentedly inhaling his sweet scent.
"So, how did your talk with my mom go?" Edward said knowingly.
I shrugged. "She knows about our little secret."
"Yeah, I suspected as much after she'd asked us how we had met each other." Edward admitted. "Does she have any problems with it?"
"None at all, she's glad to see you happy. She's really sweet… Just like you." I whispered against his shirt.
He kissed the top of my head, and I lifted my head up to gaze into his pretty eyes.
"I've wanted to kiss you since the moment you made that cute pout during the cocktail-conversation." I hinted.
He chuckled, but complied, lowering his head to help me out. I closed the remaining distance between our lips, and crushed my lips against his. Our lips moved urgently and he didn't waste any time deepening the kiss. I faintly tasted some chocolate from the dessert, and I moaned in pleasure. His hands were roaming my back and my arms were tightly wrapped around his neck. We broke free after a long moment of kissing, and he gently stroked my cheek with the back of his hand before he focused on the dishes again.
"Will you come over later, after you've dropped off your father?" Edward asked hopefully.
"Count on it, can I stay over and sleep in your arms?" I purred, mockingly batting my eyelashes at him.
He smiled radiantly at me. "Yes, please."
xxx
Around eleven, Charlie and I left the Cullen house, and I felt satisfied when I noted that my stubborn dad was in a fairly better mood than he'd been on the way there.
"That wasn't a complete disaster, right?" I asked tentatively while we were driving through the dark forest, on our way back to the main road that led to the town-centre of Forks.
"No, not really. It was a nice evening." Charlie admitted.
"It was… So, what do you think of Edward?" I pried when he didn't say anything else.
Charlie sighed deeply and was silent for a few seconds. "He… is a decent young man." He finally answered, some reluctance seeping through his voice.
A smug smile crept up my face, and I sneaked a look at Charlie. He caught me and rolled his eyes at me, but there was some humor in his eyes.
"That's all I wanted to hear." I said, teasing him a little because he was clearly reluctant to admit that he'd been wrong.
"Yeah yeah, I admit it, you were right. From what I can tell, Edward's a good kid. It was just a bit of a shock for me, Bells, when you suddenly told me that you were seeing someone. I'm only concerned for you…"
"I know, dad, thanks for giving him a chance. And don't worry about me, no one will ever take better care of me than Edward." I promised solemnly.
"He'd better, otherwise I'll hunt him down." Charlie grumbled.
I turned my head an incredulously raised an eyebrow at him.
He snorted. "But I'm sure that won't be necessary."
I laughed with him and shook my head. "Just make sure to keep your gun out of Edward's vicinity."
Thank you for reading! :D I promise I will update as soon as I can. I'm very busy this weekend so I'm guessing the last part will be up Monday, and that will officially be the end of 'All I Never Wanted'. :(