I am heading to Florida today to spend the next ten days there, but I have my laptop with me and do plan to update while I'm there. Hoping that I finish this chapter after getting into Florida tonight and posting late tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for your patience and for continuing to read and review. I appreciate you all so much.

… …

Edward Cullen

We were barely an hour into the flight when Violet's whisper drew my attention away from the magazine I was reading.

"Dad."

She had her elbows on the seat rest between us, with her hands bent under her chin. She had been swinging her legs back and forth ever since we boarded, but luckily her little feet hadn't made contact with the seat in front of her. Yet.

"Yeah?" I whispered back, leaning down towards her.

"Are you eating those?"

She pointed her finger at the half eaten pack of peanuts I had been snacking on, and I swear she practically licked her lips. She had wolfed down her own snack and apple juice as soon as the flight attendants had come around with them, but wasn't interested in the multitude of snacks I had stashed in her backpack.

"Yeah, Vi."

"Oh."

She flopped back into her seat, but I knew better than to turn my attention back to my magazine.

"I thought you were done."

I sighed, holding the small pouch out to her. She took them eagerly, jamming several into her mouth before the bag was even out of my hand.

Bella had been anxious about me taking Violet on a four and a half hour plane ride- not for Violet but for me.

"She's a good kid," I'd said, watching Bella pack and repack Violet's backpack.

She'd explained to me the downsides, and although I did think she was overreacting just a bit, I was a little nervous. We had almost four hours to go and Violet was restless, even with all the stuff Bella had packed for her.

"Are you tired, Vi?" I asked, wishing that she were.

"No!"

"Do you want your coloring book?"

"No."

"What do you want to do?" I asked, trying not to get exasperated.

She pondered for a moment. "I want to talk to mom."

"We can't, not while we're on the airplane," I reminded her. "We're going to call your mom as soon as we land in Seattle."

"Why not?"

"Phones don't work on airplanes."

"Why not?"

I sighed, giving up on my magazine for good and putting it down on the tray table in front of me. "It's just the way they work," I said evasively, not wanting to get into the logistics with a five year old. "Do you want me to read your book to you?"

"No."

"Then you're just going to have to sit quietly," I said firmly.

She did, for all of two minutes.

"Maybe it works now."

"It doesn't, Violet."

"Let's try."

"We can't."

Violet was finally distracted when I paid for her to have another juice, and by some miracle, fell asleep over her coloring book another hour into the flight.

"Is it her first time flying?" The flight attendant asked, gesturing at Violet as he collected the mountain of trash she had amassed.

"Ah, no," I said, almost apologetically. "I've just never flown with her. Her mom tried to warn me, but…"

He laughed, shaking his head. "Don't worry, she's fine. No screaming, no kicking, no crying. I'd count that as a success."

I had to wake her up an hour later, though, because we'd be arriving in Seattle after seven o'clock our time and I wanted her to sleep through the night. Luckily, she was much more complacent when she woke from her short nap. She asked to call Bella again, but when I repeated that we couldn't until we landed, she was content to play a game on my phone for the rest of the flight.

"Now we call Mom," she said immediately after we put our feet on solid ground again, holding my phone out to me.

Normally I'd want to get to the baggage claim first, but the look on her face told me that our bags could wait.

I dialed Bella, then dutifully handed the phone back to Violet.

"Hi, Mom," she said instantly, a megawatt smile lighting her face. "We flew on the airplane and Dad didn't finish his snacks."

I rolled my eyes at that, but she didn't notice.

"Vi!" I could hear Bella over the phone, and the way she sounded so happy to hear Violet's voice after a few hours apart made me grin. "It's so good to hear from you, baby. Did you have a good flight?"

"Ya. Dad gave me gum," she said, smacking noisily.

"I see. Have you been behaving?"

"Mmm…ya," she said instantly. "I'm good."

"Good, baby. Keep it that way. Call me tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

I held my hand out for the phone, knowing that Violet had a habit of hanging up when she was done with the conversation.

"Love you, baby," I heard Bella say.

"Love you." Violet handed the phone back to me without fanfare, and I brought it to my ear.

"Hi, Bella," I said, bringing my free hand down to grab Violet's hand in case she tried to wander.

"Hi," she said. "Was she really okay on the flight?"

"She was fine," I assured her. "No screaming kicking or crying," I repeated what the flight attendant had said earlier.

"Oh, good. I know I was probably worried over nothing, but…"

"I understand," I said. "How was your flight? How's LA?"

"All good. Alice and I went out for dinner with a few people but we're back in our room now. I'm exhausted."

I knew this was a work trip and that Bella was extremely professional, but I hoped she could have a little fun on this trip, too. She deserved it. Alice being there with her helped but this reminded me that we could all use a real vacation sometime in the near future.

"We haven't gotten our bags yet, but after we do we're heading to your parents," I told her. "I'm supposed to have lunch with-" I glanced down at Violet, not wanting her to hear me mention her "nana" or "pop" so that she didn't pick up on it and wonder when she would see them, because I really didn't know. "You know…"

"Oh, yeah," Bella said immediately. "Call me or text me after…let me know how it goes. I'll be thinking about you."

"I will," I promised. "Thank you."

We only spoke for a few more moments before exchanging goodbyes, but I already felt better about tomorrow. Knowing that I have someone on my side has made all the difference, and although lunch tomorrow is still a big deal to me, I know that no matter what, I still have my family and that will never change.

… …

The trip from Seattle to Forks was long, so when Violet fell asleep in the backseat around eight thirty I didn't bother trying to wake her up. The time change was wreaking havoc on us both and a grumpy Violet wasn't good for anyone.

It felt strange to be staying with Renee and Charlie instead of my parents' house, especially without Bella here, but they welcomed us in joyously. I carried Violet up to Bella's old room and tucked her into bed, taking a minute to look around a little before heading back downstairs. The room hadn't changed all that much, and many signs of Bella still remained. Her bulletin board was still lined with pictures and her photo albums still sat on the bookshelf in the corner.

We had spent a lot of time at my house back when we were teenagers, but this room had been a special place for us, too. Seeing our daughter asleep in Bella's old bed was strange, something that until recently I never thought would be possible. It had seemed like the door had closed on our relationship years ago, and I had tried to convince myself that was it.

I wondered how things would have gone if Bella hadn't had Violet. Would we still have gotten back together? I hoped so, because although Violet was the best thing that had ever happened to me, I would have still wanted Bella regardless. It took a lot of work to overcome everything that had gone wrong, and to forgive, but it was worth it.

… …

"Thanks for coming over, Edward," my dad said, stepping aside to let me come through the front door. "We both appreciate it."

"Yeah, of course," I said, hearing the stiffness in my tone. My nerves had mostly abated but not entirely, and I was still waiting to see a real change.

My mom was in the kitchen, and the three of us made small talk for a few minutes as she finished up lunch. Things still seemed to go the same way- my mom serving my dad, but I was pleased but nonetheless surprised to hear him thanking her and complimenting the food. He had never been mean or outright rude before, but this was new.

We finished eating, and my mom excused herself to start cleaning up. I offered to help, but she waved me off so that it was just me and my dad.

"I've been thinking about some of the things I said to you, back in Chicago," my dad began. "I realize that it probably all sounded too good to be true, huh?"

"Kind of," I admitted hesitantly. "It's not that I think you can't change it's just…"

"A lot," he finished for me. "I know. Believe me, it's been hard for me but I don't want to give up. Correcting decades of behavior won't come easily, or happen overnight. I don't expect you to forgive me right away but I do appreciate that you're trying to."

I nodded, but the thought that had been on my mind for the past two weeks was still there, and I didn't feel like I could hold it back any longer. "I do appreciate that you're trying, and I see that you're making an effort. But Dad…I don't think you ever apologized to me."

"I…" He started to speak, then hesitated.

"You said a lot of things, many of which I appreciated. You admitted that you were wrong, and you expressed that you wanted to change. But no apology," I said, my tone clipped. Bella had agreed with me that it was a big deal when I had brought this up to her, but for some reason I'd worried that my dad would see this as a technicality and blow it off.

But he didn't.

"Edward," he said quietly. "God, Edward…I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for not apologizing properly before but more than anything I'm sorry that my behavior these past few years has caused such a rift. I'm sorry I made you feel like you weren't enough. I'm still learning, still realizing all the ways I messed up. I'm so sorry…all I can do is ask your forgiveness now and promise that I will continue to try and be better. I love you, son."

Up until now, Charlie Swan had been the only one to say that phrase to me, and hearing it from my own father meant more to me than I could describe. My dad had told me he loved me before, obviously, but hearing him say it like that and obviously be proud to call me his son was everything I needed to hear.

… …

I posted this in Me and You earlier but figured I should post it here, too- I try and refrain from posting too much personal stuff but I did get engaged this past weekend (those fake nails I was complaining about last chapter had something to do with that thanks to some confusion by my fiancé). Anyway, it was wonderful and romantic and I posted the ring on facebook and a brief little synopsis at the end of chapter seven of my other story. To answer some questions I've already gotten, we are planning for a long engagement (my mom almost lost her shit when Zach said five years butttt that's probably pretty accurate) and I'm twenty two while he is twenty four. We've been dating for two years in August even though I totally didn't take him seriously at first and he proved me wrong x10. He has already said he would be cool with getting married tomorrow but I want to have more school under my belt first. We'll see who wins that one.