The Fantasy Basket

By Esme Incognito

Inspired by Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series. No infringement intended.

Posted 11/28/12. Re-posted 6/28/14.

A/N: This happens between chapter 16, when Edward took Bella on the cruise for her birthday, and chapter 18, when Edward was working so much that Bella worried he was slipping back into his distant ways, commenting, "…you spent hardly any time at all with us when my dad and Sue were here last week. What's going on?"

Not beta'd—Mistakes are all mine.

Outtake to Chapter 18—Bella: A Visit From Charlie and Sue

September 2012

I was chopping vegetables for a stir fry when I heard the anticipated knock on the door.

"Papa Cha-wie! Mama—Papa Cha-wie!" Riley shrieked and tore through the house toward the front door.

"Is it them, Ri?" I followed behind him, wiping my wet hands on a dishtowel. Riley was bouncing with excitement at the sight of his grandparents through the sidelight window. I caught a glimpse and grinned at them as I unlocked the deadbolt.

As long as I could remember, my dad Charlie and I had gone on vacation every August, exploring the western U.S. We'd seen all the beaches and cities of California, visited the lush green of the Pacific Northwest, and explored the desert wonders of Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. When I was in college, we would "take the long way," discovering new places for a week on the way to San Diego where he delivered me at school. And now that I was on my own, Charlie continued our August tradition with a visit every year. He remarried last fall, so for this year's visit, he was joined by my stepmom Sue.

"Hey guys, welcome!" I held the door open wide and hugged them as they entered. Charlie scooped Riley into his arms and listened as his grandson babbled excitedly. I'm not sure how much my dad understood of Riley's toddler-speak, but he seemed to be very interested in his conversations and was all smiles.

Charlie and Riley were best buddies throughout their week-long visit. At one point, Charlie was laid out flat on his belly on the floor, playing trucks with Ri. It was so cute I took a picture. When we went to Sea World, Riley would have nothing to do with me. He only wanted to hold hands with Papa Cha-wie, or sit next to Papa Cha-wie, or ride on Papa Cha-wie's shoulders.

It was great to see my dad so engaged with my son. He's usually very quiet and reserved. He keeps to himself and doesn't hover, doesn't chatter or pry. As we spent their visit talking and catching up, Charlie seemed more animated and talkative with me, as well. It's like he was a whole new man. I mused that Sue had been a great influence on him since they married, bringing him out of his shell. He seemed so much happier than I'd ever seen him. It was really nice to see.

"You seem really happy, Dad." We were alone. Edward was out for a run and Sue was reading Riley a bedtime story upstairs. "Married life must be treating you well."

He bobbed his head and his mustache twitched. "Yep."

"Sue's great. I really like her a lot." We'd met a few times before, but this was the first visit where we weren't focused on the wedding or Riley's birth or another big event, so I had the chance to get to know her better.

"Yeah, me too," we both chuckled.

"You must have been so lonely all those years." My mom had cheated on him and left him when I was three and it had seemed to me that he'd never really gotten over her—until he met Sue.

He looked at me and smiled, "Nah, I had you every weekend, kiddo."

"That's different, Dad." He shrugged and nodded.

"Well, Renee… I did a lot of things wrong with Renee. Being with Sue has made me realize that."

I pulled my feet up underneath me on the couch next to my dad and listened eagerly as he told me a about life with my mom. I'd never heard much of his side of their story—not like the earful of complaints I'd constantly gotten from Renee about him—and putting the two sides together finally gave me a clearer picture.

My parents met the summer after high school graduation. He was smitten. She thought he was just a good looking summer fling. Then they got pregnant.

He was thrilled. Dreams of a wife and family to take care of were coming true—earlier than he'd hoped, but he was happy to have his "picket fence" nonetheless. Her dreams, however, of college and travel and adventure, were dashed.

He was an old soul. She wasn't ready to grow up just yet. They tried to make it work. They both loved me in their ways, but she was miserable settling down, so she flew. And that made Charlie miserable. His heart was broken, irreparably it seemed.

"We just weren't a team. We didn't want the same things. I loved her and I gave her everything I could. But what I had to offer just wasn't what she wanted." He cleared his throat. "I never really got over her until Sue came along and gave me a swift kick in the pants. I only wish I'd realized that years ago… decades ago."

He closed his eyes and shook his head before turning to face me. "My biggest regret is that I wasn't there for you 100% while you were growing up."

"Dad!"

"God, I wasted so much time, Bells. I was so… vacant. And now you're all grown up. I'm so sorry I wasn't a better father." His brow was knit, his face shadowed with regret.

"Dad—stop! I never knew anything different, so I never felt anything was wrong. Maybe I felt like I needed to take care of you sometimes, but…"

"Exactly! I was supposed to take care of you. Not the other way around." He scratched the back of his neck, as he always had when stressed or worried.

"Dad, you were nineteen when I was born. You did the best you could. Jeez, I was twenty five when I had Riley and I feel like I'm going to lose it half the time. Please don't beat yourself up over this."

"If you need to hear the words, then I'll say them: I forgive you, Dad. But I don't really feel like there's anything to forgive, ok? You may not have been the most demonstrative or talkative of parents, but I always felt loved and secure, and that's what a kid needs most, right?"

He squeezed my shoulders and nodded thoughtfully.

"I love you, Dad." I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"I love you, too, Bells. Sorry I didn't say that enou…"

I covered his mouth with my fingers. "Charlie. Stop! You're starting to freak me out with all this talk!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, me too!" We both laughed and then he got a serious look on his face again.

"I'm sure glad you have Edward, Bells. He seems to take good care of you. I hope he makes you happy." I looked into his eyes, thinking about my own marriage compared to that of my parents. Despite the rocky road we had been on for the last couple of years, I knew deep down that Edward loved me. His feelings ran far deeper than Renee's ever had for Charlie, and for that I felt very blessed.

"Yeah, Dad. He… "

"What are your two talking about so seriously?" Sue interrupted, her perpetually sunny disposition banishing our serious mood from the room. As she ruffled Charlie's hair and he shot her a sly little wink, I smiled at their flirting, happy to see my dad so animated.

"Riley's asking for Papa Charlie to tuck him in." I had started to stand, but sat back down at her announcement. "Sorry, Bella, but you've been replaced! It's all about Grandpa."

He stood and pecked her on the lips before heading upstairs, "We were just talking about what a lucky man I am, to have a wife like you, Susie-Q."

My jaw dropped open as he bounced up the stairs, two at a time. "Who is that guy, and what have you done with my dad?" Sue just laughed as she shrugged her shoulders.

I lay in bed that night and reflected on my conversation with Charlie. He had worked so hard to please my mom, buying a house at 21, working overtime and sacrificing so many of his own needs and wants so she could stay home with me. But none of it made her happy.

The two of them were conflicted at the core. The things he was working so hard for—things he was so proud to provide for his young family—didn't please her. They made her feel trapped.

To him, domesticity meant happiness and security. To her, it was a prison, stifling. That disconnect in their motivations, and the fact that Renee never seemed to make a true commitment to Charlie—they married out of obligation to raise me—made me realize that maybe they were doomed from the start.

Looking at my own marriage, I could see that it was built on a foundation of love and friendship that my parents' never had. Edward and I share so much more than just Riley, and I know deep down that what we have is strong enough to survive.

A/N:

Thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoyed this short interaction between Bella and her dad. It is an outtake in the literal sense—I cut it out of the story on one of it's many rounds of edits.

Please leave a review and let me know what you think of Charlie.

And then you can go check out my one-shot about NYC policeman Charlie, which won for best song interpretation in the Ho Hey Contest. The lyrics made me think of him, so I entered a story called Bleeding Out.

Summary: "NYPD, We have an officer down on the NW corner of Canal and Bowery. Single GSW to the chest. I repeat, an officer down at Canal and Bowery. Requesting EMT…" A lonely life, a broken heart. Will it all end here, on the corner where she left him bleeding?

Thanks!

JEN