Song Credit: I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't do that). Artist - Meatloaf. Composer – Jim Steinman. Album – Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. Label: MCA released in 1993.

And some days I pray for silence

And some day I pray for soul

Some days I just pray to the god of sex & drums & rock "n" roll

But Anything for Love,

Oh, I would do anything for love,

I would do anything for love,

But I won't do that

No, I won't do that

Meatloaf

Alice, as usual, outdid herself on the party. It was tastefully and respectfully done.

One good thing about not needing to sleep is that a lot could be done in a short time. Jasper and Carlisle rented a moving van and drove to Phoenix to pick up the stuff that Renee had left in storage. Luckily, due to space considerations during Phil and Renee's original move, many of the photo albums had been left for future transfer and therefore avoided destruction in the fire.

Alice and Rose had convinced Bella to sit down with them to pick out pictures from Renee and Bella's past. Using those pictures and ones that had been taken during our visits and the wedding, Alice and Rose created a large matted collage of Renee's life and had it framed. It stood on a tripod in the corner of the room. I particularly enjoyed the picture of Renee with a gap-toothed, piggy-tailed Bella. She had shrieked in embarrassment when she realized that Rose had slipped the picture in. Another picture of Renee and Phil dressed formally from the wedding sat to the side of the first picture. The TV on the wall played videos of Renee with Bella, Charlie, and Phil, as well as some scenes from her time with my family.

We invited the whole pack from the reservation, and the room was filled with people that were important to my wife and her father. Charlie's employees from the station came in shifts to pay their respects. We had taken the furniture out of the living room to open up the space, and Alice had set up tables and chairs in one corner. There was plenty of food and laughter. In the other corner of the room, Emmett had set up his music station. He was like a kid at Christmas getting the music ready. Anna and Henry sat on stools beside Emmett's declared DJ zone.

Emmett had spent the last few days creating a music play list. He decided to also download the videos that would be projected onto the wall behind him during the music. I had witnessed the practice run and he had it down to an art. I wrapped my arms around Bella and leaned over to speak into her ear, as I watched him check all the connections one last time. "Love, I should warn you. You've never experienced Emmett before in this light. He is a 'big hair' music fanatic and you may have gotten a little more than you bargained for."

She turned around in my arms, and stood up on tiptoes so that our mouths were just a hairbreadth apart. "I can probably name more songs from that era than him. I think Renee owned every 'Best of the 80's & 90's' albums ever sold on TV and she loved to bring them out and embarrass me. I usually had to run and hide in shame when I had friends over," she said before lightly grazing my lips with hers.

"Thanks for helping get this together. I have to admit our family is amazing. I knew the food would be a hit with the pack, but it just seems like everyone is having a good time. I even heard Sue chuckling about some of the more obscure Renee stories. Although, I could kill Rose for a few of the pictures that were slipped in."

Bella was delightful in her threats. Her eyes narrowed as she spoke, as if she was really considering physical harm to her sister. I grinned at her, and she noticed the upturn of my lips. Looking up into my eyes, she chuckled. "I'll come up with some way to pay her back."

"Okay, everyone, I'm going to start the music," Emmett announced with flair, over the system.

He started with one of his favorites, Beat It by Michael Jackson. Most of the group stood around looking at the dance floor for the first minutes of the song, but Alice wasn't going to let the night stay that way. She pulled poor Jasper out on the floor and started the bash. Jasper was actually a very good dancer, so it was fun to watch him manipulate my little sister. Rose and Tanya joined in dancing together, and finally Emily and Rachel pulled Sam and Paul out onto the floor. Emmett kept the dance beat going, pulling out some B-52's, Run DMC, and MC Hammer. More of the group eventually joined in, and the laughter from the dance floor became infectious.

Bella looked up at me, "You know, I haven't even tried the whole dancing thing since you gave me a new set of legs. Want to join them?" she questioned. Her wish was my command, and we worked our way through the group finding Rose, Alice, Tanya, and Jasper. Emmett came over the mike and said, "This one is for my brother, Jasper," right before putting on AC/DC's 'You Shook Me All Night Long'. Bella looked up at Jasper in question, as she was doing some incredibly sexy moves in front of me. "It's a long story," he said to her, as Alice laughed from behind me.

Emmett threw Tony Basil's "Mickey" out for Alice, and "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" for his bride. I noticed as the crowd was swaying that Jacob had taken up the back wall, watching the group and talking with Charlie. I looked to Bella and motioned my head over to Jacob, and tugged Rose's arm pointing to Charlie. They both quickly picked up on my message and went through the crowd to retrieve them. Charlie and Jacob both put up fairly good fights, but the girls eventually won. I looked to Emmett and indicated with my head that Bella was dragging Jacob into the mix. Emmett picked up my unspoken message and about the time Bella made it back to me with Jacob in tow, Duran Duran's 'Hungry Like The Wolf" started blaring over the speakers. Jacob's laughter could be heard even over the noise of the group. I left them dancing on the floor to go find Nessie.

I found her sitting with Anna and Henry, watching Emmett work his magic. Stepping up onto the podium I finally got a clear glance at the floor and realized that almost everyone in the room including our parents, Seth, and Sue, were out dancing in the crowd. Emmett grinned at me.

"Will you take the controls for a minute? I have the next request, specifically mine, loaded and I want to go harass Rose," Emmett said to me. "All you have to do is hit this button to return to the preprogrammed list."

I smiled over at Nessie and she came to sit in my lap while the next song started to blare. The words "Step inside, walk this way" should have warned Rose, but as Emmett grabbed her from behind and slammed his hips to hers, the group of my siblings around her parted like the Red Sea. By the time Def Leppard's song had made it to "Pour some sugar on me" Rose had taken control of the situation. She turned Emmett's plan around on him, and before the song was through, half of the people present were laughing hysterically at the shock on his face. Appropriately, 'Under Pressure' by David Bowie and Queen played next, as Emmett made his way back to the stand.

I said softly for his ears only, "After all these years together, you should know better."

He grinned over at me, "Ah, but I do, Edward. If you don't think I'll reap the benefits, stick around later and find out."

I shook my head at him, as Nessie grabbed my hand. "Come on, Daddy; our song is next."

We danced to Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors' and I grinned at the beautiful girl in my arms. I realized the subtle message she was attempting to send with her choice of songs. Jacob came over as the song was ending and asked Nessie if she would grace their group with her presence. Turning to look for Bella, I realized that she and Charlie had exited the floor and were sitting quietly in a corner watching the dancing. Bella's head leaned against Charlie as he had his arm thrown over her shoulders. Reading his thoughts, I saw that they had just finished talking about how much Renee would have enjoyed a party just like this. Bella caught my eye and softly patted the chair beside her.

We sat companionably as Emmett kept the music coming, mixing ballads with dance music from many of his favorite musicians, including a good many from the Violent Femmes. I saw Charlie's eyebrows raise at a couple of the songs Emmett had chosen, so I was puzzled when I read his excitement as Emmett announced he was about to play Meatloaf. My curiosity was satisfied when Bella started laughing softly.

"My dad loves Meatloaf. Ironic, isn't it; Mr. Straitlaced following the Bat Out of Hell?" she looked to me saying, before she turned and goosed Charlie in the ribs as he stood.

"Come on Bells, dance with your dad. I don't have to be coordinated to dance to any of his songs," Charlie said, clearly excited.

We had almost made it to the dance floor, Charlie following to my side, when Emmett announced, "This one is for my little brother, Edward." I heard the first notes of the song, and I realized in that moment that Emmett had possibly made a life-altering mistake. The video for 'I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)' started playing, showing the artist racing from the police on a motorcycle.

How in the world I had ever forgotten about this video I don't know, because it was an almost perfect representation of my and Bella's romance, or at least how I had viewed it until just a few days ago. The vampire, a hideous monster, in love with a beautiful human girl; his rage at the unfairness of his state – the hideousness; his attempt to stay away from her while she followed him. More poetically, his transformation at her touch and her challenge to him to take her into his world.

I froze, in horror. The individuals in my family and our friends continued to dance; oblivious to what was transpiring. Bella had stopped when I did, and I could see from the corner of my eye her glance to me, questioningly. Her gaze followed mine and I heard her slight gasp as the video had gotten far enough along for her to comprehend the look on my face. Just a bare second before I felt Charlie's hand clamp down on my shoulder, I read his startled revelations. He continued to stare at the screen until the final scene, and then I felt him pull me backwards towards the door that led to the back porch, his thoughts and feelings a mixture of everything possible. Jasper and Alice's heads whipped around and caught my eyes, as realization dawned on their face. I saw Jasper dive through the crowd to get to Carlisle, knocking Jacob sideways in his haste.

Charlie reached in front of me and opened the door, keeping a death grip on my shoulder as we stepped onto the back porch, Bella following on his heels.

"Dad …"

"Isabella, this is between Edward and me. I will be talking to you in a moment," he said in a stunned voice, releasing my shoulder and walking over to place his hands on the railing.

I could see his hands clenching and unclenching as he stared at the darkness before him. I heard my father and brother at the door and I waved my hand behind my back, signaling for them to give me a few moments. Possibly this could still all be salvaged. Hopefully, this could be played off as Charlie's vivid imagination.

Then my hopes plunged as Charlie's thoughts raced, filtering through several memories that were now making sense to him. He never eats, never drinks. Memories of Bella's staged anger after our baseball game – her rushing away to Phoenix. Mr. Swan, your daughter has suffered a tremendous blood loss. Charlie's anger came to the forefront at that memory. Charlie seeing the bandage on Bella's arm when she returned from the birthday party at this house, followed by my almost immediate departure from her life. Bella's changed appearance and skin temperature. Jake's transformation in front of him. "Charlie, you don't live in the world you thought you lived in." Nessie. He spun around to face me as his granddaughter came to the forefront of his mind, recalling her incredible growth and intelligence.

I remained quiet attempting to garner any helpful information from his thoughts. Bella stepped to me and joined her hand to mine, giving Charlie the subtle message of our union. Charlie's eyes flew to Carlisle, Jasper, and Jacob as they stepped out on the porch closing the door to muffle the sounds of the party. Alice had already warned everyone of the impending disaster. I heard Emmett's pleas of "Sorry, I didn't think. I keep forgetting how intuitive he is."

Charlie bravely turned his back to us all, looking back out into the back yard.

"I have one question for you, Edward. Did you leave to keep from killing her?" he asked softly. I did not mistake his quietness for submission; Charlie was enraged.

"Yes, sir. Even the possibility of it terrified me."

"Dad…" Bella began to interrupt.

He spun around and said in an iron-clad voice, "Isabella, for the love of all that is holy, please don't try to make excuses. If you try to defend any of this, I may lose what little control I have."

I squeezed her hand, silently asking her to allow me to take the brunt of his anger. Charlie was perilously close to losing control. I felt Jasper send a wave of calm in Charlie's direction. I was grateful for his intervention. Charlie's thoughts and emotions began to collect, allowing the rational man to slowly reappear.

He walked forward, to stand directly in front of me, staring me in the eyes. "Was it so that you wouldn't kill her?"

"Charlie, I loved her almost immediately, but I would be less than honest if I didn't admit that I struggled in the beginning. When I left, it was because I thought she deserved a better life than I could offer," I said, trying to be as honest as possible. A million thoughts raced through my head at the same time. How much did he need to know? What would this mean for him know? Damn….

Bella stepped in front of me drawing her father's attention. "Dad…"

He started to interrupt her again.

"NO! You are going to listen to me," she shouted, standing as a miniature warrior between her father and me, poking her finger into his chest. "Edward left because he thought that leaving would be the best thing for me. He thought that I would get over him and go on to live happily ever after. There was a miscommunication and he thought I had killed myself…" she strangled out.

Charlie turned white and shook a little.

"…so he went a little crazy, and wanted to die too. Alice found out while she was here visiting. We went to go find him, and when we finally did, I convinced him that I couldn't live without him. I made my choices, Dad; fully informed choices. I would have died without Edward's intervention," she said, reaching up to place her hand against Charlie's cheek, looking into his eyes with sincerity.

Sue slipped out of the house coming to stand beside her husband, grabbing his hand.

Charlie looked over at her, "It's okay, honey. I've got this covered. You can go back inside."

Charlie was attempting to protect Sue from the knowledge he had just gained. As she gazed into his eyes with love, he immediately realized she already knew. I thought this knowledge would send him over the edge, but instead I was amazed to see Charlie start to laugh - it was probably in hysteria. Looking to the individuals on the other side of the window staring back at him, Charlie's eyes roamed the large group noting the contrasts. Very pale individuals, all with the same color eyes, and the dark skin of the Quileutes - individuals that he knew had hated us with a passion, until just recently.

Nessie came out and took her grandfather's other hand, looking up to him in anticipation. She smiled at him with a twinkle in her eyes. Everyone held their breath waiting for Charlie's reaction. I couldn't be of help to anyone; Charlie's thoughts were twisting and turning so quickly that I was sure that Alice had a headache by now. Then his mind settled on Sue, wondering why she would know. His eyes flew first to Jacob, then Sam, and further on down the line of bodies to Seth as he made the connection. Seth grinned broadly at him through the window raising his shoulders in a shrug.

Charlie took a deep breath and exhaled. I read his finally settled thoughts. He saw my previous actions for what they were; an attempt to do what I thought had been right at the time. He wouldn't even silently speak the word he now recognized us as. He looked to his daughter and knew that she loved me beyond a shadow of a doubt, and that I loved her that way as well. In Charlie's newly discovered world, that was good enough for him - for now.

He released Sue and Nessie's hands, and grabbed the one that Bella had still tightly pressed against his cheek. "I believe you still owe me a dance, if that imbecile in there can get it right this time."

He walked through the door, mumbling something about not liking being the last one to know and marched Bella back onto the dance floor. He raised his eyebrow in challenge to Emmett, and for once my "big" brother was wise and kept his mouth shut … although he did silently ask me if he could play "Papa Don't Preach." He was uncontrollable … my soft growling answered his question. The beginning notes of "More Than Words" by Extreme started playing as Charlie began swaying with Bella, and around them, the party quickly came back to life.

I leaned up against the wall, across the room, pinching the bridge of my nose. I was worried. I kept hearing over and over in my mind, one of our cardinal rules. Humans can't know…. I felt a hand touch mine, and was momentarily distracted with the realization that someone had been able to approach me without my knowledge. It was a testament to how shaken I was by what had just occurred. Looking down, I found Henry staring up at me.

"Uncle Edward, it'll be fine. He's married to Nana Sue, and she's a Quileute tribal elder. That makes him part of the pack's family, and under the protection of the treaty. Aro basically approved the family's treaty with them by not opposing it when the Volturi came to Forks," He grinned broadly before continuing, "and that was before the family made him back down. Charlie is as much a part of our world now as the wolves."

I looked up to see Carlisle standing halfway between the dancing and Henry and me. I saw that he had been coming to check on me, but had stopped in mid-stride upon hearing Henry's words, astonishment written across his face.

Out of the mouths of babes.

I determined to put it out of my mind. Tonight was meant as a celebration, and I was not going to allow something I couldn't solve right this moment to ruin the fun. I pulled Henry up into my arms and headed back into the mix. Emmett continued to play various mixtures of dance songs and ballads, and I enjoyed getting to dance with Bella to "Open Arms" by Journey; one of my favorite groups from the 70's and 80's. Tanya provided comedic relief when I had to admonish her (several times) that Seth was still a minor. I told her he was just too innocent for her, to which she responded with a sly smile. What she had planned could potentially give an entirely new definition to cradle robbing.

Later that night, as I was putting Nessie and Henry down to sleep in my old room, I heard Charlie's footsteps behind me through the still blaring noise from below. He stood at the end of the bed looking down at them.

"Son, I'm not going to try to kill you. Not even sure how I would go about that, but very soon here, you and I need to have a long talk," he said, but with a slight smile to his lips as he gazed at Nessie's face.

There are times in a man's life that he knows when to be humble, for sake of the sanctity of life. I answered simply, "Yes, sir."

As always my gratitude goes out to CullenFest and crmcneill for helping me through this project.

By the way, crmcneill has posted his first Fan Fiction on this site for the Mentalward contest. His story Downward Spiral can be found at:

http: // www. fanfiction. net / s/ 5510962/ 1/ Downward _ Spiral