Bella's POV
I walked into the kitchen with Lizzie's bottle, feeling more confident than I had since I'd woken up as a vampire. I'd held my daughter, and she'd seemed to accept the changes—my temperature and how hard I knew my skin was now to her—without any problems. Feeling her grasp my finger and hearing her make her sweet baby noises directed to me as she always did had done wonders to boost my confidence. I knew I still needed to be careful, but I was completely sure of my ability to be her mother now, and that thought had me floating on air.
Charlie shuffled into the kitchen behind me, his footsteps tentative. "This is, uh, quite the house," he said as he gazed around the kitchen. His eyes moved to the refrigerator and then the oven before looking over at me questioningly.
I chuckled, knowing the question even without him verbalizing it. "To keep up their human appearances. It's why there's toilet paper in the bathroom, too."
He nodded, as if it made sense, even though his gaze moved around the kitchen once more.
I turned back to the sink and turned on the water, moving the tap to the approximate spot for warm—not hot—water. While I waited for it to come up to temperature, I opened the bottle and a can of powdered formula.
"Can you check this water for me, Dad?" I asked, moving aside to give him room at the sink.
He did as I'd asked, turning his hand over and moving his wrist under the running water. "It's a little warm," he said, moving the handle slightly to the right. After a moment, he tried again and then nodded. "That oughta do it."
I smiled gratefully and moved to run my hand under it. It felt nice against my skin, almost like I used to feel slipping under a thin blanket when I was chilly as a normal human.
"Why'd you do that?" Charlie asked curiously. "How...uh, how will you check it if I'm not around?"
"One of the...perks, I guess, is perfect recall," I explained softly as I measured out the formula. "Now that I've felt the correct temperature, I'll be able to find it again without a problem."
It was one of the things Edward had told me as we'd lain together hours before, talking about the future. He had been trying to reassure me that I would be able to do everything for Lizzie that I needed to do—like make her bottles or, as she got older, fix her meals.
"Huh," Charlie grunted, nodding in understanding. "Handy."
He was quiet again as I finished preparing the bottle. It only took a few good shakes to get the powder mixed. As I was packing back up the can of formula, he spoke again.
"So, uh, Jake told me some pretty crazy stuff."
I looked up to find his arms crossed, one hand stroking his mustache out of nervous habit.
I nodded. "I'm sure he did." Sighing softly, I leaned back against the counter, holding my arms apart, palms up. "Go ahead, Dad. I know you have to have more questions."
He glanced toward the other room before turning back to me. "Jake told me some pretty crazy stuff," he repeated nervously, eyebrows scrunched together, as if he was thinking hard. "Jasper can do...something with emotions, and Edward can..." He swallowed hard, shaking his head, as if to clear it. "He can read minds?"
Holding back my laughter at his obvious lack of comfort, I nodded slowly. "He can, yes."
Charlie raked a hand through his hair, cursing mostly under his breath. "The things I've thought..." he muttered, finally drawing a quiet giggle from me.
"He can't read my mind at all, and he said yours isn't very clear," I explained quickly when he looked up at me, questions in his eyes. "I promise, he tries not to listen, but he can't completely control it."
He was quiet for a minute before huffing and smoothing out his mustache once more.
Grinning, I nodded toward the living room. "Come on. Let's go back in so I can feed her. She's probably trying to gnaw on Edward's finger by now."
When we walked back into the living room, the entire family was still, watching Edward and Lizzie. For a moment, I was scared something had happened, but when he looked up, his eyes were suspiciously bright, and the smile he gave me was blinding.
"She's amazing," he explained in a voice so soft, Charlie didn't hear a sound.
Something inside me loosened at that moment, when I saw firsthand how he had accepted my daughter, regardless of her parentage and how she came to be.
Unable to reply, I simply slid onto the couch beside him and took the blanket he held out, positioning it in the crook of my arm before he laid Lizzie on top of it. Dodging her balled-up fists as she waved them around in the air, I guided the bottle to her mouth. Immediately, her lips parted, and she greedily sucked at the nipple, swallowing the formula like my hungry girl always did.
For a few minutes, I ignored everyone and concentrated on the baby in my arms. Then, something Emmett asked caught my attention, and I looked up.
"What?" I asked.
"I asked Charlie if he knew yet how he was going to handle your disappearance," Emmett explained patiently.
I looked over at my dad, who'd settled back into the seat he'd been in before.
Charlie frowned, stroking his thick mustache again. "You know when I called off the search, I explained that I'd forgotten you were gonna be gone for a few days for personal reasons, right?" At our nods, he continued. "I haven't figured more than that out yet," he admitted, looking over at Carlisle. "Do you have any ideas?"
"You can always just say she needed a break and didn't tell you where she'd be," Emmett answered for Carlisle.
I shook my head immediately, growling out, "No. I wouldn't have done that, and anyone who knows me would know that."
Emmett held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Whoa, Bella, chill. I know you wouldn't. I was just saying it was an option."
"It's not," I said firmly.
"What about saying you'd gone out shopping in Seattle for the day and thought you saw—" Rose paused, looking unsure, before clearing her throat and continuing "—Lizzie's father. You got scared because you thought he was out and hid."
Even though I was strong enough now to crush his skull with barely a flinch, the thought of Hunter still sent a shiver down my spine. I breathed deeply, careful to keep my touch light and not grasp Lizzie too tightly.
"But why wouldn't she have called her dad sooner?" Jasper asked curiously.
Alice froze, her gaze locked on something across the room as she had a vision. When she finally came back to us, she frowned. "If that's the excuse given, there'll be a lot of talk about it being a lie to cover up...well, stupid things."
Edward had frozen beside me, so I knew he'd seen whatever vision Alice had seen.
"Stupid things?" I asked, nudging Edward lightly with my elbow to get him to relax a bit.
"Drugs and a bender, among others," he answered for Alice, running a hand over his face. "That won't work. Keep thinking," he said to the room in general.
In my head, I started thinking through different scenarios, trying to find something that didn't leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.
When Edward's head snapped up and turned to Alice again, Alice shrugged. "Someone must've thought it."
"What?" Charlie asked, looking back and forth between them. "You wanna share with the class?"
They were quiet until finally, Edward sighed and reached up to run his fingers through his hair, tugging once on the long strands. "We could kill her," he said simply.
Charlie jumped to his feet, his face immediately coloring red in anger as he yelled, "Don't you think she's been through enough? Bella hasn't done anything wrong, dammit. I won't let you touch her."
"Dad!" I said softly, but firmly, moving Lizzie and the blanket to my shoulder. Patting her back gently, I explained, "He didn't really mean kill me. He meant that we could make it seem like I'd been in an accident or been killed, so it's easy to explain my disappearance."
Charlie's "Oh" was soft as he huffed a breath and sat back in his chair, all traces of fight gone from his body.
"What about Lizzie?" Rose asked, looking over at us as the little girl in question let loose with a loud burp—which got a good laugh and a "Go Lizzie!" from Emmett.
"What about her?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, your death would explain why you were gone, but what happens when Lizzie's suddenly gone, too?"
I frowned, looking down at my daughter. It was a question I certainly didn't have an answer to at the moment.
Esme, who'd been quiet through most of the conversation, said, "What about college?" When we all looked at her, she smiled softly and looked at me. "Charlie can explain that you had wanted him to keep it quiet until you knew more, but while you were gone, you decided you wanted to look at schools."
Alice froze for a moment and then bounced in her seat. "That's perfect! You can say you got in touch with Edward and met up with all of us, since we were going to school there, and you and Edward are back together. No one will question it too much when you and Lizzie move there, assuming that 'the good doctor'"—she used her fingers to put air quotes around the phrase—"and his wife would help you with the baby, since that's the kind of thing most people would expect from them."
"That would mean you could come and visit your old man sometimes?" Charlie asked me hopefully.
I wasn't sure how to answer, so I was grateful when Carlisle spoke. "She could, yes, although not for too many years. Since Bella won't age, she'll continue to look the same—and people will eventually begin to notice. But even then, it may be possible for her to visit without the town's knowledge, and of course, you would always be welcome to come and visit us."
Charlie beamed, looking gratefully at Carlisle, before turning back to me and sobering. "Bells, you're an adult, and this is your l—" he paused a moment, stumbling over the word "—life. What do you want to do?"
I was quiet, unable to really comprehend that I was sitting here with Charlie, discussing my life as a vampire. He was so calm, taking everything so well, that I felt like I was suddenly the one spinning out of control.
Charlie fidgeted. "Look, Bells, I know I worried you with my reaction yesterday. It was just a lot to process. This may not be the life I'd have chosen for you, but if you don't like that idea, I'll help you figure something else out. I know it won't be easy, but I'm here for you, no matter what you decide. If you need me with you, I'll be there. If you just need me here to cover for you, I can do that, too. What can I do, kid? Let me help."
Suddenly, I realized he really and truly meant it. "You would come with me?" I asked, disbelieving. I knew I couldn't ask him to do that—Forks was his home. His friends were here, Sue was here—but the fact that he would offer amazed me.
"Of course," he grumbled, his eyes sparking to life as he gazed from me to the baby in my arms. "You're my girls. You may be an adult now, with a daughter of your own, and a—" his voice faltered for a moment, before he shook it off and continued "—a vampire, but you're my little girl. If that's what you needed, you know I'd do it."
I felt my eyes sting, and I handed Lizzie off to Edward before climbing to my feet. Everyone was still and quiet as I slowly walked to my father, one of the greatest, bravest men I'd ever known, and knelt down in front of him.
"Y-You d-don't hate m-me," I stuttered, clenching my hands into fists as they rested on my thighs, the realization that my father would voluntarily give up his life here in Forks to help me—even though I was a vampire—making me feel like the wind had been knocked out of me.
I was shocked when, before I could even register the movement, I was wrapped in his embrace. Not wanting to chance being that close to him while I was feeling this fragile, I held my breath and slowly reached my arms up, clinging to him.
"Bells," he huffed, his warm breath ghosting across my ear and moving my hair. "Of course I don't hate you. I could never hate you."
For a long time, he held me, patting me gently on the back. I could feel the warmth of his skin through his shirt under my fingers. I could hear every beat of his heart, every soft inhale and exhale as he breathed. I could smell the blood pumping through his veins and a combination of wood smoke and cinnamon, all the things that made up his unique scent. But those things barely registered in my mind as I let go of all my worries for a moment. I was suddenly seven years old again, visiting my dad for the summer. I vaguely remembered falling and scraping my hands and knees one day. He'd pulled me to his lap, holding me as he let me get my tears out, before leading me to the bathroom to clean up the injuries, small as they were. He'd taken such very good care of me then, and now, thirteen years later, he was dropping everything to take care of me again.
It was humbling.
"Bella," Edward said from the couch, keeping his voice quick and quiet. "Charlie's getting uncomfortable. You should move a little."
"Oh!" I gasped.
I didn't know how long we'd sat there, but apparently, it'd been a while, because when he finally released me and sat back, he groaned softly, shaking his arms out.
"Sorry, Dad," I murmured, a little embarrassed.
He chuckled. "No worries, kid. Just showing my age."
Once I was seated beside Edward again and holding a still-sleeping Lizzie, Rose spoke. "What about your mother?"
I frowned, not looking up to meet her eyes as I said, "She won't be a problem."
"Why?" she persisted.
Unsure how best to explain Renee, I finally just answered, "We talk on the phone every few months, but aside from a two-day trip after Lizzie was born, I haven't seen her since...the trial."
Charlie made a sound in his throat—almost like a cross between a growl and a curse—before saying, "It's just Renee being Renee. She felt responsible for what happened, and rather than actually take responsibility or facing it head-on, she's opted to...forget. It's easier to forget if she doesn't have to be around. She's traveling with Phil's team."
"She won't put up a fuss about Bella moving away with Lizzie?" Esme asked softly.
He shook his head. "She disagreed with Bella's choice to keep the baby, and while she loves the baby because Lizzie is her granddaughter, she doesn't much want to be a part of her life. She won't bat an eyelash at any of it."
It'd taken me a lot of time and talks with my father to get me to the point where I wasn't mad at my mother anymore. I was still disappointed, and it would always hurt—her rejection of my daughter and me, for that's what it was—but I'd stopped letting it affect me like it had at the beginning.
"She won't be a problem," I said softly, shrugging in acknowledgment of what Charlie had said.
Everyone was quiet for several minutes before Carlisle spoke, his voice soft and soothing. "Well, then, I suppose we have some plans to make."
