A/N: Yes, over two years after I finished writing the story, I am finally posting the epilogue! My original plan for the epilogue, a series of vignettes from different characters' points of view, wasn't working out so well. My first attempt ended up as a complete twenty-chapter spinoff story which I plan to start posting once I have finished the promised extras for High Noon. I ended up writing the epilogue all in third person Charlie's POV - this started out as an attempt at a one-page vignette for Charlie, but I am obviously unable to write anything that concise. Thanks to Thais Da Silva for the suggestion that inspired this chapter.
Epilogue 1: Renesmee's Twentieth Birthday
As Charlie stepped out of the boat his daughter had amazingly piloted herself, he was once again astounded at the extravagance the Cullens went to when celebrating special occasions. The house on Isle Esme appeared to have at least doubled in size since he had vacationed there with Sue two years earlier for their anniversary. It seemed that every tree on the island was twinkling with lights, and apparently ribbons had started growing on trees, because those were everywhere too.
Bella caught his arm and steadied him just as his foot began to slip, and once he was on solid ground, he turned to help Sue out of the boat. The three of them began walking toward the house, and he could hear talking and laughter coming from inside as they approached.
"Grandpa Charlie!" Renesmee exclaimed, running out of the house to meet them. She hugged him tightly and then placed her hands against his face, giving him a rundown of who had already arrived and allowing him to sense her excitement at having everyone she loved there to celebrate her twentieth birthday.
"Happy birthday, Sweetheart," he said, intensely proud of the beautiful young lady standing before him. Her age had finally caught up with her looks, but she would always be this young and beautiful. He wondered what she thought of her aging grandfather – even his mustache was mostly gray now – but she was too polite to ever give any indication that she noticed his increasing wrinkles or his receding hairline.
"Billy and Joy are in the back yard," she told them as they continued on to the house. "Jake's grilling steaks and hot dogs. The food should be ready soon. "
"Seth and Leah and their families are already here, too, Sue," Bella added. "They're out back as well."
They stepped into the house, and Edward greeted them with a handshake. Charlie may have had his doubts about Edward before he and Bella were married, but he now had nothing but respect for the not-so-young man who had captured his daughter's heart.
"Edward and I need to go check on the food," Bella told him.
"Make yourself at home," Edward added.
Charlie watched the two of them walk out and marveled that even after twenty years of marriage, they were holding hands like two lovesick teenagers looking for any excuse to touch each other.
He spied Renée across the room talking and laughing with a rather nice-looking young man who looked very familiar. "Who's that with Renée?" he whispered to Sue.
"I don't believe I've ever met him," Sue answered.
"That's Eli," Renesmee told him. "You met him when we were living in Hanover, remember?"
"Oh, right," Charlie said, a smile appearing on his lips as he finally recalled the unusual young man. "He's the one who could make me remember things. You have to meet him, Sue."
"He makes you remember things?" she asked, her skepticism a large contrast to Charlie's enthusiasm.
"He can read your mind, kind of like Edward, except he can pull up memories too."
Sue's raised eyebrows told him that she did not find this idea very appealing. "I think I'll go on out back and see the grandkids," she said.
"I'd better get back out there too," Renesmee told him. "I hear some guests asking where I went."
"I'll be out in a few minutes," Charlie told them, still watching Eli and Renée. His anniversary with Sue was coming up in less than two months, and although Sue had dropped some not-so-subtle hints about what gift she wanted, he could not for the life of him remember what the item was. All he knew was that it was something easy, something he hadn't expected her to want, and something he had been sure he wouldn't need to write down to remember. He needed Eli's help.
As he began to make his way across the room, a gorgeous strawberry blonde glided up next to Eli and whispered something in his ear, and then the two of them walked off together at faster-than-human speed, leaving Charlie standing near his ex-wife. He had not seen her in person in nearly ten years; although there was no animosity between them, their contact had been limited to brief phone calls, emails, and texts that usually centered around their daughter's or granddaughter's whereabouts. He suddenly felt awkward, as he wasn't quite sure what to say to her.
"Don't they make a cute couple?" Renée asked Charlie, obviously lacking the same awkwardness. She had a huge grin on her face as she watched the two vampires exit the room together, and then she turned back to Charlie. "You remember Tanya from Bella and Edward's wedding, don't you?"
"I remember now that Bella told me Eli had married her," he said, his face reddening as he recalled Jacob explaining to him that Tanya used to be a succubus – and what a succubus was. "So, um, Phil wasn't able to come with you?"
"He went with his parents on a cruise," she said. "They won't be back until next weekend. It couldn't have worked out better!" She lowered her voice slightly. "He still doesn't know they're vampires, so if he came with me, they'd all have to pretend to be human."
"Right," Charlie said, still a little uncomfortable with having the word "vampire" spoken out loud even after all these years.
"So what did you think when they first told you?" she asked.
"Told me what?"
"You know, that they're vampires."
"How long have you known?" he countered, remembering that she wasn't supposed to know what they were called.
"I've known they weren't human for about ten years," she said. "But Bella didn't tell me they're vampires until last month. I don't know why she thought I couldn't handle knowing that. I mean, of her two parents, I've always been the most adaptable and open-minded. I was just glad to finally have a name for what they are."
"I can be adaptable and open-minded," Charlie protested.
"That wasn't my point," Renée insisted. "And you never answered my question. I was asking about when they told you what they were."
Charlie shrugged. "I don't think they ever really planned on telling me. Billy let it slip. But it was pretty obvious ever since I met Renesmee that there was something really odd going on. It just took me a while to start asking questions."
"Have you seen what Jake can do?" she asked in a low voice.
"Um…" Charlie stalled. He wasn't sure how much, if anything, Renée knew about the wolves.
"It's okay, Dad," Bella whispered in his ear, startling him with her sudden appearance. "I promised her no more secrets."
"So Jake phased for you?" he asked Renée.
"Amazing, isn't it?" she said.
"Yeah, I guess you could call it that."
"I wonder if he'd show me again tonight," she said hopefully.
"Once was enough for me." He wasn't sure which was worse, seeing Jacob strip or seeing his transformation into a wolf, but he had no desire for a repeat performance of either.
"I think we could probably get him to give you another demonstration," Bella said. Her nose suddenly crinkled as if she smelled something bad. "I'd better go check on those burgers again."
"Aren't both of Sue's kids able to do that?" Renée asked Charlie as Bella went back outside.
"They gave it up so they could have normal lives," he told her. "Smart kids, both of them." He wished Bella would have stayed around longer so that he wouldn't have to be the one to answer all of these questions.
"They can give it up?" Renée asked, surprised.
"Sure, they can just not do it," he told her. "I think after a while they just lose the ability."
"But why would they want to give it up?"
"Leah stopped because she wanted to be able to have kids, and she never liked doing it anyway. Seth just wanted to age normally with the rest of his family.
"You mean they weren't aging? Just like Bella and Edward?" This was apparently news to Renée.
Charlie shook his head. "Does Jake look any different than the day you met him?"
Renée's brow furrowed as she considered this. "I wonder if the Quileutes are from another planet too."
Charlie stared at her, feeling thoroughly confused. If Renée knew about vampires, shouldn't she know they weren't aliens? "Another planet?" he asked, unable to think of anything else to say.
"Sure," she said, smiling at him with forced patience. "They're obviously a different species, and if they'd been here since the beginning, they'd have wiped humans out a long time ago. I think one or two of them landed here a few thousand years ago, and they've forgotten their own history."
"Um, okay," Charlie said, glancing out the window at Sue, who was sitting with her grandkids - Sophie, Maribeth, and Ethan. He'd never meant to spend this much time talking to Renée; Sue was probably wondering what happened to him by now, and he would much rather be out there with her. And he still needed to find Eli.
"Well, regardless of where they're from, they're all immortal," Renée mused. "They're all going to outlive us."
"Yeah, well, they hopefully would've done that anyway!" Charlie said with a laugh. "I still can't help but worry about them, though. I know they're supposed to be nearly invincible, but a dad can't help but worry about his little girl."
"I know what you mean," Renée said. "I still worry about them, too."
"Excuse me," Kate said, startling both of them. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. You humans actually worry about the safety of vampires?"
"You know, I'd rather you not just appear out of nowhere like that," Charlie complained. "You almost gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry," Kate said with an apologetic smile. "Edward told us there was no need for pretense tonight, but I should have realized I shouldn't do things that might startle you. Your heart rate did accelerate quite a bit there. But you haven't answered my question. You, who could have a heart attack and die simply from being startled, are worried about the safety of a vampire?"
"Parents always worry about their kids," Charlie told her.
"I think you know that it's impossible for anything to hurt Bella, other than another vampire or a werewolf, right?" Kate began.
"I know," Charlie said. "But even though your kind might be a lot stronger than humans, you're still not indestructible. "
"Right," Renée agreed. "We'll always worry."
"But the wolves are our only natural enemies, and Bella's made friends with all of them," Kate continued. "And the few vampires who were our enemies were destroyed years ago. Surely she's told you this?"
"Yes," Charlie said. "But as a former cop, I know that no matter how many bad guys you lock up, there are always more out there. And Bella has always been accident-prone."
"That's when she was human," Kate argued. "I remember Edward calling her a danger magnet once. But now that she's a vampire, she doesn't attract danger anymore; she is danger. Even if we do encounter new enemies later on, it's incredibly unlikely that they could pose any real threat to her. Her family is undoubtedly the most powerful coven in existence, and that's primarily because of her. Are you not aware that your daughter has what are probably the best defensive skills of anyone on the planet?"
"What do you mean?" Renée asked.
"Garrett, do you mind?" she asked.
Garrett strode in as if he had been waiting for his cue, stood at Kate's side, and held out his hand, palm up. She touched two fingertips to his hand, and immediately his arm began to quiver and his eyes narrowed in concentration. His arm began to shake more and more violently, and his face gradually contorted in pain until he finally jerked his hand away. He grinned, using the unaffected hand to rub the one she had touched.
"What did she do to you?" Renée asked, obviously taken aback that the beautiful young lady before her would intentionally hurt anyone.
"I have an offensive talent that's like an electric shock," Kate explained. "It's not a physical shock, but it feels like it is."
Renée and Charlie both took a couple of steps backward, putting some distance between themselves and Kate – as if that small amount of space made any difference.
"That was a fairly low setting," Garrett added. "I can tolerate it but it gets worse with prolonged exposure. She can literally knock me off my feet if she wants to."
"But I can't shock Bella," Kate explained. "And I can't shock anyone Bella shields. Now, I'd never want to hurt her, but my point is that her shield protects her from nearly every offensive talent that our kind might have. There was one called Jane who could cause a burning sensation that would make her victim feel like their whole body was in flames, but it didn't work on Bella even when she was human! Jane's brother could block all senses – sight, hearing, touch, everything – but he couldn't get through Bella's shield. There is one who has powers of persuasion and one who can even borrow others' talents, but none of them work against Bella. The only possible danger for her would be a physical attack, but with a mind-reading husband, a sister who can predict the future, and such a large family who would fight to protect her, the chances of anyone successfully engaging her in a physical fight would be incredibly slim."
"And if anyone did manage to get into a physical fight with her, I pity them," said Eli, who had settled into the love seat behind them with Tanya. "She's been training with Jasper since she was a newborn, and he's the most formidable opponent I've ever encountered."
"Bella's been training to fight?" Charlie asked, surprised and obviously impressed.
"She's one of only four, aside from the ones who trained me, who have ever taken me in a practice fight," Eli replied.
"Who were the other three?" Renée asked.
"Jasper, Edward, and Alice."
"You've lost to little Alice?" Charlie asked, even more surprised.
"She can foresee every move I make," Eli said defensively. "And she's had so much practice with Edward that reading her mind didn't help me much with anticipating her moves."
"Excuse me, but I think you forgot someone," Tanya said, raising an eyebrow at Eli.
"Bella was shielding you," Eli answered quickly.
"That only made it a fair fight," Tanya insisted.
"I'm not sure that could have been considered a 'practice' fight though," he responded. "You wanted to hurt me."
Tanya shook her head, her strawberry-blonde curls bobbing as a huge grin took over her face. "I was just trying to get your attention."
"Any chance we could see one of these practice fights?" Renée asked.
"Sure, if Bella wants to," Eli answered, glancing in the direction of the kitchen.
"Oh, I didn't mean with Bella," Renée said quickly.
"You're still afraid she'll get hurt?" Kate asked incredulously.
"No one gets hurt in friendly practice fights," Tanya assured her. "Biting and tearing off limbs isn't allowed. The winner is the first one to get the opponent in a vulnerable position where the head could be sliced off."
Both Charlie and Renée both stared at her, aghast.
"No slicing actually occurs," Eli added quickly.
"Bella will be happy to demonstrate her fighting skills after the party," Alice informed them brightly as she emerged from the kitchen. "Right now, it's time to eat!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Charlie said. He followed Alice through the kitchen and out the back door, his stomach growling as he caught a whiff of the hamburgers, hot dogs, and steaks that had just been removed from the grill. Knowing his son-in-law, even the hot dogs would probably be of the gourmet variety, but they smelled delicious. It occurred to him that he had forgotten to ask Eli about helping him remember; he would have to catch him again later. He paused briefly to look around for Sue and quickly spotted her talking to Joy Black. He was pleased to see that they were already in line for the food and made his way over to join them.
"Hey, Charlie," Billy greeted him, looking up from his wheelchair. "Long time no see."
Charlie chuckled with him; they had spent nearly all of the previous day together, fishing.
The line moved quickly, and they soon reached the tables where the food was being served buffet style.
Joy handed Billy a plate and then began to fill both his and her own. Billy was perfectly capable of managing his own plate of food, but Joy was the type of person who was happiest when she was helping someone. Charlie and Sue had been so happy for the two of them when they had finally gotten together. According to Sue, Joy had her eye on Billy at least since Old Quil had died, back when Joy first started attending the tribal council meetings in his place. Then, when young Quil died, Billy was the one who was there for her. It made Charlie ponder how odd it was that death could bring two people together to build a new kind of happiness. He would never have wished for Harry's death, but had it not happened, he would not have ended up with Sue.
After a filling meal, the food was cleared away quickly, and everyone went inside to gather around the unnecessarily large birthday cake in the dining room. As they sang happy birthday, Charlie recalled the first time he had seen and held his granddaughter and the way she had looked at him with those big, brown, intelligent eyes and flashed him a smile that revealed a full set of perfect teeth. No, there had never been anything ordinary about Renesmee.
After eating some cake, Charlie followed Sue into the family room. Sue sat down by Leah, leaving room for Charlie on her other side. They were soon joined by Bella, Edward, and Carlisle, who all kept a respectful distance from Leah and pulled up chairs to chat with Charlie and Sue.
"Still enjoying your retirement, Charlie?" Carlisle asked. "It's been two years now, hasn't it?"
"Yeah. Should've listened to everybody and done it years before that," Charlie replied. "Spending the day out on the water sure beats sitting in that stuffy old office. Now if I could just get Sue to retire too, we could go on longer vacations." He gave her a gentle nudge with his elbow.
Sue looked over at him with one of those "I'll retire when I'm ready" smiles. With their combined incomes and frugal lifestyle, they had amassed a respectable-sized nest egg; this, along with their 401Ks, would allow them to retire comfortably, but Sue didn't seem ready to end her career. Perhaps Seth had been right when he'd teased her about being afraid retirement would make her seem older because only "old people" are retired. Charlie had worked longer than most in his profession, retiring at the age of sixty, but he was still well below the mandatory retirement age for members of law enforcement.
"I guess you're overdue for retirement yourself, aren't you?" Charlie asked. Carlisle had not aged a day in the twenty-four years Charlie had known him, and it was still difficult to comprehend how old the kind doctor really was.
A smile spread across Carlisle's unnaturally perfect and youthful face. "I suppose I am. They should give me a pretty good pension after over two hundred years of service, don't you think?"
Charlie laughed. "Do you think you'll ever retire?"
"It's not the same for me," Carlisle said. "I've never worked just because I needed the income. I never get tired, so I have no need of rest. And I already have the freedom to do whatever I want. You enjoy fishing in your spare time, and I enjoy helping out at the hospital. Besides, I'll never be old enough to start receiving the payments from my pension."
The two of them laughed.
"I don't think Carlisle will ever retire from medicine," Edward mused. "He has, at times, wished he could get away with working more shifts, but it would arouse too much suspicion if people noticed he never slept."
"In the days before I met Esme, I did sometimes sneak in an extra shift now and then," Carlisle admitted.
Charlie's eyes shifted to Edward. "What about you? You wish you could work more shifts too?" Charlie asked.
"I think I have a nice balance in my life now," Edward answered thoughtfully. "I enjoy my work at the hospital much more than I ever thought I would, but I treasure my time with Bella and the rest of our family too."
"How long have you been a resident now?" Charlie asked.
"A little more than five years," Edward answered. "I've just started my third year for the second time."
"So is the plan to keep doing that?" Charlie asked. "You're going to keep moving every three years? That means this'll be your last year in Cleveland, right?"
"Well, we're going to see how things go," Edward said. "I know Bella would like to finish out her degree before we move, so if no one's getting too suspicious, I may try setting up my own practice for one year."
"You are going to set up your own practice," Bella insisted. "It will work out."
Leah shifted uncomfortably in her seat but managed to keep her mouth shut.
"And how old are you pretending to be again?" Charlie asked, remembering the reason Edward had told him he could never be a doctor.
"Twenty-five. I arranged my paperwork to make it look like I was homeschooled and started college when I was fifteen."
"And when people first meet you, they don't question whether you're old enough to be working there?"
"Whenever I meet a new colleague, their initial thought is always that I look really young, and I do get asked how old I am fairly often. But once they see that I know what I'm doing, and that I've obviously had the required training, they assume I'm really older than I look, and they don't worry about it anymore. And the patients definitely notice I look young, but with the lab coat and the official hospital name badge they don't usually question it."
"So which is harder?" Sue asked. "Pretending to be older than you look, or pretending to be younger?"
"Pretending to be younger is a lot harder," Edward said with a laugh. "As a third-year resident, I don't have to hide much of my medical knowledge, and it's refreshing to have people treat me like an adult. I can almost be myself. Dressing professionally and speaking with confidence and authority goes a long way. But in high school I have to pretend to know less than the teachers, and freshman year I have to remember to slouch so that it'll look like I've grown by the time I'm a senior – not to mention the ridiculous fashions Alice puts me in to keep up with the latest trends. Starting out in high school lets us stay in one place longer, but Bella and I both prefer going to college or working."
"We'll probably do the high school thing again at some point," Bella added, "but right now we'd rather be doing something useful or interesting even though we have to move more frequently."
"Do you really think it's safe for you to be doing what you're doing?" Leah asked Edward, an accusatory tone to her voice. "Is it really worth risking people's lives just so you'll have something 'interesting' to do?"
"He's been saving lives," Bella insisted.
"It's not a decision I made lightly," Edward said, looking Leah in the eye. "Ever since I went to medical school the first time, back in the 1940s, Carlisle hoped I might be able to work alongside him someday. I always dismissed it as wishful thinking on his part, never imagining I might actually be capable of it. But after resisting Bella's blood, I've found it very manageable to be around other people who are bleeding. She gave me strength I didn't know I had. But even so, when I started medical school again at Dartmouth, I wasn't considering actually practicing. I still worried that it would be too risky."
"And what changed your mind?"
"I think the turning point was when Renée fell and dislocated her shoulder."
"Did I hear my name?" Renée asked cheerfully, leaning through the doorway from the next room.
"Edward was just talking about the time you fell from the ladder in Jacksonville," Bella told her.
"Oh, right, that was so embarrassing!" Renée said, coming on into the room. "Why are you talking about that?"
"It was when I began to believe that it might really be possible for me to work in medicine," Edward said.
"Why is that?" Renée asked, crinkling her forehead.
"Well, for one thing, I was surprised at how easy it was not to attack you. And I was able to immediately diagnose your injury from your thoughts. We never told you at the time, but you had a dislocated shoulder, and I fixed it while you were passed out for the second time. There was just something very satisfying in knowing I could help someone."
Bella beamed at him with obvious pride.
"I dislocated my shoulder?" Renée asked, still confused.
"That's what was causing the intense pain in your arm."
"Oh. Well, thanks for fixing it," she said, inspecting her arm as she raised it up and down as if to check that her shoulder was still working.
"Zero," Edward said emphatically.
"Huh?" Renée asked, looking up to see Edward staring at Leah.
"Sorry, Leah was asking me a question, and I felt it deserved an answer," he replied.
"I thought you were shielding everyone," Leah accused Bella.
"I was, but I wanted to share my own thoughts with him for a moment, and I can't do that while blocking everyone else," Bella explained.
"So what was it?" Renée asked, seemingly oblivious to the scowl on Leah's face. "What were you asking him? What's zero?"
Leah exhaled with an annoyed sigh. "I was wondering how many 'accidents' Carlisle has had in over two hundred years of working with human patients."
"Leah, we truly appreciate your concern," Carlisle told her gently. "You're right that it's against our nature and our instincts, but Edward's total is accurate – for both of us. I built up my control slowly, over many decades, and I took every precaution before treating my first patient And I trust Edward's control as much as I trust my own, or I wouldn't have encouraged him to work with patients."
"Compared to human doctors, their patients are actually much more likely to survive," Bella added. "They can form a diagnosis more quickly and more accurately than a human doctor, and Edward's ability to hear thoughts allows him to help patients who can't or won't talk, and even people who are lying about their symptoms."
"I'm sure they have good intentions," Leah said. "It's just not in my nature to trust vampires."
Charlie shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the word. "I think I'm going to go back outside for a bit," he said, standing and stretching. He glanced at Sue to see if she was coming too, but she was too relaxed. He was a little relieved she was going to stay there with Leah; maybe he could go find Eli before Sue would decide to join him.
He headed back outside and glanced around. Eli was nowhere in sight, and Renesmee was engaged in an animated conversation with a very tall, very strangely dressed, wild-looking young lady who was undoubtedly a vampire. To their left were Tanya and her sister, the one who could shock people. Kate – that was her name. He would keep his distance from that one. Finally, to Nessie's right, Charlie spotted Billy and Joy sitting at one of the picnic tables with Seth. He headed over to join his familiar group of friends.
"Nice party," Charlie commented, sitting down across from them.
"Yeah," Seth agreed, glancing over at his kids who were playing tag with Claire. "Everybody seems to be having a good time."
"It's so beautiful here," Joy remarked. "Can you imagine owning your own island?"
Billy laughed. "Sure would be nice. Hey, Charlie, isn't the place you took Sue a few years ago?"
"Yep," he answered. "The house was smaller then, though. They've changed it. And something about the land is different too, but it's definitely the same place. Best vacation we ever had." He considered for a moment whether Sue might want to return there for their anniversary, but no, that wasn't it. He was pretty sure she didn't want to travel anywhere. It was something he needed to buy. Something simple. Why couldn't he remember?
"Hey, Charlie!"
Charlie looked up automatically in response to his name, though it had been spoken from a distance and at a volume that otherwise blended in with the rest of the conversations going on around him. It took him a moment to pinpoint the source. Tanya's sister was looking at him and smiled when she saw she finally had his attention. She began walking slowly toward Renesmee, a look of mischief on her face, but her eyes remained focused on Charlie.
"No! NESSIE!" he screamed, realizing too late what Kate was planning. She was extending her hand toward his trusting granddaughter. He stood up, wanting to intervene, but knew there was no way he could get to her in time.
Then everything happened so fast that he wasn't quite sure what had transpired. There was a blur of motion accompanied by snarling, growling, hissing, and a brief but horrible metallic screeching. A huge wolf appeared out of nowhere, paused for a split second while Nessie jumped onto its back, and bounded away.
Edward, with great effort, was holding Bella back as she struggled to get to Kate. "No, love, she wasn't going to hurt her," he insisted.
Bella continued to struggle and glared at Kate, and Charlie realized with horror that the growling and snarling was coming from his daughter. Kate, on the other hand, was just standing there with the oddest expression on her face. What was wrong with her? Why wasn't she trying to get away? And where was the rest of her arm? Were his eyes playing tricks on him?
Just as Bella writhed out of Edward's grip, Eli and Emmett grabbed hold of her arms, and Edward placed himself between Bella and Kate.
"May I please have my sight back?" Kate asked, gritting her teeth in what he now recognized was pain.
Charlie was confused – Kate's eyes looked fine, though the seemed to be looking at no one in particular as she spoke. Why hadn't she said anything about her arm?
Nearly everyone was outside now, gathering around the spectacle that was unfolding.
"I think that may possibly be the stupidest thing I've done in at least the last thousand years or so," Kate said, still wincing as she took a few steps back away from Bella, who was still snarling and struggling to get away from the three who were restraining her.
Charlie had never seen his daughter like this before. She looked absolutely ferocious, and not very human at all.
Tanya appeared, holding – yes – it was the missing arm. Charlie turned his head and focused on not getting sick.
"Here, allow me," Carlisle said, carefully taking it from her.
As repulsed as he was by the sight of the dismembered limb, Charlie's curiosity got the better of him, and he peeked up in time to see Kate cringing as Carlisle skillfully fit the arm back onto the stump that remained beneath the shoulder.
"Dad!" Bella exclaimed, suddenly remembering his presence.
"I'm okay, Bells," he said, relieved that she seemed to be returning to her normal self.
Edward, Eli, and Emmett released their hold on her and she ran over to him but stopped before getting close enough for him to hug her – something he had the strangest impulse to do.
"Sorry you had to see that," she said.
"You were protecting Nessie," he told her. "And you did a mighty fine job of it, too."
"I didn't scare you?" she asked skeptically.
"Well, maybe a little," Charlie admitted, realizing his heart rate must have given him away. "I've never seen you so angry before. But it all happened so fast."
"How much did you see?" she asked.
"Well, I saw that one," he began, inclining his head toward Kate, "about to shock Nessie, then you were there, then Nessie rode off on a – oh, wait, was that Jake?"
"Yeah," Bella answered, a smile playing on her lips.
"Hadn't seen him do that in a while," Charlie said. "He was fast, too. Where did they go?"
"They're at the edge of the forest," Edward answered. "I think they'll be back in a few minutes. He wanted to remove her from the situation before it could escalate."
"And what else did you see?" Bella prompted.
"You were growling, and then Carlisle was putting her arm back together," he said. He glanced over at Kate and then stepped closer to his daughter and lowered his voice. "So why was she trying to hurt Nessie?"
"I wasn't trying to hurt her," Kate answered, still keeping her distance. "I was trying to show you how your daughter is capable of protecting her family. Unfortunately for me, I greatly underestimated her response."
"You would have hurt her if I hadn't intervened in time," Bella accused, making no attempt at hiding the harshness in her voice.
"But you did," Kate insisted, holding her injured arm. "And even if you hadn't, I was using my lowest setting, and you know there would have been no lasting effects. Anyway, all you had to do was shield her; I didn't expect you to physically attack me."
Bella just glared at her.
"I'm truly sorry," Kate added, her voice softening. "I used poor judgment, and it won't happen again."
"You did use poor judgment," Edward agreed. "It might be best if you keep your distance for the rest of this visit."
"Kate, why don't we get an early start on our hunt?" Garrett suggested.
"You didn't hunt before you came?" Bella asked, the alarm clear in her voice.
"Yes, of course we did," Garrett assured her. "But I haven't visited the Amazon rainforest since assuming your diet, and there's a variety of exotic prey I wish to sample."
"We'll meet you at the airport on Wednesday," Kate told Tanya.
"I think that's best," Tanya agreed.
"Happy birthday, Nessie!" Kate called toward the forest.
Charlie could see nothing but a dark tree line in that direction, but Kate smiled, apparently in reaction to some response from Nessie. And with that, Kate and Garrett ran off toward the ocean and quickly disappeared from view.
"Hey! Grandpa Charlie! Are you okay?"
Charlie turned to see Nessie and Jake approaching. Jake, thankfully, was back in human form and was wearing pants.
"I'm fine, Sweetheart," he assured her. "Are you okay?"
"Of course," Nessie said. "Kate didn't mean any harm. Everybody is way too overprotective of me. The only reason I went with Jake was to make him calm down."
Everyone laughed.
"Do you really think I was overreacting?" Bella asked Edward.
"You tore off her arm, love. I suppose she did deserve that much, but I couldn't let you finish her off. Besides, Zafrina had already blinded her, and Nessie had already moved out of the way. Plus you had Nessie shielded even before you ran out of the house."
"Do you mean she couldn't even see me while I was attacking her?" Bella asked, horrorstruck.
"I'm afraid not, love," Edward told her. "Zafrina is pretty protective of Nessie too. Kate was in total darkness, unable to fight back. She was so disoriented that she didn't even fully realize she had lost part of her arm – she knew she had been bitten but couldn't see the extent of the damage."
"I guess I'll forgive you for holding me back, then," Bella told him.
"Well, what's a birthday party without some family drama?" Seth asked with a chuckle.
"Hey, don't mess with Momma Bear!" Emmett added.
It struck Charlie that this was exactly what his daughter had resembled a few moments earlier – a vicious mother bear protecting her young. She had even sounded a bit like a bear, with all of that growling.
"I'm sorry you had to see me like that," Bella told him for the second time. "I guess you don't need to see a practice fight anymore, huh?"
"I don't believe I said I wanted to see that in the first place," he said. "That was Renée. But she missed the show just now, so you might want to ask her about that." As Charlie turned the idea around in his mind, he decided it might be interesting to see, though he didn't want to admit it. "You said no one gets injured in practice fights, right?"
"No one gets hurt," Jake assured him. "And they're actually pretty fascinating to watch, though I'm not sure your eyes will be able to follow everything."
"Grandma Renée!" Nessie called, darting into the house. "Time for the practice fights!"
She returned with Renée and Esme, the only two who had remained in the house. Esme had probably been trapped there by Renée's constant jabbering, Charlie mused, or maybe Esme had kept her distracted in there on purpose to spare her from what was going on outside.
"Okay, so who did you want to see me fight?" Eli asked Renée.
She started back at him with wide eyes. "No one gets hurt, right?" she asked.
"No, we'll observe all the normal rules," he assured her. "I won't even pull painful memories – I reserve that for real fights."
"Okay, then," she said, a smile spreading across her face. "I want to see you fight Edward."
Edward's mouth quirked up on one side, and he stepped forward with anticipation in his eyes.
Charlie felt a small pang of worry for his son-in-law but kept silent. Apparently this was something they all did for fun, and Edward would be fine.
"Everyone take a few steps back," Jasper commanded. "You humans are too close."
Charlie took several steps backward toward the house and found himself standing between Renée and Jake, but all eyes were on the two vampires who were both crouched, facing each other in the center of the large circle which had been formed by the audience.
For a moment, Edward and Eli just stared at one another, measuring each other up. Then, suddenly, they became a whir of motion. Charlie couldn't tell who was winning; most of the time they moved so fast that he couldn't even tell which was which. He glanced briefly at Renée, who was clearly mesmerized.
Seconds passed, and then minutes. Charlie kept trying to make sense of the blur in front of him. He remembered Edward was wearing a brown shirt and that Eli had on red, so he tried to track the swirl of color, but his eyes just couldn't keep up.
"Who's winning?" he whispered to Jake.
Jake just shrugged. "Neither, right now," he said. "This could take a while. Two mind readers, ya know? Neither of them can surprise the other."
"Oh," Charlie said, pondering the many ways in which reading an opponent's mind could be used to an advantage. "One of them will have to get tired, sooner or later," he added.
Jake laughed. "Nope. Vampires don't get tired."
"Hmm." He had been told that many times, but it still hadn't sunk in. How could someone not get tired? He continued watching, but since he couldn't tell what was going on, it was difficult to remain focused.
Finally, the two suddenly stopped, shook hands, and went back to their respective spouses.
"So who won?" Renée asked eagerly.
"Our audience was getting bored, so we agreed to call it a draw," Eli said, and then added with a sly grin, "I could beat him, but it might take hours."
"Hey, Ness, why don't you give them a replay and slow it down for them?" Jake suggested.
"Sure!" Nessie agreed. She stepped in front of her human grandparents and placed one hand on Charlie's face and the other on Renée's. Immediately, Charlie's mind was filled with vivid images of Edward and Eli lunging at one another and trying to grab one another but just missing every single time. After a couple of minutes, Edward managed to throw Eli to the ground, but he seemingly bounced back up as if nothing had happened, and the monotony continued. At one point, Eli's foot connected with Edward's shoulder, but Edward did a backflip and immediately resumed the lunging and swinging, never quite reaching his opponent. Charlie sensed somehow in Nessie's thoughts that they were skipping ahead, and then he saw them both step back away from each other at exactly the same instant, having silently agreed to end there.
"Wow!" Renée exclaimed. "Can we see one of you fight someone else? Someone who can't read minds?"
"Sure," Eli said. "Your turn to pick, Charlie. Who would you like me to fight next?"
"You said Alice can beat you?"
"I've only fought her a couple of times, but yes, she beat me both times."
Alice danced forward, and Charlie noted the smug look on Jasper's face.
Once again, they both crouched, facing each other. Alice looking like a small teenage dancer about to practice her routine, while Eli, with the muscles rippling in his arms, looked much more like the predator that he was. He stared intently at his tiny opponent, a growl forming in the back of his throat. Then Eli became a blur, while Alice appeared to stay in one spot. Charlie quickly realized that she was simply stepping out of the way each time he went for her. Suddenly, Alice leaped into the air and landed behind him, but he spun around and once again they just missed connecting with one another. Following this, there was a whir of motion, like when Eli and Edward were fighting, and then, without warning, they suddenly stopped. Eli was standing there with Alice on his back, her tiny feet – still wearing heels, no less – digging into his waist, and her mouth open at his throat with her teeth bared.
"Once more," Eli insisted.
"Sure," Alice said, jumping down and smiling sweetly up at him. "I know what you're planning, you know."
"But can you tell the difference?" he asked.
They started again, much the same as before, with Alice moving less than Eli, but neither of them connecting with one another. They looked like they were moving to some highly choreographed supernatural dance. And then Eli had Alice pinned to the ground, his teeth at her throat. They remained in this position for less than half a second, and then Eli stepped back and Jasper came forward growling.
"I'm fine," Alice insisted, bouncing back to her feet and allowing Jasper to take her in his arms. "He beat me fairly."
"What did you do differently?" Charlie asked, recalling the earlier conversation about how Alice could anticipate all of his moves while somewhat disguising her own thoughts.
"And what did you mean about telling the difference?" Renée asked.
Eli smiled, victory plain on his face. "In a practice fight, I usually just listen to the person's thoughts because I can't hear current thoughts and memories at the same time. And I've promised not to pull any truly hurtful memories, so current thoughts are generally more useful than trying to distract my opponent with random memories. So with Alice just now, I pulled a memory of one of her visions from our previous fight. Basically I gave her a fake vision, and she responded to it instead of what I was really about to do."
"Actually, I could tell the difference between the memory and the real visions," Alice said, "but it was very distracting. It slowed me down just enough that you were able to catch me."
"That was pretty clever," Jasper admitted.
"But don't think it'll work a second time," Alice warned. "I'm quite adaptable, you know."
"We'll see about that," Eli answered. "But for now, I think I'll stop while I'm ahead."
Everyone laughed.
"Technically you're not ahead," Jake pointed out. "You both won one today. And your overall score is still three to one."
"Whatever," Eli said with a grin. "I think Renée and Charlie have gotten the idea now."
"So Bella can beat you too?" Charlie asked. "Not that I want a demonstration or anything."
"We're actually pretty evenly matched," Bella answered. "He's a much more experienced fighter, and he's a little stronger than I am, but he can't use my thoughts against me like he's accustomed to doing in a fight. So sometimes I win, and sometimes he does."
"And remember that Bella can shield more than just herself, so if I were ever truly fighting with Edward or Alice, she could shield them and put me at a huge disadvantage. That's what she did when we had to fight the Volturi several years ago – she shielded everyone on our side, and all of their special talents were useless against us."
"Can you show me that?" Charlie asked Nessie. "You were there, weren't you?"
"Yes, I was," Nessie told him. "I can show you, but there was a lot of dismemberment going on, and I'm not sure if you really want to see that."
"Oh," Charlie said, looking a little sick. "Yeah, I guess not."
"It was just the other side getting dismembered, though, right?" Renée asked.
"Mostly," Renesmee answered. "There were a few vampires on our side who had minor injuries, like what just happened with Kate, but nothing too serious."
"What just happened with Kate?" Renée asked.
"Oh, right, you were inside the house. Mom tore her arm off because she thought Kate was going to hurt me, but then Grandpa Carlisle helped her reattach it."
"Really?" Renée asked, looking at Bella.
"Yeah," Bella admitted. "I might have overreacted just a little, but I'm pretty sure she'll think twice before trying something like that again."
"So can you show me the battle?" Renée asked Nessie. "The one from several years ago with those other vampires?"
Renesmee looked to Edward, who indicated his approval with a single nod. "I'll show you part of it," Renesmee told her. She put both hands on Renée's face, and Renée's eyes grew bigger and bigger.
"That's enough," Renée said after just a moment. She turned to Bella and pulled her into a big hug. "I had no idea it was like that," she said. "I would have been so worried about you. And you, too, Edward," she added, turning to hug him as well.
"Bella protected all of us," Edward told her. "Their talents could have disabled us before we even had a chance to fight, so without Bella, we all would have been destroyed."
"Except for me," Alice added grimly. "They wanted to keep me."
"What did she show you?" Charlie asked Renée. He still didn't want to see it himself, but he wanted to know, nonetheless.
"They were surrounded," Renée told him. "Bella and Nessie were in the center. But they weren't fighting, or at least not in the part she showed me. The enemy vampires were coming at them from every direction. And like she said, lots of dismemberment." Renée shuddered.
"Did you fight too?" Charlie asked, turning to Bella. "Be honest."
"No, Dad. I just shielded everybody else. Between Edward, Alice, and Jasper, no one got close enough to touch me."
"And you?" he asked Nessie.
"I tried," she admitted, "but Jake kept blocking me and stealing my opponents from me."
"Good boy, Jake," Charlie said approvingly, giving him a hefty pat on the arm. "Hey, are you eating again?"
"Of course," Jake mumbled with his mouth full, as he piled some more hot dogs on his plate. "Want some?"
"No, you can have the rest of those," Charlie said. "But I think I might have another piece of cake."
Nessie selected two large slices of cake, one for Charlie and one for herself, and the three of them made their way over to one of the empty picnic tables.
As Charlie put the first forkful in his mouth, he watched his granddaughter lift the whole plate and quickly – very quickly – lick off every bit of icing. He was suddenly overcome with laughter, and it was all he could do to choke the bite down.
"Sorry," Nessie said with a guilty grin, and then her voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't tell Dad. I can only get away with that when Mom's shielding me."
Charlie snorted again and finally gained enough control to speak. "You don't like the cake part?"
She shook her head. "But it is my birthday, and Mom told me there was no need for pretenses today, so I decided to enjoy my icing. You don't mind, do you?"
"Want me to destroy the evidence for you?" Jake asked, reaching for the plate.
Nessie playfully batted his hand away and started tearing off chunks of the dry cake and tossing them high into the air for Jake to catch with his mouth. He didn't miss a single crumb.
Charlie, never being one to be concerned with manners, found the exchange amusing. He glanced around to see if anyone else was watching the show and saw Alice and Esme approaching.
"I've hardly seen you today, Nessie!" Esme exclaimed, taking a seat next to Charlie so that she was across from her granddaughter.
"Hi, Charlie!" Alice chirped as she slid onto the bench across from him.
He could not help smiling; he had always liked the small pixie-like girl. "So what have you been up to lately, Alice?" he asked. "Met any more celebrities?"
"Oh, all the time," she said, rattling off a rather impressive list of Hollywood stars.
"What happened to staying low-key?" Charlie asked.
"Just because my clients are noticed doesn't mean that I am," she said. "I'm quite adept at avoiding cameras. I don't use my real name, either, so if I start getting too much attention, I'll just move on to something else and no one will ever know what happened to 'Mary-Ann Whitlock, the make-up artist.'"
"Well, I'm not surprised you were able to get that job with the movie studio. What you did with Bella and Edward for their class reunion was really something."
Esme smiled. "That's actually part of the reason she went into that field – the opportunity to learning cosmetic aging techniques from the human experts."
"Right," Alice agreed. "It can be pretty useful for us if we want to visit an area we've lived in recently without raising any suspicions."
"What was that movie with Brad Pitt a few years ago?" Charlie asked. "'Benjamin Button' or something like that?"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Nessie offered.
"Yeah, I've been working with several of the artists who did the makeup in that movie – amazingly talented people," Alice said.
"So now that you can make yourselves look older, does that mean you'll be able to visit Forks more often?" Charlie asked.
"Probably," Alice said, "but none of us actually likes wearing the makeup very much, so it will most likely be limited to special occasions like the reunion. The stuff that adds texture to our faces feels awful, and the smell is terrible."
Charlie laughed at the face Alice was making. "I didn't notice any smell," he said.
"Oh, of course you wouldn't. You're human. If humans could smell it, it would blow our cover." She smiled knowingly as she made some minor adjustments to the floral centerpiece on their table.
"You responsible for all these decorations, Alice?" Charlie asked, gesturing to the ribbons which seemed to wave from every branch of every tree. They perfectly matched the flowers.
"I planned it all," Alice said, "but Emmett and Rosalie did most of the actual work. Esme usually helps me, but she was tied up assisting someone at the new women's center yesterday and arrived just shortly before you did today."
"How is that going?" Charlie asked Esme. He had been stunned to learn last year that Esme had been married prior to her marriage to Carlisle – and that she had suffered abuse at the hands of her human husband in the early part of the previous century.
"The new center is off to a great start," Esme answered, looking pleased at his interest. "We've had several calls already, and three women are staying there now, two of them with young children."
"This one just opened last week, right?" Charlie asked.
"Right," Esme confirmed. "Tuesday of last week. It was the one hundred year anniversary of my marriage to that brute."
Charlie shook his head slowly, both because he couldn't fathom how anyone could want to hurt someone as kind and gentle as sweet Esme, and because he still found it difficult to comprehend that Esme was over a hundred years old.
"Our society has come a long way in the last hundred years," Esme said. "But we still have a long way to go. There are still so many women trapped in relationships they don't know how to escape."
"I know it took a lot of courage for you to start talking to strangers about what happened to you, Grandma," Nessie said. "I'm so proud of you for what you're doing."
"Your dad's been helping too, you know," Esme told her. "He even risked using his gift earlier this week."
"Really?" Nessie asked.
Esme nodded. "A lady who came by on Monday told me about the 'gorgeous young doctor' from the ER who had encouraged her to visit the center. At first I thought she might be talking about Carlisle, but she kept saying, 'Somehow he just knew.' That's when I knew her situation must be especially bad, if Edward had told her about the center when there weren't any obvious signs of abuse – or at least if she didn't think there were any. Her husband is well-known in the community, and he has always put up a good pretense with the public, so it was really difficult for her to make the decision to seek help."
"I imagine Edward must 'hear' all sorts of things in the ER," Charlie said.
"It's very difficult for him," Esme answered. "And for Carlisle, too. Even without Edward's gift, he hears and sees many things that a human wouldn't be able to pick up on. They have to be careful not to reveal any superhuman abilities, and they can't attract too much attention, so they can't help everyone. And these women have to gather the courage to seek help; none of us can force it on them. Sometimes Carlisle and Edward have to watch people walk back into a bad situation."
Charlie nodded. "I encountered that a few times when I was on the force. There were times when I would respond to a call, and I knew what was going on, but if no one would press charges, there wasn't really anything I could do. You're doing a good thing, though, Esme. You're making a big difference in those women's lives."
Esme started to respond, but Charlie couldn't hear a word she said because of the sudden, loud commotion behind them.
Charlie turned around and saw what must be another 'practice fight,' but the two vampires were moving too fast for him to identify either one of them. This fight was louder than the others had been, and Charlie could actually feel the ground shaking beneath him. Was something wrong? Was this a real fight?
"Boys!" Esme reprimanded, standing and putting her hands on her hips.
The thunderous ball of motion stopped, and Charlie tried to will his heart rate to return to normal when he saw it was just Emmett and Edward, both looking sheepish. Emmett had Edward in a headlock, and Edward had Emmett's other arm twisted grotesquely behind his back.
"Draw!" they both said simultaneously as they released one another.
"How did you get Edward in a headlock?" Esme asked.
"He cheated," Edward said. "He snuck up on me while Bella was shielding everyone."
"Sure, I cheated," Emmett admitted. "So sue me. It was still fun! I couldn't pass up that opportunity. Biggest pummeling you've taken in a long time, bro!"
Edward did not look like he had been pummeled. In fact, although both of them looked a little disheveled, neither of them appeared to be harmed in any way – despite the fact that they'd been throwing each other to the ground with enough force that it had felt like an earthquake.
"You ripped my shirt," Edward said, sounding mildly annoyed as he took stock of the damage.
"I've got some extras, if you want to borrow one," Jake offered. His tone sounded polite, but his huge grin told Charlie that he was missing some inside joke.
"That's really nice of you, Jake, but I think I'll try to repair this one," Edward answered.
"Let me fix it for you, Edward," Esme said. "I have a sewing kit in the house."
"Thanks, Mom," Edward said, beginning to unbutton his outer shirt. "And thanks, Alice."
Alice winked at him, and Edward and Esme headed back toward the house together.
"Hey, Charlie!" Emmett boomed, taking Esme's seat at the picnic table. "How are things in Forks?"
"Pretty much the same as they've always been," Charlie answered, unable to think of a better reply. Edward's large "older" brother usually left him feeling a little intimidated, even though he had always been friendly.
"Cloudy and wet?" Emmett asked with a chuckle. "That's what made it one of our all-time favorite places to live, you know – not much chance of sun exposure. We could be almost normal there."
"So what are you and Rosalie up to now?" Charlie asked. "You're starting college again, right?"
"Yeah, we started out as high school juniors this time, so this year we're freshmen at Case Western. I'm studying psychology, and Rosie's in the biomedical engineering program."
Charlie raised his eyebrows. "She's doing that for Carlisle?" he asked, remembering Edward's original reason for getting a medical degree.
"Yep. Lots of advances in that area. It helps keep him current. And Rose said she'd rather do that than get another psychology degree anyway. At least it's something new."
"Tell him what else you've been doing," Jake prompted.
"You mean when we get home from school? Well, let's just say Rose keeps me busy." He waggled his eyebrows.
"Lots of chores, huh?" Charlie said. He had been pretending not to notice Emmett's innuendo and double entendres for ages, and he saw no reason to start "getting it" now.
"Chores? Don't let her hear you call it that," Emmett said with a loud laugh.
Jake snorted, attempting to stifle his own laughter.
"I think Jake was referring to how you've been helping out at his shop," Nessie clarified.
"Oh. Yeah, Rosalie's been giving me lessons in auto repair," Emmett said.
"They fix the problems the human employees are having trouble with," Jake added.
"Things still going well with your business?" Charlie asked. "I heard you have two shops in Cleveland now."
"Yeah, this makes number seven," Jake answered. "One in La Push, one in Hanover, two in New York, and two in Cleveland."
"It's a good system you have going," Charlie said, "adding a couple of new shops in each city you move to. Pretty soon you'll have them all over the country."
"Yeah, that's the plan," Jake said.
"It's impressive that you've done it all on your own," Charlie observed. "I know it would have been a lot easier if you'd accepted those offers the Cullens made to help out."
"He wouldn't even let me check out the best locations," Alice complained.
"I did let you tell me a couple of places to definitely avoid," Jake said, and then turned back to Charlie. "I've had a lot of advice from Edward, too, but it's mostly been things like how to maintain a business over a period of decades or centuries without anyone catching on that I'm not aging. I'll have to gradually lose contact with the shops in the earlier cities and fully turn operations over to trusted employees. Then when enough time has passed, I can show up as my own son or grandson, come to check out my inheritance. "
"Nothing wrong with getting advice from family," Charlie told him.
"I think Dad's been really good about letting Jake and me make our own decisions about the business," Nessie said. "He offers his opinions based on his own experience, but he doesn't get too involved or try to force us to do things his way."
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "I have to admit, he's been good about staying out of it unless I actually ask for advice."
"Hey, is that Eli over there?" Charlie asked, straining to see into the shadows at the edge of the forest.
"Yeah, that's Eli and Tanya," Emmett said.
"I've been trying to catch him all evening," Charlie said. "I need him to help me remember something."
"Um, I don't think I'd go interrupt them right now, Charlie," Jake said.
"Oh, those two are always going at it," Nessie said. "Now's as good a time as any. Want me to get him over here for you?"
"No, that's okay," Charlie said. "I'll talk to him later."
"Charlie, Sue's going to love the cookbook," Alice told him.
"What?" Charlie turned to look at her, startled. "Yes! That's it! That's what I've been trying to remember! She said she wanted to find more ways to prepare the fish I catch!"
"Is Sue's birthday coming up soon?" Jake asked. "I was thinking it was in the spring."
"No, our anniversary," Charlie told him. "I know, I know, a cookbook isn't exactly romantic. But Sue's a practical woman, and she loves to cook. I'm sure she'll like it. And I should get bonus points for remembering because it's been several months since she mentioned it."
"Ooh, bonus points!" Emmett teased. "What can you exchange those for?" He waggled his eyebrows again.
"Thanks, Alice. I should have asked you earlier," Charlie said, ignoring the large, loud vampire seated next to him. He didn't need bonus points to get what Emmett was suggesting anyway.
"I just sent you an email," Alice told him. "There's a link to the one I saw her opening – you can order it online."
"Thanks! I think I'll go find Sue now," Charlie said. He went back into the house, feeling very satisfied to have accomplished his mission.
Nessie's party continued on after the sun had set, with more practice fights, more conversation, and more food. The human guests, unable to see in the dark, had all made their way back into the house. Charlie was sitting on a loveseat with Sue, his head resting on her shoulder, when Bella gently woke him up and offered to take them back to the mainland where they had hotel reservations.
Charlie stood, disoriented, and stretched in an effort to shake away the sleepiness. Sue seemed more alert; apparently she had managed to stay awake.
As Charlie helped Sue back into the boat and settled in for the trip back to the mainland, he reflected back on the events of the day – his daughter ripping off someone's arm in anger, the practice fights, the conversation about Edward's career, and the new details about what happened at that battle he'd heard mentioned but had never questioned. His sweet little Bella – the clumsy little girl with the chocolate brown eyes who he'd watched grow up as she visited him each summer – was capable of protecting herself and her family in ways he had never even considered. And she was a pretty good fighter, too – she could beat Eli, and that was really something. It seemed every time Charlie visited, he grew more in awe of his daughter and the amazing, supernatural family she had married into.
Sue leaned back against him as the boat sped them back toward human civilization. He tightened his arms around her, enjoying the closeness, and began mentally planning his next fishing trip with Billy. Life was good.
A/N: Coming up next: "Epilogue 2: Forks High Twenty Year Reunion"
In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! I will reply to all signed reviews, though it may take me several days since my fanfiction time is generally limited to weekends these days.
A special thanks to Kelsismom for beta reading this chapter and to Jessica314 for pre-reading. And if you haven't already read Jessica314's stories, please check them out! She has some wonderful canon prequels.