Posted 2019-12-22: As always, many thanks to chayasara for beta-ing. I fiddled with this chapter after she edited it, so all errors are my own.

~ Erin

The issue of money was a sticky one between Bella and Charlie.

Both Bella and Jacob had worked at several jobs after finding out about her pregnancy. Jacob had worked the summer after he'd graduated and so had Bella through her internship from the university. It hadn't paid much, but it would have been enough to cover most of her courses for the next year. She'd initially planned to work part-time on campus and then take a loan if she had to in order to continue her studies.

The baby, of course, had changed all those plans.

They had decided that Jacob would continue with his work, and she would stay home. Their plan had been to have both of them take correspondence or night course from the satellite college in the area. Charlie was still keen on this plan and told her that he and Sue'd be happy to take Sarah while she studied or went to class.

But Bella looked at her small savings and fretted. She would have enough for a course or two and then nothing.

What if, she asked herself, something happened to Charlie?

No. She'd realized early on she needed to work. She needed a buffer to see Sarah fed and safe if anything happened. When she'd haltingly explained this to Charlie, he had offered his own savings.

"Dad, no. It's your retirement. No way."

The argument had turned into something of a stalemate.

So Bella kept her eyes open for part-time work opportunities for January.

Edward listened in frustration.

It was Esme who decided to set up a scholarship fund through the local college.

"For single mothers from the college," she said, "who've . . . recently endured personal hardship. I think that covers the father of their child dying, don't you?" she said to Alice. "Can you put that under their noses when it gets published?" she asked.

"Sure," Alice said, considering how she could best sway Bella to apply. Charlie had been friendly towards Alice and cool towards Carlisle, keeping his hostile feelings towards the remainder of them carefully contained.

Alice was a regular visitor to Bella's and Charlie's home, but only Alice. So when the college sent out their January scholarship opportunities in early November, Alice bounced over with them.

"Look at this, Bella! There's a scholarship that you'd qualify for." She'd highlighted it in bright yellow.

Charlie looked over eagerly. "Really?" and he pulled away the paper. "Apply," he said, handing it back to Bella. "You never know with those things."

Bella frowned at the paper and then looked at Alice, who concurred with Charlie. "You should," she said.

The name on the scholarship sounded familiar, but Bella couldn't quite place it. "Evanson," she muttered to herself, shaking her head and giving up on remembering. Too little sleep made her brain feel like mush. "Okay," she said, "it can't hurt." The paperwork was simple, and Bella filled it in within a few minutes.

"I'll mail it tomorrow," Alice said, taking and tucking it into her bag.

Bella murmured her thanks. Such small favours made a significant difference in her day, and she was grateful for the help.

Charlie stood up from the couch, stretching. "Are you all going back to school, then, in January too?"

Alice nodded. "Yes, we're taking some local courses for now. The first year classes are pretty much the same everywhere, so I hear."

Charlie's back was turned, and Bella rolled her eyes. She could imagine how well Alice knew.

"Bella," Alice said, looking at her friend coyly, "why don't you come with me to Port Angeles next week? You can help me start my Christmas shopping."

"Erm," Bella said quietly, so Charlie wouldn't overhear, "I think your idea of Christmas shopping might be a bit out of my price range right now, Alice."

It was Alice's turn to roll her eyes. "I'm not asking you to spend anything. Just to keep me company. Besides, you haven't looked at any of the cute baby stuff that's out there."

"Maybe," Bella said, longing for a change of scenery, "we could just go window shopping? Or for a walk along the seawall on Saturday?"

"All right. God forbid we partake in the economy. I will, however, demand that we go to lunch, at least."

"Lunch sounds good." Bella smiled, looking forward to it.

Charlie had frowned when Alice left.

"You know," he said, "I get that you're being careful and everything, Bells, but really, when was the last time you spent anything?"

Bella took this statement entirely the wrong way and blushed deeply. She was just opening her mouth to respond when Charlie realized how she'd interpreted it.

"No! That's not at all what I meant." He sighed. "We are not poor, not by any stretch, and I don't want you to feel like you are. Look," he said, "you always have a home here. Both of you. That's just a given. No discussion." He struggled more with the next words, thinking on the fly. "You've saved me a whole bunch of time and money with all the work you've done around the house, which I think I owe you a few hundred a month for."

She opened her mouth again.

He held up his hand. "No, really. Think about it. What would it cost for me to have someone come in and clean and cook daily? Do the laundry? Tidy up?"

It was her turn to frown, running the calculation in her head. "Okay, sure, but—"

"No buts. I'm setting up a bi-monthly transfer to your account. Your choice what you do with it."

He'd walked away at that point, leaving her no one to voice her objections to.

So she looked at Sarah instead. It was always easier to accept trickier things when her eyes were on her daughter.

"Thank you, Dad," she said softly, when he came back.

"You're welcome," he replied, kissing the top of her head.

DISCLAIMER: S. Meyer owns Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.