Handwritten Letter

March 2019

Dear Mr Swan,

My name is Bella Swan. At least, that's what I always thought. However, recently I obtained a copy of my birth certificate and discovered that it's actually Isabella Marie Swan. It also states that I was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Renee Swan and the man she was apparently married to at the time, Charles Swan. You.

Let me assure you quickly that I'm not asking for money. The only thing I'm seeking is answers to questions about my life. The biggest of those are whether I'm indeed your daughter, and if so, if you know (or care) that I existed.

In case you have any interest, here's a bit more about me. I work full-time in an excellent coffeehouse. In fact I was recently promoted to co-Assistant Manager. My boyfriend, Edward Masen, and I have lots of plans to travel, but tragically his mom has early onset dementia, so for now we're staying in our home town of Port Angeles, WA. I live here with my best friend Rosalie, and not with Renee any more. In fact I don't have anything to do with her. My hobbies are fairly solitary - I love reading and people watching. I'm also learning French. I graduated high school a semester early, more from stubbornness than smarts, though I'm decently smart, and I'm beginning to investigate higher education opportunities. I think I'm interested in pursuing the law, eventually.

I don't know anything about you, beyond the listing for your name and address in Phoenix. Do we have anything in common I wonder?

Sorry for writing out of the blue like this. My email address is above. I leave it to you to decide whether we communicate any further/take a paternity test etc.

Best Wishes,

Bella

P.S. I'm enclosing a photo.

From: Charlie Swan

To: Bella Swan gmail

Subject: Thanks for writing

Dear Bella,

I don't need a paternity test to know you're my little girl. I was there when you were born, and eyes identical to mine stared out from your beautiful face then, like they still do now. My wife just now took the picture I'm attaching, so you could see the likeness too. So right off the bat I can answer two of your questions, you are my daughter and I knew you existed. As for whether I care - I already had a picture of you, as a tiny baby, framed on my mantle. There isn't a day goes by that I haven't looked at it and thought of you.

The truth is that Renee left me for another man when you were a few months old. I paid child support, and saw you as much as I could through the divorce. Before you turned two he had enough of her, and kicked her out. She ran off, disappearing with you. I searched for you both for many years, including in Forks where she was raised. I'm sorry I didn't search hard enough. All I can say is that I continued paying child support direct into her bank account, in the hope that wherever you were, whatever she was doing, it might mean there was food in your belly.

The next thing I'll do after writing you back is cancel that payment. I know you said you don't want money, but I'll save it up for you anyway. Maybe it'll come in handy for that law degree my smart daughter's thinking about…

Can I ask you some questions? I'd like to know where you've been located all these years - I imagined Renee dragging you around to travel all over the country? And this Edward - is he good to you? And there's a lot you leave unsaid about Renee? I guess that's natural, when you don't know me from Adam. I hope I can change that, and I really liked hearing the things about you, so here goes with some about me. I married Sue a few years back, after her first husband died. She's got children - good kids and mostly grown. Leah's at college and Seth goes next year. I'm in the Phoenix police department so an interest in the law is something we have in common, beyond our eyes. Also solitary hobbies - my big one is fishing. And you mention working in a coffeehouse - I love coffee, especially the good stuff from Starbucks.

Sue says hi, and that she'd love a weekend in Washington so she can meet you, sometime soon. So would I.

Your loving dad, Charlie

From: Bella Swan Gmail

To: Charlie Swan

Subject: Re: Thanks for writing

Dear Charlie,

Sorry it's taken a few days for me to get back to you. I wrote to you having made my peace that I'd probably never get a reply, so receiving your email so soon after was rather a shock, and I decided to wait to talk to my therapist, to get my emotions in some semblance of order before replying.

I can't think you enough for answering my questions. And for the child support over the years, which clearly I never knew about, but which probably did make an invisible, positive impact on me. She deprived me of a lot, but when she made rent or bought groceries, that was down to your money, I now realize. Thank you. While we're discussing money, I meant it that I don't want any from you, but my therapist tells me that my next part of learning about family is accepting love and support gracefully, so I'll say for now that I'll think about it.

Re your questions… I don't remember living anywhere but here in Port Angeles, so no, we didn't travel around beyond those first few years. It's weird to see her described as running away and travelling, to be honest. I've tried to run away from my problems too, though my friends helped me see it wasn't the right choice.

At this point Renee has completely cut me off, as after I moved out on my eighteenth birthday, I reported some illegal behaviour and she got in trouble with the law. It's all quite complicated, as the former chief of police here was caught up in it too, and his court date is upcoming. I'm not looking forward to being a witness for the prosecution.

Edward is the one who supported me through reporting it all, and more stuff too. I work alongside him and he makes me laugh every day. He is SUCH a good guy and you'll meet him when you meet me.

When are you and Sue free to travel to Washington? I could meet you in Seattle, or book you a motel room here in Port Angeles. Either way, I'll introduce you to proper good coffee!

I look forward to meeting you, Bella

A/N

This is the end of Seven Saturdays. And I'd love to hear what you think. There have been ongoing questions about Renee's income and why she was called Swan with no Charlie around and what Edward's mother's diagnosis was... I knew I couldn't tie them all up satisfactorily until the epilogue and thank you all for persevering with me for answers for so long. I hope you all approve of the ending and the discovery of some family for Bella bites fingernails

Since my country is still in lockdown, so I'm still furloughed from work, I'm developing another idea at the moment, which is much more light hearted. I don't want to start posting until I've got a solid first draft so I hope to finish it in July and if there's interest in it start posting in August. It takes place when Bella and Edward and the gang meet as castaways on a certain CBS reality TV show...