Chapter 34
Bella was happy to have her father with her, she had missed spending time with him but she couldn't help but think that he had something on his mind. She could tell that he wanted to tell her something but that he didn't know how to do it. She hoped she'd be able to put him enough at ease to tell her whatever it was. After all, getting people to say what was on their mind was her job, she should be able to do it with her father.
"This afternoon, I'm going Christmas shopping with Elena, Jenna, Sage and Rebekah while you're getting to know Klaus. His brothers might be there too, they want to know you." Bella reminded her father while they ate lunch.
"I remember. Are you sure you want to leave me alone with your boyfriend?" He asked her.
"Well, Kol, Elijah and Finn might join as well." She smiled.
"Let's hope it goes well. They're really good people, I care about them all." She added.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Charlie assured her.
They ate lunch quietly, talking a little about the news of Forks and the fact that Jacob still hadn't come back home. Bella assured him that she hadn't seen him but still asked him for a picture.
"Why?"
"Liz, the sheriff and the members of the Founder's council will know who to look for. If he's around here but hiding for some reason or if he ever comes by, they'll recognize him." Bella explained.
"Some spy web you have here." He chuckled.
"Just a well organized town filled with concerned friends willing to help each other out." She replied.
"When you say it like that, it doesn't sound as intrusive as it is." He chuckled.
"It's not like that Dad, I promise. They just come very handy in case of crazy people on the lose or situations like that." Bella replied.
"I don't have a picture of him with me but I'll call Billy and ask him to mail me one." Charlie replied.
"Can't he send you one on your cell phone?"
"Yeah, because the two of us just love to take selfies. We can do it all day long." Charlie rolled his eyes, marking his point by taking a ridiculous selfie pose and faking the act of taking a picture of himself.
"Right, I'd be surprised if you even took one picture with that cell phone of yours." Bella chuckled.
"I'm not even sure if I can take pictures with it." He nodded.
"They can all take pictures now, dad." She smiled.
Once they were done eating, Bella and Charlie climbed in his rental car. Bella gave him directions and chuckled when he saw the house.
"If you could live here, why do you live above your office?" he asked her.
"I didn't want to rush things, I want to make sure we work out, that it lasts." Bella replied, getting out of her car.
They walked together toward the door and Bella rang the doorbell, praying silently they all remembered to act normal. Of course Klaus is the one who openned the door for them. He wanted to make a good impression on his potential future father in law.
"So dad, this is Rebekah, who usually lives on the floor above mine. This is Finn and his wife Sage, Kol, Klaus and Elijah. Everyone, this is my father, Charlie Swan." Bella introduced everyone once they were inside.
Bella noticed happily that Elijah wasn't wearing his usual suits today. To go fishing, he had put on something more classic: a pair of jeans with a long sleeved shirt and a jacket. He had listened to her suggestion.
"Nice to meet you all." Charlie nodded at everyone.
"Nice to meet you Mister Swan." Klaus greeted as he shook his hand, while his siblings nodded politely towards the man, waiting for their turn to shake his hand.
"You can call me Charlie." Her father replied and Bella let out a breath she didn't know she was holding back.
She was afraid that he'd ask them to call him Mister Swan but the fact he allowed them to call him Charlie meant that he wasn't on his guards, he trusted them because she trusted them and it showed just how much he trusted her judgment.
"So Bella are we staying around for the awkward moments to come between your father and my brothers or are we going shopping for Christmas?" Rebekah asked.
"Let's go shopping while I'm still up for it. This kind of motivation never lasts long with me. We'll see you guys later. Matt will bring us take out from the Grill around 7 and he'll stay for dinner. Be back by then." Bella told them before she kissed Klaus on the lips and hugged her father.
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"This Matt seems to be a big part of my daughter's life… What do you think of him?" Charlie asked them once the girls left the house.
"I don't like him." Klaus shook his head.
"You're only saying that because Rebekah is interested in him and you think it's your job not to approve of him." Kol rolled his eyes.
"Bella took an instant liking to the boy and he's very loyal to her. She quickly became his only family and I overheard her offering him to come and live on the top floor of her building so he wouldn't be alone and have to pay for everything on his own. I also know that he's considering it more and more as time passes and bills pile up." Elijah replied.
"What kind of boy is he?" Charlie asked.
"Nice, very mature for his age but then again, he had to be. He's fun too." Kol replied.
"He was failing at school last year but ever since he started seeing Bella, his grades went up a bit. He's the quarterback of the high school football team and also plays in the basketball team, on top of working at the Grill every day. I know that sometimes, when he doesn't have much to talk about during his sessions, Bella helps him with his homework." Klaus added seriously.
"You seem to know a lot about him." Charlie noticed.
"When I saw the important part he was taking in Bella's life, I decided to look into him a bit to make sure he was a good person. I wanted to make sure he wouldn't hurt her or our babies." Klaus replied honestly.
"I see… Well, at least you're concerned for my daughter and taking good care of her, I can see that. It's a good thing." Charlie nodded before they all left to go fishing, Kol and Finn ending up joining them so they weren't bored alone at home.
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Shopping with the girls was fun. For a long time, Bella had hated shopping until she met Isobel and her friend showed her how to enjoy it. As they slowly made their way through the local Mall, Bella told Elena several stories of her past shopping trips with Isobel, showing Elena some items and pointing out which ones Isobel would have liked or hated.
"I don't know… I'm supposed to come here to buy something for Aunt Jenna, I don't know if I should buy myself this dress…" Elena replied when she was alone with Bella in a clothes store while the others where in the book stores in front of it.
"You're allowed to buy yourself some things as well Elena and for what it's worth, I just know that Isobel would have bought it for you if she were here with us today. She would have loved to see you in it." Bella smiled.
"Really?" Elena asked.
"I remember that she had one similar to this one when we first met. She wore it the second day, when she took me clubbing to celebrate what she foresaw would be a great friendship. Though with my clumsiness, that night ended in the ER with a sprained ankle for me." Bella replied with a chuckle.
"I'll get it then." Elena nodded happily.
After they left this store, Bella went in a store specialized in outdoor activities with Jenna and bought her father a brand new fishing jacket, hat and box filled with all the necessities, knowing that the equipment he had was getting old. She was sure he would love it all.
"Well, I think I'm done, I have gifts for everyone." Elena declared.
"Me too." Jenna, Rebekah, Sage and Caroline nodded.
"I still need one but I'll probably do it myself." Bonnie added.
"I'm about done as well, it wasn't easy but I'm finally done." Bella said.
"I know what you mean, I had a hard time finding something for Alaric." Jenna nodded.
"What did you get him?" Bella asked her.
"A… I… Okay, I got a sexy nightgown." Jenna blushed.
"For Alaric? They make sexy nightgowns for men?" Caroline asked, ignoring Jenna's deep blush before she realized what Jenna meant.
"I didn't know what to get him, so I got something he'd love to see me wearing before… you know…sex." Jenna explained.
"I did something similar for Klaus' Christmas gift. One for now, while I'm pregnant and one for after the pregnancy." Bella smile.
"Well, I just bought a new journal for Elijah. The one he has now is almost filled, he just has about 10 pages left and they'll be filled fast with how he writes." Rebekah replied.
"And how do you know how many pages Elijah has left in his journal?" Caroline asked Rebekah.
"I'm his little sister, it's my job to snoop in. Reading his diary is part of my duties as a little sister." Rebekah replied, trying to stay serious as she spoke.
"Right, Of course." Jenna chuckled.
"I guess we'll just have to keep your secret then." Sage nodded.
"I got a new journal for Stefan as well." Elena stated.
"That's not a very personal gift, he'll think you're trying to distance yourself with him." Rebekah asked.
"We've both been doing that for a while. We're just friends now, even though we haven't talked about it clearly. I mean, I did go to the dance with Damon. I danced with Stefan as well of course, but... Well, it's complicated. I got an old bottle of bourbon for Damon." Elena nodded.
« I thought you actually loved him, that you were planning on getting closer to him until you eventually date him ? » Caroline asked her with a frown.
« I didn't know what else to get him just yet. Though I did find some funny boxers, they had tiny adorable vampires on it and it said 'I'm fangtastic'. I got him one as well. » Elena blushed.
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"So, what did you get for Matt?" Rebekah asked Bella a few minutes later.
"Something he needs." Bella replied mysteriously.
"Obviously. I just want to know if we got him the same thing." Rebekah insisted.
"Don't worry about that. There's no way you could have gotten him the same thing I did." Bella replied.
"Are you still okay with me wanting to move back in with my brothers?" She asked her.
"Of course, don't worry about me Rebekah, I'll be just fine. Despite what Klaus thinks, danger isn't waiting for me to turn off the lights so that it can jump on me. And I'll be moving in myself soon enough. Everything will be fine." Bella assured her.
The other girls were carrying all the bags to the cars before joining them in the food court for a little snack.
"Plus, you know that I'll be just a phone call away if you need me."
"Absolutely. And Niklaus spends most of his nights with me anyway, so I'll definitely won't be alone." Bella nodded.
"I'm glad you're part of our family Bella, I love having you as a sister." Rebekah told her sincerely.
"Now you're just trying to make me cry." Bella smiled, hugging Rebekah.
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Charlie knew that there was something different about the men Bella now counted as part of her family and he could guess that they weren't entirely human but he let it go, he knew, deep down, that he could trust them to keep Bella safe.
"You don't go fishing very often, do you?" Charlie asked them, amused when he saw their uneasiness.
"Not really." Elijah admitted.
"Not since we were children." Kol added.
"Feels like several lifetimes ago." Finn added too.
"We used to make our own fishing rod. It was a long time ago." Klaus said.
"But you have all the equipment to fish." Charlie realized when he saw everything they had with them.
"Bella said that you loved fishing, so we got what we needed to go with you during your stay." Elijah explained.
"Right, considering the house you have, I should have guessed you were as loaded as the Cullen's." Charlie replied, not expecting them to know who he was speaking about.
"Actually, we're richer than them." Kol exclaimed, gaining glared from Klaus and Elijah while Finn tried to set his rod up.
"You know them?" Charlie asked, surprised.
"Bella didn't tell you? She asked Carlisle to be her doctor for the duration of her pregnancy." Kol replied, ignoring his brother's glares.
"By the look on you two's faces, I guess I wasn't supposed to know that." Charlie nodded, looking a bit upset.
"We don't know… She didn't tell us if you were supposed to know or not." Klaus admitted.
"Who is here?" Charlie asked.
"Just Carlisle and Esme." Elijah replied before Kol could say more.
"Good, as long as it's just them." Charlie asked them.
"Question, if we catch anything, who's going to prepare them? I personally don't fancy cooking." Kol asked.
"Don't worry, Bella is a great cook." Charlie told them.
"And she's been teaching Rebekah. They'll have fun doing it together." Klaus added.
"So, how long are you staying here Charlie?" Finn asked him.
"I leave on the 2nd of January. I can't stay any longer because of work." He replied.
"Bella mentioned that you were a cop." Elijah said to start a new conversation.
"Yes, I'm the chief of police but Forks is a quiet town, I only have one officer and we don't have much to do." He replied.
"Well, at least you're keeping your town safe." Klaus said.
"That's not too hard, the most dangerous person in town is an 80 years old lady with a bad eyesight who refuses to stop driving." Charlie chuckled.
"Lots of time to go fishing with your friends then." Finn guessed.
"Yep, or to watch the game." He chuckled.
"What sports do you like?" Kol asked him.
The youngest of the four brothers couldn't help but think that this afternoon with Charlie was the kind of memories they all should have with their own father, but sadly, Mickeal wasn't a very loving man.
"I watch them all, but mainly football and baseball."
The five of them spent the rest of the afternoon talking about various subjects.
When Elijah's watch informed them that it was 6 pm already, he warned them:
"We should start going back. We need to clean up and put everything away and we only have an hour left before the food arrives."
"Let's go, we don't want hormonal Bella seeking vengeance on us." Kol replied, standing up immediately.
"Is she really hormonal then?" Charlie asked then while they packed up.
"At first she just got emotional once in a while but now… She can get angry really fast." Klaus admitted.
"It never lasts long though and she always feels very guilty afterwards." Elijah added.
"It's not that often that she gets angry. I remember mom had bigger hormonal rampages when she was pregnant with Rebekah." Finn replied.
"That's because Rebekah's a girl, mom had her hormones, plus Rebekah's to deal with." Kol declared, making them all chuckle.
"I suggest you keep this thoughts to yourself in front of Bella, brother." Klaus chuckled.
"Do you know how my grandchildren are going to be named?" Charlie asked Klaus.
"Bella and I have discussed it but she wants to keep it a secret until they're here, just in case we end up changing our minds." Klaus replied.
"I have to say, this is a nice area. I understand now why Bella likes it so much." Charlie said before he climbed back in the car.
"I think what she likes the most is the fact that we don't get snow." Klaus chuckled.
"Ah, you know her well." Charlie replied with a big smile.
Charlie had had a great time and he had to admit that Klaus and his brothers were good men, all of them. Now, all he had to do is get to know the young Matt Donovan and see why Bella liked him so much.
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Lorelei Candice Black