Chapter 36

The next morning, Bella woke up late. It was almost 10 when she woke up and her father had already gotten his breakfast. He was watching a game on Tv, waiting for her to wake up and lead the rest of the day.

"Good morning dad, I'm sorry I slept so late. You should have woken me up earlier." Bella greeted her father.

"Nonsense. You were tired, you needed your rest." He replied.

"You're right. Well, I'll get ready quickly and go talk to Matt about his mom, then we'll be off to the Lake house." She replied as she grabbed a glass of Orange juice and a muffin.

"Sure, I'll be here." He replied, looking back at the screen.

About 20 minutes later, Bella was ready and heading to the Grill to speak with Matt before joining her father, who waited for her in the car.

"Bella? What can I do for you? I thought you were supposed to go to the Gilbert's today?" Matt asked her when he saw her arrive.

"I'm about to go to the Lake house for the day but I need to tell you something first. I didn't tell you sooner because I wanted to protect you from the truth, especially since I'm not sure if what I'm about to tell you is true or not but I see now that even if it's not proven for sure, you need to know that it's a strong possibility…" She started to say.

"What is it?"

"Ever since you first came to me, I've had contacts of mine looking for your mother. They're not sure about what they're saying but they think that, maybe, your mother might be a succubus… I… Everything I have on her is in this file." She explained, handing him the tin file she had gathered from her many contacts.

"I… I don't know what to say." Matt said.

"I wanted to wait until I knew for sure before I told you anything but I figured it'd be safer for you if you knew it was a possibility, especially since you think you saw her around here." Bella told him in an apologetic tone.

"I understand Bella, don't worry. It doesn't make me the same thing as her, does it?"

"No, don't worry about that. You're a normal human being, your sister might have turned into one later though. Are you sure that you're okay?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I think so… Do you have anything on Succubus? You know, just in case she's really one?" He asked her.

"Yes, here. It's the only thing I have on them. I have to go now but you can call me or come over tonight if you want to talk. I'm always here." She smiled.

"I know, thanks." Matt nodded before he hugged Bella and went to place the file and the book in his locker until he was done working.

It was a lot for him to take in but he wasn't really surprised to find out that his mother wasn't human. It didn't excuse her behavior and her leaving him alone without any money but at least it explained some things and it meant that being away from him might be for the best. Maybe she did care about him, maybe she left for his own good, even if there was other ways of doing it.

.

"Turn right and we should be able to see the Lake and the house soon." Bella indicated her father, who had insisted on driving.

"You've ever been there before?" he asked her.

"No, invited me at some point during the summer but I had a last minute emergency and couldn't go."

"Must be nice to have a house around here, near a Lake… I think I'd love it." He commented.

"Well, the Gilberts are founding families and founding families are pretty wealthy in this town. They all have a vacation house. The Gilberts and the Forbes have one around the Lake. I'm not sure where the other founding families have theirs but I know they have one."

"I have to say, despite all the supernatural nonsense, this little town is a nice one Bells. I like it." Charlie told her.

"So do I. It's home now." She smiled.

"I can see why." He nodded.

"Look, right there. Park next to their cars." She advised, pointing to the 2 cars parked in front of the large wooden house.

"Aunt Jenna, Bella and her father are here!" Elena exclaimed right after she opened the front door.

"How are you doing Elena?" Bella asked her with a smile before she hugged the teenage girl who ran to her.

"I'm great, what about you? And the babies?" Elena asked.

Looking at this greeting, Charlie could see how close Bella truly was to her dead friend's daughter. The teenage girl had greeted Bella like another aunt, his daughter truly belonged in this town, with everyone.

"We're all fine. Elena, I'd like you to meet my father. Dad, this is Elena, Isobel's daughter."

"Nice to meet you mister Swan." Elena greeted while everyone else came closer to greet them.

"Please, call me Charlie. Any friend of my daughter is a friend of mine." Charlie smiled.

Bella quickly greeted everyone and introduced them all to her father before they made their way inside.

Charlie was carrying the bag with Bella's gifts for her. He refused to let her carry anything in her state.

"Elena, can I speak with you a moment before we join everyone else?" Bella asked and Elena nodded while Charlie went inside.

"What is it?" Elena asked, sitting on the steps in front of the house.

"Before she married Alaric, Isobel went to spend a week in Forks with me and she left something behind. It's something between a diary and a notebook. Charlie brought it back, he knows about the supernatural now and he thought this might be useful." Bella started, getting the worn out notebook out of her purse.

"Is there anything important inside?" Elena asked her, not taking the notebook yet.

"No, nothing we didn't already know but I figured you'd want it. If it belongs with anyone, it's with you. Maybe it'll help you feel close to her. There's also a recipe in there, it was one of the rare thing she loved to bake." Bella replied and Elena took it.

"Thank you. So your father knows everything? Did you tell him?"

"He saw Jacob shifting and Isobel's notebook taught him more. I filled in the blank last night and told him everything else." Bella explained.

"How did he take it?"

"Better than I thought he would. I'll give him information on how to defend himself against the different beings he might cross later." Bella smiled.

"Good. Thank you for Isobel's notebook, I really appreciate it. Now come on, Alaric, John and Jenna slaved away in the kitchen all morning, we need to go and enjoy their hard work." Elena said.

"They worked together?"

"Yep, and we didn't even hear a fight. Jeremy was able to sleep until 10:30." Elena chuckled.

"That's good, they're progressing." Bella nodded.

"All thanks to you."

Once they were inside, Bella sat down next to Jenna and Elena showed the diary/ notebook to her father, John.

All in all, her father got along well with everyone. He had fun, later in the afternoon, with Jeremy, John and Alaric while Bella relaxed with Jenna and Elena.

"You must be proud of your daughter and of everything she accomplished." John commented at some point when he was alone with him outside.

"Yes, very." He nodded.

"She's great at what she does. Without her, I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't have my daughter ready to accept the fact that I'm her father, I wouldn't have a family." John added.

"I always thought she'd end up being a literature teacher or something like that, I mean, she used to read so much, but I think that she's found her true calling, her right place in the world. I know she has you and Isobel to thank for that." Charlie replied.

"We didn't do anything." John shook his head.

"You helped her get her office, you helped her fit in." Charlie replied.

"All I did was allow her to buy the building where my brother's doctor's office used to be. Isobel convinced me. Bella saved our daughter, united my family. She deserves everything she's getting and more." John assured Charlie.

Having never met John Gilbert before, Charlie didn't know how much the man had truly changed, how much he truly owed Bella.

"Thank you. She's hard working and I'm proud of the way she got where she is, on her own. Her mother and I barely ever helped her."

"Come on, let's go back inside, I'm sure they have some kind of cake ready with hot chocolate and coffee. The holidays are made to eat until we can't walk, we have all the time until Easter to lose the weight we gained on Christmas." John suggested with an amused smile and the two of them went back inside, laughing.

"Jeremy, you haven't talked much since we got here, is everything okay?" Bella asked him.

"I'd be perfectly fine if I wasn't grounded for Christmas and if my phone hadn't been taken from me until the new year." Jeremy replied, looking at Jenna.

"You'd still have your phone and you wouldn't be grounded if you hadn't been caught by Alaric watching the cheer-leading team showering on the last day of school." Jenna reminded him, making Charlie chuckle.

"Next time I won't get caught." Jeremy promised.

"Next time? There's not going to be a next time, Jeremy!" Jenna exclaimed.

"He's teasing you Aunt Jenna." Elena declared before Alaric changed the subject to sports and favorite teams.

.

The next day, Charlie and Matt left town together to spend the day fishing outside of town. Bella had asked one of her patient who loved fishing for a good place to spend the day fishing and had given the location to her father, who was more than happy to go.

"You know you don't have to do this, right? I know Bella is worried about me but I don't have to be your worry as well. I'm fine." Matt told Charlie while they drove.

"I don't mind. Bella thinks we'll get along well and according to the time we already spent together at the Mickealson's, I agree with her. Plus, I never say no to fishing, it's a rule."

"What did she tell you about me?" He asked Charlie.

"Just enough." Charlie smiled.

"I don't know why she bothers with me anyway, nobody else does."

"I think Bella feels for you because she could see what happened to you happening to her. Bella grew up with her mom and although Renee is a good enough mother, she is a bit lightheaded and Bella had to be the responsible one. She had to be a grown up when she was little to make sure there was enough money left to pay the bills and she had to be the one who cooked for the food to be eatable. She feels lucky that her mother stayed and that she had me and wants to help you have what you should have, what she thinks you deserve." Charlie explained honestly.

"I appreciate everything she's doing for me, you know, I just didn't want you to think I was using her or anything…" Matt said, worried that Bella's father would think he was taking advantage of her good heart.

"Don't worry, I'm a pretty good judge of character, I know you're a good boy and that you care about my daughter." Charlie smiled.

They kept talking about life until they arrived on site, where they got everything out. Once they settled everything, Charlie brought the conversation to the future and asked Matt what he wanted to do later.

"I don't have many opportunities. I'm not a good enough student or football player to get a scholarship and I can't pay for college. I might even have to repeat my year if I ever want to graduate. Bella's helped me be better but it's still a bit late. I'll probably just end up spending the rest of my life working at the Grill, hoping for a promotion. Maybe I'll be the manager some day." Matt replied honestly.

"Surely it's not all you want out of life? You don't have dreams or projects?"

"I'm not sure… I guess I could join the army or something but I don't know if I'd like it." He replied honestly.

"There is always a solution, no matter what you want, you can have it as long as you want it hard enough. Maybe what you need is to get out of town for a while, see something else and clear your mind." Charlie suggested.

"That would be great for sure but I don't know where I could go or what I would do." Matt replied.

"Listen Matt, I can tell you're a good kid and I like you. You're nice, polite and willing to work hard. If you want, you could join me in Fork this summer, or even now and you'd start school in Forks in January. You'd take your distance with this town and all its crazy long enough for you to decide what you want. I have plenty of room since Bells left and if you want to work, I know enough people to help you find a job you'd like."

"You'd really do this for me?" Matt asked him, surprised.

"Of course. Bella considers you family and I want to help. You don't have to take me up on my offer, but it's here of you want it. Even if you don't make your mind until next September, the offer will still stand. And if you want to, you can leave with me at the end of my stay here after the New Year." Charlie offered.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." Matt nodded.

"Don't mention it, I have the room and I'd love the company. Now, let's see who'll catch the largest fish, shall we?" Charlie said, ignoring that Jacob wasn't far, watching with jealousy as Charlie bonded with someone else that Bella cared about, someone that wasn't him.

"Ready to go home yet?" Leah whispered to Jacob.

"You sound like a broken record Leah. Just leave me alone already." Jacob replied.

"Maybe I wouldn't be a broken record if you didn't drug me, making it impossible for me to do anything but talk."

"I wouldn't have had to sedate you if you had left and hadn't threatened to tell everything to that idiot." Jacob snapped back.

"That idiot is Bella's babies daddy. I know that you don't like him because he got a part of Bella you've always wanted to get but you have to face the truth sometime and admit that she's happy without you and that she doesn't need you in her life. They've got every angle of her safety covered. She doesn't need you." Leah whispered to him, unable to speak too loud because of the effects of the drug.

"Shut up. She's still in danger, they're talking about it all the time. I'll stay for as long as that old evil witch aunt of theirs is still a threat to Bella." Jacob said.

"They have it handled." Leah replied.

"What if something goes wrong? Why would we trust their witches to do their job and not betray them? I'm staying until this is taken care of and I'll keep on drugging you until you either agree to leave me alone or to watch over her with me until everything is sorted." Jacob replied and Leah breathed out in annoyance.

"Fine. I'll help you watch over her but as soon as they take care of this old witch, you leave." Leah argued and Jacob nodded his agreement.

"Sure, Sure."

« You have to move on Jacob. » Leah insisted in a caring whisper.

« I thought I had, I'm not really sure why but there's some sort of pull preventing me from leaving this place. » Jacob confessed.

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Lorelei Candice Black