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Charlie sighed; as he sat down on in a chair closest to Bella, this was it.

"I'm really going to need your help in this Bells. Sawyer has no other family to take her. With my job and the hours that I work, I can't always be there for her when I need to be. But I was hoping that between you guys, Sue and Billy in La Push. We could make it work?"

"Dad…" Bella sighed.

Here we go, Charlie thought bitterly. Not noticing how Edward's eyebrow subtlety raised as a strange look came over his face.

"I would love to help you"

But… Charlie added in his head.

"Of course," said Esme with a soft smile. Breaking him out of his negative thoughts, as he realized what they were saying. Wait…they're saying "Yes"?

"You're family Charlie, and Sawyer's now a part it. Besides I think Nessie would enjoy having someone closer to her size around" Alice giggled, no doubt already planning their matching outfits. The only woman that didn't say anything was Rosalie.

"So, Sawyer is my Aunt, right?" asked Nessie with a puzzled look. "Isn't she a little young for that?"

The adults laughed, "You can be an Aunt at any age Nessie, given the large age difference between your mother and her sister" Jacob explained, he was actually looking forward to this.

"When is she coming?" asked Carlisle.

"I'm flying down tonight; we should be returning to Forks within the next two to three days. Then we'll have the weekend to get set up before I return to the Station on Monday. Thank you so much" said Charlie as he got up. "I hate to cut and run but I have to finish packing"

"Of Course Dad" Bella said as she too stood up from the couch, giving him a hug. "Bring her home safely," Nessie too gave her Grandpa one last hug before he exited the house. Only to find his son in law following right behind him.

"Edward," the Police Chief paused outside the door of his cruiser. "What can I do for you?"

"Did you really think we would refuse to help?" he asked. Charlie tsked his tongue for a second as he stared the young man down.

"That depends if you want the truth or not?"

Edward blinked, "What?"

"Don't give me that Edward. You and I both know, that you and Bella don't have the best track record of being honest with me, so why shouldn't I do the same to you?"

"Charlie I-! We never meant-"

"But you did it anyway, and choices have consequences. That is something I wish that I could have burned into my daughter's brain sooner. But Bella's her own person now and I will respect her decisions. Just as she should learn to respect mine"

"What does that mean?" questioned Edward with a hint of anger in his voice.

"It means you and I will never be friends. You are my daughter's Husband and Renesmee's Father and I will respect that. But Nowhere does it say that I have to like you. And Bella is going to have to grow up and deal with it"

Edward was shocked, Charlie gave a sarcastic smirk.

"You didn't know that your wife was putting the pressure on me to bury the hatchet between us? I am not my daughter, Edward. My Trust cannot be bought with a fancy donation to the Station. It is earned through actions and respect. And you have never respected me. Definitely not as Bella's Father"

"What do you mean Charlie? I have been nothing but polite in the past." Charlie gave him a hard look,

"You practically lived in my daughter's bedroom for almost two years while you were dating"

Edward's eyes widened.

"Yeah, I may not be whatever you are. But I'm not a stupid." At least he has the decency not to argue anymore, the Chief thought when the boy didn't say anything in response.

"Now... I may be "old" fashioned. But I know the ways of teenagers. The way you and Bella acted around each other was not a normal relationship. And even though Bella said you weren't doing it. I knew something intimate was going on. My daughter never would have completely fallen apart like she did if there wasn't.

Your actions in the woods that day, ended up putting me through HELL as I tried to take care of the heart you had broken. And never once in all the time that followed when you returned did you apologize to me. I don't get her immediately taking you back.

But the pattern continued and Bella just kept right on sneaking around and lying. Even when she was grounded, you still found a way.

If you and her wanted live together that badly? You both should have come clean and been honest with me. Having a live-in boyfriend isn't exactly a looked down on concept in this day and age. Granted, I wouldn't have liked it at first. But I would've eventually gotten used to it as long as we set up some ground rules.

Like if you're going live here? You would've had to start contributing to the household.

That meant helping Bella with the laundry, taking out the garbage. Mowing the lawn. Changing the oil in her truck. Getting a part time job, even if it was being a bus boy down at the diner or being the casher at the gas station. Just something, and above all: Respecting me and my daughter while I was home. But the biggest wound is that you never asked my permission for her hand. You both just came in one day announcing you were engaged and that was that"

Charlie sighed, shaking his head. "You wanted to know if I thought that you wouldn't help with Sawyer?

The truth is, I wouldn't have put it past you or Bella. Seeing as you're very invested in your own lives and the "need to know" basis. It's very hard for me to ask for any kind of help and when I do, it makes me vulnerable.

I just…want to do the right thing for Sawyer. Like I tried to do with Bella. You'll understand more as Nessie grows up" he finished getting into his car. "See you Edward," said Charlie, rolling down the window before he backed out of the driveway.

"Bye," answered Edward quietly before hearing and feeling a whoosh of wind, accompanied by his wife's scent.

"Edward?"

"Bella," he replied, turning in her direction.

"I'm sorry,"

"Sorry for what?"

"Charlie should not have said-"

"But he was in the right Bella" said her husband dismissing her apology. "Charlie also has the right to feel the way he does about me. And no amount of pushing from you (no matter how good intended) is going to change his mind, except making him more resentful toward me. He's hurt Bella, and we hurt him bad with our past actions"

"We didn't mean to! We were just trying to protect him. With Victoria-"

"And what about when there wasn't immediate danger?" Edward questioned, "Bella. We have to stop treating him like he's any other ignorant human. He's just as observant as you were. Where do you think you got it from?"

Bella bit her lip in thought.

"Charlie is also mainly worried about Sawyer," Edward continued. "This is another daughter he doesn't know and he doesn't want to screw up, like he feels he did with you. Because of all the lies and secrecy, we put him through"

This time Bella flat out winced. "And nothing I say or do is going to convince him otherwise"

"I would bet more on the "Doing" than the "Saying." From what I gathered during our "conversation," Charlie's more of a man of Action. Perhaps when we start following through with our promise to help with your sister, that will start showing him different. What he really wants from us is Respect. And we will give it to him" said Edward, taking her hand and walking her back to the house to join the others.

...

"Excuse me, I'm Chief Charles Swan from Forks, Washington. I was called down here to pick up my daughter, Sawyer Ann Whitlock?" he said to the person at the front desk when he walked in.

"Chief Swan? Yes, Deputy DeNiro said to expect you. She's right down this way," said the officer, getting up and leading him down the hallway to the left. Amongst a row of fold out chairs to the side, sat a girl in regular overalls with dark navy-blue jacket draped over her arms, holding her purple backpack to her chest. "Sawyer?"

The girl looked up, showing off her cerulean eyes with her dark brown almost black hair (she'd inherited from Charlie) done in two braids, framing her face. "Yeah?"

"This is your real father, Chief Charles Swan. He's come to take you home" The officer explained before heading back to his duty at the front desk.

Sawyer slowly got up and studied the new man, just as he was studying her. "Hello Sawyer," The girl paused, before finally having one hand let go of the backpack and holding it out to him to shake. "Hello Sir,"

Charlie winced, he knew she was being polite and they didn't know each other yet. He just had to hope that with time, that "Sir" would change into something more positive like "Dad". "Is that all your stuff?"

She nodded. "You don't wanna see your Mom before we leave? I could talk to somebody?" he offered.

Sawyer shook her head, "Thanks, but it wouldn't do any good. She was transferred to the Women's Correctional Facility this morning."

"Oh," he replied…

A few minutes later, they were walking out of the building towards his rental car and a different kind of energy seemed to surround the young girl as some light returned to her eyes.

"Thank you," she said as he opened the door for her. "You're Welcome," he replied as he got in the driver's side.

They were half way to their motel when Sawyer spoke up again. "The officer said your name is "Charles," not "Victor," like my mom thought. Is it alright if I call you "Charlie" for now? It makes you sound more approachable"

The Forks Police Chief actually smirked a little through the rearview mirror. "That will be just fine. I'm actually known to my friends and family as "Charlie" anyway. You seem to be feeling better"

"Sawyer sighed, "It wasn't just you. Being around "The Fuzz-!" Sorry…" she winced before continuing. "Cops makes me nervous. They always make me feel like I'm in trouble or something"

Charlie looked back at her through the Rear-view mirror again.

"Sawyer…It wasn't you who was in trouble. It was your Mom. She's been in trouble with the "Cops" down here and where I live, long before you were born. That's how we met. I was undercover. She was doing something very wrong. The drugs she was carrying in the car with you were not legal. They were against the law. Now, most Cops are the good guys. It is our job to make sure people know and obey the law. If not, there are consequences. But you don't have to be afraid of us. We just want to keep people safe. And I am very happy they took care of you until I arrived, do you understand?"

"Yes Sir," the girl answered as they fell into silence again…

The pattern continued over the next couple of days where they would ask each other question and fully listen to the person's response.

Soon it was time to get on the plane, Sawyer had never flown before. So, the whole thing was an interesting experience. From the putting shoes and items in the bins. (Charlie was surprised to see her pull out an old iPhone before placing it in) "A parting gift from my best friend's family," she had said. To finally boarding,

Sawyer had involuntarily grabbed his hand during take off and wouldn't let go until they were "safely" up in the air. Charlie nearly blushed, he'd never had this kind of reaction from Bella. Of Course, Bella was probably used to it. Seeing as her and Renee had moved around a lot by this age. Still, it was another "first" he'd just gotten to experience as a Father. He couldn't have been happier about that. Sawyer only hesitated once after they landed, when they'd entered the parking garage and Charlie walked over to his cruiser.

"It won't be that bad Sawyer; you're not going to jail this time. We're just going home" he said as his young daughter stared at the open backseat like it was going to eat her. That did nothing to stop the widening of her eyes as she took a step back.

Charlie sighed; well, she was almost at that age. And he supposed, just this once couldn't hurt. He closed the backseat and opened the passenger side in the front. "Come on, get in"

The girl raised an eyebrow in surprise before cautiously getting in and putting her backpack on the floor. Charlie shut the door and came around on the other side. Once they were buckled in and the Chief started driving out of Seattle, Sawyer posed a question. "Can we turn on the Radio?"

"Sure," Charlie responded, "What kind of music do you like?"

"Country," He nodded and began fiddling the stations until he came across one called "100.7 the Wolf" the Chief couldn't help but find amusement in that, knowing what was awaiting them at home. As they got further out of the cities. Sawyer's face continued to light up as they drove deeper into the greenery. She was consistently looking out the window at where they were going.

"You live here?" she asked as they pulled into the driveway.

"Yep, sure do and I'm not the only one. Your grown-up sister Bella, and her new family, just live a couple of miles outside of town. You'll meet them tomorrow and on Sunday, I'll take you to La Push. Where you'll meet some old friends of mine: The Blacks, and the Clearwaters. You'll be spending the most of the Summer between all of them while I'm at work. So, you don't have to be alone if you don't want to be. I'll also be trying to make it home by six, so we can have dinner together. Sound good?"

"Yeah," she responded as she looked around.

"I'm not much of a cook," Charlie went on. "But I can make sandwiches and I can fry eggs and fish, order pizza, with the occasional trip to the diner. Your sister's also been a big help, she'll once in a while bring a home cooked meal by"

"That's alright Charlie, I've survived on less. And food in your belly, is food in your belly"

The Chief paused before nodding. "That's a good way to look at it. Umm Sawyer… I hate to ask you this. But you didn't starve when you were with your mother?"

It was her turn to pause, "It was hard, especially when she had guests or clients over. But no, I didn't "starve" as you say, thanks to my best friend's family that were across the street. I was welcome there almost anytime"

"They must have been a real good family, what happened?"

"One of Mom's deals went south, she woke me up in the middle of the night, told me to pack a bag and that we were leaving. I quickly snuck over while she was distracted and told them what was happening but there was nothing they could do, except giving for me the phone you saw as a way to contact them if I needed help. We crossed the state lines the next day and you know what happened from there."

"Have you contacted that family since?"

"I did, and it turns out they're actually moving here to Washington State in September, since their mom was offered a new job. On "Whidbey Island", they've already bought a house close to the water."

Charlie's face lit up, "You know, that's only three hours from here. I'm sure by the time they're settled in. We can make a trip go see them. "What is their name?"

"They're more of a blended family with different last names due to the varies adoptions but the Mom's name is Simon, Chloe Simon. She's a part time nurse/paramedic that works with the fire department"

The Chief nodded, "And what about your friend?"

"Her name is Jasmine. Jasmine Olivia Hale" Charlie's eyes widen. "Something wrong?"

"No, no, I just know another family that adopted a Hale, two of them actually. They're a set of twins"

Sawyer snorted, "That's not surprising"

He raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Charlie…" she sighed, "The Hales" are very big social climbing family on the East Coast. Nothing is more important to them then their status. And they do disown family members that don't help their image. Jas has an irregular heartbeat and a kidney disease. So those twins you spoke of, must've had something physically or mentally wrong with them for their so called "Family" to give them up. Just be grateful that they eventually found a nice home with people who truly love and can take care of them"

The police Chief was stunned at this new information.

It partly disgusted him that there were folks out there like that. Casting family aside because they had problems the parents didn't want to deal with. He also felt sorry for what the Hale twins, Jasper and Rosalie must have gone through before ending up with the Cullens. Good thing, Dr. Cullen was a Doctor and knew how to help or get help for them.

"Yes, that is definitely something to be grateful for" he agreed…