It's rare for me to do two chapters in a day, let alone two in a week, but I had diarrhea of the… well iPad, and I like where this ones at for now, so why not get it up and see what people think. Please review and I'd like it if you'd check out some of my other stories.

Chapter 2Revealing the Truth

(Carlisle POV)

How do I even tell them this? How can I deliver a death sentence to someone who I care about so much? The results of the x-ray confirmed my greatest fear. Charlie had mesothelioma, very advanced lung cancer. I clearly saw a large tumor in his left lung, and cancer cells were in the blood sample that I had drawn a while ago. This indicated that the cancerous cells were metastasizing, and there was no real way to tell where they had traveled to without more extensive testing, nor how long he had left. But for Charlie's breath to smell the way it did indicated serious rot and decay inside his body. I knew that he didn't have long.

I had called the house and asked that anyone who hadn't hunted recently do so this evening early, since Charlie would be by about 20:00. None in the family wanted to risk his safety, especially Edward. We both knew how much Bella cared for Charlie, and that was why we agreed to stay around Forks for a while, at least until Nessie could make up her mind about who she wanted to live with; us or Jacob. It was possible, for Jacob to be an immortal, but he could never stop phasing since the wolves didn't age when they were still in the phasing stage. There had never been a record of a wolf not stopping phasing in the Quileute history or myths, but we hoped it was possible.

Esme and I returned home shortly before 18:00. To my relief, the only person I really wanted to be gone was; Bella was out with Jasper, Rosalie, and Edward. I felt a relief over me when I realized this was the case, because I could talk truthfully with everyone else first and judge their reaction.

"How was your day, dad?" I heard Alice ask me as she ran down the stairs. Well, run wasn't quite right as she leapt from the second floor all the way down to the first. I smiled at her, since she already knew the truth; one of the advantages of having a 'seer' in the house. Her look matched my; concerned and terrified at the same time, but also a glimmer of hope that everything would work out. Hope was not something she showed often, since she saw many future events but this time it was in her eyes.

"Good until the end," I answered trying to hide as much as possible from everyone else in the house. Alice knew why I was being deceptive, I wanted to ask for Jacob's council and also my family's before considering any course of action on Charlie.

"Carlisle what's wrong?" Esme asked me sounding extremely worried. "You're never that quiet on the way home after work."

I smiled at her and asked, "Can we wait until Jacob is here?"

To my relief, my mate nodded in agreement to me. I smiled back, but not my normal one. This one was one of concern that was trying to deceive her.

Jacob arrived about five minutes later. Alice said Charlie had gotten a call he had to respond to immediately, but would be by after that. She saw him arriving as the moon passed its highest point in the sky tonight. With the current phase of the moon, that would be shortly after nine. 'Great, another hour,' I thought.

"Carlisle, what's wrong?" I heard Jacob ask immediately after phasing back into human. We had kept a change of clothes for him in our garage so he could redress when coming over to see Bella or Nessie, so he was in a pair of shorts and a plain white t-shirt.

"I wanted to tell you first. Charlie is really sick," my tone sounded upset about the way I had to put it, since I didn't know how far away the hunting group was and I didn't want Bella to know about this right now.

Jacob's reaction matched mine. He was very worried about what I was trying to say. "What do you mean, 'really sick'?"

I didn't breathe often, but I needed a deep breath to gain the confidence to tell him. "He has lung cancer; very advanced and aggressive cancer."

Jacob lost almost all of his color. He knew what I was trying to tell him, that the cancer was terminal and he didn't have long left. "Is there anything you can do doc?"

I almost couldn't say it, so just shook my head. "Not without…"

"Could you save him if you… you know?"

I knew what he was suggesting, and was actually glad he broached it first. "It would, but I wanted to know what the pack would say first. We still have a treaty."

I saw Jacob's expression change. He looked like he was furious that I'd even think that they wouldn't approve of it. "You think I want to see Bells or Nessie hurt?" Jacob snapped back to me, which I was actually glad for. He made his decision.

"What about Sam?" I asked worried about what the other alpha would say.

"I'll take care of Sam," Jacob answered back. "I'm more worried about Sue."

Alice stepped up. There was no reason to hide conversations from her of Edward since either of them would sense the topic and she would even see the result through her foreshadowing, even if the exact words might be unknown. "Sue doesn't feel that way about Charlie and neither does he," Alice answered Jacob. "They see each other as friends, but nothing more than that; almost the way you and Bella now see each other."

I knew the way Jacob felt about Bella in the past, but now was aware that it had to do with the possibility of Nessie being born. That was what kept Bella from ever returning the affection that Jacob so obviously felt for her; she didn't feel that way about Jacob. "I just don't want to see Sue get hurt again, especially when a bloodsucker already killed her husband."

Alice shook her head. The best thing I could do was to let her tell him the truth about Charlie and Sue's. "Charlie is still in love with Renee even though she isn't in love with him, and Sue is still loyal to Harry for a reason I think you'll understand."

I looked at Jacob, who was lost in thought. He didn't know what Alice was trying to insinuate. "What are you trying to say?" Jacob asked sounding more annoyed than upset.

"You really don't know?" Alice asked to Jacob. I wondered if I needed to know this, and contemplated leaving the two of them to discuss it. Jacob shook his head; it was clear he had no clue what Alice was referring to. "Did you think that Leah was the first female wolf?"

Jacob was absolutely stunned. "You mean she's not?" Alice shook her head in reply. I saw Jacob's head spinning trying to figure out who could have been before Leah, but could quite make the connection. "The werewolf gene is passed down from father to son… isn't it?"

"I see when all of you phase for the first time, and while you able to I can't see your futures until you stop. I can recall all of my visions, and remember one female phasing before Leah." We both waited for Alice to tell us, but by now I had figured it out. "Sue was the first, but since we were the only vampires here she didn't keep the ability long, but while she could she imprinted on Harry. Seth and Leah got the wolf gene from both of them."

"So that means that…" Jacob really didn't know what that meant. It was rare that the wolf who imprinted on someone lived longer that the other by more than a few months. "What does it mean?" He finally asked after a couple of awkward moments.

"She'll never love anyone like she loved Harry," Alice answered. "They we're both wolves, so their imprint was the strongest of any."

"Let me go talk to Sam and some of the elders and see what they think, but even if they say 'yes', are you going to tell Charlie what you're gonna do, or…"

I cut off Jacob by shaking my head. "I hate to change anyone without their consent. In Edward's case, his mother begged me to do whatever it took to save him. I should have asked him, but I didn't that time. Esme was only semi-conscious when I bit her, but I had the vampire version of imprinting on her. I don't think she regrets it. The only one that I still truly regret changing was Rosalie. I just didn't know how much she regretted it until recently. I won't do that to Charlie; I'll tell him the whole truth beforehand, and if he decides to go through with it, then it will be his decision to do it, as well as who bites him."

"Who do you think he'll choose?" Jacob asked to Alice and also me.

"I can't see until a decision has been made," Alice answered with a shrug. "I can only vaguely picture Charlie preparing to be bitten, but beyond that nothing else."

I thought about the most logical choices. "If I had to speculate, it would be either Bella, Edward, or myself. There are good reasons for all three. I have the experience, while Bella is his daughter."

"Why not Nessie?" Jacob asked completely surprised why he'd include Edward on the list, but not his granddaughter.

I shook my head in response, "Nessie doesn't produce venom, or at least not yet. I'll keep taking swabs from her mouth every few months more as a precaution to you since vampire venom is lethal to werewolves."

"Thanks, doc," he said sounding grateful that I was concerned for his wellbeing. "Okay, so Nessie's out, but why would he want Edward do it?"

"Keep the family angle, without making his own daughter do it," Alice answered for me, to which I nodded in confirmation.

"I don't know what Sam will say, but I'll ask. I think I also have to run it by Sue and Billy, too."

I nodded again. I was glad that he was at least willing to consider it. I knew that it wasn't for me, but for Nessie. He couldn't stand making her say goodbye to her grandfather so soon, and with such short notice. But I was worried about what would happen with Charlie when we told him to whole truth, but I could see that Alice was hiding something from me; something that she had no intention of sharing at the present time. Jacob left to phase so he could return to the reservation quickly; he would talk to Sam and Billy about it when he returned and with any luck be back before we gave Charlie the news.

I heard the hunting group returning. They rushed the house, and cleaned themselves since they knew we had company coming. "How'd it go?" I asked to Edward who was first to return to the family room.

"You're not thinking of doing what you're thinking about, are you?" Edward asked at a whisper. I could see the look on his face suggesting terror. "We can't do that to Charlie."

I assume he only heard the fact that I was considering propositioning him, and nothing else. "I have my reasons, and just leave it at that. Please Edward, don't say anything to the family until they hear everything."

I thought of why this the offer was necessary, and Edward looked even more upset. Secretly, I knew he always liked Charlie and a part of him hoped that there was a way for him to stay in Bella's life. But we both knew that this was the only way, and the only way we could even think about it was in a situation like this.

Luckily Renesmee was tired, and went to sleep early. We had kept a bed for her in the house in Edward's old room. She was asleep by 20:45. Less than ten minutes later, I heard the sound of Charlie's police cruiser turn off the highway and onto the road that led to our home.

Charlie knocked on the door, and I let about thirty seconds pass before answering the door. "Charlie thanks for coming," I said to him warmly as I shook his hand. It still surprised me in the past few years when Charlie never acted like my hands were cold when I touched him.

"So doc, what'd ya find?" Charlie asked directly as I led him into the room with the rest of the family. "And why didn't you just tell me earlier today."

"I thought it'd be better if all of the family found out together," I suggested trying to cover the real reason for the delay. "Charlie, I still hate to tell this to anyone, but especially people who I care for immensely. I'm sorry, but it's worse than I ever could have imagined. You have cancer."

I saw Charlie blanch and he collapsed. He would have collapsed on the floor, but Esme moved at superhuman speed to catch him. Charlie never appeared to lose consciousness, but didn't seem surprised at Esme's actions. I turned my glance to Edward, who was scowling at Esme and Alice. I thought I knew why, but was just guessing. "Thanks, Es," Charlie said as Esme helped him to stable himself and sat him on the couch next to Bella.

"You're welcome Charlie," Esme said as she gave him a slight peck on the cheek.

I wasn't the only one who noticed that Esme may have given away our secret. While it was true that we kept Charlie on a 'need to know' basis, he was never to learn of exactly what we were. However it appeared that he knew a lot about what we did, and could do. I was still trying to explain any other possibilities to his actions around Zafrina any other way and could not do it.

Charlie had gained some of his color back, and was able to ask the follow-up question that one normally asks after a bad diagnosis, "So what do we do doc; chemo, radiation, what?"

I could only shake my head. There was nothing that really could be done. "No Charlie, it's too late. The cancer's already metastasized somewhere. The blood test showed the cancer cells in your blood, and without knowing for sure where it has gone, and possibly still going, the wrong course of treatment could be fatal."

I always hated to be the executioner; that's why I hated to drink human blood, even from the worst of the worst. Being a doctor didn't help any, as I told him, "I'm really sorry about this Charlie, but I only think you have three months left. Six tops."

If vampires were able to cry, there probably wouldn't have been a dry eye left. Bella was hugging her father, not knowing for sure how much longer she would be able to do that. I felt absolutely horrible about the way things had transpired, but was grateful that Renesmee had suggested what I suspected for a long time; that something was wrong with Charlie.

Bella was as close to tears as was possible for a vampire, while trying to hug her dad strongly enough to let him know how much she cared, while at time trying not to hurt his much weaker human body.

"Stop it Jasper!" I heard Bella shout, and could guess what Jasper was trying to do. He was doing his best to make his sister-in-law feel better. I shook my head in agreement with Bella, but secretly was grateful for what he was trying to do and so was Edward.

I took a sniff of the air and could smell Jacob coming back, and he was not alone. Sam and Billy were coming with him in Bella's old truck, which Edward had sold back to the Blacks as a token of friendship when Edward bought Bella her 'before' car. I went outside to meet them in private, more to give Bella some time with her father. Alice was hugging Bella also, trying to make her feel better, so only Edward and I went outside.

We saw Sam and the Jacob setting up Billy's chair and helping him into it. I smiled at how quickly they got to the house. "Hello Billy," I said as I shook his hand.

Billy did not smile in reply, but rather he looked terrified of what I had asked Jacob to ask him. "Carlisle, I know you wouldn't be proposing this if it wasn't such a dire situation, but what do we do if he can't control himself?"

"Then that is on me, and I will destroy him myself," I answered in reply, but unknowingly thought of why I suspected that Charlie would be okay as a newborn.

Edward looked incensed at me. "You've gotta be kidding me. You want to bite Charlie to test a theory!" He had never snapped at me like that, even when he left after I bit him.

"No Edward," I answered to his criticism. "I want to change him to save him. Testing my theory is simply secondary."

Sam and the Blacks looked confused about what Edward had heard me think. Billy inquired for all of them, "So what do you want to test on him?"

I wanted to lie, but realized to get their approval the truth was probably the best course of action. "I always wondered why Bella had such an easy time as a newborn. There were three possibilities: one was in her genetics, second was that she was prepared to be bitten and wanted to, and finally was that it was simply her. With Charlie we could at least test the genetics, since it is her father."

I happened to notice Esme standing on the balcony listening to us talk. When she heard my last answer, she realized that my first hypothesis wasn't the only one that I could test on Charlie, but I could also test the second.

Edward had heard Esme's thoughts and growled at her. "How could you?!" He snapped. "Do you realized the danger that you've put all of us in?"

What did Esme do that ticked off Edward so much, and does anyone else know about it? And what do the Quileutes say about Carlisle's proposal? The answer to these questions will be in the next chapter.