Hello to you all. I am late but congratulations on surviving another year. Hope you and yours all come out of this one hale and healthy. Thank you for the kind reviews. Please let me know whether you prefer short but frequent updates or longer chapters with a big interval, thank you. Oh and I apologise for any errors. As always, enjoy or not. Cheers.

Quote: "Life has taught me that not all family is healthy. Families can be toxic and detrimental toyour mental health. They can be the most sure way to erode your will to live." – Unknown

Disclaimer: All characters of Twilight belong Stephenie Meyer. In no way do I own them. Only the character that I invented, Adaline, belongs to me.

Chapter 20

There was an awkward silence as the four of us sat at the table. Carlisle was seated next to Edward and I sat next to Bella.

Fortunately, a waitress quickly came to take our order. I watched as she flipped her hair before looking at Edward and Carlisle with a flirtatious smile, "Hi. I'll be your waitress for tonight. What do you want to order?"

I pressed my lips together and looked down to hide my expression. It was really hard to hold in my laughter as they both fixed their eyes on the table in order to avoid looking at the waitress who was desperately pushing her chest forward in order to emphasise her, ahem, womanly attributes.

'Hold it in Adaline. Even though your shoulders are obviously shaking, take a deep breath and let the laughter go.'

I put my elbow on the table and hid my mouth with my hand before whispering under my breath, knowing that he could hear me, "first it was the cashier and now it's the waitress. Next time, it may be the aunty that works at the bakery who throws herself at you. Tsk tsk tsk, poor Dr Cullen, the female gender is a real danger to you. May god protect your chastity. Amen."

Edward burst out laughing and both Bella and the waitress looked at him as if he were crazy.

Bella asked with a confused face, "why are you laughing?"

He just shook his head and continued laughing.

Adaline: "Don't mind him Bella. It's just the after-effect of the adrenaline. The kind waitress is still waiting. What do you want to order?"

Bella: "I am not really hungry."

I avoided Carlisle's look and faced the waitress, " one pineapple juice and coca cola please. That will be all, thank you."

The waitress side-eyed me like I was an old piece of gum before turning back to the good doctor, "and you sir?"

Carlisle didn't even give spare her a glance, "Just the pineapple juice and coca cola that the lady ordered. That will be all, thank you."

'Oooh savage Dr Cullen is back.'

I watched amused as the waitress took back the menus with an embarassed face before quickly walking away. I pressed my lips together before finally looking at Carlisle. He gave me a 'really?' look and I just smiled innocently at him.

He shook his head at me before leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. My smile froze on my face as I turned to check on my sister and Edward, who had been silent for too long. Seems like Bella and creepy Eddy had been watching my interaction with Carlisle as if it were an interesting play.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, "Carlisle, what about Rosalie? Is she okay? She told me to go but I am still worried about her."

Carlisle: "Rosalie is safe, worry not. She is a strong girl."

I hummed and leaned back in my seat with my phone in my hands. I quickly typed a message to let dad know that we will be a little late as we stopped at a restaurant. With that done I opened my tetris game and started to play while occasionally giving the Bella and Edward small glances.

'But really, the awkward silence is killing me. Specially with Bella and Edward giving each other longing eyes from across the table. My dear sister seems a little irritated with Carlisle's and I presence too. Seems like we interrupted an important conversation… Why did we even bother coming inside?'

I glanced at the good doctor to find him staring at me. I tried to give him a signal with my eyes to get him to break the silence.

'Dear Dr, please do something!'

He gave the other two a quick glance before shrugging at me. I rolled my eyes at him before sneakily kicking his foot under the table….Only to hurt myself.

I held in my breath to prevent the sound of pain from coming out.

'Sweet baby Jesus! That fricking hurts!Bad idea Adaline, very bad idea.'

I dropped my head on the back of my seat and slowly let my breath out while staring at the ceiling.

'That was like hitting a rock. Thank merlin it was a light kick.'

I quickly lifted my head as I felt something cold touch my leg. Once glance showed me that it was the good doctor's hand.

I looked at him and saw that he had a worried expression on his face. I mouthed 'I am okay' to him gave him a small smile. He gave me a sceptical look before suddenly removing his hand and leaning back in his seat.

The waiter that we scared away earlier appeared a few seconds later. He quickly put our order on the table with a polite nod before scurrying away again. I quickly put the coca cola in front of Bella, rudely interrupting her little staring session.

Adaline: "Drink up Bella. Don't forget our curfew."

After that little reminder, I took my pineapple juice intending to take a sip. Just at that time, I received a message. I quickly checked it and chugged down my juice in record time. I put my empty glass in the middle of the table before mouthing to Carlisle 'let's get out of here'.

I stood up while saying, "Rosalie just messaged me saying she brought my car. Carlisle and I are going to talk to her. Come join us outside when you finish. Don't take too long okay?"

As Carlisle bent down to say something Edward, I quickly took this opportunity to go pay the tab. I had just put the change in my purse when I felt him come up behind me.

Carlisle: "I was going to pay that."

I hummed while walking to the door, "I know. Thank you for the intention."

He chuckled as he followed me.

"One day, I hope you will allow me to freely pay for you. Even if you have your own income, I wish you learn to treat my money as if it's yours." He said in a low voice as he opened the door for me.

That made freeze for a few seconds. I looked into his eyes and saw that intense look again. I gulped and let out a soft 'oh'. Then I did something that shocked even myself. Merlin knows where this forwardness came from.

My eyes went to his lips as I stepped closer to him. I then looked up back into his eyes before briefly caressing his jaw with the back of my fingers.

"We shall see Dr Cullen." I whispered before quickly walking outside.

Rosalie greeted me with a smirk as I walked towards her. I knew that my face was red.

'Sweet baby Jesus. Where in merlin's name did this come from ?! Never thought I would do something like this! Please kill me now.'

"Rosalie! I am glad that you are okay. Thank you for your help back there and for bringing back my car." I said as I stopped in front of her.

'Even though I don't know how you got my keys.'

She shocked me by giving me a quick hug, "It was my pleasure. Good job back there. You showed them. You are a strong woman."

I shrugged, "I don't know about that. It may have been the adrenaline and I acted on instinct."

Rosalie: "Doesn't change the fact that you bashed a bunch of trash with a mere umbrella to save your sister. If that doesn't show your inner strength, then I don't know what will."

We shared a smile before she signaled for me to look behind, " I think you broke Carlisle."

I followed her sight and found that Carlisle was still standing at the door and was just staring in our direction.

I put an innocent look on my blushing face before facing her, " I don't know what you are talking about."

She raised an eyebrow at me before glancing back behind me, "They are coming out. It's my cue to leave. I am glad that you are okay Adaline. Oh, and your sister too. Hope you visit our home some time soon. Emmett has been annoying me about missing his game partner. See you laters."

She then put my keys in my hand, gave me a brief hug, quickly walked to Carlisle's car, got into the back seat and closed the door. I blinked at her abrupt departure before whispering a 'bye'.

A glance behind me confirmed her words so I quickly followed her actions by going into my car. I put the keys into the ignition and rolled down my window.

I braced myself as Edward and Bella stopped a good distance away to say their goodbyes while Carlisle continued walking towards my car.

"You don't play fair Miss Swan." Carlisle said as he stopped before my window.

'Annnnd the blush is back.'

I cleared my throat and dodged his eyes as I said nonchalantly, "Whatever are you talking about Dr Cullen?"

He smiled helplessly, "Hmm never mind then. I shall abstinate from making you blush even more. This memory will be preciously guarded nonetheless."

That made me blush even more and I looked down to try and cover that. I jumped as a cold finger gently raised my chin.

"Please don't look away from me Adaline," he whispered.

'Is combustion by blushing possible?Because my face feels so hot right now.'

He grinned and used his thumb to caress my cheek, "That blush looks marvelous."

I gripped his hand and gently removed it from my face, "Stop teasing me please!"

He laughed, "Why do so when it is so much fun?"

I exclaimed incredulously, "Carlisle!"

He put his hands up while backing up a little, "Okay, no more teasing. For now at least."

I squinted my eyes at him as Edward made his way around the car to open the door for Bella. He had the gall to smile innocently at me. I huffed and swallowed the words that wanted to come out.

Edward quickly said some words to Bella before coming to stand beside his father.

I ignored the good doctor as I addressed Eddy, "Thank you for your help earlier Edward."

'It is quite shifty how you were at the right place at the right time but let's forget that for now.'

Bella chimed after me, "Yes, thank you every much Edward! You too Dr Cullen! Thank you."

"I assure you that it was my pleasure. I hope such a situation never happens again." Edward replied with his hands in his pockets.

Adaline: "I really hope so too."

I turned to Carlisle before fake reluctantly saying, "I suppose I have to thank you too for being here."

Carlisle gave me a knowing look, "You are welcome. I am glad that you are both okay." He then checked his watch, " It's getting late now. You better be on your way home. Drive safely and please send me a text message to let me know that you arrived home safe and sound."

I gave him a nod before turning the ignition, "Will do. Goodnight."

Carlisle: "Goodnight."

With that said, I slowly drove away. As I looked back into the rear view mirror, I found two silhouettes standing still, watching us drive away.

It's been a few weeks since that horrible incident. I had marched into Bella's room the very next day to ask for answers and she had reluctantly shown me the book about the 'cold ones'. Seriously, all this just for a book.

I had given her the driest look I could before calmly leaving her room. My next course of action had been to casually inform Carlisle that Bella had purchased a book about Quileute tribe legends. The rest? I left it unsaid. He could draw the conclusions by himself.

I would be a fool to not have even an inkling of what was 'fishy' with the Cullens. Seriously, I had already heard the story back then when I was a child; when dad used to drag me to La Push bonfires. It just took some quiet observations and an open mind to the supernatural to put two and two together. Fortunately for them, the human kind has a habit of rejecting anything that is 'unnatural' and attributing such thoughts to an overimaginative mind.

Anyway, Bella had already drawn her conclusions so there was no point in me worrying about it. The most important thing to me right now was to discover why my dad had been sending me sneaky glances for the past few weeks.

It was starting to drive me crazy! Each time he saw me, he would have this conflicted look on his face. Sometimes he would open his mouth ,as if to ask something, before quickly closing his mouth and walking away.

In fact it was happening again right now. It was just the two of us in the kitchen right now. Bella was in her room doing who knows what.

I took a seat at the table with my cup of tea before saying with a sigh, "Dad just ask."

Charlie:"Ask what?"

His dodgy eyes completely ruined the nonchalance in his tone.

Adaline: "Whatever you have been wanting to ask for the past few weeks. You think I have not noticed your 'sneaky' glances and strange behaviour?"

There was a moment of silence before he took a deep breath and sat in front of me. He leaned forward, crossed his fingers and looked at me seriously.

Adaline: " Seriously dad, you are scaring me a little. What is wrong?"

Charlie: "Adaline, what are your thoughts about Dr Cullen?"

My hands froze on my cup as I heard this question. He immediately noticed my reaction as he was observing me intensely.

Adaline: "That caught me off-guard…. Why are you asking me that?"

Charlie: "Don't dodge my question with another one. Answer me please."

Adaline: "Uhhh he is an intriguing man…?"

Charlie sighed and leaned back in his seat.

Adaline: "What?"

Chalie: " Do you know what most people answer when asked this question?"

As soon as I heard this I knew that I f'ed up.

Charlie: "The answers are mostly 'charming person', 'good man', 'generous man', 'strange man' to name a few. But yours was 'intriguing man'. It clearly shows that you have an interest in better knowing his character. And the fact that you used the word 'man' instead of 'person' like you would usually do, is a telltale sign to me."

I fixed my eyes on my cup and fidgeted with it.

Charlie: "Adaline. Do you know what prompted me to ask you this question?"

I whispered a 'no'.

Charlie: "It is because Dr Cullen came to me in person to ask me permission to take you to dinner."

As soon as I heard that, I lifted my neck so fast that it cracked. I could only look at him incredulously with my mouth open.

'What in merlin's name Carlisle?! When I said that I would pray for you when you asked my father, I was clearly joking! I thought that you would make some excuse using Alice or Jasper wanting to take me to dinner! I didn't really think that you would really march to my father and ask for a dinner with his daughter!'

Charlie: "That was my reaction too when he point-blank asked me this. I was so dumbfounded that the thought of shooting him didn't even cross my mind."

I burrowed my flaming face in my arms and groaned while chanting in my head 'OMG OMG!'

My dear father ignored my little crisis and continued, "So, we had a little talk; man to man. The content of which will remain between the two of us. I have to admit that my hand inched to my gun several times but somehow he managed to divert me every time. Anyway, matter of fact is, Dr Cullen is a man who had my respect from the beginning and now I respect him a little bit more. I told him I would give him an answer to his question after talking with you."

I lifted my face after groaning one last time. I took a calming breath before asking, "You didn't refuse him?"

Charlie: "No I didn't. I wanted to, believe me. But I did not. Not when he could be the one in a million chance to your happiness. I know you Adaline. You are not someone who actively seeks companionship. You are comfortable on your own and have never sought romance the way others your age do. You are extremely picky about who you associate with and who you let into your life. In fact, I believe that being in a relationship had never even crossed your mind.

Bella may seem like this too, but she is not. It's obvious just by looking at the type of literature she likes to read that she craves companionship deep down. And judging by the change in her these past few weeks, she has already found someone. You two may think that I don't notice these things about you, but I do. I just act as if I don't.

So tell me Adaline, are you interested in Dr Cullen?"

I pondered for a little while before answering, "Interested? Yes, I am. I do want to get to know him more. But there are also other things to consider. He is after all an adult man with 5 adopted children and an important position in society. I can't afford to just rush in this willy-nilly when it may impact his career and family."

My dad smiled at me gently, "And this is the other reason I did not refuse him immediately. You are extremely mature and you reason like someone much older. You have an old soul Adaline and not everybody can match that. Not like Dr Cullen can. Because, believe me, that man has an old soul. Just one deep conversation with him can blow your mind away!"

Unbeknownst to me, my mouth arched into a small fond smile as I whispered 'I know'.

My dad stared at me before groaning while rubbing his face, "Ugh now I know what answer to give him. At least I know that I don't have to worry about you. You are a realist and have no patience for bullshit. Bella is another case altogether. That one I am not looking forward to at all. My intuition tells me that drama and angst will be involved. Joy. "

I grimaced as I heard those words.

'You sure have good intuition dad. And I have to remind myself more often that I got my observant attitude from you.'

Adaline: "Can I go now? That conversation took all my energy."

Charlie: "Go. I feel knackered too. Let's not do this often."

I laughed as I got up, "I agree. Goodnight dad."

Charlie: "Goodnight Adaline."

With that I rushed up to my room and threw myself on my bed. I quickly reached for my phone and typed a message.

A: [ I can't believe that you really went to ask my father!]

I didn't have to wait long for his reply.

C: [So he finally talked to you. I told you that I would ask him.]

A: [I thought that you were joking!]

C: [I don't joke when it comes to you. I wanted to do this properly. I don't want to have to go behind your father's back like a little raccoon. I respect you and your father too much for that. So….should I expect a positive answer?]

A: [What do you think?]

C: [Definitely a positive one.]

A: [Confident much?]

C: [Of course.]

I rolled my eyes at this and read the new message.

C: [ So Miss Swan, it is a good thing you are not going to the dance.]

A: [….why?]

C: [Because that is the day you are going to dine with me. Do dress comfortably. I'll come pick you up at 18:00. On that note, I bid you goodnight. Sweet dreams.]

I could only stare dumbly at my phone at that last message, "…seriously?!"