Chapter 7

Bella

In hindsight, it was naive of us to think that my dad could remain on the periphery of our lives on a "need-to-know" basis. There was one major piece to the puzzle that we had overlooked back then: Sue Clearwater.

About a year after Renesmee was born, Charlie and Sue eloped, mostly due to the fact that Sue's daughter, Leah, did not approve of the union. And if Sue couldn't have both her kids there, she "didn't give a damn about anybody else being there, either." I totally understood where she was coming from, so I couldn't hold it against her.

But that's when things got complicated. Because when Charlie married Sue, he was also welcomed into the Quileute tribe–the tribe that knew all of my secrets but was forbidden by the treaty not to reveal the true nature of the Cullen family to any outsiders. So when Charlie was honorarily welcomed into the tribe, they had no reason or obligation to keep anything from him anymore.

What a mess that was.

Charlie and Sue almost split up because Charlie had felt so betrayed that his new wife had wordlessly let him marry off his only daughter to a 100+-year-old vampire. Oddly enough, Charlie seemed more skeeved out by Edward's age than by anything else.

Our first face-to-face meeting after Charlie discovered the truth, I'd never seen my dad so angry. He fractured his hand in two places punching Edward in the jaw. Edward, of course, had seen the fist coming from a mile away and had let it happen, even pretending to recoil a little on impact, citing that Charlie's pride would've hurt worse than his hand if he had missed.

However, the 8 weeks of desk duty Charlie had been relegated to while his hand healed certainly hadn't helped to mend any fences between those two. Only time and Renesmee would prove to do that.

Most of all, Charlie was brokenhearted that every single person in his life that he loved–his daughter, his wife, and even his best friend had lied to him and about something so life and death. Thankfully, Dad and Sue had eventually been able to work out their differences and were doing great now that everything was out in the open. After all, who could be better matched for the father of a teenage vampire than the mother of teenage shapeshifting wolves?

I feared relations between dad and Billy would always be strained…then again, after hearing that my dad and Billy had been gossipping about Renesmee's trip to the Amazon, maybe there was hope for those two after all. It would seem that none of the rifts I had caused were greater than my daughter's ability to repair them in that special way she had.

My eyes stung a little remembering how, before Charlie had even said one word to deride my very permanent life (death?) choices, he had made it very clear that no matter how angry he was, I would always be his daughter, and he would always love me and want to be in my life and Renesmee's, too. But that he would need time to wrap his head around all of the craziness. My silent heart clenched in my chest knowing that even after everything that had happened, and everything I'd put him through, my father was still unwilling to lose me.

Softie he may be, I'll never forget the ice-cold fear that coursed through me the day my father called and left a furious voicemail stating, "I. KNOW. WHAT. YOU. ARE. "

I thought I'd killed him. That it was death or vampire life for him, too. But it was ultimately Charlie's Quileute ties that had saved him. After all, the Volturi knew all about the treaty and the tribe, and the wolves. They'd known about all of that from the moment Aro touched Edward's hand back in Volterra. And they saw the newest generation of wolves with their own eyes when they confronted us in the clearing with the groundless accusation that Renesmee was an immortal child.

Apparently, the tribe knowing the truth about vampires was not an area of concern for the Volturi because the Quileutes, and more specifically the pack relied just as much on secrecy as the vampires did. So as long as everybody kept their mouths shut, which the Quileutes had been doing without incident for generations (if you overlooked Jacob's breech when he told me) they did not pose an imminent threat to the Volturi.

That was the public story anyway. Edward thought (and I rather agreed) that "lack of concern" was a rather nice way of saying "cowardice." I swear, after that, Jake grew another few inches because his body needed to make room for his bloated ego. Naturally, Edward was quick to remind him that the reason that the Volturi were so afraid of the wolves was that Aro knew our family would side with the pack. And as we'd already once demonstrated, when the Cullens and the wolves allied, we were unstoppable.

After all the dust had settled, there was a fragile peace between all involved parties.

Well, almost.

"Would you tell your husband that if he parks in the garage like a maniac, again, I'm going to scrap his Aston Martin for parts?" Rosalie called over her shoulder to me where I was on my hands and knees in the dirt, harvesting carrots and zucchini from my vegetable garden.

Gardening was one of the hobbies I'd taken up since becoming immortal. Feeding humans, rather than feeding on them–was something that gave me an immense sense of purpose in this new life. And I had to admit, it was relaxing and so grounding to feel the cool moist earth between my fingers. I could see why Esme enjoyed spending so much time in her rose garden. I hadn't been able to keep much more than a succulent alive as a human. But with my sharpened vampire senses, it was all too easy to smell when the soil was nutrient deficient, or if the pH was too high.

From beneath the wide floppy brim of my hat, I cheerfully told Rosalie, "I sure will!" But she knew just as well as I did that Edward could hear her just fine from where he was inside the house putting the finishing touches on Renesmee's room.

Edward had the idea to makeover Renesmee's room while she was gone, as a show of good faith. He'd replaced the girlish wallpaper with one that made the walls look like white exposed brick. It was youthful and edgy, like something you'd see in a college dorm room.

On the walls, for color, he'd hung up half a dozen enlarged prints of Renesmee's wildlife photography. She had a brilliant eye, and her supernatural abilities made her able to get shots that no human would've ever been able to capture without the use of a drone. He'd also built her a custom cabinet to store her various cameras and lenses. The lighting and the furniture had gotten funky-chic upgrades, too.

I had just come inside after cleaning up and swapping my gardening overalls for an army green cap-sleeve button-down layered over a white long-sleeve tee and my favorite pair of blue jeans. Leaning against the doorframe to Renesmee's room, I watched Edward as he stood on the second rung of a ladder with his long, graceful arms stretched over his head as he hung a chandelier that looked like a beach ball-sized dandelion floof.

Outstretched the way he was, his heather gray t-shirt rode up a little, revealing a glimpse of the dark bronze treasure trail that disappeared into the waistband of his low-rise jeans. Seeing that exposed part of his god-like physique sent a flood of warmth to the pit of my belly. There was something just so damn sexy about Edward doing handy things around the house, especially when those things were for our daughter.

"Do you think she'll like it?" he asked, as he screwed in the last screw into the silver base that mounted the chandelier to the ceiling. His tone was a touch uncertain.

"I know I do," I answered in a husky voice as my eyes raked over him.

Edward looked at me then, my favorite crooked smile lighting up his handsome face.

"I was talking about the room, you little minx," he teased, a glint of wickedness smoldering in his golden gaze. Then, motioning to the light switch with a jerk of his square chin, he asked with an amused smile, "Hit the switch, would you, love?"

I did as he asked. The giant dandelion bathed the room in warm white light, except for the walls that were cast in a vibrant shade of magenta from the LED strip lights Edward had installed in the creases where the walls met the ceiling. They could be controlled by an app on her phone and changed to any color that fit her mood.

"It's a gesture from her doting dad that he's going to start treating our daughter more like the adult that she is. I think she's going to love it," I reassured him with a sincere smile. "And the room is perfect. Exactly her style."

"Well, there are some advantages to being inside her head, even if my gift causes more problems than it solves," Edward admitted with a rueful smile as he joined me at the doorway with a peck on the lips. "Though, to be honest, most of the inspiration came from her Pinterest page."

I barked out a laugh at Edward's humbling admission. "I'm sure she'll be much happier knowing her father snooped around her Pinterest boards rather than inside her head."

"I wish I hadn't. You should see some of the get-ups pinned to her 'Coachella' board," he grimaced. "Honestly, how is it comfortable wearing shorts up to there?" he asked, holding the flattened side of his hand down near the top of his thigh. "Doesn't it chafe?"

With an amused laugh of my own, I countered, "Not as much as having a parent who makes critical remarks about your clothing. Besides, you know as well as I do that her skin doesn't chafe."

"Touché," Edward muttered with a sigh. "I guess Charlie was lucky that you dressed like such a—"

"Rebel?" I finished for him, arching my brow.

"I was going to say Mormon, but that works, too," Edward corrected with a crooked grin. Catching my hands in his own and holding them to my sides before I could swat at him for the playful zinger, Edward leaned down to kiss me, but I sassily turned my face away so he kissed my temple instead.

I laughingly scoffed in response "Ruuuude. You said you liked my clothes," I defensively retorted. "I believe your exact words were 'utterly indecent,'" I recalled, using the same seductive tone he'd used with me the day I met his family for the first time.

"I did like your clothes. I guess they reminded me of my youth," he snickered. That long khaki skirt? Come to papa," Edward purred seductively.

"You think you're so hilarious," I told him, fighting a smile. "Can we talk about the sleeveless button-down monstrosity you wore that day in the meadow?"

Edward groaned in dismay, "I was hoping you wouldn't remember that particular human memory."

"Oh no, that sparkling gun show is cemented in here for eternity," I teased, tapping a finger to my temple as I lifted my shield and showed him a dim human memory of himself very dramatically proclaiming his glittering skin to be that of a killer's.

"I never thought I'd ever say this, but sometimes I wish you'd keep your thoughts to yourself," Edward lamented, causing me to bust up laughing at the irony of his statement.

Just then, our bantering was interrupted by my phone vibrating in my back pocket.

"I'll bet that's Jake, calling for the millionth time to ask if Renesmee's back yet," I sighed and pulled my phone from my pocket. My eyebrows raised to see a number I didn't recognize lighting up the display.

"Hello?" I asked tentatively as I answered the call.

"Mom? Can you hear me?" Renesmee's sweet voice filled the line, but she sounded far away.

"Renesmee!" I answered in a startled half-shout. Edward froze, too. I'm sure he was analyzing the sound of her voice as if she'd been kidnapped and this was the ransom call we'd been waiting for. Hearing her voice made me realize just how much I'd missed her. She'd only been gone for five days, but it had felt like a short lifetime.

"I'm here. Is everything alright?" I asked automatically, trying to hide my concern. With Edward right on my heels, I walked with the phone into the living room which had slightly better reception. Though both of us were so keyed up from hearing from Renesmee that we both stayed on our feet in front of the couch rather than sit down.

"Terrific!" she chirped, her voice sounding sincere. Happy, even. "I just called to tell you that I'm flying home tomorrow if you and Dad would like to pick me up from the airport. But if you're busy, I can just run home…" Renesmee offered considerately.

"Don't be silly! Of course, we'll pick you up! What time does your flight arrive?" I asked and listened as she told me the flight details.

"I can't wait to see you!" I told her, smiling broadly. "Are you having a nice time? How's Zafrina and Senna and Kachiri?" Unable to help myself, I peppered her with questions.

"It's really hot here," she laughed. "But it's so beautiful. I got to swim with pink dolphins!" she excitedly exclaimed. I beamed, thrilled for her that she was able to experience something like that since hybrids didn't seem to repel animals in the same way that full vampires did. Edward smiled at that, too.

"That's wonderful, sweetheart. I can't wait to see the pictures," I told her. And despite Renesmee being a talented photographer, I was certain that she knew that I meant the pictures in her head that only she could show me.

Then she added, "Zafrina is intense. Did you know she feeds almost exclusively on land developers who come poking around the jungle looking to build resorts and vacation rentals?" Renesmee giggled.

"Air Bnb? More like Air B-n-scream," Edward chuckled in the background.

"Tell Daddy that dad joke was lame even for him," Renesmee laughed, but of course, he heard her just fine.

"Yeah well, you're still laughing about how lame it is, so put that in your pipe and smoke it!" And then in a less jocular tone, he added, "But seriously, don't smoke. It's a filthy habit that is terrible for your health."

I laughed quietly to myself at the exchange. I could practically hear Renesmee rolling her eyes at Edward being such a dad.

"H–how's Jake doing? I hope he hasn't been completely miserable while I've been away," she asked in a hesitant voice.

Clearing my throat, I told her "I don't actually know. When your dad and I told him where you went and why, he took it pretty hard that you left and especially that he had to hear it from us rather than you. He left the island, and last I heard, he went to stay with Billy in La Push. I'm sure he'll come back as soon as I call him and let him know that you're on your way."

"I hope he's not mad at me," Renesmee sighed. I could hear the soft sound of what could only be her teeth chewing anxiously on her bottom lip, a nervous habit she inherited from me.

"You're allowed to need time to yourself, sweetheart," I reminded her with a concerned frown.

She sighed again, sounding unsure. In the background, I could hear a muffled voice making an announcement over the intercom in what sounded like Portuguese. "That's my flight. I gotta go. I miss you guys so much! Love you. See you tomorrow! Oh, and I have a surprise for you when I get back!" she excitedly told me, and then ended the call before I could ask any more questions.

"A surprise? What could it be?" Edward asked the same question I was thinking as I dialed Jake's number. He answered on the first ring.

"Bella!" Jake answered the phone in a semi-alarmed voice. "Is it Nessie? Is she home? Is she okay? Is she–"

"Relax, Jake. She's on her way home. She sounded fine on the phone. Better than fine. Happy, actually. Edward and I are going to pick her up at the airport in the morning–"

"I'm coming, too," Jake insisted.

"Aren't you still in La Push? You're not going to make it unless you run through the night–"

"I'll be there," he promised.

"Okay then. Hey, Jake, you doin' ok? You sound a little…on edge," I asked with concern. On edge was putting it lightly.

"How would you feel if Edward left you for five miserable days, without saying goodbye, without leaving any way for you to reach him, without–"

I screwed my eyes shut and went into werewolf de-escalation mode. "That was a stupid question. I'm sorry you've been struggling with Renesmee being gone. I've missed her, too-"

"You're so sorry that you couldn't even bother to call until now," Jacob spat acidly. "Some friend!" Edward growled at Jacob's tone and held his hand out for the phone but I didn't hand it over.

"Oh, ya know what? Blow it out your furry rear end, Jake!" I growled fiercely, the last of my patience long since departed. "I could say the same thing to you. You don't even bother sticking around unless my daughter is here to entertain you. But unlike you, I never would have made you feel bad about that because I understand that you can't be my best friend and my daughter's boyfriend at the same time. It just doesn't work. And it sucks, but that's the way it is."

Jake sighed and apologized "I'm sorry, Bella. You're right. That wasn't fair of me."

"No, it wasn't," I agreed coolly, though I'd already started to thaw out.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

"Don't be late," I told him curtly and hung up the phone.

Edward's face wore a sympathetic frown as he took me into his arms and comfortingly stroked the tops of my arms.

"I'm so sorry, love. I know how hard it's been for you to have to emotionally distance yourself from Jake. It isn't fair that you've had to lose your closest friend and confidante so that he could be Nessie's person instead. Nothing about his attachment has been fair to any of us, but especially not to you," Edward murmured apologetically.

I sighed defeatedly and burrowed myself more deeply into the safety of Edward's arms. "It is what it is. Without Jake imprinting, who knows how many of us would've survived Sam's attack after Renesmee was born? I don't even want to think about it. It's a small price to pay for what I might've lost," I answered.

My mouth went bone dry thinking about the alternate reality where I woke up from transformation only to find that my new family had been ripped apart right in front of me while I'd been burning and paralyzed to do anything about it. No, as much as he really pissed me off sometimes, I could never forget how indebted I was to Jake. His wolfy attachment, which–at times– chafed like an ill-fitting pair of daisy dukes, was the only reason my family was still whole.

"What do you think Renesmee's surprise will be?" I asked, changing the subject after a long beat of silence. I needed to think about something–anything–else.

"I don't have the foggiest idea," Edward answered offhandedly. "I was trying to think of worst-case scenarios to prepare myself," he chuckled lightly.

"What did you come up with?" I asked in an equally breezy tone. If I'd learned anything from my short human life it was that surprises weren't inherently bad. Sometimes, in fact, they turned out better than anything you could have ever imagined.

"She's decided she likes the taste of land developers better than woodland creatures and has decided to go off on her own little 'rebellious period,'" Edward suggested.

I gasped. "Do you really think she'd experiment feeding on humans?" I asked in an alarmed tone.

Edward shrugged. "Not really. It's just a scenario. But if she did decide to be more traditional in her feeding habits, how could I even tell her not to without rightfully being called a hypocrite…again?" he laughed self-deprecatingly.

"It wouldn't be hypocritical. You saw the error of your ways and recommitted yourself. There's nothing wrong with wanting Renesmee to learn from your mistakes," I reasoned.

Edward shook his head. "I'm not sure that Nessie would see it that way. You know how headstrong she is. But it's just a scenario, and I very much doubt that's it. Besides, Renesmee worships Carlisle and is working toward becoming a surgeon. I really don't think that spending a few days with the Amazons would change her core beliefs so completely. Your turn. What's your worst-case scenario?"

"Honestly, my worst case scenario is that she decides she doesn't want to come back. Everything else I can deal with."

Though I didn't say it out loud because I didn't want to give Edward any more reasons to be anxious…but I could understand why she might someday choose a life apart from the self-imposed restrictions and the total lack of privacy that went hand in hand with living as we Cullens did. Then again, having a mind reader for a father, a wolf-man for a best friend, an omniscient auntie, an empathic uncle, and an unusual diet was all Renesmee had ever known.

That reminded me. "We should see if Alice and Jasper want to do something tonight while we're still kid-free. If anything is unfair about this whole mess it's that Alice was forced to move out because her gift was being stymied by our vision-thwarting daughter and her vision-thwarting boyfriend living in such close proximity," I lamented with a pout. Even though she only lived a little over a mile away and visited frequently, it wasn't the same. I missed her like crazy, and Jasper too.

Edward chuckled and kissed the top of my head. Then he sighed, and pouted, "I'm sure that will be just as much fun as how I was envisioning spending our last night of freedom."

Just then my phone chirped. Naturally, it was a text from Alice. It read:

We'd love to! Pick us up at eight.

Edward was sitting on the couch now, scrolling through his phone. Then he barked out in laughter. I gave him a curious look, and he just grinned wider and said "I know just the movie we should go see."

He flipped his smartphone around. The Fandango app was open and the movie poster that had caught his attention was for a horror-satire film called "Hell Baby." It depicted a busty blonde wearing a pendant of an upside-down cross, and she had an infant strapped to her chest in a carrier. The baby had devil horns, a pointed red tail, and instead of a chubby little hand reaching out of the top of the carrier, it had a demonic-looking claw hooked into the top of the mother's left breast.

Excited to finally have a movie date with someone whose hand I actually wanted to hold, I beamed, "Oh, absolutely," with an enthusiastic smile.

Author's Note: Thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter, RL has been kicking my butt this week, and I struggled to find a good place to end it. And sorry if you were hoping to see Nessie fartin' around the jungle with the Amazons. I'll include some of her memories of that in the next chapter, but I thought it was important that I fill in some of the details of how Bella's relationships had evolved since we last saw her in BD.

To those of you who read my fic "Blood & Edward," Charlie's backstory might seem a little familiar. I didn't see a way for him to stay on a "need to know" basis being so close to the Quileutes (nor did I think he should have in the original). I go much more into depth about Charlie's big revelation in B&E, though, be warned, it's an alternate ending to the Twilight Saga that does NOT include Renesmee.

And lastly, how hysterical is it that when I was researching movie releases from September 2013, "Hell Baby," should appear on that list?! 😂😈💀The movie poster is just as I described it and horribly cringe. Posting it on my discord, which y'all should join, because what fun are Twi-friends if you can't share hilarious memes? Track-suit Rob is my all-time favorite. Fun fact: I even own a Tracksuit Rob DRESS that I wore to the Fandom party at the Twilight festival in Forks this year. So send me ALLLL of the tracksuit Rob memes, and maybe I'll post the pic of me wearing that dress that time I got to meet the legendary Billy Burke (Charlie Swan) in Forks, Washington. Til next time, lovelies!