A/N: Well, I'm glad that everyone is enjoying this so far! I know you aren't reading my note though; eager to get to Billy and Jacob's response? Let's get on with it then!

Chapter 12: The Separation

Edward

They pulled up just a few minutes later, Jacob behind the wheel of a tan colored sedan. The rage I heard in his mind was evident on his face as he stared at Charlie in the doorway, with Esme standing right next to him. Jacob got out of the car and helped Billy into the wheelchair stowed in the back, never taking his eyes off of her.

I grabbed Esme, pulling her back out of the door way, leaving Charlie to greet them as they got closer. She struggled against me, wanting to get closer to her mate, but I restrained her. Bella walked up to stand next to us, placing her arm feebly against Esme, attempting to also halt her progress.

Jacob greeted Charlie through gritted teeth, glaring at both me and Esme. "Charlie, Bella. Looks like you've made some new friends."

Charlie helped wheel Billy inside, not responding to Jacob. We all stood around for a moment without saying anything, but Esme slipped through my hands. She flitted over to Charlie, putting her arms around him. He responded by doing the same, and Jacob and Billy just stared at the two of them.

"Charlie? What's going on here?" Billy asked, turning to face them.

"Billy and Jacob, this is Esme, my..." He glanced down at her, smiling. "My mate."

"Mate?" Jacob spit out, anger making his body shake. "What the hell do you mean your mate?"

"Jacob," I said, taking a step toward him. I could feel how close he was to snapping; he was young still and didn't know how to control himself better. He had only phased a few times, according to what I was reading off of him. Sam had been helping him, but he was far from being able to control himself. "Let's go outside and talk? We need you to calm down."

"I'm not going anywhere with a blood sucker," Jacob yelled, his body shaking even more. Billy touched his arm, stopping him from coming after me. I pushed Bella behind me, so that I was in-between them. Esme tried to mirror my actions, but Charlie shook his head at her, keeping himself between them instead. Esme's eyes shot to me, right as Jacob's body exploded.

Billy's chair was pushed out of the way, slamming into the wall in the kitchen. I grabbed Bella and pulled her toward the back wall, putting space between them. Jacob transformed took over most of the space, especially for the small area of Charlie's living room. He howled and jumped toward Esme, but I couldn't react. My focus was on Bella and keeping her away from him, I had to trust Esme to take care of Charlie.

Within the span of seconds, though, I realized that because Charlie had kept himself in front of her, she didn't react as quickly as if she had seen exactly what was happening. Jacob grabbed Charlie and tossed him to the side like a rag doll, baring his teeth at Esme. The thump of Charlie's body colliding with the wall and hitting the floor caught everyone's attention before Jacob got to Esme. We all turned to stare in shock at Charlie's still body.

Esme backed away from Jacob, and turned to run out the front door. I heard her thoughts as she ran, she was trying to get him away from Charlie and Bella, to save them both, even if it was at the expense of herself.

"Bella, stay here. Please!" I didn't have time to wait for her to respond. I rushed over to Charlie, quickly assessing him. I brought back all of the medical training I'd had over the years and triaged that he was badly injured, yet thankfully alive. Bella was by my side in seconds, crying silently next to his unconscious body.

"Edward?" she asked, through sobs.

"He's alive, Bella. But we need to get him to the hospital immediately. Bella," I said quietly, without looking up. "Call 911. Now!" She started digging in her pocket to get her cell out, unlocking it with shaking hands.

Just as soon as I said that, though, Carlisle burst through the front door. "Put the phone down, Bella. We can't call anyone."

I stared at him. "Carlisle, what are you doing here?"

"Alice told me to come. She saw something..." his voice carried off as he rushed over to help me with Charlie. He quickly started assessing him as I had. "Emmett and Jasper left when we smelled Esme's scent through the forest."

"Jacob Black," I said in confirmation, holding the bleeding down on Charlie's shoulder. "He shifted and injured Charlie. Esme ran off trying to get him away from Bella and Charlie."

Bella was shaking, I could hear and feel it. Carlisle was taking care of Charlie, but I kept my hand on his shoulder where the blood was seeping out. I pulled her close to me, kissing her head, trying to calm her down.

I turned to Billy, who was rolling over to us. "Billy, you need to get yourself out of here immediately. We'll tell them that he was attacked by a bear just outside the forest line. But we need you to go, and quickly!"

"No, Edward. There's no time for an ambulance." Carlisle looked up at me, his eyes grave. "He won't make it. Listen to his heart, son."

The faulty beat was weakening, and I could hear Bella falling apart beside me at those words. "Carlisle, we have to do something. Esme...she'll be lost without him." I choked up; I was already mourning for my mate's lost father, and Esme's lost future.

"I can save him, Edward," Carlisle said, quietly. My head turned swiftly to look at him.

"You would doom him to our fate?"

"Carlisle, please. Just save him." Bella whispered, scooting closer and grabbing Charlie's hand.

"Bella, he didn't choose this."

She turned to look at me. "How many of you did?" A tear rolled down her cheek. "What did your mother say to convince him to save you? For him to do what he could, right? What others couldn't?" She turned back to Carlisle. "Save him, now. Please don't let my father die."

Carlisle didn't waste any time; he bent down and bit Charlie on the neck, twice. Billy rolled up, his face passive, as he looked over his friend on the ground. I closed my eyes. We had just killed the treaty, no pun intended, and Billy Black was a witness to it.

"I texted Sam, Edward. The boys are talking Jake down now. Sam is on his way here." I heard Billy say. His voice wasn't filled with anger, but there was an edge to his voice. I listened to his thoughts, he was consumed with thoughts of the broken treaty, not even taking into account the fact that he and Jacob had broken it already.

I reached for my phone, texting Mother asking for her and Alice to get here immediately. I knew that Mother was the best resource we had right now, considering it was her who had forged the original treaty with Billy's ancestor.

I listened to Charlie's heartbeat. It was a little stronger now, and I could tell the blood was not seeping as much. I took the opportunity to remove my hand and wind it around Bella, bringing her to me. She was still crying and shaking.

"Edward, we need to move him. And we need to come up with a story."

"Alice and Mother will be here soon, Carlisle. They will know what to do." I didn't look at him. I was focused on Bella, who was falling apart in my arms.

Soon enough, Mother was coming through the door with Alice, Sam close behind them. Alice flitted over to me and Bella first.

"Take her upstairs, let her rest."

"What about d-d-Dad? What are you going to do with him?" Bella asked Alice.

"We are going to have to get him away from here as fast as we can. We don't want him near humans once he's turned."

"But he's going to be ok right? Carlisle bit him, that means he's going to be ok?" Bella bit her lip, looking between the two of us.

I saw a flash of a vision in Alice's head. It was sort of jumbled, not as clear as most of her visions are, but I could see Charlie standing in front of Esme, his arms spread like he was protecting her. He was definitely a vampire.

"He's going to be just fine, love. Come on, let's get you upstairs."

She leaned over and kissed Charlie's forehead. "I love you, Dad." Then, she shifted and stood, walking in front of me. She got to her bedroom door, and pushed it open, taking a final glance down the stairs. She couldn't see him from there, but she looked anyway, almost like it was going to be the last time she saw him.

Then she walked into her room and curled up on her bed. I closed the door, asking Alice to make sure no one bothered us, before laying down next to her and putting my arm around her. I held her close while she cried herself to sleep.

Esme

By the time the other wolves got to us, I was absolutely terrified. Jacob had grazed me a few times and I knew just how sharp his teeth were. I tried desperately not to think about Charlie and what was happening back at his house. I just had to lead Jacob as far away from them as possible.

But once Jacob's buddies got there, they tackled him and held him to the ground. I stopped running and braced myself, in case they decided to turn back and start chasing me. Emmett and Jasper arrived while they were still wrestling with Jacob. They stood in front of me, protecting me from the wolves. One of them stepped up and phased into human form.

"He's ok now. We are going to get him home." The boy looked apologetic. "Please tell Charlie...tell him we are all sorry for what happened."

I nodded at him, not trusting my voice. I was furious with Jacob, and if I ever got him alone, I would kill him. Emmett and Jasper steered me back toward Charlie's house. I had run pretty far, so I knew it would take us a while to get back. I glanced at the wolves for a second, but ultimately, I didn't care about them. I needed to get back to Charlie.

The last week with him had been the best of my existence. He was a quiet yet caring man. When he loved, he loved with his whole heart. The first time he kissed me, I thought I would burst with happiness. He was so caring with me. We had stayed up until all hours of the night just talking and getting to know each other. But eventually he would fall asleep. Once he did, he would shift until his arms were around me and we would sleep all night that way. Well, he would sleep, and I would watch him. He never let go of me.

As we were racing through the forest, I just kept focusing on our nights together. Everything we'd said to each other. Everything I felt for him. Everything I was sure he felt for me. Everything I wanted for us in the future. We rounded the bend and burst through the forest wall next to the house and immediately stopped when I heard screaming inside the house.

Rose and Carlisle were just opening the back door carrying a body. I gasped in horror when I realized that the body and the screaming was the same person; Charlie. I ran up to them, putting my hand to his face.

"Charlie? It's Esme. I'm here. Oh god, what's going on?" I looked up at them, begging someone to tell me something.

"He was going to die, Esme. I had to save him," Carlisle explained. He and Rose continued to walk, getting him away from the house. "His screaming is causing alarm to the neighbors. Edward said that they were sending the cops here, thinking someone was being attacked."

"What do we do?"

"You need to get him out of here. He can't be near the humans, and you know that. Head to Denali. Tonya will be able to help you." He motioned to the east. "Liz brought you the fastest car we have, it's filled with gas already. Just get him there as fast as you can. Let us handle the rest."

I nodded, unable to really think clearly. They helped me carry him to where Liz had parked the car. As fast as I could, I got him in the backseat. I thanked them both wordlessly, and hit the gas.

Carlisle

Getting the cops to believe us was harder than we originally thought. But we had an unlikely advocate, it seemed. Billy Black had stuck around, with Sam hovering behind him, and explained that they had come over to help when Charlie fell. I explained that he had a spine injury and I had sent him upstate to a friend of mine who was a specialist. They were wary of us in general, but kept asking why we hadn't called an ambulance.

"It would have taken longer for you to assess him than me just getting him to my friend. He fell out of a tree in the backyard, landing right on his back. If he ever walks again, it will be a miracle."

The young copy looked down at his notebook. "And what about his daughter? Isabella?"

"As I said, she's upstairs. She's very upset. My wife and I are planning on taking her home with us while Charlie is being evaluated. Once we have more information, which will only be a few days, we will take her up there to be with him." I was calm, going over everything Alice and Liz had told me to say. I knew it would turn out well; I trusted them completely. I never questioned what they told me to do, not after so many years of correct ideas.

"Did you call her mother? That's who has full custody of her."

"We tried, but her cell phone was disconnected," Liz explained, stepping closer to the man and putting her arm around me. "She and her husband are on a road trip, I believe. We don't have any other numbers for her, or her husband."

The young man nodded. "We'll see if we can find them for you. In the meantime, I suppose it's fine for Isabella to stay with you. Please have Charlie call us as soon as he can so we can make sure he's ok."

They asked a few more questions of those around us, but we seemed to be off the hook. I knew from Edward that Bella was still sleeping, and I wanted her to stay that way. As the police cleared out, my family started filtering in, all concerned over our newest members. Rose and Emmett were embracing, heads close together, near the far wall; Alice and Jasper were sitting close together on the couch, while Liz was never far away from me.

Once the officers left, I looked back at Billy and Sam, and a couple other members of the tribe who had come in a short time ago. I knew we needed to discuss the broken treaty, but I wasn't sure how to start the conversation. My wife took care of that for me.

Liz rounded on them as soon as she knew the police were gone. "I hope you are happy with the situation we have found ourselves in. It's because of your son's reckless behavior that Charlie is in the shape he is!"

Liz rarely got angry, but she was amazing this time. She dressed down the wolves in such a fashion that the younger ones were almost crying by the time she was done. When she loved, it was fully, and she couldn't stand the idea of someone she loved being hurt. And she said that to them; that's what made Sam step closer.

"You love Charlie? I thought he was with the other one? The one who drove off with him?"

Liz rolled her eyes – a mannerism she had picked up from Edward, I was quite sure – and glared at him. "I love all of my family, Sam. Can you not say the same about your tribe?"

Sam squared his jaw, looking around the room at all of us. "We need to discuss the treaty," he said, as if Liz hadn't spoken. "As of tonight, the treaty is null and void."

Liz huffed out a laugh. "It was broken long before today, Sam. You do realize that part of the treaty that we signed was that you would keep our secret, right?" She turned and stared down at Billy. "Tell him. Tell him that you broke the treaty before we did."

Sam looked at Billy, who was focusing intently on the floor. "Billy? What's going on? What does she mean?"

When Billy didn't say anything, Liz turned back to Sam. "He told Charlie about your legends. When we came clean to him, I asked him to tell us what he knew first and we would confirm if it was true. He told us everything, Sam! He knew we were your 'cold ones', he knew about you turning into wolves, everything! Billy broke the treaty already, so in our eyes it was done before your kind hurt Charlie." Her eyes were flashing at him. "Charlie almost died because of your tribe. Jacob could have killed him! If Carlisle hadn't been on his way over already, he would be dead by now. We saved him, in the only way that we could."

Sam was silent, staring at Liz while she spoke. His mouth was set in a firm thin line. He glanced at the rest of the pack in the room, before placing his eyes on her. "Let us confer together. Please do not do anything; let us talk to the elders."

I stepped forward. "We still do not mean you any harm, Sam. We only hunt animals, you know that. No matter what the treaty said, we would have never bit any of them without cause. We only did this to save Charlie's life." I didn't add because we had to, or because it was their fault he was hurt. He knew that, and rubbing it in even more wasn't worth the effort.

Sam nodded to me once, grabbed ahold of Billy's wheelchair and they all left out the front door. My family crowded around us then, watching them leave. All except Edward and Bella.

"Son, how is she doing?" I asked, knowing he could hear me.

"She's in pain, Carlisle. She misses him already."

"Should we try and find Renee?"

"No, I don't think that would help her. Renee and Phil are already on their world-tour at the moment," Edward said with malice in his voice. I could tell his opinion of Bella's mother was quite low. "Let me keep her here tonight; she needs to be around what she knows before we take her anywhere, ok?"

"I understand, son. We'll clear out and give you both some privacy."

Liz grabbed my hand. "Esme will keep Charlie safe, Carlisle. But we need to figure out what we are going to do next. We can't keep Bella here without her father; it will cause too much of a stir. She's still underage." Her face went blank for a moment.

Alice hopped up next to Liz, her eyes went blank also. "Yes, that's it, Liz. We can do that."

As usual, they kept us out of the plan initially. But, after all, they had never led us down the wrong path before. We all just trusted them to see us through. None of us asked, knowing we would be brought into the plan eventually. Instead, we said quiet goodbyes to Edward, letting him know we would be close by if he needed us, and left out the front door. Rose and Emmett drove Edward and Esme's cars home, while the rest of us opted to run.

Once we were far enough away from the house to make sure Edward couldn't hear us, I slowed down holding Liz back. "You can see that Charlie will be fine, right?"

"Alice has already, yes."

"Did you know this was a possibility with the strand of choices available to Charlie?" I asked her, almost afraid of the answer. The sadness in her eyes told me the truth, though.

"It was the only way, Carlisle. As soon as I saw that Esme would be his mate, I knew. When Edward wasn't around, I searched through the choices again and made sure that I took the path that would lead us here. If I hadn't, I only saw heartache for Esme and Bella, and Charlie's path ending. This choice at least has us all together at the end."

I hung my head, thinking through what she said. "Bella may resent it. Hell, Charlie may also, Liz."

She put her arms around me, laying her head on my chest. I pulled her in tighter, resting my head on hers. "I know. It was the only option we had, though."

A/N: Carlisle has made some questionable choices through the years, but ultimately, we all know his heart is in the right place. He doesn't want people to die when there is an alternative, and he views his life as such. He made the choice because Bella asked him.

There are always choices in life, right? This is the one that ended the best for everyone. However, now we have a separation looming. Bella can't be near her father because he will be a newborn soon, and Renee is off on her adventure. Next up, we see what the Cullens and Masons will do to keep the Charlie story solid, and to keep Bella safe.

Also, will do my best to stick to my schedule this week. I wanted to give you guys this chapter because I'm going to be super busy and may not be able to update too fast. I'll try, but life may get in the way.

Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing! And a special thanks to my sister for pre-reading, and my beta zombified419!