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Chapter 2

The last place that I wanted to be was in a crowded, over-warm restaurant that I never really enjoyed even as a human. After Charlie called me, I immediately went hunting. I knew that the only way that I could stand to be among all these humans and not be overwhelmed by my thirst was to gorge myself with blood. As I walked into through the door, holding Nessie's hand tightly, I realized that it was still going to be a challenge to be among so many humans.

Edward had assured me that I could do this. I hoped that he was right. I've ventured among the people of Forks a little more than I had been for the past month or so. About two months ago my eyes finally darkened to the soft amber common to "vegetarian" vampires. The gossip was that I contracted some rare disease in South America during our honeymoon and that I spent months in isolation at the CDC in Atlanta. As for why I looked totally different was easy to let the gossip mongers come up with—the story went that I had plastic surgery to fix the ravages of the illness. Of course, we let that one go. I was upset at first that people would think me so vain to want plastic surgery, but it served the purpose—it explained why I suddenly was sheet pale and gorgeous.

This was also Nessie's first outing among so many humans. Out of necessity, we had kept her close to home, except to visit at Charlie's and twice I left her go to La Push to BeachFirst with Jacob before it became crowded with tourists. However, we had a story about how she showed up in our lives and it was just as easy to let people's own imagination take over. The Cullens and, surprisingly, my father planted the seeds about the tragic story about Edward's older brother and the accident that took the lives of him and his wife, leaving Renesmee orphaned. No one seemed to wonder why Edward and this mysterious brother hadn't been together with the rest of the Cullens, or why, if he was old enough to have a toddler to school-aged daughter, he hadn't taken care of Edward. I was sure there was plenty of gossip out there, but I wasn't sure I wanted to hear it.

We reached the double, multiple-paned glass doors and Edward held one open for Nessie and me. I took a deep breath with the intention of holding it, but decided that I couldn't hold it the whole time anyway. I'd have to hold a conversation. It would be better if I just got used to it now. I stopped inside the entry and instantly was assaulted with the burn in my throat. It was like I hadn't drained the two mountain lions of blood just hours ago in an attempt to make this better. I had purposefully hunted a predator instead of the usual deer, and found two instead of only one, hoping that the better tasting blood would quench my thirst. But I wasn't so sure if it had; my throat was on fire as I breathed in the heavy air inside the crowded restaurant. The air hung as fragrant with the delicious scent of human blood, as it did the stench of burnt steaks, greasy fried potatoes and other unpleasant smells that I didn't want to name.

I felt the venom begin to flow and I started to panic. How was I going to do this? I wondered over and over again. Edward sensing my concern quickly took my hand. He leaned over and whispered for only my ears, "You're doing fine, Bella. Let me know if it's too much and we'll leave. You only need to say the word."

I nodded my thanks and squeezed his hand. "I'm okay. Just stay close."

He smiled and leaned down to pick Nessie up. He whispered into her ear about being a good girl and together we stepped before the hostess podium to wait to be seated. As a girl I recognized as an underclassman from our last year of high-school came forward, Edward murmured in my ear, "I'll be right beside you, and Seth is here, too."

I was glad that he didn't mention Leah. I wondered what she would do if I would lose control. I shuddered at the unpleasant vision of me attacking my father and the patrons, who were enjoying their meals of steaks and French fries, mugs of beer and the Lodge's famous cheesecake, and comfortable companionship with family and friends. Then the vision turned to the aftermath of such an act. My family would be destroyed, the town horrified, and the werewolves, Seth and Leah, would be exposed as well. Possibly even hurt or killed as they tried to stop me. Seth was already like a little brother to me, and though Leah and I were far from friends, I'd never want to hurt her. I shook the horrible scene from my mind, but not before it strengthened my resolve. I would never hurt any of them. The pain that just the thought caused me was enough to make me not to ever want to feel it for real.

Quenching the burn of my throat wasn't worth it.

"I'm okay, Edward, really," I said with conviction and he smiled at me. He believed me.

"I knew you would be."

Then the hostess bounced up to the podium and immediately flashed Edward a beaming smile. He shifted Nessie in his arms and slipped his arm around my waist. The younger girl instantly realized that he wasn't in the bit least interested. Hard to believe she was only a year younger than me, my life now seemed light years away from hers.

"Three?" she asked finally.

"Actually, we're to meet Chief Charlie Swan here," Edward answered as he looked over her shoulder into the main dinning room.

"Oh, follow me," she said and grabbed three menus.

Charlie, Sue, Seth and Leah were already seated at a group of tables that had been pushed together to accommodate the size of our party. Charlie and Sue stood when they saw us coming, and he smiled nervously at me. I suspected what their announcement was, but I'd play along.

"Hey, you guys finally made it," Seth said and gave me a reassuring smile. Whether by design or just by good luck, the massive hulk that looked much older than his fifteen years was sitting beside the chair my father was indicating for me, across from Sue.

I grinned back at my dad and Sue, and then turned to Seth, who hugged me, pulled on one of Renesmee's bronze colored curls, and then patted Edward on the shoulder. I was suddenly glad that he was here. After Edward held out my chair and I was seated, he situated Nessie beside me. Finally, he sat on the other side of our daughter and across from Leah. Charlie, Sue and Seth resumed their seats, while Charlie chatted with Nessie about what she had been doing since he had seen her three days ago.

Only then did I allow myself a look at Leah. She was all but scowling at us. We had never been friends to begin with, and now we had the natural animosity of vampire and werewolf between us. Of all the wolves in the two packs, Leah was the most belligerent with her dislike for us—it was like none of our times working as allies to defeat common enemies or Jacob's imprinting on my daughter seemed to dilute it.

"I'm surprised to see you, Bella," she said as she glanced back to her menu.

"Why would you be surprised at that, Leah?" Seth said glaringly at his sister. "Charlie is her dad."

"Well, this isn't exactly her kind of place to eat anymore. Now, is it, Bella?"

I saw Edward stiffen; I knew she was baiting me, and he did as well. I wasn't going to take the bait, though, and Edward immediately relaxed when I turned my attention to Nessie.

"Okay, sweetheart, I know what I want—" Leah snorted, but we ignored her and I went on in a gentle tone, "—let's figure out what's good on here for you."

I turned the menu over and found the children's listing. As we read it, she wrinkled her nose at the offerings. I knew this was going to be a challenge. But then Seth leaned behind me and said to her, "Hey, Nessie, I bet you'd like hot-dogs."

She stared at him aghast, I could only imagine what was running through her mind, and it was confirmed when Edward had to hide a snicker behind a cough.

"Not that kind of dogs," Edward said softly. Of course, Charlie laughed as well, but I doubt he'd be amused if he knew that the vampires in our family called the werewolves dogs and that was what his granddaughter was thinking.

Seth grinned, amusingly and said, "Jacob really likes hot-dogs." Now it was my father who grunted. He still wasn't comfortable around Jake since his stunt months ago when he phased into a werewolf before him. He considered him a freak and wasn't happy that he seemed so attached to his granddaughter. Seth ignored the grunt and went on, "He can eat a whole bunch. Just think what he will think if you eat one."

I watched as my little girl's face beamed with a bright smile that rivaled the sun. She would do anything to please Jacob. I tried not to let it bug me at the moment.

However, it apparently bothered Leah. She huffed and I caught the sudden trembling of her hand as she laid the menu on the table before her. Sue also caught sight of it and glared at her.

"Leah," Sue admonished in her gentle voice, "stop it right now."

Leah looked up at her mother and swallowed. The trembling immediately stopped. I looked at Edward who was staring at the young woman across from him with something akin to surprise.

We were saved from Charlie's curiosity by the waitress. "Are you ready?"

Five suddenly anxious voices immediately sounded at once: "Yes!"

And Charlie's unvoiced question was left just that—unvoiced.

Because we knew Charlie would have been offended if we asked to pay the tab or asked for separate checks, we decided to order the least expensive thing on the menu. It didn't matter what it was, neither of us would eat it anyway. So, Edward and I ordered the spaghetti dinner, Nessie got a hot-dog and applesauce. I decided if she was going to eat human food, we would limit the junk. Hot-dogs were bad enough; French fries were out of the question.

Seth ordered a t-bone with a cheeseburger on the side with two baked potatoes. Leah didn't order as much, but her dinner selection of the restaurant's famed Monster Burger also defied what was expected for someone so thin. Sue and Charlie settled on New York strip steaks.

After our drinks and the salads that went with the steak dinners were delivered, Sue asked me about my upcoming course work. I was taking Internet courses over the summer from Phoenix. I was majoring in education; something about teaching really intrigued me after I started teaching Nessie the basics. I decided that it would be a good idea to get as much knowledge as I could about the science of learning and teaching. I realized that I'd probably never really be able to use it in the human world, but Nessie needed taught, and traditional school was out of the question for her. University

I was glad to be talking about something that took the attention off of dinner. I was really looking forward to college. Edward and I were still deciding on whether to reapply to for the fall, or to the University again. I preferred Alaska, simply for its wildness. Somehow that made me feel more at ease than going to did.

Suddenly, Charlie asked between bites of his steak and potato, "So, have you talked to your mom recently?"

Mom. I really did miss her, but I had grown fairly distant from her over the past months. She emailed me often and she called at least once a week. She had wanted us to go down to for Easter last month, but we fended her off with the lie that Edward had just started a college course and wouldn't be able to get away. That seemed to appease her, especially after I announced that I was going to follow in her footsteps and work on my teaching degree. She was ecstatic that I'd even consider teaching. Both she and Phil were teachers, though Phil gave it up to play minor league baseball.

"Yeah, I just talked to her two days ago. They were getting ready to go somewhere with Phil's team. She was excited as usual to be traveling," I answered as I picked at a piece of bread, pretending to be nibbling on it, but actually I was pulverizing the dry bread in my fingers before getting it to my mouth. The napkin in my lap was catching the fine crumbs.

"Well, I just wondered if you were talking to her. I get the feeling that she doesn't know anything about what's really going on with you."

I smiled and shrugged. "There's not really much to tell. I'm happily married to the man of my dreams. Not very exciting to the outside world at all. Very normal and mundane even." I glanced at Edward who flashed me a breathtaking smile. I returned it.

My father snorted. "Somehow I have the feeling that is further from the truth than anything else you've told me."

Edward grinned at his father-in-law as he said, "We haven't really told you anything, remember? Need-to-know only?"

"Yeah, yeah," he glared at Edward.

Oddly it was Leah who saved us from any further discussion on what really was the truth about us. "So, what's going on? Why the fancy dinner?" Her usual impatience was shining through in her snappy tone.

Charlie suddenly looked at Sue, and I was amazed at the handsome smile that spread across his face, to be matched by one on Sue's face. She nodded minutely, and Charlie then turned back to us and cleared his throat. Still not sure if he could spill whatever the big announcement was, he reached for his glass of Coke and took a long drawl before finally starting. "We—Sue and I—asked you here to tell you that…we…er…emmm…"

Sue shook her head, chuckled at his floundering, and saved him by saying, "Charlie and I are getting married."

"That's great, Mom!" Seth immediately said.

At the same time, Edward added, "Congratulations."

I chimed in with, "I'm so happy for you!"

Nessie clapped in response to our happy voices.

And Leah bellowed, "What?"

Sue turned to her eldest with a look of shock, and possibly hurt, on her still pretty bronzed face. "Leah?"

Leah stood up and threw her napkin on her plate of half eaten burger and French fries. "How can you do this, Mom? Dad has barely been dead for a year and already you're shacking up with his best-friend."

"Leah, sit down. Now," Sue ordered in a stern tone. Leah stared at her for several long moments with her trembling hands fisted at her sides. Several people at nearby tables turned to watch the outburst.

"Leah," Seth growled, "now."

She turned toward her brother and glared, but she obeyed the order. Her face was a mask of her long buried grief but she didn't say anything else as she stared down into her plate of half-eaten food unseeingly.

I gazed at her and couldn't help, but to suddenly feel sorry for her. She and her father had been close. Harry Clearwater had been a good man, and he and Charlie had been friends for over twenty years. I wasn't sure how or when my dad's concern and friendship for his best-friend's widow turned to something else, but I could tell over the past few months that they had fallen in love with each other. My dad had pined for nearly eighteen years over my mother's leaving him. I was happy that he finally found love again, and who better than Sue. She knew what my other family was about. She understood at least, even if she couldn't accept.

But as I watched Leah, I knew she felt betrayed and I wondered what would happen next.

I didn't have to wait long. "Well," she looked up at me with an expression of pure hate, "I just can't get rid of you. So, what are we now? The Brady Bunch? No, that's far too tame…" I had a sinking feeling and it was confirmed by Edward's sudden low hiss, but she went on with a sick sort of smirk, "Oh, I got it. We're The Addams Family, or is it The Munsters? I'm glad that I can choose my relatives in this case." She stood up again and turned to her livid mother and my bewildered father. "I'm glad that you're happy, I guess. But I'm not glad that this is happening. I'll see you around. Thanks for dinner, Charlie." And with that she quickly weaved an unsettled path out of the restaurant.

Seth growled beside me and said, "When will she ever just grow up already?"

But I suddenly wondered if immaturity was really what was eating away at my soon-to-be werewolf stepsister.

After a moment longer of silence, Charlie forced a smile and asked, "So, what are we more like—The Brady Bunch or The Addams Family?"

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