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Chapter 3

With a serious expression of a decision being made, Edward was the one that answered my father's question. "Charlie, I think we should answer that question back at the house, if you don't mind."

Charlie stared at first my husband and then he turned to me. Finally, he glanced at Nessie, who was watching the proceedings with an intensity that would have even belied a five-year-old, and be beyond impossible for an eight-month-old. Slowly he nodded, and then looked over at Sue. Softly he asked, "You know what's going on, don't you?"

She took his hand, which was sitting beside his forgotten dinner plate, and replied, "Yeah, Charlie, I do. And Edward's right, this can't be a conversation held in public." Then she turned to us and added sadly, "I'm sorry, Bella, Edward. I don't know what's gotten into her lately. I thought after…well, you know…things were better. But now…" She shook her head and looked down at her plate.

Oddly it was Charlie who provided her comfort, though he clearly had no idea what he was comforting Sue for. He wrapped his arm around her slight shoulders and pulled her to his chest. It was strange seeing my father like that with a woman. I was too little to remember my parents being married, but I had never seen him remotely intimate before. I wasn't even sure if he even dated. I'm sure he did, but he hadn't so much as mentioned going out with a woman the whole time I'd been in Forks.

Softly, he murmured into her short black hair, "It's okay, Suzie. This is hard for Leah. I get it. We all miss Harry."

Sue took a deep breath and looked up at him. She smiled as she whispered back, "Thanks, for trying to understand, Charlie. I love you."

Charlie grinned back and winked as he said, "I love you, too." Then he shocked me when he leaned down and kissed her. It was only a quick peck, but it was a jolt to me.

My father was in love and getting married!

"Okay, enough of that," Seth quipped. "Some of us are still innocent."

We all laughed at Seth's attempt at humor, but a shadow had been cast over the evening. After a moment, Charlie asked, "Are we all done then? It doesn't seem like any of us are hungry any longer."

We agreed to follow Charlie back to the house. Once inside the Volvo, I turned to Edward and said, "Okay, out with it. You know what's really going on with Leah."

He looked intently out at the gloom of the evening and took a deep breath.

After a long moment, he turned and looked at Nessie who was watching him as closely as I was. Finally, he replied, "She's upset."

I huffed. "No kidding. I don't need to be a mind reader to figure that out."

He met my gaze and said, "Okay. She's jealous of…someone." At first I thought he meant me, or possibly Charlie, but then he flicked his glance at Nessie. It all pieced together in a space of a heartbeat—Nessie's heartbeat.

Leah was jealous of Nessie and Jacob's relationship. "Does she have…feelings for…you know who?"

"I hate driving this slow," Edward mumbled through gritted teeth at driving the annoying twenty-five mile-an-hour speed limit. He was following his Chief of Police father-in-law; he should have known that Charlie would obey the law. He looked at me and answered my oblique question. "Yes, she does. She feels betrayed by him. She thought they were getting somewhere with their relationship. Apparently, they were planning on going away together after…after you—changed. Then that didn't happen because he and…well, you know. We've gained a pet since then." I ignored his slight at Jacob. He shrugged as he pulled along the curb in front of Charlie's house. "But that's not all. She really does feel like Charlie and Sue somehow are betraying her father's trust. She hates that all the wolves are imprinting. Apparently, Brady imprinted on a four-year-old that his mother baby-sits a week ago. She's not Native American either, which along with…emmm…the pet's imprinting, seems to negate a lot of the theories of why they imprint to begin with. None of which is comforting for Leah." He shook his head as if to clear it of her memories and said, "She is so embittered that I don't like being in her mind for long."

"Well," I sighed, "that explains a lot. You know, I do feel sorry for her."

He turned the car off and reached to open his door. "Well, don't. Trust me, Bella; she isn't worth your pity. I agree that Leah does seem to be highly unlucky in love, but she doesn't make it easy either. I know from being in the pack's collective mind that she is very vengeful. It's really no wonder none of them are interested in her, she makes their lives miserable."

I sat there contemplating what he told me as I waited for him to get my door. There was a motion by the forest and Leah entered the yard. I instantly braced myself for the worse.

Seth caught site of her, too, and scowled at his older sister. It was easy to tell from her appearance that she had just phased from being a wolf. "Leah, what are you doing here?" Seth growled. He was extremely upset with her.

She stepped forward and Sue and Charlie turned to watch her. Charlie was surprised, Sue was anxious, but saved us from having a scene in the front yard by saying, "Let's all go inside. I think we have to get some things out into the open right now."

Once inside the small front room of Charlie's house, Sue took a deep breath and turned toward Charlie. "There are many things that we have to talk about. But before we get into those things I have something to say to you kids." She turned toward us. Edward and I were standing near the front window, Edward held Nessie, and he and I were as still as statues. Seth stood beside his sister a little closer to the door. Charlie and Sue were by the couch. None of us sat in the seating, and I hoped the tension would not consume us. As if feeling the same way, Sue sat down and pulled Charlie with him.

Holding his hand, she looked over at her kids by the door and said, "I know this seems sudden to you and that you feel as if I'm betraying your dad, but I know for a fact Harry would have wanted me to be happy." She paused and swallowed hard, as if what she was about to say was difficult to get out. "We used to talk about what the other one would do if one of us—passed on. Harry always thought that he'd be the first to go. Of course, neither of us thought it would be so soon. But he never wanted me to be alone. We loved each other and I never, ever considered being with another man. I didn't plan on falling in love with Charlie and I denied it for a long time. Just as he did. We both had a hard time coming to terms with our feelings, and what we felt for Harry, and what all this meant since he was now gone. We were there for each other during a hard time and out if it we fell in love." They shared a private smile and again I was struck with how different my father was.

Charlie looked at me then, and said in a gruff voice laden with emotion, "After you got married, I realized that I was truly all alone. Then you got sick and I couldn't even see you. I was worried sick, if it hadn't been for Sue…" he visibly shuddered and I realized for the first time how much my leaving affected my father. I may not have spent much of my childhood with him, but I realized right then just how much he truly lived for me, even when I wasn't living under his roof.

"I'm so sorry, Dad," I all but whispered and a silent sob erupted from my throat. Edward took my hand and squeezed it.

Leah shuffled uncomfortably by the door, and then she muttered, "I'm sorry, too, Charlie, Mom, for the way I acted in the restaurant."

Charlie smiled over at her. "I understand, Leah. You and Seth didn't have an easy time of it either."

Seth shrugged and answered for his sister, "Well, it wasn't just Dad's dying that bothered us." He looked at Edward and me, and then at Sue, who nodded once. Seth then moved forward and kneeled before Charlie. Smiling, he said, "Do you remember when Jacob turned into a wolf?"

Charlie scowled, nodded and snapped, "It's something I try to forget. He scared me half to death when he did that."

Seth chuckled and responded, "Well, I think he could have gone about it a little differently, but I do get why he did it the way that he did. Now, would you have believed him if he had just told you that he's a werewolf?"

Charlie chuckled and agreed, "No, probably not. I would have thought he had lost his mind. Instead, he made me think that I lost mine."

We all shared an uneasy snicker. Then suddenly, Nessie hoped out of Edward's arms and moved toward Seth. She looked at Seth and placed her tiny hand on his cheek. He grinned and nodded. I suddenly realized what she was about to do, but Edward shook his head negatively before I would call her back to us. I anxiously watched as she stepped over to Charlie. He picked her up and sat her on his lap. Then she asked, "Let me tell you, Grandpa. I have a special gift. I'd like to show you."

"Okay…" Charlie hesitantly said and then looked up at us. "Is this one of those need-to-know things?"

Edward laughed and shrugged. "Well, Charlie, you are the only one of us here who doesn't know everything. I think it's about time that you do." Then he became grave as he added, "But you must understand what you are about to discover may not seem believable and it may even be unpleasant to hear. And more importantly it is extremely important to never tell anyone else."

Charlie could only nod. Then he looked down at Nessie. "What do you have to tell me, sweetheart?"

She grinned up at him and touched his chin. A moment later Charlie jerked back. "What the…"

"She's showing you about the wolves, right?" Seth inquired.

"Yeah, but how…"

"I told you that I'm gifted, Grandpa. I can show people my thoughts. I won't hurt you," Nessie's ring-like voice assured him. Then she touched his face again and asked, "Please?"

He swallowed and nodded slowly. I could see the astonishment in his dark eyes as he stared at the angelic little girl.

After another moment he looked at Seth, and then up at Leah. It was to Leah that he asked in a shaky voice, "You're both—ahh—werewolves, too?"

Leah cleared her throat and nodded. "Yeah."

"You're the only girl?"

She nodded again. Then Nessie touched Charlie's face again. After a time, he smiled and said to Leah, "She showed me that you are the fastest of them all and that she thinks that it's great that you're a girl and a—a wolf."

Leah only grunted.

Finally, I said, "Nessie, I think that's all that you should show Grandpa for now."

Charlie looked up and glared at me. "What exactly don't you want her to show me?"

"Dad, I think the rest of this confession should be better done with regular words." I looked at Edward and he smiled at me and squeezed my hand. "Dad, what exactly do you think Edward and I are?"

He sat back and stared at us. His brow furrowed and I knew he was trying to piece it all together in his mind. After all, he was a cop. He may only work in a small town, but he did go to the academy and he knew how to look at evidence. I could almost see his mind work, but he wasn't sure that he could accept the conclusion the evidence was giving him. Finally, he chuckled, but it was full of nervous uncertainty. "And I thought Billy Black was crazy for believing in all those old spooks-under-the-bed tales."

I suppose his response shouldn't have surprised me. Of course, Billy would have told the legends to him in hopes of getting Charlie thinking about Edward.

Edward smiled and said reassuringly, "It is okay, Charlie, none of us will think you've lost your mind or even laugh at your theories."

"Of course, we won't." Leah huffed. "Because the truth is even worse…"

"Leah," Sue warned and Leah shrank back against the doorframe again.

Charlie looked from one face to the other, to finally come to rest on mine. Very quietly he asked, "You knew what he was, right? He didn't trick you. I will never forgive myself if I let you—you become what he is…"

"No, Dad, he didn't trick me. Edward loves me as much as I do him and has only ever wanted to protect me."

Then he looked at Edward. "The rest of your family, are they like you?"

Edward nodded.

"Even Carlisle?"

"Yes."

"But how? I…I don't understand. How is that possible? He's a doctor…"

"What do you think we are, Dad?" I could barely speak.

He stared at me and whispered, "Vampires."

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