Carlisle supposed that the trait of acceptance of very strange things was congenital with the Swans, for when he had told Charlie exactly what the Cullens were, he was at first disbelieving, then a little disturbed, but ultimately accepted and embraced it, and Carlisle, most ardently.
And the necessity to belong must also have been a trait of the Swans, for it was not long after Charlie learned this that he wished to join Carlisle in the curse of immortality. He had asked outright, as was in his character, and had shocked Carlisle so much as to cause the man to choke on his own tongue for a brief spell.
"Will you turn me into a vampire?" [insert choking here]
After some moments during which Carlisle regained his composure, Charlie said, "It's easiest for you, right? The bloodlust isn't tempting like it is to the others? You've already taken my daughter. Why not me, too?"
"It's not that simple, Charlie," he had tried to explain. Thus had begun their first real row.
xXxXx
"We took your daughter because we saw that they couldn't be separated, she and Edward, and it was the easiest way. You… you still have a life."
"Which I want to spend with you," Charlie had said very simply. The only reason he could think that Carlisle would not turn him was that Carlisle did not want him for all eternity. That was the only logical reason.
xXxXx
"No, Charlie, it isn't that," he said, exasperated, now they were picking up their argument again. "It isn't that, at all. You won't be happy. It's not a good existence," he insisted, thinking of the dreadful amounts of money accumulated that could be thrown away on any old thing, the baseball games which his family clearly hated, and the freedom to start life over, become a different person, over and over again.
"It's what I want."
xXxXx
Carlisle knew that there was something about Charlie. There was something that told him he would be very sorry when he had to leave the man behind, take his only daughter, only companion away. There was something that spoke to him of a deep sorrow when he had to vanish from Charlie's life. And the more he thought about Charlie's argument, the more logical, the more humane it sounded, to take Charlie into the Cullen family. No. There really was no good reason.
xXxXx
"It will be painful, Charlie. Like nothing you could ever have imagined. It will make you beg for death." It was a strong rationalisation, but a futile one. They both knew that Carlisle's mind had been made up some time ago.
xXxXx
Carlisle had agreed to do it at Charlie's house, where they could be most alone. He sat with Charlie on his bed and ran his fingers very gently through his hair.
"It's what I want, Carlisle," Charlie whispered against the other man's shoulder. Carlisle barely heard him, thinking all the while that it was the last time he would ever hold a soft, warm Charlie in his arms.
xXxXx
Carlisle sunk his teeth gently and slowly into Charlie's neck, sliding into the warm sheath of flesh and latching his lips to the man's skin. Cradling Charlie's head, Carlisle slowly sucked, his every nerve lighting up like London in the Blitz, the blood hitting is taste buds and positively dazzling them. It had been so long since he had last tasted human blood.
He almost, almost allowed himself to be carried away by the lust he felt, but exercised strict control, as he generally was able, and let the venom percolate slowly throughout Charlie's bloodstream.
xXxXx
Through every shudder and every pained cry, he held Charlie close, until at last the seizing and weeping ceased. And he opened golden eyes like a newborn catching his first glimpse of the world, kissing Carlisle softly, while Carlisle hoped to any supernatural kingdom that may await their souls that he had done the right thing.
This one disappointed me, especially since I've been so eager to write some blood-sucking action. And it is angsty, sorry. That's what I get for writing while watching the intense half of Pride and Prejudice.