Chapter 10: Dad

Nessie's POV

Watching my father attempt to explain what happened after my mother was through with him was almost like watching a circus act. My father kept saying that he "had no idea what came over him," while the rest of my family kept pressing him for answers.

Of course my vampire father knew that it was my ghost mother that had punched the crap out of him more times than any of us could count. He just didn't think my family was ready to know that yet. Jesus vampire father and ghost mother? Could my parentage be more strange than that?

I went to bed not long after that at Carlisle's insistence that I needed to rest. It didn't take me long to fall asleep that night. When I woke up the next morning I felt a cold presence next to my body.

I was startled when I saw my father laying in bed next to me.

"What are you doing here?!"

He cracked a smile. "I'm sorry Nessie I didn't mean to startle you,"

"Yes because having some laying quietly next to me in bed while I sleep isn't supposed to startle me!"

"Just avoiding everyone else right now. That's all,"

"They still giving you a hard time about being beaten up an invisible force?" I laughed.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "It's not funny,"

"Oh come on it's a little funny and you know it,"

"Oh really?" he gave me a devilish look. I tried to scoot away but there was no escape. He grabbed me and started ticking my stomach mercilessly.

"Stop," I gasped between laughs.

"Nope you're not getting off that easily young lady!" he laughed.

"Stop not fair to trap someone who can't escape!"

"Oh Nessie. You're even more ticklish now than you were before," he said as he finished torturing me.

"Oh that's just great I'm more ticklish now and I don't even have a hope of escaping,"

"Even then you couldn't escape once I got ahold of you," he said with a fondness.

One thing I was sure of already is that he was drastically different that my adoptive 'mother'. I hadn't known him or his family very long but I could already see the difference. If I'd grown up with my real family I'd have grown up in a family full of love as opposed to-. I couldn't even finish that though.

"As opposed to what?" My father suddenly asked very seriously. It took me a second to remember what Bella, mom, had said about him being able to read minds.

I didn't want to say it or even think it.

"Renesmee Carlie-"

"As opposed to growing up in a house without love,"

My father's grip on me tightened and I felt his posture stiffen.

"You didn't have love? Another family found you. Took you in. But didn't love you?"

"My mom saw me as a burden and she made sure I knew that I was a burden to her,"

I could see that my father was getting more and more upset and I didn't want to talk about the subject more but he wanted to know.

"What did she do to you Renesmee and don't try to lie or conceal anything from me because I will know,"

"I guess that's just it. She didn't do anything. I was pretty much left to fend for myself from an early age. I had to cook all my meals for myself which resulted in quite a few accidents since she didn't teach me how to use the stove or oven. It wasn't until the ER doctors began to question the burns that she bothered to teach me,"

"Show me," he ordered.

"Um what?"

"Your burns," he simply said.

"Oh,"

I rolled up my sleeves to show him the burn scars I still had.

I could feel my father growing angrier by the second so I hurriedly continued my life story. I did all my laundry from an early age as well. I was always solely responsible for getting myself to school and back.

"She didn't even bother to make sure you got to school safely even though you were in a wheelchair?!"

"No it was a burden to her. The only reason she adopted me was because she 'thought I was pretty' but 'didn't realize how much work I would be with my condition,"

I didn't even need to look at my father to know he was angry. I could feel his anger rolling off of him in waves.

"Dad it's okay-"

"No it is not okay!" he shouted. "If I wouldn't have caused you to run away that day then none of this would've ever happened! You would've grown up with a family that would've always loved you paralyzed or not! It's all my fault!"

"Dad-"

"You're really calling me 'dad' after everything that I've caused? Your mother was right in getting angry at me the way she did last night but you're calling me 'dad'? Incredible,"

"Well you are my dad aren't you? Look your anger is enough to prove to me that you care about me more than my adoptive mom ever did,"

"She wouldn't have been a problem if-"

"Dad we all make stupid mistakes and say stupid things when-"

"Most stupid mistakes don't cause a parent's only child to run away, mysteriously vanish, lose her memory, become paralyzed, and end up with a neglectful family now do-"

I threw my arms around my father, kissed his ice cold cheek, and completely caught him off guard.

He was too stunned to say anything.

"I forgive you dad. Is that want you want to hear? I forgive you so stop blaming yourself for everything that happened to me,"

My dad hugged me tight.

I felt something fall out of my pocket. I tried to grab it but he beat me to it.

He examined it carefully before asking "What's this?"

I felt my face run cold when I realized it was my forged debit card that was linked to mom's savings account that I'd been using.

Merry Christmas Everyone!