A/N: A quick thank you to everyone that has taken the time to write a review and follow this story. This chapter is a short one, but I wanted to get it out there today. I'll continue to post these little drabbles throughout the week. And now on with our story!
A short time later, I'm back in my car and following them down the drive towards home. We part ways once I'm familiar with my surroundings again and I take a quick detour to the shore before I head home. Parking along the cliffs, I stay in the car knowing it's a little breezy out and I still only have the t-shirt Edward let me borrow. I have plans to Skype with Angela this afternoon and I'm sure that my dad will be calling. I'm turning 23 and while he typically doesn't pick up the phone, this is the one day that regardless of where I am he'll be sure to call.
It's strange to not be celebrating my birthday in any real way this year. No one here knows it's my birthday. It's not something that I run around announcing and it's certainly not something anyone would think to ask having only just met me.
Skyping with Angela puts a smile back on my face. She gives me a virtual tour of her new apartment she and Ben moved into, while I show her around the cottage. I fill her in on my adventures with the McCarty duo and she interrogates me about the time I've spent with Edward. I give her all the details of our interactions, since there really isn't too much to share. Talking about him makes me feel like I'm back in high school with my first crush. Maybe it's because this is my island crush. After a promise from me to post more on Facebook to keep her updated and a promise from her to look into tickets to travel out here, we share a goodbye.
Charlie is nothing if not consistent. My whole life he's had the same predictable routine, which is perhaps why I was searching for something so different. At the age of 20 my father found out that his high school sweetheart was pregnant. By 21 he was a single father, raising a daughter on his own, after my mother decided that having a baby wasn't the fun time she'd pictured. Throughout my life, my mother was always the Disneyland parent; showing up to celebrate birthdays, taking me on vacation, sending gifts in the mail from her latest travels. It was easy to get caught up in the land of Renee.
Charlie was my rock; setting limits when I wanted to spend more time out with friends, taking away the car when I got my first speeding ticket, and wiping away the tears when my mother would once again cancel at the last minute.
And like every year I haven't been at home on my birthday, at exactly 2:42 PM, my phone rings.
"Hi, Dad," I answer with a smile, already knowing his reply.
"Happy birthday, Bells."