Chapter Twenty: Fools Rush In

Carlisle's POV

"I don't think I can do this." Emmett sighed Wednesday as we sat in front of the airport terminal. "I can't face her."

"Emmett, you haven't seen your girls in months." I reminded him. "Don't go home for Rosalie, go home for your daughters."

"I miss them, but Rosalie..."

"Did a terrible thing." I agreed. "But, Ariana, Char, and Claire didn't and they don't deserve to be ignored like this. If you're gone much longer, they aren't going to be thinking everything is okay for much longer."

"For my girls." He sighed as he gripped the duffle bag straps.

"For your girls." I nodded as he opened the car door.

"Carlisle?" He asked as he stood outside the car. "Thanks for everything."

"Anytime." I nodded as he shut the door. By the time I got home, the house was clean and Emmett's room was back to being the guest room. I shook my head in disbelief and went to find my fiance and son. Bella was in her office and Edward was doing homework in his room.

"Hey you," I whispered as I walked up to Bella, kissing her shoulder. "What have you been doing all day?"

"Cleaning." She giggled as she turned around, placing her arms around my neck. "This will be the first time your parents and mine will be together." She sighed. "I want to make a good impression."

"My mother knows mine and Edward's messy habits." I laughed.

"This is a big deal, Carlisle." She whispered. "This is the first time seeing my parents since graduation and I'm still trying to make a good impression with yours."

"Bella, my parents don't have an issue with you anymore."

"That doesn't mean they like me." She sighed as I began rubbing her back. "And, I might not have told my parents something."

"What?"

"I didn't exactly...tell them about the engagement." She told me and I went wide eyed. "I mean, they were having a hard enough time coping with the fact that I was dating and moving in with my much older professor boyfriend."

"Yeah,"

"And, it isn't like we got engaged long after graduation." She shrugged. "I just wanted to give them time to cool down...so I could get them angry again."

"I thought they were coming because they knew that I was going to be their son-in-law and Edward would be their...grandkid."

"Nope." She squeaked. "They don't know any of that."

"Well are you planning on telling them?" I asked. "This weekend?"

"Maybe when they're getting out of the car to leave Monday night." She laughed. "Carlisle, we've been in such a perfect bubble lately."

"Yeah, but not telling your parents of our engagement?" I asked. "You're close. They'll get over it."

"I want them to get to know you before I tell them." She whispered. "All they know is that you're the guy that is much older than me who almost got me kicked out of school. Plus, they think I got you kicked out of NYU."

"Well," I laughed, earning myself a punch in the shoulder.

"I want them to know you the way I do." She smiled. "I want them to know you're a good father who puts Edward first. A man who is committed to everything and everyone in his life. I don't want you to be the bad guy when I tell them we're getting married."

"So, when will you tell them?" I asked. I didn't want her hiding from them. They were her parents and I hated that she was so scared of them.

"I don't know." She sighed, pressing her lips to mine before untangling herself from me. "Maybe while there here for Thanksgiving, maybe of Christmas."

"Christmas?"

"This is a big deal, Carlisle." She reminded me. "You're marrying their only child. It's a big deal and I want them to love you when I tell them."

"Fine, but if you don't tell them by the new year, I will." I threatened.

"Deal."

Bella spent the rest of the day prepping everything for the next day. At quarter to five, she finally quit to go to the airport to pick up her parents. I made sure Edward's room was cleaned up, as well as him before going back downstairs. I pulled the Ziti out of the oven just as the garage door went up.

She walked inside, almost scared of being in this house. I saw her parents close behind her and took a deep breath. I hadn't felt this nervous since I met Esme's parents...and I was her own age. I removed my oven mitts and went over to them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Swan," I greeted with a smile, holding my hand out. Her mother gently squeezed it, but her father brushed me aside completely. "Edward can you show them to the guest room?"

"Sure!" He said excitedly, grabbing Renee's bag from her hands. She was warming up to the situation a lot better than Charlie was.

"This is already going terribly." Bella cried. "I shouldn't have invited them."

"Hey, it was good you invited them." I whispered as I pulled her into a hug. "They didn't have to come if they didn't want to."

"Mom's better at this than dad is." She shrugged. "Even with boys at home who were my age."

"Dad's never want to let their little girls go." I whispered. "I remember at Emmett's wedding, Rosalie had to literally pry her father off of her." I laughed. "And Jonathan loved Emmett...like more than Rosalie sometimes."

"Have you heard from him?" She asked as she moved to the kitchen to get the rest of dinner ready.

"Yeah, he's with his parents now." I told her. "But, he's going home for Thanksgiving dinner."

"That's good,"

"Yeah, I'm just praying it doesn't end with plates flying and people crying." I sighed, remembering the first time Esme and I saw each other after I found out.

"Me too." She smiled, leaning down and kissing me before she went back to preparing the salad. Edward came down a few minutes and told us they were settling in and would be down soon.

"Hey, dad?" He asked as he snacked on some carrots. "Do...do I like call them Grandma and Grandpa now?" He asked, making Bella and I both laugh.

"No, Edward." Bella said. "You can call them Renee and Charlie."

"Cool," He nodded as he grabbed another carrot. After another twenty minutes, Bella was calling them down for dinner and I'd never been more nervous. The first few minutes were dead silence. The only sound was the clinking of forks on the plates and the subtle throat clears of Charlie.

"So, Cullen." Charlie's gruff voice finally spoke. I stilled and tried to not look terrified when I looked up, but I was failing. Bella gripped my knee as he gave me a reassuring nod. "When are you going to stop playing house with my girl so she can move on with her life."

"Dad!" Bella squealed. "We aren't playing house!"

"You're too young, baby." He argued. "Now, I've given you these last few months, but it's time for you to move back to Washington and find someone your own age."

"Charlie, please." Renee whispered.

"No, Renee." He sighed. "She's twenty- three years old. He's what? Forty-three?"

"Actually, I'll only be thirty-seven in March." I spoke up. Like it mattered. I was still too old for her.

"Great, so he's only a pedophile by fourteen years instead of twenty." He shrugged. This was not going well and it certainly wasn't going like Bella had wanted it to.

"Dad, stop it!" Bella yelled. "I didn't ask you to come here so you could make jabs of my relationship." She said. "I wanted you here so you two could get to know him better and so you could see what I see."

"What could you possibly see?" Charlie asked.

"He's sweet, and funny, and incredibly smart." She smiled as she took my hand. "He's also an incredible father and...he loves me. He always treats me like a princess, even when he doesn't have to."

"Let's talk about something else." Renee chimed in after Charlie just looked away. But, there wasn't anything else to talk about so we went back to eating in silence. As we were cleaning up the dishes, my cell rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw that it was Emmett and excused myself onto the back porch.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"We're going to go to couples therapy." He told me. "We talked all day and we decided it was our best option."

"Emmett, that's great."

"Is it?" He asked. "Because therapy isn't going to change what she did."

"No, it won't." I agreed. "But, it'll help you two work things out. You won't be fighting, you'll be talking to each other."

"And...if things still don't work?" He asked.

"Then, at least you tried." I sighed. "I love Bella and I would never trade my life with her, but sometimes I wonder what would happen if Esme and I tried harder. What if we'd gone to couples therapy."

"She still would have gotten sick."

"Yeah, but what would those two years been like?" I asked. "My point is, you'll never know unless you try. I didn't try so I have no idea if those two years could have been our worst together, or our best."

"You're right." He sighed after a few minutes of silence. "I gotta go, one of the babies is crying."

"You call me if you need anything else."

"I will." He told me before hanging up. I went back inside to help finish cleaning up and I was thankful when Bella told me they were in their room for the night. Her, Edward, and I watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving before going to bed that night.

It was a restless night. My mind went from Bella's parents to Rosalie and Emmett to Esme and I. When I found out she was cheating, I just...gave up. I know she still would have died and I loved Bella more than anything. But, what if we'd tried? What if we hadn't given up right away? What would our family be like?

"You okay?" Bella asked that morning as she sat on the bed while I got ready to pick up my parents from the airport.

"Fine," I lied. I wasn't okay and I had no clue why. I was happy. Bella was the love of my life and Edward was doing so well in Pittsburgh.

"Carlisle, I know when you're lying." She shrugged as she crawled to the edge of the bed. "Tell me."

"I don't want to ruin our perfect little bubble."

"Please," She begged, sticking her bottom lip out at me.

"Okay," I sighed, sitting down next to her. "Emmett and Rosalie decided to go to couples therapy to work everything out."

"That's good."

"Yeah, but it's made me think of..."

"What your life would be like if you had tried with Esme." She said, finishing my sentence for me. "I get it, Carlisle. This life wasn't apart of your plan."

"I love you and this...is perfect for not following my plan."

"But, it still wasn't your plan." She shrugged. "I get it. And, it's okay. You had a life with Esme and I get that."

"I love you so much," I whispered as I pressed my forehead to hers. "Nothing is ever going to change that."

"Good, because our wedding is coming along beautifully." She giggled as she kissed me before standing up.

Bella was cooking up a storm by the time I got downstairs after brushing my teeth. I shook my head at her. She was being too hard on herself, but I was going to give her the space she needed to cook and hopped in the car to get my parents.

By the time we got home, Edward was up playing the piano, the smell of Thanksgiving radiated through the house and Bella's parents were no where in sight. I brought my parents up to mine and Bella's room and helped them settle in before going back downstairs.

"Well, they're all here." I laughed, wrapping my hands around her waist, kissing her cheek. "No turning back now."

"We could always sneak out the back door." Edward laughed as he sat down at the island. The three of us hid out in the kitchen for most of the day before dinner was ready. Bella had done a beautiful job and I suspected she did most of the cooking at home for the holidays.

We all settled around the small dining room table as Bella passed around bowels and plates of food. Once everyone had their dinner together, we held hands and I said grace before everyone dug in. And, thankfully my parents were getting along great with hers. I was glad at least they liked each other so a lot of pressure was taken off of Bella and I.

"Bella, dear, where is your ring?" My mother asked as we passed around the plates for seconds. I looked over at Bella's left finger and saw that the diamond was no where in sight, which I guess made sense.

"My what?" She asked, trying her best to sound clueless. It wasn't working out very well.

"Your engagement ring." Dad said, talking to her like she was some kind of idiot for asking.

"Her...what?" Charlie asked and I could see his face going red. "Why would she be wearing an engagement ring?"

"Don't worry about it, Dad." Bella whispered and I could tell all the color had drained from her face. "So, does anyone need anymore bread?"

"Bella Marie, sit." Charlie scolded. "Why would you be wearing an enagement ring?"

"Because people who are engaged...tend to wear rings." She shrugged in a small voice. I understood she didn't want to tell them yet, but she shouldn't be so scared to do this. They are her parents after all.

"Yeah, but...you aren't engaged." Charlie stuttered. "You aren't engaged because soon you're going to realize this is just some phase you're going through and you're going to break up and come back home."

"If you think their relationship is ending anytime soon, you are sadly mistaken." Dad spoke up and I couldn't help but smile at him. He wasn't calling Bella a whore anymore, but he still wasn't our biggest fan, and that might have been the nicest thing he'd ever said about us.

"Isabella Marie, please tell me you aren't engaged to this...man?" Charlie asked and she was as white as a ghost. "Bella!"

"Yes, we're engaged!" She shouted. "It happened early this summer, right after graduation."

"You've been engaged all summer...and you never told us?" Renee asked, sounding hurt rather than angry. "Bella,"

"I'm sorry." She shrugged. "I wanted you to like Carlisle before telling you. Because, all you know right now is that he was a professor at NYU and he's older. I just...wanted to give you time to get to know the real him."

"Well, I like him." She smiled brightly at her daughter. "I wish he was your age and...not a professor, but you're happy, baby. So, I like him."

"Thanks, mom." She blushed, looking over at Charlie. "Daddy?"

"I need some air." He huffed, scooting backwards and stomping outside. I looked over at my parents and Edward and I could tell we made them very uncomfortable.

"I should go talk to him." Bella whispered, but I grabber her wrist.

"Let me try." I smiled, leaning in and kissing her cheek before getting up. I walked outside to the back porch where Charlie was tightly gripping the railing.

"Where were you?" He asked without turning around. "Where were you when she got raped in New York by...that professor."

"Sir,"

"If you love her like you say you would have been there with her. I mean, she didn't tell us until after it happened, but she never mentioned you being with her. She never told us you called to make sure she was okay. You weren't there. How can I trust that you love her if you weren't even there for that?"

"If I would have shown up, she would have been kicked out of school." I sighed as I walked to stand next to him. "I had a hard decision to make but, she had a good support system with her at the time. If she would have gotten kicked out of school, I would have never forgive myself."

"But you're okay that she laid in a hospital room...scared and alone?"

"She wasn't alone." I told him again. "Alice was there and another boy from school."

"Jacob." He mused. "Now him I liked. And he was her age."

"Sir, I'm not going to stand here and apologize for being older than Bella. I'm not going to listen to you accuse me of not loving her because I wasn't there. I would have been if I could. But, we're both past that...I think it's time you move on too."

"That creep was a professor at that school!" He shouted. "A professor!"

"I know."

"How do I know I can trust you with her?"

"Because, that man took what he wanted and left." I said, trying to keep my temper. "I left because I wanted Bella to finish school...I didn't get what I wanted then and neither did she. But, I love her and you're going to have to trust that."

"Maybe once you have a child who has been raped...twice before she was thirty...you'll understand better." He huffed. "But for now, don't you dare tell me it's time to move on."

"Charlie,"

"I'll never forgive myself for letting that happen to her." He said and I could tell there were tears forming in his eyes. "And you won't understand how I feel until that boy of yours decides to date someone so much older and someone who is supposed to be off limits."

"You're right." I nodded. "If Edward did this, I wouldn't be too happy." I agreed. "But, I would get over it once I realized that person was there to stay."

"You aren't right for her."

"Yes he is, daddy." Bella whispered as she walked onto the porch, wrapping herself in a blanket. "Maybe you just can't see it because of the age difference, but it's the same thing that happened with Mom."

"Bella, it took a long time for Renee and I to..."

"I mean...my birth mom." She sighed. "I've heard the stories. It was a...forbidden love."

"And look how well that turned out." He huffed.

"If I hadn't been born, she'd still be here with you." She whispered. "It's my fault and no matter how many times you call me crazy, it's true. And I'm okay with that. But, I love Carlisle. He's my guy."