Chapter 27

BPOV

Things with Carlie have gotten so upsetting. Firstly, because she had to endure her father and Grandfathers outright bigotry. Secondly, because she had to deal with my father's lack of empathy and understanding.

Jacob and Billy had crossed some lines and boundaries outside of their already shitty reaction to her sexual orientation. They went out of their way to state their prejudices toward Edward and I's racial makeup.

I already had to stop Edward from driving up to LaPush because of how they treated Carlie. When I told him, serval days later, about what they said about us landed me with the silent treatment.

I couldn't argue his anger; we'd grown so far from keeping secrets from each other. Even after he began talking to me again he gave me the cold shoulder.

When Jacob called to make sure I knew of his compliant I was appalled at his audacity.

Carlie and the Twins were in Forks for a week before school started. Carlie was spending a couple of days with her Father and Billy. I was hesitant to let her go because I knew those Quileute had some odd customs.

Most were harmless but I remember hearing of some traditions I was uncomfortable with for my daughter. I wanted to give her a chance to learn more about her culture and because Carlie and Jacob were really bounding lately.

Edward and I were relaxing on the couch watching a movie when my phone rang and saw it was Jacob.

He was livid. Yelling and screaming.

"You turned my daughter into a dike!" he jarringly greeted. I sprung up in shock!

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"What's going on? Who is on the phone?"

"You and that prick turned my daughter in to a damn lesbian. How can we carry on our legacy? How Bella? There aren't many more Quileute here. She has to be with one of us…"

"You are fucking crazy! If you think I am going to make my daughter be with anyone like you, you have really lost it. Where is she?" I was so scared! I wanted her as far away from him as possible.

"Bella, what's going on with Carlie?" Edward was getting agitated with me because I didn't tell him what was going but I didn't need him flying off the handle too.

"I'm not crazy Bella, I want grandkids one day. Quileute grandkids!"

"If you wanted Quileute grandkids then why did you have sex with me. I am Italian and Greek."

"Bella, if you don't tell me what the fuck is going on I am going to take the phone from you! Why are you talking about having sex with this jackass?"

I turned to him ignoring whatever Jacob said in response to my statement. "He found out Carlie is a gay and isn't happy about it..."

"Is she there with him now?" He asks eerily clam as he got up and began to walk toward the stairs. Not waiting for me to answer.

Jacob was going off about how the elders are going to shame their family. Like I gave a fuck!

"Where is she Jacob?"

"What? Charlie came and got her!" I hung up the phone as he was talking and called Carlie's phone. She didn't answer. I called my Dad's phone. He didn't answer.

Just then Edward came down the steps completely dressed in sweat pants, a t-shirt and…his boots? Boots? In August. Shit…

"Where are you going Edward?" he walked right by me into the Kitchen and grabbed his car keys. "Edward!" I stood in front of his Audi stopped him from leaving. He stared me down as he turned the car on and pushed the button to open the garage door.

"Move Bella." I hated when he was clam like this it was terrifying.

"No Edward! Where are you going?" I knew where he was going… he was going to kick Jacobs ass.

He clinched his jaw many times. Fuck!

I sat in the hood as my phone rung in my pocket. I pulled it out to find that it was Carlie. As I answered he jumped out of the car and slammed the door behind him. He stormed back into the house just as a tearful Carlie's voice came over my speaker.

"Mom." She sniffled. oh no!

"Carlie where are you? Are you ok? I am so sorry that fucker hurt you!" As I was talking to my crying child; I saw my husband walking towards Masen's car that just happened to be parked on the street. shit!

"EDWARD NO!"

"Mom, what's going on?" Carlie asked through her tears.

"Your Dad is flipping out!" I went and stood in front of the trunk as well but he backed up and speed away before I could really stop him.

I walked back into the house feeling helpless.

"I'm so sorry honey. Are you still with Grandpa?"

"We made it back his house. Mom they kept trying to push Quil Atrea on me. I had to tell him! I told her it was fine. It wasn't her fault that they were Homophobic bigots.

We talked the for the rest of the night. She told me everything they said. It was hurtful that the man that I once loved and a man that helped my Dad raise me felt this way about me.

There wasn't anything I could do but not subject my daughter to their bullshit anymore. I have been trying her whole life to let them in her life. But fuck that now!

They have hurt her for the last time.

I fell asleep that night waiting for Edward to come home. He never answered his phone but I talked to Charlie and he put out an APB on him. He ended up getting pulled over and taken in just 15 minutes from LaPush.

He still holds it over my head that I didn't let him go tear Jacob apart.

So now, Carlie just wants to talk to her Grandfathers but she doesn't care about Jacobs opinion. She does care about Charlie's lack of understanding and Billy's Homophobia. We decided to wait until Thanksgiving time to address the issue.

I just don't feel like having this conversation with these old dogs. New tricks are hard to teach them and I am unsure if I have the energy to try.

Carlie had her last Homecoming dance coming up. She has already told me that she was taking a girl as her date. A young lady that she met at a party with some of her friends.

I was shocked and happy that she was done with Kebi. I heard that Kebi wasn't doing well and living on someone's couch. I wasn't happy to hear about her situation, I was happy my child was no longer involved in it.

Amun should be ashamed of himself. I couldn't think of any case were I would abandon any on my children.

Today I was going to meet the young lady she was dating. I was told not to use the word 'girlfriend'.

Carlie, Edward, and I were meeting her and her Parents at my restaurant. I had our leading souse chef make us four courses. I wanted to impress her family.

I reserved the private room for us even though Carlie told me it wasn't necessary.

We sat chattering, trying to not look as nervous as I was. Edward kept making fun of me chewing on my lip and wringing my hands.

He placed his hand on top of mine. "Why are you acting like this? You weren't this nervous when Masen brought home Makenna."

I huffed and dropped my hands. He was right I wasn't this nervous when Masen brought home Makenna. That was because I knew what to expect. Makenna was a nervous girl meeting her boyfriend's family.

"I know, Edward! Although, the circumstances are the same, this feels different. I don't know how to act here. Should I drill her like I'd done Makenna and Angela?" He laughed at me but then looked taken aback.

"Ahh, I don't know." He said as he ran his fingers through his hair." I always thought that would be my job. To put any boy that wanted to date my girls through the ringer." He looked defeated like someone stole his puppy. This time I laughed.

I didn't feel like I had to warn this young lady about how she was to treat my daughter nor did I feel the constant need to remind them to 'be safe' .

That was until she walked into the room. Carlie stood awkwardly after ignoring us for her phone for the last 20 minutes.

She was… different. Yup, that's the word I will use. Different…

She was beautiful no doubt; her eyes were a bright blue and her hair of the same color was completely shaved on one side. The side with the exposed ear had a very large gage in it. Her neck was completely covered in colorful tattoos and the other parts of her skin that were visible were also covered in tattoos.

Her face held two piercings in both of her cheeks, one just below her bottom lip, and one of those nose piercings that looked like a bull's ring.

She tried to look nice for us. Wearing a short sweater dress with leggings and thigh bones.

I found her interesting. I'm changing my word; I now choose interesting. Interesting.

"Luce!" Carlie sprinted over to her in excitement when she walked in the room. I put on the biggest fakest smile that I could. As we stood to greet her, two women entered the room behind her.

They were both unassuming.

"Mom, Dad, this is Lucy!" My daughter beamed with pride.

"Hi!" I'm sure my pitch made me look insane. "Welcome, come on in and have a seat. My name is Bella and this is my husband Edward." We shook their hands as they made their way to their seats.

"Hi, I'm Nancy and this is my partner Netty." I nodded for them to sit while I took them in.

Nancy was short and slim, she had long blonde dredlocks and a boho style. I probably started longer then I should've at her sandals and rough feet.

Netty was taller than all the other women in the room, and seemed more laid back. Her hair was also dredlocked, but her hair was cut like Edwards. Long on the top tapered around the sides. She wore a pair of tight fitting black pants, blue blouse and knee boots.

I couldn't figure out which one was her mother, she looked like them both.

"It's so nice to finally meet you Lucy. Tell us more about yourself. All I know is that you are a sophomore at UW." Edward started and he broke the slight tension that was building.

"Umm, Yeah, No, I am a Junior, I took extra classes my first year and as many as my budget would allow for summer. Although I am slowing down a bit for this semester." she peeked over a blushing Carlie.

I forced a smile, hoping on hope that my child isn't the reason she wasn't as focused her education.

"Well, that is amazing. You are truly an example for Carlie." Carlie rolled her eyes at my comment.

Lucy shrugged, I liked that she didn't act like she wasn't a good example. I hoped that she took pride in herself.

"How old are you Lucy? Just for clarity, we don't think your too old her Carlie." I stammered awkwardly.

"19."

I peeked over at Edward, he clenched his jaw a bit but then released it. Although, Carlie will be 17 soon, which would make the age gap only 2 years, I was a bit uncomfortable with it.

This was awkward… I think they could tell we were trying to be nice.

Netty, finally spoke up.

"Ok, So, What do you guys do for a living?" She asked pleasantly just after Will, our best server, gave us your appetizers; deconstructed mac and cheese balls.

"We are business owners." I beamed proud of both of our achievements. "I own this restaurant and my Husband owns a music store." She nodded but didn't look interested. "OK…what you guys do?"

Nancy spoke up." I am a Yoga instructor for Seattle parks and recs. I teach yoga for after school programs around the city." She said it like she didn't care about what she was saying.

"Wow! That is amazing. I'm sure you are having a great impact on those kids. Sounds like truly fulfilling work." I meant it too. Edward goes out to schools in low income area and does music workshops with the students.

I'm always a little jealous of how he was impacting the community. Although, we usually do a dinner for the homeless around Thanksgiving and Christmas, working with children always seems to be more fulfilling.

She poopooed my praise with an eyeroll.

"OK, what about you Netty? What do you for a living?" I asked as pleasantly as I could. You could feel the discomfort in the room. I was palpable.

"Ahh, I am currently not working, we have three younger kids. So, I try to manage the household." She spoke with insecurity.

It made me sad, and confused.

"What's going on here?" I was surprised by my chuckle at the husband. "No, seriously Bella, what's with the eyerolling and attitude?" He spoke directly to Nancy.

"Nothing Dad. Oh, my God." Carlie and Lucy looked so embarrassed. At that moment, I realized there was a lot of body language being exchanged around the table.

I think Nancy and Lucy were arguing and poor Netty was just a bystander.

"Well, in my opinion, your job is the most important of all of our jobs. I wish I would've been able to stay home with the kids. Maybe Masen wouldn't've been such a smartass." I laughed to break the tension and I think it worked.

I got the feeling Nancy wanted Netty to work and I am going to ask Carlie as soon as they are gone.

With my joke the conversation finally eased up and started to flow well between the families.

I decided that Lucy was a sweet girl and hoped she treated my daughter well. I couldn't object, even if I wanted to. The last thing I needed with my second teen on the way out the door is an act of rebellion. I'm still recovering from Masen's mess.

We found out that their family was originally from Tacoma but moved to Seattle for one of Netty's old jobs.

She stopped working when she got pregnant with their second to oldest who is now 6 six years old. There is 13years between Lucy and her brothers.

I wonder if they all had the same father, or not.

After we drank a little wine and loosened up we were able to have more candid conversations. We told them how we met which lead them to tell us how they met. Confirming what I didn't have the balls to ask.

"Nancy and I met when I found her crying in the baby isle staring at the lanolin." Nancy rolled her eyes at Netty. After being around them for a while I could see how much they loved each other.

"I was in so much pain! Lucy and I were having the hardest time with nursing. Netty walked up like she knew what she was doing." Well now we know which one birthed Lucy.

"I did! My baby sister was twenty years younger than me. She was basically my kid." Netty responded.

We stayed and talked for about 4 hours. As we were wrapping up I happened to mention the dance.

"Lucy! You're going to a dance…at the school?" Netty was in shock at that revelation. She turned to us "She didn't do dances while she was in school." Speaking through her shock.

"Ma, please stop!" Lucy hushed her mother who just kept talking about Lucy's lack of a social life while she was in high school.

I laughed but diverted the statements to help her. "DO you guys know what you are wearing?" Carlie had been fairly secretive about her costume, the homecoming game and dance were Halloween weekend, simply saying that we will all like it.

Eventually, we all said our good byes and a nice to meet you's. Lucy and Carlie told us they were going back to our house.

Edward drove as we discussed the night. "See, that wasn't that bad right? All of your nervousness was for nothing."

"Ha! I was nervous for all the wrong reason. Lucy was not the problem... Nancy was. Her vibes were so weird."

"Yeah I agree, but when I asked her about it you all bit my head off." He grumbled.

I laughed at him as I thought about how I should go about asking Lucy about her mom, their father, and just all of it.