I own: A new dress and accessories for one of my best friend's wedding this upcoming Saturday.

I don't own : Twilight (any of it) or the music I make reference to (well, I do have it on iTunes and some on CDs, but I don't think that's what they're talking about…)

BPOV (Bella)

"Where to first?" Edward questioned as he begin swerving through the trees back to the main road.

I looked out the window, knowing the list of people I wanted to see. Actually, there were only two people that I wanted to see, needed to see. I debated with myself, over and over for the next forty-five seconds, weighing the options and risks for visiting each, even from afar, when the sun had only just set.

I took a deep breath. "Charlie," I whispered.

Edward nodded and took the next turn necessary to lead us to my father's house. His hand came to rest on mine as I tried to regain the ability to breathe regularly, however unnecessarily.

Eleven minutes later, we were parked three blocks from Charlie's house. "How close are we getting, Bella?" I thought for a moment, but I came up with no answer.

Edward didn't wait for my answer, after a moment he was opening my side of the car and holding out his hand for mine. "We'll take it slow and decide when you know." I nodded, kissing his cheek as I passed him.

We blended into the trees, easily covered by the greenery that I had despised twenty years ago. Within seconds, I could see the lights shining from Charlie's kitchen. I held Edward's hand behind my back as I inched closer. I could see a woman busying herself with the production of dinner. "Hey, are you sure you're okay with just a salad?" She called towards the doorway.

My enhanced hearing caught the huff that came from the back of Charlie's throat before he called back to her. "Of course, Sue."

Edward laughed lightly behind me, leaning his mouth close to my ear. "He's not happy about the salad. He's thinking about sneaking out later for some fast food and telling her he got a call that he had to check something out near the high school to buy some time." I giggled, knowing that Charlie had not changed much after all.

It had been months since I had talked to him, nearly as long as Edward had come back into my life. I was well aware that Charlie had remarried; he had been seeing Sue for about sixteen years and they had married seven years ago. He had begged me to come home for the wedding. It wasn't going to be anything big, but he wanted me to meet my step-siblings and his new wife.

I wanted to come back of course, but how could I?

I had never aged and I couldn't leave Renemsee alone.

"You haven't called him in a long time…" Edward whispered in my ear and I instantly felt guilty. "He misses you, so much."

"He's thinking about me?" I knew the answer before Edward confirmed it by nodding into my shoulder. I grasped his hand tighter, as I moved away from watching Sue in her domestic glory and on to the side of the house where I could see into the living room.

My breathing halted as I looked into my former home at Charlie, my dad. He was withered, but strong. His wavy hair was peppered with gray and was combed back in his traditional, official fashion. He was wearing a navy blue button up shirt with a pocket on each side of his chest, both pockets completely filled with pens, paper, badge, and other things I could not decipher from my location. His pants were regulation from the police department, that much I was sure of.

He leaned back in the same recliner that he had when I had lived with him. There were patches over frayed material long since deteriorated.

His right hand held the remote control up searching for a decent game to watch either before or during dinner with Sue. He grinned as he found a Seahawks game from 1984 on ESPN. "I remember that one…" He mumbled as he leaned back and placed the remote next to his right leg in between the cushions.

I smiled, nearly shedding tears at the sight of my dad acting in his normal fashion. It was as if time had barely changed, except it had completely.

He was married. And he was twenty years older.

"He's still thinking about you, though." Edward whispered, sensing my heartache like only he could.

"What's he thinking?" I whispered, not sure if I wanted to know.

Edward pulled me back into his chest, holding me securely around my waist as if he expected me to fall any second from the revelation. "He's counting the days since you last called him."

"97." I mumbled.

Edward nodded into my shoulder. "Yes. He's wondering how you've changed, if you look like Renee since you're twenty years older." I laughed without humor. "He's also wondering if you're happy, if you've found someone that makes you happy or at least friends that you trust. He worries that you're all alone, Bella." I sighed, leaning back into Edward completely.

"I want to talk to him." Edward shifted me in his arms, fishing out his cell phone, but I halted his movements with my own. "No, not on the phone. I want to talk to him in person. I want to walk in through the front door and tell him that I'm happy with you, and our daughter. I want to tell him that even though I can't tell him everything and that even though I can't communicate with him except with a phone for his safety, that I think of him so much and I miss him. I want to assure him that I didn't have a choice in abandoning him and that I love him."

I felt the sobs as I finished my rant. Edward turned me around so I could sink into his chest. He didn't say a word as I completely fell apart.

I shifted as a growl sounded behind Edward. I was immediately placed behind him as he sunk into a couch. "Bella, go, please…"

"Not a chance." As I spoke the source of the growl came from between several trees into our view. The creature appeared to be a wolf, but it was massive, roughly the size of a horse. A muscular, fur covered horse.

"It's not what you think." I was about to respond, until Edward held up a hand and continued to speak. "We didn't come to fight or attack. We just came to check up on him." The wolf growled again, loudly, and I realized Edward wasn't speaking to me.

I heard Sue drop a plastic bowl before telling Charlie she was going out to get something from the car. She sounded rushed, frazzled maybe?

"I am Edward Cullen. Please, let me explain." Edward tried to push me behind him more, but I refused to budge, wrapping my arms around his waist.

Sue broke through the brush, glaring at Edward and me before turning to the wolf and speaking. "Leah, go. They're fine. You knew they'd come sooner or later." The wolf, my apparent step-sister, shifted before bolting through the woods and ultimately disappearing.

"Bella." It wasn't a question, a statement of fact, if anything. I nodded. "I guess I was right." She sighed.

Edward turned to pull me behind him, yet again, but I pushed him back to take a step closer to Sue. She watched my approach, but didn't move an inch. "You know what I am, don't you?"

"Of course, I do." She smiled, but it didn't reach the eyes. "Why are you back, though?"

"I wanted to see how he was. How long have you known what I am?" I couldn't help, but ask. Obviously, some legends were truer than I knew, werewolves included, but how could she know I was a vampire.

"Since I began seeing your father. It wasn't hard to figure out. You were a part of the Cullens for so long and you disappeared so soon after them, it seemed obvious to me." I nodded before asking if Charlie knew. "Of course not. He wouldn't know what to do with the information; he's perceptive, annoying so…" She whispered under her breath and I immediately was on guard.

Edward spoke, just for me to hear then. "You misunderstand, Bella. He's suspicious about the wolves and specifically her children, Leah and Seth. But she loves him more than anything; she meant nothing else by that remark." I nodded, felling slightly better about the comment.

"He can't handle seeing you, Bella." Sue spoke again. "You haven't changed from the last picture he has of you on our mantle." I shifted back to Edward's arms; it seemed I was meant to stay there. "But, Bella…" She hesitated and her voice shifted to… a maternal tone, almost. "Call him more. He misses you so much. He doesn't tell me often, he pretends he understands more than he does, but it kills him that you're away and never visit. Whether you chose this or not, you owe him that."

I nodded and she began to walk away, back to the house.

I stepped forward, earning a growl from who I assumed was Leah watching me from the woods. "Sue." She turned slowly, giving me a sad smile. "Thank you for taking care of him. I wish… I wish I could have known you as a step mother under different circumstances."

She laughed slyly. "If only we lived outside of myths and fairytales. I feel the same, Bella." And with that, she returned to the house, calling to Charlie that she was adding chicken to the salad.

A/N: This was not what I planned at all. I had intended for the both them to go check on some Forks' residents, but then the wolves and Sue just had to show me they had other plans. It seriously took me by surprise and I hope you like it. There will be one more chapter in Forks and then a final chapter. This time I promise… only two more chapters.

I toyed with the idea of a sequel, but honestly, I don't think it will happen because I am rewriting the Forks history that would have set it up for the sequel.

Please let me know what you think, I left Sue kind of cold, but I think that Sue would act that way. She is protective of Charlie, but she knows she doesn't have to fear Bella or the Cullens.

Anyways, here's the deal. I have two and half weeks of school left and I am not writing until I'm out. I need to focus on my lovely, and sometimes evil children.

Thanks so much for those who review. Read, Review and Comment – You know I love it!

-kmwhyte