A/N: Hey all...now finally at Chapter Nine we're getting into it a little... Thanks Missy!... Read. Enjoy. Review...
Chapter Nine: Parents
Carlisle's family was much more complex than most people knew. His mother was originally dating Carlisle's uncle, his father's little brother, Jack, when they were teenagers. Then, eventually she began to date Carlisle's father Marcus when she was a little older. They were married when she was eighteen, and that was something I, eighteen myself now, couldn't even imagine. They had Carlisle three years into their marriage, and they were happy. Then, when Carlisle was seven, Marcus died of lung cancer.
Apparently, when Marcus died Carlisle inherited millions. Technically it was supposed to go to his mother, but she gave it all to him, saying that he could use it when he was older, but she wanted to work. She wanted all of Carlisle's father's money to go to him. They already had a house, and anything they could need, she just kept them afloat.
Carlisle's mom met Steve when Carlisle was fourteen. Carlisle had told his mother then that he didn't want her dating. When Carlisle had told me all of this he had made an effort to tell me that he wasn't the best kid when he was that age. He told me he had a lot of regret about that time period, and he wished he had given his mother a lot less grief. He was angry and bitter kid, and I couldn't say I really blamed him. He had also mentioned that he had grown up next to Jasper and they had caused a lot of trouble together. Though they calmed down around seventeen, and Steve had stuck around in the background.
Soon after Carlisle and Jasper, the neighbor kid that almost lived at their house, calmed down, his mother started to date Steve, and very quickly had Krista. Carlisle told me he still never quite saw eye to eye with Steve, but he tolerated him. Carlisle told me he still avoided him as much as he could, but he made his mom happy again that was what mattered really. Even if he hated him.
I still had a very tough time imagining Carlisle as the hell raiser that he had described, and especially with his friend being Jasper, but it wasn't impossible. It was weird knowing that my now perfect and flawless boyfriend had had such a dark side, and I knew he still did, but he balanced it well. He dealt with it a little at a time so that the pain was manageable. He didn't deal with losing his dad when he was little, but he was now. He had shown me a picture of his father a little while ago, Carlisle was the perfect image of him.
Friday night I met Carlisle's mother as planned, and it went off without a hitch. I was actually quite proud of just how much she seemed to like me in our brief meeting. Jasper was even surprised that she liked me so much, as he devoured the goodies she had brought for Carlisle to share with everyone.
We spent what could be considered a quiet few days at USC, and before I knew it I was leading the train of cars back to Long Beach. Carlisle was in his Mercedes behind me, his mother had dropped it off for him when she and Steve came for the bike. I realized now why Carlisle allowed her to take it around the winter time. She was an excessive worrier, and he made her worry so much when he was younger that he wanted to make it as easy as possible on her now, it made sense.
Emmett wasn't too far behind Carlisle, and I was just about as nervous as a horse outside a glue factory. I pulled into the driveway and Carlisle made a point of parking next to me, I was just glad to see Emmett pulling in behind me, not blocking Carlisle in. I had a feeling he might have to escape later. I was almost shaking as I got out of the car and Carlisle looked over at me with an expression of forced calm.
"It'll be fine, Bella," He said before Emmett got out of his car, then again it really didn't matter if he heard us now, "Why are you so nervous?"
"Do I have to list all the reasons?" I asked as Emmett got out of his car and Carlisle chuckled as Emmett shut his door and we headed towards the house.
I was dragging my feet the entire way into the house, and into the kitchen where mom had the table set up for lunch. The food smelled delicious, but I couldn't even think about that as I sat down between Carlisle and my father, they would need the distance. Though, I couldn't do anything about Emmett sitting on his other side.
I looked around nervously, Carlisle and I had agreed that it would be best to tell them shortly after arriving, but I wasn't so sure that was the best idea right now. Dad seemed in a good mood though, which was good. I looked over to Carlisle and I could tell he was even more worried than I was, now that he was face to face with my father. He kept his head down for the first few minutes, then looked over at me. His face lightened the minute he did, and he took a deep breath before opening his mouth.
"Mr. and Mrs. Swan?" He said, I could tell he was trying to keep his voice even, and I instinctively gave him a warm smile, which calmed him enough so that he could continue, now that he had their attention, "I'd like to come clean about… something."
"We're all ears, Carlisle," My mom said, Carlisle had made an instant good side impression with mom, Emmett looked up at him curiously.
"I um.. well," He said, and I realized that under Emmett's eye his nerves returned, and he blurted out, "Bella and I… We're in love."
My hand flew to his where it rested on the table as all the faces around the table let what Carlisle said sink in. I darted a glance up at Carlisle's face convinced any moment he would just stand up and leave before the shouting, figuring I wasn't worth it. He squeezed my hand slightly as if he could read my mind, and I realized that his feet were planted firmly on the ground, both figuratively and literally. Dad was the first one to find his voice.
"Jimmy," He said, "Go watch Toy Story."
Jimmy's eyes lit up, he had never been told he was able to leave the table to watch his favorite movie. He jumped down from his chair and ran into the other room. Immediately the atmosphere in the room changed. Emmett and Dad, as expected were glaring at Carlisle, and I just blushed lightly, but stood my ground, clutching Carlisle's hand.
"When did this happen?" Emmett was the first to speak once they were free too.
"Emmett," Mom interjected.
"No," said Dad, he was angry not even bothering to hide it, "Please, I'm curious."
"We've been together since September," I said, "We didn't want to upset anyone if it wasn't going to go anywhere."
"And it's going to go somewhere?!" Emmett almost yelled.
"Mind out of the gutter, Emmett," I said harshly, "I just meant that we were getting serious and we thought we should come into the clear."
"Which was the right thing to do," My mom said supportively and Emmett and Dad glowered over at her.
"You're ok with this?!" Dad said and Mom shrugged.
"Well sure, I wish they had told us earlier, but really who can blame them for not wanting to?" She said, and I was shocked that mom was sticking up for us, "Especially with Emmett being Carlisle's best friend. You must really love Bella to risk losing Emmett."
"I do," said Carlisle, looking over at me lovingly, "She's made me realize that I can be happy, if I want."
"Well, ya know?" said Emmett getting to his feet and letting the table and chair slam around, "I think I want my depressing to be around friend back. I should have realized something was up when you started smiling."
"Emmett!" I said, enraged as he stormed out of the kitchen and I jumped to my feet angrily.
"Bella, calm down, sweetheart," said Carlisle soothingly, "He took that better than I thought he would."
"How so?" I asked as I sank back down next to him, and his eyes told me he'd rather tell me later.
"How did this happen?" Dad asked, the spoon in his hand was in danger of being snapped in half.
"Well," said Carlisle taking a deep breath, "It was almost instant, for me anyways.."
"He saved me from a drunken guy at a party the first night," I said, then dove into the story of that first week.
"Ok," said Mom, as Dad set his spoon down, "But you can't possibly be maintaining a relationship on the weekends alone."
"No, ma'am," said Carlisle, and I prayed that he'd have enough sense to leave the motorcycle out of his explanation, "I've been coming down after my classes on Wednesdays and we've been hanging out around after Bella gets out of school. Sometimes bringing Alice and Jasper along."
"Alice knew? And she didn't tell us?" Dad asked, he had long since considered Alice to be a perfect Angel.
"I think I've rubbed off on her to the point where she's just as bad as I am," I said and Carlisle chuckled.
"Bella, we're talking about the same Alice here, right?" Carlisle hadn't really gotten to know Alice before she and I started acting exactly the same.
"Yeah," I told him before turning back to dad, "She's dating Jasper."
"Who's Jasper?" Dad asked in a voice that said that he almost didn't want to know.
"Emmett and I's neighbor," said Carlisle politely, "I have a feeling I'll be crashing on his and Micah's couch for a couple days."
"Do Alice's parents know?" Mom asked and I nodded.
"They're over there telling them right now," I said and Charlie snorted.
"Carlisle, I don't like this," said Charlie, "But I realize that I don't have much of a voice in Bella's choice in men. Though, I can admit that she could do much worse. I can see that you really care for Bella, but I expect you to be respectful."
"Of course, sir," said Carlisle and Charlie looked at him angrily, he hated it when he was called sir, even if it was supposed to be out of respect.
"Don't call me sir," Dad grunted and Carlisle looked scared, I was just glad that dad had stopped yelling, I gave Carlisle's hand a reassuring squeeze.
Carlisle looked over at me, he was terrified. I just gave him a reassuring smile, I wanted to tell him he was doing well, but I figured that could wait until after mom and dad were done asking questions. I looked over at mom, who was smiling, she had been watching Carlisle and I interact. I looked back at dad, who also had been watching, but he looked a lot less pleased.
"What are you in school for, Carlisle?" Dad asked after a long, more than awkward silence.
"Pre-med," Carlisle said and Charlie nodded.
"You're gonna be a doctor, Carlisle?" Mom asked and Carlisle nodded.
"That's the plan," He said as mom nodded appreciatively.
We sat in the most uncomfortable silence that I had ever witnessed while dad returned to his meal. I swallowed nervously as I looked around the table and mom returned to her own food. Carlisle and I followed their lead, and I sincerely hoped that Carlisle would grow on them the more he was around. Our hands slid off the table, and dad's head popped up, Carlisle froze. He was so scared, I couldn't help but not mentally that he was in fact very cute when he was terrified.
Eventually dad left the table, still silent and scary. Mom nodded to us, letting us know that we could leave the table now. I let go of his hand before standing up, and leading him back out into the living room. Dad was sitting on the couch with Jimmy, watching the baseball game and we crossed the room silently and slipped out the front door.
"Yikes," said Carlisle as soon as we were out in the driveway, I noticed Emmett's car was already gone, he must've headed back already.
"I'm sorry," I said as he wrapped his arms around me, kissing my forehead.
"Don't be, we had to get it over with," He said, and I nodded.
"I love you," I said and he leaned down and kissed me again.
"I love you too," He said.
"I think you just proved that," I said and he smiled.
"I hope so," He said and I hugged him tight before letting go, letting him just hold me close.
"You should head back," I said, "Call me when you get there, let me know Emmett got back safe?"
"Of course," He said, kissing my temple, "See you Tuesday? My afternoon class was cancelled, so I can come down."
"Can't promise they'll let you in," I said with a sigh.
"Well, then we'll go somewhere else," He said with a smile, "I love you."
"Love you."
"I'll call you."