Do You Believe In Fate?

Disclaimer: None of these characters etc. belong to me. They all belong to the wonderful and amazing Stephanie Meyer. I don't think I could ever be that creative. Lol. Stephanie rules!

Author's Note: Hey everyone. Sorry this chapter is taking so long to get out. I thought I'd have time during break, but… well, I got busy. Anyways, this is about Bella's Christmas with Charlie.

Second Christmas

The next morning when I woke up, I was eager to get going. I wanted to see Charlie. I quietly slipped out bed, not wanting to wake Edward. I grabbed some clothes, and got dressed in the bathroom. When I came back out, Edward was sitting up in bed, looking around blearily. "What time is it?" he asked, his voice husky. I shivered, and licked my suddenly dry lips.

"It's about eight thirty." I said. He ran a hand through his messy hair.

"You heading out already?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Hang on a minute, and I'll get dressed." He said, flipping the covers off his legs.

"No, no. It's alright. I'll call you when me and Charlie have caught up, and you can walk over." I said. "It's not that far. Just make sure you're dressed by ten." I said, and kissed him softly. He tasted warm, and sleepy. I laughed a little bit. "Get some more sleep. I'll call you in a while." I said. He mumbled his consent. Just before I opened his bedroom door, and stopped me.

"Bella?" he called.

"Yes?"

"I love you." He said, sleepily. I smiled.

"I love you too. I'll see you soon." I said. He nodded, and rolled over on the bed. I smiled, and shook my head. He was so cute when he was sleepy.

I went downstairs, and pulled my thick parka coat, gloves, and a knit hat. Then I pulled on my boots, and headed outside. The walk was surprisingly nice. The air was so cold, it hurt to breathe it into my lungs; but it was so pure it tasted sweet on my tongue. The snow crunched under my boots, and the world was so intensely quite, it seemed that I was the only person on the planet. I walked down the road, thankfully not having to worry about breaking my neck, because the snow was soft enough that I wouldn't slip.

When I reached Charlie's road, I took a deep breath. I was a little nervous. After all, he wasn't expecting me. As I walked up the road towards his house, I wondered whether I should ring the door bell, or knock, or just walk in. Luckily I was saved from having to decide, because Charlie walked outside. He seemed to be taking out the trash. He dropped it into the bin outside, and then turned, and paused. He saw me. I grinned. For some reason I didn't really understand, I was outrageously happy to see him. "Hey dad!" I shouted. He blinked in surprise as I walked quickly up the drive.

"Bells?" he asked. I laughed, and threw my arms around him just as he started to smile at me. "Bella!" he laughed, and hugged me tightly. "What are you doing here?" he asked. I pulled back, and grinned.

"It's a long story." I said. Charlie smiled.

"It's a good thing I've got time." He said. "Come on inside. I've got your present in here." He said.

"Oh, Char – uh, dad, you didn't have to get me anything." I said.

"Don't be ridiculous, Bella. Of course I got you something." He said, sounding kind of indignant. I figured it'd be useless to argue, so I just followed him inside.

After removing layers of winter garb, we settled down in the living room. Charlie in his recliner, and me on the couch. I sighed when I saw the tree. It was just like I remembered. It was hard to believe I remembered so much after I'd completely forgotten this part of my life. Maybe Edward was right – maybe it was fate. Charlie pulled a gift out from under the tree, and handed it to me. It was poorly wrapped, which was kind of cute. I smiled over it, and gently tore the paper off. Then I smiled, and sighed.

It was a book. And not just any book. It was a beautiful leather bound copy of the complete works of Shakespeare. It was perfect. The cover was smooth, and soft, and there was the scent of paper, ink, and leather. "Thank you. It's wonderful." I said, reverently. Charlie smiled.

"I remembered your mom saying something about your liking Shakespeare. I stumbled upon that in a book store, in Port Angeles. I couldn't resist." He said. I smiled.

"I'm glad. Thank you." I said. Charlie relaxed into his chair.

"So, how about that long story?" he asked. I bit my lip, then sighed.

"There's something I want to talk to you about." I said. Charlie frowned.

"Alright, shoot." He said.

"I know." I said. "I know that mom and I stayed here longer than a few months after I was born." I said. Charlie's eyes were sad, and his face was weary.

"Damn." He muttered softly. "How'd you find out?" he asked.

"We'll get to that. I want to know why." I said.

"Why what?" he asked.

"Why did you two split up? From what I've recently started to remember, you were happy. We were happy." I said. Charlie sighed.

"It's complicated, kiddo." He said.

"I'm sure I can keep up." I said. I wanted to know, and I wasn't going to let it go. Charlie sighed, and leaned back in his chair.

"It's hard to explain. You're mom… she was always a free spirit; restless, you know. She was happy here, for a time. We were all happy. But then things changed. I tried to ignore the signs, tried to convince myself that I was enough to keep her here. But I wasn't. She didn't want to be stuck in a small town for the rest of her life. And that restlessness showed its self in irritation, quick tempers. We started to fight, and when I saw how upset she was, and how upset our fighting made you, I… I decided it'd be best to just, let her go. And god knows she was a good mother, so I wasn't worried about you. There are only two things that I regret – that your mother became unhappy, and that I didn't get as much time as I'd have liked with you." He said.

My eyes were welling up, and everything blurred. I jumped up from my spot on the couch, and hugged him fiercely. "Oh, well now." He said, his voice gruff. "Bella, you're kind of choking me." He said.

"Oh, just shut up and let me hug you." I said. Charlie laughed.

"Okay. Okay." He said, and hugged me back.

When I pulled away, Charlie sighed. "You realize now of course, that we have to tell your mother." He said. I winced. "Yeah, I know." He said. "Hey, you never told me. How did you find out about all this?" he asked. I flushed a brilliant shade of scarlet.

"Well… do you remember the boy I used to play with as a kid?" I asked.

"The Masen boy? Sure, he was the son of your mom's best friend. You two stick together better than super glue." He said. I laughed at that. "What about him?" he asked.

"Well, I sort of ran into him." I said.

"Ran into him? When?"

"A few months ago." I said.

"And he remembered you?" he prompted.

"Not exactly." I said, hesitating.

"Bella, what aren't you telling me?" he asked. I sighed.

"Well, we're sort of… dating." I said. Charlie raised his brows.

"Sort of?"

"Well, we are. And it got… serious, so he invited me back here for Christmas, so I could meet his family. That's when everything came out – when I went to the Masens' house." I said. Charlie rubbed his chin looking speculative.

"So he took you home to meet his parents?" he asked. I nodded. "And how's your mother handling this?" he asked. I grimaced.

"Well… she doesn't exactly… know about Edward yet." I said. Charlie raised his brows again.

"That's only gonna make it worse when you tell her later." He said. I sighed. If nothing else, my father still knew my mother.

"I know. But I'm just not ready to tell her about him yet. You know how she gets about things like this." I said. Charlie nodded.

"I know. Alright. I'll keep my mouth shut. But I want to meet him." He said sternly. I somehow managed to conceal my grin. This was going just the way I wanted it to.

"Alright." I said, trying to sound reluctant. "I'll call him and tell him to come over." I said. I smiled as I went into the kitchen to use the phone.

"Hello?" I heard Edward's voice over the line. I sighed.

"Hey handsome." I greeted.

"Hello beautiful. How are things going?" he asked.

"Well. Charlie wants to meet you." I said. Edward hesitated. "Come on, you chicken. Get your butt over here." I said. Edward sighed.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming." He said. I laughed.

"Okay. Love you."

"I love you too. I'll be over in a few minutes." He said.

"Okay."

Sure enough, there was a knock on the door ten minutes later. I smiled when I opened the door. "Hey." I said. Edward smiled.

"Hello." He held my face lightly in his hands, and kissed me softly. I heard Charlie clear his throat, and I flushed as I pulled away. Edward gave my hand a quick squeeze, and then moved forward towards Charlie. "Chief Swan, it's a pleasure to meet you… again." He said, grinning. Charlie took his hand, and they shook. I had a feeling one of those important male moment test thingies was going on. Charlie looked Edward over, and Edward's expression remained calm, and his gaze was steady on Charlie's. After a moment, Charlie smiled a bit, and nodded slightly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Edward… again. You're a lot taller than the last time I saw you." He said. Edward laughed.

"I should hope so." He said.

"Come on in then, and you two can finish explaining exactly what has been going on around here." He said.

EPOV

Bella's dad was a pretty great guy. He was kind of quiet, but once he opened up, he was really friendly. Bella and I told him about everything that had happened, and had him laughing at more than one point. I was just glad that I'd passed the handshake test. Once Bella and I had told him everything, Charlie smiled at Bella. "Bells, would you mind getting something for me?" he asked.

"Sure, what is it?"

"There's a photo album, in the drawer of that little table by the front door. Why don't you bring it in here?" he asked.

"Sure." Bella danced happily out, and I smiled. Charlie leaned forward, and I winced inwardly. I had a feeling this was coming.

"You take care of her, you got that? I can see you two care about each other – I'm not blind after all. But you hurt my daughter, and you and I are going to have problems." He said, his voice and face hard. I nodded solemnly.

"I understand. I expected nothing less." I said. Charlie nodded.

"Good... Good." He said, leaning back again, and relaxing.

Bella came back in, holding a wide, thick photo album in her arms. We spent the rest of that day looking through all the pictures, and Charlie explained each picture, and put a story to the image. Bella listened intently, and brushed her fingertips over the pictures, and looked both wistful, and sad. There were plenty of pictures of Bella and I, and with those her whole face seemed to warm and soften.

After a while we had to say goodbye. My aunt and uncle were coming over in a few days for second Christmas, and New Years, and we had promised my mother that we'd help get everything ready for them. And there was something that I wanted to show Bella before we headed home. So we said our goodbyes, and then headed back. I wrapped my arm around Bella's waist, and she laid her head on my shoulder. "I'm so tired." She said.

"You should have some time to get more sleep, if you want." I said.

"No, that's not what I mean. I'm emotionally spent." She said, with a little sigh. I winced, and pulled her tighter into my side.

"Bella, are you sure that your mother…"

"No. Not yet." She said. She sounded so sure of herself.

"I just don't understand. You don't think she'd support you?" I asked. Bella sighed.

"Edward, she left my dad because she didn't want to be stuck here; because she thought she married too young. Don't you think she see this as me repeating her mistakes?" she asked. Pain twisted sharply in my gut.

"Is that how you see it?" I asked.

"What? No!" she said, pausing, and turning to face me. "Of course not. How could you even ask me that?" she asked, looking hurt. I held her face in my hands.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's always ourselves we don't see clearly." I murmured. Bella frowned at me.

"You're forgiven. Just don't say things like that." She said. I kissed her, and then held her hand again.

"Agreed." I said. We started walking again, but I nudged her towards the other side of the road.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"A place I know." I said. She shrugged, and let me lead her onto a trail that led into the woods. It was amazing, the trust she put in me.

We walked for about a mile, with me helping Bella over fallen logs, and holding back low branches. When the forest began to thin a bit Bella became more alert. "Are we almost there?" Bella asked. I nodded. We walked for another fifty feet, and then there was a break in the trees. I paused, and held Bella back.

"This is a place I found when I was a teenager. I came here, and I thought of you. Even when you were just a vague feeling, or thought, I missed you." I said. Bella's eyes reflected back the love I felt for her. I took her hand, and led her through the trees. Bella gasped.

BPOV

It was a meadow. It was beautiful… it was covered in snow, and it was so completely and totally quiet, peaceful, and wonderful. Then the clouds broke, and the sun poured into the little meadow, like water pouring into a cup. And then everything glittered. The light bounced off the snow and ice, and then splintered into a billion tiny rainbows. It was dazzling, and wonderful, and perfect. "Oh Edward. It's… fantastic." I breathed. Edward smiled. Then stared at me for a moment.

"I never noticed… you're hair looks red in the sunlight." He said. I flushed, and he laughed. "And now your cheeks match." He said. Then he leaned down and kissed each cheek, and then my mouth. I sighed, and grinned. I backed away, and then let myself fall backwards onto the soft snow. I giggled, as Edward followed suit and fell next to me. He grinned, and held my hand. "I love you." He said softly. I closed my eyes, and let his words simply wash over me.

"I love you too, Edward." I said, turning my head to kiss him. He rested his forehead against mine.

After a while, we had to head back. Edward's aunt and uncle would be coming soon for a Christmas/New Year's party, and we'd promsied Liz that we'd help clean house and prepare guest rooms. I couldn't wait to meet them. Edward had told me a little about them, bu from what I heard they were really great. So Edward helped me to my feet, and then we headed back home.

Ending Note: Hey everybody. Sorry again this chapter took so long to get out. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. : ) The next one will hopefully be out soon. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved, and read –love you guys!! Peace!!! ~~~~~~~~:D~~~~~~~~