Chapter 4: Celestial
ce·les·tial [suh-les-chuhl] - pertaining to the spiritual or invisible heaven; heavenly; divine.
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The afternoon with Edward's family passed slowly and quietly, and all too soon they realized that they had yet to inform Charlie of Bella's newly-mated status.
Bella was apprehensive. She knew that her father could do nothing about it, but she didn't know how he would feel about the fact that she had just moved here a week ago, and now she was most likely going to be spending all her time away from home, at the Cullen's house. She loved Charlie, she really did, but not even the love she had for her father could prevent her from spending all her time with Edward, now.
Edward could see Bella's worry, and did his best to calm her down by holding her hand and gently rubbing her back. He took comfort in it when she smiled up at him, though he could still see her troubles in her eyes. He knew, though, that he couldn't do much accept be by her side when she shared the news with Charlie.
He tried to picture how the Chief of Police would react to finding out that his daughter had found her mate at the tender age of 16. Though, she would forever be sixteen, but that was beside the point. Edward had gone through high school many times, as was required by the government if you were frozen at an age where generally you would be in school still. He considered this torture, but now he was sure he would no longer think so, with Bella at his side.
Most of the family wished them luck – it seemed Rosalie was still a little hesitant about the little lamb – and so they left, heading off to Chief Swan's house to tell him that his daughter was now somebody's mate.
Doesn't that sound fun?
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Even though he could tell that Bella was hesitant to get out of the car, and he knew that they had to just get this over with, Edward was definitely the more frightened of the two. I mean, come on, Chief Swan had a gun, and was a policeman, which means that he basically has a license to kill. He didn't really feel like getting shot on the same day that he met his mate; talk about bad luck, or what.
Still, his fear did not stop him from trying to calm down Bella's own worries. He was worried that she was going to bite a hole right through her lip, and as selfish as this sounds, he wanted those lips to be in one piece, and he knew that if she were to make herself bleed it would undoubtedly hurt her.
He leaned over, and gently made her teeth let go of her lip. He couldn't help himself when he ran his thumb over it, trying to soothe it a bit.
Now, they had been sitting in the car outside Bella's home for around five minutes, and Edward could see the curtains moving slightly side to side, so he knew that Bella's father had noticed them. He figured that they couldn't put this off any longer, and so opened his door and made his way over to Bella's, carefully helping her out. He didn't relinquish his hold after she was safely out of the vehicle; instead, he wrapped his strong arm around her waist and closed her car door.
With a watchful eye, he helped her up the steps leading to the front door, and stood with her as she took a deep breath. He squeezed her waist slightly before moving his hand towards the doorknob, and opening the door.
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Charlie Swan did not know what to think when he saw his only daughter sitting in a car, being held by an unfamiliar face. He could tell, even though he was pretty far away, that they had mated.
His daughter, his sixteen year old daughter, had found her mate within one week of him getting her back. He had been so excited to have her living with him, and he didn't think that she could find her soul mate because he knew for a fact that there were no others lambs in Forks, or even any animals like them. Not very many people managed to be as shy and clumsy as Bella, who deserved her spirit animal completely.
Looking at the boy she was now with, he took in his appearance, shocked; a lion? There had to be some king of mistake, here. There was no way his sweet and innocent daughter could possibly be fated to be with a lion.
But, seeing the way they were looking at each other, made him think differently. Her face, from what he could see, held content, and his held adoration. He knew they must be here so that Bella could introduce her mate to him, and then tell him that he probably wouldn't see her around as often. He knew that it was physically painful for a mated pair to be separated for long, and as much as he hated the thought of her sleeping in the same bed as this boy, he wanted to keep her from pain even more, whether it is physical or emotional pain; which means that he would be almost completely giving up his only daughter to someone he had yet to meet.
He watched as the young man helped Bella out of the car. He witnessed the careful way he held onto her, obviously making sure that she didn't so much as stumble. The way he was watching her so carefully made Charlie believe that this boy would do everything in his power to ensure that his mate – in this case, Bella – was safe. And that is just the way Charlie liked it – Bella was too fragile for anything else.
Of course, being the Chief of Police, he had been trained to take in every detail of possible suspects and such, so he scrutinized this boy's appearance carefully. He could just about recognize where he might have seen him from; the boy looked like one of the Cullen's, though he couldn't remember which one was the one without a mate.
With his knowing gaze, it was a no brainer that Charlie would also notice the fact that this boy was nothing even close to a lamb. He moved back into the living room, dumb-founded about this new happening; however, he could not remove the memory of Bella's face when she had looked up at her mate.
Whatever the differences between the two were, they loved each other, and so, it didn't matter. Charlie could see that.
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Bella watched nervously as the door opened. When Charlie didn't immediately come running to meet them, she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in, and tugged Edward inside and towards the living room, where no doubt her father was sitting, waiting for them.
She wasn't as worried as she had been earlier, but she wondered how her father would take this; they hadn't really had that much time to really create a nice father-daughter relationship, but that didn't mean that they didn't love each other.
Renee had forcibly removed Bella from Charlie's grasp twelve years ago, bringing her hours away from him, and when she finally decides to move back here, she meets her mate on her first day of school – a sure ticket out of Charlie's house. The Cullen's had invited her to live with them, and as there wasn't much space at her house, she knew she would be moving in with them as soon as possible –that is, if her father allowed it.
Edward, however, was not thinking of anything like this. He wondered, of course, how Chief Swan would take it, but knew he was a sensible enough man that wouldn't even attempt to come between a pair of soul mates, even if one half of said pair of soul mates consists of his one and only daughter. No, Charlie Swan had been around many years – 138, to be exact – and so had seen the repercussions of separating soul mates; depressions, anxiety, insanity... and, eventually, death. Charlie would never want that for Bella, and Edward knew this.
So, Edward tightened his grip around his mate's waist, and calmly allowed her to pull her towards where he father was most likely waiting. He had to just go through with this little conversation, and then they should be fine. Then, he would be allowed to spend forever with his Bella wrapped in his arms, without the fear of anybody trying to get in between them – he could just be with her, without any fears of being separated.
Then again, it's not as if Edward would let anyone get away with attempting to separate them. He had just found her, but he knew he would always feel like he hadn't had enough time with her. She was his, and he wouldn't allow anybody to try to take her from him.
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"Dad, this is Edward Cullen." Bella spoke quietly in the even quieter room. All you could hear was the gentle breathing of its three occupants, and the murmurs of cars passing by about every five minutes – it's not like there were that many cars in Forks.
When Charlie didn't say anything, just assessed this Edward Cullen, Edward took it upon himself to break the silence. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Chief Swan," holding his hand out towards his mate's father.
Bella and Edward had just sat down on the couch after entering the living room, and so far all that Charlie had done was sit there and look at the two, filing away their every movement, touch, glance into some previously untouched mental file on Bella's love life. He could see this made them a little uncomfortable, but he also knew from his training that in situations of discomfort people tended to show more of their true colours. Some sort of technique the brain used to get them to feel a little bit safer in their environment.
However, Edward had been around a long time. Not as long as Charlie, but long enough to have an inkling of what he was doing. It helped that he had also practiced keeping his cool over the years, and not showing his true emotions. You had to be good at hiding things when you had Emmett and Alice for siblings – those two would tease you relentlessly about anything, even if it was something as simple as tripping over your feet. He could already tell that they were going to have a lot of fun, now that Bella was around. She stumbled around so much that they would probably hardly ever stop laughing.
"It's nice to meet you as well, Edward." Charlie finally answered, reaching forward and grabbing the other man's hand, never stopping the eye contact. From that one hand shake, Charlie could tell a lot of things – and the most important was that this Edward was strong, and would take good care of Bella. Although, it's not as if Charlie couldn't tell that by just looking into his eyes; he had only meant the hand shake to show a sense of peace. And it did. "I want you to take good care of her, son." And Charlie smiled.
Edward, though practiced in the art of hiding his feelings, could do nothing to cover up the relief he felt when Chief Swan called him 'son'. He had his parents, and he would never replace Carlisle, could never replace him – but being called 'son' by his mate's father told him that he was truly accepted, and that meant the world to him at the moment.
Now, there was nobody between him and his everything, his love, his Bella.
Charlie smiled briefly, as well, but not being one for emotional situations, he quickly changed the subject.
"So, Edward, how do you feel about football?"
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After watching one game of football (Seattle Seahawks vs. St. Louis Rams – "I have never cheered for any team except the Seahawks," Charlie had said. "Even if they lose, they will always be my team. What's your team, son?"), and following it with a post-game interview with the coaches, Edward and Bella bid goodbye to her father; sometime during the game, she had went upstairs and packed an overnight bag with clothes that would last her around a week. They hadn't completely discussed when she would move in, but Edward could see that she was hesitant to leave Charlie completely by himself. At least this way, she would be stopping by every couple of days, taking her stuff little by little, letting him get used to being without her.
Edward wanted this, he wanted her to live with him, he wanted her to sleep next to him, but he could see that it made her upset that she had to leave her father alone, when she had just started getting to know him. All the times Bella had spoken to her father over the years hadn't made them any closer, and now she most likely wouldn't ever be able to know what kind of person this was.
Edward drove them home – to their home, because it was hers now just as much as it was his – and grinned when he looked over to see her asleep in the seat. He wrapped her tiny hand in his, revelling in the heat that practically radiated off her.
Just like he had been unable to hide the relief, anybody in a hundred-foot radius could probably feel the happiness that he was pushing out at that moment.
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Edward lifted Bella out of his car, and headed towards the house. Entering, he passed his smiling family members – who were happy to see both of them, happy that their family was complete, finally – and walked upstairs to his – and now Bella's – bedroom, laying her down on the bed.
He stood there, just watching her for a couple of minutes, before he felt the need to be close to her again. Barely taking a second to take both his and his mate's shoes off, Edward crawled into bed, making sure that she was firmly tucked in. He pulled her into his chest, sighing when she cuddled into him more.
He fell asleep smiling like an idiot, knowing that for the first time of many times, he held the world in his hands.
AN/ Update, woo. I'm tired. I have a headache. I am watching a really boring movie. Review, please. I want to know how you liked this. I know there isn't much talking yet, but I'll get around to the conversations soon.