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ChPOV

Today was a long day for me. It was Saturday, which was usually the day I got up early and got my fishing gear and spent the day at one of my favorite fishing spots with Billy.

It had been a few days since we had our last argument; and I missed my friend, but my daughter and her happiness were the most important things to me. It was not like I couldn't find another fishing partner. I mean, yeah, I might not be the most social person on the planet, but I did have other friends besides just Billy.

I wondered what Carlisle and his boys thought of fishing. Have they ever been? I mean since they became like they are now? It still felt a bit strange to me to think of them as being inhuman because I had never really seen them act any other way since I had known them. Well except those couple of times where Edward was mad, but that was understandable.

I really didn't want to go fishing all by myself; I thought to myself. So I decided to go and call them up and ask them; it couldn't hurt anything. I went to the phone and dialed the number; Esme picked up on the second ring.

"Hello, Cullen residence," she answered politely.

Carlisle was a lucky man; I thought to myself again. I realized how wishful it made me want to have female companionship in my life again. I wondered how Bella would feel about that.

"Esme, good morning; this is Charlie," I replied.

"Oh Charlie, how nice to hear from you; and are you well this morning?" she asked.

"I am, thank you; and I hope you are the same," I told her.

"Thank you, I am fine. Are you looking for Bella?" she asked.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to Carlisle. Is he around?" I asked.

"Oh yes, just a moment," she replied.

I heard her as she called him to the phone.

"Good morning, Charlie; what can I do for you this morning?" he asked as pleasantly as his wife.

"Well, you may laugh at me, but I was wondering if you and your boys would be interested in going fishing with me today," I answered.

"That sounds delightful, I'd love to go whether the boys go or not; thank you for asking," he said.

I heard him ask his boys if they wanted to go, and they all replied that they would in fact like that.

"Since we have a bigger vehicle that will go off road, would you like us to come and get you? We can then go from there," he asked.

"That will be fine, Carlisle; I'll be looking for you," I told him.

"Alright, we'll be there in about ten to twenty minutes; does that sound okay with you?" he asked me.

"Sounds fine, I'll be ready," I replied back.

We hung up, and I got everything I would need packed up and ready. I was really looking forward to this trip. True to his word, Carlisle and his boys pulled up in front of my house ten minutes later in Emmett's huge Jeep. I went out and met them. Jasper had gotten out, helping me load my gear; we put it in the back with theirs. Let me tell you that they had some more nice fishing gear. It looked new and expensive; it must be nice to be so wealthy. Was I jealous? Not at all, I was relieved. I knew my daughter and grandbaby would always have everything they would ever need and possibly want until the end of time.

After Jasper and I had my gear loaded up, I climbed up in the jeep; and we were off. Emmett was driving; I gave him directions to the best of all the fishing spots that I had ever fished. I found out that having an off road vehicle was much better than making that trek on two feet. The spot we went to was one that you had to hike to get to otherwise. That was why I rarely got to go to it because Billy's wheelchair would not allow him to go there.

"This is a beautiful spot, Charlie," Jasper told me.

"I'm surprised we haven't ever come across it before," Emmett commented.

I explained why I didn't come here often. Carlisle smiled a sad smile, and I could read compassion in his eyes. Jasper laid his hand on my shoulder, and I felt lighter. Man that would take some getting used to, but I was grateful.

We all got set up with our gear and began fishing. All day long we enjoyed each other's company. We laughed and joked about different things. I learned more about each one of them and where they had come from. It must have been something to have seen what they have through the years. I knew I didn't want to be a vampire, but I found myself to be a bit envious of them too in that respect.

When late afternoon came, we had all caught several fish a piece; and we decided to call it a day. I was hungry and needed food. With Bella not at home to cook anymore, I had started eating at the diner again. I hadn't had to worry about it for the last few days though because Esme and Bella had kept me up. I had to give Esme credit because for a vampire who didn't eat human food anymore, she could certainly cook it; and it was delicious.

I didn't want to admit it, but I also had another purpose for going to the diner. I was hoping Cora was working tonight. I was tired of being alone all the time. Renee had moved on and seemed happy; Bella was married now, and I didn't really think she would mind me having someone to keep me company and to share my life with.

I knew Edward could hear my thoughts; I glanced up at him, and he was smiling and nodding his head in approval at them.

"You're right, Charlie; Bella loves you and would definitely want you to be happy. It would be one less worry off her mind to know you would be taken care of during the times when we are away from you," he quietly reassured me.

I smiled and looked down at my feet. My mind was made up; I was going to try to date the woman who had always been my favorite waitress. Once I was back at home, I got a shower and cleaned up; I dressed in jeans and one of my flannel shirts and went to the diner. Luck was with me tonight because Cora was working.

I walked in; and she smiled when she saw me, then came over and led me to my regular table.

"Well, what a pleasant surprise to see you here tonight Chief. I figured you'd be over at the Cullen's," she said with a smile.

"No not tonight, I haven't been by in a few days so I thought I'd come and see if my favorite waitress would feed me tonight," I replied back.

I blushed at how lame I sounded trying to flirt with her. I hadn't done this in years. I wondered if the rules of flirting has changed any in the last twenty or so years.

"Awe, you sweet man you know just what to say to get me wrapped around your finger," she said smiling back at me and blushing herself.

Man, she was beautiful with her dark shoulder length hair and her grayish blue eyes. The rest of her looked just as good, and she had a really good heart as well. I had observed over the years how she treated the people she waited on. She cared about others. When those hikers went missing, she never failed to ask about what I had found. I didn't know then what I know now, but that was something I wouldn't share with anyone.

I felt my face get hot at her comment, but it made me feel good that it seemed she was flirting back. After the dinner crowd had come in, she wasn't as free to talk; I just sat quietly for a bit. It was odd for me not to be in front of the TV watching a game or something, but I didn't really want to go home. As I sat there thinking over the last few years, I realized why it was that Renee wasn't happy here. There really wasn't anything to do when the streets rolled up at around eight o'clock. I got to thinking; I was really surprised there wasn't more teenage mischief that went on than what there was.

Speaking of teenagers, I looked up and saw a group of kids Bella had gone to school with. There was that Newton kid and that Crowley kid and the two girls who caused a scene at the wedding. They didn't see me sitting over in the corner at first, and then the Newton Kid noticed me and came over to me.

"Hey Chief Swan, how's it hangin'?" he asked with a grin.

"Hey kid," I replied.

I didn't have a clue as to what he meant by how's it hangin', so I left it alone.

"So have you talked to Bella lately? Is she doing alright and all? I heard Cullen knocked her up; bet that didn't sit too well with you huh?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

I looked up at him like he had rocks for brains.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yeah I talked to Bella earlier today; and she's just fine. She's extremely happy. As for her being pregnant goes, I'm as happy as I can be; and I am damn proud to have Edward Cullen for my son-in-law. I think you need to go on and worry about your own girl; maybe if you worried more about your own business, then she wouldn't be wanting to mess in somebody else's business like my daughter and her husband's," I told him.

"Yeah, well, tell Bella I said hello; and maybe I'll see her around, later Chief Swan," he took his leave, seemingly unfazed by what I had said.

Stupid kids, wouldn't they have learned by now to butt out of Edward and Bella's life. For God sakes, they were married and had a baby on the way. I would have thought that knowing someone was married would be enough of a hint; if not, being pregnant would be. Bella being pregnant should have been a big flashing neon sign to all these chuckleheads that she was definitely off the market. I guessed for some people though, even a load of bricks was not enough to knock some sense into them.

I sat there staring out the window some more as the minutes ticked off the clock. The dinner rush had now gone, and Cora was once again able to come over and talk.

"Hey what's with the frown chief? Did your dinner not sit well with you? If it wasn't good, we'll make it right for no charge," she said.

"No Cora, my dinner was fine thanks; I was just sitting here thinking about some stuff. That Newton kid is still trying to sniff after Bella. He came over trying to get information out of me about her. If I didn't know better, I'd swear she put some sort of love spell on might near every boy in the Olympic Peninsula when she came to live with me," I told her.

She giggled at that and hearing her laughter made me smile.

"Well, we both know how gorgeous she is, and she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside; and the male population are just naturally attracted to her quiet beauty and intrigued by her natural charm," she replied.

I smiled at how she had described Bella, and it had been right on the money too. I guess it couldn't be helped since she had been working here even before Renee left me and had taken Bella with her.

"That girl of mine is something else; that's for sure. Thank God she made things easy on me and was only crazy for one boy," I said.

I had been to hell and back because of Edward Cullen; but since I now knew everything, I understood his motivation. It may have been a little boneheaded on his part to do it the way he did; but in the end, he really was trying to look out for Bella's interest.

"Well, how could she not turn out like she did? When she's had you for her dad all her life," she asked and put her hand on my shoulder.

I looked up at her and gave her a big grin. I was flattered beyond belief and embarrassed at the same time. I put my hand over hers and held it for a minute, and then I got up and thanked her for the food, the service, and the companionship. I put some money down on the table for a tip and went to pay for my dinner; when she gave me back my change, I gave her one last smile. I gently squeezed her hand, and then I left.

CoraPOV

The diner wasn't busy when I saw Charlie Swan come in. I went over and led him to a table that I knew was his favorite. He didn't know it, but I have had the biggest crush on him for the longest time. It got even bigger over the years that he would frequent the diner while he lived in bachelorhood. Charlie was a quiet man who kept pretty much to himself. He was a good man; he cared about the people of this town, and he took his job seriously. When Bella came back to live with him, he took his job as a father even more seriously. I knew he was thrilled to have her back with him. He had told everybody and anybody who would listen that she was coming to live with him again. That made the tender spot in my heart for him that much bigger.

He had not deserved the treatment he had gotten from his ex-wife. She hurt Charlie so deeply by leaving and then made it twice as bad when she took Bella, his pride and joy with her. I had never liked the woman; she was too flighty and self centered, if you asked me. She wasn't deserving of a man like Charlie Swan. Well, now it had been made clear that things were different; I was going to do everything in my power to get his attention and keep it.

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