Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T, Shadows
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Prompt: Esteem, redeem

Rosalie, Edward and Carlisle all went into research mode with Alice sitting nearby, looking to see if what they proposed would work or not. Some ideas were met with enthusiasm, because they would reduce Charlie's suffering, but nothing solved the problem.

Charlie was resigned. "At least I know what's going to take me out and how long I have. I used to worry that Mark would one day knock on my door to tell you some strung out psycho in the woods had shot me," he told me with a smile. "Don't fret over this, please. I've lived a good life. My daughter is going to a great school, and I know she'll be young and beautiful forever."

When I approached him about being changed into a vampire he scoffed. "Nah, I'm fine with dying. Besides, I think Sue is a little opinionated about vampires." He had whispered the last to me, making me laugh through my tears. I found it odd that he was cheering me up, but from the moment he received the diagnosis Charlie had decided to make the most of the life he had left.

I didn't know cliff diving was part of that. Leave it to the wolves to encourage that stupidity.

"Chill, Bella," Jacob said when he told me about it. They had wisely kept it secret until after the event. "We hold Charlie in too high of esteem to let anything happen to him. I was in the ocean to pull him out if he went too far down or blacked out, and Sam was at the top to give him the pep talk. Seth…"

"I don't want to hear about the setup, you idiot. What if he'd had a heart attack on the way down?"

"Nah, we cleared it with Doctor Fang, and had the psychic check to see if he would be all right. She figured that seeing him taking Sue to dinner the next day was enough to give the go ahead."

After that we made a rule. They couldn't tell me about anything they took Charlie to do until at least a month had passed from the event. That worked until the end of August and I saw two parachutes in the living room. From the amount of hemming and hawing they gave me I knew they hadn't gone yet. What shocked me most was Edward was flying the plane for them.

"Jasper and Alice will jump with Charlie and Sue, Bella. They'll be fine," Edward said, trying to placate me.

"Jasper and Alice can have their parachutes fail and won't be hurt!" I ranted, waving my arms as I tried to make my point. "I can't believe you, of all people, are encouraging this!"

"That's enough," Charlie said, cutting short my build up to a true screaming binge. "I'm a grown man and can decide how I live and die. I'm not allowed to work anymore, so I need to do something." A huge grin split his face as he pulled at his moustache. "Besides, it's really fun."

My only hope was Renee. Despite being divorced and living on opposite sides of the country my parents were still good friends. As soon as she got the news Renee purchased tickets for her and Phil to fly out and spend a week with us. It happened that she arrived the day before the planned skydiving.

More than one TSA agent reached for their gun when Renee came screaming from the other side of security. They relaxed and smiled when she jumped on Charlie, engulfing him in a bear hug. I tried to apologize to the agent closest to me, but he just waved me off, as if it happened all the time.

On the ride home I tried to get her on my side. "Mom, did you know that dad and Sue were planning on going skydiving tomorrow?"

Charlie glared at me from the front seat until Renee said, "Oh really? Can Phil and I tag along?" Edward and Charlie burst out laughing while I gawked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Oh, Bella," Renee said, pulling on my arm, "don't be a spoilsport. You only live once. May as well make the most of it while you can. Why don't you and Edward come along as well?"

"Edward's flying…"

"Absolutely not!" Edward said, cutting off all conversation. Looking at him I could see his face was completely white, as if what little color he normally had drained away, and the steering wheel creaked from him gripping it so hard.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him in the rear-view mirror. "If it's okay for my parents…"

"No. And that's final. You can ride in the plane with me if you like, but you aren't jumping out." His eyes were determined and he spoke as if he were trying to talk around grinding teeth. Shockingly, my parents, even Phil, were nodding in agreement.

"Now wait, aren't you all being just a little hypocritical?" I asked, huffing in annoyance. It's not like I wanted to skydive, but that was beside the point.

"Bella," Renee said, running a motherly hand over my head, "knowing your luck your parachute will get caught on something, or fail to open, or you'll break a leg on landing. It's just not a good idea."

"You can be my copilot, love," Edward said, reaching over his shoulder for my hand, wiggling his fingers when I didn't take it. "I promise to make it up to you."

"Not sure I want to hear how you plan to redeem yourself, Edward," Charlie said, visibly cringing.

Edward grinned at him. "No Charlie, I don't think you do." When he looked at me in the mirror again his eyes seemed to smolder. All thoughts of unfairness went right out the window as I stared back.

This is dedicated to my 72-year-old mother-in-law who is going parasailing this week, and climbed a Mayan temple just a few months ago. Have fun mom! *she's still healthy, just loves to live*