EPOV

"Come in, Edward."

I opened the door to find Charlie seated at his desk, a chair ready for me opposite him. If I hadn't been so nervous, I might have laughed at the sense of déjà vu that both of us were obviously feeling. I had sat in that very chair last week, defending myself against Charlie's suspicions. Things would be very different this time. For one thing, Charlie knew now that almost everything I had said the last time I was here had been a lie. But another difference was even more obvious: it was earlier in the day this time, and the morning sun was slanting into the room. There was a huge patch of sunlight blocking my path to the chair. Charlie had opened all the shades as widely as he could, and as he saw my reaction, he grinned smugly. I could walk around the sunbeam, but-

Carlisle said it wouldn't work, but... wonder if he'll avoid the light.

I smiled pleasantly, accepting his silent challenge; if this was the best he could do to intimidate me, then maybe I had been worrying over nothing. I walked slowly toward the chair, pausing to let the sunlight catch me. The walls immediately lit up with thousands of specks of light, and Charlie's eyes grew to twice their normal size as he stared at me, then at the walls, and then back at me again. I continued walking, exiting the sunbeam, and sat down.

Charlie leaned back in his chair, giving a low whistle. "Well, that's… not what I expected," he muttered.

"We don't burn in the sunlight. That's a myth," I offered as cheerfully as I could. He just scowled.

We sat in awkward silence for a moment while Charlie fantasized about me bursting into flames. The image had a humorous, comic-book-like tone to it; it was obvious that he hadn't really been trying to hurt me.

"My father said you wanted to speak with me, sir."

"Yeah. Thought it might be best if you and I could have this little talk alone, considering the circumstances." He paused, leaning forward and folding his hands on the desk as he continued his mental pep talk to himself. I didn't need Jasper to see that he was at least as nervous as I was.

I cleared my throat. "I'd like to say something first, if I may."

Charlie nodded, relieved that he didn't need to begin the conversation.

"I want to offer my apology. On behalf of my whole family, but especially for myself. I want you to know how sorry I am for all the lies. They were necessary, as I'm sure you understand, but we don't enjoy deception."

Charlie nodded again, but his expression didn't soften. "Well, they're not necessary anymore, are they?"

"No, sir." I hated that this was a lie, as well. But how much I had to lie would be up to Charlie; this was his show. I had my plan ready, if necessary. He was less hostile than I had expected, and I would be as truthful as I could.

"So, I'd like to hear the truth now, about all the times that Bella got hurt."

I told him everything, beginning with the van incident. When I had finished, he just rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose the polygraph wouldn't work," he said sadly.

I finally allowed myself a smile. "No. I don't even have a pulse. That's why I had to leave so quickly the last time I was here."

He sat up more fully. "You mean your mom's car accident wasn't real either?" I just shook my head. He slapped his knee. "I knew it!" he said triumphantly.

"But there is one thing I wasn't lying about before," I said, my smile fading. "You asked me if Bella and I were sleeping together. I told you we weren't, and that was the absolute truth. I would never dishonor Bella in that way, sir."

Hmm. I think I actually believe him this time. Interesting. "Stop calling me sir," he growled.

"I'm sorry, s... Charlie," I said. "But I really was born in 1901. Sometimes I still find it difficult to adapt to the conventions of this era. I was raised to be a gentleman. And I'm not saying that young men were perfect back in my time. But I absolutely do not agree with the cavalier approach that most of my human peers bring to what they call 'dating'. I hold Bella's virtue to be most sacred." And her life, as well.

"Well said," Charlie grudgingly replied. I had never been so carefree in my speech with him before; this was the first time I had allowed myself to speak to him without the teenage mask. It would be nice not to have to do that anymore, at least. "Here's the thing, kid. Uh, Edward." Kind of stupid calling him kid, now. He could be my grandfather. "The reason I called you here today is because I want to talk about Bella's… future."

I nodded, swallowing nervously. I was ready for him.

"Bella was in a hurry to get over to your house last night. And things were a little awkward on the way home. We didn't get to talk much. But she did say that now that I knew the truth, that I would be able to get to 'know you better'." He waved his fingers in the air as he quoted her. "And I want you to know that… I'm okay with that. So, in other words, I'm willing to start over, if you are."

I blinked, not comprehending his words. "I'm sorry… I'm a little confused. You're not angry with me?"

He grunted. "I didn't say that. I said I'm willing to give you a second chance. It's obvious that you guys aren't, uh, evil. And Bella has been happy, being with you. But there are some things I'd like to know, now that you're able to tell the truth."

My head was spinning. Was this really happening? Was this some kind of trick? But Charlie's mind was a perfect echo of the words he had just spoken. I saw no indication that he wanted me out of Bella's life. In fact, there was a hopeful tone to his thoughts, and he was nervously working up to his first question. I saw what it was two seconds before he asked it: he wanted to know how much I loved Bella. And I would get to answer him honestly! I was so relieved that, for the second time in as many days, my idiotic plans had come to nothing. Alice must be laughing her head off.

"All right. My first question is, do you love my daughter?"

I leaned forward eagerly, finally allowing him to see the intensity in my eyes. "I love her more than my own life. My own existence, I mean. Both Bella and I have tried to keep up appearances for your sake, but the bond we share is not as…" I searched for the right word, a way to tell him how different Bella and I were from other teenage couples. "Listen, Charlie. Love is different for my kind. It's eternal, and absolutely unbreakable. When two vampires fall in love, they are irrevocably changed forever. And I had never felt that supernatural change before I met Bella, but I had seen it, in my parents' marriage. The love that I feel for Bella far surpasses that which a human man would be capable of feeling."

"But she's human," Charlie interrupted. "You said, 'when two vampires fall in love'."

"Yes, and that is the most surprising thing of all," I replied, smiling at Charlie's silent fascination with the change in my speech pattern. "I hadn't known that this was possible between a vampire and a human. But the change in my own heart is unmistakable. And even more incredible is that fact that Bella seems to love me in the same way. I didn't see it at first, because I couldn't believe that it was possible. But now I know that her love is just as strong, as unbreakable as my own. We are meant to be together, and we must be together. It's not a choice anymore, Charlie. For either of us."

I watched his thoughts eagerly as he processed what I had just told him. Had I said too much? I worried that in my excitement to finally tell him the truth, I had been perhaps too forthcoming, too intense. But Charlie just rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's good," he said to himself.

Good?

"Okay," he said, licking his lips. Sweat began to form on his forehead, and I frowned in confusion. Where was he going with this? His thoughts were a maddening swirl of images, flipping so fast that even I couldn't follow along.

"Okay," he said again. "If all that is true, then does this mean that you're going to… you know, make her like you?"

I froze, my mind racing. I hadn't expected this question to come so soon, and I wasn't prepared to answer it myself, much less to form the necessary lie to keep Charlie unaware of the danger that his daughter was in. I supposed I could deflect the question with an honest answer: that it was what Bella wanted. It wasn't a lie, and it didn't betray my own intentions.

"That's what Bella wants," I said slowly.

Charlie frowned. "You say that like it's not what you want." What happened to all that eternal love stuff? Doesn't it mean that he wants to be with her forever?

Of course I wanted her forever. And I had actually been willing yesterday, just for one desperate moment, when I had thought that changing Bella would allow her to escape with us. But then I had swung the other way, convincing myself that not only was it wrong to change Bella, but that it was wrong for me to contaminate her life any longer. And for one hundred and thirty-six horrible minutes, I had truly believed that I would never see her again. My cursed existence had stretched before me, an endless horizon devoid of light. But then Bella's ingenuity, and my own weakness, had relieved my torment. And now, having lived through the briefest of separations, I knew in the depths of my being that I could never be parted from her again.

But in terms of Bella's mortality, nothing had changed. I still had the same objections, and she and my family still had their reasons. Carlisle's ultimatum would stand, though the timeline would likely be delayed, with the new complication of Charlie's knowledge. The only difference now was that I loved Bella even more than before, and I finally understood the strength of her love. Every instinct was screaming that I should change her myself, before Carlisle had a chance to intervene. But I was still fighting those instincts. It was a losing fight, but a fight nonetheless. I had to keep fighting, as long as Bella's heart was beating.

And then I saw it.

The image rose to the front of Charlie's mind, rising above the maelstrom of thoughts. Bella, as an immortal. Her skin pale and shimmering, her eyes a soft, golden hue. Nothing I hadn't imagined before. But in this picture, Bella was smiling and carefree. I was standing next to her, watching her with the awe and love as I shimmered alongside her. At first I didn't understand what I was seeing. There was a landscape behind us, flipping between a grassy green and winter snow at lightning speed. Winter, summer, winter, summer. It was the change of seasons, I finally realized. Charlie was imagining Bella and I living forever, and the changing scenery was the meaningless passage of time, the years unable to alter our smiles as they flew by.

He wanted this.

Charlie wanted me to change Bella.

He noticed my hesitation, frowning and bringing his thoughts to the surface. He has to. It's what she wants. It's the answer I was never looking for. She'll be safe forever. She'll be happy forever!

I couldn't believe this. I could never, in a million years, have predicted this. Bella's father knew what I was, and he wasn't ordering me away. In fact, he was doing the exact opposite; he wanted me to change his daughter into a vampire! I suddenly remembered having a similar reaction to Bella when she had learned the truth about me. Her responses had never been predictable, either. In fact, they had always been the opposite of what I had expected. It appeared that her father was full of surprises, as well.

"It's not that I don't… want it," I replied carefully. "In some ways, I want that more than anything. I want Bella at my side for eternity. But I don't want this life for Bella herself."

"Why not?" he demanded. "It's what she wants, and you guys seem to live pretty normal lives, aside from all the lies, and the sunlight thing, and the moving."

I hesitated before answering. I had come here today, hoping to reassure Charlie about us, about me. My greatest hope as I had been driving over here was that I could get Charlie to continue allowing Bella and me to "date". But he had exceeded my expectations, and now I was in the middle of a conversation that I had hoped wouldn't need to happen for a long time. If Bella found out that her father was in favor of her transformation, she would ask Carlisle to do it much sooner, and he would agree. I felt a growing sense of panic. I had thought that Charlie was going to be on my side! Perhaps we had been too reassuring yesterday.

"Charlie, I don't think you're fully aware of what we are," I said stiffly. "What my family does isn't easy. We constantly thirst for human blood. The animal diet never fully satisfies us, and sometimes, we make mistakes. People have died. Can you honestly tell me that you want that for your daughter?"

"Have you made mistakes?" he challenged immediately.

"No, I haven't. But that doesn't mean it's not difficult."

His eyes narrowed. "So, you've never once killed a human being?"

I bit my tongue, cursing my eternal adolescence. When was I going to learn to think before I spoke? Of course Charlie's inquisitive nature would lead him to ask that question, once I got him on the topic of murder. I knew that if I chose to lie about this, that he would believe me. But I felt an inexplicable desire to be tell him the truth; if I was ever going to truly have his trust, I would need to. And, besides, if I had any hope of swaying Charlie to my point of view, I had to be honest here.

"I have. Back in 1927, I left my family and spent four years alone, hunting humans."

Charlie's face reddened, but he just nodded. "How many?"

"Nine hundred and thirty-seven."

Charlie's mind did a back flip. A horrible picture arose in his thoughts: he was imagining me slaughtering a man in a dark alley, my mouth pressed to his neck. I shuddered internally at the accuracy of the image, and at the memories that it stirred up in my own mind.

"I only killed criminals," I continued quickly. "I thought that if I was only consuming those humans who deserved to die anyway, that I wasn't doing anything too terrible. But I was deluding myself, and after a while, the guilt drove me to repent. I returned to my family in shame, and they forgave me." I looked back up, meeting his eyes. "What I did back then was wrong, Charlie. It was the worst thing I have ever done, and I haven't spoken about it to anyone in years, except for Bella. And believe me, I could have lied to you about it now. But I want you to understand the darkness that is in our hearts. Before you say that this is what you want for Bella, I need you to understand what kind of life she would be entering."

I held my breath while Charlie processed my words. I couldn't believe them myself. I had just told him the one thing that I had hoped he would never find out! Why hadn't I just given him some of the other reasons for not wanting to change Bella? Had I just destroyed the fledgling trust that he had been ready to give me?

"So… after you stopped..."

"Never," I said firmly. "I haven't killed a human in seventy-four years, and I never will again."

Charlie leaned back in his chair, staring at me. Jacob wasn't kidding when he said this stuff was outside the scope of the law. It's awful, but… how can you blame a vampire for wanting to… drink his natural food source? At least he stopped- that must have been hard to do. I wonder if Bella will want to kill people, too.

"Of course she will," I snapped. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I flinched.

Charlie's heart skipped a beat. How did he…

"Look, Charlie," I said with a sigh," As long as I'm being brutally honest, you might as well know this, too. You already knew about Alice's talent, but I have one as well. I can read minds. Well, everyone's but Bella's, that is. Your mind is also a bit difficult for me, but I can hear most of your conscious thoughts."

Whoa… so you can… hear this right now?

I nodded.

Well, that's just… weird. He stared at me, and I smiled hesitantly back at him, shaking my head in disbelief. This seemed to shock him more than the part about hunting humans! Charlie was even more like Bella than I had realized. He truly hadn't been surprised when I had admitted to my rebellious years- in fact, he had almost seemed to expect it. He looked me straight in the eye. So then you know that I still want Bella to become like you.

"Yes, I can see that, although I'm a little surprised. You just said- well, thought- that Bella would want to kill humans. And she would, Charlie. I would do everything in my power to help her resist, but she would always feel the desire to drink human blood. It's my personal belief that our souls don't even survive the transformation process."

"And… that's why you don't want her to be like you?"

"Yes."

"But it's what she wants."

"Correct."

"So, she's made her choice, and I've given you my blessing. Will you do it or not?"

I shifted uneasily in my chair. Now that Bella's own father thought that changing her was the right thing to do, my own arguments were beginning to look even weaker. In the short time that Charlie had known that immortality was possible, he had already decided that Bella was meant to have it. Besides myself, he was the one person responsible for Bella's welfare, and I knew that he took that responsibility seriously. And this is how he had decided to secure her future. Once I had admitted that Bella wanted to be changed, that had been enough for him. It had obviously been a simple decision on his part.

Was it really that simple?

I flew through my arguments again. I had already discounted my fear that Bella would come to resent me for the loss of her humanity; she deserved better than that. I also had to discount the argument that she would miss out on so many human experiences; we had established by now that Bella was such a disaster magnet that she would no doubt miss out on some of those things on her own. Then there was the argument that my obsessive love wasn't the kind of thing that Bella needed for the rest of eternity; but that had to be discounted, as well. Last night had shown me that Bella was quite capable of both handling and returning that intensity of love. And now, I had to discount the excuse that she would have to say goodbye to her father. There was no reason now why Charlie couldn't continue to be a part of Bella's life after she was changed.

That left me with only one objection, but the biggest one of all: the matter of Bella's soul. There was no point in trying to rehash the theology again; Carlisle and I had talked ourselves in circles on numerous occasions. I wondered what Charlie would think of those conversations; they probably wouldn't interest him much. He obviously thought that Bella had the right to choose whether or not to risk her soul for me.

Really, he would say the same for all of my objections. That in each situation, Bella should have the right to decide her own fate.

That it was her choice.

I had always imagined Bella as being so fragile, and as I had grown to love her, I had begun to think of her as my crystal angel; so beautiful, so precious, and yet so breakable. I had taken on the role of her protector. I had always known that my love for Bella held a chauvinistic quality; I could blame my early-1900s upbringing, or my vast experience and knowledge. But whatever the reason, the truth was that I had always felt that I knew what was best for her, even if she didn't agree with me. And so when she made it clear that she wanted to be like me, I had shaken my head, clutching the crystal angel to my chest, protecting her from herself. And the more my love grew, the more tightly I clutched her. I cherished my angel so much that I had never been willing to let her fly.

I looked again at the man sitting across from me. He loved Bella more than anyone did, besides myself. But his love had driven him the opposite way. He saw the choice that she had made, and, because he cherished her, he wanted to honor her choice. Even after my confession, he was still willing for Bella to become like me. In his eyes, loving Bella meant setting her free.

This is what it boiled down to, then: did I love Bella enough to stop worshipping her, and start listening to her?

I closed my eyes, searching every corner of my heart. I did love her enough.

As soon as he saw the smile spread over my face, Charlie relaxed. "I will," I announced, opening my eyes again. The words tasted odd in my mouth; until this moment, I had sworn I would never say them. But I meant them now.

"Okay," Charlie said shakily. "Okay. But there's no rush, right?" I'm not ready yet. I want to see her graduate high school. And I want her to have time to think about it, and to make sure this is what she really wants.

"I think that would be best, as well. But, like you said, it will be Bella's choice." As I said the words, I felt freedom shoot through my heart. From now on, it would always be her choice. I hoped Bella would honor Charlie's request to wait until after graduation; I wasn't in a hurry to see her heart stop beating. But I would stop trying to change her mind, and I would give her my blessing as well. I didn't need to fight anymore.

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BPOV

I slowly stirred awake, stretching and feeling Edward's coldness next to me. The events of last night rushed back into my head, and I jerked awake fully, to find him sitting on the edge of the bed next to me. His eyes were still black with thirst, but he looked so much more relaxed than he had last night.

"Good morning," he whispered, leaning down to kiss my forehead. "Alice said you would be waking up now, so I have breakfast ready for you downstairs."

"The wolves?" I asked anxiously.

"Everything is fine. Jacob phased again, and he was able to communicate with the rest of the pack. He learned that he was actually meant to be the Alpha, because of his lineage."

"So, Jacob's in charge of the pack now?" It was odd to think of Jacob being in charge of anything- although I supposed he had aged quite a bit overnight.

"He's not sure he wants to assume command right now, but he did use his Alpha status once," Edward explained. "He's reinstated the treaty- until June, at least."

"That's great! Have you been here all night?" I asked. Before Edward could answer, my stomach began rumbling.

"I'll explain everything. But first let's feed the human," he teased. He picked me up and swung me around before darting down the stairs at vampire speed.

"You're in a good mood today," I laughed as I sat down. The kitchen smelled wonderful. Edward sat a plate in front of me, overflowing with hot pancakes, scrambled eggs and fruit.

"You made this?" I asked, poking at the food.

He sat down beside me. "Yes," he said uncertainly. "I hope it tastes all right; I was holding my breath the whole time I made it."

I took a cautious nibble of a pancake; it was, of course, the best I had ever tasted. "Why does everything you do have to be perfect?" I sighed.

Edward's hopeful smile faded. "I'm far from perfect."

I rolled my eyes. "So am I. I thought we established that last night."

He picked up my hand, the one nearest him. "Bella, can you ever forgive me for what I did last night? For lying to you?"

My fingers stiffened in his cold hand. I had spent most of the silent ride home with Charlie thinking about this. "It wasn't the lie that was so bad," I said slowly. "It was how you decided everything without me… again." I held my breath, waiting for his answer. I had spent at least an hour last night deciding whether I should say that last word.

"Yes, I know," he said quietly. "I have a tendency to… do that. Would you believe me if I said I'm going to try to listen to you from now on?"

I just nodded and laid my head on his shoulder.

"Beginning," he continued after a moment, "with your transformation."

I jerked away from him, staring in disbelief at his face. "You… you're okay with that now?"

His eyes lightened a bit as he smiled. "Let's just say that I've been listening to a very wise friend."

"Carlisle finally won you over?"

"No… I wasn't referring to my father. I was referring to yours."

I frowned. "Charlie? Okay, you've officially lost me."

"Charlie and I had a talk this morning at the Police Station. He had some questions for me, and it went rather well. He wants me to change you, as long as you're completely sure it's what you want."

I stopped chewing. "I… that's… surprising."

He chuckled. "I thought so, too. I went over there expecting him to order me out of your life forever. Not that it would have stopped me," he added, brushing my hand with a kiss, "but I had a whole plan ready; which... of course, I made without talking to you first."

"Of course," I said drily. "So what convinced you to join the 21st century all of a sudden?"

"I said I would try," he warned with a smirk. "Anyway, Charlie already suspected that we might have some sort of … long-term plan. And when I told him that it was what you wanted, he was sold. He likes the idea of you being safe and happy forever. So, naturally, I argued. I told him what bloodthirsty, soulless creatures we are; I even told him about my rebellious years. But he still wanted it, after I promised to keep you away from the delicious humans. Apparently he seemed to think that loving you meant honoring your decision."

"What a novel idea," I said nervously.

"Yes, it is, for me," he admitted. "Like I said, I'm going to try."

"So, if I wanted to go down to La Push this weekend…"

He flinched, just enough for me to catch it. "Have fun," he said stiffly.

I held his gaze for a moment, and then smiled. "Maybe we'd better work up to that one," I muttered. "I do need you to accept my friendship with Jake, though."

He nodded without hesitating. "Done," he sighed. "I have to admit, we both owe that mangy-" I glared at him. "-that boy a lot," he finished.

I took a deep breath. "So, when are we doing this?"

"Charlie wants us to wait until after graduation. He needs some time to adjust, and he wants you to have plenty of time to change your mind."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I shut it again. My first thought was that waiting that long was a bad idea. But now that Edward was determined to try and listen to me, I wanted to listen to him, as well. "And you?"

He frowned. "I'm in no rush for your heart to stop beating. And I agree it's best to wait until you graduate. That way you can "survive" if you want to; Charlie could support whatever cover story we decide on. Everyone in Forks could believe that you just went away to college."

"That makes sense. There is one other thing that I want, though. I want you to be the one to change me."

He reached over and traced down my cheek with the back of his hand, letting his fingers come to rest on the pulse on my neck. "I want that, too," he said quietly. "But if you change your mind, if you have any doubts at all…"

"I won't," I said firmly. "I want this, more than anything in the world. I want you, forever."

He nodded, breaking into a smile that had just a touch of sadness as he watched my pulse beat under his fingers. He lifted his eyes up to mine, and the sadness disappeared; there was only joy.

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A/N: That's it for the main story... epilogue coming up soon!