Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing in her sandbox.

Chapter 5 Early Surprises

Charlie POV

I woke to the smell of coffee coming from downstairs. I had no idea what time it was, as it was still dark outside, but I slipped on my jeans and a t shirt and headed downstairs. I might have a chance to catch Bella alone so that I could talk some sense into her. I had to admit though, I couldn't remember ever seeing her happier. She was so proud of her decorating job in the guest room I had used . . . and it was a real good job she had done on it, and this house was something, I'd give him that, the boy had good taste. As I entered the hallway and headed for the stairs I saw no light under what would have been Bellas bedroom door at the far end of the hall. The house was designed so that all the guest rooms were on one side of the house and the master bedroom had its own side of the house. Privacy, I suppose. She was getting around much better than I thought she would at this point and that damned 18 year old boy right there with her, sleeping with her . . . alone. God knows if she had been able to keep him off of her or not . . . or even if she wanted to keep him away. Damn, she was only 18, surely I had raised her better and they weren't having sex, she had better sense than that. She had to know to wait, to save that for the right person . . . husband even. Son of a bitch, I keep forgetting he IS her husband. Damn him.

Sue was right, getting her to come home with is going to be harder than I thought.

I shook my head as I turned from starring at their door and headed down the stairs. I couldn't let myself get caught up in this house or her infatuation with him. I knew what was best for my daughter and she was coming home with me, she had years ahead of her to have a house and husband, one that would not leave her and hurt her the way Edward had. She would find a nice young man in a few years and I would have to let her go, but not now, not when she was still a teenager!

I found my way into the kitchen with my mind set that I would speak to Bells now if she were alone, before the party tomorrow. She would probably be relieved that I understood and had everything waiting for her at home. I turned the corner to find Alice sitting at the kitchen counter staring into a steaming cup of coffee that she held between both of her hands.

"Good morning, Charlie!"

"Alice! Nice to see you this morning, where is Bella?", I said as I looked around the kitchen and saw no one else.

"Bella?", Alice laughed, smirked really, "Edward tries to get her to sleep as late as possible, she needs her rest still to continue to improve."

"Right, I know that's right, Alice. I guess I just remember her always being up when I got up or before and when I smelled the coffee, I thought it was Bella down here."

She looked at me like there was something I was missing. "Charlie", she said kind of quietly, "Even if she was awake they wouldn't be down here this early. They have only been in this house a little over a week and getting them to come out of their bedroom can be a challenge! They are newlyweds, after all!"

"Alice!", I damned near dropped the coffee I was pouring for myself, "Surely you don't mean that he is taking advantage of her while she is injured and all!" I brought my coffee over to the counter and stood on the opposite side of it to face Alice.

"Charlie, we need to talk. Let me fix you some breakfast."

Before I cold protest, Alice had eggs broken in a bowl and toast in the toaster. I sat down with my coffee. "You seem to be under the impression that Edward is somehow forcing Bella to be with him, Charlie."

"No. Alice, I know he isn't forcing her, I have eyes. She just isn't thinking clearly right now is all."

"Does she seem coherent?"

"Well, yea, I guess she does, Alice."

"Have you seen the look on her face, Charlie, have you taken the time to see the light in your daughters eyes?"

"Well, yea, I can see that, Alice. Bells seems real happy, that's for sure. I guess I have never really seen her like this, now that you mention it", I mused, "But Alice, that doesn't make it right. That boy will hurt her again, Alice, and I have to protect her from that. I'm her father, damn it!"

Alice put a plate of eggs and bacon with toast in front of me, steaming hot. It smelled great and I picked up my fork as she sat across from me and folded her hands on the table. "Charlie, I know you think of us all as kids, and I know that you just want what is best for your daughter. She is my friend, Charlie, and I want that, too. You need to open your eyes and look around. She has everything that most women spend their lives looking for and working towards. Let's look at it from your eyes, father's view."

"Alice . . . ", I tried to interrupt. "Hear me out!", she said. "Bella has a husband that loves her more than anything else in the world, as she loves him. She has financial security, the type of finances that you as a parent could only hope for your child, and a new family that adores her. All you need to do is open your eyes and let go of the idea that she is only 19. She is happy, Charlie, can't you see how much they love each other? Doesn't it just ooze from every room they are in?"

"Just because Edward's dad is rich, Alice, you really can't use that. It's not like he worked for all this," I gestured around me.

"Yes, Charlie, he did. As a matter of face, Edward helped physically build this house, Charlie, in addition to paying for it. OPEN YOUR EYES! My brother is something of a financial genius and just because he doesn't flaunt it or talk about it or let everyone know about it in Forks does not mean he isn't amazing! He has always kept to himself until now, always alone, Charlie. Oh sure, he went to school, but other than that he played his piano and managed our family's finances . . . alone."

I starred at her, Alice was on a roll and I guess I had never really taken the time to think about Edward in any depth, other than how I would kill him if her hurt my daughter again and all the months of blaming him and hating him for how she was while he was gone.

"Edward would never tell you this and he would never want Bella talking about it either, but I am going to tell you right now because something has to jar you to your senses! Yes, Charlie, Edward has money. He bought her the car and I told you it probably didn't even make a dent in his checking account. He opened a joint account for them and built this house out of it. Paid in full. Charlie, Edward is one of the richest men in this country, despite his age. He is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and because of his investments, so is the rest of the family. Carlisle works because he loves it, Charlie, not because he needs to. None of us do and it is all thanks to Edward!"

I was stunned. I guess I really hadn't thought about what she said when she had left my house and mentioned the little blue car in the driveway. It was just hard to think of an 18 year old boy as a man even, much less as a breadwinner and financial expert. He was just a kid for God's sake, and what the hell did I care if he had money or not, I cared if he had my daughter!

"If everyone has all that money, Alice, why did you move away from Forks, why did Edward leave her to begin with?"

"Carlisle loves his job, Charlie, and we all love Carlisle. We are a family and Edward was 17 years old, he had no choice but to go with the family when Carlisle took the other job offer. If my dad had realized how things were between Edward and Bella, he would have made a different decision, I assure you!"

"You came here with the idea that you would take your daughter home with you, I see it in your eyes and you need to think again. They are a part of each other and neither will survive long if they are apart, even a fool could see that - you lived through it, surely you don't want that kind of life for her! Watch them, Charlie, it is as clear as day and there for all to see if you will just open your eyes!", Alice's rant was abruptly interrupted by the sound of people clamoring through the front door and voices approaching the kitchen.

Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper walked into view.

"Morning, Charlie!", Carlisle said as he extended his hand to shake Charlie's.

"Ready for some fishing?", Emmett blurted out.

"Fishing . . . today?", I thought about it and realized I had no gear with me.

"We heard that there was great fishing here, Charlie, bass as well as trout from what I hear and we thought you might like to spend a day on the lakes and streams around here", Carlisle offered. Bella is always talking about what a great fisherman you are and how much you love it so we were hoping you would come to the outfitters with us this morning and help us all get the right equipment, then go out and show us how to use it today! How about it, will you come?", Carlisle asked.

"We all going?", I asked.

Edward walked into the room about then, pajama pants on and hair ruffled from sleep with my daughter right behind him in a robe. In what looked like just a robe. I fumed. I guess I really wasn't being very realistic was I, I thought to myself. She was married to the boy she loved and had pined away for for months and they were just moved into a home together . . . their home. Of course they were close, slept together and all.

I needed to face it . . . this was REALLY going to be harder than I thought!

"Good morning, Dad", Bella said as she walked over and hugged me, "What's all the noise about?"

"Man, I didn't expect to see you, little sister!", Emmett said as he picked Bella up and hugged her, "You guys never come up for air this early if you ever even get out of bed these days!"

Bella blushed a color that could not be healthy and Carlisle cleared his throat and looked away, as Jasper just chuckled.

"Bella, darlin'", Jasper said in his Southern drawl, "Don't let your obnoxious brother get to you, he wouldn't be downstairs at all if he was the newlywed!"

Everyone laughed and Emmett admitted that probably was right. Edward moved to stand by my daughter and put his arms around her, hiding his face in her hair as she hid her face in his chest.

"Enough with the teasing, guys! You know, I built us a separate house for a reason! You can quit embarrassing my wife any time now!", Edward told his brothers, seemingly annoyed.

I looked at him as he said this matter of factly . . . his wife. Huh.

He continued, "Why are you all here this early, anyway, dad?'

"Fishing!", Carlisle said by way of explanation, "We want to take Charlie fishing, all the guys. You, too, now that you are up!"

"So if we had stayed in bed, I would have missed out on this?", Edward said as he acted like he and Bella would sneak back off out the door and up the stairs to bed.

"Oh no! You are up now and since you are, you can go fishing with the guys while Rose and I take Bella shopping!", Alice was nearly jumping up and down as she said it.

"Alice, I don't think Bella is ready to go shopping with you, she hasn't been out on that leg yet", Edward said protectively as he still held his arms around her.

"Edward! She is our family too, and you have to let go of her once in a while! You have been hogging all of her time! She will be fine while you are gone, now go get drest - you are holding up the fishing!", Alice scolded.

We all got into the huge jeep that was waiting outside and headed to town. They were all hell bent on going and I was never one to complain when it came to fishing. That Edward though, I thought as I starred at him in the backseat, he looked like we were torturing him. Carlisle had a hard time getting him to come with us. Almost had to pry him away from my daughter, nearly one more kissed her to death in spite of the fact I was standing right there! Huh. He seemed like he really didn't want her on that foot to go shopping even though Carlisle had told him it would be fine, and he was the doctor that was taking care of it and all - he should know if it was alright! It was like it physically hurt him to be away from her. Well, they would get over that. It would pass, she would see as soon as I got her home. He was probably just used to making sure she was alright and feeling guilty about her. That's all this was I told myself.

The little town of Highlands was a lot like Forks in some ways. It had a personality all its own, built kind of rustic like back home but no logging going on that I could see. We turned into what looked like a thicket of rhododendron bushes, but turned out it was the parking lot just encircled by the tall plants. The store just said 'Outfitters' on the outside but it looked like the typical camping/hiking/fishing store that you would find in the mountains.

"Dr. Cullen!", we were greeted by what appeared to be the owner - a tall thin man with greying hair named Alan. He shook hands with Carlisle as we were introduced. "These are my sons, Emmett, Jasper and Edward, and this is Edward's father in law, Charlie." After all the introductions were made and the talking and nodding put behind us we got down to the business of getting fishing poles.

Carlisle asked me to help pick out some for all of them after he explained that he wanted to fish for both trout and bass and needed the poles to be good for either. That was easy. Each of us selected a pole and the tackle we would need. When I got to the counter, Carlisle had also asked Alan for waders and vests for all of us. I pulled out my wallet to pay for mine, but I was handed an arm load of things to carry to the car instead as Carlisle told Alan to put it on his account. Guess this really was a small town if that just ran up an account at the store. I was just uncomfortable with so much being bought for me, spending all that money. He never even asked what the damage was!

That Emmett could not stop joking about how he was going to out fish everyone and how his was bigger and I didn't think he was talking about the fish. That boy was kind of crude, I'd say. Edward and Jasper were quiet, they had just thoughtfully selected what they needed and seemed intent on getting the right things for the job at hand. Edward kept looking off into the distance like he really didn't want to be here. I guess the cop in me just kept noticing details about all of their behavior. They really were a close family, seemed to really care about each other, I'd give them that.

The day turned out great! Fishing was great and Carlisles' boys were a riot to be with. That Emmett just never seemed to quit, what a sense of humor! Seemed like he enjoyed whatever he was doing at the time. It just seemed like we all were relaxed and calm all day! Fish were biting too, that made it all the better!

"This is a really great area you are in, Carlisle", I told him, "though I'm sorry not to still have you as the doctor in Forks!"

"Thanks, Charlie. We like it here, well . . . we like it here now that Bella is with us. It almost broke our family, leaving Forks and seeing what it did to Edward. We came close to loosing him, Charlie. I don't know if you know that", Carlisle said quietly as we watched his three boys splashing and shoving each other downstream from us.

"Alice said something about it being hard on him but honestly, Bella was so bad off I never even stopped to think of Edward, except to be mad at him for hurting her. She had to be medicated, Carlisle. She wouldn't talk or eat for months. I never saw anything like it."

"I know what you mean Charlie, and I'm so sorry. If I had any idea they were that close I never would have made him leave. It's hard for me to think of Edward as being so attached to her, he has always been quite a loner and quite intent on focusing on his studies and finances. Nothing ever seemed to phase him before this and although he is quite a capable man in many ways, he is after all only 18 years old."

"That's the thing, Carlisle. Bells is only just 19. She heeds to do some growing up, finish high school, live some of her life before she ties herself down. I didn't know about your boy having a hard time while they were apart and I'm sorry about that, too. I thought he just left her and didn't care about her. Still, I think they are a little young for all this and I think Bells should come home with me, at least for a few more years, maybe after college . . .", said as I cast my line into the water again.

Carlisle looked at me like I had spoken a foreign language. He was dumbstruck. "Are you talking about getting them both to move back to Forks? Tell me you are, Charlie, because otherwise it would mean that you want Bella to leave Edward and move back with you." His face was stern, almost angry. I had never seen Carlisle with anything other than a calm face, even when Bella had been in the hospital having surgery, he was worried, sure, but he did not have this face. He looked angry, really angry.

"I am taking her home with me, Carlisle. She is too young for all this . He is too young", I said nodding towards Edward.

"You're wrong, Charlie. This time you are dead wrong. Those two kids are a part of each other, neither one can exist without the other. You know it. You have lived it just as I have, you just need to realize it. She is a legal adult, Charlie, as he is, and you will never get them to part from each other. Today is one of the first times he has been out of earshot of her since he found her at the racetrack. Look at him, he is uncomfortable without her, even just for the morning! Be careful what you do here, Charlie, you don't want to have her hate you and not want you around. If you reject him and their marriage, that just might happen."

I thought about what Carlisle had said as we packed up our gear to head home. He had a point. I had to be very careful.

It might just be harder than I thought to get her to come home with me.

EPOV

I was glad the fishing trip was over. Charlie had enjoyed himself and that had been what this was all about. Carlisle had come up with this idea as a kind of bonding session for me and my new father-in-law, but it had not worked that way. I had enjoyed the time with my brothers, they were a riot as always, but Charlie had stuck pretty much with Carlisle the whole time.

I had read his mind, of course. Charlie was here to take Bella home with him. As astounding as it seemed, he actually thought I would be tired of the strain of caring for her by now and she would have gotten me out of her system and be ready to go home. Amazing. It must really be difficult to be a parent and both Bella and I considered him a good parent, but this . . . I was just amazed at how much he didn't understand or maybe just didn't want to see.

I was looking forward to getting back to the house, too, because I knew that Phil and Renee would probably be there and I wanted to know how the shopping had gone this morning, as well as make sure things were alright with Bella and her mom. Alice had assured me that today would go well when I had asked her what the hell all this was about this morning. My family had not mentioned the fishing trip to me, or I had paid no attention to them if they had, so the whole thing was kind of a surprise and I made sure with Alice that she saw no problems in Bella's future if I left her for the day.

We pulled up at the house and Bella all but ran to meet me before I could even get out of the car at human speed. She jumped into my arms and threw her arms around my neck with such force that I faked a gasp to appear human! Tears were streaming down her face as her tongue was insistent against my lips. She kissed me passionately, as though we were alone even though our entire family looked on, and I obliged her. I had missed her terribly and I wanted her every bit as much as she was showing that she wanted me. Emmetts' cat calls snapped my back to reality after a long moment and I lowered her so that her feet were on the ground, releasing my grip just enough to be able to look into her eyes,

"Bella! What's all this about, what's wrong, love!"