Chapter Thirty One
Jasper
When I saw Bella's face I knew something had happened, she explained about the confrontation in her dads room and then asked me what she should tell Charlie.
"I'll come with you and we'll play it by ear, remember the more he knows the more danger he's in"
"I think he's in as much danger as he can be, Rose remember, and what about Grace?"
"Take her with us, he's got to know about her so let's get it out in the open. It will make Peters job that much easier"
"You mean tell him about your world?"
"I don't think you have a choice, it's the only way to explain Grace."
"OK but stay close"
"I intend to darlin'"
I kissed her cheek.
Charlie
Peter took me home in his car, chatting all the while.
"So how long have you known Bella?"
"A few months but she's a really nice girl whose had a tough time of it from all accounts. She told me about Edward Cullen and Jake. I guess that's why Billy doesn't like me"
"Oh I think there's more to it son, don't try that one on me. There's something Bella's not telling me and she's nervous about my reaction. You know what it is, I think it's all tied in with her leaving. You know she was in a very fragile mental state?"
"Yeah she told us".
"By the way where did you meet her?"
"We met up at a service station on I-5"
"That's not what I asked Peter"
"I know but its the best you're going to get until you speak to Bella. I think she'll be visiting very soon."
The rest of the ride was in a comfortable silence, I liked Peter, he was open and frank but only to a point and I knew he was hiding something important from me. I wondered if Bella had gotten herself into some kind of trouble and Peter and his wife were helping her. Maybe they were drug counsellors or something, although that fit with the small amount I'd heard it didn't exactly fit with his manner towards her. He genuinely seemed to like Bella and be happy to help her out although why she thought I needed a babysitter I couldn't understand.
When we got to the house I saw smoke coming from the chimney, so someone had lit the fire for me. Whether Bella or Billy I didn't know but it was a strange woman who opened the door and smiled,
"Welcome home Charlie, I'm Charlotte, Peter's wife. I hope you don't mind me but I thought the house could do with an airing. I put a casserole on for your dinner and there's plenty for a couple of days. I got you some groceries, milk, eggs, coffee and a few beers."
"Thank you Charlotte. It's nice to meet you."
She helped me in while Peter went through to the kitchen,
"I'll put the kettle on Charlie, you want coffee or tea?"
"Coffee Peter thanks"
We hadn't been back long when I heard voices outside and Bella came through looking very nervous,
"Dad I have someone who wants to meet you"
"OK, who?"
"Its going go be very difficult to explain but its the truth, Grace"
She called the name and a little girl about three maybe four peered round the door and seeing me smiled, then she came over and stood looking at me, a rag horse dangling from one hand.
"This is Grace dad"
"Well hello Grace"
"Hello grandpa, this is Shadow, my horse"
My brain was struggling to make sense of the little girls words, grandpa? This girl was Bella's daughter? I looked at Bella confused and she sighed,
"Yes dad, Grace is my daughter, I'll explain everything in a moment, I want you to meet Grace's father first.
My eyes narrowed, if Edward Cullen walked through that door I was getting my rifle, cop or no cop. As I looked a young man came through the door, very much like Peter but his face was vaguely familiar and I struggled before a memory came to me.
"Chief Swan I'd like you to meet my sons, Edward, Emmett, and Jasper."
"You're a Cullen"
He shook his head,
"No, not really Chief Swan, I was with the family but I was Hale, Jasper Hale I think we only met once."
"Well it seems you did more than meet my daughter, care to explain how come my daughter has a child with you that I've never seen? Where's she been all this time?"
Bella took his hand and came to sit close, the little girl Grace watching me intently before sitting by my feet and cuddling her horse.
"Dad I know it looks as if Grace is three or four but she isn't, she's really much younger"
"Yeah sure, what do you take me for. You were here before then and you sure weren't pregnant then, and it hasn't been long enough since you left home. So let's have the real story."
Peter appeared then with a mug of coffee.
"I think you might want something stiffer after you hear Graces story."
His smile made me more nervous.
Come on Char lets take Grace to get some candy while they talk?"
" Hey Grace come on lets go shopping. Oh, what about grandpas present."
Grace ran from the room coming back a few moments later with a sheet of paper she handed me very solemnly.
"It's a welcome home card grandpa."
I looked at the pink horse she had drawn and coloured in.
"Thank you Grace, perhaps Peter could put it on the fridge for me"
He nodded and went out with Char and Grace.
"See you in a while folks."
Now there was just me, Bella, and Jasper.
"I guess you'd better sit down and tell me what the hell is going on"
Bella took my hand,
"Dad there's something you should know first, Grace is my baby and Jasper's although it didn't happen the way these things normally do. Grace is much older than a normal baby because she isn't a normal baby."
"Not normal? What the hell does that mean?"
"Chief Swan, I need to tell you something about me. I'm not like you, I'm a vampire"
I looked at his face waiting for the smile that never came,
"A vampire? As in blood drinking bat type?"
"Blood drinking yes, bat no"
"Look I like a joke along with the best but I'm tired and confused and I really don't need all this shit."
"It's not shit dad, Jasper is a vampire and Grace is half vampire too, that's why she's grown so fast"
"Bella, there's no need to come up with a crazy story, you and Jasper made a mistake and for whatever reason you kept it and her from me. Now you two have decided to try again and he brought Grace with him. Did it happen while you were married to Jake? Is that why you kept it a secret? It's not a good thing to do but its in the past, lets not tell Billy though, it would really hurt him."
"Billy knows, he knows what Jasper is, and Peter and Charlotte and when he sees Grace he'll know her too."
I was getting really annoyed by now, treating me like some kind of idiot.
"Bella just give it to me straight. You and jasper had a fling, OK I thought better of you but things happen"
"Dad,"
Jasper stilled her with a hand and walked over to me stretching out his hand,
"Touch my hand Charlie"
I looked at it and touched it with my own. It felt ice-cold and hard, not human at all.
"Look at my eyes"
They were golden and almost hypnotic,
"Watch"
He picked up the piece of twisted metal I used to hold the door open in summer and pulled it straight with no visible effort and handed it to me.
"Still think its rubbish?"
I tried twisting the metal but had no luck.
"How did you do that?"
"I'm strong, very strong, inhumanly strong."
My eyes flickered to Bella who was watching my response.
"A vampire? You drink human blood?"
"No, I live on animal blood but most vampires don't, Peter for instance still hunts humans."
"Peter? The guy I've been sitting with is a vampire too? And Billy knows all this?"
"Yes because the Quileutes are our deadly enemies."
"I don't understand any of this. If you are a vampire how come you and Bella?"
He smiled,
"We didn't Charlie, but that's another story. After Bella's party I was imprisoned by my sister after making a stupid mistake and she was the one prescribing Bella's medication"
"Dr Cullen, that's what our doc said, so it wasn't Carlisle?"
"Not as far as we know, we think it was Rosalie who is also a medical doctor. She drugged Bella and experimented on her when she had hours that went missing. She impregnated Bella without her knowing, using my sperm and Grace was the result"
"Why?"
"That I'm not sure of, to see if she could, to produce a baby she could steal and rear as her own, she's always been bitter about not being able to have a baby herself."
"So Bella was an incubator and you were just a handy donor?"
"Yes pretty much but Alice warned Bella and she got away before Rosalie could take the baby. Peter and Char were told about it by Alice too and they found Bella and looked after her"
"Why? Why get themselves involved in it?"
"Because they are my family. The only family I had."
"Until now."
"Yes until now. I've asked Bella to allow me to look after her and Grace and she's accepted"
"You gonna marry her?"
"We hadn't got that far yet Charlie."
"Well it seems to me you should or that little girl wont have a family, not a real one anyway"
He looked at Bella and smiled,
"I'm working my way to that Charlie but Bella needs time to process everything that's happened to her."