(A/N: THANKS PANDA4488, and EMILEE, PRINCESSANGELBABE,LIGHTBABE, AUTOBOT-MechanicalOperations, YOUR REVIEWS REALLY MADE MY DAY! I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE THIS!

Story isn't over but the secrets are. Or are they? Bwhahahah.

CHAPTER 07:

DAD, THERE'S SOMETHING I WANNA TELL YOU

( Next Morning, the fishing trip)

She grumbled, rolling over on the mattress as she heard her cell phone ringing next to her head. Sitting up, she stretched, her mind going back over what'd happened last night. She still couldn't get her head around something going the way she wanted it to go, finally having the freedom to fall with no fear, really. Despite all of that, she wanted to take things slowly, as they came. Call her old fashioned, but she'd seen firsthand what a whirlwind love story would do to two people, with her mom and her biological father, Charlie.

And she knew she was spontaneous herself for the most part. Embry, though, he calmed her, he balanced her, oddly enough.

Charlie called up the stairs "Coco, there's someone here to see you." as he turned to the doorway and said with a slight smile, "And as usual, she's still asleep." to Embry who nodded and then asked, "Are you sure you're okay with me coming too?"

"Yeah, it's fine.. She said there's something she wanted to talk to me about when she came home last night, she seemed to think it was important that you were there too." Charlie said as he eyed Embry. He hadn't entirely approved of Bella with Jacob.. But he couldn't say he minded his youngest being so close to Embry. Maybe it'd do her some good. She seemed calmer for the most part and from overhearing the two of them talk on the phone, Charlie knew that Embry was the one who urged her to take off work and actually go fishing with him today, adding that everyone had their own side of the story, maybe she should stop being so damn stubborn and listen to her father's.

That alone earned the kid major brownie points with him, really.

Embry nodded as he smiled and stepped into the entry of the house, hands in his pockets. Not having had much experience with this, he wasn't sure what'd happen now.. He knew Charlie could be overprotective, he'd seen and heard all about this with Bella.. But this was something entirely different. Okay, so maybe not entirely different, but he wasn't a leech.. That had to count for something, in itself.

"I'm up, Charlie." Courtney called back a few minutes later as she struggled to grab jeans, a t shirt, some converses. Then she groaned as she took that off, and changed again.. Then again.. Then she finally went back to the first outfit, reminding herself she was being an idiot. He already knew more about her at this point, good bad AND very ugly, things that nobody else knew about her.

And he'd still wanted her, it hadn't made him regret imprinting on her.

She jogged down the stairs and glared at both of them playfully when she saw them eating the last of her Lucky Charms. "There's more." Charlie said as he barely hid a grin, pointed her to the cabinet. "For a second there." she started as she grabbed the bag, and a bowl, a spoon, and the milk. She flopped into the chair across the small round table and asked, "So.. Just so both of you know. Not a fan of worms."

"Told you." Embry snickered as her father laughed and said " I sort of figured out just how fond you were of insects in general, Coco, when you overkilled that spider in the den the other night."

"I didn't overkill it, Charlie.. I only hit it twice."

"Then you stomped on it." her father stated as he took a bite of his cereal, looking from Embry to Courtney, wondering what they were going to tell him. Maybe they weren't about to rush off and get married. God he hoped not. Rushing things wasn't ever a good idea, he knew that now.

"So.. What'd you want to tell me, Coco?"

Courtney bit her lower lip and squeezed Embry's hand under the table, pouting when he mouthed, "Oh no. You said.."

She smiled brightly and then said casually, "Just that you're gonna have to get used to seeing Embry, dad.. We're dating now." as she took a bite of her cereal, watched her father's face. She didn't want to keep the fact that 'oh and he's a werewolf' from him, of course, but.. It just didn't seem like the ideal time to blurt it out, either.

Like her, her father was still adjusting to having vampire in laws.

Charlie looked at them and then said casually, "I think I can deal with that. Thank God, I thought you were going to tell me you two eloped or something."

"Charlie, seriously?"

"What? It does happen.."

"Vegas is too far." Courtney blurted as she bit her lower lip, looked at her cereal bowl.. Okay, so she'd come home last night, thought out the scope of her whole life now, wondered what it'd be like a few years down the road. For the first time in well, ever, the spontaneous and fiery brunette was considering a stable and non nomadic future. With one person. One person she knew, thanks to watching him ALMOST get his ass kicked by a vampire the night before, she couldn't live without and wouldn't live without.

"Don't get any ideas, Coco." Charlie said as he looked at her, smiled. "Rushing things never works well." he added, his bit of fatherly advice. Somehow, he had the feeling that Embry would probably take his time, he seemed like the quiet, romantic, slightly old fashioned about it type, this set well with Charlie as Courtney's father.

But Courtney had a way of talking people into things if she wanted to badly enough.. So it could go either way. They finished eating, and set off for the spot Charlie took Bella fishing when the two of them needed one on one time.

Courtney looked around the clearing with the pond and said aloud, "Bella didn't like coming here? It's peaceful.."

"She said it was too quiet."

"That's the point of fishing though, I mean.. You're trying to relax?" Courtney asked as she grimaced as Charlie took out the live bait. She turned to Embry and said with a groan, "Ewww, they even look slimy."

"They're worms, Bambi.. Worms are slimy." Embry said as he laughed a little, dangled one at her, watching her jump back and into her father. "He's trying to make me puke, Charlie."

Charlie chuckled and then said "Guessing we're going to be baiting hooks all day, Embry."

"Looks like it, sir." Embry admitted as he chuckled and then said "I put the worm down, Bambi, I promise." as he held out his hand, palms up, showing her he hid no worms.

She nodded and then said calmly, "If that bucket falls over, I'm running. Just so we're clear." while she swatted away a mosquito and then dug around in the cooler for something to drink, tossing her father and Embry sodas also.

"Not too many of those." Charlie called out as he turned to Embry and warned, "She can't handle too much sugar."

"I can so."

"Last time you visited when you were younger, you ate 2 brownies, Coco and you were wired for 3 hours."

"It's my metabolism, sir, not me." Courtney pouted as she sipped her soda, leaned against Embry and held out her hook, nodding to the worm bucket.

"You're not gonna hand me the worm?" Embry asked, snickering when she pouted and then went to reach down. "I got it." he said as he reached around her, Charlie laughing as he baited his own hook and cast his line.

"So, I listened to the station the other night, while I was at the police station." Charlie mentioned as Courtney smiled a little, more brightly than she realized. "What'd you think?"

"I liked the mix of music.. I'm not entirely sure about all the music you played with screaming in it, but I liked hearing The Who and Aerosmith."

"Yeah, I try and slip some of that in here and there. Did you hear that one guy who called in?"

"The guy who wanted to do a shoutout to his new fiance, from the emergency room?"

"Yeah, that guy." Courtney snickered as Embry cocked a brow and asked, "Why was he in the emergency room?"

"Dunno..Something about a ring being swallowed by mistake."

Embry and Charlie gaped at one another and burst into laughter as Courtney said "What, it's the thought that counts.. I mean granted, you might wanna ask them BEFORE they drink the glass of Guiness containing the ring, or at least tell them to look down in their drink, but yeah.. At least there was thought there."

Embry slid his arm around her and smiled then said "Yeah that goes on the wall of proposal fails." as Charlie laughed and then said " Call me old fashioned, but I'd prefer just asking someone."

"That's what I thought." Embry said as he added, " Do all the weirdos call that show?" and looked at Courtney laughing a little as she shrugged and said "I've given up on trying to figure out why the weirdos call in."

"Because you like antagonizing them, maybe?" Charlie guessed as Courtney shrugged and admitted, "They set themselves up so well though, Charlie."

"You can't help you got my dry sense of humor. It comes honestly." Charlie admitted as Embry nudged Courtney and then told her quietly, "See?"

She nodded as she smiled at him, moved closer. The tug on her line had her jumping up, looking at both of them as she crowed, "And BURN! WHO CAUGHT SOMETHING FIRST?" as she reeled the line in a hurry, grumbling when all that was on her line was a dead limb from a nearby tree she'd snagged.

"Damn it."

"Hey, she caught something.. But Bambi?"

"Yeah, big guy?"

"The object of fishing is to catch fish.."

"Not trees." Charlie finished as he hid a smile and then said "Sorry, I had to do it."

Maybe today hadn't been a bad idea.

While Embry was getting more bait, Charlie said quietly, " Your mother never told me the truth either.. I just wanted you to know that.. She hid it from both of us.. So it wasn't me choosing your sister over you. I mean I suspected as you got older, but I couldn't ever prove it, so I kept quiet. But it hurt.. And I'm glad you decided to stay and at least try."

Courtney smiled at him and said quietly, "Me too, dad. And I'm sorry I thought all of that about you and about you preferring Bella more. I wish I hadn't now, I really do. Guess all we can do now is move forward from it, huh?"

"Pretty much." Charlie said as he smiled to himself, thinking how nice it was that she'd called him dad for once, not Charlie. Maybe now the stiffness between them, the distance would gradually get smaller and smaller.

"Have you heard from Bella?"

"Yeah, she's enjoying herself. Said they're gonna stay longer." Charlie said as he smiled and said "I like Embry. Seems like a good guy."

"He is. But I'm not rushing into anything, I promise." she added quickly as she smiled at her father and then took a huge gulp of Embry's drink as he walked back over.

"Hey. I saw that."

"And? You drank my whole bottled water when I got up for five seconds to go pee." she said as he laughed and then said " I did, but.."

She held out her soda and then said "I wanted water. But I'll share."

He laughed and took the soda drinking it. He'd walked away just now, to give them time to talk. Maybe they'd at least talked a little. He hoped so, he knew from his talks with her when he was in her room at night in wolf form before that her strained relationship with her dad was one of the things that bothered her the most, but she was too scared to fix it, because of the situation, how her mother had handled it.

Maybe now she'd be okay, she'd be able to get closer to him. He'd done it, really because not having a dad, frankly, it sucked. He'd never really known his, it'd always been him and his mother.. So yeah, he wanted to butt in and try and help her attempt to fix that.

"Thanks." she whispered as she kissed him while Charlie's attention was on the water. He smiled and kissed her back as he said quietly, "I told you it'd go alright."