A/N: I don't own Twilight or its characters; they belong to Stephanie Meyer. This is just what they got up to in my mind. I do not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.
I sucked in a deep breath as I readied myself for this visit. It was Thanksgiving, I really didn't want to argue with my family, today of all days, but I knew which parent I got my stubborn streak from so I wasn't looking forward to the inevitable 'Edward' conversation with my dad.
The weather was finally turning from autumn to winter so I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck for the short walk from my car to my parent's front door.
As soon as my mom answered the door, I handed over the pie, (the second one Edward and I had made together which was low on filling as he had munched at most of the apples as soon as I peeled them.) My mom took the pie and I sighed in relief, with my clumsiness I shouldn't be trusted to carry delicate things, especially when I desperately needed that pie to sweeten my dad up.
"Hi, sweetie. Happy Thanksgiving." My mom kissed my cheek before turning back down the hallway. I shed my coat, scarf and shoes, greeting her myself as I followed her to the kitchen.
"Your father is in front of the TV watching the game. He seems to be in a grumpy mood today, maybe you can snap him out of it?" She looked at me with such hope that I didn't have the heart to let her down.
"Don't you want my help in here?" I asked hopefully.
"No, I'm ready to dish up; go cheer up your dad."
"I'll try," I answered knowing full well I was probably the reason he was so grumpy.
I grabbed a beer from the fridge and handed it to my dad as I greeted him.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Dad."
"Is it?"
Oh, dear. This was worse than I thought. Even the beer hadn't helped although he took it from me with a nod of gratitude.
"Who's winning?" I sat down next to him on the ratty old couch that he refused to replace.
"Not my team."
"Oh."
We sat in silence for a minute while I wracked my brains, trying to think of something to talk to my dad about that didn't involve Edward.
"So, have you managed to go fishing recently?"
"Yeah, I went the other day with Billy. You remember him don't you, has a son Jake about your age. He's a good boy."
Subtle, Dad. Real subtle.
"Yeah, I remember Jake." I remembered him alright. I remembered the one and only time we went out when he took me to the movies in his dad's truck and then shoved his tongue down my throat when we were saying goodnight. I shuddered at the memory; it was like being licked by a puppy, all sloppy and overly keen.
My dad looked at me with hopeful eyes but thankfully my mom called us to the dinner table.
Once we were seated, we made small talk. I asked my mom a few hundred more questions than normal, anything to keep the conversation on her yoga fitness class and not on Edward territory.
Mom was thrilled to tell me all about Margaret's new grandchild and Sue's new Winnebago and she didn't bring up Edward once, making me think she was either unaware or undeterred about the fact that I was dating him.
"So, Bella…"
Uh-oh, here we go. I'd deferred and distracted as long as possible, now it was time to face the music.
My dad pounced in during a break in the conversation and took the chance to change the subject.
"You and Edward Cullen seemed...friendly the other night." Clearly, he wanted to find out what Edward was doing in my kitchen, topless, but he was uncomfortable broaching the topic of my love life.
"Ummm. Yeah. We met when we were both reporting on the Fall Festival." I knew my parents didn't read the county paper that Edward's article appeared in but I'm sure small town gossip about the article must have reached them by now.
"Ah-ha." My dad didn't give anything away as he urged me to continue.
"We've been on a couple of dates…"
"Jesus, Bella! You're actually dating him?" he interrupted, his eyebrows shooting halfway up his forehead as his fork clattered loudly against his plate.
"Yes. What did you think he was doing in my kitchen? No, don't answer that." I tried but probably failed, to stop my face reddening with embarrassment as I took a big gulp of my drink and didn't look at my dad's response.
"I thought...I don't know what I thought…"
He trailed off, but he'd said enough. I knew what he was thinking. "You thought he was a fling, I was just with him to…"
"He's attractive, Bella. I get that, but to actually date him, to be involved with him and trust him…"
"Charlie, leave her be, she seems happy," Mom pitched in. "It's Thanksgiving, try to be thankful," she added, giving him a stern look over the mashed potatoes in the center of the table.
"I'm meant to be thankful my daughter, who has everything going for her, is dating a liar with an arrest record?"
Oh, Jesus! I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, readying myself for this conversation.
"Charles! Be nice!" My mom's voice was firm, and I saw a grimace twitch under my dad's mustache, no doubt because his full name had been used. He knew that meant he was in trouble.
"Dad, seriously! What's your problem? Most people in this town love him…"
"Most people in town don't know him as a lying teenager who…"
"Every teenager lies!" I interrupted, trying to remain calm.
"To the police?" He slammed his knife and fork down before tenting his fingers and looking at me seriously.
"Isabella, while I accept he was innocent of the crime that he was questioned for, he bent the truth to multiple officers, multiple times." Charlie's mustache was twitching again and I could tell he was working hard to control his voice.
"He has paid for his mistakes."
"Hmmm, sure," he scoffed, eating a huge mouthful of sweet potato and furrowing his brows even further.
"That's why you're mad isn't it?" I asked. All the pieces clicked into place and I finally understood my dad's issue with Edward. "Do you have a problem with what he did or the fact that he did it under your jurisdiction?"
"He made me and our police unit look stupid and incompetent."
"That was never his intention. If you knew why..."
"I've heard all the reasons why. I heard Mrs. Banner singing his praises in the bakery, I've heard the soccer team's coach praising him, I've heard it all Bella. I left the Cullen's alone to get on with their lives but now he has the audacity to date my daughter…" his fist tightened around his beer can and the aluminum crushed slightly under the pressure.
"Dad, he's paid the price for what he did. He lost any chance of a college scholarship and a soccer career," I pointed out as Charlie sighed and looked up at me.
"You're my little girl, Bella. If I can't talk you out of this then at least promise me you'll be careful."
"Dad, he's a good guy. He's been honest with me and told me the whole story. He accepted that what he did was wrong, but it's over now. It's in the past."
"The past has a way of following you around for a long time, Bella."
"I think Edward knows that!" I scoffed.
We sat in silence, finishing our meal and it wasn't until the main course was cleared away and dessert was on the table that he spoke again.
"So, Jake's in town…"
"Charles, seriously? Here, eat some pie? Bella made your favorite, dear." Mom spoke a little too sweetly as she held out the pie to my dad as a peace offering.
Pie could fix everything, right?
I sure hoped so but it was looking doubtful because my dad carried on undeterred.
"I'm just saying that Jake's a good guy."
"Charles! Eat some pie." My mom cut him a slice and added a generous dollop of ice cream on his plate, probably hoping he'd soon have his mouth too full to speak.
"I don't want to date Jake, I want to date Edward, and I want you to be okay with it. Dad...please give him a chance. I really like him." I could hear the pleading in my voice and when my dad finally looked up at me I knew he had too.
"Oh, give me strength!" He stroked his fingers over his mustache and I knew the moment his eyes softened as he looked at me, really looked.
"If this all goes wrong, I will give you the 'I told you so' speech," he warned as a smile stretched across my face.
"And if it goes well, you'll give a father of the bride speech," my mom piped up, prompting my dad to turn an odd shade of grey and stare at her in astonishment.
"One step at a time, eh, Renee?" He spoke calmly before turning to me. "Maybe we can start by meeting him again? If he's as genuine as you say he is we won't have any problems, will we?"
"Thank you, Daddy." I stood and hugged him awkwardly given he was still sitting down.
"Just make sure you make another of these pies, Bells, I'm gonna need something to look forward to when that day comes."
A/N: Thanks for reading and for your continued interest in this story. Please let me know what you think, your reviews really do encourage me to continue. I love to hear your thoughts and really appreciate any reviews.
Thanks to my Beta EdwardsFirstKiss and my PreReaders Sarcastic Bimbo and RebAdams who are always at the end of an email to help. Also, thanks to M-Sparkle who has made some awesome banners for this fic x
