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Sorry it took me so long to get back but life happens...

As I sat up with my mouth hanging open, listening to Emily tell of her tribe's supernatural history with the wolf. One thought kept repeating itself over and over in my head:

"I CAN' T do this!"

"I know this all must be quite a shock to you Bella-" said her voice, capturing my attention back to the "real" world.

"-Sam doesn't approve of any outsiders knowing this information outside of the tribal council and pack but the news of the upcoming baby changed everything. You are now considered one of us… As is your and Jake's future child, thus you have all the rights of an imprint to know what's going on-"

It was at this precise moment that Sam's "Gang" or "Pack?" came charging through the back door and into the kitchen. Whooping and hollering as they raided the fridge. Consuming any leftovers in sight according to Jacob.

Speaking of which, as Sam Uley made a straight bee line for Emily. Black found me…

Relief washed over his face. But after everything I had just gone through today I was not in the mood. Jake tried taking a step towards me "Bella, I-"

"NO!" I shouted getting off the couch and scrambling to the front door,"YOU stay away from me!"

"Bella wait!" "BELLA!"

But I was already out and running down the drive way towards his parked motorcycle.

Jacob caught me just as a mounted. "Bella Please! Let's just talk?"

I paused in middle of putting my hair back with a band I'd hidden in my jean pocket.

"- Like we used to"

Wrong thing to say!

I chuckled dryly, "You make me sick Jacob Black. Bringing up our past so callously like that. You just don't get it do you: When Ed- or as your tribe like to call "Cold One" left me. He as good as ripped my heart out of my chest that day. Leaving a bottomless hole in its place. Like I told you in that theater- "I'm not like a car that you can just fix up, I'm never going to run right"

I choked up as the memory came to the surface.

"I wouldn't admit it then but I did the unthinkable and started to heal or at least pull myself together with you around Jake. You became mine…my replacement sun to warm me up when things were cold and grey. The one to put a patch over that hole in my chest and made my silent heart felt like it still had its rhythm. Then you betrayed me and I was left once again with an open wound."

I sighed shaking my head, knowing I had to stop,

"I will tell our son of the man his father use to be and how he saved me for which I will be forever grateful. But as far as I'm concerned: Jacob Black, my Jake died on Valentine's day from an illness and in his place a wolf was born whose life revolves around another man- wolf's choices."

With that I kicked the bike into gear as it roared to life and sped down the road. Failing to notice the hot tears that repeatedly leaked down his cheeks.

I parked the bike in the trail of woods behind my house. I was far too upset to cook anything so I ordered a pizza delivered for Dinner before taking a slice up to my room and get started on my homework.

When Charlie got home it was another matter, apparently he had been on the phone.

Lesson one: whether you're dealing with Vampires or Werewolves, there is absolutely NO privacy among the inner circle.

"Bella?" Charlie knocked, "Could I come in?"

"Sure Dad," I answered sighing as I closed my social studies book, ironically enough.
Charlie came over and sat on the bed next to me.

"Bells I know this has been hard on you but I just got through talking to Billy. Sounds like you really gave Jake a piece of your mind this afternoon. I can understand why you did it but you have to remember this has been a shock for him too. It's not every day a young teenage boy finds out he's going to be a father…Or that the mother won't let him see the baby."

"-I never said he couldn't see him, just that things between Jacob and me are going to be different. If we can somehow co-parent our child? That's fine, but I don't see us as a couple. There's too much damage and I find myself not trusting men or even family for that matter. Only so many times you can hear the words: "I don't want you" and have it repeatedly break you before you start to get a clue"

Charlie stiffened, "What are you talking about Bella? Who said that?"

I sat up against the pillows and counted on my fingers.

"The first time was from Renee, I was thirteen. -It was about 2 o'clock in the morning and she had been out all night partying with "friends" at the local Bar &Grill. She was drunk as usual, I could tell by the commotion she made coming up the stairs and banging on the door of the apartment to let her in. So I started putting her to bed-"

"Wait, Wait a minute there Bella!" exclaimed Charlie putting his hands up in a "stop!" motion. "What are you saying Bella? How often did your mother do this?"

"Every weekend for as long as I can remember. Until she met Phil, and he started taking care of her in my place-"

"WHAT?!"

I bit my lip realizing that I'd just blurted out a long kept secret of my childhood.

"Dad, I spent my life raising Mom."

His eyes widened as I further explained,

"She cared for me but I wasn't her top priority. I was more of a playmate. She focused more on her interests and what she wanted. While I paid the bills and made sure she got up and out the door on time for work as a kindergarten teacher. I also did all the grocery shopping, making sure there was food in the house. Quite often, I found myself hiding your child support check in my sock drawer as a backup incase Renee spent all of hers on whatever the latest hobby was."

"Oh Bella!" Charlie put his hand over his face, "I'm so sorry! Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I was just a kid and I figured that's that way it is. It wasn't 'til I was ten and had a meeting with the school councilor after a meltdown in class that I learned different. By then it was too late for once the district called home, Renee panicked and uprooted us in a heartbeat for Wisconsin."

Charlie groaned and muttered something along the lines of "Stupid Woman."

"-Anyway" I continued, "I linked my arm over her shoulders attempting to steer her towards the bed. Mom belched and slurred: "Alright Charlie, alright but remember the condoms…. We … don't… want another mistake like Bellaaa!"

I finished shakily while my Dad crushed me against his chest in a big bear hug. "How dare that B-?! She should not have said that"

"I know Dad," I grumbled. "She wasn't thinking clearly but what's done is done. My heart broke all the same and the seeds of low self-esteem and worth were planted and only increased with my pubic inevitable clumsiness accidents… When-"

I gulped,
"-When Edward came into my life, he and his…family showed me what I'd been missing all these years. They took me in and I got to see and experience what it's like to have siblings and parents. Who actually loved and wanted their children…"

I think my last sentence broke Charlie. There were big fat tears welding up in his eyes as his hands reached out to grip my shoulders firmly but gently.

"Bells…Please don't think even for a minute that I never loved or wanted you. The day you were born and when I first held you is one of the best memories of my life. I always wanted to be a Daddy. Your mother obviously did not. But that goes to show how well we knew each other. If I'd have known what she was going to do when she took you. You can bet your boots I would have filed for custody… but we can't go back."

After a few more minutes of continuous hugging and sobbing. Charlie pulled away,

"Now, I have a feeling that there is more to the story than what you're telling and I want to hear all of it. Starting with what HE said to you in the woods that day."

I hiccupped, on one hand I wanted there to be honesty between us. On the other, I was in possession of facts that no human should know. So I settled for the middle version of the truth:

"He told me that they were leaving and by "they" he meant himself and his family and I couldn't go with them. He wanted to break off all connection with me cause he believed we had no future together due to the fact he was sterile after suffering an illness which claimed the lives of his biological parents whom Dr. Cullen treated. When I insisted that I could live without having children and as long as we were together it wouldn't matter. Fed up he lowered the boom by revealing the truth of our situation.

- He didn't want me from the beginning I was just a…Pet, a Distraction to take away the boredom. His exact words were: "I will always love you…in a way. And I'm tired of pretending. I've let this go on for much too long, and I'm sorry for that. You're no good for me Bella. You can go on with your life, it will be as if I never existed. Your memory is no more than a sieve. Time heals all wounds-"

"-WHAT A LOAD OF BULL!" shouted Charlie, his face bright red,
"Bells you deserve so much BETTER than that little Jackass. And his family? If they were as close as you claim, why didn't at least Alice stick around to say "Goodbye" or was she encouraging her bastard brother's behavior?"

"I don't know anymore but according to his words, he wouldn't let her cause he wanted a clean break. He also made me promise not to do anything reckless or stupid-"

"Why should HE care? You're Not his responsibility! We all make thoughtless decisions from time to time, it's part of being human."

I blushed at the word "human" if he only knew what I'd been up too …Then again I take that back.

My Father sighed,
"So I guess the last question is What happened with Jacob?"

I took a deep breath and explained in moderate detail what had been going on:

Including the motorcycles, there was no way around it. Steam came out of Charlie's ears but once he'd calmed down enough and realized the good it did in bringing Jake and I together. He still did not approve but said, I could keep mine on the conditions that I wore the protective gear and did not ride alone. He was so grateful to hear Jacob had been with me the day I crashed.

He groaned in annoyance when I got to the part that Jake had changed.

(Leaving the wolf part out of course, that was the tribe's decision)

-How he just shut me out and went along with whatever Sam said as though his word was law.

-Now because of the baby I was suddenly "accepted" into their little group.

"I guess the main thing is Dad: I don't want my son growing up as I did. Feeling as though the only reason their parent takes an interest in them is because they have to out of obligation. Which I feel is the act that Jacob's pulling right now."

Then just outside my open window I heard a wolf's anguished howling, fading further and further away in the opposite direction…