Notes at the bottom. I own nothing and make no profit from this. It's a labor of love. :)

Family Ties…

~(~)~

"You need to talk to him, Bella. If your gut instinct is telling you he wants more than he's being honest about, then tell him that. Maybe he really hasn't allowed himself to consider it yet, but deep down he may be thinking and heading in that direction. You'll never know though unless you ask him."

"I know," she sighs.

"And you should be prepared that he may ask you the same question in return. If an 'I don't know' isn't what you want to hear from him, perhaps you should be ready with more than that for him as well."

"I know."

"Good."

Bella sits back and regards her friend. "You know… you're pretty good at this. Maybe you should consider counseling for a living."

Tia smirks at her and Bella winks, making them both laugh.

Bella's about to thank her again for her support and friendship when her cell phone rings, or rather, buzzes across the top of her desk. She reaches for it, lifting it up just enough to see the name.

"Need to take that?" Tia asks.

Bella smiles and turns to show her the photo above the caller ID. "I should. He doesn't call for nothing."

"No worries. I should get ready for my next appointment anyway. See you later."

"Thanks for lunch," Bella answers, touching the screen to accept the phone call at the same time.

Tia smiles as she stands to leave. "You too," she mouths silently and then she's gone.

Bella turns her attention to her phone and waves her off.

"Hi, Dad. What's going on?"

"Well, hello there. I thought maybe it'd gone to voicemail."

"Nope, I was just saying goodbye to a colleague real quick. How are you?"

"I'm good, princess. How are you?"

His voice lifts at the end of his question; which, along with his use of the endearment, 'princess', makes her suspicious.

"I'm good," she answers slowly. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason..."

He's quiet a moment and Bella has to stifle a laugh as she can practically hear him attempting to be subtle from where she sits.

"Just spit it out, Charlie. What's going on?"

He clears his throat. "I ran into Esme Cullen this morning. Well, I should say I pulled her over for running the one light we have in town, but you get the picture."

Bella's mouth hangs open in silent amusement for a moment.

"Wait… You pulled over Esme? For running a light?"

He clears his throat again. "Well, to be honest, I thought it was Edward. It was his car. I was as surprised as you are right now."

This time Bella can't hold in her laughter.

"Oh, wow… that must have gone over well."

"Yeah, I got an earful."

"So you just called to share with someone who could appreciate your situation? Or did she have some outstanding warrant and you're calling to gloat that you got to arrest her?"

"I wouldn't do such a thing. Well, the not gloating part anyway."

"Sure you wouldn't, Dad."

"Oh, please. I don't have anything against that woman anymore. She supported her son in the way she felt she had to, and I may have disagreed with the way she treated you back then, but I always did what I felt I had to do to protect you as well. I always will."

"Well, thank you, Dad," she answered sincerely. "Really, though... You two have had run-ins in the past. Why the phone call now?"

"Uh, yes. Well…" He clears his throat again. "You see, uh, Esme shared some interesting information with me this morning. Can you maybe guess what it might be?"

Bella's face flushes. She knew she should have mentioned how things had progressed with Edward sooner. She just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

"Bella?"

Taking a breath, she snaps to. "Yeah, I'm here. I'm... I'm sorry, Dad. I should have mentioned it to you earlier. I just didn't know what to tell you yet, and well, to be honest, I was kind of hoping to keep things quiet until Edward and I got further into this."

"You know, daughter... Given your history of running off to Vegas with that boy, I'd appreciate it if you didn't wait until you're further into anything with him. I don't want to show up at your apartment one day and find you with two kids running around or something."

"Dad!"

"Well, you're the one who got married without a word to anyone."

"That was a long time ago and I was young and stupid. I'd think you know me better than that now."

"Yes, I do and I'm sorry… but you should have told me you were talking to Edward beyond that initial letter situation. And I definitely would have preferred hearing that the two of you were dating again from you, rather than from your hot headed ex-mother-in-law."

"Wait… what?"

"Esme told me that Edward and you were dating again. She accused me of targeting his vehicle this morning in retribution or something, and seemed to assume I'd be as unhappy about a reconciliation between the two of you as she is."

It takes Bella a few breaths to respond. She feels stunned, as if her body is physically vibrating from the after effects of an electric shock.

"She said we're dating?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And… Did she say whether or not Edward told her that we were dating?"

Her father is quiet a moment. "I don't recall. I didn't think to ask where she got her information from. Why? Is she wrong?"

"Yes, she's wrong. We aren't dating, Dad. We're talking... Emailing... We had coffee once and then lunch this weekend, and I accompanied him while he did some Christmas shopping in town, but… that's all."

"Did he pay?"

"What?"

"For coffee, or lunch… did he pay?"

"No, we got separate checks."

"Was that his idea or yours?"

"What do you think? He's still Edward. Of course it was my idea."

Her father chuckles lowly. "Okay, okay… it technically wasn't a date then. Technically."

"Dad…"

"Daughter…"

She smiles, but her father sighs heavily.

"I gotta be honest with you about something, Bella."

His abrupt seriousness makes her sit up. "What?"

"That boy… he's still in love with you, princess. He never stopped."

She sucks in a breath. "You don't know that, Charlie."

"Now don't Charlie me, Isabella. I know what I'm talking about. It's a small town and I've run into your boy more than a few times in the last five years."

"That doesn't mean you know how he feels about me."

"Just… be careful."

Bella's eyes fill with tears, her throat constricting. Charlie sighs.

"You're my child, and I love you. I will always choose you and support you. But Edward… well, he's trying real hard and I don't want to see either of you hurt. Okay?"

Bella nods, then remembers she has to answer and forces out a choked reply.

Her father waits a beat. "You gonna be all right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"I love you, kiddo."

A beep sounds in Bella's ear. She pulls it away from her cheek to look at it with watery eyes.

Edward...

Of course.

~(~)~

More soon. :-)

And, on a side note, I honestly think this Charlie turned out a bit more OOC than my usual Charlie's. But what do we think about him shaking things up? Will the meddling father help, or hurt?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and thanks for reading!