Chapter 27: Fuck, I Fell Out of the Boat

Five o'clock in the fucking morning came way too early. Hell, Bella didn't even get out of bed. I kissed her and Little One goodbye before leaving the house with Charlie. We took an older truck — not as old as Bella's was, thank God — with a boat hitched to it and drove a good twenty minutes out to a lake.

He talked me through getting the boat in the water, and I did what I could to help. Thankfully, I didn't have to do much, just tell him when he got to a certain point with a thumbs up. Other than the boat thing, we didn't talk much at first. I was still fucking exhausted, and he was just . . . quiet. It worked out perfectly.

"You've never fished, right?" Charlie asked once we got out into the middle of the lake.

I shook my head. "Never. My dad isn't the . . . outdoors type, I guess you could say."

He nodded, passing me one of the poles. "No problem. I'll show you how to use the rod first."

He told me how to cast the line, showing me before passing it over. After fucking up a few times, I finally figured it out. Really, it didn't seem that hard. Once he was done telling me everything, Charlie put the hook and disgusting worm on my pole and passed it over before doing his own.

And then we just sat there. The only sounds were of birds and other creatures in the nearby woods. I was seriously about to fall asleep I was so bored. Time passed slowly as I checked my watch. Charlie just sat there, watching the little bob thing in the water.

"It's peaceful," I said, clicking my tongue.

He grunted, nodding. "Yep."

"There are fish here, right?"

He looked up at me, cocking an eyebrow. "Yeah, we just need to be patient. They'll come."

And so we waited some more. Eventually, he caught something. He threw it back, though, and I was left wondering why the fuck he did that. Wasn't the point of this to catch a fish?

"Let's check your line," he said, putting a new worm on his.

I reeled mine in and found my bait gone. How . . . what the hell? I didn't even feel anything. I fucking hated that a fish outsmarted me. "I didn't feel anything," I told him.

He shrugged. "Sometimes they're slick little bastards."

Once we had new bait, we threw our lines back out. I had to ask. I just couldn't help it. "Why did you throw your fish back?"

"Too small. It wasn't like I could eat it, so why kill the thing? Besides, today isn't really about that. I wanted some alone time with you . . . to talk."

I gulped. Yesterday he had been great. I thought we were getting along pretty well, so I wondered what he wanted to talk about. Jesus Christ, if he asked me what my intentions were with his daughter, I'd either die laughing or die of embarrassment. I couldn't decide which.

"Oh," I said. "All right, then."

He looked out at the water before speaking. "It's weird, you know? Seeing how Bella is with your daughter. She seems so . . . natural. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she could easily be that little girl's mom."

"She's always been so good with her, but I can see how it's weird for you. Last night when that waitress assumed she was Bella's, you looked a little uneasy."

He nodded. "I am, but it's not that I don't like you and your daughter, Edward. I just worry about my little girl."

"Well, I love her. I know I've made mistakes in my life, and I don't deserve her, but she means a lot to me. I don't want to lose her. I can't sit here and say that I'd feel the same for her if she didn't love my daughter, because that's a big part of it. But I know I love her for more than that. She's made me a better person. She's believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. She knows my faults, but still accepts me for who I am."

He smiled a little and the pornstache twitched. "She sees the best in people, like her mother."

"She does, and I love that about her. Honestly, Charlie, I don't know what I'd do without her. She did fall into the role of Sofia's mom, and we haven't even talked about it. We've only been together for a few months, but I know what I want. And it's her. I want her and my daughter. I . . . want us to be a family someday."

"Son, you already are," he laughed. "Whether you've talked about it or not, she sees herself as that little girl's mother. That's what I worry about. If you were to take that away from her, she'd be crushed."

"I'd never do that. I really do want to spend the rest of my life with her. No, our relationship isn't conventional. I have a kid, and that makes things different. But it also makes them better. We're not sitting around, wondering where to go from here. We know. In my heart, I know full well what I want."

He nodded. "Well, that's what I needed to hear. You know, when she came here a while back, she was a mess. She cried, and I told myself I wouldn't let another man hurt her like Jacob did. I didn't want to like you after everything she told me. But now that I see how you are and how you act . . . well, you're good for her. You and your daughter."

"I thought you'd hate me," I said, feeling a tug on my line. Holy shit. "I got something!"

He put his hand on the pole because I was about to drop the damn thing. "Reel it in!"

I reeled it in as fast as I could, feeling the resistance. Suddenly, a big ass fish came flopping out of the water, scaring the shit out of me. I fell backwards, falling out of the fucking boat into the lake. I popped up to the surface quickly because of the life vest. I heard his damn laughter before I could open my eyes.

Pornstache was laughing is fucking ass off, eyes closed, holding his stomach. What. The. Hell? I swam back to the boat, putting my hands on the edge to pull myself up because he wasn't quick to offer help. As soon as the boat starting rocking, though, he calmed down and held his hand out.

"Flip this boat over and I will hate you," he said, helping me up.

Once I was back in the boat, he continued laughing as I coughed up water and found my fish flopping around beside me. I hated fishing, and to prove my point, I wanted to eat the fucker.

"Holy shit, son," he said, trying to stifle himself. "Are you all right?"

I shook my head, sending water over him. "Yeah, great." I glared. "I'm eating that, by the way."

He picked it up, looking it over as he nodded. "Nice catch. I'll prepare him for you."

I took my shoes off, emptying the water from them. "Are we done?"

He smirked. "Sure, let's call it a day."

. . . . .

The drive back to Charlie's house was uncomfortable, to say the least. I didn't feel at all bad about getting his seat wet because when I complained, he laughed again. Apparently the man had a sense of humor. Who knew?

"I'm sorry, but that was one of the funniest things I've seen in a while," he said as I tried to get my phone to turn on. No luck, of course. The thing had been in my pocket.

"Yeah, I definitely won't forget this," I sighed.

"Thanks for coming with me, though. I'm glad we could talk."

I nodded. "Of course, but it's not happening again."

He chuckled. "Can't blame you. Maybe hunting next time. Ever shoot a gun?"

I fucking prayed he was kidding, but I had a feeling he wasn't. "No, and I can't say I want to, I'm afraid."

He shrugged. "I understand. Besides, if you wound up shooting yourself, Bells would kill me."

Once we got back to the house, Bella laughed at me, too. I really didn't find the humor. God only knows what kind of bacteria was in that water. Realizing that I wasn't laughing, Bella stopped and kissed me, smiling as we parted.

"I'm sorry you fell in," she said. "If it makes you feel better, I've done it before. But to be fair, it was because of my clumsiness, not because a fish scared me."

"Have you seen it?" I asked, opening my hands to show her it's size. "I had a right to be scared! It was flying at me, okay?"

She bit her lip, trying to keep herself from laughing. "Okay, Edward. Why don't you go shower? Dad's going to filet your monster fish for you and fry it for lunch. I'm sure Sofia will want her bottle by the time you're done."

"Was she good for you?"

She smiled, nodding. "Perfect angel, as always. I think she missed her daddy some, though."

I leaned down, pressing my lips to hers for a moment before heading to the shower. Once I was done, I sat in the living room with Little One and gave her a bottle. Bella was in the kitchen with her dad, so we were alone.

"I swear to never force you to go fishing," I said, kissing her forehead. "But the good news is that Charlie likes me. He basically told me so. He likes you, too, but that's a given. He isn't sure about how attached Bella is to us, but I think he understands it now."

She gripped the bottle, basically holding it on her own as she watched me.

"I'm ready to go home now, though. I think I've had plenty of excitement. And, uh . . . I think I'm going to ask Bella something later." I smiled, leaning down to whisper, "Let's hope she says yes, okay?"

Once Little One had finished with her bottle, I got on the floor with her, putting her on her feet as I held her up. She bounced happily with my help until Bella came in to say lunch was ready.

"Can I hold her?" she asked as I sat down at the table.

I held Little One up, and the kid reached out for Bella, babbling happily for her. Bella cooed, and I watched as Charlie smiled a little. I thought he was maybe starting to get used to it. I hoped so, at least. Bella was clearly happy — the smile on her face showed it.

My fish tasted okay, but still wasn't worth having lake water in my pants. Charlie liked it, though. Since there was a Seahawks game on, he asked if we wanted to stay and watch. I had tomorrow off, and Bella wanted to stay a little longer, so we watched the game with him. It ended with the Seahawks losing, which Charlie didn't like.

He was just as bad as Emmett.

When it came time to leave, Bella hugged her dad tightly, promising to come back soon.

"Good, and you'll have to bring the pumpkin head, too," he said. "Both of them, I guess."

He laughed as Bella did, hugging her once more. She kissed his cheek and said, "Love you, Daddy. Thank you."

"Course. Have a safe drive, and let me know you got home okay. Love you, Bells."

"Bye, Charlie," I said, holding my hand out, which he shook. "Thank you for inviting us."

He nodded. "No problem. Take care."

"You, too. Say bye, Little One," I said, waving her hand for him.

. . . . .

"God, it's good to be home," I said, laying the bags down on the floor inside of my apartment.

Bella set the car seat down and pulled my sleeping daughter out, soothing her when she fussed a little. "You had a good time, though, right? I mean, besides the boat incident." I didn't miss the little smirk on her lips, but I chose to ignore it.

"Yeah, it went much better than I expected. He totally likes me." I grinned, taking Little One from her. "And I think he loves you, Sofia."

"Oh, he does," Bella said, smiling. "It was so cute to watch him with her. I've never seen my dad with a baby before, but he did really well, you know?"

"She had a blast with him." I leaned down, kissing her softly. "I'm going to go lay her down. Will you stay tonight?"

She nodded. "Of course, but I'm going to go put my bag in my apartment and grab some clothes. Night, night, baby girl."

She kissed Little One's cheek, and then left while I headed for the nursery. I laid Sofia down on the changing table and changed her diaper, putting her in a sleeper. She was half asleep, blinking slowly as I dressed her and took her headband off.

"I'll give you a bath tomorrow, all right?" I asked, rubbing her belly. "Daddy loves you, you know that? Thanks for doing so well this weekend. You're such a good girl."

I picked her up and sat down in the rocking chair with her. I laid her against my shoulder and patted her bottom softly as she yawned and a little squeak came out. Fucking adorable. She burrowed her head in my neck and gripped my shirt loosely as she drifted off again.

"I'm scared, Little One," I whispered. "I'm scared Bella is going to be freaked out when I ask her to move in with us. Is it too soon? I mean, we haven't even been together for four months yet. Then again, Jasper had decided to marry Alice in less time than this. The chicken shit still hasn't asked her yet, though. I think this is a good idea. She basically lives here already, so what really changes? I move some stuff out and she moves some stuff in. I want to ask her so much more, though. Not marriage, obviously. It's a little quick for that, but . . . I want to ask her if she considers herself your mother. We talk about it so casually, but I wonder what she really thinks. I just see her as your mom. I see her as my wife someday, too."

I smiled to myself, still rocking even though Little One was out cold. "I'm really happy about where my life is because of you, baby girl. When you're old enough — and trust me, I'm leaving out most of the details — I'm going to tell you how thankful I am for you, and how you made me a better person."

I heard the front door shut, so I stood up and laid Little One down in her crib, kissing her forehead before walking out to the living room. Bella was on the couch with a beer in her hand, holding it out to me as she smiled.

"You deserve this," she said.

I plopped down beside her, titling the bottle into my mouth. "I told you that I'm never fishing again, right?" I laughed, setting the beer down before draping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her into me.

"I believe you did, yes," she giggled. "It was nice of you to try it, though. I kind of wish I had given you log sex now."

"We had time earlier. We could have gone back out there."

She lifted her hand, patting my cheek and pulling me down so she could kiss me. "I said kind of, but I have missed being with you. Sofia's asleep, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but can we talk first?"

She sat up, cocking her head. "This is serious. You just turned down sex."

I chuckled. "I postponed it. I didn't turn it down. And yeah, it's serious, but hopefully good. I've been thinking a lot lately, about how happy I am and how feel like I'm finally where I should be in life."

She smiled. "I'm happy, too. We're in a good place."

"We are, but I'd like to be in a better place . . . A place where we live together."

Her eyes widened a little, but the smile didn't falter, so I continued. "You're here all the time. In the past few weeks, how many nights have you slept in your apartment? Zero, right? You're here, and I love you being here, so I'd like to make it permanent. Move in with me."

"Are you . . . sure?"

I nodded. "I am. I'm sure that I love you and that my daughter loves you. I'm sure that you're who I want to be with forever, but I also know there are steps to that. I know this is a big commitment, but I'm ready for it. Please, tell me you are, too?"

"I . . ." She paused, blinking. My heart was fucking hammering in my chest as I prayed she'd say yes. "I'd love to move in with you."

"Yeah?" I asked, slowly grinning.

"Yes, but . . . I don't know. It just seems quick, doesn't it? I don't want to rush into anything that you're not committed to."

"Bella, I'm committed to you. I know it's only been a few months, but look how we act? We act like a family. You . . . you act like Little One's mom."

Fuck, that slipped out.

Please, please, don't freak out, I thought as she sat there, silent for a moment.

"I think of her as my daughter," she said softly. "I know she's not, but I love her like that. It just happened, you know? And how we talk about her seems so normal to me."

"Me too. I don't even think about it half the time."

"I wish she were mine."

I smiled, taking her hand and kissing the top of it. "I wish she were yours, too. I swear to God that I didn't plan on bringing this up tonight."

"I'm happy you did, because I honestly had no idea how to bring this up."

"I didn't either, so I'm pretty glad it slipped out," I laughed. "So, you do want to be her mom?"

She started tearing up, but her smile was gorgeous. "Of course I do, Edward. You don't know how happy that makes me."

She put her arms around my neck, and I held her close. She was moving in with me. She wanted to be Little One's mom. Jesus Christ, this was everything that I didn't know I wanted.

"I love you so much," she said, crying.

I pulled back, wiping her tears. "I love you, too. Now, I'm done postponing."

She laughed softly, nodding. "Good. Take me to bed, Edward . . . our bed."