[Bella's POV]
The scent of salt filled the air as we walked side by side along the beach. We were just close enough to the water to feel the tide lick at our feet. Sam had yet to say anything simply leading me along the water's edge. The sound of the waves and wildlife was more calming than I thought it would be. The fresh air filling my lungs seemed to clear my mind.
The pack and Cullen's were working hard to protect me from anything that might happen. There was no reason for me to worry about anything regardless of what my mind told me. That said I should be more open about my worries, so that they could reassure me.
I wasn't with my mother. Each of the people in my life here would listen to what I had to say with patience and open arms. I wouldn't have to down play anything in order to insure they weren't upset. I could trust them to not overreact to the smallest things.
Esme would hold me close and run her hand though my hair, as if I were a small child. She would listen and tell me that my feelings were valid. I could expect all my favorite foods over the course of the week.
Carlisle would also hold me. He would listen, asking questions so as to better understand my thoughts. I would find a new book or two in my bag the next day.
Alice would do my hair as I talked but would lean down to hug my shoulders every time my voice shook. I would be finding new outfits in my closet for weeks afterward.
Emmett would joke until I laughed. Games I mentioned liking in passing would pop up next to his console the next time I was over, and he would insist on playing them with me.
Rose and Jake would both work on my truck. Rose saying nothing before adding something to make it better. Jake having me pass him the tools he needed and trying to explain what he was doing.
Jasper would sit with me helping me understand my emotions in a safe way. He would send waves of pride every time I did something right. After going though everything he would wrap me in the love the family shared.
Even now Sam was ready and waiting to listen. Giving me time to gather my thoughts so that he could help me feel safe.
"I'm sorry about freaking out. Renee doesn't ever worry about anything, so seeing Charlie do so much was shocking to say the least." Breaking the silence I stopped to face him.
"Ready to talk now?" I nodded. He smiled and sat down feet in the water. I joined him.
"I'm used to being the adult in the house. Having Charlie do things like this is different to say the least."
"What do you mean? Wasn't Renee the adult when you were living with her?"
"Not really. She was flighty even after leaving this town. I don't think she really knew how to be an adult. Not the kind a child needs anyway." I laughed while lying down. "I was in charge of cooking and cleaning. I kept up with what we needed in the house and sent her to the store to buy things once a week. I always made sure to budget in her random hobbies.
I packed our lunches and made sure we left on time in the mornings. Made sure we had dinner and went to bed at a reasonable hour. I don't think I remember her ever being the 'parent'. She was just my best friend. I can't see her adding cameras to the house, or putting more locks on the door. Her and Charlie are very different when it comes to taking care of a child." I watched the clouds roll past as I spoke. Sam reached over and took my hand in his squeezing it lightly.
"He just wants you safe Bella."
"I know. I think that the stark difference is what caused me to panic. What would it have taken for Renee to have done all of this? Charlie hasn't really seen me in years. How much can he really care? Renee didn't leave me with a good idea of a parental figure. If he did all of that for a daughter he barely knows how bad has this gotten without me knowing? He's been hiding something I can tell. So what is it?"
Sam hummed thinking.
"What do you mean? He's been hiding something?"
"He changes the channel every time I walk into the room. He's never taken very many work calls at home, because he trusts his team to handle things when he leaves for the day, but lately is always on the phone for 'work'. He's not being as sneaky as he thinks he is."
"Your right."
"Do you know what he's hiding?"
"Not for sure. Charlie still sees me as a child. Not the same way he does you, but a child nonetheless. He's having us help with watching you since he found out our secret, but I think that's just because of how we explained the pack mind." He shrugged seemingly unworried.
"I see."
"I know you're scared, and you have every right to be, but I want you to know that we will do everything in our power to keep you safe. I know that you don't like everyone in my pack, but I promise you can trust them.
Jared is kind and funny. He's slow to anger even as a wolf, and would rather take a step back to gather the needed information than rush in to fight. Out of the members of the pack he learned to change back with ease the fastest. He shifts forms like breathing. If anyone can be trusted to come up with a plan it would be him.
Paul may be quick to anger, but he's loyal. Once you earn his trust he'll stand by your side for life. Yes he's likely to rush into a fight blindly, but he always makes sure that any of us who can't handle it are out of the way. He's all sharp edges with a heart of gold.
Embry was so scared when he first joined us. The more he learned the worst it got. He took the longest to shift back to a human form. He saw what I did to Emily and swore it wouldn't happen to anyone he cared about. He tried to make a wall between himself and those that he loved, but it was a relief when Jake joined us.
Quil and Seth both are just children. Trusting, kind, and full of joy. They make sure we all remember to relax before the stress of being protectors of the tribe becomes too much. Their good kids.
Leah is hurting. Becoming part of my pack has hurt her more than I thought it would. However I can still see her kind heart shining through her thorns. She loves her family and would do anything to protect this pack. Not even her anger at me can change that." He sounded like Carlisle talking about his children. Voice full of love and pride. He tilted his face toward mine.
"I know the Cullen's would do the same for you. That said I think it might help if we worked together. You think of them as family don't you?" I nodded. "I thought so. I never liked Edward, but I'll give the doctor a chance. He works to save lives. He can't really be a monster. Plus Jake broke the treaty by telling you our stories, and they didn't wipe us out. If nothing else I want to thank them for that."
"I'll talk to the Cullen's. I think you're right it would help if you worked together. At least it would make me feel safer." He nodded.
"I thought so. Come on it's getting close to the end of the school day, and I want you to meet Brady before you leave." He stood holding his hand out for me.
"Okay. I need to tell Jake I'm not mad at him about Charlie anyway." I let him pull me to my feet.
When we reached the pack house I saw a flash of russet fur before Sam pulled me behind him. Looking behind me I saw Jake push himself up, shaking the dirt from his fur a wolfish smile on his muzzle. Looking past Sam I saw an ashy brown wolf snarling our way.
"Brady! Calm down!" Sam's voice seemed heavier than normal. The wolf shifted under the weight. Jake pushed his nose into my palm.
"Why do I feel like you have something to do with this?" I joked scratching behind his ear. He tilted farther into my hand tongue lolling out of his mouth, but I could see him roll his eyes.
"If I had to guess I'd say your right Bells." Sam sighed. "I've got to shift and deal with whatever this is. Emily should be inside, so how about you go in and say hi."
"Sounds good, Sam, good luck with your children." I called over my shoulder walking into the house. I heard one of the two wolves bark after me.
"Thanks." I could hear the laughter in his voice.
Emily was cooking when I found her. I sat at the counter watching her rush around the small space. It looked like she was making pasta of some kind. There were four large pots boiling on the stove top. One seemed to have a sauce in it while the others had plain pasta.
"Planning on hosting the whole pack tonight?"
"Yes, but I'm also sending some of this home with you. You have too much to worry about right now without adding dinner to the mix."
"Thank you, Emily."
"Not a problem Bella! How did your walk with Sam go?"
"Good. I feel a lot better now."
"That's good, dear. Does Charlie eat chicken and cheese?"
"Yeah. What are you making anyway?"
"Nothing special, just pasta with a cheese sauce and chicken. Is that okay? Cooking anything fancy for these boys is just too much work."
"I understand, and yes that's fine."
"So, I am sorry about Charlie. I told Sam we should have called you when it happened, but he didn't want to bother you over the weekend. Something about you needed the time to relax. I understand that, but a short warning would have been nice I'm sure."
"I would have liked that, but I'm not upset about it. It was just one more thing on the list, you know? At least I don't have to lie to him about the pack anymore."
"That's true, and from what I hear he's taking the news well." I nodded looking out the back window. I couldn't see any of the wolves, but I heard small growls.
"Do you think everything's alright?"
"Brady is young, but I think with a little help he'll be fine. They all have to start somewhere, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to have guests for a bit."
"I see. Do his parents know?"
"No. They think he's in class right now. I have no clue how the Elders are going to keep him out of trouble with his family." Her shoulders pulled down. "Sam thinks of them all as his family, and I know it upsets him when they can't tell their families."
"Hey Bells!" Jake walked into the room smiling. There was mud in his hair and face.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing! Brady asked who you were, so I showed him. He got all pissy when he saw you were dating a Cold One."
"I broke up with Edward!"
"Yeah I told him that. Sam got him to call down. He thinks it's just the anger that comes with shifting. The kid will chill out with time."
The kid in question walked into the room then behind Sam with his head down. Sam had his arms crossed, glaring at Jake.
"I can't believe you showed him Cold Ones while he's so young. He only shifted two days ago Jacob. You know how hard it is to stay calm for the first week or so."
Jake rubbed the back of his neck unashamed. Brady however looked like a kicked puppy. His head sunk down even lower and his shoulders curled inward. I turned a glare at Jake.
"Jake." I used the same tone I gave my mother when telling her she shouldn't have done something. His eyes grew wide and he looked between the two of us.
"Sorry, Brady. I shouldn't have pushed you like I did."
"It's okay. I got to learn at some point. Also, Bella, I'm sorry for growling at you." He kicked at the ground under his feet.
"It's alright, Brady. You're still new to all of this, it must be hard to deal with." He looked up meeting my eye's.
"How do you deal with it? As a human I mean. Knowing there's things like vampires and werewolves out there."
"I just remember that the one's I know will always protect me from the one's I don't. Why should I be afraid when I know I can trust all of you?"
"What about new one's?"
"I'm not scared of you Brady. I know you would never hurt me on purpose, and if something did happen I can just get patched up." I tried to put as much faith in my voice as I could. His answering smile was small but bright.
"Okay now that everyone feels better how about we play Go Fish or something while Emily finishes cooking?"
"I'll be done in ten or so minutes."
"Alright. Jake, you remember where I keep the cards, rights?"
"Yeah, Sam." Jake waved over his shoulder dragging Brady to the living room. "Come on Bells!" I smiled at Sam before rushing after Jake.
The boy's were setting up a game. It didn't look like Go Fish. Jake was dealing the deck into three even hands. Brady was leaning against the couch.
"We're playing War."
"War?"
"We deal the deck into even pile's one for each of us. Your hand is your 'army'. Each of us will flip the top card of our hand at the same time the biggest number wins. Winner gets the losing cards. Once we run though our first hand we shuffle our winning cards and make a new hand until one person has the whole deck." Brady picked up one of the piles and held it out for me as he explained the rules.
"Sounds easy." I took the cards and sat at the table. We played with Jake and Brady helping me along the way. Sam came in about half way through the game and sat on the couch behind me. He had two tupperware in his hands.
"I'm ready to take you home when you're done playing."
I was already losing, so I split my deck in two.
"Here guy's. I'm losing anyway, and It's getting late."
"Bye Bells!" They took their half's without looking at me.
"Let's go Sam. You have Jasper's car keys?"
"Yeah come on."
We sat listening to the radio as he drove into town. I didn't pay attention to where we were going until he pulled into Forks Hospital. He parked near the back of the lot near the woods.
"Sam, why are we at the hospital?"
"Because I don't know where the Cullen's live and the hospital is in no man's land. I wasn't joking when I said I wanted to thank the good doctor." He smiled getting out of the car.
"Okay, but why now?" I quickly followed him toward the doors.
"Why not?"
Alright he had a point I guess. We walked into the building, and up to the front desk. The lady sitting there didn't even look up as we entered. She was reading a harlequin novel with a shirtless sailor on the cover. Sam lends on the counter facing me twirling Jasper's keys around his finger. Rolling my eyes I turned to the woman.
"Excuse me." She glanced up shortly before returning to her book.
"Yes can I help you?"
"I would like to see Dr. Cullen."
"Wouldn't we all." She muttered.
"I'm sorry?"
"He's in his office dear. Go ahead."
"Thank you." I pulled Sam down the hall quickly rounding the corner before stopping. I looked around hoping to see Carlisle in the crowd.
"You don't know where his office is do you?"
"Not a clue. Is it just me or was she?"
"Wanting to sleep with Dr. Fang? Totally."
"Gross."
"Follow me." He sniffed the air before leading us father into the building. Before long we were in front of a door with Carlisle 'name next to it.
"He said to come in." Sam opened the door.
"Bella. Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Sam just didn't know where else to take Jasper's car." Carlisle laughed and held out his hand.
"Thank you for bringing Bella back."
"Not a problem, sir. I did want to speak with you." Carlisle calmed at once and raised an eyebrow.
"You did?"
"Yes. As the Alpha of the La Push Pack I wanted to thank you. You could have wiped my people out when Jacob told Bella about your family, but you didn't. That as well your job here proves to me that you truly are a good man. I was hoping that our families could form a better relationship."
"I see. Bella, Alice should be here to take you home." Alice walked into the room then. "Have a good day, sweetheart. Sam, take a seat I think we're going to be here a moment."