Rosalie had a bad feeling when they arrived at Bella's house. The police cruiser was out front, signaling that Charlie was home. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing but Charlie himself said he wouldn't be home until seven and it was only five now. There had to be a reason he was here two hours early. The only reason they were here so early was so Bella had time to fix dinner. She wanted to do something special since she had spent so much time avoiding Charlie.
There was something else putting Rosalie on edge. The smell of vampires nearby. Not just the tracker but another one of the nomads as well. The tracker made sense because of his fixation on Bella. But the other vampire… Rosalie wasn't too sure.
Rosalie did her best to push those thoughts and feelings away. Bella was already on edge with how overprotective they all were, the last thing she wanted to do was make it worse.
Unfortunately, all that went out the window when Bella opened the door. The smell of human blood hit Rosalie full force. It wasn't just a little blood, no it was a lot… too much. Rosalie's control was good, even with her feeding on humans for a short time but even Carlisle would struggle with this amount of blood.
Rosalie's dead heart sank when she realized what this meant. Charlie, Bella's father, and the closest family member she had, was dead. Rosalie didn't know how to protect her mate from that pain.
"Bella, don't," Rosalie exclaimed, pulling her mate back against her chest with a little too much force.
"Rose," Bella said confused at Rosalie's reaction.
Rosalie froze, her arms forming a steel cage around Bella. She didn't know how to tell Bella her father was dead. She focused on the sound of Bella's erratic heartbeat, a reminder that Bella was still alive and well.
She was just getting ready to tell Bella when she heard something. It was faint but she could hear a heartbeat… a heartbeat that didn't belong to Bella. Based on how weak it was, she knew it was Charlie's.
Rosalie let go of Bella and ran to the kitchen. What she saw was nothing short of horrifying. She may have been a vampire that had done some terrible things but this was worse. Charlie was on the ground, blood was all over the kitchen. His body was bruised and broken, deep cuts littered his body, most notably from his arm and thigh. It was a miracle he hadn't bled out yet. His left leg was also broken with the bone sticking out of his leg.
Rosalie knelt down beside him, swallowing back the venom. She didn't know what to do, other than kill him to end his suffering quicker. No… there was one other option but she didn't know if she was strong enough for it.
"Rose," Bella called running into the kitchen. "Ro—" she froze at the sight of her father on the ground. "Dad." She ran to Rosalie's side and knelt in front of him. "Dad!" she screamed.
Charlie's eyes opened slightly. "Bel…uh," he gurgled, coughing up blood. "G…g-go…n-no-not s-s-safe."
"Rose, do something," Bella pleaded.
Rosalie knew exactly what Bella was asking for, yet she hesitated. Could she really take away someone's choice like Carlisle had done to her all those years ago? She wanted to. She didn't want Bella to lose her father…. But the thought of taking away Charlie's choice was too much to ignore. But she had to… she couldn't let Bella lose her father.
"D-do it," Charlie choked out. "Do it," he said, his voice slightly stronger.
Rosalie's gold eyes widened in surprise. "Do you know what I am?" she questioned. Charlie nodded. "If I change you, you will never see your friends again. Your old life will be over, can you live with that?" His eyes flickered to Bella, who was trying her best to stop some of the bleeding from his thigh. "Eventually you will be able to see her again, but not until your blood lust is under control. It could be a year or more. Is this still what you want?"
Charlie paused for a second before nodding again. He couldn't, and wouldn't, leave Bella alone, not while those monsters were still around. He would pay any price for that.
Rosalie took a deep breath, allowing the venom to pool in her mouth. "This is going to hurt," she warned before leaning forward and biting his neck. She bit both sides of his neck, trying to pump as much venom into him as she could. She didn't want to risk him dying before the venom had a chance to do its job.
She pulled away when she was done and wiped the blood from her mouth. She turned to Bella, fearing her reaction. She shouldn't have been surprised when Bella wrapped her arms around Rosalie. Rosalie was now covered in Charlie's blood and she didn't care. All she cared about was that Bella didn't hate her.
"He'll be okay Bella," Rosalie whispered, gently stroking her hair. "The next few days are going to be difficult as he goes through the change. But he'll be okay."
Bella nodded against her.
Rosalie's phone rang and she reluctantly pulled away to answer it.
"Rose, you need to get to Bella's house," Jasper shouted into the phone. She could hear the wind and knew he was running. "Charlie's in danger."
"It's too late Jasper," Rosalie told him. But before she could continue he hung up the phone.
He appeared in the house seconds later. His eyes darkened at the smell of blood and he forced himself to stay in control. If he didn't stay in control he would kill Bella and he couldn't…wouldn't do that.
"Bella, I'm so sorry," Jasper said. He frowned. Bella's emotions were off. She was sad but not devastated as he expected. And there was something else… hope mixed in. It didn't make sense until he noticed Charlie's faint heartbeat, and the emotions coming from him. The most notable being pain. His eyes locked onto the bite marks on his neck. "You turned him," Jasper realized.
Rosalie nodded. "I had to," she said nodding toward Bella. "And he… he asked me to. He said he knew what we were and he wanted to turn."
Jasper pulled out his phone and dialed Peter's number. "Peter, I need you and Charlotte at Bella's house ASAP. We're going to have a newborn on our hands," he said as soon as his friend answered the phone. He didn't wait for a response. He hung up the phone and turned his attention to Bella. "Bella, you need to pack up anything you want to keep, and anything you think Charlie will want, along with some clothes for both of you."
Bella frowned. "I don't understand," she said softly.
"We have to stage his death," Rosalie answered. "He can't be around anyone for a while. I'm sure Alice has seen something now. She'll have a plan for that."
Peter and Charlotte arrived seconds later much to everyone's surprise. "We were already on our way," Peter admitted. "I had a feeling we would be needed." He turned to Jasper. "What's your orders Major?"
"We need to take Charlie back to the house and get him cleaned up," Jasper said. "Put him in Carlisle's clothes. Bella's going to pack up their things. Alice…"
He paused when his phone buzzed. Emmett and I are on the way to help you. Carlisle and Esme already know. Carlisle's ready to help out. I have a plan. I love you.
"Alice, Emmett and I will deal with this," Jasper continued. He turned to Rosalie. "Help her pack and get her to the house. One of the nomads is dead. Paul and I took care of him," he added as Rosalie and Bella started to walk to the stairs. Rosalie stopped to face him. "We can talk more later. Right now, I need to deal with Charlie while you take care of Bella."
Rosalie nodded before turning to follow Bella upstairs. She found Bella in her room, packing her suitcase. Bella stopped as soon as Rosalie walked into the room. She threw herself at the blonde, grunting when she hit the hard body. "Thank you," Bella mumbled through the tears. "I know you didn't want to."
Rosalie pulled away from Bella. "It wasn't that I didn't want to," Rosalie told her. "I didn't want to take away Charlie's choice, like the rest of us had our choices taken away." She wiped the blood from Bella's face. "While I'm glad to know Charlie was okay with it, I would have done it anyway, if only to save you the pain of losing your father."
Bella started shaking and Rosalie pulled her back into her arms. "He…I…who?" Bella struggled to get the words out but Rosalie understood.
"One of the nomads," Rosalie answered. "It wasn't the tracker. I smell him in here and all over the outside of the house, but his scent wasn't in the kitchen. It was another." Bella looked ready to fall apart all over again. Rosalie needed to get her out of the house and cleaned up but they needed to finish packing. "Go pack Charlie's things. I'll get the rest of your stuff together."
Bella pulled herself out of Rosalie's grasp though it took a lot of effort. She didn't want to leave the comfort of Rosalie's arms. She looked around her room one last time before going to Charlie's room. She grabbed the suitcase from the closet and started packing up the pictures on the nightstand. There wasn't many. Bella's last year school photo, a recent photo of Bella and Charlie together and a photo of them two of them six years ago, holding up fish. They had a contest that day to see who could catch the biggest fish. Bella had won and he took her out for ice cream to celebrate. Bella was sure he would have gotten her ice cream anyway.
She packed some clothes. She didn't pack a lot, since she knew Alice would want to buy more. But she did make sure Charlie had a few changes of clothes, just in case. Bella wandered around the room, looking for anything else that Charlie may want to keep. There wasn't much. She found a photo album in the closet from when she was born and a copy of Charlie and Renee's marriage license and wedding photo. She wasn't sure if it was worth keeping but figured Charlie could get rid of it if he didn't want it.
She went to the bathroom next. Nothing there really mattered but she knew the Cullens liked to shower. So, she grabbed his shampoo and body wash, hoping the familiar scents would make things easier for him, and put it in the suitcase. Once she was sure she got everything she zipped up the suitcase and went back to her room.
Bella's packed suitcase was on her bed. Rosalie was at the window, watching whatever was going on outside. "I finished your suitcase," Rosalie said not turning around. "You should check and make sure I didn't miss anything."
Bella nodded even though she knew Rosalie couldn't see her. She sat Charlie's suitcase next to her own and wandered around her room. She didn't bother with clothes. She had some at the house already and knew Alice would buy her more. All of her books were missing which meant Rosalie packed them. The few pictures she had were also packed. Looking around, she didn't find anything worth keeping, not even the cactus she brought from Arizona. She didn't feel like the same girl that left Phoenix all those months ago.
"That's everything," Bella told her. She walked over to Rosalie's side and Rosalie put an arm around her.
"We need to leave," Rosalie told her. Bella nodded against Rosalie's side. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," Bella answered. Rosalie lifted Bella into her arms. She walked out of the room and toward the stairs. "What about the suitcases?"
"We'll get them Bella," Charlotte promised. She moved to the bottom of them stairs to greet us. She had some blood on her and it made Bella's stomach turn knowing it was Charlie's blood and this was all her fault. "It'll be okay Bella." Charlotte turned her attention to Rosalie. "Peter, Jasper and I will take care of Charlie. I know Carlisle wants to look at him before he goes too far into the change so he can fix up his leg and any other broken bones."
"Thanks Charlotte," Rosalie said gratefully.
Charlotte nodded. "Take care of your mate Rose. Leave the rest to us," Charlotte told her.
Rosalie ran out of the house with Bella still in her arms. When she approached the Cullen house she slowed to a walk.
"I'm sorry Rose," Alice's voice called from the front of the house. "I was watching Bella and by the time I saw what happened with Charlie it was too late."
Rosalie shook her head. "It's not your fault Alice," Rosalie said firmly. "You're watching too much as it is."
"Still, I should have seen something." There was a pause. "How is she?"
Rosalie sighed. "She's devasted," Rosalie answered. "She blames herself. I don't know what I can do to help."
"Be there for her," Alice answered. "Despite her vast knowledge of vampires, she's neither experienced, nor seen, someone go through the change. Deep down she knows Charlie will be okay. But until she sees it with her own two eyes, she won't be sure."
"Thanks Alice," Rosalie said grateful. She leaned forward to kiss Bella's forehead. She wasn't asleep but also wasn't aware of their conversation. "What's the plan with Charlie?"
"Peter, Jasper and Carlisle are going to get him cleaned up and changed," Alice started. "Emmett, Charlotte and I will set up his death by burning the house down. Emmett went to get a body from an accident not too far away. Esme's going to keep an eye on everything and when Peter and Jasper are done they're going to patrol. I know Jasper wants to fill Paul in. There are some concerns about the treaty. But you are going to take care of Bella and not worry about anything else."
Rosalie nodded. "And when Charlie wakes up?" Rosalie questioned. "You and I both know he can't stay here."
"I can't see his future yet," Alice admitted. "Not until he's ready to wake up. He may want to see Bella and if he does, I think we should let him."
"He'll kill her," Rosalie growled.
"No," Alice said confidently. "I won't deny that he may try since he will be a newborn. But between all of us we can keep him subdued and Bella safe. Bella will need that Rose. Even if it's just for a moment. Then we send Charlie to Denali." She paused. "It looks like Emmett is going to offer to take him. Charlie works on control and we protect Bella. By the way, Carlisle and Esme will be filling paperwork for Bella's care. Jasper's going to forge a will for Charlie saying he wanted them to take care of Bella if anything happened to him. This will at least keep her from being sent to Florida."
Rosalie didn't like it but Alice was usually right. Bella would need to see that her father was okay. "Okay," Rosalie agreed. "Will the guardianship work?"
"Yes. The fact that Bella wants to stay will help." There was a pause. "Rose," Alice called, moving toward them. "Whatever Bella asks for… don't deny her."
Rosalie stepped out into the open. Alice took a step back. She knew Bella was covered in blood and didn't want to get too close, just in case. "I will not have sex with her while she is this distraught," Rosalie hissed.
Alice shook her head. "It's not sex she'll be after," Alice assured her. "She just wants to be close to you. She needs you Rose. Don't allow your own guilt over changing Charlie to push her away."
Alice ran off toward the Swan residence without another word.
Esme and Carlisle were waiting when Rosalie stepped inside the house. Rosalie carefully sat her mate on the ground. She started to walk toward the two but felt Bella's hand, holding onto hers. Rosalie wrapped her free arm around Bella and pulled her mate with her. Alice was right. She needed the closeness and Rosalie was more than happy to obliged.
"Are you okay dear?" Esme asked concerned.
Bella shrugged. "Charlie will be okay Bella," Carlisle told her. "The change is…difficult. He'll be in a lot of pain but after three days he'll wake up." He studied Bella but could tell she didn't look convinced. He felt Esme tense next to him. With the blood covering Bella and Rosalie to an extent, she was having a harder time resisting. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, both as a sign of comfort and a way to restrain her. "Between Jasper, Peter and myself, we have a lot of knowledge of turning humans. We'll make sure he's okay." He turned his attention to Rosalie. "She may feel better once she gets cleaned up. Esme and I will deal with everything else."
Rosalie nodded and lead Bella upstairs to her room. She shut and locked the door behind her, as a warning to the others not to come in. She pulled Bella into the bathroom and started the shower. "You need to get clean up," Rosalie muttered. "I'll wait for you in my room."
Bella grabbed her hand when she tried to leave. "Don't leave me," Bella begged.
Rosalie realized this is what Alice must have been talking about. Rosalie's first instinct was to say no and give Bella some time alone. But she could see that's not what Bella needed. Bella needed her for stability, to remind herself that she's not alone. No matter how alone she may feel.
"Okay," Rosalie agreed. She gently pried Bella's hand off of her so she could step back and strip off her clothes. Once she was completely naked she glanced at Bella and saw she hadn't moved. She moved back to Bella's side. "You need to get out of those bloody clothes love."
She gently tugged on Bella's shirt to see if there was any resistance. There was none. Bella simply raised her arms and allowed Rosalie to remove the garment. She tossed it on her own pile of clothing. All of their clothes would need to be burned. There was simply too much blood to try and save them.
Rosalie quickly stripped off the rest of Bella's clothing. She pulled Bella flush against her body and climbed into the shower.
"I'm sorry," Bella muttered under the hot water. Rosalie watched Bella's fair skin start to turn pink under the stream. The water was too hot but Bella wasn't even flinching.
"Sorry for what?" Rosalie asked confused. There was nothing Bella needed to apologize for.
"For everything," Bella said softly. "For asking you to turn Charlie, for forcing you to protect me all the time, for thinking I was attracted to Edward, for going to Port An—"
Rosalie cut her off with a soft kiss. "Bella, you never have to apologize to me. None of this is your fault. You asked me to turn Charlie, you didn't force me, I would have done it anyway. You don't force me to protect you, I do it because I love you and want you to be safe. As for Edward, vampires are meant to attract humans. I would be more concerned if you hadn't been attracted to him at some point."
Bella smiled slightly. She knew it was Rosalie's attempt at making her feel better. She stepped forward and laid her head on Rosalie's chest. The water was a little too hot and Rosalie's cool body was nice.
"Turn around," Rosalie instructed gently. "I can smell blood in your hair. Let me wash it for you."
Bella turned around and allowed Rosalie to lather up her hair up. She could smell the rose and honeysuckle shampoo and knew Rosalie was using her own, expensive shampoo. Bella didn't mind. She liked smelling like Rosalie. It made her feel safe.
Once Bella's hair was cleaned, including a thorough conditioning, Rosalie turned her mate back around and grabbed the loofah. "You don't have to wash me," Bella protested with a blush as Rosalie poured her body wash onto the loofah.
"I don't have to," Rosalie agreed. "But I want to take care of you." Her hand hovered inches from Bella's body. "Will you let me?" Bella sighed and nodded. Rosalie scrubbed Bella's body as gently as she could, paying close attention to her hands which were caked with blood.
"Do you have to help the others tonight?" Bella questioned, needing some type of distraction from what Rosalie was doing.
"No," Rosalie answered. She turned Bella around so she could scrub her back. "Alice has demanded that I stay and take care of you. Not there was any need for the demand. You need me, so I will be here with you."
"What will happen with Charlie?" Bella asked. She was carefully turned back around.
Rosalie got to work scrubbing her own body. She could have done it in seconds but preferred to keep the human pace for now. She thought about to the many conversations she had with Bella and realized Bella had no idea how the change, or being a newborn worked. She groaned. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't realize how uninformed you are with the change. Since you weren't sure if you wanted to be a vampire I didn't think to fill you in." Rosalie hung the loofah back up and worked to rinse off her body. "The change takes about three days, give or take. The exact length differs but it's largely based on the amount of venom in the system and their size. The change itself is excruciating. It's like lava flowing through your veins until it settles into your heart and then suddenly, the pain is gone and then you're a vampire."
"You remember the change, don't you?" Bella asked. "There's no way you could describe it like that if you didn't remember."
"Yes," Rosalie admitted. She poured some shampoo into her hands so she could wash her own hair. "For most vampires that is the clearest memory they have. The only exception I can think of is Alice since she doesn't remember anything before waking up."
"So, Charlie will be in a lot of pain," Bella realized.
"Yes. Jasper will do what he can but even he can't fully erase the pain," Rosalie answered. She washed out the shampoo before turning off the shower. "I'll keep you away from it as much as I can. There's no need for you to suffer along with him."
Rosalie got out of the shower and grabbed two towels. She wrapped one around her chest and handed the other to Bella. Bella wrapped up in her own towel. Before she could attempt to get out of the shower, Rosalie had already grabbed her and moved her.
"How are you and Jasper doing with all that blood? And the others?" Bella asked nodding toward the pile of bloody clothes.
"I'm fine," Rosalie told her. She grabbed a third towel to towel dry Bella's hair, when it was sufficiently dry she started to brush it out. "I won't deny the blood appealed to me. There was so much of it even Carlisle would struggle. But I also knew what that blood represented and I would never hurt you like that. I believe Jasper felt the same way. Peter and Charlotte have more control since they feed on humans, and they have experience with newborns so they were fine. The others… they struggled but they can hold their breath and minimize the risk."
Rosalie walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, with Bella right behind. Bella went to the drawer in Rosalie's dresser that was dedicated to her. She pulled out her underwear. She pulled out a pair of pajamas as well but Rosalie grabbed the pajamas from her hand and put them back into the dresser. She held up a pair of pants and a tank top. "I thought you might sleep better with my scent," Rosalie suggested.
Bella took the pajamas from her. "I always sleep better with your scent," Bella agreed.
Bella quickly dressed. She turned around and saw Rosalie was gone. She was about to call for her when Rosalie walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed in shorts and a tank top, holding their bloody clothes. "Esme's going to dispose of the clothes," Rosalie explained. "She's waiting outside the door."
Rosalie went her bedroom door and locked it. The door opened a second later and Esme was waiting with a paper bag in her hands. Rosalie put the clothes inside. This would make it easier to burn the clothes without risking getting blood everywhere.
"How are you Bella dear?" Esme asked concerned.
"I'm okay," Bella said stepping closer to Rosalie. Rosalie put her arm around Bella. "Rosalie explained the change a bit and what's going to happen with Charlie. That makes me feel a little better."
Esme nodded. "That's good. We'll take good care of him."
"Will he stay here until he wakes up?" Bella asked curious.
"Yes," Esme answered. "He'll be on the couch is Carlisle's office. This way we can keep watch over him and protect you at the same time. I'm not too sure how long he'll be here after he wakes up, or if he'll be moved right before."
"Alice thinks it will be good for Bella and Charlie if he gets to see her before he has to leave," Rosalie informed her.
Esme frowned. "But the risk…" she started.
"I'll admit, I don't like the idea of a newborn so close to a human, no matter who the human is," Rosalie said. "However, I do think Alice is right. At the very least, Bella will need to see him after what happened. Alice is certain between Peter, Charlotte, Emmett and Jasper, Bella will be safe."
"Okay," Esme agreed though it was clear she didn't like it either. She glanced at Bella. "Bella, are you hungry? Would you like me make you something or get you something?"
Bella bit her lip. "I was actually craving a burger and milkshake from that place at the edge of town," she said hesitantly. The last thing she wanted to do was insult Esme by not asking for her food.
Much to Bella's surprise, Esme's eyes lit up. "Of course," she readily agreed. "What kind of shake?"
"Strawberry," Bella said. "Th—" Esme disappeared in the blink of an eye. "—anks," Bella finished awkwardly.
"She heard you," Rosalie promised.
"Is she mad at me for not asking her to cook?" Bella asked nervously.
Rosalie laughed and dragged Bella onto the bed. She positioned them so Bella was lying on top of her, with the blanket wrapped around them both. She grabbed the remote and putting on Food Network. Rosalie liked to watch it at times so she could learn to cook for Bella.
"No love, she's not mad," Rosalie told her. "She's actually happy that you feel comfortable enough to tell her what you want, without worrying about her feelings. She thinks you're starting to trust her."
"I think I am too," Bella admitted.
Rosalie kissed her cheek. "There's nothing wrong with trusting her. I'm starting to trust her again and Carlisle too."
Bella turned to look at Rosalie's face, trying to figure out if she was lying. "Good," Bella said finally. She laid her head on Rosalie's shoulder and closed her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to forget about what happened this evening but she had a feeling those memories would never fade.
"Don't fall asleep yet," Rosalie told her. "Esme will be back soon with your food and you need to eat."
Sure enough, Esme returned five minutes later with Bella's food. Rosalie nudged her half-asleep mate. Bella sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Hey Esme," she greeted.
Not only had Esme returned with the food but she had also put the burger and fries on a plate and put the plate and shake on a tray to make it easier to eat. There was also a glass of ice water which Bella appreciated and a mountain of napkins. Bella had no doubt Esme realized how messy this meal would be.
Esme slowly walked over and placed the tray on Bella's lap. "Do you want anything else dear?" she asked.
Bella shook her head. "This is perfect. Thanks Esme," she said.
Esme gently touched her face before leaving the room, muttering something Bella couldn't hear. Rosalie chuckled while Bella got to work on her burger. She raised an eyebrow at Rosalie, wondering what was so funny but unable to say anything with her mouth full of food. "Esme said she was going to bake some cookies in case you wanted them later," Rosalie explained. "She seems to think you need to eat more." Bella rolled her eyes and went back to her food. "Does that actually taste good? It seems horrible to me."
Bella swallowed a mouthful of burger. "Do you want me to leave?" she asked though she really hoped Rosalie said no. She didn't want to leave her side.
"No, I'll put up with the horrible smell of human food anytime if it meant I could have you in my arms," Rosalie said softly.