EPOV
I step under the spray of my shower trying to see if that will relieve some of the tension in my shoulders.
When Bella left I didn't think I'd see her for at least a couple of days max, but I have learned that Bella isn't predictable.
She brought her father over immediately.
Charlie Swan was not at all what I was expecting.
I knew he was a Chief of Police and liked to fish but other than that I knew nothing about him.
I just spent the last hour getting him settled in my kitchen where he was assessing everything and watching Bella's eyes dart around the room anytime anyone spoke didn't help matters.
It put me on edge.
Charlie also wasn't a chatty man either.
He'd nod politely when Esme asked him if he'd like coffee or toast with his eggs and bacon.
He'd smile when Hadley would engage him in conversation.
I couldn't get a read on him.
Arms wrap around me and I freeze.
"What's wrong?" Bella asks, moving in front of me.
"You're dad's here," I hiss.
"I need a shower and you're in the shower. I told him I needed to get changed besides he knew I was here before, Edward," she says like it's no big deal.
"This seems disrespectful—"
"Jesus Edward, it's not like you're impaling me at the moment, however, I wouldn't complain if you did," she says with a glazed look.
A glazed look I was familiar with and it usually led to me having no self-control.
This girl liked sex, no, she loved it.
I loved having it with her, but now wasn't the time for me to give her what she wanted.
"Shower," I warned her as I swat her ass.
She giggles while she grabs the body wash.
"So what's your first impression of mi padre?" she asks as she soaps up.
"He's quiet."
"That's it?"
"He has a hell of a mustache?"
She snorts.
"That mustache drives the ladies of Forks wild," she tells me.
"Really?" I ask not believing it.
She nods, rinsing off under the spray.
"Did your dad date a lot after your mother left?"
She shakes her head but seems to think about what I asked.
"I think he was always so in love with Renee even after she left. She did a number on him because I don't think he ever saw it coming," she tells me while she grabs the shampoo.
"Have you two ever really talked about it?" I ask, grabbing my shampoo from her and squirting some in my palm.
"Not really, but when I told him I was moving he compared me to her," she tells me as she looks away. "I'm supposedly impulsive like her."
"He said that?" I ask surprised.
"I don't know much about her. I only remember a few things. She was fun, made things fun but I was six when she dipped," she says with a shrug.
I think about my own parents and how a lot has faded over time when I think back.
I knew they were the real deal.
My mom loved to play records on this old record player she had, when I came home from school music would flow through the house. I would be at the kitchen table doing homework and my dad would come in. He'd loosen his tie, ruffle my hair, and then would pull mom away from making dinner to dance with her. When Esme would come home for the holidays she'd tease my dad about how corny he was.
It was when they were gone and she met Carlisle that she herself met that corny guy. They had what mom and dad had. He might not have danced with her but he'd come in to see what she was cooking and he'd sway her in his arms telling her about his day.
Now we were celebrating Thanksgiving apart.
"What do you remember?" I ask encouragingly.
"Her blasting music in the car, she'd always tell me not to tell Charlie because he might give her a ticket," she says, rolling her eyes.
"What kind of music?"
"Fleetwood Mac," she answers.
"Rumors?"
She nods, looking surprised I guessed.
I smile.
"That was my mom's go to album," I tell her.
She smiles before tugging on my ear lobe and moving back under the spray.
"Have you ever tried looking for her?" I ask after a few minutes.
"Renee?"
I nod.
"I mean, she knew where I was all that time and never came back, why would I look for her?" she asks with a shrug.
I go back to my talk with Garrett a few weeks ago and I know that I don't want Hadley to have the same kind feelings as Bella about her own mother.
I see Bella brushing off her mother's abandonment, but I can also see the hurt etched on her face as she talks about it.
We finish up in the shower, I'm quick to get dressed while Bella dries her hair. At least Charlie will hopefully buy that we showered separately.
When I walk into the living room I see a Housewives marathon with Emmett and Hadley entranced by it on the couch.
I shouldn't be surprised.
Emmett's a good guy, just a little odd.
His energy definitely rivals Bella's most of the time.
A throat clears and I meet Charlie's even stare.
"You let her watch this?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Bella is the one who introduced her to this show," I explain, taking a seat in the chair beside him.
He huffs as his mustache moves.
Charlie Swan might be a tough nut to crack.
I catch him eyeing me and notice his glare mirrors his daughters, which it's a little unnerving.
"How long have you been dating my daughter?"
"Since September."
"That's not long enough to be having Thanksgiving together," he tells me.
"It was just going to be my sister, Hadley, and me but with Bella and Emmett not having plans we invited them—"
"Your parents aren't joining you?" he asks in a pressing tone that I don't like.
"They're dead so that's difficult," I snap.
His face softens but only for a moment.
"I'm sorry—"
"It happened a very long time ago. Esme and her husband raised me while she was finishing college," I tell him flatly.
"The husband isn't joining us today?"
"He is having dinner with his niece, Hadley's mother."
I have nothing to hide and he'll find out eventually so might as well rip off the band-aid.
"Her mother's still in the picture," he says in surprise.
"Not that it's any of your business, but her mother has struggles that she is battling with at the moment—"
"Whoa, what is with this tension?" Bella asks while she walks to where we're sitting.
I tense when she plops down onto my lap. Hadley is used to seeing us like this but I'm more worried about Charlie and his judgments.
Bella frowns.
"Dad," she snaps.
Hadley and Emmett turn their attention behind the couch to where we are sitting.
"Maybe we should move this to my office?" I suggest.
"Office," Charlie scoffs.
I help Bella stand and lead the way to the first door on the right.
"Carry on," I hear Bella tell Had and Emmett.
Once we all enter my office Bella takes a seat behind my desk and steeples her fingers together.
"Can you be serious for once in your life?" Charlie asks tersely.
My nostrils flare.
"I'm not sure what you're upset about but I have welcomed you into my home and haven't given you any reason to judge me or my relationship with your daughter," I tell Charlie while I sit on the edge of my desk.
Bella gasps which I assume is from me talking back to her father.
"I'm sure you're nice and all Edward but Bella is twenty-three. She probably still eats Pop-Tarts every morning for breakfast so excuse me if I find it hard to believe she can be in such an adult relationship with a man ten years older than her with an established career and a child," Charlie says dryly.
I catch the way Bella suddenly deflates.
It's like a knife through my heart.
"Bella is my equal partner in this relationship," I inform him. "And so what if she wants to eat Pop-Tarts for breakfast every day."
I have to hold back a lot more, because I know if I don't, I'll end up telling him every single reason why I love her.
And I don't want an audience for that. I want it to be a private moment between just me and her.
"Doesn't your daughter need someone dependable in her life—"
"Dad," Bella grits out.
"Bella is dependable. Hadley's mother has addiction issues and Bella has been nothing but great during the whole ordeal. She has helped us both navigate through it," I say jumping in.
I wouldn't have known that Hadley talks about Rose if it wasn't for Bella.
"Sounds like you are looking for a replacement," Charlie says with a glare.
"What is wrong with you?" Bella seethes while standing from her seat. "Dad, just because you waited for me to move out so you could sneak Sue in doesn't mean every single parent needs to be a monk until their child leaves the nest."
I see Charlie for the first time today not having a response but I also see something flash in Bella's eyes like she daring him to say something.
"I think Bella and I need a minute," Charlie says with a warning, painting his tone.
"No, you want to interrogate Edward, then I get to discuss Sue," she says.
Bella only mentioned her father's girlfriend once, I'm going to assume her name is Sue.
Charlie bristles.
"Remember when you were trying to convince me to move home when my lease was up in Seattle and how Sue was so resistant about me moving back," Bella fumes.
"I told Sue that it's your house too," he sighs.
"Last time I was home, my room was turned into a workout room with her Peloton in it," she says, rolling her eyes.
"This isn't about Sue—"
"My point, Father, is you are involved with someone who loathes you having a child and I'm dating Edward and I am obsessed with Hadley. The three of us mesh and… it's special so I'd appreciate it if you would set all your preconceived notions aside and enjoy the holiday with us," she tells him with an exasperated sigh.
He looks from me to Bella.
The pride I have for this girl.
"Fine, we'll table this conversation for later," he grunts.
"Thank you?" she says in surprise.
"I'm going to check on Esme in the kitchen," I say before a tentative knock comes from the other side of the door.
"Come in," I call.
Esme opens the door and looks to have been crying.
"What's wrong?" I ask her as I meet her by the door.
"Carlisle called, Rose is in the hospital," she tells me quietly before giving my hand a squeeze.
Dread fills me.