Bella
As if on cue, Seth and Jake start taking their clothes off.
"Whoa! I am sure we can get through this conversation without all of the potential nudity." Charlie stutters and looks away.
"Dad, please keep an open mind. This is a situation that has recently begun to affect me too."
Once Jake and Seth are down to their underwear, Leah watches as they each each turn into their wolves. However, I am watching Charlie's face. When Jake changes first, Charlie yells a little and then his mouth drops open.
After they change back and put their clothes on- sans underwear now, we look at Charlie.
"Surely I drank too much beer and now are having a nightmare about a young boy I have known since his birth just changed into a very large dog."
"No, dad, it is not a dream- or a nightmare. You really just saw that."
"And you all do that? Even you Bella?"
"Yes. It is something that was passed down from their parents. But for me, it is something that started when Jake and I started dating."
"So wait. If you guys break up, will you continue to change? or will it switch to someone else if he starts dating someone else? Does Sue change? Will that happen to me when we get married? What is the reason for any of this?"
"Okay, okay, one question at a time. We don't really know about the continuing to change after a break up. However, I don't feel like we will ever break up. I love Jake, and he loves me."
"Yeah, but what about... him?"
"Well, unfortunately, he is a part of my past, but as he said, he was leaving and never coming home. But, even if he and his family did come back, I love Jacob. He is my life now. And I will not jeopardize our relationship." Charlie just continues to sit there, now looking at the floor, so I continue, "As far as your other questions, no, Sue does not change into a wolf. So, no, you won't change either. And according to the legends, we change into wolves to protect the tribe and the people around the tribe as well."
For the next 20 minutes, Charlie rattles off random questions as he processes the information and we give him the answers as carefully as possible so as not to alert him to the existence of vampires. Now, there could come a day where we have to tell him, for his safety, but for right now, that is an issue for another time. But now, we have my dad in the loop. and I can't be happier to not have to skirt around the issue with him.
So, the next weekend, Sue and Charlie go off on a weekend fishing trip and when they come back, Sue shows me a beautiful turquoise and onyx with a black gold setting engagement ring. Sue is officially going to be my step-mom, and Seth and Leah will soon be my siblings. This is going to be an interesting life.