Chapter 47:

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight

The Denalis and I only had an hour alone together to share the story about the separate conversations before the others arrived. The Pack was still zipping up their shorts or jumping into their shoes when they walked in behind the Cullens. It seemed they had raced the vampires in to be first into the house, and the Cullens had raced to get to me before leaving me alone with the Denalis for another second. Either way, both looked a little like hell when they walked into the living room to find Tanya seated on my lap with my arms wrapped around her waist still in one piece.

I quirked my brow. "So, how'd it go?"

"Uh, fine?" It came out more as a question than an answer from Emmett while he glanced over his shoulder at the Pack, as if they had any objections to what he said.

They had none and I smiled. "I'm glad." My hold around Tanya tightened and the blonde happily leant further back into my body, rolling her head back to rest against my shoulder and intertwined her fingers with mine.

I set my chin on her shoulder to look at the two families. I think I rather like this position, I thought. Rosalie and Emmett sat on the ground in front of me, now more comfortable in being around me with the Denalis than they had been before.

At least, they were, but the Denalis weren't. A few lips still twitched at the action, but none took any measures to stop it like they usually would—hopefully thanks to my talk with them about what had happened at my house. Tanya pushed herself further into me, just to make sure, as the rest of the rest of the two groups seated themselves.

Alice sat next to me on the couch with a happy smile with Jasper at her side. Leah took the space between the couch's arm and myself. Tanya didn't seem to mind the she-wolf's presence as much as she did Alice and Jasper's. Still, she kept her mouth shut.

When the room was comfortably seated, Sam spoke up from the armchair with Emily respectfully in his lap. "So," he said, "we've decided we need to talk about telling Charlie."

My head—with the rest of the Denalis—snapped to the Alpha. "Say what?"

"We discussed," Carlisle said, jerking his chin towards the Pack, "that it may be coming close to time to tell your father about everything, Bella."

"And we mean everything," Jacob clarified.

My jaw dropped and my eyes bulged. They wanted to tell Charlie everything? Everything as in the Cullens and James? Everything as in Victoria and Laurent? Everything as in the Denalis and me? They wanted to tell him everything?

What the hell were they thinking?

Sensing I wasn't going to be speaking soon, Tanya spoke for me, "Are you sure that is a wise course of action, Carlisle?" She cocked her head at the leader; she looked just as bewildered herself. "Don't you think this is a slightly rash decision?"

"Yes," Seth piped up from the ground, "we agree that it is, but we also know that his knowing now will make it so much easier for the future."

"How do you mean?" Carmen asked.

"Well," Leah drawled from next to me, "I'm guessing that you are going to be turning Bella, right?"

That caught my attention. I snapped my mouth closed and looked around the room. The Denalis and I hadn't really discussed my changing since I moved here. Sure, there may have been small mentions of it, but we had never really discussed it.

It wasn't a set thing.

"Yes," Tanya claimed firmly, "we are." Scratch that—it was a set thing.

I forced my eyes not to bulge again at her statement, and instead continued to listen to Tanya as she continued. I could go over my changing later if needed, but right now this thing needed my whole and undivided attention.

"And we know about your treaty with the Cullens and where you stand on biting humans, but I'm afraid that we can't—I can't—let Bella stay human. She is my mate and also a valuable member of this coven," she said as her hands gripped mine a little tigther.

Sam nodded. "We thought as much," he grumbled. He then spoke louder. "You're right about the treaty, and we may not particularly like the idea of our sister becoming a vampire…" He looked at me here with a fond expression. "…but we also don't like the idea of Bella staying human around vampires. Having her being turned will be easier for us to accept, and since she is your mate, it's hard for us to argue against it."

Tanya nodded and relaxed her hold. "Then you're giving your blessing to turn her?"

"Yes," Paul said. "We are."

A smile pulled on Tanya's lips along with the Denalis' and my own. Mine was smaller—an unconscious one—but I had to admit that I was happy at the thought. The wolves were okay with me being a vampire and living my life with my mate and coven as one of them. It was a huge relief to know there wouldn't be any tension because of it.

"That being said," Rosalie continued, "we know that changing Bella will be difficult. She has many ties to many people, and her father is one of the strongest there is. Charlie will be hard to fool; especially, being this close to the wolves through Sue. So, we think that telling him sooner rather than later would be a good idea. He would adapt to the idea faster and still be in her life after her changing."

Now that sounded very good to me. I loved Charlie—deeply. He was one of the best fathers a person could ask for, and I hated the thought of hurting him because I had to leave him behind, or abandoning him to change. I wanted Charlie in my vampiric life too—not just my human one.

I nodded as I finally found my voice. "I can agree with that." The wolves and Cullens nodded to me, smiling. It seemed the two had planned a scheme in order to please me together after I left. "However," I continued, "Charlie and Sue are still just dating. If we are really just keeping him in the loop for that reason, it's a shaky one to take."

Leah and Seth wiggled, biting their lips. "Yeah, uh, about that…" Seth mumbled.

We looked at the two siblings. "What?" Esme asked.

Leah ducked her head. "Charlie…Charlie asked Seth and me yesterday for our mom's hand." She glanced at me. "We were supposed to keep it secret until he asked you about it today."

My jaw, again, dropped. "What?" I croaked.

Seth grinned awkwardly. "Surprise…"

I blinked rapidly and then grimaced. "We're gonna be walking in on them more often," I shivered.

Seth gagged on the ground and Leah shivered. The rest of the Pack burst into laughter. Tanya just smiled and cuddled closer into my body with a low purr to help comfort me.

I smiled at her lightly as Kate said, "So…Does this mean we're going to be telling Charlie?"

The room paused for a moment and then turned to me. It took me a second to realize they were all asking for my permission on whether or not they should. And, for a moment, I wondered if they should or not. But the doubt was quickly pushed from my mind and I nodded. "We are."

Everyone nodded and I noticed just a few shoulders release unnoticed tension. Tanya gave my hands a squeeze and looked around the room, "When should we do it?"

No one immediately answered. Instead, they looked off into space or at each other as they tried to come up with a decent time line in their head. I stared at the TV as I tried to think of one myself. There were many things to consider.

If I was going to be turned, why would I be turned? When would I be turned? Would I be turned because of my cancer getting worse months from now? Or, would I be turned after going into remission and letting myself live as a human again? Would Charlie even know about the vampires and the wolves when I was turned?

If he didn't, he would be in the complete dark until the day I had fangs in my skin that pumped venom into my system to stop my heart from beating another day. He would have to listen to days of my screaming, pondering all of the information he had just learned while sitting in pain with the rest of everyone else, and he definitely did not deserve that.

No one did.

The only way to insure that didn't happen would be to tell him now. We needed to make sure he knew now and had accepted it so he was ready for when the time came. Waiting too late may be a large mistake.

"Three days," I said, speaking up from behind Tanya. "We should tell him in three days."

Several eyes widened in shock. "Three days, Bells?" Jacob squeaked. "Don't you think that's a little too soon to be telling your dad something life altering?"

I shook my head. "No," I said, "I think three days is fine."

"Bella," Alice said from next to me, "when we said we were going to tell him, we didn't mean it had to be this instant. We just meant we wanted to tell him in—I don't know—maybe a month or two. We don't need to rush into this."

I shook my head. "But we do. Guys, I hate to be the one to say this, but right now is the best time to tell him. Telling him now would give him time to prepare and adapt to the reality of what my life has really been like for three years."

"Bella, he doesn't need to prepare," Rosalie said gently. "You really don't need to rush into this, and—"

"I have cancer, Rose," I cut in. Her jaw ticked, but she didn't interrupt. "I'm sick, and I have been for the past two years."

"But you are getting better," Esme argued. "You don't need to be pessimistic about this and rush into telling Charlie the truth. We need to prepare and—"

"I'm not being negative, Esme," I said honestly, cutting the woman off, "I'm being realistic. The reality of cancer is this: it's unpredictable. Am I showing some signs of improvement? Yes, but I did that two years ago when I suddenly found out I had it…again."

The room suddenly became awkward and uncomfortable. Several pairs of eyes moved off of me so they wouldn't meet my gaze as I continued, "Back then I was in full remission, and now, I'm only showing a slight decrease in the tumors. If I was in full remission last time, what will happen this time?"

"You'll get better," Rosalie insisted, her eyes hard. "You'll go into remission again and this time you'll stay in it."

"If you think that you're not being honest with yourself, Rose," I said. My voice wasn't hard, just firm and assertive. "We all know that while I may be doing good now, who's to say it will be that way next month, or the month after that? Hell, even a year after that?" I tightened my grip on Tanya, both for myself and her when her body stiffened against my own. "The truth is none of us know what will happen to me, and we need to be prepared for it." I paused, swallowing hard. "Charlie needs to be prepared for it. I won't keep him in the dark about the possibility of saving me until the moment I'm on my death bed with venom coursing through my body as I scream in agony."

Tanya stiffened again, squeezing my hands in her own. My guess from a reminder of what it was like during her own change and the pain I'd have to be put through too. She wasn't the only one affected, though, because I could see several other bodies tense and then relax in swift movements.

I took in a breath and continued, "Charlie deserves better than that, and truthfully everyone needs to be prepared for the unpredictable turns I might have. Yes, I could go into remission, but I also may not. We need to be ready to change me at any second. Three days is all the time we need to figure out how to tell him and what we'll tell him."

The room was quiet for a minute before Alice sighed and nodded. "You're right, Bella," she said, setting her hand on my arm, "we don't need any more time. And I hate to admit it, but you do have a point. I can't see anything about your future—or anyone's future—right now, and without that, I don't want to take any chances."

I nodded, glad the little pixie was agreeing with me, and smiled at her lightly. Alice smiled back as Jasper nodded and put his arm around her. "I agree. Three days is enough time."

"As do I," Eleazer said. "We figure out how to tell newborns what life is like in three days, we can decide this in three days as well."

The room nodded and gave murmurs of agreement. "Alright," Tanya said, "we'll do it in three days. We can decide how and when we'll do it over the next few days."

Charlie and Sue got home at relatively the same time as us. They walked into the house hand in hand, and now that I knew about Charlie's secret, I couldn't stop the large grin pulling on my lips when I looked at him. Really, I was perfectly fine with Charlie and Sue getting married. The two were perfect for each other, and Sue made my dad happy just like he made her. I couldn't ask for a better match.

The two adults looked towards us and smiled, Sue's eyes holding slight question. "How'd your day go?" she asked, looking at me for the answer.

I nodded with a smile. "Perfect," I replied. "We just kind of laid back and had fun all day. We spent some time up with the Denalis and Cullens too."

Charlie smiled with a nod—even though he still didn't seem to like the Cullens in the equation—while Sue's shoulders visibly relaxed. "I'm glad you guys had fun."

"We did," Jacob smiled.

We all stopped outside of the house and waited for Charlie to open the door before we all poured in. Paul moved to the couch and plopped down onto the cushion a moment before he shot his hand out and pulled me into his lap. I happily sank into his warm embrace and shifted until I was practically snuggled into his chest.

As per usual, Charlie didn't blink an eye at the action. He had become used to me snuggling into the wolves' embraces, and I was glad he didn't mind the closeness between us.

Like vampires, wolves had the same physical side to their shifting. That was part of the reason why they branched out and had sex with quite a few partners on the Reservation if they weren't already mated, however, that side of them—unlike a vampire—wasn't as dominant. Shifters had more of an animal like need to feel the touch of their loved ones.

It was a trait I adored about them—how cuddly they were. It was just a normal thing for me to cuddle with one of them, or for me to hold hands with one of them, because it was just what they do. They were live, walking teddy bears and I completely and utterly adored that side of them, and Charlie saying "no" to it would've made, well, sad.

And so, as I snuggled into Paul's embrace, Charlie sat in his chair and Sue sat in his lap. Watching them get comfortable, I once again began to smile at how easy it was to imagine them married. I was completely in love with the idea of the two tying the knot after hearing about it.

I really found it almost impossible to think about anything else—well, besides telling Charlie the truth, of course. Otherwise, I found it hard to keep my mind off the two marrying and officially making Leah and Seth my brother and sister in the eyes of the law.

I loved the thought of it, actually.

My smile grew a little and I hummed in content before I rested my head on Paul's shoulder and looked away from the two in the chair. The wolf shifted his grip on me while Sue said, "So, what did you all do today?"

Emily shrugged with a smile. "Well, we all became hooked on Stella's," she said. She smirked and nudged Sam's shoulder. "And we ended up being kicked out because this entire group is full of bottomless pits."

The two adults snickered while Seth scoffed. "Excuse me, but I am not a bottomless pit," he declared. "I am a semi-bottomless pit, and am fully capable of controlling my cravings, thank you."

"And that's why you got kicked out, is it?" Charlie chuckled.

Seth ducked his head bashfully and grumbled something incoherent under his breath. I grinned at Charlie's small victory when Sue prodded, "I'm guessing you went to the Denalis after you were removed from the café?"

"We weren't removed…" Paul grunted.

I smiled and snuggled further into the large man's chest before I said, "Pretty much."

"How long do you think you were there?" she asked, still prodding for more on how the visit went. Really, I didn't blame Sue. She knew the Pack had been at the Denali house only one other that, and that time completely blew up…another fact she knew.

Plus, her duty as an Elder in place of Harry made it her job to know if the Pack was agreeing with the Cullens. She had to make sure the treaty was still not violated, and even though the land wasn't a marker here, there were other parts of it that were. If something went wrong, she needed to know and she had to know like that.

But, her duties as an Elder aside, she was also the mother of two of the shifters in the current Pack and like a mother of my own, in a way. She was genuinely curious and worried for our own good in that way as well, and prodding for everything that had happened was natural for her, and fit perfectly with her duties.

Jacob shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "maybe a few hours. I'm not really sure. We mostly just hung out and played video games or something."

She hummed with a nod while Charlie frowned just a little. "Is it easy?"

"What?"

He shrugged and glanced my way. "It's not that I'm trying to be…insensitive, but is it easy for you to be around the Cullens like that?" he asked, leaning forward. "I was only around one of them for a few minutes, and I was ready to hang her head on my wall for everything that had happened."

The wolves pursed their lips and shifted in their seats. Paul's hold on me tightened just a margin and Sam cleared his throat, "I will admit that it's not easy to be around the Cullens, but it is getting easier. Today was especially eye opening on a few things, and I think everyone was able to get on the same page with each other."

I glanced at the Alpha to find his gaze landing on me during his sweep of the group. I gave him a small smile and nodded in agreement. I didn't know what exactly the Pack and Cullens had discussed during my absence, but I knew that whatever it was, they were able to level the field and possibly even come to stand each other. And, I was glad they had managed to overlook their generations' long issues to do it.

Charlie raised his brow with Sue. "How so?" he asked.

I answered this time. "We just talked things through," I said. "We addressed issues that have been there, and we all came to understand each other far better than we had before."

Sue glanced at her two kids here in a silent request to explain, and I briefly saw their small nods of confirmation while Charlie frowned. "I don't really understand."

And you can't, I thought. You aren't able to…right now, at least.

He wasn't. He wasn't able to understand until he knew the entire story of what had happened through all of these stressful years. He wouldn't be able to understand how talking things over would solve anything, because the situation was something that could be explained after you knew the entire story of everything that had happened.

Until then, Charlie would have to be left in the dark and guessing about what I meant until he had finally learned the truth. Of course, even then it could possibly take him some time to understand, but I was willing to wait for that to happen. Charlie was a reasonable man, usually, and he would process everything and see clearly just like everyone else had.

So, I just shrugged and smiled. "It's kind of hard to explain."

He frowned, not satisfied with the answer, but he knew better than to push me for one, so he instead nodded. "Ah, I see." And then he moved on, "I'm glad that you can at least enjoy your time there."

I nodded with a smile and the Pack followed suite. "It is, actually," Seth smirked. "Kate's crazy when it comes to the videogames, and so is Emmett. And, the fact he is a Cullen makes every victory I ever have against him that much sweeter."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Seth." I pushed off of Paul's lap. "You just don't like that he's beaten you in nearly every game you've ever played."

The boy blushed and the Pack snickered. "Traitor…" he mumbled.

I winked at him and headed for the kitchen to grab myself a drink. Behind me, I was vaguely aware of Charlie saying he was going to get a beer just as I entered it.

I moved to the fridge and pulled open the door. I looked over the shelves at all of my bottles of V8, water and protein shakes. Deciding I'd drank enough V8 today, I went for water, because I obviously did not like protein shakes…like at all.

I shivered at the thought of drinking one, hearing the faint murmur of talking in the background as I pulled out my water. I closed the fridge and undid the cap to open the bottle and take a drink just as Charlie walked in. He gave me a small smile and stuffed his hand into his pocket. "Hey, Bells."

I gave a small wave, pulling the bottle away. "Hey, Dad."

I stepped aside and pushed the door back open to let him get a beer. He nodded and reached forward, grabbing on quickly from the bottom. "Thanks," he said.

I nodded and took another drink of my water, hearing the sound of the beer cap coming off and then the clanking of it in the trashcan he tossed it into. He took a quick drink from the bottle and then lowered. He pursed his lips, shifting in place nervously.

I took another drink and patiently waited for what he was getting the courage to ask. I listened to the talking in the living room—my guess the others filling Sue in—and continued to wait as I continued to drink my water.

After a few moments, he finally said, "Bella."

"Hmm?" I hummed, lowering my bottle.

He swallowed and gripped his beer nervously in one hand while the other remained stuffed in his pocket. "I want to talk to you about something," he started. I nodded, showing he had my attention. "I…Well…" He removed his hand from his pocket to run through his hair. "You-you know how Sue and I have been going steady for a while now, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

He nodded. "Well, I…Recently I've been, uh, looking for a, um…I've been looking for a ring…" He gripped the neck of the bottle. "…an engagement ring." He swallowed and quickly added, "I know that you may not have been expecting this, but you know that I really do love Sue. I just…I just know that she's the one meant for me. And, of course, I wouldn't want to finally make this decision without talking to you. I want to make sure you're okay with Sue and me, uh—"

I smiled and raised my hand. "It's okay, Dad," I assured. "Seth and Leah told me you asked them for their blessing already."

His cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "They did?" he asked. I nodded and he snorted. "Well, there's my proof on why I should never trust them with confidential information."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah, you can," I smiled. "They weren't going to tell me at all, but then they kind of had to, otherwise they wouldn't have."

He nodded with a small huff. "That's good to know…I think." He paused and then shook his head before taking in a breath. "So…You're okay with this? About me asking Sue to marry me?"

I nodded and smiled brightly. "Of course!" I beamed. "I like Sue, I really do, and I think she's wonderful with you. I'm perfectly happy with you getting married. You deserve it."

He smiled. "Really?"

I nodded and scrunched my brow. "You've done so much for me, Dad. In the past two years, you've done more than anyone ever has, really, and I'm completely grateful for that. You deserve to have this—to have Sue. I want you to get married to her, because she'll make you happy, and you deserve to be happy." He smiled and I lifted my water bottle. "Plus, I don't hate her kids, so you really kind of have to."

Charlie rolled his eyes and softly punched me in the shoulder. "Smartass," he snorted.

I laughed and smiled at him warmly. "Seriously, though," I said, "I'm happy with you two being together. Really, I am."

He smiled, his mustache over his lip twitching lightly with the movement. He opened his arms and pulled me into a hug; not one of the awkward ones we used to share when I first moved to Forks, but a real hug. He held me and I held him with just as much vigor and love.

He kissed my head. "Thank you, Bells. This really means a lot to me."

I nodded, smiling. "Of course, Dad," I said. "I'd never want anything else for you."

He gave me a gentle squeeze and then let go, backing away from me with a dopey smile on his face. Jerking his head, he took a step to the living room. "Come on. Let's go join the crew before they tear down the house."

I smiled and followed him out of the kitchen.