A Floating Life

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

Need to Know

Bella tried to slow her breathing as she watched Esme cautiously approach Charlie, wearing a welcoming smile. The others stayed in the background, exchanging nervous glances with each other.

Oh, God, what was she going to do? She so wasn't prepared for this meeting. She had been planning to call Charlie to give him an update, to let him know that she was over the worst of the mystery illness, and that her health was gradually improving. But now his sudden appearance had completely blindsided her.

This was the absolute worst time for Jacob to be away. He had left early that morning to check in with his own father. Rachel had sent word via Paul that Billy was feeling under the weather. Concerned for his father's wellbeing, anxious that his diabetes might be behind the reason that Billy was in low spirits, and with encouragement from Bella, he had decided to go and spend a few hours with his one remaining parent.

"The pack will be around. Send word through them if you need me. I'll be back by tonight." He had promised, kissing her on the forehead before leaving.

While he was gone, she had decided to spend the intervening hours with Charlotte, just enjoying the peace and quiet, happy to have the chance to bond further with her daughter without a watching crowd.

Now her plans lay in ruins at her feet. Alice and Jasper suddenly appeared in the room; their faces full of disquiet.

"I never saw this coming." Alice trilled anxiously. "Being surrounded by wolves constantly seems to have muted my powers." She sighed regretfully. "I'm sorry, Bella. If I had known I would have given you forewarning. Esme is on her way inside with your father now. She tried to put him off, but he is being very stubborn and determined. A family trait, I guess."

Jasper frowned, cleverly utilizing his powers to bring an aura of calm inside the room. Bella's muscles weren't the only ones to relax against her will. She saw the tightness around Alice's eyes lesson, the pinched expression on her face easing.

"Thanks, Jas." Alice murmured, squeezing his hand. "I needed that."

"I'll be nearby, Bella." Jasper promised her. "I'll keep things calm."

Bella smiled at him gratefully. She inhaled once, shrugging her shoulders to loosen them further. She glanced behind her at Charlotte, who was back in her crib, eyes closed as she hovered in the land of dreams.

"I can't leave Charlotte unattended."

"We'll stay with her." Alice promised.

"But what if she wakes?" Bella fretted. "No offence but you won't be able to soothe her. Is Leah around? Maybe she can watch her?"

Alice grimaced. "I'm afraid she took off, Bella. She and Rosalie had another difference of opinion which became quite heated. They had to be separated so each of them could cool off."

"Great." Bella muttered, remembering the sight of Leah launching herself into the forest, an angry look on her face.

"I'm sure Charlotte will be fine." Alice tried again.

Bella moved to the crib and gazed down her daughter, a tender expression taking over her face. No, she couldn't find it within herself to abandon her daughter, even for a few moments for the sake of her father.

"I can't take the risk." She said, turning back to Alice and Jasper. "Maybe it's time Charlie got to meet his granddaughter."

Alice's mouth popped open in surprise. "But how will you explain? You can't be thinking of telling him the truth? Bella, please, reconsider?"

Bella's chin jutted out determinedly. She was getting a little sick and tired of the Cullens calling the shots and telling her what to do. This was her decision alone. She was going to trust her gut for once. Anyway, how could Charlie not be instantly captivated with the beautiful child lying so serenely asleep in the crib? How she came to exist was irrelevant. Charlie would be proud to call Charlotte his granddaughter.

Alice sighed, exchanging a resigned look with Jasper, she caught hold of Bella's hand and guided her over to the sofa. "Maybe you should start the conversation from the couch. You've been sick, after all. That way it will look more believable."

"Alice, I need Charlotte with me."

"Fine." Alice answered irritably. "Hold Charlotte as still as possible while I try and see around her." She sighed wearily, like she had been asked to work overtime on holiday.

Bella stood up again and walked back to the crib. Leaning over it, she carefully lifted a slumbering Charlotte and cradled her against her chest. The little girl stirred slightly, her lips pursing, but she quickly relaxed again. Sitting back down on the sofa, Bella looked tensely at Alice.

Alice's forehead was wrinkled, her eyes tight shut. Her hands balled into fists at her sides. Jasper sent more calming waves in her direction, but it did little to soothe her nerves.

"I can't see. This is so frustrating!" She moaned in despair.

"Don't worry about it, Alice." Bella said quickly. "We're about out of time anyway."

Not wanting to be totally reliant on Jasper to soothe her worried mind, Bella concentrated on the steady thrumming of Charlotte's heart to calm herself. It worked pretty quickly.

"Well done, Bella." Jasper whispered his approval when he felt her mood change and her anxiety all but disappear.

With her enhanced hearing, Bella was able to hear the heavy tread of Charlie's footsteps across the grass, while Esme's were barely a whisper. And then the great echoing thuds against the wooden stairs.

Had he always been this heavy footed? She wondered idly.

Four more echoing footsteps across the porch. Then silence. Charlie took two deep breaths.

Bella inhaled, bracing herself as she heard Esme inviting Charlie inside. Charlotte stirred again, nestling deeper into Bella's arms, hiding her face in her hair.

"Not to be impolite, Mrs. Cullen, but I don't need feeding." Charlie said when Esme kindly offered him some refreshments, in a last-ditch effort to delay the inevitable. "I just want to see Bella."

"I'm right here, Dad." Bella called out.

Ugh, her voice sounded so wrong. It was high pitched, too shrill. She cleared her throat and called out to him again.

Charlie's fearful expression showed how alarmed he was at how off her voice sounded. Expecting her to look like she was at deaths door, his eyes zeroed in and widened when he saw the healthy, glowing, vibrant looking girl sitting relaxed on the plush leather sofa.

Bella read the emotions as they scrolled across his face.

Shock. Disbelief. Pain. Loss. Fear. Anger. Suspicion. More pain.

Bella bit her lip, hating that she had made him experience each one. She watched as the hand holding the badly wrapped present became limp.

"Hi, Dad." Bella tried to keep her tone light. "Is that for me?"

"What?" Charlie whispered.

"The gift." Bella prompted him with a smile.

"Oh, this, yes. Happy nineteenth birthday, kiddo." Charlie took a deep breath to steady himself as he slowly walked across the room until he was a few feet away from Bella. He darted a wary glance at Jasper and Alice hovering in the background, before his eyes flicked back to his daughter.

"Bella?" He said again. "You look remarkably well. I expected…. I don't know…" He paused, frowning. "So, are you recovered now?"

Bella steeled herself, focused on Charlotte's warm weight. She took a deep breath. "Yes. I am fully recovered now. I was actually going to call you today, but you beat me to it."

Charlie was still holding the badly wrapped gift limply in his hand. He just kept staring at Bella, seeming lost for words.

Under Bella's hair, Charlotte sniffed as Charlie's unfamiliar scent woke her up from her pleasant dreams. Bella tightened her grip on the little girl, her fingers trailing through the red ringlets in a reassuring motion.

Charlie caught Bella's anxious glance down and followed it. His eyes widened further, a soft 'Oh' leaving his lips. All the worry and suspicion melted away, leaving only shock behind.

"Who is this?" He turned to look at Esme, who was standing pensively behind him. "Have you adopted another child?"

Esme shook her head, her caramel-colored hair rustling against her shoulders. "No, Charlie. As much as I would love to claim her as my own, Charlotte is… " She paused, looking uncomfortable. "I think that its best left to Bella to explain."

Charlotte chose that moment to peek out from under Bella's hair, sniffing discreetly. She glanced shyly up at Charlie from under her long lashes, then hid again.

"Wow. She's… she's, well, she's a beauty."

"Yes, she is." Bella agreed, smiling softly.

Charlie appeared confused and a little unsure. "So…um…where did she come from then, Bells?" He asked hesitantly.

"She's mine." Bella declared without forethought.

Charlie blinked rapidly, his posture tensing as he tried to absorb her words. "What? Are you joking?"

"No, I'm not." Bella looked back at him steadily.

Charlie frowned. "What did you decide to copy your new in-laws and adopt?" He quipped. "You gonna make me a grandpa so young? Come on, Bells. Tell me what's really going on?"

Bella remained calm and focused. Her serenity was partly thanks to Jasper, but mostly down to the fact that she had come to terms with her decision to be truthful with her father. She was not going to deny her daughter, not even to make Charlie feel comfortable or to maintain another lie.

"Well, Carlisle is a grandfather, too. And Esme a grandmother."

Charlie shot an incredulous glance at Esme, still standing a few steps behind him. She raised her eyebrows and gave him an encouraging smile.

Charlie snorted and then laughed. "You almost had me believing you then, kiddo. Nice one."

Bella emitted a tired sigh. "Dad, Charlotte is really my daughter. I gave birth to her a few days ago. I wasn't ill. I was pregnant. That was the reason you were asked to stay away."

Charlie's disbelieving gaze strayed back to Charlotte. "You mean to tell me I was right all along about the wedding? That you got married so fast because you were pregnant after all?" He stopped mid rant, peering closer at Charlotte. "She sure is something to look at." His warm breath blew lightly across the space between them. "And she is certainly not a newborn. She looks nearly a year old. Don't take me for a fool, Bells!"

The hurt in his eyes, the disbelief in his voice, neither swayed Bella. She was resolute now. He would accept Charlotte as her natural born daughter or not at all.

"I know it's a lot to take in, Dad. But I'm speaking the truth. Charlotte is mine."

Charlotte perked up at the sound of her name. Shaking off Bella's hair she looked Charlie full in the face for the first time. Charlie gasped, reeling back in shock.

Bella knew what he was seeing. Jacob's eyes, copied exactly into Charlotte's exquisite face.

Charlie started hyperventilating. His lips trembled, and Bella could read the numbers he mouthed. He was counting backwards, trying to fit nine months into one. Trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together but not able to force the evidence in front of him to make any sense.

"Dad, you can never fully understand. There is a lot I can't tell you." Bella admitted. "But you must accept the fact that Charlotte is my natural born daughter. I can't tell you much more than that, but I'm done with the lies."

"Yours and Jacob's?" Charlie demanded, his eyes tightening at the corners. "I wondered when I first walked in why that husband of yours was nowhere to be seen. When did he find out that you were pregnant with my best friend's kid? After the wedding? Or was it after the birth?"

Bella flinched at his harsh tone. "I'm sorry. Of course you would assume that. Charlotte shares many of her genes with Jacob. The how and the why don't matter. But for your information I didn't cheat on Edward. Charlotte is his. He knows that. I can't explain his absence. Suffice to say its to protect myself and Charlotte. Can you please accept what I'm telling you, Dad? I would very much like for you to be a part of our lives, but it will be on a need-to-know basis, I'm afraid. There is so much I can never tell you, as it might prove a danger, not only to you, but to the others here in this room. So, the decision rests in your hands, Dad. Are you prepared to put aside your worries and disbelief and accept us as we are?"

The room was full of statues. Bella crossed her ankles as she was unable to cross her fingers as she was holding tightly to Charlotte. She waited with baited breath for her father's answer, praying in her head that he would find it in his heart to forgo asking anymore questions and just accept things as they were.

A tense few minutes passed as Charlie focused his gaze first on Bella and then on Charlotte. The tension was suddenly broken when Charlotte cocked her head to one side, returning his gaze with a curious one of her own. She reminded Charlie so much of himself in that moment, that any remaining doubts that she was in fact Bella's child eased. He huffed once, rolling his shoulders to loosen them.

"Some warning might have been nice, kiddo."

Bella relaxed, a relieved smile brightening her face. "Would it really have made it any easier?"

Charlie frowned, and then he knelt on the floor in front of Bella. Charlotte smiled and reached one pink palm out to him. Bella held her back. Charlotte pushed her other hand against Bella's neck, curiosity, and Charlie's face in her thoughts.

"Whoa." Charlie murmured, his eyes on her perfect face. "She sure is something. How old is she?"

"Um…. she's as old as she looks." Bella hedged.

Charlie eyed her speculatively. "Need to know basis, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Very deliberately, Charlotte waved at him.

Charlie blinked back at her, smiling goofily. He then gave her small wave back.

Bella laughed. "I told you she was special."

"I can see that." He said carefully. "Well, do I get to hold her?"

Bella bit her lip, hesitating. "Um…I don't know."

Charlie rolled his eyes impatiently. "I know you still think of me as a crusty old bachelor, Bella, but I have held a baby before. You can trust me not to drop her." He held out his arms.

Charlotte's palm was still attached to Bella's neck. She showed Bella an image of Charlie's eager face, showing that she was longing to meet her grandfather, too.

"Behave." Bella warned her with a little smile. She took a deep breath, lifting Charlotte carefully off her lap, then passing her like some precious keepsake to Charlie.

Charlie grinned broadly as he captured Charlotte up in his arms and jiggled her about. Charlotte giggled, clapping in delight, she then reached for Charlie's face, pressing her palm flat on his cheek.

"Charlotte, no!" Bella cried, reaching for her daughter.

But it was too late. Charlotte had broken through the mental shield in Charlie's mind – the same mental shield that Bella had inherited from him, a unique gift that gave her natural immunity to the mental powers of vampires. A gift that had become much stronger now with the enhanced senses she had developed from Jacob's shifter blood.

Bella watched in horrified fascination as Charlie's face went blank as Charlotte replayed every memory she had stored in her brain, from the moment of her traumatic birth, right up until the present moment when she saw her grandfather's face for the first time.

Bella could see it in his face -she could watch it growing there. Charlie was just as helpless against Charlotte's magic as everybody else. She waited with baited breath, so anxious that even Jasper's calming influence struggled to dampen her fears.

"Dad?" She whispered fearfully when Charlotte's hand finally fell from Charlie's cheek and she cooed up at him. "Did – did you see something?"

Charlie cleared his throat a few times as he glanced down at the smiling little girl in his arms, and then back to his daughter. "I saw lots of things." He whispered hoarsely.

"Need to know, right?" Bella reminded him desperately. "Its nothing serious. Just Charlotte's unique way of communicating. You should feel blessed. She doesn't share that with everyone. It means you're just as special as she is, being able to see what she sees."

"Need to know." Charlie repeated to himself like a mantra. "Need to know."

"Dad, are you alright?"

Charlie inhaled sharply through his nose and nodded; his eyes fixed once again on Charlotte's face. "I'm sorry, Bells. There is one thing I do need to know." He said with difficulty.

"What?"

"Charlotte showed me Jacob – she showed me Jacob- she showed me a huge, freaking red wolf." Charlie shook his head, chuckling nervously. "No, forget I asked anything. You're right, kiddo." He corrected himself. "I don't need to know."

A/N-thanks for reading!