Getting Up 3 - (Twilight AU, Charlie-MC)

Bella Swan was looking forward for what was to come. A month in Summer, preferably July, in Forks with her dad.

She was seven, quite young and very shy - but she loved to spend time with her father. Charlie was just always there and, when compared to her mother, he didn't mind listening to her requests in getting away from social situations. He would always give her many praises over her work at school, and while her mother tended to do this on a daily basis, it felt more genuine coming from her father.

The man was, after all, meant to have her around for just a month each year. And while he didn't pamper her, he still made her feel comfortable in what should have been their home. The house was no longer set to be properly owned by a full family, ironically her mother's idea that her father would still want to be together with her seemed to no longer be the case. Not when the room Renée once had for her hobbies had been turned into another guest room.

Charlie was far from the cleanest person Bella knew, but he had done a fine job in cleaning up for her arrival. The child found the neatly-prepared home to be comfortable and she wasn't pressured to go outside. The cool weather was just fine within the hot month, albeit the humidity made it difficult to keep her hair long during this time of the year. Charlie had solved the issue at home by getting the walls of her room 'patched up' so that no humidity could get inside of it.

Bella could thus spend hours reading while holed up in her comfy bed and under the warm blanket, her pillow softly cushioning her head while she flipped page after page and... dodged social interactions. Forks had a few familiar faces beyond the adults.

There was Leah Clearwater but she was Leah. She was fun at times, but so pushy about playing outside. It also felt odd how much time she spent around her father - sure, Charlie was her 'surrogate uncle' or something like this, but it made Bella feel odd about their closeness at times, envious even.

Jacob Black was another familiar name, but he was so little. At 4, he was barely able to talk, tended to keep by his siblings' side and just waved at her most of the time. Adorable, but also silly at times.

And while Charlie found her lack of friends in town a bit disturbing, he also admitted that Forks didn't have 'too many young faces'. So Bella was pretty much spared by the push she expected from her father to be around rather than keep within the house.

Charlie was fine until it was time for work. She would find a nice play to stay at La Push as Mr. Black was a nice person that didn't mind if another kid kept with the rest. Sue Clearwater was also kind as she let Bella sit by the couch of her home and read whenever Leah was outside to do other 'kid' things.

Sue also made her feel happy for another reason as she was quite caring in the way she handled Bella. Her mother did care too, but she was always so busy and the neighbors next door could be so mean at times. Still, that didn't mean she found Sue to be a replacement to her mom.

Likewise, she disliked when her mom said stuff about finding another one to 'love'.

After all, Bella had just a dad, and Charlie was the best as far as she was concerned. When he was done with his work, he would take her around in the police car, Leah sitting in the rear seat before going at The Lodge, a neat restaurant that felt quite homely and where the food was surprisingly yummy.

It was one of those times where Leah really felt approachable as she was less 'giddy' about doing outside games, and actually asked smart questions about her dad's work as a police officer. He would be quick to dodge a few questions, but he was quite good at narrating a few silly cases he ended up dealing with.

The entire month was a surprisingly pleasant way to de-stress while away from her mother, Phoenix, and school. Even the advice she got from her dad was good about handling classmates as it was so difficult for Bella to know who was reliable and who wasn't, but she managed to make a friend with a girl called Lizzie that liked reading books too.

The month at Forks was usually the best thing she could ask to get away from the constant feeling that things were bad as her dad was doing better than her mom. In fact, it always confused Bella on why her parents had split. Her mother said her father was always unwilling to think about moving to another place since 'Forks was small' (which was true, but also... not really), and her father mentioned that he had an important job in Forks and for a time he had to tend to her dead grandparents.

She never thought of it that way, but she wasn't sure she remembered her parental grandparents. Were they as mean as her mom's mom? Or were they kind? Maybe they were good since Charlie took care of them before they had to go away to the sky. Charlie was such a nice person, and the best dad she could ask for so...

Bella hated going back to her mom's home.

She was working at late hours, trying to 'get a grip' as she muttered quietly in times where she would think Bella wasn't listening and then go back to do the same over and over again. Bella thought that, just maybe, she could convince her to go back with dad.

Forks was small, yes, and it wasn't a pleasant place for someone that hated the cold like Bella, as Charlie had told her, but that didn't mean she would just sacrifice a happy family just because of some cold. So, despite her big reluctance over the weather, Bella had planned to go home, tell her mom that she should think of going back to dad so they could all be happy but...

"Oh Bella, I have someone to introduce you. This is Ryan."

But Bella realized that the love Dad had for her mother was not truly reciprocated as she thought it to be.

AN

I actually doubt Renée was single before meeting Phil, so I want to think she had a few brief flings before that. Nothing lasting, not when the idiot still loved her husband despite literally leaving him for the reasons she did.

Bella will find this habit detestable, but also understand one thing: love can't be build on a brief urge, not if she wanted to be a better person than her mother. Luckily for her, her dad is slowly becoming a life coach so that may help her when puberty strikes.

Next time... it's 2003 and a 'new' family moves in Forks. Random Phasings ensue, some expected and some not.