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Leona Hart - Adria Arjona

Revamped and reposted.

Chapter Three: Things to Ponder.

Raising an eyebrow as she spotted an incredibly stressed-out looking Charlie, Leona had not seen her boss looking this stressed out before; the first couple of weeks seeming to flyby with little incident. Spotting Diana by the coffee machine, Leona decided to ask her what was going on since the receptionist was the one that most people talked to before being connected through to the right person in the station.

"Whose Charlie talking to?" Leona asked moving to make herself a drink, her eyes drifting back to Charlie who was running a hand through his hair and looked defeated as he spoke to whoever it was on the phone. It was one of the quieter days and Leona found herself dealing with paperwork, something that wasn't fun in anyway shape or form but it was a necessary part of her job. Mark was out with a family emergency, leaving her stuck at the station while Jackson was out with his TO; promising to bring her back some lunch since she was on desk duty.

"His ex-wife... she called to 'organise' him for their daughter's birthday this month," Diana explained with a roll of her eyes, this happened every year for Bella's birthday and she could not believe that Renee was still getting away with this crap. Last year, it had been that Bella needed a new computer for her school work and Renee had gotten her a mouse mat for it; she always waited until a couple of weeks before Bella's birthday to make the call.

"My bet is, she chose the cheap gift for herself and wants Charlie to get the expensive part of it," Diana said annoyed, she honestly did not know how Renee managed to get away with it. If it was her, Diana would have told Renee were she could stick her expensive ideas and point out that her new baseball player husband should be able to afford better gifts.

From what Charlie had mentioned, Bella seemed to like Phil who grounded Renee a lot more than usual but it didn't stop her from trying to rinse Charlie of every penny that he had. Diana wished Charlie would stand up for himself, especially now that Bella was living here in Forks with him and had been since January; it should be Renee who had the better income right now because of her new husband that she could splash the cash on the gift.

Leona raised an eyebrow, she had heard little about Charlie's ex-wife and from what she had heard Renee was a flighty woman who lived across the country; no one in the department liked her and whenever she called Charlie looked like he was going to pull out his hair. Charlie exited his office looking more than a little put out, he could not believe this and he wished Renee would not wait until it was this close to Bella's birthday to drop things like this on him.

He did not say a word to Diana knowing that she could understand, he had to go and pick-up Bella's birthday present; Renee had decided to get Bella a photo album leaving Charlie to get the expensive camera that she had picked out. It was annoying and while Charlie appreciated the help that he was given, he really did not like how he always got the short end of the stick when it came to gift giving when it came to their daughter.

He honestly had no idea what to get Bella, she did not tend to ask for much and was always glued to her boyfriend anyway these days; it would be nice if just for once he had his daughter to himself. It certainly did not help that just that morning he had been informed that Bella would be attending a party at the Cullens house on her birthday and he had not been invited to attend this party that they were throwing for his daughter.

Alice was one of his more favourite members of the family, especially given her help when Bella had broken her leg but lately it seemed like even she was intent of putting a wedge between him and Bella. Bella would be spending most of her birthday with the Cullens and Charlie had hoped that he would get to take his daughter out for a meal even if it did mean that he had to invite the boyfriend as well.

Now he would probably only get to see Bella for a couple of hours since he had booked the day off work so that he could spend the day with her, now it was all for nothing. This was probably the last birthday that he would get to spend with his daughter, she would be off to college next September. Charlie had been doing his best to save up for Bella's college fund, he had always known that her mother would be no help in that department and he had done his best especially with what little money his parents had left him when they passed.

Shaking his head, Charlie wondered when the next time he would see Bella; he had no doubts that Renee would use any trick she could to get their daughter to spend her school breaks with her. Renee was convinced that Bella was only staying with him out of pity, that she hated Forks as much as she had and was desperate to escape from the gloomy city.

That had been her driving force behind sending Bella programmes for universities closer to where Renee and Phil lived, sunnier climates and beaches that she was sure that Bella was missing. Not that their daughter was doing much considering when it came to her future, she had just started her senior year and Charlie was not putting pressure on her as he hated to ruin the time that they did spend together.

"I wish someone would knock some sense into that horrible woman," Diana muttered with a shake of her head, she pursed her lips knowing that Renee had no care for all the trouble that she caused in her wake. Every time that woman contacted Charlie, it was always about what she wanted and demanded; it honestly made them all wonder what Charlie had ever seen in her. Leona nodded her head slowly, she felt for Charlie and she couldn't imagine the pressure he was under especially considering the women in his life.

His daughter seemed to be trapped in some sort of abusive relationship, isolated from everyone else around her and unable to see it while his ex-wife was far from stable, sending demands and almost punishing Charlie for not leaving with her. It was no wonder that Charlie was single, from what Leona had heard he avoided relationships and spent most of his time alone since his marriage had broken down outside of work and hanging out with his friends down in La Push. The rest of the police department had their own lives, families that they were building and while they did have a close relationship with each other given the time spent on the job; Leona couldn't imagine going home to an empty house.

As much as Leona wanted her own place, it was nice to go home after a long shift and spend time with her family; she had missed them while she was away at the police academy and she was sure that even when she did move out that she would see them often. Her mother insisted on Friday night dinners, them all sitting around the table with no exceptions; she wanted her family to be close and to share things with one another. Penelope had been working as a nurse for the past four years, having returned from active duty where she had served as a army nurse for ten years before settling down.

John was always been home from his construction job by 6pm, he took an active part in raising his children; more so than his own parents had been in his life, both too wrapped up in their own business to care. Her abuela now lived with them, Lydia had moved in after the death of Leona's grandfather; she was a local dance teacher, one that was a little disappointed that Leona hadn't followed in her footsteps.

They didn't really see her father's side of the family much, her grandmother preferring to stick to the big city while her grandfather had disappeared when her father was ten. Leona didn't know what she would do without her family, they were the ones that made her who she was and she was determined to make sure that she made them proud. Her younger brother and sister were still in school, she loved them and she knew that she would do anything to keep them safe; she knew that she would never alone them to be isolated like Bella was.

There was nothing anyone could say or do that would convince her that what was happening with the Chief's daughter was okay, she had no one to turn to now other than her boyfriend and his family. Her family was one of the reasons that she had found her way back to Forks, she wanted to make her dream come true and have her family around to watch; she planned to make detective and live her, start a family here.

Leona smiled to herself, she had it all planned out and it had started the day that she had worked back into the station as a rookie officer; she had a year to prove herself and show that she could make it. Getting on with her work, Leona knew that a year could fly-by and that things could change; she was willing to work her butt off to get what she wanted.

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