August 10th, 1985 Swan Ranch: Forks

Charlie Swan was exhausted. It had been a hard week at the academy. As he drove up the long driveway up to his parents house he couldn't help the slump in his shoulders.

Charlie loved his parents but seeing them start to deteriorate since his graduation from high school had been hard. They were just such bright lights throughout his childhood.

His father had a courageous spirit, he was the one who showed him how to track, how to fish and how to use one's fear of the unknown wisely. His mother was always surrounded by nature. She'd either be out in her garden, with her horses or bustling around her kitchen. She taught him how to respect nature in all its forms, she was the one who took him on his first hike, she was the one that taught him how to interact with wild animals in order to keep both him and them safe. Her laugh was contagious and the sparkle in her eye after a hard's day work or learning something new was something he held dear in his heart.

To see the arthritis slow down his father and his mother's altheimers making her start to lose the sparkle broke his heart.

So it was with great surprise and careful optimism that he heard his father's boisterous laughter coming from within the ranch house as he climbed up the stairs.

He walked in to find his father playing with a baby, swinging her up high in the air and the child gurgling before letting out little bursts of excited laughter.

"That's my girl, I knew you could smile."

Charlie watched as his father brought the baby into his arms and cradled her, his face grinning bigger than he had in a long time.

Geoffrey looked up at where his son was standing in shock at the door before looking down at the baby. "Lia, I have a very important person for you to meet."

The little baby girl who had promptly stuck her fist in her mouth as Geoffrey turned her toward Charlie. She stared at him with big blue eyes before letting out a gurgle and waving her little fist at him.

"Who's she?" Charlie finally came out of his stupor.

"That's a bit of a long story."

Charlie sighed and rolled his eyes at the impish grin on his father's face. "The short version then."

Geoffrey gestured with his head toward the kitchen.

"Your mum prepared some coffee and her famous sticky pudding for us."

"She remembered?" Charlie paused in taking off his jacket only to look at his dad with wide hopeful expression inside knowing he was due to be disappointed.

"You'll find with the new arrivals we have both been better than we've been in years." Geoffrey sat carefully down making sure he didn't bump his charge against the table while Charlie poured him some coffee and got him a sticky pudding. "Your mum even went out shopping today in Port Angeles, she hasn't been able to do that for awhile."

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Charlie sat after pouring his own cup and getting his piece of his mother's specialty. "What if she forgets where she placed the car keys again?"

"She's not alone. She's got this little one's mother and her twin baby brother with her. Hazel won't let anything bad happen to your mum."

"So who are they?" Charlie dug into his sticky pudding letting out a happy hum as he ate it, it was perfect. Last time he'd eaten it mum had misplaced and forgotten a couple of ingredients.

"We owe her family alot, without one of their members we would have never gotten our fresh start here. We suspect we would never had you."

Charlie's brows furrowed.

"Not that Hazel would ever hold that over us, we had to practically beg for her and the little ones to stay with us." Geoffrey chuckled, his gaze off in the distance for a moment. "I bet your mother is trying to buy something for her right now and she's having none of it."

"A single mother?"

Geoffrey narrowed his eyes, "I better not hear any judgement from you boy, we taught you better than that, she's going to get enough in Forks." He huffed, "Not that it's anyone's business but she adopted the twins, they are both related to her through some cousins. No one will believe that with how young she looks and she's determined to not explain things to anyone. She wants the twins to grow up loved and happy."

Charlie looked down into his cup, he didn't mean to judge.

"Your mother and I have already decided we are not going to let her go."

"Dad, that sounds like you are kidnapping her!"

His father gave him a small glare when the sleeping baby in his arms almost woke.

"Hazel has had a hard life. She's older beyond her years due to her experiences. She deserves to finally have somewhere to call home. We want to be that for her and her little family."

"It's her decision, Dad."

Geoffrey sat back with a smile looking down at the little one in his arm. "Oh I think it won't be hard to convince her, we are growing on her like a fungus your mom would say."

--

Hazel Potter-Black was not what he expected, or perhaps it was more he could never imagine someone like her. So young and yet you could see she'd been a soldier at one time, if not from the scars that littered her arms but the fierce assessing gaze in her vibrant eyes.

"You must be Charlie." She stuck her hand out, "Hazel Potter-Black, nice to meet you."

Charlie glanced at his mother, enamored by a brown haired baby in her arms, who glanced up with an encouraging smile.

Charlie clasped Hazel's hand in his, marveling how warm her hands were despite coming out of the cold.

"Nice to meet you, Hazel."

She had dimples. She smiled and he wondered what her eyes would look like brightened by it.