~A/N Basically, I thought of this in my sleep. Yep, worked for SM so why not me. I've been in a very weird place with my fanfics lately. I know where they all should go, but I've had a hard time working on them. I wanted to quit or put them all on hiatus a few days ago. Cooler heads offered some advice so that isn't happening just yet. I needed something fresh and new before I altogether lost my J/B muse. I hope it interest a few but the masses would be even sweeter. Please let me know if you like it.

Many thanks to Urban Rose putting a rush on the banner.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Perfect Relations

Summary: Jacob's life hadn't been easy. He suffered unspeakable tragedies, and a shocking turn of events, but there had been one constant. Charlie Swan was a rock and there wasn't anyone else he respected more in life. When Charlie's daughter, Bella moves back, will Jacob continue on his current honorable path or will he disappoint those that love him the most? [AU, Jacob/Bella]

Chapter 1: Changes Ahead

It was the beginning a unusually hot summer. I had worked all day and patrolled most of the night. All I wanted was to step into the spray of a hot shower and fall straight into bed. I walked up the steps of the white Colonial I'd called home for many months. As soon as I opened the door, the aroma of bacon washed over me.

Ahh, I can postpone sleep a little while longer while I feed the beast.

Charlie was sitting at the small table just off the kitchen.

"Hey, don't hog all the food. Your son has returned from a tedious night of stalking predators and is starving."

"There's plenty, boy. Wash up and join me, but I hope you're joking about the predators."

I chuckled. Yep, I was, it was a slow night. I walked over to the sink and soaped up. I rinsed my hands and dried them off with a hand towel. I approached my favorite lady and gave her a grateful kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks Mom, this smells great."

My mother was already loading my plate up. I brought the dish over to join my step-father and had a seat.

Mom was an excellent cook, but it wasn't an everyday occurrence that she made a five star breakfast. We all had alternate schedules. Charlie worked. She was an art teacher at school, but did private lessons in the summer. We all kept pretty busy. I ran the only garage in the Forks/La Push area, not to mention I kept up with a crazy pack of wolves since I was their alpha.

"Did I count wrong? I thought your anniversary was next month. We're celebrating early?"

Sarah joined them after shutting off the stove. She sat waffles on the table last. They had it all: eggs, bacon, hash browns, waffles with fruity syrup and a large carafe of fresh squeezed orange juice.

"No, silly, our one year anniversary is the fifth of July. You know that. We're celebrating something entirely different."

"Like what?" I managed to ask with a mouthful of food.

My mother tossed me a napkin and reminded me of the table manners she'd drilled into me since birth.

"Bella," was Charlie's only response.

"Your daughter?"

"Yep, her mother finally got her big break and is going overseas to work with a design firm in Europe. She leaves right before school starts. She considered turning it down because it's a year long commitment and it falls at the beginning of Bella's senior year. After having a three-way family conference over the phone, we've decided she should come here. Finally. I've wanted her back for so long. You know that."

Yeah, I knew how much Charlie cared for Bella. He didn't get to see her very much. Her mother was pretty flighty, but she had been trying to get into the fashion industry since Bella was a toddler. She worked her way up as a seamstress when Bella was small to having a pretty decent job for a designer in Florida. They moved around a lot because of her career ambitions. Charlie usually met them in some neutral location. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen her in person. She was small, maybe seven or eight at the time. She was a bit of a tomboy and a pest, if I remember correctly.

I tried to remember, was I four or five years older than her? She was seventeen and I'd be turning twenty-four in January. Bella would have a birthday before then, but damn I was almost six years older. She was a cute kid. Charlie kept a picture of her on the mantle. I thought it was few years old since Bella still had braces on, but I'd seen several old albums when he was feeling sentimental.

I enjoyed the conversation even though I was soon to slip into a food coma after all the food Mom made and I happily consumed. I covertly watched Charlie and Mom giggle and flirt with each other across the table. I was so happy for them. Charlie had been a rock for all of us over the years. It had been almost ten years since the tragedy. My father along with his buddy, Quil's dad had been out fishing. They were commercial fisherman and were killed in a freak accident during a surprise storm. Charlie and Harry stepped up and were surrogate fathers in a sense. They often included Embry as well in our outings since his mom was a bit rough around the edges and Embry had no other father figure to speak of. Charlie made sure we all had a positive male role model throughout those rocky teen years. We did manly things like ballgames, camping trips and fishing, but he also taught us common courtesies and work ethics. He trained us how to be gentlemen as well.

Charlie also watched after our mother, Sarah. It was strictly platonic for many years, but my twin sisters and I started to recognized things were changing after several years. I knew they were resistant in the beginning, because of my father's memory. Rachel and Rebecca called a family meeting before they left for college three years ago. We all believed our mother and Charlie were trying to protect us or keep us from feeling weird about it.

Rachel was the blunt one, she always spoke her mind. "Charlie, when are you ever going to take Mom out on a date? I mean, seriously, I thought five years was long enough and now we're going on seven."

"Rachel," Mom chastised her but the burning blush on her cheek gave us the proof we'd been waiting for. She was dying to be asked.

Charlie stuttered and stumbled over his words. He'd helped our entire family through so much. He did the father/daughter thing at school dances. He scared the life out of a few boys when they came for dates by wearing his full police gear, gun belt and all. He already was a second father to all us Black kids, so I told him exactly how much he meant to us. I had no idea just how crazy life was about to get and that I'd need him even more.

"You make Mom smile. I miss Dad everyday, but I can't help but think he'd want her to be happy as much as we do. What Rachel, Rebecca and I are trying to say, is you have our blessing."

We gave them the space and privacy they needed to talk it out. Charlie and Mom were official from that day on. The twins went away to college soon after. I'd been satisfied with night classes and working on taking over the failing garage I worked for. I knew exactly how I was going to turn it around.

I wasn't planning on a coven of vampires moving back to the area and me and all my friends exploding into large, four legged beasts, but that's exactly what happened right before my twenty-first birthday. The council had a lot of explaining to do. Harry Clearwater went to the top of my shit list. He'd known but hoped it wouldn't happen to all of us. He spent almost everyday around most of us but never gave us any inclination at the possibility. He got a double whammy when his only daughter phased as well Seth, breaking apart all preconceived notions. Old Quil was just as guilty. It happened in sequence one after the next.

I insisted on telling Charlie. He and Mom were moving fast. I knew eventually they wanted to get married and us to move into town. The girls were already acting like they wouldn't return to the res. They liked college and the city life a little too much. Mom said the house was mine, but I had a vision of changing it up quite a bit. Jared and Paul agreed to help me renovate it into the ultimate bachelor pad. That was their term, not mine.

The council said no at first. They had the nerve to call Charlie an outsider. He practically raised half my pack over the years. Sam and Paul both had abusive drunks for fathers. Charlie helped us all out in one way or the other. Harry pushed back because he agreed with me, so they finally caved. Their future chief was soon to be Charlie's step-son, so one night I brought him over to the house and told him the whole story. Mom already knew by then. She had grown up around the legends, but she didn't realize they would come to life for her son. Charlie took it fairly well. He and I split a case of beer that night and I practically had to drag him to the couch but it was no biggie. I didn't even feel a buzz. That was a kicker, I was almost legal drinking age and it didn't do a thing for me.

The reservation school lost the last bit of funding it needed and closed up soon after I graduated. After finally meeting with the head of the coven, I learned of his intentions to send his so-called kids to school. I didn't like it but at least I knew Seth, Collin and Brady would be in school with them and make sure they behaved. I gave a stern warning, one slip up and they were gone. Dr. Headleech Cullen had donated a bunch of dough to the hospital and they were adding on. They were opening several new clinics and expanding the women's unit as well as a rehab center. Forks has a large aging population so he was seen as a savior of sorts by the community. I coudn't wrap my mind around him wanting to be around all these humans and still not be tempted. I'd read for days through the archives to get a better sense of what his coven was about.

It turned out they gave us very little trouble or concern, but nomads were another story. We had a few injuries in the beginning but we kicked vampire ass most of the time. The numbers had dwindled but we still caught some roaming our lands. I made one alteration to the treaty when I decided to move to town after Charlie and Mom got married. The Cullens agreed. I would phase in Forks if I damn well pleased, and as long as they left me and my family alone, I would do them the same courtesy.

I offered to help Mom clean up after that delicious meal, but Charlie said he'd get it. I had the guys manning the garage, but I'd probably go in around three just to check up on them. Sometimes Quil and Embry got to goofing around when I wasn't there to keep them in check. Wasting time wasn't allowed. Time was money to me and I was one of the youngest business owners in the county. I got that way by taking work and responsibility seriously, traits Charlie taught me.

Charlie met me at the top of the stairs. "Sorry, I know you need your rest, but can I say one more thing?"

"Sure Charlie. What is it?"

"Your Mom says I'm worrying for nothing, but Bella hasn't had the most traditional life. She's pretty quite and shy. I'm not sure if she's got a chance to make too many friends with all the moving. I was just hoping you'd help her out if you can."

"Of course, but she's a kid. We won't exactly run in the same circles."

"Yeah, sure I get that, but she'll be in Seth's class. Pass the info to him and I will too next time I see him." He grimaced when he mentioned the inevitable. "And you know she'll be around the Cullens. It's bad enough your mother actually teaches them. I was so relieved this is the last year any of those freaks would be at the school. I don't know how I'm going to stand thinking about my daughter there as well."

I held up my hand. He didn't have to worry. "Oh, they know better. Like Mom, Bella will live in the same house with me. Well, at least for a few months." I hoped to have the renovated house done by the spring. "Seth, Collin and Brady will be close at all times. They claim they only want to live in peace. None of them will go near Bella, I'm sure with that extra scent of wolf. There's only supposed to be three enrolled this last year too."

Charlie patted my shoulder. "Thanks son, I can always count on you. Just imagine, in a couple of months, you'll have another sister. Should be fun, huh? I can tell you miss Rach and Becca."

I laughed before heading to my room. I missed the twins sometimes. I thought about that stringy-haired, metal mouthed girl on the mantle. Of course, I meant it. I'd make sure she was safe. If she was too shy to make friends that was another thing. I wasn't going to babysit her. Mom was right, Charlie was a worrier.

Sister? Yeah, like I needed another one of those. Two at once when I was three was enough. I figured it would be more like she did her thing, I did mine. For once before falling asleep, I thought about something else. Bella had really soulful eyes, like rich chocolate pools. If I stared too long, I felt like I was melting. I used to only notice her funny smile and uncontrolled brown hair. Weird, I'd never noticed that before. I chalked it up to fatigue. Bella would be here before the end of summer. It was cool, no big deal. Charlie and Mom were excited, but this strange stirring in the pit of my stomach told me, so was I.

~Thanks for reading.

FYI-absolutely no such thing as imprinting in this story.

I'm in a delicate place, so any encouragement helps. Do you want this story? Cuz if you do, I might have engaged my kinky buttons for this plot. Be honest, you know the premise is totally hot.