Telling Charlie

Edit: I have now edited this so it is improved, I hope.

Telling Charlie

I stared for a few moments at the ring which adorned my finger, waving my fingers slightly to see how it caught the light. I had been afraid to do that before, afraid of what the ring meant; marriage. But now, I had accepted my fate.

No; that didn't sound right; 'accepting fate' sounded like accepting something unpleasant. But this was what I wanted…what I needed, now. I had embraced my fate. Not a terrible fate but fate as it was meant to be. This was right for me because I knew it was right for him. That was what was important; what was important to him was important to me. I'd never felt more sure of that or more sure of myself and what I wanted.

A slow-tingling peace washed through me despite of what I had just proclaimed we – and it was we for now and forever – were going to do. Edward, however, seemed far more eager to leave and get on with what we had to do now; tell Charlie that I was soon to be Mrs. Isabella Cullen. Those two words still sounded fairly alien together but I decided my full first name sounded better with that surname, it was more – er –vampiric. Gothic. I knew I would get used to it though. I giggled at how un-gothic the Cullen's were in direct contradiction with vampire stories. Edward looked at me questioningly. 'Isabella Cullen' I giggled. 'That's who I'll be.'

'You'll be yourself' he answered, laughing with me. 'My beautiful wife.'

He leaned down and gave me a brief, jubilant kiss.

'Don't tease' I muttered, pouting in disappointment at the shortness of it. He laughed again in response, watching me flutter my fingers before entwining his hand with mine, and quickly bringing my hand up to meet his lips. Then, without breaking his hold he helped me up onto his back.

I enjoyed the running now; my body was slowly learning to overcome the dizziness. But, more than that, the wonderful sensation of ecstasy I felt when I was flying through the air beat the lesser physical sensation of the motion sickness.

I could see from where I clung to him that the corner of his crooked but yet perfect smile still lifted up the side of his mouth. I could feel the waves of ecstasy washing of him, adding to and in harmony with mine. As he accelerated rapidly I felt like I could spread out my arms and feel the wind hit my face despite the fact that there were trees gathered thickly around us. But, I felt completely safe… on second thoughts though I probably shouldn't try it. Maybe I'd just watched Titanic too many times. I reflected briefly on that story; fictional but based on reality. I considered the loose parallel this film had with my life, but in reverse; I was tied up with creatures I had always believed, like any other person, to be fictional. But, the twist in the story was that they were real. They existed.

I smiled again to myself – although I was already smiling – at the thought that this flight would be terrifying to most human beings, not even considering the fact that it was on the back of a vampire I sat on.

When we got to my street the first bout of nervousness hit me. I was sure about what I was doing; the problem of course was convincing Charlie of that fact… and then Renée.

Ok, one step at a time, I told myself silently but I gave myself away as my breathing started to become shaky.

Edward's arm was squeezed tightly around me. I knew that soon, he would be able to hold me tighter. Soon I would belong only to him and join his family properly. When I became a vampire – I smiled now at the word I'd shied away from once – I would be 'more durable' as he had once put it.

'It'll be fine' he said, his smooth tone of voice comforting me. 'I'll be right beside you.'

'What are his thoughts like?' I asked. I wasn't sure that if it would actually help if Charlie's thoughts were calm. After all, they would quickly change once we had broken the news.

'He's thinking about you' Edward replied, a look of concentration on his face as he tuned in to Charlie's thoughts; 'About your conversation yesterday.'

'Oh' I replied, concerned. Charlie had said yesterday about how he was worried that he would lose me soon and I hoped that this worry hadn't been playing too strongly on his mind. I wanted to relieve Charlie's worries, not add to them. Of course, that contradicted what I was about to do but I knew Charlie would come around… eventually. After all, as his daughter my happiness was his top priority.

However, he couldn't truly understand our relationship because he couldn't know the truth. It made me sad that Charlie constantly had to fret over the fact that he thought I might be making the wrong decision, but I was also happy in knowing that Charlie's ignorance of the real matter kept him safe.

'I wish Alice was here,' I muttered as I opened the door to my house. It would be helpful to know the best way to word things by getting Alice to see Charlie's reaction, but I knew the only right way to tell him was by it just being me and Edward talking from our hearts.

I was almost as worried about Edward as I was about Charlie. I knew Edward would have to endure some very unpleasant and accusing words coming from Charlie's mouth which would probably be far milder in comparison to what he would hear in Charlie's mind. Although Charlie couldn't hurt him physically, I wanted nothing to taint the happiness I could detect radiating from Edward's very soul, or un-hitch the smile from his face.

'Hey Bells,' Charlie greeted me as I appeared in the doorway of the living room. 'How are you?'

'I'm great dad' I said. How could I not be? I'd been with Edward. That was, of course, putting aside all the previous events of the past few days.

'Good afternoon Charlie.' Edward's politeness was impeccable as usual.

'Afternoon, Edward' Charlie mumbled, throwing him the approximation of a smile before turning to stare at the TV screen again. I gave a small sigh of relief I realised this was another sign that Charlie was beginning to accept Edward.

I'd seen Charlie make a note of Edward's arm squeezed tight around my waist before he'd turned around but he did not frown as he might usually. Maybe he was getting tired of all the resistance. Maybe this would be easier than I thought… no wait, I was getting déjà vu with that thought.

I decided I wasn't going to soften Charlie up my making his dinner first. I had to do this now. I un-scrunched my fingers so my ring was visible. Charlie didn't notice.

I should tell him straight though, not let the ring do the talking like a coward. But hey surely I was allowed to be a coward once in a while? Give me a break!

I cleared my throat, squeezing Edward's hand tighter for courage. He squeezed back.

'You can do you this' he whispered under his breath, into my ear.

Charlie looked up, raising his eyebrows, and seemed to realise we were just standing there. 'Um, you can sit down Bells, you too Edward.'

His eyebrows creased in slight confusion, possibly wondering why he was asking his daughter to sit down in her own house and trying to suppress the idea that something might be wrong. I knew he had probably already been worrying about that all day. Evidently he had been hoping that, when he had said I should tell him if I was going to do something major, it wouldn't be so soon.

'Dad, I have something I need to tell you' I blurted, plonking down on the sofa and pulling Edward in tow.

'We want to tell you' Edward corrected, his smile serene. This grasped Charlie's attention. His eyes darted between both our faces, taking in our differing expressions; one of anxiety the other bathed in calm perfection, but shrewdly detecting the underlying happiness coming from each of us, I was sure.

'Well tell me then. I can take it' he offered, when he seemed satisfied that I had not been upset by anything. I turned to look at Edward, holding his electrifying gaze. He gave me a small nod of reassurance.

'Dad… I'm engaged' I whispered. I took one more moment of refuge in the deep pools of Edward's eyes before I slowly dragged mine around to Charlie to see why it was taking so long for the roof to blow off.

Charlie was staring at us both, dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open slightly. Usually a man of few words, at this point he was completely lost for them. His eyes suddenly darted down to my finger to try and find some solid truth for this statement. They literally bulged in shock as he took in all the glittering rows of diamonds in Elisabeth Masen's beautiful ring, each cut of the jewels seeming to dance subtly in the unnatural light of the living room.

'It was a hand-me-down' I assured softly, answering his unspoken question, although he didn't seem to hear me.

A faint choking sound seemed to escape from Charlie's mouth as he seemed to be trying to re-grasp the function of speech, his lips wobbling in an almost comical way as he attempted to form words.

'Charlie! Are you ok?' I gasped, starting to get up.

'Bella, your not…' he began, now staring at my stomach, the colour in his cheeks starting to boil up.

'No, no!' I answered quickly as I realised what he was saying. 'Definitely not.' I knew there was no chance of that ever happening. Not with the path I'd chosen.

'Oh' was his brilliant answer. He seemed to calm. Slightly.

His gaze reverted back to my eyes, serious and studying my expression. 'Bella is this what you want?' he asked simply.

I wasn't sure what he was suggesting. Did he think Edward pushed me into this? Well, that wouldn't be far off the mark... but of course I didn't mean that. This was my decision, and no one could have pushed me into this but myself.

'Truly' I answered, matching his tone and to my surprise tears suddenly began to form in my eyes. 'Truly I could want nothing else.' My voice was sure and steady but wracked with emotion. I had made up my mind.

Charlie seemed to feel my intensity and his eyebrow furrowed. Perhaps I should have held back more from my true feelings; how I felt about Edward, and marriage was a part of that now.

'Nothing else?' he repeated, carefully toning down his incredulity so I would listen rather than try to argue with him. What about university? What about your career, your future?'

I refrained from telling the complete truth – Edward was the only future I was interested in. Might as well not push Charlie over the edge while the roof was still in tact.

'Dad, I'll still go to university, I'll still learn. I won't forsake my education', I promised, thinking of all the years of prolonged education I had in front of me to fit in with the Cullen's inconspicuous lifestyle. 'I just want Edward by my side when I do it. I want to get married now, but whether I was to get married now or later, my feelings for him would not change, nor his for me. I'm sure of that.'

'You know I believed that when I married your mother' Charlie said quietly, still scrutinising my face. I felt my heart stir with sympathy for Charlie; I knew he had never got over my mother. I had to be careful; I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I wanted to say, 'It's different', but how could I explain it?

'It's my choice dad' I said softly. 'If things didn't work out in the future…well it would be my mistake to make. But I'm sure they will. I've never been more sure of anything in my life, dad. This wasn't an impulsive decision. We've um- we've spoken about it for a while.'

There was a long pause. 'Well' said Charlie gruffly. He took a deep breath. 'I guess in that case… congratulations are in order.'

It was my turn to gaze dumbly open mouthed. I had suspected he was building up his outrage to a big finale. 'You…you give me your blessing?' I barely managed to whisper.

'I'll give you more than that' Charlie continued. 'Nothing would make me happier than walking my little girl down the isle… If… that's if you want me to' he added quickly. 'I mean I don't know what you've planned, if it's just a small thing, its…its just I thought you might do something without telling me…' he mumbled on, unsure of what to say.

Emotion took over me again at this point and I leapt up to envelop Charlie in a big hug. ' Of course I want you to dad. Thank you, thank you so much' I managed to gasp, the tears beginning to stream down my face. 'But… I don't understand… I thought you wouldn't want me to get married,' I said, letting my genuine surprise tinge my voice.

'Then don't push your luck' Charlie chuckled. 'I'm surprised by myself too, believe me. I could feel something was around that corner but I didn't quite expect this. I might have handled it better if I'd been prepared.'

'You've handled it amazingly well dad' I said. 'Better than I could have possibly asked for.'

I could tell by the way his voice broke that he was choked with emotion as well.

'I guess it's my own fault I've had to respond this way' he chuckled again. 'I did ask you to tell me if you were gonna do something major. I said I wouldn't kick up a fuss.'

Charlie then pushed me back, serious now so he could see my face. He hastily wiped some of the tears from his eyes, and spoke slowly. 'But Bella… I do still think it's too soon. You're my little girl and I feel protective of you. When I imagined you getting married it didn't imagine it would be so soon – but I did imagine it would be to someone you loved with all your heart and to someone who can give you all you've ever dreamed of.' He glanced up at Edward to make sure he was listening. 'At one point I didn't think he was that person – when he let you down.'

I cringed inwardly, and snuck a glance at Edward. If he saw any of Charlie's memories of my suffering, he kept his face carefully composed. His eyes always gave him away slightly though, if you knew what to look for, as I did…

'But now I see that he is the right one – for you, and that's all that matters. So, I'll try to keep any reservations to myself. All I want is for you to be happy and if you trust him to make you happy then so do I.'

I was amazed. That was possibly the longest speech Charlie had ever given in his life; and it left me speechless. 'Thank you' I said again, simply. 'You have no idea what this means to me and Edward'

'I think I'm starting to' he admitted. 'And…and I've seen what being without him has done to you' he added quickly, worried he might upset me. I kept my expression unruffled.

Edward spoke up then, after I'd finished hugging Charlie. 'Thank you sincerely Charlie. I promise I will look after your daughter; I will never leave Bella again. She's my only priority.'

'Yeah well you'd better look after her' mumbled Charlie fairly good naturedly, trying to muster up some police authority but his voice carrying little menace as emotion was still evident in it.

'Anyway, it's your mother you two should be worried about, Bella. You'll have a hard time convincing her. And there's a part of me that wants you to have a harder time with her than you did with me… because if you can change Renée's mind when she's set on something like this you'll be able to get through anything. And if there is any part of this you haven't fully thought through I'm sure she'll point it out to you.'

I nodded, giving Charlie a chance to say his piece without arguing with him, although I knew that Renée could not change my mind.

'I know you would get married whatever I say; After all you are legally able to, so I want it to be done with my blessing.'

Edward stood up to shake Charlie's hand but Charlie ignored this and awkwardly pulled him into a hug, clapping him on the back. 'Come on, no need for formality; you're going to be my son in law!'

I could see the surprise on Edward's face even though he must have known what was coming. 'Blimey you feel cold' Charlie chuckled trying to break the awkwardness he felt. Edward laughed in response, at ease.

'Off you go you two, let me gather myself together', Charlie ordered us, clearly embarrassed by his show of emotion although I was overjoyed by it.

But then he turned around. 'Oh, I forgot to ask. Did you have a date planned?'

Edward spoke up, letting me get out of this one. 'August 13th most likely' he said. 'Bella chose the date.'

I watched Charlie nervously as he struggled to compose his face. 'So soon?' he managed.

'I'm sorry Dad, but we don't want to wait.' I was worried that he would take back all his previous acceptance. He pressed his lips together in resignation, nodding his head slightly.

'My little girl- getting married' he said partially to himself, his eyes distant as if he was really beginning to take it in. Then he seemed to draw himself back into reality.

'What about the cost?'

'Well Alice is planning everything. She's very enthusiastic about it; she kind of wants it to be a big do,' I mumbled, trying to evade giving a proper answer.

'We'll pay for everything, Charlie' Edward said. 'It would be my family's pleasure to.'

'That won't be necessary. It's tradition for the father of the bride to pay… but you won't be able to have a big wedding Bella,' he said, turning to me and his forehead creasing. 'You're only eighteen… I haven't saved up enough.'

'It's a bit late for a cheap wedding dad' I said, unable to hide the slight regret from my voice. 'Alice has already got me a designer dress…' I faltered slightly as Charlie's eyes bulged. I knew he must now be wondering how long we had had plans to marry and how long Alice had known, but I trusted the fact that he knew nothing about designer dresses and so did not know how long they took to make. I kicked myself inwardly for wording things so badly to my advantage.

'But do want all that Bella? Surely if you're so in love, none of these things should be important.'

'It's not for us dad' I said slowly, trying to choose my wording more carefully. 'It's… it's for Alice. She has her heart set on organising this… she's never had the chance to organise something like this before.'

'Well that's not surprising' said Charlie. 'She's only young isn't she?'

Damn. Wrong again, Bella. 'Please dad, I don't mind it. You don't want her to be disappointed do you?' I pled, knowing how much Charlie liked Alice.

It worked. Charlie stared at me hard for a moment and then said, 'Ok then – and I know you'll look beautiful whatever you wear Bella. I want to make some contribution though; even if it's only small.

'Of course,' I agreed, relieved.

'And another thing Bella', he said, pausing to hold the back of his neck and stare at the floor; he was obviously trying to put of what he wanted to say next. 'Does… does Jake know?'

I froze; another painful barrier to haul myself over.

If Edward experienced any reaction, I could not feel it through the way his hand held mine. Charlie looked up at me apologetically when I gave no immediate response, but the breath had been temporarily knocked out of me. I regained myself quickly though.

'Yes, he knows.'

'Oh' said Charlie, surprised. 'Um, how did he take it?'

'Hard' I managed. 'But… he's accepted it.' I kept my voice even and controlled; I did not want to upset Edward anymore than I must have already done yesterday.

As we walked to the end of the street, coming to the opening of the woods, Edward was strolling at my slow pace without any impatience.

'What's he thinking?' I asked. I didn't really want to pry into Charlie's mind, but I wanted to be sure he was really ok with the wedding and not just bearing a cross to make me feel better.

Edward turned to face me, taking my hands in both of his. His face was lit in an angelic smile. 'He just wants you be happy, Bella. Sure… maybe I have a bit further to go with him but he's starting to trust me now.' He broke off, musing. 'I didn't predict this; he's come to accept us so quickly… it seems the main change must have happened yesterday.'

As we carried on walking I said, 'I'm sorry, Edward for anything you had to go through. I know Charlie's thoughts couldn't have all been… kind.'

'It was nothing' Edward replied gently. 'I'm far too happy to let anything ruin this.'

I turned around to look at him, but the composure of his face had gone, and I was confused by the contortion of his face; terrified for one moment that he was in pain, and that something I said had caused it. But then I realised it wasn't pain; he looked almost as if he were crying.

'Edward, what's wrong?' I asked, shocked. His features changed enough to flash a dazzling smile at me, easing my fear.

'I can't cry actual tears of happiness' he admitted, his voice marred only slightly with a sorrowful edge. 'I still seem to be affected physically by the emotion behind them, though.' I reached up my hand to the side of his face and stroked the dark circle under his eye with my thumb as if to wipe away his invisible tears and straighten out the creases on his face. He lifted his hand to place it on mine. 'I've never felt more human' he whispered softly.

'And I've never felt more happy' I answered, tears filling my own eyes. It was true. All the danger was behind us, we could just enjoy being together now.

He suddenly took both my hands again, placing them around his back. He then pulled me into a fierce embrace, and began to kiss me. I responded just as passionately, pulling him closer, wishing we could melt together and become as one with my heart beating inside of him, enough for both of us.

And, I wished for his sake he could be human, free from all the horrors of his existence which made him so sad about changing me, and free him from the belief that he didn't have a soul. But, I was willing to give up my life for him – my human life; and more than that I wanted to. For him. Just to be with him. I imagined how it would have been if I had lived in his time and if he'd never caught Spanish influenza; a million 'ifs'. I knew I would have married him without hesitation if we had met then. I was almost sorry I had made him wait so long before I'd agreed to marry him, but I hadn't realised at first it was what we both needed.

As he pulled away, my eyes met the intense burning fire of his, which were gazing down into mine with wonderment. They captivated me, demanded the attention of every part of my being. As if he was reading my mind, he said slowly, 'I… I think I finally realise just how much you love me. I always thought nothing could match the intensity of what I felt for you… I should have realised before but I'm having a lot more revelations since I realised I had been wrong back in our meadow.' He chuckled.

I reached up, feeling the perfect texture of his hair to brush it from his eyes, and pressed my lips to his, silencing him. I pulled my lips back slightly only to say 'Of course I love you. You have always been my life since I met you. I knew that'.

Then he ran his hand through the back of my hair, enticing my face towards his and fixing my lips back onto his own. I ran my hands over his back, my head still spinning, and pressed his chest firmly against mine. The kiss lasted a few minutes, with breaks only to let me breathe although I was well in danger of forgetting again. Eventually he pulled away after I started feeling dizzy – this time with happiness – a smile on his face. I could see my own passion and longing reflected in his coal black eyes.

'You're too sexy for your own good' he laughed, and then chuckled again at my lifted eyebrows at the word. 'You are' he continued. 'You may not believe it but I'll make you believe it soon enough. It seems I'm the one who's struggling to keep control now – not that I'd ever put you in danger' he added. 'But just wait till you're my wife. Soon my love, soon you'll be all mine and I promise; for every time I've let you down, I'll make it up to you,' he persisted earnestly.

I put my good hand on his face again, making sure he would listen. 'There's nothing to make up.' I insisted. 'Let's forget about the past. All I care about is the future.' I thought I saw a flash of some emotion in his eyes and I remembered how vampire's could, of course, memories not fade. To me though, all he whispered was, 'I love you'.

I considered asking Charlie if I could stay around at the Cullen's mansion that night; after all he knew now that me and Edward we were engaged. I finally decided not to push the goodwill with which Charlie had taken everything; I was sure he would allow it but I didn't want him to have to worry further about whether I was being responsible. I knew there would be plenty more things Charlie may want to discuss with me which would need prompting out of him, knowing Charlie. And, I thought I owed him the chance to get everything of his chest by staying with him that evening. I also wanted to spend as much time with him as possible because all too soon I would never see him again, for his own safety. I knew I owed him that. Edward told me he would go hunting for small game nearby; he had forfeited his need to feed by staying by my side for too long.

We had to be extra vigilant that night as Charlie might be more suspicious about my now fiancée sneaking into the house. I felt slightly guilty about abusing Charlie's trust when he had put so much trust in us; but I needed Edward with me. I would find it hard to sleep now without him by my side. Technically we weren't actually doing anything Charlie could really disapprove of, apart from disobeying him.

I sighed as I snuggled closer to Edward through the bed cover and he enveloped me tighter in his arms; half in contentment half in worry at how an earth I would break the news to Renée. Still, it was not a problem I has to face on my own. I knew Edward would be there by my side.

I slowly began to drift off to sleep as Edward planted a kiss on the side of my forehead, then rested his head in the nook against my neck and began to sing my lullaby in a sweet murmur against my skin.

A/N: By the way, Bella's déjà vu moment is referring to when she was trying to seduce Edward in Eclipse, and she thought, 'Maybe this would be easier than I thought,' but of course, it wasn't ;-)