Disclaimer: Not only is the original concept not mine, I can't even take credit for the AU, since I'm just borrowing the characters!

AN: I've no idea where this came from. No, that's not entirely true. I love reading stories where Charlie puts two and two together, or someone screws up and he sees something, or the ones that explain Jacob phasing in front of Charlie in Breaking Dawn. Perhaps I just love Charlie too much! Still, this idea was born out of all of those, with a twist. It takes place post Eclipse, as will be obvious, so Edward and Bella are newly engaged and the wedding date is set. And then Bella comes up with a brilliant idea.

Google is my friend, but it doesn't tell me everything, so some (if not all) of the medical details in this story may be wrong. If so, will you forgive me and write it off as artistic license? Thanks ever so much!

Six chapters total; one posted every few days.

Charlie had taken the news of the engagement about as well as Bella had expected him to. However, her sincere hope that perhaps he'd start treating Edward with a bit more civility afterwards appeared to have been a vain wish. A week later, engagement ring prominently displayed on her finger, he was still refusing to refer to her soon-to-be husband by anything other than a choked 'fiancé'.

Bella finally decided enough was enough. She confronted him at the dinner table on Friday night, knowing that if he had food in front of him he was less likely to go running for the hills to avoid the conversation.

'Look, Dad, I can't put up with the two of you never talking. It's going to make Christmas really awkward this year.' Inwardly, Bella winced, because if she had her way, Christmas would be the least of their worries. 'So I have an idea,' she went on.

Charlie looked anything but reassured at this announcement, but he also looked a bit chagrined over the whole thing. He was well aware he wasn't treating Edward in anything resembling a respectful manner.

'Let's hear it,' he decided, forking a mouthful of pasta and chewing slowly.

Bella smiled brightly, and Charlie's heart melted a little. God whatever she wanted, he'd give her. Even a...wedding.

'I think we should spend the day together. Just the three of us. Actually, you two should go off together, but since I don't trust you not to either kill each other or spend the entire day ignoring each other, I guess I have to come and play mediator. How about we go to Port Angeles tomorrow? Have lunch, maybe catch a movie, and spend some time together...' she needled.

Charlie huffed. 'Fine,' he gave in. Bella brightened even more. 'But I'm driving.'

He wasn't at all sure why that pronounced made her bite her lip and look worried. He was a very safe driver, after all.

xxx

'I think it's a great idea, Bella,' Edward told her immediately. 'Alice thinks so too. She sees it turning out fairly well.'

'I'll take fairly. It's better than nothing. But, um...Charlie wants to drive.'

Edward's entire facial expression sunk. 'The police cruiser?'

'Um, yes,' Bella admitted.

'Right. Fine,' he said after a long pause.

Bella just smiled in understanding. 'It'll be alright. And this is a good thing. I want you two to be civil, even if Charlie may never trust you.'

Edward sighed as if the weight of all hundred and ten years was weighing on him. 'I've concluded that. He's right to mistrust me though, after what I did.'

Bella pulled back to glare at him. 'But it's not his concern anymore. I've forgiven you. We're getting married, so Charlie doesn't get to judge you anymore,' she said; her voice holding a finality he couldn't argue with.

'Then I'll try my level best to make tomorrow a good day.'

'Thank you,' she smiled brightly and resumed the kiss she'd interrupted earlier.

xxx

Charlie had obviously planned to be ready to leave early, in some misguided effort to make Edward's on time arrival look bad. He had failed, of course, since he hadn't been able to take into account Alice's ability to see him decide to do exactly that. In any case, Edward arrived at the house before Charlie got his shoes on.

'Edward!' Bella greeted him with a kiss.

Charlie growled a less than polite response, too low for Bella to hear. Edward managed not to shoot him a glare over the words.

'Right, Bella, you can sit upfront with me,' Charlie announced as they made their way down the sidewalk to the blue car.

'No, I'll sit with Edward in the backseat,' she countered, well aware of what her father was attempting.

Edward decided they really didn't need to start the day off with an argument. 'It's fine Bella. I don't mind the back seat at all. You sit up front with your father.'

'Fine,' she gave in, but it was probably only because of the look Edward gave her.

Once they were in the cruiser, Edward tried hard to ignore the blatantly cheerful thoughts emanating from Charlie about how happy he was to have Edward in the back seat, behind the divider. Edward decided to just let him get on with it, if it helped, and instead spent the next few miles exchanging sly glances with Bella when Charlie wasn't watching.

Of course, the Police Chief wasn't about to speed. Edward had known this when he agreed to the ride, but it had been quite some time since he'd been forced into a car that went so slow – beyond Bella's truck which actually couldn't go faster. And which hopefully wouldn't be around for much longer either, he smiled to himself. It was almost a form of slow torture; but of course, Charlie had no idea he was doing anything wrong. Even Bella seemed a bit anxious at the slow pace, used to Edward's speeding down the 101 to the coastal city. If it had bothered her at first, she'd certainly grown used to the speed at which the Cullens drove. That thought made Edward smile. He'd get her into a proper car yet.

They arrived in time for lunch. Though it hadn't been Bella's plan, the strained and very spotty conversation during the hour long ride told her that today was going to be a lot harder than she had thought. Edward had tried, but Charlie seemed less than interested in anything other than one word answers, and clearly preferred to be the one asking the questions.

'You're being awfully patient about all of this,' she whispered to Edward as they climbed out of the car onto Front Street.

'We may have to accept that he will never like me. Bella, I don't mind trying. I'd do almost anything to get Charlie to accept me, but he may never be willing,' Edward explained, long suffering evident in his voice.

Bella sighed; giving her father's turned back a frustrated look. 'You may be right. I promise if today doesn't make it better, I won't push anymore. Charlie wouldn't like it anyways.'

Edward kissed her forehead with a smile and wrapped an arm around her waist. 'Lunch? I'll even eat, if it will help.'

Bella made a disgusted face. 'You know, ever since you compared your eating human food to me eating mud, I don't think I can actually stand to watch you try.' She smiled up at him. 'As long as Charlie doesn't notice anything odd if you don't.'

'I'll be very sneaky,' her fiancé promised, giving her an amused wink, just as Charlie turned around.

He frowned, in the usual way he did when he caught his daughter and Edward doing anything together. 'Where did you want lunch Bells?'

'Is Italian okay, Dad? That place across the road is really good.' She gestured to the Bella Italia restaurant.

'Yeah, whatever you want. Didn't realise you'd eaten there.'

Bella smiled and in a voice that said she was enjoying herself a bit too much, declared: 'yeah, Edward and I had our first unofficial date there.'

Edward had to admit that he'd never quite seen a human turn the particular shade of whitish grey that Charlie managed in that instant. The Chief leaned heavily against his car, as if he suddenly lacked the strength to hold himself up. It was quite comically. Edward had to struggle not to laugh. Bella wasn't quite so cautious.

'Thought that baseball game was...' Charlie trailed off, coughed, then tried again. 'Bella,' he started once more, and then thought better of it.

Edward continued to hold back his laughter at the continuing mental narrative that followed Charlie's words. Bella gave him a raised eyebrow, obviously wanting in on the joke. 'I'll tell you later,' he whispered to her, head turned so that Charlie couldn't see him speak. 'Italian is fine,' he agreed in a louder voice.

'Great!' Bella said, seeming to return to a slightly more upbeat attitude about the day.

It was still a bit early, so the restaurant wasn't busy. A waiter, thankfully not the last woman who had served them, showed them to a table near the back, somewhat more private than Charlie seemed to find appropriate. But he was mollified when Bella told him it was so they could all talk without bothering the other diners.

She ordered only an appetizer, claiming she wasn't quite hungry enough for a huge plate of pasta yet. Smiling, Edward ordered the mushroom ravioli, knowing she'd eat it for him. With a sigh at the idea of shared meals, Charlie ordered his usual fare of a steak, with pasta on the side, ignoring Bella's frown of displeasure at his customary eating habits.

'It's just steak, Bells. Besides, it's got lots of good stuff in it.'

'It's unhealthy to eat that much red meat, Dad. Edward, tell him,' she implored.

With a sigh, because that would never end well, Edward calmly explained that red meat contained a lot of cholesterol and that was bad for anyone.

Charlie just shrugged. 'Healthy as a horse,' he muttered.

They really didn't talk much after that, until the food came. Bella tried to start a conversation about fishing, clearly desperate, but Charlie resorted to the one word answers he'd been giving in the car and she finally gave up. Instead, she seemed to turn her attention to running patterns up and down Edward's forearm under the cover of the table, though she was making a conscious effort not to look at him while she did it.

Edward just smiled and squeezed her knee gently, just as the waiter arrived with Bella's salad.

'So Dad,' Bella started, spearing a forkful of spinach, 'Alice has your tux all picked out.'

Charlie stared at her, the look on his face clearly confused. His mind was going the same way. 'Sorry what?' he asked.

'For the wedding. She's got the whole theme planned already, and she's deciding on everything else, so I told her to just go ahead and order your tux too. I know you don't have one.' Bella was still enjoying making her father uncomfortable.

'Uh, no. No,' he coughed unnecessarily. 'That's...really nice of her. Thinking ahead; I like that.' His mind said otherwise.

Bella was smiling while she chewed. Edward had the idea she was getting a certain amount of pleasure out of the day, even if it wasn't working quite the way she wanted it to. 'Yes. Alice is very good at planning. And she won't tell me anything, either. Says it's all going to be a surprise; even the dress,' Bella went on.

Since Edward knew how much she wasn't looking forward to Alice's big white wedding, he thought this a rather odd comment. She smiled sweetly at him and stroked his thigh. Edward went very, very still. This was not typical Bella behaviour, but he had to admit that he liked it.

Returning her attention to the salad, Bella tried really hard not to start laughing at the twin looks of stunned surprise emanating from her father and fiancé's faces. She wasn't going to spend the entire day putting up with Charlie's sullen mood and Edward's overtly serious attempts not to do or say anything at all unless directly asked.

The main course arrived just as Bella finished her salad. Charlie had asked for the steak medium-rare, so it hadn't taken long to cook. Edward looked at the bloody hunk of char-broiled meat and tried not to look as disgusted as he felt. As Charlie dug into his meal, Bella stole pieces of ravioli off Edward's plate whenever her father wasn't looking. Edward gave her a grateful smile and tried his best to help, when no one except Bella was watching. Sauced drenched pasta wasn't the easiest thing to hide in a napkin, but he managed it with a grace born of years of practice.

Bella just giggled and then tried to school her face into something less amused when Charlie shot her a look of interest.

'So, I was thinking a movie after lunch,' Bella started, half way through. 'There are a couple of things playing. Or we could walk down by the pier or go for a drive.'

'Movie,' Charlie said a bit too quickly, mouth full ot meat.

'Whatever you'd like, Bella,' Edward answered sweetly. It didn't seem to help Charlie's mood any.

'Yeah, Bells, whatever you want,' the police officer amended once he'd swallowed his food.

Bella smiled at them both. 'Well, I want to see a movie, how's that?'

At that, her father seemed to relax a bit, clearly relieved he would have something to interrupt their less than stellar conversation.

'That's settled then.' She snuck another piece of ravioli. The plate was more than half gone already. 'So, Dad, did I ever tell you Edward plays the piano?'

Busy chewing, Charlie just shook his head. His thoughts, however, seemed to show he found this interesting. Edward allowed himself a brief second to enjoy the fact that he might have actually done something to impress Bella's father.

'Well, he's very good. He composed a solo for me,' Bella bragged, giving Edward's thigh another stroke.

At that statement Charlie arched an eyebrow, lunch all but forgotten. 'You wrote her a song?'

Edward allowed himself a small smile of pride. 'A piano solo, Chief Swan. I plan to play it at the wedding.'

'That's nice,' Charlie said, though he didn't sound like it was at all. Perhaps Edward should have left off the wedding part. 'Music's a good thing to have. You going to college for that or something?'

Edward shook his head. 'I don't think so. It's something I enjoy doing in my free time. I'm not certain I'd enjoy studying it for three or four years and music programs are terribly competitive.'

'So what you going to study then?' The Chief had completely forgotten lunch by now, steak still half eaten on the plate. At least they were talking, Bella thought.

'I'd like to go pre-med.'

This announcement was met with painful silence.

'Isn't that great, Dad? Edward wants to be a doctor too, just like Carlisle,' Bella put in.

'Yeah that's...something. Guess it'd be a good job. I mean, Dr. Cullen does well for himself.' Charlie paused, as if considering what he'd just said. 'Sorry, that was uncalled for. You should, uh, do whatever makes you happy...Edward.' Charlie stared at his plate.

Bella beamed.

'Thank you, sir. I plan to,' Edward told him, sincerely.

Charlie grunted at that and then resumed eating his quickly cooling meal. Silence descended at the table once more, but it no longer seemed to bother Bella, who had obviously decided that the short conversation counted as a win. Things were fine until the waiter brought along the bill and then Charlie and Edward had a silent fight over it. Edward, of course, won. He cushioned the obvious blow to Charlie's ego that he was somehow letting an eighteen year old pay for lunch, by reminding the Police Chief that it had been Bella's invitation to come out for the day, and Edward was more than happy to pick up the tab for her.

Charlie sighed at that and mentally decided that that seemed to be okay, adding to Edward's amusement that it was right and proper that he was already taking care of things for Bella. Edward decided not to forward that one on to Bella in their discussion of the day's events later that night; she probably wouldn't take too kindly to Charlie's outdated views, even if Edward actually shared them.

Outside it had begun to pour. Huddling under the overhang from the restaurant, Bella read the movie times up on the theatre across the road. 'There's a one o'clock comedy. How does that sound Dad?'

'Yeah, comedy is good,' Charlie admitted. It was either that or the action/thriller that was the only other option.

'Right then, we should hurry; it'll be starting soon,' Bella said, holding the hood of her jacket up to ward off the rain. In the next second she went running out from under the cover before Edward could stop her.

At the exact same instant Edward's cell phone rang, but he ignored it in favour of trying to pull Bella back. She'd been too fast though, and he couldn't grab her without moving too quickly for a human. He'd spend the next few weeks berating himself for caring about something so insignificant.

There had been no other cars on the street; the stop light down on the left was red, and Bella had at least glanced side to side before she went careening across the road. It had done little good, however, because the car that hit her had just turned around the corner on which the restaurant stood, going twice as fast as it should have been.

The next seconds passed very quickly, at least for the humans watching. For Edward, time slowed almost impossibly and all rational thought left his mind. He moved like lightening, managing to catch Bella's body in mid-air just as it rolled up the car hood and into the windshield. But the damage was already done.

I don't usually do cliff-hangers, so I hope this one is okay!