Fathers

Carlisle

Part Ten

By Memya, Empress of Edit

Edward's resolve didn't last long. No, the girl is still unquestionably human but his resolve regarding their physical relationship held out about as long as, well, as a seventeen year old boy being offered sex from a girl to whom he's extremely attracted. His resolve to not change her remains unchanged.

Although he did try to be as discreet as possible, it did seem obvious when, a few weeks after the end of the school year, Edward informed us that the furniture company would soon be arriving with the delivery of a new king-sized bed. I did my best to keep my features bland as he asked Esme to select sheets and blankets, quietly stating that he wanted nothing but the best.

She smiled indulgently at him, knowing, as I do, that our kind have only one need for a bed and it is not sleeping as we do not sleep. Nor would the quality of the bedding matter as sheets made of sand-paper wouldn't bother us, with the hardness of our skin.

No, this bed was created for the comfort of one very human girl. I'd installed a hospital bed in his room while Bella had stayed there during her recovery but it had been removed since her departure.

They had, as Emmett euphemistically put it, "done the deed" within days of the bed's arrival as I knew they would and as would have been apparent to anyone paying close attention.

Their body language went from tense and hesitant to relaxed but with a definite undercurrent of sexual satisfaction. Both of them practically glow with it.

Luckily, well, not luck so much as careful yet furtive planning, we were all out of the house when 'it' happened. Edward was bringing Bella to the house for the evening and by mutual consent, and some coercing of Emmett I must admit, it was decided that the rest of us would have other activities to occupy ourselves far away from the house.

Tying not to be obvious, we let Edward know that we would all take a few days away to hunt, although his sardonic grin let me know that with his mind-reading ability, he understood exactly why we were all choosing to take a few days away.

I also noticed Alice and Edward had engaged several times in their own private mind conversations in the days before Edward and Bella's date. I could see him nodding as he saw the visions in her mind and they would conclude with her whispering, "You're not going to hurt her. I don't see her hurt or changed right now. At least I don't think so." He would nod thoughtfully and go off, only to come back and they would have the 'conversation' again.

I had simply hoped Alice was correct. However, I did make sure everyone had a bag packed and that all cars were gassed up and ready to go, just in case.

It wasn't that I didn't trust Edward as I knew that keeping her safe would be his first concern but I also knew how determined Bella was to have him, in the Biblical sense and with the common sense of a typical teenage girl, she might not be willing to take no for an answer even if Edward was getting out of control. Edward didn't concern me, but Bella certainly did.

The boy's got tremendous control, I'll give him credit for that. We can all smell Bella the moment she walks in the door and for hours after she's left her scent remains in the air and her blood is tantalizing. How he's able to resist when it begins to pound through her veins is quite frankly amazing to me. I've got more than 300 hundred years on Edward, yet I'm still not certain I could do what he's done without killing and I've never fed from a human being. I continue to hope and believe they are taking the proper precautions.

 

* * *
 

Charlie finally discontinued his weekly chats. I don't know whether he realized the futility of his trying to keep the kids apart or whether he simply grew weary of my not supporting him in that endeavor but I'm relieved to no longer be questioned week in and week out.

I realize that humans aren't as perceptive as our kind so perhaps he doesn't know where things stand between his daughter and my son. I'm quite sure he would never believe that their relationship becoming physical was unquestionably instigated by his daughter.

She and Edward were together this summer almost every day and her clothing became less and less substantial as the days went by and she wasn't getting what she wanted. I could wave it off as simply the warmer weather but in this rainy climate, it's never that warm. She went from jeans and shirts to tight tank tops that left inches of her belly exposed and cut-off shorts that I was sure Charlie hadn't seen or she'd have never been able to get out of the house wearing them.

Emmett was certainly aware of the difference in her dress and mentioned it on more than one occasion to Edward. I recalled one particularly ribald encounter between him and Edward.

"Man, why are you not hitting that? Seriously, dude, she's asking, no, begging for it. What's with you? Get 'er done, already!"

"Emmett, I'll thank you not to speak of her in those terms. How would you like it if I referred to Rosalie like that?" Edward snarlingly replied.

"Dude, if Rose walked around like that, then I'm not doing my job," Emmett insisted. "She's satisfied and has no need to try to get me stirred up. I stir just fine when I've of a mind to and doesn't she know it!"

"Emmett," Jasper said, joining the conversation, "you are not helping the situation. This must be Edward's decision. Ease off."

"Come on, man. Are you going to sit there and tell me you haven't noticed her?" Emmett replied.

"Yes, I've noticed but my point was, Emmett, that you could keep your thoughts to yourself," Jasper stated. "It isn't that simple, what with her being human and all, as you well know."

"Both of you, stop talking about it!" Edward shouted and I heard the house-rattling slam of the front door as he went out, followed by the squeal of his tires leaving the garage. A few days later the bed arrived.

But back to Charlie. I'm not sure what the man expected me to do. Forbid them to spend time together? I realize he's just a small town cop but surely he's heard of Romeo and Juliet and knows what happens when you try to keep a couple of teenagers apart. What did the man think I could do about it? Lock up my son? It's not as if he were the problem.

We've considered inviting him out to the house again. Edward said he's tried everything he can to get Charlie to accept him and all he's ever received is reluctant tolerance, like Charlie's just waiting for him to be gone so she can find an 'acceptable' young man. Charlie doesn't know what an exceptional person Edward is, apart from being a vampire, that is.

School is starting in a few more days and then Alice is planning a big birthday celebration for Bella at the house. She wanted to invite Charlie but since Bella doesn't even want her birthday celebrated, something which none of us can understand, Alice didn't invite Charlie. It will be just our family.

Since getting her way about their physical relationship, Bella is now pressuring Edward to change her but he is standing his ground. What feminine wiles she will use this time remain to be seen.

They cannot continue indefinitely human and vampire. He says she has an unreasonable fear of becoming older than him and is constantly urging him to change her, something that, at least as of now, he is adamant that he will not do.

Would it create more problems if he, or myself for that matter as I have more experience with it, did simply get it over with and help her become a vampire? She has told him over and over it's what she wants but how can she know that? How can she know what it's like to live everyday with the unquenchable thirst? She sees the beauty of our kind, our speed, strength, superior senses, and she can't help but covet them but she doesn't understand the whole reality of it.

So, they are again at an impasse. How long until she wins this one, I wonder.
 

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