Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

A Fresh Start

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 09:

Bo POV

10:30. Hour and a half away from being complete. I knew Mary was here. Steph was here. The girls were not around. They were doing whatever it is girls do before a wedding. My guys were making sure the kegs were tapped at the bar. I was… pacing. Guests were starting to arrive. Family and friends of mine. Friends of my parents.

We only invited about 50 people. I was doing my hardest to not get dirt on my white tux. Thank God no rain today. It was cool but not cold. We were prepared to go inside but I know Mary really wanted this outside. My friends had black tuxes on. They were also wearing black cowboy hats. Mary told me no. I’ve never been a hat guy anyway. Or a ball cap for that matter.

Mary liked my hair. Why the fuck would I hide it? Troy was about to say something to me when we heard it. Some sort of ruckus at the entrance.

I glanced at Troy and we started that way. I did not need any shit
today. We got near the entrance and saw the attendants arguing with a dark haired man with a mustache and… good lord how many giant Indians does Tyler have?

We ran up the attendants. Not very quickly. Kind of hard to run in a tux.

“What the hell is going on?”

“These people do not have invitations, Mr. Walker.” The teen
attendant told me. I give the boy some credit for standing up to these monsters.

The attendants stepped aside and I walked up to the older guy. He
looked upset. He must be the ringleader.

“My name is Bo Walker. This here is my wedding. What can I do for
you folks?”

“I want to see my daughter now!” He pulled out a badge and handed it to me. I checked it out. Interesting.

“Charles Swan. Chief of Police, Forks, Washington.” I handed it back to him.

“Look, I don’t know where the hell Forks Washington is, but I know that badge gives you about as much authority in Texas as a French hairdresser. Now I don’t know what someone may have told you but…” I turned to look. The guys all shook their heads.

That’s a relief.

“But there ain’t nobody’s daughter here who ain’t supposed to be.”

“Move aside, you ignorant ass.” The big guy in the front walked up.
There is that sound I love so much. The sliding of a shell into the
chamber.

“Son, I realize you are about the size of the Hulk but I don’t think
that’s gonna do you much good against my friend back there and his .12 gauge pointed at your head.” That made his ass pause. Peace through superior firepower.

Thank God, Chris loves to pull that damn thing whenever he gets a
chance and his truck is thirty feet away.

“Now how about before ya’ll go beatin us up and we go shootin you down we all calm down and somebody explain what is going on before I call some cops that have badges that matter around here.”

The guy named Charles took a deep breath.

“Look, you are marrying my daughter.”

“Mary doesn’t…”

Oh shit. No way…

“Who the fuck are you?” I whispered.

“My name is Charlie Swan. I have been looking for my daughter
since she went missing a year ago. Her name is Bella Swan.”

He handed me a missing poster. It had Mary’s picture on it.

“This is my Mary…” I told him quietly. Troy walked up and took the
poster from my hand.

“She may be son, but she is my daughter.” He said, looking me in
the eyes. That’s when I saw it.

“You have the same eyes.”

He started tearing up.

“Bo. Go get straightened up. Your bow tie is crooked. I got this.”
Steph said walking up.

“Steph, I…”

“Bo. Do as your big sister says for once. Go to the bathroom. Get
yourself straightened up and get ready to marry your girl. Chat up
the guests. Tell Chris to put that cannon back in his truck. I got this.” I nodded my head. I was kind of in a daze here. They had the same eyes…

Charlie POV

The guy who is apparently marrying my daughter walked away. He
kind of looked shocked. Now there was a blonde woman in front of
us. Short green bride’s maid dress. Very pretty.

“My name is Stephanie. I’m Bo’s big sister. Follow me.”

She walked off without another look back. I turned to look at Sue and she shrugged her shoulders. We followed her into a large hall that was decorated with numerous tables. The hall was beautiful. She sat down at a long table and waived her hand, indicating that we should sit.

“So you are Charlie Swan. Who are these folks?”

“This is Bella’s family.” I answered honestly.

“Well she certainly didn’t get her complexion from them.” She smiled.

I would have laughed normally. I wasn’t in the mood. My daughter
was somewhere in this building.

“Look. If you would just tell Bella that her father is here and she
doesn’t have to hide anymore she will come down here. Please. I’m
begging you.” I was ten seconds away from having Leah knock this
girl on her ass and running up those stairs.

“Your daughter doesn’t know you.”

“Of…” Wait. Doesn’t know me?

“Why did you wait this long to look for her?” the girl asked.

“This long? I’ve been looking for her since she disappeared!”

“You been looking for a year and you’re a cop? We had her picture
and fingerprints all over the police databases. I saw the Tyler cop
take them.”

“Ma’am, I have been at Tyler PD three times in the last year. They do not have her in their system.” I explained. I could be patient. I had to find out what was going on.

“Did you beat her?”

“What!?”

“Did… you… beat her?”

“No!”

“Then why did she disappear? You said she didn’t have to hide
anymore. She get kidnapped out of her room? If that’s the case who do you think she is hiding from?” Stephanie asked. She was grilling me like I usually grill suspects.

“She ran off because of… an argument with her ex boyfriend. I
guess she thought she wasn’t safe around him.” That wasn’t a lie.

“I found out later that she got kidnapped in Indiana by a serial rapist. I talked to the guy. He told me he didn’t rape her. She fought him off and he hit her over the head and left her on the side of the road in this area. I’ve been looking here ever since. Please. I just need to see my daughter.”

“First you need to understand some things. Then we will talk about whether you will see your daughter today.”

Jake growled. I shook my head at him.

“Go ahead.” I nodded. Sue reached out and took my hand.

“Like I said, she doesn’t have a clue who you are. I’ll start at the
beginning. Considering she is getting married in 45 minutes and I am the maid of honor I am going to have to give you the short version.

About a year ago, my brother and I were driving back from a delivery. We noticed tire tracks that went damn near to the tree line. For some reason he decided to investigate. Guess what he found? A pretty little brown haired, brown eyed girl, lying face first in the dirt with a cracked skull. She had no ID on her. He woke her up. I don’t know what happened but he fell for her. Like a bolt of lightning from the sky. She didn’t have a clue who she was, where she was or where she was from. All she remembered was she was 18 and knew how to cook. Pretty damn good cook too. Anyway, my brother went to the hospital with her.

The doctor told them she had generalized amnesia. Remembers nothing before waking up with my brother kneeling over her. Doctor told her she had a 1% chance of ever getting any memories back and if she did they would be few and murky at best. My brother stayed with her night and day in the hospital. He left every night after visiting hours ended at 9, worked till 5 AM, slept three hours and was at the hospital when visiting hours started. Like I said, he was in love.

The hospital couldn’t keep her any longer. Police couldn’t find an ID. I’m guessing something went very wrong there. Anyway, no ID, no identity at all, she was gonna be discharged into a homeless shelter. Bo took her in. She lived with us. Me, Bo and my boy Hunter. We had an extra bedroom. He bought her clothes, he gave her a room. He gave her a job helping out with the books of his business. He even went to a guy and bought her a new ID so she could go to school if she wanted, have a driver’s license, have a diploma. The things she needed for a life. Now before you ask and piss me off, no, he didn’t sleep with her. He took care of her though. They fell in love. Both of them have it bad. They are inseparable. A couple months ago he asked her to marry him and she said yes to no one’s surprise. Now here we are. And you show up with your army of giants. So now I got a dilemma.

I got my sister up there already nervous about everything being
perfect for her man today. I got my little brother worried that
everything won’t be perfect for the love of his life. You crashin back into her life an hour before she is to march down that aisle ain’t gonna help things go smoothly.

No doubt we all got some talkin to do, and I ain’t sayin we would dream of keeping her from meeting you. But you need to understand. Right now ain’t the best time.”

“Charlie, you can’t let her marry this guy.” Jake said next to me.

“You ain’t stopping any wedding. We got a lot of friends who are loyal to both of them and they would shoot you all full of holes and ship your bodies back to Washington in a heartbeat.” The girl said, glaring at Jake. I believed her. We weren’t stopping this wedding.

“Why?” I asked.

“Why what?”

“Why did your brother do all this for her?”

“She is your daughter. You should know.”

I nodded. Bella brought that out in people.

“My brother is a good lookin guy. Has had women after him since he developed muscles and dimples. He owns a successful business
where he works for himself and builds the most beautiful wooden
furniture you will ever lay eyes on. He has hardly given a woman the time of day his whole life. Said he was waiting for the special one. He found her. Now I promise you, Chief Swan. You are going to need a lot more big Indians if you think you are going to stop this wedding or mess with my sister’s happiness in anyway. We worked hard to build her a life and you ain’t tearin it down today.”

Damn. I didn’t know what to say. I looked around and saw everyone had wide eyes except Jake. He looked pissed. Big surprise.

“Look. We won’t say anything. Not yet. But please let me watch the
wedding. I thought she was dead for so long. Now to find her. You
have a child. You understand. Please see this from my point of view. At least let me watch this. I promise not to stop it. I promise. I’m grateful to you and your brother. You have no idea how grateful I am. But please. Let me stay.”

She didn’t answer. She took a deep breath and looked at the table. I looked at her. I heard a gasp at the other end of the table. I looked at the stairs and saw her. She was wearing a white dress. Strapless. Smooth, no frills. Pure satin. Like it was poured over her. Her hair was in soft braids. She was… oh my God she was beautiful.

“Stephanie! I asked you to check on the caterers! Have they set up? What about the band? Has the band arrived? Is Bo okay? He’s not answering my texts.”

Stephanie didn’t turn around.

“Everything is fine, Mary. Tina and I have this. You just worry about being your beautiful self and all will be fine.”

Bella took a deep breath and looked at us. Blank face. No
recognition at all.

“Who the hell are these people, Steph?”

BPOV

Steph didn’t answer. I don’t remember seeing Indian body building
team on the guest list.

“Please tell me these aren’t dancers from last night that you invited.”

Please no. The old white guy with the mustache was staring at me.

“Do we know each other? Are you related to Bo?”

He didn’t say anything. Was he crying?

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out from between my cleavage this
pushup strapless bra has helpfully enhanced and smiled. My man.

“Hey baby.”

“Mary, we need to talk.” He sounded worried. What the hell?

“Uh, you’re not leaving me at the altar are you?” I laughed, half
kidding.

“No! Of course not.”

“Then what is so important? I’m meeting you at the end of the aisle in twenty minutes, baby.”

“Give me the phone, Mary.” Steph said standing up and walking
over.

“Here. Your sister wants to talk to you. I love you.”

I watched her listen to something Bo was saying.

“Your call Bo.” Steph finally said.

“Okay.” She looked at me and stuck the phone towards me.

“What is going on, Bo? You are freaking me out! I don’t need to be
freaked out.”

“Baby… does the name Bella Swan mean anything to you?”

What the fuck?

“No. I don’t know a Bella Swan. Why do you want to know? Is she an ex girlfriend or something? Is she starting shit? Cause I can get Tina and Tiffany and we can…

“No baby. Calm down. Look. Would you just do me a favor? No
questions asked.”

“A favor? Of course Bo.”

“Is there a guy there with a suit on? Mustache? Dark hair?”

“Yes. He is with who I think are strippers Stephanie invited. Except
there is a tall girl here. If she is a dancer from last night you are in so much trouble.” I whispered.

“I need you to let the guy walk you down the aisle.”

Excuse me?

“What the hell Bo?”

“I said no questions. I need you to trust me on this.”

“Yeah but… who is he? I don’t even know the guy.” This was the kind of last minute changes I did not appreciate.

“I will explain after the wedding. Just… please?”

“Is he a friend of yours? Your parents?”

The mustache guy was still staring. Looked like his eyes were
getting wet. What the hell?

“Mary. Please? It’s important to me. I promise as soon as the
wedding is over I will explain who he is.”

I took a deep breath and looked at Steph. She shrugged her
shoulders. I looked at the clock on the wall. 15 minutes. I had to get ready to walk down the aisle.

“Fine Bo. But you got some explaining to do.”

“I love you, Mary.”

“I love you too baby. See you in 15. Don’t forget your lines.”

I hit end on the phone and looked at Steph.

“What the fuck?” I asked.

“What did he say?”

I didn’t answer her. Instead I walked towards the guy with the
mustache.

“What is your name?”

“Charl… Charlie Swan.” He choked out.

“You related to this Bella Swan my husband, or soon to be husband asked me about?”

“Ye… yes.”

“Why are these guys staring at me like I’m from another planet?
Steph, does my hair look okay? Is there something in my teeth? I
had grapes earlier. Adrian checked my teeth.”

“You look perfect, Mary.” Steph said. Now she was tearing up. Fuck I was going to tear up soon. I hadn’t even gotten to the end of the
aisle yet.

“We have to go get set up. My man is waiting.” I turned and looked
at Mr. Swan.
“My Bo thinks it’s important that you walk me down the aisle. He told me not to ask questions but he didn’t say if you even wanted to? Do you want to walk me down the aisle?”

“Would it be okay?”

“Why do… no, I promised him no questions. You an old family
friend?”

“Yes. You could say that.”

“Well then Charlie Swan. How about you walk me down the aisle? I
got a honeymoon to get to.” I smiled. He seemed like a nice guy I
guess.

He stood up and took my arm. I turned and looked at his friends.

“Ya’ll are welcome to stay of course. Plenty of seats. I think. Let’s go Steph.”

I walked to the exit. My girls were lined up. I saw outside and could see the guys waiting for the girls. I couldn’t see Bo, but considering everyone else was there I’m guessing he was as well. We would walk through the exit down the rose aisle to the Arbor where we would be married.

Finally it was my turn. I was wearing white cowboy boots under my dress. I was used to wearing boots. I wasn’t worried about tripping. Of course I could step on my train. It wasn’t long and would come off as soon as the ceremony was done but it could trip me up now. I guess Mr. Swan here should be warned.

I whispered to him. “Don’t let me fall.”

He grabbed my arm tighter.

“I never will.”

That was a strange thing to say. I looked at him and he had tears
running down his face. This must have been a good friend of Bo’s
parents. He was so emotional and he didn’t even know me. We
began walking and the wedding march was playing. I was taking
deep breaths and smiling. I needed to control my breathing. This
was it. I wanted him since the first time I laid eyes on him. I thought when I left for that MRI I would never see him again. When he was waiting for me in my room, he made me feel so good, despite the situation I found myself in. Now he was mine. Nobody else’s. No one would ever take him from me. There he was. Six short steps away. He was smiling. That beautiful smile. He looked so good in that Tux. Solid white.

“Who gives this woman to this man?”

Huh? Oh yeah. I turned and saw my escort was full on crying now.

“I do.” He placed my arm in Bo’s and stepped back. Bo had some
explaining to do. That was so strange. I didn’t care right now. I just
had to remember my vows and kiss him.

The preacher welcomed everyone. I took a quick glance. All my
close friends were already standing with me and Bo. I guess the rest of the guests were family friends. I wish Bo’s parents could be here. Maybe they were. I noticed the group of tan hulks and she hulk were on the back row. An Indian guy in a wheelchair and an older Indian lady were crying. What’s with the crying. Mr. Swan had sat down at the front. He was smiling. Crying. I guess some people get emotional at weddings no matter whose wedding it is. One of the Indians looked pissed. Nobody asked him to come. Steph may have. Her and her dancers.

The time came for vows. My turn. Don’t screw this up Mary. I took a deep breath. Bo squeezed my hands and smiled. He told me if I
forgot something to relax and speak from the heart.

“You found me on the ground. You could have left me there. Instead you took me in, gave me a life. You saved my life. You made me feel loved. You took care of me. You still take care of me. I know I will be safe with you and loved for the rest of our lives. I fell in love with you and now I can’t imagine life without you. So you fixed that to and here we are. I love you more than any words would describe. I promise to love, honor and cherish you. I promise to obey you most of the time. In sickness and in health. In this world and the next. I am yours forever.”

His eyes were glistening. I got through it. And I meant every word.

I took a deep breath and looked into his beautiful green eyes.

“The first time I saw your eyes, I was caught. I always wanted
adventure. You are the adventure I have waited for my whole life.
You let me in. You trusted me. You let me in your life. Most
importantly you loved me. You will never understand that you do
more for me than I have ever done for you. You gave me life. I am yours. I have been since the day we met. I promise to love, honor
and cherish you. I promise to obey you most of the time. In sickness and in health. In this world and the next. I am yours forever.”

“Do you have the rings?”

Todd handed Bo the gold band that matched my engagement ring.
He placed it on my finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

Steph handed me his gold band. My breath caught and could feel
the tears running free down my face.

I slipped it on his finger. Perfect fit. “With this ring I thee wed.”

We turned to the minister.

“You may kiss your bride.”

I heard the minister present Mr. and Mrs. Bo Walker. I heard
applause in the background. I was too focused on my first kiss with my new husband. Lost in him. We finally broke free and our friends hugged us. All my girls were crying. Todd even looked a little misty eyed.

“All right ya’ll! Enough of this romantic stuff. Let’s go get drunk!” Troy yelled. The guys threw their hats in the air and Bo lifted me in his arms and began carrying me inside. Everyone was clapping. We walked in and saw the buffet line had been set up. The hall was
beautiful. The band had set up. Everything was perfect. I kissed Bo
again and we may have got a little carried away this time. It was time to party.

Paul POV

This was a kick in the teeth. I bet Rachel is going to say nearly the
same vows to me one day. I will probably say the same thing as well. Not because we fell in love like these two. No, it will be because of magic. Magic that turned me into a wolf and magic that gave me my soul mate. So if Rachel was my soul mate why did this hurt so damn much?

“You doing okay?” Sam.

“Of course. Mission accomplished. We found her. Of course she has
absolutely no clue who the hell we are, but at least Charlie has her
back.”

“You were never as good at hiding it as you thought you were.” Sam said quietly.

“Hiding what?”

“That you loved her. That you love her. Imprinting can’t take that
way.”

“That right?” I asked quietly.

“Yep.”

“You still love Leah?”

“Yep.”

“Why don’t you fight it? Fight the imprint?”

“You know.”

I took a deep breath. It was a violent compulsion to protect your
mate. It overrode everything. It was contrived bullshit.

“I never loved Bella.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Doesn’t matter much now does it?” I pointed out.

“No. I don’t suppose it does. She looks really happy. I can’t believe
she is alive. Not only alive but doing so well. I missed her so much.
So did Emily. We all did. Even Leah.”

“That’s not Bella.” I told him.

“Of course she is.”

“That’s not our Bella anymore. Did you see her face when she saw
us? I didn’t believe that blonde until Bella walked down those stairs. Did you see it? Absolutely no recognition. Nothing. We just saw her get married. In a year she built a better life than she ever had in Forks. She is not ours. Look at her. She belongs to him now. He belongs to her. That’s love Sam. That’s love without any of the
mystical bullshit we have been cursed with.”

Sam said nothing so we sat back and watched the party. Dinner had been served. Barbecue. Very good.

Now the band that had been playing quietly in the background
suddenly wasn’t quiet anymore. Apparently the open bar just opened up. Free beer. My kind of wedding.

“How is Jake doing?” I asked Sam, not really caring much but the
lack of conversation was getting to me.

“He left. After she said I do, he was gone. Don’t know where he is. I
suppose he will be back at the hotel. I thought he would be happy
knowing she was alive. But he had this image in his head of Bella
rushing into his arms and the two of them running off together to be happy in paradise or something. He will never get over her.”

“She brings that out in people.” I mumbled.

“Yep.”

“Hey did you see those pictures of them at the table in the front
when we walked in?” I asked Sam.

“Yep. They look like they have a lot of good times together.”

“Did you see that picture of this guy passed out with a pair of red
panties on his head?”

Charlie POV

“What are they doing?” I asked Sue.

“I think it’s called line dancing.”

The party was getting a bit loud. I had hoped Bo would bring Bella
over but she was having fun. He looked at me once and I shook my
head. It was enough to watch her having fun. Being happy. I
suppose I should call Renee. I would in the morning. We didn’t talk much anymore. She called occasionally to yell at me or ask if I had any new leads. I told her my beliefs that Bella was alive. She was angry that I let a rapist get her and was convinced Bella was buried in the woods somewhere.

Bo got on the stage. He grabbed a guitar and his friends gathered
around the front. Wow. He plays guitar. He started strumming.
He couldn’t play guitar.

“All right everyone! If you know the words sing along. If you don’t
know the words get the hell out of our State!”

He began singing. His friends jumped up on the stage and they were all singing. Badly. Something about a drug dealer named Sonny and a waitress named Sherry. Apparently the road goes on forever and the party never ends. Bella was on stage singing with Bo now. Bella doesn’t sing very well either. Bella was a bit tipsy. Apparently this was somewhat of a tradition for them. No one seemed surprised by their lack of musical ability. I hoped they weren’t leaving for their honeymoon until tomorrow.

Finally the bride and groom dance came. Bo and Bella danced to a
song called God bless the broken road. It was nice. Appropriate
considering what we all had gone through. There was no father
daughter dance. I didn’t mind. I got to walk my baby down the aisle. Even if she didn’t know me, it was enough. But still. I had to dance with her once.

I walked up to the couple after their dance and looked at Bo. I shook my head. I wouldn’t tell her while we were dancing.

“Would you mind if I had a dance?”

“Sure, if you tell me who the hell you are.” She smiled.

“How about you dance and we will tell you after the song, okay
honey?” Bo asked. I mouthed a thank you. He simply nodded.

“Fine. You got an awesome mustache. Come on old man.”
Bella grabbed my hand and we were dancing.

“This is a beautiful wedding.”

“Thanks.”

“You are a pretty good dancer.”

“Bo taught me.”

“When are you two leaving on your honeymoon?”

“Uh, tomorrow afternoon, why?”

“Just wondering. How long are you going to be gone?”

“A week. We are going to the Pocano Mountain Resort in
Pennsylvania.”

“That sounds fun. I figured you would head someplace tropical.”

“No the mountain scenery is beautiful. We like to hike, bike ride. I
also think Bo is worried about me getting a sunburn.”
I had to laugh.

“He seems like he really takes care of you.”

“Yeah, but it goes both ways. We take care of each other. So who
are you?”

The song ended and I didn’t answer. I walked her to where Bo was
sitting and sat next to her. Sam walked to the table as well. I looked at Bo.

“Mary. I met this man 45 minutes before the wedding. I didn’t want to freak you out so decided to wait to introduce you.”

“You let a guy you just met give me away?!” Bella asked Bo not
sounding happy.

“Be… Mary… I’ve been looking for you for a year. Since the night
you left my house.” I told her.

I think it hit her then. She stared at me and then stared at Bo. He
nodded.

“This is your father.” He told her.