Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Holiday Road

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 10:

Bella returned to the resort to find her father waiting for her in the lobby. “Hey, kiddo!”

“Hi, Dad!” She ran up to give him a big hug. Charlie immediately enfolded his little girl in his arms. Oh, how he missed her!

“I thought maybe we could get some breakfast together-just you and me-unless you’ve already eaten.”

“Breakfast would be great.”

“Good.”

They walked out of the resort to a little breakfast nook Charlie had found while exploring the town yesterday. After placing their orders, he started the conversation, “So, it’s good to see you, kiddo. I haven’t seen you since Thanksgiving.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve been busy.”

“Is everything going okay at work?”

Bella shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a job.”

“You could always go to college. I have your college tuition money set aside for you.”

“Dad, I’d still have to work. I have to pay rent.”

“You could move back home and go to Peninsula. It’s just Susie and me in the house now that Seth has moved out.”

“When did Seth move out? Didn’t he just graduate from high school?”

“He graduated last year. He moved to the reservation in January with his wife.”

“He’s married?”

“Yes, to Jamie.”

“Isn’t he a little young to be married? He’s not even twenty.”

“Things are a bit different with him.”

“Okay. Weird like the rest of the La Push people.”

Charlie sighed. He understood Bella’s opinion of the Quileute’s was a result of all of the secrecy about the pack. In hindsight, there was too much whispering around her, particularly when any of the elders or the pack was around. It was the reason she was driven away. He decided to veer away from the subject matter. “We’re not here to talk about Seth, we’re here to talk about you. Any boyfriends?”

“Nope. Not anyone worth mentioning. I’m beginning to realize that the majority of men are either selfish or too immature.”

“You’re young yet.”

“This is very true. And just because I don’t have a boyfriend, doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy myself.” As she stated those words to her father, Bella knew that sometimes she had a bit too much fun. She was a lush, plain and simple. She wouldn’t say she was a slut, per se, because she didn’t sleep with guys until she got to know them. She liked to hang out with them and maybe lick them a little. “Anyway, I have a tendency to be immature,” she added in haste.

“When I was twenty-three, I was immature.”

“I doubt it. I think mom was the immature one. When you were twenty-three, you were a rookie cop paying child support because you had a four year old living out of state.”

“I was still immature.”

“You knew you had responsibilities. So far, I’ve met a guy who spends his entire paycheck on new electronics as soon as he gets paid; another who is so into himself that he spends four hours in the gym and two hours grooming himself everyday; and one with severe halitosis.” She didn’t bother mentioning the buff dude with the premature ejaculation problem because she didn’t want to freak her father out.

Charlie sighed. He hated the idea of his little girl navigating the dating world alone. She was too far from home. He imagined Bella was very popular; she was stunningly beautiful. Of course, why wouldn’t she be? She took after him in the looks department. He was a fit forty-two year old with a decent set of abs who hardly had any grays yet. He stayed in shape because he didn’t want to go the way his buddy Harry Clearwater had. He had a responsibility to himself and to Bella to stay alive.

“Bella, I really wish you’d come home. I hate having you so far away from me. I worry about you.”

“Dad, you know why I live in Seattle.”

“Yeah, I do… I just wish… Well, you’re not going to Florida anytime soon, are you?”

Her father sounded desperate. She thought about what Embry had told her earlier and replied with, “Just to visit. I won’t be moving there. I kind of like being near you.”

“Yeah? I’m the cooler parent?”

“No, Mom is the cooler parent. I mean, how many moms do you know who’ll take her kid to a male strip joint? You’re just more parent-like, and I feel safer with you near me.”

“I’ll take that, kiddo. I’ll take that.”

“Dad, I don’t tell you enough, but I love you. I really do.”

“I love you, too, Bells. Always have, always will.” Charlie decided to change topics. “I have to tell you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Leah, being overly kind, turned what was supposed to be a quiet family wedding into a fiasco. You already know that Jake is here. I want to warn you that others from La Push are here as well.”

“I know. I already ran into Embry Call. He’s a nice kid.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Don’t worry about me, Dad. I can handle myself.” She planned on going to the ceremony, and slipping out. Even though Embry had told her about the wolves and soul mates, she still didn’t want to have anything to do with these people. She planned on keeping contact with them at the bare minimum. No way, no how, did she want anything to do with the supernatural world if it could be at all avoided.

“I know you can, I originally wanted this to be small affair, but somehow it seems to have spiraled out of control.”

“Hey, you’ve been friends with a ton of people in La Push since before I was born. It’s understandable why they wanted to see you get married.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah, probably.” Charlie was still annoyed at Billy. He couldn’t seem to understand how precious the small amounts of time he spent with Bella was to him. Billy was selfish in the sense that he always put the pack and his kids before anyone or anything. Charlie wasn’t going to take that crap anymore, his kid needed to come first. No more kowtowing to Billy Black just because he was his buddy and Chief of the Quileute Tribe. Nope. He would have a one-to-one talk with him… after they went fishing tomorrow.

---

Sam spent the morning watching TV in his room. He went for a jog just before lunch so he could formulate the plan he called, “Operation Protect Bella Swan.” Of course, he was having trouble formulating it because he was still on the fence about telling her about the existence of the pack. He would be blatantly going against a mandate put forth by the tribal chief. Then again, he was kind of upset at how selfish Billy was yesterday. How could he suggest to Charlie that Bella might be better off in Florida when he himself couldn’t let his own kids live in Forks even because he thought it was too far from La Push? He understood why Rebecca Black left. Billy must have overwhelmed her. He wondered how Paul and Rachel managed to live under the same roof as Billy. He would go berserk if he had to live with him. He valued his privacy too much, and Billy had a way of sticking his nose into everything.

He returned to his hotel room, only to receive a text message that the entire pack was gathered together by the lake to welcome Embry’s new imprint. He walked the short distance from the resort to the lake. He noticed immediately that Charlie and Bella Swan were not present.

He arrived just in time to hear Rachel Black Lahote chewing her father out. “Do you realize how absolutely rude this is? Emily and Lauren are here with Bella. Did you have to do this now?”

“Yes, they live in Seattle. It’s critical that things be explained now.”

Rachel shook her head. “Always thinking about the pack, aren’t you, Dad? You’re so selfish.” It bothered her that her father always considered the pack even before his own children. If it weren’t for the stupid mandate that pack members and imprints had to stay in La Push, she would have left long ago. And it didn’t sit well with her, the way he was blatantly ostracizing Bella Swan right now.

“Rachel!”

“Billy, I agree with her,” Sam’s mother piped in. “This could have been done later. Why did it have to be done now? You really need to consider everyone involved in the situation?”

“I’m sorry, Bella is not pack,” Billy replied to Allison.

“No! She’s here for her father’s wedding with her two friends who happened to become imprints by chance. As Charlie’s daughter, Bella has more right to be here than any of us do. You don’t have to tell her about the pack, but purposely holding exclusive pack meetings during a time like this is just plain wrong! She already has a bad impression of our tribe anyway!”

“Billy, if you keep doing things like this, you’ll lose Charlie’s friendship. Bella is the apple of his eye, not you,” Sue reminded him. “She is blood, you are not. Blood is thicker than water!”

“Fine, we’ll make this quick.”

“No, I’m sorry. I have to find Bella. She’s probably back from having breakfast with her father right now,” Emily abruptly said.

“You will stay here and listen to me. I am the Chief of the Quileute Tribe.”

“Tough shit! I’m Makah and my soul mate is half Makah, so excuse me if I don’t bow down to you. Now I have to find Bella, okay? And don’t ever try to dictate my actions or I’ll tell my father.” Emily narrowed her eyes at Billy. “Just so you know, my father adores Bella, and she thinks the Makah Nation is way cooler than your evil empire!”

“And just who is your father?”

“Ahem, Elder Black.”

“Yes, Elder Clearwater?”

“Emily’s father is Elder Young-the Makah Tribal Chief.”

“Ah… I see… I…”

Emily didn’t wait for an answer. She simply smirked at him and took off in search of Bella with Lauren on her heels. Jacob tried to follow them, but Embry held him back.

“You can’t go. Remember, Bella hates you.”

“Yeah, she does.” The guy looked glum. Sam recalled how much it had hurt Jacob to send Bella away. He was upset for months afterwards, and when Bella abruptly left for Seattle with her friends, he actually cried. Hopefully, he’d be able to make amends with Bella-especially now that he had imprinted on her friend.

Paul stood up and clapped his hands together. “Alright, Jared, Quil, and I are going to find a bar to quench our thirst at. Do you want to join us?”

Sam shook his head in the negative.

“Good. Good. We’ll see you later.”

The three of them took off, leaving their imprints to do their own thing. They seemed to be in a rush to get away. Sam took in the sight of Claire, Kim, and Rachel gossiping together. Yeah, he understood why the three guys made their escape while they could. He decided to hang out poolside in peace with a book and a few beers.