Defective - Jacob Black {1}

Chapter 54: Need to Know

Bella inhaled for what might be the last time for a few hours. Renesmee nestled deeper into her arms, hiding her face in her hair.

As Carlisle answered the door, Jacob crossed the room towards me and pulled my body into his for comfort and normality. "Hello, Charlie," he said, most likely looking appropriately embarrassed. After all, Bella and Edward were supposed to be in Atlanta at the Centre for Disease Control. Uncle Charlie knew he'd been lied to.

"Carlisle," Charlie greeted him stiffly. "Where's Bella?"

"Right here, Dad." Bella called from in front of us and Charlie wasted no time and jogged up the stairs to the floor we were all waiting on.

Charlie's blank expression told me how off he thought Bella's voice was. His eyes zeroed in on her and widened. I read the emotions as they scrolled across his face.

Shock. Disbelief. Pain. Loss. Fear. Anger. Suspicion. More pain.

Bella bit her lip.

"Is that you, Bella?" he whispered.

"Yep." She winced at her wind-chime voice. "Hi, Dad."

He took a deep breath to steady himself.

"Hey, Charlie," Jacob greeted him from beside me. "How're things?"

Charlie glowered at Jacob once, shuddered at a memory, and then stared at me. "It's been a long time since I last saw you as well, kiddo." He nodded at me, taking in my appearance and comparing me against the other females in the room. He finally made the connection and noticed the difference.

He had of course noticed a slight change when he first saw me after my transformation but he hadn't been looking for it then. Now, with Bella and I in the same room surrounded by Esme, Alice and Rosalie he could see the exquisite, inhuman beauty in all of us.

"I've missed you too Uncle Charlie." I smiled softly not wanting to scare him.

Slowly, Charlie walked across the room until he was a few feet away from Bella. He darted an accusing glare at Edward, and then his eyes flickered back to her.

"Bella?" He asked again.

She spoke in a lower voice, trying to keep the ring out of it. "It's really me."

His jaw locked.

"I'm sorry, Dad," She said.

"Are you okay?" he demanded.

"Really and truly great," She promised. "Healthy as a horse."

"Jake told me this was... necessary. That you were dying." He said the words like he didn't believe them one bit.

Bella braced herself as she swallowed, trying to ease the tension inside her throat. Edward squeezed her shoulders sympathetically. "Jacob was telling you the truth."

"That makes one of you," Charlie growled, eyeing me as well. I looked down at the floor shamefully. "Oh," he said, and all the anger fell off his face, leaving only shock behind. "This is her. The orphan Jacob and Seth said you're adopting."

"My niece," Edward lied smoothly. He must have decided that the resemblance between Renesmee and him was too pronounced to be ignored. Best to claim they were related from the beginning.

"I thought you'd lost your family," Charlie said, accusation returning to his voice.

"I lost my parents. My older brother was adopted, like me. I never saw him after that. But the courts located me when he and his wife died in a car accident, leaving their only child without any other family."