F.T.A. Failure to Appear

Prologue

Prologue
Grace Cullen-Swan

"Where is she?!" Charlie yelled, marching back downstairs in his thick heavy work boots. "Where is she?!" He demanded, his usually serene brown eyes looking wild and untamed.

I had known he wouldn't react very well to the news, but I hadn't expected him to get so angry. I was suddenly very glad that I had sent Bella to the Cullen house so I could break the news to him privately. This kind of anger wouldn't be good for her nerves right now. She was already convinced that I was going to leave along with the Cullens, also, the town was starting lots of rumors surrounding her disappearance and the Cullens sudden move.

"Charlie, calm down." I hissed at him, catching his hands in mine and stopping him from pacing around like a trapped animal. "I sent her out of the house to an undisclosed location. I suspected you were going to be angry." I sighed.

"Angry?! I'm pissed!" He huffed. "She's a smart girl! She knows better than to be so careless."

"Careless?" My anger flared. "Charlie, vampires aren't supposed to be able to have children. They both believed there was no possible chance of this happening." I explained, pulling him over to the couch and forcing him to sit down. "I know it's terrifying, but we have to get on the same page for Bella's sake."

"I didn't want this for her." He sighed deeply, putting his face in his hands. "I wanted her to be better than her mom and I. I wanted her to be able to go off to college and find what she loves and who she loves. I didn't want her to be stuck with a kid and alone before she finished high school."

"I know." I sighed. "But it's happening and we have to think of a plan."

"Call Carlisle." Charlie told me immediately. "He should know about this. He might know what to do."

"I already tried." I frowned. "I cycled through every Cullens phone number and they're all disconnected. I even tried calling the Denali's to see if they had a number I could call. They said Carlisle asked them not to give me his number. We're on our own here." I sighed deeply, trying to push the sadness that was creeping into my heart out.

"But she's going to need a doctor. We can't explain to any doctor around here that her pregnancy isn't entirely normal." He worried.

"You've forgotten that I've spent the majority of my existence working as a nurse and doctor." I reminded him. "I'm perfectly capable of following proper procedure in this case, half-vampire and all."

"So what do we do about her going to school then?" He asked me.

"I've been thinking about it and I think our best option is to utilize my gift in this situation." I told him. "Bella can't handle the stress of having people point and stare and talk about her on top of what she's going through right now. I can cover her during school easily. I can reach her anywhere she goes on the school grounds as it's all in my range."

"How do we explain suddenly having a baby?" He asked. "We can't claim adoption here, it's bound to look like one of them."

"I can cover two people at once, and people already think I'm pregnant so-"

"No, I'm not going to let you cover for this. People already talk about you too much. No." Charlie shook his head.

"I want to cover." I promised him. "I love Bella, I don't want to see her hurting, and so I want to do what's best to protect her. If that means faking a pregnancy in front of the entire town then I'll do it." I swore to him. "I can do this. Let me do this."

"Alright." He agreed reluctantly. "I'm sorry I'm being so emotional, I'm just devastated." He shook his head, putting his head back into his hands as he started to cry.

"I know, it's perfectly normal." I sighed deeply. "No one could've seen this coming."

"Have you ever heard of anything like this?" He cried, his voice muffled by his hands.

"I've heard stories and myths." I shrugged, rubbing my hand over Charlie's back and shoulders to soothe the both of us. "If the things I've heard are even close to being true, we've got a lot ahead of us."

"Did Edward know there was even a chance of this happening?" Charlie asked me, and I could sense the quiet furry boiling in his veins.

"Absolutely not." I assured him. "I know he's never heard of the stories before. I've never even talked to Carlisle about them as I was sure they were just myths. I'm feeling quite guilty now." I confessed to him, wondering if I had said something it may have led to preventing this.

"Don't." He shook his head, sitting up and catching me in a tight embrace. "Don't feel guilty. No one knew." He tried to convince himself. "So, what do we do next?" He asked me after a long moment, still holding me tight.

"What do you want to do next?" I asked him. "We could call Bella and tell her the coast is clear and she can come home. Or, I can call and tell her to stay where she is for the night." I told him, pulling him to me tighter.

"No, she should come home." He told me. "We're still going to talk to her about this, right?" He asked me.

"Of course." I agreed, knowing we needed a long talk about her actions and our plan moving forward. "Just try not to yell at her, it's not good for the baby." I explained.

We both cringed at the word.