Rosebella Swan emerged from her dad's car and smiled at the sky. She could smell the woods around her and could hear the bugs making their calls. It was the beginning of summer in forks and Rose was so relieved to be here. It meant a summer of fun and being able to reconnect with her dad. She didn't have to constantly be on edge on whatever it was she was doing and worry that it would be compared to her sister.
Everyone knew Renee favored Bella over Rose. However, Charlie wasn't like that. Charlie treated both equally, although, Rose did tend to be the one who responded the most to his attempts. Bella was in simplest terms quiet and awkward. She was also very clumsy though Rose hoped she would outgrow that. Because of this, it was up to Rose to bridge the gap between her awkward twin and her equally socially awkward father. She didn't mind this because she loved Bella and she loved Charlie. Most of all, Rose just loved Forks.
Upon entering the house, Rose noticed that it was very clean. It still had Charlie's outdoorsman type of decorating, but it seemed polished. There was flowers in the center of the dining table and the kitchen counters had been cleared. She could smell the pine sol used to clean the floor which was shiny as she walked in. She smiled softly knowing that Charlie had spent time cleaning and sanitizing everything for her arrival. It was an effort she missed being shown from her mom.
Charlie motioned towards the stairs. "You're room is up there. It's the one on the right."
Rose turned to look at him. "Oh yeah! You got that renovation right? It's three bedrooms now."
Charlie nodded. "Yeah and two bathrooms now so you have your own."
Rose bounded up the stairs to look at her new room. Upon entering she noticed the changes her dad had made in an attempt to make it more grown up for her. Charlie had updated her old bedroom which she had shared with Bella and had been magic school bus themed (her old favorite show) to a room more suited to her. She now had light blue walls and dark wood furniture. Her window overlooked the woods next to her house which she loved to see. Her dad had set up plants next to the window which sat on her desk. There was a quilt of gray flowers that covered her bed that was soft underneath her fingers.
She turned to look at her dad in the doorway and beamed at him. She giggled as she hugged him and thanked him again and again for her new decorations. He looked relieved down at her and hugged her back.
"Glad you like it."
"Oh I do I really do!" She responded. "Are we having anything for dinner?"
Her stomach rumbled. It was just then she realized that she hadn't eaten since before she left in the morning. Seeing as it was now well past lunch time she figured it'd be a good time to ask about dinner.
"Well Billy invited us over as soon as you landed but I figured you'd want a chance to freshen up and let your bags down beforehand." Charlie explained. Rose smiled as she let go of him and went to her bags.
"That's perfect. I just need one minute to lay out my stuff for tonight when we get back and then I'm ready to leave when you are." Rose grabbed her pajamas and her toothbrush and set them out. She figured that she'd be to tired to unpack when she returned home so that would do for now. She grabbed her dark green hoodie and threw it on over her t-shirt. She walked out of her room and down the stairs into the living room where she found her dad waiting.
"Ready." She said.
Charlie drove them off towards LA Push where Rose started bouncing with energy. Although she had talked to Jacob and the gang just two weeks ago, she was nervous about seeing them again. What if they decided they didn't like her anymore? What if they didn't like how loud she was? Should she hug everyone when she arrived? Or were they to grown up now? What if they all wished Bella was there instead of her?
It wasn't very long she was allowed to simmer in her thoughts when they arrived at Billy's house. It was sad for a moment as Rose realized that she wouldn't ever get to see Ms. Sarah again greeting her. Rose wasn't able to go to the funeral as her mother didn't allow her to fly out by herself as a ten year old. Although, she tried to make herself as available to Jacob as possible by reaching out every single day until he was able to function properly again.
At the front door sat Billy in his wheelchair, another change from her childhood days where Billy stood tall and proud. Next to him stood Jacob who was grinning ear to ear seeing the cruiser pull up. Behind them in the warm light from in the house stood Rachel and Rebecca. Rose hopped out the car and walked up with her dad to greet them. Rose didn't walk very far until Jacob rushed over to her and started squeezing her.
"Hi! How are you? I missed you! How was your flight? Did you see any cool birds? I've never been on a plane before but dad says that-" Jacob was firing question after question so quickly Rose didn't have enough time to respond. Her smile grew wider and wider as she got more and more excited to see him than she already had been.
"Alright Jacob give the girl some room to breathe." The calming voice of Billy Black floated over towards the pair. She looked over Jacob's shoulder to see Billy had descended down the ramp and wheeled himself over to them. Charlie patted him on the shoulder.
"Hi." she sheepishly muttered. Billy opened his arms and Rose was quick to leave Jacobs as she hugged Billy. "The girls are in the house why don't we go join them? It's barbecue night." Billy said.
"Won't hear me complaining." Charlie responded. The group of four walked in the house where Rachel and Rebecca resided. Rose was quick to go over and greet them. Rachel and Rebecca always got along better with Bella but that didn't stop them from liking Rose as well. Rose commented on Rachel's new haircut and the girls made swift promises to reconnect and hang separate from the boys soon.
Jacob grabbed Rose's hand and dragged her to the table where Billy and Charlie were already sitting. Once she sat she started animatedly talking about the mischief she got up to in Phoenix. Jacob and Rose started getting louder and louder in volume with the two twins piping in making the two fathers sit back in awe at how loud their children were getting. Billy chuckled and started speaking softly to Charlie about how the precinct has been doing lately.
"Oh! Dad" Rose called. Charlie turned his head to look at her a beat after she called. It was still strange to hear himself addressed as such since it had been so long. "Yeah honey?" he answered.
"Do you think we could go fishing soon? Jacob's telling me all about how he's able to catch fish as big as both his arms!" she excitedly shared. Billy raised his eyebrows. "Is he now?" Jacob looked down seeming embarrassed as Rebecca and Rachel began teasing him for his exaggerating tales. "Well isn't it true?" Rose titled her head.
Billy seemed to take pity on his son who had now gone red. "There are some big fish that have yet to be caught. If you'd like Rose we can go out tomorrow." Rose furrowed her brow. "But dad works tomorrow."
Charlie paused at the concept that his daughter was so adamant to spend time with him. He lightly shook his head. "I can take tomorrow off. It's a Monday so it should be relatively covered." Rose beamed at him and then turned to Billy. "So we can go tomorrow?" Billy nodded as Jacob began again back into his tale of the fish he almost caught that was about to swallow the small boat.
Rose looked around at Billy and Charlie now arguing about the best fishing tactics and then at Jacob and his sisters who seemed to also be arguing about if Jacob truly almost caught a small whale in the lake.
Rose leaned back in her seat slightly wishing Bella would've come with her. Even though Bella wasn't one for talking in crowds, or talking at all, Rose thinks she would have liked having a house that felt like it had life in it.
After the food was absolutely demolished, Rose helped the twins and Jacob with cleaning up. Once the dishes were done the two families reconvened in the living room to watch pre-recorded game Billy had on his cable. Rose sat next to Jacob on the floor with the couch supporting their backs while the twins and the dads sat on the assorted pieces of furniture. Rose didn't like watching football, but she enjoyed watching Billy and Charlie fight over whichever teams were playing. (No matter what team Billy favored Charlie always chose the opposite so the two would bicker the entire game.)
It was late and Rose had been nodding off as she leaned onto Jacobs shoulder. Jacob had already fallen asleep and had drool spilling out the side of his mouth. Rebecca had gone to bed already while Rachel started nudging the kids awake. Charlie and Rose bid the Blacks goodbye as they left and headed towards their car.
Upon arriving at home Rose sluggishly walked up the stairs after hugging Charlie goodnight. She changed into her set out pajamas and brushed her teeth. As soon as she laid on her bed she fell into a deep sleep.
The next day Rose woke up bright and early. She had set out her clothes for Charlie's and hers day out fishing. The truth was, Rose didn't like fishing to much but she wanted to spend as much time with her dad as she could to make up for all the time she couldn't.
So, with that, she set out on gathering snacks and putting them into a small cooler. She walked towards her dads room and knocked on his door. Charlie opened up, already dressed and ready for the day. "Ready?" he asked. She nodded.
Going back into the kitchen she spoke as she walked. "I got all the snacks together and Billy said he already had plenty of bait ready to go. We just need to get our poles from the shed and we'll be good to go." She trotted off to their coat rack near the door where she already had her rain jacket. It was a gloomy looking day, although that was the norm for Forks. Charlie went out past her to go fetch their poles. Once he returned with them the pair got into his cruiser and set off.
Arriving at Billy Blacks house they transferred their supplies to Billy's truck which could accommodate all four comfortably. While Billy could no longer drive, Charlie could. Rachel and Rebecca didn't care for fishing which was all fine as if they did, they'd have to ride in the back bed. Jacob hugged Rose in greeting and they all crawled into the truck and set off.
The lake was calm with an occasional ripple from the fish underneath the water. Everyone situated themselves and the spent the day casting out and reeling in. Jacob didn't catch anything unlike Rose who had managed to catch herself two bass.
Charlie and Billy each caught one themselves and laughed at the dismay of Jacob's lack of fish. Rose skipped her way back to the truck rubbing it in that she caught "Not one but two fish!"
They cleaned their catches back at Billy's and when Charlie and Rose made their way home, Rose looked up how to properly cook what she caught. She ended up burning the fish black but no one would have known the way Charlie devoured it.
After Charlie cleaned the kitchen the two went off to bed since it was late and said goodnight. With a final hug, Rose headed up to her room.
Once she arrived, she texted her group chat that she had with her best friends Paul and Jared. They hadn't responded to her calls yesterday when she landed and was wondering what they were up to. It mattered not as she was the spend the week with Jacob on the res since Charlie worked during the day. She figured she'd be able to see them soon.
With that thought in her head she showered and brushed her teeth. After she threw on some pajamas, she laid on her bed and swiftly went to sleep.