A Visit with Charlie

I stepped out of Dad's car and onto the sidewalk, scanning for Grandpa Charlie. We were meeting for lunch at his favorite restaurant, The Lodge. I hadn't seen him in several weeks and I wanted to spend some quality time with him prior to leaving for school.

"Hey, Ness." He walked up and gave me a quick hug. I inhaled his scent, savoring it. It was still rather difficult for me to be around humans at times, but I was pretty much used to it at this point. He and Sue and other humans smelled differently from Jake and the other shape shifters. He smelled delicious. I faintly remembered having a penchant for biting Mom while she was still human, and Jake as well, as a baby.

"Hi, Grandpa Charlie." I pulled him in closer, hugging him tightly. I missed him so much. The fact that my time was limited with him made me want to spend even more time with him. I would leave for school in just a couple of months.

He released from my embrace and stared at me. "I swear, you have grown a foot since I saw you last." He wasn't entirely off by too much. He shook his head. "I don't understand it. I'm not going to pretend that I do."

"I know," I assured him. "I've had a ... growth spurt." My whole life had been a growth spurt. I was six years old and already 5'5".

He took a deep breath and then we walked toward the restaurant. He held the door open for me. "I hope you're hungry."

"Ravenous," I agreed. But not so much for food. I would survive, though. Part of being a Cullen was playing this public role. It was more difficult for me to have to do with family, though. We took a seat at a small, quiet booth near the back of the diner. Our smiling waitress brought us two menus.

"I think I'll have a veggie burger and a small green salad," I told the waitress.

"I'll have the works cheeseburger." Charlie handed the menu back to the waitress. "And we may split some cobbler for dessert."

"That sounds great." I did occasionally have a craving for sweets.

Charlie stared across the table at me. "I just can't get over how much you are starting to look like your mom," he mused. "You have exactly her shade of eyes, or the shade her eyes used to be." He shook his head. "I guess there are some things that it's just better I don't understand. One thing that hasn't changed is how much she loves you, and so do I."

"I love you too, Grandpa."

He laughed. "You even ordered the exact same thing that she used to when we ate here. Are you becoming a vegetarian too?"

You don't know the half of it. I simply nodded. There was so much I wanted to share with him. I longed to share it with him. It almost physically hurt for me not to tell him, but I knew that the more he knew, the more danger he would be in. "So, what have you been up to lately?"

"I went fishing with Billy the other day. He's been really lonely lately, since Jake has been gone so much. That kid really needs to take a hint. You're much too young for him."

"Jake...understands me. He gets what it's like, living the life that I live. I think you know what I mean."

He nodded, deep in thought, and then cringed at what must have been a memory. "Yeah, I do and I don't, Ness." He smiled, easing the tension. "As long as you don't change into a giant wolf, I think we'll be OK."

I laughed. "That's one thing you don't have to worry about."

The waitress soon arrived back with our food. "Here you are, Charlie." She turned to smile at me. "Ness, I can't believe how much you've grown. You really do look a lot like your uncle Edward." This was the public story. I hadn't really gone out in public, away from the reservation or the Cullen's house, very much until recently, when my growth had started to slow. I was introduced to the people in town as Dad's niece, the teenage daughter of his older brother. Both of my parents had recently died and I was left in their care. Charlie had met me as a baby and this was the story he was originally told as well, though he saw through the story almost immediately.

I smiled politely. "That's what people say, though I really have my mom's eyes."

She nodded. "She must have been a very beautiful lady." She walked away slowly, leaving us to enjoy our meal.

"Anyway, yeah. Jake is great. I'm not exactly sure where that's headed, but...I do like him a lot."
"The feeling seems more than mutual," Charlie laughed.

I chewed my veggie burger in silence for a few moments. "Grandpa Charlie, there's something I wanted to tell you," I said finally. He look up from his plate. "Well, I'm almost grown now... and I've decided to go off to school in Portland for a while. I'll be back for holidays, and some weekends. I just really think it's time I experienced life outside of Forks."

He nodded slowly. "I knew this was coming eventually. I know that you're growing up so fast. How...how are you going to explain this to your roommate, your classmates? Hell, I don't even understand it."

"Well, see, that's the good thing. By Grandpa Carlisle's estimate, I should be done growing pretty soon. I'll just look like an average college student."

Charlie sighed. "One of these days, you're going to have to quit talking in code like this. I love you so much, Ness, but I don't understand." He stared at me. "I just keep thinking that I'm going to wake up one day and you'll be gone, like you were a dream."

I swallowed. "We just can't really talk to you about that right now. I'll talk to Mom and Dad. I'm hoping, one day, we will be able to tell you everything. Just know that I do love you and I will be back." I shoved his arm playfully. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"I hope not." He sighed. "You're just a kid. I don't mean to dump all this heavy stuff on you. I just hate to see you grow up so fast. I hope you know what you're doing and you make the right decisions for you."

I nodded. "That's the thing. I don't know what the right thing is yet. That's what I'm hoping to find out. All I've known my whole life is life here in Forks. There seems to be such a big world out there, and I want to explore it."

"You're a smart girl, Renesmee. I'm sure you'll figure it out. You know, you remind me a bit of your grandmother, Renee, in that way. So curious about the world. I wish you could meet her, but I understand why you can't. Not right now anyway. Maybe once you quit growing like a weed..." He laughed.

"I'd really love to meet her. Mom's told me so much about her. I'd like to try to meet her one day. We'll work out the details." No matter what happened in life, I felt like everything would work out. I'd already overcome so many obstacles. My mere existance was a miracle. I knew that, with the love of my friends and family, I could overcome any obstacle. I may be being naive, but my mom always said that she believed that magic existed. How could I feel any differently at this point?