The Unique Swan(A Twilight Fanfic)

Chapter 9

One day, Charlie was in his office at the station. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." He said. He looked up to see it was Carlisle. "Oh. Hello Dr. Cullen." Charlie greeted.

"Hello Charlie." Carlisle greeted back.

Charlie was a little taken aback. Typically, the only reason anyone from the hospital came to the station was to report something and/or need an officer to go to the hospital, and they almost always refer to him as Chief. But, Carlisle's informal greeting told him this wasn't work related.

"This doesn't have to do with work." Carlisle confirmed.

"Oh. Well, what can I do for you?" Charlie asked.

"My wife and I would like to invite you and Delilah over for dinner with our family tomorrow." Carlisle replied.

Now Charlie was really taken aback. Aside from whenever he would have dinner with Billy and Harry's families in La Push, he never got invitations to dinner parties. He wasn't sure how to answer.

"Please don't take this wrong way." Charlie started. "But, why?"

"Well, Delilah spends so much time over at our house with Alice tutoring her, we don't really know much about her or you and we would like to get to know you guys a little more." Carlisle explained. "It's just an invitation, we would understand if you or Delilah aren't interested."

"No. No." Charlie said. "It sounds fun and I'm sure Delilah would enjoy it."

"Great." Carlisle said. "Is there anything that Delilah doesn't like that Esme shouldn't make?"

Charlie had to think for a moment. There was a lot that Delilah didn't like eating. "It's probably easier to tell what she does like." He said. "She likes chicken and cauliflower."

"I'm sure Esme could do something with that." Carlisle said. "What does she like to drink?"

Charlie was feeling a little guilty now. When it came to meals, Charlie tended to allow Delilah to eat a lot of unhealthy things like eating out fast food. It was only because she knew what she liked and tended to get upset when she was forced to eat something she didn't like. It didn't happen a lot now because Charlie never wanted to force her to eat something she didn't like. But, it did happen when she was younger.

"Um. She likes soda." Charlie finally answered. "Root Beer's her favorite."

"Alright." Carlisle said.

"I realize it's not the healthiest for her." Charlie said, almost trying to defend himself. "I try to get her to eat a little more healthier, but it upsets her sometimes and I don't like upsetting her."

"I didn't say anything, Charlie." Carlisle said.

"But, you're a doctor." Charlie said. "Surely, you have some opinion on it."

"Charlie, it's none of my business and it's not my place to judge you on how you raise your daughter." Carlisle said.

"What time should we be over?" Charlie asked.

"I guess that would depend on when Delilah likes to eat dinner." Carlisle said.

"You guys really don't need to arrange your entire evening for Delilah's sake." Charlie said.

"Well, we would rather accommodate for Delilah rather than ourselves." Carlisle said.

"I would say between 5 and 6." Charlie answered. "She likes to eat early."

"How does 5:30 sound?" Carlisle asked.

"Sounds good." Charlie said. "I just want to say that I really appreciate all the help Alice has been giving Delilah. The tutoring has been helping her a lot and I appreciate you allowing her to stay with Delilah that day from school."

"Of course, Charlie. We're glad it's helping her." Carlisle said. "Actually, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"What?" Charlie asked.

"If it's alright with you." Carlisle started. "I'd like to help Delilah."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"I'd like to try to help Delilah, I guess cope with her autism." Carlisle explained. "If it's alright with you and Delilah, of course."

"I don't have an issue with it and I don't think Delilah will." Charlie said. "She seems to really like your family."

"Alright." Carlisle said. "Well, we'll see you and Delilah tomorrow."

"Bye Carlisle." Charlie said.

Carlisle then left the office.