Gifted

Chapter 16: Renée

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Please read and review. It makes me smile.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bella tapped her foot nervously thinking that surely, what she was about to do couldn't possibly be more difficult than the rest of the day had been. But as she waited for Charlie to answer the door, she knew she'd take a few hours with a horde of teenagers any day over this. Just say hello, ask your question, and say goodbye, she thought to herself. Nothing to it.

She straightened when she heard his footsteps on the other side of the door and before she knew it, he was staring at her, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Hello!" Bella blurted, before she could deviate from her plan. "How are you?" Fuck. 2 seconds and you can't stick with a plan. Brilliant, Bella.

Charlie's face was blank. "Fine," he said flatly, then stood silently, waiting. A few moments later, he sighed and asked, "what can I do for you, Bella?"

Bella swallowed. "I came to ask you for permission to get a library card," she said. "If it's ok, can you please sign this application? I'm sorry to bother you, but they need a parent's permission."

Charlie nodded. "All right. Let me get a pen." He turned to go inside, then paused and faced Bella again. "You can come inside if you want."

Surprised, Bella nodded and followed him in.

The last time she was here she was so distracted with seeing Charlie that she didn't really get a good look at the place. Now, while Charlie rummaged around in the kitchen, Bella's eyes wandered and took in the place her father called home. The furniture was a little old-fashioned. She couldn't be sure, but it didn't look like Charlie had updated anything when he inherited this place. Everywhere, there were signs that this was a man's house. An empty pizza box, a can of beer, a very expensive looking entertainment center...the kinds of things she supposed were typical in a house without a woman's touch.

The only feminine-ish looking area was a table off to the side in the entryway that contained a set of tastefully positioned photographs in nice picture frames. Bella walked towards it to take a closer look, and immediately wished she hadn't.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she was confronted with a dozen pictures of her mother.

Renée was so beautiful. Her eyes glowed with warmth and laughter. She remembered her always full of life and funny quirks...the kind of person who would buy an ice cream cone in the middle of the coldest day just because the ice cream man was probably lonely...the kind of mom who didn't get mad when Bella got paint all over her shirt, but would instead laugh and help her paint her pants so they'd match.

There on the table before her, she saw pictures of her mother on her wedding day, when she was a teenager, younger than Bella playing on a swing, in a park with Charlie, laying on a picnic blanket, and many more. Bella stared and stared, like an addict within sight of his fix. In seven years, the only pictures she had of her mother were what she could conjure in her mind. And she was so young when it happened...this woman before her put her mental image of her to shame. She was perfect. And Bella had destroyed her.

The second Bella realized who was in the photographs she had braced herself for the pain. It didn't disappoint.

For the second time that day her body boiled, the pain strong enough to knock out anyone in the world but Bella, who was so used to this feeling that, even though it still shocked her to the core, it was practically second nature. To the casual observer, Bella looked the same as she did 10 seconds ago. Inside, she was burning.