Only Exception || C. Cullen ?

f i v e

Charlie's mouth twisted to the side. "I would have tried to protect you girls, too, if I had known how."

Both Christina and Bella smiled back at him silently.

"Guess you two never fit into the category of fainthearted," he muttered, patting his stomach which was growling back at him. "I'll think of something. We have time, right?"

"Right." Both girls nodded.

Seth bounced down the stairs, Annie in tow of him. The young wolf patted Charlie's shoulder in passing with a goofy smile. "You gonna stand my parents up, Charlie? C'mon, they're be here tomorrow. Let's get some grub!"

Charlie sighed as Seth left out the floor door. Annie stared up at her mom pleadingly, making her sigh along with Charlie. She nodded her head silently, already knowing the question that she wanted to ask.

"But you have to be back for breakfast early tomorrow morning," Christina reminded Annie. The little girl nodded her head frequently, excited about the sleepover.

"Jake says you both were going to take off on me," Charlie muttered softly.

Christina's lips pursed at the hurt expression on her father's face.

"We didn't want to," Bella stated.

"Not if there was another way around it," Christina continued.

"He said that you'll stay a while, but only if I'm tough enough— and if I can keep my mouth shut," Charlie continued.

"Yes." Bella nodded. "But we can't promise you that we'll never leave... it's pretty complicated—"

"Need to know," he reminded her.

She nodded once again. "Right."

"You'll visit, right? If you have to go?"

"Of course," Christina answered. "I don't think I could keep Annie away from here for too long anyway."

The six year old smiled up at her mother, only proving her point further.

"We'll keep as close as you want," Bella concluded.

Charlie opened his arms up for a hug from his eldest daughter first. She cradled Greyson—who was silently looking around with big eyes— into her left side as she leaned forward to give him a hug. Greyson took a quick sniff of his grandfather, enjoying his scent more than it made him hungry. He recognized it as family, much like he did with Annie's scent— after that, it was easy for him to dismiss the pain that the scent brought him.

Bella leaned forwards next to hug him, doing the same thing as Christina. She cradled a sleeping Renesmee into her side as held her breath as she held onto their father.

"Keep real close, girls," he finally answered. "Real close."

"Love you, dad," Bella whispered between her teeth.

"Love you, too, kid," he answered as they pulled away. "Whatever else has changed, that hasn't."

He gently rubbed one finger softly on Renesmee's cheek, before looking back towards Greyson, meeting his green eyes and wide smile. "They sure look a lot like you both," he muttered softly, seeing the similarities clearer now that he was calmed down.