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The ride home was shaping up to be a silent one. Every question Charlie had asked was met by Lily with yes and no answers, none of which seemed rude in any way; it was just apparent that Lily was a shy girl. She still had one ear bud placed in her ear, and Charlie could vaguely hear what she was listening to. He was relieved it wasn’t anything that involved rock guitars or screaming voices.

“How was school going in Maryland, Lily?” Charlie looked over at her quickly and then back to the road.

She just shrugged, never looking from the window. Charlie had never talked this much in a long time. He was definitely not used to being the one to carry a conversation. A smile played on his lips as he realized how frustrated others must feel when talking to him. He stole another glance and noticed her expression didn’t appear sad or upset, and for that he was thankful.

They pulled into the Forks High School parking lot, and he put the police cruiser in park. He mentally scolded himself for bringing this vehicle. It had just dawned on him that maybe Lily wouldn’t want such a blazing introduction to the town of Forks. Fortunately, no one had taken to gawking or pointing as they entered town.

“You know you don’t have to go to school today,” he stated plainly. “You can always wait until next week… or whenever you’re ready.”

He took to biting the inside of his lip as she started stowing all of her belongings into the back pack she had brought with her. She shook her head and turned to him, smiling.

“No. It’s fine. I’ll be fine,” she replied, turning back to her back pack. She patted it twice as she moved for the door handle.

Charlie turned slowly to mimic her movements, opening his own door. He stepped out and watched her carefully over the top of the cruiser. He was determined to make her stay home at the first sign that she didn’t want to be there. To this point, he had seen none. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or distraught. He had just picked her up, and he didn’t know if he was ready to share her with the world yet.

They walked in silence toward the large double doors leading to the front office. He held it open for her, and she stepped underneath his arm and into the old school. The smell of mold and sweat brought back memories for Charlie as they stepped together over the threshold of the office. Charlie pointed toward a seat by the window for Lily to sit in before walking up to the desk with his hands in his pockets.

“Hey, Amanda,” he started. “Is Mrs. Freeman here?”

Charlie was attempting to peer past the small girl for Mrs Freeman. In the same instant, Amanda was attempting to peer past Charlie for a look at Lily. Charlie’s defensive instincts kicked in as he whirled around to see how Lily was interpreting the attention. To his relief, she had stuffed both ear buds in her ears and had her eyes closed. She had been oblivious to the whole exchange.

Charlie glared down at Amanda. “Um, I’ll go get her,” she answered quickly, scurrying away. Charlie folded his arms over his chest. He hoped desperately that the kids at Forks High wouldn’t be mean to Lily. He didn’t know a lot about her, but knew no kid in her situation deserved to have any ill-will directed toward her.

Charlie started toward the bulletin board on his left, wanting to distract himself with the latest school news while he waited.

“Charlie,” Mrs. Freeman’s voice rang out. “How are you?”

He turned quickly to meet her smiling face with a smile of his own.

“I’m good,” he swallowed. “Good.”

He pointed toward Lily. She simply nodded and motioned with her head toward the other end of the long desk. She pushed a set of papers toward him.

“I’m a little concerned, Charlie,” she began, her brow furrowed. “If you look here, you can see the list of classes she’s taken.”

He met her eyes with a look of confusion and a shrug.

“My problem is that these are all sophomore classes. She hasn’t taken anything higher. She’s not behind,” she corrected herself in a hurry. “She didn’t start school until 1994, which means that instead of her being 5 when she started school she was 7.”

Charlie pursed his lips, utterly confused by what this could mean. He turned to Lily, who still had her eyes closed and her head now propped up against the window behind her. He racked his brain a couple of seconds longer for an explanation before turning back to Margaret.

“Margie,” Charlie started, using her nickname. “Is there anything we can do? I don’t want her to be so behind everyone else her age. She’s already at a disadvantage starting this late in the school year.”

She held up her index finger, a smirk playing on her lips. She picked up another pile of papers from the small desk behind her.

“Here,” she laid it in front of him. “This is a placement test she can take. If she can pass it, she can start class with the seniors tomorrow and then graduate on time in May.”

He took a deep breath, wanting desperately to call Renée so she could give him some insight into what needed to be done here. He shrugged and then nodded to Mrs. Freeman, who stacked all the papers together and headed out from behind the desk. Charlie followed closely behind her as she neared Lily. She must have felt everyone’s eyes on her as she opened one of her own. She smiled up at the pair and removed both ear buds.

“This is Mrs. Freeman, Lily.” Charlie motioned toward the Mrs. Freeman, who extended her hand. Lily took it and shook before replacing both hands in her lap.

“She needs you to take some tests before you can start class. Is that okay?” he questioned, not knowing what would set her off.

Her confusion matched his from moments ago as she stood up, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. “Sure,” she mumbled slowly.

Mrs. Freeman motioned for Lily to follow her into a small room off the main office. Lily did so without so much as a glance back at Charlie, who was growing progressively more nervous. He sat down in the chair Lily had just occupied and began to rub his hands nervously on his jeans.

He shifted his position in the chair many times in an attempt to get comfortable. He even tried standing a couple of times and trying to read the fliers on the walls before ultimately giving up and sitting in the chair again. Lily’s test took a grand total of two hours and forty-three minutes, and Charlie had counted every one.

Mrs. Freeman and Lily emerged together, smiling and laughing. Their laughter had Charlie grinning, as he was happy Lily wasn’t always a shy person. Mrs. Freeman winked as soon as he caught her eye, and he took that as a good sign.

“Bring her back tomorrow, and we’ll get her all set up,” Margaret stated, giving a thumbs up to Charlie as Lily turned around and headed for the door.

A comfort washed over Charlie, as he was happy that this was one less thing he would have to worry about. He now knew that Lily would open up a little if prodded enough, as he was sure Mrs. Freeman had done. He made a mental note to have Lily explain why she had the first two years of her schooling postponed. The puzzle that was Lily’s former life would come together soon enough.

They walked back out of the front doors and down the sidewalk. Charlie’s hands had become permanent fixtures in his pockets, as he didn’t know where else to put them. Silence was the foundation in their relationship, albeit a strange one. He hoped he could make more progress with Lily than he’d ever made with Bella as a teenager.

“So… um… We’ll go to the house. You can unpack, and I’ll show you your room,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Are you hungry?”

She just shook her head and hopped into the passenger side of the police cruiser. Once again, she didn’t appear angry, upset, or sad… content seemed a better description. He prayed that his impression was correct as he took his place behind the wheel.

He knew he was probably staring, but he couldn’t help watching her as she walked through the small living room, apparently entranced by the many pictures that lined the walls. He walked around her as she stopped in front of one particular picture and continued on his way to his favorite chair.

The silence was deafening, and she made no movement to join him. The lack of conversation, for once, was not comforting to Charlie… it was maddening. He needed answers to his questions, though he knew some he would be too afraid to ask right away.

He coughed quietly, hoping to break whatever trance she had entered into. Thankfully, she turned slowly away from the picture to face him. He motioned for her to sit on the couch, and she obliged. She stared at him with waiting eyes as Charlie searched for the right words to begin.

“I… um…,” he stuttered. “Do you know why you… um… had to take that test?”

She shook her head and offered no further insight or comment on the topic. He huffed slightly as he realized this was going to be more difficult than he had hoped. She wasn’t going to offer any help to him, as Bella often did. He finally decided that just laying it all out there might be his best bet. It’d be like removing a band-aid; the quicker the better.

“You were actually two grades behind where you were supposed to be. For some reason, you didn’t start school until you were 7. Did your.. um.. Mom ever give you any explanation?” he spat out.

She shook her head, her eyes seeming to scan his face for answers. “You mean I’m not 16?”

Her voice was so quiet that Charlie almost didn’t hear it. Things were slowly falling into place, and he was utterly taken aback. She thought she was two years younger than she really was. He repeated that sentence over and over in his head. There was no rational reason why two people would hold their seemingly bright child back an entire two years and then lie to that child. He shook his head as she continued to search for her own answers in the wood grain beneath their feet.

“Lily.” He reached over and touched her leg – his attempt at being reassuring. “You’re actually 18.”

Her eyes shot up to his face. “18?!” she screeched. “I’m already 18?”

Charlie nodded and cringed; he had heard that screech before in this house. The more she began to talk, the more he noticed that she sounded exactly like Renée. He wanted to smile as the familiar voice sounded in his memories, but he suppressed it, knowing that Lily was facing a new world and realizing her old life was riddled with lies.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Charlie stated, removing his hand. “We can always throw you a big birthday party. Alice is really good at those.”

His smile was becoming harder to hide as he congratulated himself for thinking of a way to make Lily feel better about the news.

As usual, his initial assumption of what would make the women in his life happy could not have been further off the mark.

“A party?” she shot back; sarcasm laced her words. “A party is going to make this all better?”

Her arms were now folded over her chest, and Charlie was growing nervous again. He had messed up, and he didn’t think he could backtrack quickly enough to stop this train wreck.

“And who is Alice?” she scoffed; emphasizing Alice’s name with disdain.

“Alice is Edward Cullen’s sister. He is your sister Bella’s boyfriend,” Charlie said quietly. He didn’t like this side of Lily, but he could hardly be upset about it. He was starting to realize that Lily had been lied to much more than Bella had been, and about truly fundamental things. He had been comparing the two girls since the moment he met Lily, and he needed to realize that she was acting like any normal teenager in this situation – probably better than most would.

“Bella is my sister,” she stated, breaking his train of thought.

She seemed in awe at this news as well. It had to be mind-boggling to realize you had a whole other family you had never known anything about. Charlie hated feeling that he and Lily were starting off on the wrong foot. He hated it more that he didn’t know how to fix it. He looked over at the clock and clapped his hands. Lily jumped slightly at the sudden noise.

“Bella will be home soon. Do you want me to show you to your room?” Charlie stood as he asked.

“Yeah… sure,” she mumbled back her answer.

She seemed a little jarred at the sudden change in conversation shortly after such an announcement, but she followed anyway. He wanted to hug her and tell her it would all be okay. Instead, he picked up her suitcases and headed for the staircase.

He bit the inside of his mouth as he opened the familiar bedroom door. The once-barren room that had been made up of mostly neutral colors now stood proudly in all its lilac glory. The room was gorgeous, and Charlie was glad he’d allowed Alice to come over and pick it all out. He had attempted a room makeover once when Bella had moved in. He was sure she had simply been too nice to admit how horrible it had all looked the way he had thrown it together.

He placed Lily’s luggage just inside the door as she walked past him. Her expression still hadn’t changed, and her arms were still firmly placed over her chest. He placed his nervous hands back in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels slightly.

“It’s pretty,” she said, nodding her approval.

“Alice,” Charlie swallowed, that being all he could manage to say.

Angry women had to be Charlie’s one and only weakness. He never knew how to respond and could usually be found giving said woman whatever she wanted. Charlie had learned that being still and making little to no noise usually diffused the situation greatly.

“It’s pretty,” she repeated, unfolding her arms and giving him a weak smile.

He let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding in as he grinned back at her. “I’m glad you like it.”

She pointed to the matching twin beds. “Which is mine?”

He pointed to the one next to the door, and she began dragging her luggage to it. He didn’t know if that was cue to leave or not, so he stood awkwardly in the doorway.

“Bella usually makes dinner for me, but I’m sure we could go out and eat if you want.”

She shook her head, though she never looked back up at him. “No. Dinner here is fine.”

“Well… um… I’m going to go to my room. Make yourself at home.” He rolled his eyes at the cliché comment.

When she didn’t respond, he retreated back into the hallway, reaching to shut the door behind him. As soon as it closed, he heard her muffled screams. He reached reflexively for the handle again and stopped himself, giving a low chuckle; he’d heard that noise before, too. She was screaming into a pillow. In time, he would tell her just how much like her real mother she actually was. He shook his head and continued on to his own room, thinking one thought: Dinner should be interesting.

Charlie cringed again as Bella dropped yet another pan on the counter. He was desperately attempting to ignore the loud noises coming from the kitchen and watch his game. Television was his only distraction, and currently it was being interrupted by Bella’s nervousness. Charlie caught another glimpse of Edward out of the corner of his eye. He was perched perfectly still on the other end of the couch. Every once in awhile, Charlie would catch him shifting his position, but his expression never changed.

Lily’s footsteps could be heard overhead, shuffling back and forth through the small room. She was still getting situated and hadn’t once ventured downstairs. Before Bella had gotten home, Charlie had heard Lily talking on the phone to someone. He couldn’t make out any more than muffled whispers through the wall… not that he had been eavesdropping or anything.

He shook his head slightly and directed his attention back to his small television screen just as Edward stood, heading into the kitchen. If Charlie’s ears heard right, Bella had just dropped the small sauce pan on the floor and was trying to clean up what had splattered. Bella was in rare form today; Charlie couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her so flustered. She had always been so put together, never letting anything get to her. Her maturity had always compensated for any nervousness, but her blush would always give her away to those who knew her well.

Charlie knew Bella’s face was surely a bright red, as she was aware how much rode on her interaction with Lily. He now realized it wouldn’t have been possible to place more pressure on Bella than he already had by forcing them to share a room without ever meeting. Charlie made yet another mental note to thank Bella for being so amazing through all of this.

His eyes were suddenly drawn to the ceiling as he heard Lily open the door to the room. Charlie’s heart was now beating wildly out of control as her footsteps began their descent down the staircase. His hands were visibly shaking as he turned his head just in time to catch sight of Lily entering the kitchen.

Lily smiled weakly as Bella and Edward both turned to look up at her from the floor. Bella stood and straightened out her shirt as she extended her hand. Bella was indeed blushing furiously as Lily took her hand and shook it. Both girls mirrored each others movements as they placed their hands back at their sides.

“I made spaghetti.” Bella stated, pointing toward the large pot on the counter.

Lily’s eyes grew wide and a smile stretched on her face. “I love spaghetti. It is literally my favorite dish.”

“Mine too.”

Edward finished the chore at hand before standing up as well. He placed the sauce pan back on the counter and extended his hand to Lily.

“Lily, this is Edward.” Bella interjected, motioning to Edward.

She cocked her head ever so slightly to the side as she took it, jerking it back in the next instant as if she had received a shock. Charlie had entered the kitchen in time to observe this exchange but didn’t know what to make of it.

He leaned against the door frame. “Is… uh… dinner ready yet, Bells?”

Bella peeled her eyes from Lily’s face and nodded to Charlie. She turned slowly and started to gather the plates she had set out on the counter. She handed each out; one to Lily, one to Charlie, and one for herself.

“He’s not eating?” Lily said, pointing to Edward. Her question directed at Bella.

“No. My mother is making my favorite dish tonight. I was simply staying for Bella’s sake, but I can leave if I am making the situation uncomfortable,” Edward explained.

Both Charlie and Bella remained motionless as they watched the exchange between Lily and Edward take place. The tone in her voice made her appear very irritated with Edward for some reason unknown. Lily continued to look deep into Edward’s eyes as if searching for something before simply shrugging.

“No more uncomfortable than it already is,” Lily stated plainly, turning to the counter where the spaghetti noodles were stationed.

She scooped herself a large amount before scooting down the counter for the sauce. Charlie took her lead and began dishing himself some as well. Bella and Edward continued what appeared to be a private and silent conversation before she followed behind the other two. Edward sat down at the table just as Lily did and politely smiled at her. She returned the gesture, though it did not seem genuine. Charlie had never really entertained the idea of Edward and was greatly enjoying that there appeared to be someone else who did find him as fascinating as Bella and the rest of the town did.

Lily took her fork and began swirling it around her noodles. Some of the sauce dripped back onto her plate as she picked it up and started eating. She moaned quietly and appreciatively as she gave a thumbs up to Bella, who had finally taken her seat. Bella half-smiled as she began eating her own smaller portion.

Lily swallowed. “I can’t believe I found someone else who puts jalapenos in their spaghetti sauce. This is great,” she exclaimed.

“Oh. Yeah… my mom… Or our mom,” Bella corrected quickly, “loves jalapenos in her sauce.” She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t even think about it anymore when I make it. I’ve always done it like that.”

Lily nodded and took another large bite. Charlie was glad Lily was talking to Bella civilly, though she had no reason to be mature about any of this. He knew he would never have taken the news he had been lied to as well as both of his daughters had.

“So, Bella,” Lily said, mouth half-full, “when is our birthday?”

Charlie’s eyes grew wide as he realized he had forgotten to tell Bella the latest news. “Lily just found out she is actually two years older than what her other parents were telling her,” he blurted out.

“Yeah. Apparently there’s a lot about myself I don’t know.” Lily swallowed, going back for what was sure to be another large bite. She seemed to be quite adjusted to the shocking news she had only discovered hours ago.

Both of Bella’s eyebrows rose as she stared from Charlie to Lily again. “It’s September 13th,” she said quietly.

Lily just nodded as she took another bite and looked out the window. This time it was Edward who continued the conversation.

“So, Lily.” He smiled politely at her as she turned back to him again. “What are some of your hobbies? What did you do for fun in North Beach?”

She didn’t appear too thrilled that Edward had chosen to speak again, but she answered him anyway. “I was in beauty pageants mostly, though I don’t think I’d call it fun,” she said tersely.

“Oh? And why is that?” he asked, seemingly interested in their conversation.

She took another bite and swallowed before answering him. “Well, Edward.” Her voice appeared strained. “It’s hard to find much fun in standing around for hours in a big poofy dress and tons of make-up while you watch much younger girls do things too risqué for their age.”

Charlie choked slightly on his dinner when he heard her explanation. It was obvious that she didn’t enjoy talking about this, or anything else to do with North Beach. He turned to her and noticed she looked ready to cry as she placed her fork on her now-empty plate.

“May I be excused?” she questioned, turning up to Charlie with glistening eyes.

He nodded and watched as she scooted her chair back, took her plate to the sink, and then walked slowly upstairs. She hadn’t slammed or even shut her door, so Charlie took that as a good sign. He turned to Edward and glared at him. Edward appeared visibly repentant for having inadvertently upset Lily. Regardless, Charlie felt no sympathy for him as he took his plate to the sink as well.

“Thanks for dinner, Bells,” Charlie said. “It was good.”

He walked back into the living room to continue watching his game. Charlie couldn’t remember a moment when he had ever hated Edward more than he did right now. He could hear Bella’s hushed tones coming from the kitchen, and he turned the game up louder. Charlie knew that conversation wasn’t meant for him anyway.

He still managed to hear Lily lay down on her bed upstairs as it scooted across the floor slightly. How could he make this better for everyone? Charlie hoped he would find a way. He would call Renée next chance he got and fill her in on all the latest. Maybe she had been right. Maybe Lily did need her mother more than she needed her father. He couldn’t stop the tears welling in his own eyes at the thought. He had looked so long for her. Charlie couldn’t stand the thought that, after all that searching, praying, and worrying, she wouldn’t want to be here with him.

He cursed himself as a picture appeared vividly in his mind: a tiny plastic hospital bassinet standing empty. He had stared at it for so long that night, hoping it would have the answers to her location etched somewhere on it. He looked down at his feet as he realized he would do whatever was best for Lily, even if that meant sending her away again.