I'm so thrilled for Bella that her father has come for a visit, that the smile on my face rivals that of the Joker's. They are coming to my first game of the season, and it will be awesome to look into the family section and see my Bella and Charlie cheering me on.
We wait for his plane at Sea Tac, and I remember my own flight about half a year ago. I'd been confused and disappointed that Bella wasn't there to pick me up, only finding out later what that Gherkin-sized schmuck had done.
I don't want or need to dwell on that, because I have my girl in my arms, and we're impatiently waiting for her dad to disembark. She sees him first, calling out to him and waving him over. Charlie is beaming, looking just as I remember him. He hugs us both and asks where the nearest steak restaurant is, because he wants to treat us to dinner.
Which is what leads us to this moment, with Charlie standing over the prone form of the cocktail weiner that somehow passes as a real man. I'm holding Vicki back, and she's digging her acrylic nails into my forearm, screaming at me to let her check on Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
"Keep it up, Vick, all these scratches amount to assault," I remind her.
"That idiot assaulted Riley first! I'm going to make sure he presses charges!" I flinch a little as her spit makes contact with my cheek, cuz, ew.
"Do I need to remind you that he had his hands around my throat? It's called defending someone." I spot the uniforms coming our way, and shove Victoria at them.
"I almost had everything! Riley is horrible in bed! The only reason I stayed was because I thought we were going to take over morning television together!" She sobs and sinks to her knees in front of the closest officer, gripping his pant leg like a victim of war. I shudder at the thought of her so close to my private vault. She wails on and on, and the other officer steps around them with a roll of his eyes.
"Can you tell me what happened here, sir?" He's addressing Charlie, so I keep my mouth shut—for now. I may be a wise ass, but I'm no idiot.
"Officer," he nods in recognition. "I just flew in from Arizona, and I was enjoying dinner with my daughter and son-in-law," he gestures to Bella, who I'd insisted stay at the table, and then to me. I try not to gloat over what he referred to me as.
"This guy here, he comes up to us and starts screaming about Elvira and Bismarck, and something about how he should have gotten my little girl pregnant. I don't know who he is or what the hell he means, and then my kids start to explain that he used to be a co-anchor with my daughter. She's Isabella Swan, of Good Morning Seattle." I can't help but chuckle at the pride in his voice. When I look over to Bella, she's gazing serenely at the chaos. She knows there are cameras on her, there are always cameras on her these days.
"Anyhow, Edward and I stand up, that's my son here, and the staff are asking this midget, uh, guy, to leave. Instead, he makes a leap off that empty chair and lunges for Edward, wrapping his hands around his neck and trying to choke him. Which is laughable, really, since he's so short and puny. He couldn't have really done any damage, but I didn't think about that at the time. At the time, I reacted as any father would when his children are being violently attacked in front of their eyes."
Charlie rolled his shoulders back, standing tall and proud as a motherfucker. "I punched him square in the face."
"I see," was the only response to that long speech, where I morphed from his daughter's boyfriend to his son-in-law, to his actual child. "Is that the way it went, if I asked the other patrons of the restaurant, who undoubtedly have cell phone footage?" he asked me.
"To the best of my recollection. Everything happened so quickly, and then this circus act was flying at me and trying to wrap his tiny hands around my neck with his feet dangling off the ground. It was kind of surreal."
By now, Riley is up off the floor, an ice pack on his swollen face. Another unit has responded along with EMS from the local fire station. "He stole my fiancée, and then my whole life went to shit! I was King of Seattle, and now I'm being shipped off to fucking Bismarck, North Dakota! I have to play the goddamn Elvira song every morning at seven on the dot at KFYR, a fucking AM station! She should be popping out my babies and be grateful for it, and instead she's shacking up with this Kato Kaelin impersonator!"
"Okay, that's enough. Let's go," the officer holding onto Dark Helmet escorts him toward the EMS.
Someone checks out my neck, where there are hardly any red marks. Someone else looks at cell phone videos, seeing that it's basically the way Charlie told it, with maybe a few more insults and foul language thrown around. Charlie really did only punch him after he tried his little boy scout best to choke me.
I couldn't help but laugh as I watched the video over someone's shoulder. The Gherkin looked enraged. "It's all your fucking fault, Elliott! If you hadn't come back here I would be married to Bella by now and we would have a baby on the way. I wouldn't be moving to BISMARCK NORTH DAKOTA to waste away on a radio station where they play Elvira every fucking morning!" He brought his hands to his hair and pulled before screaming and trying to wrap them around my throat.
The headlines the next morning read along the lines of, "Seattle Darling Defended By Her Boyfriend and Her Father, Ex Has No Hold On Her". Bella giggled over it all, which was fine by me. As long as she wasn't truly affected by his stupidity, then I could deal with it. He was leaving soon anyway.
We head to my first game, Charlie and Bella and I. I'm so excited, I feel like I'm flying high. There's more press than usual, and I know it's because of Bella's celebrity. Her numbers at the station have shot through the roof since the station hired two very nice, non-catty women to co-anchor, breaking the contracts of both Riley and Victoria for unprofessional conduct. I understand now why the only position he could get was for a news/talk radio station in North Dakota. Although they do have a syndication, so he shouldn't be too upset over it.
"Baby," Bella says to me. My attention keeps wandering.
"Yes, Bella." I turn my face to hers with a smile.
"You're going to do great. I'm so proud of you."
I grin wider, kissing her smiling mouth. My world revolves around her and soccer right now, and that is just exactly what I want out of life. "Thank you. I love you, I'm so happy to have you here."
Charlie and Bella are escorted to the family seating area, and I have to go under the stadium to get ready with the rest of the guys. We play hard, and win big, the crowd flooding the field at the end of the game. Adrenaline is racing through my veins, there are so many slaps on the back, handshakes and congratulations, but I just want Bella. I search for her face in the crowd, but she's short enough that I'm afraid I won't find her.
"Edward!" I hear in a booming voice. It's obviously not Bella's, and I turn to see Charlie coming toward me, pushing his way through the crowd. I head in his direction, and then I see that he has Bella's hand as he tows her to me. Urgently now, I push against other players and the people in the crowd. I see Emmett and Rosalie standing near them.
There's a sudden break as I reach the outskirts of the crowd, and I take large strides to cover the distance, catching Bella up in my arms and lifting her off her feet. Claiming her mouth with mine, I spin her around once, feeling her grin against my lips.
"Marry me, Bella."
"What?" she laughs.
"Marry me," I repeat against her skin.
"Okay," she nods.
"Yes?"
"Yes!" she shouts.
Charlie stands beside us and laughs.
The headlines the next day read, "Stormin' Weather Girl Has Her Radar On a Seattle Sounder As He Proposes On The Field After Their First Game Win".
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