Chapter 2

I awake to the alarm blaring from the nightstand beside the bed and I reach over to shut it off. I try to shake off the weird dream I had last night of finding out I had a long lost son. A body shifting next to me reminds me of how relieved I was to be rid of Lauren in my dream; I quickly make plans to end things with her. Deciding to finally get up, I look down to the body nestled into my side and freeze.

It wasn't a dream. My son's tiny arms were still wrapped tightly around my chest from the night before. Using my left hand, I gently start stroking his back to wake him from his sleep. "Hey Masen," I whisper in hope that I don't scare him. He starts stirring slightly as I repeat the action a few more times. Eventually his eyes open, looking around the room mystified and still half a sleep.

His eyes finally settle on mine and he mumbles a quite, "hi."

"Good morning. It's time to get up and get ready. Alice will be here soon to take you shopping for new clothes while I'm at work. Does that sound okay," I ask to make sure he's comfortable going without me.

He nods his head, loosens his arms from me, and sits up rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I disentangle myself from the sheets to go relieve myself in the bathroom and brush my teeth. I walk back into the bedroom and find Masen in the same position I left him in.

"Can you get dressed so you're ready when Alice comes? The bathroom is right there if you need to use it," I say pointing behind me where I just came out from.

He slowly moves off the bed and pads into the bathroom and shuts the door as I find some clean clothes to throw on. A couple minutes later, Masen exits the bathroom going over to retrieve his jeans from the other side of the room.

"I don't have any food here and we don't have time to order anything, but I'll have Alice stop somewhere for you to get breakfast, okay?"

Again, he bobs his head in acknowledgement. A knock at the door breaks the silence, and I walk over to find Alice on the other side.

I usher her in as she starts to talk a mile a minute, "Your parents will be landing around eleven, and I have arranged for Mike to pick them up from the airport. I'll take Masen shopping for clothes, hygiene items, toys, etc. After we're done, I'll bring him back to your trailer so you can introduce him to your parents. Am I missing anything," she asks.

"Just breakfast. I don't keep any food here because I usually just eat on set or order in, but we didn't have time this morning. So if you could get him something, that would be great. Also, if you could pick up some cereal and pop tarts, or whatever kids eats these days, so that I have something here for him in the mornings, I would really appreciate it."

As I'm talking, she whips out her iPhone and starts typing away frantically making notes, "got it," she says when she's finished.

"And when I have a break this afternoon, I have to discuss some things with you, so please be available."

"I'll make sure I'm around," she nods.

Turning to look at Masen who is standing uncertainly in the door to the bedroom I say, "ready to go Masen? I have to get to work, and you're going to go with Alice to get breakfast and some new clothes."

He nods his head and walks shyly over to me taking my hand in his. Alice was right, he his really quite. I give it a slight squeeze before I open the door and we make our way to the elevator. Once we reach the lobby I bend down to Masen's height and address him, "I'll see you in a couple hours, okay? Be good for Alice."

"Okay," he whispers to me, before hugging me tightly. Taken a little off guard by his display of affection, I hug him back just as tightly and whisper goodbye. Straightening back up, I walk out the front doors and enter the car that Mike is holding open for me. He shuts the door and runs around the back to the driver's side to take me to the set. I watch Alice talking to Masen who is staring longingly at my car as I drive away from him; I give him a small wave even though I know he won't be able to see it through the dark tinted windows.

I pull out my phone and dial the phone number I received yesterday from Mr. Jenkins. "Hello," he answers groggily.

"Mr. Jenkins, this Edward Cullen calling. I'm sorry for the early morning wake up call, but it's one of my only free times before the craziness starts for the day," I explain.

"It's not a problem Mr. Cullen. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you would be able to meet up with me this morning before filming starts. I usually have at least an hour after I'm through with makeup before we start, and I would like to speak with you before lunch."

"Sure, I'll just clean up and eat something quickly before I head over."

"Sounds good, see you soon," I say and close my phone as we arrive at the gate.

I sit distractedly in my makeup chair staring off into space, thinking about the impending conversation with Mr. Jenkins and the arrival of my parents. My mother is always trying to get me to settle down saying she wants grandchildren, but I don't think expected them like this.

"No coffee this morning to wake you up Mr. Cullen," my makeup artist Jessica asks.

"No, Alice is busy running some other errands for me this morning. I actually forgot all about my coffee until you mentioned it," I reply.

"You must be really distracted this morning then," she muses. "You've hardly spoken three words and you've barely looked at your script. Care to share what's on your mind?"

"Just thinking. My parents are going to be here in a few hours and it's been a while since I've seen them, I guess I'm just looking forward to that."

"Ah," she says dropping the subject and returning to her work while I finally pick up my script to go over.

After my makeup and costume are complete, I return to my trailer before I'm called to set. A knock at the door brings my attention away from the material in front of me as I call for them to enter. I exchange pleasantries with Mr. Jenkins, motioning him to take a seat.

"Let's get down to business, shall we," I say not waiting for a response. "It was brought to my attention last night while speaking with Masen that I am clueless about the situation surrounding his mother death and what his living situation was like before any of this happened," I trail off waiting for him to fill in the empty blanks.

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry about that. We were a little more rushed in our discussion yesterday than I would have liked. I first met Masen after his mother died in a fire at their home. Masen was able to escape before he got trapped, but Tanya was found passed out from the smoke in her room on the second floor. She was badly burned and they were unable to resuscitate her; they declared her dead at the hospital, which is when I was contacted. Masen only suffered from mild smoke inhalation.

"I don't know much about the living situation before the event, except that he lived with his mother and her boyfriend. He survived as well, but refused to take custody of Masen after Tanya's death. They figured the fire originated in Tanya's room, but they don't understand how she wasn't able to get out before it spread."

Soaking everything in that he said, I ask the question that has been haunting me since last night, "While he was getting checked over by the doctors, did they mention any signs of abuse on Masen?"

Shock clearly written all over his features he shakes his head vehemently and stammers, "No, nothing was ever mentioned. Why, do you have evidence to the contrary?"

"No physical evidence, however I have not checked over his person either. Last night we were talking and he mentioned Tanya's boyfriend. Naturally, I asked him if he liked him and he absolutely froze and recoiled into the sofa. I asked him if he had hurt him, and eventually he acquiesced but he never went into detail about it. He only said that he had to be strong so that he didn't hurt his mother."

Looking at me like a fish out of water he says, "I had no idea. Nothing was ever said before. I guess that would explain why he wouldn't take custody of Masen. I thought that was strange after he had been living with them for almost five years. I'll look into it, but I don't know if there is anything we can do in a situation like this. It would his word over Masens,' and quite frankly, with no evidence, there is little we can do. Luckily he's out of that environment now, that's the most important thing."

"Yes it is. There isn't anyway that he could come after Masen later on and try to get custody or anything, is there," I ask for my own peace of mind.

"No, nothing that you would have to worry about anyway. You're his biological father, as long as he is well taken care of, no judge would take him away from you."

"That's a relief. Thank you for time Mr. Jenkins," I say standing to shake is hand.

"Not a problem Mr. Cullen. I will take a look into this new information and I'll let you know what I find," he says as he exits the trailer.

A few hours later, Aro finally calls cut for a lunch break. I notice Alice and Masen hovering in the back, so I make my way towards them. "Hey buddy," I say crouching down, "did you have a good time with Alice this morning?"

"Yes, I got a lot of cool stuff," he says happily.

"That's good, you'll have to show me later okay?" He nods his head as I stand back up.

"How'd everything go," I ask Alice.

"Really good, he was a little more talkative today once we started shopping but he was pretty quite after you left and while we were eating breakfast. I think that he missed you," she surmises.

"Really," I ask slightly happy that he likes me enough to miss me.

"Yes, he kept asking when we were going to come see you. But your parents are waiting for you in your trailer, they haven't seen Masen yet."

"Alright let's go," I say grabbing Masen's hand in my own. While we're walking I address Alice again, "can you wait outside with Masen for a couple minutes so I can talk to my parents, I haven't told them about him yet."

"Of course," she replies.

"I'll come get you when we're ready."

She nods her head in understanding. Once we reach my trailer, I bend down to talk to Masen, "inside there are some people I want you to meet. But I'm going to go in and talk to them for a little bit first, and then I am going to come out and get you, okay?"

"Okay," he says quietly.

"I'll be right back," I say walking into my trailer. "Hey mom and dad," I address the couple on the sofa.

My parents are still very young looking for their age. Since my mother was unable to have children after a miscarriage when she was young, they opted to adopt instead. They adopted my older sister Rosalie right after she was born; her mother was a victim of rape and couldn't stand to have the reminder around her all the time. They adopted me when Rosalie was seven and I was five. My parents died in a car crash, which I somehow managed to survive with only a couple broken bones and some scratches. Carlisle was the attending on call when they were brought into the hospital; he brought me home after they passed away because I had nowhere else to go. I've been with them ever since.

My father has blond hair that matches Rosalie's almost perfectly; one would almost think he was her real father. My mother's caramel locks are similar to my bronze ones, however neither of my parents possess my striking green eyes that I inherited from my biological mother. If an outsider looked in our family, they would never know that we were adopted; few people knew that secret, it wasn't something that we shared with the general public.

"Edward," my mother sighs, rushing to me and pulling me into a tight hug. Kissing her cheek, I step back slightly while she holds me at an arms length checking for anything out of place. "How are you doing," she says placing her hand on my cheek.

"I'm doing well, how are you," I ask moving towards my father giving him a quick hug.

"We're fine, now are you going tell us what all of this is about," she demands.

Giving her an innocent smile I say, "can't a guy just miss his parents?"

"Edward Anthony," she says sternly, "we know how busy you are when you're in the middle of filming, so requesting our presence isn't simply for the fact that you miss us. Now explain."

Letting the carefree mask slip off my face, I look at them wearily, "I want to introduce you to someone. His name is Masen, he's six years old and he's my son."

"What," the say in shock.

Running my hand through my hair I slouch into a nearby chair and rest my face in my hands. "Do you remember Tanya Denali," I ask rhetorically not waiting for a response, "she passed away recently, leaving behind a son. My name is on the birth certificate as the father; I never even knew he existed until yesterday when a social worker showed up here looking for me. I didn't believe it at first, but the timeline fits from when I last saw her. And when you look at him, god you can't deny that he isn't mine," I trail off.

After a few minutes, my mom asks, "Can we meet him?"

I nod my head, "yes, in a little bit. I just want to discuss one more thing with you. The reason why I asked you here for so long mom is because I was wondering if you could watch him while I'm working. I can't quit while we're in the middle of filming to watch him, as much as I wish I could. And that is asking too much of Alice, she already watched him yesterday, and this morning. Although I don't think she minded as much this morning because she was shopping, but that's not part of her job. I was just wondering if you would mind watching him until I can find someone more permanent, like a nanny or something," I ramble.

"Of course Edward, anything you need," she replies.

"Thank you so much, it really means a lot to me," I say standing and hugging her again. I release her and open the door to the trailer motioning them to come in.

"I'll just stay out here. Did you want me to get lunch for everyone," Alice asks.

"Sure, and thank you Alice, for everything."

She smiles at me, "don't mention it Edward."

Picking Masen up I say, "are you ready?"

He shrugs his shoulders moving closer to me. I turn back around and enter the trailer to find my parents standing patiently in front of the couch.

"Mom, Dad, this is Masen. Masen, these are my parents," I tell him softly. I have been avoiding calling Masen my son in front of him in case there is a slight chance that the paternity test comes back saying he's not mine, I don't want to confuse him.

My mom walks forward extending her hand to him, "Hi Masen, it's nice to meet you." Masen shakes her hand quickly before letting go and snuggling closer to me.

My dad steps up next to my mother wrapping his left arm around her waist while extending his other hand to Masen, "hello there Masen," he says gently. Masen shakes his hand and burrows into the crook of my neck.

Smiling softly at my parents, I resume my position in the chair I was in earlier, cradling Masen closer to me. Following my lead, my parents take their seats on the sofa. "Masen, nana and papa are going to be staying with us for a couple of days at the hotel. They are going to watch you while I'm at work," I explain to him.

"What about Alice," he finally whispers. "Doesn't she like me anymore?"

Surprised he would jump to that conclusion, I quickly soothe his fears, "of course Alice likes you, but she has a job like I do, so she can't watch you. You'll still see her; she works for me, so she'll be around a lot."

"Okay," mumbles into my collar.

A knock at the door snaps my attention away from Masen as Alice peaks her head in, "I have lunch, is it alright to come in?"

"Of course," I say standing up and untangling myself from Masen. I set him on the floor, grabbing his hand leading him to the table. I look at my parents, wondering why they aren't following, and find them watching me with rapt attention.

Raising an eyebrow at them in question I ask, "are you guys coming?"

Shaking their heads to clear their thoughts, they take the seats opposite us. Alice passes dishes around to everyone and takes a seat next to me. Mom and dad ask about work and then turn their questions to Alice, letting Masen get comfortable in their presence.

After we finish eating, I look at the time wincing. "I have to get back," I say standing. Masen finally showing some recognition of what's going on, rushes to my side and attaches himself to my leg.

"Don't leave me," he cries into my pant leg.

Grief stricken, I scoop him up in my arms and he immediately wraps his arms in a viselike grip around my neck. I shush him and idly start rocking him from side to side, "I have to go back to work buddy. Nana and Papa will watch you, okay? Maybe you can stay for a little while and watch me while I work. Alice can show Nana where to go so that she can bring you whenever you want to see me. I don't know when I'll be done, so you might be in bed before I get back."

At that he squeezes me even tighter, "I don't want to go to bed without you," he whimpers.

"It could be really late before I get back, but I will be there when you wake up in the morning, okay," I try to comfort him. "I have to go right now though. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can get done and get back to you."

"Okay," he sniffles relaxing his grip on me.

I walk him over to the couch and lay him down, "how about you take a nap for a little bit? And when you wake up, it will be that much closer to when I get back," I say running my hand through his hair comfortingly as he closes his eyes. "I'll see you soon."

I motion my mother to follow me out the door. Turning to her I say, "see if he'll sleep for a little while. I think that he should with how worked up he was, but I honestly have no idea. You can keep him around here for a while if he wants to stay and watch, or you can take him back to the hotel, it doesn't matter to me. You can get a key from Alice for the room.

"He wants to stay up until I get back tonight, but I don't know when that will be. Lately it has been around midnight, so he should be asleep by then. You and dad can have the extra room; Masen sleeps with me. Alice purchased some things for him today, I have no idea what she all got, but see if you can get him to shower before bed.

"If you talk about me, don't refer to me as his dad because I don't want him to be confused if it turns out I'm not, even though I highly doubt that's the case. And don't refer to the hotel as 'home' because I don't want him to think that is where we live either," I rant, running my hand through my hair pacing slightly in front of her.

"Edward, stop," she says grabbing my arms halting me. "Breath," she instructs. I do as she says taking a deep breath and looking at her once again. She smiles at me running her hand through my hair, "you are going to be a wonderful father, you're a natural. You are already trying to anticipate his every need and trying to prevent harming him in the future if you end up not being his father. I have never been more proud of you than I am at this moment. I can handle it from here, you better get back before the director gets angry."

I give her a sad smile, looking behind her at the door leading to my new life. I kiss my mothers cheek asking her to remind Alice to find me later, and then scurry off towards the set. As I approach, Aro looks at me mildly displeased, luckily there were some technical difficulties that delayed filming momentarily.

During a short break, Alice appears at my side reminding me that I asked to speak with her.

"My mom is only staying for a week or two at most, so I have to find a permanent replacement. I need you to find me a nanny by the time my mother has to leave," pulling out a sheet of paper I have been scribbling on, I hand it to her. "Here are some of the specifications I require, and feel free to add on whatever you think necessary," I say giving here time to read it over.

Nanny Requirements:

Live with me and Masen

Willing to relocate to LA and travel with me during filming

Willing to sign a privacy agreement

Good with kids

Flexible with work schedule (not knowing when she/he will have time off)

After reading it through Alice asks, "Can you elaborate a little more so I understand your reasoning behind the list if applicants have questions?"

"Sure. Obviously I would want them to live with Masen and me because of my hectic work schedule. It's never the same so it will be unpredictable when they are needed. Along the same line, due to my work schedule it could be a month or longer before they will have a day off. They will have more time off when school starts up for obvious reasons. If they are living with us, it's expected they would relocate to LA when I am threw with filming and then travel with me in the future. I don't want to find someone just for when I'm filming here, only to find someone new when we get back to LA. I don't want Masen to have to deal with a revolving door when it comes to his caretaker.

"And they will be required to sign a privacy agreement stating they will not sell information about me or my son's life to the press, etc. Also, when you find potential prospects, don't tell them they will be working for me until I have a chance to interview them. You can do any pre-screenings, but I'll interview all final applicants. And I think the "good with kids" part is self explanatory," I smile cheekily.

"That's very thought out Edward. I'm impressed with how well you're handling all of this, not many people would be able to handle it with as much grace as you have." Ha, if only she knew the chaos running through my head. "I haven't seen you freak out once."

"Thank you Alice, it's good to hear that I'm doing something right. I don't have time to freak out either, I'm sure if I actually had time to sit down and relax, I'd have a meltdown. I mean I am in charge another person's life for Christ's sake," I say running my hands through my hair."But I have nothing but the best intentions in mind when it comes to Masen. He's been dealt a shitty hand in life so far, I plan to do whatever I can to make sure he's taken care of and safe."

She smiles kindly at me, "it shows Edward. And you're doing a wonderful job. Don't over think it; just keep doing what you're doing. But I should get back, I'll bring your mom by to show her where she can bring him."

"Thanks Alice, you deserve a raise," I say giving her a wink. She laughs and walks off.

After a couple more hours, we are released for a quick dinner break. While I'm getting my plate, someone taps my shoulder causing me to turn around. Alice is standing behind me with Masen anxiously clutching her hand. "He wanted to see you and I heard there was a break so I brought him by," Alice explains.

My famous crooked smile graces my lips as I look down at Masen, "hey bud, do you want to eat with me?"

He nods his head giving me a big smile. I chuckle and ask Alice to grab him a plate, "What do you want to eat," I ask.

"Whatever you're having," he says standing close to me.

After filling our plates, we settle at an empty table side by side, while Alice gets a plate for herself. I start eating and soon notice Masen mimicking my every movement. I take of bite of chicken; he takes a bite of chicken. I take a drink of milk; he takes a drink of milk. Smiling at him I take a mouthful of banana and watch him eye his banana warily before he slowly peels it taking a small nibble. His face screws up in distaste before he quickly swallows followed by taking a big swig of his milk.

I chortle, "don't like bananas I take it?"

"No," he grimaces, "are you mad?"

Frowning at him I answer, "no, why would I be mad that you don't like bananas?"

"Because you like them," he shrugs looking down at his plate. "Do you still like me?"

Wrapping my right arm around him I reassure him, "of course I still like you. There is nothing you can do that will ever change the way I feel about you Masen."

"Okay," he whispers giving me a small smile in return.

Before too long, I say goodbye to Alice and Masen telling him I won't be back until late. Around ten o'clock, we are finally released for the night and I eventually make my way back to the hotel. Upon entering the room my mom motions me to sit down next to her.

"How'd it go today," I ask her.

She gives me a little smile, "it went alright. He is a wonderful boy Edward," I nod in agreement. "He really missed you; I think he is going to have separation anxiety when it comes to you. He was extremely quite and asked when he was going to see you for most of the afternoon. After he got back from dinner it wasn't quite so bad, but he still asked when you would be coming back. I tried to get him to shower but he absolutely refused. Your father even tried to get him to, but all he would do was shake and sob uncontrollably.

"When I told him it was time for bed he kept saying not yet, that you weren't back yet, and that he couldn't go to bed without you. I told him that he could wait for you in bed, and the last I checked, he was still awake."

"Thank you, mom. Hopefully he'll open up more to you and dad once he spends more time with you guys. I have a later call time tomorrow so I'll try to get him to shower in the morning," kissing her cheek I say goodnight.

I slowly open the door to the bedroom and find Masen propped up against the headboard half asleep still in his clothes from the past couple of days. "Hey buddy," I say quietly, "why aren't you sleeping?"

"I was waiting for you, I didn't want to sleep without you," he says waking up a little more.

"You shouldn't wait up for me Masen," I reprimand softly. I notice his pajamas discarded on the dresser in the room and pick them up, "let's get you in your pajamas, come here," I say motioning him over to me. I sit in a chair and help him pull off his clothes, dressing him in his new Cars shirt and pants. Making sure he brushed his teeth, I instruct him to go to the bathroom one more time before bed as I throw on my own pajama pants. I do my usual nighttime bathroom routine before crawling into bed with Masen and switching off the light.

With Masen snuggling up close to me, and my arm wrapped securely around him, I drift off into a peaceful nights sleep for the first time in months.

A/N: Thanks for reading. I really enjoy writing this story. I don't know when I'll be updating again because I haven't started the next chapter yet, but I don't anticipate it to be too long. Please review, even if you're just commenting on a grammatical error or something. Plus, it gives me incentive to keep writing. Cheers!