A/N: Hello!

Thank you to all those who read and reviewed the last chapter. You're awesome! Another thank you goes to Ella and Annette- my amazing pre-reader and Beta!

Just a little note: I try to reply to every review, so if you didn't get a review reply, that's because you have PM's disabled and I wasn't able to reply.

SM owns everything Twilight.


Chapter three-

~Bella POV~

For the past two days sleep had been difficult. Every time I closed my eyes, I dreamed about Edward's possible reaction to the news about Adam. It scared the hell out of me.

I always saw the same thing, Edward getting angry and taking my son away from me. Each time I woke up, I ran over to Adam's bed and watched him sleep until the sun came up. It was the only thing that relieved the fear of the nightmares. I tried to hold on to the comfort my little boy gave me, but it never seemed to last. That recurring fear reared its ugly head, gripping my heart in a painful vice.

Every time I thought about Edward, I thought about our encounter. I didn't know how he could possibly forget an argument like the one we had. I thought about the possible causes of amnesia, but it didn't really make sense when I thought about what else Edward had said during our encounter in town.

He made it clear that he didn't leave Forks after my departure and one would think that someone as popular as Edward being in an accident would be in the paper. But as I thought back, there was no mention of him. Plus, Charlie would have said something when I told him that Edward didn't even remember he had a son. Since I ruled out any accidents, I didn't know what to think of his amnesia. I guess he just pushed it from his mind, like he said he would. That punched a hole through my chest.

With each day that passed without me doing anything about telling Edward, I received a withering look from Charlie. Sometimes I wanted to tell Charlie how much I didn't appreciate him rushing me, but I couldn't. He was still my father and I knew he wouldn't condone me speaking to him with disrespect.

I sighed as the early morning light came pouring into my bedroom. I shut my eyes with pleasure as the warm glow heated my skin.

"Momma," a little voice says from below.

I smile and look down. Adam only said 'momma' when he was sleeping. When he first started speaking he would talk your ear off. Of course, you couldn't understand half of it, but at least he was speaking. Now, he hardly spoke at all - for no reason at all. He just stopped talking one day and that day was one of the saddest I had experienced.

When it happened, I took him to the doctor and watched as they performed countless tests on him, making him cry and wail the entire time. It broke my heart to stand there and not be able to comfort him, but I needed to see if there was anything wrong with him. When they finally completed the tests, the doctor told me there was nothing wrong. He was in perfect health and he would talk when he was ready.

I was beyond frustrated, but I kept myself composed so I wouldn't upset Adam and continued to encourage him to speak whenever I could. It was all I could do.

With a parting glance at my sleeping son, I quietly walk down the stairs to the kitchen. The smell of coffee greeted me as I entered. I nodded at Charlie as I made my way over to the caffeinated goodness of the morning.

I wasn't surprised to see Charlie up this early. He was always an early riser.

I fill my cup full of coffee and add sugar. I hold it in my hands as I lean against the counter and inhale the wonderful aroma before I take a sip.

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

Charlie's voice breaks me away from my coffee induced haze and I look over at him.

"Can't sleep," I answer shortly. I wish I could act more mature towards him, but I'm still irritated that he wants me to tell Edward. I thought he was supposed to be on my side?

"Bells," he sighs, setting down his paper. I know he could hear the hostility in my voice. He knows how unhappy I am with his ultimatum. , I haven't spoken to him for the past two days, which was hard for me, considering how close I am growing to my dad again.

Charlie is silent before he speaks. "I don't want to do this. I don't. But Edward deserves to know about Adam."

"I know Dad," I say, exasperated. "I know he deserves to know, alright? But I wanted to do this my way on my terms. Not yours."

"Yeah and if you did this on your terms it wouldn't get done and he would find out through some busybody in the town. Then, if he decides he wants that boy, he would have a pretty good chance of getting him, since he didn't sign away his rights."

"I know. I'm just…" I stop talking as the familiar pang of fear takes a hold of me.

"Just what?"

"I'm scared, Dad. What if Edward does decide to take him away from me? I can't live without him, Dad. I just can't."

Charlie sighs and walks over to me, hugging me close. He places a kiss against my hair and I giggle a little as his mustache tickles my hairline.

"I wish I could reassure you, baby. The only thing I can do is support you and try to stop him if does decide to take him."

I nod and squeeze him one last time before letting him go. After our little talk, I feel my anger toward him slowly fade and I feel a tiny bit of weight lift from my shoulders. I give him a watery smile and begin to fix myself some breakfast when I hear a cry from upstairs.

"He does say 'momma'," Charlie says as I make my way to the stairs.

"I know. He just stopped talking in full sentences one day. The doctors don't know why."

"Hmm," Charlie nods, looking deep in thought.

I hold up my finger, silently telling him to hold his thought and I run upstairs. When I go into the room, I see Adam sitting in his playpen/crib with a red face and a small scrape on his right knee.

"Adam Masen Swan did you try to climb over this?" I ask him as I walk over and pick him up.

His lip quivers as he buries his head in my hair and clamps his legs around my waist. I look down at his knee and see that he isn't bleeding. I breathe a small sigh of relief and rub his back as I walk downstairs.

"Don't do that again, okay sweetie? You could get really hurt."

He squeezes his legs tighter and I take that as silent agreement. I walk into the kitchen and place him in his highchair as I get his eggs and milk ready for breakfast.

"Why is he quieter than normal?"

I look behind me to see Charlie trying to get Adam to laugh by tickling his stomach.

"He hurt himself trying to get out of his crib."

"You tried to do that once or twice," Charlie chuckles. "You weren't a patient baby."

I shake my head and smile as I bring Adam his milk. He sips it slowly, while watching me fix his scrambled eggs. Once they're finished, I place them in front of him and I watch as Adam feeds himself, rather messily I might add.

"Back to Adam not speaking in full sentences," Charlie says, getting my attention. "If I remember correctly, you did that too. When I started picking up shifts at the station. Even when I had my vacation time, you never spoke full sentences. It was strange. Then when I got the promotion and was around more, you spoke more."

My eyebrows furrow as I think over what he said. "So, I missed you?" Charlie nods in agreement. "Okay, but why is it affecting Adam this way? I mean, yes I was working, but I tried to be around as much as I could. Why would he be this way?"

I glance over at my son and see eggs all over his highchair while he sits there and drinks his milk from his sippy cup. I take a napkin and begin clearing the tiny table, but Adam frowns at me and I stop. Immediately, he eats the discarded eggs, staring at me the entire time.

"Well, has anything changed in his routine?"

"Not that I can think of," I tell him, thinking over his routine when we lived at our apartment.

When I got home from work, I would feed him dinner, play with him for a little bit before I gave him a bath. When he was changed into his pajamas I would lay down with him and listen to a CD Edward made of his compositions. It hurt to listen to that CD, but when Adam was upset that music was the only thing that calmed him. So, it became our nightly routine.

A few months before I had to leave Olympia, my stereo broke and that was around the time Adam stopped speaking. Was that what caused this? It seemed farfetched, but that was the only thing that changed around the time he stopped speaking.

"Did you think of something, Bells?"

"Yeah, um, at night I would listen to a CD with Adam, to relax him. About two months ago, my CD player broke and we couldn't listen to it anymore. Could that be it?"

"I don't know. What CD was it?"

"It was a CD Edward composed for me in High School."

He hums and looks at me and Adam before speaking again.

"It's possible. Stranger things have happened. When I think about it, you had little quirks that were so like your grandmother and you had never met her. It could be possible that Adam somehow knows that his father composed it and he misses hearing that connection to Edward."

Cue the 'do the right thing' look.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Dad. Are you serious?"

If I was being honest, hearing this kind of hurt me. Wasn't I enough for Adam? I know Adam loves me, but if this was true, why did Adam need him? I know thinking this way is childish, but I can't help it.

"Why not? Anything is possible."

I shrug, not wanting to talk about it anymore. I don't want to admit that Charlie could be right.

"Play the CD using the stereo here," Charlie says when he saw I wasn't going to say anything. "See if it works."

I agree silently and wipe down Adam's tray when he's finished with his eggs. Charlie announces he is going to change. I clean Adam's face, ignoring his whining. A few minutes later, Charlie comes back downstairs and plops himself in his recliner, turning on the sports network.

Rolling my eyes, I go upstairs with Adam and change us out of our pajamas.

I take a few of Adam's toys with me as I return downstairs. I start to place Adam on the floor, but I'm stopped by Charlie.

"Bring my grandson over here," he demands with a playful tone. "I need to teach him about sports."

I smile and shake my head, taking Adam over to his grandfather. As soon as Adam is situated, Charlie begins explaining the rules of college football. Adam looks at him curiously but seems to pay attention. After a while, both of them are totally immersed in the game.

Great, I think as I watch them. He's going to be glued to the television forever.

While they watch television, I decide I'm going look at the paper for a job. As I skim through the job section, I see a few jobs I can do and decide I'll put in an application tomorrow. I couldn't waste time.

An hour later, I'm finished. I fold up the paper and I'm about to go in the kitchen when someone knocks on the door. I stop in the hallway, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I swallow thickly as I listen to the knocking on the door. I don't know why I'm so afraid, but I have a feeling that whoever is knocking is here to find me.

"Are you expecting someone?" I ask quietly.

Charlie responds in the negative, rises from his chair and hands Adam to me before moving towards the door. Just before he reaches the door, I grab him.

"Please, Dad, don't say anything about me or Adam. Please," I beg.

He sighs and nods reluctantly.

"Go back into the living room. The curtains are closed so you can't see inside."

"Thank you," I whisper, my throat thick. I scurry into the living room and pick up one of Adam's toys to keep him quiet while Charlie talks to whoever is at the door.

I hear the door open and Charlie greet someone.

"Hi Alice."

A smile forms on my face as I hear my former best friend's name. While I was gone, I longed for our late night talks about boys and which celebrity we had our eye on. I missed her forced shopping trips and make-over's. I missed her.

A tear falls from my eye and just as I reach to wipe it away, Adam does it for me. He looks at the wetness on his little hand with bewilderment, never having seen me cry. He holds his wet hand up to me and I kiss it. I place a finger against my lips, telling him to stay quiet. Knowing he doesn't really understand what I mean, I draw his attention back to his toy before eavesdropping on the conversation happening not ten feet from me.

"Hi Charlie," Alice's tinkling voice responds. "Can I come in?"

My eyes widen as I nervously shift on the carpet.

"Uh, sorry Alice. The place is a mess and I don't want you to see it like this."

"Oh, I see. Well, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Have you seen Bella around?" Alice's voice is so small that I have to strain to hear it. "Edward said he ran into her a couple of days ago. I just want to talk to her, Charlie."

"I don't," Charlie begins, but he's interrupted.

"There's a car parked behind your house that's the same style and color that Edward said she drove off in. I'm sorry for snooping, but I couldn't help myself. Before you say anything, Edward told me to leave her alone but she's my best friend."

I frown. Why did Edward tell her to leave me alone? I couldn't think of a reason why he would say something like that.

Maybe he remembered our fight and is keeping his promise.

Suddenly, I hear two sets of footsteps coming towards the living room and I begin to panic. I silently curse Charlie because I know that he has never been able to resist Alice and her puppy dog eyes.

umping up with Adam, I realize there is no way I can run upstairs without being seen. So I just stand there frozen, watching as my former best friend comes into the room with a timid smile on her face.

She still has the same black spiky hair and bright hazel eyes. It was as if time stopped for her. She looks exactly the same as she did almost two years ago.

When she sees me, her smile brightens before she looks down at what I'm holding in my arms. Her smile drops as her eyebrows furrow in concentration and she notices the attributes Adam shares with his father. She keeps staring at him before her expression turns to comprehension.

Her mouth falls open for a moment before she composes herself and stares at me with a hard expression.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."


A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you next week!