AN: Don't own Twilight, S. Meyer does.
Thanks to my beta, Baskketcase, you are the Jasper to my Alice.

7. Doubt

-Edward-

"Your...your son?" Alice whispered.

"Yes, for my son, Masen. I need to find a daycare for him before my parents head back to Seattle."

"Well, then...Rose's place would be perfect for you, her staff is great and it's only a couple of minutes from the hospital."

"Yeah, it sounds perfect, I just want to check it out for myself." I put the phone on speaker and drove to a near by deli.

"Of course, Rose would love to give you a tour of the place. Um, Edward, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's on you mind?" I pulled into the deli's parking lot.

"Does Bella know about your son?"

Her question surprised me a little, I never thought to telling Bella about Masen. But I guess since we're gonna see each other often for the next four months, I should tell her.

"No, she doesn't know about him. But, I guess I should tell her. I just...I don't want to involve Masen in my problems. If Bella isn't going to be in my life, as a friend of course, then I don't want to bring Masen into the equation. He gets attached to people quickly and I don't want him to get hurt if Bella's only sticking around for the next four months. He's been through enough."

"I understand, and I'm sure Bella would love to be your friend...and Masen's. She loves kids, she can't wait to have one of her own."

The thought of Bella pregnant with Mike's child left a bad taste in my mouth.

I couldn't picture it, it didn't feel...right.

I got out of my car and walked to the deli's entrance, "Well, I'm sure she'll get her wish soon enough," I tried to sound indifferent, "Hey, I'm at lunch right now and I want to swing by the daycare so..."

I'll have to put off the impending discussion with my parents.

"Oh! Let me give you the info."

Alice gave me Bella's number and the address to The RoHale Children's Center. I scarfed down my veggie sub and Ice Tea, and I was on my way to the daycare center. I pulled into the parking garage of the building and hopped on the elevator. I got off on the fourth floor and was welcomed by the sound of laughing children. The reception area was bright and colorful. There were finger-paintings mounted on the wall, I like this place already.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" the receptionist gave me a friendly smile.

"Yes, Is Rosalie Hale in?"

"Yes," she picked up the phone, "your name please?"

"Edward Cullen," I hope she remembered me.

"Hi Rose, I have Edward Cullen in the reception area asking for you," I heard some buzzing coming from the phone, "Okay, sure, I'll let him know."

She hung-up the phone and smiled at me, "Rosalie will be with you in a sec, please make yourself at home."

I thanked her and took a seat on one of the leather couches. A minute later Rosalie walked into the reception area.

"Edward," she walked to me and shook my hand, "what can I do for you?"

"Hi Rosalie, I was hoping you could give me a little tour of your place here."

"Sure, right this way," she led me down a hallway into a large room, "All of my employees with the exception of Heidi up front have at least a BA in child development. This here is our main play area. We have five additional rooms; a movie room, homework/library room, nap room, the pre-school, and the time-out room."

I was very impressed. The decor varied from room to room; depending on the function. Everything was clean, up to date, and childproof. The boys and girls had separate bathrooms and sleeping areas. There was a fully stocked kitchen in the back were a trained cook made fresh meals daily.

I could tell Rosalie spared no expense to make this into a top notch daycare. I asked a couple of questions regarding emergency procedures some policies, the pre-school curriculum and teacher. Over all I was pleased with what I heard and saw.

We walked into her office after we made full circle, "So, what do you think?"

"This place is amazing, it's not like any daycare I've seen," I sat in one of the chairs across her desk.

"That was the plan. So, why the interest in my daycare? Have some friends you want to refer?"

"Actually, it's for my son, Masen," her jaw dropped but she didn't say anything so I continued, "My parents are leaving to Seattle soon, and I want to get Masen settled into a daycare before they leave."

It took her another minute to find her voice, "You have a son?"

Is it that hard to believe I could be a father?

"Yes, his name is Masen Anthony Cullen and he's four, well...he'll be five in a couple of weeks. Your place is close to the hospital, it offers pre-school, and has everything I'm looking for. Are you accepting applicants or are you full?"

"Ah, ur...what?" she looked at me in disbelief.

"Do you have room for Masen here, in your daycare I mean."

"Yes! Sorry, I was...never mind. Yes, we have a couple of openings, let me get you started."

I filled out some paperwork, pre-registered Masen for pre-school, and signing a contract for a year. The daycare fee's were pricey but well worth it, RoHale did offer a lot. The facility opened at four in the morning and closed at six, which was great. I was to start work at five in the morning but I really had no clock out time. If I had to stay past six I knew Jasper would be out of work by then and would pick-up Masen for me. Emmett would too, depending on his schedule. I wasn't planning on working 24 hour or multi-day shifts anymore.

"So, how's the city by the bay been treating you? Like the hospital? Getting along with the staff?" I knew where she was going with this.

"Yes, I already ran into Mike. As it turns out, I'm his new boss."

Her eyes got big as saucers and then guffawed, "I can't believe that! Man, I would have paid good money to see his face!" she laughed a bit more and tried to calmed herself down, "So, what's the deal Edward?"

I furrowed my brows, "The deal with what?"

She rolled her eyes, "With you and Bella."

"Kind of a straight shooter, aren't you?" she smirked, "Well...nothing. We filed for a annulment, the judge denied it and she won't open the case until we complete a four month marriage counseling program."

"What! Does Bella know? Does Mike know? Please let me be there when you tell them!" her hands were clamped together begging.

"Too late, they already know. I need to talk to Bella and figure out the date and times we're going to attend these sessions."

"Damn, I really wanted to see the look on that son of a - sorry. I don't cuss at work."

"Well, that's good to know," something had been nagging me all day, and Rosalie would be able to answer some questions I had, "Rosalie, if you don't mind, I have some questions you might be able to answer."

She leaned back in her chair, "Shoot."

"It's about Bella."

She raised her brows, "What about Bella?"

"Earlier this afternoon one of my colleagues brought Bella into my office to introduce us. Dr. Young thought It would be a good idea, I guess Bella knows most of the staff in the hospital, at least the staff in the ER."

"Yeah, we hang out with some of them, except for Jessica and her friend....Laura, Lauren, something like that. They can't stand Bella, I think they have a thing for Mike. But, yeah, most of the staff loves her. I mean, she's...Bella, what's not to love?"

I smiled at the last part, Bella did have a way to enchant people, "So, Emily thought she should meet the newest member of the ER. I was shocked to see her there, but I figured I would run into her sooner then later. I guess she had no clue I worked there, let alone lived in the same city."

Rosalie chuckled, "Sorry about that, we didn't get a chance to tell her."

I shook my head, "No, don't worry about it, it's not your responsibility. We talked for a minute about the annulment before Mike barged into my office and, he just..." I ran my fingers through my hair, I didn't know of to phrase what I was trying to say, "the way he carried himself, the way he treated Bella...well, it concerned me."

Her eyes narrowed, "What did he do?"

"There are things you don't say to or in front of a lady, and...just the way he handled her... physically. Is he always like that? I mean, between what I saw in Vegas and my office..." I could see the anger building inside her.

"Yes, he's always like that. He's like a damn...sorry...ticking bomb. I've never actually seen him hit her, but I have my suspicions. Bella always denies it, she's too loyal to throw him to the lions, aka me," she rubbed her hands together and placed them flat on top of the desk.

"Why does she stay with him? I don't know her at all, but, why would she want to spend the rest of her life with a man like that and, may I add, I'm using the word man very loosely here."

Rosalie chuckled at the last part, "Because he was her rock when Charlie and Renee, Bella's parents, died. She was only seventeen and this happened a couple of months before graduation. Bella was devastated, she wouldn't let me or Alice in. Mike moved her into his apartment and took care of her for those few months. He pushed her to attend Brown when she graduated. Bella really didn't want to go but she went, because of him. She did well at Brown, she got her Masters in English and graduated Summa."

"Very impressive, smart and beautiful."

"Bella's very smart, she got accepted to their Doctoral program. Her dream was to teach English at Berkeley. But Mike was vehemently against it, he said a Masters was enough for her. So, she came back home and started looking for a job at local high schools. Mike wants his perfect Molly home maker and convinced her to put off the job hunting for a while. You know, so she could devote her time to him."

"Wow, she got accepted into Doctoral program and she didn't attend because he said no?"

It's clear that Mike has full control of Bella.

"I know, Alice and I couldn't believe it."

Rosalie told me about Bella's writing and her two novels that got published.

"That's...amazing, do you know how hard it is to get a book published let alone two?"

"Very hard, but she did it, we're so proud of her. The book's were the #1 New York Times Bestseller list and all that. Everyone gave it great reviews. Bella wasn't a college professor but she was trilled to be a best selling Author."

"What are her books about?"

"Love, what else? Bella's a hopeless romantic, Romeo is one of her favorite fictional characters."

Romeo huh?

Rosalie also told me about the dedication of her novels, the dinner and the way Mike reacted when he found out about her success. I was seriously starting to wonder if our annulment was a good idea, she can't passably live with a man like that.

"And she doesn't see what he's doing?"

"Bella's blind, she still thinks of him as the sweet man that took her in and helped her out. She thinks it's the stress of the job that is making him...disconnected. She wants the whole happily ever after life, you know, rainbows, unicorns, and all that. Every time we bring up his behavior she just makes excuses for him. He's stressed from work, it was her fault, he's only looking out for her, yada, yada, yada."

I was a little scared to ask the next question, "Have you ever seen marks on her body before? Like bruising?"

Rosalie thought about his for a moment, "Once, a while ago. She said it was from bumping into a door, which could be possible, Bella is kind of accident prone. But when I pressed the issue she got nervous, Bella's a horrible lire. The bruises were on her arms, they looked like finer prints."

I let out a long and heavy sigh, "I knew it."

"She wont listen to us, Edward," she looked defeated, "When we press the issue she starts butting up walls."

"Okay," I glanced at my watch, it was time for me to get going, "well, thank you for everything, my mom will bring Masen tomorrow and I'll pick him up."

"Perfect, can't wait to meet him."

It just occurred to me that she never once asked about Masen's mom, "Rosalie, did Emmett or Jasper mention anything about Masen's mom?"

She looked at me sheepishly, "Um, yes, they told us about the divorce but that's it, no details and nothing about your son, obviously."

I just nodded, "That's okay, I'm surprised they stopped there. Hey, let me give you my private cell number," jotted down the number, "if you notice anything suspicious on Bella, like the marks you saw before, please call me."

She raised a brows, "I will."

We said our goodbyes and I drove back to the hospital.

The situation with Mike and Bella was bugging me to no end. How could a man put his hands on a woman like that? How can he stop her from reaching her goals? Do I really want to annul my only tie with Bella?

I wasn't sure anymore.

Should Edward postpone the annulment?
I think I know your answer, but it's nice to read them none the less.