Stolen Dreams

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I own this. Now that that's out of the way . . .

A/N: There were a few of you reserving judgment on Carlisle's actions, but most of you still suspect him of foul play and think he's not worthy to be a father. Hmm . . . Well, you'll have to read on to find out. Thank you to Jenny Cullen for betaing this mess and thank you to all of you that are reading and reviewing. It makes my day every time I get one and I do read and cherish each of them.

Chapter 10

The slamming of the car door could be heard all the way across the field. It seemed to jolt Dr. Cullen back into reality. His eyes flicked from my tear-stained face to Edward's protective, angry stance in front of me. "What . . . oh God . . ." He ran his hands down his face and looked up at us from behind them. "I'm sorry."

Without another word, he strode off in the opposite direction from where his family had just pulled out. As soon as he was out of sight, his hateful words registered anew in my ears and the dam holding my emotions back burst. The sob tore out of my chest before I could pull it back.

Edward's arms were around me in an instant. He whispered what I was sure were sweet words into my ear, but all I could hear was Dr. Cullen snarling at me that I was a teenage screw-up that didn't deserve my child. For so many years, I'd worked to eradicate thoughts like that from my mind and to make something positive out my personal tragedy, and he'd just thrown it all back in my face.

"Shh," I finally heard Edward whisper. "Don't listen to him, Bella. We know the truth, and that wasn't it. Let's get you home, and then we can decide how to castrate that motherfucker."

His words were so at odds with his soothing tone that I choked on my laughter. I looked up into his eyes, where his own pain was swirling, but I could see how much he was hurting for me.

My father still hadn't said anything, so I chanced a glance at him. He was staring off with a murderous expression into the woods in the direction that Dr. Cullen had gone.

"Dad?" I called.

His head whipped around, and he gave me a sheepish grin. "I don't suppose that it would be good for me to kill that man and bury his body in the woods, would it?"

I laughed again through my tears and shook my head at the ridiculousness the two of them were exhibiting, but it did alleviate some of the tension. Edward led me over to his car and tucked me into the passenger's seat. After the door was firmly closed so I couldn't hear them, Dad and Edward exchanged words, and with a nod, Charlie got into his car and headed toward town.

"Where is he going?" I asked as Edward drove toward my dad's house.

"He's just going to pick up a few things from the station, and then he'll be home," he reassured me. Edward's hand covered mine as it rested in my lap.

Neither of us spoke again until we were seated on my father's couch with the game muted in the background. It seemed to be some unwritten rule that if there was a man in this house, some sports show had to be playing on the television. I let it distract me for a few minutes, but as I had no clue what they were talking about and I couldn't hear them, it didn't work for long.

"You don't think that's what he's told Ryan about us, do you?" I whispered, the tears pouring down again.

"Oh, baby, no." Edward pulled me onto his lap and curled his arms around me. "I don't think he's told Ryan anything."

"Then why were you so upset?" I asked in a small voice.

Edward sighed, and I felt it through his chest. "Because what he said upset you. It's not true, Bella. And it makes me want to get Ryan away from him even more; if those are things he's filling my son's head with, all that hate, then I won't stand to have him surrounded by that."

"But what if it doesn't matter, Edward? What if they never even let us meet him?" I cried.

"We won't let that happen, Bella. I promise," Edward vowed.

He held me like that while I cried for the better part of an hour. We only moved when Charlie came home with pizza and some files. Charlie laid those on the coffee table and took the food into the kitchen.

"I made copies of all the statements and the officer's notes," he announced once he'd taken his usual seat in his recliner. He'd put several slices on plates and handed two to us before settling in with his own. "Even called the adoption agency and got their records. They did background and reference checks on both Carlisle and Esme at the time of the adoption, and both checked out. Their friends and family painted them as the ideal couple, ideal parents."

Edward snorted. "It's always the quiet ones."

I giggled at the reference, but it was clear that Dad didn't get it. He cleared his throat before he continued. "His colleagues here and at Cedars-Sinai all had glowing remarks for the man. I can't match that up with what I saw today." Dad ran his fingers over his mustache.

"Would you have arrested me in the park today?" Edward asked curiously.

Charlie scoffed. "Not a chance. As far as I was concerned, it was completely provoked. In fact, I already made notes about it in the file." He paused, as if he was hesitating about something, but when he spoke again, I was sure it wasn't what he was debating in his head. "When are you heading back to Seattle?"

Edward looked at me and checked his watch. "I was planning on leaving here soon. I don't want to make the drive at night, if we can help it."

"You're welcome to stay here for the night, if you want," Charlie offered. "I know you both have lives back in Seattle, though. If you're going to head out, best do it within the next hour. There's a storm coming in."

I nodded absently and stood. There was a huge part of me that wanted to stay here, but I knew it would be better for both Edward and me to go home to our more familiar surroundings. Being only a few miles away from Ryan and knowing that I couldn't see him was slowly killing me. My bag was just where I'd left it in my room, so I hastily shoved my pajamas and the rest of the clothes from the night before into it, before grabbing my toiletries and doing the same with them. My shampoo could have spilled all over my clothes and I wouldn't have cared. My mind was telling me to flee once again—to get out of this town and away from its hateful people.

Edward already had his duffel packed and sitting next to the door when I tromped back downstairs. I set my bag next to his and crossed the room to give Dad a hug before we left.

"Thank you, Daddy," I whispered. He'd held me together for so long, and he was still doing everything in his power to keep me upright.

"Anything for you, kid. Listen, I'm supposed to meet with Agent Majors Wednesday afternoon. I thought we might grab some dinner or something before I came back," he suggested.

"That sounds great," I told him with a smile. "Just call me and let me know when you're done, and I'll meet you somewhere." I stepped back to Edward's side.

Dad held out his hand for Edward's, but both men froze when there was a knock at the door.

Dad's brow furrowed as he pushed past Edward. He opened the door without looking to see who was on the other side, but his body tensed immediately. "What do you want?" he growled.

I couldn't hear the words the visitor spoke, as his voice was too low, but I could see that Charlie looked disinclined to let whoever it was in the house. After another few moments of rambling by the person on the stoop, Charlie reluctantly stepped to the side and admitted a very worn and dirty Carlisle Cullen.

Edward immediately turned his body to shield me from the older man. "Haven't you said enough today?" he snarled.

Dr. Cullen shook his head. "No, not yet. I haven't apologized. And I owe you both an apology."

I sank into the couch cushions behind me, unsure if I could hear this man out. Edward sat next to me, clearly wary of the man across from him. That was the most acknowledgement he would get out of either of us. It also didn't escape my notice that my dad stood next to the door—where he hung his gun belt every night—with his arms crossed.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Cullen began. "There are no adequate excuses for my behavior earlier. I said things in anger that I knew to be untrue and hurtful. I sincerely regret that. Please accept my apologies for the ramblings of a desperate man."

His shoulders hunched, and he sank onto the edge of Charlie's recliner. "Major Masen, just like you would do anything to protect Dr. Swan, so too would I do anything in my power to protect Esme. I couldn't stop the miscarriages all those years ago, but in adopting Ryan, I found a way to make my wife happy again. We love that boy as if he were our own. He isour own. Never in a million years did I dream that the day would come that Ryan's parents would come looking for him. They told us that you were too young to care for a child and didn't want the responsibility. Maybe had we not taken them at their word, we wouldn't be here now. But I can't regret the last ten years I've had with my son."

He swallowed heavily before continuing. "We got the letter Tuesday evening, informing us that you were seeking DNA confirmation of Ryan's parentage, and we knew. That was the first step to taking our little boy away from us. Every night, I've had to listen to my beloved wife cry, and every tear breaks my heart. It's no excuse, but perhaps you can understand then why I lashed out as I did this afternoon. There are not enough words to express how sorry I am for what I said to you, Dr. Swan, or to you, Major Masen."

I wasn't entirely sure how I was supposed to feel; it was evident that Edward wasn't, either.

When neither of us spoke up right away, Dr. Cullen ran his hands down his legs in a nervous gesture and stood. "Well, that was . . . what I needed to say. I'll just leave you . . ."

"Dr. Cullen," Edward said, lifting his eyes from the spot they'd been burning a hole in on the floor. "We don't intend to remove Ryan from your lives entirely, but he is our son. We never intended to let him go or be raised by someone else. We want to be a part of his life, to be his parents. I'm not going to apologize for that. However, it would be nice if we could work together to make this as easy on Ryan, and each other, as we can."

There was fear in Dr. Cullen's eyes, but he looked resigned. Dumbly, he nodded and walked toward the front door. "Chief," he said, acknowledging my father.

Dad let him out and shut the door behind him.

"I need a drink," Charlie muttered.

Edward blew out a breath. "Me, too, but mine's got to wait about four hours."

"At least he won't be surprised later," Charlie said. He looked over at the couch, where I was still perched. "You okay, Bells?"

"Yeah, just . . . overwhelmed, I think. There's been so much. At least he knows how to obey his wife," I chuckled weakly. It hadn't escaped my notice that I hadn't heard a car start up outside—he was still on foot.

Both men laughed, breaking the creeping tension in the room. I rose off the couch, now even more weary than I had been when we first got back from the ball field, and joined Edward by the door. In one hand, he grabbed both bags and held the door for me with the other.

"Let me know what you find out on Wednesday, Charlie," Edward requested as he deposited our stuff in the trunk.

"You aren't coming to dinner?" Dad asked, surprised.

A look of chagrin graced Edward's features. "I-I didn't want to presume. I thought that was just for you and Bella."

"Yeah, well, it seems you come as a package," Dad groused, but I could tell he didn't really mind. He'd always liked Edward, even on the day he wanted to kill him for impregnating his little girl.

Edward smiled. "Then we'll see you Wednesday."

I gave my dad another hug and flopped into the car, ready to get on the road so we could get home and unwind. There'd been enough stress for today, and I didn't want to cross the lines that Aron had given us—specifically driving to the Cullens' house and demanding to see Ryan. That might traumatize the poor kid even more than seeing Edward punch his dad.

For the first two hours of the drive, neither of us spoke much. We listened to music, occasionally commenting on it, and let the silence be a balm for our souls. Just like all the time we spent together, it was easy, comfortable, effortless.

So, it came as something of a shock when Edward turned down the radio and glanced over at me. "What's next?" he asked. His tone was serious.

"Next with . . . what?" I asked in return. There were a lot of ways that I could have taken his question, and I didn't want to answer the wrong one.

"With us, Bella. I don't . . . I don't want to rush things with you just because we might have a child in our lives that needs both of his parents, and I don't want you to feel like I'm saying and doing things because of him. It's just . . . I'd like to know where you see us going and when."

I blinked—repeatedly. "Oh."

"I'm not asking you to marry me right now," he hurriedly added, and then started rambling, "because when I do that, I plan to be much more romantic and smooth about it, but I just wanted to know what you thought, what you want. Do you want to go ahead and move in together? Wait 'til we get married for that? Stay like we are? I know we haven't been seeing each other that long, but I know I want you, and I don't want to wait just because it seems like that's what we should do if neither of us want to."

I couldn't help it; I giggled. He was so cute when he was nervous. "I don't think there's any right or wrong here," I told him once I'd recovered from my mirth. "Each relationship is different, and ours is especially so. We have a lot of history that other couples don't have. I'm not ready to get married tomorrow, but I'm not opposed to more of a commitment. I love you, and I don't think I'll ever stop."

"I love you, too." Edward's grin was wide. "I was thinking that maybe we could start looking at condos. Or houses, if you want. My apartment isn't big enough and is too . . . minimalistic. Yours . . . well, yours has Alice in it. Maybe we could find a place just for the two of us."

"I'd like that." My shy smile hid the excitement brewing in the pit of my stomach. This felt right to me. I grasped Edward's free hand, and he gave me a boyish grin. It was like we were seventeen and planning our future all over again.

The storm broke over us about an hour from home. Even though it was still quite early, the dark thunderheads obscured the sun, and the torrential rain made driving a challenge. Once we made it to my apartment, Edward ran upstairs with me, refusing to drive any farther until the still raging storm broke.

Instead of popping in a movie like we usually did on Saturday nights, Edward got out his computer and hacked into the MLS listings. He also brought up a spreadsheet so we could rank the features that were the most important to us.

"What are you doing?" Alice asked as she spied the website over Edward's shoulder.

"Um, looking at properties?" I said, making it a question. I'd never leave her in a lurch, but I was too excited to have thought about how it would look to her.

She raised her eyebrow at me. "Didn't I tell you that I had some very specific ideas about your house? Scoot over." She wedged herself next to Edward and started adding things I'd never even thought about to our list. When she was done, it was over a page long.

"Now," she declared, "we'll give this list to my friend who's a real estate agent and make her do all the work. You can look for fun, but going out to Kell's sounds like a lot better to me."

"Kell's?" I asked skeptically. Irish pubs weren't usually Alice's scene.

"Hmm, yeah. Some guy came into the shop yesterday and dropped off flyers. His band is playing there tonight," she said.

Edward stifled a snicker and shut down his laptop. "All right, then. I'll go change, call Jasper, and meet you there at . . . eight?"

"Seven-thirty," Alice blurted out, and then blushed. "I want a good seat."

I laughed at her and kissed Edward goodbye. It had been a long time since Alice had been seriously interested in a guy, and it looked like this one had caught her attention. I didn't even complain when she showed me the outfits she'd brought home for the occasion.

That was how I found myself, trussed up in a silvery tank top, tight black slacks, and kitten heels, standing outside on Kell's Irish Pub two hours later. Alice had worn a dark green halter with a short skirt that made her legs look a mile long. If this guy didn't notice her, he'd have to be blind.

Edward and Jasper had arrived a little early and had secured us a table near the stage. Jasper took one look at Alice and adopted the sexiest smirk I'd ever seen, outside of Edward.

"Good evening, ma'am," he said as he took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Captain Jasper Whitlock at your service."

"Nice to meet you," Alice said absently, barely sparing him a glance. She was scanning the crowded pub for a glimpse of the guitarist she'd come to see.

It was obvious that Jasper was used to his sweet Texas drawl reeling in the women, because he looked confounded for a moment as he looked at her. He shrugged and sat back down, tilting his beer into his mouth as he went.

Edward gave me a look that clearly said, "what's her issue?"

I just shrugged and sat down next to him, facing the stage in front of us.

Alice and I had arrived just in time. Within minutes, the lights around the stage dimmed, and the band sauntered on to it with their instruments slung over their shoulders. Alice's eyes lit up, and she pointed to the lead singer slash guitarist. He was an okay guy, maybe five foot nine, and skinny with unkempt brown hair and a heavy five o'clock shadow. He was also wearing skinny jeans, which was a definite no-no in my book.

He sang like a dream, though. His rich, Irish accent tugged at the heartstrings as he crooned love ballads and rock songs alike. Jasper got up to get more to drink and asked each of us if we wanted anything. Alice ignored him—she only had eyes for the man on the stage.

Jasper rolled his eyes and stalked off.

Edward sniggered. "He's so used to getting all the girls. I don't know what he'll do if he has to work for one."

I glanced over my shoulder and saw a lovely Hispanic woman sidling up to him. "Give up?" I guessed, gesturing in his direction.

Edward shook his head. "Not his type. Just wait."

Wait we did. It took a few minutes, but Jasper came back to the table with drinks for all of us, including Alice. He'd taken notice of her Appletini and replaced it with a fresh one. Alice murmured her thanks and went back to basically eye-fucking the guy on stage.

By the time their set was over, my ears were ringing and Jasper was frustrated. I had to give my friend some credit, though. She didn't want to be a fling for someone that she'd have to be around later, and Jasper wasn't looking for anything more serious. Edward had made that clear on the several occasions I'd tried to set them up.

"I'm going to head backstage," Alice practically yelled into my ear. "I'll text you."

I tried my best to look supportive, but the last thing I wanted to do was hang around while Alice tried to get laid. She waved jauntily and scampered off through the crowd.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I know she's your friend and all, but she's a bitch," Jasper declared.

"Just because she's not looking for a one night hook up doesn't make her a bitch. Maybe she's just not interested," I reasoned.

"Not looking for a one night hook up? What does she think she's going to get from that . . . bloke . . . up there? She's a fashion designer, for God's sakes, and he looks like a drug addicted hobo," he snapped.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure she saw what a fine piece of man meat you are. There're plenty of other girls here who noticed, too," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't want them," he grumbled under his breath just loud enough for me to hear.

I giggled again, but didn't comment.

Fifteen minutes later, Alice told me to go on home, that she was good and she'd check in when she knew where they were going. I didn't like it, but Alice was a big girl, and I didn't want to hang around and watch her get laid. Since I was the only one that hadn't been drinking, I took Edward's keys and drove us all back to my apartment. There sure wasn't going to be room for extra people at Edward's.

Jasper crashed pretty quickly on the couch, and Edward passed out in my bed before I even got out of the bathroom. My mind was slowly calming down, so I grabbed a book and decided to read for a few minutes. Two o'clock came along with a text from Alice telling me that they were heading to a hotel on the south side of town and that she'd see me in the morning. That was all it took for my mind to settle, and a few minutes later, I drifted off to sleep.

Around three-thirty, according to my alarm clock, I heard the door to the apartment open, and then quiet curses and bangs as someone moved around in my living room. It didn't sound like Jasper, and I was instantly alert. My suspicions were confirmed a few minutes later when I heard Jasper yelling, and then his expletives cut off abruptly.

Tell me what you think. Please? Thank you for reading and I'll see you next week. Don't forget to donate to Alex's Lemonade Stand. There will be an outtake from Stolen Dreams in the compilation.

Here's a rec for this week: Go read Written in the Stars by Lissa Bryan. It's Twilight/SciFi but it's so good.