We all know who owns the characters and anything that resembles Twilight – and that definitely isn't me. That, my friends, is a damn shame!

To Sabrina and Fran: thank you both for your friendship and kind words and for helping me make this story better and for their never ending patience with me and my perpetually late chapters. This week is no exception. Soccer, choir, work (really hoping to win the lottery soon so I can eliminate THAT particular activity!) and football Saturday with my dad, have me finishing this up at the very last minute!

Previously

"Is it my turn to talk to Daddy Edwardyet?" His excitement was almost contagious. Almost.

"Sure, Cam-bo." I tried to sound excited for him.

"Edward, I'm putting Cam on now," I said into the phone and immediately passed the phone to my son.

He took it from me, a little more tentatively than I expected, and slowly raised it to his ear. "Hello, Daddy Edward? Are you really the one who helped my Mommy make me?"

Chapter 10

I choked at my son's words. "Daddy Edward." He called me Daddy. Tears began to make a path down my cheeks as I tried to answer him without letting him know just how affected I was by his innocent words.

"Hi, Cam," I said softly, trying to hide my tears. "Yeah, Son, I did help Mommy make you, and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon."

In that moment, I truly understood what Smokey was saying about the tracks of his tears. I couldn't let anyone know just how much this hurt, especially Cam, because I had no one to blame but myself.

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure," he stated matter-of-factly. "So when can we do something? My other daddy, Benji, you remember him, don't you? He's coaching my baseball team, so maybe you can help him. All the other kids will be so jealous cause I have two dads!" He was rambling excitedly as my heart skipped a beat over his excitement and the jealousy his words brought about. He called Benji his daddy. I had to admit that Benji had been more of a father to my son that I'd ever thought about being until now, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"I don't know Cam. I'm sure Benji is looking forward to coaching your team to spend more time with you, and I don't want to interfere. Maybe you and I can come up with something of our own to do to spend time together." I tried to change the direction of the conversation. I'm sure neither Bella, nor Benji would be thrilled at my involvement with this father/son activity. I know any involvement with Cam was going to create chaos between the three of us, and I didn't want to make this more difficult for anyone.

"You don't want to coach my team?" Cam sounded heartbroken. Damn it! I wasn't trying to hurt him; I only wanted to make this transition easier for everyone. I didn't count on the innocence of my son.

"I promise you, Cam, I would love nothing more than to be one of your coaches," I said honestly. "I just didn't want to hurt Benji's feelings." I felt like I was reaching, but couldn't let him think I didn't want to spend time with him. "I'm supposed to talk to Benji soon, so I'll ask him about it, okay?"

"Okay!" His excitement was obvious. I knew I'd end up being an assistant coach. There was no way Benji was going to hurt him by saying 'no'.

All too quickly, Bella took the phone from Cam. Of course I could hear Cam arguing with his mother over having to get off the phone, but she held firm and took the phone from him.

"I'll have Benji let you know when," she stated evenly and hung up.

I was over-the-moon happy that I was going to get to be a part of my son's life and would do whatever they asked me to. I had hurt Bella enough in the past, and I refused to be the one to cause her anymore pain, even if it tore me in two having to watch my family with someone else.

After I composed myself, I called Esme to fill her in on the developments. She was happy for me but warned me to tread lightly. I had no rights, as far as she was concerned, to disrupt their lives further. She let me know, in no uncertain terms, that I should not ask for more. She told me I was 'one lucky fucker' to have gotten anything at all and warned me that if I fucked up this time, she'd castrate my ass. God, I loved that woman. She stood behind me, right or wrong, but didn't hesitate to tell me I'd get my ass kicked if I fucked up anymore. After our confrontation with Carlisle that day, she and I talked openly and honestly about my behavior over the years. From the selfishness as a teenager, to the ultimate betrayal I heaped on Bella, we covered it all,and how it made her feel. She didn't hold any of my teenaged stupidity against me. She said teenagers couldn't help being stupid; they didn't have the life experiences to help them balance the knowledge they gained every day. Stupidity and selfishness are expected from teenagers. Adults, however, should have enough experience to make good decisions most of the time. She asked me why I had made the choice I did six years ago, and I told her that I honestly couldn't answer that question. Looking back, none of my reasons made sense to me today. Fear of letting my mom down by not keeping my promise to her; fear of not being man enough to handle it all; anger at Bella for disrupting our plans; fear of failing Bella; none of those feelings made sense anymore. We talked about how my fears of failure caused me to fail at the things that were most important in my life. I told her that I craved her honesty as much as her support, and let her know that I needed her moral compass to help guide me on this path I chose. She promised to never blindly support me again. I would never lose her support, but she would kick my ass when it needed to be kicked.

Waiting on Benji was hell. I busied myself settling into the house. I had to decide what I was keeping of dad's and what I was donating. Alice and Jasper had taken everything they wanted already, so the rest was mine to do with what I wanted. The Salvation Army truck was due to come by the next morning, so I spent the rest of the day placing colored sticky notes on the furniture I decided to donate. Surprisingly, this took my mind off of everything, so when my phone chimed alerting me to a new text message, I didn't even pause to look to see whom it was from. I absent-mindedly clicked on the envelope and was greeted with the words, 'Diner, 5:30 tonight. Don't be late; I'd like to get home to my family.' There was no need for a signature. Even though I didn't recognize the number, I knew exactly who it was from. My stomach lurched, from both the nervousness of what I was undertaking and the fear of this man: the man who held my heart in his hands and could crush it without a second thought. The fact I knew he'd rather do just that than allow me to be a part of 'his' family just spurred the anxiety. I swallowed my fears and responded to Benji's text letting him know I'd be there.

I checked the time and discovered that it was almost 5:00. That was a good thing; I didn't have time to wallow in my thoughts. I decided to head over to the diner so that there was no chance of being late. Traveling from one end of Forks to the other usually took all of five minutes, but with my luck, I'd get stuck in the first traffic jam in the history of this town and miss out on my opportunity to make things right in my life.

I arrived at the diner at exactly 12 minutes after 5:00. I debated on sitting in my car until it was time but decided I should go in. I situated myself in a booth in the back corner and ordered a cup of coffee. I definitely didn't NEED any coffee, I was jittery enough, but was hoping the comfort of a cup would help soothe me. Five minutes later, the man who controlled my destiny walked in the door and was greeted with enthusiasm by the few patrons in the dinner. My own entrance went virtually ignored. Well fuck, why couldn't he be a bad guy? I had enough demons to conquer without having to go up against St. Benji.

He glanced around the restaurant, either looking for me or a quiet place for us to talk. When he gazed in my direction, I waved my hand to get his attention. He nodded to let me know he'd seen me but didn't immediately approach the booth. He spoke to a few more people and to Rosalie, who had just made her way out of the kitchen to greet him with a hug. Again, that little green monster reared his ugly little head. This man had waltzed in and taken over a life I didn't realize I wanted. I wanted to be greeted with affection, not distain. I wanted to walk down the street with my son and have people smile at me, not glare at my audacity. I wanted what I threw away, but I knew I had a long way to go before I deserved it.

Finally, Benji made his way over to me.

"Edward," he stated with no emotion in his voice.

"Thank you for meeting with me," I said, hoping he would hear the sincerity in my voice.

"Unfortunately for me, this is what Cam wants, so let's just get to the point, Edward," he began. "You need to know, I don't like this, any of it. I don't like you, but I suppose I owe you for giving me Bella and Cam. They own me heart and soul, and they feel the same about me."

My heart sunk a little further with his declaration. It wasn't something I didn't already know but hearing him say it, out loud, made it more real.

"Benji, man, I know. Believe me, I know this," I started, but he interrupted me.

"Ben, call me Ben, please. I can't convince Bella that Benji makes me sound like a ten year old, but I do prefer Ben." He almost sounded friendly.

"Ok, Ben," I continued, "I know that I have no right to any of what I'm asking, but as I've been told, time and time again, I'm a selfish bastard, and I'm more than willing to take this from you."

Ben snickered, somewhat humorlessly, at my self-assessment.

"I'm not going to argue with you there, Edward."

"I know what I am, and I swear to you on my son, Ben, I'm trying to change that. I know asking for this doesn't make it seem like it, but it was the only way, and you and Bella obviously agree to some extent, or else you wouldn't be here. Cam will have questions one day, and I'd like to be around to answer them. As bad as I fucked up, I never want that little boy to blame himself for my fuck-ups. I hope you believe that."

"I don't think I have a choice but to believe it at this point, Edward. Bella and I talked about this, about how important putting Cam first is, and how you were right: one day he will ask and wonder. But I'm telling you here and now; you fuck this up with him and I'll bury you. Not one person in this town would testify against me even if I sold tickets to it and they got to watch. They'd cheer, help me dig your grave, and go back to their lives like nothing ever happened, so do not, for one second, think there is anything to stop me." He was dead serious.

"Look, man, I know you don't trust me, and I know I have a long way to go to earn, or deserve, anyone's trust, but I will not do anything to hurt that little boy."

"We'll see, I suppose." He was obviously hesitant to believe me. "Well, I've had our attorney draw up a visitation agreement." He placed his briefcase on the table, opened it, and pulled out the paperwork. He didn't hand it to me right away.

"This is legally binding, Edward, and either you agree to the terms, or we will fight you. This is non-negotiable."

"Ok, but do you mind if I take a day to look this over? I will agree to anything but giving him up; I just need to know what I'm agreeing to."

"Take your time, but you won't see him until this is filed with the court, Edward."

"No, I'll have it back to you tomorrow; I just need a little time." I couldn't wait to see Cam, but I knew I wouldn't see him tonight and there was no way I'd sign anything without Jason looking it over.

"Well, I guess you'll let me know tomorrow, and we'll work out a time for you to see Cam." His calm demeanor was betrayed by the pain in his eyes.

I knew I had to let him know about Cam's request before Cam surprised him and hurt him with his enthusiasm.

"Ben, one thing before you go," I started hesitantly, "I spoke with Cam this morning, and he had a request." I was struggling. Even though I'd really like to punch him for taking my family, I knew he loved my son…and my Bella. He didn't deserve to be hurt. "He wanted me to help coach."

The look on his face told me just how much this tore him to pieces.

"Look, I tried to discourage him, I swear I did, and I'll go along with whatever you decide; I just wanted you to know before you got blindsided."

He looked defeated in that moment. He realized, no matter how hard he tried, or what he did for Cam, I would always be there whether it was in person or not. A son would always want his father around, whether he was deserving or not.

A/N

PLEASE READ THIS

My wonderful Beta, Fran, asked, and of course, I said yes to writing an outtake for Stand up 4 Katalina. If you haven't heard, Katalina is a fellow fanfiction lover who has requested this compilation to raise money for Stand Up 2 Cancer. Not too long ago, she received a devastating diagnosis: lymphoma, lung, bone, and adrenal gland cancer-small cell, stage 4 with a 6 month prognosis. Unfortunately many of us have been personally affected by this devastating disease. For me, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer in February. We have been lucky and he has responded well to treatment and we've passed the original prognosis and hope to have many months more. I wish I could say years, but that's probably not in the cards for us but I am thankful for the time we do have. There are many wonderfully talented authors who are donating to this cause and I ask that you check out the webpage and consider making a donation. Http(colon)(slash)(slash) .info.

Again, thank you to all who have followed and favorited this little story of mine. Big hugs and virtual cheek kisses to those who have been kind enough to review, it truly means the world to me that you take the time to let me know what you think! Now you know you want to…so hit that little button and tell me what you think, (pretty please)!