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.

Well, just when you think it's going to be just the regular crazy in my house, my daughter goes and makes the ODP pool. (Olympic Development Program) – more soccer, more time and of course, more money! LOL

Previously

We said an awkward good-bye after making plans for me to pick up Cam on Sunday. When I got into my car, I breathed deeply. This was really happening. On Sunday, I would get to have my son with me. Even though the custody plans didn't give me a lot of access, I knew that in time I would get more time with my son. I was also very hopeful about rebuilding some sort of relationship with Bella. For the first time in a lot of years, life was really looking up for me.

Chapter 14

Over the last few months, my relationship with my son had gotten stronger. The first Sunday we spent together was thrilling and fun and…real.

When I went to pick him up that morning, I was greeted by a very somber looking Ben and a very hyper Cam. Bella was nowhere to be found. I spent so much time trying not to think about Bella's relationship with Ben, having him answer the door in his pajama pants served as a strong reminder. He was living my life. Every night, he got to tuck my son in. He went to bed with my Bella and got to wake up to her every morning. As much as it pained me, I knew he touched her, loved her, and gave her pleasure.

I was forced to remember when Bella gave herself to me for the first time. We'd whispered promises of forever, of only being with one another for the rest of our lives, and yet, here she was living with another man. The logical side of my mind understood that I'd touched,and been touched by others since, and I was the one that drove her into another man's arms, but my heart still hurt at the thought. Love truly knows no logic.

While I didn't plan on spoiling Cam every time I picked him up, I did want our first time out as father and son to be special. Bella had given me some ideas, so I knew she was okay with this. As hard as all of this was on her, I knew she wanted our son to be happy and loved, and I promised her that he would never be anything but.

Cam and I started the day at the diner. He wanted the pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. I hesitated briefly, remembering Bella's warning of Cam on sugar. I should have hesitated longer and ordered him eggs and bacon. The boy was hyper anyway, on sugar? I have no words. It's a good thing our plans involved the arcade atPlay World. In addition to video games for all ages, it also had jumpers and blowup play worlds in different themes. Bella said it was his favorite place to go, and I had never been happier when I saw the look on his face when we pulled into the parking lot. True joy has a definitive look, and I was blessed with seeing it on my son's face.

"Daddy Edward? You're taking me to Play World?" he half asked, half stated,as he bounced up and down in his booster seat. I didn't even have the car in park before he was out of his buckle. I hated having to fuss at him on our first outing together, but his safety took priority, so he got a stern talking to. Well, sort of.

"Cameron Anthony," I said as sternly as I was comfortable with. Well it came out as more of a question. "Would your mother let you get out of your seat before the car is turned off?" I asked him, again trying to be stern, but I could tell by the smile on his face that he wasn't concerned with facing my ire.

"Sorry, Daddy Edward, I won't do it again; I promise." A sudden look of panic crossed his face. "Daddy Edward, please don't tell my mommy I did that! She'll be so 'pointed' in me." He wasn't crying, but he definitely looked scared."

"Cam, I doubt your mom could ever DISappointed in you." I emphasized the dis because, as cute as his mispronunciations were, he did need to learn to speak correctly. "But, Son, we can't hide things from your mom. It's not fair to her, but we will make sure she knows you won't do it again, right?" He shook his vigorously but still looked a little panicked.

"Ok, Son, let's go have some fun!" With that, he grinned from ear to ear again and excitedly "pulled me" through the parking lot toward the entrance.

The day was a huge hit, but it was absolutely exhausting for both of us, so when I pulled into Bella's driveway, he was conked out. I was also ready to drop.

I carefully lifted him from the car, trying hard not to wake him. As soon as I was holding him on my hip, he nestled his head into my neck. Even though I was exhausted, I wanted to stand there all night and hold him. I probably could have, honestly. I felt like a father for the time in my life, and it was a feeling I never wanted to forget. One I knew I never could forget. Early fall in the northwest meant that the temperature dropped rapidly when the sun went down, so I hurried to Bella's door and pushed the doorbell. The door immediately swung open, and Bella looked slightly disappointed to see our son sleeping on my shoulder. With a resonating sigh, Bella stepped aside and motioned for me to come in. Ben walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer attempting to take Cam from me, but I shook my head.

"May I please carry him to his room? I'd love to be able to tuck him in tonight. We had such a wonderful day." In my attempt to be quiet, I hoped I didn't come across as too desperate, but in reality, I was.

Ben glanced over at Bella, and she nodded her assent, so Ben turned to lead me to Cam's room. His room was off to the right at the top of the stairs, directly across from Bella's. The door was open and I couldn't help but look in. The bed was unmade, and it made my heart sink. Bella was never one to leave an unmade bed, so I knew they'd spend the afternoon there. I looked back to find Ben staring at me with one eyebrow raised. I simply shrugged and walked into Cam's room.

I took a moment to glance around and smiled at how 'little boy' it was. The walls were painted to resemble a baseball park. One wall had the diamond and outfield, and there were 'players' in each position. On the two adjacent walls, there were 'people' in the stands, and on the opposite wall, there was a dugout. The bed looked like the bench where the players sat and there were real bats and gloves hung throughout the painting. It was truly a work of art. It also reminded me that I should have him help me plan a room at my house. I knew it would be a long while before he would spend the night with me, but I wanted him to have a space of his own. I also knew I needed to discuss this with Bella. I didn't want to cause her headaches if Cam were to start begging to stay with me. After today, I knew it wouldn't be long. We'd both had a wonderful time.

A throat clearing behind me brought me out of my thoughts and reminded me of the sleeping boy in my arms. I walked over to his 'dug out' and carefully pulled back the covers and laid him down. I slipped his shoes off, tucked the covers around him and kissed his check while whispering, "Good night my son, I love you so very much,and I had such a wonderful time today."

I turned to walk out of the room, while Ben and Bella both kissed his cheeks good night.

We all went back down to the kitchen, and Ben offered me a cup of coffee. I declined, telling them that I had to work in the morning, but they asked me to stay for a few minutes to tell them about our day.

Excitedly, I relayed all that we had done, and they laughed at my reaction to the sugar high caused by the pancakes. Both Bella and Ben were impressed with how I handled the seat belt incident, and they promised not to give him too hard of a time over it,since I'd taken care of it like a pro. Bella's words, not mine.

I left feeling lighter than I had in a long time. I started at the hospital the next morning and time flew by. I was thankful for that, otherwise, I would have lost my mind waiting for the next Sunday.

The next few Sunday's were spent just being normal. Bella had given me the okay to set up a room for Cam, so he and I spent time looking at magazines and perusing the home improvement store in Port Angeles for ideas. We weren't going to do anything as elaborate as his room at Bella's, but we decided to continue the baseball theme. The boy was nuts about baseball.

Thanksgiving was lonely for me. I decided to head to Seattle to visit Jasper and Alice instead of going to Aunt Esme's. Carlisle and I were getting along better after he unloaded on me that day, but the relationship was far comfortable. Not that my relationship with Alice and Jasper was much better, but I was working on it.

Neither of them was happy that I'd stayed in Forks, but they were both happy to see my relationship with Cam blooming. Alice never mentioned Bella unless it was in context with my son, but I got the feeling she approved of the relationship I was beginning to form with him.

Bella and I weren't necessarily friends yet, but we were experts at co-parenting. I never wanted to overstep my boundaries with Cam, so I called Bella for every little thing, at first. One day Bella finally put her foot down.

"Damn it, Edward, you do not have to call me every time he asks for a snack. Grow some balls and make decisions. I might not like all of them, and if a problem comes up, we will discuss it." I stopped calling all the time.

It's now two weeks before Christmas, and I've finished my Christmas shopping. That was the one time Bella called me. At first, I was panicked, thinking something was wrong with Cam, but she just wanted to discuss his Christmas list. She didn't want to double up on things, unless it was something he could keep one of each at our respective houses. In the end, we decided that Santa would bring two bikes, one to each house, and I'd purchase the Lego sets he was asking for, while she got the video games. I already owned the same system they did. Well, I owned all of the systems available. I had lived the life of a single man for a long time.

That day started off like any other day. I was working that night, so I slept as much as I could before I went out to do the grocery shopping.Once that was done and I was on my way home, I drove by a Christmas tree lot and decided to stop and pick one up. Cam and I could decorate it on Sunday. I took my purchases home, put away the groceries and placed the tree on the back porch. I didn't want it to dry out in the heat. Little did I know that was the last bit of normalcy that I would have for a while.

When I arrived at the hospital, things were beyond chaotic. The icy roads had struck again,and there had been a motor vehicle accident involving four cars.

I quickly scrubbed my hands, and walked into the ER to help out. My heart stopped the moment I entered. In one of the beds was Bella, with her head bandaged, cradling a frightened, crying Cam. I ran to the bed to check on them both when I saw the tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Bella, are you okay? Is Cam?" I did not even try to hide the panic in my voice. She shook her head, looked up at me and begged. "Edward, please, you have to save Benji! Please don't let him leave me, too!"

A/N

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