Thanks to Fran, Mykaela, and Gabby for help with this chapter.
Chapter 18
Edward's heart was beating quickly in his chest. The anger that had been forming dissolved at the sight in front of him. Time seemed to move in slow motion and each beat punctuated his shortened breath. A dozen thoughts swam through his mind at once, paining the side of his head. As an emergency physician, keeping his cool was one of his strengths, but he was losing it slowly.
Peter.
It couldn't be a sick joke.
It couldn't be Bella, for whatever reason, toying with his vulnerability.
Peter.
Edward's eyes widened at the two children entering the doorway. Bella pulled the door back to give them more space. He knew he should say something to greet Charlotte—he doubted any of this madness was her fault.
Was it Bella's?
Edward shook his head, pushing the thoughts to the back of the line. His heart was in his stomach. If he wasn't fighting the bile rising to the back of his throat by biting his lip, his jaw would be ajar.
Peter Cullen was standing in front of him.
His nephew…the missing piece.
He bit his lip harder to avoid throwing up.
He raked his eyes over his nephew, taking in the changes since he'd last seen him. Though he was always lanky, Peter appeared very thin. His too-long arms were narrow, swimming in the oversized T-shirt he wore. The board shorts he sported were tied tightly around his waist. His blonde hair was dirty, as though it hadn't been washed in a while and it fell much longer than it ever had. He could tell this despite the wavy hair being shoved back behind his ears. Dark bags took residence on his face—no feature any regular, ten-year-old should have. He searched over his exposed skin, searching for any immediate signs of injury.
Was he all right?
Was he taller?
He met his eyes but couldn't stop himself from shaking his head.
Peter.
So many people had given up hope.
And though he couldn't bear to, Edward clung to a narrow thread of optimism. The kind that one movement of the finger would release, out of his grasp.
Peter brushed his hair behind his ear before gently pushing Charlotte behind him. He stepped forward, never dropping his eyes from his uncle's gaze.
"Uh...Hi, Uncle E."
Edward's heart seemed to crack at that moment. He watched the small boy step forward, towards him. The nickname he gave him when he was only three and couldn't pronounce his uncle's name for the life of him.
How could this be possible?
He fought back the tears.
"Peter?" He said out loud for the first time. His eyes were wide. Edward felt his knees getting weak.
"Ye-yeah. It's me." Peter nodded, moving towards him.
He was sinking.
Peter moved quickly, running towards Edward's legs. His small arms wrapped around his uncle's waist.
The force behind the gentle but desperate hug was enough to keep him afloat.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he pressed his face into Peter's blonde hair. He pulled him to his chest tightly. The crack in his heart seemed to stitch itself together one by one with each breath the young boy took. There were so many questions to be answered, so many emotions to be dealt with.
But he didn't care.
They had time for all that … later.
Right now, the tightness of his uncle's embrace was the only thing he needed as Peter's fear melted away.
The reality of having his nephew in front of him slowly slipped away. His eyes reddened from the tears that had fallen down his face. This new reality was punitive. The sickening feeling he had felt moments ago when Bella stood at her door, stalling, returned with a force. Did he tempt Karma in some way? Was this cruel reality his punishment? It sickened him to even ask himself the question. He wanted desperately to look over at her, for her smiling face to be enough to convince him against anything his gut was forcefully telling him at that moment.
He couldn't do either.
He felt numb.
"Peter, go outside."
"But…Uncle E…can't we stay here with Bella and Charlotte?" Peter asked, bunching his eyebrow together in confusion. Wasn't his uncle happy he was okay? His uncle's expression was different than how it was a few minutes ago. Solemn, cold.
"No, Peter. Go out to the car." Edward spoke sternly, handing the boy a slim fob from his pocket, "Maybe Charlotte should go upstairs, Bella. You and I need to talk. Now." His words were ice chips.
Charlotte, startled by the coldness in his tone, retreated up the stairs.
What was he supposed to say?
What was she supposed to say?
Bella was wound as tight as a clock. They stood, wading tentatively in a pool of tension. She looked up to find his face, desperate to get a handle on what he was going to say. Edward's head was turned to the side and he fought desperately not to stare into her eyes. His profile was rigid, the tendons in his neck began to protrude, his jaw shook lightly as he bit down on his lip.
Seconds later, the shaking stopped, and he spoke. Venom coated each word thickly.
"Edward?" Bella asked quietly. She moved to approach him.
"I will give you ten seconds to explain to me why I shouldn't call the police."
"What? Edward, what are you…" Bella trailed off, confused.
"Was this all part of some plan? Get to know me? Get all of my secrets?" His voice was loud, but he seemed to keep it moderate. Perhaps because he knew Charlotte was upstairs.
"Edward? Wait a second…" Bella raisedher hands and finally forced herself to look into his stone green eyes. All the emotion she saw in them only moments ago had turned into a hardened glare.
"Tell me how you pulled it off?" He barked.
"Damn it, listen to yourself! You think…I did this? You think I'm responsible for your…" Bella's voice began to rise.
"Then please, tell me the tale of how this all makes any fucking sense. My nephew, the one I told you about…yesterday…was in your house! In your possession! For what…weeks? What do you think it looks like to me, Bella?" Edward argued, no longer paying attention to the tone of his voice.
"Oh my god, are you listening to yourself, you sound absolutely insane! You want a story? Ask him! I had no idea—and I still don't know how he got here. I caught Charlotte trying to sneak him out this morning. I tried to get more out of him—" Her eyes narrowed in shock at his claim. Rough waves crashed in her belly.
"So why didn't you think to…I don't know, call the police?" Edward questioned.
"When I realized who he was—I, we needed to talk to you first. That's what he wanted." She whispered.
"Seriously, Bella. How are you even capable of doing something like caring for Charlotte if you let something like this go on right under your nose? Are you blind?" He snapped.
Bella's eyes went wide at his words. She was dazed, her mouth moving warily to form a response.
He caught himself at the end of the sentence, slamming his mouth shut in realization at the harshness of the words that had slipped out so easily. Fury still slithered through him like a live wire. He didn't want to take this any; further, he couldn't.
Everything was hazy. He was going to go out on a limb and say his initial conclusion was way off the mark. Though irritation continued to prick at him, he couldn't bring himself to mutter any more words that could hurt.
He swallowed back the frustration, bit his lip, and stared at Bella. He glowered as if he was searching for something before turning on his heels and moving quickly through the door. He didn't slam it behind him, but rather let it go with a light click.
If the hurt that flashed in Bella's soft brown eyes after his latest comment wasn't enough to knock the frustration out of him, it was the small boy he ran into as soon as he shut the door behind him.
Peter tried to get to the bottom of the Swan's porch steps before his uncle could catch him.
"I thought I told you to wait in the car, Peter," Edward said softly to the boy, smirking lightly,
"You did."
"So why are you out here?"
"You can't blame this all on Bella! She didn't have anything to do with it, Uncle E., I swear! Charlotte hid me … the playhouse in the backyard …"
"Peter…"
"No! I heard what you said. I know some people say things when they're mad that they don't mean. But you're wrong. Bella is the best mom to Charlotte. Maybe even better than Grandma! You can't say things like that about Bella…I didn't know what it was like to have a mom until I met the Swans, Uncle E." Peter's sentence was punctuated by a quiver of his bottom lip.
His green eyes grew glassy as the tears began to well.
Edward's chest ached as the words he spewed at Bella in his anger repeated themselves in his head.
And the fact that his nephew overheard all of it made it worse.
His reference to Kate stung, and another wave of anger raked through him.
Edward swallowed to keep his temper in check.
Peter turned his head down, reaching his hand up to wipe his face. He slowly got into the passenger seat of his uncle's car. Edward followed suit, sliding into the driver's side. He didn't start the engine. He rested his head against the steering wheel. His head was still spinning. He tried to push everything that wasn't relevant to his nephew out of his head—
Bella, their argument, work.
"Peter…you need to tell me what happened, buddy. We can fix this. We can make things right."
"Are you sure? I can't have Bella hate me … and Charlotte, she's my best fr ..."
"They could never hate you, Peter. Even I know that much."
"I don't think Bella could stay mad at you either, Uncle E. Not even when you're so wrong."
Peter leaned over the console to curl into his uncle's side. Edward welcomed the notion, tucking his arm around the boy.
"We both messed up then, kiddo. Remember what I told you the first time we went to the slopes?" Edward asked, tilting his head, so it was pressed to the top of Peter's ear.
"Always put on deodorant before getting into the snowsuit?" Peter joked.
"No, Peter," Edward laughed and brushed the boy's hair, "though that's important. Remember what I said when you were scared about getting on the lift…The best view comes…"
"After the hardest climb," Peter sighed and looked up, grinning.
"Yeah, Uncle E., I remember."
AN: Sorry for the delay in getting this one out. I had some difficulty. Don't worry, it seems as though Edward has to eat crow, but things are finally starting to sort themselves out…right?
Unfortunatly, it will probably be another ten days before an update. I'm having surgery on Thursday. I'm thrilled about it though because I've been waiting ofr it for a while.
In the meantime,
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Happy Reading,
Sarah