Chapter 26 – What's Right

Edward

In the ten minutes it took to reach my hotel, I came to the realization that I knew absolutely nothing about kids. Seemingly without taking a single breath for nine minutes straight, Bree talked about her love for my band and how she always knew we'd meet, and then suddenly she was out like a light switch. She had fallen asleep so quickly that for a second, I feared she had some kind of medical emergency, but then she started snoring.

"Hey Bree, we're here. You have to wake up," I told her gently, but she was obviously exhausted and only stirred to shift her weight towards me. I felt weird about it, then again, everything about the situation was weird, but I picked her up anyway and carried her up to the hotel suite.

After laying her down in the bedroom, I couldn't help but smirk at how tiny she looked in that massive king-sized bed, and as she slept there peacefully, for whatever reason, I thought about Bella and wondered what her life was like. Was she married with a few kids of her own? I couldn't imagine her not finding someone to spend her life with; I only hoped he was worthy of her, though I had my doubts anyone ever could be.

It didn't take long for me to come to the conclusion that watching a little girl sleep while thinking about an old lover was severely creepy, so I went out to the couch and tried to get some sleep myself, but of course, I couldn't. Not only was my mind spinning with bittersweet thoughts of Bella, but after finally processing everything that happened that day, I was also hit with the very surrealistic reality that I actually paid a guy for a kid. Jasper was right; I was rash and impulsive and this time I crossed the line, but I had no idea how to get out of it without Bree suffering.

I laid awake for the rest of the night, just trying to figure out what to do, and before the sun came up the next morning, I had worked myself into a full on panic. What the hell did I get myself into?

Luckily, at six thirty AM, there was already a knock on the door…

"Liam!" I nearly shouted as he came into the suite. I may have even hugged him from the relief I felt having him there. If anyone could get me out of that impossible situation, it was my wiz of a lawyer. "Thank god. I assume Jasper called you."

"Yeah, and you're in a heap of shit," he said as he walked past me into the suite.

"Fuck, I know. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Well, first thing's first, you need to call the bank and put a hold on that check before he has a chance to cash it, and then we need to call the police. As long as we do this the right away, I'm sure I can talk you out of any charges," he assured me.

"How are you going to do that?" I asked skeptically.

"We'll just tell them you were concerned for the child's safety when her caregiver offered to sell her, and that should be enough."

I nodded. "Okay, but what about Bree? I need a guarantee that she'll never go back to that prick."

"The fact that we have multiple witnesses to confirm that he sold her, I'm sure he'll not only be arrested, but there's no way he'll ever be allowed near children again. By you coming forward so soon, it'll show that you agreeing to buy her was only a ruse to ensure her safety."

I took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll call the bank."

Since there weren't any banks open during the hours that bastard had my check for, there was no way for him to cash it so soon, so I was easily able to put on the hold. Afterwards, Liam called the police station and briefly explained the issue, which meant it was time to break the news to Bree.

She was still sleeping in the bedroom, so I woke her up and explained. Needless to say, she was more than a little upset.

"But why can't I stay with you? I already promised that I won't do anything wrong."

"Bree, it's not about how good you are, it's about doing what's right. There is no way I can keep you like this. The government would never allow it. But I meant what I said last night; you don't have to worry about Riley and his wife ever again. I'm going to make sure of it."

She sighed while looking down at her hands. "Well, I suppose I already knew living with you was too good to be true. But thank you anyway; I'll never forget the time I got to spend with you," she said politely.

It was heartbreaking. That poor kid probably never had the luxury of optimism, and the one time she actually got what she wanted, it was just taken away so quickly. I felt like complete and utter shit.

All too soon the police officer arrived and was accompanied by a Child Welfare agent. I hardly got a chance to say goodbye before Bree was being whisked away. I was cleared of any wrong doing, but once again, for the second time in my life, a stranger had stolen my heart and I was left feeling empty.

After taking a few days to actually think it through, I decided to contact Social Services to try to get legal custody of Bree…