Thanks to Heather, Mykaela, and Gail for pre-reading. Thanks to Fran for beta'ing. And thank you to my readers who have stuck by my side through some real life stuff!

Boy in the Backyard

Chapter 24

Edward sat, staring down at his phone. He'd attempted to play some stupid word game on the device to distract his mind while he stretched his legs in the stiff, leather chair of the waiting room. There was a woman across the room, staring at him. Edward felt the heat rising in his cheeks from her stare. The prodding sensation in his shoulders wouldn't let him forget, despite his eagerness to get lost in the world of simple electronics.

Of course, he'd dealt with women staring at him from time to time, but this wasn't the place for it. He was here for Peter, patiently waiting for him to finish his session with his therapist. This had been a requirement for him staying in Forks, though, it wasn't much of one. Peter didn't fight with anyone's decision; he would have done whatever it took to stay. And Edward was an advocate for mental health being just as important as physical. Peter took it like a champ, going and attending every session. Edward didn't ask or pry; he felt it wasn't really his place unless Peter asked that of him. He knew his nephew wanted to fight his own battles.

The woman in the chair across from him laughed lightly and nonchalantly bent down to pick something up from the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, Edward could see her adjusting her blouse. The sensation in his shoulders grew, spreading down to his arms. She definitely had her eyes on him, and he wished the chair would swallow him whole.

He desperately wanted Bella to be next to him.

Thinking of his girlfriend caused a new sensation—something lighter, airy, and freeing. Butterflies around his heart was probably how Charlotte would describe it. Picturing the little girl saying it caused Edward to smile to himself.

He was the type to fall fast and hard. He always had been. He wasn't offended when Bella didn't say the words back to him, but he hoped she would say it in her own time. Their dynamic was something unusual, but he wouldn't want anything different. After only a few months, they acted like their family situation was something that had always been. He loved Charlotte as much as he loved Bella.

A shudder ran through his body, halting his reminiscing. Even though the events of the past few days hadn't been great, he was trying to keep an optimistic attitude, though he wasn't quite sure the outcome would be positive.

He flashed back to a few nights before, when their perfect family night was interrupted by something he couldn't fathom even in his worst nightmare. Would she actually try it? Would she just show up out of the blue, unannounced? What was her goal? If it was to take Peter, she'd have to be downright stupid if she thought there was any way in hell she'd have a chance at winning Peter back in a court system or over Edward's dead body.

"Who do you think it was?" Bella asked, staring at Edward as they got ready for bed. She slid softly under the covers. She waited as he pulled off his shirt, discarded it on the floor next to the bed, and slid in beside her.

"I think we both know the answer to that already." Who else would it be? Who was the one person who didn't bother to show up to a court date regarding the custody of her son?

"You don't think she'd really come here, do you? She doesn't even have your address…" Bella said, turning over to talk to him. She lowered the sound of her voice, knowing Peter and Charlotte's bedrooms weren't that great of a distance away. They decided to keep them in the dark on the subject, but she wouldn't put it past her nosy offspring to be curious.

"No, she doesn't have my address or yours. The police are still looking for her in Illinois. It was probably wise of her to run, but why come here? This isn't exactly the place she's going to have success.

"Do you think she's going to try something? She can't, can she? Does he have a protective order against her? That was an option, right?"

"Yes, there is one in place... I filed his since he's a minor. It was for the better, Kate's unpredictable. With that being said, I'm not sure that's going to stop her. I'd hope she wasn't actually stupid enough to…" Edward trailed off, staring out the window. He shook his head and laid back on the pillow.

"Should they know about it?" Bella asked, snuggling against his side. He sighed as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.

"Maybe…I think Peter needs to know if it's going to be a problem. We will talk to Aro and Charlie tomorrow to see if they can give us any advice. In the meantime, maybe we should look into getting some cameras or a better security system…" Edward said again. He pressed a light kiss to Bella's forehead.

"We will figure it out." Edward promised, looking into her eyes, "besides, you need sleep. First day back tomorrow." He teased lightly.

"Yippee," Bella said sarcastically.

Bella was happy to go back to work, but Edward wasn't sure how she would do given the amount of changes there had been in her life. After a long break, she seemed eager to get back to caring for patients and had opted to switch to a different specialty than emergency medicine. Seeing and interacting with Peter and what came with him, inspired her to try the realm of Women's Health at the hospital. Edward was eager for her to learn all she could.

Her new opportunity also permitted her to work more standard hours, allowing her to be home with Charlotte and Peter. Renee often babysat the kids after school for a few hours, but Peter and Charlotte were excited to have the new dynamic where they would get more time with Bella during the day.

He smiled when he remembered the first day after Bella got home. She talked everyone's ear off about the different patients she got to see and how different it was than her time in the emergency department.

They stuck to their decision and contacted Aro Volturi the next day, asking for his advice. He admitted he had been worried about something along these lines. He instructed them to contact the local police department, as they already had been looped in on the inner workings of the case, due to the fact that Kate was wanted and at large. They had taken extra measures in the court proceedings to ensure that Kate never got the insight as to where they lived. Garrett and Edward's family were the only ones that would know—and they'd been instructed to keep that information to themselves.

With the click of the phone, Edward sighed, sliding it back into his pocket.

"Everything all right?" Bella asked, popping her head out of the closet. She tossed a garment into a basket before coming to sit on the bed. She had been gathering clothes that had magically begun to accumulate in the time she and Charlotte had been staying at Edward's house.

"Uh, yeah. Fine. Aro just said to contact the local police again and to just be careful. He thinks we're right. It's probably Kate." Edward said frowning.

"Is she stupid or something? She's not getting anywhere near him. How did she even find out your address? Did anyone have any contact with her? Your brother?" Bella asked, scooting closer to him. She sighed.

"I have no idea. Aro has no idea. Garrett's still at a treatment center. Aro doesn't think it was him…how would she have talked to him? He's going to check with the center anyway. I think it's just a dead end. If Garrett would betray his son like that after everything we've been through, I will personally kill him myself." Edward said, turning to look at Bella. His voice was hard.

She remembered the way he was when he saw Garrett for the first time, the blood staining his knuckles. A shiver ran down her spine, and she didn't want to know what would happen Garrett was the rat.

"Garrett's a piece of shit, but I don't think he would do something like that. Not again. He seemed like he wanted to get through whatever it is he needs to get through. He acted like he wanted to care or…try to." Edward continued.

"Well, maybe…there's a bright side here. Forget about everything that may have happened to lead up to it…but let's say we do see her. Someone sees her, and they call the police. Then, she gets arrested, and they ship her back to Illinois to rot in prison." Bella offered, trying to lighten the conversation.

"Yeah, but Bella, how everything gets from point A to point B is important. That's a great solution, and if we could make it happen right now, I'd do it. But, what about Peter? What about Charlotte? Kate is…unpredictable and potentially dangerous! How do we know what she would do to get to Peter? I'd rather she be off somewhere else than near us if it meant…" Edward opened his mouth to continue but shook his head as the words left him. He couldn't express it.

He couldn't watch Peter go through it again.

"God, hasn't the kid had enough to deal with for a lifetime? I know you're trying to be optimistic…but what are we supposed to tell him? 'Peter, your mother's back, and she's probably going to try to come around you." Edward groaned again, "I don't know if I can do that, Bella. And I certainly don't want to drag you and Charlotte into something I don't know the outcome of."

"Well, that sucks for you because I'm not going anywhere, and neither is Charlotte." Bella couldn't stop the sarcasm from spewing out of her mouth. Edward turned to stare at her, his gaze wary.

"It's true. I'm not worried about Peter because he's got you now. And he has Charlotte and me. We love you and Peter, Edward. And I know he's going to be strong for whatever comes at him because you showed him what it means to be that way."

"I hope you're right," Edward said to himself. He moved his eyes to look at the clock situated on the wall above the woman across from him. Perhaps the analog clock would be different than the digital clock on his phone.

Peter's session was running behind.

Edward sighed.

He hoped they weren't going to be late.

Bella's birthday was happening in the midst of this chaos. and Renee wasn't letting Bella 'live in fear' and miss out on a celebration. One that was special, since it would be Edward and Peter's first time joining them for a family celebration. Edward was taking Peter back to Bella's house to get ready, a spot they'd relocated too after finding the threatening note on his door. He'd picked Charlotte and Peter up from school earlier before practically dragging Peter out the door to his appointment. After the pitstop home, they would run to get Bella to surprise her at the restaurant. The kids were looking forward to it. They were eager for some excitement since lately, the tension had been thick enough to cut.

Someone cleared their throat to get Edward's attention. Anxiously, his head shot up, meeting a pair of cool blue eyes.

"Hi," said the woman from across the room, "I'm Rebecca. Is this seat taken?"

Edward scrunched his eyes, "Uh…no, it's not. I'm Edward."

"Nice to meet you. Are you just waiting for someone?"

"Uh…yeah, actually, he should be out any moment." Edward smiled politely, trying to look anywhere but at this woman's face. She was pretty with light red hair slicked back into a ponytail and wide eyes.

"Okay, well, I'll make this quick then. I…saw you looking at me, and I wondered if you wanted to maybe…go out sometime? Grab a drink?"

"Uh…no, thanks. I wasn't looking at you…" Edward said abruptly, "the clock is behind you."

The woman opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by another clearing of the throat.

"Come on, Dad, let's go home," Peter said, glaring at the woman. Edward hadn't even heard him come out.

Her eyes widened.

"Mom is waiting for us." Peter added sharply.

Edward stood quickly, grabbing Peter's shoulder, "yes, she is, so let's go." He bit his lip to hide the smirk that was fighting its way out.

"Thanks for the save back there, Pete," Edward said, laughing lightly as he pulled out of the parking lot. The boy in the passenger seat frowned next to him.

"What is it? How'd your session go?"

"It went fine, Uncle Edward."

"Uh, oh…you used my full name. What's going on, kid?"

"Why was that lady talking to you?" Peter said, without missing a beat. Edward's foot almost slammed on the brakes from the slickness of Peter's voice.

"What?"

"That lady, at Dr. Masen's office. She was talking to you and doing things that girls do when they like someone. Did she like you or something?" Peter asked again, just as smooth as the first time.

"Uh, she asked me to go out with her, yeah…How long were you standing there?" Edward asked, confused by the confrontational tone of his nephew's voice.

"Only a second. You looked like you wanted to leave, so I thought I would help."

"Oh. Yeah, she was…just being friendly, I guess."

"Are you going to go with her? Out?" Peter asked again, the confrontational tone returning.

"What? Of course not, Peter. Why would you ask that?"

"I…don't know. I thought you liked her. Things have been weird at the house…" Peter said, looking down at his thumbs. They were twiddling at the edge of the seat belt draped over him, "it seems like something is going on …between you and Bella."

Edward sighed.

"There is something going on, isn't there? Are we leaving? Uncle E, we can't leave…" Peter started.

"No, Peter. Yes, there is something going on, but not what you're thinking. Bella and I are happier than ever, Pete. You don't have to worry about that." Edward responded, turning his head to glance at his nephew as they pulled up to a stoplight.

"Then what's going on?"

"Peter…it involves you. I told Bella we'd tell you together. We'll talk about it after dinner tonight, I promise."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Because it affects us all, Peter. Now isn't the right place to tell you."

"That's so stupid! If it involves me…"

"And, we will tell you tonight."

"That's hours from now. How am I supposed to sit through a stupid dinner with this on my mind!" Peter said, getting angry.

"All right…We're going out for Bella's birthday, Pete. I don't think that's stupid, do you?"

He shrugged his shoulders, staring at the ground with a frown plastered to his face.

"Is that a no?"

"I don't know."

Edward gripped his hands on the steering wheel, mentally counting to ten in his head. Even though he spent so much time with his nephew, the official parent dynamic was an area where he and his newly acquired ward butted heads. With the whirlwind of court dates behind them, Peter now had a lot to deal with, and a lot to heal from. Edward couldn't even begin to understand how it felt because he knew he'd never gone through anything that would ever compare.

He was trying, though.

Was that enough?

"It's not that long, Peter. You will be fine to wait until after dinner. We will tell you everything we know. We're not even sure it's something to worry about…it could just be…" Edward shook his head, trailing off.

"Why? Ugh, I don't get why I have to…" Peter whined again, coldly.

"Because I said so," Edward said, matching Peter's tone ice chip for ice chip.

"Really? That's the line you're gonna use? You're not my dad...you can't." Peter started angrily. His façade quickly fell apart as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Deciding he was already too far into this mess, he narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows. His session hadn't gone well…and he didn't want to talk about it.

He was sick of that.

Talking about it.

Talking to him like he was a child.

Keeping things from him.

Even his uncle.

His cool, always there for him uncle was siding with them.

"It will be good for you, Pete." He said.

Therapy was stupid.

His therapist was stupid.

He hated talking about it.

He hated being afraid.

Deep down, he knew his uncle was trying. If this was new for Peter, how new was it for him?

Despite this, the deep feeling of fear always won the battles Peter had in his head.

"Damn it, Peter, that's enough! Now I'm trying…but I'm tired of this…brat phase you've been having. Just…go inside. We'll talk tonight because I said that's when we're talking." Edward said as they pulled into the driveway. He gripped his fingers on the steering wheel, taking a deep breath as his nephew scoffed.

Edward was certain he could hear the eye roll crossing Peter's face as he got out of the car, slamming the door a little too harshly behind him. He put his head on the steering wheel, shutting his eyes tightly together as he tried to maintain his temper. His breathing increased rapidly as he lifted his head.

"Ugh!" He yelled, swinging his hand back and hitting the dashboard with force. Pain quickly radiated through his hand, throbbing as he whipped it back to his side.

"Damn it!" He whispered harshly.

A noise ripped through the air, causing Edward to look up from his momentary distress. The throbbing in his hand was forgotten as he focused on the sound coming from the upstairs window of the Swan house.

Screaming

AN: Don't worry, I've already got the next one locked and loaded for you. I am thinking we are going to get regular updates until this fic is complete!

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See you soon !