Stolen Dreams

Disclaimer: Everyone else owns the recognizable stuff. This story is mine. 'Nuff said.

A/N: Because you are the world's best readers, I'm sure that you'll forgive me for updating late. Between my job interview yesterday (Yay!) and Valentine's Day (during which my hubs bought BD and watched it with me), I completely forgot about updating. Now, I have a migraine, so if there are errors, please forgive those too.

Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed last week! I was amazed by how many of you I heard from! We almost hit 1600 reviews. In the spirit of that almost, I'll offer a teaser again to 1600, 1650 and 1700.

Thank you also to my awesome, blossom beta, JenRar. She rocks my world.

Chapter 24

Tanya and I returned from the bathroom together, chatting amiably. Edward stood as we walked back to the table, eying me with concern. I just gave him a small smile and sat back down. Tanya didn't have too many more questions, but she did give me her number to pass along to both Aron and the Cullens. She agreed that doing a single national show was best and felt like it would play better if we were all together. Without my emotions getting in the way, I could appreciate that Tanya truly did have a great mind for this.

"It was great to meet you," Tanya said as she hugged me before we left. "Take care of him."

"I will. Thank you, Tanya. Call me when you get a plan together," I responded. I watched as she embraced Edward briefly. He looked uncomfortable, but patted her on the back.

She turned toward the bank of elevators. Edward reached for my hand, but the movement was cautious. I squeezed his gently and started to the car. We didn't speak at all as we made our way back to the house. Edward seemed to be lost in thought, and I let him have his time. Tanya's confidence had given me back some of mine.

This time when he stopped at my apartment, there was no hesitation and no keys left in the ignition. He even jumped from the car and opened my door for me before I could get to the latch. We walked upstairs in silence, but the tension pouring off of Edward was unmistakable.

Once inside, I started toward the bedroom, but stopped when I noticed that Edward hadn't followed. He was perched on the edge of the couch, his left leg bouncing frantically.

"Edward, is everything okay?" Tanya had seemed to think that Edward was happier with me than he'd ever been with her, but his current attitude was starting to scare me.

"No, it's not," he said haltingly. "I'm sorry. I never should have subjected you to dinner with her like that. She made you uncomfortable . . . hell, if I think about it, I've probably made you uneasy today."

I blew out the breath I was holding and waited a moment, letting my thoughts gather and giving him time to say more if he wanted to. He didn't. "I have to admit that it hasn't been the easiest of days. Why don't you tell me what you're thinking? How you feel about seeing her again?" I took a seat on the couch near him, but far enough away to give him his space.

He cocked his head to the side and gave me a curious look. "Okay, Doc," he kind of teased. It was clear he was nervous, though. "I suppose it was good to see her, in that 'long time, no see, old friend,' kind of way. I didn't miss her, and though I'm glad she's here to help us, I don't think I'll be sad to see her go. That feels wrong, but it is what it is."

"And?" I prompted.

"And I felt horrible that Tanya was sprung on you like that. Dinner, at least the first part, felt like some weird stand-off. She was prodding you, and you were fighting back, until you just weren't anymore." His shoulders sagged in defeat.

His next words were whispered so low that I almost didn't hear them. "It's almost like you gave up on me. On us."

It was my turn to laugh, and I felt stupid for ever considering that he might not need me as much as I needed him in my life. "Do you know what Tanya told me in the bathroom?"

He lifted his head and looked at me, his eyes brimming with hurt. "No, what?"

"That you were happier than she'd ever seen you. That she knew now that it was always me, and that all she wanted for you was to be happy. She even told me about your proposal and made me promise to get a better one out of you for myself," I told him. "I'll be honest; I didn't know where your head was tonight. I thought that maybe seeing her had brought back up all the feelings you had for her, and you would realize that she was who you wanted to spend your life with. She was willing to drop everything and come to your aid. You got all dressed up and nervous for dinner with her and basically told her that you didn't want to propose to me."

His mouth dropped open in shock. "That's not what I said at all!" he protested.

"No, it's not, but combined with the rest of your actions today, that's what I heard," I said sadly, reaching over and laying my hand over his, the first touch we'd had since we'd gotten home.

"Goddammit!" he screamed, jumping up to pace around the living room. His hands were pulling at his hair and he looked truly frustrated. "Bella, you have to know that's not what I meant. If I thought that you'd have said yes, I would have asked you to marry me on our second date. I'd planned to do it in Forks, at the park where we had our first kiss, but then you saw Ryan and . . . Now, if I asked, it would seem like I'm only asking because of him."

"To who?" I asked genuinely. I knew that he loved me, and I wouldn't think so.

He scoffed. "Mom, Dad, the rest of the fucking world."

"Does the rest of the world matter?" I asked, curious as to his answer.

"What?" My question stopped him short. "What do you mean?"

I gave him a sad smile. "I'm not looking for a proposal tonight, Edward. In fact, if you were to do it tonight, I think that would be almost as shitty as your proposal to Tanya. But if you have really been thinking about this and that's what's stopping you, I have to ask: why do the opinions of your parents and people we don't even know matter?"

"You wouldn't think that?" he asked quietly.

"Edward, do you want to marry me, spend the rest of your life with me, have more children, and love me until you take your last breath?" I asked in a teasing tone.

"Of course I do," he answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Then that's all I need. That's all that matters to me," I told him. "If your parents think otherwise, it's only because they've been short sighted for years where we are concerned. And all those other people don't get a say."

He took a few steps and rejoined me on the couch, grasping my hand and holding me close. "I'm sorry if I gave you any reason to doubt me tonight or how much I love you. You and Ryan—you're my whole world. I want to be your shoulder to lean on, not the one making the leaning necessary. I love you, Bella."

Unbidden, tears slid down my face. "I love you, too."

I wasn't sure how long we sat there, clinging to each other and soaking up what comfort we could while still in our dress clothes. When we finally broke apart, though, the clock showed that it was after midnight.

"You need to go home and hang this up," I said, somewhat sadly, as I ran my hand over his uniform jacket.

"I do," he said regretfully. "I'll see you tomorrow, though, right?"

I wrinkled my nose. "What are we supposed to do with your parents?"

He shrugged. "Don't care what they do. If they want to show up unannounced, then they have to be prepared not to have our full attention. We need to meet with Aron this week and Maggie about the house."

"Okay, let me know when you need me where. You should go before you're too tired to drive." I smiled sadly and walked with him to the door.

He leaned down and kissed me tenderly, lovingly.

When he was safely in his car and driving away, I took off my dress and hung it up, before throwing on my rattiest pajamas and getting ready for bed. The apartment was quiet—no Alice or Edward to make noise—and I had a little trouble falling asleep when I switched off the lights.

It didn't matter, though. Just after I dozed off, the bed dipped, and a pair of strong arms surrounded my waist.

"Edward?" I asked sleepily.

"Yeah, it's me," he whispered. "Go back to sleep. I just couldn't stand to be away from you, so I came back. Goodnight, my love."

"Night," I mumbled, sighing happily. With him there, I fell into a deep sleep and coasted away to dreamland.

There were reporters outside my office again when I arrived on Monday morning. I managed to slip in the back undetected and run to my office. Chelsea laughed at seeing me slightly out of breath, but grabbed me a coffee and handed me my stack of mail.

According to my calendar, I had five appointments, so there would be plenty to keep me busy and my mind off of all the things that made the weekend so . . . stellar. I succeeded through the first two, and then an email from Edward distracted me.

Hey babe,

Mom and Dad want to have dinner with us tonight. It's up to you. Maggie called early and said that they've scheduled the closing for Wednesday afternoon at 3:00. Can you be there? Let me know about dinner. It's a little crazy over here, so just email or text me when you can.

E

I didn't want to have dinner with the Masens, and it pissed me off that the prospect of it kept me from giving my full attention to the rest of my patients. Between two of my afternoon sessions, I emailed Edward back and told him that I could be there Wednesday afternoon—I had to move someone to tomorrow instead—and that I would be fine with dinner tonight. In reality, I wanted to have dinner with them about as much as I wanted to share a cell with Bob Gerandy.

Edward didn't seem any more pleased by it when he picked me up to go. They had apparently been calling him on and off all day, until finally he called them back, told them that if they didn't leave him alone, he'd accidently bomb a hospital in the Ukraine, and it would be all their fault.

I laughed. "What did they say?"

"My mom spluttered for a few seconds and hung up abruptly," he related with a grin.

"They don't know that you don't actually work with explosives, do they?" I asked.

He chuckled and grinned wider. "I'm not telling them that."

I smacked his arm, but I since I could appreciate his frustration, I let him be. It wasn't as if I was any more excited about going to dinner with them.

Ed and Elizabeth were already at the restaurant when we arrived. We exchanged pleasant greetings and perused our menus, leaving alone the fact that they were here and the reasons why for the moment.

"How's work?" Edward asked Ed when the silence got to be too much.

"It's good. Busy," he commented. He didn't seem inclined to offer anything else.

Edward waited for him to elaborate, and we were all thankful that the server showed up to take our drink orders. She told us the nightly specials and left to let us all think some more. The blanket of silence covered the table once more, adding to the edgy feeling of the evening.

The server finally came back and took our orders and our menus. It was like that was a prearranged signal to begin the conversation brewing in everyone's mind.

"You went to Forks to see Ryan this weekend?" Elizabeth asked.

"We did," Edward answered. "He had some big weekend planned, but because of the media attention, we weren't able to leave the house. We played board games all day instead."

She hesitated. "Is he . . . how is he?" she asked me directly.

I wasn't sure what she thought would happen, but somehow, her plea appealed to the mother in me, and I couldn't resist bragging on him a little. "He's amazing," I gushed. "The kid crushed us all in Monopoly and held his own in the rest of the games."

"How is he dealing with the media attention, or has it made it to Forks yet?" she asked.

Edward scowled. "Oh, it's made it there, and I'm sure this is the talk of the town. The reporters cornered Ryan and Esme in the Thriftway while they were grocery shopping. Of course, Ryan didn't care and is rather excited about getting to be on TV."

"Is that what Tanya suggested?" Ed popped into the conversation.

Edward nodded a little tensely at the mention of his ex. "Yeah, she liked Bella's idea of doing one national show. She's working on it and is going to get with all of us this week."

"Will we need to be on there, too?" Elizabeth asked innocently. I didn't believe that she'd had any knowledge about what was going on, but surely she knew that if they were brought into it, they would be under fire.

"Um, probably not." Edward winced. "That reminds me, Tanya wanted me to ask you, Dad, if you ever actually paid Bob Gerandy."

Elizabeth tossed an unhappy look in his direction, and then turned away, sipping her drink.

"No," Ed declared firmly. "He never convinced you to give Ryan up, so I never paid him. I wanted a better life for you, but you cannot honestly believe that I would ever have condoned or assisted him in this . . . insane plan."

Edward sighed and shook his head. "Dad, I don't know what I believe anymore. You made decisions for me that could have cost me my life. You didn't want us to have Ryan, and you've done everything you could to remove Bella from my life. I never thought you would do that to me, but you did."

"Oh, Edward," Ed sighed. "I'm sorry. There's no doubt that I messed up, that I failed you as a father. I can never be excused for what I did. All I can do is try to make it up to you now. You, Bella, and Ryan."

"Did you invite Tanya on purpose to try to come between us again?" Edward asked, his tone more curious than accusing.

"No, I didn't know she was coming until we saw her at the airport. Her parents are our best friends, Edward. We told them what was going on, and they must have passed it along. I'm done trying to interfere to give you what I think is best—or thought was best," he added with a nod to me. His smile was somewhat conciliatory.

"I'm glad to hear that," Edward said with a nod. "Can we work on you calling before you buy plane tickets now?" His tone was teasing, but I knew he was serious.

Elizabeth's shoulders sagged. "You don't want us here?"

Edward sighed. "It's not that, Mom. I love you, and I miss seeing you more often. We're both really busy this week, though, both during the day and after work. I hate that you came all the way out here when we can't spend time with you."

"I didn't mean to bother you today." Elizabeth winced.

"I appreciate that, but that's not all of it," Edward said, practically pleading with her to understand. "Sometime this week, we have to meet with our attorney. We're still trying to set up a meeting with the Cullens to officially agree on custody arrangements. On Wednesday, we have our house closing."

"You're buying a house?" Ed asked, shocked.

Edward and I both nodded. "It's a beautiful two story with a basement out in the suburbs," Edward reported.

"We aren't supposed to fly home until the weekend. Do you think we could go see it?" Elizabeth asked me excitedly.

It warmed me a bit that she directed the question to me, as if my opinion mattered on the subject. "If everything goes smoothly on Wednesday, perhaps we can go by afterward," I suggested.

That idea seemed to please her, and we were treated to her thoughts on home decoration until our food arrived. Ed asked both Edward and me questions about work. Shockingly, it was a very pleasant evening. When we all got up to leave, after Ed insisted on paying the bill, Elizabeth hugged me hard.

"I know that I can never make it up to you, but I'm so sorry for leaving you like I did," she whispered in my ear. "I'm so glad you are back in our lives."

It didn't completely erase the hurt that had grown in my heart for all of these years, but it did help some. "Thank you," I whispered thickly.

She gave me a watery smile when she pulled away, and I was immediately surprised when Ed also gathered me into his arms.

"You're a good girl, Bella. Thank you for bringing him back to life," he said, for my ears only like Elizabeth had.

His statement took me aback. I murmured, "thank you," but I wasn't able to get out much more than that.

Fortunately, he didn't require a response. As soon as he let me go, he hugged Edward and took Elizabeth's hand. We waved goodbye and watched them go.

"That was . . . unexpected," Edward said, the surprise in his voice unmasked. He stared at the door they'd left through, as if it would hold answers.

"Let's go home," I suggested, wanting nothing more than to spend some time with him and not think about the weird night we'd just spent.

Edward seemed equally ready to stop thinking about his parents. As soon as we crossed the threshold to my apartment, his focus shifted solely to me. He pressed my back against the door and attacked my neck with his mouth.

"Have I told you today how much I love you?" he murmured against my skin. It sent shivers down my spine.

"You can tell me again," I said with a small laugh, which quickly turned into a moan.

"Why don't I show you?" He leaned back. His eyes were full of fire, and it lit me up inside.

I nodded.

Without missing a beat, Edward lifted me into his arms and carried me into my bedroom. Our bodies parted only when necessary to remove one article of clothing or another. First, his shirt came off, and then mine. Somewhere along the way, he divested us both of our pants, leaving me only in the black lace bra and panty set I'd chosen that morning.

Edward groaned as he looked me over hungrily. His finger traced the shell of my bra. "Do you know how gorgeous you are?" he whispered. "I could stare at you for hours and still find something new to appreciate."

I didn't know what to say to such words of adoration, so in response, I ran my hands up and over his chest muscles and shoulders. With just a tiny amount of force, I pulled him down to me and captured his lips with mine. Our chests pressed together, as did the rest of our bodies, and I could feel him there, hard and straining against me. I wanted nothing more than to lose the rest of our clothes in that moment.

Edward's arm snaked around my back where it was pressed into the bed and fiddled with the clasp on my bra. With the way we were laying, it took a little longer than normal, but soon, my bra joined the rest of my clothes on the floor, and I could feel my naked breasts pressed against his solid chest.

"Want you," I moaned as his lips moved from my ear down my neck.

He kept going and sucked one of my nipples into his mouth. I couldn't hold back the sounds he was eliciting from me; I didn't so much want to. I wanted him to hear what he did to me.

"Take these off," he grunted, sitting back up onto his knees. I slid out of my underwear; his thumbs hooked in the waistband of his boxer briefs. I watched greedily as he took them off and all of him was revealed to me.

In general, I'd never believed that the male anatomy was all that attractive. I'd always liked what Edward's could do to me, but looking at it had never inspired my lust. That is . . . until he came back into my life. I was sure that the Army didn't have specific exercises for that muscle, but as Edward had filled out, so had that. And now, just seeing it made my mouth water and my thighs clench together.

I felt compelled to take him into my mouth, but as I sat up to do so, Edward pushed me back down to the bed and covered my body with his. I moaned as I felt his warm weight on top of me, and my head fell back, exposing my neck to his wandering lips. It wasn't long before I felt him nudging against me, and I shifted. He slid inside me with practiced ease; we groaned in unison at the sensation. Each time felt as good, if not better than the time before.

Our love-making wasn't slow and sweet; nor was it fast and furious. The pace was just right for what we needed, though, as it always was. Edward pushed me over the edge into orgasm twice, before surrendering to his own. His face stilled, the expression one of half pain, half ecstasy, but all gorgeous. To know that I had given that to him, after the chaos of the weekend, was a heady feeling. I welcomed his weight on top of me as his arms gave out.

Eventually, he kissed me lightly and rolled off of my body, heading to the bathroom to clean up. I followed, grabbing my pajamas on the way.

Back in the bed, Edward held me to him, my head on his chest, as we both succumbed quickly to sleep.

Edward was already out of bed when I woke Tuesday morning, so I threw on my robe and stumbled toward the kitchen. I was already running late, but I knew that I needed to get the coffee started. Instead of being gone, Edward was on my phone, pacing the kitchen. Whoever was on the phone was doing the talking. Every few seconds, he'd run his hands through his hair and tug on it, clearly agitated.

I tried to catch his attention and mouthed, "Who is it?" when he looked at me, but he shook his head and continued pacing.

"Yeah, we'll make arrangements to be there. Keep me posted if there are any more changes. Thanks, man," he finally said, and then hung up the phone. For several seconds, we just stared at each other, neither of us speaking.

"That was Aron," he said, breaking the silence. "I'm sorry I answered your phone, but I saw that it was him calling and didn't want to let it go to voicemail."

"No, that's fine. What did he say?" Knowing who had been on the phone made me rapidly lose my composure.

Edward sank into one of the kitchen chairs. "They've scheduled a hearing for Thursday. With the case against Gerandy proceeding and the media attention surrounding it, they've pushed our case up on the docket."

"Why don't you look happy about this?" I asked warily. This seemed like good news to me.

"Aron said that we shouldn't get our hopes up. Tia, the Cullens' attorney, plays hardball, and he's digging in for a fight," he answered.

"Is there anything we can do from now until then to make things better?" I asked.

He made a face. "Well, he said to make sure we close on the house Wednesday, because that will show that we have room for Ryan in our home. And . . . we have to entertain my parents for a few more days and have your parents here, as well. He thinks that having our families with us, showing their support for us, will help our case."

"He really thinks that will help? They wouldn't be part of his daily, or even weekly, life. My dad's the only one that lives within four hours of here," I argued.

"I know. That's what I said, but he thought it would look good, especially since we were going to be depending on them when Ryan was born, and there are accusations that my dad was involved. Showing him to be supportive of us now cuts off their ability to use that argument," he answered.

I nodded. "Okay, then. You talk to your parents, and I'll call mine. I don't know if Mom will be able to get here, but I'm sure Dad will make it."

Edward still looked worried.

"Is there anything else? What's wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. It's just all coming to a head now. It's real. I'm . . . I'm not sure how to wrap my head around it."

Knowing how he felt, I moved to kiss him and held him for just a moment. When we broke apart to get to our respective days, the lingering urge to just get lost in each other couldn't be denied.

Well, did those talks go like you thought they would? Are you pleased?

Don't forget about the FandomAJD compilation. As well as works by some other fabulous authors, you can find a Ryan POV piece from this story. It won't be available anywhere else until at least the beginning of May.

Check out The Angry Man by katinki this week. It's fabulous.