Stolen Dreams
Disclaimer: SM owns her stuff. I own mine. I also own a tank of gas that cost me $78 today. It's a shame it won't last a week.
A/N: I have the best readers in the world. Seriously. You all have been so supportive. Of course, I haven't gotten behind yet, but I know that you'll be as wonderful then, too. Thank you, JenRar. I'd like to say that you beta'd ultra fast this week, but that would require me having gotten you something. That said, you still did fantastic on this one.
Chapter 31
Friday was a clusterfuck. I woke up late, having stayed up far too long the night before, and ended up leaving without my briefcase. Luckily, I noticed before I got down the block and wasn't too far away to go back and get it. Consequently, I was late for my first patient of the day.
I tried to make up the time by working through lunch, but that only made me cranky and hungry; I had to stop after my first afternoon patient and grab a sandwich, which I had to swallow almost whole to have time to eat.
By the time Edward and Ryan showed up, I was about to pull my hair out. We got Ryan settled in Zafrina's office and closed the door behind us. I practically fell into Edward's arms, using his strength to hold me up, mentally and physically, while I could.
"I'm only going to be gone until Sunday," he teased.
"I know," I said, my words muffled by his shirt, "but this has been the crappiest day, and now you're leaving."
Edward rubbed my back with his arms still encasing me, making me feel safe and loved like only he could. "Call me when this is over and let me know how it went?" he asked, and I knew he was talking about Ryan's session with Zafrina.
I nodded. "I'll leave you a message after we get home."
"Thanks." He leaned down and kissed me, letting me feel his love for me even as he said the words.
Once again, I did my duty and watched him walk away from me in his camo, ready to go train for another weekend. I had no idea how I'd ever be able to watch him walk away to go to war, and I silently prayed that I would never have to.
It was fortunate that I had an emergency session during Ryan's meeting with Zafrina. Focusing on the problems of the thirteen-year-old girl in front of me kept my mind off of the problems of the ten-year-old in the other room. Melanie had been dealing with bullying at school for more than five years, and it had started to escalate after her parents got involved and demanded punishment for the other girls involved. Now, instead of simply tormenting her at school, the girls had launched a cyber campaign against her.
Melanie was more fortunate than many girls in her situation, in that she had a core group of friends that stood by her against the "mean girls." They didn't care enough about being unpopular to desert their friend when she needed them the most. However, the constant put-downs and whispers had done a number on Melanie's psyche, and her self-esteem had bottomed out. This week had been particularly bad, and Melanie needed to work on some affirmations to keep her from exploding or breaking down completely.
By the time we were finished for the day, Ryan and Zafrina were done and laughing with her door open. I saw Melanie out and ducked my head in to Zafrina's office.
"Hey, how'd it go?" I asked casually. I was determined not to pump either one of them for information. This was a place where Ryan needed to be able to feel safe, and I wasn't going to give him any reason not to spill his guts if he needed to.
"Good. Zafrina's really funny," Ryan told me with a smirk. "She made fun of Jacob, too."
Zafrina's dark skin colored slightly in embarrassment. "He's still in that stage where he wants to make sure we know he's read his textbook," she told me.
I giggled. When I first started with Zafrina and Kate, they'd sat in on a couple of sessions with me. Afterward, they'd told me that I had to stop talking textbook to my patients, because only the people that wrote them understood what they meant.
"It sounds like it went well, then," I said, stifling the almost over-whelming urge to pry.
Zafrina smirked at her. "Yes. Thursday next week—same time."
"See you next week, Zafrina," Ryan said, standing and grabbing his bag off the floor.
I only had a little paperwork to finish up, so I told Ryan to have a seat while I completed that which I couldn't take with me. He pulled out his book and read while I finished up with my case files.
My phone rang, alerting me to the fact that it was getting late. It was Alice.
"Are we having pizza at your place tonight since Ryan is there?" she asked in lieu of saying hello.
I hadn't even considered the idea that my friends would still want to get together this weekend. "Ryan, are you okay with pizza for dinner? Alice and my friend, Angela, want to come over and eat with us."
He shrugged, his eyes never leaving his book. "Sounds good to me."
I turned my attention back to the phone. "Yes, Alice, that'll be fine. What time are you going to be there?"
"At six-thirty, so you have to leave the office now," she ordered. "It's almost six already."
"How did you know I was still at the office?" I laughed.
"We've met," she answered, laughing. "See you in a few!"
I hung up the phone and sighed in contentment. Our new life was really shaping up, and all the pieces were fitting together. In some ways, it felt like the calm before the storm, but I was determined to enjoy every minute of it that I could.
"You ready to go?" I asked Ryan, standing up and shoving the rest of my work into my bag. I was sure that I'd either find some time to work on it over the weekend or that it wouldn't rot in my bag before Monday.
Ryan jumped up off the couch and shouldered his backpack with ease. He followed me out and waited patiently while I locked my office door and called goodbye to Kate, who was still working at her desk.
There were two cars in the driveway when we pulled up that I recognized as belonging to Alice and Angela. I had forgotten that Alice still had a key, and I figured that she'd made herself at home already. Ryan went upstairs to call Carlisle and Esme while I scoped out my two friends in the kitchen.
"Hello there, missy," Alice said, her humor clear in her voice. She handed me a frothy green drink.
"I can't drink this," I hissed. "I've got a kid in the house." She pushed my hand back toward me when I tried to hand it back.
"You can, and you will," Angela insisted. "It's non-alcoholic. We aren't having any tequila, either, chica. It's a show of solidarity, if you will. It's just for the illusion of the fun."
"You guys are the best," I whispered, my throat thick. "Thank you. I didn't actually expect to see you tonight, but I'm so glad you're here."
Alice grinned proudly. "We brought movies, too. Kid-friendly ones." She dug around in a cloth tote on the counter. "We have Goonies, The Princess Bride, Star Trek—the new one—and a couple of Disney flicks. I thought we'd let Ryan choose."
There was nothing I could say, so I just grabbed both of them and hugged them.
Much to my surprise, Ryan chose Goonies first. It was a little "old school" for his tastes, but he thought it was funny. After all, there were no video games, cell phones, or iPads in it. When that one ended, he put in Star Trek, and I made popcorn. It didn't take long for pieces to fly across the room and hit someone in the head.
Angela and Alice got along famously with Ryan, treating him more like a little brother than my kid, which I thought was probably for the best. He seemed to like the attention, at least. With no one at home for either of them, they decided that they were crashing at my house and begged for Ryan to be allowed to stay up and watch Pinocchio with us. I caved, but made everyone change into pajamas first.
That was how I found myself waking up, sprawled across the couch with Ryan's head on my lap and my two best friends on the floor on Saturday morning.
My phone was ringing in my purse somewhere in the kitchen. I'd dropped it in there after retrieving Edward's message that they had arrived safe and sound. I slid a pillow underneath Ryan's head and ran for it.
"Hello?" I answered breathlessly, hoping that I got to it before it rolled to voicemail.
"Bella, this is Tanya. I'm sorry to call you so early, but Edward hasn't answered my calls, and I need to talk to you."
"He's in Reserve training this weekend—he probably doesn't have his phone on. What's wrong?" I asked.
"Well, that solves one problem. 60Minutes wants to send their crew out next week, and I was afraid it would be on Edward's Reserve weekend. Can you be available in Forks next Friday?" she asked.
Crap. No. I had a full day of patients scheduled, and there was no way I could rearrange them all. "We were going down there after work to take Ryan home. Can we do the interview on Saturday morning?" I would also have to check with Esme and Carlisle to see if that worked for them.
"I think so. I'll call the producer back and double check. Can I just text you the confirmation later?" I could hear her typing away on her laptop on the other end of the line.
"Yeah, that's fine. Thanks, Tanya."
"You're welcome."
We hung up with little fanfare, but now that I was awake and had this interview on the brain, there was no way that I was going back to sleep anytime soon. I glanced around the kitchen and started pulling out pots and pans. If I was going to be awake, then I was going to make breakfast.
Thirty minutes later, I had biscuits, gravy, eggs, sausage, and fruit sitting on the table. Angela, Alice, and Ryan had all wandered in over the course of my labors and taken seats. While we ate, I told them about Tanya's phone call.
"I'm really going to be on TV?" Ryan asked, barely masking his thrill.
"You're really going to be on TV," I confirmed with a laugh.
"That's cool," he said, glancing at Angela out of the corner of his eye and trying to look unaffected.
I rolled my eyes and threw a biscuit at him.
After breakfast, the girls departed, leaving Ryan and me alone for the remainder of the weekend. Since his furniture was due to be delivered on Monday, I thought it would be a good time to go and get some bedding for him.
Ryan had an idea of what he wanted, and we spent almost the entire day walking around downtown Seattle looking for it. Finally, in a mom and pop shop off an alleyway near the stadium, he found it. It was a quilt made from Mariners' t-shirts over the years. The colors were the same as the ones we'd painted his room, and he was over the moon about it.
"This is incredible," I said to the woman manning the shop. "Where did you find this?"
She laughed lightly. "I made it. My son was a huge Mariners fanwhen he was younger and collected the t-shirts. He grew up, though, and moved to Florida. Now, he's a Tampa Bay fan. So I took all of his shirts and made a quilt."
"Can I have it, Ma?" Ryan asked. His little green puppy dog eyes stared at me.
I flipped over the small price tag in the corner and almost keeled over. We hadn't paid this much for his bed. The lady must have seen the look on my face, because she chuckled gently.
"Are you a big Mariners' fan?" she asked Ryan.
"Yeah, my Grandpa Charlie got me tickets to a game for my birthday. It was awesome," he told her.
She cast a sly glance at me and motioned for the older gentleman to come over. "This is my husband, Ron. He caught one of Ichiro's fly balls when he was still here. Would you like to see it?"
That was a stupid question. Ryan practically flew across the room after Ron, asking excitedly about the experience of catching a fly ball.
"I don't mean to pry, but you look familiar. Is that the little boy that was stolen from his parents at birth?" She said it low enough that only I would hear her.
My hackles instantly rose. "Excuse me?"
She backpedaled instantly, knowing that she'd stepped on a landmine. "I'm sorry. I know that it's none of my business. I just feel for you—for both families, really. I know there isn't anything we can do to make the situation better, but I'd love to help in any way I can."
I gave her a small smile. "Thank you. It's been . . . tough, to say the least. He's adjusting as well as can be expected, but it's a lot for a kid to take in," I said.
"Ma!" Ryan shouted from across the room. "Look at this! Isn't it awesome?"
"It is awesome," I answered. The grin that popped out whenever he called me Ma stuck on my face, and I sighed.
"Here," the woman said, folding up the quilt and handing it over. "If nothing else, this'll make his room at your house extra special."
I held out my hand to stop her. "Oh no, I can't," I said. What I meant was that there was no way I was spending five hundred dollars on a quilt, no matter how lovingly it was made.
"You can. A gift from one mother to another," she said. "It would do this old heart some good to see another little boy get joy from these old shirts." She ripped a receipt out of the book on the counter and wrote Enjoy the Quilt—$0.
I felt awkward taking something so expensive just because of Gerandy's crime and the media circus around it, but the shopkeeper wouldn't be deterred. In the end, I thanked her profusely and had Ryan do the same. He, of course, was thrilled. It seemed to make her happy, too, to do something small for us.
With his quilt in hand, we returned to Target to buy some navy blue sheets that matched. We also picked up a couple of bed pillows that he liked. I had a feeling that he'd have his bed made before we finished setting it up.
That night, Ryan helped me make pork chops, stuffing, and peas for dinner. We talked about how I usually spent the weekends that Edward was away. Ryan wanted to make him a special dinner the next night, so I agreed and made plans to go to Pike's Place Market the next day.
Angela, however, threw a slight wrench in my plans.
I hadn't grown up especially religious. Dad was more comfortable out on the river on Sunday mornings, and Mom flitted from one church to another and then to a temple like they were new outfits. The only time that I'd spent any significant time in church was when I went with Angela in Forks.
So, when Angela called and asked us to go to church with her the next morning, I was a little stunned. I wasn't sure what Ryan's religious upbringing had been.
"Bella, they have a great youth group full of kids around Ryan's age. He'll love it. Even if neither of you do, you've just spent a couple of hours on a Sunday morning meeting new people. Please," she begged.
"All right," I agreed. "But you have to go shopping with us after church."
"Deal. I'll pick you up at nine."
We went to bed early so that we could actually get up in time to go. I was surprised that Ryan was up and dressed before I had even showered. I wasn't aware that he'd brought khaki pants with him, but he stood in my kitchen, dressed up and ready to go, eating a bagel out of the drawer.
Angela was right on time. Ryan piled into the backseat, bouncing slightly in excitement.
"Have you ever been to a church like this?" Angela asked as we pulled up out front. It was big and there were a lot of people—families—walking in the front door.
"I used to go with my friend, John, in LA. It was fun," he answered, taking in the sights around him. When we got inside, Angela showed him where the youth group sat and introduced him to some of the other kids his age. We left him there, chatting away, while we went to find our own seats.
Pastor Michael seemed to be a good and caring man. His sermon was a little long-winded for my tastes, but the message was good. Everyone near us was friendly and greeted Angela happily; obviously, she'd found a new church home. They welcomed me with open arms and expressed their desire that I would join them again soon.
"What did you think?" I asked Ryan when I finally found him.
"I liked it. The kids were really nice," he answered.
Angela suppressed a smirk. "The youth group meets on Wednesday nights if you want to come again."
Part of me wanted to protest, though I really wasn't sure why. This, however, was a way for Ryan to make friends here. Since he didn't have school, I considered that a church youth group would be a good way to make him feel more at home.
"Can I come, Ma?" he asked eagerly.
I nodded and smiled. "Sure, bud."
Ryan waved goodbye to the kids he'd met, and we loaded back into Angela's car. True to her word, she walked through Pike's Place Market with us, getting everything we would need for our dinner that night. Ryan insisted on helping me choose and then prepare the meal when we got home. Before she left, Angela promised that she would call with the youth group details and even offered to take Ryan if I needed her to.
"What time will Dad be home?" Ryan asked for the fifteenth time since we'd gotten home two hours before.
I checked the clock. "Not for another hour usually. We have plenty of time," I assured him.
"Can I play Mario Kart for a little while?" he asked.
I told him to go ahead and dragged my briefcase into the living room so that I could get the rest of my work done while he drove the little car around.
He'd gone through about half of the available boards when I heard the key in the front door.
Ryan heard it, too. "Dad!" he screamed, throwing the controller onto the couch and dashing for the front door.
"Hey, buddy," Edward laughed as he wrapped Ryan in a huge hug. "Did you have fun with your Mom this weekend?"
"I did. We got a quilt for my room made from old Mariners' shirts, and I got to see one of Ichiro's fly balls. And today, we went to church, and I met a bunch of kids my age." He was talking a mile a minute, barely taking a breath.
Edward raised one eyebrow at me, and I mouthed that I would explain later. "Hey, Ry, why don't we let your dad come in the door and go get changed?" I called. Edward was still in his fatigues, and I suspected that he probably needed a shower.
Ryan let go and walked into the kitchen. "You should hurry," he told Edward. "Ma and I almost have dinner ready."
I laughed and walked over to kiss Edward hello.
He greeted me enthusiastically. "Missed you," he whispered with a smile. "I can't tell you how great it feels to be coming home to our house and our family."
His words warmed my heart, and his smile promised more to come, but he broke away and made his way to our room with his duffel bag.
In the kitchen, Ryan had put the salad together and gotten out the sides we'd started preparing. As I'd already cut the potatoes, I put them on to boil and headed out back to light up the grill. The steaks were marinated already and would only need about ten minutes to cook, so I got everything else warming while Ryan set the table.
By the time Edward came downstairs, the table was laden with steaks, new potatoes in butter herb sauce, and steamed broccoli with cheese sauce, as well as a tossed salad and rolls.
"This looks great, guys," Edward said. "Thank you. So, Ryan, tell me about . . . church?" Edward sounded uncertain.
"Ma and I went to church with Miss Angela this morning. They had this big group of kids that all sat together. They're getting together on Wednesday, and Ma said I could go," he reported.
"That sounds like fun," Edward said, clearly at a loss.
At Ryan's urging, Edward told us all about his training weekend and reported that his week of training would be in late August. Ryan should already back in school by then, but there was no way that we were going to be able to get married around then.
We sat around the table talking long after our meal was finished. Little by little, I cleaned up the dishes while joining in the discussion. Edward and I listened patiently while Ryan told him about his friends at home and what he wanted to do when he grew up. Of course, most ten-year-old boys had dreams of being a professional athlete, so I wasn't too concerned at his lack of educational focus. His desire to be an astronaut did surprise me, though. It wasn't for the glory of going into space, like I expected. He wanted to study the stars and learn how and why the universe worked as it did.
Edward suggested a trip to the planetarium one night while he was here, and I made myself a mental note to find out what their hours and programs were.
Once we got up from the table, Edward grabbed his laptop and sat next to us on the couch. Ryan flipped on the National Geographic Channel, which was running some special on hurricanes. Edward checked through the weekend log that Ben had left for him while Ryan and I learned about severe weather patterns. It was a normal night with a family, and I couldn't have been happier.
Around nine, Ryan yawned and said good night. I knew that he was making his nightly phone call, and I wondered if those calls would come to us once he went back to Forks. I could only hope they did.
As soon as he was upstairs, Edward turned his head slightly to look at me. "Youth group at church?"
I shrugged. "I didn't think you'd care. Angela wanted us to go with her, and I thought it would be a good way for him to make friends up here, since he won't have a sports team or school."
Edward nodded slightly, thoughtfully. "As long as he enjoyed it, I don't care. I just wish we didn't have to split his time like we are. It's going to be hard for him, especially once school starts."
"I know," I answered, cuddling up underneath his arm. "It's going to be difficult on him no matter what—on all of us, really. I have to wonder, though, if Forks isn't a better place for him right now."
"How can you ask that?" Edward asked me incredulously.
"Because even though the gossip-mongers run wild, essentially, everyone takes care of everyone else. The people in Forks are less likely to make a big deal out of the situation than people here, especially once we appear on TV, because they know all the people involved and we won't just be the latest, greatest news story. Ryan and I walked all over downtown, looking for something he was happy with today for his bedroom. There was this little sports memorabilia shop near the stadium, and they had a quilt made from old Mariners' t-shirts. Ryan, of course, loved it. I didn't like the price tag." I winced at the memory of the $750 figure written on the little tag.
"Isn't that what you got him?" Edward interrupted.
"Yeah, only because the lady recognized him and gave it to us. I didn't want to take it, but she didn't leave me any choice. My point is, this time, it was someone kind, wanting to do something for our little boy, but what if next time, it's not? I just wonder if maybe he won't be safer from that kind of thing in Forks?" I posited.
"She gave it to you?" he asked, shocked.
"And wouldn't take no for an answer. I didn't want to make a scene with Ryan right there, so I took it; I didn't know what else to do. I'm afraid it's only going to get worse once we do the 60 Minutes interview."
"That's next weekend, right?" At my sideways glance, he expounded. "I got Tanya's messages, but I didn't have time to call her back. I barely had time to talk to you. Maybe it will die down in six months, before we go to the judge again. If not, we'll make it work until living with us is the right thing for him. At least we know he's loved and well cared for where he is."
I leaned my head onto his shoulder and hummed in agreement. What was certain was that our fight was far from over.
Leave me some love. Hope you enjoyed it.
Rec: Don't Go Gently into The Night by JA Mash. I haven't had time for my updates, but I'm reading this.