Stolen Dreams
Disclaimer: All recognizable crap belongs to those who own it. Yeah. That.
A/N: Thank you all so much for your patience last week. I really wanted to get this out to you, but my days kind of ran together. And then there was the whole escorting 9 and 10 year olds around Chicago. I didn't sleep for three days. I didn't think it was possible to get more tired than I was, but I was wrong. Thanks to JenRar for betaing this too!
You all know that I always try to be as accurate as possible in my stories. Because of the timelines, I'm having to fudge a little in this chapter. Both UW and the Seattle Zoo offer the camps described; however, they are all offered in July and not in August, as depicted here. Thanks for the leeway!
Chapter 33
Edward and I left Forks on Saturday night, much to Ryan's dismay. We assured him that we would see him in a couple of weeks and that he could call us whenever he wanted. Secretly, I hoped that he would start to call every night like he had for Carlisle and Esme while he was with us, but I didn't think it would really happen that way; I would be content with at least of couple of calls a week.
"I love you," Ryan murmured into my shirt as he gave me a tight hug. "I'm going to miss you."
"Me, too, buddy," I told him. "I love you, too, and we'll see you soon. Just like when you were at our house, the two weeks will fly by."
He nodded, seemingly unconvinced, though. He turned to Edward and whispered his love to him as well. I could barely hold in the tears, watching the two of them together.
"Let me know when you figure out a date for the wedding," Esme told me, giving me a light hug as well. "We'll get the planning started."
"Thank you so much . . . for everything," I replied.
She simply smiled and patted my hand.
Ryan pulled away from Edward then, and Edward motioned me toward the car. This was the hardest part of our custody agreement so far—leaving our son behind after having had him for two weeks.
We waved as we pulled out of the driveway and smiled at the family we were leaving behind. Only when they were out of sight did I let the tears fall.
~SD~
The next two weeks felt strange, though they weren't much different than the life we'd been living before our class reunion. We got together with our friends, worked, and loved each other. The biggest change for us, though, was getting to talk to Ryan for a few minutes when he called every night. He missed us, but had lots to report where his friends were concerned.
I got information from Angela on the youth group at her church, and I also registered Ryan for a week long baseball camp at UW. He was thrilled when we told him. With his days full of fun—at the zoo and at UW—it seemed that his upcoming trip would run much more smoothly than the last one had. All in all, our lives were settling in.
On Friday evening, while we were loading the car before going to get Ryan in Forks, Edward's phone rang.
"Oh, dear God," he muttered, when he saw it was his mother calling. "Bella, I swear to God, if they tell me they are at the airport, I'm telling them to turn around and get on another plane back home." He answered the call, but I could tell his patience was wearing thin.
I watched his expression change from frustration to thought in the span of a few seconds. "I'm not sure, Mom. I'll have to talk to Bella and see what our plans are. I know that I'll be out of town next weekend for my Reserve training, but we might be able to work something out with the following one or sometime during the week."
He listened for a few more minutes and then nodded. "Yeah, we're getting ready to get in the car. Let me call you back." He threw the last bag in the trunk and slid into the driver's seat.
"What was that all about?" I asked once he'd settled in and gotten the car in motion. It was going to be another Wendy's night for us, apparently, because that was where he was headed.
"It's the strangest thing. Mom called ahead to schedule a visit with us and Ryan." He laughed in disbelief and grinned.
"She's not coming this weekend?" I asked for clarification.
He shook his head. "No, she said she knew that we would have Ryan for a couple of weeks and wondered if she could come down next weekend or the week after."
"You won't be here next weekend," I retorted. "I'm not entertaining them on my own."
Edward sighed, but he remained patient. "That's why I suggested the following weekend or sometime during the week. Which would you rather?"
I thought about it seriously for a minute. "If Carlisle and Esme are okay with coming to get Ryan on Sunday, I'd rather have them here for the weekend. With both of us working during the week and Ryan in camp, we wouldn't get to see them much. It would make their trip out pointless."
"Well, we'll talk to them tonight, then," Edward concluded. "I'll call Mom tomorrow."
We wheeled through Wendy's and got our food, continuing on to Forks and chattering about our weeks and the ones upcoming.
Ryan was waiting on the porch for us when we got there. Because it was already so late, he was in his pajamas. We'd made arrangements to stay here with the Cullens for the night, and we were planning to leave first thing in the morning.
"Hey, buddy!" I called as I got out of the car. Edward heaved our overnight bag out of the trunk and joined me on the walk up to the porch.
"Hey," Ryan said back. He sounded a little morose.
I gave him a hug as soon as I got close enough. "What's the matter?"
He shrugged. "Trent's birthday party is next weekend, and I'm going to miss it. He just told me today."
I cut my eyes over to Edward. He'd already be gone for the weekend. There was nothing saying we couldn't come down here for a couple of days without him. "When is it?" I asked.
Ryan hugged Edward and led him inside. "Saturday afternoon. It's not really a big deal, I guess."
I rolled my eyes, knowing that I'd manipulated my parents the same way when I was his age. And I knew I'd talk to Esme about it. This was going to be the difficult part of Ryan having to split his time between cities. He'd have friends, hopefully, in both places and would inevitably have to miss some things.
We sent Ryan off to bed, and I found Esme in the kitchen, still puttering around. "I'm sorry it's so late," I apologized. There was nothing like guests showing up after ten at night.
"It's fine," she assured me. "We wouldn't be in bed yet anyway. Carlisle's still at the hospital."
"Oh, no. I hope it's nothing serious," I replied.
Carlisle had changed his schedule to be off the night shift when the media attention started. He didn't want to leave Ryan and Esme home alone, just in case.
She smiled wanly. "There was an accident on the 101 earlier, near the bends. It wasn't fatal, but two people needed surgery."
I shivered at the thought. Accidents out there were never good. I sank into the kitchen chair and took the cup of tea that Esme offered.
"So, about the weekend," I started, intending to talk to her about the Masens' visit.
She sighed. "He didn't. I made him promise that he wouldn't ask you to drive back to Forks for Trent's party."
I laughed. "Oh, he didn't. He just mentioned it. That wasn't what I was thinking, but perhaps the two can go hand in hand. If you don't mind, I'd like to come in next weekend, see Dad, and let Ryan go to Trent's party. Edward will be out of town anyway. The following weekend, though, his parents want to come in for a visit. Could we maybe move back your pick-up time until Sunday?" I suggested.
"I don't see why not. I'll talk to Carlisle and make sure that works with his schedule. Are things better with them now? I know that before, neither of you were getting along with them," she asked. She and I had talked about it after the hearing. She'd seen how Edward had reacted to his dad and Carlisle and had wondered what the story was.
"Eh, maybe?" I made it sound like a question, because I really wasn't sure. "They've tried to make their peace with both of us, but there's so much hurt in the past, I think it'll be hard to get over. No matter what we think, though, Ryan deserves to know them, even if they don't deserve to know him." I shrugged and grimaced.
Esme laughed softly. "I know how that feels. It's never pleasant when you disagree with a parent about your children, but you don't want the kids to suffer for it." Apparently, her disagreements with her mother were more deep-seated than I realized. "Anyway, what time are you planning to leave in the morning?"
"I think Edward wanted to get out of here around eight or nine," I answered, yawning.
"All right. You should get on to bed; you have a long drive tomorrow. Carlisle shouldn't be too much later, so I'll see you in the morning."
She gave me a hug, and I climbed the stairs to our usual room. Edward was just coming out of Ryan's room. I poked my head in and told him goodnight before going into our room.
It had been such a long day for both Edward and me that we didn't talk much as we got ready for bed and fell asleep almost immediately. The alarm Edward had set on his phone went off my earlier than I would have liked, and I begged him to hit snooze once. He was tired enough that he acquiesced.
When we finally got up and were ready, we found Esme already in the kitchen, making breakfast. Ryan had requested pancakes, and she was happy to oblige. She was still in her robe and glasses, but I wasn't going to begrudge her that, especially after she told us that Carlisle was still sleeping, since he hadn't gotten home until after two.
"Oh, Carlisle said that he can switch his Sunday shift for a Saturday shift, so the schedule change will be fine," Esme informed us when she joined us at the table with a huge plate of pancakes.
"Thank you," Edward said. "I know Mom and Dad will appreciate it." He didn't look too thrilled about not having an excuse for them to stay home, but the reparations had to start somewhere, and he was happy that they'd at least asked before coming this time.
"Have you thought anymore about a date for the wedding?" Esme asked while we ate.
I sighed. "I wanted to do it at the end of August, but Edward has training, so that's out. If we don't do it in September, it's almost guaranteed that it'll rain. At least in the summer months, there's a possibility of sunshine."
"Just let me know," she said agreeably.
We helped her clean up the table and then gathered all of our stuff and put it in the car. Carlisle came down to say goodbye to Ryan and hug him. We exchanged pleasantries and got underway.
Ryan chattered as we drove. He was excited to be coming back to Seattle and about the camps we had planned for him. He asked about a million questions, only some of which we had answers to, but it was good to be able to listen to him again.
Edward called his parents, and they promised to send him their itinerary as soon as they made their arrangements. With Ryan settled into his room, the guest room was open. We discussed inviting them to stay here, but in the end, decided that it would be better for Edward's sanity to have some respite from them.
For most of the weekend, we lounged around the house and spent time together. The craziness started on Monday, and we wanted to be together as much as possible. I took Ryan to the zoo each morning, and Edward picked him up in the afternoon. Over dinner, Ryan told us all about what he'd learned—animal management, husbandry, and caring for animals native to Washington. After dinner, we'd play games. For the first time, I really felt like we were like every other family in America.
On Wednesday, Ryan went to the youth group meeting at Angela's church and was excited about seeing his new friends again when he came home. I loved that he had friends here with us, and I wondered if that would be enough to make him want to leave Forks permanently.
By Friday, we had settled into a routine, only to then turn around and break it up. Edward got Ryan a little early from Zoo U and brought him to the office, as he was getting ready to leave for his Reserve weekend. Ryan had his therapy session, and afterwards, we got straight on the road for our weekend in Forks.
"Is everything okay, Ry?" I asked after almost an hour of silence on his part. Because he'd just had his session, I'd wanted to give him time, but hearing nothing was driving me mad.
He shrugged. "Do you guys still fight?" he asked, rather out of the blue.
"Who?"
"You, Dad, and Mom and Dad. Do you really get along?"
My mind raced, wondering how much he'd heard before and if there was something I'd missed recently. "We get along fine now. What brought this up?"
"Just—" he paused "—I know that when you first started coming over, you didn't always get along. I might be ten, but I'm not deaf. Like that time when Dad told me you canceled your trip after the reporters came to the grocery store. I don't know." He seemed uncomfortable with this discussion, but I was glad he'd finally brought it up.
"There were times when we had different opinions on how things should go," I admitted. "The Cullens adopted you, thinking that they were finally going to get to raise the son they'd always wanted, only to have your dad and me come back into your life. We all just want what is best for you, though, and working together is better for everyone. What's worrying you?"
"Jacob said that our situation was a lot like a divorce and that lots of kids have to adjust to having two different families. But most divorced parents fight—you all used to fight, and I didn't like that," he said.
I sighed. On the one hand, Jacob was right. With two different households that Ryan was shuttled between, it was easy to see the comparison. However, we didn't have the painful histories involved in many divorces. "There's one major difference, Ryan. When parents decide they don't love each other anymore and get divorced, there are usually a lot of hard feelings and anger involved. It's sometimes hard for those parents to set aside their differences to do what is best. In this case, you are what ties us together. We all love you and will do everything we can to make your life better."
Ryan nodded, but did not comment. He stared out the window for several more miles. When he finally spoke, it was more about the people he'd met over the week, both in zoo camp and at church. I listened and laughed with him.
We got into Forks late, and I sent him straight to bed after he'd told Esme and Carlisle hello. I stayed up and talked to them a bit.
"What are your plans for the second to last weekend in September?" I asked Esme as we sat around the kitchen table.
She shrugged and shook her head. "As far as I know, we don't have any. Why?"
"Edward and I thought that would be a good weekend to get married. The church is available," I noted. That was an important piece of information to have.
Her brow furrowed. "Can you find a caterer and florist that can work on such short notice? That only leaves you a little more than a month. Have you even found a dress?"
"Alice has the dress already made. It might need a few alterations, but it's actually been done for years—even when there was no groom. As for the flowers, I'll check with Mrs. Marshall tomorrow. I don't see why she couldn't do it. It's not like there are tons of events around here."
Esme laughed. "You make a good point. How many people are we talking about?"
I mentally ran through the list. "Maybe twenty five? We both want it to be family and close friends only."
"That shouldn't be too hard, then. There's a rental place in Port Angeles where I can get a couple of tents, tables, and chairs. Do you want a dance floor?" she asked. Carlisle walked in while she was talking and turned immediately around and walked back out. Esme laughed at his wide eyed reaction.
"Yeah, we have to have somewhere to do the traditional stuff. I suppose we'll need a DJ, too." I hadn't really thought about how many people would need to be involved. "And a cake."
Esme tapped her finger against her lips for a moment. "How about this? In the morning, you go spend some time with your dad. Ryan and I will come pick you up, and we will drop him off at Trent's. Either Carlisle can get him or he can stay with Trent a little after the party is over. We can stop by Marshall's on the way out of town to see about the flowers and then go check out the rest in Port Angeles. Will that work for you?"
I leaned over and hugged her. "Thank you," I whispered. "That sounds perfect."
She patted my back and grinned. "No, thank you. I love doing stuff like this. I was part of the event committee for the hospital in LA, and I loved it. There's not much need here for that."
I was amazed at how things had turned out. A year ago, I could never have imagined my life being the way it was now. I'd found the love of my life again, we'd discovered that our son was still alive and gained custody. Through it all, I'd found a friend—more like an older sister, really—that understood and supported me.
We firmed up our plans and retired for the evening; Esme poked her head into Ryan's room on the way and found Carlisle sitting on the edge of Ryan's bed, reading to him. We both blew Ryan a kiss so as to not disturb them and went to bed.
Dad was an early riser. When I got to his house at eight thirty, he'd been up and working around the house for a couple of hours. He poured us both some fresh coffee, and we sat in the living room, just catching up. I had forgotten how peaceful it could be to just spend some time with my father.
Before I knew it, it was time for him to go to work. Esme pulled into the driveway and Ryan shouted to him from the back seat as Dad got into his cruiser. The smile on my dad's face told me that it had made his day.
Trent's mom was only too happy to keep Ryan for awhile. Trent had been missing his new friend and was eager to show him the new game system and the new bat he'd gotten for his birthday. She told us just to call when we were on the way back.
Mrs. Marshall was thrilled to see us walk in her door, though whether it was because she was genuinely happy to see us or because she wanted gossip, I wasn't sure.
"Bella! Mrs. Cullen! How are you today?" she called from the back of the store where she was arranging a bouquet. "Give me just a second, and I'll be right with you."
I glanced around the shop and took in all of the flowers. I had a vague idea of what I wanted, and I could only hope that Mrs. Marshall would be able to help me define it.
"Well, ladies, what I can do for you today?" she asked, startling me out of my thoughts.
Esme smiled at me, encouraging me to go ahead.
"I need some flowers for my wedding. We'd like to get married on September sixteenth. Can you do that?" I asked nervously. I wasn't sure what I would do if she said no.
The joy on her face spoke volumes. Mrs. Marshall clapped her hands together and practically squealed. "Oh, I always imagined getting to do your wedding. You and Edward make such a handsome couple. I'm sure that Katie and I can manage it." She flipped through a paper calendar on the counter. "We don't have anything that weekend, either. What did you have in mind?"
I was kind of torn between white lilies and roses or wildflowers, and I told her so. "It's going to be a small wedding at the church, and the reception will be out at the Cullens' house."
She pursed her lips and looked deep in thought for a moment. "Do you have your dress yet?" she asked.
I flipped out my phone and texted Alice to send me a picture of the dress she'd made for me. Within seconds, I was able to hold it out and show it to Mrs. Marshall.
"That's lovely, dear. Alice is such a talented young lady," she sighed. "The gown is so simple and elegant. I think we should go with the lilies and deep red roses. That will be beautiful and perfect for fall."
"Do you have any photographs of what the arrangements would look like?" Esme asked.
Mrs. Marshall pondered it for a moment and then reached around to a bookshelf near the wall. She pulled out a photo album and flipped through it until she found what she was looking for. "It won't look exactly like this, of course, but this should give you some idea." She pointed to a series of photographs with white lilies and pink and yellow roses. They were beautiful.
"Yes, I think those will do just fine," Esme said, patting my hand and smiling widely.
I nodded in agreement and gave Mrs. Marshall a list of what we would need.
With that done, we said goodbye to the florist and drove to Port Angeles. There were two restaurants and one catering company that had space available for that date. Esme had made a few calls that morning on my behalf and scheduled appointments for us.
In the end, the second restaurant had the best food and gave us a decent price. I signed the forms with a flourish, glad that one more detail was checked off the list.
By the time we started the trek back to Forks, we had food, flowers, a DJ, chairs, tents, tables, and a dance floor. There was a bakery in Seattle that I wanted to use for the cake, so that would have to wait, and the boys would just wear suits or uniforms. All in all, it had been a very productive day.
"Esme, thank you so much for helping me with this. You have no idea how much I appreciate it," I told her sincerely as we wound through the forest.
"You're welcome. I know that you don't have your mom around to help, and Alice is in Seattle with you. It's the least I can do," she said with a sad smile.
"The least you can do?" I asked, shocked. The woman opened her home to us frequently and had made this transition so much easier than it could have been.
Her eyes stayed trained on the road. "You could have taken him away from us without a thought, Bella, and never looked back. Ryan is your son, no matter how much I love him as my own. But you haven't, and you've made it clear that you don't intend to. There are no words to express how grateful I am for that."
I wasn't sure what to say to that. She was right; we could have insisted that Ryan had been stolen and that he should be returned to us without delay. That, however, wasn't what was best for Ryan, and he was the priority. "He loves you and would miss you terribly. I couldn't do that to him," I finally said.
She nodded, but didn't reply. In fact, neither of us spoke again until we arrived at Trent's house and loaded Ryan into the car.
He was in a fantastic mood. Getting to spend some time with his best friend had livened him up. He talked all the way home to Seattle, too. The difference between our trip down and the trip back was not lost on me.
Edward came home the next day to a family that was eager to see him. While we ate dinner together, Ryan regaled him with stories of his time at Trent's party the day before, and I told him about the wedding arrangements that I'd made. He seemed pleased, at least.
It wasn't until later, after Ryan was safely tucked into bed, that we talked about what we'd both noticed.
"He was really happy to see his friends this weekend," Edward mused, running his hands across my back while I rested my head on his chest.
"He was," I agreed. "It's the most lively I've seen him in a while."
Edward sighed. "As much as I hate to admit this, maybe we shouldn't fight him staying in school in Forks a little longer. There have been so many changes in his life in the last few months. I don't think we should take him away from all of his friends, too."
It was the same thing I had been pondering since yesterday. "I love him and I want him with us, but we're still new to him—still strangers in some sense. I don't like that we'll only see him every other weekend, though." I smoothed Edward's t-shirt over his stomach.
Edward barked a laugh. "This is the part they never tell you about being a parent—having to make decisions that you don't like for your kid. I don't want to be like my parents, though. Let's talk to him about it tomorrow over dinner. Let him have a day of baseball camp under his belt and see what he thinks."
I agreed and curled a little farther into him. For a brief moment, I thought about showing him how much I'd missed him, but as his breathing quickly evened out, I decided that I would let my very exhausted man sleep.
I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks for reading!