After finishing dinner and getting Rubix cleaned up, they had called ahead to let Marian and Ben know they were coming. Marian had seemed delighted to hear that Edward had Rubix this weekend, and even more delighted that Kristen was bringing him by. She knocked at the door, Rubix fidgeting restlessly next to her, his tiny hand in hers.
Ben answered the door and as soon as it was open Rubix ran into the apartment, letting go of Kristen's hand.
"GAMA!" Rubix yelled running in and hugging Marian. Ben smiled as he ran past him and looked up at Kristen.
"Hello again." Ben said kindly allowing Kristen into the apartment. "Thank you for bringing him over. Where's Ed?"
"He had to make a run to the store," Kristen said, smiling as Marian picked up Rubix and spun in a circle, a look of pure joy on her face. "Rubix's mom dropped him off without warning, and didn't leave any of his things so…"
"Well, that's hardly a shock," Marian said disapprovingly, shaking her head.
Rubix laughed as she spun him around, hugging her as she drew him to her. "Gamma miss me?" He asked looking at her as Ben closed the door and came into the apartment, giving him a hug as well.
"Of course I missed you," Marian said, smiling again at Rubix's laughter. She kissed him on the forehead. "Have you been having fun playing with daddy and Kristen today?"
"I show all my tanformos." He said holding up one of his toys that he was holding in his hand. Ben smiled as he went into the kitchen to get them all some drinks.
"Would you like a drink Kristen?" He asked as he pulled out a few glasses and Rubix's sippy cup that they kept just for him.
"Yes please," Kristen said, following him into the kitchen to see if he needed help with anything.
Marian nodded, duly impressed with the toy. "My, that's quite a robot you have there."
"Not a robot Gama! Tansformo!" He said wiggling to get out of her arms. "Look." He said as she put him down and started transforming the toy. Ben poured them all drinks, and poured some apple juice for Rubix bringing them all into the living room on a tray.
"Oh, my mistake," Marian chuckled, as Rubix transformed the toy. "Much better than any silly old robot."
Kristen followed Ben back into the livingroom. "So how have you both been?" she asked.
"We've been good." Ben said sitting down and picking up his bottle of beer. "Been busy at the store, thinking about retiring soon to be honest." He said sipping on his beer.
"You've been saying that since you reached your forties, you know you can't retire yet Ben!" Marian said sitting down on the couch as Rubix flew his toy around the room.
"What would you do if you retired?" Kristen asked, smiling slightly.
"Lounge about the apartment as he always does!" She said smacking him with a magazine she picked up off the table, making Rubix laugh.
They visited for nearly an hour, chatting and playing with Rubix, before there was a knock at the door. Ben moved to the doorway and smiled at Ed who came into the apartment.
"Ben." He greeted kindly.
"DADA BACK!" Rubix yelled getting up off the floor and tearing through the apartment to the front door.
Ed smiled as he picked Rubix off the floor. "How's my little monster been?" He asked Marian who was sitting on the floor by some toys they'd clearly been playing with. "Behaving I hope."
"Oh, he's been good, as always," Marian said as she went over to hug him. "And we've been having a nice time chatting with Kristen."
"Oh, I was referring to Kristen. I know Rubix is always good." He said teasingly as he came into the living room, knowing Kristen had heard the entire exchange.
Kristen crossed her arms. "I see how it is," she said petulantly, though with an amused smirk as she turned away from him.
"Thank you for letting him come over. He enjoys coming here. It's getting late though we should get him to bed." He said hugging Marian as she came up to him.
"Iceceam!" Rubix said reminding him.
"Yes you can have some ice cream, I did promise didn't I?" He asked to Rubix who nodded. "Alright we'll go home, you put your jam jams on, and I'll get you some ice cream."
Kristen smiled slightly. "He certainly has a good memory," she said, before thanking Marian and Ben once again for having her over, and heading to the door with Edward and Rubix.
"Nigh nigh gama!" Rubix yelled and waved over Ed's shoulder as they left. Once they reached the apartment he put Rubix down who ran for the trap door trying, unsuccessfully, to open it.
"Would you mind taking him down to put his jam jams on? I'll get us some ice cream, do you want some?"
"Sure," Kristen said, kissing Edward on the cheek before going to open the trapdoor, Rubix letting her pick him up and carry him down the stairs. Edward had left Rubix's new pajamas out where she could easily find them, neatly folded on top of the toybox.
"Look at that," Kristen smiled. "Daddy got you transformers jam jams."
"Transformos!" Rubix yelled, before looking up at Kristen solemnly and reminding her: "Iceceam."
"Yes, you're right," Kristen said, as she helped Rubix out of his shirt. "Best to focus on what's really important …"
Kristen frowned. The tiny boy had a few noticeable bruises. Where had those come from? Granted, he was an energetic kid at an age when children weren't too steady on their feet, but … He couldn't possibly bruise that easily, or he'd have one on his face from when he'd tripped over the firetruck earlier.
A cold fear settled over her, even though she couldn't be certain. What was going on in his mother's custody? Kristen adjusted her glasses. On closer inspection, some of the bruises looked distinctly like handprints, most noticeably on his upper arm, where it looked like someone had grabbed him roughly.
"Rubix …" Kristen said slowly, trying to keep her voice bright, free from the anger she felt building inside. If Rubix picked up on how upset she was, it might scare him. "How did …" She pointed to the bruises on his arm. "When did you get hurt?"
Rubix pulled his pants down, kicking them off and falling onto his bottom as one foot was stuck. He sat on the ground nude as he yanked it off his foot and stood up again shakily and paused when he heard Kristen's question.
"Naw supposed to say." He said grabbing his jam jams and bringing them over to Kristen. "Hep pease." He said holding them out to her.
"Not supposed to say …" Kristen repeated quietly, her worst suspicions confirmed. "Right …" She took the jam jams as he held them out to her. Of course. This probably all seemed normal to him.
She thought about calling Edward down immediately … But she didn't know how he would react. This had to be his worst nightmare. He would be beyond livid … and if he let any of that show, Rubix wouldn't understand why. The boy would be scared, might even think he was in trouble for something. No, it would be better to tell Edward later, after Rubix was asleep. She helped him into the pajama pants, but paused before helping with his shirt.
"Hang on," she said, getting out her phone. "I have to do something really quick. Then we'll go upstairs and get ice cream, okay?" She quickly took a picture of the bruise on his arm, before putting the phone away. It would be better if Edward first reacted to seeing this away from Rubix. Then, she quickly helped him into the pajama shirt.
"ICECEAM!" Rubix yelled once his pajamas were on, climbing barefoot back up the stairs to the main floor. "DADA ICECEAM!" He said as he jumped up and down excitedly.
"Yes, yes here we go." He said putting three bowls on the table. Vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, sprinkles and cut up bananas. Rubix's portion was much smaller than theirs but he didn't complain as he climbed up onto his chair, sitting on his knees so he could reach the table and dug in.
Kristen looked sadly over at Rubix, but at least he was happy for the moment. Edward put so much effort into taking care of him, when he got the chance. He was going to be beyond upset when he found out. "This looks great, Edward," she said, sitting down at the table.
"As you say with everything I make." He said with a smile as he dug into his own ice cream.
It was half an hour later, that Ed carried Rubix to bed. He read him a short story, Green Eggs and Ham, and kissed him goodnight.
"Dada!" Rubix yelled as Ed reached the stairs. Ed paused and looked back. "Monstos." He said and Ed nodded.
"Right. How could I forget?" He said moving back over the bed. He got on his knees and made a show of pulling out the storage boxes under the bed and looking under it. "No monsters here!" He said and looked up at Rubix.
"Coush!" He said pointing at the couch. Ed moved to it and looked under the small crack under the couch.
"No monsters here!" He said as Rubix looked under around the room.
"Pool table!" He said, surprisingly clearly.
Edward looked under the pool table and shook his head. "No monsters here either! It's all monster proof and you know what … The only way in is the door upstairs … So the only way any monsters are going to get in is through me! And do you think I'm going to let any monsters get through?" He asked as Rubix furiously shook his head no. "Well … Maybe I'll let through …" He paused as if thinking about it. "The tickle monster!" He said tickling Rubix who squealed and laughed as he was tickled. He smiled and kissed Rubix on the head as he stared up at him smiling. "Good night Rubix." He said running his hand through his hair.
"Night dada." Rubix said before Ed turned off the light and heading back upstairs.
"Edward," Kristen said quietly as he reached the top of the stairs. She looked pained. "There's … something you need to see."
Edward came over to her and sat with her at the table. "Why so serious all of a sudden?" He asked wondering what could have happened. As far as he knew the day had gone well.
"It's Rubix," Kristen hesitantly, opening the picture on her phone. "I think maybe … Just look," she said, handing him the phone.
Edward looked down at the photo on the flip phone. It was horrid quality but it was very clearly bruises on a small child. His child. He felt his face pale and his body go numb as he closed the phone and dropped it onto the table. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He asked as anger filled him and he headed towards the trap door.
"I only just saw them, helping him change," Kristen said, not surprised by his anger. It was the natural response. "I wanted to wait until he was asleep, since … I thought it might scare him if he saw that you were angry."
"Of course I'm angry." He said opening the trap door and heading downstairs. He clicked the light on and Rubix watched him as he moved to the side table by the couch and pulled open the drawer to find his camera.
"What you doing dada?" He asked sitting up as Ed came over to him and sat down on the bed.
"Hey bud." Ed said gently, despite the anger he currently felt. "I heard you got a boo boo." He said immediately seeing the shocked look on Rubix's face. "Can I see it?"
He wasn't surprised when Rubix shook his head vigorously and looked rather frightened. He put his hand on Rubix's back comfortingly and rubbed his back gently. "It's okay …" Ed said. "I won't tell your mom, it'll be our secret okay?" He asked though Rubix still shook his head.
"Dada has a boo boo, do you want to see it?" Rubix looked up at him, clearly a little distressed at the situation but nodded. Ed took off his sweater and lifted the sleeve of his button up tshirt so Rubix could see the red healing scar on his arm from when he'd been shot.
"See … Dada's got a boo boo too." He said as Rubix poked it, typical small boy reacting to a wound he'd never seen before. Luckily it was healed enough it didn't hurt at all.
"Dada boo boo?" Rubix asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, that's dada's boo boo." Ed said as Rubix kissed it better making Ed laugh. "Can I see your boo boo now?" He asked, letting go of his sleeve.
Rubix looked at Ed's arm before looking up at him. "No telling mum?"
"No telling mum." Ed agreed, though he knew she'd find out as soon as he contacted his lawyer. Rubix took off his shirt showing Ed the bruises on his arm, and one on his side. The one on his arm was shaped like fingerprints clearly from someone grabbing him roughly, and the one on his side could only be the shape of knuckles … And both hand prints were too large to be a woman's.
Ed inwardly writhed with anger as he took pictures of both bruises, Rubix's allowing him to do so with surprising patience.
"Do you have any others?" Ed asked. Rubix shook his head and Ed helped him put his shirt back on. "Okay … Thank you for showing me bud." He said kissing him good night again. Rubix had him make one more sweeping check for monsters again before he headed back upstairs again with the camera.
Kristen waited anxiously at the top of the stairs, but it sounded like Edward was handling the situation well, doing a good job of soothing and reassuring Rubix. She nodded with grim approval when she saw the camera. Edward had the right idea, gathering evidence. Even as upset as he had to be, he was still handling this very rationally. "Do you have legal counsel you can call?" she asked quietly.
"I'll call my lawyer in the morning. Sadly I doubt he'll do anything. If he doesn't take this seriously though, I'm finding someone else." He said as he sat down at the table. He took his glasses off and rubbed his hands over his face.
Quietly, Kristen walked over and laid a gentle hand on Edward's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said. "You'll let me know if there's anything I can do to help?"
Edward pulled his hands away from his face, placing them on the table before he moved his hand to hers on his shoulder. He brought it to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. "Thank you." He said before looking up at her and turning in his chair slightly, pulling her into his lap and hugging her around her waist. "Seriously. You're amazing. For everything … I honestly didn't expect him to be here, you were so good with him, I appreciate it. Not many would have been so … accepting of having that thrown at them like he was."
"Maybe I didn't expect him to be here today," Kristen said, running her fingers lightly through Edward's hair. "But he's an important part of your life. I understand that … And it's been kind of nice having him around."
"You're amazing." He said kissing her gently. "I keep saying it, and I'll keep repeating it. You're an amazing woman! I keep expecting to wake up and find out that you're not really here with me … It wasn't that long ago I was trying to convince myself to give up, because I had no chance with you but … Here you are." He said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "And you're even better than I had hoped."
Kristen smiled softly. "You're pretty amazing yourself," she said, before leaning in and kissing him. She couldn't imagine any of her previous boyfriends being as caring and nurturing as she'd seen Edward be today.
"If by amazing you mean problematic, then I entirely agree." He said kissing her again before nudging her gently to get off him so he could get up. "It's getting late though. We should head to bed."
"You're right," Kristen said, stretching a little as she stood up. She stifled a yawn. "It's been kind of a busy day." Though she had enjoyed spending time with Rubix, keeping up with his boundless energy had left her exhausted. No doubt Edward was tired too … Though she worried that he might not be able to sleep after what they'd found out.
Ed was quiet as he changed into his pajamas, and brushed his teeth. When he was done went downstairs quietly to check on Rubix while Kristen got ready for bed. He was sleeping quietly so he came back upstairs and turned off the light in the kitchen are, the room dimming with just the lamp by the bed on.
Once Kristen had finished getting ready for bed, she slipped under the covers, setting her glasses aside on the bedside table. She looked up at Edward as he returned. "How's he doing?" she asked quietly. Though Edward seemed to have calmed down significantly since his initial reaction, she could hardly even begin to imagine the worry, the anger, the fear all swirling around in his mind right now.
"He's sleeping." He said taking off his glasses and climbing into bed next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, cuddling up next to her. "I'm glad you were here today … I couldn't imagine dealing with this on my own." He said, though as soon as he said it he realized it may make feel like she has some obligation to help. Even though she did offer. "I mean … I'm glad for the company." He said. "I know this is my problem not yours it's just … Easier having someone else here."
"Edward," Kristen said softly, looking up at his face as she settled against him, resting a hand against his chest. "He's your son. No one should have to deal with something like this, alone or otherwise … But I'm glad I was able to be here too."
Edward smiled softly as he leaned forward and kissed her gently, his hand moving to her side. "Thank you." He said softly, even though he said it already, he felt the need to say it again.
"Anytime," Kristen whispered, kissing him back. She wrapped her arms around him, running her hands soothingly over his back. She didn't feel like she'd really done much to help, though. She wished she could do more to alleviate Edward's worries, to keep Rubix safe.
Edward kissed her again, enjoying the closeness between them now that they had some time to actually stop and relax. He felt like every negative emotion he could feel was currently running through his head but he didn't want that to affect Kristen … Yes, he needed to worry about Rubix, and yes he needed to call his lawyer, but there was little he could do at the moment, and dwelling on it would only hurt them in the long run.
Kristen leaned into Edward's kiss, continuing to hold him, snuggling close against him. She didn't know if it was actually helping, but she always found it comforting being near him, and hoped that it might have the same effect on him.
Ed deepened the kiss slightly as his hand moved down to her hip. He still didn't understand how he got so lucky finding a beautiful, kind, caring, understanding woman that actually wanted him … That not only wanted him, but wanted to help him and his son.
Kissing him back, Kristen ran her hands lightly through Edward's hair, pressing close against him as she felt his hand move to her hip. Maybe she could help him to take his mind off of things, at least for a little while.
Edward moaned into the kiss as he pressed himself against her, moving her back onto her back and climbing on top of her, his mouth never leaving hers as he pressed his tongue into her mouth.
Moving against him, Kristen wrapped her arms around Edward, her hands running over his back as her mouth moved against his.
He rolled his hips down against her, his cock slowly starting to harden in his pajama pants as he trailed his lips down to her jaw, then her neck, leaving open mouthed kisses over her soft flesh.
Kristen moaned softly as Edward kissed down her neck, her hips moving up against him, feeling Edward's hardening cock rub against her through his pajama pants.
His hand moved up her leg to her hip, pulling up her nightgown as it moved along her thigh. "I want you." He said quietly as he nipped her neck just below her ear.
"Go on, then," Kristen whispered, smiling slightly, her hands moving lightly down Edward's sides, toward the hem of his pajama pants.
Edward lifted his hips away from her slightly, giving her the room to do as she pleased, enjoying the feeling of her hands on him.
Kristen slipped a hand into Edward's pajama pants and reached down to lightly stroke Edward's hardening cock.
He moaned quietly as she wrapped her fingers around his shaft, starting to stroke him as he hardened in her palm. He lowered his mouth to her collarbone, his hips shifting against her.
"DAAAAAADDDDDAAAAAA!" Edward paused when he heard Rubix screaming downstairs, followed by loud dramatic crying. Edward sighed, and rested his head against Kristen's shoulder.
"I'm sorry." He whispered sitting up.
Kristen winced at the loud, high-pitched cry from downstairs, but resignedly withdrew her hand from Edward's pants. "It's … it's okay," she reassured him, doing the best she could to mask her disappointment. But she wouldn't have asked Edward to respond any other way. He was a good dad, and this was part of what came with that. Even if it was inconvenient at the moment, it only made Edward more endearing. "Go chase away the monsters."
Edward got off the bed and awkwardly headed downstairs, flicking on the lights. "What's up bud?" He asked to the red faced toddler sitting up right in bed and clutching one of his transformers that he knew he would not have left in the bed with him. Clearly he'd been frightened for some time before calling him.
"I had bad a bad deam." Rubix said sniffing and wiping away the tears. Edward sat down on the side of his bed and pulled him into his arms.
"Do you want me to plug in your night light?" He asked holding him comfortingly.
"No." He said rubbing his face on Edward's tshirt. "Do you want me to stay down here for a bit?" He asked, rubbing his back.
"No." Rubix said again sniffeling.
"What do you want to do then?" Edward asked, looking down at him. He wasn't sure what else he could do. Perhaps Rubix didn't even know what he wanted. It wouldn't be the first time, and it was common for children his age.
"Sl-Sleep with you." Rubix said his voice breaking as he sniffled.
"Sleep with me?" Edward asked. "Kristen's still upstairs."
"Sleep Kristen too!" Rubix said rubbing his eyes with both hands. Edward took the transformer off of Rubix's lap and handed him his stuffed teddy.
"Kristen doesn't live far from here. Why don't we go see if Kristen wants to go home first, we'll go for a short drive, and then we'll come home to bed." Edward said looking down at him.
"No, sleep Kristen too!" Rubix insisted. Edward sighed. He didn't know how Kristen would feel about that. She'd been so supportive today but she wasn't his mother.
"Come on, we'll see what she'd want to do. We wouldn't want to make her uncomfortable right? You just met her today, she's a bit of a stranger to you. So we'll ask her." He said standing up with Rubix on his hip. He headed upstairs, Rubix's face buried in his neck, his arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
"He uh … Wants to sleep up here." He said to Kristen quietly. "He had a bad dream. If you want I can take you home ... "
Kristen looked up at Edward and the frightened child hiding his face against him. "Oh," she said, surprised for a moment, then shook her head. "You don't have to take me home in the middle of the night, Edward," she said tiredly. And Rubix, as scared as he was, probably wouldn't like making the trip in the dark either. "I don't mind."
"Are you sure?" He asked. "He kicks … and flails …. and grinds his teeth." He said. To be honest Rubix was rather obnoxious to sleep with even just with the two of them in the bed. He couldn't imagine what it would be like with the three of them. The bed wasn't that large and despite Rubix being so small … He tended to take up a lot of room.
"You do some of that yourself," Kristen smiled slightly. "I'm a sound sleeper. I doubt it'll bother me much." In any case, the poor kid was scared, and he needed his dad's full attention now. She looked up at Edward, trying to gage how he felt about this. "Unless it's weird for you if I stay?"
"No, It's fine." He said putting Rubix down on the bed, his face still red but he at least stopped crying. He crawled over to the middle of the bed and looked at Kristen.
"Kisten stay?" He asked as he tried to pull the covers back for him to crawl under but was unsuccessful since there was more than one blanket.
"Yes," Kristen said, pulling up the blankets so that Rubix could crawl into bed. "I'll stay." It surprised her a little, though, that he seemed to want her to. She could understand that he wanted his dad around when he was scared, but she didn't know why he seemed to like her so much already.
Rubix smiled and crawled under the blanket that Kristen held up, and looked up at his dad who crawled in on the other side. He yawned widely as Edward pulled the blanket over himself and settled in on his side of the bed. "Night." He said leaning over and kissing Kristen quickly.
"Ewwwwwww." Rubix said putting his hand over Ed's mouth so he couldn't do it again. "Cooties!"
Kristen laughed. "Thank you for protecting everyone from cooties, Rubix," she said, smiling over at Edward, before settling down into the covers. "Goodnight."