Two weeks had passed relatively quickly. Rubix had been ecstatic to find out that not only was he coming to live with dada permanently, but Kristen was going to be his new mommy.
Rubix lay in bed quietly, having heard someone walking around upstairs, probably dada going potty. But he didn't hear the toilet flush. He didn't hear anything anymore. He slowly sat up sideways in bed, holding himself up with his hands as he glanced at the clock in the basement and saw it was three am.
He wondered if he should go upstairs and check. But he didn't want to get into trouble for being out of bed so late. But … What if it wasn't dada walking around? What if it was mommy coming to take him away again? He clutched his teddy bear as he moved toward the narrow stairs in the dark. He slowly climbed up and poked his head out. There was no one up there. At least not walking around.
"Dada?" He whispered but there was no response. He climbed out of the trap door and slowly padded around the apartment looking for his dad. He could see Kristen in bed, sleeping softly under the covers, but no dada.
He looked in the bathroom, no one there. He walked over to the bed and stood in front of Kristen. Should he wake her up? What if she'd be mad at him? He looked around nervously, listening to the ticking of the clock before he touched Kristen's shoulder. "Kisten." He said quietly.
"Hmm?" Kristen murmured sleepily, stirring back toward consciousness. She reached out an arm for Edward, but he wasn't there next to her. She opened her eyes to see Rubix looking up at her from beside the bed. "What is it, Rubix?" she yawned, reluctantly making herself sit up. She didn't see Edward anywhere.
"Where dada?" He asked quietly, as if he were still scared of waking her up even though she was clearly awake. "Dada gone." He said tugging on the blanket and using it to pull himself up onto the bed next to her. It was clear she wasn't like mommy. She wasn't yelling at him to go back to bed.
Kristen blinked, staring back at Rubix. "Gone?" Where would Edward go in the middle of the night like this? He hadn't even woken her. "Are you sure he didn't just go to the bathroom or something?" she asked. Though when she glanced over, she saw no light coming from under the bathroom door. And he couldn't be down in the basement, since Rubix had just come from there …
"I hear walking and then gone." Rubix said sadly. "I want my dada." He said sniffing suddenly a bit scared in the dark room with his dad gone.
"Of course you do," Kristen said gently, pulling Rubix to her in a hug. She remembered how scary it was to be small and alone in the dark. "Don't worry, we'll find him, okay?" she said, picking him up as she stood to go turn on a light. Not finding him anywhere around the apartment, she called his cell phone … only to hear a buzzing sound back behind her. Her heart sank as she turned around to see Edward's cell phone vibrating on the bedside table. "It's okay," she said, keeping her voice calm, trying not to show her growing sense of alarm in front of Rubix. He was scared enough already. "I'm sure he … he just couldn't sleep and went for a walk. He'll be back soon." But she wasn't certain of that in the least. The only reason she could imagine him wandering off like this in the middle of the night, especially without his phone, was that he was having another episode.
"But it's dark out." Rubix said pointing outside. Even the neon green "games and toys" light was off for the night. "Why dada go out?" He asked. "Dada okay?"
"I'm sure daddy's fine," Kristen reassured Rubix, kissing him on the forehead. "He's a smart, grown-up man. He knows how to take care of himself." Though she feared that poor Rubix might be too smart for her reassurances. "Let's get you back to bed, okay? Daddy will come back soon, and I'm not going anywhere." If she got Rubix tucked back into bed, then maybe she could figure out what to do. She carried Rubix back down the stairs.
"Dada be home in the morning right?" Rubix asked as she tucked him back into bed still clutching his teddy.
"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Kristen said, evading answering the question directly. She didn't want to make any promises that would disappoint him later. She smoothed back his hair gently. "Don't worry."
"Okay." He said sitting up and kissing Kristen's cheek. "Kisten …" Rubix said laying back down on the bed. "I know you're not my real mommy. But you're a much better mommy than she was!" He said snuggling down in bed with his teddy.
Kristen winced a slight smile at that. Rubix shouldn't have to make that comparison. He should have had a good mother to begin with. But all she could do was make sure things were better from now on. "Thank you, Rubix," Kristen said softly, tucking him back in before standing up to leave. "You go back to sleep now, and if you need anything, I'm right upstairs, okay?"
"Okay." Rubix said. "Night night Kisten." He said yawning, already starting to fall asleep. It was very late after all.
Kristen quietly padded back up the stairs, trying not to panic. Okay. So, Edward didn't have his phone, which was alarming in and of itself, so she couldn't call him. He couldn't have been out very long … but she couldn't very well run out looking for him and leave Rubix here alone. There wasn't a single trace or clue around the apartment about where he could have gone. Should she call someone? It was too early to call the police, and it might be nothing. Anyway, Edward had never told Lee or Jim about his episodes, and would no doubt prefer to keep it that way. The only other person who knew was Deidre. She supposed she could call her … But what was Deidre supposed to do, exactly? Wander the streets of Gotham aimlessly calling out: 'Edward!' until he showed up?
No. Edward had been out for less than an hour. It was too early for any of that. Which meant that all she could do right now was wait, worry, and hope he showed up by morning. Otherwise, she had no idea how she was going to explain this to Rubix. He was a smart kid. He knew something was wrong.
Come the next morning Rubix came bounding up the stairs, having completely forgotten his late night excursion upstairs to find his dad whilst half asleep. "Dada?" He asked coming up the stairs and reaching the top. "Breaky dada!" He said running around the apartment before he realized his dad had left last night. He looked at Kristen who was in the Kitchen where his dad usually was. "Dada not home yet?" He asked.
Kristen looked anxiously down at Rubix, and shook her head, trying not to let on how worried she still was. She hadn't slept all night. "I'm sure he'll be back before much longer," she said, picking Rubix up. "But I'll go ahead and call some people who can help us look, and then I'll make breakfast, okay?"
Rubix looked at her skeptically. He knew something was wrong, but he knew his dada wouldn't abandon him like mommy did. He wouldn't. He'd been so happy when he moved in. Did he maybe do something wrong? "Okay." He said as she took him to sit on the bed.
The unconvinced look on Rubix's little face didn't escape her notice. "Hey," she said firmly. "Your daddy loves you, and he's coming back as soon as he can. You'll see. Now," she asked, hoping to cheer him up a little. "What should I make for breakfast?"
"Dada makes breaky!" He asked looking up at her. "Can you cook?" He asked with that bluntness only a child could have.
"I can cook breakfast foods just fine," Kristen said, unable to help smiling slightly at Rubix's bluntness. At least he didn't assume all adults could cook … But then, between Edward and Brittany, Rubix might well assume that cooking was something that just dads did, in the same way that many children assumed that was what moms did. In any case, Kristen was nowhere near Edward's skill level in the kitchen, but breakfast foods were manageable enough.
Rubix looked up at her skeptically before he shrugged. "Cereal is fine pease." He said jumping down from the bed and trying to grab the Rubik's cube off the shelf but it was too high for him.
Sighing, Kristen went over and picked up the Rubik's cube, handing it down to him. She had bigger problems right now than an unintentional insult from a three-year-old. She got down the cereal box and set about getting bowls while she called Lee.
A few seconds later Lee answered, laughing about something going on on her end. "Hello." She said. "Jim stop. Hello?"
"Hi, Lee. It's Kristen," she said, glancing over at Rubix, trying to control the tone of worry in her voice. "Sorry to bother you but I … Don't suppose either of you have heard from Ed since last night? He left the apartment around three in the morning, and he hasn't come back yet. He didn't say where he was going, and didn't take his phone so … I can't imagine he meant to be gone this long."
"Um, I haven't. Jim have you heard from Ed recently?" She asked. There was a muffled 'no, why what's up?' From the background before Lee answered. "Ed disappeared last night."
Kristen tensed slightly at the word 'disappeared,' pushing back the tightly controlled fear that threatened to overtake her. But Lee was exactly right. Edward wouldn't still be gone right now unless something had happened to him. "Will GCPD pay attention to a missing person report this early?" Kristen asked, the words sounding surreal as they came out of her mouth. But if anything had happened to Edward, waiting around in denial wouldn't help.
Rubix looked up at Kristen, the Rubik's cube still in his hands. Daddy disappeared? He was missing.
"It might be too early to file a report. But that doesn't sound right. Is Rubix still there?" Lee asked.
"Yes," Kristen confirmed. "He heard Edward leave last night and came to wake me up and ask where he went."
"Here I'll let you talk to Jim." She said handing him the phone.
"Hey Kristen. What time did he hear him leave?" Jim asked, pulling out a pad of paper to take a few notes.
"It … It was around three a.m.," she said, reminded of all the countless people who came through GCPD reporting missing loved ones every week. How many of them actually turned up again?
"He didn't leave a note? Nothing? Did he maybe tell you anything and you were half asleep and forgot?" He asked.
"I haven't found a note, and I've been looking everywhere," she said. If he'd left one, surely she would have found it by now. Generally, people left notes in places where you were likely to find them. "I … guess he could have said something when I wasn't really awake, but …" she thought about it, and shook her head. "I don't think so. I was really sound asleep. I didn't even hear him leave, Rubix did."
"Okay. I'm going into work in about an hour, I'll have a few people keep an eye out for him. If he doesn't show up by tonight or contact you, I'd recommend coming down … File a missing person's report. Normally I wouldn't say so within the first 12 hours. He's a grown adult. But it doesn't sound like Ed to leave with no word … Especially now that he just got custody of his son."
"You're right," Kristen said quietly. "It's not like him. I'll take your advice and keep you posted. Thank you for helping."
"No problem." Jim said. "I'm sure everything will be fine." He said before ending the call. Rubix came up to Kristen his hand going up to her pant leg and tugging slightly.
"Kisten." Rubix said sadly. "Dada's not coming home is he?"
"He's …" Kristen looked down at Rubix's sad face. He was too smart to lie to him. But she couldn't let him think his dad had abandoned him too. She crouched down to Rubix's level, so that she could look him in the eyed. "I … don't know where your daddy is," she said quietly. "Or when he'll get home, but … He is coming back. He loves you very much, and he won't stay away long if he can help it. He'll come back."
"You don't know that." Rubix said honestly.
Kristen put a gentle hand on Rubix's shoulder. "I know he loves you. And I know he'll come back as soon as he can. I just don't know when that will be."