Chapter 11

No, there's no way that this could be happening. She couldn't just leave me like that, could she? I raced back to my parent's house and Carlisle looked surprised when he saw me but my expression must have said it all.

"What's wrong Edward? Is it Bella or the baby?" he asked, concerned.

"I went back to apologize and she left a note…she left, dad."

I handed him the note and his eyes hardened. He got up from his desk and grabbed his cell phone, moving out into the hallway. I stayed seated where I was, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Bella had left. What gave her the right to take my child away from me?

After about fifteen minutes, Carlisle walked back into his office and stood next to his seat. The anger rolling off of him was palpable, but I knew it wasn't directed towards me.

"I called Charlie. He said Bella talked to him right before she left, but he's not giving any details," he explained slowly.

"What are we going to do, dad? She can't just take my child like this," I muttered desperately.

His eyes softened and he walked back to me, resting his hand on my shoulder.

"You don't know how mad I am that she left in the first place. I think she just got scared, not that it's an excuse. But I think we need to talk to Charlie in person."

I nodded in agreement and we walked out to dad's car. I wasn't in a good state for driving, it was dangerous enough driving from my apartment over.

The drive to Charlie's house only took a few minutes and he peeked outside when he heard the car pull up. He opened the door and crossed his arms, glaring at me.

"You realize that it's your fault she left in the first place? We were finally making progress and now she's gone. Because you couldn't handle the rejection of her not being ready to marry you. And quite frankly, I'm glad she said no. You're clearly not responsible enough to be a husband, let alone a father," Charlie spat at me.

Carlisle was about to fire back when I raised my hand to stop him. He glanced at me but didn't say anything.

"I know I was wrong in giving her the ultimatum, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I was on my way to apologize for everything when I discovered Bella had left me. And you're the only one around here who know where she is. I want to make this right, Charlie. We've both done each other wrong ever since we found out about the pregnancy, but it's up to both of us to make it right," I explained.

He continued to glare at me, taking my words in. He finally let his arms fall to his sides but his expression remained the same.

"You think that just because she loves you that she'll forgive you for everything every time you screw up. At some point, she won't be able to forgive you."

Carlisle stepped forward and ignored me when I tried to stop him.

"That's what a good relationship is about, Charlie. I'm not trying to say anything rude about your failed marriage, so please don't take it that way. But a good relationship has to have two people that care deeply for each other and love each other. They have to love each other enough to forgive and grow as a couple because we're all human and we all make mistakes," he argued on my behalf.

"I know you're trying to protect her because she's your daughter," he continued, "but I'm also a father that's trying to protect my son. Bella is carrying his daughter, and he has as much right to be a part of this as she does."

Charlie paused for a second before shaking his head and moving to go back inside.

"I see your point, Carlisle, I do, but I'm not telling you where she went. She specifically asked me not to and I won't go against my daughter," he stated flatly before walking back inside and closing the door.

My desperation and anger was turning to panic. What if we never found her and I didn't get to be a part of my daughter's life?

"Come on, Edward. Let's go back to the house. I already called a private investigator and all we can do for now is wait."

I hung my head in disappointment, but I knew he was right. There wasn't anything else we could do without a lead.

One Week Later

I had been staying with my parents ever since Bella left a week ago. I couldn't stand being in our apartment all by myself. I threw myself into schoolwork, trying to get ahead so I could graduate early and concentrate on becoming a better father.

While I still felt some anger towards Bella for leaving, sadness had made its way into my life more. I was sad over how bad things had gotten between us. I thought babies made couples happier, not pulled them apart.

We both made stupid mistakes and I realized more now that before that we were both equally responsible. It's not fair to force just one of us to take the blame. If I get the chance to be with Bella again, there's several things I'd be changing.

I can't force a woman to marry me when she doesn't want to. It'd eventually turn to a loveless marriage where we resent each other, and possibly even divorce each other. Which would be harder to do if we had even more kids in the future.

Bella had been much more confident and sure of herself before she found out about the pregnancy. I hadn't realized how much of a toll the whole situation had been taking on her. I'd been wrapped up in my own issues to realize hers. I had been selfish, but so had she.

She'd included me in a lot of the pregnancy, but there were several things she left me out of as well. When she had gone to the hospital, she didn't tell me until after the scare was over. She had been looking at baby name books more and more but didn't ask my opinion anymore. She had been closing me off for a while and I didn't notice.

I tried looking for her but with so many dead ends, Carlisle convinced me to leave it to the private investigator, and I had to agree. We hadn't heard anything until eight days after Bella first left.

Carlisle's phone rang while we were all eating dinner. I looked at him quizzically before he took the call into another room.

Esme looked at me first, then worriedly at Alice.

Alice was always the life of the party and she took Bella's disappearance personally. Esme had tried taking her shopping to get her back to her old self, but it hadn't been very successful. Alice pushed her food around her plate without eating much.

"Guys, he found a lead. He thinks that she went to Florida and that she's with her mom," he said hopefully.

I stood up quickly and ran upstairs to pack my bag. Carlisle did the same while Esme tried to coax Alice into eating more. She had perked up when she heard that we may have an idea where Bella is.

"Edward, slow down for a second. I'm going to look at plane tickets and we'll go from there," my dad said when I was getting ready to go out the front door.

All logic went out the window when he had said Florida. It made perfect sense for Bella to go to her mother. I didn't want to waste time, but Carlisle is right. He went into his office and I waited impatiently by the front door. He finally walked downstairs with a couple of papers in his hand.

"I know you're not going to like this, but they don't have a flight until tomorrow. If we drove it'd take nearly forty-eight hours. We're just going to have to wait," he explained slowly.

The hope I'd had followed my logic out of the window.

"What if she's gone by then?" I asked.

"I doubt she'll leave her mother, Edward. She's feeling alone and afraid and she loves her mother. We just have to be patient."

Again, I knew that he was right. I went back upstairs and sat on my bed, staring out of the window. Tomorrow I'd get on the flight to get the love of my life back.