Chapter 16: Taken
EPOV
The days passed quickly, and before we knew it Christmas was only a few days away. Everything in the house had been decorated in the spirit. My mom and Alice had not left a single stone unturned. Even Bella seemed a lot more festive than usual and I knew it was due to the fact that it was Anthony's first Christmas.
There were garlands and trees around every inch of the house. And the main Christmas tree in the living room was already covered in presents. My family had gone crazy buying Anthony presents. He was barely two months old, but he was already spoiled. He had every toy and article of clothing he could ever need.
Bella was in the kitchen making gingerbread cookies as I came in with Anthony in my arms. "Say hi to mommy!" I said picking up Anthony's arm and pretending to wave.
"Hey, baby!" Bella cooed coming over to us as Anthony smiled in recognition. "How's mommy little angel doing?"
"Just fine." Emmett joked, coming into the kitchen with a huge smile on his face.
"Funny." Bella said sarcastically as Emmett laughed.
"What did you get dad this year? I don't think he needs any more fishing gear." He sighed grabbing a cookie and dropping it, because it was hot.
"That's for later, Emmett. I need to decorate them," Bella scolded as Emmett rolled his eyes. "It's two days before Christmas and you don't have a gift for dad."
"I never know what to buy him." He sighed clapping his hands to get Anthony's attention. "Come to Uncle Emmett." He said as Anthony happily went with Emmett.
"I got him a picture frame with a professional picture of us three. He always wants new pictures of Anthony, so I figured I would get him a family portrait." Bella answered as Emmett pouted. I loved to see the interaction between the two siblings.
"That's not fair you can use your son as a present." He complained as I laughed. Shopping had been easier in that respect.
"We got my parents the same thing. I figured my dad didn't want more pens and my mom had all the kitchen appliances she needed." I added with a laugh.
"Well, I want a copy. But that better not be my present." He warned as he started to tickle Anthony.
"What makes you say we got you anything?" Bella teased as he looked up at us. "Did you behave?"
"I got you guys a present." He complained with a wink. He was learning to be careful of what he said in front of Anthony.
"We're kidding, Emmett." I replied as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Speaking of which, Bella, we need to pick up the pictures."
"That's right." She said taking Anthony from Emmett. "I also want to have him take a picture with Santa Claus."
"Rose and I do it every year." Emmett stated causing us all to laugh. The image of Emmett sitting on Santa's lap was hilarious. The poor man would have sore legs for the rest of his life.
"Let's go." Bella said as we went upstairs to get Anthony ready to go out in the Washington cold.
It took us a lot longer to get ready to go anywhere now that we had Anthony. We usually just grabbed our coats, and left. But now we had to make sure we had everything our son may need.
We drove to the mall heading to the photo studio where we picked up our framed pictures for our family. The picture had come out great. Bella sat on the floor wearing a white form fitting shirt with jeans, and I sat behind her in a white dress shirt and jeans. Bella held Anthony on her lap also wearing similar clothing and we all looked like the happy family we were. I knew everyone was going to love it.
"It's perfect." Bella cried giving me a kiss.
"It's only perfect, because you're both are perfect." I corrected as Bella giggled putting the pictures away. We still had a few things to do.
"Do you want to head to the Santa line? Anthony is awake." She said as I looked down at my son who was wide awake in the stroller.
"Let me go to the bathroom first. Wait here." I said kissing her cheek before running to the bathroom.
BPOV
I looked into the windows of the Coach store admiring the purses. I had a few, but I didn't usually buy any of them. Most of them had been gifts from Alice. "Bella." I heard my mom say as she approached me.
"Hi, Renee." I said cautiously. I hadn't seen her since that day at the hospital, and I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to bring up the fact that I knew her secret. I didn't know what kind of mood she was in.
"Did Edward finally leave you?" She asked with a triumphant smirk.
"No, he didn't." I answered glaring at her. "Why aren't you in Forks?"
"I'm Christmas shopping you know the stores in Forks don't have much selection." She answered as one of her bags hit the floor causing all the makeup products to spill out.
I squatted down to help her picking up the stuff that had fallen. I had just picked up two lipsticks when she pushed me down with both hands. Everything seemed to happen at the same time and far too quickly for me to react. I lost my balance landing on my behind my head hitting the corner of the wall. I vaguely saw my mother reaching for the stroller. I knew she was taking my baby, but I had no strength to stop it. Everything had turned black.
EPOV
I walked out of the bathroom when I noticed a bunch of screaming. "That woman took her baby! Stop her!" I heard a woman yell.
"I think she's unconscious!" Another man said bending over a woman that lay on the floor. My heart stopped when I saw Bella on the floor, but didn't see Anthony's stroller.
"Bella," I screamed rushing to her side. "Where's Anthony?" I asked looking around frantically.
"The woman took the baby." A woman told me pointing the way the woman had ran. I froze for a second. I didn't know what to do. Did I stay with Bella? Did I run after my son? I wasn't prepared for that decision.
"Call the police and an ambulance." I ordered running in the direction that I had been pointed. I didn't know who I was looking for, who would take Anthony? I felt my throat constricting as I searched for an unknown person like a madman. I heard the police sirens as I made it out the door finding absolutely no one. My baby was gone.
I sat on the sidewalk outside the mall feeling like my world had been torn apart. How could I face Bella without Anthony? What kind of father was I? I couldn't protect the two most important people in my life. I was a failure.
I ran inside the mall finding Bella sitting up with tears in her eyes. The paramedics surrounded her as I tried to make my way to her side. "But my baby!" She said as the paramedics tried to look at what was wrong with her.
"Let me through!" I urged making my way to the front.
"Excuse me, sir." A policeman said stopping me.
"She's my wife." I pointed out as Bella's eyes met mine.
"Edward." She cried the tears streaming down her face. "She took him, Edward. I tried to stop her, but everything went black." She explained collapsing into my arms.
"Who did it?" I asked as I noticed that the police were listening in trying to get information.
"Renee," She whispered as the anger began to boil in my veins. How could she take away my son? I knew Renee had some the hurtful things, but I never thought that she would be capable of taking my son.
"It's going to be alright." I said to Bella rocking her back and forth as I fought my own tears. I would make her pay, but first I needed my son back in one piece. Would she be capable of hurting him?
BPOV
The rain poured as I sat in the chair near the fireplace rocking back and forth. I felt empty and alone, I felt lost. There were no more tears to shed, my eyes were dry. I vaguely heard the coming and going of my family and the police officers. But nothing made sense I was alone. My baby was gone.
It was Christmas Eve and my baby had been missing for more than twenty-four hours. They had checked Renee's house, and had even questioned Phil. But they were nowhere to be found. I felt another dry sob hit my body as my mind drifted to my little boy. Was he scared? Was he hurt? Was she taking care of him?
I gripped his small blanket closer to my body. I hadn't let it go since I had arrived back home. They had tried to get me to sleep and eat, but I refused. It was my fault. I deserved to suffer. My mother had been right. She had proven to me that I was unfit to be a mother. It was my punishment for thinking I could do it all.
"Bella, you need to eat something." Carlisle urged taking my cold limp hands in his. "You're going to get sick."
I knew he meant well, but I had no reason to strive to do anything. I stared off into space, my mind wandering to the time I had with my little miracle. It had only been two months, but they had been the most precious two months of my life. I remembered every smile and every coo. I still felt like he was in my arms. I remembered each and every memory, and that was all that played in my head.
"Sweetheart," I heard Esme say now. The sadness was evident in her tone. She hugged me tightly and I let myself fall into her embrace. Why wasn't my mom like her? She was the perfect grandmother, and now I had left her without her grandson.
Time continued to pass, but it made no sense to me. Every minute became and hour and every hour became a day. Nothing made sense. How could it? How was a parent to deal when they take away their child? I missed my Anthony.
EPOV
Bella was a zombie. She was curled up in a corner near the fireplace with Anthony's blanket. I didn't know what to do. Charlie had pulled every string he knew and the entire state of Washington and bordering states were on alert. All we had to do was wait.
I couldn't sit still. I had tried sitting by Bella, but she was somewhere else. She was lost in her
own mind, and I wished I could do the same. But I couldn't I felt useless, helpless. My mom had tried to feed us both, but I couldn't hold anything in. How could that woman take away our son? Did she know what she was doing to us?
I paced across the living room counting each step. I needed something to do, I wanted to do something. I hadn't had the urge to cry, and my anger was just steadily growing. Why had this happened to my son?
I felt like a failure. Deep down inside, I knew it wasn't my fault. But I had failed to live up to my vows as a husband. I had vowed to protect Bella and our family, but I had failed. I took in a deep breath noticing my parents trying to get through to Bella. Bella looked like she was dead, in a way we both were. She was sickly pale, and her eyes had no shine. She was the shadow of the Bella I knew.
"Edward, pacing isn't going to help the situation." Jasper said placing his hand on my shoulder.
"I can't help it." I screamed tears appearing in my eyes. "Why Anthony?"
I felt Jasper lead me outside as I broke down in tears. I cried for Anthony and I cried for Bella. I cried for everything that had happened the last day, and how helpless I was to stop it.
"Edward, pull yourself together." Jasper urged. "Your wife and your son need you. You can't fall apart on them."
"But I couldn't protect them." I complained gasping for air.
"You can't protect them against a danger you didn't know existed. Charlie is out there and so is every police department he had connections with. Anthony will be back." He assured me as I nodded. I wanted nothing more than to believe him.
BPOV
Edward came to my side carrying me upstairs. I allowed him, because I had no energy to argue with him. He crawled into bed with me holding me against his chest. I clung to him tightly praying for the safe return of Anthony. The pain in my heart was too much to bear. I desperately needed him back. Edward began to hum, and I felt my eyes begin to close.
"I can't." I mumbled fighting to stay awake. How could I sleep?
"Love, Anthony is going to need us when we get him back. You need to sleep." He urged kissing my forehead before continuing to hum.
I felt the sleep taking over. I was powerless to stop it.
A/N: Don't hate me. It's always darkest before dawn. I assure you there is a purpose for this. Trust me. Many of you saw it coming from before.
Your thoughts are appreciated. I'm sure there are going to be loud opinions following this.
For those of you who aren't on the alert for my new story, I am updating in schedule with my other two. I posted chapter 2 yesterday. Go check it out!
Next Chapter: Charlie's POV
Muggleinlove
