Sorry about being a day late but I took my little cousins on a road trip to see their older sister and to deliver her birthday cake. Plus, this Thursday was my mom's birthday and I have literally spent my days off making cakes and travelling.

But here is the next installment...

Chapter 4 (Edward)

Nightmare come true

December 2011

"Jesus Christ, who is it?" I asked pushing the button that linked my apartment to the intercom downstairs.

The giggle that sounded through the speaker sent chills down my spine. "It's me, Eddie. Can I come up?"

"No, Tanya, you may not. My son is sleeping and today is Christmas. Go home." I snapped at her as I pulled my finger off the button only for it to start incessantly buzzing yet again. I am thankful that it hadn't woke Noah up when it woke me up a few minutes ago.

"Tanya, stop and go home." I told her getting angry. "It is three o'clock in the fucking morning for pete's sake."

I heard her sigh in defeat. "I just wanted to see my baby on his first Christmas." She mumbled softly.

"You don't have a baby anymore. He's mine. Go home or I'm calling the cops." I snapped as I let go of the button for the last time.

I leaned against the wall for a few minutes in case she decided to lay on it again but thankfully she didn't. I trudged my way back to my bed collapsing on top of it as Noah continued to snore gently in the corner of the room. The house hunt these past few weeks had been pointless because nothing I saw interested me to the point of buying it. The next time I opened my eyes it was to the sounds of Noah gurgling and giggling from his crib. I rolled over to see him sitting up holding onto the rails as he looked at me.

"Morning buddy." I called out to him which caused his gurgles and babbling to turn into unsatisfied whimpers. "Merry Christmas."

I climbed from the bed picking him from his crib before laying him on his changing table to get him freshened up for the day. "We had an unexpected visitor early this morning." I told him as I stripped him down so that I could wipe him off before slipping a clean diaper on him. He chewed on his fists as I worked diligently to get him into a clean diaper free of the pee smell.

After breakfast I packed us into the car as we headed for my parent's house for Christmas dinner. "Ready to go see, Nanna?" I asked Noah as I parked beside Emmett's Jeep in the driveway.

Noah waved his hands excitedly in the air as I climbed from the car to get him out. "There's my boy!" My mom called as she headed down the sidewalk towards the car as I unbuckled Noah from the straps. We had upgraded a new car seat a few weeks ago because he was almost past the weight range for his infant carrier so I was still struggling with the straps a bit. Finally I had him freed from his straps and pulled him into my arms with his bag slung over my shoulder. "Hi, Ma. Merry Christmas." I said kissing her on the cheek as I passed Noah to her.

"Hi, son. Merry Christmas." She said as she returned my kiss to her cheek with one of her own to my cheek. She stopped just inside the door turning to face me as I closed the door behind me. "You can't fool me, Edward. What's wrong?"

I just gaped at her because I thought I was playing the shocking visit with Tanya off pretty well in the few minutes that I had been in her presence. "Nothing's wrong, Ma." I told her plastering what I hoped was a convincing smile on my face.

She shook her head. "Not working. Have you forgotten who your father and brother are?" She said with a roll of her eyes.

"No, Ma I haven't." I told her with a wink as I scooted around her into the living room where my dad and brother were sitting watching the football game.

The buzzing of my phone drug my attention from the football game. Tanya. I gripped my phone tightly to help control my sudden anger before shaking my head and stuffing it back in my pocket. "You okay, son?" My dad asked from his recliner beside me.

I nodded tight lipped as my phone stopped buzzing only to start immediately back up again. "JESUS CHRIST!" I practically shouted as I pulled my incessantly buzzing phone my pocket yet again. "What do you want, Tanya? It's Christmas for fucks sake." I snapped into the phone as I stood up from the couch heading for the backyard that I had grown up playing in.

"I just want to see him, Edward." She said softly into the phone.

"WHAT PART OF NO DO YOU NOT FUCKING UNDERSTAND?!" I screamed into the phone angrily.

"Edward, he's my son too. I deserve to see him on his first Christmas. Please don't deny me that." She pleaded pointlessly.

I shook my head as I sat down in one of the lounge chairs on the back deck. "You want to talk about denying somebody something, Tanya? What about denying my son of a mother? What about denying my son the chance of a normal household? You have no legal rights to him anymore, Tanya. I'm sorry but my final answer is still no." I breathed angrily into the phone.

I jumped when I felt my dad's hand on my shoulder. "But, Edward—" I tuned her out as my dad squeezed my shoulder in support before sitting beside me in the other lounger. I took a deep breath before responding as calmly as I could possibly manage.

"No, Tanya, no buts. You signed the papers, not me. It's not my fault that you are now having regrets. I waited three months to turn in those papers terminating your rights hoping you would change your mind but it's too late now. He's eight months old and this is the first time you are reaching out to me about him. Hell, you don't even know his name. I call bullshit and my final answer is still No." I told her as I faintly heard the back door sliding open again before I felt my mom's hand run through my hair.

"I'm sorry, Edward." Tanya muttered defeated.

I took a deep breath. "Me too, Tanya, because he really is a fantastic little boy but you were too self-absorbed back then to take a chance on him. Please don't contact me again as you have no reason to. Oh, and show back up at mine and Noah's residence drunk again and I will call the cops immediately. Have a nice life, Tanya. It was nice knowing you." I told her as I hung up the phone.

"She's what had you so tense when you first got here?" My mom asked quietly.

I nodded. "Yeah she woke me up this morning about three or so by buzzing my speaker over and over again. It was rather obvious that she was drunk or high one. I won't have that around him, ever."

"I'm sorry, son." My mom said as she squeezed my arm before sitting across my father's lap. We all lost track of time sitting outside talking until Emmett stuck his head out of the house complaining about his stomach trying to eat itself.

House hunting was an absolute bust so I gave up deciding I would come back to it in a few months. Just as I was about to toss my frozen pizza into the oven my doorbell sounded off throughout the room. Tossing the pizza onto the counter before sitting Noah down in the floor I headed for the front door to stop the sound. "Yes?" I asked pushing the button as Noah crawled towards me with a huge smile on his face.

"Edward, it's me. Can I come up so we can talk?" Tanya.

I groaned as I leaned my head against the wall above the intercom as Noah pulled himself up by my pants legs gurgling the entire time. "Is that him?" She asked excitedly.

"Yes that's him and no you may not come up. Go home." I snapped at her letting my finger off the button to end our conversation. I scooped Noah up in my arms tickling his sides as I made my way back to the kitchen. "I hate to say this buddy but I sincerely hope that you never get involved with someone as crazy as that. I can't say that I'm sorry for ever being with her because I got you out of the deal but dang she drives me crazy." I told him as I slid him into his high chair before tossing my pizza in the oven.

I headed for the cabinet that held all of the baby essentials to pick out Noah's dinner. I would be so glad when he could eat solid foods instead of the foul smelling stuff that comes from these jars but then I will have to learn to cook. "What's it gonna be tonight, Noah?" I asked him scanning the row of baby food in my cabinets.

He just gurgled in response as he played with the toy attachments that went to his chair.

"How about 'Herbed Chicken with Pasta'?" I asked him pulling the jar from the cabinet grabbing his spoon from the dish drainer along with a bottle from the fridge. He got a bottle of formula for bedtime so I give him a variety of juices to drink during his meals.

I sat down in the chair next to Noah as I popped the lid on his jar of baby food which got his attention immediately. I pulled off his tray of toys replacing it with his bottle which he ignored as his eyes were trained solely on the jar of food and the spoon in my hand. Halfway through feeding him a knock sounded on the door interrupting our dinner time. "Well who in the hell could that be?" I muttered to myself as I stood up heading for the front door. Noah started crying because I took the jar of food with me. "Hold on a sec!" I called to the door as I raced into the kitchen pulling his can of puffs from the top of the fridge tossing a handful onto his tray which calmed him immediately as he gripped one placing it into his mouth, his latest achievement.

I walked to the door slightly frazzled because I honestly didn't know who it could be since it was almost six o'clock and my family knew that it was dinner, bath, and chill out time around here plus they would have called first. I pulled the door open only to regret it immediately. Tanya.

"What in the hell are you doing here? Are you wanting to go to jail?" I asked her holding the door firmly so that she couldn't see into the apartment where Noah was enjoying his strawberry apple puffs.

She sighed as she rolled her eyes. "No. I just want to see him, Edward."

I shook my head. "My answer hasn't changed, Tanya. No."

"Why are you being like this? He's my son too! I carried him for nine months before pushing him out of a place where something that big should never come out of!" She said throwing her hands up in exasperation.

Yet again, I shook my head at her. "I'm being like this because you left that god awful paper laying in my son's plastic crib alone in a hospital room while you just waltzed your ass out of there like nothing was wrong." I said getting angrier by the second. "He's not your son anymore! You signed those right away the day you pushed him into this world out of something that was never that small!" I snapped at her as I shut the door in her face so that I could go finish feeding my son his dinner.

Before I even got sat back down Tanya started banging on the door. "God grant me some patience please so that I don't go to jail for strangling this woman who gave me the best gift in the entire world." I muttered to myself as I kissed Noah on top of the head while he munched happily on his snacks.

I snatched up the picture Rose had taken of Noah at Thanksgiving. He was sitting in a pile of leaves in mom and dad's backyard, his blue eyes shining brightly and a smile on his face as Emmett 'rained' leaves down on his head. I snatched open the door wedging my foot behind it so only my body could fit in the space. "Here, see him! He's beautiful and happy and doesn't need you!" I told Tanya practically shoving the frame in her face with a snarl.

I'm not sure if it made me a horrible person or not but seeing her eyes water and her chin tremble as she looked at the photo made me just a smidge happy. "What's his name? Can you please tell me that? You've always been so evasive about it." She asked softly.

I shook my head. "That's not your concern." I told her snatching the picture back from her hands. "Why are you doing this, Tanya?" I asked her as I sat the picture frame on the table just inside the door before sneaking a peak at Noah who was taking a drink from his bottle now.

"I regret it, Edward. I've met somebody and they have changed my perspective on some things. He's one of them." She said looking at me with eyes that used to make me instantly hard and forget the world existed around me. My son's eyes.

"Go figure. You are going to have to find some other way to deal with those regrets because my son is off limits to you until the day he turns 18." I told her firmly.

She reached out a hand as if to touch me but I backed up a step. "Don't. It's dinnertime here so you need to leave now." I told her as I shut the door with a soft click.

Thankfully with no more interruptions I finished with feeding Noah just as the timer went off on the oven signaling that my dinner was done also. I wiped his face, hands, and stomach down before setting him in the floor so that I could clean up his mess and eat my own dinner.

"We're gonna sit and watch a movie tonight instead of work. You game?" I told Noah a bit later as I pulled his milk bottle from the fridge for bedtime.

He just laid his wet head on my shoulder sleepily not saying a peep. I turned the TV on low as I settled into the corner of the couch with Noah propped against my chest, his bottle in his mouth.