Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. I am making no money…

Special thanks to Jayeliwood for your support and ideas, but most of all for your help with commas. She is the best beta a writer could ask for. I must also thank ObsessingOverEdward and TheSpoiltOne for all their contribution. All three of you rock!

Chapter 24: The Ball Game

Edward Cullen

"Have you ever been to a game before?" I asked Matt, looking at him through the rear view mirror. He kept putting on and taking off his mitt. We had just gotten on the highway and we had about a twenty minute ride before we reached the stadium. I was actually a lot more nervous than I thought I would be.

"No," he answered, meeting my eyes through the mirror. "Dad was going to take me today for the first time. Are we sitting close?"

"We're sitting right by the Mariner's dugout. I think those are the best seats in the stadium," I replied as his eyes grew wide.

"I want to meet Griffey. Do you think I can?" He questioned, his eyes full of hope.

"We'll see what happens. I'll try to pull some string and see if we can meet them after the game," I answered, hoping I could spot Bedard. I had played with him in high school and we still kept in touch from time to time.

"Please, Edward," Matt pleaded after a few minutes of silence. "I really want to meet them."

"I'll see what I can do, champ. I can't promise anything," I replied, giving him a smile. I had spent enough time around Bella and Matt to know not to promise anything I couldn't be perfectly sure I could deliver.

"I hope we can," he stated, looking out the window and spotting the stadium. "We're here!" he announced, pressing his face against the car window.

"We sure are," I informed him as I followed the line of cars into a parking space.

"Are you ready?" I asked as I got off the car opening the car door for him.

"Let's go!" He urged, taking my hand and dragging me towards the stadium. I really had no idea what to do. So, I allowed him to take the lead.

It took us about twenty minutes to get through the crowd and finally find our seats right behind the Mariner's dugout. I really couldn't help but smile as I looked down at Matt's expression. He was literally stunned speechless. He simply stared at everything in awe.

His expressions surprisingly really made me happy. I found it completely amazing that something as simple as a ballpark was so amazing to a six year old. It made me wonder if I had ever been that innocent.

"Do you want something to eat?" I asked Matt, not sure what else we could do until the game started.

"Like what?" He questioned as he sat at the edge of his seat. His eyes were completely glued to the field, almost as if he were afraid he was going to miss something if he looked away.

"Well, we can get hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos, coke, ice cream," I began to name things causing him to bite his lip as he thought. He had obviously inherited that tendency from Bella.

"Can we get a hot dog and popcorn?" He questioned.

"Sure thing," I said as I motioned for him to stand up with me.

"I don't want to miss the game," he complained in a scared tone.

"There's still thirty minutes before the game. We have time, Matt," I assured him as I followed him up the stairs to the concession stand.

"Are you sure we won't miss the game?" Matt questioned again as he nervously looked around. "I don't want to miss the first pitch."

"We have time, champ," I repeated, ruffling his hair as we got in line. "Just a hot dog and popcorn, right? What do you want to drink?"

"Coke," he answered in a much calmer tone.

"What can I get for you?" The young man standing behind the cashier ask.

"We'll have two hot dogs, a small popcorn, a bag of peanuts, a medium coke, and a beer," I ordered before paying.

"Edward Cullen, is that you?" I suddenly heard the shrill voice I would recognize just about anywhere.

"Irina, what a surprise," I commented as she pranced towards me, giving me a tight hug. "What are you doing here? My father told me that you had moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting."

Irina was Aro's only child and his pride and joy. Aro had attempted to set her up with all of us, but none of us ever felt a connection with her. She was more of a sister than anything else. I had known her since the day she was born.

"I do live in Beverly Hills, I'm just visiting my parents for a few weeks," she replied with a smile.

"I never thought a baseball game would be your scene. You never liked sports," I commented, moving to one side as I waited for my order.

"But, Paul loves sports. He would never forgive me if I didn't bring him to at least one game," she explained with a laugh.

"Paul?" I inquired, rolling my eyes. Irina's main weakness was men. She tended to date every single man she met and always swore she had found "the one."

"You have to meet him, Edward. He's perfect," she gushed with a huge smile. "We've been together four months."

"Four months?" I questioned causing her to laugh. Her relationships never lasted more than a few weeks.

"Don't start," she warned, rolling her eyes. "You don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to women. Who are you here with? Anyone I know?" She questioned, looking around.

"I brought my girlfriend's son," I replied, realizing that for the first time I had referred to Bella as my girlfriend. But, I didn't have time to really process what that meant because Matt was not next to me. "Fuck, where is he?"

"What do you mean, Edward?" Irina asked with an amused smile as I began to panic. Where the hell was Matt?

"He was right here," I said, looking around frantically. "He was standing right here like two minutes ago."

"Are you saying you lost him?" Irina questioned causing my frustration to rise. She was not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. How could I lose the kid? Bella was going to cut my balls off if I didn't find him.

"Yes, Irina. He was standing right here right before I ordered," I explained, moving away from the counter to look around.

"What does he look like?" Irina asked as I tried to stay calm. Panicking was not going to solve anything. I had to find him.

"He's six years old. He has brown hair and blue eyes and his name is Matt," I described, walking to the middle of the hall and looking around.

I couldn't see anything, because he was too small. All the adults towered over him. "Matt" I yelled, hoping he would reply. "What the hell am I going to do?"

"Relax, Edward," Irina said, patting my back.

"How am I supposed to relax?" I questioned angrily. "Matt!" I called again, walking towards a souvenir stand.

Relief washed over me as I saw he was perfectly alright. He was standing next to the souvenir stand, looking at the hats and jerseys. "Matthew, what the fuck do you think you're doing? You can't run off by yourself," I scolded, the relief turning into anger.

"I wanted to see that hats and that's a bad word. I'm going to tell mom," he replied as he turned his attention back to the hats. "Can I get a hat?"

"You can get a hat if you promise never to run off by yourself again," I replied, hoping to prevent some like this from happening again.

"Bribery," Irina commented with a laugh. "Great way to win a kid."

"Shut it, Irina," I replied, giving her a glare. "Irina this is Matt and Matt this is a friend of mine, Irina," I introduced before Matt waved shyly.

"Well, I better get going," Irina said, looking down at her watch. "I was just supposed to go to the ladies rooms. Say hi to your brothers for me."

"I will," I answered before she waved at me and disappeared.

"Why did you run off, Matt?" I questioned after I bought the hat and placed at his head. "Do you know how freaking scared I was?" I questioned, making sure to not use profanity. The last thing I needed was for Matt to tell Bella I was cursing in front of him.

"I wanted to see the hats," he repeated as we made our way back to the concession stand to pick up the order I had left.

"Don't do that again," I warned as I got the order and we returned to our seats just before the game was about to begin.

The game ended up being a lot more fun than I had expected. Matt had enjoyed the game immensely and I found myself promising him that I would bring him back again. He really was a good kid and quite entertaining to be around.

The game had been fun, but it was the time Matt had spent with the players that stood out the most. I had been able to talk to one of the guards and Bedard had allowed us inside the locker room. All the players had signed a ball for him and had all taken pictures with him. I couldn't remember ever seeing him as happy as he was at that moment.

Bella Swan

I took out the paper plates and cups as I waited for Edward and Matt to returned from the game with the pizza. I had just arrived back home from a full day of shopping with Angela and Alice and I couldn't wait to show Edward some of my more intimate purchases. He was definitely going to be stunned.

I heard the front door open before hearing Matt's rapid footsteps as he ran into the kitchen. "Look mom, they all signed my baseball," he said, holding up the ball for me to examine.

"That's wonderful, Matt," I commented looking over the ball. How had Edward accomplished that? "How did you meet them?"

"Edward knows them," Matt replied happily as I noticed the new cap he was wearing,

"Did he buy you the cap too?" I questioned just as Edward entered with the two boxes of pizza. I couldn't help but smile at him. He had obviously bonded with Matt.

"As long as I promised not to go by myself again," he answered causing me to stop in my tracks.

"What did you say, sweetheart?" I asked, hoping I had heard wrong. Had Edward allowed Matt to wander off by himself?

"What he meant was," Edward jumped in as held my hand up to stop him from continuing.

"I went to see the hats and Edward made me promise not to go by myself again," he explained. "He said the f-word, mom when he found me."

"You lost him?" I asked, turning to Edward. "You lost my son?"

"Technically, yes," Edward replied sheepishly. "But, I found him in under five minutes. He hadn't gone far."

"You lost him?" I repeated, the anger boiling within me. How could he have lost him? "What was so important that you stopped watching him?"

"He was talking to a girl," Matt replied for Edward as he climbed on the chair to grab a slice of pizza.

"Matt, go up stairs and wash your hands before eating," I ordered before turning my attention to Edward. I didn't know what hurt me more: the fact that he had lost Matt or the fact that he had lost him while talking to some slut.

"I can explain, Bella. Irina means nothing to me. She's merely an old friend and we were catching up. I turned my back for less than two minutes," he explained after Matt had left upstairs to wash up.

"And, I'm supposed to believe that, Edward?" I questioned, placing both hands on my hips. "I'm supposed to just forget that you lost my son, because you were too busy talking to some woman. Sorry, Edward, I can't do that."

"It was an honest mistake. It can happen to anyone," he complained as I took a deep breath. He did have a point.

"How do I even know who this woman was? She may have been an old girlfriend. Were you flirting with her, Edward, in front of my son?" I seethed just as Edward closed the distance between us hushing me with a kiss.

I tried to push him off, but I was powerless to do so. The anger kept on building inside me as I felt my body relax into his embrace. Why did he think that sex was the answer to everything? I wanted to be angry and I wanted to scream at him, but I couldn't. He had this unnatural power over me and I couldn't help but respond.

"I'll make it better," he whispered as he pulled away slightly causing me to push him further away.

"Sex can't fix everything, Edward," I said closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths. I had to regain control over my body. I couldn't allow him to have complete control over me.

"I never said anything," he protested in his defense.

"That's exactly it," I pointed out. "Just leave, Edward."

"What do you mean, Bella?" he questioned reaching for me.

"Just leave, please. I need to be alone," I explained, moving further away from him. "I need time to process everything. We'll talk tomorrow."

"But, Bella," he said causing me to shake my head.

"Just go, Edward. I'm not mad. I just need space for tonight," I clarified causing him to sigh. I wasn't exactly mad at him. I knew Matt had a tendency of getting entertained and wandering off, but it was the fact that he was with a woman that bothered me.

"It was a complete accident," he repeated before turning around.

"Where are you going, Edward? Aren't you staying for pizza?" Matt asked as he came down the stairs.

"Not today, champ. Remember to put the baseball in a safe place," he answered giving Matt a smile before ruffling his hair.

I watched Edward leave the house. I leaned against the counter top as I sighed deeply. I already felt alone without him, but he needed to realize that sex was not the answer. Sex with him was pretty incredible, but it couldn't fix everything. Sometimes, a simple "I'm sorry" was all that was needed.

"Why did Edward leave, mom?" Matt asked as he sat down on the table.

"He had something to do, sweetheart," I replied as I served him a slice of cheese pizza and took one for myself.

"I had fun today," he mentioned causing me to smile.

"So, did the Mariner's win?" I inquired as Matt's began to eagerly recount all the major highlights of the game.

I managed to get Matt into bed just after eight and for the first time in over a month I realized just how lonely my house was. Edward had been staying over every night for the past month and I had become quite reliant on his presence.

I went into my bedroom and put away all my purchases but not before staring at the silky blue and black piece I had bought to wear tonight. Part of me wanted to call Edward and ask him to come back. Maybe the woman was really just a friend, but I had no way of knowing for sure. But, wasn't a relationship based on trust?

I fell back onto my bed and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. All I really wanted was an apology. We all made mistakes and I knew I was hardly faultless when it came to being a mom. I didn't expect him to know exactly what to do on his first try.

I lost track of time as I allowed my mind to think about Edward. He had become such an integral part of my life over the past few months and it was hard to believe that he had changed as much as he was. He was still the same old Edward, but there was another softer side of him that came out more and more. And, the truth was that I loved him. I just hadn't mustered the courage to actually tell him.

I changed into one of his shirts before climbing back into bed on his side. I heard a text reach my cell phone and I couldn't help but smile as I saw it was from Edward.

I messed up big.

I miss you.

E-

I felt my heart flutter as I read his words. The truth was that I missed him in more ways that I could possibly explain.

I miss you too.

B-

I placed my phone back on the nightstand before curling up against his pillow. I really couldn't wait until tomorrow. I just hoped he would realize what he really needed to do.

A/N: A lot of you in the reviews and the thread guessed that Edward would lose him. But, I wish that I could have come up with the idea of having Matt throw up in Edward's car. That is priceless.

How did Bella react? I'm curious over what you think she should have done.

There has been many questions over whether this story will have a sequel. And, like I am sure I have said before: There will not be a sequel. The story will wrap up with a total of 30 chapters plus an epilogue. Sequels are extremely hard to write, and I have too many new ideas which I think will be much better.

Taking Chances was updated yesterday for the first time in about a month. I will be updating that story on a weekly basis (every Tuesday night). It is a Bella/Carlisle story, but I think even those who have not read the pairing before will enjoy it. Edward is still in the story, and he is not pining away for Bella. They are best friends. Go check it out!

Make sure to go support Peter Facinelli over at Twitter. He is on a mission to get 500,000 followers by Friday and he needs your help. If he loses the bet against Robert DeFranco he has to give up the back of his Twilight Chair. And, DeFranco has said he will use it as a dart board. If Peter wins he will give away the back of the chair to a follower and DeFranco will have to sing Single Ladies in a bikini while in the middle of the street. Peter will film it. Go support him by searching for PeterFacinelli on Twitter.

While in Twitter you can also find me by searching for Muggleinlove. I update my status multiple times a day letting you all know what I'm working on.

Remember that there are previews over at the Twilighted thread every Friday. Go check that out as well!

This is a long A/N, sorry.

Next Chapter: Will Edward apologize?

Muggleinlove