Chapter 33 – Facing the Past

It was two of the longest hours we had ever spent together. Edward was a nervous wreck and hardly sat still, and even though I'd never admit it to him, I felt almost as anxious. I loved Edward and I didn't have a doubt that I would love his son as well, but the truth was it was upsetting. It may have been a selfish irrational emotion, but I wanted to be the one to bring his first child into the world. – I pushed away that thought as best I could, and tried to focus on nothing but supporting Edward.

Finally we got the call from Charlie to head down to the station.

"Are you ready?" I asked Edward gently.

"I just want to get this all straightened out," he said with an unsteady voice.

He was silent as we drove there, but the tension was palpable so I placed my hand on his and tried to pour my love into that connection. "It's going to be okay," I tried assuring both of us.

He flipped his hand over so he could intertwine his fingers with mine. "I know," he said with an unexpected level of confidence. "I love you."

I smiled at him. "I love you too."

"So here's how this is going to work," Charlie explained when we arrived at the station. "Victoria is sitting in the interrogating room, and you'll go into the observation room and see if you can identify her. If you do know her, you can then go inside to speak to her if you wish. Now, she won't be able to see you through the observation window, so if you don't want for her to ever know you're here that's entirely possible. We're just mainly looking for an ID so we can properly book her."

Edward nodded, and then we followed my dad to the observation room.

"Now Bella, you may want to wait out front," Charlie suggested.

I looked to Edward. "Do you want me to?"

He scrunched his face as if he was appalled I'd even ask such a thing. "No…Unless you're uncomfortable."

"I'm not if you're not."

"This entire thing is uncomfortable, but if you can handle it then I want you with me."

I squeezed his hand supportively. "This woman terrorized both of us, I'd like to get a good look at her just in case she gets out of here and I need to keep on the lookout for her."

"Ready?" Charlie asked us. Edward and I nodded to each other, but no matter how ready we thought we were, I suppose actually facing the truth was much harder than Edward anticipated. The moment we stepped into the room, and he got a good clear look at the redheaded woman who had been stalking us, he unexpectedly freaked…

"Edward's what's wrong?" I asked as he practically bolted from the room.

I started to chase after him, but Charlie caught my arm. "Why don't you give him a minute to calm down?"

"What if he needs me?" I argued.

"I think he would have pulled you out with him…Just give him a few minutes, and if he doesn't come back you can go look for him."

"Okay, but…what just happened?" I asked anxiously.

"I'm fairly certain he recognized her," Charlie said gently.

I reflexively turned my head to look at the redhead, and tried to form a non-biased opinion of her. She was actually very beautiful, but there was something in her eyes that made her seem so much older than how she looked. It was obvious to me that the woman had a stressful life, but I couldn't wrap my brain around any possible motive she would have for harassing me. None of it made sense, and I wondered if it ever would. Perhaps she was just crazy, and I knew better than anyone that being crazy could make you do ridiculous things.

As Charlie predicted, Edward came back about ten minutes later, but he wasn't alone. Carlisle must have shown up and found him outside the police station, and somehow convinced him to return. I was beyond grateful.

"Are you okay?" I asked him softly, though I regretted it the moment the words left my mouth. It was a ridiculous question, obviously he wasn't ok. His face was blotchy like he had been fighting back tears, and every visible muscle in his body was tensed.

He wouldn't speak to me; he didn't even look like he could speak right then, so he just subtly shook his head no.

"Edward would like to go inside and talk to her face to face," Carlisle answered for him.

"Alright…You sure you're up to it?" Charlie asked him skeptically.

Edward nodded, so Charlie unlocked the door and let him inside. I waited in the observation room with Carlisle and my dad, and just watched with confusion as the redhead stared at Edward, then slowly stood, as if she couldn't believe he was actually there.

"I…I didn't think you'd come," she said to him in the most sickly sweet voice I could ever imagine.

Edward didn't respond at first, he just stared past her, but then he took a deep breath. "Why?" - was all he asked.

She teared up, and then shook her head. "Everything I did was for us…You have to understand that."

Edward nodded while looking down at the floor; he seemed to be looking everywhere except at her, which lead me to believe he had a very deep rooted hate for her…or maybe it was something else.

"I understand that you're fucking psycho," he said evenly. "If you wanted to get to me for - god only knows why - why didn't you just do your shit to me? Why scare the hell out of my girlfriend? She doesn't deserve that. And why James? What does he have to do with any of it?"

"I needed someone who knew you…someone who knew all the skeletons in your closet…so I could expose them."

"Expose them to whom?" Edward shouted out of frustration.

"Everyone," she admitted. "I've been watching you for a while now, and I asked around about you, and then I just happened to meet James. He was working at the garage where my car broke down…It was like fate was helping me get closer to you."

"Why harass my girlfriend?" Edward asked again, getting angrier with every word she spoke.

"Because it became clear that you were very attached to her, and I needed to separate you. I'm not stupid, Edward, I knew you'd never leave with me if you had so much tying you here. So James helped me with a few things that would freak her into breaking up with you…I'm shocked she hasn't ended it yet…Or has she?"

"It's none of your fucking business! My life is none of your business! Why do all this shit now? Why didn't you come two years ago, or four years ago, or ten years ago?" Edward asked her, only confusing me ten times more than I already was. Ten years ago?

"I have been looking for you for a really long time," she admitted strangely. "But every time I'd get close, those motherfuckers at social services would move you. This is the longest you've been with the same family…And this is the last place on their records that you lived…So I came here, met James, enticed him to help me, and then we went to your school and came up with a plan. Originally I was going to go after the Cullens, but then we realized that your girlfriend was a safer bet. If you were heartbroken you'd want to leave, right?"

"How did you entice James?" Edward asked, but then he waved his hand in front of his face. "No, I don't want to know. Look, everything you did was for nothing; I'm still not going anywhere with you, and now you're in jail and you lost that kid you had. Do you honestly think the system will give him back to you now? You shouldn't be anywhere near kids, which is probably why you left in the first place. You know, my dad was a shitty parent, but at least he was fucking there."

"That's funny, I heard he killed himself," she said harshly. "The things you don't know about that man would scare the shit out of you. I had to leave. He was going to kill me if I didn't."

"You could have taken me with you," Edward spat. "You were so fucking terrified of him that you left your kid alone with him? What the fuck kind of person would do that?"

"I knew he'd never stop looking for you if I took you. I didn't think he'd hurt you, but I knew he'd hurt me. Edward, I was so young, just sixteen when you were born. He was older, but I didn't have a family who cared enough to put a stop to it. I was scared, and I've regretted leaving you every day since then. I just…I wanted to fix my life so I could go back for you."

"But you didn't, did you? You just went off and got knocked up again. Who's that kid's father? Or do you even know?"

"I did what I had to do to get by…Riley was the consequence. But don't you see? Now the three of us can be a family…Like we should have always been. We have a second chance. We can go anywhere and build a brand new life together. You're too young for such a serious girlfriend anyway, and there's nothing college can teach you that will help you in the real world. We will stay strong together…and we won't let anything come between us again."

"You're fucking crazy…I mean, I know crazy when I see it, I was crazy for a while, but you…you're psychotic. In what world would the police let you go after all that shit you did, and give you that kid back, and miraculously convince me to leave my life to be with you? You tried to destroy everything I care about. You think I'd ever forgive you for that? You're delusional."

"Edward, I love you."

"Go to hell," he said to her, before turning and banging on the door to be let out of the room. After the door was securely shut behind him, Edward looked at Charlie and said – "Her name is Elizabeth Jones Masen. She's the woman who gave birth to me. Can I leave now?"

Charlie stared at him for a minute, unsure what to say to him, but he settled with nodding. "We'll take care of everything, son."

"Thanks," he said emotionlessly before reaching out for my hand, and then pulling me towards the parking lot…