Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 83
Edward was too dumbfounded to respond to the preposterous idea his in-laws had just put forward.
They wanted to take Ella away from him.
The idea of Ella being raised by a malicious and wrathful woman like Elvira wrecked havoc inside his mind.
"Absolutely not!" Edward stood up as he raised his voice, vehemently rejecting the request.
"Edward, be reasonable," Elvira countered. "You are welcome to move to Edison too. Hector is on the board of JFK. You can count on getting a residency there. If you want to work at a better hospital, we have friends at Hackensack. I'm sure we'd be able to find you a job there as well. It's less than an hour drive from Edison. You'll be happy there."
"Are you insane? I'm not moving to New Jersey! And neither is my daughter. If you want to take Carmen with you, that's a different matter, but my daughter stays with me, and it's not up for negotiations!"
"Why are you being so spiteful?" Elvira stood up as well and braced herself for battle. "If we only bring Carmen with us, Ella will never even see her mother? Is that what you want? For Ella to not even know how her mother looks like? Besides, isn't it better that she is raised by her own family than whatever hired help you're gonna get? 'Cause let's face it, you'll hardly have the time for Ella with the kind of hours you keep."
"Ella will be better off being raised by wolves than be in your care!" Edward thundered. He was generally mild-mannered and soft spoken, but having his suitability as a parent questioned pushed him beyond his threshold of civility.
"I'm perfectly capable of raising my daughter. I managed just fine by myself so far and I'll manage in the future as well. It's not like Carmen was any help. She could barely stand to be in the same room with Ella!" The words slipped out of his lips before he could censor them. He didn't want to use Carmen's ineptitude at parenthood as battle-fodder against his mother-in-law. It was an underhanded act that was beneath him. But of course, it was too late.
"You're lying!" Elvira shouted back. "How dare you lie about my poor child? She is a great mother. You, you are the reason why my baby is in coma right now," she said while pointing a finger at Edward. "The police may not be able to find any proof, but I know you are responsible for it. You never cared about her. If she was depressed, it was because of you. And now you're trying to take away my granddaughter from us.
"I won't let you get away with it. I swear to God, I'll make sure you pay for what you did to my family. I'll -"
Their verbal warfare could have gone on longer but they were interrupted by the hospital security who were summoned by their raised voices and open hostility.
Later that day, with the help of Carlisle's mediating efforts, Edward came to an uneasy and tenuous truce with the Morenos: Carmen would remain in Seattle, as would Ella, under Edward's care. Elvira and Hector relented perhaps because they had no legal claims to demand otherwise, but legalities were exactly the thing Edward wanted to avoid. They further acquired Edward's promise that they would be consulted in making all critical decisions with regard to Carmen's treatment and well-being, including any potential plan to move her to a different state.
Edward also pledged that he would bring Ella to the hospital to visit Carmen at least once a week and would not prevent the Morenos from interacting with their granddaughter when they came into town to check on their daughter.
Edward didn't understand why his in-laws automatically assumed that he would go out of his way to erase Carmen's memories from Ella's life. While he hadn't yet given a lot of thought to how best to manage his life and responsibilities in the long run, he never would have considered willfully keeping Ella away from her mother. Perhaps if their roles were reversed, the Morenos wouldn't waste time in systematically alienating Edward from Ella's life.
The thought was a chilling one. Edward refused to even entertain the possibility and silently pledged to himself that he would never allow such catastrophe to befall his daughter.
Once a compromise was reached, Edward quickly excused himself from the negotiation table. He had plenty of pressing matters that needed his attention. Foremost of them being Renate's end of tenure as Ella's nanny.
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.