[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer
[A/N] Sorry for taking so long to update. I'm not feeling very well at the moment and it's not having a good influence on my creativity.
Thanks for all your lovely reviews. They mean a lot to me.
**11**
My mood gets worse with every mile we're getting closer to our destination. Forks, my hometown, isn't exactly my favorite place to go. It holds too many painful memories for me. Memories I prefer avoiding at any cost.
The little one is whiny today and keeps kicking his feet against my seat.
"Alice, tell him to stop that for crying out loud!" I snarl, stepping on the breaks a bit too abruptly.
"Sweetie, please, just try being a good boy and keep drawing in your coloring book."
"It's boring. My neck is itchy. Can I take off that tie?"
"But sweetie, it looks so cute on you. Doesn't it look cute on him, Edward?"
He mumbles something between his teeth and sighs deeply. By now, I'm sure he's already regretting it deeply that he decided to drive to Forks together with us. At least he hasn't made a comment about me driving too slowly. If he starts with that again, he can take the fucking bus.
"Edward, doesn't little Andy look like the cutest child ever?"
"Alice, you know that the boy is not a doll. Do you?"
"What's wrong with wanting my kid to look cute? It's not too early to influence his sense of fashion."
Edward snickers and Alice leans forward to hit him on the head with her handbag.
"You are stupid." my wife tells her cousin, sticking her tongue out like a little brat.
"Mommy! Momma is hitting Uncle Edward!"
"Can't the two of you behave in front of the child? I don't want him to hit other kids in kindergarten."
"But when someone is mean to me, it's okay to hit them. Right, Mommy?"
I shake my head and park the car in front of the Cullen's house. When I step outside I try to keep my eyes from my parent's home. It's not like I want to run into my father. The last time we met was unpleasant enough for me.
"Mommy, Mommy, there is a police car! Can I go and take a look?"
I lift Andy up and carry him to the door. "No, sweetie, we're here to visit your aunt Esme and uncle Carlisle."
"But I want to look at that police car! Please, Mommy."
"Maybe later, Andy." Edward tells him, running his hand over the boys head.
Esme is a darling today and introduces me to all of her guests as "her niece's wife".
Most of them are people from Seattle, only a handful are old friends of them from Forks. Nobody seems to recognize me and that makes me feel joyful.
Then my eyes met those of a curly-haired woman across the room. She's still more hair than face, her hips are a bit rounder now and like the last time we saw each other, she's wearing too pink lip-gloss.
"Brian? Crap, is that you?" she asks when she walks over to greet me.
"Jessica. How nice to meet you," I say in the same tone I'd tell her to fuck off.
"Wow, you really look different."
"Please, keep your voice low. It's not like I'd wish to discuss my private life with all of Forks."
She nods her head and follows me and Alice to the kitchen where I gulp down a glass of champagne that's standing on a tray.
"And you must be Brian's wife then."
"Hi, I'm Alice and her name is Bella." Alice's voice is sharp like a knife and in that moment she seems like a tiny but incredibly brave lioness to me. I love her so much.
"Bella, such a nice name you've chosen. Did Bri…I mean, Bella, did he…ahm…did she tell you we used to date back in High school?"
I can feel Alice stiffen next to me. Crap, she's not going to be jealous now, is she?
"That was in another life," I whisper, taking another glass of champagne to take a greedy sip.
"Whatever. I liked being with you a lot. What woman doesn't want a boyfriend who enjoys looking at fashion magazines for hours?"
Edward comes in, taking the glass out of my protesting hands.
"You had enough, princess."
I nod my head, knowing that he's right. It's not like I want to get drunk in his parents' house. That would be so embarrassing. My problem is that I'm so tensed. Meeting my ex-girlfriend here wasn't something I had expected. Why is she here anyway? Oh right, Jessica's mom used to be Carlisle's secretary.
"Where is the boy?"
"Andy? I thought he was with you." Alice calls out, her face turning pale.
Andy, sweetie, come here!"
Edward and I search through the entire house, finding even a couple making out in his old room, but unfortunately no sight of my son.
"Where is he? He knows that he can't go anywhere without us. Why didn't you look after him properly?"
"Bella, I am not his Nanny. You and Alice treat him like a baby, but sometimes boys like being a bit adventurous."
"When he gets hit by a car, or someone hurts him, I will fucking kill you, Cullen." I sob. He pulls me against his chest and hums something in my ear to calm me down again.
"Everything is going to be fine. We'll find him. He can't be far."
I wipe some tears from underneath my eyes and when I blink out of the window I see Andy standing next to Charlie's cruiser in the driveway.
"Andy!" I call out, rushing down the stairs and outside. "Andy, I told you not to go here. Why can't you listen to what your Mommy tells you?"
Lifting him up, I lose my balance and tumble backwards against the hood of the car.
"Mommy, are you mad at me?"
"Yes! I was worried about you, when I couldn't find you in the house."
"But I was just looking at the police car. It's so cool. Look, it has these little blue lights all over."
"Don't touch the cruiser, kid."
I turn around and when I see Charlie's face, I drop down to the ground like there is no single bone left in my legs.
"Mommy, are you sick?"
"No, sweetie, it's nothing. Let's just go back to the house. It's too cold to stay outside."
Charlie's eyes wander from me to the little one and back again. I hate that I've inherited this muddy brown eye-color from him. Andy's are the same shade. The only thing he inherited from me instead of Alice.
"That's your boy?" my father finally asks and when I nod my head, he kneels down and holds his hand out to Andy.
"Hi, I'm Chief Swan and who are you?"