Chapter 5
From Here To Paternity part II
-14 months prior to the child being found alone in Seattle-
Why hello there journal thingy,
I bet you thought I had forgotten about you! Think again, I'm not done with you just yet. I don't get much alone time these days, that's all. Oh, the joy of teething…. Anyway, the monster is asleep now…finally…. It took me over an hour to put him down. He screams bloody murder if I go out of his sight and of course, being his father's son, he has enough voice capacity to wake the entire neighbourhood.
Speaking of daddy dearest… I know what you're thinking, if baby daddy is THE ONE (with capital letters), then why am I alone to care for this child? The answer is simple: he doesn't know he is a daddy yet and I need to keep it that way for a little while longer.
Something I've learned form my past mistakes: if I push too hard or come on too strong he's only going to get freaked out….
So here's my plan: first I need to get the boy wonder weaned off of the milk and onto solid food so that I can get my life and my body back (can't wait!). Then I'll go to NY and look him up (again can't wait!). I've got the address and everything so it shouldn't be that much of a problem. I'm not sure he'll recognise me. I'm not sure I want him to recognise me. I figure I can work the friend angle for a while, and then take it from there...
Love always,
Angela Cullen
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...xXx.
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"All done!"
Bella looked up to see her gynecologist smiling towards her.
"You can get dressed now, Isabella, we're done with this part."
Bella didn't need to be told twice. Jumping of the table, her paper gown flapping behind her, she dived for cover behind the privacy screen in the corner of the room.
Once fully clothed again, she felt more at ease. Dr. Montgomery was seated behind her desk finishing writing up her notes.
"So, I've looked at the results and everything looks fine. No abnormalities, everything is exactly as it should be. However, there are two main areas concerning me."
"I'm guessing my blood pressure is too high for your liking. I've heard that one before… "
"Yes, that's one of the things I'd like to discuss with you, but first let's talk about your weight. Your body mass index is still a bit low. Dehydration could become a major risk factor if you don't start taking proper care of yourself."
"I know, I'm working on it. It sure didn't help that I came down with food poisoning over the Halloween weekend."
"Vitamins are important and I would suggest plenty of fluids and foods high in water and nutritional content such as fruits and vegetables."
"I will eat better, I promise," Bella vowed and crossed her heart to validate her promise. "I don't suppose chocolate counts as a nutritious food group."
"That would be a no, but if it helps you could always try one of those chocolate protein shakes."
"I'll get one on my way home."
"Good! Now let's talk about your blood pressure. It's is slightly elevated, nothing too alarming, but you really should try and reduce your stress level," the doctor said giving her a stern look before going on. "I can tell by your facial expression that you've gotten this speech before."
"Yeah, a few times. Let see… eat healthier, rest more and work less. Did I miss anything?"
"I realize cutting down your work hours might be difficult, given your line of profession. Multitasking is good and all, but I think learning how to delegate is the key here. Have you told your employer yet?"
"My boss knows, but not the rest of my colleagues," Bella replied, shaking her head. "I'd like to wait a few more weeks."
Dr. Montgomery pursed her lips. "Okay. I'll leave it up to you, but the sooner you tell them the more time they have to get used to it and the sooner they can offer you some support. What about your friends and family, do they know?"
Bella shook her head no. "Only my boss knows."
"Having someone to confide in is always helpful. Common sense says venting is an almost foolproof way to ease tension and stress. I'm here if you're worried about anything or have questions, but you need those closest to you to understand what you are going through."
"I've made plans. Christmas is coming up, I'll tell them real soon."
"It will be easier than you think, you'll see!" the older woman said with conviction. "I think that's enough for today."
Bella nodded and rose from her chair. "Will you call when the blood work is back from the lab?"
"Of course and if nothing new comes up I'll see you back here in, shall we say, two weeks? Does that work for you?"
"I'll make it work," Bella nodded her agreement.
"Alright, take care and I'll see you soon."
And with that Bella was free to go.
Ah, freedom! She had a whole freaking hour before she had to be back at work growing mountain of paperwork that had taken up residence on her desk, courtesy on her co workers. Someone was delegating alright, but it wasn't Bella, that's for sure….
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...xXx.
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-At the same time in another city at another medical facility-
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"You have a WITNESS, someone who can leave an actual description of the woman?" Edward all but shouted, not bothering to suppress his frustration any longer. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this from the start!"
They were back in the not-so-private waiting room again and he was beginning to grow tired of both the company and the questions.
"Do you want to hear this or not? because if you're going to be difficult about it, we could always finish our little conversation down at the police station," Officer Franklin suggested with crossed arms and a quirked eyebrow.
Closing his eyes, Edward mentally counted to ten before growling, "I am being as cooperative as can be expected, so don't give me that crap."
"Gentlemen, our number one priority here is the child, let's not forget that!" social worker Maggie Thompson reminded them calmly. "We do indeed have a witness. This woman may have abandoned her child, but at least she had the decency to make sure someone knew where and what to look for before she took off. Isn't that correct, officer Franklin?"
"Yes, I can confirm that the witness is a Catholic priest, whom the woman spoke with during confession."
"During confession?"
"During confession… and as I'm sure you know, whatever is said in confession remains in confession," the man rolled his eyes, indicating his opinion on the matter. "The only details the priest has been willing to divulge so far is that the person who left the child in his 'care', so to speak, was a non-Catholic woman, of average height and weight, with dark hair and brown eyes. "
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"But if the woman was non-Catholic, why did she pick a Catholic church?"
"You think fast, I like that Mr. Cullen. If you want to know what I think, I think she picked that specific church for a reason, and I'm willing to bet I know what that reason was. You said before that you were in Seattle to do a recording, right? "
"Yes, that's correct."
"I haven't had time to double check this yet, but did you by any chance work with Peter Lucien, DJ and producer extraordinaire."
Edward's eyebrow rose in surprise. "Not exactly, but yes I've met him, he's the owner of the studio we rented."
"Right, well he's also Randall Lucien's brother. "
"And who is Randall Lucien?"
"Father Lucien, he's our witness. Looks like the woman is playing 'Six degrees of separation' with us… "
"Or maybe it's just one big coincidence, " Edward insisted stubbornly.
Officer Franklin, of course, didn't look all too convinced. "If you think this is coincidence… " he said reaching inside his coat, which hung over the back of his chair. " - … then I'd love to hear how you explain THIS," he added, pulled out what looked to be a piece of paper in a ziplock bag.
The object was rectangular in shape and about the size of a Kleenex tissue, but much thicker. There was a bunch of numbers scribbled across it with no words to indicate what they were...or what they meant.
"Do you recognize the numbers?"
"Well, 206 is the Seattle area code so I'm guessing they are phone numbers?"
"The first series of numbers, the one starting with 206, is the phone number to the Warwick Seattle Hotel. Those other two constellations, 120307 and 080407, represents the dates during which you checked in and out of the hotel."
"That still doesn't prove anything. I know for a fact that most hotels save their records for years. Maybe she works there, have you thought of that?"
"It's one of the possibilities we're looking into," officer Franklin nodded. "Now, what's your take on this?" he asked flipping the ziplock bag over to reveal what was on the other side of the piece of paper.
Edward's heart nearly skipped a beat when he realized what exactly it was he was looking at. The numbers weren't written on ordinary paper, they were written on the backside of a photography… a black and white photography… a photography he recognized all to well…
This was not happening. Not again. It couldn't be. No. No…
Thinking something was wrong with his sight, Edward blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. But no. There was no mistake, he was still looking at a picture of his naked self, sprawled out on a fake looking bear rug. His mind
swam with blurred fragments of memories, unpleasant memories. Memories he had tried, but failed to forget.
"Judging by the look on your face I'd say you've seen this before?"
The question jolted him back from the dark place his thoughts had taken him. Unable to get the words past the lump in his throat, he nodded his head and pushed the photograph away so that he wouldn't have to look at it again.
"You look quite young in the photograph, is that correct?"
Again he nodded, still struggling to find his voice. "I...," he began unevenly, "It was in college. I did some modeling, a very, very short lived career, I can assure you..."
"You don't have to tell us anything you're not comfortable sharing." Not too surprisingly it was the social worker who offered the reassuring words. "I think we all did things in college that we would change if we could. It's part of the whole growing up experience."
Officer Franklin was more blunt in his assessment. "It's a nude photo. This woman has seen you in your birthday suit and she has pictures to prove it. Don't you think it's time you start taking this thing a little more seriously?"
Edward shook his head. "It's not like that. There was this one unfortunate photo shoot, many, many years ago... I thought I had confiscated all the pictures, but apparently I was wrong…."
"You spoke of a stalker, a female stalker. Could she be responsible for this?" Maggie Thompson asked, gesturing towards the ziplockbag on the table.
"No…. that's impossible. Sure the stalker had all sorts of intrusive photos in her collection, even a few ones related to the one you just showed me, but she is dead and buried…. and besides, she was childless. I was never…" Edward trailed off, not quite sure how much he should reveal. Then coming to a decision, he rose to his feet. "Look, I was never intimate with that snake. Before I say anything else I think you should speak with Special Agent Isabella Swan. She's with the FBI, the Protective Services Unit."
"Special Agent Isabella Swan from the Protective Services Unit," Franklin repeated, as both he and Thompson took notes of he name. "Anything else we should know?"
"No, I'll get you the contact information in the morning when my sister gets here, but that's all you're getting from me today. As far as I'm concerned we're done here. I'm leaving and you can't stop me!"
"You're free to go," the police officer agreed reluctantly. "Don't skip town until the test results are back."
Edward threw the man a dark glance. "Wouldn't dream of it. Now if you excuse me, I'd like to go find myself a hotel room and a bar and drink myself into a stupor."
He turned leave, but a hand on his arm stopped him before he could reach the door.
"Mr. Cullen, Edward, there is one more thing you and I need to discuss, … in private," social worker Maggie Thompson told him as she motioned for him to step aside and let officer Franklin leave the room.
She didn't speak again until the door was shut and they were alone.
"What do you know about the foster care system?"
...xXx.
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A*knocks on screen* Are you still there or did you get lost in all the dialog? Next chapter will be better, more (toddler) action and less talking. There is a teaser for the next chapter up on the twilighted forum.
Now I have a question that maybe you guys can help me with… I love the word 'toddler' (I'm probably overusing it), there's no equivalent to it in Swedish that I can think of. At what age does a baby become a toddler and at what age is the child to old to be called a toddler?
I know the word has to do with the child's walking abilities originally. I have a nice who is three, I saw her on Christmas eve and I must say she is mastering the art of walking and running to a perfection now. So clearly she's not a toddler anymore. My Anthony character on the other hand is two years old, he's walking and running, but he's still somewhat wobbly on his legs. He's also quite small for his age and he's still in diapers. So, sill a toddler? yes/no?
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Introduction of
Jamie T Wilson and the nudie photo shoot
This dates back to the summer of 2003, when Edward and his brother Emmett, who both dabbled in modeling for a short period of time in college, were booked to do a photo shoot for a print ad, promoting a popular sports drink. The photo shoot was legit. Everything was handled by a small but well renowned agency in Manhattan. The photographer was a freelancer working under the name Jamie T Wilson.
Everything went smoothly, the two brothers spent a day in the studio, where they were styled, directed and photographed by a crew of professionals. The following day, however, Edward Cullen got a call from the photographer asking if he could come back later that week for some additional shots. Apparently there were some technical issues… Apparently one of the assistants ruined a whole roll of film in the darkroom. Edward went back to do the re-shoot and finish the job.
He showed up at the studio alone, which was perhaps the biggest mistake he could have made, because so did the photographer… It was a hot summer day and the air-conditioner was supposedly broken. The photographer kept trying to persuade him to pose shirtless, which of course was not part of the original deal.
They took a lunch break around noon, Chinese takeout. Edward drank mineral water and ate an egg roll. The next thing he remembers is waking up on the floor, with his clothes removed and the photographer hovering over him with his camera.
To make a long story short he fought his way out and escaped with minor head and right hand injuries. Thankfully there were no signs of sexual assault were found, but the whole episode was still disturbing enough that it would come to follow Edward in form of nightmares for many years to come.
The incident was never reported, well not until years later when Edward's not-so-friendly stalker got her hand on some rather, shall we say, delicate photos.
Did I mention that the stalker, Angela, is the sister of our creepy photographer? Isn't that lovely? Siblings sharing the same hang ups and obsessions…