Chapter 9 - ...and the result is in!

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The restroom was empty, and Edward was thankful for that small mercy.

'Just another business meeting…' he told the reflection in the mirror, in an attempt to psych himself up for what was to come. "…nothing to get nervous about."

'Yeah right! How often do you get called down to the police station for a business meeting?'

He splashed his face with cold water with the hope that his guts would somehow settle without coming up.

No this wasn't business, this was personal. He was supposed to get the test results this afternoon. It had been four days, four looong days worth of soggy diapers, crocodile tears and toddler tantrums. Luckily Alice had been there to help him sort out most of the practical stuff but his nerves were beyond frazzled. He couldn't wait for this whole ordeal to be over….

'So why are you hiding in here then?' his inner voice taunted.

The answer was simple; he was fucking coward!

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..oOXOo.

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"Ah, Mr. Cullen, how nice of you to join us. Officer Franklin said, pointedly looking at his watch. I was beginning to think you had bolted."

All the heads at the conference table turned around and looked at the door.

"Sorry. I just needed a breather... So uh, everyone else is here, I take it?"

"We're ready to start this meeting whenever you are," social worker Maggie Thompson said giving him a reassuring smile.

Edward sighed and moved across the room to take the seat that had been saved for him between his sister and his newly acquired lawyer. The office was small and very bare. The only objects in the room were a table and seven chairs.

"Are you okay?," Alice asked quietly as Edward slid into his seat.

"Yeah, I'm fine", he said with a forced smile. "Where is…. uhm… where is the boy?."

"He's in another room. They have a female police officer keeping an eye on him."

"Good, there is no need for him to witness this," Edward grumbled under his breath.

"Mr. Cullen, I assume you know why we've arranged this meeting," officer Franklin's tone was polite but his manner authoritative and slightly impatient.

"You have news for me?"

"Yes, we have received the result of the DNA test. Ms Thompson do you have the paperwork?"

"Certainly, but first I'd like to take the opportunity to once again thank Edward for his co-operation. It's a highly unusual case we have on our hands here. I know your situation is delicate and discretion is of the utmost importance."

The social worker paused long enough to reach into her briefcase and pull out a large manila envelope.

"Standard procedure would have been to place the child in a licensed receiving home in wait for more permanent arrangements. But in this case the child, Anthony, didn't respond well to the other children at the Victoria halfway house, were he spent the first two nights. Taking these factors into consideration I think we found a solution that worked for both parties. Now as for the paternity test…."

"I'm sure you all agree Mr. Cullen should be entitled to some privacy when he reads this. Not waiting for an answer the lawyer, Garrett Berger, snatched the envelope from the social workers hand."

"Of course! We can leave the room if you-…"

"No! I want to get this over and done with once and for all," Edward protested in a voice louder than intended." Go ahead read it aloud, I don't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then… " the lawyer tore the envelope open and unfolded the neatly printed letter. He was just about to clear his throat when there was a loud knock on the door.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I need to speak to you, sir." A young woman poked her head into the room.

"This better be good, Curtis!" officer Franklin snapped, with an annoyed expression in his face.

"I have a woman out here who's asking for Mr. Cullen."

"Clearly, she'll have to wait; we're in a middle of a meeting here!"

"Well, she claims she's supposed to be a part of this meeting. She says she was invited by Mr. Cullen," the woman explained and pulled the door all the way open to reveal the guest.

"Hi! Sorry for barging in like this," the newcomer said with an apologetic smile.

Edward shoot a questioning glance at Alice who shrugged in return, but didn't look all to surprised.

"You know this woman, Edward?" the lawyer asked.

His instant impulse was to shake his head…but before he could say or do anything Alice jumped right in, declaring "She's my brothers girlfriend, fiancée actually, " earning herself death glares from multiple sets of eyes.

It was such an unnecessary lie. One flash of that FBI badge and no one would have questioned Ms. Swans presence.

Before he had time to set the record straight, the social worker was already inviting Bella to step inside the room. "I wasn't aware you had a fiancée, Edward, let alone girlfriend."

Officer Franklin was equally surprised. "This is news to me too. Ms Swan I don't recall you mentioning this little detail the last time we spoke."

"It's a recent development…." Alice hurried to explain. "Very recent…. but they have known etch other for a long time, since high school really. Isn't that right, Bella? "

Bella blinked a few times before she could decipher the question and formulate an answer. "Oh, right…. We were high school sweethearts. " she nodded with a dead serious face. "And yes, it's so new that it's not even official yet.."

"No kidding," Edward scoffed, and found himself being kicked in the shin underneath the table.

"Was that an objection I heard. Would you rather have Ms Swan wait outside while we do this?" Franklin asked.

"Err… no, its fine, she can take a seat. I'm just surprised to see her, that's all. Last I heard she was heading back home to take care of some prior work related commitments." he said giving her a pointed glare.

"I miraculously found someone to cover for me," Bella shrugged. "It was very last minute. I didn't want to say anything when I didn't know for certain that I would be able to make it here in time."

"Alright then, lets get down to business. Ms Swan, I am, as you know, the police officer handling this case. To your right you have Maggie Thompson, the social worker. And across the table we have your fiancés lawyer. Garrett Berger. Mr. Berger was just about to read us the result of the DNA test."

"Okay, so I'm right on time then," Bella said and leaned over the table to give Edward's arm a reassuring squeeze. "It's nice to meet you all… although naturally I wish it was under other circumstances."

"Amen to that!" Alice nodded with a cautious glance in Edward's direction." So the result…. I think we have waited long enough…"

"Right", the lawyer agreed. "Here we go… according to this letter, from the Geisinger medical center, it has been proven with a 98.6% accuracy that Edward Cullen is the father of the child."

Mouth agape, Edward blinked a few times in confusion, before he managed to croak out a shocked "WHAT?"

"Are you okay Mr. Cullen?" Someone asked, his vision had gone fuzzy so he had no idea who it was.

Was the room spinning? He felt as though he might pass out.

"Breath, Edward… Long deep breath," he heard a familiar voice instruct him through the fog of his anguished confusion.

He sucked in a breath and then released it. Three more breaths and his surroundings started returning into focus.

Every eye in the room was fixed on him; no surprises there. His reaction, had no doubt, been entertaining to watch.

Alice was fluttering around him making worried noises. The social worker was trying to get him to lean forward and put his between his knees, which he refused (obviously), but he accepted the glass of water that was offered to him and drank its contents in big thirsty gulps.

"Are you okay, Mr. Cullen? " This time he recognized the voice as the one of his lawyer.

"I just…. I didn't… Yes, I'm okay," he responded sitting up straighter.

He felt a squeeze of his hand and looked down to see Bella's fingers entwined with his own. She said nothing, but her silence was oddly comforting.

"I'm the father," he said it like a question rather than a statement.

"Yes, there are enough similarities in your DNA to determine that you are in fact the father. All federal and state courts require a minimum of 94% accuracy."

"What happens now?"

"Well, it depends on you, Mr. Cullen. Now that the paternity has been confirmed you can go ahead and file for temporary custody of the child, if that's what you want."

"What would happen to the boy… if I don't… if I can't take him in?"

"Anthony would be placed in a foster home temporarily, while the police continue to search for his mother or another family member that is willing to care for him. If the search falls through, adoption would be the next logical step."

Bella raised her hand in a request to speak. "What's the time limit? How long will you keep searching for the mother?"

"With Mr. Cullen being the child's biological father, the investigation into Anthony's parentage is all but over," Officer Franklin shrugged. "Our goal was to locate a biological parent or family member to care for the child."

"So because I'm the biological father, the investigation will be closed without further action. No charge, no procession…"

"It's difficult to prosecute a nameless faceless woman." Officer Franklin stated, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "We are still looking, but we don't have much to work with. We know for a fact that the mother took a bus to the church where the child was abandoned. We know this because we have located the bus driver that dropped her off. According to his witness statement the woman wore an oversized, dark, gray hoodie and big, dark sun glasses. The bus driver vaguely remembers a tattoo of some sort. Possibly on her neck… possibly a butterfly… but that's it…. That's all we got at the moment. If no new information comes to light, I don't see this investigation stretching longer than four weeks tops."

"But if we file a missing persons report, you'd have to keep looking for her? Isn't that right?" Bella questioned.

"Yes, that's one way to keep the search going, You'd need to know her full name to file one of those, though. Another way would be to hire a private investigator. I'm sure your lawyer can help you figure out what is the right course to take."

"I don't want to drag this out any longer than necessary," Edward stated with a dejected sigh. "I just want to go home. How long will you be needing my presence ? How does this work? Can I just take the child and leave?"

"There is a certain protocol we need to follow. So, the answer is no, you can't just take the child and leave," Maggie Thompson spoke up, her voice calm and reassuring, as always. "Anthony needs to stay until all the paperwork is completed and a judge signs the final custody order. We wi-…"

"Stay where? In the city or the state? Because we have family close by… " Alice interjected.

"The state, but I'd advice you to stay in Seattle for another two weeks."

"Two weeks! How long is this going to take?" Edward heard himself exclaim. Somehow, the entire conversation was beginning to feel like an out-of-body experience for him, like he sitting on the sidelines watching it rather than living it.

"Normally, I'd say, somewhere between ten to fifteen business days, but with the holiday coming up… You might need to make alternative Christmas plans."

Edward groaned, resisting the urge to bang his head against the table. Instead, he leaned back and closed his eyes, waiting for his agitation to calm.

Alice took the opportunity to ask a few more questions. "The child can stay with us in the meanwhile, right? Can we leave the hotel? Can we take him shopping? He'll need clothes and stuff. Can we make fieldtrips? Every child deserves playgrounds and parks and play dates. Maybe we could rent a house or a cottage or something. Would that be alright?"

"As long as you keep me informed about your whereabouts, I don't see a problem with you relocating to a more child friendly environment," the social worker nodded. "I expect daily phone contact and I would like to schedule a 'home' visit. I need to make sure that that the child is in good hands before I hand in the papers."

Edward felt another wave of nausea hit as the magnitude of her words sank in.

Good hands… ha, what a joke. He couldn't even keep his plants alive. And children are a lot like plants, they need regular watering, weeding and pruning; at least that's what grandma Cullen always used to say. He was going to screw this up for sure.

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..oOXOo.

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Dear diary, dear world…

So road tripping with Maria… We managed to squeeze in three club shows and a radio gig in five short days. It never ceases to amaze me at some of the shit you can find out on the internet these days.

I was still living at home at the time. Not by choice, mind you. I was a bit behind on my college plans, having missed out on most of my senior year. Rest assure I was working my butt off to get my GED so that I could move on to college. I couldn't wait to get out of that house and get on with my life.

But back to the road trip… we told our parents we were heading for Boston where Maria were to visit her older sister and I were to check out potential Colleges. Of course, I had decided a long time decided I was going to study photojournalism at New York University, but my mom didn't know that yet.

Maria had an old monster of a car, a Mustang, that drank gas and chunked down oil like an alcoholic on holiday from rehab. We went through almost a case of oil a day on our little trip. It took us four days to get there. we slept in the car and changed clothes in McDonald restrooms. Did I mention it was cold and rainy and that the car leaked a rusty bucket?

'Forever Dawn' was everything I had imagined it would be. The first show we went to was fabulous, intimate yet laid-back. Well worth sleeping in the car. HE spotted me in the crowd. Can you believe that? We made eye contact and for a moment the crowd around me just melted away and all that was left was us. He held my gaze for the longest of times. I got so weak I could barely stand. I didn't mean to get all teeny on him, but how could I not….it was Edward!

The second show took place in Albany, where we had managed to secure a suite at the best hotel in town, which just happened to belong to the very same hotel chain Maria's older sister Hillary was employed by. But even more importantly it was the very same hotel a certain musician and his friends were staying at.

Thanks to a flat tire, we didn't make it to the show until it was nearly over, but that was alright seeing as we had high hope of running into a few familiar faces back at the hotel later that evening.

This is how it all went down; at precisely a quarter to midnight the fire alarm on the top floor went off for no apparent reason (he he)… okay maybe there was a reason, maybe someone accidentally on purpose left a lit cigarette in a trashcan… Anyway, the hotel staff immediately notified the fire department and began evacuating all guests.

They guided all guests to a nearby parking lot and told us to wait while they searched the rooms to locate the fire. Somehow in the commotion, we, Maria and I, ended up gravitating towards a certain guitar player (Jasper, Maria's number one squeeze, remember?) Maria chatted him up like a pro and within minutes they were sharing a rather animated conversation about guitars and amps and music in general.

'Guitar-boy' had a southern accent you could pour it over pancakes, but apart from that he seemed alright. He kept looking down the crack of Maria's top, and I kept looking down the street for a glimpse of Edward. He newer showed up, though, a slight miscalculation on my side…

Eventually the evacuation was called off and all the guests were ushered back inside the hotel again. That's when Jaz made his move and invited us to his room. Apparently he wanted to show Maria his 'Leslie West Rocket Guitar'. Ha, like I didn't see right through that excuse… He was still leering at her tits and I was still searching in every corner and under every rock for Edward, my saviour.

Once inside I found out that Jasper actually did have a 'Leslie West Rocket Guitar' in his room; a green one, shaped like a strange-futuristic-looking weapon. He also had enough beer and pot in his room to supply a small country.

Jasper was alright, Jasper was more than alright…

The three of us hung out and smoked for a bit. It was going great until I ruined it by asking about Edward…I didn't mean to…. I couldn't help it, I kept pestering Jasper with questions to the point were he was getting really pissed at me. Maria, bless her heart, pulled 'Guitar-boy' aside and whispered something into his ear. I couldn't hear what was being said, but he perked up considerably after that and even agreed to leave Edward a text message.

Jasper and Maria started making out on the bed. They had been going at it for maybe ten minutes when there was a knock on the door. Jasper got up to answer it, and in he walked…my beautiful green eyed angel.

He was grumpy, said the phone had woken him, which would explain his clothes… or lack there off... Get this, he was in his undies, clad in nothing but boxers and a t-shirt! I didn't mean to stare, I really didn't, but seeing him like THAT did weird things to me.

Jasper introduced us girls as college students and invited Edward to stay and hang out. Edward looked at us and smiled, but told Jasper 'thanks but no thanks'. His eyes looked glassy, like he was still half-asleep. I guess that's why he didn't recognise me… Because if he would have recognised me (as the girl he had eye fucked at the gig) I'm sure he would have stayed…

I tried not to get upset, really I did, but after Edward retreated back to his room, the feeling of rejection hit me like a ton of bricks.

So to summarise the rest of the night; for me the night ended with me in a drunk crying heap on the floor. For Maria on the other hand it ended in the bathroom, with her on her knees and 'Guitar-boy's' c#k in her mouth.

She said she didn't mind doing it, that it had been ok, but not nearly as romantic as she had hoped. HE didn't return the favour. I think she was a little disappointed that prince charming had turned out to be nothing but a frog.

Me, I was a little miffed that Edward had blown me off, but I was also mad determined that I would get my chance real soon…

Love always,

Angela Cullen

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..oOXOo.

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