I do not own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.

Ch: 5

(EPOV)

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I apologized, feeling like shit that I scared her. "I think something is wrong with Masen. He feels like he is burning up," I explained hastily.

She didn't wait until I was finished speaking before she sat straight up and her hand was on his forehead. She frowned before she bent down to dig through her bag. She pulled out something I didn't recognized, it looked like some sort of thermometer. She placed it to his forehead until it beeped.

"102.2." She frowned. "Has he been coughing a lot?" she asked.

"A little bit but not worse than earlier," I answered thinking back.

"What kind of cough? Does he sound congested?" she asked, while she felt his glands.

"Deep, slightly hacking." I wasn't too sure how to tell the difference. "Should we wake him and give him something?" I asked in concern. I felt so lost to what to do. I was vaguely aware that Jasper had woken up and had turned in his seat. He was watching us curiously.

"If he can sleep that is the best thing. Do you have the stuff I asked you to get for him? We are probably going to need it eventually." she asked.

I reached behind me and grabbed a bag from Target.

"I know you want to avoid hospitals but I could give my father a call," I suggested. My finger was already over the button.

Bella frowned, not looking very happy at all with the idea.

"I don't think waking him up at four in the morning is a very good idea. Besides, isn't he an orthopedic surgeon? Not to mention do you really want to involve them in this mess?" She didn't look at me as she took Jasper's sweatshirt that she had used earlier, making a makeshift blanket for Masen.

"Well, no, but I'm just concerned." I sighed, I rested the phone on my lap.

"Masen has been sick before this. Right now there isn't much we can do besides letting him rest and make sure that when he wakes up in a few hours that he gets plenty of liquids. If he starts having troubling breathing or if his fever goes over 103 that's when we should find a doctor." Bella stayed patient with me.

"Ok, but I should call my parents eventually. I'm sure they would like to know that they have a grandson," I carefully mentioned.

Bella stiffened and gave me a curt nod. She turned away and looked out the window on her side. I took a deep breath not sure if I should proceed, but felt I had to say something.

"I read the letters, Bella," I informed her softly.

She stiffened again but she didn't reply.

"I have many questions. Like what exactly did my mother say to you? How could you compare Alec to me?" I asked.

"This isn't the time nor the place for these questions," her voice was hard and cold like it was the other day. Her defenses were up and I doubted that I would get anything from her today.

"So you're not going to answer any of my questions," I huffed in irritation, perhaps too loudly since Masen shifted in his seat.

"I didn't say we couldn't talk about it ever, just not now. Not with Masen right there, who could wake up and hear things he shouldn't," she retorted turning to glare at me.

There were tears in her eyes. I wasn't sure at the moment what kind they were; if it meant she was mad or sad.
"Okay." I let it go for the moment. "One thing though. I never told my parents why we broke up. When they asked, I told them I didn't want to talk about it. I'm sorry that they got the wrong idea," I apologized for at least that much.

More moisture filled her eyes. She closed them and turned her head. I sighed heavily and looked out my window. We were in Oregon now so we should reach Forks before noon since we were making good time.

"Hey, Edward, could I see those letters?" Jasper asked.

"Fine with me, but you should ask Bella," I answered him, gathering up the letters.

I glanced at Bella who was still staring out her window into the black. "Bella?" I prompted, she shrugged giving me no verbal response. I handed them over the seat to Jasper.

Jasper took them but he eyed Bella looking uncertain. "Are you sure Bella? If it's too personal, I won't," Jasper asked cautiously.

"It's fine," Bella's answered, I could tell she was still crying.

"Bella, I promise that when I speak to my parents I am going to set them straight." She huffed when I said 'promise'. "I will," I insisted with vigor. I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. What would I have to do to earn her trust again?

LB
The silence in the car was nearly deafening, so when Jasper spoke again it startled me.

"You didn't meet Alec until after you already started writing Edward?" he questioned.

"I said I really didn't want to talk about this now." Bella glared at him then tilted her head at Masen. Jasper looked over at Masen still sound asleep in his seat.

"I'm not going that into it. I just wanted to know when he showed up," Jasper explained.

"I don't know. I was about four months pregnant, end of September maybe beginning of October." She shrugged.

"Did he know that you wrote to Edward?" Jasper asked, he was looking at the envelopes.

"No, he didn't. Only Charlie and Alice knew. Well….Rose knew about the first letter at least. Why?" Bella answered sounding mildly curious. She shifted so she was sitting forward again.

"Well, someone wrote 'return to sender' on these. In fact…never mind. If it had been a wrong address it would say so and usually it would be a stamp from the post office," Jasper replied, he looked at me.

He looked worried about it, I could tell he didn't think it was a small thing that they were sent back and never got to me. Someone really didn't want me to know that Bella was trying to contact me. I clenched my fist at my side, trying to calm myself before I woke up Masen.

"Who would do such a thing?" Bella asked. She chewed on her bottom lip.

"That's why I was thinking it was Alec," Jasper answered.

Emmett shifted in his seat and glanced at Jasper frowning. Bella shook her head.

"It wasn't him. Trust me," she said bitterly.

"How do you know?" I asked, unfortunately I think it came across too harsh, judging by the look on her face.

Her face grew dark and coldness swept over her eyes. "I just do and let's leave it at that for now. I told you I really didn't want to get into this while Masen is in hearing distance. He doesn't need to hear it or hear us fighting about it," Bella whispered harshly. She was still so stubborn.

"I'm not trying to argue with you." I tugged at my hair.

She eyed me for a moment longer before her eyes saddened.

"I'm sorry. I know you're all trying to help," she apologized. "I know it wasn't him. I mailed all the letters personally but the last one. Alice mailed that one for me, since I was in the hospital. Alec wasn't even present at the time of the birth. He was away at a conference. Alice was with me in the delivery room like planned." She played with her hands on her lap. I was secretly glad that the asswipe wasn't there for my son's birth.

"So just Alice, Rose, and Charlie knew? Do you think they would've done it?" Emmett's voice sounded unsure.

"No. Rose left right after the first letter, I haven't heard a word from her since. Alice was very encouraging of me trying to locate Edward. In fact, she thought I should've wrote more. But I didn't want to be a nuisance." Bella shook her head and her hair bounced slightly.

"You would've never been a nuisance." Maybe if she had sent more letters, one would've gotten through.

She looked at me as if she was trying to analyzing if I was telling the truth. Perhaps I need to be more understanding. Alec probably screwed up her ability to trust others and I had failed to keep an important promise. So maybe it was only right I would've to work twice as hard to get her to trust me again, instead expecting her to since I told her she should. Though I was glad to see her argue against me. It meant this piece of shit didn't beat all the fight out of her. Or that she was afraid of me too.

"And Charlie?" Jasper asked, she broke eye contact with me.

"Charlie was very upset with Edward at first. But since he had been in a similar situation he thought Edward deserved to know about Masen." Bella defended her father.

"So who does that leave?" Jasper stared at the ceiling of the car. "Didn't Heidi work in mail on base?"

I rolled my eyes in disgust. That girl was a stalker who joined the Marines to find a man and she wasn't shy about it. "I think so," I said curtly.

"Well, maybe in retaliation because of all the rejections she did it?" Jasper suggested.

"Possibility, but I never spoke to that crazy bi…" Bella cleared her voice sharply giving me a pointed look. "Girl. So she wouldn't have known about Bella. For all she knew that letter could've been from my mother."

"Does it really matter, Edward knows now," Emmett spoke up.

"Maybe not. Though it would be against the law to mess with the mail. I could still send them to Peter if you like." Jasper shrugged, but I could still see that it was bothering him.

"There was more in the second letter I would like to know about." I watched Jasper glanced quickly at Emmett with a contemplative expression. I raised an eyebrow in curiosity but Jasper shook his head.

"I was very upset in the letter. I would just ignore it." You could barely hear her voice, but the hurt was evident.

"Did you lie or stretch the truth in it?" Jasper pressed.

Bella's eyes narrowed at him. "No," she snapped.

"Jasper, maybe this could wait to later?" I cautioned. He nodded and handed the letters back. I wanted to read the second letter again to see what bothered him.

Before I could get past the second sentence, Masen started to cough hard enough to wake himself.

"Momma…" he whimpered. "My head hurts." He started coughing again and he didn't sound good.

"Edward, could you grab some water, please?" Bella reached in the bag and pulled up a bottle of medicine and the patches for the forehead that was supposed to reduce fevers and help with headaches.

I reached into the back and dragged the cooler closer so I could open it easier. I pulled out a water and opened it. I held out to Masen.

"Here you go, little buddy." He let go of his frog and took the bottle with a shaky hand. I ended up holding on to it and held it up for him to take a drink.

"Tank you." He started coughing hard immediately. The poor little guy just looked miserable and I felt so lost on how to help him.

"You're welcome." I ruffled his hair.

"What about the nebulizer?" I asked Bella.

"I only go to that if he starts wheezing or has trouble breathing." I put the bottle down since he looked ready to pass out again. Bella handed him his frog and kissed his forehead.

"If you want to get some more sleep I will keep an eye on him." I offered.

"Thank you, but I'm good. Sorry that he is so cranky. He only gets this way when he is sick." Bella looked a bit remorseful. She was continuously apologizing for something out of her control, part of me wondered if it was also Alec's doing.

"You don't need to apologize to any of us, Bella. I don't blame him for being cranky since he's sick and stuck in a car, not his own bed." I brushed it off. "Besides, Emmett is worse when he's sick." She gave me a tiny smile.

LB

A few hours later we stopped at a small doughnuts shop. Bella took Masen to the bathroom to change while the guys decided to order for the rest of us. I stayed out by the car and used the time to call up my father.

"Good morning, son, have you boys reached L.A., yet?" he asked, thinking that I was checking in.

"No, actually we are in Washington State, a few hours away from Forks." I informed him, I turned and leaned against the car so I could be on the lookout incase Bella and Masen returned.

"I see." His voice sounded a bit off, as if he was trying to contemplate something.

"Why didn't you or mom tell me?" I tried to hold back on the accusations.

There was a long pause then a sigh. "We didn't want to upset you."

"She was pregnant with my baby, I had a right to know," I stated bluntly.

"Edward, I'm sorry to tell you this, but the baby isn't yours. People were saying…" I interrupted him. I was shocked that they believed the people of the town over Bella.

"I know for a fact that the baby is mine. For one, Bella would never had cheated on me nor was she the type to ever just have a rebound." I defended her right away. "I also have seen my son with my own eyes. He's practically a carbon copy of me minus his nose," I said emotionally.

"I have a grandson?" my father murmured.

"Do you? It seems that you and mom just rejected him before he was born," I bitterly retorted.

"That's not fair. We didn't know." He started to get upset.

"But you should've. How could you honestly think something so horrible of Bella? You know her. You used to joke about keeping her and getting rid of me if we broke up. What did mom say to her?"

He was silent for a while.

"She confronted Bella in the supermarket. She accused her of betraying and hurting you then called her a slut. She also said that the baby was an abomination and bastard. That Bella was no better than her mother," he admitted. "She felt horrible about it afterwards. When she reacted she was acting like a mother bear protecting her cub. She thought you had been hurt."

"She should feel horrible. She knew Bella and was better to Bella than her own mother. Bella's none of those things and I can't understand for the life of me how mom drew the conclusions about her." I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. No wonder Bella was so upset and reluctant towards my parents.

"How did you find out?" he asked.

"We ran into her in Phoenix. She had tried to reach me, but her letters kept getting returned before I could open them. I have them now." I didn't want them to think she hadn't tried. "The situation she was in was deplorable. The guy she was with has been abusing her for years. When she tried to run, he killed Charlie." I confided in him. He sucked in his breath sharply.

"We heard about Charlie, but…Is she alright and the boy?" he asked, I heard him slip into doctor mode.

"She's alive, but hurt and scared. It took the three of us to convince her to let us help her get away. After what happened to Charlie she was too afraid to try to get help again. Our son, his name is Masen. He is three, Bella swears that the guy never touched him, but just ignore his presence. I'm actually calling about Masen, I'm worried because he is sick. It's probably nothing major but it still concerns me."

"I'm not a pediatrician but what are his symptoms?" Dad was in full doctor mode now.

I gave him a brief rundown of the symptoms and everything we were doing.

"Well, it sound like a simple cold or virus to me. Just keep an eye on that cough. If gets worse get medical attention. But sounds like Bella has it under control."

"Yeah, she's great with him. I'm freaking out over nothing, aren't I?" I chuckled sadly as I ran hand through my hair.

"You're acting like a first time parent. I remember the first time you scraped your knee. Your mom and I wanted to bring you to the ER. Your grandmother laughed at us and told us just stick a band-aide on it. I'm a doctor and I still overreacted. It's normal." He chuckled. "If it makes you feel better, I can come check him out and I also have some friends still at the hospital that we can keep it on the down low. I know your mother is going to want to be on the first plane once she knows about Masen." He offered and I hesitated.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea. This guy could show up at any time. Plus after what mom said to Bella, she owes her a huge apology before anything else. Right now she's not comfortable with mom being around."

"You're right. But we both owe her that apology, we should've talked to her in a private setting about everything. All we knew is that when you left you were so upset."

"I broke up with her for the record. I didn't want to, but I thought it was for the best. Now I wish I could just go back and relive that day," I admitted.

"Everyone has days they wish they could redo. I know that I do. But unfortunately we can't. We just need to go forward and strive to do better," he advised.

"I just hope she will give me the chance," I sighed. I saw her and Masen emerge from the store. I knew that I had to wrap things up. "I've got to go, but just so you know we plan on going to our house in Forks. We figured that was the safest place."

"Alright, let me know if we can do anything." We said our good-byes and hung up. Bella approached slowly holding Masen's hand across the parking lot. He looked pale and slightly ridiculous in Jasper's hoodie, which went down to his feet. He looked like he might fall back asleep while standing up.

"The guys will be right out," Bella told me as she handed me a bag. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms as if she was cold.

I tossed the bag in the back and pulled out my own hoodie. "You look cold." I offered it to her.

She looked at it for a moment before taking it. "Thank you. I guess I got a little to use to Arizona. I forgot what Washington was like," she said shyly as she slipped it on.

I couldn't help liking it was mine she was wearing not Jasper's.

"Daddy," Masen pulled at my hand, I looked down at him. "Can we watch the doggy movie? Pease" his puppy dog eyes were killer.

"Ahh" I looked at Bella for help, I still didn't know where to stand on that.

She smirked and nodded.

"Sure, little buddy, we can check it out." I agreed and opened the door for him. He crawled into his seat.

"He will probably fall back sleep, so I doubt he will get scared. I can't wait for the day that Alice meets Masen and he turns those eyes on her. It will be revenge for all the times that she forced me to go shopping." Bella smirked before heading to the opposite side.

"What happened to Alice?" I asked nonchalantly.

Bella's eyes looked pained for a moment before she pushed it away.

"She never liked Alec much. She thought I should stay away from him and he thought I should stay away from her. By the time I found out who Alec really was I was afraid he would do something to her so I kept pushing her away." She seemed full of regret.

"I'm sorry, love."

The sadness melted away and her eyes went vacant. "Don't call me love." She opened her car door and sat down. I sighed before joining them in the car.

"Just so you know, I just talked to my father. I set him straight about everything."

She nodded with a grim smile as she got Masen situated in his seat.

"Okay," she just shrugged before choosing one of the Scooby movies for me to put in. I could tell she was still closing herself off about it, but I was going to stand by her on this one.

LB

We arrived in Forks just before noon. Masen was once again out, his coughing was worse and his fever was back up. His breathing was also starting to sound more labored.

"We can set up my old room for him. The couch is a pullout so he can sleep there and you can have my bed. I'll take one of the guest's rooms." I suggested. As Jasper pulled to a stop under some trees near the house.

"That would be great, thank you." Bella smiled shyly. She moved to open the door, but Jasper stopped her.

"Hold on, you and Masen wait here while we check it out. I swear I saw something move on the porch." Jasper looked alert and ready. He was trying to peer into the shadows.

"I don't see anything. It was probably just a squirrel." Emmett squinted into the dark.

I had seen something move too. "That's too big to be a squirrel." I placed a hand on the door. I glanced back at Bella. She gave me a worried look as she let go of the door.

"Stay here. If anything happens get you and Masen out of here. Don't worry about us. Head for the Canadian border. I'll leave you my cell and you can call my parents for help." I handed her my phone. She took it with a shaking hand and held it to her chest. "Please be careful…for Masen." She bit her lip. I nodded and glanced at the guys.

"Let's do this, but if it's a squirrel you both are treating on pizza and beer." Emmett tried to make light of the situation. Jasper handed me my gun that we had kept locked in the glove box to keep them safe from Masen.

We opened our doors and cautiously made our way to the house while surveying the area.

"Show yourself, you're trespassing on private property. Come out willingly or we will shoot." Jasper yelled out. The three of us raised our guns to be ready.

A figure appeared at the top of the stairs and glared down at us. "Go ahead. I dare you," hazel eyes flashed as they glared at Jasper.

A/N:

Hazel eyes…who could it be?

Many of you caught what Jasper did in the second letter. Rose claims she broke up with Emmett. Emmett told the guys he broke up with her. It's a bit of a he said, she said situation.

Esme and Carlisle had nothing to do with letters. They didn't know about them. Esme bitched Bella out while in mother bear mode.

Jasper thinks it was Alec that messed with the letters. Only a few mentioned the possibility of Alec having a hand in the letters. Most of you think that it is Emmett.

I had a guest review ask about Bella bringing her cell phone with her. She didn't have one until Jasper gave her the pay as you go one. Therefore Alec can't track her by one. Even if she did have one, Jasper would've made her leave it behind, because he was on top of all that.

Thank You For All the Reviews!

LB
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Preview Alert

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Preview:

I jumped when the backdoor opened, but I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Edward. He took in the scene and worry filled his face.

"What happened? Is he okay? Should I call 911?" He searched for his phone forgetting that he gave it to me. His worrying was starting to make Masen panic again.

I know I'm slightly evil today. I leave the ch. in a cliffy and then the preview is a cliffy.