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Chapter 6 – SOS

"Is anybody listening?
Can they hear me when I call?
I'm shooting signals in the air
'Cause I need somebody's help
I can't make it on my own
So I'm giving up myself
Is anybody listening...listening?"

"He's yours."

The words reverberated in my head, though I didn't even need to have them voiced. I knew he was my son the moment I saw the picture. Our hair and eyes were the same color, but it was so much more. He stood in what looked like the Swans' old backyard, hands in the pockets of his khakis, the bright red polo clashing wildly with his bronze hair, an adorable lopsided grin on his face. I could feel my own lips moving into a smile as my thumb traced his face.

"How old is he?" I heard my voice say. It was foreign to me, soft and low, not at all as angry or hurt as I felt. It was curious, nothing else.

"Five in August," Bella whispered. "His name is – "

"- Masen," I finished for her. I could see her nod out of the corner of my eye but chose not to look at her. I couldn't look away from his face. It was true; he was the spitting image of me, but with subtle hints of Bella, too. He was a perfect mixture of the two of us. I don't know how long I sat there and ignored her, I didn't care. All I cared about was this little boy, who I had never even met, and who already owned me, heart and soul. He was mine. And she didn't tell me. Why in the fuck didn't she tell me?

"Why didn't you tell me?" I finally looked up from the picture and met her eyes. They were cautious, scared even.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"You don't know?" I asked softly. "You don't know why you waited five fucking years to tell me I had a son?"

"I'm sorry." Her hands moved to take the picture from me. Her fingers tried to gently pull it from my grip but I snatched it away, quickly shoving it into my jacket pocket.

"Sorry?" I shook my head, disgusted. I stood up, needing to relieve the tension or maybe just to get away from her, I wasn't sure.

BPOV

He shoved himself off the bench we had been sitting on and walked several paces away, his back to me. I didn't expect this to go well. If I were being honest with myself I didn't know what to expect. I knew what I'd done was wrong, but there was no way to take it back. When Edward left I fell apart… Masen was what kept me together. Truthfully, I didn't have an exact reason for keeping my pregnancy from Edward. I didn't discover I was pregnant until nearly a month after he had left. By the time I did find out I had convinced myself that we were better off apart. I was nearly finished with my English degree and planning on my Master's and I knew, I knew, Edward would flourish far better without being tied down by a wife and child.

I sighed as I stood and slowly walked to him, placing a hand gingerly on his shoulder. He jerked out from my grip and spun around, glaring.

"Edward, please…" my voice came out in a whisper. "Let me explain," I pleaded. He shook his head and turned away from me again.

"I can't talk to you, Bella. I can't even look at you right now," I heard him say. Though his voice was quiet I could still detect the anger there. "I need some time."

"But –"I started to say. He held up a hand, though I could only see the back of his head I could imagine the look on his face; eyes closed, nostrils flared, lips pursed into a fine line. I nodded, forgetting he couldn't hear me. "Okay," I mumbled. His shoulders fell and he didn't look back as he walked away, just as I hadn't when I left him in the woods that day. I sat back on the bench, defeated. I did what I needed to do; now… all I had to do was wait.

EPOV

I drifted back to my hotel, completely dazed. They only thing I was aware of was the picture of Masen, burning white-hot in my jacket pocket. I collapsed on the queen bed in my small hotel room, not bothering to take off my jacket or shoes. While one hand pulled the picture of my son out of my pocket the other acted of its own accord, dialing the number of someone who had always been one of my greatest sources of comfort.

"Hello?" The soft voice immediately soothed me.

"Hi, Mom," I whispered.

"My beautiful boy," I could hear her smiling through the phone. "I've missed your voice."

"And I yours," I laughed.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice tinged with worry.

"Everything," I answered. I proceeded tell my mother everything that had happened in the past week, from Bella's phone call to our meeting mere hours before. I told her about Masen. Well, what he looked like and how old he was since I knew absolutely nothing else. She listened with rapt attention, like she was watching a good movie, and when I finished I could hear her sniffling softly.

"I'm so sorry, baby," she said softly. "I don't know how she could do this to you…"

"Me either," I sighed. I heard a door slam on her end and my father's voice echoing down the halls of their home.

"Your father's home, would you like to talk to him?"

"Not right now," I sat up and ran a hand through my hair. "I'll give you a call later."

"Okay, sweetheart. I love you, please keep me posted," I could feel the lump rising in my throat again.

"I will, Mom. I love you," and I hung up. I shrugged out of my jacket and slipped off my shoes, exhausted by the day's activities and desperately needing sleep. As much as I wanted to sleep I couldn't get my mind to shut down. My conversation with Bella, the huge bombshell she had just dropped on me, and the scenarios that played through just wouldn't stop. There were so many things I had missed already, things I should've been a part of, but I wasn't. Five years were just… gone.

It was strange; the thought of children had not crossed my mind in the five years I had been in Australia. Why would it? I had no one I wanted to be with for that long… but with Bella? We talked about it all the time. I knew his name was Masen because we had had the conversation so many times. The truth was something that many people did not know. My biological parents had been killed in a car accident when I was just over a year old. My mother and father, Edward and Elizabeth Masen, were prominent in the small town of Forks. Esme had even helped them to redecorate their house. The night they had their accident Carlisle was working the ER in Forks' General. My mother recognized him immediately and pleaded with him to be sure I was safe. Carlisle was, and still is, one of the most compassionate people I've ever met. As I had no other relatives, they took me in as a foster child just after Alice was born. A year later, they adopted me. My last name was changed to Cullen, but when Bella and I talked about children I knew that I wanted to have something to remind me of my biological parents. I may not have remembered them, but I wanted my children to carry on something from my past. We always knew when the time came our first son would be named Masen.

It was strange that, in the week or so that had passed since Bella's call, I hadn't dreamt of the corridor or following the voice. When I finally fell asleep, exhausted after traveling for 24 hours and the events that followed, the dreams returned. Only this time I knew who I was looking for.

A/N: Thanks to mah fab beta Becca Graymoor and my life-twin Messynachos who talked me out of offing myself like, three times this week.

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