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Blind Intentions By SammieLynnsMom
"Tanya, I already explained, we are not going on vacation that week, it's Nathan's
birthday." I wanted to throw up my hands, but I knew it was hard for her to
understand the pull I felt for my son. We had talked about having children a few
times, but we were still waiting. Once we had children together, I was sure she'd
have a better understanding.
"How about the week after?" she asked with a pout as she leaned over our bed,
wearing my old college tee and red laced panties.
"Can't... Dr. Gerald goes on vacation, and the hospital will be short staffed."
I walked down the hallway to the third door before the stairs. Peeking in, I saw
my son. He was my absolute pride and joy.
It'd been nearly eight years since he graced my life, and although he wasn't born
into a traditional family, I wouldn't have changed a thing.
I sat on the edge of his bed, but he began to stir after I kissed his forehead.
"Daddy?" His voice was groggy with sleep.
"I love you. I have to go to work, but have a good day at school. Your mom will
pick you up at the bus stop."
Bella and I met in college. I was up to my eyeballs in schoolwork and, on a whim,
attended a party a friend was pushing me to attend. After too many shots to
count, I woke up in Bella's dorm, in her bed, completely naked.
Neither one of us remembered how we got there, she was just as wasted as I
was.
Three weeks later, we found out she was pregnant.
My family was less than thrilled. We had money, and they were convinced Bella
lured me to her room to trap me somehow. I really didn't know what to think.
I grew up as the baby of the family, Emmett and Alice both ahead of me in age.
I'd never wanted for anything a day in my life. I was a month shy of graduating,
starting my residency, and then I knocked a girl up.
Bella and I did our best to make a relationship work, but we failed.
However, we both knew we'd be forever intertwined in the other's life. She let me
attend the birth of my son, which I was very thankful for, and she did her best to
include me where she could.
The first year was hectic, to say the least, she was nursing, and Nathan had
problems with bottles. I spent many hours sleeping on her couch, and I helped
out as much as I could;, while still juggling my residency.
After Nathan turned a year and didn't have to depend on Bella so much for
nutrition, we established a routine that worked for us. I took him every
Wednesday night to Friday morning, along with every other weekend. When more
or less time was needed, the other was always willing to work around it.
Bella and I may have failed at a romantic relationship, but I considered us
friends. She did too. We made good co-parents.
I'd met Tanya when Nathan was four. I'd started a new position at a new
hospital, and she was a volunteer in Pediatrics. Every week, Tanya would go
around the ward handing out stuffed toys and reading stories.
Tanya was gorgeous, smart, my family liked her, we got along well, and we had
enough in common to keep me interested in her. It took me a while to gather up
the courage to ask her out, but then a date turned into more, and then into
marriage.
Introducing Tanya to Bella was hard. Bella didn't hold a candle for me or
anything, but Bella just wanted to be sure that I trusted Tanya with our son. It
was always Nathan she worried about. It took about six months before I
introduced Nathan to Tanya, but when I did, I gave Bella my word that we didn't
need to fear her.
However, anytime Bella and Tanya were in the same room, it would feel off.
Tanya never knew where she fit with Bella, and I think Bella was a little weary of
anyone that held a place in Nathan's life. Bella got a lot more relaxed when Tanya
and I married.
We got married shortly after Nathan turned five. Nathan was our ring bearer, and
Bella was all smiles. She hadn't dated much, at least not that she'd told me, but I
hoped one day she'd find someone.
As a step-mom, Tanya was great. She enjoyed staying home and taking care of
Nathan while I worked. When we didn't have him, she continued to volunteer in
the hospital.
I placed one more kiss on Tanya's lips. We'd talk about a vacation when I got
home, but I really wanted to consider one where we took Nathan with us. It'd
been a while since we'd had a family vacation, and I wanted one. I was also sure
Bella could use the break.
I unlocked my car and headed to work.
Working in the ER was a hectic job, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, I hated
when I walked into work and, unexpectedly, get slammed with a double shift.
Tanya would be pissed I wouldn't be home until the middle of the morning, but
I'd make it up to her later. I was looking at the entire weekend off in a few days,
and it was not my weekend with Nathan. I considered taking her away to a Bed &
Breakfast we'd been considering trying out. It was only a few hours away, but it
might be enough for her to get off my back about a grand vacation for the two of
us.
On my lunch break, I texted her to book us a suite. She was thrilled. I loved
making my wife happy. I also knew the added hours would be forgiven. I was still
considered the "new doctor" on the block, even three years in, so more often
then not I was given the extra shifts.
As dinner time neared, my phone went off. I almost didn't answer it until I saw it
was Bella. She'd never call me unless it was about Nathan, so I answered.
"Edward, where is my son?" she screeched through the phone.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, because it wasn't like Bella to call me out
of the blue. Out of the two of us, Bella was always the calmer parent. For her to
call me, in a panic, was alarming.
"I asked where Nathan is! When I went to the bus stop to pick him up, the driver
told me he wasn't there this morning. So I called the school, and they said he
was absent today."
"Bella, he was at home when I left. Let me call Tanya, maybe he woke up sick or
something." Panic began to take over me, and I hightailed it into my office. Tanya
would have called me if she kept him home...at least she did last time, and when
I talked to her earlier, she hadn't mentioned anything.
I hung up on Bella, although not on purpose, so I could quickly dial my house
number.
"Hello, baby," Tanya's flirty voice filled the receiver.
"Is Nathan with you?" I asked quickly.
"No, it's not our day to have him. I dropped him at the bus stop this morning
and…"
"So he's not home?" I interrupted.
"I just said…"
"And did you watch him get on the bus?" Every red flag in my brain was lighting
up like a Christmas tree.
"Um, no, but Ed..."
My fingers started working before my mind could catch up.
"Hello?" Bella was in tears, and I could hear it in her voice.
"He's missing, Bella. He's missing."
As soon as Bella told me she'd call the police, I hung up the phone and ran to my
father's office. After a very brief, and winded explanation, I tore out to the
parking lot to my car. Once inside, tunnel vision took over...I needed to get home
and find Nathan.
When I pulled up, Tanya bolted out of the house and asked what was wrong. She
kept going on and on about trying to call me back, but I didn't even recognize the
ten missed calls my cell phone claimed I'd missed.
Before I even got in the house, I could hear the sirens in the distance as Bella
haphazardly parked in my driveway. Her face was red, eyes puffy, and tears
streamed down her face. If you'd asked me then what she was wearing, I
wouldn't have been able to tell you.
The day turned into night with no sign of Nathan. My living room was turned into,
"Where's Nathan?" central. Most of my family huddled inside while Bella's father,
the Chief of Police, had his men coming in like a revolving door.
I vaguely remembered the officer taking me aside to ask me questions.
"When did you last see your son, Dr. Cullen?" I knew the guy, Officer Newton. His
cold shoulder immediately irritated me. I knew his questions were reasonable,
but I didn't like feeling as if I was a suspect.
"This morning, I, um...I kissed him goodbye when I was leaving for work. I guess
it was like 5:30," I answered.
"So your wife is the person who sees him to the bus? Is that normal?"
"Um, yeah...well, Tanya stays home while I work. After I leave, she gets him
breakfast and off to the bus stop...I don't..." I put my head in my hands. I
honestly didn't remember the last time I had taken him to school myself. It never
occurred to me before, but, in that instant, I felt like a failure.
"Do you know what he was wearing the last time you saw him?"
"Superman pajamas...he threw a fit until I let him wear them last night." I smiled
at the memory before shaking myself out of it. "I don't know what Tanya put him
in for school, you'll have to ask her."
"Does he have any scars? Dental work? Anything that would be a unique
identifier?"
"Yes, on the back of his neck. He fell down when he was four, landed on a rock. It
needed stitches, and it left a mark." He asked me if it was in his medical records,
and I nodded.
"Do you have any enemies? Any family members threaten you for a death at the
hospital? Anything like that?"
"No, never," I immediately answered.
"That's all I need for now, if you can think of anything, come find me, okay?"
I choked out a thank you.
In the distance, I saw Tanya sitting with a different officer...I assumed answering
the questions I couldn't. Bella sat in the living room. If I didn't know any better, I
would have said she was catatonic. Her eyes were open, staring into the distance
at what seemed like nothing.
When Charlie came to sit next to me, I jumped...I never saw him coming.
"We'll find him, Edward. We will." I could hear the emotion laced in his voice. We
both knew the odds.
"But in what conditions? It's almost nightfall, that's what, 12 hours, almost? As
time goes on..." I couldn't go on. Up until this point, I had kept a brave face on,
trying to keep it together so I could feel helpful, but sitting next to Bella's father,
I lost it.
I wasn't aware of how much time passed before Charlie stood up. An officer
pulled him over to talk more. My ears opened, I tried to catch even a whisper of
what they were saying, but it all just sounded like a jumble of words.
When I looked up, I saw my sister, Alice, hugging Bella as she stayed curled on
the chair in my living room. On the opposite side was my mother and Tanya. For
a brief second, I felt worse for Bella, my family had never welcomed her. Shortly
after Tanya and I got married, I heard her and Mom talking in whispered hushes.
My mom was expressing her joy that Tanya was her new daughter-in-law.
Apparently, when Bella and I announced to our families she was pregnant with
Nathan, my mom immediately thought I'd rush off to marry Bella. We were
young, dumb, and both thought that would have been even stupider than our
drunken one-night stand. We went on a few dates, but Bella broke it off.
"Bella, I'm so sorry." I continued to hold her as she sobbed. The positive
pregnancy test was staring at us from the end table.
"I'm not...I can't do this..." she whispered through her tears.
"I promise you, we will get through this." I'm not sure I believed myself, but they
were the only words I could offer her.
"I don't even know you." She looked up with her innocent brown eyes all red and
puffy from an hours worth of crying.
"You will. We'll get to know each other."
In the end, we did just that. I'd never anticipated that my mother would
immediately begin screaming at Bella mere seconds after the announcement. She
went on and on about how Bella must have hunted me down for our money.
"Bella, I thought you were willing to give us a try?" I pleaded, we'd been on a few
dates since our disastrous meeting with my family. We both got along well. She
was smart, funny, and intellectually witty.
"It won't work. We'll stay friends for the baby, but I don't want to date you." Her
voice was strong, but I could see the tears forming in her eyes. My gut told me
she didn't really want to end things with me like this, but she stayed strong,
regardless.
"What did I do?" It came out as a whisper.
"Edward, I can't be with a man who thinks I'm with him for his money. And I
can't see a future with a man who's family thinks the same thing." Tears began to
fall from her face as she went on to explain, "When your mother started
screaming, your first instinct wasn't to defend me. So please, don't bother lying
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