Chapter Twenty: Do What it Takes

Edward's POV

Bella and I spent the rest of our night together, snuggled on the couch while we talked and attempted to watch a movie. It was amazing having someone here with me who was over the age of four and not my family. It wasn't that I didn't have friends my age, it was just hard to see them a lot when I had Mason to worry about.

After one last tumble in my bed, we were both exhausted and I barely had enough energy to pull the sheet over top of us. I fell asleep watching Bella's breathing steady and realized just how lucky I was in that moment. I had this beautiful...perfect woman who I loved who loved me back and I was an incredibly spoiled man.

"Whoa!" I heard Mason's voice shriek as I felt the sun pouring in from the window. I knew he was with my sister so I didn't even bother opening my eyes because I figured this was about the time he normally woke up. "Good morning."

"Morning, Mason," I heard Bella whisper. "Mason!" She yelled as she scrambled and pulled the sheet up over her head.

"Mason!" Jasper yelped and I realized this was in fact not a dream. My son was really here in my bedroom with Bella naked beside me. I opened my eyes and shot up and glared at Jasper.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked as Jasper pulled Mason out of the room and Alice ran to the doorway. "Alice!"

"I'm sorry, but Mason didn't have any clean underwear in his bag!"

"Yes he did, I put two pairs in his bag before we left the house."

"Well he must have taken them out because I looked like ten times before I was sure he didn't have any," She shrugged. "I'm sorry, Edward, we told him to stay out of here."

"Just go!" I threw one of my pillows at her. "And if Mason starts asking questions, you're the one who's going to answer them for us."

"Okay," She blushed as she swung my door closed and I fell backward onto my remaining pillow. I looked over at Bella whose face was still covered by her pillow and began giggling.

"This isn't funny," She mumbled as I pulled the sheet away from her face. "Edward!"

"I'm sorry, I've just never had to deal with this before," I shrugged. "He wasn't supposed to be here or I would have locked our door."

"You're lucky the sheet was up around my chest," She buried her face in her hands.

"We are," I agreed. "Look, he's four. He probably won't even remember walking in on us and he definitely won't understand why you were in my bed."

"Do you think now is a good time to try and explain it to him that we're a couple?"

"We can try, but he probably won't really get it," I shrugged. "But it might be a good idea if you started coming over more regularly so he can really start to get to know you."

"Good,"

"Really?"

"Mason is your entire life, Edward," She smiled as I grabbed her hand and gently pressed my lips to it. "It seems fitting that he would be a part of my life too."

"Most girls would run in the other direction if they met a single father who's life was devoted to his son."

"I'm not most girls," She whispered. "Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

"I guess..." I trailed off and thought back to before Mason was even born.

"We're really doing this?" She asked anxiously as I dropped her off at her apartment the night before the wedding. The wedding wasn't going to be large and it would be mostly family, but my parents still insisted on having a rehearsal dinner.

"We are," I smiled as I leaned over the console and gently pressed my lips against hers. "Look, I know this isn't what either of us planned but we can do this. We can be a family," I gently pressed my hand against her growing belly.

"A family," She nodded nervously. "It's kind of unreal."

"I know," I whispered. I gave her one last kiss before she got out of the car and headed up to her apartment. I waited for her text, telling me that she was safely inside before I headed towards my apartment. When I got there, Emmett was waiting for me with a glass of whiskey since I agreed not to drink at the rehearsal since Lauren couldn't.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded, suddenly feeling unsure of this whole plan myself.

"It's natural to be a little nervous, Edward," He shrugged. "You're promising to spend the rest of your life with one person. I'm sure I'll be a little jittery too."

"You're right," I nodded, chugging the whiskey he'd given me. After we talked for a little longer, I headed to bed but couldn't seem to fall asleep. I laid in bed for what seemed like hours as I thought about marrying Lauren. Sure I would have loved to wait and plan a proper wedding, but it didn't change how I felt. I loved her and we were ready for this.

In a few months, we'd be adding our baby to the mix and that just made me more excited.

The next morning, Emmett made sure I was up and ready in time to head over to the small church my Mother had found for the ceremony. It wasn't used for church services anymore, but they still allowed people to get married in it so we decided on having the wedding there instead of City Hall like we were originally planning.

"You ready?" Mom asked as she came into the small room my brother and I was waiting in. I nodded and she engulfed me in a huge hug before leaving to go sit in the sanctuary. I walked to the end of the aisle and waited for my bride. I couldn't stop smiling as she walked towards me in her white dress that showed her small baby bump.

"This is it," She smiled when she reached me and I grabbed her hand.

"Forever," I nodded as I leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"I guess it's hard for me to understand that even Mason's mother ran away from us," I shrugged. I hated thinking about it and I hated that she still had this much power over me, but if I was going to have a relationship with Bella then I needed, to be honest with her. "It's a feeling that I'll never forget."

"I meant what I said the night I met your parents," She whispered, cradling my head in her hands. "I'm committed to you and you're just going to need to trust that. And if you don't believe me then I don't think this is going to work out."

"I do trust that," I nodded.

"Then start showing me you trust me by not being surprised when I'm okay with watching the Lego movie with you and your son. Don't ask me twenty times if I'm sure that it's okay if we don't see each other that night because Mason had a bad day," She sighed. "I want to make this work, Edward, and I wouldn't have agreed to go out with you if I didn't fully know Mason was a part of the package."

"It's just...be patient with me. I haven't had to do this in a long time," I whispered. "I love you and of course I want this to work. It's just very new to me."

"Right," She nodded. "Come on, let me cook you breakfast."

"You don't have to..."

"I want to," She winked as she got out of bed and pulled on the t-shirt I had given her the previous night. I pulled on a clean pair of boxers and headed out to the kitchen where she was already cracking eggs and cooking bacon.

The two of us spent the rest of the morning together before we reluctantly said goodbye so I could pick Mason up from my sister's house. I hated when we had to part ways and it didn't get any easier whenever we said goodbye.

Once I dropped her off, I headed over to my sister's house to pick Mason up. When I got there I prayed he wouldn't ask me any questions. I really didn't want to have to try and explain why Bella was in my bed with me...especially since she wasn't dressed.

"Hey," Jasper whispered awkwardly when he opened the door. I pushed past him and smiled when I saw Mason with his head in Alice's lap sound asleep. "We are so sorry about this morning."

"Did he ask any questions?" Alice and Jasper looked at each other. "What did he ask?"

"He asked if you and Bella were married," Alice admitted.

"What? Why?"

"He heard somewhere that when you're married, you sleep in the same bed."

"Who the hell told him that?"

"I think he overheard it somewhere," Alice shrugged. "We're so sorry, Edward. You know we wouldn't have come over if..."

"Daddy?" His small voice asked sleepily.

"Hey, bud," I knelt down next to him and pushed his hair off his forehead. He really needed a haircut. "Where's Bella?"

"She's at her home, Mason."

"Why?"

"Because I needed to come here and pick you up so we could spend the day together finishing up the house."

"Why didn't Bella come?" He asked. "Aren't you married?"

"No, we aren't married, Mason."

"You were in the same bed," Damn my son was too smart for me. "And you sleep in the same bed when you're married."

"Not all the time, buddy."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we have a sleepover with Bella tonight?" He asked and my chest tightened. I really wanted her to sleepover again but there needed to be boundaries. At least until they got to know each other better.

"Not tonight, Mason."

"When?"

"Soon."

"How soon?"

"Mason, why don't you go show your Dad what you made with the clay today?" Alice suggested and before I could blink he was zooming towards their small office. "Again, we are so sorry."

"You're going to be the one's who deal with this if he can't let it go," I warned. "I'm not kidding. Things with Bella and I are still so new. I need to make sure she sticks before the three of us have sleepovers together."

"It'll stick," Jasper said so optimistically.

"How do you know that, Sherlock?"

"I know Bella," He shrugged. "She's very loyal."

"Loyalty doesn't mean anything some of the time."

"You have got to get over Lauren!" Alice shrieked. "What she did was awful but the odds of Bella doing that are like...very small. Just trust her. Not many girls would be willing to date a single father and she's in love with you and your son already!"

"Daddy?" Mason asked as he walked up behind me. "Who's Lauren?"

"Thanks. You guys are doing an awesome job today," I said under my breath as I pulled Mason into my lap. "What'd you make?"

"It's our new house," He smiled, completely forgetting his question about who Lauren was.

"Mason, this is awesome. Can we put it in our real house?"

"Yeah!" He giggled. "In my room?"

"I was thinking the living room," I winked. "Mason, go get your things packed up. I promised your Grandmother we'd be at the house today to approve of the new yard."

"Okay!" He smiled and jumped off of my lap and rushed to the guest room he took over whenever he stayed the night.

"Thanks again for taking him," I rolled my eyes as I stood up. "But next time...let him wear dirty underwear for a few hours."

"Deal," Alice blushed as I picked Mason up and carried him to the car. I got him to the car, threw his things in the trunk and buckled him in his seat. I was just about to start the car when I saw Jasper running out of the house, towards the car.

"What's up?" I asked as I put the window down. "He forget something?"

"Here," He breathed, handing me something that looked like a business card.

"What's this?"

"It's the number to one of my good friends," He whispered. "Someone I went to college with."

"Jazz,"

"He's a psychologist."

"No thanks," I shoved the card back in his hands. "I don't need a shrink."

"Look, everyone has always told me to just let you be and that you'd deal with this on your own," He looked back at Mason who was happily oblivious to the conversation we were having. "But it's been four years and you have a lot of..."

"Watch what you say, Jasper."

"Unresolved feelings about L...her just picking up and leaving you two," He smiled sadly as Mason started singing a song to himself. "You're never going to have the chance to really be with Bella if you have this feeling of abandonment looming over your head."

"I'm fine, Jasper."

"It's okay that you aren't, though," He sighed. "Just think about it. Make one appointment and if you don't think it would be helpful don't schedule a second. Isn't it worth a shot?"

"Thanks for taking him for the night," I ignored his last statement. "But we have to go."

Mom had done a really incredible with the new landscaping and we would be moving into our new home the next weekend. We had gotten a new living room and kitchen furniture, but we were taking our bedroom furniture with us and I needed time to get that all packed up. When we were finished with my Mom, I took Mason home and started making him dinner. I gave in since it had been such a weird day and just made us Annie's macaroni and cheese because I was honestly too tired to put in any real effort.

Plus, I felt like he deserved a treat after walking in on me with another woman.

After dinner, we put a puzzle together before it was time for his bath. After I had him clean and in his PJ's, he picked out a book for me to read to him as he fell asleep. He climbed into bed and snuggled up to me...just like he'd been doing since he could sit up. I read the book until I could hear his deep breathing and gave him a kiss on the head.

I left his room and settled down onto the couch, getting ready to call Bella to say goodnight to her. As I was pulling my phone out of my pocket, the car Jasper had given me fell out with it. I picked it up and looked at it for a long time.

Did I really have abandonment issues?

Probably. Jasper had most likely put in a lot of effort into thinking of ways to help me and I was starting to think I did need the help. I knew going to therapy didn't mean I was crazy or weak, but I just didn't love the idea of spilling my guts to a total stranger.

I unlocked my phone and made the call I had a feeling I would regret later.

"Hey, man,"

"Do you really think therapy would be helpful?" I blurted out, not wanting to make small talk

"I do."

"But why?"

"Because, if what happened with you and Lauren happened with me and Alice...I would need more help than my family could give me," He sighed. "You know we're all here for you, Edward but talking to a professional who can give you real coping mechanisms wouldn't be bad at all."

"I just want to move past this."

"And that's what Claire would help you do," He pointed out. "And if you'd rather talk to a guy, her husband is also a therapist and a damn good one."

"Then why'd you give me Claire's card?" I yanked his chain.

"Because I know her a little bit better than her husband," He sighed. "Look, do whatever you think is going to be the most helpful. But if you don't start dealing with this feeling of abandonment, you'll eventually push Bella away."

"I don't want that,"

"I know you don't," He sighed. "Just trust me. I wouldn't be telling you to do this if I thought it was going to be a terrible idea."

"I'll think about it," I agreed because deep down I knew I was going to call his friend and make an appointment. But I just couldn't commit to it quite yet for some reason. I said goodbye to Jasper and called Bella.

We talked for almost an hour and a half that night about random shit that we didn't know about each other yet. We seemed to have our deepest conversations at night and that night she needed to talk about how much she missed her mother. I couldn't imagine losing my Mom so young like she did and she just kept saying how she wished I could have met her.

I felt kind of selfish at that moment. Here I was...always talking about how hard my life had been ever since Lauren left and here she was...dealing with the fact that she'll never see her mother again. I realized then that therapy was going to be the best thing for me so I wasn't always dumping my problems on my family and girlfriend.

Because they had their problems too and I didn't want this relationship to always be focused on me. That's the kind of relationship I had with Lauren and that didn't work at all. We needed to have a more give and take kind of relationship for this to work.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," I smiled because it was the damn truth. "And I want you to know that you can come to me whenever you're feeling down about your Mom or if you just want to miss her."

"I know I can."

"Good," I sighed awkwardly.

"Daddy!" Mason called from his room and I reluctantly ended the conversation with Bella to go check on my son.

A/N: Hey guys! I am so sorry for this late update. Life at school got really crazy and my best friend is getting married next week so life, in general, has just been hectic. I'm really sorry to do this, but I am going to work at my summer camp on Friday so I won't be updating this story until August. I might be able to do something sooner, but it isn't likely. Thanks for being so patient with me. I can't wait to see where this story goes when I get back from camp!