This was an entry in TwiNetwork's Third Iron Pen Twilight Challenge. You were given 30 minutes (plus 15 to strategize) and a secret ingredient in order to write a One Shot. The secret ingredient this time around was to use a ranch as the setting. This what my plot bunnies produced. =)

"Somewhere Out There"

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~O.o.O~

And even though I know how very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star

And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky

Somewhere out there, if love can see us through
Then we'll be together, somewhere out there
Out where dreams come true

~O.o.O~
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Eyes closed, I felt the cool breeze caress against my skin. I inhaled deeply, the smell of the Montana countryside night air filling my lungs.. As I let the breath out of my chest, I gazed out to the snow-capped mountains that were on the horizon, the sun setting the sky ablaze as it slowly sunk from view.

I couldn't help but wonder if he was out there, gazing upon the same sky and wishing on the same bright stars. I wondered if he ever thought of me. Three years had passed since Edward Cullen left town, moving onto bigger and better things. Only once in those years had a letter crossed my threshold, apologizing for leaving the way he did- that he needed to find out who he was without being tied down. With each day, week, month that passed, my hope dwindled and my heart ached more and more. He'd been my first love and the one person I thought I could always count on, but he dashed all of that.

Were it not for Masen, I think I would have surely given into despair. As if hearing his mother's thoughts, my son's voice called out for 'Mama.' Mustering a bright smile that only he could bring about these days, I turned and made my way back into the candlelit room. His aunt Alice held him in her arms as she entered my opened doorway.

"Evening, Bella," she greeted quietly, a soft smile upon her face.

"Hey, Allie. He wasn't too much trouble this afternoon, was he?"

She sat his in his playpen across the room and laughed. "No, he was an absolute doll. Mom and Dad want to take us all into town for dinner tomorrow, is that okay with you? It's be nice to have someone else make dinner for once."

I nodded, smiling. I could never say no to any member of the Cullen family. They'd taken me in when I turned up on the doorstep of the Circle C Ranch, heartbroken, pregnant and alone. Not once did they question Masen's paternity, especially as the boy grew into a mini-replica of their son.

His bright green eyes lit up and he reached for me with his chubby arms. Laughing, I picked him and twirled around the room, my soul lifting with every giggle that escaped his lips. At times, I'd feel guilty that he'd never met his father, but Edward chose his path. He'd also made sure that he was untraceable. His parents, Esme and Carlisle spent months trying to track him down, but he was completely off the grid and no one had heard from him.

Plopping down on the bed, my little boy clutched me tightly, his breath evening out and quickly turning into soft snores. I rubbed his back lightly, in a comforting manner as I felt the bed dip with Alice's weight. She gazed down on with loving, sympathetic eyes.

"He doesn't know what he's missing," she murmured, touching my hand gently.

I tried to give her a comforting smile, but I'm sure it looked more like a grimace.

"It's his loss, Alice, not ours. We're fine without him," I replied, unconvincingly.

She sighed and rose to her feet. "I understand, Bells, but I think there's something more to it. I'm sure we'll find out one day. I'll see you at breakfast."

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~O.o.O~
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The next morning dawned bright and early, with Masen and I gathering eggs before the sun had even fully risen. Well, I was picking the eggs while Masen chased around the poor hens.

"Come on, Mase, cut it out."

He stopped and looked up at me with his wide green eyes and smiled. "Sowwy, Mama."

I shook my head, biting back a smile and reached for his hand, which he latched onto enthusiastically. This had been our morning routine for the past year. Before he'd been able to walk, Masen sat in his high chair in the kitchen with Esme as I went about performing chores. She'd told me time and time again that it wasn't necessary, but I felt the need to pull my weight, so I helped out on the ranch wherever I could.

We strolled, hand-in-hand, up to the main house and I noticed an unfamiliar black pick up truck parked next to my red one. Figuring that if it'd been something important, Alice would've let me know, I thought nothing of it. The 12,000 plus acres of the the Circle C had been converted from a working farm into a Dude Ranch little over five years ago, so new faces around the ranch wasn't anything new.

Maneuvering both the eggs and my wobbly son up the back porch stairs, loud voices were heard coming through the screen door. As I stepped into the kitchen, the eggs fell at my feet. An angry pair of emerald eyes blazed into me, searing me to the bone.

"Hello again, Bella," he seethed, before glancing down at the boy by my side.

Instantly, my backbone was steel and I shifted Masen behind me, determined that my son not be a casualty of the upcoming battle.

"Edward," I replied shakily, swallowing the lump in my throat.

What a way to start the day.

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~O.o.O~
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AN: I'd really like to continue this! My hands are pretty full at the moment, but once I get some free time, this will definitely be expanded a bit!

Song used: Somewhere Out There by Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram

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