I nod, because I can’t speak past the lump in my throat. A few days ago, my biggest worries were finding out if Laura was still available or not and reconnecting with her. And now? I feel like I’ve reconnected with more than just her. I feel like I’ve reconnected with my life.
Reconnected with a part of myself that I’d pushed so deep, I’d almost forgotten it existed. The desire to have a family to call my own. To create a home with those who love me and love them in turn. To have a purpose greater than that of a paycheck, or taking down mob rings. Those were important things, sure, but they didn’t feed my soul.
Looking down at the small weight in my arms - and Laura, content and tired - I know that I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. There’s no other place that I’d rather be.
They’re doing their final check-up on Laura and our newborn baby girl, so I step out of the room. I spot a familiar figure racing down the hallway.
“Dan!” I greet him. He looks at me, grabbing my hand as if he’s about to fall.
“Is Laura okay? Is the baby okay?”
“They’re fine,” I answer. “More than that,” I add with a grin. “Do you know this sweet baby is mine?”
I am sure that Dan is going to roll his eyes at me, but he doesn’t. Instead, he just pats my hand and goes, “Yeah, yeah. I’m so glad. I was so worried.”
“Did you just say you’re glad the baby is mine?” I push on, teasing him. This time, he focuses in on me.
“What? Oh. Oh yeah. Congratulations. You’re a father,” he hugs me. I hug him back and laugh.
“You could have told me she was pregnant with my child. I would have - I don’t know… I would have done something.”
“You couldn’t have done anything,” Dan says. “Besides, it wasn’t for me to tell you. You’re the idiot who got caught up prosecuting a mob syndicate and had to be whisked away to witness protection, and then wound up fake dying for several months. So don’t you blame me for this.”
I laugh and shake his hand.
“Thanks for everything,” I mean every word. “Thanks for taking care of Laura and my unborn child.”
He shrugs, “Well, she is my sister, you know, and that’s my niece. Hey, I have a niece. I’m an uncle!” He looks delighted. His tie is crooked, his shirt half-undone. I want to make a joke about how he looks more like the worried father than I do. But I can’t, because Dan has been bearing the brunt of those worries for the past few months, while I was stupidly unaware that my child was growing inside of Laura. I can only feel thankful towards him for everything that he’s done. He stepped up in more ways than one, as he usually does.
Dan looks at me seriously.
“I have a question,” he says, looking somber.
“What is it?”
“Are you going to make an honest woman of my sister?”
I start to sputter, “I- I mean, I haven’t really… I just got back, and now I’m a dad…”
Dan starts laughing, “I’m kidding. I’m kidding. You two decide what you want to do. I don’t care. I’m just happy that you’re here and that Laura feels supported.”
“Good, good,” I answer. “I am going to ask something of her, though, and I want to make sure that’s okay with you, first.”
He cocks an eyebrow.
“I’m going to ask her to move in with me, with the baby. I want us to try to be a family, at least. Get to know each other. I want to take care of her, be there for her.”
Dan begins to nod, looking touched. He clamps the top of my arm.
“Of course,” he says. “I’m sure Laura will be thrilled. I’m so happy that you’re back. I really am, on multiple levels. My sister needs you, and your daughter needs you too. I’m glad they have you to lean on, Chris. You’re a hell of a guy, and a hell of a friend and brother.” He laughs, “And I’m going to be a hell of an uncle, so don’t expect that you won’t see me all the time, because you will. I’ll practically be your next roommate.”
“That sounds just fine to me,” I grin. After spending so much time without friends, I just want to surround myself with the few that I have. Having a daughter on top of it all? That was just the icing - even thicker than the one on Laura’s tiramisu cake.
The nurse steps out, indicates that the examinations are done and everything’s okay.
“You go say hi to her,” I tell Dan. “I’m going to go grab a snack. Go meet your niece.”
He smiles gratefully at me, shakes my hand one more time, and clasps it warmly, and then he heads in, looking every bit the dishevelled uncle.
I can’t believe how lucky I am to have these people in my family. At some point in my life, I must have done something right. I can’t think of what it may have been right now, but I’m glad I did it, whatever it was.
After great aunt Jolene’s visit?, the day grows more quiet. Since Laura’s blood pressure has been spiking during her pregnancy, they want to keep her overnight just to make sure she’s okay. She wants to go back home, but I calmly insist that she stay and listen to the doctor’s orders. She relents when I remind her that she has a daughter now.
“Alright,” she says, looking disappointed. “I’ll just stay here overnight. Thank you for getting me a private room.”
“It’s the least I can do,” I lean back into my chair, our daughter is in a little bassinet, sleeping peacefully. She’s quiet so far. The nurses say that that doesn’t usually last, though, and to brace ourselves for sleepless nights. I don’t mind. I’ll brace myself for anything this family brings, and I’ll do it with gratitude in my heart.
I don’t intend to go anywhere tonight, either. This chair is comfortable enough for me to stay here with Laura and little baby Jane. Jane Ella, named after both of our mothers.
“Jane Ella Heed…” Laura had whispered.
“Or Jane Ella Martin?” I’d offered.
She’d smiled.
“No, Heed is fine,” she replied as she’d squeezed my hand.
I kissed her forehead in a promise. Some day, she too would be a Heed. And now, I have my own little clan and I don’t intend to go anywhere.
Laura falls asleep, exhausted from the day’s labor. Little Jane Ella sleeps peacefully as well, having had a deep drink not too long ago. I stand up and stretch my legs. We’d received many flowers, gifts from the law firm, from Laura’s friends, from Amanda, from Uncle Dan. One was a bouquet of balloons, even. It caught my eye.
It was different. Three little short balloons together, simply attached to a bouquet. I head over to it to look at the card. Nothing fancy on the card, either, not even a congratulations. But four words on it that send chills down my spine.
I read them over and over again, my mouth growing dry.
We haven’t forgotten you.
18
Chris
I look out from the penthouse balcony which overlooks the length of the city. I love my apartment, and I love it so much more now that Laura and Jane are here as well. The whole place went from austere to alive. There are kid’s toys everywhere. There’s a constant stream of activities, and I’m not alone. I look forward to coming home at the end of every workday, and I’m actually taking my weekends off, something that I haven’t done in forever.
Mind you, I was also in witness protection for awhile. But still, this is a nice change of pace.
Laura steps out onto the balcony and hands me a cup of coffee. I take it gratefully, kiss her on the lips, and she leans on the balcony railing beside me. We look out over the city.
“Is Jane asleep?” I ask.
“She is,” she gives me a smile. “She falls asleep easily, just like her daddy.”
I smile right back at her. Truth is, I don’t fall asleep easily. I tell Laura that I do, because she’s asleep as soon as she hits the pillow, exhausted from the day’s activities. But me? I’m having a hard time sleeping, ever since Jane was born and we received what I can only interpret as a death threat.
No matter how I turn things around in my head, I alwa
ys come to the same conclusion. Three balloons, just like the three stars from the Malcon family clan. Short balloons, like Shorty. And a threat. We haven’t forgotten you.
I might be over-interpreting it, I’m not sure right now. I never showed it to Laura. She doesn’t know anything about the mob case, and I don’t want her to be worried. I keep in touch with my main FBI contact just to see if they find out anything about where Shorty has ended up, but he’s still in the wind.
As far as they’re concerned, he’s long gone. He’s skipped the country, even. Back to Italy, or somewhere else, to find safety away from the U.S. judicial system. There are multiple warrants out for his arrest. If he even steps into the United States, he’s as good as locked up for life, or so they say.
I showed the FBI the note, the balloons, the bouquet. They analyzed everything, but it was ordered from one of those online services, no way to track the purchaser. The modern economy is great for that. People don’t want to leave a trace and often manage not to. Sometimes privacy protections make it harder for law enforcement to find bad guys. As a lawyer, I can’t help but dislike most of the anti-tracking protections now offered to regular consumers. As a human being, though, I appreciate them.
“So, has work been busy?” Laura asks, breaking my train of thought.
“Rather,” I answer vaguely. “Big case coming up - you know how it gets.”
“I know,” she says, and smiles at me. “I was thinking that maybe this weekend the three of us could go for a picnic in the park.”
“That would be wonderful,” I smile back at her. I don’t care if we go for a picnic, or if we spend the entire weekend at home doing absolutely nothing. As long as it’s with them, I’m happy. I feel complete in a way that I never have. As I look out over the city, feeling as though there’s a shadow stalking me and watching me somewhere, and not just me, but my entire family, I can’t help but fear that I’ll lose everything I’ve finally gained - everything that I didn’t even know I was missing.
“I think I’ll go to the market to get a few things today,” Laura says.
“Alright, but make sure to take Jason with you.”
I’ve hired Jason as our personal security guard. Laura keeps asking me why we need a security guard, and I just vaguely answer that it’s the nature of the job - especially, after almost being killed.
Laura understands, but I can tell that she misses her past freedom. I feel bad for imposing this on her, but I don’t know any other way to keep her safe.
“I would like to go with just Jane ” she says. “No one has ever come near us. I don’t see why we have to take Jason with us.”
“Do you want me to get someone else other than Jason?” I ask.
“No,” she says, frustrated. “I don’t want Jason, and I don’t want a security guard. I just want to live a life where we’re family, and we can walk to the market without being shadowed.”
Being shadowed… if only she knew what danger we’re in. But I don’t blame her, and I respect her opinion. Of course, that opinion is based on missing most of the facts, but I’m the one withholding the facts from her, so I can’t exactly hold it against her.
An idea strikes me.
“Alright, what if I take you to a different market?”
“Oh?” she asks, curious. “You’re coming with us? Skipping out on work?”
I shrug, “Uh, maybe a little. We can take a ride just down that way.” I point to the east, where Miriam and Ruth have relocated, living above a large indoor market area, away from their old lives, and away from the Malcons.
“Alright,” she says enthusiastically. “I’d like that. Let’s go when Jane wakes up.”
“Sounds good.”
She kisses me and steps inside to get ready, looking pleased with herself that we’re going out as a family, during a weekday, no less.
I intend to keep them safe, both of them. Even if it means keeping them in the dark.
I find a parking spot, and Laura and I step out. I can’t help but look around, in case anyone is watching. I know on a rational level that nobody is. Nobody’s following us, either. Nobody is tailing us, and nobody knows where we are right now. Still… I glance around the shadows of the street and the neighborhood before I go to the back and get Jane’s stroller.
Laura coos as she takes Jane out and places her inside the stroller. Jane’s eyes are wide open, and she’s looking at everything around her. We head into the old market building. Most of the large windows surrounding it are open, giving it the feeling that’s still kind of outdoors, even though it’s in the middle of the city, in the bottom floor of a building. The floors are cement, and stalls sell everything from local crops to meats to artisanal soaps.
I push Jane’s stroller as Laura goes from booth to booth, selecting vegetables and meat for our supper, haggling with the salespeople, even though she really doesn’t have to. I grin. She’s having a ball. She absolutely loves doing this. I know that she’ll get tired soon, with all the people around her. She’s not one to be surrounded by so many, more into writing in books, even though she hasn’t been doing much writing lately. How could she have the time?
I’m looking around the marketplace, and I see mostly old people, women with children, a few couples strolling about. Nobody raises any suspicion. I take a deep breath.
“You look like you’re about to explode,” Laura says, stepping beside me. She hands me a watermelon.
“Markets make me nervous,” I answer. “It’s all these carrots, staring at us, trying to eat our souls.”
She laughs, “The carrots are our enemy, but the watermelon will help us fight the good fight!”
It’s a giant watermelon. It’s bigger than our child.
“Are you sure we can eat all of this?” I look at her suspiciously.
“I have a craving for watermelon. We’re getting the whole watermelon.”
There’s a note of finality in her voice, and I’m not about to argue. Her cravings have gotten a lot better… now I think she’s just using them as an excuse to enjoy whatever her palate guides her to. She hardly needs an excuse, she can eat whatever she likes. But she seems to be enjoying the journey, and who am I to argue.
“So, no carrots then,” she says. I shake my head dramatically. She rolls her eyes, doing a spot-on Dan impression before saying, “Fine. Cucumbers it is.” She goes off to the next stall to select the best cucumber she can find. I smile as I watch her. She seems so happy, so free. Living with her has been a gift. There are barely any arguments, except over ridiculous things. Our senses of humor are very compatible, and I’ve even discovered that I have more of a sense of humor than I thought I did. She can make light of any situation.
Everything is wonderful...except for this. Even though I feel safe here right now, I still can’t help but feel like there’s a shadow stalking us somewhere out there. This is ridiculous. I can’t live like this. It might just even be Shorty from far away, trying to get to me, to make me not enjoy this time with my family, my life as a new father. The past two months, all I’ve done is look over my shoulder, and try to keep an eye on Laura and Jane. I’m not a tactical unit, and I’m certainly not a moat for my family. I can’t keep them safe this way, especially from a danger I don’t understand and don’t know where it is or when it might strike, if at all.
No other threats or information have reached me - no signs of stalking, no signs of Shorty anywhere. Lucky is still in jail and behaving accordingly - even a model prisoner, I’m told, although I find that hard to believe.
The FBI assures me that we’re in no danger. I really have to let this go. I don’t want to waste this precious time with my family, always being afraid. I don’t want Jane growing up paranoid because her dad’s always looking over his shoulder, for reasons she doesn’t understand. That’s not fair.
I take a deep breath, enjoying the scent of nearby mint and basil and I let it go. I smile at Laura as she returns with three cucumbers, looking very pleased with herself.
“A cucumber per person?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” she nods. “Jane had better finish all of hers this time, too. She can’t just be having breast milk all the time, you know. That girl’s got to eat. She’s tiny.” She looks serious and I burst out laughing. She follows along, and puts the cucumbers in the bottom of the stroller.
Ruth and Miriam live just upstairs, on the second story of this old marketplace. Small apartment, by all accounts, from the letter I received from Miriam. They seem to be doing well and enjoying their life here. I remind myself that it’s safe, and they’re safe, and Laura and Jane are safe.
“Do you mind if I just go say hi to some friends upstairs, just for a second?” I ask. She looks at me, surprised.
“You’re willing to leave us alone?”
I deserve that. I haven’t exactly been the least paranoid person ever.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so weird these past couple of months. I guess being a new dad unexpectedly is playing tricks with my head,” I give her a crooked smile.
She stands up on the tips of her toes and kisses my lips,“Don’t worry about it. I know that you’re just trying to keep us safe.”
I look into her eyes, and the world fades away for a few moments. I love her so much. Her and Jane, and the world that we’re creating together, the life that we’re building…
“Which friend are you going to visit?” she asks. Her smile still open, no suspicion in it whatsoever, no lack of trust. I love that about her. I love that she makes everything so easy.
“Some old clients of mine. A woman and her little girl, much older than Jane, but maybe a future babysitter.”
“Oooh…” Laura says, looking wistful. “Now that’s important. Go, reconnect with them, and make sure that we remain in contact until this child is old enough to babysit.” I salute Laura, and she giggles.
“Yes, ma’am,” I say. “I’ll just be a few minutes.” I kiss her again, letting my lips linger on hers a moment longer, and then I lean down and kiss baby Jane. She’s looking around with wide eyes, barely noticing the kiss.
Forbidden Neighbor: A Contemporary Romance Boxset (Forbidden Saga Book 2) Page 40
