by Donna Raider
Richie’s feature’s softened, and his smile spread wider. “That would be even better. She would be a little princess. You know, Mom is a queen. I would never let my sister touch the ground,” the boy laughed delightedly.
“I don’t know,” the priest said thoughtfully. “Your mom and I have never discussed having children.”
“You shouldn’t have to discuss it,” Richie frowned. “It should just happen. I can’t believe it hasn’t happened already, the way you two…” the boy’s words trailed off as he realized he was getting way to personal.
“I just hope it happens before I have to go away to college,” Richie looked down at the floor. “I just want my baby brother or baby sister to know me.”
Richie sipped his cocoa. “I didn’t mean to be personal or disrespectful,” he said softly. “But can you even begin to imagine how your children would look. Mom is gorgeous and you are very beautiful. They will look like miniature gods.”
Mika nodded her head but said nothing. She didn’t want to tell the boy that she would love to have a baby girl that looked like her wife.
“Um Richie, you do know that your mom and I are both women?” Mika pointed out.
“Yeah, I know,” Richie grinned. “But with Mom being a witch and you having a direct line with God, surely you can think of something.”
Leah stood outside the entry to the kitchen, pondering the conversation between her wife and son. Having a baby terrified her for many reasons.
“Good morning,” Leah brightly smiled as she swept into the kitchen. “Were you going to let me sleep all day?” She kissed the top of her son’s head and placed a lingering kiss on her wife’s lips. She had showered and dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a white silk blouse. The two top buttons were unbuttoned. Her hair and makeup were perfect. Mika wondered if Leah knew how truly beautiful she was.
“I was just about to start breakfast,” Mika grinned. She slid a cup of hot coffee toward Leah and motioned for her to sit down at the counter. “You enjoy your first cup of coffee while Chef Mika cooks you the best breakfast you ever ate.”
Richie took the dishes and silverware to the dining room table. He poured himself a glass of orange juice and nodded toward his parents if they wanted some. They opted for coffee.
“Mom,” Richie couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice, “Isaac has a new baby brother. Mika said we could see him at the hospital today.”
“That is nice, dear,” Leah said nonchalantly, holding out her cup so her wife could refill it. “What time will you be going?”
“I thought we would all go after breakfast,” Mika answered.
“Yes,” Richie fisted the air. “I can’t wait to see him. Do you think they will let me hold him? I wonder what they named him.”
Mika laughed out loud at her son’s enthusiasm and his machine-gunned questions. “We’ll see.” She grinned. “Don’t forget we need to bowl a couple of games sometime today. Next month is our big tournament, so we need to bowl two or three times a week until then.”
After breakfast, Richie shooed his parents from the kitchen insisting that he would clean up since Mika had cooked.
“I am going to take a quick shower,” Mika said as she headed toward the stairs. She turned to make certain Leah was following her.
“I will be up soon, darling,” Leah smiled. “I want to visit with our son for a few minutes. It seems like forever since we’ve talked.”
Richie regaled her with the story of how scared and befuddled Isaac’s Dad had been at the hospital. “The doctor was more concerned with him than his wife.”
“Dr. Strand said they had never lost a father during delivery, but Isaac’s dad might be the first.” The boy laughed as he described the wide-eyed expression on the man’s face when Dr. Strand placed his newborn son in his arms.
The two talked and laughed as they waited for Mika.
##
“Ready to go,” Mika leaned down and kissed her wife softly. “Did you two solve all the problems of our town while I was gone?” Her eyes twinkled as she looked at her family.
“You two go ahead,” Leah frowned. “I’m still recovering from budget week.”
“Mom, you have to go. Richie pleaded. “You’re the mayor. They will be so honored to have you visit them. You know how people fawn over you,” the boy rolled his eyes, pretending he couldn’t understand the town folks’ infatuation with his gorgeous Mother. Then he grinned, “Besides, it’s Isaac and Mary’s new baby brother. It will mean a lot to them.”
“Okay,” Leah nodded, worrying her lower lip with her teeth.
“Grab our bowling bags and we can go to the alley after we leave the hospital,” Mika instructed her son.
When Richie disappeared from the room, the priest gently embraced her wife. “So unbelievably gorgeous,” she whispered as she leaned down to kiss Leah’s soft, full lips.
“Ew! Is that all you guys do?” Richie teased, knowing the answer was, yes.
##
When they entered the hospital, there seemed to be an emergency in progress. “Take her into ICU, now,” Dr. Strand screamed to his nurses.
Leah caught a nurse who seemed to be gawking helplessly. “What’s going on?” she demanded.
“Mary,” the nurse cried. “It looks like he may have killed her this time. Apparently, he hit her in the chest with his fist and her heart just stopped.”
“What?” Leah turned to her wife. “Isn’t she the young woman that has been taking refuge at the convent?”
Mika nodded and followed the gurney carrying the woman’s lifeless form into the ICU unit. She watched as Strand and three nurses examined the woman.
“Get the defibrillator,” Strand moved faster than Mika had ever seen the doctor move.
The priest grabbed her wife’s hand. “Stay close to me,” she whispered.
Strand charged the paddles and yelled, “Clear.” The shock jolted the young woman’s body but didn’t start her heart. The distraught doctor tried twice more, then closed his eyes and bowed his head. Leah had never realized how much Strand cared about his patients until she saw the look of defeat on the man’s face.
Mika pulled her wife to the woman’s bedside. She dropped to her knees and began to pray. “You can help her,” she looked up at her wife.
Leah placed her hands on the young woman and called upon all the strength she had to start the woman’s heart beating. The girl gasped, and her eyes fluttered open. “Time for your magic, Dr. Strand,” the mayor grimaced, moving out of the way so the medical team could finish their job.
Richie had watched in awe as his parents brought Mary back to life. Mother Superior was gripping the boy’s hand as she witnessed the town’s power couple gave a completely new meaning to the word power.
“What happened to her?” the priest approached Mother Superior.
“Max, he just stormed the convent like a mad man,” Mother Superior frowned. “Before we could stop him, he dragged her out onto the lawn and commenced to beat her with his fist. By the time the sheriff arrived, he was on his knees rocking Mary in his arms, begging for her forgiveness. I thought she was dead. Samson handcuffed Max to a tree and the sheriff brought Mary here.”
“Thank God, everyone’s quick action saved her life,” the priest crossed herself.
“I believe Leah saved her,” Mother Superior bowed her head to the former queen. “I didn’t realize that raising the dead was within your power.”
“She wasn’t dead,” Leah smiled at her son and nodded to Mother Superior. “Let’s see that new baby,”
Isaac and Mary were thrilled to have the mayor and priest visit their family. Mika held the baby and asked if Richie could hold him. Richie looked as if someone had placed the most wonderful thing in the world in his arms. He shook his head in wonder.
Richie held the tiny baby out to his mother. Leah shook her head, no and walked from the room.
##
The Cross family decided to eat at the diner before
going bowling. When they entered the establishment, loud applause welcomed their arrival.
“So now you are raising the dead, my dear?” Legion raised a quizzical eyebrow at Leah as the family walked past his table.
“Hardly,” the mayor said wearily. “The girl had a faint pulse. We simply prayed for her.”
“I am sure the town folks feel so safe with you and the priest being so vigilant,” a smarmy smile crossed the pawnbroker’s face as the couple walked past him.
“May I play in the game arcade until our order is ready?” Richie asked as his parents slid into their booth.
Of course, sweetheart,” his mother smiled.
“I am so glad the council voted to fund the women’s shelter.” The mayor laid her hand on top of her wife’s hand.
“It’s long overdue,” Mika nodded. “We’ve been helping Mary for almost six months.”
Leah tilted her head in that way that made Mika’s stomach lurch. “I didn’t realize that. Can you give me the background on her?” The queen was afraid that she had made a mistake in matching Mary and Max when they appeared in New Judah. She knew Mary had been a shepherdess and Max had been a soldier. They owned the local pet shop and seemed to be crazy about one another.
The priest seemed to be weighing the information her wife had requested. She couldn’t share anything that she had heard in confession but finally decided that, between the hospital’s and sheriff’s records, everything was public record.
“Do you remember the night I was called to the hospital and couldn’t attend the city council meeting?” Mika reminisced.
“Yes, I missed you terribly.”
“Emily had taken the call and found Mary bleeding and unconscious in her home. Max had run off. Emily rushed her to the hospital, and Dr. Strand took care of her. After she was released, Mother Superior took her to the convent where she stayed for about a week.” Mika looked down at her hands. “Max turned himself into the sheriff the next day. He was crying and extremely distraught that he had hurt his wife. Mary refused to press charges against him, so Emily had no recourse but to release him.”
“But he continued his violent behavior,” Leah said intuitively.
“About three months later there was a repeat of the incident.” The priest avoided her wife’s gaze. “Mary has been at the convent ever since. Dr. David has been counseling Max individually and both as a couple, but Mary is still afraid to go home with Max. Apparently, this has been going on for over thirty years. Max is insanely jealous. Mary has never given him any reason to be. When a customer comes into the shop and talks to Mary about a pet, Max immediately thinks they are making a pass at her. Once they get home, he accuses her of all kinds of irrational things. Their arguments usually end with him…” The priest seemed to have trouble continuing her story.
“…ends with him, what?” Leah said softly.
“…raping her,” Mika’s words were laced with anguish as she looked into the liquid brown eyes of her wife.
Leah was all too familiar with marital rape. Her eyes flashed fiercely as scenes of her husband covering her mouth to silence her pleas to stop, pinning her down with his body as he used her repeatedly to satisfy his lustful desires. She gasped audibly, a sob catching in her throat.
Mika immediately slid onto the bench beside her. She took Leah into her arms and held her until her body stopped shaking. “It is okay, honey,” she whispered. “Nothing like that will ever happen to you again. Ever!” Mika’s chest tightened, and her throat constricted as she fought the hatred for the man who had done such a thing to her wife. “If it makes you feel any better, he’s in a very special place in hell for what he did to you.”
Mika dried her eyes with a napkin, then gently kissed her soft, red lips. “I love you so much,” she murmured.
Leah nodded her head then quickly regained her composure. Queens never cry in public. She knew that tonight in the security of their bed, Mika would hold her until her tears and Mika’s love drove the demons back into her past.
“Order up,” Ruth nodded at the couple and placed their order on the table. “I’ll call Richie.”
CHAPTER 28 - Remorse is a Relentless Mistress
The bowling lightened Leah’s mood slightly, but she couldn’t get her mind off the young woman in the hospital. As they got into the car, she suggested they visit the hospital to check on the new baby and Mary.
Mika was proud of her wife’s compassion for the other woman and welcomed the opportunity to check on her.
Leah visited Mary every day, taking her fresh fruit, flowers, and books to read. Mary seemed to blossom under the mayor’s attention. Gloria Thomas made the young woman’s recovery her personal mission, too. She often visited at the same time as the mayor, and they all laughed and talked about the upcoming bowling tournament.
“You should join us for the tournament,” Leah encouraged Mary. “I know from experience; it will get your mind off your worries. It is fun.”
“I don’t have a way to get there,” Mary smiled shyly.
“I’ll swing by and pick you up,” Gloria offered. “You can see how good I am at bowling.”
“Oh, we will so trounce you,” Leah laughed.
##
After Gloria left to complete her visitation rounds at the hospital, Leah continued to visit with Mary.
“Have you noticed how much Gloria looks like Mika?” Mary commented. “Same slender build, same blonde hair and both of them are very nice.”
“Yes,” Leah smiled. “It is almost as if they were poured from the same mold, only Gloria is shorter.”
“Max came to see me today,” Mary said tentatively.
“Were you okay with that?” Leah asked.
“Oh, yes,” Mary gasped. “I truly do love him. I just never know when he’s going to explode.”
“Jealousy can be a debilitating emotion,” the mayor said quietly. Leah knew that jealousy had always been her downfall: jealousy of Delilah, jealousy of Richie and Emily. She had to admit she constantly struggled with jealousy of Mika and the women who seemed to throw themselves at her. She knew Mika was hers and hers alone, but the green-eyed monster always raised its head when she saw other women lay their hands on her arm or lean in to whisper in her ear, pressing themselves against Mika. Mika always smiled at Leah and rolled her eyes.
Strand released Mary from the hospital and for the next two weeks, she lived at the convent and did volunteer work at the church, helping with the housekeeping, copying and mailing out the church newsletter.
Leah saw her every day when she visited Mika for lunch and was delighted to see the light coming back into the young woman’s eyes. Max had started picking Mary up from the church, going to David’s for counseling and then dinner. He seemed content to spend the evening with his wife then drop her off at the convent. He loved his wife and wanted to gain control of the emotion that swelled up in him when he imagined she was flirting with another.
Leah walked into the church, seeking an hour alone with her wife. Gloria and Mary were sitting on the front pew, their heads together, talking softly. Leah nodded to them as she made her way to Mika’s office.
Knocking on the door, she stuck her head into the priest’s office. “Hi,” Leah loved the way her wife’s face lit up at the sight of her. Mika quickly moved to her, capturing her lips in a sweet, loving kiss.
“Hello, pretty lady,” Mika beamed, “I was just thinking about you.”
“I thought you might like to have me for lunch,” Leah smiled coyly.
Mika laughed, realizing she had jumbled her words. “You mean I might have lunch with you?”
“I meant exactly what I said,” Leah pulled Mika’s lips to hers and began a long, demanding kiss.
Mika locked her office door, “The rectory,” she whispered.
##
An hour later, they lay in each other’s arms gaining control of their breathing. “Mother Superior wants me to let one of the battered women live here,” Mika said quietly. “I
told her, no. She argued that it wasn’t being used. I didn’t tell her it was used daily.”
“We need to speed up the building of that shelter,” Leah chuckled. “No way are we giving up our love nest.” They laughed joyously, content to be in each other’s arms.
Leah lay on the bed watching Mika as she dressed. She noticed a dark bruise on Mika’s shoulder where she had used her to muffle her cries during their lovemaking. “Could you please fix this,” Mika grinned.
“No, I don’t think so,” Leah teased. “That proves you belong to me.”
“I’ll show you what proves I belong to you, Your Majesty.” Mika dropped her shirt to the floor and slipped back under the covers.
##
Leah materialized in her own office just before five, hoping that Odette hadn’t realized that she had been gone all afternoon. She unlocked her door and walked to her secretary’s desk. The glow about the mayor and her smile told Odette all she needed to know.
“I’m going home, now,” Leah informed her. “Is there anything I need to know before I leave?”
Odette handed her a stack of messages, “Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. Anything special planned for this evening,” the secretary asked innocently, “or just more of the same?”
The mayor shot her a death glare but was unable to sustain it and broke into laughter. “I hope so, Odette. I certainly hope so.”
Mika entered the office at the sound of her wife’s laugher. She loved Leah’s warm, throaty laugh. It made her think of honeysuckles on a spring day. “I thought we might eat at the diner before bowling practice,” she kissed Leah lightly. “Richie is meeting us there with the bowling bags.”
Odette handed Mika a tissue. “You might want to remove the mayor’s lipstick from your neck first,” she grinned.
So much for her thinking, I was in the office; Leah thought as she took the tissue and proceeded to wipe her lipstick from her wife’s neck and lips.
##
Richie and Isaac slid into the booth across from them as Ruth was taking their order. “Mom, can Isaac spend the night tonight?”
“Of course, dear,” Leah smiled at her son. “We would love to have Isaac over.”
