“No problem,” Vicky said, handing Aidan the soda. Vicky hit the intercom on her office phone and Yvonne answered immediately. “Yvonne, please bring in a cup of black coffee for Ms. Tisdale.”
“Right away,” Yvonne answered.
Vicky turned her attention back to Meghan. “Do we need introductions?”
“Not necessary. I have a dossier on both of you already,” Meghan replied, pulling out two folders, one for each of them.
Yvonne tapped on the door again but didn’t wait before she opened it and brought in a tray with a carafe of coffee and three cups on it.
“Thank you, Yvonne,” Vicky said as Yvonne sat the tray down and left. “Help yourself, Ms. Tisdale.”
“Please, call me Meghan, Ms. Montgomery,” she replied, and poured herself a cup of coffee.
Aidan popped the top on the soda can, and said, “That’s Mrs. Montgomery-Cassidy, but you can call us Aidan and Vicky, okay?”
Meghan sat her cup down and pulled out a pad and pen. “Were you married after the marriage equality act passed?”
Aidan looked curiously at Vicky, who shrugged. “No, why do you ask?”
“In the eyes of the court, you are not legally married then, and for whatever reasons, it may come up during the trial,” Meghan explained.
“Bullshit. We’re married and I defy anyone to object to it,” Aidan exclaimed.
Vicky took a calmer approach, “Meghan, is it really that important?”
“Aidan is Harold’s daughter—”
“By adoption only,” Aidan pointed out.
“Granted, but still, you are his daughter. From what I’ve learned about the man, I can see him using something as inconsequential as a marriage certificate against us. It would hold more credence if you were legally married.”
“Fine,” Aidan said defiantly. “We’ll run down to city hall and get married… again.”
“Yes, thank you,” Meghan said. “But first let me ask a few more questions.”
Meghan spent the next hour questioning her witnesses as if they were on the stand. By the time she had finished though, she made sure that Aidan knew she was on her side.
After Meghan left, Vicky looked at Aidan with questioning eyes.
“I think we’re going to be okay, kid. Meghan’s got a handle on things,” Aidan said.
“I think so, too,” Vicky replied.
“So, do you have some free time today to get married again?”
“Yes, in fact let’s go now. We finished with Meghan quicker than I thought we would, so I’ve got an hour or so before my next meeting.”
“Good deal, grab Yvonne, I’ll call Jerry to meet us there, and let’s do this.”
Within the hour, Aidan and Vicky were legally, officially, indisputably, married.
The rest of the week passed without incident. Aidan, however, was growing more and more frustrated. Once again she felt trapped, even though she had been the one who trapped herself. She wanted to be in the field with Jerry, following the leads that would inevitably lead to the terrorists capture. But she needed to be with Vicky, protecting her from Harold’s insane plotting. Wanting something and needing something are not the same thing, and Aidan followed her heart. She needed Vicky more than anything she could ever want in her life.
“Damn it! I told you I wanted updates regularly, and I haven’t heard a peep out of you all day,” Aidan snapped at Jerry as they walked down the side walk in front of the hospital.
Jerry looked at his friend angrily. “So you want me to call and say that I haven’t gotten anything to report?”
“Yes, damn it. I do,” Aidan sniped.
Jerry shook his head. “Look, you may be my boss and all, but you’re also my best friend. And as your friend, I’m going to warn you that you need to back the fuck off! You’ve been unbearable lately, and I don’t deserve that.”
Aidan stopped suddenly. Her mouth fell open and her cheeks flushed.
“I’m doing the best I can, Sarge.”
“I know you are, Jer, and I’m sorry I’ve been such a dick lately.”
“Well, since you don’t have one, I guess you weren’t all that bad.”
“No, seriously, thanks for being such a good friend. I know I’m not the easiest person to put up with at times.”
“So then you’re not going to fire me for insubordination?” Jerry asked jokingly.
Aidan thought he was serious. “What? Hell, no. I’m not that stupid, you know.”
“Then what is it, Sarge? I watched you take a bullet in the arm and still help me to safety in Iraq. I know you had to have been scared shitless, but you didn’t let that distract you. And when the extremist followed us home, and you were hit again, you didn’t let it distract you from saving the president. I’ve seen you beat the holy shit out of Harold with a broken wrist. So why are you letting him dictate how you feel and what you do now, when you’re so close to finally seeing him convicted?”
Aidan slumped down on a bench by the rose bushes lining the sidewalk. She leaned forward, elbows on her legs and hands clasped tightly between her knees. Jerry sat down beside her and leaned back, waiting for her to speak.
“I found my mother in Ireland, did I tell you that?” Aidan asked.
Jerry sat up straight and looked at her. “God, no, you didn’t. That must have been unreal.”
“Yeah, something like that. She hid who she really was and tried to come between Vicky and me.”
“And?”
“What do you mean, and? My own mother, who I’ve dreamed about all my life, pretended that she didn’t know who I was. When I met my aunt, she introduced me to her assistant, but didn’t tell me that the assistant was actually my mother. The two of them played me for a fool.”
“What on earth for? I mean, what would that get them?”
“Hell if I know.” Aidan leaned back on the bench. “Well, Vicky thinks it’s because of Harold. She thinks my mother was afraid that he might have followed me over there or some lame ass excuse like that.”
Jerry considered how he wanted to respond. “Let me play devil’s advocate for a moment,” he said. “I read the mission report that Bradshah wrote and I think I know what happened over there. You suddenly popped up out of nowhere. Your aunt, a Senator in the Irish legislature, learns about you from President Trenton, probably the same way you learned about her. You were there on a covert operation, spying on her people.”
Aidan opened her mouth to object but Jerry held his hand up.
“Yeah, she knew why you were there but that doesn’t mean she liked having an American coming in and spying on her people. That probably made her even more suspicious of you, so she warned her sister, your mother, to hang back and wait, to see how things play out. How am I doing so far?”
“Pretty good. Smooth the edges a bit and you’d sound just like Vicky,” Aidan said teasingly.
“Thanks, that’s a nice compliment. The part that wasn’t in the report was your mother. How did she end up here with Harold before you were born?”
“I’m not sure of all of it. I sort of didn’t give her a chance to explain that part. But I found my grandfather over there, and he told me that while she was here, Harold kidnapped Brigid and forced her at gunpoint to marry him. She was five months pregnant with me at the time. And yeah, I’m sure that when I showed up, she was terrified, thinking that I had followed in my father’s footsteps and was there to kidnap her again. But what I want to know is why did she abandon me with the bastard in the first place?”
Jerry shook his head. “I don’t—”
“I mean I know why. Grandfather told me that she had stepped out to call him from a payphone, probably at the nearest gas station. He said that when she came back Harold had left with me. Why in the hell would he take me? He never liked me.”
“I don’t know, maybe he—”
“He also took my mother’s engagement ring that was given to her by her fiancée. It turns out, that ring is supposedly part of the Irish crown je
wels, stolen in 1907. It’s worth quite a bit of money, too. So why didn’t that cheap-ass bastard sell it? Why was it off my mother’s finger in the first place?”
Jerry didn’t say anything.
“I’ll tell you why. I think that the ring is jinxed. Someone stole it from the royal vault, Harold stole it from Brigid, and I stole it from Harold. Who knows where else it’s been. And that brings up another problem that’s frustrating me. I think we should give the ring back to Ireland, but it’s not fair of me to take it away from Vicky. She loves that ring.”
Jerry waited a moment to see if Aidan had more to say. Finally he said, “Maybe, but she loves you more. Listen, I imagine the way your mother treated you hurt, but you didn’t give her a chance, and that’s not fair, to her or to you. You know the old saying, walk a mile in her shoes first, and then decide if you want to hate her or not.”
“That’s just it, I don’t hate her. But I don’t love her either.” Aidan looked up at the crystal blue sky. “I thought I would, you know?”
“Just because she gave birth to you doesn’t mean instant love after all these years. She has to earn your love, and so far, it sounds like she’s not doing a very good job of it.”
Aidan nodded. “I know, right?”
“But then, that works both ways, you know?”
“Damn, you’re riding my butt today,” Aidan griped.
“I’ve always got your back, Sarge,” Jerry replied.
“Then stop chewing on my ass,” Aidan said with a laugh. “Come on, I don’t want to be away from Vicky too long.”
“Roger that,” Jerry said, and stood up.
“She’s not in there,” Yvonne said as Aidan and Jerry walked in.
“Where is she?” Aidan asked anxiously.
“Seeing a patient in room 3023. Third floor, west wing. She just went up, so you might catch her.”
“Thanks,” Aidan said over her shoulder and hurriedly walked out the door. Taking the stairs two at a time to the third floor, she came out at the nurse’s station and walked down the hall, reading the door numbers until she came to 3023. She pushed the door open softly, and stopped when she heard Vicky’s voice. Just inside the door was a small hallway where the closet and bathroom faced each other. She could see Vicky sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, but she couldn’t see the patient. Vicky must have just arrived because she was introducing herself.
“Hi, Molly. My name is Victoria Montgomery-Cassidy. May I speak with you a minute?”
“Are you going to arrest me?” the young girl asked.
“No, Molly. I’m the CEO here at the hospital and I’m here to listen, if you want to talk.”
“CEO? You’re like the big dog around here?” Molly asked.
“Yes, exactly like that,” Vicky replied jovially.
“I don’t understand. Why are you wasting your time with me?”
“Because your nurse, Mary, called me and told me there was a very important seventeen year old in this room.”
Aidan inched forward until she could see Molly, a young, thin girl with large eyes and mousy brown hair. She knew instinctively why Vicky was visiting this patient, and her heart swelled with pride and love. Vicky, who never gave up being a nurse, had always been very involved with her patient’s care and if someone needed a little extra encouragement, the nurses would call her.
“Well, she lied to you, lady. I’m nobody.”
“You’re wrong, Molly. You are somebody and you do matter.”
“She told you that I tried to kill myself, didn’t she?” Molly asked angrily.
“Yes, she did,” Vicky replied. “And she told me why you did. Because you’re a lesbian. Big deal.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Molly said, sliding down in the bed and looking out the window.
“Then you’ll just have to listen to me talk, I guess. I know it must feel like society is against you right now. I know that there are those in office that are creating laws to persecute people who don’t match their ideals of what a person should be or how a person should act. They did the same thing in the fifties and sixties to keep the blacks from reaching their full potential, but it didn’t work, did it?”
Molly timidly shook her head, but she didn’t look at Vicky.
“So who’s to say that you won’t be the first lesbian president some day? The only one truly stopping you, is you. Look, I’ve been where you are. I thought about ending it once,” Vicky continued. “When I came out to my parents, they were so shocked that I was sure they hated me. My father was so angry at me, and my mother refused to accept it.” Molly looked back at Vicky. “The worst part was that my girlfriend had run away to protect me, which left me terribly lonely. I cried myself to sleep for weeks, praying for my best friend to come back to me.”
Aidan cringed with guilt. She knew Vicky had forgiven her, but it still hurt, hearing her talk about it. How she wished she could change history, but for now, she knew it was important not to dwell on the past.
“And thankfully,” Aidan said, walking into the room, “I did come back to you, baby, and thank God, you welcomed me back.”
Vicky held out her hand and Aidan kissed it.
“Molly, this is my wife, Aidan,” Vicky said, looking lovingly into Aidan’s green eyes.
“You’re gay, too?” Molly asked incredulously.
“Yep, I am. And I’m married to the most beautiful, loving woman in the world,” Aidan stated.
“Molly, the one thing I’ve learned in life is that if you’re patient enough, things will change, and almost always for the better. The pain and loneliness I felt when I was thirteen is completely gone. Replaced with my wife’s unconditional love. You can have that too, Molly. Make the choice to live, to fight for your right as an equal. You do matter, honey, and your life is important. Especially to us.”
Aidan nodded. “That’s right, Molly. Don’t let anyone take your confidence away. You are important, and you have a great big wonderful world out there waiting for you to take it by storm.”
Tears ran down Molly’s cheeks and she wiped them away with the bed sheet.
“I understand your parents want to admit you for counseling?” Vicky said. “We have very good people here who want to help you if you’ll let them.”
“They can try, but I’ll run away the first chance I get.”
“How will that solve anything?” Vicky asked. “You’ll be on the street, begging for money and starving when you don’t get any. Or worse, selling yourself for money. You’re a smart girl, is that what you really want?”
“What choice do I have? The thought of being locked up in the looney bin is worse.”
“It doesn’t have to be?” Aidan interjected. “Look, you’re not crazy, but it helps to talk it out. So you go in, get your head shrunk, realize that life is worth living, and then you get out and go to college or into the Army like I did. It’s really that simple.”
“Aidan is right,” Vicky interjected. “You’re not being admitted because you’re gay. I would fire people if I thought that was the case. You’re being admitted because you tried to kill yourself. And as soon as you realize that was a mistake, you—”
“I already realize that,” Molly admitted. “I thought I was all alone, and no one understood how I felt.”
“And now?” Vicky asked.
Molly looked from Vicky to Aidan and then back to Vicky. “And now I see that I’m normal.”
“Absofuckinglutely!” Aidan cheered, and the three of them laughed.
Vicky took Molly’s hand in hers. “Molly, would you like me to talk with your parents and try to get them to change their minds about admitting you?”
“Gosh, would you? I think they might listen to you.”
“You’ll still need to talk with a counselor, but as an outpatient.”
Molly nodded her head. “I can do that.”
Vicky smiled. “Can I tell your parents that you’re ready to go to college and get on with your life?”
&
nbsp; “Absofuckinglutely!” Molly cried.
***
Vicky opened the door and squealed, “Joyce, Ellen! You made it!”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Joyce said, as Vicky hugged her.
“Let me see them,” Vicky demanded, not letting Joyce through the door before she inspected her eyes. “No swelling, bruising, not even redness. Excellent. How’s the eyesight?”
“Thankfully, they’re 20/20,” Ellen answered for her wife.
“I’m so glad to hear that. But Ellen, how are you? How’s the leg?”
“The leg still twinges, but thankfully I don’t have a limp,” Ellen rubbed her leg where the injury was. “Joyce inspects the scar every day to make sure it’s healing properly.”
“Sometimes I check it twice a day,” Joyce added, winking at Vicky.
“Uh-huh. What a good doctor you are,” Vicky said, and then stepped to the side. “Please, come in. The party’s just getting started.” Vicky stepped back and showed them in. “Aidan’s your bartender for tonight, and she’s over there by the kitchen. There’s snacks everywhere, help yourself, and dinner will be after I hand out the gifts. But first,” Vicky said as she shut the door, “let me introduce you to everyone.”
Vicky showed her friends into the living room as Jerry’s mother made her way over to the bar.
“Can I get you a drink, Mrs. Williams?” Aidan asked.
“Thank you, I would love a martini, please,” Virginia replied.
“Coming right up,” Aidan said, grabbing the gin bottle.
“And please, call me Virginia.”
Aidan picked up the cocktail shaker and scooped ice into it. “No problem, Virginia.”
“I never got the opportunity to thank you for saving my son’s life in Iraq. If there’s anything I can do to repay you… money, a job—”
Aidan stopped what she was doing and looked at her disbelievingly. “I don’t need either, thank you. A soldier never leaves another behind. Jerry would have done the same for me.”
“Would he?” Virginia asked.
“He already has. As part of my team, and my best friend, I trust Jerry with my life. I know he’s got my back.”
I Won't Remember You (Aidan & Vicky Book 6) Page 7
