Overflow: The Carpino Series

by Asher, Brynne

  Now is now and I dump the shredded chicken into the pot, making my mom’s chicken noodle soup for dinner. My mom always made chicken noodle soup when someone was sick. I guess my grandma did the same thing, so when someone turns up ill, I get a crazy hankering for chicken noodle soup. I go to the door at the deck to let Mia in. The weather has taken a sharp turn from fall to winter today and it’s downright cold out. Hopefully it will warm up again, I hate it when the little kids have to Trick or Treat when it’s freezing.

  I hear the garage door and see Jude turn the corner from the mudroom to the kitchen and my insides tighten at the sight of him. He’s beautiful, sweet, caring and a million other things but one thing I’m not sure of is if he’s mine. And that’s killing me. I want him to be mine so badly. We haven’t finished our talk and it’s making me crazy nervous to think that’s going to happen tonight. Nothing seems different than it was before our trip to Colorado, he called to say when he would be here after work and even asked how Leigh was settling. He brings himself straight to me and pulls me up for a soft kiss, saying, “Sugar.”

  “Hey. Are you hungry? It should be ready soon, it just needs to simmer for a few minutes. I think Leigh is asleep, so she can eat when she wakes up.”

  “I’m good, whatever works, babe. Are you as tired as I feel?”

  “Does it show? I think I’m operating solely on caffeine,” I return. He kisses me one more time and goes to my room, probably to put his stuff away. I sigh, trying not to think about him putting his stuff where I want it to stay forever. My head is swimming with emotion right now and being tired doesn’t help that. I decide to go down and check on Leigh one more time.

  When I get back to the kitchen, Jude is leaning with his hips to the island, ankles crossed, arms crossed and his eyes to the floor, deep in thought. When he hears me coming, he looks up and asks, “How is she?”

  “Still asleep. She might be out for a while, she took a pain pill not too long ago.”

  “Come here, sugar,” he rasps quietly.

  But instead of following his bossy order, I go to the stove. “I need to stir the soup and warm the bread. We should be able to eat anytime,” I explain, trying my best to avoid him.

  “Gabby, it can wait. Come here,” he repeats.

  Stirring the soup with my back to him, I go on, “We need to eat, I want to go to bed early if Leigh is okay. And I still have laundry to catch up on, Mia needs a bath, not to mention the house needs cleaned--” And in typical Jude fashion, the spoon is snatched from my hand, he slams the lid back down on my pot and turns off the gas. “Hey!” I yell, “What are you doing?”

  “I said come here,” he proceeds to drag me by the hand out of the kitchen and to the sofa.

  “I’m hungry!” I whine because I don’t know what else to say.

  “You’ll be fine. We need to talk and we need to do that now before the next catastrophe hits,” he bosses.

  “Well, I don’t have anything to say,” I continue to argue.

  “Good, you keep your mouth shut and this will go faster because all you have to do is listen. I’ve got a lot to say,” he proceeds to pull me down on to the sofa next to him.

  I try one last time to escape, “I don’t know if I can concentrate, I’m really hungry.” Its lame I know, but in for a penny, in for a pound.

  He picks up my legs at the knees, again pulling them over his lap and scooting in close to me as he says, “Be quiet and quit being ridiculous.”

  I pull in a gasp and realize I am right where I was last night around this same time, boxed in with no escape possible. I cross my arms in what little space I can still call my own and sullenly say, “Fine. Talk.”

  Jude lets out a little huff, minutely shakes his head and grins, as if he can read my mind. Using his super soft raspy voice that I like so much, he says, “Sugar, what happened at the cabin was bad. I hate that you were hurt and found out about my past like that, but I can’t say I’m not relieved you finally know. I didn’t know how to tell you about Julia and the babies, I’ve never had to tell anyone before. Those who know about my past knew it when it happened and no one else has ever earned that from me. But I made a mistake, I should have told you sooner,” he pauses to brush a loose piece of hair out of my face. Looking at me intently, he goes on, “What I would have said to you is that the last nine years of my life have been empty and void of pretty much anything great. I’ve got friends. I’ve always liked my job. I liked serving in the Force and I might not have an army like you, but I do have my family. My life has been decent, so I can’t complain, but it doesn’t compare to the little time I’ve had with you. I’ve been moving through my life for the last nine years because I knew I needed to, not because I wanted to.”

  My chest is beating hard and I’m trying to control my emotions. I unfold my arms and put my hands on each side of his neck to hang on. Jude, of course, takes advantage and pulls me even closer, continuing softly, “Thinking of the future only made me think about what I lost, so I’ve lived day to day, but I’m ready to think about the future again. I’ve been graced with something extraordinary and beautiful for the second time in my life. If you think I’m gonna walk away from that beauty, you’re outta your mind. The first time around I knew what I had was good, but didn’t realize how fragile it was until it was taken away from me. I don’t know what I’ve done to be gifted with it twice in my life, but you can sure as hell believe that it’s precious to me and I’m going to take care of it. You’re crazy if you think I’m goin anywhere because there’s nowhere else I want to be, and I’m not only talking about today, Gabby. I’m looking into my future for the first time in a long time and you’re in it.”

  I can feel the tears burning in my eyes and nose again, but this time from relief and happiness. So when I look at him through my blurry eyes before thinking twice and blurt out, “I love you,” it surprises even me.

  Jude, who is still caging me in, goes rock solid. His eyes slowly blink once and regret starts to creep through me when all of a sudden I’m crushed into his large frame. He barely whispers, “Gabby, sugar, I love you, too.” He squeezes me even tighter and I feel his lips on my neck.

  My stinking tears continue and I hold on tight but I manage to mutter, “You’re mine.”

  “Yeah, baby,” he whispers back. “As long as you’ll have me.”

  Trying to take in calming breaths to stop my tears, the only thing I can think to say next is, “Does this mean I get to decorate your mountain home?” Jude immediately throws his head back and laughs out loud.

  “Why are you laughing?” I exclaim.

  “Babe, I knew you were decorating my cabin in your head all weekend,” he says with mirth. “Yeah, you can do whatever you want with my cabin, just don’t make it girlie.”

  All of a sudden forgetting our recent confessions of love and devotion, I straighten my back saying, “Jude Ortiz! Do you really think I would make your mountain home girlie? Seriously!”

  Jude, still somewhat chuckling pulls me in close again and tries to make a deal by saying, “No, sugar, I don’t think you’ll make my cabin girlie. But I’ll tell you what, you can do whatever you want to my cabin, guys like me don’t have mountain homes, if I can clean your garage so I can park in it. How’s that for a trade?”

  I immediately feel my face go soft and melt into him again saying, “You want to park in my garage?” Why this makes me exponentially happier than I already was, I do not know, but it does.

  He smiles at me and says, “Yeah, I do. Though, you’re gonna need to get rid of some shit.”

  “Okay,” I lie and smile big. He won’t make me get rid of anything. Anyway, I plan on using a lot of it in his mountain home.

  Shaking his head at me slightly as if he can tell I’m lying, he smiles, leans in and kisses me soft but long. Ending his sweet kiss, he says, “Should we eat?”

  “Yeah,” I whisper.

  But he doesn’t let me go. He pulls me in tighter and rasps, “Love you, sugar. Thank yo
u for wanting me.”

  “Jude,” I whisper back, “I love you more than anything.”

  *****

  “Will you tell me about her?” I ask as I outline Jude’s winged tattoo with my fingers.

  We’re naked and tangled up in each other. Jude just made love to me, spending lots of time and attention to many parts of my body. I’ve never thought much about the layout of this house, but right now I’m thankful that the master bedroom is on the opposite side of the house from Leigh’s room. Leigh woke up after Jude and I talked, ate a little dinner and went right back to sleep. I told her I’d sleep downstairs with her tonight, but she insisted that she wanted to be by herself so I let her be. I decided to ignore the laundry, the dirty house and my dirty dog. These were easy decisions, as Jude pulled me into the bedroom and started to do delicious things to me, and even better, telling me he loved me in many different ways.

  “What do you want to know?” Jude asks, lying on his back, his arm around me where I’m tucked in tight to his side.

  “What was she like?”

  “She was quiet, a little shy, not with people close to her, but in general. But she loved kids, always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She never wavered on that.”

  “Huh, I guess it’s good shy isn’t your only type,” I say sarcastically.

  Jude gives me a squeeze and chuckles as he says, “Yeah, you’re definitely not shy. But she loved her family like you do, I told you she couldn’t wait to have one of her own.”

  “Well, that we have in common,” I add.

  “I know you do,” Jude murmurs. He rolls, pulls me up to his face and asks, “You want kids, right? I guess I shouldn’t assume just because you have a million in your family.”

  “Of course I want kids.”

  “How many?”

  I’m quiet for a moment. This is different. Discussing our future is new territory and I don’t want to scare him off, although he seems pretty sure he wants me no matter what. “Well, at least three,” I answer quietly.

  “At least?” he asks, a bit surprised.

  “Well, yeah. It all depends on a lot of things. Like, how close they are in age, boys, girls, what order they come in, stuff like that.”

  “How many do you want at most?”

  I giggle because I can tell he’s not really bothered by it, so I say, “Twelve.”

  With that, I am immediately flipped over to my back with Jude on top of me. “Twelve? You’ve got a big house, babe, but I’m not sure where we’re gonna put twelve kids.”

  I feel my face go soft, I melt under him and whisper, “Yeah, we will have a nice big house to put kids in. It’s a great family home, Jude.”

  Jude looks at me intently and responds quietly, “Yeah, for our family.”

  Then he kisses me deep and proceeds to do other things to me deeply, as well.

  *****

  Walking out of my laundry room with a basket full of clean clothes, I hear Uncle Tony coming up the stairs. Turning the corner I stop immediately, seeing as he has a murderous look on his face. Stalking into my kitchen, he tosses his briefcase down on my island and turns to me, but says nothing. I wade in to break the silence and ask, “So…will you represent her?”

  Narrowing his eyes at me, he says, “Gabrielle. You have to ask me that?”

  Setting my basket down on the island, I say, “Well, I didn’t think I did, but thank you anyway. She has no family to support her, her older sister has been strung out for years and is now spreading that joy in Florida. Her mom hooked up with another looser last year, followed him to South Dakota and has a million issues of her own. I hate that she doesn’t have a family that’s there for her, but honestly, she’s better off without them. They cause her more headaches than you can imagine. I think she attached herself to Preston in the beginning thinking that was her chance to pull herself out of the mess she grew up in, but what he’s done to her is worse than she ever grew up with. And that’s saying something.”

  “You need to talk to her Gabby. She says she only wants enough from that man to cover my fees, which I told her repeatedly there won’t be any. She said she wants nothing from him, not one thing. What she needs to do is drain him and take him to the bank, which from what I understand, is pretty full. She needs to be able to set herself up so she can start over without the headache of wondering how she’s going to finance her new life. That man will be judged in a court of law, and someday by God, for what he did to her and killing their innocent baby. But that girl needs to open her eyes and realize that she only has one chance to take what she needs to set up a new life.”

  Uncle Tony is on a warpath, which I knew he would be. Anyone with a heart would, but he always takes it to a new level, his family being the most important thing to him just under his faith. Not to mention he has three daughters. My uncle specializes in family law for a reason. He’s good so he can take on the cases he believes in and truly help people who are experiencing hard times in life.

  “I’ll talk to her. I don’t know what more I can do, she told me this morning she wants no memory of him. She even said she wants to sell her car as soon as she can.” Preston insisted on her driving a little BMW two seater and she has always hated it, though I think she only hated it because he didn’t give her a choice. “I’m not letting her leave here for a while. At least until we figure out the legal charges with Preston. I don’t want her by herself and she’ll be safer here with Jude and me.”

  “Speaking of,” is all my uncle says as he narrows his eyes on me for the second time.

  “What?” I ask, as if I don’t know what he’s asking.

  “What do you mean, what? What’s going on with you two? Tony said you looked like hell when he picked you up Monday. You sure don’t look like hell now, so what I want to know is, do we need to kick his ass or not?” he asks through narrowed eyes but hiding a grin simultaneously.

  “Well, I’d be pretty upset if you kicked his ass seeing as I want him around, so I’ll just say that everything is good. No, great! Everything is really, really great,” I answer on a sigh.

  My Uncle Tony smiles at me, pulls me in for a big hug and says, “My sweet girl. I’m happy for you. Can’t say I’m happy you’re living in sin and don’t even want to think about what your parents would say if they were here, but I think he’s a good man, he cares about you and he makes you happy. You’ve had it tough and from what I understand he has too, but that look on your face almost makes you living in sin forgivable. Not quite, but almost.”

  And with that he kisses my head and gives me another squeeze. I love my uncle so much, my whole family, and I now realize more than ever how lucky I am to have them as I watch Leigh walk through her nightmare with no one but me. This makes me even more determined to do everything in my power to get her back to who she used to be, a happy and spirited Leigh.

  “Thank you for coming, Uncle Tony,” I say as I walk him to the door.

  “Anything, Gabby. You know that. Tell Jude hi. We’ll all get together soon.”

  Locking the door, I go to set the alarm, because Jude is once again on the Safety Crusade since Preston is out on bail and we are here by ourselves during the day. Uncle Tony told me earlier he’s filing for a restraining order on Leigh’s behalf, so maybe that will set Jude at ease a bit. I return to the laundry that has tripled having added Jude and Leigh to the mix. Thinking about all I have to do, I decide I need to lighten my project load with clients for a while until I can get Leigh sorted. More time for Leigh, more time for Jude and I can’t help but think maybe I can squeeze in some time to work on a couple pieces of furniture for Jude’s mountain home. Maybe that’s something I can get Leigh to help me with to get her mind off things, plus it will be fun to work on them together. Folding the last piece of laundry, I pick up Mia before she figures out its bath time and hides from me and make my way to the laundry room sink for a dog bath.

  Chapter 21 - Hangups

  Pressing the eighth floor button in the elevator, I can’t
help but think the Carpino’s law firm must do really well to afford offices in this building. Always working for the government, I’m used to mid-scale accommodations at best. This building is the shit, so I’m expecting their offices to be no less.

  The elevator bings. I exit wondering why I’ve been summoned by Gabby’s Uncles and cousin. Christmas is a little over a week away and the last couple of months have been nothing short of perfect. The lease was up on my condo and I officially moved in with Gabby. Leigh is still there as well, but she’s so quiet and insists on keeping to herself that I don’t really see her much. Gabby’s worried about her, but Leigh started a new job this morning at the hospital where she used to work and I know Gabby is hoping that will be the first step in pulling her out of her state of depression. She’s recovered physically, but is still an emotional mess and refuses to see a counselor so it’s all Gabby, Regan and Lilly pulling her through. I think Tony is even kicking in, they seem to be spending a lot of time together lately and he’s even representing her legally, managing her divorce. She seemed to have a change of heart about not wanting anything from him, so Leigh’s divorce has been drug out by her bastard husband’s legal issues, plus his lawyers are dragging their feet working on a feeble defense. Gabby will absolutely not let Leigh move out for the time being which I agree with, she doesn’t need to be on her own with her asshole husband out on bail and awaiting trial.

  I got here as fast as I could after getting their call. I was in a meeting with the US Attorney, learning that Megan Harper has finally struck a deal, giving up all she knows about her husband. In return, she won’t see any jail time and has already moved out of state, taking her kids with her. I can’t say that I’m not happy. I don’t want her anywhere near Gabby. Trevor Harper’s trial will begin early next year, but the US Attorney assures me he has no case and will go down for a long time.