by Ashley Lyn
She scoots off his lap, and I try and scoot closer to my dad, when Shamus puts his hand on my knee. “Somewhere we can have a little chat, Savannah?” I give him a saccharine sweet smile.
“You bet, my little love bug.” I jump up from the couch and head upstairs to my childhood bedroom.
He comes in and stops, looks around, and bursts into laughter. I stomp my foot. “Quit laughing, you shit.” Okay, so I may or may not have had a small obsession with N’Sync. There’s literally no wall space because every inch of my walls are covered from floor to ceiling with posters from Teen Bop.
“Is that lipstick?” I groan when he gets close to a Justin Timberlake poster I may or may not have kissed, a lot.
“Yes. Can we move past this, please?”
“I didn’t appreciate you leaving without us.” His arms are behind his back as he moves through my room, inspecting my stuff.
“I was pissed.”
“Why?”
“Because, you got me all hot and bothered, and just freaking left.” I throw my hands up in the air in complete frustration.
“Is that all?”
I shift foot to foot. He’s talking so precisely and calmly. It has my nerves on edge.
“You’re mine, Savannah. We went over this.”
“No, you did. You just stood there and talked at me, not to me or with me.”
I cross my arms and wait. “Then speak, Savannah.” He crosses his arms right back at me.
“You just…you caught me off guard with the girlfriend thing. We had a good day, a great day, actually. Then there was the sex. I’m pissed, but I’m not going to lie—best sex ever. We were dipping our toes in, testing the waters, then kaboom, bitches! Sex, meeting parents, and it’s all official and shit. Then, I didn’t hear from you, and I convinced myself that you regretted what you said and I was hurt. Then I realized I sounded like a whiny bitch and lashed out, and I’m sorry.”
He pulls me close and hugs me as I burst into tears, but he bursts out laughing.
“Stop laughing at me, you ass.”
“Just talk to me next time. Don’t act like a child and pout. Pretty certain I already told you this, but communicate with me. I’m a smart guy, a pretty sweet guy, and really understanding.”
Blowing out a breath, I wipe the tears away, and for about a second, I think about spanking him, but I refrain.
“Smart choice.” He winks at me and heads back downstairs.
My mother calls everyone to the dinner table. We sit next to each other and conversation flows around us. I’m laughing with Jonathan and Jackson, making funny faces at them, when I hear a phone ring, the tone distinctive.
I look at Shamus, whose entire body is on lockdown.
“Shamus, your phone.”
“Fuck.”
He jumps up. Hands shaking, he pulls his phone out and answers.
“This is Shamus.”
I almost drop to my knees. I barely catch myself on the table, making all the dishes clank when what Tristan is saying registers.
“We got them. The kids are safe and on their way to Children’s Hospital.”
“Are they okay? Why are they taking them to the hospital?” My mom is at my side, rubbing my back as I try and get my body under control.
“It’s standard procedure. They want to do a full check to make sure they’re healthy, and that everything is all right. All hell broke loose at the compound they were at. The FBI stormed the front of the compound and shots were fired. My men used that opportunity to remove the children and Evangeline from the small trailer house they were in.”
A massive weight is lifted from my shoulders. I feel like I can breathe for the first time since I found out they’d been found, but I couldn’t go get them.
“My men took a DNA swab while they were in route to the hospital. We’ll get it dropped off at the private facility and get a rush on it. Shouldn’t take but maybe a day, two at most. After that is confirmed, then there’s going to be some paperwork to fill out and things. We’ll take it one step at a time; at least we have them out.”
“Thank you so much. I just…there’s no way I will ever be able to repay you for all that you’ve done.”
“No thanks, my man. Would do it again in a heartbeat.”
I look over at Savannah. She’s crying happy tears, and I’m crying right along with her.
Looking down at my phone, I scroll through my contacts and hit my dad’s cell phone number. My breath hitches when he answers.
“Son?” I can’t do anything but breathe the second I open my mouth. I know I won’t be able to hold in the sob.
“Dad,” I manage to croak out.
“Tell me,” he demands.
“We’re headed to Children's Hospital, and I need you there.”
“Wait…the hospital? Shamus?”
“The kids are fine. They said it was standard procedure.”
“I’ll head to the airport right now. I’ll text your mom and let her know when my flight gets in. Stay strong, boy, they need you.”
I call Maxine, Jenny’s mom, but she doesn’t answer, so I leave her message and pray she calls back.
My throat closes, and the real panic sets in. I was a father the moment they were conceived, but now it’s time to be the dad my kids need. It will be wonderfully hard, beautifully stressful, and I can’t wait.
Shamus is pacing the waiting room like a caged fucking animal, back and forth, about a hundred times already. He has two stuffed teddy bears that he brought from home in his arms. His worry and panic are so thick, you could cut it with a knife.
I called my mom to fill her in on what was going on and to stay at home. Right now isn’t a good time for him to have to deal with a bunch of people.
Shamus literally drops to his knees and breaks down. His mom hustles over and kneels and wraps him up in a hug that is probably squeezing the life out of him.
“Shh, baby boy, it’s fine. Just calm down and take a deep breath. You have to get your shit together when they come to get you. If you walk in to meet your babies like this, you’re liable to scare the pants right off them.”
His mom manages to get him upright, and they both sit down. Shamus is on one side of me, and his mom on the other. She appears calm and collected, but I can see her hands shaking about a mile a minute. Reaching over, I grab her hand and squeeze. She looks at me, and I can see the tears threatening to fall.
She turns and looks at Shamus. “Your dad texted, and the soonest he can be here is tomorrow, at six in the morning.” He shakes his head in a barely noticeable nod.
“I called Maxine, but she didn’t answer,” Shamus says, and his mom gets real quiet. My stomach drops.
“I spoke to Maxine’s neighbor when I couldn’t get ahold of her the other day. She said that things are bad, real bad.”
“So, she’s using again?”
“I’m assuming so.”
“Fuck.”
This feels like a conversation that I shouldn’t be listening in on, so I keep my eyes glued to the door that leads to the exam rooms. I feel a tug on my arm and jump in my chair. I look at Shamus’s mom, and she’s smiling at me.
“I’m sorry…what?”
“Your boss, Tristan. Is he as handsome as my baby boy?” Shamus makes an annoyed sound.
“Seriously, Mom, will you stop calling me baby boy?”
She snorts. “No matter how big you get, you’ll always be my baby boy.”
I giggle. “Tristan is a serious man, a total badass, and a complete hottie. After I talked Shamus into letting him look into things, it was only a matter of weeks before he connected all the dots and found the kids.”
Tristan scares the shit out of all of us when he enters the room. “Actually, it was Savannah who made all the connections, and did about ninety percent of the leg work on this before she brought me in. The only reason she did was that she was stumped when all paths led to the FBI.”
Shamus’s jaw drops, and he looks at me. I clear my thro
at. “I didn’t do much. I just—” Tristan cuts me off.
“Savannah, I would have found the connection eventually, but it was your ability to think outside the box that made those connections between Marx, the Skin Slingers, and Wilson Drake as quickly as you did. It was a massive leap, but it was the leap that we needed.”
“Savannah, why didn’t you tell me? You told me that Tristan did the work.”
“I don’t know. When you do something for people, when you help them out, you don’t brag about it. It made me feel like it would be boasting if I did.”
He opens his mouth like he’s going to continue, and I really want to crawl into a hole somewhere, when a voice like a whip calls out, “Shamus McAllister?”
We all turn and look at the sturdy nurse standing at the door to the exam area. Shamus pales and stands up. He rubs his hands on his pants and makes his way over to the nurse. Then, he stops and turns to me, so I get up and give him a hug.
“Just you. Doctor wants to talk to you first.”
He has a death grip on the stuffed animals, and I feel like hurling.
Closing my eyes, I start praying that everything is going to be okay.
My heart is beating too fast. I’m sweating, and I feel a panic attack coming on. The lights in the hallway start blinking too fast, so I stop in the hallway and put my hand on the wall. I start counting back from ten, slowly, making sure I breathe in and out at a slow and steady pace.
Slowly, the world around me picks up. I stand up and see the stern nurse giving me an irritated look.
“I’m sorry, I just needed a minute. This is a lot, and it’s been a long time coming.” That in no way comes close to accurate when describing how monumental this is.
She spins on her heel and starts making her way down the hallway. I’ve never in my life come across a healthcare professional with this level of craptastic bedside manner.
I catch up to her when she opens a door and shows me into the small room. Her eyes are literally shooting daggers at me.
“What is your problem? This day is hard enough as it is without the staff treating me like this.”
She sticks her nose up in the air and mutters something under her breath about maybe, if I had given my kids a minute of my time, they wouldn’t have been kidnapped.
“You do not know my story or theirs, lady. You know next to nothing about the situation or what exactly is going on. My wife, their mother, was murdered, and they were kidnapped literally right out of her womb. I’ve been searching for them for years!” I clench my fists at my sides, and just when I’m ready to lay into her again, the doctor speaks up.
“Marge, I suggest you go clear out your locker. Mr. McAllister, I apologize for Ms. Cline, I have been briefed on your children’s situation. If you’ll take a seat, I’ll be with you momentarily.”
He exits and takes that witch with him.
The door opens just a short while later, and the doctor comes in again. “I wanted to apologize again. She’s a new, traveling nurse, and I’m not sure why she reacted like that, but she’s been relieved of her duties.”
“My children?” I ask. I don’t give one shit about her employment, or recent lack thereof.
He smiles. “Aside from being a bit dirty, physical health wise, they’re in great shape. Their weight and height are right where we want to see them. I see no scarring of any kind, any bruises or scrapes. The woman who was brought in with them seems very nervous, and the scarring on her face will probably never go away. The children were upset when she was taken to a different floor.”
Every ounce of tension, stress, and worry drains out of me. My head and arms go to the table and I break right the fuck down.
He comes around the other side of the table and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Is there someone I can call for you?”
I blow out a breath and nod my head. “My mom and a friend of mine are in the waiting room. Could you have them bring them back?”
“No problem. Someone will come get you when the children are in their room.”
He leaves. Elation is sailing through me, and I smile.
We’ve been sitting in this tiny room now for about an hour. Savannah has been on the phone nonstop, talking to her sisters about something called “Operation Prepare.” What that is exactly, I can’t say. I’m barely paying attention.
The knock on the door sounds like a loud crack through the room.
“Come in,” my mom calls out.
A much friendlier looking nurse pops her head in. “You ready, Dad?”
I look at my mom and Savannah, smiling, as I make my way out of the room.
“We have them all cleaned up, and they’re happy as little clams. Totally mystified by the Jell-O, and making friends left and right,” she tells me, making me smile even wider.
She knocks on a door and my nerves are back. I’m feeling a bit lightheaded. I have a ruthless control over my tears now, and I’m just praying that I can hold onto them.
There’s a curtain, and just when we clear the corner, I see my babies, and time grinds to a halt. The breath stalls in my lungs as two pairs of little eyes look at me from the bed. Two little redheads, and faces covered in green Jell-O.
I’m shaking so bad, I can hear the zipper shaking on the bag I brought them.
There’s another nurse in the chair in front of them. She cleans up the Jell-O mess on the table, then wipes their faces, making them giggle. When she finishes, she smiles at me and leaves the room.
For the rest of my life, nothing will ever compare to this feeling. I’m in complete awe.
I sit down in the chair in front of them, and finally let go of the death grip I have on the teddy bears I brought them.
I hand the first one to Aiden, and then Chloe. “Your momma picked those out when you were…” I clear my throat. “When you were growing in her tummy.” They both look at each other, and then at me. Aiden scrambles off the bed, and before I can even draw a breath, he’s in my lap and touching my face.
His hands are on my cheeks, and he turns my face this way and that, touching my beard and hair. He looks at his sister and tugs on my hair. “What’s your name?” he asks me in the sweetest little voice in history.
“My name is Shamus, and I’m…I’m your Father.” I touch his curly red hair and smile. “Two little redheads, just like me.”
He cocks his head and touches my cheeks. I didn’t even realize I was crying. “Why are you sad?”
“I have missed you so much, and I’m not sad, I’m so very happy.” Looking at Chloe, she has my hair, but everything else is all Jenny.
From the tiny little upturned nose to her turquoise eyes, everything is Jenny. It makes me endlessly happy.
Aiden is my replica from the hair to the eyes, to the too plump lips that I always detested as a kid.
The nurse touches my shoulder and I jump. “I’m going to go and get your guests, if that’s okay?”
I nod my head yes and look at the kids. “My mom, your grandma, and a friend of mine are going to come in. Is that okay?”
I can’t help but stare and smile at them. Aiden gives me a small grin, and Chloe’s little foot comes out and touches my arm. I look at her, and she climbs over to me and sits on my lap.
She has the stuffed teddy bear clenched in her arm, and goes through much the same inspection as Aiden did.
Aiden sits there with his arms crossed, looking so serious. I almost laugh.
“Did you know that dogs eat poop? We had a dog who used to have stinky breath, and Eva said it was because he ate poop!” I smile at him and look at Chloe. She has a totally grossed out look on her face.
“Did you like having a dog? I don’t have one, but we could always get one if you want.”
Chloe sits up. “I want a dog. I want a white one I can put a pink skirt on.”
Aiden snorts and says, “You can’t put a skirt on a boy dog! Boys don’t wear skirts, Chloe!”
“I want a girl dog, Aiden! I want to name it Bella.”
“Boy dog, and his name will be Gary!”
Chloe sticks her tongue out at him, and I can’t help but laugh. “Maybe we’ll get two, and you can each have your own. But, you have to feed them and take care of them.”
Chloe settles in and looks at Aiden, totally smug. Aiden just huffs and crosses his arms. The door opens, and my mom and Savannah come in. They’re all smiles at seeing Chloe and Aiden in my lap. My mom comes over and sits in the other chair, and Savannah sits on the bed.
Mom has tears in her eyes, and is doing her very best to keep them in check.
“Land sakes, they look like a mini version of you and Jenny. Well, except for the hair.” I smile and touch the red curls on Chloe’s head.
I look at Savannah, and she’s smiling so wide, it just lights up her face.
“Did you know that dogs eat poop?” Aiden asks them both.
Both Mom and Savannah laugh. “I had a dog like that once, and his name was Sprocket,” Savannah tells Aiden, making him laugh.
“Dad says we can get a dog, and we’re going to name him Gary.”
Chloe pushes him with her foot. “A girl, and her name will be Bella.”
Aiden pushes her and shouts, “Gary!”
Chloe goes to push him back, and Mom picks her up by her armpits and sits her on her lap.
“Actually, Dad said that we can get two, so ha-ha.” Laughter and conversation flows around me, but I’m in complete and total shock that Aiden called me Dad with absolute certainty. It just rolled off his tongue and settled into my soul.
I look at Savannah, and she’s blinking furiously, trying to stem the tears. She totally understands, and heard him call me Dad. I smile at her and close my eyes, soaking in the warmth of my child in my lap, and the sound of their voices in my ears.
Opening my eyes, I look back at Savannah. “So, operation prepare? What exactly is going on?”
“It’s going to take a bit to get things sorted here and get you guys on your way home. So, we moved the furniture from the spare room into the basement. The sisters brought over two toddler beds and have spent the day making sure the house is ready. They packed my bags since I’m staying at my mom's.”
