"Where is she, Lex?" I whispered. He’d said she was okay and I believed him, but I was back on that fucking roller coaster when all I wanted to do was get off and see my kid.
"She’s still in Argentina, baby. I swear to you, she's okay. It seems that, for whatever reason, Serena's parents kicked Emma out or she left on her own. She's staying with a friend whose parents seem to have taken Emma in. King's already got a guy who lives down there keeping an eye on her."
"They left her there?" I said in disbelief as I rose on shaky legs.
"We won't know why they left her until you talk to her, but King said it looks like Emma is in a relationship with another girl. Not the friend she’s staying with, but another classmate."
There was a certain level of hesitation in Lex's voice, like he was unsure of what my reaction would be to that particular piece of information. Admittedly, I was on sensory overload as one truth after another hit me, but that one didn't bother me in the least.
"I need to go get her," I said. "Will you come with me?"
The smile that drifted across Lex's face was small and soft. "Try and stop me," he said. He pulled me down for a quick kiss and then he said, "Let's go bring your little girl home."
And just like that, I knew that no matter what happened, no matter what obstacles stood in our way, that was exactly what we'd do.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lex
"I don't see her," Gideon said nervously as he clung to my hand. "What if I don't recognize her?"
"You will," I said as I gave his hand a squeeze.
I could feel Gideon fidgeting next to me, but there was little I could do other than give him something to hold on to as he waited to see how this moment in his life would play out. In actuality, it was a moment in our lives. Because from here on out, everything that happened to one of us happened to both of us. It'd taken meeting Gideon to realize that’s what I'd been looking for from the moment I'd learned I hadn't come with the instant family that so many other kids did. I'd been fortunate enough to have brothers who’d taught me what it meant to love and be loved, but it was Gideon who'd shown me I was worthy of having those dreams of my own husband and kids.
Everyone was worthy of having that in their lives.
"Maybe we should've let Maria and Javier tell her first."
I leaned into Gideon and put my arm around his waist. He’d been having the same doubts, and many others, since we'd left Maine. For once in my life, I'd been more than glad to use every penny and every connection I'd had to get Gideon to Argentina to see his daughter. I'd handled all the travel arrangements while King had agreed to stay at Gideon's house with Brewer so we wouldn't have to put the dog in a kennel.
King’s man on the ground in Argentina had met us at the airport. Our first stop had been to talk to the parents of the friend Emma was staying with. They'd been the ones to confirm that Emma hadn't run away from her grandparents; they’d kicked her out after learning about her girlfriend. Gideon had barely managed to contain his rage when he'd learned why his fifteen-year-old daughter had been left behind to fend for herself in a foreign country.
Maria and Javier had been able to fill in some of the other details as well. After taking Emma in, they'd wanted to find Gideon, but Emma hadn't been willing to tell them her real last name. She was convinced that after all that had happened between her and her father that he would no longer want her, nor would he accept her sexuality.
Gideon had been heartbroken to know that Emma hadn't felt comfortable enough to turn to him for help. After we’d left Maria and Javier's house with their blessing to meet Emma at her school when it got out, we’d gone to our hotel to try and get some rest. Gideon had waffled between pure rage and heartbreaking despair. I knew his guilt from having let what he considered too much time go by before he’d tried to reach out to Emma would haunt him forever, but I also knew that I would be there to remind him that it was okay to leave the past where it belonged.
"Everything will be all right, Gideon, I promise."
He squeezed me hard and then began describing the scene before us. I found myself smiling when he began complaining about how all the girls looked alike since they were wearing uniforms. He was in the midst of just such a statement when his voice suddenly dropped off. His grip tightened on me even more. "Oh God, Lex, I see her."
The old me would've lamented over the fact that I couldn't see what he was seeing. And I would've been hoping that he’d tell me every detail just so I wouldn't feel so lost, but I wasn't the same man anymore. Time and Gideon had both shown me that losing my sight didn't mean I'd lost the ability to see. The images were clear as day in my head. I just had to find other ways to get them there.
Like the soft clinking of metal on metal that was likely a flagpole of some kind. The sound of wheels grinding over cement was probably from a gate being opened, presumably to allow the girls to leave the school grounds. And the girls… I could hear their laughter and the tapping of their shoes on the ground. My nose was picking up various floral scents, so I knew we were likely surrounded by a variety of plants and flowers. There was traffic moving slowly up and down the street behind us, so I knew we were still in the city. All those little things were just puzzle pieces that I had to put together to form that picture in my head… the ones my eyes could no longer see on their own.
"She's so beautiful, Lex. Her hair looks darker. The last time I saw it, it was brown, but now it looks like it has some red in it. She's gotten taller, too. She looks so grown up. She's holding hands with another girl. They're both laughing."
Gideon continued to share everything with me in great detail. I never tired of how he looked at things. There were times now and again that I wished I could've seen some of his old photographs, but when I'd had him show me the ones he had on his phone, he’d described them in the very way he’d wanted people to see them, to feel them. I didn't know what the future held for either of us, but I hoped that his love of exploring the world would be a part of it.
It wasn't until Gideon's voice slowed and then stopped altogether that I knew the moment of truth had come. I didn't need a running narration to know that Emma had finally spotted her father. The hitch in Gideon's breath and the way he held my hand was proof of that. I struggled to tune out the sounds around me. It took some doing, but when I heard a young girl's voice call out "Daddy?" in disbelief, I knew I'd managed it.
"Lex," Gideon said softly.
"Go," I told him and then I dropped his hand because I knew that was what he was waiting for. He was afraid to leave me there by myself, but at the moment, his daughter needed him more. And I wasn't afraid. Even if I couldn't necessarily keep track of where Gideon was, I knew he'd always come back to me. He'd always find me.
I stood completely still and zeroed in on Gideon's heavier footsteps as he moved away from me.
"Daddy!" I heard Emma sob.
Gideon's footsteps quickened and I knew he was running. The chattering of all the girls that had been around us as they’d left school suddenly died down and I knew that meant Gideon and his daughter had an audience for their reunion. But I doubted if either of them noticed. Not with Emma sobbing like she was and Gideon murmuring to her. He was close enough to hear, but not close enough that I could make out the actual words. But it didn't matter because I knew he was comforting his daughter and telling her how much he loved her and that he'd missed her and how sorry he was.
I knew that because I knew Gideon.
I couldn't say how long the embrace between Gideon and Emma lasted because I lost track of them briefly when the girls around me began moving again. Eventually, the schoolyard emptied out enough that I was once again able to pick up on Gideon's voice. I smiled to myself when I realized Emma was introducing him to her girlfriend. I could hear the nervousness as well as the defiance in Emma's voice as she spoke. I wanted to tell her that the man in front of her would never, ever judge her, but she'd see that for herself soon enough. She'd discover a lot of truths about
her father that she'd never known.
When I heard footsteps coming my direction, I tried to turn my attention that way. It was still disorienting not to be able to focus on any one thing in particular. My vision was just too far gone for that and I no longer bothered trying to identify any specific shapes. Sounds were easier for me to pick up on if I didn’t.
"Lex, I want you to meet someone," Gideon said as his fingers intertwined with mine. There was no missing the stark joy in his voice or the hint of tension that still lingered in his body. I knew that there would be time enough later to tell him that no matter what, we’d figure all of this out. That nothing and no one would take his child from him again and that when he was ready, we would all be a family.
But until then, I did my best to tell him those things without words as I gripped his hand in mine. When he returned the gentle embrace, I knew he'd heard me and so I focused all my senses on meeting his daughter… the daughter I hoped that I too would someday get to call my own.
Epilogue
Gideon
FOUR MONTHS LATER
As the driver pulled the sedan up to the wide set of stairs leading up to the double front doors, I said, "We're here."
Lex nodded nervously. He’d been quiet since we’d left the hotel, but I couldn't really blame him. This day had been a long time coming and while I truly believed he'd built up the reactions he would face from his brothers in his head, I wasn't about to minimize his fears.
Part of the problem was that he'd ended up staying away much longer than he'd intended, and that was because of me and Emma. As well as the reunion in Argentina had gone, there had been a lot of things to deal with in the aftermath. While Emma had been seemingly happy to see me, we’d had a lot of emotions to work through and rather than try to muddle through them by ourselves, I'd enlisted the aid of a child psychologist to help my daughter and me talk through everything. That process had taken months and continued to be an ongoing thing.
During that time, Emma had been terrified that my arrival meant she’d be torn away from not only the people who’d become her family in the months after her grandparents had kicked her out, but from the girl she'd fallen head over heels in love with. Once I'd assured her that she wasn't going anywhere, she’d been able to relax enough to start opening up about what had happened in the years since I'd seen her.
It had been a painful process for both of us to talk about Serena and Bethie's deaths. Emma held a lot of guilt for having pushed me away like she had, but she also still had a certain amount of loyalty to her mother. I hadn't wanted to tell Emma the truth about her mother's and my relationship, but the psychologist had assured me that the only way either of us could move forward was to deal with things head on. Between our individual and joint sessions, Emma and I had finally gotten to a point where we were comfortable enough to talk on our own, though we were careful not to tread into sensitive territory. We saved those conversations for when there was a professional present who could help us see things in a different light.
Although Emma continued to live with Maria and Javier, she'd started spending more and more time with me and Lex. To say that she’d been startled to discover I had a boyfriend was an understatement. But it had helped her to believe that I had absolutely no issues with her dating girls. My acceptance had helped lay the foundation of trust that we were slowly building on.
I couldn't have done any of it without Lex. Not only had he dealt with all the logistics when it had come to getting us down to and set up in Argentina, he'd been my sounding board every night as the guilt and self-doubt had tried to eat away at me. Every new revelation with Emma was something that I always talked through with Lex.
When it had become clear that we wouldn't be leaving Argentina anytime soon, Lex had made arrangements for us to rent a house in the same neighborhood Emma lived in. It meant I could walk her to and from school every day and we spent several nights during the week having dinner with Maria and Javier and their daughter. In addition to being grateful to the couple, Lex and I had grown quite fond of them. We'd ended up spending weekends with their family at their vacation home along the coast. They were as accepting of my relationship with Lex as they were of Emma and her girlfriend's.
While it was strange to be so far away from home, admittedly, I hadn't really missed Fisher Cove all that much. But I had felt guilty for leaving some of my responsibilities behind. Despite my protests, Lex ended up buying the town a brand-new plowing truck and he’d made sure there would be someone there to help out the residents of Fisher Cove in my place.
The only thing that had been left to deal with back home had been Brewer.
But Lex had taken care of that too because about a week after we'd arrived in Argentina, King had brought Brewer to us on Lex’s private jet. Not only did the husky adore Emma, he’d become an avid fan of the water.
The necessities hadn’t been all that Lex had taken care of. When he’d learned that the Mick who wasn’t the mouse was performing a concert in Florida, he’d surprised me with tickets. He’d called it a very belated and very well-earned birthday present. It had been one of the best nights of my life.
As grateful as I was to Lex for taking care of everything, it was difficult for me to accept that he was paying all our bills, but when I'd brought the issue up with him and told him I'd pay him back for everything, he’d pretty much lost his shit. But not in a freak-out kind of way.
I found myself smiling as I remembered Lex's response when I'd suggested he keep track of the expenses so I could reimburse him.
"For future reference, Gideon," Lex had snapped as he'd pointed at his face. His very pissed-off face. "This is my are-you-fucking-kidding-me face." After he'd thrown my own words back at me, he’d stormed off to our bedroom and locked the door. I'd been forced to video call King to ask him how to pick the lock, since just shoving a paperclip into the doorknob hadn't worked. The man who would someday be my future brother-in-law had enjoyed himself just a bit too much as I’d explained my predicament to him. But the spy shit had worked and I’d managed to get myself back in the bedroom where it had taken a lot of apologies and several rounds of vigorous make-up sex to get back in Lex's good graces.
Lex had been so focused on taking care of me and Emma that things with his own family had fallen by the wayside. He'd kept tabs on Gio’s progress through King, but the longer it had taken us to get settled, the more nervous Lex had gotten about seeing his brothers and telling them the truth about his condition. He’d also felt extremely guilty for having disappeared for so long, especially during a time when he felt like his family had needed him the most.
I held some guilt for that myself because I knew part of the reason Lex hadn’t gone home any sooner was because he hadn’t wanted to leave me. And for that, I was extremely grateful. There was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't have been able to handle my reunion with Emma on my own. Hell, without Lex and his brother, I never even would've known that Emma needed me.
I hadn't been in touch with Emma's grandparents at all, other than through my lawyer who'd informed them that I would be seeking full custody of my daughter. The fact that they hadn’t responded in any kind of way had only served to piss me off even more. The mere idea that they’d placed more importance on my daughter’s sexuality than her safety had made me want to punch something repeatedly.
Except not something so much as someone.
"Should we check in with the girls before we go in?" Lex asked.
When I’d told Emma I was returning to the US with Lex, I'd asked her if she wanted to come with us. She had, but she'd also asked if she could bring her girlfriend, Natalia, with us. Natalia, who was a year younger than Emma, was a sweet girl who lived with her grandmother. I'd gotten the impression that Natalia hadn't had the best life growing up, but I hadn't asked Emma for too many details. It was clear to me that the girls truly did love each other and I wasn't about to judge whether it was just the love of a couple of teenagers or something more. God knew
that I'd found my soulmate at a time in my life when I’d least been expecting it.
"I'm sure they're stuffing their faces with room service and painting their nails or something," I said.
Lex rolled his eyes. "Sure they are, Grandpa. And they’re probably braiding each other's hair, too." Lex paused before adding, "You know they’re probably taking advantage of the fact that we’re gone and making out."
"No, they're not. They both agreed to wait until they're thirty before they do anything more than hold hands."
My comment earned me another eye roll from Lex. While I had no issue with my daughter dating a girl and I loved Natalia, Emma was still my baby girl and the idea of her having sex, whether it was with a girl or boy, was something I would only be ready to talk about when I was wearing hearing aids that I could turn on and off as needed.
Lex let out a breath and then searched out my hand. "Do you think I should bring these?" he asked as he reached for his cane and sunglasses with his free hand.
We’d gotten them for him a couple of months earlier when the light had started to hurt his eyes. He never wore them at home, but he’d gotten used to having them on the rest of the time. He’d been a little bit more hesitant about the cane, probably because it had represented yet another milestone in his disease. But once he’d gotten the hang of using it, he hadn't wanted to go without it. I loved that it made him feel more independent, especially in places that he hadn't been before. He certainly got a lot more stares and hushed comments now, but they didn't seem to bother him.
But I knew why he was worried about it now. He was trying to figure out the best way to break the news to his brothers. The white cane and the sunglasses would pretty much do that for him.
"I think that no matter how you tell them, sweetheart, it's going to be hard on them. But I know that the only thing they're going to care about is having you back."
Foreseen: Lex (The Four Book 2) Page 26
