by K. J. Dahlen
Cassie grabbed his hand. The frown on her face deepened. “Are you okay with this?”
Deke laughed with joy and grazed his lips across her knuckles. “You’re giving me a son and a daughter. I fucking love this!” He lifted his gaze to stare at her. “Are you okay with this?”
“It’s a little scary,” she admitted. “I’m almost afraid something bad is coming and it’s gonna suck all the happiness I’m feeling away from me and I’m gonna be left with nothing. I’m almost scared to believe all of this is real.”
Deke pressed her hand in his. “I won’t let anything happen to you or those babies. Nothing is gonna take you or them away from me. Do you hear me? NOTHING. You and they belong to me, Spitfire.”
Cassie smiled as tears welled her eyes. “I hear you big guy.” She turned to the doctor and asked, “Can we get a new set of pictures?”
Doctor Peters smiled. “You bet.” He printed them off and handed them to Deke. He gave her a towel to wipe off the gel then left them alone in the room.
Deke watched her as she sat up and straightened her clothing. She studied the pictures the doctor handed her. He cupped her chin and brought her face up to his. “What’s wrong?”
Cassie shrugged and tried to lower her eyes to hide what she was feeling.
Deke wouldn’t let her. “What is it?” he asked again.
“I’m scared,” she whispered. “Every time when something good happened in my life, something bad happened and ruined the good. For the first time in my life, I dared to hope that things could be different. I met you and I dared to hope my life could get better. Then Robbie found me and nearly took everything I had away from me. I saw my dreams for Redemption House come to life and so far, that’s going really good, but in the back of my mind, I’m waiting for the axe to fall. I found my uncle and I’m praying he’ll stay in my life. Now, I’m having a baby and in a few months my life will change again. Will I be a good mother or has my past been too warped by hatred that I may not be able to love my child? Now, I find out I’m having twins? Can I love them both? Can I protect my children from the fears I’ve been forced to live with?”
Deke pulled her close and patted her on the back.
She continued, “What about the sister I just discovered I have? What has her life been like all these years? Does she remember me at all? Does she feel the same hole in her heart that I’ve felt during the darkest times in my life? When I was in that basement at Janelle’s house, lying there broken and bloody, I felt something I never understood before. In my darkest times when I was alone and ready to give up the fight, I felt someone next to me. I always thought maybe it was my mother but now, I’m not so sure. Could the other being I felt have been my sister?”
Deke had never felt this helplessness before. He couldn’t give her the answers she was looking for but he could give her hope. “I don’t know what to tell you sweetheart, but I do know this much, you aren’t the scared little girl you once were. You aren’t alone anymore and you will never be broken or left bleeding ever again. You have people who love you, who will love you for the rest of your life. I’ll never turn my back on you and neither will Deacon. He’s been looking for you for a very long time and now that he has you back in his life, he’s not letting you go.” Shrugging he continued, “As far as the kids go, you aren’t alone there either. Those are my kids too and what’s mine I protect. Nothing will ever happen to them or to you.”
Cassie sighed and leaned her head toward his. “I love you so much,” she whispered.
“I love you too.” Deke pulled back and stared at her. “As far as your sister goes, we will find her and bring her home with us.”
Cassie nodded. “I know…it’s just that I have so many doubts and questions with no answers. It all overwhelmed me for a moment.”
He gently brushed her hair away from her forehead. “I wish I could take all your fears away but I know I can’t. I can tell you we will find her. We won’t stop until we do. As far as the babies go, you aren’t alone there either. You have me, Gator, Reva, Deacon, Marnie and the entire club looking after them. Not to mention everyone at Redemption House. These babies are gonna be so loved, they will never know what its like to be alone.”
“You forgot about Peaches.” Cassie giggled. “She thinks the babies belong to her too.”
Deke smiled. “There you go. The babies will be very much loved.” He hesitated then said, “I know you’re scared but it’s gonna be okay. I know you love these babies. I’ve heard you talk to them late at night, when you think no one else is listening. While we’re laying there in bed I’ve heard you whispering to them.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you heard me?” Cassie blushed.
“Because I felt you needed something of your own. What you told the babies was wonderful but it was your and yours alone to say to them. You spoke of your dreams and prayers for the future, you told them everything you wanted for them. How much you loved them and how much you loved me. You made me so proud.”
“Can we go home now?” Cassie whispered.
Deke grabbed her hand and didn’t let go until he helped her into the truck. All the way home, neither of them said a word. As he pulled into the parking area, he reminded her, “We still have to choose a name for our son.”
“My grandfather’s name was Sam,” she told him quietly. “I never got to know him but Sam is a good name, isn’t it?”
“Sam is a very good name,” he agreed halfheartedly.
“Samuel Deke would be even better,” Cassie hinted.
Deke shook his head. “Can’t do that sweetheart. Sam is bad enough but if we add the Deke then he’ll get a whole other title.”
Cassie turned to him and frowned. “I don’t understand?”
“My full name is Samuel Deke Tory Jr. If we name the baby after me, then he’ll be a Third and no child deserves that.” He shrugged. “I go by Deke so as not to confuse between me and my dad.”
“Your name is Sam too?” She looked surprised. “What is it then? You don’t get along with your dad?”
Deke shrugged. “I never knew him until I was twelve when he took me away from my mother. He’s not an easy man to live with. He belongs to another club over in Maine. We don’t see each other all that often and it suits us both better that way.”
“Would you rather not do Sam then? We can find another name,” Cassie offered.
“We can do the Sam, my dad’s known as Bones anyway. Neither of us go by Sam, just not Samuel Deke. Okay?”
Cassie looked disappointed, be she only nodded and they turned and went inside the clubhouse.
~* * * *~
Zipper waited until the hubbub of viewing the sonogram pictures died down then approached Deke with his news.
“What’s all this?” Deke asked as he took several pages from the other man.
“I did a background on Max Portland.”
“And what did you find?’ Deke asked quietly.
“Max Eugene Portland married to his wife Peggy for the last twenty three years. They had no children until they acquired two year old Paige, eighteen years ago. By all accounts, they raised her good. I found her high school graduation photo.” He pointed out the last page of the bundle he handed to Deke.
Deke pulled it out and stared at the woman on the paper. She looked an awful lot like Cassie. She had the same color eyes and the same mouth and nose. The only difference he could see was that while Cassie had red hair this young woman had dark brown hair. “What is she doing now?”
“She still lives at home while she’s going to college,” Zipper replied. He waited for a few minutes then asked, “Are you going to tell her?”
Deke nodded. “Yeah, I am. She deserves to know.”
“How do you think she’ll take the news?”
Deke glanced over at Cassie. “I think she’ll be okay with it.”
Zipper just shrugged and walked away.
Deke stared at the photo again. The young woman gazed out with confidence. Her s
kin was clear and unblemished by worry or pain. All she had in her future was hope. Deke was worried. Would Cassie resent what her life could have been if Flynn had taken her instead of Paige to Max Portland? Or, would she be okay with it?
Cassie joined him before he noticed her. When she saw the picture in his hand, she gasped. Reaching out, she took the picture from him and gazed at it. “She looks like me doesn’t she?’ she whispered.
“Yeah baby, she does.”
“Where is she? Did Zipper find her?”
“Yeah, he did. She’s still living with Max in Quincy. She’s going to college.”
Cassie looked up at him. “Can we go see her?” Her voice quivered with excitement.
“If you like…” Deke paused, then plunged in, “….You know her life was normal don’t you?”
Cassie closed her eyes. “God, I hope so. I hope that girl has never known the pain and hurt I did. I hope her life has been so boring, she did something crazy like get a tattoo for her birthday. I hope she remembers every birthday party and Christmas with nothing but the good.”
“But it could have been you not her,” he whispered.
“Then I’m glad it was her,” she whispered back. “I survived but I’m not sure she would have. I know Peaches would have died without me and I would have died without her. We survived together. I know I’m tough but I’ve had to be. I pray Paige never has to be that tough.” She stared down at the picture in her hand again. “Can we go see her?”
Deke couldn’t believe such a person as Cassie could exist. So selfless and loyal to those she cared about. How did he get so lucky? “Any time you want sweetheart, any time you want.” He smiled at her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Deke drove the van down to the last house on the block and pulled over to the curb. The house itself was a simple ranch style dwelling. It had an attached three car garage and a flower bed along the front. The home itself was painted blue and had grey trim. There was a pickup in the driveway.
Deke helped Cassie out of the van, then Deacon and Marnie joined them. Deacon and Marnie had joined them on this journey because Deacon was family.
Deke looked over at Cassie and asked, “Are you ready for this?”
Cassie looked excited. “Yeah, I am more than ready. I hope she’s here.”
“Let’s find out, shall we?” Deke took her hand and walked with her up to the front door. With a brisk knock, he rapped on the door.
A moment later, the door was open and an older man stood there. He looked at Deke first then swung his eyes to Cassie. He gasped and grabbed onto the door as he stared at her face. “Oh, my God…”
Deke’s grip tightened on her hand. “Do you know this woman?”
Max turned away from Cassie slowly. “If her hair was darker she could be my Paige.”
“I’m her sister Josette,” Cassie told him. “But I’ve been called Cassie since I was three.”
Max frowned. “I never knew she had a sister. Maybe you should come inside.”
“Do you remember me Max?” Deacon asked.
Max turned to view the other man and his frown deepened. “Jethro Ryan? I haven’t seen you in over twenty years.”
“That’s me.” Deacon nodded.
Max opened the door, inviting them all in. When they were all inside, he led the way into the living room. He caught Cassie’s eyes again, and shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”
“What can’t you believe?” Deke asked.
Max glanced over at Deacon then looked at Deke again. “Jemmia and Flynn and I were friends all through high school. Our senior year those two dropped out. It was shortly after Jemmia’s parents died in that accident. I finished school, got married and started working. I guess you could say I lived an uneventful life but then eighteen years ago, Flynn looked me up. He had this sweet little girl with him. He told me Jemmia was gone and he couldn’t take care of his kid. He asked if Peggy and me wanted her. I didn’t know what to say but Peggy wanted her. He was only here a matter of hours, then just like that he was gone again.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Peggy and I, we couldn’t have kids of our own, so Flynn leaving his little girl here was an answer to Peggy’s prayers. We even talked about moving so Flynn couldn’t come back and take her away again.” Shaking his head, “But we couldn’t do that.”
“But Flynn never came back did he?” Deacon asked.
Max shook his head. “No he never did. We raised that little girl as our own. We had to pretend we adopted her, so we could get a birth certificate for her but we never lied to her. We just didn’t tell her Flynn dropped her off here and disappeared. We decided to keep quiet about that. We tried to give her a good life.” Max turned to stare at Cassie again. “Flynn never said he had another daughter.”
Cassie snorted. “Yeah, he was a peach that way.”
Max seemed a little nervous. “Why are you here exactly?”
“I just found out that I have a sister. All I wanted was the chance to meet her. I didn’t come here to start any trouble and I would never hurt her in any way,” Cassie assured him. She opened her purse and took out a bundle of papers. She took off the first paper and handed it to Max.
Max glanced at the paper in his hand. His eyes widened as he noticed it was Paige’s birth certificate. He looked over Cassie.
“That was how I learned about my sister. My mother left those and some other papers for me. I had to find her. I hope you can understand that.”
Just then, the front door opened and two women entered. One was older and the other was younger with dark hair. When they came into the living room, the older woman halted as she gasped.
Cassie lifted her eyes and she saw fear in the older woman’s’ eyes. Cassie slowly stood and turned to the younger woman. “Hi Paige,” she smiled.
Paige smiled back. “I think I know you. You’ve been in my dreams all my life.” She stared at Cassie’s hair. “I remember your hair and now, I have a face to go with it. It’s my face too. I could never remember that part.”
“I’m your sister Josette.”
Paige shook her head. “You always wanted to be called Cassie. Mom would call you Josey and you would get so mad at her. You used to tell her your name wasn’t Josey, it was Cassie.”
Cassie gasped. “How did you know that?”
“I don’t remember much of my life before I came here but there are some things you just can’t forget. I couldn’t remember your face all these years but in my dreams I would see broken bits and pieces of my childhood. I never could connect the reason why, but I think now I know.”
Cassie felt tears running down her face. “You remembered me?”
Paige nodded.
“Why couldn’t I remember you?” she whispered.
Paige stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Cassie. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters now, is that we’re finally together again.”
Cassie crushed her sister in her embrace. “I found you again!” They cried and laughed together. Finally, they both sat down and Cassie introduced Paige to Deke, “Paige, I want you to meet my man, Deke Tory.”
Paige smiled at him.
“Hey, you may not remember me but I’m your uncle Jethro. Your mother was my sister. Although, I prefer to go by Deacon.” Deacon smiled. He pointed his thumb at Marnie. “And this lovely young lady is going to be your aunt. Her name is Marnie.”
“Is Mom still alive?” Paige asked.
Cassie shook her head. “No Flynn murdered her eighteen years ago.”
“Who is this Flynn?” Paige asked.
“That would be our father,” Cassie informed her.
Paige’s eyes widened. “Oh, my…”
“Flynn always was a crazy bastard,” Max commented softly.
“The only decent thing he ever did was to bring you here.” Cassie took her sister’s hand. “Even if his motives were screwed up, I couldn’t be happier for you.”
Paige glanced over at Max and Peggy. “So when is your baby due?”
Cassie smiled. “I’m actually having twins, a boy and a girl.”
Paige smiled. “How cool is that?”
“I’m naming the little girl after Mom,” Cassie informed everyone.
Max reached out and patted her hand. “Jemmia would have liked that.”
“I hope so.” Cassie got to her feet. “I hope someday, we can get to know each other as sisters again. We’re only here for the day and Deacon is going to show me where Mom is buried.” She motioned at Deke, Deacon and Marnie. “We live and work near Troy, New York. I would love for you to come and visit.”
“Do you have to go?” Paige asked.
“I don’t want to, but this has been enough excitement for one day. We both have a lot to think about.” She turned to Max and Peggy. “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you did for Paige. I’m so glad to know you loved her more than enough. You raised her like your own and that’s the best anyone could do.”
The older couple looked stunned by her words as they stared at the young woman who looked so much like their daughter.
Paige got to her feet and the girls hugged like there was no tomorrow. When they separated, Cassie dug in her purse and handed Paige a card for Redemption House. “You can contact me here anytime you want.”
Peggy came over to Cassie and hugged her. “I wish we had known about you as well.”
Cassie smiled sadly. “At least she was spared and for that…I’m glad.”
When Peggy opened her mouth to ask what she meant, Cassie held up her hand. “That’s a story for another day. I do hope we’ll have the time to get to know one another.”
Deke stood and wrapped his arm around her. “Are you ready to go baby?”
Cassie nodded. She walked over to Max and gave him a hug. Then turned and walked to the front door. Tears rolled down her face as she stepped outside. The sun was shining and the air was warm. She felt complete for the first time in a long time.
