“Angelina?” Dr. Chapin came into the room with a smile.
“Is it Violet?” I started to stand and cringed in pain. “Is she all right?”
“She’s just fine,” he said soothingly. “They’ll call me with any changes. I just wanted to check on you down here, to make sure you get the royal treatment.” He smiled warmly. “I’ve known Will for most of my life,” he said. “He’d never forgive me if I let anything happen to you.”
“Dr. Chapin…”
“Harry, please.” He smiled at me as the tech helped me up onto a rigid platform and put a pillow under my neck. She moved with the confidence of practice, turning up my pant leg and positioning my foot, but I gasped with even the slightest movement.
“Tell me the truth, Harry.” I waited as he gestured for the tech to leave us alone. “Violet’s always lived in a world all her own. I know you say there’s no reason for her not to wake up, but what if she just… doesn’t? What if she just stays in that private place we’ve been trying so hard to draw her out of? What if she’s gone somewhere we can’t ever find her again…?”
He sat down next to me and took my hands. He looked at me long and hard before he answered, as if he was weighing his words.
“There aren’t ever any promises in life, Angelina,” he said, gently. “But if I ever saw a little girl with a reason to live, it’s Violet.” He licked his lips and exhaled. “She has you and she has Will, and I never saw two people more devoted to a child.” He nodded, thinking. “Will came to me,” he admitted, “wanting to know if there was a chance he could be a father again. He told you about the accident?…”
It was my turn to nod.
“He looked for you for years, Angelina, desperate to find you. I never saw a man so compelled… never heard a man speak so highly of any woman… He called you his turning point.”
“I didn’t even think he saw me, way back then,” I said. “He was so much older, and I felt so invisible…”
“He more than saw, my dear. And he never forgot, either.” He picked up my hand and turned my ring to the light. “You said yes, I see.” And his face lit up. “He’s been imagining this, desperate for this for so long… For you… and for fatherhood…”
“Harry,” I gripped his hands as the tech came back into the room, rustling impatiently. “I don’t know if he’s Violet’s father… but I think he might be… Maybe it doesn’t really even matter. I know it doesn’t to me.” I swallowed and lowered my voice to a whisper. “I can’t bear the idea of his disappointment if a test proved that he wasn’t. Can you put his name on the birth certificate anyway… without a test?” I asked. “Then he would always be her father… no matter what.”
He patted my hand in a fatherly way. “As long as no one else is named, you can put down any name you like.” His eyes shined, pleased. “All the father has to do in order to make it legal is to sign… and I know for a fact that nothing would make him happier.”
I put my head back with a sigh. In spite of everything, a sense of peace washed over me and I knew I’d made the right decision. If Violet woke up…. When Violet woke up, it would be to two parents who loved her, and a real family of her own. The tech cleared her throat and Harry stood up.
“I’ll let you get on…,” he said, moving toward the door, a twinkle in his eye. “And I’ll let you be the one to tell Will,” he said. He turned toward the tech. “No, not that one…” He took off the small, heavy drape the tech had put over my lap. “Use the full lead apron…” He turned back to me with a friendly smile. “Can’t be too careful,” he said lightly.
“I’ll meet you back in Violet’s room when you’re all done,” he said, with a smile. “And we’ll break the happy news…”
I fidgeted and squirmed as the ortho tech took his sweet time applying the splint. The break was simple, but the swelling made it impossible to apply a cast, at least for now…
“Angel… thank God.” I looked up to see Will’s face in the doorway. Two steps more and he was beside me.
“What is it? Why did you leave her… what’s wrong…?”
“Nothing, sweetheart.” He took my hands and brought them up to his lips. It suddenly felt like forever since we’d last touched. “Nothing’s wrong. She moved her fingers, baby. Right after you left… I turned around and her fingers were moving…”
“Finish it,” I barked irritably at the startled tech. “I don’t care if you’re done. Our baby is upstairs and we’re going to be there when she wakes up.” He stared for a minute, but picked up his pace.
“She responded to the music,” Will said, kissing me between words. “And she’s reaching out, the only way she knows how…”
“She’s reaching for her daddy,” I answered back, tasting my tears on our lips. “You’re the one who saw beneath the surface all along… and something inside her knew that. Now she’s reaching back…”
The tech finished up without making a sound and disappeared discreetly. Will looked at the waiting wheelchair, but picked me up in his arms instead. “I love you, Angel. With all my heart and soul, I will love you for the rest of my life.” His rock-hard chest and arms radiated heat and security. A warm, liquid wave of pleasure ran through my body as I rested my head against him… A hundred years… a thousand years like this would never be enough…
And I realized how wonderful it felt to lean on him. To lean into his strength and his safety. To give up the control I’d held onto so long and so alone. “And I love you, Will… more than I ever thought possible,” I said, clinging to him, wrapping my arms around his neck as he took the stairs two at a time. “I belong to you,” I said. “Me… and Violet, too.” He stopped long enough to kiss me hard. “We belong to you… and you belong to us…”
“She’s turned her head,” Mattie said, her eyes huge with excitement. She stepped aside and let Will put me down on the edge of the bed. “Her eyes are moving underneath the lids… like she’s dreaming…”
“Violet, baby,” I said, softly. “It’s Mama… Open your eyes and look at me, sweetie. Please, baby… just open up your eyes.” I looked across the bed, over her little body at Will. “Daddy’s here, too, honey. Remember when you played the piano with him…?” I saw movement under the lids. “Miri wants to see you, too, baby…” I looked at Mattie for reassurance and she nodded fast. “She’s okay, too, and she wants you to play with her on the beach. We’ll go back and collect seashells…” Tears were starting to flow freely now and they dripped on the bedsheets, forming a dark, spreading stain. “It’s not just us anymore, Violet. Your daddy’s here, too, and he loves you as much as I do. We’re a real family now…” I looked up into his face and saw the depth of emotion in his eyes. “I know you can hear me…,” I whispered. “I can feel you… just under here.” I put my hand on her heart and closed my eyes. “I can feel you beating inside me, too… finding your way…”
“Angel…,” Will said, with a soft intake of breath. “Look…”
And I opened my eyes to hers. They were a dark, soft blue, the color of the sky, the color of the ocean on a cloudy day. I felt her tiny fingers, moving on my arm, playing music only she could hear…
And the waves came crashing down around me. Love and relief, elation and exhaustion. It all crested in a wave that was so much bigger than I could bear. I saw Will’s face as he caught me… then everything dissolved in a dark, cloudy mist. I could feel the smile on my face, the happiness in my heart…
Awake or asleep, I knew in that moment, I had everything I ever wanted…
42
Will
It had all been too much for her. Hell, it would have been too much for anyone. But her eyes fluttered open only a few minutes later… after I had picked her up and tucked her into bed alongside her child… our child. I stroked the hair back from her forehead and heaved a sigh of relief. My family was safe. It was the only thing that mattered…
“Angel… sweetheart… Violet’s okay, baby. So are you.”
We wrapped our arms
around each other and our little girl, and for a while there was silence… just the sounds of our mingled breath and a deep, profound gratitude that was far beyond words…
“Violet…,” she said, taking the little girl’s hand and bringing it to mine. “This is Will, sweetie… You remember him.” I took her tiny hand and her little fingers wrapped around mine with surprising strength. “He gave Miri to you,” Angel went on. “So you could love her and take care of her…” She looked up into my face. “Just like he gave you back to me…
This is your daddy, baby girl.” I watched as beautiful tears washed down her cheeks. They made her eyes so large… so bright… so luminous…
“She’s as much your child as she is mine,” Angel said, her tears spilling over her bottom lip. “You saved her… you brought her back to me… you helped her find her way back to us…” She looked at me, her eyes huge and brilliant. “She has a birthmark,” she whispered, “the same as yours… just under her arm and shaped like a heart…” Our eyes locked and somewhere in the silence between us, we found our truth. It had waited for us, patiently, all along… “We could still have the test done if you want…,” she offered.
“Your love, your trust… is all I ever hoped for, Angel. And now… to be a father, too…” I kissed her, deeply, passionately… wanting her in every way a man could want a woman… “You’ve already given me what I thought was lost forever… No test could possibly give me what I already have…”
She kissed me back, throwing her arms around my neck, pulling me closer. She smelled sweet, like fresh air and sunshine. “But you wanted to know for certain, Will…”
“And I do now,” I answered her reassuringly, pushing her hair back over her shoulders. “In every way that really matters, I do.” I put a hand on my chest, on my heart. “Being a real father is only here, Angel.”
Harry bustled into the room and shot an astute look around, taking everything in at a glance. He smiled down at Violet’s calm blue eyes. “Welcome back, little miss,” he said, kindly. “You’ve had a lot of people worried about you…” He looked over at Angelina with concern. “And how’s mom holding up?”
“Is she okay? When can we go home? Is the danger over?” Angelina shot the questions out in a rush. Two spots of color highlighted her cheeks as she sat up suddenly.
He raised an eyebrow, taking his time to look over the chart. “Everything looks good,” he said finally. “I think we’ll want to keep her a day or two, just to be sure. But it’s only a precaution.” He smiled at her. “I can arrange for you to stay here with her, if you’d like. It wouldn’t hurt for you to take a day or two off your feet, as well.”
“I will, I promise…” She leaned forward and took Harry’s hand. “Did you get the papers…?” she asked urgently. Harry nodded and his eyes slid over to me.
“What’s this?” I asked. “What… papers?”
“I asked him to gather the records together for me,” Angelina said, putting her hands in mine. They felt tiny, but warm.
“The state building’s right over on the next block,” Harry added, his eyes shining. “As you well know, Will…”
“I wanted… if things didn’t…,” she stumbled over the words. “I wanted Violet to have her father. And for you to have your baby girl,” Angel said, looking up at me with big, serious eyes, gripping my hands in hers. “I asked Harry to bring us the forms we needed… so we could put your name on Violet’s birth certificate. To make it real…
It’s your decision,” she added, glancing down at our intertwined hands.
In a second, I was on my feet with my love in my arms. “For God’s sake, Angel… Of course, it’s what I want.” I kissed her, tasting the salt of her tears… and mine.
“Wiseass,” I shot lightly, over her shoulder at Harry. “You knew… and you didn’t fucking tell me…?”
“Doctor-patient privilege,” he said with a smug grin. “I didn’t give away your secret, either,” he added. He looked from me to Angelina, and to Violet. Violet was watching silently, but her eyes slid quickly from one face to the next. I could see her absorbing every look… every emotion.
“You have a secret?” Angel asked, slipping her hands up my waist and around my back. Something hungry raised up inside me and growled with pleasure. “What is it…? Mattie…?” She looked around the room at each of us. Mattie waved her hands in front of her chest and looked innocent, batting her eyes. “Somebody… tell me…”
“Between the two of us, it looks like we’ve been running Harry ragged… I had him make a few arrangements for me, too,” I admitted, kissing her shamelessly in front of the others. We were the center of attention, yet it felt like we were the only two people in the world. “We can wait, if you want… until you’re ready to walk down the aisle on your own two feet,” I said. “But I’m more than ready to carry you down it, Angel. I waited years for this moment, and there were times I was afraid…” I took her face in my hands, so delicate and so strong… “Marry me now, sweetheart. Today.
Harry got the us the paperwork for the marriage license, and there’s a minister on staff. We can have the ceremony right here in Violet’s room. And when we leave here in a day or two, we can go home as a family. In every possible way…
Just say yes…”
Angelina’s mouth was open, her eyes glistening. The moment was perfect and the word was on the tip of her tongue… All of us were was waiting for her to answer…
“Angelina Hollister?”
And the whole room took a noisy breath in at once, breaking the silence. The nurse had a high voice and boisterous nature. She came into the room like a gust of wind, clattering items on a tray and shoes squeaking on the tile floor. “And this sweet thing must be Violet?” She sat the tray down with a loud thump.
“I’ve got lunch here for Miss Violet… Just a little clear broth to start with.” She went about her business, completely unaware of what she’d just interrupted. “If it goes down okay, she can have some gelatin in an hour or so.” She looked up at the faces around her and grinned, oblivious. “And this is for you,” she said to Angelina, and she held out a plastic cup with pills in it and another one filled with water.
Angel took them from her and blinked.
“How long have you and your husband been trying?” she asked, smiling, looking from Angel’s blank face to mine. She glanced down to Violet. “You two sure do make pretty babies…”
“I don’t understand,” Angel said slowly. “They gave me medicine for the pain when they put the splint on…”
“Oh, honey, that’s not for pain,” the nurse went on. “It’s your vitamins. Dr. Kendricks ordered them after she ran the tests. It just took a little while to take care of it on this end.” She leaned in confidentially. “I know I’m not the first, or the last to say this, but congratulations to you both. I just love a happy ending.” And then she was gone, bustling out of the room as noisily as she’d come in.
“Harry…?” I asked slowly, afraid to even think... But inside it felt like a spark had begun… and it was rapidly becoming a full-blown flame. It couldn’t be…
Hope and disbelief were mixed into my voice in equal measure. “…Harry…?”
He made a sound of satisfaction deep in his throat as he eased us both down onto the edge of Violet’s bed. “Forgive me for not telling you sooner,” he said, his whole, kind face creased with the size of his smile. “I’m afraid the two of you weren’t the only ones with secrets…,” he said. I took Angelina’s hand and felt it trembling.
“But there was already more than enough going on… You were both under a lot of strain. I felt it was better to wait until we had Violet safely back with us.” He reached past us and touched the girl’s forehead and she smiled. He turned to us.
“But one of the tests Kendricks ran was a pregnancy test. Standard enough, with a young, female patient.” He looked at me and his smile broke into a grin. “I can’t even explain it, Will. It couldn’t be. Technically speaking, it shouldn’t b
e…”
“But I did a home test…,” she began. “It was negative…”
“I triple-checked the results myself,” he said. “It’s real… it’s truly real.” He took Angelina’s other hand so we were both holding onto her. “I’ve never been happier in my life to give this kind of news, Angelina…
You and Will are pregnant,” he told her, tears in his own eyes. “You two are going to be parents…
Again.”
43
Angelina
We left the hospital two days later. All three… No… all four of us.
I ran my hands over my flat belly, eager to start feeling the first curves begin to grow… the first movements of a new life. Will ran his hands over my already rounder breasts and smiled.
“It’ll happen before you know it,” he said, reading my mind. “I can’t wait, either. I missed all this the first time…”
“Not tonight, you didn’t,” I teased, playfully. We’d already discovered a dozen new ways to please each other. The new cast on my ankle had only served to increase our creativity. I sat on his lap, my legs stretched out on either side of his hips. His cock stood straight up between us and waved… beckoning for more… “I don’t think there’s an inch left on me… or in me, that you don’t know… very intimately…”
“I aim to please,” he said, sucking air through his teeth, as I licked each of my palms and took his erection in both hands. I looked him in the eye and eased my pussy closer, so his balls rested against my clit. Pregnancy had made me bold and hungrier than ever. I hadn’t been able to get enough of him…
“Mattie and Donna’ll be back with Violet soon,” I said. They’d gone out for the day to buy their dresses for the wedding. We were staying in the city for now, while workmen were putting in tall, secure fencing around both houses on the island. I’d managed to convince Will to put the wedding off, but only for a week. “So I could either make you come right now,” I teased, mercilessly. “Or I could make you wait… until later tonight… or even tomorrow…” I laughed when he groaned. His hips bucked impatiently and the head of his cock was a deep, dark purple… In Will’s arms, I could have or give up as much control as I pleased…
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