"We're home," I announced as we walked in.
She was standing in front of the sofa, looking like she was emotionally wringing her hands, even though she wasn't actually doing it physically. I didn’t even take off my coat, but went straight over to give her a hug, and got her to sit down by me. Mark came in and sat in the chair.
Gina looked from Mark's face to mine, then back again. "Well?"
"Huh?" he teasingly replied. Gina frowned at him, indicating that this was not a time to be playing around. "Sorry," he apologized, grinning. "Everything's fine. They've talked about marriage, but aren't officially engaged yet. And they've already decided to wait for sex until after, as much for Cassie's mental health as anything. And I think they would rather not wait until June, but Cassie wasn't upset about it, either. They thought they'd have to wait until she turned eighteen, so that actually moves it up by two months." He turned to me, "Is that it, Cassie?"
"Pretty much," I confirmed.
Gina was so relieved, she wasn't sure what to say.
"Oh, and Cassie pointed out that they wanted our approval before they got married."
Gina was, atypically, in tears. "I'm so relieved, Cassie," she said, putting her arms around my neck. "I knew I was worrying too much. But, you know, mothers do that sometimes. And things have changed so fast lately. I know it's been for the better, but still . . . ."
Mark interceded. "Well, now that's all settled―for the moment, anyway―I'm hungry. What's for lunch?"
I wasn't as interested in lunch as in talking to Will. I chatted a little more with Gina, establishing that she would take me to the gynecologist during spring break in March so I would have plenty of time to make decisions and implement some birth control before June. It did seem that she was pretty set on waiting, but, hey, miracles happened. (I knew because I had experienced more than one lately.) Oh, and she offered to wait until we let her know that our engagement was official before talking to Will's mom about a party or the wedding.
While she and Mark were getting lunch, I retired to my room to converse with Will. This time, I felt the need to hear his physical voice with my physical ear, so I got my cell phone out of my jeans pocket. Maybe it seemed so much like a dream to me that I needed more tangible proof of the reality of it all.
He answered immediately. "You alright? You felt happy, but you’re calling on your phone."
“I am.” I sighed. "It all seems too good to be true, Will."
"I think I know what would help. I'm on my way to pick you up. Okay?"
"Okay." Had something slipped through his shield? I sensed what he was planning. "I need to let Mark and Gina know. How soon?" I asked as I reached in my nightstand drawer for the jeweler's box with his ring in it. Was he reading me? Didn't feel like it, but he sure seemed excited.
"About five minutes."
"I'll be out front by then," I said, checking to make sure the ring was in the box (though where else it would be, I didn't know), and putting the box in my coat pocket.
"Thanks. Love you."
"Love you, too." Boy, did I.
Mark and Gina understood that Will and I wanted to talk. So no problem there. In fact, I had the feeling that things were going to be easier with them from here on out. I went outside to wait the minute or so until Will arrived, and found myself fluttering with anticipation inside, though making my best effort to remain calm on the outside―in spite of the fact that I knew it wouldn't fool Will at all.
He seemed particularly cheerful and kissed me in front of the whole neighborhood before helping me into his car. He then drove us to a place where I hadn't been before. It was probably a couple of miles or so past his house, in a heavily wooded park area and up a steep hill where the gravel road hairpinned back and forth to make the vehicular ascent more gradual. There was a small parking area at the top where he stopped the car.
He took my hand as he helped me out and, characteristically, kept it. We walked past a couple of picnic tables and a sign that said "Scenic Overlook" to the highest grassy spot near a ledge which appeared to drop off into nothing.
"Isn't it breathtaking, Cassie? And it looks like it never ends." He indicated the idyllic view directly in front of us. And all around us. It was a beautiful day, warm for December. The sky was a clear blue with a few white, fluffy clouds and some feathery ones higher up. I could hear the water in the river running almost musically over the rocks and boulders in its path below us. In the distance, tree covered hills appeared to go on forever. The light from the sun and the shade from the clouds played over them, as if continuously repainting a lovely, living landscape.
It was breathtaking.
I turned to Will, who was studying me―inside and out. All his shields were down. Although he was already within my curtains, I drew them back to confirm that he was most welcome.
"I am convinced that life with you will be even more beautiful than all of this. So . . . ."
He put his hand in his coat pocket and pulled out the ring box I knew he would have. "Still want to marry me?" he asked, smiling.
"Yes," was all I said, but I felt him sense the fuller answer―the one I wasn't quite able to put into words―inside me.
He took the ring out of the box, and carefully placed it on the ring finger of my left hand. I held my hand up to look at it more closely, the diamonds glittering in the sunlight. I put my hand on the side of his face, stroking his cheek with my thumb. "I sure love you."
Before he had a chance to respond, I had his ring box in my other hand and held it up in front of us. I grinned at him. And he grinned back. I got the ring out of the box, and placed it on his left ring finger, which he obligingly held out for me.
"You've known since the day you got through my shield," he stated.
"Yes."
"And you kept me from knowing that you knew."
"Yes."
"You don't give yourself enough credit, my Love." He moved his face close to mine. "For a lot of things." Implying, I supposed, that I was better at kissing than I gave myself credit for. Well, whether I was or not, he certainly was proficient at it, as evidenced by the advanced technique he was now practicing on me. How, oh, how, was I going to last for even six more months?
"Are you ready to break the news to our parents? Officially, that is?" he eventually asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"Who first?"
"How about Mark and Gina? Even though they really know about us already, I would like to have it over with."
"Okay." We headed to his car. “And you don't need to worry about Mom and Dad at all. They've been expecting this for a long time. And they're fine with it, to put it mildly."
Mark and Gina were in the living room talking when we reached the house. "Could Will and I talk to both of you for a minute?" I asked.
"Of course," Mark replied. "Come on in and sit down."
So we did. Gina noticed my ring before we had a chance to say anything. She took my hand to look at it. “Cassie?” she asked. I smiled and nodded. And it was smooth sailing from there on. There were hugs all around, and some talk about an engagement celebration of some kind, and probably setting a date sometime in June, and, before I knew it, it was over and everything was fine.
Whew! Maybe someday it would sink in that Mark and Gina were pretty good at life, and I should just stop worrying about how they were going to take things. Perhaps someday I would try them out on the lost part of my life that wasn't lost to me anymore, as Dr. Stuart had been recommending more and more firmly of late.
In the meantime, we went back to Will's house. There was a very nondescript, old looking car parked in front of the house. "I wonder whose car that is," he commented as he drove into the garage.
“Can you tell?” I asked, now wary of someone being there that I didn’t know.
It took Will a few seconds, then he grinned from ear to ear. "Yes. You'll see," he said instead of telling me whose it was.
“Alright.” I guess.
"M
om! Dad!" Will called as we went in through the garage door.
"Will?!" cried out a low male voice, and a large (meaning very muscular, although not quite Will's height) black man appeared in the dining room door.
"Ben!" Will responded, for once releasing my hand, and rushing to the other man. They embraced heartily, the other man almost lifting Will off his feet in his excitement. "It's so good to see you!" Will exclaimed.
"Same here, man. You look better than I've seen you in a long time. And I'll bet this is why," he continued, coming over to me. I could sense he wasn't quite sure how to greet me, and didn't want to upset me. "Do you remember me, Cassie? Old Uncle Ben." He turned to Will. "Sounds like a rice commercial, doesn't it?" And he chuckled. A deep, contagious sound. Then he turned back to me.
"I remember some," I responded, tentatively. He was so . . . big.
"Enough so I can give you a hug, Princess?"
Princess? Princess. Yes. That was familiar. "I guess so."
He tempered his eagerness for my benefit, cautiously putting his arms around me, then kissing the top of my head. "You were only seven the last time I got to do that. Can't tell you how happy I am that you're with us again." He stood looking me over and beaming at me. "Hey, what's this," he said, lifting my left hand. "You've been busy, Will."
"Very happily so," Will responded, putting his arm around me. "I just gave it to her and we've come to officially tell the family." He put his finger up to his lips.
"Got it," Ben confirmed, winking at me.
"Where is everybody?"
"Family room."
"Ready?" Will asked me.
"Yes." And this time, I realized that I wasn't even nervous. Just excited.
Melinda was apparently looking for a movie to watch. Dr. and Mrs. Stuart were sitting together on the sofa. Will walked us over in front of his mom and dad, and held my left hand out for them to see. "Oh, how wonderful," his mother exclaimed, jumping up to hug me, then Will. His father followed her example. Melinda was right there, of course. Her first comment was, "Well, it's about time, Will," followed by, "Wow, that's a big rock, Cassie. Isn't your finger getting tired?" I just smiled.
"It's not as big as mine," Will pointed out, holding his left hand so she could see his ring.
"Huh?" Melinda responded. She took hold of his hand to see it better. "Hey, you're right."
"Sometimes," he responded. Melinda wrinkled her nose at him as she let go of his hand.
"I didn't think it was fair for me to have an engagement ring and not Will. So I gave him one," I explained as Will and I sat on the sofa.
"What a cool idea, Cassie. I think I'll do that, too."
Ben asked, "Any date in mind yet?"
"Probably June. Mark and Gina are willing to give Cassie consent to marry while she's seventeen, but Gina's concerned about making it too soon. Our relationship is still pretty new to them," Will explained.
"That makes sense. And six months isn't too much time to plan a wedding." He hesitated. "Of course, there may be an alternative."
"What is it, Ben?" queried Dr. Stuart.
Ben sat down in a chair and cleared his throat. "Present company alright to hear this, Richard?"
"We all know pretty much everything. So go ahead," Dr. Stuart answered.
"Well, I was glad to get your invitation for the holidays, but I was headed to see you anyway." He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped. "You know I've been following a lead on Miguel and Barbara for weeks now. Well, I caught a break on it last week―an old Army intelligence buddy of mine works for the FBI now and was able to help me out. I'm sure enough about their location that I'm heading down there right after Christmas." My parents? Right after Christmas? Was it possible to have too many good things happen to a person in one day? I was beginning to feel like that might be the case for me, today.
"If I do find them, I'm sure they'll consent to whatever you and Cassie want, Will. They always figured you two belonged together." And we could get married even sooner? That was great! Wasn't it? Then why was my head feeling funny, and my breathing getting faster?
"One other thing." He turned to look at me. "Cassie, if my information is correct, you have a little brother named Luis. Probably about eight years old."
Oh, dear. I had put all my curtains back in place, and maybe I shouldn't have. Talk about blind-sided. I was already struggling from the worry and excitement of the day and, now that I noticed, starting to shake. I closed my eyes.
Will?
He had his arms around me before I finished calling his name. "I've got you, Cassie. You'll be fine. Just breathe. Just breathe. He settled my head against his shoulder.
"Too much for one day?" I heard his dad ask.
"Yesterday was a lot, too," added his mom.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Cassie," Melinda said. And I realized that she had never seen me have a panic attack before.
Will smoothed my hair back from my face and kissed my forehead. "It's been so long since she's had one, Ben." I could feel Will reading him. "And this one came on pretty suddenly. It's not your fault. Please don't blame yourself." I would say something comforting to him as well―when I finished recovering.
"Ben is okay. Just relax. Breathe. I've got you. I've got you."
While Will held me, Ben went on to quietly explain that my parents had apparently changed identities more than once since arriving in Mexico, making it much more difficult to locate them. "Hopefully, the fact that I've had such a hard time finding them when I knew they were there means that no one else is even close." That sounded good to me. However, I didn’t really know about that kind of thing. But Will and his parents trusted that Ben did. And I trusted them. So it would be alright, I told myself. I took another deep breath.
"Better?" Will asked, though he already sensed the answer.
Yes. I'm fine now. Thank you so much. I'm sorry to be a bother.
"Not possible," he responded as he loosened his hold on me.
I opened my eyes and looked around to discover everyone else looking at me. I turned to Ben. "It wasn't your fault. It just happens sometimes."
"Thanks for saying so, but I’ll be more careful. I forgot how sensitive you are," he said.
Just then, my stomach growled. Loudly. And everyone laughed. Well, at least it was good for comic relief, even if it was embarrassing. So I went with it. "Anyone else hungry?" I asked.
"Great hunger alarm there, Cassie," Melinda commented, still laughing.
"Gee, thanks," I returned.
Will's mom stepped in. "It is past lunch time. Shall we adjourn to the kitchen?" Which we then did, en masse.
Over the next days before Christmas, I discovered―or, more accurately, rediscovered―how enjoyable "Uncle" Ben was. It seemed that his frequently life or death vocation was balanced out by a very playful side to him. It was fun to see that Melinda was especially fond of him, even allowing him to put her on his knee from time to time. With no complaints. And Ben really liked Mrs. Stuart's cooking, so she made a point of fixing his favorite foods for the few days he was there.
Although I spent the nights at home, and made sure to do everything with Mark and Gina that I was invited to―which invitations, except for some Christmas baking and minimal shopping that Gina and I traditionally did together, also included Will―I was most often at Stuart's. And Mark and Gina joined me there for Christmas Eve dinner, where they met "Uncle" Ben. They accepted the essential facts they were given about him―what he did for a living, and that he met the Stuarts while doing some work for Dr. Stuart's previous employer―and didn't really ask any more questions about it. That may have been due to the fact that Ben emphasized the secure nature of his work.
Then we joined them again for Christmas morning. It was truly a merry Christmas. And, for me, a very happy day. Because of Will, first of all. And his family. And, of course, Mark and Gina. Then the possibility that Ben would be calling with good news in a day or two about my birth parents an
d a little brother I had yet to meet. It almost became too much for me again. But Will was expecting that, and unobtrusively took me to some quiet part of the house when he sensed that my composure was beginning to crumble.
The day after Christmas, Ben left for Mexico. He drove himself to the airport in his forgettable car, preferring that he not be seen in public with any of us. "A usual precaution," he said. "Force of habit. And better for everybody―just in case." He certainly didn't like leaving anything to chance.
The following day, Will and I were playing a game with Melinda in the family room when Dr. Stuart came in.
"Cassie, Will, would you come with me, please?" he requested. I could discern from his demeanor that something was wrong. I debated whether or not to start reading him, and decided against it. I'd better let him tell me. When I looked at Will, it was obvious that he already knew. And it wasn't good.
Dr. Stuart took us to his study and closed the door. "You'd better sit down," he advised. So we did. Will pulled me close, and held my hand firmly. "What is it?" I asked, looking at each of them in turn.
"Ben called," began Dr. Stuart. "His contact at the FBI let him know that another agent there was just exposed as an informant for the same crime boss who controls Gary Barnett. Apparently, the information regarding your parents' whereabouts was leaked to his organization about the same time Ben's friend got it to him. So Ben is quite concerned for your parents' safety. And your brother's. They may have already been discovered."
Will continued, "And he wants me to fly down and help him. I've helped him before―warning him when there's danger, reading people to get information. Things like that. He's thinking I'll be able to help him stay clear of the bad guys, find your parents and brother, and get them safely back to the States."
Will going to Mexico, straight into the middle of this mess? Will in danger? No. There must be a way around it. He shouldn't go. He couldn't go.
"No."
Will shifted on the sofa so he could face me directly. "Cassie, it's the best, quickest way to get it done. Ben and I will keep each other safe. After all these years, he is so close to contacting your parents. We have to do everything we can to help them."
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