"Michael, you're okay?" Anna ran her fingers across Michael's face.
"I'm fine, are you?"
"Michael, I love you." Anna's fingers slid across Michael's face again, memorizing it, loving Michael with her eyes.
"I love you, Anna." Michael pulled Anna into her arms. "I'm so glad you're okay." Michael began to weep.
"Joey!" The little boy's mother cried out, as a paramedic saw to her injuries. She was laying on a gurney not far from where they stood.
"Here's your little boy." Anna hugged Joey tightly, and then handed him to his mother.
"Thank you. I'm so sorry. Michael, thank you. I'll never be able to repay you for what you did. You saved my life."
"You just take care of yourself and your son."
"Thank you for taking care of my son."
"You're welcome, I'm glad you're okay."
"Your girlfriend saved my life."
Anna tightened her hold on Michael. She would not leave her side. Michael's arms squeezed Anna to her. She would not be separated from Anna.
"Michael, are you okay?' Van touched Michael's shoulder.
"I'm fine Van, just fine." Michael began to cry again, as she buried her face against Anna's. She had come so close to never seeing Anna or her family again.
"Excuse me. Michael, we need to get your statement. Could we ask you to come over here, so we can get it over with?" Captain Foley stood quietly next to them.
"Captain Foley, you kept your promise." Anna smiled at him.
"Yes, I did." He grinned proudly. He led all three of them to a crowd of officers. Cara stood grinning by a police car.
"Michael, it's good to see you." She walked over and hugged her. "I understand you talked him into surrendering."
"You know us lawyers, all mouth." Michael grinned back at her, still holding tightly to Anna's hand.
"How about you tell these officers what happened, and then you and Anna can get out of here."
"Anna and I live here, Cara."
"Honey, I want you and Anna to stay with Van and I tonight."
"Anna, what do you want to do?"
"I want to stay here. This is our home, and no one will run us off."
Michael grinned at Anna, hugging her tightly. "You heard her, Cara, we're staying."
"Then we need to get your back door, and the office door fixed."
"Let me call my dad and brother. I need to tell them what happened before they see it on the news."
"Michael, I'll call your parents. Give me their number. You and Anna go give the police your statements." Van suggested, smiling at the exhausted woman.
"Thank you, I'd appreciate that."
Van took the number from Michael, and then she stepped up to Cara, her eyes staring hard into her girlfriend's. "How close was it?"
"Very close." Cara spoke softly, her eyes filling with tears.
Van shuddered as she thought of what could have happened. She was also completely in awe at what the police had accomplished. She was very proud of Cara and the other officers.
"I love you, Van."
"I love you. And I am so proud of what you do, honey."
Cara blushed with emotion and love for Van. "I'll come stay with Anna and Michael, as soon as I can get away. Take care of them."
"I will."
"Van, Michael may go into delayed shock. Watch her carefully."
"I will, honey, and hurry. I need to hold you."
It was after eleven, before Michael's father and brother repaired the doors and broken windows, while Michael's mother, Van, and Cara visited. Emma and Melinda had stopped by earlier, along with Tia and Catherine.
"Do you think that they would be offended if we asked them to leave?" Michael whispered to Anna, as they sat on the couch together.
"I'm exhausted." Anna admitted with a yawn.
Almost as if Michael's mother could read their minds, she stood up. "Come on, Mick and Terry. Let's get out of here and let these women go to bed, they're exhausted."
"Honey, we're sure glad you're both okay."
"Thanks, Da, Terry."
"I'll be back tomorrow to finish the repairs." Terry hugged both Anna and Michael. "I love you two."
"Honey, you both get a good night's sleep."
"We will, Mom."
"I love you, girls."
"We love you."
"Cara, let's head home, too." Van suggested, pulling Cara to her feet. She could see how exhausted both Anna and Michael were. They needed to get some sleep.
"Are you two going to be okay?" Cara asked quietly. She knew how stressful the day had been, and was still worried about her two best friends.
"We'll be fine, Cara. Thanks." Anna reassured her. All Anna wanted to do was crawl in bed with Michael.
After much hugging and kissing, Anna and Michael were finally alone. Michael turned to face Anna, and smiled. "We're finally alone."
"Michael, take me to bed and hold me." Anna's eyes were shiny with tears.
"All night, honey." Michael promised, as she turned out the lights and took Anna's hand. "Anna, are you going to be okay staying here?"
"It's our home, Michael. I love living here with you. Are you going to be able to work in your office?"
"I think so. Anna, do you want me to stop taking battered women's cases?"
"I don't want you to change a thing you do, honey. You saved that woman's life today."
"You saved her son."
"I love who you are, and what you do." Anna's hands held Michael's face in her own. "That's who I fell in love with, and I will always love the woman I fell in love with."
Michael was so overwhelmed with emotion, she couldn't speak. But her eyes spoke volumes as she gazed at Anna. Anna and Michael kissed slowly, deeply. "I thought I lost you, and my heart ached. I'm so very thankful you're okay."
"Anna, I love you so damn much." Michael began to cry.
"Michael, come to bed, and we'll hold each other all night."
Anna and Michael crawled into bed and wrapped their arms around each other, exhaustion and emotions took over, and they fell rapidly into sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Four
"Let's have a toast to my daughter, Michael, and her partner, Anna. May your hearts be true to each other for two lifetimes. May your love be as large as an ocean, and may your spirits be as light as the clouds that float in the sky. Anna, you are now a link in our family chain, and we're all stronger for it. Welcome."
"That was beautiful, Mick, thank you." Anna's eyes were filled with tears.
"Anna, you're as much my daughter as Michael. I love you, girl."
"Oh, Mick." Anna began to cry.
"Don't you be crying, doll. Tonight's not a night to cry, it's a celebration." Mick hugged Anna.
"Da, thank you." Michael hugged her father and Anna together. It was a wonderful night. "Anna, are you about ready to go home?"
"Yes, honey. I just need to say goodnight to your mother."
"Congratulations, Sandy and Terry said your satellite was spectacular."
"It was, Maureen. Thanks. I want to thank you for the party, it was wonderful."
"You're welcome, love. You and Michael be careful driving home."
"We will." Anna and Michael's mother hugged tightly. "Goodnight."
Michael and Anna were quiet the whole way home. Anna's hand was clasped tightly in Michael's. It wasn't until they were in their home that Michael spoke. She picked Anna's hand up and kissed it, the gold band glistening on Anna's ring finger. Michael wore a matching band on her ring finger.
"I love you, Anna."
"Michael, I love you so very much."
Michael's hands were gentle as she undressed Anna. "I'm going to make slow, magical love with you."
"And I, you." Anna promised, as she stripped Michael of her clothes.
Their bodies melted onto the bed with kisses and whispered promises, as they made love until they both drifted off to sleep, wrapped around each other, their love for each other keeping them war
m and safe.
Epilogue
"Sorry, I'm late." Tia breathlessly apologized, as she sat down at the table.
"Tia, you're always late." Van teased her affectionately. "How's Catherine?"
Tia's smile stretched from ear to ear as she responded. "Beautiful, cranky, and very big." She chuckled as she spoke. She loved Catherine, especially pregnant.
"It's hard to believe that a little more then a year ago we were all single." Emma reminisced. "So much has happened."
"So many wonderful things." Anna agreed, with tears in her eyes.
"Honey, we're so lucky." Van's eyes glistened. "I thank God every day for bringing Cara into my life, and keeping her safe."
"Speaking of Cara, here she comes, with Maddy and Catherine. Michael and Melinda are right behind them."
"God, aren't they beautiful?" Emma whispered, as the group approached the table.
"Hello, ladies." Michael grinned, as she bent over to kiss Anna hello. Anna felt the now familiar catch in her heart that she got whenever Michael looked at her. Anna gathered Michael's hand in her own as she sat down.
Tia stood up to help Catherine sit down. "Make room for an elephant." Catherine chuckled, as she tried to get comfortable. Cara placed Maddy between Catherine and Tia.
"You look wonderful, Catherine."
"Thanks, Anna. I feel great!" She and Tia exchanged a long, loving look over Maddy's head.
"Melinda, are you going to take the new job?" Tia inquired as Cara and Melinda slid into chairs by their girlfriends.
"I'm thinking about it." Melinda grinned, as she hugged Emma next to her. "My agent negotiated too good a package to resist." She poked Emma as she spoke.
Emma laughed out loud. "You know you're going to take it. You love the challenge." Melinda had been asked to be on the state school board.
"I love you." Melinda reminded her. "Cara, tell Emma about the training you're taking in Virginia."
"I will, but first I want to hear about Anna and Michael's trip to Ireland."
"Yes, tell us." Van's fingers found Cara's under the table. "I am trying to convince Ms. Shutterbug here, to go to Europe."
"It was romantic, beautiful, and so magical." Anna sighed as Michael chuckled.
"Romantic? Traveling with my parents, my brother, his wife, and their two kids?" She laughed loudly, her eyes gazing at Anna. "It was perfect."
"Did you see any leprechauns?" Maddy asked her eyes wide with wonder.
"No leprechauns, Miss Maddy." Michael responded. "But, I did see a beautiful fairy princess with wavy brown hair and hazel eyes."
"Oh, Michael, that's Anna." Maddy giggled, rolling her eyes.
"Right you are, Maddy. Anna's my fairy princess. Michael's eyes twinkled at Anna as Anna sighed, her eyes filling with tears. In one sentence, Michael could fill her heart with such love.
"We're all so lucky." Catherine shared, as she pulled Tia and her daughter closer to her.
Van slipped her arms around Cara's waist, as she looked at the happy faces assembled around the table. Michael and Anna were sharing a kiss. Emma had her head on Melinda's shoulder, and Tia, Maddy, and Catherine were holding each other. She felt the tears start as Cara hugged her tightly.
In a short span of time four new families full of love, had entered the world, a world full of conversation, friendship, loyalty, and so much love, four times over.
Love Times Four Page 26