by Charlie Hart
“Okay,” I say, nodding in agreement, but hating the idea all the same.
If Thorne’s guards get wind that they’re being tracked, they won’t hesitate on shooting an unnamed officer of Alaska.
“I just don’t want any blood on my hands,” I say, running a hand through my hair.
“Let’s not mention this to Tia until we know more. She needs to sleep tonight,” Banks says.
The men nod in agreement.
We all split up with jobs to do, and try to focus on the fact we’re all sleeping under one roof tonight.
Walking into the kitchen, I carry in a box with a new highchair we were able to acquire.
“Look at you, a handyman,” Miriam says, wheeling over to me, watching me click the pieces into place.
“Hey, don’t get crazy with the compliments. This instruction manual has four steps.” I give her grin, pushing past my worry.
“Well, it’s good you found a highchair,” Grace says. “Caroline is ready to eat her Grandma Grace’s famous homemade mac and cheese.”
My shoulders relax, looking around the kitchen. Tia is helping Beth wash her hands in the kitchen sink, and Miriam is back to assembling a salad at the kitchen table, her high tech wheelchair zipping around as she grabs two heads of lettuce from the refrigerator.
This is what all this stress, all this pain has been for.
Moments like this.
As we sit around the large table, a mishmash of personalities, generations, and pasts, we come together united as one. As a family. My family.
Tia takes my hand under the table and gives it a squeeze. “What are you thinking about?”
“Just how lucky I am.” I kiss her cheek, then give a slight nod at my nieces, who both have smiles on their faces. “Thank you again for--”
“There’s nothing to thank me for, Hux. There my family now too. Of course, they’re going to live with us. But it does mean we should start thinking about building that house on the island sooner rather than later.”
At that, Emerson's father Charles glances over at us, brows raised. “What’s that about building a house?”
The room goes silent, except for Caroline’s gibbering. Both the Director and Miriam pierce me with a look that demands an explanation.
Shit.
“I um...” Glancing at the other husbands I see them wince. “It’s just an idea...”
“It’s more than an idea,” Emerson cuts in. “My grandfather left me a large portion of the island as my inheritance. We’ve decided as a family that it would be a good place to raise the children.”
Miriam drops the fork in her hand “The law states--”
“We know what the law states, mother,” Salinger interrupts. “You wrote it, and dad enforces it, which means it can be changed.”
Miriam’s mouth quivers. “I won’t--”
“Even if you don’t,” Sal continues. “Once Tia gives birth to a healthy daughter, we’ll no longer be under your charge. There’s nothing stopping us from starting to build now.”
Tears gather in the woman’s eyes and there’s a moment of silence before she says, “I created this compound to keep families safe. But if you want to leave me--”
“We’ll only be a boat ride or a plane ride away,” Sal says, taking his mother’s hand. “We still plan on keeping our jobs here, and you’ll get to see your grandbabies whenever you want. I promise.”
“But with the threat from Russia,” the Director says. “Are you sure you want to take the risk of living without the security of armed guards?”
“I was raised surrounded by walls, fences, and men with guns watching over my every move.” Sal’s face grows somber, and I know he’s remembering his own sister. The one who drowned when he’d snuck out of the bunker with her as a child. “There are dangers everywhere, even in the prisons of our own making.”
A heaviness settles around the room.
“I don’t want to raise my children like that,” Salinger finally says.
“All right. But I want access to your blueprints. I’ll have my men incorporate a state of the art security system--”
“Mother,” Sal says, a warning in his voice.
She raises her good hand. “No walls, no guards, but you will have a satellite system in place to alert you of any incoming vessels.” There’s no fighting with her on it, and thankfully Sal realizes it and nods in agreement.
Miriam looks to Emerson. “Exactly how much of the island do you and your family own?”
Em looks at his parents, then lifts his shoulders, “Seventy percent. Most of the other families have left and my parents have been buying up the land that’s left.”
“Good, good,” she mutters, clearly formulating a plan. “We’ll need a large expanse of fertile land to begin cultivating the myosotis parviflora.”
Banks sits up. “You took a look at my preliminary studies on the flower?”
“I did.” There’s something in Miriam’s eyes that looks almost like hope. “There is definitely healing properties in it. A few years back, I read a research report about a similar flower found in Greenland. Unfortunately, once the benefits hit the media, people flew in from all over the world and ravaged the landscape searching for the flower.”
“I heard about that,” Banks mutters. “And in the end, the flower proved to have no benefits at all.”
“That’s what the media reported,” Miriam says. “The actual flower did help. Mixed with a low dose of matricaria recutita and ulmus procera the survival rate was almost ninety percent.”
“Ninety percent?” Tia gasps. “But why doesn’t anyone know about it?”
“Because the flower no longer exists. The masses ravaged the landscape. By the time our scientists got there to collect a sample, people were using any wildflower they could find.”
“Shit,” I mutter.
“Which is why we need to safeguard the myosotis parviflora in case we find the same benefits.”
“You will,” Grace says, no pride in her voice. Only certainty. “I know you need to do your tests, but I don’t need science to know I’m right.”
“For the sake of our future I hope that’s true,” Miriam says, but it’ll take months of research--”
“No.” Banks pushes his chair back and stands, dark brows furrowed. “There’s a way to expedite the process.” There’s a desperation in his voice, an aura of frustration and tension that’s surrounded him since I deleted Tia’s files.
Since I took away the cure from the world.
I know even though Tia and Banks won’t say it, they still are uneasy about the decision. Thank God, one of us is a selfish enough to have made the decision to save our wife.
And even if Banks never finds another cure, I’d make the same choice a hundred times over.
Chapter 11
Tia
The next morning I wake up wide awake. With a happy little sigh on my lips, I stretch and look at my alarm clock, shocked to see it is after eleven a.m. I slept for fifteen hours straight.
I sit up slowly, pressing my hand to my belly, realizing my body must have needed the sleep. As my palms rest there, I swear my belly doubled in size overnight. A smile spreads across my face as I run my hand over my stomach, offering a silent prayer that my children will be okay.
When I come downstairs, I learn that while I was sleeping, life carried on. Salinger is at the office, apparently, there all night. Banks is at his laboratory, and we are all under strict orders not to interrupt him unless it’s an emergency.
“Sleep okay?” Emerson asks, handing me my daily vitamin and a glass of orange juice, along with a cup of his mom’s tea.
I grin. “Do you see what time it is?”
He laughs. “You missed the goodbyes though. No one wanted to bother you.”
“They’re all gone?” As much as I enjoyed everyone being here last night, part of me is looking forward to spending time together as just a family.
“Yeah, my parents left about ninety minutes ag
o; farm work calls. And then Miriam and her husband left last night after you went to bed.”
I drink the juice, wondering where Beth and Caroline are.
Reading my mind, Emerson tells me they are on a walk with Fallon and Giles. Huxley went back to town to get the rushed order.
“Crazy,” I say, opening the fridge and grabbing a carton of eggs. “Do you think things will ever slow down?”
Just then the doorbell rings. Emerson chuckles. “I’m guessing no.”
“I’ll get the door,” I tell him. When I see Kate and Lilah through the window I tell Em, “Call Fallon and Giles and make sure they keep the girls hidden. They can take them to the creek to pick wildflowers.”
“You don’t trust them?” Em asks at the same time the doorbell rings again.
“I do, but I think the fewer people who know they’re here right now, the better.”
“You’re right,” he says, taking out his phone and disappearing into the study.
A few minutes later, Kate and Lilah have joined me at the kitchen island, both women brimming with excitement, and I can tell they have news for me.
Emerson returns a few minutes later and I meet his eye. He nods and I know that he’s told the husbands to keep the girls out of the house until our company leaves.
Emerson begins breaking eggs to make omelets and Kate’s eyes widen.
“Wow,” Kate says impressed. “None of my husbands cook. At least, not well,” she giggles.
A surge of pride rushes through me. My husbands are so good at caring for my every need. Pouring coffee for my friends, I ask them to fill me in on their lives.
They still don’t know I’m pregnant. When people discover that I’m carrying sextuplets, I won’t be safe. So, for now, I have to continue to keep it from my only girlfriends, and I’m grateful I’m wearing a loose dress and drapey cardigan because it hides my growing belly.
“I haven’t seen either of you in ages,” I say, bringing over cream and sugar. “Anything new in your lives?”
They exchange a look, and then both women share matching smiles. Together they say, “We’re pregnant.”
“Really?” I clap my hands in front of my face, tears gathering in my eyes at being able to share something so special with my friends, and I almost tell them my own news, until I catch Em’s gaze.
We have to be careful.
“That’s so exciting,” I say, taking their hands and giving a squeeze. “How far along are you?”
“I’m sixteen weeks along,” Lilah says, glowing.
“And I’m almost twenty weeks.” Kate’s grin is infectious.
“And you’re just telling me now?”
“We wanted to wait...” Lilah winces. “To see what we’re carrying. With the risks...”
“I understand,” I say. “So?”
“We’re both having boys.” Kate’s smile falters only slightly, but I understand the mixed feelings.
While a girl means freedom, it also brings greater fears.
“I’m so happy for you both.”
“What about you?” Lilah asks. “You seem to have that special glow as well.”
I touch my cheek with the back of my hand. “I do?”
“I told you, Kate,” Lilah says, eyes widening. “She is pregnant.”
“I--”
“Come on,” Kate says. “It’s us. You can tell us. Are you pregnant?”
I sigh, not wanting to keep it from them. “Yes.”
The women cheer and wrap me in a hug.
“We’re going to be moms together. Isn’t that exciting?”
“It is,” I whisper, knowing Emerson is frowning, even though I don’t look up to meet his gaze when he places a plate of eggs and toast in front of me.
“Are you ladies hungry?” he asks.
“No.” Kate shakes her head. “I haven’t had an appetite.”
“I didn’t either until I started taking Em’s mom tea,” I say. “It really helps with morning sickness.”
“It helps with more than that,” Em murmurs.
“Do you have an extra?” Kate asks.
“I’ll take anything that helps,” Lilah says, an edge of fear in her voice. She says softly. “As excited as I am, it’s still scary.”
You could protect them, my brain reprimands. You carry the cure.
A shiver races down my spine, and I feel a large hand on my back. I look up and meet understanding turquoise eyes. My lion. So fierce and protective, and I know he reads my fears.
“I can have my mom ship a couple crates of her recipe to you both,” Emerson says. “Banks has already shown that it’s safe. If you keep taking it throughout your pregnancy the risks are--”
“Em,” I say, probably a little too harshly. But I don’t want him giving them false hope. Banks may have proven the flower is safe, but there is no evidence that it’s a cure. No matter how much we all want it to be.
The only cure is living inside of me. And Huxley did what he had to do to make sure no one would ever get it.
Guilt washes over me. I could save them. Save millions.
“Tia?” Kate says, placing a hand on mine. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I...” Glancing over at Emerson, I know I need to go to Banks. I can’t just sit idly by and wait. “I just realized that Banks asked me to bring him lunch today at his office. Sorry to cut this short.”
“Of course,” Kate says, standing. “We’re the ones that came over unannounced.”
I hug them both, congratulating them again on their pregnancies and promising to have Emerson ship them some of his mom’s myosotis parviflora tea.
When the door shuts behind them, Emerson is beside me.
“You’ve got that look,” he says, brows drawn down in concern. “Like you’re about to do something you shouldn’t.”
“I just need to speak with Banks.”
Maybe there’s a way he can take a small amount of fluid without any harm to the babies. All I know is that if my friends die, and I could have done something to protect them, I’ll never forgive myself.
An hour later, after passing security, and having Salinger walk me up to Banks’ labs, I find my husband bent over a microscope, his lab coat discarded across a chair, his button-down rolled up, exposing his muscular forearms, his tie draped loosely around his neck and the top three shirt buttons are undone.
He looks incredibly sexy with his dark hair tousled, and scruff coating his chiseled jaw. My body clenches immediately with need, remembering our first time here in this same office.
But that’s not why I’m here.
“Can you leave us for a moment?” I say to Salinger when he looks like he’s going to stay.
His jaw twitches and he gives me the same look Emerson did when I asked him to drive me here. Like he doesn’t know if he should trust my intentions. My husbands know me too well.
“I just want to talk with Banks.”
“Okay,” he mutters, before turning and shutting the door on us.
Banks, so focused on what he’s doing hasn’t noticed me. It isn’t until I place my hand on his arm, that he jerks his attention to me.
“Damn, you scared the hell out of me,” he mutters, then wraps his arms around me and kisses me hard.
The kiss is uncharacteristic and filled with a lightness I don’t feel.
“Banks--”
“I’m glad you’re here. I was just about to call you--”
“We need to talk.” I place my palms on his chest and push back.
“What’s wrong?” He frowns down at me.
“I can’t do this.” Tears blur my vision, but I blink them away. “I can’t live knowing I could help others.”
“Tia--”
“No, I need to get this off my chest. Kate and Lilah came to the compound today. They’re both pregnant. They’re carrying boys, so they’ll probably be all right. But if something happens.” I shake my head, my words pouring from me. “And all the other women, not only in Alaska but in the wor
ld. How can I let them all suffer when I hold the cure inside of me?”
“Tia, listen to me--”
“There has to be a way that you can extract the fluids without harming the babies. Maybe if you just extract a little at a time, or--”
“Tia, the flower works.”
“Or when I’m about to deliver, you could--”
“You’re not listening.” He cups my jaw. “I looked into the research Miriam was talking about. The Greenland flower. I believe the myosotis parviflora is the same species. I’ve run a hundred tests overnight with different potencies. It’s not as simple Em’s mom’s tea. I’m still not sure why she had such incredible results from it, but I’m assuming it has something to do with the women on the island taking the flower regularly from a young age.”
“What are you saying?” I’m trembling.
“I still have more tests to do, but I believe I’ve come up with a potency that if delivered on a regular basis creates antibodies and regulates fluctuating hormones. But most important, it stops the women’s body from attacking the female fetus.”
Hope stirs inside of me and I’m not just trembling, I’m shaking. “You’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you.”
Tears that I’d been holding back begin to roll down my cheeks. “Then you’ve found a cure?”
The biggest smile I’ve ever seen stretches across Banks’ face. “I believe we have. Thanks to Emerson and Grace. I can’t wait to tell them. But what Miriam said last night about Greenland, it’s a warning. Until we’ve harvested and secured the flower, we need to keep this quiet.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him, hard.
The guilt I’d been holding onto washes away. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t my research that--”
“It may have been Em’s flower, but you’re the one who never stopped believing, never stopped working tirelessly.”
He shrugs, and I can tell he has no ambition to take credit for it. “I have a lot of work still to do.”
“I know.” Overwhelmed by emotions, I bury my face in his chest and inhale his scent. “But do you think you could take a few minutes over your lunch break...” I glance up at him, a smile tugging at my lips. “To celebrate.”