by Gini Koch
“I don’t think she can. However, she can still hear, and if we start getting upset, she’ll hear it and see our body language.”
“Oh. Good point. So, back to the latest bad guy du jour.”
“Right. I assume we figured it out the same way—Sheila’s family being targeted.”
“Yeah. Mom checked them out a long time ago. So did Chuckie. Her husband’s a computer programmer, she’s a housewife, they are exactly what they appear to be. So the only reason to target them would be to use them as bait. And they were being kidnapped, not killed, meaning they were going to be more useful alive, at least initially.”
“Yep.” Jeff shook his head. “I know Reynolds suspects Amy. I hate to say it, but I can’t argue with that theory, especially if you’re the target.”
“I hate to admit it, but with Caroline not being a target, at least as far as my mom and the Sao Paulo teams can tell, but Sheila and Amy being in danger, it does seem like someone is going far back. But I can’t believe Amy would willingly do something that would endanger me. We’ve been friends too long.”
“Maybe. But people change.”
“Not that much.”
“Yeah? Christopher’s a drug addict. Let’s discuss the idea of ‘not that much.’”
“Okay, point taken. But he did it to make himself a better protector, and that’s not a change at all.”
“I suppose.” He kissed Jamie’s head. “The doctors said it’ll take less time to flush the drug out of him than it did me or Serene. They’ve made a lot of advances over the past few months.”
“That’s a relief.” I leaned my head on his shoulder. “I’m so worried about him.”
“Me, too. I should have noticed something was wrong, and I didn’t.”
“I know, I feel the same way.”
“You’re the one who figured it out. Thank God.”
“Yeah, but I’ve seen him every day since he started using, and it took seeing his eyes look as if he hadn’t slept for weeks to make me notice anything.”
“At least he didn’t fight it.” He was quiet for a moment. “Is that normal? For drug addiction, I mean? We don’t have a lot of experience with it.”
“I don’t either, at least not personally. For some, though, no. I knew some druggies in college who are probably dead now. Once hooked, forever hooked sort of thing. But I think Christopher’s been scared. I don’t believe his eyes are red from the drug, only. I think he’s been crying a lot. And I also think he wanted someone to figure it out and make him stop.”
“He’s scared, I’ll say that. Richard’s staying near him. Isolation’s hard to take—you get used to it as an empath, mostly because it’s such a relief that you can have some true peace and quiet—but Christopher’s only been in there a couple of times.”
“We can all take turns with it.”
“Yeah.” Jeff sighed. “I let him down completely, didn’t I?”
“No. If you’d confirmed his real fear—that you’d never forgive him, never understand, and wouldn’t love him any more? Then you’d have let him down. He knows he still has you, unconditionally. And his father. That’s what he needed. And what he wanted, I’d guess.” I sighed. “We really, really need to get him a girl.”
Jeff laughed. “I suppose. No idea who.”
“Me either. Hopefully the right candidate will present herself soon.”
“Thing is, his right girl was murdered. And the next right girl married me.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t the right girl for him. I mean, I can imagine Christopher’s reaction to how I handled the wedding parade. I don’t think he’d have found it cute or endearing—I think he’d have been humiliated.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Jeff put his arm around me. “I still think it was great.”
“I still think you did all the running around to make me feel better.”
“Of course I did. But I enjoyed it, a lot more than the parade because that was just hell.” He nuzzled my head. “You should be able to wear your wedding dress again soon.”
“I hope so, but I’m not counting on it.”
“I am.” His voice was a purr.
“You still have your tux, right?” He was even more gorgeous in the tux he’d worn for our wedding. I started to drool a little as I rubbed against him.
“Yeah. I asked Tito, he said we should give it at least a week, but then as soon as you feel physically ready.”
“Marking my calendar. Plan to ring in the New Year.”
Jeff chuckled. “I can’t wait. I can if you need me to, but otherwise, ready the moment you are.”
“When can we go back to the Lair? I feel even more helpless stuck in a hospital room.”
“Tito and Camilla want you in here for at least another day. Then we’ll see.”
“When do I get to take a shower?”
“There’s one in this room. We are in the delivery wing.”
“One day I’ll keep every floor and section straight.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it. You need me to get your mother in here, baby? She can watch Jamie while I help you shower, or vice versa.”
“I want you to help me shower.” I loved showering with Jeff. Of course, we normally took a long time because we’d never taken a shower together where we didn’t have a lot of great sex. Even pregnant he’d managed to make showering totally worth my while. Taking baths, too. Generally, getting cleaned up for us meant having fabulous sex. Considered that this was likely to change now. Felt depressed.
“Oh, baby, I can still make it worth your while.” He kissed my neck while I moaned softly. “There are plenty of ways I know to make you happy.”
“You know every way.”
“Mmmm, good.”
Before we could continue this discussion, Jamie started crying. Did the diaper check, it was fine. Offered a torpedo, refused. Cuddled and held her, seemed to help a bit. She wanted me more than Jeff but seemed quietest when I was holding her and Jeff was holding us both.
“I should have let James register us.”
“Yeah, I know. I was thinking the same thing. We just can’t make decisions on this sort of thing quickly, can we?” He sounded a little concerned.
“James says it’s because we want everything to be perfect. We make fast decisions all the time when we’re in danger, though.”
“Yeah.” He heaved a sigh. “Seriously, baby, if you want to stop with just Jamie, I’m okay with it.”
“I’m not. You’ve wanted a lot of kids your whole life, Jeff.”
“I don’t want to live without you. And I just faced that possibility in the most real way since Leventhal Reid almost ran you over with that Escalade in the middle of the desert. I was less afraid of losing you when we were fighting the Alpha Four invasion force than when you were in labor.”
“You know, wouldn’t you think I’d remember it? At least part of it? I remember a beeping, and you going white, and James yelling at me to stay with you guys. Then, the next thing I remember is hearing Aerosmith, which was great, I have to say.”
“Tim insisted it would pull you back. I guess he was right.”
“But I don’t remember anything else. At all. How long was I supposedly dead?”
“No supposedly, and several minutes. Brain dead first, then your body started to go.”
“My brain’s fine.”
“Yeah. I call it a miracle. First James and then you. I’ll take miraculous recoveries for the people I love, believe me.”
I leaned my head back against Jeff’s shoulder while he rocked me and the baby gently. Closed my eyes, and talked in my head. ACE, are you there?
ACE is here, Kitty. ACE is sorry, ACE could not warn Kitty about Christopher. It would be . . . interfering.
I know, ACE. You do a great job of helping when we really need you to and letting us be alive and make mistakes when we can probably handle it. Do you think Christopher will recover?
ACE believes so. Christopher was so afraid, but Jeff and Richa
rd and Kitty did the right things. Christopher is still afraid, but not as much.
Speaking of afraid . . . Jeff and everyone else say I died. I don’t remember.
Kitty was . . . not there . . . for a while. ACE sounded evasive. Usually meant he desperately wanted to tell me something but felt it would be wrong. Which also meant he wanted me to figure it out myself.
Did you bring me back?
No. Kitty did that herself.
Did you take me away? To protect me from the pain? I could remember that the labor pains had been fast and horrible.
No . . . ACE did not do that.
The way he said it made me really think. Jamie made some baby noises, and I cuddled her a little more while Jeff stroked her head. I looked at her and considered what it would have been like to never get to hold her.
ACE? Jamie is very powerful, isn’t she?
Yes, Kitty. Jeff is right to be concerned.
Are you helping her, like you did Naomi, Abigail, and Serene? ACE was silent. ACE, really, there is no way in the world I would be upset if you are. I’m thankful you helped the other girls, why wouldn’t I want you to help my baby?
ACE is not sure if that is too much interference, if ACE is disrupting God’s plans by helping.
You said God gave us free will. That means you have free will, too, ACE.
ACE supposes Kitty is right.
Jamie wasn’t head down when she was about to come out. I tried to tell her to turn, but I felt someone else helping, too. I thought it was Jeff, but it was you, wasn’t it?
Yes, Kitty. ACE can speak to Jamie differently than Kitty can.
Thank you, for doing that. She could have died if she’d come the wrong way.
ACE knows. Jeff asked ACE to save Kitty. But ACE could not. Jeff asked ACE to kill Jeff, if Kitty died. But ACE could not have done that.
I hated hearing that, but I was extremely glad I’d recovered. I still couldn’t figure out how I’d almost died, though, especially with no memory of anything.
But I’m here.
Yes. ACE, like everyone else, is happy.
Jeff was really worried about me dying in childbirth. He mentioned it a lot when I started labor.
Yes. Jeff was right.
Again, something in how ACE said that line made my mind tickle. ACE? If Jeff hadn’t been worried about that . . . would I still have almost died?
Thudding silence in my mind. I looked down at my sleeping baby. Who knew how babies in the womb thought? How a superpowerful baby in the womb, who was the daughter of the galaxy’s most powerful empath, thought?
Did Jamie, uh, kill me?
CHAPTER 24
NO! JAMIE DID NOT UNDERSTAND! Ace sounded freaked and ready to defend the baby. This was probably a good thing. Nice to have the superconsciousness as your real fairy godfather.
She thought she was supposed to? Jeff had been afraid of me dying, not looking forward to it.
Kitty was only in danger if Jamie had been taken from Kitty.
Connection to the baby meant still connected to life?
Yes. ACE was relieved James did not give up hope.
Did you tell him not to?
No. James will never give up on Kitty, as Kitty will never give up on James.
Good to know. So, what are the chances my next child will be like this?
ACE cannot see the future, Kitty. The future is not set. Every act changes it.
Okey-dokey. So, did Jamie bring me back?
No, Jamie could not. Only Kitty could bring Kitty back.
Power of the will and all that?
In a way. ACE believes Jamie will not do something like that again.
Well, she’s already born.
Silence.
ACE? Is she capable of killing someone? Unknowingly, I mean.
Jeff implanted blocks. When Christopher is well, Christopher should implant blocks, too. ACE will watch over Jamie.
When you say you’ll be watching over her, does that mean protecting her from emotional onslaught and things like that?
ACE was silent for a few long moments. The blocks will work as Jeff and Christopher want them to.
As they want them to. I wasn’t sure if this meant that ACE felt the blocks were a-okay on their own, or if ACE was going to be giving the blocks a superconsciousness assist.
Does that mean you’re helping the blocks?
ACE will do for Jamie what ACE did for Naomi, Abigail, and Serene. Jamie will not lose Jamie’s free will.
Sometimes children want things that aren’t safe for them or for others.
Jamie will not do something like that. The way he said this, I was pretty sure this meant that ACE both wouldn’t allow it and also didn’t want to explain any more.
ACE, what did you mean about Jamie’s free will?
ACE will not interfere if Jamie wishes to do something that is not a wrong thing for Jamie to wish to do. I’d been a marketing manager before I ran into the gang from Centaurion Division, so I knew doublespeak really well. I was almost impressed that ACE had developed the skill.
I also got the impression this was all I was going to get out of ACE for a while. Okay, thank you. Truly. I don’t mind at all that you’re protecting my baby. You may have a lot of other babies to worry about soon, ACE. I give you permission to help them and protect them, too, if they need it.
Thank you, Kitty. ACE appreciates Kitty’s love and support.
As always, not deserting you, either, okay?
Okay, Kitty. ACE needs to help Paul now. Paul is working with Christopher.
Okay, big guy, thanks again. I opened my eyes.
“Good nap?” Jeff nuzzled the side of my head.
“Wide awake. Jeff? Why were you worried I was going to die in labor?” He didn’t answer. “Was it because of the drug?”
“That, and I did a lot of research. It’s hard enough when you’re having a regular baby. I just never thought about it, how dangerous it would be for you.” He sounded guilty and worried.
“It’s okay. Women do it all the time. But, baby? Really, try not to focus on the negative, okay?”
“Why not?” He sounded suspicious. “What did ACE tell you?”
“Yeah, okay, I wasn’t napping, and yes, I was asking ACE some things. Put it this way—Jamie thinks her daddy is always right.”
He clutched me. “Oh, my God, so it was my fault?” He sounded guilty like I’d never heard before.
I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “No. I don’t remember a thing, but ACE said I brought myself back. And I know if I came back, I came back for you. But she’s a baby, and she doesn’t understand. I couldn’t get everything out of ACE, but I think she thought she was doing the right thing but couldn’t fix it when it wasn’t the right thing. So, just don’t dwell on bad things, okay? So she doesn’t. She’s really in tune with both of us.”
He was shaking. “Okay. I’ll work on that.”
I pulled his mouth down to mine and kissed him. “Stop. No guilt. ACE said you asked to die if I died. I don’t want you to do that, especially now. If something does happen to me, you have to take care of Jamie. Promise me.”
Jeff moved me so I was on his lap and he could hold me more tightly. I buried my face in his neck. “I promise,” he said finally. “But if it’s a choice, I’ll die to protect you or save you, or Jamie, you know that.”
“Yes, I do. I don’t want to face that kind of choice. So let’s stop dwelling on it. Not good for us, not good for the baby.” I yawned. “I really want to be in our own bed.”
Before I could whine for this, Tito and Camilla came in. Jamie and I both got a full once-over. Since they were there, I asked them to watch the baby while I showered. Neither one of them seemed to feel confident that Jeff and I wouldn’t have sex in there, but we promised we’d be good.
Jeff opened a drawer, and there were clothes for me. I still had no idea how this worked. You were in a room, you needed clothes, you opened a drawer, there were the clothes, in your size. Al
most always Armani, which was the A-C designer of loyal choice. You’d separate an A-C from his or her Armani only if world safety depended upon it.
It worked the same way with the refrigerators. Say what you wanted, it was in there. My Coca-Cola addiction was well served. I hadn’t been able to break it, even during pregnancy, though I’d gotten down to one Coke every few days. But if I wanted something different, I just had to ask for it, and there it was.
I called whoever did this the A-C Elves. Jeff refused to explain how it worked. The Elves could get to any A-C facility or vehicle. I’d played around with the soft drink selections while thirty thousand feet in the air—never failed to work.
So I was only mildly surprised to see I had a nursing bra and nursing top, as well as leggings for my new mother wear. At least the Elves didn’t want me in a slim skirt, for which I was very grateful.
Took the fastest and most boring shower with Jeff ever in our experience. But it wasn’t like we were going to get remotely amorous with Tito and Camilla waiting on the other side of the door.
Well, we got a little amorous, since Jeff got into the shower with me and soaped me up, washed my hair, and did the full body rinse. He was careful not to do anything that would start me howling, but it was still nice, and I felt a lot better afterward.
“You know, I feel pretty good.” He was toweling me off while I combed my hair out. “I’m sure I still look hippoish, but I feel a lot better.”
“You never looked like a hippo. And you look wonderful, as always.” He finished drying me and then toweled himself off. I tried not to look and drool. Failed. He grinned and kissed me, and just like every kiss of his, it was great and made me forget everything else.
I heard the baby start crying the moment we pulled away from each other. “I hope she’s not doing that because we were kissing.”
“She’s a baby, I’m sure she just wants her mommy’s breasts. I want her mommy’s breasts, so I can’t argue.”
I nuzzled Jeff’s chest. “Hurry up and put your pants on. My Mommy-Alert is screaming and I can’t stay in here much longer.” He grinned and did as requested. “You can just wear your pants, that’s okay with me.” I raced out.
Jamie was in full-on baby-shriek. Camilla handed her to me. “I think she’s hungry.”