by Jenn Leigh
I walked over to him and gave him a huge hug as Mark called Don.
“As soon as I saw the photo, I knew she was yours,” Daniel stated. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.”
“I think no one saw her like that. We just assumed she was someone else’s, and with my parents making me believe she was gone, it added to the assumption. The question now is how she was tipped off to come here. Otherwise, we’d be searching for a needle in a haystack.” I sighed.
Mark overheard the last part of the conversation. “I’d like to know, too. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t your parents.”
Daniel and I both nodded at that statement.
Josh and Natalie came in, and Daniel took them aside to fill them in. Then Natalie came over to me and hugged me tightly, while Josh looked mostly shell-shocked, much like the look on Mark’s face when I had found him in the bathroom.
We all sat in the living room in silence. It was a lot to take in.
“We aren’t going to tell her just yet,” Mark told everyone. “I want to make sure, once we tell her, she comes home with us.” Mark paused. “Which brings me to my next point: this house is getting too crowded for all of us. I think Nilka and I should move into a new house close by.”
Mark looked at my shocked face. We hadn’t really discussed moving in together. Not that it wasn’t inevitable, but still.
I narrowed my eyes at him, telling him in a not so subtle manner that we would be discussing this later. He smirked at me in return, like he had won some sort of battle.
Daniel and Josh merely looked at Mark, knowing he was right, but at the same time, knowing that they would be losing a roommate they had grown accustomed to. Having their family close had always been a source of comfort for the Bradley boys. I thought they all figured they could just live together forever, but with growing families, it just wasn’t as realistic anymore.
After a few more hours of talking and trying to figure things out logistically, everyone returned to their respective corners of the house, and Mark and I were left alone in the kitchen.
We both looked at each other for a long moment, no words passing between us, but enough feelings that words weren’t needed. A sense of freedom and relief were two of my biggest emotions. Of course, the feelings of uncertainty were still there in the background.
How would Cassie react to the news? Would she want to come home with us? What if we were too late to win her back? All those doubts were starting to cloud my head.
Mark cleared his throat. “Stop over-thinking, Nil. Everything will work out for the best.” He sounded more upbeat than I could.
I looked at him doubtfully.
“I’m serious, Nil. Don’t get yourself worked up over something we can’t control. At least now we know the truth. And I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we have a pre-teen daughter, whom we both thought was dead.” As he grabbed my hand and placed it in his large hands, it provided me with comfort and a resolve I didn’t know I had. “Let the chips fall where they may, and we’ll work through it together.”
“Okay. I’ll stop overthinking. Are we headed to the station first thing tomorrow?” I asked.
“Yeah, I want to stop at the shop to give Mom and Dad the news and see if I have any work piling up, but I shouldn’t be more than an hour or two. I’ll go first thing in the morning, and then we can head to the station about”—-he looked at the clock for confirmation —“ten a.m.”
I nodded and yawned. It had been a long day for me and quite eventful, to say the least.
Mark stood up and pulled me to him, hugging me hard, a little reminder that he had me and wasn’t letting go. Then we turned off all the lights and headed to his room.
***
I was awoken with tiny tingles down my body. When I fully came to, I realized Mark was peppering my body with tiny kisses and little love nips.
“Mmmm … This is a nice way to wake up,” I commented.
Mark smirked, continuing his path down my body. I could feel the telltale lick of heat crawling up my body as Mark caressed and kissed his way all over. I couldn’t help the moan that escaped as he came closer to my core.
He pushed my legs farther apart, granting him access to where I needed him most, slowly licking along my lips, and my hips arched in response. Mark held my hips in place to keep me from bouncing around too much as he took his time bringing me to the brink and then stopping before doing the same thing again.
“Mark, pl … uh,” was all I could moan as he worked me back into a frenzy. “I need … to … come,” I begged.
He stopped licking me and looked into my eyes, his gaze matching my desire. Then he stroked his tongue back along my core and sucked in just as I was about to explode.
I threw my hand over my mouth to stifle my scream as I let go, and Mark held on as a rode out my high. He peeked up from between my legs with a sexy smirk, and that was when I knew I wouldn’t have just one orgasm this morning.
Chapter 22
Mark
There was nothing more beautiful than Nilka coming. I loved nothing more than to be able to bring her to the edge and have my actions bring her over.
I waited until she had caught her breath before I lay my body on top of hers, cradling her face in my hands as I tenderly kissed her mouth.
“I love making you come,” I whispered to her.
Nilka closed her eyes, and I gently kissed them. Then she looked up at me and smiled slightly, tilting her head up, and I took that as a sign to kiss her deeply, taking over her mouth and devouring her in every way I could. I continued to cradle her face in my hands, sweeping my thumbs across both cheeks. Our tongues were in a duel, and it took all of my strength not to overtake the kiss. However, I took it, anyway, pushing deep inside her.
As I slowly pushed in, she broke the kiss on a deep moan, and I just about lost my load right then and there.
“God, Nil, you’re so tight.”
She moaned again as I thrust deep within, her walls gripping my shaft when I reached the hilt. It was my turn to moan at the sensations taking over as I started to move faster, unable to hold back my impending orgasm for much longer. Nil took control and flipped us both over so she was sitting on top me, and I gripped her hips as she rode me hard.
There was nothing more erotic than Nilka riding my cock. I wished I could stay like this forever, but my balls said otherwise.
Moaning, I gripped her hips hard then thrust up just as I felt her walls tighten and her body begin to shake, and then we both were pushed over the edge.
Nil lay over my body as we both caught our breath.
“Whoa, that was…”
“Amazing,” Nil finished for me.
“Yeah, that.” I half chuckled, still catching my breath.
“Definitely a great way to wake up,” Nil responded, rolling off me onto her back beside me. We twined our fingers together as we enjoyed our post love-making bliss.
I hated to be the bearer of bad news, but… “I have to go talk to Mom and Dad and see if there are any projects coming up at the shop. How about you stay in bed for a bit longer while I head out? I’ll be by before ten to pick you up, and we’ll head to the police station together. Sound good?” I asked.
Nilka stretched on the bed, threw the blankets back over her head, moved her arm from out of the blankets, and then waved at me, never once making a peep.
I chuckled at her antics. “Enjoy your nap, sweetie.”
She grunted in response as I closed the bedroom door.
***
A few hours later, I pulled into our driveway and headed inside to grab Nil.
My parents were over the moon to find out Cassie was our long-lost daughter. Everyone loved Cassie, but my parents had taken to her right away and had always treated her as family. I guessed they weren’t wrong.
I still had to wrap my head around that the fact that I was a father to a pre-teen, a former runaway who had been abused and raped while in the foster system. I could
n’t forgive myself for those horrors.
If I had only known…
I knew I couldn’t put the blame on myself or Nilka. Her parents, on the other hand, absolutely. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be in this situation. No matter how much they had thought they were helping, they had only made it worse, way worse.
I walked into the house, intending to grab Nilka, but was met by a pregnant, hormonal woman. Natalie was spooning ice cream out of the box like it was the last meal on earth.
“Whoa, Nat, you’re going to choke or something,” I chided her teasingly.
She gave me a dirty look that immediately had my hands rising up in defense.
“Where’s Josh?” I asked, hoping he would come to my rescue.
“He had to go out to get more ice cream. These cravings are killing me, Mark. You don’t understand the need I feel when it comes to certain foods,” Natalie mumbled around the spoon.
I looked at her as she shoveled more ice cream into her mouth. “No, probably not.”
That, apparently, was not the right answer because Natalie burst into tears. Having no idea how to handle this situation, I probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
Natalie put down her spoon and came over to me with her arms outstretched. I was confused and a bit worried I was getting punked, or this was some sort of sneak attack that I was ill-prepared for.
“Oof,” escaped my mouth as Nat threw herself at me, and I slowly put my arms around her.
I could hear chuckling from behind me and turned my head to see Nilka standing there.
“Aren’t you glad you missed the hormonal portion of pregnancy?” Nilka said to me as she pulled Natalie from my grasp. “Come on, Nat. I’ll get you more ice cream.”
Once Natalie was over her crying jag, I looked at Nilka who merely shook her head and smiled. I was pretty sure I looked like I had stepped into some alternate universe where I didn’t know what to say or do.
Nil pulled me toward the door as I just shook my head.
As we stepped onto the driveway, Josh pulled up like the wind had blown him in. He exchanged a look with me and must have mistaken my look as concern instead of confusion since he jumped out and practically ran over to me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh … I don’t know. Why?”
“You look like something happened,” Josh said warily.
I busted out laughing. “Yeah, your wife happened. One moment, we were having a conversation, and the next, she a blubbering mess.”
Josh took a deep breath. “Hormones. One of the new pleasures I have to deal with.”
“Ha ha, you knocked her up, bro.” I clapped him on the back. “Have fun.”
Josh punched me in the arm, hard.
“Ouch.” I laughed and winced at the same time.
“Wait until it’s your turn; you won’t get out so easily next time,” Josh quipped as he turned to go back into the house.
Nilka smirked at me as she got into the truck, and I merely shook my head.
“I wasn’t that bad. Every woman is different,” Nilka explained.
I decided that remaining silent was my best option. After all, who was I to judge a pregnant lady for her emotions, even if they were a little bit strange?
We pulled into the station’s parking lot and headed inside to see Don.
“Mark, Nilka, good to see you. Great to see you under these circumstances, as well. Good news rarely comes in our line of work, so this is a welcomed change for me,” Don remarked as we went in to sit at a conference table.
Nil and I both shook his hand and smiled as we took our seats.
“Okay, so what I have gathered from all the conversations we’ve had is that at eighteen, Nilka gave birth to Cassie, but at the time, Cassie was taken by your parents and placed up for adoption or something similar by Egyptian standards. We also know that your parents had faked your child’s death in order to keep you from looking for her. Is this correct so far?”
Nilka nodded her response.
I held onto her hand. It seemed so matter-of-fact coming from Don, but that was far from what Nilka had lived through, what I was just beginning to live through.
“Okay, what we were able to dig up is that Cassie was—for lack of a better term—‘sold’ to the US for money as an infant. I am not sure if your parents were involved or not, but she was seized in a child trafficking ring and put into the system at six months old. After that, she was passed from foster home to foster home until she met you, Mark, here in Edgewood.”
Nilka and I were left a bit shell-shocked, to say the least, at that bit of news.
A child trafficking ring? Oh, my God! I felt my heart break just a little bit more. What if they never found her? What kind of atrocities would she have gone through? I didn’t want to think about it anymore. I was close to losing my cookies.
“Cassie has claimed that her last foster home provided her with this town for her to find her parents. We are still looking into that connection. In the grand scheme of things, however, it has led Cassie back to you. Now, let’s get to the next steps.”
Nilka and I watched as Don shuffled some papers on the table.
“Here is some paperwork from Child Services for the State of Iowa. These forms basically reinstate your parental status as Cassie’s rightful parents. I have spoken with a judge on your behalf and have filled him in on your predicament. He has waived visitation as a prelude to gaining custody of Cassie. He is aware that you had no options or choices in this matter and has made the transition into regaining custody as simple as possible. However, there are a few minor hoops that you’ll need to jump through.
“You’ll both need to submit blood samples for genetic testing to ensure that you are in fact Cassie’s parents. Once proven, you will also have to take parenting classes until completion. During those classes, a social worker will check on the home and family situation periodically to be sure that Cassie is adjusting normally and that you are transitioning into parenthood at the correct rate for Cassie’s age. Failure to comply will result in Cassie being put back into Child Services.
“Cassie will also need intensive therapy regarding her previous foster home experience, which is also a requirement. I would also recommend pressing charges against the former foster family for sexual abuse and neglect. I can help you file those statements. Cassie would need to supply names and addresses.
“Is everything clear to you both, or do you have any questions?” Don paused, awaiting our response.
To me, parenting classes and making sure Cassie went to therapy would be something I would do no matter what, so I was good with those options. Whatever it took to have Cassie with us, I would do.
Nilka and I looked at each other, silently agreeing.
“We agree with those conditions,” I stated for the both of us.
“Great, let’s get this paperwork signed, blood work submitted, and then you can take Cassie home on a temporary basis until the test results are in.” Don stood and handed us pens.
We decided before leaving the station to give the Bennett’s a call. Everything was explained to them, and they were beyond ecstatic with the news. I promised them they could be surrogate grandparents for Cassie since I knew that they had grown close to her. They were happy to hear that and were on board with everything. They would be a great support to us going forward, as well. We both welcomed their input and parenting advice as needed.
Now came the hard part. How did we tell Cassie?
On one hand, I hoped she would be super happy, and we would have the happily-ever-after just like in fairytales, but I knew that was not always the case. I only hoped it went fairly smooth, though whatever happened, we would work it out as a family.
The Bennett’s thought it would be best to host a family dinner. That way, there were a few buffers if it went south. We agreed.
We were telling Cassie tonight.
Chapter 23
Nilka
My mind felt li
ke a hamster wheel. To go from thinking your child had passed away as an infant to finding out it was all a hoax from day one then to finding out that the cute little pre-teen you had befriended was actually your daughter—well, it was a bit much.
I wasn’t sure how my mind was coping with this emotional overload, but I seemed to be running on autopilot. Thank goodness Mark had been by my side. He had been a rock of support, and I didn’t know where I would be without him.
Mark held my hand all through the meeting with Don, which helped to calm my nerves about the whole thing.
I guessed I still couldn’t believe Cassie was our daughter. My daughter. I had a daughter. I had to keep telling myself that. Wow. Then I was overtaken by sadness, realizing how much I had missed, at what was taken from me, whether the intentions were good or not. I was never given a choice.
A tear escaped, and Mark wiped it away from my cheek as we sat on a park bench. I didn’t even remember getting here, but I assumed Mark had thought it would be a more peaceful place to get my thoughts straight. He never spoke, only silently gave me his strength.
With all the things that Cassie had gone through before we found her—God, I had a rage inside that made my hear feel like it was ripping in two. I would have never, on God’s green earth, given up Cassie had I known. But to know what torture my daughter had gone through, I didn’t think I could forgive my parents or myself, for that matter. I should have been there. It should have never happened.
“Hey, I know you are torturing yourself, Nil. Stop that.” Mark always had an uncanny ability to read my thoughts. Maybe I wasn’t as guarded as I thought.
I looked at Mark with what I was sure looked like fire in my eyes. I was itching for a fight, but I knew instinctively it wasn’t against Mark. Why did I feel like I wanted to punch something?
Mark pulled me into him, and the flood gates that I had so desperately been holding shut then burst open. It was an ugly cry, the one where you couldn’t catch your breath. I was probably making a huge spectacle in the park, but I didn’t care; I was done holding back.