She looked at him, knowing how he'd react, remembering the love she'd seen in his sad eyes for his sister and niece, knowing how much he missed them, still. Watching his expression, she told him, "Eloise Rachel Brianne Sheridan, now that I know your real last name. I hope it's not too weird for her to have two middle names. I know a few people that do."
Lainie held her breath and waited for it to sink in. She'd named their child after his mother, his sister, his niece, and him, all in one. Cade stared at her, looking dumbfounded and obviously struck speechless. He must have decided he'd heard her correctly. His jaw dropped.
She smiled. "We'll call her Eli, for short, if that's all right with you."
All right? All right? Lainie waned to name their baby after his mother and deceased sister and niece, and she wondered if it was all right? God help him, the woman was a saint.
"Eli," Cade whispered and surged forward. He grabbed Lainie's hand, and she sucked in a surprised breath. He kissed her full on the lips, long enough to rock them both to the depths of their souls, and then he stood by the bed and released her hand. She stared at him, unblinking and blushing, changing the pale complexion she wore after her torturous birthing ordeal to crimson. He winced at her reaction, but he wasn't sorry for kissing her. He'd been wanting to do so, from the moment he'd opened her front door and recognized her.
Cade stepped back and drew in a deep breath. He needed to get himself back under control. He ran a trembling hand through his hair and sighed. He shouldn't let all this affect him so much. He should keep his distance. He should...
To hell with that. There was no reason to hold back. They were bound together forever, and both of them would have to get used to that fact and figure out how to live with each other. He had no intention of doing otherwise. He wouldn't willingly acquiesce to being a long-distance dad. He wouldn't leave Lainie and Eli in the lurch - not like his dad had left his mom, alone and struggling to raise a family.
Cade paced. He couldn't deal with all that right now. He needed some space. Time to get a grip.
The doctor stitched up Lainie. He glanced at the nurse preparing to take their daughter away to the nursery. "I'm going to get us something to eat. Do you want something?"
She nodded, looking wary at his sharp tone.
"What do you want?"
"Maybe a salad."
Cade stepped up to touch Eli's pink button nose. The tiny features of her beautiful face and the dark patch of hair on her head made him yearn for...
He huffed out a breath and let the nurse pass.
He wished for happily ever after, and all the while he knew it simply wasn't meant to be.
Chapter Nine
Drayton Clausen stood to the right of the nursery, guilt drenching him all the way to the deepest depths of his tortured, blackened, murky soul.
He decided to reason things out in his head - to come up with that plan God had told him to develop. Drayton drew his brows together in confusion. He couldn't write it all down and try to keep track of things that way. What if someone found his notes? He snapped his fingers, and then went still.
Idiot! What if someone hears you?
He peeked around the corner, and then dodged back into the shadows.
I know. I'll talk to myself. Scratch that. I'll talk to my alter ego as God called him: Wayne Hickson.
That sounded less insane, even to him.
Shuddering, Drayton scooted back further into the alcove outside the hospital nursery. He wouldn't consider the fact that he might be crazy. If he did, he'd have accept the fact that maybe he'd committed a sin - actually several sins - killing all those women and their female babies.
Sweat trickled down his spine, and he shivered. That he couldn't deal with. He'd be damned to hell for sure, and hell was a place he'd never wanted to be condemned to, not since Catholic school and all those nuns telling him he needed to behave or suffer the consequences.
Drayton gulped and closed his eye to the sight of the innocent babies lying in a row of swaddling clothing and heated bins.
Well, Wayne, we need to get our butts in gear, or we'll be damned to hell anyway. We'll be beyond any possible chance at salvation, if we don't do something to fix what's gone wrong. And fast.
Drayton opened his eyes and stared at the baby he'd come here to eliminate. He sucked in a breath.
We'll end up in a flaming fiery pit, an eternal inferno, if we don't get busy, Wayne. God revealed the truth to me in a vision and allowed me to see the horrors of what'll soon come to pass because of my stupid, vile mistake.
Drayton shuddered as the vision passed before his mind's eye.
How could I have made such a monumental error? I'm such an idiot.
Drayton closed his eyes and spoke with someone more important and powerful - someone who could redeem him, if He saw fit. God help me, please, so I can rid the earth of the Devil's spawn, soon.
Drayton wanted to scream, beg for mercy, and pray for an end to his Earthly suffering. God would show him no mercy, though, and neither would Satan and his demons and imps, if things didn't go their way.
The blood pumped into Drayton's ears and slammed into his head. His brain filled with a multitude of incomprehensible whispers. His head ached and pounded with the fury of ten thousand angry angels. His skull was splitting right in two. He reached up with both hands and held his head intact.
Please, God. Take away this unbearable pain. Please, allow it to subside long enough for me to think clearly and complete Your assigned task - the one You gave me to do.
The pain ebbed, and Drayton leaned against the wall behind him, keeping the baby girl in his sights.
I'm sorry I'm so weak, God.
Why wouldn't God respond? Where was He when Drayton needed help? Of course, He had answered his prayer. Drayton's head didn't hurt so badly anymore. Drayton rubbed his temples in small circles, and then dug his fingers into the back of his tense neck muscles.
I'm so dumb, Wayne. I mistakenly thought that God told me to donate my sperm. I believed that God ordained me to be the deliverer of His own life-giving flow. I'd dreamed that God wanted more earthly sons, and why not? It makes sense. Jesus will need lots of help - all He can get when He comes back during His Second Coming to walk on this sinful planet and win souls and followers for his fight during the Tribulation and Armageddon and such. So why not replenish the land with a multitude of His children?
Drayton trembled. He could try to reason it out all he wanted. It wouldn't matter. He'd messed up. Badly.
Wayne, I have to fix this. The world needs saving. I believed God planned to use me as an earthly vessel in order to procreate and put more incarnate sons of God on the face of this sinful terrace before the beast can rise to power, take hold of humanity, and use the weak to do his will and dirty work.
The pounding in his head kicked in again.
Wayne, I was wrong, and I've been shown the truth. I've had another vision. God has shown me the error of my ways. The Devil and his twisted demons and imps possessed me and corrupted my sperm. They filled my mind during a dream, a gruesome nightmare, a revealing vision. Our world will be turned upside down.
Drayton leaned forward and glanced around the corner. When would Lainie come for a visit? He wanted to catch a glimpse of her. No one entered or exited the baby room, except nurses doing their routine feedings and diaper changes. He ducked back behind the edge of the corner into which he had tucked himself.
The Devil's spawn, Wayne. That's what my sperm has been creating in reality, and the Devil has to be stopped. The result of his evil seed has to be snuffed out, or my soul will burn in everlasting torment in Hell, and the world will be overtaken and ruled by evil for generations to com - maybe forever.
Drayton cringed. He'd already taken care of several results of his excessive, overzealous prowess. He'd killed the bad seeds - the female babies - and their stubborn mothers. They'd all resisted and refused to make it easy for him to take the Devil's spawn from their homes, slaughter the
m, and cleanse them properly. He'd methodically hunted them down and murdered them, one by one, in a sanctified fashion. All of them had died and been consecrated, burned and cleansed. All except two, that is, and the most important of those to him right now was Lainie.
Drayton flinched. His first slaying of the damned had made him vomit. He'd massacred the woman and her daughter last summer in St. Louis, Missouri.
I hated having to execute all the mothers, but they always resist. I know they're evil, because of their refusals to obey God's command, but I beat the Devil. I won. I was strong, and I overtook all those women. Even though it sickened me, I took their lives. It saddens me, but their deaths were necessary. My obedience of God's commands has brought me one important step closer to redemption - one step closer to stopping the madness, murder and mayhem that'll most certainly occur if the Devil's spawn is allowed to fester, grow, survive, and thrive.
Drayton clenched and unclenched his fists. He'd known when he'd started out that finding all the women who'd taken advantage of his donated sperm would be difficult, but he had found them. Lainie Blanford and her baby would be the last - his final chance at saving his sinking, shriveling soul and winning back God's good grace and favor.
Drayton watched with envy. A man pushed Lainie's wheelchair down the hall toward the viewing window outside the baby room. They eyed Lainie's baby. Drayton smirked: an evil uplift of his twisted lips. He knew the woman's secret. The woman had definitely been artificially inseminated. Drayton had proof of her actions.
This man won't save that disgusting child, Wayne. Lainie made a big mistake. I tried to befriend her. She told me about the bodyguard she hired.
Drayton held back a snort.
Bodyguard or not, the man is no match for God or me.
He'd win. He had to.
Drayton stifled a snarl. The baby sucked its bottom lip, as if seeking sustenance.
It won't need sustenance for long, Wayne. It'll be dead, and I'll be redeemed. I only need time and opportunity - a chance to serve God and sacrifice the serpent's egg.
Drayton grimaced. The nurses monitored the babies constantly. No matter. Drayton could wait. He'd succeed in following God's will. He always did. He always won. He wouldn't fail his Master. He wouldn't fail his own soul either.
Death is coming, Wayne, death is coming.
"Yes, it is," Wayneanswered inside Drayton's throbbing skull.
Drayton went still. Then he bolted outside and ran for his car. Once inside, with the doors locked, he spoke out loud. "Wayne?"
"Who else?" the sharp voice responded, an echo bouncing off the bones of Drayton's brain cavity.
"But... you aren't real," Drayton denied in a hushed voice.
"I'm real, all right. You made me," Wayne claimed.
Drayton held his head in his hands. "No. Stop talking to me. You're not real. I can't see you." Drayton's head snapped up. His vision blurred. "If... you're not real, then... " Drayton swallowed hard, his breath coming in pants. "... maybe the others voices aren't real either. Maybe... " Drayton closed his eyes and gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles hurt. "... I shouldn't have killed those other people."
"So what? Who cares if they had to die? Didn't you feel the power - the control we had over life and death? Didn't you enjoy the thrill of taking those lives?" Waynegrowled.
Drayton shook his head, closed his eyes, and placed his hands over his ears. Nausea swamped him. "No. This can't be happening. I'm not listening. God wouldn't want me to kill innocent women and children. Shut up, Wayne, you hear me? Just shut up, and don't bother me again until I need you."
Drayton didn't really expect Wayne to obey him, but he did. Silence screamed, and Drayton doubted himself for the first time in a long time... since his mission had begun.
If Wayneisn't real, but I heard him speak, then have I lost my mind?
Drayton shuddered.
No.
He couldn't accept that. If he did, he'd have to accept his madness. And his guilt. And the fact he was on his way to the depths of hell... for murdering those women and their babies.
Drayton slumped forward, his head on his hands on the steering wheel.
He cried like a baby.
Chapter Ten
Lainie abandoned the wheelchair Trish had insisted she use. She stood and watched Eli sleep, her sweet, little, soft lips moving as if she suckled adamantly at Lainie's breast. Cade smiled widely, and Lainie's breath hitched. Pride shone in his eyes. He put his arm around Lainie's shoulder and drew her close. Lainie let him.
Cade spoke with reverence. "She's so beautiful."
Lainie poked him in his ribs with her elbow. "You're biased."
He nudged her with his hip and sported a boyish grin. "Maybe, but that's beside the point. She really is beautiful. Just like her mommy."
Lainie's face grew hot, but she beamed. "Thank you."
The nurses had given her a break, so she could freshen up. She'd taken her first shower since the wee hours of yesterday morning when Eli had come screaming into the world. Trish had ordered Lainie to stay in bed, so her bleeding wouldn't get too extreme. Her baby's birth hadn't exactly been an average birthing experience, so Lainie couldn't risk moving around too much and possibly hemorrhaging to death.
Now she was up and around, albeit quite sore and achy, so she could visit the pediatrics ward. She sighed at the serene scene before her. All the babies lay side by side in a neat little row. Her smile faded. She didn't want to sit idly in her room and not visit Eli - not keep vigil over her. When her precious daughter left her sight, she grew terrified that it would be the last sight she got of her. Even hospitals couldn't protect innocent babies from crazies. How many times had the news reported horrors like kidnappings and murder right under the noses of doctors and nurses? She wouldn't let that happen to Eli, not if it took her last breath to protect her child, not if she had to kill some sick freak trying to harm her own flesh and blood.
Looking at Eli through the glass, she had to agree with Cade. "Eli really is a beautiful sight to behold... a true gift from God."
Cade gripped her shoulders tighter. Lainie wanted to take Eli home. Now. She worried that hospital security might not be tight enough. She'd insisted that she be allowed to keep Eli next to her most of each day and night. She and Cade, as well as Trish, had informed the nurses and the rest of the staff of the threat to Eli, but would security keep out the nutcase trying to kill her child? Lainie looked up at Cade, needing reassurance. Even false hope seemed better than nothing. "Do you think she's safe in here?"
Nodding, Cade shook her gently with the arm draped around her shoulders. He had yet to drop his arm. Lainie didn't care. Not right now. "The nurses have agreed to take extra precautions and monitor Eli every minute while she's in their care."
"I know," Lainie whispered, but the uneasiness still crept into her mind and settled into her very bones. "I can't help but worry - after what I've been through with phone calls, letters and such, lately."
Cade rubbed her arm with his fingers. Lainie's skin broke out in goose pimples, and she barely stifled a shiver. "She'll be fine."
One thing did make Lainie feel better. Cade stayed right there with them, almost constantly. He'd spent very few hours apart from Lainie and Eli, only leaving their sides long enough to swing by Lainie's house, shower, and sleep a bit. He probably got more rest catnapping in the chair in Lainie's recovery room, while both Lainie and the baby slept, too, than he did at her house. He couldn't have gotten much sleep, in any case. He'd not left their presence for more than five hours at a time, and he'd only done that twice in the past two days since Lainie had given birth. The dark circles under his eyes proved his exhaustion and his resolve. He took his duty very seriously, if his actions were any indications.
Lainie touched the glass in front of her, wanting to hold Eli, but not wanting to go in and wake her. She itched to go home and curl up in her feather bed with her soft-skinned daughter lying in her supple bassinet nestled next t
o Lainie's bedside. Lainie wanted to sleep, and let Cade get some better rest, too.
She leaned her forehead against the glass. When could she do that? She'd have to push Trish and try to speed up her release. Sitting in a hospital room with her baby and Cade much longer would try her patience. She needed her privacy, and the security of that alarm system she hadn't quite mastered yet.
She sighed. Should she allow Cade to stay with her? And Guard Eli? Could she endure his closeness and resist his temptation. Cade let his arm drift down to her waist, and she enjoyed the sensation fluttering along her nerve endings. Resist him? Yeah, right.
Cade grabbed a cup of decaf and glanced out the window of the waiting room. Dusk had fallen at the end of their second full day in the hospital. He resigned himself to sleeping in the chair in Lainie's room, again. He opened her door, stepped inside, and grinned. "You look great."
Lainie snorted. "Oh, sure. I look like I just gave birth. My hair's a mess, and I haven't had makeup on my mug in two days."
Cade tapped the end of her nose with his finger. "You don't need it. You're glowing."
Lainie blushed rose-red, and Cade went hard. Damn it. He didn't need to react like that to Lainie. Not yet. He winced. Maybe never. He sat down the tray of food he'd brought up from the cafeteria and glanced over at Lainie. She sat in her hospital bed, feeding Eli. Lainie smiled serenely down at her daughter. Eli grunted and nuzzled her tiny body closer to her mommy's full breast.
Lainie touched Eli's soft forehead with her finger. Cade loved the feel of Eli's feathery skin. He could never get used to how soft it felt to the contrasting roughness of his fingers. He worried that it hurt her, but she didn't seem to mind, and he was careful not to push hard and scrape her skin with a tough callus. He'd never left a mark, so he took advantage of caressing Eli's cheek every chance he got, which wasn't often. Lainie remained greedy - an overprotective mother if he ever saw one - and he was damned glad of it.
Cade vowed to himself - for about the millionth time since he'd found himself standing on Lainie's front steps - that he'd never let the sick slimebag who was after Eli to get to her and hurt her.
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