by Jillian Neal
“Well, Abigail does have Down syndrome, as I’m certain you can tell.” He choked slightly, but Mrs. Haydenshire squeezed his hand, which seemed to bring him fortitude. “However, she is extraordinarily Gifted.”
Fionna and Emily shared an excited smile. “She is a Receiver.” He nodded to Emily, who was beaming. “From what they’ve deduced, the poison changed Abigail’s DNA, but then Abigail’s shield developed instantly to protect her from the poison.” He shook his head over all that had happened to his little girl.
“Her shield is exceptional. She could feel Lillian’s nervousness whenever we were at the hospital for a test, and she would set her own shield even though she was no more than a fetus. She kept us from really being able to tell anything about her before her birth.”
“I told you,” Fionna whispered excitedly.
“It will take her a little longer to develop. She is mute and may not ever be able to speak. But we’re fairly certain that she will be able to communicate via her energies, so she may want to touch you when she needs something rather than speak to you.”
“Will she be able to go to the academy, Dad?” Will asked hesitantly.
Giving his oldest son a weary smile the Governor shrugged. “That’s a long way off, son. For the next few years, at least, we’ll be taking Miss Abigail one day at a time. If nothing changes from what we’ve learned over the past few days, and she works very diligently, then yes, she should be able to attend Venton with Keaton and Henry. However…” The Governor drew a deep breath. He reached for Mrs. Haydenshire’s hand. She supplied it readily. The motion alone seemed to bring her peace. “We feel that it would be best if most of Abby Hope’s education happened right here on the farm, so unlike all of you and the twins, she won’t be attending preschool or even elementary school. So we’ll be asking for all of your help in teaching your little sister.”
With that, the bassinet gave a slight jostle.
“She’s hungry,” Mrs. Haydenshire stated knowingly.
The Governor stood and retrieved a bottle that had come home from the hospital from the refrigerator. He summoned and heated it then lifted his little girl into his arms. Her silent wails stopped before he’d even gotten the bottle into her mouth.
Baby Abigail
~Dan Vindico~
“Dan, she’s just amazing,” Fionna sighed tenderly. She held his hand as he drove off of Haydenshire farm. “She’s so much stronger than I am. I’ve never ever met a stronger Receiver.” She was thoroughly enrapt with Abigail. Fionna blushed suddenly, “I mean, I wasn’t bragging or anything.”
Chuckling, Dan squeezed her hand. “I know, honey. And, actually, I did feel her when I raced her out of the hospital this morning. I’ve held Keaton and Henry, Fitz’s kids, and Oliver and Olivia, and I’ve never felt anything from them, so she is definitely incredible.”
A deep yawn overtook Fionna. It was barely three in the afternoon, and Dan had kept her tucked tenderly beside him in their bed until well after nine that morning.
“You tired, baby doll?” he wondered what she’d been doing that morning while he was helping the Haydenshires escape from the hospital.
“A little. I don’t know why. I played with the twins and helped Emily clean up, but I’m completely exhausted.”
Certain that playing with the twins alone would be enough to have worn her out, Dan picked up her hand and brushed a kiss on her knuckles. “Maybe you’re still tired from last night.”
She gave him that sexy grin that made him weak. “Mmm, that was delicious.”
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed that, Miss Styler.” As Dan let their long lovemaking session that had begun on the couch while watching a movie and had culminated on the floor of the living room replay slowly in his mind, his trousers strained, but then he recalled something he’d wanted to ask her.
“Hey, baby, everything felt okay last night, right?”
“It felt so much better than okay.”
Dan had to agree. It had been an incredible evening. Their bodies seemed to have linked in every available capacity. He’d never felt so close to her.
“Why?”
“Oh,” Dan shrugged, “it just felt a little different when you let me cast you. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong.” He didn’t want to frighten her.
To his relief, Fionna nodded. “Yeah, it does that sometimes if the twenty-four hours is almost up, but not quite and you cast it again.”
Certain that was probably it, Dan felt his chest and shoulders relax.
“Although…” She frowned.
“What?” His panic made a rapid return.
“I noticed a couple of times that it would feel different when those cysts were developing. I hope I’m not getting another one.”
“Do you want me to go with you to see Adeline?”
“No,” she shook her head. “If that’s what it is, I’ll know soon enough,” she sighed. “I haven’t had one in several years. I was sort of hoping I’d outgrown them.”
“I would feel better if we just got everything checked out.”
But she shook her head again. “No, Dan. I just went to the Medio, right before we started dating, for my checkup. She said everything was perfect.”
Dan let his mind move in reverse for a few seconds. They’d really only been together for three months though to him it felt like a lifetime. He knew that his life had ended when he’d stood beside Amelia’s grave and dropped a rose on the lowering coffin, and that it hadn’t begun again until he’d escorted Fionna out of Anglington’s on that fate-filled night.
He supposed that seeing a Medio three months before and having been given a clean bill of health probably meant that Fionna was fine.
“Besides, if I needed to go back to the Medio, wouldn’t Garrett have to take me?”
That effectively sealed the deal. Dan nodded his begrudged agreement. He certainly couldn’t accompany her to a Gynecological Medio, and it not alert the Realm as to their relationship.
“Okay, but if you need to go, or you need me to back off, or ease up, or you need to take a break for a while, promise me that you’ll speak up.”
She gave him his smile. The one that flooded peace and happiness through his veins. The one that gave him life.
“It’s not like that, Dan. If I have another cyst, it’ll either come out on its own, usually when I have a horrible period, or they’ll cast me and take it out at some point, but it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
“You’re sure?” He wasn’t willing to let her sweep this under the rug.
She laced her fingers back through his. “I promise I’m fine.”
When The Skies Come Tumbling Down
Worried, Dan pushed open his front door at seven Monday night. He’d been calling Fionna’s cell to explain that he was going to stay a little longer at the office. She hadn’t answered. His heart beat in his throat. Memories of an empty house, marred with images of Amelia’s capture, sliced through his every thought.
“Fi…” he started to scream for her but halted abruptly. His hand flew to his chest. He was afraid his thundering heart would awaken her. There she was, his precious baby sound asleep on the couch.
“Thank God,” he breathed as he slipped into the house and locked out the damp air. He shrugged off his jacket and his boots. Moving soundlessly, he grabbed a quilt off of the chair and tenderly spread it over her sleeping form. She didn’t move.
He smiled down at her and wondered how long she’d been out. They’d practiced until noon and the last text he’d received was around five. Concerned that she might be sick, he gently touched her forehead. She didn’t seem to have a fever, but she was a little pale.
He wondered if she’d eaten. Standing, he headed into the kitchen. Two coffee mugs were in the sink. She always got a clean mug when she made another cup meaning she’d had two cups of coffee since noon and had still fallen asleep, but there was no sign that she’d eaten anything.
She’d texted that sh
e was going out to lunch with Emily, but she had to be hungry now. He debated. Deciding to let her sleep until eight, he headed upstairs to his office to see if he could get a little more done before he made them dinner.
Wednesday afternoon, he just couldn’t shake the gnawing fear that something was horribly wrong. The Angels were practicing half days for the next few weeks. Determined to fix whatever was the problem was, Dan lifted his cell and called her.
“Hey,” she answered.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he willed her to sound happy to hear him again. Anything would be better than the fear that haunted the few disbanded words she spoke around him now.
“Uh, I miss you.” He tried.
“Oh…uh, I’m leaving practice in a few minutes.”
Nothing. Nothing but dejected sadness and harrowing fear. What the hell had gone so wrong?
“Want me to come get you? I could pick you up. I could get whatever you want to eat on the way. I’ll take the afternoon off.” He prayed that he could somehow repair whatever he’d broken. He’d stop working so much. He would do anything to have her back. But all she offered was the hollowed shell of the woman he’d fallen madly in love with.
“No, I’m just going to go home or something. You work. Bye.”
A week and a half later, Dan laid in the bed in a state of all-consuming terror. What he’d done couldn’t be fixed. My God, how had he done this? How could he have let this happen? He prayed that somehow he wasn’t seeing and feeling what he knew he felt.
He’d just lifted her head up out of the toilet. She managed to tell him again that it was the flu. The lies were somewhat easier for her the more despondent she became.
She’d fallen back into a depressive sleep almost instantly. Her breasts were huge, swollen and fevered against his bare chest. He closed his eyes again and begged the ether for mercy. How the hell were they going to do this? She wouldn’t even tell him. She’d hardly spoken to him at all for more than a week.
Unable to remain there any longer, he eased out of the bed and went into work.
Garrett appeared at his office door just after eight. “Dan, they’re waiting on you for Lindley’s hearing. Did you forget?”
“No,” Dan huffed. He drove his fingertips into his eyes, trying to hide the emotion he’d given into. He stared at the computer screen, seeing nothing before him but a hellish abyss without any available acceptable future.
“Don’t you need to go testify? Don’t you want her to get some help? She needs to go to rehab. You said that yourself.” Garrett moved into the office and closed the door behind him.
“I don’t give a shit about Lindley right now, okay? Just leave.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Dan lifted his infuriated eyes and stared Garrett down. “Get the hell out of my office, now.”
Unaffected by Dan’s order, Garrett studied him as if the answers were written on his face. Finally, he shrugged and made his exit. Dan lifted his office phone.
“Kara,” he choked out his sister’s name.
“Dan? What’s wrong? Aren’t you at Lindley’s hearing?”
“No, I can’t go. Uh…” He swallowed down another round of assaulting emotion. “Would you mind if I came over for a little while? I need to talk to you.”
“Of course. Are you coming now? Are you really going to leave work?”
“Yeah, that okay?”
“Sure, do you want me to meet you somewhere? We could have lunch.”
“No, uh, Mom and Dad are up here for the trial, and I can’t risk anyone overhearing us. Can I just come there?”
“Sure, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Dan slammed his office door getting everyone’s attention. “I’m leaving. I’ll be back later. Please, for the love of God, figure some-fucking-thing out today!”
He felt the uncomfortable glances as they travelled around the room. He knew he was being impossible; he just didn’t care.
Pacing in his sister’s living room, he tried to figure out where to begin. She’d offered him some tea, but he couldn’t seem to locate the ability to function outside of his abject panic.
He ran his hands through his hair. “Uh, okay, how long after you figured out you were pregnant did you start to look pregnant?”
Kara’s kind brown eyes goggled. He watched realization form on her features. “Well, let me think.” Protectively, she ran her hands over her very protruded stomach. “You don’t show as quickly with your first. That’s what Meredith said.”
Dan tried to let that information calm him.
“I think I was probably 9 or 10 weeks along at least before I even had a little bump. And, uh, it depends on your frame, too.”
He turned to stare at her, trying to determine what she was telling him.
She attempted a smile. “I mean, I’m kind of little.” She gestured to her chest. “If someone like Fionna were to be pregnant, she might be able to hide it a little longer because she’s a lot curvier than I am normally.”
Dan didn’t respond, so Kara filled the silence. “Her boobs are way bigger than mine.” She glanced up uncomfortably. She was gnawing the inside of her mouth just like she did when she was a kid and was about to be punished for something.
“How do you figure out the weeks thing? How do you know how far along you are? Is it from when you conceived, or when you figured out you were pregnant?”
“From the time you got pregnant, but a lot of women don’t know they’re pregnant right at first.”
Counting back to the lingerie shower, Dan’s body gave a convulsive shudder. Almost five weeks. If she was going to start showing at nine weeks, he had a month to take down an entire criminal organization and to convince her that he could take care of her and their child.
“Dan, please say something.”
“What the fuck do you want me to say, Kara?”
Tears sprang to her eyes. Dammit, now he was taking this out on his little sister.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.” She swallowed down raw emotion.
“I…” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to do.” He finally gave in and let the terror consume him. “She’s a disaster. She’s either crying and hiding it from me or sleeping. What the hell am I supposed to do? Let Garrett Haydenshire pretend that the baby is his as well? Wretchkinsides will kill her, Kara, just like Amelia. He’ll kill her as soon as he finds out it’s mine. And she can’t challenge under that aegis if she’s pregnant. She’s going to lose her job in the matter of a few weeks. I don’t know what to do.”
“Is she scared of Wretchkinsides or of you?” Kara’s voice was soft and soothing.
“I’m sure she’s scared of both of us. I haven’t been much fun to live with the last two weeks. She’s terrified of how Mom will react and about the Realm finding out. And I can’t help her with any of it.”
~Rainer Lawson~
Rolling his eyes in disdain, Rainer listened to Logan chuckle as they pulled into the Iodex parking deck.
“I swear, I’m surprised they don’t show up in our freaking shower,” he spat furiously.
There was another gaggle of press awaiting him in the parking deck.
“Hey, do you still want Ad and I to come over and help you paint tonight?” Logan asked quickly before they exited the Porsche.
“If you don’t mind. We’d like to get all of the work done before the wedding so we can move in when we get back from the Keyes.”
Bracing himself, Rainer drew a deep breath, stared out through the gap of the concrete structure where he’d parked, and took in the cherry buds just beginning to break through on the trees.
Spring was well on its way, and in four short weeks, Emily Anne Haydenshire would become Emily Haydenshire Lawson.
After deciding that whatever annoyance the press was causing was more than worth it, he exited the car.
“Rainer, Rainer, Rainer.” He never knew the sound of his own name could be so annoying. “Are you looking forward to
the gala this weekend in your honor, Rainer?” a reporter hoisted a microphone in his face running along beside him.
“Have you and Emily purchased a home off of Haydenshire property?” a woman Rainer recognized from the Realm Times called.
“How is Emily handling the pressure, Rainer?” called another woman, this one from Realm Bride magazine.
Rainer considered halting and screeching at the woman. The only reason Emily was under so much pressure and scrutiny was because of the press. They’d snapped photos of Rainer and Emily eating at a deli near their new home. Emily had been biting into a ham sandwich on pumpernickel when they’d taken the first shot. The headline the next day had questioned Emily’s ability to fit into her gown if she kept eating like that.
Rainer had been furious, as had the Crown Governor. Emily, however, had stopped eating out altogether and had lost several pounds, much to Rainer’s chagrin.
He was extremely concerned about her. She wasn’t handling the pressure all that well, if the truth were told. He and Logan sprinted inside the Senate and slammed the steel doors in the face of the press.
“Your fan club still out there?” Vindico somehow sounded angrier than he had when Rainer had left at ten o’clock the night before. He’d been in a terrible mood for the past few weeks.
“Yeah, sorry.”
Vindico shrugged. “I assume if you could’ve gotten rid of them, you would’ve by now.”
Rainer gave a weary nod, wondering how much longer Vindico was going to force them to work until well into the night.
“As soon as McCoy decides to get his ass to work we’ll get on with the meeting,” Vindico called to the elite team.
Governor Haydenshire moved through a moment later.
“Hey, Dad. How’s Abby?” Logan asked after sharing a withering glare with Rainer over Vindico’s terse behavior.
“Well, your mother is astounding, as you know. I’m tempted to call up Venton and alert the Valeduto Predilects that, though they apparently feel newborn care has changed since we first started having children, my baby girl slept through the night last night at only four weeks old.”