Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (52 page)

“
I might have to work,” MJ
said. “I don’t really know what we’re doing.”

“
But you’ll have time for
a doctor’s appointment,” Honey said.

“
Of course, I’ll try to
stay with you all day. And. I’ll try not to drive you
crazy.”

Honey laughed. She stroked his face.
“Sleep?”

“
Sleep,” MJ
said.

Honey lay back and closed her eyes.

“
Are you sure you’re
okay?” MJ asked.

Honey laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday night — 11:40 P.M.

“
They’re finally asleep,”
Sandy said

Buster scooted into Noelle and Sissy’s room
and hopped onto Noelle’s bed. Sandy closed the door. She peeked in
on Charlie in his closet. After returning from the salon, Aden went
to help Pete’s children get cleaned up and settled. Sandy had fed
their children pizza from Enzo’s End and made sure they showered.
For good measure, she had Delphie check all the children to make
sure they didn’t pick up any thing unsavory at the salon. Aden
joined Sandy after Pete and Molly came to get their kids.

“
They’re not going to work
tomorrow,” Sandy said. “No way.”

“
I’ll call in the
morning,” Aden said.

Sandy nodded.

“
How are you?” Aden held
his arms out and Sandy walked into them. She pressed her head
against his chest.

“
Tired, mostly. Worried
about Seth,” Sandy said. “What a night!”

“
I thought you were
amazing,” he said. He kissed her forehead. “Why did you make that
space?”

“
I’ve lived a lot of life,
Aden,” Sandy moved out of his arms and walked down the hall to
their room. “I wanted a place to hide if I needed one.”

“
Hide from…?”

“
Whoever,” Sandy shrugged.
She picked up Rachel from her bassinette.

“
Me?”

“
Maybe,” Sandy
said.

“
And now that I know about
it, will you create another secret space?” Aden asked.

“
Do I have to?” Sandy
asked.

“
No,” Aden shook his head.
“No. I just wish your safe place was with me.”

“
I don’t mean to hurt
you,” Sandy said.

“
You haven’t,” Aden said.
“I wish you could understand that I want you to be safe and to feel
safe.”

“
I think it just takes
time,” Sandy said.

Aden gave her a soft smile. He climbed into
bed. Sandy got in on the other side. She put Rachel between
them.

“
I guess I won’t be
working in the salon for a while,” Sandy said.

“
I think we all need a
vacation,” Aden said. “Mexico? Aspen? What’s your
pleasure?”

When Sandy didn’t respond, he rolled over on
his side. She was sound asleep.

“
Maybe we’ll just stay
home,” he said to himself.

He was almost out when there was a tap at
their door. Not wanting to wake Sandy, he got up to open it.
Charlie stood on the other side.

“
We were hoping that
maybe…” Charlie started and then looked down the hall. Aden
followed his glance. Noelle and Sissy peered out of their room.
Further down the hall, Nash and Teddy’s heads poked out of their
room. “We just want to feel… safe.”

“
I don’t know,” Aden said.
“Sandy’s sound asleep and…”

“
What is it?” Sandy sat up
in bed.

“
The kids want to sleep
with us,” Aden said.

“
I’d like that,” Sandy
said. “Is it all right with you, Aden?”

Aden gave Charlie a curt nod.

“
I’ll sleep between Noelle
and Teddy,” Charlie said.

“
Good thinking,” Aden
said. As the kids filed into the room, he added, “You know Rachel
wakes up around two.”

“
We hear her anyway.” Nash
said as he laid out his blankets and pillow.

“
She’s not too fussy,”
Sissy said. She pointed to a spot on the floor and Noelle set their
blankets down. Sissy gave Noelle a pillow.

“
It doesn’t bother us,”
Noelle said.

“
Teddy?” Sandy noticed
Teddy lingering in the doorway. “Are you coming in?”

“
Ma’am,” Teddy said. “I’m
not really family. Should I…?”

“
We’re not fancy on
definitions,” Sandy said. “We love you Teddy. You belong with
us.”

“
Just sleep here,” Charlie
pointed to a spot next to him.

Noelle hopped up to hug Sandy goodnight and
the rest of the children followed suit. Buster sniffed from one
bundle of blankets to the next.

“
Good night,” Sandy said.
She lay back to sleep.

Aden went from child to child to make sure
they were settled. He slipped into bed and touched Rachel. Every
child was safe. Every child was secure. He sighed. Buster hopped on
the bed. Aden groaned but didn’t make the ugly dog get down.

For the first time in decades, the children
of Denver were safe tonight. He touched the Saint Jude medallion
hanging at his neck and remembered his friend, Daf. Killed as a
result of Saint Jude, Aden had worn the medallion more than half
his life. Now, finally, Daf could rest in peace. Aden felt an
enormous weight lifted from his shoulders. Smiling at the thought
of his good friend, and his good fortune, he slept.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday night — 11:40 P.M.

“
Anything you want to tell
me?” Jacob asked Jill.

Lying in the bathtub, Katy was sound asleep
with her head tucked just under Jill’s chin. The tub was full of
strawberry scented bubbles. Katy had been so wound up that it took
an hour in the bathtub before she got sleepy. Jacob had been in
charge of bringing snacks. When Katy finally settled down, he sat
down next to the tub.

“
I have
lots
to tell you,” Jill
said.

“
How’s Scooter?” Jacob
asked.

“
Injured,” Jill said.
“He’s an old guy and that winged thing went after him. I worked on
him. So did Mike. Delphie wanted to spend tonight with him. She
took him and Sarah wanted to be with him. I don’t know if that
means tonight’s his last night or…”

“
I think we’ll see in the
morning,” he said.

“
I don’t know how Katy
will handle it if he dies. He’s been her best friend since she
moved in here. And… I… I don’t think I can handle it
either.”

She gave a long sad sigh.

“
He’s a good guy,” Jacob
said.

“
He’s been my friend,
Delphie’s friend, for a long time,” Jill said. “I don’t want him to
suffer. That wouldn’t be right. I just want him to…
live.”

“
I know,” Jacob
said.

“
Are you working
tomorrow?” Jill changed the subject to avoid thinking about what
would happen to Scooter.

“
No,” Jacob said. “I
caught Dad before I came up. He’s going to cover for me and Aden
tomorrow.”

“
Sounds like tomorrow’s
going to be a long day,” Jill said.

“
Can we talk tomorrow?”
Jacob asked.

“
Sure,” Jill
said.

“
Promise?”

“
Promise,” Jill said. “Are
you coming in? She’s completely out.”

“
I thought you’d never
ask.”

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday night — 11:40 P.M.

“
All done,” Mike
said.

Valerie was sitting on the kitchen counter
watching him clean up after her brownie making. They’d eaten pizza
with everyone. When Alex called, Valerie was happy to make brownies
for Ava. Alex and a couple of her men picked up the brownies and
left information in their wake. Saint Jude had been declared dead.
The Crime Scene Unit would probably work through the night. The
Denver Police were coming in the morning to take everyone’s
statements. When Alex left, Mike began cleaning the kitchen.

“
Are you hungry?” Mike
asked.

“
And mess up your clean
kitchen?” Valerie asked. “That would just be cruel.”

Mike smiled.

“
No, I had enough pizza,”
Valerie said.

“
How’s our
girl?”

Mike put his hands on Valerie’s rounded
belly.

“
Getting ready to join the
world,” Valerie said. “Just a few months or so.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, Mike hugged her to
him.

“
We start birthing classes
next week,” Valerie said.

“
Are you sure you want me
to go?” Mike asked. “Samantha might be a better choice.”

“
Sami is my best friend,
not my husband,” Valerie said.

He nuzzled her neck.

“
You are going to be there
when she comes into this world, aren’t you?” Valerie
asked.

Mike nodded.

“
Promise?” Valerie
asked.

“
I wouldn’t miss it for
the world,” Mike said. “I’ll be there for this one and all the
others.”

He helped her off the kitchen counter and
they made their way up to their second floor apartment. Once
inside, he made a beeline to the bathroom where he began filling
the tub.

“
Jill and Jacob are in the
bath,” Valerie said.

“
So?”

Shaking her head, Valerie smiled at his
indifference.

“
Do you care?” Mike
asked.

Valerie shook her head.

“
We’ve been taking baths
together a lot longer than they have,” Mike said. “Years and years
and years…”

He stripped off his clothing and stepped in
the tub.

“
Come on,” Mike
said.

To tease him, Valerie slowly took off her
clothing and stepped into the tub. The water splashed with her
pregnant girth. He grabbed a towel and threw it on the water. She
tucked herself between his knees in the tub.

“
How was tonight?” Mike
asked to her hair.

“
I’m not supposed to talk
about it,” Valerie said.

“
You can talk about you,”
Mike said. “Just not events.”

“
Oh,” Valerie said.
“Tonight was weird, Mike. All the training I did for the movie and
all those endless action scenes… It was like I did all of that just
to be ready for tonight. And tonight was scary, hard, and
fun.”

“
Fun?”

“
Fun to feel so
competent,” Valerie said. “I knew that I needed to do something. I
knew it was up to me. And for the first time…”

Valerie fell silent. She leaned against his
chest and closed her eyes.

“
For the first time?” he
asked.

“
I felt like Mom was with
me,” Valerie said. “All of my life, she told me that I was
important. She used to say that I was the brightest light in the
world. I never took it seriously because, I mean compared to being
able to move things with your mind or knowing the future, being a
bright light doesn’t seem like much.”

Mike kissed her head. She turned to look at
him and they kissed.

“
Tonight, I realized that
being a bright light is a big deal,” Valerie said. “A really big
deal. I need to be the bright light more often.”

“
What would that mean?”
Mike asked.

“
I don’t really know,”
Valerie said. “There’s a lot of dark in the world right now. Maybe
it’s just being me or being an activist like Angelina or… I don’t
know.”

“
Sounds like a topic for
Delphie,” Mike said.

“
Delphie would tell me to
meditate on the idea,” Valerie said.

“
Will you?”

“
Maybe,” Valerie
laughed.

Mike chuckled at her.

“
I’m stronger than I
realized,” Valerie said.

“
You’re amazing,” Mike
said.

“
Thanks.”

Valerie leaned back against him. They lay in
the warm water for a while. Mike laughed and hugged her tight.

“
What?”

“
It’s been less than a
year,” Mike said. “And everything I ever wanted is here. My
paintings are selling well. I have more commissions than I can do.
We have a baby on the way! We have a
baby
on the way! Your career is
totally popping. And you’re here! You’re here being the bright
light in my life. I…”

He laughed.

“
I’ve never been
happier.”

“
Me too,” Valerie
said.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday early morning — 2:40 A.M.

“
Hey,” Ava said as she
entered her office. “I thought everyone went home.”

“
We didn’t want to leave
you here by yourself,” Lieutenant Colonel Alex Hargreaves said from
the couch. She raised her hand to indicate to her identical twin
Max. He was lying with his head on her lap. “Max has to sleep from
two to five.”

“
And you?”

“
I can go a little more
than ninety-six hours without sleep and not slow down,” Alex said.
“Max can do it if he has to but he’s better if he sleeps a little.
You should sleep.”

“
I have too much to do,”
Ava said. “The team from Geneva is going to be here in the morning.
Did you see the way the CDC investigator looked at me? They think
I’m totally incompetent. I…”