Phantom Scars (33 page)

Chapter 62 - Nursing and Old Wounds

To say I was wearing thin would have been an understatement. The doctor said CJ should get over his colic by four months, and I was counting down. Of course, I counted right down and found at the end was still a crying, colicky baby. I was thanking the Lord for having mercy and not making me have to stay on the ship, but sending me home to Emma, so I could take care of this kid. She was at thirty-seven weeks and was miserable. I caught her once or twice yelling at the baby inside her to get out of her lung space and shoving her belly down like it would actually move.

Emma was tiny compared to her tummy, and I was feeling like an evil fiend for having impregnated her. Seeing how tiny she was compared to her massive tummy just emphasized how young she really was. She had been trying to help more with CJ, but holding him was very awkward for her. He was still too young to really hold on, and between her massive breasts and tummy, she could barely hang on to him, not to mention our daughter didn't like her brother sitting on her and would start kicking wildly at him. When I saw the bruise from our girl kicking at her brother on Emma's tummy, I put a stop to asking her to hold him anymore.

Sex with my wife was difficult. We usually had to find someone to keep CJ busy, and then I was having a difficult time with the whole execution of it. She had been tight before, and now, well, she was very crowded, and then when I realized that was my daughter in there I was pushing against, I kind of freaked out. Yeah, I hoped she had the baby soon. It took some work, but I did finally distract myself enough with my lovely wife's face that I could find my release. I tucked her in after we were done and went to go get my son from my momma.

Warren was holding him and bouncing him on his knee. He looked like a natural. "Did you ever have kids?" I asked.

He frowned. "I did, but I lost them and my first wife in a bad accident. I had two little girls," he said, and CJ seemed to sense his sadness and snuggled into him. "I never thought I’d be part of another family again until I met Abby," he said, smiling at her working at cleaning off some tables. "She's amazing. I know the pain of losing a spouse, and she's been through it twice, but even now, she has the courage to love me. She's remarkable."

"Just don't hurt her," I warned.

"Never," he promised.

I took my son from him, and then he stopped me. "Devin, I've noticed a few more strangers lingering. Keep your family close, and talk of Clark shouldn't leave your home."

"Thanks, Warren," I said nodding; not liking that I still had to look out for my family against these nut jobs.

Things got crazy that night. I was catching my two hours of sleep. I had just put CJ down and was glaring at the clock that said it was 2:00 a.m. I did not like that my sleep pattern was shot, and I hoped once the baby was born that Emma would be able to help more.

I had just dozed off, when my wife woke me. I narrowed my eyes at the clock; it was only 2:45 a.m. "What?" I grumbled, a little on the grouchy side. She usually didn't bug me in the middle of the night.

"Devin," she gasped urgently, and I suddenly felt more awake.

"What's wrong?" I asked looking her over. Her face held panic and pain. "What is it?" I pushed again when she didn't answer.

She took a couple of deep breaths and then glanced at the clock and furrowed her brow. "They're six minutes apart now."

"What?" I looked around frantically, trying to figure out what she was saying, and then turned back to her. "What are you talking about? Are you okay? Can I go back to sleep?" I asked begging a little.

"NO!" she shouted, startling me. She never yelled, ever. "I'm in labor, you asshole! Get me to the fucking hospital!"

I had never heard my wife speak like that, but she had never been in labor before, either. I was definitely not going to cross her, or it might cost me my life. I jumped up and ran out the front door, only to have Rhonda yelling after me, "Devin, your wife!"

I looked around and realized I was standing outside in just pajama pants. I went running back in and jumped into my shoes.

"You need to call the hospital," Rhonda coached me, "And then call your momma."

I called the hospital, just as Emma was moaning through another contraction. "My wife needs to call my momma, she's in labor," I shouted panicked at the nurse.

"Sir, can you please tell me who your doctor is?"

"Dr. Canter."

"I take it your wife is in labor?"

"Tell them her water just broke!" Rhonda yelled at me.

"She broke it! I have to go, the baby is coming!" I shouted running to our room, where I found Rhonda holding Emma's bag. She handed it to me and promised to call my momma and keep an eye on CJ for me. I was hugely grateful, as I just realized someone should be watching him. I was amazed all the shouting hadn't woken him, but I knew he was just as exhausted as I was. Once I got down the stairs, I realized I only had my motorcycle. I had to buy a car! Why hadn't I bought a car when I had the money?

I heard tires squeal, and my momma pulled up with curlers in her hair and a facial mask on. I quickly helped my wife into the car, and we took off to the hospital. We pulled up, and I found out that Rhonda had called the hospital after my mad rant and told them we were coming in, and Emma was in full labor with ruptured water.

Dr. Canter greeted us at the doors and smiled at our frazzled group. "It's time to meet the newest little Clemens."

It was six hours later that my very cranky, angry, make-me-fear-for-my-manhood wife finally gave birth to our perfect angel. My wife deemed her Carolina Paige, and said we were calling her Cara for short.

My daughter was sleeping on my chest, as my wife rested peacefully. I would doze, but CJ had me trained pretty well to wake and keep hold of her. She had my chestnut hair and newborn gray eyes. I wondered if she would have my hazel or Emma's blue eyes. Only time would tell.

Little Cara was nearly ten pounds and a chubby little mass next to the lanky CJ, who was still running a little on the small side due to his colic-induced reflux. They actually looked like twins, very large twins, but still twins. Emma was going to start nursing him as well, so hopefully his reflux would settle down and he would catch up in growth. The nurses, my momma and Dr. Canter made sure I knew that my first priority was taking care of Emma now. I had to agree with them.

When we finally made it home, Clark and Rhonda were thrilled to see both girls doing great. That was until my momma came in and announced that Marie was coming to visit to see the babies. My girl was oblivious and excited along with my momma.

The rest of us knew better.

Chapter 63 - Hide and Seek

An emergency meeting of the men was called. We had to find a way to keep my family safe. We all met in my apartment, so Clark could attend and still stay out of sight. The girls were all downstairs in the restaurant, except for Rhonda. Turned out she wasn't only a nurse, but an undercover agent keeping an eye on Clark, since it was confirmed he was a target.

It pissed me off that they thought giving him mild visibility would lure out the mob and entice a strike against him, so they could eradicate the threat. IN MY HOME! Yeah, pissed was an understatement. Rhonda said it wasn't her plan, she was just following orders.

The decision was made that we should tell my momma, but not Emma, about the connection between Joseph and Dante. Warren and I didn't want her having a setback. Emma was still nervous around people, so she wouldn't do any talking, anyway. There was no reason to scare her if we didn't need to. It was time to call my momma, though, and inform her of who she was really schmoozing with.

When my momma came upstairs, she was bouncing off the walls. "Did Clayton tell you?" she asked, wondering why we were all looking so serious.

We all looked to my brother, and he shrugged. "The timing didn't seem right to spill the beans."

"Spill what beans?" Warren asked.

"I proposed to Jen, she said yes," he said shrugging again, like it wasn't a big deal.

"Those are some pretty cool beans, Jack," I said, and Clayton raised a curious eyebrow at me. "Jack and the Beanstalk?" I said in a duh voice.

He chuckled, and my momma was laughing as well. When I looked back at the rest of the room, their faces were all serious and slightly sad. It was because the happy smile that was on my momma's face would soon vanish.

Warren sat her down and caught her up on everything we had done so far to help keep Emma's true identity from Marie and Joseph. My momma almost insisted we tell them the truth, but Warren informed her that they believed it was Emma's fault that Joseph's brother had been killed. "Vendetta is something the Italians are very familiar with. They'll come for her if they know who she is, dear," Warren explained, trying to comfort my momma. "Clark here already has a hit on his head for looking for his daughter and messing up Dante's operations in the process. They blame him for this mess as well."

My momma looked over at Clark and then to Rhonda. What Rhonda said next shocked us, but it wasn't surprising. "We don't think his accident was an accident. We think it was a hit, and it killed Paige, and almost the baby and Clark as well. These guys are serious, Mrs. Clemens, and they're well equipped to do it. They’ll kill Emma and your granddaughter, and they won't care who else they hurt in the process. They almost killed CJ once. Don't give them the opportunity to try again."

Clark was frowning with tears in his eyes. I understood now why he had been so quick to give up his son, in hopes of hiding his connection to him from the men who were after him. He had already lost so much when he had lost Paige.

The phone rang, and I just looked at it, because everyone was here. Warren walked over and picked up the call. "Yes, of course, Mr. Preston, I'll make sure they know to bring her over tomorrow. Alright, goodbye."

Mr. Preston was the lawyer who had handled the settlement of Wayne's life insurance on Paige. I looked curiously at Warren, but he didn't give me any indication of what was going on. "You and Emma have an appointment at his office tomorrow at 3:00 p.m."

I nodded in acceptance. I knew he wasn't going to be telling me any more than that.

A plan was made to stick with Joseph and Marie the whole visit. One of us would always be with them to keep an eye on them. Warren was going to be the one with Joseph the most, as he spoke Italian and could understand anything, so we would know if Joseph was getting suspicious.

We all heard the call button for the elevator, and I knew it was Emma, because the only other people with the key to it were Rhonda and me. "It's Emma," I announced. "Act happy or something," I panicked. "She can't know what's going on."

Clayton started laughingly loudly, and my momma and Warren followed suit, along with the rest of the room.

Emma came in pushing the stroller with our babies in it. She smiled at the jovial-looking crowd. "I'm sorry," she whispered to me. "The kids are getting fussy, they need a nap. Can you help me get them down?"

"Of course, beautiful," I said kissing her cheek and picked up little CJ, who was kicking wildly in the front of the stroller and reaching for me. "Hey, big boy, are you happy to see daddy?" I asked. He actually let out a squeal, really lightening my mood. Who would have thought a baby could be an antidepressant. "Sorry, everyone, but the kids need their naps. It's time to move the party elsewhere."

They filed out of the apartment, and Clark and Rhonda went back to their room. I helped Emma gather what she needed and lay on the bed with her and the kids. She pumped a bottle for me to feed CJ and then pulled little Cara to her side and started to nurse her, as I fed him the bottle. He was watching the pair of them together and reached out and grabbed little Cara's hand. She didn't look, but gripped his hand back, like she knew just who he was and liked him holding her hand. He had my finger in his other hand, and I smiled when little Cara patted Emma's breast. Emma reached a finger down to her free little hand and let her grab it. We were a family, and the kids even understood it as well. I would never let anything happen to them.

Emma dozed off, and I picked up CJ and headed to the nursery. He wasn't fussy, but I knew he still needed a good burp, before I tried to put him down to sleep. Little Cara was fast asleep with my Emma, and there was no way I was disturbing them.

I sat in the rocker and pulled out
Jack and the Beanstalk
. I was not sure where we had gotten the book, but he seemed to love hearing me read it and would grab at the pages, like he was trying to turn them. After the third time through, he had finally dozed off in my arms. I just held him a while, watching him sleep, feeling so lucky that he had survived the crash and was my boy now. I was about to lay him down, when I heard the front door of our apartment open. I wasn't sure who it was, but everyone in our family knew to knock and announce who they were, so they wouldn't freak out Emma.

What I heard next just cemented it for me that they were not family. Rhonda was fighting with someone and not with words. Clark was yelling at her to just get out of the way and let them do their job.

This could not happen with my kids and my wife in the house!

I looked over at the crib and decided I couldn't put CJ in it. If they had figured out he was Clark's boy, they might be under orders to harm him, too, and I wouldn't stand for that. There was a basket of fresh clean blankets in the closet, and I laid him down in that, before I closed the closet door. I had to make sure I closed my bedroom door. I snuck into the hallway. The phone started ringing, so I darted into my room, not answering it, but I hoped the ringing phone didn't bring the killer out.

I saw my girls fast asleep and looked at the bed control. Faye had insisted since we were buying a new bed that we get the latest and greatest adjustable air-type one. I deflated the bed some more, but left it somewhat comfortable, so they could hopefully sleep through this mess and stay hidden. I pulled the blanket up over the pair, and it looked more like a lumpy mattress than a person in bed, and little Cara looked completely hidden.

I moved to the door and closed and locked it behind me. I had done the same to CJ's door and hoped my family would be safe. The phone had finally stopped ringing, but I heard a lot of grunting coming from Clark and Rhonda's room. I took a deep breath and stepped in before I could back out. Rhonda was on the floor unconscious, and Clark was out of his chair. His one good arm was wrapped around the man's neck, and his one good leg was hooked between the intruder's legs. I could tell by the way the man thrashed and the bleeding from Clark's bad limbs that this was not going well.

I rushed forward, punching the guy in the gut. Unfortunately, this was not a good idea, because I hit hard enough for Clark to feel it, and he lost his grip. The guy left Clark on the floor helpless, and I saw him coming after me. I backed up and out the door, and he followed, looking thoroughly pissed. I dove behind the counter, and I heard muted shots being fired and the ting of them hitting the cast iron pans in the cabinet. I was glad I had chosen to hide behind that cabinet and not the one with the plastic stuff a few feet down.

The front door burst open, and there was a loud bang. I was worried. Someone had been shot, but frantic steps came running toward the cabinet I was hiding behind. My momma was there, and I heard Warren ask if I was alright.

"It's Devin, he's fine," she said and ran down the hall and found the doors locked that led to my family.

"Where are Clark and Rhonda?" Warren asked. I pointed to Clark's room, and he rushed in. I heard him talking to someone, and a few minutes later, Jessup and the FBI showed up, taking the gunman out. A couple of ambulances came, taking Clark, Rhonda and the intruder to the hospital.

I found the key and unlocked the door to little CJ's room, rushing to the closet and pulling him out of the basket. He was still soundly asleep, and he snuggled close to me, as I held him in my arms. I opened the door to my room, and Emma was looking at me confused and worried.

"I think I heard something. What's with all the noise?" she asked, and I smiled sadly at her, as I scooted into the bed next to her, bringing CJ between us, so we could snuggle our kids as I spoke.

"Your dad had to go back to the hospital. The people are the ambulance drivers taking him."

Emma went to get up, but I grabbed her arm. "He's going to be fine. Rest now and we'll go check on him after the kids wake from their nap."

"But-" she started to fight me.

"Rhonda's with him." It wasn't a lie; she was going to be in the same hospital as Clark. I needed to keep my girl calm. I didn't want her to know this evil had touched our lives again.

I was grateful someone had cleaned up all the blood, and apparently the FBI had taken all the bullets from the cabinet for evidence. I just had to find a way to explain the holes in the back of the island. Maybe she wouldn't notice, because the overhang from the counter and the stools were in front of it. I hoped it would buy us some time. I just needed to get some wood filler, and she would never know the difference. Her home would always be her safe haven.

I wouldn't let anyone ruin that for her.