Chapter 24
According to the State of Texas, there must be a seventy-two hour waiting period once you file for your marriage license, so getting married the same day was not an option for us.
Which I think worked out better because I wanted Raegan and Ivy there to stand beside me in the little hospital chapel, since I was going to be here for a while.
“Try this one,” Raegan shoves another white dress at me while Ivy helps me out of the last one they brought for me to try on. “This one will look better, I’m sure.”
“You mean better than the muumuu you picked out,” Ivy snips. “If this man would’ve given me more time, I’d have made you a wedding dress.”
“I don’t need anything fancy,” I say, trying to defuse the rising tension between my two friends. “It doesn’t even need to be white. I mean it’s not like we waited for the wedding night.” I point down where my baby boy is jumping on my bladder like a trampoline.
“You deserve the best and to have the most magical day ever,” Ivy states as she zips up the new dress that has some give in the belly region. “Oh, I think I like this one,” she comments.
“That’s only because you picked this one out,” Raegan huffs, rolling her eyes.
Ivy ignores her and continues, “Although, if your boobs get any bigger in the next few days, they’ll be up to you chin, and I’ll have to find some material to cover you up.”
“Knock, knock!” we hear from the doorway as Melissa comes in carrying a basket full of things. “How is our soon-to-be bride?”
“I feel great,” I answer.
I really do. I’ve been in the hospital for three days now and every day I feel stronger and more like myself again.
All the scans are coming back good. The only worry is the preeclampsia.
The labs found a little protein in my urine, and my blood pressure is slightly elevated, but it’s not in the concerned zone yet.
If my numbers hold firm over the next two days, Melissa will allow me to go home and spend the next few weeks on bedrest with my men, and of course Martha will have a watchful eye over me.
Speaking of Martha.
She and Zane bounce into the room. They’ve come every day to see me, and I can’t get enough time with the little guy.
At first he didn’t understand why my stomach was so big and asked a million questions about why I was gone so long.
We told him that I was on a trip far away from here so that I could find the perfect little brother for him to have.
Zane talks to my belly as much as his father does, and it melts my heart every time.
“Hiya brodder,” Zane greets me with a kiss to my stomach.
“Hey baby.” I kiss him on the top of his head.
“I no baby no more,” he tells me and points to where his brother is moving. “That’s baby and I’m big brodder.” Zane points his thumb at his chest.
“We were at the store picking up some snacks for the house, and he insisted to come to see you before he went home for a nap—”
“I take nap with you,” Zane interrupts and starts to climb up on the hospital bed.
“You can nap with me,” I say when I see Martha about to tell him no. I’ve missed so much time with him that I want us to spend as much time together as possible. Kids need stability in their life. I want to be that constant with Debbie not coming around very often.
Ivy and Raegan help me out of the dress in the attached bathroom as Zane settles on the bed. When I come out, Melissa has a few plates out with small, square slices of cake on each one.
“What is this?” I ask as I sit on the edge of the bed.
“Cake tasting,” Ivy says. “Can’t have a wedding without a good cake.”
“I can’t eat all this.” I sweep my hand over the tray of several plates.
“That’s why we’re here to help,” Melissa informs me.
We start trying the samples and each one tastes so good, it’s hard to pick a favorite. After twenty minutes, we settle on three layers with each one being a different flavor. Zane got to pick his favorite then I picked mine and all the other girls decided on the other.
“I think that was the last thing we needed before the wedding,” Melissa says joyfully. “Can either of you think of anything else we need before her big day?” She looks over at Ivy and Raegan.
“I think everything is covered.” Raegan looks over her tablet where the wedding to-do list is.
Something reminds me that I’ve needed to ask Melissa but keep forgetting—pregnancy brain and all.
“Hey, Melissa, I know you said Rocky was off doing something, but will he be back in time for the wedding?” I ask and see her suck in a breath at the mention of his name. It’s been weird how everyone’s been avoiding talking about Rocky. “I just wanted—”
“Rocky in heaben with Debbie,” I hear Zane say over my shoulder.
I must not have heard that right, so I slowly turn my head and body to see the little boy that has sleepy eyes.
“What did you say, baby?” I ask.
“I don’t think—” I hear Melissa’s voice.
“Rocky in heaben with Debbie,” he repeats and starts rubbing his eyes. “He an angel.”
“Sutton…we need you to—”
“How can Rocky be in heaven—”
The image of being thrown in the van and the gunshots ringing out in his direction smack me in the face. How could I have forgotten that?
My head whips towards the adults in the room, and I see Raegan’s tears and the devastating look on Melissa’s face as she tries to hold all her emotions and expressions in.
“No, please tell me he…that he…” I can’t even say the words out loud. A sob wails from my chest as I let Zane’s words sink in. “Ohmygosh!”
Melissa, Ivy, and Raegan all rush over to me and lift me up into their arms while we all cry.
“I don’t understand,” I try to say in between sobs. “Are you sure?”
“Take a breath, Sutton,” Melissa tries to coax as I find it hard to breathe. “In through your nose then out through your mouth.”
A nurse comes in along with the prospect that’s been guarding the door, “What’s going on?” she asks as my monitor starts to beep rapidly.
It takes several minutes, but my breathing is finally manageable. My heart hurts, and I’ve got snot and tears leaking everywhere.
“Why? We were… This is all my fault,” I admit out loud and start shaking my head.
“No, it’s not. Do you hear me?” Melissa declares. “The person who pulled that trigger is to blame. Not you.”
“If I—” I start to say.
“If it wasn’t for Rocky, we’d never been able to find you, sweet girl,” Melissa mournfully says and grabs my hands sitting me back on the bed. “He was so brave and loved you so much.”
Her statement makes me cry even harder.
“We are going to need to get her to calm down, Dr. Spencer,” the nurse says over my shoulder.
“Let’s lie down for a bit,” Melissa suggests. Ivy and Raegan both help me get situated in the bed.
“I think we should probably go and let you rest,” Martha says trying to get Zane off the bed.
“He can stay,” I tell her and wrap my arms around his little body curled into my side. His head is on my chest.
“Please don’t cry, Mommy,” Zane whispers. “Daddy said we’ll see him again.”
My eyes close tightly, and with my free hand, I cover my mouth as I try to keep my blubbering as quiet as possible.
“Yes, we will, sweet boy,” I whisper back to him.
It doesn’t take him long before his breathing evens out and he falls fast asleep without a care in the world.
“We didn’t want to cause you any more stress so we were planning to tell you after the baby was born or when you were outta the woods,” Raegan says after we’ve all gotten ourselves under control. “We’re all just so worried about your health right now.”
“I remember that day now and seeing him,” I fill them in, but a shout down the hall halts our conversation.
Beckett, Stone, Riot, and Reaper barge in, sweating like they’ve just come from running a marathon.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” Beckett comes over and almost pushes Ivy out of the way to get to me.
Martha shushes them in a scolding manner pointing over at my sleeping boy. “She found out about Rocky,” Martha tells the men.
“Thought we all agreed not to mention it,” Reaper states.
“Zane told me,” I say as my future husband reaches for my free hand. “Said that Rocky was in heaven with Debbie,” I repeat what the little guy said.
“Well, shit,” Riot remarks, scrubbing his face with his hands.
“What happened with Debbie?” I ask and look around the room while Beckett just stares at me.
“Yeah, I think I’m gonna go take a leak,” Riot starts to step backwards, but Ivy catches his cut, halting his movement.
“Can we talk about this after you and the baby are in the clear?” Beckett finally speaks up and finds his voice.
“I think we should all stop with the secrets and lay everything out on the table. Melissa is here to monitor me, and if she thinks we need to stop then we’ll stop, but I can’t live not knowing what happened while I was away.
As soon as I think I’m safe, I’m hit with something else, knocking my legs out from under me.
Let me decide if I can handle it or not. ”
“Since we’re doing this, we have a few questions for you, if you’re up for it,” Stone says, sitting down at the end of the bed. He gets up and grabs a chair then places Raegan right where he vacated so that they are next to each other.
“The moment I call it, I expect everyone to stop the conversation. I’m not going to allow her to get any more upset than she already has been today.” Melissa comes to stand on the side where the monitors and Zane are placed. She places her fingers over the inside of my wrist and gives a nod.
I start first by telling them about walking from Stone and Raegan’s house into mine and hearing a beeping noise and the weird stench then feeling something at my neck.
When I tell them about waking up in the tornado shelter, they tell me about the house blowing up and them finding what they thought was my burned body.
We go back and forth giving our sides until we finally get to a few days ago on the farm.
“How do you think your father got in bed with a South American drug cartel?” Reaper asks from the end of the bed.
“That I have no idea. I was so na?ve about a lot of things ’til I was shipped off,” I admit. “A lot of churches do mission work so that could’ve happened through an actual legit mission trip before they tainted them.”
“And you’d never met Juan José before?” Riot asks.
“I think I saw him in passing once but never face to face. My father had a lot of visitors, but I never paid much attention to them,” I say.
“And your father was going to marry you off to the old man?” Reaper questions.
A shiver rolls down my spine at the thought.
“I was supposed to marry his son or grandson…” I push my shoulders up and down not remembering which one it was. “But he was killed or something. Jared, my father’s second, came up with me marrying the senior Sanchez.”
“Did you hear anything they discussed about Dead Road?” Beckett speaks up from beside me.
“Just that he was going to raise this child because y’all took his from him. Or something like that,” I reveal. “A son for a son is what Sanchez told me.”
“A son for a son,” Stone repeats. He shows no emotion, but his words sound so deadly, as he stares at the wall behind the bed.
“This is why I don’t want kids,” Reaper states then realizes what he said. “Sorry, I just can’t imagine them being used as a pawn for this fucking psycho.”
“Did you know they were storing drugs on the farm,” Stone asks changing the subject.
I shake my head, “Had no idea,” I say honestly. “We lived off of New Mexico Avenue near the church before I was shipped off to Colombia. When I came back, the women were limited to certain areas on the property. I’d heard about the bunkers but had never been in one until the other day.”
“That’s what most of the women are saying,” he tells me.
“What are you going to do with them?” I ask. “The women?”
“Most wanted to leave but couldn’t so we’re working with a local woman’s shelter to get them placed and set up. The ones who are giving us trouble are gonna spend some time with Turner on some trumped up charges.”
Maybe it’ll humble Karen a little, I think and almost chuckle.
“I know a lot of them didn’t leave because The Fellowship moved their older children to a different location,” I divulge.
“We’re working on the other locations and locating the kids,” Reaper speaks up.
“Thank you,” I gush. “Thanks to all of you for getting us out of there.”
Beckett holds me close, careful to not wake Zane. “That cult never should’ve gotten that large and right under our nose.”
“It didn’t start out that way,” I begin to say. “I remember when my mom…” I pause remembering what that lady told me about what had happened to her.
My nose starts to burn from trying to be strong and not cry anymore today, but I can’t help the flood door that’s been cracking the more we discuss this entire situation.
“What’s wrong?” Raegan reaches forward grabbing my leg.
“The lady who got me ready at the farm. She’d told me about my mom. That she’d died,” I tell them what she’d said to me. All the women are crying before I even finish, and I can see the anger rolling off the men.
“I’ll find out what happened, Sutton,” Raegan promises. “If there are records of it, I’ll get them.”
“Thank you. I’d like to know where she’s buried at least,” I say.
“I think we’ve had enough for the day,” Melissa says. “We’ve got a very important day coming up, and I want her rested and in the best health we can get her in.”
“Thank you, Melissa,” I reach over Zane and hug her to me.
“I could never replace your mother, but if you ever need anything I’m here for you,” she whispers in my ear. I can hear the quiver in her voice and hold her a little tighter.
Everyone leaves after hugs and the promise of coming back tomorrow for a visit. Once Beckett and I are alone, with the exception of a sleeping Zane, we both just settle into the silence.
“You having second thoughts?” I hear Beckett ask. I didn’t realize I’d gotten lost in my thoughts.
“’Bout what?” I question.
“Me, marriage, this life,” he voices.
This man makes me smile.
“There is no other place or person I’d want to walk through fire with, Beckett Roberts,” I tell him truthfully.
He walks over and cages my head in on the pillow being mindful of our sleeping boy.
“That’s the right answer, Angel,” he says, his cocky smirk painted on his beautiful face.