15. Patrick
At her admission, my lips find hers, and I want to unleash all the pent-up desire a husband has for his wife after years of separation. My hand tangles in her long, black hair as I tilt her head to deepen the kiss, caging her in the corner. But the timing still isn’t right, and the living room certainly isn’t the place, as evidenced by the soft voice asking an innocent question that I don’t know how to properly answer.
“Is Mommy going to sleep in your bed tonight?” Alex asks sleepily. He’s wearing his Superman pajamas, and my mom is behind him, trying not to laugh at us. Thankfully, the kiss we were caught engaging in is rated PG.
“Um…Well…Uh,” I hem and haw.
Ariella straightens my shirt, which she had scrunched in her fists while I kissed her just seconds earlier. “No, it’s still you and me tonight, Alex. Are you all done playing video games and ready for bed?”
When we have meetings that Alex shouldn’t be a part of, the safest place for him to be without adult supervision is in the basement. There are no windows and only one door, which is under the stairs that lead to the second floor.
“Grandma said she would tuck me in and read me a story after I brush my teeth,” Alex says excitedly.
“Oh, what story?” I ask.
“Jonah and the whale! Grandma said it’s about trusting in God’s plan and having faith that He’s got everything under control.” Alex yawns as he climbs the stairs to get ready for bed.
One side of my mom’s mouth quirks up. “What can I say? It seemed like a relevant story for our situation. There’s a lot to be afraid of, especially with all the uncertainties we’re facing. You’re not alone in this, Ariella. God has you right where you need to be, surrounded by love and support.” She hugs her daughter-in-law fiercely, something Ariella seems mildly uncomfortable with.
When my mom and Alex are out of earshot, I ask in a low voice, “Does my mom hugging you bother you, Ari?”
“No. It’s not that. It just surprises me every time she does it. My mother has never been affectionate with me like my father has, even though I know she loves me. It’s gotten even worse over the years. She’s changed so much from the woman I once knew. But Charlie has given me more hugs in one week than my mother has given me in a lifetime. It just takes getting used to.”
I lean and whisper, “You know Ari, we are married. You can call her Mom instead of Charlie. I know she would love it as much as she loves being called Grandma.” I nip her ear for fun and enjoy the goosebumps that erupt across her skin as she shivers from my touch.
“Maybe when we get everything worked out between us like you said we should,” she tells me. I can’t blame her for that. I know I want to stay married to her, but we still haven’t talked about what comes next for us when all of this is said and done. She promised she wouldn’t keep Alex from me again, which gives me a glimmer of hope. But for all I know, she could be talking about letting him visit me on weekends and holidays.
“You’re right. We have a lot to figure out first,” I admit. I head to the kitchen to put on a kettle to make tea, Ariella following close behind. “Do you still like lemon balm tea before bed?”
“I do. It helps relieve my stress and anxiety enough for me to fall asleep. Otherwise, I’m tossing and turning all night, going through my mental ‘to-do’ list and overanalyzing everything. I’m surprised that Charlie has any. That’s not a normal item to have stocked in a pantry.”
My mom walks into the kitchen just as Ariella makes her comment. “That’s because as soon as it was determined that you and Alex would be staying here, my boy sent me a very specific grocery list, which included a Ghirardelli cocoa powder and lemon balm tea.”
“He’s a pretty great guy. It’s one of the reasons I married him,” Ariella says, winking at me.
My mom continues putzing around the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and filling it with the filtered water from the faucet. When she notices that the conversation between Ariella and myself hasn’t resumed and that our eyes are on her, she says, “I’ll be out of your hair in just a second. I came down to get our thirsty little prince some water,” she says with a smile.
Ariella looks amused. “Charlie, you don’t have to wait on him hand and foot because he’s royalty.”
My mom laughs. “Oh, you sweet, adorable child. I’m not serving him. I’m spoiling him rotten. It’s my job as his grandma to dote on him, feed him lots of sugar, and let him eat everything he’s not allowed to. Then I get to let you handle the fallout. It’s in our job description as grandparents. You’ll see one day when Alex has kids of his own.”
We watch as my mom leaves to fulfill her grandmotherly duties, the smile never leaving Ariella’s face. “Alex is loving it here. He’s getting so much attention and thriving despite spending so much time indoors.”
“Does he not get attention and affection back in Cothena or Brachha?” I ask her.
“He does, just not in the same way. Kiernan treats him like a little brother more than anything. They hang out together and have a special bond, but it isn’t fatherly for obvious reasons. My father dotes on Alex when he sees him, but it still isn’t in the same way that your parents spend time with him. Back home, Alex is a prince first, grandson second.”
I can’t imagine what it must be like to grow up with such high expectations put on you at such a young age. Ariella had told me a lot about her childhood, but as second in the line of succession and a female, it wasn’t as rigorous for her as it was for her brother, Aaron. Since Alex is next in line, the weight of responsibility for him is heavy. It’s with that last thought that my world flips upside down. If Cothena doesn’t accept me as Ariella’s husband, I may have to let them both go. Ariella might get away with leaving the life of royalty behind, but Alex surely wouldn’t be able to without the royal family putting up a fight.
Not unless Aaron and Julietta have a son, and soon.
The following morning, we’re all sitting around the dining room table enjoying a nice country breakfast.
“What’s this goopy stuff?” Alex asks, scrunching his nose at the bowl filled with a gruel-like substance.
“It’s sausage gravy, and it goes over your biscuit.” I grab two biscuits from the basket, handing one to Alex.
“Ooh! Hot!” he exclaims, dropping it on his plate.
“Sorry. How about I cut it for you and let you pour the gravy?” I cut both our biscuits so that they are open-faced and then hand him the ladle. He puts a small scoop of gravy on top of one half of the biscuit and then hands the ladle to me. I smother mine and then hand him back the scoop, figuring he’ll want to add more now that he sees how it’s done. “We have a saying in this family. ‘You snooze. You lose.’”
Alex giggles.
“You might get lucky, and there will be some extra. But that’s never a guarantee, especially when your grandma cooks. So, make sure to take your share when it’s your turn. Not too much, but not too little either. We want to make sure there’s enough for everyone.” I try to explain.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The team’s phones start blaring, and Jerry immediately springs into action, going to the living room and pulling up the footage. I pick up Alex’s plate so he can continue eating breakfast at the coffee table instead.
“Where’s the perimeter breach,” I ask.
“It’s in Delta two, to our Southwest,” Jerry answers quickly.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Another breach. “Same sector?”
“No. This one’s in Delta three. I’ll put them side by side on the main screen.”
“That means they’re coming from the main road and parallel to the driveway.” I scan the video feed and watch as two men, one on each side of the road, stealthily make their way through the wooded area. It’s a mile-long driveway, but the invisible perimeter beam is set about 150 yards inset from the road. At the pace the two men are moving, it will take them a while to get here.
“Zoom in on their faces, please, Jerry.”
When he complies, Ariella gasps, and Alex waves at the screen happily.
“Can Tristan and Marcus see me?” he asks innocently.
“No, Sweetie. They can’t see you,” Ariella tells him. Then she tells the rest of us who the men are. “Tristan and Marcus are…”
“The same two men who were spotted last week in the woods,” Jerry interrupts. “All 40 data points are an exact match as well as the similar clothing. Once again, only a handgun in a holster as a weapon.”
“Let’s try this again without the interruption. Who are they, Ari?” I ask, giving Jerry the stink eye.
“Sorry,” he says chagrined.
Ariella pats him on the shoulder and gives him a warm smile. She makes eye contact with each of us before focusing her gaze on me. “They are part of Jordain’s royal guard. They often watch over Kiernan, Alex, and me when we stay or visit the palace in Brachha.”
“It appears that Ethan was right, and we have two different threats to contend with. It looks like both Jordain and Julietta are making their move.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, hoping that might relieve some of the tension. It doesn’t.
After watching them for another twenty minutes, the two men stop just before the woods open up into the five-acre expansive lawn in front of the house. There is nowhere for them to cross without stepping out into the open and being seen.
“Why aren’t they doing anything? More importantly, why aren’t you guys doing anything? They’re just sitting out there, ripe for the picking!” Ariella says, frantic. Her anxiety isn’t helping the situation, and Alex is beginning to pick up on the fact that his “friends” out in the woods might not be such a good thing.
“Alex, why don’t you and I go downstairs and get started on your lessons for the day?” my mom asks. She holds out her hand for him to take, not giving him an opportunity to decline the invitation. He looks at all of us before saying, “Please don’t hurt my friends, okay? I don’t know why they’re in trouble, but they’ve always been really nice to me.”
Savannah gets down on one knee before him to be at his eye level. Holding out her pinky, she tells him, “I promise that as long as they behave and don’t try and hurt anyone, then we’ll do the same. Deal?” Alex links his pinky with hers.
“Deal.”
Once Alex is downstairs with his grandma, Savannah goes to stand beside Ariella. “If this particular situation was at the palace and it was the royal guard watching over you, would you question them on how they do their job? Would you panic, or would you follow their lead?”
“I would follow their lead. I trust them to know what’s best,” Ariella answers quickly. When she notices Jerry’s arched eyebrow, she realizes her mistake. “My apologies. It’s not that I don’t trust you all, I promise. I’m not used to getting the opportunity to witness the action. If there is a threat, I’m rushed off to some secure room and have to wait it out. They never give me time to question them.”
I take a few steps over to her and switch places with Savannah. “I know this is all new for you. But I’ll try to answer your questions the best I can. As for why they aren’t doing anything? I don’t know. As for why we aren’t doing anything? That’s because they aren’t doing anything illegal.” I point to the two men sitting in the woods and watching the house.
“Can’t you have them arrested for trespassing?” she asks hopefully.
I place my arm around her shoulders and draw her close, trying to comfort her before giving her the bad news. “If we go out there to warn them and they don’t comply, then absolutely. But if we do that, they will be in police custody, not ours. That won’t do us any good and only arm them with the knowledge that we have surveillance in the area.
“When performing their duties, your royal guard has immunity, and their actions supersede those of your police force. When they’re protecting you and your family, they don’t have to worry about criminal charges being brought against them. Unfortunately, we do.
“Unless we are hired by law enforcement and granted special powers for that specific operation, we are bound by the laws at all levels. As licensed private investigators, we have a little latitude when it comes to bending the rules, but we cannot be the aggressor in any scenario.”
Ariella hugs my middle before mumbling, “Great. They have to shoot first so that we can ask questions later. Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
I kiss the top of her head, “We’ll do everything we can to ensure it doesn’t.”