Chapter 25 Frost
TWENTY-FIVE
FROST
I stood there and watched as Diego loaded them into the back of a van. I blinked back tears as I pulled myself from the fog of my own icy demeanor. I felt someone pat me on the shoulder before Texas came up to my side, and it was good to see the man upright.
“Like I said, she’s a hell of a woman,” he said.
And that was all he said before I allowed my shoulders to collapse.
As Diego climbed into the front seat, I took off running.
I knew the guys would be able to clean up this mess just fine.
What I needed, however, was to be with my family, and Chloe was part of that family.
She had helped raise Natty. She had helped take care of my daughter as well as Lexi.
And she deserved to be surrounded by people she felt safe with.
I caught up to him just as he backed the van out of the shadows, and as I banged my fist against the side of the van, I heard Chloe yelp in back.
Before Diego rolled down his window. “I take it, you want to drive them back?”
I opened the door. “They’re going to need help with clean-up, and I can’t focus on that shit. I’ll drive them back.”
“Lexi? What’s going on? Are they back?”
And after I had switched places with Diego, I closed the door and peeked my head into the back of the van.
“You guys are safe. I’m going to take you back to the warehouse, okay?” I asked.
Lexi breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s Dean, Chloe. We’re safe. He’s going to get us to safety, okay?”
Chloe sniffled and it broke my damn heart. “Please don’t tell me they got Natty. Please tell me she ran like I told her to.”
Lexi giggled as I pulled onto the road. “You did so good, Chlo. You saved my daughter’s life. You saved your niece. You just relax. I promise she’s okay, and she sure as hell is ready to see you.”
“So, she’s okay? She’s really okay?”
I chuckled as I eased out onto the main road. “Natty is just fine. She’s back at the warehouse with a bunch of other kids watching a movie and eating snacks.”
“Oh, thank fuck,” Chloe whispered.
I took them straight back to the warehouse.
I didn’t pass go. I didn’t collect two-hundred dollars.
I didn’t do shit. I stayed the course until we pulled right up to the front door, and the entire way there I heard Lexi and Chloe crying with one another in the back of the van.
I kept my anger under control as much as possible as I parked the van and cut the engine.
I pushed through the door and dropped down, scrambling to get the van doors open.
When I threw them open, the evening sunlight flooded the back of the van.
Which gave me my first tried-and-true glance of the woman that had taken care of my family while I had been absent.
“Hey there, you two,” I said softly.
Lexi peered up at me through water-stained eyes. “Hey, handsome.”
Chloe groaned as she tried shifting herself. “Better late than never, yeah?”
I chuckled. “Can’t get away from us that easily.”
“Here,” Lexi said as she clung to Chloe’s hand, “let me help you get out. Hold on.”
We worked together to get Auntie Chloe out of the back of the van as easily as possible, but it was clear that she’d need medical attention.
I set my sights on finding Ruby while Lexi helped her best friend inside, but it didn’t take much to find her.
She was already set up in the living room, ready and waiting for us.
And the second I laid eyes on her, she smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve got her. I’m sure Notch will help when he gets back, but Diego called and told me that she didn’t seem to have any major injuries.”
“Ruby,” Lexi said breathlessly, “thank the Lord. She has a bloody nose and a sprained ankle, I think.”
Chloe cleared her throat. “I got choked out pretty good, too.”
Ruby extended her arms. “Here, come sit. I’m just going to give you a top to bottom exam to make sure you’re all right.”
We all helped to get her in a comfortable position on the couch before Ruby shooed us out of the room. And just as she slid the living room door closed, I heard a cheerful voice wafting down the hallway.
“Was that Auntie Chloe!?” Natty asked happily.
Lexi turned to our daughter with a great, big smile on her face. “That was Auntie Chloe, sweetheart. She’s home.”
Natty came rushing for us. “Can I see her!? When can I see her?! I really wanna see her, Mommy.”
Lexi scooped our daughter into her arms. “Miss Ruby has to look her over to make sure she’s not hurt really badly, and then we can see her. I promise.”
That’s when Natty peeked over at me. “Did you save my Auntie?”
I nodded. “I helped, yes. But, your mother did just as much. It was a joint effort.”
My daughter smiled at me, and my entire world stopped. “Thank you for saving my auntie.”
I swallowed back my tears. “You’re so very welcome, Natasha.”
She laid her head down onto Lexi’s shoulder. “Are you my mommy’s boyfriend now?”
My eyes widened as Lexi let out a bark of a laughter. “Well, I, uh…”
Lexi walked her into the kitchen. “Yes, actually. Dean is my boyfriend now.”
Natty lifted her head. “Ew, that’s so gross.”
I followed them into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge. “Come on, you two. Let’s get you some food or something.”
And that’s when Natty showed me that she really was my daughter. “Do you have steak?”
I chuckled. “I see someone’s got an expensive appetite.”
Lexi rolled her eyes. “Wonder where she gets that from.”
As we all headed inside, I got them both sat down at the kitchen table with water, some fruit to snack on, and plates.
Then, I pulled out a few marinated steaks from the fridge Stone had sitting around.
We always kept meat like that in the fridge whenever someone wanted to pull it out and whip up something quickly.
And as I heated up a pan to get them seared on all sides, I cubed some potatoes to get them boiling in some water.
Because steak and potatoes sounded like a fucking good meal after all the bullshit we had fought through.
“Mommy, why do you keep looking at him?” Natty asked.
I peered over my shoulder. “Yeah, Mom. Why do you keep looking at me?”
She giggled as she drew in a deep breath, and I knew what was rushing through her head.
She wanted to tell Natty. Hell, I wanted to tell Natty as well.
But I also didn’t want to overwhelm the little girl.
Still, I turned my attention back to the heated frying pan in order to get Lexi enough room to do what she thought was best as Natty’s mother.
And when she started talking, I braced myself for whatever fallout might come.
“Sweetheart, do you know how you’re always asking questions about your father?” Lexi asked.
I didn’t see Natty’s reaction, but I heard her voice. “Yeah?”
I peered over my shoulder and watched as Lexi got up. She moved to a chair much closer to our daughter before she ran her fingers through Natty’s knotted hair. I turned my eyes back to the steaks, making sure I didn’t overcook them as the potatoes started to boil in the heavily salted water.
Then, I held my breath as Lexi began to speak once more.
“You know how I told you he died overseas fighting for our country?” she asked.
“Uh huh,” Natty said.
I slowly let out the breath as the momentum mounted.
“Well,” Lexi said, “I have it on very good authority that your father didn’t die like I thought he did. I figured that’s what happened since he never came home. But, the truth of the matter was that he was doing something so secretive and so dangerous that he couldn’t contact anyone back home.”
Natty gasped. “My daddy’s alive? Can I meet him!?”
Lexi giggled. “Do you want to meet him? Because I could arrange that if you--.”
“Please, oh please, oh please, Mommy!? I want to meet him so bad. Do you know his favorite color? I bet his favorite color is--.”
“Red,” I said.
The entire room fell silent as I turned all of the steaks in the pan. They needed at least a couple of minutes on each side, so I set the tongs down and turned around.
“My favorite color is red,” I said.
Natty slowly turned her head in my direction as her jaw hit the floor. Her eyes widened as she slid from her seat and came to stand in front of me. I knelt down, becoming eye level with her as she reached her tiny little hand out and traced her fingertips along my forehead.
“You’re my daddy?” she asked softly.
I nodded. “I am, sweet girl, and I’m so sorry that I’ve missed so much of your life. But, if you’d like it that is, I don’t want to miss another second of it. I’d like to get to know you, and be there for you, if that’s okay.”
Her eyes widened. “You saved Auntie Chloe and Mommy.”
I took her small hand within mine. “I will always be there to save Auntie Chloe and Mommy. And you, for that matter. Always.”
The second she threw her arms around my neck, my entire life changed.
She buried her face into the crook of my neck, and I felt her small pair of lips kissing me endlessly, and all I could do was scoop her into my arms and let her cling to me.
I turned back around and picked up the tongs as I felt my little girl crying into the crook of my neck.
And after getting the steaks repositioned in the pan, I wrapped my arms around her entire body. “I’ve got you. It’s okay. I’m right here, sweet girl. I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry.”
“Wh-wh-what’s—your favorite movie, Daddy?”
My eyes widened at the title as tears dripped down my neck. “Well, I think I’d have to say that Homeward Bound is my favorite movie.”
Natty shook her head. “I don’t know it.”
I scoffed. “You don’t know it? What kind of little girl doesn't know Homeward Bound? Sounds like we need to sit down and watch it.”
She lifted her tear-stained face. “Really? You wanna watch a movie with me?”
I wiped her tears away with my knuckles. “I’ll watch any movie you want to watch, sweet girl.”
“Mommy?” she asked as she craned her neck back. “Can we stay here tonight and watch a movie with Daddy?”
Lexi stood to her feet and moved toward us. She wrapped her arm around my back while tucking a strand of loose hair behind Natty’s ear with her other hand. And as she nodded, unable to speak, the smile that bloomed across my daughter’s face forever etched itself into my mind.
“Can we have popcorn, too?” Natty asked.
I chuckled to myself. “I see you have my appetite as well.”
Lexi groaned. “You have no idea. It’s gonna be hell when she hits puberty.”
Natty gasped. “Oooooo, Mommy said a bad wooooord.”
I set her down onto her feet so I could tend to the rest of dinner. “Do you know how Netflix works?”
Natty scoffed. “Who doesn’t?”
My eyebrows rose. “Well, then. I have it on good authority that Homeward Bound is on Netflix right now. So, why don’t you go into the living room and get it pulled up. We can eat on the couch tonight.”
“Yeah!” she exclaimed.
And as my daughter rushed off to find the remote, I pulled Lexi into my embrace.
“I’m so fucking sorry for everything that’s happened. I can’t possibly express that enough, sexy. But I can promise you that so long as I’m around, you two will always be safe.”
She smiled as her arms draped around my neck. “Yeah well, it looks like you’re stuck with us. She’s wanted her father in her life ever since she could talk well enough to ask questions about you. So, I hope you’re in this for the long haul.”
My forehead touched down against hers. “For the long haul, and then some.”
“Natty!?” Chloe exclaimed as the living room door rolled open.
My daughter gasped. “Auntie Chloe!”
“Oh my God, Natasha!”
Even with her bruises and her bloody nose, Chloe lunged on a dime toward my daughter.
She scooped Natty into her arms and held her tightly as the waterworks started all over again.
I held Lexi tight in my arms, blinking back my own tears as I watched the reunion.
I even listened as the guys started crashing through the door, their heads on a swivel while they tried to find us.
“Chloe,” West said as he strode for her, “how are you? Did Ruby get a chance to look at you?”
And as he dipped down, studying Chloe while she held Natty tightly in her arms, I saw something flicker in his gaze.
Something I was all too familiar with.
“You see that?” I asked.
Lexi snickered. “Yeah, I see it.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Looks like Chloe’s gonna have her own story here soon enough.”
Lexi leaned her head into my shoulder. “Is he a good man, Dean? Is West a good one?”
And as West leaned closer to Chloe, he whispered something in her ear that caused her to smile.
“Yeah, he’s a good one,” I murmured.
And I couldn't wait to see what they’d become if West had already let his guard down with her.