Chapter Eleven #3
The bad news is that I’m not sleeping, because when I shut my eyes, I see Mia covered in blood, remember holding my jacket on her shoulder to stop the flow.
The good news is that I now have her by my side, in my bed.
I take care of her day and night, catering to her shoulder and the pain she is in and repeating how much I love her.
The day of her testimony, it goes like clockwork. She walks through the city streets and enters the courtroom surrounded by protection on all sides.
Her words are damning, her demeanor calm, her voice strong as she testifies. Not even the gunshot or the bandage covering her arm keeps her from doing the right thing, and I am so damned proud of her.
Our lives as a family can soon begin.
* * *
Mia
After the trial testimony ends and I walk out of the courtroom, Parker’s angry eyes on me as I go, I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
I refuse to be afraid now that it is over.
Parker should go back to jail, and he no longer has a reason to want me out of the way. I did my duty.
An hour later, we return to the house. Austin’s parents’ car is parked in the driveway.
“Bailey’s home?” I ask, excited.
“I thought it was time. But don’t worry. You’re still healing and you don’t need to take care of her,” Austin says.
“What? Of course I want to take care of her. I’ll do what I can with this arm. They want me to keep it immobilized. But I don’t want to scare her, either. So what’s our story? What happened to me?”
He studies me, a soft smile on his face.
“What?” I ask, uncomfortable under his intense scrutiny.
“You worry more about Bailey than yourself. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
My heart flutters at his words, and I wonder if I’ll ever get used to hearing it. I hope not.
“If she asks, we’ll tell her you fell. She won’t know the difference.”
No sooner have we walked into the house from the garage than Bailey comes running. “Daddy! Mia! I’m home!” she yells, crashing into Austin’s legs.
“Hey!” He swings her into his arms, one eye on me.
I smile, reassuring him I am fine.
“Oh, Mia!” His mother rushes up to us. “I’ve been so worried about you,” she says, lowering her voice at the end so Bailey won’t catch her concern.
“Thank you, but I’m fine. I promise.”
Sarah squeezes my hands. “You’re a strong, brave woman.”
Tears spring to my eyes. If this is what I have to look forward to in my life, wonderful people caring about me, I am even luckier than I thought.
“Hey, everyone, let’s go sit. Mia and I have something to tell you,” Austin says.
We talked about filling Bailey in on our engagement and the fact that she will be having a baby brother or sister, but we haven’t said when. I am coming to realize that Austin is impatient when it comes to things that he wants.
We settle into the sofa in the family room, Austin and I on one corner of the sofa, his parents on the other, a pleased, hopeful look on Sarah’s face.
“Come up here, baby.” Austin pats his thighs and Bailey comes and sits on his lap. “So here’s the thing. You know how much you love Mia?” He looks at his daughter, love in his expressive brown eyes.
“So much,” Bailey says, causing my breath to catch.
“Well, Daddy loves Mia, too.” He reaches out and grasps my hand, pulling me close.
His mother gasp and his father chuckles with pleasure at his wife’s reaction, while I sit happy and overwhelmed by the emotions both filling and surrounding me.
“So Mia and I are going to get married,” he goes on, talking to his daughter, but now his mother starts to cry happy tears.
“Is that okay with you?” I ask the little girl. “Because more than anything, we want you to be happy.”
Bailey glances at me through curious eyes. “Does this mean you’re my mommy?”
I’m not sure what to say. Once again, hope fills me as I defer the answer to Austin.
“Is that what you want?” he asks.
Bailey wrinkles her little nose in thought, and I continue to hold her breath.
“Well, duh!” she finally says. “I told you I wanted a mommy. And now I get my pick in mommies!” She dives forward and throws her arms around my neck.
Ignoring the stabbing pain in my shoulder, I hug the little girl back. “I love that you’re my first baby girl,” I say, my voice thick.
Austin carefully pries Bailey off my injured arm. “I guess this means now that things have settled down, I can leave the house and buy a ring.”
“Oh, Austin. Didn’t I raise you better? You should have had that thing on you when you proposed,” his father mutters.
I laugh. Little do they know, I don’t need the ring. All I need are the people in this room who are now part of my family.
Especially the man who changed my life and gave me so much more than anything he could buy me.
He gave me love.
Thanks for reading!