A Little Hope Goes a Long Way
Chapter 1
Florence, Italy
May 2003
'Whoa, what a rush!' Matthew Keller screamed as he swept into the apartment he shared with his partner in crime
'That was totally unnecessary' said Neal Caffrey, as he came in behind him, obviously angry and upset
'What, he's just some insignificant security guard' said Keller shrugging
'He could be dead, Keller! We just left him there, bleeding' said Neal, visibly distressed
'So what? We got what we came for' answered Keller as he looked over the loot they had just lifted from the Uffizi Gallery
'It's not worth killing someone over, nothing is' continued Neal as the realization of what had just happened dawned on him.
'You're such a fucking bleeding heart, Caffrey' said Keller
'He's somebody's son, maybe somebody's husband or father...' Neal continued as he made his way to his room
'You're kidding me, right?' asked Keller
Within minutes, Neal had thrown some clothes in a bag and was back in the living room.
'Keep it!' he said to Keller, as he pointed to the jewelry they had just stolen. 'I'm done with this. I didn't sign up for guns – I told you that. You're on your own'
'Whatever, Caffrey. You're such a wuss. Go, I don't care' said Keller, waving him off
Neal never looked back as he slammed the door behind him.
WCWCWC
(6.10 years)
'Aw, not again' said Sara as she turned to sit up in bed
'It's okay, I'll get him' said Neal, putting his arm out to hold her back as his feet hit the cold floor
Neal walked the few steps to the baby's room and with the moonlight coming in from the bedroom window, he could see Liam standing in his crib, wailing and putting his arms out to be picked up.
'What's the matter, baby? Is it your teeth again?' asked Neal as he lifted him out of his crib and pulled him to his chest
Liam grabbed Neal's naked neck, making his dad squirm in pain and shoved his head in the crook between Neal's neck and shoulder as the intensity of his wails began to slowly decrease. Neal could feel his hot cheek against his cool neck and he pressed his young son closer to him as he tried to soothe him
'Bobo, Liam?' he asked, soothingly
'Bobo, bobo' Liam repeated through his muffled cries
'Sara, where's the teething gel?' asked Neal as he moved from Liam's bedroom to the bathroom
'It's in the medicine cabinet' she answered, half asleep 'and there's a teething ring in the freezer'
At 20 months, Liam was getting the last of his teeth, the second molars. The blunt teeth were slow and painful to push through and he had been having trouble sleeping the last couple of nights as he woke in pain.
Neal made his way down to the kitchen, making a detour to grab a t-shirt from the pile of clothes in the hamper in the hallway. It was January and the house always seemed colder in the dead of night. He turned on the light over the stove, glancing at the time as he made his way to the refrigerator. Two forty five – it was going to be a short night and he had to be at his desk by 8 o'clock. Liam had begun to calm down as he let Neal apply some teething gel on his gums right on the spot that was obviously causing trouble. Neal made his way to the couch in the family room, settling Liam on his knees and handing him the icy teething ring. Liam looked up, his face red and wet from the tears and put his head on Neal's chest letting himself be comforted as he began to suck on the cool ice. Neal grabbed the blanket that was lying nearby and covered them both as he held his infant son close to him, letting his head drop on the back of the couch.
Hope had not experienced this much pain when her teeth had come in and this howling was new to Neal and Sara. It had been going on for close to a week and they had been taking turns getting up with him during the night. Luckily, tomorrow was Friday, and with any luck they would be able to catch up on their sleep throughout the weekend.
Neal had been employed at Finch and Johns as an art authenticator for close to two years. He loved his job – it afforded him the excitement of being in close proximity to invaluable works of art without having to do anything illegal to get his hands on them. His employer also allowed Neal to take quite a bit of time off which Neal used in order to do some freelancing with the White Collar Division and to work on producing some art in his studio in the basement of their home. Sara, for her part, had returned to work at Sterling Bosch when Liam was about six months old and she enjoyed the balance of the two very distinctive parts of her life: Sara Ellis, fearless insurance adjustor and Sara Caffrey, loving wife and mother of two.
Hope had welcomed her baby brother with open and loving arms – after all, she was not a baby herself but a grown-up five year old when he was born. She was a terrific big sister, looking out for Liam and making sure he was safe but as of late, she seemed to be resenting the extra attention he was getting from Mom and Dad and she had begun to act out in order to get her fair share of the limited time her parents had for the two of them. This new attitude was really ticking Neal off, especially since he spent so much time with his daughter in the studio, showing her the basics of art and making time to take her to art classes as well as the soccer practices she loved so much.
Sara woke to find Neal's side of the bed empty and cold and she walked over to the next room to wake her daughter up for school. By the time Sara and Hope made it down for breakfast, it was almost seven o'clock and they found the boys flopped out on the couch – Neal lying on his back with his mouth open and Liam lying across his stomach, chest to chest and sound asleep.
'Neal' Sara said gently as she walked over to the couch to rouse him 'It's almost seven'
'What?' he uttered as he came to, realizing where he was. 'Aww, seriously? I never made it back to bed'
The sound of his voice woke Liam who looked up at his mom and put out his arms to be picked up.
'Mama' he said with a smile
'Oh, now you're all smiles' she said as she picked him up. 'You want to go on the potty?' she asked as she stuck her hand inside his diaper noticing it was dry.
'Potty' he repeated as he struggled to be put down and began to run towards the bathroom at the front of the house
'Hope, can you sit him on the potty?' asked Sara, noticing Hope lurking nearby
'Why is it my job to put him on the potty' she answered, in what was fast becoming her usual snarky tone of voice
'Just do it' said Sara, giving her 'the' look that left no room for negotiation.
Neal struggled to get up from the very uncomfortable position he had slept in most of the night and held on to his wife as he stretched his back.
'Your turn tonight' he said and it almost sounded like a threat.
Friday night was synonymous with dinner out for the Caffrey clan. After a long week of work and school for Hope, they enjoyed sitting together as a family and being catered to, having a meal that no one had to prepare. Of course, as Liam grew and was more and more mobile, it was important to stick to family friendly restaurants, certainly not the type of restaurants Neal and Sara had frequented before they had kids. But this was a sacrifice they were willing to make until the kids got older and learned to appreciate fine cuisine.
Tonight, they were sitting in front of chicken fingers and fries and trying to make the best of it. Hope had been particularly testy the last few days – in direct correlation to Liam's need for extra attention and she began to tease her brother mercilessly as she picked fries from his plate in an obvious attempt to get him going.
'Hope, stop that; you have your own fries' said Neal for the third time
'What is your problem?' added Sara, turning to their daughter 'He's your little brother, he didn't do anything to you'
'It's always 'Liam this and Liam that' answered Hope in a most un-sisterlike tone. 'He always gets everything and I get nothing' she added, crossing her arms against her chest in an act of defiance
'That's not true' explained Neal, patiently 'I'm taking you to the dome for your soccer practice tomorrow and we spent all evening yesterday in my studio'
'But he's always crying and wanting to be picked up' she argued
'Liam is not even two yet and you're almost seven. Do you want to be picked up?' Neal asked, tickling her in an effort to break her foul mood
'No...' she answered, laughing despite her resolve to remain annoyed
Sara looked up at her husband. He had such an amazing way with the kids, always knowing the right thing to do to keep the peace whenever Hope acted up. Hope had her faults but she was mostly a very easygoing child; she was headstrong like her mom and knew what she wanted and of course, she was as smart as a whip but she had also inherited Neal's gentle, loving nature and you could usually bring her around by playing to her soft side, her desire to love and be loved. And Neal had figured that out from the very first few months of her life...
Saturday rolled around and Liam seemed to know it was a down day because he slept through the night to everyone's relief and amazement. Neal got up and began to make his way down to the kitchen while Sara lounged in bed – Saturday brunch was always his job and usually consisted of pancakes and bacon and eggs or whatever Hope had requested before bed the night before. He popped his head into Hope's room, spying her reading a book as was her routine when she woke up early in the morning.
'You want to give me a hand with the pancakes?' he asked
'Okay' she answered, following her dad towards the staircase.
'Can we put blueberries in them?' she asked as her foot hit the first floor landing
'Sure, if you want to' her dad answered as he ruffled her hair
'Dad...' she whined, seemingly annoyed
'What, you're too big for me to ruffle your hair now. Next thing you know, you'll want me to stop grabbing your nose'
'Never' she said, laughing
Sara made an appearance as the fragrance of bacon and pancakes wafted up the stairs. She was carrying a smiling Liam who ran to his dad for a hug as soon as his mom put him down.
'Poppa' he squealed
'Hey buddy' said Neal, scooping him up. 'You hungry for the pancakes Hope made?'
They settled around the kitchen table as Neal dished out bacon and eggs all around. Suddenly, his phone vibrated indicating a text – probably Peter reminding him they were having lunch later. He glanced nonchalantly at the screen as Sara and the children continued to munch and chit chat about the day ahead.
'Your daughter sure loves fries' it read
Neal looked at the number that the text had originated from but didn't recognize it; it wasn't from anyone he knew. He re-read the text and decided to call the number – this was too weird, had someone been spying on them at dinner the night before? And if so, why?
The call didn't go through – the number was out of order.
'What's the matter?' asked Sara, seeing the strange look on his face.
'Nothing, just a weird text...' he answered
'Dad, are you taking me to my soccer practice?' interrupted Hope as she shovelled a mouthful of syrup laden pancakes in her mouth
'Sure... and don't talk with your mouth full' Neal answered, instantly forgetting about the strange message.
TBC
