Here and Now
Chapter 14
Jill and Chris took Jennica home two days later. Jill was happy to be home. She thought Jennica was the most beautiful child in the world. She was glad she had decided not to abort.
"It's nice to have some time alone again, isn't it?" Chris asked.
Jill grinned. "You're not going to think it's so fun when you have to wake up every two hours because Jenny can't sleep through the night," she said.
"Great. Expect me to spend late nights at the office of...whatever it is I decide to do!" Chris said jokingly.
"Why not go back into law enforcement?" Jill asked her husband. "It's pretty much the only thing you know, after all."
"Wouldn't you spend every night terrified that I'll be killed on the job, leaving you alone with a young child?" Chris wondered.
"Yes, but you need a job and you were a wonderful officer," Jill said.
The phone rang and Chris answered. "Hello, Redfield resi… Rebecca! Haven't we told you not to call here for a while? Why do you want to talk about Richard now? That's a dumb reason, and I think he was married anyway. No. He wasn't a Mormon! He was playing you for a sap, I'm sure. Rebecca, just shut up, okay? I'm hanging up on you," Chris said, and did just that.
"That wasn't very nice, Chris," Jill said.
"She calls us to talk about Richard, of all things, and whether or not he really loved her at this hour. She just wanted an excuse to babble. I thought she knew Richard would just joke around with her. That was seven years ago, so she should forget it. I can't believe her! She really needs a boyfriend!" Chris said angrily.
Jill did not look happy at Chris's outburst. "Chris, I just got Jenny to sleep. She should sleep for another two hours or so, so please don't wake her up or you're going to be the one breastfeeding her!" she threatened.
"Okay," Chris said, as he ran his fingers through his hair.
The dogs suddenly began barking and growling. There was only one explanation for why the dogs were upset, and that was that someone unwelcome had entered. Chris went out, holding his gun; Jill protected Jennica and hoped the dogs wouldn't wake her.
Chris saw a shadow move through the house. He turned the corner into the living room, and was shocked to find Ada Wong standing there.
"Your doorbell doesn't work. I tried to call, but the line was tied up. This is very important and I needed to talk to you two. Leon sent me," Ada said.
Chris re-holstered his gun. "Damn it Ada, I almost shot you!" he yelled. "Jill! It's okay, it's just Ada. She says Leon sent her, and it's important!"
Jill walked into the room, holding Jennica. "This had better be life or death if you're barging in unannounced, Ada. I just got Jenny to sleep, and now you've come and woke her up!" she snapped. "We still don't trust you."
"I think Wesker has located you, Chris," Ada said, ignoring Jill entirely. "I have been sneaking around, seeing Amanda at night. Last night I tried to hack Alexia's laptop to see if she had anything on any of us, but I couldn't. She has the most incredible security that I've ever seen. Claire said she used to be able to hack the Ashford's files fairly easily when she was on their island. Alfred sleepwalks, but I'm not worried about him. Lucky for me, I also found several files regarding Amanda lying around. One of them involved sending her after the two of you when her powers develop. I don't want my daughter to be evil. You had better watch yourselves. I'd relocate somewhere else myself, but I can't be totally cut off from my baby. You should think about moving somewhere else. I know when Wesker is up to something, even though I've mostly left him."
"I'll send Jill and Jennica somewhere safe, but I'm not going anywhere. If Wesker wants me, let him come!" Chris exclaimed. "I'm killing that blasted catman myself! I'll tear him limb from limb!"
"It's more than that. He doesn't know of Jennica's existence, and if he finds out, it could be very bad. I don't want to see Jennica hurt. I don't know for sure what Wesker is going to do, but I don't want to see him hurt you," Ada said.
"Chris, I don't want you to face Wesker alone. I will fight too," Jill said.
"You can't, Jilly Bean! Someone has to take care of Jennica if anything happens to me, and I don't want her to end up living with Claire. She needs at least one parent." Chris said. "My parents died when I was young. I don't want Jenny to go through that."
"Okay, you're right, of course. I suppose one parent is better than none. I don't remember my mother. All I ever had was my father, and he wasn't exactly Father of the Century. He used to take me on his stupid heists. It's amazing I'm not a criminal too," Jill remarked. "Not to mention he was a…"
"If you say 'vampire' again, I'm gonna smack you," Chris growled.
"Chris, do you and Jill fight like this all the time?" Ada asked, amused.
"Only when she talks about being a half-vampire! She's too old to be making vampire jokes all the time! Pretty soon she's gonna be calling Jenny a vampiress!"
"Maybe someday Leon and I will have a child. I want a boy. I already have a daughter, and I want a son. His name could be Adam… or maybe Adrian. Or Lenny," Ada said, trying to change the subject to something besides vampires.
"We don't trust you, I don't know how Leon does," Jill said.
"I'm tired of working with Wesker," Ada said. "I never liked it, but I love Leon too much to let Wesker do anything to him or his friends. It's especially bad with Alexia and that little British lesbian— I forget her name… was it Lily? — around. Alexia is even more of a monster than ever. I think she has a thing for Wesker. I only have one thing in common with Alexia and that's our feelings about the Birkins. With her, it was William, but with me it was Annette. Neither one of us has much of a problem with Sherry."
Jill glared at Ada furiously. "Thank you, Ada. Now we're even more aware Wesker wants to kill Chris. Now, how the heck am I gonna get Jenny back to sleep?" she wondered in a sarcastic tone.