A/N: Hey loyal readers, I am SO SORRY for the almost 3 week delay in posting this chapter. I have several reasons for this delay, namely the fact that I ended up with flu and a chest infection at the same time which left me doing nothing but sleep for the best part of a week. I finally managed to do some writing tonight, only to be stopped once again by the awesome force that is going to be Mama Lopez; the one and only Gloria Estefan tweeting me not once, but TWICE! Talk about side tracked! Anyway, I'm finally getting this chapter to you. Just to fore warn you, it is a little angsty and emotional, but you're finally getting answers. Enough from me, I hope you enjoy this long awaited chapter. Please let me know what you think in the reviews section.
I'd been outside for about ten minutes when I figured I'd left it long enough. I slowly made my way back inside, my mind working overtime trying to take in all that Heather had told me. I'd blew off some steam as best I could in the circumstances and I was ready to be there for Heather again. We both needed to get through the rest of what needed to be said.
I opened the door and found Agent Santiago in the kitchen, staring longingly out the window with a cup of coffee in his hand. He barely even moved as I came inside, closing the door behind me.
"Any of that left?" I asked, making conversation.
"Yeah, I just made a fresh pot." he replied, turning his gaze towards me. "Help yourself."
"Thanks, you want a refill?" I asked, as I picked up a mug and began to pour myself a cup of coffee.
"No thanks, I'm good." he said as he watched me fill up my cup. "You OK?" he asked then, which took me by surprise because he didn't seem the caring type. Before I could answer though, he continued. "Stupid question really, huh? Where's Heather?" he asked then changing gear.
I took a sip of my coffee before I answered. "She's in the bathroom, I think." I replied, unsure myself of where she was. "I should make her a cup of coffee while I'm here." I said then more to myself than to Brett. "You sure I can't offer you a refill?" I asked, as I pulled another mug from the stand and began making a weaker cup of coffee for Heather.
"No, thanks. I'm gonna go for a walk in a minute. Check the surrounding area." he said, as he came towards me, putting his mug in the sink. "Catherine and Ellen should be here soon, but Nicola is in the lounge if you need anything."
"Thanks, I'm gonna go see if I can find Heather. Take her this." I said, as I offered up the cup of coffee in my hand. "Wrap up, it's cold out." I finished, before I picked up both cups of coffee and made my way into the bedroom.
"There you are." Heather said as I opened the bedroom door. "Where'd you go?" she asked as I handed her the cup of coffee in my right hand. "Thanks." she said as I sat on the end of the bed.
"Sorry, I went to get some air, and then I made us a cup of coffee." I replied, as I took a sip of my drink. "Are you OK?" I asked then, looking into Heather's eyes.
She just shrugged, and continued to drink her coffee. "I'll be fine. This needs to be done, right?" she said, but it was more a statement than a question so I didn't reply.
There was a long pause then, neither one of us knowing what to say next. It wasn't an awkward silence though. We were both just stuck in our own thoughts. I finished my cup of coffee and put the empty mug on the night stand before I took a more comfortable position on the bed. Within a minute, Heather was doing the same thing before she snuggled herself in to my arms.
"I guess I should continue with this thing, huh?" she asked, looking up at me with those beautiful piercing blue eyes. I wrapped my arms around her a little tighter then as I looked down and nodded my head in response.
"Where was I?" she said then, but it was a rhetorical question, she was just trying to find where she'd left off in her own mind. "Yeah, so, I escaped. I was pregnant, and the cops basically hung me out to dry. I felt so alone, so scared but I knew I had to snap out of this funk I'd been in. It sounds so blasé but it was either that or drown in my own misery and you know me, being miserable doesn't suit me." she tried to joke. "Not funny, huh?" she said then, looking up at me again. I just squeezed her arm for support.
"I went and had a scan, it's the normal thing to do when you're pregnant, right?" she asked, but again it was a rhetorical question, so I just sat listening to her. "I was 17 weeks. And considering the hell I'd been through, the baby was healthy or so they told me." she said then, as she paused. I wondered what was going through her head at that point but I didn't voice my thoughts. Instead I sat patiently waiting for her to continue.
"My dad took real good care of me. He asked if I wanted to keep the baby, said that I had options, but I couldn't kill the baby Nay, it wasn't his fault." she said then as she looked up at me with a pleading in her eyes. She wanted me to understand her decision, and I did. I knew that her having an abortion probably never even entered her head, she was far too good and soft natured for that and so I looked down at her and nodded my head in response. I hoped the soft look in my eyes would convey my support.
"I was scared" she continued then "every day I got more scared that they'd come after me again, but they didn't. I lived my life and I prepared myself for a new baby. I went to my next scan when I was 22 weeks, and they told me it was a boy. Even though this hadn't been planned, and he'd been conceived in the most awful of situations, I found myself happy and looking forward to his birth. I could feel him moving inside me Nay. It was the most wonderful feeling. I can't even begin to explain it." she said, looking up at me again, her eyes shining brightly at the mention of her baby. It pained me to know that she had a child out there, a child I had no knowledge of. But I put those thoughts to the back of my mind as I tried to remain supportive.
"I was home alone when I went into labour." she continued then. "My dad had gone to do some food shopping, my appetite had tripled by then and he couldn't keep up. I was OK at first, I'd being going to some classes, I knew what to expect. But the pain that hits when having contractions is probably the worst physical pain you could feel, aside from actually giving birth." she said as again she looked up at me. She was making sure I was keeping up and taking in all she was saying to me. I was hurting inside as she relived giving birth for the first time. That was something I'd always hoped we'd face together. I couldn't help but hurt internally as she described the process to me.
"After about an hour of contractions I heard a car pull up outside. I was relieved, I thought it was my dad back. I thought he'd take me to the hospital and everything would be OK." she paused then, and I could see a pained expression cross her face. "But I was wrong, so wrong." she continued. "It was Russo and some other guy. He opened the door and walked in like he owned the place." she said as she began to tear up. "I was so scared. I couldn't believe they were back in my life again. He told me that he'd had someone watching me from the day I'd escaped and that if I thought I was keeping his kid, I was mistaken." Tears began to flow freely at this point, and Heather's grip on my hand had tightened. I could tell, even now she was afraid of this guy and it pained me to not be able to do anything to soothe her fears.
"They took me from the house, and put me in the car. Then they drove around for a while. I was in too much pain to pay attention to where we were going, but I soon realized where we were. He'd taken me back to the house I'd been kept in. I tried to fight him, but he was bigger and stronger than me, and I was in labour for crying out loud!" she said then, obviously exasperated. "I went through an agonizing birth, for nine hours I was in labour." she said, sheer emotion overpowering her tone of voice as tears fell freely. "They brought a nurse in, she said she was going to deliver the baby. I finally gave birth and I was exhausted. Emotionally, physically, you name it." she said, as that distant look took over her eyes. I could tell she was going back into her own head, her coping mechanism in getting through this.
"She handed him to me, and I fell in love instantly." she said as she choked on a sob. "He has my eyes, and a cute little button nose. He was just perfect Nay." she said then, looking up at me. But I could tell she was still inside her own head, she was struggling with this. "But then Russo came in and he took him from me. My own baby, they took him from me." The sheer pain in Heather's voice, and the sobs that were escaping nearly broke my heart. I wanted to do something, anything to ease her pain, but I couldn't. I was completely powerless.
"I screamed at him to give my baby back." she continued, her voice laced with emotion. "But he ignored me. Then he turned around and he said 'You don't have a baby, he's mine.' and then he just left. And I haven't seen my baby boy since." she finished as she shook in my arms."My baby is 4 years old now Naya and I haven't seen him since the day he was born." Heather continued, as she tried to calm herself down a little bit. She knew that if she was going to get through telling me this story, she needed to be less emotional, even though that's all she felt right now.
"Nicholas, my son. He's the reason we're here. They told me I could go, that I'd paid enough for the inconvenience I'd caused but I had to leave Nicholas with them. I wasn't to have anything to do with him. That was three days after I'd given birth to him and I hadn't seen him once since they'd taken him. I didn't know what to do, so I agreed. I felt like I had no other choice, you have to understand." she said then, looking up at me, eyes pleading for understanding. I nodded my head at her.
"You did what you had to do HeMo." I replied as I squeezed her hand for reassurance. "I understand." I said.
"I went home to my dad and I told him everything. He was so supportive Nay, he was really there for me. And he told me that if I wanted my baby back, that he'd help me fight for him. First chance I got, I called the cops. Again, they bailed on me. Told me there was nothing they could do, they were trying to build a much bigger and stronger case and they didn't want to jeopardize that. I felt so alone, so betrayed. I went to a lawyer, asked for advice about getting Nicholas back, but no-one would touch the case. Seemed the Russo's were too big a name for anyone to mess with. I was literally on my own." she looked up at me then and I could see that she was hurting. She'd been hiding this all inside for so long and letting it out was opening old wounds.
"A few weeks after that Agent Mitchell came to see me. She told me to drop what I was doing. She said I should leave the Russo's alone and go back to my life. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean, she was asking me to abandon my baby Nay. I couldn't do that, I'd let him down enough. But she said that if I left it well alone and I gave them some time, she promised I'd get Nicholas back. So that's what I did, I left. And I came back to Glee. I made it seem like nothing had happened. Like everything was OK and I lied to you all." she said, sadness lacing her voice.
"I married you, Naya. And I kept this a secret. I went to work every day like everything was OK. I'd check in once a month with Catherine, trying to see if any progress was being made. It was slow but it was happening. Then a few months ago she called me when I was at work. Told me we had him and that I needed to disappear. She said that once I mixed myself up with the Russo's again, especially if I was going to take Nicholas, that they'd kill me. So, that's what I did. I made myself disappear. And here we are." she finished, looking up at me with this soft look in her eyes. She seemed so vulnerable, so emotional that I just wanted to hold her.
"Now you know everything." she said, as she sat up facing me. She crossed her legs, and held out her hand, taking mine in hers and covering it with her other hand. "I'm so sorry that I kept all this from you. And I'm sorry I lied to you for so long. But now it's out there. Are you OK?" she asked and I was shocked that after her going to hell and back emotionally she was asking me if I was OK.
"I'm ..." I struggled to find one word that conveyed all my thoughts and feelings at that point. "I'm OK. Um, a little shocked maybe? Um, a little sad. Angry even, that you had to go through all that. I'm a mix of emotions and thoughts and feelings right now HeMo. But that doesn't matter, for the moment all that matters is that you're OK. So, how you doing?" I asked.
"I get that, I've been there." she replied looking at me evenly. "And I'm OK. Finally. I'm here with you, and I'm on the road to getting my son back. I have hope for the future again. Something I haven't really had for a long time. It feels like i'm coming home." she replied, and I was happy with that. As long as she was OK, for now at least, so was I.
"Here." she said then, getting up and going to the drawer in the bedside table. She retrieved something before coming back to sit on the bed in front of me. She took my hand again before she spoke. "Catherine gave this to me when she contacted me a few months ago. It's the most recent one they have." she said as she held out a picture to me. I took it from her, and looked down at it before I looked back into those loving blue eyes. "It's Nicholas. The surveillance team took it a few months ago. Isn't he adorable?" she asked, looking into my eyes.
I looked down at the picture in my hands again, really concentrating and taking in this gorgeous kid in front of me. His piercing blue eyes, just like his mothers. That button nose she'd mentioned, and the blonde hair just like hers. He was adorable. You could easily tell that he was Heather's son and I instantly fell in love with him. I knew what she meant about that now. I looked from the picture back up into another set of piercing blue eyes and smiled.
"He's adorable Heather. He looks just like you." I replied, smile plastered on my face. "He'll fit into our family perfectly." I found myself saying without even thinking about it. I saw the look in Heather's eyes then, and my heart felt like it was going to burst with love.
"You mean, ... Yeah, he will." she replied, as she moved towards me and wrapped me in a tight embrace. For now, everything felt right.