Chapter 21

Mike was thankful that Tom had gone with him to the interview. Several times Tom had put a steadying hand on Mike's forearm to keep him from launching himself at Ms. Harris. Becky and her sergeant handled the interview with Mike and Tom in the room. Mike's neck was hurting and he wanted to be home, not hearing about what a farse he was, how his kids were brats and his wife was nothing but a money hungry slut.

"You killed my boy. And you live it up with those brats of yours. Both those girls are nothing but spoiled little brats and it won't be too long and Anna will be too. That insecure little wife of yours only got pregnant to keep you in her bed. So yeah I got my daughter to kidnap sweet little Emma and get her to think that you were nothing but a murderer. And it worked for a while. Emma would have had nothing to do with you but somehow you brainwashed her. You never wanted her anyways. You weren't there when she was born and Lyle was in the bar when you told your old buddy here that you were giving her up. I also heard you talking to that slut of yours about how Emma didn't want to go and so you kept her. As far as Hannah is concerned, she is just weak. She should just hurry up and die. She is a drain of resources. I let her think that you never let her go out because you are ashamed of her and that her dying wouldn't even bother you. I wanted her to kill herself. I told her that she costs you so much money and…"

"Enough! You were not successful. My girls are precious and I love them dearly. It's not my fault or their fault that your son was doped up and decided to hold up a gas station. My partner and I just happened to walk in during and he had a gun pointed at my partner, an elderly attendant and a pregnant woman. I will never say that I am perfect, not as a cop, not as a sailor, or as a husband and father but I love my wife and kids. I am done. I am going home and I am going to spend the rest of the evening with my beautiful wife and amazing kids. My advice to you is to stay out of my life, if you get out of jail, which is doubtful. You held a fifteen year old girl hostage and arranged for the kidnapping of a ten year old, which in turn put her directly in the path of a child molester. You also arranged for Alex Winters to be murdered which caused a ten year old little girl to be orphaned. You thought you would cost me a daughter but you ended up having that backfire. I ended up with an extra daughter who I am growing to love very deeply, as much as my other two and my relationship with Hannah and Emma is just as strong as it ever was. Now I'm done. You can either talk or not, they have enough to charge you and I don't care what you have to say."

Mike and Tom got up and walked out. Mike was furious, at himself, at Ms. Harris, at Renee and Lyle. It did explain a lot though. Hannah thinking that her death wouldn't hurt Mike and the expense of everything, Emma's reaction to him. Becky agreed to call him when she put all the puzzle pieces together but knew Mike had a gut full and wanted to just go home to be with his girls.

The trip home was mostly silent. Tom could tell that Mike was really beating himself up. Because of his actions, almost twenty years before, his daughter had been kidnapped, severely injured and deeply traumatized, his other daughter had been basically mentally abused and was taken hostage and another little girl was orphaned. There was not much that Tom could say that would help but he had to try.

"Mike, this isn't your fault. I know you feel like it is. What happened at that gas station could have happened to any cop. You made the right decision then. Her credentials were convincing and Hannah seemed to like her. Her looks had changed and she didn't have the same name. I would have hired her too. I can't see that you did anything wrong. You got the bad vibe when you needed to, but still wanted to give Emma her day out. You were home when you needed to be, and Thank God you were. I think we both can agree that today could have had a tragic outcome had you not been. Hannah will be okay, she is strong. Emma is already making leaps and bounds and Anna is adjusting and bonding the way she needs to. And the crap she said about Mallory is nothing but a crock. I know you know that. Just go in and spend some time with those girls, they need to see you not blaming yourself."

They had arrived back home and Mike nodded at Tom and thanked him. Forgiving himself was easier said than done. As he walked across the street, he looked in the living room window. The girls were working on a board game and Mallory was in the kitchen. He could hear the laughter and all of their voices. It was cathartic.

"Daddy, you're finally home!"

It was something he would expect Hannah or Emma to say, but not Anna, at least not yet. All three girls had ran up to him and he hugged all three of them. Mallory had held dinner so that he could be there for Emma's birthday dinner and her cake. They would have a larger birthday party for him and Emma the next day but tonight was just them. All the glass and blood had been cleaned up and there was a picture hanging where the bullet holes were. He was looking at it and realized it was a collage of pictures of Mallory and the girls, Lucas, the crew, a few of he and Christine, a picture of him and Tom, an ultrasound picture of Peanut. Pretty much everyone he cared about. Mallory came up behind him and hugged him around the middle. He could feel Peanut kicking wildly. It made him smile.

"I was going to give you it for your birthday tomorrow but those holes needed covered up. I didn't know how to patch the drywall so this was my best option. The holes were a little disconcerting. I hope you aren't mad because I disagreed with you about going to the hospital. I make a point not to disagree with you but…"

Mike turned around and pulled Mallory into his arms. "Don't ever feel like you can't disagree with me. You were right, I should have gone to the hospital, but I just couldn't. It's healthy to have opinions of your own, and agreeing with me on everything is probably not healthy for our marriage. It makes it to where I steamroll over you on all the decisions and that is not right. I love you and I am sorry that I worried you. I am not going to hurt you because of disagreeing with me. And I absolutely love this picture. I'm glad you didn't wait to give it to me. I don't think I would have wanted to look at those holes all night. You even have pictures of Anna in there. How did I miss you working on this?"

Mallory just laughed and they started kissing. The girls started groaning and Hannah was hollering about "getting a room" which made them kiss that much longer and with more gusto. When they finally broke apart, all three of the girls ran up to them and Mike bear hugged all of them. They still had healing to do but Mike loved the smiles and laughter.

Supper was a fun affair with chocolate chip pancakes and Emma's messy cake. It was entirely too much sugar for Emma and Anna and getting them settled down for bed would be interesting. Hannah was still a little quiet and was really concerned about the wound on Mike's neck. Mallory finally told her that while it would scar, he would be fine. Mike knew that it was going to take Hannah awhile to recover and the mental scars would stay with her longer than the scar on his neck.

It took both he and Mallory to get the two younger girls settled down, and even then Mike suspected that they would end up in his bed. Anna had taken to calling him "Daddy" and was calling Mallory "Mom." It felt good. Hannah and Emma didn't call Mallory "Mom" and Mallory would never ask them too. Emma's memories of Christine were rapidly fading and she had all but forgotten Lucas. It made Mike sad for Emma. Christine was an amazing person and it was a shame that Emma would have only vague memories of the mother that had loved her so much. It was up to him and Hannah to help her remember Christine and Lucas.

After the younger two girls went to sleep, Mike told Mallory that he wanted to spend some time with Hannah. He knew that she was struggling with everything and was still very concerned for Mike. Mallory had gone downstairs to get some stuff ready for Mike and Emma's party the next day. Hannah was in her bedroom sitting on her bed. She was trying to concentrate on something but he could tell watching her that she was having difficulty. He sit down next to her and shut the book that she was trying to read.

"I know that today has been rough on you, I hate that you were ever put in such danger. It is entirely my fault. Hannah, I don't know what to say to make this any better. We will figure out something where your schooling is concerned. Ms. Harris told me that she was the one that was making you think that I would be okay if you died, and that you were a hindrance. Why didn't you say anything?"

Hannah had pulled her knees up to her chest with her face leaned into them. Mike could see the tears rolling down her face and he gently pulled her into a hug. Every sob was like a knife directly to his heart. All he could do is hold her close and let her cry it out. He had kissed her on the head several times and was just rubbing her back. As badly as he wanted her to, she wasn't ready to talk. He had caused all the pain and all the hurt that she was feeling and she had every right to hate him but instead was clinging to him.

"I don't know why I didn't say anything, maybe I didn't want to cause you more issues. It had been going on for months. She would tell me that you hated me, that the reason you and I hardly ever went out was because you didn't want to be seen with someone so sick and weak, that if I died, it wouldn't matter to you and you would be happier because you wouldn't have to pay so much. I tried not to believe it, and you telling me that you loved me, drove her crazy."

It explained a lot, in hindsight Mike realized that Hannah had been withdrawing for months. Some of the things had only recently come to light,and Mike had figured that it was all Hannah, but it seemed that Ms. Harris had been the one to plant the seeds of doubt in Hannah's mind. It would take him years to undue the damage that she had caused.

"Hannah, I am so, so sorry. The fact that this has been going on for months hurts. You do matter to me and I do love you. Your illness doesn't change that. I didn't take you out that much because you never seemed to want to go out. It was a mistake on my part. I love spending time with you. I will admit that I have trouble finding things to do with you, mostly because I am always worried about you getting sicker. I will make a point to get you out of the house more. I will tell you, if you ever doubt anything, ever think you are a hinderance, that you aren't loved, please come to me. I would move heaven and earth to make things better for you, easier, to give you a better life. You have something that Emma, Lucas, Anna and the new baby don't have, you are the one that made me a dad, and there is a special bond where that is concerned, but you are also the one that has to suffer through all my mistakes as a dad. Every single second since you were born, I have been proud of you and in the last year, that pride and that love has increased. Watching you go through so much, more than what I could have handled, and doing it with such grace, its nothing short of amazing. I thank God every day for you and I love you so much. Seriously though, never, ever, ever let something like this ball up again. If you don't feel comfortable coming to me with it, go to Mallory, to Uncle Tom, to Sasha or Kara. Understood?"

Hannah nodded at him and hugged him again. He wasn't sure that they would ever fix everything but they would heal somewhat. She was strong and would get through it. She finally settled down and decided to go to sleep. Mike hugged her and kissed her goodnight. They exchanged "I love you's" and he was pretty sure she was asleep before he left the room. He looked in on Emma and Anna one more time. Emma was trying to roll over on her left side so he put a pillow under her to stop her and tucked her back in. Anna was sound asleep with the blankets pulled up to her nose.

Mallory had come upstairs and was already settled into bed and Mike crawled in beside her. He suspected that they were going to end up with all three girls with them at some point through the night and so he stayed in his t-shirt and pajama pants. She ended up laying on his chest with his hands on her stomach feeling their baby kicking wildly. Mike couldn't figure out how she slept but loved the feeling. They had barely got to sleep when Emma and Anna came in wanting to get in bed with them, and at some point Hannah had came in through the night and laid down on Mike's other side. Molly and Socks had also made their way in and was sleeping at the end of the bed.