Chapter 25 – The Day After
Roman was sitting in the nursery. He had painted the walls a mixture of yellow and green and fixed up the border, going for the sun; moon, stars and rainbow one, and hanging the matching curtains.
He had also fixed up the two cots and placed them in the centre of the room with the mobiles on them. He'd found the changing table and put that together too from the flat pack. Placing the small amount of baby clothes carefully away in the drawers.
He looked over at the new wardrobe doors. She'd got someone to replace the original ones with louver doors and he'd painted those with the white gloss at around 4am. He could pretend that he was still on Afghanistan time but the truth was he needed to use his hands before he tore something or somebody apart. He'd had a disturbing dream that Ella was trying to tell him something.
The room looked ready.
He turned and walked downstairs where Jacko was in the kitchen next to the kettle.
"You finished hardcore?" He turned and asked him.
"Yes." Roman answered.
"Thought I told you to get some sleep." Jacko muttered.
"You did. But I woke up." Roman said briefly.
Jacko handed him a cup of coffee.
"You can't kill him Roman." Jacko said. "It'll be murder."
"Jacko." He protested.
"I know Roman, I know what he's done and what he's already cost you but if you kill him it will be flat our revenge for Ella and that will be murder." Jacko told him wisely. "She would sooner submit to what he wants with her than let you do that."
"I'm a murderer anyway." Roman said. "Do you think that because I use a rifle and say it's in the defence of my country or my men or any number of excuses, it covers up what I do. I point and shoot and someone's family gets a letter that I never want my family to get. Do you think that one more will make much of a difference in the end?"
Jacko sighed.
"You called it a darkness. Well maybe it is but its inside me and I would cut it out if I could." Roman said. He drained his cup and threw it at the sink watching as it disintegrated into pieces in front of him. "That is me Jacko. I'm just pieces. You should have stopped her marrying me. You should have taken her away and tied her up and done anything to stop her because I'm evil." Roman broke down. "I'm the reason that Gardy is going to kill her."
Jacko pulled the other man into his arms.
"Roman. Do you think we didn't see you before she came into your life? You were this brash idiot who was likely to get yourself or us killed. And then you changed. He saw that. And he knew the reason for it. He wants to hurt you because you got everything. You got the promotion, you got the platoon, you got the girl." Jacko told him. "She never had time for him after she met you. And meeting you, well it was like somebody switched a light on inside of her. Mike could see that. And he'd damn near tear anyone apart who looked at his sister, you know that."
Jacko led him over to the sofa.
"She didn't even need to tell us she had seen you again, Pete and I could see it." Jacko said to him. "Of course we warned her. We told her you weren't ready to face your demons. She said she didn't care, she'd help you through them."
Roman looked up at him.
"She has, hasn't she?" Jacko asked him looking at the other man.
"Yes." Roman thought about the way she would tackle him about things. The way she had a way of turning things around so that he would look at it in a new way.
"Then why the hell would you deny your marriage? Yes, Gardy has her but she's smarter than he is, and you have a secret weapon Roman. You have the babies. You don't mess with a mother of cubs you know that. Especially, not our Ella."
"Thanks for kicking my feeling-sorry-for-myself ass Sgt." Roman said.
"Not a problem LT, just don't kiss me." Jacko grinned.
Roman half grinned before walking into the kitchen to clear up the mess and make another coffee.
The front door opened and Nic walked in with the stroller.
"Dad?" she called.
He walked into the lounge.
"I'm here Nic." he told her softly.
She burst into tears and walked into his arms.
"It's going to be ok Nic. We'll find her and bring her home." He rocked her in his arms the way he had so many times before.
She opened up her hand and put something in his hand.
"I found this on the beach near the diner." Nic said to him. "If I hadn't had to see to Angel then I would have been with her." She looked up at him.
Roman looked at the dog tags and his wedding ring.
"She was wearing these?" he asked.
"Yes. I put them around her neck when she went to labour; she didn't take them off. See the chain is snapped." Nicole told him.
He guided Nic over to a sofa and made her sit down.
"Nicole if you were there then maybe, and I mean maybe he wouldn't have taken her but it's more than likely that he would have taken her at some point. Nothing you could have done would have changed that." He said softly, and looking deep into her tear drenched blue eyes.
"She knew you would figure out that she didn't take these off and she was sending a message to us." Jacko told her calmly, his words for Roman's ears too.
They looked up as there was another knock at the door and Angel started whimpering. She went over to the stroller and picked her daughter up.
Jacko answered the door, opening the solid wood door a fraction.
"Hello! Is Roman in?" Miles asked from outside.
"Come in." Roman called out. "Jacko this is Miles and Miles this is Jacko." Roman said.
He walked over and shook Miles hand.
"Good to see you." He said to him.
"Is it? Because I did kind of have to hear form Colleen that you were back." Miles told him cautiously.
"I'm sorry Miles I was planning to ring you last night but things went kind of crazy." He said. "Ella has been kidnapped by Gardy." He announced.
Miles gasped.
"I'll get some coffees going LT, I got a feeling this is going to be a long day." Jacko went into the kitchen.
Miles went with him and let Jacko fill him in on the situation.
Nic looked at her dad.
"I need to show you something." He told her and led her upstairs to the nursery.
She gasped.
"This is what Ella wanted, Dad." She once again called him Dad, unknowingly using the term like a security blanket.
She went in and touched the cots and the changing table. She felt tears welling up in her eyes again.
"You did this last night?" she asked.
"Yes." He told her. "You really think she will like it?" he asked.
"She will love it. She missed you so much." Nic compulsively hugged Angel closer to her. "Before she went into labour we came over to see her and every time you were mentioned she burst into tears. It was so funny. We kept teasing her and she would be laughing one minute and the next sobbing with this silly smile on her face." Nic pressed a kiss on her daughter's head and then looked over at her Dad. "She threatened to hit the next person who did it and then Amy-Belle walked over to her and asked her where you were. She started laughing and crying at the same time. She was so strong with everything Dad." Nicole started crying again.
"Come here. You need to be strong too. I know you are because of everything you've been through Nic, and I am proud of you. You've been there for me when I've been in a dark place and made me pull myself up. I know you can do this. " He told her so softly.
She half smiled and stepped back.
"Dad, I have to say that you kind of need a shower." She tried out another smile, feeling it forced on her face. "You are starting to smell worse than one of Angels nappies."
He laughed.
"Thank you. You could be right. I can't remember when I last showered. " He said to her.
"What about food?" she asked.
"Yesterday." He confessed. "No wait, that would be the day before yesterday." He admitted.
"Shower and I'll sort out food." She ordered bossily.
"Yes Ma'am." He said standing to attention and saluting.
She laughed.
"Go you idiot. I still have no clue why she married you!" Nic said her voice catching. She put her hand on his back and pushed him through the door and watched as he went into his bedroom before she went downstairs.
She found Miles and Jacko in the kitchen.
"Did you do it girlie?" Jacko asked.
"He's going to take a shower at least." She said. "We need to get some food in him too." She said.
"I'll go to the dinner and pick up something." Miles said.
Nic caught hold of Miles' arm and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Thank you." She told him and watched him leave.
"He's a good un." Jacko said.
"Yes he is. Took care of me." Nic told him. "Thanks for calling me Jacko."
"I had too, he would have built on an extra room on the house by the time he'd finished. I couldn't think who else would have got through to him." Jacko said.
"I'm worried girlie." Jacko told her.
"About Ella?" she asked quickly sitting at the table.
"No, about your Dad. I'm worried he's going to kill Gardy." He confessed.
"Maybe he deserves it." Nicole's soft voice hardened.
"There is no maybe about it, if you can put someone down like you would a mad dog then Gardy would be first in the queue, but if your Dad does it, well he'll change inside and he won't be your Dad anymore."
"Like before." She nodded understandingly.
"Worse than that I think." Jacko confessed. He stood and walked over to the fridge to pull out some juice to drink and poured them out a couple of glasses, placing one in front of her. "And if anything happens to her, well I don't want to be around after that."
Nicole smiled and took a drink.
"You and me both." She said grimly.
They heard Roman walking down the stairs and they went quiet.
"Is that better?" he asked Nic.
"Much." She said. "Although I thought Brown was the new black this season." She joked feebly trying to take the edge off.
He was dressed in black combat trousers that she suspected were not fashion ones and a tight polo neck top. She looked down and saw a special pair of shoes on his feet and realised he'd made a noise on the stairs to let them know he was about. She looked up and saw Jacko grinning at her.
"Uh huh. Don't believe any stories that Jacko tells you. I didn't do any of those things." Roman said into the sudden silence.
"I didn't tell her a word." Jacko defended. "She'd never believe me anyway. She'd think I was exaggerating! How are you and your husband getting along anyway?" Jacko asked her.
"Uh huh. You are so not dating my daughter." Roman said quickly. "So don't even bother trying out that technique of yours."
"You two must be a nightmare together. " Nicole laughed.
"I could tell you a few things Girlie but then I'd have to…" Jacko began.
"Kill me?" Nic finished.
"No, even worse… deal with your father!" Jacko grinned at her.
They looked up to see Miles letting himself in.
"How many people have keys?" Roman grouched. "And how come you didn't use yours earlier?" he asked the other man.
"Well if you were home I didn't want to interrupt." Miles confessed quickly.
Roman laughed briefly and then looked down at his hand. He'd put his wedding ring back on, wishing like hell that Ella had done it.
"Come on Hardcore get some food in you." Miles said to him.
Roman smiled.
"What the hell did Jacko tell you?" he said.
"Nothing." Miles told him. "Much." He added.