Innocent People's Lives
Chapter Twenty-five
Two Months Later
When he healed enough for lengthy travel, they left Washington, D.C. They were no longer Lisa Reisert and Jackson Rippner. They were Lisa and Ben Walker now. Even knowing that his real name was Ben, she still called him Jack at times. And he often called her Leese.
They fell into a comfortable routine.
On paper, they were husband and wife. They still weren't officially married—they had never taken vows before anyone other than each other. It just happened to be easier to travel as a 'married' couple.
He bought them both rings, with his simple band complimenting her own wedding band. She'd made him go for a smaller, less ostentatious diamond than he'd originally planned.
She worked sometimes, just for a bit of pocket money. He never bothered and funded their trips from his own funds. She had been unable to get her own savings, due to the whole being dead thing.
Lisa never wanted to depend on a man. She was used to being independent. But being with him changed that. She had to learn to accept it, one day at a time.
So they used his money, which he called "their" money, and went west. They took their time, bouncing around.
Right now, they were in a dreary Seattle, staying in another Wallace family property.
She came home from work to see him in the penthouse kitchen, dinner already waiting on the eat-in bar, and a chilled bottle of wine beside two empty glasses. He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and a grin.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"It's Thursday."
"And?"
"Just Thursday."
She shook her head. "You're ridiculous, Jack. Thank you."
She climbed onto one of the stools and he poured her a glass of her favorite white wine. She kissed him on the lips, tasting something rich and creamy. It must have been a taste-test of their dinner.
"Mhmm," she said. "What's that?"
"An old favorite. It's a French recipe. Very rich."
"I'm not going to have any space for desert."
He raised an eyebrow. "Then maybe we should start with desert."
Her back pressed against the counter as he leaned in, kissing her deeper. She moaned into the kiss. He moved closer, nearly lifting her onto the bar. The stool rocked a bit, unsteady from their combined weight.
"You're going to kill us!" she hissed, swatting him on the butt.
"Then I'll die a very, very happy man."
One Year Later – Paris, France
Lisa turned over to her other side in the bed they shared. She groaned a bit and he bolted upright beside her. "Lesse? You okay?"
"Just moved too fast," she muttered through clenched teeth.
It was dark in their bedroom, the curtains closed to block the city lights out. He put a hand on her very rounded stomach. There was a kick in response that made her flinch. "You sure?"
"I'm fine. They're not due for another six weeks. Don't worry."
He flipped on a beside lamp. "Of course I'm worried. You know what the doctor said. It's a high risk pregnancy. Plus, there's a great chance you'll go into early labor—"
She leaned closer and kissed his lips, cutting him off. "Stop worrying. You'll upset the babies."
He sighed, leaning his forehead against hers.
"Just relax. We knew the risks from the start. We'll be fine." She touched his cheek as he rubbed her stomach.
"How are you so calm?"
"Because I have you. And soon we'll have two kids to love and protect. And we'll be a real family."
He nodded. "If that's true… will you finally marry me?"
She looked startled. "Marry…?"
"I know, I know how hesitant you've been. And if you still want to wait, we can wait—"
"No, no, Jack… no, I don't want to wait anymore. I'm over that. I want to be your wife. So that we can really be a family. For all of us."
"God, Leese…" He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her as best he could. "You are the most infuriating woman I've ever met. And I love you for it. As much as you drive me insane, I love you. I love you like no one else. You're my everything and I can't wait to meet our children. If they have the slightest part of your strength… your tenacity…"
"If these are your wedding vows, Jack, they are terrible."
He smiled at her. "So what if they are?"
"I think we should stick to more traditional ones."
"Since when has anything about our relationship been traditional?" he countered.
Lisa shook her head. "Fine… you win."
Three Years Later – London, England
"Boys, get in the car!" he shouted, a bag slung over his shoulder, his other arm around Lisa's waist. She was bent forward and in pain.
"No!" yelled one of the dark-haired boys sitting on the floor.
"Yes, let's go!"
"No!" said the other boy, pouting with his arms crossed.
"Jackson and Joseph, you will get in the car right now or no screens or toys for a month!"
The boys looked bewildered and stuffed some toys in their pockets before racing out to the car, each yelling they were going to beat the other.
"I swear, they're going to be the death of me one of these days," he said, shaking his head as he supported Lisa out the front door.
"I'd be more worried about this one…" Lisa hissed, squeezing his arm in an iron grip.
"Henrietta. You named our innocent, baby girl Henrietta? It's like you want her to get beat up on the playground!"
"She has two older brothers. I highly doubt she'll have to worry about playground bullies." Lisa held the little pink-wrapped bundle in her arms.
The boys had headphones over their ears and were sitting in chairs along the wall, lost in their tablets.
"Still, Henrietta?"
"Etta for short."
"That's not much better," he grumbled.
"I tell you what… next time you push a baby out of your vagina, you get to name it."
"Fine… Henrietta it is."
Five Years Later
His leg never fully healed from the bullet wound he got protecting Lisa from his team. There was a bit of a shuffle to his gait, a hitch in his step; a limp. Had he still been with the CIA, they never would have cleared him for the field. But that no longer mattered.
Not with Jack and Joey. And Etta.
The twins had not been a completely unpleasant surprise. After the initial shock of Lisa's pregnancy wore off, he had found himself looking forward to becoming a father. He'd never let himself dream or even consider having children before Lisa. Having a family.
Perhaps it was the way he was raised. An only child, constantly passed off and handed off to nannies, instead of surrounded by warm and loving parents. His father passed by the time he turned eight and his mother moved on for the hunt for another husband. He went through four stepfathers before college.
But Lisa, she was a born mother, full of love and compassion. She helped him be the father he always wanted and never had.
They never discussed an alternative when they learned Lisa was pregnant. Even when it went from a single baby to twin humans growing inside her, he was nothing if not supportive and paranoid. But no one ever threatened his family again. The news media surrounding Keefe died down. His family disappeared into obscurity.
And they had left the US. It would always be home for them, but not for their children. The twins were born in the South of France and Etta in England, where they eventually settled down. He finally tied the knot with Lisa in Paris, two weeks before the twins arrived ahead of schedule.
They were Lisa and Ben Richards now. It was the last name change, they hoped, for the sake of their young children.
The boys took after him with his dark hair and light eyes, both identical and sneaky as hell. The elder of their sons, by five minutes as he often reminded his brother, was Joseph. They called him Joe or Joey most of the time. It had been his idea to name one of their sons for Lisa's dad. She'd cried when he suggested it.
She had named their younger son Jackson against his protests. She had a hard time remembering to call him Ben, even after all this time. As Jack got older, she got better at it, but often when in the heat of the moment, especially when she was pissed at him, she'd scream at him "Jack!" or "Jackson!" and their son would bolt up like gopher through his hole, looking at his mother with a petrified look on his face.
That always calmed her down. She'd hug and soothe him, apologize and say she meant Daddy, which only confused their son because dad was Ben not Jack. And he'd sit there and try not to smile and laugh as she tried to say it was a nickname for their dad, while his youngest son sat there with confusion written across his face.
Eventually, he'd rescue her and she'd swat him playfully and he'd kiss her. Which made Jack yell "Ewwww, gross!" and run away, confusion forgotten.
Then there was Etta. The little terror who was just as gorgeous as her mother. Since her mother picked her first name, he'd suggested Sarah for a middle name. And it stuck. And depending on the day, Etta herself would respond to one or the other. She was a stubborn girl, just like her mother.
"Daddy! Play with me!" she screamed, tugging on his hand and he didn't resist. He couldn't resist his little girl any more than he could resist her mother.
Lisa smiled at him from across the room, the boys immersed in a video game on the TV.
"Okay, sweet pea, what are we doing here?" he asked, crouching down beside his daughter.
"Tea party!"
"That's my favorite kind of party. How did you know?"
His daughter beamed at him, with Lisa's eyes, and that moment, just like hundreds of thousands of other little moments with his family made the ten years of hell worth it. It made going up against the CIA and Keefe worth it. It made every scar and bullet hole worth it.
Because those bad moments, those rough moments, led him here to his wonderful wife and their three children. He wouldn't trade money or power or anything else for his family. The longer he was a husband and a father, the less he understood Keefe.
They were his whole world now and he wouldn't have it any other way.
Author's Notes:
Whew, that was a rollercoaster and a half of a story! Thank you for following me on it and I hope you enjoyed the ending as well. Beginnings and ends are personally the hardest for me to write.
Specials thanks to all the reviews and encouragement throughout. Hearing from you all reminds me of why I continue to write after all these years. Some of you may know that I also write original works under T. M. Carper all of which are available digitally and some that are available in print. It's an insane amount of work being a self-published author but I wouldn't have it any other way.
As for what's coming next fan fiction-wise, I don't have any more Red Eye fics planned at the moment. I imagine my next one will be a one-shot. For any readers who also read my Alice fics, I have a rough outline for A Thousand Shards of Glass and a partial chapter or two so far.
My next big fan fic I'm planning will be my first Star Wars one. This movie hit me like freight train, just like Red Eye, and I'm shipping Rey and Kylo Ren just as hard as JacksonxLisa. It's another hero/villain thing for those who don't know Star Wars. Working title is Redemption and Ruin and I hope to start posting it soon.
You guys rock! Much love.
trudes193 – Thank you, thank you! Hugs to you, too. Hope the ending lived up to your expectations! :)