Suze's POV
November
I set Catarina's breakfast plate in front of her with a flourish. I wasn't the one who usually fed her in the mornings, simply because Jesse actually enjoyed cooking and I didn't. He usually was home when it was time for breakfast. "What do you think? Do I cook better than Daddy?" I asked her, grinning. "And be honest. Daddy isn't here, so you don't have to worry about hurting his feelings."
She giggled at my slight theatrics, taking a little bite of everything on her plate. She thought about it before saying, "Um, I think you are. But only a little bit. Where is Daddy?"
"He had to work last night, remember? He gets off in two hours."
Her face lit up with excitement for about two seconds. Then she pouted. "But I'll be in school when he gets home," she says in a depressed voice.
I reached over and ruffled her hair. "You will be. Sorry, Kitty Cat. He'll be here when you get home from school, though."
She sighed heavily, turning back to her food. She really did love her father, a lot. Jesse was a great dad.
I turned around, intending to put the orange juice back in the fridge, only to run right into something solid. Something dead.
Great, just great.
The ghost – his name was Rufus, I am not even kidding you – sneered at me. I had been having a little trouble with him. We definitely got off on the wrong foot when I'd laughed at his name and got a black eye, which was still healing. Anyway, he'd been bugging me and Jesse lately, wanting us to give some hidden money of his to his uncle, who was a little low on cash. Sounds noble, right? You're probably wondering why we wouldn't help.
Here's the thing. That money? Yeah, Rufus stole it. From a family whose only daughter is fighting cancer – she's only seven, by the way, and it's a terminal cancer. They'd been saving up to take her to Disney World at least once before she passed on because they knew she would pass on soon. They had almost saved up enough. Oh, and Rufus's uncle? The only reason he was short on cash was because his cocaine buyers all found a cheaper dealer. And what little money he did make selling the crack, he spent on meth for himself.
No way were we helping. We'd already anonymously donated the money back to the Jacksons, plus a little bit of our own money, to get them to their goal. We wanted that little girl to be able to do something fun before she died. We felt it was only right.
"You still haven't done it."
I smirked at him. "Of course not, dummy. And I told you that we wouldn't so you can just stop bugging us about it. We're both sick of it."
"Mommy? Who are you talking to?" Catarina asked, frowning. Then she nodded as though someone had given her the answer. "Oh. A ghost, huh?" While she knew about the mediation thing, she herself couldn't see the dead.
Lucky her.
"Yeah, sweetie. Let me just –" I was cut off by a fist making contact with my jaw. He must have been just trying to get my attention. Otherwise, I'm sure my jaw would have been broken. The guy must have been a bodybuilder or something when he was alive. I glared at him, rubbing my jaw. "Oh, you did not just do that. I am going to kill you. Again."
That isn't actually what happened. No, what happened was I got the snot kicked out of me. My butt was thoroughly kicked. Rufus left once he was done getting his message across, laughing hysterically. I knew he would be back, if Jesse didn't find some way to permanently get rid of him first. Because Jesse would be mad.
Catarina, being the very smart little girl that she was, called her grandmother as soon as the whole thing began.
After that, more phone calls were make – me taking a personal day and Catarina being excused from school for family business. Isabel quickly arrived and drove us to the hospital. She wouldn't even let me think about driving myself. She was almost as overprotective as her son.
Secretly, I loved it.
Boy, was Jesse surprised when he saw us walk into the waiting room.
"Mother, Susannah, Catarina, what –"
"Hi, Jesse. I might have a few broken bones," I interrupted him, trying to smile. It hurt. Just about everything. "Rufus."
His expression hardened a bit. Yep, Rufus was done for. "Ah, I see. Catarina, please stay with your abuela while I take a look at Susannah."
When it was all said and done, I had a cracked rib, fractured wrist, broken finger, and a small concussion. They weren't really sure about all of that because we were waiting for the all-clear to get an x-ray done.
Oh, and one other thing.
"Susannah…" Jesse said. His voice had been really weird since he'd come back in the room with the results of the tests they'd done so far. I still hadn't gotten that x-ray yet. "You're…pregnant."
I stared at him, my jaw hanging wide open. Of course, since they'd wanted to x-ray my ribs and they knew I'd been trying to conceive, they had ordered a pregnancy test. Apparently, x-rays can damage or even kill a fetus. I didn't think anything about it because…well, I wasn't really having any symptoms. I was sure the test would come back negative. "What?" I asked, sure that I hadn't heard him right. There was just no way that he had said that I was...
"You're pregnant."
I leaped up to hug him, which was a very bad idea. It hurt. A lot. "Ow, ow, ow, ow." I couldn't stop smiling, though. I was too happy. "Let's go tell Catarina!"
"Susannah! You aren't finished here! We still need to –" he called, even as I rushed out of the room, yelping in pain the whole way.
