Chapter 37

…

The sun was shining bright as the cab drove up the long road and pulled up outside the Villa, Kate's eyes went wide when she saw it, Andrea looking over Kate's shoulder to have a look.

"Holy shit, it's huge."

"I only ever saw it in pictures he showed me, to see it up close, it's beautiful."

"The perfect place to raise a baby then?"

Kate turned to Andrea, who was smiling at her.

"The perfect place."

Kate turned her attentions to the cab driver, Andrea watching as she began to speak Italian to him.

"Quanto le devo?"

"12.60 signora."

"Grazie." Kate smiled as she passed the diver the money and got out of the cab.

Andrea went to the back and took out the suitcases, closing the lid before the cab drove away. Kate turning to Andrea, who wrapped her arms around Kate's waist.

"I don't think I've ever heard anything so romantic than you speaking Italian." She smiled.

"I'm full of surprises dearie."

"You certainly are."

Andrea leaned in and kissed Kate, the older woman responding immediately.

"Mmmm, just what I needed….ooooh." Kate's expression changing.

"Kate, you okay?"

"Our daughter's kicking me again."

Andrea knelt down in front of Kate, moving her jacket to the side as Andrea leaned closer to the baby.

"Hey little one, how about you give your mom a little break huh, we have a lot of stuff to do before your uncle Red and aunt Lizzie get here."

Kate smiled as Andrea ran a delicate hand over her bump before getting to her feet, kissing Kate once again.

"Well that's telling her." Kate smiled.

"Yeah, won't work I know. Come on, let's go and have a look inside."

…

Kate took one of the light bags as Andrea grabbed the three bigger ones, Kate unlocking the door before they stepped inside.

"Oh my god, it looks even bigger than it did from the outside." Andrea gasped.

"Well it's got five bedrooms, plus the guest house where Dembe will be staying."

"It's so light and spacious."

"Just what we need."

Andrea put down the bags, Kate following her as they made their way through the villa. Wooden flooring throughout the villa, a play area for children. As they walked in to the kitchen, the sun shone through, a round wooden table in the middle of the room, the cooker and other utilities just a few feet behind it. the sliding door was pulled back, in the room was the large wooden dining table, long cream curtains on the windows, Kate stopped by the window, looking out in to the garden.

"Oh wow."

Andrea came up behind her, her arms coming around her as she followed Kate's gaze.

"We have a pool, now that's quite something."

"We'll certainly never get bored her, Raymond said there's lovely walked all around us. We'll have to get some fencing and a gate put up around the pool until the kids are older."

"Yeah, better safe that sorry, oh look, a swing set. Did Red actually check this place out before he bought it, or did he have this stuff included when he found out you were pregnant."

"It must have already been here, he has a habit of buying properties without actually checking them out first."

"Well at least in this case, it paid off."

"It's so beautiful, so peaceful. Look at that garden."

"It's so big, plenty of space for the kids to run around, and look at the patio, the barbecue are."

"Come on, we have more to inspect."

…

Lizzie was quiet as the plane took off, Red reaching across for her hand, she turned to him, tears in her eyes, but still smiling.

"Lizzie…"

"It's okay, they're happy tears, I promise. I just, it was harder to leave the team than I thought it would be, and Agnes."

"She'll be with us next week."

"I know, I wonder how Kate and Andrea are finding the place?"

"I just hope it's up to scratch."

"Why wouldn't it be."

"I've never actually been to the property."

"What, never?"

"I've never had the time, I put in a bid on-line and I won."

"How could you buy a place without even seeing what it was like?"

"I like surprises."

"What if it's a hovel?"

"Considering the price I paid, I very much doubt it will be a hovel as you put it. I was told it was a very beautiful villa."

"You hope."

"If it wasn't I'm sure Andrea or Kate would have called by now."

"I hope they made it okay."

"Well, their plane would have got in about two hours ago, so they should be there by now. They're probably inspecting the place as we speak."

"I'm gonna have to learn to speak Italian now, aren't I."

"Don't worry Lizzie, there are plenty of residents in Italy who speak our language."

"Really?"

"Really, don't worry so much about it."

"So, I'm officially now a kept woman, aren't I?"

"Is that such a bad thing, you've worked hard all your life, we all have. It's time you got some time to relax and enjoy our new home."

"I do love my job but…I hated leaving Agnes everyday. Now I can be the kind of mom she needs."

"I did tell Andrea she didn't have to work but she insists, I don't think she wants to lose the woman she is."

"Well she's good at what she does, and at least there's jobs for her over there."

"Terrence will make sure she's well looked after at the hospital."

"Is he a close friend?"

"We knew each other well before…before I chose this path."

"The criminal one you mean?"

"He was still there, even after the things I've done. I asked him once why he never abandoned me."

"What did he say?"

"He said that he knew me as the man I was before I became the FBI's most wanted, he said there was still a part of the old me in me somewhere and that he's hold on to it, and that one day he'd hope I'd discoverer him too."

"He was right then?"

"He was, it's taken longer than expected but…at least it happened, and that's all thanks to you and Kate."

"Mainly Kate I think, she's the reason we're all doing this in the first place."

"It should never have happened to her, any of it, the rape, the pregnancy, not to her."

"You can't change it, you just have to make the best of it and that's what she's doing, if none of this had happened, her and Andrea might not have happened, this moved certainly wouldn't have. We'd still be the same people we were, over worked, underpaid, criminals."

Red heard the way she highlighted the last part, smiling at her.

"Some good has come from it, and she's surprised us all by loving that baby regardless of how she came about. She's stronger because of it." Lizzie said.

"I'm never going to let anything bad happen to her ever again, it could have been so much worse, she could have died."

"Yeah she could have, but she didn't and this is our second chance to make things better and that's exactly what we're all going to do."

"Agreed."

"I can't wait to see this place."

"I'm certain you're going to love it, if it was that awful, I'm sure we'd have had a phone call by now anyway."

Lizzie leaned over, kissing Red, her arm coming around his neck.

"I love you so much, I'm just sorry it took us this long." She whispered.

"I would have waited an eternity for you."

"You sap." She laughed.

Red laughed along with her as they leaned back in their seats, hand in hand.

…

To Be Continued….