Chapter 60

The moment Helen Mazur realized she made an epic mistake… This following event happened a few days after Trigger was release from Fort Leavenworth…

Helen's Point of View

When Frank and I divorced, he forced me to use my maiden name. I was left penniless… so he thought. If it wasn't for the inheritance from my grandparents, I would have been forced to get a job. The thought made me shiver. Good riddance Frank.

We haven't had sex for most of our marriage. I always managed to find another man to help me scratch the itch. My go-to partner was always Anthony Morelli Sr until he passed away. His son Joe was a hot mess in bed. With him, it was one and done.

For the past few years, I was having regular sex with Carl Costanza's dad Caplin. His wife refused to try new things and I was a willing participant. Since my divorce, he promised to leave his wife… until the bitch Stephanie told Carl what I did. Caplin fucked me one more time to say goodbye.

Giving Mallory and Emily to my sister was the best decision I made. Needless to say, I have absolutely no regrets. Stephanie poisoned Mallory against me. They deserve each other.

I brushed off the sense of unease as I entered Fort Leavenworth. The guard asked who I was here to visit, I gave him the name as I claimed to be his sister in law Helen Mazur. They only requested my ID and had me sign their log book.

Joseph Morelli said I needed to talk to Frank's old friend Dietz if I wanted to know the truth about Frank and my bitch of a daughter, Stephanie. I wondered if I gave the wrong child away. Maybe Emily would have been more like Valerie. It's too late now.

Diego Dietz is still a very handsome man. It's a shame he was already married when we first met. I waited for the guard to shackle him to the restraints on the table and floor. "Helen," he greeted.

I waited for the guard to leave the room before talking. "Joe said you needed to see me. Who is my husband?" I asked.

He ignored my direct question and told me a story. "Your youngest daughter joined the Army after completing her undergraduate degree," he announced. "Frank, your husband, got her into basic training."

It was laughable. My inept, lazy daughter joining the Army. Lies… he must be telling me lies.

"Have you ever heard the code name Eclipse or Sly Fox?" Diego asked.

"I've heard them before. Why should it matter if I heard those ridiculous names?" I asked as my patience started to wear thin.

"Sly Fox and Eclipse was a formidable Father-Child pairing in the Army. Eclipse sorted intel. She saved countless lives during her deployment," he continued without giving me the names.

Diego was trying to tell me something without actually using the words. It took a few minutes for the lightbulb to finally turn on in my mind. "Surely you're not telling me the father-child pairing was Frank and Stephane," I stated my ridiculous thought.

"It's exactly what I'm saying. A man named Jareth Dufus could really use this information," he said before calling for the guard.

When my escort arrived, I asked to visit with my cousin Jareth Dufus. He shrugged before returning with the log book for me to add the second prisoner's name.

Jareth was more attractive than Diego, although he had 'danger' written all over his face. I ignored the uneasiness I felt and relayed the message from Diego. He smiled, but it didn't quite meet his eyes. Jareth's eyes looked empty, as though he didn't have a soul.

"Thank you for sharing the information," he said before calling the guard.

I drove my rental car back to the airport in time to catch my flight. We landed in Newark, where my car was parked. Entering my car, I realized I didn't think about what happens next. There was a strong possibility Frank and Stephanie's lives were in danger, but they abandoned me. They turned Val and the girls away from me. What happens to them would be Karma.

Little did I know, Karma was about to take a huge chunk out of me. I felt like someone was following me, so I parked in the empty spot near the hotel entrance. Using the elevator, I pressed the button for my floor.

I grabbed a water bottle from the bar fridge, took a long drink before taking a shower to wash off the prison smell. After dressing in my pyjamas, I climbed into bed. I took a larger drink from my water bottle. A man entered my room as my vision started to blur.

"Hello Helen," the man greeted as though we were old friends. "My name is Rodrigo Vanderez. Trigger, you probably know him as Jareth Dufus, hired me to kill you, Frank and Stephanie. I see the sedative I added to your water is working."

He moved closer to the bed. I noticed he was wearing black leather gloves. Reaching into his pocket, he removed a plastic bag containing 2 syringes. After uncapping one, he used the tourniquet to tie around my arm, above my elbow.

I was frozen in place by the sedative and fear. He found a suitable vein and emptied the syringe into my arm. The room started spinning. When my head fell to my shoulder, he said, "Trigger is planning to eliminate your entire family."

Valerie, the girls, her unborn baby and mom were all in mortal danger because I needed to teach Frank and Stephanie a lesson. Vanderez injected the contents of the second needle into my arm. I groggily watched as he moved my hands to touch the syringe body and plunger. What have I done? I'm going to die from an overdose. I've paid the ultimate price for my betrayal. What will the neighbours think? I wondered before my world turned completely black.

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SPOV

I could hear everything happening around me. Kara told Lucas to keep talking to me since it's possible I was aware of my surroundings while being heavily sedated. As I felt my daughter being tugged from my body, I felt my sister Emily in the room.

Emily was standing beside the doctor as she yelled for help. Bless Bobby for coming to her aid. He held my daughter as McNall gently guided her foot back into me. 'She's beautiful,' I heard my sister say. A few minutes later, I heard her say, 'He's handsome.' My sister's spirit remained by my side as everything went completely sideways.

Dr McNall ordered my family from the room and she and Bobby frantically worked to stop the hemorrhaging. At some point I found myself outside of my body, looking at the bloody mess on the table. I felt Lucas praying in the waiting area. When I left the room, Emily followed me. She said it wasn't my time and I needed to get back to my body. I wanted to comfort my husband, but the longer I stayed out here, the more I felt disconnected from my body.

My sister was more insistent, telling me my children and husband needed me. It wasn't until I saw the shattered look on her face as she said Carlos needed me, that I listened and returned to my body. As I walked past the doctor, I saw a misshaped object in the discard container. I smiled and returned to my body. She whispered, "Riss is good for him," before leaving me.

It felt like hours before I could open my eyes to see the most handsome face in the world. "Luke," I whispered.

"Steph," he said as tears dropped from his chin. "The men will be happy you're awake. I'd get them, but I need some time alone with you."

"I need Em… Los," I groggily stated.

"When you wake up some more," he promised.

"Can't have more babies," I slowly told him.

"I know. It was the only way."

Someone entered the room, interrupting our time together. I felt a small body being placed beside me, closest to Lucas. Another slightly heavier body was placed on my other side. I raised my eyes to see Carlos smiling down at me.

"I thought we were going to lose you," he whispered as he leaned down to kiss my forehead.

"Emily said my family needs me," I whispered. "That you need me."

"You're our sun. Without you, we wouldn't have seen the sunlight. You are the centre of our universe. We all need you," he confessed.

"As I need all of you," I said with more strength behind my words.

I was tired and needed to sleep again. Lucas placed a kiss to my lips before lifting my daughter from my arms. Ranger lifted my son into his arms. As they placed the children back into their bed, they started making arrangements for my care.

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LPOV

Everyone agreed to keep Stephanie in the hospital until our children were released. She needed help only the nurses at the hospital were able to provide. I noticed Karissa, Kara and Stephanie had a much closer bond than before. In a way it kind of made sense. After all, her best friends are Ranger and Lester.

It's amazing how Stephanie's labour experience strengthened their connection. Ranger gave me time off work until Stephanie and our children are discharged. He wanted me to spend every moment possible with my family.

Stephanie wanted our children to have multiple godfathers and godmothers. We asked Lester to be Los godfather. His godmothers are Karissa and Kara. Hector and Manny are Em's godfathers with Mallory and Yvonne her godmothers. Everyone was happy with our appointments.

"Am I ever going to be released?" I heard Stephanie ask Bobby a week later.

"Soon. Dr McNall wants to be sure you don't have an infection. Your babies gained half a pound each. She wants them to gain a bit more weight before sending you home," he patiently explained.

I laughed when Stephanie grumbled, "You mean exiled at Rangeman again."

"Steph, we talked about this," Bobby said as he started pacing the room. She winked when she caught my eye. I had to smile. We agreed to live at Rangeman until her restrictions were lifted.

When I offered to convert one of our main floor rooms into a temporary master bedroom, Stephanie gave me a resounding 'No'. At Rangeman, she could still move between the floors using the elevator. If we stayed in our house, she would be restricted to the main floor.

After a few more minutes of ranting, Bobby finally noticed the huge smile on Stephanie's face. "You were teasing me," he stated.

"And you made it too easy," she admitted. "I'm not leaving the hospital until I can take my children home."

"Soon," Kara announced when she entered Steph's room. I watched as Kara stocked extra towels and linens.

"What are you doing?" my curious wife asked.

"Preparing your room to accommodate Malloy."

"When did she go into labour?"

"A few hours ago. Her trip to the hospital wasn't as exciting as your trip," Kara said with humour.

"I bet her labour is progressing better than mine," Stephanie complained.

"Every woman has a different experience," Kara called over her shoulder.

"Mine was extreme," Steph mumbled. "On a positive note, we don't need to worry about birth control."

"True my love. No more midnight tampon runs," I joked.

"It was one time Luke. Stop pretending it was a thing," she teased back.

"Fine," I caved. "I concede defeat."

At 0122 hours, Mallory gave birth to her first daughter Michelle Alexandra. Her second daughter was born nearly 15 minutes later. She named her second daughter Miranda Valerie.

Mallory was wheeled into the room on a hospital bed. Her daughters were tucked close to her body. Manny looked absolutely smitten with his daughters. Ranger entered the room with Ram and his family. Tucker was secured in his car seat.

"It's too late for the girls," Stephanie told Valerie.

"We wanted to see our cousins," Angie stated. Once their curiosity was satisfied, they asked to visit with Em and Los before going home. On cue, Hector entered the room with my children. Roger entered behind him with an empty incubator.

"This one's for the girls," Roger said while pointing to Mallory.

"How long are you in for?" Stephanie asked Mallory as though staying in the hospital was a jail sentence. Hector and Roger were holding my children.

"A week or two," Mallory replied. "Mitch and Randy's lungs were underdeveloped. We can take them home when their oxygen levels improve."

"They didn't escape the steroid injection?" Stephanie asked.

"Unfortunately not. When are you going home?" Mal asked.

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "You literally asked me that question yesterday morning. The answer hasn't change."

"It's my first time asking today," Mallory joked. "I get it… not until their oxygen levels improve."

Em and Los started fussing. Kara entered the room carrying bottles. She passed them to Ranger and me before plucking my children from their uncles arms. I fed Emily while Ranger fed Carlos. After they were fed, burped and changed, Kara placed them into the incubator. She grabbed Mallory's girls, placed them in the other incubator and quickly left the room pulling both behind her.

A few weeks later, both women and children were discharged. Stephanie still wasn't cleared to use the stairs, so we were living at Rangeman. Mallory, in support of Stephanie, was staying at Rangeman to keep her company. I found them in my apartment more than not.

Today, they were in Manny's apartment. Kara and Karissa were with them. Stephanie wasn't cleared to lift our children. She was permitted to hold them, but not lift them from their crib.

"Hey lover," she called when I entered Manny's apartment.

"My love," I greeted her before giving my children a kiss to the top of their heads.

"Do you mind if our children are christened together?" Mallory asked.

"Not at all," I answered.

Mallory and Manny decided to have Steph and I be Michelle's godparents with Bobby and Monica. Valerie, Ram, Cal and Natalie were Miranda's godparents.

Tank and Natalie secretly married a few days ago. Stephanie and I were the only people to know. Neither of them wanted to waste time when they knew they were meant to be. "Just like the two of us," Stephanie stated as we witnessed their marriage.

Mia was making a regular appearance at Rangeman. She's been dating Hal for several months. Stephanie smiled knowing she was responsible for them getting together. I teased Hal when I learned he was still a virgin.

My wife told me Mia was also a virgin. They were saving themselves for marriage. Kudos to them. I bet Stephanie they'll wait. She said their hormones will rage during a make out fest and they'll take that step together. 'I bet they'll get carried away, have sex, then get married shortly after,' she said.

I asked Kara and Karissa for my babies. They placed them into my arms so I could carry them back home. Stephanie gave her friends a hug and opened the door for me. She sat in the rocking chair before I passed her Los. He gave a contented sigh as I placed him into her arms. After laying Emily into the crib, I lifted Carlos and placed him beside his sister.

"Mia asked me if we had condoms," Stephanie spat out.

"How long ago?" I wondered. I replenished our stock before Stephanie went into labour. They wouldn't be expired yet.

"A few weeks. I showed her how to use them," she confessed.

"Ah… did she blush?" I wondered. It was amusing watching her and Hal simultaneously blush.

"She did. They're so adorable together," she said with amusement. "I can't wait until they get married." My wife is such a romantic.