Chapter 5
Cameron woke up early the next morning. Despite knowing that Kay slept at her own place half the time, he always slept better when she was there next to him. He couldn't wait until the time was right to ask her but then a thought crossed his mind... what if it's never the right time? It was a reasonable question to ask himself, with everything that was going on, when would they ever have the time to just settle down... and Kay's job was dangerous. He loved that she's so amazing at what she does but he already almost lost her once. Who knows what could happen now. Then another thought occurred to him. He hadn't talked about any of this to Farrah. Sure, she was a baby but if Kay said yes then it would change things significantly.
He got out of bed and went to his niece's bedroom. He didn't turn on the light but her night light was still on. He had come at just the right time. Farrah gave a deep breath as she stretched her arms and yawned. Her eyelids fluttered open as she yawned again. She turned her head and looked up at Cameron, giving him a sweet baby smile. Cameron smiled down at the little girl, "Hey Angel..." Farrah pointed at him and smiled even wider, still yawning. Cameron took the empty milk bottle out of her crib and placed it on a nearby shelf. He then picked up his niece, "I think you and I need to talk Fare Bear." Although when he picked her up, his nose picked up on something, "But first, I think you need changing."
After he got her diaper changed, they went to the kitchen; he got her a new bottle of milk from the fridge and handed it to her. She grasped the bottle with both hands and asked, "Bek'fast?"
"We'll have breakfast soon but first I think I should tell you something." He brought the two of them over to the couch. He sat down on the couch, keeping his back leaned against the arm rest as Farrah sat in his lap. "Okay Farrah... so Uncle Cameron has something important to tell you." Farrah didn't say anything as she drank her milk. "You know how Aunt Kay stays with us sometimes?"
"Kay." She smiled as she turned her head to look over her shoulder.
Cameron chuckled, "No, no. She's not here now." Farrah turned her head back to her uncle. "You know... I love Aunt Kay very, very much. I love you too and I love everyone else but that's a different kind of love." Farrah giggled. She didn't quite understand what he was saying but it didn't bother her. "I-I'm going to ask Kay if she'll marry me. Do you know what marriage is?" Farrah just blinked her big eyes at him, "Well, your parents were married. It's usually when a man and woman or a man and a man or a woman and a woman-you know what, two people who love each very much and they decide that they only want to be with each other. They sometimes have a big party and invite all of their friends and family and have great cake."
"Cake?"
Cameron let out a small laugh, "Well, that got your attention, didn't it?" He tickled her sides a little making her giggle. "Farrah, you like Kay, right?"
"Kay." Farrah said giving a smile.
"I'll take that as a yes. So... if Kay says yes and we get married then she's going to be around all the time."
"Kay stay?"
Cameron chuckled, "Yeah, I guess Kay would stay if she wanted. Would you be okay with that? With Kay being here all the time?" That question she understood. She nodded her little head, making her curls bounce up and down. Cameron kissed her forehead and pulled her in for a hug, "I love you Fare Bear."
"I love you Cam'mon." She replied with her tiny voice as she started sipping on her bottle again.
Cameron's eyes went wide. Did she just... "Farrah? What did you say?" He asked as he looked at her again. Farrah just giggled as she grabbed his nose. Cameron smiled as he felt his eyes tear up a little. He took her little hand off his nose as she giggled again. He hugged his baby girl even tighter. Cameron had had a lot of good moments in his life but this was definitely one of the best.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
Another week went by and still there was no trace of the former mystery woman, Cornelia Berossi. Another week where nobody had gone to the archive. Finally Jonathan spoke up, "She could be hiding out in the archive for all we know!" Everyone turned their head to look at him, "Think about it, she could be in the one place she would think she's more than likely to find us. Even if she's not there now, she might have left some clue or something to have us go after her. it's all a game to her... her escape's keeping us from our home."
"Well," Kay started, "The guard who was patrolling the outside of her cell finally was well enough to talk. She said that for the last two weeks before Cornelia escaped, she kept very much to herself."
"How do you mean?" Cameron asked.
"Apparently, she would barely talk or eat, she would either be staring at the wall or be sleeping. She didn't really have a crew or anything there. She wasn't very well-liked in the prison."
"Really? Why not?"
"Well, speaking from my own experience," Jonathan started, "I know that prisoners don't take kindly to other prisoners who've caused children harm." They all gave him a look, "What? I only know this because child abusers are often dealt with. Say what you want about prison but they're not all bad... they're pretty bad but not all bad."
"Well, Jonathan's not wrong there." Kay stated, "If the other prisoners knew that not only Cornelia was a serial killer but also endangered the life of a child, it wouldn't be winning her points at the popularity table."
"Oh, I might have something." Mike said. "There's a bodega store clerk who said that someone bought some convenience store items from him and the description he gave for the woman could be Berossi."
"Did he describe her as looking like an off-brand Angelina Jolie?" Jordan asked as everyone gave him an odd look, "I can't be the only one who sees it right?"
Cameron chuckled at Jordan's comment. Just then, his phone rang, "Hello?" Cameron's brows furrowed, "Whoa, whoa, sorry, repeat that?" His eyes widened for a moment, "Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes."
"What's going on?" Kay asked with a concerned tone.
"There's somebody trying to pick up Farrah from daycare. Of course, it wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that everyone on Farrah's pickup list is in this room." Cameron replied as he quickly put on his jacket.
"Do you want a ride?" Kay asked.
"That would help thanks."
Kay turned around before she followed Cameron out the door, "Mike, can you-"
"I got it." Mike replied without needing Kay to finish.
She gave him a grateful smile, "Thanks."
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
Kay managed to get Cameron to Sunny Flair Daycare in less than ten minutes. Cameron rushed into the building with Kay quickly following behind him. He got to the front desk where there was a young blond receptionist, "Hey Sophie. Molly just called me, said that someone was trying to pick up Farrah."
Sophie nodded, "Don't worry Mr Black, we've told her to wait in the waiting room. We haven't even let her see Farrah yet."
"Can I please see my niece?" Cameron asked as Kay placed a hand on his shoulder.
Sophie nodded, "I'll have Molly bring her out."
"Who is this woman?" Kay asked as the young woman got up.
"I honestly don't know. She says that she's Farrah's aunt. That's what caused us to call you right away because her name are on Farrah's pickup list."
As she walked away, Cameron and Kay shared a concerned look, "Kay, you don't think-"
Kay's eyes were laced with worry, "No... no, it can't be."
At that moment, a young Asian woman walked out with Farrah in her arms. "Look Farrah." She said pointing to Cameron who had a relieved smile on his face, "It's your uncle."
"Cam'mon!" Farrah exclaimed with glee as she was placed on the ground. She ran over and hugged Cameron's legs. The toddler glanced over and saw Kay next to Cameron. She was quick to let go of his legs and hug the agent's legs. "Kay!"
Kay smiled down at the little girl, "Hi baby girl."
Farrah held her arms up, "Up! Up!"
As Kay lifted the little girl up into her arms, giving the toddler a light kiss on the cheek, Cameron smiled to the caretakers, "Thanks for looking after her."
They both smiled but before either could respond, a voice called out, "Excuse me!" A brunette woman walked in a very expensive looking pantsuit, "If I have to be kept waiting any longer, I'll have to speak to your boss." She flicked her hair over her shoulder, "Now, I haven't asked for anything wrong. I simply want to see my niece."
Molly spoke up, "I understand that ma'am but you are not on Farrah's pickup list."
"Oh shut it." She turned to Sophie, "I don't care if I'm not on some stupid pickup list. I'm Valentina Blanc."
"Wait." Cameron finally spoke up, getting the woman's attention, "You're Valentina Blanc? As in... Shawn Blanc's sister?"
"More like he was my brother but yes." She gave him a quick once over, "And just who might you be? Butting into people's business like this."
Cameron raised an eyebrow, "I'm Cameron Black. Illusionist, FBI consultant and I happen to be Farrah's uncle and adoptive father." This woman reminded him a lot of her mother, Vanessa Blanc.
Valentina raised an eyebrow, "And who's she?" She asked gesturing to Kay.
"Kay Daniels, FBI." Kay replied as she hugged Farrah tighter. Not that the toddler minded as rested her head on Kay's shoulder. "What do you want with Farrah?"
The Blanc woman scoffed, "She's a Blanc. She belongs with her family."
"Well, actually, her full name is Farrah Anahita Black-Blanc-Jonbroni." Cameron replied as he crossed his arms, "Although she's Farrah Black for short."
"You changed her name?"
Cameron rolled his eyes, "Well, as much respect as I have for your brother, forgive me for thinking that I didn't want my niece to be directly associated with a killer. Her mother's killer I might add." Valentina's nose flared when he made that comment. Cameron wasn't usually so blunt and passive-aggressive but something about the Blancs just always rubbed him the wrong way.
Kay spoke up, "And why are you coming for her now? It's been almost a year."
Valentine took a step closer to the agent and the child. Farrah was quick to grip Kay's shirt collar and bury her face in the woman's shoulder when Valentina made eye contact with her. "We were busy."
"Too busy to even meet your brother's only child? The child his brother-in-law's been raising for the past nine months?" Kay challenged as stroked Farrah's back to sooth the frightened child. "Who knows what might have happened to her if Cameron hadn't taken her in. You should be thanking him."
"Thanking him? He's prevented us from seeing Flora."
"Farrah."
"Whatever."
"Hold on," Cameron said, "I haven't been preventing anyone from seeing anyone. During her adoption, the judge had a lawyer seek you out if you wanted custody of Farrah. You never even answered the lawyer so the judge made the rightful assumption that you didn't want her but you were never prevented from seeing her." He took his niece from and let her cling to him like a starfish, "Now if you and Shawn's other siblings would like a chance to meet, I would not be against that." Valentine looked Farrah in the eyes and the toddler was quick to look away again. "But I will not be giving you free access to her." He turned his head to the two caretakers, "Molly, Sophie, thank you for calling me. I'll be taking Farrah for the rest of the day." The two young women nodded as Cameron and Kay left the daycare centre with Farrah.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
Jonathan was in the conference room, looking through the traffic footage. He worked closely with this woman for months, in fact they almost got a little too close a few times but unlike the first time they almost got a little too close and it got him landed in prison, Jonathan kept her a distance. Any feelings he may have harboured for her were ironically gone the moment he realized that she had been the girl in Reykjavik. It was annoying him that he couldn't just spot her in a crowd, even if she had a disguise on. He should be able to recognize her.
There was then there was a knock at the door. Jonathan turned to find Lara by the door with a file in her hand. She was wearing a green hijab with dark green pants, a pale yellow tunic-type shirt with long puffed sleeves. Jonathan was still just in his leather jacket. "Hey." Lara smiled.
Jonathan cracked a smile, "Hi."
"Is this a bad time?"
"No, not at all."
"Where's the rest of your team?" She asked as she walked in.
"They went out for lunch about an hour ago and Cameron and Kay went to pick up Farrah and probably got something to eat too."
"You didn't go with any of them?"
He shook his head, "I had a bit of a late breakfast, I might eat later. Plus I'm still looking at all this footage," He pointed to the file in her hand, "What's that?"
"Oh." She smirked, "Remember how you asked me to see if I could find something on the Blancs?"
Jonathan raised his eyebrows, "You found something?"
"More like I found Shawn's will." She replied, handing him the file.
"Shawn's will?" He repeated. "I didn't know he had one." He opened the file and looked through his brother-in-law's will. Jonathan's eyes went wide, "So this is why they want Farrah now."
"That's what I'm thinking too." Lara nodded.
"Thank you for this." He smiled.
"Don't mention it." She chuckled, "This gave me a chance to get out of my office."
Just then Mike walked in, "Oh hey Lara."
"Hey Mike." She replied as her friend and co-worker came into the room.
"I didn't know you were still helping with the case."
Lara chuckled, "Well, I guess my work was still needed."
Mike grinned, "Well, glad to have you back on board."
At that moment, Dina, Jordan and Gunter walked back in having yet another lively discussion about food. "I'm just saying that chicken is the superior meat." Jordan argued.
"Then you've clearly never had a good steak" Gunter retorted.
"Can you fry a steak? Answer me that."
Jonathan cleared his throat to let his friends know that they were back in a work space. Dina's eyes fell to Lara and she gave a smile, "Hello there."
Lara smiled back to the British woman, "Hi. I'm Lara. You must be Dina."
"I am. So you're the Lara we've been hearing so much about." She grinned. "It's nice to finally meet you. I love your outfit." Dina couldn't help but compliment on the colourful fashion.
"Thank you. It's nice to meet you too. I love your top." Lara noted Dina's maroon blouse with white polka dots. She turned her head to the two other men, "And you must be Jordan and Gunter."
"Pleasure to meet you Lara." Gunter replied, giving her a polite smile.
"Kay and Mike say you're an archivist." Jordan spoke.
"It's not the most exciting job at the FBI but at least the hardest part of my job is reaching high shelves." She joked. The rest of team all gave a light laugh at what she said... and Dina couldn't help but notice the smile that stayed on Jonathan's face for the rest of the day.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
Despite Kay telling Cameron that they could reschedule, he insisted that he take her out for their usual date night. They shouldn't have to put their lives on hold because of the case. They weren't putting their lives on hold anymore, Cameron made sure of that. Dina sat on the couch as she put little braids in Farrah's hair while there was a Disney movie playing on the television. Jordan and Gunter were busy playing chess and Jordan was insisting that the rules were the same as checkers. Jonathan was busy showing Mike's sons, Jaime and Diego, a card trick while Mike was pretty amused by Gunter and Jordan's chess game. Dina noticed the blue fitted dress Kay was wearing as she walked into the apartment, "Well, well Kay, don't you look like a vision?"
Kay smiled at her friend, "Thank you. I feel bad that you're all just staying here."
"Don't feel bad Darling, it's very sweet of him to do this."
"It is." She saw the braids Dina was putting in Farrah's hair, "Thanks for keeping her busy."
"Don't worry about it. I love getting to spend time with this little angel." Dina smiled as she gave Farrah's head a light kiss, "I hope you don't mind but I also invited Lara over."
"I don't mind at all. In fact I'm glad you did, Lara's a great person and I think she'd like the team."
"CHECKMATE!" Jordan cried out.
"You're supposed to get my king, not my queen Jordan." Gunter rolled his eyes at the younger man's early celebration.
"What? But the queen is the best piece!"
"Actually, Gunter's right" Mike pointed out, "It's not game over until the king has nowhere to go."
"Well, that's just dumb!"
"Well, I know she'll like you." Kay joked as Dina let out a laugh.
Just then, Cameron came out of his room, dressed to the nines in a suit and tie. He smiled when he saw Kay, "You look amazing."
She grinned, "Not too shabby yourself."
"You know if I could, I'd take a picture of the two of right now as if I was sending you off to the prom... thankfully for you, I have my hands full." Dina said, gesturing to the little girl sitting on her lap.
Cameron rolled his eyes, "I don't know whether to be relieved or not." He turned to Kay, "We should probably head out. Our reservation is at 6:30."
Kay nodded, "Well, I brought my car so we should be fine."
Cameron gave a quick glance to Farrah. "You sure you guys are fine looking after her?"
"Cameron, Farrah's been fine without you for a few hours before." Kay reassured.
"Plus I have Farrah's schedule down to memory." Dina reminded as she finished braiding the right side of Farrah's head.
Cameron smirked, "Prove it."
"She needs to eat by 7:00, 7:30 at the latest or else she gets fussy. She needs to be with one of us at all times, her bedtime is technically 9:30 but if I can't manage to get her to sleep, I just hand her off to Jonathan and he'll take care of it."
"What?" Jonathan called out from the kitchen when he heard his name.
"Nothing!"
Kay raised her eyebrows in an 'I told you so' fashion, "See? Dina and the others have got this. Plus Lara's coming by and she's great with kids."
Cameron raised an amused eyebrow, "Oh really? Does Johnny know?"
"I haven't told him." Dina grinned.
Kay let out a silent chuckle, "Why not?"
"Let's just say... I'm performing my own experiment."
Cameron just shook his head as he held out his arm to Kay, "Shall we?"
Kay smirked as she took his arm, "Well, I don't have any other plans so why not?"
Cameron grinned took his jacket off the rack. As they headed out the door, Cameron made a quick glance back at Dina without Kay noticing and mouthed to her, "Wish me luck". Dina gave him a thumbs-up as she went back to give her full attention to Farrah.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
They drove in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Kay spoke up, "I do feel like I should be the one driving. I mean it is my car."
Cameron chuckled, "Afraid I'm gonna crash it?"
She smiled and rolled her eyes, "No, I just mean that it's been a long day, you've been taking of Farrah all day-"
"Kay, I'm not too tired to drive. Don't worry." He smiled
Kay smiled and relaxed in the passenger's seat, "So where are we going?"
"Where we had our first date."
Kay furrowed her brows as she looked down at her formal dress, "The hot-dog cart in Times Square?"
Cameron was silent for a moment, "Where we had our official first date."
"So... the hot-dog cart in Times Square?"
Cameron laughed, "That was not our official first date."
Kay grinned, "Yes it was!"
"That was not a date." Cameron playfully argued.
"Well, it had all the elements of a date. We went out, held hands, you bought the food, we talked and we laughed... and when the night was over, you kissed me goodnight."
"Alright... I see your point," He retorted, "But may I remind you of one very important thing?"
Kay smirked as she raised an eyebrow, "You may."
"Farrah was with us the whole time. Not exactly a date when you're bringing the baby with you."
Kay gave a soft smile, "She was just a baby then, wasn't she?"
"Yeah..."
"Now she's started walking on her own and she's talking more. Soon she'll be going to school and doing things on her own."
Cameron gave a quick glance to Kay, "You think about the future like that?"
"I guess. I never really thought much of kids before we found Farrah."
"You didn't?"
"Well, given the fact that I'm an agent and things with Isaac had just fallen apart so easily... I just didn't think much of the future and just focused more on the present."
"And now?"
"I definitely think more of the future now than I have since... well, ever." She smiled. He smiled as well as a thought ran through his mind when she spoke again, "Either way, I consider that night to be our first official date because it was just a nice night. I don't care that Farrah had been with us, I think it was also the first time we'd taken her out since the case ended and that's what makes it special." Cameron's smile only grew. Kay noticed the big grin on his face, "What is it?"
He lightly shook his head, giving her another glance, "Nothing... I just love you."
She smiled at him as she raised her arm to stroke his cheek, "I love you too."
She only managed to stroke his cheek for a few seconds she winced in pain and hand to put her arm down. He noticed her action, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"Kay..."
She sighed, "My shoulder's acting up a little."
"Do you have your pain killers?"
Kay shook her head, "I have them at work and at home but I don't have them with me. I haven't needed them for a while."
"Well, we are closer to your office than your apartment. We could have you do get them, you always have your work ID with you." Cameron offered.
"No, I don't want to get in the way of the dinner you worked to put together. Plus we might miss our reservation."
Cameron shrugged, "So what if we're a little late? It'd be better than you being in pain all night."
"No, I'll be fine Cameron."
"I won't be able to enjoy myself knowing you're in pain."
She gave him an amused look, "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Well, it would be helpful." Kay replied. Cameron drove the car to FBI bureau and within five minutes they were there. Kay opened the door to her office, and she and Cameron walked inside. "I'm sorry that this got in the way of date night." Kay said. "I haven't really needed the pain killers lately but I-"
"It's fine Kay." Cameron smiled and shook his head, "I can understand how important it is."
"Thank you." Kay said as she opened her desk's bottom drawers "Whenever I actually end up needing them, I'm usually at work or at home so I just stopped carrying them around with me." She joked. She didn't notice Cameron giving a soft smile as he fiddled with something in his jacket pocket. This was a much better place for this. She took the bottle of pain killers, placed them in her bag and stood up straight as she made her way back over to him, "Shall we? I think we can still make that dinner. We could just get the chicken and promise not to order dessert."
"Well, that does sound appealing... and given that I am a world-class magician, I could even turn the chicken into a steak if you wanted." Cameron chuckled, "But actually Kay, now that I think about it, could you take a look in your top desk drawer? I think I left something in there this morning."
Kay furrowed her brows as she walked back to her desk, "Okay..." She opened the first drawer in her desk. There was nothing different in there except a three of hearts card. "Uh Cameron? I don't get it's just a..." When she looked up, she found Cameron down on one knee holding out a black velvet box, "Card..."
Cameron gulped as he gave a nervous smile, "Ta-da..."
Yes, I'm leaving you on a cliff-hanger. I'm surprised you're surprised.
I know this chapter was a... little longer than usual but there was a lot of important stuff that needed to happen!
I hoped you guys liked it. If you did, please tell me what you thought. I hope you'll join me for some answers next time :3