Ch 13
Mark Rosenbloom was feeling peaceful for the first time in years; since Astrid got sick to be exact. He had thrown himself into his work after her death. Losing his second wife to an illness was too much to bare. He knew he shouldn't have left Jake to raise Atticus, but he was in no condition to be a parent to either boy after her death; no man should have to bury two wives. Jake was so protective of his little brother, it was like he had become a mix of father and best friend. Now that time, and a new love had come into his life, he wanted to try and reconnect with his sons.
Atticus was home that Tuesday. Jake had been at class, but Mark heard the back door open and close. He also heard indistinct talking coming from the kitchen. Jake's voice and a female voice. Mark rose from his chair in his office to investigate. He had barely reached his office door when a knock sounded.
"Dad?" Jake's voice said. He cautiously leaned his head around the door to peer inside.
"Jake, what are you doing home? I thought you had class all day?" Mark said.
"I do, I'm just taking a little of the afternoon off. I wanted to talk to you. Actually, both of us did." Jake said with apprehension in his voice. He pushed the office door open all the way revealing a pretty, strawberry brunette with piercing green eyes. She said nothing, but gave him a small smile. "Dad, you remember Amy Cahill, my girlfriend? Amy, my dad, Mark."
Mark had an instant scowl on his face. He sighed audibly and whipped off his reading glasses. He went to speak, but then stopped. Both Mark and Amy stood appraising each other for a few seconds. Neither one blinking or looking away.
Finally, Jake broke the silence. "Dad, Amy's at Harvard now. She's finishing up high school this semester and plans to start full time next semester. That's good news, right?"
Jake looked hopeful as his father wasn't yelling yet. "Dad, we…" Jake started, but was cut off by his father.
"Nuh, uh, me first," Mark said to his son. "Have a seat, both of you."
Amy tried to keep her anxiety from rising to her throat. She'd dealt with lots of people over the years who hated her, but most of them wanted to kill her. She knew how to fight back with that sort of hatred. This was a very different kind. This was a hatred she had to win over. The problem was, she had no idea how to do that. She tried not to wince when Mark spoke again,
"I know my sons think I'm too dense to figure out their plan, but I caught on pretty quickly that every single time I saw them, they made a point to tell me something amazing, interesting, helpful or…adorable about you and your brother. It became a sort of a Cahill Jeopardy Daily Double from them about you two. It didn't take me too long to figure out they were trying to soften me up."
Jake looked sheepishly at his father.
"I didn't know you knew that was intentional." Jake said, his ears going pink.
Mark Rosenbloom looked wanly at Jake, then said in an impression of Jake's voice, "'Dad, did you know that Amy has the same love of Renaissance literature as Astrid?' Or, 'Dad did you know that Cahills helped found Harvard all those years ago?' I felt like there was going to be a quiz at the end. Atticus was doing it too. I should have written them all down. I'd have an essay by now."
Mark sighed and looked at Jake.
Jake leaned back on his chair and gave an embarrassed smile. "We just wanted you to start to see Dan and Amy the way we see them."
"I know you did. You've also tried to convince me that you love Amy."
Mark looked at Amy now, "Do you love him?" he said to her, inclining his head to Jake.
Amy felt like she was on Jeopardy now. What is 'yes', ran through her head before she nodded and simply answered "Yes".
"Look, I don't love the idea of my sons being so deeply ensconced with the Cahill family, but I could have handled myself better last year in Spain. You were trying to present yourself politely, and I was extremely rude to you. Once everything came to light about Pierce and what he was planning, well, I realized my mistake regarding your intentions Amy." Mark said, pausing and looking at Jake and Amy alternatingly.
He continued, "Part of my concern stems from all the secrecy around Cahills. Every time I asked questions about you or your brother I was met with redirection, sleight of hand, or empty stares. My biggest question is about LaCher. I need some answers from you two. I've been trying to piece together what happened to her, but I want to hear it from you, specifically, Amy."
Amy sat upright; better to yank the band aid off cleanly, "LaCher was the only person who could help us locate an item we needed to help free hostages from my family. Damian Vesper, I think you've been filled in on his organization, was holding my family hostage unless my brother and I helped track down all of his requests. LaCher had the next piece he needed and she agreed to help us. Nobody, not even LaCher, knew how much danger we were in."
"Atticus was in great danger dad, but I knew keeping him with Amy and Dan was the safest way to protect him. Damian needed Dan and Amy alive, so staying with them was the best way to keep Att alive."
Mark Rosenbloom scowled. "Why did you all just leave LaCher at the hospital? She could have died and you just left Brazil! Jake, what were you thinking?" Mark said with emotion.
Jake opened his mouth to respond, but Amy touched his arm. He needed to hear this from her.
"Dr. Rosenbloom," Amy began with his formal title, hoping it would help to show respect, "I know how it looks. We kept calling the hospital from the plane to see how she was doing. We didn't want anything to happen to her either. However, Damian Vesper only gave us 32 hours to get the folio page to New York City or he was going to kill another hostage. He had already killed two and he wasn't afraid to kill more. We had no choice."
Mark looked at Jake, "Yes, you did. You could have called the authorities! You could have called me!" Jake's face looked stricken. Amy hated seeing him be questioned by his father. Jake was the most upstanding, trustworthy, loyal person she knew.
Amy took a deep breath, "Dr. Rosenbloom, you're wrong." His face showed surprise at being questioned in his own office by a teenage girl. Amy persisted, "Your son is a big part of why we defeated the Vespers and why we know as much about Astrid's death and guardianship as we do. Without Atticus, and specifically, Jake, all of the hostages would be dead."
"Your son," Amy paused to look at Jake. She had that fierce, strong look on her face. He knew whatever was coming would be powerful. He wondered how his father would take it. This was the Amy he had fallen in love with. The decisive, sure, confident Amy that had led the hunt not only for the Vespers, but for the antidote for the serum as well. Her look buoyed Jake's spirits.
"is the most loyal, true, fierce partner I could ask for. He always had Atticus' safety in the forefront of his mind and not a second went by when he wasn't making some decision that benefitted Atticus' well-being. You have two amazing sons. I know I'm not your favorite person, but I love Jake and we've been through hell together. All four of us have. Atticus, Dan, they're in this up to here too." Amy gestured to her forehead. Amy paused and took a breath then continued. "We all developed a bond that won't easily be broken. When I found out LaCher had survived and that she had found you, I was overjoyed. So many people associated with the Vespers died and Pierce hated Dan and I especially because he was spurned by my mother a long time ago. That's why he wanted us dead. I tried, unsuccessfully, to push Jake away from me. I couldn't bear the thought of standing over another grave; his grave, or Atticus'. Dan and I are in this whether we want to or not, but your sons have a choice. I thought, by pushing Jake away, he'd leave and live out a happy life away from me and my family's trouble."
Jake grabbed her hand and gave her a penetrating gaze. This was the first time he'd heard her break this part of their history down. He felt a deep affection bubble up inside him for her. He teared up.
Mark Rosenbloom had been intent on Amy's speech, but when Jake grabbed her hand, his gaze traveled over to his son. He was caught off guard; his normally confident son, looked like he was about to cry. He had never seen Jake show this much raw emotion before. He really did love Amy. That much was clear.
Amy continued without looking at Jake. She knew if she did, she'd lose it. "But, nothing I said made any difference. He stuck with me even when I repeatedly told him not to. If he had listened to me…I'd be dead right now. Jake saved my life. At least twice, probably more." Amy looked down at their clasped hands and she gave his hand a squeeze. He squeezed back.
She looked back up at Mark, "So, it boils down to this. Jake and I love each other, he knows everything there is to know about Cahills and he loves me in spite of it all. He's an amazing big brother to Atticus and he's incredibly selfless. If you aren't already, you should be very proud of him. I know it's going to take time for you to hopefully warm up to Dan and me, but I'm asking you to try."
Amy stopped speaking, having run out of things to say. Mark sat quietly looking across the desk at her, occasionally flicking his eyes to Jake. Amy never wavered in her stare at Mark. She wasn't going to back down on this.
Mark chewed on the inside of his cheek and sighed. "You remind me of Astrid. I take it you've heard all about her from the boys?"
Amy's serious expression softened a bit. She even dared a glance over at Jake. Jake had a lopsided smile on his face.
"Y-yes." Amy stammered. She hadn't expected him to bring Astrid up.
"See, I told you that Amy." Jake said, looking over at her with eyes alight.
They both turned back to Mark. "I appreciate your candidness. I want to know a lot more about the Cahill family and why all the secrecy, but I am open to…having you around. Dan too." Mark looked between Jake and Amy again, resting his gaze on their clasped hands. "It's very clear to me that you both love each other and, well, I know how hard it is for Atticus to make friends, so Dan's friendship to him means the world to me."
Amy let out a sigh she had apparently been holding in.
"Thanks Dad, I love you." Jake said rising from his chair and rounding the desk to hug his father.
"Thank you, Dr. Rosenbloom," Amy said, also standing.
"Please, call me Mark from now on," He said giving Amy a very small smile.
"Ok, thank you…Mark." Amy said, backing toward the door. Jake shut the office door and led Amy toward the staircase where they'd be out of earshot,
"Ames, you were incredible in there!" He said swooping his arms around her and pulling her close.
Amy buried her head in the crook of Jake's neck. She was about to collapse. She didn't respond but just held on to Jake so tightly. He sensed her emotion and didn't say anything further but just stood there holding her against him. Amy needed his strength right then. Not only his physical strength, but the emotional strength he had always given her. He managed to be strong when she couldn't. This was one of those times. Finally, he pulled back from her to study her face. A single tear ran down her cheek. He looked worried.
"Hey, it's alright, you were great in there. You got him to see the real Amy Cahill." Jake smiled, "he's about as stubborn as you are, so if you got through to him, you must have done something right."
Amy smiled at Jake, her arms still around his neck. A shocked look came over her face, "I wasn't ready for that today. I didn't expect to have to lay it all out for him like that."
Jake looked deep into her eyes, "You did what you had to do. You wowed him Ames. You know," Jake said, starting, "I hadn't ever heard you lay out that time when we were broken up before. I still can't believe you thought I'd just walk away from you. I could no more do that than, than sing on stage with Jonah!" Jake finished with a laugh.
"I was just trying to protect you both. I loved you too much to see you die because of me; because of Cahill business. Too many people have died because of the Cahill name. I couldn't have your names be on that list too."
"I know, but neither could any of us. If we lost you, it would have been catastrophic, especially for me." He looked into her eyes, searching, "But it was too late then, and it is way too late now for me to back out. I'm in this for good with you Amy. You are 'la mia anima'. My 'mate anima mea'." Jake pulled her close, his gorgeous features inches from her face, his eyes searching hers. His right hand came up behind her head. He lowered his lips to hers, "My soulmate."