****
Original Sin
- Part Thirty Three
Disclaimer: See Part 1
Rating: PG
--
Frank looked at Kennedi, little Rayleigh in his arms cooing softly. Cisco had left a brief few seconds previously, bounding down the hallways shouting his head off for his 'PaPa'.
"Thank you."
"For what Frank?"
"For telling him about me."
Keni sighed and leaned back in the chaise. "What did you think I would do? I'm not a completely heartless bitch, Frank. He's known about you since the time he could understand what Mum and Dads meant. He missed you quite a bit. Each time it broke my heart to tell him that he'd get to meet you later."
Frank sat down in the matching chaise opposite her, across the fireplace. He looked down to see Rayleigh asleep holding his finger in an iron grip. "She looks like you."
"And Cisco looks like you, except for the gray eyes. Frank Donovan, meet Rayleigh Francesca Donovan."
"She's so tiny." A thought donned on him and he looked up with the question in his eyes.
Keni nodded and sighed. "Yes."
"So... you were pregnant when you crashed out of the hotel window... and leaped onto the speeding train... and took a swan dive into a frozen lake?"
"Apparently so. But I didn't find out until after I arrived here. I turned up late a few weeks or so after Aaron called me and told me about the arrests and how you interrogated him about where I was. A pregnancy test confirmed it. She's three months old, born October 31."
Frank nodded and looked down at his daughter. "Why?"
"Hmm?"
He looked up. "Why? Why did you leave me in the first place? Was it because of my work?"
Keni closed her eyes. "No. It was me. When we married, you were under the assumption that I was merely Kee Jo's fiancée. You never knew that I was actually KeJo, the ringleader of the jewel thieves. One day, while you were gone, I received a letter from Granger. I thought he'd been arrested with everyone else. He knew that you and I were married and he threatened to tell you the truth about who I was. If I didn't do what he wanted, he said he'd kill you. Frank, you have to believe me when I tell you that I did it to keep you safe. I was also scared."
"Of what?"
"That you'd hate me. By the time I got to London, I knew I was a month or so pregnant. If you found out that I'd run, AND was pregnant, I knew you'd hunt me down. But, shortly before Cisco was born, I went back to D.C. to find you. You were gone, reassigned and no one would tell me where. So I went to Colorado where Cisco was born. After that, the letters began again, threatening you and then Cisco. When he was 3 months old, I flew to France to my parents' summer home and gave him to them. They've raised him most of his life. I made them promise that they would teach him about you, and I answered his questions as best I could when they came."
"And the second time last year?"
"I was tired. Tired of running and the threats. I wasn't thinking at all except for writing that letter to you and leaving you Granger's address. I knew you'd remember eventually that my parents lived in London and you'd come after me. I just never knew when."
"The divorce?"
"Was a bluff to push your buttons. I knew if you remained angry at me, you wouldn't have time to romance me or pay that close attention to me."
"So you could steal the jewels."
"Yes. Just after Christmas I received a letter from Granger that said he knew where Cisco was and he knew where you were. In exchange for your safety, he wanted the jewels. If it had just been physical harm he'd threatened, I wouldn't have done it. Frank, he threatened to kill you after telling you who I was. I couldn't let him do that. I bought your safety with those jewels."
Frank nodded and watched Rayleigh as she slept. Quietly Keni stood up and crossed over to where her husband and daughter sat. Carefully she pulled the baby out of her father's arms and turned to put her back to bed. After making sure that she was asleep, Keni turned back to Frank.
"It's over Frank. No more heists, no more running, nothing. If you still want the divorce after everything I've done to you, then I'll agree to whatever terms you come up with." Her voice was quiet, the tone similar to that when she'd told him on the train that she couldn't go with him. She sounded defeated and tired.
Frank looked up at her for a moment. "There are times, woman, I think you're out of your mind." He reached up and grasped her hand to yank her down across his lap. He shifted his grip on her so that her neck lay across his arm and her head tilted back up at him. "I love you. Loved you then, loved you when you acted like a world class idiot and I love you now. There is no way in hell I'm letting you go."
To prove it, he sealed it with a firm and insistent kiss on her lips. Kennedi's free hand came up over his shoulder and pressed against the back of his head as she deepened the kiss. In the firelight, the diamonds in her wedding and engagement rings sparkled as if to say that Mr. and Mrs. Donovan were here to stay for all time.
Outside in the hallway, young Cisco peeped in through the hallway doors. Aaron was right behind him with a smile.
"Well, Master Cisco. Looks like you and I get to move to Chicago with your Mum and Dads." he whispered.
****
- finis
Original Sin
- Part Thirty Three
Disclaimer: See Part 1
Rating: PG
--
Frank looked at Kennedi, little Rayleigh in his arms cooing softly. Cisco had left a brief few seconds previously, bounding down the hallways shouting his head off for his 'PaPa'.
"Thank you."
"For what Frank?"
"For telling him about me."
Keni sighed and leaned back in the chaise. "What did you think I would do? I'm not a completely heartless bitch, Frank. He's known about you since the time he could understand what Mum and Dads meant. He missed you quite a bit. Each time it broke my heart to tell him that he'd get to meet you later."
Frank sat down in the matching chaise opposite her, across the fireplace. He looked down to see Rayleigh asleep holding his finger in an iron grip. "She looks like you."
"And Cisco looks like you, except for the gray eyes. Frank Donovan, meet Rayleigh Francesca Donovan."
"She's so tiny." A thought donned on him and he looked up with the question in his eyes.
Keni nodded and sighed. "Yes."
"So... you were pregnant when you crashed out of the hotel window... and leaped onto the speeding train... and took a swan dive into a frozen lake?"
"Apparently so. But I didn't find out until after I arrived here. I turned up late a few weeks or so after Aaron called me and told me about the arrests and how you interrogated him about where I was. A pregnancy test confirmed it. She's three months old, born October 31."
Frank nodded and looked down at his daughter. "Why?"
"Hmm?"
He looked up. "Why? Why did you leave me in the first place? Was it because of my work?"
Keni closed her eyes. "No. It was me. When we married, you were under the assumption that I was merely Kee Jo's fiancée. You never knew that I was actually KeJo, the ringleader of the jewel thieves. One day, while you were gone, I received a letter from Granger. I thought he'd been arrested with everyone else. He knew that you and I were married and he threatened to tell you the truth about who I was. If I didn't do what he wanted, he said he'd kill you. Frank, you have to believe me when I tell you that I did it to keep you safe. I was also scared."
"Of what?"
"That you'd hate me. By the time I got to London, I knew I was a month or so pregnant. If you found out that I'd run, AND was pregnant, I knew you'd hunt me down. But, shortly before Cisco was born, I went back to D.C. to find you. You were gone, reassigned and no one would tell me where. So I went to Colorado where Cisco was born. After that, the letters began again, threatening you and then Cisco. When he was 3 months old, I flew to France to my parents' summer home and gave him to them. They've raised him most of his life. I made them promise that they would teach him about you, and I answered his questions as best I could when they came."
"And the second time last year?"
"I was tired. Tired of running and the threats. I wasn't thinking at all except for writing that letter to you and leaving you Granger's address. I knew you'd remember eventually that my parents lived in London and you'd come after me. I just never knew when."
"The divorce?"
"Was a bluff to push your buttons. I knew if you remained angry at me, you wouldn't have time to romance me or pay that close attention to me."
"So you could steal the jewels."
"Yes. Just after Christmas I received a letter from Granger that said he knew where Cisco was and he knew where you were. In exchange for your safety, he wanted the jewels. If it had just been physical harm he'd threatened, I wouldn't have done it. Frank, he threatened to kill you after telling you who I was. I couldn't let him do that. I bought your safety with those jewels."
Frank nodded and watched Rayleigh as she slept. Quietly Keni stood up and crossed over to where her husband and daughter sat. Carefully she pulled the baby out of her father's arms and turned to put her back to bed. After making sure that she was asleep, Keni turned back to Frank.
"It's over Frank. No more heists, no more running, nothing. If you still want the divorce after everything I've done to you, then I'll agree to whatever terms you come up with." Her voice was quiet, the tone similar to that when she'd told him on the train that she couldn't go with him. She sounded defeated and tired.
Frank looked up at her for a moment. "There are times, woman, I think you're out of your mind." He reached up and grasped her hand to yank her down across his lap. He shifted his grip on her so that her neck lay across his arm and her head tilted back up at him. "I love you. Loved you then, loved you when you acted like a world class idiot and I love you now. There is no way in hell I'm letting you go."
To prove it, he sealed it with a firm and insistent kiss on her lips. Kennedi's free hand came up over his shoulder and pressed against the back of his head as she deepened the kiss. In the firelight, the diamonds in her wedding and engagement rings sparkled as if to say that Mr. and Mrs. Donovan were here to stay for all time.
Outside in the hallway, young Cisco peeped in through the hallway doors. Aaron was right behind him with a smile.
"Well, Master Cisco. Looks like you and I get to move to Chicago with your Mum and Dads." he whispered.
****
- finis