Chapter 5



"Gabriel, your knee seems to be healing nicely. I think I can take the cast off now. You will need to wear a brace for a few weeks though." Dr. Granur held up a knee brace and continued. "It's rather small to allow a little movement of the knee but still provides the support you need. You can probably go down to using just one crutch as well, but you still need to keep as much weight off of that leg as possible."

"Thanks, Jaime," Gabriel told the doctor once the brace had been fitted to his knee.

Dr. Granur chuckled. "You know, Gabriel, it probably isn't a good sign that we're on a first-name basis."

"Why's that?"

"Because it probably means you're in here too often."

They joined in his laughter, but Gabriel stopped after a second with a wince and placed his hand over his ribs. The doctor looked at him with concern. "Your ribs still hurting?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Just sometimes."

He frowned, not knowing whether his patient was telling him the truth or not but having to take his word for it. "Just take it easy."

Gabriel hobbled out of the room ten minutes later with the help of his crutch while Renee walked behind him. When they arrived home, Meghan was sitting on the couch with her great-grandfather struggling through the words of a book. Seth was helping her with the most difficult ones. Gabriel grinned and whispered to Renee, "She's not even your daughter, and yet somehow she got an interest in reading from you."

Seth looked up at them and smiled in greeting. "She's a quick learner. Will probably start getting into your shelves soon, Renee." He grabbed his jacket from the back of a chair. "I'm gonna go out jobhunting again."

"You really don't have to do that."

"Gabriel, I will not be a freeloader."

Gabriel sighed in frustration as the older man walked out the door. "Ex-soldiers are so hard to live with."

"You're not exactly easy to live with, and you were never a soldier," Renee teased.

"You've never complained before. I thought you enjoyed it." He grinned at her.

"I never said I didn't. Just that you aren't easy to live with." She wrapped her arm gently around him and raised her face to his. Their lips met in a deep kiss. They were pulled out of the moment by a gagging sound coming from the couch. Renee turned and laughed at the disgusted look on Meghan's face. "Sorry, Meghan," she apologized, still laughing.

Gabriel sat on the couch and propped his leg up on the coffee table. "I'm going to put Amie down for her nap," Renee said as she lifted their daughter from her playpen.

Ten minutes later she walked back down the stairs. Just as she reached the bottom, the front door slammed open.

*******

Larry watched as Renee and Gabriel entered the house. He grinned wickedly. His enemy was still dependent on a crutch to walk. That should make what he planned to do much easier. He smiled as the old man left. 'Good,' he thought to himself. 'Means one I won't have to worry about.'

He had waited so long to strike again so they'd let their guard down. Now was the perfect time. Even if they hadn't forgotten about him, they wouldn't be worrying that he was coming. They would think he had given up. That unfortunate misconception would soon be revealed.

He made his way to the house and opened the door with a slam. When Renee saw him, she instantly knew who it was even though she had never seen him, and her face paled. Gabriel had a similar reaction. He pushed himself up from the couch and slowly made his way to the door. "What are you doing here?" He demanded to know. "Why don't you just leave me alone?"

"I told you you'd pay. I'm just keeping my word."

"Because I wouldn't buy something from you? It was completely bogus."

"Because you called me crazy. You didn't take me seriously. Now you'll pay."

Gabriel put all of his weight on his left leg and swung his crutch at Larry's legs. The other man jumped out of the way, drawing his gun at the same time. "That was a stupid move, boy."

Just as he cocked the gun, a wail sounded from upstairs. Renee was torn between checking on her daughter and staying with her husband. Gabriel gave her a look that told her to go upstairs. She started up the steps, but Larry yelled, "Stay down here!"

She turned and glared at him. "My daughter is crying, and I am going to see what's wrong with her."

Larry turned his attention to Gabriel. He pushed him onto the couch, and the injured man groaned when the movement jarred his knee. "Stay there." He let out a cruel laugh. "Not that you'd make it very far anyway."

He followed Renee up the stairs with his gun on her. Once they were out of sight, Gabriel whispered urgently to Meghan, "Get out of here. Go to the neighbor's and call Sara."

She jumped off of the couch and ran silently out the door. Gabriel glanced at the stairs, then struggled to his feet and made his way over to the phone. Meghan didn't even know Sara's number; He just wanted to get her out of the house.

Upstairs, Renee was lifting Amie out of the crib. "All right. You have her. Now, get back downstairs," Larry demanded impatiently.

Renee glared at him but held back a sharp retort. She started back down the stairs with Amie against her shoulder. Larry prodded her in the back with his gun. She stumbled but held onto her daughter and managed to keep her balance. "Are you trying to kill us?"

His grin held no amusement, only cruelty. "That is my plan. Now get going."

Her look of fear only fed him. He prodded her in the back again, but she wouldn't let herself stumble again. They were halfway down the steps before they could see into the living room. when Larry saw Gabriel lifting the phone from its cradle, he was enraged. He sent a bullet into the phone, causing Gabriel to jump back in shock and fear. The shot had just barely missed his hand. Instead it shattered the top half of the phone.

Renee stared in fearful silence as he descended the last several steps and purposefully strode toward her husband. "I told you to stay on the couch," he said in a menacing tome as he sent his fist into the other man's stomach.

Gabriel fell to the floor, doubled over in pain. Larry grabbed his shirt and pulled him to his feet. "Don't even think I'm gonna let you get out of this alive." He turned to Renee and yelled, "Get down here now, and shut that baby up!" Amie still hadn't stopped crying.

Renee glared at him as she stepped onto the floor. "She's getting over an ear infection, so she's gonna cry."

"Well, get her to shut up already."

the door opened again, and the three of them glanced at the new arrival. It only took a second for Seth's mind to process what was happening. Then, he was moving quickly across the room while Larry raised his gun. Before he could squeeze off a shot, however, Seth was right in front of him. He chopped down with the heel of his hand on the intruder's wrist, causing him to drop the gun. The older man deftly retrieved it when Larry grabbed his wrist. "Get out of here," he growled. "And stay away from my family."

Larry threw a glare at Gabriel that sent a chill down his spine, then backed out the door. Once he was gone, Gabriel turned to his grandfather with a thankful, yet weak smile. "Guess it's a good thing I decided to take a break from hunting to get some lunch," Seth said, his ever-present wide smile on his face. "Meghan ran out of the neighbor's when she saw me. All I could make out was 'Bad man inside. Call Sara. Don't know number.' Everything else was jumbled together. Could tell something was wrong, so I told her to stay there while I checked it out. Glad I did."

"Good thing you've kept yourself in shape, old man," Gabriel said with a grin.

"Hey, watch it, youngster." He grew concerned when he noticed his grandson was extremely pale, and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. "Are you all right, Gabe?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." His breakfast took that moment to disagree with him. Falling to his knees, he began to retch. Once he finished vomiting, he struggled to his feet. Seth grabbed his arm and helped him over to the couch.

"You are definitely not fine." Renee handed Amie to Seth, and she sat on the couch beside her husband. "Your ribs are still bothering you. I see you grimace with pain every time you do something you're not ready for yet. why didn't you tell the doctor?"

"Because I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You're hurt. Why are you so damn stubborn?"

"He couldn't do anything anyway. He'd just tell me to take it easy so they could heal."

"Then why don't you actually do that?"

He knew she was right, but he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Gabriel," Renee said his name softly, reaching out to touch his chin. He looked up, his soft brown eyes meeting her darker ones. Her other hand reached out to brush his neck.

Seth could see what was transpiring and cleared his throat. "I'm gonna take Amie for a walk. I'll grab Meghan as well."

They didn't take their eyes from each other when they nodded. As soon as he was gone, Gabriel moved his hands around her neck, his thumb brushing along the line of her jaw. His fingers would around some loose strands of her hair, and he pulled her up against him. She could feel the trembling of his body as the fear left him.

Their lips met in a passionate kiss, and Gabriel's tongue explored her mouth. She responded with a small groan, and her body pressed closer to his. After several minutes, they remembered they still needed to breathe. Pulling apart, Gabriel let his hands travel down her back. She leaned into him again, her lips brushing against his cheek this time. The touch of her lips left a trail down his neck.

His body was responding to her touch; she could feel it through their clothes. His fingers fumbled with the buttons on her shirt, in a hurry to remove it. She wasn't making the process any easier, not able to keep her lips off of his. It finally fell to the floor in a pile.

Her hands moved underneath his shirt almost by instinct and pulled it over his head. They traveled down his chest and across his stomach once his shirt had joined hers. Her hands traveled to his back. Her fingers traced around his shoulder blades, down his spine, then back up to his shoulders. Gabriel wrapped his hands around her waist and lowered himself onto the couch with her on top of him.

His fingers brushed lightly across her cheek, then he leaned in to take another kiss. She twisted her fingers through his hair and deepened their kiss. He groaned involuntarily as she pressed against him, her weight heavy on his damaged ribs. Renee pulled away quickly, apologizing, "I'm so sorry. We shouldn't be doing this. Your ribs-."

He placed a finger over her lips and shook his head. "Never say that again, Renee. Ever."

She couldn't resist the deep passionate look in his eyes. Lowering herself back down on top of him, she caressed his ear with her lips. He kissed the soft skin of her neck then raised his head to look in her eyes. "You are so beautiful," he whispered. He pushed her loose hair behind her ears and ran his fingers down to her chin.

Renee moved her hands gently down his sides to the top of his jeans. He fumbled with the button on her jeans while she undid his. As he pulled off her pants, his fingers caressed every inch of bare skin. She shivered with pleasure from his touch. Their jeans finally fell to the floor in a pile.

*******

"You know," Darvi said to her younger sister. "Neither of us have set a date for the weddings yet."

"We could always have a double wedding," Dakota suggested.

"That would wonderful. As long as the men agree to it. But we still need a date."

"Sometime around Christmas. I'd like to have a winter wedding."

"Not before. It's too hectic then as it is. How about in January once things from the holidays have settled down?"

"How about the eleventh?"

"For what?" Jason asked, walking into the room with Ian behind him.

Dakota smiled at him. "Our double wedding. Does that date sound good to you?"

"Sounds perfect," he said as he crossed the room and encircled her in his arms.

*******

"Is that what you meant by taking it easy?" Gabriel asked as he grinned at Renee.

"Not exactly." She couldn't believe she was laying there in his arms. It was just a little more than a year and a half ago that she was denying how she felt about him. Now, she was giving herself to him completely. She nestled deeper into his chest and closed her eyes.