One of my wonderful beta readers gave me some extra ideas for this part. Thank you J, you helped make it a better chapter.
Tenderness and Terror
Friday morning dawned bright and warm, and as Jesse rolled over in bed he smiled and began to think over the plan for the day in his mind. As he lay there his eyes never strayed from Rae's face. She was still fast asleep, and he knew that she would probably be so for a long while yet. There was no doubt that she was a home bird. He knew from what she had told him that her upbringing had been happy and content, and that she had always felt the safest inside her own home, he guessed that was still the case.
They were different in so many ways, and yet neither one of them was complete without the other. He closed his eyes again as his thoughts began to wander over their lives. She had been born in London, she had three sisters, and although they were now living on different sides of the world and she didn't talk about them much, he knew that she wrote to them regularly, normally by e-mail, and eagerly awaited their replies. His mother lived much closer, in Minneapolis St Paul, and yet it would take a minor miracle to have her write to him, let alone call. He had no brothers or sisters to contact, he regretted it sometimes, but he had Steve and Amanda and they more than made up for that.
As for his dad, well, it had been a bit of a shock to find out that the mild mannered accountant was really a secret agent. Guess that makes me son of superman, or something but it wasn't the sort of thing you could boast about at Bob's. He stopped thinking as he saw Rae shift in her sleep. Her face was at peace, and he knew that her dreams were being kind to her.
Dreams, he wondered what she had dreamt of as a child. He had a feeling it had included excitement and adventure, but with a strong base to return to. Now it was up to him to provide that for her. He hoped that once the baby was born she wouldn't go back to being a cop, but he wouldn't force it either way. He knew being a mom changed people, being a dad too. His thoughts all stopped then except one. I'm going to be a dad! I'M GONNA BE A DAD.
"I know you are, Honey, but could you keep the noise down, you'll wake the baby before it's born!" Rae turned with a sleepy smile on her face, her voice still thick from the dreams she had been pulled from.
"Rae, oh, I am so sorry, I didn't realise I spoke aloud. But I am, I'm gonna be a dad. I can't believe it happened… Rae, how did it happen?"
"Ok, well, first of all you have this little sperm …"
"No, stupid! How did you get pregnant, I thought you were on the pill." Jesse looked at her with concern on his face, maybe she didn't want to be pregnant, he hadn't asked her if she was ok with having a child, her fourth remember.
"I was, but when I was injured, when Donovan… Well you know what he did. I stopped taking them. I kept forgetting, and so in the end … well you weren't with me anymore, so I had no need to take them. I just never started up again."
Jesse looked at her and he knew he had to ask. "Rae, do you want this baby?"
"Jesse!"
"Well, it seems to have screwed your life up already, and it isn't gonna make an appearance for months. I need to know if you want to have our baby or not." Rae leant over him and began to kiss him, but he pushed her away. "Stop evading the issue, I need to know. Rae, am I the only one who wants this baby?"
"No, Jess, you aren't the only one. I want to have your baby, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I just worry that the rest of my life may not be as long as I would like it to be." Rae paused, she couldn't allow herself to think like that and then she began to smile. "We are gonna be a family, Jesse, a mum a dad and a baby. You and me. Oh, Jesse." This time when she began to kiss him he didn't push her away, he had his answer, and it was all he needed to know.
It was just after eight when Martin heard the thud of the mail as it fell on his mat. He got out of bed and wandered out into the living area and picked it up. There was one letter, addressed to 'Mr. M. Anderson' he opened it carefully and then unfolded the single sheet of paper inside.
Your van will be parked at Franklin Canyon Reservoir, off Coldwater Canyon at four am Monday morning. Be there, the van will be gone by five.
Taped to the letter was a key, which was obviously to a truck and also a smaller key. There were no instructions, so Martin took out his key chain and attached them to it. Then as there was no chance of him getting back to sleep he went and changed into his running kit and decided to pound the streets for a while.
Not long after the mail arrived for Martin, Steve felt a hand on his shoulder. "Sir, it is ten past eight, and breakfast is served."
"What, what?" Steve opened his eyes, and as he had done every morning since his accident tried to rub them before remembering that he couldn't. As always it started his day off badly and he turned to the man standing next to his bed. "What? Ten past eight and you expect me to get up! What do I have to get up for? Nothing. Now go away and leave me alone."
"If that is the way you wish it to be, Sir, then that is what I will do. Your father has just left for work, and I will have to be leaving in half an hour too."
"Leaving, why are you leaving? You are supposed to be looking after me, remember?" Steve knew he sounded like a spoilt child, but right now he didn't care.
"I am running two households at the moment, Sir. I need to get back to Beverley Hills so that I can make sure that Miss Josephine is all right. So as I said before, it is ten past eight, and breakfast is served, Sir." Michael took two steps back from the bed and stood impassively.
Steve fumed. How dare this English stuffed shirt tell him what to do in his own home? "Well you just go ahead and run back to Miss Josephine then, I can manage just fine without you, Michael!" Steve watched as Michael turned smartly round and left the room. He eased himself out of bed and moved stiffly over to the bottom of the stairs. He was still sore from the beating he had taken, and, until he got moving, it hurt to get up in the mornings. Looking up the stairs, he saw Michael walk to the top, take his car keys from his pocket and leave the house. Steve leant back on the wall, he couldn't believe it. He was alone, what the hell was he supposed to do now?
Rae and Jesse were lying in each other's arms and just enjoying the feeling of being close to each other when Rae suddenly realised that she was going to be sick. "Sorry, Jesse, I have to go." She got up and raced to the bathroom, and Jesse could hear her retching and coughing. He got out of bed himself and moved over to the door.
"Honey, is there anything I can get for you, a glass of water maybe?"
Rae picked up the beaker from the side of the basin and held it out. Taking that to be a yes Jesse took it from her and went out into the kitchen. He filled it from a bottle in the refrigerator and went back to her.
Rae came out of the bathroom and sat down on the bed. "And there was me thinking I was gonna get away with it this time. Urghh, I hate being pregnant."
"Rae! You don't mean that do you?" Jesse looked horrified.
"No, actually I don't, not once the first three months are over, and the last month hasn't started yet, it's quite nice. I think I will be all right now. I'm not normally sick, but I have been so uptight and worried I guess it was relief too." Rae drank half of the water and then handed the glass back to Jesse.
"We call it the first trimester, but you don't do you?" Jesse had a smile on his face now.
"Oh, right, no we don't, what a stupid name. I guess the care will be different too won't it?"
"Yeah, probably. I guess this will be Alex's first baby, for his own patient, I mean." Jesse smiled, he was very impressed that Alex had said nothing about the baby, not that he would let him know that of course. "Do you think you are up to going out and doing things today?" Jesse looked at Rae. She seemed to have her colour back now, and she didn't look so different than she normally did first thing in the morning.
"Yeah, I think so, as long as it doesn't involve bungee jumping or stock car racing!"
"Good, because I have plans. But we had better have breakfast first, and no more of that yucky yoghurt drink and an apple business, you are eating for two now, I expect you to have a bowl of cereal, a glass of orange juice and some whole wheat toast. Ok?"
"Great. I knew I should have kept this from you until it was born." Rae stuck her tongue out at him as she began to rise off the bed.
"Hey, I'm a doctor, I think I might have noticed something wasn't quite right."
"Actually, I was afraid of that. I thought you would work it out before I told you." Rae smiled at him then and moved close to him once more. "I really really want to have your baby, Jesse. More than anything else in the world. I'm sorry that I shut you out, but I was, am, scared for the little mite. Do you forgive me?"
"Honey, right now I could forgive you anything." He pulled her close and began to kiss her and run his hands through her hair. He found her extremely sexy anyway, but somehow the fact that she was carrying his child made her even more so. "Oh, God, Rae, I need you now, right now."
"Shhh, I know, I need you too. Rae began to run her fingers down his body and he collapsed back on to the bed. She lay over him so that she could feel his hardness against her and kissed his face, starting with his eyes and moving everywhere except his lips until she could feel him begin to squirm.
"Rae, kiss me, Honey, properly." His eyes opened in surprise as she did just that, and he felt her tongue almost explode in his mouth. Then just as suddenly as it had started she was gone, and he could feel her tongue working its way down his chest. He moved his hands up and placing them on her shoulders he pushed her back onto the bed, his passion taking over his actions and he began to play with her breasts, until it was Rae who was having trouble keeping still.
"Jesse, oh, my… now, Jesse, please." Rae raised herself up to him and he gently and slowly entered her. "No, Jesse, don't be too gentle, we won't break, I promise." He couldn't help himself anyway, and before long they were moving as one, and as finally they collapsed onto the bed Rae knew that whatever happened in the future, the three of them belonged together.
Bernice Levington walked up the drive to the little house her son had told her he had rented and smiled. He was doing very well for himself. A house already and he had only been out of jail for a few days. Still he had always been determined, even as a child he had known just what he wanted and had gone all out to get it. She put her suitcase down and rang the bell.
Phil was in the bedroom making sure that the double bed was clean and freshly made. He had just checked that everything he needed was in the closet when he heard the bell.
"Mama. Come in, quickly, I have missed you." He smiled a genuine smile at the woman standing before him, and leant over and picked up her case. "I guess you have everything you need in here? Sorry, of course you do, when have you ever let me down?"
"Never, I hope. Now, I have contacted Marlene and she and Chucky will be here later. Chucky will bring his video camera just as you asked and Marlene said to tell you that her new car is just dandy, and real fast and that she would let you know whether everything was still the same as soon as she knew herself."
"Wonderful, then I think almost everything is ready. I just need to go a do a little shopping, would you like to come with me, Mama?" Phil looked at her and then took her hand in his.
"Of course, my baby. Let Mama get her purse." Bernice Levington was a small, brown haired woman, and she didn't look much older than her son, but she was dressed in a grey tweed skirt and a lilac two-piece jumper set with pearls around her neck. Phil just loved it when she dressed like that, it reminded him of his teacher in sixth grade. It had been such a shame that she had left just after he had discovered how much he liked her, and he knew that she had felt the same way. Still he'd known he would find her again, and now he had. His beloved Rae was almost identical to look at, and he knew that the years would have changed her some. Soon he would be with his childhood sweetheart once again.
The shopping mall was quite crowded when they got there, and it took Phil and Bernice a while to find the store they were looking for. But soon they were inside and she was running her hands through the racks of dresses trying to find one that would be suitable, without costing too much. "How about this one, would your honey like this do you think?" She held up a white dress with smocking across the top.
"No, Mama, I was thinking more like cream. She is used goods, I have to remember that."
"Yeah, I guess you do. Ok, cream it is then." Bernice dived back into the dresses, and a few minutes later returned triumphant with a cream two-piece suit in her arms. "How about this then?"
Phil looked at the outfit his mother was holding up. He could see his Rae wearing it; it was just the right thing. "Mama, I knew you would find what I wanted. That will be just perfect. Thank you."
"Ok, then, I will go pay for this, and then perhaps Mama could buy her baby an ice cream on the way home, what do you say?" Bernice smiled at him. All she wanted was for her little boy to be happy. But the last two tramps he'd loved, well they just weren't good enough for him, and she had sent them packing. Nobody had ever heard from them again.
Rae had fallen asleep on the bed after she and Jesse had made love, and Jesse had tenderly covered her over with the duvet and set about putting his plans into action. He had gone back to his apartment quickly and taken the basket and the things he had bought once he knew that he would be on vacation and Rae would be home from the hospital, then he had returned to Rae's kitchen. As she had slept on, he had made up a picnic basket, which contained all her favourite things. Then he had fed Kira and tidied up the place for her. It was now just coming up to midday and he knew that he needed to wake her.
"Honey, it's time to wake up, if we don't go out now, it won't be worth going." Jesse was kissing her gently in her hair as he spoke.
"Mmm, what…? Hey, daddy, come here." She pulled him towards her, but Jesse planted his hands firmly on the bed one each side of her.
"We can't spend the day in bed, come on you need to get up, we have places to go." Jesse grinned at her, and she knew that her lazy Friday was over.
Half an hour later Rae was wearing a pair of slightly baggy jeans and a beautiful peacock blue silk shirt that she had bought a couple of weeks earlier. She had seen it in the window of a store when she had been returning from her stakeout one night, and had rushed back the next day to buy it. It felt wonderful against her skin, and she just loved the colour. She walked out into the living area hoping that Jesse would like it too.
"Wow. Come here, what a great shirt." He put his hands one on each arm and she felt his heat through the material. "I bet it will slide off real nice later." He winked at her, and then moved behind her and put his hands over her eyes. "Ok, we are leaving now. Will you promise to behave and not peek in the basket?" He felt her head as it nodded and so he took his hands away.
Rae was as good as her word, or her nod, and as they walked out into the hallway together she didn't try to glance inside. There was a small dark haired woman standing just outside the main entrance and Jesse let her in before they exited. Still Rae ignored the hamper and she let Jesse put it in the back of Tom without once trying to see inside. "I guess we are having a picnic then. I can say that much can't I?"
"Yes, I figured you would work that bit out. But I am not saying anything more, ok?"
Rae nodded and they headed off into the light traffic both enjoying themselves immensely. Jesse because he knew exactly what was going to happen, and Rae because she didn't.
Steve had stayed in his apartment staring in disbelief in the empty rooms around him. He was alone. He hadn't been alone since his accident, apart from when he was asleep. Now what was he supposed to do? He looked at his pants lying on the chair taunting him; his shirt was in a heap on the floor, doing the same thing. He guessed he could call someone so that they would come help him, he didn't want to have to ask for help yet again, but right now he couldn't see any other option.
For a moment, fear set in. He was alone and helpless. He couldn't even dress himself. What would he do if something serious happened? He felt his heart pounding in his chest, and then, suddenly, the fear was gone and he was angry. At himself. He should have been more co-operative with Michael. It was his own fault he was stuck in this situation, dammit, and now he had to deal with it. The first order of business was to get dressed, although he had no real idea how to do that.
In the end he had gone to his closet and pulled things out with his teeth until he had found a pair of baggy joggers. He had dumped them on the floor and then placed his feet in them and fiddled about until he could get them out the ends. Then he had squatted down and placed his big clumsy hands inside under the waistband and slowly step-by-step managed to pull them up his legs. They weren't on properly now, but at least he was reasonably decent. The t-shirt had been surprisingly easy compared to the pants. He had slid his hands into the body of the shirt and out the sleeves. Then he had manoeuvred it over his head and on. Gravity had taken over then and it had fallen into place. Now he was sitting on the side of the bed exhausted, furious, and feeling sorry for himself. His ribs were hurting again too, which was really getting to him.
Nobody seemed to realise just how frustrating his life had become. He was a grown man, a fit and active man reduced to playing checkers with blu-tack on his fingers so he could lift the pieces. He couldn't wash himself, clean his own teeth, everything he did was reliant on somebody else, and they obviously felt that he should be sweetness and light the whole time. Jo should have realised that and treated him with a bit more respect, Michael too.
Suddenly something he had heard as a child came back to him. Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. He took a deep breath. He had been short tempered and ungrateful. Not that he would admit it to anybody. Damn, if he wanted to eat or drink ever again, he was going to have to admit it to at least one person. He moved over to his phone and hit the loudspeaker button and then memory one and waited.
Jo had been speechless when Michael had arrived home that morning, and it was all he had been able to do to stop her leaping in her car and driving straight over to the beach house.
"Madam, if you don't mind me saying," he had said, "he will ring you, it may take a while, but he will. By lunchtime he will be hungry, thirsty…"
"An' madder than a nest full of hornets!" Jo had to finish the sentence for him, even though she knew she would get frowned at for doing it. She was right.
"Yes, thank you, Madam."
"So what are we gonna do now? Just leave him there?" Jo was feeling more and more guilty by the minute.
"Madam, you told me that the Lieutenant was behaving so badly that it was making you resent him. That is wrong. I will return to the beach house in about an hour when I have finished my work here. I would suggest that you return tomorrow, then maybe the two of you can have a talk and settle things between you."
"Well, if you're sure, maybe I could come with you an' have a little talk with him now."
"It is up to you, but I think that you need a break from each other, and this way you will know he is being cared for while you care for yourself."
"Ok, Michael, just one day, I could sure do with some time to myself. I will just call him though, that would be ok, wouldn't it?" Jo was pleased when she saw him nod his head and she moved over to the phone in the hallway. As she got closer it began to ring. "Hello?"
"Jo?"
"Steve. Honey are you alright?"
"Yeah, I guess so. I think we need to talk."
"I know, but not today, I have things to do. Michael will be back over later an' he will get you some brunch then. Steve, I love you, but I can't carry on the way we were. I'll see you tomorrow." Jo put the phone down before he could answer her and walked away down the hallway and out into the garden. It was a beautiful day and she would have liked to spend it on the beach with Steve, but she knew that Michael was right. She had arrived at the side of the pool now, and so she sat and dangled her feet in the water. Maybe she would get Steve to come over here tomorrow and he could stay. He could sit and do as she was, and they could just relax and enjoy each other's company. With that thought in her mind she headed back in towards the kitchen so that she could look through some cook books and find things that would go well on grapefruit halves.
Steve's heart sank when he heard the phone go dead. He knew that it was his fault, and that he deserved everything he got, but it hurt more than he could imagine knowing that she didn't want to come see him today.
Rae had realised where they were going about ten minutes before they arrived. As they drew into the Lake Shrine parking lot she had a wide smile on her face and Jesse could see that she was just delighted to be there.
They walked hand in hand into the gardens and wandered happily along the pathways until they found a quiet and secluded spot. Rae sat down on the grass and leant over towards the basket.
"Ah, ah! No touching. I will do it, it's my picnic, I want to do this for you." Jesse leant over and kissed her on the lips and then he straightened back up. He got down onto the grass next to her and began to lay a tablecloth out. Then two plates appeared, a set of cutlery each, two wine glasses and a small salt and pepper set. Jesse carefully set everything out on the cloth and then he smiled at her.
"Jesse, this looks lovely, but what are we going to eat?" She smiled as Jesse covered his mouth with a hand in mock horror. He put his hand back in the basket and three covered bowls appeared. "Can I help you by taking the tops off these? Only otherwise I get a feeling that I am gonna have to wash up and I have to tell you it is very bad for pregnant ladies to wash the dishes!"
Jesse stuck his tongue out at her, and then lifted the covers off. There was a small bowl of salad, just lettuce, tomatoes and scallions, although he knew that Rae called them spring onions. The next dish had smoked salmon done up in little rolls with thinly sliced cucumber slid in next to each roll, and the final dish had jumbo shrimp. Then he put his hands back in the basket for the final time and took out two bread rolls.
"Wow, how wonderful, thank you, Jesse, all my favourite things. You must have planned this for a few days, this wasn't just done this morning was it?"
"No, Honey, and that is real important to me, that you know that this whole picnic and outing was planned as soon as I knew we would have some time to spend together. But first we need to eat."
"Ok." Rae looked puzzled, but she picked up a roll and then put some salad and salmon on her plate.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Jesse took a bottle of non-alcoholic wine and poured two glasses. He picked one of them up and handed it to Rae, and then he lifted the other. "To us. All three of us." They clinked their glasses and began to eat their meal.
The shopping trip had finished in the ice cream parlour, just as Phil had known it would. His Mama always bought him ice cream when she was pleased with her purchases. Now they were back home and they had listened to his Aunty Marlene's message on his cell phone telling him that everything was just as it had been, and that the plans were all in place.
The outfit they had bought was hanging on one of the closet doors so that the creases could fall out. His Mama had unpacked her things and they were all neatly stacked in the family room, just out of sight on the floor next to the sofa. They had decided that the two of them would go for a meal out in the evening, it had been a long time since they had been able to do that, and it would make the time pass a little quicker.
There was a nice Italian restaurant just down the block from where they were living, and he knew that his Mama liked pizza, and they did wonderful ice cream desserts. Once they had made their mind up on what they were doing his Mama had fallen asleep on the sofa and he had gone into the bedroom. He was now lying on the bed looking over at her outfit. He could imagine her wearing it. Her beautiful eyes shining as she looked at him. Her hand in his. Wonderful, it would be a wonderful day.
Rae lay back on the grass. The meal had been delicious, there had been strawberries for dessert and she had delighted in feeding them to Jesse. Now she was just enjoying the sun on her body, and the happy thoughts wandering around her mind. She had been so worried about telling Jesse that she was pregnant, but he had been pleased. She could tell that he was more pleased than he was letting on, she knew that he had kept his feelings a little reserved because he was worried about her. She was worried about herself too, and she resolved to go see Brian next week and talk things over with him. She felt Jesse's hand on hers and opened her eyes.
"Rae, sit up, Sweetie, please." He took her hands and helped her up. "I need you to know that all of this was planned before you came out of the hospital."
"I know that, Honey, you already told me. Why is that so important to you?" Rae frowned, she hadn't gotten it the first time he said it. She still didn't. She looked at him and her eyes became big. Suddenly she understood. Jesse was in front of her, kneeling, but only on one knee.
"Rae, I love you with all my heart. Every part of me is yours if you want it, I would lay my life down if I knew it meant you could carry on living happily and healthily. Rae, Honey, will you marry me, please?"
Rae's hand had covered her mouth as he began to speak. He could see tears in her eyes, and as he opened the small black jewellers box and handed it to her they spilt and ran down her cheeks.
"Oh, Jesse." Her voice was a whisper. She looked at the ring in the box. It was a square cut sapphire with two smaller diamonds one either side. It was on a platinum band, which meant it would match with the silver bangle and watch she always wore. She handed the box back to him. "Oh, Jess, yes, yes, yes."
He took the ring out of the box and gently taking her left hand in his slid the ring onto her finger, it was a perfect fit. He leant over and kissed her on the lips, gently and tenderly and then he pulled back. "I'm having the best two days of my entire life. Thank you, Rae."
"Jesse, I don't know what to say, you just said it all. But I love you more than I ever thought possible. I… I, I just love you, Jesse." She got up then and standing on the level ground, with her arms out horizontally from her sides spun round and round. "Wheeeeee, Oh, Jesse, I just want to shout from the rooftops. I want everybody to know that I just got engaged to the most wonderful man in the entire world, and I am carrying his baby. Wheeeee…. Whoah." She felt Jesse place his arms around her, and she sank to the ground and onto his lap. "Ooh, maybe that wasn't such a smart thing to do."
"Honey, when was the last time you purposely made yourself dizzy?" Jesse was smiling but there was concern in his eyes. Rae shrugged. "Probably when you were still walking to school, am I right?" This time Rae nodded. "Come on, let's get home, we have a reservation tonight at our favourite Mexican restaurant, eight o'clock. And I thought…"
"You thought what?" Rae looked at him, his eyes were glinting.
"I thought we could go into the newspaper office on the way home and put an announcement in. What do you think?"
"Oh, right… Yes, what a wonderful idea. Then I could send it to my mother, and everybody would know just how happy I am."
They started to pack up the picnic things then and soon everything was back in the basket. As they walked slowly back to the car Rae let go of Jesse's hand and looked at her ring. She let the sunlight play across it and saw it sparkle and shimmer. She leant over and kissed him as he walked beside her. "Thank you, Jesse, it's beautiful. I just love it."
"And I just love you, you have made me the happiest man in the world by saying yes to me. Thank you, Rae."
"Jesse, could we stop at the mall do you think? I would like to buy you a ring too. A signet ring or something like that. Please."
"Honey, I would have to keep taking it off all the time when I was working. Can we sort something out later? Go shopping when we don't have other things to plan?"
"Ok, but I will get you something. I don't think it could ever be as nice as my ring, but I will try."
They were back at the car by the time they finished talking and Rae opened the door and got behind the wheel. Jesse put the basket in the back and then he sat down and took her hand and kissed it just the once before Rae drew Tom back out into the traffic.
They stopped off at the newspaper office on the way home, and arranged for an announcement to appear the next morning, and then headed back home to get changed for their meal out. Jesse had time to think while Rae had been driving. He turned to look at Rae, her face full of the concentration she needed to weave her way through the Friday afternoon traffic. He sighed, there had been a lot of bumps and bruises since they first met, but he felt that together they could face anything. Soon Tom drew up in the parking lot and they walked hand in hand into their apartment block.
"Honey, let's just stop and pick up my clean stuff, then we can move on to your place." Jesse smiled at her and kissed her gently on the nose. He didn't want to lose sight of her, not even for a minute, not today.
Rae clearly felt the same because she just smiled and waited while he unlocked his door. While Jesse rummaged around for something clean and presentable Rae sat on the side of the bed slowly turning her engagement ring round and round on her finger. It really was the most wonderful thing she had ever received in her whole life. Suddenly she stood up and moving quietly over to where Jesse's head was hidden in the closet grabbed him from behind, swung him round and deposited him on the bed.
"Hey, mm mmm." Jesse stopped talking as Rae's lips found his, and began to run his fingers through her hair. After a few minutes they moved apart, "Oh, Rae, I love you." Jesse's eyes were bright with the emotion of the day so far; he just couldn't wait to share all their news with everybody else as soon as possible.
"I know, and I love you, more than I ever dreamed it was possible to love anyone." Rae snuggled up beside him and let her body mould around him. "Jess?"
"Mmm." Getting engaged had obviously robbed him of the power of coherent thought or speech, but he knew he didn't need to say anything.
"Let's not share, not yet. We told everybody we were going to have the long weekend together, let's wait until Tuesday to tell, please."
"Sure, Honey, but why, I thought you said you wanted to shout it from the rooftops." Jesse smiled as he remembered her reaction in the gardens.
"I know, but now, while we are here, just you and me I like the privacy, the intimacy the specialness of just us knowing. My whole life since I got here seems to have made the papers. Oh, I know that some of this has too, and if Mark, or Amanda, or maybe Steve and Texas see the announcement then fine, they can contact us and we will share, but if they don't, can we wait 'til Tuesday, please?"
Jesse smiled at her. She had managed, it seemed to him, to put her problems away where they couldn't harm her, he had no intention of doing or saying anything to break the spell they were under right now, so he just nodded.
"Thank you, now come here." She stood up then, and pulled his t-shirt out from his pants, and as she casually threw it to the ground with one hand, her other was already caressing his chest, and soon he could feel her move her fingers over the buttons on his jeans. There was an urgency to her actions, and he began to mirror it, the beautiful silk shirt that she had worn was soon just a heap of material mixed in with denim, cotton and all the other materials their clothes of choice had been made of. Now there was just bare skin, and the feel of her against him began to send him higher and higher.
"Rae," He put his finger to her lips where they were making small kisses on his shoulder and she stopped. He rolled towards her and slowly pushed her so that she was the one laying waiting for him to caress her. Then he began to trace delicate patterns across her body with his fingertips, and he felt her slip back into the mattress as if all the bones in her body had just melted away. As he moved down towards the hairs curling invitingly between her legs, he looked up and smiled wickedly. "And there was me thinking you were a natural blonde." His words seemed to break the spell that she was under and he felt her move her hands into his hair and pull him back up towards her.
"Smart Alec" was all she said before her tongue was in his mouth and her feelings of passion began to work on him once again. He surrendered to the sensations as their bodies began to rock together.
After a little while he moved away from her again, but this time it was so that he could enter her. The movements began again almost instantly, and they mirrored each other's actions until the inevitable happened, and together they sealed their day in the best way possible.
The next morning, Phil Levington got up and went out for an early morning paper. He had been unable to sleep, and so as soon as it had got light he had begun to run along his normal route. He picked up a paper on his return journey and then as he drank down his black coffee his eyes travelled expertly over the paper looking for the name that he always managed to spot. It wasn't until he had gotten to the announcements section and was just checking to see if anybody he knew had died that he saw it.
'Reagan Yeager and Jesse Travis are delighted to let all their friends and family know that they have finally decided to announce their engagement. Thanks go to everybody who has been so loving and supportive over the last difficult months. Stay with us, the best is yet to come.'
With a howl he ripped at the page and then threw the paper across the room. His coffee went flying with it and he slammed his fist down on the tabletop. "How dare she, how dare she do that to me. And him, he is dead. You are dead Travis, do you hear me?"
Slowly he began to get himself back under control. He needed to speak to his mother, all the plans were made, and he just needed to get things started.
Jesse had also got up early and left Rae sleeping in her apartment. He went quickly and happily down to the newspaper stand and bought a paper. Then he drove round past a deli he knew opened very early and bought croissant and Danish pastries for breakfast. By the time he got back to the apartment building he was humming to himself happily.
He let himself in and walked into the kitchen. He began to set the food out onto the tray that he knew Rae kept by the sink. By the time the croissant had warmed under the grill there was orange juice, apricot jam, butter and plates and knives waiting to be carried into the next room. He moved over and peeked round the door. The sheets were awry, and Rae was nowhere to be seen.
"Rae, honey?"
He moved through to the bathroom to see if she was showering. Not only was the room empty, but there was no sign she had even been there. With a puzzled frown, he wondered if she had woken to find him missing and decided to look for him at his own place. He walked back through the bedroom; feeling confused, and didn't even notice that her clothes were still on the floor.
Rae had been lying in that wonderful state between waking and sleeping when she had felt someone move the air beside her. She became aware of movement on her skin and as she sleepily opened her eyes, she saw Phillip Levington glaring down at her.
His hand came quickly over her mouth to silence her and in a harsh whisper, he warned her, "Scream and I'll kill you, and when your new fiancée…" he said the word with disdain, "comes to your rescue, I'll kill him, too, understand?" Her terror rose as she felt Levington shove the barrel of a gun against her chin.
Carefully, Rae nodded, and slowly, Levington removed his hand, but the gun was still firmly dug against her jaw.
"Good," he said. "Very good. I like my women to be obedient."
He began to caress her cheek with the barrel of the gun. "I still had the keys I made to this place. I figured you might have changed the locks, but Big Dave taught me how to pick them while I was in prison. You really should consider a floor-mounted security device. That would keep unwanted visitors out. They wouldn't even be able to kick the door in."
He grabbed her by the arm, then and yanked her roughly out of bed. She stood there a moment, with him leering at her, and resisted the urge to cover herself with her hands.
Do not anger him she told herself. Do nothing to set him off, or you are as good as dead. "Wh-what do you want?"
"You." He said sweetly. "Haven't you figured it out yet?" Keeping the gun trained on her he rummaged in her closet for some clothes then he moved to her underwear drawer, where he picked up each pair and touched them before either discarding them or putting them in his pocket. Thrusting a bundle into her hands, he said, "Get dressed," and he stood there watching as she did just that.
"What have you done with Jesse?" she asked as she finished dressing. She saw stars and stifled a scream as he smacked her across the face with the gun and she fell to the floor.
"Don't you ever, ever mention his name again," he seethed. "He wasn't here, unfortunately. If he was, I would have killed him."
Levington pulled her up and close to him, then with the barrel of the gun pressed firmly to the base of her skull, he forced her out of the door and down the hall.
Rae felt herself wanting to cry. Why had Jesse left her? Only yesterday he had promised never to do that again.
Having gone back to his place and failing to find Rae there, Jesse stepped back out into the hall, muttering to himself, and wondering what to do next. From round the corner at the end of the hallway, he heard a muffled grunt, a soft scuffle, and a thump, and saw the potted palm at the end of the hall fall to the floor. He moved cautiously toward it.
Just as they had gotten to the end of the hall, Rae and Levington heard Jesse, humming loudly to himself, as he entered from the stairwell at the other end. Not having time to close the final distance to the elevator, Levington instead pulled her round the corner and covered her mouth with his hand. They both listened intently as Jesse let himself into the apartment, then for a few minutes they heard nothing. Rae tried to struggle when she faintly heard Jesse calling her name inside the apartment, but Levington held her more tightly to himself, with the barrel of the gun digging hard into her skull again and said, "I will kill you both."
She stood quietly then, her heart pounding in her chest, praying for an opportune moment to run. They heard Jesse come out of her apartment and enter his own, and moments later he came out again, and they could hear him muttering.
Levington chose just that moment to get curious and try to sneak a peek at his other prey, and Rae felt the gun slip away from the base of her skull. She saw Levington's hand, gun at the ready, come round her body to point down the hall, and as he tried to turn her to see what Jesse was doing, she took advantage of the opportunity. Simultaneously biting the hand that covered her mouth and grabbing for his weapon with one hand while she elbowed him in the ribs with the other arm, Rae did everything she could to fight him off.
Struggling silently for several seconds, she did break free for a moment only to stumble into the potted palm at the corner of the hall and knock it down. Then Levington grabbed her by the back of the shirt and swung her round.
Giving her own fight up for lost, she managed to scream, "Jesse, run!" Then she reached the end of the arc Levington had swung her in and she slammed into the wall. She saw stars once again as the wind was knocked from her, and then everything seemed to go into slow motion.
When Jesse heard Rae scream at him to run, he had done just that, only he had run toward her, not away, and he skidded round the corner to find Philip Levington standing over Rae with a gun pointed at her head.