Chapter Fifty-five
It seemed so simple. When she was here, when her eyes were closed, she knew without a doubt she could live like this forever.
"Rafe." She whispered.
He didn't wake up, he simply pulled her closer.
Alison shook her head to try and clear it. Just relax. She warned herself. He said it's fine. Rafe said he'd already seen Caleb and look at him. She sighed as she leaned up do just that smoothing his hair off his forehead with her fingers. He's sleeping like a baby.
She closed her eyes and willed herself to go back to sleep. It was no use. She kept going back and forth. She knew running away was crazy. They'd never run before and she didn't think they should start now. Her conversation with Abby flew through her mind. It was true - there wasn't any other place she could think of that they could possibly live. Half the people in the town they were in already ignored all the craziness that went on - imagine going somewhere no one believed at all?
"I'd follow you anywhere - Rafe…" She whispered with a smile.
Her life since she'd met him was a complete roller coaster. She'd felt amazing, dizzying highs and horrific, gut wrenching lows. As she snuggled close and gave in to sleep, Alison knew one thing for sure. Every single second she spent at the top was more than worth the fall.
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Livvie fought to regain her breath as she lay tangled up with the man loved more than life. "You can distract me all you want." She said, her voice suddenly serious. "I'm not going to stop until we discuss this."
"What?" He said, trying his best to make her lose her concentration again.
She would not be swayed. "I'm serious - Caleb. What is it that you plan to do to them this time? Huh? What more could you do? Hurt their child? I can't let you do that."
"Olivia…" He sighed.
"You can't. Don't you see? We have a chance to have something you never thought you'd ever have. We should almost be thanking them." She suggested softly.
"THANK THEM?" He could not believe her. He pulled away sharply, bringing a hand to his forehead. His voice got louder every second. "I have NOTHING to thank them for."
Livvie slipped from the bed and pulled on a robe, tying it tightly and smoothing her hands over her stomach. "OK." She said softly as she crossed the room.
She moved to the closet and pulled some clothes out angrily shoving them into a bag. She got dressed so quickly he barely had time to react. He put on a pair of pants in record time before going after her, "Olivia - stop."
"NO. Caleb. You aren't ready for this. You're not ready to be with me or our child. You came here for revenge and I have to tell you - I thought I did too. But Alison's happy now. She has the life she wants and I know for a fact she'd have had it a LOT sooner if it weren't for me." Livvie marched towards the door.
Tears shone in her eyes as she stared at him. "I'm not going to do it anymore. I want you to think for just a second about something besides what they took when they made us mortal." She ran a hand over her stomach again. "Think about what they gave us when they did."
He stared at her , speechless. Who was this? If he didn't see Livvie standing right in front of him he'd be sure someone else was talking.
Livvie opened the door and stepped out in the hallway. She paused and turned back to face him. "I want this child - more than anything. I want a life with you - more than anything - but you seem to have other plans - plans you won't tell me. You come and you find me when you've made your choice - because I've already made mine."
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"Is that better?" Cam asked as he looked into her eyes.
"Much." Abby sighed as she fed him another bite of ice cream. He grabbed the spoon and returned the favor. She licked her lips slowly, driving him crazy. "I know you had to work late and are trying to apologize - but you didn't have to get this for me. I'm fine. I finally talked to Alison and everything's better now. I really don't think they'll leave."
Sure he didn't. She told him the last time he was late that if it happened again he'd better come home bearing chocolate peanut butter ice cream. He'd do anything to make her smile. Smiling himself, he kissed her quickly.
"I'm glad to hear it. It's so odd. I don't even remember not knowing them - you know?" Cam said as he took the empty carton from her and placed it on the floor next to the couch. He tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled off her glasses, setting them aside.
Abby's eyes sparkled with laughter. She knew exactly what he was up to. She grinned at him, widely.
"You don't fool me. I know what you really want." She whispered. "You just don't like having to buy your own fruit for your cereal. You think Rafe doesn't notice but he does. He started to order extra blueberries just for you."
"The last thing…" He said as he placed a kiss on her temple, "I'm thinking about…" he moved his lips to her ear, "…right now - is blueberries."
"Really?" She whispered she traced a finger up his arm.
He didn't speak but simply nodded. He leaned close so that his lips touched hers, making her sigh.
She knew exactly where this was going. "You wanna practice - huh?" Abby giggled.
"Yeah." Cam pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. "Practice."
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From all the way upstairs he could hear music playing. Rafe glanced at the clock, surprised. It was so early.
He walked slowly down the stairs, the scent in the air announcing that she must be in the kitchen. He paused at the doorway peered in. The scene before him was so beautiful it made his heart hurt.
Sun streamed through the windows, flowers bloomed in pots on the sills and Alison and Kate were dancing around the kitchen.
She didn't even notice he was there and he was so mesmerized by the sight he didn't want to interrupt.
Alison continued to whirl around on her tiptoes, carefully holding Kate in her arms.
"We can stay in our house. It's going to be fine, pretty Katie. Daddy will take such good care of us." She kissed the top of the baby's head. "He's so good at it. But you know what? " She turned around again. "I think I'm pretty good at taking care of him too."
Gazing at them, his heart spilling over with love, he couldn't agree with her more.
The song on the radio stopped, drifting into another not so suitable for dancing. A bit disappointed, Alison sighed and moved to put Kate down so she could finish cooking, jumping a bit when she saw Rafe standing there.
"Morning." She said with a smile. "How long have you been downstairs?"
"Long enough. Hey, let me take her." He smiled as Alison placed Kate in his arms, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before she got back to breakfast. "Guess we're going to have to save up for ballet lessons, huh?"
"But of course!" Alison replied, pulling banana nut muffins from the oven. "Wait until they cool off - OK?" She warned him.
"Yes ma'am" He said as he settled on the window seat with Kate.
Rafe watched Alison move around the kitchen and knew he'd do anything he could to keep her here. She belonged no where else but in this house. She loved it. You could see it in the way she got so much joy from doing the most mundane tasks. You could see it in the cute little touches she added to every room. Running away would mean that Caleb would take something else from her and Rafe swore to himself, right then and there, that he'd never let that happen.
"What?" She said when she caught him looking at her.
"Nothing." He said with a grin. "I was just watching you."
"I noticed." She grinned back. "It's got to be pretty boring. Here." She said as she brought him a muffin. "They're cool enough now. I want you to bring some to the gym. I'll pack them up. " She said as she moved to walk away.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit beside him. "Hold on…" He said with a grin.
"Nothing's boring about watching you." He shifted Kate in his arms so he could get close enough to kiss her. "Especially here."
"In the kitchen!? How chauvinistic of you!" She laughed as he pulled away.
"No." Rafe shook his head. "In this house. It's yours Alison. It's like it was built for you. We can't leave."
"I don't want to - but Rafe I would. I'd do it for you." She promised. "Then maybe you could finally relax."
"Angel - that's sweet - really it is - but seriously. How long have you known me? When do I ever relax?" He laughed.
She could think of a time or two but she knew overall - he was right. "You have a point." Alison kissed him softly.
"I'm not leaving." He insisted., staring into her eyes.
"Well - if you're not - I'm not." She smiled at him.
"What about Kate?" Rafe said as he glanced down at his daughter, who was babbling to herself.
Alison smiled wider. "She and I are a package deal. Where I go - or stay in this instance - so does she."
"It might not be easy." Rafe warned her, moving closer.
"When has it ever been?" She replied with a laugh as she pressed her lips to his.
