LOST & FOUND – PART IX
TRUCE & CONSEQUENCES
Chapter 81
Thea opened her office door and waited for Laura to enter first. Then she went to her desk and wearily sank down in her comfortable desk chair and sighed. Pulling her appointment book out of a drawer, she set it down on the blotter and opened it to the next day while keeping an eye on her guest at the same time. Laura was slowly walking around the room with her hands clasped behind her back, stopping to look at the many curious objects and books that were crowded onto the bookshelves that lined the walls.
Thea made a few notes next to each appointment then set her pen down as she openly began to watch the other woman. She waited for a little while and when Laura stopped to stare out the diamond-shaped panes of glass that looked out on the street, she cleared her throat. The other woman stiffened slightly and continued looking out the window.
"What's wrong?" Thea asked quietly and her guest ducked her head before turning around.
"I don't really have the right to ask you this, but I think you're the only one who can help me."
Thea's hazel eyes narrowed as she tipped her head slightly to the side and stared intently at the other woman for a few seconds.
"Why don't you come over here, have a seat, and tell me..."
Sighing deeply, Laura did as she asked and slowly raised her eyes to meet the other woman's sharp gaze. Two bright spots of color stained her cheekbones and her hands curled into fists in her lap. She opened her mouth, started to speak, and then closed it again as though not knowing what to say.
"Laura," she said patiently. "Don't stop to think, just say it."
"I want to have another child..."
"Ah...I see," Thea said softly and leaned back in her chair, still watching Laura intently. Then she smiled as she leaned forward to prop her elbows on the desk. She cupped her face in both hands.
"Yes, I think I can help you, but I can't give you any guarantees. Conception can be very difficult even for the young, yet alone women our age. However, I've always been interested in the medical aspects of fertility and I've managed to help women with this problem before."
"You have?" Laura clenched her fists even harder until she realized her nails were actually piercing the skin of her palms and she forced her hands to relax.
"Yes I have..." Thea paused as though trying to organize her thoughts. "Now, some of what I know I have learned about in other countries and most doctors in our part of the world would laugh at my methods. But they work, and I have what I think is positive proof of that."
"You do?"
Thea nodded her head and let her hands fall to the desktop. "All you have to do is look around this house and you can see it."
The other woman stared at her, not understanding until the light dawned and she smiled widely.
"You mean THAT'S why you have a set of twins and a set of triplets?"
Smiling widely back, Thea shrugged and chuckled.
"I believe so," she answered then her expression became serious. "You see, I lost our first child not long after we were married, so I was determined to do everything I could to keep that from happening again."
"I'm sorry..." the other woman's voice sounded as though she personally knew that pain and Thea nodded to herself mentally, hearing verification of what she suspected.
"How many have you lost?" she asked gently.
Laura was looking down at her hands in her lap again. "Three."
Thea stared at her silently for a few moments before speaking again. "That's a terrible burden to carry and you have my word I will do everything I can for you." She leaned back in her chair again as she continued.
"Now before I can do anything you have to agree that you will hold nothing back. I will be asking you questions that will be quite embarrassing and telling you to do things that might seem strange, but you have to cooperate with me. Do you think you can do that?"
Laura was returning Thea's intense gaze and seemed to be thinking deeply.
"Yes," she finally said and both women relaxed. "When do you think we can start?" Thea smiled.
"Well, there's no time like the present," she said and turned around to take a blank composition book from the bookshelf behind her. She turned back to put it on the desk, opened it to the first page, picked up her pen and gave her patient another smile.
"All right, let's get started..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Will hurried down the hallway to catch up with Adam and followed him as he took a detour through the sitting room. Ted, Alexander, Annalise, and Stu were busy keeping the babies entertained.
After glancing quickly around the room, he moved on to the office door, opened it, and waved Will through.
"Stu, would you mind coming in here for a minute?" he asked and the young man quickly got to his feet after putting Thomas down next to Alexander. He hurried through the door and Adam followed, closing the door quickly when Matthew started crawling toward them at top speed.
Will and Stu were standing in front of Adam's desk and they turned toward him when he approached.
Never one to waste time, he plunged right into the reason he had brought both men to his office.
"Will, this is Stu Clayton...he is going to be your second in command at the ranger station," he said bluntly. "Stu, this is my cousin, Will Cartwright."
Stu's expression was guarded as he held his right hand out to the other man and Will tried to hide his surprise as they shook hands.
"Pleased to meet you," Stu said, his tone was cautious and he briefly wondered what Adam's purpose was for this surprise introduction.
"Uh...likewise," Will managed to say before Adam clapped Stu on the back and began to prod him toward the door.
"Thanks Stu. The three of us will be meeting soon to go over plans and to toss some ideas around."
Nodding, Stu held back a smile, having a good idea of the point Adam was making as he quickly escaped back to the next room.
Turning back to his cousin Adam said, "Have a seat," while settling into the chair behind his desk. He leaned back and watched the other man, smiling his half smile and his eyes remote.
Will stared back for a few moments, trying to marshal his thoughts together before speaking. "Am I wrong, or didn't you say I would be hiring the men to fill the other positions?"
"You will be, just not the second in command," Adam answered quietly. "You need to know that Stu used to be a hired gun, but decided he didn't want to live that kind of life anymore." Will frowned.
"A former hired gun? Are you sure that's the kind of man you want to give a badge to?"
"Yes I am, because Stu was never typical," Adam paused as he leaned forward to pin Will with his dark gaze. "Stu is the only one I've ever known who only used his weapon when he had no other choice. He is intelligent, loyal, decent, and the fastest draw I've ever seen."
"I take it then that you've known him for a long time."
"Not that long, only two years, but I HAVE hired him to do jobs for me and I have been very satisfied with his work."
"I see," Will still seemed to be somewhat dubious.
"Look, I can tell you without reservation that if I wanted someone to be backing me up in a fight that person would be Stu." The other man was nodding as he went on.
"And we do need to get something straight here. Yes, you will be in charge of the station and the men, but I will have to have the final word, of course."
Will sighed quietly, acknowledging to himself that he had known this fact when he had agreed to take the position, but still chafed against the yoke.
"Now, I don't intend to be looking over your shoulder all the time. I never do that with my people, but we WILL be working closely together and I need to know that this will not be a sticking point for you."
"It won't," Will answered quickly and suppressed a wince, knowing his answer had been too easy and glib. Adam smiled, reading his cousin's expressions accurately.
"Don't worry, I'm reasonably confident we can work things out," he said as he got to his feet and the other man rose too. He came around his desk to put one hand on his cousin's shoulder and began to steer him toward the hallway door. Pulling it open with his other hand, he held Will back for a moment.
"Trust me...I know what I'm talking about," he said quietly, meeting his cousin's gaze steadily and waited.
The corner's of the other man's mouth lifted then grew into a genuine smile, and he nodded quickly before stepping out into the hall and heading toward the kitchen.
Adam watched him walk away for a few seconds, his expression neutral, and then went back into his office. He settled back into the chair behind his desk to think deeply about the introduction and the conversation. Some time later, he was still deep in thought when he heard a knock on the door to the sitting room.
Sitting up, he called out "Come in," and held back a chuckle when Stu opened the door, stepped in, and stood there holding it open for a bit before coming toward the desk. He stopped when he was standing next to it to look down at Adam with an odd expression.
"What?" he quickly asked, concerned that he was unable to read the younger man's face.
"I just have one question Boss," Stu said and Adam was surprised to hear some sort of restrained emotion in his voice. "Am I supposed to be your man on the inside?"
Relaxing back in his chair again, Adam raised a hand to stroke his chin and slowly smiled as his eyes shone with amusement. Stu waited patiently, not moving or changing expression, aware that the other man was carefully considering the question.
"No," he answered simply and Stu just stood there, meeting his dark gaze for a few seconds before turning away and going back into the sitting room.
Shaking his head, Adam shook with silent laughter, his smile wide and his eyes crinkled up at the corners, until he felt something suddenly wrap around his calf and ankle. Startled, he quickly looked down to see a pair of eyes exactly like his own shining up at him out of the dim shadow of the desk.
"Now what are you doing under there?" he asked and pushed his chair back, bringing the baby out into the light still attached to his leg.
"PA!" Matthew crowed, extremely pleased with himself.
Realizing the child must have crawled into the room when Stu came in the second time, he reached down to pry the boy off his leg and sat him in his lap so they were facing each other.
"I swear, you move faster every day and you haven't even learned how to walk yet," Adam said to his son and Matthew looked up as though he understood every word.
"PA!" he said again, nodding his little head in agreement and his father chuckled.
"Sometimes I wonder about you Matthew. Your brothers make so much noise you kind of get lost in the crowd, don't you?" The baby was still staring up at his father's face, seemingly fascinated with the subject, until his attention was distracted by the sound of laughter from the next room. He grinned, revealing two small white teeth with one missing in the middle and chortled as he suddenly decided he needed to taste one of the buttons on his father's shirt. With a quick snap, he managed to bite the button off, startling his father.
"Dear Lord, don't swallow that!" Adam said and quickly poked a finger into the baby's mouth, fishing for the button. Delighted with this new game, Matthew rolled the button around in his mouth until his father was forced to pry his mouth open to retrieve it.
Dropping the spit-covered button onto the desktop, Adam sighed with relief then quickly pressed a finger across Matthew's lips when the child's gaze focused on another button.
"No!" he said firmly and stood as he shifted the baby to the crook of his arm.
"Come on, let's go join the party and warn everyone to guard their buttons," he said as he walked toward the door to the sitting room.
"PARTY!" Matthew almost shouted and his father had to laugh even while shaking his head, wondering what kind of mischief the child would get into next.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The party moved from the kitchen to the sitting room as the evening went on and Laura was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by all the noise after their long journey. Adam was playing his guitar while Dora played the piano and almost everyone was gathered at that end of the sitting room singing along with the music.
She slipped out into the now deserted front hall and could hear Barbara, Cassie and Thea in the kitchen, talking and laughing as they worked, cleaning up. Not wanting to intrude on their easy friendship, she quietly went out the front door and sank down on the front porch swing with a tired sigh.
The evening was a little chilly, but she didn't mind, the cool air was a welcome change after the almost too warm house. She had just started swinging when the front door opened and Will came out. He quietly came over to sit on the swing too and she nudged his arm up to slide up against him. Resting her head on his shoulder she sighed as his arm settled across her shoulders and he gave her a tight hug.
They swung in silence for a while and she was almost asleep when he spoke, dragging her back.
"Let's go for a little walk," he said as he got to his feet and held a hand out to her.
"Now?"
"Yeah, come on," he urged and she sighed, but took his hand.
Grinning, he pulled her up and tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow as they went down the front steps. She took a deep breath of the cool air that held the promise of fall and suddenly realized her weariness was fading. They went down the front path, through the gate, and turned right toward town. At the next corner he tugged her into another right turn and they strolled down the narrow street for a couple of blocks until he suddenly stopped in front of a charming brownstone house. She glanced up at him in surprise before turning her eyes to the house and she smiled.
"Why are we stopping here?" she asked while still staring at the house, taking in all the details. The front porch ran the length of the front and turned to run the whole length of the left side. The trim was painted a forest green, and the front door was a deep red. Lamps were lit inside, and she sighed, wishing they already had their own home.
The front yard was narrow, but long, and the path to the door was made of the same brownstone. She opened her mouth to protest when Will started down the path, tugging her along by the hand.
"What are you doing?" she said in a fierce whisper, trying to dig her heels in.
"It's alright, I know the people who live here," he said and she stopped resisting, but felt a flush of annoyance warm her face. Dropping in on people she didn't know was not something she wanted to be doing late in the evening.
Will stepped up to the red door, and knocked. She heard quick footsteps coming and the door suddenly swung open, revealing almost everyone who had been at the party standing in a group directly opposite.
"Welcome home!" they all shouted as loud as they could and Laura's wide astonished eyes started to fill with tears. Thea peeked around the edge of the door she was still standing behind and quickly came to put her arms around the other woman.
"Surprise!" she said softly as she patted Laura on the back and the other woman started laughing, even while highly emotional tears ran down her cheeks.
"All right, everybody out!" Adam said and the crowd began to file out, each person stopping to either hug or shake hands with Will. Everyone was either laughing and talking as they made their way to the street, then small groups formed to head off in different directions.
Adam and Thea were the last to leave and when Laura reluctantly let go and Thea moved away, she found herself looking up into Adam's smiling face and kind eyes.
She burst into tears again saying, "Thank you!" and threw her arms around him, squeezing as hard as she could.
"You're welcome," Adam answered, his voice tinged with suppressed laughter and gave her a quick hug before giving his cousin a pointed look.
Smiling widely, Will came to put his hands on her shoulders, and at his touch she abruptly let go of Adam and turned to latch onto her husband, still sobbing with happiness.
"Good night," Adam said to them from the doorway as he took Thea's hand and they quickly escaped, closing the door as they heard Will respond softly in kind.
They hurried across the porch and down the path before slowing down as they turned onto the street. Thea slipped her arm around his waist and his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
You still don't have any memories at all about her, do you?" Thea asked quietly and he chuckled.
"Is that jealousy asking?" he teased and she slanted a quick, dark look up at him
"No Adam, I trust you," she answered firmly and his arm tightened around her bringing them both to a stop.
"Good," he said and bent his head down to brush her lips briefly with his own. "And my answer is 'no', I have absolutely no memories of her or what happened then."
She looked up at him seriously and tipped her head to the side. "Doesn't that bother you?" she said solemnly and he laughed as he shook his head.
"Theadora, there are a hundred other things that would concern me much, much more. And besides, why would I want to remember? Even if I did, it wouldn't make any difference to what I feel. You are and will be the only woman in my life for the rest of my life."
They stood there in silence for a few moments until she sighed deeply, reached up with both hands to cup his face, and tugged his head down to kiss him deeply for a few seconds. Then she abruptly let go, stepped back, and said, "Last one home..." before dashing across the street and toward the alley that ran behind their house.
"Last one home what?" he called.
"You'll see!" she called back to him over her shoulder as she ran away.
"Hmmm... now THAT sounds interesting," he said to himself, and then grinned as he walked across the street and disappeared into the dark.
TRUCE & CONSEQUENCES
Chapter 81
Thea opened her office door and waited for Laura to enter first. Then she went to her desk and wearily sank down in her comfortable desk chair and sighed. Pulling her appointment book out of a drawer, she set it down on the blotter and opened it to the next day while keeping an eye on her guest at the same time. Laura was slowly walking around the room with her hands clasped behind her back, stopping to look at the many curious objects and books that were crowded onto the bookshelves that lined the walls.
Thea made a few notes next to each appointment then set her pen down as she openly began to watch the other woman. She waited for a little while and when Laura stopped to stare out the diamond-shaped panes of glass that looked out on the street, she cleared her throat. The other woman stiffened slightly and continued looking out the window.
"What's wrong?" Thea asked quietly and her guest ducked her head before turning around.
"I don't really have the right to ask you this, but I think you're the only one who can help me."
Thea's hazel eyes narrowed as she tipped her head slightly to the side and stared intently at the other woman for a few seconds.
"Why don't you come over here, have a seat, and tell me..."
Sighing deeply, Laura did as she asked and slowly raised her eyes to meet the other woman's sharp gaze. Two bright spots of color stained her cheekbones and her hands curled into fists in her lap. She opened her mouth, started to speak, and then closed it again as though not knowing what to say.
"Laura," she said patiently. "Don't stop to think, just say it."
"I want to have another child..."
"Ah...I see," Thea said softly and leaned back in her chair, still watching Laura intently. Then she smiled as she leaned forward to prop her elbows on the desk. She cupped her face in both hands.
"Yes, I think I can help you, but I can't give you any guarantees. Conception can be very difficult even for the young, yet alone women our age. However, I've always been interested in the medical aspects of fertility and I've managed to help women with this problem before."
"You have?" Laura clenched her fists even harder until she realized her nails were actually piercing the skin of her palms and she forced her hands to relax.
"Yes I have..." Thea paused as though trying to organize her thoughts. "Now, some of what I know I have learned about in other countries and most doctors in our part of the world would laugh at my methods. But they work, and I have what I think is positive proof of that."
"You do?"
Thea nodded her head and let her hands fall to the desktop. "All you have to do is look around this house and you can see it."
The other woman stared at her, not understanding until the light dawned and she smiled widely.
"You mean THAT'S why you have a set of twins and a set of triplets?"
Smiling widely back, Thea shrugged and chuckled.
"I believe so," she answered then her expression became serious. "You see, I lost our first child not long after we were married, so I was determined to do everything I could to keep that from happening again."
"I'm sorry..." the other woman's voice sounded as though she personally knew that pain and Thea nodded to herself mentally, hearing verification of what she suspected.
"How many have you lost?" she asked gently.
Laura was looking down at her hands in her lap again. "Three."
Thea stared at her silently for a few moments before speaking again. "That's a terrible burden to carry and you have my word I will do everything I can for you." She leaned back in her chair again as she continued.
"Now before I can do anything you have to agree that you will hold nothing back. I will be asking you questions that will be quite embarrassing and telling you to do things that might seem strange, but you have to cooperate with me. Do you think you can do that?"
Laura was returning Thea's intense gaze and seemed to be thinking deeply.
"Yes," she finally said and both women relaxed. "When do you think we can start?" Thea smiled.
"Well, there's no time like the present," she said and turned around to take a blank composition book from the bookshelf behind her. She turned back to put it on the desk, opened it to the first page, picked up her pen and gave her patient another smile.
"All right, let's get started..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Will hurried down the hallway to catch up with Adam and followed him as he took a detour through the sitting room. Ted, Alexander, Annalise, and Stu were busy keeping the babies entertained.
After glancing quickly around the room, he moved on to the office door, opened it, and waved Will through.
"Stu, would you mind coming in here for a minute?" he asked and the young man quickly got to his feet after putting Thomas down next to Alexander. He hurried through the door and Adam followed, closing the door quickly when Matthew started crawling toward them at top speed.
Will and Stu were standing in front of Adam's desk and they turned toward him when he approached.
Never one to waste time, he plunged right into the reason he had brought both men to his office.
"Will, this is Stu Clayton...he is going to be your second in command at the ranger station," he said bluntly. "Stu, this is my cousin, Will Cartwright."
Stu's expression was guarded as he held his right hand out to the other man and Will tried to hide his surprise as they shook hands.
"Pleased to meet you," Stu said, his tone was cautious and he briefly wondered what Adam's purpose was for this surprise introduction.
"Uh...likewise," Will managed to say before Adam clapped Stu on the back and began to prod him toward the door.
"Thanks Stu. The three of us will be meeting soon to go over plans and to toss some ideas around."
Nodding, Stu held back a smile, having a good idea of the point Adam was making as he quickly escaped back to the next room.
Turning back to his cousin Adam said, "Have a seat," while settling into the chair behind his desk. He leaned back and watched the other man, smiling his half smile and his eyes remote.
Will stared back for a few moments, trying to marshal his thoughts together before speaking. "Am I wrong, or didn't you say I would be hiring the men to fill the other positions?"
"You will be, just not the second in command," Adam answered quietly. "You need to know that Stu used to be a hired gun, but decided he didn't want to live that kind of life anymore." Will frowned.
"A former hired gun? Are you sure that's the kind of man you want to give a badge to?"
"Yes I am, because Stu was never typical," Adam paused as he leaned forward to pin Will with his dark gaze. "Stu is the only one I've ever known who only used his weapon when he had no other choice. He is intelligent, loyal, decent, and the fastest draw I've ever seen."
"I take it then that you've known him for a long time."
"Not that long, only two years, but I HAVE hired him to do jobs for me and I have been very satisfied with his work."
"I see," Will still seemed to be somewhat dubious.
"Look, I can tell you without reservation that if I wanted someone to be backing me up in a fight that person would be Stu." The other man was nodding as he went on.
"And we do need to get something straight here. Yes, you will be in charge of the station and the men, but I will have to have the final word, of course."
Will sighed quietly, acknowledging to himself that he had known this fact when he had agreed to take the position, but still chafed against the yoke.
"Now, I don't intend to be looking over your shoulder all the time. I never do that with my people, but we WILL be working closely together and I need to know that this will not be a sticking point for you."
"It won't," Will answered quickly and suppressed a wince, knowing his answer had been too easy and glib. Adam smiled, reading his cousin's expressions accurately.
"Don't worry, I'm reasonably confident we can work things out," he said as he got to his feet and the other man rose too. He came around his desk to put one hand on his cousin's shoulder and began to steer him toward the hallway door. Pulling it open with his other hand, he held Will back for a moment.
"Trust me...I know what I'm talking about," he said quietly, meeting his cousin's gaze steadily and waited.
The corner's of the other man's mouth lifted then grew into a genuine smile, and he nodded quickly before stepping out into the hall and heading toward the kitchen.
Adam watched him walk away for a few seconds, his expression neutral, and then went back into his office. He settled back into the chair behind his desk to think deeply about the introduction and the conversation. Some time later, he was still deep in thought when he heard a knock on the door to the sitting room.
Sitting up, he called out "Come in," and held back a chuckle when Stu opened the door, stepped in, and stood there holding it open for a bit before coming toward the desk. He stopped when he was standing next to it to look down at Adam with an odd expression.
"What?" he quickly asked, concerned that he was unable to read the younger man's face.
"I just have one question Boss," Stu said and Adam was surprised to hear some sort of restrained emotion in his voice. "Am I supposed to be your man on the inside?"
Relaxing back in his chair again, Adam raised a hand to stroke his chin and slowly smiled as his eyes shone with amusement. Stu waited patiently, not moving or changing expression, aware that the other man was carefully considering the question.
"No," he answered simply and Stu just stood there, meeting his dark gaze for a few seconds before turning away and going back into the sitting room.
Shaking his head, Adam shook with silent laughter, his smile wide and his eyes crinkled up at the corners, until he felt something suddenly wrap around his calf and ankle. Startled, he quickly looked down to see a pair of eyes exactly like his own shining up at him out of the dim shadow of the desk.
"Now what are you doing under there?" he asked and pushed his chair back, bringing the baby out into the light still attached to his leg.
"PA!" Matthew crowed, extremely pleased with himself.
Realizing the child must have crawled into the room when Stu came in the second time, he reached down to pry the boy off his leg and sat him in his lap so they were facing each other.
"I swear, you move faster every day and you haven't even learned how to walk yet," Adam said to his son and Matthew looked up as though he understood every word.
"PA!" he said again, nodding his little head in agreement and his father chuckled.
"Sometimes I wonder about you Matthew. Your brothers make so much noise you kind of get lost in the crowd, don't you?" The baby was still staring up at his father's face, seemingly fascinated with the subject, until his attention was distracted by the sound of laughter from the next room. He grinned, revealing two small white teeth with one missing in the middle and chortled as he suddenly decided he needed to taste one of the buttons on his father's shirt. With a quick snap, he managed to bite the button off, startling his father.
"Dear Lord, don't swallow that!" Adam said and quickly poked a finger into the baby's mouth, fishing for the button. Delighted with this new game, Matthew rolled the button around in his mouth until his father was forced to pry his mouth open to retrieve it.
Dropping the spit-covered button onto the desktop, Adam sighed with relief then quickly pressed a finger across Matthew's lips when the child's gaze focused on another button.
"No!" he said firmly and stood as he shifted the baby to the crook of his arm.
"Come on, let's go join the party and warn everyone to guard their buttons," he said as he walked toward the door to the sitting room.
"PARTY!" Matthew almost shouted and his father had to laugh even while shaking his head, wondering what kind of mischief the child would get into next.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The party moved from the kitchen to the sitting room as the evening went on and Laura was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by all the noise after their long journey. Adam was playing his guitar while Dora played the piano and almost everyone was gathered at that end of the sitting room singing along with the music.
She slipped out into the now deserted front hall and could hear Barbara, Cassie and Thea in the kitchen, talking and laughing as they worked, cleaning up. Not wanting to intrude on their easy friendship, she quietly went out the front door and sank down on the front porch swing with a tired sigh.
The evening was a little chilly, but she didn't mind, the cool air was a welcome change after the almost too warm house. She had just started swinging when the front door opened and Will came out. He quietly came over to sit on the swing too and she nudged his arm up to slide up against him. Resting her head on his shoulder she sighed as his arm settled across her shoulders and he gave her a tight hug.
They swung in silence for a while and she was almost asleep when he spoke, dragging her back.
"Let's go for a little walk," he said as he got to his feet and held a hand out to her.
"Now?"
"Yeah, come on," he urged and she sighed, but took his hand.
Grinning, he pulled her up and tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow as they went down the front steps. She took a deep breath of the cool air that held the promise of fall and suddenly realized her weariness was fading. They went down the front path, through the gate, and turned right toward town. At the next corner he tugged her into another right turn and they strolled down the narrow street for a couple of blocks until he suddenly stopped in front of a charming brownstone house. She glanced up at him in surprise before turning her eyes to the house and she smiled.
"Why are we stopping here?" she asked while still staring at the house, taking in all the details. The front porch ran the length of the front and turned to run the whole length of the left side. The trim was painted a forest green, and the front door was a deep red. Lamps were lit inside, and she sighed, wishing they already had their own home.
The front yard was narrow, but long, and the path to the door was made of the same brownstone. She opened her mouth to protest when Will started down the path, tugging her along by the hand.
"What are you doing?" she said in a fierce whisper, trying to dig her heels in.
"It's alright, I know the people who live here," he said and she stopped resisting, but felt a flush of annoyance warm her face. Dropping in on people she didn't know was not something she wanted to be doing late in the evening.
Will stepped up to the red door, and knocked. She heard quick footsteps coming and the door suddenly swung open, revealing almost everyone who had been at the party standing in a group directly opposite.
"Welcome home!" they all shouted as loud as they could and Laura's wide astonished eyes started to fill with tears. Thea peeked around the edge of the door she was still standing behind and quickly came to put her arms around the other woman.
"Surprise!" she said softly as she patted Laura on the back and the other woman started laughing, even while highly emotional tears ran down her cheeks.
"All right, everybody out!" Adam said and the crowd began to file out, each person stopping to either hug or shake hands with Will. Everyone was either laughing and talking as they made their way to the street, then small groups formed to head off in different directions.
Adam and Thea were the last to leave and when Laura reluctantly let go and Thea moved away, she found herself looking up into Adam's smiling face and kind eyes.
She burst into tears again saying, "Thank you!" and threw her arms around him, squeezing as hard as she could.
"You're welcome," Adam answered, his voice tinged with suppressed laughter and gave her a quick hug before giving his cousin a pointed look.
Smiling widely, Will came to put his hands on her shoulders, and at his touch she abruptly let go of Adam and turned to latch onto her husband, still sobbing with happiness.
"Good night," Adam said to them from the doorway as he took Thea's hand and they quickly escaped, closing the door as they heard Will respond softly in kind.
They hurried across the porch and down the path before slowing down as they turned onto the street. Thea slipped her arm around his waist and his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
You still don't have any memories at all about her, do you?" Thea asked quietly and he chuckled.
"Is that jealousy asking?" he teased and she slanted a quick, dark look up at him
"No Adam, I trust you," she answered firmly and his arm tightened around her bringing them both to a stop.
"Good," he said and bent his head down to brush her lips briefly with his own. "And my answer is 'no', I have absolutely no memories of her or what happened then."
She looked up at him seriously and tipped her head to the side. "Doesn't that bother you?" she said solemnly and he laughed as he shook his head.
"Theadora, there are a hundred other things that would concern me much, much more. And besides, why would I want to remember? Even if I did, it wouldn't make any difference to what I feel. You are and will be the only woman in my life for the rest of my life."
They stood there in silence for a few moments until she sighed deeply, reached up with both hands to cup his face, and tugged his head down to kiss him deeply for a few seconds. Then she abruptly let go, stepped back, and said, "Last one home..." before dashing across the street and toward the alley that ran behind their house.
"Last one home what?" he called.
"You'll see!" she called back to him over her shoulder as she ran away.
"Hmmm... now THAT sounds interesting," he said to himself, and then grinned as he walked across the street and disappeared into the dark.