Disclaimer: I still don't own Mort Rainey, or anything Secret Window.
AN: Please read the top half of my bio page. The explanations are there.
Chapter 1: Homeward Bound:
Amber's POV:
The ride to our hotel was peaceful, and the atmosphere inside the limo quivered with love and excitement as Mort and I took our little girl home for the very first time. After my parents had left the hospital fuming, Mort had quickly slipped my brother his cellphone number so that he could call whenever he wanted. Mike gave me and Elizabeth quick goodbye kisses as he was leaving, but not before promising to call us so we could send him a plane ticket to come visit us as soon as summer vacation came. After that, Mort and I were briefed by the hospital staff before we left, and had been given instructions on how to care for Elizabeth and to help me recover from childbirth faster.
The journey out to the car was somewhat eventful and very blinding. With dozens of flashbulbs going off in our faces, Mort and I managed to pacify the crowd of reporters waiting for us by posing for pictures, but not letting them get an actual photo of Elizabeth's face…after all, we didn't want our baby to be blind before she turned a week old! Damn those photographers…
Anyway, the ride to the hotel was wonderful as Mort and I cooed over Elizabeth and talked about what was going to happen next. Mort and I both agreed to stay at the hotel for a while so I could regain my strength, but after that, Mort and I didn't know what to do. The cabin wasn't ready for a baby, and it wasn't big enough for three of us. There was only one bedroom, and we couldn't keep Elizabeth in our room forever, so we figured we needed to expand the cabin or buy a new cabin.
We eventually reached the hotel, and Mort quickly leapt out so that he could help me with Elizabeth. We were greeted by several staff members, and were soon surrounded by bellboys and hotel staff, all wanting a look at our new bundle of joy. We were only allowed to leave after Elizabeth started crying, signaling that she was either hungry, cranky, or needed a changing, so we bid a hasty farewell to everyone as we stepped onto the elevator and headed upstairs. A fantastic sight awaited us as we stepped into the room, causing Mort and I to stop in our tracks and gape.
The living room was crammed full of gifts of all sizes, including a fully assembled changing table and a beautiful white baby bassinette. The changing table was stocked with changing supplies, and had several one-piece baby outfits folded and stacked on it. The bassinette was covered in layers of white cloth and soft silvery lace, with a curved covering over the top half. Little silver bows dotted the lace and cloth coverings, it was the most beautiful, and most delicate-looking, bassinette I'd ever seen.
As Mort checked the gifts to see who had sent what, I headed directly to the changing table, where I gently lay Elizabeth down and checked to see if she needed changing. She did, and I changed her without any hesitation as to what to do. Once I was finished, I found a cute yellow one-piece pajama outfit, complete with booties already woven to it, and dressed Elizabeth in it. After carefully dressing her, I put Elizabeth into her bassinette and watched as she examined her new bed with curious eyes. Satisfied that she was comfortable, I turned around and saw Mort smiling at me.
"What?" I asked, giving him a puzzled look.
He grinned. "You did that like a natural, Amber," Mort replied, walking over to put his arms around me while Elizabeth made happy noises in her bed.
I blushed. "Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out how a diaper works," I said, rolling my eyes.
Mort laughed. "Very true, darling," he said, wrapping his arms even tighter around me.
We both turned and watched Elizabeth make noises and glance around her new bassinette. She looked so small and so precious that I felt tears swell up in my eyes. I couldn't believe it…I had created life with the man that I loved, and here we were, a family of three. A tear escaped my eye, and I felt Mort's finger gently wipe it away.
"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, turning my head so that I looked directly into his eyes.
"Nothing," I said, looking down at Elizabeth as she began drifting off to sleep, her tiny hands curling up into fists. "It's just that…I've realized that we managed to create a new living being…together."
Mort tightened his grip around me, and I felt his lips on my neck as he pulled me close to his body. His hands wandered up and down my body, and I sighed, closing my eyes as I felt absolute bliss fill me. I felt him gently pull me towards the bedroom, and stopped in my tracks, remembering what the doctors had told me before we left the hospital.
"Amber?" Mort asked, puzzled at my hesitation.
I looked up at my husband and gave him an apologetic smile. "Mort, you know we can't sleep together for at least six weeks," I told him. "The doctors told us so, and I'm not going to disobey them."
Mort pouted, looking extremely sexy and adorable at the same time. I gave a quiet laugh so as not to wake Elizabeth, and gathered up several gifts, shoving them into Mort's hands before gathering up a few more and heading for the bedroom, Mort trailing behind me. We set the gifts on the bed and continued to bring all of them to the bedroom so that we could open them without waking our little sleeping beauty in the next room. Once we had gathered all of the gifts together, I left the door open so we could hear Elizabeth if she woke, and Mort and I set about opening the gifts.
Most of the boxes were from authors or publishers that Mort knew from throughout his writing career, and I was amazed that they had all sent something to someone they probably hadn't seen in years. I was thankful that most of the gifts were practical stuff that could be used over and over again, like soft washcloths, baby bottles, toys, and blankets. There were lots of blankets, but that was alright; at least we knew that Elizabeth would never catch cold! Of course, there were clothes, shoes, and socks, but those were all things that would be outgrown in no time. Still, everything was appreciated.
However, the best thing in the entire bunch was a stack of fairytale books for me to read to Elizabeth as she grew up. Each book was thin, but all of them contained a number of the traditional fairytales, each story beautifully drawn out and painted in amazing colors and details. They were so vibrant and beautiful that they took my breath away. As I flipped through the books, I realized that there hadn't been a tag on them to tell me who they were from. Confused, I frantically looked at the wrapping paper, but found nothing.
"Mort, where is the tag that came with these books?" I asked, getting up to look through all of the wrapping paper that Mort had moved onto the floor. I began lifting bits of paper in a frantic search to find out who could have sent such an amazing gift.
"There wasn't one, darling," he said, putting all of the gifts neatly on the floor and neatly stacking them so that the bed was empty of everything but us and the books.
The tone of his voice made me look up at him. His eyes were soft, like warm brown velvet, and full of love. I also saw joy and pleasure in his eyes, but couldn't understand why. Mort must have seen my puzzlement because he reached over and plucked a book out of the stack, opening it up to the inside of the front cover. When he showed it to me, I saw there was a message inside of it.
'To My Baby Princess,
May the stories in these books come true for you in real life, and may you find the Prince of your dreams.
Love, Daddy'
I felt tears swell up in my eyes as I read the message, and took the book from Mort's grasp.
"Each book has a special message just like that," Mort whispered to me as he crept to my side, sliding an arm around me. "I picked them up while you were resting after the birthing, and had them wrapped and delivered to our room. What do you think of them?"
I closed the book, and put the entire stack on the floor. Turning back towards my husband, I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my lips to his. Mort sighed with pleasure, and soon had me on my back on the bed, his arms tightly wrapped around me as we continued to kiss. Even though we couldn't make love, we were allowed a few loving moments, so we spent who-knows-how-long kissing and caressing each other. Eventually, we stopped and lay on the bed, holding one another as we drifted off to a light sleep.
Two hours later, Mort's POV:
As he lay in bed, his sleeping wife in his arms, Mort could feel something that he'd never felt before: utter completion. He had a wonderful, caring, beautiful wife, a beautiful, precious treasure in the shape of a tiny baby girl, and a career that could provide a good life for all three of them. What more could any man ask for in life?
'Nothing,' thought Mort, stroking his wife's hair and rubbing her back. 'There's nothing more that I could want in life, and I'd have to be insane to want anything more.'
Well, one thing he wanted was for Amber's parents to be pushed off the face of the planet. Her mother was exceptionally maddening, and he desperately needed to do something about that woman. Her father seemed alright, but what sort of father allows his wife to emotionally abuse his children?
'A pathetic one,' Mort thought, his blood boiling at the thought of his daughter getting into the hands of his in-laws. 'I'll never allow those horrible people touch Elizabeth, even when they come to see Amber. I'll always be there to protect them, no matter what happens!'
Amber shifted in his arms, and Mort tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer so she could snuggle against him. He liked it when she did that; it made him seem needed, and he knew that she liked it as well. Mort considered himself lucky that he had a wife that was extremely affectionate and liked to hug, cuddle, kiss, and hold hands. Amy had never liked that sort of thing…
A small noise from the next room snatched his attention away from that last thought. Mort gently pulled himself away from Amber and quietly slipped into the living room to see what had made that noise. A shuffling sound came from the bassinette, so Mort tiptoed over and peaked inside. Elizabeth's brown eyes met his, and he could see her face crumple as though she were getting ready to cry. Panicked, Mort tried to quickly decide what to do. If Elizabeth began crying, Amber would wake up, and she needed her rest. No, waking Amber was out of the question. Looking down, he saw Elizabeth's face was crumpled and he knew he had to do something, fast.
Making up his mind, Mort reached into the bassinette and picked up his little girl, making sure to cradle her head like the doctors told him. He settled Elizabeth's head into the crook of his elbow and held her like he had seen Amber and the nurses do. As he shifted her around in his arms, Mort noticed that Elizabeth's face had smoothed out, and that she was looking up at him with wide brown eyes, seemingly to try and figure out who the man holding her was. Mort smiled and rocked her.
"It's alright, princess," Mort whispered to her. "I'm your daddy, and I'm going to take good care of you and Mommy, don't you worry. Those bad parents of hers will never hurt you, I promise."
Leaning forward, he gently kissed the tiny forehead and the small curl of hair lying in the middle of it. When he pulled back, Elizabeth gave him a long look before drifting back to sleep. Smiling at his success, Mort continued to rock his daughter back and forth, enjoying the feeling of being needed by the tiny bundle in his arms.
A Week Later: Amber's POV:
"Amber, have you seen Elizabeth's pacifier?" Mort called to me, frantic.
I rolled my eyes. "It's in my purse, Mort, I told you that two minutes ago!"
It had been a week since we had brought Elizabeth to the hotel, and now it was time to return to Tashmore Lake. Mort and I had decided to raise Elizabeth in two places, primarily our cabin in the woods and a new loft Mort had bought in New York City by Central Park. However, it was in Tashmore that Elizabeth had been created, and it was there that we would raise her. The only problem was that the cabin didn't have enough room to raise a baby, but Mort promised to expand it as best he could. I had my doubts about that, but still, I had faith in my husband's abilities.
After we had packed up our things and shipped them off ahead of us to the cabin, Mort had dressed Elizabeth in a cute green pajama outfit and we were in a chauffeur-driven luxury car on our way home. It was a fairly long drive to our cabin and I was sure Elizabeth was going to start fussing on the ride there, but Mort somehow managed to entertain her the entire ride there. He achieved this miracle by making funny faces at her and talking in strange voices during the whole ride, and was encouraged by the smiles and wide-eyed glances Elizabeth gave him. It was the best trip I'd ever taken.
When the car turned into our driveway and we made to go inside, our jaws dropped in sync. Our cabin was not the cabin we had left.
Slowly getting out of the car, Mort and I slowly walked up a new stone path to the front porch, which was no longer a screen-enclosed alcove cluttered with junk. It had been cleaned out, and expanded at least four feet in order to hold the new furniture and porch swing that had been installed. The porch and furniture were all wood, but a tough elegant wood to hold up to the elements and abuse a child would put it through.
As I carried Elizabeth past the porch and through the front door, I saw that the interior was the same but for one thing: it had been baby-proofed. There was a gate around the stairs, top and bottom, to keep Elizabeth from climbing up or falling down them, and there was also a gate across the doorway to the kitchen. The tables now had cushioning around the corners so that when Lizzie started crawling or walking, she wouldn't hurt her head. In other words, everything that could be done to protect our daughter had been done to the cabin. When Mort and I walked around the cabin, we saw that a bigger, more amazing change had been done to the house.
Someone had added other rooms to the cabin.
Where the kitchen had once been the outer room of the right-hand side of the cabin, a playroom had been added on to the kitchen, and a nursery had been added on to what had been the rear of Mort's study, making it easily accessible from the master bedroom. The nursery smelled fresh and slightly sweet, like vanilla, and not like paint or varnish, meaning that this had all been added quite some time ago, most likely when I was still pregnant.
I touched the white crib and admired the soft atmosphere of the room. It was bare of anything too babyish, like teddy bear wallpaper or storks. All it had were soft clouds, a rainbow, some flowered hills on the walls, and a beautiful sun on the ceiling amid more clouds. It was perfectly designed by someone who didn't know whether to expect a girl or boy, and it was the perfect room to sooth an upset baby of either gender. The dresser, crib, rocking chair, changing table, hamper, and toy chest were an off-white/crème color that blended with the atmosphere of the room, and I instantly fell in love with it. I tested the crib to see if it was secure before putting Elizabeth in it and found it sound. I then placed my dozing baby inside her new bed and picked up a baby monitor to take with me as I wandered the house.
Mort took my hand and the monitor and led me past the baby gates and downstairs into the new playroom. The plaster was painted pale yellow and the bottom half of the walls were wood painted white. Here there was another rocking chair, as well as a baby-fence to keep Lizzie confined to a certain area when she started crawling and walking. There were also numerous thick cushions stacked in a corner and several chests waiting to be filled with toys and clothes. It was the perfect child's playroom.
"Mort, who could have done all of this?" I breathed, looking up at him. "Did you do this?"
Mort shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart, but it never crossed my mind to do this," he said, looking around. "Remember, I was too busy with the book to plan out something like this, so it wasn't me."
Suddenly, the phone rang, and the two of us quickly went into the living room to answer it before it woke Elizabeth from her nap. Mort got to it before I did, and I patiently waited to see who had called.
"Hello?" Mort answered, looking over at me as he talked. After a moment, he motioned me over to listen in on the conversation.
"Hello, Mr. Rainey," said an unusually chipper voice at the other end. "This is Tonya, from your publishing company. I hope that you enjoy the new additions we've provided for your cabin?"
Mort and I exchanged shocked glances. His publishing company had done this? I doubted that. They didn't usually do stuff like this…did they?
Tonya chuckled. "I know that it's an unusual move on our part, but we thought that we'd thank you for completing the tour under the circumstances that you and your wife were under. If there are any problems with anything, be sure to call us, alright?"
"Uh, sure," Mort replied as he looked at me.
Tonya then hung up and left the two of us standing in the middle of the living room, staring at one another until the annoying dial tone of the phone snapped us out of it. Mort hung up the receiver and turned towards me, an odd sort of smile on his face.
"Well, at least we don't have to worry about expanding the cabin," he said, suddenly turning cheerful.
I laughed and the childlike joy he displayed and hugged him. Mort really was a strange man. He could be so passionate and adult one minute, then turn childlike and eager the next. I suppose that's what I love most about him…he keeps surprising me in the most amazing ways, and I never grow tired of it. I think I'm the luckiest woman in the world.
Meanwhile, Mort wrapped his arms tightly around me and buried his face in my neck, simply content in holding me close to him. Well, not as close to him as it used to be before the pregnancy. I'd definitely have to lose weight after this, but I doubt I'll ever be the same size I was before Elizabeth was born. I sighed, and Mort pulled back to look at me.
"What's wrong, darling?" he asked, rubbing my back.
I smiled. "Just thinking about all of the weight I'll have to lose," I said. I was definitely not looking forward to having to work my butt off to lose the pounds I had packed on over the past several months.
Mort blinked. "What weight?" he asked, seemingly confused about the whole thing.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Mort, you can't stand there and expect me to believe that you haven't noticed the pounds I've put on during my pregnancy," I said. There was no way Mort wasn't able to see how heavy I'd become!
He gave me a quick scan and shook his head. "Honestly, Amber, I can't see a thing you need to lose," he said.
The amazing thing was, I think he meant it. He had been blind to my personal flaws before, but even he couldn't ignore how much heavier I was! I opened my mouth to say something, but was stopped when Mort kissed me, holding me tightly as though he were afraid I'd disappear from his grasp.
"Don't you dare change a thing about yourself, Amber." He stared into my eyes and I knew that it wasn't a request. Mort honestly didn't want me to change anything about my weight?
"But I thought all men liked skinny women," I said, surprised at his words.
"Not me," Mort replied, rubbing his nose against mine. "I love women with curves." He began rubbing my hips with his thumbs. "And it would take me forever to show you how much I love you."
I kissed him to let him know how much I believed him.
AN: The other chapters (2-4) of the story will either be up by now or will follow very soon after this. I'm sorry that this had to happen, andI hope that everyonewill stick with me through this process!
