With Erin dozing softly with her head on his chest, Dave took the opportunity to send a prayer towards the heavens. A prayer of thanks, that he could keep them safe and one of pleading, that he could continue to keep them safe. He kept one arm around Erin and his other hand against the baby sleeping peacefully against her mother's chest; despite the storm that still crashed around them. Lightning flashed against the black sky and thunder rolled in the distance.
Stroking Erin's damp hair, "Dave?" she muttered tiredly.
"I'm still here, Sweetheart." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head his lips tasted like salt.
She was drenched in sweat, he untangled himself from her and grabbed a clean towel and the kettle. Thankfully the water had cooled down as he bathed her face and neck. She sighed in exhaustion and glanced down at the baby wiggling against her. "Hi there... I'm your mommy..." Erin smiled with pride running her finger down the newborn's warm cheek.
"She's beautiful, Erin..." Dave muttered. 'Just like her mommy.' his conscience taunted him. "Does she have a name?"
Erin stared thoughtfully at the little girl with a crown of thick black hair and she could already see the tiny dimples in her cheeks. "Her name is Ava."
"Welcome to the world, Ava," he greeted softly. Love slowly and inexplicably filled his heart.
"I'm sorry about your rug, David," Erin said, stifling a yawn.
"I think a rug is fair payment for this," he replied absently ran a gentle hand over the baby's hair. He couldn't put his finger on why the baby looked so familiar. "You're wiped out," he observed.
"I feel like I took ten rounds with Ali..." She yawned abruptly.
"Let's go to bed..." Dave offered and reached for her hand.
"David..." Her embarrassed gaze concentrated on her clothes instead of his eyes. "I need a shower. And I..." She wasn't sure how to explain female problems to her ex-lover.
"I have towels. How do you want to do this?"
"David-" she started to protest. Playing doctor was bad enough, but he wasn't her concierge at some fancy hotel.
"I'm not letting you sleep in the floor," he grinned. "Now do I have to carry you?" His eyes danced with mischief.
"I can walk," she fixed him with a glare that didn't hold half as much ice as it would have if she weren't so tired.
He hauled himself off the floor, ignoring the pop of his back. "Come on, then." He reached for her hand and helped her stand. She cradled the baby closer to her chest and Dave kept his arm around her waist, lest she stumble. It was still dark, but Dave knew the cabin almost as well as he knew the woman walking next to him.
Pushing open the door to the bedroom, Erin pulled in a breath. "When did you do this?"
"I figured I would get you in bed at some point tonight..."
"I just gave birth on your rug and you're already putting the moves on me." She scoffed with a roll of her eyes.
"Come on Erin, you know I didn't mean it like that. I was getting towels and I figured you would want to come in here afterward..." He shrugged, "candles make pretty good lighting if you've got enough of them. Are you okay to stand for a second?"
"I'm fine." Her bladder was screaming with protest, but her pride was stronger.
He moved into the bathroom and rummaged through the cabinets. "These were a gift when I turned forty," he pulled out a package of Depends. And gazed longingly towards the baby, "Can I hold her while you get changed?"
"How much would you hate me if I told you no?" She couldn't let him hold her, because the moment her daughter was in the safety of David's arms; he would know her secret.
"Erin-"
"She has to stay warm." She said, with more bite than she intended.
"Erin, I delivered her- I can keep her warm."
"You played catch."
Dave sighed and tried not to take it personally, She was a protective mother and he couldn't blame her. Having him for a doctor probably wasn't as comforting as he tried to make it. But dammit, he had tried.
"Alright, fine. Let me help you, then."
"Are you warm enough?" he asked as Erin settled under the blankets. The heat from the living room didn't seem to be filtering to the other rooms of the cabin.
"We're fine..." she said, as the baby whimpered in hunger. "It's okay, Baby," Erin cooed as she parted the buttons on the dress shirt.
"I'll let you rest then, I need to check the weather..." And get us the hell out of here, he added in his mind. Reluctantly, he moved from his place against the bed.
His hand seemed to find the top of the baby's head without his permission and he stroked her hair lovingly.
"David-" She called softly.
"Yes?" He paused at the door.
"I-" her voice caught, "I couldn't have done it without you, thank you."
"When you take Crammer's job, just be sure and add it to my personal file." He threw back with a wink. "If you need anything, I'll be in the living room."
"You'll be my first call." She listened as his footsteps echoed through the hall and quickly faded. She sighed and adjusted the baby in her arms, "Baby girl, what am I going to do?"
Dave paced the living room, and the fire roared. He was exhausted and tiredness seeped though his bones, but he wouldn't sleep. Not until they were out of there. He couldn't pinpoint when the rain had stopped, but he was grateful. Now if only the phone lines were working. For the billionth time, he picked up the receiver. Nothing.
"Thank God for propane," he muttered, spooning the long-forgotten pasta into a bowl. He took a tentative bite. Shockingly it was still warm. He filled another bowl, grabbed the lantern, and headed for the bedroom.
He stopped in his tracks just to watch. There she was, clad in his old flannel shirt staring at the baby from under her eyelashes. In the dim candlelight and he didn't think he had ever seen her so beautiful. Sometime while he was downstairs, she had obviously showered and changed into fresh clothes. He etched the image into his mind, knowing that once they left the cabin he would never get to see them again.
"Room service," he announced softly. He stepped lightly over to the four- poster bed careful not to intrude on the fragile moment between mother and daughter.
"Any luck with the phone?" Erin asked, struggling to keep her eyes open.
"No, but the company works fast. The rain stopped, so they'll be out here by morning." He didn't elaborate on the possibility of mud slides and low water crossings that may have flooded. Without a radio, he had no idea what damage had been inflicted on the area. The morning may be pushing it, but he would worry about that later. Right now, this moment, was what was most important to him.
"Good..." A comfortable silence settled over them, Dave sat the bowl on the nightstand and put the lamp on the floor.
"You know," he hesitated, "If you were in a hospital the nurses would have whisked her away by now." He said nodding towards the baby. "Please, Erin...let me hold her while you eat."
"I'm not hungry," she muttered, her body ached in places she forgot existed, her head was pounding and she was stranded in the middle of nowhere with a newborn - while her two toddlers were across state lines. A bubble of fear rose in her throat and the last thing she wanted was food. How had her life come to this?
"What am I going to tell Peter?"
"Nothing tonight." He knelt next to her, putting a protective hand between her shoulders. "Get some rest. Everything else can wait."
"No. No, it can't," she denied, with hot tears falling down her cheeks, "I-what kind of mother-"
"You're a good mom, Erin." He tried to console her, but he could tell he was getting no where. Something was scaring the hell out of her, and he was a seasoned enough profiler to know that it had nothing to do with the storm or being stranded out in the middle of a forest with him.
"I lied-" she sobbed, her words barely coherent. "I lied and I sent my children away, David."
He tried to make sense of her confession. "What do you mean 'sent them away'? Where are your children, Erin? What have you done?" Fear raced through him. He knew she would never deliberately harm her children, but what terror had made her believe she had to other recourse but to part with her flesh and blood?
"I have no idea what's happening to them...I had to protect them." Her breath caught, exhaustion quickly overtaking her. "I had to protect them..."
"Protect them from what?" he asked sharply, the interrogator in him coming out. Concern was the last thing on his mind as images too brutal to put into words danced in his head, Gripping her shoulders, he gave her a little shake - not hard, just enough to bring her back to the moment. "Who is hurting them?"