Chapter 48
"So, tell me more about these former friends," Arthur says, pouring his girlfriend another round of sparkling water for both.
"They're not friends," Zelena insists, doing her best to keep the water down. Now three, almost four months into her pregnancy, the dreaded morning sickness had continued, leaving her dizzy, faint, sweaty and overall very weak. She was told that it would pass with time, but she's in her third month and it should have stopped by now. The one benefit was that it caused her to lose weight and "glow" according to Jacob. While she kept the confident façade, in reality, she felt miserable and wishing that she'd thought her Robin plan through a little more carefully. If carrying your sister's boyfriend's baby meant being this queasy all the time, she would've changed her plans. The doctor suggested that since her body type was thinner, she might experience more extreme hormone fluctuations and therefore longer bouts of morning sickness, but despite everything, Jacob was there for her. He did not mind holding her hair up as she vomited into the toilet and offered comforting words, not knowing that he'd walked his ex-wife through two pregnancies previously. He knew what to say to get her to feel safe and relaxed in his presence. Plus, he knew that once she hit her second trimester, he'd become a lot more attractive to her. He had yet to see this smoking redhead in the sheets. Right now, he was kept at arm's length, which was perfectly fine for him considering all she did was bitch and whine about her sickness and pretty much everything else. He knew once she started on a rant, she wouldn't stop, which could be used to his advantage to gain some insight.
"That's why I said former," Arthur says.
"What do you know so far?" Zelena asks as if she had a list in her head of all the things she hated about the people who were supposed to be her friends.
"That your sister gets everything, your mother hates you, you manipulated her boyfriend into getting you pregnant… You spend a lot of your time on the subject of your sister, let's change it up a bit. What about this Emma girl? The one you ran into at the hospital the day we met."
"Oh, Little Miss Golden Girl. She has a perfect life. The beautiful home, the handsome boyfriend, the perfect teenage son, the great job, a new baby. It's all roses in the garden for her…"
Arthur feigns ignorance. "Isn't she the one from the papers? Escaped captivity?"
"Gutsy to say the least, but I didn't have a lot of sympathy for her, I mean I would've bashed the guy's face in the first time he'd try to take advantage of me…" Not aware of the irony of her statement. "Instead the inept cops let him get over state borders and he kept her locked up for four months."
Arthur is holding in the laugh, he tries to remain serious. It was rather amazing that he was able to get over state borders with Emma as his prisoner, it was actually funny that the cops had basically made fools of themselves in his and Emma's case.
"And of course her idiot boyfriend nearly got himself killed when he heard that he was trying to get her pregnant."
He bites his lip in satisfaction.
"And what about this boyfriend… Kelton was his name?"
"Killian, very sweet man, bummer that Emma got to him first."
"How tough is he? Could I take him in a fight?"
The lawyer is a little taken aback by the question, but then again, almost all the men she'd dated like to assume their dominance over one another.
"Just in case I ever have to fight for you…" he smirks.
"Oh please, Emma can have him. He's a love-sick puppy dog, following the blonde around and dropping everything if she so much as sheds one tear. A gentleman at heart, he has a dark past of booze and drugs. He has abandonment issues, just like her. His daddy ran away and then he lost his brother overseas."
"So I'm guessing he's had no military training,"
"I doubt it, he just spends his time moving heavy boxes onto ships and stuff like that. No doubt you could kick his ass."
Good to know…
"So, Emma has abandonment issues too?"
"Oh, don't even get me started on her problems. She always says that she's felt unloved all her life. Her own parents didn't even want her."
"Was she given up for adoption?"
"They didn't even make it that far, they left her on the side of some highway," Zelena smirks and Arthur mirrors her grin.
"Really?"
"Yeah, and then the family that adopted her gave her back when they had their own baby."
Both chuckle as Miss Swan's misery, Jacob a little bit harder than expected.
"She was in and out of the foster system and group homes. Until she ran away and got herself pregnant at sixteen."
"She knew Killian way back then?"
"Oh God no, she met this drifter Neal Cassidy and the two ran from the law for awhile until she got knocked up. Had a cute kid, but the kicker is, he had daddy problems too and left them when the kid was twelve."
"The poor gal," he says with a laugh.
"I am not sympathetic at all. The pair of whiny weaklings deserve each other. They can have that squeaky-clean life for all I care. Live the Norman Rockwell life, me I'd rather live dangerously…"
"You live on the edge baby," He smirks. He leans in to kiss her. Their spiteful lips meet, and they snicker with glee. A wretched pair that deserved each other no doubt. A real match made in hell.
"Now tell me about the other one, the one who belongs in a monastery you said…"
…
Later that evening, after saying goodnight to Zelena, Arthur takes his truck and runs a detour to the harbour side of town. He parks across the street from the big gray house with the white picket fence and a yellow Volkswagen parked out front.
He lights up a cigarette and watches the happy family as they come back from a walk down by the harbour. The blonde pushed the baby in the stroller, the happy boyfriend with his arm around her shoulders and the teenage son eating a chocolate bar and checking his phone. No doubt he could get rid of the dark-haired docks man, he'd no doubt lay down his life for his daughter and Emma, but he forgot to ask about the teenage boy. The kid was tall and lanky, but looks could be very deceiving. He didn't look like a fighter, but his mother worked for the police force, no doubt he had a few self-defence lessons under his belt. He stared for a long time at the stroller, containing the infant… his infant. She'd already spent a month in the wrong hands and he didn't even know his daughter's name. He hoped that Emma at least gave her a decent name, do one good thing for their child. He licks his lips in an almost predatory way before letting out some cigarette smoke.
How easy would it be to just run over there and snatch the tiny thing from under the blonde's nose? They wouldn't have time to stop him, he had a full tank of gas and gun in the glove compartment. Take it and go, head off with the little girl that should be his. He worked so hard to get her developing anyways, he deserves to meet her at least.
It would be so easy to grab it. No doubt they were tired, having a new baby was exhausting. He'd have to strike sooner rather than later, catch them off-guard and maybe inflict a little bit of pain.
He watches them go up the path into their idyllic little home. The family parks the stroller on the front porch and Arthur only catches a brief glimpse of the little girl. She was fast asleep, so he couldn't see her eyes. He waits patiently until he only sees the lights on in what can be assumed as the master bedroom. He gets out of his truck and casually goes across the street. He unlatches the front gate and sneaks up to the porch. He looks in and sees that the careless parents left one of their daughter's blankets in the stroller. It also contains a few toys. He takes a hold of the blanket, it looked like it was handknitted and he turns it over to see a name stitched on the front.
Sophie
His heart skipped a few beats. So that was his daughter's name. Not the best one out there, but still it was nice. He holds the blanket up to his nose and inhales the scent. It smelled beautiful, the scent of new life…
He then takes the tiny thing back into his truck and shoves it into the glove compartment. He knew they would miss it, most likely a sentimental gift from a friend, maybe that old cranky diner lady that Zelena talked about. He thought it might be a good warning to them… keep them on edge. After all, he liked a challenge…
More to come. It's okay if Arthur smelling Sophie's baby blanket made your skin crawl, it made me uncomfortable just to write it. I have exams starting next week so I will have to take a little break, but I will be back very soon. Please follow and review.