Chapter Thirty-Three

Early evening. It was technically after visiting hours, but Letty had lucked into the last remaining solo private room on the maternity ward, which meant that Dad was allowed to stay the night, although it would be an uncomfortable one, sleeping on two easy chairs scrunched together.

The hours after the birth were a slow-rolling but well-practiced system of baths, examinations, postpartum instructions – and firsts. The baby was brought in a rolling hospital bassinet to Letty in her new room, Christian dutifully trailing along behind; his smile and nod reinforced Hannah's announcement that the baby had passed all the tests and examinations for any possible problems with flying colors.

She'd been brought back in time for her first meal at Letty's breast (which went smoothly, to Letty's immense relief; she had never breastfed Jacob, as he had been born in prison and by law taken away by Estelle immediately), then both new parents were given hands-on instruction on changing diapers and baby clothes, neither having ever done it before. Christian ducked out of that one, returning a short time later with a bag of White Castle sliders for all the adults. Not long after that, visiting hours ended, and Christian left the new family alone to return solo to the hotel, marveling aloud that it had only been that morning that he slipped out for a walk. So much had happened.

Finally, all was quiet. Letty sat in bed, propped up on several pillows, cradling her sleeping daughter in her arms as Javier leaned over from his chair right beside the bed, his arms encircling both his women.

"So beautiful," he mused. Then he grinned up at Letty – his head was several inches lower. "Thank god, she didn't get my nose."

Letty laughed. "I like your nose!" she scolded.

"Thank you," he replied gravely, but then added regretfully, "but it wouldn't look good on a little girl." He grinned again. "Especially if it was full-size. It'd cover her entire face!"

"Well, maybe she'll grow one out as she gets bigger."

He gave her a grinning side-eye. "You do have it in for her!" and Letty actually giggled.

Javier studied Letty for a moment, smiling fondly. "Okay, Mamacita," he finally said. "You've kept it a secret until now, but I know you have it all picked out. What is our daughter's name?"

She bit her lips. "I do have one - two, but now that you're here, they're both up for discussion."

"So what are they?"

"Angelina... Javiera," she said softly, spacing them out.

He stared at her a moment, misty-eyed, then reached to gently stroke the baby's hair. "Little Angel," he said softly, the first name's actual meaning in English. "I like that. Very much." Then he tipped his head slightly, grimacing. "But I'd like to propose another middle name."

Letty was rather attached to both names, but she wasn't going to back down from her promise to him. "What?"

He took a breath. "Ava." His sister's name echoed in both their ears a moment. "I'm never going to see her again," he admitted, "and it's better that she doesn't know. But this way... It would be like... This would be a little piece of her, that I could keep."

Letty was deeply touched. "I don't agree with you, that it's better she doesn't know. But I'm not going to argue with you – at least, not right now. Because for all these months..." She licked her lips, then tipped her head towards the baby. "She's been the only piece of you, that I had left."

"Not any more," he refuted her instantly, his voice low and intense. He rose from the chair and twisted to sit on the bed beside her knees, looking deeply into her eyes. "Now you have every bit of me, always." He leaned over and kissed her to seal it.

Letty gave him a misty smile, then turned to look at the baby again, holding her up closer. "Angelina... Ava... Pereira," she pronounced, spacing the names out to give each one proper due. Then she glanced up, playfully puzzled. "I'm sensing a trend..."

He chuckled. "Then let me break it," he told her apologetically. "Perez. Not Pereira."

She slid a mock-alarmed look on her face, staring as if seeing him for the first time. "Who are you?"

Another chuckle. "Diego Javier Perez. I just switched the first two names."

"And took Perez."

Javier nodded. "There's a reason for that, but I'll tell you later."

She thought for a moment, then went for a Feeling Left Out Pout. "Do I get a new name?"

A smile slowly stretched his mouth. "If you like. I have thought of one," he admitted, "but I haven't done anything official with it yet."

"Well?"

"Nicoleta. That way you can still be Letty. Or Nika, if you like."

"Nicoleta," she said thoughtfully, trying it on her tongue. "I like that. That's pretty! Nicoleta..." Another thought. "Do I get a middle name?"

"Yes. But this one, you can't refuse." Her eyebrows shot up at that, but he went ahead before she asked. "Rosa. Because you are my beautiful rose. Even when the whole world around us is nothing but shit," the way he spat the word out made it even uglier, "I look at you, and I am reminded that there is beauty, and kindness, and love in the world." He'd lifted one hand and was caressing her cheek as he said the words.

She gaped at him a moment, tears prickling. "That's the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me," she got out at last.

"And it will not be the last," he replied, leaning over to kiss her again.

After a moment, he looked at her seriously. "Letty," he began, then softly snorted. "I was going to say, that if you have found a home, and don't want to leave, of course I will stay with you. But I have a feeling that's no longer true, even if it was."

"No," she admitted sourly. "I think the hurricane just took care of that. So what was that 'but' I heard coming?"

"Come back with me," he said, his whisper conversely intensifying the request. "Like I said before, I've been starting a new life. And it's a good life. I have a good job, for a good man – and it's a hundred percent legit." Paulo's phrase had stuck in his head, and he'd glommed onto it, liking how it sounded. "I really am a private chef, for an executive and his family. I'm also in charge of his personal security, but that's nothing. Codes and routines. And sometimes I act as his bodyguard – but I swear, if we have any trouble at all – and we did, once, at the beginning – we give it to the police and let them handle it. Letty..." His pause for a breath, looking even more intensely into her eyes, gave the next bit all the gravitas it deserved. "I'm done with what I used to do. I haven't done it since we left the South, and I swear, I will never do it again. I'm legit. A new life. I make good money, live in a good place – I can take care of both of you, you won't have to work. But I'm only half alive without you. It's empty, no color. Please come back with me." He ended on the simple, half-whispered plea.

There was a whole lot there to absorb, but she already knew what her answer would be. However... "What's the catch?" she asked, dry as a desert.

Javier's eyebrows flared, and he cocked his head. "Why do you think there's a catch?"

She grinned. "One, there's always a catch. Two, you're giving me the hard sell."

That made him think a bit, and he grinned ruefully. "I am, aren't I? Okay. The catch is, it's not in the US. It's in Ecuador."

"Ecuador? Where is that?"

American ignorance of world geography had long since ceased to amaze him. "It's a country in South America, right on the equator. That's why it's called Ecuador – Ecuador means 'equator'."

"So we'd have to emigrate, is what you're saying."

He winced, then admitted, "I already have." Pulling his new passport out of his back pocket, he opened it up for her. "That's a genuine, legit passport." At her look of astonishment, he shrugged. "It was the reward I asked for in return for helping the police with that problem we had. I'll reverse it if you really want to stay here. But getting you into the country would be no problem – both Paulo and I would sponsor you. Easy." Angelina squirmed and grunted in her sleep just then, and they both looked down and smiled. Then Javier went on, "the other thing is, a lot of people there do speak English, like Paulo – my boss – and his kids are learning in school, but it would probably be good for you to learn some Spanish," he finished apologetically.

She laughed at him, and when he reacted in surprise, said, "Yo hablo un poco ya."

Now he was even more astonished. "Since when?"

"Since the last few months," she admitted. She lifted a hand to stroke his cheek. "I wanted Angelina to grow up speaking both Spanish and English, as a way of knowing you. And the only way to really do that, was if I spoke it first. So, Christian and I – he wanted to learn it because some of his students speak Spanish – we've been going through one of those language apps together." She laughed again at a memory. "Plus, it's been fun at work. A lot of my customers speak Spanish."

"What have you been doing?"

"I'm a bartender again," she informed him, "at Red Lobster. Sometimes I'll catch a customer saying something to me in Spanish – a catcall, and I'll give him a huge smile and say," she put the smile on her face and slipped into her broadest Southern drawl, " 'Oh, Ah'd love to learn Spanish! Tell me what you said!' And they'll go beet red – it wasn't exactly polite. So I'll give them a break and say, 'or you can teach me something else, instead.' " She chuckled. "Sometimes they'll actually repeat what they said – the ballsy ones – but mostly they'll say another phrase. I can serve you a beer in Spanish – or any other drink – and tell you how much it is!"

He'd been laughing along with her story. Now he nodded appreciatively. "Numbers – and money – are not a bad place to start." Then he turned serious – he really didn't want to rip her away from her life if she wanted to stay. "So you've got a good job."

"I did," she said ruefully. "I have a feeling it's been washed away." The reports they'd gotten from the Weather Channel of Panama City had not been good. The hurricane had passed through and was churning quickly northeast towards the Carolina coast, rapidly losing strength as it went, but the area where it had made landfall was devastated. Then she turned it back – she knew what he was hinting at. "But nowhere near as good as yours. Javi... yours is more important. So much more. Of course I'll go with you – we will." She caressed his bearded cheek again, one part of her simply reveling in the wonder of being able to touch him again. "A brand new life – all of us together – in a brand new place... sounds like heaven."

That slow, sexy smile claimed his lips. "It will be. Oh, it will be. I promise." He leaned over and kissed her thoroughly.

When he drew back, she was smiling. "I like that much better without the beard net," she admitted cheekily.

He grinned agreement, and kissed her again.