A Fresh Start
Chapter Twenty Four
"Who was on the phone?" Cassie asks, walking into the living room
"Ah, Reva." Richard says, putting the phone down.
"Reva, why was she calling?"
"She was taking care of some business for me."
"Business?"
"Yes, come here." Richard says, holding out his hand to her.
"Okay." Cassie says, walking over to him.
"I need to tell you something."
There are a few minutes of silence before Cassie says. "Okay, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"
"Nothing is exactly wrong, but I don't want to hurt you."
"Richard, you could never hurt me, just tell me."
"Reva called…."
"Yes, I know."
"She called to tell me that she's bringing Jonathan and Sarah here, tomorrow morning."
"Wait, Jonathan and Sarah, she's bringing them here. How can she do that? They are dead."
"That's what everyone thinks, but they're not dead."
"Richard, he drove his car off the cliff at Laurel Falls. Frank said that there was no way they could have survived that crash. The car dropped…."
"I know, but he did. He faked his and Sarah's death to throw Alan off. He's been in hiding ever since."
"And Reva knew this." Cassie says, getting up. "Why didn't she tell me? Why did she let us think that he and Sarah were both dead?"
"I assume to protect them. Jonathan and Sarah have been hiding since the accident…."
"Has she had any contact with them?"
"Only once, when Sarah was sick. She kidnapped Lizzie so they could take bone marrow from her for Sarah."
"So that's what that whole weekend was about. They didn't go off and party. She was…."
"Helping Sarah."
"Why are they coming here? If Alan finds out that they are alive, he won't stop until he has Sarah."
"I'll protect them both from Alan, don't worry about that."
"How are you going to do that? You just got out of the hospital Richard. You're not strong enough to fight him."
"I'm not going to physically fight him. My name will keep Alan at bay and protect Jon and Sarah."
"Your…. He's a Winslow." Cassie says, realizing what he's thinking.
"Yes, he'll be safe here at the embassy until we can get him to San Cristobel. And then Alon… William will protect him."
"You're sure this will work."
"Yes, Alan will probably try to come after them but the Spaulding's can't take on the Royal family of San Cristobel."
"Are you sure about that? Alan seems to believe he can take on the world."
"I don't care what Alan Spaulding thinks, I will protect my son and my granddaughter, however I have see fit. I wasn't there when he was a boy. I'm not turning my back on him again."
"When are they coming?" Cassie asks, reaching for his hand.
"They'll be here sometime early tomorrow morning." Richard says "Are you okay?" he asks, taking her other hand.
"I'm happy for you. I know you regretted everything that happened with Jon and the fact that you were not with him growing up, but now you have a second chance with him and that makes me happy."
"And Tammy."
"I wish she was here, and for a second chance with her."
"Cassie, you were a wonderful mother to her, you know that."
"Yes, but I would still like another chance. I didn't know that, that would be all the time we would have together."
"I'm sorry Darling." Richard says, hugging her.
The feel of his arms around her, after being gone for so long, the memories of his accident, Reva turning the life support off, the dream she had at the Beacon and the funeral, Edmund, Jeffrey, Josh and finally Tammy's death breaks the dam inside her. He feels her begin to shake, tightening his arms around her he pulls her over onto his lap.
"Its okay, Darling." He whispers, holding her while she cries.
Cassie cried for a while the night before, until Richard picked her up and carried her upstairs. She had protested at first but he shushed her, carrying her to their room. He held her until they both fell asleep.
The sun is coming up when Cassie rolls to her side. Opening her eyes, she smiles when she sees him lying beside her. Moving over beside him, she lifts his arm. Laying her head on his chest she listens to his heart beating beneath her ear. Putting an arm across his waist, she hugs him.
"I can't breath." He whispers, faking a cough.
"I'm not holding you that tight." Cassie says, looking up at him while he chuckles.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I haven't cried like that in a really long time."
"Do you feel better?"
"Yes, I feel relieved. Although that wasn't exactly how I thought we would spend your first night home."
"I can't think of a better way to spend my first night at home, holding you."
"I can." Cassie says, leaning up and looking down at him.
"Besides that, you needed me Cassie and you needed that."
"Yes, I did. But now I need something else." She says, leaning down.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, unless you're not ready too." She says, watching him.
"No, I'm more than ready but I thought you might want to settle in before we do…."
"I think we've waited long enough don't you. Five years is a long time." She says, moving towards him
"Cassie." He sighs, wrapping his arm around her as she moves closer to him.
Silence fills the room while they kiss. Moving one hand up her back, he slips it under her hair, holding the back of her head as his tongue slips inside, caressing hers as she moans softly.
Rolling her over to her back, Richard breaks the kiss. "I want to go slow." He says, lightly kissing the side of her neck
"Okay." She sighs, running her hands up his back, lightly scratching him as he begins to nibble on her ear and neck. Smiling as she feels goose pimples roll across his skin.
Moving down from her neck, he stops for a couple seconds to feel her pulse pounding at the base of her throat while he listens to her breathing, ragged with desire. Moving on, he slowly works his way down her body, laying little kisses and soft bites.
Cassie feels the heat building inside her, reaching up she buries her fingers in his hair, holding him against her as he moves to lie beside her. Slowly moving up her breast while she presses her body against his, searching for him.
"What do you want Darling?" he asks, looking up at her as his warm breath washes over her.
"Richard, please." She sighs, arching her back while his hand closes around her breast, caressing her.
She sighs softly, closing her eyes before she leans up. Catching his mouth, she kisses him. Her tongue slipping inside his while she presses her body against his, trapping his hand between them.
Breaking the kiss, she leans back. Reaching for the hem of her night gown, he begins to tug on it. Working it up her body as she reaches for the pajamas he's wearing, pushing them down until she moves away, kneeling in bed, she pulls the gown over her head tossing it in the floor while Richard watches her, caressing her with those faded green eyes. Leaning over, she kisses him. Moving closer, he wraps his arms around her, holding her against him. Sitting up and kneeling on the bed, he pulls his pajama bottoms down, lying down he pulls them off before he reaches for her.
Kissing her as she lays down beside him, he pulls her against him. Slowly running his hand down her back, holding her against him as they roll to her back, laying halfway on her, he slowly moves down her body, lightly kissing her as she kisses his upper chest. Slowly running her hand up his chest, caressing him as his mouth closes around her nipple.
"Richard." She sighs, burying her hands in his hair, holding him against her.
Wrapping his other hand around her other breast, caressing her as he pulls against her nipple, sucking her into his mouth, gliding her hands down his back softly scratching as she goes. He moves to her other breast, kissing her as his hand moves down her stomach. Reaching up, she buries her hands in his hair pressing his lips to hers with heat and passion. Lifting her legs and wrapping them around his hips leaving him nestled between her thighs. He leans back breaking the kiss to watch her reactions as he rubs against her.
"Richard." For several seconds he pauses watching her as she responds to him. Arching her back against him she can feel him hard and insistent. "Richard, Please."
"What, darling?"
"Please!" Looking up at him, she says. "Handsome, I know you want this to last, but I need you now!"
"How do you need me? Like this he asks as he slowly begins to slide against her hot warmth, or like this as he bends his knees, breaking her hold around his waist, the tip of him just barely entering her.
"Oh yes, like that Please."
"As you wish, Darling." He whispers as he slips inside her
"AHHH… Richard."
"Cassie." He groans. His rhythm increasing.
Their bodies sliding against one another like the waves slide against the rocks of the cliffs along the ocean's shore. Leaning up on his forearms, he leans over kissing her as she arches her back, taking him deeper, holding him tightly as he thrust against her hips.
"Cassie." He sighs, feeling himself loosing control. "I have to wait."
Looking up at him, she leans up as he wraps his arms around her, forcing him over to his back. Leaning over him, she kisses him as she rocks against him. "Cassie, please." He sighs, closing his eyes.
"Shhh, take it handsome." She whispers, bracing herself against his chest, she begins to rise and fall, taking him deep inside.
"Oh, darling." Richard groans, as he feels the desire rushing through him, filling her.
Rolling her to her back, he leans down kissing her while he thrusts, pushing her legs up so she can take him deeper. "Richard, yes."
Leaning over, he kisses her as he feels her closing around him. Holding him against her, arching her back as her release sweeps over her "Richard" She cries, breaking the kiss as she takes his final thrust.
Filling her again with his release, he collapses into her waiting arms.
"I missed you, handsome." She whispers, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tightly.
"I missed you too. We can never be apart for this long again."
"We've made this promise before, look how that turned out. Why don't we promise…?" She takes a deep breath. "To always cherish every moment we have and never to take each other for granted."
"I promise." Richard says, leaning up and kissing her as someone knocks on the door to their suite. "I have the strangest feeling of de ja vu." Richard says, as Cassie lies back down, laughing as he is pushing the crumpled sheets back and reaches for his pajama bottoms, pulling them on as he goes to the door.
"Yes." He says, pulling the door open.
"Sir, There is a Mrs. Lewis here to see you." The maid says.
"Yes, tell her I'll be right there." Richard says, closing the door and turning to look at Cassie, slightly panicking.
"What's wrong? Who was it?"
"Reva's here." Richard whispers, staring at her.
"She's here already."
"I'll take that as a compliment." He says, looking very satisfied with him self.
"But I thought they weren't supposed to land until eight."
"She said she would be here early this morning, she didn't say a specific time, but it is after nine." Richard says, looking at the clock above the mantle in the sitting room.
"So time got away from us. Go get a shower and I'll go downstairs and take care of them."
"Darling, we both need a shower." He says, looking at her.
"I know, but I'll wait. Go." She says, pushing him towards the bathroom.
"Are you okay?" He asks, turning around before he walks into the bathroom.
"I'm fine." She says, leaning up and giving him a quick kiss before she pushes him into the bathroom.
Pulling out a pair of jeans and tank top, she pulls them on before she runs her finger threw her hair and then heads down stairs. Reva, Jonathan and Sarah were waiting in the library when Cassie walks in.
"Reva." She says quietly.
"Cassie, I thought Richard was coming down." Reva says, turning around.
"He's taking a shower." Cassie says, staring at Jonathan who is standing by the window and holding Sarah.
"Cassie." He says, walking over to her.
"Jon." She says, with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry. It had to be this way. He wasn't going to stop until he had Sarah. And I couldn't forgive him for what he did to Tammy. I had to look out for her." He says, kissing Sarah on the side of her head.
"I understand completely Jon, really I do." Cassie says, reaching out to caress Sarah's cheek. She wasn't Tammy's daughter but in Cassie's mind Tammy was a mother to this little girl and that brought a connection as powerful as blood and genetics.
Upstairs, Richard was standing in the bathroom, hands braced against the sink, staring at his reflection, almost terrified to move. This was the day he had been waiting for since Reva came back to San Cristobel. Jon was going to know that he was his father. He already knew that, Richard realized that, but this would be the first time that they would meet for the first time as father and son, not just a person that occasionally came in and out of his life.
"What do I say to him?" Richard asks his reflection. But he hears nothing but silence back.
About thirty minutes goes by and no Richard, Cassie glances at the clock and then at Reva. "Do you think something is wrong?" Reva asks.
"No, he's probably taking his time getting ready. He's been looking forward to this day for a very long time Jonathan." Cassie says, as Jonathan nods while he feds Sarah.
"Maybe you should send one of the servants to check on him." Reva suggests.
"Better yet, I'll go check on him." Cassie says. "I'll be right back."
Running up the stairs, Cassie pushes the door open. Hoping that she doesn't find him passed out in the middle of the floor or something. "Richard." She calls, as she runs into the room. He doesn't answer. Looking around the room, she sees the door to the bathroom standing slightly ajar. "Surely he isn't still in the shower." She thinks, walking towards the bathroom. Standing in the door way, she's shocked to she him leaning against the counter, staring at his reflection, in his birthday suit. "Richard, are you okay?" She asks, walking over to him.
"I'm fine." He says softly, not moving.
"Reva and Jonathan are downstairs with Sarah, they are waiting on you."
"I know." Richard says, turning away from the mirror and looking at her. "I'm scared." He says, leaning back against the counter.
"About what?" Cassie asks, walking over to him and leaning against the counter beside him.
"Do you realize I've waited more than half his life for this moment? He's going to know me as he father, not just someone who came in and out of his life. What do I say to him?"
"I don't know. But I think he's as nervous as you are. He's holding onto Sarah for dear life down there. And I'm sure he has a thousand things running through his mind too."
"How do I tell him I'm sorry? How do I explain why I left him with Alfred and Marissa? How do I explain why I wasn't there to protect him through his life? I protected Tammy, RJ, Will, but my own son I gave to man who abused and tormented him all his life. How do I explain that?"
"I don't think you have too. Jon knows that if you and Reva had known what was happening with Alfred and Marissa, you would have been there. He's not angry anymore."
"How do you know that?"
"I see it in his eyes. He's not angry anymore, not about that. There's anger there, but it's not directed at you and Reva, it's direct at Alan, still. He's going to need you to keep him grounded, to keep him focused on Sarah. I think he's hanging on by a thread Richard and he needs you to be there."
Reaching for her, he pulls her to him and hugs her tightly. "You always know what to say to make me feel better." He says, leaning back and kissing her softly before he releases her. "Go back down there and tell them that I'll be down in a minute." Richard says.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I just need to shave, brush my teeth and get dressed and I'll be down to see my son and granddaughter. Wow that sounds weird to say."
"If you need…."
"I won't, I'll be alright." Richard says, leaning over and kissing her quickly.
"We'll be downstairs."
"Okay."
Cassie leaves as Richard reaches for the shaving cream. Reva and Jonathan are still in the study when Cassie walks in.
"Is he okay?" Reva asks.
"He's fine, he's just got to shave, brush his teeth and get dressed and he'll be down." Cassie says.
"He's probably freaking out about meeting me." Jon says, looking at Cassie and reading her expression. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
"No Jon, wait." Cassie says, as he starts to get up.
"He's not disappointed in you. He's more disappointed in himself; that he wasn't there for you when you were growing up. He left you with Alfred and Marissa…."
"But they didn't know."
"I know. But I think he's feels a little more guilty than Reva because he did see you those few times in San Cristobel and he didn't know. He didn't realize what was happening to you, while he was taking care of Tammy, RJ and Will."
"She's right." Richard says, walking into the library. "Jon." He says, as they turn to each other. "I do feel guilty because I wasn't there. For more than half your life I had another family, and I took care of them and I protect them while you were being tormented and abused. I'm your father, it's my responsibility to look after you, protect you and I failed."
"Dad, you didn't fail. You didn't know. Marissa kept Alfred away when we visited San Cristobel and she made me promise not to say a word to you. She was terrified of that man, we both were." Jon says, walking over to his father. "I won't lie to you. I was pissed when I first came to Springfield, that's why I went after Tammy. She had everything I wanted, she had you. I'm not proud of what I did to her, but I loved her with my whole being. She's the reason I'm here today as different man." Jon says, looking over at Reva and Sarah. Looking over at Sarah, Richard sees his granddaughter for the first time.
"Would you like to hold her?" Reva asks, getting up and walking over to him.
"Yes." He says, softly as Reva holds her out to him
Taking her, he holds her close. Gently rubbing her back as he walks across the room to the couch where Cassie is sitting. Sitting down beside her, he sits Sarah on his knee where she can face him.
"Wow, she has your smile." He says, looking over at Jon.
"I know." He says, sitting down in the chair across from him.
"I can't believe I'm holding my grandchild." He says, looking over at Cassie.
"What about me? I'm too young to be a grandma." She says, reaching over and gently caressing Sarah's hair.
"She's beautiful, Jon." Richard says, holding her close to him as she coos softly.
"I think she likes you." Jon says, watching his father and daughter.
"I'm going to teach her everything." Richard says. "But right now, I think she needs to be changed." He says, holding her away from him.
"Here I got it." Cassie says, taking her as Jon reaches for her. "You guys continue to talk." She says, getting up and taking Sarah.
"Her stuff's in the diaper bag, be sure to put some cream on her, she got a bit of diaper rash."
"I'll take good care of her." Cassie says, picking up the diaper bag by the door as she walks out.
"So how is this going to work?" Jon asks, looking over at Richard.
"For right now you're safe. Alan can't touch you here. This embassy is the sovereign soil of San Cristobel. And all the laws of San Cristobel apply here."
"But what happens when we leave here. We can't stay here forever and we can't keep her lock up here. She'll have to go to school and I have to find a way to support her." Jon says
"We have to get you out of the country. The easiest and safest place for you to go is San Cristobel. Al… William will protect you and you can live your life out in open. She can go to school, have friends, do whatever. And if Alan finds out she's alive we'll protect her."
"Do you have any idea how you're going to do that? He's got people everywhere. And Spaulding has a plant on San Cristobel. You don't think he won't come down to inspect it."
"When he does we'll keep you and Sarah out of sight, maybe even out of the country. But this offers you more protection then hiding and running from town to town. William has people that can protect her twenty-four hours a day."
"Richard, that's exactly what you proposed when Jon was little." Reva says.
"They will be there Reva, but they can be invisible. If you don't believe me ask Jeffrey."
"I know they can, but will she truly be free."
"Freer than she'll be, being watched all the time and moving from place to place." Cassie says, walking into the room.
"Where's Sarah?" Jon asks.
"She's with the nanny. She was sleepy so she took her to take a nap."
"I'm going to go…." Jon says, getting up
"She's fine, Jon. Margaret will look after her and no one can touch her here."
"How do you know?"
"I know you've been under a lot of pressure but you can relax. Every one of the staff here worked at the palace, they've passed a rigorous back ground check. Sarah is fine." Richard says, as Jon sits down in the chair again.
"I'm used to being all she has." Jon says.
"It's understandable."
"Do you really think going to San Cristobel is the best for both of us?"
"Yes, I do. You'll be free to live your lives, but you're not alone. You'll have protection. And if Alan finds out, he'll be taking on the Royal Family of San Cristobel, and the Crowned Prince. I don't care how many strings he tries to pull, he's not going to get Sarah."
"Okay, we'll go." Jon says. "How do we do it? We can't just walk into and airport and buy a ticket to San Cristobel. I mean, we can think up disguises, but what if someone figures it out and tells Alan."
"We won't have to use public flights. I'm sure William will let us use the royal jet. And once we leave US airspace we, you will be free." Richard says.
"Your sure William will let us stay?"
"Yes, he's my brother, your uncle and you're my son, that's my granddaughter, he'll let you stay."
"So when do we leave?"
"I have to get on the phone and call William. I told him I would let him know when I was ready to fly back." Cassie says "And he'll send the jet for me."
"Good."
"Why don't you go rest?" Richard says to Jon as he and Cassie stand up. "And we'll go talk to William."
"Okay." Jon says "Where's the nursery?"
"It's upstairs, third door on the right." Cassie says.
"I'm just going to check on Sarah before I rest."
"Okay." Richard says, patting Jon on the back.
"Thanks, Dad." He says, hugging him.
"You're…" Richard swallows a couple times before he finishes. "…welcome, Son."
24.10