A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Forty Six
Around midnight Richard rolls over to his side. Reaching for Cassie, he wakes up when he finds her side of the bed empty. Sitting up, he looks around the room. When he doesn't see her, he gets up and goes into the bathroom. When he doesn't find her there, he leaves their room, checking in the boy's rooms before he goes downstairs, checking in the kitchen, he walking back to his study when he notices the light in on in the barn. He stops walking over to the back door he opens it and goes outside.
A cool breeze blows across the yard as he walks over to the barn. Opening the door, he walks in. The stall door for Lady Tammy's stall is open. He walks up to the stall and finds Cassie standing by the horse, gently running her hands over her. "Cassie." He says, walking up to her. She jumps and then turns to him. "I'm sorry, what are you doing out here?"
"I was talking to her." She says, moving her hands over the horse's front quarters. "She reminded you of Tammy, that's why you bought her." She says, looking at him.
Richard reaches over and runs his hand over the horse's neck. "Yes, she reminds me of Tammy." He says, as the horse nuzzles his hand.
"She wants some carrots." Cassie says, as the horse snorts, shaking her hand as Richard laughs.
"You know she doesn't like carrots." He says, walking over to the door of the stall. He gets a couple of sugar cubes and walks back to them.
Holding his hand as Cassie says. "And you're going to spoil her like you spoiled Tammy."
"I didn't spoil Tammy." Richard says, giving the sugar cubes to the horse.
"You didn't spoil her. She only had to look at you and you would give her anything her heart desired."
"She was our little girl. I did the same for her mother." He says, reaching for her hand. He's surprised at how cold they are. "You're freezing, how long have you been out here." He asks, pulling her to him. She hadn't noticed how cold she was until he wraps his arms around her and she feels his body heat. Shivering, she moves back to him, pulling his arms tighter around her. "Why don't we going back inside?"
"Okay." She says, as he pulls her to him as she runs her hand down Lady Tammy's neck. "Good night, Lady Tammy." They say as the horse neighs softly.
When they get back to their room, Cassie gets in bed while Richard goes to the bathroom. When he comes out, he walks over to the bed. Getting in, she moves over to him as he reaches for her. "You know I've been thinking about names." Cassie says, laying her head on his shoulder.
"You have."
"Yes, at least little girl names."
"Do you want a little girl?"
"I know she won't replace Tammy, but yes, I want a little girl."
"A little girl, that looks like you, if you think I spoiled Tammy think what I'll do with her. What were you thinking for our little girl's name?"
"Mattea, it means miracle."
"Mattea Elizabeth, I…."
"We're not naming her after me.
"Why not?"
"I named Tammy after me and as much as I want a little girl she deserves to have her own identity."
"I've always liked the term cherié."
"What does it mean?"
"It's French for Loved."
"I like that."
"But what are we going to do if we have another little boy."
"I guess we should pick out a boy name." Cassie says, but only half heartedly as Richard chuckles.
"You really want a little girl." He says, leaning over to kiss her. "You don't want another little me running around here."
"I have one of you running around here. What do you want?" She asks, looking up at him.
"I want a health baby and I want you to be okay." Richard says, running his fingers through her hair.
She moves closer to him, leaning up, she gently kisses the side of his neck. "I think we're going to get our miracle even if it ends up being a little boy."
"So, we'll look at little boy names."
"Yes, I'll look at boy names." She says, as he hugs her to him.
*************************
Jeffrey and Sam were both asleep when the phone begins to ring. It takes a moment for Sam to realize what was happening when the ringing ends. 'What's going on?" Jeffrey asks, as Sam pulls away from him.
"Go back to sleep, someone just called. I'm going to go get the phone." She says, getting out of the bed. She goes downstairs. Picking up the phone, she walks back towards the stairs as she calls their voicemail. She's about to go back upstairs when she looks up.
"I've got to go to the bathroom." Jeffrey says, before she can ask.
"Okay." She says, stepping back to let him by and then she goes upstairs. She dials the number for voicemail as she walks upstairs. Getting back in bed, she listens to the message, deletes it and then hangs up as Jeffrey comes back into the room.
"Who was calling?" He asks, going over to their bed.
"Megan." She says dialing Megan's number.
"Hello." Megan says after a couple rings.
"Megan." Sam says, laying back. "I'm sorry I missed your call. I couldn't get to the phone."
"It's okay."
"You went to an attorney."
"Yes, and he basically told me, I'll have to wait till the court date."
"And until then, what about the boys?"
"I have to stay away from Patrick and the boys."
"You can't see the boys at all?"
"No, not unless I want to be held in contempt of court."
"Contempt of court, for seeing your boys. You're their mother."
"He says the judge that issued the order was given evidence that he believe puts the boys in danger if they see me."
"How can he grant an order when you were not even present to defend yourself?" Sam asks, as Jeffrey taps her on her arm, holding his hand out for the phone. "Megan hold on, what?" She asks.
"Let me talk to her."
"Megan, Jeffrey wants to talk to you." Sam says, handing him the phone.
"Megan, who did you go see?"
"One of the local attorneys. Why?"
"Do you have a pen a paper?"
"Hold on." She reaches for a pad and pen. "Go ahead."
"I want you to call this woman, Janice Lexington. She's a great attorney and she specializes in cases like this. I've also made some contacts with my agency to look into the circumstances at your house. I'll call Janice and tell her to expect your call. When is you court date?"
"October 10th."
"I advise her to see if she can get another court date or another judge to reverse the current order."
"Okay."
"I'll also contact the agents that are looking into this for me and have them contact her as well to tell her what they have found out so far."
"Okay, but why are you doing this?"
"Because your family and to keep Sam from going to DC to confront your husband." Jeffrey says, as Sam looks at him and he smiles and Megan laughs.
"You know her. Thank you for the laugh and I'll giver Ms. Lexington a call."
"You're welcome."
"Tell Sam that I'll call her later."
"I will." Jeffrey says, hanging up and handing the phone to Sam.
She puts it on the nightstand as she turns to him. "You called in the agency to keep me from going to DC. I never said I was going to…."
"You mean to tell me you didn't think about it Sunday morning. I called the agency to help Megan find out what was going on and to keep you from going to DC."
"If I went to DC, it would be no more than he deserves." Sam says, lying down.
"That's why I called Noah." He says, as she looks at him. "And I love you."
"What did Noah say?"
"He agreed to put the agents on it. I don't know anything else, hand me the phone and I'll call him again and then I'll call Janice too." Sam reaches for the phone, handing it to him. He dials Noah's number. After a couple rings, Noah answers. "Noah, its Jeffrey."
"How are you?"
"I'm okay, listen I need know if you've heard anything from the agents I asked you to send to follow that guy in Reston."
"They haven't checking with me yet. Do you want them to continue?"
"Yes, I kneed to them to contact Janice Lexington and report to her anything they find out."
"What is this about?"
"The man is Sam's cousin-in law. He's asking her cousin for a divorce and refusing to allow her to see their two boys, because she decided to go back to school. Sam called to talk to him just before I called you on Sunday. A woman answered the phone and was refusing to allow her to speak to Patrick."
"Did she get to talk to him?"
"Yes, eventually. But we need to find out what's going on. Megan and Patrick had a verbal agreement that once their boys were in school she could go back. She waited an extra two years before going back. Patrick has also thrown her out of their house and from Sam's side of the conversation with Patrick the woman that answered the phone when she called maybe living at the house."
"When did this happen?"
"Over the weekend."
"She may be the nanny, although I don't know why the nanny would refuse to allow Sam to speak with her boss, I'll contact the agents and tell them to contact Janice."
"Thank you." Jeffrey says, hanging up. He dials a second number and gets Ms. Lexington's voicemail. "Janice, this is Jeffrey O'Neill. I have a favor to ask. My wife's cousin will be calling you about her divorce case where she is being denied seeing her children and being bared from the family home. I want you to help her out. She's a good mother. I'll let her explain everything that has happened, but I think this case is right up your alley. Thank you." He hangs up the phone and then hands the phone to Sam.
"He didn't know anything?" Sam asks, laying the phone on her nightstand.
"No, not yet."
"Okay. How are you feeling?"
"A little sore and my head is hurting again."
"Let me go get your medication." Sam says, sitting up.
"I don't want the medication."
"It will make you feel better."
"It makes me feel loopy and tired." Jeffrey says, closing his eyes.
"J."
"I'll be okay, but I do need something to eat."
"Okay." She says, sighing softly.
"Don't worry, if it gets to bad I'll take the medication."
"I'll go get us something to eat." Sam says, getting up.
"Call Company and order take out."
"I'll fix you something." She says, leaning over to kiss him. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Okay." He says, closing his eyes after she leaves the room.
The alarm went off a six am, reaching over Richard turns it off and then turns to see if it woke Cassie up. Seeing that she's asleep, he gets up. Going to the bathroom, he comes out and then goes to get the boys up before he goes downstairs to get a cup of coffee that started brewing ten minutes before. Coming back upstairs, he stops in both RJ's room. "RJ." Richard says, finding him still in bed. "Get up, now, you're going to be late." He says, flipping the light on as RJ moans. He leaves going into Will's room. "Come on, buddy, it's time to get up." He says, gently shaking him awake.
"I want to sleep." He mumbles, pulling away from him.
"I know, but you've got to go to school, come on." He says, pulling the covers back.
Will wakes up and then asks. "Where's mommy?"
"She's sleeping so I'm going to take you to school today. Go potty." Richard says, as he leaves Will's room. Going to check on RJ before he goes to get dressed being careful not to wake Cassie.
Ten minutes later, he leaves the closet with the coffee. Gathering up the boys and their stuff, they go out to the car and leave. He takes them to Company for breakfast, dropping them off at school before he goes back to the farm.
Rolling over, Cassie looks at the clock. Realizing the time, she frantically pushes the covers back. Grabbing her robe, she rushes from her room. "RJ." She says, as she walks into his room, expecting him to be asleep. "RJ, where are you." She says, looking around the room. She soon realizes that he's not there. She's walking out of his room as Richard is coming upstairs. "Richard." She says, walking down the hall quickly.
"Yes." He says, looking up.
"Where are the boys? RJ's not…."
"They're at school. I took them to school for you this morning."
"Why, why didn't you wake me up?"
"I was letting you sleep." Richard says, leaning in to kiss her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I panicked when I woke up and saw the time and then RJ wasn't in his room." Cassie says, as Richard releases her and walks around her. "What did they have for breakfast?"
"I took them to Company." Richard says, walking down the hall to their room with Cassie following behind him.
"What are you doing?" She asks, as he pulls his shirt off.
"I'm spending the morning at home with you?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to." He says, turning to her.
"You've got meetings."
"Not till this afternoon. So…." He says, walking over to her. "…we can spend the morning doing whatever you want to do."
"Did you have something in mind?"
"I'll do whatever you want to do." He says, trying to pretend that he didn't have anything at all on his mind.
"Umm hmm, don't try to pull that with me, Mr. Winslow." She says, walking over to the bed.
He pulls his pants off as she takes her robe off. Getting back in bed, she lays down as he walks over to his side of the bed. Lying down beside her, he pulls the sheet up as he turns to her. "I'm not pulling anything. I'll do whatever you want to do."
"But you want something in particular." She says, turning to him.
"I want whatever…."
"Richard!"
"Alright, I had something in mind." He says, looking at her.
"What?"
"I simply want to love you." He says, reaching for her. Pulling her against him, he leans in and kisses her. They kiss for a long time, each nibbling and tasting the other, moving between kissing their necks and ears. Richard leans back and looks down. "That was the look I wanted to see in your eyes."
She looks up, her eyes filled with blue fire. Raising her head, she gently nibbles on his chin before moving to kiss his neck, pressing her tongue against his pulse, pounding at the base of his throat as he swallows. Reaching up, he buries his fingers in her hair, directing her to move on. She moves away from his throat, moving down his chest. She pauses for a moment, letting him feel the warmth of her breath against his nipple. He's concentrating on that when she flicks her tongue across his nipple and instantly it hardens. She continues to tease him, playing with his nipples until he groans softly. She moves away. Slowly moving down his abdomen, gently kissing him. She stops for a moment to play with his navel.
Closing his eyes, Richard lets his body relax, for the moment letting her control where this is going. He feels the desire building inside and he knows that in a few moments he's going to have to take control, but at that moment he wants to enjoy everything she's doing to him. When she starts to play with his navel, he decides its time to give as much as he's taking. Reaching for her, he lifts her chin and then looks down into her eyes. Sitting up, he leans in, kissing her. She moves closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck
He pulls her to him, holding her tightly while he kisses her. She moves to sit down on the bed and he pulls her closer, until her legs are wrapped around his waist, their bodies touching. Slowly he gathers her gown in his hands, pulling it up her back until it's obvious to continue they'll have to stop. He breaks the kiss, leaning back. Pulling the gown up as she lifts her arms, he looks down, watching as her body is revealed to him. Desire courses through him, robbing him of breath for a moment. She reaches up to touch his cheek. He looks up, seeing the answering wave of need in her eyes. He moves back, leaning down. His warm breath caressing her nipple until she arches her back, pressing it against his mouth. Opening his mouth, he slowly moves his tongue over it.
She reaches up, burying her fingers in his hair, she holds him to her as she looks up, closing her eyes. She can feel his mouth, moving over her nipple. But she can also feel his desire pressing against his boxers, reaching for her. She decides to test his resolve. Releasing him, she leans back, bracing her hand on the bed, she moves her hips closer to his. Slowly she begins to move against him.
The moment she starts to move, he feels his desire skyrocket. Pulling away, he groans. "Cassie."
Leaning all her weight on one hand, she reaches for him, lifting his face so that he can see as she asks. "Is this what you wanted?" Moving her hips and refusing to let him look away.
He sucks in a deep breath. "I… want… to…." He closes his eyes, fighting the desperate needs pushing against him. "…love you, now!" He groans, releasing her. She continues to move and he looks down, watching her. "Please Cassie." He groans, closing his eyes tightly.
She leans in, kissing him as she moves back. Breaking the kiss, he lies down arching his hips as he reaches to pull his boxers off as she reaches to help him. When they get to his knees, she pulls them down and off, tossing them to the floor as he sits up, wrapping his arms around her. He kisses her as he lays her down. Nudging her legs apart, he thrusts into her warm body, smooth as silk. Her scent is intoxicating.
Leaning on his forearms, he begins to thrust earnestly, pushing his body into hers. She wraps her arms around him, pulling him against her and moving with him. He can feel her nails digging into his hips as she struggles to hold onto him. Each thrust pushes them higher and higher and higher. They both can feel their hearts pounding in their chest. They feel the blood roaring through their ears. The tension builds until Cassie cries out.
The first wave of her release consumes her, pulling her down and then rocketing her to the stars, as she pulls him to her, holding him and refusing to let him go. "Richard!" She screams, as his release bursts inside her, filling them both. He continues to thrust, drawing out every ounce of release from their bodies before he collapses against her.
They lay there for a while, holding each other. She's running her fingers through his hair as he nuzzles her neck, kissing her softly. "I love you." She says, turning her head to kiss his temple. "This is what I wanted with Josh, Jeffrey and Edmund, and none of them ever gave me that."
He pulls back, looking down. "You're more amazing every time we're together. I want to spend everyday, every moment of my life exactly like this."
She smiles as she looks up. "As enjoyable as that sounds, I don't think life will allow that, but we can try." She says, as he laughs.
"Whenever you want to, just remember the diamond garter."
"I don't think we need it, but I'll remember it."
He pulls away from her, kissing her softly as he lays down beside her. "So what are we doing to do about our son's name?"
She sighs softly and then looks at him. "Okay, let's see." She says, turning to her nightstand, she pulls out a book.
"You have a baby name book."
"Yes, I had it from when we adopted Will and I pulled it out the other day and was looking at names. That's how I found Mattea, which is still what I want, by the way."
"So, we can name him Matty and spell it with a y."
"Or we can name him Matthew and call him Matty."
"That's his first name. What about his middle name?"
"Umm, what goes with Matthew?"
"What about Anthony?"
Cassie takes a moment to look it up. "It means outstanding."
"Well, he would be that."
"But we don't want to give him a wrong attitude before he's even born."
"So we can name him George?" Richard says, looking at her.
"And we don't want to give him a name that says he's got no ambition."
"Why would that give him no ambition?"
"It means farmer."
"Well, he does live on a farm."
"We're not naming him George."
"Alright, if we're not naming him any names pertaining to me. What about Robert?"
"If we're going to name him Robert, we might as well just name him Matthew Richard."
"What does Richard mean?"
Cassie looks it up. "It means wealthy leader."
"I would say that would be a start in the right direction. So we name him Matthew Richard, if we have a boy."
"But we're having a girl." Cassie says, as he laughs.
"Alright, we're having a girl. Are you hungry? I ate with the boys but…."
"Actually, I am." Cassie says, realizing for the first time that she was.
"Stay, I'll be right back?"
"What are you doing?"
"You'll see." He says, getting up. He grabs a robe as he heads downstairs.
"Richard, you can't cook…." She says, but he's already gone. She lays there for a few moments debating on whether to follow him but then decides against it.
Getting up, she goes into the bathroom. Using it, she tides up a little bit before she leaves. Getting back into bed as he walks in carrying a tray. "What's this?"
"I brought it home from Company, so you wouldn't have to cook when you go up. And I left it warming in the stove."
"When did you do that?"
"Before I came upstairs."
"I didn't hear anything."
"You were worried about the boys."
"So, what did you bring me?" Cassie says, as Richard puts the tray over her lap.
"I brought you some scrambled eggs, French toast and bacon, some orange juice and some milk."
"Are you trying to make me gain weight?"
"No, I'm keeping you healthy. You are…."
"If you say I'm eating for two, I won't eat a bite." She says, as he chuckles.
"But you are eating for two." He says, as she looks at him.
"I'm only eating this because I'm hungry." She says, as he leans over to kiss her.
When she's finished eating, he takes the tray and sits on the dresser before he goes back to bed. "So, we've got the issue of names solved, what else to we have to do today?"
"I think I'm going to turn the guest room into a nursery and I thought we could talk to Josh and Billy about building a guest room in the basement. It's finished down there but we haven't needed to use it"
"That would be a great idea."
"We've got the rehearsal dinner coming up."
"I know, but I'm ready to marry you, so I don't need a rehearsal dinner, in fact I'd marry you right now."
"Everyone would kills us if we eloped. And I want to marry you in the barn. Where are we going to go for our honeymoon?"
"I rented us a cabin on the lake where the Bauer cabin is."
"Are you sure you don't want to go someplace exotic?"
"I've done exotic, beside would Dr. Sedgwick clear you to fly."
"I don't know, but the idea of having you to myself for two weeks is wonderful."
"It won't be like the royal yacht."
"I don't care. It's still you and me that's all that matters."
"I need to make sure William is going to be here. And we need to talk to Josh."
"I was going to call Reva again later today. We've got to make plans to get together for me, her, Sam and Harley."
"Maybe I'll call Noah. I'm going to look funny having just me, William and Jeffrey on my side with you having Reva, Harley and Sam on your side."
"Alright."
"All the other details are planned for the wedding."
"I need to get invitations for JR and Sarah."
"Are you sure you want to invite her?"
"It would be rude if I didn't."
"Alright, when do you want to tell them about the baby?"
"We'll tell them after we come back from the honeymoon."
"Are you afraid they'll be upset because you're pregnant before the wedding?"
"No, I'm still married to you. I simply don't want to deal with questions right now."
"Alright, so we'll wait till we get back to tell them."
"When do you have to go in?"
"My meeting isn't until two, why?"
"Because I'm getting sleepy."
"Then go to sleep. I won't leave."
"Okay." She says, sliding down in the bed.
She moves to her side, as he moves in behind her, putting his arm over her waist, he lightly kisses her shoulder and then pulls her back against him as he whispers. "I love both of you."
"We love you." She mumbles softly, falling asleep.