There was a sharp intake of breath, and a chortled scream as Antonia sat straight up in bed. The nightmare had gripped her mind and it took her a moment to shake it, to remember where she was. Her hand went instinctively to her abdomen, and she looked toward the other side of the bed, her mind in another time and place as she realized she wasn't home, and Aiden wasn't lying beside her. She felt an intense urge to cry, the stiffness in her body from the accident, and the bruising across her shoulder were strong reminders of how she had gotten here. She looked to her side where she expected Melody to be laying, sleeping peacefully away the fears of the previous day, and what she saw made her sick to her stomach.
The side of the bed was empty, and the child was nowhere in sight. She thought for a moment that perhaps Melody had gone into the bathroom, but she could see from her bed that the light to the bathroom was off, which brought her eyes to the chair beside the door, and the haphazardly dangling chain that she knew she had fastened when they entered the room. She could feel the sick twist of her stomach, and the rapid beating of her heart as she pushed her feet off the bed, moving toward the door. She had a wave of dizziness, enough to make her grab hold of the corner of the bedside table as she tried to find her bearings. She moved quickly around the bed, and just as she was about to reach the door she heard an insistent knock, quick and urgent. She tried to push down the thousands of thoughts that were in her head about who it could be, and just prayed that Melody had simply locked herself out and was asking to come back inside. She kept her gaze low, slowly opening the door just a crack, her eyes lifted to see Melody looking at her with a bright smile, her hair mussed, her eyes sparkling. Antonia had no time to say anything, and she was poised to apologize to the stranger that had returned her little escapee, when she heard the voice.
"I believe this belongs to you." He said, a voice she knew very well, that nearly stopped her heart. She looked from Melody to the green eyes that were staring back at her. The fear she had for Melody's disappearance had quickly been replaced by relief, was now a mixture of bursting happiness and surprise. Her eyes widened, her mouth went dry, and she was sure that her mind was playing tricks on her, that she was dreaming. "Aren't you going to invite me in, Tex?" He asked. She continued to stare intensely into his eyes as Melody slid down his body to the floor and ran past her into the room. Antonia couldn't find her words, she couldn't find her bearings, she couldn't find anything. She simply stood in the doorway, staring into his bright green eyes as they waited patiently for a reaction or response.
She gasped in a breath, letting out a tiny whimper as she swallowed hard. "You?" She whimpered, her voice high and full of uncertainty, sure that he would disappear if she moved or reached for him.
"I can't fall asleep without you." He said, the sincerity in his eyes was warm and inviting. She could see unshed tears pushing forward. "I tried, and I just couldn't do it." He said. As he spoke, she moved forward without a plan or a thought, grabbing his face with both hands, she locked her lips with his, instantly feeling his arms around her as he kissed her back with equal enthusiasm. He held onto her tightly, and though her muscles shouted their discontent, she wasn't about to give in to their complaint, not for a second. "Hey." His voice mumbled into her neck as she clung to him tightly. "Hey, hey. I'm here." He whispered, feeling her arms around him, he looked into her eyes and lifted his hands to her face. "I'm here. I've never been so happy to see someone in my entire life." He said, feeling the emotion deep in his chest. He took her hand, and gently pulled her into the room with him, closing the door securely as she clung to him without saying another word. Once the door was closed, and they were in the privacy of the room, he could see the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Are you okay?" He whispered.
"No." She whimpered. "Yes." She quickly changed her tone. "Yes, now I am." She said, trying to catch her breath as she began to sob. Aiden wrapped his arms around her as she breathed him in and tightly held him against her. He looked across at Melody, who watched on with a look of concern and a bit of fear. Her fierce protector had been so strong, she had been so stoic, that to see her breaking down like this was almost too much for the little girl. She could feel her lip trembling and tears begin to fall. He shook his head, knowing she was too far for him to reach with the sobbing woman against him, so he beckoned her over, his one arm cradling Antonia, and the other calling out to the tiny girl.
She hopped from the bed and ran to him, slamming herself into his leg as she too began to cry as heartbreakingly strong as Antonia. He placed his hand in her hair, holding her to him as well as he felt Antonia's hiccupping sobs slow. She carefully pulled from him, and looked down at Melody, feeling a new wave of relief take her over. He took the moment to lift Melody into his arms, her head burying into his neck as both girls held him tightly.
"It's okay." He whispered. Pulling the damp hair from Antonia's face, he kissed her nose and watched her eyes glitter back at him. "I am so glad to see you." He whispered. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you both." He said, kissing her forehead. He took a slow, deep breath. "How did you get here?"
Antonia sucked in a deep, trembling breath and watched him for a moment.
"We found the car, the suspects. They are still alive as far as I know. How did you get here?" He asked again, leading her to the bed, he took her hand and continued to hold Melody against him.
"We were able to get a ride from a family." She swallowed. "In a camper." She sighed. "I told them that our car broke down, that we were escaping from my abusive husband." She said, feeling her cheeks burning. "It was enough for them to overlook the dirt and blood on our clothes. They let us ride in their camper, and brought us to Front Royal. We bought some clothes and some supplies at a drug store, and after a little bit of acting and crying, I managed to get the hotel to let me pay with cash to stay here." She swallowed hard. "We have to leave in the morning." She said, the sad edge to her voice now gone.
"You're not going anywhere without me." He said, noting the stubborn tinge in her eyes. "There's no way I am letting you out of my sight, so don't even ask." He said. "Your mom and dad are worried that you're going to get charged with kidnapping."
"Kidnapping?" She asked, her voice full of disdain for the word, her eyes showing the anger that she was feeling at the accusation. "I'm trying to protect her. There's another man out there. They were taking us somewhere, to their boss." Antonia started to rant as she pulled out of his grip and started to pace. She had a headache that was creeping in as she felt her blood pressure skyrocket. "If we go back, CPS will take her. They will take her, and she won't be protected." Antonia said to Aiden. "If we go back, then they'll determine that she's not safe with us. Aiden, we can't go back until this is solved. We can't go back until we know why they want her. Please don't make me go back." She said as she stopped, turning to grip his arms, her eyes moving up to look at the little girl, who had fallen asleep against his shoulder, her fists still gripping his shirt. "We can't go back yet."
"Then I'm going with you." Aiden said, his eyes burning into hers. "We can keep her safe, and help with the case from wherever we go. We need to tell your parents that…."
"No." Antonia shook her head. "No. If my parents know that I'm here, they won't let me go. You know my Dad. He won't let me go, and my mother has been against this whole thing with Melody since the start. I have resources, I have you. We can help them solve this, but we can't go back, and we can't go to Mom and Dad. This guy will be looking for us. I don't even know if you're safe, Aiden. You could be in danger. They followed me from the Diner. I need to keep everyone else safe too. These people killed two people, maimed a little boy. We're lucky that Mom and Dad don't know about..."
"They know." Aiden said, watching her dark eyes dart to his. "I… I mean, your dad knows, I told your dad. I don't know if your mom knows, but I suspect she knows. She could probably sense the increase in your progesterone levels just based on the way you hold your fork." Aiden mumbled.
"Will you stop babbling? You told my father?" She asked, her voice raising just a bit, and from the look on his face, she could see that she was squeezing a bit too hard on his arm. "You told my father?" She asked again as she released her grip, she took a step back.
"I told him, yes. I was going crazy, and he was trying to send me home. I needed him to know how big the stakes were. I needed him to understand that I love you, that I can't be without you, that you are more than just my girlfriend, my fiancée, you're my future, you're my everything." Aiden took a deep breath. "He told me not to say anything to your mother about it, so I don't know if she knows."
Antonia rolled her eyes slightly, shaking her head. "Mom knows." She said, her voice was as sure as he had ever heard it. "If she was at the accident scene, then she knows by now."
"What do you mean?" He asked, taking her hand, she let him pull her toward her, she leaned her head on his other shoulder. "Were you hurt?" He whispered.
"I put the lap belt over my shoulder to protect the baby." She said, looking up at him. "I'm sure she noticed it." She whispered. "I have some shoulder bruising, some very light burns on my wrists from the airbag, a little bump on my head." She said softly. "The whiplash is the worst."
"And Melody?"
"She fared well, some bruising on her chest from the belt. She's okay but for a few scratches and bumps here and there." Antonia said, looking up into his eyes. "You look like you survived telling Dad about the baby with minimal injury."
"Oh yeah, most of those are emotional and psychological scars." He said with a lopsided grin that made her laugh. "I missed that sound so much."
"I missed you so much." She said, her lip beginning to tremble as he gently ran his hand up and down her arm, lifting it to touch her cheek.
"Why don't we lie down on the bed." He said, leaning in to kiss her cheek before she started to cry again. "She's starting to get heavy." He said of his precious cargo. "And she snores." He said, listening to Antonia's laugh as she nodded her head and took his hand, tugging him toward the bed.
She climbed onto the mattress, and held her arms out for Melody, who he very gently repositioned, and placed her head down on the pillow. The little girl rolled into Antonia, and nestled herself against her body as Aiden kicked off his shoes and tugged at his tie, pulling it over his neck, he watched Antonia's eyes as he tugged his jacket off, and pulled the holster and gun over his shoulders and stepped toward the safe. He securely put the gun within the safe and closed the door, pushing the buttons to set the code. He unbuttoned his dress shirt and pulled off his belt, tugging the shirt from his shoulders, he left both on the dresser. He untucked his undershirt and walked toward the bed, climbing into the empty half as Antonia reached over Melody to pull him closer. She rested her forehead on his and sighed.
"Do you think you can sleep now?" She whispered to him, rubbing her thumb against the stubble on his cheek, she breathed in his scent and closed her eyes.
"I'm not completely convinced this is real." He whispered, watching her eyes pop open. "I love you." He said, feeling the stress of the last 24 hours pulling at him, quickly making him drowsy.
"It's real." She whispered. "We can talk about our plan when you wake up." She whispered. "I love you." She ran her finger over his cheek again, and watched as his eyes fluttered closed. "Sweet dreams."