Chapter 7: Sophie
Anna Sophia Almeida entered the world at 11:54 am weighing over 8 pounds and screaming loudly enough to make sure everyone knew she had arrived. As soon as the doctor cut the cord, the nurses cleaned her up and wrapped her in a blanket and handed her to Michelle. Michelle was exhausted from 20 hours of labor that she thought would never end. Thank goodness Tony's mother and two sisters had never left her side. She eagerly reached out to take the crying baby in her arms. She marveled at the baby's thick black hair and brown eyes.
"I thought all babies had blue eyes," she commented.
"Dear, none of my babies had blue eyes," her mother-in-law offered. "She looks a lot like her father."
Michelle gazed at her new daughter. Maria Almeida was right. The little girl looked like Tony. In her heart, Michelle strengthened her commitment to bring Tony home. She would never stop fighting, she thought as she kissed her daughter's forehead.
Thousands of miles and several time zones away, Tony was at work oblivious to the fact that he had recently become a father. He had just hung up from a conference call with a client when Pilar leaned in the open door.
"Is there anything you need before I go home?" she asked.
"Yeah, could you order some dinner for me from the carryout down the street, please. I'm going to be working late tonight."
"You work late every night, Mr. Morales," she retorted. "What did you want to eat?"
"I don't know. Anything. Order for me. Tell them I'll pick it up in a half hour."
"I'll take care of it. See you tomorrow."
Tony watched her walk out of his office. She made sure her hips swayed seductively. He smiled. Despite his rejecting her in the past, she continued to flirt with him. Didn't she understand that she was wasting her time? His heart was far away. No woman could ever have the hold on him that Michelle had.
He walked back to the office after picking up his dinner and spread it out on his desk. He decided to take a break from work and surf the internet while he ate. As the months passed since his disappearance, the public interest in the story waned. Michelle was still a favorite on some of the Fox and CNN news shows, but the number of appearances she made had dwindled to one or two a month. A search on Michelle's name brought an unexpected number of hits. Tony clicked on the first one, a wire service story:
Michelle Almeida, wife of fugitive Tony Almeida, gave birth to the couple's first child this morning. A daughter, named Anna Sophia was born at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in LA. The hospital released few details but said that both mother and baby are doing well.
Mr. Almeida has been charged with treason stemming from his actions to save his wife's life during the bioterrorist threat in Los Angeles earlier this year. Mrs. Almeida has gained notoriety in recent months due to her staunch support for her husband and efforts to have his name cleared.
"Anna Sophia," Tony said aloud to the empty office.
It was a name they had picked out before they were even married. Anna in memory of Michelle's mother, Anne, and Sophia in memory of Tony's grandmother. They would call her Sophie.
"Anna Sophia," he said again.
He could feel the smile erupting on his face. I'm a father! he thought unable to control the smile. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Emotions came at him like waves hitting a beach: The joy at becoming a father and relief that Michelle and the baby were okay. But soon these were replaced by sadness that he was not there to be with Michelle, to hold her hand, to see his daughter. All of this gave way to anger. Anger. The anger overwhelmed him.
The anger was directed at everyone. He was angry at Stephen Saunders for forcing him into such an impossible situation. He was angry at the U.S. government for not understanding and dropping the charges. He was angry at President Palmer for not pardoning him. He was angry at himself for not better protecting Michelle. He was angry at Michelle for being so damn beautiful and making him love her so much. He was angry at his parents for wanting so much for their son to rise through the ranks of government service and prove that an immigrant's son could accomplish so much. He was angry at God for everything.
He paced around his spacious office frantically not knowing what to do next. Tony let out a cry of rage, then swept his arm across a coffee table sending magazines and a potted plant flying. He then kicked over the coffee table. He swung around and reached for his desk. He grabbed the Cubs mug Juan had brought back from his last business trip to Chicago and flung it against the wall where it smashed spilling its contents all over the leather sofa below.
He dropped into his desk chair and jerked open the side drawer. He was breathing deeply and rapidly as if he had just run a long distance. He put his hand in the drawer and withdrew his gun, casually flipping off the safety. He began to raise the barrel of the gun when he caught sight of the picture of Michelle that sat on his desk. It was just a small picture of her sitting on the beach that he had been carrying in his wallet when he fled. It was the only picture he had of her. She was so pretty. He stared at the picture, trying to catch his breath.
"I won't do that to you, Baby," he whispered as he secured the safety and dropped the gun on the floor.
He took the framed picture and clutched it to his chest crying as he had never cried before. His entire body was wracked with sobs.
He didn't know how long he cried; it felt like days. When he next looked at the clock it said 9:30. He had a pounding headache from crying. He rubbed his forehead with his hand and picked up the phone to call Pedro. Pedro was in Eastern Europe negotiating contracts with clients in the Russian Republic. With the time difference it would be morning there.
"Hello," Pedro answered in English. Outside of Spanish speaking countries, they did all of their business in English.
"Pedro," Tony said. "It's Tony."
"Hey, Tony," Pedro said cheerily. "You sound like awful. What's up?"
"I must be coming down with a cold," Tony lied. "I need you to do me a favor."
"Sure, anything," Pedro replied.
"I need you to send flowers to my wife."
"That must mean you're a new father. Congratulations!"
"Yeah, thanks. Baby girl, born this morning," said Tony trying to sound happy.
"You don't sound very happy about it," Pedro noted.
"I'm not happy about the fact that I'm 5000 miles away from her. Anyway, I want to send flowers and they have to be untraceable."
"Absolutely, I can take care of that." Pedro was well aware that a common mistake made by fugitives was to contact family in the days surrounding a special event such as a wedding, funeral or birth. "Something special or just a nice arrangement?"
Tony was very specific. "I want a dozen, long stemmed, white roses and three rubrum lilies in a vase. The card should read 'Always and forever'. She'll know who they're from. Send them to St. Elizabeth's hospital in LA."
"Consider it done," Pedro answered. "Anything else?"
"I want a gold cross necklace sent to the baby. Same message on the card, but send that to my home address. I'll reimburse you for everything when you get home."
They exchanged goodbyes and hung up. Tony stood up and started cleaning up the mess he had made. He felt old and defeated and for the first time since this whole thing started, he feared he would never see Michelle again. He went home and drank until he passed out.
Michelle sat up in bed holding her beautiful new daughter. Barely 24 hours old and she was amazingly alert, thought her mother. Michelle couldn't take her eyes off of Sophie and wished Tony could see her, too. A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.
"Come in," she called.
"Feel like some company?" Kate Warner asked as she stepped in the door.
"We'd love some," Michelle smiled.
Kate walked in followed by Jack. The two had reconciled a few months after Jack left CTU and got his heroin addition under control. They had been married in a quiet ceremony only two weeks earlier.
"You look great!" Kate said as she hugged Michelle. "Oh, she's beautiful! Can I hold her?"
Michelle handed Sophie to Kate who cooed quietly to her.
"Maybe you two will be next," Michelle suggested.
"We're talking about it," Kate said. "Maybe next year, right Jack?"
Before Jack could answer there was a light knock at the door. A hospital volunteer that Michelle had already seen twice that morning opened the door.
"More flowers, Mrs. Almeida," she said as she brought in a cart with three more flower arrangements.
"You could open your own flower shop," Jack commented indicating the large number of plants and flowers already in the room. "Who are they all from?"
"From just about everyone Tony and I know and some that I don't. I guess people have seen me on TV and decided to send flowers. You should see all the gifts that I've received. Tony's mother is cataloging all of them. They're coming in from all over the country." Michelle opened the card from the first arrangement and found it was from everyone at CTU. The second was from Tony's brothers and sisters. The third arrangement stood in a tall vase and was covered by green tissue paper. Michelle reached up to uncover it.
"Let me help you," Jack offered. He opened the tissue paper to reveal a vase filled with white roses and rubrum lilies. He handed Michelle the card and noticed her hands were shaking as she opened it.
"Aren't they pretty!" Kate exclaimed. "What an interesting combination. Who are they from?"
Jack knew where he had seen that same combination before. Tony had a wedding picture of Michelle on his desk where she was holding a bouquet with the same flowers. He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. Michelle felt her eyes fill with tears, but she managed to blink them away before Kate noticed.
"They're from someone I didn't expect to hear from."
Jack and Kate had stopped by on their lunch hour, so they couldn't stay long. As they left they promised that they would stop by Michelle's house the next night and bring dinner.
After they left, Michelle lifted Sophie up so their cheeks touched.
"Always and forever, Sweetie," she whispered. "I know he's not here, but he will love you always and forever."