Chapter 8: Home

Tony looked both ways before he stepped off of the bus. No one was around. He adjusted his backpack and stepped onto the curb. He walked into the public park just past the bus stop. It was a particularly dark night with no moon, he planned it that way. The park was deserted at this hour of the night except for a pair of indiscreet lovers in a secluded area and some kids smoking pot behind a hedge.

Tony walked through the park and into the wooded area behind it. He pulled out his GPS to make sure he stayed on the right course. The house he and Michelle had shared for almost 2 ½ years was on the other side of the woods, about a 2 mile walk. It had taken him 4 days to get here from Argentina and in another half hour he would be home again, at least for a while.

Tony had spent the six weeks since Sophie's birth planning this. He awoke late the morning after her birth with an incredible hangover. He was on the couch in his apartment, an empty bottle of vodka on the floor, the phone ringing incessantly. He reached for the phone. "Yeah," was all he could manage.

"Tony, its Juan. It's 10:30, we're all worried about you. You're normally the first one here."

"I slept in, Juan. Give me an hour, I'll be in." Tony hung up without another word and dragged himself off of the couch and into the shower. He stood for a long time, letting the cool water run over his aching head. All he could think about was Sophie. He knew that he could not live without seeing her, holding her. He and Michelle had created this child through their intense love and to not see her was to deny that love. He went to work and strode directly in Juan's office, closing the door behind him. He told Juan what he wanted to do. Juan was opposed to any attempts for Tony to sneak back into the U.S., but knew that he could not talk Tony out of this.

They both knew that the Feds would be closely monitoring all of Michelle's communications for the next few weeks in hopes that he would try to contact her. He would have to wait at least a month and possibly more. He started formulating a plan. He contacted Joe who was more than happy to help. Tony and Juan started having almost daily planning sessions, often with Joe on speaker phone as the three hatched an elaborate plan for Tony to go home, if only for a short time.

All of the planning had paid off and now Tony stood less than 50 yards from his house. As he neared the edge of the woods, Tony pulled a pair of night vision binoculars from his backpack and scanned the area. No one was in sight. He looked across the street at his house. His heart was pounding in his chest. He was both happy and nervous. He was soon to meet his six week old daughter for the first time. But to do so he would have to break into his own house and probably scare his wife to death. He prayed that she hadn't changed the locks or the combination to the security system. Chloe had hacked into the security system files and determined that she had not updated the system, but that was all she was able to find out. If the combination had been changed, Tony would have to revert to plan B, but that was complex and he hoped not to be forced into that situation. In fact, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and concentrated on the current situation.

The house was dark except for the two porch lights. Michelle, ever security conscious, never went to bed without turning on the porch lights. He wished she would have forgotten tonight. This was extra light that he didn't need. Again, it was an obstacle that he would have to deal with. Tony took a deep breath and started across the street. As he did, a light came on in an upstairs room. Quickly, he stepped back into the shelter of the trees.

He assumed Michelle had turned that room into a nursery and that she was responding to a late night request from their daughter for food or a diaper change. Tony checked his watch. He knew he couldn't go into the house until Michelle was asleep. If she heard him and had time to react, she would put a bullet in his chest. She had always been an expert marksman. He had to take her by surprise.

It was about 20 minutes before the light went off. Tony decided he better give Michelle at least another 20 minutes to go back to sleep. Again he checked his watch. The waiting was interminable. After 25 minutes he decided to chance it. He checked the street again with the binoculars, found it clear and strode across.

As he stepped on the porch, he pulled the remote control for the security system from his pocket. He hit the button and disarmed the system. He exhaled quietly, one obstacle down. Next he placed his key easily into the lock. He smiled as it turned and he heard the dead bolt slide back. He stepped in silently and took off his shoes. He padded softly across the room and moved up the stairs staying close to the wall. Snickers, the cat, stood at the top of the stairs looking down at him. She must have recognized his smell and ran down the steps to rub against his legs. He picked her up and stroked her soft fur for a second then continued up the steps.

At the top, he peaked around the corner. He could see Michelle lying on her side facing away from the door. Her slow, steady breathing indicated that she was asleep. This was going to be easy.

He put Snickers down on the floor and quickly crossed into the bedroom. In a single motion he clamped his hand over her mouth and turned her over on her back. She immediately began to struggle and tried to scream. She had always been very strong with a martial arts background, but he could tell she was deconditioned from the pregnancy and could not put up much of a fight. He leaned his body gently into hers to stop her from fighting, all the while whispering to her.

"Baby, it me. It's Tony. Honey, I'm home."

A look of recognition finally crossed Michelle's face. She stopped struggling as he uncovered her mouth.

"Oh, Tony!" was all she could say.

He held her face in his hands and drew her to him. They kissed, tenderly at first and then more intensely. Their mouths open and tongues probing. She put her hands on the back of his head to pull him closer. They finally broke the kiss and rested their foreheads together, out of breath.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?" she asked.

"I'm here to see you and our daughter," he answered kissing the tip of her nose.

"Tony, you scared the life out of me! My heart is still pounding."

"I know. I'm sorry about that. It was the only way. I had to take you by surprise," he apologized.

She stroked his beard. "I like it," she said as she kissed him lightly. "You shouldn't be here. It isn't safe. What if someone sees you?"

"It's okay. I was careful. I wasn't followed. Nobody knows I'm here unless you tell them. Now, let's go see Sophie."

He helped her out of bed. He couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. She was wearing an old button down shirt of his. It was too big for her and hung midway down her thighs; she rolled up the too long sleeves to expose her forearms and hands. He found it incredibly sexy.

"You never used to wear anything to bed," he noted.

"Yeah, I didn't used to get up 3 times a night either," she said with a smile.

They tiptoed hand in hand into Sophie's room. Michelle turned on a nightlight that cast a soft glow on the baby's pink cheeks. Tony reached down to pick her up.

"Tony!" Michelle whispered urgently. "She just went to sleep."

"I don't care, Honey. I want to hold my daughter."

He picked her up tenderly and pressed his lips gently to her forehead. She stretched and yawned and let out a precious cooing sound that brought tears to her father's eyes. He carried her over to the rocking chair and sat rocking the sleeping infant and staring at her. Michelle watched the two of them with tears streaming silently down her face.

"She's incredible. I can't believe I'm finally holding her. I almost lost my mind the day she was born. I wanted to see her. I wanted to be with you. I hated that you had to go through all of this without me." Tony spoke in a soft voice so as not to wake Sophie.

After holding her for a long time, he got up from the chair, hissed her forehead and placed her back in the crib. She looked so tiny lying there and it broke his heart to know how quickly she would grow and that he would miss it all.

Michelle reached out and took his hand. They stood for a moment longer watching Sophie sleep, then Michelle led Tony back to their bedroom. He closed the door behind them. They reached for each other in the dark room and began kissing, their bodies pressed together. Michelle's hand dropped to his belt buckle and she began to open it.

Tony took her shoulders and pushed her gently away. She looked at him startled and confused.

"Hey," he whispered. "Should we be doing this? You just had a baby. I don't want to hurt you."

She smiled with relief. "I had a baby almost seven weeks ago, Sweetheart. Believe me, it's okay." She stood facing him and unbuttoned the shirt she was wearing.

Tony reached out, opened the shirt and pushed it off of her shoulders. It fell to the floor. He picked her up in his strong arms and carried her to their bed.

"God, you're gorgeous," he whispered as he stroked her body.

"I still haven't lost all of the weight I gained with Sophie," Michelle said, embarrassed by the compliment.

"You're perfect the way you are." He noticed that her hips and breasts were fuller than they had been, but he liked them that way. He undressed and eased himself onto the bed next to Michelle. They began to kiss and caress. Tony kissed her face and started to work his way down her neck. They made love with an intensity neither of them had ever felt before. They climaxed within seconds of one another, and then lay exhausted and breathless in each others arms. They lay silently for a few minutes and without a word, began to make love again. This time, Michelle took the lead and they again came to a spectacular climax with neither of them making any attempt to stifle their cries of passion.

"I love you so much," Tony said tenderly. "And I've missed you so much."

He was lying on his back, Michelle on her side with her head on his chest, arm across his body. She inhaled deeply to take in his scent. He hadn't showered in a while and he smelled muskier than usual. Not unpleasant, just more intense than she remembered.

Michelle broke the silence. "How did you get here?" she asked.

"It's better if you don't know," he answered.

"How long can you stay?" she asked, fearful of the answer.

"About a week," he told her.

"A week!" she sat up smiling. "Oh, Tony, I thought you'd have to leave by dawn. A week! It's like a lifetime!" She stopped. "Oh, no, how are we going to keep you hidden for a week. Your parents come over at least every other day. They're watching Sophie for me tomorrow morning while I go into the office for a few hours."

"All taken care of, Honey. You and Sophie and I are going to a secluded beach house up the coast until Tuesday. Nobody will see us there."

"Tony, Sophie and I can't just disappear. How do I explain that?"

"You tell everyone you decided that you and Sophie need to get away for a few days. You need to be alone, to think, whatever. After all you've been through, no one will question you."

"Honey, your parents are coming over at 10 o'clock tomorrow. Are you going to let them see you?" Michelle asked. "Oh, Tony, it would make them so happy."

He shook his head. "They can't see me, Michelle. I love them, but I can't trust them to keep this quiet. I know their intentions are good, but my mother will tell one of my brothers or sisters and the next thing you know they'll all know about it. There will be a leak. It's too much of a risk. Call them in the morning and tell them about the trip. Say you decided not to go into the office. I'll watch Sophie while you're gone."

"Jack is going to see through this in a minute, Tony."

"That's okay. Jack will keep his mouth shut. He knows what's at stake. Honey, you can do this. You have to do this," he said emphatically.

Michelle settled back in his arms. "You're right, I'll do it."

They drifted off to sleep peacefully in each others arms. Tony woke about an hour later when he heard Sophie begin to fuss. Michelle hadn't heard her yet so Tony slipped out of bed and into the nursery. She hadn't really started to cry, but was well on her way.

"Hey," he whispered as he picked her up. "Let's let Mommy sleep a little longer. Why don't I get you a clean diaper?" He laid her on the changing table and easily changed her diaper. As the oldest of eight children he had had plenty of practice. She seemed satisfied to be held and rocked for a while but eventually her cries intensified as she demanded food.

Tony took her to their bedroom, where Michelle was just getting fully awake. He propped the pillows against the headboard then sat down and leaned against them. He pulled Michelle in his arms so she was leaning against him then he handed her the baby. Sophie hungrily latched on to her mother's breast. Tony and Michelle watched in silence. Tony stroked Michelle's arm and put his pinky in Sophie's hand. She wrapped her tiny fingers around it. He listened to the soft suckling noises she made as she ate. Tony buried his lips in his wife's hair, kissed her softly and said a prayer in his heart that this moment would never end.

Sophie wasn't ready to go to sleep after nursing, so Tony and Michelle played with her while discussing plans for the day. Eventually they both got up and showered and dressed. Michelle called Tony's parents and told them her plan. They not only didn't question it, but thought it a good idea. Michelle went to the office leaving Tony who was thrilled with the chance to give his daughter a bath and spend time with her.

Michelle arrived at the office after dropping Snickers off at the kennel, unable to hide the fact that she was distracted. She completed her work quickly, then tried to casually mention to Jack and Chase that she was taking a few days off.

Chase smiled and said, "Have a good time. You deserve it. You barely took a day off when Sophie was born. See you when you get back." He walked out the door for a client meeting leaving Michelle alone with Jack.

"So, where are you three going?" Jack asked, his eyebrows slightly raised.

"Three?" Michelle asked back. "It's just Sophie and me, Jack."

"Come on, Michelle," he retorted. "You can't lie to an old liar like me. When did he get here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, having difficulty making eye contact with him.

"Michelle, I knew the minute you walked in here. You're a different person than the one who walked through the door yesterday. It's okay. You know the secret is safe with me. Tell him I said hello," Jack added softly.

Michelle was home by noon as planned. Tony had packed a suitcase of his old clothes and all of the necessities for Sophie. Michelle quickly packed a bag for herself while Tony stowed everything in the car inside a closed garage so no one would see them. Michelle secured Sophie in the back seat, then got in behind the wheel.

They decided it would be best if Tony kept low in the back seat to stay out of sight at least until they got to the freeway. So he temporarily huddled half on the seat and half on the floor as Michelle pulled out of the driveway and headed toward the Coastal Highway. As she drove, she paid attention to both the road in front of her and the traffic behind her. She was good at spotting a tail and after twenty minutes decided that they were alone.

"You can come out now," Michelle said playfully. "I'm pretty sure that we're clear."

"Thank God! I was starting to feel like a pretzel!" Tony laughed as he stretched his legs and got up into the seat. He looked at Sophie all tucked into her car seat and smiled. Her wide brown eyes were already getting heavy as the motion of the car lulled her to sleep. "She's amazing, Michelle," Tony whispered. "I can't believe how perfect she is."

"I hate it that she's growing up without you, Tony," Michelle said as she glanced in the rearview mirror. "I want her to know how much you love her."

"I'm not going to be gone forever, honey. You're going to convince the Feds to drop the charges. I know it. I have faith in you. You're going to make it happen. We just have to be patient."

"I know," Michelle agreed. "I'll get it done, Tony. I promise you that I'll get it done, but in the meantime, I miss you."

"I know, baby, I miss you, too. Let's not worry about it right now. We have a few days together and then it starts all over, but until then, I plan to enjoy every minute."