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Chapter 10

1 month later.

"Mom, I still can't find it!" Ellie shouted from where she stood by the hall closet.

Jo was knelt by the bath, holding Kaya securely in one arm as she bathed her. Luckily she had just finished, so knowing Ellie needed to be shown what she was looking for she scooped Kaya up out of the bath tub and grabbed a fluffy towel and wrapped her up in it.

She cuddled her close as she walked out of the bathroom carrying her securely in one arm. She stepped behind Ellie and looked into the closet. To her surprise the sleeping bag that Ellie was looking for was not where she had last seen it.

"Take your sister." she said to Ellie, and gently passed her Kaya.

Ellie took her and Jo watched as she stood softly swaying her, quietly talking to her. She had to smile at Kaya who looked up at Ellie with curious eyes. It was the way she looked at everyone. Ellie was great with her and Jo delighted in seeing them together. Ellie was perfectly happy to play the doting big sister. Tyler had the doting big brother covered.

She turned to face the closet and began scanning it. She finally saw the purple sleeping bag stuffed up on the top shelf. She had to climb a little but was able to grab it and pull it out. "Ta'da!" she sang as she showed it to Ellie.

"Thanks Mom." Ellie laughed as she turned and walked into the living room. Jo followed her and watched as she sat down on the couch, still cradling her baby sister.

She sat down next to her and ran a finger over Kaya's head. "Mila O'Neill in school is totally jealous because she wanted a sister and her mom had a boy." Ellie snickered.

"And you're happy with a sister."

"Yeah, to be honest I'm just glad that I'm not the youngest anymore. Also, having a sister means that we still outrank the boys in the family." Ellie said.

Jo just laughed. "That's true and will probably come in handy when she gets bigger." Jo said. "So you all packed and ready for the sleep over?" Jo asked her.

"Yep." Ellie answered. "You sure you'll be okay though. You know that I'm the only one who can get her to sleep when she gets in one of her moods."

"You're just a phone call away." Jo joked. "Go, have fun with your friends and don't be worrying about us." she added.

They both turned to face the door as it opened. Mac walked in with a smile on his face. He seemed to have a permanent smile the last couple of months. "Hi!" Jo called out to him.

He walked over to her and placed a kiss on her head. Jo reached up and placed her hand on his face. God she loved the touch of his face against her hand. "How are we all?" he asked, placing a hand on Ellie's head too.

"Good." Ellie answered for them, smiling at Mac who smiled back at her.

Jo loved how well he and Ellie got on. He was the first real father figure she'd had and Mac was happy to play it and be there for her. He then reached down and brushed Kaya's face gently with his finger. "Someone's had a bath." he said softly.

"Yeah, and that's just what her Momma's gonna do when I get back." Jo said taking Kaya from Ellie. "Go grab all your stuff sweetheart." she said to Ellie.

Ellie went to her room to grab her things whilst Jo stood up and walked over to Mac and placed a kiss on his lips as she sneakily passed him Kaya. Mac took hold of her and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna run Ellie to her friends. She's having a sleepover tonight."

"Well, let me take her. You have that bath." he said as he placed a kiss on her lips and, using her trick, sneakily passed Kaya back into her arms. Jo's laugh was muffled as she kissed him again.

"I love you." she said as she looked into his eyes. She would happily gaze into his eyes all day; they were so kind and caring.

"I love you to." he said. "I won't be long." he told her. He leant down and gave Kaya a kiss, taking in the smell of her baby shampoo. He loved it. "Bye." he said as he gave Jo another kiss. He just couldn't get enough of kissing her.

"Gross! Get a room!" Ellie spat.

"GO!" Jo shouted playfully. Ellie walked over to her and Jo placed a kiss on her head and then said, "I'll pick you up tomorrow, baby."

"Okay. Love you Mom. Love you Kaya." Ellie said as she followed Mac over to the door.

"Bye!" Jo called again as she watched them walk out, leaving her alone with Kaya. "Bath time for Momma!" Jo said to Kaya, looking so forward to putting little Kaya to bed and enjoying a long soak in a hot bubble bath.

Kaya had other ideas and began to squirm and cry in Jo's arms. Jo immediately knew what she wanted. "Okay, fine little one, I'll feed you first." she said before heading into the nursery.

He didn't have to worry about being outside in the cold as he watched her now. He could watch her from the warmth of her apartment, of her bedroom. He'd listened to the others leave and so knew it was now just Jo and the baby in the apartment.

He crept right outside the nursery and looked through the small gap in the door. He watched Jo put a diaper on her baby and then watched as she shed her shirt and bra and sat down in the rocking chair in the baby's perfectly decorated nursery. He knew enough about baby's to know that skin to skin contact helped a mother and baby keep a strong bond. 'Too bad I'm about to kill you both' he thought to himself.

He crept back out of the way. He wanted to surprise her and new he had to wait a little longer, just a little longer. 'Let her have her bath' he thought menacingly.

~0~0~0~0~

Finally, Jo was lay in the bath. The warm bubbly water enveloped her tired body in pure bliss. The apartment was quiet, Kaya was fast asleep and Jo had the door open slightly so she could listen out for her, just in case she decided to wake up. This bath tub was bigger than the tub had been in her last apartment, so it was easy to get comfy in it, too comfy. Jo could feel sleep creeping over her but she forced her eyes to stay open.

They were about to drift shut again when she felt a cold waft of air hit her body. She looked up to see the bathroom door was now completely closed over. "Mac?" she called out. She got no answer.

She figured he must be home and giving her the chance to stay in the bath a little longer, but she'd been in the bath long enough. She pushed herself up out of the water and grabbed her robe and threw it on.

She walked out of the bathroom and into the living room. "Mac?" she called out again, he wasn't there, or in the kitchen. She headed back down the hallway and was about to check the bedroom when she heard a creak come from the nursery.

She knew Mac loved to go in and check Kaya was ok. He did it every night before he got in bed and each time Jo would stand in the doorway watching him, loving how much he adored his little girl. Sometimes after a hard day at work he would fall asleep in there, sat in the rocking chair as he watched Kaya sleep. Jo would always go in and put a blanket over him.

She pushed the door open and leant against the door frame and looked in through the dark. She could see his shadow by the crib. She could tell he was cradling Kaya, she guessed she must have woken up fussing. "I never heard her crying." she said.

"She wasn't."

The second Jo heard the voice she knew it wasn't Mac. She quickly reached up to flick the light switch on but she couldn't find the damn thing. By the time she did find it and managed to flick it on, Samuel had stormed across the room and was just inches away from her.

His fist connected so fast with her face that she didn't have time to react to prevent it. It hit her with such force she was knocked to the floor. His heavy boot connected hard with her stomach, once, twice and then a third time. She cried out in pain and couldn't help but hold her ribs. The pain she felt in them was nauseating.

She looked up at the Samuel, at her daughter who lay in his arms. She held her breath as she continued to look at Kaya. She was still, too still.

She could finally release the breath when she saw her squirm in her sleep in Samuel's arms. "Samuel, please…" she began, thinking only of her innocent baby and not the pain she was in.

"Shut up now or I swear I will cut her throat open." he said as he pulled a knife out of his belt and held it by Kaya's throat.

Jo almost heaved. She wanted him nowhere near her baby but she certainly wanted him nowhere near her with a knife. "No! Don't, please!" she begged, tears in her eyes.

"Jo, not only did you kill my brother but you got my father killed as well." Samuel began. "You took away the people that mattered most in my life, tell me why I shouldn't take away what matters to you?" he asked.

"She's 1 month old, please!" Jo begged.

"And it will be your fault that she doesn't get to make two months old." he said coldly.

"I'm sorry, for what happened to John and to your father." she lied but said it like she meant it.

Samuel saw right through it and angrily brought the knife right up against Kaya's throat, waking her up.

"Don't!" Jo pleaded as she pushed herself to her feet.

She saw how Kaya began to squirm in his grasp, each movement bringing her closer to the sharp blade. "I'll do whatever you want just please don't hurt her."

"What would you do for her, Jo? Would you sacrifice your own life, how about Mac's, maybe Ellie's or Tyler's? Chose!"

"Mine. I don't care what you do to me but please don't hurt my family."

"And now you know how I feel! We're gonna take a little ride Jo. You, me and baby Kaya."

"I'll go wherever you want, but leave her here." Jo said. She knew Mac would be home soon.

"You're a cop, you should know better than to leave a baby alone in the house. You never know what could happen to her, or who could break in and hurt her." he said with a sickening smile. "Now get your car keys." he said as he continued to hold the knife against Kaya's throat.

Jo did as she was told, for the safety of her baby.

~0~0~0~0~

Samuel wasted no time in leading Jo towards her car. He had tight hold of Kaya in his arms and now had a gun pointed at Jo. He had pulled that from his belt and Jo wasn't sure which one to be more afraid of, the knife or the gun. She did know that she wanted neither by her baby.

"Get in, you're driving." he told her.

Again Jo did as she was told. She watched in the side mirror as he climbed into the back, she was thankful as he put Kaya in her seat and began strapping her. She suddenly felt something in the pocket of her robe and held in a smile as she remembered she had put her cell phone in her pocket. She was suddenly thankful more than ever that she kept the thing practically stitched to her hip.

She reached into her pocket and easily flicked it onto silent. Keeping an eye on Samuel she carefully managed to speed-dial Mac.

Mac was just about to pull away from Ellie's friend's house when his cell phone began to ring. He saw it was Jo calling and answered. "You missing me that much you couldn't wait till I get home to hear my voice." he said, joking.

The smile on his face quickly turned to a frown when he got no reply. "Jo?" he said. Still he got no reply. He noticed how it sounded fuzzy almost. "Drive!" he heard a man's voice say.

"Where to?" he heard Jo ask, knowing she was speaking up slightly. He could hear the urgency in her voice.

"To wherever I say, bitch! Now drive before I shoot your baby!"

Mac's heart began to pound against his chest as he sped full speed up the street, heading back towards the apartment. He felt sick with worry and was paying hardly any attention to the road. He narrowly missed hitting oncoming traffic, but he carried on anyway. He was praying he would get to Jo and Kaya before they were hurt.

TBC

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