The Turbulent Road Ahead

By SigmaStar79

A/N: Again I would like to thank the wonderful Sez for being my Beta on this story. She has been ton of help and I kiss the ground she walks on Hope you all enjoy this chapter as it explains what has happened to Christina, and the fallout from it. Let me know what you think

Chapter 13

Kate knew something was wrong. She just didn't feel right. 2Dads and Bird were with her, but she knew something just wasn't right. She had talked to Mike via MSN to learn he was on the way back, but would only have enough time to stop off and say hi before going out again.

When her dad walked in looking for Christina, the two shared a knowing look. Setting up her laptop, she prayed Mike was available. She was lucky; he was and she took the opportunity to ask him if Christina had talked to Pete. Mike had said he didn't think so and that they were still an hour off. Pete came in and said he hadn't spoken to her and Kate started to get worried. Looking to her father, she spoke the words that no one wanted to hear.

"Something is wrong dad. I can feel it, something is wrong with Christina"

Shamus agreed and told Kate's shipmates to stay with her while he checked her house. As he was driving, he kept trying to reach her, but got no response. When he reached her house, he saw the kids were in the car.

"What are you doing in the car?"

"Mum saw our door open when we got here. She told us to say inside the car and lock the doors and she went inside. She never came back; we have been here for about 45 minutes, Grandpa"

Knowing that was something Christina did only if she felt there was extreme danger, he called emergency services and told the person where to come and why. He told the kids to stay in the car and he put in his Bluetooth i and made sure he could hear the operator while he walked into the home. The first thing he saw was a man on the floor. Checking his pulse, he realized the man was dead and he relayed this information to the operator. He didn't call out for Christina. He could tell that she had used her taser gun on his chest at close range. Probably gave the man a heart attack.

Looking downstairs and finding nothing, he proceeded to look upstairs. Having checked the kids' rooms first, he checked his daughter's room last. When he looked inside, he almost cried out.

Christina was on her bed, spread eagle, naked and bleeding. But he knew something wasn't right and looked around. This felt like a trap and he pressed his back to the wall and told the operator what he found and thought. The woman told him to leave the house but he said he couldn't. She was his daughter and it was his job to protect her.

He was surprised when he saw Joseph Flynn and three of his sons come up the stairs. He asked why they were there and Joe said that Kate had told him something was wrong. They all entered the bedroom and almost fell for the trap. A snake was curled up between Christina's legs and looked ready to strike. Shamus told the operator and all the men took a step back. Shamus did a quick look over, but didn't see any puncture marks.

Soon enough the police arrived, as did the animal control workers who removed the brown snake. It was a careful procedure, and Shamus was relieved when the snake was finally away from his daughter. He asked one of Mike's brothers to drive his car to the hospital as he drove Christina's car with her children there.

The ride to the hospital was the longest Shamus had ever driven. The knowledge that not one, but both of his little girls were hurt was almost more than he could handle. He also had to explain to his grandchildren that he had a bad feeling their father was the one behind their mother's attack. Then there was telling Kate. She was going to wonder why the kids were with him and not Christina. How was he going to tell Kate that Christina had been hurt in her own home?

The HMAS Hammersley docked in port, and Mike and Pete made their way to NavCom for a briefing and their new orders to leave after refuelling was done. Pete had asked them to fuel slowly so Mike could see his pregnant fiancée and unborn baby, and the men agreed to fuel as slowly as they could without getting in trouble.

For Mike and Pete, the ride to the hospital was a fast one since they were almost right there, but what Mike and Pete didn't expect was for Andrea and Sarah to run into Mike's arms crying. Mike recognized the girls as being Christina's daughters and then remembered Kate and Shamus both thinking something was wrong. Forgetting Pete for a moment, Mike asked the girls what was wrong. When Andrea said their house had been broken into and her mum had been hurt, his heart met his stomach. Someone had gone after Christina.

Pete looked on shocked that someone had attacked Christina with her children outside. He remembered the discussion where they all had found out Christina's ex husband was after the children and Christina and immediately he smelled a rat. Looking around, he quickly spotted the man he recognized as Kate and Christina's father and walked over.

"Hello sir, I'm Pete, I was supposed to have a dinner date with your daughter Christina. I just heard she was attacked in her home. Is that true?"

Shamus looked at the man and it took a moment before he recognized him as the one Christina had had it out with over the internet. He was supposed to have dinner with Christina, but that was looking unlikely at the moment.

"Yes she was unfortunately. We don't know anything yet as she is still being looked at. I wish they would just hurry up and let me know if my baby girl is alright or not. The paramedics thought she had a concussion and it looked as if she had been kicked in the head"

"May I make the suggestion it might have been her ex sir"

Shamus looked at the man more closely and saw the man was worried about Christina and upset someone had dared to touch her at the same time.

"Then you're thinkin' the same as me lad. Too bad I can't prove nothing till Chrisy comes to again"

Pete nodded his head and looked around before saying anything else. He didn't want Christina's children hearing his conversation with their grandfather about their parents.

"After this quick patrol, Mike and I will be back ashore. We have come in to refuel and drop off the hostages from that sex trafficking ring we discovered. We still need to deliver some SAS troops somewhere. After we get back, may I ask permission to date your daughter sir and help kick her ex's head in for you Sir? No one deserves that treatment and if he did this with his own children outside waiting for her…"

"I like the way you think Lad. Names Shamus McGregor"

"Peter Tomaszewski. I am the XO of the Hammersley. May I say your oldest daughter left me some really big shoes to fill."

Shamus almost laughed at that. He was proud of Kate's achievements and knowing this man respected her as much as Christina whom he planned to date was impressive. Now if he could just keep both his girls safe.

Pete could tell Shamus was thinking bad thoughts so he clapped the man on the shoulder and smiled before saying.

"Don't worry Mate, if Christina is anything like her big sister Kate, they are both going to be out of here soon and busting heads. If there is one thing I learned from Kate over the years and now from Christina is that you can't keep a McGregor woman down for long"

Shamus smiled and thanked Pete for his words, but the knowledge that everything was far from finished still loomed overhead. Then he remembered something.

"That's it!"

"What's it, mate?"

Shamus ran outside to Christina's car and retrieved the keys and paperwork for Kate and Mike's new house. On the way here Andrea had told him that her mum had picked up the keys and paperwork for them both to sign immediately before they had stopped by their house. He ran back inside and Pete and Mike were both waiting for them.

"Christina picked up the keys to your new house and the papers for both you and Katie to sign as soon as possible. No one knows about the new house. After the girls are released…"

"We can hide them at the new house" finished Pete and Mike at the same time and Shamus smiled. Both these men were made for his girls. He just knew it as all three ran to Mike's mum and asked her to watch Christina's children so they could all go and see Kate quickly.

Kate was talking to Carol and Dutchy when her father, Mike and Pete ran in. Quickly signing the papers, Mike handed them back to Shamus before he lunged forward and kissed Kate. Not to be out done, Kate returned the kiss with active fever. But Carol and Dutchy blushed and excused themselves. They had dinner plans to make for after Dutchy returned from patrol.

Breaking the kiss, Mike and Kate looked into each other's eyes and sighed in relief. They had missed each other terribly and the thought of one of them having to leave again killed them, even though they knew Mike had to. It was part of the job and no one understood that better than them. Pete and Shamus walked out of the room to give the two a bit of privacy before Mike and Pete had to leave.

Outside in the hall, Pete gave Shamus his email and messenger information, along with his cell phone number. He wanted Christina and Shamus to have the information just in case. Shamus and Pete went over plans of working on the new house and the possibility of Christina and the kids staying at his if the house wasn't ready for all of them in time. Both men talked about how to provide suitable security for both women and the children, and Pete even learned when everyone's Birthdays where, especially that the boys birthdays were coming up in two weeks and that Shamus knew Christina had been going to have the party that their house, but now they really couldn't now.

Pete thought about it and told Shamus to find out who all was invited and to let him know so he could book a party for the boys. Since they were turning the big number 8, Pete said they deserved a big party. Shamus laughed at that and asked was he going to give Andrea a big thirteenth next month on her birthday too. When Pete grinned, Shamus shook his head while chuckling.

"Lad, where have you been all of Christina's life? You should have been those kids dad instead of that Perkin's boy. That boy rubbed me wrong the moment I met him"

Pete didn't want to pry, but he noticed how old the kids are and how young Christina is. Shamus must have recognized the face because he started to explain.

"Christina was only 12 when she met that cad Gerald Perkins. He was 17 and I didn't approve. At first Christina kept clear of him, but the boy knew how to get around things. He set up some boys to show up and try to attack Christina and I one day, and made sure him and his friends were there to handle them. From then the child was smitten. I tried everything a father could to keep them apart, but in the end, I couldn't stop the inevitable. Christina went to a party with a few of her friends and Perkins showed up with a few of his. All the boys had their sights on our girls and spiked their drinks. When the girls went to lie down, the boys were waiting. Gerald got Christina, Tommy Usher got Cathy Isle and Toby McDowell got Amber Fry. Amber and Cathy got off with just losing their virginities and a sore head".

"Christina wasn't that lucky" stated Pete.

"No, she wasn't" said Shamus with a sigh. "She had just turned 13 three months before. At first, she had told her mum and not me, afraid I would go after the lad, which I would have, since he had already turned 18. I already knew something was up when the boy started having flowers delivered and cards started arriving in the mail. The letters saying how much he missed her and how he wished I would let him see her".

"How did you find out?" asked Pete.

"About two months in, Christina received a letter from Perkins stating how he wished they hadn't been drugged by his friends the night they made love, but that he remembered every caress and kiss. He vowed he had been celibate since then and that her touch was all he craved. He even made the promise to wait until she was 18 if he had to, but he wasn't touching another but her. He vowed to love her and cherish her. I, of course being me, blew the world's biggest gasket. I confronted Christina and my wife, her mother Ceili, told me she knew about it. Christina yelled and said I had no right opening her mail. We fought long and hard. Then she stopped talking to me. For an entire month, she didn't speak one sound to me".

"That must have been hard" said Pete. "I can see how much you love both of your daughters".

"That I do," sighed Shamus and Pete placed a hand on the older man's shoulder. While it wasn't Christina's fault she had been taken advantage of by a grown man, it wasn't Shamus's fault for being angry either. He would have killed the boy!

"Then she started getting sick in the early evening" stated Shamus starting up again. "At first Ceili thought she had caught a virus, and just gave her bland foods to eat in the evening. I was military so I wasn't home all the time. The Army always had me somewhere. When I was home, I was there, but when I was out, I was on a mission"

"You were on a mission, I can understand that" said Pete.

"I came home one night to Christina crying uncontrollably and Ceili holding her crying as well. I can still see Ceili's face as she handed me the paper from the doctor. Christina was pregnant, not sick. My little girl was scared lifeless and I was furious. Before Ceili could stop her, Christina was on the phone, calling Perkins. I could hear her crying and telling him and she hung up the phone. She came back and said Perkins had told her he was fixing things. An hour later, the boy showed up at my door with his parents and grandparents. Along with them was their family priest. In my living room my youngest daughter married Perkins and Perkins promised a larger wedding after the baby was born".

Pete smiled. But he also knew something bad was coming.

"None of us knew he was IRA. When Christina had Andrea, he was there and smiling. I heard after that he had drugged Christina on purpose to have her. He had planned the entire thing. He had wanted her pregnant. By then though it was too late, they were married. Right after Andrea was born; the cad knocked her up with Sarah. Because Perkins didn't wait, there were problems with Sarah's pregnancy. She was born two months early. The girls are only 7 ½ months apart"

Pete cringed. He knew a woman was supposed to heal within about six weeks. She had been 14 when she delivered and was probably told to wait longer, but her ex hadn't listened and done what he wanted. That meant Christina had delivered at 14 again, or right after she turned 15.

"She made sure the doctors put an implant in her after Sarah so she wouldn't get pregnant again so soon. It angered Perkins because he wanted a small army. When he couldn't get her pregnant again so soon, he was afraid at first he had hurt her. When a year came and went, he started thinking maybe he had done something to himself and got checked, but he was fine. When the second year came and went, he asked Christina's doctor to check her out. The doctor knew what the problem was, but said nothing. He knew why Christina had done it, she wanted to finish school"

"Good for her" Pete said with a smile. He was proud of the stand Christina had taken at such an early age. It showed perseverance and spunk.

"Then Perkins got in trouble with the law and was sent to jail for two years. He spent 18 months but…"

"Christina got a break"

"Yes" replied Shamus. "While he was in his first four months of jail, something went wrong with Christina's implant and it had to be removed. Christina never thought anything and just went to work with me after school while her mum watched the girls. She never thought to get on the pill or shot since she never looked at anyone else. Then Perkins got out early and Christina had no time. She came home one night with the girls and found Perkins waiting. He asked where she was and she told him at work with me. She put the girls to bed since they had already had dinner with us and Perkins jumped her. Christina got pregnant with the boys that night."

"Why did they get divorced if you don't mind me asking?" asked Pete, a little afraid of what Shamus might say.

"Perkins got involved with arms smuggling and got caught. When Christina found out, she was furious, she was eight months pregnant and again Perkins was being sent to jail. This time the police entered her home and tried to take everything. Thankfully Christina had paid for everything herself and proved it with her job in my company, or they would have taken everything. That was why everything was in Christina's name. When they told her Perkins was a terrorist, she asked how to get a divorce, stating she didn't want her kids around that. The divorce went through right after I retired from the Army and got more involved with my business, which boomed because of it".

"Congrats then Sir" said Pete. He knew there was more.

"Thank you" said Shamus proudly. "I never knew a shipment business of livestock would be that great, but when I learned of an opportunity here, I took it. Soon though after the divorce, Perkins was having people come and harass Christina and the kids. I sent her here, knowing her and the kids would be safe. Her house is in my name, which we never transferred due to Perkins. She had the boys and moved here right after. She has lived here almost eight years now. Now the jerk is out and has found them"

"Don't worry Shamus. Nothing is going to happen again. After I get back, I'll do my best to make sure of it"

"Good lad, Good lad. Just keep my baby happy and her and her kids safe".

"Yes sir" Pete said smiling big right as Mike came out of Kate's room. Looking at his watch he noticed Mike had been in there 45 minutes. The look on Mike's face said a story only Pete could read and Pete had to keep the smile off of his face unless Shamus realized what Mike and Kate had been up too.

"Dutchy just texted me, the refuelling is almost done. Mr. McGregor, Kate signed her part of the paperwork. The sooner you get those to the realtor, the soon I can get back and start working on everything".

"You mean us Mike" stated Shamus with a no nonsense look. "You don't have to do everything by yourself; we are all here to help".

"OK then Dad, can't wait to get back so WE can work on the house. Kate knows how to get a hold of me so we can all chat online about what needs to be done, and how we are going to do it all".

Shamus agreed and Pete and Mike left the hospital. Then Shamus looked at his own watch and realized Mike had been alone with his little girl for almost an hour. Walking in the check on her, he found her rumpled but asleep with a pleasant smile on her face. A smell lingered in the room and Shamus had to fight the urge to kill one Mike Flynn. Taking the paperwork, Shamus went down stairs to collect his grandchildren and go to the realtor's office. He had paperwork to drop off.

Walking back on Hammersley, Mike had an extra spring in his step and his heart felt light. Sitting in his chair, he took Hammersley out to deliver the SAS troops aboard. Pete stood next to him with a large grin on his face and Mike knew why. Pete could read him like a book and knew what Mike and Kate had been up to in her room. After they were well on their way at sea, Mike and Pete left the ship to Dutchy while they went down to his cabin and looked over the entire copy of the video Christina had taken of the house with their Laptops open and messengers up. They had planning to do.

Christina came to, sore and confused. When she realised she was in hospital, she tried to get up, only to be stopped by Catherine Flynn. After giving the woman a weird look, she tried again, only to be stopped by Catherine once more.

"Please let me up, my ex is back and he will hurt my kids if I don't warn my Dad".

"Your Dad is talking to police at the moment. He just got back from the realtors with the signed paperwork you had picked up earlier. Your father and the guys already guessed your ex was responsible and your father is not amused".

Christina groaned, knowing she wasn't ever going to hear the end of this. Her father never liked Gerald, and he had been right not to. While she wouldn't give her children up for the world, she did wish she had them later in life with somebody else. Then all the memories of what happened in her house came back to her and she gasped.

"What's wrong?" asked Catherine. She watched as the blood drained from Christina's face and she started crying while repeating the word no over and over again.

"Féilire" cried out Christina with tears running down her eyes. She couldn't, she just couldn't.

"What?" said Catherine confused. She knew Kate's mum was from England and remembered hearing Christina's mum was half English half Irish while Shamus was full Irish, but she didn't know what Christina was saying at the moment.

"Féilire" repeated Christina crying harder. Catherine felt at a lost and called out for Shamus.

"Shamus, get in here. Something is wrong with Christina. She is saying something, but I don't understand what she is saying"

Shamus ran in the room with Joe, a doctor, and two police officers behind him. Seeing his youngest cry, he almost started crying and ran to her.

"What is it Christina, what do you need?"

"Féilire" Christina said again, sounding more heartbroken than the first two times before. When everyone noticed Shamus's face pale, they all knew something was terribly wrong.

"Someone had me a calendar quickly" said Shamus and the terrified look on his face only added to Catherine' s worry as she grabbed a miniature one from her purse and handed it to Shamus. Everyone watched as Shamus handed it the Christina and she looked through it, and started crying harder.

"Does féilire mean calendar?" asked Joseph

Shamus nodded his head, crying with Christina now and holding her close, whispering words in a language no one understood.

"Oro he force you?" asked Shamus.

"Yes" replied Christina.

" IR tere a cance?" asked Shamus, now paler than he was before. Everyone knew he was talking in a different language, but they knew he was asking important questions.

"I know" responded Christina and Shamus cried out and hugged her tighter. When he turned to the doctor and spoke, Catherine cried out and Joe held her to him. He was as upset as Catherine and Shamus.

"Perkins raped her and she knows she has become pregnant. It is the right time in her cycle for it"

The doctor asked Shamus was it alright to give Christina the morning after pill and Shamus said no. Everyone was shocked his answer until he explained.

"It doesn't work on her. She tried it with Sarah, and she still had her. Her body doesn't accept the medicine"

Catherine hugged Christina as Christina cried out harder. The doctor confirmed they had found evidence of rape and had already taken a sample. The police officers noted it down and asked Christina who hurt her.

"My ex husband" Christina said while crying into Catherine. The police already had his name and asked a few more questions before they left the weeping mother to her doom. Shamus only had to look at Joseph for the other man to understand. Joe nodded and left the room to find his other sons while Shamus told them Christina was to rest in Kate's room and to make sure they stayed together. Catherine agreed and watched Shamus leave the room. She knew what they were doing.

They were going after Gerald Perkins.