Thanks so much for your kind reviews! I love you all! Right, now I have an apology to make. I've skipped ahead a wee bit here because it's necessary for the plot, but I will put important events into the story through flashbacks. Any events that you really wanna know about then just let me know :-) I really hope this chapter isn't too long, but this is where the action starts.
Angst is coming!
WARNING: Bad language appears in this chapter. Sorry. Also it's really long, sorry!
Also, anyone who has been affected by Hurricane Sandy, my heart goes out to you!
Read. Enjoy. Review.
Chapter Thirteen # First Threats #
Morgan raised the coffee cup to her lips, staring at Reuben chasing his sister around the living room with a tube of tomato ketchup. She'd missed the coffee mornings with Greg, but she didn't say anything, so she'd been shocked when Greg had asked her to come around for coffee after shift. Normally if she came around it was to see the twins, but this time Greg asked her over for coffee. Maybe he was interested... Then again, she was probably over analysing things. Since Greg received custody of the twins, he hadn't really seemed interested anymore.
Greg was following quickly and managed to swing the toddler up into the air, pulling the sauce out of his hand before placing him back down to chase his sister.
"You know, it was three years today that they arrived." Morgan looked up at Greg who looked slightly shocked as he sat down.
"Really? Today?"
Morgan nodded; laughing at the scatterbrained look on Greg's face as he absently pulled a plastic doll out from underneath him.
"Today what, Daddy?" Loeila asked, climbing onto Greg's lap.
"It was three years ago today was when you arrived here with me." Greg explained. "When you were a little three month old baby."
The three year old looked exasperated. "But I beened wif you foreber, daddy!"
Greg laughed softly and kissed her smooth hair, which had grown to strawberry blonde curls that fell almost halfway to her shoulders.
"I wish, baby girl." He smiled.
"I no baby!" she protested.
Morgan grinned. "No, you're a big girl, aren't you Lola?"
The toddler nodded exaggeratedly.
"It's gone by so fast." Greg said wistfully.
"I know." Morgan shook her head as Reuben raced over with a piece of paper with a drawing on.
"Oh yeah, he wouldn't show me what it was. He said it was for-"
"Audie Mogan." Reuben said firmly, before hopefully showing Morgan the picture. "I drawded it for you!"
A wobbly smiley face was roughly in the middle, and surrounded by colourful scribbles and spots.
"It's beautiful!" Morgan gasped with a smile, pulling Reuben onto her lap.
He beamed with pleasure and looked up at Morgan. "Weally? Do you fink?"
"I do." She grinned, hugging him tightly. "Thank you very much."
Reuben smiled and looked up at Morgan. "I love you."
Greg smiled as Morgan hugged his son. "I love you too."
"Daddy?" Loeila asked, playing with a little toy dinosaur, making it climb up Greg's arm.
"Uh huh?"
"Um, um, at daycawe de ober kids hab mommies. Why we no hab a mommy?" she asked.
Greg glanced at Morgan. How to you tell a three year old there mother abandoned them? He didn't want to tell them that they'd been unwanted for the first three months of his existence but Greg also didn't want to spin a web of lies that he would regret later. He also believed that however much it could hurt them, they had a right to know if they wanted, when they grew old enough.
"Well..." He could even tell them she loved them.
"Is our mommy in heben like Eli's mommy? And Kristy's?" Reuben asked.
"No, I don't think so." Greg sighed. "Your mommy left daddy, and she left you with me, three years ago."
"She dust leabed us?" Reuben frowned. "Why did she leabe us?"
"But you know what?" Morgan announced. "You don't need a mommy. One - you have an amazing daddy, and two - you have a lot of aunties that will help with the things a mommy would do. Lots of people have no mommy."
"And some people have no daddy." Greg added automatically.
Reuben looked horrified. "Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"Mommy leabed us! Will you leabe us too?" Reuben's face was steadily filling with fear.
Loeila's face added in her brother's terror. "Daddy?"
Greg's arm tightened around his little girl and he fluffed up his little boys hair. "I won't leave you."
"Pwomise?"
"I can't promise that, Greg." Mark sighed.
"Why? Why would you leabe me?" Greg frowned, his small face contorting in a heartbreaking expression filled with anxiety and sorrow. "You can't leabe me Daddy, you can't!"
"I promise I'll try not to, okay Greg?"
"Twy?"
"My hardest." He placed Greg onto the floor and knelt with his hands on Greg's shoulders, staring into the almost identical eyes. "Greg, with my job, one day I might have to leave you. I won't have a choice. But I will promise that I will try my hardest not to leave you. My very hardest. I promise."
Greg swallowed painfully. "I promise."
CSIVCSIVCSIV
"Open up Kristy...Aw, c'mon, don't be like this. Open up, baby girl!"
Kristy shook her head, her little eyebrows furrowed, her lips squeezed shut.
"Kristina..." Nick warned. "I'm gonna count to three, and if I get to three there'll be trouble. One...two..."
The two – soon to be three – year old moaned and opened her mouth a crack, just wide enough for Nick to slide the medicine spoon into her mouth.
"There we go..." he smiled and she groaned again, holding out her arms. He put the spoon down and allowed her to fall off of the bench into his arms. Her head flopped against his shoulder.
"Daddy..." she whispered in a broken voice.
"Yeah?" Nick asked, trying to screw the lid back on the cough medicine with one hand.
"Still sick!" she sobbed quietly. She'd had a bad cold and tummy ache for the last three days and it was just wearing off. Luckily that was the worst thing that had happened to her, to any of Nick's 'family' since Boxing Day, unless you counted personal cases and the odd cold.
"I know, Kristy, and I'm sorry baby girl. Just give the medicine a chance to work its magic, okay?"
"Not magic, Daddy, yucky!" she complained, rubbing her eyes as the medicine started to make her drowsy.
"Oh, I know, Kristy, I know. But what we're gonna do now is we're gonna go into the living room and we're gonna watch a movie, and I'm not going to go to work tonight, okay?"
"No work?" Kristy asked.
"No work." Nick confirmed.
Kristy nestled closer to her dad. "Fank you."
"It's okay, sweetie." He laughed, carrying her into the living room.
"When Wosa back?" Kristy mumbled as Nick set her down gently on the sofa.
"Rosa will be home in a couple of weeks. As soon as Auntie MJ gets back from London."
"Why Aunie MJ London?" she rubbed her eyes.
"Because she's written a book and she has to go all the way to London to get it published."
"What that?"
"Made into a real book." Nick explained, feeling proud of his older sister. She was a crime novelist, and he was her unofficial head of research.
"Oh. Where London?"
"It's in England."
"Furder dan Texas?"
Nick laughed. "Yeah, it's a lot further away than Texas. To get to England you have to go on a plane, and fly over the sea."
"Far away..." Kristy nodded. "Is Wosa in London?"
"No, sweetie, she's in Texas, looking after Lara, Mickey, Eve and Madi." Nick explained. "Because there daddy's in Afghanistan with the army."
"Oh..." Kristy sighed, before her eyes started filling with tears. "Daddy, feel sick still!"
It tugged at Nick's heartstrings to see his little girl hurting but there was nothing he could do. "Okay, Kristy, okay..."
"No! No okay!" she started to cry. "No okay, Daddy, no okay!"
Nick gently placed his hands on the crying toddler's shoulders. "Kristy, I promise, you're gonna be okay, I promise, alright?"
He grabbed the phone and dialled the number of someone who he knew would be off work.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Lou, it's Nick. Can I speak to Catherine for a second?"
The familiar ex-detective's voice came down the end of the phone. "Oh, okay, sure. She went down to the lobby to book a massage but she'll be back any minute. How's Kristy?"
"Ah, she's a bit sick at the moment. How's the first holiday as finances?"
They'd all been shocked when Lou Vartaan proposed to Catherine, even more shocked when she accepted. The wedding date was arranged for July.
"It's going great, it's great. Hang on...yep, Cath's here right now. Hang on a minute." There was a rustling noise as the phone changed hands.
Growing impatient, Kristy's keening cries increased.
"Argh!" Nick half groaned, half cried, plucking her off the sofa and bringing her to his hip as Catherine answered the phone.
"Nick?"
"Hey, Cath, I'm really sorry to be a pain in the ass but-"
"Nick, is Kristy okay?"
"Uh, yeah, that's what I was calling about. She's got a tummy bug and I took her to the doctor the other day, because it hadn't gone on the first day and he said it was just a little bug but she won't stop crying. I don't think she's really ill but I just can't stop her crying?"
"Is she dehydrated?"
"I'm not sure, maybe."
"Okay, just stick a DVD on, give her a cuddle and a drink of water and keep her distracted. Can I speak to her?"
"Sure, sure." Nick nodded. "Kristy? Auntie Catherine wants to speak to you." He held the phone to the toddlers ear, and the little girl stopped sobbing with a sniffle, holding onto the phone.
"Aunie Cafin?"
"Hey, sweetie. Your daddy says you're sick."
"Yeah." She sniffed. "I sick."
"Aw, no, that's awful! You know what?"
"What?"
"I'm in Florida right now, so, I'll send you an extra special present to make you feel better okay? It may take a little while to get there but it will get to you eventually, okay?"
"Okay...Fank you Aunie Cafin! I love you!"
"I love you too. Can I talk to your daddy again, please?"
"Okay!" Kristy pushed the phone back towards her father.
"Hey Cath?"
"Hey. Just distract her, you should be fine, both of you."
"Thanks. I'll let you get back to your...vacation!"
"Nicky, stop making comments that are obviously about my sex life!"
Nick laughed. "Bye Catherine."
"Later, Nicky!"
Nick hung up and quickly put the phone back down on in the cradle. "What film do you wanna watch?"
"Taggle!"
"Tangled? Again?"
"Taggle!"
"Fine, fine..." Nick placed her back down onto the couch to stick the DVD in the player, before racing to the kitchen and getting a cup of water with a lid. Then he shifted her onto his lap, passed her the drink in time for the start of the movie.
When the end credits began to come on, Nick looked at the toddler on his lap. "Any better?"
She nodded her head of dark brown hair and took her thumb out of her mouth. "Punzel minds me ob Mogan."
"What?"
"Punzel minds me ob Mogan." Kristy repeated.
"Oh, Rapunzel reminds you of Morgan!"
"Dats what I said Daddy!" Kristy sighed.
"I know! How come?"
"Um, because she is small and, and she is blonde and pwetty and she beats up bad guys wib a saucepan!"
"Morgan doesn't beat up bad guys with a saucepan!" Nick frowned.
Kristy shrugged. "Not a saucepan."
The doorbell rang amidst Nick's chuckles. He stood up, setting Kristy back down on the sofa.
"Stay here, baby girl, okay?"
Kristy nodded as Nick put on the special features for her to watch and answered the door.
Peeping through the peephole he opened the door to an anxious looking woman in her forties.
"Can I help you?"
"Are you Nick Stokes?" she asked. Her voice had a weak southern accent to it and Nick looked at her.
"Yes I am, can I help you ma'am?"
"My name is Juliette Adamson."
"Oh." Nick stiffened. John Adamson's wife. The wife of the biological father of his daughter.
"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment, I'd like to give you something." She pulled a cheque for a thousand dollars out of her pocket and handed it to Nick.
"What...?"
"I have a lot of explaining to do, and I know. I just wanted to say that I am so sorry about what happed to Cassie. It went on right under my nose and..."
"When you found out you kicked her out." Nick finished.
"No." She said firmly. "No, I thought that she was sleeping around when John said she was pregnant, but John told her I kicked her out, I didn't...I couldn't do that. I wanted to tell her that, to apologise to her. I really did love her. But I told myself that it would be too painful, too close to the baby's birth so I would wait until after the trial, when Cassie was stronger, to explain, to offer help and beg forgiveness, but... Then she died. I felt... I can't even tell you Mr Stokes. Then John escaped and god, I could have killed him myself."
"But you haven't divorced him." Nick gritted his teeth. This woman had allowed Cassie to be abused, without doing anything, however maybe without knowing.
"You don't understand. My boys, technically they aren't mine. Biologically or legally. I'm going through a custody battle, but if I divorce him now I lose two kids that I've raised from infants." She explained.
His anger subsiding slightly, Nick sighed. "So you didn't know anything about it? Why are you here now?"
"No, I didn't know anything about it. And I've only just worked up the courage. I'm so, so sorry." She sighed as Kristy ran up.
"Who dis Daddy?" Kristy asked, lifting her arms up.
"Oh, she was a friend of your mommy." Nick said.
"Hi, I'm Juliette." The woman smiled.
"Hi." Kristy said shyly.
"Here, Mr. Stokes, I want you to take this. I saved it up and it's what Kristy deserves, what I owe Cassie." She passed him a cheque for $10,000.
Nick's mouth dropped open. "That's a lot of money-"
"Please. My father owned a newspaper, this is the least I can do. All I'm asking is for you to take the cheque, and maybe consider forgiving me one day?" Juliette asked.
"I think I can do that." Nick nodded. "Thank you very much. And thanks for stopping by. It...it means a lot."
She nodded. "Thank you. Goodbye."
Nick nodded. "Bye."
She walked away and he slowly shut the door. She'd given him a lot to think about.
CSIVCSIVCSIV
Sara raced around the house. "You got your lunch?"
"Uh huh!" Eli called back, almost falling down the stairs.
"Careful!" Sara called. "You got everything?"
"Yep!"
"Then let's go! Bye Gil!" Sara yelled.
"Bye Grissom!" Eli called.
"Bye!" Grissom called to both of them from the office where he was on the phone to his newly finished entomology book's potential publisher. "Have a good time, Eli!"
Sara and Eli raced to the car, slipping quickly into the seats. She glanced at him with the mirror. "You got everything?"
"Uh huh!" he nodded his head and Sara nodded at him.
"Let's go!" She pulled out of the driveway, quickly. "First school field trip, here we come!"
Over the past three years Eli flourished. The eight year old still missed his mom sometimes, but he loved Sara, Grissom, Hank and all of his new 'extended family'. He idolised Sara and she loved him. He was a really sporty outdoorsy kid, and his confidence had soured, though his nightmares hadn't completely vanished.
Sara had been at work when Grissom had received a call for a possible publisher, so Sara had raced home to try and get Eli to school in time for his field trip to a Wild West historical centre.
She pulled into the parking lot, just as they started boarding the bus.
Sara grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to his teachers. "Sorry we're late!" she gasped, running a hand over Eli's cornrows, not wanting to embarrass him with a kiss or a hug. "Have a good time, Eli."
She needn't have worried about embarrassing him because he flung his arms around her. She hugged him back and kissed him quickly on the head.
"Bye Sara! Have fun at work!" he grinned, waving at her, boarding the bus.
"Bye!" Sara returned, smiling and waving for a second, before walking backwards towards the car. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and leaned against the car as she watched the bus pull out. What if it crashed? What if something went wrong?
Since when did she worry like this?
Since Eli came to live with her. No question about it. She had become very protective over Eli, though she was careful not to overdo it. And the social worker had been right, Eli was also protective over Sara.
"You're back!" Finn sighed in relief when Sara arrived back at the lab. She'd been the only other grave shift CSI in the lab, as they had a new lead for their triple homicide. It looked like it was going to be a double. "How was Eli?"
"He was fine. A little late but he got on the bus. I didn't have to worry about embarrassing him or whatever..."
"Let me guess, he hugged you?" Finn smiled. Despite having not known Warrick she was very close to Eli, definitely closer than some of the lab techs.
"Yeah." Sara smiled.
"While you were gone, we got a confession."
"Really?" Sara cried.
"Yeah. I was just about to call you, but then you walked through the door. Busted Moyer ten minutes ago. When faced with the evidence, the guy caved."
"That's great." Sara grinned.
"Wanna grab a morning coffee, celebrate?" Finn asked.
Sara considered. "Sure, let's do it."
As they entered Frank's Diner, Finn turned to Sara. "Why do we always come here?"
Sara laughed. "The number of times I've had that conversation...Greg would say its tradition."
"Ah, I see." Finn grinned.
A short while later Sara's phone rang. "Sorry, Finn, one second. Hello? Yeah...That's great! That's really great...Okay...Oh... Gil, this is what you've been working on for years. No, I think you should do it. I think I can handle it... Well, we can talk about it later if you like, but I think you should go. Yeah, we got the guy; I'm with Finn at Franks. Yeah, I'll talk to you later. Love you too. Bye." She snapped the phone shut. "Sorry."
"It's not a problem." Finn waved her hand.
"Grissom's got a publisher interested."
"That's great. What was the book about again?"
"It's about entomology and forensic science." Sara smiled. "The two things in life he loves."
"Other than you and Eli." Finn added.
"And his family, yeah." Sara smiled. "Thing is, the publisher wants him to go to London for a week or two to get everything sorted. He doesn't wanna go. Now, Catherine was a single working mom for years, and Nick and Greg are doing it right now, so I think I can handle it for a few days."
Thinking of Sara's parenting skills Finn had to laugh. "I think I have to agree."
CSIVCSIVCSIV
DB walked through the lab to his office. Damn cell phone. He'd tried to pull it out to call his wife and realised that it was still in the office.
He walked in shaking his head and picked it up. He had to be back at work in less than eight hours. Almost the moment it entered his hand it rang.
"Hey Greg, what's up?"
"Russell, I may have a little problem." Greg's voice sounded tight.
"What sort of little problem?"
"Jose Martinez's brother in law Mario Lorenzo is here at my house and he's not happy."
"What...what do you mean, is he outside, or?"
"Uh no. He's inside and he's armed."
Another voice came down the phone. "Tell him! Tell him where my gun is!"
"Okay, okay. Russell, I'm staring down the barrel of a .38 here." Greg said his voice tight. Russell didn't find it difficult to hear the fear in Greg's voice.
Another little voice joined in and the same fear filled Russell. "Daddy! Daddy make him go away!"
"Make the kid shut up! Shut him up or I'll fucking shoot his ass, I don't care how small he is!"
Greg's voice came back with even more fear. "Reuben, shh, okay, just be quiet, it's going to be alright, baby, just shh!"
Russell listened to the soft sobbing on the end of the line. "Greg? Greg? Where are Morgan and Loeila?"
"They went to see Jerry and Ben." Greg replied.
Jerry and Ben. The gold fish Greg kept in the back room. Lorenzo didn't know.
The lightly accented voice yelled down the phone. "Tell him! Tell him what I want!"
"Russell, he wants the evidence from his niece's case, all of it."
"But her murder was never an official investigation, there is no evidence."
Russell listened to what sounded almost like a scuffle. "Give the phone to me white boy! Give it to me now!"
"Okay, okay!" Greg's voice grew quieter.
"Right, right, pick up the boy! Pick him up! Okay...hold him in front of you! Hold him in front of you! In front of you! If you try anything I will shoot you through him, and don't even think I won't!" Mario Lorenzo yelled. Then he spoke into the phone. "You bring me the evidence from Maria and Caliope Martinez' murder case, and you bring it to this house right away or I will shoot this little boy and his daddy! You bring it to me now! Any sirens, any cops and I will shoot before you can knock on the door! When you get outside, and you alone, you call Greg's cell phone. Otherwise they both die. The trip to the evidence locker and then to this house will take less than thirty minutes, that's all the time you have! I want all the evidence, even the gun."
The phone hung up. "Damn it!" Russell swore. Plan, plan, plan?
Exactly half an hour later he reached the door of Greg's house.
"Where's your boss, huh? He doesn't care! I'm gonna pop your kid, man!" a voice yelled from inside the house.
Russell almost dropped the evidence box he was holding in an attempt to grab his cell phone.
"Please, don't!" Greg cried from inside. "He's just a kid, please!"
"Caliope was only a kid!" the voice practically screamed. "She didn't hurt anyone, she didn't hurt anyone!"
"Please put the gun down!"
"NO!" a gunshot cracked through the air, followed by a short scream from Reuben.
DB lifted the phone to his ear, fear stabbing his pounding heart. He knew back-up was just around the corner, but would they be too late.
"You sonofabitch!" Greg cried. "Reuben, Reuben!"
The phone rang inside and DB sighed in relief as Mario picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"I have your evidence, Mario, was anybody hurt?"
"Open the door! Come inside, and come into the living room!"
DB obeyed, walking slowly through the hall into the living room. As he passed the hall he saw Morgan's face poke out and look at him, Loeila in her arms. The woman's hand was clamped over the toddler's mouth to try and keep her quiet, but there were tears streaming down both of their faces. DB nodded ever so slightly and turned into the living room.
His blood froze at the sight of Greg on the floor, crouched protectively over Reuben, who wasn't moving. No, scrap that, the little boy was convulsing excessively.
Oh, god, was Reuben having a seizure?
The dread rose when Russell saw the blood both on and around the toddler. It wasn't a seizure.
Reuben had been shot.
Greg's face snapped up to look at DB almost pleadingly.
"Here's your evidence."
The man snatched it off of him, keeping the gun trained on Reuben and Greg.
"This box is empty!" he roared, arming the gun once more. Greg lowered himself to try and shield Reuben again and covered his face.
"No, no, it's not, look inside!" Russell urged.
The furious man ripped the lid off of the box. "Three finger prints?"
"It was never an official case, the only info we had that it existed was given to us by a man who is now dead." Russell explained, holding his hands up.
"Then you lied! This isn't evidence from the case if there is no case!" the man roared, firing a shot at the wall behind Greg's head. Reuben started crying a pained, frightened cry.
"Please, just put the gun down!" Russell begged. "We don't want anybody to get hurt."
"Give me that kid!"
Greg's head snapped up, his eyes on fire. "What?"
"Give me the kid, now!" Mario barked. "I'm going to use him to get me out of here, and I'll leave him for you later."
"No. Way." Anger flared through Greg's veins.
"That's not going to happen, Mario, why don't you put the gun down-" DB started.
"Just give me the fucking kid!"
"Over my dead body." Greg growled.
"If that's the way you want it I'll blow your brains out right now..."
Reuben wailed, grabbing onto his father's jacket. "Daddy no!"
A siren wailed in the background and Russell took a deep breath. Looked like the listening Brass had decided it was time to move. He wanted to reach with his gun himself but he couldn't risk it with the gun pointed at Greg and Reuben.
The man fired once more and leapt out of the window. Greg grunted in pain.
"Greg!" Russell groaned, racing over, aiming his own gun at the window.
Greg gritted his teeth. "I'm fine, I'm fine, it's a scratch!" he sat up and looked at the blood beneath his son's with a frozen heart. "Reuben? Reubs! Reuben, wake up!"
The scared little boy opened his big eyes. "Daddy?"
"I'm here Reuben, I'm here." Greg peeled up his son's shirt. He sighed in relief. A graze. Just a graze. A deep graze, and a hell of a lot worse than anything Greg would ever want to see his kid go through.
"Daddy? I gon die?"
"No, no, Reuben, no. You're gonna be just fine, I promise." He smiled tearfully, stroking his son's hair with one hand and gently pulling the clothing away from the wound. "Russell, there's a first aid kit in the cabinet to your left, will you grab it for me?"
"Sure, sure. Morgan, it's all clear, do you wanna come in here?" Russell called, throwing Greg the kit and checking outside of the window.
Morgan ran through the hall, Loeila on her hip. "Oh my god, Greg, Reuben-"
Loeila started screaming and it increased Reuben's crying.
"Okay, Reubs, this might sting a tiny bit..." Greg said in a soothing voice, dabbing quickly at the scrape with a hygiene wipe.
"DADDY IT HURTS!" Reuben screamed and Greg flinched away.
"I know, I'm so sorry, but I gotta get that fixed up so it doesn't get worse."
"But daddy, you're making it worse!" Reuben sobbed.
"Hey, Greg, Greg!" Russell snapped his fingers. "You gotta do it, Greg, you know that!"
"Reuben, it will get a lot worse if you don't let me do this, okay?" Greg swallowed and dabbed at it gently again. Reuben whimpered but didn't scream again. "There we go..."
The officers burst into the house as Greg finished wrapping the white bandage around his son's waist.
As soon as his dad was finished Greg flung himself into his father's arms. "Daddy!" he sobbed, hiding his face in his dad's neck. "Daddy I scared!"
"I know Reubs, I got you, I got you. You're going to be okay, I promise." Greg whispered, hugging his son to his chest tightly. "Lola, Morgan, are you okay?"
"I okay daddy." Loeila sniffed. "Reuben got an owie."
"Yeah, he does." Greg whispered. He held out his arm. "Come here."
Morgan set the little girl down and she ran to her father. He pressed a kiss into her hair, hugging her to him tightly.
"Greg, we should get you out of the house." DB said. Greg nodded, standing up with Reuben clinging to him.
Only half an hour later Greg was taken to a colourful hospital room where his tired son was lying in a warm bed.
"Daddy!" he mumbled upon seeing his father.
"You did a good job, sir, your son should be just fine." The doctor assured him.
Loeila on his hip, Greg ran to the bedside. "Reuben... Oh, Reuben, I'm sorry."
"Why Daddy?"
Greg just shook his head and stroked his son's hair.
"Daddy, not your fault." Reuben insisted. "You saved me, Daddy. You potect me!"
Greg laughed quietly. "Yeah, I'll protect you, Reubs."
Loeila rested her head on her dad's shoulder. "Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"Peese don't let dat man into da house again, I don' like him." She said solemnly.
Greg laughed breathlessly again. "I won't. I promise, he's not going to come anywhere near you again."
And if it means I'll have to kill the guy, so be it.
Ooh, little bit of the angry Greg! I'm sorry if that seems slightly OOC, there is a reason for it and it is also a spur of the moment thought so I don't think it's too bad.
Again, sorry for the skip in time and the really long chapter!
Please, please review?
Please?