CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"I can't help it, the look on your face when she asked to spell pussy was priceless." Mark watched as her face went even redder, a low rumble of laughter coming from his chest. "I know you don't remember writing those, but I'll let you read through them. You're not allowed to destroy them since you wrote them to me for a year straight. Before we made things official." When her eyes widened, he nodded. "Our love was true and deep, River, one that will never be forgotten."

"By you anyway." River said seriously, trying not to wince at the hurt expression on his face. "I'm sorry, Mark but I'm not remembering anything." River sighed, dropping down onto the bed and coughed as dust rose up to greet her. "Damn…" She stood right back up. "I'm cleaning your house."

***

Or she would have, if she trusted anything in the damn house. River and Hope had searched the cupboards for edibles, both recoiling at the sight of cobwebs and empty shelves. They didn't dare open the refrigerator. There was no toilet paper in the house, the shampoos and soaps looked like they had mutated.

All in all, when Steve had said Mark was the biggest slob he knew, he hadn't been lying. At all.

So the two disgusted girls had informed him he was taking them to the store. Hope for food and stuff to get a bath, River simply because she didn't trust anything in that house. And because they were both annoyed, they did their best to drain his bank account.

Hope wasn't used to living in a house like this. It wasn't like it was clustered and littered. No, it was just that it hadn't been lived in in so long that things were literally going to hell. She could remember her house –well, now it was just Shawn's- and how her mom had kept that spotless.

River was just annoyed all the way around. She had been in love with a pig.

"Can you MAKE the cookies instead of buying them?" Hope begged, staring at her mom. "Make daddy's favorite sugar cookies, with that coconut topping!"

"Chill out. Mark, can you go grab some Midol honey!" She called down the aisle, smiling sweetly when several people looked at him.

"It's in the blue box!" Hope added.

Mark was going to kill them both, rolled his eyes and wondered what the hell Midol was. He was a man, he didn't buy women products! He finally found a Wal*Mart associate and stopped her. "Excuse me, darlin-"

"Get away from me! RAPE!"

He blinked, watching the woman run from him, her arms flailing in the eyes and sincerely hoped she got fired.

River had dissolved into a fit of giggles, watching as he tried again and again, rolling her eyes. "C'mon Hope, let's go finished getting cleaning stuff."

"I'm gonna go help dad." Hope giggled, chasing after him and caught his hand. "I know what to get daddy." She said sweetly.

Snorting at the thought of Mark and Hope buying feminine products, River glanced down at her list before going down to chemical aisle.

***

All Mark could do was stare at the wall of never ending feminine products, his green eyes wide. When Hope pointed to a section filled with tiny boxes advertising miracle pills that apparently made women less bitchy, he groaned. "Which one?"

"Blue box, on the bottom."

"Thanks." He stooped down and snatched the box up, on his way up, he grabbed Hope and put her on his shoulders, passing the box to her. "Why don't you hold onto them?"

"Sure." She held the box right on top of his head."

"Hope, that's not funny little darlin'."

"Wait, let's get her some pads and tampons too, just in case." Hope said with a giggle, ignoring him when he cursed. She tugged his hair, pointing. "The ones with the wings daddy! Mommy likes the long ones, and lemme see… the shiny tampons." She was going to fall off his shoulders she was laughing so hard. "Oh… that woman is pregnant, did you know mommy is gonna- Wait a minute, can mom still give me my baby brother if she's not with my other dad still? Cause they were trying for one. What's that mean? Trying… Is it like playing a game and hoping you get lucky?"

Mark was now feeling both sick and humiliated. "Maybe when all is said and done, you'll still get your baby brother, though it won't be by Shawn. You know he's not your dad right, little darlin'?" He sighed when she didn't say anything. "I'm the one who made you with your momma. He raised you but I'm you dad." He groaned when he got smacked in the face with a bag of pads.

"What if mommy is pregnant? I want a boy, cause there's only room for ONE girl and that's me. And Shawn is my other daddy. Mom said I have two, that's kinda cool. I like you both but you're more fun, only don't tell him cause it might hurt his feelings and you forgot tampons dad so turn around."

"Right." Mark grunted, wanting to shoot himself, turning around to grab whatever the hell it was Hope was badgering him about. He was going to have a long talk with River tonight about Hope, wanting it made clear that HE was her father, not Shawn. He might not have been there for the past ten years but he didn't know about her. They were going to get things set straight because the more Hope talked about Shawn, the more his blood boiled.

Mark was officially in hell. When they had finished shopping and gotten back to his ranch, River and Hope had taken care of everything then started on supper. Hope kept asking questions that eventually led to River telling her funny stories from when Hope was a baby.

"Did I really?" Hope giggled, passing her mom a bag of carrots, standing beside her at the counter.

"Honest to goodness. The first step you took was right on Shawn's lap. He went like this." River crossed her eyes, making a pained face.

"I was so awesome!"

Mark was sitting at the table, peeling potatoes and trying not to throw the damn knife. Hearing River and Hope giggling over old stories, like they were still part of Shawn's messed up little family pissed him off. He wound up slicing his finger. "DAMN!"

River whirled around with a frown, gently nudging Hope away so the girl didn't freak out. Blood wasn't high on Hope's list of favorite things. "Hope, go clean your face for dinner." She ordered, walking down to kneel before Mark, examining the cut. "You are brilliant." She said, holding the towel she had been using to his fingers to stem the bleeding. "How'd you manage this?"

"Wasn't paying attention." He said gruffly, pulling his hand from hers. "I got it." Pushing away from the table, he stared down at her for a moment then walked out of the kitchen. He didn't want her treating him, he didn't want her touching him. It made him sick the way she talked about Shawn, like he hadn't drugged her and ripped her from her family; away from him; away from what was supposed to be their future. Frustrated beyond belief, Mark headed down to the basement, needing to vent his anger out.

"You can get started." River said when Hope had come back down, the table set. She glanced at the basement door hesitantly before sighing. "You stay up here." She ordered, making her way slowly down the stairs. River hesitated when she seen Mark, blue eyes taking in his bare upper body for a moment, chewing her lip. She held her hand, a groan escaping her as she sank down onto the bottom step. "Remember that time we went to that UFC fight and you were so pissed by the outcome you threw a beer at the winner?"

Mark stopped abruptly, already covered in a fine sheen of sweat. "Yeah. The bastard cheated." He growled, not looking at her. "What do you want, Riv?"

She was quiet for a minute, trying to push the memory further but only got a blank wall. Giving it up, she stood. "I want to know why you're mad at me." She blinked when he rounded on her. "About Shawn? Mark, he was a part of mine and Hope's life for a decade. You can't expect me to- to not mention him or talk to her about him."

"You're acting like he didn't do anything to you. Like he didn't tear you from your life, from your family, from ME. That he didn't keep MY daughter from me for the past ten years, forcing me to miss every important thing in her life. You're acting like it's no big deal River, when it is. It IS a big deal. It kills me to hear Hope say she has two dads when she doesn't. Shawn is not her father, I am. I'm the reason she's here, it wasn't Shawn that made that beautiful girl with you, it was ME."

"What do you want me to do Mark? I lived with him all that time and I loved him! A part of me still does. He did something I don't even remember but I do remember almost eleven years of him loving me and-" She backed up when his eyes turned a very ugly shade of green.

"HE TOOK YOU FROM EVERYTHING YOU KNEW AND LOVED!" Mark roared, his voice bouncing off the walls and coming back at them, making her cringe. Snarling, he whirled around and drove his fist through a sheet of plaster. He heard River fleeing up the steps and knew he had scared the hell out of her but he didn't care. The woman had to open her damn eyes and see things for what they were.

River had flown outside after hearing Hope upstairs in the bathtub, retreating out back to sink down in the long grass, drawing her knees to her chest. She couldn't help it. She loved Shawn, God help her, she did. She also hated him for what he had done to her, hated him for building her life on lies.

***

"I want her to stay away from Callaway." He ordered, gripping her arms tightly. "Nobody is going to take you away from me, River. No force of nature and no act of the good Lord above. Do you understand me?"

Hope frowned, waking up to hear her mom beginning to softly cry. Sitting up, she stared down at her mom. "Mommy?" She whispered hesitantly.

"You are mine." He growled, the possessiveness overtaking his rational thought. "You and Hope belong to me." He ripped her panties off, knowing he was frightening her but he couldn't stop himself.

"Mom, wake up." Hope whispered, hesitantly shaking her mom, beginning to panic when the crying got worse. "MOM!"

River shot upright screaming for Mark.

Mark flew into the room wearing nothing but a panicked expression and his birthday suit. He ignored Hope, instantly going to the sobbing River, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms. He rocked her back and forth, whispering soothing words against her head, trying to calm her. She must have had a bad dream because all she could do was tremble, cry and whisper his name over and over. "Darlin', I'm here. I'm here Rivvie."

"Uh dad, you're kinda, sorta…. BUCK NEKKED!" Hope shrieked, her hands over her eyes. "Take mom with ya but get out of my room. No naked people allowed in here." She ordered, pulling the covers over her head so she wasn't seeing this. "She okay?" She asked from under the comforter.

River couldn't even form a coherent word at the moment.

"She's fine, sweetheart. Go back to sleep, I got her." He assured his daughter, knowing from now on, he'd have to start sleeping in boxers at least. Mark carried River to his own bedroom, shutting the door behind him and laid her down on the bed. He then realized she wasn't letting him go and sat down with her, finally laying out on the mattress, pulling her alongside of him. "It's alright, I'm here baby, I got you." He whispered, holding her trembling frame close.

River just lie there, feeling him caressing her back and bit by bit the crying subsided. After taking a deep breath, she whispered: "He kept saying I was his. That nothing on earth or above would take me from him." That dream, the memory of the night was really hitting her as she realized just what Shawn had meant. "Mark, he's not going to let me or Hope go, not ever."

"He will when he's eating and drinking through a straw for the rest of his life." Mark said evenly, lifting her chin to kiss her soft lips. "I'm not going anywhere, Rivvie. I love you and Hope, I'd die for you both."

"I know, Mark." She whispered, unable to say the words she knew he wanted to her. She didn't love him in that way, not yet but was sure with time she could. Time and her memories. River shifted, frowning when she realized something. "Did you really flash our daughter your dick?" She demanded, trying not to giggle when he groaned.

"God, don't remind me. I sleep in the nude." He chuckled, seeing her head lower and had a feeling she was blushing. "What is it, darlin'? Remembering something?" He stared at her intently, wishing for light to see what was going on in those beautiful, blue orbs. When he felt her body quivering, he knew she was laughing at him. "Keep laughing and I'll give you something to laugh about." He threatened, poking her ribs, smirking when she jumped.

"Oh wait, I am remembering something." River sat up in the bed, frowning. "Oh yes, that's right. I remember you have a teeny, tiny pecker." She burst out laughing again when he snorted. "I'm guessing that wasn't the memory you were hoping for?"

"You're a wench. Now go to bed before I have to hurt you."

***

River woke up with a smile, snuggling into the warm body next to her and inhaled deeply. She groaned as a flood of memories began lining up to be remembered, triggered by Mark's scent. She rolled away from him to hold her head. Process, next. Process, next. She knew that wasn't all of them but enough. After a minute, she looked down at herself, arching an eyebrow and rolled back over to deck him. "Mark William Callaway, where the hell is my nightgown? If I had a penny for every time you stripped me in my sleep, I'd be rich as hell."

"Aw hellfire woman." Mark growled, not pleased with being woken up from his delicious dream. Though when he seen her, that was even better. Holding his nose, he sat up, blinking as what she said registered. "You remembered that?" He demanded, seeing the smile on her face and pulled her into his arms. "Tell me. Tell me everything you remember."

"Nightgown first."

Grunting, he looked over the side of the bed, reaching back to swipe up the black chemise, handing it to her. "Old habits die hard, darlin'."

River laid the nightgown aside, smirking at him. "I ought to do what I promised eleven years ago and shave you bald." She snickered at the look on his face, beginning to recount her memories, not entirely sure she was placing them in the order the event happened but how she remembered them. She glossed over a few that made her cheeks flush and her body ache.

She was certain he was going to kiss her when the bedroom door flew open and Hope barged in. "You need to knock." She snapped, reaching for the sheet and wrapped it around them both.

"Oh, sorry." Hope rapped on the door and continued it, jumping onto the bed and bounced down in between them, completely oblivious to Mark's groan of pain. "I'm hungry and I want pancakes, please?"

River was having another giggling fit.

***

"Why were you naked?" Hope demanded after River had come down dressed in a denim skirt and tank top, watching her mom whipping up the pancake batter. "Working on my baby?"

"Do you even know how babies are made?"

"You lay an egg right? And Mark has a tadpole and mom why are you- MOM, STOP LAUGHING AT ME!"

"Babies are made when-" River sighed, not entirely sure how to explain it. She had had every intention of letting Shawn do the honors for that one when it came up. Now she was stuck with it and something told her Mark would just laugh his ass off at her if she even mentioned it to him. "Babies are made by a man and woman having sex." She decided with the blunt approach. "You know what sex is?"

"Yes, I've seen dogs doing- ewww. That is so gross mom."

"Now you know."

Mark walked into the kitchen around this time, frowning when he realized just what he had walked in on and grunted, going to pour himself a glass of orange juice. "You're to young to be knowing what sex is, little darlin'."

"Gramma said dogs have sex when I asked what they were-" Hope couldn't finish, shaking her head. "You really did that with Shawn AND Mark?"

River had been setting out pancakes when she dropped the platter, catching it before it could spill. "HOPE!"

Hope frowned. "What?"

"No more talk about sex!"

"But-"

"No! You know enough for now. We can finish this conversation when you're older." River said firmly.

Hope shut up, knowing from the twitch in her mom's jaw that she was going to get a spanking if she didn't keep her mouth closed.