Chapter 26

"Hates you Krista? I don't think so, not the way she was fighting to get to you," he laughed. "She said she had been looking for you for years. That doesn't sound like someone with hate in their heart. More like love. Just give her a chance, Krista."

"I can't, it hur...please, I need some more tea," she pleaded not wanting him to know how much she wanted to know her sister did care. Afraid to hope that there could be a chance for them to be friends again, to hope for herself and her babies.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to turn that little hellcat loose with your address. She should prove to you how much she cares," he smiled. "I had to order her detained today to keep her from coming with me. I felt we needed to discuss our children and now I know how much else we had to talk about today."

"Your children," she said quietly.

"They're our children, Krista. And if you'd stop being so stubborn and talk to Krystal we could raise them together," he argued.

"If I wasn't dying you wouldn't know anything about them! Why would you think that we would raise them together?"

"Because you're not the type of person that would keep my children from me. You're by far too tender hearted to do that to a father of the children."

"But I would have raised them on my own without ever knowing the father. Don't you have work today? You can't lose your job if you have babies to support!"

"I think I can take a little time off, after all I am an Admiral," he smiled. "If the SECNAV or the President were expected, someone from the office would call me here."

"How do they know you're here?" she demanded.

"One of my Lieutenant's found you on the internet. Wonderful thing the computer. I'm going to have to learn to use mine instead of having someone look up things for me," he explained. "Bud is very good with his computer and searching the Internet and found you for me. I don't know why I didn't think of asking him before today."

She looked away, still so confused, she had promised him the babies what more did he want from her. "If you have the papers drawn up for the babies, I'll sign them, you don't have to worry about that."

"Don't misunderstand me, Krista, I want the babies. However, I think I can speak for Krystal; we both want you to live. Now what do you want?"

"Of course I would want to live! But don't you know that if I weren't dying you would never have known about the babies?" tears slid down her cheeks. "It is killing me to know that I won't see them grow up..."

Wiping the tears from her cheeks he tenderly said, "Krista, you have the hope of life if only you'll take it. Talk to Krystal, give her the chance to tell you how she feels."

She was very confused. Just then a customer came in and AJ was still standing there without his shirt on, the lady looked at him in his uniform pants with no shirt and turned and left the store.

Looking down at himself, AJ quickly got dressed. "I guess I owe you another apology, I just cost you a customer. I seem to be doing an awful lot of apologizing today," he said thoughtfully. "I hope you'll let me make it up to you in some small way. What does that lady usually buy when she comes in? Whatever it is, I'll give you that amount for any inconvenience."

"She'll be back, don't worry, and if not then it's her loss. You don't have to apologize because I was helping you with a pain you had...how does it feel now by the way?"

"It's so much better, just a dull ache actually. I haven't felt this pain free in years. I don't know
what you mixed, but I definitely want some. See, you have to live! You have a healer touch. People need you to help them," he said taking her hand. "To ease their pain, to heal their aches, and ease their troubled minds."

To be continued…