Chapter 15

Trying to calm her racing heart, Atlantis pushed the curtain closed and walked up toward the bed where her son sat, rubbing his left eye.

"Hey, my darling," she gently greeted him, sitting onto the edge of the bed. The child rushed to her embrace immediately. Hugging her son back, Atlantis kissed his soft brown hair and asked, "Did you have a good sleep?"

Feeling the little boy nodding his head, she placed another kiss on his hair and got up, carrying him in her arms.

"How about we get you dressed and eat some breakfast?" she looked at her child and the little boy grinned. Atlantis placed him back on the bed and took his pajama off, the little boy squirming all the time.

"Oh, I know how to stop that!" chuckled Atlantis and kissed her son's little tummy a few times, causing him to shriek with laughter, "Mummy, that tickles!!"

"Will you stay put so I can dress you?"Atlantis put on her serious face, barely holding back her smile.

"I will, I will," giggled little Matthew. As his Mum kissed his stomach again, the child laughed, "I will, I promise!"

He watched with a huge grin how his Mum put on his trousers and socks, and then squirmed again, giggling.

"Oh, you're so finished now!" laughed Atlantis, scooping her little son up in her arms, turning him upside down and tickling his tummy. Giggles erupted from the little boy and he yelled through laughter, "MATHHEW, HELP ME!!"

"What's going on in here?" Matthew's voice was heard. He leaned on the wall, his face shining with a smile as he watched the scene between mother and son.

"Oh, nothing special, he's just trying to spend the whole day in his pajama, so I have to punish him for that," Atlantis stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I see," Matthew tilted his head to the left side, as if trying to look little Matthew in the eyes because the child was still upside down. "You know, if you disobey your Mum like that, I reckon that you will spend the whole day walking on your head, buddy."

"Noooo!" giggled little Matthew.

"I think that Dr. Mike would agree with me that being upside down for a day is quite healthy, don't you think so?" Atlantis looked at Matthew, still holding her son in the same position.

"Yeah, definitely," Matthew nodded. "It sure helps to get brain cells in order."

"You mean he will become smarter?" Atlantis showed with her head to her son.

"Definitely. I think that you should hold him this way the whole day," replied Matthew, barely holding back his laughter.

"Nooooo, put me down!" little Matthew shrieked with laughter.

Both Atlantis and Matthew laughed and Atlantis turned her little son into the normal position. The child shook his head as if trying to adjust to watching the world from the right perspective and giggling, he hugged his Mum tightly, leaning his face on her shoulder. Atlantis gently kissed his cheek and sat him down on the bed. She took a shirt and said, "Okay, first left hand, young man. That's it. Now the right hand. All right. Now, let's see if I can find that silly head of yours inside that shirt," she pretended that she couldn't find the head and little Matthew yelled through giggles, "Mummy, I'm here!"

"Hang on, let me try to find him," Matthew sat down on the bed as well and after few "unsuccessful" tries, the little boy's head was out from the shirt. The child breathed out in relief and looked at Matthew, "Thanks, Matthew."

"Okay, that's settled; why don't we go and get some breakfast, how's that?," asked Matthew, smiling warmly at the little boy. The child nodded and the three of them went to the main room.

~*~

At first, Heart was speechless as she stared at the children. Bewildered, she looked behind her at the clinic, then back to children, a shadow clouding her face.

"Miss Heart?" Colleen called her, confused. Heart glared at the young woman and without a word, she stormed toward the clinic, right in the moment when Michaela was leaving the building.

"How dare you lie to me! I wanna know where my daughter is right now!" yelled Heart while she was still walking down the street.

Michaela looked up and saw Heart storming toward her. Catching a glimpse of her three kids, Michaela silently gasped as she saw Colleen. Trying to compose herself, she locked the clinic and stepped down from the porch to meet Heart, praying that she could get out of this without revealing Atlantis' whereabouts.

"I didn't lie, Heart, she indeed went for a walk and she told me that Colleen will accompany her."

As Heart turned toward Colleen, the young woman caught the pleading look from her Mum and nodded, trying to pick up the right words. "That's right. We walked for a while and then she said that she wanted to go by herself," Colleen said, trying to hide her discomfort with a big smile.

"Where did she go?" hissed Heart.

"Uh…oh… just for a short walk in the woods behind the church. She should be back any moment," Colleen swallowed hard.

Heart glared icily at the young woman, then back at Dr. Mike. "She better be." And without one more word she stormed toward the church.

Michaela let out a breath of relief and Colleen stepped closer to her Mother, "What was that all about?"

"I'll tell you everything over breakfast. Let's just hope that Atlantis will come back soon."

~*~

"I don't wanna go," little Matthew whispered as he stared at the ground, kicking it lightly with his shoes.

"We have to go, sweetheart," Atlantis softly replied, buttoning her son's jacket.

"But, I wanna stay with Matthew," mumbled the little boy, blinking his tears away.

Atlantis swallowed hard, glancing through the window and catching a glimpse of Matthew hitching the wagon.

"You can still be friends with Matthew," she sadly smiled, trying to cheer up her son. "Come on, darling. I bet that Katie is missing you," she added, raising her left eyebrow and when she saw a small smile lingering on her son's lips, she caressed his soft cheek and said, "Go on, get in the wagon. I will be there soon."

"Okay," and with those words, little Matthew was gone.

Matthew turned around when he heard the steps and smiled, "Hey, buddy, ready to go?"

As he got only a small nod from the little boy, he kneeled down to be his size and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I don't wanna go," little Matthew silently said. "I wanna see Katie and Brian and everybody, but I wanna come back."

"Well, who says you can't?" Matthew asked gently.

"My Mummy," whispered the little boy.

Matthew looked at his house, then back at the little boy. "Tell you what. You wait for me here while I go to talk to your Mummy, all right?"

The smile and a hug he got in reply warmed Matthew's heart, and he lifted the child in the wagon. "I won't be long, you just wait here."

"Okay," little Matthew replied, watching as Matthew walked toward the house, his little hands joined in a silent prayer.

Atlantis let out a breath, wiping her eyes to stop the tears. She turned around to catch a glimpse of this peaceful place once again before she had to leave it.

She swallowed hard and angrily wiped at the few tears that stubbornly rolled down her cheeks. It was then when she heard the steps and mumbled, "Matthew, I told you to wait for me in the wagon, Mummy will be right there…"

Her voice got caught in her throat as she turned around and her eyes locked with Matthew's blue eyes.

"You know, you don't have to go," he said as he slowly walked toward her.

"Matthew," her voice was barely audible, but she shook her head. "No, I…"

But, he interrupted her before she could even finish her sentence.

"I meant what I said this morning, Atlantis," he was so close to her now that she was sure that he could hear her heart thumping. As his palm gently rested on the nape of her neck, she felt her blood run faster through her veins at this simple touch. "Why don't you stay?"he silently repeated his question.

A shivering breath escaped Atlantis' mouth as she uttered two words, "Matthew, I…,"

But he didn't allow her to finish this sentence as his lips gently brushed over her lips, barely touching them, making her feel like she was flying. As his hand travelled lower and encircled her waist, she softly moaned, feeling the shivers going up and down her spine.

"Matthew, I can't… I can't drag you into all th…," she tried once again while his lips were still softly brushing over her lips, but her words got lost as he leaned down and kissed her lovingly, passionately, preventing her from finishing that line. Her heart won over her mind, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the next moment how he pulled her closer to him, still being careful not to hurt her. Her hands caressed his shoulders as his lips travelled down her neck, making her mind go blurred. With every touch of his lips on her neck, she felt lighter than ever, like she was floating above the ground. She couldn't believe that this was happening, but the feeling of him under her fingers proved to her that it wasn't a dream. As his lips slowly kissed their way back toward her face, she looked in his eyes, her smile mixing with her tears. As a response to that, he kissed her again, like never before, as if he was trying to show her every piece of his heart and soul, every atom of his love, and she moaned with passion, her whole body aching for his touch.

As their kiss broke, Atlantis leaned her forehead on Matthew's, breathing heavily, her fingers still lost in his hair.

"I love you, Atlantis."

Her eyes were set on his lips as he spoke those words she longed to hear and still she couldn't believe that she heard correctly. Surprise shone brightly in her eyes as she looked up at his blue eyes, her breathing quickening. "What?" she breathed.

Matthew saw the surprise and confusion in those big brown eyes he adored, but he knew that he'd never been so sure of anything he said in his entire life. His eyes smiled even more than his lips as he silently repeated, "I don't want you to go. Ever. I love you. I thought that I would never dare to love again, but you and your son found a way into my heart. I love you, Atlantis. You smashed the wall around my heart in tiny pieces. You brought me back to life." As his hand gently caressed her cheek, he fought the tears as he said the next words, "You named your son after me."

Atlantis inched closer, placing the top of her fingers on Matthew's lips as she whispered, "From the moment I held my baby in my arms for the first time, I knew what name I would give him. The name of the only man I ever loved in my life…and I still do."

She looked back at Matthew's eyes and mumbled through tears, "I love you so much!"

Her tears rolled down her cheeks full force as she felt Matthew's lips kissing her fingers and then her lips seconds later. She held onto him for dear life, and when he slowly pulled away from her, she opened her eyes only to hear him saying, "You know…I'm honored to have someone as special as you are to like me."

As she heard those words, reminding her of their talk from a few years ago, she blinked fast, and shedding new tears, hugged him tightly. As his palm caressed her hair, she rested her face on his shoulder, wishing that this moment never ended.

It was few minutes later that she looked toward the door to see her son standing in the doorway, his whole face lit up with a happy smile.

"Does that mean we're staying?" asked the little boy.

Both Atlantis and Matthew smiled and pulling away from Matthew, Atlantis wiped her tears away and replied, "Yes, darling, we're staying."

"HOOOORAAAAAYYYY!" The little boy jumped happily and ran toward them. As Atlantis scooped him up in her arms, the child looked at Matthew and smiling widely, he happily exclaimed, "I knew that you would make it!!"

As both Atlantis and Matthew smiled, little Matthew squirmed his way out of his Mum's arms and jumped into Matthew's embrace, hugging him tightly. With one hand, Matthew hugged the little boy back while his other hand pulled Atlantis into their first hug as a family.