Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Jo sighed, thinking. She turned to Zane, who sat on the floor beside her, waiting for her to speak and giving her time to gather her thoughts. She opened her mouth. "So..."

"What do you want, Donovan?"

Both turned, to see Zane saunter into her office, tablet in hand. She watched him, eyes narrowed, refusing to trust his motives and not in the mood to listen to his sexual harrassment.

"I know about it." She raised one slender eyebrow.

"Know about what?" She asked, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs.

"About the baby." She scoffed gently, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"Ah... baby? What baby?"

Jo glanced towards Zane. He sighed and licked his lips. "I... confronted her. It probably wasn't the smartest move, but... I couldn't let it go. I just... I couldn't." Jo sighed, playing with her hands. She tensed, slowly rocking back and forth, humming a lullaby.

"The baby you and... your husband..." She tensed slightly. And then, just as quickly, she relaxed.

"I... I have no idea what you're talking about." He sighed and set his tablet down, pushing it gently towards her across the desk. She glanced at it, but didn't reach to pick it up. A moment passed, before he said,

"You met Evan Cross when you were children; your dad had been transferred up to Vancouver, and you lived on the military base. You started dating and kept in touch; he... came down to visit you the summer you turned fourteen and asked to marry you. You said yes, and were married in the fall after you'd turned sixteen. You enlisted and were sent over to Afghanistan, and returned after a year away. Injury, honorable discharge." She watched him, her dark eyes searching his face for some sense that he was lying. He glanced at her, before continuing. "You... were awarded the purple heart, and returned to Vancouver. By then, your husband's company was... starting to take shape and you... joined him in helping get it off the ground. You built it up." He sighed.

She waited.

Jo also waited, holding her breath, her soft lullaby cut off in the middle as she watched, waited for Zane to speak.

"You got pregnant in... December, and... Vanessa was born in August of the following year. You were both eighteen." She cocked her head to the side. "By then, Cross Photonics was off the ground and you two were... fairly well off."

"That doesn't even cover it." Zane muttered, glancing at Jo. She turned to him, tongue darting out to lick her lips. "Wealthy beyond compare is more like it." She nodded, but kept quiet.

"When Vanessa turned three, you and Evan were approached by William Cobb, and you were recruited to Eureka, for your military work. You had to make a choice. Your family or your job, and so you... came to Eureka, worked as the deputy, under Cobb and then Carter before being given the position of Head of Security for GD." He shrugged. "That's it."

Silence fell between them for several minutes before she finally sat up and climbed to her feet, going around the desk towards him.

"You're good. You've got all your facts straight, your story right. Except, you're missing a few key details." She replied, dropping the tablet back on the desk in front of him. He raised his eyebrows as she perched on the edge of her desk. "Yes, Evan and I were childhood sweethearts. Yes, he asked me to marry him when we were fourteen. Yes, we got married when we were sixteen. Yes, I went off to war, and yes I was wounded and honorably discharged which resulted in being awarded the purple heart, and yes, my husband and I built up Cross Photonics." She sighed. "And yes, you're right. I have a daughter. A beautiful little blue-eyed, black-haired baby girl. She was born on August third, at three-fifteen in the morning, at home. It was the most agonizing twenty hours of my life, but absolutely worth it when she slid into my husband's arms. I'd never seen a more beautiful sight, than my husband cradling our newborn daughter."

A look of nostalgia settled over her features, and she whispered softly, "Six pounds, nine ounces. The most beautiful baby I've ever seen. And... when I held her... when I finally cradled her in my arms... I felt complete. Like my whole world finally made sense. But the irony is..." She sniffled. "She was a twin. I was carrying twins, but... the other one... I suffered a partial miscarriage and... lost the second baby. Evan and I were devestated- we thought we'd lost them both. We'd only lost one. Nessa survived... and I gave birth in August." She reached down into her blouse, pulling out the chain that had once held her wedding ring- the ring that now curled around her finger. Moments passed as she stared at it, becoming lost in memories of a life before Eureka.

"When I held her... just born... and she looked up at me with those... big blue eyes... like her daddy's... everything became clear. I had a family, a baby... a business to run and a child to raise... and she began to nurse and... I just... a part of me took control... and I watched her... press her tiny mouth against my breast and... I never felt more at home, more in love than at that moment. And I looked up at Evan... and he had tears in his eyes. He was crying... and then he pressed his lips to my temple and whispered, 'Thank you'... over and over again... 'Thank you for carrying her'... 'Thank you for making me a father'..." She choked on her tears, reaching up to brush them away. "And she was beautiful... and so tiny... the tiniest human being I'd ever laid eyes on, and she was ours. Evan's and mine." Fresh tears slid down her cheeks, as she got up and wandered towards the bookcase. Zane watched her, noticing the slight sag in her posture.

"Why did she tell you? If she didn't trust you?" He shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't know why."

"And we raised her, teaching her to walk and... talk and... celebrating birthdays and Christmases and... protecting her and loving her like parents do." She reached up, brushing away tears as she turned back to him. "And then one morning... not long after Nessa turned three... I came downstairs to find men in uniform, including General Mansfield, waiting on my doorstep. They told me that I'd been recruited to Eureka, and that I was to... to pack my bags and catch the next flight to Oregon... forced to leave my family... my husband and my baby behind... everything I knew... for this... crappy town..."

She sniffled. "At first, Evan and I would talk on the phone, Skype, write every day, he'd come down and bring Nessa with him, and we'd spend a few hours at home together, as a family again... and then... as the years passed... now he just comes down... stops by for a couple hours and then... catches the next flight home." She took a deep breath. "We always try to make the most of those few hours. It's like being in prison. I want my husband, I want my family back." Zane watched as she finally broke down, wrapping her arms around herself as the sobs started.

"I never have been able to figure out why she told me."Jo glanced at him, tears in her own eyes.