Author: Moon Roses or Moony
Rating: R for language
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Feedback: Not necessary but greatly appreciated.
Recap: She lay on her back and let Banjo crawl on top of her and stretch out on her stomach. He cuddled into her neck in the same spot that Leon used to and snuffled against her skin making her laugh. She had to admit buying a dog might not have been the best idea but her precious Banjo was likely going to be the only thing getting her through the next few months.

Chapter Thirty Two

All roads lead to Mexico, or so her grandfather had once told her before he died. Her journey back to her motherland had taken four long months, three provinces, thirty one states, two season changes, and an extra sixteen pounds. When Shorty finally arrived at her ultimate destination she was surprised to find herself there. Never in her life had she expected to return to Mexico, especially not under the circumstances she had. Vacations were one thing, moving there another, but ending up in front of the house she was never meant to find was totally out of her comfort zone. However, as soon as she'd pulled up on the street and looked at the large two story house she knew it was where she'd been heading all along.

Attached to the house was a large porch with two rocking chairs, something she'd seen in the southern states but something she'd never seen when she'd been growing up. As a child she'd never lounged in the front yard but the back yard that opened onto the beach and into her own personal heaven. This house was located on its own beach as well and she could hear the water lapping the sand as she stepped from her small car and reached in and grabbed her purse.

Sliding it onto her shoulder she glanced back into the car, "Well, come on boy." The small puppy had grown into his large skull and he weighed close to eighty pounds at seven months. Banjo bounded out of the car and followed her across the street, sitting on his haunches when she stopped at the bottom of the stair case leading to the deck.

Shorty was contemplating just what to say when the front door swung open and a pair of sky blue eyes twinkled at her. "Miss Shorty, how was the drive?" Spence asked as he leaned against the door jam.

"Longer than I remembered," she joked.

"Come in," Spence said, and lead the way into the house with Banjo hot on her heels.

The inside of the house wasn't much cooler than the air outside. Soon enough her body would adjust to the temperature and it wouldn't bother her as much as it was, or so she hoped. "Where's the boys?"

"Half the boys bounced when we crossed the border. Ben and Levi are three houses down, I'll invite them for dinner," Spence answered, his eyes roving over her visibly larger belly. He didn't pry but instead looked down at the dog seated beside her, his body vibrating in thrill at the possibility of meeting a new person. "And who's this?"

Shorty grinned down at the dog, "This would be Banjo," she said. "Go ahead," she added, and Banjo bounded over to Spence to butt his head against the man's legs.

Banjo claimed his stake of the tall man and returned to Shorty's side to sit against her leg. "Pretty attached to you, isn't he?" Spence asked, as he turned and made his way through the kitchen and out the back door.

The ocean sparkled like a thousand blue sapphires with a sprinkling of aquamarine and diamond added. Instantly Shorty felt content, her heart thrumming peacefully for the first time in four and a half months. She wanted to strip and run to the ocean she'd missed so desperately, swim away her troubled thoughts.

"Hey," Spence said, as he snapped his fingers in her front of her eyes. "He good with kids?"

"I don't know; he's never been around them. I'm not worried though," she said, as she rubbed the swell of her belly.

Shorty smiled up at the man she'd never thought she'd see again and glanced around him at the small guesthouse. She reckoned it was about fifty meters away from the deck and wondered what it looked like inside. The deck she stood on stretched towards the beach with two steps leading to the sand. On a reclining chair sat Spence's beautiful girlfriend Jamie, who was rocking a bassinet gently.

"Well, let's go find out then," he answered, and strolled to his girlfriend and child's side. "Jamie, you remember Miss Shorty?"

"Yeah I do. Hi Shorty, you look a little different than I remember you," she observed truthfully.

Pointing at her belly Shorty laughed, "I've been eating a lot of Twinkies, it's a coping mechanism." She caressed the bulge in her shirt protectively and nodded at the swaying crib, "What did you have?"

"We had a girl, Kennedy Delaire. Do you know what you're having?"

The few appointments she'd had rolled across her memory and she shook her head. She wanted to be surprised but in her heart she felt it was a boy. Not that she had a previous pregnancy to compare it too but she just knew she was going to have a little Leon running around causing trouble. "Not yet," she answered though. If she was ever going to tell anyone the sex before being born it was going to be Hector. Not that she planned on telling him for a while still, in fact, she hadn't spoken to him since the bed and breakfast in Indiana. Four months had been much longer than two weeks but somehow she'd managed to keep her family at bay.

Taking a seat next to the bassinet Shorty gazed down into its depths and crinkled her nose at the sleeping child. Even though she'd have one of her own within months she still felt uncomfortable around babies. "They don't bite," Spence said, as he picked the small girl up and handed the child to her. "Well they do, so don't stick your fingers in her mouth," he added thoughtfully.

She cradled Kennedy against her breast and her own belly took some of the child's weight. "How old is she?" Shorty asked as Banjo nosed his way over the girl's cheeks and towards her rear end where he snuffled loudly.

"She's twelve months old," Jamie said as the child stirred in Shorty's arms.

Big hazel eyes blinked up at her and "Hi," gurgled past her full pink lips.

Shorty's eyes bulged and she held the child away from her body, her legs dangling in the air. "Hi," Shorty answered but stopped there. She had no idea what else to say so she handed the girl back to her mother and returned to her seat with Banjo at her feet.

The child pulled herself up to stand on Jamie's thighs and pointed at the animal, "Dog?"

"You're so smart, baby," Spence answered before standing, "Where's your stuff?"

"It's in the car," Shorty answered, as she stared back at Kennedy who was eyeing her curiously. "Oh, and it's the dumpy old white Corolla."

Kennedy clambered off Jamie's lap and waddled across the small gap to Shorty. Looking up at her in childish innocence she cocked her head to the side like she'd seen Banjo do so many times. They regarded each other silently until two pudgy arms lifted into the air, "Up."

"Uh, kid, I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Up," Kennedy said again with her arms still raised above her head. "Up."

Shorty looked to Jamie for help but the other woman just gazed at her. "Look, kid, I'll probably drop you."

"Up."

"Pick her up," Spence said, as he hauled her belongings to the deck. She'd left L.A. with only one bag but had acquired another along her travels, full of clothes for herself and her future ward. "What the hell are you driving?"

"UP!" Kennedy demanded loudly.

"I left my girl tucked safely away at home. Hector would have found me right away," Shorty answered softly, aware that Spence would want to know the entire story.

"Speaking of which," he began before being cut off by his daughter.

"UP!"

She reached forward and plucked the girl off the ground and sat her against her belly. Kennedy quieted instantly and giggling shrilly as Banjo stuck his nose against her diaper clad crotch and sneezed.

"Spence, don't harass her. Let her get settled," Jamie said, as she stood and took a duffle bag. "You can stay in the guest house as long as you need. It's small, but it has two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and two bedrooms. You'll have to do laundry up at the main house though," she added, as she motioned for them to follow her.

The guest house was larger than a normal apartment with a small staircase leading to the master bedroom in the loft. Shorty shifted Kennedy higher up on her hip and looked around gratefully, "This is gorgeous," she said, as she tried to drink in the small house.

"It's not much, but for you, a dog, and a baby it's more than enough," Jamie answered, pushing into the small room directly beneath her own and under the staircase. "You can decorate it however you want for the little one. There's a really good local store I'll take you for furnishings."

"It's perfect," Shorty breathed.

"'fect," Kennedy nodded, kicking her tiny feet at the tongue tickling her soles.

"We'll let you unpack," Spence said, and ushered Jamie out of the guest house and pulled his daughter from her hip.

When he shut the door behind him Shorty collapsed on the oversized sofa and tucked her feet under a pillow. She knew Spence would take her in when she showed up on his doorstep. He'd given her his address that fateful day so many months ago in case she was ever in need. Of course, neither of them ever expected she'd take him up on his offer. And for him and Jamie to give up their guest house for an undetermined amount of time was unbelievably generous.

"Well, Banjo, looks like we're home," Shorty whispered, as she scratched her pets muzzle.

Shorty spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking her meagre belongings and writing a list of the things she would need to buy to make the house her home. She still had quite a bit of money left but eventually she would need to find a job, not that it would be easy working after the baby was born. She could clear out her bank account but that would leave a paper trail right to her and she couldn't risk Jesse's savvy technological knowledge. He'd probably designed a program to track her credit cards and savings account days after she left.

Another more pressing matter was whether or not she should call Hector and tell him where she was. If he knew she'd found a place to start a new life he'd fly down and haul her back to California whether she wanted to or not. After careful consideration Shorty decided not to call her brother until she was about to give birth. The guilt of not informing Hector of his coming nephew ate at her day and night but she was adamant about giving Leon the best possible life.

Just thinking of Leon made her throat close uncomfortably and her eyes sting with unshed tears. She had spilled the last of her tears for that life only a month before in a lonely town in Texas. Her crying had left her with a blinding headache and the epiphany that crying wasn't going to change anything and that she needed to be strong for her growing child. But even with the resolve she still found her thoughts returning to his beautiful face, his full lips, his deeply sexy voice and his guttural laugh. She had spent so much time living and breathing Leon she found it difficult to push him from her thoughts.

And the spare moments she wasn't thinking about Leon she was wishing with all her heart that Vince would blow in on an angry sandstorm. She wondered what he was doing and if he was taking care of himself. She hoped he'd called off the search for her but she knew he'd always look for her face in a crowd. She also knew that if he thought hard enough, if any of them thought hard enough, they'd figure out where she was.

Of course she would ultimately end up in Mexico. She loved her homeland and was fiercely proud of her heritage and country. They had only to ask themselves the one place she was always talking or thinking about. The answer would lead them straight to her. However, even she'd never guessed where she was going until she pulled up to Spence's house. One day they'd figure it out and when that day came she'd have a lot of explaining to do.

After she finished putting away her clothes she made the bed up and found a place for Banjo's dishes next to the patio doors. The sliding doors led from the kitchen directly onto a small deck with a black metal bistro table and two chairs. Beyond the deck was the warm sand and graceful waters of her childhood.

She walked barefoot towards the ocean with Banjo by her side and sat facing the open space. It wasn't long before Spence sat beside her and she realized how starved for human companionship she'd been. Just having someone sitting next to her helped ease the sense of loss she harboured.

"Ben and Levi will be here in a bit. They just had to shower and pick up some salad," he said, as he made himself comfortable.

"It's a boy. I mean, I haven't been told. But I know it's a boy," she answered.

"Do they know?"

"When I found out I thought 'well there goes my life'. And then Letty finds out she's knocked up too and for a minute I thought 'hey, maybe this will be ok'. And you know what I find out?" Shorty asked softly. "Leon doesn't want kids. Marriage, kids, it's not for him. And you know, I kind of hate him but I also love him so damn much, so I leave. I didn't tell anyone, not even Hector. I just packed up my shit and bounced."

"Don't you think you should tell them?"

"He doesn't want this life, Spence. I'm not going to be the reason he's unhappy."

"You're too strong willed for your own good, Miss Shorty," Spence answered, and then fell into comfortable silence.

As much as her child was going to need a constant male figure head in his life, she couldn't bring that down on Leon. He didn't hide the fact that commitment and children weren't on his agenda. He was truthful about his life plans and she couldn't be the one to ruin that for him. She could modify her goals and commitments but she knew he'd never be able to handle it. He'd become a shell of the man he was, all the light and carefree playfulness would just wilt away.

Shorty sat with Spence under the setting sun until she heard cat calls and hollers from the house behind her. Banjo's ears lifted slightly off his head and he stood, his body pressed against her side and a deep growl spilling from his throat. She turned to look behind her and found both Ben and Levi running across the sand at full speed, bright smiles lighting up their faces.

Pushing herself to her feet she turned to face the men and placed a hand on Banjo's head to steady him. The growling grew louder as the two men reached her and they stopped just in front of her, each glancing down uncomfortably at the oversized dog.

"Call off the beast, and give me a kiss!" Ben cried, eyeing Banjo's teeth.

"Enough, Banjo," Shorty said, smiling when Banjo's jowls slid back into place over his teeth and the growling turned to a soft whine. "Don't mind him, he's just being a man. Come give me some loving."

Ben swept her up into a hug and placed a wet kiss on her check before handing her off to Levi and stooping to rub her dog's ears.

"Geez Shorty, you got fat," Levi remarked as he tried to wrap his arms around her waist.

She laughed along with the three men and let Levi feel along her belly curiously. Having someone else's hands crawling over her stomach felt right, for lack of a better term. She'd wanted for so long to be able to share her creation with Leon that she would take any form of appreciation she could get. These men could never compare to Leon or Vince but she would accept it without complaint.

"A little cushion for the pushin' never hurt anyone," she answered, as Ben laid his arm across her shoulders and led her back to the beach house to get re-acquainted.

Spence and Levi followed behind with Banjo pulling up the rear, sniffing through the warm sand for any morsels of food. The kitchen table was set and the delicious smell of dinner wafted around them as they walked in and sat down. A feeling of apprehension descended over Shorty as she looked around at the smiling faces before her. They were happy, dare she assume, even overjoyed to see her, and yet she couldn't help but wish for them to be her loved ones back home. In the months since she'd left she hadn't once sat down to a dinner with other people, and she knew it was going to be a little overwhelming.