We sit there, dumbfounded. I'm aware of José across from me; I'm aware of Ana's shallow breathing next to me. But mostly I'm aware of the image of my birth mother staring back at me from the laptop screen. It's the picture that I still have pinned to the bulletin board of my bedroom back at my parents' place. That would be frightening enough but this is the face that has haunted my nights for over two months now.
José is the first one to break the silence, "I guess this picture is familiar to you two?"
I don't answer him but I sense Ana nodding slowly. "Yes, José," she murmurs, "It's Christian's birth mother."
Her voice snaps me out of my paralysis. "Check some of the other photos," I bark, "I want to see what's embedded in them." I have no doubt that we'll see similar pictures.
He pulls the laptop back and starts furiously tapping on the keyboard. In about a minute he turns it around again and shows us what he found. It looks like he picked random pictures from both drives but the embedded pictures are all the same: the crack whore in the photo from my bedroom. I don't fucking believe it.
Before I can say anything more, Ana tells José to keep all this quiet. He assures her he will but I'm still thinking about making him sign a confidentiality agreement. I quickly drop the idea since most likely it would only make Ana angry. And much as I dislike José, the fact that he's still in love with my wife means that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her.
I thank him for his time and for meeting us on such short notice, effectively dismissing him. He takes the hint and starts packing up his equipment. When he's done, Ana picks up the baby and we walk him to the main door where I shake his hand and then cringe while he and Ana hug briefly, Teddy between them.
After he leaves she and I stand there looking at each other. I'm so angry I feel like it must be radiating off of me in waves.
"What are you thinking, Christian?"
How do I answer that? A million thoughts are running through my brain right now but I tell her the two issues that are foremost.
"Two people are going to be feeling the full brunt of my wrath pretty soon," I respond in a low voice with as much control as I can muster, "The first is the person behind all this and the second is Barney."
Surprise and puzzlement appear on her face. "Why are you angry at Barney?"
"Why the fuck didn't he find the embedded pictures?" I counter, "He's my I.T. guy; he should have known about this and given me a warning."
"Christian," she responds and now she sounds like she's trying to control herself, "You took the drive home with you right away. Have you given it back to him?"
Damn! She's got a point there and it's annoying as fuck. Dismayed, I shake my head.
"So how would he have had time to examine the pictures? Be reasonable, babe."
Imagine that, my wife telling me to be reasonable. And why have I been holding on to the first usb drive? I should have given it back to Barney right away. This doesn't make any sense. I take out my phone, call Taylor, and tell him to meet me in my office. Ana tells me she'll join us there after she puts Teddy to bed.
When I get back to the office, Taylor's already there. We'd left the laptop open and he's studying the pictures.
"What's this about, sir?" he asks as soon as I walk in the room.
"It turns out there were embedded images in those digital photographs," I inform him.
"Seriously? I'd heard about that technology but I've never seen it."
"Well, you're seeing it now. I want you to take that laptop and the two usb drives over to Barney and have him scour those pictures for any and all embedded images. I'll expect a complete report when I get to the office tomorrow morning."
"Yes, sir," he responds as he begins packing up the machine.
"And call Sawyer. I want him here while you're gone."
"Yes, sir. I won't leave until he arrives." I nod and walk out of the office.
I don't see my wife anywhere so I go upstairs to Teddy's room; I assume she's still tucking him in. Sure enough, when I get there, she's sitting in the rocker with Teddy in her arms. She's not aware of my approach so I stand in the doorway, watching her. God, I love this woman! She's smart, beautiful, kind, and most of all, by some miracle she loves me. Not only that, she's given me the most wonderful gift I could ever receive: my son. The thought of any harm coming to either of them fills me with an indescribable rage. Even though nothing has happened to either of them, when I find the person responsible for these threats it's going to take every ounce of restraint that's in me to not kill him on the spot.
Ana finally notices me watching her and gives me the sweetest of smiles. She stands up carefully, trying not to wake our sleeping baby. I join her as she places him gently in his crib. Standing behind her, I envelop her in my arms and kiss the top of her head as we watch our son in his slumber.
All the fear and drama of the day fades away as I feel her warm, luscious body against mine. Pretty soon my hands start slowly roaming over her, seeking out the sweet spots. She feels a little tense and I can understand that. I start dropping soft little kisses on the nape of her neck.
At first she seems to be responding but then she ducks away and scolds me, "Christian! Not in front of Teddy!"
"What?!" I respond, "First of all, he's asleep. Secondly, don't you think our children should grow up seeing their parents being affectionate?"
"Affection is one thing, Christian, foreplay is another."
"Well, up to a certain point, it's a fine line as far as I'm concerned. But we'd probably be more comfortable in our room so what do you say we move the action there?"
"Sounds good to me," she replies, taking my hand.
Once we're there we take our time, slowly undressing each other, then exploring. There's no better balm for my tortured soul than making love to my wife. No matter how long it takes, though, once we've had our release it never seems long enough. We fall asleep in each other's arms, both of us thoroughly sated.
When I wake up the next morning my hand feels something wet on the bed. Ana's still sleeping so I gently move and with a sense of foreboding look at the area I touched. Sure enough, just as I suspected there's blood on the bed. Shit! shit, Shit, SHIT!
There's nothing I can do right now except hold her and comfort her when she wakes up. She's snoring sweetly so I wrap my arms around her and slowly, very slowly move her off the bloody spot. I let out a small sigh of relief when I'm done and I verify that she hasn't awakened.
Even though I'm not at all sleepy, I lie quietly next to her. When she wakes up I want to be the very first thing she sees. I know how upset she's going to be so I spend this time thinking of things to say that might soothe her. Thinking back over the dates, if I'm not mistaken her period's started early this month. I don't know if that means anything but we will definitely be visiting Dr. Greene today.
In spite of myself, I doze lightly, barely enough so that when Ana stirs I'm immediately aware. She turns around and opens her eyes, looking right into mine.
"Good morning, handsome husband!" she smiles at me.
"Good morning, beautiful wife!" I try to keep my voice lighthearted but she knows me too well.
"Christian, what's wrong?" Her expression abruptly changes to one of concern. And in spite of all the mental preparation I did, the words just come blurting out.
"Ana, I'm so sorry. It didn't happen." I feel like crying but I can't do that; I have to be strong for her. She immediately grasps my meaning.
"Oh, no!" She turns around and sees the blood on the sheets. But instead of the emotional outburst I expected I feel her shoulders sag, almost in resignation. And again I'm wrong because when she turns back to face me, there's a steely resolve in her eyes.
"Dr. Greene. Today." That's all she says and I mentally punch the air with my fist. Yes! She's not going to let this defeat us.
"You got it, babe. I'll call her as soon as I get to the office."
"No, Christian, I'll call her. I'll let you know what time our appointment is." With that, she gives me a peck on the forehead and bounces out of bed, heading off to the bathroom.
I get up and put on my sweats, then go for my morning run, mulling over this development while I go through my paces. Ana always amazes me with her strength. It looks like she'll be spearheading Project Baby, which is just fine with me. I'm not that familiar with infertility treatments but I think jacking off into a cup is in my immediate future. I'm pretty sure our problem is just stress and tension but it's best to rule out any other possibilities.
When I get back, Ana's in the kitchen, feeding the baby. She's dressed for work and it looks like she's had her breakfast already. Teddy's being remarkably cooperative this morning and soon she clears his tray and hands him some toys to play with.
While I eat my breakfast Ana and I talk about the things on our minds these days: the doctor appointment, Project Eden (construction is scheduled to start on Monday), the perpetrator behind the pictures, our security detail. I'm eager to start getting reports on Larry Sordo from Taylor.
Finally, she gets up and gives me a kiss, then walks over to Ryan, who's been waiting in the family room for several minutes. Together they head out to the car where I'm sure Sawyer's sitting in the driver's seat already.
After lunch we're sitting in Dr. Greene's office. We've told her all about how we've been trying since July to have another baby but she doesn't seem overly concerned. Nevertheless, she'll have us do some preliminary testing to make sure everything's in working order. Since men are easier to test, for starters she'll have me see a urologist to get my sperm tested.
One of the odd things she asks is what type of underwear I use. I tell her I wear briefs and she tells me to switch to boxers. Since briefs keep my testicles close to my body, the increased temperature could mean decreased sperm. I've never worn boxers but if it increases our chances of conceiving I'll give it a shot. Ana's trying hard not to smirk and I'm thinking we'll have words about this later but then I let it go since she'll probably have to go through much more intrusive stuff; women always do.
We took my car to the doctor so I drop her off at Grey Publishing before continuing on to my office. When I get there, I find a report on my desk; it's the current whereabouts of Larry Sordo. From what I can see, he doesn't seem to be particularly dangerous. In the brief time they've been surveilling him he's done mostly mundane things like going to the grocery store and getting gas for his car.
Barney told me this morning that every one of the pictures on both usb drives had the same embedded image. That's very strange and to me, somewhat unimaginative. I'm wondering what point the perpetrator is trying to make. I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough.
But all in all, in spite of the huge cloud hanging over all of us, things are progressing fairly well. I have faith in my staff to keep us safe and to find out who's behind the threats to me. It's only Thursday but I'm already looking forward to a relaxing weekend with my family. Whoever you are out there, if you think you're going to fuck with me or my family you've got another think coming. Bring it, asshole.