Chapter 4

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"Christine, it's good to see you alive," Andrea said, closing the gap and giving Christine a hug, appearing completely oblivious to Christine's red face and wet eyes.

Christine managed a watery smile. "You as well. How are Bill and Lily?"

Andrea's smile faltered. "They didn't make it."

"I'm so sorry," Christine sputtered, her face stricken. "Bill told me that they were going to his parents somewhere in the Midwest. There were fewer cases there, he said. That's why he didn't join us at Deer Park."

Mike figured that there was no need to tell Christine that Bill and Lily never made it out of Norfolk. She would learn soon enough just how lucky she and the girls had been to get on that cruise ship — assuming she didn't already know.

"I came to get the two of you because we're closing in on Navassa," Andrea said, shutting the door on any further discussion about Bill and Lily. "We may have to take the helicopter. You weren't kidding about the cruise ship blocking the harbor. What happened?"

Mike followed his ex-wife and former XO towards the deck, his heart racing as he realized that he was only minutes away from seeing his daughters — his older daughters, he corrected — for the first time in three years. He wondered if he would even recognize them. Hannah had been twelve when he left, just on the edge of the teen years. He had no idea what she might look like now. And Whitney was legally an adult, the same age as Ray Diaz. It abruptly occurred to Mike that his oldest child was no longer fifteen, the way she was in his head. In fact, she was no longer a child at all.

They stepped on deck, Mike's eyes immediately going to the tower of the half-sunken cruise ship in front of them as Christine continued her explanation. "Four cruise ships left Norfolk, but one was infected within the first week. We were all screened and yet someone slipped by. They turned back. Then the second ship ran out of fuel, so everyone was transferred onto the other two vessels. We knew that they were overloaded but there was nothing we could do. Trying to make port to get fuel was suicide. We made it here just before the hurricane hit and managed to unload the passengers off both ships using the tenders, but we could only salvage a portion of the equipment. Captain Stowe thought that he had enough fuel to make it to Haiti and back, so he left. I don't know what happened to him."

"Ma'am," Joe nodded at Christine as they approached the helicopter. "Once we get to the island, we would appreciate your assistance as we figure out the best way to evacuate everyone."

Christine seemed surprised. "Can't you move the cruise ship? Or blow it up to get into the harbor?"

While the answer to that was technically yes, according to Andrea doing so was a violation of international law. Joe went for a vague answer. "We're still determining whether moving the cruise ship is feasible or not."

"Whatever you need, I'm happy to help," Christine replied instantly, her voice steady.

Mike turned, realizing that he had missed some critical information along the line. "How many people are on the island anyway?"

"Close to ten thousand, Mike," Andrea said softly, and Mike thought that he might have seen tears in her eyes. "Almost ten thousand people who lived because someone got the crazy idea to drop them in a nature preserve."

Reaching out, he squeezed Andrea's arm, suspecting that she was imagining how differently today might be if Bill had decided to join the group headed to Deer Park rather than try to get to his parents' house in Iowa. Then Mike turned, his long strides catching up with Christine and Joe just as they reached the helicopter. Old habit had him reaching out for Christine's hand and helping her in, as Joe discretely looked away. Damn it. He was going to have to be more careful from now on. Mike knew exactly how quickly rumors got started on ships and he had no intention of subjecting either Maddie or Christine to that type of scrutiny.

A moment later they were aloft, and Mike felt his heart racing as the helicopter circled, checking for the best landing spot. Mike tried to think about what he wanted to say to the girls, but his mind continued to go blank after a simple hello.

The helicopter set down, and Mike waited for the blades to stop before exiting and, again, helping Christine down although this time he made a point of taking her arm rather than her hand. He glanced around, noticing the shelters which seemed to have been built from disassembled tender boats and other spare parts. In the distance, he could see what appeared to be fields of some sort of crop. Obviously, this community had been busy for the past three years. He turned towards Christine, intending to ask her who they needed to talk to in order to organize the evacuation when his eyes fell on a woman who was the spitting image of Christine at eighteen.

Mike came to an abrupt stop, brain misfiring as he realized who he was looking at.

Whitney.

Next to her stood a slightly younger girl who could only be Hannah, even though the young lady bore little resemblance to the gawky preteen Mike had left behind. He stood there frozen for a solid minute, and then he was running and they were running as well until they all came together in a tumble of arms and legs in the most awkward and yet wonderful hug of his life. Mike didn't even care about the tears he felt running down his cheeks.

"Dad!" Hannah protested. "You're squeezing me too hard."

Mike forced himself to loosen his hold just a tad. "I've missed you so much, girls. So, so much."

"We missed you too," Whitney replied and, for the first time, Mike realized that he wasn't the only one crying.

"I keep thinking that this is a dream," Mike said.

Hannah laughed at him, her dazzling smile so familiar, even if it was in a stranger's face. "Do you want me to pinch you?"

"No..." Mike began, interrupted when Hannah scowled at someone behind them.

She scowled. "I told you that my dad wasn't dead!"

Mike started to turn but Whitney looped her arm through his. "Come on. Let's go sit down and talk where we aren't getting stared at."

Mike didn't hesitate. Joe could handle whatever needed to be done. Mike was getting a second chance with his daughters and the rest of the world could go to hell. "Lead the way."

An hour passed in the blink of an eye as Whitney and Hannah told him story after story about the cruise ship and the island, both of them skirting around any mention of their brother — a choice that Mike assumed was deliberate.

His attention was caught by Whitney waving at someone. Mike turned to see a kid around Miller's age. "Who's that?"

Hannah was the one to answer. "Oh, there's Robbie. He and Whitney are engaged."

"Engaged?" Mike demanded, his brain misfiring at the idea of his baby getting married.

Whitney shrugged casually, waving a hand. "For now, anyway."

"What..." Mike looked back and forth between the girls. "I feel like I'm missing something important."

He watched the unspoken communication between them, the kind that used to drive him crazy. Hannah was the one to answer. "There aren't all that many guys our age on the island. You have to grab the good ones early or else you could get stuck with some old guy. There are a lot more guys than girls here because the crew from the cruise ships were mostly guys in their twenties."

"Also, the Mayor had this whole plan about repopulating the earth," Whitney said, scoffing. "He's always going on and on about it. We don't have to worry about that anymore, at least. Like I want to have a kid right now."

Hannah turned to Mike, apparently oblivious to the way his head was spinning. "What's it like out there? Is the virus gone? Are things back to normal? Where have you been for the last three years anyway?"

"Things are better now, but it took a long time. The government completely collapsed. We've spent the last two years rebuilding everything. The White House isn't even in Washington D.C. anymore," Mike explained. He took a breath before continuing. "I never got your mom's message about going on the cruise ship. I thought that you were dead."

"Oh, Dad, that's awful!" Hannah reached out to give him another hug, before leaning back to give him another dazzling smile. "But you're here now. We can go back to being a family."

"Actually," Mike began, before blurting. "I got married again. I have a baby. She's six months old."

Hannah blinked at him. "You cheated on Mom?"

The shock on their faces tore at Mike's heart. He leaned forward to take Hannah's hand, but she jerked it away. "I thought that she was dead, sweetheart. So, after Maddie and I made the decision to get married, I filed for divorce from your mom," Mike said softly. He made sure to look at both of them. "And it changes nothing about the two of you. I am so, so grateful that you're alive. I can't wait for you to meet Maddie and Nora."

Hannah stood abruptly. "I'm going to go find Mom."

"Hannah," Mike began, but Whitney gave him a familiar look, one that Christine used when she wanted him to stop doing something that she thought was incredibly stupid. It was definitely weird coming from his daughter instead of his wife. Ex-wife, dammit he needed to get used to that. He waited until Hannah was out of range. "What?"

Whitney gazed at him silently, then shook her head with a sigh. "Mom knows about this ... other woman?"

"Her name is Maddie, and she's my wife," Mike replied, using his no-nonsense voice. Per the usual, it appeared to have no impact on Whitney. Apparently, some things never changed. "And, yes, your mother knows."

Whitney looked down, the joy of only minutes earlier gone. Then she sighed. "Last year Mom kind of got close to someone. Hannah got really upset with her, insisting that you were still alive, so Mom stopped seeing him."

Mike felt his heart sinking. Oddly, Mike hadn't really thought about the girls' reaction to him being married, figuring that Christine was the one who would get upset. He realized now how stupid that was. "Hannah thought that I was alive?"

"She never doubted for a minute," Whitney confirmed, and Mike felt his heart plummet. How could he possibly explain to Hannah how he accepted her death when she never accepted his? After a moment of silence, Whitney stood. "Come on. Let's go find Hannah. She's probably talking to Rhett."

"Who is Rhett?" Mike asked, not sure that he wanted to know.

Whitney flashed him an amused smile. "Her boyfriend, of course."

Turning, Whitney started down a path, and Mike strongly suspected that she was laughing at him. He stood, following her, uncertain what he could possibly do to smooth things over with Hannah. Still, he consoled himself, it could have been worse. At least Whitney didn't seem pissed at him.

One down, two to go.