American Heroes Series - 03 - Purgatory (55 page)

Elliot was still focused on the shadowed
landscape beyond. “Because he was Sophie’s first son,” she whispered. “She
forgave him. Maybe she figured he’s spent enough time in the bowels of
Purgatory and forgave him.”

Dr. Clarke smiled timidly, still quite
stunned at what she had seen. She wanted to go back outside and look around for
herself but as she moved for the door, she put her hand on Elliot’s arm.

“I have always believed in Heaven, but
now I know it’s true,” she said softly. “Praise the Lord. Sophie and her
children have finally found peace.”

Elliot smiled as the woman went back
outside again, turning to Nash as he stood there in the darkness of the room. 
She went to him, wrapping her arms around his waist as he pulled her close. 
The emotions she was feeling from him, from the situation in general, was
enough to bring tears to her eyes.  The whole scene had been overwhelmingly
emotional.

“That was the most amazing thing I’ve
ever seen,” Elliot whispered. “Did I just dream that?”

He hugged her. “If you did, I dreamed it
right along with you,” he murmured. “I have to say, that was the most amazing
thing I’ve ever seen. If someone had told me about that, I never would have
believed them. But seeing it for myself… I’m still not sure what I really saw.”

Elliot gazed up at him. “You saw
us
,”
she murmured. “No matter where you are, or how far apart we are, ever, we’ll
always be together again, forever. I’ll never stop looking for you in death or
in life. Like Sophie, I’ll just keep coming back again and again until someone
figures out what I’m looking for.”

He smiled and kissed her. There wasn’t
much more he could say to that except for what he had said to her daily from
almost the moment he had met her.

“I love you,” he whispered.

When Elliot finally went to bed that
night, her dreams were of mists, of lovely dark-haired ladies, and of young
boys with ruffles who had finally found peace.

EPILOGUE

One month later

“Dad, she won’t let us hold her,”
Shane was rightfully angry. “She tells us to be quiet every time we get around
her.  She won’t even let us breathe when we’re anywhere near her!”

Nash stood in the entry to the
enormous double parlors, his gaze on Penelope as she cradled an infant in one
of the fat period chairs that decorated the lavish room. He had just gotten home
from work and found a standoff in his own living room. Penelope was very
territorial of her prize.

“That’s because you guys are too
noisy and too rough,” she hissed. “She’s sleeping now and I don’t want you guys
to wake her up.”

Nash put his hand on Shane’s
shoulder comfortingly. “Does that go for all of us, including me?” he asked
her. “She’s my child, after all. I’d really like to hold her.”

Penelope regarded Nash dubiously.
“Well…,” she said slowly. “If you’re careful. Mom told me to watch out for her
while she took a nap and that’s what I’m doing.”

Nash fought off a grin as he
crossed the room into the protective female’s lair. He went to Penelope and
kissed her on the top of the head as he leaned down over the baby and kissed
her as well.

“Hello, Sophie,” he whispered,
kissing the sweet little face again. “How’s my beautiful girl today? She looks
peaceful, doesn’t she?”

Penelope nodded, gazing adoringly
at her little sister. “That’s why I don’t want the boys waking her up. She was
up all night and Mom is exhausted.”

Nash glanced over at the three
frowning faces in the doorway.  “I don’t think they’ll be rough with her,” he
tried to convince Penelope. “They’ll sit right down on the couch and hold her.
They won’t move her around.”

“Shane took her outside
yesterday,” Penelope accused angrily.

Nash cast Shane a long look and
the boy put up his hands as if to defend himself. “I just took her on the
porch. The weather was fine and there weren’t any bugs. I let her see what it
looks like out there.”

Penelope was gearing up for a
retort but Nash put his hands up to quiet the mob. “She’s only four days old,
Shane. I don’t think being outside right now means a whole lot to her. Don’t do
it again, please.”

Shane made an angry face but kept
his mouth shut.  In Penelope’s arms, Sophie started to stir and Nash reached
down to collect his precious little daughter. 

Even as he held her, he could
hardly believe she was his.  She was the sweetest thing on earth, the
culmination of dreams he didn’t even know he had.  When he looked at her, he
saw Elliot.  Sometimes the emotion of it was enough to bring tears to his
eyes.  The night she was born, he’d just stared at her for hours with tears
running down his face.

He cradled the baby against his
chest, cooing softly to her as the boys decided it was safe and rushed into the
room to see her.  Penelope stood up and the boys cooled their enthusiasm,
eyeing her threatening expression. As the older children regarded each other in
various stages of anger and uncertainty, Elliot entered the room.

Exhausted as most new mother’s
tended to be, she still looked radiant and lovely. Dressed in one of her jogging
suits that emphasized her huge nursing mother’s breasts, she smiled when Nash
looked up and saw her.  Love and happiness filled the air between them.

“Hi,” he said sweetly. “Did I
wake you?”

Elliot shook her head and yawned.
“No,” she replied, coming up behind Beck and Shane and putting her hands on
their shoulders affectionately. “I was already awake when I heard your car pull
in.”

Nash’s gaze lingered on her a
moment, conveying a thousand words of adoration, before looking back to the
blond little bundle in his arms.

“My mother says we should make
her stay awake during the day so she’ll sleep at night,” he said helpfully.
“She says that’s what she did with me and Beau.  We turned out all right.”

Elliot shook her head and pushed
through the boys to get to the baby. “I’m a firm believer that babies will make
their own schedule,” she said, peering at the infant in her husband’s arms.
“She’ll sleep through the night when she’s ready. She’s only four days old, for
Heaven’s Sake. Give her time.”

Nash just smiled, gently rocking
the baby who was becoming increasingly fussy. “My mother also said she sent
some gifts for her. Did they come?”

Elliot rolled her eyes while the
older children laughed. “Are you serious?” she said. “Nash, she sent more stuff
than this baby will ever use. She sent a bed and a bathtub, boxes of towels,
more little dresses than I’ve ever seen, and a gold necklace with her name on
it. You should see all of the stuff!”

Nash laughed softly. “Did she
send the fifteen hundred dollar bassinet?”

Elliot backed down a little.
“Well, yes… but it was the only thing out of all of that stuff that I really
wanted.”

Nash grinned at her; as long as
she got her precious bassinet, she was happy.

“You have to understand that the
woman had two boys and then four grandsons,” he reminded her. “This is the
first girl in two generations, so she’s understandably overjoyed. You’re just
going to have to be patient with her.”

Elliot sighed irritably, lifting
her eyebrows when he looked at her. “Well, the baby isn’t even a week old and
already she’s spoiling her. She needs to back off a little.”

“I’ll make the sacrifice,” Alec
said helpfully. “She can spoil me.”

The others laughed at him as
Elliot went to Nash and reached out for the baby. “I need to feed her,” she
said.

Nash didn’t want to relinquish
his prize so easily. “Let me hold her just a little longer,” he begged. “I
haven’t seen her all day.”

“She’s going to start crying.”

Nash didn’t want to see her cry
but he didn’t want to give her up, either. “
I’m
going to start to cry if
you at least won’t let me carry her upstairs.”

Elliot laughed softly, putting
her hand on his back protectively as Nash, very carefully began to walk from
the room, like he was afraid he was going to drop the baby. Elliot called over
her shoulder to the grown children.

“Alligator ribs tonight,” she
told them. “I’m paying. Who’s driving?”

Nash took one hand off his
daughter and dug in his pocket, tossing the keys for the Lexus back to the
group.  Alec made a flying leap but was tackled by Shane. Beck caught the keys
but his happiness was short lived when Penelope held out her hand to him and
smiled very sweetly. A sucker for a pretty girl, Beck did the gentlemanly thing
and handed them over.

Nash and Elliot paused in the
doorway of the big parlor, watching the interaction between the four.  Nash
shook his head and continued walking towards the stairs.

“With the way those four act,
you’d think they all grew up together,” he commented.

Elliot walked along beside him,
still stiff and sore from the difficult birth. At almost nine pounds, Sophie
Elizabeth Aury had been a lot to push out for petite Elliot. She had about
fifteen stitches down in her nether regions and she was still so sore below the
waist that even her ankles were sore.  She was moving slowly as they approached
the stairs. Nash watched her gingerly take the steps.

“Are you all right?” he asked, reaching
out a hand to take her elbow as she moved up the stairs.  “Can I help you?”

“I’ll be okay,” she grunted. “You
hold on to the banister so you don’t fall.”

Nash did as he was told and
grasped the banister until they reached the top. They disappeared into their
lavish master bedroom, shutting the door softly behind them.

Nash held the baby as Elliot
slowly climbed on to the bed, grunting as she tried to make her sore body
comfortable.  Propping herself up with some pillows, she unzipped the jog suit
and unhooked the nursing bra from the front.  Both breasts sprang free and she
winced.

“Oh, my God,” she breathed, her
hands holding her breasts still to keep them from painfully moving around. “I
never knew I could be so sore. Every part of my body is killing me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nash
said softly. “But you’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

She softened, smiling at him.
“You’re so sweet.”

“It’s true.”

Elliot grinned as he handed the
baby over to her. Then Nash kicked his shoes off and stretched out beside
Elliot, leaning up against her as she put Sophie on a nipple. The baby latched
on and began suckling strongly as Elliot settled down to nurse.  Nash lay against
her, his cheek against Elliot’s arm, his hand on the soft, bare skin of her belly
as she nursed their baby.

“I could just watch this
forever,” he murmured.

Elliot gently caressed Sophie’s
blond head. “I still can’t believe she’s here,” she said softly. “It wasn’t
even a week ago that I was lying in this bed, crying about how I couldn’t see
my feet.  I don’t know how you put up with me.”

Nash grinned, reaching up to
grasp fat baby fingers. “There wasn’t anything to put up with,” he said. “You
were pregnant and miserable. I understood that.”

“You were a saint.”

He laughed softly, remembering
back during the nine months of a very moody pregnancy. “I still think eating
whipped cream straight out of the spray can was the best,” he said, chuckling.
“That was the funniest thing I’d ever seen.”

Elliot was torn between
irritation and humor. “I couldn’t help it,” she insisted. “It was the only
thing I wanted to eat.”

He started laughing at the
memory. “My poor baby,” he kissed her arm. “I know it wasn’t easy.  But the
Jello thing was pretty funny, too.”

“Don’t start that again.”

His laughter grew. “Bowls and
bowls of green Jello.  Jello everywhere. I can never look at Jello again.”

Elliot just shook her head,
fighting off a grin. Sophie was eating ravenously and she stroked the little
cheek.

“She was worth it,” she said
dreamily. “Look how beautiful she is.”

Nash wasn’t hard pressed to
agree. “She’s only four days old and already she has everyone under her
control,” he said. “What’s going to happen when she’s a year old or two years
old? She’s going to have four older siblings who are going to spoil her
rotten.”

Elliot smiled when she thought on
that prospect. She could already see a blond toddler running the household.

“A year ago, did you think your
life would be like this?” she asked softly.

He wrapped them both up in his
arms, watching the baby nurse with contentment. “God, no,” he whispered.
“Sometimes I still think I’m living a dream.  This is the most amazing life I
could imagine with the best wife a man could have.”

Elliot switched the baby over to
her other breast, which happened to be by Nash’s face.  His mouth and nose were
buried in the top of the infant’s head as she nursed, alternately kissing the
blond little head and Elliot’s left breast.