Falling Into Place (12 page)

Jarvis dropped into the seat beside him. “I
just received news that Robert’s gone for the day. He rescheduled
his meeting with Draecyn to next week.”

James sat up straighter. “Is that so? Do you
know where he went?”

“Of course not. I’m sure he used his own
method of travel to go where he pleased. I do have confirmation
that Liz is still there. Tremaine was heading to her house.

“Is that so?” James sat back in his seat.
“Do me a favor. Keep an eye on them. When he’s gone, let me know. I
have to pay her a visit.”

“With the talisman?”

“Of course. It would be fitting if I show up
at her house the same way Robert left.” He pushed back to dig
around his desk for the charm.

“Good luck, you’ll need it.” Jarvis ducked
out the door before James could reply to the parting shot.

* * * *

Robert went back to the Jacuzzi where Emily
had been most of the day. “You sure about this water birth?” He
asked mildly.

Emily groaned, but nodded her head. “I am.
It’s safe.”

He sat down beside the tub and took her
hand. “You’re a healer. Why aren’t you making this easier?”

She snorted. “If I could, I would. The
contractions are hell.”

“What can I do?” he asked. “You’re the
expert here, not me.”

“Talk to me. What have you been up to?”

He snorted. “Look, Em, you don’t want to
hear about it.”

“You’re going to ask her again, aren’t you?”
It wasn’t an accusation like it had been every other time in the
past. No, this time it was honest curiosity in her voice.

“You going to try to talk me out of it?” He
asked.

“No. She makes you happy, and you deserve to
be happy.” A tear slid down her face as she doubled over,
screaming.

“Emily,” he murmured.

Her fingers tightened on his until his
knuckles popped.

“Sorry,” she groaned as she eased up.

His gaze drifted back to her. “I’m fine, Em.
Don’t worry about my fingers.”

She smiled weakly, laying her head on the
side of the tub. He shifted to look her in the face.

Emily said, “Look, I know it’s too late for
Liz and me to be friends. I’ve pushed her away for so long, I don’t
think I can ever fix the damage I’ve done. That doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t be happy. Her too.”

“She doesn’t hate you.” He brushed her damp
hair out of her face. “She never has.”

“She should. I listened to James. I blamed
her for so many things that weren’t her fault.”

“I bet she’d surprise you if you tried to
talk to her.”

This time Emily doubled over, her face
barely out of the water. “He’s coming. Oh God, he’s coming.”

“What do I do?” he asked desperately.

“Need you in the water. You’re delivering
this baby. I can’t do it on my own.”

He kicked off his shoes, and stripped own to
his boxers before stepping into the water. “You have to walk me
through this. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

She nodded as she eased back. “It’s easy.
You only have bring him out of the water when he’s out.”

“You want to hold him?”

“No. After you cut the cord, you need to
take him away from me, away from our family. Somewhere safe where
James will never learn of him.”

“I’ll take him, but if you ever change your
mind, you let me know. He’s yours.”

“I can’t, Robert. I couldn’t live with
myself if anything ever happened to him. I don’t deserve a child,
not after letting James get away with what he did.”

Robert cupped Emily’s cheek. “Let me handle
him then. I’ll make sure he can never hurt you again.”

“No. You promised you would never speak a
word of it. It’s over. Let it stay buried in the past. Please, I’m
begging you.”

His eyes slammed shut, but he nodded.

She curled in on herself again, a guttural
scream breaking loose. When Robert looked down, he saw the baby
coming into the world.

* * * *

Tremaine knocked on the door. A second later
she threw the door open and grabbed his wrist, dragging him
inside.

“Thank you, Tremaine, really, thank you,”
she exclaimed. “Do you have it? Tell me you have it.”

His brow arched as he produced a paper bag.
“There are two in there. Now calm down, and take a deep
breath.”

She did, or started to, but then she
snatched the bag and ran to the bathroom.

“Liz, you okay?” He called.

“Yeah, I was just drinking water until you
showed up,” she yelled back.

He shook his head. After all this time, he
never imagined he would see her so excited over a possible baby.
She had turned Robert down a solid ten times when he proposed, and
he never once gave up.

The man had more persistence than anyone he
knew. He admired that about him. Over the years Robert and Tremaine
had become close friends, closer than even he and Wilhelm.

They both loved Liz more than the entire
world, though in very different ways. Neither would ever let
anything happen to her.

Tremaine was always on the outside, a
guardian, but seeing her happy gave him a peace he hadn’t known
before she came into his life.

After a minute Liz came out of the bathroom
and took a seat on the stairs. “Talk to me. Distract me. Please,”
she pleaded.

He chuckled. “Where’s Robert?”

She shrugged. “Emily called this morning. He
went to her.”

“You haven’t asked where he took her?”
Tremaine wondered out loud.

“Should I?” Her brow arched. “I really doubt
she wants me to know where she is.”

“You know, there are times I wish I hadn’t
taken you to Wilhelm. I would have made a shitty father though.”
For more than a few reasons. The more he worked cases with her and
Robert, the more he saw her as a woman, and the harder he fell for
what he could never have.

“You’ve always been the one I go to when I
need to talk. You’re the only one I trust with everything. Even
now. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Uncomfortable with the thoughts rolling
around his head, he nodded to the bathroom. “Should I grab the
tests?”

“Please.”

With a chuckle he stepped into the bathroom
to grab them, and then plopped down beside her. “You ready?” he
teased.

She reached over with a trembling hand,
snagging one as her gaze cut over to him. “You’re mean.”

He nudged her. “Me? You woke my ass earlier
than I wanted so I could go get you these.” He held up the other
test and looked at the second line. “Congrats, Mama.”

Liz looked at his, then hers and started
bouncing on the step. “Oh my God, do you think Robert will be
happy? I hope he is. I can’t wait to tell him.”

Tremaine threw an arm around her. “He’ll be
ecstatic, but you may kill him if you tell him no again.”

She shook her head. “I won’t. I wouldn’t
have five years ago.” Letting her head drop, her smile fell away.
“I think he gave up on me saying yes.”

“You could have asked him,” Tremaine
murmured.

“He’s always asked though,” she groaned.
“Maybe he changed his mind. We have been together forever.”

He squeezed her. “Don’t tell him I said
this, but he’s planning to ask tonight.”

She spun to face him, her smile radiant.
“Really?”

“You better not tell him I told you,” he
warned. “And you better not chicken out. Especially now.” He placed
his hand on her tummy and grinned. “You really shouldn’t turn him
down this time, Liz. I know you love him more than the world
itself.”

“I always have.”

He stood up. “Have you eaten yet?”

She shook her head. “Food and I don’t get
along before noon lately. So I’m going to stay here and prepare. I
want to surprise Robert.”

Tremaine took Liz’s hand and pulled her to
her feet so he could give her a hug. “I’m happy for you. You’ll
make an excellent mother, Liz.” He kissed her cheek and stepped
toward the door. “Tell him yes.”

She grinned. “I will, I promise, no matter
what happens.”

The baby was sound asleep, swaddled in
blankets. He’d laid the boy on the chair and surrounded him with
pillows before going to check on Emily one last time.

Emily sat in the rocker by the fire. Her
knees were drawn to her chest. “Please take him before taking me
home. I need a little time to heal myself.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Robert said sadly. He
wanted to do more for her, but she had hardly said a word since he
cut the umbilical cord.

He closed his eyes, and translocated to a
small town in Florida. Robert knocked on the door and waited.

Mrs. Murdock finally answered, and for the
millionth time, he wondered why she always looked the same. Trapped
between youth and a wizened age.

She looked up at him with a sad smile. “Does
the boy have a name?”

“Christian Carter.” He placed a kiss on the
boy’s tiny head. “I’ll be checking in on him when I can. My brother
can never learn of his presence, and Emily can’t handle seeing him.
I won’t abandon him, but he can’t know our last name.”

Mrs. Murdock nodded as she took Christian
from him. “I’ll keep him safe, Robert. Come visit when you
can.”

He wiped the back of his hand across his
face and flashed back to Emily. She looked a little better, but not
much. “Are you sure you want to go back to your new home?”

She closed the distance and took his hand.
“Positive. Please take me home.”

Robert nodded before flashing her back to
the home he had prepared while she was hiding. It was only an hour
from the house he shared with Liz.

Emily pulled away and crumpled on her own
bed, pulling herself into the fetal position where she started
bawling. He sat down beside her, pulling her head into his lap so
he could run his fingers through her hair.

Robert promised, “I’m not going to let him
near you or the baby, Em. You’re safe here.”

Her whole body was racked by her sobs. “I
couldn’t keep him. I couldn’t.”

“I know. I get it. I don’t blame you,” he
told her, but a small part of him did blame her. Not for the way
James treated her, but for the way she dealt with that perfect
little boy. For giving him away, not wanting anything to do with
him. He couldn’t understand how she could choose to give her son
up.

There were only two things he wanted in the
whole world. To always have Liz in his life, and to have his own
family with Liz. A child of their own.

“Go to her, Robert. Please.”

“I’m not leaving you. Not until I know
you’re okay,” he told her. Liz would understand. She would tell him
to go back if she knew. He would call once Emily fell asleep.

* * * *

Liz was nervous, her hands were shaking, and
she couldn’t wait until she saw Robert. Everything was going to
change tonight. She would beg him to marry her if he didn’t
ask.

Oh, I hope he asks. I’m going to feel like a
fool if he doesn’t.

She stopped at the mirror. Her hair was tied
up, out of her face. The sundress she wore, was one she knew he
loved.

The phone rang, and before she could turn
the doorbell rang. She ran to the door, thinking Robert was trying
to surprise her.

His eyes lingered on her cleavage when she
opened the door, and her skin crawled.

It wasn’t him. Deep down she knew it wasn’t
him.

“Aren’t you going to let me in?” His eyes
never traveled up, even as he brought the roses from behind his
back. Roses which she had an aversion to since before she came to
them. Robert knew why. It was one of the few things she told him of
her youth.

I’ll grab the talisman and send him
through the portal. I’ll be done with him, and then I can examine
my wards.
She managed a smile. “Sure.” She took a step back and
the phone rang again.

Turning on her heel, she hurried to the
kitchen. Before she got there, something hit her head hard. The
floor was then coming fast to meet her face.

* * * *

James knew he didn’t have long. Liz wasn’t
buying the act. She never fell for his disguises in all the years
he’d known her. She was the only one who could figure it out.

The phone rang again, and she hurried to get
it. It was a good bet that it was Robert calling, and he couldn’t
have that. He followed on her heels, and grabbed the tome sitting
on the counter. He slammed it against her head and she fell.

Maybe my dear brother will come in while I
have my fun. I’ll remind her what my uncle did and then drain her
dry before his very eyes. Taking Emily from him was the last
straw.

He picked Liz up and carried her to the
dining room table where he arranged her so her feet were tied
against the legs and her arms were above her head. He was tempted
to drug her, but without a way to touch him he should be safe from
her spells.

Once she was secure, he waited until either
Robert walked through the door or Liz woke up. Either way would
inflict pain on both of them, and right now he was feeling
particularly cruel.

Her head rolled to the side and he moved
closer to bend over until he was eye to eye with her. “Oh, Liz, I’m
going to have fun with you.”

Her eyes went wide as he stood up and
unbuckled his pants. “James, you won’t survive intact if you do
this,” she warned.

“How is it you always know?” he asked as he
dropped his pants and briefs, letting his cock free. He licked his
lips before walking around the table to lean against her
thighs.

“You’re too much of an asshole to ever be
your brother.”

He trailed his hands up her thighs, pushing
her sundress out of the way as he went. “I’m going to enjoy ruining
you.”

“I’m pregnant with Robert’s baby. Can you
really do this when I carry your own blood?”

“You what?” he screamed.