Elijah

Joan was asking too many questions for my liking. She had stopped at the FBI office more times than I could count, asking anyone and everyone where to get an address or phone number for her daughter. She had tried to corner me a time or two, but I didn’t budge. She even went as low as to flirt with me to get information.

All it did was make me shudder.

Joan knew that I had assumptions that she was behind Dawn’s disappearance. Of course, she didn’t seem too concerned that I knew. Guess all the years of drug use was starting to show by her confused way of thinking.

I had this gut feeling she was up to something that would cause us all trouble.

At least half the time when she showed up, I could tell she was high on something. It seemed to make her more adamant about finding Dawn. Mike was getting sloppy and panicky every time he’d see me, so I knew he was up to something. It was only a matter of time before he’d slip.

I was tired. Beyond tired. I felt bad that I hadn’t really spent much time with Dawn, but I also did tell her when I brought her to my house that I worked a lot of hours. I had to keep looking over the evidence that had been gathered.

Because of Mike and Joan, Kaleb was making me take paid time off, saying I was removed from the case until it was closed. I was still on the case under the table. I was in too deep with my undercover rule to just step out. I couldn’t pull out of the mafia without paying with my life.

I wasn’t pleased with Morgan when he showed up late last night. He was lucky I was still up, finishing rewriting a report for an interview on another case. I was tired and wanted to lie next to her, wrapping her safely in my arms.

Morgan looked tired and desperate. Joan was hounding him about wanting him to do something about her daughter. There wasn’t much I could do, but I told him I would see if I could at least a get a picture. There was something he wasn’t telling me. He seemed too interested in wanting to see Dawn, even offering to pay for her. I wasn’t going to let him anywhere near her if I could help it.

Kaleb had come up with the idea of a picture of the girl to send to her mother, to hopefully give her some sort of relief. I was worried about letting Dawn call her mother, as I wasn’t sure how she felt about Joan. I also didn’t want to risk Joan tracing the phone back to me, or upsetting Dawn. I knew when Dawn had come down the stairs. I could feel her there in the shadows. I didn’t think she’d heard too much, and wanted to keep the truth of her mother from her. Joan was nothing like I remembered, but that could easily be explained by the disappearance of her daughter—and the drugs that she was addicted to.

The next morning, I woke up with her leg thrown over my own, and I had to wield my erection away. With a deep breath, I slowly made my way out from under her and left her to sleep.

I was more than okay with Kaleb and his wife coming over when he’d called earlier that morning, figuring it should have been sooner than now, but today worked perfectly.

When I came down from getting dressed, I saw her sitting on the couch with her head down. Was this what she did every day? The house was all cleaned, so I knew she’d done everything and more than I’d lined out for her to do.

“So, what do you do all day while I’m gone?” I asked as I took a seat next to her on the loveseat.

“Clean, mostly,” she replied.

“You must do more than that?” I asked, looking her up and down. Her shoulders were hunched in.

“Puzzles. Read a little. I don’t really care for the books Joslyn brought over,” she answered, wrinkling her nose. I thought it was adorable, and couldn’t help but smile.

“Well, what kind of books do you like?” I asked, taking a seat next to her.

“Nothing that’s here,” she pouted, but kept her eyes down.

I gave out a laugh, making her quickly look at me in shock. “Sorry, but that’s the most emotion I’ve gotten from you all week. I ordered you some books you may like better. They should be here in a few days.”

She just glared at me, but soon returned her gaze back to her lap. I had ordered some of the top sellers in a few different sections.

“Joslyn did say you were good at puzzles,” I said, trying to get more out of her. “Why aren’t you doing one now?

“You have company coming over,” she replied. “You said you wanted the living room clean when you went over the rules.”

“A puzzle or a few books out would be okay,” I sighed. “What did you do when you were alone before you came here?”

“Nothing. Maybe sleep if I could. Sometimes dream about what would happen if I wasn’t there,” she answered. “I even made up stories in my head to pass the time.”

“I’m sorry for what you’ve been through,” I said, kissing the side of her head. “If you want to write anything that you came up with, I will be more than happy to get you some paper and a pen.”

The doorbell rang through the house, and I went to answer it with Dawn quietly following me. Opening the door, there stood Kaleb and Kelly. Kelly had her shoulder length blond hair pulled pack in a half ponytail. They were both dressed in comfortable clothes. He held a diaper bag and a car seat that was covered with a soft green blanket.

I welcomed them in, hearing Dawn scamper towards the kitchen and out of sight. After giving Kelly a quick hug, I pointed them to the living room, before finding out where Dawn was hiding.

“Dawn?” I called as I entered the kitchen. I found her leaning against the counter with her head in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking, but she wasn’t making any sound. “Hey, what’s going on?” I gently laid my hands on her thin shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” she gasped as she took in short, shaky breaths.

I pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her shaking form, trying to give her comfort. I tried to wrack my brain as to why she was upset, but came up empty.

It took Dawn a few minutes to calm down. Slowly, she regained even breathing. I allowed her a few more minutes so she could hopefully sort out her thoughts. Once she appeared calmer, I lifted her face with both of my hands cupping her jawline so I could meet her eyes.

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on in that head of yours?” I asked, staring into her panicked brown eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed out, closing her eyes.

“Answer me, please, Dawn,” I coaxed. Her green eyes were outlined in red from her crying and panic. I was trying extremely hard to not sound demanding when I asked her to do something. She could easily just tell me go to hell, and I’d be happy.

“When . . . he invited people, it was never a good thing for me. And . . . I just thought I’d have to do . . .”

“You will never be with anyone in this house like that,” I said sternly. “If, and that’s a big ‘if’, we are ever in a relationship later on down the road, I don’t share. You have no reason to worry about issues like that here, all right?”

“I’m sorry,” she replied, leaning her forehead against my chest.

“No worries,” I said. “You can always come to me with any concerns or questions. There will not be any sort of punishment. Now, how about we go see our guests?”

“Okay, Sir,” she said, taking a deep breath. When she met my eyes, I could see she was calmer, but also locked down with her emotions. Deciding to let that slide for now, even though I enjoyed being able to see how she felt at certain times, I wrapped my arm loosely around her waist and led her to the living room.

Kaleb and Kelly were sitting on the couch and smiled when we entered.

“Dawn, you remember Kaleb,” I introduced. “And this is Kelly, his wife.”

“Hey, Sug,” she greeted in a soft voice that was heavily accented. “And this little thing is Lilly.” She indicated to the baby lying in her lap, wrapped in a light pink blanket.

I sat down on the loveseat, where Dawn perched as close to me as she possibly could.

“Lilly is four weeks old now,” Kaleb said proudly, with a wide grin.

“She’s a fighter,” Kelly said, still just as softly. “There were so many times I thought she wouldn’t make it, but she did. And she’s as healthy as can be.”

“I’m glad everything worked out. How are you doing? Kaleb said the birth was hard on you,” I said as Dawn wrapped an arm around my elbow.

“Yes—a very long labor. At first, I refused the idea of a C-section. The epidural slowed my progress and made my blood pressure unstable. I can’t remember some things. Plus, having low iron on top of everything didn’t help matters.” Kelly answered. “But she came out with a tiny cry and all pink. I had to stay in the hospital for three nights, to get my iron levels up, along with getting the hang of moving around with stitches and staples. I’m still tired, but doing so much better every day.”

“Glad to hear it,” I answered. I knew from my mom’s recounts that having a baby, and the first few weeks after, were the hardest. “I wanted to come see you, but I had important matters to attend to.”

“No worries, Elijah,” she replied. “Kaleb briefly explained the protection detail.”

“Wanna hold Lilly?” Kaleb asked my girl, whose eyes were glued to the baby. She shook her head before pressing herself into my shoulder.

“I’d like to,” I stated. My mother had brought small children over from the said shelter when there wasn’t enough room. She’d sometimes bring kids of all ages into our home, where, no matter what the age they were, they seemed to look up at me like an idol.

Kaleb took the baby from Kelly and brought her to me. Her eyes slowly blinked opened as she was moved from her napping place. I held her with her head in my right arm. Lilly was small and adorable, and she looked like her mama.

“I’m surprised you don’t have any kids yet,” Kaleb joked.

“I hadn’t found the perfect mother,” I shrugged. I tended to be a child magnet, but I didn’t mind. I saw Dawn peek at the bundle, even though she was trying to be sneaky about it.

“Do you want kids, Dawn?” Kaleb asked, making her jump.

“I don’t know, Sir,” she answered quietly, briefly looking at him.

“You have time to figure it out, Sug. No one expects you to answer right now, anyway,” Kelly stated, shooting Kaleb a glare.

“I don’t know if I can,” she sighed, looking at the baby and touching her feet.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked gently. Now was probably not the best time, but Kelly would be able to help if needed. I wasn’t the best with girl talk or girl problems, and this was obviously a girl thing.

“I was pregnant . . . once. It was shortly after the first time Erick had me. When they noticed, they . . . they hit me in my stomach until I bled down there. Erick and the others were careful after that to make sure I didn’t get pregnant again.” She didn’t take her eyes off the baby.

“Oh, Dawn,” Kelly said, coming over to the couch beside her. Dawn jumped slightly, not expecting it. “I lost a few myself, and I did everything the doctors told me to do. It took years to finally be able to have this one, and it will mostly likely be my only child. Which is more than fine with me. I may not have been through what you have, but I can sympathize with you. I will always listen if you want to talk,” she went on, wrapping her arm around my girl.

“Thanks, I think,” Dawn mumbled. “Maybe sometime.”

“Anytime, Sug.”

“Here, you can hold her,” I said, handing the little one to Dawn once I got my arm free from her. I gently showed her on how to hold her, supporting her head just right in her elbow. Dawn was wide eyed with shock and nerves. Meeting her eyes, I smiled, letting her know she was doing fine. Dawn slowly looked down at the baby, who was staring up at her.

“I was terrified the first time I held her. I had to pick her up to give her over to Kelly once we were put into our own room at the hospital,” Kaleb said as he leaned forward. “The nurses had given us privacy for a few hours for her to rest after her surgery.”

“He couldn’t figure out how to change her diaper at first, either,” Kelly laughed.

“Diapers,” Kaleb grumbled, shaking his head and glaring at the idea, which made me laugh. In turn, the baby began to cry. I was happy to see my girl didn’t panic, but she did look to Kelly to find out what to do.

“She’s hungry,” Kelly said as she reached for the diaper bag on the coffee table. She made up a bottle and then explained to Dawn how to feed the wailing girl.

“You’re a natural,” I said, leaning to whisper in her ear. “I’ll do whatever it takes, see any doctor, to find out if you can have a baby if you ever want to.”

“So, are you enjoying your time off work?” Kaleb asked after a few quiet minutes.

“The last three weeks were productive and busy, but I’m glad to be home now,” I answered.

“Good. I do have some news for you, but only for you. I don’t think the ladies of the house need to hear,” Kaleb said, hinting towards the office. I kissed Dawn on the side of her head before I made my way, following Kaleb and closing the door behind me.