FicWad

My birthday was just a few days after Pete and I went to the cabin. It was a low key day with the family on the farm. We took all of the kids down to the river and went swimming. That evening we had dinner and a cake at the house and I had a great time. That night I got my special, private, gift from Pete. He’s given me the same thing three years in a row. And I’m always happy with it. I do enjoy watching him.

Scott and Lisa came the day after my birthday. We were all excited to see them. Dad was the first to rush out of the house to greet them. Dad is always excited when either of us comes for a visit. I love that so much, the feeling of being welcome and loved.

Abby was close behind Dad as she rushed out to greet her parents. Lisa was the first to hug Abby. It was obvious she had missed her daughter.

“I’ve missed you so much Sweetheart.” Lisa told her as they hugged.

“I’ve missed you too. I’m so glad you’re here.” Abby said.

I was next to greet my sister in law and then my brother. We had seen them in March, but I still missed them and was very happy to see them.

Bronx moved out of the guesthouse and bunked with Saint so Scott and Lisa could have it. We didn’t ask him to do that, he just did because he’s a kind and considerate person.

After they got settled in they came to the main house for dinner. Amy as always went above and beyond making a wonderful dinner. We ate and caught up on most things that had happened since we saw them last. We didn’t talk about what happened with Mom. Mostly because the kids were at the table and we didn’t want to scare Saint and Marvel. They had not told Abby so she was unaware.

When dinner was over I asked Saint and Marvel to take the twins to the living room so the adults could talk. I wanted to talk with Scott and Lisa about what had happened with Mom.

“Bronx, you can stay.” Pete said. He wanted Bronx to know what was going on just in case anything happened while he was with us.

“Abby, I think you should go watch the kids.” Lisa told her.

“Why? What’s going on?” Abby asked her mother.

“Actually, I think Abby needs to know too. She’s old enough to understand.” Scott said.

Lisa looked shocked. “Alright, if you think so. This is your family issue.” Lisa said and sat back in her chair.

Abby looked confused. “What’s going on?” She asked again.

Scott sighed and looked at his daughter. “This has to do with Grandmother. Do you know what happened when Aunt Gracie was pregnant?”

“I know Grandmother had a fit because she was told she wasn’t welcome in the delivery room. And she said some really horrible things to Aunt Gracie and Uncle Pete.” Abby told us.

“How did you know about that?” Scott asked, surprised.

Abby blushed a bit and said, “I overheard you guys talking about it. Did she really say she was going to try and kidnap the twins?”

“Yes she did.” Pete answered her.

“Why? Why would she do that?” Abby asked the table.

“She said that I didn’t know how to care for a baby and that I wouldn’t be able to care for the twins. And that she needed to take them for their protection.” I said.

“What? Why would she think that? How could she think you wouldn’t take the best care of them?” Abby asked, outraged.

“I don’t know. All I can tell you is what she said. When I told her that I didn’t want her out there until the twins were a few months old she lost her shit. She threatened to sue for custody. She threatened to sue for grandparents' rights. Then she threatened to fly out to California and kidnap them. I have all of these in texts and voicemails she sent. I cut her off before they were born for a few months.”

“Why did you let her back in?” Bronx asked.

“Because she’s my Mom. I wanted her to be part of our lives.” I told him. He only nodded as if he understood.

“She started therapy and for a while, she was doing better. That’s why we let her visit when they turned one.” I continued.

“But, something happened?” Abby asked.

All of us adults nodded. “Yeah, something happened a few weeks ago.” Scott told her.

“She asked me to go down and attend one of her appointments with her. Her doctor wanted to talk with me and see if we could work out a few things. But when I got there it was apparent that she hadn’t been telling the truth. She made him believe it was all a misunderstanding. That she had never said all those horrible, hurtful things to me. She never told him about the threats she had made. He thought she had just been overzealous about being a grandmother again.”

“What happened Moon? When I got here Dad just said she had made more threats and you guys were worried about her coming up here.” Bronx asked.

“She started calling Jupiter by our dead brother's name and saying he was her son. That she needed to get him back so she could raise him. She really thought I would just hand him over to her and let her raise him as Alex. When I said no, she lost it completely. She had a meltdown so bad her doctor had to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Then she said she would kill me to get to Alex.”

“Oh my God! I didn’t know she had said that!” Lisa exclaimed. “And I thought she was bad when Abby was born.”

“What did she do when I was born?” Abby asked.

“She came up the same day you were born. She didn’t tell us she was coming. When she got there you were less than two hours old. She went straight to the hospital, came into our room and took you right from my hands. It got worse when we were sent home. Grandmother seemed to think you were her baby and that your Mom should shut up and let her take over being your mother. I had to literally push her out of our apartment to get her to leave. It was bad that first year of your life. We didn’t see her again until you were almost two. I had to finally tell her that if she didn’t apologize to your mom and keep her opinions to herself she wouldn’t know you.” Scott told her.

“Have you never wondered why we only visit her every two years? But we come down here at least once a year? We’re not that far from her.” Lisa asked.

“No, not really. I love Grandmother, but I don’t have fun when we visit.”

“Saint and Marvel didn’t enjoy visiting her either.” Pete told her.

I took a deep breath and said, “So, I’m not going to speak to her again. She won’t be a part of our lives. I won’t allow her anywhere near the children. I fully believe she would hurt us to get to Jupiter. She tried to get the cops in Savannah to arrest me for kidnapping. They laughed at her when her doctor told them what was really going on.”

Abby looked completely shocked but also mad as Hell. “I don’t want to ever talk to her again. I can’t believe she would say and do all those things.”

Scott sighed and said, “Abby, she’s sick and she needs our love and support to get better.”

“No, she doesn’t! I told you years ago she was crazy and I didn’t want to expose Abby to her. But you talked me into it because “FAMILY”. I’m never speaking to her again and if you make Abby deal with it, I will divorce you.” Lisa said in the coldest voice I’ve ever heard her use.

“Dad, she’s your Mom so I understand that you want to help her. But she wants to hurt Aunt Gracie. How can you stand by that?”

“I don’t want her to hurt Gracie or the twins. But she needs help. I want to help her.” Scott tried to explain. I understand that. I wanted her to get help too. But I would not put myself or my family in the position to get hurt by her.

“Are you sure she won’t come up here?” Bronx asked us.

“No, I don’t know that she won’t do that. But that’s why I called the Sheriff's department and asked them to keep an eye on the house. And, she is being monitored by her doctor and Ryan is always with her. He’s been keeping us updated on her progress.” I told him.

“Now I understand why you were so hesitant to leave the kids when Dad took you away.” Bronx told me.

Scott turned to look at me. “Gracie, are you really never going to speak to Mom again?”

“Never. I hope she gets help. She still hasn’t dealt with the grief from Alex. I hope she will be forced into it. But I will never trust her. Never. Would you trust her with Abby?”

“I don’t know. We never left her alone with Abby when she was little because Lisa wasn’t comfortable with it. But I don’t think Mom would actually hurt any of us.”

“But you’re thinking logically. People who’re having a psychotic break don’t think logically. I understand how you and Grace feel, this is your mom . And I would want to help my Mom if the roles were reversed. But I just can’t allow her to have contact with my children. I can’t, I'm sorry, but I can’t let that happen. I can’t let an opportunity for her to hurt or snatch one or both of the twins come up. And I agree that Grace shouldn’t be in contact either. She said she wanted to kill Grace to get to Jupiter. We have to take that seriously.” Pete told my brother.

“I agree with Pete on this.” Dad said. Scott looked surprised. “Until recently, I would have never thought she would be capable of hurting either of you like that. But now I’m not so sure. From what Ryan told me, she was fully convinced that Gracie had given birth to Alex reincarnated. And that she needs to be Mother to him. I think if Gracie stays in contact it will only make things worse.”

“But, Dad, you can’t really think that?” Scott asked our father.

“Unfortunately I do. I think she is a danger to herself, Gracie, and the babies."

Scott turned his head to look at me. “You can’t believe she would kill you.”

“You didn’t see her when she started screaming at me that he was hers. I fully believe she would do anything to take Jupiter. I don’t like this, I don’t want this at all. But it happened and I can’t change that. All I can do is protect myself and my family.” I told him.

“Well, I’m on Gracie’s side. She’s your mother, you can have any relationship with her you want. But Abby and I are done with her. We will not see her, speak with her, or help in any way.” Lisa said with finality.

Scott sighed and said, “I can’t believe you’d turn your back on your own mother. She needs help and she should be getting it from us. We’re her kids.”

“Yeah, the same kids she allowed to be mistreated by her husband and his family. She’s treating Marvel and Saint the same way as we were treated. I have no empathy left for her.” I said with a lot of bitterness.

I was done defending myself and my decisions. I got up from the table and left the kitchen. I love my brother, but he really had no idea what was going on with our mother. I understood his side of it, I really did. But I just wanted him to see my side.

I went into the living room where the kids were. “Bath time for the babies. Come on you two, let’s go get ready for bed.” I took the twins up and started the nighttime routine. Bath, into their pajamas, a bottle each, and story time. Pete joined me not long after I got the babies in the tub. We got the twins settled down for the night.

I was unhappy with my brother's reaction to the situation with our mom. He just didn’t seem to understand how bad off she really was.

Once we had the twins in bed, Pete and I headed down to spend time with everyone else.

After a while. Scott just blurted out, “You really should just forgive Mom and move on. You can’t keep the twins from her forever.”

That pissed me off instantly. “I’m not going to talk about this here and now.” I shot a meaningful glance at my older kids. “This isn’t the time for it.”

Scott either didn’t care or didn’t realize we didn’t want Saint and Marvel involved in this conversation.

“She’s our Mom. How can you just cut her out? Yeah, she needs some help, but you can’t give up on her.”

“Scott, leave it.” Dad said with an edge to his voice.

“No, I’m not going to let it go. This is our Mother . How can you just cut her out when she needs help? You should be down there going to therapy with her. I know you think she’s gonna hurt you or Jupiter or Star, but she wouldn’t do that.” Scott was getting very upset and loud.

“I said I will not talk about this now. And you didn’t see her. You didn’t see the look in her eyes when she said he was her son and she would do anything to take him from me. You’re right, she needs help. But not from me.”

“She couldn’t go to therapy with Rebecca even if she wanted to. We have a restraining order against her. She can’t be within 50 yards of Grace or the twins.” Pete spoke up.

“Saint, Marvel, come on. It’s time to get ready for bed.” I said as I got up and ushered them out of the room.

“What did Uncle Scott mean?” Saint asked me as I took them upstairs.

“Nothing you guys need to worry about. Just my Mom is sick and she needs some help. But it’s not something I can help with.” I told them as we went upstairs.

I got the two of them in bed for the night and went back downstairs. Abby and Bronx had gone to sit outside. I don’t think they were interested in the conversation that was going on. When I came into the room Pete and Scott were still talking about Mom.

“Scott, she threatened the life of my wife and my son. I know you want to help, I understand, I really do. But it can’t come at the risk of my family.” Pete was saying.

“But, you don’t get it, Pete” Scott was saying.

I interpreted him. “No, you don’t get it Scott. I can’t help her. And I don’t want to anymore.”

My brother only looked at me like I had just hit a puppy.

“Grace, how can you say that?”

“I was trying to help. That’s why I was there. But it only made things worse.” I told him. “Now drop it. It’s not gonna happen. If you think you can help, by all means, please go down there and help.”

“Honey, please, let it go for the night. Tomorrow you should call Ryan and see if you can help at all. If going down would help, then you should go. But stop harping about it for now.” Lisa said.

This didn’t please my brother, but he did stop talking about it. Amy moved the conversation to a new topic. After a little while I was ready to head to bed. Pete joined me as I excused myself.

When we were in our room getting changed, there was a soft knock at our door. I glanced over at Pete to make sure he was decent before calling out ”Come in.”

Our door creaked open slowly and Saint poked his head in. “Dad, Mom, can we talk to you?” He asked us.

Pete nodded and I said, “Of course.”

The door opened all the way, Marvel was there with him. The two of them came in and shut the door behind them.

“What’s on your mind Sir Saint?” I asked him.

“Will you tell us what’s going on?” Saint asked.

“Is your mom really gonna hurt you? Why does she want to take Jupiter from us?” Marvel asked. She was very upset and was on the verge of tears.

“Do we have to worry about her coming here and hurting us?” Saint asked.

I looked up at Pete and could see the worry wash over his face. We had kept most of this from them because we didn’t want to scare them or worry them. This was grown up stuff, they were just little kids that didn’t need to be burdened with it.

“No, you don’t need to worry about her hurting you.” Pete told them.

“And we would never allow her to take Jupiter.” I told them.

“But why does she want him?” Saint asked.

“Come and sit down. This is gonna take a little while to explain.” I said as I sat on the bed and patted the mattress next to me. The two of them climbed onto the bed with me and allowed me to cuddle them. Pete joined us so they were sandwiched between the two of us.

I took a deep breath as I tried to decide how to tell them what was going on. I wanted to be honest but age appropriate. Being honest with the children was something I was adamant about. I always knew when adults weren’t being honest with me when I was young and I hated it. Just because they were young didn’t mean they deserved to be lied to. Lies didn’t protect them. And eventually when the truth came out, it came back to bite the liar in the butt. I had actually stopped talking to my Grandmother (Mom’s mom) before she died because she always lied to us.

“My Mom is having some issues right now and she’s sick. Very sick. That’s why I went to Georgia a few weeks ago. It was so I could talk to her doctor. I was trying to help her.” I started to tell them.

“What is she sick with?” Marvel asked me.

“Is it cancer?” Saint asked.

“No, it’s not cancer. She isn’t sick like that. She had something going on with her brain and she isn’t thinking right. She believes things that aren’t real.”

“What kind of thing?” Asked Marvel.

“Well, things like Jupiter isn’t my son, but hers.”

“But, why would she think that?” Asked Saint.

“Because she isn’t thinking right.” Pete told him.

“Do you guys remember me telling you that I had another brother that died before I met you all?”

Both of them nodded.

“Well, when Alex died, it really upset my mom. He was her baby, and no parent wants to have their child die. I think something broke in her brain. She needed help to deal with the grief, but she didn’t get it and that left her thinking things that just aren’t true.”

“Like how Jupiter isn’t hers, but she thinks he is?” Marvel asked me.

Pete nodded and said “Yes.”

“She thinks that Jupiter is really my dead brother Alex. And she wants to be his mother. She wants to raise him and name him Alex and she wants to lie to him to make him believe that he’s her son not her grandson. She didn’t take it very well when I told her that wasn’t gonna happen. She really thought I would happily give him to her. I think she wants a chance to try again. I think she blames herself for Alex’s death.”

“She can’t have him!” Marvel said with more venom than any seven year old should have.

“She’s not going to get him. I promise. I will do anything to keep all of you safe. All of you. That’s my job as your Dad. To love and protect you.”

“Your Dad and I have decided to no longer have anything to do with her. We want to keep our family safe. And, that means not allowing her to have anything to do with us.” I told them.

“But, won’t that make you sad? To not talk to your mom anymore?” Saint asked me.

“Yes, it does. She’s my Mom and I love her. But I love you guys more. And your safety and happiness is more important to me than how she feels or how I feel.” I told them. And I meant it too. They were far more important than me or my mom.

I think Saint understood that more so than anyone else in the family. Because he still loved his mother even though she isn’t part of his life anymore. I know he loves me and that I’m ’Mom’ now. But she’s still his mother and he will always love her.

“I’m sorry your Mom is acting like this.” Saint told me.

“Me too. I wish she didn’t think the way she does.” I told him.

“Was she always like this?” Marvel asked.

“No, but she hasn’t been well in a long time. I just didn’t know how bad it was until I got pregnant. She thinks that I’m a terrible mother and that I’ll hurt Star and Jupiter. She told me before they were born that I was a bad mom and she would be a better one.”

“You’re a better Mom than she is! You’re the best Mom.” Marvel told me.

“Thank you Miss. Marvelous. That means a lot to me to hear that. I love being your Mom. And I love being Star and Jupiter’s mom.“ I told her and kissed her forehead.

We talked with the kids for a little longer trying to ease their concerns. We put them back to bed at about the same time Abby and Bronx decided to come in and go to sleep. I think having the teenagers in the rooms with them helped them to feel safer.

The next night my mother did the unthinkable. She drugged Ryan with a sleeping pill and left her house in the middle of the night. She headed to the farm and tried to break in.

Thankfully the kids were all camping out in the far back pasture. They couldn’t see the house where they were and she couldn’t see them. She arrived around 3AM. She broke the window in the back door to let herself in. This caused Dad to wake up. It also caused the dogs in the house to start barking. The dogs, 3 large ones, all rushed into the kitchen. They didn’t attack her, but they did keep her in the kitchen. Pete and I woke up from the barking and the screams coming from the kitchen. We rushed out into the hallway to be met with Scott and Lisa also rushing downstairs.

“What the fuck are you doing here Rebecca?!” I heard Dad shouting. “Amy, call 911!”

When I got to the kitchen I saw my mother there cowering in the corner with the dogs all barking and growling at her. She was completely disheveled. Her gray hair that is normally curled and styled to perfection was tangled and hadn’t been washed in days. Her eyes looked shrunken in. Her skin was pasty and ashy. When she saw me she started screaming at me.

“Where’s my son? Where is he? You bitch, you took him from me! What did you do to him?!” She screamed.

“Mom, I’m right here.” Scott said. Lisa was right behind him looking scared shitless.

The look on her face was frightening. She looked at Scott and said, “You’re not my son. I don’t know you! What did you do with my baby?!”

Scott took a step closer to her. “Mom, it’s me, Scott. I’m your only son.” Lisa made a grabbing motion to keep him from getting any closer to her.

“Where’s Alex?! I came to get him from that fucking whore bitch. What did you do to him?!?” Mom screamed.

I think this was the wake up call my brother needed to take what was going on seriously. I could hear Amy behind us calling the police. Pete had stepped in front of me, pushing me behind him, to protect me.

Scott tried again. “Mom, Alex is dead. He died ten years ago. No one took him from you.” He sounded like he was talking to a wounded animal, voice low, smooth and calm.

“She has my baby! She took him from me. She’s keeping him from me!” She shrieked and pointed at me. “I’ll kill her to save my son. You can’t keep him from me!”

Then, faster than anyone could do anything, she lunged at me. She had a knife on her that no one saw. Pete stepped forward raising his arm to protect his face, and took a slash to his left forearm from the knife. He’s very strong for such a short man. He was able to grab her arm and twisted it behind her. She dropped the knife as she screamed in pain. He kept up the pressure on her arm until she fell to her knees.

We heard the sirens from the police cars in the distance. That’s when I noticed the blood flowing down Pete’s arm.

“Oh my God! Pete, you’re bleeding.” I said. I grabbed a kitchen towel from the handle on the oven and wrapped it around his forearm trying to stop the bleeding. I wasn’t able to take a good look at the wound, but I was sure it would need stitches.

Amy was still on the phone with 911. I heard her saying we were going to need an ambulance too. Moments later Todd and one of his deputies were at the front door. Amy was already there and let them in. It didn’t take long for them to handcuff Mom and start reading her rights to her.

Todd had his deputy put Mom in the back of his squad car and down to the station to book her. He took a look at Pete’s arm and radioed dispatch for an ambulance. He was told one was already on its way. As we tried to stop the bleeding, Todd started taking our statements. We all agreed to all possible charges against her. In the end she was arrested for breaking and entering, assault, violating a restraining order, and attempted kidnapping. Her car was found at the end of the drive with a bag packed with clothes for her and for Jupiter, her passport and an old expired passport of Alex’s from when he was a baby. I don’t think she realized it had expired over thirty years ago or that the picture looked nothing like Jupiter. She had planned on running away with him.

The paramedics came in just a few minutes after Mom was arrested and they treated Pete’s cut. They patched him up and got the bleeding stopped, but he did need stitches. I ended up taking him to the emergency room at the local hospital. There really wasn’t a reason for him to go by ambulance. It didn’t take long for him to be seen and stitched up. The cut didn’t go too deep thankfully, but it was long and nasty. He ended up with ten stitches in his left forearm. He got real lucky and no tendons were cut. But his tattoo of Howl will have a scar running through it. He was going to be fine once it healed up. It’s a small community hospital and it was a quiet night so it didn’t take long to be seen, and we were able to leave after being there for only a few hours.

He was told to keep the stitches clean and dry for the next ten days. The doctor that patched him up also has a practice in town. He gave us his office number and told us to call if the wound got infected and to make an appointment to come in and have the stitches removed. He was also given a few Tylenol 3’s for the pain. Nothing too strong.

When we finally got home it was daylight and the kids had come back from their camp out. They were all sitting around the kitchen table waiting for us to return. All of them looked shaken up. Dad had told them what happened.

“Dad! Dad, are you ok?” Bronx asked as soon as he saw us, worry etched in his face.

“Daddy!” Marvel yelled, jumped up and ran to him. She buried her face in his stomach and wrapped her arms around him. Pete wrapped his good arm around her and hugged her back.

“I’m ok. Just needed a few stitches.” He told them. He showed them his bandaged arm.

Saint started crying when he saw us and only wanted to hug his father. Pete held him tight.

“Hey, I’m ok. No need for tears. Everything’s gonna be alright.” Pete told Saint as he hugged him.

Star and Jupiter didn’t understand what was going on. But they had picked up on the tension and worry from everyone else. They both wanted to be held and comforted.

I picked up my son and held him close. I had come so close to losing him. I sat down and just held Jupiter, I was so relieved the kids were all safe. I felt tears pricking at the back of my eyes. Saint came over and hugged me tight.

“Mom, are you ok?” He asked me.

“Yeah, I’ll be ok. I’m just relieved you guys weren’t here and that y’all are safe.” I told him as I hugged him back,

“Gracie, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you about Mom. I just didn’t think she was that far gone. I’m having a hard time believing she did this. I mean, breaking in and thinking she could kidnap Jupiter? What the fuck was she thinking?” Scott said to me.

“That’s the problem, she isn’t thinking clearly.” I said.

“Pete? How’s your arm? What did the doctor say?” Amy asked. The nurse in her was taking over.

“It’s gonna be fine. The cut wasn’t too deep and no tendons or anything were cut. They just cleaned it up and put in the stitches. I have directions on keeping it clean. And I’ll need to make an appointment to get them removed in about ten days.” He told her. She fussed over him and made him show her the stitches.

“He did a good job on that. I’ve got some good antibiotic ointment you can use. We’ll make sure this heals up nicely.” She was telling him.

Amy and Lisa made us breakfast and put full plates down in front of us. They also poured us cups of coffee. As we ate we filled in the family about what happened at the hospital, Dad and Scott filled us in on what happened after we left. They told us what Mom had been charged with, that her car had been found and what was in it. That information made me hold Jupiter just a little tighter. The idea that she planned on leaving the country with him made me want to vomit.

The kids hadn’t heard or seen a thing. Being so far from the house, and asleep at the time, they missed all of it. I am so grateful they were not in the house when it all happened. They didn’t know anything had happened until they got back that morning and saw that the window in the back door had been broken. Scott and Dad had cleaned up all the glass, blood, and trash from the EMTs. Dad was in the process of nailing a board over the broken window when Bronx and the kids pulled up in Luna. When they asked what happened, the adults told them.

Pete and I ate our breakfast and tried to answer all the questions the kids had. When we were done eating, I asked the teenagers if they would be willing to watch the kids for us for a few hours.

“Bronx, Abby, would you two be willing to do us a huge favor?” I asked them.

“Sure, whatcha need Moon?” Bronx asked.

“Would you please watch over the kids for a few hours? I want to get your Dad cleaned up, and settled in bed so he can get some sleep. And if I can, I need to get a little more sleep too. I’ll set an alarm and be back down by lunch time.”

“Of course we’ll watch the kids for you.” Abby said.

“Yeah, ‘course we will. You guys go and get some sleep. We’ll keep them busy for you. Can we take them to the fort?” Bronx asked.

“Yeah, but be back for lunch.” Pete told them.

“Ok, don’t worry about the kids. We’ll take care of them.” Abby told us.

Pete and I headed up after that. His tee shirt and pajama pants had blood on them. I didn’t notice it at the time, but I had his blood on my pajamas too from when I tried to stop the bleeding. We both were in need of a change of clothes and some sleep. I made sure I had his pain pills and a bottle of water before we went upstairs.

I tried to help Pete undress and get changed, but he told me he was fine.

“Baby, I’m fine, I can do this by myself. You don’t have to help me.” He said.

“Are you sure? I just want to help and make you comfortable.” I asked.

He just gave me a soft smile in return. “I know, and thank you for that. But, really, I’m ok.” and then he pulled his shirt off and headed to the bathroom to clean off the dried blood.

I changed while I waited for him to get back. By the time he got back to the room I had made up the bed and pulled out an extra pillow so he could rest his arm on it if he wanted to. I had one of the pain pills out and the bottle of water was sitting on the bedside table. Pete came back in the room all clean and changed.

“Are you in pain?” I asked him.

“A bit. The stuff they used to numb it is wearing off.” He answered.

“Take one of your pain pills. Here.” I handed him the pill and the water bottle.

I couldn’t hold my emotions back anymore at this point and started crying. Mostly out of sheer relief that we were alright and safe. But also out of grief for my Mom.

“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.” I said in between sobs.

“Baby, I told you when we were in the hospital, you don’t need to apologize. You didn’t do anything.” Pete said. He gently cupped my face and wiped the tears away.

“But I feel like it’s all my fault. If I had just cut her out of our lives she wouldn’t have come here. She attacked you!” I was finally letting it all hit me. What had happened, what she had done, and that Pete got hurt because of it. I had been focused on getting him to the hospital, not on what I was feeling.

“I wasn’t the one she was after. You were her target. I just put myself between you and her.”

“But you shouldn’t have had to do that! I’m sorry you got hurt.” I apologize again.

“Shhhh...... I’m alright. I’m supposed to protect you. I’m your husband, it’s my job, my duty to protect you. I promised you I would always protect you and the kids. And I’d do it again.” He gave me a very gentle kiss. Pulling back, he locked eyes with me and smiled. “But, officially, your Mom is scarier than the mountain lion.”

I laughed at that, which made me snort-laugh-cry. And that isn’t pretty. I was just a big old mess. I sniffed and wiped my face. “I’m glad you’re ok. But I’m so fucking sorry it happened.” I said again.

“I know. I know you would have taken the cut for me if you could have. But it was my turn to stand up and save you. Come on, let’s try and get some rest. I want to hold you.” He said as he pushed me towards the bed. I let him and we laid down together.

He was on his back, I was on my side cuddled up to him with my head on his chest. He had his right arm around me.

“Thank you. Thank you for protecting me.” I whispered as we fell asleep.