“You don’t mind?” she asked.
“Not at all. You’re only a couple blocks out of my way. You wait here and I’ll go get the car.”
Catherine waited with Jake leaning on her legs. Greg was right, Jake was going to be asleep before they even pulled away from the curb.
When they got to her house, Greg carried Jake up to the house and waited while Catherine unlocked the door.
“Thanks Greg. I can take him from here.” She held out her arms.
“You sure. He’s heavy for his size.”
“I’m used to him. And I’ve got an elevator so I won’t have to climb the stairs with him.”
Greg transferred Jake.
“It was good to see you again, Cathy,” he said as he turned to go back to his car.
“Thanks Greg. It was good to see you too.”
She carried Jake into the house and kicked the door closed. She managed to get the dead bolt turned, but would have to come back to take care of the rest.
Once Jake was stripped down to his underwear and tucked into bed Catherine headed down the stairs to lock the door. She made herself a cup of tea and carried it back upstairs to her room. She sipped it as she changed and washed her face. She brushed her teeth, rinsed the tea cup and set it on the table by the door to take downstairs in the morning. She noticed the bridal bouquet that Jenny and tossed to her earlier. They weren’t real flowers. Jenny had a friend who ran a flower shop that sold nothing but silk flowers. They were so perfect that it was hard to tell they weren’t the real thing. There was an empty crystal vase on the corner of her dressing table. She set the bouquet in it, where she could see it.
She loved the crystal vase, it had been her grandmother’s, then her mother’s, and it looked perfect there on the dressing table, but she always felt a little twinge when she looked at it. It always made her think of the crystal necklace Vincent had given her that had been missing since his illness. She wondered if she would be wearing it if she hadn’t lost it. She wondered if Vincent still wore his rose.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Peter had been semi-retired for the last two years. He only went to the office three days a week, didn’t deliver babies, and had given up rounds at the hospital. He’d also begun taking long vacations two or three times a year. He was gradually turning everything over to his two, younger, partners.
He always had Thanksgiving dinner with Catherine and Jake, then, right after Jake’s birthday he’d head to Santa Fe to spend Christmas with his daughter and her family. He usually came back to New York in February. He stayed until the end of June then went back to Santa Fe for his grand children’s birthdays; one at the end of June and the other in the middle of July. He’d stay about six weeks.
Catherine cooked a small turkey for Thanksgiving, but she had all the trimmings.
“I said that I wasn’t going to eat that much this year, but when I walked in and smelled it, I couldn’t help myself. That was delicious, Cathy.” Peter sat back in his chair and reached for the cup of coffee next to his empty dessert plate.
“Mommy makes good punkin pie,” Jake agreed.
“How about the apple?” Catherine asked her son, who had just finished a small piece of each with ice cream and whipped cream. He’d been a bottomless pit for the last month and she was sure he’d grown at least two inches taller.
“It’s good too, but I like the punkin best,” he told her.
“If I sit here I’m not going to have the energy to clean up and put away the leftovers.” Catherine got up and started toward the kitchen.
“Can I help?” Peter asked.
“No, just enjoy your coffee. I just want to finish loading the dishwasher and put the rest of the leftovers in the refrigerator. It won’t take long. Jake wants to watch a special on TV at seven and it’s already after six.”
It only took a few minutes to put away the leftovers, then she went back into the dining room to get the dessert dishes.
She was putting the plates and silverware in the dishwasher when she heard the sound of breaking glass, followed by a thud and Jacob’s cry. Peter reached him before she did, and when she did all she could see was blood.
“Get me a couple clean dish towels,” Peter ordered as he lifted Jake and carried him into the kitchen.
Catherine didn’t think, she just did as he asked, then watched as he folded one towel into a pad and pressed it to a long gash on Jake’s right arm. He elevated the arm and the wrapped the other dish towel around it and tied it.
“That’s going to need stitches,” he stated quietly.
“Should I call EMS?” she asked as she stroked her son’s hair. Jake was whimpering but looked more scared than pained.
“No, EMS would take 20 minutes to get here and at least that much longer to get to the closest hospital ER. Then you’ll have to wait. It will take less than 10 minutes to get to the hospital chamber below. He’s bleeding pretty heavily and I don’t want to take that extra time.”
She nodded and started to pick Jake up.
“No, I’ll carry him you lead the way.”
She did just that, opening doors as she went.
“Do you remember your pipe code?” Peter asked as they approached some pipes sticking up out of the floor.
“I think so. Why?”
“Send a message and ask Father to meet us in the hospital chamber.”
She stopped and using the metal rod that was propped next to the pipe she quickly tapped out a message.
Father, meet Peter in hospital chamber ASAP. Emergency.
She waited long enough to hear the acknowledgement then she sprinted until she caught up with Peter just before he reached the hospital chamber. Father and Mary arrived as Peter was putting Jake down on one of the tables.
She stood at the head of the table stroking Jake’s hair and whispering reassurances while Peter explained the injury. Then he and Father washed up while Mary prepared what they needed.
Catherine watched intently and could have sworn she felt every stitch even though Jake barely even whimpered. They used a local anesthetic, but it still had to have hurt.
The cut was deep and long and Jake had lost what looked like a lot of blood, but no major blood vessels had been cut.
“I don’t think he’ll need a transfusion. It’s good that you brought him here so quickly,” Father said. “It won’t hurt to start an IV just to get some more fluids into him. Catherine, I’ve never asked before, but does he appear to heal quickly, like Vincent?”
She nodded. “Yes he does. The few times that he’s fallen and scraped his hands or knees, he was almost completely healed in a couple days.”
“Good, then I’m sure he won’t need a transfusion as long as we can get plenty of fluids in him with the IV and by mouth. We’ll keep him here tonight and keep an eye on him. You can take him home tomorrow. Just keep him quiet for a couple days.”
Peter looked down at their patient.
“He appears to have dozed off.” He moved to one side while Mary moved in to start the IV.
“I’m done,” she announced a few minutes later. Do you want to leave him here or move him to one of the beds?
Before anyone could answer, they were all distracted by the sound of someone running up the corridor toward them.
“Is everything all right?” Vincent stepped into the chamber as he spoke. He stopped short when he saw who was there. He looked troubled.
“I felt his fear then his pain. A few minutes later I heard the message. I had to come.” His eyes met Catherine’s from where he stood just inside the entrance.
Father and Peter backed away and slipped out of the room.
“The Bond. You’ve got a Bond with him?” Catherine asked. She moved to Jake’s right side as Vincent moved to his left.
“Yes. It started the day he was born,” Vincent admitted.
“And you still stayed away from him. I don’t understand.”
“I could feel him. I knew he was all right and that he didn’t need me.”
He tore his eyes away from Catherine and looked down at the child he hadn’t seen since he was only hours old. He was surprised see him looking back, and even more surprised when he felt small, strong fingers wrap around his hand.
“Daddy?” Jake asked.
“Yes, Jacob,” Vincent answered hesitantly.
Vincent looked at Catherine with a question in his eyes.
“He knows you. I couldn’t let him go through his life not knowing who his father is. He’s seen the painting. I answer questions when he has them.”
“Daddy, did you come because I got hurt?” Jake asked.
“Yes, I did. I heard the message on the pipes and I came.”
“I didn’t cry… not much, but it hurt.” Jake was obviously proud of that.
“You were very brave,” Vincent acknowledged. “Do you think you’d be more comfortable in a bed?”
“This is kinda hard.”
Vincent carefully lifted Jake as Catherine moved the IV pole. He went to the cot where Catherine pulled back the blankets. She watched as Vincent removed Jake’s shoes then pulled the blankets up and leaned down to kiss the boy’s forehead.
“Now go to sleep,” he told him.
“Will you be here when I wake up?”
“I’ll be here,” Vincent promised.
Jake closed his eyes and soon his even breathing told them that he was asleep.
“He’s a big boy,” Vincent observed.
“He takes after his father,” she told him.
“I need to bathe and change. I was helping William clean the kitchen. If you’ll stay here until I come back. I can stay with him and let you get some rest.”
She was surprised by the offer, and agreed.
When he came back, she told him that she’d just lay down on one of the other cots. He nodded as she went to the other side of the chamber and made herself comfortable.
Vincent sat and watched the two most important people in his life as they slept: his son and his son’s mother. He didn’t feel as if he had the right to call Catherine anything else. Lover? Not really, it had only happened that one time, and he couldn’t even remember that. The love of his life? Yes, she was that, but he doubted that he’d ever have the opportunity or the right to prove that to her. Not now.
He pulled his journal and a pen out of his pocket and began to write.
I saw Catherine again tonight; I’m looking at her now, but to paraphrase Tolstoy: “I try not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet I see her, like the sun, even without looking. She hurts my eyes and my heart to look at her.” She is beautiful. More beautiful than the last time I saw her. Motherhood agrees with her.
And my son! Dare I call him my son? She has done all the work, just as she said she would. She has raised him alone since his birth and she is doing a wonderful job.
Yet, in spite of what I did; what I asked of her, she has allowed me into Jacob’s life. He knew me when he saw me, and he wasn’t afraid. She has told him about me, and shown him Kristopher’s painting. She could have told him how I didn’t want him, and how I walked out on her when she found that she was pregnant, but she didn’t. She told him only the good. What did I do to deserve that kind of consideration?
Catherine woke later to the sound of Vincent’s voice… he was reading The Velveteen Rabbit to Jake. Jake was awake and every once in a while he’d interrupt with a question. Vincent would answer it patiently then go back to the story.
After a few minutes Catherine sat up and stretched.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“A little after midnight.”
“I slept a lot longer than I thought I would.”
“A reaction to the stress.”
“Comes with motherhood I guess,” she said. “Thank you for letting me rest.” She looked down at Jake. “How long have you been awake?”
“Not long. Daddy said that The Velveteen Rabbit is one of your favorites. How come you didn’t read it to me?”
She was surprised by the question.
“Well, when I moved before you were born, I packed up all my books and never got around to unpacking them. There were just so many other books that we were enjoying together.”
“Actually Catherine,” Vincent held the book out to her. “This is your copy. You left it and I didn’t realize that I had it until almost a year after you were here last. I was going through my books and didn’t recognize it. Then I opened it and found your name written in green crayon on the inside of the front cover. I meant to give it to Peter or Mouse to give to you, but kept forgetting.”
“Oh… My mother gave me this. Thank you for returning it.”
“I’m sorry I took so long.”
There was an awkward silence which Catherine finally broke.
“Thank you for letting me nap. I can take over now and you can get some sleep.”
Catherine settled into a chair on the other side of Jake.
Vincent took the hint that she wanted to be alone with her son and stood.
“There are other books,” Vincent pointed at the nightstand. “Father checked on him just a little while ago and he said he’d be back between six and seven in the morning. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call me or Father.”
He leaned over and kissed Jake on the forehead, then whispered something in his ear that made Jake smile.
He was gone without another word and Catherine was surprised at how relieved she was that he was gone.
“Daddy’s funny,” said Jake.
“Funny, ha-ha, or funny odd?” she asked, knowing he’d understand.
“Ha-ha. He was telling me stories about him and Uncle Devin. They used to do a lot of fun stuff.”
She had to smile at that. “I’ve heard some of those stories. They might sound like fun, but they are probably one of the reasons Grandpa has gray hair. Now I think it’s time for you to go to sleep. Do you have to go to the bathroom first?”
“No, Daddy took me when I woke up.”
“OK Sweetie, then good night. Sleep tight. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
He accepted that. She noticed as he snuggled down onto his left side that the IV had been removed. Father must have been satisfied with his fluid intake.
She watched him sleep for a few minutes, then leaned over to look at the stack of books on the nightstand. There was another children’s book, and two collections of short stories. She picked one up, opened it and started to read.
At some point, she must have dozed off again because the next thing she realized she heard her son speak.
“Shh, Mama’s asleep.”
She raised her head and yawned.
“I must have dozed off.” She leaned over and picked up the book that she’d dropped on the floor, then she looked up to see Vincent standing there with a breakfast tray.
“I sure hope you brought some coffee,” she said as she stood and stretched.
He settled the tray across Jake’s legs, the picked up a mug and held it out to Catherine.
“I wouldn’t dare not to,” he told her.
She took the mug and sipped.
“Mmm, thank you.”
“When did you doze off,” he asked.
She picked up the book and looked at it. “It couldn’t have been very long, I finished the book and I remember hearing the 5am time hack on the pipes.”
“It’s just a little after six,” Vincent told her. “Father should be there in a few minutes.”
Jake was almost done with his breakfast when Father came in. He shooed Catherine and Vincent out to go get a proper breakfast while he checked Jake.
“I don’t think I really want anything right now,” she said as they stepped out of the chamber, “but I really would like to speak to you in private, if that’s OK?”
“Of course.” He didn’t take her to his chamber, as she had expected, but to Father’s study.
“This is private this early,” he told her as he indicated that she should take a seat.
She sat and he sat across from her.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s about Jake. I honestly didn’t think that he’d ever meet you, or at least I didn’t think it would happen until he was older, but now that it’s happened, I don’t think we can stuff that particular cat back into the bag.” She didn’t intend it to come out that way, but it had, and Vincent hadn’t flinched, so she continued. “He’s going to want to get to know you. And he can be trusted to keep a secret. I don’t know if he realizes where he is, or how he got here, but he does know that there are certain things about his father that he can’t share with anyone. He’ll be five in a little over a week, but he has the understanding of an older child.”
“He does know where he is. Last night he asked me why you went through the basement to get here, and I gave him a simple explanation. I explained that it was a secret place, and that he couldn’t tell anyone, and he understood completely. We talked a little about why I’ve stayed away. I tried to make sure he knows that it’s not his fault, and I think he understood that too.”
“Do you think you’ll want to spend time with him?”
“Catherine, I don’t think it would be a good idea to let him get too attached to me or to this place.” Catherine started to protest and he held up his hand. “Please hear me out… I still believe what I said almost six years ago. He’s lucky that he isn’t like me. He can live Above with you. He can go to a regular school, have a career, do all the things that would have been denied him if he’d been like me.”
“But he is like you, Vincent,” she protested. “More than you’d think just looking at him. On the outside he’s like me, but on the inside he’s like you. He’s stronger than the average five-year-old, and although he was a normal size when he was born, he’s now bigger than most of the kids his age. Peter said that he looks more like a seven-year-old. He’s definitely taller that the other five year olds. If he keeps growing like he has been, he’ll be taller than me by the time he’s nine, maybe before. He’s already lost quite a few of this baby teeth, except for his molars. Father said that you matured quickly up to puberty. Then you slowed down, and you were almost sixteen before puberty started changing your body.”
“Yes, I was quite skinny until I was sixteen, then within a year, I suddenly started to become more muscular and I grew several more inches.”
“The point I’m trying to make is, that Jake can pass Uptop, he will probably be able to do most anything he wants. I don’t know about sports in school; he’s stronger than other boys his age. That could cause problems. He’ll be able to go do college, but I worry that if he has a physical by anyone but Peter or Father, someone might find something different. Something besides his very good vision, hearing, sense of smell, slight higher than average oxygen levels in his blood, and slightly denser bones.”
“So I could still ruin his life,” Vincent observed with a pained look.
“No, that’s not likely! He’s with people who love him and who he loves. It just might make it easier for him to understand if he had the guidance of someone who has a better understanding, that’s all.”
“Catherine, how do you think he’s going to feel a few years from now, when he wants to play baseball or football in school and you tell him maybe he shouldn’t because he inherited a few strange abnormalities from his father, and if anyone finds out about them he might have to explain them. Or doctors might want to study him and try to figure out why he is as he is.”
“There is no way that you are going to make me feel guilty for not terminating that pregnancy when you wanted me to! I love my son and I loved him from the instant that Peter told me I was pregnant. I am not sorry I have him. If you don’t love him and don’t want to have anything to do with him, then just say so. Don’t make excuses; it’s not like you.”
“That isn’t what I’m trying to do! All I’m saying is that there will come a time when he’s not going to thank me for being his father. Perhaps it would be better if I continued to stay out of his life. He may have his feelings hurt by it now, but it’s bound to work out for the better when he’s older.”
“Whatever you say!” She stood, disgusted with Vincent right now. When she’d first seen him the previous evening, she’d felt a thrill run though her body. He was still the same, or at least she’d thought he was, but somewhere along the line over the last years he’d lost his sympathy for others; his empathy. She wondered if he treated everyone like this. She didn’t say anything else, just quickly left the study and made her way back to the hospital chamber.
“So, when can we go home?” she asked with forced cheerfulness when she entered.
“Anytime you want to,” Father told her. “He’s finished his breakfast, and all his vitals are normal. He’s healing well. I would like to take a look at it on Sunday. I might take the stitches out then.”
“Could you come up to the house to do that?” she asked. She stepped close to Father and continued in a whisper. “I don’t want him to see too much of the tunnels. Kind of out of sight, out of mind. I don’t want him to let something slip accidentally.”
“Of course Catherine.” He sensed that things hadn’t gone well between her and his son. And he was sure he’d have a few choice words to say to Vincent later. “I’ll have one of the children lead you back to your threshold.”
Catherine managed to keep Jake quiet for the next couple days, but that didn’t make him talk less. By Sunday, she wanted to scream. Every other word out of his mouth was ‘Daddy’ or ‘my father’. She’d done all the work of raising him and taking care of him and less than twenty-four hours in Vincent’s presence and all he could talk about was his father.
Father took the stitches out when he visited on Sunday afternoon.
“It really is amazing how quickly he heals. Is he still taking the antibiotics Peter prescribed?” he asked as they watched Jake going up the stairs to play in his room.
“Yes, Peter said to take them for a few days after the stitches came out.”
“That’s good advice… Vincent told me about your conversation.”
“I’d rather not talk about it,” she told him. “I was disappointed with him when I first told him that I was pregnant. I don’t know why I expected him to act any different now. I guess I hoped that he’d make an effort for Jake, but I was wrong. I just don’t get it Father, he loves children so much, but he can’t seem to find room in his heart for his own son. I know he didn’t want him, but… I don’t know, Father, it just hurts.”
“I know Catherine. I’m watching this now and I’m seeing what I did to Devin. Devin was lucky that he didn’t know at the time that I was his father and that I was rejecting him. Jacob doesn’t see it yet, but when he does, it’s going to hurt. All we can do is love him and try to make up for Vincent’s neglect.”
“Well, at least Vincent is acknowledging that he’s Jake’s father. I just wish he’d do something more than that. There will also be a time when Jake has all kinds of questions and I’m not going to be able to answer them.” What Father had said, piqued her curiosity. “Can I ask you a question about what you just said?”
“Certainly Catherine,” he looked dubious.
“I’ve always wondered why you didn’t acknowledge Devin. That has always bugged the daylights out of me. How would the same man who’d gotten himself black balled and nearly deported because he had the courage of his convictions and did the right thing, have any reason for not acknowledging his son?”
“Stupidity?” he suggested with a sad smile. “It’s really difficult for me to put such nebulous reasons into words… Grace didn’t tell me that she was pregnant for quite a while. She said that she hadn’t realized it at first. We weren’t actually living together. We were still in the upper tunnels at the time and the temperatures there are more dependent on the temperatures Above. In the winter we sometimes shared our blankets for warmth. Grace was a sweet woman, very giving, and wise in her own way. When she told me that she was pregnant, I was shocked, not at her, but at me, an educated man, a medical doctor and I hadn’t even considered the possibility that something like that could result from our… encounter. I blustered and she quickly said that it was possible that the baby wasn’t mine. Even then I was sure she hadn’t been with anyone else, but I grabbed onto that possibility with both hands. It did allow me to stay more or less detached. I dredged up everything that I remembered about obstetrics and gave her the best care that I could for the rest of her pregnancy and during her labor and delivery, but I couldn’t save her. If she’d been in a hospital Above, they probably would have saved her, but I couldn’t.”
Father stared off into the distance, remembering. He looked sad.
“Then there’s a possibility that Devin isn’t your son?” she asked.
“No, he’s my son. As I said, I knew she hadn’t been with anyone else. She didn’t trust easily, and she trusted me. She’d gone from an abusive family to an abusive husband. That was how she wound up where she was. She finally gave up and left her husband. She couldn’t go back to her family. She felt that the streets were safer than either of those places. Devin looks just like my father. I’ve got some old pictures somewhere. I’ll have to find them and show you sometime.”
“Did you name him?” she asked.
“No, Grace did. Before he was born, she told me that her maiden name was Devin. When she left her husband, she was sure that he’d probably divorced her, so when she needed a last name, she used Devin. She wanted that name given to her child, as a first name. Even then, we didn’t pay much attention to surnames. She said that if she had a boy, and she was sure it would be, then Devin should be his name, and if it was a girl, she though Devina had a nice ring to it.”
“You know, he’s using Devin Wells now,” she said.
“No, I didn’t, but it makes sense. I ran into Peter, Above, only a week before Devin was born. He started his residency when I was Chief Resident and we became friends. He became one of our first Helpers. He insisted from the beginning that it would be a good idea to register the births of all the children born Below, just in case any of them decided they wanted to live Above when they grew up, or if the parents moved back. When he asked me what to put on Devin’s birth certificate I told him that I was Devin’s father and to give him my name. He was the only one who knew.”
“Before he left with Charles that last time, Devin told me that Peter had given him a copy of his birth certificate when he came down to examine Charles the last time they were in town. We stay in touch because I told him that if Charles needed anything to contact me and I’d cover it. He’s had a few medical expenses over the last few years, not a lot, but Devin has called me a few times. He’s been told by several different doctors that the best medical care for Charles’ medical issues is right here in New York City, so they’ve been working their way back over the last year.”
“He did say something to that affect in his last letter,” Father told her.
“You never did say why you didn’t acknowledge him to everyone here.”
“When Grace realized that she wasn’t going to live to see him grow up, she told me she wanted him to be known as her son. Something that she’d done right, all by herself. A few of the people knew what her last name was. That was where the idea of a naming ceremony came from. It’s evolved from the first one for Devin. When Grace died, I handed Devin over to one of the other women of our group who was already nursing her own child. I saw him from time to time, and made sure he was provided for, but he stayed with her until he was almost a year old. She brought him back to me when she decided to take her child and go back to the world Above.
“By then, we’d found the lower tunnels, were we now live, and we’d moved there. Sarah had commandeered one of the chambers that we found was easy to keep warm and she was using it as a nursery for the three babies we had at the time. One was hers and the other two had been found abandoned in the Park. I took Devin to her and she gladly took him. It just became a habit to allow others to look after him while I went about the business of helping to build and guide our group. John and Anna were with us then, had been since shortly after Devin’s birth.
“Devin was three when he came back to me, at least for the nights. He was sleeping in a chamber off what became the study, and I was getting used to the idea that I had a son. I was planning to tell him when he got a little older and I thought he’d understand. Then Anna found Vincent, and I became more than a little obsessed with him. At first he was a medical anomaly. John insisted he was probably an experiment gone awry, maybe a cross between a feline and a primate. Even he never voiced the opinion that someone might be experimenting with human/animal hybrids. He was quite all right with allowing Vincent to stay with me, mostly because he cried so incessantly in the beginning. Once he quit crying, it was quite apparent that he was intelligent, in fact, he progressed pretty much as Jacob has been. After that, there just never seemed to be an appropriate time to tell Devin that he was my son. Vincent had begun to call me Father, as had some of the other children. Devin seemed to go out of his way to avoid calling me that.”
“I hope you two manage to work through this,” she said. “I didn’t think much of his con artist ways when I first figured out what was going on, but he’s kind of grown on me.” She laughed. “Kind of like mold… but I do think that he’ll be an interesting uncle for Jake.”
“Just as long as Jacob doesn’t decide he wants to be like him,” added Father.
“Absolutely, but Devin has mended his ways, and Jacob could have worse role models.”
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Catherine and Jake had a quiet Christmas. She had several visitors from Below, but none of them was Vincent. Jake only asked once why his Daddy didn’t come to visit.
“Well, Sweetie,” she began after bit of thought. “He’s a busy man. He’s the strongest out of all the men where he lives, and he has to do a lot of work that the others can’t do; like lifting heavy stuff. And he’s a teacher and has classes.”
“He has to take care of all the kids where he is?” Jake asked.
“That’s part of it,” she agreed.
“I guess they need him more than I do, since I have you.”
He went back to the coloring book and they never mentioned the subject again. That alone made Catherine’s heart ache. Jake was experiencing disillusionment too early.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Catherine hadn’t decided if or when she would go back to work but one of the requirements of maintaining her license to practice law was that she complete a specific number of continuing legal education credits every two years. She had been taking classes and seminars at Columbia since the previous summer and was attending the last seminar at the end of January when she noticed that Luz Corrales was taking the same class. She wondered if Luz was still running her neighborhood law clinic. When she ran into Luz as they left the lecture hall on the edge of campus she figured it might be a good time to find out.
“So how’s the world treating you?” asked Luz as they stopped just inside the doors to button up their coats and pull on gloves.
“Pretty well,” Catherine answered. “How about you?”
“I stay busy,” said Luz as they pushed through the door into the frigid afternoon. “It’s days liked this that I almost wish my folks had never left sunny San Juan. God, it’s cold!”
“Let’s go for coffee,” suggested Catherine, on a whim. “There’s a place less than a block from here that has great pastries.” Brooke and Samantha were babysitting Jake, and a little more time wouldn’t make a difference.
“Sure. Got to be better than walking all the way to the bus on an empty stomach in this weather.”
They hurried along the sidewalk and barely spoke again until they were seated at a small table inside the warm coffee shop. Catherine had tea and a scone, and Luz had coffee and a piece of warm apple pie.
“OK, so what’s up Chandler,” asked Luz after she swallowed her first bite of pie and washed it down with coffee. “Got another case my people are messing up?”
Catherine smiled. “You always did have a way about you, Luz… I left the DA’s office about six years ago.”
“I kind of noticed that you haven’t been in the papers lately. In fact, the last thing I read about you was that your dad had died. I was sorry to hear that.” Luz’s voice softened. Catherine knew that she was close to her parents.
“I left the DA’s office shortly after my father died.”
“Did you go back to your dad’s firm?”
“No, actually I haven’t been working. I have a son. He just turned five a couple months ago.”
“Burch’s?” Luz asked.
“Why does everyone always ask that?” asked Catherine with a laugh. “No, Elliot is not the father and I haven’t seen him in years. I was seeing someone else, but he’s not in the picture any longer. Jake will be starting school soon, and I was thinking about going back to work part time. I know I was doing some good at the DA’s office, but the hours there are not compatible with being a single mother. Are you still running your neighborhood law clinic?”
“Yeah, actually we got a couple grants, and we’ve moved up, into slightly nicer offices, larger place. If you’re looking for a job, I can’t afford to pay what you’d cost.”
“Actually, I was thinking about volunteering two or three days a week.”
Luz’s face lit up with the biggest smile Catherine had ever seen on it. “You work for me? For free? You’re hired! When do you want to start?”
Catherine had to laugh. “When do you need me?” she asked.
“Um… Last week? Seriously, you’re not pulling my leg. You really want to do this?”
“Yes, I do! Right now I need something where I can make my own hours. I could go back to Chandler & Coolidge, but if I was bored before, it would only be worse now. With you, I know I’ll be doing something worthwhile, and I probably won’t have time to be bored. What kind of work do you do?”
“A little bit of everything. Some courtroom work, but mostly we help people deal with pissy landlords, small lawsuits, divorce, custody, wills, contracts, setting up small businesses. We have two paid clerks who do nothing but help people fill out forms. It’s not boring; no two clients are alike, and I think I’ve seen it all since I started working there.”
“You’re the director now? I think I saw that in the newspaper.”
“For almost three years now. We are able to pay half a dozen employees: me, two clerks, two lawyers and a secretary. We have six more volunteers who do filing and typing and run errands. We could really use another lawyer, but we can’t afford to pay one.”
“Then this should work for both of us. I don’t want to work full time; maybe just 18 or 20 hours a week, and I can afford to work as a volunteer. So when would you like me to start?”
“How about next Wednesday? We have a staff meeting scheduled for 9am. Come then and I’ll introduce you to everyone and show you around afterward. And if you need daycare there is one right next door. They take drop offs and some of our clients use them while they are in our office for appointments.” She handed Catherine one of her cards with the address.
That set the tone. Catherine showed up at 8:30 and checked out the daycare. It was clean and bright and the people working there seemed to be interested in their charges. She filled out paper work and paid for the first week while she watched Jake interact with the other children. He hadn’t had a lot of opportunities to be with other children. This would be good for him.
After the staff meeting she and Luz talked and they agreed that Catherine would work Wednesdays through Fridays, six hours a day, from 9am to 3pm, it would mesh perfectly with Jake’s school hours when school started. She could drop him off at school, go to work then pick him up on her way home on the days she worked.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Catherine had been working with Luz for several months when Luz came into the tiny office Catherine had been allotted.
“I have huge favor to ask of you, Cathy,” she said as she dropped into the client chair in front of Catherine’s desk.
“Ask away.”
“I just saw a client. A couple, they are here asking for help in getting their daughter out of jail. She was picked up for prostitution and her bail has been set ridiculously high because they are trying to get her to rat out her pimp.”
“By ‘they’ you mean…?”
“Cops, DA.”
“And you want me to do what?”
“Well, if what her folks are saying is true, the girl wasn’t turning tricks voluntarily. She’s been missing for several months. She was only fifteen when she disappeared. She was on her way home from school… Catholic school… and she just never made it home. The parents reported her missing, but the cops treated it as a runaway and made it a low priority. The parents started their own search. They’ve handed out flyers with her picture. That was how they found out that she’s been working as a prostitute. The mom told me that her daughter wanted to be a nun, there is no way that she would be doing this willingly. They tracked her down and had a lot of information, that they were going to take to the police, but then they got a call from CPS that their daughter was in custody. They haven’t been allowed to talk to her yet, but they have talked to a social worker who was on the case. Although CPS was initially involved because the girl is barely sixteen, the DA has decided to handle her as an adult.”
Luz handed a file to Catherine. She opened it and saw that Joe’s name was sprinkled liberally through it.
“I take it that you want me to talk to Joe about this.”
“If you still know him and are willing.”
“I know him. He’s married to my best friend, Jenny Aaronson and I as maid of honor at their wedding. Can I get on the record as…” She glanced at the file. “… Anita’s lawyer?”
“As soon as I can make the call. That’s the only good thing about them treating her as an adult. We can get someone in to talk to her.”
“I want to talk to her first, get her story. Then I’ll go talk to Joe.” She tapped the file. “I’ll take this home with me tonight and look it over then go straight to the detention center tomorrow morning.
Since she wasn’t going to the office on Thursday, she asked Brooke to babysit instead of taking Jake to the daycare.
“I won’t be at the office until this afternoon, but if you need me I just got this.” She held up a gray object a little longer than her hand.
“What is it?” asked Brooke.
“It’s a mobile phone. Peter suggested I get one for security. I left the number on the pad next to the phone in the kitchen. It works pretty well. If I’m not available, it will go to an automated answering service so just leave a message. I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”
“Don’t show that to Mouse,” Brooke warned as Catherine was leaving. “He’ll try to find one he can take and then see if he can make it better.”
“Oh, God forbid. Father would never forgive me!”
Catherine took a cab to the detention center and was shown into an interview room with a girl who looked much younger than her sixteen years. She was a pretty girl, who looked not more that thirteen. She had a bruise on one cheek and a lost look in her eyes.
Catherine sat down across the table from the girl and extended her hand after she set down her briefcase.
“Hello, Anita. My name is Cathy Chandler. I’m a lawyer. Your parents sent me to see if I can help you.”
Anita didn’t take her hand, but looked at her incredulously.
“My parents? You must be mistaken. They won’t want to have anything to do with me, not after what I’ve done.”
“No Anita. You are the one who is mistaken. They’ve been looking for you since you went missing, even when the police wouldn’t help them, they worked on their own. They had almost tracked you down when they got the call from CPS that the police had you in custody.”
“They must be so ashamed of what I’ve done,” she started to cry.
“They know you weren’t doing it of your own free will. That is why hired me. They want you home or wherever you feel safe.” She handed the girl a tissue. “But to make that happen, I need to know exactly what happened to you.”
It took Anita a little while to get started, but when she finally did, it was as if she couldn’t tell it fast enough. Catherine got it all on tape.
After she left Anita, Catherine walked a couple blocks to a café that had tables outside on the sidewalk. She sat down and after she ordered, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Luz’s private number.
“And?” Luz prompted after Catherine told her that she’d just talked to Anita.
“To put it in a nutshell, she was a sex slave, Luz. Two guys grabbed her as she was walking home from school one day last September. They stuffed her in the back of a van. They tied her up and drove for hours. When they finally stopped, she had no idea where she was. She was kept in a small dark room for a while. She’s not sure how long. She was drugged most of the time, and she said she was sure she was raped while she was drugged, but she doesn’t remember it. Then an older man, maybe 45 or 50 started coming in several times a day and just talking to her. Basically brainwashing her. Telling her that her parents wouldn’t want her anymore now that she was tarnished, no longer a virgin. She said that he told her his name was Jorge, but that she should call him Daddy from then on, since he’d be taking care of her just like her daddy. He had other girls in the house and he told one of the older ones to teach Anita what she needed to know. She found out later that it was only a little more than a week between the time that she was kidnapped and when Jorge drove her to her first ‘appointment.’ Some of the girls were there willingly, but out of the ten that he had living in the house with him and one older woman, four of them had been snatched off the street like her. I got the whole story on tape; you can listen to it later. I’m heading over to the DA’s office as soon as I finish lunch.”
“I was honestly afraid that she might not talk to you, Cathy,” Luz said. “I’m surprised she opened up to you. She wouldn’t even talk to the social worker.”
“Everyone else, including the social worker, is on the other side, Luz. She’s begun to identify with the lowlife who kidnapped her. She’s protecting him. I mean it’s obvious, from the way she talked about him, that she hates and fears him, but she is still protecting him. I told her I was there to help her, and she chose to trust me. I didn’t question it, I just went with it and got as much as I could.”
“I hope you have just as good luck with Maxwell.”
“Me too. He and I butted heads a lot when I worked with him, but he’s not an unreasonable man.”
Catherine reminded herself of that as she walked into Joe’s office an hour later.
“Cathy! It’s great to see you. Jenn was just saying the other night that it’s been a while since you and Jake were over to the house.” He hugged her and stood back. “You want to come back to work for me?” he asked hopefully.
She smiled and shook her head. “Sorry, not this time. Actually I already have a job. It’s a volunteer position with Luz Corrales’ at the Neighborhood Law Clinic.”
Joe was surprised by that.
“I have a bad feeling that you’re not here on a social visit.”
“You’re right. I’m here to talk to you about Anita Ortiz.”
Joe waved at a chair.
“Have a seat… You her lawyer?” he asked once she was settled.
“On the record, yes. I talked to her this morning. What are you planning?
“You’ve probably figured out by now that we are holding her in an attempt to get information out of her.”
“Why her and not the other girls?”
“As far as we could determine, she was the one who’d been with Jorge Alveda the least amount of time; the one most likely to talk.”
“And she was the youngest and is scared to death of the man. She’s afraid that if she talks to the police that he’ll kill her and her whole family. He told her over and over that if she ran away from him or did anything to cross him, that is what he’d do.”
“And she’s gullible enough to believe him?”
“Joe, she’s only sixteen; fifteen when she was kidnapped. She’s just a child. She’s scared half to death about all of this. She’s been raped, abused, beaten and God knows what. This is a girl who wanted to be a nun. She thinks that not even God loves her now because of what she’s done. And the sad part is that she didn’t choose to do any of it.”
“But we need the information she has,” Joe told her. “We’re aware of what Alveda has been doing, and that he’s been doing it for years. In addition to his stable of prostitutes he is peddling underage girls and he sells drugs. He uses drugs to keep his girls in line. We were surprised that this Anita was clean when we picked her up.”
“She said he kept her drugged for the first few days, but that she hasn’t had anything since. She did notice that some of the other girls were using.”
“She’s just lucky. She must have been cooperating.” Joe looked at her with an arched eyebrow.
“Out of fear, Joe. It’s as effective as any drug in controlling people. Before I left Anita, I asked her if she’d be willing to talk to you if I was with her. She wanted assurances that she and her family would be safe.”
“We can do that!” Joe told her. “I’d like to talk to her this afternoon if you can do it.”
“Just you and me, OK? She told me that every time someone has been there questioning her, there were half a dozen intimidating people in the room. You have to remember that she’s just a scared little girl.”
“Can we take a stenographer?” he asked.
“How about a tape recorder? She let me tape our conversation when I talked to her his morning.”
“I guess the tape can be transcribed. As soon as we pick up Alveda, we can release her, but she’ll have to agree to testify.”
“I think we can guarantee that. I know a young woman who was in a similar position once. I think that she can convince Anita that there is a way to have a good life after something like this.”
While Joe got his things together and went to tell Moreno that he was going to be out of the office for the rest of the afternoon, Catherine called Brooke to tell her that she’d be late.
“How late?” asked Brooke.
“I’m not sure. Can you take Jake Below with you and get him some dinner?”
“Sure, and if you aren’t home yet I’ll see to that he gets a bath and goes to bed.”
“Thank you, Brooke. You are a jewel.”
“Baby sitter,” she explained to Joe when he came back into his office.
Joe got his statement from Anita and he called the judge from the phone at the detention center to request arrest and search warrants for Jorge Alveda and his house. He wanted to be in on the arrest with Greg Hughes, so he and Catherine parted in front of the building.
“Thanks Cathy. As usual you cracked the nut we couldn’t even dent. Are you sure you don’t want to come back and work for us?”
“Positive, Joe. Today is the perfect example of the reason why… I’m supposed to work three days a week, six hours a day. It’s almost 6, I’ve been at it since 8, when I was only supposed to work from 9am to 3pm. I’ve put in ten hours today. I’ve already worked 16 hours this week, and I’m only supposed to work 18 total. Whenever I get involved in a legal matter with you, it always runs into overtime. I want time to be a mom too, not just a lawyer.”
“I get you. Same reason Jenn’s now working from home most of the time. She’s still editing but she does it around the kids, and between loads of laundry.”
“She’s lucky. Say ‘hi’ for me and kiss the girls. Tell Jenny that I’ll call her this weekend and we’ll see if we can come up with a time that she and I can hang out, just us, like we used to.”
“That means I get to babysit,” he didn’t look all that thrilled at the prospect.
“I can bring Jake over and then it will be two against two,” she suggested as she hugged him.
“That just might work!”
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Catherine went next door to pick Jake up at the daycare on the Friday before Father’s day. The woman who ran the daycare called her over as soon as she came in.
“Ms. Chandler, I wanted to give you a heads up about Jake,” she said as Catherine walked up.
“About what?” She turned and looked at her son who was helping to build a Lego castle on the large table in the back of the room.
“We made Fathers’ Day cards today, and Amanda didn’t know that Jake’s father isn’t in the picture, and instead of giving him something else to do, he made a card too.”
“That’s all right,” Catherine assured her. “He knows his father, and we might be able to mail him the card. It’s no big deal.”
“Well, Amanda thought that the way he drew his father was, well, different.”
“Oh?” Catherine hoped that Jake hadn’t been as detail oriented as he usually was.
The woman handed Catherine the piece of folded construction paper. Across the top were the words: To my Daddy, and under them was a drawing of two people; one tall and one small. The tall one was turned sideways to the viewer. He wore boots, blue jeans and a blue work shirt. He was looking down at the smaller figure. His long hair hung forward and covered his face, and his hands were in his pockets. The shorter figure was dressed as Jake was today in blue shorts, red sneakers and a red t-shirt. The smaller figure’s hair was the same color as that of the taller figure who stood looking down at him. Catherine had to smile. Jake had quite effectively kept his father’s identity a secret.
“What’s wrong with it?” she asked.
“Most of the other children drew their father facing front, and if they drew themselves in they were usually holding hands with their father. Amanda is studying to be an elementary school art teacher and she thinks that Jake might just have a little artistic talent.”
“I guess we will just have to explore that,” Catherine said with a smile.
“I hope you do. Is his father artistic? Perhaps a musician? Amanda was speculating from the way Jake drew him that he might be a musician, and that was why he’s not around.”
Catherine frowned. She was a little touchy about her privacy. The woman was obviously fishing for information, and it felt like an invasion.
“I really don’t think that’s any of Amanda’s business. If either of you want to know something, I suggest that you just ask me… Excuse me.”
She went across the room for Jake and they left.
“Mom, can I give the Fathers’ Day card to Daddy?” he asked her when they were settled in the cab.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see if we can send a message and have someone pick it up.” She could send it to him care of Peter, she supposed. “But he may not get it in time for Fathers’ Day.”
“We could just take it to him,” he suggested logically. “It only takes a few minutes to walk there.”
Obviously, he hadn’t forgotten his few trips Below.
“We’ll see,” she told him.
He brought it up several more times that evening and on Saturday.
When she examined her motives after Jake had gone to bed on Saturday, she realized that she didn’t want to take the card to Vincent because she wasn’t sure how she’d deal with seeing him again.
She’d had hopes that he’d want to spend more time with Jake after he’d met him at Thanksgiving, but Jake hadn’t seen him once in the months since. Jake had mentioned that Vincent hadn’t been at dinner the time Brooke had taken him Below. She didn’t know who was more disappointed, her or Jake. She was used to it, but Jake had been hurt.
She didn’t want to ruin Jake’s Fathers’ Day, so she decided to take him Below the next morning.
When he came downstairs to breakfast the next morning, she told him that they would take the card to Vincent once he’d eaten and dressed. He was so excited he hardly finished his breakfast. He ran back upstairs and was back in only a few minutes.
“Did you brush your teeth?” she asked as she ran her fingers through his hair and tried to make it lay down. It was curly and the same texture and color as Vincent’s, and when it started to get long it was hard to control.
“Yes. Can we go now?” He held the card and was almost hopping back and forth from one foot to the other in his excitement.
“Let me find my shoes.” She slipped on the tennis shoes she’d left by the back door, then picked up a flashlight and took sweaters off the rack and handed Jake his.
“It’s summer,” he said.
“Not Below,” she told him. “It’s always cool there.”
He put on the sweater and followed her into the basement. She pulled the pipe and Jake watched as the door swung open. She lifted the hinged piece of counter and laid it back on the stationary side. Jake followed her through.
“You know how to get there?” he asked.
“It’s simple, and someone marked it on the wall.” She flashed her light on the chalked arrows as they passed them.
After only a few minutes on the steep downward sloping path, they came to the intersection. There were torches and candles burning here and Catherine turned off her flashlight. They quickly reached Father’s study and Catherine waved Jake through the door ahead of her.
Father looked up from the book he was reading and smiled.
“Jacob, Catherine! What a pleasant surprise!”
“Happy Fathers’ Day, Grandpa,” Jake called as he ran across the chamber.
“I hope we’re not disturbing you,” Catherine said as she followed at a more sedate pace.
“You could never be a disturbance. You know that I feel that I don’t see this young man nearly often enough.” He lifted Jake into his lap. “My, but you’ve grown! You’re getting heavy.”
“Mama says I feel like a ton of bricks,” Jake reported.
“Well, I don’t know if you’re quite that heavy yet, but I’m sure that you are heavier than you were the last time I saw you. So to what do I owe this honor?”
“I made a card for my daddy.” Jacob waved the piece of gray construction paper.
“Is Vincent around?” asked Catherine.
“I’m sorry,” Father directed his words at Jake. “He’s gone to survey one of the lower levels. It’s not that far away, but the pipes haven’t been extended to that area yet. I’m not sure when to expect him back. These trips usually last several days and he’s only been gone since yesterday morning.”
Jake looked disappointed, almost to the point of tears.
“We can leave the card for him, Jake,” Catherine rushed to point out.
“But I wanted to give it to him myself.” Jake was seldom sulky, but she knew this was important to him.
“I know, Sweetie, but he’s not here, and you heard Grandpa say that he isn’t sure when he will be back. If you leave the card, I’m sure Grandpa will make sure he gets it.”
“I have an even better idea. Why don’t you get your mother to show you where your father’s chamber is, and you can leave it for him there. He’ll be sure to see it as soon as he gets back.”
“Can we?” Jake asked.
Catherine nodded and held her hand out for his. “Come on, I know a shortcut.”
He jumped down from Father’s lap and ran to Catherine. She took his hand and led him down a short tunnel, through the small bathing chamber that Father and Vincent shared and into Vincent’s chamber.
At first she thought it hadn’t changed; except that it was less cluttered, but then she started noticing differences. There was a different table in the center; it was larger, and there was room for Vincent’s chair and three or four more. She looked around and then it dawned on her that the bed was missing. The stained glass window was still in place but instead of a bed underneath it, there was an old leather sofa. She smiled when she saw it. It was the one that had been in her dad’s home office since she was a little girl. She’d napped on it more times than she could count. When she’d emptied the penthouse after his death she’d sent a lot of clothes and furniture Below.
Jake was all over the chamber. He wasn’t touching anything, but he was looking at everything. She watched him as she took in the changes.
“Mama, is this Daddy’s bedroom?” he called from behind a screen right next to the tunnel they’d just stepped out of.
She rounded the screen and stepped behind Jake.
“Looks like it, Honey.” The chamber was almost as large as the other one and the pieces of furniture that were missing from the original chamber were here: his bed, the old smaller writing table, a couple armoires and an upholstered bench. There was also the leather easy chair that matched the sofa in front, some lamps and a small bookshelf.
“Can I leave the card on his bed?” Jake asked.
“He might not see it right away,” Catherine warned.
“But he’ll see it before he goes to bed.”
Jake crossed the floor to the bed. He opened the card and stood it up on the bed. As Catherine looked closer she noticed that the bed was a new one, or, at least, new to Vincent. The old one had been a small double bed, but this one looked like it must be a king. Much more suitable for a man Vincent’s size.
“Do you think that’s OK, Mama?” Jake asked.
“That will be fine. He can’t miss it there,” she told him. She suddenly felt like she had to get out of there. “Come on. Let’s go back and visit with Grandpa for a while.”
They stayed for lunch, and went home early in the afternoon. Jake was fascinated with everything. The other children told him about the stuff they did and he went home with stars in his eyes, convinced that his father lived in a magical place.
“Do you think Daddy got my card?” Jake asked later as Catherine put away the book they’d been reading.
“If he’s home, I’m sure he has,” she told him. “If he’s not home, he’ll find it when he gets back.”
“Do you think he’ll like it?”
“I’m sure he will, Honey.” She tucked the blankets around him and kissed him on the cheek. “Now you go to sleep.”
“I’m not sleepy.” Jake had never been one to fight going to bed, but he’d been keyed up since they returned from delivering his card to Vincent. Or at least to Vincent’s chamber.
She knew that Jake hoped that Vincent would acknowledge the card in some way; really hoped he’d come up for a visit, but after their encounter the previous Thanksgiving, Catherine had her doubts.
“Then humor me,” she suggested. “Close your eyes and lay still.”
He did as she suggested and it didn’t take long for him to fall asleep.
Catherine went up to her bedroom to get ready for bed. She changed, but it was still early, so she put on her robe and went back down to the living room to watch some TV before she went to bed.
She gave up on TV about an hour later and was reading when she thought she heard the basement door in the kitchen.
She was halfway to the kitchen when Vincent stepped into the room.
“I’m sorry.” He sounded a little out of breath. “I know it’s late, but I wanted to thank Jake for the card.”
Catherine debated whether or not to wake Jake, but she knew he’d be upset if he found out that Vincent had been there and she hadn’t.
“He’s asleep, but go on up. He’d never forgive me if I didn’t let you see him. He’s on the second floor. Turn right at the top of the stairs, it’s the first room. The door is ajar.”
“Thank you, Catherine,” he said and sprinted up the stairs.
Catherine was surprised. She hadn’t really expected him, and she wondered what it meant. Was he ready to accept being a father, or was this just a polite call to say thank you?
She went back to the couch and sat. She tried to go back to her book, but she was distracted. She wondered what they were saying to each other.
It was almost an hour later when Vincent came back downstairs. He was carrying his cloak and he looked a little perturbed.
“I never expected that; I’ve never received a Fathers’ Day card before.”
“How many other children do you have?” The words were out before she had time to think.
His head snapped up and their eyes met. Catherine closed hers and sighed.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that to sound like it did. I guess I’m getting sarcastic in my old age.” She stood. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll make some tea.” She was surprised when he actually sat down.
In the kitchen she put the kettle on the burner and turned on the flame. She went through the procedure on autopilot. When the water boiled, she filled the teapot then picked up two mugs in one hand, the teapot in the other and carried them out to the living room.
Vincent had thrown his cloak over the back of the sofa he was sitting on. His legs were stretched out in front of him and his head was back.
“I didn’t see the card when I first got back. I was in a hurry to bathe and join Father for dinner. I just rushed in and tossed my cloak on the bed. Father asked me if I’d seen it. I found it when I went back after dinner. I would have been here sooner, except it seemed like everyone I met had something extremely important they had to tell me. I’m sorry I woke him.”
“Was he glad to see you?” she asked.
“Yes, he was.” He lifted his head and looked at her. “He said that he knew I’d come.”
“Then it’s good that you woke him. He’s talked about nothing else since he brought that card home from school on Friday.”
“I thought school was out for the summer.”
“It is, it’s actually a day care. I work six hours a day three days a week, and I drop him off at the day care next door to the office.”
“What did I ever do to deserve the faith he has in me?”
Catherine had to smile at that one. Vincent had disappointed her, but she’d tried not to pass her disillusionment on to her son, so when she told him about his father, she only told him the positive stuff.
“You’ve just been you. I’ve been telling him about you since before he was born. I wanted him to know who you are, what you are really like. He’s got Peter, Father, and Uncle Joe as positive male role models, but nothing is ever quite as good as a father, even if he’s not around. I might have painted a rather rosy picture, but I didn’t want him to think badly of you.”
Catherine was almost glad that the Bond was gone. She was able to hide her pounding heart. She leaned down and poured tea into the two mugs. She slid one across the coffee table toward him.
“Why would you do that, after what I did?” he asked.
“Because, no matter what your attitude has been, you’re still his father, and I still think that you’re the best example for him.”
Vincent was agitated, she could tell he wanted to get up and pace, but he stayed in the chair. He leaned forward and rested his head in his hands, hiding his face from her.
“I don’t deserve it,” he said, his voice muffled by his hands.
Catherine sat and watched for a moment before she put down her cup and moved to sit on the coffee table in front of him. She almost reached out for his hands, but pulled her hands back at the last minute.
“You probably don’t,” she agreed, “but we made that little boy. We loved each other and we made him. I’ve felt a little guilty about it, myself. I’ve questioned. Did I take advantage of you in your weakened state? Should I have said ‘no’ instead of wholeheartedly falling into your arms? I don’t know, but I do know that I wanted it to happen, had for a long time. Maybe I was wrong, but we have a son, and I love him. And I would do it all over again if I knew that I would get him. I knew that a mother’s love was different from any other love I’ve experienced, but I didn’t realize how different until I held him in my arms. I can’t really be angry at you; you gave him to me. So, there was no way I could paint you in a bad light to him. He needed to know what kind of man his father was… is. Father has told him stories about you as a child, and I’ve told him about things that happened while I knew you. How you took in Eric and Ellie, and Lena and little Cathy. How you saved my life more than once.”
She stopped and took a breath.
“Vincent, will you look at me? Please?”
He reluctantly lifted his head and looked at her.
“Why?” he questioned.
She wasn’t sure what he was asking, but she had several answers.
“Why do I want you to look at me? Because I want to see your face; I want to know that you are getting what I’m saying. Why did I do it? Make you into a hero to our son? Because every child deserves that. My dad was my hero. He could always make everything right, he could do anything he set his mind to. He was Superman, Batman and the Phantom all rolled into one. I loved him. Maybe I’m an idiot, maybe it’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. I tried to stay angry. I’ve tried to convince myself that you weren’t worth it, but I knew that you were and I couldn’t bring myself to tell our son anything bad. I don’t like what you did, and I don’t know why you did it, but I know that you must have thought that you had a good reason.”
Vincent’s eyes softened and he nodded slightly.
“I thought then that I did,” he admitted. “When you told me that you were pregnant, it just didn’t sink in right away. I didn’t remember the act that caused it. I’d been so determined not to make love to you for so many reasons. One was not to father a child who might be like me. For a split second I doubted you, but I knew that was wrong. I knew you too well.
“I remember studying Gregor Mendal’s experiments with pea plants and I knew the possibilities and at first I was serious about an abortion, but when you refused, I was actually relieved… But I saw it as a way to finally push you away, and back into the world Above where you belong. I thought that if I was insistent enough you would eventually do what I wanted you to… not the abortion, but distancing yourself from me… what I knew was right for you.” He drew in a deep breath. “Catherine,” he whispered, “I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you. I know it’s not much, but I am so sorry. I beg your forgiveness.”
“No need to beg,” she told him. “I forgave you long ago.” She stood and moved to the end of the couch and sat down. She wasn’t sure what this conversation meant, but she felt that she’d best keep her distance.
“Is it too much to ask to be allowed to spend some time with Jacob?” he asked.
She smiled. “Of course not. I’ve been wishing for that since he was born. Just say when and how much.” It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but she knew she had to put Jake first.
“You said that you work six hours a day three days a week. Would you allow him to spend that time with me instead of the daycare? I could come here.”
“Wouldn’t that interfere with what you do Below?” she asked.
“What hours do you work?”
“Nine to three on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I usually leave here around 8:30. Jake goes with me because the day care is right next door to the office. We’re usually home by 3:30 unless we stop somewhere.”
“I can arrange my time,” Vincent told her. “I assume that it will only be until school starts again in the fall.”
“Vincent, you can’t be his dad for the next three months then turn it off and go back to the way it was,” she warned.
“No! No, you misunderstand. We keep to the same school schedule Below as the school system here Above does. When Jake starts school in September, I will be going back to teaching Below. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still spend time with him, maybe in the evenings or on weekends and holidays.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound so accusatory.”
“Considering the way things have been up to this point, I can’t blame you…” He turned so he could see her face. “I know I can’t make up for not being around for the first five years of his life. Not to him or to you, but I told him when I was upstairs earlier, I want to do better from now on. I won’t repeat my mistakes. You’ve done a wonderful job with him, and I don’t want to undo anything you’ve been doing, I just want to be there, possibly share the responsibility, if you’ll let me.”
“I will, Vincent. For now, if you want to come up here and spend the day with him when I’m at work, you are welcome to. Do you think it would be too much to expect him to keep quiet about the tunnels? I haven’t taken him Below much because of the need for secrecy. We try to teach our children not to lie, but would it be asking him to lie if we tell him he can’t talk about anything Below?”
“I understand what you mean. With the children living Below, they just don’t go Above unsupervised until they are old enough to understand, but Jacob would be spending time in both worlds. He’s intelligent, Catherine. He understands the need for secrecy. Look at the picture of me that he drew on the card. There was no way for anyone to tell that there was anything different about me. My hair covered my face and my hands were in my pockets.”
“I noticed that. The teacher even commented on the way he’d drawn it.”
“Would you allow me to take him Below?” he asked.
“Of course. You and Father have a way of impressing the need for secrecy on even the youngest Below. I’ll let you handle that, and I’ll just support it.”
“Thank you.” She could hear the heartfelt gratitude in his voice.
He glanced at the clock on the mantle.
“It’s getting late,” he observed. “I should go.”
He finished his tea in a gulp and stood.
Catherine picked up his cloak and handed it to him then followed him to the basement stairs.
“Do you think Mouse could come up with some way to lock the threshold door on this side that would still allow access from the other side?” she asked as they descended the stairs into the basement.
“Why?” Vincent asked.
“Jake is one of those kids who watches everything and he doesn’t miss much. I’ve been careful not to let him see me or anyone else open and close the door down here, but I didn’t think this morning and he saw me open it. I’m just worried that he might get adventurous and head down on his own to visit you or Father.”
“I’ll talk to Mouse,” he promised. “Perhaps he can change it to something like he’s got on the other side. That would, at least, be out of Jacob’s reach.”
“As long as he doesn’t climb on something to get to it. He’s a good climber. A couple months ago I had a bad headache, and I told him that I wanted him to play quietly in his room while I laid down for a little while. I took some pills, then went to my bedroom. I had the baby monitor on in his room and I could hear him playing. I dozed off and a little while later Jake woke me, he had the bottle of my pills in one hand and a plastic tumbler of water in the other and he was telling me to take my pills so my headache would go away. I’ve always been careful with medication and it’s always been stored on the top shelf in the medicine cabinet. That little monkey climbed up on the toilet seat, to the back of the toilet to the counter. He could reach the top shelf of the medicine cabinet from there. I went out and bought a lock box the next day and now everything is locked up.”
Vincent almost laughed. “Talk to Father,” he suggested. “You can trade stories. From the way he tells it, it’s challenging raising an intelligent and athletic child. He makes it sound like I gave him every one of his gray hairs.”
“You did things like that?”
“Oh yes… He’s got one good story about how he left me playing with my blocks in the middle of the study floor. He stepped out into the corridor to speak to someone. He wasn’t gone for more than a few minutes, but when he came back I was gone. He checked everywhere, but then he heard me giggling and looked up. I was sitting on the top of one of the bookshelves.”
“Oh my God! How did you get up there?”
“He hadn’t realized that the bookshelves were arraigned like stair steps. I’d pulled a chair over to the buffet cabinet and used it to climb up. From there the next one was only about eight inches higher. Each piece of furniture was only a little higher than the one before it. By the time I reached the top I was close to eight feet off the floor. I guess I’d seen something up there, or maybe I just wanted to climb. I did like to climb when I was little.”
“How old were you?”
“About three, maybe four. I don’t remember doing it, but I do remember looking down at Father on the floor and laughing because I was taller than him for a change.”
“I bet he was beside himself.”
“He didn’t know whether to make me sit still and go get help to get me down, or to tell me to come down the same way I’d gone up. He finally told me to come down, right away, and I did. But I chose to climb down the front of the bookshelf. I was lucky that all of them had been anchored to the wall.”
“If Jake did something like that, I swear I’d have a stroke.”
Vincent smiled. “Your concerns are warranted and noted. I’ll talk to Mouse first chance I get and see if he can come up with something.”
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Jake was in heaven the next few months. He got to spend time with his father and during the time that he wasn’t with Vincent he told Catherine all about what they had done. At least one of the days that they were together each week, Vincent took Jake Below. They explored and he got to see all the wonders Below that were within an hour’s walk.
The week before his school was supposed to start, Catherine took Jake shopping for his uniforms and to get a haircut. Jake was not happy with the idea of getting a haircut.
“But I want to keep it long like Daddy,” he protested as they walked into the barber shop where she’d always taken him.
“That’s too long for you, Jake. It needs to be shorter.”
“But I want it long.”
Jake was usually a cooperative child, even his terrible twos hadn’t been all that terrible.
“Honey, you are going to be starting school next week and your school has rules. One of them is that you wear the uniforms that we just bought and another is that boys have to keep their hair short. Shoulder length just wouldn’t be allowed. I know we let it grow over the summer, but now you have to get it cut to at least above your collar. It doesn’t have to be as short as it used to be.” She’d always kept it short because it was easier for her.
Jake wasn’t happy, but he let the barber cut it to Catherine’s specifications.
“There you go kiddo. What do you think?” asked the barber as he turned the chair so Jake could see his reflection.
“It’s OK,” he said without enthusiasm.
Catherine made it up to him with lunch at his favorite place followed by ice cream cones.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Catherine was finishing cleaning the kitchen after dinner when she heard a tap at the basement door. She opened it and was surprised to see both Vincent and Mouse.
“Came to fix the door,” Mouse announced then turned around and went back down the stairs.
“I didn’t get him up here earlier. With Jake spending so much time with me I didn’t think the door would be a worry,” Vincent explained as Catherine closed the door behind him and motioned him toward the table. She made a pot of tea while he talked.
“He said that he can make it work like the latch on the other side.”
“Thank you.” She joined him at the table with the teapot and mugs.
This had become almost a ritual with them. On the days he spent with Jake, they always ended his visit with tea, always with the table between them.
“Jake starts school on Tuesday?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s a good school. It doesn’t have a kindergarten, so he’s starting 1st grade, since he’ll be six in December. They had an entrance exam and an interview… for an elementary school, but it’s supposed to be excellent and it’s been highly recommended by several people I know.”
“You’re sure that it won’t be too restrictive?” Vincent asked. He’d heard about the uniforms.
“I don’t think it will. It’s modeled on British schools. There are sports and lots of activities in addition to academics. They have music and art programs, they play soccer and baseball, and they focus on the basics up to sixth grade. He will learn reading, writing, math, basic science, and history. They have a high school too, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. It’s hard to believe that he’s almost six.”
“Children grow so fast and I missed so much of his childhood. I’m grateful that you’ve allowed me to try to make up for that.”
“Do classes start Below on Tuesday too?” she asked.
“Yes. I’m teaching the usual literature and history to the older students, and I’ve taken over Father’s beginning science class for the younger ones this year.”
“Who teaches the other subjects?” she asked.
“We teach both practical and academic subjects. William teaches a cooking class once a week to the children who are twelve and above. Mary teaches a basic sewing class to the same age group. Both classes are mandatory for both the girls and the boys.”
“That’s a good idea. The private school I went to didn’t have any home economics classes. If it hadn’t been for Daddy’s housekeeper, I would never have learned what little I knew about cooking, and Jenny taught me how to sew enough so that I can replace a button or fix a seam or a hem.”
“Everyone should know how to do those things,” he agreed. “Father still teaches the beginning math classes. William incorporates fractions into his cooking classes. Cullen teaches algebra and geometry, and we have a helper who is a retired teacher who comes below two afternoons a week and teaches higher math for the students who are interested.”
“What about things like civics, social studies, or a foreign language?”
“Father speaks Latin, he studied it in medical school. There are several Helpers who speak other languages. If one of the children is interested in learning, they talk to the Helper and set it up privately. Not all of them are interested, and if they never leave the tunnels it’s not really necessary. I work some foreign language into my classes, and I try to work civics and social studies into my history and literature classes. I’ve got a couple lesson plans that are fairly comprehensive. When we study Shakespeare, we also take a look at the history of his period including the government and social structures.”
“Sounds well rounded. I hope Jake gets that good an education.”
“I’m sure he will. He’s a smart boy and he has you for his mother.”
“What kind of a schedule have you worked out for him?”
“That was my main reason for coming up. What is your schedule?”
“The school he’ll be going to is just a couple blocks from here. I’ll walk him to school on the days I don’t work, and drive him on the days I do and when the weather is bad. I’ve adjusted my work schedule to accommodate his school. I’ll pick him up after school.”
“What do you plan to do if you are going to be late?”
“I’ll try not to let that happen, but I’ve set up a system with Brooke. If I know ahead of time, I’ll let her know the night before and she will walk to the school to pick him up and stay with him until I get home. If it’s a last minute thing, I’ve made arrangements with Long. I’ll call him and he’ll send his son Edward Below to tell Brooke. I’ll also call the school and tell them that whomever is picking him up might be late.
“I’ve given the school a list of people who are allowed to pick him up. Brooke is one of them and Peter has helped her get an ID for that purpose. Joe and Jenny are on the list, and so is Peter. I’ve also given them the names of people who they are allowed to give information to on the phone. You are one of those people. I told them that you are his father and that your name is Vincent Wells. I know you don’t use that name, but they required a last name.”
“Thank you, Catherine. I appreciate that. I may never use it, but it’s good to know I can if I need to. I’ve been thinking about when I’ll be able to see Jacob without disrupting his schedule too much… What do you think of the idea of him coming Below on Friday after school or after dinner, and staying until Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning once or twice a month?”
The suggestion shocked her. She hadn’t spent much time away from Jake since he’d been born. Vincent saw it in her eyes.
“I know you’ve seldom been separated from him, but I promise to take good care of him.” He smiled slightly.
“I know you will, it’s just that… hell, I work hard not to be over protective. This is a chance to put some of those ideas into practice, but can we start with him going Below on Saturday morning and coming home after dinner on Saturday evening? We can do that a few weeks then work up to him spending the night. OK?”
Vincent nodded. “I thought perhaps it would give you the opportunity to spend time with friends, perhaps go on a date.”
The latter shocked her. She hadn’t told him how she felt, but the last thing she expected was for him to start pushing her at other men again. She covered her disappointment by agreeing to some of it.
“Jenny and I have been talking about a girls’ night. Letting Joe take care of their twin girls and me getting a babysitter and the two of us going out to dinner and maybe a show or a movie, then spending the night in a hotel. But the idea of a hotel just doesn’t sound as comfortable as home. I think it would be more fun to do it here.”
“It would be the perfect opportunity.”
“Give me a month,” she said.
“Daddy!” Jake had been upstairs getting ready for bed, he’d begun to insist he could bathe himself, and she’d been letting him several nights a week, although she usually checked on him at least once.
Jake ran into the room and jumped into Vincent’s lap.
“I didn’t know you were coming.”
“I came to talk to your mother about times for us to visit now that you’ll be going back to school.”
“Goody! When?”
“We’ve only covered part of it. I was about to ask if it would be all right for me to come up a couple nights a week after dinner to put you to bed and say goodnight.
“Yes!” Jake shouted.
“A little quieter, Jake, please. And of course, anytime. I keep our schedule on the calendar next to the phone.” She pointed out the wall phone. “You can check that to make sure that our schedules don’t clash, and if you come up and we’re not here, you can usually look at the calendar to see where we are and about when we will be home.”
“May I tell him about our weekend arrangement?” Vincent asked.
“Yes, of course.”
“Your mother has agreed to allow you to come below a couple Saturdays a month and spend the day with me and your grandfather.”
“Does it start this Saturday?”
“Well, you’ll be seeing your father this week, since school doesn’t start until next week, but if he wants you to go on Saturday, it’s fine with me.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes, of course. You know you are always welcome.” Vincent looked at the clock. “Isn’t it your bedtime?”
“Mom, can I stay up later, since Daddy’s here?”
“If it’s all right with your mother, I can read to you tonight and put you to bed.”
Catherine nodded and the next thing she knew she was being deserted as Jake pulled his father out of the kitchen and up to his room.
She finished cleaning the kitchen and went upstairs to get ready for bed herself. She showered and put on her night gown and robe and went up to the roof for some fresh air.
The view here, only five stories up wasn’t as good as it had been from her apartment balcony, but it was still nice. She couldn’t see the park, but she had a good view of the sky. She had often stretched out on a chaise lounge and watched the stars. She was considering buying a telescope and introducing Jake to astronomy. The brick wall around the roof was about waist high, but the previous owner had built an eight-foot privacy fence on the inside of that wall, except for where it overlooked the back yard. With no taller buildings anywhere near, it was enough to muffle the city sounds and turn this into her own private little oasis.
She pulled the back up on the chaise and sat. She closed her eyes and was startled what seemed like only a few minutes later by the sound of Vincent’s voice.
“May I join you?” he asked.
“Sure,” she tried to hide the fact that her heart had started to pound with a noncommittal reply.
“Jake told me that you sometimes come up here. It’s very nice.” He sat on the other chaise.
“Daddy bought this place and renovated it before he died. He was planning to move in here with Kay. But he didn’t do anything to the roof. His notes said that this was already here and it was one of the reasons he decided to buy the house.”
“The whole house is secure and self-contained. Jake showed me the backyard and I was surprised to see that it is walled.”
“I like that. I had some playground equipment installed, and I actually feel safe allowing Jake to play outside by himself in the yard. It’s not huge, but it’s big enough for him to play and me to have a little garden.”
“The house is large,” he observed.
“It does have a lot of square footage with the four floors, finished basement and the roof, but it has what I’ve always wanted: an office at home and room for guests. The master suite takes the whole top floor. Jake is just below me and I still have a baby monitor in his room. I thought about making the top floor sitting room into a bedroom for him so we could both be on the same floor, but I decided that eventually he’s going to get to an age where he won’t like sharing a bathroom with his mother. There is another bedroom on his floor, but he only has to share a bathroom if there are guests using the other bedroom. The main guest room is on the second floor, and the other bedroom there is the one I use for my home office.”
“And you’ve got the suite in the basement.”
“It’s supposed to be a housekeeper’s suite, but with just Jake and I, I don’t really need help.”
Vincent rose to his feet and looked down at her.
“You’ve got work in the morning so I should go and let you get to bed. Goodnight Catherine.” And he was gone before she had time to respond. She’d had the feeling that he’d come up to say something else, but had changed his mind for some reason. She wondered what it was.
As Vincent walked back to his chamber his hand went to his chest where he could feel the leather bag that held his rose. The bag had also contained Catherine’s crystal necklace since he’d found it in the cavern below the catacombs. He’d decided to give it back to her, but each time he’d come close he’d changed his mind… chickened out, as some of the children would say.
It was her necklace and he knew that she had once cherished it. He thought that she might like to have it back, but he wasn’t sure how to go about giving it to her. He didn’t want her to think that he expected anything in return. He just wanted her to know that he was returning something that belonged to her, like the book.
But if he was honest with himself, he did want something in return, but he didn’t know how to ask for it or if he even deserved it… for that matter he wasn’t even sure exactly what he wanted. She’d generously allowed him to become a part of his son’s life. He knew that he wanted more than that. Did he really want to be a part of her life too? He already was, in a way, since he’d started spending time with Jacob, but he wanted more… he just didn’t know how much more he dared ask for.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Their schedule worked well, and by October, Catherine had worked up to allowing Jake to go Below with Vincent on Friday afternoon, before dinner, although he was still coming home on Saturday evening after dinner.
She and Jenny had their girls’ night, and Catherine explained that Jake was having a sleep over with his father.
“So he’s back in town?” Jenny questioned as she sat at the kitchen table and watched Catherine scoop coffee ice cream with chocolate chips into bowls. They’d eaten at a nice restaurant then had gone to a movie and eaten popcorn, but ice cream was traditional and they had to have it.
“He never actually left town, he just dropped out of my life. We just happened to run into him, and it seems he’s had a change of heart, at least where Jake is concerned, so they are getting to know each other. Jake adores him.”
“Is he worth that adoration?” asked Jenny as Catherine set the bowl in front of her and joined her at the table.
“Yes, he is.” She didn’t have to think about that answer. “He’s apologized to me for trying to talk me into an abortion. He’s willing to be a father; he and Jake get along and most importantly, he actually enjoys spending time with Jake. I’ve never said anything bad to Jake about his father; I’ve only told him the positive stuff. It’s just that I didn’t like him very much for a while.”
“Are you two back together?”
“No. Like I said, he’s apologized to me, and said he was wrong to ask that of me, but that’s as far as it goes.” She was hesitant to tell Jenny that she still loved him, but Jenny wasn’t stupid.
“But you still love him, right?”
“Yes,” she admitted with a sigh.
“Is he worth that kind of pain?”
“Strangely enough, it’s not that painful. I guess I’m willing to take whatever I can get and if he’s willing to be a father to Jake, but not willing to be more than a friend to me, I’m willing to accept that.”
“But you shouldn’t be willing to settle for that, Cath. You deserve to be loved, and to have someone in your life who appreciates you, for you, not just for Jake.”
“I am loved, Jenny. I have Jake, and he’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
They finally got off that subject and Jenny started telling her about her girls’ latest achievements.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Jake spent his Halloween with the children Below. As far as Catherine was concerned it was safer than allowing him to go door to door through their neighborhood shouting ‘trick or treat’ even with her with him. He seemed to have a lot of fun, and he enjoyed listening to Vincent read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Catherine enjoyed it too.
The children didn’t really trick or treat Below. They went from chamber to chamber where they were invited in and the occupant would tell them a story or have a game for them to play or give them treats.
Father had the lights low in the study and he told a scary story, Vincent read his story, Mary handed out homemade fudge, Jamie taught them a new game, Mouse had decorated his chamber with half a dozen of his lightning in a jar machines and let the children play with them.
The last stop was the dining chamber where William had a table of snacks set up and Sebastian was on a raised dais doing magic tricks.
Before the end of the evening almost everyone wound up in the dining chamber.
“Can I stay Below, tonight Mom?” Jake asked.
“I’m sorry, Honey. You’ve got school tomorrow. You’ll be back on Friday night.”
“Aw, Mom!”
“Don’t ‘Aw, Mom,’ me. It’s nearly your bedtime and we should be going.” Mary was gathering the younger children and was shooing them off to bed. “It’s a good thing that all this got started early.”
“We try to do it so everyone can participate,” said Vincent as he walked up behind her.
“But Mom, the party is still going on.”
“Not for the kids your age. Mary is taking them all off to bed and I think that’s a good cue for us to go too.”
“Would you like me to walk back with you,” Vincent asked, forestalling the stubborn outbreak that was about to happen.
“OK.” Jake wasn’t enthusiastic about leaving, but at least he was cooperating.
Vincent and Catherine walked side by side while Jake scampered on ahead of him.
“This was fun,” she told him. “Thank you for inviting Jake down. He had more fun on Halloween this year than he has had any other year. It’s not very exciting dressing up in a costume and being driven to Peter’s and Jenny and Joe’s.”
“You didn’t want to stay Above and hand out candy to your trick or treaters?” he asked.
“No, not really. The last two years we didn’t get many in our neighborhood.”
They reached the threshold and Vincent reached up and pushed the lever and the door swung open.
“Will you come up and read to me, Daddy?” asked Jake before he stepped into the basement.
“You’re going to need a bath tonight, young man,” Catherine reminded him.
“Can I take a shower, Mom?”
“You may.” Jake was dressed as Captain Hook. Catherine had talked to a friend who had worked in a costume shop and had managed to obtain a child sized hook. The story book that had the picture of Captain Hook had shown him with the hook replacing his left hand, and Jake had started out with the hook covering his left hand, but he was left handed like his father and it had caused some problems. She’d seen him switch the hook from one hand to the other several times through the evening. Right now he was Captain Hook sans the hook. He’d wanted her to be Peter pan, but she’d declined to go in costume.
“What did you do with your hook?” she asked, when she noticed.
Vincent pulled it out of his cloak and handed it to her. “I can assist with the shower, if you like,” he offered.
Catherine took the prop as Jake agreed and dashed off with Vincent following. She closed the threshold and followed them up to the kitchen, turning off lights as she went.
Catherine caught up and stopped Jake long enough to remove the large nose she’d stuck over his with spirit gum. His nose was a little red and she hoped that he wasn’t having a reaction to the adhesive. He’d never been allergic to anything.
“Wash your face well, and get off the rest of that make up. And come back down here to kiss me goodnight.”
After saying he would, Jake left.
“I’ll make sure he gets clean,” said Vincent before he followed Jake upstairs.
Jake ran back downstairs to say good night and Catherine was glad to see that the redness around his nose had faded. He kissed her goodnight and then ran back up the stairs.
Catherine was in the living room with her feet up on the sofa sipping tea when Vincent came back down.
“He was more tired than he was willing to admit. The story he picked was a short one, and he fell asleep only a few pages in.”
“I hope he’s not hard to get up in the morning,” she said. “Help yourself.” She indicated the teapot on the coffee table. “It’s herbal.”
Vincent poured a cup and sat down on the same sofa Catherine was on.
“It feels like it should be later, but it’s only a little after eight,” he commented.
“That’s the joy of starting the party early,” she commented.
“I remember another Halloween party that didn’t start early and ran very, very late,” he said.
It was the first time he’d made any reference to anything that had happened during their relationship before. She smiled at the memory. “It was nice watching the sunrise with you.”
“That an interesting evening,” he commented
“The first part or the last part?”
“The first part and the last part were the most pleasant, the middle was the interesting part.”
“It certainly was. I’m glad I haven’t had any more run-ins with the IRA.”
“It’s strange, but I got the distinct feeling that Brigit saw right through my costume.”
“How so?”
“Just what she said about me sailing with Theseus or riding with Cuchulain. Both mythical beings. It was as if she knew she was looking at my real face.”
“It’s hard to say with Brigit. We’ve kept in touch and when I told her about Jake, she asked if he looked like me or his father.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her that he was like both of us. That he has your eyes and hair and is probably going to be tall like you.”
“He’s got your jaw and mouth,” Vincent commented.
“I sent her pictures. She’s written another book and is planning a trip to the states next year when it comes out. She’ll be promoting the book and will be traveling all over the country, but I invited her to stay here while she’s in New York.”
“Did she say what the book was about?” he asked.
“It’s a novelized version of a story of some of the people she knows. She said that it’s not as tragic as 300 Days, in fact it’s quite amusing at times. She promised me an advance copy. I’ll loan it to you.”
“Thank you.”
They sat quietly for a while, sipping tea and listening to the music playing on the stereo.
“I love…” Catherine began.
“Would you…” Vincent began at the same time.
They both laughed.
“Go on,” Catherine prompted.
“No, you go. Ladies first, as Father taught me.
“I was just going to say that I love the way you do Halloween Below. It’s all about the children. It’s nice to see something done exclusively for them to enjoy.”
“The adults enjoy it too, but what they enjoy is entertaining the children.”
“What were you going to say?”
“I was just going to ask you if you’d like to come Below for dinner on Saturday evening before Jacob goes home. Father said that he’s invited you numerous times, but you’ve never accepted. I assume that your reason was that you didn’t want to see me. I’m sorry that Father was deprived of your company and Jacob’s because of that. Now that we are… friends again, and we aren’t trying to keep the tunnels a secret from Jacob, I thought you might agree to come Below a little more often.”
“I think I can make it on Saturday,” she said with a smile. “I’m getting used to having a little time to myself when Jake is Below with you, but it does get a little lonely.”
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Saturday night just happened to be birthday night. William always made cupcakes on the first Saturday of every month and the people who had birthdays in that month got a cupcake with a candle in it. There was always a lot of laughter and teasing. No one knew Mouse’s birthday, or even exactly how old he was, but they celebrated what he called his “Finding Day” in November.
When he blew out his candle, Jamie kissed him on the cheek and he blushed bright red, which caused a lot of laughter.
“Mouse gave me something,” Jake announced when the laughter died down.
“What did he give you,” asked Catherine as she looked across the table at Vincent.
“It’s cool!” Jake announced. “It has purple lightening in it.”
“Mouse made him a plasma globe like the one he made for me,” Vincent told her. “Jake said something about wishing he wasn’t too old for a nightlight and Mouse said he had the coolest nightlight ever.”
“That would be a good nightlight,” Catherine agreed. She turned to Jake. “Who told you that you were too old for a night light?”
“One of my teachers.”
“What business is it of theirs?” Catherine demanded. “I still keep a nightlight on in the bathroom at night. It’s just enough to find my way there and back to bed when I have to get up in the middle of the night. I’m not too old for a nightlight.”
Vincent was surprised by the sudden change in Catherine. She was positively fierce when defending her son.
Catherine was pleased at the way things were turning out for her son and his father. Vincent would pick Jake up on Friday afternoon before dinner and bring him back on Saturday after dinner, or sometimes Sunday morning, a couple weekends a month. Jake looked forward to those weekends with Vincent.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
It was March and it had been a snowy winter. The temperatures were warming up and the snow was melting… quickly. Vincent and most of the men Below were kept hopping tending to leaky storm drains and water seeping through even to the levels were they were living, in some cases.
Vincent had to disappoint Jake two weekends in a row, and Jake wasn’t happy about it.
“He can’t help it, Honey,” Catherine told him. “This happens almost every spring, it’s just worse this year. The snow is melting and the water has to go somewhere. They have a lot of leaks that they have to patch. He promises that you can stay with him several days on your Easter break in April.”
“But that’s a whole month!”
“I know, but it’s the best he can do right now. If you want, we can go Below and have dinner with Grandpa sometime.”
Jake nodded. “OK, but I miss Daddy.”
Catherine hugged him. “I know Sweetie, but all the work will be done soon and you’ll see him.”
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Catherine had to stay a little late at work on Friday, and she sent a message to Brooke asking her to pick Jake up at school. When they got back to the house, Brooke called her.
“Do you know how long you’ll be?” she asked.
“About another hour. How’s Jake?”
“Disappointed. Vincent won’t be back until late tonight, and sent word to tell Jake he’ll see him tomorrow around lunch time. He was really counting on seeing Vincent tonight, he has a paper from school that he wants to show him. He’s very proud of it.”
“Well, I’ll be home soon. Maybe I can distract him when I get there. In the meantime, there is left over pot roast and vegetables in the refrigerator. You two can have that for dinner if I’m not home by six.”
Catherine went back to her strategy session with Luz. A grant that they’d been hoping to get had fallen through and they were going to have to look for another office because they couldn’t afford the rent where they were. They’d exhausted all the ideas, and now it was Catherine’s turn.
“I have an idea,” she said as she went back into their conference room.
“I’m glad you do, I’m all out,” said Luz. “I’m so tired of this. Seems like every couple of years something like this happens and we have to move and each move is to a lower rung in the ladder.”
“Before my dad died, he bought a lot of investment property. I still have a couple of the buildings, and one is only a couple blocks from here. It’s an older building, used to be a small warehouse, but somewhere along the line, it was made into offices. The first floor, almost 4000 square feet, has been vacant for about a month. The management company that handles the rentals said that it’s been repainted and cleaned. It’s yours for the law clinic for as long as you need it.”
“How much is the rent?” Luz asked.
“Nothing. It’s my donation.”
“You already donate time. Now you’re going to give us offices for nothing?”
“You’ll pay for utilities, but that will only be electricity and phones. There’s a boiler in the basement that heats the whole building. And there is no central air, but you can put units in the windows.”
“You sure about this Cathy?” Luz asked.
“Positive Luz. We do a lot of good and I don’t want to see that stop just because we don’t have an office to work out of.”
“When can we move in?”
“Whenever you want.” She wrote an address and a phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Luz. “I’ll call the management people and let them know and you can go over and pick up the keys anytime. Let me know when you plan to move. I know someone with a truck who can help.”
She called the management company before she left the office and set everything up.
When she walked into the house a little while later, she was met by a tearful Brooke.
“I can’t find him anywhere,” she said. “The front door and the back door were both locked from the inside. I’ve searched the house from the roof to here. I was just starting this floor when I heard you.”
“Jake?” asked Catherine.
Brooke nodded.
“Have you been to the basement yet?”
“No…” she picked up on Catherine’s thought. “You think he’s gone Below to meet Vincent?”
“Probably. He knows he’s not supposed to go Below without me or another adult, and we had Mouse fix the latch so it is out of his reach, but he’s a good climber, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Catherine wasn’t too worried, just concerned. Jake was a smart boy and he’d made the trip from their threshold to the main chambers many times.
Brooke raced off to check and Catherine followed at a slower pace.
The threshold door was open and the counter hadn’t even been moved. Jake had just gone under it.
Brooke flipped the counter over and raced down the corridor to the first pipes. She sent a message and when it was acknowledged, she went back to Catherine.
“I let them know and Pascal said that he’d ask Father if Jake is with him, if he isn’t he’ll send out a general message to let everyone know to keep an eye out for him.”
They were up in the kitchen a few minutes later after searching the first floor when Geoffrey came up to let them know that the entire route from Catherine’s to the study had been searched and Jake hadn’t been found. No one had seen him.
“You don’t think he went the other way when he got to the tunnel do you?” Catherine asked. “Do you know where it goes?”
“As far as I know, it dead ends about two hundred feet past your threshold,” Geoffrey told her. “I’ll go check.”
He borrowed her flashlight and was back in a few minutes.
“Nothing. The sand on the tunnel floor hasn’t been disturbed. There are no footprints.”
Catherine and Brooke went to Father’s study with Geoffrey and found Father there laying out a search plan.
“We’ll start with the center of the hub and search every nook and cranny,” he directed. “A child can fit into places we would never dream of getting into. Search everything and work your way out.” He turned to Catherine and patted her hand, then he looked at Brooke. “You’re sure he’s not in the house?”
“I looked everywhere, in the closets, under the beds, on the roof… wait, when we saw the threshold door open we didn’t look in the basement.”
“Geoffrey, go back and check the basement.” Father directed.
Geoffrey left with the others who were heading out to search, and Father and Catherine settled down to listen for the reports on the pipes.
A few minutes later Vincent entered the chamber. He’d been running since he heard Brooke’s first message.
“Have you found him yet,” he asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
Catherine was on her feet and in front of him before he could move. She was beginning to get just a little panicked, and she was having a hard time controlling it.
“Can you feel him? Can you find him like you used to do with me?” she demanded.
“The Bond isn’t the same as it was with you. I can feel him and he feels close, but it’s not directional like it was with you. And it doesn’t help that he’s not frightened, in fact… I think he’s asleep.”
“Not unconscious?” asked Father.
“No, that has a different feel. Unconsciousness is more… empty. Sleep has dreams.” He turned to Catherine and grasped her upper arms. “I’ll find him” he promised her. He turned and was gone as quickly as he’d appeared.
They sat and waited. Catherine was agitated. She wished she was out looking with everyone else, but she knew that she wasn’t as familiar with the tunnels as the people who lived here and she’d likely wind up being the next one lost and they’d have to look for her.
Mary came in with a tray of tea and snacks. Catherine managed a cup of tea, but didn’t eat anything.
Pascal had ordered an all quiet on the pipes except for reports from the searchers, but the reports were sporadic; no one was having any luck.
Vincent knew the tunnels better than anyone and he knew all the hiding places in this main area. And it was probably a good thing, because his mind was not on what he was doing. He knew that Jacob was all right; as he’d said, it felt like the child was asleep, so as he headed out to the perimeter to work his way back to the study he allowed his mind to wander. He’d touched Catherine for the first time in years, and when he’d touched her he’d almost been overcome with his sense of her. She was walking a thin line, threatening to topple over into complete panic at any moment, but she was controlling it. He’d wanted to pull her into his arms and reassure her that Jacob was all right, but he’d released her and backed away as soon as he’d assured her that he’d find their son.
He stopped at a set of pipes and tapped a message that he was starting his search.
It was nearly nine and most of the searchers had straggled back in with nothing to report. Every once in a while someone would get an idea and rush out to check some place. Catherine was beside herself. She knew the labyrinth of tunnels Below. She’d been lost a couple times herself. She hoped that Jake had kept to the lighted tunnels since she didn’t think he had a flashlight.
Vincent had gone out to the perimeter and was slowly spiraling back toward the center checking every place he’d taken Jake to on their explorations and every other place he could think of. Every ten or fifteen minutes they’d hear a message from him:
FATHER… NOTHING… V
They heard it so often that even Catherine began to recognize it. It was the only thing they were hearing and when the gap between messages became longer than it had been, it was noticeable. Fifteen minutes passed, then twenty, twenty-five. Catherine was on her feet pacing.
“I’m sure it’s all right, Catherine.” Father tried to be reassuring. “I doubt that Jacob could have gotten past the sentries, and we are covering the inside of the circle. There are areas even close in that don’t have pipe access. He’s probably going through one of those, and if he’s being thorough, it could take longer between messages.”
They were alone in the study. Mary had taken the younger children to bed, and Father had sent everyone else out not long after. Catherine stopped in the middle of the chamber with her arms wrapped around herself. She turned and faced Father.
“If something has happened to him… I don’t think I can take that Father.”
“It’s all right, Catherine… He’s all right.” Vincent’s voice came from behind her.
She swung around and Vincent was standing there with Jake, who was yawning and rubbing his eyes sleepily, in his arms. She shot across the chamber and Vincent put Jake into her arms.
Catherine all but collapsed into a chair, cradling her son in her arms.
Jake looked at his mother, over at his Father then back at Catherine.
“I was asleep, Mama,” he explained as if it told the whole story.
“Where did you find him?” Father asked.
“In my chamber, asleep on my bed. I ran into Brooke who told me that he had something that he wanted to show me. He talked about it all the way back home after school and he was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to come below tonight. She’d sent him up to his room to change his clothes while she went to the kitchen to make him a snack. He took longer than she thought he should, so she went up to check on him and he wasn’t in his room. She started looking for him and calling, but she couldn’t find him. She searched the house from top to bottom and had just reached the first floor when Catherine came home. Brooke had no idea how he managed to get past her without her seeing him.”
Vincent went over to where Catherine was sitting with Jake and squatted down.
“Jacob, how did you get past Brooke?”
Jake looked a little scared.
“I sneaked,” he said in a quiet voice. “I went to the elevator, and went down to the basement.”
“You have an elevator?” Vincent looked at Catherine.
“Daddy put it in. I hardly ever use it and Jake isn’t supposed to use it without me.”
“Seems to me that Jacob has done quite a few things today that he wasn’t supposed to.”
Jake looked at his father then up at his mother.
“I’m sorry Mama. I just wanted to come and wait for Daddy so I could show him my spelling test. I got all of the words right, even the extra ones.” He pulled a much folded and rather grubby sheet of paper out of his pocket and held it up. She saw 130% written across the top. That meant that he’d gotten all ten spelling words and three extra ones right.
“You couldn’t have waited until I got home?” she asked. “I’m just as interested in your spelling test. I helped you study for it.”
“But I wanted to show Daddy.”
“I was going to see you tomorrow Jacob.”
Jake knew he was in trouble. He’d broken the rules, and this was the first time he’s seen his father this stern.
“I’m sorry Mama,” he said contritely.
“I know you are, Jake, but you did something wrong, very wrong. You had everyone worried and you could have been hurt.”
“Are you going to spank me?” he asked.
“Spank you? Where did you get that idea?” she glanced at Father and Vincent, hoping that they didn’t think she spanked Jake.
“From Phillip at school. He says his daddy spanks him.”
“Well, some people believe in spanking, but I don’t, but I do believe in consequences. What do you think your punishment should be?” She looked down at her son and could tell he was thinking furiously.
“Ah… No chocolate pudding for a month?”
She almost laughed at that.
“We don’t eat chocolate pudding,” she pointed out. “Got another idea?”
He shook his head. “But I really like chocolate pudding,” he told her.
“How about no stories before bed for the next two weeks?” she asked.
“But I really like the stories too.”
“It wouldn’t be much of a punishment if I said you wouldn’t get any steamed cabbage for the next two weeks, now would it?”
“Yuk! I hate steamed cabbage,” he said, making a face.
“I think I’ve made my point,” she said. “Now I think it’s time to get you home, fed and to bed.”
As she was setting him on his feet William bustled into the chamber with a tray.
“I heard the message that Jake had been found and I thought he might be hungry.” He started setting dishes out on the table. There was enough food to feed a whole room full of people, not just one hungry little boy.
Catherine thanked William, pulled a chair out for Jake and started filling a plate for him. She looked up at Vincent and rolled her eyes when she saw the dish of chocolate pudding.
“It’s homemade,” Vincent told her. “I need to go bathe, but if you’ll wait, I’d like to walk you both home.”
She nodded then joined Jake at the table. Father joined them. Catherine poured more tea for herself and Father and they helped themselves to sandwiches off the plate William had left.
Jake was just finishing off the dish of chocolate pudding when Vincent came back. Catherine almost did a double take. He was wearing what looked like soft leather moccasins, jeans and a t-shirt covered by a denim work shirt. No sweater, vest or cloak.
“Where’s your cloak, Daddy?” Jake asked as they all left the study together after saying goodnight to Father.
“There was mud on it from the work I was doing. I hung it to dry so I can clean it off later.”
They reached Catherine’s kitchen. Someone had come back and cleaned up the snack that Brooke had made for Jake. Whoever it was had left the light on over the stairs from the basement, over the kitchen sink and in the stairwell.
“Jake, I want you to go up to your room and get ready for bed. Don’t forget to wash your face and hands and brush your teeth.”
“Yes, Mama.” Jake was a lot more subdued than usual.
“Do you mind if I go up with him?” asked Vincent. “I’d like to talk to him.”
“That’s fine, just no story.”
Vincent followed Jake up the stairs. Catherine checked all the doors to make sure they were locked, and when she went up to her room she heard voices from Jake's room. It sounded like a serious conversation was going on.
Catherine went on to her room where she took off her clothes and put on pajamas and her robe. She was in the bathroom washing her face when the reaction started to set in. Her hands were shaking so hard she could hardly hold the washcloth. She quickly headed downstairs, thinking that tonight just might be the night to open the bottle of brandy Jenny had given her. She found a brandy snifter in the china cabinet, poured herself a little, then made her way back to her bedroom. After a moment she went up to the roof. She was sitting on the wicker sofa when Vincent came up the stairs.
“I thought I would find you up here.” He noticed her hands shaking as she used both of them to raise the glass to her mouth. He sat down beside her. “Are you all right?”
“I will be,” she said with a nervous laugh. “I was doing a pretty good job of holding it all together up until a few minutes ago. But now,” she held her left hand out and it was shaking like a leaf in the wind. “I thought this might help.” She held up the glass.
Vincent took it and sniffed. “Smells pretty potent. What is it?”
“Just brandy, I thought I needed something to steady me so I could go say good night to Jake.”
“Jake is already asleep, but then it might not be a good idea to go kiss him good night smelling of liquor.”
He handed the glass back to her and she took another sip and closed her eyes, willing herself to relax as it slipped warmly down her throat.
“You’re probably right… as usual. But I’m a good mother 99.9% of the time. I deserve to cut loose once in a while, and after tonight, this is my once in a while.
They were sitting shoulder to shoulder and she was surprised when he slipped his arm around her and pulled her closer.
“You don’t have to do it all alone anymore,” he reminded her. “I know I can’t make up for everything, but I’m here now.”
“I know,” she whispered, “and I was so grateful to have you there looking for him tonight. In fact, that was probably the only reason I managed to hold it together.” She leaned against him. When he’d touched her earlier, Below, it had been the first time he’d touched her since his reappearance. Now the combination of the brandy and his arm was finally relaxing her and calming her trembling. She felt a little foolish for resorting to liquor.
“It’s been warmer than usual the last few days,” he observed, “but it’s supposed to be almost freezing tonight. Perhaps we should go in.”
He helped her up and followed her down the stairs to the hall.
“Are you going back to the worksite?” she asked as they reached her bedroom door.
“No, we were done. The only thing left was clean up. The rest of the crew is probably home by now.”
“Will you stay?” she asked, laying her hand on his chest. “You can use the guest room that connects with Jake’s or the one in the basement. He’ll be thrilled if you’re here in the morning.” She knew she was asking as much for herself as she was for Jake, and she suspected that Vincent knew it too.
He hesitated a moment before answering.
“I’ll stay,” he told her before he pulled her into his arms and held her for a moment. She felt him drop a kiss on the top of her head before he let her go. The hug hadn’t lasted long enough as far as she was concerned, she could have stayed there all night.
She watched him descend the stairs, then turned and went into her room. She poured the last of the brandy down the drain, brushed her teeth, took off her robe and crawled into bed.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Vincent headed down to the basement, after a quick trip out to the pipes to let Father know he was staying, he went back to the rooms in the basement. Since Jacob’s birth Catherine had redecorated the suite and it was now a very comfortable guest suite. The rooms were large and the furniture was large, dark and masculine. The sitting room had a kitchenette with a small refrigerator, two burner stove, microwave and a sink. Vincent made himself a cup of tea before he sat down to contemplate the previous few hours.
When he’d found Catherine on the roof he’d had more than one reason for hugging her. Yes, he’d wanted to hold her and comfort her, but he’d also wanted to verify what he thought he’d felt when he touched her earlier. It was still there and it had been just as overwhelming, but he’d held her longer this time. Her feelings had been such a jumble: relief, fear, he assumed it was of what could have happened, and something else that he couldn’t really name. It was as if she felt like she’d come home. Was that because he was holding her in his arms, or because she was home and her son was safe? He wished it was the former, but thought it was more likely the latter.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
When Catherine woke the next morning it was to the scent of freshly brewed coffee. She opened her eyes to see Vincent and Jacob standing in the bedroom door.
“We brought coffee, Mama,” Jacob announced as he bounced onto her bed.
“I can smell that,” she said as she hugged him.
Vincent approached and handed her the cup. She glanced at the window.
“Is it raining?” she asked.
“Heavily,” he told her.
“What is that going to do Below?”
“Our repairs should hold. Someone saw to it that brand new materials were delivered to the warehouse so we didn’t have to patch and make do this time. We were able to make a real repair.”
Catherine blushed and was suddenly greatly interested in her coffee.
“Um, well… that’s good. Father told me that it was getting soggy in places, and that Mary found mold growing in the corner of the nursery.”
“That’s been taken care of too. Someone else or maybe it was the same person, sent down professional cleaning solutions to take care of the mold.”
Jake had propped himself up on his mother’s pillows and was watching the conversation between his parents.
“Can I turn on the TV, Mama?” he asked.
Catherine opened the night table drawer, pulled out the remote and handed it to Jake who pushed a button and turned on a TV that was sitting in an armoire against the far wall. He pushed another button several more times until he found the channel he wanted then he settled back to watch his Saturday morning cartoons.
“Does he do this every Saturday?” asked Vincent.
“He didn’t used to, but we’ve been doing it the last couple weeks when you’ve been busy. We usually watch some cartoons, he’s especially fond of the super heroes, then we go down and eat breakfast and watch some more cartoons on the TV in the kitchen. On Sunday we read the funny papers in bed then go down and have breakfast.
“You can sit over here, Daddy,” Jake said as he scooted closer to his mother and patted the bed on his left side. “There’s lots of pillows.”
“I don’t think I should,” protested Vincent. “I could go and fix breakfast…”
“We’ll be at least an hour,” Catherine told him. “You might as well join us.” She glanced down at Jake. She couldn’t help smiling. She’d noticed that Vincent hadn’t put all his clothes back on this morning. He was in stocking feet, jeans, no belt, and he’d left off his denim shirt and only had on his long sleeved t-shirt, although the sleeves had been pushed up well above his wrists.
Vincent circled the bed and sat gingerly on the other side of Jake. Before anyone knew what was happening, Jake had curled into Vincent’s side and they were both engrossed in the animated characters on the screen. Every time there was a commercial, Jake would fill Vincent in on a little more of the story.
They didn’t even miss her when she got up and went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She put on her robe and went downstairs to fix breakfast. She knew Jake would be down as soon as the program was over.
She made French toast and bacon and had just put everything on the table when they came into the kitchen.
“See, I told you she’d have breakfast ready,” Jake told Vincent as they entered the room. Jake climbed into his chair.
Loving it! Can't wait to read part 3! --Heather
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