Page 29 of Avenging Laura

“No, it wasn’t. I know I don’t have a right to try and be your father now. I didn’t know about you then. But I know about you now. You say I didn’t care since you’ve been found, well you’re wrong. You wouldn’t answer my calls, so I called your husband and your brother every single day to check on you. When Dominick called and told me what happened that put you back in the hospital, I wanted to beat the hell out of your husband. These two stopped me and told me why what he did was right. You have so much anger and hatred buried deep inside you. You’re poisoning the good you have in front of you. You need to heal, baby. You deserve that healing, and you deserve the love and happiness you keep denying yourself because of what those people put you through.”

Well fuck! Now he wants to be a dad and he knew where to hit her the most. Asshole!

“It’s too late. He’s already left me, and he took the kids with him. They’ve already won,” Laura cried into her pillow.

“No, he didn’t. Yeah, he moved out of the house, but Laura, he never left you. He and the kids have been staying at Grams! Who do you think found you and got you to the hospital?” Dominick softly answered as he came toward the bed, pulling his sister into his arms while she sobbed.

“H-he hasn’t called me or come by. H-he left and so did everyone else. Everyone left me. They finally realized I was poison to them.” She continued to cry in her brother’s arms.

“Oh, little sister. That man has been obsessed with you since the day he first laid eyes on you. He has cameras in parts of the house so he can watch you when he’s on assignments. That’s how he’s able to breathe when he’s gone for so long. When he sees you at home, in bed asleep, or in the living room watching tv with the kids, in the kitchen cooking or doing homework with the kids, he knows your safe. Even when he left with the kids,he never truly left you. That man has been watching that damn phone of his. When he sees you turn over, he can relax. He’s been so fucking worried about you not getting out of bed or doing anything he was minutes from caving and begging you to let him come home when he turned the camera on and saw you collapse. The fucking man has been such a bear of an asshole that his whole team is on downtime because they have been afraid he wouldn’t be able to focus on missions.”

“Laura, you need to talk about everything. I tried to tell you this last time when you were kidnapped and taken to Mexico and were shot. If you don’t face everything, you’ll never truly heal. You deserve to be happy,” Dr. Hancock told her as she stepped fully into the room.

Laura looked up at the doctor for a few seconds and then closed her eyes before nodding her consent. “Ok. I’ll do it.”

“Good. Let’s start today. I’ll have everyone leave the room, go wait in the waiting room. Dominick, if you will, I will be out in a while after I talk with your sister.”

“Alright boys, that’s our cue. We’re being kicked out. I think that’s the first time I’ve enjoyed being kicked out of something. Ok, well, not the first time.”

“What do you mean not the first time?” Dominick asked Jeannette as he went to help his grandmother out of the chair.

“Ah, sonny boy, if I told you, I’d ruin you for other women.” Jeannette patted his hand as Dominick helped his grandmother out of the room.

“You ever say I didn’t protect you again, I’ll personally kick your ass. Now I have images in my head of little old ladies, cabana boys, and speedos I never wanted in my head. Heifer!”

“Serves you right!” Laura fired back as Dominick, her grandmother, and General McCoy left the room.

“I’m not going to ask how you’re feeling because I can tell you look like shit!” Dr. Hancock softly smiled at Laura.

“Geez thanks! What a girl always wants to hear. How she looks like shit!”

“This isn’t going to be easy, Laura. It’s going to hurt. It’s going to be raw. But the end result is you will get better. You will be able to close those dark chapters and finally allow yourself the light your soul is so desperately seeking.”

“What if it’s too late to save my marriage?” Laura quietly cried as she sat up in the bed as best she could.

“Don’t do it to save your marriage. Do it to save yourself. Once you focus on you, your happiness, your mental health, then everything else will fall into place as it was meant to be.”

Laura looked over at Dr. Hancock for several seconds before nodding. All she could do was hope like hell it wasn’t too late to save her marriage.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Four weeks after getting out of the hospital a second time, Laura was answering the knock that was sounding on her front door. When she opened it, Highlander was standing on the other side holding Aurora in his arms with Cody, Willie, and Ryleigh behind him.

Taking Aurora out of his arms and giving her a big squeeze as she breathed in that baby smell, she stepped back and opened the door wider for everyone to come into the house. She hugged Cody tightly as he walked into the house, fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall at any moment.

When Cody held her just as tight, she lost the battle. She let tears fall from her eyes. Once Cody let her go, she hugged Willie and Ryleigh the same. When it came to Highlander, all she could do was stare into his eyes for a few moments, getting lost in the vast blue.

When Highlander reached his hand up to cup her cheeks, all she could do was tilt her head to lean into his touch. It was then that she realized how much she missed this man’s touch. His nearness. His smell.

“Is that lasagna?”

“Yep! I made lasagna for dinner tonight. Is that ok?” Laura looked down at Ryleigh, smiling at her daughter.

“Totally! I love lasagna!” Ryleigh whooped as she ran to the kitchen.

“Need any help in the kitchen, lass?” Highlander offered softly, looking into her eyes.

“Want to help the kids set the table then you can help me make the salad? Dinner should be ready in about ten minutes.”

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