Page 54 of Controlled Chaos

Chapter 29

Three months later.

I sat on the couch,watching as Porter loaded another log into the fireplace. He still wasn’t used to the arctic chill that ran through the town, but he’d eventually get used to calling this place home, just like I was starting to get used to it again.

Porter had shown up in my hospital room every day and stayed until the staff kicked him out. Now he and I were finding our new normal, away from Fillpot. Porter was still working with the FBI, but I had more important things to take care of now. It had taken sending Porter on a trip to the store before I realized why I’d been craving that chocolate. As you can guess, he figured it out, too, when, no matter where he went, the women stopped flirting with him regardless of whether I was by his side.

The bundle of joy growing in my belly must be more like his aunt Dakota than either of us realized. The sweet child had a reach beyond the womb, beyond comprehension, and he was watching out for his daddy.

“Is that better?” Porter asked, coming to sit next to me. He kissed my still semi-flat belly before taking his seat.

“We’re good,” I said, kissing his lips.

“Your brother stopped by while you were napping earlier,” Porter announced.

“Yeah, which one, and what did he want?” I asked.

“It was Walker, and he wanted to know if I was going to make an honest woman out of you.”

I chuckled. “Did you tell him that was an impossible feat?”

“I told him I’d eventually wear you down until you said yes,” Porter said as I relaxed into his shoulder.

“We don’t have to get married to raise our child together or to prove our love for each other.”

“True.” Porter shrugged and kissed my temple. “But I’m spending my forever with you. It might be nice if we shared the same last name, don’t you think?”

“Next year,” I offered.

“Why in a year?” he asked.

I smiled up at him. “Because I have it on good authority that we’ll be pregnant with baby number 2.”

He kissed me hard as if I were already sharing the good news. When I felt the eyes on us, I broke the kiss.

The door across the room slid open, and my brother, Nick, walked out. Porter’s mother, Wanda was behind him. She was rubbing her temples.

“How did it go?” I asked.

“It’s working,” Nick reassured me. Nick’s gift was unusual and unlike anyone I’d ever met. He had a way of working with other people’s mind and extracting information among other things. “She’s starting to remember and put the pieces together.”

“Mom, you don’t look so hot,” Porter said, rising to stand and holding out his hand to pull me up with him.

“I’m not. I’m sad and sick to my stomach,” she answered. “But thankfully, I haven’t remembered anything yet that was too bad.”

Porter pulled his mother close and led her to the kitchen. “Come on. I’ll make you some tea.”

Nick and I waited until Wanda left the room before we spoke in hushed tones. “Anything I need to know?”

“I’m helping to pull out her memories of the times she was influenced by the drugs and hypnosis. It wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies, but she’s coping.”

“I appreciate your help,” I said, resting my hand on his arm. “She’s going to be family.”

He kissed my temple. “I know. We all do. In due time, with my ability, I’ll help her remember everything.”

“Thank you.” I walked Nick to the door and showed him out before heading up the stairs. My heart was heavy with knowing she blamed herself for all of it. It would take a lifetime and a ton of therapy to get her to understand that she wasn’t responsible for Thaddeus’s deeds. She was a victim and not the villain in this story.

I opened the bedroom door and paused, staring at a package sitting on the bed. The box was wrapped and tied with a blue ribbon.

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