“Agreed. Now let’s get you settled.”
***
Bella let Demi help her settle into the bedroom and marveled at how quickly her sister had everything sorted andput away. She figured Charlie had already moved some of his belongings out to make room and that made her weepy.
Everything made her weepy nowadays.
Demi coaxed her to lie on the bed and covered her with a soft blue, crocheted blanket she admitted to making herself. Leaving her with a bottle of water nearby and comfy pillows to lean against, Demi closed the door behind her just in time for Bella to let go of her pent-up emotions.
Feeling sorry as hell for herself, she acknowledged that she loved Demi, immensely – hugely - totally. Surrounded by such a warm, tasteful home that reeked of love and care, she was thrilled to see her so happy. Happy and adored by that huge man with deep blue eyes that could make a woman stupid from wanting them to turn her way.
Between the wolf near the fireplace, to the cat nestled between his paws, the fire glowing, and the smells wafting from the plant-filled kitchen, it was like something one might see in a movie.
The feelings it ignited were the same ones she felt when she and Tanner were together in their new place. Warmth coming from so much love was different than a well-heated house. God she missed him.
For the thousandth time, she wished she’d never pulled her stupid stunt of spying on him. He still didn’t understand what had set her off, and she couldn’t tell him. He figured she was angry from pregnancy and loneliness. Christ, the last thing she wanted was for him to believe she could be that weak and… and needy.
Hadn’t she spent her life making everyone believe she had her shit together? That her youth hadn’t affected her like it had many of the kids they’d run into from foster care. The mal-adjusted, unhappy people who couldn’t get past their upbringings.
She had succeeded... and had taken a lot of pride in doing so. Going to Quantico and handling the crap they dealt out was no small feat. Yet she’d done it and with awards to show for her skills. Nothing had been allowed to stand in her way… certainly no mere man.
How the mighty have fallen!
The bible quote from the story of David came to mind. A saying she’d repeated many times as she’d captured some of the worst criminals on their felony lists.
But… not once had she used it for herself.
Hey baby! Time to grow up and move on.
That cheating fucker wasn’t worth her tears. And her unborn baby shouldn’t be having to deal with such misery from her mother. Demi would help her. And once she could trust herself to handle things, she’d go home, kick his sorry ass out of the house, and say goodbye to that slice of her life.
Shaking from such painful thoughts… that’s when the real tears began to fall.
Chapter Thirty-four
Life in Alaska moved on slowly and with each day came a new issue to overcome. Demi tried to bring a smile to Bella’s face as often as possible and she saw the change as her pregnant foster sister calmed, and a sparkle began lighting up her eyes again.
From the beginning, it became obvious that the agent loved Charlie. They took to each other like two souls reuniting from another era. The boy peppered her with questions about life as a cop in a big city, and Bella, careful in her descriptions, still stuck as close to the truth as possible. She sensed that Demi and Whit weren’t into sugar-coating life’s difficulties, and so she kept that in mind in all their discussions.
One day, on the way back from driving Charlie to Teddy’s, Demi opened up about his true background. “He’s had it tough, Bella. He doesn’t talk much about his mom, Beth, but I’ve always had the feeling he would have chosen differently if given the chance.”
“Well, that’s exactly what he said. Other than she brought him into this world and then dragged him around with her, he said the only mother he’s ever really known or wanted was you.”
Choking up, Demi turned globby eyes to her friend. “He said that?”
“Yep. And his eyes looked exactly like yours do now. I got the feeling that Charlie thinks he’s the luckiest kid in the world.”
Slipping into Demi’s life in an easy kind of way, Bella instantly took to Norrie, and the storekeeper also came to adore the prickly woman with a big belly and a hidden soft heart.
Lexie soon turned into Bella’s sounding board for pregnancy questions, and they often went into a corner happily discussing the merits of this or that baby item.
It was Bella who told Demi that Norrie and Lexie were looking into insemination with what they called The Two Mum approach. Because they wanted to have a family as soon as they could arrange it, this was a way both women would be involved. The first time, Lexie’s eggs would be used while Norrie carried the baby, and God willing, they’d switch for the second child.
Of course, like most oldies, Harold and Elsie happily swept Bella into their circle, making a big fuss over her condition. Stories of back-in-the-day were told often and gave everyone reasons to laugh.
And Whit did everything he could to make Bella comfortable, taking them for rides in his truck to see many of the nearby sights that most folks never got to see.
Each day passed serenely, and Bella finally calmed her own worries over Tanner and his being missing from their circle. For the first time in her pregnancy, she relaxed and felt her baby doing so too. Pregnancy suddenly became fun, even if the little monster woke her up often during the night kicking and dancing more than usual.