Chapter 13
Dani sat in the rocker with the girls late the next evening glad to finally be home. She kissed their heads as she got up ignoring the pain radiating through her yet again and she laid them down in the cribs turning on the monitor as she eased out of the room. She knew she needed to let them sleep but she hated being apart from them. She went downstairs to get a glass of water and her medicine and stopped in the living room doorway when she heard the report begin.
Top stories tonight, police and local FBI agents confirm that infant daughters of Danielle and Luke Nolan have been returned home. A statement from the family reads, “We would like to thank the public for their thoughts and prayers over the last five days and happily announce that with the help of the police and FBI both Dena and Gina are home safe and sound. We wish to say an extra thank you to Detective Shepherds, Agent Ross, and Dr. Myers for their dedication to their jobs and ask the media to allow us time to recover after the events of the week.”
In other related news Felix Gaston, nefarious mobster from southern Florida has been arrested for the deaths of the security personnel at the Nolan residence, the kidnapping of the Nolan children, and on at least three counts of attempted murder of Danielle Nolan. Sources from the police department tell us that Gaston sent various men after Danielle to garner the location of his daughter and her husband, Danielle’s brother, and the kidnapping was in efforts to retrieve a microchip that prosecutors are currently decrypting.
We wish the Nolan family and Danielle a swift recovery. Several other publications have already printed stories regarding the incident, which we all know to be false. Retractions are hitting the internet and apologies have been issued but it does seem to be an issue of too little too late as far as the Nolan family is concerned. Requests for statements have been declined for years and we second the Nolan’s family request for privacy…
“Big of them,” Dani sighed catching the attention of the family.
“Dani…girls asleep?” Joan asked stopping herself from asking how she was feeling. The answer was evident on her face, and she guided her to a chair as Luke went to get her pain medicine.
“They have been for a good hour; I just couldn’t put them down.”
“It’ll get easier,” she promised kissing her temple.
“Here,” Luke said handing her the glass along with the pills. “Please just take them Dani.”
“I wasn’t going to argue Luke; I was on my way to get a glass when I saw that.”
“Good…”
Dani handed him the empty glass and settled back into the chair letting them ease the blinding pain enough for her to go back up the stairs and to bed. She felt herself dropping off and didn’t protest when Luke lifted her gently as though she were one of the girls and carried her to bed.
“Shh…sleep Dani,” he whispered against her hair as she protested in her loopy state. He covered her with the blankets taking a few minutes to watch her before leaving her to her sleep.
She insisted on going to Brad’s funeral and the service for the other two men but quickly returned home to the girls the instant they were over. Felix was in federal custody, heavily guarded and his men were fleeing or cutting deals to save them from jail time, adding more to Felix’s charges with every word they uttered. Their anniversary slipped by without celebration, but everyone understood. Luke worked from home for the entire first month refusing to leave her or the girls unprotected.
Dani knew they didn’t need the protection anymore though; Felix couldn’t get to her from his cell. He wasn’t allowed contact with anyone other than his lawyer and he’d abandoned him after two days. No one was accepting his offer of millions in legal fees, no one wanted to go up against the lawyers Luke had hired for them let alone the prosecutors who were giddy over the amount of information they’d gotten off of the microchip.
Slowly the weeks went past them, May burst with sunshine and she couldn’t stand staying in the house. She refused to go out to events, preferring to stay with the girls as her bones began to heal, and the bruises finally faded. She and Luke were living as strangers, rarely talking of anything other than the girls or her refusal to attend the latest function. He slept beside her, but they never touched, not even when the others were around anymore. There was no need to pretend, and it hurt.
As August drew to a close, she went for a walk wanting to forget that the leaves would start to turn and then fall, leaving the trees as bare as her soul was whenever she wasn’t with the girls. They were her saving grace…the one thing that kept her breathing.
She’d barely spoken with Dean since the kidnapping and the truth coming out because she couldn’t forgive him. She knew it wasn’t solely his fault that things had happened the way they did but it was easier to be angry with him than herself or Luke for not loving her.
Dani took the girls around the grounds until she reached the spot next to the small pond and settled them down on a large blanket underneath the oak tree. She used it as a backrest as the girls scooted around on their bellies determined to get up and move. They were getting the hang of crawling and she kept a close eye on them. She wasn’t going to let anything harm them again.
They fell asleep watching the breeze make the leaves dance and Dani smiled holding onto the image as the silence got to her. She opened the book she’d brought and read to distract herself. Mid-way through, she felt someone watching her and she looked up, pressing her hand to her chest in relief.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” she said as Luke crossed over to them.
“You were a million miles away,” he stated sitting down on the other side of the girls. “They look more like you every day,” he added with a smile as he gazed over them.
“I guess that’s why you can’t bear to be around them anymore,” she said quietly.
“What? Dani no, I love them more because of it. Baby…”
“Don’t, there’s no need to pretend Luke. It’s just us out here.”
“There’s no pretense Dani. Do you have so little faith in yourself that you can’t believe that I can love you?”
“I know you did but after everything else…it’s okay, it always happens.” She sighed looking away from him.
“Look at me please, baby,” he said gently bringing her gaze up to his. “I have never stopped loving you. That is the one thing that I’ll never be able to stop. You and the girls are my world as much today as you were when they were born, more so.”
“How? I lied repeatedly, every time you asked me to tell you the truth, I added another lie.”