I woke up to my alarm, surprised at how fast thirty minutes passed. Kate woke up as well and rolled over onto her back to look at me.
“There you are,” she said and smiled, rubbing her eyes. Beside her, Sophia rustled, and sucked at her pacifier with her eyes closed. We were all warm and snug together, and I felt my heart swell. If only the three of us – and maybe Liam – could be happily together like this all the time, my life would be perfect.
Then, reality crept back in and I exhaled.
“What’s the matter?” Kate asked and brushed hair off my forehead. “That sigh means you’re stressed or unhappy.”
“McDonald called and wants me down at the precinct this afternoon. I’m going with Lara.”
"Drake!" she said and frowned. "What the hell is going on with the police? How can they still think you have anything to do with this? Why are they still calling you down to the precinct over this? You're as much a victim as I am."
"As Lara told me months ago, the police always consider the husband for any harm that comes to the wife. Always. They're usually right. It's the rare case when a wife is attacked or killed and it was not the husband."
"But there should be evidence," she said, her voice rising a bit, making Sophie squirm beside her, her eyes still tightly shut, the pacifier still in her mouth. "There is no evidence."
"There's he said – she said. Lisa claims we met in secret and planned the attack. How can I prove we didn't? We were alone together a few times – in the car when I drove her home, in her apartment when I attached the flat screen, in the hallways at the hospital. In my office. According to her, we were apparently at the same social functions at the same time. She could claim that we talked when we were alone and I encouraged her to kill you so we could be together."
"Anyone who knows you, who knows us, knows that's full of bull." Kate shook her head and sighed. "The police will figure it out."
"I'm neat and tidy. Who else do they have to go on?"
I stretched and lay on my back, my arm around Kate's shoulder, pulling her against me. We lay in silence for a few moments, both of us no doubt thinking about the case, about Lisa, and how we got into this mess.
Beside Kate, Sophie rustled, changing position, her eyes still closed. After a brief stretch, she went back to sucking on her pacifier contentedly.
"We're damn lucky she's such a good baby," I said and kissed Kate's forehead. "What if she'd had colic or some developmental delay? All the rest of this BS would be even harder."
"We are lucky," Kate said and squeezed her arm around my waist, smiling up at me. "We have to forget the case and let it play out. You'll be cleared, Drake. They'll figure it out."
"I hope so," I said and kissed her again. "I'm not as confident as you are. Even if they do clear me, there's still a lot of fall out for me in terms of reputation. I've already removed myself from the Foundation board of directors. What's next? Will I lose my surgical privileges at NYP?"
"Over your sex life before you were married? Are they that small?"
"Who can say?" I shrugged, not having a clue about why a surgeon could lose their privileges. I didn’t have any plans to do surgery during the coming year, but what about when I felt able to start practicing medicine again? Would NYP take me back?
"Maybe you could talk to the head of neurosurgery at NYP and see what he has to say."
I took in a deep breath and rubbed Kate's shoulder affectionately. "Don't worry about it. You have enough on your plate to think about."
I checked my watch and saw that I should get up and start getting ready for the meeting.
"Will you be all right while I'm at the police station?" I asked and looked into Kate's eyes for a clue about how she was feeling. "I wish you would keep Karen on for a while longer. I hate to leave you alone."
She smiled and squeezed her arms around me again. "I'll be fine. I don't need Karen any more, except for date nights. Sophie and I will cook supper while you're out. I'll put her in her Jolly Jumper swing and she can watch me in the kitchen."
"She loves that thing," I said and smiled back. "Before we know it, she'll be rolling all over the place. Then, we'll have to be on our toes. Baby-proof the place."
"We will," Kate said. "I already ordered those safety plugs for electrical outlets and those plastic thingies to keep the cabinet doors closed."
"Thingies?" I said with a grin, squeezing her again.
She grinned back. "That's scientific terminology, I'll have you know."
I laughed and pulled her over on top of me, and we lay for another few moments like that. Of course, I couldn't help but think of fucking her later, after we put Sophie down for the night.
"This is nice…" I murmured against the skin of her neck.
"It is," she said and let out a long sigh.