“Hank also told me that Paul could never know about Lydia and Amber. He said if Paul found out, his family would make sure I never saw them again. He knew how to play on my emotions and my love for my daughter's. I did tell Hank once that I wanted them home with me and I'd do anything I could to make it happen. The girls were eighteen months old at the time. He told me that Amber needed an operation because she had breathing difficulties. I was so scared, Draven. I thought she'd die.”
“Baby,” He brings my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. “She didn't though, right?”
I shake my head. “Hank told me that if I stayed with Paul, the man who plowed money into the farm, the white man who made the family look respectable, then he'd pay for Amber's operation and her aftercare. He'd make sure she lived, and if she ever needed treatment again, he'd make sure she got it. So I did what my father wanted. I stayed with Paul because I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to my baby, Draven.”
“It's okay, Marnie, I understand. Your little girl meant everything to you, and you would have done anything for her, to make sure she survived. Just as any good mother would.”
I smile slightly. It means a lot that he understands why I did what I did.
“Paul was not a nice man. He beat me so badly sometimes that I didn't know which way was up. I knew it would never be safe for me to tell him about Lydia and Amber, even if I could have brought them home. He used to make fun of any child with disabilities. He took me to Texas with him once, and a little boy with Down's came over to me and hugged me, just like that out of nowhere.” I smile at the memory because he was such a sweet little thing. “The little boy’s mother smiled and led him away. Paul hissed at me that I better go back to the hotel, shower and burn the clothes I was wearing. I didn't understand why, but then he said that if I wanted to hug mongols, I best make sure I do it when he's not around to physically vomit in his mouth. I was so shocked that I couldn't stop myself from crying.” Much like I am now.
Paul was such a cruel man, and he had no problem telling me that anyone who wasn't physically like us did not deserve to live. I wanted to work with disabled children; it's what I went to college for, a degree in physical therapy to help people with disabilities. I had it in my head that when Amber was home with me, I'd be able to help her with anything she may need. Paul caught me with an application form for a job at the hospital. He battered me so badly I couldn't move for two days. I knew there would be no hope for me ever bringing my girls home while I still lived with that monster.
“You don't have to tell me anymore if it's too painful, Marnie.”
I shake my head. I need to get this out. “At Brooke and Hawk's wedding, when you smiled at me, something inside of me melted. I don't know what it was about you, but you made me feel beautiful. I had never cheated on Paul, but I couldn't help myself with you. I hadn't a clue who you were, and maybe that made me both ignorant and stupid,”
“You were neither.” Draven cuts me off. “I loved the fact you didn't know who I was. It meant you were your true self with me.”
“It was easy to be myself with you. The sex was out of this world, but it was more than that. For the first time in a very long time, I felt safe, Draven. You were a stranger to me, but you made me feel so safe. You made me feel things I had never felt before.”
Draven smirks around kissing the back of my hand.
“When I found out I was pregnant with this baby, with your baby, I knew I had to find you and tell you, no matter what Paul did. I knew I had to get away from him and from my family, because there was no way I would give up another child, it would have killed me. However, you didn't want to know at first, and I was so scared. I knew I couldn't go back to Paul, no matter what. So I made a plan to work as hard as I could to earn as much money as I could. I wanted my own place because once I had that; I knew I'd be able to figure out a way to find my girls and bring them home.”
“Sweetheart, if you'd told someone, even Hawk, the Snakes Henchmen would have helped you find the girls, they would have helped you with a house, and they would have kept you safe until I came to my senses.”
He makes it sound so easy. I suppose it would seem simple to others, not so when you're the person these things are happening to.
“I know, but it wasn't as easy as that. When you told me you wanted to take care of the baby and me, that you wanted me to move in here and we'd be safe, I found a new sense of hope. I thought that maybe one day I could tell you about Lydia and Amber and that you'd help me find them. Then that happened with the elders, and I was scared all over again that it would be too much to broach the subject with you. I wanted to so badly, Draven, but I was a coward. I'm a failure as a mother, and my babies deserve so much more.” I let go of a sob.
“Shh,” With his hand on the back of my neck, he pulls me slightly forward and into his arms, and I don't fight him this time. I don't care what anybody says about this man, he's mine, and I love him so much. The scent of his skin soothes me. “Do you want to bring Lydia and Amber home, Marnie?”
I pull away from Draven, my eyes narrowed. He'd let me bring them home?
Why the hell wouldn't he, Marnie, he's not a monster.
Well, he is, but he's a family man. I'm his family now, me, our baby, and Lydia and Amber. My precious little girls.
“That's all I have wanted since the day they were taken away from me, Draven, but I don't even know where they are. When I was taken to see them, they blindfolded me and drove in all directions so that I couldn't even work it out in my head. I never even saw them at the place they lived; it was some community center thing.”
“That's why you didn't want me to deal with Peter, isn't it? Because you knew you'd never be able to find them without him?”
I nod. “Without him, I will never be able to find out where they are. I begged you not to hurt him because he was the only way I'd be able to get to my girls.”
“Leave it to me, Marnie. If you want Lydia and Amber home, then I'll bring them home. Believe me, I'll find them.” He strokes my face, and my heart is beating so fast inside my chest. I can't quite make myself believe what he's saying.
“Why are you doing this, Draven?”
“You're going to be my wife, the mother of my child. I don't have a child yet, and I never thought I would until this little one,” I smile at him, smiling at my belly while he rubs it gently. “But I knew if I should ever have been so lucky as to have a child of my own, I would do anything for it. Should I
ever have one, I would stop at nothing to be in his or her life. Just as I will do everything in my power to stay in our baby's life.
“If your father didn't legally hand your children over to that woman, if there is nothing written on paper, then trust me when I say, I can walk into that place and back out again, taking Lydia and Amber with me, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.” Having the police, government, and who knows who else in your back pocket must help.
“You did something to me, Marnie. I swore I would never love again. I told myself that I didn't believe in love if all it does it hurt. Then you walked into my life.”
I think my mouth is stuck open. Is Draven trying to tell me that he's fallen for me? I'm a little scared to hope, but looking in his eyes, I see it, he's fallen in love with me. Inside my head and heart, I'm doing a little happy dance.
“This whole thing between us started as me wanting to protect my child, and its mother. Over the months we've been together...”
“You've fallen in love with me.” I laugh cheekily.
He nods with a smile. “I have. Hard, deep, and fast. I didn't even see it coming. Didn't even know that's what'd happened until I walked in this room and saw you lying there.”
I cup his face, and his eyes have closed on him. I have no idea what I looked like through his eyes the day he found me, but I know from my sister's reaction that it couldn't have been good.
“I love you, Marnie, and I will not lose you for anything. You may never love me in return, but you are mine, and you always will be.”
“Good job I love you just as much in return then, isn't it?” The slow smile of realization that is spreading across his face is so beautiful to see. “I love you, Draven Vidal. I can't wait for you to be my husband and the father of my children. If we do find Lydia and Amber, you will try to love them, won't you?”
I don't want him to feel like he has to force something that won't come, but I won't have my little girl's wondering why their baby brother or sister is loved more than they are. They are only five for Christ's sake.