Promises

Parts 11-12

By Candy

Michelle awoke a few hours later to see Danny pacing the floor, lost in thought.
"What's wrong?" her voice was thick with sleep.
"Hey," he smiled, walking over to her. "Good morning beautiful."
"What are you thinking about?" she asked.
"Just thinking about getting you out of this place," he said.
"Danny," she began. "I can see that look in your eye. You promised me you wouldn't do anything."
"I don't want you to worry about a thing," he said. "Frank is working on some things and he's going to call me as soon as he knows something."
"But I know you," she demanded. "You're going to…"
"Michelle," he interrupted. "I don't want you to worry about a thing. All I want you to concentrate on is getting better. Nothing else matters."
"It does matter if…" she was cut off again as he covered her mouth with his.
"And when you are feeling better, we can take care of some other important matters," he smiled, kissing her again, as her hands found his face. "With me working so much lately, it's been awhile since we've spent any time together. But we'll take care of that…soon."
He intensified their kiss as she pulled him closer. They were so lost in each other that they didn't hear the door open. They quickly separated when they heard someone clearing their throat.
"Dr. Sedwick," Michelle said blushing.
"Sorry I interrupted," she smiled, rolling a machine in front of her. "But if you'll let me examine you, maybe you can go home and continue this there."
"I'll wait outside," Danny laughed, unusually embarrassed.
"You can stay if you like," Dr. Sedwick said. "I have most of the test results already. I just want to do a quick examination and an ultrasound."
Danny sat back down beside Michelle, reaching for her hand. "So how does everything look so far?"
"Good," she smiled. "Fever is gone and her blood pressure has stabilized. Now I just want to get a quick peek at this little one."
"Is this going to hurt her?" Danny asked worried, when he looked at the ultrasound machine she was about to use.
"No," Dr. Sedwick explained. "It may be a little uncomfortable, but it won't hurt her."
Danny and Michelle stared at the screen waiting for an image of their baby to appear. "Let's see," Dr. Sedwick began. "Right here." She pointed to the screen. "That's your baby."
"Where?" Danny asked. "I don't see anything."
"That's because you're baby is very little," she explained with a smile. "From the measurements, I would say you're about eight weeks along."
"That would be about right," Michelle agreed. "Can we get a picture?"
"Of course," she smiled.
"I still don't see it," Danny said confused.
Michelle couldn't help but laugh when she saw Danny turning his head from side to side concentrating on the screen, trying to see their baby. "Sweetie, look right here."
He followed her finger to where it was pointing on the screen.
"That's the baby?" he said. "It looks like a peanut."
"That's about the size of the baby right now," Dr. Sedwick explained. "The next sonogram will show much more."
"So everything's okay?" he asked.
"Everything looks fine," she smiled. "Michelle, I'll let you go home, but I want you to stay off your feet for at least the next few days. You need to start eating some solid foods so you can regain your strength."
"But I still feel nauseous," Michelle frowned.
"That's the morning sickness," she explained. "Hopefully it will ease up on its own, but if it doesn't, I'll go ahead and give you something to help with the nausea. I also have your prenatal vitamins that you need to start on right away."
"I'll pick them up at the pharmacy on the way home," Danny said.
"Let me get your paperwork ready and you can be on your way," she smiled as she left.
"So are you ready to go home?" Danny asked.
"Are you kidding?" she laughed.
"I've decided I'm going to take some time off of work so I can stay home with you," Danny said.
"You don't have to do that," Michelle said. "I can take care of myself. I know you have a lot of work to do and you can't afford to take time off right now."
"The business will not fall apart without me," he said. "I do have a couple of people there I trust, who I can turn things over to for a short time."
"But..." she began.
"No buts," he said, interrupting her with a kiss. "Just face it. You're going to be stuck with me all day and all night."
"All night, huh?" she said with a twinkle in her eye. "I just can't imagine what we'll do to pass the time."
"I'm sure we can think of something," he replied with a sexy smile.
She pulled his head down to close the distance between them as they kissed. And for the second time in the span of a half hour, they were interrupted.
Danny quickly turned around when he saw someone out of the corner of his eye.
"Rick?" Michelle said breathlessly.
Danny groaned, "I'll be glad when we get home."
"Sorry to interrupt," Rick apologized. "I just talked to Dr. Sedwick and she told me everything looks good."
"Yeah," Michelle nodded. "She's letting me go home."
"You know you still need to take it easy," Rick said in more of a big brother than doctor tone.
"I know, I know," Michelle sighed. "I will."
"I'll be there to take care of her," Danny reassured.
"I plan on dropping by to check on you," Rick said.
"Just one thing," Michelle smiled. "Call first."
"Okay," Rick smiled. "I will. Now, I've been here all night, so I think I'm going to go home and check on my wife."
"You're not going to say anything about…" Michelle started.
"I'm not going to tell her about the baby," he said. "But I can't tell you how happy she's going to be when you do tell her."
"I'll tell her soon," Michelle promised.
"I'll call later to check on you," Rick said turning to leave.
"Rick," Michelle stopped him. "I'm really glad our kids are going to grow up together."
With tears in his eyes, he walked over and kissed her on the forehead. "Me too, sis. Me too."

________________________________________

It wasn't much longer before a nurse brought in Michelle's release papers. After everything was signed and the IV was out of her arm, Danny helped her change back into her clothes. He wanted to pick her up out of the bed and into the wheelchair, but she insisted on doing it herself. He held his arms out as she stood on shaky legs and sat down in the wheelchair.
The nurse told him to go ahead and pull the car around and she would wheel Michelle down to the patient discharge door, but he was weary of having her out of his sight. He explained that he wanted to walk down with them and then he would get the car. At least then, there would be more people around. He hated this, having to watch their backs at all times. This was why he wanted out. He didn't want her to have to live this way. Who was he kidding…he didn't want to live this way either.
They were relatively quiet on the ride home. He made one stop at the pharmacy to pick up her prescriptions, making her wait in the car while he went in to get them. From his stolen glances at Michelle, he could tell she was still not feeling well. To be honest, he was rather tired himself. He hadn't had much sleep in the past week with work and being worried about her. But he would sleep much better once they were in their own house with their new alarm system. Frank still had not called, but Danny knew someone had somehow slipped into the house to steal that box of chocolates. So he had called the alarm company late last night and had them change the access numbers and sequence. He and Michelle were going to be the only ones who knew how to get in to their house.
The garage door closed slowly behind them as Danny put their Navigator into park. Michelle opened her door and was already out by the time he came around to her side.
"Would you wait a minute?" he said frustrated.
"What?" she asked confused, closing the door.
"Let me help you inside," he explained.
"Danny, I think I can walk," she groaned.
Ignoring her words, he wrapped his arm around her waist and practically carried her inside. She watched as he punched in the numbers on the alarm, none of which she remembered.
"What are you doing?" she quizzed.
"Let's get you inside and in bed," he said. "Then I'll explain."
He carried her straight to their bedroom and set her down on the bed. She wanted to change clothes first, so she stood to go to her closet. He gently pushed her back down and said he would get whatever she needed. She could already tell that her husband was going to drive her crazy over the next seven months.
When she was settled, he sat down beside her and told her about the missing box of chocolates and how he believed someone had broken into the house Tuesday night. She still swore that she set the alarm about 9:00 that night and Danny knew the alarm was off when he came in around 12:30. So someone had that three and a half hour span where they could have broken in. What Danny still couldn't figure out was how they could have unarmed the alarm system. He had purposely made it very difficult to figure out the combination of numbers to enter. In fact it was so difficult, that after it was first installed, Michelle refused to set the alarm because she was afraid she would set it off. She was already upset that they even had an alarm system. If he was out of dangerous business, there shouldn't be any threat, she had said. But he convinced her, given their last name they couldn't be too careful.
Danny did his best to keep her calm. After everything she had been through in the past few days, she needed to rest. But she was headstrong and she wanted to know everything that was going on. Someone was trying to get to her and she wanted to know why. Danny tried to explain to her that some of the other families were still upset about Carmen's arrest and his new business policies. If they were trying to get to him, they knew the best way would be to get to her, but he promised her again he wouldn't let anyone ever hurt her again. He would protect her and their baby and she didn't need to worry about anything.
He stayed with her, holding her, until she fell asleep. When she was finally sleeping soundly, he got up to fix her something to eat. Breakfast in bed had always been his specialty. Well, today it would be more like brunch in bed, but she needed to eat something. Dr. Sedwick said she needed to regain her strength. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out all the necessary ingredients to make his special Spanish omelet, Michelle's favorite.
Before he could finish the second omelet, he felt familiar arms reach around him from behind.
"What are you doing out of bed?" he questioned, turning around.
"I woke up and you were gone," she frowned, reaching up for a kiss.
"I got up to fix you something to eat," he explained, pulling her over to the kitchen table. "Sit and put your feet up. Dr. Sedwick said you are supposed to stay off your feet."
"Yes sir," she did a mock salute.
"You better get use to it," he smiled, leaning in for another kiss. "Because I am going to spoil you rotten."
"Promise?" she whispered, returning his kiss.
He pulled away from her, returning to the stove. "Now don't distract me. I don't want to burn the eggs."
He scooped up the omelets and put them on two plates, carrying them over to the table. As he set down one plate in front of Michelle, he noticed she turned a little green and she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Danny," she groaned. "I don't think I can eat this."
"It's your favorite," he whimpered.
"I know, but…" she began.
"Michelle, you haven't eaten anything in days," he scolded. "You need to eat something. You need your strength for you and the baby."
"Danny," she sighed. "I know, but I feel like if I try to eat that, I will get sick."
"What?" he panicked. "I thought you were feeling better."
"I am," she explained. "Danny, it's just the morning sickness."
"Oh," he exhaled. "Well, is there anything you feel like eating?"
"How about some dry toast?" she said.
"Dry toast?" he repeated. "Would you like some water with that?"
"Ha, ha," she laughed. "Funny. No, I actually think I would like a glass of milk."
"Well, there's a start," he said, opening the refrigerator. "I guess that's better than nothing."
He set her glass down on the table in front her and returned to the counter to put her toast in the toaster.
"You know," she began. "We're not going to be able to keep this baby a secret for long."
"But we're going to do it for as long as we can," Danny said. "Hopefully we'll have some answers soon on who had that box of chocolates delivered."
"And you don't think it was your mother?" she questioned as he sat down with her toast.
"No," he said. "She didn't do it."
She took a small bite of the toast, "But after everything she's done how can you be sure?"
"She didn't do it," he said again. "Let's just leave it at that."
"But you said to never underestimate her," she started. "She could have…"
"I went to see her, okay," Danny interrupted. "And she convinced me she didn't know anything about it."
"You went to see her?" Michelle asked, dropping her toast.
"Yes," he confessed.
"When?" she asked.
"Last night," he explained. "After Frank and I came here and we realized someone had broken in, I decided to confront her."
"How was she?" she asked curiously.
"Michelle," he said around the bite he had just taken. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Danny," she demanded, forcing him to look at her. "Don't shut me out."
"I'm not," he defended. "I could just see it in her eyes. She isn't the woman she used to be. She says she's changed."
"Do you believe her?" she questioned.
"I don't know," Danny sighed. "A part of me wants to, but another part of me remembers everything she's done to you…to us…and I promised myself I would never underestimate her again. She is capable of anything."
"But…" she said.
"But," he continued. "She swore on my father's grave that she had nothing to do with this."
"Wow," Michelle whispered. "You've told me how much she loved him."
"I always blamed her for his death," he explained. "She was…is power hungry and he wanted to please her. He was at that meeting because of her. He never would have dealt with those people if it weren't for her. Anyway, no matter what happened she loved him."
"And she wouldn't defile his memory that way," Michelle responded.
"No I don't think she would," he agreed.
"So where do we go from here?" she asked.
"You are staying right here," he said forcefully. "And I will keep working to try to find out who really is behind this."
"Danny," she began.
"No, Michelle," he shook his head. "I am not going to argue with you about this. You need to take care of yourself. That is your first priority."
"So I'm just supposed to sit here and twiddle my thumbs while there is someone out there trying to kill me," she shouted.
"I don't care what you do Michelle, as long as you stay in this house and rest," he said calmly.
"I am not going to just wait around for something else to happen," she stopped suddenly as she got up to walk closer to the window, peeking through the blinds.
"What is it?" Danny followed her.
"There is someone out there," she explained, going towards the phone. "There's someone watching our house. I've got to call Frank!"
He took the phone out of her hand and hung it back up. "You don't need to call Frank."
"What are you talking about?" she said exasperated. "There is someone watching us."
"I know," he said. "His name is Carlos."

Parts 13-14

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