The Long Way Home
Part Eight
Danny brought the extra blanket into the bedroom where Michelle would be sleeping. He had given her the clothes that he had gotten out of the storage closet and packed them in a small duffle bag.
He had seen to his own packing too. He threw in a couple changes of clothes and his shaving stuff. He didn't plan on being there long.
They would have to go to the store when they got back. There was no baby furniture or clothes or anything. How much stuff did a little girl need? He had no idea. Before Rachel had been born he had never been around babies. This was all new to him.
He prayed he could live with the reason Michelle left him. He wanted his family back so badly that he would be willing to overlook just about anything. He just wanted her to tell him the truth. No more stories about his dead brother and the conspiracy his mother was in on. Just the truth and if she still loved him then they could work it out somehow.
The incident in the bathroom had affected them both. He could see the invitation in her eyes when she had been in that bathtub and as much as he wanted to make love to her, he knew it wouldn't be right until he had his answers. He needed to know everything.
She had been so happy to see that he still had her clothes. She had hugged her clothes to her chest and breathed in their scent. They smelled like moth balls to him but she had tears in her eyes as she held onto her clothes as if she were holding on to her past.
If they were to get an early start, he needed to get her on to sleep. He tucked her in the bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She looked so fragile and he bent down to plant a kiss on her nose. "Nite Michelle" he said.
"Nite Danny" she answered and he turned off the light and went to his room. He wanted to stay with her so badly. He wanted to crawl in that bed and hold her tight the way he hadn't been able to for ten months. He had to put that on the back burner though. Rosie was what he needed to focus on.
Tomorrow he would see his daughter for the first time. Twenty-four hours ago he hadn't even known he had a daughter. He doubted he would be able to sleep anticipating all of the events of the coming day.
He had emailed Hope and told her that he wouldn't be in for a few days and to cancel all his appointments and he would reschedule when he got back. He needed to stop at the ATM and get some cash. He didn't know if they would take his credit cards down in Barbados where they would be going. He still wasn't sure where in Barbados they were going. Michelle had said she was to call someone named Miguel in the morning and he would meet them.
He didn't know what to expect tomorrow. What was he going to find down there? He would find the reason she had been gone from his life the last year and he didn't know if he was ready to find out what that was yet. The truth could end up being too painful.
He didn't think he would be able to sleep tonight. He checked to make sure he had his passport and other documents in order. He thought about calling Rick to tell him about Michelle but he would wait until all of this was over. The fewer who knew right now the better.
He walked back into the room where Michelle slept. It had used to be their bedroom. He had swapped rooms after he had thought she had died. He couldn't sleep in there anymore with all of their memories.
He went into the living room and turned on the computer. He got on the internet and found out all he could about the country Barbados. There was a lot of forest/jungle and he supposed someone could disappear and stay gone for a long time if they knew where they were going.
Michelle was so insistent that Mick had Rosie. Michelle really believed that their daughter was in danger. She had risked being caught to come home to him. Dare he believe it?? What was his alternative?
He had only been half alive the last ten months. He had prayed so earnestly that day on the beach to get his Michelle back and now he had her and he was splitting hairs about who she had been with. God had given him back Michelle and had added another gift in Rosie.
Michelle had never lied to him before. Why would she start now? He didn't believe in his heart that she had left him. He had really thought she had died although he should have felt that she was alive. He had been so mired in his grief that he never considered the possibility that she had been abducted. It still seemed so unreal to him.
Could Mick still be alive? He allowed that possibility to dance around in this head. And if so what part did Carmen play in all this? She had grieved herself over Michelle's loss like everyone else had. Or at least she had acted like she had. He was starting to consider the real possibility that Michelle could be telling him the truth.
Mick's death could have been orchestrated. The Santos family had the connections, it could have been pulled off. But why, was the question. He racked his brain trying to figure out why they go this far.
He would know the answers soon enough he supposed but for now all he cared about was getting Rosie back home. That was his first priority.
Michelle started moving a bit in her sleep. She was mumbling something that he couldn't understand. Suddenly she shot upright in the bed and shouted Rosie's name.
He jumped out of the chair and went to the side of the bed and drew her to him. She clung to him desperately. "He's got Rosie" she kept saying over and over.
"I know baby, I know but we're going to get her, I promise, we're going to get her," he said into her ear. She stopped shaking and let the tension release from her body. She was as limp as a dishrag and he finally realized what she had gone through to get back to him.
Rosie is what drove her to keep going. She would drive him too. He would not stop until he had both of them home with him.
"Stay with me Danny" she pled. "Please stay with me. I need you, I need Rosie" she sniffled.
"I'm not going anywhere baby, Just go back to sleep. I will stay with you" he said stroking her hair.
Soon her sobs relented and she was asleep again. He climbed into the bed next to her and held her to him. To his amazement, exhaustion overcame him as if he had pushed a button and his last thoughts were of Michelle handing Rosie over to him for the first time.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The nightmare was back. Michelle was drowning again only this time when he was about to rescue her she didn't go down into the ocean but she was pulled from him by an unknown captor. Her eyes grew wide and she was flailing her arms and legs but the captor just kept pulling her away with him.
Suddenly the picture changed. He saw movement behind Michelle. It was a baby. The baby was drowning. Danny tried to swim but his arms and legs would not move. The baby kept sinking and sinking and Michelle kept getting pulled away and Danny was still paralyzed.
He awoke with a start. He looked over at Michelle. She was still asleep. Poor baby, exhaustion had finally claimed her. She needed the rest. The coming day was going to be filled with unknowns and he couldn't stop the wrenching of his gut as he wondered what the day would hold for he and Michelle.
* ** * * * * * * * ** * *
Michelle woke up and went to the bathroom. She checked the clock. It was only 4:30 AM. They would get up in another hour. She didn't think she could go back to sleep. Her breasts were hurting again and she went into the bathroom and relieved them.
She came back and saw that Danny was still asleep. He looked so tired. She got back into the bed and watched him. He was laying on his back with his arm up over his head. He looked totally relaxed in this pose of sleep.
She drank in the sight of him. Ten long months of agony and wanting rose up in her. He was so beautiful. They had been so happy. They had had their entire future waiting on them until Mick had decided to step in and tear that apart.
She pushed Mick out of her mind. This was her time with Danny. She watched the rise and fall of his chest as his breathing was long and steady. She studied his handsome face. She had loved his nose. He had thought she was crazy when she had told him that but she did. It was strong and bold just like him, she had told him. She loved his mouth, the perfect shape of it, and when he smiled she just lost control of herself. Rosie had that exact smile. A perfect replica of her fathers.
He studied his hair. It really had gotten longer and it was in complete dissary from sleep and his arm had his hair pushed back over his forehead. She had also loved his high forehead and he had told her he would remember that in later years when he went bald.
What had the past months been like for him? She knew he had suffered but she had thought he knew her whereabouts, but he didn't. It was just another one of Micks lies. Danny had spent the last ten months grieving over his dead wife.
Tears began to form as she thought about her dear, sweet Danny suffering because of this lie. She wanted to comfort him but she knew he was still keeping her at arms length until he could find out the truth and she knew that once he did, that would be painful too.
She put her arm over his chest and let it lay there for a minute. He didn't move. She let her hand explore the broad chest, rubbing little circles on his skin with her fingertip. He still didn't move.
He had spent so much time without her in misery and she wanted to help ease his pain and show him that she was sincere about loving him. She couldn't make love with him because she still had not properly healed. Louisa had said that the herbs that she had given her to help would work but that they would take time. Her body had gone through tremendous trauma giving birth to Rosie without any benefits of modern medicine.
She would heal though it would take time. She didn't care, this was not about her anyway. This was about Danny and what it was costing him to trust her.
She reached her hand down under the covers and found him. He was already ready for her touch. She slipped her hand into the pajama bottoms that she was surprised to find him in. He had always slept nude before. She watched his face as she began her movements. His expression never changed.
She became more bolder in her touch as soon his hips began to rise to match her rhythm. His eyelids began to flicker and she knew he would be awake soon. She didn't want him to be mad when he awoke to find her taking advantage of his body. She bent over and kissed him while continuing her selfless act of love. He kissed her back. His eyes opened and Michelle could see that he was too far gone to stop her now. His pleasure was too intense. Soon his body was moving about under her hand and she saw him grit his teeth and mutter "Michelle" as finally his release was found.
It took a few minutes for Danny to come back down to earth. She had loved him in an incredibly unselfish way. Why? He had already agreed to help her. She didn't have to manipulate his body for him to do her bidding.
He felt her hands move onto his wet stomach then and he pushed the covers off himself and got up out of bed.
"Let's go Michelle" he said a little more harshly than he intended. He didn't know how to react now. It was awkward. She now had control of him. She now knew that she could get him to do anything she wanted and he wasn't sure that she was going to ask of him next.
"What's wrong Danny?" she said. She had wanted to be close to him and that was all she could share with him right now.
"Don't wake me up like that again" he said and started for the bathroom. She heard him run the shower and step into it.
She refused to allow that to deter her. She had to call Miguel and find out if there had been any news about Rosie.
She looked over at the bathroom that was already beginning to fog up from the steam and said. "I think you could love me again Danny if you tried" and went to dial the phone.