Fatal Jealousy (Black Widow Book 1) (11 page)

“My little angel, you are finally here,” she kissed her son then Ellie, holding her in a gentle gaze, happy and appreciative. “Thank you,” Ellie just nodded, too emotional to speak.

“Where is Senior?” Carson asked, referring to his father.

“He’s still in Scotland. But I called him and told him his first grandchild was born. He was so happy, he rushed to the family pub and put me on speaker to announce it again. He said he wished you stayed on schedule Ellie.” The room filled with laughter again, Ann pulled the pink beanie over the baby’s ears to muffle the noise.

“Well, I didn’t have much of a choice,” she said, giving Dale, a look. Carson looked back at her, his eyes begging for her not to say another word.

“So, what is my little angel’s name?” Ann nuzzled her nose against the baby’s.

“I thought we could combine the two names of the most important women in our lives, our mothers.” She starred up at Carson tearfully and then settled her gaze back on Ann, “Stacey-Ann.” Saying her mother’s name didn’t hurt as it usually did. Now she felt immense love when it referred to her daughter, “Ellsa, are you okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She responded with a tight smile.

Carson caressed Ellie’s cheek lovingly, “That’s a beautiful name.”

Ann teared up, “The best.” She cleared her throat, “And now, you all need to go so that Stacey-Ann and her mommy can rest.”

“I’m not tired,” Ellie shook her head, the exhaustion dominant on her face.

“Still, its time,” the nurse who had slipped in unnoticed spoke, “I have to take the baby back anyway,” as she reached for the baby.

“Wait,” Ellie said sitting up. Ann handed her the baby, “See you later Stacey-Ann. Always remember we love you,” she kissed her tiny cheeks then handed her to the nurse.

“I’ll go with you,” Carson announced, following the nurse. The rest looked at him with amused looks on their faces, “What? I just want to see where she’s taking her and make sure she’s safe.”

“Stacey-Ann is never going to date,” Kevin said with a laugh.

“You can be sure of that!” Carson echoed.

Chapter Twelve

Ellie sat in the rocking chair, her baby curled in her arms as she suckled. She’d never felt as wonderful, as important and as connected to another human being as she felt to her daughter when she nursed her. She laughed at the moments of insecurity she had when Stacey-Ann looked at her with her big brown eyes. She always felt like her baby wasn’t looking at her, but looking
through
her, into her inner soul.

“How do you like your room?” Ellie asked holding her tiny fist with two fingers, “Mommy did her very best, just to make it extra perfect for you,” she lifted her fist and kissed it. She smiled at the fact it was the size of her own puckered lips. “I like the picture of daddy and me while you were still in mommy’s tummy,” She looked at the large portrait of her bare belly with Dale’s hands above and below it. And right next to it was a new picture of Dale holding Stacey-Ann with her next to them. She had numerous shots of her pregnant belly taken and she’d placed them around the house. Dale was a little reserved about taking the pictures, but once he saw them he loved them.

“But I like it better having you in my arms,” Ellie held her closer; “I could hold you forever.”

Carson stepped into the room, “As long as I get a turn.” He’d been watching them for a while, humbled and overwhelmed by the unexplainable feeling he had watching his two girls. It had been a month and he was still floored by the fact that he was a dad. He was someone’s father. He’d created life, another human being that he’d completely, unequivocally and unquestionably fallen in love with. Ellie glanced up and smiled, she had a flutter in her chest. It always happened when he looked at them like that, “You know if you keep dodging work and coming home early, we are going to get very attached.”

“She’s been our good luck charm,” he crouched down next to the rocker, “you two look so beautiful like this.” He caressed Stacey-Ann’s cheek with his finger then reached up and touched Ellie’s cheek, “Have I told you how much I love you today?”

“Well, let’s see?” She turned her head slightly to kiss his hand, “At three this morning, then at five and finally at seven when you left for work.”

“You haven’t slept yet have you?” he asked concerned, when she yawned. She had bags under her eyes and they were half closed.

“It’s good practise for the next baby,” she smiled tiredly. Why she would want another child, she could only chalk it up to the insane hormones. But she did want Stacey-Ann to have company and she also wanted Dale to have a son. Ellie loved her dad, and her dad had loved them, but he always kept wondering what if. Ellie didn’t want Dale to wonder what if.

“Another baby?” Carson asked with a panicked laugh. He took his daughter from her mother’s arms when she pulled away from her breast, full of her mommy’s milk. The look of pain on Ellie’s face still haunted him. There was no way he was going to put her through that again.

Buttoning up her shirt, “Yeah, maybe a boy.”

“I don’t think so,” he made funny faces at Stacey-Ann, but his audience just stared at him, a questioning look on her face.

Walking across the room, she wrapped her arms around his waist, “Dale you were an only kid and you said it sucked.” Carson raised his arm and tucked her under, and then he rocked, gently dancing with his two girls. “And I know what it’s like to have a dad try to turn me into a son,” rocking with him. “I want us all to have what we want; you a son, Stacey-Ann a playmate and I a boy and a girl.”

“There is no guarantee the next one will be a boy.”

“Then we’ll keep trying until we get one.”

Carson kissed her forehead, “I’ll think about it.”

“You do know you have very little control over my reproductive system?”

Carson looked at her amused. He always thought he let her have everything she wanted because she was pregnant and he didn’t want to stress her, but it was becoming very apparent that he found it difficult to say no to her, and she was stubborn. “After five years,” he conceded.

“In one or two years,” she yawned again, and then placed her head on his chest. She wished Dale Senior and Ann had stayed a while longer. Right now they would have been fussing over their granddaughter and she would be enjoying the comfort of her bed, “I don’t want a very large gap between the two of them.”

“How about you go sleep for a while, and I’ll look after the angel.” He walked her to the open double doors adjoining the two rooms, “I’ll tuck you in.” He pulled the bed covers down and waited for her to climb in, and then he pulled the covers up, securing her comfortably in between the sheets, “Comfy?”

“Very,” her eyes already closed, “Don’t forget to burp her, then change her and then...”

He cut her off, “Dance with her until she falls asleep. I know I’ve done this before.” He reached down and kissed her on the lips, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Carson crossed back into the nursery and sat on the rocker, the baby secure in his arms. He left the doors open so that he could watch Ellie sleep, he loved watching his girls sleep- they looked so beautiful and peaceful. He also felt at peace having them close and within eyesight... but he couldn’t help but feel that something might still go wrong.

It was an inkling, an inkling he wished he didn’t have.

****

A few months had passed by, Stacey-Ann was bigger, Ellie was smaller and Carson was back at work full time and still worried, the cloud still hanging over his head. They were still fighting about Ellie going back to work, which Carson wasn’t going to sway on. He wanted her with their daughter twenty-four-seven and day care wasn’t going to cut it. They’d reached a temporary arrangement where Ellie had classes two hours a day and Kris would take Stacey-Ann for those two hours. Ellie wasn’t happy about it, but she understood his mentality.

Being home with her and the baby had become his out, his safe haven since hell seemed to have broken loose. He was gone a lot, catching killers and profiling those already behind bars. Then he would go home, place the baby in bed with them- securely on Ellie’s side- and curl up behind Ellie, fitting her body against his. He would watch them sleep awhile before he slept, knowing they were close and safe.

His job had become an illness and they had become his cure. And now, after days of missing them like crazy, he was finally home.

“Ellie where are you?” Carson dropped his bag on the floor by the door and walked into his quiet home. It had been close to three weeks since he last held them in his arms and all he wanted to do was fall asleep with both of them. The quietness could mean one of two things, both Ellie and Stacey-Ann were asleep or they weren’t home, “Is anyone home?”

“I’m here,” a voice sang out of their room.

He stopped by the door when he saw the trail of roses laid out, leading to the bed. He smiled in expectation. They’d postponed date night twice because of their hectic schedules. “Finally, we can have our night.”

She stepped out in skimpy lingerie and high heels. She looked like a long drink of sex, a temptress of desire and a she-devil of lust. He liked it. He approached her, pulling off his shirt, “You’ve never gone all out like this before. You must have really missed me.”

She sauntered seductively towards him, “Never? Well then, you are in for a treat.” She reached up and pulled his head down, trapping his lips hungrily with hers.

Dale broke the kiss, very surprised. He liked it, “That’s different too.” He wrapped his arms around her, “is this some sort of reward for loving you so much?”

She unfastened his belt, “You could say that.”

He kissed her, “Where is the angel?”

“What angel?”

He pulled away, “Ellie, our daughter, Stacey-Ann?”

She pulled him back, “Oh. She’s with... her godmother.” She tried to kiss him again, but he pulled away.

“I left Audrey at the office. What’s wrong with...?” He pushed her back, taking several steps away from her. “Ellsa?” he uttered the name with disgust, “Where is Ellie? I swear if you’ve hurt her...” he let the threat linger.

She moved towards him and grabbed his hand, but he yanked it away, “No I’m Ellie.”

“Really?” he yelled, his anger mounting, “Lift your
straight
hair!” That should have been his first clue. Ellie loved curls and she would never wear bangs. She hated them!

He thought this was all over. Since the hospital, he’d had no contact with her except for the greetings passed on by Ellie. How stupid of him to think she’d left him in peace!

“What?” She stuttered, taking a step back.

“Ellie has the baby’s birthday and name tattooed on the back of her neck.” He pointed to his chest, right over his heart, “like the one I have here, right next to her name.” He grabbed at her. She tried to pull away, but he caught hold of her, turned her around and pulled her hair up away from her neck, “You don’t!” He bellowed, pushing her away roughly. She fell to the floor almost hitting her head on the bed frame.

“It was a temporary tattoo, I washed it off!”

“You bitch!” He hissed, “I told you to stay away from me! I don’t love you, I don’t want you! Can’t you get that through you thick skull?”

“Dale...” she cried.

He grabbed her chin and lifted her up, “I wouldn’t cheat on your sister, the love of my life, with you, even if you were the last living being on earth!”

She held his hand and tried to kiss his palm, but he pulled it away. She grabbed it again and held it against her chest, “Dale I love you!” Tears ran down her face, the running mascara ruining her makeup further, “She could never love you like I do!”

“You sound so sure of that.”

Carson pulled away at Ellie’s voice. He turned around and stared at her, lost for words. Audrey and Kris were with her, horrified by the sight, “Honey, it’s not what you think!”

She nodded, a tear escaping her eye, “I know. I’ve been standing here long enough to figure that out. Would you please get dressed?” She handed Stacey-Ann to Audrey, “Ellsa, what exactly were you trying to do?”

Ellsa stomped forward and stood in front of Carson. He moved back as he shrugged on his shirt. “Dale and I love each other, and right before you rudely interrupted us, we were about to make love!” She announced, proudly.

“You have no shame!” Kris sniggered.

Ellie took a step forward, “Make love, in
my bed
?”

“This is Dale’s apartment and his bed too,” she turned to him, rushing towards him, “Right honey?”

Kris rushed to block her way, “Hey! I told you before, he belongs to Ellie, not you!”

Ellie stopped, shifting her livid gazed to Kris, “What do you mean by
before
?”

“I told you Ellie. I tried to warn you, but you wouldn’t listen to me!”

Carson moved to stand next to Ellie, “this isn’t the first time she’s tried this.”

She turned to Carson, “Why didn’t you tell me?” her voice quivered, fresh tears running down her cheeks.

“She’s your sister. She was all you had before Stacey-Ann and me,” he moved to touch her, but she shifted away. “Ellie...”

She closed her eyes and shook her head, “Get out of my home Ellsa.”

“No, this is Dale’s apartment!” She yelled, “Dale honey, tell her you want me and not her!”

“Unbelievable,” Audrey whispered.

“Leave before I drag you out Ellsa!” Kris threatened.

Ellie opened her eyes, they were full of hate and anger, “I’m not going to say it again Ellsa.”

“Dale, honey,” Ellsa began, a smile on her face, “I’m pregnant!”

That statement set Ellie off. She rushed at her sister and slapped her hard, sending her sprawling on the floor. Then she grabbed her by her hair and dragged her across the floor out the door and out of the apartment, “I swear if I see you anywhere near my family again, I’ll forget you are my sister!”

Ellie banged the door shut and leaned against it as she struggled to control her breathing.

Ellsa banged on the door, “Ellie you are going to pay for this!”