Nightmares from Within (28 page)

Benny and Gary both hung around for a few minutes after Dr. Andrews left to hug and cry over me. By the time the two of them left I was completely exhausted and in more than a little bit of pain, but I had questions that I needed answers to.

“What happened with Bryan?” I finally asked once only Daniel and Jordan were left in the room with me.

Daniel dropped his head but I noticed his eyes grew shiny before he looked down to study his shoes. Seeing the tears in his eyes hurt my heart and almost set me off again.

Jordan cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably before looking back at me. “He’s dead, baby.”

I recalled hearing a gunshot right before I passed out. “You shot him, didn’t you?”

Daniel dropped into the chair beside me and Jordan rested on the bed next to me and reached for my hand. “When you dove in front of me and I saw that knife…” His voice cracked and a single tear escaped his eyes. “I thought I’d lost you. You hit the ground and I just fired.”

I took as deep a breath as I could without hurting my chest. “So it’s over? We don’t have to worry about him anymore?” It almost seemed too good to be true.

“It’s over, baby,” Jordan said quietly.

He leaned in and squeezed me as tightly as he could without hurting me and we just held each other for several minutes.

“We’re going to have a baby,” he whispered in awe after pulling back slightly to look in my eyes.

I smiled at Jordan with so much love inside me it was overwhelming. After several seconds the sound of a clearing throat pulled us back into reality.

Daniel smiled sheepishly and in that moment, I knew he knew. “Daniel,” I whispered. I didn’t need to say anything else.

“I know, honey. It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

Jordan’s eyes darted back and forth between me and Daniel. “Someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

I took Jordan’s hand in mine and placed it on my belly. “I saw my grandmother,” I stated. “I don’t know if it was a dream or a vision but…I saw her. That’s how I knew I was pregnant.” I smiled again as tears streamed down my cheek. “It’s a little girl, Jordan.”

His jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out. “A girl?”

I nodded.

“I’m going to have a baby girl?” His dimples popped as the realization hit him and the joy I saw on his face was contagious.

“Baby, I have to tell you something,” I finally said, hating to burst our happy little bubble.

“What? What’s the matter? Is something wrong with her?” he asked worriedly.

I looked at Daniel at a loss as to how to explain it to Jordan. Daniel took pity on me and dropped the bomb himself. “She’s going to be a Seer, Jordan. She’s going to have the same gift her mother and her great-grandmother did.”

“Wait…” Jordan shook his head violently. “No. No! I won’t let my little girl go through what Taylor suffered with all her life. I won’t!”

I grabbed his face in my hands, feeling a sense of calm that I’d never experienced before. “Do you trust me?” I asked.

He didn’t speak, only nodded.

“Then you have to believe me when I tell you that our little girl is going to be just fine. With the love that you and I are going to give her, she’s never going to have to grow up in fear the way I did. I have faith in that. I need you to as well.” I ran my thumb along his lower lip gently before asking, “Do you believe me?”

Jordan turned his face into my palm and planted a loving kiss in the center. “I do, Crimson.” We smiled at each other before something crossed over his face. “Wait a minute.” He turned and addressed Daniel. “You said she was going to have the same gift her mother and grandmother
had
.”

It was Daniel’s turn to clear his throat uncomfortably. “Yeah, well…you know that higher power I was talking about?”

Jordan and I both nodded in the affirmative.

“An exception was made for Taylor. It’s never been done before…but…well, you were never supposed to come so close to dying, Taylor. After everything…everything you’ve suffered through in your life, a decision was made. You can choose to relinquish your gift and live the rest of your life like you’ve always wanted to.” He smiled but there was a sadness in his eyes.

I was shocked. I don’t know how long I sat there, just staring at Daniel. “I have a choice?”

“You do.”

I didn’t know what to think. Then the reason for his sadness hit me. “What about you? If I’m no longer a Seer will I still get to see you?”

He shook his head and the sadness radiating off him filled the room. “If you aren’t a Seer there’s no reason for you to have a Guide.”

I looked back at Jordan and saw understanding reflected back at me. He knew how important Daniel was to me because he had grown to be important to Jordan also. “But you’re my family,” I told Daniel. “I’ve finally accepted my gift; I’m not scared of it anymore. If giving it up means I lose you too then I’m keeping it.”

I don’t think I could have said anything that would have surprised him more. “Taylor, this is what you’ve wanted your whole life; a chance to be normal and to build a family without this hanging over your head. This is a lot to take in. You need to at least give it some thought. Don’t jump to a decision right now.”

I reached down and caressed my belly. “There’s nothing to think about,” I replied. “I’ve already built my family and you’re a part of it.”

Daniel’s eyes brightened and he let out a cough to mask the tears that were threatening to fall. Jordan released my hand and stood to walk around the bed. He lifted his hand for Daniel to shake and gave him a sincere smile. “Welcome to the family, Uncle Daniel.”

7 ½ Years Later

“Cassandra Marilyn Donovan, I told you to clean your room or I was going to cancel your birthday party tomorrow,” I called from the hall as I made my way toward the living room.

“But Moooom,” she whined to me from her seat on the couch between her father and uncle. “It’s the bottom of the ninth. I can’t leave now. The Mariners are about the kick White Sox ass.”

Jordan choked on the drink of beer he’d just taken and Daniel let out a bark of laughter. I narrowed my eyes at my little girl and demanded, “Room. Now. Or I’m calling Benny to cancel your princess cake, and telling Gary not to let any of your friends up for your party.”

Cassie let out an exasperated huff and headed toward her bedroom, moping the whole way. I watched as my beautiful, hazel eyed little girl walked out of the room before turning back to the two most important men in my life. “You’re horrible influences. You know that, right?”

“It was him!” Daniel insisted like a kid caught with his hand caught in a candy jar. “I told him to watch his mouth in front of the kid.”

“Oh, bullshit!” Jordan demanded. “You’re just as bad as I am. You just called me a douche nozzle in front of
the kid
.”

I rolled my eyes at the both of them. It had been like this for the past eight years. “Can you please refrain from calling my daughter
the kid
, please?”

Jordan grabbed me by my hips and pulled me down into his lap. “Have I mentioned how in love with you I am?” he asked, trying to win brownie points.

“Hmm.” I tapped my chin and squinted at the ceiling. “Not today.”

He shot me that dimpled grin before giving me a lingering kiss. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too.”

Daniel let out a gagging sound next to us. “It’s times like these I wish you
would
have relinquished your gift. This lovey dovey shit makes me itchy.”

“Hey,” Jordan stated. “You’re the one who told me that we were meant to find each other.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think I’d be stuck seeing you suck face on a regular basis. I was hoping she’d friend-zone your ass so I wouldn’t have to deal with this shit.”

Jordan reached over and punched Daniel in the arm. “Sorry, buddy boy. Fate made its decision a long time ago. Deal with it.

Cassie had taken her bath and was lying in her bed after I finished reading her a bedtime story. Jordan and Daniel joined me at her bedside to have the most important conversation we’d ever have with her.

“Do you have any clue how special you are, my sweet Cassie?” I asked as I clasped my grandmother’s locket around her tiny neck. “You’re just like me, love. We have a special gift.”

It was the night before my daughter’s seventh birthday.

Cassie knew she was special. We’d never hidden it from her, but until tonight, she didn’t know the extent of her gift.

“What special gift, Mommy?” she asked, staring at me with those gorgeous eyes she’d inherited from her dad. Her head was in my lap as I ran my fingers through her light brown hair just like my grandmother had for me when I was her age.

“We can see things, sweet girl. Special things that no one else can see. We have visions,” I whispered with a smile, repeating the same words my grandmother said to me so many years ago. “And it’s our job to try and help the people we see in our visions.”

Cassie’s bottom lip trembled and Jordan and Daniel stepped closer in a show of support. “I’m scared,” she whispered in a small voice that broke my heart.

“Do you remember where you got your name from, baby girl?” I asked her.

“Yeah. You named me Cassandra after your best friend and Marilyn after your Granny.”

I stroked her hair lovingly. “That’s right. I named you after the two strongest people in the whole entire world. You know why I did that?”

She shook her head and looked up at me inquisitively.

“Because you’re just as strong as they are,” I whispered. “You just don’t know it yet.”

She ran her finger over the locket I’d passed on to her lightly before wrapping her fingers around it and holding on tight.

“And you have me, Daddy and Uncle Daniel and we’re always going to be here for you.”

“So I’m going to see the things like you do?”

“That’s right, baby,” Jordan said. “Your Mommy helps people and now you’re going to get to help people too.”

That got a beautiful, dimpled smile from my precious girl…my angel. “Like a super hero? I’m gonna get to save people like you and Mommy?”

Jordan chuckled before planting a kiss on Cassie’s forehead. “Just like a superhero, Angel.”

“And Uncle Daniel’s gonna help me too?”

All those years ago I’d made the decision to hold on to my gift when I had the chance to let it go and lead a normal life. Other than allowing myself to fall in love with, and marry Jordan, it was the best decision I ever made. Daniel was my Guide, my friend…my family. And because I accepted my gift, I got something special in return. Daniel was going to be Cassie’s Guide. He was going to be with her for the rest of her life, protecting her and loving her.

“Yeah, sweetheart, I’m going to be there to help you too.”

I looked at my daughter then back to Jordan and Daniel. “Some of the things you see may frighten you but you have to be strong. We’ll always be there to protect you. Me, Daddy and Uncle Daniel will never ever let anything hurt you.”

“Okay, Mommy.”

Cassie was so trusting and brave; my heart swelled with pride as I looked down at her. I knew she was going to be just fine. I’d named her properly.

She was so much stronger than she even knew.

I stepped back so that Daniel and Jordan could kiss her good night and as I stood leaning against the doorway, looking at the three most important people in my life, I soaked up the love that filled the room.

The vision in front of me was the one I’d always wanted. It was my family. I’d finally embraced my gift, and in doing so, I’d allowed myself to accept the love that Jordan had given me.

My life was full of light.

The darkness was finally gone and I knew without a doubt that there was nothing but brightness ahead of me.