Love's Last Gift (on hold)

Chapter 7

"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong.  No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."   -  Terry Pratchett,  Reaper Man

She was perfect.   He couldn't stop looking at her.   She was sleeping peacefully in the center of the big bed of the room Livvy had insisted on renting.  Kid had wanted her and Gabbie to share a room with him, but she refused.  Kid sat on the edge of the bed watching his daughter, her little bow shaped mouth making sucking motions as she slept.  His love for her had been instant but had only grown stronger and deeper the longer he was around her. He thought he would never care about anyone as much as he cared about Heyes. But he was wrong.  He  would give his last breath so that this little girl could live.  And not just live,  live safely and happily.   He understood now how Heyes felt about Evie.  An instinct to protect and provide now dominated his very being.  And not just his child, but her mother as well.

"Well, let's have it.  Get it all over with,"  Livvy said from across the room.  "I know you want to give me a piece of your mind and I know I deserve it, so let's get on with it."

He stood and crossed the room to where the mother of his child stood.   She expected him to lay into her with a hateful and scathing rebuff.   She gasped slightly when he grasped her tiny waist and  pulled her to him and lowered his mouth to hers.  He parted her lips with his own in a tender, lingering kiss.   He lifted his head and stared into her eyes and said simply,  "Thank you."

She was stunned by his response.  "Thank you?   For what?"

"For giving me the most precious gift a woman can give a man....a daughter.  And thank you for taking care of her and keeping her safe."

"That wasn't the response I was expecting."

"What did you think I was going to do?   Sprout horns and fly around the room with a pitchfork?"

"No, I thought you might pull that six shooter and demand to know why I didn't tell you."

"Now that you mention it....why didn't you tell me?   You should have told me the minute you knew you were with child.   I hate the thought of you going through that alone.   Weren't you scared?"

"I was terrified.   But I wasn't alone.  Evangeline was with me every moment.   And I couldn't get word to you.  You couldn't receive letters or visitors remember.   Only from immediate family, which I'm not.  I suppose if I had tried hard enough and paid off the right people I could have gotten a letter to you.  But I didn't want to do that to you.  Being in that place was horrible enough.   I can't imagine being in there and knowing I had a child I would never see on the outside.   I would think it would have made life in there even more unbearable than it already was.  I was afraid you would try to escape and get killed in the process."

"But I've been out of prison more than a month.  Why didn't you tell me the minute I was out?"

"For the same reason.  Governor Ramsey knew I would do anything to keep you safe.  He told me privately that should I try to see you and tell you about Gabbie that he would make sure that you had a date with the gallows as soon as he could arrange it.   I couldn't bear the thought of you hanging.   And I knew he would make good on his promise if I told you.  So I kept it to myself.   Evangeline didn't know about my conversation with the governor.  Otherwise you still wouldn't know the truth."

A very subtle change came over Kid Curry's face.  It would have gone undetected to anyone else, except Hannibal Heyes and Olivia.   He was angry.   Years of living as a gunfighter and protector had conditioned him to hide anger and fear.  But Livvy saw it and it made her shiver.   "Please don't think what I think  you're thinking."