Hunted

HUNTED Chapter 33

Queen Charlotte, BC, Canada

The rain had subsided, puddles of water laid on the ground—-the only evidence left of the storm that had passed through. Nell heard footsteps in the hallway, and quickly became alert. Tristan stirred on her lap, the sun had risen and brightly sparkled on the wet ground outside. She could hear quiet whispers, Gibbs and Arkady were talking with someone, but she couldn't make out who. As her ears remained alert, she felt a hand on her arm and jumped from the surprise.

"Hey beautiful." Stephen smiled warmly over to her, his brows slightly knitted together at the concentrated expression on her face. "What's up?"

She took in a deep breath and huffed it out. "I heard footsteps, more than normal. I can hear Gibbs and Arkady talking to someone, but I can't make out who."

He nodded, he understood her curiosity, but also her worry over them being found and taken, or killed. The safety of their two young children was paramount to both of them. "I'm sure Gibbs can handle whoever it is." He studied her for a moment. "You sure you slept last night?"

"For some of it. I was woken by the storm at around three."

His brows lifted in surprise. "There was a storm?" His eyes darted to the window, the matching blue sky to his eyes mirrored back at him. "You sure?"

Thea picked Tristan up and placed him down on the window seat. Her son's bleary eyes soon became clear as the sparkles from below caught his attention.

"Shiny!" Tristan's chubby hand stuck like an octopus to the window pane, as he enjoyed the sun reflection on the rain drops outside.

"Yes, the sun is reflecting on the rain drops. Look at the leaves on that tree, the rain drops are like jewels on the leaves. Pretty aren't they?"

Tristan looked up at her with wonder. A smile formed. "Momma pretty."

"Yes, that's right, Momma is pretty." Stephen shifted himself from the bed to take a closer look. The drip remained in the back of his hand, as he carefully moved beside his wife. He brushed his lips to her temple and joined in looking at the pretty sparkles that his son was enjoying.

"Wow, I never heard a thing. Whatever they gave me had me out like a light."

Thea turned and wrapped her arm around him and smiled. "The three of you were dead to the world at three this morning."

Stephen lifted her chin and looked deeply into her eyes. "You're not sleeping again. I thought we got you through all that." He was being careful what he said around ear shot of their children. Alice was still fast asleep, but that didn't mean she couldn't hear them.

"We have. It's just since what happened in Victoria, I can't help but worry. And—-" she heaved out a sigh, "I keep needing to pee."

A hint of a smile edged Stephen's lips, "I can't wait until your belly expands again and meet the little guy."

"Oh, really?" Thea's brows arched high, slightly amused. "You think it's another boy, do you? What if it's another girl? Then we'll have two asking us a million questions in one day." A chuckle escaped as Stephen pulled her in closer into his hold.

"You just wait and see, Tristan will start asking questions soon enough." Stephen lifted his son's hand and rubbed his thumb across the back of his hand, and gave him a wink.

"Up!" Thea lifted him up and added him into their hug. He rested his head on Stephen's shoulder and smiled back with the same blue eyes as his father. Thea couldn't help it but smile. She wondered what their third child would be like—-a mixture of the two of them, like their other two, or more like one of them? She enjoyed thinking about each of their children as they grew inside of her. Her hand rested on her slight bump, Stephen caught the wistful look in her eyes and smiled.