Undercover Badge; Next Generation

Chapter forty one

Chapter 41

    I was handed a mug of warm, sugary chamomile tea.

Gabbe sat forward on her seat, brow furrowing and suddenly, she showed her age and how tired she really was.

"Your mother was very intelligent, witty, beautiful, strong, but above all else, she was a talented artist." Gabbe started, after a long silence. I pulled the emerald out of my shirt and held it between my palms.

"She was given a scholarship in high school to go to England to study. And after than she got scholarships to universities. That was around the time MI6 contacted her." i took a startled breath.

"Your father was studying engineering in Moscow when the Russians contacted him. Orlov had been his father's name, one he'd been forced to take. Your grandmother died young and your grandfather took him away from that side of the family out of selfishness. Your grandmother had come from a wealthy line and your grandfather worried they'd control Dimitri in the guise of providing for him. The man was wrong and self centered, but he did it out of love. Your father resented him for that, so when they told him he needed a new identity, he finally took your grandmother's; Nexcov." Alex jumped in. he seemingly decided that if the ship was going down, he'd better jump in for the ride. "He was a good spy, from what I heard."

"Katerina and James went to high school together at silver valley. Technically, so did I but I was older than James, six years. He was one of the youngest cops we'd ever had, and he and I went undercover to take Vera on. Vera was Kat's mother, and she was running gangs all over the country at the time. It was only a long time later that we found out she was in league with the Illuminati." Alex sighed.

"Kat and James hit it off from the second they met. But Kat was obsessed with taking her mother down, and at the end of the operation, she left. Five years later, she found James again. It was an accident, I think. But by that time, Kat had more secrets. One of them..." Alex looked over at Gabbe, who hugged her stomach. "One of them became ours."

Alex sighed.

"Your mother and father had become friends and colleagues of Kat's. We all worked together. Jame's brother, Duncan had taken over the gangs Kat's mother had left and that was a whole other pain in the ass. James was FBI and your mother and Kat were consultants on the case. I really thought Kat would stay with him, but as soon as it was over, she left him, again." Alex smiled.

"Nine months after she left James the second time, she contacted me." Alex said. I swallowed.

"She was twenty one he was twenty four at the time, and Kat was pregnant." I blew out a deep lungful of air.

"We weren't trying for a baby-" Alex looked over at Gabbe. "We were a little young to be starting a family and you were still in Nursing school. But Gabbe..." Alex sighed and Gabbe looked ashamed.

"The doctor said the likelihood of us getting pregnant wasn't... high." Gabbe filled in when it seemed Alex wouldn't. Alex, past that harsh fact, moved on swiftly.

"James had distanced himself from me and that was OK; I reminded him of our time with her. But here it was; Kat was offering us a chance at a child, and it would be James' child. I felt like dog shit, keeping it from him. She said I had to or she wouldn't give him up. And that was when Matthew was born."

Alex smiled.

"James took it hard. For a year he didn't do much, and then he spent four years trying to catch up to her skill level. He did. And your mom had always wanted the best for him- and she believed that was Kat. She didn't know about Matthew, not yet. You were three. Your mom and dad left the life; they stayed in contact but behind desks and in a role that was more watching over field agents than being one. You had an amazing childhood. Dimitri made sure you were properly introduced to the Nexcov line and Amy didn't really have family other than us so you spent a lot of time traveling, when you weren't attached to Matthew's hip." An indulgent smile.