Pushing open the door to exit Iola's Eats, Emmie paused at the top of the ramp leading to the parking lot. The fragrant aroma of heirloom sweet peas wafted over to her from the terracotta pots Trisha had positioned along the walkway. Her large belly swayed as she took a step forward. In only a few more weeks, this little one would be making its way into the world.
Clamor from the diner met her as the door opened again. A little girl with dark hair swept up into high pigtails held back by red bows came running out, throwing herself around Emmie's legs.
"Daddy won't stop talking to people. And I want to go to the park now!"
Emmie stroked her forehead. The little girl leaned into her touch. "Patience will be rewarded, Anabelle. Give him five more minutes. The park will still be there."
"Can my reward be ice cream?"
Emmie laughed. Anabelle seemed to take this response as affirmation. She ceased her complaints and entertained herself by swinging from the railing.
She watched her daughter, thinking of how, over three years ago now, this precious life had almost been taken from her—how this funny, smart, adorable girl, had almost never come to be. In the years that had passed since that terrible day, she still couldn't remember the car going off the cliff or the crash that followed. But she remembered everything else vividly, as well as the weeks of uncomfortable bedrest and the uncertainty of whether her daughter would be born healthy... or at all. The tedium and anxiety were broken up by frequent visits from Ryker and Trisha and her friends, as well as by agents from the FBI and the US Marshall's Office. Agent Georgia Marcos, in particular, had spent a great deal of time talking to Emmie. They'd developed a bit of a rapport. Both knew and remembered Sam as someone other than the desperate, murderous man he'd spent the last hours of his life as. Both struggled for a long time to rectify the good Sam with the bad. It was therapeutic for Emmie to talk with someone who understood this confliction. Georgia wasn't quite as understanding about another confliction Emmie faced, however...
During their first interview, the agent confirmed what Ryker had told her: Ian had given his deposition, despite the Brothers' efforts to stop him.
The Chamberlain Brothers were in prison for life, and Ian was serving a lengthy term as well. That didn't mean she was completely out of harm's way, however. Agent Marcos' advice was, as Emmie had predicted, for her to stay in WITSEC and relocate as soon as it was medically safe for her to do so. Emmie listened calmly to Georgia and then politely refused. She brought up the fact that her minor bout of internet fame would make it difficult for her to stay hidden no matter where she went.
"And then there's them." Emmie motioned to the two men, as big as linebackers, visible just outside her hospital room doorway. Those men weren't local law enforcement. They weren't federal agents either. The agents who had been assigned to guard her room had been replaced with what Ryker believed would be a more permanent solution. He had hired them the day after Emmie woke, and these were just two of a fleet of bodyguards that would eventually flank Emmie and her daughter wherever they went. Emmie had been opposed to this at first. Having them around would surely be invasive. She would never feel like she was leading a normal life as long as they were present. But Ryker's reasons for keeping them had proven convincing.
No matter where she went, if she stayed in Witness Protection, US Marshalls were not going to be able to provide her with twenty-four-hour protection. That's not how the program worked. What Ryker was offering seemed far superior to what the government could supply. It also meant she could leave WITSEC. Emmie hadn't imagined this was possible. She'd been schooled by them into believing that once she made the decision to enter Witness Protection, she'd have to remain in it for life.
"After one of their agents tried to murder you?" Ryker shook his head. "I know it was extenuating circumstances, but let's face it... if we want to keep you alive, and until I finish that new Hulk robot that will smash anyone who ever tries to hurt you, the security force I put together will have the feds beat by a mile."
She didn't have to think long to make her decision. That night, she called her mother in Chicago. Dora had been as moved as Emmie to be reconnected after so many months. Both ended up sobbing for five minutes before they could chain more than a few coherent words together. Her mom understood that she couldn't return to Chicago, and after Emmie explained, she also understood that her daughter's life and future was now elsewhere. While it wasn't safe for Emmie to travel to Chicago, her mother and sister could visit Oregon as often as they liked. Emmie's reunion with Dora at the airport in Portland three weeks after Anabelle's birth had been one of the happiest moments of Emmie's life.
Ryker insisted that her mom, sister, and niece all be given protection, a fact that eased Emmie's mind considerably. Even when they were far away from her, they had someone looking out for their wellbeing. Soon, Dora wouldn't be far away, however. She couldn't wait for her mom's next trip, only five days away now. Dora missed the birth of Emmie's first child but was thrilled that she'd be there for this baby's arrival. Three and a half years ago, such a thing would have seemed impossible...
The lilacs were just past their peak on the day Anabelle came into the world, three weeks early, but health and whole. When it came time for Emmie to fill out her birth certificate, she'd paused at the line requesting the father's name.
"Tiberius is spelled i-u-s, if that's what you were wondering." Ryker leaned over her shoulder, gently cradling a swaddled Anabelle in his arms.
"What?" She lifted the pen from the paper. "Ryker... are you sure?"
He looked at Anabelle and then back at Emmie. "If you are. It's your decision, of course. I just want you to be safe." He nuzzled Anabelle's nose. "I want you both to be safe."
He was right, of course. Anabelle would have greater protection if Ryker's name was on her birth certificate. The more people who believed her to be his biological daughter, the better. She printed Ryker's name and then paused again at the line for her daughter's. Names were a tricky thing in Emmie's life. Marsden, for instance, held little meaning for her, though she'd stuck with Emmie because it felt like it belonged to the person she'd become. But for her daughter, Marsden didn't really fit, and reclaiming the name Larson felt like she was signaling to the world that this child was born from the chaos of her Chicago past. She couldn't have that.
"Anabelle Dora James." She handed the paperwork to Ryker for him to sign. "It has a nice ring to it.
#
Three years later, Emmie had learned to live with the presence of highly trained, armed bodyguards. Though they dressed to blend in with the casual atmosphere of Moon Beach, when they first showed up, they'd become the talk of the town. This intrigue had ebbed over time until the community, just as they'd accepted Emmie, had accepted her unusual entourage as well.
While complacency was not her friend, no one, as far as she knew, had tried to do her harm since the day Sam had driven her away from Moon Beach. Perhaps the Brothers were seeking revenge elsewhere—no doubt they kept an extensive list of people they perceived as doing them wrong. Perhaps they'd had Ryker's protection unit scoped out and determined it wasn't worth the effort.
Perhaps they were still biding their time...
Whatever the case may be, Emmie's life was peaceful now. She had her friends and family, her artwork, her daughter, and a soon-to-be son. And then there was Ryker. He had stood by her side, helping nurse her back to health. He'd been a constant in Anabelle's life as well as in her own. And he'd been true to his word when it came to helping Sam's daughter. Ashlyn became the youngest participant in the experiment that had been so callously dangled in front of Sam's eyes. And she'd become its youngest success story as well. She'd been in remission for two and a half years now, thanks to Ryker's persistent advocacy on her behalf.
As if she'd conjured him with her thoughts, Ryker chose that moment to join her outside of his family's diner. Approaching her from behind, his fingers glided over her belly until they met in the middle. She tilted her head to the side so he could give her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Daddy, you took too long!" Anabelle came rushing over to him. Braking away from Emmie, he scooped her up in his arms.
"I did?" He tickled her sides until she laughed. "Your mother knows all about that. Someday, when you're older, she'll tell you the story of how we met and fell in love."
"I may leave out a few details."
"Your mother will tell you the slightly censored version of our love story, and then you'll understand that I always take too long to realize what I need to do." He gave her another good tickle until she squealed. "And right now, what I need to do is push my little girl on a swing at the park. So, Miss Anabelle, what are you still doing here at Gran's?"
She pouted. "Cuz you're holding me here!"
"I am? Why on Earth am I doing that?" He plopped her back on the ground and took her hand, grabbing Emmie's with the other.
"Charles, Derrick, we're going to the park!" Anabelle called to their security detail. Thinking of them as her uncles rather than her bodyguards, she liked to include them in their plans. "Mom promised we'd get ice cream later. You get some too!"
The family crossed the street, shadowed by Charles and Derrick, and walked down the block until they entered the park, strolling through the tree-lined walkway until they reached a large clearing leading to the playground. Emmie remembered the day she'd first walked here. It had been a blustery afternoon when late fall had just given itself over to winter. She'd studied a mom and her toddler playing together and fantasized about her own future child. Now, that future was here and it was fuller than she could have imagined.
She hadn't realized she was chuckling until Ryker nudged her. "What's so funny?"
"You are. I was just remembering the time I almost pepper sprayed you."
"Which time? It happened, or almost happened, twice."
"Oh, that's right." She laughed again and leaned in towards him as Anabelle ran off ahead towards the playground. "Well, you almost deserved it. Twice."
"That's probably true. What's also true is what I didn't deserve: you."
"Aww, Ryker... are you getting sentimental in your old age?"
"I'm just stating the facts. I came so damn close to messing all of this up. I almost lost you. And I almost never had Anabelle to claim as my own."
Emmie nodded, remembering how that scary time right after the car crash had melded into the most beautiful months of her life. A not so beautiful, but nonetheless precious memory, floated to the surface: the first night after bringing Anabelle home from the hospital, Ryker had changed his first diaper.
Still recovering from the delivery, Emmie lay on the bed where she'd just been nursing her daughter. Ryker returned the baby to her waiting arms, a satisfied look on his face. "Well, I did it. First diaper change—done."
"First of many."
"First of many. And you know what that means: I'm her dad. Officially. She's mine, biology be damned."
"After one diaper change? Is that all it takes?" They'd laugh, Ryker joining her on the bed to gaze down at their daughter's peaceful face as she drifted off to sleep.
After that, he had jumped into his role of dad with the same enthusiasm he displayed for his work, though after a few more diapers, he mentioned making some key adjustments to UMA's programming. "A nanny-bot. A diaper changing nanny-bot is exactly what the world needs."
Emmie smiled again, recalling with fondness those early days with Anabelle and Ryker as they transitioned from a couple to a family. It was hard to believe their little baby had celebrated her third birthday just two weeks ago.
"Speaking of spawn number one, I think she wants you to join her." Anabelle waved enthusiastically to her father from the top of the playset, right at the entrance to a tunnel slide. A few second later, she'd propelled herself down the slide, landed on her feet, and was climbing up the playset again. Even at her tender age, she was fiercely brave when it came to exploring her world. Emmie liked to think that at least part of that courage came from herself.
Emmie took a seat on a nearby bench and enjoyed the sun's warmth as she watched her husband and child play together. Ryker liked to claim all the missteps early on in their relationship as his own, and she liked to let him, but Emmie knew her complicated life and the choices she herself had made also contributed to the problems that had almost divided them forever.
She shook her head now whenever she thought of how foolish her entanglement clause had been. Living a full life was synonymous with entanglement. You couldn't become close to anyone, in a romantic sense or otherwise, without tiny roots of attachment stretching out in every direction. As long as you kept those roots healthy and nourished, however, the most beautiful things could grow from them.
If she could make another entanglement clause, she would ask, not for a lack of entanglement, but for as much of it as possible. Let her life be a tendril-filled vine winding its way up the side of a mountain.
And let it not end until it reached the very top.
A/N: And with that... THE ENTANGLEMENT CLAUSE comes to an end. I do hope you enjoyed it! Looks like Emmie got her Happily Ever After after all...
I've gotta admit, I'm feeling emotional right now. It's been so much fun posting this story over the past seven months or so and I will miss it!
Votes for this chapter go to YOU for sticking with me on this adventure all the way to the very end. I'm floored by all the love and support you've shown this book. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I will have a post-story author's note, probably sometime next week, so we can celebrate a bit and I can regroup and talk to you about some of my next projects, plus ask your advice about a few things. Right now, I need a few days off!
Until next time... may all of your entanglements be happy ones, and may you grow and grow and grow until you're on top of the world!
xoxoxo
Amber