"My son is dead, he wasn't an angel but still, he was my son." Brendan King dried his tears with his sleeve. What will I tell his mother, his brother and sister? They will be devastated."
"If I had another choice I ... He shot a pregnant girl just to get revenge. I love her and I did what my instincts told me. I am really sorry, if there was another way I would have done things differently." Chris sat across from Brendan King. The man looked older than he was when he arrived earlier that day.
"Why did he want to kill the girl? What did he need revenge for?" Brendan asked in a soft tone.
"I don't know how to tell you this. I don't want it to affect how you felt about your son."
"Just tell me."
Chris looked at the forty something year old man and sighed. "About six months ago my friend Jason was in a park. Ryan had planned it all carefully, his plan was to get a teacher to keep the girl late at school and when she left it was dark and she went through the park because it was the shortest route home. Seconds before she had to go through the park Ryan fought with Jason, his wounds were fatal and Ryan left him for dead. As you know Jason had to do something to keep his bloodline alive and at that moment Lisa walked through the park. She said she saw Ryan by one of the entrances. He said something to her. Lisa was raped by Jason, but you know he did it to safe him bloodline. I found him minutes later and he asked me to keep her safe and I promised that I would. I followed her for weeks and when I knew she was pregnant I helped her with everything. Her mother found out and told her to leave her house and never return. I took her in and then Ryan started to threaten her and I decided to take her away. Ryan found her with the help of one of our own." Chris shook from anger. "The rest you know."
"You said revenge but didn't explain."
"Lisa the girl Jason impregnated, she is your daughter." Chris saw Brendan's face fall. More tears ran down Brendan's face. "Ryan said it was because her mother told your wife about the affair. Jason was just a pawn, Lisa was the real target." Chris could see the man was angry and hurt and sad all at the same time. "I am really sorry."
Brendan dried his tears again. "How is she, Lisa?"
"Better, she was shot in her side but the bullet missed all vital organs and it missed the baby. Doc operated to get the bullet out four days ago and she was asleep until today. She is up and walking around."
"That is good. Do you think I could meet her at some point?" Brendan played with the ring on his finger. "I never met her, her mother and me met at a work thing and it didn't last long. I saw her one day walking with the girl and her husband and I just knew the girl was mine. She looked like my daughter Mandy, almost exactly. I saw Jordan again a few months later and she confirmed that I was the father but that she didn't want anyone to know and she wasn't planning on telling her daughter ever. She said that I should respect her wishes. I offered to pay for the girls schooling and everything but she said that she didn't want to explain to her husband where the money came from. Ryan was about thirteen when she Jordan walked up to us at a restaurant and just there told my wife that she and I had an affair and that my children had a half sister. My wife almost left me but she didn't because of our children. Our marriage was never the same again after that day."
"I will ask her, tell her the story but it will be her choice. I love her too much to force her into something she doesn't want to do."
"You love her?"
"Yes, we realized a few weeks after we met that we had feelings for each other. She is everything to me."
"You are a good person, I can see that and she is lucky to have you then."
"I am the lucky one." Chris stood up to leave. "I will leave you now to get some sleep."
Brendan stood too. "Thank you for coming here and for telling me about what happened." Brendan King held out his hand.
Chris took his hand and shook it. "Goodnight then."
Brendan nodded and Chris left.
Lisa stood just outside the door with tears streaming down her face.
Chris grabbed her and hugged her close to him, he felt how the tears wet his t-shirt but he didn't care. "Let's go to bed." He picked her up and carried her to their room.
Once in their room they took a shower and when Lisa was in bed she fell asleep almost instantly. Chris just held her in his arms. She had a big day. Chris listened to the heartbeats next to him and the calming sound made it easy for him to fall asleep.
Lisa woke and looked at the clock next to the bed, it was three twenty five. The cabin was dark except for the small dim light by the door. Lisa went to the bathroom and when she was done she got a glass of water. She wasn't tired so she sat on the sofa for a while with the television on mute. Lisa watched the boy and girl on the screen, the series were a popular one in the nineties and Lisa only heard of it. They looked so happy like normal teenagers with no problems. Lisa wanted that, she sometimes wondered about her choice to keep the baby. She tried to read their lips and guessed what they were saying. When the program finished it was four o' clock.
Chris woke at five like he used to when he was on the ship in his teens. He reached for Lisa but found the space she should have occupied empty. He saw that Lisa wasn't in the bed next to him so he looked around in the room and saw that she was asleep on the sofa curled up into a ball. Chris got out of bed and took the blanket from the chair, the flees was soft to his touch and it reminded him of a baby blanket he bought Lisa for the baby. She looked so peaceful and innocent, the pregnant belly was the only thing that contradicted the word innocent. He covered her with the blanket and kissed her on her cheek.
Lisa was getting dressed when Chris came out of the bathroom already dressed in his uniform. She had blue faded jeans on and was busy putting a striped t-shirt on. She decided on a pair of tennis shoes to go with her outfit.
Chris hugged her from behind. "Good morning." Chris ran his hand over her belly. "How did you sleep?"
"Morning, I slept well thanks and you?" Lisa answered with a genuine smile. She liked it when he touched her belly. The baby also liked it. He calmed down almost immediately.
"I slept fine thanks, just wondering why you traded the bed for the sofa."
"I had to go to the bathroom and when I wanted to get back into bed I didn't feel like sleeping so I watched some television and I must have fallen asleep again, I woke up and saw that you weren't in bed then I heard the water in the bathroom so I got up because I wasn't sleepy anymore."
"Do you want to go get some breakfast with me in the mess hall?"
"Okay." Lisa smiled at him. "Let me go to the bathroom first and I will be back in five." She was starving.
Chris went to make the bed and when he was done Lisa came out of the bathroom. "Ready to go?" Chris held his hand out to Lisa.
Lisa saw the perfectly made bed and smiled. She nodded and they left the room.
"Why did you smile when you looked at the bed?" Chris asked wondering what the joke was.
Lisa looked at him and smiled again. "I just thought that it was made up so precisely, just like you.
"That is just how I was taught."
Lisa and Chris joint his parents at a table, she was happy to see that they were there. Lisa didn't listen to the conversation between Chris and his parents, she ate and observed the others in the mess hall. She saw that all the tables looked the same and so did the people who sat at them. They were mostly all chatting and eating. Movement by the door caught Lisa's eye and she noticed a man enter the mess hall and Chris snr stood up to greet him. She watched Chris snr as he made his way to the man waiting on the other side of the room. They spoke for a second and then the man went over to the food station and got some breakfast.
Chris was so into the conversation with his mother that he didn't notice this.
Lisa watched Mr. Morgan and the other man, they were now on their way to the table she was sitting at.
Chris must have felt Lisa's panic because he suddenly looked at her and looked in the direction
she was looking in. "Are you ready to go?" Chris asked and stood up.
"Maybe I should stay and meet him?"
"Are you ready for that?" Mrs. Morgan asked holding Lisa's arm.
"I don't know." Panic gripped at her and Lisa started to hyperventilate.
Chris jumped to her grabbing her and pressing her against him so her mouth was against his shirt. He found that by doing that it had the same effect as when you breathed into a paper bag. He moved his hand in circles on her back. "Breath baby, breath, you will be fine."
The man and Chris snr stopped when they saw what was going on and waited for her to calm. Lisa didn't notice that.
A few seconds later Lisa was calm and her breathing was back to normal.
"Do you want to leave?"
Lisa nodded and walked away with Chris doing her best not to make eye contact with everyone. She felt embarrassed, having a panic attack right there in front of him. He was her biological father and she didn't know if she would ever be able to speak to him.
Back in their room Lisa sat down in the wingback chair that stood in the corner. It was just as comfortable as she thought it would be. "I am sorry for the incident, I don't know what came over me, he is my father, I should be able to face him."
"You don't have to apologize for that. Maybe you feel that you can't trust him or maybe you are afraid of him. Give it time. I can keep him away from you until you are ready."
"He said he wants to meet me. Why do you think my mother didn't want him to know me?"
"Maybe she loved your father and didn't want to tell him that she had an affair."
Lisa stood and kissed Chris. She needed to be close to him, as close as she possible be. "I was thinking that the bed looks to perfect, how about we get back in there and get it less perfect."
Chris laughed and picked Lisa up bridal style like she was nothing but a feather. I think you just had the best idea ever." He carried her to bed and placed her on the bed softly. Kneeling over her he trailed kisses from her neck to her lips and down again to her breasts. All he could think about then was to make her his but he knew that wasn't possible until after the baby was born.
Lisa had learned a lot since she got to know Chris ... intimately. Even though they didn't do it yet, they have done other things, explored each other. Lisa quite enjoyed it a lot. "Could anyone be happier than us right now?" Lisa asked a little out of breath and completely satisfied.
"I don't think it is possible for anyone to be happier than me ever. You changed my world, my life and my heart. Chris pulled her onto his naked chest again and kissed her sweetly.
A knock at the door woke Chris around noon. He dressed quickly and made his way to the door wearing only his pants. He found his father on the other side of the door and Chris snr didn't look pleased seeing his son barely dressed. "Father?"
"Chris, we need to talk. Why don't you go and get yourself presentable and come see me in my office."
"Yes sir." Chris watched his father disappear around a corner and closed the door behind him. He fetched hi clothes on the floor and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. He was dressed and out the room in under ten minutes. Just as he walked up the last flight of stairs and turned towards his father's office he saw Mina Rose stepping out of his father's office.
"Hallo Chris."
"Mina." Chris nodded and passed her closing the door as he entered his father's office.
"Sit."
Chris sat in the chair across from his father's. He felt like an errand child who was about to get a scolding from his father.
Chris snr stood from his chair and walked to the wall with all the pictures. Some were of him as a child and other were of his son and his wife and his friends. "You know that I love you son and that I will do everything and anything to make sure that you are happy."
"Yes father. I have never doubted that."
"You see, I have this problem. I have never liked the Kings and now my son is in love with one of them. I know that we only found out now who she really is and that you have been with her for months, still I feel that maybe she is not the one for you."
Chris felt like the air had been sucked from his lungs. His body was so heavy almost like it was glued to the chair and the chair was glued to the floor, nothing wanted to move, not even his lips.
Chris snr turned to his son. He could see the pain his words had caused, it was carved on his sons face. The pain changed to betrayal and then anger. "Listen to what I have to say before you act on what you feel." He sat on the chair next to Chris. He handed Chris a note. "I think you must move to another room and give this time for now, I am not saying that you can't be friends."
Chris saw his father's expression, it looked serious but it didn't match his tone. He looked at the paper his father gave him and read the words. 'I think someone is spying on us so just go along with what I am saying. This is a trap.' Chris nodded. "I love her father, I can't just turn it on and off like a switch. And even if I didn't have feelings for her, I made a promise to Jason."
"I know that you made promises, but the danger is gone. Ryan King is dead and I think she should leave with her father in the morning." He handed his son another note. "I believe it is best for all."
"No I won't accept this. He might be dead but what if he wasn't the only one?" "You cannot tell anyone about this. The plan is to get the person tonight. If they know she is leaving in the morning they will act tonight, but only if she is alone." Chris shook his head in response to the note. "She doesn't even know her father. For all we know he could kill her himself."
"I insist on this. There will be no more discussions on this. You will sleep in another room until she leaves in the morning. From now on the two of you will not be alone together anymore."
"You ... you cannot do this father, I will not submit. You can't make me." Chris stood. "You cannot make me do this. I love her."
"You do as I say or else." Chris snr wasn't calm anymore. Anyone that was outside the door or in any of the rooms on either side of his office would be able to hear them.
"Or else what?" Chris dared. He would never talk to his father like this, but this was for show. Well he might if his father really asked him to leave Lisa, but he wasn't, this was all pretend.
"Do you really need me to answer that question?"
Chris turned and grabbed the first thing he could find and flung it at the wall. The ashtray broke into pieces and fell to the floor. "I will hate you forever." Chris shouted and left the office.
Chris snr stood there white as a sheet, he knew this was only pretend but it felt so real and he would never be able to survive it if his only child told him those words for real, even now it was a shock to him. His legs couldn't hold him then so he sunk down to the chair he left just as Chris took his anger out on the ashtray that lay broken on the floor.