Hill declined with barely a shift of his head, yet kept his eyes fixed on Persephone's face. She stood, finished collecting the plates and eating utensils. When she passed Hill, he caught her wrist, relieved her of the plates and brought her close to press his forehead to her belly.
“Thank you, Sef. Thank you for having them.”
Persephone raised a hand, hesitated momentarily before she dragged her fingers through the cottony darkness of his hair. She tugged, until he looked up at her.
“I never planned on doing
anything else. There was nothing else for me besides having them.”
She put a hard kiss to the top of his head, grabbed the plates and
left him to his thoughts.
***
Harrison, New York~
Entertaining wasn’t something that Isak and Sabella Tesano had the chance to do very often. Isak’s ‘Pike’s’ philanthropic duties for his family, kept him busy and traveling often. Additionally, Belle’s work as costume designer for theatre producers Martin Victors and Arthur Prince kept her almost as busy.
Now, as the couple prepared to welcome their child into the world. The jet-setting twosome were dedicated to spending a bit more time at home. Pike and Belle both agreed that ‘entertaining’ made staying home a lot more fun.
Carmen Ramsey Stone gazed with high approval at the plate of colorful pasta salad her daughter prepared to dig into. “My grandson’s got quite an appetite, I see.” A sly element crept into her light eyes then. “Or are the father’s demands for a well-fed wife finally being adhered to?”
Everyone, including Belle, laughed over the jibe. Carmen, along with her new husband and long-time love Jasper Stone had been visiting from Mozambique where they made their home.
Belle forked up morsels of cheese, pasta and broccoli. “I think it’s a bit of both.” She fixed her mother with a sly look of her own. “And what’s this talk of a grandson?” She studied both her parents then. “You guys finally getting in on the big bet?”
Almost, the whole of the Ramsey clan and much of the Tesano brood had been voicing its predictions on whether a boy or girl would be the next addition to the families.
“Maybe,” Carmen settled back while eyeing her tea glass thoughtfully.
Pike laughed. “Well you’re goin’ up against my brother. Smoak wants a girl-thinks there’s too much testosterone in the family.”
As yet, the couple had received no confirmation on the baby’s sex. Pike and Belle had gone back and forth on whether they wanted to know or be surprised.
“Everyone knows boys are vital to a family’s line,” Jasper was saying as the laughter eased. “But without girls, that sperm is of little use. Folks don’t much think of that when they pray for boys. They think of the name being continued and the strength and pride a healthy stock of boys brings to that name. They fail to realize that girls can be just as strong and sometimes more so. They aren’t as driven by the demands below their waistlines as their counterparts are.”
Though laughter followed Jasper’s insights, Belle sensed a deeper motivation behind her father’s words. She leaned over and squeezed his hand.
“Daddy? You okay?”
Smiling then, Jasper squeezed back. “I’m fine, Sugar.” He looked to his son-in-law. “I appreciate the chance you gave me to tell my side of things about the island- about why I started it. I never meant for it to become what it did, but it did… explanation is still owed to those it affected most.”
He put a kiss to Sabella’s hand and then one to Carmen’s as if the gestures provided him with some much needed sustenance. “Do you think it’s too soon to risk a talk with the boys?” He spoke to Pike once more and then grinned in spite of himself. “Boys...hmph, they haven’t been that since before they left the island. Kraven, Fernando, Hill...Do you think it’s too soon?”
Pike shared a look with his wife and then reciprocated her nod. “There might be a chance for that,” he eyed Jasper skeptically. “You sure about it?”
Jasper observed Carmen’s and Belle’s hands again. “There’re things, ownerships of actions, they and many more like them, deserve to hear from me and not second hand.”
Pike nodded again. “I understand. I guess now is as good a time as any- lots of people are wanting to talk to my brother lately.”
“What?” Belle sent her husband a curious smile.
“Cai called,” Pike said, “he told me Persephone called Bill about getting her address to Hill- sounds like she’s got more to tell him,” he looked back to Jasper then. “What you said about ownership of actions I-” He slanted another look toward his wife. “What, Babe?” He’d caught the strange expression she wore.
“Did Caiphus say what Persephone wanted to tell Hill?” Belle’s tone was cool, but her curiosity was peaked.
“He didn’t, but chances are we’ll find out soon enough,” Pike spoke with soft laughter clutching his words. “Looks like it’s time for ownership all around,” he said to Jasper.
There were quiet murmurs of agreement and
then the rest of the meal passed in comfortable silence.
***
Conversation had settled following the makeshift brunch. Hill and Persephone parted ways for a while afterward. There were only a few words traded when Hill found Persephone to tell her he was going to head out to grab his things while the girls were asleep. He wanted to be there when they woke up.
Persephone forced herself not to ask how long he would stay. Tension still charged like dangerous, electric currents between them. There was still much to be said. Retreating to their private corners though, was a plan they each jumped at.
Hill returned within an hour and a half. He’d stopped over to check out of the hotel he’d booked for his stay and had cleared his things from the room. Upon his return to Persephone’s, he found an unoccupied bedroom suite not far from the girls’ room. There, he indulged in a hot shower that went a long way in making him feel like a new man.
A long way, but not all the way, he thought leaning along the edge of the retracting wall that opened into an area of the property that appeared to be miles of unending green. The place was lovely, serene and put him in the best mood because of that alone. That the woman he treasured most, was there along with treasures born out of their love, put his mood over the moon.
Still, those tensions remained. He wanted to forgive her as much as he wanted to hang onto his need to brood over what she’d kept. He knew her actions hadn’t been motivated by malice or treachery. She’d been truly afraid. He’d seen it in her eyes and believed her confession. It was that fear that had him hesitating over forgiveness.
God, why couldn’t she have just come to him? Knowing that she feared Evangela more than she trusted him, gnawed at the wound her leaving had put in his gut. It was a wound that hadn’t healed by a longshot.
“Fuck,” he groaned into his hands and then turned his back on the early evening skies. He headed out of the room wearing only a pair of gray cotton sweats. He looked in on the sleeping girls and then took the hall to Persephone’s room. There, he found her in the corridor, her arms loaded with bed linens.
Persephone gave a start and blinked rapidly, unable to stop her gaze from drifting to Hill’s chest where she savored the broad plane of rich, bronzed muscle. The sweats hung low on lean hips and made for a deliciously male picture.
Snapping to, she gestured toward the linens. “I wasn’t sure if there were any in that room.”
“I uh,” Hill hiked a thumb over his shoulder. “It was empty, if it’s not okay I-”
“It’s fine,” she gave a wave. “You didn’t have to ask,” she cleared her throat and made a pretense of looking past him. “Are they still out?”
