“Surely he’s going to have a hard time shopping tomorrow. I know he’ll get her everyday clothes, but if he wants to do Christmas, too, she’ll see what he gets,” Yvette said. “Maybe I’ll offer to go along.”
“No need. He’s got his tree up, and all the gifts under it. More than a few are for Darcie, and Talie, too,” Maia said.
Yvette shook her head. “He’s a good guy,” she remarked.
“Yes, he is. Now, we just have to get Talie out. Any ideas?” Riley asked.
“I have a few military buddies that went into law and one in particular that went into politics. I could call them. See if there’s anything they could do,” Travis offered.
“That’s not a bad idea. All they can say is no,” Richie said.
Riley thought about it for a moment. “What about your dad, Maia? He was in for a long time. Think he knows anyone that could at least advise us?”
“I could call him. He might.”
“I think the best route is to find the motherfucker that set her up, and make him tell the truth,” Lazarus said.
“Agreed,” Lucas said. “I got no problem with a road trip. I’ve gone years without Christmas. One more ain’t gonna hurt.”
“Not yet. Roman has the right idea. He’s got to maintain control, be what Darcie needs right now, and wait to see what her attorney can do. She’s promised to update us when she gets back, and to keep us updated. I know Roman wants to kill every damn person involved. So do I, and from the looks of it, so do ya’ll, but let’s follow his lead. Let’s do it the legal way first and see what happens. If all else fails, we’ll be spending a little time away from home in just a little while,” Riley said.
~~~
The next weeks were filled with Christmas preparations. The time passed quickly for Travis and Libby. If they weren’t working in the Christmas Village, they were working to supply it with more treats, replace supplies for crafts, or in the case of the last few days, do some personal Christmas shopping. Now it was the countdown to Christmas — only four days left until Christmas Eve, and they were opened every day until then. They’d close up shop on Christmas Eve at 3:00P.M.
Travis rolled over in his sleep and reached for Libby. His hand patted the sheets where she should have been lying. Finding the sheets cold, he lifted his head and looked groggily around the bedroom. “Libby?” he called out.
There was no answer, so he pushed back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He reached for his prosthetic and strapped it on. “Libby?” he called louder, getting to his feet and heading toward the bathroom where he could hear the shower running.
Libby heard Travis call her name. It startled her so badly she dropped the little plastic stick she’d just peed on. “Damnit!” she whispered, rushing to grab the stick and wrap it in some toilet paper before shoving it behind the cleaning products beneath the bathroom sink. She closed the lid of the toilet and hopped into the shower that she already had running to make it seem like she was in the shower.
“Libby?” she heard Travis say again. She shoved her head beneath the water pouring from the shower head so she could claim she didn’t hear him and waited for him to enter the bathroom.
“You okay?” he asked, tapping on the door before opening it. “Libby?” he asked again.
“What?” she finally answered.
“You alright? You didn’t hear me call you,” he said.
“Sorry, my head must have been under the water. Everything okay?” she asked, reaching for the shampoo.
“Yeah. Just woke up and you weren’t there. You’ve spoiled me, I’m used to you being beside me,” Travis said, smiling sleepily as he tried to wake up.
“I woke early and decided to let you sleep in. This is countdown week, no rest for the weary,” she said, chuckling.
“True, but, the success we’ve had is unbelievable. It’s well worth the effort,” Travis said.
“Yep,” she agreed.
Travis used the bathroom, washed his face and brushed his teeth. “I’m gonna go start breakfast. Anything you don’t want?” he asked.
“Not really. Just not too much of anything for me. Maybe pancakes?” she asked.
“Coming right up. Take your time, love. It’s still early, no reason to rush,” Travis said, closing the door behind him.
Libby finished her shower, then stepped out onto the bath mat, leaving the shower running. She dried herself, then locked the bathroom door to be sure he wouldn’t walk in on her again. Her hands shook as she walked over to the sink and opened the door, feeling around for the wad of toilet paper with the little plastic stick inside. Finding it, she closed her fingers around it and stood up. She held it in both hands, still wrapped snugly in the paper, and looked at herself in the mirror. “Take a deep breath,” she said softly. “It’s gonna be okay either way,” she assured herself.
She unrolled the toilet paper she’d encased the plastic stick in and looked down at the tiny window you were supposed to use to read the results. “How do I know what this means?” she grumbled, moving to stand directly below the light and holding it out again. Libby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She let it out slowly before walking over to the mirror and looking at herself again. Her terrified eyes looked back. “It’s too soon,” she whispered. “He’s going to shut me out again.”
Libby walked over to the trash can and shoved the pregnancy test to the very bottom, careful to hide it between wads of toilet paper again, before shoving everything else down on top of it. Then she composed herself, washed her hands beneath the still running shower before turning it off, and left the bathroom.
Once Libby was dressed, she went to the kitchen where Scotty was already eating and Travis was piling pancakes on a plate. “How many you want?” he asked when she took a seat at the table.
“You know what? Maybe I’ll just have coffee,” she said. Then she thought about the fact they’d made Maia give up eighty percent of her caffeine intake when she carried Sebastian. “Only a small cup though.”
“Gotta eat something,” Travis said, bringing her a cup of coffee with lots of milk and sugar. “Here,” he said, taking her plate and putting two pancakes on it before placing it in front of her.
Libby shook her head. “No. Just one. Maybe half of one,” she said, a sour look on her face.
“Okay,” Travis said, his voice full of concern as he put one of the pancakes back on the stack on the plate he’d placed them all on. “You feeling okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just not really hungry,” Libby said.
“Okay. After we eat I’ll put what’s left in a zip lock in the fridge. Come grab one later if you want it,” Travis said.
Libby nodded. She really didn’t want to be here at the moment. What she needed to do was to find some alone time today. That wasn’t happening with this being the last week before Christmas Eve.
Libby sipped her coffee and picked at her pancake enough to make Travis stop watching her eat. Then she got up and took her plate to the kitchen and threw away what she couldn’t eat before he had time to join her. When she returned to the table, she was sipping orange juice. “Felt like I needed juice today,” she said, sitting down again.