Death of the Family Recipe (A Scotti Fitzgerald Murder Mystery Book 3) (49 page)

I let out a breath and shuddered. "When I think…"

Val wagged a finger at me. "Don’t you dare think about that stuff. You, soon to be a mommy, need to think calm, happy thoughts." She turned and squinted at Ted. "And your job is to make sure she does."

Ted nodded. "Yes ma’am, ma’am."

I frowned at Val. "So, I have to stay here until the babies are born?"

Val rolled her tongue against her cheek and sighed. "I can’t force you to, but it’s the only way I know to keep you calm." She scolded me with a look. "All this running around and being Inspector Clueso has to stop. You got that?"

I nodded. "Okay, I’ll stay in the hospital."

Both Ted and Val did double takes. Ted said, "You’re just agreeing, like that? No whining, no griping, no excuses?" He stared at me. "Where’s my real wife?"

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny." I pulled the blankets up to my chin. "It’s a crazy world out there. And I have to do what’s best for the babies."

Val patted my foot. "Good. Excellent." She made a note in my file then said. "If you behave, I’ll slip you some extra tapioca."

She laughed at her own joke, then left.

Carefully, Ted climbed into the bed and lay down with me. "How you feeling?"

I shook my head. "I don’t know. Numb. Relieved. Worried. Like I’m still dreaming and none of this is real." I pushed the hair off his forehead. "I thought she killed you." I winced at the red, swollen burns on his neck. "Are you all right? Does that hurt?"

Ted pulled away and grunted. "It’s nothing."

I swatted him. "It is not nothing. Did you at least have a doctor look at it? Are you okay?"

He cupped my chin. "I’m fine, honey. No permanent brain damage." He knocked on his forehead and laughed. "See, nothing rattling around up there."

I shook my head. "That’s not funny."

He jumped off the bed and slowly turned. "I’m fine. See? Still in one piece." He puffed up his chest. "It only knocked me on my ass for a few minutes."

I was not amused. "Okay tough guy. I get it, you’re invincible."

He crawled back into the bed with me. "Good, glad we got that cleared up."

I squinted at him. "How did you find me?"

Ted stroked my cheek then smoothed back my hair. "Didn’t the doc just say you needed to stay calm?"

I poked his chest. "You think I’ll stay calm if you don’t answer my questions?"

Ted twisted his lips and sat up. "Don’t be mad." He pointed a finger at me. "And remember that this saved your life." He cleared his throat and muttered. "I had a little chip put in your locket."

I bolted up. "What?"

Ted held up his hands. "I knew eventually you’d get rid of the phone app and…"

I flapped my hand and laughed, I clutched my belly because it hurt to laugh. "Baby, why don’t you just chip me and get it over with?"

Ted wiggled his eyebrows and lay down again. "Believe me, I’ve considered it."

We laughed a little, and then I cried some more. I couldn’t stop thinking how close I came to losing my kids and how stupid I’d been. The truth was, I decided to stay in the hospital because I was afraid to leave. Ted stayed with me all night, and when I woke up in a panic, he talked me down until I slept again. Neither one of us left the hospital for a while.

Those first few days were tough. Every time I thought of lying on that table with Kathy hunched over me, wielding a scalpel, I panicked and sobbed. But with each day that passed, it got little better. And for reasons known only to God, I had a lot of people who loved me and helped me through it — a little bit at a time.

<<>>

Two weeks into my hospital stay I was restless and aching to get back to the real world where oatmeal, boiled eggs and tapioca were not highlights of anyone’s day. My stitches were out, and the pain was gone, and with them some of the horror that Kathy put me through. But hospitals aren’t that interesting. In fact, they’re boring as hell. And waiting for babies to be born is like waiting for a pot to boil. So when Daniels bound through the door with a smile on his face and a spring in his step, I practically kissed him. He was impressed by all the flowers, balloons and cards. "Doing better?"

I nodded and pointed to my belly. "Just waiting for these two to come out of hiding." I fingered the chain that hung around my neck. "Thanks for getting my rings and locket back to me. I thought they were gone forever."

Daniels nodded. "Any time."

Lowering my voice I said, "Are you going to tell me what’s happening or what?"

Daniels cast a look behind him and sidled up to the bed. Out of the side of his mouth he said, "I’m under strict orders to do the happy talk."

I patted the bedside. "I won’t tell if you don’t."

Daniels talked fast with his eyes glued to the door. Kathy Morrissey had copped a plea to aiding and abetting in Devereaux’s murder and baby abduction, as well as my abduction and assault. North Hollywood PD had reopened Rose’s murder case, and they were working her to cop a plea on that too. No matter what, Kathy would spend the rest of her life in jail.

The paternity tests confirmed Hyden was the father of the baby left in his theater, and he had every intention of raising her.

At sentencing, Atkinson was given thirty years to life — personally, I was pulling for life.

I frowned. "That’s it? No other boogie men going to jump out at me?"

Daniels shook his head. "Not as far as I know."

I nodded and let out a breath. "Good." I cringed. "What about Jennifer?"

Daniels shook his head. "Not to worry, auntie is in the clear." He shrugged. "After all the dirt she gave Pembroke on Morrissey, they should throw her a parade."

I lay back against the pillows. "Good." I snapped my fingers. "One more thing." I lowered my voice. "Did Eric talk to you about the whole Ingrid deal? I asked him to give you the IP data and whatever else he dug up."

Daniels nodded but made a face. "I passed it on to Thompson at Glendale PD, but far as I know, nothing came of it." He smirked at me. "You worried about her?"

I shrugged. "I don’t know. She’s batshit nuts, but if it came down to it, I think I could take her."

Daniels threw back his head and laughed. "You do, do you? Well, that’s good to know." He knuckled my chin. "Go get her slugger."

Ted walked in grinning. "What’s so funny?"

I flapped a hand. "Oh nothing, just Marty talking smack, right?"

Daniels backed away from the bed and did a combination curtsy and bow. "And on that note, I shall leave Lady Pie and her handsome knight to their privacy."

After Daniels left, Ted pulled a bag of cookies out of his pocket and said, "From Matt." He made googly eyes at the door. "Don’t tell the doc or she’ll hurt me."

I threw back the covers, and he got into bed with me, and we ate cookies like little kids. Then he pulled my phone out of his pocket and said, "I brought more than cookies. Do you want it?"

I reached for it but he held it away. "Gimme."

"Eric said it was hacked." He squinted at me. "By Ingrid."

I snatched the phone away from him. "We don’t know it was Ingrid."

He sighed. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

I put my phone on the bedside table. "You’re the one who kept insisting she wasn’t around." I bobbed my head around the room. "And look, you’re right — she’s not around."

He cupped my chin. "Look you…."

I pulled away. "Ouch."

Ted smirked. "Oh come on, that didn’t hurt."

I rubbed my belly. "No, not that. I think I’m having gas." I frowned at the bag of cookies. "I’ve been having trouble with it on and off all day. Probably should’ve passed on the cookies." I doubled over. "Damn it, that hurts."

Ted rubbed circles on my belly. "They just come out of nowhere? These pains?"

I shrugged. "Yeah at first, but seems like it’s gotten worse in the last few hours." Ted hopped off the bed and rushed out of the room. "Well where the hell are you going? Ted?"

A couple minutes later Val rushed into the room. Shaking her head she said, "So, gas huh? Having it for hours now?" She rolled her eyes. "Scotti, what am I going to do with you?"

A few hours later my gas transformed into two healthy babies. Rose Melinda weighed in at exactly five pounds, Rory James her little brother came in at five pounds, three ounces. What they say about feeling an inexplicable love for your babies, is true. I was so full with it I thought I’d burst. They were pink, wrinkly, toothless, creatures wriggling in my arms like grumpy old men, but to me they were beautiful.

We got to hold them for a few minutes and then they were whisked away to be cleaned up and checked out. After which Mommy drank two quarts of orange juice, ate three bags of vending machine chips then went down for the count.

When I awoke, sunshine streamed through the window, and Ted was at my bedside. He smiled and kissed my cheek. "Hey little mama."

I opened my arms. "Hi."

Ted bent down and hugged me then pointed to the bassinet next to the bed. "There’s a couple of people who want to see you."

I laughed and cried then clapped my hands like a little princess. "Babies. Hi babies."

Ted gently put Rosie into my arms. "Mommy, meet Rosie."

I cradled my little girl. She was so little and had tiny dark curls framing her face. I kissed her little forehead and she cooed. "Hi Rosie."

Then Ted nestled Rory in my other arm. "Rory say hello to Mommy."

Rory cooed and nestled his little blonde head against my breast. "Hi Rory, Mommy is so glad to see you."

Ted bent down and kissed me. "You did good, Mommy."

A helpful nurse appeared to show me how to breast feed them. No small feat, feeding two babies at once and really that was impossible, so they took turns. We had a lot of tries and misses but Ted helped as much as he could — and the extra hand came in well, handy. Ted teased me about not reading the baby books, but I still managed to feed my kids without any major injuries.

I whined when the nurse wheeled the babies out of the room. "It’s okay honey, they’ll be back."

"But why can’t they stay here with me?"

Val breezed into the room. "Because you need your rest, young lady." She strutted to my bed. "We did okay, with those two, huh?" I grinned and gave her two thumbs up. "How you feeling?"

"Good, I think. Are the babies okay?"

She pulled the chart from the foot of my bed and consulted it. "The babies are awesome."

I wriggled into a sitting position. "Good, when I can I go home?"

Val closed the chart and put it back on its hook. "I could check you out this afternoon." She frowned. "But it’d be better if you stayed a couple more days."

I made a face. "Haven’t I been here long enough?"

She nodded. "Sure. And we could use the bed. But I’d like to keep an eye on you for a while longer. And once you get home, you aren’t going to get any sleep. Wouldn’t you like to get some sleep while you can?"

I looked at Ted. "I suppose you’re on her side too?"

Ted shrugged. "Your call, honey."

They both stared at me, waiting for my answer. I laughed, then I whined, "I want to go home."

Val nodded. "Okay." She picked up the file and made another note. "I’ll start the paperwork." She chuckled. "You might want to take a shower while you’ve got a chance."

I took Val’s advice and took a long hot shower. Nothing in the world has ever given me the joy that having my babies did, but giving birth is dirty business and eau de childbirth not a sexy scent.

A couple hours later, we were wheeled outside to freedom. I took in a deep breath, "Ah, I love the smell of smog in the afternoon."

I wouldn’t allow Ted to drive over twenty miles an hour on the way home and every time we hit a bump I looked back to check on the babies. Unlike their mother, the babies seemed to enjoy the ride and cooed approvingly.

When we pulled into the drive, Melinda and Jennifer rushed out of our house to help us. I made a face at Ted. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, we have built-in help." He chuckled. "I like to call them Nanny One and Nanny Two."

I didn’t tell Ted this, but I was damned glad to see both of them. I wasn’t kidding myself — I needed the help, and my kids needed their grandmothers. Melinda rushed to my side. "How are you feeling, darling?"

I held Rosie in my arms, and Melinda helped me navigate the porch steps. "Good. Tired but happy."

She put her arm around my shoulders. "Well, you’re not to worry about a thing — we’re all here to help."

I looked over at Ted and raised my eyebrows. He had Rory in one arm and my suitcase under the other. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the aunts and uncles and godparents."

Jennifer chuckled. "Well you left the hospital so soon, and everybody is anxious to see you."

I laughed because what else could I do? "Everybody, huh? And see me? Please, you all just want to get your hands on my babies." Jennifer giggled and opened the door for us. As we stepped inside the whole clan anxiously waited in the entryway. I squinted at them and whispered, "Sh, they’re asleep."