“Wait! Wait, wait!” Dante got up to stand between them. “Let’s just take a minute.”

“Laurie does not have to testify!” Emma turned on her son.

“Mom, Dad’s right. If they don’t have Laurie—” Dante began.

“NO!” she yelled, taking a step in his direction. Dante took a couple of steps back, his hands raised in surrender.

“Emma.” Laurie held up her hand. “They’re right. If I’m not there, they don’t have a case against Kaimi, and he goes free.”

“Well then let him!” Emma tossed over her shoulder. Then she pointed her butter knife at Dante. “You can’t take her and my future grandchild back to Hawaii. You’re not even in the Marshals Service anymore. Who will protect her until the trial?”

Dante faltered. He stared at his mother, her eyes wild and angry. Her words rang in his head. Who will protect Laurie before the trial?

“Well? Who’s going to protect her and my grandchild?” Emma jabbed at the air with her knife.

“I don’t know.” Dante’s hands dropped to his sides.

“They won’t let you protect her?” Gabriella’s voice floated over from the table.

“No.” Dante shook his head. “Even once Rick has seen the tape, I’ll be on probation at best. They probably won’t even tell me where they place her.”

Dante’s eyes fell on Laurie. She stared at the kitchen table, as she pushed her half-eaten biscuit away. He saw her chin wobble, as she fought to keep the tears away. Pain grabbed at his heart, and it started draining away all of the joy that had been there a moment ago.

“Dante, just tell them she’s carrying your child.” Gabriella gestured to Laurie. “They have to keep you together, don’t they? As a family?”

“I don’t think telling Rick I fathered a child with a witness is going to help.” Dante ran his hands through his hair, massaging his scalp. A headache started to form at the base of his skull.

“Listen to me.” Albert put his hand on Dante’s shoulder. “You have to take her back to Hawaii. You fell in love with the girl. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Albert glanced at Emma.

“Just tell Rick what happened. Explain everything. I’ll call Hilton and have a nice long talk with him when you take her back. They’ll let you stay with Laurie. I’m sure of it.” His father squeezed his shoulder.

“Yeah.” Dante nodded. He wasn’t sure it was going to work, but he had to try.

He glanced at Laurie, who stared at her half-eaten breakfast. He had to try. He had a family to protect now.

Emma let out a disgusted sigh. She went over to the stove to tackle the first pot that stared back at her.

Dante went back to his seat, putting his arm around Laurie.

She laid her head on his shoulder.

“It’ll be okay.” He dropped a kiss into her hair. “I’ll convince them to let me stay with you.”

Laurie just nodded her head against him. Dante ran his hand over her hair.

“Can you eat a little bit more of your breakfast?” He nuzzled Laurie.

“No.” She shook her head.

“Mornings have been hard for her. She’ll eat more at lunch.” Gabriella smiled warmly.

Dante nodded. He rubbed Laurie’s back for a while, until they all got up to go on with their day.

***

Laurie

After unpacking, cleaning, and teaching the boys their school lessons, the adults were ready for bed at sun down. They all collapsed in the living room, watching a movie just to pass the time without having to move.

Bob and Albert offered to take the night watch so Laurie and Dante could spend some time together; their first night as would-be parents.

Once they were alone in their room, Dante spent a long time worshipping Laurie’s body with his hands and his mouth and his body. That made Laurie deliriously happy. When their lovemaking was spent, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. As they lay on their sides, her back pressed against his chest, one of his hands wandered down to her expanding stomach.

She laid her hand on top of his. Her stomach was still soft, but she could feel the hard muscle beneath as well. Her baby. They were going to have a baby together. She let the thought sink in for the first time. In all of the worrying over Dante, and the nervousness of what he would say, Laurie hadn’t let the pregnancy sink in.

Dante buried his face into Laurie’s hair, breathing deeply.

“Are you really happy about the baby?” Laurie squeezed his hand.

Her question roused him. He rolled so he half covered her body. He kissed her temple, and she turned her head to look at him. He smiled, as he stroked the hair away from her forehead.

“No.” He caressed her cheek. “I told you I’m ecstatic. Why?”

“I just didn’t know if your feelings had changed because of the trial.”

He shook his head.

“No, not at all.”

Laurie let out a deep breath, smiling up at Dante. At least he sounded sincere about that. There was no underlying doubt, no hesitation. He was happy about the baby. He just wasn’t happy about the trial. Laurie felt a twinge of guilt as Dante kissed her with a deep, slow, soul-searching kiss. Then he laid down beside her once more.

“Do you think they’ll let you protect me?”

Dante paused.

“I don’t know. But I’m going to try, Laurie. I’m going to do everything I can.”

“I know.” A little laugh escaped her lips. “You always have.”

He kissed the base of her neck, then rested his chin there.

Laurie let her thoughts wander to the impossible, to another universe with another set of given circumstances. She let herself think about what would be possible without Kaimi in the picture. What would they do if there were no trial? The dreams and fantasies that came to mind made her throat burn.

“I wish we didn’t have to go back.” Laurie’s voice strained into a whisper.

“I know.” He gathered her closer.

“I wish we could just stay here, and move into the orchard house. I wouldn’t have to go on the witness stand. You wouldn’t have to go back to your job. We can just work the orchard.” Laurie traced lazy patterns on his arm.

“That would be perfect.” Dante nuzzled her neck.

“It would be perfect.” Laurie smiled. “We could raise a family here. They would be safe. We’d pick grapes, apples, and pears. We could sell them in the market for money. It would be a perfect life.”

“Yes, it would,” Dante murmured against her skin.

“Good night.” Laurie let out a wistful sigh, squeezing his hands.

“Good night.”

As they drifted off to sleep, they dreamed the same dream of walking through the orchard together with their two children, and running toward the pear trees to get the ripest fruit.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

The week passed in a haze for Laurie and Dante. On Monday, Dante and Laurie rented a car. They went to Fremont for Laurie’s doctor appointment and to finish some last minute Christmas shopping. They had both lost track of time. They hadn’t even realized Christmas would be on Tuesday.

The doctor’s visit fascinated Dante. He kept asking questions right up until the sonogram started. Then he stared at the screen in silence with the widest grin on his face. He grabbed her hand, then pressed it to his heart. Laurie’s heart had swelled near to bursting. Dante had walked out of the office like a zombie, dropping his keys, forgetting where he parked. He drove a few counties over into Iowa before he mailed Rick a copy of the tape from the safe house. Laurie didn’t want to see it. Dante didn’t ask.

***

Christmas was as hectic an affair as Thanksgiving. The boys slept in the living room, waiting for Santa to come. After they fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, Dante and Albert laid out the gifts under the tree. The next morning, the boys tore into everything, attacking one present and leaving it behind to tear into another.