“What happened then, mi cielo?” I ask her, doing my best to keep my voice from showing the anger and disgust I feel inside.
“He asked me what I would do, to keep him from doing it…”
“Mierda,” I whisper softly, hoping she doesn’t hear it, but when she flinches, I know she does. I kiss the scar again. “Tell me.”
“I told him I’d take her pain. He handed me a knife… and told me to prove it.” Her body shakes from the force of her tears and I hold her as close as I can. “I was so scared, Skull. I was afraid I would hurt the baby. It hurt so bad, and there was so much blood. I can still hear Katie pleading with me to stop, but she was so feverish and sick. Matthew was laughing…”
“Shh… I have you, Beth. The bastard is dead. He’ll never touch you or Gabby again,” I tell her, and the tears in my own eyes blind me. “Te amo, mi cielo,” I whisper to her stomach.
I make my way to every scar, both small and large, kissing each one, praising her with each kiss for her bravery, for her courage, for just being her.
Finally when I am finished, I hold her until the tears begin to slow. Then I do the only thing I can. I slowly love her body, there on the floor, with the light on, showing her in ways no words could that she is beautiful and the only woman I will ever need or love.
Mi mundo…. My world … My pearl of great price…
“Explain to me again while we’re only twenty minutes away from the club, but having a picnic again?” I ask Skull. “I mean, really, there are picnic tables out behind the club.”
“I told you, as long as we’re on lockdown, I’m not going to let you and Gabby be far from home.”
“But you’re…”
“Even if I’m with you, Beth. I’m not going to risk you and Gabby for anything. But even so,” he says with a grin, taking a strawberry, dipping it in chocolate, then plopping it in my mouth. I open immediately because, well, they taste good, but more than that, I love when he gets that happy look on his face. “Even so,” he continues, “I want some alone time with my two favorite girls.”
“Daddy!” Gabby yells, as if on cue. She’s holding the bucket and shovel I brought.
Skull grins at her. “Mi hija is demanding me, mi amor.”
He winks. I shake my head as he goes and plays with our daughter. It’s been a week since I’ve shown him my scars, and each day, he proves even more that they don’t matter to him. It’s been a week, and I feel like finally everything is going to be okay. A week of nothing but… happiness.
I go over to sit beside Gabby and help them play in the sandbox that Skull brought. It’s in the shape of a turtle, and it was all he could do to fit it in the back of the truck. Then, when we arrived here, he added the bags of sand he kept in the back.
“Can I ask what you’re planning to do when she wants the sandbox at home?”
Skull turns the bucket upside-down to show the beginnings of the castle he and Gabby are building. “Make sure it’s at home for her, mi cielo. What else?”
What else? I shake my head at his simple answer. I have a feeling that if Gabby asked for the moon, he’d find a way to give it to her. Now that Skull and I have finally worked through our issues from the past, he’s much softer around Gabby. Gentler, even. She’s sensed the change and the difference in how they interact is night and day.
We play for an hour until Gabby’s laughter slowly changes to yawns, then we lay back on the quilt we brought and stare up at the sky, making shapes out of the clouds. Soon Gabby is sound asleep, snuggled between us. My hand goes to my stomach in sadness. I had hoped I was pregnant when Skull mentioned how he hadn’t been using a condom, but I started my period a couple of days ago. No baby.
“It will happen, querida,” Skull’s deep timbre whispers against my skin, and I look up at him. He’s smiling at me, even as his hand clasps mine and rests on my stomach.
“I want a sister for Gabby so she has someone who is always there for her, like I have with Katie.”
“God help me,” he says with a smile.
“I’d be offended … but I think you like my sister.”
“I plead the fifth.”
“Mmm…hmm...”
“Querida, I hope you don’t take this wrong, but I’m hoping our next child is a son. It’s going to be a fulltime job to keep men away from Gabby as it is.”
“Good luck with that,” I say, then laugh. I sit up to adjust a small blanket over Gabby. That’s when I notice she’s wearing the hair bow with the mini nanny cam in it. I just assumed that Katie had taken it out, but I can see it clearly. Actually, I’m sure she told me she did, which means she put it back in for today. She’s spying on me and Skull. “That bitch!”