Risking Fate(6)

“Why are you crying? Is it because he is dead?” My knee started to shake as I tried so hard to keep my composure, but the more questions Iz asked, the more it was ripping me apart.

“No, Sweetie. He was a very bad man. He was even in jail. Mommy is crying because I am just so tired and my back is really hurting me. Your little brothers keep kicking Mommy, making me uncomfortable.”

I had to give it to Miranda, her quick thinking made Iz forget all about the sore subject. Within seconds, we were all ordering at the drive thru and on our way to the safety of the Mitchell Ranch. While Miranda tried to eat something, I never let go of my hold on her leg. My food could get cold and even hard, I just didn’t care. Miranda was my priority.

I knew once we got with our family we wouldn’t have time to talk about what happened until we were going to sleep.

It bothered me.

We’d never had a single issue with anyone from Tucker’s family, in fact, from the time Iz was born, none of them had anything to do with her. When we gave Iz my last name, it was just assumed that nobody would ever even ask who her father was. As far as everyone knew, she was mine.

We pulled into Van and Colt’s place and they came running out to greet us. Miranda calmed down some when she saw them heading toward us. I gave her a squeeze before we opened the door. “I love you, Baby. I will never let anything happen to our family, you hear me?”

She shook her head and squeezed my hand. “I know, Ty.”

Noah opened the back door and Izzy went flying out of the car with him. I jumped out and ran over to Miranda’s side. She was already standing up hugging Colt. “Look at your belly. I can’t believe its twins.” Colt rubbed her stomach and then took Christian from Van so she could hug Miranda.

I reached around her waist and hugged her at the same time, lifting her up off the ground when she pulled away from my wife. “We missed you so much!” Van had a love-hate relationship with my sarcasm. There were times where she couldn’t get enough of it, then other times when I was sure she wanted to kill me.

I reached my arms out for Christian and she reached back. “Hey pretty girl. Uncle Ty missed you.” Her dimple was so adorable. Since we were older and all so close, it was easier for the kids to call the adults ‘aunt and uncle’. “Did you hear that you are going to have two cousins to play with, in a few more months? That’s right!” My baby voice caused everyone to stop talking to each other and watch me. “What? She loves it. Don’t you?” I kissed her on her head before following everyone into the house.

Izzy and Noah had already run inside, so there was no need to look back and worry what they were getting into. They both had reason to never want to play outside in the dark and I think we were all okay with that.

I loved being with my family and shortly the house filled with my mother in law and my aunt, but all I could think about was Miranda. I could sense she was on edge and all I could do was pretend to be tired so I could finally have a second of alone time to make sure she was alright.





Chapter 3

Miranda



To say that I was a little freaked out would have been an understatement. That woman was someone that I never wanted to see again. Her son had destroyed my family and caused us pain and loss. I was glad that he was dead and couldn’t harm anyone ever again. He’d gotten everything he deserved.

When I saw her looking down at my little girl, I felt like I wanted to kill the woman myself. There was no part of me that felt sorry for her not knowing her grandchild. I knew for a fact that she had something to do with Van’s kidnapping and the loss of her baby. That woman was evil with a capital E.

As excited as I had been about seeing my family and celebrating the news of Ty and I expecting twins, all I could think about was that woman. Her wicked grin haunted me and caused me to be unable to focus on anything else.

I knew Ty sensed it. I could feel him watching me with his concerned eyes. He knew me too well to be able to hide my feelings from him. We were too close, too good of friends to not sense something was bothering one of us. Usually I loved that about our relationship, but for the first time, I wanted to run away and hide. A part of me wanted to drive home as fast as we could get there. I needed my daughter to be safe from that evil woman.

Maybe I was just jumping the gun, but I couldn’t help but feel that we had just opened up a can of worms. The last thing I wanted to do was upset the rest of my family over something that was probably just my overactive imagination. I just couldn’t shake this gut feeling that something bad was going to happen. I knew my hormones had a way of making my mind wander. In fact, the past few nights I had woken up after having terrible nightmares.