Por si éramos pocos by Belenuski - Chapter 12 (Part 7)
Title: Por si éramos pocos by Belenuski
Rating: PG-13
NB: I apologize if the translation/spelling/grammar is sub-par, but I'm running on very little sleep because a damn black-out woke me up at an ungodly hour...but, anyway, enjoy! And thanks muchly for commenting!
March 29th
The sound of the cell phone woke her up. The phone that she never turned off, whether it was day or night. The phone that she only turned off one time in Barcelona, causing a huge argument with her ex-wife. The same phone that would bring her the horrible news.
Pepa grumbled as she groped around for the phone. When she found it, she brought it to her ear and answered unenthusiastically.
“Yes?”
“Pepa?” It was Silvia’s voice. The brunette cracked open her eyes. She didn’t notice Silvia’s tone of voice when she said her name.
“Silvia?” She looked at the time. “It’s 4 in the morning.”
“You have to…you have to come to the precinct.”
This time, she heard it clearly. She fully opened her eyes and turned on the light on the nightstand. She sat up.
“Are you crying? What’s going on?”
“It’s urgent, you have to come.”
“Yes, yes. What do I do with Noah? Do I take her…?”
“No, don’t bring her here,” Silvia swallowed, she was very nervous. “Call Sonia, tell her it’s something important.”
Pepa was already up and looking for her clothes with one hand.
“Vale, I’ll dress and go.”
“Hurry, Pepa, please.”
“But…what’s happened? You’re scaring me.”
“Silvia, hang up, they could’ve tapped the phone,” Pepa heard Don Lorenzo say.
“I’m hanging up, come now.”
Pepa was worried, staring at the phone. Finally, she got dressed, went into Noah’s room to check that she was sleeping, put her phone in her purse, and grabbed her jacket since it was cold out at those hours.
She called Sonia, apologizing a million times, but she asked her to watch Noah, telling her that it was an emergency. Of course the woman agreed and went over to Pepa’s, leaving her kids with her husband.
Pepa drove nervously down the streets of Madrid, lucking out that at that time, traffic was almost non-existent. She didn’t even bother locking the car when she reached the garage of the precinct and then ran up the stairs. She looked both ways, searching for her co-workers, and when she didn’t see anyone, she guessed that they must be in the Briefing Room. She climbed up the rest of the stairs and brusquely opened the door, breathing hard from the run.
“What happened?” She asked without even looking to see who was there.
“Pepa…” Silvia muttered as she went to hug her, crying. The brunette brushed Silvia’s hair and looked at everyone, questioning them with her eyes. They all looked to the floor, shuffling their feet, playing with their fingers.
As far as Pepa could tell, there were some people who were missing and some others who shouldn’t have been there. Sara and Lucas were there when they should’ve been in the chalet, and Rita, Curtis, and Povedilla were nowhere to be seen. Strangely, Lola was also there, holding Paco’s hand.
When she realized that nobody was going to respond, she focused on Silvia, pulling her tighter against herself.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here now, vale? What’s happened?”
“It’s Noah…” she whispered. “They’re after Noah.”
It was then that Pepa stopped thinking about the time, about her co-workers, even about Silvia herself. She pulled away.
“What?” She asked gravely, uncomprehending. Or rather, hoping she had heard wrong.
“We have the situation more or less under control,” Don Lorenzo intervened. “Sit down, Pepa, we have to talk.”
Pepa walked a bit indecisively to one of the chairs. Silvia sat down beside her, still crying, lacing her fingers through those of her ex-wife’s. When something happened concerning Noah, she unfailingly needed to be close to Pepa, to feel her with gentle touches, to know that she was there.
“What’s happening with my daughter, Don Lorenzo?” The brunette asked, starting to really be frightened. “And what are Sara and Lucas doing here?”
The comisario sighed and leaned against the small table from which he had spoken about so many cases. His hands were shaking, because now he would be speaking about his granddaughter, the girl that had brought life to that subdued precinct.
“We interrogated Ismael Postigo again. The judge ordered him to 25 years in prison without bail, but said he would reduce the sentence if he cooperated, and he did. We now know that Alec’s gang, which was looking for the Fernandez’s, have allied with the Italian camorra. Their union had terminated with their search for Lucas…but they rejoined to go after Silvia.”
Pepa frowned, looked at her ex-wife, and squeezed her hand.
“Joder! I knew it!” Pepa exclaimed. “What the hell do they want with her? Revenge? Let them come for me!”
“Calm down, Pepa,” Montoya ordered. “If we all panic, it could all go to ruin. And anyway, the story doesn’t end there.”
“Exactly,” Don Lorenzo said, ready to continue. “El Gordo is looking for you both. The rest of us are only pawns that they wouldn’t mind killing, but they’re after the top prize, they’re after both of you.”
“You killed the son of El Gordo, Pepa,” Gonzalo added. “In the middle of the shoot-out, you took him out, and it was easy for them to distinguish between your machine gun bullets and the bullets from the other pistols. They know it was you.”
“And in this regard, Alec’s gang would have nothing to do with it, but El Gordo doesn’t get his hands dirty, and he’s already lost too many of his own men to risk anymore. He’s going to use the gang as spies and informants, and of course, Alec is delighted to help. And not only for the money.”
“El Gordo knows who each and every one of us is,” Montoya assured. “He has our photos, and when he showed Alec Silvia’s picture, he quickly agreed. He still hasn’t forgotten the incident in the brothel.”
“But what does this have to do with Noah?” Pepa asked.
“Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. You killed his child, they’ll kill yours. We’ve come to this conclusion ourselves, though, it’s not a sure notice, but when it comes to revenge, they’re not going after just you two”
“The…the most vulnerable link,” Don Lorenzo mumbled. He walked over to his daughter and Pepa and smiled sadly at them. After briefing them on the situation, he stopped acting like the comisario, now he was just another family member. “Noah is the daughter of two inspectors, niece of police officers, the cousin to two CNI agents…and the granddaughter of the comisario. for them, our suffering begins there.”
Pepa shook her head. She felt the urge to cry, but in that moment, her anger was greater than her sadness.
“It can’t be…” she said. “They’re just conjectures, they’re…theories.”
Don Lorenzo stroked the face of the woman he’d always consider his daughter-in-law, whether she and Silvia were divorced or not. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his eyes.
“Gonzalo, bring the photos,” the comisario asked. Pepa noticed how Silvia started crying more and gripped her hand harder. “They showed up at my house in an envelope that looked like an invoice, tonight at 10:15.”
Gonzalo took the photos out of the envelope and handed them over to Pepa. As soon as she saw the first picture, she released her ex-wife’s hand to bring her own up to cover her mouth. She felt as if her heart was being squeezed and she couldn’t breathe. Her daughter was in the photos. Walking into school, playing in the park, waiting at the door of shops where one of her mothers was buying something…it was her, there was no question.
“They’re watching her, Pepa…” Silvia whispered, still not able to stop crying. “They’re following her, they’re going after her.”
The brunette still couldn’t believe it, though one or two tears had already escaped from her eyes. She looked at the photos again not wanting to believe it. Her daughter was in danger, that little girl of four years old, that fragile girl with asthma that climbed into bed with her when she had nightmares. She felt such a weight on her shoulders that it seemed she wouldn’t be able to lift herself from the chair. The opposite happened with Silvia, who stood up, weeping, and walked out of the room, overwhelmed, drowning under her own words. She left with her hands trembling and her heart heavy, finding it difficult to breathe.
Pepa couldn’t even bring herself to follow her.
“Noah…” she whispered, giving the photos back to Gonzalo. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, and placed her face in her hands. “Joder…”
Sara neared her and sat down where Silvia had been. She rubbed her aunt’s back and looked over at her grandfather.
“There’s no one here who’s not family except Montoya,” the blonde said. “We still haven’t ruled out the idea of there being a mole, and the less people who know, the better.”
“And the girl’s going to be protected,” Don Lorenzo insisted.
Paco, Lola, and Lucas also walked up to her.
“We’re officers, CNI agents, inspectors…” Paco began. “But above all that, we’re family.”
“We’re going to protect that tadpole even if it costs us our lives,” Lucas assured. Pepa lifted her head. “I still have to teach her to how to spit and flirt.”
Pepa smiled between the tears and nodded. She had learned that sometimes crying couldn’t be avoided, but she had to be cool-headed if she wanted to be useful, in this case, to protect her daughter.
“We’re going to give you both personal cell phones, we’re going to have two agents accompany you both, but they’ll be undercover so Noah doesn’t know, and there’ll be two others at the school’s doors…microphones, cameras, bullet-proof vests…if you ask for it, we’ll give it to you,” Don Lorenzo said. “But even so, you don’t have to worry, David’s told us that someone’s infiltrated Alec’s gang there in Italy and is informing them on everything, and so far, they haven’t decided to move forward with any plans. They’re threatening, frightening us and spying, but for now, their assassins are still in Italy.”
Pepa dried her eyes, she nodded again and stood up. She patted Paco’s cheek and he smiled.
“The girl has a whole precinct on her side, hermana. Trust in us.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you all.”
Sara hugged her and Paco did, too. Don Lorenzo, Lucas, Lola…together they formed the greatest team that had ever been. Pepa lifted her gaze as much as she could over all the arms that circled her and with a nod, she gestured for Gonzalo to join the group. He didn’t hesitate. Wrapped up in a familiar blanket of affection, Pepa let out another tear. Though she had the whole precinct supporting her, at any moment, things could falter and she could lose the most precious thing she had. But she wouldn’t let that happen. Before reaching her daughter, they’d have to kill her first, and perhaps because of that, her tears stopped falling. Because if she had to sacrifice herself so that her little one wouldn’t suffer any harm, she would do it.
When the embrace broke up, Pepa smiled at everyone again in gratitude before looking outside.
“I’m going to find Silvia,” she announced. “She must be falling apart.”
She walked out of the Briefing Room, leaving those present with a sad smile on their lips. Sara hugged her mother and father. Once again, things were happening so fast.
Silvia was leaning against the sinks in the locker room, unsuccessfully trying to compose herself. She had a hand over her mouth and the tears wouldn’t stop falling. One of her fists was clenched and she felt like her legs were going to give out. When it seemed like she was calming down, the image of a scared Noah, hurt, made her start crying all over again.
“My little girl…” she whispered.
Finally, the weight of her worry was so great that she collapsed onto the floor, where she sat and cried with her head between her legs. She was starting to hyperventilate and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. The acute pain in her stomach grew more and more intense, and the signs of the big hit she took from being in the clouds when she read Pepa’s letter, to falling once again to the ground when she got the horrible news, were reflected in her face, damp from the tears.
She heard someone open the door and she lifted head to discover that it was Pepa, who felt her muscles tense at seeing the redhead on the floor, suffering over their daughter, that link that tied them together, more strongly sometimes than at others.
The brunette sat down beside Silvia and touched her belly. The news hadn’t been good for her or the baby, as she felt something like bubbles inside her; she still couldn’t feel any kicks. Pepa looked at her ex-wife and stroked her hair. Silvia raised her eyes and leaned into Pepa, letting her head fall on her shoulder.
“Why?” The redhead asked with such anguish that it was barely understandable. “Why when everything’s going well…?”
“Shhh,” Pepa said. She took Silvia’s hand and started to caress it.
“Our daughter is in danger, Pepa. They’re…they’re after her….”
“Noah’s going to be fine. You didn’t listen to your father or Gonzalo, right now, she’s not in danger. And, when the camorra makes even one wrong move to come over here, David will let us know.”
Silvia shook her head.
“Still…don’t you feel powerless?” Pepa, who was staring off at a fixed point in space, lowered her gaze to their joined hands. “Look at that photos, they were right behind us and we didn’t even know it.”
“From now on we’ll be more attentive.”
There was a short silence.
“And if something happens? And if…?” Silvia, who had stopped crying, started anew. Pepa scooted closer to her.
“Nothing’s going to happen to her, that’s what we’re here for.”
Silvia looked at Pepa, and sitting as they were, she hugged her, feeling Pepa put her arm around her shoulders and rubbing her back.
It didn’t relieve the pain and fear of knowing her daughter was in the crosshairs of some murderers who almost ended her own life on her wedding day, but hearing the sound of Pepa’s heartbeat did calm her down.
“It’s times like these that I regret becoming a cop,” Silvia added.
“But then you wouldn’t have run into me in the shooting gallery, and you wouldn’t have gone with me on that stakeout. And, much less would you have kissed me in the bathroom of Lola’s house.”
The redhead smiled.
“You still remember that…”
“After all, it’s what lead us to Noah.”
Silvia pulled away from Pepa. A new look of terrible concern fell over her face.
“Promise me nothing’s going to happen to her.”
Pepa kissed her forehead.
“Nothing’s going to happen to her, I won’t let it.”
They looked into each other’s eyes. There was so much fear, so much worry…and so much affection. Pepa smiled tenderly to comfort Silvia and brushed her hair behind her ear. She also wiped away a tear that had quickly trailed down to her chin. Silvia sighed and parted her lips, her eyes were still watery.
They both swallowed and leaned forward slowly. Then they gave each other an innocent kiss, just a simple touch. It wasn’t the time or place, much less the situation, so they left it there, in a simple show of affection. After the kiss, they limited themselves to looking at each other before embracing again. Now they held each other without tears, only thinking about protecting that girl who had affected the lives of everyone. Protecting her and protecting the baby, because the camorra surely had no idea about Pepa’s pregnancy, and whatever the circumstances, the baby was now another member of the family.
Links to the original story:
http://pepaysilvia.mforos.com/1469855/8481210-por-si-eramos-pocos-01-11-09-23-40/
http://pepaysilvia.mforos.com/1469855/8680673-por-si-eramos-pocos-ii-28-11-09-21-35/
http://pepaysilvia.mforos.com/1469855/8848739-por-si-eramos-pocos-iii-14-02-10-0-55-finalizado/
Rating: PG-13
NB: I apologize if the translation/spelling/grammar is sub-par, but I'm running on very little sleep because a damn black-out woke me up at an ungodly hour...but, anyway, enjoy! And thanks muchly for commenting!
March 29th
The sound of the cell phone woke her up. The phone that she never turned off, whether it was day or night. The phone that she only turned off one time in Barcelona, causing a huge argument with her ex-wife. The same phone that would bring her the horrible news.
Pepa grumbled as she groped around for the phone. When she found it, she brought it to her ear and answered unenthusiastically.
“Yes?”
“Pepa?” It was Silvia’s voice. The brunette cracked open her eyes. She didn’t notice Silvia’s tone of voice when she said her name.
“Silvia?” She looked at the time. “It’s 4 in the morning.”
“You have to…you have to come to the precinct.”
This time, she heard it clearly. She fully opened her eyes and turned on the light on the nightstand. She sat up.
“Are you crying? What’s going on?”
“It’s urgent, you have to come.”
“Yes, yes. What do I do with Noah? Do I take her…?”
“No, don’t bring her here,” Silvia swallowed, she was very nervous. “Call Sonia, tell her it’s something important.”
Pepa was already up and looking for her clothes with one hand.
“Vale, I’ll dress and go.”
“Hurry, Pepa, please.”
“But…what’s happened? You’re scaring me.”
“Silvia, hang up, they could’ve tapped the phone,” Pepa heard Don Lorenzo say.
“I’m hanging up, come now.”
Pepa was worried, staring at the phone. Finally, she got dressed, went into Noah’s room to check that she was sleeping, put her phone in her purse, and grabbed her jacket since it was cold out at those hours.
She called Sonia, apologizing a million times, but she asked her to watch Noah, telling her that it was an emergency. Of course the woman agreed and went over to Pepa’s, leaving her kids with her husband.
Pepa drove nervously down the streets of Madrid, lucking out that at that time, traffic was almost non-existent. She didn’t even bother locking the car when she reached the garage of the precinct and then ran up the stairs. She looked both ways, searching for her co-workers, and when she didn’t see anyone, she guessed that they must be in the Briefing Room. She climbed up the rest of the stairs and brusquely opened the door, breathing hard from the run.
“What happened?” She asked without even looking to see who was there.
“Pepa…” Silvia muttered as she went to hug her, crying. The brunette brushed Silvia’s hair and looked at everyone, questioning them with her eyes. They all looked to the floor, shuffling their feet, playing with their fingers.
As far as Pepa could tell, there were some people who were missing and some others who shouldn’t have been there. Sara and Lucas were there when they should’ve been in the chalet, and Rita, Curtis, and Povedilla were nowhere to be seen. Strangely, Lola was also there, holding Paco’s hand.
When she realized that nobody was going to respond, she focused on Silvia, pulling her tighter against herself.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here now, vale? What’s happened?”
“It’s Noah…” she whispered. “They’re after Noah.”
It was then that Pepa stopped thinking about the time, about her co-workers, even about Silvia herself. She pulled away.
“What?” She asked gravely, uncomprehending. Or rather, hoping she had heard wrong.
“We have the situation more or less under control,” Don Lorenzo intervened. “Sit down, Pepa, we have to talk.”
Pepa walked a bit indecisively to one of the chairs. Silvia sat down beside her, still crying, lacing her fingers through those of her ex-wife’s. When something happened concerning Noah, she unfailingly needed to be close to Pepa, to feel her with gentle touches, to know that she was there.
“What’s happening with my daughter, Don Lorenzo?” The brunette asked, starting to really be frightened. “And what are Sara and Lucas doing here?”
The comisario sighed and leaned against the small table from which he had spoken about so many cases. His hands were shaking, because now he would be speaking about his granddaughter, the girl that had brought life to that subdued precinct.
“We interrogated Ismael Postigo again. The judge ordered him to 25 years in prison without bail, but said he would reduce the sentence if he cooperated, and he did. We now know that Alec’s gang, which was looking for the Fernandez’s, have allied with the Italian camorra. Their union had terminated with their search for Lucas…but they rejoined to go after Silvia.”
Pepa frowned, looked at her ex-wife, and squeezed her hand.
“Joder! I knew it!” Pepa exclaimed. “What the hell do they want with her? Revenge? Let them come for me!”
“Calm down, Pepa,” Montoya ordered. “If we all panic, it could all go to ruin. And anyway, the story doesn’t end there.”
“Exactly,” Don Lorenzo said, ready to continue. “El Gordo is looking for you both. The rest of us are only pawns that they wouldn’t mind killing, but they’re after the top prize, they’re after both of you.”
“You killed the son of El Gordo, Pepa,” Gonzalo added. “In the middle of the shoot-out, you took him out, and it was easy for them to distinguish between your machine gun bullets and the bullets from the other pistols. They know it was you.”
“And in this regard, Alec’s gang would have nothing to do with it, but El Gordo doesn’t get his hands dirty, and he’s already lost too many of his own men to risk anymore. He’s going to use the gang as spies and informants, and of course, Alec is delighted to help. And not only for the money.”
“El Gordo knows who each and every one of us is,” Montoya assured. “He has our photos, and when he showed Alec Silvia’s picture, he quickly agreed. He still hasn’t forgotten the incident in the brothel.”
“But what does this have to do with Noah?” Pepa asked.
“Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. You killed his child, they’ll kill yours. We’ve come to this conclusion ourselves, though, it’s not a sure notice, but when it comes to revenge, they’re not going after just you two”
“The…the most vulnerable link,” Don Lorenzo mumbled. He walked over to his daughter and Pepa and smiled sadly at them. After briefing them on the situation, he stopped acting like the comisario, now he was just another family member. “Noah is the daughter of two inspectors, niece of police officers, the cousin to two CNI agents…and the granddaughter of the comisario. for them, our suffering begins there.”
Pepa shook her head. She felt the urge to cry, but in that moment, her anger was greater than her sadness.
“It can’t be…” she said. “They’re just conjectures, they’re…theories.”
Don Lorenzo stroked the face of the woman he’d always consider his daughter-in-law, whether she and Silvia were divorced or not. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his eyes.
“Gonzalo, bring the photos,” the comisario asked. Pepa noticed how Silvia started crying more and gripped her hand harder. “They showed up at my house in an envelope that looked like an invoice, tonight at 10:15.”
Gonzalo took the photos out of the envelope and handed them over to Pepa. As soon as she saw the first picture, she released her ex-wife’s hand to bring her own up to cover her mouth. She felt as if her heart was being squeezed and she couldn’t breathe. Her daughter was in the photos. Walking into school, playing in the park, waiting at the door of shops where one of her mothers was buying something…it was her, there was no question.
“They’re watching her, Pepa…” Silvia whispered, still not able to stop crying. “They’re following her, they’re going after her.”
The brunette still couldn’t believe it, though one or two tears had already escaped from her eyes. She looked at the photos again not wanting to believe it. Her daughter was in danger, that little girl of four years old, that fragile girl with asthma that climbed into bed with her when she had nightmares. She felt such a weight on her shoulders that it seemed she wouldn’t be able to lift herself from the chair. The opposite happened with Silvia, who stood up, weeping, and walked out of the room, overwhelmed, drowning under her own words. She left with her hands trembling and her heart heavy, finding it difficult to breathe.
Pepa couldn’t even bring herself to follow her.
“Noah…” she whispered, giving the photos back to Gonzalo. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, and placed her face in her hands. “Joder…”
Sara neared her and sat down where Silvia had been. She rubbed her aunt’s back and looked over at her grandfather.
“There’s no one here who’s not family except Montoya,” the blonde said. “We still haven’t ruled out the idea of there being a mole, and the less people who know, the better.”
“And the girl’s going to be protected,” Don Lorenzo insisted.
Paco, Lola, and Lucas also walked up to her.
“We’re officers, CNI agents, inspectors…” Paco began. “But above all that, we’re family.”
“We’re going to protect that tadpole even if it costs us our lives,” Lucas assured. Pepa lifted her head. “I still have to teach her to how to spit and flirt.”
Pepa smiled between the tears and nodded. She had learned that sometimes crying couldn’t be avoided, but she had to be cool-headed if she wanted to be useful, in this case, to protect her daughter.
“We’re going to give you both personal cell phones, we’re going to have two agents accompany you both, but they’ll be undercover so Noah doesn’t know, and there’ll be two others at the school’s doors…microphones, cameras, bullet-proof vests…if you ask for it, we’ll give it to you,” Don Lorenzo said. “But even so, you don’t have to worry, David’s told us that someone’s infiltrated Alec’s gang there in Italy and is informing them on everything, and so far, they haven’t decided to move forward with any plans. They’re threatening, frightening us and spying, but for now, their assassins are still in Italy.”
Pepa dried her eyes, she nodded again and stood up. She patted Paco’s cheek and he smiled.
“The girl has a whole precinct on her side, hermana. Trust in us.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you all.”
Sara hugged her and Paco did, too. Don Lorenzo, Lucas, Lola…together they formed the greatest team that had ever been. Pepa lifted her gaze as much as she could over all the arms that circled her and with a nod, she gestured for Gonzalo to join the group. He didn’t hesitate. Wrapped up in a familiar blanket of affection, Pepa let out another tear. Though she had the whole precinct supporting her, at any moment, things could falter and she could lose the most precious thing she had. But she wouldn’t let that happen. Before reaching her daughter, they’d have to kill her first, and perhaps because of that, her tears stopped falling. Because if she had to sacrifice herself so that her little one wouldn’t suffer any harm, she would do it.
When the embrace broke up, Pepa smiled at everyone again in gratitude before looking outside.
“I’m going to find Silvia,” she announced. “She must be falling apart.”
She walked out of the Briefing Room, leaving those present with a sad smile on their lips. Sara hugged her mother and father. Once again, things were happening so fast.
Silvia was leaning against the sinks in the locker room, unsuccessfully trying to compose herself. She had a hand over her mouth and the tears wouldn’t stop falling. One of her fists was clenched and she felt like her legs were going to give out. When it seemed like she was calming down, the image of a scared Noah, hurt, made her start crying all over again.
“My little girl…” she whispered.
Finally, the weight of her worry was so great that she collapsed onto the floor, where she sat and cried with her head between her legs. She was starting to hyperventilate and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. The acute pain in her stomach grew more and more intense, and the signs of the big hit she took from being in the clouds when she read Pepa’s letter, to falling once again to the ground when she got the horrible news, were reflected in her face, damp from the tears.
She heard someone open the door and she lifted head to discover that it was Pepa, who felt her muscles tense at seeing the redhead on the floor, suffering over their daughter, that link that tied them together, more strongly sometimes than at others.
The brunette sat down beside Silvia and touched her belly. The news hadn’t been good for her or the baby, as she felt something like bubbles inside her; she still couldn’t feel any kicks. Pepa looked at her ex-wife and stroked her hair. Silvia raised her eyes and leaned into Pepa, letting her head fall on her shoulder.
“Why?” The redhead asked with such anguish that it was barely understandable. “Why when everything’s going well…?”
“Shhh,” Pepa said. She took Silvia’s hand and started to caress it.
“Our daughter is in danger, Pepa. They’re…they’re after her….”
“Noah’s going to be fine. You didn’t listen to your father or Gonzalo, right now, she’s not in danger. And, when the camorra makes even one wrong move to come over here, David will let us know.”
Silvia shook her head.
“Still…don’t you feel powerless?” Pepa, who was staring off at a fixed point in space, lowered her gaze to their joined hands. “Look at that photos, they were right behind us and we didn’t even know it.”
“From now on we’ll be more attentive.”
There was a short silence.
“And if something happens? And if…?” Silvia, who had stopped crying, started anew. Pepa scooted closer to her.
“Nothing’s going to happen to her, that’s what we’re here for.”
Silvia looked at Pepa, and sitting as they were, she hugged her, feeling Pepa put her arm around her shoulders and rubbing her back.
It didn’t relieve the pain and fear of knowing her daughter was in the crosshairs of some murderers who almost ended her own life on her wedding day, but hearing the sound of Pepa’s heartbeat did calm her down.
“It’s times like these that I regret becoming a cop,” Silvia added.
“But then you wouldn’t have run into me in the shooting gallery, and you wouldn’t have gone with me on that stakeout. And, much less would you have kissed me in the bathroom of Lola’s house.”
The redhead smiled.
“You still remember that…”
“After all, it’s what lead us to Noah.”
Silvia pulled away from Pepa. A new look of terrible concern fell over her face.
“Promise me nothing’s going to happen to her.”
Pepa kissed her forehead.
“Nothing’s going to happen to her, I won’t let it.”
They looked into each other’s eyes. There was so much fear, so much worry…and so much affection. Pepa smiled tenderly to comfort Silvia and brushed her hair behind her ear. She also wiped away a tear that had quickly trailed down to her chin. Silvia sighed and parted her lips, her eyes were still watery.
They both swallowed and leaned forward slowly. Then they gave each other an innocent kiss, just a simple touch. It wasn’t the time or place, much less the situation, so they left it there, in a simple show of affection. After the kiss, they limited themselves to looking at each other before embracing again. Now they held each other without tears, only thinking about protecting that girl who had affected the lives of everyone. Protecting her and protecting the baby, because the camorra surely had no idea about Pepa’s pregnancy, and whatever the circumstances, the baby was now another member of the family.
Links to the original story:
http://pepaysilvia.mforos.com/1469855/8481210-por-si-eramos-pocos-01-11-09-23-40/
http://pepaysilvia.mforos.com/1469855/8680673-por-si-eramos-pocos-ii-28-11-09-21-35/
http://pepaysilvia.mforos.com/1469855/8848739-por-si-eramos-pocos-iii-14-02-10-0-55-finalizado/