Page 06
"Well, Uncle, Aunt, we'll be leaving now," Elijah said, nodding to the two of them as Janice led the girls out the door.
"You call if or when you hear what the hell is going on," Tom said worryingly. "I just don't want whatever she's got herself in affecting you."
"Oh, I'll keep you informed," Elijah replied, waving to his Uncle and Aunt as he closed their front door.
"Wow, is this yours, Elijah?" Abegail asked, staring up at the house she was standing in front of.
"It is," Elijah answered, holding the trunk of his car open once they arrived home from the small airport they flew out of. "You go get them settled; I'll go to Walmart and pick up some air mattresses for them."
"Okay, oh, pick me up some of those Flips; I feel a craving coming on," Janice warned, to which Elijah nodded. A slight smile formed on her lips, remembering the nights she had woken him up from a dead sleep to fetch her something to snack on when it wasn't in the house.
"Do you love, El?" Celle asked as she followed Janice along the walkway as Elijah pulled out of their driveway.
"I do, don't you?" Janice asked, peering down at Celle, whose head dropped instantly. Pressing her lips together, feeling her motherly heartstrings being tugged on as Celle's bag fell from her hand before she buried her face in her hands and began to cry. She was awake when her mother called Elijah, so she knew the reason her mother was gone and who to blame for the loss of her mother so young. Her father. "Shhh, hush honey, it's going to be okay, it might not feel like that right away but eventually the pain will get better," she said, hugging Celle to her. Her hand brushed along the back of Celle's head when she wrapped her arms around her, which she didn't think Celle knew she had done, given her current state. "Come, let's get in before the bugs beat us to it," Janice joked, steering the girls through the front door.
Elijah walked in an hour later, plastic bags swinging by his side; he found Janice and the girls on the couch in their living room. Janice's fingers brushed along their hair as the two of them slept against her. He quietly placed her Flips on the dining table before he turned on his heel and headed up the stairs. He knew if he and Janice were going to have more kids, they might have to remodel some of the rooms to serve as bedrooms than the formal rooms they once were over a hundred years ago. Elijah spread some sheets down on the air mattresses once he had them both inflated and got out two blankets for them to use for the night. He had called his Assistant Director on his way to Walmart, telling him he would be out of the office for a few days and be working from home. He was leaving the room when he saw Janice showing their baby's room to them. He didn't even hear them come up the stairs.
"Are their beds ready, babe?" Janice asked softly, watching how the two of them detached themselves from her and latched onto Elijah. She could see how hard it was for Elijah, given what he had told her about them.
"Alright, you two, lights out," Elijah said as he stood by the light switch.
"Elijah?" Abegail spoke up, sitting cross-legged on her mattress.
"Hmm?"
"We're sorry for everything we said and did. We know nothing we say will take back everything we did, but I know even if you aren't our real Dad, you were better than my real one before you found out," Abegail said truthfully.
"Well, yeah, I'm a decent human being and not a felon, but it's nice to know the two of you can actually be civil. Now, if you want to move to a relative of yours, let me know, and I'll get in contact with them. If not, you know my rules. If you live by them, then you will be taken care of, I assure you. If the two of you want redemption, you have to work for it; it isn't given. It's earned. Goodnight," Elijah said, flipping out the light and closing the door slightly.
"Honey, you know we are going to have to get them help, right?" Janice said the moment Elijah entered their bedroom. "Celle knows why her mother left them behind," she stated, letting the truth out, seeing how that genuinely stopped him. She saw his mind working wondering what was playing behind those eyes of his. A smirk formed on her lips; she knew there was a soft heart beneath that scar tissue of his.
Elijah walked down the hallway. He should have seen it, given how Celle's been acting. Abegail rolled over when he entered the room while Celle kept her back to him. She lifted herself up on her arm, watching Elijah walking around her bed and right towards Celle. Elijah knelt at the side of Celle's bed; his fingers brushed back her hair, seeing her eyes peering into his in the darkness.
"I'm sorry about your Mom," Elijah whispered, causing Celle's arms to shoot out and wrap themselves around his neck. Her hot tears soaked into his shirt as she wailed out in pain. Once Celle had cried herself out, he wiped her face clean one last time and headed off to bed.
Stella was pushed roughly down into the chair. She had freely handed over her bag when she arrived at the place she was told to be at. Her eyes glanced to her left as one of the man's henchmen dropped the contents of her purse out on the table and snatched her wallet off the table.
"Hand it to her," the man said, his eyes hard; the dusting of grey played along the edge of his slicked-back hair. "Hand me the access, and you may leave. As long as my money is there, you are insignificant to me," he said dismissively.
Stella held out the atm card with trembling hands. "You have to know I didn't know it was your money; I just thought it was Kevin's that he had been stashing away," she said, pleading her case. The man said nothing as he took the card from her and handed it over to the woman she assumed the same age as the man.
"See, that is it is all there," he ordered once Stella gave him the pin number. "See that she isn't molested in this foul country." His thick Eastern European accent hung in the air.
Stella could feel the knife inching deeper into her back as the minutes passed, and she waited for whatever to happen. She could have sworn she aged ten years in the ten minutes she sat there as that man just glared at her. She had no idea what language the man was speaking as he answered his phone.
"I see; take it all then; we'll find the rest of it," the man said before ending the call. "Deal with her, make sure her ID is found," he said, getting up from his seat.
Stella had resigned herself to her fate, thinking this was her punishment for falling for that man and hurting Elijah so much with her selfishness. While she might have accepted her death the moment the garrote wire bit into the skin of her throat, that didn't mean her body didn't fight to save itself. Her legs thrashed about as she clawed at her throat to get her fingers beneath the wire before she heard a snap and nothing else.
"Elijah?" came a weary old man's voice on the other end of the line as Elijah sat in his office going over reports.
"Yes?"
"They found her..." At first, Elijah wondered who it was since he never saved his former father-in-law's number.
"Where?" Elijah asked, seeing Janice turning in her seat, peering at him through the window. Ever since the girls had come to live with him, Janice took the role of mother very seriously, and in turn, the girls began to ease through the grief of losing their mother. He had even helped Celle find out what Federal prison Kevin was sent to so Celle could write him a letter where she disowned her own father for getting her mother killed, in which she stated she never wanted to hear or see him again. It was the same for Abegail when Celle told her a more sanitized version of the truth.
"Outside of Chicago, I'm bringing her home with me. Will you bring the girls to the funeral?" Remembering the conversation he had with his ex-father-in-law when Celle handed him her phone. Elijah did tell him he was fine with taking care of them, if that was what they wanted. If not he would see that they find whichever place they wanted to go to safely. However, that wasn't the case since Stella had no siblings. The man's only brother died in the late eighties due to a car accident, and he was in no shape to look after two emotional teenagers. Although, he did inform Elijah he would send some money a month to help with the cost of raising them.
"Sure, you just let me know when it is, and we'll be there," Elijah answered, getting a supporting nod from Janice.
"Thank you, Elijah, I know you didn't have to do this for them. I'm glad they have you in their corner."
"Honey, I'm heading out to pick up the kids. Don't you stay late tonight, remember my parents are coming up for dinner tonight," Janice said as the strap of her purse rested on her shoulder.
"Okay, be safe, let them know if you think they can handle it," Elijah uttered, blowing Janice a kiss, returning her own.
"Always, babe. I'd never let anything happen to our baby," Janice said sweetly down to her belly before leaving Elijah alone with his thoughts.
It was inching past six o'clock as Elijah walked into his home that evening. His memories of the time when they were five and three came roaring back as Celle and Abegail raced towards him. He was a little speechless as they hugged him hard. Janice just stood there with a wide smile on her lips like they'd been a family all the years of their lives.
"Dinner will be ready soon," Janice said before returning back to the kitchen. She knew the girls needed Elijah at that moment more than she needed him. She really needed to kiss those lips of his for giving her the gift that was growing within her.
And so, Elijah just stood there for a few minutes as the girls held ahold of him for dear life before they would let go. Even then, they weren't very far from him throughout the night. Not that she minded. She was quite happy that they were growing close to one another. Fixing what they had damaged, she knew Elijah wasn't sold on what they were doing, something she couldn't blame him for. She didn't know anyone, man or woman, could deal with raising children, not their own, when their partner lied to them, making them believe they were their kids. Janice was determined never to put Elijah in a situation like his now-dead ex-wife had once done.
"What smells so good in here?" Elijah asked when he stepped into the kitchen with the girls hot on his tail. Looking down when Abegail slipped her hand into his, his eyes glanced to the right as Celle moved around the island and climbed into the seat of the stool that sat tucked beneath the overhang of the bar.
"Oh, you know that pork belly Dad gave me?" Janice spoke with a knowing smile on her lips as his eyes widened at her statement.
"You mean that thing that just looked like an uncut slab of bacon?" Elijah asked for clarification since he had no idea what the cuts of meat were only what he bought from the store. Plus, Celle and Abegail were just as lost as he was at the name of the cut of meat.
"The very one," Janice nodded.
"Are you saying you cooked it up?" Elijah asked, trying to stop his lips from smacking.
"I did," Janice said devilishly, her mischievousness played in her eyes as she opened the oven door. The smell of the smoke, the liquid kind since she had no idea how to smoke meat like her father did, the homemade sauce she learned from her father that went very well with pork, and the smell of the bacon filled the kitchen. She instantly saw Elijah fighting back his drool, yet not his rumbling stomach. "Celle, fetch the coleslaw from the fridge, Abe," she liked the girl's given name, yet Abegail liked her nickname better, "get our plates out and set the table for use. And you mister, get over here and kiss your wife," she ordered which the girls were quick to do what they were asked.
"Wife? Was I drunk, asleep, high when we exchanged our wedding vows?" Elijah joked, yet he wasn't going to deny himself the sweet taste of her lips.
"Yes, we whisked you away, tied you up, and Rick answered for you," Janice teased, grinning up at him as her hands rested on his chest. "Now, you help the girls set the table while I plate the collards and the meat."
"Sure, dear," Elijah said, kissing the top of Janice's head, feeling her skin heat beneath his touch.
Janice couldn't help but smile as she listened to the three of them chatting away. Elijah asked about their day at their new school. If they were making any friends, how their teachers were treating them. However, that all grew silent as the house line rang, something she demanded Elijah get since the phone line didn't require power to use in case their power went out. Leaning back, hearing Celle answering the phone without being asked, his eyes glanced up then back down so as not to scald herself as she poured the greens into the dish her mother got her for a house warming present. She saw the confusion on his face when Celle called out for him; she knew anyone who knew Elijah normally contacted him by his cell phone, and few people knew their landline number.
"Hello?" Elijah spoke into the receiver of the antique rotatory phone.
"Hello, Elijah, how are you?" Elijah's face softened as Desirae's voice came over the line.
"I'm good, just got home from work, do you need to talk to Janice?" Elijah asked, hearing the clanging of metal on the stovetop.
"No, it's you. I need to talk to..."
"Okay, what about?" Elijah uttered, feeling rather weird about where this was going.
"Jance and a friend of his are going hunting in the mountains, and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if I spent a few nights with you two since Rick and Stacy are out on the road."
"Oh, sure, we're about to sit down for dinner; when will you get here?"
"Really?! We're almost there, five minutes no more than that!" Elijah could only chuckle at that; then again, that's just something he's grown used to as he hung up the line.
"Babe, who was that?" Janice asked, carrying the dish that held the cubed pork belly while Celle was placing the dish of collards onto the table.
"Your mother asked if she could stay a few days while your father goes on a hunting trip," Elijah informed her.
"And?" Janice's question followed Elijsh into the kitchen as he got him and Jance a beer since he didn't think Jance would be driving at night just to drive a few hours east.
"They'll be here shortly," Elijah said, smiling at her. He knew how close they were and how much they were making up for the years Janice was up north, and he was definitely expecting the kiss she gave him.
"Thanks. Mom does get lonely while Dad goes on his hunting trips," Janice said, very pleased that Elijah was adapting how her parents just liked to drop in only if they weren't busy. "Then I'll put these in the oven to keep warm while we wait..." A light appeared in her eyes at the sound of the knock on their front door. This was the main thing she missed about living in Maine. "Mom!" she exclaimed as she threw open the door and embraced her mother then greeted her father.
"Evening Elijah, I do thank you for letting Desirae stay while I'm away," Jance said, noting the girls just standing off out of the way, trying to appear invisible. "Evening, Celle, Abegail," he greeted the two teenagers as Elijah and Janice went to fetch the rest of the food.
"Hello," they said as one.
"I hear the two of you are helping Janice with the wedding," Desirae said, trying to help them deal with the grief she knew they were dealing with. "You two don't mind if this old woman helps out, do you?" she asked, smiling at the two of them.
"Sure," Celle said, trying to be polite. Ever since Elijah had brought them home, he has been helping her deal with losing her parents when she knew he really didn't want to.
"Come on, you four, dinner's ready," Janice announced.
Elijah groaned as he leaned back in his chair, the piece of pork just melting in his mouth. His palms cut into the edge of the table as he savored his bite. He knew he was going to be old and fat if he wasn't careful. Janice didn't need to voice her triumph, the smirk, and a slight smugness as she took a bite of her greens.
"Try them, Celle; if they're too bitter, I can get some vinegar for you," Janice said in a motherly tone, noting her mother's keen eyes on her. She knew this, while hard, was going to prepare her for when her baby came. Plus, she simply couldn't turn the girls away when they had no one. "Why I put some fat back in them so it will taste better." Ignoring how her father perked up at the mention of fatback. She knew that was his favorite thing when he ate collards. She noted how Celle slyly glanced over to Elijah as he took a bite of his own greens. Gently rubbing her back proud she tried it. "Vinegar? Just a few drops is all you need," Janice instructed as she showed Celle the correct amount without adding too much.
After dinner, Elijah helped with their homework when they asked, which Janice was beginning to notice was almost every night now. Janice's face reflected off the bubbled glass panes of the double French indoor garden. The light of the drawing room played through the stained glass that ringed the bubble glass.
"How are they doing?" Desirae whispered behind her daughter's back as they spied on Elijah as he helped the girls with their homework.
"The best anyone can when you lose everyone you cared about," Janice said. She was going to make sure Celle grew from this experience and not let her past define her. "We're taking them twice a week to see a therapist to help with the grief and the abandonment they feel. I hope it helps them."
"I know it will. I've been praying for them," Desirae whispered low as she rubbed her daughter's back. "I'm proud of you for stepping up like you have, Elijah too, I know their history. It shows what kind of man he is to take them in when he has no reason to other than being a decent person. Given what he has said about his former in-law's siblings."
"Thanks, Mom, I know he's still angry about what they have done in the past, but I know Elijah is doing this as a lesson for our son, even if he doesn't know it at the time," Janice praised, pleased he was putting that anger away.
A week later...
Elijah stood at the gravesite of his ex-wife as Stella's casket lowered. His hands were on Abegail's and Celle's shoulders as he pressed them close as they cried as that grey metal box inched lower into the ground. Janice opted to stay back in Jackson since she couldn't fly so late in her pregnancy, and she couldn't handle driving and/or for long hours in the car. His thumbs brushed along their shoulders as he said nothing as his past sank into that dark abyss. While he never wanted her to die, he did hope she didn't suffer too much. He might hate her guts, but that didn't mean he wanted the woman tortured to death. Soon, it was only him, the girls, and his ex-in-laws who were standing at Stella's grave site.
"Elijah, why don't you and the girls come by the condo before you head back home," Quintin spoke as his wife tried to comfort him.
"Sure..." Elijah answered, looking down at the girls, knowing they could use the visit. While their sobbing had lessened, their tears hadn't. "I'll follow after," he said, knowing Quintin and the girls arrived in the limo, which was about to drive them back to Quintin's home in Redbay, Florida. Only to have the girls holding extra tightly to his hands when he said that.
"C-C-Can't we ride with you?" Celle asked, peering up at him with tear-laden eyes.
Not seeing the silent startlement in Quintin's eyes. He knew the real reason why Elijah wasn't overly emotional at the death of his daughter, not that he blamed the man. He too, regardless if she was his daughter, would be just as angry as Elijah was. Hence why, he wasn't too opinionated on the interactions he had with Elijah when they were making arrangements a few days prior to the funeral since Elijah couldn't or didn't want to attend the wake.
"You can, but don't you want to ride in the limo?" Elijah asked, nodding towards it only to get a shaking head from Celle and Abegail.
"We'll see you there," Quintin said before steering his wife towards the limo.
Elijah was sipping on the last remainder of the drink he had from their lunch before he and the girls headed off to the airport to return home. His brown eyes followed Abegail as she wandered around the backyard while Celle and her step-grandmother spoke out on her patio where they had been since they were done with lunch.
"Elijah, I know this isn't much, but I'll help as much as I can since I know those girls aren't your responsibility. I'm just ashamed of the way my other children turned out," Quintin uttered somberly. He wondered where he failed with them if they could turn down their nieces when they needed a home. His son, he understood, no matter how much he tried to help his son, he just wouldn't quit his drug habit. His daughter, on the other hand, was more stable. It would seem their mother had poisoned her mind just like she had done with Stella's.
"Keep it, Quintin. Like I told you when I informed you what was going on, I don't need the money, but if you want to help out, you can put whatever towards their college or whatever they want to do when they turn eighteen," Elijah said, seeing the man's respect in his eyes as he nodded in agreement.
"I can do that," Quintin stated. He had some assets he had kept when he learned his children, except for Stella weren't going to need it with the choices they had made. He hoped under Elijah's guidance, Celle and Abegail wouldn't turn out like their mother or his other children.
Two months later...
Celle puttered about helping Janice as much as she could as Janice put on her makeup. While Abegail was off with Desirae to make sure the Fellowship Hall where the reception was to be held was ready once their vows were over. Celle and Abegail had been working on redemption ever since they moved in with Elijah. While it was a long road to hoe, a change could have been seen a week after their arrival. Janice worked on Elijah to help him rid himself of the anger she knew he still harbored, given the look on his face. Something she was very happy about that hadn't touched his face since they'd been down in Tennessee.
"Celle?" Janice's voice took on a motherly tone as she applied her eye shadow.
"Yeah?" Celle spoke, turning back to her as she was straightening up just to have something to do.
"After today, we'll officially be a family, and I know this might be too soon for you and Abe, but if you two want to call me Mom, you can. I know I can never be your mother, not in that sense, but just know I'm here for the both of you no matter what," Janice said, gently turning in her seat to peer at Celle as she handed Celle the adoption papers that had been filled out and legalized. She didn't say a word as she watched how Celle turned away from her; she could only assume Celle was wiping tears away, given how her hand was moving. Celle didn't say anything only to nod her answer weakly. Her head rose as the bells began to sound, announcing the five-minute warning mark. "We must get ready!" she said excitedly as she rose from her seat, her father chose that moment to walk in.
"Good, we should be getting to the front of the church," Jance said, noting how stunning his daughter looked in her dress, as did Celle which he told Celle, who blushed at the compliment. Ever since Elijah had taken them in, he and Desirae have tried to make them feel as if they were a part of their family.
Cannon in D began to play. Elijah turned as the inner doors of the sanctuary opened, and the intro to the song began. The corners of his lips lifted as Abegail walked down the aisle holding the pillow that held both of their wedding rings. One of Janice's cousin's five-year-old daughters was their flower girl as her little hand was sprinkling the pedals out before her. When she reached the end of the aisle her mother gently pulled her out of the way and set the basket beneath the pew she and her family was sitting on. His smile only grew when Janice appeared in the doorway, her arm looped around her father's as they took the first steps. He could see the sparkle in Janice's eyes through her veil as they grew closer. Holding out his hand to her when they reached him, nodding firmly when Jance gave him that unspoken look to say don't hurt his baby girl.
The wedding went off without a hitch. He noted a few tears from Celle and Abegail as the ceremony went along. When they retreated to the Fellowship Hall, and after the cake-cutting and toasting, it was time for the first dance and dance they did as well as Janice could, given she was currently eight months pregnant. Then Elijah took Celle and Abegail out onto the dance floor when his and Janice's dance was over. It wasn't hard for Elijah to see the happiness on their faces as he led them around.
Once the festivities were over, clean up was underway, and vehicles packed up before they left the church's grounds. With the Minister mailing their wedding license for them, Elijah focused on his wife and ensuring she was comfortable, given their baby was due in a few weeks. Elijah noted how quickly Celle's hand filled Janice's when they exited their car and how Janice just smiled motherly down at her when she did.
A week after their wedding, Janice went into labor at her desk as Elijah was trying to hammer down a deal that his assistant director flopped on. True, they were only in charge of the technology department of the region, but that didn't stop them from stepping in when their marketing needed backup since they knew the material given their jobs. However, the moment he heard Janice's cry of pain, everything didn't matter at that moment. All that mattered was getting his wife to the hospital. It was beneficial for the deal, given the man on the other end of the phone had heard Janice's cry just as clearly as Elijah had heard. With the help of one of his workers he got Janice situated in his car. There was no way he was going to wait for an ambulance when the hospital was only ten minutes away from his office. During the drive, he had called his father-in-law to inform him that Jancie's water broke. Nodding against his phone when Jance told him they were on their way. Stacy and Rick were still out on the west coast delivering a load. Still, he did call Stacy, knowing it was her time to rest while Rick drove.
"El, what's going on," Stacy asked, using the nickname Elijah used now that he was apart of the family.
"The baby is on its way just thought I'd inform you," Elijah said as he paced the waiting room before they came and got him. There was no way he wasn't going to miss the birth of his child.
"What!" Stacy squealed in delight.
"Stacy, what's going on?" Elijah heard Rick's voice in the background.
"The baby is coming!"
"Really!"
"Mmmhmm, El, we'll be there as fast as we can it might be a day or two."
"You two don't worry about rushing home. Just get here safely, or Jan will beat me," Elijah joked. With that, they ended their call; looking down at his phone, he knew the girls wanted to be there too, yet they needed to remain in school. Plus he wasn't about to leave his wife, not at that moment. Nevertheless, even when her forehead was covered in sweat, pain etched on her face, she did find the time to tell him to take his ass and go pick up the girls.
An hour later, the sounds of feet running across the tile floor as Abegail and Celle raced down the hall once they were out of the elevator. Their hair whipped behind them as they sped towards Janice's hospital room as they waited for her to dilate. The moment they stepped into the room they saw genuine happiness spread across Janice's face before they rushed to her side. As the hours wore on, the three of them tried to keep Janice's attention off the pain of the contractions as they grew closer to everyone. It was two am in the morning as Ezekiel Samuel Wilkins was brought into this world. After the nurses cleaned off their child, his little wrinkled hands moved across his face as he yawned in his mother's arms as his father stood over him.
As the years passed, Abegail and Celle grew, made friends, and broke a few hearts, as well as having their own broken. Through those years, Janice birthed another two sons and a daughter who was the spitting image of her mother. However, in order to support his growing family, Elijah took promotion after promotion until he reached fifty and became the Southeast Regional Director. Something Elijah had asked for so he and Janice could retire near her parents since his Uncle and Aunt had died fifteen years ago, so he no longer had a reason to return to Indiana. Celle and Abegail, who long since started their own families, who stayed in Jackson knowing their parents would return home someday, helped the two of them find a nice home to settle down into where the two rarely, if ever, left the state unless it was to Jance and Desirae.
"You call if or when you hear what the hell is going on," Tom said worryingly. "I just don't want whatever she's got herself in affecting you."
"Oh, I'll keep you informed," Elijah replied, waving to his Uncle and Aunt as he closed their front door.
"Wow, is this yours, Elijah?" Abegail asked, staring up at the house she was standing in front of.
"It is," Elijah answered, holding the trunk of his car open once they arrived home from the small airport they flew out of. "You go get them settled; I'll go to Walmart and pick up some air mattresses for them."
"Okay, oh, pick me up some of those Flips; I feel a craving coming on," Janice warned, to which Elijah nodded. A slight smile formed on her lips, remembering the nights she had woken him up from a dead sleep to fetch her something to snack on when it wasn't in the house.
"Do you love, El?" Celle asked as she followed Janice along the walkway as Elijah pulled out of their driveway.
"I do, don't you?" Janice asked, peering down at Celle, whose head dropped instantly. Pressing her lips together, feeling her motherly heartstrings being tugged on as Celle's bag fell from her hand before she buried her face in her hands and began to cry. She was awake when her mother called Elijah, so she knew the reason her mother was gone and who to blame for the loss of her mother so young. Her father. "Shhh, hush honey, it's going to be okay, it might not feel like that right away but eventually the pain will get better," she said, hugging Celle to her. Her hand brushed along the back of Celle's head when she wrapped her arms around her, which she didn't think Celle knew she had done, given her current state. "Come, let's get in before the bugs beat us to it," Janice joked, steering the girls through the front door.
Elijah walked in an hour later, plastic bags swinging by his side; he found Janice and the girls on the couch in their living room. Janice's fingers brushed along their hair as the two of them slept against her. He quietly placed her Flips on the dining table before he turned on his heel and headed up the stairs. He knew if he and Janice were going to have more kids, they might have to remodel some of the rooms to serve as bedrooms than the formal rooms they once were over a hundred years ago. Elijah spread some sheets down on the air mattresses once he had them both inflated and got out two blankets for them to use for the night. He had called his Assistant Director on his way to Walmart, telling him he would be out of the office for a few days and be working from home. He was leaving the room when he saw Janice showing their baby's room to them. He didn't even hear them come up the stairs.
"Are their beds ready, babe?" Janice asked softly, watching how the two of them detached themselves from her and latched onto Elijah. She could see how hard it was for Elijah, given what he had told her about them.
"Alright, you two, lights out," Elijah said as he stood by the light switch.
"Elijah?" Abegail spoke up, sitting cross-legged on her mattress.
"Hmm?"
"We're sorry for everything we said and did. We know nothing we say will take back everything we did, but I know even if you aren't our real Dad, you were better than my real one before you found out," Abegail said truthfully.
"Well, yeah, I'm a decent human being and not a felon, but it's nice to know the two of you can actually be civil. Now, if you want to move to a relative of yours, let me know, and I'll get in contact with them. If not, you know my rules. If you live by them, then you will be taken care of, I assure you. If the two of you want redemption, you have to work for it; it isn't given. It's earned. Goodnight," Elijah said, flipping out the light and closing the door slightly.
"Honey, you know we are going to have to get them help, right?" Janice said the moment Elijah entered their bedroom. "Celle knows why her mother left them behind," she stated, letting the truth out, seeing how that genuinely stopped him. She saw his mind working wondering what was playing behind those eyes of his. A smirk formed on her lips; she knew there was a soft heart beneath that scar tissue of his.
Elijah walked down the hallway. He should have seen it, given how Celle's been acting. Abegail rolled over when he entered the room while Celle kept her back to him. She lifted herself up on her arm, watching Elijah walking around her bed and right towards Celle. Elijah knelt at the side of Celle's bed; his fingers brushed back her hair, seeing her eyes peering into his in the darkness.
"I'm sorry about your Mom," Elijah whispered, causing Celle's arms to shoot out and wrap themselves around his neck. Her hot tears soaked into his shirt as she wailed out in pain. Once Celle had cried herself out, he wiped her face clean one last time and headed off to bed.
Stella was pushed roughly down into the chair. She had freely handed over her bag when she arrived at the place she was told to be at. Her eyes glanced to her left as one of the man's henchmen dropped the contents of her purse out on the table and snatched her wallet off the table.
"Hand it to her," the man said, his eyes hard; the dusting of grey played along the edge of his slicked-back hair. "Hand me the access, and you may leave. As long as my money is there, you are insignificant to me," he said dismissively.
Stella held out the atm card with trembling hands. "You have to know I didn't know it was your money; I just thought it was Kevin's that he had been stashing away," she said, pleading her case. The man said nothing as he took the card from her and handed it over to the woman she assumed the same age as the man.
"See, that is it is all there," he ordered once Stella gave him the pin number. "See that she isn't molested in this foul country." His thick Eastern European accent hung in the air.
Stella could feel the knife inching deeper into her back as the minutes passed, and she waited for whatever to happen. She could have sworn she aged ten years in the ten minutes she sat there as that man just glared at her. She had no idea what language the man was speaking as he answered his phone.
"I see; take it all then; we'll find the rest of it," the man said before ending the call. "Deal with her, make sure her ID is found," he said, getting up from his seat.
Stella had resigned herself to her fate, thinking this was her punishment for falling for that man and hurting Elijah so much with her selfishness. While she might have accepted her death the moment the garrote wire bit into the skin of her throat, that didn't mean her body didn't fight to save itself. Her legs thrashed about as she clawed at her throat to get her fingers beneath the wire before she heard a snap and nothing else.
"Elijah?" came a weary old man's voice on the other end of the line as Elijah sat in his office going over reports.
"Yes?"
"They found her..." At first, Elijah wondered who it was since he never saved his former father-in-law's number.
"Where?" Elijah asked, seeing Janice turning in her seat, peering at him through the window. Ever since the girls had come to live with him, Janice took the role of mother very seriously, and in turn, the girls began to ease through the grief of losing their mother. He had even helped Celle find out what Federal prison Kevin was sent to so Celle could write him a letter where she disowned her own father for getting her mother killed, in which she stated she never wanted to hear or see him again. It was the same for Abegail when Celle told her a more sanitized version of the truth.
"Outside of Chicago, I'm bringing her home with me. Will you bring the girls to the funeral?" Remembering the conversation he had with his ex-father-in-law when Celle handed him her phone. Elijah did tell him he was fine with taking care of them, if that was what they wanted. If not he would see that they find whichever place they wanted to go to safely. However, that wasn't the case since Stella had no siblings. The man's only brother died in the late eighties due to a car accident, and he was in no shape to look after two emotional teenagers. Although, he did inform Elijah he would send some money a month to help with the cost of raising them.
"Sure, you just let me know when it is, and we'll be there," Elijah answered, getting a supporting nod from Janice.
"Thank you, Elijah, I know you didn't have to do this for them. I'm glad they have you in their corner."
"Honey, I'm heading out to pick up the kids. Don't you stay late tonight, remember my parents are coming up for dinner tonight," Janice said as the strap of her purse rested on her shoulder.
"Okay, be safe, let them know if you think they can handle it," Elijah uttered, blowing Janice a kiss, returning her own.
"Always, babe. I'd never let anything happen to our baby," Janice said sweetly down to her belly before leaving Elijah alone with his thoughts.
It was inching past six o'clock as Elijah walked into his home that evening. His memories of the time when they were five and three came roaring back as Celle and Abegail raced towards him. He was a little speechless as they hugged him hard. Janice just stood there with a wide smile on her lips like they'd been a family all the years of their lives.
"Dinner will be ready soon," Janice said before returning back to the kitchen. She knew the girls needed Elijah at that moment more than she needed him. She really needed to kiss those lips of his for giving her the gift that was growing within her.
And so, Elijah just stood there for a few minutes as the girls held ahold of him for dear life before they would let go. Even then, they weren't very far from him throughout the night. Not that she minded. She was quite happy that they were growing close to one another. Fixing what they had damaged, she knew Elijah wasn't sold on what they were doing, something she couldn't blame him for. She didn't know anyone, man or woman, could deal with raising children, not their own, when their partner lied to them, making them believe they were their kids. Janice was determined never to put Elijah in a situation like his now-dead ex-wife had once done.
"What smells so good in here?" Elijah asked when he stepped into the kitchen with the girls hot on his tail. Looking down when Abegail slipped her hand into his, his eyes glanced to the right as Celle moved around the island and climbed into the seat of the stool that sat tucked beneath the overhang of the bar.
"Oh, you know that pork belly Dad gave me?" Janice spoke with a knowing smile on her lips as his eyes widened at her statement.
"You mean that thing that just looked like an uncut slab of bacon?" Elijah asked for clarification since he had no idea what the cuts of meat were only what he bought from the store. Plus, Celle and Abegail were just as lost as he was at the name of the cut of meat.
"The very one," Janice nodded.
"Are you saying you cooked it up?" Elijah asked, trying to stop his lips from smacking.
"I did," Janice said devilishly, her mischievousness played in her eyes as she opened the oven door. The smell of the smoke, the liquid kind since she had no idea how to smoke meat like her father did, the homemade sauce she learned from her father that went very well with pork, and the smell of the bacon filled the kitchen. She instantly saw Elijah fighting back his drool, yet not his rumbling stomach. "Celle, fetch the coleslaw from the fridge, Abe," she liked the girl's given name, yet Abegail liked her nickname better, "get our plates out and set the table for use. And you mister, get over here and kiss your wife," she ordered which the girls were quick to do what they were asked.
"Wife? Was I drunk, asleep, high when we exchanged our wedding vows?" Elijah joked, yet he wasn't going to deny himself the sweet taste of her lips.
"Yes, we whisked you away, tied you up, and Rick answered for you," Janice teased, grinning up at him as her hands rested on his chest. "Now, you help the girls set the table while I plate the collards and the meat."
"Sure, dear," Elijah said, kissing the top of Janice's head, feeling her skin heat beneath his touch.
Janice couldn't help but smile as she listened to the three of them chatting away. Elijah asked about their day at their new school. If they were making any friends, how their teachers were treating them. However, that all grew silent as the house line rang, something she demanded Elijah get since the phone line didn't require power to use in case their power went out. Leaning back, hearing Celle answering the phone without being asked, his eyes glanced up then back down so as not to scald herself as she poured the greens into the dish her mother got her for a house warming present. She saw the confusion on his face when Celle called out for him; she knew anyone who knew Elijah normally contacted him by his cell phone, and few people knew their landline number.
"Hello?" Elijah spoke into the receiver of the antique rotatory phone.
"Hello, Elijah, how are you?" Elijah's face softened as Desirae's voice came over the line.
"I'm good, just got home from work, do you need to talk to Janice?" Elijah asked, hearing the clanging of metal on the stovetop.
"No, it's you. I need to talk to..."
"Okay, what about?" Elijah uttered, feeling rather weird about where this was going.
"Jance and a friend of his are going hunting in the mountains, and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if I spent a few nights with you two since Rick and Stacy are out on the road."
"Oh, sure, we're about to sit down for dinner; when will you get here?"
"Really?! We're almost there, five minutes no more than that!" Elijah could only chuckle at that; then again, that's just something he's grown used to as he hung up the line.
"Babe, who was that?" Janice asked, carrying the dish that held the cubed pork belly while Celle was placing the dish of collards onto the table.
"Your mother asked if she could stay a few days while your father goes on a hunting trip," Elijah informed her.
"And?" Janice's question followed Elijsh into the kitchen as he got him and Jance a beer since he didn't think Jance would be driving at night just to drive a few hours east.
"They'll be here shortly," Elijah said, smiling at her. He knew how close they were and how much they were making up for the years Janice was up north, and he was definitely expecting the kiss she gave him.
"Thanks. Mom does get lonely while Dad goes on his hunting trips," Janice said, very pleased that Elijah was adapting how her parents just liked to drop in only if they weren't busy. "Then I'll put these in the oven to keep warm while we wait..." A light appeared in her eyes at the sound of the knock on their front door. This was the main thing she missed about living in Maine. "Mom!" she exclaimed as she threw open the door and embraced her mother then greeted her father.
"Evening Elijah, I do thank you for letting Desirae stay while I'm away," Jance said, noting the girls just standing off out of the way, trying to appear invisible. "Evening, Celle, Abegail," he greeted the two teenagers as Elijah and Janice went to fetch the rest of the food.
"Hello," they said as one.
"I hear the two of you are helping Janice with the wedding," Desirae said, trying to help them deal with the grief she knew they were dealing with. "You two don't mind if this old woman helps out, do you?" she asked, smiling at the two of them.
"Sure," Celle said, trying to be polite. Ever since Elijah had brought them home, he has been helping her deal with losing her parents when she knew he really didn't want to.
"Come on, you four, dinner's ready," Janice announced.
Elijah groaned as he leaned back in his chair, the piece of pork just melting in his mouth. His palms cut into the edge of the table as he savored his bite. He knew he was going to be old and fat if he wasn't careful. Janice didn't need to voice her triumph, the smirk, and a slight smugness as she took a bite of her greens.
"Try them, Celle; if they're too bitter, I can get some vinegar for you," Janice said in a motherly tone, noting her mother's keen eyes on her. She knew this, while hard, was going to prepare her for when her baby came. Plus, she simply couldn't turn the girls away when they had no one. "Why I put some fat back in them so it will taste better." Ignoring how her father perked up at the mention of fatback. She knew that was his favorite thing when he ate collards. She noted how Celle slyly glanced over to Elijah as he took a bite of his own greens. Gently rubbing her back proud she tried it. "Vinegar? Just a few drops is all you need," Janice instructed as she showed Celle the correct amount without adding too much.
After dinner, Elijah helped with their homework when they asked, which Janice was beginning to notice was almost every night now. Janice's face reflected off the bubbled glass panes of the double French indoor garden. The light of the drawing room played through the stained glass that ringed the bubble glass.
"How are they doing?" Desirae whispered behind her daughter's back as they spied on Elijah as he helped the girls with their homework.
"The best anyone can when you lose everyone you cared about," Janice said. She was going to make sure Celle grew from this experience and not let her past define her. "We're taking them twice a week to see a therapist to help with the grief and the abandonment they feel. I hope it helps them."
"I know it will. I've been praying for them," Desirae whispered low as she rubbed her daughter's back. "I'm proud of you for stepping up like you have, Elijah too, I know their history. It shows what kind of man he is to take them in when he has no reason to other than being a decent person. Given what he has said about his former in-law's siblings."
"Thanks, Mom, I know he's still angry about what they have done in the past, but I know Elijah is doing this as a lesson for our son, even if he doesn't know it at the time," Janice praised, pleased he was putting that anger away.
A week later...
Elijah stood at the gravesite of his ex-wife as Stella's casket lowered. His hands were on Abegail's and Celle's shoulders as he pressed them close as they cried as that grey metal box inched lower into the ground. Janice opted to stay back in Jackson since she couldn't fly so late in her pregnancy, and she couldn't handle driving and/or for long hours in the car. His thumbs brushed along their shoulders as he said nothing as his past sank into that dark abyss. While he never wanted her to die, he did hope she didn't suffer too much. He might hate her guts, but that didn't mean he wanted the woman tortured to death. Soon, it was only him, the girls, and his ex-in-laws who were standing at Stella's grave site.
"Elijah, why don't you and the girls come by the condo before you head back home," Quintin spoke as his wife tried to comfort him.
"Sure..." Elijah answered, looking down at the girls, knowing they could use the visit. While their sobbing had lessened, their tears hadn't. "I'll follow after," he said, knowing Quintin and the girls arrived in the limo, which was about to drive them back to Quintin's home in Redbay, Florida. Only to have the girls holding extra tightly to his hands when he said that.
"C-C-Can't we ride with you?" Celle asked, peering up at him with tear-laden eyes.
Not seeing the silent startlement in Quintin's eyes. He knew the real reason why Elijah wasn't overly emotional at the death of his daughter, not that he blamed the man. He too, regardless if she was his daughter, would be just as angry as Elijah was. Hence why, he wasn't too opinionated on the interactions he had with Elijah when they were making arrangements a few days prior to the funeral since Elijah couldn't or didn't want to attend the wake.
"You can, but don't you want to ride in the limo?" Elijah asked, nodding towards it only to get a shaking head from Celle and Abegail.
"We'll see you there," Quintin said before steering his wife towards the limo.
Elijah was sipping on the last remainder of the drink he had from their lunch before he and the girls headed off to the airport to return home. His brown eyes followed Abegail as she wandered around the backyard while Celle and her step-grandmother spoke out on her patio where they had been since they were done with lunch.
"Elijah, I know this isn't much, but I'll help as much as I can since I know those girls aren't your responsibility. I'm just ashamed of the way my other children turned out," Quintin uttered somberly. He wondered where he failed with them if they could turn down their nieces when they needed a home. His son, he understood, no matter how much he tried to help his son, he just wouldn't quit his drug habit. His daughter, on the other hand, was more stable. It would seem their mother had poisoned her mind just like she had done with Stella's.
"Keep it, Quintin. Like I told you when I informed you what was going on, I don't need the money, but if you want to help out, you can put whatever towards their college or whatever they want to do when they turn eighteen," Elijah said, seeing the man's respect in his eyes as he nodded in agreement.
"I can do that," Quintin stated. He had some assets he had kept when he learned his children, except for Stella weren't going to need it with the choices they had made. He hoped under Elijah's guidance, Celle and Abegail wouldn't turn out like their mother or his other children.
Two months later...
Celle puttered about helping Janice as much as she could as Janice put on her makeup. While Abegail was off with Desirae to make sure the Fellowship Hall where the reception was to be held was ready once their vows were over. Celle and Abegail had been working on redemption ever since they moved in with Elijah. While it was a long road to hoe, a change could have been seen a week after their arrival. Janice worked on Elijah to help him rid himself of the anger she knew he still harbored, given the look on his face. Something she was very happy about that hadn't touched his face since they'd been down in Tennessee.
"Celle?" Janice's voice took on a motherly tone as she applied her eye shadow.
"Yeah?" Celle spoke, turning back to her as she was straightening up just to have something to do.
"After today, we'll officially be a family, and I know this might be too soon for you and Abe, but if you two want to call me Mom, you can. I know I can never be your mother, not in that sense, but just know I'm here for the both of you no matter what," Janice said, gently turning in her seat to peer at Celle as she handed Celle the adoption papers that had been filled out and legalized. She didn't say a word as she watched how Celle turned away from her; she could only assume Celle was wiping tears away, given how her hand was moving. Celle didn't say anything only to nod her answer weakly. Her head rose as the bells began to sound, announcing the five-minute warning mark. "We must get ready!" she said excitedly as she rose from her seat, her father chose that moment to walk in.
"Good, we should be getting to the front of the church," Jance said, noting how stunning his daughter looked in her dress, as did Celle which he told Celle, who blushed at the compliment. Ever since Elijah had taken them in, he and Desirae have tried to make them feel as if they were a part of their family.
Cannon in D began to play. Elijah turned as the inner doors of the sanctuary opened, and the intro to the song began. The corners of his lips lifted as Abegail walked down the aisle holding the pillow that held both of their wedding rings. One of Janice's cousin's five-year-old daughters was their flower girl as her little hand was sprinkling the pedals out before her. When she reached the end of the aisle her mother gently pulled her out of the way and set the basket beneath the pew she and her family was sitting on. His smile only grew when Janice appeared in the doorway, her arm looped around her father's as they took the first steps. He could see the sparkle in Janice's eyes through her veil as they grew closer. Holding out his hand to her when they reached him, nodding firmly when Jance gave him that unspoken look to say don't hurt his baby girl.
The wedding went off without a hitch. He noted a few tears from Celle and Abegail as the ceremony went along. When they retreated to the Fellowship Hall, and after the cake-cutting and toasting, it was time for the first dance and dance they did as well as Janice could, given she was currently eight months pregnant. Then Elijah took Celle and Abegail out onto the dance floor when his and Janice's dance was over. It wasn't hard for Elijah to see the happiness on their faces as he led them around.
Once the festivities were over, clean up was underway, and vehicles packed up before they left the church's grounds. With the Minister mailing their wedding license for them, Elijah focused on his wife and ensuring she was comfortable, given their baby was due in a few weeks. Elijah noted how quickly Celle's hand filled Janice's when they exited their car and how Janice just smiled motherly down at her when she did.
A week after their wedding, Janice went into labor at her desk as Elijah was trying to hammer down a deal that his assistant director flopped on. True, they were only in charge of the technology department of the region, but that didn't stop them from stepping in when their marketing needed backup since they knew the material given their jobs. However, the moment he heard Janice's cry of pain, everything didn't matter at that moment. All that mattered was getting his wife to the hospital. It was beneficial for the deal, given the man on the other end of the phone had heard Janice's cry just as clearly as Elijah had heard. With the help of one of his workers he got Janice situated in his car. There was no way he was going to wait for an ambulance when the hospital was only ten minutes away from his office. During the drive, he had called his father-in-law to inform him that Jancie's water broke. Nodding against his phone when Jance told him they were on their way. Stacy and Rick were still out on the west coast delivering a load. Still, he did call Stacy, knowing it was her time to rest while Rick drove.
"El, what's going on," Stacy asked, using the nickname Elijah used now that he was apart of the family.
"The baby is on its way just thought I'd inform you," Elijah said as he paced the waiting room before they came and got him. There was no way he wasn't going to miss the birth of his child.
"What!" Stacy squealed in delight.
"Stacy, what's going on?" Elijah heard Rick's voice in the background.
"The baby is coming!"
"Really!"
"Mmmhmm, El, we'll be there as fast as we can it might be a day or two."
"You two don't worry about rushing home. Just get here safely, or Jan will beat me," Elijah joked. With that, they ended their call; looking down at his phone, he knew the girls wanted to be there too, yet they needed to remain in school. Plus he wasn't about to leave his wife, not at that moment. Nevertheless, even when her forehead was covered in sweat, pain etched on her face, she did find the time to tell him to take his ass and go pick up the girls.
An hour later, the sounds of feet running across the tile floor as Abegail and Celle raced down the hall once they were out of the elevator. Their hair whipped behind them as they sped towards Janice's hospital room as they waited for her to dilate. The moment they stepped into the room they saw genuine happiness spread across Janice's face before they rushed to her side. As the hours wore on, the three of them tried to keep Janice's attention off the pain of the contractions as they grew closer to everyone. It was two am in the morning as Ezekiel Samuel Wilkins was brought into this world. After the nurses cleaned off their child, his little wrinkled hands moved across his face as he yawned in his mother's arms as his father stood over him.
As the years passed, Abegail and Celle grew, made friends, and broke a few hearts, as well as having their own broken. Through those years, Janice birthed another two sons and a daughter who was the spitting image of her mother. However, in order to support his growing family, Elijah took promotion after promotion until he reached fifty and became the Southeast Regional Director. Something Elijah had asked for so he and Janice could retire near her parents since his Uncle and Aunt had died fifteen years ago, so he no longer had a reason to return to Indiana. Celle and Abegail, who long since started their own families, who stayed in Jackson knowing their parents would return home someday, helped the two of them find a nice home to settle down into where the two rarely, if ever, left the state unless it was to Jance and Desirae.
The End.
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