Love and the White Wolf - Book 2

24. I Love You to the Moon and Back (Sexual content)

The remainder of August passed quickly. We took a day trip out to the house one day before the Friday AI installation began. Walking through the shell confirmed that the changes we made were right. Every room had a view. We asked Steve which room he wanted. He was excited at all of them. As we came out of the structure a familiar face stepped out of his police car.

"I thought it was you," he said, offering his hand to each of us. "Your neighbour called in a suspicious vehicle on the property so I came to check it out. Now, who might this handsome young fellow be? He's the spitting image of you Buck."

"Sheriff Chris Brandon, meet our son Steve," said James. "Steve, can you say hi to the Sheriff?"

"Hi," whispered Steve shyly.

"He's talking already?" marvelled the Sheriff. "That's unusual, isn't it? I hope you're reading to him. I read to all my kids. Helped settle us all down at the end of a long day."

"Now that you're here you should know that they'll be installing a secure infrastructure for the artificial intelligence system. There will be a military crew here for several weeks," said James.

"Yep, your contractor gave me the heads up," said the Sheriff. "You got yourself a good contractor there. He's used a lot of local tradespeople, spread a lot of goodwill in the community."

The radio in his car crackled to life and he responded to the code. He returned to us and offered his hand to us both.

"Looks like I have to go earn my paycheque," he said apologetically. "Gail, Buck, it's been awfully nice seeing you again. And you young man, are something else. See you soon, folks."

He pulled out of our lot, turned on his lights and activated his siren. Steve jumped at the sound but stared fascinated as the vehicle sped away.

"That's a police car, Steve," said James, "and that loud noise is a siren. It tells people that help is coming."

Steve watched his father intently as he explained. "Car," he repeated, clapping his hands together.

"He is a sponge for information, isn't he," I said. "We should be reading to him. Maybe stop at a bookstore on the way home?"

"Sure," said James as he strapped Steve into his car seat. "Are the Peter Rabbit stories and Velveteen Rabbit still in print? I used to read them to Rebecca. We can get some newer stuff too."

By the time we returned home we had those books, some Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, and one called I Love You to the Moon and Back. He had read it to Steve in the store and received an open mouthed taste/kiss on his chin.

Steve was affectionate with both of us but preferred his father to carry him. He seemed to know the prosthetic arm would never tire or drop him. The baby carrier that James had looked forward to using was tolerated only a couple of times before Steve made it known he preferred his father's arms. He did like the jogging stroller and would have a big goofy smile on his face as I pushed him on our daily run. Steve didn't sleep through the night but he was sleeping for longer stretches. James still did the overnight bottle feeding. He would tell Steve stories of his namesake. A couple of times I caught James returning from the roof with Steve all wrapped up. They had been looking at the moon or stars.

In September, the rape trial of Michael Woodrow, John Williams and Barry Hunter finally started. James took a leave of absence to support me.   As expected all three men had hired high priced, high profile lawyers. Each of them tried to cast doubt on the testimony of the 23 victims, myself included. Each of us proved we had been sexually assaulted based on the injuries, drug screens and DNA results that had been legally documented at the time. My video surfaced again and the DA executed a search warrant of all electronic devices accessible to all three men. Evidence was entered proving they were responsible for it resurfacing. Video footage of 11 more victims was also found on their devices. Williams and Hunter tried to make a deal but the DA would have none of it. Reporters would ask for James' opinion on the trial and he never answered until one day in frustration he chastised them for focussing on him.