Written In The Stars: Book Two

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: MORNING INTERRUPTION

When Elijah's phone let out a menacing sound, Madeline didn't so much as stir. Her hand draped over his chest all damn night, her fingers touching the North Star just above his heart. Elijah couldn't even remember where his shirt was.

Despite being drained from the day's events, they'd stayed up for hours talking and holding one another the best they could, given her injuries. When she'd asked to see his tattoo, Elijah obliged her, and now the damn shirt was missing.

That night, he dreamed of caressing her swollen stomach; telling the baby growing inside her all about its mother when she was little. Then, just as quickly as it arrived, the dream disappeared, leaving Elijah to feel empty and disappointed when his eyes opened.

Madeline knew they were meant for each other, and that no amount of time or distance could ever fade from what they felt for one another, but she was still guarding heart. Hell, he should have been too, but since Elijah knew him guarding his heart had been part of the problem the first time around, he wasn't about to risk doing it again.

The arm that wasn't captured by Madeline reached out and grabbed his phone, just as it vibrated in his grasp. The first notification was the security app, and once Elijah opened it, he could get who the other notification was.

It took a good minute to free himself from Madeline without waking her, but once he was free, Elijah slipped out of bed, made one last ditch effort to find his shirt, quickly gave up, and headed down the stairs. He'd forgotten all about the hyped up locks until he turned the metal free repeatedly. Once the final lock was free, Elijah opened his front door and held it open.

"What's with the beefed up security around here?" Kevin asked as he stepped into the apartment.

Elijah grabbed the glasses he'd left on the living room table and slid them onto his face. "I more or less stole someone's fiancé. He didn't like that." After noticing one of his sweatshirts on the arm of the couch, Elijah slipped it over his head and turned around to face his uncle. "How did you know where I live, and why are you here?"

Kevin gave him a half shrug as he stood in the entryway. "Followed you back yesterday until I saw where you turned. From there, it was just a matter of looking for your truck. And yes, I realize I was overstepping in doing that. As far as why I'm here, I was hoping for a chance to get to know my nephew.

"Sandra and I were always close, right until the day she left after she got married. We told each other everything, and I miss her every day. I was hoping to get to know her son, if he'd let me." Kevin brought his fist up to his mouth and let out a cough, then looked around the living room, noticing the wheelchair in the corner. "I don't want to scare you away, Elijah, but you're my sister's child, and if there's a chance I can have any piece of her back, I'm going to take it. I'm just here to find out what you need to make that happen."

Elijah's shoulders sank as he looked at the man, so defeated and yet so hopeful. It was an invasion of privacy to follow him home like that, but with the amount of issues he was dealing with already, Elijah didn't see the point in adding to the list by making this an issue. "Right now, I need coffee and a cigarette."

Kevin's expression softened a bit, and his hand came to rub at his neck, much like Elijah caught himself doing regularly. "I'll figure out the coffee."

Before Elijah could make a move to go downstairs for his pack of smokes, Madeline's voice called him from upstairs. "I have to take care of her, so it might be a bit."

His uncle's eyes fell on the wheelchair in the corner once again. "That hers?" Elijah gave him a curt nod before he continued. "That's a big task to take on. I saw what wife took on after my accident ten years back, and I knew it wasn't easy. Says a lot about your character that you're taking care of her, when it was meant to be someone else's job."

Was it Johnathan's job to take care of M&M after her accident? Yes. If he was prepared to make an oath that he'd be there for her in sickness and health, then he should have stepped up to the plate. Yet, Mitch and Mary mentioned no plans Johnny had been making to do that. He'd stayed long hours at the hospital, so he clearly gave a crap, but when Elijah went to visit Madeline for the second time, she'd made it obvious no plans were being hatched, just locations being ruled out, the apartment they shared being one of them.

"I wonder what it says about my character that I stole her away from another guy to begin with," Elijah retorted, not waiting for a reply before he headed upstairs.

Madeline was already staring at the doorway when he came in. "You have no problem falling asleep next to me, but you're very stubborn about staying in bed."

Elijah let out a chuckle and scratched at the tiny hairs on his face, having shaved off his near full beard yesterday after his shower. "In my defense, I fully intended to stay put this time."

"And what stopped you?"

Elijah scooped her up, figuring she had to go to the bathroom and was ready to start her day. "My uncle's downstairs. Apparently, he followed my ass home yesterday, which I should be significantly more pissed about than I am."

"Followed you home from where, exactly?"

He didn't realize until right then that he hadn't mentioned his uncle being at the meetup with his grandfather yesterday. His presence was barely a blip on his radar compared to the news he'd received, and Elijah just let that other thing fall by the weigh side.

When they'd stayed up talking the night before, they talked more about the events in their lives the other missed, and only briefly discussed Elijah's feelings about all that had gone down that day. "The diner," Elijah finally replied as he set her down on the now raised toilet seat. "I should have mentioned it. There were honestly too many other things going on in my mind."

"Is it a good thing he's here?" Madeline asked.

Elijah scratched his stubble yet again, then grabbed his toothbrush. "I think it just might be."