Time Lord and His Lady

Chapter Six: Cut Deep Inside

John's only conditions for our marriage was that he receive Daddy's permission as well as it being held in an Anglican church. I did John one better by getting baptized into his church, and John was so moved by it that he wept during the ceremony. Daddy, surprisingly, didn't need much convincing to give John his blessing, especially when he saw the ring that John had selected for me.

"I always wanted for you to be happy, Princess," Daddy told me when John and I went over to my parents' house for dinner. "Does John make you happy?"

I turned my head and watched John with the rest of my family in the garden, running around with my nieces and nephews, all the while speaking to my brothers, and delighting my sisters-in-law; Toby was in attendance, as well as Alexa and Ruthie, but Layla, amid her chanting of "I-told-you-so's" was at home with baby Trevor. I found myself smiling at the interactions, and it moved me just how much John seemed to fit within our entire family.

"Lexi, love?"

I turned to face Daddy, unaware of the tears running down my cheeks. "He does, Daddy. He makes me more happy than anything."

Daddy sighed and hesitated for a moment. "John told me about the nonsense about Headmaster Radclyffe and that Humphries fellow, what they're putting you through."

I felt my blood run cold. "Did he?" I asked, wondering if the reasoning behind Daddy's almost immediate blessing was the fact that John had claimed it was because he was doing me a favor, and that there was no real love between the two of us.

Daddy reached out and gently squeezed my shoulder. "Humphries may have a cousin who is Chief of Police, baby girl, but Isaac, Sebastian, and I travel in some pretty high-profile circles, along with Toby and Kira."

I swallowed. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that Sebastian has been told of the threats, and the lead attorney at his firm has agreed to act as your formal representation, free of charge, just as a fail-safe," Daddy told me in a hushed voice. "Not to mention the fact that we all of us know many people on the force as well, and in the government, who wouldn't take too kindly to this back-handed behavior."

I lowered my eyes. "I'm not some charity case, Daddy..."

"No," Daddy countered, tilting my chin up, "you're my daughter, have been ever since that idiot brother of mine and wayward wife of his got themselves mixed up with that madman. I wanted nothing more than to come to Poland myself and rip you away from him—"

"It was too dangerous!" I cried out. "Do you know how I would've felt, especially now, if things were different, and you'd done something like that?! It would've broken my heart, not to mention Mama's, and the boys'—!"

Daddy stepped forward and pulled me into his arms. "I know it was dangerous, darling girl. But your mama and I had the connections necessary to go and get you and Toby both, not to mention the fact that your mama had plenty of family willing to look after Isaac and Sebastian in the interim..."

I shook my head, clutching tightly onto him. "I still never would've forgiven myself..."

"Well, thankfully, Raymond got a fraction of Hathaway sense and sent you and Toby to us when he did. Even though he followed that despicable monster, he did one thing right, which was to give your mother and I the most precious gift of all—you and Toby. Our family wasn't whole until the two of you showed up, and your mother always wanted more children, but, regrettably, we were unable to do so. You two were the bright, shining lights we needed to go on, and to carve out new lives for ourselves in the process."

Slowly, I pulled back and looked up at him. "John really does mean a lot to me..."

Daddy smiled. "Which is why I told him that I would love nothing more than for him to marry my only daughter," he replied.