It Goes On - Book l

Denied Ally

"How're you feeling, love?" Simon asked with a concerned tone, ensuring that she and Evie were in the house safely after the immediate rush to the emergency room.

"I don't feel any different," She sighed, keeping Evie closed against her chest. "I want them to sleep with us tonight."

"Okay, love," He nodded, his palm steadily on her shoulder as he kept his protective gaze over his wife and daughter. I almost lost the pair of you within a few minutes. I'll be damned if I let you two out of my sight until I can figure out who did this. "I don't want you to go to work tomorrow, okay?"

"Simon, I didn't feel anything," She frowned. "They did multiple tests on me and Evie. I was going to work from home for a while so I can keep an eye on her... with you."

"That's fine with me, love. I was hoping you'd say that" He chuckled, placing a warm kiss to her forehead. "I'll bring their bassinets in our room and I'll keep an eye on them while you sleep—"

"Simon, I'm—"

"I love you," He blurted. "Go get yourself comfortable and I'll meet you there. I have a couple of things I need to do before I lay down for the night."

She nodded, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth as she immediately thought of what was going to happen to Valor – if she could say goodbye for a final time. As soon as she let a tear fall, she felt the warmth from the top of Simon's index finger as it curled against her cheek to wipe her tear away. "W-What about Valor?"

"He's taken care of, sweetheart," He assured her. "Johnny and Teeter took care of him. Took him to lay in the valley until I can get an excavator out here tomorrow to bury him."

"I-I want to see him... To cut a piece of his tail—"

"That's taken care of too, love. Teeter got it for you. I wouldn't want you to see him after... that."

"I did that to him, Simon." She cried.

"No, you didn't. We didn't know this was going to happen. I'm going to take the rest of those apples to the station and file a report and turn them over to investigation. I'm going to find out who did this and God help whoever it is."

"When we do, let's make sure they won't see the sunrise."

"That I can promise you, love," He nodded, assuring her with his promise by kissing her forehead. "Go wait for me in the bedroom. I'll meet you there."

"Okay."

He watched her hold Evie close while she walked towards their bedroom before he made his way into the kitchen to throw a bag of popcorn into the microwave. She'll be happy with this and a movie, too, he thought, hoping that she was in the mood to settle in with a movie of her choice to distract her swarming mind as it was his attempt to keep her from doing so, hoping to be the one to take those troubling thoughts away from her so that she wouldn't suffer with her unnecessary guilt. "I figured you were in bed already, lad." He spoke quietly, seeing that Baler had been distracting himself by watching a YouTube video on his phone, laying horizontally across the couch.

"Not tired." He shrugged.

"You should try to get some rest. It's been a long day."

Suddenly, Baler put away his phone and sat up on the couch, looking at Simon from the back, physically able to see the anger and stress on his face. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Is... Are mom and Evie going to be alright?"

"They will. I just wish I was able to sense something was wrong earlier."