One Step Forward

Chapter 21. Unexpected Guest

Mya's POV

Linc stayed silent on the way home, but I felt myself nearing a breakdown.

"Linc," I murmured.

"Hmm?"

"This..." I trailed off. "This is why I didn't want to marry you. That crazy bastard doesn't even know yet, and when he finds out, things will be ten times worse. Don't you understand? They won't catch him. He was an FBI agent."

Linc's head fell against the headrest, and he barely kept his eyes on the road. "I don't even want to hear it, baby. We made our choice. We can't center our lives around him. You're not his anymore. He had his chance, and he fucked it up. I don't regret anything."

I sighed. "I didn't say I regretted it," I muttered.

"You might as well have."

"You're just putting words in my mouth," I snapped.

He groaned. "I'm not going to fight with you tonight, Mya. Tonight has been bad enough as it is."

"He left Jarrod for dead. You do realize that, right?"

"I'm aware, but guess what? He didn't succeed, did he?"

"That doesn't mean he won't in the future. Don't you see what he is trying to do? He's trying to poke holes in our armor. Any weak spot he can find. He's going to start by taking out our family."

Linc took in my panicked expression. "Jarrod is going to be okay. You need to calm down."

"That's not what that damn doctor said," I said and started to sob. "He said the next twenty-four hours were critical."

"Jarrod is strong and stubborn. He's young and healthy. He's going to be fine," Linc said in a stern voice. 

I sniffled and shook my head and then looked out the window. It was so early in the morning that first shift workers weren't even hardly about yet. However, the sky was starting to lighten from the rising sun. 

We got out of the truck and went into the house, leaving the girls to sleep at my parents' house. 

"You know what I want?" he murmured. 

I turned to face him. My cheeks were puffy and tear-stained. "What?"

"I want to go to bed..." he trailed off and grabbed my face between his hands. "With my beautiful wife."

I smiled before his lips claimed mine. We hadn't been to bed together since we became husband and wife because our first day of marriage didn't go smoothly at all. If we hadn't been running on almost no sleep the past three days, Linc probably would've wanted to do much more than just go to sleep. Linc lifted me bridal style and kept his lips on mine as he carried me down the hall.

***

My eyes felt heavy as they fluttered open. Linc's side of the bed was empty. I stared at the alarm clock in surprise. It was already past three in the afternoon. 

I stumbled out of bed and started down the hall to search out my husband. Thinking about being married to him made me smile, but as last night's events started to turn chaotically in my head, that happiness faded quickly. 

Several voices could be heard coming from the living room. I recognized most of them to be the kids' voices before I even saw them.

"Hey, guys," I said as I came around the corner.

"Hey, Mom," Lilly said.

Bryant, Kelly, and their three kids were here too. Raylynn was two years old, Michael was four years old, and Faith was six years old.