The Hours in Between - The Devereaux Case Files Book 5

Chapter 16

Faith busied herself in the kitchen while Ayah was upstairs with Reed. The minute the drums started beating, she threw down her towel to go shout at Dicken for being so loud, only to find Ayah walking into the room with a smile. "Reed's just demonstrating how the drums should be played for Dicken, before he teaches him how it's done." She explained happily. Really she expected he was just getting mad at something that couldn't argue back. It was the only thing that kept her in the room, smiling. She was so glad to see that the storm was over and Ayah wasn't angry at their father anymore.

But she was, she had just managed to keep it inside, with all the other frustrating attempts to control her life he had ever made. She had told him a million times to butt out of her life but now he was going to take her seriously. Just as soon as she got her hands on him. And she might speak with her mother too. Ever since her first kidnapping by Blake, she and Diane had been like most other mothers and daughters: inseparable.

Faith and Ayah began talking casually about the dinner and Dicken's continued excitement over his birthday presents, which they were sure should have waned a little by now. They were both surprised by an unexpected cry. Ayah was gripping the edge of the counter, doubled over with silent tears slipping over her cheeks. Faith panicked and ran to her sister, afraid to touch her but desperate to help somehow. She bent even further a moment later, with a silent scream until Faith came to her senses and grabbed one of the chairs from the dining room and pushed it up behind Ayah. She reluctantly let go of the counter and sat down, forcing a smile.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry." She apologized, only to double over her knees, screaming aloud this time. Barely a second later, while Faith was filling a glass with water, Reed came skidding into the room and stopped in front of Ayah. He sank down to his knees and held her face.

"What's wrong?" He begged her to explain.

"It's nothing." She smiled at him weakly. But that just flamed his temper.

"Nothing?! How long have you been like this?" He asked angrily, but Ayah wouldn't look at him. She kept her eyes on the floor and pushed her hand further into her stomach as if to force off another pain. He turned his furious gaze on Faith, who could only stammer guiltily, knowing she should have told him when she witnessed the first one. It was her fault Ayah was now in pain.

"I don't know. I only saw it once...at the bookshop a couple of weeks ago, maybe a fortnight ago?" Faith shrugged, struggling to think of the exact date as he glared at her. She felt so much that it was her fault that she could barely stand him looking at her like that.

Normally with Reed and one of his accusations, where she was at fault for upsetting Ayah, she would shout back at him how wrong he was; but this time, she agreed with him. She couldn't stop wringing her hands, wondering where Reyes was when Reed was about to explode in a rage. He was the only one who could calm him down. Why wasn't he worried about Ayah's scream?

"You tell me what is wrong right now or else I'm calling the doctor for an emergency home visit." He demanded suddenly. They were both stunned by her answer.

"He already knows." She revealed suddenly, surprising Reed into frowning even harder. He couldn't understand any doctor seeing her in the pain she was in now, and not doing anything about it. But if she had been sent for tests or had blood tests taken, she would have told him. "I went to see him a few days ago and he says it's just stress. I've to stay off my feet, not do any work and stay away from the kids to get as much rest as possible." She explained in exasperation, the very tone of her voice making Faith feel guilty. It sounded as if she thought such things were impossible. And Reed couldn't help but let it make him mad again.

"And you haven't done a damned thing he said!" He accused her; he didn't even have to ask.

"How can I?" Ayah retaliated in a shout of her own as she let the tears fall, absentmindedly, while she focused on making Reed understand. Faith was crying now too, and it wasn't fair but there wasn't anything any of them could do about it. "My next book is due at Bethen's in six weeks and I still have the ending to put together. I've got the kids to take to school and bring home; Dicken, Olivia and Clare to help with their homework. I can't get any sleep during the day because that's the only time I have to write and then if I did get a quiet moment I'd have to get up for the kids coming out of school anyway. Then you're coming home and I need to have dinner ready and we're trying to have a baby." Ayah claimed in return, never having wanted to air how difficult each day was to navigate her way through.