Midnight Storm

Chapter 7: Back to School

Today we came home from Paris, it was an amazing experience for all of us and it brought us closer and we were almost a family. Maria had not that long to go until our little bundle of joy came into the world for the first time. All of us were excited but I was getting more on edgeby the day, I was really nervous and I didn't know what to do with myself. I tried to hide all of that when Hope or Maria was around because I didn't want them to worry, they had enough on their minds. Hope had her boyfriend and exams and Maria had work and the baby, I did not want to stress them out any further. Maria, Hope and I walked into the house and collapsed onto the couch. We had quite a bit more luggage than we did at the start of our holiday, Hopes books that she bought just before we left, the cameras, and all the other souvenirs we had bought on our trip and all of that together weighed quite a bit. We all let ourselves fall onto the couch in exhaustion, Maria and I looked at each other and held hands. I looked at Hope, she was about to fall asleep again. I stared up at the ceiling, I felt my eyelids getting heavy, I couldn't move my arms. It felt like there was huge weights on top of my arms restricting my movement. I was still holding Maria's hand but I couldn't move at all. I felt my arms start to go numb, I could nit feel my feet anymore. This feeling of nothingness was creeping up on me. I hated it, so with all my strength I got up, kissed Maria on the cheek and stretched with a huge yawn. I gently picked up Maria's hand and gave her a sign that I would like her to stand up. She stood up and I moved Hope so she was lying on the couch with her hands folded on her stomach like a perfect little princess awaiting her prince charming and I gently placed a blanket over her. I gently held Maria's hand and led her into our room. We laid down on the bed and looked into each others eyes. It was a perfect romantic moment and I did not want to ruin it. Suddenly she gently reached down for my hand, she placed it onto her stomach and we could feel our babies kicking softly.

I woke up to the sound of a bird singing outside Maria and I's window. Maria was waking up as well, we looked into each others eyes, the romantic moment we had shared the night before was happening again. 'You are so beautiful, my amazing Angel' I said softly, she blushed and smiled. 'Likewise,' she said and laughed softly 'They're kicking again' 'Do you mind?' I asked as I hovered my hand above her stomach. 'Not at all.' She said shyly. I placed my hand gently on her stomach and she placed her hand on mine, our fingers locked and we both smiled as we felt our unborn children kicking inside her. After a while we sat up, got dressed and walked downstairs, hand in hand. We made ourselves oatmeal and coffee and sat down together in the dining room. About half an hour later Hope woke up from her sleep on the couch and came into the dining room. 'Good morning' she yawned. 'Good morning Hope, did you sleep well?' I asked. 'Yes I did thank you, may I?' she said gesturing to the pot on the stove. 'Of course yes' I replied. Hope turned and served herself some of the oatmeal I had made only two minutes ago. She came and sat down at the table with us and we ate breakfast together. That night I took Maria out to dinner while Hope stayed at a friends house. We went to an Italian restaurant and then went for a walk on the beach. We walked along the beach as the waves crashed and lapped against the shore, we were holding hands. After a while I laid a blanket on the sand and we laid down listening to the calming sound of the waves. We looked at each other and smiled. Maria was so beautiful, but something about the candle light and the waves just made this night perfect.

'Hurry Hope! You don't want to miss the train do you?' I yelled from the bottom of the stairway. 'I'm coming! These bags are a lot heavier than they look!' She called in return. 'Do you need any help?' I asked. 'No thank you! I will be there in a second!' She called again. After Hope came down the stairs I drove her and Maria to the train station because Hope was leaving for her second term today. We walked through the ancient archway and saw Hope's friends sitting on the bench talking happily. 'Can I...?' 'Yes Hope' I said cutting her off. She gave me a hug and skipped over to her friends. She went and sat next to Robert and he put his arm around her, they started to talk together as a group. They reminded of my friends and I when we were younger, smiling, laughing. Just being happy together as friends. Maria and I went to the window and bought Hope's ticket, we loaded her luggage onto a trolley and wheeled it over to her. The trains whistle blew as we ran to the luggage carriage. Then Hope and her friends walked to the train, Hope looked back at us and ran to give us one last hug before she left. After she hugged us she ran to the train and disappeared around the corner, she reappeared in one of the rooms and she waved at us with a smile as she sat down with Robert, Sara, Lloyd and Lana. Just before they disappeared out of sight I saw Hope and Robert hold hands. I smiled and put my arm around Maria and we walked to my car, ready to go back to work.

We got to work to find two of our colleagues Agent Phelps and Agent Booth flicking through a huge pile of papers like they're life depended on it. 'Whats going on?' I asked curiously. 'Well you know how we couldn't find any evidence that the creep broke in? What was the one place we didn't check?' Booth asked. 'I don't know the fireplace?' I asked sarcastically. 'How did you know? Anyway I thought I saw something in the ash but I didn't get to check and now the photos are missing!' Booth asked. Phelps was deaf and has been all his life but he knew sign language, so did Booth. Phelps signed something quickly 'He said that he saw them this morning on the desk in the corner but now they are gone.' Booth translated. 'Do you mean these photos?' Maria asked as she picked up a pile of photos off of the desk next to the door. 'Yes, thank you Maria.' He said as he took them sheepishly. He looked through them carefully, placing a few on the desk in front of us. 'Here! That's it!' He said as he gave us a picture, it was hard to make out but we saw a half destroyed picture of the twins and her mother with what looked like her sister. 'Wow, how many twins are there in her life?' I thought surprisedly.

'I didn't know Hope's mother had a sister, she doesn't have any records or anything so as far everyone knows she does not exist.' Maria said shockingly. 'Hope didn't know about her either as far as we know I will write her a letter and ask her.' I said as I walked around to my desk. 'No, I am sorry Mark but this so called Aunt of hers could be putting her in danger, you cannot tell her anything about her Aunt until we know for certain that it is safe.' My boss said apologetically, stern but apologetic. 'Yes sir.' I said. For the rest if the day Maria, Booth, Phelps and I worked extremely hard on the case and we got a few leads. As soon as the clock struck 5:00pm all of us were exhausted. We had not left any rock unturned so to speak, so as soon as that clock chimed we all collapsed in our chairs. 'Well done today everyone, at this rate the case will hopefully be solved soon! Now go home and get some rest. Big day tomorrow.' He said with a blank expression. He is a good man but he needs to show his emotions more, seriously he shows his emotions about as much as a rock does. He left and we all sighed. 'Well with every day done, another begins right? See you tomorrow guys.' Phelps signed and Booth translated. Then they both left and it was just Maria and I sitting side by side in a dimly lit office surrounded by stacks of paper and files for the case. 'Should we work on the case for a little bit longer?' She asked me. 'We could, or we could do something along the lines of this' I said then kissed her. 'I like the sound of the second option' she said cheekily with a sheepish smile. We left and went to the theatre.