Flutter by, Butterfly

Chapter 37

I woke up to Bruce and Clark picking up my babies from my lap and Maria sitting beside me.

"It is done. This man never came to our home."

My head fell to her shoulder and I wept. This was the second time I had taken a life, and this time I did not have Alejandro to hold me.

"We must never mention this to anyone," said Maria. "Even if it was justified, with your past, they will only use you for their own means." I knew what she was explaining to me. They would turn me into an assassin too. I couldn't help but feel enraged.

"I just want to live my life," I said.

"I know you do. We just need to stay one step ahead of them, but we can't let them stop us from living. Why don't you tell me the things you enjoy?"

"A warm bubble bath, candle light, singing to my babies, dancing with Alejandro..." I sighed. "It doesn't matter where we are. Or what we are doing. So long as we are together. I could have any material thing I wanted as a child, but I never had love. It is love and friendships that are most precious to me."

"Yes, these things are truly precious."

"I can see my babies growing up to be fine young people. I want to keep them safe, even as I want to teach them how to fly. I want to be able to grow old with Alejandro and live a peaceful life with him."

"It is a beautiful dream, but it is not a peaceful world we live in; nor is it always a just one."

I sighed. She was right. "What do we do?"

"The best we can."

Life moved on, and I did my best to forget about my second killing. Dumb-dumb and Loco would call once in a while, checking in on us and assuring me that Alejandro was okay. On one of these calls, they sensed something was wrong. I just broke down and cried. "I miss him so much." I left it at that, and they let me be.

My time spending on my martial arts skills doubled. Bruno and Sandy tried to get me to go out with them a couple of times, and just "be young." I just wasn't into it. Maria, and Mattie, on the other hand, had an idea that I loved. "You need to go to the park." "We'll take the kids with us."

We went to the park. All of us. Bruce stayed behind to watch the home front. Clark drove us in the limo. We all played like a bunch of kids with the twins, not caring how anyone else stared at us. We had so much fun. For once I was not worried about anything.

Clark drove us home, but on our way we found an ambulance passing us by, heading in our direction. Three police cars passed us by as well. I saw Clark look at me from the rear view mirror. We exchanged glances, his concerns mirroring mine, but we said nothing. We continued our drive home, only to have all of our fears confirmed.

The police came and questioned us as we saw Bruce being wheeled away. Serena was there as well, playing the victim and putting on a show. I came out of the limo, the babies in tow. An officer came over.

"Mind if I interview you, ma'am?"

"Sure," I said. "Just let me bring them inside."

He asked me a lot of intrusive questions, about my body guards, and what they did for a living. I could not help but get the feeling that he had collaborated with Serena, and was working with her behind the scenes. I played along, and explained that they originally worked for my husband and that they took care of us in his absence.

"Have you ever noticed either of them be particularly violent?"

"No, not at all."

"How did they get their injuries?"