Flutter by, Butterfly

Chapter 39

I stopped training. I spent time with my children as much as I could. I kept a smile on my face for them. In the night, I cried. Maria and our bodyguards would talk among themselves, sending me worried looks from time to time. I danced more. I clung to the hope that I would see him again, that he was coming home.

I would take pictures of our kids from time to time. Sometimes they would be playing with Maria. Sometimes they would play with the puppy I picked up for them. He was a pound puppy, black as charcoal, with golden green eyes. Appeared to look very wolfish. We called him Lobo. He was very challenging. It was as if he was testing to see who the alpha of the house was. It wasn't until we found ourselves a stray, orange tabby cat that our Lobo began to see who the boss was. He had a keen sense of intelligence when you looked into those eyes of his. Though most of the time he allowed Lobo to do as he willed, it appeared he had a sense of when Lobo was misbehaving. Every once in a while, Lobo would attempt to sneak up on him. On one of these "let's see who is the more dominant" type of game. I said, "I am going to name you Hugo."

The twins got themselves a package from an unknown sender. Bruce and Clark appeared apprehensive at first, but when we opened it to find a pink little piglet...

"It's Pablo!" MJ was especially pleased. She slept with Pablo, a real, flesh and blood pig every night. I told her we would name him Alesandro, her Uncle Pablo's middle name. She slept with Pablo and Alesandro every night, while her brother slept with Lobo and Ferdinand. Lobo would watch over him, sometimes dragging him by his pants to keep him out of trouble. Hugo the cat would just roam the house, checking in on everyone. He always seemed to appear to whomever was the most worried.

I still cried at night. I missed him so much.

Around the time of my birthday, I received my own package. I had a note that said "To make up for lost time", and found diamond earrings, with gold diamond bangle bracelets. They were both beautifully understated. They both went well with my choker and wedding band set. I never took my diamonds off. I even wore my gold and diamond shoes when I could, along with the hair clip. I put on my makeup very carefully. I dressed comfortably enough to play with my kids, but elegant enough that I could go on a date at the drop of a hat. I prayed every night for him. I did not dream of him anymore. It was like he was just gone.

The days wore on, and my soul stretched a little more taut with each moment passing. I could feel a break-down coming on. There was nothing I could do about it. Hopelessness was a crushing weight on my chest, making it difficult to breathe. Eventually, it was so. I had a tray in my hand, taking it to my babies for a snack, and I just fell to the floor. I couldn't breathe. I was gasping for air. The boys and Angie cleaned the mess up as best as they could, trying to comfort the kids in the process. Even Lobo whined a bit while Alesandro squealed in dismay.

"Maybe she is having a malfunction," said Maria.

"MALFUNCTION!" I exclaimed. Malfunction was a word that a handler would use.

"NO! NO! NO!" I wailed, crawling backwards on the floor. "YOU'RE ONE OF THEM! NO!"

"Jani," she said my name with love and concern. "Jani!"

It wasn't enough. I scrambled away, and took off running. I locked myself in my room. As I fell against the door and sank to the floor, I couldn't stop my screams. I had nowhere else to go. There wasn't anywhere in the world I could go to that they wouldn't be able to find me. My babies... How would I ever be able to protect them in a world where I can't even protect myself? I wailed until my voice was hoarse, and slumped on the floor in sheer exhaustion.

"Meow."

I looked up to see Hugo coming to see me. He sniffed my face, licked a tear or two, and nuzzled onto my chest, his purrs calming me down.

I heard a knock on the door.

"Jani?" I heard Angie say, hesitantly. I could feel that she was no threat.

I opened the door with Hugo in my arms. "I would never hurt you, my darling." She hugged me like she used to do when I was still small. I whimpered, beginning to cry all over again.

"Meow." Hugo began to squirm a little, but he did not leave my arms.

"Come right this way, sweetie. We have some things to discuss."

She let me into the office where Bruce and Clark were waiting for me. I sat down, Hugo still in my arms, waiting.

Bruce and Clark looked at one another. Clark nodded for Bruce to take the lead.

"As you know, we work for Alejandro, but we were also hired to be your husband's handlers."

My hands turned knuckle white, gripping the arms of the chair. Hugo began to purr again, sensing my discontent. I subconsciously began to pet his head, relaxing my grip in the process.

"It all started as just a high-paying job," said Clark. "But then we started developing a hell of a lot more trust for him than for the people we worked for."

"He treated us as equal partners," said Bruce. "We found more honor in that man than for the whole lot we worked for."

"We began to trust one another with our very lives. It grew more obvious to all of us."

"And then he offered us a proposition."

"He asked, 'How would you like to work for me instead?'"

"We did."

"The others could order to dispose of us at any given moment."

"This one would fight to the death for us."

"And still would."

"I don't know if that is true anymore," I said.

They silently looked at me, waiting for me to continue. I told them of my dreams. Clark listened intently, while Bruce began to go through some blueprints, still giving me his attention.

"Well," said Clark. "I believe that you are telling the truth, but this is not the first time that he has been in a spot like this, yet he always manages to climb back out."

"He sent us these," said Bruce. He showed me the blue-prints on the paper. I could tell it was part of the machine I had to deal with, but I still had of the mechanics of how it worked.

"I'm sorry, I can't-"

"It's basically like looking at a car without a motor," cut in Clark. "He sent us a blue-print without the key component to make this machine work."

"He'll be having us build this machine here," said Bruce.

"He wants to build one in our home?" I was mortified. Even Maria looked taken aback.

"He would never ask us to do this if he didn't have a master plan to go along with it."

"We suggest that you play along."

I looked at the papers on the desk.

"I want to trust him. I really do, but please don't bring that machine to our home. Anywhere but here."

Bruce and Clark looked at one another, and then back at me.

"We will see what we can do."

I looked at Maria. Her worried eyes mirrored mine. I looked at my boys again, reading their every expression and posture. I didn't feel any malicious intent at all.

"I believe you," I said.