The Beast Within

Chapter Forty: Set Them Free

Jaxon slowly opened his eyes as he felt a small bony finger poking him "quit it" he groaned half asleep, Nyssa looked over to the sofa from the kitchen and sighed "Jason, Crimson leave him alone" the two small children groaned but did as told and sat at the table waiting for their breakfast "mom, who is that?" Jason asked swinging his legs back and forth off his seat "he's your brother sweetheart" Nyssa answered quickly not wanting to say too much without Jerome she knew he wanted to sit all three of the kids down and go through it all with them.

Jerome stood on the back balcony watching the kids inside at the table with Nyssa serving them breakfast, suddenly his phone started buzzing, he checked the caller ID and let out an animalistic growl "what the fuck could you possibly want?" "charming as always brother" "Jeremiah I swear to god you have five seconds-" "fine, fine.. I just received word that there is a planned attack on you" "so what?" "the attack isn't on you directly" "what? who is it on?" "Nyssa, and of course since she's carrying my children it is my duty to protect her" "over my dead body!" "it will be over hers if you don't accept my help and I won't let your bruised ego put her life in danger, she needs to be safe" Jerome knew Jeremiah would never joke about something like this especially with his children involved, he knew only Jeremiah could protect her right now "what do you propose we do?" "you won't like it brother-" "Miah, just tell me" his voice cracked as he felt his heart break at the thought of losing Nyssa again.

Nyssa watched Jerome shuffle inside and clear his throat "what's the matter honey?" she asked grabbing his hands but he pulled away and faced his two young children "kids, go pack a bag of your clothes please, mommy and I need to talk" Nyssa felt her panic rise "Jerome, no.. please don't leave me, please-" "it's okay baby, I promise I'll bring you back" "w-what? I'm not going anywhere without you" "please Nyssa, for once just trust me and pack your things, please" she heard the desperation in his voice and knew he wasn't messing around "I love you, whatever is happening, I trust you" he pushed her hair back behind her ear and rested his forehead on hers lovingly "I know baby, I know.. now please go pack" she grabbed his cheeks and pulled his lips to hers then she quickly ran to the master bedroom and packed her clothes and small items.

Jerome looked over to Jaxon who was sitting up on the sofa staring blankly at the turned off TV "good morning Jaxon" "where am I?" "you're home, I've brought you home" "they'll find me" "I promise, no one will ever hurt you again, you're my son and you will always be protected" Jerome crouched on one knee and held his fragile son's small hands and sighed "I'm sorry it took me so long to find you, I've never stopped thinking of you, I'm so sorry I'm not the father you must have imagined and I'm sorry we aren't going to have a lot of time together right now" "are you going somewhere?" "no, you, your mother and siblings are.. it won't be forever I promise but it might be for a while, I need to protect you all and being with you means I could lose you all and I can't let that happen" "I used to watch you on TV, I thought you were cool but the warden would tell me I was stupid and you were a bad person, are you a bad person?" Jerome knew Jaxon would look at him differently but he couldn't lie to him "yes, I am, I'm a criminal and that's not going to change.. but that doesn't mean you can't come to me for anything you ever need, I'll always be here for you, I love you Jaxon" "Jax" "huh?" "everyone calls me Jax, you can too" Jerome smiled and Jax mirrored his smile and pulled him in for a hug "I thought no one would ever help me, I thought that was my life" "you will never have to live that way again, I promise, now come on let's go meet your mom and brother and sister" Jerome stood up and to his surprise Jax grabbed onto his hand tightly making him smile and they walked upstairs.

Nyssa wiped her tears away and zipped up her suitcase, a slight knock pulled her from her thoughts "come in" she called and sat on the bed, the door opened and in walked Jerome hand in hand with Jax "Jax, this is your mom Nyssa" Nyssa smiled and leaned down to Jax's level "hello sweetie" she brushed his brunette curls out of his face with a smile "you're my mom?" "yes she is and she's been so excited to meet you" Jerome answered proudly, Jax released Jerome's hand and wrapped his arms around Nyssa's waist "I have a mommy" he muttered into her chest "I've waited so long to meet you my baby" she said nuzzling her hair into his curly hair, she smiled up and Jerome with watery eyes who sent a smile in return then tapped Jax's shoulder "would you like to meet your brother and sister now?" Jax's face lit up excitedly "yes! yes please!" both parents chuckled and nodded, Jerome walked to Nyssa's side and took her hand to help her off the floor.

They walked to the younger kids room "kids?" Jerome asked as he walked in "hi daddy" Crimson said excitedly hugging her dad tightly "hello my little princess" he said then released her and crouched down and took Jaxon's hand "Jason, Crimson.. this is Jaxon your brother" "finally I have a brother!" Jason said excitedly pulling Jaxon in for a hug "I've never had a brother before" Jaxon answered "as long as you don't steal my daddy, you can be my brother" Crimson said walking towards the brothers, Jaxon smiled and hugged her tightly, Nyssa and Jerome looked and smiled happily, but their happy moment was short lived when Jerome's phone buzzed with a text from Jeremiah 'it's time brother, I'll be waiting' Jerome sighed and cleared his throat "kids, get your things, it's time to go on a trip" Nyssa felt her heartbreak she knew Jerome was going to be gone for a while but he wasn't going to tell the kids that.

Jerome pulled up at the front of a giant mansion one that Nyssa didn't recognize "Jerome, where are we?" Jerome didn't respond and climbed out of the car and helped the kids out of the car, Nyssa anxiously climbed out of the car and walked over to her kids "time to go kids" Jerome said walking them all towards the house with their bags over his shoulder "daddy, where are we?" Crimson asked feeling her mother's uneasiness, the front door to the house opened and Nyssa's heart dropped "uncle Miah!" Jason and Crimson said in unison "you've got to be kidding me" Nyssa snapped, the three kids ran inside and Jerome turned away but Nyssa grabbed his arm pulling him back "no! you're not leaving me here with him!" "Nyssa, don't make this harder than it is" "you're not leaving me! I'm coming with you!" Jerome sent Jeremiah a look and in an instant Jeremiah's arms were wrapped tightly around Nyssa "let me go! Jerome you're not leaving me!" she fought against his strong grip but it was no use.

Jerome kissed the top of her head lovingly and flicked the tears streaming down her face away "I love you, please remember whatever happens.. trust me, it won't be forever, take care of our kids" he turned away hiding his tears from her "Jerome! no Jerome come back please! please!" Jeremiah held her tightly as she tried to break free.

Jerome sat in his car watching Nyssa break down in his brother's arms, he knew he was better for her and she'd see that, him being with them would only put them all in danger, his family and wife were safer without him, he knew not saying goodbye to his children would destroy him in the future but witnessing Nyssa's reaction he couldn't see all of his kids that way, he knew it was selfish but his heart couldn't take it and he'd stay when he knew he couldn't, he wiped the stray tears from his eyes and started the car, he pulled the car out of the driveway and in the rear view mirror he saw his kids running outside, Crimson started crying in her mom's arms, Jason hugged Jeremiah tightly and Jaxon stared right in Jerome's eyes through the mirror, we sent Jerome a small wave and turned away, Jerome looked away and straight ahead, he knew it was time to leave them to live their lives without all the danger, it was his time to set them free.