Roses Are Red

Book Five All Fall Down
Chapter Eighty-Eight

The FBI, NYPD, and the Justice Department were holding a series of high-level meetings to try to frame the best possible response to Brian Macdougall's offer. I was fairly certain that nothing decisive would happen with Macdougall until at least Monday.

At four-thirty I took the shuttle back to Washington. Betsey Cavalierre and Michael Doud stayed in New York, just in case something happened.

I had some important business myself. That night, the kids, Nana, and I went to see Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace. We had a good time, though we'd hoped to see more of Samuel L Jackson in the film. I had been noticing a subtle change between Jannie and Damon. Since she'd been sick, Damon was so much more patient with her. Jannie was also pulling some punches with her brother, torturing him less. They had grown up a lot in the past few weeks. I figured they were becoming friends and that would last for the rest of their lives.

Early on Saturday, I decided to have a heart-to-heart with the kids. I had already taken some good counsel from Nana about what needed to be said to them. Her own response was typical Nana: She was sorry as could be about what had happened between Christine and me. As for little Alex, she said she couldn't wait for him to come to love babies, Alex. This will add ten years to my life." I almost believed her.

"This is not good," Damon proclaimed as he stared across the breakfast table at me. "Is it?"

I grinned at him. "Well, that's only half true. Where do I begin with this?” I said, stumbling a little out of the gate.

"At the beginning," Jannie suggested.

The beginning? Where exactly was the beginning?

I finally just dove into the subject matter. "Christine and I have been very close for a long time. I think you both know that. We still are, but things have changed lately. After the school year, she's going to move away from the Washington area. I don't know exactly where she's going yet. We won't be seeing her as much, though."

Jannie's jaw dropped and Damon spoke up. "She's different in school, Dad. Everybody says so. She gets mad easy. She always looks sad."

It hurt for me to hear that. I felt it was partly my fault. "She went through a very bad, very scary thing,” I said to him. "It's hard for anyone to imagine what it was like for her. She's still recovering from it. It might take a while longer."

Jannie finally spoke and her voice was surprisingly small. Her eyes were full of concern and worry. "What about the big boy?" she asked.

"Little Alex is going to come live with us. That's the good news I promised."

"Hooray! Hooray!" Jannie shouted and did one of her impromptu dances. "I love little A}."

"That's real good," Damon said and beamed approval. 'I'm glad he's coming home."

I was too, and I wondered how a single moment could be so joyful, but also so sad. The boy was coming to live with us, but Christine was gone. It was official now; I had told Nana Mama and the kids. I hadn't felt so empty and alone for a long time.