Sworn To Protect

Tony once again thought about how Jordan had pulled him aside on the morning of the wedding and asked him to look after Katie if anything happened to him.

She’s strong. She can go it alone, but I don’t want her to have to. I know my family will be there for her, but I want to know that she’ll have someone on her side who knows what it’s like to grow up without a firm support system in place. She’s like you, man—just looking for a place to belong. You two will understand each other better than any two people I know.

Tony remembered the words as if they’d been spoken seconds rather than years ago, and he remembered his response. That he’d be there if Katie needed him. Always. For a lifetime. If that’s what was necessary.

Right now, she needed him.

Whether she realized it or not.

For as long as that was true, he’d be there, ready to do what Jordan couldn’t—keep her and the baby safe.

FOUR (#u25871cba-47df-5c4a-864a-ae6f4a390964)

Ivy looked better than Katie had anticipated. Head bruised and arm in a cast, she was holding court in the hospital room, Alexander and Carter sitting on one side of the bed, the pastor and two friends on the other.

“Katie! What are you doing here?” Ivy cried as Katie and Tony walked into the room.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she responded, bending down awkwardly to kiss her mother-in-law’s cheek. Her belly seemed to grow bigger every day, the baby’s elbows and feet jabbing into her sides so often, she had begun to wonder if she was carrying a future dancer or gymnast. Jordan would have been happy with either of those choices.

Whatever our children decide to be will be fine with me, as long as they’re happy, he’d whispered in her ear the night she had told him she was pregnant.

He had been ecstatic.

She had been, too, but she had also been worried about how soon after the wedding the pregnancy had happened. She had wanted another year or two of teaching before she had kids, but Jordan had been gung ho to begin a family. She had also wanted to work until right before the baby was born, but Jordan had thought it would be best for her to give her notice before the new school year began.

In retrospect, she had compromised a lot in the short time they had been married. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She was certainly glad to be pregnant and happy she would be bringing Jordan’s child into the world, but without teaching and Jordan, the days since his death had been long and empty. Time had stretched out, and it seemed to be taking eons rather than months for the baby to arrive.

“You wanted to see how I was doing? You’re the one who is about ready to have a baby,” Ivy exclaimed, laying a hand on Katie’s abdomen.

She tried not to tense.

She loved Ivy. She understood the gift the baby was to the Jameson family, but she wasn’t used to having a mother in her life, and the attention often made her feel awkward and uncomfortable.

Tony might have sensed that.

He stepped up beside her and leaned down to kiss Ivy’s cheek, distracting her from Katie and the baby bump.

“How are you doing, Mom?” he asked.

Ivy smiled just as she always did when he called her mom. “Better than you, I’d say. What happened to your shoulder?”