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I knew where it was going but needed to hear it anyway. Like I had to hear it from his own lips for it to be real.
“You had a knife.”
He nodded.
“A big one. That bastard turned his back on me, and was running off with her, and I just lost it. I tackled him, and he dropped Flaka. She was screaming so loud, and I didn’t even stop to see if she was okay. I just started punching the knife into him. I lost count of the stabs; he didn’t get up after though. The other guy grabbed Flaka and ran off, and I followed her screams to find him.”
I had to cover my mouth to keep from hurling. It wasn’t just the usual reason, the most horrific images of child rape bouncing round in my mind.
“He didn’t hurt her; he didn’t have a chance,” Varg continued.
“He was so busy getting her pants down, and my sister was fighting like a wild cat, so I got the drop on him. The knife pushed in all the way, no bones around to block it. It would have gone all the way through if the blade were long enough. I pulled it out and he still took a swing. I swung back slashing his throat.”
“Did Flaka see all this?”
Varg shook his head.
“No, she still had her back turned. I told her not to look and she listened. She’s a good girl,” he said.
I was white as a ghost. Everything seemed magnified.
“He went down, and I sheathed the knife. Pulling her pants back on, I picked up Flaka and carried her home. She wasn’t hurt physically.”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
He smiled, but it seemed forced. He was hurting terribly, thinking I was going to leave.
“But she was never the same. She became quiet and withdrawn. Mom chalked it up to her being a teenager, even when she insisted on sleeping in my room. We moved her bed in and everything. I was the only one she trusted; constantly afraid they would come back for her.”
“But they were dead though, right?” I asked, my voice shaking.
Was Varg a murderer?
“Strangely, no. The one who attacked her is in a wheel-chair and can only speak in a whisper, but is alive. The other is a heroin junkie.”
He went silent. He just sat there, staring at his hands.
“Are you sorry you didn’t kill them?”
Varg looked up.
“There was a time I would’ve said yes, but not anymore. Like I said, I’ve done a lot of growing. On the down side, it partly took coming here for that to happen, leaving Flaka behind. Removing the only protection she had, in her mind.”
He sobbed.
“Oh my god, is that why -”
Varg wiped his nose with a forearm, then got up and grabbed a towel.
He calmed down, gathering himself to go on.
“The pills, yeah. She couldn’t live without me, so to speak, or didn’t think she would. Even if the one’s she most feared are no longer a danger. I know I screwed up. I should have told Mama and the police, but Flaka didn’t want me to. Afraid I’d get in trouble and be taken away. So, we kept it quiet until a couple of days ago when I told Mama everything at the hospital. But, by then, it was too late. She’s not speaking to me right now. Neither of them are, actually.”
I should have been horrified, and was, but not for reasons assumed. I was no fan of violence but had no doubt he’d done the right thing. Varg might not have been sorry they didn’t die, but I was.
Suddenly, my secret didn’t seem so bad.
“I have something to tell you, too,” I said, matter-of-factly.
“About what?”
“About us. I’m pregnant with our daughter. I don’t know which time it was, but I’m about two months along and am already starting to feel her move.”
“What? Really? Oh my God. I’m so happy!”
“Me too.”
The tears wouldn’t stop. Even when Varg tried to kiss them away. It was all too much! The love and near loss. I didn’t know what to do with it all.
Varg did, though. Getting down on one knee, he took the ring, in the shape of a Fehu rune, from his pinky.
“Ashley O’Connell. Breath of my breath, and light to my soul. Mother of my child. Will you be my wife?”
“Yes.”
Sliding the ring onto my finger, he kissed me gently, sealing our verbal pact.
“Shall we celebrate?”
“I can’t really drink.”
“Not what I had in mind.”
“Oh. I see. Yes, please.”
Taking my hand, Varg helped me to my feet, and we went up to our bedroom.
Hands gentle and touches even lighter than usual, he undressed me. My growing baby bump was increasingly obvious as the layers came away.
From my neck, he worked his way down to my chest.
He gave each of my nipples a gentle suck, bringing a gasp of joy to my lips. I wondered if there might be milk, but it was too soon, of course.
