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“Why?”
“You’ll see. I need to help them off,” he told me, then he was gone, running back up the steps. I was tense as I moved to put the bags in the trunk, the thought of Willow having nightmares because of what that scumbag father of hers had done to her, filling me with rage. She was three years old and he had broken her arm! What kind of monster was capable of that?
And Maddie too. He had hurt her; despite the fact she was pregnant with his child. Just thinking about it had me ready to jump on the plane and take it right back to Chicago so I could kill the bastard with my bare hands.
Hunter reappeared at the top of the steps as I slammed the trunk closed, and in his arms was the most precious little thing. Willow. It still hit me right in the heart when I thought of Maddie naming her daughter that, so she could keep a hold of a piece of what we had.
I moved towards Hunter as he made his way down the stairs, the little girl in his arms looking all around curiously as he carried her. Her curly blonde hair was blowing around wildly and I smiled as she used her hand filled with a soft toy to try and tame it so she could look all around. She didn’t look like Maddie as I expected, but she was damned cute.
“Kai, this is Willow,” Hunter introduced us as he stopped before me.
“Hey sweetie. I’m very pleased to meet you,” I told her as she stared at me and took everything in. Then I saw Maddie in her, in the fire in her eyes as she assessed me. She was smart, just like her mom.
“Do you like pandas?” she asked me, taking me by surprise.
“Erm, I guess so.” I looked to Hunter, who just smiled like he knew where this was going.
“Pandas are from China, right? Are you from China?” she asked, and I smiled too then, even though I had no idea how to answer that question.
“No, I’m not from China, but some of my ancestors probably were,” I shrugged as Hunter just grinned. Asshole.
“You don’t know?” Willow pushed.
“Nope. I don’t know any of my real family. I was a foster kid. You know what that means?”
“Yep. My mommy tolds me all about it. She was too,” Willow nodded.
“That’s right. That’s how we all met,” I agreed.
“Did you know Pandas like to eat bamboo?” she asked with a smile that lit up her entire face. “And they sleep a lot! Like, all the time. They’re really lazy, like your dog, Dozy, right? That’s what Hunter said. He said Dozy sleeps all the time. Did you bring him wiv you?” she asked as she looked down like she expected the dog to be sat there. I knew jack shit about kids, but this one was definitely cute, and she had me smiling more in those few minutes than I remembered doing in years.
“Willow, can you stay with Kai for me while I help your mom?” Hunter asked. I followed his gaze and saw Maddie at the top of the plane steps. She was gripping the rail hard and frozen in place, her eyes closed as she seemed to fight to remain upright.
Hunter placed Willow down on the ground beside me and she instantly reached her hand up for mine. I took it, not wanting her to wander off, but it felt so odd, her tiny delicate hand in my huge mitt. She was so small too, barely reaching above my knee in height, and I worried she was too damn small and fragile. Was this because of that fucker? Had he not been looking after them?
One look at Maddie as Hunter all but carried her down the steps had me thinking maybe I was right in my fears, because she was so thin and frail looking. Her face was ashen and her eyes looked sunken and exhausted. There was barely a trace of the bright, joy filled, shy teenage girl we had known.
She was hunched slightly, clearly in pain, her arm set in a cast just like her daughter, and she had a very obvious baby bump sticking out at the front. Other than that she was little more than skin and bone, and definitely underweight. If I was honest, I had no idea how she was sustaining the life within her when she was clearly running on nothing.
“Hunter said mommy’s gots lots of owies now, but she’ll be okay when they gets better,” Willow told me as she watched her mom struggle down the steps.
“That’s right, sweetie. She’ll be fine. We’ll help her,” I promised. When I looked up again Maddie’s beautiful brown eyes were locked on me, so pale they were almost a burning shade of amber. As soon as I saw them and the small smile that graced her lips I recognized the girl I had known so many years before, and something within me settled. She was still in there. My Maddie. I would never allow anything to take her from us again.
CHAPTER 5
MADDIE
I was pissed with myself as I moved down the steps of the plane, leaning so heavily on Hunter he may as well have just been carrying me.Way to not look like a wreck, Maddie!
I had been taken by surprise by how dizzy and unsteady I felt when I got to my feet to exit the plane. I had dealt with low blood pressure throughout my pregnancy with Willow and through this one too but it had never really been more than the odd dizzy spell. This was worse though. I could barely move in a straight line, and I felt violently nauseous. By the time I exited the plane I was sure I was either going to black out or throw up, possibly both.
“Should we take you to the hospital, Maddie? You don’t look so good and you’re shaking a lot,” Hunter offered as we got about halfway down. I looked up towards where Kai stood and met his almost black eyes. As always they were filled with warmth that set me at ease in only the way he could. He smiled a little and something in me relaxed. He may look a whole lot bulkier and a few years older than I remembered, but he was still the Kai I knew. I could see him right there before me.
“No, that’s not necessary. I’m just tired and my blood pressure is a little low. It happens when I’m pregnant. I just need to sit,” I assured him.
“When was the last time you had a prenatal checkup?”
“Hunter, I’m fine. Stop fussing. I don’t want to scare Willow. This is already so much for her to deal with,” I admitted.
