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“I better go. I’m sure you young people have more things to do than talk to this old lady,” her neighbor said and walked out the door.
Cristina closed the door behind her and sighed. Already she could see that Blake was planning her move.
“Wait,” she said. “Just stop what you’re thinking.”
“Cristina, you and the baby aren’t safe here,” he said. “I’m staying right here until we get this resolved. And you did not tell me about the man with the camera.”
“No, I didn’t think I should worry you,” she said. “And then I saw the photo in the newspaper and cringed. But that wasn’t the photo he was trying to take of Wyatt.”
Right now, she was totally overwhelmed. She needed time to think. She needed to be alone and yet she knew he’d never leave, and she did feel safer with him staying here protecting the two of them.
“I have to work tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll take Wyatt to daycare in the morning.”
“No,” he said. “Do you really believe he would be any safer at daycare?”
Fear gripped her chest and she sighed.
“If someone wants to kidnap him, all it would take was walking into the daycare and demanding that he be turned over. I’ll take care of him tomorrow. Maybe we can find a nanny or a nurse to watch over him.”
Tomorrow was one day. What about the next day and the next? She had to work.
“What about my mother?”
“No,” he said. “This is my son. No one is going to lay a hand on him. You go to work tomorrow and then we’ll talk and see if we can work things out.”
“Let’s see if the reporters return. I realize I need to move, but hopefully, this will all go away.”
She could see that he didn’t believe that.
“After we won the lottery, we quickly learned we needed to up our security. We had people driving up to the house and asking for help. Adrian had a gate installed that includes the camera. We have a full team of people who work to keep us all safe. One call is all it takes.”
Oh, dear what had she done? How had this information leaked to the press? But then again, how had even Blake learned about his son? Tomorrow she was going to ask some very direct questions.
“You look tired,” he said.
She smiled. “I didn’t get much sleep last night and then this happened. I’m scared, I’m tired, and I don’t make good decisions whenever I’m this upset.”
Standing, he wrapped his arms around her, and it felt so natural, like this was where she belonged. Like he was the safest place on earth.
“Come on, let’s go to bed,” he said.
They walked into the bedroom she shared with Wyatt. He saw her makeshift alarm on the window and laughed.
“Hey, it would work. I would hear anyone who came in through the window,” she said.
“But what about the front door? What if they come in through there? You don’t even have a second door to escape out of.”
Not long after Wyatt was born, an apartment in the next building had burned and people were trapped inside the upstairs because they didn’t have a second door to get out. It had frightened her.
“Your days of staying here alone are over,” he said.
Why did she feel so much pressure? She hadn’t been prepared for this part of having a child with Blake. No one was going to take her baby. No one.
Crawling into bed, Blake lay beside her. Tonight felt different. It felt like somewhere they had crossed a line she wasn’t certain about.
He rolled over and pulled her up against him. “Try to sleep. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you or Wyatt.”
And she believed him. She knew nothing bad would happen. She trusted Blake to protect them.
