Page 93 of Philly
“Stay here until we tell you,” he said to Laura as they passed her. She gave another nod and rose, leaving Emma in the seat as she grabbed her diaper bag and purse.
Callie paused at the top of the stairs, then started down. He did the same, his gaze sweeping the area from the elevatedperch. His heart stuttered—in the good way—when the only thing he saw was Rian standing with his back to a door holding a little plush bunny in his hands. His first gift to his baby girl.
Callie held a hand up and Rian remained where he was. When Philly stepped onto the cement floor, he repeated the sweep Callie had already done. Satisfied with their search, she gave him a nod.
“Okay, Laura,” he called back.
A beat passed, then she was there. Diaper bag and purse draped over a shoulder, her daughter perched on her other hip.
Laura froze at the top of the steps, her eyes locked on her husband. A strangled sound came from Rian. Callie’s fingers slid across his palms and tangled with his as she pulled him back toward the plane.
In the next heartbeat, Laura was gripping the railings as she navigated the steps down and Rian was jogging across the hangar. Rian swooped both his girls up before Laura even set foot onto the floor, burying his head in his wife’s neck as her free arm wrapped around his. Tears fell freely from Laura’s eyes, and while they couldn’t see Rian, his occasional sniffles told them his wife wasn’t the only one overcome.
Beside him, Callie sniffed too. Raising their hands, he kissed the back of hers, then dabbed his own eyes.
“Mama, mama,” Emma said, patting her mother’s head and her father’s shoulder. Rian squeezed his wife one more time, then drew back only far enough to see his daughter. His already red-rimmed eyes filled with tears as he drank in the sight of her.
Tentatively, he reached up and held the bunny out. Emma looked at the toy, then to her mother, before reaching for the plushie and immediately bringing it to her face and rubbing the soft material over her skin.
“She looks like you,” Rian said, his voice choked as his finger delicately brushed a curl from Emma’s face.
“But she has your eyes,” Laura said, her voice as gravelly as her husband’s. “She also has your fastidiousness,” she added with a smile. “There is nothing this girl likes better—at this age—than to tidy up.”
Rian stared at his daughter. More tears came, but this time with a laugh. “Well, someone had to keep you from losing things since I couldn’t be there.”
Laura laughed, too, drawing her husband’s attention. “God, I’ve missed that sound,” he said. “You laughing.” As he’d done with his daughter, he reached up and pushed her hair away from her face, only this time, he cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes, the moment almost painfully intimate.
Slowly, he lowered his head, brushing his lips against hers.
Philly knew he should look away, knew he should give the couple their privacy, but he couldn’t bring himself to. The love between the couple felt like a whirling force, pulling everyone nearby into its orbit. Even the two pilots stood side by side at the top of the stairs watching.
The kiss lingered, gentle and almost chaste, but the emotions surrounding the couple were anything but. Finally, Rian pulled back, staring at Laura for the space of two heartbeats, before touching his forehead to hers. They both closed their eyes and inhaled. A benediction marking the end of this particular trial and the beginning of something new.
He whispered a few words too quiet for Philly to hear; Laura responded with a simple “yes.”
Rian stepped back but kept his wife’s hand firmly in his. Turning to him and Callie, the couple offered up watery smiles.
“Thank you is inadequate,” Rian said.
“Leave it at that,” Philly said. Neither he nor Callie wanted or needed any more.
Rian hesitated, then nodded. “Joseph sends his regards. The doctors think we can take him home in a few days if we can arrange transport.”
“That’s good,” Callie said. “I’m sure HICC will help, if needed.”
Laura smiled. Philly wondered if she realized she was leaning into her husband. “HICC has done enough, but thank you,” Rian replied.
“Are you good here?” Philly asked.
Rian nodded. “A friend owns a hotel in town. Upscale. Excellent security. He’s given us one of the suites with our own entrance directly from the garage. And Ben is sticking to me like glue since, well, since the night my father came after you,” Rian said, shooting an uncertain and apologetic look at Callie.
Philly glanced around wondering where the operative was, as he didn’t appear to be sticking to Rian like glue. As if on cue, he stepped through the door, nodding to the reflective window beside the opening. One-way glass. He’d been watching the whole time.
“The sins of the father and all that,” Callie said, waving off Rian’s concern and the apology hovering in his eyes.
“Who’s with Joe if you’re here?” Philly asked Ben.
“A friend,” was all he said.
