Joey shifted uncomfortably as he once more replayed what had happened at the house in Springfield, at Robbie and Casey’s wedding, and the final, shocking episode in this drama, the death of their father in Santa Rita Holding Facility after his crazed attack on his ex-wife’s new-born baby.
“Did you hear, back in Springfield, about Robbie’s father, about Steve Dolan, and what happened here?”
Luna shook her head.
“Nope, ’bout all I know is that he disappeared, and all the DolanCo stores went bust ’bout a year ago, something to do with a whole bunch of lawsuits and the family’s refusal to file Chapter 11; put a heap of folks out of work, that did, then next thing we hear a few months back is he’s dead, in jail here in California. So tell me, Joey, what did happen to him here?”
Joey paused, picking his words carefully.
“Angie, Robbie’s mother, finally worked out what she’d done to him, and what her husband had been doing to Casey, what kind of a man he really was, and she divorced him. She came out here, and met Elio, my stepdad’s brother. Angie Dolan finally made it right again with Casey, but it was too late for Robbie; she lost him a long time ago, and as far as he’s concerned, Angie, for all her being sorry, doesn’t mean much more to him than the fact she’s now his business-partner’s wife; she married Elio, and they have a baby girl, Sarah-Caitlin, my God-Daughter. Dolan somehow found out where she was and followed her out here; he snuck into the church at Robbie’s wedding, punched-out mom and Karen, and grabbed Angie’s baby; she was just a new-born then, and he held a craft knife at her throat. He threatened to kill her…”
Luna stared at him in shock.
“Go on, please, finish it!” she whispered, and Joey took her hand, lacing his fingers in hers again. “Did he…?”
Joey shook his head.
“That stupid, crazy sonuvabitch thought he was going to get Angie to go back to him if he threatened her baby. He didn’t know Robbie’s grandma, his own mom, was right behind him, and she brained the bastard with a church candlestick before he could hurt that baby, Robbie’s little sister; if she hadn’t been there…”
Luna waited in shocked fascination for him to finish the story.
“Dolan spent six months down in Atascadero, where the state cages-up the psycho’s and sex-offenders, and then they transferred him to Santa Rita, over in Dublin in the East Bay, pending trial. One day someone decided to shank him, so they did, but they raped him first. Don’t waste any pity on him, babe; he paid for everything he ever did, and believe me, he did some bad stuff!”
Luna stroked his face, wiping away the outraged expression there.
“You said something about what he did to Casey…?”
Joey leaned back and averted his eyes, his lip curled in distaste.
“That’s not for me to say, baby; what he did to her is something she’ll have to tell you herself; when she’s ready, she’ll tell you about it, and then you’ll understand.”
But Luna, her mind already in-sync with his, knew what he was trying to avoid saying, and her eyes widened, her expression aghast as she contemplated a man doing… that, to his own daughter…
“How… how is she now, what…”
Joey adjusted his arm around her, holding her and the sleeping toddler closer.
“Now he’s dead, she’s finally free of him, she can rest easy at night; she thinks justice has been done, and I don’t think she’s losin’ any sleep over him. Robbie knows his family are safe, and that’s all that matters to him. His family sleeps safe at night, so everybody wins.”
Luna still looked shocked.
“So Robbie’s … OK with the murder of his father? What kind of…?” but Joey interrupted her.
“It’s not that simple, baby; Robbie isn’t OK with it. He didn’t condone it, he’s a peaceable man, and he thinks everybody’s got some good inside them. I have no doubt in my mind that one day he’d have forgiven Steve, his mom, everyone who ever hurt him; he’d forgive them and let it all go. Robbie doesn’t hold grudges, he doesn’t know how.”
He paused to scratch his chin reflectively.
“But think about this: now that Steve Dolan’s gone, he’s not gonna be waiting around a corner in five years, or ten, or twenty years from now, to harm Robbie or Casey or their kids; he’s not gonna be harming any babies, and he’s not gonna be killing Robbie, or Casey, or her mother, or any of us. Robbie accepts that; he’s sorry it happened, he’s shocked and horrified at how it happened, but he’s also relieved. To give him his due, he’s horrified that he’s relieved, but at least now he knows his babies, his wife, his whole family, is safe, that there’s one less demon to trouble the world. If you’d seen the way Dolan held that knife at that little baby’s throat, you’d have shot him down in an instant, like a mad dog. I still can’t believe I saw that happen, in front of my eyes, in a church, it was…”
He shook himself, a shuddering quake of his body, like a man waking from a nightmare and realising it wasn’t real. Luna shifted the baby’s weight and leaned closer against him, her warm presence calming him even further, as did her head on his shoulder.
“Hey, Joey,” she whispered, “I didn’t mean to stir it all up again for you. It’s been a bad time for you, for all of you, but it’s over now. I’ll never mention it again, cross my heart!”
Joey gently bumped his head against hers as he grinned.
“No, it’s alright, you were right to bring it up; you should know these things, baby; you need to know where this all started, how I came to be out here, why you’re out here now; it’s all part of the same story, and you’re part of the story now.”
Luna leaned back against him, mulling over what he’d just told her. Joey didn’t seem particularly bent out of shape over it. There was outrage there, there should be, but also resigned acceptance; bad things had happened, and now they were done; time to move on. Luna understood that. Now it was a new phase in his life, now it was their life together, this was the next chapter, and it was up to them to write it.
They were still sitting comfortably together when a knock at the door roused them. Joey went to see who it was, his face splitting into a grin when he saw it was Casey.
“Good morning, big brother!” she smiled, “I’ve come to take Luna and show her some of the sights of Daly City. I was planning on taking Junior, Roisian, and Caitlin to Lake Merced, and I thought Luna might like to bring Joe along; it’s a lovely morning; I think she’ll like it. I’m sure the fire-fighters at the fire-station are tired of whistling at me, so I thought I’d give them a real redhead to leer at!”
Luna came out just then, grinning as she caught the tail of Casey’s remark, her eyebrow cocked in query. Joey grinned and nodded, so the two girls disappeared upstairs to get ready, leaving Joey to walk around holding Joe.
While Luna was gone, Joey reflected on the circumstances that had brought her here, to his home and his life, and, once again, found that all he wanted was her, with him, to be his wife.
*
The next few days were a whirlwind for Luna; when Joey brought his Bentley Continental GT back from the secure parking garage under Robbie’s condo, she’d gasped in amazement that he owned such a fabulous car. Her eyes widened when he told her that Robbie had given it to him as a wedding present, and that he’d added her to his insurance, so it was hers to drive too, whenever she wanted. She was astonished at his generosity, but she would never have dreamed of taking him up on his offer; she’d grown up around pickups and Jonah’s succession of battered Chevy step-sides, they were what she was more comfortable driving, not that incredible dream-machine.
San Francisco and the Bay Area was everything she’d always dreamed it would be. Nothing competed with the thrill of seeing the famous landmarks and the districts, and walking across the Golden Gate bridge, of course, then Chinatown, Golden Gate Park, The Presidio, Pier 39 and The Embarcadero, Castro, Haight-Ashbury, the Coit Tower, the Bay Bridge, and shopping in Ghirardelli Square and Market Street. Along with slaloming down Lombard Street, visiting Alcatraz, and spending a whole day at Six Flags with Joe and little Caitlin, it all blurred together into one huge, happy moment, more famous places and iconic experiences than she ‘d ever thought could be in just one place. She’d never been happier, nor could she find the words to tell Joey just how much living in such a wonderful place, with him, and baby Joe, meant to her, but she didn’t have to; the look on her face was enough for him.
Luna was falling as surely in love with her new home as she had with Joey, and so their days filled with happy exploration of the city and all it had to offer, and their nights fled by in a blur of passion as they connected on ever more and deeper levels, making love though the night, every night. Every second of lovemaking was an eon of hot sensation and lightning-strike orgasm, electricity flowing between them from one moment of passion to the next, vivid, sharp and delightful, bonding them ever closer, welding them into one seamless, seemingly unbreakable whole.
Finally, the day Luna had been waiting for arrived. Kat had called Joey and invited him and Luna to meet the family; she had recovered at last from her marathon trek through the best the Pacific Northwest had to offer in the way of tertiary education. The twins had a lot to think about before they started earmarking colleges, but they’d put that all aside in their eagerness to meet the girl Joey had met and fallen for in such a big way. When Luna finally finished dressing and made her grand entrance, Joey’s eyes widened as he gave a low, drawn-out wolf-whistle.