Republisher’s Note: Danny makes a horrible discovery today.
The Story of Manny Chapter 27
The Power of Love
I’m lying here on the sofa in the Bauer living room watching Michelle change Camille. She’s getting so big and active — her chubby little legs and arms are flying every which way as Michelle deals with a very stinky diaper. I can’t help but chuckle at the site. Michelle shoots me a look that’s showing both amusement and frustration. Our five-month-old is quite a handful.
“Don’t laugh. I’ll make you come down here and take care of this.” I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how beautiful they are.
“Hey, I’m incapacitated remember? I can’t do any manual labor for another two weeks.” I can joke about my condition now that I’m out of that miserable hospital. Theresa’s little plan nearly killed me. I was in intensive care for three weeks before moving to a regular bed and finally coming home a few days ago. My injuries are nearly healed. I’m still a little sore and I’m weaker than usual. Rick says I’m not doing half bad for a man who had his brain nearly crushed and then drilled into by a neurosurgeon.
“Since when is changing a poopy diaper manual labor?” Michelle secures the little tabs, pulls Camille’s purple pants over her bottom and latches her to her hip. Camille immediately grabs a fistful of Michelle’s curls. “Huh, mister?” She joins me on the sofa, placing Camille in my arms. I immediately begin tickling her feet and her legs, causing her to giggle loudly.
“With her it is. Look at how she’s kicking these little legs. Look how dangerous she is.” I pretend to dodge her baby kicks. “I don’t want to end back up in ICU you know.”
“Don’t even joke about that,” Michelle straightens my blanket. “I don’t even want to think about that. The whole ordeal is a chapter of our lives I want to close forever.”
I see the sadness in her eyes and I realize just how scared she’s been. “I’m sorry,” I say, reaching up to cup her face in my hand. “I’m sorry for everything. I never wanted your life to be like this.” Michelle scoops Camille in her arms and sits her up on her lap.
“Don’t ever apologize for giving me your love and this precious little girl. Ever. Besides none of this was your fault. You were trying to protect me, you were trying to make me happy and look where it got you. Nearly dead. No one will ever try to take you away from me ever again.”
Michelle’s eyes are so intense and her voice is almost cold. I’ve never heard her speak this way. There’s an awkward silence between us before Camille begins babbling loudly, gaining both of our attention. “See, she’s saying Daddy. Listen to her!”
“Danny she is not saying Daddy. She’s just babbling. All babies say da-da when they babble. It’s one of the first sounds they learn to make.”
“I don’t care what your medical books say. She’s saying Daddy, huh? Aren’t you baby?” I glide my fingers through her silky little curls. She’s an absolute miracle and I realize that more than ever when she looks up at me with those big chocolate eyes and gives me a huge grin.
“OK Daddy. How about you hold this little genius while I go get your medicine and some lunch for my two angels?” Michelle kisses my forehead and hands me Camille. My ribs are still a bit sore and I wince a bit when I try to sit up too fast to hold the baby, worrying Michelle. “Will you be all right?”
“Yeah. We’re OK. Just a little sore.” She adjusts some pillows at my side then hands me a stuffed toy before disappearing into the kitchen. I watch to make sure she’s out of sight before reaching for the phone. “Pilar. It’s Danny. Did you do what I asked you to do? No one knows, right? Great. No one can know, all right? No one. Especially Michelle. Thanks. I’ll talk to you at the christening tomorrow. I love you, too. Bye.”
“Keeping secrets from your wife is not a good idea, Daniel.” I look up to see uncle Manuel and aunt Isabela in the doorway. Isabela comes immediately for the baby, hugging and kissing her all over.
“I’m not keeping any secrets. Come on in and close the door. It’s chilly out there.” Manuel sits across from me.
“How are you feeling, son?”
“I’m doing just fine. How are you two adjusting to life at Casa Santos?”
“Oh the house is so huge. Your mother obviously hasn’t lost her taste for fine things. I hope she doesn’t mind my changes when she returns. I cannot wait for you all to come over for Thanksgiving dinner,” Isabela says as she sits next to me and rubs my head. “Your hair is coming back nicely. You won’t even see the scar when all of those gorgeous curls come back.” I smile and playfully slap her hand away.
“I’m kinda liking this buzz cut. Looks sort of militant. What do you think, Manuel?”
“Don’t try to change the subject, Daniel. What are you up to?” Manuel knows me as well as anyone. He won’t give up until I spill it. “What are you hiding from Michelle?”
“Who’s hiding something from me?” Michelle emerges from the kitchen carrying a tray. “I thought I heard voices.” She sets the tray down and kisses Manuel and Isabela before sitting on the edge of the coffee table in front of me. “Who’s keeping secrets?” She raises an eyebrow to let me know that I have no choice but to tell.
“For God’s sake, I am not keeping a secret. It’s a surprise. There’s a difference, you know?”
“A surprise? What’s the surprise?” Michelle is kneeling in front of me now, wrapping her arms around my neck and showering my face with kisses. “Hmmm?”
“I’m not telling!” I laugh at her attempt to seduce me into spilling my guts. “You can rape me and I won’t tell.”
“Danny!” Michelle playfully hits my arm. “Don’t talk like that in front of your family.”
“Well he is obviously feeling better,” Manuel says smiling. “Maybe we’ll have a hermano or hermana for this little darling soon?”
Michelle settles on my lap and I hold her tightly. “Maybe,” I say as I kiss her cheek.
“I think we need to get you well before we think about more babies. And get this one out of diapers, you know those stinky little things you seem to want to forget about? Open.” Michelle drops two pills in my mouth and holds a straw against my lips. “Abby’s homemade vegetable soup?” She gets down from my lap and sets the tray up for my feasting. She’s been so good to me. She’ll make a great doctor one day.
“We saw Ray today,” Isabela says. “He says everything is set for Camille’s baptism tomorrow. Is there anything we can do here?”
“No, you two have been so good to us already. I don’t know how we can ever thank you,” Michelle says as she hands my aunt Camille’s bottle. “We owe you our lives.”
“We are family. Family is everything, right Daniel?” Manuel looks so much like my father that sometimes it gives me a weird feeling, a feeling like I’m seeing a ghost. Manuel has been talking to me lately about forgiving my mother. About trying to get past what she did and allowing her to try to rebuild a relationship with me and my daughter, even Michelle. I thought for sure that Michelle would fight this idea, but she’s actually been surprisingly supportive. She seems to think that jail will do Carmen good and that we have a good chance for a somewhat normal life once she’s released. I don’t know why, but I see a new bond between the two of them now. Maybe it’s because of Camille. Maybe it’s because I nearly died. Who knows? I shouldn’t be surprised. Michelle is one of the most amazing people in the world; if anyone can forgive my mother, it’s Michelle.
“Right,” I say softly.
“Things are going well with the transition. There will be much work waiting for you at SanCorp when you are well, son. I hope they left enough of your brain in tact to run a multimillion dollar corporation.” My laughter causes Michelle to glare in my direction.
“What is it with you men and joking about that?”
“Sorry,” Manuel says through his own laughter. “We’re all glad Daniel is fine.” He’s rubbing my head with the palm of his hands. “Thank God this boy had enough smarts to spare.” We burst out laughing again before Michelle waves her hands in frustration.
“I don’t understand it.” She sits next to Isabela with a bowl of cereal for Camille. “I’ve told him a million times it’s not funny.”
“That’s just how they’ve always been. They deal with serious things with humor,” Isabela wipes the baby’s face after each spoonful. “She’s growing so fast. I can’t believe she’s eating cereal already.”
“I know. Rick says she’s actually ahead of most babies her age. She’s sitting up a bit already and she’s babbling like crazy. Danny swears she says daddy.”
I should be eating but all I can do is stare at Michelle and Camille and thank God I’m here to see this. Even something as simple as my wife feeding my daughter lunch is so amazing to me. I will never take anything for granted again. We’ve fought like hell to be together and stay together. I’m going to make sure our lives are worth it. My thoughts are broken by Manuel’s strong hand on my shoulder.
“So are you going to let me in on this big surprise?”
“Not a word,” I whisper.
“Cross my heart.”
“Remember I told you that Michelle and I had some land out near Laurel Falls and we planned to build a house there?”
“Yes. That’s where you got married for what the third time?”
“Yeah, the third time,” I say through a huge smile. “Well, when we first arrived in Springfield all those weeks ago I had the contractor resume construction. We should be able to do a walk through tomorrow after the service.”
“That’s great, son. I’m sure she will love that.”
“I know she will. Whenever things were really bad, we would talk about that house and all of our plans for it. We thought we would never have the chance to make them reality, you know?”
“You two have been through a lot.”
“I just hope it’s finally over. Completely over. God knows where Theresa is and when she’ll decide to pop up to cause trouble.”
“Danny, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”
“About what?”
“Theresa.”
“What about her?”
“She and Jimmy Montoya were found dead about two weeks after you were brought to Cedars. I can’t prove it but it appears to be the work of your mother’s men.”
“She ordered a hit from prison?”
“Someone ordered a hit,” Manuel says looking intensely at Michelle who is busy speaking to Isabela.
“What about Bernard? He’s been with us but this must change everything.” I’m suddenly panicked. Bernard is a good guy but he is one of us. Theresa was his blood. I’m not so sure he could let that one go.
“Bernard has been dealt with,” Manuel whispers. “Your mother apparently had something on him. He can’t do anything.”
“Shit,” I mutter as I drop my spoon. Suddenly my appetite is gone. “Theresa and Jimmy are dead?” As I finish the sentence Michelle looks over at me with concerned eyes. She’s by my side before I can let the thought digest.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t know how you would take it and your condition was so fragile. Danny, I know you once had feelings for her and I didn’t want to hurt you…” She’s stroking the side of my face. “Are you OK?”
I look into her eyes and I see that there is no sympathy there. There is something very cold and different there. I reach up and hold her hand in mine. “I’m fine,” I whisper.
“She tried to kill you, Danny. They both tried to kill you. They almost did.”
“I just don’t understand how Mama could set this whole thing up from prison. She must have had help and the business has been dismantling for weeks. Who?”
Michelle kisses my hand and then squeezes it tightly. I look at her face and immediately I know.
No.
This cannot be happening.
“My God, Michelle.”
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