Authors: Alexia Purdy

The Fall of Sky (31 page)

Four months later….

Audrey

“I’ll get it!”
I headed toward the door and peered through the hole. Blinking, I saw a dark figure with their head lowered and a hoodie covering their features so I couldn’t tell who it was.

“Who is it?” I asked through the door.

“It’s Liv.”

I scrambled to unlock the chain and several bolted locks before I swung the door open in disbelief.

“Liv? Is it really you?”

She peeked up at me and grinned, flashing her pearly white teeth at me.

“The one and only, in the flesh.”

My mouth hung open, unable to put into words anything.

She answered it by tugging me over to crash into her in a fierce hug. Her frame felt the same under my arms, maybe with a bit more meat on it. It was a relief to not find her as a bag of bones.

After a few moments, I finally pulled away to get a better look at her. She yanked off her hoodie to let her long curly waves tumble about her beautiful face. Her features were filled out, and her skin tone was a vibrant pink. No longer were there circles under her eyes, and her skin glowed with life I’d missed seeing.

“Come in! Oh, wow, this is great! Saul! Liv’s here!” I called back into the apartment.

“Okay, wait a sec…” Liv turned back to grab a bundle behind her. Err…rather two bundles. One was a large duffle bag, and the other was a stroller sitting behind her.

“What’s that?”

She handed me the heavy duffle bag, and I backed up to give her room while clasping the bag, allowing her by as she grasped the handle of the stroller and pulled it in, kicking the door softly shut behind her.

“This…” She pulled off a blanket covering the car seat fixed onto the stroller “…is Rose Elizabeth Westing. Your daughter.”

My eyes slid from the beautiful cherub face of a sleeping baby girl back up to my sister’s expectant eyes.

“Wait…what?”

She bent down and pulled out a folder and handed it to me.

“I had her a month ago. She was a bit premature, but is totally fine. I brought her here because you’re the only one who can take care of her. The only one I trust.”

I stared at her in disbelief before I flipped open the folder. In it was a birth certificate with little Rose’s name on it, including her birth information. It all looked fine, except when I scanned the name of the mother, expecting to see Liv’s name, it said something else entirely.

“Why does it say my name here, Liv?” I looked up to my sister, my little baby sister who always seemed to keep my life a lot more interesting than I could’ve ever made it. “It says
my name
under birth mother…”

I stopped talking as it dawned on me what Liv had done.

“Hey, Liv! You’re really here,” Saul called out as he entered from the bedroom. He had thrown on some pants over his boxers since he’d just woken up. The early morning had me awake hours before him, even though he didn’t really sleep in late.

“Saul!” Liv grinned wider as she ran over to give him a tight squeeze. “I’m so glad to see you guys!”

“Liv,” I groaned. I wanted answers, but she wasn’t giving me any fast enough. “What the hell is going on?” I held out the folder back to her.

“Shh…you’ll wake her up. Let’s sit down.”

“I don’t want to sit down.” I crossed my arms and planted myself in the hallway. She wasn’t going to get away so easily this time. I would chain her down myself if I had to.

“Okay, okay. Look…” She ran her hand through the long waves of her hair. It was longer, like mine, and shiny. Hell, it looked even thicker. She looked eerily like me with it styled like this, even though mine was straighter.

“I stole your I.D.”

“I knew it.” I exhaled loudly and squeezed my eyes shut.

She sighed and continued. “Look. I don’t know if Jonas or Emilio is the father, but either way, Jonas can’t know about her. I can’t have Jonas coming after me if he finds out the baby is related to him. Especially since Emilio is dead. I just can’t. So…” She let out a shaky breath as she paused.

“Come on, let’s sit down. She’s not going anywhere. Let’s let her sleep.” Saul tugged me toward the living room right next to the hall, and I let him. Liv followed and settled in an armchair right near the stroller.

I sank down on the couch, still drilling my eyes into her.

“So…what did you do?” I asked.

“I stole your I.D. so when I had her, I could say I was you. We look more alike than you know. She’s now officially your daughter, Sis. Saul can sign an affidavit as the father and be put on the birth certificate. No one has to know any different.”

“What? But…but…What the fuck, Liv?”

“I’ll sign it,” Saul interrupted. I gawked at him in disbelief.

“What?”

Saul turned toward me, looking calmer than a still lake in a bright summer’s day. I envied how relaxed he was about all this.

“You said you wanted a child, but the doctors said you can’t have any. Liv wants you to be the mother of her child. Why not, Audrey? Everyone wins and little Rose gets to stay with us, safe from all that Cartel business.”

I lowered my eyes to the floor at hearing our mother’s name. Of course Liv would name her Rose. We’d chatted about it once while lying under the stars on one of those long nights out in the desert, camping as we roamed across the country, homeless. She’d said that much.

“Audrey, I don’t want anyone else to have her. I only trust you and Saul. I can’t be a mother. You know me…I can barely take care of myself.”

“Where did you go?”

“Excuse me?”

My patience was running thin.

“All these months. Where did you go when you left us behind?”

Liv sat back into the chair, her shoulders pushed back. “I went to rehab. I paid in cash from the advance Noble Records gave us and asked to be placed anonymously. I wanted to be clean for Rose. Completely. I’ve been cutting back a lot, but I couldn’t fully shake it all off…the drugs…the alcohol. I let it run my life and I had to stop. When Lonzo said he knew everything and to run as fast as I could to avoid Jonas and Emilio at all costs, I knew I had to hide Rose. I had to. I had to make sure there were no more connections to Jonas or Emilio with her. They can never know about her. Plus, I had to do this alone. You’ve been there for me all my life, saving me. I had to save myself for once.”

Her words stung and melted my heart all at the same time. Her answer gave me the resolution I needed to this months’ long ache I’d been feeling. That much she’d given me.

I got to my feet and walked over to the baby. Her round face was a soft rosy pink surrounded by soft, short curls of light brown hair. She was beautiful and more precious to me in that moment than anything had been before. She reminded me of Liv when she was a baby with her soft skin and pouty lips. I wanted to pick up Rose and hold her to my chest that instant. I wanted to keep her safe, as safe as I’d wanted to keep Liv all these years.

“Can I hold her?”

Liv shot to her feet and stood by me, beaming.

“Of course.”

I reached down and undid her restraints. She made a face as I threaded her arms through them and slipped my hands under her warm body. Lifting her up, she stretched and furrowed her brows before she relaxed back into a nap in the crook of my arm.

Walking back to the sofa where Saul waited, I let my eyes roam over her tiny figure. Her fingers were miniature with the tiniest of nails formed on their tips. She smelled like a baby; baby lotion scented with a slight undertone of sour milk.

“She’s perfect.”

Saul reached out and touched her scalp softly. He ran his fingers over her fine hair, ears, and then around her chubby face before finding her fingers. She curled her little hand around one of his fingers and pressed tightly, as if to never let go.

“She likes you guys!” Liv sat back on the arm chair and observed us with an enthusiasm I’d not seen on her in a very long time. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but I figured maybe you might let me stay here with you so we can all get to know each other again. Especially…you know…Rose and you guys.”

The little bundle in my arms made my heart flutter in my chest again, and I laughed when Rose began hiccupping in my arms. She felt alive, thrumming with more life than most people walking like zombies in the light of day. I wanted to feel her close to me forever. Like this. It was a feeling I’d been missing for the longest time, and I knew the coming days, months, and years would be more than amazing because of her.

I glanced back up to my sister and grinned.

“Of course you can stay. That was never a question that needed an answer. You know that.”

Liv nodded and settled back, looking a bit tired but relaxed, like a load had been lifted from her shoulders. I’d never seen her so peaceful like that before. It warmed my soul and brought me the same relief.

“Love you, Sis. Never forget,” I whispered across to the room to her.

“Love you, too. And I won’t ever forget.”

The End.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to my readers. You rock my world! Thank you for everything!

I want to thank Kendra Gaither, Michael K. Rose, Ella James, J.A. Huss, Jonas Saul and J.T. Lewis. Your insight gives me the drive to keep on in this chaotic world! Thank you for being amazing!

About the Author

Alexia currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada–Sin City! She loves to spend every free moment writing or playing with her four rambunctious kids. Writing has always been her dream, and she has been writing ever since she can remember. She loves writing paranormal fantasy and poetry and devours books daily. Alexia also enjoys watching movies, dancing, singing loudly in the car and eating Italian food.

Connect with Alexia Purdy:

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Also by Alexia Purdy

Reign of Blood Series:

Reign of Blood

Disarming (Reign of Blood #2)