To Love a Stray Ch. 15

Rosy shakes her head as she glances towards where Mitchell is sitting before she meets my eyes and shakes her head again.

"Your brother can't answer this one for you," I snap tightly and she shakes her head again. "Answer me!" I demand angrily.

"I wasn't kissing Edwin," her voice is little more than a scared whisper and I take a deep breath as rage bubbles within me.

"Really?" I ask sarcastically, "Funnily enough it looked like you were."

"He kissed me," Rosy says faintly. "He'd been talking to me, touching me, and then he kissed me."

"What do you mean he was touching you?" I demand in a cool even tone. I am aware my temper has just hit that dangerous calmness before flaring out of control.

"At first he..." Rosy starts then stops to swallow nervously, "at first he had a hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream for anyone. He had me backed against the side of the quarters ..."

She licks her lips nervously and my gaze is drawn to her mouth. What I had at first taken for whisker burn on her face is clearly the imprint of fingers over her lips and the surrounding skin.

"He kept me there with one hand against the top of my shoulder while he talked to me. Then he wanted to put his hand on my stomach, our baby. After that he kissed me," Rosy says uneasily as her gaze flicks from side to side as if looking for a way past me.

"Our baby? Define our," I snarl in outrage. Shortly before the strays stole Rosy away from me, she had been calling it our baby, hers and mine. Now it is Edwin's and hers?

Rosy shakes her head and takes a step backwards away from me as she presses the wad of tissues against her mouth.

"Yours and Edwin's," I hiss on a tight breath. "This how you tell me things are over between us?"

Rage builds and I clench the hand I raise into a fist, meaning to push the hair back off my forehead where it is annoying me. My movement catches Rosy's eye and she freezes like a deer caught in the glare of a spotlight.

"After being with the strays you've decided Edwin is more to your taste?" Even as I utter the words I regret them, regret the way Rosy flinches, drops her gaze and backs up several steps.

"Micah Williamson! How dare you talk to Rosy like that! You are a complete bastard," Jazzy snaps angrily and I turn my head towards her to see her on her feet and stalking towards me.

"You apologise to Rosy right now!" Jazzy demands.

"I don't believe this," I snap, "Rosy rejects me and you ..."

"I ..." the word explodes on a high note; almost a shriek and I turn my attention back to Rosy who had made the noise.

"I rejected you ... me?" Rosy's eyes are huge dark blue pools awash in a sea of tears as she lifts her chin to look at me.

"You don't touch me anymore, you don't want to touch my belly, you don't ask to feel our baby move," Rosy screams at me. "You only touch me when you have to! I'm not dirty anymore! I washed all the dirty and muck off, all the smell ... all the stink from those strays ... Don't punish me because I let the Darnels do what they wanted. It was the only way I could keep Donovan safe! There were some who ..."

Rosy sucks in a desperate breath amid her sobs. The pain in her eyes, in her voice rips at me as I realise I have unknowingly added to her misery.

"You don't want to touch our baby, my baby, the kitt ... you don't hold me and make me feel safe anymore ... you don't ... you don't and Edwin wanted to feel the baby move. He cared enough to ask," Rosy's voice trails down to a broken whimper as her knees fold and she collapses onto the floor hugging her stomach, head bowed as her shoulders shake with her sobs.

I am in front of her scooping her into my arms and holding her close as she sobs brokenly. I cup the back of her head and press her cheek to my chest as I start to rock her.

"It's not that I don't want to hold you or feel our baby move," I say gently. "I was trying to give you time to recover from your ordeal. You told Donny you were going to kill the kitt when it was born. Doc was worried that us wanting to touch your stomach, feel the baby move, would put you under more stress. We know you don't want to hurt your baby, not really, but we don't want you to feel pressured to where you might think you had to do something like that."

"You want ... to ... touch my belly?" Rosy manages between sobs.

"Yes, yes," I answer desperate to reassure her. "When I heard the strays had you, it felt like I'd been kicked in the chest and head by a mule. My heart felt like it could barely beat and I could hardly think straight, one of my greatest worries apart from loosing you was I'd never get to feel our kitt move or see it when it is born."

I pause to press several kisses against her hair and I move so I am sitting on the floor and can lift her onto my lap. I slip one hand beneath her chin and manage to get her to lift her head so I can see her face. Hurt and fear still linger in her eyes and I rest my forehead against hers before dropping several light kisses onto the tip of her nose and then on her lips.

"Micah, get up and sit on the lounge with Rosy. And you will apologise to her for those nasty things you said to her!" Jazzy orders and I look over my shoulder at her, and then around the faces of everyone there. I had forgotten everyone was here the moment I heard the hurt pouring from my Rosy.

"Step aside for a moment Jazzy," Steven says as he steps closer.

Jazzy moves back towards Mitchell who is on his feet glancing with concern between my face and Rosy, where she is huddled against my chest.

"Here Micah, let us help," Dwayne says as he moves to take hold of my biceps on the opposite side to Steven, and they both help me get to my feet as I cradle Rosy to my chest. She is limp in my arms and I doubt she would have the strength to stand if I let her go.

"Where's Doc?" I demand as I carry her to the lounge and sit down settling her on my lap.

"You apologise to Rosy now," Jazzy demands angrily.

"I'm sorry Rosy, I'm sorry I said those hurtful things. I felt like you had measured me up against Edwin and found me lacking and it hurt, so I guess I tried to hurt back. I've been compared against him so much most of my life I just assumed you were ..." I try to explain to her even when she turns her head to eye me uncertainly.

"You thought I was comparing you two? Saying he is better than you or you're better than him?" Rosy asks very softly, her voice faint and shaky.

"Stupid of me isn't it? I'm sorry I said what I did okay? So very sorry," I tell her earnestly.

"One against the other," Rosy says and she starts crying once again.

"Rosy, you have to calm down or I will get some stuff from Doc to sedate you," I threaten in fear as she cries against my shoulder.

"Micah, I'll sit with my niece while you make her a nice cup of tea to help her settle down," Kurt says firmly from near the hallway door.

I look at him with a frown. I don't want to leave Rosy but Kurt is well known for his steady calmness. Hopefully he might be able to get Rosy to calm down some.

"I'll sit with Rosy as well," Jazzy declares.

I hesitate as long as I can and when I ease Rosy onto the lounge and stand, it is Mitchell who sits on one side of her and Jazzy on the other side. Kurt moves to squat at her face level just in front of Mitchell's knees.

"You alright, partner?" Steven says quietly as he joins me in the kitchen.

"No, but I'll be a lot better when Rosy has calmed down," I say and glance into the lounge room after I have filled the kettle and turned it on.

Malcolm is now standing behind the lounge and leaning forward to rub Rosy's upper arms and shoulders while Dwayne, Justin and Donny have moved in close around the front of the group. I can see that Kurt is talking softly to Rosy and every so often Dwayne, Malcolm or one of the others chip in with some small, soft comment.

"Oh God, I hurt her. I hurt my Rosy all because of my own damned insecurities," I mutter to myself.

"You need to calm down and stop beating yourself up," Steven says firmly. "When we came out of the house, it did look like Rosy and Edwin were kissing but when we got close that hand print on her face was obvious. If she was kissing him it was because she was scared to fight him."

"Is there enough coffee in the machine for everyone to have one?" Mikkarl asks as he walks into the kitchen and over to the percolator.

"Where the hell were you lot? How did Edwin get near Rosy?" I demand as I advance on Mikkarl angrily.

"We were inside," Mikkarl says evenly. "Malcolm sat out with Rosy until she started to drift off to sleep and she wanted to be alone, so he came back inside. One of us would go to the door and listen for a few moments every five minutes or so. We were all inside when Kirby and Timny thought they heard her call out. Malcolm went outside to check, thought it was too quiet at the front door and gave a whistle for us to follow before going to check. We found Jacob saying something to Edwin about kissing Rosy. Malcolm looked like he was going to take one or both of them on then Sam got there. You saw the rest."

"Rosy shouldn't have been left alone," I snap angrily even though I remember I told them to give her all the room she wanted.

"You getting mad isn't going to help Rosy calm down," Steven interjects.

I look back into the lounge room as I hear Sam's footsteps in the sunroom; he hesitates for a moment in the doorway before walking to the front of the lounge and looking down at those on the lounge.

"I'm sorry you happened to see that Jazzy," Sam says contritely and reaches down to put his hand on her shoulder.

I see Jazzy cover his hand with one of hers and I hear the soft murmur of her voice but I can't make out her words. Sam moves until he is squatting facing Rosy beside Kurt.

As soon as the kettle is boiled I make a cup of the herbal tea Rosy has been drinking the last few days, add a dash of cold water and carry it into the lounge room to her.

"Here Rosy, I made a cup of tea for you," I feel silly as I hold the mug out to her. A cup of tea isn't going to be able to begin to fix whatever is wrong with her.

She takes it without a word, using a strained, uneasy grimace of a smile as thanks. I run a hand through my hair distractedly. I want to be able to take away the fear that lurks in her eyes.

"Donny is very upset Rosy," Kurt says gently. "Can you tell me why he'd think such a thing? You can tell us, none of us will judge you. No one will get angry with you or Donny."

I want to ask what is going on, what is Kurt asking Rosy, but instead I remain silent as Rosy glances my way even as she avoids meeting my eyes. She is clearly scared and uncertain as she avoids answering Kurt's question by taking a few sips of her tea.

"She said it," Donny protests and glances from one face to another. "She did. She said she was going to kill the kitt when she had it."

Fear and misery are thick in his voice as Donny mumbles his accusation. He brushes tears from his eyes and looks at Rosy sadly.

"Rosy?" I prompt as I feel horror and disbelief swell inside me as I see the way she hunches her shoulders defensively.

"Rosy tell me," Jazzy says quietly as she puts her arm around Rosy's shoulders and rests her own head against Rosy's.

"Vaygar," Rosy whispers very quietly. "Vaygar and Kendal ... if I had a girl ... it's too terrible what they'd do to a little girl," Rosy whispers and closes her eyes tightly but tears leak from the corners of her eyes and she sniffs loudly. "I'd kill her before I let them do to her any of what they did to me."

"Oh Rosy!" Jazzy sobs and embraces Rosy fully regardless of the mug she holds. "You're so brave! I couldn't let any daughter of mine be at the mercy of strays either!"

"Rosy," Kurt says firmly, "it is important you know that no one here wants to hurt your kitt. No one wants to take it away from you; no one wants to harm either of you. You understand?"

I watch as Rosy opens her eyes and turns her head as she looks at Kurt. There is no mistaking the pain and fear in her eyes as she avoids direct eye contact with him.

"Rosy I promise I won't let anyone hurt our son," I say in a voice tight with pain. It hurts me to see her so scared and upset now she is safe with us.

"Okay, enough for now," Kurt says firmly as he straightens to stand upright. "Rosy can talk to who ever she wants to about this if she feels the need."

I watch as Sam reaches out and gives Rosy's legs just above her knees a quick squeeze with his hands before moving away. Mitchell is stroking the back of her shoulders and Jazzy is still hugging her. But it is Donny who gets a proper reaction from Rosy when he throws himself to his knees in front of her and buries his face against her stomach as he dissolves into a heavy bout of crying.

Rosy waves her hands ineffectively for a few seconds before pushing her mug of tea towards Mitchell who grabs it before she releases it to wrap her arms around Donny's shoulders. Her crying shakes her shoulders and I take a step forward intending to move Donny aside and lift Rosy into my arms but Kurt clasps my upper arm and shakes his head at me.

"Leave them," Kurt says quietly. "Let her cry out as much of her fear as she can."

"Doc said she needs to stay calm," I protest even as I allow him to walk me towards the kitchen.

"What does a tom have to do to get a cup of coffee around here?" Kurt asks as he looks around the kitchen.

"Coffee coming right up," Mikkarl says pulling ceramic cups from the cupboard. "There's some scones or fruit cake if you want something to eat with it."

"Micah, she needed to be able to get that out in the open so she could deal with the fact she had that thought, that she was prepared to do that. Now she isn't bottling it up and it's not eating away inside her. Now she knows she's not as terrible as she thought she was for saying it," Kurt says with a concerned glance towards the lounge room.

I hear the sound of a loud knock on the screen door and grab the cup of coffee Mikkarl pushes towards me.

"That'll probably be Doc," I say with a weary sigh.

"I'll go let him in," Sam says just behind Kurt.

"I could do with a breath of fresh air," Kurt says lifting a steaming cup from the bench.

I lead the way through the hallway to the front door and unlock the screen door before walking outside and stepping aside so that Kurt, Sam, Steven, Malcolm and Dwayne can come outside as well.

"Where are Jazzy and Rosy?" Doc asks immediately. "How are they after what Sam did to Edwin?"

"Jazzy reckons Edwin deserved it," Dwayne says evenly.

"What about Rosy? I'm more concerned with her frame of mind at the moment," Doc says with a frown.

"Without going into too many details, Rosy admitted she talked about killing her kitt," I tell him worriedly.

"Basically she wasn't going to let the strays that held her and Donny prisoner have the kitt if it was a little girl," Kurt interjects gently. "Big difference to just talking about killing a daughter. She was willing to do whatever necessary to protect her."

"I know that!" I snap with irritation as I turn towards Doc. "How soon can Edwin get off clan lands?"

"It'll be a few days, possibly up to a week." Doc says seriously. "Several broken ribs on each side, internal bruising and bleeding, a fractured jaw. That last blow with your boot, you ruptured one testicle. I had to remove it to stop the bleeding; the other one was driven back up into his body out of his scrotum. He'll need surgery to fix that."

"So he won't be touching another female in a good while," Kurt says with a hint of satisfaction.

"No," Doc says with a shake of his head. "And a good chance he won't be able to sire kitts if he were to marry a she-kitt."

I glance at Sam to see a look of savage satisfaction on his face. He catches my look and bares his teeth in a feral smile.