Guardian of the Fountain (18 page)

Chapter 24

      
Every man thinks he
should be able to control any situation. Expecting a baby to draw its last
breath at any moment and not being able to will it to live was something that
Brant never thought he would have to do. Especially his baby girl, whom he
loved from the very first moment he felt the unexpected early morning kick.
Loving something before he’d even laid eyes on it surprised him.

      
Brant
watched Chrissie as she rested in the crook of his arm. He admired the fact
that even though she had been a new mother for only minutes, she was already
wonderful at it. The way her finger stroked and caressed the tiny baby’s downy
head was like she was giving some of her life force to her baby to live. He
knew that if their baby girl died, a piece of both their hearts would die too.

      
He kissed
the top of Chrissie’s head. “I love my two girls.
You’re everything to me.”

      
Dr. Wilson rushed into
Chrissie’s room, finding the baby wrapped in Chrissie’s arms and Chrissie in
Brant’s arms.

      
“May I?”
Dr. Wilson held out his hands for the baby. He unwrapped the tiny bundle. He
gasped.

      
“What’s
wrong?” Brant sat up, rigid, next to Chrissie.

      
“Nothing’s wrong.
I’m just surprised to see this baby doing so well.” Dr. Wilson continued to
give the baby a thorough check. “She’s passing all the newborn tests. She’s just
like a full-term baby, just a fraction of the size. She doesn’t even have the
covering of lanugo hair that preemies have.”

      
“Is she
really okay?” Chrissie asked.

      
“That’s the
way it seems. How can this be?” Dr. Wilson handed the baby back to Chrissie.

      
“I gave
birth to her in fountain water. That’s the only explanation I have.”

      
“Well, it’s
good enough for me.” Dr. Wilson smiled. “I’m impressed with the vitality of the
newborn.”

      
“Does that
mean we don’t have to worry about her dying?” Brant’s hopeful tone lit the room
like a candle.

      
“I think
she is fine.” Dr. Wilson stood to leave. “I’m going to your room, Brant, to set
up the equipment for a preemie. Your overzealous nature is going to come in
handy when I wheel the incubator out of your closet.” He chuckled as he left
the room. “She won’t need most of it.”

      
As if
Chrissie hadn’t cried enough today, she started on some more tears, but these
were tears of joy. “What should we name her?” She looked up at Brant.

      
“How about
Abigail, after my mother?” Brant ventured.

      
“I thought
about María, too.
Even Rose.”

      
“Why don’t we name her
all of them?”

      
“That would
be a really long name, but then again I have a really long name.”
Chrissie shook her
head.

      
“It’s kind of a Spanish
thing to have a long name, but more importantly, it didn’t stop your parents
from naming you Chrysanthemum Love Stevens, and then you added Winston to the
end of it.”

      
“True.”
Chrissie gazed down at her baby. “Abigail Rose María Winston. We can call her
Abby Rose for short.”

      
“Sounds
beautiful to me.” Brant beamed. Truly, he didn’t think there was a more fitting
name for this wee one.

      
The baby
began to squirm and stretch. Brant took her from Chrissie and paced with the
baby in his arms. Chrissie settled down into her comfy bed. Dark circles hung
from her eyes. Today’s events were huge by themselves, but they had been taken
on all in one day. The night crickets began singing their songs as the
twinkling stars began to appear.
Brant watched Chrissie’s eyelids close like
heavy stage curtains.

      
Brant handed the baby
over to Dr. Wilson. Brant walked over to Chrissie and began to slide his arms
under her. “I hate to wake you, but we’re going to put the baby in the
incubator. I thought you might want to stay close to Abby, so I’m moving you to
my bed.”

      
“Our bed,”
Chrissie sleepily smiled.

      
“Yes, our
bed.” Brant tenderly lifted her out of the bed and began the journey behind Dr.
Wilson to the larger master bedroom.

      
Arturo and María
stood in the hall, holding hands as the procession passed. Arturo’s bright
smile beamed as he caught a glimpse of the baby.
“She’s beautiful, María. The
angel stayed with us.”

      
“I think we have
competition,” Brant whispered into Chrissie’s hair. “We are all going to be
fighting over Abby Rose.”

      
“She’ll be
the most loved baby on the planet.” She paused and frowned. “Brant, I feel
guilty.”

      
“Why?
Because you shot that thug?” Brant kept walking down the hall with Chrissie in
his arms.

      
“No, I
don’t feel bad about that. My parents aren’t here.” Tears started to well up in
her eyes.

      
“We’ll figure
out how we are going to tell them later. For now, what
is
important is that we get you rested and our baby thriving.”
Brant reassured. He set her down on the bed and covered her with warm blankets.

      
Dr. Wilson
set the baby in the incubator to be monitored. He turned on the warming light
for the baby to bask in. “She’ll need to be fed every one-and-a-half to two
hours. We can supplement until Chrissie can pump enough to do a feeding. Then
she will be bottle-fed or tube fed until she’s big enough to nurse. María, I’ll
put you in charge of making sure Chrissie and the baby have everything they
need.”

      
“It would
be my pleasure.” María’s face lit up as she peered into the incubator.

      
“Arturo, I
will need a ride up here many times before I’m done.” Dr. Wilson got the tube
ready to be inserted down the baby’s nose to feed her.

      
“Yes, sir.”
Arturo turned to Brant. “Do you think it is better if we bring the helicopter
to the mansion so we can get the doctor up here quicker if need be?”

      
“That’s
brilliant, Arturo. I will have it delivered tomorrow morning.”

      
“Of course you
have a helicopter. Why not? You have a private jet.” Chrissie shouldn’t have
been surprised—it was the least on the list of weird things that had
happened here.

      
“I’ll be
here every morning before the clinic opens to check on her until I feel she is
stable.”

* * *

      
Brant decided to let the
phone ring three times before he would give in and hang up the phone. So when
Dianne answered it after the first ring, he was briefly left speechless. “I, uh
…” He cleared his throat and started again. “This is Brant Winston.
Your daughter,
Chrissie, is under my care…”

      
“Oh, dear! Is something
wrong with Chrissie? I thought she was getting better.”

      
“I didn’t
mean to worry you. She’s fine. But I have something to tell you that I think
would be better discussed in person. If you would like to come, I’m inviting
you to my home, and you can see for yourself how she’s doing. I’ll send my jet
tomorrow morning to pick you up, if you agree.” He hoped Chrissie’s parents
would be able to come and stay for a while, and possibly forgive him for the
secrecy of his conduct. He knew, now that he had a daughter of his own, that
what he did might be hard to forgive.

      
“How could
I say no to that?” Dianne said with a bit of hesitation. “Wayne, dear?” she
yelled in the background. “Pack your bags.
We’re going to Venezuela.”

* * *

Brant
sent a car over to Caracas to pick up Dianne and Wayne. The black sedan pulled
up the cobblestone drive. He walked out the large front steps to greet his
in-laws. The driver opened the door, and the couple got out of the car, looking
in awe at the mansion.

      
“Hello, Mr.
and Mrs. Stevens. Welcome.” Brant tried his best to be bright and happy, even though
he knew that in a few moments, Mr. Stevens might want to kill him.

      
Dianne
walked up the steps and gathered Brant into a warm hug. “Thank you for taking
care of my Chrissie.
You have a beautiful home.”

      
Mr. Stevens extended his
hand. “Brant.” He grunted as he nodded and looked away. Brant could tell he was
a man of few words.

      
Brant
nervously cleared his throat. “Will you two come inside, and we’ll talk in the
library before we go up and see Chrissie?” He escorted them inside, and Dianne
immediately pulled out her camera and began snapping pictures. In the library,
she sat down in the oversized chair.
Wayne stood at her side.

      
“I have a few things to
tell you that might come as a shock, so I’ll start from the very beginning.” The
walls of the large room seemed to close in on him. “Before Chrissie became ill,
she and I dated. We fell in love.”

      
“Oh, that’s
so nice.” Diane smoothed her skirt down happily. “You said that over the
phone.”

      
Wayne stood
stiff like a statue.

      
“We got the
crazy hair one night and eloped.” Brant held his breath, waiting for Wayne to
reach across the desk and strangle him, but he didn’t move. “She fell ill the
next morning, and I took her to the hospital. Then as you know, I brought her
back after discovering the state of health she was in back in the States. I
expected she would’ve been well by then, but she wasn’t. We cared for her here,
and she seemed to be getting better, but not fully recovering. Then we found
out she was expecting. Of course, it came as a surprise to her because she
didn’t remember anything of our courtship.”

      
Wayne’s
face began to turn red with anger. Dianne grabbed Wayne’s hand and gently
patted it.
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” she asked.

      
“I didn’t know how.
There were some other circumstances that made it more difficult to do so. I can
explain that all later, but right now, I want to take you up to see Chrissie and
the baby.”

      
Dianne put
her hand to her chest in shock. “It hasn’t even been nine months since she came
back.”

      
“The baby
was born very early. She’s our little miracle.”

      
“Pick up
your step, Son. I need to see my daughter and grandbaby.”
Wayne’s demanding
tone put Brant on full alert.

      
“Don’t think that just
because you flew us here in a fancy jet that you won’t have to answer for this
later,” Dianne scolded him with her finger in Brant’s face.

      
“Yes, ma’am.
Right this way, Mr. and Mrs. Stevens.” Brant led the way upstairs.

Chapter 25

      
Chrissie finally
convinced Dr. Wilson to disconnect all the monitors and tubes from the baby.
She insisted Abby would be fine, and it was time that she got to hold her.
Chrissie had slept all night and wanted her baby. Her dad called it “mad mama bear”
if someone got in between the bear and her baby.

      
“I’m going
to have a mad mama bear moment if I don’t get to hold her!” Chrissie locked
eyes with Dr. Wilson. “She’s not your science experiment. She’s my baby.”

Dr.
Wilson looked at her strangely. “I need to see what kind of effect the water
has on a baby. Everything about her indicates she’s full term, except her two-pound
birth weight.” Abby had even tried sucking on her fingers at one point, which
would be rare for a twenty-eight-week baby. “Fine, fine. I concede. I can’t
examine her if I get kicked out of the house. I’m sending for Marla to come and
be your nurse and give me the minute-by-minute details.”

“Deal,”
Chrissie agreed as she took the baby from Dr. Wilson.

“Of
course, we’ll have to tell her about the water. How do you think she’ll handle
it?”

“If I
know Marla like I think I do, she can handle it. The girl’s from Jersey and is
tough as nails.” Chrissie smiled down at Abby. “You get to meet Auntie Marla,”
she cooed.

Chrissie
unwrapped the baby to give her another head-to-toe check like any mother would
naturally do. Abby’s preemie diapers covered half her body, and her spindly
legs curled underneath her. María had to sew simple soft cotton clothes small
enough to fit the tiny body. She fussed over Chrissie and the baby—she was
in doting heaven. Chrissie noted that María liked to feel needed, as though no
one could get along without her. Really, they all would be lost if they didn’t
have María.

      
Even Arturo
seemed to find excuses to linger near the baby, but today he was mysteriously
absent. Chrissie had inquired where he had gone, but the only answer she got was
that he had to go down the mountain to work early this morning.

      
Although
Brant hadn’t left Chrissie’s side since the baby was born, he finally excused
himself for a few hours to catch up on a delivery to Caracas, leaving Chrissie
alone with just María and the baby. She could relax from all the busy bodies in
the room.

      
The late-afternoon
sun had begun to set on the horizon when she heard the mansion doors close,
which perked her interest because the front doors were only used for company.
What sounded like a handful of people coming up the stairs paused outside of
Brant’s door. Chrissie stopped swaying with Abby next to the window. A soft
knock tapped on the door.

      
“Chrissie?”
Brant’s kind voice inquired. “Are you available for visitors?” He peeked his
head in the crack. His handsome smile greeted her.

      
“Visitors?
Who would want to visit me?”

      
“We do!” Chrissie’s
mom, Dianne, pushed the door open and came into the room. Chrissie could see
her father just outside the door in Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian print
shirt—he was wearing his “vacation clothes.”

      
“Mom!”
Chrissie couldn’t think of anything more
wonderful t
han to see her mother at this very moment. Now she was
here in her room with her. What surprised her even more that her father left
work to be here.

      
“Let me see
my grandbaby!” She half jogged over to Chrissie and the baby.

      
Chrissie
gladly handed over the very tiny baby. “I guess I have a lot I need to fill you
in on,” she said, embarrassed.

      
Her dad,
Wayne, came to stand by his wife. “Brant filled us in on the major parts. We
have plenty of time for details later. Right now, we want to love on our little
miracle baby.” He beamed. “I will kill him later,” he cooed at the baby.

“Daddy.
No, you won’t. If there’s anyone you should be angry at, it’s me. I said yes to
the man, and when I knew I was pregnant, I didn’t have the guts to tell you.”
Chrissie looked into her father’s eyes. He seemed to ponder it a moment.

“Fine.
Maybe I won’t kill him, but I might hold a grudge for a little while.”

“Everything
doesn’t seem so bad when a handsome man with a British accent explains it.”
Dianne smiled.

Chrissie
relaxed. “Mom and Dad, meet your granddaughter, Abby.” Compared to the problems
she just went through with the drug cartel, missing large sections of her
memory, and a premature baby a little family drama seemed trivial and could be
ironed out eventually.

      
Brant
breathed an audible sigh of relief as he stood in the doorway. Tears streamed
down Chrissie’s cheeks. “Thank you.” Things were the way they should be—all
the people she loved, except for one, in one room, happy and safe.

* * *

      
The commotion downstairs
was undeniable. Marla had arrived. “You’re crazy to think I was gonna let you
blind fold me.
You’d mess up my new eyelash extensions!”

      
Chrissie watched from
the balcony as Arturo carried two very large suitcases in behind Marla. Arturo
kept quiet as he walked past Marla with a grin on his face and carried the
suitcases up the stairs to her room.

      
Marla
followed him up, continuing her rant. “First, I’m told Chrissie needs me after
I haven’t heard from her in months, I get flown down here on a private jet, and
then I’m asked to put on a blindfold to drive up to some remote location.
Nothing, I repeat, nothing good comes from being blindfolded and being driven
out to some secret locale. Somebody has some explaining to do! Don’t make me
take off my hoops.
I’ll kick someone’s …”

      
“Marla,” Chrissie called
from the top of the stairs. She held the swaddled baby in her arms.

      
Marla’s jaw
dropped. “…even in heels,” her voice trailed off.

      
“I’ll
explain everything over cocoa. We have a lot of catching up to do.” Chrissie
turned and walked into the large master bedroom with Marla close behind.

      
“Shoot,
girlfriend.” Marla plopped down on the bed. “I’m guessing the kid is yours, but
I can’t figure out how you had time to squeeze that in.”

      
“I can’t
lie, so you’re going to have to take everything I say just for what it is.”

      
“Yeah, you’re a
horrible liar. Shoot.”

      
“Well … You haven’t
heard from me because I lost six months of my memory due to being poisoned by a
tropical flower and was on my deathbed. I was flown back to Venezuela to be
healed by the Fountain of Youth only to find out that I was actually pregnant
too. Because I lost my memory, I had no recollection of eloping with Brant and
that I actually took the poison myself to save him from the largest drug cartel
in the area. I got rid of the cartel and went into preterm labor and delivered
a healthy twenty-eight-weeker. That’s why you are here. To take care of me and
the baby for Dr. Wilson.” Chrissie was slightly out of breath after the rapid
synopsis.

      
Marla sat up
straight on the bed.
 
“I need more
details, girlfriend.”

      
It took
Chrissie nearly two hours to delve into the deeper details of the events
leading to this moment. Marla didn’t seem fazed by any of it. She just swayed
with Abby Rose in her arms and listened.

Finally,
after all was said, she gave Abby Rose back to Chrissie. “I think she’s hungry,
by the way she’s trying to eat her fist.” She paused for a moment in thought. “That
explains why I felt and looked so much better down here in Venezuela—all the
fresh produce we ate was watered by the fountain.” A sly smile spread across
her face. “Did you ever find out if Brant has a brother?”

“He’s
an only child. Besides, if he did, they’d be all dead and gone by now.”
Chrissie laughed.

“Right.”

“I do
have some pretty great friends who would think you’re a great catch,” Brant
said from the doorway.

“Hey,
how long have you been there?” Marla turned to look at Brant, surprised.

“Long
enough to know we can take you on a walk to the garden and show you the
fountain.” He walked over and pulled Marla into a side hug. “Welcome to the
club, Aunt Marla.”

“Well?”
Marla asked Brant expectantly.

“Well,
what?” Brant asked, puzzled.

“Are they rich?

“Yep,
most of them are very wealthy and attractive. You could have your pick of what
nationality.”
Brant smiled broadly.

“So I
could play Bachelorette?”

“Marla.”
Chrissie rolled her eyes.

“Well,
I do know a particular Italian businessman who’s right up your alley.”

“Brant,
get a move on it.” Marla snapped her fingers. “As soon as I’m done here, I
expect to have dates lined up. I’m going to get my swimming suit on. Auntie
Marla has some sunbathing and swimming to do before she can get to work.” With
a dramatic flair, she left the room, leaving Chrissie alone with Brant.

“I’m
so glad she’s back. I love her to bits.” Chrissie arranged herself on the
pillows to nurse the baby. “That’s very nice of you, to fix her up with one of
your friends.”

“Yeah,
I don’t think it’ll be hard at all to find her a catch. She’s a catch in her
own right. Pretty cool gal, once you get past the hard-as-nails Jersey girl.
Well, one thing is for sure, there won’t be a dull moment with her around.”
Brant sat next to
Chrissie on the bed.

“Everything
is falling into place, isn’t it?” Chrissie laid her head on Brant’s shoulder.

“And
it’s all because of you, darling.” Brant kissed the top of her head.

* * *

      
“Well, isn’t it obvious?
The Delphne flower grew the baby faster. You two saved each other,” Diane said
wisely. “The baby used most of the poison to grow faster, saving you from
death. You kept yourself and the baby alive by taking the water with it.”

      
“That
sounds like the most logical answer,” Brant said. “But why did she lose six
months of her memory? I’ll have to document this whole thing, and maybe Dr.
Wilson can do some experiments.”

      
“She had a
lot of high fevers, but who cares how?” Diane waved him off. “Just go with it.
What’s important
is that everyone is here and healthy.”

      
“Word of advice when it
comes to women,” Wayne started. “Just stand in the corner and answer
appropriately when spoken to.
They don’t operate in the land of logic.”

      
Diane shot Wayne a stink
eye and returned to cooing over the baby.

Chrissie
knew that Brant probably wouldn’t give up that easily on finding out how or why
it worked that way. But she admired the fact that he didn’t try to argue.

Chrissie
inwardly laughed that Brant would now have to get used to the new mother-in-law
bossiness.

In
all his hundred-plus years, he’d never had a mother-in-law, and this would be
just as new to him as it was for Chrissie to be married. Her memories were
vague about the wedding ceremony, and the honeymoon night was completely gone,
but she figured she had a long time to catch up on all the memories.

* * *

      
“It’s all ready,” María
said to Brant as she walked into the dining room. Chrissie had noticed that
Marla was mysteriously absent for most of the afternoon and through dinner.

      
Brant
smiled and nodded. “Thank you, María.”

      
“What’s
ready?” Chrissie noticed that he was dressed in nice slacks and a crisp button-up
shirt that emphasized his blue eyes against his tan skin. He had requested that
everyone dress nicely for dinner that night. Even Abby Rose wore a tiny pink
dress a la María.

      
“You’ll
see.” He winked at her. “Everyone, follow me out to the garden.” He cradled the
sleeping Abby and led Chrissie by the hand.

      
“Are you
sure this is a good idea?” Wayne whispered to Diane as they followed closely
behind Chrissie and Brant.

      
“Well, I
don’t think we mean any harm to the garden or its caretakers.
We’ll be fine,”
she soothed.

      
“I did want to strangle
Brant,” Wayne whispered. I can fight hand-to-hand combat, but a magical foe I
can’t see is altogether a different story.”