FAITH TO BELIEVE Chapter 2

Chapter 2

         Cassidy looked at the clock and saw it was close to midnight.  She needed to be up early to get Madeline over to daycare, and herself to work.

         Terry saw the direction of her gaze.  “I didn’t realize it was so late.  I guess Larry can wait until tomorrow.  Do you have a job?”

         “Yes.  I work at the bank in the home loan department.”

         “What do you do with Maddie during the day?”

         “She goes to daycare.  She really likes it.  They do so much with the children.”

         “You checked out the daycare’s credentials thoroughly before you placed her?”

         “Yes.  My father was also very insistent on that.”

         “What time do you need to be at the bank?”

         “Eight.  I need to be up by six to make sure we’re out the door on time.”

         “Under the circumstances could you take the day off?”

         “It’s awful short notice.  There will be many loans to process tomorrow.  Friday’s and Monday’s are the busiest days of the week.”

         “Don’t you think putting our lives back together is more important?”

         Cassidy looked at him, and knew the answer.  So why did she hesitate?  “Of course I do, but it’s so sudden.  You just can’t come back into my life after four years and expect me to just drop everything.”

         “I can expect you to do what you know in your heart is important, to both of us.”

         She looked up at him.  He was right.  He always was.  She stood to her feet.  “I have to get to bed.”

         He stood to his feet.  “Tell you what.  I’ll take the couch.  I suggest you get some time off tomorrow.  We’re going to need to go to the courthouse and have me declared alive.  I don’t intend to spend any more time on the couch than necessary.  In the meantime at least give this starving man a kiss and let me hold you.”

         It was nothing more than she wanted herself and a lot more.  She easily fit herself in his embrace, and wound her arms around his neck as their lips met, tasted, and plundered.

         They drew back from each other, the look of passion on both their faces.  Terry grabbed at a decent breath, as much as she did.

         “I’ll get the blankets and pillows.  Do you still use two?” Cassidy said.

         “Not in four years.  The pillow was like a rock.  The blankets thin.  The cold air shivered you at night and the heat roasted you during the day.”

         “I’ll be right back.”  Cassidy hurried upstairs to get the blankets and pillows.  She knew what she wanted.  What he wanted, but she would restrain her body, thoughts, and emotions.

         She took the pillows from the bed, and grabbed the blankets from the linen cupboard and took them back to the living room.

         He stood at the window and looked out at the night.  He turned when she came back in the room.

         Cassidy knew that look, and she knew she wanted the same thing he did.  Four years was a long time.  She set the pillows and blankets on the couch and found herself in his embrace again.

         His breath was as ragged as hers when he stepped back from her.  “I have to go to work myself tomorrow, and check in, and get my duty status.  Do you still have the number for the correspondent office?”

         “Memorized.”

         “Call me as early as you can, and we’ll go over to the courthouse.  If we have to be remarried we’ll do that at the same time.”

         “I will.”

         He kissed her quickly, and she went to her bedroom alone.

         She lay awake all night as she thought about Terry on the couch.  The alarm went off at six, and she got up to take her shower.  She looked through her clothes for something appropriate for both work and a wedding if it came to it.

         When she had stepped from the bathroom, she smelled the heady aroma of coffee.  As tired as she was, the smell of coffee, and his near presence, had all her nerve endings alive and alert.  She wanted to go right into the kitchen, but needed to get Madeline up and ready to go as well.

         Cassidy pushed Madeline’s door open, and went over to sit on her bed, and wake her.  At least one of them had gotten a good night’s sleep.  “Come on Munchkin, time to get up.”

         Madeline turned over and opened her eyes, then flew into her arms.  “Is daddy here?”

         “Yes, daddy is here.  Now let’s get up and dressed so we can all eat before we have to leave.”

         “Is Daddy leaving?”

         “Daddy is going to work too.”

         “Will he be home tonight?”

         “Yes he’ll be home tonight.”

         Madeline jumped from the bed, went to her dresser, and pulled out her own clothes.

         Cassidy could see she also wanted to look extra pretty for her daddy.

         “Bath.”  Madeline balled her clothes up in her arms and headed for the bathroom.

         “Yes indeed.”  Cassidy followed her to the bathroom and a short while later Madeline emerged bathed and dressed.

         Madeline skipped to the kitchen, which by that time, also included the tantalizing sounds and aromas of bacon, eggs, and hash browns.

         They entered the kitchen together, and Cassidy could see he had had as much sleep as she.  She wanted to go right up to him, and kiss him just as they had done the night before.

         Terry turned to look at them.  “Good morning Moppet, Cassidy, did you sleep well?”

         “Yup!”  Madeline jumped into his arms and gave him a big kiss.  “I love you.”

         “I love you too, Moppet, with all my heart.”

         “You love Mommy too?”

         “Oh yes.  I love Mommy too.”  He watched as Cassidy poured cereal for her.  “How about you, did you sleep?”

         “Not a wink.  You?” Cassidy said.

         “Same.  Are you hungry?”

         Cassidy looked at him.  “Starving.”

         “You don’t mind that I made myself at home?”

         “It’s your home too, and by the look of you, you need it more than I do,” Cassidy said.

         “It’s been a long time since I had a home cooked meal, especially with you.”

         “If you don’t disappear again tonight I’ll talk to Mom about watching Maddie, and we’ll celebrate your return.”

         Madeline looked at them.  “I celebrate too.”

         “Do you think you could let Mommy have Daddy to herself tonight, and Monday after work we’ll all go out for pizza together after we get done with work?  You like pizza.  How about it?”

         Cassidy turned to him.  “You like pizza?”

         “Love it.  We’ll have a regular party, just you, Mommy, and me,” Terry said.

         “Tomorrow,” Madeline said.

         “We’ll see, but if I know Grandma, she’ll have all kinds of fun things for you to do this weekend, you can tell us all about it when you come home.  How about it?  Can Mommy and Daddy have time together this weekend?” Cassidy said.

         “Can I go to the zoo?” Madeline said.

         “You’ll have to ask Grandma and Grandpa.”

         Madeline looked down at her cereal, and up at them.  “Billy’s mommy’s going to have a baby.  He says he’s going to have sister.  Me too?”

         Cassidy blushed brightly as she looked between Madeline and Terry.  He had a big grin on his face as he turned to her.  “Would you mind if you had a brother?”

         “Brother’s are mean, I want a sister.”

         Cassidy laughed at that.  “She’s got a point.”

         “I never was mean to my sister,” Terry said.

         “I’ll bet, anyway, can Mommy and Daddy be together this weekend and you have fun with Grandma and Grandpa?”

         “Yup!  Pray.  Eat.”

         “Okay.”  Terry put their plates on the table, and sat down.  “We’ll plan on two celebrations then.  I guarantee I won’t disappear before then.”

         Cassidy looked at him and couldn’t get enough of him.  She was afraid it had all been a dream and he wouldn’t be there when she walked out the door to go to work, or when she got home again.  She looked up at him.  “Guarantee?”

         “I promise.”  They bowed their heads.  “Father, thank you for your provision, and my family.  Thank you for the opportunity to start over.  I am so grateful to You for everything You have done for me.  Help us each to see Your goodness in everything around us and not take another precious moment for granted ever again.  Thank you for Cassidy, and especially for Madeline.  I love them both so very much; they are more than I ever dreamed of.  Bless this food that you have so lovingly provided for us, amen.”

         “Amen.” Cassidy and Madeline said together.

         Cassidy looked up to see tears in his eyes as he looked at them.  He wiped his eyes.  “It’s not wimpy for a man to cry.  Especially at such favor from God.”

         “Of course not, Jesus wept.”  She took a bite of her eggs, and hash browns.  “Your cooking has improved.”

         “Out of necessity,” Terry said.

         At 7:30, everyone was out the door.  Terry gave her a kiss before she left.  “Call me.  I’ll be available.”

         “I will.  You said you had to check in.  How long do you think it will take?”

         “No more than an hour.”

         “It will be that long before I’ve answered all the questions everyone will have.”

         “Well, before you’re late, you better leave.”

         After another quick kiss, she backed out of the driveway; surprised she wasn’t more tired, and realized she was on pure adrenaline.

         She was thankful the daycare was close to work.  Madeline was very excited when she got in the door.

         “My daddy’s home!” Madeline said.

         “Is that so?” her teacher said.

         “Yes!  He doesn’t have any hair.”

         The teacher looked up at Cassidy.  “Mrs. Kearney, I thought your husband was dead.”

         “Presumed dead, he’s very much alive and was home when we got there last night.”  She looked at her watch.  “Listen Jessica, I’ll tell you all about it later, if I pick her up.  My mother might be collecting her today.”

         “I’m going to the zoo,” Madeline said.

         “Is that so?”  Jessica looked from Madeline to Cassidy.  “I’ll expect your mother then.  I’m very happy for you.”

         “Thank you.  So am I.”  Cassidy hurried out the door after a kiss and hug from Madeline, and walked through the door of the bank at five minutes to eight.

         She went straight to her office and got ready for a hectic day, with thoughts of Terry at the foremost of her mind.

         Her supervisor passed her door and stopped for just a moment.  “Good morning Cassidy.”

         “Pete, good morning, do you have a minute?”

         Pete entered the room and took a seat on the other side of her desk.  “Sure.  What’s up?”

         “Lots, I was wondering if I could get some time off this morning.”

         “What is your load like?”

         “Heavy.  If it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t have said.”

         “Is everything all right with Maddie?”

         “Maddie, yes, she’s fine.”

         “Talk to me.”

         “I need to go over to the courthouse and have my husband declared alive.  He showed up very unexpectedly last night.”

         Pete looked at her a skeptical look on his face.  “Oh?”

         “Yes.  He was at the house when I got home from work.  We would both like to go to the courthouse and get everything straightened out.”

         “I’m sure you do.  How long ago did you have him declared dead?”

         “Three years, shortly after Maddie was born, at my parent’s insistence.”

         “If I remember correctly, wasn’t he only presumed dead at the time?”

         “Yes.”

         “Normally a person waits at least seven years before they take that step.”

         “I know.  So can I take the time off?”

         “The courthouse opens at nine o’clock.”  He looked at his watch.  “One hour.  I will expect to see you back here no earlier than Monday morning.  If I may ask, where was he?”

         “In a P.O.W. camp.”

         “What about Farin?”

         “They met last night.  What a mess.  I thought they were going to come to blows.  Maddie almost slammed the door in his face.”

         “It’s no secret that she doesn’t like him.  I’ve told you often enough that.”

         “I know, and now he’s history, as they say.  So you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

         “I’m very happy for you and Maddie.”

         “Thanks Pete.”  Her smile could not be contained as she watched him leave, and looked at her watch.  She prepared to get as much work done as possible before nine.

         He looked back at her just outside her cubicle.  “You’re not out the door yet?”

         “I need to give him time to get checked in at the base.  He told me it would take about an hour when we left this morning.”

         “So he spent the night.”

         “On my couch.  I guarantee it.”

         “You haven’t seen each other for four years.  You’re married, and he slept on the couch?  I would have thought.”

         “Believe me as much as we both wanted to be as close as possible, we also wanted to be appropriate.”

         “I’m surprised by your will power.  Missing for four years and you relegate him to the couch.”  He shook his head in amazement.

         She blushed profusely at his suggestion.  “I’ll get what I can get done, and leave as soon as I get a hold of him.”

         “I’m happy for you.  If I don’t see you before you leave have a happy reunion.  And if I were you, I’d ask your parents to keep Maddie for the whole weekend.”

         “That’s my plan.  She’s very excited about her daddy.  You should have seen her this morning.  I thought I would be late after dropping her at the daycare.”

         “That’s understandable.  I don’t have to tell you to have a good weekend.  See you on Monday.”

         Cassidy watched him leave, and clock watched the next hour.  Everyone in the office congratulated her.  At 8:45, she reached for the receiver.  “Terry, please.”

         It seemed to take forever before she heard his voice.

         “Cassidy?”

         “How soon can we meet at the courthouse?”  She heard muffled conversation before he came back to her.

         “What bank do you work at?”

         “First Federal.”

         “Which branch?”

         “Main Street.”  Again, there was muffled conversation.

         “All right, Steve will drop me by the bank in fifteen.”

         “I’ll be ready.”  Excitement ran through her as she replaced the receiver, and picked it up again to call her mother.  “Hello Mom?...I’m fine, couldn’t be better in fact.  I need you to do me a favor.  Can you pick up Madeline up at the daycare, and keep her for the weekend? ... No.  I am not going out with Larry.  I won’t be seeing anymore of him.  Terry came home yesterday.”  It was dead silent on the other end of the phone before her mother answered. … “Yes, Terry’s home.  He’s not dead.  You do have clothes for Maddie?  Can you take her for the weekend? … “You don’t mind?  Maddie is hoping to go to the zoo.”  She looked up to see Terry come into the bank, and motioned him into her cubicle.  “Terry just got here.  We’re going over to the courthouse. … Thanks mom.  I love you.  By the way Maddie is very excited about the fact her daddy came home yesterday. … Mom I’ll give you all the details later.  We want to leave. … Thanks mom.  The daycare is expecting you.”

         A moment later, she was off the phone, had her computer shut down, and was on the way out the door.

         Everyone paid close attention to her as she left.  She knew they were interested in everything about him.

         “So I take it that your mother is more than willing to take Maddie for the weekend?”

         “Yes.  She’s also booking us into the Quality Suites Lake Wright Hotel.”

         “They were quick to talk you into declaring me dead.”

         “They wanted to see me happy.  Mom was hoping that I would find someone else that would be a good father for Maddie.”

         “We still have an unfinished conversation about Larry.”

         “Yes.”  She was about to get into the driver’s side when he stopped her.

         “Give me the keys.  I’ll drive.”

         “Demanding aren’t you?  What about your driver’s license?”  She couldn’t contain her happiness or the smile on her face.

         “Not a problem.  I took care of that yesterday before I went home.”

         “That’s how you had Steve’s car.”

         “Yes.”

         She handed him the keys.  He followed her around to the passenger side and saw her safely seated inside.

         Cassidy looked at the bank windows and saw several curious stares, as they got ready to leave.  She pointed it out to him.

         “Should we give them something to leave them with?”

         “What did you have in mind?”  Her thoughts spun in various directions, which started with a very passionate kiss.

         He looked down at her.  “I think we’ll save the rest until we get to the hotel room.”

         She looked up at him.  “I agree.”

         It didn’t take long to make the short trip to the courthouse.  He escorted Cassidy into the building and looked the information board over for the office they needed.  “Level one, room 101.”

         “This way.”  Cassidy led him to the staircase, and soon walked into the door marked Clerk of Courts.

         A clerk looked up as they entered.  “Can I help you?”

         “Yes.  Three years ago, I had my husband, who was presumed dead, declared dead.  I want to know what we need to do to have the declaration reversed,” Cassidy said.

         The clerk looked at him.  “I take it you’re the husband in question.”

         “Yes,” Terry said.

         The clerk looked between them.  “Name?” 

         “Cassidy R. Kearney.”

         “You said three years ago.  What date?”  The clerk put the information into the computer as she gave it to him.

         “August thirteenth,” Cassidy said.

         “You went before Judge Baker.  It says here that because your husband hadn’t been missing for the minimum of seven years the action was denied.”

         “Denied?” Cassidy said.

         “Denied,” The clerk said.

         “We don’t have to get remarried?”

         Terry looked down at her, a look of pure love on his face.  “No, we don’t have to get remarried.”

         She looked at him and knew their thoughts were the same.  “Let’s go home.”

         Terry looked at the clerk.  “Thank you.”

         “You’re welcome.  Welcome home sir,” the clerk said.

         “It’s good to be home.”  Terry escorted Cassidy back out of the courthouse, and soon pulled into their driveway.  “Call your mom and find out if the room has been booked yet.”

         She was on the phone moments later.  “Mom, everything went well.  Did you get the room? ... We’re going over there as soon as we’ve packed for the weekend. ... Thanks mom.” She turned to Terry.  “All set.”

         “Let’s get packed and get over there.”  He pulled her into his embrace and gave her a very passionate kiss.

         They pulled into the parking lot of the Quality Suites Lake Wright Hotel.  A valet and bellboy came from the hotel to take their cases and the keys to their car.  Terry escorted Cassidy into the hotel his arm around her waist.

         He looked at the clerk behind the desk.  “Reservations were called in this morning for Mr. and Mrs. Terence Kearney.”

         The woman looked at her reservations screen.  “Yes, the honeymoon suite, just married?”

         “Something like that,” Terry said.

         “Home from the war,” Cassidy said.

         “Welcome home sir.  I just need some identification,” the woman said.

         Terry took his I.D. from his wallet and showed it to her.  “Of course.” 

         “Thank you.  Here is your key.”  The woman looked at the bellboy.  “The honeymoon suite.”

         “Yes ma’am, this way.”  The bellboy led them to the elevators, and pushed the button.

         “You just came home from the war?  Were you gone for very long?” the bellboy said.

         “Four years,” Terry said.

         “Where did you see action?  I have a cousin in Iraq.”

         “A P.O.W. camp,” Terry said.

         The bellboy was silenced by the information and entered the lift when it opened before them.  He looked at him and opened his mouth then closed it again.  Then tried again.  “I’m sorry sir.  I’m glad you’re home safe.”

         “Thank you, so am I,” Terry said.

         The elevator opened and he led the way to the suite.  “If you need anything, anything at all.”

         “I understand.  At the moment my wife and I only want to be left alone,” Terry said.

         “Yes sir.”  He took the tip Terry handed him and left them alone.

         Terry had Cassidy in his arms, and plundered the depths of her mouth.  He looked down at her.           “I never stopped thinking of you all the time I was in that prison camp, but to see you in the flesh is nothing to compare with what I remembered.”

         “I never forgot you either, and you’re the most handsome man I’ve ever met, or want to meet.”

         “Including Larry?”

         “Especially Larry, but let’s not talk about him.”

         He picked her up in his arms and laid her upon the king sized bed.  She trembled at his touch.

         For Cassidy she could not remember a time when his love was more splendid.  Even their wedding night paled in her memory as she gave as much as he did.

         He held her close and the sleep that eluded them the night before claimed them.