He had an address for Ethan and that was where they were going to start. It had been too long since the two of them had seen each other. Randall wasn’t going to lose, not again. He knew that there was no one on his side this time. His brother had saved him but killed another part of him. Randall wasn’t going to let that happen again.
Chapter 24
Page
Page was in the midst of labor or something like it. She was in pain, the babies were coming, she was sure of it, but there was no one there to help her. Page was left to her own devices, which was a good thing because she didn’t have to deal with Ethan. It also meant that she was completely alone right then and that scared her. Page didn’t want to be there by herself. She wanted something to change and before too long, she wasn’t able to keep it together. Instead, she was waiting for someone to come to her aid. She didn’t want to do it alone.
She had never felt so alone in all of her life. Page couldn’t leave, she was stuck there and all by herself. She called out to Randall, cried like it was somehow going to help her. Page would have done anything to be saved, but that wasn’t to be her fate. She was sure that because she had made the wrong decisions, everything that was happening was her fault. The witch had warned her to make the right decisions. Page thought she had but knew that she must have missed a clue along the way.
As she paced the rooms that were available to her, Page remembered her short time with Randall. Many times, as she rubbed her belly and paced the floor, she had to wonder if it was all worth it. Was what she was going through then, worthall of the pain and suffering that was caused? Page wasn’t sure, but she knew that she wouldn’t change any of it. How could she want to change the best moments of her life? Nothing short of perfection wouldn’t have been the same, so in that way, Randall had been perfect. In other ways though, Randall wasn’t perfect at all, but complicated and confusing. Now, he was out of reach to Page and that hurt bad enough.
She tried to ignore the pain that was radiating from her stomach. When she and Allie had talked about delivery, it was always talked about that she would be there for her. Page didn’t want to think of doing it alone, but she didn’t have a choice. Ethan made sure that she wasn’t around anyone for help. He likely wanted her to die or at least the babies she was having to die. He didn’t care about her, only waiting for her pregnancy to be over, so that she could be filled with his children, like she was merely an incubator. The thought of it angered Page. She was bound and determined to not only make it, but for her children to all make it and for Ethan to be taken out. While he was big and mean and liked to hurt people, Page wasn’t afraid of him. He was just like the other types of people that Page had known throughout the years. He was likely a lot like her father and that just made him easier to understand and deal with. Page had dealt with evil men before, many times.
Instead of focusing on what couldn’t be handled at that very moment, Page did her best to think it all through. She was sure that Ethan would be back soon, and she would be ready for him. Before that though, Page had babies that were going to be coming. She replayed every conversation she’d had with anyone about children and birth. It was one of those subjects that everyone talked about as she came to age. It was an expected end for her, as was marrying whomever she was told to. None of it was her choice and she had tuned a lot of it out, but some hadgotten through and Page needed that information now. She was going to have to deliver her babies and according to the witch, she had seven to deal with. Page found that hard to imagine and she trembled inside knowing that to be her fate.
She set about getting everything together. It was all she could do in between hard contractions. Page kept her mind busy and soon enough, the first baby was ready to come. Page had a long night ahead of her and she called out to Randall each time, wishing he was there, knowing that he wouldn’t be. It was enough to break her heart.
***
A day went by, and Page was regaining her strength, even though the sheer amount of work involved was more than she had even thought possible. Page knew that she had a lot of work ahead of her, but the exhaustion that she felt couldn’t be normal. She felt like it was more than she could handle. Nothing was ever going to bring her to the point where she could handle it all.
Before it got too late, Page got herself dressed and waited for what came next. She knew that Ethan would check on her soon. He would likely try to take her babies, seven in all, and Page wasn’t going to let that happen. She now had three girls and four boys. It was a miracle, the witch was right, but Page knew that Ethan still had something on his mind.
Page didn’t find it hard to stay up, because there was so much to do. Several days passed and while she was finally getting into a routine, it wasn’t one that she necessarily was all that worried about. She tried her best to focus on what needed to be done, but she was working on other things. Page almost didn’t hear the steps on the porch leading up to the door. Page wasn’t looking for that sound, then she heard shoes scraping on the mat in front of the door. The door turned and then Page armedherself. She had gone and got a solid chair leg that she was going to take Ethan out with. Page knew what had to be done. She wasn’t going to be happy until it happened.
She pulled back and got ready to swing. As soon as the door came open, Page swung as hard as she could. It was before she could really focus on what was going on in front of her. Page saw too late that the person coming through the door was not Ethan. It was Randall, but it was too late. She cracked him hard in the head and like she had planned, knocked him out. The only difference was that Randall hadn’t been the target. She felt horrible and went to him. He had come to save her.
Page held him in her lap and finally his eyes started to flutter. Page felt so bad about hitting him, but she was also so glad that he was there. Page missed seeing his face, even if there was a tiny bit of blood on it. Page was sure that something would come of their time together, she was ready for it.
“Hey.”
Page giggled and kissed him. “Hey.”
“Did you just crack me in the head with a bat?” Randall asked in wonder.
Page insisted that she didn’t. “No, it was a table leg. Sorry about that.”
Randall kissed her back and Page melted in his arms. She was sore and winced when he started to squeeze too hard, but there was truly nothing that she could do about it. Page would never let him go, no matter how much it hurt. She’d already found her own fair share of pain, but with Randall it was all worth it.
“Come on, Randall, I have some people that I want you to meet.”
Randall’s face glowed. “Is it our people?”
Page agreed, “Yeah, our little people.”
Randall had an alarmed look in his eyes when he saw how many. He looked about as overwhelmed as Page had felt when she had heard the number. She knew the witch was right and that had given her time to prepare herself. Randall needed a moment, but he didn't have a moment because they were right there in front of him now.
“Seven?” Randall asked. He was shocked and it showed. He was stunned and Page remembered feeling the exact same way. How many times had she wondered if he was ever going to get that moment with their kids? Page said as much, just as amazed as he was how different it all felt now that Randall came back. Before it had just been too much. Page and Randall looked at their children, and Page wondered to herself how in the world she was going to do it. She knew that she would have moments of doubt but knew that it would be done.
“Yeah, when I heard the number, I was a bit worried about it too,” Page admitted. She didn’t want him to think that he was the only one freaking out. Page had freaked out too. Having him there, finally being so close to him that they could touch, was all that she needed. All of Page’s worries were gone.
“You heard the number? How did you hear it and not see it? Did someone help you in labor? I was so afraid that you would have to do it alone,” Randall started to say. Page agreed that she had the children alone, that she had been alone for several weeks, and Randall growled under his breath.
“Why would he leave you here like this, in your condition?” Randall asked incredulously. Page might have felt the same way a couple of weeks ago, but she knew better and knew whereshe stood now. Page knew Ethan’s capability and hence her willingness to wait it out.
“He did not want to see me pregnant with your children, and he was waiting for me to have them. I don't know what he was planning on doing with them, but we need to get out of here. Did you kill him? Please, tell me that you killed him?”
Randall was a little thrown off with what she asked. He wasn't expecting that, but it wasn't hard to imagine. “I haven't killed him yet. I don’t know if I was going to end his life at all. I don't like violence.”
