Thanks a lot to techsan who edited the story pretty quickly and turned it into a better one.
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Chapter Eleven
Two weeks later Chris had paid a few more visits to Anna's house which was in an order now and they were ready to go. Chris had sent some suitcases and things like Angela's crib beforehand because there wasn't enough space in the car.
The journey started quietly. Ms. Sanders and Anna were wondering what would be waiting for them once they get to the lovely seaside town. Chris was happy to go away from the city. Although he loved it, it was becoming a great burden to be alert all the time, check over his shoulder, check the mirror if someone is following, check the patrol car, worry about the ones at home when he went to school. Some walking on the sand without any concerns would surely lift his mood.
It was a long drive for the group. They had to stop for lunch and once for a rest at a roadside park with beautiful scenery. As they streched their sore arms and legs Anna walked towards Chris and touched his arm timidly.
"I want to thank you for all you are doing for me. I don't know how to pay it back. But I must tell you I feel much better now that we are away from him."
"Firstly, you're always welcome. Secondly, no need to pay anything back and I don't want to hear about it again. Seeing you back on your feet and happy will be more than enough. I'm going on holiday with two beautiful ladies and an angel. What more could I want? And thirdly, I must admit I feel relieved, too."
Mrs. Sanders complained about her knees and didn't join them but Chris and Anna found themselves on a narrow path into the green forest with Angela in Anna's arms. The rays of the sun were looking for open places to shine through the leaves, the birds were singing merrily and, even though each of them were buried in their own thoughts about the future, Mrs.Sanders observed that they looked like a family and promised herself that she would see to that they became a real family.
They reached the lovely seaside village just as the sun was setting on the sea. Aunt Katherine had already cooked dinner, arranged their rooms and was waiting on the porch as Chris drove into the driveway.
"Welcome, welcome, sweet son. Where have you been? It has been so long. I've missed you so. Here, let me see you. You look a little famished. I'll take care of that while you're here. You must be Anna. My girl, you are a beautiful lady and this little angel should be Angela. Oh, Mrs. Sanders, I didn't see you, welcome," she said without giving a break.
Mrs. Sanders felt insulted by Aunt Katherine's comments about Chris being famished as she had been cooking for them for the past couple of weeks but didn't say anything on the subject.
"Thank you. I hope we won't be a burden for you."
"Of course not. I must thank you for bringing my favorite nephew to me. I couldn't convince him to leave his students and come down here for any holiday for years now. Chris, you'll carry the luggage, I guess. I have placed Anna and Angela's stuff in Clara's room upstairs. You take the room on her right and, Mrs. Sanders, you take this guest room here downstairs."
"Where is Clara going to sleep?" Mrs. Sanders asked with suspicion in her voice. She wasn't too happy to be left away from the group, either. Katherine explained that Clara was her daughter who was away studying and wouldn't be back for summer and even if she came she could use the attic where she preferred to be anyway.
"Call me Melinda, please. Thank you for all the trouble," said Mrs. Sanders.
"And you call me Katherine. It's nothing. You all come down for dinner after you've settled." The two middle aged women had finally started to warm to each other.
Chris looked around the small study which held a single bed that didn't look very comfortable. There was hardly any space left to stand after the bed was pushed in but the view from the window made him sit and watch the last rays of the sunset and thank god for the place.
Aunt Katherine had cooked wonders for them. Even Mrs. Sanders had to admit that they were delicious. Anna had more appetite than she usually had. Chris asked for second servings. They settled in the cozy armchairs in the living room after the meal for coffee. The quiz show on the TV was a nice distraction. They took rounds trying to answer the questions. The winner was to eat the home made ice cream which still sat in the fridge.
"It must be Budapest. I remember reading that somewhere," Anna exclaimed. She was feeling safe, relaxed and comfortable.
"No, dear. The answer is Bucharest. I get the ice cream," Mrs. Sanders said merrily.
"That is so unfair. The ice cream should have been mine. I love strawberries," Anna said and sank back to the couch.
That night the whole group slept peacefully for the first time in a long while. Chris lay in his bed listening to the silence of the night and the waves of sea breaking on the shore before he fell asleep. He felt that he was a lucky man and slept with a smile on his lips.
In the morning he woke up with a hesitant knock on the door. He could see that the sun had hardly risen. And just as he was about to curse he heard her.
"Chris. Are you awake?"
"No, I am not and this is his ghost speaking. Leave Chris be or he'll come and haunt you! God, what's the time? It's hardly morning." Chris was used to sleeping in late on holidays and his voice was rather edgy because of the sleepiness he still felt.
"Sorry, Chris. It's just that we are going for a walk on the beach. I thought maybe you'd like to come, too," Anna muttered apologetically.
He softened as he listened to her sad apology and decided to go with them, anyway. "Wait, I'll be downstairs in five minutes." True to his word he was downstairs in five wearing khaki shorts and a matching worn t-shirt and his brown sandals. "Here I am. Don't leave me back if I fall asleep somewhere."
All the group went out to the warm morning weather. It was a warning not to be caught in the midday sun, when it would be hotter than Hades. Mrs. Sanders put sun lotion on everybody's faces. Chris caught himself wishing he was the one instead of her as she caressed Anna's cheeks. Then he scolded himself. He was there to help her and she was only trusting him because he had assured her of that.
They had taken their shoes and sandals off once they reached the sand. The feeling of the fine sand under their feet was almost meditative. They were having light conversation about the news, politics, weather, global warming, etc. Everybody was so happy and careless. "I can carry Angela if you get tired," Chris suggested. He didn't want this magical atmosphere to come to an end and disappear.
The slow flow of life in the town and the holiday spirit was surrounding them. From the next morning on they settled on a relaxing routine of taking walks by the seaside early each morning, coming back for breakfast then going back and lazing under the sun until 11, coming back inside the house for house games and activities, then going swimming before dinner. Chris found himself gazing at Anna at odd times and verbally punished himself each and every time for trying to breach her trust. She was really beautiful and, with almost all the stress gone off her shoulders, she radiated. She had long legs to adore, nice curves and her breasts were just the right size to hold in your hand and tease.
Her bikini didn't leave much to imagine and some time later Chris gave up the fight with himself and started to fantasize about her when he needed to jerk off which was becoming more often nowadays. He hoped Anna didn't recognize how he felt about her. Well, Anna didn't but Mrs. Sanders and Aunt Katherine did. They had become good friends and had decided that the two young people belonged together. They took every opportunity to drive the two into each other. They usually found a way to leave them alone walking side by side. They made them sit together at the table. They were keen on trying to have the two understand that they loved each other by the end of the summer.
Everybody could see the special bond between Angela and Chris. She cried a lot in the evenings but Chris had a way with her and made her smile and eventually sleep peacefully every time he held her. Even Anna wasn't that successful and was jealous of Chris from time to time.
Anna was grateful to all of them. She was getting used to being sociable and also being casually touched by Chris. They learned about each other's previous lives piece by piece. One night while they were watching a movie about high school kids she began to tell about herself.
"I was an average student but I was a very good cheergirl. I wanted to go to college but we didn't have enough money. I decided to work to save some money for further education. I had wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. Now, it is blown apart." She cried as she realized that now the dream seemed to be blown as she was now a single mother without any decent income.
"We'll help you in any way we can," Aunt Katherine said. She would gladly give the girl some money if she had saved some. Chris made a mental note about it to be remembered in the future.
However relaxed and far away from her problems, Anna still had hellish nightmares about sexual abuse and Stephen coming back to punish her. They were getting less frequent but they were there. On such nights she knocked on Chris's door and had him sit by her side until the morning. She had grown to trust Chris. The armchair was far from being comfortable but he was happy to be able to be there and help her.
One night as he sat by her bed after another episode of nightmares, he heard Angela whining. When he checked on her he figured that she had a high fever. Anna woke up and they had Mrs. Sanders and Aunt Katherine also wake up. They tried to break the fever for an hour or so and then decided on rushing to the town hospital.
Anna was disoriented from the nightmares and the sleepness night, so Chris did all the explaining to the doctor on duty in the little ER of the hospital as Anna stared around blankly. They had stayed in the sun more than usual that day. No, she hadn't eaten anything suspicious. The doctor said he would keep Angela till the morning at least and her mother could stay with her but Chris insisted so much that he should be there too that he turned to the nurse and said, "This little baby is Angela. We have trouble breaking her fever which is too high right now. This is her father who is going to stay with her mother until the morning. Check on the fever every half hour. Page me if it's more than 38,5oC."
Chris didn't even realize that he was introduced as the father. He felt like it anyway. He placed Anna on an empty bed, Angela in a crib next to her and held their hands. Both slept peacefully until the morning. Angela was perfectly healthy by the morning and sent home to rest for the day.
One night towards the middle of July, Chris found Anna sitting alone on the porch, rocking in the swinger with Angela. It was a lovely warm night, the stars were bright, the air peaceful, the salty smell of the sea mixed with the smell of the flowers. She was gazing out towards the sea. Anna was talking softly to her sleeping daughter.
"I feel so good, Angela. I wish this moment would last forever. I'm happy and feel safe here. I don't want to be afraid anymore."
