Playing with fire (Amelia Shepherd) ABANDONED

Twenty four

"Yes, papí, Scout and Myles are fine," Mallie rolled her eyes at Amelia as her dad rambled down the phone to her the week after. "Yes, Amelia is fine, too. Yes, she's still kicking ass at work. Yes, she did do that surgery. She is smart, isn't she?" Mallie chuckled.

"Tell me, mija, how are you?" Felix asked.

"Uh," Mallie hummed. "Well, Dixon is refusing to allow Pruitt his Line of Duty funeral, so Vic has insisted on us making a photo calendar to sell so we can raise the money," she said.

"How much will it be?" Felix frowned. "The man died to save your life. He died so the last of my children would be able to continue to raise my grandchildren. He died being a hero. What the hell is so hard about understanding that?!" Felix started yelling.

Mallie flinched slightly, holding the phone away from her ear. Amelia stepped over from the dishes she was doing, raising an eyebrow. Mallie nodded to say she was fine.

"I know, papí. I know," Mallie said. "Maya has her hearing today, and Sully has been spending a lot of time with Andy. He doesn't know that I know, but I know," Mallie said.

"So, he's sleeping with her?" Felix said bluntly.

"I think they're in love," Mallie frowned. "I don't know. Andy and Maya are closer than Andy and I are. You'd probably have better luck asking Sully," she said.

"I will be asking because if that man is taking advantage of a grieving woman, I'm going to kick his ass!" Felix shouted. "That is not the man I grew up with, not the best man that stood at my side the day I married your mother! That is not the man that I called my brother!" Felix shouted.

Mallie flinched again, closing her eyes so she didn't have to see the look on Amelia's face.

"I know, papí," Mallie said quietly. "I know. Look, I gotta get the twins to daycare before I'm late for work. I'll call you next week, okay?" she said.

"Okay, mija. Te amo to my grandsons, to you and to Amelia. Adios," Felix ended the call.

Mallie put her phone on the island and rubbed her face.

"I really should be getting the boys to daycare," Mallie mumbled.

She sighed and looked at Amelia. Amelia was leaning against the island, looking at Mallie with a look in her eyes that made Mallie want to run away. But she'd promised herself that she wasn't going to run away again, that she was going to fight and share these things with Amelia by her side.

"He never hit me. He just shouted a lot. He had a bit of a drinking problem back then, not that he'd ever admit it. It made him angry. He'd shout and then he'd storm off to get drunk, and then mom would get angry because dad was drinking again, and then I'd get hurt," Mallie said quietly.

"Baby," Amelia stepped towards Mallie and held her arms out. Mallie stepped into her arms and let Amelia kiss her forehead. "I'm sorry that happened to you. Thank you for telling me," Amelia said quietly.

"Yeah," Mallie mumbled. "We should get going, though. You have a surgery and if I want to drop the boys off before Vic makes me pose in front of a camera, we should hurry," Mallie said.

"Mal?" Amelia said.

"Yeah?" Mallie said.

"Breathe," Amelia said, pulling Mallie's head so it was resting in her neck. "Just for a minute, breathe with me," she said.

Mallie closed her eyes again, letting Amelia hold her until she felt her shoulders stop tensing so much. She sighed and Amelia kissed her forehead.