A Big Piece

My guardian angel

Ed's POV

On the way home from the Perrons' house Lorraine was really quiet. She barely reacted to anything I said and it made me fear the worst. By the time we would get home it would be well after Judy's bed time, so I thought it would be good for Lorraine to 'decompress' and talk over a nice dinner.

But when we arrived home, she quickly got out of the car. Having a throwback to six months ago I yelled at her, " Lorraine! Lorraine, please stop!" She didn't listen and ran inside. I locked the car, not even bothering to unload our gear and ran in after her.

Lorraine's mom was standing in the hallway, confused, "Ed, what is going on? What's happened to her?" I didn't react and just ran upstairs. I got to our bedroom door and turned the knob, it was open. Lorraine wasn't in the room, nor was she in our bathroom. I heard her sobbing softly. I went to Judy's room and there she was, sitting on her bed and holding Judy close. Judy who was still half asleep, looked at me, terribly confused. Lorraine didn't even notice that I'd come in. She just cried...

Judy stroked Lorraine's hair, and it seemed to calm Lorraine down. I gave Judy a smile, Lorraine's own little guardian angel. I was glad that she hadn't locked herself away again. She had had a vision of Judy and the only thing that would give her peace of mind was holding her close, it made me wonder what she'd seen six months earlier. What was it that made her so desperate, that she locked herself away from her loved ones?

After a few minutes of Judy stroking Lorraine's hair she'd finally stopped crying and had calmed down completely. "Hey sweetie." She said wiping the tears away "I'm so sorry to have waken you up." She loosened her embrace and Judy sat up, placed her little hands on Lorraine's cheeks and looked her in the eyes, "It's okay mommy! I want you to feel better!" Lorraine smiled at her and placed a kiss on Judy's forehead. "And I do, thanks to you! You're my little guardian angel."

Judy kept her eyes fixated on her mom's. It was like she was figuring out if her mommy truly was okay and Lorraine heard her think it, "Now mommy and daddy are going to give you one big g'night kiss, and we'll be fine! You my little girl, you, can go back to sleep!" And she smiled at her. Judy finally turned to look at me, I nodded. Lorraine was fine, this wasn't going to be like the last time. It reassured Judy, who kissed Lorraine on the cheek.

Lorraine picked Judy up, got off the bed and put Judy back down. She tucked her in lovingly and placed another kiss on our girls forehead, and another on her cheek, and another, and another. The kiss attack made Judy giggle, "Daddy, help!" She laughed.  But I joined Lorraine in kissing her. She took us both in her arms, so we both placed a kiss each on one cheek. "Goodnight honey," I said. "Sleep tight," Lorraine added to which Judy responded "I won't let the bed bugs bite!" "I love you baby!" Lorraine smiled. And we both went out of her bedroom.

I closed the door, and Lorraine turned towards me. I took her into my arms and she placed her head on my chest. I kissed her head, breathing in the scent of her hair. The usual sweet lavender scent was mixed with dust and the smell of blood. We just stood there, silently. Her arms around me, mine around her. She was going to be fine!

I loosened my grip, supported her chin with my hand and turned her face towards me. "How about this? Take a nice hot bath, put some comfy clothes on and I'll make us some of my famous pasta?" I didn't cook quite as good as Lorraine did, but she did love my pasta dishes. "Sounds good, hon," she said. I walked with her to our room and let the tub fill up, put in some of her favourite bath salt, and took some fluffy towels out of the closet. When she took of her blouse and pants, I saw the bruises and cuts all over her body. That fall had beaten her up quite badly! I placed a hand on the small of her back, it made her shiver. I took her close and kissed her gently, "I have to give an explanation to your mom," I said, "I'm afraid, you storming in like that freaked her out." She nodded. "Enjoy your bath!" I said as I walked out the bathroom and I closed the door.

Lorraine's POV

The water felt nice, I felt my body relax. Even though the bath salts made the wounds sting, I felt a lot better. I was so happy that Judy was okay. Seeing her and holding her in my arms made me less anxious, the way her little hands stroked my hair had calmed me down. My heart'd finally stopped racing. She truly is my little guardian angel...

I closed my eyes and just soaked in the water for a while. The scent of lavender filled the air. Today I actually thought about stopping. No more cases, not even lecturing any more. But the way Judy had looked into my eyes made me remember why we do what we do. To keep children safe, to keep families together. We couldn't stop! Not even a threat towards my family was going to stop us!  I washed my hair, got out of the tub and I dried off.

I went to our wardrobe and took out a nice and soft night gown. I put on a night robe over the gown and went downstairs.  The smell of cheesy pasta filled the air and I followed it to the kitchen. Ed was busy cooking, a record of Elvis Presley was playing and he was singing along. It made me chuckle. "Hey, don't laugh now!" He said. I walked towards him, put my hands around his waist and kissed his shoulder.

"Where's mom?" Is asked looking around. "She went to bed, not without mentioning she'd like us to stop doing this, mind you!" He said, rolling his eyes. I giggled. "How was your bath, my queen?" "Perfect!" I said. "Good! Dinner is almost ready," he replied. I took that as my cue and took out plates, cutlery and wine glasses. "Honey, that's my job," he said. "You already did the cooking while I was relaxing, this is the least I can do!" I said.

He plated the pasta, opened a bottle of red wine and poured some into our glasses. We started eating, I loved Ed's cheesy chicken pasta. It really was comfort food, exactly what I needed tonight! "How are you feeling?" He asked looking into my eyes. "I'm okay. The vision just scared me that's all," I replied. "I understand!" He said in a comforting tone. "It makes me feel weak Ed!" I said it without thinking... "Hey! You aren't weak! Feeling scared of losing our daughter doesn't make you weak! It makes you a mom, and a very good one, I'd say!"  I smiled but immediately looked down... "You're the strongest, most fearless woman I know, Lorraine. And it's one of the many reasons why I love you! Remember that!"

It made me feel better but I had to argue, "But you never seem to be scared Ed!" "Oh, but I am. Today I was terrified! Terrified of losing you! And it wasn't the first time. Just because I look steady, doesn't mean I'm not scared. My love for you and Judy is my only weakness and the fear of losing the two of you, sometimes drives me insane." I looked at him with big eyes, I never felt his fear. It was the only emotion he could hide from me. In a way his fear and the way he admitted it made me love him even more. If that was even possible...

After dinner we did the dishes, and Ed put on our song. 'Wise man say, only fools rush in. But I can't help, falling in love with you...' we danced. The song represented everything we felt and still feel for each other. Ever since we met... after our dancing moment, we went to bed. Tomorrow we would pick up the footage that we made and go to Father Gordon. Hopefully the footage would convince the Vatican to help Roger, Carolyn and their girls.

Yet another longer chapter... I don't know if there Ed and Lorraine went to Father Gordon the day after they leave the house in the film, but I felt that I needed this moment for Lorraine as any mom would want to hug her child after such an ordeal... hope you guys enjoyed! ☺️