Chapter 9 - The Ride

9.

“So you ready to finish telling me your story?” Sutton asked as she walked towards the bed where Greysen was already sitting.

“Yeah…I guess I should.” His voice and face dropped immediately with his words.

“If you don’t want to tell me…”

He grabbed her hands and kissed them both, holding them tightly to his heart as he spoke. “No, my baby. Of course I want to tell you. It’s just…I’m so ashamed of walking away from you so easily.” He picked her up and set her next to him on the bed.

Sutton looked at him curiously, and without another word he continued with his story right where he’d left off.

“So after a few weeks of some physical therapy and training…I’ll explain…I was finally released. The first place I went was back to Ponchatoula to look for you. I parked across the street from your house; terrified, anxious…I didn’t know what you’d been told about what had happened to me. I mean, I knew you thought I was dead, Ethen was dead, but I wasn’t sure how to approach you. I looked so different; I didn’t know how you’d react…if you’d even believe me. It’d been almost eight months since I’d died. I didn’t want to just pop up on your door step and scare the shit outta you. So I watched and waited, and then I saw you. You walked out of your house, your belly big and round, and my heart stopped. You were so absolutely beautiful,” he closed his eyes and smiled at the memory, “You floated down the front steps of the porch like an angel, graceful, even with the protruding baby belly. I felt more love for you in that moment than I’d ever had before. I knew I couldn’t approach you though. I was so scared you’d freak or pass out before I saw you pregnant, after, I didn’t want to take the chance of not only hurting you but hurting the baby too. I was sure it was mine and fell instantly in love with that baby.” He paused and took a deep breath, lowering his head and staring at Sutton’s hands in his.

“What happened? Please don’t stop now.” Her voice was almost a whisper as she thought about that half joyous, half heartbroken time in her life and the thought that at some point, he’d been there. He was alive and he saw her pregnant with their son.
But why he didn’t stay. Why didn’t he come back to her?

Greysen looked back up to her solemn face and brought her hands to his face. He closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek and lips along the backs of her hands like a cat rubbing your leg. He stopped and kissed her hands, keeping them close to his lips as he spoke.

“So, after you left, I went to your home and knocked on your door. I wasn’t really concerned with freaking out your parents – they never did like me anyway. Your mom answered with your father behind her. When I spoke, she screamed like a little girl and he began backing away, pulling her with him until I told them I wouldn’t hurt them and they froze. My face was different but your mother recognized my voice immediately. We stood on that porch for a long while as I pleaded with them to tell me about you – how you were, what you’d been told about me – but they refused. Then I asked about the baby and they told me that the baby was not mine. They said that you’d fallen in love with someone else, that you were getting married and that the baby was his, your fiancé’s.”

Sutton’s mouth dropped in horror and she gasped. “They said fucking what? They are the ones that kept you from me! Wh…what…why…ughhh…”

Greysen touched her cheek. “That is no longer of importance. We cannot change it. We are together now.” He leaned in and kissed her lightly, keeping his lips pressed to hers until she relaxed against him. He pulled back and smiled sweetly to her then continued with his story.

“They told me that you’d moved on with your life; that you were truly happy and in love, and that if I would’ve stayed and seen you that I would’ve only ruined your life by bringing back the memories of that night, dredging up your pain again. I was so in love with you that I wanted your happiness, not my own, so I left town. I came back once about six months after that and watched your parents house for weeks but never saw you. I figured you’d gotten married and moved away. I’d never felt my heart break that way before. It felt like a black hole that would swallow my entire world. I felt so…empty. I followed your mom one day to the cemetery and watched her meet with a woman; they were arguing about something and then your mom gave her a tremendous wad of cash. After they left I walked over to the grave they’d stood over and read the name on the memorial plate. Ethen Joseph Reggetto, Jr. Of course I lost it completely. I stayed on that grave for hours and just cried.” Greysen’s eyes filled with tears.

Sutton pulled herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry you had to find out that way. I’m so sorry they lied to you and drove you away. I’m just so sorry for everything.”

“My love, you have nothing to be sorry for. It was not you. I should’ve known better. I should’ve stayed and fought for you, but with my new ‘body’ I had new obligations and had to leave anyway. I’d thought I could just come back and get you and take you with me but when I realized you had a new life, or rather was told you had a new life, I just gave up. I’m so sorry for giving up. I am so sorry you had to go through the death of our son alone.” The tears spilled over his eyes.

“Greysen, he may not be dead.”

His head popped up and he looked at her, perplexed. “What…what do you…”

Sutton proceeded to tell him the story of her return to Ponchatoula a few months ago and what Paul had discovered about the baby in the grave.

Greysen’s posture picked up and his eyes lit up. “What? You mean he could still be alive?”

“Yes, exactly. That’s actually what I have to go meet Paul about. Oh, speaking of, we’re gonna be late if we don’t go now.” She smiled and placed her hand on his cheek. “Both of my loves, my men, returning from the grave on me. I don’t know what to think. I feel like this is one big dream and I’m waiting to wake up.”
Greysen ran his fingers down her arms as she stood before him holding his face, raising little goose bumps across her skin. “Does this feel like a dream?”

“No,” she whispered, looking into his eyes.

“And what just happened between us; did that feel unreal?”

“Uh, it was unreal it was so unbelievably good, but no. It was very real.”

“You’re not dreaming, love. I am here. I am real. And I am not going anywhere.”

She moved between his legs and they kissed, long and passionately, bodies firmly pressed together. Greysen held her in the warm, solid, circle of his body for a long minute before they rose to leave the little inn and go see Paul.

They got in Greysen’s Navigator and headed towards the Ponchatoula Police Station. As soon as they pulled out of the driveway, Sutton asked, “So what ‘obligations’ do you have now because you have the body of Hercules?”

Greysen chuckled. “Well, I actually work for the government.”

She sat sideways in the passenger seat, holding his right hand firmly between hers and looked at him. “What do you do?”

“It’s sort of like freelance work. I don’t clock in or have an office to go to. I live my life, do what I please, go where I want to go but when they need me, they contact me; I do my job and then get back to my life. They pay me by way of an electronic funds transfer into my private bank account. Besides Vincent, I see no one and no one sees me. If I was able to stop working for them now, I’d be set for a few lifetimes over. My job is quite…lucrative.”

“What do you do?” Sutton asked curiously.

“I was built to be a warrior, Sutton, an indestructible life form...an enforcer.”

“What does that mean?”

“Let’s just say, when there are people who need persuading…I’m very persuasive.”

She gasped. “Do you kill people?”

“Mostly I just show them that they want to go along with whatever it is that they are protesting about at the time being.” He turned his face to look at her perplexed gaze; she didn’t look horrified so he continued. “But I do whatever needs to be done to get the job done.”

She relaxed her sudden grip on his hand but kept it pressed between hers. “I understand, and for some reason...it doesn’t bother me. This is all so crazy.”

“I know, trust me…sometimes it’s hard for me to believe and I’ve been living it for almost eight years.”

Sutton gave him a somewhat cynical look.

“What?” Greysen asked cautiously.

“This may sound kinda…silly.”

He smiled. “What, my love? Ask me. It’s ok. I know how strange this all is.”

She shook her head and took a deep breath. “Are you…like…a robot?”

Greysen tried not to, but he threw his head back and let out a tremendous laugh. It was throaty and masculine and Sutton couldn’t help but laugh with him. “No,” he laughed again, “no, love, I am not a robot. I am just as human as you are.” He took a deep breath and Sutton could see him thinking hard. “It’s kind of like…I am wearing a bulletproof vest under my skin and it just happens to cover my entire body, not just my chest. But inside, my heart beats, my blood pumps, my brain thinks…I am human.”

Sutton giggled. “I knew it was silly, but I just had to ask.”

He looked at her and raised her hand to his lips. “It’s not silly, love. It was a legitimate question. With everything I’ve told you…I could see why you’d be curious.”

“Do you like it?” she asked sincerely.

“Being bulletproof?”

“Yeah? That and the job?”

“The bulletproof part is pretty cool, I won’t lie. The job, I don’t mind it. I get
more free time than anything and I like that. I get to travel the world…I actually own a few homes in a few different countries…” Greysen paused as they pulled into the parking lot of the police station.

“Do you think I should go in with you?” he asked softly.

“Yes, of course. Paul will be so…”

Greysen hastily grabbed her face between his palms but kept his grasp tender. “He can’t know it’s me, Sutton. One of the stipulations of my new identity is that Ethen is dead, for good and I do not exist. It must remain that way. I did tell your parents it was me that day I showed up at your house, before I knew better. But they wanted me gone; I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about them telling anybody about me. Ethen has to remain dead. I am Greysen to everyone else.”

“Ok, we won’t tell him. But I still want you with me.” She opened the door to exit the vehicle and turned back to look at him. “How did you get the name?”

“What? Oh, huh,” he laughed a small embarrassed laugh, “Vincent told me I could pick my own name and I wanted you in my name, to carry you with me always, besides in my heart. So I used Grey S, for you and threw in the e-n from Ethen to always remind me who I was, and I came up with Greysen, G-r-e-y-s-e-n.”

Sutton smiled brightly and kissed his lips. “I love it. It’s perfect. Just like you.”