Chapter Four
They were lying quietly"even Abby"when Mac’s cell phone rang. He saw it was Ethan and handed it to Abby. “Ethan, Abby. Go ahead.”
"Hello?" Abby knew she was holding her breath. This was going to be good news; it had to be. She could only hope that Ethan had both found her parents and convinced them to come with him. "Did you find them?"
“You sound way too pretty to be Mac,” Ethan said, exhausted. “They’re safe with me, Abby. They’re fine. It got real bad all of a sudden down here. The levees are going. So, I’m gonna go to ground with them, drive at least as far as Baton Rouge tonight. Abby, your mom said that whatever you do, don’t you come down here. Soon as I can get them to DC, I will, but it might take me a couple of days. I’ll be reachable by cell though.”
"Tell Gloria if she had just answered the door, I never would have had to consider going down there." Abby felt like she could really breathe a sigh of relief. "Take your time getting them to DC, just knowing they're on the way out of the city is enough for me and I'm sure my brother. I can't thank you enough, Ethan."
“Oh you can. We’ll find a way, Abby.” He looked at the deaf couple where they sat in the backseat holding hands, and signed to them that Abby would stay put. He turned away, covering his mouth. “I’m just sorry we couldn’t get more of their memories out.”
"Ethan, you got them out. Do I wish you had gotten my grandmother’s tea set and great grandpa's rifle? I suppose, but Gloria and Dad are much more important. The rest are just things, and pictures can be replaced. My parents can't."
“They took a box full of pictures, and some jewelry, but the levees are going and I couldn’t wait any longer,” he explained quietly. He watched Gloria signing. “Apparently I’m a nice boy and a handsome devil too,” he said with a small laugh.
“Do you have a place for them? If not, Mac and his DC buddies should be able to work something out. They’re too independent to live with you happily. By the way, nice ink. I’ve seen some pictures of their gorgeous daughter. We’ll have to swap ink stories.”
Pictures and jewelry, the only things that she knew for sure would be left of her childhood, but she had her parents, and that was really enough. "Tell Gloria to stop trying to fix me up. You have to watch out for that one. She was showing you pictures? Means she sees a potential son-in-law in you."
Abby knew that her mother meant well. And at least she was picking men who had a tattoo or two; she was getting better. Didn't mean that the former SEAL was her type. "They can stay with me for a few days while I work on housing for them. I have a friend who might let them come stay with him until something permanent can be worked out. He has a huge house and he and his father take care of his mother. At least my parents are self-sufficient if nothing else. We're going to have a lot to discuss, if I plan on convincing them to move here. Just don't let them drive you crazy. You've got a long drive and they can be chatterboxes if given the chance. Also, don't believe a thing Gloria says about me, and I wasn't born blond."
“They’re fine, Abby. I really like ‘em and I’m glad to help out.” They looked exhausted, the ordeal clearly taking a toll on them. “See how things shake out down here. It could be something minor or it could be a mess.”
“You’re right. Maybe in a couple weeks, I’ll be driving them back down. But if it’s even half as bad as it looked on the news…” Abby trailed off, remembering the pictures of the live coverage. She didn’t think it was something that looked worse then it was. “I’m just not counting on it.”
He had the radio on and it was getting a lot worse by the minute. “I think I got them out just in time. Mac treating you okay?”
Abby looked over at Mac and Gibbs, seeing two sweaty and tired men. “Yeah, Mac has been treating me great. Never knew he was friends with my boss, but I’m enjoying getting to know him. I think we’re going to be really good friends by time you get here. I’ll convince him to stick around in case he thought he was heading home before you pull in. And you’ve got a place to stay until you figure out if you’re going back down south or if you’re heading off to someplace that might be blown off the map.”
“Sounds like a good plan, Abby. Thanks. Make sure that rascal takes good care of you.”
“That hasn’t been a problem.” Abby reached over and rubbed Mac’s bare chest. “He’s taken great care of me, and he and Gibbs have worked hard to take my mind off of what was going on. Food and movies, the only thing missing is chocolate and if I asked, I’m pretty sure one of them would run out and get me some. I’m staying here until you pull into town, it’s easier to find Gibbs place than mine.”
“Sounds good, sweetheart. I’ll rock up soon as I can and call Mac when we hit Virginia. You call this number whenever you want to and I’ll work translation.” He hung up, signing to Abby’s parents that she was fine, then dug in and pushed the car to its very limits. He had put a pretty face on this disaster and had to get Abby’s folks out now.
Mac took Abby’s hand in his and licked her fingertip slowly. “Your folks okay?”
“Yeah, at least Ethan says they are. It’s not like they can tell me otherwise though.” Abby was relieved, at least she knew that her parents were on the way out and she could call her brother and let him know for sure that their parents were fine. “I need to call Steven, let him know that everything is fine. He’s been as worried as I have been. He just wasn’t in a position to do anything about it.”
“Call him. Then we want you to sleep, sweetheart. Been a long day for you.” He slowly stroked a hand down Abby’s back
"I'm not tired." Abby dialed the relay operator, if she had been home she could have used her own computer to make the call and not have to rely on someone else to get the news across, but she just hadn't thought that far ahead. "You two go ahead and get a head start on that sleep. It's going to take a few minutes to have this conversation. He's going to have questions and I'm going to have to work with the operator. I know that you have to be pretty worn out after tonight’s activities."
He and Jet knew how this went. “If you insist on watching the coverage at least do it with us here beside you.” He waited for her conversation with her brother to be done and then pulled her into a tight embrace, flipping on the TV.
“Oh fuck…”
Jet blinked a few times in shock. The levees had clearly broken and the city was filling with water. “They’re out of there. They’re safe, Abbs.” Both Abby and Mac wore twin bleak expressions and he just wanted to protect them both.
“Mac, you have to stay in the here and now,” he warned softly.
Mac shook his head and then nodded “Yeah, I’m okay. Abby, what do you need?”
"Turn it off, please. I don't want to watch that." Abby couldn't believe how close she had come to losing her parents, and she couldn't watch the city she loved be destroyed. "I know they're safe, and out of the city. But I still know that if it weren't for you, Mac, they would still be there. I owe you in so many ways. I don't need anything more than what I have right here."
“You owe me nothing, honey.” He gathered Abby close, snuggling her into his embrace. “Let us be there for you, okay? You have two great guys wanting to help you out.”
“Just hold me? Make me forget what’s going on and how lucky I am that my parents are on their way here.” She didn’t want to think about the horror that the people of her hometown were going through. “I’m not used to having someone there to support me, I’m the supporter not the supportee. I don’t know how to do this.”
“All you have to do is breathe, Abbs. Let us do the rest.” Jet and Mac had been here before and they knew how to react. Jet let Mac hold Abby and stretched out on his side, stroking her hair and rubbing her back. “Long as we can draw breath, you’re not alone, Abbs.”
Chapter End Notes:
Stay tuned for Book 2 of Still Waters, coming soon.