Part 24:

The Way It Was Meant to Be

“Hi Nate, Mommy’s home.” Opening the door to the nursery Kristin felt the tension leave her body at the thought of seeing her son again.

Standing over the crib she gazed down at him, looking so much like his father as he slept.

Kevin.

She and Kevin had been in one another’s lives for such a long time it was hard to remember when her old life stopped and her life with Kevin began. Their destiny’s had been hopelessly entwined from their first meeting to the day they said I do beneath the rose covered gazebo on the white sandy beach in Ibiza.

They’d weathered many storms over the years from infidelities to his marriage to the woman in St. Thomas all those years ago. There had been wicked fights, incredible nights of making up and everything in between, and there was no way in hell Kristin was going to let it all go now.

Once that bitch Leslie was out of their lives they would patch things up the way they always had with tears, laughter and a love that was bigger than them both.

Reaching out for her son Kristin was startled by the creaking of the bedroom door opening behind her.

“I thought I told you to get out.” She whispered in a harsh voice as Lily walked calmly across the room, hands behind her back, the outline of Kristin’s handprint still fresh on her pale cheek.

“You did Kristin.”

“Then why the hell are you still here?” Kristin stepped away from the crib, not wanting Nate to wake to an argument between herself and the woman she had once called her friend.

“I just wanted the chance to say goodbye.” Leslie’s voice was steady her eyes never leaving Kristin’s.

“Fine.” Throwing her hands up in exasperation Kristin heaved an annoyed sigh. “Goodbye Leslie.”

Leaning in Leslie embraced the woman……..the woman whom she had made it her life’s goal to destroy.

“Goodbye Kristin.” Before Kristin could even blink Leslie raised her arm bringing the knife down swiftly into Kristin’s back. 

* * *

From there the rest had been easy.

Accustomed to growing up in a wealthy community Lily knew that the neighbors in Kevin and Kristin’s neighborhood mostly kept to themselves. Only mixing and mingling when it was absolutely called for.

She knew if questioned by police there wouldn’t be a single person who could confirm or deny a single thing happening at the Richardson home because everybody was too wrapped up in their own little worlds to even care. 

Walking down the street, her duffel bag slung over her shoulder, Nate cradled in her arm she exited the Richardson’s community continuing a mile or so through the neighborhoods until she reached the main road. She had called for the bus schedules earlier in the day and after a ten minute wait she and Nate were headed away from his old life towards his new life with Lily as his mother.

Transferring buses in downtown Tampa Lily made one last stop at a gas station where she locked herself in the bathroom and went to work shearing her long blonde hair with scissors from her duffel bag before carefully applying red hair dye to her new short locks. Removing her brown contacts she then changed her clothing from her red tank top and denim capri pants to a black tank style jersey dress and a pair of turquoise stud earrings that Kevin had purchased for her when they had started dating.

Stashing all of the items in a black garbage bag along with the cleaned off knife and gun she had used to kill Mark Caudiff she then turned her attention to Nate sitting on a blanket on the bathroom floor.

Pulling his white t-shirt over his head along with his navy blue shorts she redressed him in a white eyelet dress with tiny rosebuds on the collar and a pair of white sandals. Securing the bow in his hair she kissed him on the cheeks. “I’m sorry son, I promise that once we get to London you won’t have to wear this frilly stuff anymore.”

Stuffing his clothing in the garbage bag she secured it tightly picking up her duffel bag along with Nate she exited the bathroom tossing the garbage bag into the dumpster by the door before crossing the street to catch the bus that would take her to the airport. 

* * *

Sitting in the plane now Lily had no fear.

She knew that there would be no way for even the most skilled of detectives to figure out what the hell had taken place in the Richardson home.

She had laid the groundwork perfectly casting doubt in Kevin’s mind about the state of his marriage and the extra curricular activities of his wife.

He would have to tell the policemen in charge of the case everything. From Kristin’s possible affair with the now deceased Mark Caudiff, to the fact that Kevin himself was planning to divorce her and take away their son. He would also have to tell of his wife’s reported rage at the fact that his nanny had been the one to blow the whistle on her casting suspicion on Kristin that she might have possibly done something to silence both Mark Caudiff and Leslie Rogers…..and keep her son with her forever by doing something drastic.

And as far as Leslie Rogers went such a person never existed. There would be no record of her or way to trace any fingerprints lifted from the house because Lily herself had never been fingerprinted and would not show up in any American database. 

* * *

As the passengers began reboarding the plane for the final leg of their journey to London Lily sighed.

She wished that things could have been different, wished that Kevin would have been able to come home to her and their son but A.J. had to go and fuck it all up.

“I’m back. Emma looks like she’s getting in a good nap.” Glancing up Lily smiled as the woman sitting beside her retook her seat, a can of coke and a box of animal crackers in her hand.

“I brought you a little something. It can’t be easy traveling all alone with a baby.”

“No, it definitely isn’t. It’s times like these that I miss my husband the most.”

“Why don’t you let me hold her so that you can get a little sleep.” Holding out her hands as the flight attendants began their speeches regarding airplane safety Lily hesitated.

“Are you sure?” She felt her arms tighten around her sleeping son.

“Surely you must be tired, and I don’t mind a bit. I have seven grandchildren so I know my way around a sleeping infant.”

“Some rest would be nice.” Feeling her grip loosen Lily realized that she had nothing to fear. Nate was hers now and always would be.

“Thank you.” She said in a soft voice as the woman easily took a sleeping Nate from her.

As the engines of the plane came to life Lily settled back in the seat, closing her eyes and smiling as images of Kevin flashed in her mind.

Someday Kevin. Someday when all this is behind us I’ll come back for you and then we can all be a family again, the way it was meant to be…….I promise.

Accelerating down the runway the nose of the plane began to rise lifting them higher and higher into the clouds and Lily could feel herself drifting off into a nice peaceful sleep. 

The End

***

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