Betrayal by Nancy Ann Healy Page A

handle meeting Mr. and Mrs. Toles. And, she needed to quell the lingering fear Alex was confronting about her ability to be a good parent. “Alex, can I say something here?” The agent nodded silently. “I don’t know what it was like for you with your parents. If you are worried about me, I mean what they might say or do; don’t be. You are not your parents; none of us are.” Alex started to open her mouth to speak and Cassidy cautioned her with just a glance. “Let me finish. I watch you with Dylan. I watch him with you. I have seen you and Nick chasing after those two little boys…Alex, I saw Stephanie Merrow light up when she saw you. Whatever it is that you are afraid of, I think you can rest easy about how you are with children.”
    “Yeah, but Cass, I haven’t raised any of them. Cat is Nick’s and Stephanie and Alexandra, I mean they were older when I met them. And Dylan, you have raised…”
    “I know all of that, Alex. Don’t you think I worry about whether I am a good mother?”
    “Why on earth would you worry about that?” Alex asked genuinely.
    “Why? Oh, I don’t know. I raised my son for six years with a man that I couldn’t understand and didn’t agree with on anything; a man that isn’t even his real father. God. Alex, what kind of person does that make
me
?”
    “Cassidy, you are the best person I know and you are a wonderful mother. I don’t think there is anyone that would disagree with that.”
    Cassidy let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Yeah, well Dylan might disagree one day.”
    “No.”
    Cassidy sighed. “The point is that I understand why you feel that way. I think you are a wonderful parent, Alex. Dylan adores you. I still am a little confused though, about…”
    Alex smiled. “Seeing my parents, taking you there…it’s just, well, all these things that…I…I need to do that before I can think about all of these things I can’t stop thinking about.”
    Cassidy couldn’t help but laugh. One of the most endearing things about this wonderfully strong woman that she loved was how Alex’s confident demeanor could turn to an almost incoherent diatribe when she got nervous. “Alex, what exactly are you talking about?”
    The agent took a deep breath and let it out with some force. “I’m saying,” she stopped and repeated the same action. “I am saying that I want to have a family with you, Cassidy.”
    The teacher swallowed hard and put her hands on the agent’s cheeks. “I want that too.”
    “It scares me.”
    “I know,” Cassidy said. “It’s not like it has to happen tomorrow, Alex.”
    “You might change your mind after next weekend.”
    The teacher pursed her lips and then kissed the agent’s cheek. “You have endured my mother almost daily and you still want to have a family with
me
?”
    “I love your mother.”
    Cassidy’s snickered. “Uh-huh. So do I, but she can definitely be…”
    “A handful?” Alex joked.
    “To put it mildly,” Cassidy agreed. “I didn’t fall in love with your family, Alex. I fell in love with you, though I do love Nick and Barb and so does my mother. Stop worrying.”
    “You know, I was watching Dylan today in that cockpit,” Alex began. “And, I wished I could have seen him when he was a baby. It was strange. I just…I felt like he was…”
    “Yours?” Cassidy raised an eyebrow. Alex nodded. “Well, I think he feels the same way.” Alex smiled and Cassidy laid her head in the agent’s lap, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath. “Alex, I wouldn’t want to raise him with anyone else.” Cassidy felt soft lips brush against her own. “This was what you wanted to tell me?”
    “Well…” Alex chuckled.
    “Hum. Can I ask you something?”
    “What?” the agent asked.
    “What made you start thinking about this?”
    “I don’t know, everything. I mean, when I was working at the house, painting Dylan’s room, I kept thinking about it. But, well,” Alex hesitated.
    “Go on,” Cassidy said