The Ghosts Of Her Past (A Completed, Steamy Romantic Mystery)

Part Forty

It's time to put the fun aside and go through what we found at the house.  I've been working really hard to forget the name Lisa and replace it with Cassidy, sometimes I find myself trying to avoid saying either of those names.

We sat down at the kitchen table and Blaine pulled out the shoebox.  "I think we should start with the bigger envelope," I said.

He nodded.  "I agree."

He opened it and poured out the contents.  The tiny clip of hair caught my attention.  I didn't realize I had laid my hand on my belly until it was too late.  "Are you okay?" He asked.

I nodded.  "It's just sad."

"I know." He said, and picked up the piece of hair and looked at it.

"It's fuzzy." He said.

I smiled.  "That's how they usually come out, fuzzy and pink."

He gave me a small smile and acted like he was about to say something, but second-guessed himself. 

He set it down and picked up a tiny plastic bracelet.  "It actually says, 'Baby Lowell.' He smiled.

"Is there a hospital name?" I asked.

"Yeah, it just says Christ Hospital." He answered.

"We'll have to google it," I said.

"I'm sure there's more than one hospital with that name." He said.

I shrugged. "It'll narrow down the search.  Are you sure you don't own it?" I teased. 

He chuckled.  "I don't own everything." He then gave me a sly grin.  "Yet." He added, and I had to laugh at that one. 

I picked up another smaller envelope. "May I?" I asked. 

"Sure." He said and set down the bracelet. 

I opened it, and it didn't take a second for me to feel the tears come to the surface. 

"Blaine," I whispered as I looked down at Cassidy holding her baby.  Rather than joy, I saw sorrow on her face. 

I handed him the photo and his eyes softened.  "She was so beautiful, but this photo isn't one I'd like my mother to see."

I wiped a tear away.  "I agree."

"Do you need to take a break?  I can finish this, it's okay if it's too much for you." He said.

I sighed. "No, I need to do this, too."

There was another photo in the small envelope, and it was much better.  She had tears of joy on her face.  I smiled and handed it to Blaine. 

"This is the one we will share with my mother." He said.

"It's a good one, but who do you think took the pictures?" I asked.

He shrugged.  "Maybe a nurse?  I don't know." He said as he set it aside. 

There was a medium-sized envelope, and I felt he should open it.  We weren't expecting a birth certificate.  He read as I moved closer to look at it with him. 

She gave her real birth name and not her alias.  The baby was a boy, and she named him, Blaine William Lowell.  I gasped and pointed at it, while he looked a bit teary eyed. 

"Are you okay?" I whispered, and he gave me a smile. 

"I can't believe she did that, that's my name." He said with pride. 

I giggled a little.  "I know, she loved you dearly."

He shook his head and continued smiling like he's in disbelief.  "She named him after me?" He looked at me again.

"It appears so."

I reached over and patted him on the back, and he traced the name on the paper.  "You have no idea what this means to me." He said.

"I think I do."

He set it down and picked up a photo attached of two kids. 

"Is that you?" I snapped it out of his hand.

"Yeah, at my grandparents in Scipio." He said.

I giggled.  "You were absolutely adorable." His hair looks almost blonde, and he has a front tooth missing.

"I was adorable?" He stressed the word was, and I laughed. 

"You're adorable when you're relaxed," I said.

"Do I relax, when was that?" He chuckled.

"Tonight, when I was least expecting it," I said.

He shrugged.  "It's easy around you."

I might have blushed.

There were a few more small things, like the tag that must have been on his tiny hospital cradle, and a paper that looks like a birth certificate from the hospital with tiny hand and footprints.

He started putting things back into the envelope.

"Little Blaine." I teased, and he just smiled ear to ear.

"I guess these are yours." He handed it to me.

"What, no way!" I said.

"She left these things to you for a reason." He said.

"Maybe they were left for me to pass on to you.  Please take them, they need to get back to your mother." I said as I handed them back to him.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Of course I'm sure, this is your nephew and namesake," I said.

He gave me that tender smile once again. "Thank you."

"Like I said before, everything will go back to your family." I reminded him.

"Not the money or any of her assets." He reminded me, but it doesn't feel right at all.  The expression on my face must have told him what I was thinking.

"I'm sure you're aware by now, I don't take no for an answer." He said.

"Why, it's your family money?" I asked.

"It was my sister's wish, and it's what she wanted." He answered. 

"It doesn't bother you or make you angry?" I asked.

"Why would it bother me or make me angry?  It was my sisters money, not mine, and I make that much in just a few months." He said.

Months?  Holy shit.

"Ready to start the journal?" He asked.

"It feels like an invasion of privacy, but I guess we don't have a choice." I stretched because my back is aching from this hard chair.

"Let's go somewhere more comfortable." He said.

We walked over to the sofa, and I curled up with a small blanket.  He flipped through it to around the time they were forced to leave Alaska.