Chapter 180

Chapter 180Chapter 180 You safe me
The sound of Piki screaming made Peach feel for Elijah, her fingers poking his nose and eyes as her
palm rubbed against his face, and she whispered, “Babe, the baby is crying.”
Sleepily, Elijah opened his eyes and then closed them, moaning out a breath as he mumbled, “I am
up.”
Yet, he was still laying with his eyes closed, but another scream from Piki made him jump from his
sleep, shouting, “I am up, baby! Daddy is up!”
Then he jumped from the bed, rushing to her crib, and reached into it, scooping her up and cradling
her, singing nonsense. words at her that made Peach giggle sleepily.
Even though the two weeks of taking care of a newborn were challenging, Elijah refused a nursery for
the baby, allowing her to sleep in his room, and denied the offer of a nanny.
His heart won’t let him trust a soul other than his internal family around his daughter, after everything
that he and Peach had gone through.
“Shush,” Elijah murmured quietly at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Is your pamper wet?”
His pace was slow as he led her to the changing table, and then he rested her gently on the table.
The sleep that once overwhelmed Peach, faded, and she raised her eyelids to watch her husband
changing their daughter, and her heart melted like it’s been doing for the past days, seeing how
involved he was with their child.
After Elijah was all done, he picked up Piki, but soon she started bawling again, and Elijah looked over
at Peach and said, “I think she’s hungry.”and
It took Peach a second, but she finally sat up, stretching her hand out to him, said, “Let me have her.”
After approaching the bed, Elijah handed the little one to Peach, who settled down in her arms, and
then she took out her breast, placing the nipple in Piki’s mouth while Elijah popped down beside her
with a sigh.
The two sat in a comfortable silence as Piki suckled away, and eventually, after about ten minutes,
Peach mumbled, “Is the court still refusing to hand over the CCTV footage of the courtyard?”
“It’s sensitive footage. So I understand why it’s taking a bit of time to persuade the judge to issue it over
to us.” Elijah said, looking at their daughter. “Also, I am not there, in person with Ryan and the others,
so they might have it a bit difficult-”
“Do you want to.. like umm…” Peach stuttered, biting her lip, and then she asked quickly, “Do you want
to head over that-”
“Nooo… I don’t. I trust Ryan and the others to figure this out and handle it. Being here with Piki and you
is what’s important.” Elijah replied calmly, running his hand slowly down Peach’s arm before his eyes
fell on his little girl sleeping peacefully, her dark lashes covering her eyes.
When Peach looked down at their daughter, she hesitated for a while and then said, “About what your
mother said the other day…”
“What did she say?” Elijah asked softly, looking over at her.
“Piki having a newborn photography session, I think that would be nice.”
“Peach, I-”“I know that you still blame yourself for what happened to me when I was pregnant, but we can not
allow Melina to
haunt our lives forever. I am fine, Piki is here with us, and I just want us to start living again and
enjoying life. You deserve happiness, so please stop beating yourself up.” Peach said, turning her body
towards Elijah to look at him.
It fell silent between them for a few moments, and then Elijah said, “She’s asleep. I should take her to
her crib.”
Seeing that he wasn’t quite ready to let go of that trauma, Peach gently handed Piki to him.
After taking her out of her mother’s hands, he rested her on his chest, her tummy and back nice and
straight, and then patted her back gently until she burped.
Then he took her back to her crib and laid her flat on her stomach before focusing on Peach.
“That day was one of the worst days of my life, to see you fall down that stairs, thinking, “This is it. This
is how I lost both my wife and baby because of my past sin and my mistakes of overlooking the threats
that still surrounded us…” Elijah began, his voice softening as he recalled his darkest memories. “I was
going mad at the thought of losing you and Piki, and
I hated myself for not being able to save you, not being able to protect you guys.”
“But you did save us. You saved me, Elijah. Do you even give yourself credit for the things you have
done? Beating yourself is not fair because in my eyes, you did everything right for our baby and me,
and you are still doing an amazing job.” Peach softly uttered. “Elijah, please look at me.”
With a sigh, Elijah turned towards her, holding her gaze, and said, “I know you mean well. And I want to
believe you. But I just-”“There’s only so much you can do as a man, a husband, and a father. I know the
weight that comes with such responsibility. But babe, you are already doing so much as it is, and Piki
and I are here because of you. Can you at least see that and be proud of yourself?” Peach suggested
with a smile.
After a moment, Elijah gave her a small smile in return, and then he walked over toward the bed, and
squatted in front of Peach, resting his palms on her thigh as he mumbled, “You really want that
photoshoot, huh,”
“Elijah, you know this isn’t just about the photo shoot.” Peach cried with a pout.
A laugh escaped his lips at the look of frustration she wore, and then he leaned forward, kissing her
forehead gently, and then saying, “I know that it’s not, and I will try my best, starting from today…”
Seeing the confused look on her face, he explained further. “We can have the photoshoot, not
tomorrow, but today… I don’t want us telling them about Piki and then giving them time to do anything
funny before they get here. So, tell mom to call the studio, and we will do it today, at home,”
‘A win is a win,’ Peach whispered in her head, giving Elijah a quick kiss on the lips and saying, “Thank
you, babe.”
At twelve o’clock, the sound of the doorbell made James rush for the door, and when he pulled it open,
he found Ryan and Matt standing there.
“You got it?” James asked hopefully, knowing if he did, that will make them one step closer to seeing
the baby.
“Yes!!!” Ryan yelled.Immediately, James grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, jumping in excitement, “Yes! Thank
you!”
A moment later, the four of them gathered in the living room, around the computer, and then Rookie
plugged the hard drive in.
After minutes upon minutes of watching the footage, Ryan finally shouted, “Pause it!”
Immediately, Rookie did, and they all stared the photo of Deacon getting out of his car, and then Rookie
pressed play, and they watched Deacon approach Dean outside the courthouse. They seemed to talk
for a while, and then Dean followed Deacon to his car, getting into it.
“Do you think this is it?” Ryan asked Rookie.
“It looks so.” Rookie admitted, nodding his head, as he watched Dean drive off away from the
courthouse with Deacon.
It grew silent for a while, and then Matt blurted out, “We should be calling the boss on this!”
“Right! Yes.” Ryan said, pulling his phone from his pocket.
Standing in front of the mirror, Elijah’s body tensed up a bit as he buttoned his dress shirt, feeling
uncomfortable that there were a bunch of people downstairs, setting up for the photo shoot.
When Peach walked out of the bathroom, wearing a simple, yet stunning white gown that was made of
thin silk material with a slit up from each knee to mid- thigh and an empire waist, he turned from the
mirror and focused on her.
“Damn,” Elijah murmured under his breath, unable to tear his eyes away from Peach.But his ringtone suddenly forced him to turn away from her, walking over to his side table to grab his
phone.
“Ryan,” Elijah answered.
“Boss… We got the footage and Rookie just sent a copy of it to your phone.” Ryan replied, putting the
call on speaker for the others to hear.
“Apparently, Dean met with a tall man, built like a tank, and with the thickest brows I have ever seen,
before the last day of the trial. Dean left the courtyard in this guy’s vehicle.” Rookie added. “It’s clear
that Dean isn’t the one who’s paying
Melina’s hospital fee because even while he’s in prison, her bills are being paid. So
“Someone is using Melina to keep him silent and take the fall.”
Immediately, Elijah’s jaw tightened at those words, telling himself in the back of his mind, ‘I missed
another one.’
Then he turned around to focus on
Peach’s eyes and then said, “Let me call you guys back.”
After ending the call, Elijah drew a deep breath and said, “I am sorry to do this, but the photoshoot is
canceled.”
“But…” Peach mumbled, pausing when she noticed a look of worry in his eyes instead of anger.
“Okay.”
“Thanks, babe for understanding. You and Piki stay up here, and I will get the crew to leave.”.”Sure.”
It broke his heart to see the look of disappointment on her face, but his family’s safety came first, and
he knew that, so Elijah headed out of the room.
When he got into the living room, the crew had already set up their gears and stuff and his mother and
Miss Grace were there with them, dressed in white gowns, and immediately he felt stressed.
But still, he walked over to the two and then said, “The shoot is canceled. Please tell these people to go
home, and pay them for their time.”
“What are you talking about son?” Mrs. Maxwell cried, feeling annoyed and confused.
Th€ connection to th€ §ource of thïš dat@ r€§t$ in n0v3lebook“Please… Just do it, mom.”
“But, Elijah…”
“Please.”
Even though it frustrated her to do so, Mrs. Maxwell nodded and then approached the camera crew.
As Miss Grace and Elijah stood watching her talk to them, it was silent for a moment and then Miss
Grace mumbled, ” It’s not over, is it?”
“No, it’s not,” Elijah said.
A sigh escaped her lips, knowing exactly what he meant, and even though she felt sad, she still
mumbled, “Thank you for looking out for her.”
It took a while, but finally, the crew left and Elijah called for a family meeting, gathering everyone in the
living room.Calmly, he stood in front of them, and stared at Peach, holding Piki in her arms, his dad, his mom, and
his mother-in-law.
“There’s a possibility that someone else is behind Dean having the access to carry a gun into the
courthouse,” Elijah stated.
Meeting his father’s eyes, he sighed and then said, “I am not sure who it is or why he’s helping Dean,
and that’s why I need your all to be security minded and vigilant, especially after this.”
With a proud expression, Mr. Maxwell nodded in agreement and said, “I will double security and triple
the patrols around the house until the case is solved.”
“Ryan, Matt, and the others are already figuring out who this guy is. Hopefully, they can do that soon,
so we can get closure on this and move on with our life.” Elijah said, meeting Peach’s eyes.
A while later, when she when to put Piki down, Elijah walked into the room after her, and shut the door,
watching as she laid their daughter in the bed, and then he mumbled, “I know how much this
photoshoot means to you guys, and-”
“And I know how much keeping us safe mean to you. And I love you so much for that.” Peach said,
turning to face him.
Then she walked over to him and mumbled, “I will wait for the day you don’t have to stress like this and
just be yourself. I promise that I will be patient and wait for you.”