Chapter 20: Three Children

On Ellie's third birthday, Ruby organized a small party in the Lee Family backyard. She had personally baked a cake for her daughter and let Ian and Luna decorate it. It looked terrible, but Ellie knew that it was made by three of her four favorite people, so to her, it was the prettiest cake in the world. Ellie's father worked as a bodyguard in the Lee family household. He was rarely home, but this year he was around for Ellie's birthday. He originally did not care for the Lee children because when his wife had gotten pregnant, she worked up until her last month of pregnancy. He hated that she did not rest at home the way the doctor had recommended. She insisted that Luna and Ian were well behaved children, but he, having no interaction with them, found it hard to believe.

Then when Ellie was born, Ruby rushed back to work after taking just two short months to recover. Ben really believed that his wife was prioritizing work over her family, but as time passed, he got to know the Lee children and he realized that Ruby was the only warmth in their life just as she was the only warmth in his. He especially noticed how they doted on his daughter. The girl could not take a step without Ian or Luna's notice.

Luna liked to dress Ellie up in her dresses, and never seemed to care when the little girl ruined them. They kept her out of trouble and even his bosses treated the tiny girl like a member of the family. Ellie had really come to be the third Lee child instead of the only Rowe child.

This fact did not make Ben uncomfortable at all. He was Ellie's father and Ruby was her mother, that could never be changed, but he knew his daughter was the unofficial child of the Lee family and that if anything were to happen to him, his wife and child would be well taken care of. The thought comforted him, especially since his job was a hazardous one.

After they were done eating cake; Ben and Ruby took the three children to a nearby park and let them play. Ben had a feeling they were being watched, but he assumed he was being paranoid since he had never taken the children out. His wife, however, often brought them to this park and they returned without so much as a scrape each time. Ruby was pretending to be a monster and was chasing the children around as they squealed in excitement. She was a good mother, and he could not wait for them to have another child.

As they played, Ruby paused as she noticed a small red dot appear on Ian's clothing. She instinctively turned in the direction of the light and shielded the children with her body. There was a loud 'bang' and Ruby was shot through her abdomen. Ben felt his heart sink as he watched his wife fall to the ground, and a flower of blood appear on her light jacket. He glanced toward the children who were equally shocked; but Ian had recovered quickly. He had already grabbed his two sisters and hid under one of the playsets at the park. He was frantically looking around, trying to find an adult who could help them.

Seeing the panicked expression on the children's faces, Ben snapped out of his daze and ran forward to protect them. He thought he had already lost his wife, but he could not bear to lose his little girl as well. If he could at least get them out of the park, even if he died, he knew Ellie would be adopted by the Lee's. It had already been discussed and was written.

When Ben got to the children, he instructed them to run to the car. Ian moved first, pulling his sisters behind him. Ben used his body to shield the children as shots rang out behind them. By this time, the other Lee family guards were trying to get a hold of the situation, but there appeared to be more than one shooter. Ben and the children safely made it to the car. He watched Ian open the car door and wait for his sisters to get in before he climbed in himself. There was blood on the boy's leg. He had been grazed by a bullet, but he still protected his sister's first.

Ian was far from an ordinary child.

Ben shut the car door behind the children and instructed the driver, who he recognized, to take the family directly to the Lee residence. The driver did not hesitate and sped away from the park.

Ben turned around and opened fire in every direction, he was running toward his wife who still lay on the ground without a sound. He did not notice that he had been shot several times, his only thought was to get to his wife, so she would not die alone. When he made it by her side, he could see she was still alive, but she was barely holding on. He slumped down to the ground and held her hands in his. She smiled at him and thanked him for saving her children. She always thought of others first, that was one of the things Ben loved about her.

The sounds of gunshots stopped, someone called an ambulance and Ben, and his wife were rushed to a nearby hospital. Ruby had lost a lot of blood, but she made it to safety in time, but she still needed surgery to repair the damage. After the surgery, Ben was informed that the bullet had damaged his wife's uterus, and that it would be impossible for her to conceive. The doctors wanted Ben to harvest his wife's eggs, so they could possibly use a surrogate in the future, but Ben refused. One of the doctor's reminded him that he did not have a son, but he did not care, he was just relieved that his wife was alive. They already had three children and she did not need to have anymore.