"Just you remember that from now on, my love, you are staying with me at the Governor's Mansion. We should have done that from the beginning. This was my fault. I should have seen it coming. From now on I can't have you becoming a target for another kidnapping. You are going to be protected 24/7. No one is going to harm you anymore. Now just rest and get well. I'll be here when you wake up, so sleep well." Jesse said as he lightly kissed her lips as she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
"Please Jesse, do not blame Rashid. This was really my fault more than his. I should have waited for him before I went off on my own shopping."
"Okay, I will not blame him. I'm just pissed off that I did not see this coming. It's as much my fault as well as his. I'll apologize in the morning, I promise. Now, now, just you go to sleep and get some rest now."
Several times during the night Ronnie's screams and her thrashing around in the bunk awakened Jesse. He quickly tried to calm her down. "Darling, it's alright. You're here with me and I'm not going to allow anyone to hurt you again."
"Oh Jesse, is that you - is that really you? I prayed for you to come over and over. That evil man kept telling me that my prayers were a waste of time, as you were not coming for me because you really did not love me anymore. He said you had come under the spell of that monster Caliph and you would go to him and I would not see you again as you would not want me anymore. When I refused to believe that and I told him it could not be true, he showed me pictures of you and the Caliph together doing things that are so..., and still I refused to believe it... But then I began to have second thoughts. I could not help it. He kept showing me those pictures over and over and insisting that it was true. I tried not to believe it and while the thought of you helped me to survive... After a time I began to believe some of it. Is any of that true? Was that you in those filthy pictures?"
"Honey, I'm sorry to tell you - yes, it was. I will not lie to you. I did not want to do it, but both Yethro and I were drugged. You must believe that! I hope you will forgive me and just remember that you are here with me now and you're safe. Tomorrow we are going to board a plane and return to the States and have you back with your family," he said kissing her forehead. "Go back to sleep. You need your rest. You'll see - all will be well in the morning."
But the night was long and she kept tossing and turning and by morning all was still not well. However, after a good long shower and some new clean clothes, she began to respond to Jesse's care and little by little she began to look like her old self. After thanking the Seal team again and boarding a helicopter and leaving the carrier, things really began to look up. The farther away from the Sinai they got, the better she felt. The trip was long and the hours dragged on and Ronnie rested. It seemed that the closer to home they came - the better she began to recover some of her old self. Jesse knew it would be a while before she would recover from what had happened in the past few days. To help take her mind off the past, he told her about their new house and the progress that was being made.
"You would be surprised at how fast they are working. It will be ready by the spring and we can go up there for weekends," he told her. While there would not be any real furniture, he was sure that they would be able to camp out there or use Yethro's cabin and at least go swimming and fishing. All this talk about the house seemed to draw Ronnie out and she began to talk about what kind of furniture she wanted and while Jesse, at this stage knew it was all a game; he began to enjoy playing it with her. They became children and the two of them would roughly sketch the placement of chairs, tables and other things. She especially liked the idea of setting up the nursery and he began to think about trashing his work for the Department of Homeland Security and just settling down with this woman and raising a family. After all, he was not getting any younger and he could marry her legally right now without any problem. Her guardians would gladly sign the papers and Yethro would not only be ecstatic to perform the Civil Ceremony, he would encourage it. Although, according to Sharia Law they were already married he knew that both Ronnie and her family would never consider it a full marriage until he was fully converted. Yet, he still had serious reservations about it. He would have to talk to the Imam about that. He really was not looking forward to being circumcised. However if he were going to marry Ronnie... sooner or later he would have to have it done. Perhaps there was some way he could avoid it. But why wait? The sooner the better and get it over with. But before he took this final step he thought he should talk to Ronnie about it.
"You look so unhappy, Jess," she asked. "What is it? Are you having second thoughts about us now?"
"Don't ever think anything like that! You know how much I care for you. I was just thinking about ... you know... conversion. It is such a big step and as much as I admire some aspects of Islam, there are still many doubts. And it is not just that I fear circumcision, I admit that I do but it is that I cannot believe that Islam is my way or even the right way to bring up our children. To tell you the truth - it is too violent and some things are downright barbaric. Other religions have their faults, but as far as I can tell, there are ways to overcome them. As far as I can see, at this point, Islam is not my way. It may be yours and I have no problem with that, but it is not mine. There still are lots of reservations that I have."
"You do not have to believe in everything. I know what you mean, I, too have my reservations. There are many things that I do not like or understand about Islam. I have been spoiled. Living in America, I have learned to love the added freedom and modernisms people have there. I've even come to love a lot of my non-Moslem friends and neighbors. I've even questioned my grandmother about the place of women in Islam and how we take second place to our men. I've had a lot to see and question in the past week or so. How could one so-called Moslem do what he did to us and still think of himself as righteous is beyond me. Yet, there are millions of people that think that way. Look, Jess, we still have time to work things out. We will work on it, but we must do it together. You and I are going to make our own way. I'm sure that, Yethro, my Grandmother and Rashid will come to accept whatever we decide to do. And if they don't, we will just have to live our lives as we want to and I'm sure they will come around. As long as we love each other, we will be okay and others do not matter. If you feel that you cannot convert, then don't. In fact, I insist that you do not convert. I do not want you to do this for me. I love you and I hope you love me. I want you, and as far as you and that beautiful foreskin-well Mr. Allwadii, I just want to be Mrs. Allwadii and I'll take you as you are and if the world doesn't like it... Let them go to ..."
"I would love to do it that way. However Yethro and your family would throw a fit and disown both of us, and your family would throw you out. Just remember that even though I had a mother and father, I lived like an orphan for a long time and while I could live like that, I know you could not - you need family. No, we must do it their way. That's all there is to it. These last few days never happened," he said as he held her in his arms and kissed her.
"Perhaps it is better that they did happened. I learned one thing, Jesse Poindexter Allwadii, I love you more now than I did before and I would gladly convert to be with you... Why do you find it so hard to believe that I truly want to convert and become a part of your free world? You think that I, or any normal Moslem woman, want to live like a slave. Yes, I know, there may be some, but I don't. If I've learned anything in these past days, it's that I would rather live like a free woman. You taught me this! But you are wrong, Jesse. While their opinions are an important factor, we, you and I together, will have to decide, not Yethro, not Rashid, not Grandma, and not anyone else. Promise me that's how it will be. Just YOU AND ME."
The flight home took a few days and when they landed at the airport, the Governor and Ronnie's family were there to greet them. Jesse bundled Ronnie into the limo and they drove to the mansion. On the way, Jesse told her family that she was going to stay with him and the Governor from now on. Rashid again put up a big stink, but Jessie shook his finger at him and told him that he proved that he was not capable of protecting his future wife. Jesse wanted a professional bodyguard to take over. Besides, there is all the medical and psychological help needed there at the mansion. They fought all the way to the mansion. "Look, it's going to be this way. If you still have a problem with this, then Grandma can move in with Ronnie until we are married. You can keep the apartment for yourself until Ronnie and I are married. Then, if she wants to, Grandma can either stay with us or move back with you. Ronnie and I have already decided this. We cannot afford to take the chance that the Caliph is not going to send more men after her. The only other way to prevent that is for me to kill that bastard myself."
"You will never get to him," Rashid laughed. "That man has an army of people protecting him."
"Look if Dawud and that ass-hole Captain are examples of the caliber of his people, it should not be too difficult. I mean even unsophisticated Ronnie was able to get a message out to the F.B.I. and me. Anyway, let's just see how this works out for a while. Somehow or other I think we have not seen the last of the Caliph."
