PYGMALION

 

by DocPaul

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three: When a moment defines a life

 

Day Three: Thursday, 12:46 am

 

Max tripped over his gym bag he had left in the middle of the floor. Moving around in the dark, he cursed at the illuminated dial of a clock in his kitchen.

 

“Hey.”

 

A very tired looking Jonathan was resting up against the door jamb with his overnight bag in hand. Smiling slightly, his eyes ran over Max’s face, and dropping the bag he pulled the slighter man into a powerful hug.

 

Closing his eyes, Max rested against Jonathan and just breathed deeply.

 

“Are they okay?”

 

Max nodded and moved back, giving Jonathan room to come inside. “Yeah. They survived, but...”

 

“The injuries are serious.”

 

Max swallowed hard, and a sound of distress actually escaped him, unguarded.

 

Jonathan pushed the door closed behind him after pulling his bag inside. Taking Max back in a strong hug he just let Max take his time. He could feel the tremors running through Max's body, and of all the things he knew about Max Evans, one thing was that he felt deeply for those in his life.

 

“How bad, Max?”

 

Max pulled away and went to stand in the kitchen turning on the light. “You want something to eat or drink? You must be tired, and...”

 

“I didn’t rush home to be entertained. Come sit with me, and tell me what the hell is going on.” Jonathan went into the living room and threw himself down in a heap on the sofa, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Reaching for his tie, he gave up and let his hand drop.

 

“Sorry. I’m avoiding again. I know.” Max sat next to him and stared at his hands dangling between his legs. “Jim might never be able to use his left arm again. He’s looking at numerous surgeries, rehab and therapy. They went in immediately with plastics and orthopedic surgery trying to re-establish and maintain all the blood supplies and nerves. He was in there forever.”

 

Jonathan closed his eyes and rested his head back against the sofa. He asked so quietly that Max almost didn’t hear. “And Amy?”

 

“She may never walk again. They don’t know yet. It will take some time to let the area heal. She has feeling in her legs, but...” Max leaned his elbows on his knees and rubbed his face. “They just don’t know yet, but she’ll be in a wheelchair for a while. Either way, she’ll also need therapy and rehab.”

 

“Maria?” Jonathan asked in a hushed tone.

 

“She’s understandably upset, but between Amy and Michael they’ve seemed to calm her down.” Max didn’t want to ask, but he couldn’t help it. “What is it with you and this Maria thing?”

 

“There is no Maria thing. She’s my friend, and has been for a long time. I care for her, and for her family. That even includes Michael...somewhat.” Jonathan looked over at Max. “Hey, not so long ago you thought you were in love with her. Why couldn't I be any different?”

 

“Who says I still don’t?”

 

Jonathan stood up and looked at Max. “Then it looks like you and I have much more in common than we knew.” Jonathan quietly walked away and went to shower. Max just sat there and slowly went to follow.

 

Max stood in the bathroom waiting for Jonathan to get out of the shower. The room was filling with steam, and Max stood in front of the mirror brushing his teeth. Looking at Jonathan's reflection in the mirror he held the stare when Jonathan looked at him.

 

“You’re in love with Maria?”

 

“Aren’t we all? She’s got something special about her, something even I can’t name or describe. It’s like being pulled to a magnet, or perhaps the center of a storm where there’s a sense of calmness. I don’t know.”

 

“How long?”

 

“Since I met her.” Jonathan laughed as he dried his hair. “It’s definitely not like what Michael has for her. They’re like two parts of a whole, or maybe the different face of the same coin. Soulmates. Maybe more. Elemental. Like they dance this dance together through a thousand lifetimes, and still they find each other. They are one and the same, and yet different. I don’t know.”

 

Max followed Jonathan out of the bathroom after he brushed his teeth. “I felt it too. Maria is...Maria. Somehow with her, I just feel like I can think clearer, see things that didn’t make sense before. She's like a focus or something, and I find myself searching her out. I know Michael does the same.”

 

“I searched for her for a long time, and when I found her...I had expectations, things I thought would happen, a overwhelming sense of clarity of what would happen, but I didn’t expect...” Jonathan just shook his head and grabbed his extra pillow before Max could steal it.

 

“What didn’t you expect?” Max looked around trying to locate another pillow. He liked sitting up against the headboard talking to Jonathan at night, but that damn headboard was pretty hard going.

 

“I didn’t expect that she would be so small. So wounded. When I met her...” Jonathan looked away from Max and climbed into the bed, the side he usually slept on when he stayed at Max’s place.

 

“Jonathan?”

 

“She was...she was sorrow.” Jonathan cleared his throat, but not before Max saw a hint of moisture there. “I...I didn’t know. I never felt..., um not before, I never...”

 

“Never felt?”

 

Jonathan just shook his head. “I don’t know. There can be no naming, no words to touch the silence that held her. She didn’t speak a word for a year, you know. It was as if sound would break the air around her, the very fragile hold she had on reality. Her father was gone. Her brother being a murderer and her watching him slaughter her boyfriend...it hurt worse than the cuts he left on her tiny body. Deeper. Running blood.”

 

Max didn’t know what to say. So much of his life, losing his parents, felt intolerable at times, but what Jonathan was describing were made worse by knowing Maria, imagining it.

 

“She loved him.”

 

“Him?” Max was confused. “Her boyfriend?” Strange thought. Max couldn’t imagine Maria loving anyone but Michael.

 

“No. Her brother. He terrorized her, made her afraid, but she still loved him. His death and who he was, tormented her for the longest time, and she wished she had died that day too.”

 

“What do you mean you searched for her?”

 

Jonathan just shrugged. “Like you said, she's special. She has this ability to clear the mind, to give a sense of clarity. I knew that people like her existed, special people with special talents. It was what I surrounded myself with all my life. When I saw her, I knew. And the fragile state she was in offended me, made me angry, and I guess at that moment she became mine. Something I protected regardless. I just didn’t know I could feel...not like that.”

 

“Love.”

 

Jonathan nodded. “Yeah. Not a romantic love, not even sexual, but something else. Like she was...looking at God at the impression of purity.”

 

“Cleanness.”

 

“Yes. No hate. No spite. Just pure feminine sorrow, and she was like a princess encased in ice, held there suspended, untouchable.” Jonathan laughed. “And then she shocked me.”

 

“How?”

 

“She looked at me and said I had to either speak my mind or move my fat ass, because she was one busy chick on a quest to find the perfect cup of coffee.”

 

Max laughed. Maria.

 

“It was a novelty. All those months I took over so many of her affairs, helped her mother and Sean, and she looked like a waif that barely could hold her own weight, and the first time I heard her voice...it was the voice of an angel spewing words that would have sent sailors running.”

 

“A perfect mate for Michael.”

 

“I hate to admit it, but yes. They fit in places I didn’t know were supposed to be matched.” Jonathan sank down into the bed and waited for Max to move down closer to him. “I, who usually felt nothing, but with her I felt everything.”

 

Max was quiet, resting against Jonathan. “And me? What do I make you feel?”

 

“Confused. Horny. Pissed off...happy? You never inspire the same feelings at the same time, Detective. You are an anomaly in my life. I want to push you, but I find myself holding back. That, in itself, is highly unusual for me. At all times, I am a man with a plan.”

 

“Because I won’t move in with you? Or is there some other reason?”

 

“Maybe it’s many things. Things known, and things untold, or maybe it is just stress. My life. Yours. All the places between. Will he stay? Will he leave? Is he just using me? Stupid shit. But still important. To me.”

 

"When I was feeling this stressed in my life, as you put it, I discovered the perfect way to end it, and make myself come down from the high of shocking uncertainty."

 

"What was that?"

 

Max smiled evilly in the dark, his deep brown eyes shining mischievously. "Sex." The matter of fact reply completely contradicted the gleam in the eye, but then Jonathan realized there was more to come. "Besides bringing good luck, it relieved stress and helped me go to sleep."

 

Jonathan just stared at his bedmate, trying diligently to decipher what was likely going on in the depths of the other man's mind. The brown eyes shone brightly, but gave away little more than Jonathan had already picked up. Dammit, hint a little more here Evans! Jonathan took a deep breath and all the tiredness that plagued his body was suddenly gone. He was more than willing to relieve all the stress Max might need relieving. Jonathan jerked his head, and realized, yup, he'd just thought that. He was such a fucking slut. It wasn’t his intention to find Max that late for anything other than comfort and to make sure he was all right. Endless lectures of not giving up too much of himself, since Max seem incapable of making a real decision or commitment, went out the window in a second.

 

Something needed to be said, to break the silence they were experiencing, and he was sure Max wouldn’t say any more.

 

"So you what? Fuck your brains out, pass out, and everything is suddenly okay?" Jonathan swallowed a curse. What the fuck was he  saying? He had kept Max at a distance over the past four months, and now he was offering to just let it all go?

 

"Basically, yeah. Worked almost every time." Max said, eyes watching Jonathan in the dark, making Jonathan feel even more disconcerted, making him regret having hurried back from his business trip. That's when he saw it, the little flash of something that said there was definitely a discussion going on here between the lines, or under them, behind them maybe? He wasn't positive what that discussion was exactly, but he was damned if he was going to give up on finding out yet.

 

"Almost every time?" Jonathan's genuine curiosity was outweighed by the bright light of encouragement in the other man's eyes, and he just prayed he was reading it right.

 

"Yeah, didn't last night, couldn't find anyone to help me out, give me a hand."

 

Yup, there it was again, a flash, a glimmer of something a whole lot more important than what was actually being discussed.

 

What to say? That door had been slammed in his face too often in the past few months, but nothing ventured was nothing gained. Jonathan's own face grew mischievous, a smile lighting the angled features. "Maybe now is the time to talk to Mary, huh?" His smile grew as Max was suddenly still and tried to appear more thoughtful. "Samantha maybe? Or Carol, Denise, Jenny, Lisa, Carmen…"

 

Max stopped him with a hand to the mouth and rolled his eyes. "Where the hell did you get all the names of my past girlfriends?"

 

"Weren’t they carved in the wood of your bedpost?”

 

“You’re not going to forget this and not remind me of my past promiscuity?”

 

“Not likely," Jonathan said seriously. It was Max’s past relationships, or sexual partners that made him want a promise of commitment, exclusiveness. Silence descended again, but this time it was bridged by the connection between the two sets eyes in the room as so much was left unsaid, yet both heard it all loud and clear.

 

They had been working up to this. They were at a breaking point. Going forward, or ending it. Handsome? No, more like pretty. Max’s features were almost too finely defined for a male. This wasn't the first time he had noticed it. He realized this little flirtation game had begun a few months ago. Shortly after that night in the club when Max had feared him dead or hurt, after they had found the bodies. Max came to him with no questions asked or even permission, and he let him back in, and he had done it every time since. It had been as if the dam had broken, and all the tension released to flow out of their lives.

 

Jonathan had started noticing slightly heavier gazes being directed at him from Max, and realized that Max was trying to overcome a mental hurdle, make a decision he knew would change his life forever. So he practiced patience until the days ran into months, and suddenly he tossed out the gauntlet, demanded a decision. He did it by asking Max to move in with him. Max said no, but Jonathan couldn’t just walk away, so they stood at an impasse.

 

Then the masked innuendoes, the somewhat veiled allusions, and the outright advances that had only gotten more intense and more playful as the weeks and months wore on. The two of them had been heading in this exact direction, possibly for longer than either were conscious of, and there was no way in hell Jonathan was turning back now.

 

"So, any other contenders?" Jonathan had intended to sound more innocent than that, but the huskiness in his voice was more than obvious, and Max's smile only grew. He had never promised to date and see Jonathan exclusively, but it still had turned out that way.

 

"Possibly. Not sure if this other contender is up to the challenge," he replied, leaning forward to prop himself up on and arm above Jonathan. "Or if there's actually time to investigate said contender's prospects."

 

"Prospects?" Jonathan’s jaw flexed as he clenched his teeth and forced himself to proceed at Max’s speed, and not force him to hurry this along. He absentmindedly reached out to move a finger up Max’s jaw line just in time to be caught by Max’s graceful hand that reached for his cheek. He looked up into the wide eyes above as he was pushed back into the mattress and the sturdy body leaned into him. "What's there to investigate exactly?"  Jonathan asked huskily, slightly clearing his throat.

 

"Umm, let me think," Max murmured, allowing his hand to caress the features of the older man. Jonathan turned his head to brush his lips over the palm, never taking his eyes off the man above him. Max seducing him? Yup, that sounds about right.

 

"I think that it would have to be something simple, due to time constraints and the lateness of the hour, and the fact that the contender has probably been up all day and traveled late into the night to get here. There's only one more thing to do tonight than what was expected." Max's face had moved closer until his breath was a warm, moist touch on Jonathan's lips.

 

"Quite right," Jonathan was able to get out just as Max’s lips finally completed their descent. Any hesitation that might have been present disappeared at that exact moment. Max’s hand slid down to a muscular shoulder and began to knead, but quickly moved back to cradle the back of Jonathan's head. Jonathan's own hands moved as they originally desired to sink into Max’s hair.

 

Tongues met finally as mouths slanted, grips became tighter, breathing became unnecessary, and the first taste caused an addiction Jonathan didn't ever want to rid himself of, even if he could. He hated Max for that. He felt as Max had discovered every chink in his armor, and proceeded to take from him all his control. It became something akin to a race to see who could control every movement, find every dark corner the fastest and make it their own.

 

When breathing became necessary, Jonathan felt Max pull away to pant into his mouth. A low moan of passion mixed with a pout of chagrin, and he pulled the head the last inch forward so their foreheads were resting against each other. They panted together for a few more seconds, slowly calming down as they ran their hands across each other's body. Jonathan knew what Max was thinking, and he wanted just as much to let things keep going. It was Max’s party.

 

"We've got ground to cover, huh?" Max said breathlessly.

 

Jonathan nodded in answer to the younger man's breathy question, rubbing their foreheads together. "Unfortunately, yeah," he whispered. He smiled, though, and resituated their position to bring their lips near again. "So how did tonight's contender do?"

 

Max shook with silent laughter. "I do believe he did quite well," he answered, letting their lips meet again for a quick moment, an unwanted validation as they began to untangle themselves. Jonathan felt his face being held again between strong hands, and he met the glassy eyes. "I think we may be able to waive a couple of the other pieces of crap I usually put you through and go straight to the heart of things."

 

"Oh, is this one of those accelerated courses?"

 

"Yup, self-paced, but with large rewards to get things done real quick." Max planted another peck to Jonathan’s mouth, and then backed off. "But I've got to be honest with you, I can’t live with you, not yet. I...I know you get irritated with me, and how slow I go, but something in me, like my heart stops and everything is hushed, and I feel a sense of caution. Go slow. We've got time, Jonathan. Time. I just feel that somewhere, somehow I made a big mistake once. I made a decision that cost too much, and something inside me remembers that, and tells me to stay the course, be cautious, and make the right choices. I can’t fail this time,” Max said fiercely. “Not this time."

 

Jonathan squeezed the hand that he caught tenderly. Yup, they had time, for now. It could wait, and would.

 

“So you can’t live with me, so what does this mean exactly Max? Do you even understand how much of who and what I am that I’ve changed and altered for you? I changed my sexual orientation, put things on hold…dammit, you’re rewriting my life and…”

 

“I can give you a promise.” Max said quietly. Jonathan stopped and waited. “I can’t live with you, but I can promise you exclusiveness. No dating. No others. Just you. And…I can promise that once I can make a commitment to live with you…I will.”

 

Fair enough. Jonathan nodded. He wanted more, but that would do for now. It was one more step closer to his goal, better than what he had when he woke up this morning.

 

“I missed you.”

 

“I was only gone for three days.”

 

“It felt longer.”

 

Jonathan smiled at that. “Oh baby…”

 

“Baby? Okay, we need to set some rules! No cutesy nicknames…and baby? That is totally out!”

 

“Sweetheart? Honey?”

 

Max made a face and hit Jonathan hard across the chest as the older man started laughing. “Okay! Okay. But just once…in front of Michael.” Max looked at Jonathan and they both dissolved in a flood of laughter.

 

~~~

 

“Maria! We’re late!”

 

“I’m coming! I can’t find my watch.”

 

Michael looked down at their kleptomaniac cat. “Don’t even get me started on that shit again. No more hoarding for the babies.”

 

“Found it!”

 

Michael looked back down at the cat. “Don’t think I’m going to apologize. You’re still under suspicion.”

 

Mr. Boo regarded him with disdain. Yeah, yeah. Always my fault.

 

“My back, it's killing me,” Maria said as she came down the stairs.

 

Michael looked at her shoes and frowned. “It’s your shoes. I’m telling you, they’re bad for your legs and back. Dangerous.”

 

“Michael,” Maria said warningly. Her shoes were an off-limit topic. “Are you going to drop me off at the hospital to see Mom afterwards?”

 

“No. I’m bringing you home to rest. I’ll take you to the hospital after lunch.”

 

Maria opened her mouth to protest, but decided to be reasonable. Waiting for Michael to close the loft door and open the door of the car for her, she noticed his gun.

 

“Oh, no you don’t! Leave the gun home.”

 

Home? Michael looked at her like she was three degrees shifted to insanity. Not going to happen. Fingering his weapon, his eyes narrowed. “I need it.”

 

“No, you do not. We’re going to the baby doctor, Michael, not into a hostage situation.”

 

“That’s what you think. Have you even bothered to notice the women that frequent that place? They’re…”

 

“Pregnant! They’re pregnant, not insane, not criminals, and they are not going to attack or maim you.”

 

“No. I’m required to have my weapon at all times, even off duty. As an officer of the law…”

 

“Bullshit.”

 

Michael raised a hand. “I swear, it’s true. Ask Kyle, Sean or Max…”

 

“I will not. That’s just ridiculous! I saw the group of you sitting around comparing your ‘pieces’ talking about barrel size, and muzzle velocity. Don’t try that one on me!”

 

Michael just shrugged. What the hell was her point?

 

“Dammit Michael, you’re all obsessed with your phallic hardware! Don’t even deny it. You even name the damn things!”

 

“I call mine Maria.”

 

Maria looked up at him where he stood close holding open her door. “Really?” Ridiculously pleased, she noticed he was looking so incredibly fine. He smelt…

 

Michael groaned as she sniffed him along the side of his neck. Looking down at her, he kissed her hard, and then he firmly put her in the car. “Stop it. We’re finding out about the twins today. For once, let's not be late. I’ll treat you to a Burger Barn double cheeseburger with extra pickles afterwards.”

 

Maria smiled and settling back in her seat with her hands folded across her stomach she said simply, “I love you.”

 

Michael smiled and started the car. He was getting so damn fucking good at this relationship shit…um, stuff.

 

~~~

 

“Twins?”

 

“I’m sure.”

 

DocJim looked at the schedule on her chart. “Well, you’re up for a ultrasound today, so we’ll check it out. That would explain the muffled Doppler results. I see they took your glucose test today, so I’ll let you know the results of that too. Blood chemistry will be back soon. I told them to put a rush on it since your chemistry is always all over the place.”

 

DocJim put the chart aside and looked over at Michael quietly sitting in a chair in the corner. Sighing, he shook his head. “Your weight is too low, Maria.”

 

“I eat. I eat enough for ten men.”

 

“I know. I can’t explain it, but you’re seriously underweight. The babies seem to be thriving, but it would be remiss of me to not be concerned for the mother as well.” Jim looked at his patient. “I heard about Amy and Jim. And I know that this is a hard time for you, a lot more stress. I need you to stay as calm as possible. Rest. Eat well, and take care of yourself. I realize that both of you are doing everything you can, but I’m worried.”

 

“Don’t be. I’m fine.” Jim looked at Michael and then to Maria again. “Okay. But I want you in here twice a week for blood draws, and to see me at least once a week. Normally we wouldn’t schedule your appointments so close, but it’s still going to be a few weeks before the baby…babies... are old enough to survive if we need to take them early. You’re twenty-six weeks, and I’d like to see you about thirty-two. That’s six more weeks. The babies will be fine after twenty-eight with some difficulties, but still fine. The longer we can give them, the better.”

 

“No one is taking my babies. They’ll be born when it’s time, and not before.”

 

“Maria…”

 

“No.” Maria refused to discuss it. “So I think it’s time to see if an ultrasound can confirm what I already know, don’t you?”

 

DocJim discreetly looked at Michael, who had been strangely quiet. “Yes. Let me get Carolyn to set up the room. She’ll come and get you when she’s ready.”

 

 

Michael sat transfixed, looking at the screen. If he had to put his money on anything, he’d have put it on Maria’s knowledge, but there was something about seeing his unknown child for the first time that meant something to him. He was expecting only one, but two was like a bonus.

 

“Stop. Carolyn, back it up a little to the right upper field. Can we move in on that?” DocJim waited as his technician moved the screen, changing the viewing field. “There.”

 

“What?” Michael tried to figure out what they were looking at. Holding Maria’s hand, he leaned forward.

 

“Two placentas. So you were right. Why does that even surprise me?” DocJim moved his finger along the field and talked to Carolyn again. “See if you can get a better view. I’d like to have measurements on both.”

 

“Is something wrong?” Maria asked her hand tightening on Michael’s almost painfully.

 

“No. You’re not a very big person, Maria. That’s an incredibly small space for them to be sharing, and we haven’t seen the other baby because one is behind the other. So we need to get them to shift, so we can see both at once. We’ve been tracking the growth, but now it’s hard to say which baby we were tracking, if not both.”

 

Carolyn helped Maria shift more to her side, and after a few moments they got a better view.

 

“There! Freeze that one.” DocJim smiled. “Well, hello there. You want to know the sexes?”

 

Michael looked at Maria with a raised eyebrow. Maria nodded. “Yes.” Michael was surprised how strange his voice sounded until he realized he had been holding his breath.

 

Jim pointed to one image with an obvious curled fist. “That’s your son. And…” He waited as Carolyn tried to fix a better image. “And there is your daughter. One of each.” Hitting Michael on the shoulder he smiled. “Guess you’ll be wanting a copy of the videotape?”

 

Michael just nodded, his eyes remained fixed on the monitor watching them. They looked so small. “They’re okay?”

 

“They look perfect.”

 

Perfect. Michael looked at Maria, and a slow smile moved across her face leaving him breathless again. Perfect.

 

~~~

 

“We haven’t talked names.”

 

“I know.” Michael took another bite of his burger.

 

“Don’t you think we should?” Maria asked quietly.

 

Michael put down his burger and looked at her. Reaching out a hand he moved it gently down her face, his eyes traveling softly over her features. Moving his hand down, he rested it on the swell of her stomach.

 

“I can’t. Not yet.” If they lost the babies, it would be so much harder if they had names. He already knew that Michael, called 'Mikey' would be his son, but the girl…his daughter... Michael looked out the window and gulped.

 

“Hey, it’ll be all right.” Michael looked at Maria, and tears collected in her eyes at the look on his face. Despair. Pure panic. “God, Michael…”

 

He lowered his head next to hers and pulled her close in a hug. “I just can’t. Okay?”

 

Maria nodded. Terror. She understood the feeling. He was afraid, and fear wasn’t a feeling he could express well. Michael didn’t want her to feel his fears. Losing them, all of them, or even one of them, was plaguing him.

 

“Okay.” Maria ran her hand over the back of his bent head. “It’s okay. I understand. You don’t have to say anything.”

 

Michael looked up at her soft reassurance, and then leaned into a kiss. Maria could feel him. So much of everything inside him, and as awesome as it was, it was also overwhelming. Laughing, she pulled away and grabbed his hand placing it over her stomach which was suddenly moving.

 

“What does it feel like now?” Michael asked smiling at the feel of his children under his hand.

 

“Something to wondrous to describe. At first it felt like a fluttering, like wings of a butterfly. Now it’s like my entire stomach is alive, moving, almost like a rocking motion on the sea.” Maria laughed at his expression when her stomach moved again under his hand. Maria could feel the building energy. Uh oh! “Maybe you should remove your hand?”

 

“What?” Maria laughed again at his adorably confused look.

 

Michael Guerin. Hers. The way she saw him, so few other people were allowed to see that part of him, if any. To others he was a stand-offish man with a fierce temper and sharp sarcastic tongue. With her, he was soft, gentle, romantic, roguish and outrageous. A young boy - a beautiful young boy.

 

Leaning into him, she whispered in his ear. “Remember that new thing I started doing? The glowing thing that causes me to…”

 

“Oh!” Michael looked around quickly. “We were going to investigate that a little more.”

 

“Uh huh. You keep touching me, and we’ll be doing that right now!”

 

Michael laughed, polishing off his burger and reaching for some of her fries, he quickly waved down the waitress for the check. “C’mon. I need to get you home for a quick nap.”

 

Maria slapped his hand away from her food, and quickly stood with his help. “Oh? Is that what we’re calling it now?” Taking the rest of the food with her, Maria let Michael worry about the bill.

 

Michael just laughed again and pulled her out the restaurant with him after tossing money on the table.

 

~~~

 

“Yeah!”

 

“Michael?”

 

Michael covered the phone and fell back in the bed with a moan, mouthing Max’s name to Maria whose eyebrow went up in question.

 

“Max, what is it?” Michael looked at the clock at the bedside and swore. They were running late. Between the doctor’s appointment, eating and sex, he was already half an hour late for the time he told Max he’d meet him at the Department.

 

“Nothing good. Look, you think you’ll be making it to work today? Or does Maria…”

 

“Maria is fine.” Michael looked at her, his eyes smiling with mischief, taking in her state of undress. Maria leaned down close and kissed him hard, biting him. “I need to drop her at the hospital and then I’ll be on my way in.”

 

“You might want to hurry, partner. You’re going to love meeting our replacement Captain.”

 

Michael swore and looked at the time again. “I’ll be there within 30 minutes.” Michael hung up the phone as Maria kissed the side of his neck.

 

“Need to go in, huh?”

 

“Yeah. You going to be okay on your own?”

 

Maria sat up and looked at him. “Of course. I actually am able to do many things by myself, Detective. It's only recently that I started practicing the ‘I’m helpless’ routine.”

 

Michael sat up on the side of the bed and reached for his clothes. “Look…dammit, Maria. I know you hate this. And I know you’re being a good sport about it because of me. I know you’re not helpless, but I can’t…”

 

Maria moved up along his back. “I know. I do understand, really I do. Sometimes I just feel so…restless sitting at home and waiting. It’s like my life is on hold, and letting you decide everything isn’t sitting well either.”

 

“I know that too.” Michael pulled her arms closer around him and closed his eyes at the feel of her along his back. “I just need this. I need to know where you are every moment of the day. Know you’re okay, alright? I can’t do this worrying about you.”

 

Maria hugged him tight. “It’s not like your life hasn’t changed too. You barely work three hours a day, sometimes four if you’re lucky.” Maria’s voice went softer. “I didn’t mean to make your life so hard, so miserable.”

 

Michael turned around to really look at her. “I’m not. I cut my hours by choice.” Michael sighed and put his forehead next to hers. “Nothing is more important to me than you and the babies. After that, finding out who hurt Jim and Amy. There is nothing else. We agreed, remember? Whatever we had to do for the babies, we’d do. You’ve given up more. Working. Teaching. The museum. All of it is on hold until the babies are born. I know how much this is costing you. I can’t keep working like I was if you need my blood every three to four hours.”

 

“It's not just your blood I’m taking, Detective.” Michael laughed at that. “If only I was…more like Tess...this wouldn’t be happening. Or maybe Isabel. I…”

 

“If you were Tess or Isabel this wouldn’t be a problem, true. It sure as hell wouldn’t be, because you’d wouldn’t be pregnant, at least not by me. I don’t want anyone else but you, Maria.”

 

“I love you. And don’t think I’ve forgiven you for that yet!”

 

“Okay, so what rule are we up to?”

 

“137.”

 

“Damn! Already? Do you even remember all the rules?”

 

“Of course. I wrote them down.” Maria laughed at the skeptical look on his face. “Oh! Okay! So I added a few you don’t know about!”

 

“Well, add number 138.”

 

“That would be?”

 

“Maria remains calm at all times. If she feels upset or stressed she calls Michael, no matter where, what time or the situation, and…” Michael held up his hand before Maria could interrupt, “and if she can’t find him, Maria must go home immediately.”

 

“I don’t like the wording of your rule, and it should apply to both us equally.”

 

“What? Meaning that if I’m upset I have to call you immediately or go home?” Maria nodded. “That makes no sense. I don’t blow up shit every time I see a new pair of shoes and realize I forgot to carry my VISA card.”

 

“That’s not fair! That only happened once!”

 

“Maria…”

 

“They were an awesome pair of shoes, too.”

 

Michael got up from the bed and pulled her out with him. “We’ve got to go. Let’s jump in the shower...quickly and I’ll drop you at the hospital.”

 

“Shower? Together? Quickly?”

 

“Good point. You go first, and I’ll wait.”

 

“Good. Could you make me something to eat? I’m hungry.”

 

“Wonders will never cease.”

 

~~~

 

Maria walked into her mother’s room and found it empty, so she went to Jim’s. The staff had moved their rooms closer together, but they were already talking about transferring both of the patients out of the ICU to a general care unit.

 

“So does the doctor know you two are playing doctor?” Maria asked as she walked in on her mother kissing Jim.

 

“Maria! I told you to stay home and rest.”

 

“Phish! When have I ever followed instructions? Plus…” Maria waved a small stack of pictures in the air. “I thought you might want to see ultrasound pictures of your grandchildren!”

 

“Give me!”

 

“Grandchildren?” Jim looked at the mother and daughter talking over the pictures excitedly. “Maria...? Grandchildren? Plural?”

 

“Twins,” Maria said smugly. “Needless to say Michael is feeling very virile right now.”

 

“I bet. Honey, let me see.”

 

Maria left them looking at the pictures and went to find the nurse.

 

“Maria?”

 

Maria stopped and smiled widely, seeing Jonathan Stiller coming towards her with a few packages. She hugged him back when he took her into a strong hold.

 

“Jonathan! I thought you were gone until tomorrow late.”

 

“I was, but came home early. I was just coming to check on both Jim and Amy.”

 

“That’s kind of you.” Jonathan waved away Maria’s remarks.

 

“You look tired. Why isn’t your boorish detective taking care of you?” <