Disclaimer: The characters, alas, are not mine. They belong to Fox. But once I got the idea, I just had to write it down. By the way, spelling is in English English (not American English), 'cos that's where I am and that's how I write. Constructive feedback and comments welcome!
Grateful thanks to everyone who reviewed 'What's Love got to do with it'. For all those who asked for a sequel – this one's for you!
By Kay Em
April 1955, Boston Mass.
Charles cursed and pulled his cravat undone for the third time. "I cannot get this thing right," he growled, as he started to re-tie it again.
"Oh, come here!" Ellie moved across the bedroom to stand in front of him, and deftly twisted the material into an elegant knot. "There. Very smart you look too."
"Thanks." He bent to kiss the corner of her mouth, "You look pretty good yourself."
Ellie gave him a sceptical look and patted the front of her maternity dress. "Well, it's gallant of you to say so," she said, "But we both know that if I dyed this thing khaki, you, BJ and Hawkeye could call it the Swamp and live in it."
He laughed, turning her around so that he could get his arms around her more easily. "You look fine," he said, smoothing the material over her 'bump'. "How are they doing this morning anyway?"
"It's not a 'they'," she insisted, "Doctor White says it's just one baby."
"Ellie, I've seen women at full term who aren't as big as you are now," he said, "And you've got another three months to go yet. Who are you going to believe, the doctor you see at the clinic once a fortnight, or the doctor you sleep with?"
She met his gaze via the mirror, and put her hands over his. "Alright, doctor – he, she, or they are giving me hell if you really want to know," she said, "There, feel that kick?"
"Two kicks," he said, with a grin, "They obviously know it's an important day."
Ellie gave up on the twins-or-not debate – they'd been over that ground repeatedly since her fourth month. "Hey, listen, don't drink too much champagne at the reception, okay?"
"Ellie, when have I ever drunk too much champagne?"
She quirked an eyebrow, looked up at him.
"Okay, okay, but since it's physically impossible at the moment to get you any more pregnant, why worry?" He let her go so that he could fix his diamond tie-pin into the centre of his cravat, then checked his watch. "Time for me to go and corner the groom," he said, pulling on his morning coat and planting a swift kiss on Ellie's forehead. "Take care. I'll see you in Church."
"Hey!" she called, as he made for the door, "Don't forget the ring!"
"Got the ring?" said David Sheridan, as they took their seats at the front of the Church.
"Ring?" said Charles, blankly. He smiled at David's panicked expression, waited a moment before producing the small gold band from his waistcoat pocket and saying: "Kidding, just kidding."
"Don't do that to me!" David shot him a look that was part plea, part nerves, part annoyance at being taken in.
The organ played one of David's own compositions while they waited and the Church filled. But at last The Wedding March proclaimed the bride's arrival, and everyone stood.
Charles turned to see the bride come down the aisle, and smiled proudly as he watched Beth leading the way, dressed in green silk, to match Charles' and David's cravats, and carrying a little basket of white gerbera daisies. She looked very pleased with herself, and walked slowly and deliberately, the way they'd rehearsed her – till she looked up and saw Charles.
"Daddy!" she shouted, and ran the last few yards toward him.
A ripple of amusement coursed through the congregation and Charles crouched, grinning, as she reached him. She realised everyone was laughing, and came to a halt as he put out a hand to steady her. "Done it wrong?" she said, her lower lip beginning to quiver.
"No, angel, you did just fine," he said, gently, "Go sit with mommy now, like you practiced."
Reassured, she skipped off to join Ellie on the front row, and Charles straightened up and exchanged a smile with the bride.
The minister began the preliminaries as everyone settled down and took their places then, as Charles rechecked his waistcoat pocket for the ring, went on: "David and Honoria are come to be joined in this holy estate of matrimony…"
August 1955
As Charles walked across the lawn toward the summer-house, he could see Beth and Ellie were in the sand-pit beside it, busily digging. Beth saw him first and dropped her little spade as she raced over to meet him, laughing as he picked her up and swung her over his head for a moment, before lowering her closer for a kiss.
"I been in the sand," she told him, putting her arms around his neck, "Making pies."
"Yes, with wet sand by the look of it," he said, realising too late that she was covered in it and so, now, was his shirt, "Where did you get the water from, sweetie?"
She pointed at the paddling pool. "From there."
"Oh yes, of course. Silly daddy." He put her down, and she trotted back into the sand and tried to pat some of it into a mound.
"Sorry, darlin'," smiled Ellie, dusting the sand off her hands and jeans before climbing out of the sandpit to kiss him, "Looks like she got you again."
"At least this will come off," he said, brushing at his shirt, "Unlike the finger-paints."
Beth had picked up her bucket. "Need more water," she said, toddling across to the paddling pool.
"Well, be careful," said Charles, "Mind you don't turn it into a swamp."
He realised what he'd said, and chuckled as Beth looked around at him and said: "What's a swamp?"
"It's a nasty, smelly, damp place full of wild creatures," he grinned, "And I don't want one in my garden."
"Here, sweetheart, let mommy help," said Ellie, going over to take the bucket from Beth.
"I'll go say hello to my other girls," said Charles, heading for the summer house.
"Just make sure you don't wake 'em - they only dropped off half-an-hour ago."
The big double pram was parked just inside the open doors, and Charles smiled when he saw that the babies had turned their faces toward one another as they slept. He still had no idea which one was which, but it didn't matter, they were both beautiful.
"Excuse me, sir?"
He hadn't heard Mrs Hall approach, and her quiet whisper made him jump.
"Your gin and tonic," she said, handing him a glass. "Can I get anything for you, madam? Or Miss Elizabeth?" she asked, as Ellie came over.
"No thanks, Mrs Hall, there's still some of your delicious lemonade left," said Ellie, with a smile, indicating the pitcher on the table.
The housekeeper beamed, acknowledging the compliment, and started back to the house.
"You made that poor woman walk all the way over here to bring you a drink?" Ellie spoke quietly so as not to wake the twins, but Charles could hear the disapproval in her voice.
"It's what she's paid for," he said, patiently, "She'll have thought nothing of it."
"Nor did you, apparently." Ellie shook her head, and went across to pour herself a lemonade. "What is it, gin?"
"And tonic."
"Yeah, I've seen the amount of tonic you like! If Mrs Hall has done more than introduce that glass to it, she's given you too much!"
He shrugged. "So what?"
"Oh nothing. Only..."
"Yes?" He moved across to stand in front of her.
"There was an article in one of those magazines Honoria passed on to me," she said, "About war veterans, and drink. It made me realise how much you have is all."
"Ellie, I hope you're not telling me I drink too much?" He put his glass down on the table and put his hands on his hips.
She shook her head, brushed some of the sand from the front of his shirt. "I know better than to try and tell you anything," she said, sliding her arms around his waist, "Especially when you're still so smug about your diagnosis of twins being correct. But..."
Charles put his fingers over her lips. "Don't finish that sentence," he said, "It's too nice a day to start an argument."
"I wasn't aiming to," she said, "I'm not about to start counting your drinks, Charles. I just thought... maybe you should."
Exasperated, he pulled away from her, drained his glass, and said: "One. And the refill that I'm going to go and get myself will be two."
He walked back to the house, poured himself another measure and drank it neat. He thought for a moment, decided that if he was going to prove a point he might as well do it properly, and unscrewed the bottle again.
"Three," he said.
The noise of the curtains being drawn back made Charles wince, and he groaned and screwed his eyes more tightly shut as sunlight flooded into the bedroom.
"Rise and shine then!" said Ellie, cheerfully, pulling back the covers he'd dragged over his head, "Come on, it's a beautiful day!"
"Go away," he moaned, grabbing a pillow to put over his head instead, "Leave me alone."
"Can't," she said, lying down next to him and yanking the pillow away, "You promised to take Beth to the zoo today, remember?"
"Oh hell. Yes I did, didn't I?" He kept his eyes closed. "Can it wait till I'm human again?"
A snort. "She's up, dressed, breakfasted and ready to go. I reckon you've got a half-hour, tops, before she starts screaming."
He reluctantly opened one eye. "Serves me right, yes?"
"For trying to prove a point by drinking yourself senseless?" Ellie grinned, unsympathetically. "It sure does. Credit where it's due though, you never lost count!"
Charles held his head. "All the way up to eleven - wasn't it?"
"I'm surprised you remember."
He managed a smile. "I'd need to be a lot more inebriated than that not to remember anything, believe me!"
"Really?"
"Really. I've got the photos to prove it, somewhere." He sat up, very slowly. "And if you can get Beth to wait for an hour, I'll find them for you later."
"You got yourself a deal."
"Ellie."
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you tell me my PJs are inside-out?"
"'Cause it was way too much fun watching you trying to button them up," she giggled, kneeling behind him and putting her hands on his shoulders "And you wouldn't have taken any notice of me if I had told you!"
She was right. He knew she was right, and not just about the pyjamas either. The drink when he got home, the wine over dinner, the port or the brandy, the nightcap... How easily the habits formed. How easily they... grew. "I'm sorry," he sighed.
Ellie slid her arms across his chest and rested her cheek against his. "I guess it never really goes away, does it?" she said, "All that dying."
"No." He leaned his head back against her shoulder and put a hand up to hold on to her forearm, "But I don't want to become another casualty."
"Well, at least you're not drinking that brew from the still!"
"No, I had to be pretty desperate for a drink to do that, even back then! It was evil stuff!" He rubbed his throbbing forehead, wondering how many times he'd sworn to himself that he would never, ever have another hangover.
"Daddy," he heard Beth call from the corridor outside, "Are you ready yet?"
Ellie scrambled off the bed and made for the door. "I'll head her off at the pass for a while," she said, "Unless you want me to tell her you're poorly and you'll take her another day?"
"No," said Charles, getting to his feet and heading for the bathroom, "I'll manage. A promise is a promise."
And this time, he thought, he'd keep the promise he made to himself too.
November 1955
"You know," said Ellie, putting a record on the turntable while Charles made himself comfortable on the sofa, "Beth asked me a question today that I just couldn't answer."
He laughed. "She does that all the time!" he said, "Every time you come up with an answer to one question, she comes back with 'why', till you end up saying 'because it is'. Yesterday she asked me why diamonds are shiny."
"Oh lord." Ellie paused to look around at him, "Don't tell me you gave the poor kid a lecture on the structure of carbon atoms!"
"Course not!" He smiled. "I told her that when the dwarves have dug them up, Snow White polishes them."
"Cute answer!" grinned Ellie, "Don't tell me - she thought about that for about two seconds and then said..."
"Why!" they finished together.
"So, what was it you couldn't answer?" said Charles, when they'd finished laughing, "Why does the sun shine? I had that one last week."
Ellie shook her head, lowered the needle to the spinning record, and crossed the room to sit next to him as the symphony started. "She got into one of her sulks when you had to go off to the hospital," she said, "And she stamped her foot and said 'why does daddy have to go to work anyway?' And... well, I couldn't give her the standard answer - the one about daddy having to make enough money to buy us nice food and nice things." She plumped the cushions and propped an elbow on them as she went on: After all, you don't have to go to work to do that, do you? Just your stock portfolio brings in more cash than you earn as a surgeon."
"True," he said, tucking his hands behind his head, "But life would be boring if there was no challenge in it. And it doesn't come much more challenging than having someone's life depending on you." He smirked. "Besides, in my case, it would be a criminal waste of talent."
"Oh you..." She gave him a playful slap, "You're incorrigible!"
"Yes, but I'm cute with it," he retorted, giving her his most appealing smile.
"If anyone ever asks me why I love you," giggled Ellie, leaning nearer to kiss him, "I won't be able to answer that either!"
Charles put an arm across her shoulders and returned the kiss. "Does that help give you a clue?" he murmured.
"Mmm, not sure," she said, snuggling closer, "Give me another hint, would you?"
When they came up for air, the symphony had reached the third movement - and they could hear the phone ringing in the hallway.
"Mrs Hall will get it," said Charles.
"Yeah, but it'll be for you," said Ellie, straightening up, and refastening the blouse buttons that seemed to have somehow come undone, "It's always for you, maestro."
"Sure it is," he grinned, "Unless it's Brandy, or Honoria, or Emilia, or Marina, or..."
Mrs Hall knocked on the door and looked in, to put an end to their speculations. "Excuse me, sir - madam. Telephone call for Doctor Winchester."
"Told you," said Ellie, as he got to his feet.
"It's not the hospital, sir," added the housekeeper, "It's a - ah - gentleman who insists that he knows you. Gave his name as Maxwell Q Klinger."
"What!!?"
Mrs Hall nodded, tautly. "I'll tell him you're not at home, sir," she said, as though she had been expecting to do that all along.
"No, no, wait! I'll take it - let me see how much he wants!" Charles smiled, shaking his head with amusement as he went out into the passageway and picked up the phone. "Max," he said, "Since my home number's not listed, I must assume your power to beg, wheedle, plead and cajole remains undimmed."
"And it's good to hear you too, Charles," said the familiar voice on the other end of the line, "If you must know, your father gave me your number."
"My... father?" said Charles, faintly, "You talked to my father? And he...?"
"Yeah! He seems like a real nice guy - asked after my mom and my Uncle Abdul. And couldn't thank me enough for saving his son's life." A chuckle. "Funny, I'd forgotten about that."
"I hadn't," said Charles. "How much do you need?"
"Boy, and I was going to kick around a few preliminaries first, like how are ya, and how's things with you?" said Max.
Charles chuckled. "You are quite right, Max, where are my manners?" he said. "I'm fine, my wife's fine, my eldest has a cold and my twins are probably going to get it next. I think that about covers it for the Winchester household. How is Soon-Li? Did you find her parents?"
"Uh, yeah we did, just a couple months back. And now we've got another reason to celebrate – we're expecting our first." Max sounded a little stunned. "Did I hear you right? You've got three kids? Already?"
"Well, I... kind of had a head start," said Charles, explaining briefly about Ellie and Beth.
"Gee, who'da thought?" said Max, when he'd finished. "I guess we both managed to get something good out of Korea in the end, huh?"
"Yes, I guess we did. When's your baby due?"
"Oh, not for a while yet - end of April," said Max, "I'm hoping by then I'll have my electrical repair business all started up and bringing the money home."
"Aha!" laughed Charles, "Which brings us neatly back to my question: how much do you need?"
December 1955
"Hey! How was Toledo?"
Ellie looked up as Charles came into the nursery carrying Beth, who had run downstairs to meet him. The baby in her arms sneezed, looked startled, sneezed again in unison with her twin, and Ellie cuddled her close and wiped her nose, while Mrs Brunson did the same with the other baby.
"Wet and windy – not unlike it is in here, really," said Charles, with a grin. He put Beth down and crossed the room to kiss Ellie, before lifting the infant from Mrs Brunson's arms. "I'll take her for a while, Mrs Brunson, if you'd like to get some tea," he said, flinching slightly as he got sneezed on. "Looks like I was right about that cold. Now, let's see – you're… Laura?" he said, giving the child a kiss.
"I do believe you're getting the hang of it, sir," said Mrs Brunson, as she left the room.
"So you must be Lauren." Charles sat down, kissed the baby Ellie was holding, and settled Laura on his lap. "It's only taken me five months to get them sorted out."
"Did you get Max sorted out?" said Ellie, keeping a watchful eye on Beth, who had resumed her tea-party with her dolls.
He nodded. "Yes, we've signed all the paperwork. If Soon-Li helps out with the accounts, I think he might actually make a go of it."
Ellie smiled. "Why do you always make out that you're so mean, when you're really a complete teddy bear?" she asked, taking the toy tea-cup Beth was proffering and giving it to Lauren, who turned it upside down, shook it, and dropped it on the floor.
"Because," said Charles, leaning down to pick it up and holding it where Laura could grasp the rim, "If everyone thought I was generous, we wouldn't be able to move for begging letters. So long as people think I'm Ebeneezer Scrooge made manifest, they'll leave us alone."
"Max hasn't!"
"Yes, but Max… He found out about me giving the candy to the orphans. Besides, I still owe him for that Autoclave." He paused while Laura solemnly pulled off her right sock and offered it to him. "Yes, thank you very much, pumpkin," he murmured, handing the sock to Ellie before resuming his conversation with her: "In any case, don't forget I'm not giving him money for nothing. We're in for ten per cent of the profits."
"If any."
"Hah! How true." He grinned. "All the same, I told him there's a clause that increases our take to fifty percent if he so much as breathes a hint to anyone else about where he got the capital from."
Lauren sneezed again, and began to cry. Ellie gently wiped her nose again and lifted her onto her shoulder, patting her back soothingly. "This is sure going to be a fun few days, with both of them poorly," she said.
"I told you we should get another nanny," he said. "Going to listen to me now?"
"Well… maybe," she said, reluctantly, "I do need to find time to practice for that recording I suppose. And we're going to have a visitor next month too."
"A visitor?" Charles smiled. "Brandy coming for the New Year again?"
"No, I told you, she's going to Marina's this year. But Margaret phoned – said she wants to ask you a favour and can she come stay for a few days in January."
"Well, of course but… you mean Margaret and Hawkeye, don't you?"
"No," said Ellie, "Just Margaret. I don't know what the problem is - but she's coming without him."
To be Continued…