A/N: Ah, my few and faithful readers/reviewers, how I've missed you guys! I'm so glad you liked the beginning and are excited to see a sequel. I, too, am excited to see where the muses take me! This chapter is a bit lighter, not as angsty, as I introduce M&M's family to you. Enjoy!


"In Greek mythology, a phoenix is a long lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life from the ashes of its predecessor."

-Wikipedia


Baby Riley's cry pierced the stillness of the Fielding house and caused Marshall's eyelids to fly open just as Mary's hand flopped across his pillow and smacked him in the head.

"Ow- Mer!" he groaned.

"Marsh- Rycryingseewhatsheneeds," Mary mumbled into her pillow before she began snoring again.

He rolled his eyes as he threw back the covers, making sure they struck her across the face. She snorted and whipped the sheet down, glaring at him with one eye open. "What the fuck?"

"Good morning to you too, lamb chop," Marshall leaned down and picked up his pajama top from the floor, tossing it to her. "You told me last night that you had to catch the early train, remember?"

She groaned as she pulled his shirt over her head. "Then why did you keep me up last night?"

He glanced at his lover and life partner in wry amusement as he pulled a T-shirt over his pajama pants. "You're joking, right? As I recall, you're the one who couldn't sleep and woke me up to help you relax."

Mary knelt on the bed and grabbed a handful of his T-shirt. "I don't recall you complaining at the time."

"Why would I complain when a beautiful woman wakes me up and says-"

She placed her hand over his mouth. "Careful, lover, or we'll be right back where we ended up last night and I don't have time this morning."

He waggled his eyebrows. "Not even for a quickie?"

She swatted his butt. "Stop it!" The smile fell from her face and she cocked her head to the side. "Hey – Ry stopped crying."

Marshall chuckled as he ran his hands through her hair. "That's because you distracted me too long and by now Sadie's in there taking care of her."

The teasing light went out in Mary's eyes and she sank back onto the bed with a sigh. "What are we going to do, Marshall? How are we going to tell them?"

He dropped beside her and instantly she wrapped herself around him. "I don't know, Mer. But we'll do it like we've done everything else: together."


"Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow, back to my home, I dare not go-"

"For if I do, my mother will say-"

"Did you ever see a moose-"

"Kissing a goose-"

"DOWN BY THE BAY!"

Marshall stood in the nursery doorway and observed the scene in front of him and thought his heart would burst. Sadie sat in the rocker with baby Ry on her lap and at her feet sat the twins Cameron and Colin and his daughter Andi. Ry was sucking noisily on her morning bottle and Sadie was leading a rousing sing-a-long that had just ended with their favorite song 'Down by the Bay'. So much had happened since the first time he had sung that at Sadie's fourth birthday party. He refused to focus on the bad stuff but instead looked proudly on his family: Sadie was going to be ten in a few weeks and she took her role as the oldest Fielding very seriously. The twins, Cameron and Colin, were five and when it seemed like they were impossible to corral, Sadie had them wrapped around her little finger and could bring them to heel with one word.

And then there was Andi. Her name was actually Brandi after Mary's sister, but everyone called her Andi or Bee. Sadie had nicknamed her Bee when she was about Ry's age because of the buzzing sound she made while eating. Sadie and Bee had a very special bond – Mary said it reminded her of the bond she and Squish had had once upon a time. Out of all of his kids, it was Andi's reaction Marshall worried about the most when the time came for them to sit the kids down and tell them about Sadie's departure.

As if she sensed his thoughts, Andi turned and spied him in the doorway. "Daddy!" she cried as she scrambled to her feet and ran to his side.

Marshall laughed and held out his hands, bracing his feet firmly as the twins also launched themselves at him. But it was hopeless; the impact of three fast moving bodies propelled him to the floor and he went down under their weight as they climbed all over him, giggling and talking over each other.

"What's going on in here?" Mary exclaimed as she appeared in the doorway, dressed for work. "It sounds like you hooligans haven't seen your father for a week when I know for a fact he tucked all of you in last night!"

"Mommy!" the twins cried.

Mary held out her hands. "Wait! I'm ready to walk out the door so I can't be rolling on the floor like Daddy – but I'll take hugs." She opened her arms and the boys flew into them.

"You have to go now?" Colin pouted.

"Yeah, we didn't even get to see you last night. You got home after we were asleep," Cameron pointed out. "No fair."

Mary tousled both of their heads. "Life's not fair, boys. What can I say? I'm really busy this week – next week, maybe I'll be able to come home early."

"But tonight's Josie's birthday party, Aunt Mary," Sadie spoke for the first time since her aunt and uncle came into the nursery. She moved Ry to her shoulder and began patting her back.

"Shit, is that tonight?" Mary's eyes flew to Marshall's for confirmation as the children giggled.

"Mommy said the 's' word!" Colin crowed.

Marshall shook his head at her in exasperation. "Yes, I reminded you last night, remember?"

"No, you must have distracted me with something else-" she winked at him.

He laughed as he scooped Andi into his arms and stood. "Will you be able to come or should I call Jenna now?"

"No, no, I'll be there."

He frowned at her. "Really?"

"Really, Marshall."

Ry's belch broke the tension and Marshall smiled. "All right, we'll meet you there. Party's at five."

Mary bit her lip. "I may be a little late-"

The doorbell rang and the boys cried, "Its Nanny G! Can we get the door, daddy?"

Marshall moved to the nursery window and looked down to see Nanny G waving up at him from the front door. He waved before turning back to the boys. "All right – and don't forget to let in Luke and Leia from the backyard."

"Yes! Come on, Andi!" The twins ran out with their little sister trailing after them, leaving Mary and Marshall staring at each other.

"Mary, if you don't think you're going to be able to make it, isn't it better to say so now instead of letting our kids get their hopes up and-"

"I said I'll be there and I will, Marshall."

Ry let out a small cry and Marshall's eyes darted to meet Sadie's. "Hey, Sadie girl, why don't you go get dressed for school?"

Sadie frowned as she looked between her aunt and uncle. "Okay, I'll see you later, Aunt Mary?" she asked as she placed Ry back in her crib.

Mary gave her a bright smile. "Of course, Kiddo. Have a great day at school."

Marshall waited until Sadie had closed her bedroom door before he shut the nursery door and turned back to Mary. "Do you even realize what you're doing, Mer?"

"Working – we have kids to support, Marshall. That takes two incomes, both of us working hard to pay the bills, to put food on the table, to –"

He waved her words away. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fact that you're using work to avoid what's going on in your personal life – again." He waited for the words to sink in and watched as her eyes slid away from his. "Do you think I don't know you? That I don't realize how you operate? That when you feel like your life is spinning out of control, you throw yourself into the one thing you can control – at the cost of everything else?"

"Marshall, I-"

"No, you listen to me, Mary. You can't do this now. Maybe you could do it back then – back when we were just partners in WitSec – but we're so much more now. We're life partners now. We're parents now. We have five-"

"Four," she whispered.

"No, damn it, FIVE kids who are depending on both of us to be there for them no matter what. So unless you're thinking about walking out that door and never coming back-"

She gasped. "How dare you – I would never do that to my kids."

He sighed. "I know you wouldn't. But there are other forms of abandonment, Mer, and you need to realize that you've always been a workaholic – but now, you've got to be here, be a parent first, no matter how much it hurts."

A shudder ran through her body and he took a step towards her. "It hurts so much, Marshall."

"I know."

A knock on the door startled both of them. It was Mary who found the strength to ask who it was. The door opened and Nanny G poked her head in. "I'm so sorry, Mary, but the kids said you were leaving on the early train and I thought I should tell you that you've got just fifteen minutes to catch it if you leave now." The door clicked shut again.

"I have to go – I'm sorry."

Marshall stepped forward and cupped her cheek. "Please, just think about what I said. And if you can't make it tonight, call and let me know. The kids will understand and would love to tell you good night, all right?"

The tears were glistening in her lashes as she met his eyes. "I don't deserve you."

"Hey, I don't want to hear talk like that – I'm not complete without you, Mer. I love you."

She hooked an arm around his neck and drew his head down to hers. He met her kiss hungrily, knowing that time was short and she needed to go. "Love you more," she whispered against his cheek.

"Impossible," he murmured as he bit her earlobe playfully before he pushed her away. "Now go before we start something that makes us both late."


"How are you, Carmen?" Dr. Nyguen asked, breaking the silence and speaking for the first time in fifteen minutes. It was his job to wait for his patients to speak first – or if necessary, to sit quietly and observe their behavior for an entire session. But after spending nearly six years with Carmen, he could tell that she was agitated today, though she was doing her best to project a calm demeanor. He wondered what had happened to spook her but if he was going to draw it out of her, it looked like he was going to have to be the one to do some poking.

Carmen shrugged. "As well as can be expected."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm still alive, aren't I? It's more than I expected – or dared hope for at this point in my sentence."

A few more minutes ticked by in silence before Dr. Nyguen spoke again. "What are you afraid of, Carmen?"

She looked at him with a mix of pity, disbelief, and another emotion that was difficult for the doctor to define. "Have you not been paying attention to my ramblings for the past five and a half years, doc? Don't you know who I am – or rather, who I was?"

"Tell me."

A long sigh escaped her lips. "I didn't know in the beginning – I swear I didn't. Tony was just – Tony. Captain of the football team, and every girl's dream guy; I couldn't believe it when he showed interest in me, a nobody. You could have knocked me over with a feather the day he walked into the play auditions – I had no idea that a guy like him had any interest in drama." She smiled at the memory, but then frowned. "Of course, it wasn't until much later that I found out he had had to take that class to graduate and he had hated drama – but the only other choice was home economics and there was no way he was going to do that." She shrugged.

"So, what happened?"

Carmen glared at Dr. Nyguen. "Look, we've been over this so many times – why do we have to go over it again?"

"You tell me – you're the one that starting talking about the past when I asked you what you're afraid of."

Her temper flared. "And that's another thing – why do you always answer my questions with more questions, huh? Why can't you just realize that I don't want to talk about this anymore?" A tear escaped and she brushed it away angrily. "Can't we talk about something else?"

"If you like – but we'll come back to this sooner or later, Carmen. You know it's not healthy to bury your feelings."

"I told you: I don't want to talk about him."

"Who – Tony?"

She clenched her hands into fists. "Yes."

"But he's dead," Dr. Nyguen said slowly, watching her reactions. "Isn't he?"

"Yes, I saw him die."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

She shook her head. "You don't understand – you can never understand."

"Understand what?"

Her nails were biting into the palms of her hands. Blood was beginning to form underneath her fingers. "That I'll never be free."


"How are you, Sadie?"

Sadie looked into Dr. Solomon's kind eyes and smiled. "I'm doing okay, Dr. S."

"Are you?"

Sadie dropped her gaze and began to fiddle with the charm bracelet around her right wrist. Marshall and Mary had given it to her on her seventh birthday and it held charms for each of her family members as well as ones for Jenna and Jacen. "What do you mean?"

Dr. Solomon observed the nervous habit in silence before he quietly probed. "Your tenth birthday is in three weeks – I know you know the significance of that, Sadie."

She fingered the Star charm for a moment before her eyes met Dr. S'. "I won't go – they can't make me!"

Dr. S. struggled not to laugh, knowing that his young patient was quite passionate about staying with her family. "They have no legal right to keep you."

She sighed. "I know – I heard them talking last night-"

"Your aunt and uncle-"

She nodded and then suddenly asked. "Why can't I call them Mom and Dad?"

Dr. S. adjusted his glasses and consulted his notes. "I think you've asked them that before – what did they say?"

Sadie crossed her arms defiantly and leaned back into the couch. "Aunt Mary says 'you already have a mom' and Uncle Marshall just agrees with her!"

"And how did that make you feel?"

Her lower lip trembled but she fought the tears. "Like they don't love me as much as Cam and Cole and Bee and Ry."

Dr. S. leaned forward to look into her eyes. "Do you really believe that they don't love you just as much as their biological children?"

Sadie shrugged a shoulder. "Why else wouldn't they let me call them Mom and Dad?"

"Perhaps you should ask them that."

Sadie brightened. "Do you think they'd tell me?"

"If you told them how it makes you feel, I think they just might."

Sadie smiled and nodded.

"So, how are you sleeping?" Dr. S. probed, changing the subject.

She made a face.

"Nightmares?" Dr. S. prompted.

She nodded. "I've only had a couple so far and they're not bad yet but-" she stopped and looked at her bracelet, fingering the little golden bee charm.

"What is it, Sadie?"

"Bee is having nightmares."

Dr. S. blinked and consulted his notes before making a new entry. "All children have bad dreams from time to time-"

Sadie was shaking her head. "No, these are different. They're about me leaving – I think she's heard the adults talking and even if she doesn't understand what they're saying, she's getting scared."

"Does she still come and sleep with you?"

Sadie nodded. "I'm scared that if I can't find a way to stay that Bee will – I don't want her to go through anything like I did." She shuddered. "I don't want to go, Dr. S. I don't even remember what my birth mother looks like. I know that sounds awful, but it's true. Aunt Mary, Uncle Marshall, Cam and Cole, Bee and Ry, they're my family – please, there's got to be a way."

Dr. S. adjusted his glasses again to hide the moisture he felt gathering behind his eyes. "I know how much you love your family, Sadie. But your mother, Carmen, loves you too. I remember when you came here six years ago and how much you missed your mama. Do you remember that?"

Sadie took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. "I remember – being sad because I thought Uncle Marshall was dead and scared because I thought I might lose Aunt Mary too. I remember thinking the bad men were going to find us and take me away forever." She frowned. "And yes, I remember wanting to see mama." Her eyes flew open and Dr. S. was amazed at the fire he saw in them. "But Aunt Mary is my mother now – and I'm going to tell her that the next time I see her."

"Sadie-"

"No! I'll go and visit my birth mother a couple times a year if she likes but I won't live with her. Besides, she has my sister Gemma to keep her company so she won't be lonely."

"Wouldn't you like to meet your sister?"

"I will meet her – when I go visit," Sadie said slowly, as if she was talking to someone who was a little slow.

"What if your birth mother moved to England?"

The question brought Sadie up short and she thought about it for a moment before she shook her head. "No, I can't leave Cam and Cole and Bee and Ry – they need me and I need them."

Dr. S. smiled. "You are one determined young lady. Do you have any idea how you're going to accomplish this?"

Sadie squared her shoulders. "I'm a Fielding – we never give up, never say die. There's a way – I just have to find it."


Phoenix Imports & Exports, Inc.

Toronto, Canada

It was late and everyone had gone home for the day except the boss man. No one was surprised anymore that Mr. Moyer put in such long hours. When he acquired the company four years ago, it had been on the brink of bankruptcy and had taken all of Moyer's contacts, finances, and TLC to get it back to its former glory. Now that it was finally climbing the ranks in the Fortune 500 business world again, Mr. Moyer refused to take it easy, still working twelve to fourteen hour days, sometimes even crashing on the oversized couch in his office in the wee hours of the morning.

"Do you need anything before I go, Mr. Moyer?"

Rene Moyer looked up from the computer screen in surprise. "Monique – I thought you went home hours ago."

His personal assistant smiled. "No, sir. I needed to finish those overseas contracts before midnight."

Rene smiled. "Your diligence to detail will be rewarded in your next paycheck, I can assure you."

"Thank you, sir. Is there anything-"

He waved her away. "No, no. Go home and get a few hours sleep before we have to start this all over again."

"Good night, sir."

"Good night, Monique."

For several minutes, Rene Moyer worked in silence until he was disturbed by the ringing of his private line. Very few people had that number and it was the only line that didn't go through reception. Rene picked it up on the third ring.

"Yes?"

"Package delivered."

Rene leaned back in his chair, a slight smile on his face. "What was the reaction?"

"Oh, it made an impact all right. She's one cool customer, but our little bird reports that your little bird was quite shaken."

"Good."

"Further instructions?"

Rene contemplated the question as he traced the phoenix bird logo at the top of his letterhead. "I'll be in touch when I have another package for you to deliver, but it will be awhile."

"You're the boss – but are you sure it's wise to wait so long? Don't you want to strike while the iron's hot?"

Rene's fist crumpled his letterhead in a burst of anger. "I call the shots here, remember?"

"Yes, boss."

Rene chuckled. "And trust me, our little bird is sufficiently spooked for now. She'll be waiting for the other shoe to drop – and when it does, it will be more like a sledgehammer."

The caller laughed. "I'll be waiting for your call." Click.

"Phase one complete," Rene whispered to himself. "Onto phase two," his grin widened as he dialed a number on his private line.


Hmm, who's this Rene? Something tells me he's bad news. Reviews are L-O-V-E!