A/N—I own nothing. Michael Scott owns everything!
Okay, so I don't really know if I like this chapter. I had an awesome thing written, and Microsoft messed up on me and I lost it all. So I apologize for the shabbiness of this chapter.
"What are we going to do?" Will asked, looking up at Palamedes from his seat on one of the couches. The Bard had a child in each arm, and his pale blue eyes bore a mixed look of confusion, worry, and affection. "I mean...I guess we could—could try. To take care of them ourselves. But...I just don't know..."
Palamedes fingered the note in his hand. He hadn't shown it to Will yet. Maybe he ought to. Dropping the crumpled paper onto the Bard's lap, Palamedes sat back and waited.
"Benjamin and Elizabeth...born..." Will dropped the paper and looked at Palamedes in horror. "They were born today."
"I know. And also, they're twins."
Will started and snatched up the paper again, staring down at the words. His lips moved at he read, and Palamedes saw what little color he possessed drain from his face.
"Oh my graciousness. They are."
"I think, Will, that they were put there for a reason."
"What reason? There's never—"
"I think that they were put in that alley to protect them. To keep them from someone who wanted them because of what they are."
"Who?"
Palamedes didn't answer. He knew that Will was hedging the question. He'd seen the thought in Will's eyes—the Bard knew who would want the children. And he knew that if either one of those persons got them, then they didn't stand much of a chance.
"Dee? Or Flamel?" Will shuddered, clutching the children tighter instinctively. 'They'd Awaken them as soon as they could. And...and..the same thing that happened to Hamnet—" He stopped and swallowed. "It's not that I don't want them. And it's not that I don't think they're worth the trouble. I-I just don't know if we can give them what they need."
"The question is, do we dare tell anyone else about them?"
Will's answer was immediate and determined. He shook his head.
"It was a hard choice," Palamedes muttered, staring out the windshield at the street. "We were scared: scared to keep them, afraid that we couldn't give them what they needed, that we couldn't be what they deserved. Scared to tell anyone else about their existence. Afraid that to do so would be putting them in greater danger. In the end, we told Joan and Francis."
Josh nodded, entranced by the story.
"And what happened?" he asked, motioning toward the picture that Palamedes had laid on the dashboard.
The knight closed his eyes for a moment, his face creasing with emotion.
"We did what we had decided to do. We raised them."
