ninewood: He's never asked because he doesn't remember her. Eventually, he'll ask, but not yet. One traumatic event at a time is all they can handle right now. Thank you so much for all your help and support with this story. I really do appreciate it.

A/N: In which much is revealed about what happened between Maggie (whose bad grammar reflects her desperation) and John, a reference to drugs (very minor but essential) and some cute family fun with the twins. Enjoy, and please feel free to leave a review, the door is always open.

ooOoo

Here's the day you hoped would never come. Don't feed me violins, just run with me through rows of speeding cars. The paper cuts, the cheating lovers, the coffee's never strong enough. I know you think it's more than just bad luck. There, there baby, it's just textbook stuff, it's in the ABC of growing up. Now, now darling, oh don't lose your head, cause none of us were angels, and you know I love you, yeah.

Speeding Cars- Imogen Heap

ooOoo

Maggie had no idea what time it was when she went to sit outside on the bench by the front door. It was damn cold out, but at that point she didn't care. She just wanted some time to herself. Jamie and Bridget had invited her to stay with them for a few days, and she had gratefully accepted. As a result, the twins were asleep in the empty bedroom in Carol's old bassinet, Alex and Carol were asleep in their own rooms, and she could only hope Jamie and Bridget were asleep as well.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a cigarette and stuck it in her mouth. Fishing into her pocket once more, she realized she had no matches. Great. Perfect. What was she supposed to do now?

Sitting on the stoop, she rested her chin in her palm, listening to the sounds of the night. It was unusually calm, like the calm before a really big storm, and surprisingly, it was really very nice. It was certainly a nice break from screaming babies at any rate.

At precisely that moment, she heard the front door open and someone sit down beside her. Looking over, she saw Jamie wrapped in his plaid, staring at her.

"Have ye got matches, Uncle?"

Jamie fumbled in his plaid and found one. Striking it against the nearest rock, he held it to the end of Maggie's cigarette and waited till it caught. Shaking the match until it extinguished, he watched as Maggie drew in a breath of smoke and exhaled.

"Why do ye smoke those things? Ye want t' kill yerself faster?"

"I started after things went downhill with the twins' dad. It was all I could do to keep myself sane. Don't worry about it, Uncle. It's not even tobacco."

As though that justified the act itself.

"It's not a spliff then?"

Maggie looked at him with shocked eyes, nearly dropping her cigarette into the folds of her skirt.

"How in the hell do ye know what a spliff is?"

"Your Auntie used t' smoke it long before she met me. She told me. Hang on, how do you ken what a spliff is?"

Maggie snorted out a laugh. "Yer forgetting I lived with the kids' dad in the 1970s for more than two years, Uncle. Everyone and his brother was flying higher than a kite half the time. I wasna surprised people offered it to me."

"Did you take it?"

"What, do ye think I'm stupid?" Maggie tapped the ash off the end of her cigarette and took another drag. "I never did. The kids mean more t' me than that. Anyway, long story short, no, this is not a spliff. It's dry leaves. Tried the tobacco once, didna care for it."

"And yet yer still smoking."

"Says the man who hasna had any sex for at least a week and a half."

Jamie's mouth dropped open.

"Point the finger, I'll point back," Maggie answered him.

"And when was the last time you had any sex?" he challenged.

"Fuck off," she took another drag on her cigarette. "I haven't seen their dad in more than a month, since before I came back. I want nowt t' do with him, and he wants nowt t' do with me or the kids. He called them mistakes. How the fuck do ye call yer own children mistakes?" there were tears in her eyes now, her cigarette dangling between her fingers, forgotten.

She quickly put her hand over her eyes, shielding Jamie's view.

"I mean, they didna ask t' be born. I could have slipped them, aye? But I didn't. And I didn't do that because I loved them from the first moment I knew I were knocked up. I wanted them more than anything else in the entire world. And for that…" she pointed into the dark at nothing in particular. "And for that bastard to call them mistakes, he doesna deserve them."

Jamie said nothing as she pulled on her cigarette again.

"And do ye know the reason why I havena had sex in a while, Uncle? Hmm?"

He shook his head.

"Because I'm fat!" she lamented. "My midwife told me I couldna have sex for about six weeks, aye? Because after pushing out twins I was just too bruised and stuff. So what does the stupid fucker do? He goes out and starts banging everything that walks wi' a wiggle. Anyone who wasna me!"

She saw Jamie's fists clench, sure she'd heard him say that if she were fat, then he was the King of England, or some such.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and stubbed the cigarette out in the dirt.

"Anyway, good riddance to bad rubbish. The kids don't need him, and neither do I."

Jamie nodded, and brought Maggie to him in a tight hug.

"You're doing well, gael, and I'm glad you're home."

She smiled as he kissed her temple.

"Oh, and another thing, it's a good one, I swear. Brian MacKenzie is going to come to you and Auntie and ask permission t' court me."

She could feel him tense as he held her against the cold, wrapping her in his plaid.

"And I want ye to say yes."

Jamie chuckled. "And if both me and yer auntie do? What happens then?"

"I told him that if he convinces ye, I'll consider the offer."

She saw him smile. "Aye, you're a McCrimmon all right. Sly as a fox, but smarter than any one of them put together. I see the game you're playing here, but I hope to God it doesn't backfire."

"I sincerely doubt it will, Uncle. Besides, it's not as though I want t' marry him."

"So ye just want to shag him then?"

"Good Lord, you make me sound like a sex starved maniac." Maggie tried desperately to suppress a laugh, and failed. "No, in all honesty, I just want him to kiss me."

Jamie's mouth dropped open. "Oh lassie, off to bed with you now. You'll end up doing something you'll regret if you're out here much longer."

"Uncle, I love that you're so protective. But I'm not a child. You can't order me to go to bed. There are some nights I'm up with the babies every hour."

"Which is why ye should be sleeping now. When Alex and Carol were first born I dinna get any sleep. I was never more cranky in m' life, Alex especially. He never stopped crying. Not that Ian and Claire aren't good children, but ye need to sleep just as much as they do."

Even in her sleep deprived state, she couldn't argue with that logic.

"Fine, best to sleep and I'll feel better in the morning, I suppose…"

A few seconds later, she realized that it wasn't just men who had the worse timing in all the universe, it was also babies who shared that trait. Just as she came in the door, the twins stirred.

She groaned as Jamie put a hand on her shoulder.

"Once they're fed and changed, lass, your auntie and I can take them for the night if you wish it."

Maggie managed a smile, and set to changing Ian and Claire, and bringing first Ian, then Claire to her breast. At this point, Jamie slid away to his own bedroom, as he figured he should not be watching his niece breast feed her babies. He'd seen Bridget do it many times before, but that was different. Carol was his daughter taking nourishment from Bridget, who was his wife. Maggie was his niece, her children his great-niece and nephew. No, the circumstances were completely different. Instead, he'd briefly rouse Bridget and tell her they were caring for the babies tonight, to give Maggie a break.

Around a half hour later, he returned to Maggie's bedroom and rapped smartly on the door.

"Maggie, do you wish me and your auntie to take the children for the night?"

"Uncle, if it were possible, I love you even more," she told him as she transferred one baby and then the other to Jamie's waiting arms. "They're both sound asleep now. I wish you three joy of one another."

And with that, she watched as Jamie carried the twins back into his and Bridget's bedroom, and shut her own door behind her. Without another word, she fell into bed, not even sure if she would dream.

ooOoo

Maggie awoke the next morning to Bridget singing to the twins in the kitchen, Alex and Carol finishing their breakfasts before heading off to school.

"Mind your home for lunch, understand?"

"Yes Mum," Carol took another bite of bread and jam.

"I don't see why we can't take our lunches to school with us," Alex challenged.

"I can't pack lunches for everyone, you know," Bridget answered. "We're fairly well off, for what it's worth in the Highlands. Potato soup is difficult enough to transport even with a thermos, never mind in a pewter bowl." She cleared away the breakfast plates, not taking notice of Maggie standing in the doorway from the bedrooms to the kitchens. "I like that you share what you have, but twenty different lunches is stretching it a bit, even for the Highlands here. So, until things get better, and they will, you come home for lunches."

"What's a thermos?" her son asked, one eyebrow raised.

Was that really the only thing he'd heard in the entire speech?

"Never mind, I'm just talking nonsense again."

Alex rolled his eyes, finished his milk, and grabbed his books.

"Gotta go," he reached up and kissed Bridget's cheek before heading for the door. "Love you."

Carol followed suit, chasing after Alex, shouting "Wait for me! Alex, wait!"

"Hold on for your sister!" Bridget called out the door. "Keep an eye on each other while walking!"

"Yes Mum!" The two children called back, Carol holding Alex's free hand.

Sighing, Bridget turned her attention to the children, who were sitting in hand carved highchairs Jamie and Gordon had carved as soon as Maggie arrived home.

"Well now, where's your mummy?"

"Good morning Auntie," Maggie decided it was better to play along with the game Bridget was starting, to see how the twins would react.

Bridget gasped again in mock surprise. "Good morning Mummy. Can you say good morning, Mummy?"

Both Ian and Claire babbled a response, which she was sure sounded much more like Dada.

"Oh, that's not Daddy, that's Mummy. Say good morning Mummy."

At this point, Claire raised her voice, to the point of it sounding as though she'd shouted Mama.

"Good girl, give Auntie a kiss for being so smart." Bridget leaned in and waited as Claire planted an open mouth kiss on her own mouth. "Yay, Auntie got kisses. Ian, can Auntie have a kiss?"

He sat stoney-faced, staring at her.

"Ian? Can Auntie have a kiss?"

Ian gave Bridget a smirk, and blew a wet raspberry at her.

"Gob on you!" Bridget's eyes went wide. "My goodness, aren't you a rude little one?"

The young boy giggled.

"Mummy, you'll have to do something about that," Bridget playfully scolded Maggie. "Surely he didn't get that from you."

"No, that's from his dad. And I hope to God I can teach him to use that energy constructively. I can already tell he's going to need regular swatches to the behind, but only when he deserves it."

"And Claire?"

"She'll get the same, and for both of them only if it's warranted."

"Very wise, my dear," Bridget smiled. "You're going to do fine. And remember that you've always got me and your uncle, should you need us."

"I know, but I don't want to be relying on you guys and Mum and Dad for everything. If I couldn't provide for them I shouldn't have kept them."

"But what you didn't plan on was having to become a single parent overnight," Bridget reasoned. "There's not much you can do in that case. It's alright to ask for help, you know. It doesn't make you a bad mother."

"Does it make me a bad mother if I want to date?"