Chapter 7
Prodigious Birth
The agent watched her eldest daughter throw her hands in the air and then walk awkwardly down the hallway. Lisbon was about to continue on her way when she heard her phone buzz from the coffee table. Despite her returning headache, it seemed even the ibuprofen was no match for it, she hurried to the cell and answered.
"Hey, Van Pelt," she paused as her red-headed colleague rattled off in a concerned tone about Jane's assessment of her boss' condition.
"Honestly, Van Pelt, I'm fine. Jane is just being overprotective," Lisbon listened to the agent again and then cut her off mid-sentence, "Look Maria, Kailey and I found something last night. Have a look at Peterson's financials." The senior agent waited for her team member to bring up the instructed information, "Do you see it?"
"How did we miss that?" Van Pelt's voice was incredulous.
"Looking at his financials seemed to make no sense," Lisbon answered, "We slimmed through it without looking for anything. I only noticed it because Maria and Kailey pinned all of the case information to my wall," She shook her head as Van Pelt responded and then set about her commands, "Cho is supervising until I get back from Hightower's leave. Tell him I specifically mentioned not letting Jane do anything stupid, or helping him." The senior Agent took a breath and ceased in her pacing as it was making her dizzy, "Trace the money. See if you can find where it came from. Have Cho and Jane pay Mr. Peterson a visit and call me when they get back. I want to be kept in the loop even if I can't work."
"Will do boss," Van Pelt replied and there was a click from the other end of the line.
Lisbon flipped her phone shut just in time to see Maria and Kailey emerge from the hallway. Both wore nice clothes and make-up. She glanced at herself and then brushed past them on her way to her room. The brunette slipped on a pair of dark blue jeans and gray t-shirt, before rejoining her daughters dizzily.
The agent looked at her daughters, both of which seemed rather reluctant. She let out a sigh and then lowered her shoulders, "Look, Maria you want to have a healthy baby right?"
The older girl nodded.
"Well then here's the solution. You need to be looked at," She turned to Kailey, "You don't have to come along if you don't want to. I can have Mrs. Darrens check in on you if you want."
Kailey shook her head, "No I want to be there for Maria. I'm just tired."
Teresa smiled to herself and then turned to the door, grabbing the keys from the bookshelf. She turned to Maria, "I believe you're driving." Turning back around, she caught herself on the wall. The agent closed her eyes for a moment letting the black dots threatening to overwhelm her slip away. A hand touched her shoulder and she opened her eyes to look at Maria's concerned face.
"For the last time," She stood tall again and gestured toward the door, "I'm fine. Now let's go. We're going to be late."
The drive to the Obstetrician's office was stressful enough without her daughter driving and occasionally looking away from the road to glance at her. Lisbon did not like other people driving her. She liked to feel the steering wheel against her palm and the slight resistance as she pressed on the gas pedal to speed up a bit. It had been so long since she'd consciously made the decision to let someone else drive. She was on edge at each stop light, each turn, each intersection.
"Mum, would you relax?" Kailey piped up from the back seat.
Teresa turned to look at her, "What?"
"Maria drives well. You don't have to worry," the younger girl looked down, "but then again you're not really thinking that she'll crash. You're just a control freak."
"Kailey…" Maria started.
Lisbon held up a hand to silence her, "Pay attention to the road." She spoke directly to Kailey now, "You were talking to Jane weren't you?"
Kailey nodded, "Yesterday while you were talking to Maria. He said that you kept us a secret in an effort to keep your work life and your personal life separate. He told me I shouldn't be angry with you though, because you hid it because you're a control freak." The young teen explained, "I wouldn't be angry that you kept us a secret though. It isn't as though you don't love us or are ashamed of us. Your job is dangerous and the less people who knew we were your children the better. It's logical." Abruptly, the girl pulled a pack of cards from her pocket and then shuffled them.
The agent sat back in her seat roughly. She cast a sidelong glance at Maria, who appeared to be nervously chewing her lip in concentration. Lisbon looked away, out the window and closed her eyes against the speeding scenery of the city outside.
"Patrick also said that you're the bravest person he knows and that we should be proud of you." Kailey's voice was so quiet, Lisbon wasn't sure that she was even supposed to hear this comment. She bit the inside of her own lip and kept her mouth shut.
They passed the rest of the journey in silence.
Lisbon ushered Maria into the office before her, a hand at the teen's shoulders and another one behind Kailey's. Both girls seemed mildly irritated but neither said a word. She ignored their annoyance and gestured them to sit in the chairs while she walked up to the reception desk.
"Teresa Lisbon I made an appointment for-" Lisbon was cut off mid sentence.
"Resa?" A mousy-haired woman walked into the space behind the check-in desk, "Oh my God, it is you!" the woman pushed her way through the desk and collided with her.
It took Lisbon until she was enfolded in a bone-crushing hug to realize who this woman was. She returned to favor awkwardly and then held her friend away from her at arm's length, "Jen, it's so good to see you."
"Likewise," Jen replied a wide grin on her face, "Though I can't say this is where I expected to be reunited."
"Nor I," Lisbon gestured toward the chairs in the waiting room, "shall we sit?" she made her way toward her daughters, "Jen, you've met Maria and Kailey."
"I certainly have." Jen answered, "My god, they look like clones of you now. They even have the same hair!" the enthusiastic woman glanced between mother and daughters, "Uncanny!"
Lisbon sat down beside Maria, "This is Jen, my friend from high school,"
"And college," Jen added, "You can't leave out your years as a geeky chem. Major."
"Forensics Jen, forensics, and I minored in criminal justice," Lisbon ducked her head at the mention of her past.
"Yes, all that. I have a Doctorate in Obstetrics so, if you could follow me, Resa, I'd be glad to have one of the techs show these two around while we get started," Jen grinned widely.
Lisbon felt vaguely disarmed by the spinning of the room. Her head was pounding again. She let a groan escape her lips and settled a hand against her forehead for a moment.
"Mum?" Maria, leaned forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"
"Yes," She sat up again, shaking off the dizziness and smiling at Maria, "I think you should head on in."
"The doctors said you shouldn't be up and around maybe you should…"
"Resa, what's wrong?"
Lisbon shook her head and stood, "Its nothing, Jen really, just a minor concussion."
"A minor concussion?" Jen grabbed her shoulder and looked incredulously at her, "What have you been doing? You should not be attempting anything that could give you a concussion when you're expecting a baby! You used to be more responsible than this."
Teresa's head jerked up to stare at her friend, thoroughly irritated now. Thoughts of Jane's patronizing and agitating actions the day previous sprung to mind.
"Jen, I'm not pregnant." The agent pulled her daughter up from the chair beside her, "Maria is the one here to see you."
Jen looked from her to Maria. The teen's face was slightly pink with guilt and embarrassment. She winced at the worlds when they were spoken. Lisbon looked back at her friend as if daring her to judge the teenager. Jen kept her feelings to herself though she was not sure she was at all sure of why her best friend seemed to calm about it.
"Alright then, Resa you can fill out the paperwork and then come back to exam room three," Jen turned to Kailey, "You can come with your sister and I if you like."
Lisbon watched as her oldest friend lead her two daughters away from her and then let out and exhausted sigh. Wearily, she walked over to the desk and took the paperwork from the secretary. Why there was so much, she couldn't tell but the amount stunned her. Once the agent finished the final page, she stood from the chair she'd perched in and handed the clipboard back over the counter along with her insurance card.
"Here's your card back," the secretary handed her the card, "and I just need you to sign this one last thing here." Lisbon picked up the pen from the counter again and signed her name after skimming through the page.
"Your card says that you're Teresa Lisbon?" the young woman asked.
"Yes, I am," Lisbon looked up cautiously.
"I just wanted to say that I've read the articles in the newspapers. What you and your team do for this city is wonderful. It's a safer place with you there. I wanted to thank you," the girl's voice was quiet as she finished.
Lisbon was taken aback. She knew the paper stories were noticed, but she was always caught off guard when someone thanked her for her work. She mumbled and incoherent 'no problem' and then handed the receptionist back the paper and pen.
"Have and nice day, Agent Lisbon," the young woman called after her as she hurried away.
"You too," Lisbon replied quickly and then headed back the hallway to exam room three.
She knocked on the door before pushing it cautiously open. Her eldest daughter sat up in the chair in the center of the room while Jen took her vitals. The agent nodded as her brown haired friend turned to see who'd enter the room. She moved over to the chair next to Kailey.
"What has Dr. Mcguire done so far?" Lisbon asked her youngest daughter in a soft whisper.
"Mostly this," Kailey replied, "She'd took blood pressure, and heart rate. She also check temperature and and asked a few questions about age, how far along she was, whether she knew about any STDs she might have."
Lisbon nodded absently. Her thoughts were absorbed in the throbbing of her head. She leaned her head on her hand and place an elbow on her knee as she watch the obstetrician examine Maria. With a hand pressed to the back of her neck, she was surprised to feel some of the pressure on her head had receded. It was still nowhere near normal, but she didn't feel as though she was going to be sick if she moved too quickly. Perhaps she really should have paid due attention to the Doctor that had recommended she stay home for the next few days.
There was a quiet clicked of heeled shoes and Lisbon was brought, abruptly, back to the present. She raised exhausted eyes from the floor and glanced at Maria. The hospital gown wearing teen looked uncomfortable and awkward before her mother and younger sister. Teresa watched her fiddle with one of her sleeves, pulling absently on the hem with nervous fingers. Lisbon lowered her hand into her lap and then stood from the chair, crossing the short distance between the waiting chair and the exam table. She grasped her daughter's tugging fingers and closed them in her hand.
"Relax." She whispered quietly to the girl, "Everything will be fine. You're healthy and you've taken care of yourself."
Maria nodded but said nothing for a few moments. Lisbon glanced at the door for a moment and then back at her eldest child. Neither made a sound, and the silence in the room was audible. Kailey appeared to be avoiding looking at either of them and was intently examining the ultrasound machine set up in the corner of the room. The brunette agent felt Maria squeeze her hand and turned back to look at her, the motion send her equilibrium off again. Unobtrusively, she leaned a hip against the examination table for support.
"You're sure you're alright with this?" Maria's voice was small but strong, "I mean, most moms would have gone off the handle at me. I don't see how."
Teresa let her daughter's hand go and then took her in her arms, "Maria, I would be lying if I told you I wasn't disappointed or maybe just a little bit angry, but I could never, be mad at you. I could never reject my own family."
Maria smiled weakly at her and nodded, "I'm glad."
Lisbon gave her hand a gentle squeeze back and checked her watch to see what time it was. Eleven fifty three. About now she could be arriving at a Peterson's house to discuss his wife. She could be gaining information about the case. The senior agent pushed those thoughts away. Today she was just Teresa, mom of two girls and she was supposed to be focusing on comforting the oldest. Bemoaning the fact that she wasn't out on a case was petty and childish considering her current mental cognition.
The door swung inward again and Dr. McGuire was back in the room, a prescription pad in her hand. She tore off the top sheet of paper and then handed it to Lisbon. The brunette agent looked it over. A prescription for prenatal vitamins, nothing surprising.
"Sorry for taking so long, Resa. There was a woman out in the waiting room insisting she was in labor. It took me a good ten minutes to talk her out of it," Jen smiled at her best friend and then turned to the girl on the table, "Right, are you ready to see that baby."
Maria glanced nervously at her mother and then back at the doctor. She nodded, but Lisbon felt her hand squeeze hers again. She tightened her own grip, hoping to give the girl a bit of reassurance.
"Alright then," The brown hair obstetrician rubbed her hands together and look around the room at the occupants for a moment and then nodded, "I'm sure you've waited long enough so let me just," she reached over and pulled the machine from the corner of the room and pressed the button, "We'll just let it boot for a bit." Another pause. "So, I talked to Maria and I talked to Resa but I didn't talk to Kailey."
"Its alright, I don't mind." Kailey commented, shuffling a pack of cards, "here. Pick a card." She held up the deck.
Lisbon had to stop herself from opening her mouth. One day with the girl and Jane already had her behaving like him. She heard a soft laugh from behind her and turned to see Maria grinning. Her eyes blackened for a moment and then her daughter's image refocused. The blood pounded through her head making her headache pulse.
"You're holding," Lisbon watched Kailey close her eyes for dramatic effect and raised an eyebrow in partial amusement and partial shock. Her daughter was a natural, "the three of clubs."
Kailey opened her eyes and flipped her short hair back over her shoulder, green eyes flashing triumphantly as the doctor turned her card around and then handed it back to her. Lisbon smiled at her and then turned to Jen, "Are we ready?"
Jen nodded, "It should be ready, yes." She motioned to Maria, "Lift your gown please, so that your abdomen is exposed."
Maria did as she was told.
"Let's see," Jen picked up a squeeze bottle of ultrasound jelly and placed it over Maria's abdomen, "Everyone tells their patients it's going to be a bit cold, but this won't be. We warm it up just a bit." Dr. McGuire squirted the gel onto the teen's stomach and picked the transducer up from the side of the machine, "Now, I'll need you to sit still for a moment, until I can find what I'm looking for. Then I'll freeze the picture for you and you can move again."
Teresa bit her lip and closed her eyes. Memories were rushing through her head far too quickly for her concussion damaged brain to handle. She sucked a breath through her teeth and leaned a bit more heavily on the table before letting it out and opening her eyes again. She glanced at the monitor nothing was showing up yet, not prevalently anyway. The agent glanced at her daughter's distended stomach. It was the first she'd actually seen the small bump that was gradually forming between the teenager's hips.
"Umm," there was a paused and three set of emerald eyes snapped on to the obstetrician. The doctor pressed a button and the image froze; she glanced up at the CBI agent holding the teen's hand, "May I speak with you for a moment?"
Teresa found herself instantly alert as her old friend addressed her rather than her daughter. "Yes," she stammered, "Of course. I'll be right back you two."
The Doctor printed out a couple pictures and then beckoned for Lisbon to follow her into
the hallway. The brunette did so, her hands tucked nonchalantly into the pockets of her well cared for jeans. Once in the hall outside the exam room they stopped and closed the door. The agent tried not to show her worry but she seemed to be as transparent as ever with her emotions.
Jen looked at her and then reached out a hand, "I didn't mean to worry you. I usually handle this better." She held out the pictures for her to take.
Lisbon grasped them with petite hands. Her eyes widened in surprise for it did not take a doctor to interpret the results of the image. She opened her mouth.
"Is there a history of twins in your family?" Jen asked softly.
Lisbon shook her head, "Not that I know of. But my mother never told us much about her family. She always seemed very withdrawn about them." She glanced toward the exam room door, "She's really having twins?"
Jen nodded and the grasped her friend's shoulder, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
Teresa Lisbon nodded hesitantly.
"Very convincing," Jen's face was serious but kind, "Look I know that doctor's don't usually do this for patients but, you're only thirty and you have a very time consuming job. You won't be able to help her out. Have you talked to her about considering adoption?"
Lisbon shook her head, "I don't think she be receptive to the idea of giving them up. Maria… is already considering herself a mother. She feels these are her consequences and she must live with them."
"I would take them," Jen interjected, "She could see them all the time, she could be their mom, but I'd be taking care of them."
"I wasn't aware you wanted kids, Jen," Teresa commented, trying whatever she could to keep the subject off of her, "Last time you and I talked you said that you and Jim were having problems."
Jen nodded, "Problems because I miscarried two years ago. We'd been fighting ever since. Until a few months ago, when Jim changed jobs. Since then, we've been working better together. I'd be happy to adopt them."
Lisbon nodded and then pressed her fingers to her temples, staring at the floor for a while, "I'll talk it over with her. I'm not ready to be someone's grandmother."
Jen tightened her grip on her shoulder, "You weren't ready to be someone's mother either."
Lisbon nodded yet again and then turned toward the door to the office, opening it again. She slipped inside, followed by the brown-haired obstetrician, and sat heavily in a chair next to the door. Maria looked terribly worried and though Kailey was sitting on the bed with her, she appeared close to tears. Lisbon got up again and handed her the pictures.
"Everything's fine," she paused and breathed, wrapping her arms around her daughter, "but you're having twins."
Maria pulled away from her hastily and stared with watery eyes at the state agent, "Twins." She said in a very small voice and then glanced down at the picture. A silence passed the moments and then the girl let out a shaky breath, "Oh God." Her voice was small when she said it.
Teresa couldn't help but sympathize with her daughter. She was having a similar attack of anxiety at the moment, wondering how much it would cost for her to find a larger apartment, wondering about how she would keep her elder daughter in school. She also wondered how she was possibly going to finance all of the people that would be living with her on the somewhat meager salary she was currently earning. Sure, it was enough to keep her comfortable and probably her two daughters, but financing two babies as well was pushing it. Her green eyes flicked up from the ultrasound photo to Jen and then back to her daughter.
The agent nodded slightly and then released her daughter.
"Well Maria, I know it seems a bit overwhelming right now, but I want you to know that you've been taking very good care of yourself and both of the babies are healthy," Dr. McGuire rolled the monitor back into the corner and smiled, "There are just a few things I want to go over to make sure you keep yourself this way and do not stress over the situation." Jen sat down on a stool next to the small counter in the room.
Lisbon took Kailey's small hand and leaned her over to the two chairs against the wall. They took a seat. She leaned her head back against the wall. She felt exhausted and aggravated.
"Now, since you're certain you're fourteen weeks along, you're officially into your second trimester. It shouldn't be too bad for you. You should be pretty comfortable and the nausea you've been getting the mornings will go away."
Maria smiled ironically, "Mornings? Try all day." She commented sardonically.
The doctor smiled, "Yes, that happens in a few cases. Anyway, your mother has your prescription and I'm going to set up another appointment for you in six weeks. You'll have another ultrasound and we'll see how the babies are doing then." Jen handed Maria her neatly folded clothes, "Go ahead and just leave the gown on the table." She turned to Lisbon, "If you have any questions or concerns, Resa, just give me a call. You could even drop in sometime. It would be nice to see you more often."
Teresa smiled and pulled herself up out of the chair again. She stepped forward and hugged her school mate before letting go, "I will. Time just gets away from me sometimes. Before I know it, it's been a year and we haven't talked."
"You're a workaholic, Resa, you were even when you were in school." Jen grinned and then left, shutting the door behind her.
Lisbon turned to Maria who'd instantly reached behind herself and started to untie the laces on her hospital gown. She crossed to help her daughter out of it. She watched the bump between her daughter's hips as she pulled her shirt over her head and then again as she saw the girl struggled to fasten a pair of what she expected were size two or four jeans around her waist. She heard and exasperated groan and watched her daughter flatten her shirt over the undone button. Reaching into one of her pockets, she pulled out a hair tie.
"Here." She held it out to Maria.
"What?" Maria took the hair tie in her fingers and raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"Stick it through the button hole on your jeans and then wrap it around the button as many times as you can. It makes it look like your jeans are fastened." She answered her daughter's questioning look.
Maria did as instructed, fumbling slightly under the gaze of her mother and sister. Teresa watched her rub and hand across it when the girl had finished fastening the pants closed and then gestured toward the door.
"Come on. I'm sure someone else needs this room," She pulled open the door and held it as her two daughters filed past her.
Maria stopped by the door and spoke quietly, "Thanks mum."
Lisbon nodded and waited for the teen to go on by before she left the room and shut the door. A smile fell across her features, a soft and small smile, but it was there all the same. She followed the girls out of the office and into the parking lot after making another appointment for the allotted six weeks.
Once in the parking lot, the Agent found her car had moved, or rather had materialized in front of the door. She pulled open the passenger seat and climbed in. Maria sat at the wheel as she had on the way over. The girl's expression was kind but reserved and she appeared to be concentrating hard on the sound of the radio. It was not long before she heard both girls humming along to the music on the station.
"You know you only have a permit," She quipped to Maria as they pulled out onto the street. Her hand tightened on the door handle as the motion of the car set off another round of dizziness, "With a permit you're not allowed to drive on public property without a licensed individual over the age of twenty one."
"She never left the parking lot," Kailey retorted.
"The parking lot is still public property," Lisbon replied, turning to look at the girl.
Kailey paused a moment and then opened her mouth to make a return comment but the car screeched to a halt at the intersection. A car shot through the red light in front of them. Lisbon caught Maria's reaction out of the corner of her eye and was torn between shock and amusement as her elder daughter flipped the driver off.
Lisbon took a few deep breaths and forced herself to let go on the door handle, affectionately referred to by her brothers as the "Oh Shit" bar for the number of times she grabbed it and said just that phrase while teaching them to drive. Maria pulled forward into the intersection and drove on.
Teresa pulled out her phone and dialed the number for the nearest precinct. The phone on the other end rang a few times and then a man answered.
"Hello?" The man on the other end barked.
"Hello, hundred and twelfth, is that correct?" Lisbon asked and glanced sideways at her daughter. The girl was staring at her and not the road. She jerked her hand toward the windshield.
"Yes, this is Detective Hangeur speaking. Is there a problem ma'am?"
"Hello Detective Hangeur, this is Teresa Lisbon speaking. I just wanted to let you know that you have a blue chevy sedan, license plate HYL 4894 going about ninety through on eighth." She paused and then added "He ran a red light right in front of me."
"Thank you for the tip, agent. Have a nice day." There was a click on the phone and the line went dead.
Lisbon flipped her phone closed and settled back in her seat, eyes closed. Perhaps she could not work on the case, but at the very least she could still help the police department catch people who recklessly disregarded the rules.
She let out a sigh, allowing her head to go back to throbbing.
"Mum?" Kailey spoke up from the rear seat.
"umhmm," Teresa replied, not opening her eyes.
"You just tattled on a guy for running a red light," the girl commented with perplexed tones.
Lisbon nodded silently, eyes still closed as tightly as she could close them, "He's breaking the law, endangering dozens of people's lives. Any one of the cars at the intersection could have been hit. He could have hit us."
"But, if he's speeding and running red lights, wouldn't that mean he was at least as likely to get killed. I mean, obviously he's a rebel. Isn't it his prerogative to break the law?"
The girl's question was edgy and slightly delved into ethics and the philosophy of character. Perhaps if Lisbon had been thinking in a reasonable manner she would not have snapped, but nothing had ever been reasonable about her actions regarding reckless drivers. The image was still burned into her mind, her mother, slumped over the steering column, gasping for air screaming and coughing blood. And dying in her arms. She'd felt her hand go limp, all the tension in the muscles gone as the woman gave up her life.
"The law is the law, Kailey. We have them for a reason. Without laws there would be chaos. It is no one's prerogative to break any of them. Do you understand?" She snapped and turned in her seat and to stare at her younger daughter, shocked to realize that she'd been this age and thought the same things when she'd been thrown brutally into the reality of adulthood.
Kailey appeared affronted and then flopped moodily back against the seat, arms crossed over her chest, "You know I was only making an argument. There's not need to take all of the fun out of it."
Teresa flicked her eyes over the preteen and then turned around to face the windshield. Perhaps she had over-reacted. Regardless, she did not take it back. Instead, she turned her head toward the window and stared out as they drove through the city.
When they arrived at their apartment, the mid-afternoon sun was blazing down on the parking lot. Lisbon shrugged off her coat, the one she'd been wearing to ward off the fall morning chill, and draped it over her arm. She smiled as Kailey looked both ways and then headed toward the outside staircase, hurrying up the covered metal stairs. Maria hurried after her, though not at a run. The CBI agent followed slowly, making sure to move just fast enough her head would not throb. The bottle of Advil in her cupboard was calling her name and so was the couch and the Baldacci novel she'd been reading the night before.
a/n- After an extremely long hiatus from all of my fanfiction writing, I am back and my goal is to update all of my fanfictions this week! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to hearing from you in the time to come.
Wotcher,
Tabitha
