"Mr. Larabee, I must confess yours is not a face I expected to see again."

"Could say the same thing Maude."

"Have you come to check up on me? Make certain I am for once and for all out of his life?"

"I came to tell you Ezra won't be coming."

Fear crossed her face. "Dear God, what happened to him."

Chris was surprised by the response. "You happened to him Maude. What do you think?"

She collapsed weakly back into her pillows. "Then he's alright."

"Depends on your definition."

"From what I have been able to ascertain, Jacob's family is no longer a threat?" There was no effort to hide her anxious tone.

"You've been keeping an eye on things?"

"He is my son Mr. Larabee. While I may not be the finest example of motherhood to ever walk the face of the earth, I do care about him."

"I know you do. That's part of the reason I'm here. And, to answer your question, yes. Pretty sure the threat has been neutralized, but was are keeping watch on them."

"And this." She weakly raised and arm to indicate her surroundings. "He knows?"

"Yeah. We told him. Took a while to convince him."

"I cannot say I'm surprised by his skepticism. It's probably for the best."

Chris was suddenly feeling the weight of all of this. "May I sit?"

"Of course. Forgive my manners." She looked beyond tired. And more frail than he had prepared himself for. But beyond that was something deeper, and he wasn't entirely certain of its nature.

"I am sorry Maude. This isn't something I'd wish on my wished enemy."

"And yet here I am."

"Didn't mean it that way."

"I know. Again, my apologies."

"That's where he gets it from." Chris grinned slightly at her puzzled look. "Ezra has a tendency to apologize for a lot of things he shouldn't. This isn't the time to worry about hurting my feelings Maude."

"Well it's too late to worry about having hurt Ezra's. Having hurt him." He was a bit surprised by the look of pride that came to her face. "You do have to admit Mr. Larabee, he turned into a remarkable man despite what I did."

"Maybe because of it Maude. Wasn't what you set out to do, and it sure wasn't the best way, but he is strong, resourceful, and just too damn clever for his own good. Think a lot of that comes from what you did."

She smiled feebly. "More accurately, how he made it work for him instead of against. We all do what we have to do to get by Mr. Larabee. I had no idea how to be a good mother, having had no real role model. I had no business having a child. No right."

"Two children Maude." He wouldn't have thought she could get even more pale.

"Damn. You know about that?"

"Yes. He does too."

"And just when I thought your opinion about me couldn't get any lower."

"This isn't about me Maude. It's about you. And him."

"Mostly him."

Chris nodded. "Tell me the truth Maude, did you know in San Francisco?" He desperately hoped the answer was no. Sooner or later Ezra was going to wonder the same thing. Did he throw his mother out of his life at a time she needed him more than ever? He was going to ask that question, and Chris wanted to have the answer.

"I had no clue then. It was just a few weeks later though. By the time I found out, it was far too late to do anything. Stage 4. The one merciful thing about this dreadful business is that it has been so fast. Doesn't give you time to do very much, or to regret very much." He doubted that last part was true. "I think it is too late to correct any of that.

"Not yet. Call him."

"I can't. I don't even have an idea of what I would begin to say."

"A Standish at a loss for words?"

"A rare occurrence, but it happens." The sly look she offered was an echo of the one he'd seen so often as Ezra wheedled his way out of something. It disappeared quickly. "I think hearing the disapproval in his voice again would simply destroy me."

"So, it is about you."

"I don't want that to be his final memory of me."

"At the moment, his final memory is going to be you walking out of his life."

"At his request" she reminded him.

"No, at ours. If we hadn't – I hadn't – pushed him, he never would've kicked you out."

"It was the best thing anyone has ever done for him. It should have happened years ago." Maude closed her eyes, exhausted again.

Chris felt a twinge of guilt. "I'll leave you to rest."

She nodded but opened her eyes before he could stand up, pushing herself up as much as she could. "One moment please. I have no right to ask this, and no expectation you will concur, but I am going to do it anyway. When Ezra last believed me to be dead, he came to some kind of an arrangement with you." Chris felt a pit in his stomach, knowing where this was going.

"Wasn't any arrangement Maude. He asked me for something, and I couldn't – wouldn't – say no."

"And if I were to make the same request?"

"It's his call Maude. I'm not going to do anything that will make him uncomfortable."

She shook her head sadly. "He won't ask. Not again."

He agreed but couldn't bring himself to say so. "Honest to God Maude. I don't know if he's going to want that now."

"I understand. But –" she left the question open.

"Yes. I'll talk to him."

She allowed herself to collapse back into the bed."Thank you, Mr. Larabee. And thank you for coming. I can only imagine how difficult it was for you."

"Hate to repeat myself Maude, but it wasn't about me."

"Of course not."

"He means it. It is the genuine veracity of his decency that truly makes it so noble. Hello mother."

Maude found herself too tired to fight the tears that came to her eyes. "Hello my darling boy. I'm I still allowed to call you that?"

He didn't answer but shifted his attention to Chris. "I never should've put you in this position. It was an unforgivable action, yet here I stand, hoping for your forgiveness."

"Nothing to forgive Ezra. You've had enough on your plate. If you need me, I'll be down the hall in the waiting room. Josiah's there too."

"I think you will find a few other familiar faces. The judge insisted one person stay to represent the team, and Nathan either won or lost that draw, depending on your perspective."

"I'm sure he'd rather be here." Ezra tilted his head, questioning that suggestion. Chris gave him what he hoped was an encouraging smile and headed for the door but stopped at soft words from Maude.

"You'll remember what I asked of you?"

Chris nodded. "I'll do what I can."

"I mean in San Francisco."

He stood quietly for a moment. "Yes Maude, I'll remember. And for the record, you didn't need to ask. But I'm glad you did."

"As am I. Thank you."

Ezra waited until they were alone. "I don't suppose you care to share with that was about?"

"It doesn't concern you Ezra."

"I doubt that." He fought the chill that passed through him. "You should have called me, mother."

She drew on her reserves to smile at him. "You made it clear that you wanted nothing more to do with me. For once, I was trying to honour your wishes."

"If you had asked, I would have come."

Her brow wrinkled. "But your Mr. Larabee indicated you didn't want to be here."

"Because I believed you didn't want me to. Didn't need me to."

"Oh Ezra! How can two people who are so good at talking be so bad at communicating?"

"Years of practice?" He suggested, as he carefully pushed the chair close to the bed and sat beside her.

"I'm sorry Ezra. I know you won't believe me, but I am sorry. For all the lies. For all the –"

"Please. Stop. That is history and cannot be changed. It is not something we need to waste our time dwelling upon."

"What should we do then? Talk about our emotions? Share our feelings?"

Ezra gave a quiet laugh. "Neither suits us. I would like to just sit here with you. If you feel up to it, maybe you could regale me was some of your adventures."

"Don't believe you'd like to hear most of those." She smiled, and it was one of the first genuine smiles he could recall seeing from her. "Do you remember the summer when you were – oh think almost seven years old? I took you to what was supposed to be a country estate and it turned out to be barely a cabin."

Ezra laughed. "Yes. You had been certain the cabin was only a gatehouse to the estate. When you discovered otherwise you wanted to leave immediately. Why didn't we?"

"You. You were so excited about the lake, and about some old tire swing. About a campfire. I had never seen you like that."

"We stayed for – what, a week?"

"It remains the best week of my life."

Ezra's voice cracked. "Even allowing for the fact that you fell into the lake. Twice."

"You tipped that boat on purpose." She accused through her laughter.

Chris stepped away quietly from the door, the sounds coming from within convincing him that Ezra was okay. The four men rose to meet him when he got to the solarium at the far end of the corridor.

"How is she?" Buck asked.

Chris shook his head and turned to JD. "Glad you figured this out when you did.

"How is he?"

He stalled, not really sure what answer to give Vin. "It's a good thing Nathan didn't come. If he saw Ezra without the sling and brace he'd skin him."

Josiah nodded as he held a small bag holding the items in question. "Said he didn't want to worry her by walking in with them on."

"Damned fool. How'd you talk him into coming?"

"Didn't. Not really. You did, and I guess all of us did some. But mostly it was just as he really couldn't do anything else. It's who he is." The strain in Vin's voice betrayed how much he was hurting for his friend.

"So why did he fight it?" Buck wondered.

Josiah answered. "Because he didn't want to let us down. He promised himself in San Francisco that he would protect us from her, no matter what it cost him. He had to be convinced we didn't see him coming here as going back on that promise."

"But –"

"Don't try to understand it JD. You won't."

"So, what now?" Vin turned back to Chris.

"We wait."

The only movement to or from Maude's room was the nurse making her rounds. She tried to be as unobtrusive as possible, glad to see her patient wasn't alone anymore.

Late in the evening Vin and Josiah walked by the room quietly on their way to get coffee. Glancing into the half-closed door Vin smiled. Maude was sleeping, as was Ezra. His head was resting on the side of the bed, with Maude's hand on his back. Seeing Vin's reaction, Josiah looked in as well. He quietly opened the door, picking up a light blanket from the bedding cart as he entered. He began to open it out to drape over Ezra when he looked at Maude.

"Damn." He whispered, almost to himself. Vin stopped his own advance.

Ezra's voice was quiet, almost too soft to be heard. "It was just a few minutes ago. She'd been rubbing my back and just stopped."

Josiah put the blanket at the foot of the bed. "I'll get the nurse."

"Yes. Thank you. I can't quite seem to bring myself to leave her yet." He did reach up and gently move her hand away. "She seemed relaxed. Not frightened."

"It was good you were here Ezra." Vin spoke. "I know that had to help her."

"Perhaps. I hope so."

"It did Ezra." JD came into the room. "My Ma told me it meant everything to her that I was with her. Think it made things a lot easier for her, and I'm sure Maude felt the same."

"Our mothers are hardly comparable."

"Maybe, but she's your mom, and you were here. That's all that really matters, right?"

"I suppose."

"Come on Ezra. Let's go sit in the lounge." Vin steered him away as Josiah escorted the nurse in. She reached out and took Ezra's hand. "She was so much more at ease tonight Mr. Standish. I wanted you to know that."

Chris more or less pushed Ezra into a seat in the relative peace of the solarium. "I talked to her doctor for a few minutes when I got here. Everything is taken care of. Maude saw to all of that. There's nothing more you need to do."

Ezra allowed himself to settle slightly into the seat, trying to summon the nerve for what he was about to ask.

"Several months ago I took a deep and unwarranted advantage of our friendship."

"Yes Ezra. I'll say it again. I'm honoured you find the ranch a fitting resting place for your mother. And it's what she asked for too. To try to be close to you. In your memories."

"Mother is not the type of woman anyone is likely to forget. Tell me Chris, what other burden did she place on you? There was clearly another request."

"Not a burden Ezra. Not even something she needed to ask."

"That bad?"

"She just wanted to be sure you were going to be alright."

"Oh, Good Lord. She had no right –"

"She had no need Ezra. We look after each other. Just that simple."

"Yeah Ezra. It's what family does." Vin reiterated.

"That's why she asked." JD reminded him. "Because she cared."

Ezra nodded, feeling an unexpected tear fall to his hand. "I suppose in her own way, she did."

Josiah moved in slowly to take the seat beside him. He gently reached an arm around him, pulling him close and sat quietly as Ezra softly wept.

tbc

M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7

Note:So I wrote this, and the most of the previous chapter, on the 2nd anniversary of my mother's death. We had the perfect relationship, not at all like the one portrayed here. I have generally written Ezra as having a difficult time dealing with his mother, and I felt the need to resolve that to a degree, while at the same time dealing with the end of the conflict. It has just taken me 18 months to figure out where to fit this into a story. Given how the Cycles storyline started, and since this is just one chapter away from the end of this trilogy (and this small branch of the M7 tree), if felt right. The wonderful thing about fiction is that Maude can and will continue to appear in Ezra's life. It is a shame real life can't work that way.