Chapter 12

Wolf reacted first. Sitting up, he looked towards the yard's gate, pricking up his ears, growling from deep within his throat. Alerted, Sully quickly rose from his lounge chair in order to see better, waking Michaela from her doze in the process.

It was Friday evening, and Michaela had finished her last long day shift for the next months and felt as relaxed as she hadn't for a very long time. "What's the matter?" she asked still somewhat drowsy, protecting her eyes with her hand from the sun.

"A cab," Sully informed her. "Looks as if we get a visitor."

"Oh no," Michaela whispered.

For some reason she didn't have to look; she knew who it was. Slowly, so as to avoid a dizzy spell, she straightened to her feet whilst Sully rushed across the yard.

Approaching the gate he heard a woman talk to the taxi driver. Wondering from where he knew that voice, he opened the door. Surprised, he saw that there were actually two women, facing him now that the cab drove away.

Without further ado the smaller, older one demanded, "I want to speak to my daughter."

"Mother!" the other visitor said to her, blushing in embarrassment. "Please, you promised to stay calm." Then she turned to Sully, proffering her hand, "I'm Rebecca, Michaela's sister. It is nice to meet you, Mr. Sully."

"It's just Sully," he replied, returning the handshake.

After casting a glare at her oldest, Elizabeth Quinn raised her chin towards Sully. "Where is she?" Her tone made it clear that she would move heaven and earth to get to her daughter.

Obliviously still blocking the entrance, Sully looked over his shoulder. Holding on to the post next to the top step of the stairs, Michaela stood on the porch watching them, Wolf sitting next to her, and even from the distance he saw the tension in her body and her pale complexion. He had no idea how much she had told her mother about the previous months, but he could tell that she wasn't happy to see her.

"She just took a nap," he eventually told Mrs. Quinn as he turned back, irrationally hoping that this information would soften her.

"Well, then she should be rested enough to welcome her mother," Elizabeth said dryly, passing Sully who took a hasty step aside.

Rebecca smiled at him apologetically as she followed her mother.

Feeling the scrutinizing gaze like tiny needles prickling her body when Elizabeth hurried towards her, Michaela sighed. She knew what was coming. Bracing herself, she took in a deep breath. "Hello mother," she greeted her once she was close enough.

"So it is true," Elizabeth didn't deign her youngest' words any attention but ascended the wooden steps so as to stand on the same level with her. She snorted in disgust, "I had to learn from William that my daughter is pregnant!"

Michaela didn't reply because she knew that no matter what she said, it would be recognized as what it was: an excuse.

Wolf, who had calmed down seeing his master allowing the strangers in, tensed up again as he recognized the displeasure in the tone towards Michaela. He still sat on his hind legs but shifted slightly as if getting ready to jump.

"Calm!" Sully ordered, rushing up the stairs.

He very well remembered that Mrs. Quinn never hesitated to give a piece of her mind when she disapproved of someone's behavior. Yet the last he wanted for Michaela was to get worked up, and so he stepped behind her, laying his hands on her shoulders wanting her to know that he was there for her. His heart skipped a beat when he felt her close the distance between them even more. It was as if she was seeking his protection.

Elizabeth, however, glowered at him. "Don't pretend you care for my daughter, Mr. Sully," she hissed. "If you were at least halfway a decent man you would marry her!"

Sully felt Michaela begin to tremble and soothingly squeezed her shoulders. Yet before he could respond to Mrs. Quinn's imputation, Michaela raised her voice. "Mother!" she almost yelled. "Leave Sully alone, nothing of this is his fault!"

Unfazed, Elizabeth eyed her youngest, "So you tell me he is not the father?"

"I am," Sully said sincerely, anticipating Michaela's reply. "And I'll take full responsibility for my babies."

"Babies?" Rebecca, who stood next to her mother by now, smiled widely at Michaela, waiting for her affirmation. As she gained it by a spark in her sister's eyes, she went to her and hugged her tightly. "Congratulations," she whispered in her ear before she stepped back.

"Babies?" Elizabeth gasped. Laying her hand on her chest she swayed, making everyone move quickly.

Mrs. Quinn, however, needed neither Rebecca's supporting hands under her elbows nor the chair that Sully swiftly put behind her.

"Fine," she said, more determined than ever to get everything back under her control, "then we'll just hire two nannies instead of one, assuming you don't expect triplets."

Taken aback, Michaela's jaw almost literally dropped. She didn't respond to her mother's assumption but demanded, "I beg your pardon?"

"Of course we will take you home," Elizabeth told her daughter in a tone that indicated that this was a fact no one would change. "You can't raise a child, let alone twins, all by yourself."

As Sully opened his mouth to chime in, Rebecca touched his arm, requesting, "Mr. Sully, would you mind showing me your beautiful house?"

Glancing at Michaela Sully attempted to gauge what she wanted him to do. Knowing from earlier occasions that the upcoming conversation between mother and daughter might become a very unpleasant one, he'd prefer to stay so she wouldn't have to go through it alone. Yet it was up to Michaela to make this decision, and when she gave him an almost imperceptible nod, he turned to Rebecca. "Sure," he agreed and opened the entrance for her to step inside. He beckoned for Wolf to follow him since he feared the dog would take Mrs. Quinn's occasionally aggressive tone as a sign of an attack against Michaela, and no one knew how he would react in such a case.

Whilst waiting until the door was closed behind them, Michaela tried to sort her thoughts. She had avoided thinking about all the consequences of her pregnancy for so long that she feared she might not be able to find the right arguments against her mother's during the upcoming discussion. Buying some more time, she eventually gestured to the table and the wooden bench next to the barn. "Would you mind if we sat down there?" she asked once they were alone, gaining a short nod in response.

They made their way over there in silence, yet they barely sat when Elizabeth spoke again. "I really don't understand you, Michaela," she huffed. "How can you defend this man? He dishonored you!"

Michaela sighed in exasperation. "Mother, we live in the twenty-first century not in the nineteenth. And as I said, this is completely my decision. Sully already proposed when he didn't even know that I was pregnant."

Elizabeth's face instantly lit up. "You are engaged! Well, that changes things. We just have to hurry with the wedding. A wide enough dress will still hide your condition."

"I told him no," Michaela shattered her mother's planes without flinching.

"You did what?" Shocked, Elizabeth looked at her daughter. "Why on earth…" Her voice trailed off as she recognized the look in the mismatched eyes. She had seen it too often in the past as not to know that her daughter's mind was set and there was no chance to change it. For a few moments Mrs. Quinn considered her options only to always come back to the same conclusion: she needed to find the weak point in Michaela's reasoning. She started with a harmless enough sounding remark, looking around, "It is a nice place for raising children here."
"Yes, it is," Michaela replied cautiously, knowing that there was more to come. Much more.

Inside of the house, Rebecca silently admired the interior until she at last said, "Did you know, Mr. Sully, that this is just the kind of room Michaela already dreamed about when she was still a little girl?" On his astonished look, she continued, "Father once built me a doll house for Christmas, and when I was too old to play with it, Maureen and Claudette used it. Marjorie didn't want it afterwards, but Michaela loved it. Her first request was if Father could take out the walls downstairs because she wanted to move her dolls around without constrictions. Mother was very pleased that Michaela finally acted like a girl. Later my little sister decided though, that it was the perfect room for a medical practice. Now, of course, Father was delighted."

Rebecca chuckled with the memory, and Sully grinned as well. "If she asks me to do the same here," he assured, "I'll suggest building an attached house, but I think she loves the hospital."

Nodding, Rebecca grew serious as she looked up at him, "You really love her, do you?"

"Yeah," he responded, sighing. "But I've messed up things earlier this year. I'm sure she told you."

Rebecca shook her head. "No, she didn't. If she talks about herself at all she usually only gives sparse information." Seeing the question in Sully's eyes she explained, "Although I am her favorite sister, she never really confided in me. Actually, I think she never had a true confidant apart from Father. In our family it was always a rule to not bother the others with personal problems. We keep things to ourselves when we assume the others won't approve, or we might embarrass ourselves in front of them. For Michaela it was especially hard. I left home when she was only five, and I'm ashamed to admit that my younger sisters liked to harass her."

Whilst Sully began to understand why it was so difficult for Michaela to trust him again, the discussion in the yard reached the culminating point. Michaela had risen from the bench and paced agitatedly in front of her mother. "I won't get married because some society rules demand it or because I fear I won't be able to manage my life alone. I want to marry a man I want to grow old with, the one I can trust blindly, the one who allows me to be myself. Can't you understand that?"

The more upset her daughter became, the more Elizabeth Quinn relaxed, feeling her victory close. "But you said you love this man," she calmly reminded.

"Of course I love him," Michaela retorted, glaring at her mother, "but we both carry burdens from our past. What when it turns out that this love is not strong enough to deal with them?"

Following her youngest with her eyes as she went back and forth, Elizabeth pointed out, "You will soon be a mother and have to think of your children first."

Michaela halted in her tracks, looking at her mother in disbelief. "Did you already forget what happened to Marjorie? You told her just the same words when she was pregnant, and she listened to you. She married this man who left her right after she miscarried and had to learn that she would never be able to have a child again. And as a last thank you, he infected her with HIV. I thought you'd appreciate that I'm not running into a marriage blindly."

Elizabeth stayed silent for a while, averting her eyes. Thinking about her once so light-hearted daughter whose life was destroyed now would pain her forever. Yet that didn't mean she would give up on her youngest. "Alright," she said, straightening on her seat, "you don't want to marry Mr. Sully. So why not coming home? The house is big enough, and you would get all the help you need. You know that."

Sighing, Michaela sat down next to her mother again. Taking her hand in hers, she carefully chose her next words. "You once told me that, in regard to me, you are a mother without a daughter. Do you really want for Sully to be a father without children?"

When Elizabeth didn't reply Michaela added, "And it isn't so that I never want to marry. I'm just not certain yet. I don't want to repeat my sister's mistake. I need more time."

Eventually, Elizabeth raised her head, meeting her youngest' eyes. She wanted to tell her stubborn child that she was running out of time; that she needed to prepare herself now because the next months would fly by like nothing, and that once the newborns were there, they would consume even the last grain of her power; that she needed to be settled by then. Yet she kept these arguments to herself, knowing they wouldn't be appreciated now. She decided to either talk some sense into Mr. Sully or show Michaela that this man would never be able to support her. Whatever worked best, she would make use of it.

Of course Mrs. Quinn had no idea that this time, she had found her match. After learning from Rebecca a tiny but deciding bit of Michaela's past, he finally knew what to do. The ladies from Boston were here because they wanted to make sure that Michaela and her children would have anything they needed, and he just knew how to provide that. Money wouldn't be an issue for either of them; it was the caring part that counted.

As soon as Rebecca and he joined the others at the table in the yard, he addressed Mrs. Quinn. "Look," he said, "I know ya mean well, but there's no need for ya to worry. I'll be at Michaela's side all the time, and once she's back at work, I'll stay at home with the kids. This way they'll always have a parent around."

Taking in these words, all three women reacted differently: whilst Rebecca smiled with appreciation, Mrs. Quinn stared at him in disbelief. But Sully was only interested in Michaela's response. His eyes shone in the purest blue when he read in her expression that she'd fully understood what he had said.

"Are you certain?" she asked some time later, as soon as he had closed the gate behind her mother and sister who'd just left for the night.

Laying his hands on her shoulders, he nodded. "Sure I'm sure. You're a doc and always will be, so you gotta go back to the hospital one day. When I wanna work, I can always carve here at home for most of all I wanna be a father." As to erase even the faintest doubt he added, "With all the consequences."

Although the word money was never used, Michaela knew that just now he had accepted that his part of providing for their family was not to earn their living.

"Oh Sully," she breathed his name the way only she could do it, and cradled his head in her palms before she pressed her lips fiercely to his.

When she released him, he pulled her back against his chest, hugging her tightly. "We're gonna make it," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "I promise."

They stood for a while, just holding on tight to each other, with Wolf excitedly hopping around them. When they at last loosened their embrace, they smiled at each other in a new-found understanding. Suddenly Sully stretched his arm, pointing at the large oak next to the house. "Look," he whispered, "hawks."

"Hawks mate for life," Michaela said quietly, watching the male spreading his wings as he took off from the branch.

The smaller bird watched her partner for a moment, and only when it already circled around above the tree she rose into the air as well, eventually joining her mate. Michaela and Sully both watched in awe as the hawks flew together in perfect synchronization. Even when they seemingly fell down a few yards, neither left the other's side. Eventually, they climbed higher and higher until they were out of their sight. At this moment, Michaela made her decision.

Shifting so that she faced Sully she gazed up at him, asking, "Will you still have me?"

He looked back at her, not comprehending, so she posed the question in a way that was not to be misunderstood, "Will you marry me?"

Feeling a lump in his throat, Sully wasn't able to speak. He took her hand instead and kissed its back before he lifted it and rested his cheek in her palm.

"Yes," was all reply he could muster since an overwhelming happiness took his breath away.

Yet somehow he needed to express his joy, and thus he just whisked her in his arms, spinning her around until she giggled and called his name, telling him to let her down. But he would never do that again.