ROCK - A - BYE BABY Chapter 12

Disclaimer: The gold tooth fairy still hasn't left Ezra under my pillow so I guess I still don't own anything.

A/N Abject apologies. For those who are unaware my research project had to take priority but it's out of my hair now and I'm busy playing catch up. Hope you enjoy. Oh and a little warning - some bad words of a homophobic nature ahead - quite a chunk of this is dealing with Nettie.

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Nettie Wells sat at her well worn kitchen table holding tight to her cup of rapidly cooling coffee. The surface of the liquid shimmered as her hands shook with the after effects of the past few hours…no, make that the past couple of days, she thought sadly. How on earth had she become so out of touch with those she had, until now, confidently called family and friends. Her hands trembled slightly harder and her eyes narrowed but this time with anger as she realised the track her thoughts were taking.

NO!

She would not be made to feel responsible for upsetting Team 7 or her niece. Her principles had been the accepted way since the days of Adam and Eve. It was that perverted little sissy boy that had caused them all pain. That had turned her friends against her! After all what kind of man sends his mother to fight his battles?!

'A man who had already tried reasoning with you, and when that failed, resorted to begging you not to alienate Vin just because of his choice of partner. A man who had pled his case with charm, sincerity, humility and, in the end, tears and who you had sent away with harsh words and cold looks yet who even then had kept his offer of friendship open'

Nettie almost squirmed at the thought that the heathen sinner had displayed a far more Christian attitude than she herself had managed. But it wasn't Ezra's visit the day before, and the morning after Casey had given her own ultimatum that she either shape up or find that her own flesh and blood had shipped out, that had her shaking with indignation, anger and more than a little hint of fear. That honour had been reserved for the twin pronged attacks of Evie Travis and Maude Standish…or whatever she was calling herself these days.

Evie had come to her first. Nettie had known Evie for over twenty years. They had served on charity committees together; they attended the same church and their husbands had been fishing buddies. They were friends.

Were friends…but seemingly no longer. Oh Evie hadn't cut her ties altogether. Much like Standish himself she had left a door open but with the proviso that Ezra be accepted and supported. Nettie shook her head sadly as she remembered the way the warmth had faded from the slightly younger woman's blue eyes as she listened to the reasons why nobody should accept Standish's lifestyle or suffer his attentions toward Vin who was obviously caught in some kind of web of lust spun by the conman.

"Nettie Wells! I haven't heard such complete and utter drivel since I don't know when! If you honestly think that Vin Tanner could be so easily conned then you are doing him as great a disservice as Ezra. And as for your antediluvian attitude to sexuality…well I expected better of you. While you are judging Ezra on his sexual orientation perhaps you might like to pause and consider just where Vin, Chris and the others would be without him because he's saved all their lives at some point or other since joining the team and often at a high cost to himself."

Looking back Nettie realised that she should have just let Evie have her say and obeyed that time old and wise piece of advice, 'if you haven't got anything nice to say then don't say anything at all' but unfortunately she had not only said something to bolster her argument she had said entirely the wrong thing.

"I can understand how you would feel lonely without Stephen but do you honestly think that such a fine and upstanding man, and outstanding agent such as your son would approve of your endorsement of such a shady and morally reprehensible person as Ezra Standish, a character who is the embodiment of everything that your son despised."

Nettie had known that in that moment with those ill thought out words she had dealt a killing blow to her friendship with the other woman but just in case there was any doubt Evie had made it abundantly clear that Stephen would have seen the brave man behind the mask unlike some people she could mention and that she saw the same noble principles in the southerner as she had been so proud of in her own son and that they were both cut from the same cloth…to insult one was to insult the other too as far as she was concerned. And she would not remain in a place where her friends or her son's memory were disrespected and maligned.

Nettie reflected that as Evie had left she had felt as though that had been the most traumatic confrontation she would ever have. But she had been wrong.

Nettie could feel Maude Standish's contempt as soon as she stepped over the threshold. It was as though a third physical presence had joined them. Yet where one would expect to see a sneer or grimace marring the beautiful perfectly made-up woman's features there was nothing but a seemingly polite indifference. However Maude was far from indifferent as Nettie soon found out.

Maude sat at the kitchen table - Nettie would be damned if she would allow a degenerate con artist like that in her front parlour - and ran a caustic eye over the much loved and lived in heart of the house. Nettie went against all the manners she had been raised to show and didn't offer her any refreshments. She sat down opposite the designer attired woman and waited expectantly for the tirade to begin. After all, despite being as sly and aloof as a cat she was still the boy's mother. Nettie couldn't help but think that having a useless faggot for a son was a just and suitable punishment for a serial bride…probably even a bigamist, it wouldn't surprise her in the slightest. It gave Nettie a bitter sense of satisfaction that she would never be able to marry her son off to some poor mousy heiress for her fortune. 'Hell!' she thought, 'That's probably why he turned queer in the first place!' Anger returned as she mused that however he chose to lead his misbegotten and sordid life he had no right to take her Vin away from her and any future wife and children he might have had. No amount of ranting - or begging - from this female viper would get her to see her son for anything other than the lying, conniving corruptor of innocents that he obviously was; even if it only seemed to be obvious to her.

Maude waited patiently as Nettie gathered her thoughts. 'And what thoughts they must be' Maude thought idly as she watched emotion, after bitter emotion, cross the haggard and lined face. Features that had probably recently come across as lined with the wisdom of life's experiences and the triumph of surviving the bad and embracing the good now looked merely sad and old with the taint of disappointment and anger. She almost felt pity for the other woman as those lines of honour and caring were replaced with those of hatred and prejudice. But pity was not in her repertoire - not today. Maude loathed prejudice. Greed lust and revenge she could understand but blind prejudice was, to her, a waste of time and emotion. A person was what they made of themselves not the unalterable dictate of their DNA, be that their colour or their sexual orientation. Anyone that couldn't, or that refused, to see the difference was, to her mind, an imbecile. So she waited patiently for the imbecile currently sitting opposite her to marshal her twisted and erroneous thoughts. She had all the time in the world for her darlin' boy….well as long as it didn't interfere with luncheon; she had booked a table at Fabiano's for 12 and they had a three week waiting list!

"I won't change my opinion" Nettie stated firmly. A firmness more displayed than actually felt since the coldness in that infuriatingly ever present smile on the southern woman's face could freeze her kitchen range to solid ice.

"And what opinion is that may Ah enquire?" Maude asked softly.

Nettie fought the urge to fidget in her chair. Somehow the softer the accented voice got the more nervous she became. She had always felt the same in the presence of the son so it was now obvious where he got that particular trait from. She took a deep breath and summoned up all the righteous certainty and anger she could muster and spoke out strongly, locking gazes with the seemingly emotionless Maude.

"That your son is no good! He's no good for my boy. He's a corrupting influence and shouldn't be allowed to mix with normal people, especially young people like Vin, JD and nine year old little Billy Travis." Her voice had become more strident in her agitation and her accusations were more direct and darker than she had planned but that was what perverts like him were and there was no point in pussyfooting about. Call a spade a spade was her motto! Her self justification faded however as she saw that the southern woman's expression hadn't changed. Nettie had expected horror or anger; embarrassment or humiliation, or possibly a mixture of all of them. What she hadn't expected was a slight hint of boredom. It left the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

Maude didn't answer immediately. Not that she needed time to compose a reply but silence was often as good a weapon as words. She extracted her compact from her Prada purse and calmly proceeded to check her make-up. She noted Nettie's nervous twitch as she watched the process.

Nettie wished that the damn woman would say or do something …anything. And then she did and Nettie wished that she hadn't.

The voice was still soft but the normally warm honeyed tones were as cold as the arctic if not colder and the malice was unmistakable.

"Vin is NOT 'your boy'! He is also not some weak willed child ready to fall prey to a supposedly more experienced man… In fact knowing mah son I have no doubt that he would not have been the one to instigate the relationship." She didn't think it necessary to comment on the fact that it was her own distrust of relationships which she had instilled into her son from an early age that made him unable to offer his heart. She put her self flagellation aside as she continued to educate her victim.

"Ah will ignore your less than subtle insinuation over Billy Travis and your obvious ignorance of the difference between the meanings of the words homosexual and paedophile because if I dwell upon that heinous insult I will be forced to resort to physical violence…" Maude's eyes glittered as she coolly brushed imaginary lint from her Chanel jacket… "and blood stains quite terribly don't you find?"

Nettie blanched at the implied and no doubt sincere threat. In truth she had let her mouth run away from her but what could she be expected to think of men who lay with other men. At that thought her ire began to grow again but it was utterly extinguished by Maude's next words. Words that had the verbal effect of a gun pointed at her heart.

"Ah do not need to use violence to destroy you Mrs Wells" said Maude in a matter of fact tone as she withdrew a small electronic device from her bag and tapped it a few times. Nettie frowned and then slowly her expression changed to one of horror as Maude listed a stream of personal details covering every aspect of her life from her children's places of residence, occupations and financial situations to her own mortgage details - accompanied by an innocently dropped hint that the bank's president was known to her 'intimately' - her savings and pension details and even her medical records were rattled off quite matter of factly. Nettie suddenly realised that this was what Maude Standish did. This was her business - destroying people; depriving them of what they valued most and although that was usually money it didn't have to be.

Maude saw the realization hit and was sure that she had made herself clear…but better safe than sorry.

"Ah can take it all Mrs Wells. Your security; your home; your reputation and your children's reputations. Ah can do it with the click of a mouse or the stroke of a pen and Ah will never be caught. Ah guarantee it.

Nettie shivered; she believed her. And she had thought Ezra was shady. He was a positive paragon of virtue in comparison to the witch who had raised him. The first flush of doubt at her actions flooded through her but she hardened herself to the guilty emotion. It was probably exactly what SHE wanted, but she wouldn't win, the moral high ground was still hers and no amount of threatening would take that away.

As if she had read her thoughts Maude added. "These are not idle threats madam. You hurt mah son or his partner and you will find yourself a guest at Mr Sanchez's Mission for the destitute…if he will have you that is. He is a just and moral man after all."

Nettie blushed crimson at the insult to her moral standing and found herself scrambling after the younger woman as she made to leave.

Just as she was about to order the woman never to darken her doorstep again Maude had turned to her and, almost wistfully, made a final comment that for all it's lack of threat or malice made Nettie more afraid than anything she had yet heard.

"You have it all Nettie Wells. A family who loves you where so many elderly people are left alone in their old age. You have the respect of your community and a feeling of being wanted and needed. You also have the friendship of seven men who would lay down their lives for you, my son included. Is it worth losing all of that because you cannot see past your own prejudices? Ah can take away your possessions and your reputation as I have said but only you can drive away those who love you. Are you really that stupid Mrs Wells?"

Nettie saw a glimpse of the lonely future that awaited her in the other woman's eyes. She had the distinct impression that she was meant to see it. She had no words of reply as Maude left because she knew that she couldn't change and it left a cold knot of fear in her stomach.

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Nettie's coffee now sat cold in her cup as she recalled her visitors comments. She could see their arguments but why couldn't they see hers? When had she become the monster in all of this and why did the house suddenly seem so cold and empty? What on earth could she do to fix this? She feared that it was too late.

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"Ah just wondered…that is Ah thought that maybe, if they all would want to…which Ah suppose they probably wouldn't since there is no precedent…no, just forget the idea…yes, that's best Ah think."

Vin stared across the line separating his and his lover's…and how wonderful it still was to think that thought, lover, after nearly a week as a fully fledged couple… and his own desk, where the undercover agent seemed to be conducting an important conversation…with himself. Vin tuned his thoughts to Ezra's muttered ramblings and his gaze to the slightly confused and nervous figure before him. God he looked adorable when he was dithering! And if he was dithering, and of that there was no doubt since Vin could see plainly that the southerner wasn't even aware that he had been conversing with himself out loud, then it had to be over some social situation. Where business was concerned there was none as efficient, level headed or as dedicated as Ezra P Standish but if the issue was one of a personal nature then he had the tendency to turn into a bit of a gibbering idiot - albeit an endearing one. As he watched elegant fingers twist a random unimportant document….Vin caught a glimpse of the signed and endorsed expenses claim form, okay then perhaps not so unimportant a document… into a shape which suspiciously resembled a pretzel he decided that perhaps the time had come to intervene.

"Ez?" He waited for his love to acknowledge him but a nibbling at a full lower lip which had him wriggling in his seat told him that he hadn't been heard. For a man who was always alert to danger he could be incredibly dense at times. Vin sighed; this was obviously something very important and therefore fraught with potential disaster. He tried again.

"Ezra….Ez…..Ezra P your mother just walked in the door." It was cruel but Vin figured that it was justified.

"What! Where, why?" Ezra snapped out of the contemplation of his dilemma and shot to his feet. He stared in horror at the twisted paper in his hands…Oh God! A tell! He dropped the paper and kicked it under the desk while his head attempted to turn 360 degrees in it's search for the danger, or rather, his mother. It was some seconds, seconds filled with total panic, before the quiet giggling penetrated the fog in his brain and he cast a scathing glance over at the so-called love of his life. He noted that said holder of his heart did not so much as waver under his steely glare. Now he knew how Larabee felt when they shrugged off his death glare.

"Why?" he asked petulantly as he waved the others who had looked up from their workstations at his sudden movement back to their tasks.

"You was panicking" Vin supplied helpfully with a hint of concern but also with a devilish twinkle in his eye as his partner gracefully re-took his seat and toed the hastily discarded piece of paper back out from under the desk. He made a great show of uncrumpling it to avoid looking his too perceptive lover in the eye but Vin was not to be deterred.

"So? You want to tell me what had your Calvins in a twist?"

"No."

"Ezra."

Ezra sighed. Since when had he become so easily persuaded? 'Since you finally found someone who truly cares' a little voice purred in his mind and then added, with a mental image that made him squirm… 'and since he showed you just what he could do with that talented Texan mouth besides talk' Just the thought of where his mental wanderings were taking him brought the flustered southerner back to the issue at hand and he gave in, knowing how trivial his dilemma would be to most but also how dangerous a minefield it was for his severely underdeveloped social skills.

"I was just in the process of contemplating the possibility of maybe" he stole a glance around to make sure that they weren't being overheard which made Vin smile; the more paranoid Ezra got the more trivial the matter in hand. He was all ears as Ezra finally got to the point.

"I have been on the team for some time now and I wondered if our comrades would be amenable to attending a small gathering at my abode for dinner one night….it is not something I have dared contemplate until now." Ezra finished on an uncertain note and looked to his lover for reassurance that he was not being too presumptuous.

Vin was stunned, though he was careful not to show it. He had been wrong, this was indeed a momentous occasion. Ezra didn't mix easily and it had taken them all some time to get him to attend the regular gatherings at the Saloon and at Chris's ranch. None of them judged him harshly for his reticence, especially after meeting Maude and knowing how badly he was treated when with the FBI. They had never pressed him to reciprocate and never really expected him to. And he was wondering if they would want to go to his dinner party! Wild horses wouldn't keep them away! In fact given the chance and the ability to talk their horses would probably demand to join them!

Instead of allowing his shock to show he smiled gently and scooped up the trembling, manicured hand moving restlessly and worrying at the poor almost unrecognizable expense form.

"They will jump at the chance" Vin reassured him, but he knew Ezra and waited for the first worry to manifest itself.

"Ah was thinking of cooking some traditional southern cuisine but perhaps Josiah would feel slighted, after all he often brings a pot of his chilli with him, and there seems to be quite the fondness for take-out pizza; I know that JD loves pizza above all other foodstuffs. Of course when we are at Chris's place Buck fires up the barbeque. Ah would be interfering with all of these traditions wouldn't I?"

Vin bit his lip to stifle a laugh. He was aware that his partner was sensitive of others feelings but clueless about what did and did not offend them.

"Sweetheart" Vin noticed the warm flush and shy smile that came to his lover's features at the endearment and vowed to use it more often. "The only reason that we have take-out is that nobody can so much as boil an egg except Josiah - why do you think we only have two ways of cooking the steaks, blood raw or total incineration, and the reason that Josiah always brings chilli is because the only thing he can cook is….."

"Chilli." Ezra finished with a grin that displayed his gold tooth.

"Exactly. Now let's go ask them if they actually want a decent meal that they don't have to go to the Saloon to eat."

"OH!"

Vin knew it was too good to be true. "What else has that twisted genius brain of yours managed to come up with?"

Ezra stuck his tongue out childishly but snatched it back in with a gulp as he saw desire suddenly ignite in the sky blue eyes. The bullpen was hardly the place for those kind of thoughts! He quickly became concerned again though as his worry returned.

"I very rudely assumed something which I had no right to Vin. We are a couple yet I did not give you the opportunity to say whether you want us to host this gathering at your place or mine."

Vin wasn't stupid. Even if he had wanted to have everyone round to his place he could see how important it was to Ezra to be inviting them not only to eat with him but to share his space. He wouldn't dare upset that apple cart though he didn't have to because there were practical reasons why his place was a non starter. He explained the impracticality of fitting seven men into a living / dining room the size of a postage stamp and the chances of all their vehicles being intact at the end of the evening - Purgatorio was not known to be friendly to strangers.

"But nobody touches my car and it's not exactly an old jalopy" Ezra had always wondered why his vehicle left with all the parts it had arrived with.

"That's because folks know that you're mine."

"Yours" Ezra stated smugly as though the statement was his greatest personal achievement, making Vin blush. Vin ushered him off to issue his invitations before he could get all riled up again… or he had to drag him off to the nearest stationary cupboard.

As predicted the rest of the seven jumped at the chance of spending time with their most enigmatic member and Josiah professed himself delighted at the chance to not only not have to cook but to eat something that wasn't chilli. Buck almost made a joke about bringing along some pizza as back up but he wasn't quite as dense as Chris made him out to be and saw how nervous his friend was. He wondered just what sort of a life he must have had to be scared of being rejected over a simple meal.

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A simple meal Vin mused as he tried to find free space in the refrigerator for his very small bottle of OJ without success. Ezra had gone so far as to take the next day off so that he could cook. He'd already warned the others not to eat much so that they would have space for it all and it was a good job he had because a couple of them had been planning on eating before arriving just in case Ezra wasn't as good a cook as was claimed. Vin had soon put them straight and they would no doubt be grovelling for some time. Vin glanced at his watch, it was nearly time to head out to work, where was Ez?

Vin watched from the doorway entranced as Ezra sat in the rocking chair by the large bedroom window feeding Ethan. A nebulous ache settled in his stomach that soon this would all be over; just one week to go. He knew that Ezra would take it even harder than he would, the twins having made him wonder what it would have been like growing up as a sibling rather than alone and what Maude would have been like as a mother without the tragedy of losing a husband and child to make her unable to show the love he knew that she felt deep down.

He could hear a faint humming coming from the southerner and recognized it as a lullaby that his own mother had once sung to him. A single tear slipped down his cheek as he thought on what he had lost with her death and what he had now found with the help of these babies. He quickly brushed the tear away and the gesture attracted the attention of the love of his life who frowned in concern.

"It's okay Ez, just thinking on times past."

Ezra nodded, he understood. That was what the others didn't realise about them, that they may seem different but their similarities were more than their differences. They had both known loss and loneliness, hardship and prejudice…which reminded him, MacNally was proving to be more of an annoyance than he was willing to put up with. He had no proof that the hate emails and notes pushed through his locker were the work of that loathsome individual but the cat calls and offensive slurs yelled outside his home were. He had learned early on in life that bullies seldom stopped of their own volition and needed to be persuaded to cease their unwanted attentions and MacNally had reached that point.

"You ready to get to work Ez?" asked Vin as Ezra tucked Ethan into his carrier, the white blanket decorated with bluebirds looking quite magnificent if he did say so himself.

"Indeed Vin" he thought of MacNally and wondered if the man's health insurance was in order. "It's time to deal with the scum who clutter up our lives."

Vin smiled and wondered just why his Ez had an unholy gleam in his eyes.

TBC

Once again sorry for the delay and hope you enjoyed.