Note: Please see Chapter 1 for warning, copyright and disclaimer information.

Money and Tears

Corrine called just before sundown and she agreed to stop for take-out on her way over. The sun went down a few minutes later and Mac got up.

"Good morning," he said, coming out into the living room dressed in a tank top and dress pants.

"Good evening," I replied. We grinned at each other. "Corrine's on her way over," I told him.

"Oh, how quickly?"

"I talked to her a few minutes ago, she's going to stop for Chinese." I got up and went to hug him. "We assumed you didn't want anything. Is that okay?"

He smiled down at me. "Nothing from the Chinese restaurant."

"Is there something you want?" I asked him. He hadn't fed since he'd been with me; I knew he'd have to eat sooner or later. Even the thought of his teeth in me made me feel warm.

"Well, I can think of something," he drawled.

I smiled. "Not a good idea with the child on the way over." It wouldn't do to have her walk in and see us… otherwise occupied.

"I'll go change into something more appropriate then," he told me.

I didn't see why, he looked fine to me. "At least you're not in your Tremere boxers." When he stepped back, pulled out the waste band of his pants and looked down, I added, "Only your Tremere boxers."

"Do we have anything planned?"

"I thought you were the boss," I reminded him drolly.

The look he gave me told me he didn't like my sense of humor.

He was in the bedroom changing when Corrine knocked on the door a few minutes later. I opened the door and took the food from her as I said hi.

"Where's Mac?" she asked as I set the food on the table.

"Changing," I told her.

"Are you guys getting along well?" she asked softly, as if the curtain between the bedroom and the kitchen were much of a barrier to noise.

"For the most part," I replied, smiling. "How was your weekend?"

"Great, really great," she said enthusiastically. "Grandmother and grandfather left about the same time we did."

"And the rest of them?"

"Of course you know Jared came back when I did." She took some plates from the cupboard and brought them to the table. "Glenn and Siofra left Saturday morning."

"Well, that's good," I murmured. At least they hadn't stayed to cause any more problems with her. "You didn't have to put up with them all weekend."

"Oh, they're not that bad," Mac said as he walked out of the bedroom.

I looked up from the silverware drawer to see him dressed in his usual suit. "Yeah, whatever," I muttered under my breath. To Corrine I said, "Do you want a soda to go with this?"

"Sure." She sat down at the table and set the food out on the small table.

"Did you want some of mine?" I asked Mac as I sat down with the drinks.

"No," he replied with a slight smile as he leaned against the counter to watch us eat.

"So what are your plans for tonight?"

"Oh, I'm going to meet up with some friends later," she told me casually.

I smiled. "Some friends?"

"Uh-huh."

I was willing to bet it was Brian. "Just any friends?"

She blushed. "Just uh, just your landlord."

"Oh, Brian," I drawled.

"You know, you need some fish or something in here," she told me, "to take your attention off other things."

"I don't think fish would do much good considering we're not going to be staying here," I told her, keeping the emotion from my voice. I'd really enjoyed the time Mac and I had spent together here the last few nights; I'd almost begun to feel normal.

"Oh, really?" she asked, intrigued.

"Not that I've spent much time here anyway," I mumbled.

"Where are you going to be staying? Are you moving already?"

I looked at Mac, he was the boss now. There was no malice in that thought, it was the simple truth. I went where he went.

"Yes, we'll be moving into a friend's house for a while," he told her, "but we'll be keeping the apartment."

"Oh? Who?"

"We're moving into the mansion."

Her face dropped. "Okay, so I guess I'll just be seeing you guys at my apartment?"

"No," Mac told her, hiding a smile. "You'd have to be invited by one of us, you couldn't just drop by unannounced, but you can come visit."

That surprised her. "Really? Correct me if I'm wrong—"

"You're wrong," he interrupted, smiling openly now.

"It's not nice of you to tease, Mac," I murmured.

"So I take it you renegotiated the contract?" she asked hesitantly.

"Of course, didn't I say I would?" He made it sound like it had been so easy.

"Yes, but I just didn't know how soon you could get it done."

"I got it done," he said smugly, as if he'd done more than witness the damn thing.

"That's good," she replied, but she seemed a little shaken.

"So, I quit the society," I told her softly, watching her face for her reaction.

"Really?" She shook her head. "I tend to think that's something you can't just give a resignation to."

Smart kid. "Well, okay, I didn't exactly hand in a resignation," I admitted. "It's more like they found a charred van and assumed I was in it." I didn't mention the body they'd found in it.

"Oh, you guys have been busy all weekend," she drawled.

I glanced at Mac. "That wasn't us," I corrected her, "but it was done. Anyway, no more society."

"That's good," she replied thoughtfully.

"And I hope you think you have enough money." As soon as I said it, I knew I should have phrased it differently.

"Okay," she said slowly.

"'Cause there won't be any more." That was what she wanted, wasn't it? For me to stop paying for her money with my blood?

She wasn't as happy as I thought she'd be. "I think if there's a problem, it's not really my money anyhow."

"It's your money," I told her flatly. How many times were we going to have to go over this? "So the upswing is that you can now meet Brian's relatives."

"That's good." She got up and dumped the rest of her food in the trash. "Did you say you were going to keep this place? Is that what you said?" she asked as she walked over to the sink to rinse her plate.

"We will only be staying at the mansion until things are copacetic between myself and Eliza and the rest of the household," Mac told her. "Then we'll be returning here or finding a house."

I broke off from staring at her empty chair to look up at Mac. This was the first time he'd mentioned finding a house and it surprised me.

"A little yard," he added with a smile at me, "white picket fence, we'll see."

"Well that's good," Corrine said as she dried her hands on a towel.

"Don't you think it's a little late for the white picket fence?" I asked him sadly.

"No, there's always room for fences," he told me.

"Funny, you always seem to get upset when I throw them up," I drawled.

"So do you guys have plans for the evening?" Corrine asked, drawing my attention back to her.

"Nothing we can't do later," he assured her.

"Okay." She leaned back against the sink, but her body language told me there was something wrong.

Mac must have picked up on it too. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Just making polite conversation."

"What's going on, Corrine?" he demanded softly.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Why? Is there supposed to be something going on?"

"You seem rather morose," he told her.

"Ah, no," she denied.

"You usually eat more than that," I added thoughtfully. "Was the Chinese off tonight? Or are you off?"

"There is nothing wrong," she insisted.

"You're not acting like Corrine," Mac commented. He was right, she seemed like she was put off by something. "What's bothering you?"

Was it the change in contract? "I thought that you'd be happy that we renegotiated the contract," I said softly.

"Oh, I'm ecstatic that you renegotiated the contract." She said that, but her voice was dull and emotionless. "Why?"

"Then what's wrong?" Mac demanded.

At the same time I asked, "Then what's the problem?"

She shook her head again. "There's nothing wrong, I'm really happy that you guys are able to, you know."

"Corrine Mackenzie Wright," Mac all but growled.

"That'd be my name." She stuck her chin up like she always did when she was being stubborn.

"Don't lie to me," he insisted. "What's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong," she denied.

"What's bothering you?"

"There is nothing bothering me," she told him, turning away.

"You can't lie to him," I told her softly, "he knows better." He was also damned insistent until he got what he wanted.

My advice didn't seem to matter much to her, she stubbornly refused to say anything.

He waited until she looked back at him. "Why don't you want to share what's bothering you?" he suggested. I could almost feel the compulsion myself.

"Because it is a subject that I believe Eliza would be uncomfortable with," she told him.

"I'm a big girl," I reminded her.

"So am I," she shot back.

"I've dealt with subjects that are uncomfortable for me a lot lately," I told her bluntly, "I think I can handle it. Or I could leave." I didn't want to, but if it would help her talk this out, I would.

"It's not that big of a deal, really," she insisted.

"If it's bothering you to the point it obviously is," Mac told her.

"It's not a big deal," she repeated firmly.

"Corrine, just tell us." He was loosing patience very quickly.

"Look," she said sadly, "it's just really hard for me to deal with the fact that Eliza put her life on the line a lot for me and I get to sit back and reap whatever benefits there are. It bothers me that it's looked at that way."

"It's looked at what way?" I demanded irritably. "That I did everything for you and you don't like it?"

"I didn't say that I didn't like it," she protested. "It's the fact that, you know, ooh, nothing. Just forget it."

I looked at Mac, not sure what to say or do. I didn't understand why she was so upset with me. Wasn't this what she wanted?

"Eliza did what she did because she loves you," Mac told her, "and she wanted you to have a life that neither of us were able to live."

"I realize that," she said irritably, "and I'm very thankful for that."

"The best way you can repay her, which is what I gather you're thinking, is to do exactly that; be happy." He sounded like he didn't understand why she was upset either.

"I am happy," she replied tersely.

Ri-ight. "You don't look real happy," I stated calmly. "You're not acting real happy." Was it the money? She'd said she didn't care about it, but did she really? It didn't seem like her, but then again we never really know someone else, do we? Most of the time the face you see isn't what they are inside. Had I misjudged her so badly?

"I'm sorry," she said, pasting a fake smile on her face. "I will try very much to be happier."

Now it was my turn to lose my appetite. I got up and dumped my food just like she had only moments ago.

"What do you want from me?" she demanded as I crossed the kitchen to the sink. "I'm sorry that it bothers me, okay? I'm working on it."

I looked at her knowing that there was nothing I could say to her that I hadn't already said. I sat the plate in the sink and walked into the living room without saying a word. It was harder to walk across that room now than it had been Friday morning when I'd been tired and week from blood loss. Somehow I made it to the loveseat without completely falling apart. I sat down and covered my eyes with my left hand, controlling my breathing so that I wouldn't break into tears.

I'd done the best I could for my daughter from the moment Kate had told me I was pregnant. Maybe I should have stuck to my guns when the clan tried to kill her, maybe I could have kept her safe. But deep down I knew that I had made the only decision I could have given the circumstances, and apparently it wasn't the one Corrine would have made.

I could feel Mac coming closer to me and when he sat down on the loveseat I turned and laid my head on his shoulder. He put his arm around me and let me draw from his strength.

"Corrine," he called after a few minutes.

I heard her come into the doorway but I didn't look up.

"I gotta go," she began.

"Sit," he ordered. She must have, because he kept talking. "Tell us what's going on. Everything, this time."

"The money doesn't mean anything to me," she stated flatly. "I could care less if there was more coming or not more coming."

"Then what is bothering you?"

"I don't know," she said, sounding frustrated. "The way that Eliza termed it, I felt as if she thought I expected more, and that's not the case."

I couldn't help it, I started crying. I was just trying to let her know that she'd gotten what she wanted, I sure as hell hadn't meant to hurt her.

Mac ran his hand down my arm to sooth me. "Eliza was trying to do all she thought she could for you."

"I realize that," Corrine replied, oblivious to my tears, "but the way she said that earlier…"

"What did she say?" he demanded softly.

"She said, 'I hope you don't want any more money'."

"That is not what I said," I protested through my tears.

Corrine ignored me. "She said something along the lines of 'I hope you have enough money', and it made me feel as if it was expected that I wanted more and it hurt my feelings. That's all, that's it."

I wiped my tears away and sat up. "Corrine I know you never wanted the money, that wasn't my intention to say-to hurt your—" I took a deep breath and started over. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings when I said that."

"Well, I realize that it probably wasn't intentional," she replied warily.

"I know you don't care about the money," I told her.

She stood up. "That's just how it came off."

"That was not my intention," I repeated sadly. Damn, if I could just take those words back. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to let you know what's going on. Aren't you always telling me I'm not letting you know what's going on? Here I am telling you and you get mad at me."

"I'm not getting mad," she said angrily. She took a deep breath to calm herself and let it out with a sigh. "I'm not mad at you for telling the truth, it's the way it was presented."

She was right, I could have found a better way to tell her. "I'm sorry."

"It's no big deal," she said sadly.

"It is a big deal," I insisted. God, it was so hard for me not to start crying again. When did I get so weak? "You know I wouldn't hurt you for the world."

"I know," she said softly, and I could see in her eyes that she really did. "Um, you guys probably have stuff to do, I have stuff to do, and I've got school tomorrow, so um…"

"Tell Brian we say 'hi'," Mac said softly.

"I will." She half turned toward the door, then glanced back at us. "See ya later."

I couldn't leave it like that, I just couldn't. I got up and followed her into the kitchen with Mac only a step behind me. "Corrine," I called as she reached the door.

She stopped with her hand on the doorknob and looked at me.

"Look, I'm sorry," I said pleadingly. "Don't leave like this."

"It's over, it's done," she told me. "Don't worry about it. Just know that it's not a big deal."

But it was, it was a big deal. Knowing that I'd hurt her cut me to the bone. I could see in her eyes that there was nothing I could say to make it better, nothing I could do to take the pain I'd caused away.

"Okay," I whispered.

She glanced over my shoulder at Mac, then turned and opened the door. That quickly she was gone.