CHAPTER SIX

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER

Lena waited for her pop tarts to finish toasting in the toaster, leaning idly against the kitchen counter, thinking about her time here in Portland. It had been strange, but enlightening. They were still no closer to figuring out what she was, and she was still catching up on wesen and how the new world she was in worked. But she had friends now. That she was getting closer to and trusting. She and Rosalee had gotten close, often getting together for lunch or drinks or just at the shop to talk about what they wanted to talk about. She and Monroe had developed a rapport and were becoming friends as well. She and Hank had jokes, but she didn't see him as often.

And she and Nick had become friendly roommates, close enough. Sometimes she found herself opening up to him in a way that frightened her. She wasn't ready to get so close to someone. Especially a man. It made her feel like she was somehow betraying her husband, even if it wasn't romantic. But Kevin used to be the one she opened up to, cried to, shared with.

Now he was gone, and she was left to build a new life. She hoped it turned out as happy as the one she used to have with him.

Nick was just getting up in the morning when he got a call on his phone. He rubbed a towel through his wet hair as he went to see who was calling and saw Jessie's name. He dropped the towel and quickly grabbed it and answered, "Jessie!?"

"I'm okay. Everyone's okay," Jessie started immediately. "We shut down the deadpool. It's all over."

He let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god. Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, it's done," she said. "How are you?"

"Fine," he said. "Nothing big has happened here for a bit. Well, except for Lena."

"Lena?" she asked. "Who's that?"

"A new friend," he explained. "She showed up at the Spice Shop looking for Freddy, calling him her Uncle."

"Wasn't that Rosalee's brother?" Jessie questioned.

"Yeah," he answered. "Apparently, Freddy was friends with her father and looked out for her even if she grew up in the system in Arizona. Another kicker, she's a hybrid wesen that had no idea until we saw her half-woge."

"Half-woge?" Jessie repeated dubiously.

"Yeah, we didn't see her full form. Her eyes looked like Rosalee's and we looked through Freddy's stuff and found out her dad was a fuchsbau but we don't know what her mother was," he told her. "We also found out that someone has been after her – probably because she was a hybrid wesen – and Freddy was protecting her. He'd been brewing this tea that suppressed her wesen side and hiding her location. But he died, so no more tea. She'll woge any day now."

"Why'd she come to Portland when Freddy isn't even there?" she asked.

"She didn't know," he said. "Someone posed as Freddy and had been emailing her. They lured her to move to Portland. She's been staying with me until we figure out who it is."

"Wow, so you have a woman living with you?" Jessie questioned. "How is that working out?"

"It's fine. She's pretty easy to get along with," Nick told her. "It hasn't really been an imposition."

"That's good," her voice sounded unsure, but she didn't voice any doubts. "Let me know if anything really dangerous is going on. You know I'd be there within twenty-four hours if you needed my help."

"I know, but I promise, everything is under control," he assured her. "Just focus on school and enjoying your time with your friends."

"Just promise to let me know if there's trouble," Jessie repeated.

"I'm a cop, there's trouble every week," he told her.

"Our kind of trouble. Big trouble," she clarified. "You know what I mean."

Nick smiled lightly, "Yeah, yeah, I promise."

"I gotta go to school," Jessie told him. "I'll talk to you later."

"Be safe, bye," he said with her as they hung up and he headed downstairs. He paused when he saw Lena at the table munching on a pop tart. "Morning."

She swallowed her bite and looked over, "Morning. Rosalee called me earlier all excited about something. Asked me to meet her at the spice shop. What do you have going on today?"

"The usual unless—" he was cut off by his voice ringing. It was Hank. He quickly answered it, "Hank—That's bad. Where—I'll meet you at the precinct."

"What's wrong?" Lena asked when she saw his face turn serious.

"Someone killed a highway patrol officer," he told her.

Lena gasped. "Oh, my God. Why does that involve you? Don't the cars have cameras?"

"Yeah, but this doesn't seem like a normal highway car chase," he told her. "I got to get out there."

"Okay, be careful," she told him.

"Okay, I'm here," Lena said as she walked into the Spice Shop, seeing a beaming Rosalee practically bouncing on her feet behind the counter.

"Thank God, I wanted you to be the first person I told!" she squealed uncharacteristically, skipping around the counter to give her a big hug.

"Told what?" Lena asked, confusedly hugging her back.

Rosalee pulled back with an ear-to-ear grin and waved her hand in Lena's face, showing off her diamond engagement ring.

Lena gasped, checking out the new jewelry, "Oh, my God. Monroe proposed?"

"Yes," Rosalee sighed out. "It was so sweet and romantic. He insisted we go out to dinner at this expensive restaurant. Two bottles of wine! I just knew he was going to ask me. But then he didn't! And we went home."

"What?" Lena frowned, confused. "Then how'd he ask?"

"Well, we got home, and I was so disappointed, so I just wanted to go to bed," Rosalee excitedly explained. "But Monroe insisted on showing me this cuckoo clock. A little bird popped out with the ring and his voice chimed on saying, 'Will you marry me?' Then he got own on his knee and asked again and I said yes."

"Oh, that's so cute," Lena smiled widely now. "Whatever you need help with when it comes to planning, let me know. I love weddings. The ceremony Kevin and I had was absolutely magical to us. I even still have my dress. So, I'm here to help."

"Aw, that's sweet," Rosalee took her hands. "All we have come up with so far is an outdoor Spring wedding."

"That will be so beautiful," Lena smiled. "Oh, I'm so happy for you." Lena hugged Rosalee again, tighter.

"Thank you," Rosalee gushed once more before letting go. "Would you tell me about your wedding?"

Lena smiled tightly, but with real happiness in her eyes. "Sure, of course. What do you want to know?"

"Well, how about where?" Rosalee suggested.

"Well, we didn't want a Church wedding or anything," Lena explained, getting a faraway look in her eye. "And we wanted something small and intimate. So, we got married at this place called Havasu Creek in Cataract Canyon. The waterfall is almost this blue-green color because of the calcium carbonate levels. The waterfall is also small, so it wasn't too loud to hear our vows. It was mostly Kevin's family. Some of my friends from work, his too from his residency. Freddy came."

"He did?" Rosalee asked softly, imagining her brother at this woman's wedding. Probably as her only pseudo-family.

Lena smiled. "Yeah. He and Kevin's dad both walked me down the aisle. Kevin's residency director performed the ceremony for us. His mom made wedding cupcakes, so everyone was guaranteed something for dessert."

"Did you have tables or flowers or any decorations?" Rosalee asked, getting lost in Lena's story.

"The Canyon had park benches," she said. "So, we decorated them with these light blue-green tablecloths and had cactus flowers in pots over them. The guests got to bring them home with them at the end of the night. For food we had an order ahead menu – steak, alfredo pasta, or veggie paella. We got married in the Fall because it's still the desert."

Rosalee laughed softly. "I imagine it would be hot. What about your dress?"

"I'll show you it, if you like," Lena offered. "I have our wedding album too."

Rosalee took her friend's hand, "I'd love to see it."

Lena had tears welling in her eyes, "That day was probably one of the best in my life. I can't wait for you to have your perfect day too."

Rosalee went in for a hug as the bell above the door dinged as it was pushed open. The women pulled apart to see Monroe walking in.

"Something wrong?" he asked warily when he saw their emotional eyes.

Lena laughed slightly as she rubbed the tears away from her cheeks. "No, these are happy tears. Rosalee told me about the engagement."

Monroe smiled in relief, "Oh! Good."

"Yeah, good!" Lena concluded, going over to hug Monroe tight. "I know I haven't known you all that long but I'm happy for both of you."

"You've known us long enough," Monroe assured her, hugging her back. "You fit right in."

As they pulled away, the newly engaged couple greeted each other with a quick kiss. And then Rosalee asked, "I didn't think you were coming in this early."

"Neither did I, but good news. Just wanted to let you know..." Monroe trailed off.

"What?"

He looked sheepish. "Called my folks and told them we're getting married."

Rosalee smiled sweetly, "Oh. How'd that go?"

"Actually, pretty well," he told her. "I have to say, they were very excited. You know, my dad wanted to know how old you were and how much money you make."

"Seriously?" Lena gaped.

Monroe flushed in mild embarrassment, "Yeah. My dad's very... Kind of old-fashioned. Sort of on the blunt side. Some people are charmed, others are alarmed."

"Okay, so when am I gonna meet them?" Rosalee asked.

"Oh, there's no hurry," Monroe insisted comically. "And by "no hurry" I mean the later, the better." He was interrupted by his phone ringing, but he answered it with a smile, "Good morning." He smiled at Rosalee as he greeted the person on the other end, "Hi, mom." His smile began to steadily turn into a wary one as he tried to get a word into the phone conversation with his mother, "Okay, that's…. I'm glad... I…" but his mom hung up on him. He looked dazed as he told Rosalee, "My parents are coming out to meet you tomorrow."

"Oh, wow, okay," her eyes widened. "I guess that's good, right?"

He didn't seem to agree. "They're staying with us."

Rosalee's eyes widened into saucers, "In the house?"

Monroe started to babble a little, "In Nick's room. They always stay in Nick's room. I mean, it was their room before it was Nick's room."

And Rosalee started to panic.

"Rose, it's not the end of the world," Lena tried to reassure her. "It's probably best to get the first meeting out of the way sooner so you have time to bond before the wedding."

"Yeah, but we have so much to do!" Rosalee countered. She turned back to her fiancé. "Please tell me that they know we're living together."

Monroe turned sheepish.

"Monroe!" both Rosalee and Lena chastised the blutbad.

Lena agreed to watch the shop for the engaged couple while they raced to get their house ready for Monroe's parents' arrival tomorrow night. She didn't know a lot about what was good for stuff, but she knew the inventory if someone came in knowing what they wanted. And Rosalee was slowly teaching her about what the stuff was anyway.

Luckily, she had her laptop with her so she could continually check her inbox for patient emails and appointment reminders and such. It was around midday when she got an email from some address she'd never seen before – bheadr. She almost didn't open it, but the subject line read urgent for Lena Kuhn-Sato.

So, she clicked it and softly head it to herself.

"Lena, good to hear you got to Portland safe. Oracle let me know. Tell N money not spent has been deposited for safekeeping. Weather too hot now. Returning north to find L. Safer for N to communicate through you. Do not respond to this as I am in an unsecured location. M."

Who was M?

Lena used her lack of appointments for the rest of the day to go to Nick's house and trace the email, to try and figure out where and from whom it was sent. She was savvy enough to trace location, but there was no way for her to know who beheadr was.

"Lena?" Nick called as he got home later that day.

"I'm upstairs!" she called from the guest room. "Can you come up and look at something and tell me what you think?"

Nick frowned at the strange request but jogged upstairs and said, "Sure, what's up?"

When he got to her room the door was open and she was sitting criss-crossed on the bed with her laptop and a notebook with a few lines scribbled on it. "I got this weird email from bheadr? They signed it M, though. I tracked it to Kerkira, on the Greek border of Albania, but they said they are heading north."

"Wait, you said 'M'?" Nick stopped her.

She looked up at him, "Yeah, does that mean something to you?"

Nick was still trying to get it through his head. "Well, my mother. She signs her emails as M. And uses the address beheadr."

"Isn't that a little on the nose for a Grimm hiding out?" Lena titled her head thoughtfully. "And why would she be emailing me? How did she even know about me?"

"I don't know," Nick told her. "I haven't spoken to her since before you came along. Obviously, communication with her is sparse since the world thinks she's dead."

"Well, come see," she turned her laptop out so he could read the email. "Maybe you can shed some light on what she's talking about."

Nick peered at the computer and read it out loud, "Lena, good to hear you got to Portland safe. Oracle let me know…"

"Yeah, who is Oracle and why do they get more than a letter?" Lena posited.

Nick idly scratched his chin in thought, "All I can think of is this woman that's helped my cousin, Jessie."

"Rosalee told me about her when we were talking about hybrids," Lena commented. "She's half Grimm and half vampire?"

"Yeah," Nick nodded. "And she almost died. But this woman, the mother of Jessie's assigned guard is some powerful Seer who foretold what was gonna happen and warned her. She's helped out with other things but no one but her sons talk to her directly. I don't even know where she is or that my mother knew her."

"Well, if she's this all-powerful Seer, and she told your mom about me, what else could she know about me?" Lena asked aloud.

"I wish I knew," Nick told her honestly.

"Okay, keep reading," she quietly urged him.

Nick looked at the screen again, "Tell 'N'"... That would be me."

"Yeah, I get that now."

"Money not spent has been deposited for safekeeping."

"Did you give her money or something?" Lena asked.

"No, I gave her these coins," Nick tried to explain. "The coins of Zakynthos. They're tainted with arsenic and mercury. Skin contact affects people, makes them hungry for power and influence. Human or wesen. But Grimms have a resistance against them for some reason. They're from ancient Greece and whoever possesses them uses them to control masses, build empires. But the result is always catastrophic. Greece, Rome, Germany."

"Germany?" Lena questioned.

"Hitler," Nick revealed. "Eventually the coins fell into Grimm hands, meant to guard them. My mom had them, but they came after her. Killed my dad and at the time I thought, her. Last year, she showed up, told me what really happened all those years ago. The coins had shown up in Portland and I was able to get them and give them to her to destroy them."

"Destroy them?" she quizzed. "They sound a bit too powerful to be destroyed."

"They can only be destroyed where they were made. Zakynthos," he revealed. "'Money not spent' means she didn't make it there. But she's hidden them somewhere, hopefully safe." He continued reading, "Weather too hot now."

"That can't be good," Lena breathed. "That has to mean someone's after her."

Nick agreed warily, "She's made a lot of enemies over the years. "Returning north to find 'L.'""

"L can't mean me since she used my name in the beginning of the email," Lena thought out loud.

"Probably the Lauffer?" Nick guessed. "The Resistance, the groups of people who are uniting against the Royals."

"All of this is giving me a migraine," Lena complained, holding her temples.

Nick laughed weakly, "Honestly, I am just getting up to speed with this myself." He went on reading, "Safer for 'N' to communicate through you. Do not respond to this as I am in an unsecured location. 'M.'" Nick returned her laptop to the bed and frowned, "I don't know if that is a good idea."

"She said it's safer," Lena said. "If people are looking for her, then they're gonna try to get to her through her. They won't be looking at me."

"I can't put you in the middle of this," Nick argued.

Lena gave him a look, "Hello? I'm already in the middle." She gave him a more serious look, "Nick, you took me in and are and will protect me from whoever lured me to Portland. Let me do something to protect you. You're my friend, let me help."

Nick looked into her eyes and saw how serious she was. He reluctantly nodded, "But you have to be very careful how you deal with this."

"I know," she said softly.

After that discussion, Nick finally told her he was going to stop by Monroe's to talk to him about a wesen that had killed and scalped the highway patrol officer and a green beret. He was Wildesheer who was collecting the scalps of warriors to make a coat of them that would help him absorb their strength and skill.

Lena gave him an aghast look, "Some beastly wesen is scalping officers and vets and you wait until now to tell me? Nick!"

"Sorry, but I was kind of preoccupied with my case," Nick excused himself.

"Still I deserve to know if you're in danger," Lena complained.

"I'm not in uniform, I won't be a target," he tried to tell her.

She huffed. "Uniform or not, you fit the bill as a warrior. I doubt these are his first two kills which means he came to Portland on purpose. What are the odds that that doesn't have anything to do with you being here?"

Nick could see her point. "Well, let's see what Monroe knows."

Lena jumped to her feet, "Fine, but we gotta make it quick. Monroe's parents are flying in tonight to meet Rosalee."

"What, why?"

Lena got her shoes and led him to the door, "Because they're getting married!"

"That's fantastic," Nick said as he locked the door behind them and led her to his car.

They idly chatted about the engagement and the scalper on their way to Monroe's house. But they both frowned when, as they were pulling up, they saw an upset looking Rosalee get into her car and drive off.

"Oh no!" Lena gasped as she got out of the car with Nick and went to ring the doorbell of the house.

Monroe opened it quickly, saying in relief, "Rosalee!" But grimaced when he saw them, "Oh no, Nick…"

"We just saw Rosalee driving off, is everything okay?" Lena asked quickly as she and Nick walked in.

"What happened?" Nick asked.

"Who is this?" a hard and angry voice asked. They turned to see an older couple in the living room, looking just as upset as Rosalee had.

"Rosalee left, which is what I think you two should do now," Monroe said, aiming the last angry bit at the couple, who Lena assumed was his parents.

"I thought they weren't due for another hour," Lena gasped.

"Plane landed early for once," Monroe grumbled.

"We go, we are not coming back," his dad, Bart, growled.

Monroe wasn't fazed, "That's fine with me, dad."

"Enough!" Bart shouted as his wife tried to calm him down. "We're done. He needs to figure out who he is!" his growls turned more animalistic as Lena watched something shift under his skin, and then his whole face changed to look like Monroe's had when he first woged for her.

She seized up when his gaze fell on Nick. Shit, he must have seen Nick's eyes go black. Alice woged too in response and looked just as beastly as her husband.

Bart looked shocked first and then murderous. "A Grimm!" he shouted as he lunged for Nick.

Monroe stepped in front of them, "Mom, dad, no!"

Len let out a terrified gasp and tried to block herself with her arms. Right in front of Monroe, a thick translucent wall the color of milky sky blue appeared. Bart and Alice smacked into it at full lunge and were knocked down, landing on the coffee table before tumbling to the ground. It seemed to knock the woge out of them too since their faces looked human when they got up.

Monroe and Nick seemed just as alarmed at the turn of events. "What the hell is that?" Monroe asked no one in particular.

"I think it was me," Lena whispered almost too inaudibly to be heard. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Nick put an arm on her shoulder, "It's okay – we'll figure it out."

"Later," Monroe added. "Do you think you can make it go away?"

Lena just focused on relaxing. Feeling safe enough with Nick at her side, she let out a slow breath and the wall seemed to dissipate.

Bart and Alice were still huffing and puffing as Monroe exclaimed to them, "Everybody, stop! Nick is a friend."

"A friend?" Bart growled. "He's a Grimm!"

His mother seemed confused and upset, "You're friends with a Grimm?"

"Yes," Monroe said strongly.

"Let me try and understand something here," his father responded, already stewing. "You're Blutbaden. I'm Blutbaden. Your mother's Blutbaden. He's a Grimm!"

"I can explain," Monroe tried.

"And you let him into your house," Alice said, shaking.

Monroe gave them a look, "Did you not hear what I just said? Nick is a friend."

Bart scoffed, speaking ostensibly to his wife, "First he's engaged to a Fuchsbau, then he becomes friends with a Grimm. And whatever she is!" he gestured to Lena distastefully.

Lena narrowed her eyes, "What is your problem with Rosalee? Is that why she left?"

"They're Fuchsbau and Blutbad!" Bart exclaimed like she should understand. "It's unnatural. It'll never work."

Lena glared, "This isn't Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Rosalee and Monroe love each other! They're getting married. This should be the happiest time of their lives and you're ruining it with this racist bullshit!?" She took a quick, steadying breath, and turned to Monroe. "I'm going to go check on Rosalee, talk to her." She gave Monroe a quick kiss on the cheek and patted Nick's shoulder before taking off, already calling for a cab to pick her up.

When she finally got to the shop, Rosalee was slumped against the door sobbing into her knees. Lena pushed her way in and sat with her friend, taking her tearstained face on her shoulder and embracing her tightly.

When Rosalee quieted a little, Lena said, "So, I met Monroe's lovely parents."

Rosalee scoffed at the term 'lovely.' "I can't believe they're so ignorant."

"I don't understand it myself," Lena admitted. "I read them the riot act a little before I came here. And I can tell you that Monroe was pretty pissed at them too."

"I just…" Rosalee sighed, at a loss to explain how she felt.

"I know," Lena said. "I know it feels huge right now. But you have to remember what's more important. You and Monroe love each other. You're perfect together. No matter what anyone has to say about it, that part hasn't changed. That part will never change."

"What if it does?" Rosalee sniffed. "I can't come between Monroe and his family."

"You're not," Lena whispered to her, stroking her hair. "You are not the problem, Rosalee. You have to remember that. Monroe's parents will either come around or they won't but at the end of the day, you and Monroe are each other's family and that's all you need for your future together."

"Thank you," Rosalee said to her in a weak voice. Eventually, Rosalee told her to go back to Nick's and get some sleep. She would sleep on the cot in the shop and just rest before she dealt more with what had happened with Monroe's parents.

When Lena got back, Nick was nursing a beer on the couch, looking pensive and upset.

"What's wrong?" she asked, curling next to him on the couch.

Nick regaled her with the slight fight he and Monroe got into after she left, and Monroe's parents stormed out. Monroe asked why he had come over in the first place and he'd admitted it was for help with his case. Monroe got upset, talking about how that was all he was good for with Nick, and Nick denied it and left. But now that he thought about it all, he had to sigh, "Maybe he's right. Maybe I do count on him too much."

"He's your friend, he doesn't have a problem helping you and visa versa," Lena disputed. "He wasn't really upset at you, he was upset about the whole night."

"Maybe," Nick pondered. "But I should stop asking him for help for a while."

"Maybe give wesen talk a break," she agreed.

Nick turned to her, resting his elbows on his knees. "What happened back when Monroe's parents, that wall… has that happened before?"

Lena frowned. She was hoping he would forget all about that. "Not exactly."

He stared at her, waiting for more of an explanation. "What does that mean?"

"Well, weird stuff has been happening, just a few times," she explained. "Not very often, just kind of in heightened emotional states, I guess."

"Stuff like what?"

Lena grimaced as she confessed to him. "Well, a few weeks ago, when I first got here… Rosalee and I were talking about everything and I was just really frustrated and really overwhelmed, and then all of the sudden this jar got knocked over by this… spontaneous wind? And when Joe broke in and knocked you out, I shoved him into a wall without touching him. And tonight, I got scared when Monroe's parents went to attack and that… barrier appeared. I don't know how it works other than it seems to come out when I get worked up."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Nick asked, sounding a little offended that she hadn't trusted him.

Lena sighed, troubled, "Well, Rosalee said the only wesen she knew of that could do things like that was hexenbiests. We were worried that it meant my mom was one. And I know what Adalind put you through."

"So, you thought I'd hurt you?" Nick asked, standing up.

Lena stood quickly, "No! I didn't know how you would react. Hexenbiests don't seem to have any kind of good reputation. And we didn't know for sure either way. It seemed easier not to mention it if it turned out not to be the case."

"Lena, even if you are half-hexenbiest that doesn't change who you are," Nick told her genuinely. "Even then, it might not be the truth. We'll figure it out, okay?"

Lena nodded quickly, hugging him and whispering, "Okay."

The next morning, Lena was just waking up, after having nothing but nightmares the night before, and wandering downstairs to see Nick already sipping coffee. "Morning."

She yawned, "Morning."

"How are you feeling about last night?" Nick asked slowly.

"Well, I trust you're not gonna cut my head off," she weakly joked.

Nick gave her a look, "I heard you screaming last night."

She averted her eyes, "I'm not scared of you, Nick. I promise you that."

"But you are scared," he said.

"Well, yeah, weren't you when you started seeing wesen and didn't know what the hell it was?" she pointed out. "Last month, I was a normal, albeit down on her luck, woman trying to get a fresh start in a new city. And my fresh start kicked off with wesen exist, I'm a rare hybrid of them, and I start moving things without touching them."

"I understand," Nick said slowly. "I definitely had an adjustment period when I became a Grimm. It was confusing and scary. I imagine you feel the same way. But you can trust me. I am here to help you through this. We'll figure out what's really going on. Maybe I can call Jessie and see if she can get in touch with the Seer. Maybe she knows something."

"That would be nice, but I can't help but feel that it won't be as simple as that," she said softly.

Nick went to respond but then his phone rang. He gave her an apologetic smile so he could answer it. "Burkhardt." Lena watched as he instantly frowned, "Where was the body found? Another one in uniform. I'll meet you at the precinct."

"The scalper killed another officer?" Lena asked in shock.

Nick nodded, "Yeah."

"Be careful, Nick," Lena requested as he headed out to work. Once he was gone, she hopped into her SUV to head to the shop and see if Rosalee was feeling any better after last night. She walked in to see Rosalee idly working in front of the counter and came to hug her. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, a pleasant mixture of sadness, anger, resentment, and bitterness," Rosalee answered. "Monroe came here after you left. He went to confront his parents this morning."

"I can't imagine it's going to go better than it seemed to go last night."

Rosalee grimaced and then said, "How's Nick doing? I heard he had his own meet and greet with Monroe's parents."

"Yeah, it went south after I left too," Lena admitted. "Nick felt really bad about how things were left between him and Monroe."

"Monroe was in no place to deal with anybody last night," Rosalee said. "What did Nick need? Maybe I can help."

"You don't need to hear about that, you have more important things on your mind," Lena told her.

"Maybe this will help keep my mind off of it," she suggested.

"Well, this wesen – or at least, Nick thinks it's wesen – has been killing men in uniform and scalping them," Lena explained.

Rosalee's face instantly dropped, "The victims were scalped?"

"Yeah, it's really scary," Lena said.

The bell above the door jingled and the women turned to see a slumped Monroe wandering in. "Hey, Lena."

"Hey, Monroe, how are you doing?" Lena asked.

"How did it go?" Rosalee added.

Monroe grimaced, "Let's just say it went. I feel really bad about what happened to Nick last night. Some of the things I said..."

"Don't worry about it, Monroe," Lena waved him off. "He feels really awful too."

Rosalee's face turned serious as she turned to her fiancé, "Did Nick tell you why he stopped by?"

Monroe shook his head, "No, no, my folks kind of got in the way of that."

"Somebody is murdering people and scalping them," Rosalee said.

Monroe's face turned ghostly, "Caccia Morta. But it can't be, could it?"

Rosalee was frowning. "I mean, that's what it sounds like."

Monroe looked worried. "If it is, that's really serious. I've got to talk to Nick." Monroe turned and exited the shop quickly.

"What is Caccia Morta? Is that like Wildesheer?" Lena questioned Rosalee.

"Sort of," Rosalee said. "They're very dangerous, you need to let Nick and Monroe handle this."

"I live with Nick, and I believe that whoever is doing this is after him," Lena insisted. "Please tell me what he's going to be up against."

Rosalee sighed. "Well, it's attached to something roughly translated as "the wild hunt." It's like the gates of hell open up and let demons loose on the world. According to legend, the first thing you hear is terrible thunder and howling wind, as if the Wildesheer are being blown right out of hell. They're hunters, and their life's blood is built upon killing powerful warriors."

"And I'm guessing a Grimm is the most powerful warrior of all," Lena breathed. Her pager beeped on her belt and she pulled it out to read the message.

"You have a pager?" Rosalee questioned.

"Everyone in the medical field has them," Lena said absently as she pulled out her phone to call the number paged to her. "This is Lena Kuhn-Sato—right now?... No one else can—I'm on my way."

"Everything okay?" Rosalee asked.

"There's a woman in breech at the clinic and they need all hands-on deck with half the other midwives out sick," Lena groaned. "I really need you to let me know if anything happens to Nick and Monroe, or if the coast is clear. I will have my phone."

"Okay, I promise," Rosalee responded as Lena rushed to the clinic.

Lena ended up working at the clinic with the mother in breech for ten hours. Her training and experience as a paramedic kicked in and she ended up turning the baby with her hands and delivering it herself while the doctor focused on making the mother comfortable. She was so dead tired once they were done checking over the newborn and patching up the mother. The doctor told her to take a name in the break room before she thought of driving home. She made a show of doing so before sneaking out.

She had texts from Rosalee saying that Nick, Monroe and surprisingly Monroe's dad fought off three Wildesheer at the trailer. And that they were okay.

She was just eager to see so for herself. She had called Monroe from the road and he assured her that he was fine, also mentioning that she and Nick were invited to dinner tomorrow night with his parents to start smoothing everything over. When she pulled up to the house and saw Nick's car, she sighed in relief.

She quickly went into the house and saw Nick dozing on the couch. He must have heard her because he started stirring as she dropped her keys in the bowl and dropped her bag by the stairs.

"You're okay?" she asked quietly.

He nodded quickly, rubbing his eyes. "Have you been at work this whole time?"

"Childbirth takes a while," she explained shortly, coming over to the couch as he stood so she could hug him. "I got pretty scared for you guys this time. It was different."

"I know but I'm fine, we're all fine," Nick told her, hugging her back.

Lena sagged a little into his chest out of exhaustion.

Nick seemed to be able to tell as he held her way and said, "We should both get some sleep. I scalped some scalpers and you helped bring life into the world. We need rest."

Lena chuckled weakly, "You're right. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Nick and Lena did go to Monroe's and Rosalee's to have dinner with their newly engaged friends and Monroe's parents. Of course it was a tense affair. To help – and partly to make a better impression on Monroe's parents – Lena made candied asparagus and Rice Krispy treats to contribute. Her and Rosalee were nose-deep in their wine glasses while dinner finished cooking.

"It's going to be just fine," Lena tried to reassure her friend. "Not great… but fine."

"As long as there's not another showdown, I'll count tonight in the win column," Rosalee said as she picked dinner out of the oven.

"It means a lot to their character that they're still here, right?" Lena posed. "That they're trying. They love their son, and once they see how great you two are together, they'll love you too. Everything will work out the way it's supposed to."

"I hope you're right," Rosalee whispered as the women started setting dinner out for the others.

Faced with everyone, everyone was quiet. Lena could see Nick flinch a little bit when people scraped their silverware against their plates.

At some point, Monroe's mom turned to Lena and asked, "So… what are you, dear?"

And Lena only said, "A midwife," as she took a sip of her wine.

Nick, Monroe, and Rosalee stifled grins at her response.

"At least now we can move on to actual wedding planning," Lena commented later. She looked at Rosalie and Monroe. "Have you guys set a date yet?"

Lena was started when her question prompted Monroe's father to woge. Which prompted Monroe to woge, then his mother to woge, and then Rosalee. She sat back silently as Nick got to his feet with his steak knife.

"Everybody just calm down. Okay?"

Everyone let out sighs as they woged back and tried to calm down.

"Sorry," Monroe's dad grunted. "This is just gonna take a little getting used to."

PLEASE REVIEW!

RegalGirl94