Title: Beyond Eden

Author: Lucy Mars

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: The characters in no way belong to little old me. I'm just borrowing them for a second. They belong to titanic man and his side kick chic. ;)

Chapter #10

"Max! Max!" Logan yelled frantically, hovering over her eerily still body. His entire body wracked with fear, and he shook her for good measure. Not getting a response, Logan could feel his own breath coming in short forced breaths. The air surged in and out, but it wasn't reaching him. A deep cold quickly spread through his body as the gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in. Ice surged through his veins and froze him over. Shivering from within, Logan frantically looked around the dark room. Willing for the answers to come to him from the four dim corners of the room. Willing for anything to come and save his wife.

"Please..." Logan choked out laying his hand gently on Max's still face, his tone lost and dejected, "please don't leave me. Not yet..."

Just as the despair and fear was running on full blast, Zoë burst into the room with Zach tailing behind her.

"Logan..." she gasped coming right to his side, not hiding her shock and fear well. Paling significantly at the sight of Logan kneeling before his very still and unconscious wife, Zoë took a shaky breath. Pushing her feelings roughly aside, Zoë gently pried Logan off of Max and got down to work. Wiping out her little flash light, she shone them into Max's eyes as she shot questions at the still trembling Logan. "What happened Logan?"

"I don't know...she couldn't sleep and I was fixing her a quick snack. Then...and then she suddenly doubled over in pain..." Logan gasped his voice cracking the memory still fresh in his mind.

"When did she lose consciousness?" Zach asked with a surprising amount of gentleness.

His brain not processing the kindness yet, Logan tried desperately to still his shaking hands as he watched Zoë quickly and efficiently examining his wife , "Just now...what's wrong with her Zoë?"

Her head snapping up at his broken tone, Zoë avoided his glistening eyes. The pain and sadness that he was carrying now seemed like the weight of the world. It broke her heart that he and Max were going through this. Stealing a quick glance at Zach, Zoë briskly turned back to Max's motionless form laying on the still warm and ruffled sheets.

"Zoë?" Logan prompted desperately.

"I think...it's possible that..." before Zoë could even begin to form her sentence properly, Max become not-so-motionless anymore. Without any warning or hint whatsoever, Max began to seize violently. "Oh god!" Zoë gasped as she felt Max begin to seize beneath her hands.

Moving quickly, Zach grabbed Zoë's medical bag and rummaged around for a second before pulling out a needle and a vial of Tryptophan. "It's the babies. They're tapping her resources more than we anticipated."

Snapping himself out of his shock, Logan instantly sprang into action. This he could do. If what Zach said was true, then he could deal with it. There was nothing pretty about Max having a seizure while pregnant, but at least he knew how to help her now. Aggressively pulling open their night stand drawer, Logan quickly got out their supplies. Dousing a cotton ball liberally with rubbing alcohol, he hastily swiped Max's arm. Tossing the cotton ball carelessly aside, Logan grasped Max's shaking arm and held it down against their bed. Logan looked up expectantly at Zach. He wasn't surprised to find Zach ready and poised with the needle. Nodding in silent confirmation, Logan watched as Zach slid the needle into Max with rapid precision and injected without a second thought.

The three each held their collective breaths as they anxiously waited for the Tryptophan to take effect. Hopefully saving Max and the babies from an untimely fate. Zoë stood with her fingers firmly planted on Max's wrist, taking her pulse and waiting with a doctors confidence. Zach was still clutching the needle and his gaze was fixed intensely on his unconscious sister. His exterior was calm and unmoving, whereas his eyes gave him away. They were stormy and fearing the worst.

And Logan sat on the bed beside his unconscious wife, still clutching onto her quivering arm like a lifeline. It was almost as if Logan was afraid that the moment he let go of her, he would forever lose her. His grip lessened the moment the quivering became a subtle tremble and then disappeared into nothing. Letting out the breath that he had been holding onto, Logan looked up at Zoë and Zach. They were each sporting equally relived and drained expressions. The adrenaline was still pumping fiercely through his own body. Logan couldn't even begin to guess what the two of them were feeling right now. Hell, he wasn't even sure what he was feeling. Bringing his eyes back to his once again motionless wife, Logan swallowed the lump choking off his air supply.

The dread had faded away and the relief was starting to trickle in, but the fear was still strongly present in his body. The fear and realization that this had been much to close. Danger had invaded his home and his family, and Logan was at a loss for how he could prevent this from happening again. All the precautions that were humanly possible had been taken with Max, and both Logan and Max had followed it to the letter. Never did they do anything that could possibly harm their children. Not once did they ignore or skip a preemptive measure that could stop exactly what had just happened from happening. It was suppose to protect them from this. They were doing everything possible to have a normal and happy family. The fates couldn't be this cruel.

Max and Logan had finally found love and they were trying to build a family on their concrete foundation. They both knew that it wasn't easy and that it would never be easy, but they had never foreseen such hurdles in their quest for happiness.

Seeing the emotions fly through Logan and eat away at him, Zoë lay a comforting hand on his shaking shoulder. His eyes flew to hers in surprise and when they saw the hope that she was carrying, they screamed a silent thanks. It warmed his heart that he and Max had such a good friend. Remembering that Zach was also present, Logan looked towards his brother-in-law. He had anticipated a hate and fury unlike any other, but when Logan met his eyes he was surprised to see a support of some kind. Zach is a hard man to read, and it's even worse when he is uncomfortable. And obviously he would be uncomfortable, having just shared a harrowing experience with Logan.

The two men undoubtedly loved Max, but Zach had changed over the course of the last few weeks. Having come to some kind of acceptance of the relationship between Max and Logan. Acknowledging that the two of them shared a relationship and love that he could never hope to have with Max. And now he wasn't sure if he even wanted it anymore. Casting a furtive glance at Zoë, Zach noted with some concern that she was uncommonly pale and that her free hand was trembling. Looking at his own hands, he released the death grip that he had seemed to take on the empty needle and vial. Disposing of them, Zach found his hands to be empty and useless. Acting on a impulse that he had never felt before, Zach found himself resting a comforting hand on Zoë. She looked at him in surprise, but didn't pull away. Her eyes searched his, for what he wasn't sure, but quickly retreated when she seemed to realize what she was doing.

The three stood around the sleeping form, each going through their own thoughts and discoveries. Each an individual and different, brought together by their mutual love and caring for this beautiful woman. A woman who was so complex and diverse, that it was only fitting that all her relationships be as equally complex and diverse.

"She's going to be okay Logan." Zoë blurted out as she thoroughly examined Max and the babies. She was desperately trying to comfort her distraught friend, "Rest is the best thing for her and the babies right now."

Nodding in silent confirmation, Logan didn't take his eyes off of Max. He physically couldn't. Watching her chest rise and fall was hypnotic, because it proved that Max had survived. That he wasn't going to lose her.

Noticing that Logan was very much shaken by what had just happened to his wife and children, Zach silently led Zoë out of the room and closed the door gently behind him. Logan needed some time alone with his family. He needed to come to terms with what he had just come so close to losing.

Zoë followed Zach without any objections, and blindly made her way through the halls and into the living room. Coming to an abrupt stop at the pile of baby catalogs and fabric samples that had been left out on the coffee table, Zoë slowly feel apart. It was all to much. The adrenaline that had just been pumping furiously through her a mere two minutes ago, had trickled away into nothing. Leaving her drained and thoroughly frightened. Taking an unsteady breath, Zoë wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to comfort herself and her severely unhinged nerves. Blinking back her hot tears, she turned away in an effort to hide them from Zach. However, he had been watching her to intently to have missed the sudden tears.

Hesitant at first, Zach eventually pulled Zoë into his arms and found himself surprised at how willingly she clutched onto him. Relaxing slightly, he held her tighter against himself and tried to soothe her shaking body.

Throwing herself into Zach, Zoë held onto him like a lifeline. Burying her face into his shoulder, she cried for the guilt that was eating away at her.

"Shh," Zach soothed in a gentle voice that didn't sound like his own, "it's okay now. Max is gonna be okay."

Her sobs growing stronger at his words, Zoë grasped onto Zach tighter and let out all her tears and fears, "It's all my fault."

"What?" Zach asked confused by her muffled voice, "It sounded like you said..."

"I did!" Zoë exclaimed pulling away from Zach and turning away from him, "It is my fault. I didn't do enough to help prevent this. I should have done more!"

Physically aching when she pulled away from him, Zach took the first opportunity to pull Zoë back into his comforting embrace. Holding onto her and supporting her as best as he could, Zach ran his hands up and down her quivering back, "No, you did everything that you could. Every preemptive measure was taken and there was no way that you could have anticipated this Zoë. Nobody could have seen this coming."

"But..." she protested.

"No." Zach said firmly grasping her face delicately between his two hands. Looking her right in the eyes, Zach shook his head slowly, "There was no way Zoë. You did everything that you could."

Her gaze never faltering away from him, Zoë searched his eyes again. What exactly she was looking for Zach didn't know, but this time neither of them looked away.

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Somewhere in the back of his mind, Logan realized that both Zach and Zoë had left but it wasn't important right now. All that was important was focusing on every breath that his wife took for herself and their two children. He soon found his own breathing matching hers. Every breath they took together and lost together. His hand found its way to her face, and timidly lay itself on her warm cheek. Closing his eyes and reeling from the feeling of her warm skin against his own, Logan felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. He hadn't lost them yet. He would never lose them. Logan would hold on tight.

Logan grasped onto Max's still warm hand and tangled her limp fingers with his own. Bringing their joined hands up to his lips, he lay a soft kiss on her in her palm and moved up to her wrist on instinct. Resting his quivering lips on her strong and steady pulse, Logan found himself oddly comforted by the rhythmic beating. Taking in a shaky breath, he closed his eyes and laid his other hand onto his wife's very much swollen stomach. This was his family, and they were his happiness. He couldn't lose them now. Not when he hadn't even had a chance to be with them. 'Not yet,' Logan begged all the forces above, "I can't lose her just when I've found her.'

Licking his dry lips, Logan let his tears overflow and streak his already pale face. "I won't lose you Max. Not now, not ever." Logan declared with more confidence than he felt. His words hung in the air, stale and empty. Taking a deep breath, he forged on, "I need you Max. I need this family more than anything else. Nothing in the world matters more than you and our children. I'm holding onto you for forever and a day."

Feeling more confident and comfortable with each passing second, Logan smiled down at his sleeping wife and children. "We're going to be okay. I'm gonna protect my girls." he said rubbing Max's swollen stomach. "I know that you two are girls. I can just picture you two. Big blue eyes and your mothers black hair. My girls are going to be a handful...and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Logan jumped when he felt a kick against his hand. His smile became a full on grin when he realized what he had just felt, and Logan resumed rubbing large comforting circles over Max's stomach. Feeling another kick, he shushed his little girls, "Shh now. You two are going to wake up mommy. Let her rest. She needs to rest right now."

The small kicks slowly died away to a soft shifting. His hand now laid splayed across the top, and waited to feel his daughters shift in their sleep.

"They always listen to you." Max mumbled suddenly.

"Max?!" Logan gasped jumping up and leaning over his wife.

Her eyes fluttered open and the corners of her mouth rose to mirror her husbands smile, "Hi."

Laughing in pure relief, Logan stroked her cheek gently with the back of his hand, "Please tell me I'm not dreaming? That you are actually awake and talking to me right now."

Reaching up, Max pulled Logan's face down to her own and kissed him lightly. "Okay?"

"Yeah," he whispered, "how do you feel?"

"Tired." Max sighed pulling Logan into bed with her, "I'm really tired."

Climbing in beside her, Logan pulled the covers around them and gathered Max into his arms, "That's normal, but does anything hurt?"

Laying her head on Logan's chest and throwing her arm and leg over him, Max rested comfortably, "No. How are the babies?"

"Fine, fine." Logan soothed stroking her hair and enjoying the currently position as his wife's human body pillow, "Zoë checked you guys over. Everything's okay."

"Mmm, that's good."

"Sleep," Logan urged kissing the top of her head, "I'm watching out for my girls."

Her breathing becoming deep and slow, Max let all her worries melt away and smiled, "You always do."

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So? How was that? I tired to finish it quickly, because of all the amazing reviews that I have been getting. After leaving his story for so long, I was afraid that the readers would have forgotten about me and my story. It's great that people are still reading my stuff, even after my long hiatus.

A little nervous for a second there, weren't ya? Sorry if the last cliffhanger was too much. I wanted to end this chapter with a little less tension and more ease. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and tell me what you think! I love reading your reactions!! ;) See ya' later.

-Lucy