Christmas came and went, the snow still stuck stubbornly to the tips of the pine trees and left the air crisp and cool as Jack sat on a glossy bench on the terrace watching Rozi cuddle with her teddy she named Moony, for reasons Jack will never know. Her giggles floated over the air and she grinned, her little girl was still a little cherub, yet Matt was growing like a weed, his hairy shaggy as if he were a day or two later for a trim and gave him the look of a puppy. She watched the children scramble across the garden while Maya and Riddick argued heatedly in the kitchen.

"I have respected you Richard, I haven't said shit to anyone and now I am begging you not to do this", tears in her ivory brown eyes now that she had removed the contacts. He didn't say anything but stared down at the paper in his hands like an unmovable mountain. "Richard, please" Maya pleaded as he folded the paper and stuck it in the pocket of his dark pants. "How else am I supposed to get money, Maya?" He asked quietly. "I could help you, I could get you a job-" "Where? In you're little jazz hole? How am I supposed to make enough money to support my family?" He demanded a little more forcefully when he meant to.

Tears spilled down Maya's cheek and she placed a hand on her swollen stomach. "I'm only trying to help you," She said softly, hurt. "I know Maya, but the truth is this is all I can do" He turned on his heels and stalked off towards the door. The baby shifted uncomfortably as Maya hobbled after him. "What if you get caught? What if you're seen? Then how are you going to support your family if you're caught or worse?" He paused at the door for a minute as if he were considering her words. "Tell Jackie I'll be home later" He said and closed the door behind him softly. "No you won't, Rich," Maya said sadly. "You won't"

Jack gathered Matt and Rozi in her arms with a slight struggle and Maya hurriedly whipped at her eyes. The two immediately ran up to the room that they shared and Jack turned to Maya. "So what's wrong Maya?" Jack asked and Maya had a battle with her inner demons. Jack had gone through so much in the past years, Maya felt as if the fact her husband was still a contract killer would be the straw that broke the donkey's back. Her rich brown was pulled away from her face that was rosy from the wind, her glass green eyes bright.

"Nothing, just a stupid sibling thing" Maya murmured and turned away from her so she couldn't see the tears welling in her eyes. "Then why are you crying?" Jack asked softly and Maya forced a lip. "It's a hormone thing I guess, you had to go through it right?" She asked, trying to make her voice sound normal. Jack rested a hip on the counter and studied her sister in- law for another moment before nodding. "Yeah I did, the baby coming any day now huh?" Now Maya did laugh. "Yeah, I won't know what to do anymore, I have gotten so used to carting around a watermelon, it'll have to get used to actually being thin again"

Jack joined in the laugh. "So have you and Shawn decided what you're going to name the little thing?" Maya, deciding that the redness in her eyes had subsided enough, turned around and leaned next to Jack on the counter. "Well his great great grandfather's name was Clay, so we're leaning towards that if it's a boy, and if it's a I haven't really decided, probably something that sounds a little exotic and pretty, but won't be near impossible to say"

"That's why I wanted to know a head of time what I was having before time, it was killing me not telling Riddick that we were going to have twins, but I wanted him to really be surprised" Maya had to fight not to cringe at the name of her brother. "Oh I still think he would have been surprised" Maya murmured and nearly jumped out of her skin when the phone rang angrily. "Hello?" Jack asked as she moved to answer it. There was a moments silence when she didn't say anything then held the phone out to Maya. "It's for you, it's Shawn"

White hot flames of panic licked the inside of her throat, making it tight, evaporating her breath. "Shawn?" Maya asked a little frantically and sighed a deep sigh of relief when Shawn's amicable voice filled her head. "Yeah I'm obviously at Jack's.I'll be home pretty soon though.Oh no! I'm sorry honey I forgot about the appointment.Alright, yes ok, I love you too.Bye Shawn" She passed the phone back to Jack and she hung it back on the wall. "Missed what appointment?" Jack asked as she rummaged through the fridge. "And you'll have to talk while I cook; I need to get dinner ready for Riddick before he comes home from work"

"I had missed a doctor's appointment to see if I could get my vitamins upped. Um.Jack I need to tell you something" Jack nodded, waiting for Maya to continue. "Go on, I'm listening" Jack moved like a centipede around the kitchen. "Jack maybe you should put down the chicken" Maya said a little uncertainly and took the frozen bird from her hands and placed it on the counter. "What is it you need to tell me Maya?" She asked a minnow of an eyebrow rose. "Jack, Riddick won't be home by dinner" Jack could only stare at her pretty sister-in-law. She knew what the scarce words meant.

"No, no, no, no" Jack moaned as she sank into a chair. Maya went to her side and stroked her hair out of her face. "I begged him not to go, I did everything I could but he insisted that this was the only way he could make enough money to support you and Matt and Rozi." Jack's face was buried in her hands. "You've got to be shitting me" Jack said in-between her fingers. "As much as I've never understood that saying, no, I'm not shitting you. I don't know the guys name or where he's going, but he's gone to do it." Jack leaned back in the chair and squeezed her eyes closed, as if it were just a dream and if she closed her eyes tight enough it would all go away and she would wake up in their with Riddick's warm hard body by her.

"He didn't have to Maya" Jack said plaintively. "That's what I told him Jack, I told him I could help him find a job but he-He never did listen to anyone but himself, but then there was you, and he would have done anything except be helpless, so I guess it didn't matter what he did as long as a result occurred" Jack was only half listening, the rest of her was busy imagining the most horrible situations possible that could happen. Maya sighed and sat in the seat next to Jack. "Now Jackie, I know you love my brother, but I see how all this has an effect on you, and I know you don't want Matt and Rozi growing up with all this drama, so I was just thinking, now this is just a thought mind you, that you should take a page from Richard's book and disappear for a little while, take time to collect your thoughts, find out what you need to do, I'm sure Shawn won't have a problem looking around Roselyn or Matt, he adores them"

"I think you may be right, I need a vacation, a very long vacation. Oh but Maya I can't put Matt and Rozi on your arms, you have so much to deal with already and you do need you're rest, you're about to become a mother yourself" Maya waved away her complaint with a neatly manicured hand. "You take all the time you need, this babies not coming for a little while more and even if it does decide to make an early performance we're ready for it, besides, it'll be good for me and Shawn to get some practice in before this little bugger pops out of me"

Jack gave a sad watery laugh and gazed at Maya considering the proposition. "I couldn't thank you enough to do this for me" She said, on the verge of tears and she enveloped Maya in a careful, the unborn baby between them. "Don't even worry about it Jackie, I just want you to get some time for yourself, take as long as you need, it'll give Riddick a good swift kick in the pants for being such an asshole" Jack laughed softly and blinked back tears at the sound of Matt and Rozi's laugher. "Take good care of my babies" She said and went to pack her bags.