"Oooop! That was a big burp, huh baby girl?" Talia gasped lightly as she rubbed Effie's back. They were sat in a quaint little coffee shop just round the corner from their home, and Talia was impatiently waiting for Thirteen to show up. It was Effie's first real outing after having been indoors for a few weeks, and Chase was spending the time chilling with Elijah back at home. He was adjusting pretty well to his new little sister, but he was keeping more to himself and had turned a little quieter since she'd come home - so both Talia and Chase made it a mission to consciously share the attention as evenly as possible before it changed him too much. "Ooops! And another one! Ohhh good girl! Well done, Eff," Talia giggled down to her now cutely yawning daughter.

"Wow. She's so beautiful," came a smooth voice from somewhere above her.

Talia looked up and gave her old friend a little thankful smile.

"Thank you. She is her father's twin, despite him insisting to everyone that it's the opposite," she joked as Thirteen cautiously settled herself down opposite. She looked absolutely shattered - as if she hadn't slept in years, in fact. "Did…you wanna hold her?"

"Maybe in a few minutes. I get jittery without coffee and I wouldn't wanna…ya know, accidentally drop her or something," Thirteen winced back.

"Right…are you sick? You look kinda sick," Talia blinked worriedly.

"I'm fine. I'm…yeah. In perfect health, in fact," Thirteen beamed, now straightening up in her chair. Talia smiled again and nodded as the waitress floated over to the table with the drinks that she had ordered for them beforehand.

"Hot chocolate and a mocha, both with whipped cream?" she beamed over at them both.

"Thank you so much," Talia breathed in relief, making space on the table for them. "Lord knows that I've been craving this non stop."

"God. You're not pregnant again, are you?" Thirteen joked lightly as the waitress put them down and slipped away again.

"Ohhh my, can you imagine?" Talia drawled back, rolling her eyes. "No, pretty sure I'm not. And from the way Elijah's been acting recently, I don't think it's wise to have another kid until he's fully able to appreciate how to play independently."

"Aw. Is lil Lij a little jealous of the little angel already?" Thirteen giggled.

"Not even jealous, cos Rob and I split time with him equally - he's just super clingy to the both of us. It makes sense. He'll be clinging to me non stop but then the moment Robert takes Effie, he suddenly wants him instead. I think he just wants his accessible parents back, you know? He's so young but he's still so wise to change," Talia pouted, thinking of her sweet son who was no doubt running up and down with her husband at home without the interruption of Effie's cries for once. "He really loves his sister, though. Well. I hope-"

"Even if he's unsure now, he'll grow outta it Talia - they always do," Thirteen shrugged.

"Were you the same with your brother?" Talia asked casually.

It slipped out so fast.

Thirteen's jaw tightened slightly before she quickly fixed her face again.

"Uh…to be honest, I was way too young to remember how I was with him," she yawned casually. Talia nodded slowly and pushed her hair out of her face, taking another sip of hot chocolate as she kept her eyes trained firmly on her friend in interest. "How are you and Chase coping with two young kids? I guess it's been ages since you guys took some time to yourselves, right?"

"Well, yes and no. I'm obviously still healing from the emergency C Section but even if we're not having…'sexy time'…us falling asleep in each other's arms until Effie wakes us up is honestly more than enough for now," Talia smiled, tucking her beautiful locks behind her ear instead. "I expect that will change soon though. How are…you and Allison doing?"

"Um…well," Thirteen smiled as well - but her smile was a little more forced. "I barely see her anymore cos of her new job but…she's happy, I think."

"I see. That's great. And…are you happy?" Talia shot out before she could continue. Thirteen sucked in her cheeks and nodded.

"I mean…of course."

"Liar."

Thirteen's bloodshot eyes flew up to stare at her in surprise, and Talia immediately cocked her head to the side, barely missing a beat. "Why were you at the hospital that day, Remy?" she murmured, looking dead into her eyes without so much as blinking. She couldn't handle it - she had to jump straight in before it ate her alive.

"What…what do you mean?" Thirteen asked quietly. She was struggling to maintain eye contact already.

"The day that Leona died. Why were you there?" Talia asked again, even colder than before.

Thirteen ran her tongue over her teeth and bit back her words.

"Just…for an appointment," she lied.

"Really? Fine. Next question - what did you go to prison for, Remy?" Talia asked instead.

That visibly caught Thirteen well off guard.

"I…" she trailed off. "Wait, what? What has that got to do with anything?"

"You couldn't talk to me about your brother - you got all touchy and weird. You also couldn't talk to me about Leona - you got all touchy and weird again. I know your brother died when you'd disappeared from the team all those months ago, and I also know that before you disappeared, you asked on my opinion on euthanasia. I'm not an idiot. You of all people should know that I am my father's child - as much as that pains me sometimes," Talia spoke as calmly as her quivering voice would allow her to.

Thirteen's face went pale and she gulped - and it was as if that was the confirmation in itself.

"No, Remy. Please. Please don't tell me you euthanised my friend," Talia whispered hollowly, immediately feeling tears spring to her eyes.

"Talia…" Thirteen croaked out, also feeling her throat clench with tears. "I'm so…I d-didn't…"

"Remy, noooo," Talia wailed out before she could stop herself. The tears were now streaming down her cheeks so fast that she knew there was no point wiping them. "Remy, NO. W-why couldn't you tell me?"

"She didn't want me to-"

"Remy, she had taken the treatment option!" Talia hissed through her heart-wrenching sobs.

"No, she hadn't. She told you she had to get you off her scent so that she could die in peace without you hovering over her," Thirteen told her bluntly, now wanting it to be over and done with. Talia's heart shattered into pieces before she could even process the words properly. She hadn't allowed herself to feel the pain of her good friend's death, but now? It was rushing over her like scalding hot water, and she was drowning in it.

"Oh god," she whispered in horror, pushing her hot chocolate away. "H-how long had you two planned this?!"

"She had…asked me to do it from when you were in the psych ward. I said…I said I couldn't at first, and after we spoke about it, she said she'd hold off until you were released and ask you instead, out of respect," Thirteen admitted as her tears started welling up as well. "She wanted you to-"

"Shut up, shut the f*ck up. Stop. I didn't even know you two were friends like that," Talia pointed out roughly, already sensing where this was going. "When did all of that conversation even happen? When did you two bond to the extent where she was asking you to END HER LIFE?"

"Talia, shut up! There are people around-"

"My friend is dead and I didn't even get to say goodbye properly - I couldn't give a sh*t who overhears at this point, Remy," Talia snapped back. "If you go down for this sh*t then good f*cking riddance!"

"I know you're upset," Remy breathed shakily. "I honestly get it-"

"No you don't get ANYTHING!" Talia sobbed, scrubbing her tears away and burying her face in her hands. "Remy, you're one of my closest friends and you c-couldn't give me the heads up? Anything? F*ck, you didn't even try. You let her die, alone-"

"I was with her in her final moments," Thirteen sniffed guiltily. "I really am so sorry. I thought I was doing her a favour-"

"All you've done is cause more pain than you could ever imagine," Talia breathed. "And god, let me guess, the guilt has been eating at you for weeks, and Allison's starting to notice that you're getting all shifty? Tell her. Tell her what you did, cos she'll figure it out otherwise. She's done it before."

"I can't," Thirteen murmured. "I…she'd leave. I…I really didn't know you were so against euthanasia-"

"I don't care about it to that extent - I do care about you granting Leona's final wishes without even…" Talia trailed off, shaking her head as she went pale again. "God. I cannot do this anymore. Go to hell, go to hell tenfold." She stood up and strapped Effie back into her carseat before chucking some money on the table for the drinks and leaving as quickly as she came in, unable to stand the sight of her anymore.

…

"Ahhh there's my girls!" Chase grinned from where he was around the dining table colouring away with Elijah and his chunky crayons. Talia smiled back at him, knowing he was just trying to keep the mood up for Elijah's sake, as he was usually quite good at sensing tension in a situation. "How was your lunch with Thirteen?" Chase asked her, watching Talia unstrap Effie and gently ease her out to take off her little coat.

"Great," Talia answered through gritted teeth. "Just wonderful."

"Did you manage to figure out who gave the butterfly away to the angels?" Chase blinked in code.

"Oh, yes indeedy. Thirteen gave the butterfly to the angels under the butterfly's request," Talia murmured back, watching Chase's face fall in front of her very eyes.

"You're KIDDING?"

"Nope. The butterfly requested she be sent to the angels after asking me and I declined, remember?" Talia explained calmly as she handed Effie over to him. Chase took her and kissed her forehead a few times, genuinely surprised at his wife's words.

"So it was…it was actually her? She actually did it to your own…butterfly?" he murmured slowly.

"Babe, there's absolutely no kinda friendship between us anymore. That's evident. I wouldn't have even tried to stop her but…she did rob me of my goodbye, and I won't ever be able to forgive her for that," Talia shrugged. She bent over and peppered kisses all over Elijah's face as he burst out into fits of giggles and tried to wriggle himself away from her attacking lips. "And how is my handsome little boy?" she cooed into his ear.

"Good! Look, Mama! Picture!" Elijah announced proudly, lifting the paper up so that Talia could see. She gasped and took it so that she could study the beautiful wrong coloured rainbow and other colourful scribbles surrounding it.

"Woah, look at youuuu! You did it so well!" Talia giggled, kissing his soft cheek again. "Did Daddy help you, or did you do that all by yourself?"

"I did it by myself," Elijah nodded smugly as Chase raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"He's not lying. Honestly, the most important thing to this kid is his mother's approval," he chuckled to himself.

"Well at the end of the day, that's all that matters," Talia tutted playfully, standing up straight again. "Has he had lunch?"

"He has-" Chase began to answer - until he noticed what Elijah's huge rounded eyes were focussed on.

He was staring intently at Effie in Chase's arms, who was blissfully at sleeping peace as per usual.

"What's up, bud? You wanna hold your baby sister?" he offered up quietly, making Elijah blink up at Talia nervously.

"Oh baby, you can totally do it if you want!" she gasped, bending down beside him and stroking his thick curls away from his face. "If I sit next to you, will that make it better?" she offered up. Elijah nodded his little head and looked back over at Effie again in uncertainty. "Okay. Come over to the sofa and we'll let Daddy hand her over so you can hold her."

"Okay," Elijah sniffed. Talia took his small hand and helped him jump from the chair and up onto their sofa instead, and she sat next to him, smiling over at Chase to get him to come over. This was the first time in weeks that Elijah had ever taken any real interest in his little sister, so they were definitely taking advantage of that whilst he was so confident in doing it. He wriggled in his seat a few times before nodding confidently, now ready.

"Alright, place your hands out bud," Chase instructed him calmly as he slowly approached them. Elijah did as he was told and looked up to Talia to check it was fine, and she nodded again, already biting back her tears.

"Well done. You can do it honey," she whispered. "Just be very gentle." Chase knelt down and carefully lowered Effie into his son's arms, making sure to be as slow as possible. Talia propped her head up so that she rested comfortably, and Effie let out a little yawn and clenched her hand into a fist as her eyes fluttered open, revealing her misty blue eyes.

She looked like her dad.

"Jen-tool," Elijah whispered, as if he was trying to remind himself.

"Good boy," Talia giggled quietly. "She's lovely, isn't she?" Elijah nodded slowly.

"Yes. My baby?" he blinked up at Chase.

"Your baby sister, yes," he chuckled back, seeing the first tear dribble out of the corner of Talia's eye.

"She go home?" Elijah asked him nervously.

"No, this is her home. She's going to be your sister forever, bud," Chase assured him.

Much to his surprise, Elijah's face broke into a pleased and relieved smile.

"Yayyyy," he beamed. "Kiss baby?"

"Gently, of course," Talia sniffed, scrubbing her tears away speedily. Elijah bent his head and brushed his puckered lips against Effie's blonde wavy tufts. She blinked up at her big brother and yawned again, before starting to fuss a little, as per usual.

"Uh oh. Daddy, Effie sad now," Elijah murmured worriedly.

"No it's okay, I got her," Chase assured him as he took her back into his arms again. "She's probably a little bit hungry. But well done, buddy! You did so well!" Talia pulled Elijah into her side and squeezed him super tightly, making him giggle.

"I'm so proud of youuuu!" she laughed, kissing his little face over and over again. "Seriously, you are so brave, my little star!"

"Tenks," Elijah yawned, hugging her back before letting out a very Chase-like sigh. "NAPTIMEEEE!" he suddenly announced loudly.

"Naptime?" Talia smirked back at him. "Come on then, bud - let's go and take a nap." She hoisted him up onto her hip and they made their way into his and Effie's nursery room. "Honey, can you put Lij down for his nap so I can feed the other hungry kiddo?" she asked Chase quietly, who was stood there attempting to calm the fussily demanding Effie down.

"No worries. Here, let's swap," Chase yawned back. Talia took Effie into her hands and Chase took Elijah into his arms.

"Goodnight, gorgeous boy," Talia hummed to him before they left, kissing his warm little forehead.

"Night Mama," Elijah beamed back. "Love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart. Have a lovely sleep," Talia blew him kisses as she took Effie into the living room to get her fed for lunch.

As Effie guzzled her milk like the hungry little baby she was, Chase slipped back into the living room again and sat down beside her on the sofa with a grunt.

"Two kids is more than enough, by the way," he told her tiredly as he leant his head on her shoulder.

"Yeah, aint that the truth," Talia smiled back at him. "Well. We say that, then in five years-"

"When Elijah is eight and Effie is five…?" Chase considered slowly. "Huh. Actually, that kinda makes sense-"

"I was kidding! Oh god, you are the worst," Talia burst out laughing, poking his arm playfully.

"You wouldn't wanna build a hectic family with anyone else in the world though, would you?" Chase chuckled teasingly.

"Yeah, you got that right," Talia rolled her eyes before pressing a loving kiss on his stubbled jaw as he grinned away.