"Nervous?"

"Of course not."

"You're a bad liar, Max," Kenny replied, watching as she brushed Emily's dark hair. "You always have been."

"My parents didn't seem to think so," she responded dryly. "What about you? This is a life altering thing that we're doing."

"Some what . . . It's going to be a culture shock for them. That house that they lived in up here is a far cry from our place. Rome isn't exactly the same as Boston either."

"I know. That's actually one of the reasons that I love it, but they're both used to the finer things. Private schools, the club, and some of the vacations Michael and Caro took them on, but it's going to be a different life."

"That's what you grew up with?"

Max shrugged. "Yeah. It never made up for what I was missing though. The person who said that money can't buy happiness was a genius."

"Hey, we're not exactly poor," Kenny said with a grin. "But we're not going to be taking them to the French Riviera any time soon."

"I think that we're all over due for a vacation," she replied, as he pulled her to her feet. "Should we go?"

"It's almost ten . . . you still sure that you're not nervous?"

18181818181818

"Where would we go Samantha?" Nate asked.

"I don't know, but we can't stay here," she answered quickly. "Mom and Dad aren't coming back Nate, and no one else wants us."

"What about Aunt Maxie and Kenny? I like them. Why can't we go live with them?"

"They have their own kids to worry about, and they don't need the two of us. We hardly know Aunt Maxie, Nate. Why hasn't she come to see us before and stuff if she cares so much?"

"I don't know. I don't want to run away Samantha. I want to stay here."

"Well we can't. They'll put us in a foster home with strangers! Is that what you want Nate?"

They both jumped at the knock on the door, and Samantha sighed. "It's too late now. They're probably here to put us on a farm or something."

She stalked over to the door, and through it open. "Hi."

"Hi," Max answered, trying not to be nervous. "How are you guys today?"

"Fine."

Max exchanged a quick glance with Kenny at Samantha's hostile attitude. "Well that's good then . . . Do you want to go get some breakfast or something? There is some stuff that we've got to talk about."

"What kind of stuff?" Samantha asked suspiciously.

"We want to talk about you and your brother," Kenny answered. "And what's going to happen next, with your Mom and Dad being gone."

"What is there to talk about?"

"I don't want to go live on a farm with strangers," Nate cried. "Don't make me go there!"

"What are you talking about?," Max asked. "Who said anything about a farm?"

"A farm, whatever," Samantha continued. "It doesn't matter. We're not going there. We'll be fine by ourselves."

"You're 14 and Nate's seven," Kenny replied, sounding a lot more calm then he felt. "There is no way that you'll be fine by yourselves. The world doesn't work that way."

"Why do you care? We don't know you! We barely know Aunt Maxie! Why should you care about what happens to us?"

"How could we not care?" Max replied, shocked at her niece's outburst. "Sweetie, I wish I knew you and Nate better. It's one of my biggest regrets that Caroline and I didn't stay close, and that I didn't get to know you two better. I was hoping that we could change that now."

"I don't want to be sent away," Nate whimpered. "Don't leave me all alone."

"They don't want us Nate, no one does," Samantha cried. "They have their own family, and there isn't room for us in it. We're going to the farm, and we might as well get used to it."

Kenny glanced over at Max before turning back to the two kids in front of him. "Why don't you think that we want you? Because we do."

"You're lying," Samantha whispered. "I heard you and that other man talking last night, and you didn't want us then."

Kenny shook his head. "That's not it. We've all been through a lot recently, and the idea of taking on two kids came as kind of shock. Not a bad one, but a shock still. Your aunt and I want you to come and live with us."

Max nodded in agreement. "We're not going to send you to some farm, where did you get that idea?"

"It's where they send kids on television," Samantha whispered. "Aunt Maxie? Why haven't you visited us? We haven't seen you in a long time."

Max paused, not sure how to explain it to them. "Your grandfather and I fight a lot. It's only gotten worse since we've both gotten older. It was easier for me to stay away. The last time I spent Christmas here was, what four years ago? It was awful, and not just for me. I'm sorry that we don't know each other better. I'm sure it's more my loss then yours."

"We can change that now," Kenny added. "If you'll let us."

"You really want me and Nate to come and live with you?" Samantha whispered, "You mean it?"

Max nodded slowly. "I know it's going to be a big change, for all of us, but we do. Do you want to?"

Nate leapt off of the bed, and threw himself into her arms. "Yes!"

Samantha nodded cautiously. "Yes . . . where do you live? I know it's not in Boston."

"Wisconsin," Kenny supplied. "In a town that's a lot smaller then this."

"Why can't we stay here?" Nate asked. "In our house?"

"What's going to happen to our house?" Samantha continued. "Why do we have to move so far away?"

"Your father is having someone come and shut up your house, so when he comes back it will be waiting for him," Max finally answered. "The same goes for your grandparent's house. Our home is back in Wisconsin, and we'd love to share it with you."

"None of our friends came to Mom's funeral," Samantha whispered. "Why would we want to stay here anyway?"

181818181818

"Poor kids," Jill commented, as Jimmy filled her in on his earlier conversation with Kenny and Max. "They're really going to take them in? Is this an adoption Jimmy?"

He shook his head. "Not with their father still alive. By the time he's out of prison though they'll both legally be adults though. They've got full custody until that happens, and probably after as well."

"It's such a big responsibility," Jill trailed off. "And Max is pregnant, and Emily. They're really going to have their hands full, Jimmy."

"As far as I'm concerned Jill, Max is still on paid leave until after she gives birth, then she can take her maternity. She and Kenny both need time to pull this together," Jimmy stated. "Kenny is coming back full time when they get back to Rome. He started anyway when Max went off on this adventure."

"When are they flying back?"

"Thursday, I think. Something about paperwork, and getting the kids stuff together."

181818181818

"This is where you live?" Samantha asked that next Thursday, staring up at the picturesque lake cottage in front of them. "It looks so small."

"It's bigger then it looks," Max offered, thinking of the mish mash of rooms on the second floor, plus the loft.

"Is that a lake?" Nate asked, pointing through the trees. "Can we go swimming?"

Kenny suppressed a grin, as he put Emily down on her feet. "Maybe later. How about we go inside, and get you two settled in?"

"Okay," Samantha agreed, tearing her gaze away from the house. "It's just different."

Kenny shot Max a look, and she shrugged not saying anything else. Pushing the door open, she felt a smile creep across her face, as she glanced around at the familiar surroundings. It's good to be back, she thought, this just feels so right compared to that monstrosity my parents lived in. She felt Kenny's hand on the small of her back, and Max grinned at him.

"Welcome home," he whispered in her ear, as they followed the kids inside. "This place felt so empty without you."

"I think we're going for overcrowded now," she whispered back, as he kissed her quickly. "It feels so good to be here again."

"Ew," Nate cried, seeing them kiss. "That's gross!"

Samantha eyed them cautiously, not saying anything right away. "My parents never did that."

"Never did what?" Max asked curiously.

"I never saw my Dad kiss my Mom."

Max bit her tongue. Caro, she thought, what was your life like? What did Michael do to you? I wish you could have told me. Swallowing she said. "Why don't we go upstairs? You can unpack, and we can figure out what we need to get for you. They're not huge rooms, but we can still make them nice for you."

"Do we each get our own?" Samantha asked.

"Yeah. There are four bedrooms, plus a loft on the third floor. This is an old house Samantha," Kenny replied, somewhat put off by her attitude. "We thought you'd might like the loft, with being a teenager and everything. Privacy and stuff."

"Really?" She asked, her eyes lighting up. "I'd like that a lot."

181818181818

"What do you think?" Kenny asked her later that night, laying his hand on her slightly curving out stomach. "They both looked exhausted by the time we finished sorting out their stuff."

She glanced up at him, and tried to stifle a yawn. "I think it'll just take some time. It's a change for them . . . and for us. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with them though, or how to act. I'm not their mom, I don't know them that well . . . I don't know the boundaries of this."

"Hey, we're gonna make mistakes with this Max. We're not perfect, neither are they," Kenny countered. "One day at a time. Right?"

"Yeah," she agreed, rolling over onto her side. "I'm just more nervous then I thought I would be. It's got to be hard on them . . . losing both of their parents like that, and having to move away like this. I don't want them to have to suffer anymore then they have."

He grinned at her. "We'll make sure of that."

Max grinned back, as he leaned into to kiss her. "Hmm. This feels good."

"You're not gonna fall a sleep on me?"

She kissed him back, as she wrapped her arms around him. "Not tonight. This is a quite a homecoming."

He kissed her again, as he pulled her on top of him. "Hmm, I missed you."

Max giggled, as he slid his hands down her body and she slid her into his boxers. Lowering her mouth to his neck, she trailed her lips down to his chest, as he pushed up her shirt.

"Aunt Maxie," a voice whispered from the doorway. "Are you awake?"

They both froze, and she pulled her shirt back down and rolled off of him. "Um sure. Come on in Nate."

Kenny brushed her hair back, as Nate came in. "We thought you fell asleep awhile ago, Nate."

He shook his head. "I tried too . . . are you mad?"

"No, of course not," Max replied carefully, seeing him step back. "Why would we be?"

"But you told me too, and I didn't," Nate argued. "I tried, I really did. I just couldn't fall asleep."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Kenny replied seeing the fear in the boy's eyes. "We've all had some sleepless nights, some more recently then others. You know what helps?"

Nate shook his head, as he walked closer to the bed. "No."

Kenny shot a glance back toward Max, who was watching him with an amused expression. "Well, I didn't want your Aunt to know this, but . . . sometimes when she's asleep, I'll sneak downstairs for some chips and late night television."

"Oh really?" Max replied, as Nate grinned. "So that's where the Cheetos went."

Kenny grinned at her, and turned back to Nate. "So how about it?"

He nodded quickly. "I like Cheetos too."

181818181818

"Everything looks good," Jill confirmed a few weeks later. "How are you feeling?"

Max shrugged. "Pretty good. I think I missed most of the morning sickness, and my pants are starting to get a little tight."

Jill glanced down at her slightly expanded abdomen. "Have you been eating? I know you weren't that big with the twins, but I want you to take care of yourself. It's been a tough few months, and I don't want you to take on too much."

"I've been eating," Max replied with a grin. "I promise I have been. I even cooked a whole meal a few nights ago, and I didn't burn anything. How about that?"

"Very impressive," Jill replied. "How are Samantha and Nate doing? I know school starts in a few days. How are they feeling about that?"

Max grimaced. "They went to an orientation a few days ago, and it is different from Winterhaven, where they went before. Actually Caro and I went there too. Samantha's exact words were that it was small, smelled badly, and the other kids were gross."

"Ouch," Jill sympathized. "What did you do?"

"She reminds me of my Mom in some ways ," Max trailed off. "I told her to give it a chance, and just because it's different doesn't mean that it's bad. Plus, we can't afford to send her to a private school."

"She'll get used to it," Jill replied, surprised that an 14-year-old would say that. "Okay, get some rest, eat, and we'll do a sonogram again in a few weeks."

181818181818

"It's been a long time since I've seen you in the morgue," Carter said, looking up from the body he as examining on the table.

"Yeah," Kenny agreed, nodding toward the deceased. "Find anything interesting?"

"Semen?" Skeeter interjected, with a wry grin.

Carter glared at him. "No semen! Multiple stab wounds to the chest, one right through the heart. Did you bring the husband in?"

"He's on his way," Kenny confirmed. "Anything else?"

"One odd thing," Carter confirmed. "So far. He had a pineapple in his pocket. How strange is that?"

181818181818

"A pineapple?" Max asked later that night, as Kenny filled her in on his day. "How does someone fit a pineapple into their pocket? That's just bizarre."

"What is?" Samantha asked, from the kitchen doorway. "Is dinner ready? I'm hungry."

"Nothing," Kenny replied, glancing around the still clean kitchen. "Are we ordering in?"

"Do you mind? I think I have a one meal a week limit," she replied, smiling at him. "Plus, I was running around all day."

"Why don't you get a cook? Mom and Dad had one," Samantha asked. "She made great food."

"Uh, we can't really afford that," Kenny said lamely, shooting Max a look.

"Oh," Samantha replied. "But you've both said that you can't cook. Who does?"

"We both try," Max replied, trying not to be defensive. "And we keep the take out places in business."

"Is that like catering? Mom and Dad had caterers a lot too for their parties. I like the shrimp bowls."

"Sort of," Max agreed, wondering how an 14-year-old had never heard of take out before. "Tell you what. Go find your brother, and we'll decide what to eat."

Kenny watched her go before turning back to Max. "Wow. Did these kids dine on filet and lobster every night?"

"At least Nate knew what Cheetos were," Max countered. "I don't know. Caro couldn't cook any better then I can, but I guess Carla made up for it. I just can't believe that they didn't even do fast food or something. Isn't that the staple of this countries diet?"

"Maybe just ours," he argued. "You okay?"

"I guess so . . . I'm just worried about her, and how she is reacting to everything. I know it's only been a few weeks, but."

Kenny cut her off. "Hey. It's just gonna take some time, Honey. We both know that."

Max looked at him thoughtfully before replying. "This is going to sound horrible, but she reminds me, her attitude at least, of . . . I can't even say it. It's everything that I left. That feeling of entitlement to everything . . . my family was like that."

"You're not being horrible. Honest, yes. You can't hold it against her, Max."

"I just don't know what to do about it."

181818181818

"This one has a coconut. Is this guy trying to make a fruit salad?" Skeeter commented, as photographs were taken of the second body. "What's the deal with the fruit?"

Kenny shrugged. "Who knows? I'm more concerned about why he's killing them at all. The fruit thing . . . It's gotta mean something though."

"Is there any connection between the two men so far?" Jimmy asked, "The first was identified as Anthony Albion, an insurance salesman. No name yet on the second."

"Albion was from Greenbay," Skeeter offered. "Other then both of them probably not being from Rome . . . My bet is the id on the second victim might give us a clue."

Jimmy nodded slowly. "Greenbay is going through their missing persons as we speak. Go talk to Carter, see if he found anything yet."

181818181818

"Um, I don't know what to tell you," Max replied lamely. "I'm sorry that it happened . . . What happens next?"

"This is a serious offense," Michael Oslo stated firmly. "Especially for being the first month of school. I know that she is a new student, and of her circumstances, but we can't have this type of behavior in our school."

"Yeah," Max agreed softly, feeling like the worst parent on earth. "Are you sure that it was her? She's only 14."

"We have several witnesses, both students and teachers. I have no choice but to suspend her," Oslo replied. "Three days. I'm sorry."

Max sighed. "It's not your fault. I'll talk to her. It's been a rough few months for her."

"Thank you," Oslo said rising, as they walked to his office door. "She seems like a good kid, and I would hate to think of her getting off on the wrong foot here. I hope this will be an isolated incident."

"Me too," Max agreed, as he glanced down at her burgeoning stomach.

"I hear congratulations are in order," Oslo said, changing the subject. "When are you due?"

She smiled despite her mood. "December 5th, so less then four more months."

Oslo nodded toward the sullen child in the waiting area, as he opened the door. "Good luck."

"Thanks," she replied, as Samantha glanced up in her direction. "Are you ready to go?"

"I didn't do anything!"

Max gritted her teeth. "Why don't you tell me about it on the way home?"

181818181818

Kenny watched the scene in front of him for a few moments before saying anything to disrupt it. Max sitting cross legged on the floor doing math with Nate, as Emily scribbled intently on the paper in front of her. She's a great Mom, he thought, I couldn't ask for a better one for our kids. Suppressing a grin, he wondered where Samantha was, as he tossed the mail on the table.

"Daddy," Em squealed, her picture forgotten, as she ran to him on chubby legs.

Max glanced up then too, and he caught her weary expression as he swept Emily up in his arms, and nodded over in his wife's direction. "Did she get bigger while I was at work?"

"Is that a real gun? How does it work?" Nate asked, before she could answer. "Can you show me how it works?"

"Uh, maybe when you're older," Kenny replied quickly. "What are you two working on?"

"Math. I don't like it."

"It wasn't my favorite subject either," he replied, placing Emily down on her feet. "Hi, Honey. What's that smell?"

Max smiled up at him, as Emily climbed into her lap. "Dinner. Impressed?"

"Your domestic skills never fail to astound me."

"Finished," Nate exclaimed, jumping up from the floor. "Can I go play with my trucks now? Can Emily come?"

"Go ahead," Max replied, as Em toddled after her cousin. "Dinner should be ready soon."

"What's up?" Kenny asked, as they disappeared upstairs. "And don't tell me nothing."

Max sighed before replying, as he sat on the floor next to her. "Michael Oslo called this morning. One of the teachers found her in the janitors closet smoking and making out with a senior. She's suspended for three days."

"Shit. What did she say?"

"First that she didn't do it. Second that it wasn't a big deal, and that she did that at Winterhaven all of the time. She's 14, Kenny, that's way to young for this type of stuff."

"Yeah. You think that she needs to talk to someone? A therapist or something?"

"You know how I feel about that. Still . . . she's only a kid, and she's been through a lot."

He kissed her on the top of the head before replying. "Let's give it some time first, Max. Let her adjust to all of this. Maybe that is all that she'll need."

"Yeah, maybe," she agreed, as he pulled her to her feet and changing the subject. "How's the fruit guy doing?"

"Nothing solid yet," he replied, looking down at her stomach. "You're starting to show."

She nodded, running her hand on her swelling stomach under her shirt. "Yeah. I forgot what this was like."

He laid his hand on her stomach. "You're beautiful. And sexy."

"Hmm. Are you saying that just because I made dinner?"

"Partly," he agreed, as a crash resounded from upstairs. "I got that."

"Thanks," Max replied, thinking that being pregnant had its perks, as she watched him jog up the stairs. Flipping through the discarded mail on the table, she paused as she came to a letter addressed to her. Hands shaking she held the envelope gingerly, afraid that it might bite her. Swallowing quickly, she tore the paper open, and carefully pulled out the folded sheets. Skimming the written words, Max felt her heart go cold in her chest. What the hell? I can't deal with this now, she thought. It's a lie. It's got to be.