CHAPTER FOUR
Author's Note - This was written before the rash of similar crimes cropped up this year and is in no means condoning such actions.
All Thalia really wanted was to be off her feet but she still had the finishing touches to put on the menus for two weddings and one Lion's Club party for the coming weekend. Zoe was supposed to be doing it but she had called in sick. Thalia decided to fill in for her and do some of the paperwork, too. Connor would have a fit at her overtaxing herself but she could handle him.
She wished she could be home with her husband, knowing how much he needed her right now. She had never seen him so fragile and afraid. He hadn't imagined that Angel could stop loving him, and the reality that Angel could actually walk out on him had Connor terrified more than he'd ever admit to her.
Thalia was just as glad Connor was working the evening shift tonight. They had spent a lazy morning cuddling in bed, making love slow and gentle, though she was beginning to believe that it was a load of bull that semen contained enzymes to help speed along labor. Other than a few repositioning pangs, her son was in no apparent hurry to leave his warm, watery home. As she shuffled paperwork on her desk, Thalia tried to think of other names that appealed to her, while wishing yet again to kick Connor's little butt for not just telling her why the name Stephen made him nervous. It might be a moot point, if Angel took off but she didn't want that.
She made a decision. Connor might be mad at her but she'd just point out all the ways this was best for their family, that would probably shut him up. Thalia picked up the phone. "Hi, Angel...catch you in the middle of anything...no, I'm not exactly fine...no, no need for 911. My son is apparently clinging to my walls with fingers and toes. I wanted to talk to you about your son. There's something you really need to know...no, I'm not at home. I'm at work...you sound just like Connor. I'm not overdoing it. Yeah, meet me here. I'm not comfortable with doing this over the phone...no, bring Buffy if she wants to come. She already knows some of this. Okay, I'll see you in twenty. Bye, Angel."
Thalia set aside her paperwork and went to put the last of the cookies from the cooling racks into their containers. She snuck one, munching contentedly. Yes, Connor might be mad but it was for his own good. He needed his father, and she wanted her son to have a grandfather, even if he was a vampire. Angel deserved to be able to come over to their home and see the infant in the nursery Connor had created for him and not have to see their son on the sly.
Connor had done such a good job of decorating. Thalia hadn't thought he'd had it in him but he had started throwing out suggestions, and in the end, she just let him go for it. He put together a beautiful little room for their child: Soft blue walls, bedding in royal blue with yellow stars and matching curtains, the pillow and bunting done up in colorful galaxies. A mobile of stuffed moons and stars would entertain little Stephen...or maybe Aleksander, that name might work, and the mobile played Braham's lullaby and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata . She was so very proud of the nursery he had created. How had Angel felt having to dismantle the crib and put away the toys when he lost Connor only to get him back as pissy teenager? Thalia couldn't even imagine that pain and it made her all the more determined Angel got to spend time with Stephen...Acheron?
She sighed. It was hard to pick a new name once her heart had gotten set on something. Maybe the name wouldn't really bother Angel. Or was it Connor who was the one who'd be upset. Marcus? Maybe if they made it Stephanos. Theo? "God, I don't even know if Connor wants to name him something Greek. All I know is he doesn't want to name you after him, little guy." She caressed her belly. "Maybe I ought to start thinking with an Irish brogue."
Thalia looked toward the door startled, as the bells jangled. A short, thin, thirty-something woman came in, her long dirty blond hair swinging. She smiled, wide and almost hungry. There was something about that smile, about the glint in the woman's pale eyes, that Thalia didn't like. "We're closed. I'm sorry."
"Oh, sorry. I just really wanted a menu to take home and look over if you have something like that. My boyfriend's waiting outside anyhow. It won't take long," she said.
Thalia sighed. She couldn't afford to turn away business. "Sure, I can get you that, Ms..."
She smiled again. "You can call me Eve."
X X X
"Did you bring us any more of your wife's delicacies?" Monisha asked, rummaging through the fire station's fridge.
Connor smiled. He liked Monisha, knowing she had a hard row to hoe since too many saw her as both a token female and African-American. Some didn't give her credit for being a great fire fighter. At least their core team, all seated around the table tonight, were better than that. "Just what I dropped off yesterday. I think there's chicken left."
"Man, I hope she taught you to cook while she's busy with the baby. You can't afford to lose any weight," Scott said as he dealt the next poker hand.
Connor smirked. "I can cook just fine. Hey, one of my friends is in town doing a study on the Bray Road Beast. You want to talk to him, Scott?"
"Man, don't get him started on that fairy tale." Tim leaned over and cuffed Connor on the shoulder.
"It's no fairy tale. It was the scariest damn thing I've ever seen," Scott said, his green eyes wide. "Sure I'll talk to your friend. 'Bout time someone took me seriously."
"No one said anything about taking you seriously," Peter put in as he sorted his hand. Like a good chunk of Wisconsin, Pete was Nordic, pale skin, pale hair and eyes so pale blue they were nearly white. "Way to deal shit, Scott."
"Great poker face, Pete," Monisha said, rejoining the table chicken in hand. "Connor, did you hear Tim's wife's knocked up again."
Connor's brow knit. "What is this? Your fourth kid?"
"Fifth." Tim ran a hand over his coppery hair. "I swear you just wave it at her and she gets pregnant."
"I don't think that's how it's done, but I'm just a smoker-eater, not a doctor, " Peter said, shrugging his muscular shoulders. "Isn't your wife due any minute now, Connor?"
"God I hope so. She looks so uncomfortable," Connor said, wincing in sympathy for his wife.
"It's good to be the man," Scott said, flashing his white-toothed smile.
Monisha snorted. "Yeah right."
"Give us one way being female's better?" Pete's pale eyes glinted.
"Well, at least we don't have to fiddle with our crotches every ten minutes to make sure our privates are still there," Monisha said, taking a big bite of chicken, then looked at her cards.
"That's not why we fiddle with it," Tim replied, grinning widely.
"Don't ever tell me why," Monisha said. "Fold. God, Pete's right, you can't deal worth a shit."
"Don't worry, Scott. I love you," Connor said, tossing in a chip.
Before the bet could go around the table, the klaxons went off. They all sprang into action, racing for their suits and their fire engine.
"What you have, Connor?" Monisha asked, tugging on her boots.
"Three of a kind," he moaned.
She rolled her eyes. "Figures."
"I know this is how my luck runs," Connor moaned, but a little gleam in his eyes. He lamented the loss someone was facing but there was that thrill of fighting a fire that he just couldn't suppress.
X X X
"Penny for your thoughts," Angel said as he and Buffy made their way through the Madison streets.
Buffy pulled a long face, stumbling over some cracked sidewalk. "Does anyone actually ever pay for thoughts?" When Angel just shrugged, she said. "I was thinking about what Thalia asked me about you and me yesterday."
"Would that be why you were holding my hand when I had to face Connor?" Angel's tone was gentle, his eyes curious.
She nodded. "Apparently we're still not good at hiding that we have feelings for one another. And when you told me you'd wait for me, I didn't really think you meant it."
"There were a few distractions but that's all they were," he admitted, with a wave of his hands.
"So maybe I'm done with my distractions, too." Buffy sighed. "I just wish I knew if this was me talking or if this is Hormonal Nutty Me seeing Thalia and Connor together."
"That I can't tell you...but I didn't think you were particularly interested in having children." His step hitched a bit as if he were tensing nervously. "Didn't you chew me out once for assuming that you might?"
She shivered as the wind picked up. "Yes, and I really don't want any. Poor Thalia looks exhausted but happy about being pregnant. I'm not sure that's for me. Thalia has a way of cutting through the bullshit, which might be why she can handle your son. She made me see that maybe I've just been afraid to be with you."
Angel's hand touched her arm just briefly. A pained expression painted his face pale. "Why would you be afraid of me?"
"Because now you aren't off limits. It was actually easier when you were. I've come to realize I have a huge fear of commitment, probably a lot to do with my father." She shrugged, trying to minimize that revelation. "Poor excuse I know but I keep picking men I think I can't have a future with: you, Spike, the Immortal and when I got someone normal, I drove him away. Poor Riley. Now, without the worries about the soul since you know enough not to be perfectly happy, you're not off limits. I have to look commitment in the face...and it's scary."
Angel slid an arm around her. "You're putting the cart before the horse, Buffy. We haven't even tried to be together in over a decade. We might find we no longer have anything in common." He paused as they gave each other a 'who are you kidding?' look. "No sense in rushing. Take it slow. First we have to get past the new arrival and all that furor."
Buffy smiled, loving that he was trying so hard to put her at ease. "I guess so."
"And you're wrong, you know, about not having a future with us," Angel said, pulling her close to his side. "The Immortal aside, Spike and I are all about commitment, or as close as evil vampires can get to it."
Buffy rested her head against his shoulder as they walked. "You and Darla, Spike and Dru...between you, you have, what, three hundred years total for commitment?"
"Something like that."
"Never thought of it that way...and I find it even scarier." Buffy shivered again, and it wasn't entirely from the chill wind.
"Do you know what Thalia wants to see us about?" Angel glanced up at the sky that began to spit snowflakes.
"It's her story to tell. My bet, she's ready to tell you why Connor's so damn mean to you. She knows, she told me that much." Buffy pulled her hat down tighter over her ears. She was not meant for Wisconsin. "She didn't want to betray his trust because she's afraid he'd do something stupid but something must have changed since last night."
"I told Connor I'd leave, never see him again since that's what he obviously wants," Angel said softly.
"Only it wasn't," Buffy guessed, remembering the strained faces from the night before.
"It shocked him to the core. He didn't want me to go. I wasn't expecting that. It startled me and gave me hope for the first time in years," Angel admitted, sniffing the wind.
Buffy tensed, scanning for danger. "What?"
"Smoke. I hear sirens, too."
"We're not that far from Angels' catering are we?" Buffy asked worriedly.
"Too close," he growled and broke into a run.
Buffy followed on his heels. As they rounded the block, there were fire engines and police cars cutting off the streets and one of the buildings was consumed with flames. Buffy's heart pounded. She was pretty sure it was Angel's Catering burning to the ground. The air was ripe with the acrid stench of burning plastics and something that smelled like cooking pork. Next to one of the fire engines, two firefighters were fighting with a third who was trying to go into the blaze.
"That's ladder seventeen," Angel said, his voice tight. "Connor's station."
"Oh God, Angel." Buffy breathed, understanding what was happening before her, and for once she was powerless to help.
Angel jogged toward the fire engine. A police officer cut him off.
"You civilians need to stay back," she ordered.
"Connor," Angel bellowed, realizing his son was fighting to be allowed to do battle with the flames but his fellow firefighters knew better than to allow it.
Connor and the other two firefighters looked Angel's way. The older man started toward the vampire, trying to haul Connor with him. The third man was shoving Connor along, and Angel wondered how long before Connor stopped holding back and really used his strength to bully his way inside the burning building.
"Angel, they want me to leave. Zoe was working tonight. She's inside," Connor said, a plaintive look on his face.
"You know him?" the older man asked.
Angel suddenly realized that Connor didn't know Thalia was here or there would have been no stopping him. "I'm his older brother."
"Take him home. We can't have someone emotionally involved in this working the fire," the older man said as the other firefighter peeled off and ran back to work.
Angel caught Connor's arm hard and Buffy took the other. Her face was wan and determined. He knew she understood the situation as well. "I will."
"Captain, I can do this. Zoe's a friend...she's inside," Connor said, his voice cracking as he tried to tug away.
"And you know it's already too late," the Captain said, sternly.
"Do you know that?" Buffy asked tightly.
The Captain nodded. "We've spotted her. They're trying to get her out but the smell...it's too late."
Angel saw her shudder when the realization what the cooked pork smell meant hit her. He had known already, having torched many buildings in his bad old days. He had liked playing with fire even though he was not immune to its effects. "We'll take Connor home. The police will want to talk to him."
"Why? The investigator will tell them what they need to know about the fire," Connor argued, tugging against his captors. "Captain, I can help. And why are you two even here?" he asked as if it suddenly sank in Angel and Buffy shouldn't be standing in front of his wife's place of business.
"Connor," Angel said softly, sliding his arm around Connor's back. His son tried to pull away but Buffy hemmed him in. "I don't know if Zoe's in there...but Thalia asked me and Buffy to meet her here."
Connor shook his head, and the Captain's mouth went slack. "No, Thally's home. She's home," he insisted, his voice cracking.
"I'm sorry, Connor," Buffy said, tears racing down her face. "I'm so sorry. Thalia isn't home. She told us to meet her here."
"No. Call her. Call home. She's there," he insisted but Angel felt the strength going out of his son's legs.
"Connor, I'm sorry," Angel whispered, dragging his son to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man and woman in suits heading their way. Homicide probably, already on the scene.
"Let me go," Connor screamed, battering Angel. "I have to get her out of there. I have to help her."
"Connor, it's too late," the captain said as Angel wrestled with Connor. "Can you get him home?"
"No." Connor slipped Angel's grasp only to get bird dogged by Buffy. He looked like he wanted to punch her, to take his rage out on the only thing standing between him and the fire but Connor dropped his arm, his whole body shaking.
"They're bringing her out, Rass," one of the firefighters called to the captain.
The captain turned to Angel. "Take him out of here. He doesn't need to see her like this."
Connor made a keening noise, trying to push past Buffy then just went to his knees. Angel scooped him up, getting him back on his feet.
Buffy turned to the two people in suits who had reached her side. "We think that's his wife they're bringing out. We were supposed to be meeting her here. We have to get him out of here but we walked. Can someone take us back home?"
The woman nodded. "I'm Detective Danforth. We'll get a squad car to transport you to..."
"424 North Pickney Street," Buffy said. "It's his brother's home."
"Detective Zuelsdorff and I will have to talk to all three of you later tonight," Danforth said, sounding apologetic.
"Of course."
Angel and Buffy propelled Connor along to the police car Danforth got for them. Angel wasn't sure that his son could even move without their help. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the gurney moving, black plastic over whoever it held. Hearing the whimper bubbling out of his son, he knew Connor had seen it as well. Buffy took the front seat, leaving him behind the cage with Connor who just stared out the back window, quivering uncontrollably the whole way to Angel's place.
Occasionally he'd murmur it couldn't be Thalia. Zoe was working tonight and that they needed to call his home. No one did. Angel knew Connor knew the truth but was too much in shock to comprehend it. Angel wasn't sure how he was holding himself together, let alone how Connor was managing not to dissolve into a screaming mass of rage. Buffy cried softly in the front seat. Connor took a few steps towards the house and went down. Angel caught him, seeing the totally vacant look in Connor's eyes.
"He's in shock," the patrolman said. "We should probably take him to the ER."
"We'll take care of him. We know how," Buffy assured him, knowing Connor needed to where his supernatural friends and family could care for him and make sure he didn't do anything crazy.
Angel cradled Connor to him, carrying him awkwardly to the house. Buffy ran in front of him, tossing open the front door with a bang. It startled Giles and Spike. Illyria was nowhere to be seen.
"Bloody hell, Slayer, give a guy a fri..." Spike trailed off, seeing Angel and Connor. "What the hell happened?"
"Buffy?" Giles got to his feet.
"Someone burned Angel's Catering down...we think..." Buffy sniffled. "Thalia's dead."
Connor moaned loudly at that proclamation. Angel knew they weren't sure it was Thalia's body but it had to be. She wouldn't have been waiting for them outside. She had to be in the blaze, and he didn't want to imagine how terrified she had to be trying to get out, too pregnant to run from the flames. Angel laid his son on the couch. Connor was shaking so hard Angel nearly dropped him.
"How did it happen?" Giles asked over Spike's loud swearing.
"We don't know but homicide will be here to talk to us," Buffy said, wrapping her arms around herself.
"She wasn't there," Connor said with sudden vehemence. "She was home. She doesn't work nights now. You have to call her."
"I'll do it, Connor, but she was there. She called me and Buffy from there," Angel said gently.
Connor shook his head then threw it back, screaming wordlessly. He tumbled off the couch into a heap on the floor, trembling and sobbing. Giles knelt down beside him and tipped up his chin.
"Shhh, Connor, listen to me. Sleep now," Giles said, drawing something in the air in front of Connor's eyes that glittered and gleamed.
Connor collapsed, unconscious.
"Sorry," Giles said, looking up at Angel. "I thought it would be for the best."
"No, he wouldn't hold together until homicide gets here," Angel said, muscling Connor onto the couch. "There'll be all the time in the world for him to grieve." Angel wiped tears from his own eyes.
"What the fuck happened?" Spike growled. "Someone murdered that beautiful woman?"
Angel wagged his head. "I don't know, Spike. All I know is Thalia called me and told me to meet her at her business. Connor thought Zoe was supposed to be there. Buffy and I arrived and the place was already in flames and the fire chief was trying to keep Connor from going in."
"We don't even know if Thalia was murdered. Homicide probably gets called out whenever there's a death in a fire," Buffy said, her voice cracking as she tried not to make eye contact with any of the men. She'd lose control if she did. "But...there are no accidents in our world, are there?"
"I'm afraid not," Giles said, laying a fatherly hand on Buffy's shoulder. "And if it's something from our world, the police will be unable to handle it."
"If it's from our world, we'll take it to pieces," Spike growled, his eyes hard, glinting with malice.
"Spike, where's Illyria?" Buffy asked.
"At our place trying to get her orchids to talk to her...and I used to think Dru was barmy." Spike shook his head ruefully.
"Why don't you go home? Homicide won't need to talk to you, and they don't need to see Illyria," Buffy said, and Spike nodded his agreement, however reluctantly.
"Connor can't go back to his house by himself," Angel said suddenly. "He has to stay with us. I need to make up the last guest room."
Buffy went over and hugged him. "You stay with your son. I'll take care of it."
"I'll show you where he keeps everything," Spike said. "Then I'll try to figure out a way to explain this to Illyria so that she doesn't say something...insensitive. Damn, now I know what Xander had to feel like with Anya. Are we sure it wasn't this Zoe bint who died?"
Angel sank onto the couch, resting Connor's feet in his lap. "No, but that would just mean that Thalia is still in the blaze. We could try to call her at home but if she had changed her mind and left, she would have called me by now."
"Fuck," Spike grumbled then led Buffy upstairs to make up the room.
Giles went into the next room and came back with two tumblers of Scotch. He handed one to Angel.
"Thanks." Angel cast mournful look at Connor whose breathing was slow and steady as he slumbered under the influence of the spell. "Whoever did this took everything from my son. Human or demon, it doesn't matter. They don't get to live." Angel's eyes flashed up to meet Giles, and somehow he wasn't surprised when the blue eyes looking back at him shone with agreement.
X X X
Buffy opened the door when Danforth and Zuelsdorff knocked. She hadn't realized in the lurid light of the fire, how different the partners were. Danforth was relatively young, with her raven hair tied back away from her long, somewhat flat face. Zuelsdorff was older, square with hair naturally the color Spike strived for with peroxide. It was cropped so close the pink of his scalp - a shade darker than the pink of his face- showed through.
"He's this way. He took something to calm down so he might be a little groggy," she said, knowing Giles was bringing Connor out of the spell but had no idea if there would be residual sleepiness. For all she knew, Connor would instantly go to pieces.
Danforth gave a sharp little nod of her head. "You were at the crime scene. Would you like to tell us about how that came to be Ms...?"
"Buffy Summers. Angel and I got a call from Thalia to meet her there," Buffy said, as they joined the others in the living room.
"Angel..."
"Reilly," Angel said, a hand on Connor's shoulder as his son wiped his bleary eyes. "I'm Connor's older brother. Please, have a seat."
Buffy noticed that Danforth and Zuelsdorff arranged themselves so that they had Connor pinched in between them. Angel related about Thalia's phone call, answering questions about the timing.
"Do you know why she wanted to meet you there?" Danforth asked, scribbling a note in her book.
Angel hesitated. "There has been some distance between me and Connor. I'm considerably older, and Thalia wanted us to try and get closer now with the baby coming. She and Connor were here last night, and it was just a follow up on that."
"Baby?" Zuelsdorff said, trading looks with Danforth.
"My wife is pregnant," Connor whispered, not ready to talk about her in the past tense.
Angel gave his shoulder a squeeze as Buffy took a ragged breath in, trying to keep her control.
"Thalia had been talking to Buffy about things we could do to be a better family so she asked me to bring her along tonight," Angel said.
"And your relationship to everyone?" Danforth asked Buffy.
"I'm Angel's girlfriend," Buffy said, figuring that was the easiest thing to say.
"And you are, sir?" Danforth looked at Giles.
"Rupert Giles. I'm a friend of the family, here from London to...celebrate the newest addition of the family." Giles' wrinkles seemed somehow deeper as he said that.
"Is my wife dead?" Connor broke in, a hollow-eyed stare settling on Danforth.
"The medical examiner is still confirming that but we suspect so. Certain things fit," she replied. "Your captain said you thought someone else was inside, Mr. Reilly."
Connor sank against the arm of the couch. "Zoe Lalagos, one of my wife's employee at Angel's Catering. She was supposed to be there tonight, not my wife. I didn't know until Angel told me."
"And you were where tonight?" Zuelsdorff asked.
Connor's glare could have killed him if such a thing were possible. "At the fire house, playing poker until the call came. I didn't even know where we were going until we got there. That's when the Captain wouldn't let me in...it being my wife's business. We didn't even know yet..." He broke off, shuddering.
"Detectives, was it an accident?" Buffy asked, almost hoping for it.
Danforth chose not to answer. "Mr. Reilly, you said your wife was pregnant."
He nodded. "Due any day...and now I lost them both."
"Not necessarily," Danforth said, and Connor's head snapped over, his eyes wide. "There was a wound on our victim that suggests she was opened up before she died."
Buffy noticed what little detail Danforth offered and realized the cops believed Connor was involved but that thought sank in her mind as a more pressing one bubbled up. Connor voiced that self-same thought.
"Someone carved our baby out of Thalia?" He managed to get the words out before covering his mouth with one big hand as a low moan issued out of him. Connor collapsed over his knees, pulling them tight to his chest as he shook and wept.
Angel put a hand on Connor's back. "Detectives, I don't think he can handle any more of this."
Zuelsdorff nodded. "We'll be back if we have more questions for him. One last question, do you know of anyone who would do something like this to you and your wife, Mr. Reilly?"
Connor just shook his head, unable to speak.
"Connor doesn't have any enemies that I know of," Angel said. "I have had a few who wouldn't hesitate to hurt my family to get back at me. I could have a list ready for you tomorrow."
Danforth looked surprised. "Thank you. We are very sorry for your loss, and we'll keep you apprised."
"Are you looking for my baby?" Connor managed to ask.
"We didn't know to look until now but yes, we will do everything we can to find the baby," Danforth said. "People doing things like this to steal a baby...it's sadly not unheard of."
She and Zuelsdorff let themselves out.
"They think I did this," Connor sobbed, tearing open a couch pillow as his fingers twisted in it.
"They'll learn fast you didn't," Angel said, running a hand over Connor's back. "Kate told me once homicide always starts with the family."
"Someone has my son," Connor said, managing to get to his feet, looking as weak as a newborn deer. "I have to..."
"You can't. I'll get Spike, and we'll go see if we can find a trail. You can't handle this now, Connor," Angel said, clasping his son's shoulders.
"I can..." he trailed off, losing even more color. "Dad, why did they have to kill her?" Connor threw his arms around Angel, squeezing hard.
Angel stroked Connor's back. "I have no idea, son. You need to stay here and take care of yourself. Spike and I will get the investigation started. We won't stop until we find who did this and where the baby is. I didn't stop when someone took you, and I will never stop now. I promise you that."
Connor's tear ran hot down Angel's neck. "I can't...I want to go back to sleep. I won't ask again but tonight I can't...I think I'll go mad if I have to think about this."
Giles touched Connor's arm. "Let's get you upstairs and I promise you won't wake until the morning."
Angel watched the older man lead his son off. "Someone is going to regret fucking with my family," he said softly.
"I know," Buffy said grimly, telling him with a look she would do anything he required her to do. No one was going to stop him from doing what he needed to.
X X X
"I didn't know you were so good with a blade, Gene," Eve said, looking up at her lover as the Dawl Irrifletta doctor examined his freshly washed charge.
The square-jawed man, so unlike her beloved Lindsey in size and breadth, smiled at her. "I'm a man of many talents."
She knew most of those talents were in the realm of giving pain and stealing whatever the Dawl wanted. "How is the baby, doctor?"
"In good health given his rough entry into the world," the doctor replied as he remodeled the tie-off on the umbilical cord. "You got the cord tied off well, just too much cord left on. He's got a perfect APGAR score, and he's a good size and weight." The doctor padded up the re-cut umbilical and wrapped a little gauze over it. "We'll observe him to make sure he didn't lose too much blood and we should feed him now and every two to three hours." The doctor smiled behind his mask. "You ready for that?"
Eve touched the baby's cheek and his head turned, his lips pursing like a fish's. "His grandmother had better be. Welcome to the world, little Lindsey." She smiled coldly.