A/N: Big thankyou to the following for their fantabulous reviews - KangarooGirl, Amarantha, takerlover21, tallyz, dogreign, leslienicolespeaks, Torquebabe, betty-boop, AllAboutAngel and Dani.
Leon traced his fingers over the matt finish of the photo he'd received earlier in the day from Ruby, his hair a mess from running his hands through it.
Whoever had taken the photo had caught her by surprise, deep in though at the time it was taken. Her bright red hair had seemingly deepened in colour, now a richer, darker red as it peeked out from beneath a dark purple bandanna. His bandanna. He'd wondered where it had gotten to. Her shoulders were exposed, save for the thin twisted purple straps from her dress and she was looking to the side at something out of the picture. She was standing, one hand pressed firmly into the small of her back, the other fingering the strings of colourful beads around her neck and her purple and white tie dyed dress fell from her bust and down over her bump, ending just short of her knees. Her legs were bare all the way down to her feet where he could just make out the purple glittery nail polish on her toe nails, barely obscured by the thick green grass she was standing on.
He blinked rapidly – she was huge… And she was beautiful. He had a fleeting moment of horror when he realised that she had never looked so stunning to him, realising he very well could have destroyed all chances of getting to know his unborn child. As it was he'd missed the entire pregnancy anyway. He'd come so close to losing both of them that it quite literally scared him silent.
He looked down at Cade sitting on the floor, happily playing with his cars on a plastic mat and whistled sharply. "Cade," he called quietly, "-come see a picture of Ruby and lump."
The little boy looked up, pushing his hair from his face with the heel of his palm as he scrambled toward his father, big dimpled grin on his face.
"Where Miss Ruby an' lump?"
Leon set the picture down beside him as he reached out to lift Cade onto his knee, settling the small boy before picking up the photo once again, wrapping his arms around Cade to hold him there.
"There she is." He held up the picture, letting Cade look at it carefully. Little fingers traced over the purple dress, then touched the extremely obvious bump.
"That lump in there?" Big brown eyes looked up and met green ones.
Leon nodded, touching the picture himself. "Yeah – that's lump. That's your little brother or sister."
Cade didn't seem too affected by it, instead he stared some more at Ruby's face. "Miss Ruby sad." He looked up at Leon, "Can we make her happy 'gain?"
Leon pressed a kiss against Cade's forehead, setting him back down on the floor. "We're gunna try, little man. Daddy's gunna do his best to make Miss Ruby happy again."
Cade nodded. "Then Daddy be happy too?"
Nodding, he ran a hand over Cade's silky dark hair. "That's the plan, kiddo." He watched Cade go back to his cars and looked down at the picture in his hand again.
He couldn't honestly remember – honestly- when she had looked so beautiful, and he'd thought she looked gorgeous just standing there looking a total mess before her first coffee in the mornings. He knew that it was partly added to the fact that she was carrying his baby, but that was only a tiny part of it. As much as he'd tried to fight it, and fight it he had, he was head over heels for her. His gemstone baby.
Running his thumb over the image of her, he glanced over the top of the picture at Cade and found himself wondering whether their baby would look like him or Ruby. Red hair or brunette, green eyes or blue, pale or olive skinned.. There were so many questions he had but so far, no answers.
"Cade?"
The little boy looked up, pausing momentarily as he watched his father slide forward and stand up.
"Will you be a good boy and keep playing here for a minute while Daddy makes a call?"
"Yes, daddy."
Leon nodded, more to himself and moved toward the kitchen, grabbing the cordless phone off the table before moving back into the doorway so he could keep an eye on Cade while he was on the phone.
It had been a week since he'd spoken to Ruby – a week since she'd agreed to send him the picture. The postmark on the envelope said Las Vegas, so that's where she was. She was so close but so far away at the same time. Vegas was huge so he had little to no hope of finding her there if he were to look for her. Plus, she didn't want him to – she was trusting him not to go to her until she said it was alright for him to… He was going to honour her wishes no matter how much it killed him to do so.
Still holding the picture in his hand, he leant against the doorframe as he watched Cade play, the phone pressed to his ear as he listened to it ring… And ring… And ring. Sighing, he left a short message, just letting her know he'd called and had gotten the photo. He had the oddest feeling that she was avoiding him since she'd told him she loved him the week before. Just hearing those words from her had made him almost fall off the bed – she loved him. Loved him. There he was thinking she hated him and would never, ever forgive him for the horrible way he'd treated her and she out and says she loves him. It had stunned him. Both that she felt that way and that she indeed reciprocated his feelings. He wasn't so disillusioned that he'd think that it would solve everything, but he knew it could help along the way.
Now all he had to do was convince her that he was in it for her and not just the baby – he loved her and the baby now that he was used to the idea. Ruby was his future, that much he was sure of. He had to convince her that he wasn't in it for the baby, that the baby was just a bonus. He'd messed up with Ruby and there was nothing he wanted more than to make amends with her. He needed her and come hell or high water – he was going to do whatever it took to get her back.
Vince looked at the picture over Tala's shoulder, chewing a piece of carrot loudly in her ear.
"She's fucking huge," he mumbled around the food, "-look at that belly."
Tala nodded, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, brow furrowed. "I know, " she looked up at Vince, "-how far along did Le say she was?"
Vince visibly calculated it in his head, counting off his fingers. "She's due August Thirtieth - .. so she's around.. what? Thirty four, thirty five weeks?"
Nodding slightly, Tala set the photograph down on the kitchen table and moved back toward the bench to finish preparing dinner. She'd just picked up the knife and started chopping once more when Vince lifted himself onto the counter beside her work space and nudged her thigh with his big boot. He gave her a cheeky grin and then settled into a more comfortable position.
"What is it, baby?"
Tala looked up at him, brows lifted. "What do you mean?"
Vince rolled his eyes, sliding back onto his feet to stand behind her, his arms draped around her waist, chin on her shoulder. "Tala Leigh Orello – tell me or you can sleep on the couch."
She snorted, elbowing him lightly in the ribs as his fingers lightly tickled her sides. "And what makes you so sure that I'll be the one on the couch?"
"Easy," Vince shrugged, brushing his beard across her neck, "-I need more room. You're a little person, thus meaning less leg room."
There was a good natured scuffle between the pair before she settled back against his chest, hugging his thick arms that draped across her own chest.
"It's just.. She's all alone, Vince. Should we call her? See if she needs some help at all or something? Lord knows she's going to have a time of it when the baby comes and-" Vince's hand slipped over her mouth, quieting her.
"Firefly, she'll be alright. If she needs us, she will call us. You know that."
She sighed and went limp, cuddling into her husband's embrace. "I know.."
"Daddy!" Both Tala and Vince looked up at Rory's shouting, "Cade's running away."
Vince stepped back from Tala, glancing at her before making his way out into the backyard where he saw his nephew stuffing his toy cars into his little back pack.
"Where do you think you're going?" He folded his arms and looked down at the dark haired little boy on the grass. It was late afternoon and the summer heat was starting to lessen, a cool breeze blowing through the yard. He momentarily revelled at the feeling, then it was gone. Sure Cade was only two – three soon, but if he wanted to go somewhere bad enough and decided to go by himself, all sorts of horrible things could happen.
Vince was surprised by the depth of emotion he saw in the little boy's eyes when he looked up at him, tugging the straps of his bag over his shoulders.
"Goin' find Miss Ruby. Gunna bring her an' lump home to Daddy an' make him happy 'gain."
For a short moment, Vince stared at Cade and marvelled at the nobility of the gesture, then half turned toward Rory.
"Princess, go and get daddy's keys for him?" He smiled lovingly as he watched his little girl scamper inside to find his car keys and turned back to Cade, crouching down.
"How's about I drive you then, because it's getting late and I don't want you getting lost. We can look for Miss Ruby together – we might even be back by the time daddy's awake that way." He knew it was the last part that got him and he carefully scooped Cade up into his arms. He still had the odd day or two when his arm would hurt a little and today was one of them. Cade had learnt to look for the signs when he'd first come to stay with them and seeing the slight hesitation on his uncle's face, he easily manoeuvred himself onto the left side instead of the right.
A moment later Rory returned with his keys and Tala in tow, a look of curiosity on her pretty face.
"What's going on?"
"We're going to look for Ruby." Vince nodded, giving her a look that said 'go call her'. She nodded slightly, then waved them off.
"Well go on then if you want to be back by dark." She headed back inside, but not before catching Vince's mouthed 'ten minutes'. He would most likely take him around the block once or twice, talk to him and then come home so he could talk to Ruby on the phone. He'd done the same thing with Rory when they'd gotten back from Miami.
Heading back into the kitchen, she nabbed up the cordless phone and the piece of paper tacked to the notice board with Ruby's number on it and dialled. She worried so much about Ruby when she'd first heard she was pregnant, remembering the state she'd been in when she lost her first – the last thing she'd needed was Leon reacting the way he had when she'd been so scared.
Unsurprisingly, she heard the answering machine click in and listened to the short message before hearing the beep.
"Hi, Ruby – it's Tala. Look babe, V's just taken Cade for a little drive as the little one was convinced he was going to find you on his own. If you could call us back on-"
"Hello? Tala? I'm here – I'm here!"
There was a mechanical clicking and then a sigh.
"Sorry about that – I was out on the balcony and it took me a little while to get inside. God bless answering machines."
Tala smiled. She sounded tired, but in fair spirits. "How're you doing, hun?"
"I feel fat, my head hurts and I'm considering applying for my own area code – I'm doing great!"
Sitting down at the table, Tala laughed, picking up the photo again. "I saw the picture – what are you having? Triplets?"
Ruby laughed. "Sure feels like it sometimes. I don't think I remember what my feet look like or the last time I didn't have to get one of the girls to paint my toe nails." Another sigh, and a quiet yawn. "Right – what's this about Cade?"
"He was all set to go looking for you apparently – Vince should be back with him any minute and he'll probably want to talk to you. Is that alright?" She couldn't believe the ecstatic response she got.
"Oh, of course! I'd love to speak to him – I've missed him so much." No sooner had she finished saying that did Vince come back in the door, ushering Cade ahead of him. The little boy headed straight for the phone, which Tala happily handed over.
She got up and went over to Vince, smiling as Cade waffled on at Ruby about something or other then felt herself tear up when he asked to talk to lump. She could see him listening for a moment, then a big wide grin crept across his face and he started talking.
"'Lo, Lump! I'm Cade – your big brother.. I've got lots of cars that you can play with when you come home – I do. There's even a pink one if you decide you wants to be a girl!"
Vince snorted in her ear, chuckling. "Trust him to come up with that."
Tala swatted at his arm. "Stop that – it's adorable, V." She glanced back over to Cade as he was saying something else now, obviously talking to Ruby again when he suddenly looked startled.
"Miss Ruby's crying."
Vince was over by his side before Tala even moved and was talking to her, trying to calm her. Cade in the meantime had run off to get his father just in case. He'd not even been gone a minute when Leon came barrelling out of his room, still half asleep and snatched the phone off Vince.
"Ruby? Ruby Jane, what's the matter? Talk to me, gemstone." He looked frightened, then started to relax and slumped into a chair. His head was cupped in his hand and he sighed.
"Fucking hormones.."
Tala tried not to laugh and immediately sobered at his sharp look.
He perked up a little, looking concerned again as Ruby said something to him on the other end. "Even so, if it gets any worse I want you to go see a doctor. I don't care if it is just a headache, Rubes. No – Ruby! Promise me. If it gets any worse, you go see someone." A look of relief washed over his face and he nodded to himself. "Alright gemstone – you go get some rest." He looked up. "Ruby says goodbye to everyone."
There was a chorus of farewells and one last shout from Cade before he hung up the phone, rubbing his face tiredly. He'd not been sleeping a whole lot at all.
"She's promised me that she'll see someone if her headache gets any worse, but for now she's going to go to bed and try to sleep it off."
"It's perfectly normal to get headaches, Le – you get them all the time."
He looked at Vince, slowly standing. "Yeah, but I'm not a pregnant woman ready to pop am I."
Vince watched him shuffle into his room and close the door, scowling after his brother. "Well you fucking act like one."