AN: Remember what I said in the first part… David has no Hobilly for a daughter… which means, my lovelies, he had no part in the baby-switch… remember that, peeps! Anyway… enjoy!

Stand By Me

Chapter Nine

Maggie disliked the fact that the curve of Bianca's stomach that would one day be a daughter had to be hidden all the time. It was an odd sort of annoyance that Bianca had to hide her baby and Maggie couldn't figure out why it annoyed her so much. Now, more than anything, Maggie wished that Bianca wasn't wearing that bulky winter coat of hers, hiding that growing curve of a belly.

She also wished she could wipe that mustard off the corner of Bianca's mouth but Lena could be meeting up with them any minute and, oh boy, Maggie didn't need any more of that today. Shaking herself and trying to bring her attention away from the dab of yellow, Maggie followed Bianca's line of sight, her eyes settling on what she was staring at, way up on the top shelf.

Bianca looked like she was, to put it quiet simply, completely in love… and, Maggie thought smugly, she certainly didn't look at Lena that way, now did she? This brief surge of excitement was quickly squashed by the knowledge that Bianca had yet to look at her like that either. Okay, there went that single second of joy, huh?

With renewed interest, Maggie looked at the lower shelves, noting with a flicker of irritation that those shelves weren't stocked with the item… the last one seemed to be way up in the higher planes of the atmosphere. It probably looked high enough to a tall gal like Binks but for Maggie… she could actually see the clouds drifting around the smooth box.

Luckily for Maggie, she was not afraid of heights.

She studied Bianca with warm eyes for a few moments, watching the excited glitter in her gaze, the gaze of a Kane woman who had decided that she wanted something. Kendall or Erica simply would have made half-naked shop boys get it for them and made extra sure that the shop boys were all hot and sweaty too.

Bianca, on the other hand, would simply stand here and gaze up at the box lovingly, not wanting to be a bother to anyone like the sweet female she was. Maggie, on the other, other hand, was no sweet female and, grinning like a vixen, she tapped the taller girl on the arm, getting two extremely nervous blinks as she reached up and hooked strands of dark hair behind her ears.

"Do you want that?"

A instant flush of pink and she shook her head, hair shifting and moving across her shoulders as she did. "No, Maggie, I don't want it, not really, I mean… I'll find something nice for her."

"Bianca." Her slightly sharp tone made the brunette fall silent, mouth closing quickly as her eyes widened slightly. "Bianca? This is one of those easy questions… do you want that for the baby?"

A hesitation as she studied her silently, lips pressed together and her eyes still wide. Her hands locked together before her, fingers lacing nervously, and then she gave up, sighing and drooping in the same moment. "Yes," she murmured quietly and then she frowned, looking baffled as the smaller woman set her purse on the floor and then shrugged out of her coat, laying it on top of the bag. "Maggie? Wait, what are you doing?"

"Making the baby happy," Maggie chirped before, easily darting away from Bianca's sudden grab for her, she stepped up closer to the shelves and, without a second thought, she started climbing up to grab what Bianca wanted. If Bianca wanted this box of parts, Bianca would get this box of parts!

"Maggie!" she hissed, looking around at the labyrinth, eyes nervously darting for any danger of someone coming to catch Maggie in her cat burglar act. "Maggie!" she hissed more loudly, and began stomping a foot angrily. "Maggie! Maggie, get down here right this instant!"

Maggie ignored her, locking her arms around an edge and grabbing the edge of the box, dragging it closer with a grin; okay, fine, she was enjoying how much caring was in Bianca's high-pitched whisper but that wasn't why she was now so focused on getting Bianca what she wanted… besides, it wasn't just Binks who wanted this, the baby wanted it to and, hey, Maggie lived to serve, didn't she?

Gripping the box tightly, she started climbing down, resting the box on each shelf as she passed by; finally, her feet touched the ground and she hopped down the final few inches, holding the box like a trophy in Bianca's direction. "Ta-da!" she sang happily, bouncing on the balls of her feet, grinning happily at her best friend… she was so proud of herself, at least until Lena's slightly angry voice reached her ears.

Even as the grin dried up on her face, Lena grabbed her by the arm, spinning her and she found herself staring up into lethal eyes. "What did you think you were doing up there? Didn't you hear how frightened Bianca sounded? Do you honestly think she or the baby needs the added stress?"

Maggie managed a single "um" before Lena rushed past her, grabbing Bianca by the shoulders and leaning forward and Maggie fought the urge to roll her eyes, still holding the box that held the play yard before her like a kind of shield against the Polish Terror… please, that accent was sooooo fake! Nobody from Poland talked like that!

"Bianca?"

Half-way past her, the brunette turned and set a hand on Maggie's arm, smiling slightly. "You… you didn't have to do that, Mags… look, I'll see you when Lena and I finish dinner…"

And then she was gone and Maggie just stared after her, standing stupidly with the box in her hands, probably looking extremely dumb and needy and dorky, having a crush on her pregnant best friend… and wanting to cry in the middle of the baby aisle… "Ma'am?"

She looked over, stared for a moment at the acne-cursed teenage boy blushing at her glance… "What?"

"Are you gonna get that or do I need to put it back on the shelf?"

She looked at him for a few more moments before glancing back down at the box with the image of the grinning cherub face, at the drool-decorated grin, and sighed. "Yeah… um, ring it up for me…"

When she got home just past noon, Maggie was so beyond exhausted she could barely walk and her hand was shaking as she fought to get the key into the lock, stifling a yawn as she did. Finally staggering in, she leaned against the door for a minute, staring at the sunlit apartment and contemplating how far away the bedroom seemed to be.

Joe had had to force her to leave Amy, who had been working on her luggage one second and then slumped, snoring, over her luggage the next, mouth agape, completely out. He'd driven her home and gotten her on the elevator but she'd refused to let him follow any farther.

She was vaguely confused about his too-casual-to-be-casual comments about David's dating life these days but maybe it was just her exhaustion? Now, with a grimace, she forced herself off the door, holding onto the couch as she passed it and then circled it, only dimly aware that Jonathon had cleaned up before he left.

Her bag was pulled from around her neck, dropped to the floor, quickly followed by her jacket. Yawning again, she sank down onto the couch, pulling the blanket off the back as she did. Tucking her legs up, she wrapped the blanket around herself, staring at the play yard that she hadn't been willing to give to Bianca yet. When she woke up, she'd be dropping it off.

She remembered, clearly, the night she had lost Miranda… she remembered coming home and, when it was silent, she'd snuck to her car and dug the box out of the bottom of the trunk, where she had hidden it until it was time to give to her favorite young Mommy and baby daughter… her daughter, if she let her walls down that moment before sleep…

She'd cried, silently, box in front of her, gripping it with white-knuckled hands, wet tracks decorating her pretty face… every time she almost stopped, something else came back and shifted forward into her mind… sometimes it was a memory of a kick against her palm while she and Bianca pigged out on ice cream and pickles in the middle of the night and sometimes it was the memory of getting that pink dress that Miranda would never wear…

And then she'd hidden it away again, unwilling to take it back, take back any memory of the baby she'd never gotten to hold or love… it had just stayed there and, every so often, she'd brought it out, looked down at it and cried some more, but only when she was alone, when nobody saw her weak and wanting fro what wasn't hers to begin with… she wasn't Lena… that little girl never would have called her mommy or mama or mom…

Yet, she had grieved, hadn't she? She'd cried and sobbed silently, head in her hands, feeling her insides shred into pieces, some hollow place where that little girl should have been, where she was supposed to give her what she hadn't been allowed to have…

And there it was, an empty play yard, and the only mark that Miranda had been there was a splotch of drool that had dried into a stain… she was supposed to be sitting in there, chewing toys and babbling in her perfect little language while she watched her mama and Maggie babble on about their own things…

Sleep was heavy and thick when it hit her and she blessed it when the pain faded away as a dim shadow, leaving only dark memories that faded into happier dreams of her and Amy, blushing as they shared dreams of being a doctor and saving lives and dreams of having a dog and selling things that people need and teaching people Amy's favorite things…

Amy woke to the most amazing, beautiful, wonderful smell she'd ever smelled… opening her eyes with a massive grin, she sniffed once, twice, beaming quietly… Owen had never cooked and her cooking skills were as bad as Micaela's driving skills… hence, she had absolutely none.

Resisting the urge to run downstairs and set up an altar to Ruth Martin, she lay on the bed that Maggie had apparently dragged her onto before leaving. Still in her jeans and tank top, she was a wrinkled mess and her hair, she noted with a tug of fingers, was apparently a bird nest.

She staggered, grimacing as she rolled forcefully to her feet and swayed for a moment before gazing around at the wreckage of the large bedroom she'd now call home. It should have felt strange, actually, being in a house like this but it simply wasn't… it actually felt right and that little fact made her grin to herself.

Of course, when she heard the sharp rap of knuckles against the door, she stepped forward, opened the door to view Joe Martin. Stepping back, she let him in and he looked around, smiling slightly at the lack of order. "Don't worry… this will all be picked up and cleaned…"

"I'm sure it will." He nodded, turned back to find her standing with a happy smile and her arms crossed over her chest. He handed her a worn blue robe laying half on the floor and she immediately tugged it on, closing it and sensing him grow less nervous as he did. "All dressed!"

"Good, good…" he paused for a moment, seeming to consider his next words carefully. "We do, of course, have some ground rules in this household."

"Of course," she agreed, nodding furiously and he smiled again, looking amused by her simply joy of being given rules… it was a refreshing difference from dealing with Tad all those years and he selected his words again. "I expect my wife to be respected and for you to treat my family with respect."

"Yes, sir," she replied immediately and it was only the happy glow on her face that kept him from thinking she was being cheeky with him… "I understand sir…"

"I work most mornings and Ruth spends all her mornings in the kitchen, so I'm not all that worried about you taking me or Ruth by surprise when you take care of your own personal issues. We also like to dinner together as a family and you are, of course, invited to all of our meals. God knows, Ruth loves feeding people who like to be fed." He looked her over, cocked an eyebrow. "She'll no doubt decide that you need to fattened up…"

"This is my weight… I was born skinny and weak looking… I'm waify…" Her voice had a slightly annoyed quality and he smiled yet again, unable to stop himself. "Ruth won't agree with that and you need to know that… if you ever need to escape from a feeding, call me or Tad and we'll get you out."

"Tad?"

"My son… adopted son, actually… he's been busy lately, he's in Switzerland right now, apparently and has decided not to answer my calls. However, I have no doubt that he'll be accepting and will also be of help if you need any."

"Okey-dokey, Loki."

He stared and she blushed, looking away… "It's just one of my strange and unusual sayings… Maggie makes fun of them but I hope you're nicer than when's being bitchy… not that she's always bitchy, because, you know, she isn't… she just has her moods… sometimes she gets really moody when she's hurt or in pain so you have to be careful…" she trailed off, another flush of pink rising in her neck and cheek.

"I have a few more rules but I'll let you get cleaned up… Ruth made a pot roast to celebrate the return of people who apparently need to be fed."

"She's a feeder."

He patted her shoulder as he passed, laughing, "You have no idea, dear."

Nova Scotia…

Erin was still, eyes on him as he slept, leaning back on the couch, jet lag having up with him like some great beast and hitting him hard. Eyes closed, head back, he breathed deeply and calmly, a steady sound that calmed her after everything…

In a pair of jeans and a warm brown sweater, she stood with her arms crossed, staring down at his figure and enjoying the few moments of quite stillness. The house around them was locked down, windows and doors shut and bolted as soon as he got in after her. His bags sat near the front door and she had bandaged the bruises he hadn't been able to reach.

Amazing how she could feel safe here, with him, and yet she did…

Erin closed her eyes, sighing deeply as she drew in the breath, holding it as she contemplated what he had done… hadn't worked and he hadn't gotten her… and all he had to show for it was a back and chest full of bruises and marks… he hadn't gotten his hands on her and, damn it, he had promised he would…

Her eyes snapped open at that sudden flare of anger, cringing and hating that flicker of fury… no, not Jonathon's fault… she shuddered as she exhaled harshly, and then opened her arms, stretching them up and over her head, listening to the pop and crack of bones and muscles that hadn't been moved in over an hour.

When her arms dropped, she found deep eyes studying him, alert despite just waking… they stared at one another, studied each other and listened to the silence… "I did it wrong… I disappointed you, Erin."

She inhaled and then exhaled, considering words that he always needed to hear to be okay and be able to deal… stepping forward quickly on bare feet, she folded herself up on the couch, and laid her head on his thigh, closing her eyes and feeling a hand drop to her shoulder very carefully, not hurting the ache that always started with cold.

"You could never disappoint me, baby."