Disclaimer:
The characters and situations of the TV program "SPACE: Above and Beyond" are the creations of Glen Morgan and James Wong, Fox Broadcasting and Hard Eight Productions, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended. Dylan Mackenzie belongs to me.
MANY THANKS to Karen, she's the bestest beta ever, and Vasalysa – who showed me the dark side.
McQueen's Ark 3.
McQueen tossed and turned in the bed. The covers were wrapped tightly around him and he fought them desperately, his arms flailing, as moaning and crying out, he tried to escape his nightmare….
He had a few precious moments to get up and away from her before she grabbed him again. He tried, but she was too fast, and he found himself pressed face down into the bed. Her weight was on his thighs where she sat, and he felt her weight on his back as well as she leant on him ,whispering in his ear, "What is it tanks are good for? Fucking and fighting? Well, we've seen how shit you are at fighting... can't even beat a woman, you fucking baby. So shall we see how you like to be fucked?"
His heart almost stopped as he felt her pulling on his pants, wrenching them down around his thighs. He began to struggle, unable to truly believe that she really would violate him in such a way. She loved him - he knew she did. As he felt her fingers kneading his behind, panic set in and he began to struggle wildly, his eyes wide with fear as her fingers pushed at his anus.
"No, Dill! Don't do it!" he screamed, his cries muffled by the bed sheets. "Please, Dill, don't do this to me!" He began to sob as her fingers entered him swiftly and smoothly. He gripped the sheets, unable to do much more, his body frozen in shock. Not that she was hurting him, but that she was actually doing this to him. He felt her slip a hand underneath him, grasping his cock and beginning to pump him. Despite himself, he felt his body responding. It sickened him. "Please, Dill," he begged, his whole body trembling as he sobbed. "Stop it. Don't do this to me. Not you. I can't take this from you. I'll do anything you want, but please don't do this to me! Not now... not like this! Not like this, Dill. Please..." He began to shudder more violently as her fingers stroked his prostate, and her hand pumped him faster until at last, no matter how hard he fought it, his body took over and he orgasmed into her hand.
She stopped. Her hands left his body and she was gone, leaving him face down on the bed, blood, tears and semen mingling on the sheets where he sobbed pitifully into them. He slowly pulled at his pants and sat up, looking for her. She was nowhere to be seen. Wiping his face, he stood on shaky legs, and taking several deep breaths, began to look for somewhere to hide before she came back….
Malcolm didn't know what to do. Here he was, sitting in a small rowing boat in the middle of the loch with two small boys, one of whom was having a seizure from what he could see. Cameron was pale and shaking. His voice came in broken sobs. "My… daddy!" he cried. "…my…daddy…." The boy'd been repeating it over and over for the last five minutes, while Hamish had stared at him, open mouthed.
"What about your daddy, wee one?" Malcolm asked him.
"Daddy's cr… cry… crying," Cameron sobbed.
Hamish's eyes widened. "Daddy's crying?" he whispered.
"I wanna go home!" Cameron suddenly wailed. "I wanna go home!"
Deciding that that indeed might be the best course of action, Malcolm turned the boat around and headed for shore. By that time Cameron was shaking again, his breath coming in short, sharp pants. Malcolm made one stop on the way to Dill's house to pick up Moira, who'd taken one look at Cameron and run for her medical bag. She checked the little boy out in the car as Malcolm drove the short distance to their home.
"What's the matter with him, Moira?"
"Cameron is fine. It's T.C. I'm worried about," Moira told him. "Drive faster, Malcolm."
"The boy is not fine. Look at him, for God's sake!"
"He'll be fine. Something's happened to T.C. Hurry!"
The car pulled up, spraying gravel, as Moira opened the door and Cameron flew out of the car and disappeared around the back of the house. Moira's eyebrows raised, and together the others made their way inside, Hamish clinging desperately to Moira's hand.
"Dylan? T.C.?" Moira called, hoping they were there.
Hamish took off down the hallway calling out, "Daddy, where is you?"
Moira followed him, praying she would see two red-faced grins as she pushed open the bedroom door. What she didn't expect was to see the bed in a mess and covered in bloodstains. Her heart pounded in her chest as she raced out of the room. "Malcolm! Are they out there?"
"No, Moira. Do you want me to go look?"
Just then Moira heard Cameron screaming for her. She turned and ran back into the kitchen and out of the back door, stopping only to hear where his calls were coming from. She ran towards the wood shed, her stomach churning. She found Cameron on his knees behind the huge pile of wood. And tucked into the furthest corner was McQueen, his head bent to his chest, showing his neck navel clearly, but also emphasising the blood on his chest. He wore only a pair of black sweatpants, and his feet were bare.
"Daddy!" Cameron pleaded, reaching for him. "Daddy, come out!"
McQueen flinched as the boy's fingers brushed against his bare flesh, and Moira heard a strangled sob.
"Cameron, sweetie, let me try," she told him, pulling him away. "Go and tell Hamish and Malcolm we found him. Tell Malcolm we didn't find mummy though."
Cameron was torn. On the one hand, here was Gamma telling him what to do, but on the other, here was daddy, who needed a cuddle.
"Cameron, please," Moira said quietly, but firmly.
Reluctantly the small boy backed out of the cramped space, and Moira eased herself in. "It's okay T.C. It's me, Moira," she whispered to him. "I can see that you're hurt. Let me help you, please. I need you to come out of there. Do you think you can do that for me? I can't reach you. T.C. - look at me."
McQueen's head came up slowly and Moira gasped. His face was a mess. His nose was swollen and bloody, and he had the beginnings of two black eyes.
"Who did this to you?" Moira saw the dull, dead look in his eyes, and was immediately terrified for Dill. "Where's Dylan, T.C. Where's Dill?"
At the mention of Dill's name McQueen dropped his head, and his shoulders began to shake as his body was wracked with sobs again.
"Is she okay? Is she hurt?" Moira watched as, very slowly, his head gave a tiny shake.
"She's not hurt?" Again the tiny shake.
"Look at me." McQueen looked up into her eyes, and she looked more closely at his face.
"Did Dylan do this to you?" She prayed the shake would come, but to her horror this time it was a slight nod. She'd have missed it if she'd not been looking for it.
"Oh, T.C. Please," Moira reached out to him, grabbing his hand as he tried to pull away, "come inside with me. Let me clean you up." He huddled further back.
"Come on, T.C., you need to come out of there. I won't hurt you, I promise. Please, Ty." Moira saw the look that crossed his face, knowing she'd never called him Ty before. "Come on, Ty, let me help you."
Very slowly McQueen began to edge closer to her. Moira heared voices and turned, but still she held onto Ty's hand.
"We couldn't find her, Moira," Malcolm told her.
"She'll be up at the bothy. That's where she always went as a child when she'd done something she knew was wrong. Don't you go, Malcolm. I'll get her later... give her some breathing space. I have more serious things to deal with here." Moira looked at the two boys standing behind Malcolm. She wanted to send them away, but knew they needed to stay near their daddy. "Malcolm, take the boys inside and put the TV on for them. Get them a drink and some biscuits and then leave. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Yes, Moira," he said, recognising her no-nonsense tone. Malcolm gathered the boys in his arms and took them inside.
She'd almost managed to get McQueen out into the open when Moira saw Malcolm returning. Instantly McQueen stiffened, his body beginning to tremble. "No, Malcolm, stay there! I'll speak to you later."
"Dylan's car has gone, Moira," he said. "Wherever she is, she's gone by car. She can't get to the bothy by car."
"Please, Malcolm, leave!"
He nodded and walked away round the side of the house.
Once he'd gone Moira coaxed McQueen out further, and taking his hand, she put an arm around him and led him indoors. She led him into the bathroom and shut the door. "I'm going to tell the boys that you're here," she told him. "Don't move."
She was back a few minutes later, her medical bag at her side. "Come on then, my love. Let's take a look at that face." Moira spent twenty minutes gently washing him, talking to him the whole time in a soft and gentle soothing voice. Not once did he reply. He simply sat on the edge of the bath motionless, staring at the floor, lifting his head only when she lifted it herself. His total withdrawal scared Moira. Whatever had happened with him and Dylan was bad, that she could tell. McQueen looked traumatised. As she cleaned the blood from his chest, Moira wondered about what could have happened to do his to him. She closed her eyes as a thought hit her. Surely Dylan wouldn't have done that to him?
"Stand up, Ty," Moira said as she finished cleaning off the last of the blood. "Look at me." When he was looking at her, Moira stared McQueen straight in the eyes. "Did Dill hurt you? Did she…." She could hardly bring herself to say it. In the end she didn't have to. A tear crept slowly down McQueen's face, followed by another, until he was silently sobbing in front of her.
"Let me see the damage," she told him, turning him until he was facing the wash basin. Moira reached to pull Ty's pants down, but he grabbed her hand to stop her.
"If you won't let me examine you, will you at least tell me?" she pleaded.
McQueen shook his head, but tears began to fall again, his chest heaved with the effort to stop them. Moira wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly to her, stroking his head. "It's alright, Ty. It is. Let it out," she cooed to him, feeling him relax into her arms. His own wrapped around her and held on tightly, as the dam burst and his whole body shook with the force of his cries.
Moira waited until Ty'd calmed, and lifting his head, kissed him on the forehead. "I don't want you to get the wrong impression about me. You'll always be a rotten tank, but you're my rotten tank, okay?" She smiled at the tiny nod. "Come on. I think I'll run you a bath to help you relax, and then I'm going to give you something to help you sleep."
McQueen shook his head.
"No to the bath or the drugs?"
"The drugs," he whispered.
"Take the bath and we'll see," Moira told him firmly. "Do you want me to stay with you?"
He shook his head.
"Promise me you won't do anything silly," she said as she turned the taps on.
"Promise," he said softly.
"And don't lock this door."
She left him to run the bath and went into the bedroom, stripping the sheets and making him up a clean bed. She debated on whether to drug him without telling him, but decided against it. Ty'd already had enough traumas for one day. Moira went to check on the boys, telling them that daddy was having a bath and that he was going to bed afterwards. They could come and give him a kiss once she'd tucked him up. Then she went back to the bathroom.
Moira tapped on the door before going in, and found McQueen still sitting, staring at the water in the bath. He hadn't moved except to turn the taps off.
"Come on," she said, sounding every inch the doctor that she was. "Stand up."
Ty stood up listlessly, lifting first one foot and then the other as Moira slipped his pants down his legs. "In the bath, Ty." He stepped in and sat down, his arms wrapping around his knees.
"I'm going to wash you over and then find you some pyjamas to put on. We'll get you dressed and put you to bed, okay?"
He just sat there his arms wrapped around his knees, his face blank. Moira's heart felt like it would burst. He looked so lost - so alone and forlorn.
She sat on the edge of the bath. "Tell me, Ty. Tell me what happened. Please."
He shook his head vehemently.
"Well, I've already worked out that Dylan did this to you. But I don't understand why. She adores you. Help me understand why, Ty."
"It wasn't Dill," he whispered.
"It was someone else? Where's Dill, Ty?" The thought that they'd been attacked almost stopped her heart.
"Inverness," he said quietly. "Shopping."
"So how did you come to look like this?" Moira asked softly.
"We had a row. I pulled her off her feet, she fell on me, and her head hit me in the face. I think my nose is broken."
Moira smiled wryly. "I'd say that's an accurate statement. That's where all the blood is from? You are going to have two spectacular black eyes tomorrow."
Ty nodded. "Dill cleaned me up, but I must have hit my nose again, because I woke up covered in blood.
"But that doesn't explain why you were hiding in the wood shed."
He hung his head, a crimson blush creeping up his neck and face. "I had a nightmare," he finally whispered, so softly Moira had to strain to hear.
"A nightmare? "
He nodded.
"I'm guessing it was pretty bad, the way it affected Cameron," Moira said thoughtfully.
"Cameron?"
"Yes. He had a seizure of some kind. He forced Malcolm to bring him home, and thank God they stopped to pick me up. Can you tell me about it?"
Ty shook his head.
"I think I can make an educated guess, considering the state you were in." Moira thought for a moment. "It must have been to do with your row, because you said Dill had hurt you. I'm guessing it was violent. We both know how she can be. From the state of you I thought maybe she'd done something terrible to you, but you stopped me checking. She did it to you in the nightmare?"
He nodded.
"That's why you ran when you woke up. You woke up covered in blood from your nose, and thought the whole thing was real. You had to getaway?"
Again he nodded.
"No wonder Dill made you get help. You are still having therapy, aren't you?"
"Yes," Ty said softly.
"Good boy. Come on, let's dry you off and get you into bed. I told the boys they could see you once you're tucked up." Moira smiled at his startled look. "Ty, they are scared silly for you. They need to see that you're okay. I know you look frightful, but they need to cuddle you. And for you to cuddle them."
Moira let him dry himself off and led him by the hand into the bedroom. "I've changed the sheets. Come on now, into these pyjamas and into bed." She handed him the blue banana pyjamas before pulling back the covers for him to get in. "Try to sleep. I'm going to get the boys now, and then I'll wait for Dill."
"No," he whispered.
"No rest? No boys, or no Dill?" she asked.
"Don't tell Dill," Ty said in a soft voice filled with despair, as having pulled on the pyjamas, he got into bed. "Please."
Moira sat on the edge of the bed and stroked his hair. "Oh, my love, I have to. She's my daughter, and heaven knows she'd never forgive me if I didn't."
"She'll leave me," McQueen whispered. "I love her. I don't want to lose her."
"I know you do. She knows you do. And you're wrong, Ty - she won't leave you."
He rolled away from her.
Sighing, Moira got up and went to see the boys.
"Okay, chaps, daddy is in bed. He's very, very sad, and even mummy can't make him happy at the moment. He needs cuddles from you, but be gentle. He has a very poorly face."
The boys followed her, both of them looking worried, but smiling at the sight of their daddy in the bed. They climbed up onto the bed and wrapped their arms around him, kissing his face softly. He rolled onto his back and cuddled them to him, one in each arm, a smile on his face.
Moira smiled as she closed the door on them. She headed to the kitchen. After this she really needed a cup of tea.
An hour later Dill arrived home, her arms filled with bags.
"Hi mother. What are you doing here?"
"Thank God you're home," Moira said wearily. "It's been like... well, who knows what it's been like? Cameron pitched a fit about Ty and scared Malcolm witless. They came and got me, and we all got back here to find Ty in the woodshed…."
Dill stopped unpacking her groceries and turned to Moira, confused. "Mother, what are you talking about? What was Ty doing in the wood shed? He was sound asleep when I left him."
"It seems he had a nightmare," Moira sighed. "He dreamt that you and he had a row… and you sexually assaulted him. He was traumatised by it for quite a while, before he could speak and tell me that it had been a nightmare. Until then I thought you had done it to him."
Dill gripped the kitchen counter, her face paling. "You thought I'd do that to him? After all we've been through together? My God, that would be the end of us, mother. I wouldn't do that to him. Is he alright? Where is he?" She made to leave the kitchen, but Moira reached out and held her back.
"He's in bed. The boys are with him. He'll have the most spectacular black and purple eyes. His nose is definitely broken, Dill. He says you fell on him?" she said disbelievingly.
"It's true. We were arguing. I was ready to hit him and pushed him over onto the bed. He grabbed me and dragged me with him. My head hit him full in the face. His nose just exploded everywhere," Dill said in a horrified voice. "I have to see him!"
She ran down the hallway and into the bedroom. Ty was lying on his back, the boys asleep snuggled each side of him.
"Hey, Dill," he whispered. "From the look on your face, I guess she told you?"
"Oh, baby!" she cried, moving to the bed and sitting carefully, trying not to disturb the boys.
Moira appeared in the doorway. "Let me move the boys into their own beds so you can have a little privacy," she smiled, gently lifting Hamish in her arms and carrying him out.
"I'll get Cameron and then we need to talk," Dill told Ty, picking up the other sleeping boy.
In the hallway her mother, having put Hamish in his bed, took Cameron from her. "Go back to him, Dill. He needs you badly at the moment. He really was quite traumatised by the whole thing, and he's scared you'll leave him."
"My poor baby," Dill whispered as she went in and closed the door behind her.
McQueen was sitting up, his arms around his knees. "I'm sorry, Dill."
"Why are you sorry, my lover?"
"I scared everyone with my nightmare."
"It's okay. They'll all get over it. I'm more concerned about you. Mother told me what your nightmare was about." Dill sat down and wrapped her arms about him, kissing his cheek softly. "I would never do that to you, my lover. Not ever, not even in anger. I'm managing to control my temper, thanks to those breathing exercises you showed me. I know I shouted, but I didn't hit you, did I?"
"No," Ty said quietly, leaning into her arms and nuzzling against her neck. "I need you, Dill."
"You want us to make love?" she asked him.
"No," he whispered, his head nuzzling down her neck.
"Ah," she smiled. "Come on then. Let's lie down and I'll take my shirt off."
Dill removed her shirt and bra and lay down, pulling Ty to her as, with his eyes closed, he nuzzled her breast and began to suckle. She stroked his hair as she felt his body begin to relax, and his hand begin to knead at the breast he suckled from.
"It's okay, Ty." Dill spoke softly to him, reassuring him as he sought comfort from her. "I won't leave you. I love you far too much. You've been so good about your sessions with Hilary, and she told me you've not missed a single one. That must have been difficult to do. Especially if you were involved in any fighting."
"Glen made sure I didn't miss them. He even ordered me off the bridge once," Ty mumbled around her nipple. "I thought my sessions were private. Why are you talking to her?"
"They are, my lover, but she's spoken to me too. There have been a few things she said that she and I needed to discuss," she told him.
"Like what?"
"Oh, that would be telling!" Dill chuckled. "My sessions are private too!"
"Do you talk about me?" His interest was piqued now.
"Of course. We talk about how I feel about our relationship... how I perceive it."
"Oh," Ty mumbled.
"And we talked about this too," Dill smiled. "The way you seek comfort from me. There's no milk. You do know that, don't you?"
"I know there's no milk, but I thought you didn't mind?" he said, releasing her nipple and lifting his head to look at her, panic in his eyes.
"I don't. I like it," she smiled at him. "It sort of... well, it strengthens my love for you, I guess. It's like it bonds you to me more. When you need comfort, you seek it from me. When you can, obviously. Though I do worry about how you cope on the 'Toga, with no breast to suckle. Have you taken to sucking your thumb instead?"
"No!" Ty said indignantly. "I'm not a child!"
"Aren't you? Are you sure about that?" Dill asked. "We've talked about that, too. The fact that I treat you like a child. I'm sorry, Ty. I don't mean to, but I dominate you, and that's unfair."
"No, you don't," Ty whispered.
"Yes, I do. I boss you around and take charge all the time. You always give in to me. Hilary says it's because it's ingrained in you to be submissive. In the mines you had to do as you were told, and it's the same in the corps. You're trained to follow orders, and that's what you do. You follow mine, however subliminal they may be…," Dill sighed. "You don't even attempt to dominate me in bed. You work to please me, to make me happy. And sometimes it seems as though you put your own needs last. If I make you feel good... well, that's a bonus. It's not fair, Ty."
"It's true. I do follow orders and have done my whole life. But that doesn't mean you dominate me. And even if you do, do you hear me complaining? You make me happy like I never believed I could ever be. I feel safe with you. I know you'll look after me. That's important to me, Dill. I never had anyone looking after me before. Not ever. You can't begin to imagine how that feels. All those years knowing no one cared what happened to me... if I lived or died... I was just another dirty tank. And then finding you..." Ty kissed her breast softly. "To you, I was someone you loved. You saw how scared I was, and you comforted me. No one had ever done that before. Hilary says you're my mother figure... that I look to you to provide me with the security that a mother would give. And that's why I began feeding from you. When you became a mother, I wanted you for my mother, too."
Dill laughed. "That's what she told me too. And then she told me I encourage you because I want to continue to dominate you. By offering you my breast I keep you submissive to me, or something like that."
"No, Dill. You're exactly what I need... what I missed out on. And I'm sorry that I've put that on you."
"Don't be sorry. I love you, despite all your weird baggage. You're perfect for me, too, despite what you may think. You gave me the confidence I needed with my mother. And you give me comfort, too. When I'm feeling blue you hold me, and I feel so much better knowing you're there to protect me and keep me safe. You're my big, strong marine. You make me feel loved and needed, and that strokes my ego." Dill chuckled. "Of course the fact that you're a damn sexy man helps too!"
"It makes me feel good inside knowing you think that," Ty smiled. "Knowing that you look to me to take care of you... to keep you safe. It makes me feel like a big, strong marine. I guess my ego's stroked too."
"My roughty, toughty man," she snickered.
Seeing that she was going to get the giggles, Ty smiled. He'd told her how he felt and she hadn't run screaming from the room. It was okay. She loved him anyway.
"Dill."
"Yes?"
"Wanna get all hot and sweaty with your roughty, toughty man?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Dill giggled as he began pulling at her jeans.
They were soon swept away by his urgent need. Ty gripped Dill's shoulders as he pumped furiously inside her, while she wrapped her legs around him and urged him on to greater speed. With a deep, throaty growl he came, plunging deep inside her and collapsing on top of her, his heart racing and his chest heaving from the urgency of it. She stroked his back, kissing his neck and nibbling at his ear as she held him close.
"Wow," she whispered. "That was pretty furious."
"Sorry," Ty groaned, rolling off her.
"Don't be. I enjoyed it. And I'd say you did too!" Dill giggled.
"Mmmm," he sighed, snuggling up to her. "I sure did."
"Go to sleep, Ty." She chuckled as he yawned.
"Yes, Dill," he yawned again.
Dill waited until Ty was snoring softly, then slipped out of bed, and gathering up her clothes, tiptoed into the bathroom to get dressed.
Moira was still sitting in the kitchen, drinking yet more tea. "I made another pot. It should still be drinkable."
"It's your answer to everything, isn't it? A pot of tea," Dill smiled, pouring herself a cup and pulling out a chair.
"Is he okay?" Moira asked.
"I think so. We had a long chat, a few cuddles, and he's sleeping again." Dill sipped her tea. "He's going to need his next session with Hilary, that's for sure."
"And what about you?"
"Me? I'm fine. Worried about my husband, but fine. How are the boys? Still asleep?"
Moira nodded. "They won't sleep long. I think they wore themselves out with fright."
"Well, as long as they sleep long enough for me to make some lunch and go get Izzy, I'll be happy." Dill shook her head. "The poor little chaps must have been terrified."
"Cameron had some sort of seizure. He was pale and shaking, breathless and terrified that something had happened to T.C. We have to stop ignoring it, Dill. There's some kind of link between the two of them. How else would Cameron know about his nightmare? How many times has Cameron announced suddenly that daddy is cross, or that he's sad? How does he know, Dill, when T.C. is away, how he's feeling?" Moira said.
"Don't, mother. Don't say what I know you're implying."
"This has something to do with Hamish, too. Just what did they do to T.C. at his conception? How is it affecting his children?"
"Mother, don't. I really don't want to have this discussion. Not right now. Not today," Dill said tersely.
"When, Dylan? You can't keep burying your head in the sand. Aerotech did something to his genes, and it's affecting your children."
"Don't you think I know that? Do you think I haven't noticed how good Hamish's sense of smell is? Or his hearing? And of course I know Cameron is sensitive to Ty's moods. It's me he gets into bed with in the middle of the night, telling me that daddy is very upset, or cross. It's me he asks if daddy is angry with him," she snapped. "Don't you think I look at Izzy everyday and wonder how she's going to turn out? Dammit, mother, every morning I look at those three little faces smiling at me and I wonder what's going to happen to them. I have Hamish, super soldier, and Cameron the empath. And Izzy... she chuckles to herself like she's hearing things we can't! It's enough to know they'll get called tank brats without them being weird too!"
"You think your children are weird?" Moira was shocked.
"No, they're my babies. Mine and Ty's. I love them so much it hurts. But other people will call them weird and they shouldn't have to go through that. And it's all bloody Aerotech's fault!" Dill fumed.
"Drink your tea and think about lunch. I'll go get Izzy for you. Pink, Dylan? She looked like a raspberry this morning when Malcolm dropped her off."
"That was Ty. I think he feels she's a girl and ought to be dressed like one. I'm going to take him shopping in Inverness and let him choose her some girly stuff," Dill smiled.
"You know full well you'll never put her in it!" Moira chuckled.
"She'll wear it to keep daddy happy. I think he wants a little girly girl to fuss over," Dill grinned.
"Shame he has Izzy then!" Moira laughed. "Does he know she still eats bugs if she gets the chance?"
"Not yet. I haven't had a chance to warn him!" Dill chuckled. "She ate a spider yesterday. Hamish was fascinated and just sat and watched her eat it! Cameron came running to fetch me, but of course by the time I got there it was too late."
"She really is disgusting, Dylan. You have got to stop her." Moira shook her head.
"I'm doing my best, but it's not like I can tape her mouth up, is it? You know what she's like. I turn my back for a second and it's 'oh yum, a woodlouse!'"
"Well, on that revolting thought, I'm off to get her," Moira smiled. "I'd check on the boys if I were you. Wake them up, or they'll not sleep tonight. And if I know you two, you'll want them to go to bed on time."
"Mother!" Dill laughed.
"I had the bedroom next to yours last summer, remember? You two kept me awake more nights than I care to mention!" she threw over her shoulder as she disappeared out of the back door.
Laughing to herself, Dill set about making a late lunch.
McQueen woke to the sound of childish whispers.
"Be quiet, Hamish! Mummy said we mustn't wake daddy up."
"But I wants to kiss him!" came the indignant reply.
"But you had kisses already!"
"Well, I wants more!"
"That's greedy!" Cameron whispered.
"What's that?" Hamish asked.
"A piglet."
"Why you drawing a piglet?"
McQueen lay there, slowly opening his eyes to see what they were up to. He could see two blond heads sitting on the floor by the side of the bed. Obviously they were drawing. But why piglets, he wondered.
"Daddy's going to buy me one."
"Daddy's gonna buy you a piglet?" Hamish said in a voice filed with awe. "Is he gonna buy me a piglet?"
"No."
"What's he gonna buy me?" Hamish asked excitedly.
"Nuffin'."
"Nuffin'?"
Cameron considered for a moment. "A baby goat. Daddy's gonna buy you a baby goat."
There was silence for a while, and then, "What will daddy buy Izzy?"
More silence as Cameron thought about it.
"Daddy's gonna buy Izzy a dress."
Hamish seemed satisfied with that and carried on drawing happily.
"Look, Cam'ron. Daddy's fighting Action Man."
"Why?"
"Because… because…," the little boy was obviously thinking about it. "Because Action Man kissed mummy!" Hamish told him.
"Where's mummy?"
"There, look!" Hamish pointed.
"What's she doing?"
"She's crying."
"Why?"
"Because Action Man kissed her, silly!"
"Why's daddy fighting Action Man?"
"I already tole you! Because he kissed mummy!" Hamish sounded put out by Cameron's obvious lack of concentration.
"Seems like a good enough reason to me," McQueen told them, making them jump.
"Daddy!"
"You's awake!"
Both boys leapt onto the bed, crowding him with hugs and kisses.
"Would you fight Action Man, daddy?" Cameron asked.
"If he kissed mommy, I would. I'd kick his ass," Ty chuckled.
"You'd do what?" came Dill's voice from the doorway. "Don't you listen to him boys. He's a naughty daddy!"
She carried Isobel over to the bed. "Say hello to your dumpling," Dill smiled, as Ty reached out to take the toddler.
"Hello, Dumpling," he grinned, kissing her face. "Only she's not such a dumpling anymore."
"No, she's not, now that she runs around after these two," Dill smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Putting Isobel down and leaning forward, Ty kissed Dill soundly. "There, let Action Man beat that!" he grinned at the boys.
Even Dill laughed.