As Abe emerges from the bathroom, he finds John struggling with the port-a-crib and swiftly goes over to help the agent. They set up the play pen a lot faster than it took to take it down and then get the twins settled into it. As soon as that's done, Dr. Hodson knocks on the doorway, now fully dressed in her regular clothes.
"How is she doing?" she asks.
"She's still very depressed, but she has eaten and she's now in the bathroom," Abe answers.
"By herself?" she questions in a worried voice.
"I'm keeping in touch with her mind," Abe assures her. "She's very depressed, but she's not thinking suicidal thoughts right now."
"Good," she sighs with relief and then holds out a bottle with a child proof cap. "Here, give her these. Just follow the directions on the bottle."
"Anti-depressants," Abe states before even taking the container.
"Yes, it's a low dose," she replies as he takes the bottle. "Let's see if that does any good and if it doesn't, I'll prescribe a stronger dosage. I don't want to mess up her milk supply with medication if I can help it. Speaking of milk, how did last night go?"
"It was hectic at times," Abe responds with a graceful wave of his hand towards the silent man standing off to the side. "Luckily, John was able to help me."
"Hey, not a problem," John replies shyly. "Do you need anything else?"
"Would you mind watching the twins for a while?" Abe asks. "I want to get Maggie cleaned up."
"I guess I could do that," John answers hesitantly. "But what do I do if they start to wake up?"
"Come and get me," Abe tells him as he starts to turn towards the bathroom. "I'll see if I can get Maggie to nurse a little bit before we give them a bottle. Thank you, John."
With that, Abe disappears through the bathroom door leaving John and Hodson standing there. Hodson looks at the table covered in various things including all of the dirty bottles and sighs with a shake of her head. She quietly collects the bottles and puts them in the now empty box and then stacks the breakfast tray on top of the box as John quickly dashes downstairs to collect his paper work. As she's leaving she's met by John coming in with an armload of papers.
"I'll send someone with more bottles in a bit," she tells him as they dance around each other.
"What's wrong with those?" he asks.
"They're all dirty," she replies.
"But why didn't he wash them in the sink?" he questions.
"I don't think he knows yet," she answers.
"And he calls himself a psychic," he chuckles.
"Well, he has been a bit distracted," she responds with a smile.
John just shakes his head and heads into the bedroom to work on his paperwork that seems to have multiplied over night.
Abe quietly enters the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and finds Maggie just staring at herself at the large mirror over the sink. He steps up behind her, slipping his arms around her. She immediately pushes him away and retreats as far as she can from him.
"Don't touch me," she tells him, refusing to look him in the face. "I'm fat and ugly."
"You aren't fat," he replies and gets a withering glare in response. "You've gained some weight, that's true, but that's to be expected. Once you start an exercise regime you'll lose the weight in no time. And you most certainly are not ugly."
"Going to be hard to exercise when Manning has me locked up," she moans as new tears leave tracks down her face.
"Manning isn't going to have you locked up," he assures her as he takes a step closer.
"Then why did he have me brought down here?" she demands, pressing herself into the wall.
"He didn't," Abe tells her. "Dr. Hodson and I thought it would be best if you were where people could help you."
"Help with what?" she sniffs. "Manning's just going to take the babies away saying I'm an unfit mother. And he'd be right."
She immediately dissolves into tears again as she slowly sinks to the floor, hugging herself. He gets down on the floor with her and pulls her into his arms. He gently rocks her until she cries herself out again and then continues holding her until she pushes away. He gets up and she's not sure whether or not she's happy about this until he returns with a drink of water and a pill for her.
"What is that?" she asks eyeing the small capsule suspiciously.
"It's an anti-depressant," he answers as he continues to hold the drink and pill out to her.
"So I need to be drugged now," she mutters bitterly.
"It's to help you feel better," he points out. "Please take it."
"Do I have a choice?" she sadly asks.
"No, not really," he answers.
"You'd force it down my throat?" she questions with a quavering voice, looking at him with horror filled eyes.
"No, of course not," he replies in shock. "But I might have to ask Dr. Hodson to give it to me in liquid form and then I'd give it to you in shots."
A shudder runs through her body just before she timidly takes the pill and water. He watches her intently as she takes her medication. He takes the cup after she's drained it and then gently kisses her on the temple.
"Let's get you cleaned up," he suggests.
"Do I have to?" she whines.
"Yes," he chuckles.
"Fine," she grumbles, but makes no move to get up off of the floor.
He just smiles gently as he stands and starts filling the tub. After getting the water to the temperature he knows she likes, he returns the cup to the sink. As the water continues to flow, he slowly gets her undressed and even though she doesn't fight him, she doesn't help either.
After he has her stripped, he stands up and proceeds to do the same to himself. While it's more than obvious to him that she's in no mood for fooling around, his body has other ideas. He sternly tells his body to behave itself, but it's not listening and he sees her eyeing him suspiciously.
"Let's get you cleaned up," he says as he walks over to her.
"No," she growls, still eyeing his growing manhood.
"I won't do anything that you don't want," he states and gets a disbelieving glare in response. "It's been four days Maggie, what did you expect it to do?"
"Fine, whatever," she replies in a melancholy tone.
He waits for her to stand, but instead she hugs her legs to her body and rests her head on her knees. He turns off the water and then goes back to her, kneeling, he starts to lift her into his arms. As soon as skin meets skin, her depression hits him like a ton of bricks and anything that might have resembled a growing interest quickly deflates.
A violent shudder runs through his body as he tries to control the deluge of emotions from her. As he fights to regain his mental balance, she starts to shove him away. She catches him off guard and he suddenly finds himself sitting on his backside, blinking at her in surprise. She scrambles for the door and he only just manages to catch her in time to prevent her escape.
"John is out there," he tells her, quieting her struggles for a moment.
"Let go," she angrily mumbles as she tries to push him away.
"No," he replies as he pulls her away from the door and picks up on why she's so upset. "I am not repulsed by you. I love you and I love holding you."
"Then why'd you shake like that?" she demands bitterly.
"When I touch your skin, I can read your emotions," he explains. "The more skin contact we have, the stronger the reading. I didn't prepare myself for all that you're feeling right now and it took me by surprise. I do love you and I will always want to touch you."
"Yeah, sure," she responds listlessly.
"If I have too I will make love to you right hear on the bathroom floor even with John in the other room," he quietly insists as he brings his mouth to her ear. "It'd probably put him in therapy for years, but I'll do it."
She gives a weak chuckle and then sags against him. He holds her for a while, sending her thoughts of love and encouragement before he picks her up into his arms. He carefully steps into the tub and then sets her back on her feet. He slowly lowers himself into the water, gently pulling her down with him.
As his body starts to submerge, he's very glad that he insisted on having a custom made tub built so that they can comfortably take a bath together. He guides her until she's laying back on her half of the bath with her head on the built in pillow. Once she's settled, he fully sinks under the water, humming with relief.
While the water is fresh instead of salt and it's warmer than he particularly cares for, it's still better than being out of it. He keeps a hand on her now rather squishy stomach as he starts to drift off. He's shaken out of his doze when she suddenly starts thrashing causing him to sit up. As soon as his head surfaces from his wet bed, he hears her shrieking and John profusely apologizing.
"Maggie, calm down!" Abe yells to be heard as he pulls Maggie into his arms. "John, please leave!"
"Leaving, right," John stammers as he dashes out the door.
It takes a couple minutes to get Maggie calmed down enough to get anything rational out of her. Once that's done though, Abe leaves her in the tub, wraps a towel around his middle and heads out to the bedroom. He finds John holding a fussy Morgan and he's rocking and singing the alphabet song to her in an attempt to get her to calm down.
Abe takes pity on the young agent and relieves him of the child. He then strips Morgan out of her clothes and diaper and returns to the bathroom. He drops his towel on the floor, climbs back into the bath and without even checking with the mother first, gets the baby latched on.
Maggie doesn't push Morgan away, but she doesn't hold her child either and this saddens Abe to no end. Despite the lack of attention from her mother, Morgan happily floats underwater, her green coloring more vibrant than ever as she nurses what she can from the breast she's latched onto. When Morgan is done, Abe takes her, dries her off, puts his towel back on and returns to the bedroom. John is just picking Dylan up when Abe reappears.
"Oh, good," John sighs with relief when he sees the merman. "I didn't want to upset Maggie again. Dr. Hodson sent up some more bottles but I'm not sure what to do."
Abe quickly redresses Morgan while giving John directions on how to get a bottle ready, not an easy task with a squirming baby in his arms, but he manages to make less of a mess of it then Abe did his first time. By the time Morgan is dressed, she's starting to get fussy again and Abe hands her over to John while taking Dylan off of his hands. John sticks the bottle in Morgan's mouth and watches as Abe divests his son of clothes and diaper.
"Is she ok in there by herself?" John whispers.
"She's still very depressed, but she's more listless than suicidal at this point," Abe replies.
"That's good," John replies. "Listen, about earlier…"
"That was my fault," Abe interrupts. "I didn't warn her that you would be coming to get me and I was so tired I was falling asleep when you came in. I'm sorry if I upset you."
"I'm more worried about her then me," John says as he sits in a chair by the table. "By the way, Liz now knows that Maggie and the twins are down here, but we didn't tell her why. Guillermo thinks one overly emotional woman around here is enough."
"He's right," Abe responds as he heads for the bathroom. "Sooner or later Liz will remember and then we will see what happens."
"And what I wouldn't give to miss those fireworks," John mumbles to Morgan after her father disappears through the bathroom door.
"All right, now where did they go?" Guillermo mumbles to himself.
"Where did what go?" John asks as he steps off of the stairs, carrying his paperwork in his arms.
"I had a stack of papers sitting here on my desk last night," Guillermo replies as he points to a bare spot on his cluttered desk. "I was in the process of translating and cataloging them. I know I left them right there."
"Well, that explains a lot," John sighs as he walks over to the librarian and puts the bundle down on the empty area. "I was working at your desk last night and when I took everything upstairs it felt like my paper work had doubled. I guess I grabbed your papers as well as my own. I was in such a rush I didn't check if I had any extra."
"It's perfectly alright, my boy," Guillermo chuckles as he pats John on the shoulder. "At least I know I'm not losing my mind. How are they doing, by the way?"
"Ok, I guess," John replies as he starts to separate the papers. "Maggie's had breakfast and bathed and the twins are fed, changed and sleeping, but she still doesn't want to hold them. Abe doesn't look so great. He seems to be pretty wiped out."
"That's ok, the Calvary is on the way," Guillermo smiles as he glances towards the ceiling briefly before looking back at John. "Go get some rest. Hellboy should be relaxed soon, so you better get caught up on your sleep now."
"You don't have to tell me twice," John chuckles just before he lets out a huge yawn.
As the agent exits, Dr. Manning walks into the library.
"I assume you know," Manning grumbles.
"Who do you think called them?" Guillermo asks as an eyebrow arches while the golden doors that lead to the lift, open.
"Somebody pinch me, I think I've died and gone to heaven," Rupert states in wonder as he stares around him.
"Gladly," Selma smirks as she walks past him, putting action to words and causing Rupert to jump.
"I said pinch, woman, not goose," he playfully admonishes.
"Pinch, goose, whatever," she shrugs.
"If you children are through," Susan growls as she stalks past them.
"Wow, this place is amazing," Peg gasps, staring in wonder at the walls.
"About time you lot arrived," Guillermo teases, dragging their attention to him and Manning. "I assume you remember Dr. Manning."
"It's nice to see you again, Dr. Manning," Selma greets first. "I don't mean to be rude, but where's Maggie?"
"She's upstairs with Abe," Manning replies. "I'll show you the way."
Manning heads for the spiral staircase, quickly checks to make sure the others are following him and then heads up followed by Selma, Rupert, Susan, Peg and Guillermo bringing up the rear.
"Just touch one of them," Abe encourages.
"No," Maggie stubbornly refuses. "I don't deserve to be their mother."
She starts crying again and all he can do is pull her close and hold her as they sit on the bed, leaning against the headboard. He's exhausted beyond words, his skin is so dry it's on the verge of cracking and his patience is about at an end. When Manning comes through the doorway he's less than thrilled, but when he sees who's with him, he all but jumps for joy.
Selma immediately pushes her way past everyone to get to her daughter and takes a seat next to her on the bed opposite of Abe. She gently pulls Maggie towards her and when Maggie sees who's touching her, she collapses into her mother's arms crying heart wrenching sobs. Abe's self esteem drops to a new all time low and he slowly leaves the bed only to have his place taken by Rupert a second later.
"I suggest we should leave them for now," Guillermo quietly states before turning his attention to Abe. "You need some rest or you'll be worse off than Maggie."
Manning, not being comfortable with the emotional situation, gladly vacates the area. Susan and Peg stay a little longer, but decide to head out for now. It's Abe that doesn't budge much to Guillermo's disgust.
"Abe, either get your scaly butt back in that tank or so help me I'll get Hellboy in here to throw you in," Guillermo hisses.
Abe hesitates at first, but one look at the man's face and he doesn't need to be a psychic to know that Guillermo is not joking. With a begrudging nod, Abe walks on shaky legs out of the bedroom and into his tank room. With some difficulty, he manages to strip and heads to the edge of his tank. Too tired to dive in, he just steps off of the edge and plunges into the water with a splash. Guillermo stares in shock at the waves lapping against the tiling before picking up the respirator, plugging it in its charger and then exiting the room to head downstairs.
A while later, Guillermo finally makes it to the bottom of the steps and finds that Manning is long gone and Susan and Peg are watching Abe sleep. He quietly calls the kitchen to have something to eat sent down and then joins the women. They pass the time amicably and when the tea and scones arrive, they sit and enjoy the repast while talking about nothing important.
By the time Rupert and Selma rejoin them with the babies in their arms, the tea is cold and there are only a couple scones left. But they don't care as they hand the twins off to the great-grandmothers before serving themselves. They wearily sit down with their food and begin to eat, barely even noticing what they're consuming.
"How is she?" Peg asks worriedly.
"She's sleeping for now," Selma answers.
"What exactly happened?" Rupert inquires just before he takes another sip of tea.
After letting out a long sigh, Guillermo tells them about Abe and Hellboy going on a mission, leaving Maggie alone with the twins. He relates how Trevor got sick and Liz wasn't able to go and help her. Since everyone was concerned about Trevor, no one thought to check in on Maggie. Then he tells them of Abe's return and the condition Maggie and the twins were in when he found them.
"So, why does he look like something the cat dragged in?" Susan asks, pointing towards the tank.
"He was up most of the night taking care of the twins," Guillermo answers.
"By himself?" Peg questions, shocked.
"No, John helped him out," Guillermo replies. "John only looked slightly better when I sent him to bed before you came in. Unfortunately, Abe isn't supposed to be out of the water that long, it's bad for his health. Hopefully, after Maggie gets out of this funk she's in, things can get back to as normal as it can be around here."
"Who's taking care of her animals?" Susan inquires causing Guillermo to swear a few words in Spanish. "If you did what I think you did, you should be ashamed of yourself!"
"Sorry," Guillermo chuckles as he struggles to his feet. "But I have no idea if anyone is feeding Wizard or Magick and it would probably be very prudent to check. Don't you?"
The others agree and start to rise to follow Guillermo, unfortunately, that's exactly when Morgan starts to make her presence known. Selma immediately heads for the stairs and heads up.
"I saw bottles and formula in Maggie's room," she shouts down without missing a step.
A few minutes later she returns with a couple bottles already made, a can of formula and several diapers. The next half hour is spent feeding, burping and changing babies. When all of that is done, they follow Guillermo to the tunnel that connects the bureau to Maggie's place. The librarian knows he won't keep up, so he tells them what to do once they get to the other end.
Selma and Rupert nod that they understand and after leaving the twins with the great-grandmothers again, hurry down the hallway. A short while later they are opening the basement door and the first thing that hits them is the smell. Holding their breaths, they run through the house opening doors and windows to get some fresh air in.
It's not until they're done do they notice the cat yowling at them and staring at them with baleful yellow eyes. Selma quickly finds the cat's food in the kitchen while Rupert finds the overflowing litter box in the water closet. He takes it outside, finds the garbage can and dumps out the litter.
While he goes looking for cleaning supplies to clean the box, Selma heads out to the barn and finds a very angry horse locked in his stall. She sends calming energy to the animal while talking soothingly to him. After about a minute he calms down enough for her to near him and see that he's out of food and water.
She quickly remedies that problem and doesn't mind that the horse barely acknowledges her presence as he eats. She leaves him to eat for a bit and goes back to the house. By this time everyone else has arrived and Susan is staring in horror at the mess of Maggie's home. Selma just waves as she disappears into the family room.
"What is that horrible stench?" Susan gasps, quickly pulling out a lace hanky out of her pocket and covering her mouth and nose with it.
"Let's head outside and get some fresh air," Guillermo suggests and the two older women readily agree.
As they step into the bright sunlight, they blink rapidly and inhale deeply. Once their eyes have adjusted the women get their first look at the front of the house.
"Please tell me this is the guest house," Susan pleads in horror.
"Sorry, this is it," Guillermo happily states. "There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, a dining room, family room, kitchen, den and half bath downstairs. Just the way Maggie wanted it."
"But it's so tiny," Susan continues aghast.
"Like I said," Guillermo reiterates. "Just the way Maggie wanted it."
"Mother, the least of our worries right now is the size of Maggie's house," Rupert states as he comes by with a still damp litter box in his hands. "I don't suppose you know where Maggie keeps the spare kitty litter do you, Guillermo?"
"If it's not near where you found the box then I suggest the garage," Guillermo replies as the younger man heads back into the house after a few deep cleansing breaths and Guillermo starts to follow him.
"You aren't going back in there are you?" Susan asks a look of disgust on her face.
"The house isn't going to clean itself," Guillermo replies. "Why don't you ladies go around the side of the house and enjoy the garden out there. There's a bench under a huge willow tree next to a duck pond. It's very peaceful."
"Guillermo, take Dylan and go have a rest," Peg suggests as she walks up to the man. "You're leg must be killing you after that walk to get here."
"Normally I'd argue with you, but you're right, my leg is hurting," he sighs in disgust as he accepts the baby into his free arm. "But if you get tired, let me know and I'll take over."
"Sure," Peg smiles, having no intention of doing any such thing.
Peg disappears into the house as Guillermo leads Susan over to the bench he had mentioned earlier. They sit and watch the ducks, talking about nothing much, avoiding what's really on their minds and completely unaware of the time until the twins start to wake. Before either Susan or Guillermo can get up, Peg arrives with a laundry basket with a blanket on top of it.
"Selma and Rupert should be here soon," Peg states as puts down the laundry basket and spreads out the blanket. "I'm afraid we're going to have to rough it. All the real plates are in the dishwasher and it's still running."
Peg pulls out paper plates and lays them out on the blanket. Guillermo and Susan peek into the laundry basket and find it filled with sandwiches, fruit, drinks, diapers and bottles of formula. Susan snatches one of the baby bottles out of the basket and immediately sticks the nipple into Morgan's mouth. Just as Peg is finishing dividing out the food, Selma and Rupert arrive and take seats on the blanket next to Peg.
"Good heavens, Selma, why do you smell like something that got dragged through the garden after my gardener spread fertilizer?" Susan demands, her nose wrinkling with distaste.
"Probably because I just finished mucking out the horse's stall," Selma chuckles. "But don't worry; I did wash my hands before I came over."
"How is Magick doing?" Guillermo asks as he grabs the second baby bottle for Dylan.
"He's better now," Selma replies as she accepts a plate of food from her mother. "If I had to guess, I'd say he hasn't been fed for a couple days and who knows how long it's been since he's been given a proper work out. I might try riding him later if time permits."
"You aren't actually planning on getting on top of that black monstrosity, are you?" Susan asks in horror.
"That would pretty much be a requirement to riding him," Selma smiles just before she takes a bite of her sandwich.
"Trust me, Mother, Selma can make the nastiest horse into the sweetest animal imaginable," Rupert puts in as he pops a grape into his mouth.
"I remember Simon being able to calm the wildest foals," Peg reminisces. "He never 'broke' a horse and any horse he tamed never needed spurs or a crop to make it go. Fortunately, Steven has this same ability as does Selma. I'd hate to have to resort to the 'old fashion' way. It's just horrible how they normally break a horse."
"I know," Selma replies after swallowing. "I remember Dad taking Steven and me to another stable to look at some brood mares and they were breaking a horse when we got there. It was horrible what they did to that poor animal. Dad refused to have anything to do with that stable ever again. I believe the owners and the trainer were arrested a few years later for animal abuse."
"I remember that," Peg puts in. "He testified at the trial, too. One of the happiest days of his life was seeing those people go to jail."
"I am curious about something," Selma muses as she looks at her mother-in-law. "Why do you think Magick is a monstrosity? Andalusians are very sweet tempered horses."
"The breed may be but this one isn't," Susan huffs. "When he was a foal, a teenage boy with a mean streak a mile wide got hold of him while he was in trailer and beat the poor animal within an inch of his life."
"But how did they kid even get near him?" Selma asks in concern. "I can't imagine the owner would just let anyone near his horse, much less a black Andalusian. They're the rarest color of that breed."
"That was the truly sick part," Susan answers as she sits Morgan up and starts patting the baby's back. "The boy was the owner's son. He was upset that Daddy wasn't going to give him fancy new sports car for his sixteenth birthday, so he decided to take his anger out on his father's most prized possession."
"Magick," Selma states bitterly.
"Magick," Susan confirms with a nod. "It was a very interesting trial. The father didn't want to press charges against his son and he tried to get the whole thing swept under the rug. But the animal rights activists had other plans. By the time the whole mess was sorted out, the boy got two years in jail and five years probation, Magick was removed from his owner's care and since he was considered uncontrollable, he was to be destroyed. If Maggie hadn't shown up and proved that he could be handled, they would have shot the beast. As it is, no one else but Maggie can get near him."
"Well, that's not completely true," Selma smiles. "He didn't seem to mind me when I was grooming him. Of course that might be because I gave him carrots and apples every time he looked at me."
"Actually, Abe was the first person to ever be able to get near Magick after Maggie got him," Guillermo chuckles as he starts to burp Dylan. "Stunned her speechless according to Abe. He's sure that if she hadn't been in such a state of shock, he probably wouldn't have been able to Kiss her."
"Can't say as I'm overly happy with that," Rupert grumbles causing the others to snicker.
"So, who took care of Magick while Maggie was in California?" Selma asks.
"Abe's worked with Magick enough that other people that he's introduced to can handle him," Guillermo replies as Dylan lets out a huge belch causing the others to chuckle. "So the lady that Maggie hired could feed him, groom him, muck his stall and lunge line him, but she couldn't ride him. He doesn't let anyone but Maggie and Abe ride him. But somehow, I don't think that's going to be a problem for Selma."
"I'm curious about something," Peg chimes in as Selma smiles at Guillermo. "If the father didn't want anyone to know what his kid had done, how did the animal activists find out?"
"One of the ranch workers was the one who caught the boy in the act and went and told the father," Susan answers while Morgan lets out a sizable burp. "When it became apparent that no charges were going to be pressed against the son, the worker went to the press. He lost his job with Magick's original owner, but the newspapers got wind of it and he got about a dozen offers within the week. He ended up being a ranch manager with more than twice his previous salary."
"That's good to know," Peg sighs.
"Yes, it is," Susan agrees as Morgan lets out a little lady like burp. "Rupert, be a dear and take your granddaughter so that your mother may eat her lunch."
"Sure, Mother," Rupert gladly agrees as he stands and retrieves Morgan from Susan. "Come on, sweetheart, let's go look at the duckies."
Rupert walks to the water's edge and starts to point out and identify the ducks to his granddaughter. Selma stands, relieves Guillermo of Dylan and then joins her husband. The others relax and enjoy the rest of the meal and each other's company. The sunlight sparkling on the surface of the pond, the birds singing, the flowers blooming and a warm gentle breeze makes it a perfect moment until the earthquake and wind storm hit.
Author's notes: I'm so sorry this took so long. I made it pretty long so I hope I'm forgiven. More soon, I hope.