ZEDD - SATURDAY MORNING

I wake up alone in the bed. It's not all that unusual, really, except for the fact that it seems like Thomas didn't come to bed at all last night. It's been bad enough lately that he's been coming to bed very late and still getting up early, but now not even coming to bed at all? Sighing heavily, I get up and start my morning routine. I know that he's been working hard trying to locate some of his people, tie up some loose ends, not to mention trying to get things done around the house, but really now. Coffee first, then I'll deal with my mate.

I head down to the kitchen, where I receive another nasty little surprise. No coffee. Now I'm more than a little irate. Quickly I get the pot started, debating all the while about whether I should look for Thomas before or after I've had my first cup. Curiosity gets the better of me and I take a quick look outside first to see if he's working out. No Thomas. I swear this morning better start getting better or - well, I'll destroy something. I pour a cup of the still brewing coffee and grab a quick swallow before going to hunt up my husband.

Logic says that he's probably in his office so I head there first. I stop in the doorway, shocked at the mess in here. Easily a dozen or more good size boxes stacked against one wall, four more open on the couch in here - and Thomas asleep at his desk, pen still in hand. "What the hell?" I cross over swiftly, calling his name as I do. "Thomas, wake up."

He mumbles something that sounds suspiciously like 'five more minutes'. His desk is in serious disarray - far from its normal condition. Lists all over the place - chore list, contact lists, grocery list, Christmas present list, Christmas card list. Seriously? Deciding to take my chances, I set my cup down on the table by the sofa and gently shake him. "Thomas, wake up, love."

I'm not surprised when he jerks awake suddenly, striking out even as he moves away. Considering how many meetings and missions we've had to be on hyper alert for lately, him being in warrior mode isn't unexpected. I hold my hands up so that he can see I'm not armed. It only takes a moment for him to recognize me and back down physically before attacking me verbally. "What in the hell is wrong with you, Zedd? You know better than that!"

I pick up my cup and take another swallow from it before I respond. "Just like you know better than to sleep at your desk, yes?"

"I didn't mean to. I just have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in."

"Thomas, you promised me that you wouldn't let yourself get so overwhelmed again like you did when I was carrying Mara Jane."

"I know and I'm not." I raise an eyebrow in disbelief and he clarifies his statement. "I'm trying to get things organized so that I don't get overwhelmed."

"All right. Well, if it would help, I could take care of getting in contact with some of your people."

"Hell no!" I stare at him, surprised at his outburst. "Sorry, mate, just - no."

"Don't you trust me to handle them?" I ask, slightly hurt.

"It's not that, Zedd. Of course I know you can handle them - and frankly, that's the problem." What now? "Look - I've finally gotten to the point with these contacts that they don't demand to talk to you to confirm the instructions I'm giving them or I have to threaten to unleash your wrath to keep them in line. If you start calling them now - even if it's on my behalf-"

"You'll start to have problems again. Well, then what about Goldar or Scorpina then?"

He shakes his head. "Same problem. Since I'm the newest addition to your business, if any of you make the calls, it'll be assumed that it was taken from me because I can't handle it or them. Several of them are still quite irate that they have to deal with me rather than one of you. Like they've been downgraded somehow, I gather."

"You're kidding." He shakes his head. "More than twenty years in the business and they still haven't learned? Perhaps some calls from me are long overdue."

"You can't. It's the Annwyl and Distress Reds problem all over again."

"Not quite. After all, these are employees, not friends or ex-lovers. Occasionally it's a good thing for the lackeys to hear from the big boss to remind them who pays them." At his doubtful look I try a slightly different approach. "Okay, think about when you worked for Anton, Thomas. I'm certain that despite all his lawyers and people in power giving out orders to his employees there still came times when he would have to step in, correct?"

"I suppose."

"Well that's all it is, love. It's nothing against you, it's just idiotic employees being brats and needing reminded they can very easily be replaced."

"I'd just like them to know or at least believe that I have just as much power to replace them though."

"I know, and you know perfectly well you do. If it helps, once in a while I have to do it for Dar and Pina too."

He stops and considers this. "I'll think about it" he promises, though still seems highly reluctant about the whole thing. "But for now, I have other things I need to take care of."

"What can I do to help, Thomas?"

"Nothing yet, but in a couple hours you could go to the store for me."

A chore I absolutely detest ever since Big John got to Thomas while I tended to it once. True, I know for a fact that will not occur again, having seen to the matter myself, with Dar's help and the use of some rather...interesting tools. However I even now can't help that knot of worry it still gives me to leave him for that particular task. "The store."

"Yes, the store" Thomas confirms with a slight smile.

I curl my lip in distaste. "If I must."

As he heads out of the room, no doubt for some coffee himself, he says casually, "Well, you don't have to, of course, Zedd. I can take care of it later."

"Well is there something else I can do instead?"

"Not really, no."

I curse and then sigh. "Fine."

"It's just the store, Zedd. Honestly, I don't know why you hate it so much." And if I have any say in it, you never will.

A few hours later, I'm hurrying home, slightly irritated. The store was more crowded than usual, full of idiots and people wanting to make small talk. I swear after all these years I still don't know how Thomas can fake pleasantries with these people so easily. There was one small bright spot that offset the experience, though, and I'm eager to tell Thomas and Mara Jane about it.

I've barely had a chance to turn the car off before my family spills out the door. A brief flash of concern is quickly dispelled by the happy faces coming to greet me. "Papa! We're so glad you're home!"

"I was only gone a couple of hours. What happened?"

Mara Jane gives a long suffering sigh, much to Thomas' amusement. "Daddy said that we couldn't take a break until you came home."

"Break from what?"

Thomas rolls his eyes, grinning. "I'm having them help with the Christmas cards while I do other things" he informs me.

"Slave driver" I tease.

"That's me" he agrees. "All right you two. Let's help Papa get the groceries in the house and then you can get back to it." They groan dramatically. "Oh come on. You probably don't even have an hour's worth left to do. Quit complaining. Besides, I need that done and out of the way so I can make dinner."

Everyone grabs bags and heads in. Thomas continues. "Once that's done, I can finally get the decorations up and start baking." Just the thought has my mouth watering already.

"Cookies?" Jacob asks hopefully.

"Among other things" he nods. "And, of course, I'll need all my helpers."

"Well, I'm certainly willing to help, love."

He laughs. "I know. You can't wait to taste test everything!"

"I'm happy to apply my skills to the endeavor, Thomas."

He shakes his head before returning his attention to the children. "Okay, guys. Let's get all this stuff put away and then get back to work."

We all get started and I try to sound casual as I say, "So something happened at the store today that I think that some of you might be interested in."

Thomas sighs and pauses in putting the orange juice away to fix me with a slight look. "You didn't threaten the bagger again, did you?"

"No, this one seemed fairly intelligent." I mean, really, who doesn't know that you don't put potatoes with eggs or apples with bread? Besides he should be glad it was me and not Dar as threats would have been the least of his worries at that point.

"So what happened?" Thomas inquires resuming the task at hand.

"I saw Megan's mother at the store."

Mara Jane looks up eagerly. "Did she say anything about next weekend?"

I shake my head. "We didn't talk. In fact, I'm fairly certain that she didn't even see me."

Thomas looks puzzled. "Okay, so what happened that you think that we'd be interested in?"

I'm so pleased with myself that I can barely get the words out. "I paid for her groceries without her knowing."

"How?"

"She had swiped her card, it had been declined. She was trying to figure out what to put back when one of the bags split and she and the children and the bagger were busy chasing oranges. While they were distracted, I motioned for the cashier to keep quiet, swiped my card, signed for it and got the hell out of there before she knew it was me."

"That was awesome" Thomas beams at me.

Mara Jane hugs me tightly. "Thank you, Papa."

Quickly, we put the rest of the groceries away. I know that Thomas had tried to talk to Megan's mother and she declined that there were any problems, but my sources say differently and I see no reason for Mara Jane to continue to be stressed about her friend's well being when we can so easily do something about it - even if it is just in this small way.

The kids are settled in at the table to finish the cards and Thomas is returning to his decorating while I'm going to get in touch with Pina and Dar to see if they are having the same kind of problems with their people that Thomas has been having. I change direction however when the doorbell rings. I open the door and - uh oh.

"Hi, Gina" I greet Megan's mother. "What's up?"

"Don't 'what's up' me, Zedd Oliver. You know what's up."

I look at her blankly. "No, I actually don't. Well unless you mean the sky, I suppose that's technically still up. As is the sun, it seems." As her glare intensifies I relent slightly, deciding apparently now isn't the time to be 'cute' as Thomas calls it. "However if you're referring to anything else I must request that you be so kind as to fill me in, as that would be helpful."

"Zedd" she grits out through her teeth. "don't play with me."

"But it's one of the few things I'm good at."

"I suppose that's true on some level." I hear Thomas behind me. "However I have already warned him about tormenting the neighbors at least three times this week alone. Hey, Gina, get you some coffee?"

She turns on my husband. "No, I don't want coffee. I want you to have a talk with him, Tommy and explain that no means no."

"Wait. What did he do?"

Before she can answer, Mara Jane's voice joins the conversation. "Hi, Miss Gina!"

The woman on the doorstep reins in her irritation at the sight of my daughter and thankfully grants me a few more moments of life. "Hi, sweetie."

"Did you come to talk to them about next weekend?"

"No, but I can while I'm here." She returns her attention to us. "I'm taking the kids to the zoo and I told them that they could take one friend each and they can spend the night."

Thomas bites his lip as he thinks. "Mara Jane, we'll talk about it. For now go ahead and go back to work on those cards."

"Okay, Daddy. Bye, Miss Gina."

Once she's out of the room, Thomas looks at Gina. "Okay, I know you said that you have things under control, but-"

"We have a membership at the zoo so it's not costing me anything" she argues.

"Fuel, food - those things do cost money" I point out.

"Not to mention the cost of the aspirin you're going to need dealing with four kids at a crowded zoo all day" Tommy jests lightly.

Just as she's about to argue, I add quietly, "Mara Jane is worried about the three of you. I understand the need to be able to do as much as you can on your own, but sometimes-"

I let the statement hang.

"Zedd I swear I-" About to very likely take me out, the woman however pauses as what I've said fully registers. "Wait, why is Mara Jane worried?"

"Look, you know how our daughter is. I mean I know every parent thinks their kid is above and beyond, but you've spent enough time with the girl to know her level of perception is that of a damn obsessive compulsive detective."

"He's been watching the series Monk on Netflix" Thomas explains calmly.

"Listen, the only reason we even knew something was wrong was because Mara Jane expressed concern due to picking up on things you said around her."

"What could I have possibly-"

"You mentioned one night when making dinner that what you were making was cheap and easy to fix as well as filling" Thomas supplies, smiling in amusement at the woman's now stunned look. "She said you also have been packing the kids lunch instead of them buying them like they normally do, that you mentioned one night that Netflix and online steaming channels was a better option than cable because in the long run it was cheaper and had the same shows-"

"Oh my god, so from basic comments she-"

"Yep" I state with a satisfied nod.

"She's good like that. Well, unless it involves us, then we don't find it quite as amusing."

"Still impressive though" Thomas argues.

"Yes, definitely impressive. Though no less annoying at times."

"Agreed." Turning back to the woman he gives her a weary look. "Listen, Zedd and I have not always been well off, we've both been through times that we've struggled, badly, I might add. However as much as we struggled then I can't imagine going through that again with two children to take care of alone."

I get an idea. "Not to mention that, where I'm from, it would be extremely bad form for me to allow such a situation to continue when you and your family have come to mean so much to ours and for so long." I'm kind of stretching things a bit, but I'm certain that Thomas will forgive me.

I hold my breath as the woman takes in what I've said. "And what would stopping the situation entail where you're from?"

Carefully, Zedd, slowly. I shrug. "Truly, it depends on the severity. However, purchasing a few groceries is all of nothing to be concerned over."

Thomas steps in. "Look I know what's going on in your head right now because honestly it's probably near the same thing that went on in mine when I first went to live with him and told him over and over again I didn't need him to get me anything or really want him to."

"And?"

"And, considering I was badly injured at the time, had no clothes, no money that I could get to right then, nowhere to live that was even remotely safe for me, and no possible way to work due to my injuries I kind of didn't have much of a choice but to keep being prideful to a fault, or suck it up and let him help. In reality the best I could do was try and curb the amount he kept trying to spend on me and mind you this was before were even together."

Sighing she seems to be at least considering what he's said, however, "It's still not the same, Tommy."

"Okay, then consider this, what if something happened to Zedd-"

"Wait, what?" What's happening to Zedd now? I question not loving this new scenario.

Holding up his hand to silence me, Thomas continues calmly. "Most everything we have is from his business, in fairness what I bring in is from clients I've acquired from him, most of which still need the damn threat of me sending him after them even after all these years. So truly if anything happens to him, I'm not going to be in a very good situation especially looking after our children." He's definitely exaggerating himself now, however he does at the very least have the woman's full attention.

"So say I was in your position today, that I needed to feed the kids and just didn't have the money to do it yet-"

"Okay, okay." Holding up her own hand now, the woman stops my husband already seeing where this is headed. "Good lord I swear between you and Mara Jane I'm liable to think your family is nothing but politicians."

"We get that a lot. Gina, if you'll let us, we can and will help. Go home and think about it. Decide what you're comfortable with and we'll figure out some middle ground."

"I'd probably never be able to pay it back."

"Who said you had to? If nothing else, we can have you keep an eye on the house in exchange when we go off planet in a few years."

Unfortunately, this entirely changes her focus. "You're leaving? Why? When? For how long?"

"Not until after the girls graduate if we can help it" Thomas assures her. "Beyond that, we're not real sure."

"Oh." Gina thinks for a minute. "Is it business, or..."

"Old business" I inform her with a sigh. "Look I'm sure the bruises Thomas and I have been sporting recently have not gone completely unnoticed around town, we have both in our pasts made some rather vicious, if not incompetent, enemies that would be more than happy to reclaim us and we don't want our children used as threats to do it."

"It's going to come to a point they're just not going to be safe enough here, and neither will we" Thomas agrees unhappily.

Looking upset herself, the woman shakes her head. "The girls will miss each other a lot."

I wave this away. "They'll still be able to communicate and visit." An idea occurs to me. "Unless you'd like to go with us."

Thomas and Gina stare at me incredulously. The woman recovers first. "I think that you should talk to your husband about that first" she says, indicating Thomas' shocked look. "Look, for now I'll just say thank you for the groceries and I'm sorry I came here looking for a fight about it. I'll talk to you later."

Shaking her head, she returns to her car as I wave at Megan and then close the door before turning to Thomas. I sigh. "All right. What did I do wrong this time?"

"I- no- just- what now?"

I shrug. "Seemed like a good idea when I thought of it. I mean Mara Jane doesn't have many close friends, especially on Eltar and at our actual home there's all of zero unless you count the animals she feeds."

"True, however I'm not certain how well any of them would adapt to that situation, mate. Never mind if we do go to Eltar we'd have to be extremely careful to watch over her kids so someone didn't try to snatch them."

"I suppose."

Kissing me soundly, Thomas at least doesn't seem displeased by the suggestion however. "It was a nice thought and I'm not saying no, just it's something we and they would have to consider all the angles of."

"Fair enough."

Chuckling as he heads back to the kitchen, he shakes his head in amusement. "And here you keep telling Pina not to bring home strays. You know if we end up with them you can't say crap to her about the tacs anymore right?"