"Follow the Line" by A. Wolf & Her Claws

"Hey, you're not supposed to be doing that," Adrienne chastised me as I tried to lift a tray of specimens. She waved me out of the way, moving it to the other table for me. "Why aren't you on lunch with everyone else?"

"I have eaten so much today that I might actually puke if I eat any more," I admitted, the very thought of food making me nauseous.

"Fair enough," she laughed. "How are you feeling otherwise?"

"Like a fucking whale," I looked down at my stomach. I was a little over six months along now. "Are all pregnancies this...much?"

"No, but you're carrying twins." I put my hand on my stomach. "Does he know?"

"No, a mutual friend tried to get him in touch with me. But I don't think that'll be happening." I had seen the news a few days after I talked to Tyler. Connor, Murphy, and Noah had executed the Yakavetta boss, Papa Joe, in broad daylight, unmasked, on national television in a courtroom. He was probably too busy evading authorities to even give me a second thought.

"Well, just as well. If he can't manage to get in touch with you when you need him to, what'll he do to these poor babies?"

I smiled weakly. I had no doubt Murphy would be a decent father. His mom raised both of them well. I just didn't think that the choices he's made at this point in his life would go well with raising children. After I saw the news, I made my peace with the fact that Murphy would probably never know. I'd probably just never see him again. That thought made me sad and I had to remind myself that it was necessary.

"Jesus, you did get big."

If I wasn't seeing him with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. Tyler stood before me, grinning. I let out a squeak before waddling over to pull him into a tight hug. He hugged me back, careful not to crush my stomach.

"Tyler, what are you doing here?"

"You two know each other?" Adrienne asked. "Tyler's our newest intern."

I hugged her without responding. She laughed, hugged me, and stroked my back comfortingly. I'd probably never know if she did this intentionally but I was glad Tyler was here anyway.

"Well, since you do, why don't you show him around the camp while I get his initiation paperwork sorted out."

Tyler and I walked around the camp, arm in arm, as I introduced him to people and pointed out where everything was. I was so happy that he was here. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to work here?"

He shrugged. "I wanted to surprise you." His face got serious. "I assume Murphy never contacted you?"

"He didn't. I assume you've seen the news."

"Did you know?"

I looked away from him, watching some of the workers as they worked. "I did. I didn't know that that was going to happen. But I knew it was them, if that's what you're asking."

"I understand a lot better now. At first I was pissed at you for just not telling me about it. But I don't really know what my reaction would've been."

"That's fair," I laughed. "I definitely didn't handle it well."

"That's why you weren't sure if you were going to tell him, isn't it?"

"Yeah. He made his choice to be part of that and I made my choice to not be part of it." I put my hands on my stomach with a frown. "I'm scared."

He pulled me into a hug. "I know."

I pulled away from him, forcing a smile. "C'mon, I bet you're hungry. I was starving when I first got here. I have full access to the kitchen so I can eat whenever." The nausea from earlier was entirely gone now and I felt like I was starving.

The next few months flew by. As Adrienne had suspected, I did end up being confined to my bed by Dr. Fischer. At this point I'm just waiting for something to happen. Adrienne gave me some paperwork to work on to keep me busy, but I was going stir crazy. I wanted to be up and moving. But every time I try to get out of bed, Adrienne or Tyler catch me and give me hell until I give up and just sit here.

I mostly hate sitting here because it's giving me time to think. I haven't managed to hear anything about Murphy, Noah, or Connor. I don't know if they're safe or not. I had an idea. The cops had been helping them. I just wanted to know if they were safe. I didn't need to know where.

I grabbed the phone Adrienne left with me and dialed the number for the local operator here. She didn't speak very much English, but it was enough to get the phone number for the Boston Police Department. After a few rings, an officer named Duffy picked up the phone.

"Hi, I have some information on the Saints. Is there someone I can talk to about that."

"Oh, yeah, hang on." He put me on hold. A few minutes later, Detective Greenly answered.

"Look, I don't have any information for you," I cut him off. "Are they okay? I just need to know if they're okay."

He hesitated, trying to pick his words carefully. "We don't know where they are, but they are not in police custody and still remain at large." I hung up before he could ask any questions. That was good enough. I winced as the pain of a contraction hit me. That's it. I need to get up and out of this bed. Carefully, I got out of the bed, waddling towards the front of the tent. I definitely move a lot slower than normal. Another contraction.

I stopped at the entrance of the tent, holding my stomach. There was a sensation of a small pop before liquid started to trickle down my leg. Panic immediately started to settle in. Tyler. Adrienne. I need someone.

"Hey, sweetheart, come sit here," one of the men nearby said calmly. He helped me over to one of the nearby folding chairs. It was Ed, one of the older men in the camp. "I'll go let Dr. Fischer know to call an ambulance to take you to the hospital and then I'll get Tyler or Adrienne, okay?"

"Thank you, Ed," I nodded. I was only alone for a few minutes before Adrienne was brushing my hair out of my face.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Dr. Fischer called an ambulance. They should be here shortly. Tyler's being notified, too. He'll be the one to go to the hospital with you." I gripped her hand as I got another contraction. It felt like forever before Tyler came over to us. And even longer before I was being loaded into the ambulance to go to the hospital.

By the time we got to the hospital, I was too far along for an epidural to have time to take effect. The nurses made Tyler wait in the waiting room before rushing me back into a delivery room. It was the most terrifying thing I've ever gone through. More terrifying than being kidnapped, even, because I was worried for the life that I was carrying. Everyone was moving so quickly.

It seems that labor is one area that I'm lucky. From my water breaking until I was actually holding the twins in my arms, it was only about a six hour ordeal. Adrienne had told me horror stories from women she knew who were in labor for several days. That had been a small fear in my mind up until now.

Tyler was allowed into the room as I was holding the twins. A boy and a girl. The boy had dark hair like Murphy but the girl had red hair like mine.

"They're beautiful," Tyler said, admiring them. "Have you decided on names?"

"Kelly Marie and Declan Isaac."

"McCarthy or McManus?"

"That I don't know."

"Hyphenation?"

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Yes, because McCarthy-MacManus just rolls off of the tongue so well." I rolled my eyes, glancing down at my children. I didn't want to split them and give one name to one but not the other either.

A nurse came in to take Kelly and Declan away while another came in with two pieces of paper. I noticed that my surname was already printed on them. "Have you picked out any names?" the nurse asked as he handed me the pen. "If not, you can wait. But there are a few rules you should know about. You'll be required to abide by our naming laws here. That means that your surname will be on the certificate unless your friend is here to claim paternity."

"Oh, no, he's not the father. I do know the father, though, will he be on the certificate?"

"He will have to claim patronage if he'd like to be on it." I exchanged a glance with Tyler. I guess that's that. I feel like I'm shutting him out of their lives already and they're like thirty minutes old. "Do you have names picked out?"

"Kelly Marie for the girl, Declan Isaac for the boy?"

"You'll have to use Marie as part of the first name since Kelly is unisex. Did you have a backup middle name for the girl?"

"My mom's name, Gabriella."

"That's good. I'll have you fill out these forms here. You can hyphenate the first names or not, your choice." KellyMarie Gabriella McCarthy and Declan Isaac McCarthy. "Thank you, I'll leave you to rest a bit. One of us will be back later so you can try nursing."