It was the day after Christmas and Megan stood in the doorway of the nursery; she was really surprised that the Assassins had been so kind that they would do something like that for her. Quietly she closes the door and takes the few steps to her and Alex's room. The man in question was lying out on the bed in a pair of sweats, a book held up to his face in one hand and the other resting behind his head. His steely eyes slide over to her as she stands in the doorway and remain there, curious about the smile that was on her face. She takes a deep breath and then crosses over to the bed, allowing herself to be pulled in gently by the larger man and held against him. He gives her a kiss on the top of her head and she snuggles a little closer to him, wrapping one hand around his waist and looking at the book he was reading but all she could see was equations.
"Uh, what is this?" She looks up at him when she feels the deep rumble of his laughter, his eyes not once leaving the page he was reading.
"It's on nuclear reactors and the pros and cons of what they give to society." Do what?
Megan grins at him, squeezing him slightly before she returns to her position in contempt. Her eyes felt heavy and she didn't fight the urge to allow them to fall closed, soothed by the steady heartbeat in her ear and the lulling rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
Alex realized fairly quickly when Megan had fallen asleep, seeing as her grip on him relaxed and her own breathing evened out. He gives her a gentle kiss on the top of her head and reaches up to turn the page, happy with life at the moment.
"Bella. Bella, time to wake up." Megan groans unhappily, pulling a pillow over her head to quiet the Italian man's voice. She was having a wonderful dream, one where she wasn't pregnant and the baby was born and all in the world was right. "Bella, you must eat. Alex would be most upset with me if you do not." She peeks out from under the pillow, fixing the dark haired man with a stare.
"How about you be pregnant with what feels like a watermelon attached to your body and I be an annoying Italian Assassin?" Her comment was rewarded with a blinding smile and the pillow being removed from her hands.
"Impossibile, I think you would have killed Alex if I was." She chuckles at his statement, allowing herself to be helped up into a sitting position and then into a standing position. She grunts a little as her joints begin to ache from the extra weight she had put on for the pregnancy. This wasn't going to happen again for a while, she was sure of it. Not that she didn't love the little accident that happened; she knew the child would want not for love growing up. These men would all be he/she's uncles and would not allow any harm to come to the child. Hell, if the child was a girl, she feared for any future boyfriends on meeting not only father (let's face it, any guy that met him would be crapping his pants out of fear) but uncles who knew how to kill without being caught. And girlfriends, if the child was a boy, would be forced to deal with her and all the baby pictures she would be pulling out. Mwhaha.
"Megan, are you alright? That smile is… a little disconcerting to tell you the truth."
Whoops.
"Sorry Ezio, just thinking." He gives her a slow nod, walking downstairs backwards infront of her to make sure nothing happened to her. "I do have to say, I cannot wait to be off bed rest soon. Just another month to go." Ezio gives her another one of his thousand watt smiles and continues to go down then waits for her to reach ground level. She puts a hand to her stomach as she follows him to the kitchen where Ezio had made some rather delicious smelling food. She sits down at the bar and waits as he fixes her a plate, feeling as she did when they first showed up and her arm was broken. "Ah, brings back memories." She says as he set the food and a fork down infront of her. He gives her a perplexed look at first then rolls his eyes at her.
"It will not happen for much longer I'm afraid." This time it was her turn to roll her eyes.
"So where did everyone disappear to?"
"Hospital." Her head snaps up quickly to him, eyes wide. He gives her a soothing motion with his hands. "Calmati, calmati. It was nothing; Altair, Malik, and Connor somehow got it into their heads that balancing a sharp knife would be wise."
"Escalation?" He nods in the affirmative. "From what?"
"Butter knives."
She stares at him for a few minutes, jaw hanging loose, before she shakes her head and continues to eat.
She knew they were back when three loud voices were yelling at one another; two in Arabic and the other in Mohawk, and that was before the door even opened to the house. When it did, the voices got louder and the emotion in them was near palpable. She was sitting in the living room, having ignored Ezio trying to get her to return upstairs to sleep, and sets down the book she had been reading in her lap to await their entrance into the living room. The three men stop dead in their tracks when they see her, her glasses perched on her nose and a thin eyebrow raised just above the frames, and her not-happy look on her face. She tilts her head down just a hair, enough that she would be able to see them over the black and green frames, and guilt washes over them.
Alex, Shaun, Leo, and Desmond push past the three to go sit down; exhausted from having to be around the insanely packed emergency room and also having to explain why someone would be idiotic enough to try balancing knives. Alex picks Megan up and sits her down in his lap when he sits; nuzzling her neck though her attention was still fixed upon the three who stood sheepishly infront of her.
"I have only one question;" she takes a deep breath, "why?" She removes her glasses off her face, folding them and keeping them in hand as she waited. Suddenly three voices were bombarding her as they all tried to speak at the same time, eventually they return to their native tongues at they continue to yell at one another. Megan hands over her glasses to Alex and claps her hands once loudly and they all turn back to her in surprise. "One at a time and in English. I can't understand you other than a few words that you've all taught me. So, Altair, you tell me first what happened, then Malik, and finally Connor." She motions for the elder to go first who gives a self-satisfied smirk to the others before looking back at the girl and clearing his throat to launch into his tale. The other two did much the same, but gave Altair a death glare before they told her what had happened.
Once they finished telling her what had happened she takes a deep calming breath, closing her eyes to soak in the information and to come to a conclusion. This happened to be…
"You three are idiots."
She opens her eyes to the hurt/guilty/confused looks they had and instead turns to Alex, her face showing how tired she was. He gives a soft grunt before putting one arm around her back and the other under her knees, and then stands up with her in his arms. She turns back to the others and gives an exhausted smile and short wave while bidding them all good night. Not long after the others follow the two up; with Altair limping, Malik rubbing his arm, and Connor holding onto his abdomen, and all go to sleep in various states of comfort.
Megan unhappily awoke from her slumber to a full bladder being used as a soccer ball and a vice like grip preventing her from getting up to relieve herself. She swats at the person behind her and freezes. The form behind her was much smaller than it should be. Her heart kicks up in its beating, feeling like a jackhammer in her chest. Slowly she turns towards the person behind her.
"Hello…" Says a disgusting woman with nappy, greasy hair the color of beach sand, freckled skin that was blotched and scabbed over. Her clothing was filthy and oversized, covered in moth eaten holes and tears. Megan's eyes widen past what she thought was possible when she realizes that the woman was covered in blood, and she fights the grip the woman had on her person. She gets up out of the bed, her feet making a squelching noise on the carpet surrounding the floor. She looks down and finds that the carpet, the whole carpet was covered in blood. And then she sees the bodies littering the floor, the Assassins. She takes another step back and her foot bumps into something; and when she looks to see what, finds that it was Alex. All had open eyes and mouths open in silent screams, frozen in death.
Her hand flies up to her mouth and that's when she feels a warm, sticky liquid smearing against her face. She stops and, with hesitation, looks down at herself. She was covered in blood, the color of her shirt no longer able to be seen past the dark life force. Her breathing becomes labored and her stomach ties itself into excruciating knots.
"What's wrong, don't you like your present?" And the woman reaches out a hand to her, head tilted to show beady black eyes.
Megan sits up screaming at the top of her lungs, fighting off the hands that were trying to hold her. Her scream chokes off into a hoarse sob as she begins to rock, the hands and arms holding onto her making soothing motions like petting her hair or rubbing her arms. Someone was whispering soothing words to her in her ear, words she couldn't understand past the noise she was making, and she begins to cry in earnest. She was shaking her head, unconsciously still trying to fight off whoever had a hold of her.
"Shh, shh. Megan, it's ok. It was a dream, calm down. Just breathe." Finally she was able to hear the words being said to her and realizes that it was Alex speaking to her. She twists in his grip, latching her arms around his neck and squeezing tightly to reassure herself that he was really there. The door to their room makes a creaking noise as it opens and she releases Alex and pushes herself against the headboard, letting loose another bloodcurdling scream that ripped up her throat. The door is then thrown open and several bodies make their way inside and the light is flicked on quickly to assess any threat to any person. 7 men in various states of dress where looking around, different weapons drawn and out, ready to cause harm if there was any one there.
Alex manages to get ahold of her once more, trapping her in his arms again and whispering soothing words. She was sobbing now, tears falling down her face freely to form dark spots on the sheets. The Assassins put down their weapons, storing them on the dresser or against the wall.
"What's her deal?" Desmond questions as he bites back a yawn. The rest all looked just as exhausted as him and couldn't understand what would cause the woman to be screaming of at o'dark thirty in the morning.
Alex looks up at them for a second before looking back down at her in worry, his brow furrowing. "I… don't know." The Assassins look at one in surprise before heading out of the room to give the two of them some quiet and aloneness. Megan was quiet now, only hiccupping every so often. She was bent over as much as possible and was shaking. She was terrified but of what he didn't know.
"Megan?" He questions quietly, he didn't need her to freak out again like she did when they slammed the door open. She jerks a little in his grip as if fighting something ghostly and unseen. Finally she looks up at him and hesitantly bring her hands up to his face, looking deep into his eyes. Her's were widened by fear and seemed to search his, the way she was acting was striking at something in his heart and he didn't like it.
"Not gone." She whispers then winces, her hands falling to her stomach and kneading it softly. She takes several deep breaths, her own brows pulling together tightly. After a few moments she looks back up at him. "I think," she winces again as pain floods her body, " we need to go." Alex eyes widen and he was off the bed in a heartbeat, hastily grabbing her to go bag that he had had packed since she was six months. He was also out the door of the room, yelling at the Assassins to once more get up which they do with grumbles before they realize exactly why they were getting up. Megan remains seated on the bed, taking deep calming breathes and listening to the men bumbling around as they hastily got dressed.
Leo was the first to come into the room and fetch her, carefully leading her to the stairs and down them and also helping her put on her snow boots and jacket. He leads her out to her car where Shaun waited to help her inside of it, Alex already inside and the vehicle warmed up. She gets in the front seat, continuing with her breathing exercises, and the other two men hop into the back seats. Alex damn near peels out of the driveway in his haste, Megan reaching over and gripping his leg in a vice. At that particular moment a particularly painful labor pain hits and he swore if she had had claws, she would have easily broken past his skin. He would surely be sporting 5 fingertip shaped bruises tomorrow.
"Just breathe Megan." Shaun says scooting up and offering his own hand to her. She releases Alex's leg and takes Shaun's hand and squeezes with near bone crushing force. His eyes widen and he forgets how to breathe. Leo gives a dark but quiet chuckle.
"That was a mistake." He whispers to the man as he hits him on the back, jolting his senses and reminding him to take a gasping breathe.
"I have now learned my lesson." Shaun bites back just as quietly though he does end in a squeak as she squeezes his hand once more. "Are they coming faster?"
"No, just wanted you to shut up and let me focus." She says, eyes focused on the clock above the CD player and her breath coming in heavy but controlled pants. She was counting the minutes like she was supposed to between contractions. If they got to close then there would be nothing that the doctors could do to stop them and she would give birth three weeks early. It wasn't not dangerous for the child to be born this early but she had this sneaky suspicion that the child was older than what the doctors thought. Well they would find out when they go to the hospital, if Alex didn't kill them!
She nearly screams when he takes a turn to sharp, she letting go of Shaun's hand to grab onto Alex's arm. Her eyes were as wide as humanly possible and she turns to him, letting loose a string of curses in multiple tongues that she could have only learned from Altair and Ezio. Alex fights the smile that wanted to break out over his face until her fingers spasm, clenching down on his arm. He had to admit that she was getting stronger and so were the contractions.
Megan was finally laying down in a bed after Alex had nearly killed them a total of 6 times, one of which she had to claim responsibility for but wouldn't. She wasn't driving, he was. Alex was seated in the chair closest to her, hands near if she needed anything. The doctor on call had informed her that she was in full labor and that there was no chance of her backing out of giving birth that day. He also informed them that the due date was misinformed and was only a day or two off. She had shot Alex a dark look at this and he had the decency to look not only surprised but sheepish. She had informed the doctor that she wanted the epidural as soon as was possible.
So here she was in a paper gown, waiting for the doctor and a few nurses to get back to her on the epidural but was none the less drugged up to the gills in pain meds that would have no ill effects on the child. It also was the reason why she was giggling like a loon and lazily trying to grasp at orbs of color only she could see. Shaun and Leo were standing in the background, eyebrows raised and being observant little buggers. Hey, this was free entertainment for them.
Megan's head lolls towards Alex and she gives a happy smile at him. "Hi."
Alex chuckles at her. She certainly was. "Someone enjoying the meds?"
"Very much so- DESMOND!" Her head snaps to the door as it opens to reveal the youngest of the Assassins peeking his head in. She waves him inside, the IV on her right arm bending slightly as her arm turns to make the motion. Desmond's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline and does come in, the rest of the Assassins filing in behind him. They had seemingly thrown on whatever they could find to wear before they jumped into Megan's SUV. As such, they looked like a bunch of hobos to her.
"Glad we look like such Megan."
Oops, she hadn't meant to say that out loud.
She relaxes back into the pillows behind her, letting loose a contented sigh. And then the door opens again and in walks a pair of nurses and several medical equipment items, who pause at the amount of people in the room.
Megan gives them a happy wave.
And the lead nurse's expression darkens. "Only family are allowed."
"What are you talking about, they are my family!" Megan says in a mock annoyance, which the men all look over at her in surprise. The nurse casts another look around at the men before heaving a sigh and ushering them out.
"Alright dad, you're going to…"
The Assassins stood with their hand clasped behind their backs and leaned against the wall, Connor on the opening side of the door and Altair on the other while the rest faced the door from the opposite wall. They hear a rather loud thump and then the door opens. The younger of the nurses looks around quickly before grabbing onto Connor's arm and yanking him inside. And so begins the rather manliest form of giggling to pass the group.
After about 5 minutes the nurses come out of the room and allow them inside. The first thing they notice was the form of Alex passed out on the ground, his feet reaching out from the bottom of the bed. The next thing they notice is Connor sitting as far away from the girl as was possible, his face as white as a sheet.
"Alex passed out." Megan says, looking down to the floor from the side of the bed. She had a goofy grin still on her face and she looks over to Connor. "Connor might here in a minute." Connor's eye begins to twitch a little at her statement and he puffs out his chest like a peacock.
A machine that sat beside Megan suddenly moves, one of the needles actually flying off the page. Megan gives it a curious look before grinning. "That contraction was a doozy. Glad I couldn't feel it." The men at that point couldn't stop themselves from face palming. This was just… surreal.
"Hey, they said that if you guys wanted they could bring up some cots or something."
"There isn't enough room for the amount of beds required." Megan mouth forms a little 'o' in understanding as Altair speaks softly to her. He had the feeling he was dealing with an errant child who didn't comprehend much.
"They stuck a big ass needle in my back. Now I can't feel anything past my stomach."
12 hours they were there. Twelve. Hours. And the woman was still acting like she belonged in a loony bin. What the hell kind of drugs were they giving her!?
"Umm, something feels.. weird." Megan says, brows furrowed, as she looks at the doctor who was reading the chart of contraction intervals. He nods at her, his head bobbing up and down before he looks over at her.
"I think it's time to push then." At that, the room was vacated fairly quickly leaving only Megan, the doctor, and Alex. The doctor looks around in surprise.
"Don't worry. They're just chicken shit."
"Megan.." Alex chides her, rolling his eyes. Apparently the filter from her brain to her mouth was malfunctioning, since she never seemed to curse quiet so much. Or call people chicken shit.
It was another two hours before the men returned to the room and Alex was outside of it, leaned against the wall with a somewhat dazed look on his face. He was staring up at the ceiling, taking deep breathes.
"Everything.. ok?" Ventures Leo as he takes a few steps towards the man. He looks over to them and runs a hand through his hair, a smile breaking out over his face.
"Everything is," he chuckles, "perfect." He opens the door to Megan's room and leaving the rest of them confused.
"I'm glad his day has gone such. Those chairs sucked like a bitch." Desmond grouched and received noises of agreement. They then go inside the room and find the woman in question sitting up with a small bundle in her arms. Both Alex and Megan's attention was on what was inside of the bundle of cloths. Megan looks up at them and gives a happy smile.
"Hey." She says quietly and allowing them to come over to the bed and surround her. "Meet Cascade Amelia Mercer."
Ok, I lied. -hides- I had an idea for the child and I just couldn't not make it a girl. I know that earlier in the story someone asked me to bring Aveline into the story but the problem turned into that I couldn't find any good play-through's for the game. But I know that i did want to bring in a girl to the story. Megan needs another female presence.
And what's this! Has Megan had a dream about the person after her?
Have I given a prelude?
I'm afraid that you'll have to stay tuned to the story to find out!
And I really do apologize about the delay in the chapter coming out. Life has been a little hard and trying. I'm not giving up on this story. I really want to finish it. Its the longest one I have ever written and that alone makes me really happy. So please bear with me and stay with the story.
Now, I have a few people to give shout outs to. First is to the faves and follows. That would be h550. Thankies not only for following the story but also my homepage thingy!
Now for the reviews:
Raychaell Dionzeros: Oh my dear, the names you have given me will be used. I love them all! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
MoonlightMeeting: I agree, it was sweet and the perfect gift. Oh and the guilt trip, I had to put it in there. -winks-
Hack Generation: I didn't know guys could squee either. -chuckles- Nothing beats oreo's and milk I'm afraid. Or well, in my opinion. And your welcome!
Undying Daughter: Here's another new chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!
And to all those that have read this story, thank you. Just knowing that there are people out there reading this makes me very happy. But I do have to admit that reviewing would be wonderful, even just to say that you like the story or what your favorite part was in any of the chapters. Anything. But I understand and I'm fine with it.
Now remember that you can reach my via e-mail, pm, review, twitter, tumblr, or skype. I answer to all and the way to get ahold of me is on my homepage.
P.S. : I HIT 50 REVIEWS! YAY! -does happy dance-