"Let's do it. I'll pack." Sam snorted, setting his beer back on the round table.
"Seriously?" Fiona whispered, resting her palm against her belly.
"Fi.. this is what you've wanted for-." He shook his head. "Ever."
"Don't you think its a little too good to be true?"
"You're afraid to be happy." Sam pointed at her accusingly.
"This is Michael. He's grieving. He'll change his mind." She looked close to tears and Sam couldn't help but consider her side. She always did that to him. Truth be told as much as Claire Westen had the big man wrapped around her finger, her mother did probably just as tightly. "He'll change his mind and we'll be in Moscow with Claire and the baby.."
"We'll be okay Fi." Sam told her firmly. "No matter what." He stood up and put his hands on her shoulder. "I'm in this. For you and Claire and her brother.."
"She's going to kill me if it's a sister." Fiona sighed.
"Don't even think it!" He pretended to be aghast.
"He'll never even know his Grandmother." She whispered, her lips becoming a tight thin line.
"We'll tell him." Sam whispered.
"So..We go?"
"We go." He said softly patting her shoulders.
"I'm gonna call Seymour. If we're doing this I'm going to have to ship all the semi's and assault rifles through his channels. How many exactly do we have?"
"Fi I have no-."
"I'll count!" She nodded, starting towards the shed. He waited for her to go before sighing and picking up his beer.
"It's not nice to stand in doorways and eavesdrop." He finally muttered, lowering himself into his chair.
"Sorry Sam." Michael stepped down from the kitchen and into the apartment. Axe shrugged, reaching under the table into a mini fridge and handing Michael a beer. "Should I be concerned that my wife needed to check with you in the middle of the night before agreeing to run away with me?"
"Probably." Sam looked at him. "But I understand her thinking."
"Sam. I'm not going to-."
"I know." He stopped him. "But she didn't just meet you yesterday Michael. She knows you. Probably better than anyone." Sam took a long sip of his new beer. "She's been hurt by you more than anyone."
"More than you?"
"I love you Brother, but I don't love you."
"Speaking of love? Wouldn't a move ruin things with your current lady friend?" Michael sighed.
"Mike, the only special lady in my life these days is into web-kins, Polly Pockets and 1980's Russian Intelligence files." He grinned his best Sam Axe grin before tipping back the rest of the beer. "I vote Barcelona. Weathers better than London."
"No Spanish." Michael reminded him.
"You are a master of language Mikey, raised in Miami. I think you can pick it up." His friend snorted.
…...
"What do you mean leaving?"
"There's no reason to stay." He looked around the room.
"You're taking them with you to Korea?" The other man looked at him like he was insane.
"No." Michael said sharply. "Someplace else. I'm.. I'm getting out Nate."
"For real?" His brother asked skeptically.
"No one believes a thing I say in this family." Michael muttered to himself before looking back at his brother. Nate looked smug. "Yes, for real."
"Sam okay'ed this?"
"Since when does Sam have to okay the things I do?" The older Westen brother squinted his eyes.
"Since he stepped into the life you walked out on.. again.. and kept us all from going insane." Nate shot back at him. Michael took a step back, running his tongue over his teeth. That one hurt.
"Fair enough." He breathed heavily, putting his hands on his hips. "Fair enough."
"Truth kinda stings huh?" Nate raised an eyebrow.
"Sam's on board. He's-." He swallowed back the faint feelings of betrayal. He knew he deserved them.
"What about the house?" Nate said more softly.
"The house?" His hands were still poised on his hips.
"Well I'm assuming Sam's not just gonna hang out while you take Claire halfway across the world?"
"He's coming." Michael nodded.
"Then what about Mom's house?" He looked around slowly.
"You want it?"
"No." Nate said quickly. "No. No."
"Then I guess we'll sell it. Jesse can take care of things." Michael put that on his mental to do list.
"Seriously Michael?" Nate asked softly. "You're 'sell Mom's house' sure that your getting out?"
Westen's eyes raised to his siblings before he nodded quickly.
"You should take what you want." Michael looked around the room. "Ruth and the kids too. Just you know.. double check with Fiona..."
"Yeah.." Nate looked vaguely afraid what would happen if he didn't. Michael smiled. "Sam already asked me about some of her little winter sculpture things.." He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah.. it was an inside thing with them." Michael sucked in his lips.
"Do you think he loved her?" Nate asked, peeling away from his brother and standing in front of the shelf of snow people.
"Mom?" Michael almost snickered. "Not really Sam's type."
"I don't know." Nate picked one up and gave it a quirky look before setting it down. "Towards the end.."
"I don't know."
"God knows he'd have been more fun then Virgil." His brother laughed. Michael winced before sitting on the ugly sofa. "Or dad. Sam's a good guy. Would have been a good Dad."
"Nate?" His brother's soft voice made him turn towards him. "Um.. I want you to take the Charger."
The man's mouth opened slightly.
"The Charger?"
"You have to promise me that you'll take care of it." He said with the slightest edge in his voice. "It's gotten us out of a lot of jams. It.. means a lot to all of us."
"I'll take good care of it Mike." Nate promised with a single nod.
"Don't let your kids eat in it." Michael warned, earning a scowl from his brother before the two of them broke into a pair of matching grins. "You know an apple wouldn't kill them."
Nate picked up a knickknack and tossed it at his brothers head.
"Hey!" He snorted before looking at him somberly. "You turned out okay.."
"What?" Nate stopped laughing, Michael's face was soft. Brotherly. Fatherly.
"I just wanted you to know I'm proud of you. You turned out okay."
…...
Michael hugged each pudgy niece and his nephew before politely patting Ruth's shoulder and turning to Nate.
His brother smiled at him before Michael wrapped him tightly, gripping the back of his shirt in his fists.
"This isn't goodbye?" Nate tried to laugh lightly.
"Nah of course not." Michael lied before letting go and turning to the charger. He laid his palms on the hood for a few seconds before pushing off , "Extra spark plugs in the glove box. You'll need gas after you drop them off at the airport..." He looked at Nate a little too longingly.
"I'll take care of it." He promised again. "You take care of them." He gestured towards where Fiona stood with Claire. Westen nodded, never looking away as Sam gave Nate a hug and helped the kids into the Charger.
"She's a little sticky when you're shifting over 80." Sam informed him, patting the roof of the old car.
"I'll try and remember that." Nate teased, still looking at Michael as he climbed in. The spy looked away, studying the ground at his feet. His brother honked the horn as he pulled away Fiona wrapped her arms around his waist. Sam walked back into the garage.
"You should have told him." She whispered.
"No. I shouldn't have." He shook his head slowly.
"He'll suspect." She sounded close to tears.
"Jesse's going to tell him not to suspect too loudly."
"Okay." He clasped her hands in his.
"You sure you got everything out you wanted?" He raised his eyebrow pointedly.
"Yeah."
"Claire?" His eyebrow rose.
"Checked and double checked." She pressed tighter. "Did you?"
"Yeah." He breathed, turning to face her and reaching down to the duffel bag at his feet. He pulled out a little blue sleeper, holding it with both hands and running his thumbs over the top.
She laid her head on his shoulder.
"We ready to do this?" Sam reappeared with a single panel of gaudy drapes tossed over his shoulder and two winter scene figurines in his hands. Michael couldn't help but grin.
Fiona nodded softly before turning to Claire and handing her the little sleeper.
"Go with Jesse. We'll be along shortly." She said quietly. Claire gave a long look to the house she'd been born in. The only house she'd ever really lived in. Jesse squeezed her shoulders.
"I got frozen yogurt in a bag on the front seat. With sprinkles." She grinned at him. "Go ahead I'll be right there." He looked at her mother as she closed the car door. "You promise just enough right, Fi? It's gonna be harder to explain if the whole street goes-."
"Just enough Jesse." She sighed.
Michael locked her fingers in his own.
"You can sell this?"
"I learned from the best." Jesse announced flatly, nodding at Michael. "Barry and I mapped out the landing sight last night, Claire and I will head straight there."
"Thanks Jesse." Michael sighed.
"Take care, Brother." Sam hugged him, handing him Madelyn's memorabilia and draping him with the curtain, watching as he walked back to Claire and drove away. Sam looked at Mike and Fi and sighed. "Let's do this."
"My mother's rolling in her grave." Michael groaned.
"She'd be happy for us." Fiona scolded. Michael gave her a relenting nod before looking up to see Barry pull to a stop at the cross street..
"Be careful." Fiona sighed, kissing her husband firmly before jogging over to Barry and sliding into the car.
Sam and Michael waited for the jogger that Sam had stalked out for them.
"Show time." He announced when he saw her, walking Sam up the drive. "Sorry I have no idea..."
"That's alright!" He held his hand up to the jogger. "Maybe she knows?" The woman stopped, looking at him helpfully. "I'm looking for 456.." The lady started to point as Michael headed back and started into the house. "Thanks Mr. Westen!" He yelled back towards him. "Nice guy, saw me out here and came to see if he could help. No sense of direction though." He stalled her. "So you know.." She pointed again and Sam walked her back to the corner, still feigning confusion.
Then the house blew up.
"Oh My God!" The jogger screamed while Sam did his best to look mortified. It wasn't Fi's best work, but it had done it's job. "Oh my God that man was in there!"
"We.. we need to call for help!" Sam yelled. "Do you have a phone?" The jogger shook her head, pressing her hand to her mouth. "I'll go knock on some doors!" Yelled, stumbling off until breaking into a jog and heading around the corner just in time to catch Michael climb into the car with Barry. Axe slid in next to the driver, clapping the man on the shoulder.
"Well done." Barry admired before taking off down the street as the sirens started to blare.
…...
"What about his wife and child?" Monica asked slowly.
"Best I can tell a buddy of his, Sam Axe, panicked and got Fiona the hell out of here."Jesse tapped the end of his pencil against the desk.
"Damn." Michael's handler sighed again. "I trust you're going to handle this?"
"I guarantee you I'll find who did this and take care of it." Jesse tapped a framed photo of Claire on his desk. "The local bomb squad said it was very intricate. Professional."
"I should have let him go in July when he asked." Monica whispered more to herself then to him.
"He asked in July?" Jesse exhaled slowly.
"For about the hundredth time. I always found ways to keep him. He was good you know." She was almost wistful.
"I know." Jesse sighed. "Monica, I'm going to do what I can, but I need you to make sure Fiona and the kids stay off the grid. I'm worried about their safety."
"Of course." Monica breathed. "Do you know what she'll be going by? Is she keeping Westen?"
"Not yet. She has a family friend in the UK, a guy named McBride. I wouldn't be surprised if she went to him. She might take that on."
"Fiona and Claire McBride. Got it." She sighed. "And the baby?"
"Michael." Jesse almost grinned before pressing his lips together and replying sorrowfully. "Michael McBride."
"Alright." She sighed. "We're all really upset about this here. Michael was a good man."
"He was." Jesse swallowed hard. "I'm going to miss him."
…...
"My brother's being born right now." Claire McBride grinned excitedly at the woman beside her.
"How nice." The woman lilted softly, looking at Sam before looking back at her magazine with a smile.
"Claire.." Sam warned. "I just want to make sure that if it's a sister-."
"It's not." She said quickly. "It's a brother."
She held up the blue sleeper to him as if it was proof. Sam grunted softly.
"We'll see."
…...
"Mathew." Fiona panted softly, unclench her hands from where Michael's rested on the bed rail. He let go of the cold metal and moved her hair from her face.
"Don't you have a nephew named Mathew?"
"Do I?"She stretched her back a little and he pressed the butt of his hand against it, rubbing firmly. She pushed her palm against his chest.
"Sheamus' third or fourth.." He squinted.
"Possibly." She shrugged. "You're better with names then I am."
He contemplated that for a few seconds, still working his hand against her back.
"Benjamin." He pursed his lips.
"Ben McBride?" She snorted. "Seriously Michael." The word gained a uneasy sharpness as she finished it, before her breathing became broken and unsteady. Her husband winced, pulling her hand off his chest and wrapping it in his own. "Ah.."
"Breathe." He whispered soothingly. "Breathe, breathe, breathe." She nodded, her eyes rolling up before closing slowly. "I thought since you were having this baby in a hospital.. you'd maybe get the pain medication."
"They want to stick a needle in my spine Michael." She growled. "I don't know if you've noticed but this isn't exactly Mount Sinai." He winced with her before looking around again.
"Fair point." He whispered.
…...
"I want the epidural." She cried, her arms shaking against his own. "Michael, I want the epidural."
"It's too late for that!" The fat nurse smiled cheerfully. Michael was glad he had a firm grip on her thigh because he was sure, even in the middle of hard labor, Fiona would have kicked the woman's teeth right out of her mouth. "I can see a whole lot going on down there."
"Get her away from me Michael!" Fiona screamed, panting back against him. "I swear to God I'm going to-." She stopped her mouth erupting into a frantic scream as her little body pushed back against him with unthinkable force.
"There we go." The fat nurse sang. "Doctor Baur, I'm thinking you should get your gloves on."
"I'm thinking he should have his gloves on." Michael grunted, as Fiona's fingernails dug into the hands he had behind her knees.
"She's stronger than she looks." The doctor said quickly still struggling with one drug. "Ease up a little Mother."
"Don't push Fi." Michael whispered into her ear. She turned her face into him.
"Michael..I.. it.." She panted against him pleadingly.
"Just a little longer." He promised as the Doctor finally moved himself into place.
"Okay then." The man said softly. "The next one and then we'll have ourselves a baby."
"We?" His wife accused before her body arched again. "Oh! I'll kill him too!""
"Just push Fiona." Michael suggested evenly as she groaned against him.
…...
"Well it's done then." Sam looked up at the nurse before looking down at the little girl asleep in his lap. "I'm guessing you'll want to come and take a look."
Sam nodded with a smile, pausing just before lifting Claire.
"Is it.." He looked at the lady again. "Please tell me it's a boy."
…...
Claire McBride (Westen) had never been a smug child, but sitting atop her Uncle Sam's lap with the tiny blue sleeper-ed baby in her arms she was clearly smug.
"Told you." She muttered loudly.
"Yes.. McBride you told us all." Fiona sighed, trying to sound aggravated despite the wide smile on her face. She leaned back into Michael feeling his arms wrap around her still relatively thin waist. "Patrick."
"Peter." Michael puffed out his cheeks.
"Samuel." Sam said brightly, Fiona and Michael shared a look before shaking their heads at him in unison.
"Congratulations!" The fat nurse waddled in handing Fiona a blue quilt with sailboats on it. "Courtesy of Maddox-Brax Medical Clinic." Fiona almost felt bad for threatening her. Almost.
"Maddox." Michael said slowly, before dropping into his best Irish Accent. "Maddox Glenanne McBride."
His son let out a yell in either protest or support. Sam snorted and Fiona stilled.
"Maddox." Claire said softly, tracing his baby cheek. "He likes it."
"Maddox it is then." Fiona whispered.
…...