From: "Veronica Bowles" <yellowrubberduck31@hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2001 12:57:37 -0400 Subject: New Post Source: direct TITLE: Choices-04 "It's a Woman Thang." AUTHOR: Mystic25 EMAIL: yellowrubberduck31@hotmail.com DISTRIBUTION: Archive, just keep my stuff the same GENRES: Story/Romance/Angst RELATIONSHIPS: Max/Logan married CONTENT: references to child experimentation, and abortion (but not of Max's current pregnancy) KEYWORDS: Alternate Universe RATING: PG14 SPOILERS: few references to "Hit a Sista back" SUMMARY: Max's baby shower has a few unexpected surprises DISCLAIMER: All DA characters are Cameron's. I claim right to any others. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, I KNOW I said I would write one about Tinga escaping Manticore, but all of you who have seen "..And Jesus Brought a Casserole" and didn't cry raise your hands <no movement detected> I couldn't write anything like that after the ep. was over. But, I DIDN'T go back on my word. Tinga is rescued in here, but it's not the main plot of the story. Also for those of you wanting Zack, he's menitoned in here as well. ***** Foggle Towers 11:23 a.m. Max deftly pulled the cream colored three quarter sleeved shirt over her head. The piece of clothing hugged the curves of her upper body flaring only at the protrusion of her lower abdomen. She placed one hand on her round stomach, feeling a kick from the child inside. It had already been five months since she found out that she was pregnant again. Since that time she helped Logan and Det. Sung with that case for that wacked out scientist. But more importantly it had been almost that same amount of time that she and Zack had rescued Tinga from Manticore. Logan hadn't wanted her to go, fearing for her and the baby, but, she could not pass the chance to save her sister from that hell hole. Zack and her had found Tinga strapped to a hospital bed, clinging to life. They took her out in the dead of night, guards on them the whole time. They made it to the perimeter, before Zack was shot, and she had taken a hit to her shoulder. They fought back and made it out. Logan had been waiting in the surrounding woods and seeing them injured drove them all to Seattle and the nearest hospital. Zack's wound was not critical, the bullet had ricocheted off his neck, hitting nothing major. Max's wound was a little more serious, but doctors successfully removed the bullet fragments from her shoulder and had run a ultrasound, finding no traumatic affects to the fetus from the injury. The look on Zack's face was priceless when Max had told the ER doctors that she was then three months pregnant, and was worried about her injuries affects on her baby. After Max's minor surgery, she took up a silent vigil next to Tinga's comatose form. She held her hand, talked to her, telling her that she was free again. Logan had tracked down Charlie and Case in Canada and told them what had happened. Charlie had flown to Seattle immediately and joined Max in her watch. Even after Max had been discharged she refused to leave Tinga's side. It was not uncommon to find her and Charlie asleep in a chair by the bed of the wife and sister they were praying would make it. Logan would be able to sometimes convince Max to go home and get some sleep, but the next morning she was back in that room. The nurses on Tinga's floor grew accustom to seeing her there and developed sympathy for her and Charlie. They would often bring in a cot, so Max would not have to sleep in a chair in her condition. She and Logan spent many nights asleep on that rickety old fold out. Logan did not want to leave her, often calling Bling or Original Cindy to watch Jess. Zack had once walked in the room a few days after they all were brought there. Max was asleep on the hospital cot, pressed up against Logan's back, their hands interwound on her stomach. Charlie slept in the chair beside Tinga's bed, holding her hand with Case sleeping in his lap. Zack looked at his two little sisters. Each had given into phony sentimentality, and love and it had brought them pain, sorrow just like he had said. But even enlight of this they looked in their element that night. After two more days the waiting paid off, and Tinga had awoken. Charlie had wept that day, holding her close. Tinga had responded in kind, embracing her son and husband hard. When she and Max embraced Max felt it was like coming home. She introduced Logan to Tinga who had brought Jess to the hospital that day. Tinga had held the baby for the longest time, telling Max that she was glad she found out how wonderful love could be. And when she touched the small slope that was already forming in her baby sister's stomach she had actually cried, hugging Max fiercely, thanking whoever was calling the shots that she had been allowed to witness all these miracles. Charlie moved back to the United States, and he and Tinga moved into an apartment complex five miles away from Foggle Towers. Zack had of course shown his objection, but Tinga told him more then once to 'fuck off' and that if Lydeker wanted her he'd have to drag her back, 'cause she wasn't about to run out on her family again. Logan's hands on her back startled Max out of her thoughts. "Sorry." he apologized. She smiled. "That's okay. I was just thinking." "About?" "This" Max touched her stomach. "Us. The way life seems to be dealing us some good hands these last few months." Logan kissed her bar code, making her shiver slightly. "I'm glad it did." The new baby, reuniting Max with her sister, her and Tinga making it out of the ordeal alive. They were all milestones that Logan thanked God everyday for. "Hey I'm gonna kick this door down if someone doesn't answer soon." Tinga's voice wafted through the air. Max moved out of her husband's embrace "Better get that, 'cause she'll do it." she walked out into the living room and opened the mahogany door. Tinga stood there, dressed in black jeans and a capuchino colored pullover. She smiled at Max. "Hey baby sister." she hugged her, shifting the bag in her hand. Max hugged her back. "Glad you could make it." Tinga kissed her forehead gently. "Wouldn't have missed this for the world." she touched Max's stomach, smiling at the kick she felt under her hand. "Someone's ready for this party as well." she set the bag on the dinning room table. Kaja, their German Shepherd approached Tinga. She smiled and petted the dog. "Hey girl. How are ya?" she ran her hand along the Kaja's elegant fur coat. Kaja licked Tinga's hand in affection, before heading off towards the bedroom. Logan stopped to pet her when she nearly collided into him while chasing her chew toy. He looked up again at his wife and sister-in-law. "Hey Tinga, How's Charlie?" "He's all right Logan." Tinga answered. "He and his father took Case out to a ball game today. Knicks and Lakers at that arena downtown." "Sounds like a good game." Logan commented. "It should be." Tinga replied. She was as much of a basket- ball fan as her husband. "He invited me to go. Seats were court side and everything, but I reminded him about this." she smiled at Max. "Told him that even seats like that wouldn't make me give up coming to my little sister's baby shower, especially since I missed the first one." "Wasn't anything too special." Max argued. "Just me and a few girlfriends." "Well this one will be." Tinga proclaimed "It won't be all lacy and doily. I had enough of that at the one Charlie's mother Sara gave me for Case." she shuddered slightly at the memory. "She was sweet for doing it, but all those little pink flowers and streamers made me nauseous after a while. But-" she reached into the bag that she had brought pulling out two roses, one yellow with the tips of some petals colored red, almost like they had been dipped ever so slightly into paint, and the other pure white. "I think these won't be too much. Yellow and red for the friendship and love from a sister, and white for the existence of new life." she handed them to Max. Max took the flowers from her, tears wetting the corners of her eyes. When they had been children they had never had the luxury of soft, beautiful, feminine things. Barrack life had them sleeping in steel bunks and sharing bathroom facilities with the male soldiers. They had all used the same showers, there was no such thing as privacy. Sometimes at night she would lay awake with her sisters and talk about what life would be like if they escaped. Almost all of them longed for things like flowers, soft beds instead of old filthy mattress, and they all yearned for love from a man. Not the kind from Krit, or Ben, or even Zack, but the love between a man and a woman. And now to be holding something that she had wished for as a child, to be living the dream she had so long ago, it was overwhelming. "Thank you." Max hugged Tinga tightly. She sniffed "If Lydeker could see us now, the rat bastard would die ashamed." Tinga laughed lightly, pulling back, wiping away her own tears. Max turned towards her husband "Baby could you put these in some water?" He took them from her, wiping away excess tear tracks with the back of his hands, and went in search of a vase. "Knock knock." Original Cindy came through the front door that had been left open. She turned towards Max "You plan to invite the whole building to this thang suga?" Max shook her head "Just forgot to close it." she shut the door again. Cindy hugged her "How's my boy doin'?" "Fine." Max informed. "He's getting so big." "So are you." Cindy said pulling back. She touched Max's stomach "I'm noticing more and more space between me and you as the months are wearing on." Max laughed "Yea I know. I'm starting to look like the Good Year blimp." "No you're not." Logan corrected, having since found a vase for the roses. He wrapped both arms around her. "You look radiant." Max snorted "Easy for you to say baby, you don't have ten extra pounds all placed in one central area." "Hey." Logan began in a gentle, demanding tone "Don't argue with me when I give you a compliment." he kissed her neck. After another moment Max pulled back from her husband's embrace. "Almost forgot that you two don't know each other." she addressed Cindy and Tinga. "Yea." Cindy began in agreement, turning to the other woman "But I heard a lot about you. Spent many nights watching my boo's son while she waited for you to wake up." her eyes held nothing but sincerity "Glad your okay suga." "Thanks." Tinga responded "It's nice to know that my baby sister has friends like you to fall back on." "Her names Cindy by the way." Logan introduced. "I was gettin' there boy." Cindy informed. "Just giving her a lil 411. Speaking of friends 'falling back on things'" she looked at Max. "Kendra and Walter had this whole weekend thing planned so she told me to give you her apologizes and this-" she pulled out a hand woven dream catcher from her backpack. "To hang above the baby's crib." Max took it from her, admiring the cedar ring that held the intricately woven web of string and beads. "Maybe I should ask her to do one for me. Might help banish those thoughts of her and Walter doin' shit to each other." she she shuddered. "Still unsettling after all this time." "It's beautiful." Tinga picked up one of the feathers that hung down the bottom. "She has talent." "So.." Cindy went in another direction. "This girl's gonna make herself useful and get things ready." she retreated to the kitchen. ***** Twenty minutes later Cindy and Tinga had cooked enough food for a small army. Max, not being a great whiz in the kitchen, sat on a nearby stool and watched. "Smell's great in here ladies." Logan commented, coming out of the nursery with Jess, who was up from his nap. He placed him in his playpen and took the seat next to Max "Afraid you'll burn something?" Max looked at him "You know what my cooking skills are like." "Non existent." Cindy answered back. "No offense hon, but you seemed to have been short changed on the culinary side of your family history." "I resent that." Max shot back Tinga laughed lightly "It's true Maxi. Remember when we were assigned KP duty for three days?" Max actually smiled slightly at that memory. "I still didn't understand why Lydeker had KP. Did he want us to learn how to bake poison for our enenimies?" "It was for punishment remember?" she replied. "You and Zane had snuck out to the tower after bunk check." "We wanted to see the north star." Max pointed out. "Syl told us how we could wish upon it." she remembered what happened after it though, their drill sergeant had sent guards to drag them back down. Tinga, who had been acting as a lookout, had been 'punished' as well. Three days chained to stee. posts, being forced to drug their siblings' food for lab research. Cindy noticed her mood change "You okay Max?" Max came out of her thoughts. "Yea, just spaced for a moment." she looked over at the plates covering the counter. Her stomach growled "This baby's always hungry. With Jess it wasn't nearly as bad." "That's why we made this much." Tinga pointed outs. "Took in account your appetite and my niece's." "You think it's a girl?" Max looked down at her stomach. The baby was in the wrong position for the ultrasound technician to tell the sex. Tinga smiled knowingly "I have a strong feeling." she set the food on the dinning room table. Max turned towards Logan "That mean's we'll have the perfect nuclear family." "That's actually 2.3 children baby." Logan corrected. "I never liked that concept." Tinga commented retreating back to the kitchen to get glasses. "Perfection is so over rated in this world. Charlie and I are perfectly happy with just Case. I wouldn't just have another baby just to meet someone else's standards of family." she arranged the glasses she brought out on the marble table. Logan smiled at her remark "Oh the joys of family bonding over cooking and faulty ideology." Max climbed off the stool and examined the table. "Five places? I only count three of us here who are staying for this, what gives?" Tinga looked at Max with a smile "It's part of my present to you. I made a few calls, all on pay phones of course, and found out who was hanging around this area and told them to drop by." Max was getting more confused. "Who are you talking about?" A knock was heard on the door. "I'll get that." Tinga announced, and retreated off to answer it. She could hear slight mumbling on the other side. "I could wire this door and get it to open." "Girl, don't be stupid, you knocked, just be patient." "But I want to enter with a bang, so to speak." Tinga shook her head and opened the door to her sisters. "Jondy, you're only here thirty seconds and you're already wanting to lay waste to something." The woman with the long brown hair and blue eyes looked at her teasingly. "But I want to wire up something so *bad* Tinga." she hugged her. "Then you can start with my car." Syl pointed out. She looked at Tinga. "Had a hell of a time finding this place. My sweet lil Coverre finally died in the parking garage." she hugged Tinga after Jondy did. Both women entered the penthouse. Jondy whistled "Nice digs." "Thanks." Logan replied. "Max will be out in a second." "That's Logan." Tinga introduced. Jondy turned to face him "So your the one Zack keeps bitchin' about." she smiled "You seem harmless enough." "Your brother and I don't exactly get along." Logan replied. "That's Zack for ya." Syl began. "He never thinks anyone is good for his sisters. Even put tails on me and my boy Craig in Vegas, he's paranoid." she said this to reassure Logan that Max wasn't the only sibling he did this to. Syl sized up Logan as well "So I guess this mean's your my new brother-in-law?" "I can't believe this." Max proclaimed, having since come back from the bathroom. Jondy turned, seeing her standing there. "Maxi!" she came over and locked her in a fierce embrace, that Max returned with the same eagerness. "It's been to long girl." she pulled back and looked at her, laying a hand on her round stomach. "WAY to long." "Couldn't believe it when Tinga called me in Nevada." Syl hugged her little sister hard. "When she said I had to book it over to Seattle for Maxi's baby shower I almost fainted." she smiled in memory. "Scared Krit to death." "Krit was there?" Max asked. "Came by to help me load a new carburetor into my Corverre, the one Jondy made funk out in your parking garage." Syl shot a reproachful look at her other sister. "I think Krit's exact words when I told him were "Max got knocked up? Bet Zack's gonna be pissed." she smiled at Max "But he say's congrats, and if Zack gives you any shit he'll come up here and haul his ass himself." "How long are you here?" Max asked, almost afraid of the answer. They had just dropped everything to come here for this event, and she knew that they would leave in short time. Zack may think them reckless, but Syl and Jondy were aware that two many X5's in one city was just waving the red flag in front of Lydeker's face. "Have to get my honey started, so I'm guessing until tomorrow." Syl answered. Max's expression fell slightly. Even though she knew that she would say something like that, it still made her sad. They hadn't seen each other in years and now only had less then twenty-four hours to spend together. Jondy caught Max's mood change and draped her arm across her shoulder "That's plenty of time for us to kick it sweetie. And we'll try to be back for the birth of our niece..nephew?" her statement trailed off into a question. "Don't know yet." Max responded with a smile. "Tinga's saying it's a girl. And since I have a son, I wouldn't mind if it was true, but either way I'll be happy." Jondy looked dumfounded. "You didn't tell me you already HAD one of these on the outside." Max laughed "Girl the playpen is right behind you, I thought you would notice." Jondy did a double take and looked at the playpen set up. Jesse was playing intently with his plastic toys. She headed over to it and peered over the side at the baby. "Oh my god, he's so beautiful." "Your sister's nice suga." Cindy whispered to Max "but a little slow." "I heard that." Jondy called out. She looked at Cindy with a smile. "Forgot that all my girl's family has that whole super senses thing going on." Cindy replied Jondy reached into the playpen and picked up the baby. "What's his name?" "Jesse." Max responded. Jondy nodded slightly in understanding, at the underlying message that Max wanted her to know, but couldn't say. She looked back down at the baby. "Hey Jess, I'm your aunt. or at least ONE of them." she walked over to Syl. "This is another." Syl reached out and touched Jess's head. "Hey little one." Jesse looked at her with the large mocha eyes. "You look so much like your mama. She named you well." she paused briefly. "I wish your namesake and your little cousin could be here to see how beautiful you are." she stopped to take a swipe at her eyes. "Sorry." she apologized looking around the room. "It's aiight." Cindy reassured. "From what Max told me that was no walk in the park for you." Max retrieved a few tissues and handed them to Syl. Tinga was heard blowing her nose from where she was seated at the dinning room table. Syl hugged Max, both crying quietly, and Jondy wiped excess tear tracks off her face with the hem of her jacket. She laughed dryly at their predicament. She looked down at her nephew "Your mommy and aunts are real basket cases huh?" Max laughed, wiping the last traces of moisture from her face. "That Coverre of yours Syl" Max changed the subject. "How'd she shut down?" "I'm guessin' the fan belt finally snapped." Syl responded "I found enough quality scrap to upload my sweetheart's engine triplefold, but I can't find a damn belt in all of Nevada that won't break after one hundred miles." She sighed "I gotta weed through the Black Market to try and find another cheap rubber band." "The ones here are nothing but black holes." Cindy warned. "I went to this one set up to buy a chain guard for my messenger wheels. Twenty Mr. Washingtons for something that was more rusted through then the Space Needle, and the thing broke thirty feet down the road." "Great." Syl began dejectedly. "Now I gotta have Jondy push my girl all the way back to Vegas." Jondy stared at her "Ha ha. I could just juice her up Syl. Get a little nitrate, some red and blue." "Jondy." Tinga broke in "Leave the wires and flammables out of this." "I'm workin' on it Tinga I swear." Jondy reconciled. Tinga shot her sister a 'uh-huh' look. "Max could help you." she said to Syl. "She's still got some left over parts from suppin' up her cycle." "Is it that little black beauty beside the Aztec?" Syl asked. Max nodded "That's my OTHER baby." she laughed slightly looking at Logan "I guess we DO have a perfect nuclear family after all." Logan just shook his head in mock exasperation. After family and friends, his wife's next love was her Ninja. "She is sweet." Syl agreed. "Yea." Max stated. "But I can't take her out until after the baby's born. Until then it's my Impala. Still, I've grown attached to that little red number." she looked at Syl "I've still got plenty of scrap left though. Why don't we move this party outside for a while?" ***** Cindy sat on the hood of Max's Impala with Jesse's baby carrier beside her. "Only my girl would be fixing a fan belt when she was five months pregnant." Cindy stated to Max who was working under the hood of her sister's car. Max smiled and wiped some oil off her hands onto a rag she had brought. "Try it now." Syl cranked the engine. It sputtered and coughed for a few seconds, but died soon afterwards. "Dammit." Syl cursed. "That didn't get it." Max reached in and pulled out the belt she had just set in. She examined it for a few seconds, noticing a small fissure in the rubber. "This one sprang a leak." she chucked it to the ground and walked over to a large box in the corner of the garage where she kept all her spare parts. Logan leaned against his Aztec, watching. He didn't even notice Bling come up behind him. "What's all this?" Logan turned towards him "Oh hey Bling. Welcome to Auto Mechanics 101. Those women with Max are her sisters Jondy and Syl. Syl's car broke down and Max is helping her fix it." he half laughed, half sighed. "Most women who have baby showers get together inside, talk, exchange gifts, pick out names, my wife repairs automobiles." "Good excircise for her." Bling remarked with a small smile. "So" he looked at Logan "You ready to go?" "Yea." he said standing up straight. "Just let me say bye to my mechanic." he walked over to where Max was again half under the hood of the Corrverre. He placed his hands on her shoulders "I have something else that needs to be worked on sweetheart." Max put down the wrench she was holding and turned to face him. "Oh really?" she smirked, wrapping both arms around his neck. "Is it something worth my time?" "It better be." Logan teased claiming her mouth in a deep kiss. "I'm heading out. Pistons tickets are hard to come by, and I wanna get there before scalpers sell my seat out to someone else." "Have a good time baby." Max stated. "I've got my own kinda game to watch. Pistons and a V-8 engine." "Let me know how that turns out." he kissed her softly on the nose. "Don't push yourself too hard." "I won't" she promised. "Don't worry Logan." Tinga reassured eavesdropping. "We'll make sure she's okay." Logan handed Max back the wrench she had put down earlier, stealing one more kiss. "You guys haven't even had the second kid and your already working towards the third." Cindy remarked. Logan pulled back with a smile. "Gotta go." he gave a quick kiss to his son's forehead. "Watch mommy and learn Jess. You need to know how to do this so daddy's credit cards don't take a beating on tow trucks later on." he walked over to his Aztec again and climbed in the drivers seat. He started the engine and pulled out of his reserved spot. He honked to the group of women as he drove away. Max raised one hand in the air in a waving fashion. She continued to tighten in the nuts that attached the rollers the belt sat on, to the engine. "Tinga could you come and tighten this last one? With this stomach in the way it's hard to reach." Tinga nodded and climbed off her vantage point on the roof of the car. She took the wrench from Max and proceeded to tighten the last nut in place. "It's like when we were little." Max stated looking at her two other sisters. "When we had to go on those godforsaken training missions. Having to avoid all those land mines that were set out. Jondy always managed to de-activate them. She was always good at technical mechanics." "Jondy don't you *dare* hot wire this car!" Syl barked "I don't want my baby's guts all out in the open." "Just wanted to see if Maxi got her hummin' again Syl, relax." Jondy defended. "Some things haven't changed." Max said shaking her head. Tinga smiled in acknowledgment, putting down the wrench. Max checked the position of the new belt, seeing that it was aligned correctly she stuck her head out of the hood. "Gun it Jondy." "Here." Syl tossed her the keys. "Do it the traditional way." Jondy caught them and cranked the ignition. The car roared to life. "She's purring like a kitten." Max announced, dropping the hood back into place. "Oh sweetie." Syl cooed, stroking the sleek purple body of the car "I'm glad you're okay." Jondy turned off the engine and climbed out. "Good as new." she announced. She looked at Max "You should take a break." Max wiped a smudge of oil off her face. "Nah, I'm good. 'Sides I'm done now." she wiped some sweat off the back of her neck that had formed there. Syl came up behind Max and began rubbing her shoulders "Thanks for the free labor hon. You helped prevent so many injuries to the people I would've had to put down because they would have sold me faulty parts." Max felt her muscles began to loosen under her sister's kneading hands. "Glad my simple act of auto repair also help defer acts of random violence." she let out a sound half way between a purr and a moan. "The Corverre's not the only thing that's purring like a kitten now." Jondy teased at the sounds Max was making in response to the massage "Good thing there isn't a man around here." she began again "'cause he'd be getting all turned on and shit." "Straight up." Original Cindy agreed, listening in. "All the human male gender can't get enough of watching two shorties engaging in perfectly normal cuddling time and treatin' them like they was on some National Geographic mating show, it's sick." "Excuse me." the sound of a deep voice made all five women turn. A young man, around his mid twenties, with blonde hair stood there. He was dressed in faded jeans and an oversized red sweatshirt. "Can I be of assistance to you ladies?" Max shook her head negatively. "Thanks buddy, but we got it covered." "Car problems?" he asked. She shook her head again. "Not anymore. Just unloaded some rubber into this girl's heart, she's fine now." He obviously didn't believe her because the next words out of his mouth were "Mind if I take a look?" "I SAID we got it." Max responded annoyed. "What's there to look at?" "Hey don't get all hormonal on me lady. I know it's not under your control or anything but that's no reason to be rude." he was using a tone on her that was normally reserved for a small child. Now Max was getting pissed, and was about to tell him exactly what kinda control she could have, but Syl beat her to the punch. "My sister's pregnant, she's not stupid. What makes you think that I even WANT some total stranger looking at my baby?" "What are you all on your time or something?" he turned to Max "except you of course. I was just wanting to make sure things were right." "Oh no you did not just do that." Cindy stated, hopping off the Impala and approaching the man. "This conversation's makin' Original Cindy mad. First of all, a chica doesn't have to be on 'her time' as you like to call it to be offended by some three legged looser guy who's being a male chovinistic pig. And second of all my boo here's a grown woman, not little girl lost, she's been repairing and welding stuff probably before you had your first tricycle." she crossed her arms over her chest. "All I did was offer-" he began again, but this time Jondy cut him off. "Yea well we didn't ask. You didn't do us a great service, other then the fact that you're annoying, you've accomplished nothing." she silently dared him to say anything more. He did. "Did any of you ever change a battery cable in a rainstorm on a dark night?" he sounded pretty impressed with himself. But Max was not. "Did YOU ever reassemble and then reattach two rudders of a puddle jumper during the middle of a hurricane?" she looked at him coldly. "I didn't think so. And unless you plan to rebuild the entire engine frame of the U.S.S Arizona right here in this parking garage, I would advise that you stop trying to be Joe the Repairman and start being a scrawny ass guy who better start walking while he's still able to stand upright." "You shouldn't exert yourself in your condition." he responded, not knowing when to quit. Max was now royally pissed off. She grabbed him by the collar of his T-shirt. "Do you have a death wish or something?" her voice was a low growl. She broke off when she experienced an uncomfortable sense of vertigo. Her hands came away from his shirt and now rested on her head. Syl noticed. "I think it's time you sat down girl." she suggested. Max didn't argue and took a seat on the hood of the Corverre. Cindy sat down beside her. "You okay boo?" "Yea." Max replied, rubbing her temples slightly. "Just got a little dizzy." "You've been workin' too hard suga." she patted her shoulder "Put your head right here and take a little relaxation time." Max did as she said, and Cindy placed an arm across her shoulders. "Told you." the man stated. This time it was Tinga who 'took him to school' She mimicked Max's earlier position and snagged him by his shirt collar. "I don't think my baby sister appreciated the sarcasm in that remark, and I didn't like it either." her hand moved lower and gripped his neck. Why don't you just walk away before one of us makes sure that you experience the kind of exertion that makes 'your condition' require time in the ICU." she squeezed his neck a little for emphasis. The man made a slight gasping noise. "What's that?" Tinga stated mockingly. "You have to speak up." she abruptly released his neck. The guy groped at the red marks forming where Tinga's hands had recently vacated. "Now the exits are all a good ways away from here." Tinga went on "I suggest you go find one before you have to tell your friends how you got your ass kicked by a bunch of girls." The guy didn't say anything more, and slowly retreated away from them. "What prehistoric era did that slime crawl out of?" Jondy sneered. "For real." Cindy agreed, playing with Max's long brown curls. "This is why this girl doesn't associate with the opposite gender when it comes to the love side of things." "Not all men are scum." Max argued lightly. "Mine isn't." "Okay one exception in about so many odd million guys." Cindy corrected. "He's in the minority." Max shook her head in agreement "I don't feel dizzy anymore." she slid off the hood of the Corverre "But, I do feel hungry. Let's take this thang back inside before the food gets cold." ***** After eating all five women made themselves comfortable on the furniture in the living room. Max was seated next to Jondy on the overstuffed couch with Original Cindy on the opposite side of her. Tinga was in the arm chair that sat directly parallel to the sofa. Syl opted for the floor and sat cross legged in front of Max and Cindy. "So." Syl began trying to start up a new topic of conversation "How did you and Logan meet Maxi?" Max half sighed, half smiled "I broke in here to fence something." Syl raised an eyebrow "Really?" Max nodded "It was a Goddess of Bast statue Logan kept on the mantle." she pointed to where the white figurine still rested. "I snuck in here one night to get it, but he caught me." "Did he flip out?" Jondy interrupted. "Sort of." Max responded cryptically. "The next day he came to see me at my job, and asked me to do stuff for him, and as I got to know him more he returned the favor. He helped me find Hanna, and Zack, though I don't know whether I should thank him or slug him for that last one." she laughed quietly. "Big brother is watching you." Jondy stated. "I hear ya girl, I mean I love him and all, but sometimes I just want to throttle the shit out of him." "He's that bad?" Cindy questioned. "Mmmhmm." Tinga agreed. "He means well, it's just that he's so-" she broke off, trying to search for a good description. "Forceful." Syl finished. "Arrogant." Jondy added. "Pig headed." "Zack." Max stated. "There's just no other way to put it. Every time he was here in Seattle he tried to get me to leave, go on the lamb. Even after I set down roots and had a family." "Good thing you didn't listen to him baby sister." Tinga stated "I spent almost six full months away from my husband and child. Coming back may have cost me a lot, but I wouldn't change that decision for anything in the world." she smiled over at Max "especially now that I know what I have waiting for me." "I say we have a toast then." Syl announced, holding up her glass of scotch. "To Zack, the most self-centered, son of a bitch brother and CO we could have ever asked for." she took a drink of her scotch. Max smiled raising her glass of mineral water as well "Wherever you are big brother, I love you dearly, but if you try and pry me away from my life again, I'll kick your ass myself." "Stick it to the man." Jondy agreed drinking from her glass. Her expression changed, becoming more serious. "Before we each present baby sister Max here with the offerings we brought for her child, let's take the time to remember those who can't be here." she paused briefly raising her glass again "To Zane, next time remember to pay your landlord so you don't have to work double shifts at the warehouse." "To Krit." Syl went on "Thanks for the work on my baby, and don't kill yourself rock climbing. To Jace, glad you turned around, take care of our other little Max." "To Eva." Tinga's eyes were sad when she said this. "We miss you everyday baby sister, and to Ben, I wish you could have been strong enough to ward off the darkness." "My true love Diamond." Cindy raised her glass "I miss you girl, but I'll never forget the love and good times." "To Jesse-" Max paused to take a breath to gather her thoughts "You were so brave during the whole 'process' Never once saw you flinch." unbidden tears sprang to her eyes. "Thank you for holding my hand after my turn was over, and telling me those stories with Brin to take my mind off the pain." a few tears escaped the pools suspended in the recesses of her eyes. "I tried to reach you before they took you away but-" she choked back a sob. "I wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry my sister. I miss you." Jondy wrapped an arm around Max's shoulders, and drew her sister in for a hug. "It's all right. There was nothing you could've have done." she pulled back. "Nothing any of us could have done. Our babies-" she broke off to look at Max's enlarged stomach "deserved a better life then what we had to offer them back then." "But they never had the chance to choose." Max argued through her tears. "They weren't even born yet." "Honey." Tinga moved to kneel next to Max "They would have been taken away from you and the others by c-section after you carried to term. Just like our own mothers. Never seen of again. Just another set of manipulated genes to use in the creation of more soldiers. That wasn't a life." Max nodded slightly "I'm sorry." she sniffed. "I'm just one raging hormone." she took a swipe at her eyes. "No you're not sweetie." Syl moved to sit on the coffee table. She kissed her on the forehead and hugged her. Max hugged her back. "Ah." she pulled back slightly, and rubbed her stomach. "You okay?" Syl asked concerned. "Yea." Max reassured. "I think the baby's practicing her back flips." Jondy put her hand on Max's stomach and felt a hard kick against her palm. "Whoa." she smiled. "She's got a strong set of legs." she leaned down closer "When your older sweetheart I'll teach you how to kick box." Max laughed lightly, Jondy's proclamation bringing her up from her depressed mood. "Now that the speeches are over with." Syl announced "It's time to move on to the main event." she laid a manila envelope on Max's stomach. "Glad you went all out." Max teased lightly opening the cream colored envelope. A white piece of paper fell out with a voice mail number scribbled on it. "That's Zack's contact number." Syl pointed out. "Or his new one. He keeps changing it for 'precaution'" "Does he know you gave this to me?" Max asked, remembering the last time she had asked why she hadn't been let in on this whole set up. He had told her that she was to wreckless. Syl shook her head negatively. "When I asked him about 'Max being aware of the new number' he spouted off some junk about you being to unstable or something." she laughed dryly "Like that kind of proclamation's ever stopped me from doing what I felt like before." "Thank you." Max stated simply. Syl kissed her cheek "Anytime girl, now you can start coming to more X5 reunions." "Mine next." Jondy stated like an impatient child. Max laughed at her sister. "Okay girl, just chill." she picked up the wrapped object that Jondy had laid across the couch with a grunt. "You giving your niece rocks or something?" Max teared away the tissue paper. "It's lovely, it's concrete." she looked at the large granite slab she had unearthed from the paper. Jondy flipped it over for her. "Look what it says Maxi" she pointed to the scratches on the other side's surface, forming letters. She read some out loud. "This pact was to important to be written on paper.." "I can't believe you got this." Max announced, suddenly realizing what it was. "It was under your bunk, how'd you get it out?" "They demolished the old barracks where we were." Jondy informed "Victor tracked me down in San Francisco and gave it to me. I saved it ever since." Max continued to read the writing she and Jondy had put there so long ago on that night. "therefore it must be inscribed on stone. Let it be known to all the world that two sisters, Jondy and Maxi pledged on this night that we will escape this place and step out into life. If at all possible this writing will be presented as homage to whoever discovers it first." "That's what this is." Jondy proclaimed, with tears glistening in her eyes. "It was suppose to be for the birth of our first born, but since I missed it, I think it'll still work well with the second." Max hugged her "Thank you." her voice was full of emotion. Jondy hugged her back "I'm just glad one of us was able to fulfill that dream." "Okay." Original Cindy began setting the blue gift bag on the couch. "This doesn't have any deep, symbolic meaning, but I think it'll still be appreciated." Max blew her off "Of course it will boo." she pulled out a woven cashmere afghan colored in a deep jade. "This is beautiful." Max announced feeling it. "It's very soft." "I found it for twenty-five at some little shop on the water front." Cindy announced. "Figured it'd be nice to wrap up your babies in, both little and grown." Max caught the meaning of her words. "My children and my sex life thank you." she hugged her, and added "I love it." Syl looked at Tinga teasingly "We must have unconsciously decided to do this by age." Tinga glared at her. "Yep Syl, age before wisdom." her voice was teasing. She handed Max a card first. "Case made this himself." On the outside there was a large smiley face in yellow crayon. On the inside in the middle it read "Aunt Max, That's me smiling because I'm happy I'm getting a new cousin." -Case" Max laughed slightly "He has real artistic talent Tinga." "I know." Tinga stated proudly. "He's so into symbolism." Max continued to read the rest of the card. In the upper left hand corner of the inside flap it read: Max, I can't thank you enough for what you did for us. You risked two lives to save her. Congratulations on the miracle and I hope the baby will have the same strength and love as you do. -Love, Charlie." Max opened the cardboard box in her lap. Inside was a silver picture frame with the backing facing out. Carefully she flipped it over, and gasped at what she found. "How- where did you get this?" The black and white photo of Jesse stared back at her. She was actually smiling, dressed in army fatigues and a shaved head. "Zane found an old negative lying in the snow that night we broke out. She kept it, that's what got her interested in photography." Tinga informed. "Gave it to me a while back when I told her I had caught up with you. Told me to give it to you when the time was right." she touched Max's hand. "This is the time." Max didn't say anything for a long moment, her thoughts wandering. Tinga didn't feel comfortable with the silence "Is something wrong?" Max ignored her sister's question and stood up "I'll be right back." "You feelin' aiight suga?" Cindy asked, getting concerned as well. Max nodded "I'm just going to the bathroom guys." she tried to keep her tone light. She retreated down the hall. Shutting the door to the master bath Max sat on the closed toilet. The image of the photo was still burned in her mind. She well remembered the day it was taken. /"Regulations only call for a file photo every two years." young Jesse argued to the civilian photographer who had come on base that day. The man looked at the girl. She had no hair on her small head. She was dressed in military fatigues that only particularly hid the slope under her clothes. Next to her was another girl. He couldn't even tell the child was female except for the gentle bulge that mimicked the other girl's. My god, what the hell kind of place was this? "This isn't for the file honey." he spoke to her without the usual issue of the words 'solider' and 'attention' that Jesse became surprised. "This is just for my own records." Jesse gave a clipped nod "Then go ahead sir." She stood in the traditional stance of attention. The man lowered his camera. "Don't be so rigid." Jesse was confused "I don't understand the order sir." The man looked at her softly "If you wish to stand like that, that's fine, but you can smile if you want to dear." Jesse did as he said, and the man pressed the shutter button. He turned to the other child "Your turn sweetheart. A noise from behind him. The girl was on the floor, shaking with convulsions. Before he had the chance to help her men in white lab coats descended on them. They placed the child on a stretcher, and began to wheel her away. "Jesse!" the other child called out, rushing to catch up with the doctors. An MP roughly yanked her arm "This isn't a concern for you solider. Get back to your training or you'll be thrown in the hole." Young Max knew nothing of defiance, not at that time. The hole was a dark and haunting place. Ben had almost gone insane when he spent time in there. She looked up at the MP "Yes sir." she turned sharply on her heal, looking briefly over her shoulder at the gurney being wheeled away. The photographer was roughly shown the door. "Before you go around taking pictures." Lydeker's voice was clipped "You better make sure what your camera is seeing." he snatched it from him, ripping out the film and tearing it to pieces. A small section of film fluttered downward and landed unnoticed in the accumulated snow that covered the ground./ "Max?" Tinga softly rapped on the bathroom door. "You okay in there?" Getting no answer she opened the door all the way. Kneeling next to her she looked her in the eyes "What is it? Is my present that bad? Should I have opted for a stuffed lamb?" Max laughed dryly. "No, it's fine it's just-" she looked down at her hands and back up to Tinga. "That photo. It was taken by some civilian photographer." she looked down at her hands again "Jesse's seizures started right after." Tinga touched her sister's hand in understanding. "I didn't even try to stop them." Max voice became angry. "They just wheeled her away." she wrung her hands roughly through her hair. "I watched them the whole fucking time on my way back to combat training. Didn't hear from them again until-" she bit her lip "when Lydeker assembled us all out into the yard." Tinga rubbed Max's arms with her hands. "You aren't to blame Max. Things weren't clear back then." her voice held a gentle fierceness. "We all only knew how to follow orders." "How about that night?" Max demanded. "No one made me swallow all those pills." more tears leaked out of her eyes. "When I woke up I was lying in all this blood." her eyes squeezed shut. "I grabbed an old sheet out of the closet and cleaned up the mess. It hurt. My legs were still sticky and I was sore. But all I could think of was, getting it cleaned up before I got caught. When the doctors asked me about it I told them I had miscarried right after combat training. They cleaned me up and sent me on my way." her words were bitter. "I didn't even know what abortion meant, but I had done it." "Don't beat yourself up baby sister." Tinga ordered, looking her right in the eye. "Manticore was well aware of the meanings of child abuse, torture, and incest, but they did it anyway. You didn't know then what you know now. That having children can be a choice, not an order." she wiped away her sister's tears with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry my gift stirred up old memories." "I like it." Max informed sniffing. "When Jess gets older I'm going to sit down with him and tell him about her." she smiled slightly "And now I can show him what she looked like." Tinga returned the smile and hugged her. "I'm glad." "You guys planning to come out of there before the next Pulse?" Syl's voice teased from the living room. Max pulled back with a smile "Better get out there, the natives are getting restless." Tinga laughed lightly and offered her a hand up. She and Max exited the bathroom and came back out to where the others were. "You okay Maxi?" Jondy asked as soon as they were back in the living room. Max nodded, sincerely this time. "Just had a little reminiscing to do." she sat down on the couch again. Cindy took the vacant spot on the couch beside Max. "While you were in the other room Syl found this on the floor." she handed her another envelope. "It's addressed to you." Max took it from her. "To my beautiful wife." she read out loud. She smiled and opened the envelope. "Does that mean it's from Logan?" Cindy asked teasingly. Max looked up from the paper. "No, it's from my other husband. Don't you know I'm all into bigamy girl?" she said this with a completly straight face. "Boo." Cindy began in a warning voice "Don't even go there. That's just wrong." Max grinned gently, and ducked her head down to read the letter. Max, Everyday I wake up and wonder how the hell a guy like me wound up with someone as wonderful as you. It was more then fate that brought us together. It was something undescribable. From the moment I saw you I thought you were beautiful, a heart stopper. That hasn't changed, only now I see the inner beauty as well. The strength of a warrior, but the heart and soul of an angel. You may think of me as a gifted writer, but when I am with you, there are no words that can describe the feelings I have. I once wrote that you were "somebody's angel." And that person is me. I know it sounds selfish, but I cannot help it. You take my breath away. This world can come to a catacosmic end, and all hellfire and damnation brought forth, but if you and our children were still here, the rest of it wouldn't matter. My life, my soul lies in you, in Jess and in this new baby. I would say I'm the luckiest man alive, but I don't believe in luck. But I am one of the happiest. I never fathomed myself as a father of one child, let alone two, but you changed all that. I love you baby, with all my heart, and I love our children. I have a present for you. But I can't give it to you until I come home. So, you'll just have to be patient. And if Cindy is reading this over your shoulder it's not THAT type of 'present' but, I think you'll like it just the same. So until then sweetheart. Love Forever, Logan Max finished reading it and set the paper down in her lap. She wiped some tears away from her eyes "I swear everyone is tryin' to get me to cry today." "The man writes you love letters." Jondy began in a teasing tone "NOW I see why Zack has just cause to dislike him. It all makes perfect sense." she pounded on the coffee table for mock emphasis. "Jondy, you're so stupid." Max kidded her sister lightly. "But Zack and Logan don't see eye to eye on a lot of things. Every time Zack wanted me to leave Seattle, I told him I couldn't-" "Because of Logan?" Syl asked. "Yea." Max agreed. "Zack feels that it's Logan's fault that I stayed, and he's right, but he feels that I am jeopardizing my safety." Syl blew her off "Girl, when are we EVER safe? Zack could haul us over to Tibet to live as hermits and Lydeker could still probably find us." Max cocked an eyebrow "Hermits? You couldn't give up all your worldly possessions to the poor and live a life of solitude any more then I could up and leave Seattle tonight to go with Zack." "Okay, bad analogy." Syl corrected. "All I'm saying is that we all have lives to live, and regardless of the black helicopters on our tails 24/7, I'm a little sick of up rooting every time Zack picks his way into my apartment and tells me we have to go." "Personally." Tinga broke in, with a change of subject. "I think Zack's a little jealous of Logan." Max turned to her "What?" her voice was surprised. "I think Zack likes you baby sister." Tinga went on "And I'm not talking about just in the 'big brother' kind of way. The way he talks about you, I think he's mad that your husband beat him to the punch." "Don't tell me anymore." Max complained "That's disgusting." "Nasty." Jondy added "Incest in the truest sense of the word." "If that's what's going on in his head." Max went on "then he's in for a lot of disappointment. I will never love him more then anything but a big brother." her words were matter of fact. "My heart only lies with one other." ***** Across Town Garden's Arena "That." Logan stated with enthusiasm "was an incredible shot." Bling nodded in agreement "Enough to tie the game 15 up, and we still got one quarter left." both men maneuvered their way through the crowd to the concession stand. After paying for their food, they made their way back to their seats. "Logan? Logan Cale is that you?" a high female voice asked. Logan turned in the direction of the voice "Melissa?" he looked at the 5'4 redhead who now stood beside him. She hugged him "It's so good to see you." "You too." he said pulling back. "How long has it been?" "Three years." Melissa stated, slapping him on the shoulder "You never called me back after that night." she looked at him with sincerity. "I'm sorry about you and Valerie." "That was eons ago." Logan reassured "I've moved on." he turned to Bling. "Oh yea, you two don't know each other. Bling, this is Melissa Wheaton, an old friend." Bling raised an eyebrow "Just an old friend?" Melissa laughed "Actually Bling, this one and I did some deep connecting." she smiled at Logan. "That is before he got snagged up by another, who must've been a fool if she didn't stick with him." her hand remained on Logan's shoulder "We have so much to catching up to do." Melissa talked through most of the last quarter so that Logan had to ask Bling what the final score was. After the game ended she walked with him outside. "We have to see each other more often." she touched his hand. "Melissa." Logan removed his hand from her grip. "I'm happy to have run into you, and catch up on old times, but-" he held out his hand to let her see the wedding band on it. "Like I said I've moved on. I met a wonderful woman, her name is Max, and she means the world to me. She sorta kicked me out of the house for the day so her sisters could give her a baby shower for our second child." "Oh." Melissa's voice was slightly down trodden. "I'm sorry." she looked at him "I mean not because you re-married, but because I wish I was smart enough to snag you when you were still available." she smiled at him "Congratulations on the new baby." Logan hugged her again "Thank you." he pulled back and looked at her "The right one is out there for you Melissa. You just have to know where to look. Mine was staring me right in the face the whole time, took me a while to see it, but once I did I never let go, and there's someone like that for you." "Yea." Melissa agreed. "But I gotta set some new standards. Rule #1: 'Don't try to pick up your married ex-boyfriends." she paused "Do you think it'd be okay with your wife if I came over some time? I'd kinda like to meet her." Logan smiled "I don't think she'll mind, so long as your not on the take or anything like that." Melissa shook her head "Not as far as I know." she looked up into his eyes "It was nice seeing you again Logan." she gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek, and headed out to her car. Logan watched her go for a second, before turning to face Bling who was looking at him "What?" Bling's look turned amused "She was SO trying to get into your pants boy. You aren't seriously thinking about inviting her over? 'Cause then Max might fix it so that you couldn't get any at all because of lack of working 'machinery'." "I was just trying to be polite to her." Logan pointed out, cringing at his friends remark. "*My* number one rule: ex girl friends and a wife who could take out a fleet of Navy Seals by herself isn't a safe combination." he smiled slightly "But that's one of the reason's I love her, and when I get home I'll show her some more." he looked at the smug grin on Bling's face "Not like that. There are other ways to show love besides sex." "Whatever you say man." Bling teased making his way to his Benz. ***** Foggle Towers When Logan arrived home the living room was empty. The food Cindy and Tinga had cooked was almost gone, and empty plates were still on the dinning room table. Logan left the mess to clean up later and went in search of his wife. He made a brief detour towards his son's room. Someone had put him down for his nap. He kissed Jess's head and quietly shut the door again. Walking into the bedroom he stopped to pause in the doorway. Max was asleep, stretched out on top of the covers on her side. Her arms were pulled under her head like a pillow. Something silver toned lay beside her. In the corner he could see Kaja laying in her dog bed, almost as if she were watching over Max as she slept. He stepped into the room quietly and sat down beside her. On closer inspection he saw that the object was a framed photo of a shaven headed girl in army fatigues. He carefully set it aside, he'd ask her about it later, and placed a single kiss on the back of her neck, right over the bar code. She stirred, and rolled over to face him. "Hey baby." her voice was soft from sleep "When did you get home?" "A few minutes ago." he responded, this time kissing her square on the mouth. "Everybody gone?" She nodded "Yea. Cindy told the guys she'd meet them at Crash tonight. Tinga and Charlie are taking Case out to a movie, and Jondy and Syl are crashing at her place, but they said they'd drop by tomorrow before heading out." she glanced over to where Logan had set the picture "That's Tinga's present to me. It's Jesse." Logan looked at the photo. "When was it taken?" Max bit her bottom lip "Um..It was THAT day. What I mean is it was the last time I saw her." He stroked her arm gently "If this is too painful for you-" "It's okay." she broke in reassuringly. "I mean it's not 'okay' in the true sense of the word, but it's something I don't mind talking about." she looked at him "Am I making any sense at all?" He laughed lightly "I'm weeding my way through it." he put a little humor in his tone to try and lighten the mood. She gave him a half smile, but the look in her eyes remained the same "Some civilian photographer came onto the base that day. Don't know how the hell he did it, security was tight, Lydeker never allowed the outside world to come into Manticore. Jesse and I had been en route to our combat training when he stopped us in the hall. The way he talked to us-" she smiled in memory "Up till then it was all 'yes sir' 'no sir'. But he addressed us as people, not soldiers. He convinced Jesse to let him take her photograph. My guess is so that he could use it as evidence to uncover what was going on there. He wanted to do mine next, but Jess-" she broke and closed her eyes for a brief moment. "she started seizing, and the doctors dragged her into the back." a lone tear escaped her eye. "And that was it. I never saw her again, at least not alive." Logan didn't say anything, just began to softly pet her hair. "She called out for me." Max announced in a sad voice. "And I started to go to her, but a guard stopped me and threatened me with solitary confinement if I kept going, and I listened." her voice became angry. "Just 'yes sir'd and got the hell out of there." "Shh." Logan pulled her up from her lying position and drew her into his embrace. "What happened to her wasn't your fault baby." his tone was all serious. "You were just a kid." She couldn't help but smile at the irony of her husband's words "I wasn't 'just a kid' when I aborted my baby that night." her tone was bitter "Or the next day when I shot three rounds of bullets into a barrage of X-12's that Lydeker pitted against us in a Battle Royal." unchecked tears ran down her face "Hell I don't think I was ever just a kid." "Regardless of that." Logan began, taking her face in his hands "You did not bring about your sister's death. And you only did what you felt you had to do at the time." the last part of his statement was referring to the self-induced abortion. She shook her head in acknowledgment "But I still did it." she laughed bitterly "But then again all those smucks out there screaming for pro-life never had to see what happened to a child born in Manticore who was 'defective'" He didn't say anything, but simply pulled her back into his embrace. They remained that way for a while before Max broke the silence "So, about this gift you have for me-" He laughed gently "Getting a little antsy?" "You know what kind of patience I have baby." she pointed out. "None." "Of course." he began teasingly "What was I thinking?" he looked at her, his eyes full of mirth. "Cindy thinks your giving out free horizontal polka lessons." she stated "But I don't I'm up to banging anything tonight." He smiled "Bling thought the same thing, but it's not." he looked at her "Not that I would MIND, I just had something else planned." he shifted out of her embrace and started to climb off the bed. "Where are you going?" Max asked in confusion. "I have to grab a couple of things I need." he leaned over and kissed her. "Get undressed, and get comfortable in the bed so you'll be ready when I come back." "For what?" she was getting more confused "I thought we weren't rocking anything tonight." He chuckled lightly "Just trust me on this my love." he climbed off the bed and disappeared down the hall. While he was gone she slipped out of her clothes and wrapped Logan's red terry towel robe over herself. She sat in the center of the bed, drawing her legs under her body and leaned back into the pillows. Logan came through the doorway a few seconds later with a box of matches and a bottle of massage oil. He couldn't help the cheshire grin that spread across his face at the sight of her "Are we comfortable?" She nodded "I pilfered your robe babe. Mine was getting a little too small." "Hey no problem sweetheart." he reassured. "Looks better on you anyway." he went around the and lit the various candles that were placed around the bedroom. Task completed, he set the box of matches on the night stand and sat down on the bed. "I just checked on Jess, gave him a new diaper and got him to go back to sleep, so he should be out for another few hours." he looked at her with a smile "So hopefully there won't be any interruptions." "That's good." she returned the smile "And unless you have some fetish for drinking massage oil I have a pretty good idea about what this present is." He smiled again "Then are you ready to get started?" She nodded "Mind you I've never had one before so I wouldn't know how to go about this." "That's why I want to do this." he stated "And as for knowing what to do, just enjoy it." he helped maneuver her so that she was lying on her side on one section of the bed. He removed the robe from her body, draping the sheets over her front, and placing a pillow under her stomach for comfort. "I'm liking this so far." she informed. Kaja leapt up on the bed, wanting to lie next to Max, but the pillow was in the way. Max shoved the cushion to the floor "Here girl." she patted the now vacant area. Kaja pressed herself against Max's abdomen and laid down. "I'm getting jealous of the dog." Logan said teasingly. "She's just doing a little hu-I mean *doggie* pillow action baby." she reassured, scratching Kaja on the head. Logan looked over at his dog "That's fine for now girl, but later on *I* get to cuddle with my wife okay?" he poured some of the citrus scented massage oil into his hands and rubbed them together to warm them. Max inhaled the scent "That smells good." "The sales lady tried to sell me one that smelled like lilacs." Logan commented lifting the hair off the nape of her neck "But it was too strong and floral-ry, so I opted for this one." He placed both hands just under her bar code and began kneading her muscles in long strokes. He lingered in one area for a few seconds before moving lower, his touch gentle, but firm enough to work out the tension he could feel lying there. Max let out that half sigh half moan she had done earlier when Syl had rubbed her shoulders after she finished loading in the fan belt /I love you girl, but Logan is WAY better at this then you/ Logan smiled, removing his hands from her back "Sorry Kaja." he began in apology to the dog "But she has to turn over for this one." he helped her shift positions so that she was now on her back. He scooted more towards the end of the bed, and began to massage her legs, starting at her feet and working his way up to the toned muscles of her calves. Max had to give up breaking and entering and sliding down thirty story buildings about two month ago, but that didn't stop her from jogging two miles almost everyday. Her obstetrician commented on how well she's maintained her weight. Most other patients, the doctor had said, just used pregnancy as an excuse not to excircise. Once he was done with her legs he removed the robe that had been lying across her front. Pouring some more oil into his hands he started at where her collar bone began, kneading gently. When he go to her abdomen he didn't knead, but simply rubbed the sweet smelling oil all over her exposed skin in elegant, loving strokes. When he finished he kissed the bulge of Max's belly tenderly, making the baby moved slightly. "I think she just did a somersault." Max commented at the sensations she felt. "Jondy caught her kick box practicing earlier." Logan laughed gently, and addressed his unborn child "You're gonna grow up to be just like mommy." Max whacked him over the head lightly "Is that a bad thing?" she messed with the spikes in his hair with her hand. "Never said it was baby." he reassured, capturing her wandering hand with his. He pulled her up slightly and laid behind her, drawing her back to him "Did you like your present?" "Oh yea." she snuggled closer, breathing in the scent of his cologne. "How'd the game turn out?" "Pistons won 21 to 19." he stated proudly. "Sounds like it was a close one." "It was." he said in agreement. He hesitated with what he was about to say next, but knew that she would probably find out one way or another. "Max?" "Mmmhmm?" she responded, not looking up. "I ran into an old friend at the arena." "Stats." Max simply stated. "Her name was Melissa." Now she looked up. "She wasn't just an old friend." it wasn't a question. She had caught him "She and I use to date for about a year. Then I met Val. After we split, she had just broken up with her boyfriend, and we both kinda went for that rebound thing. It only lasted for about two days." he paused "She approached me at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Wanted to rekindle the old flame, but I told her I was married." "Then she offered to come over and 'meet the wife'." she finished for him. He looked at her "How'd you know that?" "It's a woman thang." she answered back "Kinda like the way this chick managed to pick you out of four thousand other people in that arena." "I'll have to remember that." he stated "But you're right, she DID offer. I didn't want to be rude so I told her it would be fine as long as she wasn't on the take or anything, but I didn't say anything definite. Bling thinks she just wanted to get some, and he's probably right." "The only thing she'll get if she tries that." Max began in her no nonsense voice "is a couple of bruises when I'm done with her. Bitch is sniffing around the wrong man." "Do I detect a hint of possessiveness in your tone?" Logan questioned. "Damn right." she told him matter-of-factly. "That's my girl." he said with a smile "I'd a been worried if you put on the docile little house wife act back there and said 'oh no dear she's just a friend, and 'it's okay, invite your ex over." She snorted "Not unless hell has recently frozen over. This girl doesn't do the whole docile thing." she wrapped her arms around his waist. "To which I am eternally greatful." he said kissing her, and pulling his robe back over her shoulders. He leaned back against the cushions, enjoying the moment they found themselves in. Neither of them noticed the two figures perched just to the left of the window. "Zack's twisted." Jondy whispered, looking at the pair on the bed "The man is perfect for Maxi." "He is." Syl agreed. She smiled "I'll make sure to rub it in his face at the next X5 reunion." she looked at her watch "Oh shit, we told Tinga we'd load the dishwasher before she got back from the movies, that's in ten minutes." She and Jondy stood on the narrow ledge. Jondy pulled out the black rope from her kit and secured it to the handle of the window. She dropped the extra feet to the ground. She turned to Syl "The elevator is now in service." Both women expertly climbed down the building silently, making it to the ground in under three minutes. Syl yanked on the rope and it fell at her feet. She quickly coiled it up and threw it in the back of her Corverre. She and Jondy climbed into the car, and Syl cranked the engine. "How'd you do it?" the voice made them turn. /Fuck/ Syl thought /he saw us come down the building. Now he's gonna wonder how the hell two 'average women' got the know-how about scaling large buildings./ "Do what?" Jondy asked, feigning confusion, readying herself to spring on him and make a run for it. The man pointed to the Corverre "Find this sweet little beauty. I looked everywhere for that model, and came up with nothing." They visibly relaxed. He hadn't see what they thought he did. Syl put the car into drive, and turned to the man. "It's a woman thang." she stated simply before driving off down the road. ***** End This one didn't have much action, I'm afraid. I just wanted Max to deal with some things. The issue of abortion is a touchy area, and I tried to keep it somewhere in the middle. Hope no one got offended by it. The next chapter will be about the birth of the new baby. So watch for it, and thanX for all the encouragement.