Sam stared at Marshall. He looked much different than she remembered him. His face was neatly shaven and he had a clean-cut haircut. The stained wife beater he used to dawn was replaced by an expensive looking sports jacket and his baggy sweatpants were gone. To the unsuspecting person passing him on the street, Marshall would probably appear to be a standup guy. But his cold, empty eyes were the one thing about his appearance that hadn't changed, and as Sam looked into them, she knew Marshall himself hadn't changed a bit either.

"It's been quite some time, hasn't it?" Marshall said, giving her a cruel smirk. "Ten years, right?"

Sam protectively stepped in front of the twins, who both looked confused. "You're not allowed to be here. Get away."

"Leah…Kira," Marshall smiled, looking at the girls over her shoulders, ignoring Sam's comment. "My God…you've gotten so big. The last time I saw you girls you were just babies! And now look at you, practically young women. It's just a shame I didn't see you grow up. But don't worry, we'll fix that soon. I promise, we'll make up for the time we lost."

"Don't you talk to them!" Sam hissed. "Get away from them. Now."

"Leah, sweetie, how are you feeling?" Marshall continued, not backing away. "I've been so worried about you, what with your failing kidneys. You look a little pale, though. Perhaps a fever? Here, let me feel your forehead."

He reached out his hand and Leah and Kira both quickly stepped back.

Sam thrust the key to the apartment into Kira's hand.

"Girls, go inside," Sam said firmly.

"Mom, what's going-" Kira started.

"Now!" Sam ordered.

The twins gave one last scared glance to the scene before quickly going into the apartment.

"Well that wasn't polite," Marshall said. "Haven't you been teaching my daughters proper manners, Samantha?"

"You aren't allowed to be anywhere near them," Sam said, her body shaking with rage. "You'll be arrested again for this."

"We'll see," Marshall said simply. "Although I will say, when I get my joint time with them, it looks like I'll have to teach the girls some etiquette. But that's no problem. It will be some good father-daughter bonding time."

Sam pulled back her jacket revealing her police belt; and her gun.

"You have five seconds to leave and never come back," Sam said.

"You won't shoot me."

"Watch me!" Sam spat.

"I just thought the two of us could have a friendly cup of coffee," Marshall said. "To discuss the arrangements for the twins. You know, once I'm rewarded my custody again."

"You won't get any custody of them!" Sam snapped.

"I'm thinking we switch off on the holidays," Marshall mused. "Maybe you have them on Thanksgiving, I'll have them on Christmas…we'll alternate who they spend their birthday with."

"Get out of here," Sam said in a dangerously soft voice.

"I suppose we can discuss all this on Saturday during that court case," Marshall said, his voice light and casual, as though he was discussing the weather. "That's bound to be a lot of fun."

Sam pulled out her gun. "Leave," she warned. "Now."

"Hey now, I'm going," Marshall smiled. "No need to get feisty, Sammy. I see your temper is still hot as ever."

He turned to go back down the stairs. Before he began to descend, though, he looked back over his shoulder. "Tell the twins I say bye."

Sam stood in the corridor for a few more seconds, feeling almost paralyzed. She quickly pulled herself together and let herself into the apartment, locking the door firmly behind her.

"Mom, what just happened?" Kira asked the second Sam stepped inside.

"Yeah, who was that man?" Leah frowned.

"Hold on, just-just stay put," Sam said, pulling out her phone. "And don't answer the door!"

She walked past the twins' confused faces into the kitchen, pressing her cell phone against her ear.

"Hello," the voice on the other end finally answered. "Theodore Breslin speaking."

"Yeah, hi, this is Sam," Sam said urgently. "Puckett. The one with the custody case and-"

"Yes, I know who you are, how are you?" Theodore said pleasantly.

"He was just here," Sam said, trying to keep her voice level. "Marshall…my-my ex. He-He came up to my apartment. He talked to the girls."

"Where is he now?" Theodore asked, his voice dropping its casual tone and becoming all business.

"I don't know," Sam said. "He left."

"When did this occur?"

"A minute ago!" Sam answered. "I had picked up my daughters from school and I was walking them up to our apartment when all of the sudden he was behind me."

"Did he hurt you or the girls?"

"No, he-he just talked," Sam said. "But he's not allowed to be anywhere near him! He broke the terms of his release! He's done for, right?"

"I need to make a few calls," Theodore told her. "And I will swing by your place and speak with you face to face. In the meantime don't leave your home, keep the girls with you at all times and don't do anything rash."

"I-Okay," Sam nodded.

"I'm going to give you the number for my assistant," Theodore continued. "Give him the full recount, he'll record it and process it and that way we'll have it ready to present against Mr. Pewter."

"Alright," Sam agreed. "Whatever it takes."

….

"I come with Chinese food!" Freddie announced happily, unlocking the apartment door a few hours later and walking into the home. "I've got enough orange chicken to feed an army."

He looked over at the couch where the twins were both sitting, whispering to each other.

"Hey, what's up?" Freddie asked. "Last time I brought home Chinese food you guys started fighting to see who got the extra fortune cookie before the food was even on the table. Where's your mom?"

"She's in the kitchen," Leah said.

"She's been on the phone with someone for hours," Kira nodded. "She didn't even go back to work after she dropped us off."
"Really?" Freddie frowned. "Is everything okay?"

The twins shrugged.

"She hasn't said anything to us," Leah said. "But when we got home from school with her, some man came up to her and started talking to her. And us."

"A man?" Freddie said slowly.

"He knew our names, it was weird," Kira said.

Oh no…Freddie thought, rushing into the kitchen. Please don't let that have been what I think it was.

When he stepped into the kitchen, Sam was pacing back and forth, her phone to her ear. She looked up at him and held up her finger.

"Yes, I told you a million times, he was wearing a blue shirt and a sports jacket," Sam said. "What? No! He didn't have any weapons that I could see, like I said, he just talked."

Freddie set the food down on the table, knowing now by the tone of Sam's voice that this was what he thought it was.

"Okay, I'll talk to Theodore when he gets here," Sam sighed. "Yeah…got it. Bye."

"Sam," Freddie said at once. "What happened?"

"He came here," Sam said, her voice cracking. "He-He talked to the twins."

"Did he hurt them? Did he hurt you?"

"No!" Sam snapped. "No! He-He just talked to them! But it was-He's the same as he always was!"

"Sam, please sit down," Freddie said gently. "Think of the baby."

"He said he's going to get them with this court case," Sam said as Freddie guided her to the chair. "He-He was talking about getting them on Christmas…And their birthdays."

"He's not ever going to see them again, he wasn't allowed to come anywhere near them," Freddie reminded her as Sam tried to catch her breath. "It's okay. The twins are safe right now. I'm here, and I'm not going to let anything hurt you or them."

"Mom?"

Sam and Freddie turned around to see the twins standing near the stove.

Sam closed her eyes tightly. She was going to have to tell them now.

"Mom?" Leah asked softly as her and Kira walked over to the table. "That man…was he-he was our father, wasn't he?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded slowly. "Yeah, that-that was your father, guys. You recognize him?"

"A little," Kira admitted. "Why was he here?"

Sam took a deep breath. "Sit down, you two."

Kira and Leah both sat down at the table.

"I told you your dad left when you were three," Sam said. "But, I-I just didn't want you to know that he was in jail."

"We-We knew that," Leah said quietly.

"How?" Sam asked.

"When you were trying to find a kidney donor for Leah, I-I heard you calling the jail," Kira explained. "And you said you needed to talk to a prisoner because his daughter needed a kidney."

"Right," Sam sighed. "Well…that's true."

"Why was he in jail?" Leah asked.

"Because," Sam said. "Your dad…he was a bad man. You remember how he'd come home some nights…most nights, and he'd be in a really bad mood and he'd yell and throw things and I made you go into your room?"

The twins both nodded.

"He was scary," Kira said. "I don't remember him that much, but-but I remember me and Leah hid in our closet when he'd come home like that."

"Yeah, he was real scary," Sam said quietly. "Well, one night…your first night in the hospital, Leah, he came home and I knew he had been drinking. You were already asleep, Kira. And-And he came at me with a knife-"

"That's how you got your scar on your arm," Leah said slowly. "Right?"

"Yes," Sam nodded. "And that's why your father was arrested. Only, well, now he's out. And-And he's filing for custody of you two again."

Kira and Leah's eyes grew wide.

"You mean we have to live with him half the time?" Kira exclaimed.

"No," Sam said firmly.

"So that's why you haven't been letting us go anywhere by ourselves?" Leah asked.

"Yeah," Sam confirmed. "That's why."

Kira looked down at her lap. "Sorry…we shouldn't have given you such a hard time about that."
Sam smiled. "You didn't know."

She looked at Kira and Leah's scared faces and silently cursed Marshall for being able to have such an effect on them without even being in the room.

"Look," she told them. "I'm not going to let him win. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure he never gets to see you again."