Wedding gifts and family planning

In the other bedroom down the hallway, Matt shows Sarah the place, pointing to the wardrobe and the small washbasin in the corner.

"This is Temp's usual bedroom when she comes over but she usually stays most of her time in the dorm at Quantico, so it only has some of her clothes." He brings her to the wardrobe, and shows the stuffed clothes inside. "She's a clothes addict, like Hope, so she needs the space."

He rubs his sweating hands on his jeans. "This side of the wardrobe is empty, you can use this, but if you ask nicely, I'm sure Temp won't mind if you use something of hers. Just remember to ask first, the girls are a little bit insane about their things."

Sarah sits down on the bed, and she touches the delicate old quilt on it. Matt notices that. "That's one of my mom's wedding gifts," he sits down beside her, and smiles as she looks up at him, her gaze burning him, "she had at least ten handmade quilts that her mother had for I don't know how many years, so as the girls were growing up, she gave them to each girl."

He points to the delicate pattern Sarah's touching. "This one is Temp's, predominantly yellow. Lisa, once she married Johnny, got the blue one you saw in Norfolk and, if I'm not mistaken, Joy's is red and purple." He shrugs. "I don't remember the other girls' colors."

Sarah still stares at Matt, and he feels his brain turning to mush, so he keeps babbling, "The boys, the quilts are usually given to the wife, as a wedding gift, and…" Sarah still stares at him, "and you're not interested in this story so ah… well… You're tired, so, if you wanna rest, I'll let you –"

"Stay," she says softly, and Matt's brain screeches to a halt, as he desperately wants to say yes, but he knows she's tired and confused.

"Maybe now's not the right time, you're tired and you had a tough couple of days."

"Matt," she stares at her own hand, touching the delicate patters of the stitches on the quilt, "I don't want to be alone right now." She looks at him, her eyes begging him. "Please?"

Matt, since he met Sarah, has never been able to deny her anything, not when she turned those big doe eyes on him. His insides turn to mush, his arms fold around her fragile frame and he hugs her tightly against his chest. "You won't ever be alone again, Sarah."

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Joseph and Maggie stand in the kitchen, separating the ingredients for dinner tonight. They hear a bump upstairs and both look to the ceiling, then they smile at each other.

"Aren't you happy to have the house full of children again?" asks Joseph.

"Well, I would be happier to have the house full of grandchildren." There is another noise upstairs. "Tim and Joy don't even seem to be trying, but I have high hopes for Sarah and Matthew." Maggie starts the marinating the mince meat for the bolognese sauce of the lasagna.

"Why?"

"Well, girls at her age are usually fertile as turtles, and if Matthew is anything like you," there is another bump upstairs, and Maggie smiles, "I truly hope to have a grandchild with green eyes on my knees before the year is out."

Maggie smiles at Joseph's horrified face. She goes to him and cups his face. "Why don't you go play your cello, I have everything under control. The girls will arrive soon and they'll help me here in the kitchen."

Joseph shakes his head at the cunning ways of his dear wife, and goes to the library. He gets the cello out of the case, tunes it. He looks around and stands up. He goes to the cupboard and takes out a sound speaker, along with an acoustic guitar, an electrical bass and an electrical guitar. He gets floor supports to put the instruments on. Plugs both electrical instruments in, turns everything on and softly caresses the strings of the guitar. There is an acoustic set of drums in the back, and he takes off the protective cover for it.

He goes back to his cello and sits down. He smiles at the instruments set before him, closes his eyes, and starts to play.