11: Mine

"Je déteste vous!" Sine screamed, gripping the hospital bed rails as she pushed. "I want a divorce!" The pain medication was not doing a damn thing for her, her or her low pain tolerance and this was extreme pain. She hurled every insult she could at Mark, in both English and French, cursing even louder when he simply smirked.

He just squeezed her hand. She could call him whatever the hell she wanted too, and in whatever language she desired. It didn't change the fact that his son or daughter was moments away from being born.

Sine let out another long scream as the baby's head crowned, drowning out whatever the doctor was saying. When her scream finally tapered off into a whine, she slumped back against the pillows, staring down at her bent knees blankly.

"It's a girl!"

She let out a silent prayer, only to whimper moments later, completely ignoring the fuss surrounding her infant daughter. "No, no, no, no…"

Mark was watching over the nurse's shoulder as she cleaned that small, red, puckered thing that was supposedly his baby when he heard Sine's mewls. He spared her a look, eyebrows raising when he seen her hands flying to her stomach, nails bared.

"There's another head!" The doctor yelped, glancing up into Sine's red, contorted face.

"I WANT A DIVORCE!"

Leaving his daughter to the nurse, he walked over to resume his position by the side of the bed, this time staying out of her immediate reach as it looked like she was ready to do him serious violence. Pain and rage vied for control of her flushed, sweating face.

"A boy, it's a boy!"

He actually smiled, getting a quick peek of his son before turning his attention to his crying wife. "I hope those are tears of joy, precious." He murmured, bending down to brush his lips against her damp cheek.

"I hate you." She whispered hoarsely.

"I know." He took a cloth a nurse held out to him, using it to pat the sweat off Sine's forehead. "Relax, it's over now."

"When I'm feeling better… I'm removing your balls…" She muttered, her bleary eyes moving to the nurses who were busy with the twins, sighing heavily. It felt like her vagina was about to fall out, or maybe it had split in two. "No more sex…"

Coughing, the doctor busied himself with stitching her up.

"Ever."

"Mm, you say that now." Mark purred, laughing outright, startling everyone in the room, when she feebly shoved his head away from hers. He sat there with her, lapsing into silence, until the twins were brought over. For the first time in his life, he had no idea what he was doing, the feeling intensified when his son was placed in his massive arms.

He felt like he would break the child, standing up and moving away from Sine's bed, staring down intently into the miniscule face. He had to turn his back on Sine when he felt wetness on his cheeks.

Sine had seen it though and smiled without any humor. "So you can cry." She mused, accepting her daughter. A smile, a genuine smile, flickered across her pale lips, instantly falling in love with this tiny being. The girl was a fuzzy little thing and it was too soon to tell which parent she would favor, but then… Sine always thought all babies looked alike. She knew nothing about children other than what she had read. She had been a person who steered clear of children, they had made her uncomfortable. Now she had two of her own and the irony threatened to make her giggle insanely.

"I wasn't crying." Mark growled, not amused.

Keep telling yourself that, she thought, feeling her daughter's hand wrapping around her pinkie finger. She bit her lower lip, glancing up at her husband. Sine knew first-hand what he could do and had to wonder… would he rein in his dark side now that their babies had been born?

Mark met her gaze, his eyes unreadable as he stared at her.

May 2000

"You are not leaving me here with two babies!"

Mark whirled around after tossing his bag into the truck, staring down at his frantic wife. "I don't really have a choice in the matter, Sine." He said flatly.

Sine stared back, her gray eyes narrowing. The twins were only three months and he was leaving her with them to go back to work. She felt like she was already going crazy, thanks to colicky babies keeping her up all hours, her nerves frazzled.

Thanks to a severe lack of sleep and hardly any appetite, on top of running herself ragged, Sine was almost back to her pre-pregnancy figure, with the lovely addition of stretch marks that all her Shea butter massages had done nothing to prevent. Her hair was growing unchecked, now reaching just above her backside, and she giving serious consideration to just ripping it all out, mildly surprised that she hadn't already.

"I'll hire a nanny for you."

Turning, Sine stormed into the house, cursing under her breath.

He gritted his teeth. "English!"

Her retort was in French.

Not amused in the least, he followed her.

Sine glanced over her shoulder, the anger dialing down a few notches towards fear when she seen the expression on his face. He had forbidden her from speaking anything but English early on in their marriage after she had done nothing but gibbered French at him for weeks straight.

He cursed when she broke into a run, knowing if she got inside before he did, he would have to break down another door. He had lost count of how many he had replaced so far and was rather tempted to just remove every damn door in the house.

"No!" Sine screamed when he caught her by her hair, deciding right then and there to cut it all off. She automatically began fighting him when he shoved her against the outside of the house, feeling the wooden exterior grinding into her face.

He whipped her around, slamming her back forcefully against the house, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly, knowing he would leave bruises. "You know better." He growled, his voice dropping to a low baritone. "You know better, Sine."

She swallowed down every vile thing she wanted to spit at him, staring at his chest instead of his eyes, knowing that wouldn't help her physical situation at all. She could feel her legs trembling, fully expecting to hear her knees knocking at any moment.

She was saved by one of the twins crying and the rage faded from his eyes, replaced with… nothing. He just stared down at her. "I have to go."

"Of course." She was proud of herself for keeping the sarcastic edge out of her tone. He must have sensed her thoughts before one of his massive hands moved from her shoulder to her throat, squeezing warningly.

"Don't do anything… foolish, while I'm gone, Sine." He whispered darkly. "Remember who you belong too."

All she could do was nod.

Within the week, Sine had relocated back to Manhattan. She had decided after the first night alone that if he wanted her to stay at home with children, then damn it, she was going to be somewhere she wanted to be. She had fired the nanny he had sent and selected one of her own –from abroad no less-, not trusting anyone who worked for her husband.

With the twins –Gavin and Kalea- properly attended too, Sine dived back into her work. She made sure she devoted time to the twins, but to be honest, they were still sleeping frequently and she did not see the need to be with them during those times. She let the nanny supervise the naps, coming out of her newly furnished studio when they were awake and alert, much preferring that time.

She had also retrieved Rab, both dog and master joyous over their reunion and he had taken to the twins rather protectively.

Mark called her sporadically, always on the cell phone he had given her, she never knew when his calls would come and it didn't faze her. He seemed to assume that she was still in Texas and she saw no reason to correct him, he'd eventually find out and she was in no hurry for that day to come.

Without him there to distract her, and without the constant need to tend to the babies, she was free to create. Sketches of gowns, outfits, even shoes, began to litter her studio walls. New materials were being delivered daily and she was alternating between several dummies, unable to work on just one design at a time.

She knew it was only an illusion, but she felt free. Most importantly, she was happy again.

The moment he found out Sine had left; Mark immediately took a few days off. It wasn't hard finding her and he had a feeling she wasn't trying to really hide, which was about the only point in her favor right now. He took Edge and Christian with him, knowing they were good for… dirty work.

This was going to be dirty.

"Ma'am, there's someone at the door."

Sine looked up from the magazine she was leafing through, frowning at Mrs. Turpin, her stout and rather maternal nanny. She had asked the woman to call her by her given name numerous times but… so far no luck. Quietly, so she wouldn't wake the sleeping twins, she got out of the rocker and followed the nanny out of the nursery. "Who is it?"

"I don't know, ma'am." Mrs. Turpin's mouth was compressed in a firm, grim line. "Shall I ring the police?"

"No… not yet…" Sine hesitated, raking a hand through her newly cut hair. She had done exactly what she had promised herself and had booked an appointment with a salon almost immediately upon arriving in Manhattan. Now her chocolate brown hair curled just beneath her ears, rather messy looking as she hadn't bothered doing her hair today. "It could be Momo…"

"Hmm." The nanny murmured, disappearing into the nursery.

Sine walked down the hallway, her bare feet padding against the thick carpet silently. Part of the reason she had selected this building was because of the security. Visitors were generally not allowed up unannounced, unless they possessed a visitor's keycard, which she had only provided to Monique.

She peered through the keyhole into the little hallway that connected the elevator to her door, seeing nothing. Hesitating a moment, she wrapped her hand around the door handle, slowly opening the door. She regretted it instantly as a large, black boot immediately insinuated itself in the opening she created.

A moment later she was reeling backwards as the door was forced open, her mouth dropping in a silent O of terror at the sight of her very pissed off husband. She noted, in the back of her mind, that her least favorite people –Blonde and Blonder- were flanking him.

"Pack." He snarled, shoving her backwards, further into the open room, without minding his strength. "Now." He watched as she stumbled before falling to her ass, snorting.

"Whoa!" Edge shrieked when a Great Dane came barreling down the hallway, automatically throwing his hands up to protect his throat and face when a streak of fur and sharp teeth literally jumped at him.

Sine rolled onto her stomach, scrambling to her feet and bolted down the same hallway, hearing Mrs. Turpin locking the doors to the nursery. She made it to her bedroom, which connected to the nursery and Mrs. Turpin's room, turning to quickly shut and lock the door. This was deja vous all over again, this was a familiar scene that had played itself out several times before, this time though, there was a much more dangerous atmosphere.

"Stop it!" She screamed when she heard the first thud against the door. Tears streamed down her face as she listened to the sounds of Rab attacking. He was trained to take down, not kill, and she almost regretted that. She stuffed her knuckles into her mouth to keep from screaming again when she heard a startled yip followed by silence.

"Open. The. Door."

"Mark please," She begged, already backing away. "I'm not leaving you or taking the babies away…"

"Now. Sine."

"Please Mark; I need my own life too!"

"Your life is growing shorter by the minute, Sine." He informed her, one final kick causing the door to open, a gaping hole where it had ripped away from the locked knob catching her attention. Before she could bolt towards the nursery, he had caught her, sending her flying into the nearest object, a vanity. "That's for cutting your goddamn hair!"

Sine grunted as the breath was driven from her, catching herself before her head collided with the mirror though her hipbone had taken most of the impact from the edge of the vanity. She remembered the time he had broken into her hotel room just to berate her for dying her hair, shivering violently. "Mark, please…"

"You ran… with my children. Instead of talking to me like a normal human being, you ran." He stalked her, watching impassively as she pushed herself into an upright position, obviously favoring her left side. "I told you, Sine, you are mine. You and the twins, mine." He heard a gasp from the other side of the door, frowning. "Who is in there?"

"Mrs. Turpin." She whispered, her legs refusing to hold her any longer and dropped to the floor in an ungainly sprawl, wincing as she held her side. "The nanny."

"If she wants to live, she'll open that door."

"Ma'am?" Mrs. Turpin had obviously heard that, her voice surprisingly steady.

"Open the door."

Mark took one look at the older woman and frowned. "Consider yourself fired."

Her chin raised a fraction. "I will do no such thing." She filled the doorway with her sturdy frame, folding her arms over her chest. "Miss Reneire, are you alright?" She asked, concern seeping into her previously haughty tone, taking in the way the younger woman was grimacing.

"I'm fine, fine… do as he says, please…"

Mark's lips curved upwards into a cold smile when the old broad glared at him. "Like I said, consider yourself fired."

"Boss," Christian poked his head into the room, his face coated with flecks of blood. "We mighta um, killed the dog… Edge was bitten, pretty badly."

"Dispose of it."

Sine buried her face in her hands, beginning to cry.