Corso looked at the datapad, Miriah asleep on his chest. What the void was Havoc doing here, he wondered. He figured they were on the way to Balmorra and stopped to check in, but it seemed out of their way. He absently played with the loose black hair trailing over his arm, thinking about the widowed Senator and her child, and again wondered what had occurred between Felix and Zenith. He felt Miriah start to wake, and was brought out of his thoughts by her mouth on his. She pulled back to look at him, and he held her in place, not yet done tasting her, pulling her back to him. They were enjoying each other's attentions when the first boom of thunder hit, and they knew they'd be dealing with frightened children. Sure enough, they heard Devin yell for his daddy about the time they heard Michi cry. They each went to a child and met in the living room, where they got the tears under control and went into the kitchen for cookies. Devin smiled at his mom, grabbing her hand when she put cookies in front of him.
"Rain," he told her, and she nodded.
"Yes, rain, sweetie." His vocabulary grew every single day, she thought, and he uses words very well for his age.
He pointed at his cousin, "Mish," he called her. "Not like it. Scary." He turned his brown eyes to his mom and said, "Love you, mama." She grinned at him.
"Love you too, Dev, and Mish too," she told him. The kids munched on their cookies, everyone warm and dry, and Corso caught her behind the counter for a quick kiss, and bent to whisper to her.
"To be continued," he said, his warm breath making her shiver in anticipation, and her slow grin making him grin back as she nodded. She looked back at the kids to see Devin giving Michi part of his last cookie. When she walked over, Devin looked at her with those beautiful brown eyes.
"Mama, Mish stay here?" he asked, hopeful. He loved all his cousins, but Calleigh and Colin had a bond that he was outside of.
"For a while, baby," she told him, kissing his head, which made him giggle.
"Mish baby, Devin big boy," he told her, and she agreed. She got them cleaned up and they were off to the playroom. Maybe sooner than I thought, she mused. Just maybe, though. When Corso is out on the ranch for extended periods it would be hard to have two, but it's sweet that Devin seems so protective of Michi, she thought. Mags will love hearing about this. She didn't call her sister though, hoping she was still sleeping.
Magdalane was indeed still sleeping, though the thunder had Felix up. He was looking out the window when he felt his wife behind him, slipping her arms around him and resting her head on his back. He turned to take her in his arms. "Sleep well, sweetheart?"
She nodded, still groggy. He held her there for a few minutes, then led her to sit and went to make her some tea. There was a chill in the air with the rain, and on the way back to where he'd left her, he picked up a soft throw from a nearby chair. Her eyes were closed when he approached, but she opened them when he got near. "Thanks, sweetie, so much. You take such wonderful care of me, always have." She smiled at him, seeming fresher and more alert than she had even a few minutes ago. "We should go to get Michi soon, I'm sure Miriah is getting tired." He nodded.
"I'm missing her too, hon." He rose to put his boots back on and she met him at the door, both anxious to have their daughter with them.
When they arrived at the ranch, the kids were playing in front of the fireplace, which was crackling with a low fire, providing cozy warmth against the rain. Miriah was pulling yet another batch of cookies from the oven, and Corso was in his office, working on his breeding program. The scene was very serene and it made Mags smile to see it. She grabbed a still warm cookie and hummed her pleasure as it melted on her tongue.
"Your timing has always been impeccable," Miriah told her, laughing at her expression. She told the couple about the kids and how Devin had been with Michi, and they were impressed. Mags hugged the little boy to her as he ran past and Devin gave her a smacking kiss in return. She grinned as he went back take a toy to Michi, happy playing with her.
"He has such a sweet soul, Mir. So like his dad in that way. I hope Ian is like Felix, too." Miriah nodded at her sister, her mouth full of cookie too. The guys wandered in, drawn by the smells of sugar and vanilla, and they enjoyed the warm cookies and cold juice there in the cozy kitchen.
Maura and Aric stood on their porch, waving to Havoc squad as they pulled out, full of cake and cookies and caffa. Sarai smiled, those young men sure could put it away, she thought. Her daughters didn't realize what they'd be in for when those sweet little boys became teenaged eating machines, she thought. She turned to Aric, who was still looking puzzled. "Why now? Why would she send them now, when no further threats have been made, at least that we've been told about." He looked at Maura. "Maybe I'll go call the good General, see what's really going on." He turned and made for the holoterminal.
The secure connection made, he looked at the general and was startled by her appearance. She was stooped, and looked at him with worried eyes. What is going on? She never loses her military bearing, even off duty, he thought. "General, what's wrong? Are you ill?" he asked, concern in his voice and on his face.
"Jorgan, I have been poisioned, but I will recover. I was hoping to let few know about it, but I have reason to believe that it might be connected to my digging into Diedra's threats. I…I cannot stay with you here, but I will call tomorrow, when I'm feeling better." She disconnected abruptly, as was her custom, but not before he saw pain and fear on her face. He ran to find Maura, to tell her what he'd seen, and almost ran over both her and Sarai.
"We saw, Mom says she'll recover but it will take time. Let's all go to Mir's, we'll tell them about what's going on." He agreed, and before they went to get in the speeder he pulled her to him.
"We're going to need to be on alert, honey. Okay?" She turned her amber eyes to his, and kissed him.
They saw that Mags and Felix were already at the ranch, and hurried through the driving rain into the kitchen. Sarai had ridden in the covered speeder with them, and carried Colin inside. Calleigh was already in the floor with her cousins when they got in, and Colin joined them.
Aric sat them down around the worktable and told them about the Havoc squad visit and the poisoning of the general, and they were stunned into silence. Finally Miriah spoke, "I want to know what Zenith knows, and I want to know where Brock is and what he has to do with it." She looked at Corso and he nodded, agreeing with her assessment.
"He should be here tomorrow morning," Mags said, "depending on any delays, of course, in his departure. I haven't heard anything more from him." She took Felix's hand in hers, and he gently squeezed. He still felt a little apprehensive about it, but it was a relief to have Mags know what had happened. He looked at her watching the kids play, and knew that even if Zenith had confessed his feelings, it wouldn't have mattered. Mags was always mine, he thought, even before either of us would have realized it. The thought made him smile.
Maura was talking about how strange it had been to see the new Havoc squad, and how young they all were. "We were that young when we started there," Aric told her, "but they just looked younger, I guess. Not as seasoned, or experienced." He put his arm around Maura, "You still look as young as you did the first time I put eyes on you, on Ord Mantell." She grinned at him then, knowing he still saw her that way, and kissed his cheek.
Miriah laughed at that, but didn't comment. She had gotten up to start some dinner, focused on her task and glancing up at the kids every few minutes. Corso watched her, unnoticed. He saw the nervous energy, the wariness on her face, and rose to go to her. He stood behind her, and bent to whisper to her, "Relax, darlin'. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise." Her silver eyes locked onto his, her fear moving to trust before she buried her head in his chest. She had seemed to be a primary target in the last year, but I will protect her, he thought, and put his arms around her.
Miriah had put together a simple but delicious dinner, and Corso helped her. Once the kids were taken care of and ready for bed, they sat to eat. The rain continued to pour down, and Miriah told them to just stay the night. They agreed, no one wanted to get wet and cold again, and they all chose a guest room. Miriah took Devin to his bed, and he patted her face, gave her a kiss, and was closing his eyes before he'd gotten fully stretched out. She left him and went to her own bed, finding herself getting tired, too. Corso met her in the hall, having reset the security system and checking it again. He put his arm around her, leading her to their bed. She grinned at him when she pulled him down on top of her, seeing his surprise and then pleasure. "Are you sure?" he breathed, since there were so many people in the house. She nodded, pulling his shirt over his head, her touch enough to immediately arouse him. He cupped her head in his large hands and kissed her senseless, her hands running over his upper body. Her eyes closed and her breathing quickened as he undressed her, his lips finding sensitive spots and sending waves of sensation through her.
Magdalane felt the frenzy of passion that was burning through her baby sister, and turned it to her own husband, who didn't complain about a thing. I can't resist her, in anything, Felix thought. He held her after she'd tired, and as she slipped in to sleep, he was thankful for her in his life, and told himself he'd be friendly toward Zenith, if it made things better for her. He grinned as he hugged her to him, finally feeling his son move inside her.
Corso held his wife to him, her eyes closed in sleep. He should have been sleeping too, but his thoughts kept him awake. He was running through the events of the day when he felt her shift and, looking down at her, saw her open her eyes and look up at him. "Sorry, cyare, I didn't mean to wake you," he said, as she scooted herself up to look into his eyes. She blinked slowly, then put her mouth on his, her eyes fluttering closed. She continued to kiss down his neck and chest and he groaned, forgetting about his worries and losing himself in her touch. They did finally sleep, Corso being awakened by Miriah's shivering against him. He reached for the comforter and covered her, holding her close, feeling her relax. She was still in that position when Devin came running into their room, the weak early morning sunlight telling them the rain had moved on. Corso groaned, not really ready to get up yet, and Miriah stirred against him, her warm softness making him want her again. Can't happen, he told himself, trying to gain control and keep his son from standing on his still drowsy wife.
"Dev, honey, shhhh. Give mama a minute to wake up," Miriah told him, her voice husky with sleep. She almost sat up, but at the last second realized she was still naked under the covers, and blushed.
"I've got him, love, take your time getting up," Corso told her, pulling clothes on as he got up. "We'll go get changed and start breakfast." He kissed her, then again, before taking the giggling child to his room, and Miriah almost went back to sleep when she realized she had a house full of people and Zenith was coming to Dantooine today. She reluctantly got up and showered, and met Corso in the kitchen with a kiss, Mags and Felix already up as well. Corso had things going and handed her a cup of hot chocolate and led her to the fireplace, where she sat while he cooked. The twins and Sarai came in next, followed a few minutes later by Maura and Aric. They gathered to eat, and still Miriah sat, he hands cupping her mug. "C'mon, Mir, you gotta eat something." She smiled at her husband, but didn't get up. He brought food to her, sitting on the hearth.
"I really don't want anything, sugar. Just not hungry," she told him, looking into his eyes.
"No more exercise unless you eat, you have to replace what we burn, love," he told her in a low voice, a smile on his face. She grinned at him, and took a few bites of the eggs he'd brought her. They were still grinning at each other when C2 appeared at the doorway.
"Master, you have a visitor. Senator Zenith has arrived."