The atmosphere remained tense even as they munched on pizza. Neither of them seemed to be able to calm down. Christine supposed that was to be expected given the gravity of Chauncey's threat. The babies were laying in their bassinets, having fallen asleep after being fed and burped. It was almost comforting to look over and see their peaceful itty bitty faces. The keyword there was almost.
Meg eventually closed the box and Christine stood up long enough to store the leftovers in the fridge. She returned a moment later and took her spot once again. Her girlfriend almost immediately leaned into her side. She wrapped her arms around her and stroked her curls, twirling a strand around her fingers.
"Do you think he'll win the case? If he goes through with it, I mean.." Meg questioned in concern. Christine couldn't bring herself to answer right away. She wasn't entirely sure. She wanted to say no but there was an issue with doing that.
"I.. I can't say for sure, Meg. I want to say that him just going based off of pure rumor wouldn't stand in a court room...but we can't exactly lie either. I suppose we'll just have to prove that things have changed or something.". Christine murmured, wincing when she realized that her words weren't exactly comforting.
However, sometimes it was better to be realistic over sugarcoating everything. Sugarcoating it would just make it more painful should things go from bad to worse.
Meg frowned for a moment, biting her full bottom lip. She didn't seem to like her answer very much- though it could also be her hormones still, those weren't exactly regulated just yet. Perhaps it was a mixture of everything.
"Unfortunately... You may be right. I'm sorry, Christine. I didn't mean to drag all my drama into your lap. I shouldn't have relied on you so heavily." Meg whimpered before bursting into tears.
Christine jumped before immediately wrapping her arms around her girlfriend, pulling her smaller form into her arms. She pressed her lips against her temple, rocking the two of them ever so slightly. She hummed softly until the other woman began to calm down a little bit.
"Never apologize for that. It led us to being a family and we will remain a family. I don't hold this against you. I never will. All we have to do is fight this tooth and nail. Do you understand me?" Christine finally spoke, withdrawing and cupping Meg's chin so that she couldn't break eye contact.
The blonde managed a watery smile, leaning into press a chaste kiss against her lips. She nuzzled against her again, pulling her arm down so that she could encourage the taller woman to hold her properly again.
"I understand... Just hold me? I want to enjoy this before one of the triplets wakes up inevitably." Meg murmured softly. Christine giggled softly and complied, shifting so that they were both laying down, holding her girlfriend on top of her.
After a few weeks, they allowed themselves to relax. It really seemed like Chauncey had forgotten his threats. Meg was still recovering so Christine took on more hours until she could return to work.
When she returned that evening, she checked the mail. Most of it was junk mail. Her heart dropped when she came across nearly identical letters from the courthouse.
She rushed inside and shoved Meg's letter into her hands, ripping open her own. They read in silence for a few minutes, no one daring to break it just yet.
"Well... I suppose we'll need to find a babysitter by March tenth.." Meg attempted to joke, though her tone was grim.
"Seems that way, doesn't it? At least we'll have plenty of time to prepare.." Christine returned with a small sigh.
The last thing that they needed was to let this sort of stress tear them apart. That was her biggest concern at the moment. Especially with how much she needed to work and the fact that Meg was stuck being a stay at home mother until further notice.
"We have awhile, Chrissy... Let's not focus on this tonight. Why don't you and I have a little picnic in the backyard tonight?" Meg asked, almost hopeful.
As tempting as that was, Christine couldn't just shove the information off to the side and she was exhausted. If anything, she just wanted to order take out and go to bed.
"No, Meg. I'm not in the mood tonight. I need sleep because I'm leaving early tomorrow and the children need us to be nearby should they wake and they will." Christine denied brusquely. She almost felt guilty. She was doing exactly what she didn't want to do. However, she couldn't help it. That idea just felt tone deaf and out of place right now.
Meg's face fell as she flinched, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip again. Presumably to stop it from trembling. Christine's heart wrenched when she saw the glimmer of tears in her eyes before the blonde looked down. It was too late to take it back, though.
"Oh.. okay. You're right." Meg nearly whispered, fiddling with her fingers. Christine opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times, searching for something to stay. But nothing seemed adequate. While she felt like she had a point, she truly hadn't intended to hurt her feelings.
Before she could make an even bigger fool of herself, Luc began sobbing his little head off. Meg hopped up and hobbled out of the room, sniffling much to her horror.
Christine made decision not to follow after her, heading to the kitchen to order Chinese. It was one of Meg's favorites. Perhaps she'd accept the peace offering for what if was.
Meg cradled the little boy to her chest, letting him drink to his heart's delight. Odette was content to wait for her turn and Alice was too busy gumming at the ear of her little teddy bear to worry.
She had no plans of leaving the nursery for awhile. She felt guilty for asking such a question and selfish for being hurt by the rejection. Christine was a busy woman. She had to work more than she had before because her damn body wouldn't heal as quickly as she wanted it to.
She refused to be a burden emotionally as well as physically.