Terri's Peep Hut ~~ Fiction Archive

Figuring Things Out With Marie

Title: Figuring Things Out With Marie

Author: Terri

E-mail: xgrrl26@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13, violence and swearing

Disclaimer: I only own Sam and Nat, and our nasty guest star. That last one is up for grabs.

Feedback: Please! With a cherry on top? Good, bad, and ugly welcome.

Archive: WRFA, Dolphin Haven, Peep Hut ... anyone else, please ask and I'll say yes ;)

Summary: Sequel to Birthdays With Marie. Sam's mutation, Nat's mutation, and what to do when the universe (or the bad people in it, at least) just won't stop screwing with you get figured out in this installment.

Comments: I've had cause to ponder two things lately. The first one is why do some people get off on being mean and hateful? I don't have an answer, and I doubt anyone ever really will. It's partly their background, partly how other people have treated them, and partly the decision we all make about how we want to conduct ourselves and what kind of person we want to be. I think we've all been nasty on occasion or done things we wish we could take back but 24/7 broadcasting on the all-nasty-all-the-time network boggles me. How do you live with yourself when you're that unpleasant? Well, having seen that behavior in a couple of different contexts has made me wonder what do you do when you just can't avoid these people? How do you deal with them without becoming like they are (because part of me thinks that's the desired result the saying 'misery loves company' definitely springs to mind..)? That pondering and influence shows up in this fic, where Logan is beginning to see that the Brotherhood don't quit and they don't learn their lesson. They're going to keep on coming, and he has to decide what to do about that. The other thought being pondered lately has been people can surprise you in nice ways, not just unpleasant ones. I've had my woes over the past few weeks, and moving into a new house is never easy to deal with even under the best of other circumstances. But I've had lots of friends come out to help me get settled in the new place, and they have even been so wonderful as to mow my lawn for me and do planters for outside and scrub my sinks and wash all my sheets and dishes and clean really, really disgustingly dirty things in the old place ;) I was actually kind of astonished that my friends made so much time to help out. What really gave me pause, though, was a friend of mine who came out (from the west coast) and promptly sat me on my couch and handed me the remote. He told me that he would be cleaning the house and wrangling the cats and doing all the errands and that I was to spend the day relaxing and enjoying the new house. That gesture was so thoughtful and this person is someone who, at first, I really wasn't crazy about getting to know. He was quiet, stand-offish, and (I thought at the time) arrogant, rude, and cranky. It taught me that some people who you think might be broadcasting on The Nasty Network can be worth getting to know a bit better, and that kindness to people, even those who you don't think deserve it, isn't always a wasted effort. There's not a direct connection to that in the fic, but it did prompt quite a bit of Logan's discussion with Marie toward the end here. She's not playing her usual role of perfect mom in this one, and Logan responds with kindness and support. Well, enough of the rambling, on to the fic ;)

---------------------------------------------------

"So? Whaddya think?" You know, there's one thing that Jeannie, as much as I like her, does just like every other damn doctor. She poked and prodded my son, looked him up and down and sideways, drew blood, the whole nine yards, and now she's doin' what every damn doctor in the universe does. She's lookin' at him with one hand on her chin and goin' 'hmmmm.' Christ.

"Without seeing the results of the blood test, I can't be sure, but."

"But what, Jean?" Did I mention that she hadta bring Scooter along? 'Cause that ain't helpin' my irritation levels. "Do you think he has a mutation, sweetie?" Bleeech. Scooter usin' pet names with people that's just stomach-churnin'. It's only cute when I do it with Marie. Or when she does it with me. I don't hafta hear it from Scooter.

"I think he may." Well, there it is now was that so hard? Just spit it out next time, wouldya? "The blood test will confirm whether there have been any changes in his DNA, but but I think he actually is manifesting a mutation."

"Mama?" Poor Sam, he don't know what all this is, he's just confused 'cause there's so many people here. And 'cause he's been the center of attention all day. That honor usually goes to his sister over there.

"Honey, Doctor Jean thinks that you might have a mutation, like daddy's claws." Hmph. Wonder if she didn't say it was like her skin 'cause she's afraid he'll react bad to that. It really is more like her skin he hadta get it from her, not me. "Only, your mutation is that you can feel what's going on inside of other people when you touch them, or at least that's what we think. Is that can you feel what's going on inside of people, Sam, when you touch them?"

"Dunno." Jeannie did tests had Sam hold her hand, then Scooter's, and asked them what they were thinkin' 'bout. Sam got it right, every time. Maybe he just doesn't know that's what's goin' on or maybe he just doesn't really understand what we're tryin' to tell him. Or maybe it's just been so natural to him all his life, that he can't think of it bein' special to him, that's normal. "Can I have claws too? Like dada?"

"I don't know, Sam. We'll have to wait and see." Jeannie said that she didn't think there were any health dangers from him developin' his thing early, and she said that she didn't know whether he'd get other 'gifts' later on or not. I kinda don't wanna give him the claws, you know? The healin' I wouldn't mind that, that ain't too bad. The claws, though they're a bitch. Hurt goin' in and comin' out. It's an animal thing, too, and I don't want that for him he's such a sensitive, emotional little guy, you know? He don't need to go all animal.

"Mo-o-o-m!" Whoops. Nat noticed that she's not the center of attention. Hadta happen again eventually. She's been yippin' off and on all day. "I'm done painting. Look!"

"Oooh I like that one a lot, Nat. You used a lot of colors that go really well together." Marie she's been doin' double duty hoverin' over Sam durin' the tests and keepin' Nat occupied with her paints. I should step in and cut her a break.

"Yeah. You did good, kid. Wanna do another one?"

"No, I'm all painted out. I wanna play now."

"Yeah!" Sam's been pretty patient all day too maybe it's best to let 'em get out a little.

"OK. You go out on the front porch. You stay close to the house, now, you hear? Take Blue with ya and leave the door open so we can see ya. Stay on the porch, got it?"

"Got it, dada c'mon, Nat!" Yeah, the chances of them stayin' on the porch are slim and none. I'll keep an eye on 'em while we finish talkin' to Jeannie.

"Sam, I'm gonna be the doctor, and you be the daddy. Blue will be our baby and we hafta find out if he's OK."

"OK."

"Woof!"

"Good. Now, Blue, you sit still so I can ex-ex-um..examinate you. Sit still. Sit!"

"Sit down, doggie."

"No, not doggie, he's your baby. You're the dad, 'member?"

"Oh. Sit down, baby. Don't wag don't wag tail."

"Good. Now I will examinate you good. I hafta find out if you be a mootant. First, I will check your ears."

"Who dat?"

"It's your baby, 'member?"

"No, who dat?"

"Oh. Oh-oh."

"Well, well, well - if it ain't just the two brats I was lookin' for. C'mere, little ones, I got somethin' for ya. Heh."

"So, you're sayin', basically, that you can't tell us why it happened sooner and you dunno why Nat don't have hers." Why is it that doctors always tell ya what they don't know? For once, I'd like to hear what they *do* know, ya know?

"Jean, is there a chance Nat has the same mutation, but that she either doesn't use it as much or that there's a slight difference in its manifestation? I wonder if "

"DAD!!"

"Just a minute, kid. So you think that Nat's got the same mutation? You don't think she mighta gotten somethin' else? I mean, we got a lotta possibilities in both of our "

"DAAAAAAD!!!" Aw Christ, Nat, can't ya wait a second to be the center of attention again? I wanna finish talkin' to Jeannie here.

"Look, Nat, I " Oh, holy shit. Holy shit! "Who the hell're you?"

"Name's not important. Fact that I'm gonna gut both of your kids if you and that bitch don't get out here pronto and do exactly as I say, is." Some Brotherhood asshole. Fucker. Nobody threatens my kids, and the corpses of your buddies shoulda toldya that ain't a good approach to take. Goddamn, the kids're scared. Real scared. Look at 'em no, no I better not think 'bout that 'cause then I'll lose it and I won't be able to keep from jumpin' this asshole. Gotta keep it together. At least until he lets go of my kids. Grrrr

"Logan?" Smart woman, my wife. Came out, but motioned for Jeannie and Scooter to stay back. She's gonna keep a cool head, all right. Even if she is probably panickin' as much as I am inside. You know, I wonder if this genius knows Scooter and Jeannie are here. You'd think their big black plane parked a coupla miles away woulda been a clue, but this one, he don't look like no Einstein. "Put my kids down. Right now. Do as I say, and I won't kill you."

"You can keep those gloves on, missy. You and the weasel "

"That's Wolverine." And puttin' out the claws should remind him who he's fuckin' with.

"Whatever. That shit don't impress me. I can fling a stream of poison from my fingers that'll kill even you. You don't scare me, either one of ya. You're both comin' with me. The Brotherhood has a score to settle with ya."

"Fine. Put the kids down, and we'll be right over."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Takin' our kids hostage kinda proves it. Last people who fucked with my family are buried all over this mountain. Well, we buried what was left of 'em." Sam's startin' to squirm. Stay put. Stay put. Don't do anythin' to piss this guy off. If what he says is true, I dunno if I can cover the twenty yards or so in time, before he'd shoot out the poison. Sam don't have healin', I know that from his scar. Fuck. Stay still, Sam. Don't move.

"It's gonna turn out different this time. You and that bitch you're the ones who're gonna be six feet under. Once we're done with ya, that is." Oh no, he didn't just wink and grin at Marie like that. If he thinks he's ever gonna lay a hand on her, he's got another fuckin' thing comin'! "Now, get over here. I'm done screwin' around." Marie's lookin' at me, and I dunno I dunno what else to do but play along a little. We can't take a chance that "Now. Or I'll snap this one's neck. I don't like the looks of 'im. But this one - I wanna hang on to this one for a while. Pretty little thing, ain't she?" GRRRR!!!!!

"Let me go! Let me go and leave my mom and dad alone!" No, Nat, no, don't "Let go!"

"Nat!" What the hell? Nat grabbed him and somethin' somethin' happened, he's "Logan!"

Oh yeah. Oh hell yeah. Right behind ya, darlin'. It's evisceratin' time. "Arrrrghhhh!" I'm gonna send you outta this world one chunk at a time, you you um, wait a second. He ain't bleedin'. And his body the skin, the meat it don't feel right.

"Nat, let go of him, let go!" Yeah, gotta get the kids clear, 'cause his blood could be poison or somethin' or "Run to the house, go, go!" There's Cyke, ready to blast away, but this guy shit, what happened here? "Logan?"

"He's dead. He's dead. He's I mean, he was already dead, before I got to him. He's his flesh is all hard like stone and there's no blood, nothin'. It's it's just kinda pink meat in there." Don't look at me, darlin', I don't have any idea what the hell happened here. "I'm just gonna cut off his head for good measure. Stand back."

"Be careful the poison "

"I know." Mph. There. Decapitation usually works.

"Woof!" Shit, forgot about the dog. The damn useless dog didn't it even try to defend our kids or anythin'? I swear, this mutt is "Woof! Woof! Woooooooof!!!"

"Logan there are more. There have to be others of them out there."

"Yep. Get back in the house, Marie. Stay with the kids. Take care of 'em. Scooter and Jeannie and me will handle this. Go back inside."

"I'll handle it with you. Jean stays here." Scooter. Figures that now he decided to get all protective of his wife. You know, he's just copyin' me.

"We might need her to "

"She's pregnant. She stays here." Oh. Oh. Hmph. Didn't think Scooter could get one past the goalie. Hmmm. "Logan? Bad guys?"

"Yeah, right. Let's go. And Scooter don't pull any punches, got it? They grabbed my fuckin' kids, and it ain't the first time." And he should understand what I mean by that now that Jeannie's got a little one in the oven, but it never hurts to be clear. "They're goin' down." Just a nod. Yep, he gets it.

Well, turns out that they did have a plan this time. You know, one besides 'attack cabin.' They were wearin' full-on body suits, probably to prevent against Marie's powers, and they were fairly heavily armed. Had a little set-up a mile or so back inta the woods, looks like a little torture chamber. Got rope, knives, electric prods, duct tape, chainsaws. Six of the bastards, total, and now the world is minus six fuckheads. They did us the favor of fightin' back, so we didn't hafta feel too awful 'bout killin' 'em. I hope like hell that the Brotherhood don't have an endless supply of these assholes, and I hope they've learned their fuckin' lesson. Not even gonna bury these. Gonna let the forest, the animals, take 'em. They'll end up as bear shit, most likely, and that's just 'bout what they deserve.

Took some time headin' back to the house. Don't want to scare the kids by bein' all pissed off still. Hadta let some of it pass before I walked back through that door. Glad Scooter seems to understand that. Glad he was here today, too. Wouldnta wanted Marie to have to use her powers on those assholes. Don't want what they mighta been thinkin' of doin' to her and Nat in her head. Bad enough as it is. Fuckers.

"You ready?" Scooter's been givin' me a pretty wide berth on the way back, not sayin' nothin', just lettin' me growl it out and claw the occasional tree into mulch along the way. Maybe he ain't all bad.

"Yeah. Hey thanks."

"You're welcome."

"And congratulations. You know, on the kid."

"You're welcome."

"I'm sure he won't turn out too bad if he gets mosta Jeannie's qualities." Just 'cause he ain't all bad, it don't mean that I'm not gonna fuck with 'em. Heh.

"Gee, thanks. I'm touched."

"Yeah. Let's go in." One more deep breath. There.

"Dad!!"

"Dada!" Ooomph. Both of 'em, collidin' with me at full speed. "Dada, help Nat! Help Nat!"

Help Nat? Shit, somethin' is wrong she's been cryin' up a storm. She hardly ever cries, and I know today was really frightenin' for her, but, still, she looks almost panicked. That's not normal, even in a lotta trauma. "What's wrong, honey?"

"Dad!" Whoa just buryin' her head in my shoulder and sobbin' for all she's worth.

"It's OK. It's OK." Whew Marie, kneelin' down beside us and strokin' her back. Maybe she'll be able to make some sense of this. On the other hand, it looks like she's been cryin' too. "Logan, we think we think we might've found Nat's power."

"Huh?"

"Her power we think she touched that man, and and that's why he, ah, kind of turned to stone. We think it might be her skin, she used her skin."

"But that's not how your skin works."

"No. But Sam's powers don't work exactly like mine either. Nat Jean thinks that she can kill with a touch, but not like me. It's not it doesn't seem to be on all the time and she doesn't seem to get them in her head, but I don't know if "

"Dad, I killed him. I didn't mean to."

"I know, baby. You let your dad hold ya. Everythin's gonna be OK now."

"He was bad, and he was mean and I didn't want him to hurt us. But I didn't mean to do it, I didn't - honest."

"We know, Nat." Shit, I wonder if she's been like this the whole time Scooter and I were gone. "It's OK."

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is, honey." I ain't gonna have my two-year-old daughter feelin' guilty 'bout this. Oh hell no. "He was a bad man and he was gonna hurt us, you're absolutely right. You did what you hadta do, and "

"It hurt! It burned! I didn't mean to do it, Dad! I didn't mean to mess up my hand!" What? It hurt her? What about her hand?

"Nat, honey, show Daddy your hand. Show Dad your hand where you touched the bad man." Fuck! She's got a little scar, or somethin' like a scar, a little black circle, on the palm of her hand.

"What the hell is that?"

"Oweeee."

"That's right, Sam, it's an oweee." Good, Marie's takin' him. I can focus on my little girl here. "Jean said she doesn't know what it is she's never seen it before. It doesn't seem to be scabbing over or hurting Nat now, but she said it hurt a lot when she was touching him."

"She couldnta been touchin' him for long, not more than a second."

"I know. Jean, ah, Jean said that he looked like he, ah, petrified. Instantly." Whoa. Whoa. "It could be her power, Logan. She's she's probably never been quite mad enough or scared enough before. I don't know if it might've come out in the fight with Sabretooth and she just didn't happen to be touching his skin or what, or if it just manifested, or if this time it was "

"Get it off me, Dad! Get it offa me!"

"Shhh. Shhh. It's OK, Nat. I gotcha. Lemme see." I don't think I can make it disappear, but I can at least kiss it better like her other little injuries. "Any better?" She's lookin' at her hand, decidin'.

"Still there."

"Yep. Does it hurt? Does it hurt ya now?"

"No, but I don't want it. I don't want it there. Make it go 'way." That breaks my heart right there. Just tears it up. I can't fix it for her. I can't make it all better for my little girl. Marie's tearin' up too God, I wish I could fix it.

"I don't know how to fix it, baby. I know you don't want it, but it's going to be OK. It'll be OK, I promise."

"Really? Promise?" God, she looks so like Marie right now, lookin' up at me with all that wavy hair and big brown eyes, askin' me to promise. I never thought I'd feel anythin' stronger than what I feel for Marie, but the kids I wanna protect them every bit as much.

"I promise. You're gonna be OK."

"OK, Dad." She just slumped against me, and all the tension left her little body.

"I knew you'd make her feel better." Marie. God, I gotta talk to her and see how she's holdin' up as soon as we settle the kids. This can't be easy for her. "C'mon, guys, let's getcha in bed. It's been a long day."

"C'mon, spit it out." Everythin's taken care of kids in bed, and finally actually sleepin' to boot, and Scooter and Jeannie are gone, and we gave 'em thanks and congratulations on the helpin' us kick ass and havin' a baby thing, respectively. Marie then cleaned the whole house, went outside to take a look around for herself to be sure that no more bad guys were comin', did some laundry, walked around the house again, rearranged the livin' room furniture, walked around the house again, and rearranged our bedroom furniture before I could convince her to lay down in bed with me. It's gonna be dawn soon, and I know we're not gonna get any sleep, but I'd like to at least get it outta her before the kids wake back up. "Marie"

"I just didn't want her to have my powers. I didn't want that, Logan. I *prayed* that she wouldn't, that neither one of them would. I just dammit, I didn't want that for her." Whoa. Pissed. Thought she'd be upset, but she's 90% pissed.

"She can still touch people. Seems like she can turn it off. It's not gonna be as hard on her, it won't "

"Yes, it will. Yes, it will be as hard on her. Logan the touching, not being able to - to touch or be touched, that was never the worst part. She's going to have to live the rest of her life knowing that she can kill with her touch. She can do it on a whim, and God knows the way our lives have gone, she'll have to do it to protect herself. She's going to feel like she's death incarnate, like she's some some horrible *thing* and that's the last thing I wanted for her. People will use her, they'll find out and they'll want to use her like a weapon, just like Mystique did to me. Goddammit! Why did this have to happen?"

"Darlin', we're gonna protect her from those people. Mystique's dead and everyone who's come here to avenge her has gotten their ass kicked."

"And one day, someone will kick our asses, Logan. It'll happen eventually, you know it as well as I do. What then? What then, huh? We can't protect them from everything and everyone all their lives, and we'd be lying to them if we told them we could. She's going to hurt, Logan, and I never wanted that for her."

"Hey " I hear what she's sayin', I do, but it's not all as bad as she thinks. "- we are gonna protect 'em. As long as they're our kids, we'll fight for 'em. I know that we might lose one day, but but we might not ever lose. We just dunno, and that's how life just is. I don't want her to hurt either, baby, but we'll be here to help her through it if she does get hurt."

"Logan, I just don't want her to have to suffer like I suffered. Promise me that you'll never let her get taken, not like Mystique did to me. Promise me that no matter what, you'll never let that happen to her."

"I promise. I'll fight to the last breath in me, Marie, you know I will. I'm sorry I wasn't there to fight for you."

"I know." Tears now. The anger's fadin' back.

"Listen to me, darlin' it doesn't hafta be as bad as all that. We're here with her. We can help her. She don't hafta think of herself as death or anythin' like that. We can show her, tell her that she's good and that this power it don't hafta be nothin' but a curse to her. I know you didn't get that. I wish like hell I coulda protected you from all those hurts. But Nat she's got us, and we can make her think different on it."

That was supposedta make Marie cry less, not more. I must be losin' my touch or somethin'. "Oh, Logan, I screwed up with her, I really did."

"Honey, I'm sure you "

"When Jean said it, when she said Nat killed him with a touch, I couldn't keep the the *sick* and disgusted look off my face and she saw it and nothing I said made that go away, and she knows I thought it was awful and I was so upset that it left a mark on her and so worried I don't even know what that *is* - and I just I hate it so much in myself, I hate my powers, and I just I just screwed up with her really, really bad."

"Hey, hey now it's OK. She's gonna be OK now. We'll fix it. We can fix all of that, baby, it's OK."

"You can fix it. You did fix it when you came back and you held her and told her it was OK."

"That's what I'm here for, baby. Just take it easy. Nat you can fix it with her too, I know you can. You're a good mom to her. You are, Marie."

"Oh, Logan.."

"Shhh. Hey it's gonna be all right." Goddamn Brotherhood. Fuckin' plague on my life. I swear, the next one of those fuckers that set foot in Canada is gonna get pureed by claw. Dammit.

"Sam? Sam? You up?"

"Am now."

"Can I sleep in your bed?"

"Uh-huh."

"Are you scared?"

"Uh-uh."

"Me neither."

"Mebbe a little bit."

"Me too."

"I didn't mean to do it."

"'S OK."

"But Mom didn't like it. You can tell, right?"

"Umm."

"Sam, you can tell, right? She she "

"She was mad."

"See?"

"Not at you."

"Huh?"

"Not at you."

"At the bad man?"

"Dunno. Just she just feeled bad."

"I didn't mean to."

"'S OK."

"You sure?"

"Uh-huh."

"OK."

Well, things are kinda back to normal. I think Marie's feelin' a little better she made sure to hug and kiss Nat and pay special attention to her first thing this mornin'. That helped, I can tell Nat's almost back to her usual self. Sam, he's been a little quiet, a little pensive. It's gonna take him longer, I know that.

I was kinda hopin' that that black mark on Nat's hand would be gone in the mornin', but it don't look like it even faded any. Wish I knew what was goin' on with that. But we'll have Jeannie do some more tests once everybody gets their feet back under 'em a bit. I guess I should be fuckin' grateful that they waited a few weeks after the kids' birthday to attack. Guess it coulda been worse.

Been seriously thinkin' 'bout movin'. Headin' way the hell into the country, just livin' off the land, keepin' to ourselves. But it would be hidin', hidin' from the Brotherhood, and I don't think that's the example I wanna show my kids. If those Brotherhood assholes haven't gotten the message by now, I know we'll see more of 'em. I know what Marie said is right, that there's a chance we'll get our asses kicked and the kids'll get hurt. And with everythin' in me, I don't want that to happen. But it ain't enough just to see that the kids survive, we gotta see to it that they live, that they have a good life. And hidin' ain't the good life. Nah, we're stayin' put. We'll up the security even more, and Chuck and Scooter'll keep closer tabs on the Brotherhood. But we're stayin'. If they come, we'll fight 'em again. It's our home.

And the powers thing I know Marie's still upset 'bout that. They both got powers from her so far, and I know that she'd change it if she could, probably for both of 'em, but especially for Nat. But we coulda done worse in that department too both kids can touch other people, and I realize that wasn't the worst part for Marie, but it's a big part. This thing with Nat Marie and me can make her feel different about her mutation. We're not gonna be like Marie's parents were to her, kickin' her out and shit. We can talk to 'em when they're young like this and make it stick that it's not some kinda curse. My little girl she don't ever hafta think of herself as bad, as 'death.' I wish I coulda given that to Marie, I wish that like you wouldn't believe. But we got a chance to give it to Nat, and we can do that. I know Marie can do it, even if she has her doubts. She's one helluva good mom and a good person, and I know she can pull it off. Just gotta make her see that.

"Hey, darlin', how're you doin'?"

"Better. Thanks for making me talk it over last night. That really helped."

"No problem. What're we doin' today? Grocery shoppin'? Errands?"

"I kind of just wanted to stay close to home today, just just have a quiet day, OK?"

"Sounds good." I'm gonna try to make every day a quiet day from here on out. Just quiet, normal days that's what I want in store for us too.

"Mom, look! I painted!" That's a good sign too, Nat bein' back to paintin'. And this one's um, this one's "Mom? It's supposed to be you, mom."

"I know, honey. I just it's really beautiful." Oh, I get it I can see her head in there. Yeah, I can see Marie in that painting.

"No it isn't. I made you cry." Oh-oh, the Nat frown rarely seen but totally heartbreakin'.

"No, Nat, no, honey. I mean um, yes, but good tears, happy tears. I'm just really touched that you'd make such a beautiful painting of me."

"Don't be sad mom, OK?"

"I'm not, honey, I promise. I'm just emotional."

"Hmph."

"Nat, honey, can I tell you something? I'm so sorry about yesterday, so sorry. I had a really bad reaction, but you didn't do anything wrong, not a thing. I love you so much, and I was very scared for you. But I wasn't angry at you or upset with what you did. I'm just I'm just mad and frustrated and upset that it happened. But it's not your fault, OK, honey? I want you to know that. I love you very much." There we go, that's what Nat needed to hear. It ain't the paintin' or Marie's cryin' she's still hung up on yesterday.

"OK, Mom." Ah, big hug there. See? I toldya Marie could do it. "Love you too."

"Me too." Heh. Sam he never likes to be left out of the huggin'. Come to think of it, neither do I. I got a good family here, a very good family, and no one's gonna change that. Especially not the Brotherhood, no matter how much they try. I'm gonna make damn sure of that, damn sure.