Marriage is Murder

Brian headed for the shower, and Michael followed him.  When Brian got near the bedroom door, Michael headslapped him--hard.

"What was that for?" Brian frowned.

"What's the matter with you? Now, you listen," Michael hissed. "I don't care what you did. What I do care about is that if you stress her one more time, and I'm gonna hurt you. I am not going to deliver your children on the dining room table. I will do a lot of things for her, believe me. But delivering your children 6 weeks early? Oh, no, no.  I'm not delivering babies. You need to think before you do crap like this."

"I didn't plan on this...."

"No, but next time, you clean yourself up while you're cleaning up your mess. Don't bring this home to you wife and your kids again. Not ever. You should know better..."

There was a hand on Michael's shoulder, cutting him short. Michael turned. It was Robert.  Michael stepped aside.  Robert looked at Brian, wanting to know if the problem was solved, if the job was done. He looked at Brian's clothes and looked back at him again.  He suspected Brian had found the culprit, and what Robert wanted to know was if he was dead.  Brian just looked at him.  He didn't say a syllable.  It was as if an entire briefing had passed between them without a word. Robert nodded.  He understood. And he approved.  He pointed to the shower.

Brian went into the bedroom and then groaned a moment later.

"Did anybody bring clothes?" he called. "All we have in here are some of Khaat's maternity stuff from the last time we were here. There's nothing of mine in here." Aggravated, Michael gave a quick wave of his hand and sent one of Khaat's silk nightgowns to him.

"Damnit, Michael!" Brian cursed.

"Oh, for goodness sakes," Kate sighed. She went to the basement and found a change of clothes for Brian--a pair of jeans and a white cotton shirt. She brought them back upstairs and took them to him. "Are we safe now?" she asked him, feeling more compassion for him than anyone else had shown.

"We're safer than we were," he said quietly. He knew his job. This wasn't the first he had to kill to protect the innocent, but it was still never easy. "He swore he worked alone. But I don't know how you know for sure."

"Well done," she said, caressing his cheek for a moment, needing to be his mother again to reassure him. "It was necessary, then. Perhaps some sun and sand will do us all good. I'll get you some coffee while you're in the shower."

"Is she okay, Kate?" He asked quietly.

"You're here, aren't you?" she smiled. Se could see in his eyes that he wasn't sure he'd done enough, and that what he had done had been done soon enough.

"Kate, if he'd touched her or if he'd touched my kids..." he began. He had been pointlessly trying to hide it--the fear of losing her and his kids, but Kate saw it in his eyes. "I swear,..." he didn't know how to find the words.

"He couldn't," she said with a smile. "You had it covered. They're safe." He hesitated. Then he went into the bedroom and closed the door.

Khaat had heard the stress in Brian. She understood. He had had no choice but to kill one of their own guards, probably a friend, in cold blood, to keep her safe.

"Its not just about you," Marcus reminded her. "Blood wants you, your kids, your father, anyone he can use as a pawn. He had no choice."

"Have you ever killed? Like that?" she asked.

"Yes," he said quietly. "Sometimes its the only choice we have. Would you like me to talk to him?"

"Please?" she asked. He nodded.

Everyone seemed to just eat wherever they wanted. Angus got creative and let the kids have a breakfast picnic outside on a large blanket on the grass. There seemed to be plenty of adults outside to make sure they didn't get into trouble.

Michael fixed plates for Marcus and Khaat and one for Brian. He took the plates for Marcus and Khaat over to them on the sofa. He left Brian's on the kitchen counter. When Brian got out of the shower, he came out, looking more presentable, but feeling very alone.

"You'll be in safe hands," Marcus said to her quietly. He got up and went over to the counter, took Brian's plate as his own and looked at Brian. "Your plate is over there with hers, Mate." He sat down at the kitchen table with Michael and Angus to eat.

Brian went over to her. He hesitated, simply looking at her. She reached out her hand to him, and he sat down beside her. He had wanted to simply give her a very small, simple kiss. But when his lips met hers, it became a slow, deep kiss fueled by the love they had that seemed so unquenchable, and their realization that they had come so close to losing each other so many times in the last 24 hours.

"I would do anything for you," he said in a voice only she could hear.

"Yeah," she said softly. "I know."

"You alright?" he asked, laying his hand on her stomach. "What was that Michael was saying about babies?"

"They seem to be taking bets that its going to be twins," she said. He laughed.

"I don't care if its a whole litter as long as you're alright," he said. "But if you're going to be here, you're going to need some clothes."

"Me? I'm the only one who has clothes."

"You have nightgowns," he laughed. "It seems we all need to do some shopping or we need to let someone shop for us."

After breakfast, Brian felt like he needed just a few minutes alone with her.

"Feel up to a walk on the beach?" he asked her. Robert made a few hand signals to Michael.

"Brian," Michael said. "Robert says a walk is good, but he warns you that she's been under some extreme stress. He's..."

"Concerned it might be too much," Brian finished. "We won't go far. I promise. I won't have her on her feet long."

"She needs to rest," Michael said.

"I know," Brian said. He looked at Khaat. "My apologies. I haven't been paying as much attention to your medical care as I should have. I hope Jess has been taking care of that regularly since your father can't do it this time."

"I'm fine," Khaat said, not intending to tell him or anyone else that there honestly hadn't been much medical care this time around. What there had been as what Jess had done when trouble had come up. She reached for his hand. "Are we going or what?"

"Okay," he said. "Hey, you lot. If you go out shopping, do you mind picking up some things for us too?"

"Everyone's going to need some clothes. Perhaps if one of the ladies and one of the men went out together they could get some things for all of us," Kate suggested.

"Permission to borrow your client, Marcus?" Brian asked.

"With pleasure," Marcus smiled. "Permission to take 2 minutes to shower?"

"I might even give you ten," Brian said.

"There is a change of clothes on your bed," Kate said. "Last door on the left. The master bedroom is at the very end of the hall. Your room is next to it on the left."

"Thank you," Marcus said. He went to his room and found a pair of khakis, a white polo shirt, and a pair of running shoes on the bed. He showered and shaved and changed.

Brian took Khaat out for a walk. They went out to the shore and walked along the water's edge with their feet in the water. He had felt so close to her in Mexico, and now, in 24 hours, so much had happened, that he didn't like the distance. He wanted to try to make sure that distance didn't happen again. Ever.

"Now you look better," Kate said to Marcus when he came out of the shower. "Now you look like you're ready to work in the tropics. And, by the way,..." she ran her arm over his upper arm. "would you look at those guns? Marcus Belby, where in the world have you been hiding all those muscles?"

"Under the black MI6 suits," Michael said dryly.

"Yes, well, you won't be wearing those here," Kate said.

"I won't?" Marcus asked.

"No," she said. "Jess, do get him some stylish sportswear, please. Do not buy this man another suit."