Our Baby

It was still dark in the hut when Fang woke up. He was still groggy and just laid there for a moment, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. Then, once everything was in focus again, he glanced to his right, not shocked to find Max sleeping there, turned away from him slightly.

"Oh, baby," he groaned as he reached over to stroke her side. Having thought that she was asleep, Fang was almost shocked when she jerked away from him slightly.

"Go away."

"Max-"

"Go. You have duties."

"And you don't?"

"Take care of them for me."

"Oh, you just expect me to-"

"Are yelling at me?"

He frowned. "Considering my voice and tone are still even tempoed, no."

"At an even tempo, Fang. Not tempoed."

"What?"

"Tempo is not a verb. You cannot put an –ed on nouns."

"What are you-"

"Tempo is a noun, Fang. It's a fucking noun."

He just laid there for a moment, half up on his elbows, staring incredulously at his wife's back. Then, slowly, he sank back down into the makeshift mattress they had formed from old blankets and clothes.

"I don't get it, Max," he said after a long moment. "What am I supposed to take from that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"There's supposed to be some kind of double entendre in that, right? Some life lesson I'm supposed to take from that? Something you're trying to convey to me in that sentence?"

Max remained silent for a long second before speaking. "A double entendre would have a sexual connotation, Fang."

"Right, okay, whatever." He pushed fully up finally, shaking his head slightly. "It's my grammar that made you miscarry. Is that the hidden message?"

"You're an asshole."

"For what? Trying?"

"Trying? Yelling at me is trying?"

"For someone that keeps trying to give me grammar lessons, you sure do have some of issues of your own. This is not yelling. Do you need a definition of that?"

Again, he was met with stillness. Then, when she spoke, she simply told him, "I don't want to talk to you anymore."

"When do you ever want to talk to me?" Standing finally, he immediately headed out of their shared hut, shaking his head. When did anyone ever want to talk to him?

It had been a hard past few weeks. Since Max had…lost the baby, things had more or less disintegrated. There was enough to deal with, he knew, than to be worrying about an unborn child. And it was for the best, he tried to tell himself at times, that they didn't have a child. Max had to travel a lot. So did Fang. That was no life for a child. This was a blessing, really.

…So why didn't it feel that way?

"Knock if off. I have to go. For real this time."

Fang was walking down the path leading further into the woods, planning on taking a walk to clear his head before even thinking about tackling any island politics when that voice hit Fang's ears. It spoke at such a hushed tone, that it was highly unlikely he would have heard it had it not been for his enhanced audible range.

Under normal circumstances, the man would have just given a half-smile and shaken his head. He would recall in his mind many of the nights that he and Max had done the same thing and just shaken his head and walked on. Let the kids have their fun. Hopefully safe fun, but fun nonetheless.

That voice though… That voice sounded so familiar. This wasn't shocking, considering they lived on an island that though heavily populated these days, was still very tight knit. Fang didn't know everybody by any standard, but he did know quite a few people. Still, that voice just sounded so-

"Seriously, knock it off. I have to get back. Max has been checking in on me recently. If she finds out-"

"She won't."

"But-"

"What the hell?" Fang had strayed from the path at the first mention of his wife's name. It was easy for him to track the voices to their exact location hidden in the bushes. Having placed the voice by that point, he was far from astonished to find Angel. He was, however, dismayed and angered by her state of half undress.

"Fang," was the only thing out of Angel's lips as he stared at the two teens. The guy, who Fang knew as Tyler, was not one that he wanted anywhere near the girl. At all. Ever. Even if Angel was on fire and he had a bucket of water, Fang did not want that boy's water anywhere on her. At all. Ever. Never ever.

"God, Angel," he finally managed to get out, seeing more of her than he ever wished to. Honestly, she was just in shorts and her bra, but still. It disgusted him. It really did. Angel wasn't supposed to…do this kind of thing. Nudge? He expected this. He'd known about this kind of thing. Angel though? Angel? No. No way. Na-ah.

"Put some fucking clothes on," Fang said then as the boy pushed himself up. He had been half over Angel, kissing her neck previously. Or so Fang assumed from the…hickies there. God, he wanted to vomit. Seriously.

"Fang, it's not-"

"Shut the fuck up, Angel," he said, trying to regulate his breathing. The guy, Tyler, quickly pulled his jeans back up and pulled his shirt on. He was staring at Fang with evident fear in his eyes. He knew the risks though, fooling around with one of the Flock. Especially with Angel. Fang's Angel. Punishment would be brutal for this, he was sure.

Clinching his fists, Fang couldn't help it as he lunched at the boy when he stood. Tyler tried to dodge him, but Fang's right hand was able to clamp down on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly.

"Hey! Let me go!"

"I ought to rip your fucking head off," Fang growled at him as Angel jumped up. "I ought to, ought to-"

"Let him go, Fang!" Angel shoved him now. "Stop it. What are you doing? God, knock it off. Now!"

Throwing the teen away from him, Fang found himself unsatisfied with that being his only way of injuring him. He wanted to hit him. Very, very badly. He wanted to kill him. Murder him. This was Max's island. How could they let this happen?

"Leave him alone!"

Fang suddenly felt himself being restrained. Angel wasn't touching him though and he immediately knew it was her powers. She was controlling him.

Leave him alone, Fang.

"Me? Me? He's the one that needs to leave you alone," Fang said, responding aloud to the message she'd given him in his mind. Other than his mouth, Fang couldn't move at all. Everything was frozen in place. Angel had really outdone herself with this one.

You'll have to let me go sometime.

He could almost hear the sigh in her response.

Yeah, I know.

"I'll kill you later. You can't fucking hide from me," Fang yelled as the teen ran off into the forest. "I know your sister. I know your whole fucked up little gang of friends. I'll make your life hell for you!"

"Fang, shut up," Angel said then, glaring at him. "I can make you be quiet too if I have to."

"You are so beyond grounded," Fang said, looking back at her then. "Why did you do this, Angel? How long as this been going on? Is he even the only one?"

"How dare you?"

"How dare me? How dare you, Angel! How could you do this to me? God, I can never unsee this. And that boy? That…guy? No more. You will never see him again. I will send him and his damn family off this island."

"If you don't calm down, Fang, I'm not going to free you."

"You will fucking free me. You will let me go, Angel. I will scream my fucking head off until you do. And when I do get free, I'm going to kill that guy. You are way too young to-"

"Shut up! You can't tell me what to do."

"The hell I can't."

She released him then for some reason. For a moment, Fang still stood frozen, having given up on fighting her before. The second he realized he had movement though, he moved to grab her by the arm.

"Let me go!"

"Put on your clothes. Now." Fang tossed her to the side, though not as hard as he had done the boy.

"You can't tell me what to do."

"Don't make me hit you. I will."

"Fang-"

"Put on your clothes." He turned away from her, shaking his head. "God, Angel. Who the heck bought you that anyways?"

"What? A bra?"

He just grunted, not speaking. God. God. This was… How was he supposed to… This wasn't fair. Max should be dealing with this. Fang had no desire to… And wasn't' she too young for this? He felt like she was. Way too young.

"Where are we going?" Angel asked as, after she was dressed, Fang took her arm and began dragging her away. "Fang?"

"Shut up."

"What are you-"

"I said to shut up," he grumbled, pulling her out of the forest and over towards the huts.

"What are you- No, Fang. No."

"Shut up."

"You can't take me to Max."

"The hell I can't."

"Don't you think Max has enough going on? With what happened?"

He paused if only for a moment before shaking his head. She was right. Max couldn't handle this. It was stress like this that had caused...

"Fine. Go to bed," he said, shoving Angel into her and Nudge's hut when he got to it. "And swear to God if I hear you leave it-"

"I won't. God. Just stop being an asshole."

She almost got slapped for that. Almost.

"What's your problem? Fang?" Max sat up as he came back into the hut. "I thought you were up for the day? What's going on?"

He just shook his head at her as he laid back down in his spot. "Just something with Angel."

"What?"

"Just found her out early. We got into a fight."

"About?"

"Nothing."

"I swear, Fang, if you upset her-"

"Just go back to sleep, Max. Sun still ain't up. And you're supposed to be resting anyways."

"Resting. Right." Max just stared at him now, frowning. "Do you know how long it's been, Fang?"

"Max-"

"I mean, God, since it happened, all you want me to do is rest. Maybe you should have been a little bit more worried about that before, huh?"

"Yeah? Well, maybe so should have you."

"God, you are the most incompetent man I've ever met."

He frowned. "I don't know what that means, Max. So go ahead and make fun of me for it. Since I'm so uneducated. Well, guess what, babe? You might be smarter than me, but so what? You're the smartest kid in special ed. Want a medal?"

Fang tried to tell himself that he didn't care as Max got up and stormed out of the hut, even tried to go back to sleep. He couldn't though. It just wasn't Max, it just wasn't their fight, it just wasn't the miscarriage, and it just wasn't Angel. It was frothy combination of them that hurt his mind and made him feel sick.

How could things just be going fine for months and then suddenly everything just go so wrong?

"You, me, talk. Now."

Angel frowned as Fang came walking down the beach, hardly pointing at her. She was sitting with Nudge and Iggy, no doubt telling them about her early morning encounter with Fang. Wait…did that mean Iggy…knew?

"You can't tell me what to do. You're not my boss."

"Now, Angel."

"Calm down, Fang," Nudge told him as he finally made it to them. They were getting glances from other happier families on the beach. "You're making a scene over nothing."

"No, I'm with Fang. It was something." Iggy took a bite of the apple in his hand. Fang just glared at his blind friend, angry that he wasn't letting Angel's issue break his breakfast habits. "You shouldn't be doing that stuff, Angel."

"Oh, what do you know?"

"Not a lot," the guy admitted. "But I do know that much."

"We need to talk, Angel. I'm serious. I want to do it now," Fang said, not finding Iggy humorous. This was nothing new though.

"Fang, honestly, you're overreacting."

"You be quiet, Nudge," he said, glaring at her now. "You've known that she's been sneaking out. Haven't you?"

"Well, I-"

"So shut up." Fang turned his glare onto Angel. It was so rare that he was upset with her that she wasn't used to the intensity. "Let's go."

Groaning, the teen stood up slowly before moving to follow the man. As they walked down the beach, he didn't speak once, didn't even crack a smile at the kids playing tag. He was one touch cookie, Fang was, but usual Angel was the only one that could get him to crumble. Other than Max, but that wasn't fair to compare the two. Max used her womanliness; Angel used her other talents of persuasion.

"Fang-"

"No," he said once they were far enough into the woods for them to for sure be alone. "You listen to me, Angel. Don't speak, don't make noises. Just sit here and listen."

She crossed her arms as he turned to face her. "Fine."

"You are not old enough to-"

"I'm not old enough?"

He growled. "I just told you to be qui-"

"You and Max were-"

"Max and I were deeply in love."

"Oh, were you?"

Fang wanted to blush then, but knew it was impossible for him. "Yes, we were. We still are."

"I love Ty too."

"You do not."

"Completely certain I do."

"You're full of it."

"Why can you be in love, Fang, and I can't?"

"Because…Don't question me! I told you to be quiet." He stared hard into her eyes. "How long has this been going on, Angel?"

"God, Fang, you-"

"How long?"

"A few weeks or so, I guess. It's not, like, every night or anything."

He just frowned. "You are too young for this, Angel."

"I'm seventeen."

"I don't care."

"You don't care when Nudge does stuff. Why do you care when I do?"

"Because, Angel, I-"

"…You what?"

He couldn't find the words though to tell her what he was thinking. Nudge? Nudge was something to Fang, sure. Something important. He'd never let any harm come to her. But she had to make her own mistakes sometimes, grow up eventually.

Angel though? No. Absolutely not. Angel was a baby. She didn't understand the world. She thought that she got the world. She'd always thought that she got the world. But she didn't. She would do stupid things, like to try to take control of the Flock, only to realize it was an error and run back to Max and Fang to take care of her. And they took damn good care of her. Angel. Their angel. She was their baby. She'd always been their baby and always would be.

"Our only baby now," he whispered to himself then.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You just said-"

"I said nothing, Angel. This isn't about me. This is about you."

"No, this is about you and how you want to control my life."

"Oh, right, Angel. Totally."

"Thank you for admitting that."

"I was being sarcastic."

"And whose fault is that?"

He wanted to strangle her. Honestly, he did.

"You don't get it, Angel," he said, shaking his head as he looked off again. "Why don't you just get it? You can't…do that kind of stuff."

"I'm not a baby, Fang."

"But you are. You're just a kid. A baby. And I won't let you do things like that."

"Oh, what are you going to do? Take me everywhere with you from this point forth?"

"Yes, if I have to."

"Oh and make me sleep in you and Max's hut, right?"

"If that's what must be done."

"I'm not your child, Fang." She stared him right in the eyes as she said that. "And I never was nor will I ever be. I don't know what it's going to take for you to get that through your thick skull-"

"That's it. You're not seeing this boy again."

"You can't do that! God, I'll just go in your freaking mind and make you forget."

"You can't do that."

"Maybe I can, maybe I can't. Ever think that's why you can't remember me being able to do it?"

They both had a staring match for a moment before Fang broke, shaking his head angrily.

"You don't get it, do you, Angel? I can make not only your life on this island a living hell, but your stupid little boyfriend's too."

"And for that purpose, Fang?"

"Because, Angel, you're far too young to date."

"I am not. You and Max dated."

"Wholesome dating. Not…that stuff."

"Wholesome. Right." She snorted. "Max talks to Ella about everything."

"So?"

"Nudge too. You don't think I know?"

"Know what?"

"You've been fucking Max since you guys were sixteen- Hey!"

Fang just did it on impulse. That's what you did, right? When kids got mouthy?

"Don't you ever say something about Max like that again."

"I'm telling Max," Angel yelled, holding a hand to her slapped cheek. Fang's blood left his body. It was one thing to defend Max; it was a complete other to hit Angel.

"Angel-"

She took off running, quickly taking the air. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Now he was in big trouble.

"-experiencing anymore blood loss?"

"Not really."

"And anymore cramping?"

"Some."

"I just wish we had better machinery here to-"

"Max!"

The mother and daughter looked up as the blonde teen ran into the laboratory. Dr. Martinez, who had been giving her daughter a post miscarriage checkup, frowned.

"Angel, you should not be here for this," she scolded. "What's going on? Are you alright?"

"Fang hit me."

"What?" Max jumped off the stool she was on, making her mother frown.

"I did not." Fang came into the lab at an equally frenzied pace. "Angel, you shouldn't be interrupting-"

"Did you hit her?" Max quickly pulled Angel to her, the teen girl sending Fang a look that told him she already thought she'd won.

"No," Fang said, glancing at the three women in the room before saying, "I slapped her."

"Don't you touch her. God, Fang, what is wrong with you?"

"She's having sex, Max, that's what wrong with me."

Dr. Martinez groaned loudly, causing them all to glance at her.

"I am far too old for this, kids," she said simply, setting her clipboard down on a counter before heading out of the makeshift lab, created out of one of the many caves on the island. "I never thought I'd see this day. Max, we'll finish later, huh? And oh, Angel, whatever you do, please, God, do not tell Jeb you are ready to reproduce. You thought Max was bad…"

With that, the ex-Whitecoat left the room, leaving the three former birdkids alone.

"Who are you having sex with, Angel?" Max asked, releasing her now.

"Did you miss the part about him striking me?"

"No," Max said sharply, shooting her husband another look. "I'll deal with him later. This is about you."

"I can have sex if I want."

"Look at this, Max." Fang came closer, moving to grab the collar of Angel's shirt. Pulling it down though she fought him, the man quickly revealed the bite mark on the girl's skin. "This is what I caught them doing. Disgusting."

"You slapped me," Angel said, pulling away from him fully finally. "I liked him doing this to me. Difference."

Max took a step back, putting a hand to her head. Fang frowned then, moving to wrap his arms around her. Shoving him away, Max turned her attention back to Angel.

"If you want to date and…bite people, fine, but if you insist on having sex, we're going to begin to have very in-depth discussions about it."

"Max-"

"And in those discussions, I will feel the need to not only include Ella and Nudge-"

"Please no."

"-but also include a detailed history of Fang and my sex life."

"Ew."

"So it's up to you. No sex and a normal relationship between us or me telling you all about STDS and all the different times Fang and I have had sex. Not to mention Ella's brief, but thorough relationship with Iggy-"

"Okay, I get it."

"Then don't you let me hear about this sex stuff again, alright?" Max looked her dead in the eyes, brown beating out blue. "In a year or so, we can talk about it, huh? I am not letting you just sleep around though."

"…What about dating?"

"Date who you want. Just don't hide things from me anymore. If I find out you're hiding things, you will be in trouble. Understand?"

Angel nodded. "Can I go now? Or should I stay for you yelling about him about hitting me?"

"You can go," Max said before looking to her counterpart. "You, however, can't."

"Max-"

"Don't touch me," she said when he reached for her again. "God, Fang, could you not deal with this yourself?"

"I'm sorry if Angel having sex gets to me. A thousand pardons."

"Shut the hell up, you idiot." She let out a long breath. "What happened to not stressing me?"

"I'm sorry, Max," he said, sighing. "Here. Let me walk you back to the hut, huh? I think we have some tea packets. I'll boil some water and-"

"You've done enough."

"Max-"

"No, really, Fang. God. Hitting her? And I was in the middle of a checkup."

"I tried to handle it on my own. It just got…stickier than I planned for."

"Seems to happen to you a lot, huh, Fang?"

Shutting his eyes, he counted to ten before moving to lay a hand on Max's stomach, something he'd started when he first found out she was pregnant. He knew he'd have to get right back out of that habit, but it was proving difficult.

"I said not to touch me!" Max shoved him hard this time, causing him to stumble. "Do not patronize me, Fang."

"Max, I'm just worried about you. I mean, you just lost the baby, you haven't been sleep, that stuff in Europe isn't going away-"

"And whose fault is all of this, Fang?" She shook her head at him. "If you weren't so incompetent, maybe this shit wouldn't happen."

"I-"

"I wish I'd never tried to have a baby with you," she hissed, walking around him now, out of the lab. "You fuck everything up. Always. I hate you."

Fang just stood there for a moment, his back to the door, not moving. There. It was out in the open. Max hated him. Hated him. He'd known that for awhile now. How could she not hate him? He was a horrible person. He'd make a horrible father. God, he couldn't even keep Angel from having sex! He would have been a terrible daddy. It was a good thing that they'd lost the baby. It had been…a good…thing…

"I can't…" He moved to take a seat on the stool Max's had previously occupied. Resting his elbows on his knees, he pressed the palm of his hand into his eyes, not able to stop the tears.

It wasn't fair. Everyone was all worried about Max, not wanting Max to hurt, not wanting Max to feel sad. They thought that meant everything should just fall to Fang's shoulders. What they didn't seem to get though was that Fang had lost something too. That had been his baby too. He hadn't done anything wrong. He wanted that baby.

So why did they only care about Max?

"Hey, it's alright."

Fang pressed his palms deeper into his eye sockets. Damn it. Angel was still here. She must have been waiting outside the entrance and heard their argument.

"Fang, it's okay," he heard her say as she drug a stool up next to him, the legs of it making loud noises as they scrapped the cave floor. "You're going to be alright. Don't cry."

He had never cried in front of her. Never. Angel didn't even know that he possessed the ability. She knew somewhere in her mind that he had to cry at some points and assumed that he did it alone. In reality though, when he did cry, it was with Max. Always with Max. Except now. 'cause now he's only supposed to care about her feelings. Not his own. Men aren't supposed to have feelings, apparently.

"Why does she hate me?" Fang asked finally, hating how his voice came out, all choked up and stuff, almost as much as he hated the fact that he was crying in front of Angel, in front of his baby. "I wanted a baby too."

"I know."

"I'd get her one if I could," he moaned, removing his hands from his eyes so that he could look at the seventeen year old next to him. Angel just laid a hand on his arm, frowning. Fang was scaring her, really. "She knows that. And yet she's so…mean. Max has never been mean to me. But since… What did I do wrong? I'm just trying to be helpful. I didn't mean to be so bad."

"She's just upset, Fang."

"She said she hates me."

"I know what she said, but I also know that she didn't mean it." She smiled at him. "Max is just going through a lot right-"

"And I'm not? That was supposed to be my baby too. You don't think I want to be a father? I made that kid. I did. And now it's gone." He shook his head slightly. "No one cares though. At all. They just care about Max. And yeah, I want her to be better too and I want to know what happened and be sure she's alright, but what about me? I can't hurt? 'cause I do."

Angel just watched him for a moment before saying, "You're wrong, Fang."

"About what?"

"Somebody does care about you." She stroked his arm now. "I care."

"Oh whatever. You're just going to go tell Nudge that I was crying and laugh about it later."

"No." She frowned. "I love you, Fang."

"No, you don't." He put his head back into his hands. "No one does. I'm just Max's shadow. And I'm apparently not even good at that. She'd have been better off alone. She'd be happier alone. I should just go. Die. Get away from her. She'd like that best. She hates me. She-"

"Stop it." Angel wrapped her arms around him then. "Max doesn't hate you. She loves you."

"No, she doesn't. She hates me. She-"

"Fine, Fang. Max hates you."

That got him to lift his head up to stare at her. Once she had his eye contact, Angel continued.

"But, Fang, I don't. I love you. I want you here. If Max doesn't want you, tough. 'cause I do. I want you here, on this island, with all of us."

He sniffled. "I just wanted to have a baby."

"I know."

"I thought it'd be better, now, that she lost it. 'cause it'd distract her from her work. But I couldn't convince myself of it. Not fully."

"You and Max will have a baby eventually. I know you will."

"How?"

"I just do, Fang. I don't know any better parents." She looked off for a moment. "I've never had better parents. And you know…if Max can't have babies…there's a lot of people on this island that have kids they don't want."

"I know."

"And any kid would be lucky to have Maximum Ride as their mother. I would know."

"Yeah."

Leaning up, she kissed his rough, tearstained cheek, his stubble brushing her lips. "And her husband Fang is the best father I've ever had. The only father I've ever had."

He looked back at his lap as she leaned against him. "I just don't know what to do for Max."

"Just be there for her. She's hurt."

"I know."

"And I know that it feels like there's no one there for you, that they're all just there for Max, and that maybe true, but not completely." She smiled at him. "I'm here for you. Always, Fang. I love you, Fang."

Shifting, he wrapped an arm around her now, sighing slightly. "I love you too, Angel."

He thought that she was asleep when he came into the hut, so he tried to be as quiet as possible as he gathered up his things.

"What are you doing?"

Fang hesitated, glancing over at his wife. Her back was to him, like it was most of the time these days. "You don't want me here, Max. And I think my time is better suited in front of Angel and Nudge's hut, making sure there's no more late night escapes."

"Fang-"

"I'll probably start staying with Iggy later. If we can figure out good sleeping arrangements. His huts not really built for two, but we'll make it work."

"Fang, why are you doing this?"

"Because you hate me. And don't want me here."

"I didn't say that."

"No, I'm pretty sure you did."

"Fang-"

"I'll be outside if you-"

"Lay down with me."

"Max-"

"Now."

Taking a deep breath, Fang slowly started to lay the blankets back down on the ground, straightening up his half of the mattress. Then, slowly, he moved to lie down next to her.

"I don't hate you, Fang."

"You're the one who said you did. You're the one that keeps belittling me. You're the on-"

"I just lost my baby, Fang."

"So did I, Max." He let out a slow breath. "I love you and I want you to love me, but I don't want to be treated like a fool. I might not be very intelligent, but I love you. Very much. I'm not smart, but I'm not stupid either."

"You're smart, Fang," she sighed.

"I am not. I know I'm not. And that's okay. It's okay not to be smart." Slowly, he moved to pull her to him, so her back was resting against his chest. When she didn't fight him, he relaxed some and spoke again. "You're the brains, I'm the brawns. That's works best for us. I'm fine with that."

"You're so much more than that."

"Shhh. It's okay. You don't have to make me feel better." Angel already had.

Max just laid there for a moment before asking, "Are you going to leave me then? To go check on Angel?"

"No," he said. "I think me and Angel have an understanding."

"What makes you think that?"

He smiled slightly. "Just a feeling."

Nestling back against him, Max said, "She's going to grow up eventually, Fang. We can't stop her from fooling around with boys. She's a very attractive young woman."

Bleh. Not to Fang. She was still a little girl. Just a child.

"I guess so," he muttered.

"She's getting older. She'll want to find a boyfriend, a steady one, eventually. We are on an island full of eligible-"

"There is no one here eligible enough for her."

"Oh, God, Fang."

"She's ours. We can't just let her fall for some guy's fake lies of love. We're her…her…"

"Parents."

"Yes. Her parents. And she's our…our…"

"Baby."

"Yes. Our baby. Angel's our baby. And that means that we have to keep her safe."

"Did you not hear me threaten her with talks of STDS and our love sessions?"

Love sessions?

"Yeah, I heard that."

"Believe me, that's enough to set anyone straight."

Fang brushed his lips against the back of his wife's head, sighing slightly. "So where'd you learn that one? Jeb threaten you with it once? Dr. Martinez?"

"God know. Just the thought of… I don't think I'd ever even think about having sex again."

Smiling, he stroked her stomach gently, not able to help himself. "We'll try again, Max. When you're ready."

"Fang-"

"When your body's all…sorted out and stuff. If you want. Or whatever. I don't care. It's all the same to me. Whatever will make you happy."

"Thanks," she mumbled, closing her eyes. "Let's just go to sleep, huh? I think…I think that in the morning maybe I'll get back into working. Those foreign trades have gone south since I've taken a break, I fear."

"You take as much time as you need."

"It's been weeks."

"I don't care. I care about my wife." He kissed the back of her head. "I love you, Max."

"Yeah," she sighed, snuggling back into him even more. "I know."

This started as a small little one-shot, but it just kept growing and I couldn't stop it. Completely out of my control. Can't take complete credit for the idea, because it was totally given to me in a review by Buttercup6511, who gave me a couple of ideas for a one-shot. I just loved this one so much that I had to do it. Ha. Hope you guys liked it.