Aaron trudged back into the house at one in the morning. His afternoon shift soon became eventing overtime soon became filling out more paperwork than he could count when a new client attacked him. He was sore, hungry, tired, and he missed his wife. The house was quiet and dark when he walked in, locking the door behind him. It was exactly how he would expect it, a bit messy and disorganized and all Idina's handiwork. It was claiming.

He climbed up the stairs quietly, not wanting to wake anyone. He changed out of his jeans but did not bother with his shirt, then went to bed where he found Idina curled up in his spot with a pillow and her teddy bear. She was asleep like the dead, solid and stuck in place. Aaron walked around the bed to the other side of the bed and felt something cold as he crawled in. Searching around in the covers and pulled out Idina's Tony. He had forgotten to gift it to her. He smirked and placed it on the bedside.

He laid down, finally rousing Idina a small bit.

"Aaronnnn..." she moaned and stirred. She somehow rolled herself closer to him.

"Hey Dee, it's late, go back to sleep," he said.

"How l-late," she mumbled.

"It's one in the morning," he said as she pulled herself closer to him.

"It's early, not late," she said semi-coherently.

He was waking her. She crawled onto his chest and collapsed on top of him, crossing her arms on his collarbone and using them as a pillow. She was heavier now then she had been their first night at the cabin, a sign she was eating well and that the babies were growing, but she was still light enough to sleep on top and not make him uncomfortable.

She muttered something incoherently and stuck the stuffed bear beside his cheek and kissed his chin before her breaths deepened and she grew heavier as she nodded off. He hugged her around the waist and let himself fall asleep.

~

Aaron awoke to the sound of Idina vomiting; cold and with nothing but the duvet and teddy bear on his chest.

"Dee, you alright?"

"Yeah," came the hoarse reply. "Everything's fine and dandy, I've just given up on the sink because it's too high and mighty, even for me."

The toilet flushed and Idina gargled some mouthwash before coming back to the bed and crawling back onto her husband.

"You can't be up yet," she said. "You were up far too late last night, and I'm not done sleeping and you're now my mattress, so you are stuck here until I say so. Now go back to sleep," she ordered. She bundled the bear up under her head and feigned sleep, a smile on her lips.

Aaron looked at the bedside clock. It was seven in the morning on a Sunday. He could stay here, prisoner of his wife for a while longer. Now that it was morning, he could tell that she was wearing his shirt and short summer bottoms. He would have wondered if she had been cold, but her skin was pushed up against the fabric of his pants and he could feel the heat radiating from her.

"Dee," he said after a while, "I have to get up, my back is cramping."

"Oh! Sorry," she said, jumping off him. She helped him up into a sitting position. "Turn," she ordered, "I'll get the knots out." She pulled off his shirt and started massaging his back.

"Where did you learn this?" he asked.

"I asked Dr. Jackson for some tips," she explained. "I don't want to go to any of those maternity classes, especially if you're too busy. Because then people will know. And I thought about asking for someone privately, but unless I can get them to sign an NDA before they even know what I am hiring them for there's no guarantee, not to mention if they don't they could probably guess why I am asking them, so I asked her what she knew."

"You'll have to teach me," he replied. "Whatever she told you must be black magic."

"I'm going to make you learn, mark my wo-" she stopped. "Aaron," she whispered, her hands grazing over the nail marks on his lower back from the attack last evening. "What are, w-who," her heart sounded like it was breaking. "You came home so late..." she pulled back from him, frozen in the seconds before a sob.

He turned to her on a dime. "No Idina," he said quickly. "It's not that, I swear," he pleaded as she drew further back, her face fracturing into a million pieces. "I got attacked by a patient last night, that's why I was late." He tried to reach out to her, but she waved him off shaking her head, her lower lip quivering. "Look, here," he said, pointing to other bruises and markings. "It took two men to get us apart. I swear Dee, that's it, it's just coincidence, please," he pleaded. He stuck out his arm and made her see the similar marks that were scabbing across his arm. "I'd never hurt you, I swear," he whispered.

She leaned back against the headboard and pulled her knees to her chest and started crying. "I'm sorry," she said through tears, "I just thought the worst." She buried her face in her knees, her frame shaking. "Are you okay? I have not even bothered to ask that yet... I don't even know why I'm crying." She did not look at him.

He hugged her and rubbed her back as her silhouette shook. "I don't blame you; I should have said something as to not shock you. I am fine, I promise, just some cuts and bruises." He peppered her in kisses. "I'm so sorry Dee, I wasn't thinking, I never meant to give you the wrong impression. I swear I would never do anything like that, anything that could hurt you. You are the girl for me, my drug, my world, the mother of my children. I absolutely adore you."

She broke free from his grasp, throwing herself over the side of the bed as she tried to catch the puke bowl. She rolled over on her back in defeat, her face blotchy, staring at the ceiling, tears still in her eyes.

"I missed it," she admitted, starting to cry again, her hand on her forehead. "My head hurts."

Aaron reached for the water glass on her bedside table. "Sit up, Chickadee," he said, hoping the per name might make her feel better. He knew he had upset her, but he also knew some of it might be hormones making her feel everything harder. Yet he did not want to minimize how he had made her feel. He helped her up and pulled her into her lap, pressing the glass to her lips. "You're dehydrated," he said, "this might help."

She held the glass with him as she took a few large gulps.

"I'm a mess," she whispered. "I'm hormonal and I don't trust you and-"

"Idina, don't start," he said, shaking his head. "It's not your fault; I don't blame you."

"Taye cheated," she said flatly. "And I found out because," she cut herself off with a sob, "Because he had marks on his back for one thing, and when I saw them, saw yours, I just jumped to conclusions-"

"As any rational person might," he comforted. "There aren't many conclusions to jump to with that. Quite honestly I forgot about them or I would have said something."

"Taye always told me I wasn't enough," she continued but no longer crying. She was rubbing his arm. She rested her head on his chest. "He always said I wasn't, and I was lucky he stayed when my looks started to fade, and we lost our second child. That was the girl I told you about. The one who almost made it. We did not name her though because Taye kept thinking I was going to lose her like I did the other, but I wanted too. And then he just wanted to keep trying and trying. I think he was saying anything to get me in bed with him or maybe he just wanted to baby trap me, I do not know. But when I found out he just when off, kept on saying how it was my fault and if I'd been better it never would have happened and how bad of a mother I was to Walker for working all the time and making him take care of our son while I was out and not doing my duty,"

"We could name her," he said, "if you want too. You can name her now." He kissed her cheek and rocked her back and forth. She needed closure.

"I want too," she replied. "I really do."

"Then do it, honey," he encouraged, kissing her again. "Taye can't stop you now."

She nodded. "I used to call her Bella when he wasn't around because I knew she'd have been the prettiest girl on the planet, but I don't feel like that's her name," she said, talking herself through it. "What do you think?"

"It's up to you, Dee," he said.

"I want your input."

"Alright." He thought for a moment. "What about something close to Bella, like Isobel, or Bellamae?"

"Isobella?" Idina asked.

"If that's what you want," he replied.

"I like it," she said, leaning back and kissing his cheek in relief. "Thank you, Aaron. Truly, I needed that. And I am sorry for doubting you. We both made bad decisions, let's just leave it there. Isobella," she said, forming the name on her lips. "I love it, thank you for helping me with that." She pulled Aaron's arms around her and looked at his wounds. "Are you sure you're okay? What happened?"

"I needed to assess whether or not this woman was stable enough to give testimony for a custody battle. Obviously, she was not. I cannot say more than that. And I am fine, do not worry. Just some scrapes and bruises, nothing serious. And they said I am not on call today," he added. It was not exactly the answer she was looking for, but he did want to do anything but reassure her. "Everything considered. I work for a therapist form; you'd think they'd pay a bit more attention to the mental health of their employees sometimes."

"That's nice, and I'm going to be dragging you all around the city instead of doing something enjoyable."

"Working things out with Erika is exactly what I want to do on my day off," he replied. "We will be a family one day, Dee, and it will be marvellous. You, me, Erika, Walker, the twins, a dog or two. It'll be a crazy house until Erika goes off to university and then we'll be worried about her every time she's not on the phone with us and we'll force her to come home for every single holiday we can think of. And Walker will start high school and that will be a whole new type of chaos with the toddlers and daycare and preschool. But they will be the happiest toddlers in the world. And you will be off doing something amazing all over the world with your face on every billboard and I will bring the kids everywhere you go so that we are always together as a family. How does that sound?"

"Nice," she replied, "it sounds lovely. How's your back?"

"It's a bit sore," he admitted, "but a whole lot better thanks to you."

'Turn around, I'll finish it for you," she ordered, getting up onto her knees and twirling her index finger around, gesturing for him to do as she said. He complied and Idina resumed getting the kinks and knots out of his back. "Better?" she asked when she was done.

"Yes," he replied.

Idina's stomach growled.

"How about you get yourself some carrots dipped in cream cheese, since I do not think we have any yogurt, and I'll clean up the floor. I just realized I forgot to write down the proportions for the orange juice, but I'll make it fresh when I'm done."

"You don't need to clean up after me."

"What if I want too?"

"You're disgusting," she teased.

"You made the mess," he pointed out.

"Yup, and now I'm not cleaning it up." She patted him on the back. "Good luck." She got off the bed headfirst in a way that justified her feet dangling under his nose. He grabbed one a kissed it for good measure.

~

They went to Dr. Snow's first. It was a short visit. Erika was making progress, all they needed was time. And seriously, get her into an extracurricular. Get her a job. It does not matter, but she needs to do something. It will help, Dr. Snow promised. Everything needed time. Time time time, that was all anyone ever said.

Their second meeting was just a check-in with the school, taking place while Erika had a session with Snow. Her marks were average. She was not acting out necessarily, but she was not the easiest kid in her class. She was not exceptional in any sense, good or bad, though had had a 99% in gym. The missing one percent was from participation she had lost while they were in the cabin and she had to be penalized because she exceeded the number of permissible absences to not have a one percent deduction. Of course, they could not say anything for sure about her progress as she had missed out most of September due to not yet being enrolled, and the few weeks they had spent at the cabin. Her midterms in January would give a clearer idea of her academic capabilities and whether she could be a candidate for Honours next year. Her report card would come in December with her first term marks and give a better idea as well. Again, Idina and Aaron had to wait for something.

The last meeting of the day was with Florence. Erika noticeably seemed on edge, so something was bugging her, but whenever asked she stated that everything was fine unless they had a reason why it should not be. But when they stepped into the social worker's office, they could instantly feel whatever energy had been concerning Erika. Something was off.

The three of them took their seats across from Florence and her secretary, Erika sitting in between them. They knew they were here to talk about adoption, as they were now about three months away from Florence's projected time and they wanted to get the ball rolling.

The conversation started civil, with Florence going over their files and congratulating them and Erika on making progress. However, progress was not enough with the current situation.

Idina looked over to Erika who smirked at her, like as if she had known this was going to happen.

"The threats are void now," Idina reasoned. Florence was not in on it. No one besides the caseworkers and the five of them was in on it. It had to be that way, which worked better for their case that Erika was safe."

"Well," Florence said.

"This has nothing to do with the blackmails, does it?" Erika asked out of turn. "When you came to the house, it was because the situation has changed, and had back then. It was more luck timing than anything."

Idina looked ta her, then to her husband. She took the girl's hand. "Is she right?" Idina asked. "Is there something we don't know."

"The goal of the foster system is to place the child with a family. However, reuniting with biological family takes precedence," she explained slowly, let each work sink in.

"I don't understand," Idina said, subconsciously pulling Erika's hand into her lap possessively like she might have done Aaron's if she had caught someone ogling him.

"You're not her biological family," Florence pointed out.

"I know," Idina said.

"But no one knows where they are," Aaron said. "Surely that can't matter here, now, after all this time." He found himself wrapping an arm around Erika too. Whether it was to support her or him, he was not sure. She was his daughter, legally or not, she was his emotionally.

Erika was sitting stoic and straight-faced between them.

"They're not anymore," Florence said. "They've all the proper paperwork and blood tests and while right now they don't want custody, they have not officially revoked their parental rights."

They abandoned her! Idina wanted to scream. But she did not want to say that in front of fragile Erika. She looked over at the girl. Something had changed in her expression. Abandonment auto-revoked parental rights. Or at least it should.

"They do however want to see her."

No one had time to breathe before Erika stood up, nearly knocking her chair over, and stormed out the door, slamming it as loud as she possibly could on her way out. Idina and Aaron exchanged glances, then followed her.

"Erika," Idina said, reached out and pulling her back.

"What?" she snapped.

"Are you okay?"

"What do you think?"

Aaron interjected. "That was a silly question," he said calmly. "Come, let's sit down."

"No," she said.

"Erika," Idina pleaded.

"No," the girl reiterated firmly.

Somehow, they managed to maneuver her to the couch in the waiting room and took a seat on either side of her. She was in shock. Aaron reached over to the coat rack for his heavy winter coat and draped it over her shoulder like a stress or shock blanket. Erika was biting her thumb while Idina rubbed her back.

"You don't have to see them," Aaron said, breaking the silence.

The girl did not say anything, she just shook her head. "I knew something would happen," she muttered under her breath. "Something always does."

"Hey, Erika, it's okay," Idina said. "We can sort this out."

Erika was not saying anything, but they continued to tell her it would be alright, and everything would work out for the better. They did not admit that they did not believe that or had no idea what the best was, only that they wanted to keep Erika. Even though she was not saying anything, she seemed to be responding internally to whatever Aaron was telling her, as her knees were pointed towards him and she was sitting closer to him than to Idina. Taking a risk, Aaron took one of her hands. He was not one for physical contact; it was Idina forte, but it seemed necessary here and Idina rubbed her back and they both kept telling her it would be okay.

"Want to tell us what your feeling?" Aaron asked for what seemed like a million times and he was again met with a head-shaking 'no'.

"Want a hug?" he asked.

She did nothing, so, while looking at Idina, he slowly wrapped her in a hug, seeing how she reacted. She seemed fine, and Idina joined in, moving closer as she did so. Idina felt Erika's hand wrap around hers as she wrapped her other arm around Aaron. They stayed like than until Florence came out. Idina shot glared daggers at the social worker even though none of this was her fault, she was just the messenger.

One of them had to go in and sort this out, but who?

"Do you want me to go?" Aaron asked Erika.

She was quiet for a moment before she said: "No."

Idina felt rejected and proud at the same time. She pushed down the feeling that Erika was ding this maliciously. She had been spending more time with Aaron. Aaron, in all likelihood, had the role that was easier for him to fill than Idina did.

Idina patted Erika on the back and told her that she would be returning soon. She also squeezed Aaron's hand for a split second for encouragement.

She followed the social working into her office.

"So," Idina said, still more than just a bit annoyed, "What's going to happen next?"

They talked for a long time. Longer than Idina had planned don. Elvira and Elija had runaway to Sweden, changed their identities and lived out some goat farming fantasy that did not involve children. Eventually, they met with a spiritual healer who made them feel guilty and they came back to America to search for their daughters. Elsa was dead and Erika was all over the news, bringing them here. Right now, they just wanted to get to know her. That was it.

But it still made Idina worry. Erika was amazing. What if they wanted to invoke their parental right? What if they got in the way of her and Aaron? There were so many questions and what-ifs reeling through her brain.

"You don't have to do anything," Florence said. "Right now."

"And what about what Erika wants? If it comes to a custody battle, when then?"

"Her opinions will be taken into account, but it only works if she knows both parties," Florence said, "and the judge has to determine that she has a good understanding of what's best for her."

So, Erika would have to convince Snow she understood what was best for her, and Snow was convinced she did not know what was best for her. Or Snow would have to determine that Erika was better off with them over her parents, even though parents were prioritized.

"Can we still proceed with the adoption?" Idina asked.

"Yes," she replied. "However, it will not be a smooth process We will proceed as if nothing has changed, however, once it gets challenged, and I'm quite sure it will be, it will be a custody battle."

Like what she'd gone through with Walker, only this time they weren't figuring out visitation and litigation and co-parenting, it would be a proper custody battle. It was the messy stuff she'd never wanted a part in.

Idina nodded and went back outside to her husband and daughter. Erika had her knees against her chest and Aaron had an arm around her and was holding her hand on her knee. She did not look like she had been crying, but Idina could not tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

Her mind was still racing. Would this reset all their progress with Erika? She highly doubted the girl would want to connect now when there was a chance she'd be taken away. But then, there had always been that chance. Erika had seen it, they had not.

They left the building on either side of their daughter, who was still shaken up. Idina had never been so glad Walker was at a sleepover before, especially on a Sunday. His friend's mom was going to bring all the kids into school.

When they got to the car Aaron ask Erika again if she was okay.

"I don't know," she said, finally saying something.

"That's fine," Aaron said.

"Yeah," Idina said. "Sometimes there's just too much and we can't sort it out. It's fine."

They got her into the back seat.

"It's bad," Idina said when the door was closed, and she was out of earshot. "This is going to fail. And I was too stubborn to see it." She paced back and forth. "How's Erika."

"I could barely get a word out of her," Aaron said. "I'm going to go with not fine."

Idina nodded and swore. "What do we do now?"

"Nothing different," he said. "We proceed like we were going to this morning If we just give up on her now it's never going to work This is like our big fight, only it's not a fight. This is the moment when everyone else walks out, but we won't."

"Yes," she said. "this is our moment."

They got back into the car, Idina in the driver's seat. She asked Erika if there was anywhere special where she wanted to go for supper, anywhere she could think of. Buffet, fast food, classy five stars. Erika wasn't in the mood to sit down in a restaurant, and neither was Idina and Aaron. They opted for fast food, stopping at A&W and order too much food, none of it healthy.

Luckily for Idina, the twins had worse eating habits than her and the smell was making her salivate instead of wanting to vomit. She was going to have to work her butt off after the pregnancy to lose the weight, but she knew Aaron would be beside her squat for squat. And who knows, Erika was getting high marks in gym, maybe she'd be in the basement gym with them. And they'd rope Walker in too and it would be healthy family routine.

When they got home, they sat down at the kitchen table. Erika slowly got more vocal as the night went on with pleases and thank yous and could you please pass me a chicken finger? It progressed. When they were finished, there were little dished to be done so Idina quickly cleared the table and dumped the few things they had into the dishwasher before stopping Erika before the girl disappeared upstairs.

"Can we talk?" she asked tenderly.

Erika just looked around the room, rubbing her inner elbow nervously.

"Or I could just say stuff and you can listen," she offered. "Come on," she said softly, taking one of the girl's hands and leading her to the couch where they sat down. Aaron sat down beside his wife.

"We still want to go through with the adoption process," Aaron said, "if that's what you want. If you want to live with them, when the time comes, there will be no hard feelings. And we'll give you money for university too since we've already put it in a trust fund so it's yours no matter what happens. We want what's best for you." Idina looked up at her husband lovingly.

Erika was quiet as he spoke. "It might not happen," she said when he was done. "I told you something always happens and now it has," she explained slowly, choosing her words. "Did they tell you they prioritize family over adoption?"

"Yes," Idina said, "but that's not discouraging us." She took Aaron's hand and they both smiled encouragingly.

"That's stupid," Erika said.

"Have you met me?" Idina asked. "I'm full of stupid and I broadcast it live to the world. I'm not worried by that," she joked, hoping it would come off they were she intended. They had lasted this long with Erika being rational, and Idina was getting more and more certain Erika had given up on antagonizing her, at least for now.

"It's not stupid," Aaron said firmly but sweetly. "We have the information, so we're not ill-informed. Ill-advised, possibly, but right now we're not being advised against this."

"You're not?" she asked tentatively.

"No," Idina said. "Of course, if you want us too."

"You don't have to decide now," Aaron said. "If you want to meet them, you can, if you don't that's fine too. We will support you either way. It's completely your choice."

She was silent for a moment, staring her hands folded in her lap. "Okay," she said cautiously, still thinking but feeling compelled to say something. She had no idea what to think. She knew she would get sent away, but she had not thought someone might take her from them with them fighting tooth and nail if she asked.

Was it fair to ask them too? She had no idea. Then they might get hurt and she did not want that. What did she want? She had no idea. She liked it here well enough when Idina left her alone. And Walker was cute, and she enjoyed cooking with him and Aaron. She did not mind Idina when she was not prying. Now the choice was hers.

Erika never wanted to see her parents ever, however she did not want to encourage the couple before her.

"Think about it," Aaron said. "You can talk to us, or Snow, or whomever you'd like to."

"Take as much time as you need," Idina chimed in. "We'll wait. We just want what's best for you."

For once, Erika believed them. No one would stick around through this; it was too dangerous. Unless they had too much to gain from her, yet Erika had been around long enough to say this was not the case. They clearly had what was best for her in their hearts. It was a pity there was nothing good in store for her. There never was. If she let herself go, she was sealing her fate to be taken away. Fate was cruel like that. It was always the good places where she was removed, the bad ones where she stayed. The second someone was semi-capable social services came pounding down the door, ready to remove the girl and place her somewhere more suitable. That would happen here.

Idina leaned over and hugged her and she put her arms around the star. Like the first day they'd met, Idina took that as encouragement and squeezed her tighter.

"Everything will be fine," she said, kissing her temple.

Aaron joined in on the hug. Both of them were completely enveloping her. Idina kissed her temple a few more times.

"We love you, Erika, I know it sounds sappy and cliché, but we do. Walker does too. You'll always be a part of our family, no matter what happens."

"Yes," Aaron said, agreeing with his wife. "We're both here for you."

"I know," Erika said after a minute or two.