"Hi Dawn," Idina said, looking past her mother in law to see if anyone else was there. She was alone.

"Hi Idina," she said cheerily.

"Hi," Idina repeated, somewhat dumbfounded.

"I was wondering if I could see my grandchildren," she said sweetly.

Idina was instantly suspicious. "What has Aaron told you?" she asked. She knew Aaron had laid down the law. She had to apologize to both Erika and Walker and they had to accept the apology before him and Idina would decide if she was allowed to see them. And he had to agree before she was allowed to apologize.

"Oh, I said I was sorry," she said, "and Aaron said I could come over."

"Mhmm," Idina said, not buying it. "Well, the triplets are asleep right now, but Walker and Erika are playing Smash Bros if you want to join in."

"I'm not good at those video things," she said. She held up her bag. "I got some stuff for the triplets," she said, "maybe I could just put them in their room and—"

"No," Idina said, cutting her off and moving so that she was blocking more of the door. She had never been so grateful for having some extra pounds. "They are sleeping," she reiterated. "Walker and Erika are awake. If you do not want to hang out with all your grandchildren, you can't see any of your grandchildren." She looked down at the bag. "Did you just get stuff for the triplets?" she asked. "I don't think you're sorry."

"The triplets still need stuff," Dawn argued, "it's just clothes and a few toys."

"Aaron and I are capable of buying stuff for the babies," she said. "You already gave us baby gifts. If you do not have something for all of the children, do not bring anything. Now, please leave."

"But—"

"Please leave."

"God, I don't know why my son married you," she spat. "It had to be for the money, dear, don't think he actually likes you. You are clingy and you are old, and you have nothing going for you, especially with the crazy ex of yours. I know my son's always wanted kids, and I have to say every year he did not break this off made me worried you had him tied up financially. You'd better be treating those triplets like royalty because he's got them now, he doesn't need you anymore."

"What messed up world do you live in?" she snapped. "If Aaron wanted kids so much that is was a deal-breaker, he would have married someone younger. He married me because he loves me."

"Keep telling yourself that. He married you because you're rich and a psycho in bed. Trust me, he wanted kids, and he would have left as soon as that became impossible. He is said he has been trying for years but your birth control never failed. Did you ever check his condoms? He was sabotaging them. He was ready to leave you until you are crying hysterics about adopting and he thought maybe you had finally come to your senses. Then you do not adopt a baby, but some teen who is going to get him thrown in jail with molestation accusations. Cannot leave you if he is behind bars, hon, right? He has been with you long enough to be entitled to enough money to look after the triplets and he can leave and marry someone who is not a mentally unstable bitch. He wanted your eggs and your bed and nothing else. He's going to leave you one day you stop putting out and be better for it."

Idina slammed the door in her face. She did not need to deal with this right now. What in the world did Dawn think she was going to achieve with this anyway? It was not going to get her access to her grandchildren. Lucinda was her only biological granddaughter as Aaron's siblings only had boys, but that did not give her a free pass to write off Erika and Walker, nor pamper the girl more than her brothers. And id was defiantly not a free pass to insult the mother of her granddaughter.

Taking deep breaths and leaning against the door, she sunk to the floor. Her hands were shaking as she tried to bury her face in her hands.

Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me. Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me. Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me. Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me. Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me. Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me Aaron loves me.

She repeated the fact in her mind until it became a senseless ramble.

"Mom?" Walked asked. "Mom?" he said again, grabbing onto one of her shaking hands. "Mommy?" he said, his voice cracking and midway to a sob.

Footsteps came from upstairs. Strong, familiar hands held her, and a deep voice was talking to her, but she could not hear it. Someone was moving her. She was not sure how her legs were able to work, but she was suddenly and inexplicably on the couch, and she felt the familiar rise and fall of laying on someone's chest. The same deep voice was muttering in her ear, but she was still shaking.

More hands started touching her. She knew them, but she did not, and her heart rate started to rise as she squeezed her eyes shut, just waiting for it all to be over. The other hands were quickly shooed away, and she was left alone save for the breathing machine underneath her.

Slowly, her senses came back. Aaron's voice became clear in her head, his presence around her calming and protective. She opened her eyes, feeling like she was about to fall over even though she was laying on her back.

She held her breath.

"'Dina?" Aaron asked, rubbing her arms. She was so cold. Why was she so cold? Was she shaking or shivering? "Chickadee?" he asked again. He kissed her temple. "Are you okay?"

She did not say anything, but she took his arms and wrapped them around her.

"Who was at the door?" he asked.

She shook her head, tears appearing in her eyes. He hugged her tightly and she turned so that she was no longer laying on her back and held onto him. He was here because he loved her. He did not have to be here anyway, not that he had what he had wanted. He had kids and money, he did not have to stay and deal with her, but he was, so he loved her. Right?

No.

She broke down.

"What's wrong love?" he asked.

"No," she croaked in between hears. Do not call me that. She did not want him to lie to her.

"Oh, baby, what's going on?" he cooed, pulled her closer. He pulled the blanket off the head of the couch and wrapped it around her. "Taye can't hurt you," he said. "I'm here, I'm going to keep you safe, okay? You and Erika and Walker and the triplets. We're safe," he told her.

Idina kept muttering incoherently and shaking her head. Aaron was worried. He knew she had been feeling off, but this was different than a flashback. Or it was the worse one she had ever had. He hugged her, hoping it would help, but nothing would stop his wife from trembling. He never should have left her alone when he knew something might happen.

He kissed the top of her head. "I love you," he said again, and she started crying harder.

They should go to the bedroom. It was not good for Walker, especially to see his mother like this. Aaron knew the kid blamed his dad and watching Idina have an episode always made it worse. He did not want Walker seeing him mom like this and developing unhealthily hated towards Taye. Not that Idina's ex did not deserve it, but because it would not be good for Walker later on.

But he did not want to move her either and overstimulate her.

"Hey, baby," he said again as softly as he could. "You are safe, baby," he said. "Want to go watch the triplets sleep?" he asked, wondering if they would help. "We can bring them into our room and just lay there," he whispered. "We'll put them on your chest, and they'll be all yours till they wake up."

Idina was not shaking as much anymore and was looking up at him. He leaned down and planted a kiss on her lips. She stopped shaking and he held her tighter, pulling her even closer. Her arm slowly extended and wrapped around his neck as she melted into his kiss, rotating her body, and pressing herself against him. He sighed as she started kissing him back, strength returning to her once jelly limbs. She sighed too and Aaron suddenly felt relieved because for now, she was alright.

Idina pulled away, her face red and puffy and her eyes bloodshot. Her lower lip was trembling even though she was biting it as she studied his face.

"You know who I am?" he asked, just in case.

Timidly, she nodded. He smiled. She was still gripping his shirt with a white-knuckled grip.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?"

She pouted and shook her head. He pulled her back against his chest, petting her, soothing her, and telling her it would be alright. He played with her hair and kissed the top of her head until she calmed down.

"Can we see the babies?" she asked.

"Yes," he said with a smile.

He picked her up, not wanting to break their physical contact. As she clung to him, he knew it was the right idea. Her grip was getting stronger and he could tell that her breaths were getting more regular. He gracefully dipped her down, setting her on her feet at the door of the nursery, but she was still holding onto his shirt.

They opened the door quietly, Aaron holding onto his wife so that she could free her arms. She picked up Soren, their best sleeper, and pulled him close, kissing his brow.

"We should let them sleep alone," she whispered with a bit of a pout.

"No," he said, "they're yours. Your little bundles of joy. You can do what you want."

"They're their own people," she replied. She pulled Soren's cap down a little bit. She was cold and worried he might be too. Soren liked being warm. He was always happy to curl up beside someone during playtime while his siblings were much more interested in trying to crawl and move around. "I love you little Soren," she whispered. "Mommy loves you so much, little baby. All three of you." She put the baby back down in his crib. He grunted a bit, a little bubble forming on the lip. "Good dreams," she wished them. Then she hugged Aaron again.

He held her, lifting her off her feet and holding her until it felt like everything was alright. Then he took both her hands and they made it to their bedroom without knocking anything over. He sat down and brought her down beside him before wrapping her up in the blankets. She looked cold.

"Are you okay?" he asked again, rubbing her arms with the blanket to try and warm her up.

"I'm really cold," she told him, her teeth chattering a bit.

"I haven't checked the ac, but it's well over forty outside. Will that help?" She shook her head and leaned into him. He wrapped her up like a burrito. "Are you pregnant again?" he asked jokingly. She shot him a death glare. "What happened?"

"The doorbell rang," she said. He waited for her to elaborate. "And your, um, mom was there. And she had some really nice things to say and um I slammed the door in her face and I'm not really sure what happened after that."

"Walker came up to check on you and found you on the floor, so he told Erika to wake me up and you've been shaking and crying," he said.

"I'm so cold," she said again, "I don't know why."

"You're sweating, Dee," he informed her, wiping off her brow. "I'm really concerned about you. You have not started taking the prescriptions yet, have you? It's fine if you have, I just need to know this could be some sort of allergic reaction or just a reaction in general."

She shook her head. "I don't want to put the triplets on formula until is necessary," she reminded him.

"Idina," he said with a heavy sigh, "it might be necessary now. I don't know what my mom said, but I know it's not your usual reaction to whatever she decides is okay to say to someone's face."

"But—"

"No buts Idina. What if you were home alone, or this happened in public? What if you'd been carrying one of the triplets?"

She went pale at the thought. If she had been if she would, she would have, could have—

"Dee," Aaron said, snapping her back to reality. "Nothing happened now, but this is getting worse again. I have never seen you like this. It's scaring me because I don't know what to do if you won't help yourself."

She was still shivering even though she could feel the beaded sweat rolling down her face.
"I feel awful," she admitted.

He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. "You have a fever," he informed her.

She swore. "What about the triplets?" she asked instantly.

"I don't think they have fevers, and I don't think you have a bug," he replied. "So, they should be fine."

Idina sighed, still shivering.

"I'm going to call your doctors," Aaron said. "Lay down and I'll get you some water too, 'kay babe?"

"Okay," she said as she laid down.

"And whatever my mom said, don't think about it. She's on time out until she can figure out how to behave, if she tried to talk to you again, just get me and I'll get rid of her."

"Okay," she said again.

"Want me to tell your mom?" he asked.

"No," she said. "Let her baby the babies. I've got you now to baby me."

"Yeah," he said with a smile, laying down beside her and hugging her. "You've got me to baby you now and I love it. You've got me," he repeated.

She nodded. "I'm starting to feel a bit warmer," she informed him.

"Good, now I'm going to call your doctors, be prepared for me to relay their million repetitive questions when I get back."

She chuckled, pulling the blankets around herself as he left the room.

"Mommy?" Walker called out a few minutes later.

"Yeah Pumpkin?" she asked. "Mommy's in her room."

Walker crawled onto the bed and snuggled close to her. "Are you okay mom?"

"Yeah, I think so," she said. "I might be a bit sick."

"Sick sick, or head sick?" he asked.

"I'm not sure Pumpkin," she replied. "But we have medicine for both, so I'll get better, 'kay?"

"'Kay," he said as she wrapped an arm around him. "Are you cold?" he asked. "You're shivering."

"Yes, I'm cold, really cold," she told him.

He wormed his way under the blankets. "I'm warm, you always complain I'm a heater," he said as he got the blankets around.

She chuckled. "Yes, you are," she said, tickling him under the chin. "My little heater." She kissed the back of his head. "Don't get overheated though."

"I'm good," he reassured her. "You're terrible at Smash," he continued. "And you're using the bad characters. Even Erika knows it better to use a higher tier character. She uses Rosalina and Luma and the star's so annoying 'cause when she figured out how to use it, she can attack people from far away."

"I choose mine based on cuteness," she replied.

"That's stupid. It's not going to be fun."

"I was having fun."

"You were losing and not having fun."

"Walk, I'm your mother and I might be sick. I get to say I was having fun and you have to believe me because I said so."

"When I have my own house, I'm going to tell you dogs fly when they come over and you'll have to believe me because I said so."

She chuckled. "When you get your own house, you can do anything legal," she replied.

"Unhun, and I'm gonna eat candy and watch cartoons whenever I want."

"Even as a pro basketball player?"

"It's going to be my secret weapon."

"I love you so much Walkie," she said.

"I know mom," he huffed.

Aaron came back, phone pressed to his ear. He was nodding along and stuck a thermometer in Idina's ear. The tip was freezing. It beeped and he took it out and relayed the temperature to the other end of the phone. No wonder she was cold, she was alarmingly hot. If any of her children had a temperature that high, she would have them in the emergency room. She studied his face as he looked at her, the back of his hand going to her forehead again.

"Are you sure you didn't start taking the medicine?" he asked again.

She nodded as he walked to the bathroom.

"Dee," he said as he came out, holding her vitamins. "Did you take these?"

"Um, yeah?" she said. "They're my postpartum vitamins," she reminded him.

"No, they're not," he said. "Idina they're the prescription pills for the injections."

"No," she argued.

He sat down beside her, and Walker scooted out of the way. Idina sat up, feeling dizzy. She took the package from him. It was similar to her vitamins, but as she studied it, they were not.

"Idina, they're making me ask, did you take them on purpose?"

"No," she said.

"How many did you have?"

"Three, I thought they were my vitamins."

He swore. "Dee, you're supposed to have half a day and slowly increase the dosage, it's supposed to be taken with the injections and these," he said, pulling up another package.

"Do I have to get my stomach pumped?" she mumbled.

"At this point, it's not going to do anything," he told her. He pulled some of the other tablets out and hung up the call. "Take these, I'm going to get the injections from the fridge. Congrats, you have just skipped the whole 'slowly increase the treatment' period and transitioned straight into the highly medicated state. And before you start arguing, you cannot just not take more, you cannot come off of these without doctor supervision. Remember, skipping increasing your risk for a heart attack or stroke, and with your brain, the way it has been a stroke would be severe."

She swore. This was not what they had planned.

"Mom said a bad word!" Walker exclaimed.

"Mommy's allowed to say a bad word right now, Walk," Aaron told him.

"Why's the medicine making her sick?" he asked.

"Because she took a bit too much of it, and not all of it. Remember that we keep her injections in the fridge?" The boy nodded. "The pills mom took are supposed to work with the injections, and the injections stop her body from freaking out because of the pills. And the little pink ones are supposed to help her with her muscle spasms. Those do not really affect anything else though. Why don't you make sure mommy takes the little pink pills while I get her injection?"

"Will it make mom better?"

"Hopefully," Idina replied. She hugged him. She had just sabotaged herself now. She told Walker to go downstairs and play, then asked Aaron if he could get her breast pumps because she wanted to get every last drop of milk out before the medicine started seeping into her babies' food supply.

He kissed her head and hugged her supporting. "It's going to be okay Chickadee. I'll ask your mom to pick up some formula when she goes out today."

"I want to feed them one last time," she muttered.

He kissed her temple again. "I'll get the pumps when I get the injection. I do not want to leave you alone though in case something happens. Do you think you can make it down the stairs?'

"Um."

"I'll carry you," he decided, picking her up, blankets and all.

They made their way to the main floor and he put Idina down on the couch. He got her pump. She milked herself as Aaron prepared the injection needle and sterilized everything for her.

"Ready?" he asked, handing her the pen.

"Yes," she said, taking a deep breath. Three weeks breastfeeding was better than nothing, she told herself. Her children would be fine. They could mix the formula into her breastmilk so that it lasted longer, and they were still getting some of the nutrients. She took the needle from her husband and exposed her stomach. Closing her eyes, she put the orange tip to her skin, then pressed the button on the top. "Ouch!" she exclaimed. It had not hurt that bad the doctor had made her do a test injection in her leg to learn how the pen worked.

Aaron counted out ten long seconds until she pulled it away from her body. There was a red circular spot about the size of her bellybutton. She ran her thumb over it as Aaron handed her the pink pills and a water cup. She downed them.

"I'm so proud of you," Aaron said.

"You're not mad?"

"A bit," he admitted. "You could have died. Seriously. But I get that it was a mistake. We can't make any more mistakes though," he reminded her. "Okay? Having you around is a whole lot more important than breastfeeding. And not just for the triplets, for me, Erika and Walker too."

"I know," she sighed. "I just feel like I'm not being a good mother if I can't," she said.

"You are an amazing mother," he told her.

"You don't get it, there's no pressure on you to spend time with them. You got out with the boys, and people ask you if you are stuck on babysitting duty. I get crucified for forgetting to pay the tooth fairy."

He hugged her. "I don't care what anyone else thinks," he said.

"I do."

"You shouldn't," he replied. He kissed her temple. "Now, I'm going to call Felicity and see if she can give you something to help stop the milk if that's a thing."

"I'm pretty sure it is," she replied, still shivering a bit.

"I'm going to make you chicken soup," he decided. "And I will warn your mom, so she doesn't have a heart attack when she sees you. Let's move you to a chair in the kitchen, you're under observation for the next few hours."

"I think I can walk," she said, standing up.

He helped her anyway, asking her if she minded sharing what her mother had said. She told him.

"It's not true," he informed her. "I'm not really sure how to prove it, but I'd like to point out she has no proof either."

"I think she's mad, I don't believe it either," she replied. "It doesn't help that I'm bad at trusting people. I love you," she said, hugging him. "You're cold," she mumbled against his skin.

"That's because you have a fever," he reminded her. "Which is why I'm going to make you chicken soup."

She kissed him on the cheek as he sat her down on one of the chairs. She played on her phone while Aaron made the soup, then decided to throw on a few other things and make a large lunch for the whole family. Yesterday had been intense and tomorrow was not going to be fun either. He kept checking over his shoulder every minute or so, making sure his wife was not going comatose or having some sort of reaction.

He had a great lunch brewing when Walker came down from his room to inform them he was hungry.

"Soon," Aaron told him, mooting to the stove.

Walker went over to his mom and hugged her. "Are you feeling better?"

"A bit," she replied. "We'll know for sure in a few hours."

He pulled out a chair beside her and started showing her the new Pokémon he caught while walking Louie this morning.

"And Erika caught a shiny," he said.

"Oh," Idina replied, having no idea what that meant.

"They're rare, a different colour, and have sparkles."

"I like sparkles," she replied, thinking of all the crazy outfits she had covered in sequins that made her look like a disco ball. "Why don't you go wake grandma and tell her and Erika that we're going to have lunch soon."

"Okay," he mumbled, going back upstairs.

Food made her feel a lot better. Her fever was still high, but it was slowly going down as the afternoon pressed on. Hopefully, she would be decent enough to appear in court tomorrow. While she still felt like she was betraying her children by feeding them formula, she knew it was a compromise for a better future for them. And Soren, for once, seems quite happy to spend all day with her now that she was a human radiator. Putting him down to sleep had been easy that night because the baby fell asleep on her chest and Idina did not have the heart to move him nor let anyone else do it. Aaron took a picture, much to her protest, but of course, upon seeing her little boy passed out on her chest and her flushed face and amused smile as she had been trying to dodge the picture. Framer for sure.

Scrolling through her phone, she started getting more messaged than usual. She called Aaron over from where he was still trying to soothe Lucinda. Zephyr was still happily feeding in his grandma's arms.

He looked over her should at her phone and swore. The Riveras had gone to the press and they were bashing Aaron and Idina. The internet was enraged and on fire.