New Family

Mariah and James had gotten up late that morning. Neither one of them had to work and they took the opportunity to binge watch a season of a television show they liked on Netflix and then sleep in. Mariah was taking Zoe's pregnancy hard, but never let it show around Zoe. She was always genuinely supportive and happy for her. She hated knowing that Zoe and Jayden were walking on eggshells around James and her regarding the pregnancy. Mariah had been told that there was still a slim chance that she could become pregnant again in the future so she and James were no longer taking any precautions. If it happened it would be a pleasant surprise, but neither one of them was holding out much hope.

Mariah was trying not to let the attack on her and being blackmailed by Ibrahim to affect her relationship with James, but it certainly was strained. She hated working for Ibrahim and she kept fearing that she would get caught or he would use it against her in some way. She also feared that he might come after James. She was deeply depressed and taking anti-depressants prescribed to her, but they weren't really helping.

That morning however had started out as a good morning. They had made love and then had talked some before making breakfast and eating it in bed as they watched another episode of their show. Mariah was cleaning up the dishes when she heard James' phone begin to ring.

James had been trying to cope with the loss. His father was a good source of help but at night he would have nightmares of that man that got away. He wnt to Azari for help but Azari sensed that James wasn't looking to arrest the man that harmed Mariah turned him down. Taking it rather personally James spent most of his nights when Mariah was away just walking the streets wearing a mask instead of the helmet so Azari coudln't see what he was doing.

He did his best not to get hurt as he didnt want to worry Mariah. Focusing on his own grief he didnt notice that Mariah's work had suddenly ramped up a little. When she texted him that she had to go in to work he didnt question her. In fact he was supportive thinking that her keeping busy was probably a good thing. Despite this their relationship had turned a little cold but was slowly warming back up. Upon hearing htat there was a slim chance of them having a child filled James with a little light. Without worrying about pregnancy it kind of spiced their love life a bit more and opened up some much needed dialogue in the afterglow.

James was in the bathroom washing his face after eating. He took a moment to look at the steadily growing stubble on his face when he heard his phone ring. He stepped out of the bathroom and picked it up wondering who would be calling. "Probably dad." He said looking to Mariah. Retirement, turned out, wasnt the best thing for his old man. He had way too much time on his hands. Without really loking at the caller he simply answered, "Hello?"

As it turned out it was his mother on the other end of the call. She had braced herself. Knowing that this call was going to be difficult for the pair. "Good morning James. I...uh...I just wanted to inform you that Zoe went into labor very early this morning. She's still in the early stages of labor and it will probably won't be until this afternoon or tonight that it happens. You and Mariah are welcome to come and join us, but we would also completely understand if you didn't want to."

James knew that Zoe was close to giving birth, his sister was friggin huge and looked about ready to pop. So he coudln't be surprised when his mother informed him that she was going into labor. It was like tiny little knives being driven into his heart. Alex could tell the news effected him from his short pause. "No no umm..yeah we'll head on over. It's important and we couldn't be happier for them." James said. He hadn't meant to hesitate and he had so much happiness for his sister and friend but man the situation he and Mariah in..

"We'll head on over in a bit mom. Is there anything we can get for anyone? Punching bag so Zoe doesn't swing at Jayden?" James said attempting humor

Alex knew that this wasn’t going to be easy for the pair, but she wanted to give them the choice to come or not. She heard the hesitation in James’ voice, but was glad when he said that he and Mariah would come over. She knew that it would mean a lot to Zoe for her child’s aunt and uncle to be there.

“No, we don’t need anything. Thankfully Jayden can regenerate,” she replied back, continuing the line of humor.

James gave a nod having forgotten Jayden's handy mutation. At least if he pissed Zoe off to a dangerous level he could take any harm. "right right. Ok, will then i guess we'll see you guys a bit later on. We didnt have plans for the day so no worries." James said looking to Mariah checking to see if she had heard any of hte conversation

Alex nodded and smiled. “See you soon.”

Mariah was loading the dishwasher and didn’t hear the conversation. She finished and turned and looked at James. “Was that your Mom?”

James hung up and by Mariah's question he assumed she hadn't heard. "yeah it was...apparently Zoe has gone into labor and mom wanted to let us know." He said. He gave her a moment ot process that, "She also said if we didnt want to show she'd understand, i dont think anyone would fault us for not participating."

Mariah’s facial expression changed slightly when James told her that Zoe had gone into labor. The look of sadness briefly returned, but she quickly shook it away and looked at her husband. “No, we should go. I mean it’s your sister and our friend so we should be there to support them and celebrate with them. We are the aunt and uncle after all.”

James saw the pained look on Mariah's face. They still had a long way to go before they could be open about this. He gave her a nod signaling he went through the same. "Mom's worried about us and i figure dad will try and keep us distracted." He said knowing they had to go. He walked over and took her hands into his own, "We'll be alright Mariah." He said looking to his wife putting on a soft smile. "we have each other still, we'll get through it."

Mariah looked at James as he took her hands. She looked into his eyes and a few tears came to her own. She then looked down as a few tears began to stream down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry James. I...I never should have engaged that robber. I just wanted to protect everyone...but in the end I didn't.

James wrapped his arms around Mariah seeing the tears start to well. he had heard her apologize like this before and didnt blame her. He did blame himself for leaving her behind to get the civilians out. But they were both like that, willing to take the fault for past mistakes. "You didnt do anything wrong Mariah, you can't blame yourself like this." He said holding her close. "it wasn't your fault, it wasn't your fault." He repeated.

He released her and look her in the eyes, "I need you to say that ok?"

Mariah leaned into James and cried against his shoulder as he held her. She enjoyed feeling his arms around her. They brought her strength and comfort when she needed it most. She heard his words, but as he pulled back she shook her head a little, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"I can't say it James...not when I know I could have just walked away. The civilians were out...it was just money...why didn't I just walk away?"

It broke his heart when Mariah couldn't saw it wasn't her fault. He didnt want this to drag her down for the rest of her life. Perhaps its too soon to try to forgive ourselves he thought nodding to himself. "Because you're a good person Mariah. the best kind of person." he said brushing her cheek. "no one else would have walked away and let them get away with it..no one." he said holding her. He would hold her as long as she wanted him to finding comfort in her heat.

"We'll keep working at this, no matter how long it'll take we'll keep working at this. Then one day we'll able to forgive ourselves."

Mariah and James pulled themselves together before going and getting dressed. Mariah splashed some cold water on her face to hide the fact that she had been crying. She didn't want anyone, especially Zoe or Jayden, to see the effects of her tears. They didn't deserve to feel guilty for being happy. Besides, she still had James and that alone meant so much to her. She didn't know what she would do without him.

Once they were ready they got into his car and they headed to the mansion. Most everyone was gathered upstairs since it was going to be a while. Lani was there with Azari and she glanced at her husband when she saw Mariah and James walk in.

"Is everything going to be cool between you and James today?"

Azari had other projects to work on but knew this was important. Seeing James and Mariah walk in his expression didnt change, was fairly normal for him. But Lani knew that he and James had a little bit of a tiff a short while back. "I dont foresee us speaking for the duration of this event." Azari simply said.

James hadn't told Mariah of his activities at night so he had little to no reason to tell her about his fight with Azari. Seeing him got his heart going as he was a bit more emotional than the younger man. He remained at Mariah's side greeting the others.

Kamea leaned over to Gwen seeing James and Mariah, "is it just me or do things seem tense all of a sudden?" he asked noticing Lani sharing a word with Azari.

Lani sighed and looked at Azari. "Can't you two just work this out? He's been going through a lot and was just upset about what happened and wanted to catch the guy."

Gwen had just put Wes in the little play pen that was set up in the living room with a few toys and blocks to play with. She walked back over to Kamea, but glanced over at Mariah and James and then Lani and Azari. "I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"

OOC- Here are a few name suggestions for Zoe and Jayden’s son: Finn, Damon, Dexter, Phoenix, or Sebastian. Do you like any of those?

OOC: oh crap forgot we gotta name the kid. Partial to Finn myself, Damon did remind me of that character thats supposedly Logan's son in the comics. did we ever decide if we wanted to bring him in as an antagonist?

IC:

Azari looked to Lani whne she asked if they could work it out. "Suppose it's up to him. I've spoken my mind on the matter, he has ill intentions on finding the guy. Dont think he wants to catch him." He said. He wanted no part in someones death and he didnt trust James emotional state at the moment.

Kamea was watching the two couples for a bit but felt maybe he was overthinking. He looked to Gwen, "Just a feelin i guess, dont know. Could just be nerves about the birth." He said hoping that Zoe and the child would be alright.

OOC-I like Finn too. I personally think that bringing in another son for Logan would only cause unnecessary drama. We already have a few big drama pieces planned so I think we are good unless you really feel strongly about it.

IC-Lani took a sip of her water and was quiet a moment as she glanced over at James and Mariah. She really did feel bad for them. They had both been so excited, which was strange considering they didn't want to have children at first. Now any opportunity had been stolen from them.

"Well, what would you do if you were in James' shoes?"

Gwen looked at Kamea and grinned a little. "Seeing Jayden running around this morning reminded me of you when I was in labor. I honestly thought you were going to pass out at one point."

OOC: Nah it was just something that popped in my head. I'm good with what we got goin right now

IC:

Azari looked to his prosthetic arm wishing he were back at the lab as he had a few projects going. When Lani asked what he would do in James shoes he already knew what he would do. "You dont want the answer ot that." he simply said in a tone that suggested he had thought of that prior. Unlike James he wouldn't go after the man who wronged him, that would be a mercy..

Kamea looked to Gwen when she teased him about running around. "Man i'm never going to live that down huh." He said looking to Gwen. The door opened up and Matt Jasmine and the kids arrived bringing some joy into the room.

"Hey Matt hey Jasmine." Kamea greeted. James looked over seeing Matt and moved close to Mariah.

"How are you holding up?" He whispered.

Lani nodded a little and looked over as Matt and Jasmine walked in with Jodie and Xavier. She couldn't believe now big Xavier was getting. He was a toddler now and walking and talking some.

"Would you ever want to have kids?" she suddenly asked as she looked over at him. It was not something they had previously discussed and she was curious to know his answer.

Mariah had gone to the kitchen to get them both something to drink and when she returned she saw Matt, Jasmine, and the kids had arrived. Jasmine looked happy and excited for her brother.

"I...I'm fine I guess. What about you?"

Azari continued to think of excuses to leave when Lani dropped that bombshell of a question. He looked to Lani unsure of how to answer. he hadn't considered children considering their own youth and lifestyle at the moment. "I dont really know." Azari said. She could tell the question never came to his mind before. He looked to Xavier as the infant looked around the room. "do you?" Azari asked Lani

James looked to Mariah as everyone began their greetings and talked of how excited they all were. It just hurt..

"Thinking we should have showed up a bit later in the day.." He said having seen Xavier walk around a little bit. "Gonna see about finding my folks let them know we showed up to support.." James said forcing a smile.

Lani could see that her question had hit Azari rather hard and he fumbled for an answer. "I don't know...maybe. Not now, but sometime in the future. I actually think you would make a great father."

Mariah looked at James when he told her he was going to go look for his parents. "Let me go with you. I...I don't want to be left here alone."

Meanwhile, Jasmine smiled when her twin brother appeared. Clearly, he had sensed her arrival and she smiled and hugged him. "How is Zoe doing?"

Azari thought of himself trying to raise a child and felt he would too emotionally distant. Clearly he had some thinking to do in the future. He noticed that James and Mariah were leaving the room and began to think of ways of leaving as well.

James understood and took up Mariah's hand and began to head down to the med wing with her in tow quietly slipping away from the others as Jayden arrived. Given the timining they avoided further awkwardness. "We'll stop by and give our blessings and see about heading out again." James said finding it harder to be here than he thought. He assumed his folks were down in the subbasement making sure Zoe was as comfortable as possible and only kicked Jayden out to take a breather and greet the others.

Jayden was happy to have a few people to distract himself. He was a bit of a mess having run around trying to get everything ready. WHen he felt that Jasmine was nearby he reazlied that people were probably arriving and no one to greet them. So he hurried back upstairs, much to Andrew's relief and was surprised to find a small crowd. He thought he had seen James and Mariah and that was a couple he wanted to talk with. He wanted to at least tell them if they didnt want to stay he'd understand completely.

But he was distracted by Jasmine. He gave a nod when she asked how Zoe was doing. "she's doing fine, thought i'd come up before she kills me. Kind of been fussing over her." Jayden admitted.