Chapter 1

"Kapusta?"

Mei looked at Taylor, face echoing, nay, amplifying the skepticism in her voice. It was an expression that seemed to come too easily to the young Chinese woman for Taylor's liking. It was one thing, in her mind, for one to grow skeptical of something as time went on, but to start with that kind of attitude? Well, that wasn't for Taylor!

It was for their husband, though. Food for thought.

"Oh, like that strange Asian stuff you have us cook sounds any better!" The forty year old waif of a woman stuck her tongue out at her young wife, getting a giggle in reply that was more school girl than banker. Smiling, Taylor looked back down at the open cookbook before her. She turned it, sliding the volume across the kitchen island.

"See? Cabbage, potatoes, peas ... traditional Polish dish." She looked as Mei silently read the hand written recipe. It was obvious why Fred loved her. She had beauty, yes, soft features framed by silky black hair, graceful but strong limbs ... But it was her eyes, and the mind behind them, that had captivated not just him, but all the women of the family. Taylor too, even if she butted heads the most with the newcomer. They just ... came at life from different directions. Taylor was emotion, focusing on the moment. Mei was more logic, looking to the future while considering the past. Behind that, though, was a love as strong as any, and even more sweet for being hard won. Her kisses were to be treasured...

A soft hand touched Taylor's, and with a start she realized she had been far away. Mei looked with raised eyebrows, to which Taylor could only shake her head and laugh.

"Sorry. Lost in your beauty again." That got a blush. Mei had the most beautiful blush, one made all the more fun by her hatred of such trait.

"You say that to all the pregnant women." Now it was Taylor's turn to blush, her pregnancy fetish well known. She, however, was comfortable with her faults. Laughing, she took Mei's hand and brought it up to her lips.

"Only those I love." Kissing the delicate fingers, her eyes danced as a wave of emotion flowed over the Chinese woman's face. Eyes casting around for a way to change the subject, Mei noticed the open book again.

"So, what is this, anyway?" She closed it, seeing no markings on the cover.

"Fred's Grandmother's cookbook. I haven't looked at it in ages. It sort of got shoved to the back of the shelf there and forgotten, so when I saw it today I thought I'd go through it. We haven't made Kapusta in awhile, so I figured why not."

"It looks like it's made of whatever was lying around the kitchen."

"It's peasant food. Something filling for those meals when there's no meat thanks to the evil Lord."

"Which would be Fred."

That drew a round of laughter. Taylor took the book again, looking at the ingredients and mentally tabulating what she'd need. Upsizing recipes for five adults, four almost adults, and six younger children wasn't easy, but years of practice had made it second nature. Not that mistakes still weren't made. The time she had been forced to fill frying pans with cake batter was legend...

The kitchen phone rang. Taylor looked up to see Mei start to ease her almost eight month pregnant frame off the chair, and quickly motioned for her to stay seated.

"I got it. I doubt it's for the baby." Mei gave a laugh and a grateful smile, settling back in her seat. This kid seemed heavier than her first one, Shizuku.

Mind still on that evening's dinner, Taylor lifted the receiver.

"Hello, Taylor here..."

"MOM!!!"

Cindy's cry froze Taylor's heart. It was sorrow, it was despair, it was helplessness ... one word, one syllable...

"B-baby?"

"Mom! Jaxom called 911 but they're not here yet! Violet's not moving, and Dad! What do I do!"

"W-what?" Taylor gripped the receiver with both hands, pressing it so hard against her ear pain shot through her head. Pain that was nothing compared to what the words were doing to her. She couldn't even understand them. Didn't WANT to understand them. There was nothing to understand! Blurry eyes saw Mei jump up from the chair, alarmed. The voice was in her ear again.

"They couldn't get out of the way of the car! Freddy's trying to help Daddy! We're trying, but they're not here yet!" Somewhere behind her first born daughter, their oldest son cried out in anguished frustration.

"Why won't he stop bleeding?!?"

The phone dropped to the floor.

Taylor dropped to her knees.

She screamed.

Rachel burst into a kitchen overflowing with people and panic. Last to arrive, she paused for a moment just inside the doorway to take stock. Taylor was on her knees, half wailing, half screaming. The middle children, Nadia, Elly, and Menolly were down on the floor with her, clutching their mother while adding their own screams demanding to know what was wrong. Mei was on the kitchen phone, face pale, while Anita, oldest of them and second wife, just stood by the oven muttering something suspiciously like a Spanish prayer. The two youngest boys clung to her as she held two year old Shizuku to her chest.

This wasn't helping.

"Quiet!"

Rachel's commanding shout silenced all the children. They were good kids, if currently terrified. Taylor paused in her outburst, eyes rising up to her wife and lover. Rachel's heart broke seeing her, throat going dry at the thought of what news was to come. She looked at Mei.

"What is it?"

"Fred ... and Violet. The ambulance finally got there!" Seeing Mei was in no shape to do anything more, Rachel quickly went and took the phone from her with a kiss. With her free hand she motioned Mei to go to Taylor. This in turn had the desired effect of getting Taylor to stand up for the hug rather than force Mei to sit on the ground. As this comedy of sadness played out Rachel put the phone to her ear.

"Where are you?"

"Transit Town! By the glasses place!"

They had gone to get new frames for Jaxom, then do some shopping. It was only ten minutes away. If that. If she bothered with stop signs.

"OK, Cindy, you did good. I'll be there in a few minutes. Stay back and let the medics do what they have to."

"Daddy's dead!"

Her eyes closed. Didn't matter. Whether he was alive or dead didn't matter. Not right now. They had to do things. Had to get off their asses and do things!

"OK. We'll be there soon. Love you."

She hung up. Rachel let her shoulders slump for a moment ... then straightened them again as she turned to address the rest of the family. A family that was now silent, apart from sniffles of fear and grief.

"Taylor, Mei, you stay here with the kids. Get a hot dinner going. I'll bring Cindy, Freddy and Jaxom home, then they can babysit while we do what we have to. Anita," she said, turning to the trembling Mayan, "you have to come with me. They're at Transit Town."

Anita shook her head.

"Take Taylor. She NEEDS to go! I'll stay with the kids! Please!"

Rachel walked up to her, slowly shaking her head.

"No, my love. You HAVE to go."

"Why?" Confusion, almost a welcome change from grief, showed on her tear stained face.

"Because ... you're his only wife."

Taylor shot Rachel a horrified look. This wasn't something to bring up in front of the smaller kids! There was no time for niceties, though. Eyes full of fourteen years worth of love for this woman, Rachel gently touched Anita's cheek.

"Legally, only you can deal with what's going to happen, Love. You have to be the public face of the family. I'm sorry. None of us can do it." She took Anita's dark hand, squeezing. "Now, we have to GO!"

Eight minutes later the Rachel steered the red van into the plaza. There was no confusion over where to go: flashing lights from a red Paramedic truck, two ambulances, and two cop cars ringed the front of Council Opticians. Anita was hugging herself in the passenger seat, trembling.

"I don't want to know."

She turned to Rachel, eyes wide.

"It's evil, but if my baby is ... I don't want to know!" Rachel took her right hand off the wheel and gripped Anita's knee, hard, eyes staying out the front window as she maneuvered the vehicle through the icy parking lot to a patch of empty spaces.

"Tough, my love. We have to be strong. YOU have to be strong, for the kids." She pulled into a spot, shifted into park, and shut off the engine as she turned to Anita. "This is the shitty part about being a wife and mother. This is where we pay the price for all that happiness." Familiar movement caught her eye, and she motioned for Anita to follow her gaze. Both saw their three teens running towards the van. Anita closed her eyes ... and took a deep breath.

"I'll try."

"I'm always here for you."

Unbuckling, the two exited the van and walked to the front just as Cindy and the two boys got to them. Cindy ran full steam into Anita, head buried between her coat covered breasts, crying as she squeezed tightly.

"Mom!" Anita, not knowing what else to do, hugged her back.

"Shhh, it's OK, your Mommy's are here..."

Freddy and Jaxom had been traveling at a more restrained, if quick, pace, but now relieved of the responsibility of being strong for their sister the two let Rachel's open arms draw them into a three way hug. Freddy squeezed tightly.

"I tried, Mom! I tried! He just bled so much!"

"Shh ... I know you did. I'm so proud of you! All of you!"

Someone else was approaching. Raising her head, Rachel saw it was an Amherst Trooper. Now it began. As the grey clad officer came closer, she lowered her head and whispered to her fourteen and sixteen year old sons.

"Remember we're in public. Be honest, but careful." Both nodded into her chest, then turned to the officer's gaze. He came to a stop a respectful few feet away, nodding at the two women. His face was kind, reflecting the knowledge there was no good way to handle times like these.

"I'm sorry for your loss. You're their family?"

Rachel nodded at Anita, who was gently extracting herself from Cindy's grasp.

"She's his wife and her mother. Can she see them?" The officer regarded the Mayan woman, and nodded. His partner had come up behind him.

"Officer Shellden will take you over. Sue, this woman's the mother." Anita gave Rachel one final pleading look, then gave in to her instinctual need to see her man and baby and began crying. The female officer gently took her arm, leading her into the chaos...

The trooper watched them go for a moment, then turned back to Rachel. Cindy had come around and was now clutching her, while the boys stood to either side like guards. Rachel tried to ignore the dark red soaked into Freddy's jacket.

"The boys didn't want to talk until you got here, which is understandable." He looked at Freddy, the only one obviously related to Anita and Violet. "Tell me what happened."

There wasn't much to tell.

The five had come out of the optician's, the first part of the day's tasks done. Jaxom had a new pair of glasses, identical to his old pair. Alicia in math class had commented that they looked good on him, so there was no way he was changing. A car slowed to a stop at the stop sign just in front of the store, so without much concern the family had started to cross.

It was probably a combination of not paying attention, bad breaks, and ice. A minivan, coming down the row of storefronts, saw the stopped car too late. The driver slammed on her breaks, or the gas. Instead of stopping, it slid ... into the stopped sedan, pushing it into Fred and Violet.

"I was already across, and saw Dad sort of push Cindy ahead as it hit him. He..." Cindy reached out and took Freddy's hand, giving him strength. "Dad went under the car. Violet fell backwards ... her head hit the curb. Is she gonna be OK?" He looked at the authority figure before him, eyes pleading for official good news. The officer tried his best to lie.

"I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Of course she'll be fine," Rachel added, eyes meeting the officer's and seeing her own fears confirmed. "She's strong."

"Now, I'll need to take some information from you..."

They spend the next few minutes giving details for later paperwork, and possible criminal trials. Rachel hoped it wouldn't come to that. It was just an accident. She wouldn't demand vengeance, whoever the driver was. Eyes continually flicking up to flashing ambulances, wanting to be there regardless of what was to be seen, she was startled when her cell phone rang. Seeing the number was Anita's, her head whipped over to the accident site where she could see her wife next to a paramedic as she brought the phone up.

"Um, hello?"

The voice that came back was tired, despondent ... without life.

"I'm going in the ambulance with her. We're going to Millard Fillmore Suburban. They're ... taking Fred too." Rachel saw the other ambulance, lights off, start up and head out of the plaza.

"Go. I'll take the kids home, and we'll meet you there. Love you."

"Love you."

Lowering the phone, she turned to the officer, eyes pleading.

"Can we hurry this up?"

Anita sat in a small room, just off the Emergency Room entrance. The nurse on duty had left for a moment, leaving her alone. In her lap, forms. So many forms.