Generations: The Long Game

Black Roses

Autumn's phone pinged and Winter's attention was peaked.

Reece and Mia

M - it's go time!

A - Winter and I are on our way to the children.

R - let me know if you need anything.

Autumn and Winter had already prepared themselves to need to leave at any moment, so Winter just picked up their bags and followed Aut out the door. The thirty-minute drive took less than twenty with his darling behind the wheel of her little red Jag.

They didn't bother knocking in case Carly was upstairs with the children. They walked in and found her in the lounge with the girls watching TV. The boys were in the downstairs cribs fast asleep. As soon as Lucy caught sight of them, she ran to Autumn and wrapped her arms around her legs. Autumn didn't flinch or stiffen. She had warmed to Lucy when the twins were born, and she wouldn't like to admit but she rather liked being considered that favorite aunt by Lynn and Lucy. If for no other reason than it really got under Marjorie's skin.

"Mummy is going to the hospital to get another baby." She said it in the same way one might pop to the shops for some milk. Which caused Winter to laugh and Autumn to shoot darts at him with her eyes.

"I know. Are you excited?"

The little girl nodded her head excitedly and giggled at Winter making faces at her behind Autumn's back.

"Okay, okay you two. I think it is time for baths and bed." She headed upstairs with Lucy to get that done while Winter went in with Lynn.

"Hey, Lynn, Aunt Autumn would like you to get your shower and get ready for bed."

The young girl looked up and rolled her eyes. "Okay" She was getting to that age where she wanted to fight back against everything but really had no idea why. He didn't argue with her he just gave her a look and she bounded up the stairs. Autumn had taught him well, he thought.

Carly started cleaning up around the downstairs, but he could tell she was thinking about something "Winter?"

"Yes, Carly."

"Do you think Char will be okay." Now he knew what the girl was thinking and why she was nervously cleaning the house. "Carly, Charlotte is going to be fine. Not all births are as traumatic as the twin, Carly. Do you remember when your siblings were born?"

"Oh, yeah, I didn't think about that. Well, I guess I am going to go up to my room as well. I promised the girls we would walk the trails in the morning." He grinned at her and she was off.

He finished cleaning up after the girls and put the kettle on. He and Autumn would probably be up most of the night either waiting for news or up and down with the twins.

Autumn had gotten Lucy through her bath and dressed. She loosely braided her hair in pig tails and had just snuggled up to her to read a bedtime story when her phone pinged.

Reece and Mia

M - she had the baby. In the car. On my way back to sort a few things. See you soon.

R -In the car?

M - yes, in the car.

A - we are here getting the girls down for the night now.

M - thank you, Autie.

Once Lucy was sleeping and she checked on Lynn and Carly, she went back down with Winter. She relayed the news of the birth to him.

"My darling, as soon as you even think you may be going into labor we are going to the hospital. I do not even want to imagine the mess Mia is going to have to clean in that car." Autumn's eyes widened. She had not thought of that.

Mia practically barreled through the door. Her clothes were covered in blood and God knows what. She didn't say a word to them as she passed through the kitchen and made her way to the garden.

"Winter, my love, please go see what she is doing. She isn't supposed to be lifting yet, and if she opens that incision she is going to be right back in the hospital." He gave her a soft kiss and followed Mia out to the garden.

She was in a building that was near the garden on the grounds. They used it for tools and pool items mostly, so he couldn't fathom why she we be in there at this time of night. When he entered the building, he saw right away what she was doing. "Mia?" He looked at her questioningly.

"It's five black rose bushes. I am going to transfer them to the garden."

"Yes, okay. I know trying to talk you out of it will be useless, so show me where the shovels are, and I will help."

She showed him and they both picked one up and headed to the garden to dig holes to plant the rose bushes in. Plants were one of the things, in the beginning, that he and Autumn had bonded over.

Winter grew up in a house full of plants and even more talk of plants. His father was a horticulturalist and his mother was a florist. He couldn't remember a time when he wasn't learning how to grow something or to tend a plant. When he and Autumn first started seeing each other he hid that about himself until one day he was at her home and he saw the number of house plants that she kept. They flourished under her care, and Winter knew that some of them were notoriously hard to tend and keep alive.

What had started out as ravenous desire for an unlikely match turned into mutual admiration and love in a noticeably brief time. He didn't want to think about the implications it might have if he ever divulged that her tenderness with her plants drew him in even more. He would likely have a meeting with her bat if he ever told a soul. Not that he would. They were known for their guarded and secretive lifestyle. It suited both of them. Neither of them had been incredibly open about their relationship or other relationships in the past.

"Mia slow down! Why are you in such a rush to do this right now? If you injure yourself, your sister is going to kill me, or you, or both of us."

She knew he was only half joking but continued on as she was. She promised herself this would be done on the day of Reed's birth, and by God she was going to get it done. Black roses were Char's flower. In the year and a half, they had been together she had sent them to Char many times. Many didn't know, but Mia also had one tattooed on her right upper thigh. A constant reminder of her sweetheart and now the family they had built together.

Their work finally finished; Mia stepped back to look at there beauty. Five bushes for her five children. She thanked Winter for his help and returned to the house. She bounded up the stairs to clean up so she could get back to Char. When she returned, she stopped for a few moments to talk to Autumn.

"You lot might not have to be here long. They are already talking about releasing her tomorrow. Can you believe that? You have a baby in a car and are ready to be released the next day?"

Autumn just shook her head. "So, how exactly did that happen?"

Mia explained all about the Braxton hicks mix up and how she thought she wet herself when her water broke. "We were maybe seven minutes from the hospital. It was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Thank God for that video she sent me a few days ago because the 999 dispatcher was a step behind me the whole call."

Autumn thought for a moment and then asked, "what will you do with the car?" Mia laughed. "For now take it to be professionally cleaned, but that car may stay with us forever. Our son was born in it. How could I get rid of it now?"

The question was rhetorical. Mia started gathering her things and looked in on the boys before she headed out. "Autie, there is plenty of expressed milk in the freezer. I am taking the pump with me as well, so I will likely bring more tomorrow if she isn't released." With that she was off.

Autumn snuggled into Winter on the couch and they both drifted off to sleep.