"My fault," Esmeralda said. "I should have been watching where I was going. Let me go check on your water before it runs over," crossing into the bedroom and causing Brianna to head back towards the bathroom with as much speed as she could muster... which wasn't very much at all.

Esmeralda had the water turned off by the time Brianna arrived behind her, and she pulled a towel out and placed it on the counter before turning to look at Brianna. "Is there anything else you need?"

"I don't think so."

"All right. I'm gonna get out of here to give you some privacy, but if you need anything, just holler. I'll be right here."

"Thanks, Es. And if you'd like to call Saphira, please feel free. The place came complete with an analog phone."

"Thank you, Brianna. Now get in... before your water gets cold." And without another word, she was out the door, pulling it closed behind her.

************

"Saphira? Is everything all right?" Ruby asked as Saphira and Jas stepped into the house together. She looked pointedly around them. "Where's Es?"

Saphira shook her head. "That's quite a story. Could we have some tea while I tell you about our day?"

Ruby didn't answer more than to turn around and head to the kitchen. Jas stopped by the living room to let the rest know to join them in the kitchen. When they were all there and seated, Saphira began her tale. The tea was made, steeped, doctored and drunk before Saphira finished and the first thing Ruby did when she was done was to pour fresh tea around the table.

"Well," she finally concurred as she sat back with her cup in her hands. "That was definitely quite a story. Is everyone okay... relatively speaking, that is?"

"I think it shook Charisma up a lot more than she was letting on. But other than that and Brianna's run-in with Adam's head and the floor... yeah. I was never in any real danger and Es knew that. We were mostly bystanders for this whole thing."

"So what's your opinion, Saphira?"

Saphira shook her head. "Um... NO. You really don't want my opinion - it involves serious amounts of head bashing and butt kicking." Everyone at the table tittered.

"So what's the plan then?"

Saphira shrugged. "I dunno. Es is staying with Brianna tonight, just to be sure she's okay."

"So do I need to head over there?" Coral asked. Amber had ridden over to Charisma's with Jas, enjoying the rare opportunity to have company for a little while. Saphira bit her lip thoughtfully as she considered Coral's question.

"Ya know what? I don't think so, but you may want to swing by later. You can check on them and see if Es needs anything." Coral nodded. That seemed reasonable. "And if you could," Saphira continued, smiling when Coral arched an eyebrow at her, "run by Charisma's as well. I'd like to know if there was any backlash from today's adventures."

"Oh," Ruby cut in. "Mal called. She was at the house watching Kent today."

"Yeah? What'd she say?"

"Not a lot. Said he was ducking in and out of shadows in the house trying to keep an eye on things without being caught. Said he didn't seem angry when he left - mostly resigned... like he expected to see what he saw." Ruby frowned. "But from what you told us, there really wasn't anything to see."

"There really wasn't," Saphira confirmed. "There might have been if we'd looked through that album, but as it was...."

"Maybe he knows something," Opal offered. Saphira tilted her head in question.

"What do you mean?"

Opal sighed. "I doubt he's looking for overt displays of affection. C'mon, guys... he's been married to Charisma for a number of years. He more than almost anybody knows exactly how important appearances are to her in her line of work."

"Okay, so...?"

"So, if I was him and I suspected something had changed with my wife, I'd be looking for the subtle things with her. Like I said - he knows Charisma isn't going to go running through the streets naked or be photographed going in and out of a sleazy motel. But if she smiles more or starts inviting friends over more often than colleagues, he's going to start paying attention to the little stuff."

"So you think he knows what's going on?"

"I think he's pretty sure he thinks he knows what's going on," Opal said. "But since I don't know what he's thinking...." She shrugged. Saphira nodded and turned to Ruby. "Is Mal still here?"

"As far as I know. She told me that they would be supposed to be here overnight."

"All right," Saphira said, sliding her chair back from the table and standing. She picked up her cup and drank the last swallow, wincing at the bitter, lukewarm beverage. "Ew," shuddering slightly. "I'm gonna go...." A shrill ringing cut into her thought. "Answer the phone," she continued without missing a beat. She stepped out into the hall and lifted the receiver. The rest could hear the smile in her voice when she realized Esmeralda was on the other end. So they sat back to wait, curious to know what Saphira had planned next.

************

Charisma stood in the doorway of Adam's room, simply watching him breathe. It brought tears to her eyes, and she took a deep breath and swallowed hard, blinking her eyes to keep the tears from escaping. She pushed away from the door, sniffing once before she crossed to stand at Adam's bedside. Charisma pushed his hair back off his face, then leaned down and kissed him. Then she pulled the blanket up over his small body and kissed him again before she headed out of his room.

She eased his door closed without shutting it completely, then leaned against the wall and closed her eyes for a long moment. When she felt her equilibrium return, Charisma pushed off the wall and moved down the hallway towards her own room.

She walked into her room, setting the monitor back beside her bed, taking a few minutes to listen to Adam breathe. When she felt a measure of peace and control settle into her soul, she took her phone from her pocket and studied the faceplate for a long moment before she scrolled through her phonebook until she found the name she was searching for.

With barely a second's hesitation, Charisma pushed the button and listened to it ringing, waiting for the call to be picked up.

"Charisma? Honey, is everything all right?" Kent asked with concern. Despite what he'd seen earlier, he was still surprised that she'd called him. Fortunately, his greeting was enough to add to her sense of stability and she chuckled.

"Everything's better now, Kent - thank you. We haven't talked in a while so I thought I'd give it another shot since today's performance was early."

He nodded his head, though she couldn't see him. "I've been trying to return your call, but we seemed to be playing at cross-purposes lately.

"Yes - we're pushing really hard to finish up our business before the holiday break. So how are you holding up? How's the play?"

"Well, we're getting good reviews, so we're all pretty happy with it."

Silence fell between them and it quickly grew a little awkward. Kent couldn't help but compare it to the exuberance he'd seen in Charisma earlier that day. Before it could drag out too long, he opened his mouth to speak just as Charisma seemingly decided to do the same thing.

"So why did you call me the other night?"

"Adam gave me a bit of a scare today."

Silence fell again and Kent cleared his throat, indicating his intention to speak. "I'm sorry... Adam did what?"

"He gave me a bit of a scare today." She paused and bit her lip, blinking her eyes again as a wave of remembered terror shuddered through her body again. She gave a shaky sigh. "I had some friends over today and Adam ran out in front of the car as it pulled up to the house." She cleared her throat inelegantly, sniffing slightly before she continued speaking. "If it hadn't been for Saphira's quick actions, he could have been hurt... or worse." Now she let the tears flow.

"Is he all right? Are you?" Kent swallowed hard, realizing he'd missed something pretty significant trying to get into the house undetected. He'd watched Brianna and Charisma playing with Adam and it had twisted his gut uncomfortably, and when he'd heard the car approaching the house, decided he needed to get indoors. He rubbed a hand over his face, realizing his insides were shaking as bad as his outsides were.

Charisma's wry chuckle brought him back to the present. "Adam's fine. Saphira is like a grown-up playmate and he adores her - thinks she's the coolest thing to come along since PB&J. Me on the other hand... I have the feeling I'm going to be shaky for a while."

"Do you need me to come home?" he offered, hoping she'd say yes. For once he wanted to be part of the family instead of an individual that did little more than share space and responsibility.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke and it made him feel marginally better when she spoke. "Oh Kent... I appreciate that - you don't know how much. But I wouldn't want to pull you away from your show... not when you're doing so well. We're both all right, and we'll see you at Mama's soon, right?"

"Absolutely," he agreed with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. "Mother already told me I'll be there."

Charisma laughed. She loved her mother-in-law, but she was definitely a formidable woman. "How is your mother?"

The discussion went on for several more minutes and for a change it flowed like good conversation is supposed to. When it wound down, Charisma cleared her throat and spoke softly. "Thank you, Kent."

His brow furrowed in confusion, and even though she couldn't see his expression, Charisma could hear it in his voice. "For what?"

"Being there for me to talk to," Charisma replied after a moment's hesitation. She wasn't sure she could put into words what she really wanted to say, but she felt comfortable offering that. It was true, even if it wasn't complete.

"Oh, Sweetheart. I'll always be there for that. I promise."

"You're a good man, Kent Rockwell."

He snorted. "Let's not let that get around, all right? I make such a great villain." Charisma laughed again and he smiled, reminded once more why he loved her. "However, I need to go. I haven't had dinner yet and I'll bet you haven't either. And before you say it, yes... you have to eat. Image may be everything in your business, but you can't afford to skip meals, Charisma. Not if you expect to keep up with Adam."

"I know - I think I'm going to have to give Ame a raise."

"You do that. And call me if you need anything."

"You too, Kent. Thanks."

"Anytime, honey. Goodnight."

"Night."

************

Mal gave Saphira a look when Kent hung up the phone. Saphira nodded - she'd caught it as well. "Keep up the good work, Mal. Don't be surprised if you hear from Es in the next few days." Mal nodded her understanding and Saphira took a last look around before she headed back to the house. Tomorrow was going to come soon enough.


Chapter XLVII

When Esmeralda had ended her call with Saphira, she'd rung the security desk to find someone who was cleared for grocery delivery. It only took a few minutes and she had ordered enough food for both dinner and breakfast. So the following morning, she was already cooking when Brianna finally crawled from the bed.

Brianna glared at her while accepting the coffee Esmeralda was offering. Aside from wrinkled clothes that looked as though they had been slept in - because they had - Esmeralda appeared much the same as she did everyday.

"It's not fair," Brianna grumbled, wincing when the hot cup touched her swollen lip, but still sighing in relief when the first taste of coffee reached her tongue. Esmeralda stirred the eggs she was scrambling and pulled the bacon out of the pan. In only another minute, Brianna was sitting at the counter eating a hot breakfast, courtesy of Esmeralda.

"What's not fair?" Esmeralda asked as she lifted a forkful of eggs to her mouth.

"It's not fair that you can literally roll off the couch and look like that," gesturing in Esmeralda's general direction. "The rest of us have to work at looking good, you know."

Esmeralda frowned and glanced down at herself. "Um... Brianna...?"

Brianna shook her head. "Don't even try. Your clothes are wrinkled, sure. But your hair is neat, your eyes are bright, there are no sleep wrinkles on your face...." Se paused and looked at Esmeralda more carefully. "You *did* sleep, didn't you?"