The Stepmonster [Griff/Caitrin]

[lucan]

Lucan had almost passed out when he had been told that his stepmother was waiting for him in the solar. It was words that he did not want to hear, let alone hearing them without any knowledge of her visit. He knew why she had come, and unfortunatly it was too late to alert his brother about it. He'd found her standing in the solar looking just as disapproving as the day he'd left for Camelot. She had aged a little, but not enough to become unrecognisable. "Lucan" she gave a stiff nod on seeing him. Her glare now a permanent fixure on her face. Nothing had changed then.
"Elaine" he greeted her politely, "I trust their is a good reason for you to be standing in my solar with that beautiful face of yours." Lucan couldn't help it, he was just as angry that she was here as much as she was herself.

"I have come to see my son, his new wife and grandchildren, you should at least show me some respect - I brought you up after all." She raised her chin slightly, glaring all the more at him. "and what do I find? What am I to tell your father and Uncle when I return."

He ignored her last leer at him and reamained calm. "Well perhaps you should go now and tell them of what a dissapointment you found me as. Im sure father will be happy about that, but my Uncle won't agree." He smiled sweetly, "I take it that you haven't informed Griff that you'd be visiting?" Of course she hadn't. Why should she.

Elaine looked around the room. "This is a very dismal looking room Lucan, you should consider adding more light to make it look a little justifiable." Ok that was it, "Well then, perhaps when you leave it, it shall instantly brighten" he sighed happily, "Now as I asked earlier - I take it that Griff doesn't know you're here." Elaine now sighed, "What that boy has put us through, and now this! It's like he wants to drag your father's name through the mud! Both of you!"

Lucan said nothing for a while, "I'll have to speak with Griff before I can let you see him." he told her, "After all - I don't think he'd be too pleased if..."
She cut him off. "You will take me to see my son now, and you will show me the respect you are supposed to bestow on a lady. Not only am I your stepmother but I am also a lady. You are a Knight, and if I am correct, it is required of you to be as chivelrous as possible." What the..? What did she know of chivalry and being a Knight? It seemed he had no choice in the matter, as a full blown argument would just attract the attention of the servants. Something that he didn't want at this moment. He had no option, but to take her to the de Archer estate.

When the pair finally arrived sometime later, Lucan already had a bad feeling about this. It was just like his father's visit all over again. "Could you please tell my brother that Im here...as is the woman who calls herself his mother." he told the servant, shooting a glare at Elaine and waiting as the servant disappered.

Tagged: Caitrin de Archer, Griff Aubert
Setting: De Archer Estate
Notes: The Mother in law of doom (Elaine Aubert) comes to see the twins, this can only go wrong.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin Aubert had just finished changing her daughter, who was now trying to flip over onto her front, despite the fact her mother was still trying to dress her. Pulling the girls hose up quickly, Caitrin scooped Esmae up into her arms. The girl was smiling to herself, and aimlessly sucking on her fingers and began to look around the room. Caitrin kissed Esmae’s forehead before thinking to head back downstairs. She’d left Griff and Arthur in the solar. Arthur had been as wide awake as ever so she supposed Griff would be having fun with that. The twins were only a few months old, but they were slowing learning how to become parents. It still felt strange waking up every morning and knowing you had these two other lives to look after as well. She liked it though, and she couldn’t imagine life without either of the twins now, neither did she want to.

Esmae was grabbing onto the front of her mother’s dress, and had her fingers in her hair again. Caitrin winced, “Come on sweeting, let go of mummy’s hair.” Esmae seemed to think about it for a moment, but kept hold of Caitrin’s hair anyway. Eventually, Caitrin prised her daughters fingers from her, and gave her a little stuffed rabbit to play with instead. It had been one of the gifts that Arthur had given her when she had given birth to her children. Esmae’s fingers worked around the rabbit, and it distracted her long enough so Caitrin could leave the room, her daughter in her arms. She descended the stairs and headed straight for the solar, not hearing the approaching carriage as she was too wound up in her daughter.

Entering the solar, she grinned at her husband, and sat down by the fire with Esmae, pulling a folded blanket from one of the chairs and setting her daughter upon it so she could lie in comfort. Esmae never liked being held for too long, and Caitrin knew that much. Arthur was the complete opposite though, he loved being held and cuddled as much as possible. She would have thought that it would have been the other way around, but she didn’t really mind. “How’s he been?” Caitrin asked Griff with a gentle smile as she began to play with Esmae on the blanket, tickling the girl’s tummy.

The servant was the one to break their few moments of bliss, and Caitrin just stared at him for a few moments before the man thought to speak.

“Forgive me for interrupting, but Sir Lucan is here, as is my Lord Griff’s mother.” Caitrin went to laugh before she realised the man was deadly serious. She looked across at Griff with her mouth hanging slightly ajar,

“What on earth is your mother doing here?” She was already quite suspicious, mainly as an encounter with either hers or Griff’s parent never went well. “Show them in.” She said rather dismissively to the servant who went to fetch them. Caitrin looked across at Griff with a puzzled look on her face, “Did you invite her?” At least they had known when Corneous was going to visit them, but this was completely out of the blue.

[Griff Aubert]

Griff was in the middle of a staring contest, or at least he thought he had been. Arthur didn't seem too fussed about it, which was annoying because he was winning. He was so invested in the competition that he'd already started crawling away. Griff, who had been lying on his front and staring up at his son, tried crawling after him but ended up doing a slug impression across the floor. He seemed to be spending a lot of his time on the floor since the twins started crawling. Griff had finally managed to catch up with him. "That was very unsportsmanlike behaviour." He said with a raised eyebrow, something that was entirely lost on his son. "Your uncle would be very disappointed in you." He pressed his lips together and shook his head slowly. Arthur would have to learn how to behave properly during a staring contest. He wasn't going to learn now, however, as he'd already started crawling off and Griff couldn't be bothered to go after him. Instead, he rolled onto his back, arching his neck so he could see Arthur, a small smile forming on his lips. Caitrin had only recently started trusting him on his own with the twins - but only ever one at a time, which to Griff seemed reasonable. Last week he'd almost had a heart attack because he'd been too busy poking Arthur to notice Esmae crawling off. She'd only made it to the door, but even so.

After a few minutes of just lying on the floor and watching his son, he heard footsteps and turned his head to see his wife walk in, carrying their daughter. Esmae was much better at staring contests. She usually got bored fairly quickly so Griff always won. As if noticing he was no longer the sole object of his father's attention, Arthur started crawling back and on reaching Griff started attacking him. Needless to say, his father was not too pleased about it. "Oi you," he rolled over so he could see Arthur again. The young boy was looking far too happy with himself, "Attacking the oponent is definitely unsportsmanli-ow!" He sat up and leant over so he could hold his son, who quite quickly settled in his arms. "If you have to go around hitting anyone," he began, shuffling across the floor - it would be rather difficult to stand up whilst holding Arthur - to where Esmae was on her blanket. "Your sister's right here." He finished and set Arthur down next to her. Arthur just looked at him before being distracted by his sister. Griff, meanwhile, looked up at Caitrin with an equally pleased expression his face. See - he could cope on his own.

"He's been cheating at our staring contest." Griff answered her, still sat on the floor. He could have sat next to her but that would have involved more effort. Crawling around trying to catch up with his son was rather tiring. He was about to say something else when they were interrupted by a servant. His...his mother was coming? As in...his mother? What the hell was she doing here? Lucan must have something to do with this, oh he was going to absolutely kill his brother. "Of course I didn't invite her." He said, with slightly more tone that he had wanted. He jumped up and began smooth down his clothing and ran a hand through his hair. His mother and Caitrin...there was no way this was going to end well.

[lucan]

The servant led them through to the room where Caitrin and Griff were, Elaine barging past first so as to make sure Griff would see her. Lucan just shook his head at this. Trust her to want to scare the twins before they'd even been introduced.

As soon as Lucan entered the room he literally just shrugged at Caitrin and Griff. "She made me bring her here, I couldn't stop her." He said with Elaine looking over her shoulder and shooting daggers at him. "I wanted to see my son and his family, surely that's not so much to ask? And since your father was unable to come I thought I would come on his behalf." Great. Already Corneous was being dragged into it. "I must say though Griff, I would've thought that Lucan would have taken you in instead of residing here." she looked around distastefully. "But then again I suppose you are both like each other in many ways."

"You're pushing it Elaine" Lucan warned, edging past her to stand beside Griff and Cait, and to protect his neice and nephew from the clutches of their villain of a grandmother - not that they knew, but she was already painting a picture of herself as just that right now. "Perhaps if you stopped insulting Griff and his family before you've even met them, he'll introduce you?" He didn't like this already.

Elaine shook her head with displeasure. "You said that my son had amounted to something, as did Allard. I come here to see if this is true and what do I find? He's living out of someone elses pocket and has produced children with some...some..." Her anger was now showing, and so was Lucan's.

"Don't even say it" He gave her a cold stare and picked Up Esmae, who was already making an escape for the door. She had the right idea, Luc wanted nothing more than to get out of here right now - and Elaine hadn't even met Caitrin properly yet! Holding his niece closely he looked at his stepmother. "Now if you have nothing more to say or to insult, then perhaps Griff will introduce you to his wife and children."

Defeated, Elaine backed down. Lucan gave Griff a small nod of encouragement and a wary look to Cait, so as she knew what was to come.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin grinned at Griff as he informed her that Arthur had been cheating at their staring contests. She couldn’t quite believe that Griff had seriously been trying to have a staring contest with their baby son, actually, she probably could. Caitrin just watched as Griff played with Arthur, and smiled at them both. This was all she cared about now, this little family was all that mattered to her at the end of the day. The bliss however was quickly ruined with the mention of Griff’s mother coming to visit. She jumped up with her husband, and smoothed down her dress self-consciously. She stood by the blanket which held her son and daughter, and cast them both a look before waiting for Griff’s mother to enter the room.

Straight away Caitrin was taken aback by the woman. Family or no family, she was already being incredibly rude. This was her home, and she at least expected the woman to address her before speaking so harshly. She disregarded Lucan for the moment, it was clear this wasn’t his fault, and he had often told Caitrin that he had no love for his step-mother. “He is here residing with his wife.” She spat back at Elaine, the tension was already rising in her voice as she tensed up defensively. Elaine was already starting to grate on her nerves. She dropped her view to her children again, Arthur looked quite nervous and Esmae was just staring at the new woman in the room with wide eyes.

Lucan was trying to calm the mood down somewhat but was failing quite miserably. Caitrin was already past calm, and everyone who knew her well knew there was no coming back from that really. Caitrin had already stepped up to Elaine, she wasn’t going to shy back from this woman, even if she was her husband’s mother. “Some what exactly?” she managed through gritted teeth, the first impulse had been to slap the woman, and a few years ago she wouldn’t have had to even think about it. However, she was older, and more mature now, but that wouldn’t stop her from speaking her mind in front of Elaine. She didn’t care who she was, no one came into her home unannounced and spoke to her and Griff like this.

However, Caitrin suddenly felt incredibly guilty, in her anger she hadn’t noticed Esmae heading for the door until Lucan had swept her up into his arms. Her attention was distracted for a few moments and she held out her arms so that Lucan could pass her daughter into her arms. She held her daughter close and kissed the top of her head, but her eyes never left Elaine as she returned to her husband’s side. She pressed her lips together, trying to keep herself calm. She looked across at Griff, she wanted him to say something; anything. She was sick of having her situation judged, she and Griff were married, and they had a family of their own. What was so wrong with that?

[Griff Aubert]

It was probably fairly easy to see where Griff got his tact and subtlety from as soon as his mother walked in the room. Griff would have managed to shoot his brother a rather angry and definite look, had he not been too preoccupied by his mother's sudden presence. He hadn't seen her since he'd left Glouchedon but apparantly nothing had changed. Funnily enough, it was like the meeting with his father all over again, only this time it was worse because this was his mother. Already he knew this wasn't going to end well. His mother and his wife really were the most formidable women he knew. And now they were in the same room. And obviously going to get along... maybe he could just take the twins and run.

Too late. It had started. He stepped in front of Caitrin, something he knew wouldn't be well received, but it meant that he was now in between the two women. Actually, thinking about it, that was probably the worst place to be. Well he was there now. He tried to smile, but it wasn't really working. What was his mother doing here? Apart from being, well, his mother. "Mother! What a pleasant surprise..." Well that definitely sounded convincing. "I hope your journey was...fine." If he was distracting her with small talk then she wouldn't be able to anger his wife, and then his wife wouldn't be able to say something she shouldn't and, with any luck, crisis would be averted. It seemed Lucan had a smiliar idea, only instead of trying to distract Elaine, he was just trying to shut her up. Surely he knew that really, really wasn't a good idea?

"You said that my son had amounted to something, as did Allard. I come here to see if this is true and what do I find? He's living out of someone else's pocket and has produced children with some...some..."

Well...that had almost been a compliment. Almost. Griff bit his tongue, there were many things he wanted to say to that, but unfortunately nothing he could actually say in front of his mother. As soon as she mentioned Caitrin, he inwardly cringed and looked over at his wife. He should definitely not be in between the two women now. Lucan had the right idea of standing well back. He shuffled out the way. "Mother-" he tried, but Lucan was already speaking, also aware of how dangerous Caitrin's temper could be.

Despite what his brother was saying, introducing his mother to Caitrin and the twins was the last thing he wanted to do. She'd already made her disapproval perfectly clear. She was never going to approve of Caitrin, which was why he'd never taken her to Glouchedon. He'd tried to keep Caitrin as far away from his parents as possible and what had happened? They'd come to him. There was a reason why he'd left and never gone back. He was scratching his neck, convinced he'd wear it down to the bone before his mother left.

Unfortunately, that wasn't any going to be any time soon, so he cleared his throat and bent down to pick up his son. He couldn't introduce his mother to Arthur from the floor. He shifted the child in his arms so he was facing his grandmother. "Mother, this is my wife Caitrin. Her father is Lord Payton de Archer." He was almost certain she'd never heard of the de Archers but the fact that he was a lord should meet with her approval. "And this is our oldest, Esmae." He would have gestured towards his daughter, now in her mother's arms, but he was too busy trying to stop Arthur wriggling so much. "And this is Arthur." He looked rather awkwardly as his mother, not really sure what he was expecting from her. He doubted she would say anything encouraging, despite how much he actually wanted her to.

[lucan]

Passing Esmae back to Caitrin, Lucan knew now was the time to stand, watch and pray for the best as Elaine studied his brother and his family. Obviously she didn't look impressed, then again Elaine was never impressed with anything so that was something - now Griff was actually taking a stand and trying to keep the peace. Thank goodness...otherwise Luc would have been forced to say something that he would regret. He could see now that Caitrin was becoming just as agitated by her mother in laws presence as he himself was. She was as hard as nails and would speak her mind should Elaine say something patronising to her.

Now his brother was introducing the twins to Elaine, who raised a brow at Esmae and then another at Arthur. What did she expect? Mutants?! They were her grandchildren for crying out loud! and yet she hadn't even the decency to praise Griff or even smile at them. Luc was over protective of them all, and if Elaine even thought about stepping out of line, he knew he would have to either go out of the room and hack at a tree, or just keep giving her the coldest of looks. It angered him to see her treating his brother like a failure, when it was her who had come to see the twins and her son on her own accord.

"De Archer?" Elaine mused slightly, as though the name was a bad taste in her mouth, "I am not familar with the name." she looked the children up and down and nodded with slight approval. "Well...twins - I did not think that you were capable of producing two of them Griflet." she replied, "but I must say that they are very fine children. Had you have been our only son then your father would be most ecstatic at the news that the Aubert line can carry on." He gaze fell upon Lucan, "but it is a deep shame that your elder brother has yet to produce any rightful heirs. It seems you have suceeded where he has failed. "

Lucan, who was leant casually back against the wall now just gave Elaine a smug look and said nothing. He wasn't about to let a subject as sensative as this get to him. It worked, because when she saw no response from her step son, Elaine turned back to focus on her son and his family, "This is a very...nice house" she looked around with the same disapproval of politeness as earlier, "Does it belong to your father Caitrin?" Her gaze was still cold upon her daughter in law.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin was trying to stop Esmae from thrashing about. The baby clearly didn’t want to be up here for much longer, but Caitrin didn’t want to put her down just yet. Instead, she hooked Esmae around her middle with her arm, holding her upright with her other hand so she was propped upright, that way she could see everything. It slightly worked, Esmae had stopped trying to wriggle out of her mothers arms, though she was still making protesting noises, she obviously didn’t want to be there. Well, none of them really wanted to be here did they? She kissed the top of Esmae’s head, and pressed the child against her. Caitrin’s eyes were on her husband mostly, as he’d stepped in front of her. Caitrin didn’t need him to shelter her from his mother, she’d faced worse, but perhaps Griff was scared of what she would say. In that he was justified, but if Elaine was going to stand there and insult her, then mother-in-law or not, Caitrin would be biting back at her.

Griff and Lucan were trying to diffuse the situation, and all Caitrin could do was try and calm herself and just keep her head together. “It is a Mercian name.” Caitrin replied in a cool tone; her gaze unfriendly. In truth, she thought Elaine both rude and ignorant for not knowing her family name. Not knowing the de Archer’s was one thing, but admitting to not knowing them was another. She was about to ask Elaine how the only word she could come up with for her first grandchildren was ‘fine’ but she hadn’t quite finished there had she? Caitrin was holding Esmae protectively, but now she looked across to Arthur. She hadn’t thought about it before, but if Lucan died without male heirs, then the Dukedom would pass through Griff and then to Arthur. That was a worrying thought, and Caitrin almost panicked for a moment. She didn’t want to move anywhere, Camelot was their home. Caitrin wasn’t quite sure what to say in response to that, so she just remained quiet for once. This was more Griff and Lucan’s battle rather than hers. She could sit there and protest that she didn’t want her children to become Duke’s, she just wanted them to be happy, but unless Lucan and Camila produced an heir then it could be a very certain reality.

Esmae had got bored, and was trying to clamber out of her mother’s arms again. She had managed to turn around, and pulled herself up so she was looking over Caitrin’s shoulder. Caitrin couldn’t spare any time for her, however, because she was too busy watching Elaine, “No, it is my Uncle’s home.” She could still hear the cold tone that Elaine was addressing her with, and the quicker she got this woman out of her house then the better, “Though it will pass to my husband eventually.” She added after a brief pause, and then the home would be Arthur’s after they were long gone. She was still staring at Elaine, having already decided she didn’t care much for the woman, or her opinions on practically anything. Griff was already triple the parent she had shown herself to be in the past few minutes, “I believe it is customary to congratulate kin on the birth of their children, or are things done differently in Glouchedon?” She was just unimpressed with the woman so far, and Caitrin didn’t care about Elaine’s blessing for herself, but she did care for Griff. Perhaps it would mean something to him if his mother had a few kind words to say.

[Griff Aubert]

As much as I love family meetings, it does always end up with Griff just standing there awkwardly. Or in a fight...

Right, well, this had all be lovely, everyone knew each other and insults had been exchanged leading Griff to wonder what else his mother had to stay for. Oh, yes, she needed to make comments about Lucan too. His mother and brother had never got on, ever, as a child he hadn't really noticed it but after Lucan had left and Griff was a bit older his mother was always making some comment or other. It was then that Griff began to remember just how hostile she had been when he'd still been in Glouchedon. No wonder Lucan left, well, no wonder he'd left too. Luckily, Lucan didn't seemed to phased by Elaine's words, something which Griff couldn't decide whether he'd been expecting that or not. It was then that he realised this was the first time he'd been in the same room as Lucan and his mother since Lucan left. Now there was a strange thought. Surely the length of time it had been since such an event was an argument for its discontinuation? It was a hopeful thought, but Griff was never that lucky.

Arthur was beginning to stir in his arms, giving him a nice distraction. He was still wondering whether anyone would notice if he just left. Maybe Lucan would, but he could come too. They could just go to the tavern and leave Caitrin and Elaine to glare at each other. He looked over to Lucan, but he had an unreadable expression on his face. Well that was helpful. Griff was probably about to be in the middle of a crisis and Lucan was just standing there. It was his fault they were all in this situation in the first place. He didn't like Elaine, he'd probably have no qualms about just telling her to go away. But instead of doing something useful he'd brought her here. He would have started scratching his neck again, but then he'd drop Arthur.

"Well, isn't this lovely!" He said a little too cheerfully, desperate to get rid of some of the tension but fairly certain it wasn't going to work. "My mother, my brother, my wife and my children all in one room...yes, this has certainly been enjoyable. Well, mother, I suppose you don't want to be too late getting back..." Once again he was looking at Lucan, almost desperately, trying to force him to take his mother away. Otherwise he knew exactly what would happen. Elaine and Caitrin would end up in argument, Lucan would probably just stand there and Griff would be stuck in the middle and afterwards Elaine would start...well she'd start being his mother and he could really, really do with her not doing that. Quite frankly, he could do with her not being here at all.

[lucan]

Lucan could see the looks on Cait and Griff's faces at Elaine's words, he just shrugged with a 'I was expecting that' expression and calmly looked at his stepmother. "Well then by all means you are more than welcome to leave and return home to father - i'm sure he'd love to hear how at least one of us has managed to make something of themselves. Oh and i'm referring to Griff if it hadn't escaped your notice" he smiled charmingly, because around Elaine, it really wasn't hard to channel it. Not.

Elaine was now giving Cait a look of daggers at the mention of congratulations. Oh dear, that would certainly hit more than a few nerves with her. Lucan saw her purse her lips tightly, "It is indeed young lady." Oh no Elaine, Lucan ran a hand down his face, watching his stepmother begin to boil, "However, when one is not satisfied with what they find then it is a bit hard to offer such a custom."
"Then why are you here?" Lucan replied through gritted teeth. Elaine turned to him, "I came to see just what a shambles both my sons have made of themselves - I ws most certainly not expecting this much."

"My mother, my brother, my wife and my children all in one room...yes, this has certainly been enjoyable. Well, mother, I suppose you don't want to be too late getting back..."

"Oh its's been a riot" Lucan replied, seeing his brother's look of desperation for Luc to get Elaine out. The Knight turned to her, "You're forgetting something Elaine," Lucan replied, seeing Elaine's brows raise, "Im not your son, and nor will I ever be - now if you don't mind, I think it's time that I escorted you out and perhaps call for your carriage back to Glouchedon,"

Elaine's glare was now more colder than the winters of Camelot! "Well!" she huffed, "I will have to tell your father about how this place has turned you both into..."

"Into what exactly?" Lucan asked casually, "Into more happier men? Because that's who we are whether you like it or not. You can tell father all you like, but at the end of the day, im his heir, and i'll have you know that once the estate passes to me, you'll certainly know about it"

With that Lucan walked out calmly and into the courtyard, frankly he was more angry than he'd ever been in his life! But he dare didn't show it in front of Esmae and Arthur - they were already scared of the woman standing in their solar without their Uncle beginning a full blown argument. How dare this woman come and judge her only son and his family? Lucan had seen Griff grow from a child to a doting father who wanted nothing more than the love and safety of his wife and children. If Elaine couldn't stand to see him happy then clearly she shouldn't have come. He knew in a few moments she would be leaving and hopefully she would never set foot there again.

[Caitrin de Archer]

The longer her mother in law remained in her eye line, the quicker Caitrin could feel herself becoming agitated and angry. She was doing quite well, she felt, to keep her temper. Had this been a few years ago her younger self would not have hesitated with telling Elaine where she could take her ideas. No, Caitrin had done a lot of growing up since then, or at least she hoped so. It took all Caitrin’s tongue to bite back her temper as Elaine spoke again. She could feel her chest rising and falling rapidly as her temper was reigned in, but she wasn’t about to let that one go. Stopping her temper just meant she wasn’t going to smack to woman, though she deserved it. Plus, it wasn’t practical seeing as Esmae was still flailing around in her arms. “When in my home you will address me as my formal title, my Lady. I will not have you speaking to me as if I were one of your housemaids.” There was a raw anger behind her words, but she wasn’t shouting, her words were chillingly calm, and cool, but she meant every word. “Please, indulge us with what displeases you so, as all I can see is my husband, and our children. Nothing displeases me about this scene in the slightest.” If Elaine raised a word to insult Griff, Esmae or Arthur then she would seriously regret it. Caitrin could deal with insults against her own person, but she was fiercely protective over her little family, and she wouldn’t let anyone spoil what they had.

Elaine had already said too much, and Caitrin took a step towards the woman with nothing but hate in her eyes. “How dare you speak about my husband like that. You may not care for what he has here, but I do. I love him, and if you believe that to be a shambles then you have no place in this house, or in our lives.” She looked back to her husband, wondering if she had been too bold, he might still want his mother in his life after all, but Caitrin certainly didn’t. Elaine probably thought that she was intimidating, but she would only have to meet Payton de Archer to realise what intimidating was. Caitrin would never fear this woman in the same way she feared her father, and yet, they had faced him, and she and Griff would get through this little family affair together as well.

Esmae had started shifting in her mother’s arms again, and Caitrin could see she was starting to get upset, so she took a step back and began to rock the baby gently in her arms, trying to stop her from crying. That was all she needed right now, for one of the twins to start with their own issues. In truth Caitrin had seen and heard enough from Elaine to last her a lifetime. If she didn’t want to be part of their family then fine, but Caitrin didn’t want her here for any longer than was necessary. She didn’t want her near their children. But this wasn’t just her decision was it, it was Griff’s as well. Caitrin stepped to her husband’s side and nudged him slightly, “Griff, I will stand by what you want, but I don’t want her near the children.” If Griff wanted his mother to have some interaction with the twins she would grudgingly accept, but she would be there to make sure Elaine did not mistreat either of them. She kept having to remind herself that this was more Griff’s decision than hers.