Disclaimer: see part one

"Family Ties," continued

An hour later, Kristin and Nathan lay in her bed, face to face, talking. Both were on the verge of sleep when they heard a knock on the door. Kristin slowly got up and grabbed her robe from where it lay discarded on a nearby chair. She opened the door a crack to talk with someone outside.

"What? ... Slow down ... When? ... How far apart? ... OK, give me five minutes ..." Nathan only heard snatches of her side of the conversation, but what he heard put his senses into overdrive. Shaking the sleep from his eyes, he sat up as Kristin closed the door and crossed to the closet.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Felicia's going into labor," she replied, pulling on a pair of jeans. "The contractions are five minutes apart and the doctor from town has to deliver another baby tonight."

Nathan slipped out of bed and pulled on his robe. "Well than I guess you get called into service, Doctor," he rejoined with a grin.

"I just wish I'd had at least a little sleep in the past twenty-four hours."

He wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace. "If you need anything, let me know."

"Thanks, but I think maybe you should get back to your room before someone gets suspicious about why you're in mine," she suggested. Though she had a feeling at least one of her daughters, not to mention her father, had an inkling of her relationship with Nathan, it was something different actually getting caught.

"I'll wait until the coast is clear and then I'll sneak back," he nodded

Kristin shook her head and pointed at a door about halfway along the side wall of the room. "Use that one, it goes directly to your room."

Nathan frowned, amused, "You weren't planning on this happening, were you?"

"You can never tell when something like that will come in handy," she replied innocently, leaving the room. A minute later she poked her head back in the room and blew him a kiss.

Shaking his head, Nathan smiled and returned to his room. But his training as a submarine captain had already kicked in, the adrenaline pumping through his system. Nathan knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep, so instead of trying he just pulled on some clothes and wandered out into the hall to see what he could do to help. There he found Kevin standing outside a room down the hall, looking lost.

"How's it going?" Nathan asked, joining the nervous young man.

"I didn't know you were up," Kevin said, surprised. He was too preoccupied to question exactly how Nathan knew that his wife was in labor.

"I couldn't sleep," Nathan said noncommittally.

Just then the door opened and Rose appeared, holding a pan of water. "How is she?" Kevin said immediately, pouncing on the woman.

"She's doing fine," Rose smiled encouragingly and then disappeared down the hall.

Nathan took a resisting Kevin by the arm and led him in the other direction, toward the stairs. "Where are we going?" the younger man asked, panic in his eyes.

"Downstairs."

"But shouldn't we be near, just in case something happens?"

"We'll still be close enough to help should we be needed," Nathan replied, remembering how nervous he'd been when Robert was born. He'd never felt so helpless in his life. But Kevin still looked doubtful. "Listen," Nathan tried again, "they're going to be in there for hours, the best thing for you to do is relax and let the women handle things up here."

Kevin threw an uncertain glance over his shoulder back at the room and sighed. "You're probably right."

Nathan again took him by the arm and led him down the stairs and into the sitting room. Sitting Kevin down in a chair, he went over to the bar in the corner and pulled out the first bottle he saw, not caring what it was. Pouring two glasses of it, he handed one to Kevin and sat down on the sofa with the other.

"I ... I shouldn't," Kevin objected, putting the glass down on the table as if it was filled with poison.

Nathan sighed, rolling his eyes behind the other man's back. "You need something to calm your nerves, it's likely to be a long night of waiting."

Kevin looked at him for a long minute before leaning over and slowly picking up the drink off the table. Taking a cautious sip, he leaned back in the chair, trying his best to stay calm. "You act like you've been through this before."

Nathan laughed, "I was ten times worse than you when Robert was born."

"So you were married before?" Prior to the previous day, Kevin had never met Nathan Bridger and knew nothing of the man's past. Asking about him seemed the easiest way to take his mind off of his wife for a bit. He felt so utterly helpless sitting there.

Nathan nodded, allowing the questions about a topic that was usually taboo. "For twenty-five years before Carol passed away." He could feel the tears beginning to form at the memory of Robert's birth. He was supposed to ship out that day, but when the news came, he got permission from his commanding officer to join the ship two days later. By the time he reached the hospital, Carol was about to undergo a cesarean. Holding Robert later that day, he had felt like the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. It was a feeling he would never forget.

"I'm sorry," Kevin said quietly.

"Don't be," Nathan shook his head, tossing back the last of his drink with a flick of the wrist. "Be happy. That's all ancient history. What's important now is that young lady upstairs who is in the process of making your life and hers that much better."

* * *

Several uncounted hours later, Nathan opened his eyes to see Kristin leaning over him, shaking his shoulder, "Nathan."

"I think I died and went to heaven." he replied, running a tired hand over his face as he tried to erase the groggy feeling from his mind.

She smiled, "No, you just fell asleep."

Suddenly he remembered the night before, sitting around, waiting. He shot up into a sitting position, question on his lips. "The baby?"

Weary, Kristin sank heavily down next to him on the sofa, "A healthy baby boy, Mackenzie Alan Phillips. He's resting with his parents upstairs."

"Congratulations, Grandma," he said putting his arm around her and giving a light squeeze.

"Thank you, but all I did was catch him," Kristin replied, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"What time is it?" he asked, looking down to see that he'd forgotten to put on his watch earlier.

"Almost ten o'clock," she yawned as Nathan stood up. "Where are you going?"

He extended his hand to help her up, "I'm taking you to bed."

"My, you certainly have a one-track mind," she smiled, taking the proffered hand and letting him pull her to her feet.

"As much as I'd like to, you, my dear, need sleep."

"You're probably right," she yawned again as she locked her fingers with his and they headed for the stairs.

* * *

Kristin woke to an empty room with the drapes pulled shut. A glance at the clock told her she'd been out for almost ten hours. I guess I must have been more tired than I thought, she mused, heading for the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, after a hot shower and change of clothes, Kristin wandered into the kitchen.

"Good evening, ma'am," Marie smiled from by the sink where she was washing dishes. "Are you hungry? I saved some dinner for you."

"Wonderful," Kristin returned her smile. "I'm famished." She looked around as Marie began pulling food out of the refrigerator. "Where is everyone else?"

"The young ladies are upstairs with the little one, and the gentlemen went to the pub to celebrate," the cook replied, setting several dishes down on the counter.

"They went where?" Kristin almost dropped the plate in her hand.

"The pub, ma'am," Marie repeated calmly, "it was your father's idea."

"All three of them went?" Kristin's eyebrows were slowly climbing to new heights. Her father, and maybe even Nathan, she could imagine frequenting the local pub, but she thought her son-in-law at least had more sense than that.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Marie," came a voice from the hall, "Marie, do you have -- oh, Mom, you're awake," Cynthia stopped upon seeing her mother sitting at the table.

"Well I'm certainly not dead, if that's what you mean," Kristin replied.

"What are you looking for, Miss?" Marie asked, coming over.

"Oh, uh, Felicia wants to know if you have any old rags she can use for diapers until she can get some real ones."

"Certainly, Miss," Marie smiled. "I think I might be able to find some of your mother's from when she was born."

"Oh, tell me you don't still have those things," Kristin said, feeling her cheeks turning red.

"No, but I'm sure I can find something we can use," Marie said with a wink and left the room.

"So, Mom," Cynthia pulled out a chair and sat down, "how goes it with the captain?"

"Oh, so there is something between you and Captain Bridger," Kristin and Cynthia turned to see Felicia standing in the doorway, cradling Mackenzie in her arms.

"What is this, you're both ganging up on me now?" Kristin sighed.

"It's only because we love you, Mom," Cynthia said.

"And we want to see you happy," Felicia finished, settling herself in the chair next to her sister. Seated next to each other, it was easy to see the resemblance between the two sisters, despite their different personalities.

"And if I said we're madly in love and plan on eloping tonight?" Kristin asked with one eyebrow raised speculatively.

Cynthia burst out laughing. "If I didn't think you'd do it just to spite me, I'd say that's uncharacteristic of you."

"I think it's kind of sweet," Felicia said, "and I'm really happy that you've found someone. I know you didn't really show it, but you took the divorce from Dad pretty hard."

"Nathan and I are friends," Kristin insisted.

"Listen, Mom, we're not trying to pry or anything here," Cynthia explained. "Personally, I couldn't care less if you're getting it on with him --"

"Cynthia Eileen Beaumont, watch your language," Kristin frowned at her daughter. She had certainly taught both of her daughters better than that. "No matter what my relationship with Nathan may be, we are not 'getting it on.'"

Felicia unsuccessfully tried to hide an amused smile behind her hand as her sister shifted uncomfortably at their mother's harsh tone. "Sorry," Cynthia muttered, before her eyes grew determined again. "But my point still stands. However intimate your relationship might be, that's none of our business, and I'm not saying it is. What I am saying is that we care for you, and that does make it at least partly our business."

"I appreciate your concern, however misplaced it may be," Kristin smiled at her daughters. "But really, I've been around the block a few times, and I've been through more broken hearts than both of you hopefully ever will combined. I can take care of myself."

"I never said that," Cynthia protested, looking over at her sister. "Did you?"

Felicia shook her head without replying, preferring to let her sister dig her own grave. Cynthia always had been the more outspoken of the two.

"I do have one question, though, Mom," Cynthia continued on. "I know you and Captain Bridger were dating for awhile after the seaQuest was destroyed, but I thought you guys broke if off months ago? What gives?"

"You were dating him before?" Her eyebrows scrunched together in question, Felicia stared at her mother.

Kristin sighed, wondering why she had ever thought it was a good idea to teach her daughters to talk. "Shortly after the first seaQuest was lost, Nathan and I began ... seeing each other. It pretty much lasted until last August when the new seaQuest was completed. Nathan and I both know how difficult it is to carry on a long distance relationship, and I wasn't sure I would be able to handle worrying about him constantly, so we mutually agreed to end things between us."

"So then how did he know you were here?" Felicia asked.

"We're still friends, and we talk over vid-link occasionally. I was talking with Nathan when I got the call from Rose about father," Kristin explained.

"Well it's obvious he still cares for you," Cynthia said.

But Kristin didn't reply, thinking about Nathan and the night before.

* * *

Over the next several days, things slowly settled in. Almost everyone had dark circles form under their eyes as they all pitched in to help the first-time parents learn the ins and outs of having a baby in the house. For all his grumbling otherwise, Lionel was secretly pleased that the old house would once again be filled with the sounds of children. It was something he had missed.

Kristin, meanwhile, played up her role as doting grandmother, rarely letting Mackenzie out of her sight. And the few times that she did, she was undoubtedly to be found wherever Nathan was. It amazed her how easily they were able to fall back into their easy relationship, despite the long moths apart. But she was slightly disturbed by the fact that Nathan seemed to be growing more and more distant as the days passed.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Nathan asked, following Kristin through the dense forest surrounding the estate. Cynthia had encouraged Nathan to have Kristin show him the grounds. Kristin had readily agreed, getting that mischievous little smile that immediately sent him into red alert.

"You'll see," Kristin threw him a smile over her shoulder. "I promise it will be worth the walk."

"OK," he replied, still unsure. Trailing behind her, Nathan thought back over the morning. They had wandered through the seemingly endless garden, talking, laughing, holding hands, stealing kisses here and there. Nathan couldn't remember the last time he had spent such a pleasant day.

Now they were headed for an unknown destination. Kristin had called it her favorite place on the grounds, and promised repeatedly that he would love it. Suddenly they emerged from the woods into a large clearing. In the center, surrounded by trees, was a large pond. On one side was an old wooden dock, and on the other stood a gazebo with white railings and green tiled roof.

"This was where I learned to swim," Kristin explained. "James and I would come out here in the summer and spend hours splashing around."

"I can see why you love it so much," Nathan said, still in awe of the view. It was truly breathtaking, and very easy to see a young Kristin disappearing out here to waste many an afternoon.

"I wonder ... " Kristin murmured and took off toward the dock, Nathan following again. Upon reaching it, Kristin walked out to the edge and bent down, a huge smile forming on her face. "I can't believe they're still here," she said in almost a reverential whisper.

"What?" Nathan asked kneeling down next to her.

Kristin laughed, "When I was ... twelve years old, James fell in love with one of my friends from school. I thought he was silly, she was at least three years younger than him, but he insisted it was true love. Well, one day we were all out here goofing around when he pulled out his pocket knife and carved her initials on the dock," she pointed at a large heart carved in the dock. Inside the heart was a rough version of the phrase 'JW + AH.'

"They broke up a few weeks later, and every time we came out here, I would tease James about it. Eventually it got so that every time one of us would start dating someone new, we would come out here and carve the initials into the dock. It started out as a joke, but as we grew older it eventually turned into a contest to see who would end up with more." She laughed again.

Nathan's eyes twinkled merrily at the image of a young Kristin. "My what a rebellious youth you were."

She shot him a dirty look, but then brightened and he could literally see the lightbulb going off above her head. "Have you got a pocket knife with you?"

"You don't intend to --"

"I have to," she protested. "James is still one up on me." She held her hand out, wiggling her fingers in the universal 'give me' sign. "Come on, fork it over, Nathan."

Seeing she was not about to give in, Nathan gave a small chuckle, reaching deep into his pocket to retrieve his trusty Swiss army knife. Settling back on his heels, he watched the youthful exuberance with which she set to work carving.

* * *

Kristin and Nathan entered the kitchen later that afternoon to find Marie fighting with a crying baby.

"What's the matter with him?" Kristin asked, her mothering instincts coming alive. She immediately reached for the baby, lifting him into his arms.

"I don't know, ma'am," Marie sighed in relief at finally being able to pass the child on to someone else. "I tried changing his diaper, but that didn't work so I was about to feed him."

"Poor thing," Kristin looked down, smoothing the soft hair on the baby's head. "You must be starving," she cooed, pacing back and forth across the room a bit to try and settle him. Taking his bottle from Marie's outstretched hand, Kristin gently inserted the tip into his greedy mouth, immediately quieting his screams..

Shaking her head disgustedly, Marie walked away muttering, "I don't want to know."

"You're good with him," Nathan observed.

Kristin smiled indulgently, watching her grandson hungrily devouring the warm milk. "I had plenty of experience with his mother, she was the same way when she was hungry," she explained.

"Oh, sir," Rose said, entering the room, "there was a call for you from a ... Lucas Wolenczak," she pronounced the name slowly to get it right.

"You told Lucas you were coming here?" Kristin said, her voice somewhere between angry, shocked, and amused.

"Only that I was coming, not why," he replied, placing a reassuring hand on her back as he slipped past her. "Where is there a vid-link I can use?"

Kristin looked over at Rose in askance. "Is Father still in his study?"

"No, ma'am," Rose shook her head.

Kristin looked back over to Nathan, "You can use the one in the study, that way you'll have a little privacy."

Nodding his thanks, Nathan left and headed for the study, where he put in the number of the seaQuest. After a moment's wait, Lieutenant O'Neill's face popped up on the screen, "Captain," the young communications officer greeted him, reaching up to adjust his glasses on his face. "How is your vacation going?" He could tell O'Neill was curious about the origin of the call, but would never dream of asking.

"Fine, Lieutenant," Nathan replied. "I'm returning a call from Lucas, could you find him for me?"

"Sure, hold on a minute, sir."

O'Neill's face disappeared and in a minute was replaced with Lucas's grinning features. "Hey, Cap."

"What's up, Lucas?" Nathan asked, getting right down to business.

"Well, we have a little problem down here that I think you should be aware of."

Nathan was immediately concerned by Lucas' tone of voice. Most of the time the boy was easy-going enough to let most everything just roll off his back. "Meaning what exactly?"

Lucas took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before answering. "Do you remember those fish we found just before you left?"

"Yes," Nathan said slowly. The day before he'd left for England, the seaQuest had found a school of fish that no one could identify. Some had been brought aboard in an effort to classify and study them. "What's wrong with them?"

"Well, some crew members accidentally ate a couple and have since become very sick," Lucas expelled the entire sentence in one breath.

"How many are sick?" Nathan asked. "And exactly how sick is sick?"

"A dozen or so had symptoms that were very similar to a mild case of food poisoning, but three others, including Doctor Smith, have slipped into coma," Lucas explained. " But on a brighter note, we have been able to ID the fish, though."

"And?"

"It's a rare form of puffer," the teen said. "It's known to the locals as pez venenoso. Apparently it's pretty nasty."

"Poisonous fish ..." Nathan sat back in his chair, running one hand over his chin as he ran Lucas' comments through his mind. Something in the back of his mind kept bothering him, almost as if he'd heard of the fish before. "Hold on a moment, Lucas," he said finally, his lips pursed together as he pushed himself out of the chair.

"Yeah, sure," Lucas nodded, wondering at the Captain's strange behavior.

Nathan disappeared from the screen, returning a minute later with Kristin, who had left the now sleeping baby with Marie. "Hello, Lucas," she smiled, sitting down in front of the small screen. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine, Doctor," he grinned back at her, Nathan's actions over the past week making a bit more sense. "You?"

"I'm good. So what is this urgent matter that Nathan mentioned?" Lucas repeated what he had told Nathan earlier, pausing occasionally in his telling to answer her questions. As he finished, Kristin let out a low whistle. "Pez venenoso, now there's a name I haven't heard in a long while."

Lucas frowned, "You know this fish, Doc?"

She smiled and gave an embarrassed nod. "I did my senior thesis in college on poisonous fish. I don't remember too many specifics, but I do seem to remember that pez is a particularly nasty little guy."

"Yeah," Lucas replied with a short laugh. "We've seen that."

"What are the symptoms of those who are sick?" Kristin asked, her voice becoming businesslike.

"Fever, increased heart rate, nausea, dilated pupils, and a real bad case of diarrhea. The bathrooms have been real busy for the last two days." Nathan tried to hide his smile; only a teen would notice such a thing.

"Those aren't the typical symptoms of food poisoning," Kristin frowned, shaking her head in disgust. "Who diagnosed it as such?"

"Doctor Smith," Lucas said. "But in the early stages, the most prevalent symptoms did point to food poisoning. It's not until later that the others become apparent."

Kristin nodded, "Sounds about right. Are those in comas the first to come down with the symptoms?"

Lucas scrunched up his face in thought. "All except Doctor Smith, I think. Why?"

"I would keep track of those not in a coma," Kristin suggested. "They might not be too far behind." She turned around to look at Nathan, who'd remained quiet while she was conversing with Lucas, but she knew that simply meant he was taking in everything they were saying. "Nathan, this fish is not something you mess with. Everyone on that boat who ingested it needs to get help, and fast."

Nathan nodded, looking over her shoulder to meet Lucas' gaze. "Lucas, tell Ford I'm on my way and to have a launch meet me at the surface in twenty-four hours."

"Sure thing," the boy nodded. "Are you bringing the Doc with you?"

Nathan looked at Kristin, who nodded, They both knew she was the best, not to mention the fastest doctor they could find with knowledge of the fish. "Yeah, and let me know if things get worse." Lucas nodded and ended the connection. "Do you think you can find a copy of your thesis and pack in less than an hour?" Nathan asked, looking back over at Kristin.

"I'll be ready," she smiled, and with a quick kiss left Nathan to make travel arrangements.

To Be Continued ...

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