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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 8:15:32 GMT -5
Zachary watched silently, his face etched with concern, as Tanya worked on Susie. Although he was annoyed by her at the moment, he was grateful that Tanya was here and that she had the skills necessary to ensure Susie's health.
When she finished and assured him that Susie was going to be fine, he relaxed visibly. Of course, now was the time for him to face the wrath of his brother and sister. He was not looking forward to it, and he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to say. If Tanya had her way, he'd probably be on the way to the altar as soon as Susie was strong enough.
Looking down at Susie, he sighed softly, feeling reluctant to leave her when she looked so pale and fragile. He moved forward and took her hand in his for a moment, squeezing it gently. "I'll be back soon," he whispered to her, knowing that she couldn't hear it, but somehow needing to say it anyway.
Then he looked up and met Thatcher's eyes. "All right, let's get this over with," he said. He let go of Susie's hand and strode purposely toward the door. Although he felt curiously like a condemned man, he was determined to walk with his head held high.
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 10:06:31 GMT -5
Thatcher nodded to Tanya, and the gave his son an apologetic smile.
Then, he was striding down the stairs, assuming Tanya would ensure that their brother followed. When they were back in the library, Thatcher turned, his arms crossed over his chest. "Start talking, Zachary. I want to know why you thought it was befitting of the Scotts name to have an affair with an engaged woman, and then why you ran. Because while I would have believed you felt nothing for... I saw the way you look at her. It's the same way I look at Alicia."
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Post by Tanya Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 10:14:53 GMT -5
Tanya followed Zachary out of the room and down the stairs and into the library. She went over to sit while Thatcher spoke. She was calm now, exceptionally calm and her gaze was dark and determined. But she too had seen that look from Zach, and it tempered her anger at him. If he cared about the girl than Thatcher would likely know how best to approach him. So she watched and listened but her gaze showed that her opinions had not changed and she would still not accept anything less of her younger brother than for him to accept his responsibility and grow up.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 10:24:41 GMT -5
Zachary was prepared to fight with his brother, but at his last words, he faltered. Thatcher knew him well enough to spot the change in him, and it threw him off.
Sighing, he sank down into the nearest chair and rubbed his hands over his face. "I fell for her," he confessed. "I didn't plan to... I never planned for any of this to happen. It just did. At first it was a flirtation... I was doing some work with her father, and running a scam on her fiance. So we were thrown together a lot... and she was just so beautiful I couldn't resist. Before I even realized it, I was in love with her. I don't... I've never been in love before, and it made me careless. I got into some trouble... a few bad bets... and then, her fiance found out. He's powerful, Thatch... and very rich. He figured out I was sleeping with her, and he lured me into a trap. We were playing poker--a muggle game that's getting very popular with American wizards--and he bet me more than I could pay. He rigged the game somehow... and I lost. So he had his henchmen beat me, and then he demanded that I leave town--and Susie--without a word."
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 10:30:08 GMT -5
"And she found you here?" Thatcher asked. "She was lucky to come while you were still here." Or had Zachary wanted it to make it easy for her to find him? Had he even considered that she would come?
"And leaving town, and his fiance, cancelled your debt?" It was a fair assumption, the way Zachary told it.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 10:52:40 GMT -5
Zachary took a breath. Now they were at the sticking point; the point at which Thatcher was either going to help him out, or murder him.
"He didn't cancel the debt. He agreed to forgive it; so long as I never set eyes on Suzette again or contact her in any way. I never counted on her coming for me. I won't deny... a part of me wanted her to. Merlin knows I could have completely vanished and been untraceable, if I had wanted to. But after what happened... it made me miss all of you, so I decided to come home. But now that she's here... I'm putting my deal with Taylor at risk. He doesn't know she's here, she gave some excuse about visiting family in France. But if Taylor comes looking for her... I'm as good as dead."
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 11:52:29 GMT -5
"You're as good as dead either way, Zach. If her fiance doesn't murder you, I might. And Lord knows if I don't..." he trailed off, looking pointedly at Tanya.
So the girl's fiance didn't know she was here... or that she was pregnant. "Wait... he knew about the affair, then? No wonder the man wants you dead. You sleep with his fiance, pull a scam on him... or was she the scam? I swear, Zach, if her fiance gets wind of her being here and *any* harm comes to any member of this family except you, including that baby, I will kill you without a second thought."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 11:59:57 GMT -5
Zachary sighed again. "I never pulled the scam, and I don't think he found out about that part of it. I backed out of it when I became involved with Susie. If he'd known about it, I'm pretty sure he would have killed me." He shook his head. "He only knew about the affair. She says he doesn't know about the baby, and I have no reason to believe she would have told him. She never loved him, Thatch... she was betrothed to him by her father, and she wanted out. I made promises to her... promises I had no right to make and no ability to keep." Looking up at his brother almost pleadingly, he added, "When you came in, she was trying to tell me something... why she doesn't know if the baby is mine. I think he might have forced himself on her in some way. I can't... I can't let her be with a man who would do that. It would be one thing if he was going to take care of her, but I can't live with the thought that he'd hurt her. I need to get her out of this somehow."
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 12:04:47 GMT -5
Thatcher shook his head and finally sat down across from his brother.
"Listen to me, Zach. We are not jumping to conclusions. You could have misunderstood her. At any rate, if the child is not yours, she remains his fiance, and what a man does with or to his fiance or wife is his own business, however much you may disagree with it. If the baby is not yours, you're staying out of this entirely, and we'll wash our hands of it. It's none of our business."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 12:08:01 GMT -5
Zachary looked up at him, his eyes clouded with pain. He couldn't bear the thought of letting Susie marry Taylor. Now that she was here, he realized just how much he loved her, and he didn't think he could let her go a second time. For the first time in his life, he actually was hoping that he was about to be a father.
"And if the child is mine?" he asked quietly.
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Post by Tanya Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 13:23:33 GMT -5
Tanya continued to sit quietly just watching them, her gaze not changing one iota. Men were often slow to come to some realizations and she was willing to wait for them to get there all on their own as long as they arrived at the correct end location before the girl woke up. So far she had no reason to interrupt, and waited for their logic to catch up. Although she was going to find out for certain who's baby it was soon.
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 16:46:24 GMT -5
Thatcher sighed. "It presents complications if the baby is yours," he replied. "Obviously, it will be raised as a Scotts. There is no question about that, and we won't have shame brought on your head or hers... so the pregnancy and the baby will be kept quiet. Or you'll marry her, but it would have to be soon so as not to raise suspicions about the timing. It doesn't matter, we'll figure that out when it happens. What we will need to worry about is her fiance... if he's as rich and as powerful as you say, he won't easily be bought off."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 18:25:42 GMT -5
Zachary was quiet for a moment, thinking this over. "If it's mine... I'll marry her. I want to marry her." He was a little shocked at the sincerity he felt upon saying these words. He had always sworn he would never get married. "If we can figure out a way to deal with Taylor, and if I can get her to forgive me for leaving her... I swear I'll marry her."
He looked up at them, his eyes traveling from Thatcher to Tanya and back again. "I know I've been... irresponsible in the past. Since I've met her, I started to take a look at how I was living my life. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. But leaving her... even though I was forced... It's my biggest regret."
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 19:57:19 GMT -5
"All right... that's a lot of ifs, Zach." Thatcher leaned back in his chair. "We'll need to have this entirely planned out... but we need to know who the father of that baby is, first. Word of this gets to no one else in the family until we know for sure. We'll... we'll just say she's a guest, because she will of course stay here. I don't know if she'll want her own room or to share with you, but Im sure Gwen wouldn't mind sharing with... Justin or Xavier for a couple of days. And he'll want that debt repaid..."
His hard eyes met Zachs. "How deep is your debt to him, Zachary?"
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 21:14:24 GMT -5
"I want to determine if the baby's mine just as much as anyone else, but please, don't push her just yet. Let her get some rest and get her strength back," Zachary said. "And don't worry about where I'll sleep. If Alicia can get the guest room ready in time, I'll just stay there. Let her stay in Thane's room; he's at school, anyway, right?"
Zachary sighed. Of course he'd known he couldn't avoid the question indefinitely. "It's 100,000 galleons,"* he replied. "That's not even including some debts I'd built up before that, although I don't think he'll be collecting those. But because of them, I'm blacklisted at most of the places I used to be able to go to make back some of what I owed. I wouldn't have even come back if I had been able to make up for it, like I've always done in the past."
*According to the wizarding world currency converter, this is equal to a little over $1,000,000.
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Post by Tanya Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 21:20:54 GMT -5
At this, Tanya's eyes widened. He'd managed to get into debt over a small fortune. Then her eyes narrowed but she still didn't say anything. How could he be so irresponsible? First the affair and now large debts. Her first thought was that regardless of who he ended up marrying, he was going to marry someone, soon. Regardless of what he wanted, if nothing less than it was well past time for him to become responsible and a respectable Scotts.
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 21:30:08 GMT -5
"Oh. I wasn't thinking. She can have Gwen's room anyway." All the children were back at school... he had forgotten that. Of course, who could blame him when a number like that was dropped. Granted, Thatcher had several times that amount, but that was besides the point.
Thatcher closed his eyes. That was... ridiculous. "If it comes to it, I'll pay it. But you will find a way to pay me back, do you understand? I don't..." he stopped, and decided that this point in the conversation no longer required Zachary.
He turned to his sister. "How difficult would it be and how soon could you do a paternity test?"
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 21:52:49 GMT -5
Zachary had the distinct impression that he had just been dismissed. Thatcher was angry about the money, and Zach couldn't blame him. Quite honestly, he was still stung by it. He'd lost a few bets here and there in the past; he'd mounted up some debts. But he'd always been able to make it back twice over with a few lucky hands, or by pulling a scam. The truth was, he was actually a bit of a con artist. But never before had he fallen so far that he couldn't climb his way back up again.
For the first time in his life, he felt truly... helpless. It was a singularly unpleasant feeling. Here he suddenly felt that his entire future was resting on a roll of the dice. He sat back and watched silently as his brother and sister debated his future as if he wasn't even there.
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Post by Tanya Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 21:53:56 GMT -5
"If you don't want me to take her to my office at the hospital than I would just need to get some things and bring them here. Not long really. I hope she's not afraid of Needles though. But as soon as you need me to I guess. It will only take an hour or so for the test itself, then a few hours for the results. It just depends on how she is when she wakes up really. I don't want to stress the baby too much, if she has issues with the testing or needles, then she'd have to be temporarily sedated." The process involved a needle into the womb, luckily the woman was already enough weeks along that the procedure could be done. But if the woman got stressed during the testing, it would cause risk to the baby.
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 16, 2008 21:58:44 GMT -5
"That's a question I can't answer," Thatcher said. "And I doubt Zachary knows her well enough to say either." It was a harsh comment, but Zach was right. Thatcher was angry, and the way he saw it was this: He was pulling his little brother out of the hole, he had the right to take charge of the situation.
"Could we do it while she was sleeping? Or... she might wake up."
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