Way before her time

The wedding quickly approached and before they all knew it, the day was upon them. Nerves wracked Marie, as she prepared to get married, to the man she'd spend the rest of her life with. Thoughts raced through her head. Was this right? What if it wasn't? What would she do? Did she love him enough?

Question after question, doubt after doubt until her chest heaved and she could barely breath.

"Marie!" Gwen gripped her shoulder, jolting her out of her panic attack. "Everything will be fine. Sit down and take a breather. You'll be fine. This is what you want."

Marie nodded her head along with Gwen's, breathing heavy. She let Gwen guide her to the bench in front of the vanity and gently push her down to sit on the cushioned seat.

She stared at her pale face in the mirror, the red lipstick sharply contrasting with the white pallor of her skin, making her look undead with a painted on face of makeup.

"You need to calm down before you make yourself pass out."

"Look at me." Gwen grabbed Marie by the shoulders and jerked Marie around to face Gwen.

"Breathe. Ok Marie, just breathe."

And slowly, Marie did.

"Ladies, it's time!" Katarina burst through the door, Marie jumped turning wide eyes to her tall, blonde friend while Gwen shot her a dirty look.

Katarina stood in the doorway, one hand on the knob the other clutching a bouquet of white roses and yellow daisies, looking baffled and stunned.

"Did I miss something?"

The look Gwen shot her would have killed a dead man walking, but all it did to Katarina was confuse her even more.

"Marie, you doing ok?" Katarina hesitantly asked, letting the hand with the bouquet rest at her side, the flowers resting against the yellow silk dress she wore as a bridesmaid.

Marie nodded her head yes, forcing a shaky smile. "Yeah, let's do this." Her words were breathless, but a little bit of color had returned to her skin. Gwen stood and she held a hand out to each of her friends, who smiled and took them, and the three headed out of the room together, ready to face the oncoming wedding and the trials soon to come.

Months passed in wedded bliss. Calla Lumine's birthday came and went, Ziron's soon after. Bae soon gave birth to a beautiful baby boy with his father's abilities. However, even then, Phineas kept her locked away with their son. Slowly Bae began to wilt before his eyes, months locked away with no human contact, no sun, no freedom...the life was being sucked right out of her. Phineas felt it like a knife stabbing as she slowly withered until finally he could no longer stand it, but he couldn't lose his son, so he came up with an proposal for her.

He brought it to her the next day. It was quite simple, he would give her freedom to go out and about on the town, but Neal could never go with her. He must remain there with him. If she chose to leave she could, but Neal would stay with him and if she went to the police he would take Neal and his family and disappear into the mists and she would never see her son again. As Neal got older he would allow her to move out and he would support them but until then, Neal was his. On the one condition she remained hidden from his wife until he convinced his wife he had rented it out and had her move in while Marie was on her trip to France.

She took it.

Soon she began to make daily trips out to the park, the library, never wandering very far, never gone for very long, and for the first time in a long time, she felt like herself again. Then one day she convinced Phineas to let her take Neal to the playground with the knowledge that if she tried to run, he'd be coming after her full force. And that was something she planned to avoid at all costs, not with the power Phineas possessed.

That day was the day that Phineas finally allowed Marie access to his "man den" and threw out the idea of renting it out.

"Why though? We don't need the money?"

"To expand our horizons?" He laughed. "I just feel like with all the people struggling we'd be able to help someone out, may not be much on the scheme of things, but it'd be something."

"Aw," Marie threw her arms around him, kissing him hard on the lips.

He was glad she did, otherwise his smirk would have given himself away. The bleeding heart of his wife was his best weapon. He knew she'd immediately give in with a sob story like that.

He quickly lost that train of thought as Marie became more aggressive, pushing him back against the wall. He moaned in surprise.

He'd forgotten how much of a turn on his wife was when she was fired up. Much better then Bae, for a moment he wondered what the hell his obessesion with Bae was when he had his wife right here...so much better....

Then those thoughts were gone as Marie ripped open his dress shirt, scattering buttons across the floor, attacking his neck with bites and nips. He'd have to remember to pick those up before Bae got back....

Dear lord he was in for the ride of his life....

They came out of the den wrapped around each other, laughing and kissing, and made their way into the house where Joaquin sat with the kids, the teen who lived down the road who babysat for them. His house wasn't the greatest to be in so he would come down to their place and often stay, not that they minded of course. He sat reading with Calla Lumine and Ziron, both babies sitting there, attention focused on the colorful pictures in the book Joaquin read from.  

Tomorrow, Marie and Bast left for a week and then Phineas would move Bae and Neal in and he'd pull together a new sob story to feed his wife. And for the first time since this all started, guilt began to eat away at him. 

The rest of the day passed pleasantly, Phineas forgetting and not caring about Bae and Neal for once. Soon Joaquin headed home and Calla Lumine and Ziron were tucked up tight in their beds and Phineas lay down beside his wife. Marie was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Phineas though, lay there, his mind racing.

When did he give up on his wife? When did he decide he needed to find someone else? That Marie wasn't enough when she so obviously was? What would he do with out her? If she found out what he did...she'd leave him...he knew that for sure....what could he do? He couldn't hide his secret forever, he knew that.

He laid there thinking...there was really only one thing he could do....

Marie left early the next morning, Bast tucked away in a carrier to prevent others from hurting her. Phineas watched until the car had faded into the distance, his heart sinking with every minute that passed. Bae was going to be expecting him to visit her. But he had no intention of doing so. Picking up his daughter and son, he went to visit Neal, with every intention of using them as a barrier to keep Bae at bay.

And of course it worked, the whole week, he grouped the children up and played with them, watching as the three formed a bond. But he felt Bae's eyes on him, longing, lingering, driving him crazy until he couldn't take it anymore. The day before Marie was due back he went to Bae and ended things, said she could stay as long as she wanted but nothing more would ever happen between them. She broke down crying, begging him not to leave, he explained it was just Stockholm syndrome and advised taking a short vacation before coming back. But Neal was his son, that was one thing he wouldn't give. Neal stayed with him.

He left her there, taking Calla Lumine and Ziron back to the main house to put them to bed, knowing they'd be up bright and early tomorrow, excited to see their mother again. Neal already asleep in his crib.

Bae laid down on the bed, silent tears running down her face. Despite him locking her up and treating her like this. She did love him. She always had...she thought maybe she could live sharing him...but now...she had no reason to live...not anymore....

Phineas sat Marie down and told her about Bae, explaining she was a single mother that was kicked out of her home because she couldn't afford it and needed a good place to stay and raise a baby. So he'd offered his old den to her for cheap and let her know they would work with her. Marie tackled him with a hug, rewarding him much later when the children were asleep.

Bae laid in her bed crying that night, knowing what Phineas and Marie were doing. She wanted to hate Marie but after Phineas having introduced her to Marie that afternoon as the new tenant, she couldn't. Marie was so kind hearted and under different circumstances she was sure they would have been friends.

As the time passed, Bae crying in her bed at night, constantly depressed, her plans on her mind. At first she'd fought them because of her son, thinking it was better to be this close to Phineas rather then dead and without him and their son. She quickly became friends with Marie, filling her heart with a bitter poison at the thoughts that raced through her head. Until she could no longer take it and she threw herself in the fountain in the backyard and drowned herself the night before Calla Lumine's birthday.

Marie was the one to find her the next morning, having gotten up to have their early morning coffee. Her scream woke the whole neighborhood.

The funeral was small and sober. Held at the Bledsoe's mansion. Marie and Phineas were taking Neal in as their son to raise as their own. Marie was sure it was what her friends wanted, Phineas...Phineas wasn't going to lose his son. He wasn't going to give his son up to anyone.

He felt victorious, with the death of Bae he was home free. Marie would never learn of what he did and he got to keep his son. He didn't have to lose anything or give up anyone. or so he thought....