Three things had happened in the two weeks since Charlie had made his … revaluation. The first was strikingly obvious, Romey hadn't spoken to him at all, not one word or a single sound effect. The second was that Abe had spent every single second questioning the teenager about it; some were questions Romey had no idea how to answer. Lastly was Romey's semi-permanent panic and worry. That was how she found herself laying on her bed in the crappy motel she called home staring at the ceiling blankly.

The raven-haired beauty had liked Charlie, she really had, maybe even loved him … okay Romey loved him. How that had crept up on Andromeda she wasn't entirely sure but she did. Truly did. Her body and mind had decided for her and Romey couldn't deny it now.

She sighed. Mother. He wanted her to be the mother of children she'd never even met; an unknown quantity of children. Romey's own mother hadn't even stuck around, frankly neither of her parents would have won any awards. Romey hadn't had ever had a maternal figure in her life, what if Romey wasn't any good at being a Mom? Then there was the fact she just so happened to be seventeen years old. Were seventeen year olds meant to be mothers? Then again, the children Manx took hadn't really had the best Moms to begin with. No, she couldn't. Could she?

A loud bang sounded on the door then and Romey jumped. The cops had stopped coming by and Charlie was too gentlemanly to bang on her door so intrusively. Could have been the Super though Romey seriously doubted it.

"Who is it?" She called out without moving her dazzling green eyes from the ceiling.

"It's Abe. Open the bloody door, Little Lady." He shouted.

Romey sighed again before she got herself up and let him in.

"Sounding rather fatherly there, Abey."

She stepped aside for him to enter her little motel room and forced herself not to pay too much attention to his disapproving expression.

"Well, someone has to." He kicked the door shut with his foot. "You do realize you were meant to be at Parnassus."

Romey's eyes widened in confusion. "No, I have Sunday off."

Abe nodded. "Yeah, you do, but it's Monday, Romey."

Those wide green eyes turned to a furrowed brow faster than 'dude, hold my beer' turned into a bad idea.

"It is?" She asked quietly and the bespectacled man nodded once more.

"Yes, it is. You okay, Little Lady?"

Though Romey nodded she didn't seem very convinced; Manx really had done a number on her.

"I'm fine, thanks, Abe. And I'm sorry, let me quickly grab my stuff, stick some shoes on and at least put some eyeliner on then I'll come to the bar."

"Nope." Andromeda raised an eyebrow. "Tell me what's wrong. You've been weird since Halloween and I know it has something to do with Charlie bloody Manx. What did he do?"

The elder man placed his hands on his hips and truly did look rather fatherly in that moment. He'd really come to care for Andromeda in the months she'd been working for him at Parnassus, and he certainly didn't want Manx destroying one of his friends; even accidentally.

"... Charlie asked me to be … to be their mother."

Abe's head fell into his hands as he sighed deeply. Leave it to Manx to take the one innocent girl he'd ever met and turn her into his own little glorified broodmare. The last time this sort of thing had all gone south Manx had fucking paralyzed a woman, Abe didn't want that happening to Romey.

"I wouldn't be any good at it." The teen told him self-deprecatingly. "And his kids probably wouldn't like me."

The bar owner's head snapped up from his hands. "Romey, you're actually considering this? There is a reason Charlie has never found this bloody girl he's been searching for. She doesn't exist. He's too picky and when he realizes that he gets angry. Jolene found out, Vic McQueen is in the middle of finding out."

"He thought I wasn't the right one at first and he didn't hurt me."

Abe shook his head. "That's not the point-"

"And those other girls clearly did something to him." Abe's unkempt eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I've heard you two talking about Vic McQueen and all the problems she's caused him. You told him to kill her the first night we all met."

A sudden look of realization splashed across Abe's bearded face, like an epiphany. He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Romey," he started softly when he finally returned the glasses to his face and looked up at her once more, "I think I figured out what the cost of your Inscape is." Her brow netted together in a deep but curious furrow. "You can't tell right from wrong any longer, that's why you haven't noticed it. Manx can't either, he's twisted and I think that's happening to you. It's why he thinks you should be their mother."

"Maybe there's just nothing wrong with him." She suddenly snapped defensively.

With a sorrowful expression, Abe rested a large hand on Romey's slender shoulder. "I take it back. You weren't right for him, but you are now."

Romey beamed. "You think I could do it? Be their Mom?"

She continued to grin completely missing the point of what Abe had said. He didn't know where that sweet, young girl that had walked into Parnassus had ended up but she wasn't the girl standing before him.

Not knowing what else to say to Romey he just nodded and let her have the win. Manx had done it, he'd found a mother for all those children … but he'd done it by corrupting what had been a sweet teenage girl.

He turned to leave but Andromeda grabbed him by the arm and forced him back to face her.

"Abe? Are we still friends?"

The elder man breathed out a laugh. "Of course we are."

Yes, Abe hated that Romey wouldn't ever be the same, but he hoped that deep down there was still some of her left, had to be, and when the day came that she saw it Abe was determined to be there to pick up the pieces. One didn't abandon their friends just because jumped off the deep end, if they did then no one would ever make friends. Abe would always be there for Andromeda Dixon.

Romey hugged him tight. "Thanks for helping me, Abe. I think I know what I'm going to tell Charlie, as soon as I figure out how to contact him of course. And I'm sorry I missed work."

~X~

Andromeda hadn't understood what Abe had meant when he'd told her she couldn't differentiate right and wrong, she'd always been the same, wasn't like she'd changed over night. At least from Romey's perspective she hadn't.

She'd gone back to work at Parnassus and lived her life until Charlie had decided he'd left her alone long enough and come traipsing back to see what Romey had decided. That was how she'd ended up being accosted by Manx's giant of a lackey on her way back to her room.

Without warning the pudgy man had just grabbed her by the arm and all but yanked her down towards The Wraith whose headlights shone boldly at her door … her open door.

"Mister Manx?" Anton The Giant's stunt double called out.

He finally released her and Romey nearly tumbled to the ground on her unstable heels. After a second Manx stepped out from her room and into the beams of the headlights. He'd aged again though nowhere near as much as before, this time he'd just gone grey at his temples and had a few deep lines in his face.

"Ahh, Andromeda, there you are." He flashed her a smile. "Please forgive my intrusion into your home but it was Mister Partridge who elected to kick the door in."

She glanced up at Bing with a very unimpressed expression. "Seriously, dude? Did you even knock?"

Bing opened his mouth to answer but he didn't get very far before Manx took over.

"Andromeda, the reason I came was to-" She cut him off.

"To see if I'd made a decision about the whole Mommy thing."

Charlie reached out for her and Romey let him cup her cheek, there was a tenderness in his chocolate orbs that surprised even him.

"You need not put it so bluntly, Andromeda."

Was it Romey's imagination or did Manx seem cautious? Maybe it didn't matter. No, it didn't matter because Romey had made her decision. Ever since her mother had bailed all those years ago she'd been searching for a place to belong, somewhere to call home; it hadn't just been her need but her want. However, now that Romey thought about it, on the night she showed up at Parnassus Charlie had been there as well to speak with Abe. Perhaps her Inscape hadn't taken her to the bar but to Charlie Manx and his Wraith. So, when she snuggled into Manx's blue coat clad chest and let him envelop her in his arms she knew that it didn't matter if she fully understood what had happened or how she'd gotten to this point; her Inscape was never wrong.

"I'll go with you. That's my decision." She whispered against his chest.

"Really?" Manx beamed.

Romey nodded. "Yes, really."

Charlie pulled her away from his chest so he could look into those stunning green eyes of hers, then, after a moment, he placed a loving kiss to her lips and took her hand in his. Her brow furrowed when she felt something cold push onto her finger. A ring, simple but elegant and gold.

"Em-" It was his turn to interrupt.

"If you are to be their mother then you are to be my wife."

Charlie sounded so sure of himself and frankly Romey was done over thinking things so, instead of questioning this sudden step, Romey grinned up at Charlie and kissed him.

"I love you, Andromeda. You are going to be a perfect mother."

"You know what, I think I am."

With an uncharacteristically big smile Manx led Romey over to The Wraith where he glared at Bing to move out the way when he tried to get in the front passenger seat.

"Get in the back, Bing." Manx ordered.

"But-" The chubby man began similarly to how a child would when told they couldn't have a cookie.

"My Lady gets the front seat."

Manx's voice may have been level and calm but the dark glare was the total opposite and it had Bing backing down instantly. Bing stepped aside and clambered into the back seat with a frown on his bearded face. Charlie pulled open the passenger door for Romey who smiled and got in.

"Thank you." He told her honestly. "You won't regret this, Andromeda."

This was it, Christmasland, motherhood and apparently marriage. Had Abe been wrong she'd have seen how strange this all was and have – at the very least – had questions, but Abe wasn't wrong so the seventeen year old rode The Wraith to Christmasland and whatever her future held.

The End.