"I'm sure she's going to be ok, Rita," he assured her.
"I just... I just... I can't believe it... after all these years, why'd he have to come back?"
Taylor didn't know what to say to this, so he said nothing. There was a tentative knock at the door.
"Come in," Taylor called.
The door opened slowly and in came an unusually quiet Xavier. He closed the door softly, then turned to face them, chewing his lip and shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other.
"Have... have you heard anything else about Mum?"
"Yeah, Ike just called a minute ago. She's... awake. Physically she's fine. The babies appear to be ok too, but they think it's too early to tell for sure if they'll make it through the full pregnancy."
Xavier nodded slowly.
"Physically?" he asked tentatively.
"You don't miss much, do you?"
Xavier shrugged, a more characteristic smile appearing briefly on his face.
"She's... ahh... she's had a mental breakdown. They have her in the mental ward at the moment."
Xavier sat down with a thud, and Rita let out another sob.
"Don't worry! Don't worry ok! If anyone can get through this, it's Babsie. Ike says she's just... panicking about losing the babies."
What Taylor didn't mention, (not even to Rita) was to the extent to which she was panicking.
Xavier nodded and slowly got up.
"Ok, thanks."
"Hey, are you going to be ok?"
"If you're worried about the TV appearance we have tonight, I'm not planning on bursting into tears in the middle of the interview."
Rita choked out a laugh.
"Well, that's good to know."
"And I'm not planning on telling anyone either."
"If you feel like you can't handle it, just walk off ok?" Taylor advised.
Xavier nodded.
"Thanks Uncle Tay."
Rita sniffed softly as Xavier got up and left the room.