def get_messages(self, count=1, block=True, timeout=10):
        """
        Fetch the specified number of messages

        Keyword Arguments:
            count: Indicates the maximum number of messages to be fetched
            block: If True, the API will block till all messages are fetched.
                If block is a positive integer the API will block until that
                many messages are fetched.
            timeout: When blocking is requested the function will block for
                the specified time (in seconds) until count messages is
                fetched. If None, it will block forever.
        """
        messages = []

        # Give a size hint to the consumers. Each consumer process will fetch
        # a maximum of "count" messages. This will fetch more messages than
        # necessary, but these will not be committed to kafka. Also, the extra
        # messages can be provided in subsequent runs
        self.size.value = count
        self.events.pause.clear()

        if timeout is not None:
            max_time = time.time() + timeout

        new_offsets = {}
        while count > 0 and (timeout is None or timeout > 0):
            # Trigger consumption only if the queue is empty
            # By doing this, we will ensure that consumers do not
            # go into overdrive and keep consuming thousands of
            # messages when the user might need only a few
            if self.queue.empty():
                self.events.start.set()

            block_next_call = block is True or block > len(messages)
            try:
                partition, message = self.queue.get(block_next_call,
                                                    timeout)
            except queue.Empty:
                break

            _msg = (partition, message) if self.partition_info else message
            messages.append(_msg)
            new_offsets[partition] = message.offset + 1
            count -= 1
            if timeout is not None:
                timeout = max_time - time.time()

        self.size.value = 0
        self.events.start.clear()
        self.events.pause.set()

        # Update and commit offsets if necessary
        self.offsets.update(new_offsets)
        self.count_since_commit += len(messages)
        self._auto_commit()

        return messages