A/N: Finally finished! This one took a while to write, between an exhausting temp job and an unwelcome case of writer's block. I do have an idea for the next story though, so there may be a few flashback stories and a lot of characters you might remember. If you have a particular episode you like that I haven't yet included in a story, by all means leave me a review and tell me which one you want to see included in the next tale!

§ § § - August 29, 2009

School would begin in just two more days, and the triplets were so excited it was all they could talk about. For the moment, though, Leslie's focus was on the weekend; it had been a busy summer, and she and Christian had had little chance to really sit down and talk, with either Roarke or each other. Roarke had devoted quite a bit more time to Rogan's training, often leaving Leslie with the general supervision of quite a few fantasies, unless a snag developed that was beyond her expertise. During the weekdays, particularly once August had begun, Leslie, Lauren and Maureen had gone together on several shopping trips to the Air Force base on Coral Island to get school clothes for their children; on one such trip, they had been accompanied by Ivy Krakowski Sensei, Taro's second wife whom he had met when her sister had brought her to the island for a fantasy. Taro and Ivy's Tia was also beginning kindergarten, and was reportedly as excited as Susanna, Karina, Tobias, Kevin and April.

So Leslie was feeling a little breathless when she, Roarke and Rogan stepped out of the rover at the plane dock and got ready to greet their latest guests. "Smiles, everyone, smiles!" Roarke reminded the natives, the way he had done every weekend for many years; Rogan peered at him and shook his head.

"Ye say that every weekend, uncle. Don't ye think by now they know the drill?" he inquired, folding his arms over his chest.

Leslie grinned at him. "I think it's less a command, or even an instruction, than a signal," she told him. "It's kind of a warning—we're here and it's time to put out the welcome mat for the guests, so no more running around or socializing or whatever."

"Thank you, Leslie," said Roarke, with a pointed look at Rogan, who shrugged.

"Ye'll pardon me if I come up with somethin' different, once I take over," he said, before shooting both Roarke and Leslie that irrepressible grin of his and watching Roarke motion the band into action.

"Do as you will," said Roarke. "If you will, kindly introduce Rogan to his guest this weekend, Leslie." This was a job he had given her after the last weekend in June when Rogan had stumbled through granting his first fantasy without Roarke's help; Rogan had lodged a complaint about describing his assigned fantasy every weekend, so that Leslie had suggested she do it for him so as to remind him of what was coming. However, she still thought it was an affectation on her cousin's part; after all, as she remembered reasoning to Christian one evening in mid-July, if Rogan was to be required to make all the preparations for a fantasy, how could he fail to recognize the guest and know what the person's fantasy was when the weekend rolled around? All Christian had been able to do was laugh at Rogan's foibles, but she intended to point this out to her cousin when she got a chance.

For now, though, she did as asked. "Jack DeFazio, from Cranston, Rhode Island. He's loved comic books all his life, and he has a truly massive collection—at least according to his letter." She shared a grin with her father. "Anyway, his favorite superhero is Spider-Man, and for this weekend, that's who he wants to be."

"Och, now I remember," Rogan said, shaking his head a little. "All that red an' blue latex...an' the damn spider silk! I had to pay Rory a quarter a spider to get enough o' the little pests for a weekend's worth o' webbing." He snorted. "Th' lad got rich off me."

Leslie snickered and Roarke stifled a smile before saying, "I'm sure it was worth the trouble, particularly if you were able to prevent Rory taking his usual shortcut with the MacNabb powers. You should have little trouble with this fantasy."

"Famous last words," Rogan grunted, a phrase he had uttered often enough over the summer that Leslie was getting sick of hearing it.

"Anyway..." Leslie broke in, with a sharp look at her cousin. "And how about this bunch, Father?"

"Ah yes...in front, you see Mrs. Valerie Griffin, who came here with her children, Chance and Hayley, from Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Behind them is Chance's girlfriend, Elara Hawthorne. The latter three are all college students. The Griffin siblings were born a little more than a year apart, and they're very competitive. Mrs. Griffin explained in her letter that from the time they were quite young, both her children have wished for a sibling of the same gender. She finally grew weary of hearing the complaints, and brought her offspring here so that they could at last get what they want: a brother for Chance, and a sister for Hayley."

Leslie laughed. "And she's hoping they're going to see the drawbacks of having what they always wanted, so they'll shut up about it once and for all."

"Essentially, yes," Roarke said with a chuckle. "But perhaps even she won't get just what she hopes for." On that note, he raised the champagne flute a native girl brought him and issued his weekly welcome.

"When do I get to drink the wine?" Rogan asked as soon as Roarke had lowered the glass. Leslie rolled her eyes; Roarke simply glanced at him and shook his head.

"As soon as you take over full operation of the business," Roarke told Rogan, who let out a put-upon sigh and pretended to ignore Leslie's grin.

‡ ‡ ‡

Christian, playing with a client's website on the laptop he had received the previous Christmas, laughed when he heard about the Griffin fantasy. "Perhaps we'd better let Tobias in on this one, since he's been complaining lately about having too many females in the house. Even the cat is female, he said."

Roarke laughed. "I recall his asking you about getting a second cat, preferably male."

"Yeah, well, what he doesn't know is what happens when you put a boy cat and a girl cat together," Leslie said. "But it's funny, I was thinking about that myself, getting Tobias to see that having a brother may not be everything he thinks it is. Of course, my love, he could always just ask you. You certainly have enough horror stories to tell."

"Unfortunately, yes," Christian agreed mildly, moving a photo to a different place on the screen. "My tales on Arnulf would give him nightmares till he reaches high school. So tell me, how exactly are you going to give these two the brother and sister they want? Come up with clones? Hire a couple of actors? Magically create two people out of clay and watercolors?" He caught Roarke's look and shrugged. "You can't blame me for my curiosity."

Roarke chuckled and remarked, "It had crossed my mind to suggest that Chance and Hayley Griffin should speak with the two of you before I begin their fantasy. Between your memories of your oldest brother, Christian, and yours of your twin sisters, Leslie, you might save me a weekend's worth of work."

"I doubt it," Leslie said, and Christian grinned. "You know how they are, Father—they don't believe it if they just hear it secondhand. They have to find out the hard way."

"As is true of so many things," Roarke observed. Christian and Leslie grinned at each other in knowing agreement. "However, I would not be disinclined to let you two try to convince the Griffin siblings that their fantasy will have its drawbacks."

When Valerie Griffin appeared with Chance and Hayley less than half an hour later, she shook her head, laughing. "You can try," she said, brushing back a lock of wayward hair that persisted in falling into one eye from the side part of her snappy wedge haircut. "I've tried on too many occasions to count, but these two are stubborn."

Chance and Hayley were attractive young people who took after their mother in looks; they seemed astonished to be in the presence of royalty, and their awe became self-evident when Chance remarked, "I guess your brother was the exception to the rule, Your Highness...considering what he did to keep you and Princess Leslie apart."

Christian hiked a brow. "Whatever you've heard, whatever you think you know, it was worse," he assured the young man. "My brother Arnulf was determined to have his own way in the matter of my marital status, no matter what I might say. The animosity between us went all the way back to my earliest memories. He was my father's puppet; I spent many a day wondering whether he ever had an original thought in his life."

"But your other brother, Prince Carl Johan...I've heard he's really cool," Chance said with an enthusiastic grin. "I've read stuff that says you're close with him."

"Yes, that's true," Christian said, glancing at Roarke as if he'd realized he'd just been checkmated. Roarke smiled faintly.

"Y'see, Mom? My brother would be as cool to me as Prince Carl Johan is to Prince Christian," Chance said with a satisfied grin. "None of that crap that King Arnulf put him through. I know, because it's my fantasy to have the brother I always wanted, and he'll be just the kind of brother I always wished Hayley was."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "I can't wait to have my fantasy sister. I wouldn't be hearing all kinds of stupid junk about how brothers are better and all that garbage."

"Sometimes sisters aren't that much better," Leslie observed, thinking back to her childhood with Kristy and Kelly. "I had a few run-ins with my sisters, way back when."

"You had sisters?" Hayley asked in amazement.

Leslie nodded. "Identical twins." Hayley lit up with delight, and Leslie laughed. "Oh, they had their moments, believe me. And my daughters are no different; I think Karina and Susanna, for all that they're identical too, are more different than similar. They get on each other's nerves, since they share a room. My sisters got on each other's nerves too, and on mine almost as often. Fantasy sister or not, if you really want the experience of having one, you'll have to be ready for the disagreements."

"But you must really miss your sisters," Hayley appealed.

Leslie sighed. "I do, but..."

"So there you go," said Hayley triumphantly. "Doesn't matter how much you fight, does it? In the end, you still love each other."

Roarke chuckled as Valerie spread her arms, turned her palms ceilingward and said, "I rest my case. There's no point in telling them the disadvantages, Mr. Roarke. You might as well just give them the brother and sister they want and let them get to it."

Clearly very much amused, Roarke gave in with good grace. "I can see further effort would be futile. Very well, Mr. and Miss Griffin, you shall have the brother and sister you've asked for. They will bear whatever names your mother would have chosen for them had she actually given birth to them, and they will bear the same family resemblance you two have to her and each other. Chance, your brother will be about a year older, and Hayley, your sister will be approximately a year younger than you. They will share many of your memories of growing up in rural Wisconsin, and in fact you will also have memories of growing up with them—just for the weekend, of course." Chance and Hayley nodded eagerly. "One last bit of advice: you will all be sharing a bungalow. I am terribly sorry that we don't have any extra accommodations, but I felt it was best to give you the full experience."

"No problem, Mr. Roarke," Chance said. "This'll be great." He turned to Valerie. "So what're we waiting for? Let's go back and meet the new family members!"

"Yeah, quick—I'm dying to see what my sister looks like!" Hayley agreed.

Valerie cleared her throat loudly. "Aren't you two forgetting something?"

"Oh, yeah—thanks, Mr. Roarke!" Hayley exclaimed, and Chance echoed her before the two of them barreled out the door. Valerie stared after them, shaking her head.

"I already have the feeling I'll be sorry I ever decided to give them this fantasy," she mumbled through a sigh.

"What do you wish the names of your, uh...temporary children to be?" Roarke asked.

Valerie looked up sharply as if startled, then grinned ruefully. "This might be the only fun part of this whole business. I always liked the names Owen for a boy and Sydney for a girl. So I guess I'd better get back to the bungalow so I can meet my new kids." Roarke, Leslie and Christian laughed and wished her luck; Valerie thanked them and departed, raking her hair out of her eyes again as she went.

"Just like that, she and her children are going to find the fantasy siblings there?" asked Christian skeptically. "That seems anticlimactic."

Roarke smiled. "Not everything must be flashy, Christian. Sometimes simple is better. Leslie, I believe Anastasia is awake...perhaps you'd better see to her."

At which they heard Anastasia begin to cry from upstairs; Leslie sighed and tossed Christian a resigned smile. "I'm still trying to decide whether I'm going to miss that little habit of yours, Father," she remarked as she headed for the stairs. Roarke only shook his head, making Christian chuckle and finally return his attention to the computer.

‡ ‡ ‡

By lunchtime no one had heard from the Griffin family, which actually wasn't that unusual; but when Tobias heard that Chance Griffin was getting a brother for the weekend, his eyes popped so wide they looked like caricatures. "How come I can't have a brother too?" he pleaded, turning to Roarke. "Please, Grandfather!"

"You haven't asked your parents," Roarke pointed out.

"They'll just say no," Tobias said dismissively, with perfect logic that made Leslie and Christian glance at each other with wry resignation. "I want a brother, please, and I know you're the only one who could do it. I mean...well, Rory prob'ly could, but his parents won't let him, so I gotta ask you."

"There's a reason you should ask your parents, Tobias," Roarke informed his grandson, "and there's also a reason they say no. Why don't you ask your father about what it was like for him to have a brother; he had many bad experiences."

"But Uncle Carl Johan's really cool!" Tobias protested.

"Uncle Carl Johan wasn't my only brother, Tobias," Christian said. "We had another brother, your uncle Arnulf. He did a lot of bad things, but one of the worst ones was to keep your mother and me from being together." When Tobias squinted at him, Christian went on to summarize a few of Arnulf's infractions against him.

"Wow, Uncle Arnulf sure was mean," Susanna said in awe. "He wouldn't let you come and marry Mommy? Why not?"

Christian released a heavy sigh. "It's a long story, Susanna, and I think perhaps it's better if we talk about it another time." He cleared his throat and turned to Roarke. "I thought Rogan was supposed to be eating with us."

"It appears," Roarke mused, "that Mr. DeFazio's Spider-Man fantasy has run into a few difficulties...not the least of which is that he needed a crash course in learning how to control his web-producing ability after encasing himself in spider silk."

Leslie covered a grin with one hand; Christian rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I sometimes wonder that people don't sue you at some point for these ridiculous problems in their fantasies," he said. "I realize you're trying to teach them something, but being a superhero for a weekend seems harmless enough; what kind of lesson would Mr. DeFazio need to learn simply because he thought it would be fun to be Spider-Man?"

Roarke eyed him and inquired, "Christian, am I wrong, or do you labor under the delusion that I am somehow able to control every aspect, big or small, of a given fantasy?"

Christian stilled and stared back at him for a moment; then his eyes shifted away, and he cleared his throat again. "Ah...well, perhaps I did. I apologize, Mr. Roarke. I just thought it seemed a little unfair."

"You fall into the trap that so many of my guests do," Roarke said, "namely, that a fantasy is supposed to be exactly as its holder has always dreamed it would be, perfect and flawless and without even the smallest errors. In the earliest days of my business, even I had to learn through experience that this simply isn't the case. Leslie can attest to the countless occasions on which I've informed our guests that, once a fantasy has begun, it is entirely out of my control. It's up to the fantasizer to make the best of it that he or she can."

"Goodness, my love," said Leslie mildly, "you've been here long enough by now, I'd think you'd know that. Heck, I'd bet if Spider-Man were real, he'd have had to learn how to use those web-slinging gadgets on his wrists too."

"It's easy," said Tobias scornfully, grinning. "All you have to do is this!" He turned his arm so that the underside of his wrist faced the ceiling, pressed his middle two fingers against the base of his palm, and produced a "thwip!" sound effect, pretending to watch a string of spider silk shoot through the air. "Perfect aim," the five-year-old boasted, "right on the ceiling, right where I wanted it!"

"I bet it's stuck in the ceiling fan," Karina said, glancing at Susanna, and both girls burst into giggles.

Tobias glared at them. "It's not fair I can't have a brother!" he complained.

Christian and Leslie both groaned, and Roarke laughed. "We'll discuss that later. I suggest you children finish your lunch, if you expect Brianna to take you to the amusement park this afternoon." That got results, and for another ten minutes or so the adults made idle conversation, till suddenly Rogan appeared from the lawn on the other side of the main house and came up the steps and across the veranda, picking at his sleeve.

"Something wrong?" Leslie asked him when he was within earshot.

"I've given me last web-slingin' lesson," Rogan informed the group at large, giving his hand several violent shakes as if trying to get something off it. "Lucky for DeFazio he picked it up so quickly once he got the hang of it, but not before I got caught in the line o' fire." He threw Roarke a disgusted look. "I'm tryin' me best, uncle, but all summer long it's been one thing after another. Ye really oughta tell that tribunal where to get off."

"As you and Leslie are both fully aware, it isn't my choice any longer." Roarke's voice was curt, surprising even Rogan. "You've been unusually rebellious about the entire situation, and I'm beginning to feel perhaps it's best if I make an announcement that the fantasy-granting business will have to be shut down indefinitely."

Rogan turned red. "Och, uncle, I know...I complain a lot, aye...but ye know I went into this under duress, and we all know I'll never be as good at it as ye are. Just because I have the raw ability doesn't mean I've the desire or the aptitude. I'm gettin' hardly any sleep at night, I find meself snappin' at Julie an' the lads, an' nothin' ever seems to go right."

"And you haven't spoken without that brogue ever since we got back from Lilla Jordsö, either," Leslie added, "which just tells me that you're going to make yourself sick from all the stress. I'd do it if I could, but I'm just a plain old ordinary earth human."

"Aye, I know it," Rogan grumbled. "Julie thinks I'm exaggeratin', but she doesn't see what I go through around here every weekend. Say..." His attention was suddenly distracted by something in the lane, and all eyes followed his. "Isn't that the one lad's girlfriend, the one who wanted a brother for the weekend? Who's that she's with?"

Roarke arose and called, "Miss Hawthorne, are you enjoying yourself?"

"Absolutely, Mr. Roarke!" Elara Hawthorne called back. "Chance introduced me to his brother Owen here, and Owen just turns out to be the nicest guy! He and Chance were supposed to both take me over to the pool, but for some reason Chance went off by himself somewhere. He'll be sorry he missed a good swim." She giggled. "Thanks for asking, Mr. Roarke. Don't let us interrupt your lunch."

"This is some great island, Mr. Roarke!" Owen Griffin exclaimed, beaming. "We're all having the best vacation ever—me and Sydney and Mom and Hayley and Chance! Thanks so much for everything!"

"You're quite welcome, Mr. Griffin," said Roarke with a broad smile. "Enjoy your time at the pool." Owen and Elara waved at him and trotted off along the lane, and Roarke watched them go before resuming his seat, his smile rapidly fading.

"He's already stealing Chance's girlfriend," Leslie said. "So much for brotherhood."

"That's mean," Karina said indignantly.

"I wouldn't care if my brother stole my girlfriend," Tobias scoffed. "Who wants a dumb old girlfriend anyway?"

"Wait a few years, me lad, ye'll be changin' yer tune right enough," Rogan said with a grin. "May as well have some lunch—I need the break. I'm hopin' DeFazio'll have enough spider-sense in him to get along without me for an afternoon." He blew out a breath and took his usual chair, while Christian and Leslie grinned at each other.