Spy Wives
Chapter: 2 "The Wives"
Pairing: Ensemble
Rating: PG
Celia glanced up to see Holly and Anna coming toward their table. "Prepare yourself." she said. "Here they come."
Felicia's eyes slid over both women. Immaculately dressed. Perfect hair. Perfect makeup. Smiling. Beautiful. Stepford wives she thought. They had to be. There was no way those two seemingly uptight British women weren't stepford wives. No way at all.
"Good afternoon." Anna Lavery smiled. "Late lunch?"
"Yes." Tiffany replied. "Very late."
"Better late than never." Holly added. "You must be Frisco's wife. I'm Holly Scorpio and this is Anna Lavery."
"Very nice to meet you both." she smiled. "I'm Felicia."
"Your husband is a lovely man." Holly smiled warmly. "Robert is thrilled to have him here. He has very high hopes for him."
Felicia smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Scorpio."
"Please call me Holly." she insisted. "I hate formalities."
"Care to join us?" Celia offered. "We haven't ordered yet."
"Oh, no thank you." Anna replied. "I have a thousand errands to run and then Dylan has little league practice and I have to make a trip out to the winery to go over some things with my staff."
"I had lunch with Sandra Davenport earlier." Holly said. "We were discussing the field trip the second graders are taking next week."
"Are you going to be a chaperone?" Celia asked.
"Jack wanted Robert to go." she replied. "He would rather spend the day with daddy than with mummy."
"And you're okay with that?" Tiffany asked.
"Not particularly but I'll live." she confessed. "Besides I'm still breastfeeding Kate and I'm not at the point yet where I'm ready to be away from her all day. Speaking of which I should go relieve Robert so he can get some work done. Felicia it was lovely meeting you. Give me a call after you get settled and Robert and I will have a get together where you can meet everyone. We'll have to get together and go over a menu beforehand so just let me know."
"Thank you." Felicia said. "That's very kind of you."
"It's my pleasure." Holly replied.
"Celia don't forget you're suppose to bring the punch to the PTA meeting tonight." Anna reminded her. "I'll grab your case of wine whilst I'm out at the winery. You did say the white wine, right?"
"Right." she replied. "I want to have enough on hand for Grant's birthday party next weekend. I'm trying to keep it a surprise so if you could drop the case off at Holly's I'd appreciate it."
"Of course." Anna said. "I'll just stick it in the garage along with their collection."
Holly laughed. "We don't have a collection."
"I know." Tiffany laughed. "Not the way y'all go through alcohol."
"Tell me about it." Holly sighed. "We hosted three huge WSB parties last month and I swear there wasn't a drop of alcohol left in the entire town when they were over."
"And you love every minute of it." Celia smiled. "Our natural born hostess."
"She's been hosting tea parties since we were three." Anna announced.
"Someone had to." Holly smirked. "Your poor dolls would have starved to death without my tea and biscuits."
"We would dress up in the most ridiculous, most outrageous outfits with big boas and long strings of pearls that hung down to our knees." she laughed. "But Holly somehow always managed to walk perfectly in those high heels that were twenty sizes too big without stumbling."
The group of women erupted in laughter.
"I have a million stories like that." Anna confessed. "I'm just dying for on of those long leisurely lunches when I can spill them all. I've been saving them for quite a while."
"Like the time when you insisted that we were ladies and that we could drink wine." Holly reminded her. "We were all of thirteen and I think we were drunk in ten minutes flat. Your parents had a fit."
"I thought my father was going to have a heart attack."
Holly glanced down at her watch. "I hate to rush but I really have to get home." she said. "I'll catch you ladies later and Celia I'll see you at the meeting tonight."
"I'll walk out with you." Anna told her. "I have to get over to the winery before my staff takes off."
The ladies exchanged brief goodbyes and then they were on their ways.
"Well." Tiffany breathed out. "What do you think?"
"They're very nice." Felicia said. "And very, very British."
"That they are." Celia agreed. "And Holly is going to throw a party so you can get to know all the residence."
Felicia looked a little uneasy. "It sounds like a big production." she said. "I don't want to make it into some big ordeal."
"Holly wouldn't have it any other way." Tiffany replied. "She's very good at this sort of thing. She has a real knack for bringing people together."
"Just relax." Celia instructed. "Everything will be just fine and you'll get the most spectacular party out of it all."
Scorpio Residence
Robert was trying his best to get Kate to eat but to absolutely no avail. She hated peas. She hated carrots. And she hated sweet potatoes. Kate sat perfectly content in her highchair, her blonde hair in ringlets and bright blue eyes sparkling, and smiled mischievously at her father. Every time Robert moved the spoon closer to her mouth and she immediately closed it.
"Come on, Kate, eat your peas for daddy." he said. "Then you can have some applesauce."
She looked at him as though she was pondering his offer. She opened her mouth just a little and Robert moved the spoon closer to her. The moment it touched her lips she made a face and turned her head. "Come on, sweetheart, it can't be that bad."
"Hello, darling." Holly said as she came in through the kitchen door. "How was your afternoon."
"Fine." he replied. "And yours?"
"Very productive." she said placing a kiss against her temple. "Where's Jack?"
"Upstairs playing with Dylan." he answered. "Duke is coming by to pick them up for little league practice in about twenty minutes. And I'm trying to get Kate to eat her peas."
"She won't eat them?" Holly asked, brushing her daughters unruly curls back. "Katie loves peas."
"No she doesn't." he argued. "I've tried everything, the train, the airplane, and nothing is working."
"Here, let me see." she said, taking the spoon from his hand. "Open up, Kate."
Kate immediately opened her mouth and ate the peas off the spoon. Robert looked at his daughter and then at his wife. "How did you do that?"
"I told you, she loves peas." she smiled, handing him the spoon back. "Good luck, daddy."
"Thank you, luv."
Holly walked over and opened the refrigerator door taking out a pitcher of lemonade. "I met Frisco's wife at the Country Club today." she told him. "She was having lunch with Celia and Tiffany."
Robert chuckled. "I'm sure she's all caught up on the gossip then."
"I know." she laughed as she poured herself a glass of lemonade. "I'm thinking the poor girl got quite an earful. I told her that when she got settled that you and I would host a party so that they could get to know everyone. Tiffany and Celia must have literally pulled her right out of the house today."
"They probably did." he said, feeding the baby another bite of peas. "Don't you have a PTA meeting tonight?"
"Yes." she replied, taking a drink of lemonade. "I've been in the South far too long." she sighed. "If I ever get to the point of saying y'all and calling everyone sugar then we're going to have to move."
He laughed. "Don't they have lemonade in England?"
"Yes, darling." she replied. "But it's different."
"Oh." he sighed. "Do I have to attend the PTA meeting as well?"
"I thought you were going to work from home this evening." she said. "But if you're going then I'm going to have to call Amber or Ginger and see if they'll come over and stay with the Jack and Kate."
"No, I'll stay here." he told her. "What are we going to do about dinner?"
"You mean you didn't whip anything up whilst I was out?"
"No." he laughed as he wiped the baby's mouth and then lifted her into his arms. "I didn't know you wanted me to."
"You can fire up the grill and we can throw some steaks on." she suggested. "Or we can order in."
"Let's order in." he said after a few moments of deliberation. "Quicker and easier that way."
"Chinese or Lacy's barbeque?"
"Barbeque." he replied.
"What else is on the schedule for today?"
"You and I have a very important engagement later this evening." Robert told her. "A very private, very intimate, very romantic engagement."
"Really?"
"Yes." he replied. "It starts at nine o'clock in the sauna."
"I'll bring the champagne."
tbc...
