Disclaimer: I don't own any ccs characters. :( They all belong to CLAMP.
Sprial knocked on the door. A maid answered. "Sir?"
"Yeah, I'm the new gardener, the Hiragizawas hired."
She frowned. "I was not informed of Madam hiring a gardener. She always takes care of the garden herself."
Shit. I didn't think of that. he thought. "Well, she did. Mebbe she just forgot to inform you."
She brightened up. "Probably. The gardens are over that way. Madam will not be awake for another half hour, so mind you don't make any noise."
"Of course," he said with false sincerity. Spiral wandered into the gardens. He wasn't sure what to do, how to start. Some one was pulling back curtains on the second floor. Spiral hid. He could not see who it was, but he noted the trellis next to the window. He could climb up those and see who it was.
Spiral congratulated himself for his thinking and scrambled up the trellis.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tomoyo sat up. "Did you hear that Eriol?"
"Hear what?"
"That bumping noise."
"It's probably just Jo," he put his arm around Tomoyo's shoulder and brought her back to bed.
Spiral peeked into the window. Phoenix, no, Tomoyo and Eriol were still in bed. It made him ill to see his Phoenix hugging, touching, kissing another man. The door was pushed open slightly. Spiral ducked and then cautiously looked again. Now the two were playing with a little girl. That must be their daughter.
"Jo!" Tomoyo exclaimed, parting from Eriol. "What are you doing up honey?"
"Mommy!" Little Josephine tried to climb up onto her parent's bed, but it was too tall for her.
Eriol picked her up. "What's the matter, Jo?"
Jo looked very seriously into her father's eyes. "Daddy, do you love mommy?"
Eriol widened his eyes. "Why are you thinking about this Josie baby?" Tomoyo asked. "Three year olds should be thinking about playing and worrying their mothers." Jo giggled.
"Because at play group, I heard someone else's mommy say that you and Daddy didn't like each other."
Eriol frowned. "I guess those rumors are still flying. Jo, honey, listen to me. There are some things, you'll understand when you get older, but you can rest assured that your mother and I love each other very much and don't listen to the old farts who say we aren't."
"Eriol!" Tomoyo said. "Jo, just don't call them old farts ok?"
"OK, Mommy," she yawned. "Can I fall sleep here?"
"Of course Josie." Eriol answered.
As Jo drifted off to sleep, Eriol put her down in their bed. She was going to be beautiful, just like Tomoyo. She hadn't lost her baby fat yet and she had a lot of peach fuzz. She had lighter hair than Eriol or Tomoyo and she looked more like Sonomi, but her hair was curly like Tomoyo's and she had Eriol's eyes.
Spiral watched Eriol put down the child and talk to Tomoyo. When the two got up to get changed, Spiral quickly left, he would probably not be able to come as a gardener again
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Madam," the maid said to Tomoyo at breakfast. "The gardener you hired came by this morning. I think he left already though."
"I didn't hire a gardener. What are you talking about Jenny?"
"You didn't hire a gardener Madam?"
"No." Eriol put down his fork and watched his wife think. "What did he look like?" she asked.
"Well, he was a sickly looking thing, who might have had a limp. I showed him to the gardens."
Tomoyo got up from the table and stormed outside. She had an idea of what was going on, but she refused to believe it. Eriol followed her. "Eriol, I don't think the bump we heard this morning was Josephine."
"Really?"
Tomoyo didn't answer him. The trelis was crooked. "No. I think...I think it might have been Spiral."
"Sprial? How would he know where we are?"
Tomoyo pondered for a moment. She slapped her head. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Eriol, darling, I'm so sorry."
"What?"
"That day, I went to the Underground with Melly...she said your name."
Eriol caught on to what Tomoyo was hinting at. "Waitwaitwaitwait. We don't know for sure that it's Spiral. We just think it's Spiral. Could it be that you forgot you hired a gardener and..."
"Maybe. I doubt it though."
"Do you want to increase security?" Eriol asked
Tomoyo nodded. "Send Jo away too."
"Jo?"
"Don't you think that Jo could be a target if it is Spiral? Simply because she's our daughter?"
Eriol mulled over that statement. "Yes. You're right. We'll send her to your mother's place."
"My mother? Wouldn't it be safer with your parents?"
"Your mother's closer. Besides, it wouldn't make a difference."
Tomoyo shrugged. "I'll go get her packed. You...you take care of the security issues."
Jo balked at having to leave her parents for such a long time, but after a lot of coaxing and bribery, Jo was finally on her way to her grandmother's house. Eriol had no trouble enhancing security around the house; the younger HIragizawas were notorious for paying their hired hands well, so when Eriol advertised for more servants, they practically lines themselves up.
When Spiral returned again the next week, he was more than slightly dismayed at the number of people patrolling the property. He would need a new plan. He groaned, his head was throbbing so badly, he felt like it was going to fall off. He needed some alcohol.