For a moment, Jon would have sworn he was seventeen and had just gotten
caught in bed with his girlfriend. All thoughts of "we're adults and this
is something adults do" were totally unable to come out of his mouth as he
held the phone, wishing to God he had let Heather answer it. Where's his
daughter? Well, Mr. Raleigh, she's right here in bed with me, want to talk
to her? Jon wondered if Switzerland would be far enough away to keep
Heather's father from coming after him.
Don't be worried, he told himself. They knew we were together for a long time. They had to have known that we were lovers back then. And Heather is an adult now. Of course she's slept with guys she dated. They had to know that, right?
Heather was awake, her concern at seeing his expression obvious. How to handle the situation? He handed the phone to Heather. "It's your dad," he explained. Her blue eyes went huge for a moment, but she took the phone.
"Hi Daddy," Heather said cheerfully. There was a long, agonizing pause at the other end. Heather bit her lip, trying to keep herself from blurting out some apology and explanation all at once. She had nothing to be embarrassed about. The man had four children. He knew what a man and a woman did when they cared about each other. And Mom had told her about when they had first met. It wasn't like she had known Jon for just a few hours at least. Why did she feel like a teenager all of a sudden?
"I wanted to make sure you were up in time for your flight," her father finally said calmly. Heather wasn't fooled by the blandness in his tone. He wanted to know what the hell was going on, and it would be much better for her to just confess. Nothing to confess, right? She was an adult now.
"We.um.I mean, I.uh.the alarm was going to go off in about ten minutes," she said, glancing at the clock. "I'll be there right on time." She took a deep breath. Might as well let them know. "Actually, I'm bringing someone with me. You remember Jon Hamilton, right?"
"Is that who answered your phone?" he asked.
"Um, yes." Please let Mom be at the airport. She'll understand. More importantly, she had the combat training to keep Dad from doing something stupid.
Another pause. "We'll see you both in New York then," he said, the statement almost sounding like a threat.
"Okay," Heather replied. "See you all in a few hours." There was the usual good-bye grunt on the other end, and then the phone went dead. Heather collapsed back onto the pillows.
"Next time, you're sleeping on the side with the phone," Jon said, lying beside her, neither of them touching the other.
She sighed. "I missed one flight in college. ONE flight. Now Dad calls me and makes sure I'm awake every time I have a morning flight. I know him. He'll be calling me when I'm forty. I know he will."
"So, what's my life expectancy once we get to New York?" Jon asked, trying to lighten the mood a little. So what if someone knew they slept together. It wasn't like they were planning on keeping it a big secret anyways. This was not going to be a one-night stand.
"Well, if you were Ethan then I would say about five minutes since Mom didn't like him much, and Dad would be morally obligated to kill the guy for deflowering his daughter," Heather replied matter-of-factly.
Jon rolled onto his side to look at her, sure she was teasing him. "Unless I was severely delusional as a kid, wouldn't that have been me?"
Her eyes flipped to his face. "Jon, you're alive. Do you really think I told my father that we slept together?" Jon looked at her for a minute and realized that she wasn't joking. She gave him a small smile. "Fathers do not want to think that their little girls had sex. Ever. I don't think he's going to accept it until I have a kid and there's no way to refute it."
"So, your parents never knew?" Jon's parents did, but that was only because his Dad had found some condoms in his room when he was searching for his favorite tie in Jon's closet. Dad blamed seeing his mother cavorting with different men (ignoring the line of early-twenties beauties he had on his arm) as the reason Jon thought he needed to have sex with a child to prove himself a man. Mom said Dad didn't provide him with a decent male role model so of course sex was the way Jon was going to express himself. Jon ended up walking out on that argument and neither of them noticed. They didn't want to listen to the fact that him and Heather were the same age, so it wasn't like it was statutory rape. And neither of them would accept it when Jon tried to explain that Heather was the only girl he had been with and that was only after they had been together for over a year, and that he loved her very much.
"Mom did." Heather didn't tell him that Mom knew the first night. Heather had come home, and her mother had just looked at her and asked if she was all right. Heather said she was fine. That was the discussion for that night but they talked a lot more later on. "We had a few heart-to-hearts before it happened, and she knew that we probably would, and then later, she was glad it was with someone that I loved and not just a passionate moment in the backseat of a car with some guy."
"So I just need to keep her between me and your father at all times?"
Heather laughed, pulling him down to her for a kiss. "Dad is going to be happy that I'm happy. And then he's going to be so busy trying to keep from killing the twins, he's not even going to think about you."
Jon had to laugh at that. So there was a very important reason now to bust the kids as soon as possible. He kissed Heather again. "You don't mind sacrificing your two siblings for me?"
She shrugged. "Benefit of having cat DNA. They'll land on their feet." Her arms wrapped around him tighter. "You know, we really do have some time before we have to get going. And we are all packed and ready."
"Good thing we can share the shower then," Jon murmured back, his lips against her neck. "Save on time there too."
Heather thought about saying something back, but why waste time when there were so many things much more pleasant that her mouth could be doing right then?
***********
Heather had enjoyed her flight back to the US quite well, but nothing could beat the flight to New York. It was only about an hour, but her and Jon couldn't stop smiling and laughing at each other, and in general acting like a couple of dopey kids. The stewardesses were smiling at them and couldn't help but to think that they had to be newlyweds to seem so happy and in love. It was partially that. The thought of nailing the twins to the wall was also putting them in a joyous mood.
The twins were scheduled to arrive about twenty minutes before Heather and Jon's flight, so everyone was still going to be at the airport. Heather couldn't wait. She was looking forward to seeing Daniel and Cyra and Tanya as well. It was going to be a great little family reunion. Max and Logan were supposed to be there too. Janna wasn't due for a bit, but they wanted to have the whole holiday thing with the family bit going by the time she arrived. Heather was still debating on if they should wait for Janna to show up to spring their little trap. Maybe it would be best to torture her and have her know what she was coming in for. Maybe they should let the three of them have an interesting Christmas morning.
It felt wonderful to have her hand in Jon's when they came out of the little port connecting the terminal to the plane and there was the majority of her family that she hadn't seen in months right there. Her mom stepped out first and hugged her, and then she was enveloped by her dad and brother and Tanya hanging on her leg demanding to look at this and even a hug for the wayward ones and Cyra was already glowing, no hiding it for much longer and Max and Logan were happy to see her. Less than a minute and she was already exhausted.
Jon was very glad when Mrs. Raleigh gave him a quick hug, and Daniel shook his hand and said he was glad to see him. The important part was that they were both in between him and Heather's dad. Daniel was smirking, so it was obvious that he had a clue about the phone call that morning. And there was the fact that Heather was beaming.
Daniel looked at Jon and then at Heather. He looked back at Jon with an eyebrow raised in question. Jon shrugged slightly, knowing without hearing words what he was asking. He grinned. "I just had to see her again," he answered, and Daniel grinned wider.
"Welcome back to the family," he said softly.
It was hard for Heather and Jon to look at the twins without breaking into evil laughter. They were both looking very well, happy and tanned and seemed to be quite pleased with their life in Europe as they answered Max's questions about where they were living and how everything was going. Heather bit her lip hard when Liz told them about a customer at the diner that kept coming in there and propositioning her for marriage. This was going to be so fun.
Jon couldn't resist. "You know, I have to go to the Riviera in a few months for a meeting. I'll have to have everyone come into the café and have you two wait on us," he commented casually, trying not to look at Heather. They both would have ended up on the floor in hysterics had they made eye contact, especially at Liz's expression. She looked like she had just swallowed a live frog.
"That'd be cool," Liz managed to get out in a pleasant enough tone. Mom and Dad didn't notice. Cam had them distracted talking about some other things. Little brats always knew how and when to tag team them. But Daniel noticed. Investigative journalists were trained to notice small details like changes in tone and expression. Now was not the time to question though. He'd get some answers from both of his little sisters later.
"So, been able to get any more work on the article done?" Liz asked Daniel, wanting to change the subject.
(you getting bad vibes from jon?)
(too covered with all that just had sex thing to tell what's really going on in there but don't like the feel of what's underneath at all)
(ack.don't even want to go there then.don't want to know about them doing it)
(still don't like what's coming off of him)
(me either.he'll let it slip and we'll get it then)
"Well, I was finally able to get Jhondie in the same room as Justin for a few hours and get the rest of their interview done," Daniel replied. He shook his head. "I swear, those two are impossible sometimes. The first time we scheduled it, we get ten minutes into it and then there was a twenty-six-car pile-up on the highway, and the hospital staff didn't care that Jhondie is chief of staff and had been told she was to be left alone that day. They wanted every trauma surgeon in the state at the hospital. Then that thing in Uganda went down, and Justin was racing out there to get in on it, and then Jhondie had that conference to go to. It's taken a while, but I got most of it done. Now a few more things, and I can finish it."
"Can't wait to read it," Liz replied with a smile. "That is so going to have everyone in a total uproar."
"That's why a lot of names and identities have been changed," he said. "But, there's still a long way to go before it hits the stands, and I promised Cyra no working until after the holidays."
Conversation ebbed and flowed around what everyone was doing and how Heather's job was going and Jon's resort. Logan mentioned that some friends of his had just come back from there and recommended it highly to them. Jon promised a family discount if him and Max decided to take a vacation out there. Jon had never met Tanya before, and she quickly charmed him into a doting uncle before they could get out of the airport garage. Daniel could only roll his eyes in disgust at his daughter's ability to get anyone to do her bidding at a snap. His fault though. He shouldn't have married such a beautiful woman and made a gorgeous child with her.
Daniel and Cyra had a three-story townhouse in a residential section of New York. It was actually quite a nice area with a backyard big enough for a proposed puppy to play in and plenty of room for guests. And a huge kitchen. Cyra loved to cook, and one of their requirements for a house was a kitchen big enough for her to enjoy cooking in. Daniel swore the only reason he hadn't gained fifty pounds since getting married was because he was so busy chasing after stories. Cyra offered to trade him for chasing a genetically revved toddler all day long. He declined the offer.
They piled into the family room, trying to figure out who had what luggage and what room it was going in when Heather yelled out. "WAIT!" she cried. All eyes were suddenly on her. She shot Jon a glance and he smirked lightly. She grinned. "I've got something for Cam and Liz, and I wanted them to see it right away."
The twins glanced at each other and then back to their sister. This wouldn't be the first time that she had seen something that reminded her of them and had picked it up. Heather liked giving people little surprises. She said it was what made her such an excellent agent at the FBI. They plopped down on the overstuffed sofa that was Tanya's favorite spot to jump off of. "What is it?" Liz asked.
Heather reached into her bag over her shoulder and pulled out the purple wrapped package and the green one, their favorite colors, and handed each one the gift. "Go on and open it," Heather said excitedly, her eyes sparkling. With another glance at each other, and mental assurances that they had no idea what was going on, Cam and Liz tore into the boxes while the rest of the family looked on curiously. Alicia's mental warning alarm was going off. Yes, Heather liked to give gifts. But not when she was still standing, her arms crossed with a challenging stance. A subtle glance at Zack and she knew he could see it as well.
It was too late to stop them. Both twins had their gift open and froze. Cam was better at guarding his expression, but his jaw still dropped as Liz's eyes went huge, her face paling. No. No! No no no no no no no no! This was not.no.impossible.oh God.no.they looked up at their sister still hovering over them. Her friendly smile had tucked itself into a cold grin of triumph, eyes sharp and piercing.
Heather didn't say anything. She didn't have to. The single phrase "gotcha" was already ringing in the air.
Don't be worried, he told himself. They knew we were together for a long time. They had to have known that we were lovers back then. And Heather is an adult now. Of course she's slept with guys she dated. They had to know that, right?
Heather was awake, her concern at seeing his expression obvious. How to handle the situation? He handed the phone to Heather. "It's your dad," he explained. Her blue eyes went huge for a moment, but she took the phone.
"Hi Daddy," Heather said cheerfully. There was a long, agonizing pause at the other end. Heather bit her lip, trying to keep herself from blurting out some apology and explanation all at once. She had nothing to be embarrassed about. The man had four children. He knew what a man and a woman did when they cared about each other. And Mom had told her about when they had first met. It wasn't like she had known Jon for just a few hours at least. Why did she feel like a teenager all of a sudden?
"I wanted to make sure you were up in time for your flight," her father finally said calmly. Heather wasn't fooled by the blandness in his tone. He wanted to know what the hell was going on, and it would be much better for her to just confess. Nothing to confess, right? She was an adult now.
"We.um.I mean, I.uh.the alarm was going to go off in about ten minutes," she said, glancing at the clock. "I'll be there right on time." She took a deep breath. Might as well let them know. "Actually, I'm bringing someone with me. You remember Jon Hamilton, right?"
"Is that who answered your phone?" he asked.
"Um, yes." Please let Mom be at the airport. She'll understand. More importantly, she had the combat training to keep Dad from doing something stupid.
Another pause. "We'll see you both in New York then," he said, the statement almost sounding like a threat.
"Okay," Heather replied. "See you all in a few hours." There was the usual good-bye grunt on the other end, and then the phone went dead. Heather collapsed back onto the pillows.
"Next time, you're sleeping on the side with the phone," Jon said, lying beside her, neither of them touching the other.
She sighed. "I missed one flight in college. ONE flight. Now Dad calls me and makes sure I'm awake every time I have a morning flight. I know him. He'll be calling me when I'm forty. I know he will."
"So, what's my life expectancy once we get to New York?" Jon asked, trying to lighten the mood a little. So what if someone knew they slept together. It wasn't like they were planning on keeping it a big secret anyways. This was not going to be a one-night stand.
"Well, if you were Ethan then I would say about five minutes since Mom didn't like him much, and Dad would be morally obligated to kill the guy for deflowering his daughter," Heather replied matter-of-factly.
Jon rolled onto his side to look at her, sure she was teasing him. "Unless I was severely delusional as a kid, wouldn't that have been me?"
Her eyes flipped to his face. "Jon, you're alive. Do you really think I told my father that we slept together?" Jon looked at her for a minute and realized that she wasn't joking. She gave him a small smile. "Fathers do not want to think that their little girls had sex. Ever. I don't think he's going to accept it until I have a kid and there's no way to refute it."
"So, your parents never knew?" Jon's parents did, but that was only because his Dad had found some condoms in his room when he was searching for his favorite tie in Jon's closet. Dad blamed seeing his mother cavorting with different men (ignoring the line of early-twenties beauties he had on his arm) as the reason Jon thought he needed to have sex with a child to prove himself a man. Mom said Dad didn't provide him with a decent male role model so of course sex was the way Jon was going to express himself. Jon ended up walking out on that argument and neither of them noticed. They didn't want to listen to the fact that him and Heather were the same age, so it wasn't like it was statutory rape. And neither of them would accept it when Jon tried to explain that Heather was the only girl he had been with and that was only after they had been together for over a year, and that he loved her very much.
"Mom did." Heather didn't tell him that Mom knew the first night. Heather had come home, and her mother had just looked at her and asked if she was all right. Heather said she was fine. That was the discussion for that night but they talked a lot more later on. "We had a few heart-to-hearts before it happened, and she knew that we probably would, and then later, she was glad it was with someone that I loved and not just a passionate moment in the backseat of a car with some guy."
"So I just need to keep her between me and your father at all times?"
Heather laughed, pulling him down to her for a kiss. "Dad is going to be happy that I'm happy. And then he's going to be so busy trying to keep from killing the twins, he's not even going to think about you."
Jon had to laugh at that. So there was a very important reason now to bust the kids as soon as possible. He kissed Heather again. "You don't mind sacrificing your two siblings for me?"
She shrugged. "Benefit of having cat DNA. They'll land on their feet." Her arms wrapped around him tighter. "You know, we really do have some time before we have to get going. And we are all packed and ready."
"Good thing we can share the shower then," Jon murmured back, his lips against her neck. "Save on time there too."
Heather thought about saying something back, but why waste time when there were so many things much more pleasant that her mouth could be doing right then?
***********
Heather had enjoyed her flight back to the US quite well, but nothing could beat the flight to New York. It was only about an hour, but her and Jon couldn't stop smiling and laughing at each other, and in general acting like a couple of dopey kids. The stewardesses were smiling at them and couldn't help but to think that they had to be newlyweds to seem so happy and in love. It was partially that. The thought of nailing the twins to the wall was also putting them in a joyous mood.
The twins were scheduled to arrive about twenty minutes before Heather and Jon's flight, so everyone was still going to be at the airport. Heather couldn't wait. She was looking forward to seeing Daniel and Cyra and Tanya as well. It was going to be a great little family reunion. Max and Logan were supposed to be there too. Janna wasn't due for a bit, but they wanted to have the whole holiday thing with the family bit going by the time she arrived. Heather was still debating on if they should wait for Janna to show up to spring their little trap. Maybe it would be best to torture her and have her know what she was coming in for. Maybe they should let the three of them have an interesting Christmas morning.
It felt wonderful to have her hand in Jon's when they came out of the little port connecting the terminal to the plane and there was the majority of her family that she hadn't seen in months right there. Her mom stepped out first and hugged her, and then she was enveloped by her dad and brother and Tanya hanging on her leg demanding to look at this and even a hug for the wayward ones and Cyra was already glowing, no hiding it for much longer and Max and Logan were happy to see her. Less than a minute and she was already exhausted.
Jon was very glad when Mrs. Raleigh gave him a quick hug, and Daniel shook his hand and said he was glad to see him. The important part was that they were both in between him and Heather's dad. Daniel was smirking, so it was obvious that he had a clue about the phone call that morning. And there was the fact that Heather was beaming.
Daniel looked at Jon and then at Heather. He looked back at Jon with an eyebrow raised in question. Jon shrugged slightly, knowing without hearing words what he was asking. He grinned. "I just had to see her again," he answered, and Daniel grinned wider.
"Welcome back to the family," he said softly.
It was hard for Heather and Jon to look at the twins without breaking into evil laughter. They were both looking very well, happy and tanned and seemed to be quite pleased with their life in Europe as they answered Max's questions about where they were living and how everything was going. Heather bit her lip hard when Liz told them about a customer at the diner that kept coming in there and propositioning her for marriage. This was going to be so fun.
Jon couldn't resist. "You know, I have to go to the Riviera in a few months for a meeting. I'll have to have everyone come into the café and have you two wait on us," he commented casually, trying not to look at Heather. They both would have ended up on the floor in hysterics had they made eye contact, especially at Liz's expression. She looked like she had just swallowed a live frog.
"That'd be cool," Liz managed to get out in a pleasant enough tone. Mom and Dad didn't notice. Cam had them distracted talking about some other things. Little brats always knew how and when to tag team them. But Daniel noticed. Investigative journalists were trained to notice small details like changes in tone and expression. Now was not the time to question though. He'd get some answers from both of his little sisters later.
"So, been able to get any more work on the article done?" Liz asked Daniel, wanting to change the subject.
(you getting bad vibes from jon?)
(too covered with all that just had sex thing to tell what's really going on in there but don't like the feel of what's underneath at all)
(ack.don't even want to go there then.don't want to know about them doing it)
(still don't like what's coming off of him)
(me either.he'll let it slip and we'll get it then)
"Well, I was finally able to get Jhondie in the same room as Justin for a few hours and get the rest of their interview done," Daniel replied. He shook his head. "I swear, those two are impossible sometimes. The first time we scheduled it, we get ten minutes into it and then there was a twenty-six-car pile-up on the highway, and the hospital staff didn't care that Jhondie is chief of staff and had been told she was to be left alone that day. They wanted every trauma surgeon in the state at the hospital. Then that thing in Uganda went down, and Justin was racing out there to get in on it, and then Jhondie had that conference to go to. It's taken a while, but I got most of it done. Now a few more things, and I can finish it."
"Can't wait to read it," Liz replied with a smile. "That is so going to have everyone in a total uproar."
"That's why a lot of names and identities have been changed," he said. "But, there's still a long way to go before it hits the stands, and I promised Cyra no working until after the holidays."
Conversation ebbed and flowed around what everyone was doing and how Heather's job was going and Jon's resort. Logan mentioned that some friends of his had just come back from there and recommended it highly to them. Jon promised a family discount if him and Max decided to take a vacation out there. Jon had never met Tanya before, and she quickly charmed him into a doting uncle before they could get out of the airport garage. Daniel could only roll his eyes in disgust at his daughter's ability to get anyone to do her bidding at a snap. His fault though. He shouldn't have married such a beautiful woman and made a gorgeous child with her.
Daniel and Cyra had a three-story townhouse in a residential section of New York. It was actually quite a nice area with a backyard big enough for a proposed puppy to play in and plenty of room for guests. And a huge kitchen. Cyra loved to cook, and one of their requirements for a house was a kitchen big enough for her to enjoy cooking in. Daniel swore the only reason he hadn't gained fifty pounds since getting married was because he was so busy chasing after stories. Cyra offered to trade him for chasing a genetically revved toddler all day long. He declined the offer.
They piled into the family room, trying to figure out who had what luggage and what room it was going in when Heather yelled out. "WAIT!" she cried. All eyes were suddenly on her. She shot Jon a glance and he smirked lightly. She grinned. "I've got something for Cam and Liz, and I wanted them to see it right away."
The twins glanced at each other and then back to their sister. This wouldn't be the first time that she had seen something that reminded her of them and had picked it up. Heather liked giving people little surprises. She said it was what made her such an excellent agent at the FBI. They plopped down on the overstuffed sofa that was Tanya's favorite spot to jump off of. "What is it?" Liz asked.
Heather reached into her bag over her shoulder and pulled out the purple wrapped package and the green one, their favorite colors, and handed each one the gift. "Go on and open it," Heather said excitedly, her eyes sparkling. With another glance at each other, and mental assurances that they had no idea what was going on, Cam and Liz tore into the boxes while the rest of the family looked on curiously. Alicia's mental warning alarm was going off. Yes, Heather liked to give gifts. But not when she was still standing, her arms crossed with a challenging stance. A subtle glance at Zack and she knew he could see it as well.
It was too late to stop them. Both twins had their gift open and froze. Cam was better at guarding his expression, but his jaw still dropped as Liz's eyes went huge, her face paling. No. No! No no no no no no no no! This was not.no.impossible.oh God.no.they looked up at their sister still hovering over them. Her friendly smile had tucked itself into a cold grin of triumph, eyes sharp and piercing.
Heather didn't say anything. She didn't have to. The single phrase "gotcha" was already ringing in the air.
