Disclaimer: As far as ownership is concerned, nothing has changed since my last update. 'Mutant X' and it's characters = Not mine. Lexi and Izzy Fox-Mulwray = Mine.
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I haven't decided how long I'm going to keep the Mutant X team away on their mission. If anyone wants Adam and Nicholas to have to take care of the twins overnight, please let me know. And please tell me who you want the twins to torture; Adam, Nicholas or both.
Words in / / = Thoughts.
Chapter 4.
Nicholas Fox looked as if he was ready to have a heart attack.
Adam couldn't have been more amused.
"You think this is funny, do you, Kane?" Nicholas barked, catching sight of the grin on the other man's face.
"Yes, I do find it quite entertaining, as a matter of fact." Adam responded dryly. "So this is how to keep small children under control is it?" he snorted in derision. "If this is your definition of good parenting, then it's a wonder Shalimar didn't manage to drown or electrocute herself or something when she was small!"
"Look at the mess they made!" Nicholas gestured towards the slimy, gloopy puddle of ingredients at the twins' feet.
Adam surveyed it calmly. "Yes, you're going to have fun cleaning that up, aren't you?"
"What the . . .? Me? I . . ." Nicholas's face turned beet red with rage. "I'm not cleaning this up!"
"Well, you were in charge." Adam pointed out reasonably. "By rights, cleaning up after them is your job. Unless, of course, you want to explain to Shalimar and Brennan exactly how their daughters managed to get into this mess. Trust me, they won't be amused."
"An' me an' Izzy'll tell Mommy an' Daddy dat you say you 'pank us." Lexi piped up helpfully, taking Adam's side. The idea of blackmailing her biological grandfather was causing her no qualms of conscience whatsoever. It was a shame that she and her sister were trying to get their grandfathers to be friends, Lexi reflected mournfully, playing the two men against each other was so much fun!
"'Fore Other Grandpa clean up, Lexi an' me have s'prise fo' you." Izzy announced. "We gwine to hab takes fo' teatime!"
Working briskly, Izzy scooped out handfuls of the gooey dough, rolled them into balls and arranged them carefully on the plate her sister had already sprinkled with sugar.
"Dewe." She wiped her hands on her jeans, completely satisfied with her handiwork. "Now takes will be weady fo' af'r naptime. You can clean kit'en when Lexi an' me hab nap." She added generously, beaming up at Nicholas.
Only the thought of what his daughter and son in law would say – and do – to him if their three year old daughters were to take up cursing stopped Nicholas from bellowing every expletive he had ever heard.
"Before you two take your naps, I think a bath is in order." Adam interrupted, not wanting the twins to climb into their neatly made beds covered in flour, eggs and milk. "Come on." He caught the little girls by the hands. "Lets get you cleaned up." He turned to look at Nicholas as they left the kitchen. "You'll find the cleaning materials in the press under the sink." He grinned maliciously. "Have fun. Oh, and before I forget to tell you," He smiled in anticipation before making his final thrust. "Shalimar called. She and the others won't be back until later tonight. We'll be alone with the twins until then."
/Oh f***! /
* * *
An hour and a half later.
Their energy levels enhanced – not that they needed it – by their bath and their afternoon nap, the Fox-Mulwray twins were back to work once again, plotting to restore harmony to their family unit.
"At firs' I t'oght dat it was jus' Other Grandpa who was bein' bad," Izzy mused. "Bu' now Grandpa bein' mean to."
"He no as mean to Other Grandpa as Other Grandpa mean to him." Lexi objected, leaping to the absent Adam's defense.
"But he no bein' nice to Other Grandpa." Izzy pointed out. "Dey bofe hafta be nice."
"How we make dem be nice? Do we gib dem date, like An' Emma an' Uncie Jess?" Lexi asked, remembering the success of that particular project. "I don' t'ink dat Grandpa wants to tiss Other Grandpa."
No." Izzy agreed sagely. "Dey no need date. Dey jus' need to be fwiends."
"Maybe we no gib dem date, but we gib dem tea party 'stead." Lexi suggested. "I make dem nice cup tea an' you give dem yo' takes an' dey hafta eat dem toge'der."
Izzy smiled, nodding her approval. "Yeah. We do dat. An' I hab oder idee . . ."
* * *
Five minutes later.
"Girls, what are you doing?" Nicholas, just finished up his cleaning duties, looked up to see the twins standing in the doorway of the kitchen, matching expressions of determination on their small faces.
"Tum hewe, Other Grandpa." Lexi beckoned, an intimidating smile on her face.
"Uh, I'd really rather not." Nicholas, more freaked out than he would care to admit by the toddler's malevolent grin, tried to back away, nearly tripping over Izzy, who moved behind him, cutting off his path of escape.
"You can't run 'way, Other Grandpa." Izzy informed him solemnly, crossing her arms. "Now sit down."
"No way!" For the first time in his life, Nicholas Fox wished for his daughter's mutancy, knowing that only her abilities would have allowed him to escape the clutches of his three year old granddaughters.
"SIT DOWN!"
He sat.
* * *
From his lab, Adam could hear Nicholas pleading with the twins to stop whatever torture they were inflicting on him.
It was music to his ears.
/I just hope they don't kill him, though. / Adam mused. /I don't have anywhere to hide the body! /
* * *
Twenty minutes later.
"Grandpa?" Lexi poked her head into the lab.
Adam looked up from his work with a smile. "What is it, sweetheart?"
She walked over to him, holding up her arms.
Adam lifted her up and sat her down on his lap. "What can I do for you, Miss Fox-Mulwray?" He asked in a gravely playful tone.
"I wanna 'vite you to me an' Izzy's tea par'y." She told him solemnly.
"I don't know . . ."
Lexi caught the doubtful note in his tone and brought out her trump card.
"Other Grandpa mean an' smelly." She complained, plumping her lower lip in an adorable pout. "He neber play wif us. He no wan' to come to tea par'y. He not as nice as you." She finished, smiling sweetly, knowing that he would never be able to resist showing up Nicholas.
"I'll be there."
* * *
Lexi made a great show of adjusting the cushions on Adam's chair and making sure that he had enough milk and sugar in his 'tea'.
Privately, Adam didn't think that there was enough sugar in the world to offset the appalling taste of Lexi's tea – which consisted of a teabag steeped in cold water and whatever other liquids the little girl could get her hands on – but he would never have hurt her feelings by saying so.
He waited until she had left the room before tipping the contents of his cup back into the small plastic teapot.
A minute later, the twins appeared at the door, dragging a very reluctant Nicholas.
Adam took one look at the other man and burst out laughing.
Nicholas's face was heavily made up, with scarlet clown lips, pink cheeks and lime green eye shadow. The twins had obviously purloined their dress up box and poor Nicholas, in addition to wearing an old flowered housedress of unknown origin, also sported the 'Kiss The Cook' apron Jesse had bought Brennan for his birthday, a long string of fake pearls and elegant evening gloves. The whole absurd ensemble was topped with a wide brimmed floppy straw hat, adorned with every ribbon and hair slide that the girls possessed.
Nicholas turned to Adam with a pleading look. "Kill me, please!"
/What I wouldn't give for Jesse's camcorder! / Adam thought gleefully. /Or for Shalimar to see this! /
"Oh, you fin'sh yo' tea, Grandpa?" Ignoring his protests, Lexi refilled his cup and added four lumps of sugar. "Don' wowwy, dewe's lots lef' if you wan' more." She assured him.
Adam nodded, forcing himself to smile. "Thanks."
"What's this all about, girls?" His ridiculous outfit had not improved Nicholas's temper in the slightest.
The two toddlers exchanged a meaningful look.
"You an' Grandpa a'ways bein' mean to each other." Lexi, who had decided to take the lead, scolded. "Me an' Izzy sick of it an' Mommy sick of it too. You hafta be fwiends. No mowe figh'in'! Now, sit down an' hab yo' tea toge'der. An' be nice."
"Lexi, sometimes grownups don't get along. . ." Adam tried to explain.
"I'm not having tea with him!" Nicholas tried to rise.
Izzy glared at him. "Sit Down!"
He sat down obediently, still glaring at Adam.
The twins exchanged an exasperated look.
"Okay." Lexi had reached the end of her tether. "If you no gonna be nice. . ." She caught her sister's eye.
"We gonna make you!" The twins chorused.
/Uh oh. /TBC.
Show of hands, who wants Adam and Nicholas to hash out their differences at some point in the story, or should the twins continue with their 'team-building' exercises? Any ideas for activities/torture will be welcomed.
