Disclaimer: You know the drill. 'Mutant X' and all of it's characters = Not Mine. Lexi and Izzy Fox-Mulwray and Ryan DeLauro-Kilmartin = Mine.

Chapter 6.

Sanctuary, the next day.

After he had guzzled down a bottle of milk in record time, Ryan, in response to his mother's pats on the back, let out an Olympic worthy burp.

"That's my boy!" Jesse crowed with an approving grin.

Emma gave her husband a mock serious look. "You'd better not be teaching our innocent little boy your table manners."

"I have perfectly fine manners." Jesse objected, taking a swig of soda and burping as loudly as his son had. "Isn't that right, buddy?"

Ryan gurgled happily, kicking his short legs.

Emma shook her head in fond exasperation. "The next one has to be a girl."

"The next one?" Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Em, Ryan's less than a week old. Let's get used to him before we start talking about having other kids."

"Don't you want more kids?"

Jesse allowed himself a small smile. "Yeah. I'd always pictured us with a big family."

The sounds of a blazing argument in progress came clearly from Lexi and Izzy's playroom.

"Promise me one thing, will you?" Jesse was deadly serious.

"What?"

"No twins."

Shalimar had learned a whole new respect for both marriage counsellors and hostage negotiators.

Although she knew her daughters well enough to know that neither of them wanted to keep up the fight that had been in progress for the past couple of days, they were both too stubborn to be the first to make an overture of peace.

The conflicts between the two little girls ranged from verbal and physical fighting to completely ignoring each other's existence.

She honestly didn't know which was worse.

Apart from mediating when the arguments worsened, she and Brennan had stuck to their resolve not to interfere, to let the two five year olds sort it out amongst themselves.

Shalimar was beginning to regret ever agreeing to that strategy.

There were times that she felt like tying the little girls together or isolating them on the dojo until they worked it out, or, at the very least, agreed to disagree.

"Give them time." Her mentor and surrogate father had counselled her.

"What if they never stop?"

"They will."

"But what if they . . ."

"Shalimar," Adam gave her an amused smile. "Do I have to tell one of my stories about you and Jesse fighting?"

Nothing was worth letting Adam getting into one of his reminisces.

Half an hour later.

Izzy was having a tea party with her stuffed animals in the playroom, so Lexi had their bedroom to herself.

The adults had suggested more than once that the girls should each have their own bedroom but the twins had strongly objected.

Lexi didn't know how long it would be before Izzy demanded her own room.

Lexi thought that it would be very lonely for her in a room by herself.

Even though they were at odds with one another, she still took comfort in her sister's reassuring presence in the bed across from hers at night.

She didn't know what she would do without her.

All she knew was that it would be very lonely.

"Have you been able to negotiate a treaty of peace yet?" Jesse asked, only half in jest.

"Not a chance." The elemental responded glumly. "I think Lexi's ready to make up, but Izzy is too stubborn to meet her half way."

"At least we know she comes by it honestly." Jesse quipped, making an effort to sound light hearted. He looked troubled. "I didn't think that Ryan would upset things so much for them.

"Don't worry about it." Brennan placed a gentle hand on the younger man's shoulder. "If it hadn't been Ryan, it would have been something else. In fact," He grinned wryly. "If they have to fight about a boy I'd rather they do it now than when they're in their teens."

An hour later.

Lying in his crib, his stomach full of milk, a warm blanket tucked around him, Ryan DeLauro-Kilmartin was very content with his world.

Full and happy, he settled back in his crib, and his eyes were drifting closed when he sensed the presence of a new arrival and beamed up at them.

At first he thought that it was his cousin, Lexi, who always brought him pretty things that he liked to look at, but the emotions he was sensing were very different to the worshipful adoration Lexi usually exuded.

The newcomer who wasn't Lexi frowned down at him as he lay in his crib, radiating unhappiness.

"I don't like you." Izzy didn't waste any words. "You stole my sister away from me."

It seemed very unfair to Ryan that she was accusing him when he couldn't talk to defend himself.

"Lexi and me used to do everything together, since we were born." Izzy told him bitterly. "We played together all the time and we played tricks on the grown ups and we even made your mommy and daddy kiss. If we hadn't done that, Aunt Emma and Uncle Jesse would never have gotten married and you wouldn't have been born. You should be grateful but instead you stole away Lexi from me."

Ryan's chubby features contorted in distress, her emotions making him want to cry.

He hadn't wanted to make people sad.

"Don't cry." Izzy's tone was one of authority. The last thing she wanted was for one of the grown ups to catch her in Ryan's room when he was supposed to be having his nap.

Ryan obeyed her.

"Lexi's not only my sister." Izzy continued, modifying her tone, but only slightly, to keep him from crying. "We're twins and she's my best friend. At least she was." She amended miserably. "And I want things back the way they were."

"I thought you hated me." Her sister spoke up softly from the doorway.

"I can't hate you." Izzy admitted. "I wanted to, 'cause you like Ryan better than me but I can't."

"I don't like Ryan better than you." Lexi objected. She glanced towards the crib and it's tiny occupant. "No offence. Ryan's cute and I like helping with him and playing with him," She continued. "But I don't like him as much as you. I thought that he might be lonely since there's only one of him. Daddy can play basketball with Uncle Jesse and Mommy and Aunt Emma can go shopping together and Grandpa can do stuff with all the grown ups and with us and you and me are twins and we play together all the time but Ryan's the only baby. When we were babies, there were two of us. There's only one of him."

"Poor baby." After a couple of days at odds with her sister, Izzy could appreciate what it meant to be lonely.

"I figure we have to take care of him." Lexi continued. "Aunt Emma and Uncle Jesse won't teach him how to do really fun stuff, like play tricks on grown ups. He needs us."

"I guess you're right." Izzy admitted. "If we're not careful, poor Ryan'll grow up boring and good." She made it sound as though being 'good' was the worst fate that could befall a kid.

"Besides," Lexi's eyes glinted mischievously. "Grandpa says that when Ryan learns to walk he'll be able to move really fast and walk through walls and everything."

"Wow!" Izzy's eyes widened. "He could sneak into the grown up's rooms and set booby traps and be back before they even knew he was gone."

"Exactly." Lexi said. "We hafta show him the ropes." She lowered her voice. "We're not supposed to be in here while he's taking his naps. Want to find something to do to Uncle Jesse?"

"We pick on Uncle Jesse all the time." Izzy objected.

"Aunt Emma?"

"Sure!"

The twins tore out of the room, headed for their playroom for a council of war.

Ryan yawned sleepily, his eyelids growing heavy.

Now that that mess was sorted out, maybe a baby could get some sleep.

TBC.