Cat & Mouse

Chapter 15

THINGS HAPPEN BY THREE,OR DO THEY?

A/N: This chapter goes out to all of those who have put up with my questions and moods and strange behavior: Serenity, Falconia, Shalgal and Psigen!

A/N: Yes, I finally updated! Work and Christmas! But the next chapter should be up quicker than this one!

&&&

It was 3 days before Emma relaxed enough to let the twins out of her's and Shalimar's sight. Shal took it all in stride as she was feeling the same way. Who would dare kidnap their girls?

Adam wisely stayed out of the picture while Emma was still fuming. Jesse and Brennan were not so luck. Emma cornered them in the dojo the one afternoon.

"Why, Brennan? Why, Jesse? Why my girls?" She screamed at them and started pummeling Brennan's chest with her clenched fists. Jesse jumped up to grab her off of Brennan, but Brennan waved him away. Emma was broadcasting more frustration than anger. He figured she'd tire quickly before she'd hurt him too badly.

Adam, Shalimar, and the twins came running when they heard Emma screaming at the top of her lungs. Jori and Chessy grabbed her legs, showing courage in getting in their Mama's way. Mama! Mama! Snap out of it! We're okay. That guy made a mistake!

Between her daughters' pleas and the exhaustion of the past few days, Emma finally collapsed on the floor sobbing hard. Shalimar ran to catch her as she fell.

"Sweetie, it's ok, go ahead and cry," Shal crooned to her. They rocked back and forth while Emma quieted down. The twins tried to find a place to hold onto both their mothers. Adam discreetly walked back to the lab, satisfied that there was no immediate danger of harm to anybody.

"Mama, we're ok, " Jori said aloud when Emma was quiet for a while.

Emma reached out to brush Jori's cheek. "I know, sweet." She looked up at Brennan, "I'm sorry, Bren. Did I hurt you?"

Brennan snorted, "Emma, I'm fine. Are you ok now?"

Emma nodded. She looked around at her family. "I've spent too much time indoors, in here, but I'm scared to go anywhere by myself or just with the twins…" She left the sentence unsaid.

"What about if all of us go out together? Tony has been bugging us to come badk for a meal on him, to apologize," Jesse suggested.

The twins were excited at the idea and their enthusiasm spilled over and won Emma's heart to the idea. "Ok, ok. Only if Adam comes to." She agreed.

"Good, I'll call Tony to tell him we'll be over in a little while, " Jesse ran to make the call before Emma could change her mind.

"I go ask Grampa." Chessy ran off, with Jori scrambling to keep up with her sister.

Emma stood up and gave Brennan a tight hug. Shalimar arched her eyebrows when he winced slightly. "I hope it's a long time before you need to use me as a punching bag," he joked. Emma swatted his arm away in return.

"Come, Emma. Let's get a quick shower and change into something else," Shal called. Emma brightened up and ran after Shal down the hallway to the Den.

&&&

A few hours later, they all piled into the SUV limo with the newest hire from the Estate, Susan driving. The twins wore matching playsuits. Emma and Shal had changed into loose fitting skirts and over-sized shirts, which hid their slightly obvious bulging bellies perfectly. Jesse, Brennan and Adam wore dark polo shirts and pants. The atmosphere was light with jokes all the way there. Emma grew more nervous as they got closer to the restaurant.

"Shal, maybe this wasn't a good idea," she whispered.

"It'll be alright. How about if we check everything first? I still remember that scent vividly." Emma nodded and leaned against Shal. Jori snuggled up against her other side while Chessy snuggled up against Shal.

Emma and the twins waited in the car with Susan and Adam, while Shal and the boys walked through the restaurant. Shalimar did not catch the scent of the man who had kidnapped the girls. Emma was only partially reassured but went in anyway.

Tony led them to a very private alcove and pulled the curtains behind them. "This section is reserved for my special friends. My bonitas are on that list now." He beamed at Emma and Shalimar. "Don't worry about a single penny for your meal tonight. Your appetizers are coming right up. Now, what would you like to drink?" He left the alcove and soon there was a bottle of Chianti for the adults and a pitcher of Shirley Temples for the twins, Emma and Shalimar. They were soon munching off of plates of fried zucchini, mushrooms, garlic-parmesan bread and mozzarella sticks.

Those plates were removed in record time to be replaced by plates of pasta and sauces, served family style. Then salads. Then a steaming stromboli and calzone. And finally plates of tiramisu, ice-cream and cookies for the twins. All in the party were quite stuffed by the time of the last bit of ice-cream. They found out later Susan had been served the same meal in the SUV while she waited.

The attentiveness of the two servers was superb. The adults exchanged a glance at the end of the meal and dug into their respective wallets and pursed for a tip. They ended up leaving a $100 tip in tens and twenties for the 2 girls to share. The twins fell asleep as soon as they ate the last bite of their cookies.

As Emma and Shalimar stood up to pick the two girls up, Jesse and Brennan intercepted them and picked them up instead. Tony walked them to their vehicle. Emma turned to him and gave him a hug. "Do you cater, Tony?"

"Yes, we do."

"Good, I'm going to call you next week about catering the girls' birthday party for us."

"Do that, Miss Emma. I'll be happy to oblige my bonita." Tony was still beaming as they drove off.

&&&

Catering arranged, Emma finished the rest of the birthday party. She invited the girls from the twins' dance class. Then she personally supervised the decoration of several rooms at the Estate House. She rented one of those pit full of balls to jump in. Then she talked Jesse and Brennan into being clowns, and Adam into being a Master of Ceremonies. Several of the other staff dressed up as various other circus performers for the day.

The morning of the fourth dawned with a perfect day: just enough sunshine and warmth with no hint of rain. Emma and Shalimar had stayed up late wrapping the mound of presents they had purchased for the twins: dolls, stuffed animals, games and clothing. Shalimar laughed behind her hands every time Emma came back laden with more toys this week. At least Emma was smiling, that was all that mattered to Shal for now. The kidnapping scare was over with. They had never found out who had taken them. Today was the twin's birthday and nothing was going to mar it.

Shal turned over and watched Emma sleeping peacefully on her side. Carefully slipping out of the bed, Shal made her way to the kitchen to fix their breakfast. She fixed the four plates quickly and brought them back to the alcove off their bedroom – which was soon to be the nursery. She set the table and turned to wake Emma up first. Three pairs of eyes greeted her, as Jori and Chessy has snuck in behind her.

"Alright, breakfast is ready." She indicated the plates. They all sat down and enthusiastically dug in, Emma the most appreciative of the breakfast. This was Shal's idea, not her's, but it fit in nicely with the whole day. Shal kept the twins entertained while Emma set out their outfits for the day – matching playsuits in lavender and buttercup. She had picked up similarly colored dressed for her and Shal. After supervising the twins with their showers and a small water battle, Emma and Shal took their own showers while the twins dressed. They were under strict orders not to leave their bedroom until they were called.

So far the twins had always obeyed them whenever they showered together.

Shalimar critically studied Emma's belly against hers. "Emma, I swear your belly is a big as mine. Either you're having twins too, or you're carrying a big bowling ball along with our baby."

Emma smiled as she rubbed Shal's belly back. "Yeah, well, you've been eating enough for five people some days!" she teased back.

They finished rinsing each other's backs and then they dried off quickly.

"We have a birthday party to go to. The dance class is supposed to be there at 11." Emma reminded Shal, when Shal gave her a hug and kiss.

"I'm coming." They put on their dresses and went to get the birthday girls.

They were going for a drive with the girls, while Jesse, Brennan, and Adam took the presents over to the Estate house and waited for the guests to arrive.

&&&

At a quarter to eleven, they promptly arrived at the Estate House. Jesse and Brennan looked a little uncomfortable in their clown suits. Jori and Chessy clapped in anticipation.

"Uncle Jesse! Uncle Brennan!" They tackled them.

Clara intercepted for them. "Come, Jori, Chessy, let's get washed up before your friends arrive." They grabbed Clara's hands and dragged her along with Clara nodding to Emma's unspoken question.

Shal punched Brennan's arm, "Mr. Clown, do you juggle too?" She teased him.

"No I do magic tricks," he said showing a tesla coil.

The first car of guests arrived. Jesse escorted the four giggly girls carrying presents to the parlor. Mare' in her Mariya role greeted the parents who stepped out to watch their children run off. "You should be able to pick them up between four-thirty and five." She told them.

Soon there were twenty giggling girls watching Jesse and Brennan entertain them with "magic and acrobatic tricks". Jori and Chessy enjoyed the attention.

At noon they were lead into the dining room for Tony's catered meal of individual strombolis, garlic bread and cake. The twins opened their presents next, oohing and aahing over the various little girl dolls and makeup and accessories they had been given.

There was something that Emma could not quite pinpoint about the whole party. Perhaps it was just the fact that it was Mare's first public appearance as Mariya. Or maybe it was just her own nerves going haywire over making sure that the party was a success: her first birthday party with her daughters.

She was a flutter, going from table to table, straightening a plate here, pushing a chair in there, and checking the serving line that Tony's team set up.

Shal came up behind her and hung her chin over Emma's shoulders by standing on her tiptoes. "You know, you're going to rip those tablecloths if you tug at them any harder."

Emma sighed as she turned around, her forehead creased with the unseen worries. Shal rubbed Emma's forehead with concern. "Emma, stop worrying. It's going to be all right. Even if Jesse trips over his feet, it'll be all right. The twins are having fun. The other girls are having fun. You should be having fun, too. Relax, all the fuss is over with." Shal pulled her in for a hug. She rubbed noses with Emma, making Emma crinkle her nose and laugh. "See?"

"I know. Just something is off. I don't know what."

"Pssht! I haven't sense anything wrong, except you're worrying too much," Shal tried to reassure Emma.

Emma smiled, a little bitterly whish soon brightened into a full smile as she spied 22 girls come running around the corner. "Alright, I'll stop worrying." She gave Shal a tap on the arm. "Here they come."

Shalimar was relieved to see the crease on Emma's forehead disappear completely. She went on a prowl around the group to make sure there wasn't anything she could smell on the group, which she didn't.

They then went swimming in the pool. Jesse and Brennan supplied many cannonballs for the twenty-two enraptured girls. After herding them and drying them off, the last part of the afternoon was the ice-cream outside and the pit of balls to jump in.

Everybody was happy and quite exhausted when the last girl was ushered into a car and the car drove away.

Emma was visibly drooping, as were the twins. Shal gave a quick look at Jesse and Brennan who scooped the twins up. Shal helped Emma upstairs where the four snuggled down for a nap before heading back to Sanctuary.

Clara and Mare' picked up the mess left behind by the twenty-two energetic five year olds. Jesse and Brennan helped move some of the furniture back. Mare' smiled when Clara wiped a few tears away. "It was good to hear the laughter here today. It's been too long."

They smiled to each other as Adam came up and told them a secret: a secret that involved Emma's pregnancy. He needed their help with organizing the nursery here for Emma and Shalimar.

&&&

The twins talked about their birthday party for several days afterward which warmed Emma's heart immensely. The party preparations exhausted her and she slept hard the next two days. Adam and Shal worried about her the whole time, but put it down to the stress of her pregnancy and the kidnapping and the party.

Little did they know, Jori and Chessy had conspired with Mare' and Clara to plan their Mother's Day Sunday.

The night before Mother's Day, the twins were unusually cooperative. They insisted on going to bed at seven, a full hour and a half before they normally went to bed. Emma and Shalimar sat in the new nursery folding some layettes that Emma had bought that week. They didn't even hear a whisper out of the two after they went to bed.

"They're up to something, Shal," Emma mused.

"Why do you say that?"

"One, they went to bed early without us nagging them. Two, they're asleep already and they didn't talk for twenty minutes first. Three, they've been on the phone with Mare', Clara and Sarah several times today, giggling up a storm and getting quiet whenever you or I are near."

"Other than them going to bed early, I didn't see anything different in their behavior. They're growing up among a lot of adults and few other children."

"I just don't trust them going anywhere but to the dance studio, the Estate house, or with us. I couldn't handle another night like that one."

Shal regretted the reference to the kidnapping. So far no clues had been found, and the two girls didn't remember anything else about it. She changed the subject. "Have you picked out any names other than Katarina?"

"Nope. Did you?"

"I've a few names that I've been tossing about, but I'll probably figure it out when they're here."

Emma came over and shoved what Shal had in her hands and sat down in her lap. She pulled their t-shirts up to look at their two swollen bellies. "I still don't believe that you have two babies in there, while I only have one. We're still the same size just about." She leaned against Shal's shoulder and the rocking chair rock a few times.

"Oof, Emma! You might have one in there, but your butt is still bony. Ouch! Get up! Get Up!"

Emma slowly got up. "You want some hot chocolate. I'm ready for some tea." Shal nodded and watched Emma walk out to make their nightly mugs. She was starting to doubt that Emma was only carrying one baby in there. She was much too big for just one. But Adam would avoid her questions about it because Emma had asked him to. She sighed. Sometimes Emma had the queerest requests.

They sipped their mugs and went to bed early themselves, Emma spooning behind Shal as they snuggled together.

&&&

The next morning, Shal's sharper ears had heard a lot of giggling in the hallway outside their door. She opened her eyes warily as their door opened to reveal Jori and Chessy carrying trays with Clara helping them along. Clara winked and smiled as she closed the door behind them. Shal nudged Emma awake with wonder and looked at the calendar. Sunday, of course it was Mother's Day. Their first Mother's day! No wonder the twins had gone to bed so early last night. It must have taken them almost an hour to prepare their breakfast with all the enthusiasm that five year olds could muster. Emma started to cry from being happy and surprised.

The two trays had glasses of orange juice and milk, toast and jelly (already buttered), pancakes and waffles, enough for two people to eat. The twins had each decorated cards – with lots of glitter, cutouts and still wet glue! Emma jumped from the bed to hang them on the wall of continually growing artwork that the twins had made. Sloppy and syrupy kisses were exchanged around.

"Oh, you darlings! This is the best Mother's Day I ever had, especially since it's the first one we've all celebrated together," Emma gushed.

Shalimar received her own sloppy kisses from the girls, still happy that the twins accepted her. Some days she wondered what they thought of the twins she was carrying. She always wanted a large family secretly. Now they will soon be a family of 5 children in a few short months.

Chessy must have read her mind which she had been told not to many times, "Mommy, how are our twins sisters today?"

"Why don't you come over here and see." Shal patted her belly. Her twins were moving around some today. Jori and Chessy oohed over that and then turned to Emma's belly and did the same to her's. Then they sat back and cried, "Eat up, Mama, eat up, Mommy!"

Chessy continued talking, "Mare' wants us over for a swim and lunch today. She said we can take our naps there too. She has something for you two, too."

"So what else have you planned for us?" Emma asked worriedly.

"Nothing you won't enjoy. Clara and Mare' made sure we didn't tire you two out too much." Jori giggled in anticipation and almost bounced off the bed. "Oops!" Chessy pushed her sister off the bed.

"Chestina, Jorianne! No rough housing on the bed, especially when there's food an drinks!" Shal scolded them lightly, with a small growl to emphasize her point. Both girls sobered up right away. "Yes, ma'm."

"Let us eat while you two go get your clothes out for going over to see Mare'." Emma rescued the difficult moment.

As soon as the girls were out of sight, Emma blanched the thought of food. She just wanted a yogurt shake this morning. On cue, Clara knocked at the door with two shakes. She had a wistful smile at the trays that the twins had made a mess off. "I'm sorry. They were so cute and insistent at the menu and didn't want my help. I'll take those away," she said as she handed them their shakes. Emma smiled in relief.

"What would we do without you, Clara?"

Clara just smiled and whisked the trays away.

&&&

He looked up some of his regular Internet sites, but they brought him no pleasure tonight. He was looking for something new, something exciting, something exotic. He'd had a taste of excitement a few weeks ago when he took those two young girls in the hallway, but it wasn't them he was after; it was their parents: the blond and the redhead.

He could fantasize about them for hours after work was over. His cousin's mother found him that job at the restaurant. This job he had kept the longest of any of his jobs. He liked it a lot, especially when he could watch the blond and the redhead from the kitchen.

His boss overlooked his mistakes, his bumbles and his faux pas. Course, he stayed in the kitchen most of the time, chopping garlic and making the tomato sauce from the family recipe.

Mr. Tony was a kind man, in his opinion, but enough thinking of his boss. The blond and the redhead were what fueled his fire. He'd watch them from the kitchen every time they came in.

Then just a few days ago, he had the bestest of days; the catering team was short a server and Mr. Tony said he could go along. It was the two little girls' birthday party. He had came home from that party and couldn't sleep for hours. He had been that excited. Watching their bodies under their dresses, watching them bend over the table in front of him; it was all he could do but to keep a hold of the spoon in the dish he was serving from. Luckily, nobody noticed him staring at them.

Now, tonight, he needed another dose of the two women. But who knew when they'd show up next at the restaurant.

He sighed unhappily and went to bed unsatisfied.

&&&

A/N: Thanks to all who have stuck with me so far. I'll have a few more chapters coming to make up for this long drought in my updating.

magnusthewolf: I'm enjoying your stories immensely!

huntress2004: hmm, the hot tub!

melodie568: I'll be updating more quickly now that work is starting to slow down!

furi15: curiousity? I'm curious about your stories....

sunshine grrl: where are you? you've dropped off the face of the earth lately...

wox-77: I've got a few more surprizes up my sleeve with their pregnancies...Just wait and see.

Falconwolf3: I'm working at it! I've hand written out long parts of the next few chapters... Did you get mine?

A/N: Anybody have an idea where I'm going with their pregnancies?