Here's chapter two! This is a scene between our favorite couple, Matt & Mimi! Yay! You'll also find out some stuff about Mimi's past…just a tiny bit. Anyways, I'd really appreciate it if you guys leave some reviews.

Chapter Two

Nonsense, she told herself briskly.

As if they were afraid of missing something exciting, the babies did their best to fight off sleep. Ultimately they succumbed, however, and Mimi tucked them into their side-by-side cribs & tiptoed out of the room.

The house was quiet except for the soft rock tune coming from the radio in the kitchen. The front panels of the dishwasher were propped against a cabinet door & Matt was lying on his back on the floor, peering into the dark cavity underneath the machine.

Mimi stopped in the doorway. "Have you found the problem?"

"Not yet. The drain's not clogged & the floats are working."

"Is that good news?"

"Nope, I've eliminated the simple stuff."

This means he'll be around for a while longer. Just leave him to his work & get your briefcase, Mimi. But she didn't move. "I'm going to make myself a cup of coffee. Want one?"

"Sure." He slid further under the dishwasher. "How are you, Mimi? It's been a while."

"Since we ran into each other, you mean?" She shrugged. "Three or four months, I guess."

"Three. It was at the christening & you were scandalized that Sora had asked me to be the babies' godfather."

Mimi didn't bother to argue the point. Instead, she stepped across him & started putting water into the coffeepot. "How's Amelia? Or was it Vanessa you brought that day? I get your girlfriends all mixed up."

Matt smiled, but he didn't answer. Mimi wondered if that meant he'd forgotten what the woman's name, too. All of Matt's girlfriends looked, sounded, or acted alike.

"How about you?" he asked. "Are you still seeing that stockbroker you brought to the christening?"

"He was a businessman," Mimi corrected. "And no, I'm not seeing him anymore, though there's a banker I'm going out with at the moment."

"What happened to the businessman? He was practically glued to your side that day."

Mimi had to think about it for a moment before she remembered. "I realized that if I wanted to get a play-by-play about the day's marketing trades, I could just read the business section of the newspaper…and just put it away when I got tired of reading."

He prodded at something deep under the machine. "What the…I hate working on antiques. I swear the motor's rusted into this thing. Being second-best never did appeal to you, did it, Mimi?"

She stopped spooning coffee into the filter & turned to stare at him. "Oh, now The Lone Repairer has expanded to psychology?"

He reached into the cavity with a pair of pliers & she heard a metallic snap. "Still touchy about the wedding, I see."

Touchy. That was one way to put it, she supposed. "It's been two years, Matt. I've put it behind me & gone with my life. So can you just forget it?"

He shook his head. "Of course not, that was one of the greatest dramatic scenes I've seen in my whole life. I'll never forget you telling Michael where to get off."

She plugged the coffeepot in & turned it on. "Next time I break an engagement," she said dryly, "I'll be sure to invite you."

"Don't bother. Nothing could ever top that one. Michael's already at the church, wearing his tux, boutonniere pinned in place, fussing with his hair & trying to cover up the signs of a really bad hang-over, and you come storming into the ushers' room wearing half a wedding dress & shrieking at him like a banshee. The costumes alone would have been worth the price of a ticket."

"I was not shrieking. I was making a point."

"Not that you didn't have reason to shriek," Matt added. "Though I still think you went a little over the top when you started yelling at me just because I happen to be there to hear it all…"

"You could have let me know you were there, instead of hiding behind a pillar & listening to every word I said."

"And interrupted your train of though while you were on a roll?" He shook his head. "You were just lucky all the rest of the ushers stepped out for a breath of fresh air so I was the only witness." He sat up & reached inside the machine, grunting as he tried to lift out the motor unit. "I admire you for that you know."

Mimi was startled. "For what? Calling off my wedding because the groom spent the night before the ceremony carousing with a bunch of call girls?"

"I think they'd probably prefer to be called 'exotic dancers'."

Mimi shrugged. "Whatever! It's the same thing, as it turned out."

"Anyway, that's not the reason. I admire you for going in front of the crowd & facing the embarrassment because it was Tai & Sora's wedding day too, and you didn't want to ruin it for them just because you called off yours."

Mimi didn't understand why suddenly she felt numb. She bit her lip. "Thanks."

"Anytime." The motor twisted & Mimi heard a crack from somewhere deep inside the dishwasher. "I didn't like the sound of that," Matt muttered. "In fact, I think I may have found the problem. Or maybe I just created a new one. That's not my cell phone ringing, so it must be yours."

Mimi didn't even hear the buzz. That in itself was an indication of how badly the man go to her, she told herself as she retrieved the phone from her briefcase. "This is Mimi Tachikawa."

"Thank heaven. I thought you'd never answer." The voice was soft, feminine, & dripping with panic.

Mimi recognized it…Yolei was the youngest & least experienced member of the sales staff at the realty office. "What's wrong, Yolei?"

"The Tatsumoru's are here to make a counteroffer on the house they want to buy & I don't know what to do. Can you come in right away?"

With two babies asleep in the next room, it had been difficult enough to take them for a simple walk through the neighborhood. Hauling them out of bed & across town to meet with a pair of clients would be torture. Unless Matt would agree to keep an eye on them…

She looked over her shoulder & saw him putting the panels in place on the front of the dishwasher. Maybe that isn't a great idea.

"Out of the question, Yolei." She ignored the woman's protest. "Their file is in my bottom desk drawer. The client number is on the tab of the folder. Pull it up on the computer, find the offer they made last week, put in the new price, print out the form, and have them both sign it." She glanced at her watch. "Then call the delivery service, have a courier bring the papers here & I'll check them over. Got it?"

Yolei repeated the instructions & address. "Okay," she said doubtfully. "If you're sure you can't come in."

"I'm sure," Mimi aid & snapped the phone shut. When she came back into the kitchen, matt was putting the last screw in place. "Is it all fixed?"

"Far from it, I have about fifteen pieces to replace…if the home-supply store has them."

"Then why put it all back together again when you have to take it apart later?"

"Because I don't want the twins to rearrange all the pretty wires."

"Oh, good point. You'll be back later then?"

"Probably tomorrow, I have an engagement tonight."

"With Vicky?" she kept her voice light, "or Yumi?"

"Neither, why?"

That figures. By now, Mimi thought, there could have been half a dozen more tall, slim girls in & out of his life. "Matt, you don't know the meaning of the word engagement."

"People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, princess…how many guys have you dated since Davis anyway?"

"A few," she said coolly. "Why?"

"Anybody whose lasted more than a month?"

"I don't think so." She kept her voice light. "But then by your standards, a month is an eternity, so you don't need to worry about me being fickle. I'll see you tomorrow, if you don't want that coffee after all."

He shook his head. "I'll take a rain check. You know, you look as if you could use a nap yourself instead of caffeine."

"I've got some work to do. I have a closing on Monday & a new client coming into town…so I need to refresh my memory of the listings before I decide what to show him."

"Him? I thought it was normally the woman who chooses the family home."

"Usually it's the wife who does most of the looking," Mimi agreed. "But this guy's single. Actually, I think he's divorced. He's an upper-level executive with the auto-assembly company."

"Now that sounds promising," Matt said. "If you're really lucky, maybe he'll be like the businessman…and you can find out every step to build a car."


Mimi didn't know whether she was getting used to the routine, or the twins were accepting her, or they were all just too tired to make a fuss, but everything went a little smoothly on Sunday.

The babies already had their nap & were in their high chairs toying with their dinner when Matt arrived. He let himself in with a cheerful hello, set a large paper bag of parts on the kitchen counter & gave the coffeepot a speculative shake.

"If you're hoping to have that cup of coffee you missed yesterday, you're too late," Mimi said. "I kept it hot for you till just a couple of hours ago, though."

He made a face & started to take the bottom panel off the dishwasher again. "The truth is, you forgot to turn it off."

Mimi put another spoonful of peas & carrots in front of Nikko. With his index finger, he rolled a pea across the tray.

"How's it going today?" Matt asked.

"We're doing great, aren't we, kids?" Ella giggled. Nikko noticed remnants of carrots on his fingertip & tried to shake them off.

Matt slid under the dishwasher. "How long till Sora & Tai get home?"

"Six hours," Mimi answered automatically. Too late, she tried to bite back the words.

Matt was grinning. "I'm surprised you don't have it figured down to the last minute. So you want to tell me how you're really doing?"

Mimi sighed. "I missed the courier yesterday because I was in the middle of a diaper change when he rang the doorbell. I yelled but he couldn't hear me & I couldn't get there in time, so I have a counteroffer hanging in limbo because the papers are locked up in a delivery van till Monday."

"That's rotten luck."

"And this morning, Nikko was standing up in his crib when I went in…and the way his face crumpled when he realized that it was me again & not his mother almost broke my heart."

"Better you than a baby-sitter he doesn't know at all."

Mimi twisted around to look at him. "Don't you have any sympathy for the poor kid?"

"Of course I do. I'm just being more realistic than sentimental. It's good for them to get used to different people."

"Well, good luck convincing them." She added a few chunks of chicken to Ella's tray & handed the baby her cup of milk. "And while you're at it, try persuading Sora. Though she still hasn't called back." Mimi frowned. "Now that I think about it, it's still a little strange that I haven't heard from her."

"There hasn't been a word?"

Mimi shook her head. "Aren't phone calls from a cruise ship pretty pricy? Maybe Tai put his foot down."

"He could try, but I don't think that would stop Sora from calling to check her kids. Are you in the mood for a bet?"

"Tell me what it is first?"

"Whether Sora calls the minute they land at the airport, or she rushes straight home to her little darlings."

"She'll call," Mimi said promptly.

"I don't think so. If she calls, she'll be five minutes later getting here."

"It won't hold her up a bit because she'll send Tai after the car while she's on the phone. So the only question left is how much money you want to give me? Ella, smashed peas are not a good conditioner for your hair. Come on, sweetheart, let's go wash it out." She lifted Ella from her high chair. "Do you mind if I leave Nikko here for a minute, Matt? It's easier to wash them one at a time."

Matt waved a hand instead of answering.

When she came back, he turned the radio on & took the baby out of his high chair. Nikko had pulled himself up beside a dining room chair & was hanging on tight, swinging his bottom in an approximate rhythm with the music. Matt was on the floor, both hands out of sight underneath the dishwasher.

"Hold that bag down ere for a minute so I can sort through it, would you Mimi?"

She knelt down, holding the bag out of the babies' reach. "How are you doing?"

"So far I've managed to break another valve & increase Nikko's vocabulary by at least two words that Sora doesn't want him to know."

The music stopped & a newscast began, but Nikko danced on, too fascinated by his own movement to notice. Ella watched him as if she was studying each step. Matt sorted through pieces. And Mimi, half-listening to the newscast over the rattle of parts & the babbling of two babies, caught a few words that sent chill up her spine.

"Cruise ship…Caribbean…virus…quarantine."

She scrambled to her feet & made a dash for the living room.

"Hey," Matt called, "where are you going with my stuff?"

Mimi didn't bother to answer. She dropped the bag in the nearest chair & dived for the television remote control.

The story was on the third news channel she checked. A mysterious virus had struck a cruise ship in the Caribbean & public health officials were taking no chances. The ship & the two thousand people on board would be quarantined off the Hawaiian coast until the virus was identified & the passengers were confirmed not to be contagious.

It was the one Sora & Tai was on. "Oh no," she whispered. "All those poor people stuck on a ship with fevers & headaches…"

Matt stood in the doorway, listening intently. "At least it doesn't seem as though the symptoms are life threatening, just miserable."

"Somehow I don't think it would be a lot of comfort to know that you're not going to die," Mimi mused, "if you feel bad enough to want to. What a way to spend a vacation!"

"I wonder if Tai's boss will charge this up against his sick leave." Matt's voice was flippant, but there was a shadow in his eyes & a furrow between his brows.

"No wonder she hasn't called. There must be two thousand people waiting in line to use the phone."

"So we both lost the bet," Matt added, "because she won't be calling from the airport & she won't be coming home straight either. At least not tonight." He looked down at Mimi & raised one eyebrow. "Congratulations, Miss Tachikawa, you have just hit the jackpot! You are the lucky winner of twins."


AN: You're probably wondering what Matt meant about that. Don't worry; the next chapter is the continuation of this scene. I thought that this chapter is long enough so I decided to cut it. Hehe!

PLEASE leave a REVIEW!

Chapter 3 will be posted soon! lol