I bet you, guys, will enjoy this one. It may be a little bit boring at first, but I assure you that once you get to the end, you'll be begging for more…hehehe! Thanks for the reviews! It reached the 50 mark! Wow! Thank you so much!

Chapter Thirteen

The twins were unusually bright-eyed & cheerful, & far more interested in playing hands-and-knees tag. When Mimi tried to capture them, they scrambled gleefully off in opposite directions. "I had to go & teach them that little evasion trick," she sad glumly.

"Oh, let them clean the floor a bit longer," Matt said. "Go get some clothes on & we'll skip the routine today & go out for breakfast."

She surveyed the twins, who were still in their pajamas, & Matt, who was sporting stubble. "By the time we get everybody ready, it'll be more like brunch."

"That's okay, it'll be less crowded."

"All right," she said, "but no ice cream."

"Hear that, guys, how about French toast & sausage?" Ella giggled while Nikko nodded.

"They don't know what you're talking about," Mimi pointed out.

"Then it's time they learned."

The coffee shop that Matt chose was obviously used to hosting families, for there was a line of high chairs, & the twins' milk was delivered to the table in tip-proof cups. "I see you come in here a lot," Mimi said as she put bibs on the babies.

"How do you know that?"

"Because the hostess could barely stop her eyes from popping out at the sight of you with a woman & a couple of kids, which says she's used to seeing you on your own." She added thoughtfully, "Or perhaps with a succession of different women."

"Ah, you're a real-estate person and a private detective. It's a flexible combination; I'll say that for you."

"At any rate, it's painfully obvious that the hostess had never thought of you as a family man, until this morning." Real-estate person…oh, yes. "You said we'd talk about Jun Motomiya today."

Matt eyed her over his coffee cup. "No, I said I'd sleep on it."

"And now that you've slept on it, what have you decided?"

"That calling her up to ask if her house is for sale will get you exactly nowhere."

"Give me credit for a little tact, Matt. I'll be diplomatic about it. But if you're not going to help me, at least promise that you won't sabotage the deal."

"I never said I wouldn't help you, but handling Jun requires a certain sideways approach."

"All right," Mimi said slowly. She took Nikko's tippy cup out of his hand & turned it right side up. "I'm listening."

"No, you're not. Whenever you have the babies settled to your satisfaction, I'll tell you."

"They do require a certain amount of attention to keep them quiet, Matt."

He shook his head. "They'll occupy themselves by flirting with every customer in the whole coffee shop if you just leave them to it.'

She sighed & sat back in her chair. "All right, I'm really listening."

Matt sipped his coffee & told her his plan. Mimi stared at him for a long moment. The waitress brought their meals, and Mimi absently cut a piece of French toast & a sausage patty into tiny bits and set it in front of the twins. "And you seriously think that will work?"

"It can't fail any more spectacularly than if you call her up from the office with the direct approach."

That much was probably true, Mimi admitted. Cold-calling a client she'd never even met was about the least promising idea she'd ever come up with. She wouldn't have considered it if Willis Harrison hadn't been so insistent. But Matt's idea wasn't a whole lot better than hers. "I need to stop by the office before we go," she announced. "I want to have a listing contract in my pocket, just in case."

"So you can get her signature before she changes her mind? Mimi, it'll either work or it won't."

"And if it does, I want to be ready to capitalize on it," Mimi said stubbornly.

"That's fine with me, more coffee?"


The real-estate office wasn't exactly bustling, not an unusual sight for late Thursday morning when the agents who were working were mostly out with clients. Mimi was glad to see the almost empty parking lot; however, if Izzy sees her wearing jeans & a sweatshirt coming in to the office, he would make sure she never hears the end of it.

But then, she hadn't intended to come to work this morning…particularly not with Matt & the twins in tow. She opened the door of the SUV before it even stopped moving. "I'll just run inside & grab that form. I'll be right back."

"And we'll just come with you," Matt said pleasantly, "in case someone tries to handcuff you to your chair to finish up whatever's pending."

"Suit yourself. You must like lifting weights better than I do, to carry the twins around more than you need to." She hurried ahead into the office.

Yolei was at her regular spot just inside the front door, talking to a man who was standing just in front of the desk. A woman beside him leaned over the desk, apparently to write a note. Yolei looked up. "Oh, Ms. Tachikawa…there's another counteroffer on the Tatsumoru's deal. I was going to call you in a little bit, but since you're here…"

"I'll take a look at it."

The couple by the desk turned as Mimi spoke. It was the young couple who had completed the purchase of their new house on Monday, in the fastest closing Mimi could remember pushing through. She felt guilty just thinking about it…even though nothing important had been skipped over in the process, such a big moment deserved more time & solemnity.

The woman stepped forward with a big smile. "How wonderful to see you! Yolei thought you wouldn't come, so I was just writing you a note."

The young man held out a package & said, "This is just a little thank you for all you've done for us."

Mimi felt even guiltier as she took the small, exquisitely wrapped box.

"And we like to invite you to have dinner with us," the young woman said. "Just you, I mean…not a party or anything…so whenever you're free, let us know." The door opened behind her.

"To be perfectly honest, though, it's not just dinner," the man went on. "There are a couple of things we'd like your advice about…things we're thinking of doing to the house. You know some remodeling stuff."

Matt came up beside her & automatically Mimi reached for the nearest baby. It happened to be Nikko, who twisted around in her arms & grabbed with both hands for the gold bow on top of Mimi's package.

Ella squeaked a protest & went after it herself. "Cut it out, guys," Matt said.

Mimi peeled Nikko's fingers off the bow, with difficulty, & set he box on the corner of Yolei's desk. "I'm sorry, that's downright embarrassing. They haven't even had a birthday yet, & they were too young last Christmas for presents to make much of an impression."

"Maybe the fondness for wrapping paper & ribbons is genetic," the young woman said with a grin. "I didn't realize you were married, Mimi. I thought…" Her gaze slid to Matt. "Oh, well."

Mimi wondered if the client was remembering the attention Joe had paid to Mimi at the closing.

"Please do bring your husband, too," the young woman went on firmly.

Matt held out a hand to her. "Yamato Ishida," he said.

"Not my husband," Mimi added firmly.

"Oh." The woman's smile faded just a bit & she looked a little confused.

Mimi felt like slapping herself in the forehead. "No…no, I mean, we're not…I mean, we're just friends. And these aren't out babies. They're just borrowed."

Matt, she saw, was biting back a grin. But he sounded serious as he steeped into the breach. "Did I hear you say something about remodeling? Because I'm a contractor & I'd be happy to give you my advice."

"Then you're exactly the person we need," the young woman said. "And that certainly explains how Mimi knows so much about the practical things around the house."

Mimi's jaw dropped. As if she'd gotten her knowledge of how a house was put together by some sort of osmosis, rather than by study, experience, & hard work!

"How about Saturday night?" the young man offered. "I'll put something on the grill & we can look over the house."

Mimi opened her mouth to object, but the date was made before she could argue. The young couple bustled out & Mimi rolled her eyes, handed Nikko to Matt, took the folder Yolei held out, & started toward her own little cubicle. Matt followed.

"You're exactly the person we need," she quoted as she sat down behind her desk. "Great, you can go & I'll just stay home."

"You're just offended that they think I know more about how houses are put together, which I do."

"Well, yes, you do, but that doesn't mean…" Mimi gave it up as an impossible argument.

"You don't like them?" Mat asked. "I thought they were very nice."

"They're very nice people and I fully intended to go & visit…sometime that I don't have two babies to deal with."

"You told me Sora keeps a list of teenage baby-sitters on the refrigerator." Matt sat down across the desk from her. "Surely one of them will be free on Saturday night. And the babies need a break from us as much as we need from them."

"I don't care to contemplate the idea that we might still have them on Saturday night. Would you just be quiet for two minutes while I read this?"

"Besides," Matt went on, "if you're going to cost me Jun Motomiya's job, then I need to be out shaking the bushes for business."

"Right," Mimi sighed. "I'm really worried for you."

Matt didn't say anything, & finally she looked up at him warily. He wasn't doing anything suspicious, just sitting there in a straight chair with a twin cuddled in each arm. The late morning sunlight streaming through the window behind her desk reflected off all three heads. He looked like a saint, complete with a halo.

I'm losing it, Mimi thought, & buried herself in her paperwork.


Mimi watched as Matt unfolded the stroller in Jun Motomiya's driveway & said, "This plan of yours isn't going to work."

"It certainly won't if you go into it with that attitude. Grab a kid & let's get started."

"It's not ethical."

"I told you, you have to come to Jun sideways or you'll never accomplish anything. Come on."

A couple of minutes later they were walking around the corner of Jun's house toward the new addition, pushing the stroller and pausing now & then so Matt could point out the features of the new section.

The rest of the windows had gone into place since Mimi's last visit, & the last rows of tiles were going up on the roof. Inside the new rooms, craftsmen bustled around installing cabinets, & a truck had backed up as close as possible to the glass doors so workmen could unload rolls of carpet.

"It's made a lot of progress in just a few days," Mimi said.

"Hey, remember you're not supposed to have seen it before. Hello, Ms. Motomiya. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Jun Motomiya didn't seem to hear him. "Is the work going to be finished by the weekend?"

"Not completely. But enough for the purpose."

"It better be. So this is the woman who's been costing me my contractor lately."

"Not exactly," Mimi said. "That would be the young woman who's riding in the stroller…" Matt took her arm & pinched it. Mimi shut up.

"This is my friend, Mimi," he said. "She's thinking about building on a nursery & play room…as you can see, the babies could put it to good use…and I wanted to show her some of the innovative ideas that you came up with here."

Mimi had to give him credit for that.

Jun Motomiya sounded flattered. "Oh, certainly, look around."

"Perhaps you'd like to show her through? I'll take the stroller, Mimi, so you can concentrate."

As Jun gave Mimi the grand tour, Matt followed behind, pointing out things every now & then.

"It's such beautiful work," Mimi said. "It's a truly gorgeous house, Ms, Motomiya. Is the rest all Mediterranean inside?"

Jun Motomiya preened herself. "Yes, I believe it's entirely original."

"You know, I think this house probably has everything I'm looking for," Mimi said earnestly. "I don't suppose you'd be interested…oh, no, of course you wouldn't. Anyone who had a place like this…"

"Interested in what?"

"In selling it." Mimi wouldn't quite keep herself from holding her breath while she waited.

Jun stared at her, looking down at her nose. "Well, one can never say for sure, but I very much doubt it. However, I suppose if you'd like to bring your husband by so he could take a look…There's no sense in talking about it unless he's interested as well."

"Actually, I'm not married." Mimi saw Jun's eyes narrow in disapproval. Obviously being a single mother inst the right answer. "I'm not married yet, I mean…I…" Get yourself out of this one without telling a lie, Tachikawa.

"I see," Jun Motomiya said. "Now, if you'll excuse my contractor for a moment, dear, there's something I need to talk to him about."

Well, that had gone precisely nowhere, Mimi reflected. She turned the stroller around with difficulty & pushed it out toward the SUV. She parked the stroller in the lawn next to the SUV & leaned against a carved stone pillar by the driveway. She would wait till Matt came back to put the twins in the car…in case he managed to pull some magic trick that would make Jun Motomiya want to talk to her.

She was thinking about what she was going to tell Willis Harrison when he comes back to Odaiba on Sunday, when she heard Matt's cheerful whistle coming around the corner of the house. Mimi felt like growling.

"Hey, champ," Matt said. "Knock off the grass chewing or Mimi will think you've been eating spinach again & she'll start feeding it to you every day."

She spun around to face the stroller. Nikko had leaned as far as he could from his seat, pulled up a handful of grass, & started chomping on it as efficiently as a pony would. "Oh, no, why are you grinning, Matt? You mean he's done this before?"

"And it hasn't seemed to hurt him a bit," Matt said. "But that's not why I'm grinning. Guess what Jun wanted to talk about."

"How should I know? She wants to move another wall, I suppose."

"Nope, she wanted to warn me about you. She thinks you're not on the up-and-up."

"You mean she saw through your little scheme?"

"Oh, no, she pulled me aside to say that she doubts you were ever married at all."

"Imagine that," Mimi said feebly.

Matt grinned. "Worse yet, she thinks you're out to snag me. Come on & let's get the kids in the car."

"So what's next?"

"Next," he said, "we stop at my office to look at the plans of the house."

Mimi's eyes widened. "You have the floor plans of this house?"

"Only rough ones, to get ready for the addition, but it's something."

"Matt, if I can just borrow the plans, Willis wouldn't have to look t the house!"

"You actually think Willis Harrison can look at a blueprint & visualize the finished product?"

Mimi sighed. "No, he can't even look at a finished product & imagine it with different carpet & drapes."

"Then there's no point in confusing him with the drawings…but you can look at them."

"So then I can tell him about the house? I don't know how effective that will be, but I can try. And I truly appreciate the help."

"No," he said. "So when you show him through on Sunday night, you won't mistake a closet door for a bedroom."

Mimi wasn't sure she heard him right. When if finally sank in, she gave a little shriek, threw her arms around his neck & kissed his cheek. "You talked her into letting me show it? Matt, you're wonderful!"

He staggered back a step. "Not exactly," he warned. "I got us an invitation to Jun's housewarming party on Sunday, seven o'clock, and cocktails. Bring Willis, & while we're wandering around having conversations, he can be looking at the house."

"Maybe I should have told her I was married after all," Mimi mused.

"And introduce Willis as your husband? I prefer you didn't, Mimi. I wouldn't put it past her to be looking out the window, and if she sees this…"

"This?" Mimi just realized that when she rushed at him, Matt held on to steady her, & she was still wrapped around in his arms. "Oh, you mean us standing here like this."

"Not quite," Matt said. "I'm talking about this."

Then, with infinite gentleness, he bent his head & kissed here.


AN: Finally, we got some action between Matt & Mimi! Yay! Please review & tell me what you, guys, think. See you all next week! Mwah!lol

ellamoony – thanks for the review! Keep R&R! Riven – I hope you liked this one. Koumi – duh, of course I know Snoop Dogg, who wouldn't? I mean, he's one of the coolest rap artists out there, & he's definitely one of my favs. Just4reviews – Mimi's starting to fall in love with Matt, but she's too preoccupied with the twins & her work to realize it. Let's cross our fingers & pray. Crescentmoon-cat – thank you, thank you! (takes a bow)