Hi, guys! Have you heard about our Pope? Sad isn't it? I was watching the news a while ago & I can't help but cry…just a short cry for I am mourning with millions of people around the world for the death of our Pope. Please pray for him.

Anyways, Sora & Tai are back in this chapter. Meaning, that they've come home and Matt & Mimi's days with the twins is finally over, but that doesn't mean their days together is over, too. Oh, just go on & read it. Don't forget to review!

Chapter Fifteen

They were well on the way home before Mimi noticed the route Matt was taking. "I thought you were going to stop in Mission Hills."

He glanced in the mirror to look at the twins. "I'll do it some other time. The kids are starting to look cranky. After all that fresh air," Matt went on, "it would probably be smarter to get a bit of food into them & put them down for a nap, not drag them through another construction site."

She couldn't exactly argue with that. In any case, she already said once that she wanted to see his kitchen project, so it would hardly be polite to insist.

Nikko went to sleep in his high chair, his face dropping onto the tray. Mimi had to brush chunks of ham & cheese off his cheek when she picked him up. Ella clung & wanted to be rocked, but in a matter of minutes, she fell asleep too.

When Mimi tiptoed out of the twins' room, there was no sound in the house. She noticed the garage door was open, so she steeped out onto the driveway. "Matt? Do you want some lunch?"

He came out of the garage, pushing a battered lawn mower; a small gas can in one hand. "Maybe after I finish the lawn, it's getting a little shaggy & who knows what it will look like by the time Tai gets home." He bent over the mower to fill the tank.

"If you need help…"

"Are you offering to take turns pushing the mower?"

"Not exactly," Mimi said, tongue firmly in cheek. "I'll send Nikko out when he wakes up. I'm sure he'll be happy to eat all the grass."

There were a million things Mimi should be doing: reviewing the listings, do some paperwork, & call some clients. Instead she baked chocolate chip cookies, & when the first pan came out of the oven, she clipped the baby monitor to her belt & took a tall glass of milk and a plate outside to Matt.

The mowing was almost done & the sharp scent of cut grass mingled with the aroma of chocolate & butter as Mimi crossed the lawn to the back fence towards Matt. He'd taken his shirt off & hung it on a fence post while he worked.

She'd seen him bare-chested that morning in the bedroom, when the comforter slid down, but this was different. In the sunlight his skin gleamed & his muscles rippled rhythmically as he pushed the mower back & forth. He looked up & smiled, and Mimi's head began to spin again just as it had that morning in Jun Motomiya's driveway when he kissed her.

In the space of a few days, they've gone form near-strangers to sharing laughter, jokes, & the duties & the joys in an easy, almost intimate way. She was going to miss this, when it was all over & life got back to normal. If, her conscience whispered, it would ever be normal again.


Mimi took a long bubble bath after the babies were tucked in for the night, & argued with herself until the water grew cold about what she should say to Matt regarding sleeping arrangements. She didn't exactly want to seem eager for him to join her in the bedroom. And what she really didn't want was for the two of them to retire at the same time, like some long-married couple, to lie next to each other in the dark until sleep overtook them.

Waking up next to him had been one thing. It hadn't been her idea, & by the time she realized what was going on, the episode was practically done. But going to sleep next to him…well, that was another thing altogether.

Matt was sitting at the dinning room table with a laptop computer & he barely looked up when she came in.

"Playing solitaire?" she asked lightly. "Or doing something more exciting?"

"Figuring a bid, at least I'm doing the preliminaries so the next time I'm in the office without a twin to keep me company, I can actually produce a materials list & a final price."

"It's been a long week all the way around," Mimi said. "I'm going to bed. I just wanted to say…well…"

"I won't disturb you, Mimi."

"No, that's not…I mean, we're partner's, right? We need each other & we both need our sleep. It's no big deal." She didn't wait for an answer.

It was hours later when an ear-shattering scream from the twins' room woke Mimi straight up…but Matt was already standing beside Nikko's crib when she arrived. Nikko's eyes were wide & staring vacantly, & Matt looked as if he'd prefer to be anywhere but here.

"It's okay," she said. "He has night terrors once in a while."

"You mean nightmares?"

"Sort of, but worse, it's more like the way a sleepwalker reacts. His eyes are open but he's not aware of anything."

"You've seen this before?"

She nodded & reached into the crib to carefully pick up the baby. "He had one the first night I stayed here. Hand me that blanket, would you?"

Matt got a lightweight blanket from the back of the rocking chair & Mimi wrapped Nikko in it & carried him out of the room. She wasn't quick enough, however, for Ella also woke up & started to cry.

Nikko's shrieks died into sobs, but no matter what Mimi did, he seemed to be completely inconsolable. Finally she took him into her bedroom & lay down with him on her chest, his ear against her heart, rubbing his back. The bed side clock said it was just past three in the morning. Matt appeared in the doorway a minute later, with Ella in his arms. She reached out for her twin.

"You might as well stretch out & be comfortable," Mimi said. "Nikko's not going to settle down completely for a while & Ella won't be happy if she can't see him."

Matt muttered something under his breath, tucked the comforter around Mimi & Nikko, and lay down beside them. Ella stretched a hand out from her perched on his chest & let it rest on Nikko's shoulder. Mimi felt herself drifting off as the rhythmic motion of rubbing soothed her just as it did Nikko.

The room was gray with dawn when she woke up, lying on her side with Nikko tucked up against her. He was starting to move around as he began to wake up. "Oh, honey," she said groggily, "just a little longer, okay?" Then she sniffed. The scent of coffee was drifting through the half-open bedroom door. Matt must already be up, then…

But he wasn't. He was still right there beside her, sound asleep, with Ella nestled close on his chest. The door opened wider, & Mimi thought for an instant she was hallucinating as the last person she expected came into the room, carrying a tray. "Good morning, sleepyheads," Sora said cheerfully. "Are you decent?"

Maybe, Mimi told herself hopefully, she was having one heck of a nightmare, & Sora wasn't actually standing there at all. For one thing, Mimi couldn't seem to move. Not a single muscle would respond to her desperate urging…even her eyelids seemed to be frozen.

Matt was flat on his back in the middle of the bed with Ella lying on her tummy on his chest, her knees drawn up under her. Mimi on her side, her back nestled against Matt & Nikko cradled protectively in the curve of her arm. The comforter tucked snugly around all of them. And was Sora, standing beside the bed with a tray containing two steaming cups…

Maybe I'm dead, Mimi thought, and that's why I'm having an out-of-body experience.

Sora took a step closer, & that was when Mimi realized that things could, indeed, get worse. Right behind Sora was Tai, holding a video camera trained on the foursome in the bed.

I'll confess…I'll confess anything, just turn the lights off!

"Hey, this is great," Tai said. "This piece of video will be a terrific hit at the wedding reception."

Mimi's heart stopped. "Wedding?" she croaked. "What are you talking about?"

Matt groaned & rolled toward Mimi. Ella started to slide off his chest, & he clapped a hand onto the bay's back and held her in place. But he didn't open his eyes. "The twins' wedding," he said. "Tai's already planning a most-awkward-moments video to show at the rehearsal dinners. He won't admit it, but I think the plan is to threaten them with so much mortification that they'll elope instead of planning big expensive ceremonies."

Oh great, Mimi told herself, how stupid are you? For a minute there, she actually wondered if Tai thought their presence in the same bed was some sort of declaration of intentions. Nobody in their right mind would believe there was anything romantic going on here…not with a pair of year-old babies as chaperones.

With a sort of snap, Mimi's muscles finally came back under her control. She sat up, inching away from Matt onto her own side of the bed. Let's start over. Act casual, she ordered herself. Treat it as if this is no big deal…because it isn't. "Uh…hi, Sora. Tai. When did you get home?"

"Just a few minutes ago," Sora said. "They finally brought the ship into port last night & said they would make arrangements today to get everyone back home."

"I see," Mimi said.

"So we packed as fast as we could, talked our way past the deck crew, grabbed the first cab we saw & headed for the airport." Sora smiled. "It was sort of like a spy thriller, actually…grabbing the last seats on a plane & flying across the continent in the wrong direction in order to make a connecting flight. Do you know how hard it is to travel across the country in the middle of the night?"

"The adventure doesn't seem to have hurt you any," Mimi said. "You look great, rested, tanned…"

"We couldn't do anything for a whole eek but lie around on deck."

"On deck?" Matt muttered. "What's the matter with you, Tai? With a handy excuse like the need to avoid infection, you didn't stay locked in the cabin for the whole week?"

Sora flashed a smile at him. "Well, we managed to stay away from the blasted virus, if that satisfies you, Matt. anyway, by the time we could get to a phone to tell you we were on the way, it was so late that we decided to just wait & surprise you."

Matt sat up. Ella grumbled & cuddled a little closer. "Well, you managed that all right," he said.

"Yes, I see." Sora's gaze flitted once more over the foursome in the bed. "I do hope you haven't been letting them sleep with you all week."

"Nope," Matt said lazily. "Last night was a special treat for all of us. I'll swap you a baby for a cup of that coffee. Or did you bring it for Nikko & Ella?"

"Oh…of course." Sora set the tray between them on the comforter & reached across Mimi to pick up Ella. The baby grimaced, stretched, opened her eyes, looked straight at her mother…and started to cry.

"Sweetheart," Sora said, sounding heartbroken, "it's Mommy!"

"Remember her, Ella?" Matt said lazily. "She's the woman who abandoned you." He cradled a mug in his hand & lounged back against the pillows.

"That's not funny, Matt."

"Well, you must admit that's how it appears from her point of view. Give her back to me for a minute so she can look at you from a distance & get over the shock."

Ella's cries had awakened Nikko, who blinked & looked around as if uncertain here he was. He spotted Sora, tipped his head to one side & said sweetly, "Damn!"

Mimi put her hands over her ears. Sora started to giggle & sat down hard on the foot of the bed, Ella still wiggling wildly in her arms. Mimi hadn't picked up her mug from the tray yet; the cup slid as the mattress bounced & coffee surged over the rim, puddle on the tray & began to ooze over the edge & onto the comforter. She grabbed for the mug & mopped up as much of the mess as she could with the tail of her t-shirt. Nikko, jolted by her fast movement, started to wail. Tai swung the camera around so he wouldn't miss an instant.

"Great moments in modern film," Matt said lazily. "Now that we've won our place in movie history, Mimi, let's get out of the way & leave these people to get reacquainted." He rolled out of bed without spilling a drop of his coffee, though Mimi's cup sloshed threateningly again. "Real life is out there waiting."

He was gone before Mimi finished packing her clothes.


The interrupted night, topped off by the morning's shock and the sudden lifting responsibility, combined to leave Mimi feeling groggy & bleary-eyed. Real life is still out there waiting. It was true enough, but that didn't make the readjustment any easier. By the time she got to work, she still felt as is she was sleepwalking.

Izzy poked his head into her cubicle. "Is it only wishful thinking, or have you forgotten your little helper? Now maybe we can get some work done around here. How are you doing with Willis Harrison?"

Mimi reached into her desk drawer for an aspirin, but she had a feeling she was going to need a whole lot more than just one before the day was over.

She frowned when she suddenly thought about Joe. Maybe it's better to get it over with right away. She liked Joe…she just wasn't wild about this newly possessive attitude of his. A few dates didn't give them that kind of intimate claim on each other. After all, she didn't call him & ask if he'd help her out with the babies. If we were serious about each other, it would have been a different thing entirely.

She wondered, only half humorously, what he would say if she told him that the other man in her life…the one who had been absorbing most her time lately…was just short of a year old. That he & his twin sister, and their godfather, had become the center of her world for a few days, and now that the adventure was all over she was feeling lost & lonely. She was missing the babies…

But even more than the twins, she was missing Matt. In just a week, she had grown attached to the babies…but she had grown to love Matt.

You didn't ask Joe for help with the babies. Instead you asked Matt.

For most of the morning, Mimi tried to argue herself out of it. This just couldn't be happening to her. It had all been an accident…this feeling of intimacy, of important things shared…& she could not possibly have been crazy enough to fall in love with Yamato Ishida.

Simply being in the same house for days on end, in such an intimate & domestic situation, was what had put the idea into her mind in the first place. The idea of falling in love with him would probably never even occur to her again…because she wasn't interested in Matt…not really. Not in any serious way.

After this is over, maybe we can be friends, she told him once. And that was exactly what she meant. There had been nothing romantic about her feelings…because if there had been, Matt would have sensed it.

No, it was all her imagination working, cause of exhaustion & propinquity. She'll get over it. At least, she'd better get over it…and fast. Or else he'll make sure that she would never catch a glimpse of him again.


AN: At last, Mimi realizes that she likes Matt…no, scratch that, she LOVES Matt. But does Matt share the same feeling? On the next chapter, Mimi will find out about Matt's BIG secret…and it won't be good, thanks to a certain person who spills it. Please review!

Satarow-raven – I'm very flattered, thank you. Keep R&R! kaye – I'm actually working on a another Mimato fic. It's gonna be awesome! I'm going to give you, guys, a glimpse of it before this story ends. Janay – yeah, Nikko is the naughty, flirty, hyper twin (like Tai) and Ella is the quiet, serious, responsible twin (much like Sora). Aren't they adorable?