A/N: So this might be really confusing cause it switches between Syd and Vaughn's POVs a lot. I marked them so hopefully it's less confusing.
Sydney's POV
"Come on, you two, wake up." I said, walking into the twin's room and throwing open the curtains. Two loud groans came from both Anya and Chris and I turned around to face them with a wide smile on my lips. They were just not morning people. Actually I think that Anya wasn't and she just taught Chris how to be just as lazy as her.
Anya was strong willed, so much that at times she reminded me of myself. Chris was more like his father. He could be strong willed when he needed to be but he'd rather let someone else take control. It was at times like these, on a lazy Friday morning when I was waking up the twins, that I took the time to really look at them. And oh God, did I love just watching them.
I laughed lightly, and walked to the space in between their twin beds. They had originally begged me for bunk beds but after they started fighting over who would have the upper bunk, that idea went out the window and they had to settle for twin beds. After I had decided that for them, they tried to get me to give them separate rooms. I would have given them that wish if they hadn't acted like spoiled brats in the store. So having to share a room for two more years was their punishment and they had twenty more months to go.
Reaching out on both sides, I grabbed a corner of both their comforters, and yanked them off with one swift motion. Another two groans sounded from both of them as they opened their eyes.
"Mommy, it's early." Anya whined, shutting her eyes against the sudden light in the room.
"Yeah," Chris agreed, rolling over completely to get away from the sunlight. So there's goes that theory about Anya teaching Chris the ways of being lazy. He was like that naturally.
"Is it?" I asked, smiling, "And here I thought the two of you waited to go on the Disney cruise, and we can't go if you don't get up early." I had promised the twin's that during Christmas break, which had officially started yesterday, that we would take that long asked for vacation of their choice. They chose a Disney cruise. We left tomorrow because I had parent/teacher conferences today. Parent/teacher conferences were not something I ever looked forward too, especially when I got those parent's who thought their kid could do no wrong, when in reality, their child made people like Sloane and my mother look like saints, but they came with the job and I did what my job entitled me to do. At least parent/teacher conferences didn't mean I had to seduce some scum bag for a stupid Rambaldi device.
"I wanna go!" They both shouted, sitting up suddenly. I hadn't told them yet that we were leaving tomorrow. I know, lying to your child is bad but I needed something to get them out of bed.
I laughed, "Well then, get up." I said, crossing over to the twins' dresser and opening a couple drawers. I fished out an outfit for both of them and took the clothes back to each child and handed them their clothes. "Now, Anya, you get to use the bathroom today because Chris did yesterday." Anya smiled triumphantly and stuck her tongue out at Chris when she thought I wasn't looking. I let her get away with it and wandered back downstairs to where I started making lunch. It was a little too late, try 11:00, to eat breakfast, so they would have to deal with lunch for breakfast again.
Ten minutes later, both twins appeared in the kitchen, fully dressed and most of the way awake. "What's for breakfast?" Anya asked, stretching her little arms above her head.
"Nothing, it's 11:00, so I thought that we'd have lunch for breakfast."
"What are we havin?" Chris asked.
"Grilled cheese," I answered, plopping one of the sandwiches in the pan.
"Yay," They said, around the same time. Anya said hers a little sooner than Chris had. I worked on lunch in silence for a little while but in a house with two four year olds, silence was hard to come by for long periods of time.
"Mommy, what's it like on a boat?" Anya asked me as I flipped over one of the grilled cheese sandwiches I was making for lunch.
"It's a ship, Anya and I haven't ever been on one." I answered, reaching for the heat knob on the stove and turning it down a little bit. At least not in a long time and then I was stealing things.
"You haven't?" Chris questioned from his spot sitting at the kitchen table watching me make lunch for the three of us.
"No, I haven't."
"I thought you lived in Los...Angeles," Anya struggled a little bit saying 'Los Angeles' "...before you moved here."
"I did, but I was a banker. I didn't go on boats." There was no way in hell that I was going to tell them what I really used to do in L.A. That would lead to a lot of questions about what it was like to be a spy and quite honestly, I didn't want to tell them about that.
"I thought it was a ship," Chris pointed out.
I smiled and played along that I had forgotten, "It is. I must have forgotten."
"You never forget things, Mommy," Anya said, giggling.
"Of course I do, I'm not perfect."
"Yes, you are." They both said at the same time. I suppose that every child believes that their parent is perfect. I used to think that about my dad was I was little and my mom. And then both my parents turned out to be spies.
I laughed and turned my attention back to making lunch. "Why don't you two go watch TV and I'll call you when lunch is ready."
"Okay," They agreed and sprinted out of the kitchen and into the living room where I heard them turn on the TV and miraculously agree on something to watch.
Vaughn's POV
I met the car Eric arranged for me at the airport. I wanted to drive because that way, I could speed and get to Sydney's house faster. But the driver wouldn't let me and I had to settle on riding in the back at his poking along speed. Come on man, it's okay to break the law and speed, I'm a government employee, you won't be ticketed.
Of course he didn't hear my thoughts.
Six hours later, we finally made it to the town of River Falls. It was small, really small but I think I've already made that assumption. It took the driver another twenty minutes to find Sydney's house. How this man ever get a job as a private driver I will never know.
I got out of the car and handed him a tip as expected, not much because he was so damn crappy, and waited until he drove off, slowly I might added, until I turned around to look at the house that Sydney and our children called home for the past four years.
Oh man, there I got again with the 'our children' thing. I still can't say it without it feeling weird. Maybe I just need to see them for it not to be weird. Yeah, that's it.
I wonder if they know about me. Who I am, what I do, why I wasn't there for them. I would like to think that Sydney told them all about me but I have to face facts. She probably didn't tell them. She probably made it her mission not to tell them anything about their father. I would be surprised if she did tell them. It's not like we left things on very good terms.
Now I was starting to ponder even going through with the plan. What if she didn't want to see me or have anything to do with me? I wouldn't put that past her. Hell, if I was her, I wouldn't want to see me either. But I wasn't her and I wanted to see her.
So, I walked up the short walk and hesitated for a second before ringing the doorbell.
Sydney's POV
From what I could hear, twins were watching Nickelodeon; I couldn't tell if it was Spongebob or The Fairly Oddparents. Both shows sounded so much alike in my mind. In fact, it was hard to even tell the difference between the two at times. I know one had a talking sponge and the other had floating little midgets with wings and crowns but other than that, I couldn't remember which was which.
I sighed. I used to be good at this kind of stuff. I used to be able to remember every little detail of every little thing perfectly, even meaningless TV show names and what they were about. But now, my memory was failing, horribly. I must be getting old.
The doorbell rang unexpectedly and my first thought was that it was the twins' babysitter for the afternoon while I was at the dreaded conferences and that she had just come an hour early. No big deal, I could make her a sandwich too, which I started to do.
Then Chris yelled, "Mommy! There's a strange man at the door!"
Not even a second later, I head Anya yell, "I'll get it!"
"No, Anya, don't!" I yelled back, but it was too late, she had already opened the door.
Vaughn's POV
I expected Sydney to open the door or maybe a babysitter or for no one to actually be home. I was definitely not expecting a little girl to open the door. I mean, who was this kid? She had sandy blonde hair that looked a lot like mine but it wasn't until she looked up at me with the same green eyes that I possessed, that I realized that she was mine.
My daughter.
Strangely it was less weird, seeing her in the flesh. So much less weird, in fact, that I had to hold myself in check to keep from taking her into my arms and holding my daughter for the first time.
"Hi," She said, with a cheeky smile. She speaks! Well, yeah, of course she speaks considering she's four now, but for me it was like hearing her first word. And your child's first words are very exciting.
"Hi," I answered, surprisingly with a calm voice and even with a little smile. "Is your mommy home?"
She nodded, "Uh huh."
"Can I talk to her?" Well, there goes nothing. Either Sydney figures it out and slams the door in my face or she doesn't and I get to see her again.
"Mommy! He wants to talk to you!" Anya yelled.
"Anya, what did I tell you about opening the door to strangers?" I could tell by her voice that it was Sydney who yelled back. "What if he's here to kidnap you and Chris?" She didn't seem serious about the question and she seemed to ignoring what Anya had told her.
"Mister, are you here to kidnap me and my brother?" Anya asked, seriously though coming from a four year old, it didn't seem very serious.
"No," I answered, still smiling.
"He says no!" Anya yelled back at Sydney.
"What if he has a gun?" Sydney yelled back, probably mentally logging away that little piece of information.
"Mister, do you have a gun?" Anya asked, still completely serious.
I tried not to laugh. Being given the third degree by your four year old is weird enough but for her to ask if you have a gun when you actually do. I mean, come on, I work for the CIA, I always have a gun. "No." A little white lie never hurt anyone, as far as I knew.
"He says he doesn't!" Anya yelled back at Sydney.
"Ask him his name!" Sydney yelled back.
"What's your name, Mister?" Anya asked, even though I could hear everything that Sydney said and she didn't need to.
"Vau...Michael." I almost said Vaughn but that would have earned me a door in the face. Not that Michael was any better. I should've lied some more and gave a fake name. Oh well, to late for that now.
"Vau-Michael!" Anya repeated, like she thought it was my real name.
Sydney's POV
A couple moments after Anya opened the door, I leaned over and peeked out the window to see who was at the door. I was expecting someone like the mailman or a door to door salesman, but not Vaughn. Anyone but Vaughn. Sloane would have been more believable. My mother and my dad showing up and saying that they've reconciled and are getting married again would have been more believable.
"Mommy! He wants to talk to you!" Anya yelled.
"I bet he does," I mumbled. I was just about to just let her let him in but then I remembered our conversation about her opening the door to strangers. "Anya, what did I tell you about opening the door to strangers?" I yelled back, ignoring for the moment that Vaughn wanted to come in. Teaching our daughter a lesson was a little more important. "What if he's here to kidnap you and Chris?" I knew Vaughn wasn't here to do that, at least not in the middle of the day.
"Mister, are you here to kidnap me and my brother?" Anya asked him, completely serious. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.
"No," He answered.
A couple seconds later, she yelled back, "He says no!" Did I call that one or what?
"What if he has a gun?" I asked next. I wasn't sure what answer to expect for that question.
"Mister, do you have a gun?" Anya asked him next. I was pretty sure that she didn't need to relay the message for him but she did anyway.
"No," He answered. I didn't need her to yell back his responses but she did anyway. This house has too thin of walls apparently.
"He says he doesn't!" Anya yelled back.
"Ask him his name!" I yelled. I was curious as to what name he would give her.
"What's your name, Mister?" Anya asked.
I didn't hear what he responded because he suddenly decided to start mumbling.
Then Anya yelled, "Vau-Michael!"
I wanted to laugh, even more so now. Only Anya would actually think that a person's name was something like that. Instead of laughing or correcting her, I just said, "Vau-Michael, huh? Well, tell Vau-Michael that he can come in."
Anya replied with a loud "okay" and a "you can come in, Vau-Michael". It was torture trying not to laugh. That is, until Anya skipped into the kitchen with 'Vau-Michael' right behind her. Then my smile faded.
A/N: Expect many cliffhangers from me and this story. I know, I'm evil.
And I'm sorry that I didn't reply to reviews this time around. I just have way too much to do at the moment but I swear, next time, there will be replies. So please, please, please keep them coming.