A/N: So yeah...updates may be a little rare cause of play rehearsals, amoung other things. But afte the play on November something or other, I will be back! hehe! Ooh and about my other stories, namely Trying to Carry On and Running Forever, I haven't forgotten about them, honest, I'm just a little stuck. Damn muse! I hate you! hehe!

Vaughn's POV

"Who is he really?" She asked, pointing straight at me.

Sydney almost choked. I had no idea what to say.

Here's a question, how did Anya get to be so perceptive? Not every four year old would pick up on that her mother and the strange man with a funny name were hiding something. But Anya definitely did.

I was stunned silent. Sydney was making no move to say anything either. What was she going to say anyway?

'Hey kids, this is your father, place nice.'

Somehow I don't think that would be the best answer.

Sydney fidgeted in her seat and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She used to do that all the time. Four years and she still does it. It must be her thing.

"Well...um...he's..." Anya and Chris just stared at her blankly. I would have too, if I had been facing her. I don't think I've ever seen the Sydney Bristow at a loss for words. She was the master of lies and half-truths, especially those made up on the spot. In all my years at the CIA, the only person I've seen lie convincingly and at short notice is Sydney Bristow. So why couldn't she lie to two four year olds? Oh yeah, because it's a sin to lie to a child. Somehow, I think she made that up.

The phone rang and I don't think she could have jumped up faster. I have no idea where she went to answer the phone but the second she left the room, two pairs of eyes turned their attention and questioning gazes to me. Just great.

"What do you mean you can't come?!" Sydney yelled, presumably into the phone, turning the twins and my attention to the doorway where their mother disappeared. "But I need you to watch them." There was a pause and then a sigh, and "Okay, well I hope she feels better soon." Sydney hung up the phone that much I could hear, then came back into the dining room.

"Vaughn, can I talk to you?"

Sydney's POV

I am going to kill Maria, my regular babysitter. I understand that her mother's sick and in the hospital, but I need her here to watch the twins. I can't really leave two four year olds by themselves. And there's no way I can bring them to the school with me.

But maybe...their father will watch them for me. As much as I hate Vaughn at the moment, with him just showing up and taking over everything that I had worked so hard to achieve without him, I need a babysitter more than I need him to leave. And definitely more than he needs to go home to his wife.

Oh God, his wife. How the hell did I forget about that little detail that royally screwed me over? Better yet, why had it taken me so long to remember that? I let him come in, I let him eat lunch with me and our children, and the whole damn time I forgot that I left L.A. and him, for one reason and one reason only.

He's married! I didn't stay because he was married. I wouldn't have the twins if he wasn't married. But he is and that's what driving this wedge between us right now.

"Vaughn, can I talk to you?"

Anya tilted her head in confusion, "Who's Vaughn?"

I wanted to hit myself. Why the hell did I say Vaughn? I'm just forgetting everything today. "He's Vaughn," I said, pointing to Vaughn.

Chris shook his head, "Not-uh, that's Vau-Michael."

I laughed, lightly, and shook my head. "No, his name is Michael Vaughn, not Vau-Michael."

I expected the twins to react to being lied to by me and the strange man that they didn't really know but they didn't. They even seemed to forget about wanting to know who he really was. Odd, very, very odd, especially for those two. "Okay," They said and went back to eating their lunch.

Vaughn and I exchanged a confused look, before he nodded, and stood up, "Sure."

I pulled him into the kitchen and glanced back at the twins making sure they were eating. They were.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worry already flashing through his green eyes. Why does he always have to worry about me? I can worry for myself, thank you very much.

"I need a favor," I said, slowly, keeping in mind that he was, in fact, married.

"What?" There was that worry again. Go worry about your wife, damnit and leave me the hell alone.

"Can you watch the twins for me?" There, said it. I can give them one afternoon together and then he can go back to the little wife and L.A. and then twins and me will be able to move on.

He looked surprised, "What?"

I think he was going to say more but I interrupted him, "It's just for the afternoon, three maybe four hours. Please?" I said, urgently after glancing at my watch only to find that I had to be at the school in ten minutes. Lunch had taken a lot longer than I thought it had. Funny how time passes when you having lunch with the man you had an affair and two children as a result of that affair with.

"Yeah, sure." I thought I'd won the argument or whatever it was that we were having, but he just had to add, "But Syd, we need to talk."

Yeah, 'talk' is probably the first and last thing we need to do. But right now, I need to get to work before I get fired and then I'll be completely royally screwed over. I nodded slowly, "We probably do. I'd ask you to stay awhile when I come back but you probably want to get back to your wife." He was stunned. One of us had to say the dreaded word. I just beat him to the punch.

"Syd--"

"Don't." I cut him off. Then in a whisper I added, "Please don't." I left him standing there in the kitchen, returning to the dining room and the twins. "Anya, Chris?" They stopped eating their lunch and looked up at me expectantly. "I have to go to the school now." Their faces dropped a little and I started having second thoughts about the whole again. "Vaughn is going to watch you okay?" I saw the look of mischievousness flash through their eyes as they nodded vigorously. Just what I need, twins torturing their father. Actually, that might not be a bad idea. "Do me a favor and be 'nice' to him, okay?" I winked when I said 'nice', a little code the twins and I had developed. If I gave them the sign, such as a wink, they could torture the babysitter all they wanted. They nodded. "Good." I kissed them both on the forehead before turning to leave. "Have fun."

Vaughn's POV

"We probably do. I'd ask you to stay awhile when I come back but you probably want to get back to your wife."

Yep, I was right. She still thinks I'm married. And by the sound of things, she thinks that I came all the way out here as a whim and was going to go back as soon as I could. She couldn't have been more wrong.

"Syd--"

"Don't." She said suddenly. "Please don't." Her whisper came a plea and all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and tell her that I wasn't married, that Lauren was a backstabbing bitch, and that I loved her and wanted to spend the rest of forever with her. I sound very cheesy at the moment. But who cares, it's Sydney.

She turned and left the room before I had the chance to do any of that. She went back into the living room to talk to the twins. I think she said something along the lines of I was watching them and to be nice to me. I don't know for sure, I didn't eavesdrop. But I did hear her yell, "Have fun" at me.

Have fun? Is she serious? Does she honestly think that I can babysit two four year olds and not turn the house inside out? She apparently does because she left me with two four year olds.

The second their mother was out of the door, both Anya and Chris turned their attention to me. I could see the evil thoughts of ways to torture Vaughn running through their heads. Oh shit.

"So what do you want to do?" That was probably the worst I could have asked.

"I wanna play dress up and have a tea party and play dollies, and watch a movie and play Candyland, and play Go Fish, and eat ice cream and..."

"I wanna play army and play with my trucks and play tag and watch Spongebob and play dinosaurs and knights, and then eat some peanut butter cookies..."

Yep, that was the most stupid ass thing I could have said. In the history of forever, that question will go down as the worst.

"I don't wanna play army!"

"I don't wanna play dress up! That's for girls!"

"I am a girl!"

"You don't look like it!"

"You take that back!"

"Or what? You'll make me play with your stupid dollies?"

"I'll tell on you!"

"Not if I tell on you first!"

"Vaughn!" They both cried at the same time and then started to explain to me, not that I needed it, all the crimes committed against them by their sibling, still at the same time.

"Alright, okay, we can deal with this." I tired the being nice thing and it blew up in my face. They were too involved with arguing with each other to care. "Enough!" I yelled. That silenced them. In fact, they seemed shocked that I would ever speak to them sharply. "Okay, so we are going to do none of that." Two mouths opened to correct me, "No buts! Anya, what do you really really want to do?"

She stuck her tongue out at her brother before answering, "Play a game."

"Chris, what do you want to do?"

He returned the immature gesture his sister gave him before answering, "Run around."

I nodded, and held up my hands for them to be silent when they both started to speak. "Okay, we are going to play hide and go seek, are there any objections to that?"

"NO!" They answered excitedly.

"Good," I replied. "You two hide first." They didn't think I was serious, so I started counting, "One...two...three...four...five..." Both shrieked and took off running out of the room.

I hope Sydney makes it back before her children kill me. I don't want to die without telling her the truth. Please God, Syd, come back.

Yeah, okay, so this is usually where I write responses but I am so tired right now that it's not even funny anymore(I have a weird sense of humor) and I just don't feel like typing them out. Maybe next chapter. So a quick thank you to: Charmed-angel4, mountaineer413, luv24Alias, Naughty-Spy, Agent Flamingo, Rach5, lily, sarabeth1, Natalie, Sara, sweetytweety013, Grouchy, largemarge416, i love syd n vaughn, zarah, spinny, jennycraig10, Spykid18, rainluver, soccerfreeek324, Forceful, jem, and victoria-king. If I forgot anyone, feel free to kill me.

and I just want to add that I love you all. Maybe that will earn me brownie points in my favorite reviewers' hearts where I know I am slowly losing favor. hehe!