Chapter 2
Svetlana grinned as she felt herself pressed back into the high-backed, richly upholstered leather bucket seat of Yuri's Ferrari F40. This car is so fast! she thought to herself, enjoying the exciting ride. She hoped that Maria was enjoying her ride with Naomi in her Lamborghini. Svetlana braced her right elbow against the armrest on the door as Yuri smoothly cornered her racer to the right. She cast a quick glance over at the highly competent snow leopard woman behind the wheel. "Er…Madame?" Svetlana blurted out, grinning awkwardly. "But, is not the way to Le Hotel Champlain via a left on Rue Sorbonne?"
"Oui," Yuri replied with a grin, her eyes flicking from her dashboard to her rearview mirror---where Naomi's bright yellow Lamborghini sat---her slender hand confidently working the shifter, as her foot worked the car's clutch pedal. "It is."
Svetlana gasped in excitement as Yuri found herself behind a delivery truck, and suddenly downshifted, jamming the accelerator down to pass. The Ukrainian girl felt her heart race as the bright red Ferrari zipped smoothly to the right and then shot forward like a red bullet from a gun. "Bozhe moi!" she muttered, her big brown eyes huge now, her chest pounding. "But, Madame," she managed somehow to squeak, "if that is the case…then why did we go to the right?"
Yuri didn't answer her right away, her eyes flicking about---first to the truck she was zipping past, then to her speedometer, and finally to her rearview mirror, where she grinned in admiration as she saw Naomi's Murcielago Roadster tucked in right behind her as she passed. Once she flicked her turn signal on to move back into the left lane, then watched to make sure Naomi followed in her tracks, Yuri addressed the waiting Svetlana. "Svetlana, think! Oui, cheri?" Yuri pointed out. "Here we are, a bright red Ferrari and a bright yellow Lamborghini, racing down the streets of Paris. Do you not think the gendarmes, or perhaps even some diligent constable from Interpol, might not make notice of two such flashy cars taking the same route over and over again to the very same place?"
Svetlana blinked, then firmly gripped the armrest as Yuri let off the gas a moment to time her deceleration so she could hang a left on to Rue de Coeur. "Da, that makes sense, Madame," she confessed, then pointed out. "But, would not these two cars be noticed…wherever they go?"
Yuri grinned at that. "Very good, cheri!" she complimented the girl. "Now you are thinking." Yuri goosed the accelerator of her Ferrari then, its big engine blaring briefly with power as she slid her racer over to the right-most lane, and then rapidly decelerated to take a right on to Rue la Chance.
Svetlana felt herself quiver…never before had she ever been in a high-performance automobile before! My, but this was exciting! she thought to herself, her mind alert…but it was terrifying too! "Merci, Madame," she replied to Yuri's compliment, then added, "but…you still have not answered my question, nyet?"
"Non, I have not," Yuri replied, flicking her eyes to her rearview mirror again to ensure she hadn't lost her Naomi. She grinned a moment later, no…there she was…stuck to her like glue! "I beg your pardon, cheri." Yuri accelerated, working through the gears like a pro on the straight Parisian boulevard---all the while meticulously adhering to the posted speed limit. "However, fortunately for us all, you were not the first one to think along those lines, Svetlana dear."
"Nyet? I mean, no?" Svetlana squeaked as Yuri rapidly downshifted, then reefed her agile Ferrari in a left turn on to Rue d'Argernon. "Madame…do you think you might slow down…just a little?" Svetlana felt her pulse singing in her ears, which twitched as she felt jolts of terror…her striped tail lashing back and forth in her anxiousness.
"Non, not yet," Yuri agreed, having to raise her voice slightly over the throaty roar of her Ferrari's racing engine. She then moved to the right and entered an underground stretch of highway. "Now, as I was saying, cheri…it was Monsieur Sly, and our rascally Kitty, that provided us with our solution to this most vexing problem. You see," Yuri explained, then cut herself off as she switched lanes to go around a bus, "even now, a pair of 'special' friends of Monsieur Sly---wearing blonde wigs, no less!---are motoring back to C'est Sing as we speak in a pair of autos identical to the ones we now are in."
Svetlana laughed at Sly's cleverness…which was not surprising, as the poor girl still sort of idolized the Master Thief. "That Sly Cooper…he thinks of everything, nyet?" she opined, nearly sighing.
Yuri heard the subtle undertone of adoration in the girl's voice. "Svetlana, cheri…you haven't still got a crush on our Sly Cooper, have you?" she ventured with a teasing grin.
"Nyet, Madame! I do not!" Svetlana protested, but blushed. "Well, all right, perhaps just a teeny tiny bit of one yet," she allowed.
"Do not fret, cheri," Yuri assured her, her green-gold eyes warm. "Your secret is safe with me." She then leaned over conspiratorially to Svetlana, even as Le Hotel Champlain and its accompanying train station hove into view on their right. "Besides, I am soon to be married, Svetlana, and I too am not totally free of that rogue's spell at times."
Svetlana grinned, feeling a bit better now. "He does have that effect on we women, does he not?" she teased, laughing softly. She then watched as Yuri ducked her Ferrari down some nondescript alleyway, having to slow down considerably to negotiate the more bumpy causeway. Eventually, that alley led them to the tree-lined entrance of Le Hotel Champlain's staff garage. Yuri expertly pulled her Ferrari into the nearest parking spot…beside Carmelita's Peugeot Spyder, and parked.
"So…did you enjoy your ride, cheri?" Yuri asked after she shut down the purring Ferrari, watching as Naomi pulled her shining yellow Roadster up beside her.
"Oh, da! Da, very much!" thrilled Svetlana, nodding her head, her wavy black hair tossing. "I did…though there were several times I thought my heart would beat out of my chest!" She grinned over at Yuri.
"Come now, cheri," Yuri said, grinning, opening the door on her side. "Let us see to Naomi and Maria…and then we will head inside, no?"
They met up with the other pair of women as they exited. Svetlana headed over to Maria's side with earnest. "So?" Svetlana wanted to know, even as the furious beating of her own heart began to finally slow. "What did you think, Maria?"
Maria tossed her thick white hair over her shoulder, her blue eyes still a little glazed. "Bozhe moi! What a ride, tovarisch," she confessed, taking Svetlana's arm in her own. "I have never been more frightened in my life!" She laughed.
Svetlana grinned, understanding. "Or more excited, da?" she tossed out.
"Da! Exactly!" Maria replied, then laughed, which Svetlana shared.
Yuri led them all to the back door of Le Hotel Champlain, then knocked softly upon the steel door, her knuckles clanging on the door softly. A moment or two went by, then they all smiled as the door opened to reveal none other than one Carmelita Montoya Fox. The splendid looking vixen's medium brown eyes lit up upon seeing her friends at the door. "Yuri?" she questioned, then nodded to the other girls, smiling a warm welcoming smile.
"Bon jour, cheri," Yuri greeted her, anticipating a quick welcoming hug. However, she was not ready for when Carmelita squealed happily and hugged Yuri again and again. "Cheri?" she questioned with a laugh.
"Really now, Carmelita, do let poor Yuri to at least get her feet inside the door before you shower her with your obvious affection," Naomi softly chided the vixen, grinning in amusement.
Carmelita relented from her excess with a laugh. "Oh, believe you me, Naomi, Yuri had better get herself inside here…and in a hurry! If she doesn't, her boyfriend is going to explode!" Carmelita laughed, leading the four women inside. "Bentley's in the living room now, and according to Sly at least, he's practically doing somersaults!"
"Now, cheri, that I must see!" Yuri observed, then laughed happily and moved further inside. Once they all had made it to the living room, she easily spotted Bentley hunched over his laptop, typing madly away. Sly stood right behind him, looking over his shoulder with a much bemused expression on his face. He glanced up, nodding to the four beauties before he readdressed his friend.
"Really now, Bent…I really think a hundred names will be more than enough for you and Yuri to choose from, buddy," he observed with a laugh.
"I quite agree, Sly," Yuri declared, then laughed as well, her green-gold eyes gleaming with just a hint of mischief and much anticipation.
Upon hearing her musical voice, Bentley stopped his typing, and looked over his shoulder at his lady love. "Yuri!" he exclaimed, his face lighting up with his love and admiration of this spectacular snow leopard woman that held his heartstrings.
"Bon jour, mon belle cher," Yuri greeted her beau, moving over to kiss him on the cheek.
Bentley leapt to his feet, and moved beside his Yuri surprisingly fast for a turtle.
"So, you are pregnant, right?" he asked, a mix of wonder and anxiousness in his voice "You're really sure, Yuri?" Bentley added, more to make sure he was not dreaming than anything. "I mean, you're certain that your doctor hasn't somehow mixed our results with someone else's?"
Yuri laughed her rich laugh. "Oui, cher. I am most positive indeed," Yuri reassured him, pulling Bentley to herself before escorting him over to the sofa to sit down.
"Thank goodness for that!" Bentley observed with a much relieved sigh, before he deposited himself upon Yuri's very snuggly lap. "Can you believe it, honey? We're gonna be parents!"
Yuri laughed, hugging him and kissing him atop his head. "Oui, it is amazing, is it not? Though, you had best enjoy your sitting upon my lap while you can, mon cher," Yuri warned with a grin. "Because before too much longer, Bentley my love, I shall be this huge…" she told him, exaggerating her coming girth to him, "…and thus far too large for you to sit upon my lap any longer, you see."
"Don't you worry, Yuri my love…we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Bentley replied, gently kissing Yuri upon her lips again and again. He then leaned back and added, "Hey, the way I look at it, I still win, Yuri. You're growing waistline only means that I'll have that much more of you to love." Bentley's eyes drank in Yuri's features like a tonic.
"Oh, cher," Yuri murmured, blushing quite prettily at his compliment…as well his looks of most apparent devotion.
"Bon jour, my Murray," Naomi nearly purred as she found herself a very cozy place within her eager beau's arms. She snuggled her cheek to his broad chest, and grinned, hugging him tightly a moment. She then looked up and grinned happily at him. Murray's smile was the mirror image of her own, which pleased Naomi to no end.
"Hey, you two," Carmelita called to Svetlana and Maria, waving them over to her. "Come here, I want to talk with you." Intrigued, both of the ex-Soviets moved over to enter a conversation with their Spanish vixen friend.
"Um, Yuri…there's one thing I was sort of wondering about, if you don't mind that is," Bentley said, trying not to pry if his inquiry was not wanted..
"Oui, mon cher? What do you wish to know?" Yuri asked, curious.
"Um, er…well, since you come from an aristocratic family and all...um, do you think your parents will be happy for us?" Bentley finally came out and asked.
Yuri frowned at his question. "No, mon cher…they will not be happy," Yuri confessed, her eyes sad. "My mother, ah, she would most likely faint dead away were she to find you were my intended…as well as the father of my children, Bentley."
Bentley gaped, then paled. Then, after a moment, he grit his teeth in frustration. "But…why?" he insisted.
"I am not sure that I can explain, cher," Yuri replied, avoiding Bentley's eyes. "But, do allow me to try, oui?"
"Go ahead," Bentley urged her, looking up at her.
"You see," began Yuri, her eyes troubled, "my parents come from families where bloodlines are of tantamount importance. Odd as it might seem, if you were a turtle with ties to the Bourbons or Windsors, why…then they would welcome you with open arms." Yuri paused then, then looked down at Bentley, sadness in her eyes. "However, and do correct me if I am wrong, my love…but, you do not, do you?"
"Sorry, but no," Bentley told her, frowning. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure exactly who my parents were, Yuri." He then blinked, then redirected his gaze to the woman he loved. "That's bad…isn't it?"
"To myself?" Yuri ventured, then shook her fair head. "Non, I could care less. I love you, Bentley…who you are, not what you are. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah," Bentley replied, nodding. "And, I love you too, woman…just the way you are."
Yuri smiled, warmed by knowing how much he really did love her. Then, her glorious green-gold eyes glistened, and she hung her proud head. "However, cher…to my parents…it will mean everything."
"Even your father?" Bentley asked, trying somehow to look for a bright spot in this bleak conversation.
"Especially my father," Yuri responded in obvious remorse. "Oh, the Paul Sing I know would sputter with indignant outrage if he knew! Does he care if I, his only daughter, am happy? Oh, non! He cares that only his precious bloodlines would be sullied!" Yuri now nearly wept with her outrage. "Oh, cher, it is so unfair!" she added. "They only think of themselves and their heritage." Yuri paused to collect herself, trying to calm herself down before she continued. When she had composed herself again, she went on. "Now, please do not get me wrong, my Bentley…I do love my parents very much. However, there are times I think that all they have supposedly 'sacrificed' for Jacques and myself has been for themselves, instead of us, their children."
Bentley sat thinking about what Yuri had just said. He then turned to her again, smiling a bit sadly. "Um, Yuri…now please don't get mad…but that last bit you said…that wasn't entirely fair, my love."
"How can you say that, Bentley?" Yuri stammered, looked at him, feeling somewhat betrayed. "After how they feel about you?"
"Wait, please, okay?" Bentley soothed. "Look Yuri, did your parents make sure you received a good education?" he asked.
"Oh, oui, they did. Only the best universities. But---" Yuri replied, but then sought to protest---which Bentley didn't allow her the luxury.
"Okay, did they make sure to tuck you in every night? You know…sing you both lullabyes, tell you bedtime stories? That sort of thing?" he posed next.
Yuri was puzzled by the direction Bentley was headed. "Well, oui, they did, cher…but---" Yuri was forced to reply, and still tried to protest, but to no avail.
"There, you see," Bentley then said, before looking away from the frowning Yuri. "No one ever did that for me," Bentley pointed out, slowly lifting his eyes back to gaze into hers.
Suddenly, her hurt and frustration evaporated like fog under sunshine. "Oh, mon cher," Yuri soothed, reaching down one hand to caress his cheek, her heart going out to her beau at that moment. "I am so sorry, my Bentley. I did not remember…did not realize," she murmured before kissing his forehead.
Bentley, oddly enough, smiled at her. "Hey, it's no biggie…it's okay. Really, Yuri," Bentley said, reaching up with the back of one hand to gently, adoringly caress Yuri's fair cheek, knowing full well the effect of his doing that would have on her. "I just thought you should know that even though your parents may not approve of me…that doesn't make them any less your parents, who love you."
Yuri smiled, saying, "How did you become so wise, mon belle cher?" She nestled her Bentley's head to her shoulder, and began to make a soft rumbling sound that sounded a great deal like purring.
"Now, that's strange," mused a most familiar voice from the opening to the family room.
Yuri opened one green-gold eye and smiled as she saw Kitty Petro smirking at her, her ever-present boyfriend, Ling Chu, beside her. "Kitty, cheri," Yuri said, not wishing to miss greeting the rascally, yet adorable vixen. But…that didn't mean she was going to give up snuggling with her Bentley to get up and greet her…
"Strange?" Murray mused aloud, looking over at Kitty. "What's so strange, Kitty?"
"Nothing much, big buddy," Kitty replied rascally, smiling over to where Yuri and Bentley sat on the sofa. "It's just I've never heard our Yuri purr before is all."
Svetlana paused a moment to listen, and sighed. "Oh, Madame," she murmured. "That sound is so soothing…"
"I know I like it," Bentley informed them all, making Yuri grin and open her eyes.
Kitty shared in the laughter Bentley's clever statement created. "Hey, it's sort of strange to see that she can actually do something regular folks can do. Well, regular felines, at least…"
"Hush, Kitty," Yuri remarked. "I am happy…that is all there is to it."
Kitty grinned at that, understanding just how she felt…Kitty knew how she felt when Ling stroked her back…and trust me, she would of purred had she been able to! "Hey, no insult intended, Yuri," she hastily added, pulling Ling over to sit by her side on the other end of the sofa.
"None taken, Kitty cheri," Yuri replied, smiling blissfully.
Nestled snugly against Ling's strong shoulder, Kitty took the conversation on a different course. "So…what's this big surprise Carmelita's been going on and on about?"
"I wasn't going 'on and on' about anything, sport," Carmelita said, defending herself. "I just said I had news…if you want to hear it, fine. If not…eh, don't."
"Carmelita, be nice now," Sly admonished her, gently stroking the vixen's luxurious blue-black tresses.
"I will if she will," Carmelita promised, crossing her arms before herself, yet she couldn't quite ward off the trembling Sly's caressing her hair caused.
"Now, who'd be purring if she could?" Kitty teased, laughing when Carmelita stuck her tongue out at her.
"Ahem!" Bentley prompted by clearing his throat…wanting to tell his and Yuri's good news. "Well, Inspector," Bentley said cleverly, then was cut off by Kitty.
"That's Lieutenant, fella," Kitty corrected him, smiling cleverly.
"All right, Lieutenant," Bentley amended, then continued, "do you remember the day of the Fall Fling…when Yuri here invited me to a 'private' celebration, with just the two of us?" he phrased his question very exacting…which was understandable, when you considered who he was addressing.
"Oh yeah, I remember," Kitty replied, smiling wickedly. "And, buddy boy, I do have a fairly good guess as to just what the two of you were doing that night too, you know."
"Kitty, that is enough!" Naomi, right on cue, protested, her cheeks flushing a pretty pink.
Kitty grinned wider then. "Oh, yeah…Naomi there was sporting a permanent blush all the way home that day too, she was," Kitty teased, remembering. "Yeah, but so what? What of it?"
"Well, cheri," Yuri replied, smiling as she took up the narrative. "That night, which you attempt to make light of, is precisely why you are here right now, asking me these questions." As Kitty frowned, trying to work out the verbal puzzle Yuri had laid out for her, Yuri continued. "You see, my pretty little rascal, from now on, you will need to be far gentler with me."
"Oh-kay. Um, mind if I ask why exactly?" Kitty asked.
"Of course not, cheri!" Yuri answered, then sat quiet, her eyes dancing, waiting.
Kitty knew she was up to something, but decided to wait her out. However, Kitty soon realized that she was far more curious than her patience would allow. "Oh, all right! Why must I be gentle with you, Yuri? Like I'm not usually…"
Yuri laughed at that, then grinned. "Why, you ask? Well, silly girl, why because I am pregnant!" Yuri proclaimed.
"No way!" Kitty gasped, her jaw dropping comically open in her surprise. Beside her, Ling---who generally was a very quiet and calm soul---sat up straight and yelped softly, "What was that? Excuse me?"
Yuri laughed again, having the strangest sense of déjà vu just at that moment...