Chapter 10 - Devil's Kiss

"Let's just let them sleep," Edgeworth said, leading the boys into the kitchen. He smiled a little. It was kind of cute seeing Franziska like that. He'd had a sneaking suspicion for a while now that she might have a crush on the good detective...

Edgeworth didn't really know his way around the kitchen, so he decided it was okay to let the kids eat cookies for breakfast. (He was surprised Franziska even owned a cookie jar. He'd always assumed that she only ate healthy foods. Have to keep the body perfect, after all...) Not long after he got boys settled in at the table, Mushroom joined them, dragging Ryuichi by one ear.

"Hi, Uni," she said to Edgeworth as she climbed into an unoccupied chair. "Give Mushroom cookies, please!"

"Good morning," Edgeworth replied evenly, fetching a glass of milk and some cookies for the little girl. Ever since Franziska had told them that her pink stuffed unicorn's name was Miles, the kids had all been calling him Unicorn, or just Uni.

The kids were just finishing their breakfast when Edgeworth's cell phone rang. He made the mistake of turning his back to them while taking the call, and by the time he hung up the phone, he had completely lost track of them. The only one left in the kitchen with him was a white silky-eared bunny rabbit that belonged to George. His name was Steve. Edgeworth picked Steve up and went to track down the bunny's owner...

He found the kids playing with Detective Gumshoe in the guest bedroom. The rabbits were out in full force today. Sparda and Sparky each had one of the silky-eared rabbits, as well. Sparda's was a blue one named Flopsy and Sparky's was a red one named Stinky.

"George, you left your special bunny!" Sparky shouted, rushing to retrieve the toy from Edgeworth. "Steve will be sad if you leave him," he said, handing the rabbit to his brother.

"I sorry, Steve," George said, hugging his bunny. Sparky patted George on the head, then sat down beside him and resumed making Stinky hop across the floor.

After about ten mintues of that, the kids got tired of playing and asked if they could watch cartoons. Gumshoe and Edgeworth herded them into the living room and turned on the TV for them. While the detective sat with the kids, Edgeworth went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

He was greeted by Franziska's icy stare. "Thank you for leaving a mess in my kitchen, which you were perfectly capable of cleaning up," she said coldly.

"Oh, shut up!" he snapped irritably. "I doubt you would have been thinking about things like after finding out-" He stopped mid-sentence. Now that he got a good look at her, he realized he'd never seen her dressed like a normal girl her age before. Today she was wearing a knee-length black skirt and a dark blue blouse, unbuttoned, over a mint green tank top. She was barefoot and her hair was still damp from the shower.

"After finding out what?" Franziska asked curiously. All traces of the frigid aura surrounding her had disappeared.

Edgeworth realized he was staring and shifted his gaze away from her. "The court called me this morning. Apparently, Odin commited suicide in his cell last night... and since he's out of the picture, the court is now trying to find foster homes for the children..."

Franziska frowned. "What about the aunt?"

"They've already asked her," Edgeworth replied. "She said she'll take one of the older boys. If worse comes to worst, she'll take both of them, but she doesn't really have the time or money to take care of the younger kids right now." He glanced at his watch. "We can talk more later. I have to leave soon or I'll be late." On his way out, he said to Gumshoe, "Be at my car within the next five minutes, detective, or you'll be stuck taking the bus to work."

But Detective Gumshoe was reluctant to leave.

"You know, I could stay here and help you with the kids..." he hedged.

"I can handle it," Franziska replied, pushing him toward the door. "Besides, can you really afford to miss a day of work? Do you want your salary docked again?"

The detective sighed. "No, not really," he answered, the sad-depressed look creeping over his features.

"Good, now go to work." Franziska leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then shut the door in his face.