§ § § -- December 18, 2004

In just a few minutes she had parked in front of Christian's office; he obviously had seen their arrival through the window, for he came out to meet them. "You finished your tour that quickly?" he asked with amused skepticism.

"Patrick and Antoinette saw something that bothered them, Your Highness," Mireille explained. "We saw all Papa's paintings at the museum that Mr. Roarke and cousine built for them, and I never knew he did so many." She had Christian's interested attention while Leslie started removing Tobias' restraints. "But you see, there's one in the entry—it was never finished. Papa was working on it when he died, and the painting shows us—me and Patrick and Antoinette—playing in our yard, when we were small. I don't remember it, of course…but they must have. And I think it made them very sad. They both looked awful when they finally came out of the museum."

"I see," said Christian sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Mireille. I wish it were possible for us to show you happier places connected with your father." At that moment Leslie deposited Tobias in his arms and he grinned at her. "Gave me the biter, I see."

Leslie snickered. "Heck, he spends all his time biting me when I feed him, I figure you should have equal time." Christian laughed and she turned back to the car to undo Susanna's restraints. "He's awake, but the girls are both sleeping at least."

"So I see," Christian observed, watching Tobias munching contentedly on his teething ring. "You may be a glutton, son of mine, but at least you're easy to please." Mireille giggled, and he grinned at her. "So what brings you over here?"

"Cousine said she wants to know if you're really as busy as you said you were," said Mireille cheerfully, and again Christian laughed, making Tobias giggle around his teething ring. Leslie, chuckling, emerged from the car with Susanna and gently settled her onto Mireille's shoulder.

"There you go, hold onto her just like that. So how busy are you, my love?" she asked.

"Busy enough," Christian replied, raising an eyebrow but grinning at her. She winked and ducked back into the car to take out Karina. "Once you get them inside, I'll show you."

Mireille peered interestedly around Christian's shop when they came inside. "I like the way you decorated in here," she said, taking in the pale seafoam-green walls and the wallpaper border with hunter-green and tan geometric designs that ran around it at the ceiling level. "I think those are pretty colors."

"That's Leslie's doing," Christian said. "She chose the colors, and in fact she and her friends even painted this place and applied the wallpaper. I've discovered that it has the side effect of making it seem cooler in here, even on hot days."

"I guess in that case you won't be changing it anytime soon," Leslie said, taking the chair that sat beside Christian's desk while he settled in his own chair behind it. "Hmm, I guess you were right…you look pretty busy to me. Where is everybody?"

"Jonathan's in the back going through some files; Julianne's out on a call; Mateo's on Coral Island at the moment, getting some supplies, and Beth went to the high school to take a look at their computers. Did I miss anything, Anton?" Christian called across the office.

"Not a thing, Christian," Anton assured him. "Hello, Miss Leslie, how are the babies?"

"They're all fine," Leslie said, "although I think Karina and Susanna are about to start teething, and something tells me they'll have a worse time of it than Tobias did. Oh, by the way, my love, what happened to the infant carriers we kept in here?"

Christian cast her a surprised look, then seemed to remember. "Oh yes, I forgot—it's been some time since you had the triplets in here. I had to get rid of those carriers; the babies have outgrown them. Julianne was kind enough to bring in a play mat from home; she told me it was the one the quads themselves used to use. Jonathan?"

A moment later Jonathan's head poked out of the door to the back office. "Oh, hi, Boss Prince. Hey, the gang's all here, huh?"

"And sleeping, in a couple of cases," Christian said with a chuckle. "Would you bring out that mat Julianne brought in and unroll it, so that Leslie and Mireille can put Susanna and Karina on it to sleep?"

"Sure, no problem," said Jonathan and disappeared again.

Leslie grinned. "That's a great idea," she said. "Now if Tobias would just go to sleep…"

"I'll play with him when we have the girls on the mat," Mireille volunteered eagerly, watching Tobias chewing. "He really loves that toy, doesn't he?"

Christian chuckled and gently tickled his son under the chin. "As long as he has something to chew on, he's in seventh heaven. Once you take over, I can go through my e-mail. I've had so many repair projects today, I haven't been able to look at it yet."

Jonathan lugged out a dark-blue gymnastic mat about six feet on a side and unrolled it in the unoccupied corner of the room between Christian's desk and Mateo's. Leslie took Karina over to it and gently laid her on her back in the middle of the mat; then she took Susanna from Mireille and did the same thing, leaving about a foot of space between the two girls. Mireille lifted Tobias from Christian's lap, toted him over to the play mat and settled on a corner of it, where she could watch the girls and amuse Tobias at the same time.

"She'll make a great babysitter, I bet," Leslie mused, watching Christian bring up his e-mail account and check through the list of messages waiting for him. "Oh, I'd better bring in the diaper bag—be right back, my love."

When she returned with an outsized tote bag packed to bursting with infant paraphernalia, she noticed Christian staring at his computer screen with a frown of consternation. "Something wrong?" she asked.

Christian started a little and released a soft snort. "It's nothing really," he muttered.

Leslie eyed him suspiciously, dropping the bag on the floor beside the chair and resuming her seat. "Don't give me that, Christian. If it makes you look like that, it's definitely something. Come on, what is it?"

With a defeated sigh Christian fell back in his chair and eyed her reluctantly. "I can tell you right now, you're not going to like it," he said a little wearily.

"Tell me anyway," Leslie insisted.

"Fine. The message in question is from King Errico, and he's trying to up the stakes for that hypothetical branch in Santi Arcuros. He says he's already found an ideal location for the storefront, one that he claims will provide the maximum possible customer traffic, and that he actually collected inquiries and even a few job applications from almost a dozen people—though where they would have found copies of my applications is a mystery." Christian had drawn up a specialized job application for his business as far back as 1990, and anyone who wanted to apply for work with Enstad Computer Services had to come to a branch location in person and pick up a blank one. "Furthermore, he says that not only will he pay all the startup costs, he'll buy me the entire building outright and put the deed in my name—if I'll agree to begin the setup process next month."

"But I thought we settled all that," Leslie protested. "We told him back in September that the timing just wasn't right, especially with three babies to think of."

"I know," Christian said, slowly rubbing a palm down his face and closing his eyes. "I know all too well, my Leslie Rose. But herregud, the man is persistent." He slanted a cautious glance at her and looked away again at her agitated expression. "Leslie, you don't realize that you simply can't say no to a king—especially not this king."

"Maybe you can't," Leslie retorted, "but I can. Let me at that message, and I'll tell him in no uncertain terms that it just isn't going to fly right now."

Christian gave her a sharp look. "Leslie," he said, "think about it. I make a healthy income from the three locations I have now, I won't deny that. And I'll be the first to tell you that a Santi Arcuros branch is not vital to the health of the business. But the London location is still in the process of paying for itself, and the traffic isn't quite up to the level I'd like it to be. I have to keep a very sharp eye on the place. Listen to me: Errico is offering to pay every last öre of the costs for starting a branch in his country. He's offering to buy the building, for fate's sake, and not only that but to buy it for me, rather than himself. To hear him talk, I have people lining up in the hope of being employed by me. The only cost to me is five percent of the annual profits donated to one of his or Michiko's charities, my choice. If the building's location is everything Errico says it is, the place would pay for itself perhaps by this time next year, depending on how long the setup takes. And since we have three babies, who undoubtedly will be college students approximately eighteen years from today, I have to tell you that the prospect of extra income is very welcome right now."

"But…" Leslie began, feeling deflated by Christian's arguments. "But…it means you'd be gone at least two months…maybe longer!"

Christian sighed again and slumped a little in his chair. "I know, my darling," he said softly. "And believe me, I don't like the idea of missing two months of the triplets' development—not to mention being away from you for so long. We haven't been separated like that since I was married to Marina. No, my Rose, I don't like it either, but I'm afraid it's a necessary evil. The alternative is that you and the triplets come with me—causing you to miss a full two months of work." He lowered his chin and peered reprovingly at her; they'd had a fairly lengthy talk about that early in Leslie's pregnancy, when she'd admitted to feeling guilty about "abandoning" Roarke for a three-month maternity leave. "And I know you have no wish to do that."

Leslie propped an elbow on the work arm of the desk with a dull thump and rested her forehead in her hand. "No," she mumbled and peeked sheepishly at him from between two fingers. "I'm afraid if I take any more time off before the triplets turn one, Father'll fire me and recruit Julie."

Christian chuckled shortly. "Then it seems pretty clear what has to be done, doesn't it? You know I prefer to have a hand in the hiring, as much as I possibly can."

"I just wish you didn't have to go halfway around the world to do it," Leslie protested plaintively. "I know we have Ingrid and she can help with the feedings, but it isn't the same thing, not one bit. And if you're gone long enough, the babies might not know their own father when you get home again."

He winced. "Did you have to mention that? That already crossed my mind; in fact, I even tried to dissuade Errico with that argument. He merely told me that you could e-mail photos of the babies every week."

Leslie groaned and rolled her eyes. "You're right…he's certainly persistent!"

"And as if all that weren't enough, he told me he'd send fifty cases of Vallomoros Vineyard wines to the castle," Christian added, rolling his own eyes. "That's when I finally told him that he was out-and-out bribing me. To which he said, 'Whatever it takes to get that branch here.' Nothing I could say would make him accept a 'no'."

"I'd tell him no anyway," Leslie grunted, "if only because he's sending that wine to the castle and not to us!" Christian laughed finally, and she responded with a reluctant grin. "I know I'm being difficult about this, my love, and I'm sorry. It's only that…"

Christian scooted his chair closer to the work arm and gathered her hands between his. "Perhaps it will make you feel slightly better to know that Errico is leaving us our Christmas together. I don't have to appear till January, he says, three weeks from now."

"How generous," Leslie muttered. She looked up wistfully. "Oh, Christian, I don't mean to take it out on you. But I so hate it when you're gone. It always reminds me of all those years we had to be apart."

Christian smiled at her. "I know, my darling," he said. "I wish it could be different, but it just can't be helped, under the circumstances. However…I do have one point I refuse to back down on. Errico has told me that he'll wait for my go-ahead before he takes any action. If I do tell him to begin efforts on my behalf, it will take some time to make the building purchase and get the office furniture and equipment that will be needed. During that time, I'll stay with the family in Lilla Jordsö. There's no reason for me to be sitting around Santi Arcuros waiting for things to be finished. Errico can as easily forward applications to me, and I can review them in private."

"In private?" Leslie echoed, not understanding.

"You know that if I go directly to Santi Arcuros and stay there throughout the whole process, Errico will insist on putting me up in the palace, which probably just makes sense. But I'm afraid he'd want a hand in the process of choosing employees, and it's a quirk of mine to do that entirely alone. I simply can't abide someone looking over my shoulder, and the family is well aware of that…so I'm going to remain in Lilla Jordsö till I hear that the building is complete and ready for opening. And with luck, I'll have made enough choices to conduct interviews in the shortest time possible, get people hired and installed, and come back home to you and the children. Does that make it any better?"

"Not much," Leslie said with a little half-smile, "but knowing you're no more thrilled about being away than I am helps a little." She sighed, while Christian watched her with gentle amusement in his eyes. "Well, like you said, at least he's letting us have the holidays together. If he'd suggested you miss the triplets' first Christmas—"

"Then I would have said no," Christian broke in, and they both laughed. "You know I'll stay in touch with you all the way through the process, my Rose—I could never get by without constant contact with you." He grinned then. "Not only that, but I intend to hold Errico to his promise of fifty cases of Vallomoros wine. And when they appear at the castle, I'm going to bring home the full quota allowed by the international limit."

"That almost makes up for Errico's insistence that you do all this in the first place," Leslie said, grinning. "Okay, okay. I guess we were going to have to deal with it sooner or later anyway, and Errico just lost patience. You might as well give him the green light on it, my love, but tell him the whole thing's off if he fails to deliver that wine."

Laughing, Christian agreed and squeezed her hands before turning back to the computer to reply to Errico's message. "You're being a good sport about all this, my Rose, and I appreciate it. Do you need to check in with Mr. Roarke?"

"Not necessarily; it was understood that we were going to be out for some time, looking at sites associated with Tattoo. But maybe I should call him anyway just to let him know what happened with Patrick and Antoinette, in case he wants to check in with them." She took the phone receiver that Christian handed her and waited while he punched out the number to the main house, then updated Roarke on what had happened.

When she finished, Roarke was silent a moment; then he asked, "What of Mireille?"

"She seems to be fine," said Leslie. "She's here with us, playing with Tobias."

"All right," Roarke said. "In that case, I'll stop at Patrick and Antoinette's bungalow and see if they need anything. May I assume you'll remain where you are?"

"Unless either Mireille gets restless or Christian decides to kick us out, we'll be here," Leslie said, catching Christian's amused grin as he sent his response to Errico and maximized a window containing a program he was in the process of writing. "At the latest we'll be back for supper."

"Very well," said Roarke. "Since Tattoo's children brought us our only fantasy this weekend, things are quiet otherwise. Tell Christian hello…and incidentally, that I wish him the best of luck in his hiring process for his new branch in Santi Arcuros."

Leslie rolled her eyes to herself and simply promised, "I'll tell him…thanks, Father."

Christian looked around as she hung up. "Tell me what?"

"He says hello and wishes you luck with the Santi Arcuros hiring," she replied, enjoying his incredulous reaction. With a playful shrug, she said, "Don't ask me how he does it. At least I've finally learned to just accept it."

Chuckling a little reluctantly, Christian conceded, "That's probably the best thing to do. Oh…is there a problem?" He addressed Mireille with this last, as she had stood up with Tobias in her grasp, holding him a few inches away from her.

"He needs changing," Leslie guessed.

"How did you know?" Mireille exclaimed.

Leslie grinned. "What other reason would there be for holding him away from you like that?" Mireille giggled a little sheepishly, and Leslie picked up the diaper bag and went over to change her son. Christian watched for a moment, grinning, then returned to his program. Mireille settled down nearby and watched Leslie change Tobias.

"Was it a big surprise to you to get three babies at the same time?" she asked.

"Definitely," Leslie assured her, carefully setting aside the soiled diaper. "But we were thrilled too. It was hard for me to get pregnant, and we have no idea if it'll ever happen again, so we're enjoying having them. Christian was glad we had one boy."

Mireille propped her chin atop her knees, which she had drawn up and was hugging. "Men like to have sons, don't they? Do you think Papa was like that?"

"Oh, no, not at all," Leslie said, smiling, wiping her son clean. "Your father loved kids, both boys and girls. He was equally happy to get you, your brother and your sister."

"Mr. Roarke said he used to play with the children here," Mireille said.

"Yes, he did," Leslie said. "The younger kids always warmed right up to him. My friends liked him too, once they got to know him through me. As a matter of fact, my friend Myeko once pretended to scold him."

"Why?" Mireille asked, eyes wide with fascination.

Leslie grinned and said, "She used to throw terrific Halloween parties when we were in high school—in fact, she developed a reputation for it, and it was considered a kind of achievement to get an invitation. I always got one, just because I was in her circle of friends, but most years my costumes were terrible. One year I even wound up wearing the same one she was, except hers was far better. So in our senior year—Myeko's last party—your father helped me out. I couldn't think of anything that hadn't already been done over and over again by everybody else. But then Tattoo told me I could go as the Invisible Woman." And she went on to relate the story to a mesmerized Mireille.

"Did you win something?" Mireille asked.

"Yep, I got the prize for Most Original Costume. The funny part of that is that a few days later, Myeko asked me why I hadn't gone to Father or Tattoo for help earlier, and I told her I was afraid it would've been seen as cheating."

"Cheating!" Christian echoed from the computer, and Leslie and Mireille both turned to stare at him in surprise. He grinned and said with a headshake, "Sometimes, my Leslie Rose, you're just too honest."

They all laughed, and Leslie shrugged amiably. "Could be. But Tattoo deserved the credit for thinking up the idea. If it hadn't been for him, I'd probably have thrown a sheet over my head." She finished tugging Tobias' overalls on him and settled him in her lap, looking at him just in time to catch him yawning. "Aha, he's finally wearing down. He's been awake a lot longer than usual, and I was starting to wonder if he'd ever sleep."

Mireille watched with a wistful look in her big dark eyes, so reminiscent of Tattoo's. "Cousine…" she said and stopped, just as she had before.

"What is it?" Leslie asked indulgently, lifting Tobias to her shoulder in the hope of putting him to sleep by rubbing his back.

Mireille opened her mouth, sat looking undecided, then deflated and shook her head. "Nothing," she murmured.

Leslie peered at her a little worriedly, but she saw the tight-lipped look that crossed Mireille's features and again gave up. "Well, you know you can talk to me anytime," she said and left it at that, rocking gently back and forth a bit for Tobias' sake, wondering what was weighing so heavily on Mireille's mind.