Thank you, Darkshipping for the tip, and when I finish this story, and do all the editing, I'll be sure to fix it.
Thanks as well to Nemo Sushi for the tip. I'm a nerd too, but you're obviously nerdier than I.
Once again, thank you to everyone for the support.
Disclaimer: Nothing.
-Chapter 5-
He thought that the book was a story…of a man…and the miracles of his life.
There was no sunny, bird-chirping morning; they only existed in fairytales, or when you did not have children. Tala and Bryan alike were used to being hassled out of bed, sometimes even before the sun had time to rise above the horizon. Then there were those times when the twins would cry all night and they got no sleep at all.
The parents envied their friends, probably still comfy together, cuddled under the blankets, whereas they were wrestling children and tickling them into submission. Adrick and Raisa, breathless, finally scurried off, out the door, they entered, to go and change for the day.
Their playful giggles made their parents smile and Bryan waited for them leave before wrapping his arms around his lover. At least when the curious eyes were not looking, they could get away with a little intimacy. Tala leaned into the warm embrace as he sighed quietly to himself. The lids began to drop over his blue eyes and he yawned rather loudly.
Bryan watched him and decided, with a coy smirk that the best way to wake his sleeping beauty was with a loving kiss. Tala was not surprised at all when the warm sensation fluttered from his lips and throughout his body. They let the moment linger and pulled back before they lost themselves in the familiar feeling. Back home, their passionate kisses were left for the bedroom, when they did not have to work the next morn.
Tala then murmured against Bryan's lips, "I need to talk to you…about something…serious.''
He spoke hesitantly, not wanting to ruin the tenderness of their morning. Bryan reassured his unsure words with another, chaste kiss. It was gentle and yet already understanding.
"Tell me what's bothering you, Tal…''
Tala looked exhausted, as if he barely slept and Bryan knew so to be true, for he felt his lover shift about all night. It was evident that something was off that morning. He felt a chill run over his bare shoulders, when the redhead rolled out of bed, and asked, in a mumble, what was wrong.
"I'm going to get a drink…'' Tala told him and disappeared out of the bedroom door and into the darkness of the hallways.
Bryan thought nothing of it, and instantly, returned to his desired slumber. He rolled over, after an hour or so, to feel around for his warm partner, only to find an empty space beside him. His eyes peered open and looked up to the door, when it slid open. Tala took his hand, as he moved back into bed and they tangled themselves in the blankets once again. However, blue eyes remained upon for the longest time that night as his head buzzed with silent questions and discoveries.
He wanted to voice them but a knock on the door interrupted the conversation.
Kai peered inside, after waiting a moment and as his lips parted to greet them to the day, a sudden wail stopped him as well. It was from Raisa. Bryan sighed, got up from the comforts of the bed, said good morning to their host as he walked by and headed down the hall. He was used to hearing the twins yell at each other, and it was his turn to sort out their conflict.
He walked into their bedroom, only to have the little princess run up and cling to his legs. She sobbed and pointed back at her brother, as she mumbled incoherent things. Adrick smiled wickedly and held out his hand to his father. There was a little spider crawling all over his palm.
Bryan crouched down and wiped her tears away, as she trembled in his arms.
"It's okay, princess. It's only a spider.''
"But he threw it at me!'' She protested and sniffled, as she turned to glare at her younger sibling.
"Adrick, you know your sister is afraid of spiders, why did you do that to her?'' Bryan took a serious intonation when he addressed his little troublemaker, even if all he wanted to do was let out a deep sigh.
He knew that children were hard to raise and they were no walk in the park, but dealing with twins was far worse. They were still learning…learning ways to pick on one another. They tortured each other, in countless fashions and knew the opposite's weaknesses as well as they knew their own strengths but their daddies were always there to sort out their young, sibling rivalry.
The boy made a face, as he rolled his big, marine eyes. "She's such a baby. It won't hurt her!''
"The spider may not have hurt her physically, but you hurt her emotionally. Now apologize to your sister, young man and promise her that you won't do it again.''
Adrick bit his lip as he shuffled his feet, and looked at the critter, tickling his hand. "I'm sorry, Raisa…I won't throw spiders at you again.''
Rei had heard the yell too and curious, he came over. It made him smile, as he listened to the Russian deal with his children properly and as he came over, he gently patted Raisa's head. She looked up at uncle Rei and smiled, as he stepped inside, and said to the younger. "Here, Adrick, let's put the spider outside.'' He opened the window for the boy, and they both watched as it crawled away to its freedom, still alive.
Rei had to admit, Bryan's parenting skills were impressive, and it made him happy to see such a display, but it also reminded him of his own worries, looming within his body and soul.
The twins hugged and their father was smiling happily again.
''So, can we go to the park now?'' They looked up at their uncle and father, and cheered in unison.
After breakfast was made and devoured, everyone was dressed and ready. The Chinese had made sandwiches for lunch and brought a picnic basket along to the park with them. No sooner arrived, the children ran for the large play structures and raced each other up the stairs to the largest slide.
''Watch me! Watch me!'' They both shouted and waved to their fathers and uncles, relaxing in the shade.
The children had little interest in the beauty of the park, only the activities built inside. Few knew about the private park. There was a little path leading from the road, until it came to a large parking lot, adjacent to the benches and picnic tables.
When Kai and Rei had been searching for a remote home, together, they had stumbled upon the hidden location and immediately fell in love with it. The area was serene and well maintained, and there was land for sale not far down the road. They built their house upon the purchased acres and often strolled down the paths of the park, hand in hand.
"Can we...be the parents today?'' Rei asked timidly, as he watched the children enjoying themselves.
"You mean, you want to go and play?'' Bryan could not help but laugh, as Rei nodded his head vigorously.
"Go ahead...'' Tala smiled and watched as the younger man got up and brought Kai with him, over to the sandboxes and swings.
Bryan waited for a moment, until they were far enough away, before he slid closer to Tala and took his hand, in his own.
''Do you want to talk, now?'' He asked.
Tala lifted his head, to look into those lilac eyes he so adored, and nodded. He had to take a deep breath and search carefully for his words before he could speak.
"I went to their library last night...'' He started, his voice uneasy. "And I found that book, that Rei was reading to the kids...''
Bryan listened intently, as his brows furrowed. He wondered in what direction his lover was leading him, with his initial statements.
"That book, it...'' Tala bit his lip, hard. He was not sure if he would be able, to reveal what he had seen.
What if it was nothing? Or just a mistake? Maybe he did not understand the book properly, after all, it was written in Cantonese. He just assumed, by the images he saw that...
"That book, it...had a picture, of a man...a neko- I think...that was... pregnant...''
Bryan had held Tala's hand tightly, for reassurance, but they almost completely let go as he heard the last word. It held such a different meaning to his ears and struck his heart with almost as much fear as when the doctors first told him about the...miracle...of human manipulation.
Their children were miracles, but mostly chanced creations of careless science. The word miracle could so easily be confused with the word mistake, in their case, but both parents knew that their kids meant too much for them to ever be considered as scientific accidents. They were miracles, even if their parents had been tampered with for so long.
Tala wrapped his arms around Bryan, without any of the hesitation that laced his speech, and held his lover close. He knew how hard it was to relive the past, before the pregnancy, since the experimentations were what caused everything to unfurl as it had. It may have been five years since the faithful day that altered their lives, when the doctors were stunned but they both remembered it vividly, as well as everything else.
"Do...you think they... know?'' Bryan finally spoke, as all of his worries were voiced.
"If they did...'' Tala thought out the possibilities, on his own, as not to further worry Bryan. After all, this was their vacation and his discovery might not even concern them.
Perhaps… it was simply a coincidence.
"Kai would have had too search through all the agencies, to find out where we supposedly adopted from...''
"But that's easy enough to do...'' Bryan interjected.
They both watched, as the men enjoyed themselves with the twins.
At first, they were pushing the kids on the swings and took their own turns as well, swinging back and forth, before they raced over the play structure, breathless and laughing. Raisa went down the slide a few times, as Rei caught her, and Kai helped Adrick across the monkey bars. They took pictures as well, and occasionally waved over at the parents, who smiled wanly in return, as they discussed amongst themselves the secretive matters of their lives.
"Even if he found out, that we did not adopt...how could he possibly come to the conclusion that we had the kids, like that book showed. It's not like he could possibly get into our medical files...Only Petrov and Dimitriev know about this and they gave us the only medical file they kept of the progress.'' Tala had had more time to ponder out the situation, with the information he had learned and finally rested upon a conclusion.
''Bry...I don't think they know anything about us, besides...that book was about Neko's and the only neko we know is...''
-TBC-
So yes, I know many of you were expecting me to go into details about Rei's psychology, seeing as he received a certain book, from Rai, but before I could get into his head, I needed to create the build up of suspense, which focuses on both Tala and Bryan's perspective, as I give away some of the plot.
The next Chapter is going to explain most of the plot line for the story, so it is going to be a critical installment. Stay tuned.