Chapter 5:

"Now you three better be on your best behavior, smile, be nice, chew with your mouth closed-"

"Rosalie were gonna be fine, stop babying us!" Alex broke away from Rosalie slicking back his black hair. Rosalie grabbed on to Ratigan's arm and started to walk down the stairs, Ginger met them at the bottom and smiled "Picture perfect.." looking at the children "Weren't they-"

"Don't ask.." Ratigan commented. They entered the large ballroom and the children ran to the desert table, Samantha and her fiancé Rodger walked towards them. "You two look wonderful!" Samantha said.

Rodger, a tall lanky cream colored mouse smiled at his bride. From what she remembers, Rosalie and Rodger were school mates, and is the very wealthy heir of an oil share in New Hampshire. Oh yes… Samantha made a good choice, he was rich, kind, and always knew how to sweep a woman off her feet. Unfortunatley, his previous wife Danielle passed on upon giving birth to their daughter Mavis. Both of them were the kindest souls, meant to stay together under any tight fix. Marrying Samantha was a new start for both Mavis and Rodger. "Rodger! Good to see you! This is Professor P. James Ratigan.." she proudly displayed "My fiancé." Rosalie grabbed his sleeve and pulled him close into a hug "I am very sorry about Danielle... she was a beautiful friend."

"Thank you. I know Danielle wouldnt want me to mourn her forever, he would have wanted me to feel love again." he smiled slightly and patted her hand, then looked to the professor, instantly shaking his hand "Great to meet an intellectual mind such as yourself Professor." Ratigan smiled and shook his hand in return "As you can realize, some of my groomsmen are not the brightest flames in the candelabra." Ratigan chuckled and at that moment, a group of men entered the room and patted him on the back, one of them, a dark grey mouse with blue eyes met Rosalie's bright green ones "Rosalie?"

"Lorenzo?" he hugged her tightly and spun her around "What In the world are you doing here! I thought you were in London!"

Rosalie giggled "I caught the next boat for this wedding obviously!"

"You haven't changed a bit!" Lorenzo remarked, Rosalie giggled in return "Look who's talking, you've finally grown into your giant ears." She flicked them and she laughed.

"Oh my goodness, don't you remember how much we picked on each other? We simply hated eachother for no reason at all!"

Rosalie's cheeks became pink "All those times you would yank on my braids in Miss Latches class.. your permanent seat became the corner of the room." She giggled slightly until her eyes met James. Ratigan cleared his throat and Rosalie pushed away "James… This is Lorenzo." Ratigan sent an unsettling gaze to the small mouse, who looked up at him "Who's this?" Lorenzo said, Rosalie pushed him back slightly "This is my fiancé."

His eyes became bright and he took a large breath. "Fiancé? Rosalie.. I- I didn't know you… um… wow."

Ratigan looked at her and quirked an eyebrow "And how are you in relation to Rosalie."

He paused and Rosalie looked away in embarrassment, he proudly announced "We were gonna get married."

Samantha burst between them "My word I am thirsty! Lorenzo go get me a drink.." He looked at the couple and started to walk away, obeying her command.

Rosalie remained silent until she felt a touch of someone's hand on her shoulder "Married?" he whispered loudly and fellow mice began to stare.

"We can talk about this later James." He started to walk away and remarked "Believe me we will."

Victoria was helping P.J eat a cupcake, getting it all over his nice shirt. Alex laughed and at the corner of his eye saw a large cupcake with pink frosting. "Ohhhh yes" he smiled and reached for it. Then bumped heads with someone else. He rubbed his head and saw the person on the floor, "Hey, are you ok?" the girl looked up and her long black eyelashes and brown eyes met with Alex's, making him really look at her. She was a head shorter than him, icy blonde hair in a short boy-cut, with a large piece hanging over her left eye. She was a white furred mouse with a tan circle over her right eye, making her brown eyes brighter. She began to adjust the falling sleeves on her light purple dress that she was noticeably not comfortable in because of all her fidgeting. Alex stood dumfounded as she smiled slightly at him "Are you ok?"

All he did was nod and she spoke once more "You can have it if you want, I guess I have an addiction to chocolate cupcakes." She awkwardly smiled and noticed him still staring in awe, Samantha touched her on the shoulders "Awe I see you've met Rosalie's… friends." She acknowledged the boy's amazed look and tapped Alex out of his daydream "Huh? Oh hello. I'm Al-Alex." He stuttered underneath his words and slapped his head in frustration. Samantha giggled "This here is Mavis Brewster, my soon to be step-daughter. Sam pinched her cheeks. "She is one of my bridesmaids. She's single."

"Saman-" Mavis nudged her and she held out her hand as she left "Nice to meet you Al-Alex." They both laughed and her ears perked up as she heard a voice call her "I have to go.. I hope to see you later.."

"Yea-yes! I hope to see your face-" he stopped as she walked away and heard giggling behind him "Shut it Victoria.."

Ginger sat alone and watched other people mingle and chat among each other, Nicolas looked at the boys and smiled "Watch and learn boys."

He went up to her and smiled gently "Being a wallflower is a poor life to live. Isn't it?" he leaned against a wall and looking down to fix his shoes. When he looked up he saw a gentleman escorting her to the dance floor "I wouldn't know that life Nicolas."

The boys laughed behind him and in a rage he picked up a small muffin and hit Fidget with it.

Ratigan was on the other side of the room and was sipping on a glass of champagne when he felt someone drag him into Big Daddy's dark study. "What the-"

A puny mouse was pulled up to the air by Ratigan "Explain yourself!"

The mouse tore off his thick black mustache and held on to Ratigan's tight grip "Basil of Baker Street you feather head! Now Unhand me!" Ratigan threw him to the floor "What in the world are you doing here? Of all places!"

He opened the door and Dawson rushed through the door, he was breathing in frustration "Basil I can't see a thing withn these confound glasses, its like I'm looking through bottles."

"It's the only way to disguise yourself Doctor."

"Why are you here?" Ratigan questioned them and Basil pulled a letter out of his coat pocket "We have received word that Elijah Lockson has escaped his confinement in the Tower of London.."

"What?" his eyes became wide "Where is he now.."

"There are no traces, no leads, no evidence of any kind where he could be." He brought a hand to his chin "I'm here to not only tell you but to find any evidence he could be here."

Dawson quirked an eyebrow "But Basil how can it be possible that Lockson could be here?" Basil covered his mouth "He could have any link to people residing in this very area…any way to get to you and Rosalie."

Ratigan's eyes became bright "You cannot tell Rosalie you're here.. I don't want her to worry." Basil smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder "I am already one step ahead of you… as usual." He added and saw his adversary's eyes narrow "Me and Dawson will remain in cognito until we have the case solved.. easy."

He chuckled "I think you forget about the last time you disguised yourself."

"I have many skills you are not aware about Ratigan." He huffed and grabbed Dawson's collar "Come along Dawson."

After the party the children, Rosalie and Ratigan marched up the ivory stairs. Victoria whispered to Alex "So… how did it go with that Mavis girl?" Alex scoffed "I am the king of charm, I wouldn't be surprised if I got her to kiss me by the end of the wedding.."

"Would you like to make a little wager for that Alexander? If she doesn't kiss you by the end of the wedding, I get your dessert every night for a month."

Alex laughed and crossed his arms "And if I win?"

"If you win, which I doubt to every extreme possible…" she thought to herself "I'll clean your room and be your subject for your experiments for a month." Alex's bright yellow eyes widened as he brought out his hand to shake his sisters "It's a deal Victoria.." the children walked to their own room as Rosalie and Ratigan entered theirs.

Rosalie started to comb her dark auburn hair as Ratigan began to speak to her "When were you going to tell me about that Lorenzo fellow.."

She put down the brush and turned to him "I've known him since we were little! We were both young and silly.. I courted him for a year and eventually, my father passed away and in an impulse he asked me to marry him. I moved to London … and then I broke the news that I wasn't ready to be married." Ratigan looked at her with interest "But apparently he thinks that being engaged was able to count as about to be married." She sighed and wiped the makeup off her face.

Ratigan sighed and Rosalie turned from him "I can understand why your hesitant to get married… to an undecisive girl like me." she felt her head being pulled to meet Ratigan's face "Now why would I reconsider anything like that."

Rosalie held his gloved hand in hers "One thing Lorenzo doesn't know is that currently I am very decicve in who I choose to love." and she kissed him as he stroked her hair with his hand.

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