AN: I'm sorry it's taken so long. I've had it written for about 2 weeks now but I've been on holiday so I've little chance to type it up :/ Anyway, I love having reviews :) Thanks guys and as requested (although I was going to do more anyway) I give you more Oscar and Kittie. I have also been told it is similar to Hannah Montana and I can see resemblences but not many, even if that is where I got the basic idea from - at least the secret identity thing anyway. For all of those who are interested, I will at some point be doing a follow on story using the new cast of MI High as well and may be also doing another one with Alex Rider. Let me know if you'd be interested? Thanks :) Hope you enjoy it and that it's been worth the wait for this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own MI High nor do I own Mr Crowley from the Alex Rider novels - Anthony Horowitz owns him , just Kittie, Lexi and her family. Neither do I own any of the films or books or blue noses mentioned in this chapter. I may own some blue noses but I don't own the company or the production rights.
Chapter 25
Kittie's POV
I woke up to faint rays of sunshine peeping through the cracks in my curtains. I smiled, enjoying the feel of the sun on my hands and feet which had escaped the covers. I glanced at my clock and saw that I still had another 10 minutes in bed – 10 minutes to myself. I hadn't really stopped since Oscar's mum had been captured 2 days ago. Yesterday there had been reports to fill out at MI9 HQ, school, then I'd been looking after my siblings, Christmas shopping, sorting things out for Michael's birthday and trying to spend time with my boyfriend. Seriously, I think in the last 2 days I had spent more time pulling the kids off each other and trying to stop them going "I want, I want" at every advert on TV, (especially as I'd already bought most of the presents), than seeing my boyfriend. Hang on, 2 days? That meant today was my birthday!
I sat up in bed and looked around my room. I can't believe I didn't notice the presents that were scattered all the way around, some small, some big. From outside my bedroom door, I heard hushed whispers and shuffling feet. I giggled and resisted the urge to open the door and let them tumble into the room. I wasn't sure whether or not to call out to them to come in. Tom solved that problem for me by barrelling through the door and jumping onto my bed, nearly landing on top of me. He was soon followed by the others except for Oscar. I frowned, not knowing why but that soon vanished as I was attacked by Tom, Sophie and Cal. I laughed and hugged them back, trying not to suffocate under the sea of bodies. Thank goodness Lexi was being more dignified. Michael on the other hand was not. He was the worst of them all. I swear my brother, who is now supposed to be 16, was jumping on my bed like a 2 year old. He hugged me over Tom, Sophie and Cal, put his mouth to my ear and screamed "Happy Birthday Kittie!" He was just excited, bless him. It still didn't stop him acting like a muppet.
I pushed his head away and rubbed my ear which was ringing.
"Yes, Happy Birthday Michael." I looked around at the little ones and my pile of presents. "So, who wants to see me open presents?
Instantly they all screamed "me, me!" and bounced up and down on my bed. I smiled and slipped out of my bed, grabbed one present from each of them and sat back on my bed. "You know the rules. One from each person before school except… except from mum and dad," I looked pointedly at Michael, knowing that they would have got gifts. "So who's shall I open first?" I took Charlie off Lexi, sat him in front of me and handed him a teething ring that was on my bedside table. "Here you go baby. Shall I start with the youngest?"
Tom thrust a present in my hand. "From me and Charlie. Charlie saw it, I chose it and Lexi wrapped it."
I smiled. "Well that would be very clever if either of you wrapped it," I replied tapping Tom on the nose. "I wonder what it is."
The present was rectangular and large book shaped. I un-wrapped it carefully and grinned. The book was the new novel 'The Lost Hero' by Rick Riordan and one I had been wanting desperately. On top of the book was a silver pendant; the greek omega. I fingered the pendant, gazing down at it. I hugged Tom and kissed the top of Charlie's head. "Thanks guys." I placed the wrapping paper and book on the floor, the necklace I put on. "Right, Sophie next?"
Sophie and Cal both handed me squishy presents. I was a little worried what they were especially coming from Cal who only last week decided he would bring me a mud pie in a box. But, Sophie was giving me one too and neither felt icky squishy so I had a rough idea what they were.
"You need to open both of them," said Sophie. "They're not the same but they're the same thing."
That confirmed my theory a bit but I wasn't completely sure. I frowned and slowly unwrapped the one from Sophie. Then I smiled, understanding. Sophie had given me the husky blue-nose toy, one I'd had my eye on for a while. It was adorable. "Thanks Soph. I wonder what Cal's got me?" I opened Cal's more carefully. Turns out I'd had no need to be worried. I held in my hand a small white and grey horse, also a blue-nose. I almost cried when I looked at the name but I reminded myself I was with my family and I had Oscar now. "They're adorable guys, thanks." I smiled then looked at Michael. "So what have you got me then bro?"
He grinned nervously. "What have you got me?"
I rolled my eyes. "It's in your room along with the rest of your presents that I wrapped up."
"Oh." Michael frowned. "So which one was from you? I didn't really look at the labels." I smacked him gently on the head. "Only joking," he laughed and stuck his tongue out at me. "I have yours right here; twin tradition." Of the two packages he was holding, he handed me the one I hadn't wrapped. "Happy Birthday Kittie."
I was surprised how neatly it was wrapped but then Michael could be surprising at times. I unwrapped it and smiled. There really was a theme with my birthday presents – well sorta and now I could see why I hadn't been allowed to buy this. 'Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief' could go straight next to 'Peter Pan'. Hmm, maybe I could persuade Oscar to watch it tonight.
"Thanks Michael. The chocolate was a good touch too." I smiled and looked at him, wondering why he was just staring at his present. "What? What's wrong? Don't you like it?"
Michael looked at me, his eyes shining. "Kittie, I love it! Thank you so much. You're the best sister ever!"
Sophie glared at him and threw a cushion at his head making us all laugh.
Michael rubbed his head. "Sorry, the best twin sister in the world. That better Soph?"
She nodded and squealed as Michael began tickling her. Lexi joined in tickling Cal and I tickled Tom until Charlie slipped and nearly fell off the bed. I caught Charlie before he fell and called a cease fire to the tickling war.
"Right, time to get ready guys. Some small people need to get dressed and so do some bigger people." I looked at the little ones. "Do you think you can dress yourselves?" They nodded but Tom looked a little worried.
Lexi put a hand on Tom's shoulder. "I'll help you. Michael, you help Sophie and Cal if they need it?"
I nodded. "Which leaves me with Charlie. Right, everyone out. Lexi, if I get Charlie dressed can you take him?"
Lexi nodded. "Sure, just give me a minute to get changed."
"Only a minute?" I asked, smiling.
Lexi threw a cushion at my head in response and began herding everyone out of my room, leaving me with Charlie. Charlie flapped his hands at me then shoved my duvet in his mouth, gumming the material and making it all soggy. Note to self: clean off baby dribble later. I smiled and took Charlie into the playroom to get him dressed.
Oscar's POV
Whilst they were all upstairs with Kittie, I quickly got changed then set to work in the kitchen. I rolled up my sleeves and stared at the recipe book in front of me. Things couldn't go wrong, could they? Boy was I mistaken. The plan was to do breakfast now and then this evening pizza for two here then see a movie, probably 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader' as I know Kittie wanted to see that. I wanted today to be perfect for her, partly because mine hadn't been. Birthdays are special, but it was more than that. Not only was today her birthday but it was also our first date and I wanted it to be perfect, not that it would be. Something was bound to go wrong, which it had. Let me explain. I'd never learnt how to cook, well, anything; I haven't had much of a chance. Back when I lived in the safe-house, I wasn't allowed in the kitchen in case someone noticed. I hadn't been at the foster home long enough for Carol to discover that I couldn't cook so the extent of my cooking abilities was toast and that wasn't hard.
I stared at the gooey mix on the plate that should have been pancakes but in reality was just a mess. I wasn't sure what exactly had gone wrong, they just didn't look right. I sighed and threw down the tea-towel that was in my hand. Plan b; but what was plan b? I glanced at the toaster. Could I? She did like toast and I knew how to make hers to perfection. I smiled. At least I could get that right. I tidied up the kitchen as quickly as I could, knowing I didn't have long. Now every surface sparkled. The kitchen table was covered in a white and blue checked table cloth – Kittie's favourite colours, and decorated with confetti. In the centre sat a vase of flowers. I wasn't entirely sure what they were I just know she liked them – she'd pointed them out to me once. I'd just put toast in the toaster when Kittie came in and boy did she look beautiful. She was glowing, happier than I'd seen her in a while. Her hair was slightly damp, yet curled to perfection, and her eyes sparkled. I loved her so much.
"Oscar, did you do this?" she asked, snapping me back to reality. I blinked and hoped I hadn't been staring at her like an idiot. "Do you like it?" I asked nervously, hoping I hadn't upset her.
"Are you kidding me? I love it! It's amazing. I can't believe you did all of this." She smiled and flung her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. "Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome and Happy Birthday," I replied into her hair, happy that she had kissed me and enjoying the warmth of her body against mine. I just wanted to hold her forever. I breathed in her scent – the strawberry of her shampoo and the hint of lilac coming from her skin. The toaster popped up and I let go to get it – she hated cold toast. Quickly I buttered it, cut both pieces in half and placed the toast onto Kittie's plate, which because it was Kittie, was covered in stars. "Your breakfast mi' lady." I presented the toast to her, bowing.
She smiled and I could see she was trying not to laugh. "Why thank you, kind sir."
I placed the plate on the table and pulled out a chair for her to sit on. Instead of sitting, she pulled me to her and kissed me. I kissed her back, wishing that this could last forever. Forget about holding her forever, just being with her forever would make her happy. I never wanted to let her go.
From the doorway came the sound of giggling and I pulled away, a little embarrassed. Kittie didn't act embarrassed at all, just mad. She picked up a piece of toast and threw it at Michael's head. Michael tried to dodge but the buttered side of the toast clipped his head, conditioning his hair slightly with butter. This caused the kids to giggle even more, Lexi to splutter and me to crack a smile.
"I hope you enjoyed the show guys," snapped Kittie, throwing more toast at Michael. I was now glad I hadn't been able to make pancakes. The buttered toast was having a good outcome (depending on your opinion) and was having a better effect than pancakes would have.
"I was," shot back Michael, holding up his hands to try and defend himself, "until you started throwing toast at me."
Sophie, Tom and Cal simultaneously rolled their eyes and began helping themselves to breakfast; Sophie got the bowls, Cal got the milk and Tom the cereal. They were obviously used to this sort of thing. Lexi looked between the twins and shook his head before pulling the high chair and prepping food for Charlie, whilst holding him which was pretty impressive. I looked at Kittie and saw that she'd run out of toast. I better get her out of here before she started throwing something else at Michael, something I knew she would later regret.
I touched her shoulder gently and she looked at me, her anger fading. "Come on Kittie, we ought to get going if you want to walk."
I watched her stand still for about a minute, wondering what was going on in her mind. Then she took a deep breath and nodded shakily before smiling. "Yeah, you're right. Lexi, can you make sure that Joe drops the kids off at school and nursery?" she asked, completely ignoring Michael.
Lexi nodded as he tried to shovel food into Charlie's mouth, who seemed adamant he wouldn't take it. "Sure thing Kit. They're more or less ready anyway. Come on Charlie, it's porridge."
Kittie smiled. "Thanks." She went around her younger siblings, kissing their heads or in Cal's case, his cheek when he protested, just to wind him up further, making them promise to be good. I could tell she was going to be a good mother someday. When she was finished, she looked at me, took my hand and dragged me out of the kitchen. Out in the hallway, she relaxed a bit more and loosened her grip but kept holding my hand like it was a lifeline and she was scared of letting go. I handed her her coat. I didn't want her to forget it because she was mad and I knew she'd end up cold later otherwise. She smiled gratefully, dropping my hand, hastily put on her coat, grabbed her bag and strode out the house. Sighing, I picked up mine, grabbed a jacket and followed her.
Halfway down the road, she stopped and kicked a wall. "What does he have to do that to me? It's my birthday for heaven's sake. Any other day he's nice to me but today he chooses to wind me up? He's seen us together before, what difference should today make? Yes, I know the kids were there too but none of them seem fussed by it. Why today?"
She hit out at the wall and I grabbed her hand, not wanting her to hurt herself. "Hey, hey, hey, it's alright. He's just excited. You told me every year he's wild and unpredictable. He was just being a kid and joining in with the others, plus it's Michael so he's bound to be a little childish every now and then. I wasn't bothered by it, honest." Kittie gave me the are-you-kidding-me look and I carried on. "He's also probably feeling protective of you. He knows what I've got planned for today and he's probably worried you're growing up too fast and might forget about the family. You're his sister, his twin sister and you've always done a lot together and now you're not. You're starting to spend more and more time with me and he's probably missing you. You're his family and he's lost family. He wants to keep you safe. He's going to be very protective of you." She didn't say anything. "Hey." I tilted her chin up so that she was looking at me. "You know he looked ridiculous with butter in his hair. You did a good job there; Conditioner à la butter."
She smiled and I knew I'd said the right thing. "Thanks Oscar. You always know how to cheer me up."
"Too damn right I do," I replied, holding her hand. "I've gotten to know you really well. Come on birthday girl. Let's get you to school." She seemed calmer now; I just hoped things went alright this evening and that there wouldn't be any major disasters.
Kittie's POV
The school day passed mostly uneventful. Mr Flatley brought a cake which was surprisingly nice, but then it may have been due to my "special circumstances" and me not having been there long. Whatever the reason, I was very touched. Obviously word that it was my birthday had spread and everyone was wishing me "Happy Birthday", even Avril and Mrs King. At lunchtime, the 4 of us (me, Rose, Carrie and Oscar) had lunch in HQ for part of it – when we got fed up of everyone trying to sit with us. There may have been a cake fight downstairs and if there was it was great fun. Frank and Stark came and joined in as well making it even better. At the end of the day, Oscar and I walked home just the two of us and it was nice just spending time with him alone. When we got home, we were laughing and we were a little soggy from jumping in puddles. The afternoon was great too, following a good morning. I loved spending time with my family, Lexi and Oscar included since we'd kinda adopted them, opening my presents, playing party games with everyone and just having fun but I still missed my parents. Oscar was sorting out dinner – not cooking it thank goodness, so I decided to take a trip to the graveyard. Every year for as long as I could remember, I'd spent time with my parents and I didn't want today to be any different, even if they weren't really there. Talking to graves may not be the sanest thing, but it helped get things off my chest and helped me sort out my emotions.
I sat down on the grass, not wanting to be here too long. After all, I had Oscar to get back to, and the little ones. I took a deep breath and began talking. "So it's my birthday, my first one without you but we're keeping to the normal traditions. Today's been fun even though you're not here and I can't wait for later. Oscar's got something planned for tonight and I'm really excited. He makes me so happy and he looks after me. He makes me feel special and I'm really starting to feel good about myself again. I've not wanted to cut in ages. I've been good and I've been happy, really happy. I don't want him to leave." I paused. I wondered what they would really say if I was leaving. Maybe they'd be fine with it; I just wasn't even sure if I wanted to go back to my old team yet. I was fed up of being Honey, pretending to be someone I'm not. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to be a spy anymore. "I'm leaving the team. I've spoken to Frank and I know I should go back to my old team but I'm not sure I want to. Oscar's made me realise I just want to be myself. I want to spend time with my family and friends, to actually be there. I don't want to have to not do things because I'm working. I just want to be a normal teenager. I'm not sure I can handle my old team yet." I sighed and looked at the head stones. "I'm just not sure what to do."
"Maybe I can help with that," came a voice from behind me.
I jumped to my feet and spun around, shocked that I hadn't heard anyone approach. "Who are you?" I asked the tall figure who was smartly dressed and looked gloomy like an undertaker.
"My name is Mr Crowley," he replied, his voice low and slow. "I work for MI6."
I stared at him. "MI6? But I have friends in MI6 and I have never heard of you."
He sighed like he was used to this all the time. "There are many different factions of MI6, not just your friends and their team Miss Swan. We just hadn't chosen to share that information publically."
"Oh, yes, of course." It sort of made sense. I mean what better way to stop crime than with unknown agents. Or maybe it was my friends who were cut off from everyone because they were working a different programme what with spy kids. After some of the stuff that happened with MI9, the other sections (numbers whatever you want to call them) had taken the decision that it should only be kids involved with MI9 and no other branch/section/number. Which would be why Uncle Tristan was in the dog house because of Edie and co. but yet again that was slightly different. They were more than just spies. There had also been reports of a kid, a boy, uh Rider, something Rider. This was about 2 years ago, before Edie's lot properly began working as spies, so maybe whatever had happened with him also influenced the decision. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr Crowley smile which brought me back to reality. His smile was that of someone who was slightly amused about something that to a normal person would have been funny or made someone smile at the least. For some reason Mr Crowley didn't strike me as the type of person that got amused easily.
"Why don't we have a little chat Miss Swan?" I could tell it wasn't a question.
When I got back home, I was, well in a daze I guess. I was only partly aware of what I was doing; like my mind was elsewhere, which it kinda was. I had a lot to think about. During dinner, which was pizza, Oscar noticed I was quiet but he didn't pressure me to tell him why, even when he told me plans had to change because the babysitter was ill. To be honest I was kind of glad because I didn't really want to go anywhere, I was pretty sure I'd caught a cold from being outside or something and I'd rather have a nice night in with my boyfriend. So when Michael and Lexi went out, we built a fort with the little ones in the lounge, got into our pjs and curled up watching films. With the kids in the fort, I could kiss Oscar as much as I liked. I lay there, curled up against Oscar, sat in his lap with one of his arms around me, the other stroking my hair. I have to admit it was very, very comfortable and I really didn't want the night to end. Whilst watching Disney may not be considered the most romantic of ways to spend a date, it was absolutely perfect, especially when Oscar got the ice-cream out and tried to feed me and it ended up everywhere. Thank goodness the sofa could be cleaned easily.
Eventually it became quiet in the fort (except for the sound of Tom snoring) but I was too comfortable to check that they were asleep, even when the film ended.
Oscar looked at me and smiled. "Come on, we really ought to take them up to bed."
I looked up at him with big puppy-dog eyes, at least I hoped so else it would have looked really weird. "But I'm comfy here." Well, he didn't look appalled by it so I guess it worked, sort of.
"Yes, but if we take them up to bed, we're alone and can watch anything we want. If they're in bed, I get you all to myself."
"Well if you put it that way…" I sat up and kissed him before creeping over to the fort. We peered in and saw all four of them curled up and surrounded by blankets. I smiled, thinking how cute they looked and a little surprised that they had kept Charlie in there quietly.
"So how do you want to do this then?" I whispered to Oscar. "There's four of them and two of us."
"How about I take Sophie and Cal cause I'm the guy and I'm much stronger than you," Oscar whispered back, wiggling his eyebrows at me to show he was joking.
I thumped him back anyway. "I'm strong too, although you do look really good without a shirt on. Alright, I'll be gracious. You take Sophie and Cal, although I'm not sure you can handle both of them at the same time."
I picked up Tom and wrapped his arms round my neck, leaving him hanging off my back, before picking up bent down and shook Cal gently. "I can handle it. Hey buddy, I'm gonna give you a piggy-back, alright." Sleepily Cal climbed onto Oscar's back and he picked up Sophie. He smiled at me. "First one back picks a film?"
"You're on." I headed out of the door and stopped in the doorway. "Have fun carrying those two up the stairs." I grinned and headed down stairs before Oscar could retaliate. Getting down the stairs wasn't so hard, even with Tom clinging to my back like a baby monkey. I lay Charlie down in his crib and tucked him in carefully so that Tom didn't fall. Then I swung Tom around and took him to his bed. I pulled his hands apart and he fell on top of his bed. He rolled over and pulled the covers around him, all whilst asleep. I smiled and picked up the baby monitor before heading upstairs.
When I got back to the lounge, Oscar wasn't around so I started dismantling the fort until I was jumped on from behind. I laughed and let Oscar tickle me. It's not like I could have made him stop easily anyway – I'd tried before. With the little kids in bed, I had to be quiet so instead of screaming, I ended up quietly giggling whilst Oscar sat on top of me, tickling me mercilessly.
He stopped and looked at me. "Why were you demolishing the fort? You better have a good explanation or I shall tickle you lots again."
"I didn't realise you wanted to keep it," I replied.
"Are you kidding me? It's a fort. Forts are great. I couldn't make them when I was at the safe house, or at any of them. I wanted the kids to go to bed all evening so I could sit here with you and be a big kid with my girlfriend."
"Really?" There definitely was a sweet side to him, one probably not many people saw much.
"Really," he replied, blushing slightly. "I wanted to spend tonight with you."
"Even though it's not a film at the cinema as you'd planned?"
"As long as I'm with you, I don't mind what we're doing."
I tapped his nose. "You're so cute."
He smiled. "You bring it out in me." He kissed me gently then helped me to my feet. "Alright, do you want to pick a film seeing as it's your birthday?"
I thought about what I wanted to watch. "As long as you don't mind more Disney and singing."
He smiled. "Let me guess; you want to watch a film set many eons ago with Olympic gods?"
"I love how well you know me. Now, you go get settled so I can sit on you and I'll get the film started."
He crawled into the den whilst I put the disk into the DVD player. This day was turning into the best day ever!
Having turned the film on, I crawled into the fort and curled up with Oscar. We sat together, his arms wrapped around me, surrounded by pillows and blankets. It was very cosy and being this warm, I started to get sleepy. Throughout the film, we laughed, quoted lines, sang songs and enjoyed it. 'Hercules' was one of my favourite films and was the first film I saw at the cinema with my parents, oh and Michael. I just loved it completely and I was glad Oscar liked it too. It was so nice just being able to watch a film with my boyfriend. I couldn't do that with Robin. I was also please that Oscar joined in the songs – it meant he'd seen it before and he actually had a really good voice. When the film finished, I was too sleepy to move so Oscar got up and put the next one on – Harry 'Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. I closed my eyes, losing the battle against sleep. This was nice.
Oscar's POV
I really enjoyed watching 'Hercules' with Kittie. Having her so close to me in such a small space made me a little giddy but that may have been from the confined space. Who am I kidding? It was because of Kittie. She made me feel happy and safe. I didn't feel so angry with the world anymore, hardly at all. Now I had Kittie, life was so much better. It was like I had a proper family again. I put on the 1st Harry Potter and I could feel Kittie falling asleep. I smiled. She looked so cute when she was asleep. I didn't want to wake her so I stayed where I was, holding her sleeping body and watching the film.
The film finished just as Michael and Lexi came in. I heard them walk through the hallway and stop at the lounge door. Carefully, so that I didn't wake Kittie, I moved one of the walls of the fort so I could see them. They laughed and I resisted the urge to throw something at them, but only just.
"Having fun down there?" asked Michael, grinning like a little kid and I could see he wanted to come in too, actually both of them did.
I shrugged. "Actually yes. Want to join us?"
Michael's eyes lit up. "You needn't have asked." He jumped onto the pile of cushions next to us, nearly bringing down the fort, jolting me and nearly waking up Kittie.
Lexi climbed in more carefully and hit Michael round the back of the head. "Sorry, accident." He said with a shrug but I could see him smiling and there was a wicked glint in his eyes.
Michael glared at him and rubbed his head. He looked up at the den around him. "Wow, this is wicked! Did you guys make this?"
I looked at him. Did he really just ask that? "Yeah we made this, well Kittie mostly. Who else would have done? Charlie?"
"Point taken. Have you guys been watching films all evening or have you been getting up to something else?" he asked, a little suspiciously.
"Just films Michael, with the kids as well until we took them to bed and they're all asleep."
"And that's where Kittie should be," said Lexi, nodding at Kittie who still asleep in my arms.
"Yeah, I'll just wake her up," grinned Michael gleefully. He shook Kittie. "Wakey-wakey sleepyhead. It's time for you to go upstairs to bed with your boyfriend. Actually, no, no, no going to bed with your boyfriend. Who knows what you'd get up to."
I glared at him but before I could retaliate, Kittie began to stir. She yawned, stretched and opened her eyes. "Hey you," she said, looking up at me and smiling.
"Hey you," I replied, stroking her hair. Michael coughed and I glared at him.
"What's going on?" she asked sleepily, looking around at everyone. "Michael? Lexi? What are you doing in here?"
"Kittie, you've been asleep for over an hour," I answered, stroking her hair again when she stopped moving and brushing it out of her face.
"Really? Oh, wow. Umm bed then?"
"Yep. Come on, let's get you upstairs."
"No, nuh-uh. You are not going to bed together," Michael insisted.
I was a little surprised Michael was acting so protective, but then I guess the two of them were pretty close being twins and not having parents anymore. I guess he'd realised she was growing up.
I laughed. "Don't worry. We shall be good and I shan't have my wicked way with your sister."
Michael glared at me, then sighed grudgingly. "Alright, but no funny business. Lexi's just above you so he'll know."
Kittie stuck her tongue out at him and yawned. Climbing off my lap, she crawled out of the fort and I followed her, leaving Michael and Lexi to clean up and with the baby monitor. As we climbed the stairs I realised it was good thing we'd got changed for bed when the little ones did. At the top of the stairs, Kittie stumbled and I caught her. "Alright sleepy, let's get you into bed." I picked her up, ignoring her weak protests and carried her to her bed. Gently, I placed her on it and tucked her in as she was already falling asleep again. I kissed her forehead. "Goodnight beautiful and Happy Birthday."
I turned around to go up to my room (despite what Michael thinks we usually stay in our own rooms at night) when Kittie grabbed my hand. "Stay tonight? Please?"
I smiled and climbed into bed with her, wrapping my arms around her small frame. "As you wish, as you wish."
Kittie's POV
I woke up in bed with a start. My heart was racing and my breathing ragged. My mind was a tangle of thoughts racing through in a jumble. The only thing I could make sense of was that I was scared. I felt Oscar moved next to me and I knew I was safe. My breathing slowed as I calmed down but I knew I couldn't sleep just yet. I sat up and looked at my clock: 3.00 am. I really wanted to talk to Frank right now about the job offer – I think that was what my dream was about. However, I wasn't sure a call at 3 in the morning would be the best thing. Then again, it was Frank and he said I could call him if I needed to. Oscar rolled over, mumbling something about monkeys and promises. He was sound asleep so I was pretty safe, but just to make sure, I went upstairs to his room where the only person who would hear would be Lexi and he was a heavy sleeper normally.
I sat on the edge of Oscar's bed and called Frank. The phone rang for a minute or two before Frank picked up and he sounded really sleepy. "Hello?"
"Hi, Frank, uh I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Have you and Oscar had another fight?"
I rolled my eyes at the phone. "No. You know I told you about leaving, well I've now had a job offer from MI6 and I'm not sure whether I should take it."
"Really?" He now sounded a lot more awake. "Tell me about it, everything."
