§ § § -- January 16, 2005

After lunch, Mariki's staff helped Leslie bring the triplets back into the study with her, and then left her alone with her children while she settled down behind Roarke's desk to pay some of the bills that came with the business he ran. The triplets hadn't figured out how to crawl yet, though they were beginning to hitch themselves along the floor on their stomachs. In fact, when Leslie looked up from writing out a check, she could see Tobias determinedly doing just that, apparently aiming for the computer chair.

She grinned and said, "Tobias…Tobias, look at Mommy." Her son paused and stared at her, and she laughed at his comically questioning expression. "Where're you going, young man, huh? Whatcha doing down there?" She gently teased him, wrinkling her nose and making a few faces, and Tobias chortled back. Leslie grinned, feeling very fortunate to be the mother of three such happy, healthy babies.

Then there was a knock on the door that got the babies' attention, and Leslie looked around in surprise. "Who's that?" she called.

"Some bored company," she heard a voice reply.

Laughing, Leslie said, "Come on in!" The door opened and Tabitha came in with her two children, Cristina, seven, and Ramón, who would soon be four. They were followed by Camille with her sons, 14-year-old David and seven-year-old Craig, and daughter Robin, twenty months old; and finally, Katsumi with Haruko, 14, and Chikako, about to celebrate her seventh birthday. "Wow," Leslie said, "it's a raid."

Her friends laughed, and they settled down around the tea table while their children dropped to the floor to play with the triplets. Only David seemed the exception, wandering to the computer and peering at it. "Did Mr. Roarke abandon you?" Tabitha asked. "Ramón, be careful of the babies."

"Well," Leslie said, making a face, "you could say he has a date with the devil." Her friends looked up in surprise, and she shrugged. "I'm not involved in this one, I just did some research for him. He'd rather I stay out of it, what with my having the triplets and Christian being out of the country. It suits me, to tell you the truth."

"Huh, this should make an interesting story when you have a chance to talk about it," Camille remarked. "Robin, play nice with Susanna now. Don't tell me, Michiko's royal other half finally dragooned Christian into setting up another franchise in Santi Arcuros."

"Yep," Leslie said with a sigh, "and he kept trying to impress upon me the fact that Errico can't be turned down."

"Why not?" Tabitha asked.

"You cannot say no to king," Katsumi said with a small, wry smile. "It is so with Japanese emperor as well. Christian say that to you, Leslie?"

She nodded ruefully. "Maybe you have to be born royal to get the idea, I don't know. In any case, Errico outranks Christian, so he felt as if he had to do it. But he didn't just let Errico walk all over him, either. He got about a dozen concessions out of him, and Errico said yes to every one of them, without a peep. Supposedly we're getting ten cases of Vallomoros wine in the near future, but so far I haven't seen a single bottle."

"Well, let us know when you do," Camille said with anticipation. "That's the best wine in the world, bar none. Expensive as all freaking heck, but worth it. David, what're you doing over there? Don't play with Mr. Roarke's computer."

David eyed his mother over his shoulder. "Aw, c'mon, Mom, it's boring here. Couldn't I just play some computer games or something?"

"Why don't you ask Miss Leslie?" Camille suggested pointedly.

David gave Leslie a hopeful look, and she chuckled and shrugged. "I guess that's all right. I've been e-mailing Christian, but he should be asleep by now; so I don't expect to hear from him until at least tonight sometime, probably late."

"Thanks, Miss Leslie," David said, pausing a moment before turning back to the computer. "Um…say…I've been studying for my driver's test. My parents won't even talk about it—they act like I'm about to go out and catch some disease on purpose or something. But I wanted to know if the driver's test is hard. Mom said you took it the same day you turned fifteen, is that right?"

Leslie nodded. "It's not too hard actually. You'll have a written test first, and then the sheriff's secretary will probably give you the actual driving test. It's changed some since I took it, though, so don't count too much on my experience." She peered at him. "Just out of curiosity, though, what're you gonna drive once you get your license?"

David shot Camille a glance and said, with more hope than conviction, "I'm planning to get a job this summer, maybe in town or on Coral Island, and earn money to buy a car."

"On this island?" Leslie asked, astonished. "I don't know about that."

David shrugged, shooting his mother another glance. This time Leslie followed the furtive look and saw Camille sitting there with her mouth open in shock. "Well, I gotta keep in practice, and I thought I could drive my friends to school next year."

Leslie had to laugh at that. "A noble undertaking, I'll give it that. But I have a better suggestion, actually. I know you're dying to get your license and start wearing it out from day one…" She grinned when David reddened. "But this is my thought. We've been short a driver for quite a while, and it's been hard finding another one—not too many licensed drivers on this island, after all. But with you being all gung-ho, maybe you can come to Father when summer vacation starts, and tell him I told you about this. Once you get your license, we could hire you on for the summer, and you could run errands for us. When you have some driving experience under your belt, later on, you might be able to shuttle guests between here and the bungalows. We can't pay you much just for piloting a car around, but you'll be able to do all the driving you like, and you might consider saving that money for something else. It's not too practical to have a car here, unless you live in the Enclave, and last I heard your parents had no plans to move there."

David actually looked interested. "Yeah," he said after a moment, "I guess you're right about that. Do you really think Mr. Roarke would give me a chance?"

"Of course, you'd have to show him you're a careful driver," Leslie said, "but otherwise I don't see any obstacle. My advice is to discuss it with your parents first of all, and make sure they're okay with it. If you don't have their clearance—and Father will ask you for it, too—then it's no go, so you'd best talk with them."

David nodded, his face lighting. "Okay…I guess that's fair. That's great, Miss Leslie, thanks tons. Mom—?"

"It can wait," Camille interrupted him. "When your dad gets home from work this evening, we'll talk about it then. Just go ahead and play your computer games right now while we talk, okay?" Her son nodded and turned his attention to the computer, and Leslie gave Camille an apologetic look.

"I guess I sort of ran ahead of you there," she said.

Camille shrugged. "Don't get all worked up over it, Leslie. To tell you the truth, it's a better solution than anything either Jimmy or I could come up with. So anyway, how long is Christian supposed to be over in Europe? I hope the triplets don't forget who he is."

"I'm hoping the same thing," Leslie admitted, glancing at her three babies. Susanna was being entertained by Cristina and Karina by Chikako, and Haruko was playing peekaboo and "This Little Piggy" with Tobias in her lap. "In my last e-mail I told him he should record himself singing that jordisk lullaby I've heard him use a few times and send me the tape, so I can play it for the babies."

"Oh, that would be a great idea," Tabitha remarked. "That way they wouldn't forget his voice at least, before he comes back, even if they don't remember his face. Are we interrupting you at something?"

Leslie laughed. "No, I was just paying some of the business bills that came due this week. Give me a couple of minutes to write out the last check or two here, and I'll be able to properly hold up my end of the conversation. Haruko, have you been thinking about getting your driver's license?"

Haruko Miyamoto looked up and wrinkled her nose. At fourteen she was a pretty girl, with gleaming jet-black hair and a sweet, delicate face with an elfin chin. After eight years on the island, she spoke English without an accent, though Leslie knew Kazuo and Katsumi spoke only Japanese at home so their daughters would be fluent in their parents' tongue as well. "I don't care about getting my driver's license," Haruko said, shrugging. "It's like you said—it's not very practical to have one on this island, except maybe for you and Mr. Roarke and Prince Christian and some other people. But I had a good idea for the summer and even the weekends during the school year. Mama and Papa say I'm old enough to start trying to earn a little money of my own now and I shouldn't be getting an allowance anymore. If you and Prince Christian ever need a babysitter, Miss Leslie, I'd love to do it. The triplets are so sweet!"

Leslie grinned, glancing up at her for a moment while writing out one final check. "They can be a handful, especially now when they're teething, but Father made up something to help us out in that department at least. And you know, it's not a bad idea. Mariki and her staff usually watch the triplets when they're here, but they can't always be around, what with their kitchen duties—they cover the bungalows too, as well as this house. I'd feel better if someone could stay with them on a constant basis. Let me e-mail Christian and make the suggestion, and if he agrees, you can start next weekend."

Haruko lit up. "Oh, that's wonderful, thank you, Miss Leslie!"

Katsumi laughed softly. "She like babies very much…always she talk about asking you to watch triplets. She sit with Chikako a lot, so she have…uhh, experience." The last word came out with a little difficulty, but was understandable. Katsumi's English was likely to remain permanently at this level of proficiency, but she could understand, and be understood by, her friends; and she was able to laugh at her own mistakes.

Haruko wrinkled her nose again. "I know you mean well, Mama-san, but sitting for Chikako isn't so much fun…and it doesn't pay very much." Everyone laughed.

"I'll see what I can work out with Christian," Leslie promised, tearing the checks out of the checkbook and sealing them into their envelopes to go out. "Errico's been building up the hype for this new location to the point where it sounds like pie in the sky. The London location has been struggling a little, so Christian's been saying that if the new one doesn't live up to all Errico's promises, he's going to close down those two and just concentrate on his offices here and in Sundborg."

"Fed up, huh?" Tabitha said, grinning. "I wonder what Errico wants, that he's been pushing poor Christian so hard. You'd think he was campaigning to host the Olympics."

"Maybe that's next, and he's getting into practice," Camille suggested, making them laugh again. From there the conversation went on to various other topics, and at one point Mariki came out with lemonade and sangria for them all. When the triplets began to yawn and whine and rub their eyes, Leslie recruited Haruko to help her get them down for their afternoon naps, after which the older children lost interest in hanging around the house and ran out to the lawn at the side of the house to play tag. Haruko went out to watch; Robin fell asleep on Camille's shoulder, and David finally gave up on computer games and went out as well to join in the game.

It was after four when Roarke finally returned to see Leslie's friends preparing to leave and Leslie just getting up to answer the ringing phone. He greeted the women and asked them how they were; when Leslie hung up, he smiled. "It appears the afternoon has been pleasant."

"Fortunately yes," Leslie said. "That was only the third call I've had all this time, and everything's going very smoothly. You should be able to concentrate on your mission without any distractions."

"Whatever's up, Mr. Roarke, good luck," Camille offered.

Roarke chuckled. "I appreciate the good wishes, Camille," he said, "and I'm also glad that you took time to come and keep Leslie company. With Christian away, she sometimes tends to fret, so it's good for her to have her friends."

"Maybe we'll make a habit of the Sunday-afternoon visit," Tabitha said lightly, and amid the chuckles they all traded farewells and departed.

Once they were gone, Roarke turned to Leslie. "It should be a quiet evening," he said, "but I'll be reassured knowing you're here, as before. I don't know how long I will be gone, but try not to worry. I know you're aware of the usual procedure with Mephistopheles."

Leslie smiled wryly. "Yeah, he seems to have this thing about using midnight as his deadline. Is that going to be the case this time too?"

"This time," Roarke said, "I suspect a deadline will be irrelevant. With the information I have gathered, time will make no difference—at least on the small scale. It will be the long run, history itself, that hangs in the balance."