Lady Taevyn: Yes, yes, you know the other one's gender. You're the beta, so you get information before other people, didn't rub it in.

Lethia: Lenore's going to go nuts? You don't know the half of it, lol.

Shariena: Read on to see if they're both girls as you suspect.

MJ MOD: You try making Christi stay in Hell…On a side note, I managed not to reveal anything to Erik…well…he read over my shoulder while I typed…he's intimidating…I less than three Erik! (For those of you not understanding, less than three is the same thing as 3, as it's the less than sign and the number three.)

Artzee: You doodled some of the characters (poorly, according to you)? Yay! My story is officially amazing now, I've had someone doodle my characters badly! That makes me happy. I used to do that all the time with the stories I liked. This is so cool, you can't even imagine how happy that makes me.

Adusiriel: At least you got around to reviewing. Try to keep it up.

Black Hole Phoenix: No, no stereotypical 'good twin, bad twin' thing. Maybe it will seem that way with the personality traits they'll end up with, but that's not my intention. Also, seeing as how it is extremely unlikely that any woman would ever conceive fraternal twins at the same moment, it's the natural assumption these twins are identical (which they are).

Sabriel: Yay! A new reviewer!! Happiness abounds in the dorm room of Tammy. As for Raghnall…well…yeah, he's in this chapter, read on.

I'm sure you all know the spiel by now, I don't own Phantom, fic takes place about twenty years into the present, blah blah blah, REVIEW…

"It's about time they got back," Hiroshi mumbled bitterly, three months after Erik and Lenore had been married. He was standing in the entrance of their home, which Erik had designed. Workers said that Erik had sent in revisions for the upstairs hallway twice, yet still expected them to finish by the day before Erik and Lenore returned. Hiroshi had seen to it the workers were properly 'motivated' to finish on time.

And, using Hell's demons, moving everything from the house on the lake to this new dwelling had been as easy as snapping his fingers. Erik had ordered any remaining décor that was necessary, having it delivered early this morning. It had been quite interesting when the delivery men screamed in fright as Veleno dropped out of a second story window on a silk spider thread, gathered a large portion of the upstairs furniture into a cluster secured with his threads, and proceeded to climb back up to the window, towing the large bundle behind him. Of course, he had had to take things in through the window one at a time, but the rest of the bundle hung just outside the window, making it much faster than the delivery men could have done the job.

However, the last three months had been absolutely unbearable for Hiroshi. The stupid cat just wouldn't leave him alone. Even now, standing in the Entrance Hall waiting for Erik and Lenore, the cat was clawing any part of Hiroshi within reach. But that was only because Satan hadn't showed up yet. Raghnall was there with his pet, however, and had Christi sedated to keep her from destroying the house.

A few moments before Erik and Lenore were expected to arrive, Satan appeared next to Hiroshi. Bishop immediately moved to his favorite victim, granting Hiroshi divine relief.

"This cat is a pain," Satan grumbled, glaring at the offensive animal.

"I'm not sure what you're complaining about," Hiroshi snapped angrily. "I've got scars from that monster."

"He's particularly vicious today," Satan noted.

Hiroshi glanced at the cat and saw the reason for the increased ferocity of the attack. "You're standing on his favorite toy."

The moment Satan lifted his foot, Bishop snatched the fish toy, ran twenty feet across the hall from the immortals, set down the fish, and hissed menacingly while puffing up his tail and arching his back.

"Our lot is how big again?" Lenore asked as they rode in the back of the cab. They'd been driving down the driveway for several minutes now. The area in front of the house seemed to be full of trees and fountains.

"Three hundred acres," Erik shrugged. The house was set twenty acres away from the main road, and, according to Erik, covered 'a mere fifty acres' of the property. She'd learned they also had a stable with a maximum capacity of two hundred horses, a green house that took one acre of the property, a park that covered one hundred acres behind the house, and a woodsy area for riding that took the remaining one hundred and twenty five acres or so at the rear of the property.

"At least the kids will have a backyard to play in," Lenore commented. "They wouldn't have really had that at our last home. Unless you were intending to let them out to play with the Siren."

"Let defenseless children near that bitch?" Erik said, appearing to have a massive coronary at the thought.

"Well, I doubt they'd be anywhere near defenseless. I mean, just stop and think who the father is for a minute," Lenore replied. "I wouldn't put it past you to teach them the Punjab lasso at the age of two." There are certain advantages to having a murderer for a father, Lenore informed him telepathically, as she didn't wish to share that little tidbit in the company of a cab driver.

I retired from that line of work. I'm merely a father now, he responded.

After what seemed like hours, the trees thinned out and Lenore caught sight of the two-story manor sprawling over fifty acres. It took her breath away. She didn't know anything about architecture, but she knew it was beautiful and had to have cost millions to build.

"The exterior is gray fieldstone. I'd hoped you like it," Erik informed her, a smile crossing his lips.

"You people live in a 'ouse this big and you ain't got a limo?" the cab driver inquired in shock.

"Dear God, this had to cost…you could feed a third world country for at least five years with the amount you spent on this house, I'll bet," Lenore estimated.

"Well, those countries are managing to get by, I'm sure," Erik said dismissively. "A home for our children is a bit more important to me."

"How many children do you think we're gonna have?" she returned. "Because I'm not carrying and delivering any more after these two, so if you want more, it's up to you."

The cab pulled to a halt at the base of the marble stairs that led to the marble doorstep (which was enormous, for a doorstep) and Erik got out first, probably testing the air to make sure there were no fumes that would compromise Lenore and the twins. When he decided it was safe, he offered a hand to help her out of the cab.

"You know, I think we'll die from smothering protectiveness before we die from fumes," Lenore remarked.

"Do not reprimand me for being concerned about your health, Madam," Erik replied curtly. Clearly this was one thing he would not ease up on.

"You're like a mother hen with one chick. And the chick is not appreciating it!" Lenore informed him. "I've had enough of that in my First Life, thank you very much."

"You're in a delicate condition; my concern for your well-being is only natural," Erik said in his defense.

"Whatever," Lenore dismissed his last words. Instead, she studied their house. There was a north wing, a west wing, and a south wing. The west wing was the central part of the house, with the north and south wings on either end. Closer inspection revealed that every window was stained glass, a combination of white and black roses. Except for the door and the window above it. The stained glass set in the oak door portrayed deep blue roses, and the enormous rosette window above it combined the white and blue roses in an intricate pattern that her eyes couldn't even begin to follow. She stared at the rosette window for a few moments before throwing her arms around Erik. "I love you."

"I take it you like the house," Erik chuckled as the cab driver got their luggage out of the trunk.

"You vant me to take it in, Monsieur?" the driver inquired, referring to the suitcases.

A window on the second floor flew open. "Do not trouble yourself, mortal insect," a familiar voice called out. Veleno suddenly appeared, descending from the second story window on a fine spider thread. "I shall take the luggage, and deliver it directly to the master bedroom."

"What are you doing in my house?" Lenore snarled angrily as the spider demon rushed over and took the luggage, not even realizing the cab driver was about to have a heart attack at seeing a man with six arms drop gracefully from the second floor window on a simple thread.

"I am a house-warming gift," Veleno informed her. "It seems Raghnall got tired of me. Christiana provides endless hours of study for him, so I'm no longer wanted underfoot. I shall do my best to serve you."

"Your family gives the weirdest gifts," Lenore said to Erik. "Maybe we could put him up for adoption at a shelter or something. I doubt a pet store would take him, unless he's had his shots."

"It would be impolite to refuse him," Erik pointed out as Veleno scurried back up his thread to the second floor window. "We may as well keep him. He can be in charge of security."

"Security?"

"Naturally," Erik replied. "We're a wealthy family, I'm sure many people will come around attempting larceny. If Veleno sets up an intricate system of webs around the perimeter of our property and links them all to a series of bells, we'll know if someone comes trespassing."

"Alright, but he stays as far from me as possible at all times," Lenore commanded.

"As you wish," Erik granted. He turned to the cab driver, who was staring at the window Veleno had disappeared into, disbelief all over the man's face. "You may leave now," Erik informed the man with a look that could have made the dead move. Sure enough, it worked on the driver, who leapt into his cab and sped off down the driveway.

"You could have been a bit less harsh," Lenore commented.

Erik gave no verbal response. He merely lifted her into his arms and carried her up to the door. "Did you know that this tradition has very interesting origins? In Rome, the bride was carried over the threshold so that demons would not trip her when she entered and bring the couple bad luck. On the other hand, this tradition can also be derived from ancient times when the brides were abducted and had to be carried into their new home by force. Now, which meaning should we use?" Erik asked, a playful smirk on his face.

"Let's go with the Rome one. After all, we know for a fact there's a demon in there," Lenore replied.

Bishop ran over and rubbed against Erik's ankles the moment the man walked in the house. Bishop was delighted that his family was back and he didn't have to stay with these icky, mean people anymore. Though that Christiana girl was very nice and quite helpful when it came to attacking the mean people. He liked her…but none of the other people he'd spent the last three months with.

He noticed moments later that Fishy hadn't come over to greet the family, so he scampered back over and picked up his friend. Poor Fishy seemed to have a great deal of difficulty walking. Fishy squeaked, which, in this case, was surely meant as a 'thank you'.

By the time he got back to his family, Erik had put Lenore's feet on the floor. (Bishop wondered if she was having some difficulty walking today and needed help like Fishy did.) He rubbed against her ankles, purring contentedly. His ordeal was over, and now the bad people would go away. Lenore always made them go away, they listened when she hissed at them.

"You people live to torment us, don't you?" she snarled at the mean people.

"Oh, come now, kitten, we merely wanted to welcome you back from your trip," Hiroshi said innocently.

"You had to drop off Bishop. You've done that, you can leave," Lenore told Hiroshi. "You, Raghnall, decided to give us Veleno as a gift. Well, even though I'm not fond of the idea, we've received your gift, so you can leave too. And you…" She glared at Satan ferociously. Bishop knew the claws and teeth would come out in a moment, and the fur would start to fly when his mistress attacked the devil. "You don't even need to be here, for any reason. So get out!"

"Erik's one of my children," Satan said loftily. "Thus, your children are, in a sense, my grandchildren. Are you telling me I'm not even allowed to see my own grandchildren? Just remember you wouldn't have these children if it wasn't for my gift."

"You mean your curse," Lenore snapped. "Don't try to play that parent card with me. If you wanna see the kids, take a leaf out of God's book and watch them from your realm."

"I think she's having a mood swing," Hiroshi sagely told Satan, acting as if Lenore wasn't there.

"Well, let's move into the parlor and wait for her humors to balance," Satan replied. He turned and started off into the house, Hiroshi on his heels.

Raghnall was busily scribbling on a piece of parchment, muttering about mood swings and the effects thereof. Christiana sat on the floor, staring off into space. (It always made Bishop sad when Raghnall gave her nasty medicine to make her all sleepy and unresponsive.)

"Your family sucks," Lenore informed Erik.

"Our family, chérie. You knew what you were marrying into," he reminded her. "Perhaps we should follow them?"

So they began to troop after the two mean men that Bishop hated most, with that strange Raghnall following, dragging Christiana along behind him while he continued scribbling and muttering.

In the parlor, Lenore took a seat on one of the sofas, putting her feet up and taking up the entire surface of the furniture. She'd gotten rather large around the middle it seemed. Putting Fishy down beside the sofa, Bishop went up to inspect her, standing on her lap. He first tentatively sniffed the bulge under her middle, wondering if perhaps she had stored something in her fur. He didn't detect any new smells, though, so clearly that wasn't the case. He gently pushed a paw against it, quickly pulling back when he discovered it was rather firm. Bishop then put his ears closer, listening for unusual sounds.

He heard two heartbeats that were not Lenore's, and then he understood. His mistress was having kittens. He would soon have more friends to play with and help him take care of poor Fishy. Fishy would be so delighted when he learned that there would be more friends willing to help him get around the house.

Bishop curled up as close to Lenore's swollen stomach as he could get, listening to the sounds of his new friends and wondering when they'd be ready to come out and play.

"Aww, he's so sweet," Lenore remarked as Bishop curled up on her lap. He mewed occasionally, as if trying to communicate with the twins.

"I'll see to it he is vaccinated as soon as possible," Erik said thoughtfully.

Lenore nodded; they'd never taken Bishop to get any shots before now, as they lived under the Opera House and there was little chance of him catching rabies and the like down there. But now that they lived in a real house, aboveground, and there would be small children, he would need to have his shots.

"Have you picked any names for the babies yet?" Hiroshi inquired.

"We picked one…a girl's name…and if that silly ring test was wrong, the poor kid'll be scarred for life," Lenore replied. "Erik insists they'll both be girls, but…"

"I can tell you the genders if you like," Satan offered. Before Lenore could say another word, he leapt up from his chair and hurried over, dropping down beside her and putting a hand on her abdomen, closing his eyes. "Alright, there's the first…a girl. Stop hiding behind your sister, you silly twin. Let me see you a moment." There was a brief pause. "Oh, a boy. That's rare in identical twins." He opened his eyes, and gave Lenore a very serious look. "They're mirror twins as well, so make sure you're extra careful."

"What does that mean?" Lenore asked.

"Mirror twins means that they're mirror images of each other. For example, one will be right-handed and the other will be left-handed. Also internal organs will be flipped in position," Satan explained. "It gives you a higher chance of birth defects, so make sure you monitor your condition carefully."

"This is great," Lenore muttered sarcastically. "Now Erik's gonna baby me even more."

"Don't complain; it's for the safety of our children," Erik reprimanded.

"You know, back in the day, women would do farm work throughout their pregnancy. They didn't stop working until they had to pop the kid out," Lenore said. "If they can work on a farm and not have problems, I think I can handle a bit more physical exertion than what you allow."

"You're in very delicate condition," Erik argued.

"You really should be careful," Hiroshi agreed. "Your biological mother for this life miscarried your twin, you know."

"If you idiots don't keep things that could cause concern to yourselves, I'm going to kill you all," Lenore hissed, glaring at Hiroshi. Truth be told, she hadn't known, as Hiroshi had never discussed this sort of thing with her at all. (Hell, she'd learned less than a year ago that Hiroshi wasn't a biological parent to her.)

"When did it occur?" Erik asked Hiroshi worriedly.

"Um…around about three months if I remember correctly," Hiroshi answered.

"Shut up!" Lenore growled. Idiot!!! Doesn't he realize I'm around three months pregnant??

"You're on strict bed rest from this day forward," Erik informed Lenore.

"Define 'strict'," Lenore said.

"You won't be getting out of bed except to go to the bathroom," he responded.

"What? No way, that sucks!" she exclaimed. "Come on, I'm not made of glass! I can get up a bit more often than that!"

"I won't have you risking the children."

"Do you realize that I've got six more months to go? They're not due till the end of October!"

"Twins are usually two weeks premature," Raghnall interjected.

"Okay, fine, the beginning of October then!" Lenore corrected. "I'm not spending May, June, July, August, and September in bed!"

"Would you like to bet on that?" Erik hissed.

"You just try to keep me in bed," Lenore shot back. "I don't have to stay here with you, you know. There's plenty of people close by. I'm sure Mom would love to have me visit. Or Mark and Tori, or Jon and Kathleen, or even Ember and Patrick!"

"You're my wife and"-

"It doesn't mean I have to live with you, moron!" Lenore shouted. "I'm an adult, I can live wherever the hell I want to!"

Erik took a deep breath to suppress his temper. Lenore was getting far too upset over all this; too much stress was bad for the twins. "Alright," he said after a moment. "You can take a walk every day if you must. But someone will accompany you and you'll not be up for more than a half hour."

"Why can't I decide how long I get to be out of bed? And I don't need a chaperone," Lenore snapped.

God! Must she be so damn stubborn? It's for her own good. And the welfare of our twins. Can't she just accept my authority this once and do as I tell her?

"You don't have any say because you're the wife," Hiroshi put in his two cents. "You don't always know what's best for you. And it's a husband's job to protect and care for his wife. You should be thankful that Erik isn't as old as I am. Back in my day, a woman was sold to the highest bidder. And when you married, you moved into your husband's house. The new bride was very low on the social ladder in the household. The only authority she could have would be over her own children. Until she became the oldest woman in the family anyway. Then you'd be the matriarch of the family and firmly in charge of everyone. Even your husband."

"The immortals are Erik's family, right?" Lenore asked, not waiting for an answer. "Well, I'd be the oldest woman in the family, now wouldn't I? That makes me the matriarch, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does. But the matriarchal system is for eastern Asia, kitten," Hiroshi explained. "In France, it's a patriarchal system. In which case, the head of the family would be Satan."

"Damn you all," Lenore snapped.

Erik shook his head; this was far too stressful for her. He would have to usher the immortals and Satan out as quickly as possible. "Well, it's been a pleasant visit, I suppose. But you should really be going now; Lenore needs her rest," Erik said.

"We can't go yet; there's something I want to show you," Hiroshi exclaimed, leaping out of his chair and beginning to bounce up and down excitedly. "Come on, upstairs."

After Erik helped Lenore to her feet (which she grumbled about severely), everyone obligingly followed Hiroshi up the stairs and down the hall to the nursery. "Close your eyes," Hiroshi demanded of Erik and Lenore when they stopped in front of the door. With a sigh, Erik complied. Moments later, being led into the room, they were given permission to look.

Erik was tempted to hug Hiroshi. Two cradles, exact replicas of the one he had lain in as an infant, were sitting in the middle of the room. Bells had been strung over both cradles, and Erik remembered clearly how much he had enjoyed the bells in those lonely hours when Mademoiselle Perrault wasn't visiting. His mother had never spent more time with him than was absolutely necessary, and his only amusement had been creating simple phrases on the bells. Surely one of his children would inherit a love for music and would find those bells just as wonderful as he had in his early days.

"Where did you get those?" Lenore breathed softly, looking to the side of the room. Erik followed her gaze and saw an old, dark cherry rocking chair with blue cushions and a table holding a whimsical lamp portraying a nursery rhyme of some sort. He slipped into her mind to find the importance of these items. The rocking chair was connected to several memories of sitting in her mother's lap while her mother sung to her; it had been a source of comfort for many of her younger years. The music box in the base of the lamp had been used to play her to sleep when she'd been a toddler, and it had a dim light for her to sleep at night, when she had been too afraid of the darkness to fall asleep without a light to watch over her.

"I know they're only recreations, but…" Hiroshi shrugged apologetically. "The cradles and rocking chair are a gift from the beaver demons. They took great care and had to redo the items a few times to get it perfect. I had to find a specialist here on earth for the lamp."

Lenore flung her arms around Hiroshi, in tears. Most of her words were incomprehensive sobs; the only thing Erik could distinguish was the repeated phrases 'thank you' and 'I love you'. When Hiroshi told her that Satan had suggested it, she turned and embraced the Father of Lies, saying the exact same things she'd said to Hiroshi.

Satan stood stiffly in her arms for a moment before tentatively putting his arms around her and patting her on the back. "It's alright," he assured her. "You don't need to thank me, it was fun…Can you let go now?"

Lenore sighed heavily, the pillows propped up behind her so she could at least be sitting up in bed. Erik had insisted on fluffing her pillows for maximum comfort. While it was a very nice gesture, Lenore didn't wish to be fussed over so dramatically.

"Is there a particular reason you're hovering over me?" Lenore inquired.

"I'm not hovering," Erik replied. "I'm…lingering."

"Any reason for it?"

"Well…I thought we could choose a name for our son, now that we know it's a boy…"

"Do you really trust him to tell us the truth?" she said. It was a valid point; since when was Satan trustworthy?

"What names do you like?" came Erik's response.

Here we go again. "Christopher, Dirk, George, and Thomas," Lenore listed off. Four choices was a good start, and now all he had to do was pick a few names he liked.

"I like Giovanni," Erik said softly.

"Any other names?" Lenore prompted when he'd been silent for a good two minutes.

"No."

"Oh…o…kay…well then…um, which one sounds best with Giovanni?"

It was silent a few moments while they both contemplated all possible pairings of the names they had suggested.

"Christopher Giovanni," Lenore finally voiced her opinion.

"Thomas Giovanni," Erik said at the exact same moment.

"Oh, I like the Thomas one better," Lenore responded quickly.

"If you prefer Christopher," Erik simultaneously replied.

"Thomas," Lenore firmly asserted. She knew if she didn't make a decision, they'd be switching back and forth for the next few hours until one of them got fed up and yelled at the other.

"I'm glad we've decided," Erik said by way of agreement. "You should get some rest now."

"Okay," Lenore sighed, reluctantly settling in for a long six months of bed rest. Five minutes later, Lenore cracked one eye open to confirm her suspicion. "Erik, you don't need to sit here and watch me rest."

"I merely wish to be here in case you need something," Erik replied.

"If I need something, I'll yell for you," Lenore pointed out.

"What if I'm too far to hear you?"

"Clearly you've never heard me yell for someone before."

"Surely you can't yell quite that loudly, chérie," Erik scoffed.

"Remember when Christi screamed my name at the rehearsal dinner?" Lenore inquired. Erik grimaced, which meant 'yes'. "Well, take that, and amplify it about ten times to get my level of volume. Of course, you could always open up your mind and let me in, so that way you'd know if I even thought I might want something…"

"You haven't learned enough yet for me to risk it," Erik informed her. "You're always…overenthusiastic when I let you in my mind, which is far too dangerous for me."

"Look, if I need something, I'll let you know. Really, I will," Lenore sighed, getting exasperated at being babied in this fashion. "So it's alright for you to look around. Tour the house, make sure everything was built to satisfaction. Check the stables, take a walk in the gardens, whatever. Just find something to do that doesn't involve hovering beside me and treating me like I can't even breathe without risking the babies' health."

"My satisfaction with our house is inconsequential to your needs at this moment," Erik responded.

"If you linger for one more minute, I'll beat the holy hell out of you," Lenore growled.

"Why are you so averse to my concerns?" Erik snarled back. "I wish to be sure you are taken care of. Is that a crime?"

"You sit in a bed for four months not able to walk and see how you feel!" Lenore shouted. "It's the worst to have someone sitting there, always asking what they can do to help. 'Can I get you anything? Can I make you more comfortable? Would you like me to adjust your pillows for you? Let me change the channel for you.' It's fucking annoying! My legs were broken, but I was perfectly capable of making myself comfortable, able to adjust my own pillows and turn the channel if I wanted to! And I hated it when everyone went running to get me something I wanted. It was just another reminder: 'hey, you can't walk right now'. So find something else to do for the next six months that I'll be in bed, or I'll kill you."

Erik had been pleased to find the house built entirely to his standard. No doubt Hiroshi had a hand in that. Erik had left Lenore an hour ago, and though he was finished with inspecting the house, he knew he'd best stay away for another hour at least, or she'd jump down his throat and rip out his internal organs the moment he walked in the room.

Of course, he hadn't left her as alone as she thought. He'd opened one of the windows, claiming she should have some fresh air, and Veleno was currently situated beneath the window, ready to retrieve Erik should Lenore express a desire for anything. (She had a habit of talking to herself when she was alone in a room.)

Erik heard a soft sound, someone scurrying around in the room to his left. He opened the door without making a sound and peered in.

"What are you doing?" he inquired.

The girl he'd addressed squeaked like a frightened mouse and dropped her dust rag. She snatched the rag immediately and dove behind the closet piece of furniture, which happened to be a footstool. It did nothing to hide her from his view. "I'm sorry," the girl sobbed softly, her voice almost inaudible. "I have failed. I am a miserable failure, I deserve to have my neck snapped."

"I did not ask for an apology, nor did I express a desire to know what you do or do not deserve," Erik snapped. "State your business, girl, or you'll find how capable I am of giving you what you claim to deserve."

"I was dusting, Master Dessler," the girl explained, still hiding behind the footstool. Her pale green eyes stared intently at the carpet, as if she were trying to pretend no one else was in the room with her. Her mousy brown hair was pulled back in a sloppy bun, and her ears twitched nervously. Everything about this girl's appearance made him think of a mouse.

Erik quirked an eyebrow; he had not hired servants as of yet.

"Oh please give me another chance!" the girl wailed, still managing to keep her voice next to impossible to hear. "You won't see me next time, I promise! Satan will beat me if he knows I failed!"

"What are you?" Erik sighed, already dreading to hear this.

"A mouse, Master Dessler," the girl sniffled. "Just a common house mouse."

"And what is your exact purpose here? What are you doing for that annoying bastard known as the devil?"

"My job is to serve the Dessler family. All the house mice are to serve; that's what Satan sent us for. I'm so sorry, I wasn't supposed to be seen. Please don't tell Satan I failed," she pleaded.

So it seemed Satan had gone to the trouble of supplying Erik with a staff of demons to run his household. Mice demons for the maids, Veleno (who was going to be in charge of security)…God knew what other types of demons were on his property. Naturally, each type would have been placed in a particular position that suited their natural animalistic traits. Mice made perfect sense as maids; mice were quiet, rarely ever seen, and quite sufficient at keeping things clean.

"If you tell me what types of demons are on my staff besides mice, I'll see to it Satan never knows you failed," Erik informed her. He wouldn't have told Satan the girl 'failed' anyway, as he didn't see it as a failure. Erik had sharp ears, and it would have been next to impossible for any creature to avoid detection.

"Oh, I don't know too much," the girl replied. "The Head Housemaid is a…is a…" The girl leaned forward, her eyes darting around nervously as if she were revealing a secret. "A rat," she whispered. Then she promptly gave another fearful squeak, ducking her head and curling up in a ball, trembling.

"Is that all you know?"

"Mistress Rato isn't standing over me with the birch, is she?" the girl asked in a breathy, timid voice.

"No, now tell me anything else you may know," Erik said.

The girl slowly uncurled, looking around frantically for Mistress Rato and the dreaded birch. "Um…deer are the servers for meals, mostly bucks." She giggled suddenly. "They've been tumbling the does that are to serve in the nursery. And the House Manager is a dog, he's very nice to us mice. Much better than…well…you know who I mean. Let's see…butterflies take care of the gardens, and squirrels have the forest. Beavers are maintenance, and…well…I don't for a fact…but I heard the stable staff is all male rabbits, and the head of a stable is a fox! A fox!" She squeaked fearfully again, hugging herself and shivering slightly. "What'll we do? A fox! We're all going to die!"

"If the fox touches a single one of you mice, let me know and I'll see he's appropriately punished," Erik said in an effort to calm the mouse. She merely squeaked again as her eyes began darting around frantically, probably looking for the terrifying fox. "What's your name?"

"Tulia," the girl answered shyly, her eyes meeting his for the first time.

"Tulia. How would you like to be a lady's maid?" he inquired, giving the girl a smile.

"I didn't call for you," Lenore snapped immediately when Erik walked into the room. A timid young lady was following him. The girl seemed about fifteen years old. She had pale green eyes and mousy brown hair that was pulled back in a messy bun. She wore a dark, full length dress, and had a dust rag in her hand.

"This is Tulia," Erik introduced the girl. "She's a mouse demon. And, as of now, your personal maid."

"She's just a girl," Lenore said in shock. "You can't employ her, that's – wait, mouse demon? How do we have a mouse demon here?"

"Satan decided to supply a staff for us," Erik replied, a slight scowl crossing his face for a brief moment. "Tulia will spend every moment of her day with you, chérie, so now I can feel comfortable leaving you alone in your condition. Get some rest. I'll see you after dinner."

Lenore stared at him until the door shut softly behind him, then turned her eyes to Tulia, who was standing in a corner and staring at the floor. I can't yell at her, she's so scared. Maybe she'll leave if I ask her to…

"Tulia, you don't have to stay here. You can go back to your room for a bit if you like," Lenore suggested.

"I'm supposed to stay with you," Tulia said softly. "Leaving your side without Master Dessler here to take care of you would be a failure. And then…" (the girl started to cry at this point) "…then Mistress Rato would use the birch, and when Satan found out…He has no mercy! Please don't send me away, Madam Dessler, please!"

"Come here," Lenore said. Tulia scurried over, still sniffling and wiping tears away. "Hug." She felt so bad for making the poor girl cry, and the mouse looked so pitiful, Lenore just wanted to hug her to make Tulia stop crying.

Tulia did as she had been told, embracing Lenore gently and trying to cease sniffling.

"Is this making you feel any better?" Lenore asked.

"Um…yes…?" the girl replied. She seemed afraid to say the wrong thing; that would probably be a 'failure' in Tulia's eyes.

"Good," Lenore smiled, patting the girl on the back. Damn Erik, he knew she was too pitiful for me to turn her away.

The moment Tulia left the room, Erik was thoroughly informed of what was on his wife's mind.

"How dare you! Of all the nerve! I don't need a personal maid, I'm not some spoiled rich girl who needs someone to help her get dressed and wait on her hand and foot!" Lenore growled. "You didn't even bother asking me if I wanted a maid or not! You know I don't want someone fussing over me every minute of the day! And the poor thing is as jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! She cries at the slightest implication that she might not have done something right, wailing about failing and how Satan's going to punish her! You find something else for Tulia to do or you'll suffer seven different kinds of hell every day for the rest of my life!"

"Firstly, Tulia is far too timid to fuss over you all day. Unless I'm much mistaken, she spent most of the day in the corner, trying not to be seen and only coming out of the corner if you told her to. Secondly, you'd be just as 'jumpy' as Tulia were you in her position. The Head Housemaid is a rat demon, and rats have been known to eat mice. Her fear is only natural. As to her fear of how Satan will punish her…I think you would find it hard not to be afraid if Satan were your master, ma petite," Erik explained. "If we dismiss her as your personal maid, it would be considered a failure. Surely you wouldn't want her to be punished just because you don't want a maid."

"Oh, that's low," Lenore hissed. "The guilt card. You should be ashamed of yourself for pulling that on your pregnant wife."

"Well, it serves you right," Erik informed her. "You don't want me to be here in case you need something. So I'll see to it that someone is here to take care of your needs."

"Since when does a grown woman need twenty four hour supervision?" Lenore argued.

"Since she became pregnant with identical mirror twins and her mother was known to have miscarried said woman's twin brother," Erik snapped.

"And whose fault is that?" she replied heatedly. "Hm? Who got me into this situation? Maybe it was the man who forgot to tell me he was fertile!"

"Is it a crime, woman?" he shouted, losing his temper. "Is it wrong of me to want a family? I didn't tell you because I knew you'd feel at fault if nothing happened that night! You would've hated yourself and hid your pain and misery from me, slowly killing yourself with your grief! I couldn't bear to see you do that to yourself, to watch you gradually but surely commit suicide! So, Madam, is it really so awful? Is it unbearable to be pregnant? Do you hate bearing the children of a man who merely wants to see his wife alive and happy?"

"I'm sorry," she said, sniffling. "I'm such a horrible wife, I'll suck as a mother."

He'd forgotten she was still very emotional. Thankfully it was tapering off. "Forgive me, I shouldn't have yelled at you," Erik apologized. Frankly, he felt as if 'forgive me' and 'I'm sorry' were the main phrases in his vocabulary ever since she conceived the twins.

"No, you shouldn't have," she agreed, sniffing again. "And you shouldn't be so oppressive with the strict bed rest and chaperoning."

"I'm sorry."

"No you're not! If you were, you'd say I can get up and that I don't have to have someone hovering over me every second of the day."

"I never said I was apologizing for being so strict; I was expressing sympathy for the fact that you find it oppressive." Damn, I shouldn't have said that… He cringed, waiting for the tears or the angry shouts, but neither came. He turned to look at her and found her staring off into space. "Chérie?"

"I have a sudden urge to go shopping," she said dreamily.

It seemed her concentration had slipped for a moment, which was rather fortunate for Erik. And he most certainly was not about to bring up those words he'd said that would start another argument. "What do you need?" he inquired.

"I wanna buy cute fleecy sleepers, and fluffy baby blankets, and soft plush aminals," she explained, looking thoroughly excited at the process of buying things for the twins.

"Aminals?"

"Aminals. You know, multicellular organisms that move and respond to stimuli and don't use photosynthesis to survive," Lenore informed him. "Plush aminals are usually mammals, like fluffy sheepies, or cuddly bears, or soft kitties, or cute puppies."

"I believe you mean 'animal'," Erik hesitantly attempted to correct her.

"No. Aminal! Didn't you ever say a word incorrectly as a child? It's aminal. Yes, I can say animal if I want, but I prefer aminal! So I wanna go shopping for sleepers and blankies and aminals," Lenore replied. "Can't we go? Please?"

"What brought this on?" Erik inquired. It was such a sudden change from their current topic that he began to worry if this was some odd pregnancy disease.

"Well, I was saying that I don't want to be watched every second of the day, and then I thought about having to watch over the babies all the time. And I was envisioning them in little fleecy sleepers with cute blankets and aminals in the cradles when I realized we don't have any. They need sleepers and blankets. And I want them to have aminals."

"The shops will be closed by the time we could reach Paris tonight," Erik told her. "Perhaps this trip could wait until tomorrow?"

"Yay! Baby shopping," she cheered. "Ooh, let's get rubber ducks too, and little booties and"-

Erik stopped listening at that point. It seemed she intended to bankrupt him in one fell blow. At least it was justifiable; the twins did need clothes and the like.

"Baby things," Lenore said in a singsong voice.

"Yes, but we'll not see the baby shopping," Tammy informed her heroine gently.

"But…we still get to go, right?" Lenore asked.

"Sure. Um…you should go now…" Tammy muttered.

"Come on Erik, we'll take the bus," Lenore crowed, grabbing Erik by the arm and dragging him out of the dorm.

"Isn't that sweet? Kitten's first shopping trip for the babies," Hiroshi sighed wistfully. "I remember buying her clothes when she was little…she was such a cute child."

"Excuse me? That's my heroine you're talking about! Stop thinking about her, she doesn't need added stress right now!" Tammy reprimanded.

"Oh, fine. I'll just think about ravaging you instead," Hiroshi responded with a devious and suggestive smirk. "I can just picture your delicate naked form, slick with sweat and blood from"-

"Ha ha, I cut you off in mid sentence," Christi cackled maniacally, pointing and laughing at Hiroshi. A roll of duct tape was clutched firmly in one of her hands, and a nice long strip of the duct tape was currently covering Hiroshi's mouth.

"Good job, Christi," Tammy beamed. "Anyway, you all know the drill. Send reviews."

"Christiana, what were you thinking?" Raghnall sighed. "You should untie him so that I can study her sexual behaviors while Hiroshi has his fun with her."

"Um…Raghnall…no," Tammy said. "MJ MOD left Uriel a voice mail asking for his help, so just know that an archangel might pop in any moment now and smite you for even suggesting such a ludicrous thing."