Lady Taevyn: The poor boy, everybody hates him, just cuz he's messing with things at the Opera House. Glad you liked Danielle Turner and the whole bit about how Lenore disappeared from the Opera scene.
Lethia: Yes, Lenore felt sorry for Satan. Who saw that one coming?
Der Drache Dame: Well, I'm glad you were amused when Lenore got caught being sneaky and trying to get herself a brandy, lol.
Sabriel: Nope, the boy is not Satan. Good guess though. Glad you like Gershom telling Hiroshi he's lost his wits.
Der Drache Dame: Lol, yes, babies are demanding. I'm delighted you can visualize Lenore beating Hiroshi with a breakfast tray. And, sadly, yes, Disney.
Black Hole Phoenix: I made Satan appear as a woman again, just for you!
Timeflies: Glad to have a new reader aboard! Hope you like this chapter, certainly took me long enough to get it out.
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…
Lenore lowered her book for a moment to see what her children were doing. Sonata was still happily cooing to her plush polar bear that she was waving around. Thomas had his sheep firmly in hand, but he was staring directly at Lenore. Which was what he'd been doing for the past hour. She had the distinct impression he was attempting to see how long it would take her to give in to his stare and put down her book to pay attention to him.
Giving him a smile, she put her book back up and returned to reading her Agatha Christie novel, resettling herself on the plastic pad inside the large playpen. Tulia was sitting on the edge of the rocking chair next to the playpen, prepared to jump up at any second should she be called upon for any task.
"Surely you can relax a little bit," Lenore commented, still reading her book.
"I…I should be prepared…in case you need something," Tulia replied timidly.
"Well, I'm fine. Thomas needs someone he can defeat at a staring contest though," Lenore shrugged.
"I am equal to the task," Tulia declared, quickly standing up and preparing to climb into the playpen with Lenore and the twins so that she could fulfill her duties.
Lenore chuckled and shook her head. "I didn't mean that you had to take on the challenge, Tulia. Besides, I think he's a bit busy playing his game with me," Lenore pointed out. "And thus far, he's losing. I'm sure he won't move on to another victim until he beats me."
"Oh. Are you sure I don't"- Tulia began worriedly, freezing with one leg in the playpen and one out.
"Just sit down in the rocking chair, Tulia," Lenore instructed, turning the page in her book.
"Alright. But if you need anything…" Tulia trailed off, stepping out of the playpen and resuming her seat.
The only thing Lenore needed was for the date to immediately go from November 17th to November 18th. For one particular reason. She was expecting Hiroshi to pop in any minute, wanting to celebrate his birthday. And she'd rather not have to deal with that, as Satan was likely to appear as well; Hiroshi would be coming straight from a meeting of the Circle in Hell.
"Would you like me to get you something to drink? A glass of water maybe, or some iced tea?" Tulia proposed.
"Nope. I'd like for you to sit there quietly, as I'm sitting here quietly."
At that moment, Bishop tore into the room with his fish, Sanura hot on his heels. They skidded to a halt beside the playpen, then leapt into it, something Lenore had become rather accustomed to. The cats would go out of the nursery to play for a bit, then they'd come back in to check on the twins and take a nap before departing again. After sniffing him to ascertain his well being, Sanura flopped down beside Thomas, curling up for her nap. Bishop inspected Sonata as best he could while avoiding the polar bear that Sonata was waving around, then trotted over to Lenore, curling up in her lap.
Lenore lowered her book once again, looking straight at Thomas. "Well, you can put your staring contest on hold," she informed him. "I've got a cat on my lap, and I wouldn't dream of disturbing Bishop on your behalf."
"Dinner will be served in half an hour," Tulia noted. "Do you have any requests that I should relay to the cooks?"
"There will be no changes in the menu, and preparations for the meal are to be held until further notice," Lenore stated.
Tulia nodded and scurried out of the room to make certain the cooks wouldn't begin preparing dinner. The only reason Lenore wanted to hold it off was because she wanted to be sure Hiroshi was present before the meal was served. Tonight's menu was comprised of all his favorites, as she knew he would expect to have dinner with her on his birthday, and she had no intentions of going out to a restaurant with the twins. They were too young as of yet, and there was always the possibility that the media would recognize them and latch on for the evening.
Lenore found this all just too stressful. She didn't enjoy spending her day worrying over when Hiroshi was going to show, and it only made things worse that she had to speculate as to who would accompany him. The rotted cherry on top of this nauseating sundae was that Erik was at work, and most likely would not be home until midnight. For Erik was under the impression that someone was attempting to murder the diva, Danielle Turner, due to an impressive amount of accidents that occurred which seemed to be aimed at her. As he found her voice to be the best in the employ of the Opera House, Erik had determined not to let any harm come to her; replacing the position of the diva in the middle of the season was extremely difficult, as any diva hopefuls wouldn't be in the area until the end of the season, looking to take any positions from retiring cast. And Erik said Rosalyn had enough stress on her plate without having to replace Turner.
"The last thing I need is to be alone with Hiroshi. Well, more appropriately, the last thing I need is to be alone with Hiroshi and Satan. That'd be like tossing sour sprinkles on the sundae," Lenore commented to herself. Of course, if she ended up alone with them, it was entirely her fault. She had neglected to mention to Erik that it was Hiroshi's birthday, and Erik had failed to remember due to his concern over Turner's well being. The only relief was that Gershom was gone. Lenore hadn't seen him for the past week or so, and therefore he must have returned to his desert.
Sonata made a myriad of noises in reply to Lenore's spoken words, as if she'd perfectly understood every word her mother said and was attempting to reassure Lenore everything would be alright. "Thanks, Sonata, that makes me feel much better," Lenore responded. In truth, she wouldn't be entirely alone. The twins would be there, even if they would be of no help whatsoever in regards as to whether or not she was molested.
Tulia came dashing back in a few moments later, completely breathless at having run as fast as she possibly could so she would be there for Lenore in case she was needed once again. Bishop opened his eyes and raised his head, looking at Tulia with interested eyes as his tail flicked back and forth in a playful manner. Tulia trembled fearfully in response, hugging her arms and trying to look as invisible as possible.
"Bishop, that mouse is a bit big for you to take on," Lenore told the cat in her lap. "Not to mention that you'd never be able to eat her all by yourself. I don't think you could manage it even with Sanura's help. So there will be no pouncing on Tulia, no biting, no clawing, no batting at, or any other form of hunting and/or playing with your prey."
Bishop lowered his head back to its former position, but he kept his eyes on the mouse as she fearfully crept back to the rocking chair, giving the playpen a wide berth. "Mistress, I'm not fond of the cats," Tulia remarked with a quivering voice. "Couldn't they be somewhere else for the time being?"
"Trust me, the cats will behave."
"But that cat wants to…wants to…to eat me," Tulia proclaimed with a squeak.
"If he tries to, I'll take away his fish," Lenore promised. "Relax; he'll behave."
Lenore looked at the page she was currently on in her novel, realizing she'd lost her place completely. Well, I couldn't really concentrate on it anyway, what with expecting guests and all. Lenore closed the book with a sigh and set it aside, stroking Bishop with a free hand and meeting Thomas's demanding stare. "Why don't you stare at your sister, hm? She'd enjoy the attention," Lenore pointed out.
"But you're so much more beautiful, kitten," Hiroshi commented from the doorway. "Even your son knows that."
"Good evening to you too," Lenore said, taking her eyes off of her children long enough to see who had accompanied Hiroshi. "Lucifer decided to join you. Good thing I planned on company."
"Zakai had intended on coming along, but I'm afraid he was busy doing a little reconnaissance for me on the fortifications of Heaven," Satan informed Lenore.
"Za-who?" Lenore replied, having no idea who it was that had intended to come along.
"Zakai. Fourth in the line of immortals at the age of six thousand nine hundred and thirty eight," Satan explained. "He was the one who bathed you in the ceremony before your wedding."
"Oh, him. I do recall him now…though I didn't know his name," Lenore said. "Well, how nice of him to want to visit me."
"His intention was to bring you a gift for the children, but as he's busy, he opted to send it with me," Hiroshi remarked, his hand slipping into the inner pocket of his jacket. He pulled out two bars of solid gold and held them out to her, despite the fact that Lenore was currently sitting in a playpen and was therefore in no position to simply reach out and take the gift at this particular moment.
"Holy"- Lenore began to say.
"Zakai wants you to invest these in some manner that profits the twins. One bar for each child," Hiroshi interrupted her before the profanity following the word 'holy' could slip out of her mouth.
Lenore stared at the gold bars in his hands, her mouth hanging open. For a child less than a month old to receive a bar of gold as a gift was, to her, inconceivable.
Bishop had been watching the Prince of Darkness carefully, expecting Lenore to chase him off any minute. But she merely stared at Hiroshi stupidly, fascinated by the shiny objects in his hands. For the sake of the children, Bishop would have to take action.
He leapt from Lenore's lap to the edge of the playpen, using the rim to push off of for another powerful leap that propelled him to the doorway, where he latched onto Satan's face with claws fully extended. As the devil began squirming around while frantically shrieking to his friend to get Bishop off his face, Bishop sunk his claws in deeper and began biting at the fallen angel's nose.
Hiroshi dropped the gold bars and reached for the cat.
"Don't touch Bishop," Lenore commanded, standing up in the playpen. She was rather enjoying the spectacle of Satan dancing around wilding, shrieking like a banshee as a cat ripped his face to shreds.
"Kitten, you can't be serious. You precious feline shouldn't be allowed to get away with such antics. Someone has to put a stop to it," Hiroshi explained, tentatively reaching for the cat again.
"Lay so much as a finger on my cat and you can spend your birthday elsewhere by yourself," Lenore threatened.
"You wouldn't," Hiroshi sniffled. "You wouldn't throw your father out on his birthday. Would you? Surely no one's that heartless."
"I'd throw you out even if you were dying," Lenore retorted. "Tulia, tell the cooks to start preparing dinner. If you can get around Satan, that is."
Tulia dashed off, having to step from side to side as Satan continuously blocked her path in his battle with Bishop. It looked like an extremely odd dance where one partner was just a step behind the other. Though which partner had the lead was anyone's guess. Finally, Tulia danced her way around the devil and disappeared out the door.
"Oh, kitten, please let me help him," Hiroshi pleaded.
Lenore sighed inwardly. She supposed it would have to end at some point. "Bishop, enough," she said sternly. Though quite clearly reluctant about it, her cat retracted his claws and leapt off Lucifer's face, dashing back to the playpen and sitting in front of it facing the two immortals, his tail flicking back and forth at a dangerous pace.
"Master, are you alright?" Hiroshi asked worriedly, pulling out a handkerchief and trying to clean some of the blood off of Satan's face.
"Am I alright? That's the stupidest question I've ever heard!" Satan snarled, ripping the handkerchief from Hiroshi's hands and tending to his wounds himself. When he had cleaned up his face to his satisfaction, he conjured up a dagger and stabbed Hiroshi in the stomach. "Next time, don't listen to your daughter when she tells you not to help me."
Lenore ignored the whining response from Hiroshi as she stepped out of the playpen. She reached in and scooped up Thomas, settling him against her shoulder before reaching for Sonata. Before she could lay a hand on her daughter however, the girl was scooped up. She stood up and glared at Satan, who had used his dark powers to heal his wounds and was currently cradling Sonata in his arms.
"Hand her over," Lenore commanded, holding out her free arm to take her child.
"Can't her grandfather hold her for a bit? I'm only trying to help you out, Mommy," he replied by way of refusal to comply.
"One, I'm not your mommy. Two, you're not her grandfather. Three, if you don't hand her over, I'll let Bishop have another go at you," Lenore snapped.
"You'd have that wild animal attack while I'm holding your little girl? What sort of mother are you? Poor Sonata might get scratched, or I might drop her. Civilian casualties are a part of war, darling. Try to remember that," Satan advised.
"You're positively infuriating. And I don't like you," Lenore muttered bitterly.
"…and make sure you check the riggings regularly," Erik advised. "That seems to be a favorite of our antagonist, to make it appear a sandbag or backdrop that wasn't properly secured was the cause of what would be the death of Mademoiselle Turner if I weren't too intelligent to prevent it."
Certain he'd gone over everything and left Darius with sufficient instructions, Erik slipped away through the shadows. He walked through the walls until he came to the stables, where he slid out into the open, as no one was to be seen in the stables. Silently thanking Rosalyn's brilliant idea to have a peg set aside in the stables for his hat and cloak (the stable hands had been told to pretend the peg and any items that may appear upon it did not exist), Erik retrieved his things. He donned the wide brimmed felt hat, then flung the cloak around his shoulders, pulling it tight about his frame as he prepared to step out into the rainy, chilly November night.
Erik traversed the streets, getting thoroughly drenched and blaming Hiroshi for his problems. If the man hadn't gone and been born in November, Erik wouldn't have to be heading home right now in this downpour. Of course, Hiroshi had probably planned to be born in November, knowing that it was always a rainy month in Paris and would therefore aggravate Erik to no end due to the fact that he had to be out in this weather to get home so he could protect his wife from Hiroshi's molestations.
He entered the underground car park closest to the Opera House, paying for the use of the park before getting the car. This vehicle has certainly proven its worth. It was actually quite convenient to have a car, though he hated to admit that Lenore had been right when they had argued over obtaining a vehicle. He liked knowing that he'd be home in forty five minutes, and that Lenore only had suffer being alone with Hiroshi that much longer.
"I think your table's a bit shorter than normal," Satan commented, noticing that the legs had been sliced off mere inches from the tabletop.
"Apparently Gershom didn't like it where it was," Lenore replied. "Chairs are for diplomats and royalty, and only a complete idiot would dare use a chair when their social status did not permit it."
"Well, no harm done," Hiroshi shrugged, taking a seat on a cushion with his feet tucked under him. "Reminds me of the old days. If I were garbed in a kimono, I could believe I was back home in Japan. I haven't been in the motherland for centuries."
"Why not?" Lenore asked out of sheer curiosity as she took a seat, placing Thomas in her lap.
"Too many changes," Hiroshi sighed. "I suppose that can be said of the entire world, but somehow it doesn't bother me unless it's my homeland."
Lenore wasn't exactly sure what to say. Another consequence of being immortal, naturally. Having to watch everything you know and love change as you remain the same. It had to be a struggle to keep up with all the changes, especially when you were more than nine hundred years old. God, to think he was born some time in the twelfth century…I don't know if I could take it, all those years where things are irreversibly changing for the better or the worse.
"Exactly how old are you?" Lenore inquired, realizing that she only had a vague idea of his age.
"Nine hundred and seventeen today," Hiroshi said proudly.
"Wow, you're old," Lenore murmured without thinking.
"Old? I beg your pardon! I happen to be extremely young, thank you," Hiroshi sniffed.
"Not in my book," Lenore retorted. "In my book, you're an archaeological find."
"Who would've thought my own daughter would be so vicious to me on my birthday?" Hiroshi sniffled.
"I can't help it if the truth hurts," Lenore shrugged, smiling slightly. She liked picking on him in this fashion.
"I suppose I'll just have to punish you for being so brutal," Hiroshi smirked, leaning over and pressing his lips to hers.
Before Lenore could get her hands up to shove him off, Hiroshi was jerked away. Lenore gaped at Gershom, who had Hiroshi up against the wall with his scimitar at Hiroshi's neck.
"Villainous, wretched man!" Gershom hissed. "God shall smite you for lusting after another man's wife!"
"Gershom? I thought you left," Lenore said in bewilderment.
"Fear not, Cherith, I'll not let this villain escape punishment," the immortal promised her.
"Um, but that's really not necessary. I mean, I know it was wrong and all, but you don't have to kill him or anything."
"You have no say, Cherith. The law requires this man to be put to death," Gershom informed her.
"But…but…you can't kill him," Lenore argued.
"God has clearly decreed that a man who covets another man's wife is to be stoned to death. However, we are in short supply of rocks; all that we have in abundance is sand and water. Water cannot be wasted on this abomination, and it would be difficult to kill him with sand. So I must slit his throat," Gershom explained. "If it makes you feel uneasy, perhaps you should leave the tent for a few moments."
"I didn't mean it figuratively. I mean you can't kill him. Quite literally," Lenore said. "He's immortal."
"Cherith, I think you should lie down for a while. And drink as much water as possible. The heat of the sun has affected you terribly," Gershom proclaimed.
"Look, I know that God says he must be stoned to death, and I realize that we lack rocks to fulfill that sentence. But shouldn't we let my husband deal with him? After all, he's the one that's been wronged," Lenore pointed out, looking for any excuse to get Gershom to let go of Hiroshi. After all, the sick bastard was a sort of father to her…
Gershom looked at her for a moment, then glanced up at the ceiling. "The vultures do not circle 'round for your flesh yet. We shall let Erik have the pleasure of killing you," Gershom declared. He sheathed his sword and threw Hiroshi back to his seat at the table.
"Honestly Gershom, you don't have to be so rough," Hiroshi grumbled.
Gershom merely sat beside Lenore and glared at Satan and Hiroshi, making certain it was clear that anyone who wanted to touch her would have to go through him first.
Lenore looked up at Gershom with a smile. "You know something? I like you," Lenore informed him. "You're the nicest one of the bunch so far." She couldn't say he was the nicest immortal, nor could she say he was the nicest of Erik's relatives. So she put it as vaguely as possible while still trying to get her meaning across. He's the only relative of Erik's that I don't mind having around. Well, there's also Darius, I don't mind him…don't really know him, so…but Gershom's very delightful, that's for sure.
"Oh, I'm hurt, kitten," Hiroshi frowned. "You don't find me delightful?"
"Stay out of my head!" Lenore snapped.
"Why are you so terribly offended? You wouldn't be hiding anything from your father, now would you?" he asked with a devious grin.
"You're sick, you know that?" Lenore mumbled.
"No, I'm quite healthy," Hiroshi countered.
"You know what I meant, Jackass!" Lenore hissed.
"Name calling. Not very nice at all," Satan commented. "You reap what you sow. Did you ever consider that Hiroshi's tortures are direct results of your nastiness towards him?"
"No. Because the tortures began before my nastiness," she explained. "Thus, he is reaping what he has sown."
"That's not true," Hiroshi argued. "You hated me before I ever met you. Just because I'm Jack the Ripper. And honestly, who are you to pass judgment on someone you've never met? You can't make assumptions about people based on hearsay alone."
"Those murders aren't hearsay, they're fact," Lenore returned. "And you can't try to say that you didn't kill those women, as you've so frequently proclaimed yourself the culprit. It bothers me; it should bother you! Have you no shame?"
"You're not looking at it from the right perspective, kitten," Hiroshi chided. "You should be proud of your father, not ashamed. After all, is there anyone in this world who hasn't heard of me? I'd say that it's quite an accomplishment, being so well known."
"You need mental help," Lenore mumbled, shaking her head and deciding to let the subject drop.
Erik stood in the entrance hall, completely drenched and dripping water all over the marble floor. It had taken almost an hour longer than it should have for him to return home, due to fallen tree limbs obstructing the roads, and the thick mud that occasionally trapped the car, both incidents requiring Erik to climb out of the car into the rain and solve the problem.
"Master Erik, you're back early," Gordon stated as he took Erik's cloak and hat. Despite Erik's early return, the dog demon had been standing there waiting for him. He supposed it was just one of those things; dogs always seemed to know when the master of the house was about to walk in the door, and tended to be the first there to greet them.
"Where's Lenore?" Erik inquired, not wasting time explaining anything.
"In the North Wing Parlour," Gordon replied. "Master Hiroshi and Satan are with her, but don't worry. Master Gershom has been keeping on eye on the two of them to ensure nothing inappropriate occurs."
Well, that was certainly reassuring. Gershom would take it seriously if Hiroshi or Satan made a pass at Lenore. The parlour in the north wing…that's the one farthest from the entrance. No doubt Satan or Hiroshi planned that. Erik strode through the corridors as quickly as possible, only vaguely realizing that he was tracking mud through the house. About twenty feet away from the parlour, Erik clearly heard what sounded like a television program. So they brought a television along for entertainment…
The scene in the parlour surprised Erik. Satan was sitting in a chair, his appearance that of a teenage boy with spiked hair an eye-assaulting color of electric blue, and he was holding Sonata in his arms. Bishop was perched on the back of the chair, glowering sternly at the Prince of Darkness and prepared to attack if Sonata should request it. Gershom was sitting on the floor and intently watching the couch, though his eyes occasionally flicked to the 65 inch flat panel television on the wall. Hiroshi sat on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table before him. Lenore was stretched out on her back, her head in Hiroshi's lap, fast asleep. Thomas lay beside her, his eyes immediately turning to Erik and fastening on his father. The look he conveyed said that he was rather displeased with his current company and wished the immortals gone. Sanura was curled up next to Thomas, sleeping peacefully with her head resting against his shoulder.
Though Thomas was aware of Erik's presence, the immortals were oblivious to it. Gershom was so intent on watching Hiroshi's actions, and Hiroshi and Satan were watching whatever was on the television.
"Many happy returns to you this day, Hiroshi," Erik said, walking into the room and obtaining their attention.
"Erik, this man is guilty of lusting after Cherith!" Gershom exclaimed immediately, leaping to his feet and putting a hand on the hilt of his scimitar. "By law, he must be put to death."
"He's lusted after her for years, Gershom. I'm quite well aware of that," Erik replied. "As for putting him to death…he's not worth my time."
"But according to God's law"-
"I let him live, hoping that he'll see the error of his ways," Erik lied. "Perhaps, given time, he'll come to realize his mistake and beg God for forgiveness."
"I'll beg God for forgiveness when Hell freezes over," Hiroshi muttered.
"You should be ashamed, Erik," Satan commented, changing the subject of conversation. "Lenore's exhausted; she can't take care of these babies all by herself."
"That's true," Hiroshi agreed. "Maybe you should look into hiring a governess."
"And have to try and explain the demonic staff to a mortal?" Erik chuckled.
"Well, if those asinine bucks hadn't gone and gotten all the does pregnant, that wouldn't be a problem," Satan grumbled. "But I suppose I should've known better than to let young bucks in the same house as young does."
"If you can't hire a governess, there's always family. Why don't you give muffin a call, have her come over and help out?" Hiroshi suggested.
"Muffin?" Erik inquired, raising an eyebrow curiously. Which one of her family members had been given that nickname?
"Oh, you know...the one who co-managed the Opera House for the past twenty years or so…" Hiroshi said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture as if he couldn't possibly be bothered to remember Ember's name.
Erik contemplated it for a moment. It was actually a rather good idea, and it should have occurred to Erik to ask her sister to come help out. There was no disputing that the children left Lenore exhausted; the moment Erik returned from the Opera House every night, she crawled into bed without sparing even a moment to ask him how things had gone at work.
Lenore yawned and rolled over, deciding that, despite the fact that it was morning and about time for Erik to be leaving for work, she was going to get some more sleep. She had been woken a few times last night for feedings, but in between each, she had slept soundly. And yet, I feel as if I could sleep for another six or seven hours…God, children are exhausting. I suppose I should get up, can't leave them alone…
"Don't trouble yourself," Erik said from the bedside. She felt a kiss being placed on her cheek. "I'm leaving for work now; get some rest while I'm gone."
"Kids," Lenore replied, throwing back the covers and starting to sit up.
"I've had it taken care of," Erik informed her. "You'll only be bothered if they need feeding. Now rest." He pushed her back down and pulled the covers up over her shoulders, giving her another kiss before exiting the room.
Taken care of? Well, guess I should just go with it. I know he wouldn't leave Hiroshi or Satan watching over our kids. It's gotta be someone trustworthy, or he wouldn't even dream of going to work. Lenore closed her eyes and silently thanked God for this chance to get some more sleep.
She was having a splendid dream about beating the holy hell out of Satan and Hiroshi when she vaguely realized someone was trying to wake her up by very softly calling her name. Curse you, Tulia, she thought sleepily as she dragged herself back to consciousness.
"What is it?" she asked the mouse demon standing beside the bed, who looked terribly nervous at having to wake her mistress.
"Sonata, ma'am," Tulia said shyly, casting her eyes to the floor as if she felt deeply aggrieved at waking Lenore. The infant in question merely lay placidly in Tulia's arms, staring at her mother with what could only be termed as impatience.
"I may be your mother, but that doesn't mean I'll come running the moment you want something," Lenore informed her daughter as she placed a pillow beside her before taking the child from Tulia. "Patience is a virtue."
As soon as Sonata was settled on the pillow and Lenore's breast bared, the infant latched on and fed as her mother drifted back off to sleep.
"Somehow, I get the feeling that you hate me," Ember said as she returned the golden-eyed boy's stare.
Thomas, for his part, merely watched her with a look that conveyed utter dislike, holding his plush sheep closely. If he could speak, Ember had no doubt he would've told her to leave right this instant, thank you very much!
"I'm your aunt, kid. And you'd better get used to me, cuz I'm not going anywhere," Ember informed him.
Tulia appeared in the doorway, hovering there as if she wasn't sure she should get too close to Ember unless absolutely necessary. "Sonata and Madam Dessler are both asleep," she explained, her eyes on the floor. Her head suddenly jerked up, and her eyes were wide with fear. "I should've brought Sonata back! What if she wakes up, and then wakes Madam Dessler? I'm such a failure, I should've known better than to leave the baby with her!" Tulia sagged weakly, clutching at the door frame for support. "I'll get the birch for sure. I don't even want to speculate what Satan will do to me!"
Those fearful wailings were all delivered in a soft voice, which quite impressed Ember. How anyone could manage to be so afraid and keep their voice at such a low level at the same time was beyond her. Then again, demons were extremely talented at doing things normal people couldn't. Shaking her head at the girl's worrisome nature, Ember walked over and patted the girl on the shoulder in a consoling manner. "It's alright, it's not your fault," she tried to assure the mouse. "They won't give you the birch, and Satan won't lay a finger on you. I'll say I told you to leave Sonata with her."
"You would lie to get me out of trouble?" Tulia asked in bewilderment. "But I'm just a lowly little mouse."
"I'm sure I've lied for worse reasons than getting someone out of trouble before," Ember replied with a shrug. Ember walked over to where Thomas was lying in the playpen, leaning over the edge to make sure her face was clearly visible to the boy. "Give the staring thing a rest, Thom. I'm not going anywhere any time soon."
His response was to chuck his plush sheep in her face.
Picking up the sheep, which had fallen into the playpen after colliding with Ember's face, Ember sighed heavily. "And so it is that the feeling Thomas hates me is replaced with the knowledge Thomas hates me." She shook her head at the boy and proceeded to sit in the rocking chair close by. "Fine. Have it your way. But I'm confiscating the ammo."
"Um…ma'am…are you sure that's a good idea?" Tulia inquired hesitantly, taking a step into the room. "If he doesn't get his sheep back, he might cry."
"There's a saying about crossing your bridges when you get to them. We haven't reached the protestation of the confiscation of the sheep. Thus there's no point crossing a bridge we haven't come to, because we might not have to cross it when all is said and done. And if he doesn't care that he doesn't have his animal, then I'm not gonna hand it back to him to use as ammo."
Sanura sauntered down the hall at a moderate pace. Bishop was currently napping in the stables' hayloft with Fishy. So she had decided to find out what Thomas was up to. He was her favorite of the two kittens, and she tried to make sure she gave him as much time as she did Bishop. It wouldn't be very fair to spend more time with one or the other.
Everything in the hallway was as it should be; the sounds of mice scurrying around in the rooms off the hall were rather tempting, but she resisted the urge to torment them and continued on her way. She reached the nursery and trotted in past Tulia's feet. The mouse squeaked in a very satisfactory manner, leaping into the room and throwing herself as far from Sanura as possible. The woman, whom Bishop said was one of Lenore's littermates, was sitting in the rocking chair.
Sanura was about to jump into the playpen when she noticed that the aforementioned littermate was holding Thomas's friend, Sheepy. Flicking her tale in consternation, Sanura quietly informed Thomas that she'd get his friend back for him. She leapt onto the woman's lap and clamped her jaws tightly on Sheepy's ear, giving it a firm tug to pull it from the woman's grasp. Her attempt failed to dislodge the sheep entirely, but it did help to loosen Ember's hold.
"They got a new cat?" Ember said, asking Tulia to explain Sanura's presence.
"Master Khaldun left that beast with us," Tulia replied, her voice trembling. "Don't let it come near me, it'll eat me!"
"Well, you're certainly a pretty cat," Ember informed Sanura, stroking Sanura's back.
Sanura would not let that distract her, however. Giving another sharp yank, she managed to free Sheepy. Using her amazing speed, she leapt from Ember's lap into the playpen, landing next to Thomas and gently placing his friend beside him. Thomas immediately curled his forepaw around Sheepy's leg and hugged him close.
"Oh, figures. The cat's on his side," Ember grumbled.
Lenore walked down the hall with Sonata in her arms, feeling much better after having been able to sleep till noon without having to worry about the twins. Sonata had fed for fifteen minute, and then slept on the pillow next to Lenore for the rest of the morning. But now that she and Lenore were awake and moving down the hallway to the nursery, she was babbling happily, looking over the walls in fascination.
"Ember? What are you doing here?" Lenore said in surprise when she saw her sister sitting in the rocking chair.
"I'm being severely disliked by your son, that's what I'm doing," Ember retorted bitterly. "He threw his sheep at me, you know. You should teach him better manners."
Seeing his mother standing in the doorway, Thomas immediately spouted a variety of sounds delivered in a whining tone as he reached his small arms for her.
"Oh don't give me that," Lenore replied tiredly. "You were perfectly safe with Ember." Thomas continued his complaints, still reaching for Lenore as she came further into the room. A few feet away from the playpen, Sonata reached for Ember, her unintelligible baby talk sounding excited to see her aunt once again.
Ember rose and took the girl from Lenore with a smile. "At least one of your children likes me," she commented.
Lenore took the last few steps to the playpen and picked up her son with a sigh. "You're a pain, you know that? Ember's trying to help me out so I won't be so exhausted. The least you could do is act civil and not complain about it. So, no more sheep tossing, understand?"
"Aww, creampuff, you're overworking yourself," Hiroshi scolded.
"If you don't like me doing my homework, then try doing it for me," Tammy sighed, glaring at her books. There was a pile of homework assignments awaiting her attention as it was.
"You wouldn't learn anything if I did it for you," Hiroshi pointed out.
"That's true, but doing my homework for me could be very educational for you," Tammy replied with a smile.
"Oh? How so?" he inquired, giving her a suggestive smirk to indicate what he was hoping to "learn" by helping her with her work.
"You can do an experiment, like Raghnall, and chart how often the Shocky Spork is applied to your person when you do my homework versus when you don't do anything for me."
"Well that's certainly no fun," Hiroshi mumbled, pouting.
"Uh-huh. Right…SHOCKY SPORK!" Tammy gave a contented sigh as Hiroshi lay beside her computer chair, twitching from his electro-shock personality rehabilitation treatment. "Well, I'm failing one of my classes right now, and since I've got the chapter posted, I'd best go do the homework for that class now. Review, please."