One month later...

"Jeffery, stop it! I want to watch this movie!" She swatted him away as he tried to kiss her again.

"Why? You've seen it twice before!"

"Well, on those grounds, I've kissed you before, too!"

"Yes, but why miss an opportunity?" Chuckling, he grabbed her waist and pulled her to him, ducking her flailing arms. Leaning forward, he kissed her solidly on the lips, and dragged her back into the couch. Squirming, she pulled away.

"Jeffrey!"

"Yes?" He was grinning again.

"Will you please let me watch this movie?"

"Nope."

Tightening his hold on her, he kissed her again. Sighing in defeat, she relaxed and let him kiss her. Just as she was beginning to enjoy herself, her phone rang from its spot on the coffee table. Breaking away from Jeffrey, gasping for air, she answered the phone.

"Hello?" Breath, Skye.

"Skye? It's Batty." Breathing heavily, she smiled.

"Hi Batty. What's up?"

"Are you alright, Skye? You sound like you just ran a marathon."

"Well, I didn't. I've been right here all evening."

"Oh. Then Jeffrey's there. Do you two ever do anything but kiss?"

"Batty! You don't even have any proof that we were kissing!"

"Were you?"

"I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it might incriminate me."

"Ah, ha! I knew it. Anyway, Jeffrey's the one I wanted to talk to. Could you put him on?" Huffing, she thrust the phone at him.

"Hi, Batty."

"Yes, I know. ... No, Batty. I will not 'just marry her and get it over with'. ... Batty! Watch your mouth, young lady! ... Okay. What did you want to talk about, then? ... Really? When? ... That's wonderful! ... Yeah. Of course I'll tell her! ... Do you need a ride? ... Okay, then. See you soon!"

"What was that about?"

"Well, apparently, Batty has been accepted for a two week crash-course at the music conservatory here in Boston. You know, the one that I went to."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"Why did she tell you that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps she could have guessed your reaction..."

"When does she get here?"

"Friday. Iantha is driving her in."

"Fun!"

"Uh, huh. Now, where were we?"

Friday night...

"Here Skye, why don't you hold your little namesake, while we try and figure out this chord procession?" She gently laid the baby girl in her arms, and covered Skye's shoulder with a cloth.

"Honestly, Sarah. Can you please rename her?"

"It's a little late for that, Skye. She's borne the name Skye for three months now. It's as much her's as yours..."

Skye rolled her eyes at the stupidity of her best friends, and sat down to watch. Jeffery, Batty, Cooper, and Sarah were seated on chairs, trying desperately to put together an arrangement for their upcoming concert. Skye was, as usual, lost. Sighing as the discussion turned to melodic minors vs flats, she stood up and walked into the kitchen.

"Well, Baby Skye, it looks like its the two of us. What am I doing? Talking to a baby. Really, Skye!"

Shaking her head to clear it, she grabbed an apple off the counter and walked back into the living room. Biting into the apple, she surveyed the scene in from of her.

Jeffrey and Batty were seated at the piano. Jeffery held his clarinet in one hand, and was pounding out some notes on the piano keys with the other. Batty was looking extremely interested, and nodding her head to whatever he was saying. Cooper was seated on top of the piano, his violin caught between his chin and his shoulder, gesturing violently with his bow. Sarah was cross-legged on the coffee table, holding her flute in her lap and shaking her head emphatically at whatever her husband was saying. They had been in that position for two hours, and Skye was at her wit's end.

To make matters worse, she was on baby duty. She liked babies as much as the next person, but there was a limit to her friendliness. Especially to a three-month-old. What could you do with them? They couldn't talk, they couldn't walk, and they couldn't play.

Come to think of it, what could they do? Needless to say, Skye was bored. With nothing else to do, she resorted to pacing. Apparently, the little girl didn't like that. She started screaming louder than Skye had ever heard anything scream.

"Shhh! Shhh!" Great. Now what am I going to do? "Umm. How about a bottle?"

Grabbing one out of the fridge, she attempted to position it in the girl's mouth. It didn't work. What happened instead, resulted in Skye being covered from top to bottom in milk, and none of it reaching the one who needed it. Groaning, she placed the now-empty bottle in the sink. What else? Hating herself for doing it, Skye began to sing, "Rock-a-bye baby, in the tree - okay, okay! I'm stopping!"

The screaming had not gotten louder. Wondering why on earth Sarah and Cooper hadn't come rushing to her aid yet, Skye bounced a few times, doing some squats to calm herself. Much to her amazement, the baby stopped crying. Hesitantly, she stood still for a moment. Wincing, she bent her knees again, as the crying resumed. Up, down, up, down, up, down. Well, at least I'll get my work out in... After all, how long can this take?

Four and a half hours later...

"Thanks for coming! See you on Monday!"

As Batty shut the door behind them, Skye collapsed. Luckily for her, Jeffery caught her before she hit the floor. Her legs were shaking so badly, she couldn't stand upright. Every muscle in her body burned like it never had before.

"Skye? What were you thinking? It isn't natural to do squats for almost five hours straight! You're lucky you are stuck like that!" Scolding her gently, Jeffery carried her up to her bedroom. "Skye, why didn't you let us know? We could have stopped."

"I know, Skye. He's right."

"I tried. I tried seven times to get your attention. Do you know what the response was every time? 'Not now, Skye. We have a problem.' Well, now I have a problem. I can't stand up!"

"Shhh." Smoothly, he lowered her aching form to the bed, letting her lay there as he covered her with a blanket. "I'm sorry, Skye. Really. Next time just whack one of us in the head, okay?"

"Okay." she mumbled softly, already halfway asleep. Brushing her hair out of her face, he kissed her softly.

"Goodnight, Skye."

"Night." She was barely aware of he and Batty closing the door behind them, as they left her in the dark.

Sorry it's sort of short. :-) Thanks for all the reviews.

Mahogany night - Hahah Thanks :-)

Randomsarcasm42 - I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far. Collaboration sounds really fun! What did you have in mind? You aren't the first one to mention the other sisters. I think it's a really good idea but, you have been warned, it will stretch my literary talent to its farthest reaches. :-) In that note, what do you think should be up with Tommy? I haven't really decided for myself yet... Yes; the wedding. I have it planned for a year from this upcoming August AHPT (An Honorary Penderwick Time) but Im considering skipping over quite a lot of those un eventful months. What do you think? Hahaha. Jane and Cooper were actually my picks for those parts, too. :-) Thanks!

drawnoflife - Thanks. :-)

Platypus - Thanks for the feedback. And thanks for the compliment. :-)

The next one should be up soon, guys!