Part 110

The evening of May 1st ended with the party bus rolling into town. Everyone was exhausted from traveling so long. They did the usual drop-off route.

When Ryan and Johnny walked through the doors of the dance studio, they saw Klaus was just finishing up a personal practice session. "Hey sir, we're home."

Klaus nodded. "Good, very good. I trust everything went well after that debacle over the holiday? Miss. Tibault and her progeny are in their apartment, safe and sound."

The tiger smiled. "Thank you, sir." He carried the suitcases while Johnny carried a sleeping Neo on his back.

They were nearly to the stairs when he ran in. "Wait! Ryan! Johnny!" He huffed and puffed. They turned around. "While you were gone, the lady from the orphanage came. She asked me to have you call her when you got back. She couldn't find your number."

Johnny gaped. "What? Why? Is it Neo? They can't have him back. He's ours."

The monkey shook his head. "I don't know… I really don't. She just said it was very important."

Ryan nodded. "We'll go call her now. Thank you, sir."

Upstairs, Johnny took Neo to his bed and covered the child up. He looked lovingly at his son. He was nervous. Why would Ms. Treble ask them to call.

"Hey, Ms. Treble. I'm sorry if I caught you at meal time, it's Ryan Hunter-Green. Oh yeah, it went great. We just got home and got your message," Ryan said as he paced the kitchen. "Is everything okay?" He stood up straight. "What? Yes, we can come right away. Let us get someone to stay with Neo, he's asleep. We'll be there as soon as possible." He hung up. "She wants to talk to us."

"About what?" Johnny asked.

"She just said it was important. I don't think they want Neo back though, otherwise she'd have asked us to bring him with us," Ryan pointed out. He sent Klaus a text.

Ten minutes later, the monkey was sitting on their couch and watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and they were on their way. On the way, they posed theories as to the reason for the summons. Each one more implausible then the last.

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When they got home, the piglets didn't need any encouragement to go to bed. They were practically asleep on their feet.

At 7 months old, the quints were now each in their own small crib. Rosita smiled down at them. "They're getting so big."

"I can't believe how close they are to walking. Did you see Little Buster trying to stand the other day?" Norman laughed. "Soon we'll be chasing them like we do the rest." He hugged her. "Have you given any more thought to Mother's Day?"

She nodded. "Well, Gunter and Eddie are conspiring with the others on some kind of surprise so let's leave the evening free. What if we just went to breakfast. We'll ask Hobbs to babysit. It'll be just the two of us." She took his hand and squeezed.

Her husband leaned in and kissed her. "Come on, Mama Pig, let's go relax. Would you like a foot rub?" He asked.

She smiled. "How did you know?" She kissed him back and let him lead her from the nursery.

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"Big Mama!" Porsha and Nooshy jumped up to hug Suki as she entered the living room with the baby carrier. Marcus carried her suitcases in behind her.

Suki put the twins down to hug her daughters. "I missed you too. Oh, Porsha, Olivia hasn't stopped emailing me." She laughed. "Begging me to get you to reconsider their firing. I told them that since I no longer work for the company, it's completely out of my hands. You know, you didn't have to give me a pension."

Porsha shook her head. "Of course I did. Big Mama, you didn't quit. You worked your butt off for my dad for years and now you are retired. That's how I see it." She rationalized. "Daddy would want me to make sure that you were taken care of."

Marcus nodded. "In this case, I agree with you, Porsha." He was a prideful man but this was about more then money. "It sends a message, Suki. Loyalty and hard work are rewarded."

The wolf nodded. "That's what Nooshy said." She looked at the younger girl. "The rest of the board only got a severance check. "Please, Big Mama, let me take care of you. You deserve it."

Suki sighed. "Alright, sweetheart. I appreciate your reasoning. I am so proud of you. You were so afraid you wouldn't know what to do but I think you underestimate yourself. You have business management in your blood. Trust your new CEO, trust your sister and other advisors and you will redeem this company." She hugged her again.

Nooshy bent down and picked up Luke. "And how about you two. Did you miss your big sister."

The boy-pup cooed up at her and smiled. Marcus saw and gasped. "That's his first smile! He must have missed you."

Suki ran over. "Oh let me get a picture." She began taking photos with her phone. "Uploading to our online baby book. I never imagined being a mom would feel so good."

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Ash and Tyler each carried a porcupette into the apartment on their backs. They carefully placed them into their beds.

They had no sooner tucked the twins in when the call box beside the door went bing-bong. Ash looked at Tyler. "Are you expecting anybody?"

He shook his head. "I was contemplating ordering Chinese but I hadn't done it yet." He got up and went to check the monitor connected to the front lobby security camera. He groaned. "Get the kids, we're sneaking out through the basement. It's your mom and I guess that guy must be your dad."

Ash shook her head. "Where do we go? How do they know where I live? How did they know we were home?" She trembled. "Were they watching for us?"

Tyler took her hand. "It's going to be okay. We'll go back to my place tonight. They can share my bed, we can sleep on the couch. Tomorrow, we'll figure something else out. We're not even going to engage with them." He promised her. He grabbed the twins each a couple changes of clothes. He and Ash shouldered the twins and their go-bags before slipping down to the walkout basement and outside through the sliding glass door of the community recreation room.

Fortunately, he was parked deep in the parking lot and the couple was facing the inner door of the lobby. Tyler rolled his eyes hard. "I think we might want to talk to Clay. You said he offered to help."

She sighed. "I might but damn… I didn't want to ask him. I wanted to deal with them myself." She said.

The orangutan thought about it. "Maybe that's still possible. You could call the cops and have them charged with harassment. You've already told them twice not to contact you, they've tried to take our kids, and now this."

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Ms. Treble was getting the children settled in for individual reading time before bed when the doorbell rang. She hurried and opened it. "Thank you, Misters Hunter-Green, thank you for coming on short notice. How is little Neo doing?"

Ryan smiled. "He's doing great. We just got back from a working vacation in Texas. He got to meet my family." He and Johnny let her lead them inside.

"Is everything alright, Ms. Treble?" Johnny asked. "You said it was urgent."

She nodded. "Yes and I'm so sorry to spring this on you but… almost a week ago… Something was left on my doorstep…" The otter led them up to a nursery. "And… I think it's only right that I offer her to you first." She reached into a crib and pulled out a tiny baby clouded leopard. "She was left in the exact same manner that Neo was and…" She pulled two rolled-up letters from her pocket. "The top is the one I found with Neo."

Johnny read the first. "Please take care of my precious child. Find him a loving home. I love him but I cannot care for him." He looked over his husband's shoulder.

Ryan read his aloud. "Please take care of my precious child…" He shook his head, taking Johnny's and comparing them. "Except for the pronouns, it's the same message. It's the same handwriting." He looked at the baby. "She's… this must be from his mother… and…"

Eliza Treble nodded. "Exactly. She's his sister."

Johnny stared with awe at her. "May I hold her?" He asked, reaching out. She fit perfectly in his arms. "Ryan?" He showed the baby to him. "What do you think?"

He blinked. "I hate to make a choice like this without Neo, I don't see there's a choice to make. She's clearly supposed to be ours." He took her from Johnny and stroked her cheek, looking down into her baby-blue eyes. "Does she have a name?"

She shook her head. "If you want her, you can give her whatever name you want? She's practically a newborn."

Johnny had to wipe his eyes. "Hi there, sweetheart. Yes, we want her. Please. We will love them both so much."

They went to her office. "You simply need to give her a name and sign the forms and she's yours."

Ryan thought. "We have Neo… how about Noelle?"

"Neo and Noelle," Johnny tried the two names together. "I like it. Noelle Hunter-Green."

On the way home, Ryan smiled down at their new family member. "I guess we need a crib and other baby stuff."

Johnny thought about the situation. "Well, we have her baby basket which will suit for tonight. And Ms. Treble gave us enough supplies to carry us a day or three. Or she could share our bed. We'll need to wear our jammies tonight. Tomorrow we'll go baby shopping."

They went up to their apartment and found Klaus passed out on the couch. Neo was still asleep. Ryan laughed and quietly covered his teacher with a blanket. "Let's go to bed. What do you say Noelle? Want to go to bed? Tomorrow you'll have your own room and a new crib."

Johnny looked at the notes again. "Why would a loving mother find herself in this position twice?" He asked. "Unless it wasn't her choice…" he pulled off his shirt and pants and put on his jogging pants and a tight white shirt.

Ryan changed into his own pjs. "Maybe we… should see if we can find her. I don't know how but… maybe…"

"Maybe…" the gorilla yawned and leaned into his lover. "Let's thank about it. Maybe we can ask Miss. Crawly. She found Calloway after all. I just hope Neo understands. He might be afraid that we're replacing him." He carefully positioned the basket in the middle of the bed. "Good night, Noelle"

The two men shared a chaste kiss and laid on their pillows. Sleep overcame all three within minutes.

AN: This chapter will likely get a revision or two later, I'm just exhausted and ready to end it for now. Next Chapter: Neo meets his sister. Tyler and Ash come to a realization and make a plan to handle her parents.