The little fugitive cracks herself up laughing and buries her head into her uncle's chest. "Hide me, hide me!"
Connor turns with her just in time as Mercy peeks her head in. "Hey, guys. You haven't seen a little girl running around here, have you? She was supposed to pick up her toys downstairs before lunch, but she ran away instead."
All three of us men look stupidly at each other in attempted innocence before a muffled giggle makes Mercy peer suspiciously in Connor's direction. "Uncle Connor, are you hiding someone from me?"
He coughs and glances at her over his shoulder. "Well..."
Before he can stumble through an explanation, Leila pops up. "Here I am, Mommy!"
Little troublemaker will do anything if she thinks there's even a remote possibility of making us laugh. "Leilani," I interject, "go put your toys up like Momma told you to. You hear me?"
"Okay, Daddy. You come with me, 'Saya?" Wiggling her way down, she bats her baby blues at Isaiah. She's loved her big brother from the minute we brought him home a year ago.
"All right," he grumbles softly as he holds her hand. "I'll help youthistime, but you've got to do it yourself next time. You got that?"
"Okay," Leila solemnly promises. We'll see how long that sticks.
When they leave, Mercy snuggles under my arm for a quick hug. "Little toots is a mess. Are you staying over for lunch, Connor? I'm making barbecue chicken wraps."
"Thanks, Mercy, but I can't today. Got to get home and feed Toto and Bagheera.And Rosanna," he mumbles under his breath.
"Aww. Give them hugs from me, will you?" Mercy smiles softly and kisses my cheek before backing up to the doorway. "I'd better make sure Leila isn't driving poor Isaiah crazy."
"Rosanna." I prop an elbow on the dragon's snout. That's new. "Picked up another one on your delivery trip last week, huh? Is this a dog or a cat?"
A secretive smile covers his face. "Kitten. The sweetest one I've ever had. Has two babies that came with her, too."
"What does ole Baggy think about her? I've never seen a cat more jealous than him." It's true. He doesn't like to share Connor with Toto. Poor dog's been nose-swiped by his feline friend's claws too many times.
"Bagheera," he emphasizes, "is pretty fond of her. Follows her around the house and brings her dead animals as presents. And Toto loves her, too."
Animal corpses decorating his hallways. Hilarious. "Appetizing."
"At least I find them before they smell." Connor grunts in disgust.
"Better get her spayed before her next heat, especially with Bagheera around. Cute as they are, I'm sure you're busy enough without a passel of kittens underfoot."
A weird chuckle passes through his lips. "Oh, I won't be getting her spayed. Not when I plan on breeding her myself."
Whatishe talking about?Then it hits me. No...it couldn'tbe. "Rosanna's not a cat, is she?"
"No, but sheisa kitten. My kitten."
No. Not good. "Con, we can't both call our womenkitten. Just no way. And I called Mercy that first, so you'regonnahave to change."
Silent challenge dances in his eyes.
Damn.He's not going to back down and neither am I. "Fine. But when we're all together, we use something else. Agreed?"
"Agreed." We shake on it to seal the deal.
"Wait a second. You said two babies were with her. Human ones?"
If his smile were any bigger, it'd split his face. "Well, they're not exactly here yet. She's pregnant with twins."
"Twins? And they're yours?"
"They will be, if I have my way."
