The Clocks

When the twins got home, they found their parents spending some rare quiet time together in the library, each of them with a book in their lap. Hibiki cleared her throat. "Mother, might we please have a few minutes of your time? Something has come up, and we will be needing your advice."

When Blair looked up, Yoko nodded her agreement. "Certainly girls. I'll be happy to."

She turned to her husband. "Hiroshi dear, it seems that our children have something they need to discuss with me. I shall return as soon as we're finished."

Hiroshi didn't even look up. He just waved one hand vaguely in her direction and continued reading. His casual inattention was just a bit irritating, but his ability to focus himself so intently on whatever task presented itself to him was one of the things Blair loved about him.

"Where should we talk girls?"

Hibiki answered, "Anywhere as long as we can be absolutely private I think. Do you not agree Yoko?"

Yoko nodded earnestly. "Yeah, that'd be best."

How interesting. They were clearly anxious about something but they didn't look as if it were anything...well...Blair wasn't sure.

"It's closest, so let's use your father's..." Before Blair could finish her sentence both girls vigorously shook their heads "no."

Blair was taken aback. "Oh? Might I ask you why?"

The girls had a hurried "twin" conversation, then Hibiki answered, "We are really not sure, it just feels wrong to talk about this particular matter in a man's territory."

She hung her head. "I am sorry Mother. I do not know any other way to say it."

Blair gathered them in her arms and squeezed. "You don't have to. If I wanted to talk about womanly things, I don't think I'd want to do it there either."

She cocked her head in a way that made it clear where Hibiki had gotten the habit. "I assume it must be something to do with something like that. Or am I mistaken?"

Again the girls shook their heads "no."

"Very well then, why don't we use the room we keep upstairs for when your grandmother Tsukimine returns to The City each Fall. It's private and has a strong 'feminine' vibe. Does that sound better?"

She was met by nodding heads and expressions of relief, so she turned and led the way up to the top floor. When they arrived and had closed the door, instead of sitting on a chair, Blair sat on the edge of the bed, sat one of the girls on either side of her, then wrapped an arm around each.

"All right. Tell me. All of it, even if it's terribly embarrassing. If you want me to help, I'll need full information in order to arrive at an appropriate conclusion." She laughed lightly. "Look at me, even with you I sound like a spy. Still, what I said was correct. Tell it in your own way and at your own pace."

The girls half-turned and wrapped their arms around their mother's waist, then burrowed their heads into her chest, just as they had when they were little. Suddenly, the words, "We're scared!" burst from their lips.

Blair let go of them and began to stroke their heads. "Well begun my dears. Now tell me what scares you and why. Once you've done that, we'll work out together what we can do about whatever it is, OK?"

They both nodded without lifting their heads. Yoko turned her head so her ear was against her mother's breast and she could hear her heartbeat. Then she began speaking about their day and ended with what had occurred between Genie and Mario and their part in it.

Half an hour later Hibiki finished with, "We were so sure that we knew all that we needed to know about getting along with Jason in that kind of way. We were absolutely certain that as long as we willed it strongly enough we could keep control of ourselves until it was time to get married."

Yoko continued the thought, "But we were wrong. Hopelessly wrong. You know that we can talk to Jason and Genie in "twin". But we also can talk privately with him and to each other, and even to Genie. She can't always control what she lets us feel yet. She needs more practice. So tonight all of us felt what she was feeling, though it was probably at least muted some. That was bad enought, but at the end we could feel Jason too. He wanted ta hold us so badly that it was almost killing him."

Wiping a tear from her eye she whispered, "But you know him. He never said a word about it, and by the time we were heading home, he'd completely shut down the channel so we couldn't feel him at all." Then she sighed, almost a sob, "And not feeling him is incredibly lonely, even if he's standing right in front of us."

Closing her eyes, she tried to get closer to Blair than she already was. "It's not fair. It's not supposed to hurt this much when you're in love with someone!"

There was silence for almost a minute. Blair's eyes were unfocused as she stared in the direction of the ceiling. She was still thinking when Hibiki began to speak again. She wasn't quite finished after all. "Mother, we need to get married, as soon as it is legally possible. Otherwise I think we shall fall apart. Being separated emotionally is worse than being separated physically."

She lifted her face, with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please. Please find some way to help us!"

Hibiki once again buried her face in Blair's chest. Blair continued to stare with unseeing eyes toward the wall across from the bed.

Things were worse than she'd even allowed herself to imagine. In her work, she'd had to deal with situations where closely bonded twins had been separated and had then either gradually gone insane or died suddenly. What terrified her was that this time it was her own children who were showing the exact same signs that the others had in the very early stages of their breakdowns.

She forced herself to dredge up pertinent facts and options. It was true that when the twins turned 15 next month they would technically be of an age to marry. The only extra step beyond the usual was that two priests had to agree that there was a sound reason for marrying a year earlier than the usual minimum age. The actual reasons didn't have to be given, though it was often assumed that the girl had gotten herself pregnant. Any whispered innuendo to that effect would evaporate within a few months, just as they had after Paolo and Sara had been married so quickly and "everyone" had leapt to the conclusion that she was expecting.

That part was doable. There were more than two priests serving at the Little Cathedral or the Church of the Placid Heart who she was sure would help them. From what Sara had told her, except for a few hopeless curmudgeons, almost all of them were well pleased with her and Paolo and would be more than happy to assist their family. The problem was Jason. The law was extraordinarly clear when it came to specifying the youngest age at which a male could be wed and it was 17, 16 if, like with girls, two priests certified that it was necessary. The problem was that Jason had just turned 14.

The option of having him move in with the girls didn't exist. They'd be found out, probably within days, and that would be the end of not only them but their entire families. There'd be no way for Henrietta to get them out of it either. She might even support their prosecution. There was a good reason for that particular law.

Then it came to her. In matters of marriage, Church Law trumped Secular Law. She knew that she was grasping at straws, but there very likely wasn't anything else viable. First thing tomorrow she'd arrange to see Paolo and, later, Bishop Lundgren at The Church of the Placid Heart. After that, depending on how things went, she might also need to consult with Archbishop Comfort. She was well known to have a kindly temperament. There was a strong possibility that she'd support them, as long as there was some sort of precedent, especially as she was herself a twin and had two sets of twins of her own.

It might just turn out that all the arranging of the old church records that Paolo and Jason had done would be useful. She had no idea as to how, but, at least for now, it seemed like she had no other viable option.

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Ailin withdrew his mind from the bedroom. He'd done what needed doing, which meant it was time to leave them alone. While he might need to watch some fairly intense, intimate, and even -- rarely -- horrific situations, when it got to the point that he was no longer needed, he withdrew. One thing he definitely was not was a voyeur.

Earlier tonight, in the alley, had been just as much fun as it was necessary. That Hibiki child really was a sensuous creature, and he'd found himself wanting to purr along with her. Still, males couldn't purr, and that wasn't going to change. All in all, Yoko was much like her sister when it came to her sensuality. She was just more circumspect in how she expressed herself, which was why Ailin had used Hibiki to deliver his message to Mario. It was critical that he and Eugenia be married and not runaways or disgraced by an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Such might be tolerated, or, for that matter, common in rural villages, but not in a prominent family in a city. Here it would ruin the reputations of both families, and that would also destroy what his friend's daughter had been working on these past 700 years.

Ailin supposed that he couldn't blame "Lady Blue." For her species, she was still only in early adolescence herself, and she had no personal experience with romance even though chronologically she was incredibly older than Ailin. It would be totally unreasonable to expect that she could forsee how strongly and suddenly romantic feelings could rear up and crash over you.

It was her good "luck" that her parents were here, even though Blue didn't know it, and Ailin would never betray that trust and tell her . If you knew that your parents were watching your every move, you'd both resent it and be distracted. Right now distraction would be disastrous, which meant that Ailin's interventions needed to be few and subtle. Fortunately for everyone involved, he had long ago mastered "subtle" in all of its nuances. Even so he'd leave the really complicated manipulations to Blue's mother.

Blair had been nudged toward the only possible solution to the twins' and Jason's situation. Ailin updated Mimi with the latest developments and explained that he wouldn't need her assistance that night after all, which meant that Mimi was now free to get back to her game with Miranda. It was a game where there was no winner or loser, but like all of the best games, it was incredibly entertaining.

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The next morning Blair received a note from Sara that gave her a perfect excuse to cancel all her appointments. It seemed that Sara might be pregnant, and she wanted her mother's expert opinion.

Blair arrived at the Donetti's home precisely at 10 a.m. and was admitted by Mimi, who had a knowing smile on her face. Miranda was already out and about which meant that Blair needn't pause to engage in the social niceties. Mimi led her to Sara and Paolo's room, knocked, and then opened the door. As Blair passed by, Mimi whispered, "Congratulations."

Well, that answered that. How Mimi had known, Blair had no idea. She did know that Mimi wasn't your usual maid. In that, Ailin was almost her twin even though they looked nothing alike and weren't even remotely related.

Speculation on that would have to wait. Other matters were much more urgent, starting with giving her daughter a big hug. Even though they lived only a few hundred meters apart, they rarely had any time alone. "Obviously I received your note. Rather than rambling on about how you feel, or don't feel, or why you think you may be pregnant, let's just cut to the chase shall we? Strip!"

Sara backed off and stared at her mother in disbelief. "What did you say?"

Blair cocked her head. "I'd think that the person who had a perfect score in the City Exams would know what the word means. Perhaps I was wrong? It means remove your clothes, though, in this case, you need only remove what you're wearing above your waist."

Sara continued to stare at her in shock.

Blair stepped forward. "Do I have to do it for you?"

"No Mother. Very well, but I want an explanation afterwards."

"That's not only fair, but I'd intended to do so from the beginning. Now get to it."

It should be understood that Sara was a very modest person, and the idea of removing her clothing, even in front of her mother, when they weren't about to bathe, or try on a new outfit, was something that she found unsettling.

When she'd finished Blair stepped forward, bent over and stared at Sara's breasts. "Hmmmm." Then she reached up and gently pinched Sara's left nipple.

"OUCH! Mother what in the world?!"

Blair nodded, smiled, then hugged her daughter, only mildly put off by Sara covering both breasts with her hands. "Congratulations my darling, you're definitely pregnant."

"What? How? I don't understand. How do you know?"

Blair handed Sara her clothes and waited until she was dressed again. Then she waved Sara to a chair and seated herself as well. "One of the very first signs of pregnancy, and it can appear long before you begin to swell, or feel the baby kicking, is that many women start to develop large, visible veins in their breasts. You definitely have those. In addition, your nipples sometimes become very sensitive. I barely touched you, yet it was painful."

Blair smiled at Sara. "So, yes indeed, congratulations are in order. When was your last monthly?"

"Uh, probably around the end of March or early April. We've been so busy that I lost track."

Blair nodded. "Well, we can't be absolutely certain then, but you'll probably be due around the middle of January, assuming that you don't lose the baby."

"MOTHER! How awful."

Blair fixed Sara with a piercing stare. "It's reality Sara, something every mother knows, or learns. Not all pregnancies go well, especially first ones. It's not at all unusual to miscarry some time in the first three months.

"Of course we'll hope that everything goes well. Usually it does. That doesn't mean that we should turn a bilnd eye to the possibilities. That's why you need to take VERY good care of yourself from now on. Which means plenty of rest, proper foods, and absolutely NO wine or beer, at all. I don't know why, but women who drink during pregnancy have a high incidence of miscarriage, or stillbirth, or have babies that have 'problems' with how they look or how they grow. Some look normal but just aren't 'right' somehow, if you take my meaning.

"Which means you'll drink tea, and nothing else but tea, until the baby is born. After that you may have either that or milk while you're nursing."

She wagged a finger at her daughter, "And no letting ANYONE talk you into drinking by saying something like 'surely just one won't hurt'. They can't know that, and I can't see you putting your baby at risk just because some idiot who doesn't know what they're talking about tries to force you to drink."

She smiled at Sara. "As much as anyone in the world, I know how strong-willed you can be when you put your mind to it. That's what you need to be. No matter what or who, don't let any one or any thing put your baby at risk."

Unconsciously Sara wrapped her arms around her lower abdomen and whispered, "No Mother. That's something I'll never let happen."

Blair stood and hugged Sara again. "So now 'grandma' gets to repeat herself. Congratulations. We'll have a lot to discuss as things go along, but that's a good thing. It means I'll get to spend more time with you." She looked down at Sara fondly. "I've missed you, you know. Sometimes very much."

Sara threw her arms around her mother's hips. "I've missed you too Mama."

For a while, they just held each other. Then Blair stepped back and seated herself again. "Since I'm here, there's one not so little thing I could use your help with too." She explained the situation with the twins and Jason, though without going into all the details about the probable outcome if a solution were not found. The last thing someone newly pregnant needs is a severe emotional trauma.

Blair wrapped things up with, "I'm sure you can see what I'm driving at. I need Paolo to search the old church records to try to find some kind of precedent. Almost anything will do. I think he has a greater chance of success than any of the older priests because he just inventoried and cataloged so much of the archives.

"Do you think he'll be able to find time?"

Sara nodded enthusiastically. "When I tell him why I need the information, I expect that I'll have to restrain him from exhausting himself."

She smiled fondly. "He's never happier than when he's helping someone. If the people he is helping are family members whom he loves, well, he'd probably be willing to take the cathedral apart one stone at a time."

Blair smiled back. "You found a good one, didn't you?"

Sara nodded again. "Yes Mother, I really did."