A1386G Ch.19

I had just barely survived a Hanukkah at my girlfriend's when I made the mistake of inviting her over for Christmas Eve. It had been a polite offer because she and Honesty had never been to one, and neither of them had met Kelly yet. Of course, Rebecca accepted. The language that came out of Kelly's mouth when I told her that was impressive, especially because we still had a week to go. Apparently, adding two people with very different dietary restrictions onto the sixteen already attending on a week's notice was too much to ask. Still, by the time Rebecca and Honesty showed up at the house in a borrowed sedan, Kelly was ready.

I, on the other hand, was not ready in the slightest.

My parents and sisters were off doing their own things when the two of them showed up. In the case of Anne this meant terrorizing everyone foolish enough to step in her kitchen, including her mother, and the maid the governor had gotten mom and dad to replace Anne. So it had fallen to me to watch the four year old redhead the governor had also saddled us with at the same time. I would have pawned that off on Marie, but she was currently asleep and Ruby was absolutely terrified of her for some reason. I understood why she didn't like Constance, because my sister was a clingy alcoholic, but Marie was a much easier person to get along with. So, while Marie napped in my bedroom, Ruby played some rhythm game Anne bought her in my sitting room on low volume while I half-watched, and joined in when prompted.

Which is how my girlfriend and her maid found me dancing with a four year old to the original Saturday Princess Show theme, in all its eighties technopop glory.

Our new maid Gem, who had guided them up to my room, had a smile carefully concealed behind a hand, while Rebecca just giggled a bit and Honesty kept up her usual exasperated expression even as she put down their overnight bags. We kept dancing until the song ended, and then Rebecca bent down and tried to speak to Ruby

"Having fun?" She asked. That was a mistake. Ruby immediately dropped the controllers in her hand, which dangled from her wrists as she hid behind me.

Gem quickly apologized for her daughter. "Miss Rebecca, I hope you'll forgive my daughter. She's shy around strangers."

"That's fine. Honesty's little sister was just like her at that age, and Honesty was pretty shy as well. They grow out of it." Rebecca said, as she reached in her purse. "Is she allowed to have sweets?"

"Only a couple, and they can't have pear juice or artificial sweeteners ma'am." Gem supplied. "We wouldn't want Ruby spoiling her dinner, especially because Miss Anne is making it."

My girlfriend nodded, and fished out a packet of candy coins. "Ruby, I have some gelt," She said. "Do you want some? They're chocolate."

That did get Ruby to come out from behind me, and she accepted a couple of the coins from my girlfriend after glancing up at her encouraging mother.

"Honesty, can you go get us some drinks? I'm sure Gem needs to get back to work, and my fridge is empty." I said, cursing my squatter of a sister. "And Gem, you can go, we'll keep an eye on Ruby until dinner."

"Mister Petersen, what would you like me to get?" Honesty replied.

"Juice or water for Ruby, a cucumber lime glucolyte for Marie, and one lime phosphate for me." I looked over at Rebecca, "Actually, I think Rebecca wants one as well. And then get yourself whatever."

"Actually, I'll have iced tea." Rebecca replied. "Good guess on the phosphate, but it's two."

"I try," I replied, as I watched Ruby scurry back to the couch while her mother and Honesty left the room.

"Anyway, where is Marie?" Rebecca asked insistently.

"She was feeling tired again, so I told her to take a nap before dinner." I replied, not mentioning that it was probably still morning sickness.

"Nausea?" Rebecca replied.

I nodded.

"Poor girl." Rebecca continued, "Still she's been a real trooper about it, I offered her some of my nausea meds and she wouldn't take any."

Probably because she doesn't want to do anything to put the twins at risk. "It's probably a diet thing," I lied as I joined Ruby on the couch. "You know how she is about meat."

"Are you sure she's okay? She's been absolutely ravenous when she isn't sick, and that's not normal." Rebecca said as she sat down next to me.

That just made Ruby cling to me like a security blanket, so I reflexively put an arm around her. It didn't help her calm down immediately, but some gentle words and the promise of candy eventually did the job. I had to pretend to not be annoyed by the chocolate that Ruby got on my shirt as part of it, but I don't think she noticed.

"I wasn't expecting you to be so paternal." Rebecca said, as she leaned over to look at Ruby carefully unwrapping a coin before taking a bite out of it.

"I was just as surprised as you are. I guess it's just a habit from Marie." I replied. It didn't hurt that it gave me a good excuse for staying as far from Anne as I could. Also, Ruby was cute when she wasn't in the middle of a panic attack.

"Anyway, you didn't give me a straight answer earlier. Is the Governor showing up?" Rebecca asked. "If she is, I need to prepare myself."

"She doesn't approve of mom's lifestyle, so she doesn't set foot in our house. I think the last time she even got within five miles of it was for a campaign event. Why would you need to prepare yourself? She likes you." I replied.

"Steven, the last time we met she called me a Jewess to my face, said she was disappointed I wasn't a real Belle Juive because I was a brunette and should get some hair dye for a better effect, and then suggested that if I was going to be Honesty's Salome, I should've tried seducing Constance." Rebecca said, exasperatedly. "I had to look the last one up!"

"Like I said, she likes you." I replied. If she didn't like her, the Governor would have just sniffed and told me to get a better wife before doing the over-under on sending her a scholarship to Someplace Very Far Away instead of just warning off her pet leg-breaker's niece.

Ruby, semi-oblivious to all of this, just kept unwrapping and eating gelt.

"Steven."

"She also said you'd make a good wife, and should stop saving yourself for marriage to lock me down before someone else did." Which had been the strangest thing she had said to me that evening without including the phrase carnal knowledge.

"I know that."

Marie took that moment to shuffle across the hallway to the bathroom without acknowledging either of us or Ruby, and shutting the door behind her. Judging by the half-empty bottle of glucolyte in her hand, she was definitely still nauseous.

"And you're sure she's fine?" Rebecca asked, as she avoided mentioning the by now very obvious bump Marie was sporting.

"Mom thinks it'll pass soon, it has gotten a lot better."

"Poor thing," she replied, visibly trying not to roll her eyes at the deception.

I looked over at Ruby, who was currently sitting very still out of fear, but also still had a chocolate smear around her mouth. "Ruby, since Marie is up, you can turn the volume back up on your game a little." I said, as I watched the child's eyes shoot open.

Sure enough, Ruby got down from the couch, found the remote, and was back to playing her game in record time.

"Anyway, what is dinner going to be like?" Rebecca asked.

"The food is going to be Turkey, stuffing, cranberry relish, a rib roast, a bunch of vegetables and casseroles and some pies." I replied, as Marie left the bathroom and started waddling toward the couch. "But Rupert also shows up with his family, and I think his mom is bringing her girlfriend this year, so it's going to be the two of them, Rupert, Janice, and Kat. We pretty much all eat together in the formal dining room, and then a bunch of people get drunk and start singing carols-"

"That's not too bad." Rebecca said.

"-And then we beat Tio de Nadal, he poops candy, and we have a yule log." I finished as Marie sat down next to me.

Rebecca eyed Marie's belly through the dress she was wearing, even as the blonde sort of fell into my side and crawled under my arm.

The three of us ended up sitting on the couch cuddling for probably two songs on Ruby's game before Honesty returned with our tray of drinks, followed by Anne shortly afterward dragging her back down to the kitchen to cook.

On the way out Anne called out. "Dinner is at five, and you all better be ready by then, including Ruby."

"Then give me Honesty back at four." Rebecca shouted back.

"I will." Anne replied.

Honesty returned to the room at 3:45 along with Gem. Gem quickly collected her recalcitrant child, and shepherded her down the stairs to the quarters. Honesty ended up crashing out in my armchair for a moment, and was doing a pretty good job of not crying. She still had a profoundly defeated look about her, with sagging shoulders and a downcast expression.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Honesty shook her head.

"Was it Anne or Kelly?" Rebecca asked as she got up, and went to sit on the arm of my chair. I winced a bit as I heard it creak, but it was replaceable.

"Anne, Mistress. Even Miss Kelly was avoiding her. Everything I did was completely wrong, even when I followed her instructions exactly." Honesty cried.

Rebecca pulled her into a hug. "Huppa, It's all good now, and she was probably under a lot of stress. So we're going to shower and get ready for dinner, where you can wear that outfit you bought. I'll talk to her about what she did to you, but first we need to eat."

Honesty nodded as Rebecca broke off the hug.

"Steven, where's a shower we can use?" Rebecca said as she sat up from my poor chair.

"Just use mine, it's right here." I replied, as I pointed past the two of them at the most nondescript door in my room.

Because said bathroom was tiny, Rebecca and Honesty ended up having to take turns showering and getting dressed, while Marie and I got ready in the gym down the hall.

As we did, I thanked my mother for insisting on installing a full shower in the gym. Also, that she was enough of a pervert that she installed smart glass on the gym's windows, including the door, but not on the glass shower stall itself. So, as Marie stood in the shower, and occasionally needed help reaching more difficult spots, I was lucky enough to watch water and soap cascade down her body. Even now at about four months she looked large, the twins cantilevered out notably, and her cup size had gone up again.

"Master, I think tonight's the night." Marie said as she shampooed her hair.

"I think everyone knows by now. It's not like you have the frame to hide it." I replied, as I checked over my outfit one more time.

"Yes, but they don't know the sexes, and I just got the results back from my eighteen-week tests." Marie replied as she started rinsing her hair out.

"Good news?" I asked.

"Extremely. Both of our little girls are models of health, and they're big, especially for twins." She said, as she turned off the water.

"Girls?"

"Identical twin girls. Miss Constance is probably going to freak out over it." She replied as she started toweling off. "Master, did I tell you what she said to me in the mall the day after you got me?"

"I know it was enough to get you two thrown out of the store, but I don't remember the rest."

"She said she wanted a pair of twins out of me that she could play with."

"Huh." I replied as Marie and I swapped places in the shower.

I didn't need any help reaching anywhere, and as quickly as I washed, Marie dressed. By the time I started toweling off, she was already in her hose and putting on a wrap dress I didn't recognize.

"Is that new?" I asked as I toweled off my hair.

"Your mother ordered it for me, Master. She said it would be a good maternity dress because I could just let it out." Marie replied, as she applied her foundation.

"It looks good on you." I observed as I put the towel on its rack, and reached for my underwear.

"And you'll see if it looks good off me tonight Master?" Marie said playfully.

"Of course."

Eventually, with Marie and I fully dressed and spruced up despite some distractions, we went downstairs to meet up with everyone. The foyer was actually full for the first time in months. It was populated by a dozen people spread across the room in various conversations or just hovering around the snacks that had been put out. Rebecca was in a conversation with my mother, Rupert's mother and her girlfriend about something and occasionally laughing. Ruby was clinging to my father, both of them eying the cheese spread. Constance and Rupert held Kat and watched the conversation, and Grace slept on the couch. There was also the stream of items being taken across the foyer from the kitchen to the ballroom and sometimes back again, mostly by Gem, Jimmy, and Honesty, with Kelly, Janice and Anne occasionally contributing.

I sidled up to Rupert, who was bouncing a burbling Katerina in his lap, and I asked a question I probably could have phrased better:

"So, how is fatherhood treating you?" I said, as I noticed Constance glancing past me toward Marie's bump.

"Pretty well." Rupert said as Kat grabbed a dreadlock. "Kat's sleeping pretty consistently now, and everyone's been a big help for Janice. Constance has been weird about it though."

"I have not been weird about it." My sister replied in a huff. "She's adorable, and it's fun to dress her up."

"You decided she was going to call me daddy without asking me or Janice." Rupert said.

"Well it was going to be you or Jimmy, and Grace would kill me if it was Jimmy." She grumbled.

"Right." Rupert replied.

"And it's not like we're her actual parents. Ultimately we can and do need to give Kat back to Janice since she is her baby. But we give her the support she needs to be a good mother, like a master or mistress should." Constance said, as she looked at the maid's daughter.

"So it's not too bad?" I asked.

"Oh no, Kat's fussy at night and a terrible sleeper if nobody's holding her, and the baby food Cinnamon recommended makes her poop smell terrible." Constance stated disinterestedly.

"But you want more kids anyway." Rupert said, smiling at his semi-adopted child.

"Yes. I want more." Constance replied, before being interrupted.

Anne knocked a fork against a champagne flute before speaking. "Dinner is ready, so if everyone could please file into the dining room so we can begin."

Because of how much space there actually was in the ballroom, there was a buffet line full of chafing dishes stretching a good twenty feet. Unfortunately nothing else used that space, because tradition dictated a single long table for everyone, so about half the hall went unused. I ended up sitting with Rebecca to my left and Marie to my right, while Constance was across from me. After we had filled our plates, and were seated, my father stood up.

"I'm glad everyone could make it here today, and I'm glad to see how our family has grown so much over the last year with all the new faces, Connie and Rupert's engagement and the impending arrival of our first grandchild." He said boisterously.

Then we all stood, held hands, and I could feel Rebecca cringing self-consciously. I didn't exactly blame her, since this was the one time a year we broke out Latin for grace and it was honestly a bit much. At least she only visibly squeezed my hand over it.

Then, with grace over, and everyone sitting back down, Marie remained standing. "Ah. Everyone, I have something to announce." She said, trying to gather up what courage she could from her small body, "All of you know what my sister and I had gone through before we ended up with our owners and lovers, and that I lost my daughter Serena."

I looked around the table at everyone I could get a clear view of---

Rebecca was stuck glancing between Marie and I, glaring at both of us, but definitely me.

My mother down at the head of the table had a thin, satisfied smile on her face as she surveyed the field. I wondered if she had put Marie up to this, because she didn't show anything like surprise on her face.

Janice was absolutely thrown by this, and would probably be having words with her sister later.

Honesty cast sympathetic glances at Rebecca, but also was unsurprised enough that she just went back to eating.

Rupert was too busy looking at his mother and her girlfriend, and by the look on his face didn't like what they were thinking about.

Dad was annoyed, he definitely knew what was coming and was mad he couldn't have mentioned it five minutes ago.

Constance though, Constance had an amused smile hiding just a little bit of uncertainty. I knew exactly why, and I couldn't help but wonder if this smug satisfaction was a taste of what my mother felt when she was in control of a situation.

"And that Steven, my master, was kind enough to allow me to try again," Marie continued. "Thanks to his valiant and vigorous efforts, I am currently eighteen weeks pregnant with twins, both girls, and I am fortunate enough that as far as Doctor Cooley and others have been able to tell they are both healthy. I hope everyone understands that I wanted to wait until I knew that much before announcing it."

Rebecca looked like her heart had just been torn out and was being shown to her. She had definitely pieced everything together by now, but hadn't pushed the topic. Being told like this, at a holiday party I had invited her to, had her drop her head into her hands. It took a minute for her to pull herself together, and between the gaps in her fingers I saw a multitude of faces and expressions before she managed to regain her composure. Then she sat back up, with a thin smile that didn't quite match the mania in her eyes, and soldiered on.

Then Marie just had to follow it up with a chaser that would probably go down in history for even the rowdy women of the Cooley family. "Miss Constance, I apologize if this upsets your household planning, as this was not my intent even if you had called dibs on them already."

I don't think I had ever seen someone get thrown around emotionally as much as my sister had been, especially not when our mother erupted into a full-throated cackle. And then the table erupted into congratulations, recriminations, and cheer, even as everyone also started eating.

Rebecca left the table silently and disappeared while Honesty was in the restroom. As soon as I noticed, I rushed off to go find her, almost knocking her empty chair over in the rush. She wasn't anywhere on the ground floor, so I checked my bedroom before I noticed the light was on in the rec room. We had barely used it, and I definitely hadn't shown her it before, so it must've been the first room she found after deciding not to go into my suite. Opening the door slowly, I found her curled up on the couch, with her arms wrapped around her legs. The first thing she said, as she raised her head to look at me, was "How long did you know?"

I sighed. "Three months. She told me the day she found out."

"Who else knew?"

"My mother." I replied, as I sat down at another corner of the couch. "And Mint, but Mint was the one who told her to take a pregnancy test. I don't even think she told Janice before this."

"And you two didn't tell me or her why?"

"Marie wanted to know that they were healthy first. She didn't want to put everyone else through the pain of her miscarrying again." I sighed, looking over my fiance with a wince. "I'm sorry."

"Steven, do you know how long I had to play dumb for? Do you even begin to understand how humiliating that was?" Rebecca snapped. "For three months Honesty and I had to go and say nothing, even as I wanted to scoop that girl up in a hug and tell her everything was alright, that I wanted to feel her belly, and watch intently as they grew, and I had to say nothing because I didn't want to draw the evil eye onto her, or to tell her that I watched her intensely enough that I knew. It was kinda hot to have you two sneaking around like that before tonight, but this, this was too much for me to take."

I sighed.

"It feels like she treated it like a game, even though I know she didn't."

"I understand."

She leaned back on the couch, and I could see the glint from tears in her eyes. "How would you feel if Honesty and I hid that she was pregnant from you for three months? Say, if it was your child."

"A little miffed maybe, I don't know. It's not like I would be involved with it anyway unless you wanted me to be." I replied honestly. "You know I'm going to be in the navy. I'd be at sea too much to help even if I wanted to."

Rebecca closed her eyes as she clenched and then released her hand before opening them again. "The thing is, I can't be like that. I know it's Marie's prerogative, and it's good she's standing up for herself, but this also really hurts. Especially because she told Mint."

"I don't know why she told her." I replied, as I scooted over to her.

"I was there at the beginning. Hell, I helped her grieve for Serena, and she can't even let me in on this?" Rebecca bitched as she fell into a hug.

"Because I didn't want to hurt you." Came a quiet voice from the doorway, sounding halfway to ashamed. "Master, Miss Rebecca, please come back down for dinner. They're carving the show turkey, and if I'm there alone Mama Kelly is going to make me eat a whole turkey breast."

"Right." Rebecca groaned, as she sat up. "Family comes first."

When we returned to the ballroom, everyone had their eyes on us. Coach Nguyen even had the gall to ask "So, trouble in paradise?"

Before anyone else had a chance to react, a glare, a hissed "what the fuck is wrong with you?" and an elbow from Ms. Young was enough to shut Coach Ngyuen up. I knew the rest of us were used to her lack of tact, but I hadn't expected Ms. Young to have a reflex for it.

"No, I just had to take my medication." Rebecca lied as she took her seat.

"I had to make sure she managed to find my room. You know how this place can be a maze if you're not used to it." I continued.

We ate dinner quietly after that, although enough people ended up talking about Marie's pregnancy that she did become visibly uncomfortable instead of masking it.

"So, do you think they're fraternal or identical?" came from the end of the table, as my parents discussed it with Gem. I tightened my grip on my fork even as I glanced over at Marie.

"DNA testing won't tell us that until they're born." My mother replied, as Marie shrank in her seat.

"It'd be nice if one of them was blonde. Marie has beautiful hair, and it'd look adorable with o your complexion." Dad observed as I felt my anger starting to boil over.

"Maybe if she's tall, but that's definitely not happening with Marie." Kelly said, making one final jab at my adorable pocket pet's height.

"Do you mind?" I snapped across the table. "Marie is right here, and you all know this is a sensitive subject for her. You wouldn't do it for anyone else, and you're not doing it for her. Find something else to talk about. Now."

The entire table went silent. Janice even paused with her fork halfway to her daughter's mouth, causing Katerina to fuss and accent the silence elsewhere at the table.

"So I heard back from Patience's master." Anne said to her mother, filling in the void. "He said I could live with them while I went to college if I helped around the house."

"That sounds wonderful." Kelly responded. "Maybe the three of us will have to come up and visit you as well. It's been so long since I've seen Patience."

Ruby started crying, and that drew the rest of them into reassuring her.

Marie just looked at me and smiled, before leaning her head against my arm.

Eventually, dinner ended without bloodshed. Tio de Nadal was flogged until he pooped out his gifts, the desserts were finished and leftovers packaged for tomorrow. Once that was done, the now stuffed dinner party departed for mass. The only ones who remained behind were Rebecca, Honesty, Marie and myself. After all, nobody would expect a Jew, her slave, a maid, and the son they had to shove on a boat to keep out of the way to show up at Mass, so I felt free to play down to their expectations.

"It's fine if you want to go." Rebecca said, as she sat on the couch in the rec room for the second time this evening, "Honesty and I will be fine by ourselves."

On her opposite side, Marie snuggled further up under my armpit, and looked extremely comfy and pleased with herself even with just a head poking from out of her blanket. "If I get in a car right now, I'm going to puke." She added.

"You and Marie gave me an excuse not to go." I said, as I pulled out the remote. "I never liked going to mass, and even they only go to keep up appearances. So, I said Marie wasn't feeling well, and I was going to stay behind to look after the mother of my children. No need to tell mom about anything else."

Rebecca shrugged.

"After everything else, I just can't. Even if I wasn't nauseous, it reminds me too much of St. Amalies. I know it's not the same, but it's too tied up in that." Replied the small blonde in my side. "Going with Miss Rebecca is easier for me, and I'd rather do that, even if the services are kinda boring."

"I understand." I replied, as I stroked her hair.

"It's not boring, it's austere." Rebecca muttered defensively. "We save the pageantry for what's important."

"Mistress, the last cantor was fired because he tried to set up a choir." Honesty said.

"Yes, because it was distracting during services in a way that pipe organ isn't." Rebecca replied. "Besides, the only person who wanted to join was that whore Kim Sheinbaum, which proved the president's point."

I could feel Honesty roll her eyes at that.

"You're not going to make me stop going to services, right?" Marie asked, as she looked up at me with pleading eyes.

"Are they helping you?"

"Yes." She replied.

"Then you can go."

Marie attempted to hug me through her blanket, forgetting she couldn't, and then just gave up and rolled a bit more into me, squirming a little bit to put her head on my shoulder.

"Anyway, what do you want to watch?" I said, as the tv turned on.

"I don't know." Rebecca said. "Honesty, Marie, do either of you have any ideas? I'm too full to think tonight."

"That new Sam Liu movie finally hit streaming, so maybe that? We didn't get to go see it when it was showing at the theater, so that might be fun." Honesty replied.

"Sure, sounds good." I replied as I pulled the film up.

"Anyway, I was thinking," Rebecca said as she sprawled out between Honesty and I, "what if we make Honesty induce lactation? Like it's probably gonna be hard for Marie to eat enough to feed twins but Honesty is right there and you've seen her eat."

"Mistress, don't volunteer me for things like that. If Marie wants help, she can ask for help herself." Honesty replied.

"Or we could just breed you? It'd give Steven and I a reason to get married anyway." Rebecca said.

"I thought you said you wanted us to both go at the same time?" Honesty replied with a smirk. "Or are you willing to give up saving yourself for marriage to have an excuse to get married?"

"Miss Rebecca, Honesty, while I appreciate the offer, can we please just start the movie?" came the voice of the burrito under my arm.

Both of them made murmurs of agreement, so I started the film, and started to think about what tomorrow would bring.

A/N: So, this was the final chapter currently written and the roughly intended end for A1386G. I have other stories planned in this universe, but they will probably not continue as part of this specific series. So, until later I guess.