He rose and stretched, wincing when he heard his bones popping back into place. Then he turned and walked out of Charisma's study, closing the door behind him without ever looking back.

************

Okasa looked at the box of unopened letters she held and bit her lip to hold in the sigh she wanted to release. The letters were separated by year and tied with ribbon and still she'd had to invest in a mid-sized Rubbermaid container several years before. Now she stared down at the box with a pensive expression on her face. She had been so sure sending them to Charisma would solve everything.

"Second thoughts, me love?" Paddy drawled as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. She leaned into him and tilted her face up to him so gauge his seriousness. When she recognized the genuine concern in his expression, she nodded slowly.

"I think we should send them, Paddy - I really do. Charisma has a right to know how Brianna feels... how she's always felt."

"But...?"

"But I'm not sure it's right to betray Brianna's trust this way. If it backfires - if Charisma will not accept Brianna's feelings for her... even if only to herself - Brianna will see it as a betrayal... my betrayal. And I couldn't live with driving her out of our lives like that. The boys would never forgive me."

"Then why take the risk, Okasa?" Patrick asked playing devil's advocate. "Surely they can figure it out on their own."

Okasa snorted and turned in his arms. "Oh no you didn't. Please tell me you didn't just say that." She huffed at him. "Patrick Tagherty - those two young women have had twenty years to figure things out on their own and they've refused to do so. I don't think leaving it to them is a prudent course of action anymore."

"Neither is buttin' in where you've no business being." Patrick sighed and leaned his forehead into hers. "So what do you want to do, Sweetheart? You've basically eliminated your choices."

Okasa crossed her eyes to keep him in focus and grinned. "How do you feel about a road trip?"

Patrick pulled away just slightly so he could uncross his eyes. "What are you thinking, Mama?"

"I think I need to go talk to Brianna. And we could go visit our daughter and grandson as well."

Patrick raised his eyebrows at her. "Been thinking about this a little have you? Did you actually hear a word that Father Ross spoke in mass today?"

"I got the essential bits," she smirked. "Now, can you be ready in an hour?"

"Can you get the time off?"

"I'm waiting to hear back from Nancy now. As much time as I have saved, it shouldn't be a problem... especially since I am supposed to be partially retired at this point."

Patrick just stared at her for the longest moment, then he started chuckling silently. "You're something else, Mama... you know that?"

Okasa snorted. "I had to be to keep up with you lot." The phone rang and she moved to answer it. With a little luck, they'd be on their way to the Capital shortly.

************

Charisma walked back into the kitchen just a few minutes after having left it and looked at the stack of dishes with a frown. "Did they multiply while I was gone? Someone forget to separate the boys and girls?"

Esmeralda laughed. "Nothing so dramatic," she replied as Ruby stirred a big pot on the stovetop and Brianna shut off the running water. "Whenever Ruby doesn't have to wash the dishes, she cleans out the fridge. And then she'll make a soup or macho nachos... depending on what's in there. That way the leftovers don't go to waste and she doesn't get stuck washing the containers."

Charisma cut her eyes at Ruby who gave her a serene glance in return. "That's pretty clever," she admitted as she accepted a towel from Esmeralda. "But can I ask what macho nachos are?"

"Leftovers on a bed of nacho chips and smothered in cheese and jalapeсos. That way, even though you're never quite sure what's under there, you'll eat them anyway."

"Seems kind of risky."

"Kind of like asking for trouble isn't it?"

Esmeralda snorted at their dual response causing laughter to ripple through both Charisma and Brianna. "Well," she conceded as she took the first dry dishes out of Charisma's hand, "you can end up with some pretty interesting dreams if you're not careful."

"I'm not sure that'd be a good thing in this town. I'm not sure I'm ready to dream about naked congressmen flying kites on the Mall or something."

Esmeralda scrunched up her face in distaste. "That's not interesting... it's downright scary. Thank you very much for that visual. I don't wanna know where that came from."

Brianna laughed. "Me either, although I have to admit I'm going to have a hard time keeping a straight face when I have to talk to any of those people now."

"Me too," Charisma muttered, her face flushed pink. She turned to Esmeralda. "So what would you call interesting?"

"It was actually more on the side of bizarre. I was being chased by a sneezing feather duster who kept kicking at me and insisting - 'NO SPREADSHEETS!!'. I still don't know where it came from or what it was about... at least as far as the spreadsheets go. I never use spreadsheets. The duster on the other hand...." She laughed at their expressions. "I did warn you it was bizarre," she added with a shrug, taking the next batch of dry dishes and putting them away.

Charisma and Brianna exchanged looks. "Not sure I want to be chased round by my work either."

"Oh God no! We'd end up being flattened by some of those tree killer bills."

"Do you actually read them... word for word, I mean?" Ruby asked as she continued to stir the pot. A squeal from Adam brought all four heads up and around facing the kitchen door. Then they heard Adam's laughter follow and smiled....

... only to laugh when the naked boy streaked through the kitchen with Saphira hot on his heels. He didn't even pause, but just kept going into Saphira and Esmeralda's bedroom, shrieking again when she pounced and wrapped him in a bath sheet. Then Saphira tipped him over her shoulder in a fireman's carry and marched them back down to the big bathroom without a word or explanation.

The other four looked around at one another and just shook their heads. "I did warn her he was a handful," Charisma said as she offered Esmeralda a stack of plates.

"She knows - it's why she let him run. But I guarantee you he'll go to bed when you get home this evening and you won't hear from him again until in the morning."

"Wow," Charisma muttered. "We don't usually have those kinds of outings. Even school doesn't usually do him in like that."

Esmeralda smiled. "Saphira is special. Kids love her because she not only plays *with* them, she plays *like* them."

"She should be in charge of a daycare; she'd make a fortune."

"No," Esmeralda disagreed. "She likes the interaction of one on one or one on two. She couldn't stand trying to deal with a roomful. She couldn't give them each the attention she'd want to."

It didn't take them long and they were done with the dishes. Ruby shooed them out, promising fresh cookies and milk later. They went into the living room only to find Saphira and Adam on the floor playing together. The three curled up to watch and attempted to make conversation. They talked about their work and Esmeralda shared some of Saphira's experiences at the diner. But so much was off-limits, it was a little stilted and a little awkward. Still each of them was trying, so it never quite became an elephant in the room.

After a while, they could smell the scent of cookies and Ruby was coming into the room with a platter of warm sugar cookies and tall glasses of milk. They all smiled and sighed in relief. It meant the day was coming to a close. And for whatever else it had been - even though most of it had been good - it had definitely been exhausting for everyone. But it was especially apparent on Esmeralda's face.

Charisma went over and claimed her son, much to his dismay. "MAMA!" his voice loud and unhappy.

"Son," she admonished. "What have I told you about your inside voice?"

He looked down at the floor. "Sowwy. Like it here... wanna stay."

"Well we can't stay today, but maybe we can come back and visit again. But not if you're rude; Esmeralda and Saphira won't want to have us here."

"Come again?" he pleaded, blue eyes wide. Saphira and Esmeralda nodded and he smiled. "Br'anna too?"

"Brianna too," they agreed.

Soon everyone was bundled against the weather and waiting for their cars to arrive. Brianna had insisted that Esmeralda keep the extra groceries she'd brought, insisting she had nowhere to store them. Charisma surprisingly backed her up, having stayed in the same apartments when she'd first moved to Washington. They each carried a small packet of cookies, however, at Ruby's insistence.

It was on that note that the little gathering broke up and Saphira took Esmeralda's hand and led her back to the kitchen when both limousines were out of sight.

"So?" Saphira demanded as soon as they were seated in the kitchen once more. Esmeralda held her eyes for a long moment before shaking her head.

"I don't know, Phira. I really don't know."


Chapter XXXVII

Jade had stayed with Charisma until she and Adam had reached Esmeralda's. Then she decided to go look up Mal and see if she could get the lowdown on what was going on - since she hadn't actually expected to see her or Kent in town. As far as Jade knew, Kent was still supposed to be in the City doing his show, and she was honest enough to admit to more than a hint of curiosity.

Mal glared at her when she popped in beside her, even though Jade had taken great pains not to sneak up on her unannounced. She lifted up her hands in a gesture of unknowing innocence and Mal only held onto her scowl for another moment before giving Jade a sheepish expression and a shrug. "Sorry," she said softly, though there was no way for Kent to hear them when they were in a non-corporeal state. "I seem to be having one of those days."

Jade wrapped an arm around Mal's shoulders and offered her a brief hug. "What's wrong? Why are you here?"

So Mal told Jade her story from the time Kent had found the phone call from Charisma the night before until the moment just before Jade had appeared by her side. They watched as Kent went through the album slowly, picture by picture, studying his expression and body language since they both knew without a doubt that Esmeralda would ask when the time came.

When Kent finally left Charisma's study, both Mal and Jade followed him, wondering what he had planned. When he picked up the phone to call a taxi, they traded skeptical looks.

"That's it?" Jade hissed. "He's just going to go back to work?"

Mal shrugged. "Looks like it. And that means I need to go with him. Will you tell Es...?"

"Absolutely," Jade nodded. "I need to get back. I'm sure she knows I'm not watching Charisma at the moment, and I don't want to get chewed out if Charisma takes off with no one to keep an eye on her."

"Es wouldn't chew you out."

"She probably wouldn't let me have it with both barrels, but I'm pretty sure I'd get an earful. And you know Ruby and Saphira both would give me those looks," Jade added with a theatrical shudder. Mal just chuckled and shook her head.

"I've gotta go," seeing Kent exit the house as surreptitiously as he'd entered earlier that morning.

Jade nodded. "Be safe... and good luck."

"Thanks - you too." Then Mal left with Kent, and Jade headed back to wait for Charisma.

************

Kent kept his own counsel on his way back to Manhattan... less than twenty-four hours after he'd left it. He didn't go to the theatre - he figured he had the time off, he might as well use it for the day at least. And truthfully, he was exhausted. Between the whirlwind round-trip and what he had discovered while in Washington, he needed a little time and space to consider his next course of action.

Instead, he went straight to the rooms he kept in the City for the times he was there. Not that Charisma didn't use them as well because she did - on the rare occasion she made the trip with him. They were simply something that he'd had since he'd reached majority and it never occurred to him to give them up once he and Charisma married. He enjoyed visiting the City too much.

Now he looked around them closely and recognized that these rooms were strictly 'his' rooms. Everything about them screamed bachelor pad, though it had been tastefully decorated by one of the top interior designers in New York. There hadn't been a woman's touch put on this place and as he looked around, Kent realized he hadn't put much of a personal stamp on this place either.