Dear Diary

 

Dear Diary,

I know it's been a while since I wrote to you, but life has been so crazy.  We lost Zora when Earth was attacked by the Romulans, but we gained a whole bunch more family.  Mamee says she doesn't think this old house has ever had this many people living in it as family.  Jessie and I have three boys now, and one of them requires diaper duty.  I hadn't thought about how lucky we were not to have to deal with that with the twins, but I still wouldn’t give up Evander for anything or anybody.  I love him, dirty diapers and all.  His really aren't any worse than Bethany's.  That first afternoon when we took Evander back to Whatley farms to keep him safe from all the craziness going on everywhere else, Georges took him and put him in the crib with Bethany.  He insists that "little peoplesh gotsh to kittypile just like kittenshezhlittle peoplesh gotsh to kittypile just like kittenshezh ("little people gots to kittypile just like kittens")."  Aunt Pet was a little worried about him being the babies' guardian, but when she asked him about how he could protect them, he started pulling all kinds of weapons that nobody had even known he had out from secret spots all over his body and his clothes.  Even his big brother seemed surprised by it.  Without any speech impediment at all, Georges gave us all a quick lecture on each sword, stick and throwing star before telling us that everything in the babies' nursery can be used to fight off an attacker if necessary.  When he had completed his lesson for all of us, he put his arsenal back into the hiding places all over himself, blinked, and asked if he could have mowshezhmowshezh ("mouses") for dinner.  He's a lot more kitty sometimes than the others.  I don't know if he really eats the mice or not, and I don't think I want to know. 

Emile and Etienne insisted that Jules and Julie be allowed to share their room since it was so big anyway.  Grandmomma Annie Mae calls them the four horsemen because they are a real force to be reckoned with when they all agree on something.  Of course, that doesn't happen all the time.  There have been several times that Jules, Emmy and Enny all took the typical boys' approach to something while Julie fought tooth and nail, sometimes literally, in favor of the exact opposite.  Sometimes though the split is between siblings and we see Emmy and Julie off playing together and Jules and Enny doing something different.  I hadn't paid attention before to how loud two six-year-olds and two four-year-olds can be.  They are always quiet when the babies are napping though.  Emile and Etienne are such good big brothers for Evander.

Speaking of big brothers, Jason and Philip are just as proud of Lefty as Jessie, and I are of our three.  They have been working with him on his physical therapy, but have also been making sure that he knows they are never going to trade him off like he had been in the foster care system.  They made a big show out of thanking Zemal yesterday.  He asked them what for, and they said since he ran around the house naked all the time, it encouraged Lije to do the same and Lefty does everything Lije does, so that meant that Zemal saved them a fortune on unnecessary clothes for their little nudist.  Lefty blushed a bit, but Lije just grinned and said he really liked being naked with Lefty.  I think Lije may be changing his tune about not being gay.  They could still change their minds, but for now, he and Lefty are what Aunt Pet calls "thick as thieves" whatever that means.

It is taking some getting used to having Priscilla as my sister-in-law.  She never was as yucky as I thought she was, but she does still sometimes get an attitude that makes me glad I'm in love with Jessie.  Danny is so goofy for her though; he never seems to notice her moods, which strangely enough seems to calm her right down.  He doesn't ignore her; it's just he always seems to know just what to say to settle her.  I'm just glad someone does.

I have to go now, because we are all going to the mall to pick out clothes for Auntie René and Uncle Ossie's wedding.

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

"Oh, did someone finally remember that I'm out here?" Dixon grimaced at the voice as he opened the door to the garage.  "A car could get a complex around you guys, you know.  You never go anywhere."

"Yes, we do," Jessie defended, and then gave out an, "OOF," as Dixon elbowed him.

"You go somewhere without taking me?  Why would you do that?  Am I not good enough to be seen in?  That's it, isn't it?  You don't like me because I'm an old-school street rod, not some fancy new import?"

"Hey!" Dixon snapped.  "You will not talk like that, do you hear me, Frankie?  I prefer your vintage look thank you very much.  You have a style and class that none of these new plastic cars can come close to; you know that."

"You mean it?"

"How did we manage to get such an insecure car?" Jessie whispered.

"I heard that!" the shiny car snapped.  "My personality was designed to complement Dixon's, so I wouldn't complain about that too much if I were married to the guy."

"I'm sure Jessie just said that out of concern, Frankie," Dixon assured him.

"I swear I did," Jessie vowed.  "How could I not love the hottest ride in town?"

"Well, then why don't you guys ever use me to go places?  I mean, come on, I don't even get to go to the freaking grocery store."

"I wasn't sure how to bring this up," Dixon said nervously.  "I didn't want to hurt your feelings, and I certainly didn't want to bother Cory with all he has to do all the time...."

"How ya'll are, Frankie?" Emmy yelled as he came running into the garage to join his fathers, with Emile right behind him.  "Papa did we get to rode to town in Frankie to bought dem zoots?" he asked with a big excited grin.

"Suits, not zoots," Dixon corrected with a smile.

"No, son, we can't take Frankie, he doesn't have enough seats for the whole family," Jessie told Emmy.

"Now where did you get a dumb idea like that?" Frankie asked quickly.  Dixon and Jessie both dropped their jaws as what they thought was the trunk of their vintage Corvette popped open in reverse to reveal a back seat, complete with two booster seats on each side and one rear facing baby car seat in the middle.  "Did you really think the clan would send you a car that couldn't handle what you need me to do?"

"Wait; you just happened to have two booster seats and an infant car seat in an extra seat that no Corvette has ever had before, even though when you were ordered we only had two boys?" Jessie asked finally.

"Duh!" Frankie sneered.  "All the clan cars come with equipment for the rescue of children, which would include booster seats and car seats.  Besides, you guys are Clan, and everyone in the clan has kids sooner or later.  Who knows, I may adopt a few bicycles myself one of these days."

"Bicycles?" another voice practically screeched.  "Bicycles?  I know you are not planning our family without even consulting me, and you better not be thinking I am going to be straightening handlebars and changing slipped chains while you take off on missions with the boss all the time."

"YES!" Frankie yelled.  "You just said our family.  I knew you liked me back, you adorable snuggle bug you."

"I did not," Huey's VW, Ziggy replied quickly.  "I mean umm... I just. Well crap."

"I knew it," Frankie practically crowed proudly.  "I been wearing you down."

"Can we please get through Auntie René and Uncle Ossie's wedding before you two go out and start shopping for matching fuzzy dice?" Jessie asked with a groan.

"Fuzzy dice?" Ziggy snorted.  "As if I would EVER be seen with fuzzy dice!"

"I like fuzzy dice," Frankie pouted.

"You would."

"I swear these two are worse than Nate and Zemal were," Dixon shook his head sadly.  He loaded the boys into their safety seats and then took his place in the driver's seat.

"Not that I'm whining or anything, but I will get to drive Frankie at some point, right?"

"You planning to go out cruising for cuties some Friday night?" Dixon asked him.

"I already have the cutest husband in the universe," Jessie told him seriously.

"Cover you eyes, Enny, they fiddin to smooch againCover you eyes, Enny, they fiddin to smooch again ("Cover your eyes, Enny, they are going to kiss again")," Emmy called out.  Both popsicle boys slapped their hands over their eyes and squealed "EEWWW!"

The family arrived at the mall and everyone walked in surrounded by their security detail who got more interest than the folks they were protecting.

"They actsh like they never sheen a preshush beforeThey actsh like they never sheen a preshush before ("They act like they have never seen a precious before")," Georges observed as he walked through the mall pushing the double stroller with Bethany and Evander in it.

"I tink dey looking at you, GeorgesI tink dey looking at you, Georges ("I think they are looking at you, Georges")," Emmy whispered from beside him.

"Dat'sh shilly, I'm not shpecialDat'sh shilly, I'm not shpecial ("That's silly, I'm not special")," the cat boy answered.  He then purred as Enny and Emmy hugged him tight.

"You is too special," Emmy said firmly.

"You our Georges," Enny added.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite triple scoop, with a side of chocolate caramel," a familiar voice called out as we walked into the tuxedo shop.

"Papa, I thought you said dis a clothes store," Emile questioned Jessie.

"Papa?" the sales guy asked as he stepped around the counter and saw me holding Etienne on one hip, Evander on the other, and Jessie holding Emile.  "Wow, when I suggested you two get busy, I didn't think it would work like this."  He looked at Evander for a second and then spoke again.  "I won't have anything that works for this little drop of cuddliness, but these two...." he said as he scooped up the twins and spun around holding them.  "Oh, I have the perfect thing for you cuties.  Now I just have to figure out who gets the pink one and who gets the purple?"

"You gots pink for me?" Etienne whispered hopefully, just as his brother exclaimed, "PURPLE!"

Auntie René and Uncle Ossie had picked the twins favorite colors for their wedding colors and asked that the twins be their ring bearers.  The twins had not known about the color choices until they got to the formal wear store though.  To say they seemed excited was a bit of understatement.  It took Jessie and Dixon both along with the shop worker to calm the boys down enough to get their clothes off and the little tuxedos on them, but it was so worth the work.  They were absolutely adorable, and Dixon made sure he got lots of pictures of them, even though there would be more pictures taken at the wedding.

Once all the boys were done at the formal shop, they went in search of Auntie René and Mamee.  Unfortunately, they were not prepared to find them in the Victoria's Secret store.  "What you thought 'bout dis for de wedding night, cher?" Auntie René asked as he held a see-through red lace teddy up in front of himself.

"I think my eyes are bleeding," Jason whispered.

"Your eyes and my brain," Layton responded quietly.

"Do not be unkind, children," Mamee scolded.

"Never whisper around a teacher, even a retired one," Dixon advised the crew as he led the younger kids out of the store with hands over the twins' eyes.  Julie and Jules had their eyes blocked by their Uncle Jessie.

"We can't see," the four little ones whined. 

"Good," all of their parents answered at once.  They then agreed that it was time to take the fearsome foursome to the cookie shop a few stores away.  The two sets of twins did not argue.

Priscilla stayed in the store with Mamee and Auntie René, however.  "Why a red one?  It's your wedding night; you should pick a white one.  I mean some people can still do that for their wedding night."

"Priscilla, you listen to me, sweetheart," Mamee told her firmly, but softly.  "What happened to you did not spoil you or make you dirty in any way.  I don't want you to ever think for a moment that it did, either.  You are thinking that you are not perfect anymore, but I can guarantee you that Daniel does not agree with that.  You are perfect to him, sweetie, and that is what matters."

"You are exactly right, Mamee."  Priscilla turned and saw Daniel walking up to her holding Bethany in one arm the largest ginger snap cookie Priscilla had ever seen in his other hand.  He held the cookie out to her with a blush.  "You didn't go with us to the cookie shop, so I brought one back for you.  I didn't know what you would like so I got a ginger snap for the most beautiful ginger in the world."  When he saw Priscilla get a tear in her eye, he asked quickly, "Was that too cheesy?  I'm sorry.  Please don't cry, Cilla."

"You really don't know how sweet that was, do you?" Priscilla asked as she took the cookie and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  "You actually like me, even though... I mean after what happened to me."

"No, I don't like you," Daniel told her quickly.  "I love you.  I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how wonderful and beautiful you are."  Mamee stepped in and quickly grabbed Bethany as Daniel suddenly had both arms full of Priscilla.  "I saw something on that thing you call the Internet the other day that I want you to always remember, Cilla.  It was a little sign that said 'you may think that you are the most insignificant thing in the world, but to someone else, you are the whole world'."

"Dat boy is a keeper, honey child," Auntie René said wiping his eyes with a handkerchief.  "Dat was beautimous, Dan'l.  I swear you been tooking time wid Osgood to spoke wid dat silver tongueDat was beautimous, Dan'l.  I swear you been tooking time wid Osgood to spoke wid dat silver tongue ("That was beautiful, Daniel.  I swear you have been spending time with Osgood to speak with that silver tongue")."

"You called me Cilla," Priscilla observed as she stepped away from Daniel finally.

"I won't if you don't want me to," Daniel said quickly.  "I just wanted to give you a name that was just for us."

"I love it," Priscilla told him with another.  "As long as you don't call me Prissy like Davey, and we will not discuss the name Dixon used to have for me."

"I'm going to punch them both right in the mouth," Daniel growled.

"Don't bother," Priscilla hushed him.  "Dixie doesn't call me that anymore and has apologized for it.  Davey just does it to tease me, which is why I call him Little D."

"But Dixon, David and I are all identical, same age and everything," Daniel protested.

"Yeah, well I might have implied that I had heard that you weren't completely identical everywhere," Priscilla told him with a blush and giggle.

"Oh," Daniel said, and then the light came on.  "OH!  That's so mean.  I love it," he giggled.

"Well, you certainly seem to be getting into the spirit of having two brothers," Mamee teased him.

"I didn't think I would," he admitted.  "Especially when we are technically the same person, but we aren't really the same person.  Each of us had a different life before Davey and I were brought here.  Really it is only our faces that are the same.  I'm still getting used to being able to talk to them in my head though."

"I think you are adjusting really well to all the differences here," Priscilla told him.  "I am very proud to tell people that I am engaged to the head of a multi-million dollar corporation."

"Oh, but I'm not really in charge," Daniel corrected her.  "I'm still learning so much.  It's still Mamee's company, or maybe Dixon's since this is his home dimension."

"Daniel, I do not exactly own controlling interest in the company anymore," Mamee informed him.  "I still own more than any one individual, but there are now four stockholders that together have more shares than I do."

"Oh that could be dangerous for the company, Mamee," Daniel observed seriously.  "Who are they?  Can you trust them not to take over the company and steal it out from under us?"

"Daniel, those four people are Dixon, David, you and Huey," Mamee told him with a smile.  "I gave 60% of my shares to you boys the afternoon after Zora's funeral.  I had planned to split it five ways, but that had to be changed after that horrible day.  I have left instructions that each year until my death, another 20% of whatever I have in the company will be signed over to the four of you, split evenly.  That reminds me; Sonny will need to see the three of you soon to draw up wills of your own.  God forbid any of you will need one anytime soon, but when you have that sizable an estate to leave, you do not want to have it go to the state because you did not leave a will."

Dixon and David came running into the shop just in time to catch Daniel as he went weak in the knees.  "Mamee, what's going on?" Dixon asked quickly.  "Davey and I got a sudden spike of shock from Daniel, and he isn't making any sense now."

"Did you guys know?" Daniel whispered.

"Know what bro?" Davey asked.

"Mamee gave controlling interest of Whatley-Wiggins to the three of us and Huey," Daniel told them.  The three D's all hit the floor of the store. 

"Mamee, why would you do that?" Dixon asked.

"I don't know anything about business stuff," Davey said blankly.

"I never knew anything about business, either," Mamee told them.  "I did it because that company is the past to me, but it is your future.  It should be you boys in charge."

"Daniel, I am far too busy with everything else to take an active role in the company," Dixon informed his brother.  "Isn't there some sort of doxy thing that will let you do what needs to be done with my shares?"

"Yeah, doxy me too," Davey said.

"It's called a proxy, guys, and yes that can be done, but you really trust me to handle all of that for you?"

"You would tell us if it was something major that you really needed us to know about," Dixon stated as if the question was totally irrelevant.

"Yeah," Davey agreed.  "I mean we are all three basically the same person in a lot of ways, and if you can't trust yourself, you're in deep trouble."

"Thanks guys," Daniel told them as he hugged them both.

"Now we just need to figure out what Davey wants to do with his life, other than play with Xander and Xandra," Dixon said teasingly.

"Ok, you have no room to talk about other people playing, Mr. Frankenweenie is alive," Davey complained.  "But for your information, I have been studying on the line, and have decided I want to be an architect.  I know it's not as profitable as running a big company, or as important as the clan work you do, but it's something I am really interested in and would like to do.  Plus, Xander is wanting to go into construction and Xandra wants to be an interior decorator."

"It doesn't have to be profitable, Davey," Daniel told him.  "I will take very good care of your stock in the company so you will always be free to do whatever you want to do, but I also know that you will be very good at whatever you decide to do."

"Yeah, and besides with the way the clan is always growing, even our own family, an architect who can design additions to our houses and offices will always be busy," Dixon pointed out.

All three boys suddenly yelled in pain and sank to the floor.  Doug dropped beside them, his tricorder out instantly, yelling for Jason and Philip to back him up.  Doug's updates when he was brought back online gave him full qualification as a clan physician, and chief medical officer of the Intel Field Services Division, although like his mentors at the hospital, he was most focused on the technology and had been working with Huey and Zemal to create the occasionally questionable intelligence of Ziggy as well as an AI for their division headquarters.  Jason and Philip were full doctors as well, but had specialized in physical therapy and were not official members of the division even if they were included in the clan.

"We're all right," Daniel told them slowly rubbing his head.

"We have to get home now, though, right away," David mumbled as he too sat up a bit straighter.

"Mamee, I am sorry to tell you, but I really think this calls for a teleport home," Dixon said gently.  "There is something going on that I hope you will like.  Promise me you will try to stay as calm as you can, though, please."

"Dixon, you three are worrying me," Mamee responded.  "I am getting used to surprises from your clan family though, so I will be just fine."

"I don't think any of us are used to this kind of surprise, Mamee," Dixon said as he took his great grandmother's hand in his own.  "Ok, Josiah, we're ready."  Mamee's gasp of surprise at the name of her brother was lost as they disappeared from the mall.

 

 

Clan Short Archivist's Notes:

There was so much happening in this chapter that I had to search my memory banks to figure out who was who. Boudreaux told me that there wouldn't be as much Cajun in this chapter to edit, and to give him credit he did warn me about how Georges spoke. His speech still took a bit to get used to. Now the readers just need to bug Boudreaux for more chapters and more Popsicle Twins or maybe some Popsicle Quadruplets.

TSL