When You're Busy Making Other Plans (Lita)

[Karishima Yumi]

The carriage made its way north of the city proper, traveling along a well trodden, if unpaved road. The sun was well on its way to setting and inside the carriage, Karishima pulled the small curtain over the small widow over the door closed.

"I'm being silly," she said finally.

Across the from her in the carriage Fiona shook her head. "Never, Mistress."

Karishima shook her head, and idly straightened her dress. "You would say that."

Fiona could think of no response to that, and so remained silent.

The truth of it was Karishima was worried about Lita. Though she cared about most if not all of her employees, especially ones as crucial to her plans as the inventor as, she couldn't not recall a time she had ever been worried about one. She could chalk it up to the woman's pregnancy, and her apparent ignorance of it when they last met, but that too didn't feel right.

When it came down to it, she supposed the part that sent warning bells off in her head was Lita's request to have the lab and living space moved so far, coupled with the fact that she never requested any kind of maternity leave. Then again, she had no idea how long pregnancy lasted for Lita's race, but it still seemed odd that not one mention of it had come up. Surely the woman was not still unaware of her condition? Or maybe --

Karishima shook her head. Speculation was not getting her anywhere. So, she called the only two people she could trust, borded her most ordinary carriage (no one suspect the richest woman in Venus who didn't wear a crown to ride in such a shabby thing) and set off unannounced to Lita's workshop/home. She had her excuse all ready: Lita and been angry at Karishima's lack of attention to the project before - a surprise 'inspection' would show that she was taking the whole thing seriously.

Bianca, who was driving the carriage soon pulled the house to a stop in front of the house. The sun was lower in the sky as Karishima slipped out the door onto the cooling lawn. She looked over to the barn where no doubt the actually work was being done. The security personnel where in place, casually dressed as farm hands to reduce suspicion. She nodded once at them, then turned her attnetion back to the house. Her main tentacles in motion, she glided up toward the door and knocked, an easy friendly smile on her face.

((Hows that? I'm still working the kinds out))

[Lita]

The knocking caught an already less than pleased Lita like a blow to the shin. She was always telling the guards and workmen that if they wanted to come in they could so long as they were quiet. But still they knocked. She had just gotten the twins to bed too, that was a feat in and of itself. If they woke up there would be hell to pay, well more hell than there was already since she was already in a fit about the lack of progress she had made with her project now that the twins had come along. Even as unexpected as they were she had still made plans for them, but she had underestimated the amount of attention they needed.

She swung open the door, perfectly willing to chew out whoever was knocking this time. Of course when she opened the door and saw Yumi there, it was a bit of a shock. She stumbled back and fell. Her fingers automatically pressed the switch that would send herself up into a pillar of flame. It was reflex, fortunately she hadn't put them in, in fact, she hadn't used or even worn them in several months. But the habit remained.

[Karishima Yumi]

Karishima blinked in surprise at Lita's started reaction. As the other woman stumbled backwards, she reacted instinctively. Three tentacles, each s big around as her arm, suddenly lashed into being form under Karishima's long dress, catching Lita before she could complete her decent to the floor.

"You know," Karishima said ruefully, "if you keep reacting to my presence like this, I'm going to start to think you dont like me very much."

She gently placed Lita back on her feet where she could get a good look at her, and was surprised by what she saw. Lita was thinner than when she had seen her last. Had she had the baby already? Why had she not asked for time off? The frist few weeks with newborn were especially demanding and...

Karshima shook her head. "Well, are you going to invite me in?" then with a knowing smile, she added. "I promise I'll be quiet."

[Lita]

Lita was nervous and couldn't hide the flinch at the sudden touch of not one, but three tentacles. While her experience with them wasn't unpleasant, it was not professional and Karashima was her boss crying out loud. Speaking of crying out loud, the sounds of a crying baby echoed from upstairs, a second one was quick to join in. Lita smiled, though it was closer to a wince. "Please come in Miss Yumi, and don't worry about the noise. It's a bit late for that." She turned and led Karashima into the main study. Kizzy would be upstairs trying to put the kids to sleep again, it was her turn.

"So, Miss Yumi, I apologize but due to unforeseen circumstances I regret to inform you that your project has stalled. Be aware that I will try my hardest to get it moving at an acceptable pace." It was true, she would try, but just trying to take care of the kids had left her with dark circles under her eyes and a rather haggard look. It was something she hadn't had a chance to hide with the sudden arrival of the boss.

[Karishima Yumi]

Karishima did not like the way Lita looked at all. The strangely protective feeling she had felt when she had figured the other woman was pregnant resurfaced, and she figured the time for coyness had passed. It also helped that the baby --well babies if she was hearing right -- had woken up.

"Newborns have a way of gobbling up ones time," Karishima said in an understanding voice. "Lita, your not my frist employee to become a new mother. I have a very generous maternity leave policy. Which you are on as of now."

That last part came out a little more firm than she had intended. So soften the blow, Karishima gently took both of Lita's hands in hers. "You look exhausted, Lita. I need you at your best if I'm going to get your best work and they," her eyes glanced upward, to where the babies were still fussing, "need you at your best to be the best mom."

Karishima thumbs idly caressed the skin on Lita's hand. The contact only seemed to reinforce the protective feelings she was experiencing. It never ceased to amaze her how Lita touch always bought up such powerful emotions...

"Now, you need some rest, and I happen to know a trick or two to get babies back to sleep. May I meet them?"

[Lita]

Lita was hesitant but it wasn't just about being touched again. Really she wasn't sure how Yumi would react to the children, and she hated not knowing anything. But now she had to make sure her two babies survived anything that happened, and she wasn't as sure as she'd once been.

Still, at some point she'd have to show and it was better to happen sooner than later. Lita finally gave up trying to figure out what was best and decided to take Yumi upstairs. "Alright, follow me." She began to lead the way, though she didn't stop talking. "You sound like you have a lot of experience with kids."

[Karishima Yumi]

Karishima follows Lita as they made their way through the house and upstairs. "Oh yes," she replied to Lita's observation. It wasn't an uncommon question: new mothers liked to know that the people that they were introducing to their babies knew what they were doing when they were around kids. "I run the an orphanage in town, and make it a point to visit when I can to get to know the children there, helpe them get placed with families, and provide an education for the ones who dont get adopted so they can make it on their own when they become adults. Its fully staffed now, mostly by adults who once lived there as children. But in the beginning, it was just me and a house full of orphans. Newborns to teenagers. Those kids were my family in a way, since I was never able to have children of my own..."

Karishima trialed off, the shook her head to clear it. "So you can say I have roughly fifty to sixty years experience with children. Long enough to know I love them. And I'm sure yours are angels... when they arent screaming their little heads off," she added with a chuckle.

[Lita]

"Angels, right." Lita muttered under her breath. Though it was less an actual statement than her mind going on with her mouth along for the ride. It wasn't a bitter statement, she just found it all so very ironic. Still, she was glad that Yumi had some experience with kids, a lot it sounded like. As for not having children, well they had arrived at the top of the stairs next to the room. Lita took a deep breath.

"Well it's a boy and a girl, though I haven't been bothered to choose their names yet. I expect they can choose for themselves when they get older. I don't know what to do really." She shrugged and gestured inside the room toward the two bassinets. The room had been decorated, though it was mostly Kizzy who'd done that. Lita was more focused on function. "Well, you'll see for yourself I suppose."

[Karishima Yumi]

The cries in the room had subsided only a little, gone from screams to general fussiness. That told Karishima that they were still sleepy, and just needed a little help going back to sleep. If they had been hungry or needed a diaper change, they'd be getting louder all the time.

"Well, you might want to pick a name before then," she said as she glided into the room to the frist bassinet. "It can be sometime before they're old enough to..."

She trialed off as she reached her destination. The child inside it looked up at her red face and fresh cries, her little hands balled into fists that shook in the air in a frustrated manner. She had little wisps of teal heir growing from her mostly bald head. She was wearing a tiny shirt and a diaper.

Four purple-pink tentacles stuck out from the bottom of the diaper.

The smile fell off Karishima's face so fast that it actually caused her jaw to drop. It had been just the tentacles, she might have thought Lita had been with a Dealthwok demon. But then there was the hair....

"Lita..." she tried, but her voice was barely a whisper. No. This wasn't possible. It just wasn't.

Her mind might have been thoroughly blown, but Karishima's instincts took over. She reached into the bassinet and picked up the crying infant, holding her close to her chest. She went right on crying of course, and her little tentacles wrapped tightly around Karishima's arm.

Unable to shake the dumbfounded look from her face, she moved automatically to the other bassinet. There was a little boy in this one, and even in his red-faced rage, he looked too much like Lita to be a coincidence. She easily picked him as well, automatically producing another tentacle to help herself out as she adjusted the weight of both babies. Oddly their cries began to subside once they were next to each other.

Once both children where in her arms, she finally looked up to Lita. "I... I need to sit down," she said absently. She found a rocking chair nearby, no double Kizzy's idea, and all but collapsed into it.

She stated rocking absently, still trying to prices the impossibility of it all. The crying tapered off, though they were still very vocal and very fussy.

"I think they like being close to each other," Karishima said, her voice oddly hollow. "Makes sense. Twins are like that sometimes. And the girl, being part... part... well she needs physical contact instinctively. Makes sense. Makes perfect sense..."

Finally, she looked back up at Lita. "They... they're..." In the darkened nursery it was hard to see the tears that had begun to run down her face, but they could be heard in the way her voice was threatening to break. "They ours, arent they? That day in the lab. When I lost control... Lita... why didn't you tell me?"

[Lita]

"Well they're mine at least. And I didn't know until they decided to come along." She leaned up against the wall. She didn't feel particularly mad, sad, or anything apart from drained. "No men in my life so I crossed out the impossibility, silly me. Demons can do all sorts of things, can't they?" It wasn't much of an accusation, she didn't have the energy to put a point to it.

She sighed and looked at her babies. "This job's been full of unexpected surprises. Not all of them welcome. I hate surprises, they get in the way of getting a job done. It can't be helped so I deal with them as they come." She thought about leaving now, but that would be leaving her children alone with Yumi and she wasn't prepared to do that yet.

"So that's why my project is still incomplete. I interrupted the birth of a project for a far more literal one. I hate irony though it does seem to follow me about."

[Karishima Yumi]

"The...the project?" Karishima echoed. She had, sometime in the last thirty seconds or so, forgotten all about the project. About her grand plan. About everything other than the miracles she was holding in her arms.

"Lita," she said, and it was a struggle to keep her voice even and her breathing normal, so as not to excite the infants again, "never mind the project! The project can wait! Timetables can be adjusted, plans can be reworked, but this.. but them -- !"

The girl began to fuss a bout louder, her tiny tentacles (which were still wrapped tightly around Kari's arm) more sensitive to the slow rise in Karishima's pulse. This set her twin off as well, and Karishima stopped talking and resumed rocking, forcing herslef to calm down. Only when they had settled down again did she continue.

"This changes... everything," she said, half to herself. "Everything."

The girl peered quizzically up at Karishima , but her eyes lid were dropping. The boy was already dozing.

No. not 'girl' not 'boy' Son. Daughter. Karishima thought.

Karishima looked up and spoke softly. "Ger some rest, okay Lita? You look like you need it. We can talk more later... "

[Lita]

Lita watched them, Karishima was certainly good with them. Apparently she'd had some interaction with children before, but it still wasn't quite right. In fact, Lita's mind was a bit off put. If she wasn't so tired, she probably would have pursued the point about the plan that was being so casually dismissed. She was just too exhausted to get mad though. That could be done later, after all, now Karishima was bound to show up a lot more often.

Lita just sighed and left the room. Karishima had a lot too process and would probably come to her senses later. Lita went to the room she had chosen for herself and just collapsed on it. A fleeting thought entered her mind before she was completely out. She would continue her side of the project, it was the start of all this.

[Karishima Yumi]

Morning would find Karishima downstairs in the kitchen. Her hands were wrapped around a mug of tea, which at some point in the past had been steaming hot, but was now ice cold.

She stood near the stove, staring out the window more or less directly at the rising sun. It occurred to her then that she hadn't slept a wink. She pushed the thought aside as immaterial. Behind her both Bianca and Fiona stood, eying their silent mistress uncertainly. They had never seen her so shaken.

"You will, of course, tell no one of this," she aid, her voice taking an odd sort of double timber as she spoke.

Both women's face took on a blank expression. "Of course Mistress," they said in a unison monotone.

"Good," she said, her voice normal again. Both women's expression soon snapped back to normal.

"But, Mistress, what are you going to do now?" Fiona asked.

"I dont know," he older woman confessed. If it were just me... if Lita had I mad met under otehr circumstances and this had happened, I drop everything, move in and be her housewife taking care of the kids whiles she works and invents and creates..." A deep sigh. "A family, Fiona. The one thing I've always wanted and never thought I would have."

"You have children with her," Bianca pointed out. "That doesn't make you a family."

Karishima shook her head. "You're right. And look how they were conceived. And she had to go through her pregnancy and labor alone. I am fortunate that Lita's outlook on life is so unique. Another woman might hate my guts at this point and refuse to let me see the children."

Bianca arched an eyebrow. "She couldn't stop you from seeing them. And if she tried, one letter to the right person and you could easily take custody from --"

Karishima spun around so fast a pair of her small tentacles cracked like a whip form the motion. "Don't you ever suggest such a thing again!" she snapped sharply, the double tember in her voice almost echoing of the walls. Don't you even think it. I will not separate a mother from her children. Ever! Do I make myself clear?"

Bianca, tall and muscular woman that she was, stumbled to her knees clutching her head in the face of Karishima's raw ire. "Yes Mistress!" she pleaded in a quivering voice. "Forgive me, Mistress!"

"No," was the demoness response. "Get out of my sight. Wait at the carriage."

Biacna stumbled, to her feet and made her way outside without a glance back, quickly wiping away a trickle of blood from her nose.

Karishima sat the cold tea down on the kitchen counter, and took several deep breath in an attempt to clam down. Then she looked at Fiona. "Lita and the kids must be protected, from threats mundane and... otherwise. The wont want for anything, not as long as I draw breath. But I cant drop everything. Not now. No matter how much I want to. Its a child's dream, really. A woman like Lita... for all my businesses and magic and scheming... I'm not really in her league.

Fiona nodded. "I'll have the barristers draw up the paperwork to ensure they are provided for upon our return, Mistress. Of course.. there is an easier way..."

Karishima, shook her head before tuning back to look out the window. "No woman wants to marry their rapist, Fiona," she said sadly.

[Lita]

Lita hadn't slept well either, though her thoughts were jumping and bounding from place to place. Taking care of the twins was a lot of work, true, but that didn't mean the project had to be abandoned entirely. Lita didn't think of her creations as just simple inventions, she thought of them as her children, even the ones that she was not bringing to life. Karishima was wrong to stop the project, even if it was fairly obvious her creations would not be used for transporting things.

Lita also worried about the children. There was the whole reason she hadn't brought it up to Karashima in the first place, she'd known the child would be Karishima's, at least, she knew it when she realized she was pregnant. Lita didn't get out of the lab much and the mystery only had one suspect. She hadn't told Karashima because she had no idea how the woman would react. Plus the fact that the woman had been avoiding her best she could the whole time the project was going on, it didn't open itself up to long discussions.

So in order to take her mind off things Lita had decided to go for a walk, the walk ended up back at the barn that housed her laboratory and she began to work. She worked throughout the night and into the early mornings before her body reminded her that it was just about time to take care of the twins. She made her way back to the house, she saw one of Karashima's assistants prepping the carriage or something. That meant she was on her way out soon. She entered the house and saw Karashima there at the window. Waiting to deliver some sort of news no doubt.

"Are you leaving already?" Lita asked, standing at the room's threshold. She wasn't sure what she had expected with the twins, but it certainly wasn't indifference. After the reaction yesterday, she'd been almost hoping for more.

[Karishima Yumi]

Karishima didn't answer right away. This was partly because she wasn't sure what the answer was. She had business to attend to, this was true, and her visit had long since run over the allotted time she had scheduled for it. That said, kind of a lot had happened since then.

At the same time, she felt a deep-seated desire to stay exactly where she was. Maybe cook breakfast. Go get the kids when they started crying -- and they would start soon if she was any judge. Change their diapers and bring the to Lita so she could feed them. Was Lita breast feeding? What kind of schedule where they on? So much she didn't know, and she felt worse with each blank spot of knowledge when it came to her own children.

Lita finally turned around. "Would you believe me if I told you I had no idea if I was leaving soon or not? Or at all, really. There are several things I was scheduled to do today, but the only thing I have any desire to do is stay here and get to know and take care of our children. And their mother."

Karishima nodded toward Fiona. She returned the motion, then mumbling a polite excuse me to Lita, slipped past her and left the room.

"They'll be up soon," she said, her eyes glancing upwards toward the ceiling, "if I'm any judge. I was hoping we could talk for a bit before that happens."