"Honey, it’s been a week, you need to go home and get some sleep. I’m here and so is Ricky, if anything happens we promise to call you." Sophia spoke softly as she held her daughter’s hand. The usually easy going Jolly looked tense and there were deep circles around the blue eyes.

For the past week Jolly hadn’t left the hospital at all. The only reason she wasn’t wearing the same clothes was because Sophia and Pam were taking care of her while Jolly took care of Mimi. The only time she left the Intensive Care Unit was to visit the babies who had gone through their own tribulations. So far the smallest of them had stopped breathing twice and the other two were fighting severe infections in their underdeveloped lungs. The large amount of medication they were on, and the fight to stay alive wasn’t helping in their goal to gain weight.

One of the only times Jolly showed any life was when one of the nurses suggested they give Mimi the medication to stop milk production. Jolly remembered well their talk the night this nightmare had begun, but she was determined to let Mimi make the decision not someone not wanting to be bothered with the task of pumping. The problem was, no amount of talking, hand holding or care from Jolly had gotten Mimi to wake up.

"It could be a year and I’ll still be sitting here waiting. She isn’t going to wake up without me being here for her to see. I don’t want her to feel like she’s alone."

"Mimi knows how you feel about her, and I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to get sick from pushing yourself too far."

Jolly ran her hands up and down the tops of her legs in an effort to release some anxiety. When they made her leave Mimi’s side she felt like crawling out of her skin. "Can we just drop this discussion? There isn’t a damn thing you’re going to tell me that’ll make me leave." She stood up and released a frustrated sigh. "I’m sorry for being so gruff, but I feel so helpless. My life’s always been about order. I draw plans other people follow and in the end I get the results I intended. That’s so much easier than this."

"Jolly, I wish there was some wise thing I could say right now, but life isn’t that easy. It’s unfair as hell, isn’t it?"

A mirthless laugh forced its way out of Jolly’s chest. "You know what all this has made me think about?"

Sophia watched as Jolly walked another couple of miles pacing the room. "What’s that?"

"My father."

It was Sophia’s turn to let out the same kind of laugh. "Why ever would you do that?"

"You’re right, life’s not fair and he’s the prime example of that isn’t he? I mean he’s spent his existence bullying his employees, those he supposedly loves and turning his back on anyone who doesn’t march to his tune. What’s all that gotten him? Nothing’s ever happened to him that’s cut him to his very soul has it? Mimi on the other hand is the epitome of goodness and look where she is now."

"I don’t know, honey. Losing you out of his life hurt more than he’ll ever admit."

Jolly spun on her feet and looked at her mother not believing what she’d just said. "Yeah right."

"Don’t you ever sit and think why he pushed you harder than all the others?"

"Because my siblings are a pack of goddamn sheep. I’m sorry, but you know it’s true."

The older woman patted the hard plastic chair beside her to encourage Jolly to sit. "I know, but when we started having children you were, in his eyes, the most like him." A snort from Jolly made Sophia smile. "Jolly, you’ve done with your life everything you wanted to, haven’t you?"

"I guess." Jolly went willingly when her mother pulled her closer so her head was on her shoulder. Taking advantage of their position Sophia ran her fingers through the thick dark hair.

"So has he. Granted you went in a different direction, but neither of you are ones to have your life dictated. He fought with you yes, but he admired your tenacity. If he ever gets over his pride you might find a person you can like. So I believe he has suffered some, and it came from losing you."

"How can you still defend him?" Jolly asked stifling a yawn.

"It’d be easy to hate your father, but I’m not wasting time on that anymore. I don’t think of what I said as defending him either. I just don’t want you to let the past and your anger over it rob you of any relationship, even if it’s with your father. Go on, close your eyes and get some rest."

Jolly’s laugh this time sounded almost normal. "You’re giving up on getting me to go home?"

"I don’t want to rob you out of seeing Mimi well again either."

"Thanks, mama."

Their talks continued for the next week and provided for Jolly the only high points to her day. Sophia told her stories about her father François that Jolly had either not heard or had forgotten. In her time sitting at Mimi’s bedside Jolly repeated them all as she put lotion on her partner’s dry skin, or just held her hand. There had been no other bleeding or emergencies but Mimi showed no improvement.

"You should see Moe, baby. She’s gained an ounce this week and she fans her fingers out when I touch the bottoms of her feet. She must’ve inherited the Mulle ticklish gene."

"Jolly?" One of the nurses stood in the doorway hating she had to interrupt. Ellie had told them to give Jolly more time with Mimi, but there had to be breaks. Not so much for a patient like Mimi, but for people like Jolly. There was no sense in the caregiver ending up in the hospital along side their loved one. "Time’s up, darlin’. Go take a nap and get some lunch then we’ll sneak you back in."

Ricky was stretched out on the small sofa in the waiting room sleeping when Jolly stepped out. The thought of waking him to go and see the kids occurred to her but she decided to let him sleep awhile longer. With her hands flat against the wall Jolly tried to stretch the muscles in her back when she felt two small hands press against her.

"Jolly?"

The voice was one she hadn’t heard in over a year, and in reality, it was one Jolly had hoped never to hear again. Maybe her mother was right about her being like her father since she was able to carry a grudge so well. "What do you want?"

"I heard about what happened and I wanted to come and see you."

Jolly turned around if only to reclaim her personal space and looked at Christina with cold eyes. "For what, to gloat?"

"Please, Jolly, I want to help. I heard Mimi isn’t getting any better and I thought you might need help with your kids. Or maybe you just need a shoulder to lean on once you have to start making the tough decisions."

"Get out."

"Don’t be so stubborn, I made mistakes but I’m here to prove to you things can be different between us. I still love you. I want us to be able to depend on one another. You need me, Jolly."

"I said get the hell out of here." Jolly’s voice stayed low but it was enough to wake Ricky, but he stayed where he was for the moment.

"Honey, she could be like this for years and then what? You’re going to just live in this room and hope she wakes up and picks up where you two left off. You have to be realistic here, you have to be…" Christina stopped talking when a large hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed.

"I warned you didn’t I? I told you to get out. You are fucking something else, lady. My wife’s in there and you think it’s a good time to come here and restake your claim." With each word Jolly squeezed harder until the blonde was hitting her arm in an effort to make her let go.

"You have to let her go, Jolly." Harry spoke soothingly but tried to pry the architect’s hands off the woman’s throat. "Let go, Jolly."

"God, what about you ever attracted me? You’re nothing but a fucking ghoul." Christina was turning red and her blows were becoming lighter as she became more light headed, but still Jolly wouldn’t release her. It was as if she didn’t realize what she was doing.

"Jolly!" Harry screamed. When she did two things happened, Ricky sat up and Jolly punched Harry connecting with her eye.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" The sight of Harry on the floor was as confusing to Jolly as why Christina was gasping for air.

"Getting a black eye would be my first answer. What in the hell were you doing?" Harry pushed Christina’s head down after escorting her to a chair. "You could’ve really hurt her."

"I don’t know. She started talking about how I had to let Mimi go and forget about her and something snapped."

Ricky came up behind Jolly and put his arm around her shoulders pushing her toward the door. "Come on, let’s go get a soda or something." She started walking not really caring where she was headed. "As for you, bitch, stay the hell away from my family. You come in here and talk about my kid like she’s a piece of celery again, and I swear I’ll finish you off myself. Consequences be damned."

They sat together in the cafeteria with two cups of coffee and silence between them. It was Ricky who finally couldn’t take it anymore. "Want to talk about it?"

"No, not really." Jolly stirred the contents of the cup slowly as if it was the only thing she was interested in doing with it because she hadn’t taken a sip yet. "You should head home and get some sleep. I appreciate you spending the night last night, but I can handle this."

"You look like shit, and you’ve lost more weight than is healthy in the last two weeks, so I don’t think you’re handling this too well at all. You’ve got to let some of us in eventually, don’t you think?"

The milky spoon finally stopped and was put on the table. "What do you want from me? For me to say we should all hold hands around the bed and tell Mimi it’s ok for her to die? Well fuck you if that’s what you want, because it’s not ok with me. I want my wife back. I want us to go home and raise our girls and be happy. Is that too fucking much to ask?"

All the conversations around them just stopped as Jolly’s voice got louder. Without realizing it she was screaming at Ricky, taking every bit of frustration she felt on the one person in the world who loved Mimi almost as much as she did. "I don’t want that at all, I just wanted you to let some of that out. It’s been building for sixteen days and I didn’t want it to cut you off at the knees if you kept it all inside."

"God, Ricky, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean any of that, I know you love Mimi."

"Kid, I said don’t worry about it. Hard as it may be to believe, I have heard the word fuck before, though never with such passion. What I want is for you to keep talking to her and bring her back. You’re the only one of us who can. I’m looking forward to that." His hand moved across the table and covered Jolly’s.

"You miss her huh?"

"Yeah, I miss her, but what I’m waiting for is her reaction when she sees those nametags on the incubators. She’s going to get madder at that than finding out Christina was here trying to lure you away."

Jolly laughed until the tears started running down her cheeks and she couldn’t stop. The waiting was starting to get to her and her fear was it would break her if Mimi didn’t come around soon. "Let it all out, Jolly. Trust me, it’ll make you feel better."

She cried until there was no emotion left, only the welcomed relief of exhaustion. Harry came in and found Jolly and Ricky both looking drained. "Can I sit?"

"Come to have me arrested for attacking blondes?" joked Jolly.

"After you left she told me you attacked her for no reason and was thinking about pressing charges against you."

Jolly shook off some of her tiredness and pointed her finger at Harry. "That’s a lie, she was…"

With both hands up to stop the denial, Harry started laughing. "I didn’t say I bought it, just that she said it."

"What changed your mind, doc?" asked Ricky.

"When she wanted to discuss her options over lunch if I was available. If not we could make it dinner if I wanted to give her my phone number. I was sorely tempted to do just that and have Desi talk to her when she called the house. She’s tiny but even I’m afraid of her in the middle of a pregnancy."

"She asked you out?" Jolly wasn’t surprised but if Christina wanted to stalk someone else for a while until Mimi was better, more power to her. If only it wasn’t Harry.

"Why? You think I’m bad looking or something?"

"No but trust me you want to stay away from this one, Harry. She’s cute but she’s a bit of a physco."

"I was just kidding. I stay away from all of them no matter how good looking they are or aren’t. Desi is the girl for me, always has been. I have a feeling Christina just found that out not only about me but you as well." Harry was glad to see a smile on Jolly’s face. "Speaking of small, demanding blondes, mine asked me to come down here and throw my weight around and do something to make you feel better. How would you like to take a nap?"

"Maybe after I go in and see Mimi again. The nurses promised I could go back in after I got some lunch. I’d rather not miss spending time with her."

"How about I show you where I want you to take a nap and if you don’t want to, we’ll go with your plan? Deal?" She held out her hand and waited for Jolly to take it.

"Deal."

While Jolly was out the nurses had moved Mimi over the bed a little to make room for Jolly. The blankets were turned on one side and another pillow had been placed on the bed. "Want to take me up on my offer?" asked Harry.

"I won’t hurt her getting up there?"

"In my medical opinion I think you can only do her good by getting up there. Maybe what Mimi needs is to feel you as well as hear your voice? It might remind her of what’s she’s missing while she’s taking this long nap of hers."

Not needing to be told twice Jolly slipped her shoes off and climbed into the bed as gently as she could. "Is it ok for me to put my arm around her?"

"I think she’d like that so go for it. If you need anything just press the nurse call button behind you. If not sweet dreams and stay as long as you like. A full eight hours is what the doctor’s ordering."

"Thanks, Harry, and I’m sorry about your eye."

"You can make it up to me by getting some sleep." The lights were dimmed when Harry stepped out and before she’d made it out of the ward Jolly was asleep. But not before pressing a kiss to Mimi’s temple and enjoying the feel of her against her body.

"I love you."

The soft breath against her neck was what woke Jolly up about five hours later. She stretched slightly and pressed Mimi closer to her. It was nice to finally be this close again and feel Mimi’s head tucked against her shoulder. In their time together it didn’t matter what position they went to sleep in, this was how they always woke up together.

"You know, sweetheart, you’d better start thinking about opening your eyes. You’re missing out on a lot here, and if you’re not careful Christina’s going to show up and raise your kids. Can you believe she showed up here telling me she wanted to help with the girls and make me feel better?"

Jolly laughed as she leaned back a little so she could run a finger along Mimi’s bottom lip. "I think it would’ve hurt more if I’d told her she hasn’t crossed my mind once after seeing you naked."

"More than what?" The voice sounded like it hadn’t been used in days and Mimi tried to clear her throat before opening her eyes. It died in a squeak when Jolly squeezed Mimi so hard she lifted her off the bed.

"I knew you were going to be ok." Tears ran down Jolly’s cheeks when she felt Mimi lift her hand and rub the back of her neck. "Thank you for coming back."

"I was never gone, love. I’ve just had the hardest time getting my eyes to open." Even with the dim lighting in the room Mimi blinked rapidly until her eyes adjusted. "I missed seeing you, so I guess it was time to wake up."

"I’ve been talking to you, did you hear me?"

"I kept calling for you in my dream, but you never answered me, but knowing you, you’re never too far away so I kept looking." Her hands went from the back of Jolly’s neck to her midsection that wasn’t completely flat, but now was missing the three people who had stretched it to the limit. "We lost them? Oh, Jolly, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened."

"No, sweetheart, they’re small but they’re fighters like their mama. Three perfect little girls."

"All girls?"

"All beautiful blonde girls who get bigger and more gorgeous everyday. You did good, honey." Jolly wiped the tears from Mimi’s face and laughed. Every bad thought and fear she’d experienced in the last couple of weeks just faded from her mind.

Mimi laughed with her and ran her hand over Jolly’s face into her hair. "No brunettes?"

"Not yet, but my hair was fairly light for about a year so you still have a shot. Not that I’m not enjoying this but let me go and get them to call Ellie."

"Not yet." Mimi’s hands moved again mapping along Jolly’s body like they were hungry to touch her. "Would you kiss me first?"

"You never have to ask me that, love. Of course I will."

"Even if I have nuclear strength morning breath?"

"Even then." Jolly rolled Mimi onto her back and leaned over her and started on her forehead. As her lips touched now responsive lips, Jolly had a feeling this was what it felt like to win the lottery.

"I love you so much, and I’m sorry I worried you. I wanted this to be so different." Mimi put her hand on Jolly’s chest over her heart.

"We’re here and we’re fine. All five of us are so you’ve got nothing to be sorry about."

"Good, now answer my question." Mimi demanded as she pinched Jolly on the arm.

"What question?"

"It would’ve hurt the supreme bitch more than what?"

"Before I answer that, I should let you know Christina’s probably going to try and sue us for everything including the kids."

"Jolly, I would rather be talking about them anyway so just tell me."

Taking a deep breath Jolly forged on, "She told me it was time to let you go and move on, or in with her. My reaction to that was to try and choke the life out of her."

"Figuratively or literally?"

"That would be literally."

"Even if it costs us everything it’s worth the price of admission."

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

Ellie and Sam checked her from head to foot before calling Jolly back into the room. Both of them were scratching their heads in confusion. "You’re sort of an anomaly, Mimi. There was no explanation as to why you were unconscious for so long, and there’s no explanation as to why you woke up," said Ellie.

"Some woman was trying to put the moves on Jolly so I had no choice." The group laughed and looked toward the blushing brunette holding Mimi’s hand. "Can I go and see our daughters?"

"About that. You do realize they’re going to have to hit four pounds before you can take them home. Until then we want you to come as often as you want so they’ll know you. We’ve been giving them breast milk and they’re improving rapidly, so hopefully they’ll be in that great room Desi told us about before too long." Sam rocked on her heels and waited for the objections that usually came in similar situations.

"Whenever I want, I can see them?" Mimi looked like she too was ready to do battle.

"Day or night, sweetie. The more interaction you have with them, the better they’ll do," answered Ellie.

"I want to see them now."

A nurse walked in pushing a wheelchair at Mimi’s request. "We figured, so let’s go get you ready." Sam unfastened all the monitors and leads not necessary since they were moving her to a private room closer to the children after the visit. "Besides, we got a look at Harry heading into surgery, I sure don’t want to be the one to piss Jolly off by not making you happy. Harry looked like she’d been mauled."

"Jolly, what’d you do?" Mimi’s question made Jolly take a small step away from her.

"It was an accident."

"Spill it, Andolini."

To the amusement of the two physicians Jolly’s blush got darker. "I accidentally punched her in the eye."

"Jolly! Good God, what for?"

"I was busy strangling Christina when Harry snuck up on me. It’s not like I meant to do it, and I did apologize."

Mimi shook her head and pointed an index finger at her partner. "We’ll talk about this later."

"I told you you’d get in trouble," Sam taunted Jolly.

"Shut up."

"Sam, do not make me turn around," threatened Ellie. She pushed Mimi out of the room toward the elevators. "You’re worse than a two year old."

"Wait." All three women stopped laughing and looked to Jolly to see what the problem was. "In all the excitement I forgot to go out and tell your father."

"Daddy’s here?"

"He’s like old faithful here," Sam pointed to Jolly. "The only time I think I saw him leave was when he was going home to get stuff for Jolly."

"How long was I out exactly?"

"A little over two weeks," replied Ellie.

"Oh, Jolly, I am so sorry." Mimi started crying again at the thought of how out of her mind she would have been had it bee Jolly lying there. "I never meant to hurt you like that."

Jolly knelt next to the wheelchair and held Mimi as well as she could. "All that matters to me is you’re all right. We just worried so much because we love you so much, but just like always you never let me down. You fought your way back to me and our babies are going to do the same. They’re yours so it’s in their makeup to be beautiful and gutsy."

"Let’s go get daddy and see the girls."

He was standing looking at the painting over the sofa not really thinking about anything when the caravan stopped in the hallway. "Daddy." Ricky spun around and just as quickly his knees echoed loudly when they hit the tile floor. "Come on, daddy, let’s go see your granddaughters." Mimi held her hand out trying to not let the emotions of seeing both her father and Jolly so vulnerable.

Ellie and Sam smiled at each other as they walked behind the two tall protectors holding Mimi’s hands looked down at her every so often as if convince themselves she was really awake. By the time they walked into where they were keeping the babies no one had dry eyes when they watched Mimi look at each one of the small creatures in turn. The two doctors had no doubt the three angels would have a wonderful life at the knee of Jolly and her special partner.

"They look so much like you when you were born," said Ricky holding his hands close together. "Only smaller."

The pleading face turned toward Ellie and Sam was hard to resist but Mimi would have to wait at least a week before they could take them out and let her hold them. "Give them a little time to get stronger then we promise you never have to put them down if you don’t want to," said Sam.

Jolly helped her to stand and showed her where to reach in so Mimi could touch them. "Hey, guys, this is the lady I’ve been telling you about. Say hello to your mama." The first little head moved a little as if to better hear the voice that spoke to her all the time. "Didn’t I promise she’d be ok?"

"They’re so beautiful, and you’re so dead if you really named them Larry, Moe and Curly." Mimi turned and glared at Jolly with tears in her eyes when she saw the pink nametags taped to each incubator.

"Even I’m not that brave, sweetheart. You carried them so that means you get to name them. All these girls in here have been more than persistent that I come up with some names but I couldn’t do it without you." Jolly pulled her arm tighter around Mimi’s waist and kissed the top of her head.

"I want us to do it together, baby." Mimi pulled off the first name tag and looked inside to the smallest baby, one of the twins. "I sat and thought about this for months, and like I told you in the beginning, I wanted to give you something of your grandfather, your cousin, you and me all wrapped up in one little bundle. It would’ve never crossed my mind I’d get three bundles to give you."

"You always do things different from everyone else, but that is the most unique thing about you." Jolly held her tight so that there was no pressure on Mimi’s stitches.

"I hope this little girl inherits Francois’s strength and perseverance, so what do you think of Francis?"

"I love it."

Mimi moved to the next baby, the other twin with the white blonde hair. "I’m thinking this little girl will steal your heart every time she bats her eyes at you. It’ll be my job to teach them how sweet you are." She turned and ran her hand over the little back, loving how soft the skin was. "Daddy’s right, you may never survive into their teens since these two little ones look so much like me."

"Then it’s only fair she share a little of her mama, and they don’t need any lessons on how to play me. You do that well enough already." Jolly turned Mimi’s head and kissed her. "How does Laine sound, Madeline Laine Andolini?"

"I didn’t mean for you to name her for me."

"Madeline, if she grows up to be like you, how lucky would we be?"

"Then I get to name Moe over there." Mimi pulled off the last of the nametags the staff had put up after listening to Jolly talking to the babies. "So Jolly Lee Andolini, how about Lee?"

"Francis, Laine and Lee welcome to the world and welcome to our family."

"Ok, I can’t stand it anymore. Here put these on." Ellie held out two sterile gowns and a pair of masks. "Come on, Ricky, let’s give them a few minutes alone."

Not wanting to miss seeing Mimi hold her daughters for the first time, Ricky stood at the edge of the observation glass and looked on, his forehead pressed to the window. He might not have been the best father in the world but Ricky remembered the day the nurse put Mimi in his arms for the first time. In his mind he had made so many promises that day. He’d failed at keeping most of them, but making Jolly wake up to the life she was meant to lead had made up for a lot Ricky had done wrong. He waved to Mimi when she stepped up holding Lee; behind her the nurse put both Francis and Laine in Jolly’s arms.

"Honey?"

Jolly looked down at the two tiny miracles in her arms and thought her lips would crack from the smile on her face. "What?"

"Why are my breasts killing me?"

"They wanted to give you something to stop the milk you’re producing, and I know what you said, but I thought it should be up to you. If you want the nurse said it wouldn’t take long and we can give them formula instead. Whatever you decide will be all right with me."

With careful steps Mimi sat in the rocker and waved Jolly over. "I was miserable at the time, which in most cases makes me an idiot. There’s nothing I would enjoy more than to feed them. If I do I’ll get to hold them and maybe they’ll come home sooner."

Jolly sat across from her and played holder as Mimi held all three of them to her breasts. When she was done one of the nurses came in and changed them all before putting them back. The room they had put Mimi in allowed for everyone to be able to come and see her together and after a long afternoon of kissing and crying, the young mothers were left alone for the night. Before they got ready for bed, Jolly walked Mimi back to the nursery so she could sing each of the little girls a song to put them to sleep.

"Are you ready for all this, honey?" Mimi moved around until she was comfortable lying next to Jolly. She was glad they hadn’t had to punch anyone else for trying to keep them apart for the night. After everything that had happened she could tell that Jolly wasn’t quite over the trauma of it all.

"One of the things I was telling you when you were out of it, was what we’d be doing about thirty years from now. We’ll be sitting out in the yard with a whole bunch of grandkids running around. Inside there’ll be a whole house full of art the girls did. Since we raised them they’ll give us a few pieces at a reasonable price." Mimi laughed and slapped Jolly’s arm.

"They all won’t be painters, goober. I bet we get at least one whittler in the bunch." With slow circles, Mimi ran her hand over Jolly’s chest feeling her partner relax with the attention. "You know something?"

"What?"

"I feel so happy right now that I’m about to burst." Jolly laughed and nodded her head. "And you know what happens when I get like that don’t you?"

"Yes I do, and you’re in no shape to be that happy so think about something else."

"Come on, Jolly, we can talk about it can’t we? You just wait until I get over all this child birthing stuff, you’re in for the night of your life."

Jolly bent her head and kissed Mimi as a down payment on the promise the blonde had just made. "Lucky me."

They snuggled down for the night each thinking the same thoughts after the memories Mimi had evoked. Ellie and Sam had suspended their sex life for months, but they had more than saved up on experiences before that had happened. Mimi might have started as a novice, but with Jolly a now willing participant to her advances, she had driven the older woman to distraction.

"What’re you thinking about?" asked Mimi softly.

"Stuck doors." Jolly looked down when she felt Mimi’s face grow warm. "Madeline, after everything you did to me that day you’re going to blush now?"

"It was nice wasn’t it? We had just found out we were pregnant with the girls and I was so happy I wanted to find some way to show you. More than anything, Jolly, I want that part of our relationship to always be like that day. I want to know I please you."

"You’re the best, sweetheart. Days like that are what make me want to quit working at about noon." Jolly kissed her forehead before relaxing back into the bed. "Though next time you should give me the opportunity to take my boots off."

"Honey, it was the boots that sparked my imagination to begin with. We had a great time, and think about how grateful that driver was when you didn’t scream at him for being over an hour late with your wood."

It felt good to Jolly to just laugh again. "I would’ve but I was too busy blushing myself to make it sound convincing."

"You never blush for me, but you do it for other people? What made you act so out of character?"

"Your father asking me how I managed to get a hickey on my neck from fixing a door."

The heat on her chest got worse making Jolly laugh harder. "You never told me that. How’d you answer him? God, I’ll never be able to look him in the eye again," whined Mimi.

"I told him you pay all my home repair service with sexual favors." A nurse cracked the door and gave them a stern look when the laughing Mimi’s pinch set off got too loud.

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

"I feel horrible about just leaving them here all alone." Dressed in loose comfortable clothing, Mimi was set to leave the hospital after a week of recovering. She leaned back against Jolly as they both looked in on their children.

"Baby, they won’t exactly be alone, and Sam and Ellie said you can come by anytime you want. I’ll bring you whenever you want to come see them."

"It’s just I’ve read how important it is for them to connect to us now. I don’t want them to think we’re abandoning them because they’re not perfect." Mimi started crying again making Jolly wonder if she was in danger of dehydration she did it so often. Sam had explained only time and a lot of hand holding on her part would alleviate the problem, so she was taking the doctor’s advice. She held Mimi and rocked her until the emotions ran their course. There was no need to say anything since Mimi wouldn’t respond to words just actions. Assurance would come when her small blonde saw that she was telling the truth, and a trip to the hospital would only be a request away.

Jolly figured they would be at the hospital in the middle of the night or whenever Mimi’s mothering radar would start to ping. The truth was she wouldn’t mind what time it was, just as long as Laine, Francis and Lee knew how cherished they were. There was no way she was taking any chapters out of Anthony’s book of parenting.

"They’ll have a lifetime of connecting with us, sweetheart, and the next six weeks won’t be an exception to that fact. You have to come at least once a day and feed them so they’ll know you, I promise." Mimi clung to her tighter as Jolly spoke softly to her. Another new mother walked slowly to the next section of glass trying to give them their privacy. Jolly noticed the woman dividing her time between looking at her new baby and looking at them. She smiled at the woman over Mimi’s head hoping she wasn’t thinking of giving them a hard time.

"I’m sorry, I don’t want to bother you but I just wanted to let you know my first child, Bobby was a preemie and he’s doing great. When I had to leave him here I felt like the worse mother in the world, like I’d failed him, but it’s like they know they have to get better before they can go home." The woman stepped closer and put her hand on Mimi’s shoulder. "They’re tiny things, but they have a great capacity for love."

"Thank you for telling us that. How old is Bobby now?" asked Mimi.

"He’s seven and a terror, so enjoy the fact they can’t walk yet. He’s still my baby though even after this fifth little one."

Jolly laughed and felt Mimi laugh along with her. "One more pregnancy and we’ll pass you up."

"All three of those are yours?" she asked pointing to the incubators.

"Yep, all three," beamed Mimi.

"Well congratulations, and good luck."

Jolly pulled a chocolate cigar with a pink wrapper out of her breast pocket and handed it over. "Thank you."

"Just what you want to give an overweight hormonal woman, chocolate," joked the woman holding her stomach. She waved to them as she made her way back to her room peeling the wrapper off her treat.

"I still wish we could bring them home. It’s so drab in here, they aren’t going to get any visual stimulation." It was no time to remind Mimi the staff still had patches over the girls’ eyes so Jolly wisely kept her mouth shut.

Sam and Ellie entered the ward as Mimi continued with her list of reasons they shouldn’t leave the children alone in the hospital. They pair in white lab coats gave Jolly an idea that would make everyone happy if they agreed.

"Honey, did you hear me?" Jolly’s blank expression said she hadn’t.

"Sorry, I see our good doctors are here," she turned Mimi around to show her. "Go in with Ellie and say good bye to the girls for now."

The tall doctor stayed behind hoping to get an honest assessment on how Mimi was really doing. Leaving children in the hospital even over night was traumatizing to young parents. "Is she holding up ok?"

"No, but you and the hospital can fix that." The more Jolly thought about her formulating plan, the bigger her smile got.

Sam crossed her arms and waited for the explanation of how Mimi needed a roll away bed or something brought in to be closer to her babies. "How’s that?"

Jolly pointed to the spotless beige walls and started with her pitch. "For the one place in the hospital where most people are supposed to be happy, it looks like a prison."

"Hospitals don’t have money to decorate, Jolly, much less buy art. Think of the new babies as our decorations. All you have to do is look through the glass for works of art."

"True, but lucky for you, the new daughters of one of the city’s most talented artists are hanging out here for the next month or so. I bet if you asked real nice she’d liven up these walls for you."

The arms stayed crossed but Sam did crack a smile. "Like I said, administration won’t spend money on something like that. I’ve seen what Mimi’s pieces go for, we can’t afford her."

"How about you feed her, get her a comfortable chair to work out of and let her hold the girls whenever she wants?" Jolly had her hand out waiting for Sam to seal the deal. "It’s a great opportunity that’ll make us all happy.

"I think we can swing that past administration, especially when I tell them it’s Mimi Mulle doing the painting."

"It’s Mimi Andolini now, doc. I don’t want my kids and me to have different names, so try and remember that." Mimi stepped out with Ellie and caught the last part of the conversation. "And what exactly am I painting?"

The doctor and Mimi’s partner explained what they had in mind watching as Mimi’s smile grew brighter and brighter. Since she was herself still recovering, Mimi was talked into starting with the half wall under the observation windows to keep her off her feet.

After the initial excitement Mimi got quiet and walked the hall slowly. Sam and Ellie were about to tell her not to worry about taking on the project if it was going to be too much for her when Jolly gave them a lesson in understanding Mimi. "Each foot she passes is one more section of art completed in her head. She gets really focused when she plans, and becomes totally absorbed when she starts. I have a feeling there’ll be three new reasons who might change that now. I’ll be the one she forgets about now."

"How can I forget you when you’re always looking out for me?" Mimi eased her way back into the circle of Jolly’s arms and exhaled into her chest. "I love the way you know me. Thanks for thinking of a way to make me not go crazy by the time this is all over. I love you, Jolly."

"I love you too, sweetheart. Come on, let’s get you home to your sketchbooks."

They went home until Mimi’s breasts felt like they were going to burst. Once she had fed the kids some of the staff watched in amazement as images started to appear under the wax pencil Mimi had brought with her. Before the afternoon was over, the hospital administrator took over twenty minutes to thank Mimi for her selfless act making Harry, Ellie and Sam laugh. The man was usually one big scowl and his favorite word was no, so to see him be so demonstrative and nice was a welcomed change.

In the next weeks, everyone one in the natal unit watched as Mimi added color to her outline and the three Andolini girls gained weight. The day the tape came off the small sets of eyes, with both Mimi and Jolly looking on, was the day the first section was completed Mimi was so full of energy. It was both strange and wonderful to find colors so familiar in the small faces. The twins Francis and Laine both had bright green eyes like hers and Lee had inherited Jolly’s blues.

When the girls started to close in on their goal weight, the staff was almost sorry. Not that they wished the children ill, but with their departure so would the fireball Mimi. It was fun to see the faces of new big brothers and sisters when they came to visit new siblings. The fantasy world Mimi had created made them sometimes just stand in the middle of the ward’s hall and stare.

There were dragons flying on the ceiling with flowers in their claws, children playing an assortment of things, bears peeking form behind multicolored trees, dinosaurs that served as slides, and in the middle, three small babies holding small hammers in their hands building a rainbow.

The hospital had arranged a dedication ceremony the day the new parents were given the go ahead to take the girls home. All that was left was for Mimi to sign her name to the mural and it would be done.

"Thanks for all this, Mimi. When you have the next batch maybe you could spruce up the lobby," joked Sam.

"How about if I just agree to do it no matter what. This long stay was a one shot deal." Ellie frowned and wondered if the trauma had turned Mimi off to having any other children. "Don’t worry, Ellie, it’s just next time I plan to be here only over night then I’m taking everyone home with me."

They drove home slowly with the new car seats securely fastened, looking forward to starting their family life without all the onlookers. Sophia and Ricky were waiting at home, anxious to get a turn holding their new granddaughters. The only sad thing Mimi had experienced was her mother not calling to congratulate them or ask about her new granddaughters, which meant Anthony hadn’t called Jolly either. Before it depressed her too much, Desi had come by with her business partner Tony. The two of them had talked her into a new show before the visit was over, so she would have plenty of other things to think about to dwell on her mother. Tony reminded Mimi so much of herself it was hard to think about anything negative when he was around.

"You’re sure you’re ready for this?" asked Mimi when they pulled into the driveway.

"All it’s going to take is about eighteen years to get them ready to leave for college, so yeah. This will be a piece of cake."

Laine was the last one to be fed that night, and like her sisters, she was rocked and sung to by Mimi until she fell asleep. When she did Mimi put her in the same bed as Francis and Lee. Until they were bigger, Mimi was planning to keep them together since they seemed to do better when they were in close proximity. Once she was convinced they were all sleeping Mimi went to join Jolly on the other rocker in the room. It was still amusing to watch Jolly when she looked at the girls. Mimi had seen more than one deep breath that ended with a big smile and a puffed up chest full of pride.

"Amazing isn’t it?" asked Mimi.

"It’s like Christmas every time I walk in here and see them. I love you for giving me so much."

After a long kiss, Mimi playfully pulled on Jolly’s ponytail and made her an offer. "The baby monitor is setup, you want to take me to bed?"

"No."

This time the tug on Jolly’s hair was a little harder. "No? You have plans to go out on the town or something?"

Jolly stood and took Mimi’s hand leading her to the back of the house. "Actually I have plans on surprising you. I wanted you to have something to remember their birth by aside from the masterpiece you created, so I have a surprise for you."

"Jolly, I have you that’s all I need."

"Then think of this as a place I can take you to stargaze and hold you. And since we have so much fun doing it, a place to dance."

Nestled under one of the big oaks in the yard stood Mimi’s new gazebo. Jolly had left the roof just a series of beams knowing how much Mimi loved open spaces. The climbing vine she had planted, whose flowers would one day provide a dark purple tint to Mimi’s paints, would eventually provide shade once it wove through the top, but for now the sky provided a good canopy. On a small plaque over the opening were three names with a date of birth. Laine, Francis and Lee Andolini, all sharing the same birthday. Mimi laughed when she saw other spaces for the names that would come after the first three. This would be a perfect place to celebrate all the birthdays in their future.

"Thank you for my wonderful life, Mimi." Jolly turned on the outside speakers and waited for Mimi to finish looking and touching some of the hand carved surfaces. While Mimi spent her days at the hospital creating something for new families to enjoy for years, Jolly had spent her time creating something for Mimi alone. If she could Jolly would spend a lifetime making things for Mimi to show her how special she was.

"Love, it’s you who makes mine complete."

"Dance with me?" asked Jolly holding her arms open. There was no hesitation on Mimi’s part. She wanted to be held by the woman who held her heart. It was something she had missed when standing for any amount of time had become impossible.

Mimi swayed along with Jolly praying the girls would sleep for at least a couple of hours. "I have a surprise for you too."

"You’re not pregnant are you?" teased Jolly.

"Not yet, but I’m finally recovered from being pregnant and I’m really happy." Mimi ran her hands up Jolly’s chest very slowly, stopping when they were linked behind the taller woman’s neck where they only stayed for a moment before starting their roaming again.

"Really happy?"

"Delirious," said Mimi moving her hands to Jolly’s backside.

"Gotta love happy," said Jolly as she scooped a laughing Mimi into her arms.

The soft music filtered through the night forgotten as the two lovers headed inside. Standing at the fence watching them was their neighbor, Mr. Verret. Ben still brought Mimi tomatoes and other things from his garden, only now it amused him to no end the blush his visits caused. He figured they were caused from the noises he heard coming out of her bedroom now. Ever since the architect had moved in the blinds were closed more often and his young blonde neighbor looked like someone had given her the world as a gift she was so happy.

"Dancing? Is that what they call it these days?" He said to himself as he moved the hose to the next section of garden.

Ben laughed when the dark wooden blinds shut for the night, but not before Jolly gave him a quick wave and a wink. "You’re one lucky bastard, Jolly. May you both enjoy a lot of dances for years to come." The squeal from Mimi muffled by the outer bedroom wall told him they would.

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