Satin Bruises

Autumn faded into a dreary and miserable winter, which began to turn into spring despite the still freezing weather and snow. Gwen, Raleigh, and Reilly, lovingly known as the "Mommy Trio", were given their due dates (which were within days of each other) and the sex of their children. Gwen and Reilly were carrying girls, Raleigh was going to be the proud, and extremely exhausted, mother of twin boys. Nursery's were being designed, baby showers thrown, and Reilly was constantly on edge about strangers rubbing her belly.

The women set out on their morning walk, bundled up and glowing with maternal happiness. They wandered around the stores near Reilly and Jean-Claude's Victorian, when Raleigh spotted an organic fruit and vegetable market. She stopped, dead in her tracks, and stared at the store.

"Reilly, Gwen," she said excitedly. "We want...fruit."

"You want fruit?" Reilly asked, genuinely shocked. "I thought you were more into...grease and fat...this is organic fruits. You know that right?"

"Yeah, I want apples. Green, crunchy apples..." Raleigh's voice trailed off as she opened the door and entered the store, unwrapping her scarf and eying the fruit hungrily. Reilly and Gwen shrugged and followed her, unwrapping and unzipping their own winter gear. The three women began picking out and examining the produce when a young woman came up and patted Reilly's protruding stomach.

"Look at you!" the woman cooed. "When are you due?"

Reilly looked at the woman as if she had sprouted a second head, which then threw up on her Gucci shoes. Raleigh grabbed her sister's arm and said her name softly while Gwen pretended she didn't even know them. The smile on the woman's face faded as she asked what was wrong.

"What the hell makes you think that it's okay to walk up to a perfect stranger and rub on them like they're on display in a petting zoo?" Reilly asked, her voice boiling, eyes narrowing. Raleigh, for the first time, trying to be the civil one, pleaded quietly with her.

"No, Raleigh!" Reilly snapped, then returned her glare to the woman. "Well?!"

"I was just..." the woman stammered.

"You were just what?! Did I walk up to you and ask you to rub my stomach?!"

Raleigh took Reilly's food, tied off her own bag of apples, and handed them to Gwen to make the purchase, helping with a quick get-away. She pulled her sister back and set herself between the two. The woman looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"I'm very sorry about my sister," Raleigh said softly. "She's pretty..."

"Don't apologize for me! She's the one being rude! Coming up to people and touching on them and shit! In what universe is that socially acceptable?!"

"That doesn't mean that you have to be rude too," Raleigh groaned. "Like I was saying, she's pretty sensitive about people touching her when she isn't pregnant, imagine her now. Again, I'm very sorry."

Raleigh slipped her hand around her sister's arm and lead her out of the store, following Gwen who was tearing into a peach gleefully. The trio continued waddling down the street, Raleigh appalled by her, usually calmer and more diplomatic, twin.

"I can NOT believe that you went off on that poor woman," she sighed before biting a chunk out of her apple. "That's so not like you."

"I know," Reilly said sadly. "I don't know what happened." Tears welled in the sea-foam eyes.

"Well, I thought it was delightful," Gwen shrugged.

"Shut up Gwen," Raleigh laughed, a chuck of apple bulging her cheek.

"No Raleigh, you shut up."

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Raleigh's Music Theory class ended, she was officially on lunch break. She grabbed her Tupperware bowl of spaghetti and wandered down the hall to the Anatomy & Physiology lab where Mr. Callahan's class would be dissecting sheep eyes...delicious. She tapped her nails on the window, rousing Micah's attention. He smiled and asked one of the students to open the door.

"Ladies and gentlemen, some of you know Miss Gallion. Say hello," he said cheerfully. Some of the students mumbled greetings, others saw her arrival as an opportunity to get out of the dissection.

"Miss Gallion, when are you due?" a young girl asked worriedly. "You shouldn't be exposed to these kinds of preservatives."

Raleigh glared at the girl. "What do you mean? I'm not pregnant," she growled.

The entire class drew a collective breath, hungrily waiting for an ass chewing. The girl looked at her lab partner, scared, then looked back at Raleigh with huge eyes.

"I'm... I'm..." she stuttered, nervous.

"I'm kidding honey," Raleigh said quickly. "I'm due in July."

"About five months?" another student asked. Raleigh recognized him as one of her new leopards, disowned by his parents, moved here from Bremerton, Washington.

"Actually four," Micah answered. "It's early July. And just because there's a pregnant woman here doesn't mean you are getting out of this. We have windows we can open."

Raleigh smiled at the kids, shrugging. "I tried guys."

Micah lifted her off the ground and sat her on his desk, all while she set upon her pasta like a leopard on a carcass. She watched him as he walked up and down the center aisle, demonstrating how to hold the scalpel properly and telling the students that if they stab their lab partner, they in turn will be stabbed. The kids began the dissection with mixed reactions. Some were disgusted, others...were enthralled. Micah sat on the desk next to his fiance, keeping an eye on the students.

"So what brings you to the hallway of real subjects?" he asked.

"What? You saying Music Theory isn't a real subject?"

"That's not what I said."

"You implied."

"There you go. No, Music Theory is an elective...not a subject."

Micah leaned over to take a large meatball from the pile of noodles and red sauce, but Raleigh jerked the bowl away, fork in stabbing position.

"Nuh uh, your hands are covered in that nasty ass preservative stuff AND you made fun of my class," she said in a rush.

"Oh, I see," he answered, sticking both of his hands between his thighs and childishly swinging his feet. "But I know a secret."

Raleigh's interest was piqued, her eyes narrowed. "Pertaining to what?"

"Jean-Claude and your sister," Micah stated simply. Raleigh shoved her fork into a meatball and fed it to him, then he spilled everything he knew.

"So, he wants to propose to her, but he can't seem to find 'the perfect ring'. He's been to every single jeweler in St. Louis and even went online."

"He needs help? And he went online? Wow. We talking about the same vampire?"

"Even better, he needs your help. He just hasn't ask you 'cause he's afraid you can't keep a secret."

"I can keep a secret!" Raleigh exclaimed. Micah laughed to himself, sliding his arm around her shoulders.

"I know you can, but he doesn't."

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That evening, while Reilly was out running errands, Raleigh went to visit the vampire in his office. She politely knocked on the door, then poked her head in. Jean-Claude was seated at his desk in his usual thinking position, feet propped on the desk, fingers steepled against his lips. He regarded the twin curiously, pondering her smile.

"What can I do for you, Raleigh?" he asked.

"Actually, what can I do for you?" Raleigh corrected. "A little birdie told me that you needed some help."

Jean-Claude laid his head back against his chair, sighing. Raleigh waddled to the chair in front of his desk and sat down, resting her hands on her very pregnant belly. She felt one of the twins stretch and roll, bringing a smile to her face. The vampire looked at her with a smirk.

"Which birdie told you?"

"I am not at liberty to discuss this information. Go to Cartier's."

"Then it was Micah. I don't need help."

"How do you figure? Yes, you do, otherwise you would already have a ring. Take her to France, then to Cartier's. See what she wants, then sneak behind her and buy it."

"Because if it were anyone else, you would have said so. That's a good idea, too bad I...don't...need...help," Jean-Claude answered, smiling coyly.

"Of course you don't," Raleigh answered, pushing herself out of the chair. "Cartier's and France. Brilliant idea, boss."

Raleigh tried to get out of the chair, but was too pregnant to get up. Chuckling, Jean-Claude came around the desk to her and held out his hand. The twin waved him off at first, still struggling with the chair. Finally, she gave up and gripped Jean-Claude's hand, hoisting herself up. She smiled her thanks and waddled from the room, leaving the vampire pondering her idea.

"So maybe I do need a little help," he mumbled to the empty room as he reached for the phone on his desk. He quickly dialed some numbers and waited for his personal accountant to answer groggily.

"Hello?" the man yawned.

"Good evening, Peter," Jean-Claude said cheerily, immediately changing the man's attitude.

"Oh...oh good evening Sir. What can I do for you?"

Jean-Claude told him he needed two tickets to France and a room reserved in the finest hotel, by tomorrow night. Peter told the vampire that this would not be a problem, very easy as a matter of fact.

"Well, here comes the hard part. I'm sure you will admire this obstacle," Jean-Claude chuckled.

"Try me."

"I also need you to reserve Cartier's the night after my arrival."

"Umm...excuse me...I don't understand."

"I will be bringing my lady friend and she simply loves Cartier's. I want to surprise her with a private viewing."

"How much will you be willing to spend?"

Jean-Claude thought for a moment before saying. "Let them name a price."

"She's that special?"

"Good night, Peter. Send me the information as soon as you get it."

The vampire hung up the phone just in time for Reilly to walk into the office. She carried in her arms a thick stack of files, beaming. Jean-Claude took the folders from her and kissed her gently. They let themselves get lost in each other's eyes, stopping time and space.