Melissa drove into the parking lot of the medical center full of anticipation. Helena had called her yesterday and said she would be in Miami to lecture at the university this week. She invited Mel to come down and join her for an evening and Alan had insisted he could handle the boys for twenty-four hours with no problem. So she had packed a bag and driven south in time to pick up Helena at the end of her lecture.
She got out of the Miata and headed to the building. Her timing was perfect. Helena and a tall graying man were just walking out of the elevator. The man had his hand on Helena’s elbow and was leaning into her personal space. Helena caught her sister’s eye and with one look Melissa knew she was in need of a rescue.
Melissa waved. “Hello, Sis!”
“Melissa!” Helena moved briskly toward her sister. Both ignored the man’s double-take. They were used to it.
“Raymond, this is my sister Melissa,” Helena introduced her to the man who had quickly recovered and followed her over. “Melissa, this is Dr. Raymond Kines. He was the one to arrange my lecture here.”
“A pleasure, Dr. Kines.” Melissa purred, offering her hand. The doctor was looking from one twin to the other, and she could tell that the fantasy portion of his mind was working overtime.
“Looks like I’m just in time to pick you up,” Melissa said, turning to Helena.
“I was hoping to take Dr. Koenig to dinner this evening. Is it possible that I can look forward to two such lovely dinner companions?”
“Dr. Kines, I’m afraid we would bore you to tears,” Melissa said, pouring on the charm. “We’ve both been looking forward to a night of girl talk about babies and family and things like that.” She took Helena’s arm and they began easing toward the door. “We haven’t seen each other since my baby boy was born and I’ve brought tons of baby pictures with me.” She smiled at the doctor.
“I… see,” the man said, trying to politely hide his disappointment.
Helena gave him her hand. “Thank you for everything, Dr. Kines. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Dr. Kines shook her hand and the two women headed out the door, arm in arm.
As they slid into the tiny two-seat sports car Helena gave a sigh of relief. “You are a life saver. That man is one of the most boring I have ever met in my life.”
“Well,” Melissa joked. “The problem is he isn’t an astronaut. We know how you are about astronauts.”
Helena laughed with her.
“Hungry?”
“Starved,” Helena said with a smile.
“There’s a place right downtown. Good Cuban food, quiet little booths. They make one heck of a pork roast. You said you’re staying at the Marriott on Biscayne Bay?”
Helena nodded.
“We can park in the parking building and walk to it.”
Helena waved a hand. “You’re the expert.”
Melissa drove through the crowded Miami rush hour with ease. She was, for the most part, going against the flow of traffic as she made her way to Biscayne Boulevard, but the roads were still congested.
“Did you bring baby pictures?” Helena asked.
“No, that was a ruse. I’ve already emailed you all the good ones. Alan has been a nut case with that digital camera of his. He already has two cd’s burned of nothing but pics of the boys. And Robbie is barely three months old yet.
“When are you going to bring him out to Texas?”
“Oh, probably in May. I think Mama feels she has to do a party for him too, but we’ve agreed that it won’t be as elaborate.”
Helena smiled. “Once she gets started…”
“I know, I know. But it’s her thing, and I don’t mind. She and Dad were here in Florida until last week.”
“She’s been calling Tori every day since Tori learned how to say ‘grammy’.”
“I know, and just raving about what a wonderful, smart and talented granddaughter she has. You wouldn’t believe the help Dad has been with Geoff. When Dad shows up, he just whisks Geoff away and I never have to worry about a thing. Dad and Alan took him out for pizza the other night,” she said with a laugh.
“Pizza? Geoff is barely more than a year old!”
“I know, but he just loves pizza. He smears it all over himself, but eats a good deal too. I think Dad and Alan would have given him a beer too, if I hadn’t insisted they wait a while on that. They love to take him out and do ‘guy things’ together.”
Helena laughed and shook her head. “And what does he think of his namesake?”
“You know, he swore he never minded being the father of two girls. But you should see him talking about ‘my grandsons’.” Melissa said in a booming imitation of her father’s voice. “He bought Robbie a baseball glove and brought it to the hospital! The little guy could crawl inside it, if he could crawl. But Daddy said Robbie would have memories of the smell of the leather and be incredibly enthusiastic about playing ball when he was older.”
Both women laughed.
“I would have never guessed that you would be the one to name a son after Dad.”
“Me either. It was Alan’s idea. We were both in agreement to name the baby Susan Elizabeth after both grandmothers if she were a girl, but needed a boy’s name too. Alan suggested we use a name from my family this time, since Geoff is named after him and his dad, and I knew Daddy would just gag if we used Grandpa’s name.”
Helena nodded in agreement.
“Besides, Daddy really has been marvelous with Geoff and we’re a lot closer now than we’ve ever been.” Melissa pulled into a parking space in the garage and they got out of the car.
Helena linked her arm with Melissa’s and they headed for the sidewalk. “I’m glad, Mel. We had talked about naming Tori after him and Victor if she had been a boy. Now I guess we’ll have to think up another boy’s name to use.”
Melissa stopped and looked at her sister. “Now? You mean as in, right now?”
Helena smiled and nodded. Melissa screamed and hugged her sister. “You didn’t tell me!”
“I wanted to tell you in person. Robbie will have a little cousin to play with too, in August, right around our birthday.”
“Oh, Helena! That’s marvelous. Oh my gosh! I just packed up all the pregnant clothes. I was going to send them off to charity. I’ll make sure to get them to you.”
“Thanks,” Helena said. Melissa had ended up with all the maternity clothes when she became pregnant with Robbie the previous summer.
They arrived at the restaurant, a dark Spanish style building with a courtyard. They stepped from Downtown Miami into the Old World. The courtyard held a beautiful tiled fountain and marble statuary. The Maitre’d greeted them in Spanish and Melissa answered in kind. She had always had a flair for languages.
The two women talked and ate. Each ordered something different so they could taste each other’s. They talked about the children, their husbands, and everything else it was difficult to email or telephone each other about. They barely paused as they finished their meal and headed back to Helena’s suite at the hotel.
It had been a long time since they’d had a chance to talk girl talk. They did each other’s nails and Helena showed Melissa the perfume that John had bought her when they were in France a few months before.
Melissa dabbed some behind her ears. “This smells wonderful, Cake. Does John like it?”
Helena smiled. “It has the… desired effect on him.”
They laughed together and Melissa handed back the bottle. “Well, I don’t want to waste any of it then.”
It was nearly midnight when they grew tired. The suite was a one bedroom with a king size bed. They didn’t hesitate to share the bed. As girls, they had preferred to share a bed. Helena pulled the sheers closed on the window. The lights of the city made the bedroom glow orange, but it made for intimate lighting and they talked softly as they readied for bed.
Helena had a long silk nightgown, another present from John. Melissa pulled on short cotton pajamas with tiny palm trees scattered across them.
“When did you start wearing pajamas?” Helena asked her sister.
“Well, just recently. Geoff was on the verge of being able to crawl out of his crib, so we got him a youth bed with sides to it. He can climb out himself without getting hurt that way. But he tends to show up in our room right after we go to bed. So I bought these.”
Helena smiled. Her tiny daughter was still content in the crib and would wake up and play, cooing and talking to the stuffed animals in the crib with her until her parents came for her. Geoff was more active. She had noticed at Christmastime that he was already straining to get out of the crib in the nursery as soon as he woke each morning, bouncing, rattling and making enough noise to wake the dead. Usually her father got him up before the rest of them stirred and took him downstairs so he wouldn’t wake Tori too.
They turned out the lights and settled into bed together, lying on their sides facing each other as they had when they were girls. Helena grasped her sister’s hand and they talked softly together until they both dropped off to sleep.
John Koenig slipped into a taxi and told the driver to take him to the Biscayne Bay Marriott. He had been working from home today so he could stay with Tori while Helena was away. When Tori woke from her morning nap he had cleared the paperwork that was absolutely necessary and made several phone calls. He sat on the floor in her bedroom and the two of them played tea party. Tori set the table for them and poured imaginary tea for herself, him and her favorite dolly. The doll and Tori sat in the two tiny wicker chairs while John contented himself with a pillow.
The doorbell surprised him, and when they answered it Tori was in absolute heaven to find her Grammy at the door. Susan became the guest of honor at the tea party while she explained that she had won the stud fee for a prize stallion in a charity raffle. The stallion was stabled just north of Houston and her mare had just come in heat so she brought the mare over to be bred. John had been unaware that you could win such a thing in a raffle. It certainly wasn’t something he would want to win.
Susan had decided that since she was so close she would come down and visit Tori and Helena for the day. John explained that Helena was on a business trip while he and Tori held the fort.
“I thought you two usually arranged your schedules so you could travel together.” Susan said, taking a sip of pretend tea.
“We try,” John said. “But I was called away on Monday to New York, and Helena already had this trip planned. I wasn’t sure I would be back in time to go with her, so we decided that I’d just stay home with Tori this time.”
“Why don’t I take Tori home with me this afternoon, and you can go on and join Helena? You two could take a little break.”
John grinned. “That would be great Susan. I could arrange things so that I could take a few days off. We might fly over to the Bahamas for a day or two and pick Tori up on Sunday. Would that be all right? Will Robert mind?”
“Mind having our angel stay with us? Of course not!”
Tori smiled at the word angel, and poured her Grammy more tea. “Tea, Grammy?” she asked.
“You are Grammy’s smart girl, yes you are. Why don’t you and I pack your suitcase and you can ride in the truck with me and go see Grandpa?”
Tori nodded enthusiastically. She went running to her closet and pushed the door open. She dragged out her tiny pink suitcase.
“Looks like it’s settled,” Susan said with a laugh.
“I’ll go move the car seat then,” John said as Susan and Tori began to pack tiny dresses and tiny jeans for her trip to the ranch.
Within the hour John was filing a flight plan. He had hoped to get there in time to pick up Helena after the lecture, but there was a storm in the gulf that he had to fly around, and then there were delays at the Miami airport. He ended up circling and waiting for clearance to land for well over an hour. By the time he landed and secured the plane it was nearly midnight. He was tired, but still glad he came. He dozed in the taxi, dreaming of Helena. He thought about her lying in bed in the hotel room. There would be no baby monitor and no little girl to wake them up in the morning. He smiled as he imagined himself creeping into the room and joining her in bed while she was asleep. He used to love creeping into her bed when they were on Alpha and working odd hours. He looked forward to putting his arms around her and arousing her before she woke up.
The taxi stopped in front of the lobby and John paid the man, and headed for the main desk.
A young man approached him. “Can I help you sir?”
“Yes, my wife checked in yesterday,” John said. “I wasn’t sure I would be able to join her, but I just arrived. Could I get a key to the room so I don’t wake her up?”
“Name please? If you’re not listed as a guest of the hotel I’m afraid I cannot give you a key to the room.”
“The room was booked in both our names,” John explained. He removed a credit card from his wallet, and his Texas driver’s license. “John and Helena Koenig.”
The young man tapped on his computer, taking both the drivers license and credit card. After a moment he looked up with a smile. “Yes sir, you are listed on the account. I’ll get your key.”
John smiled as he put his cards back in his wallet. His mind was still on the woman sleeping above him somewhere. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the counter. The man handed him a folder with the key card and room number and John headed for the elevator while still being wished a good evening. He intended to have a really good evening.
He paced in the empty elevator as it made its way up eighteen floors. The room was at the end of the hall and he approached quickly but quietly.
The key card was quiet but the latch clicked noisily as he entered the room. He closed the door behind him and stood in the darkened room, getting his bearings. Once his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light he could see that he was in a sitting room. The curtains were wide open displaying a view of the hotels of Miami Beach across the bay. The lights from outside allowed him to clearly see sofa, wet bar, desk and chairs in the room. He looked around and spotted the closed bedroom door. He put down his overnight bag and pulled off his shirt. He fumbled with his pants for a moment, anticipation of the coming events making the pants tight.
Once he had removed his clothes he quietly opened the bedroom door. The bathroom door was closed to his left and he could tell that the light and bathroom fan were on. Sheers covered the window in this room, but there was still plenty of light to see the still form in the king size bed. She lay with her back to him, sheet pulled over her shoulder. Her golden hair gleamed in the dim lighting.
He crept closer and slid gently under the covers behind her. He wanted to wake her up slowly. He nestled up against her back and put his arm around her. She was wearing pajamas, but he hadn’t expected her to be sleeping in the nude by herself. If she had known he was coming he knew it would have been different.
He moved his hand under the top to her pajamas, fingers seeking the firm flesh of her breasts. He breathed in her perfume. It was the scent he had recently bought her in Paris. He nuzzled her behind the ear, enjoying the erotic scent. “I want you,” he murmured unnecessarily. With his body pressed close to hers, she would know just how much he wanted her as soon as she woke up.
She moaned softly in her sleep, her hips pressing against his reflexively.
His fingers teased the bottoms of her breasts, touching them lightly. He softly kissed her ear lobe. “I wanted to surprise you,” he whispered.
Before she could respond the door to the bathroom opened.
“John!” Helena called in surprise from the doorway.
The doorway?
The light from the room silhouetted Helena’s form clad in the long black nightgown he had brought her with the perfume.
John turned shocked. “Helena?! Who?”
Melissa stirred and turned over. “What?” she asked sleepily. “John?”
“Melissa?” John’s initial reaction was to jump from the bed, but his state of undress combined with his state of arousal dictated that he remain under the sheet where he was… next to his sister-in-law.
Melissa sat up. “John?”
“What are you doing here?” Melissa and John asked at the same time.
Melissa glanced down at John’s crotch, hidden beneath the sheets. “Well in your case, it’s pretty obvious. But I think you have the wrong girl.”
“I—I—“ John wasn’t sure what to say. Helena hadn’t left her spot by the door. “I wanted to surprise you,” he finished lamely, looking at Helena.
To his utter relief she put her hand to her mouth and began to laugh.
“I didn’t know about Mel, I swear!”
Helena was now leaning against the door jam she was laughing so hard. Melissa started to laugh too and moved to climb out of the other side of the bed, leaving John covered. She stood and walked past Helena and patted her on the shoulder. “I think he’s looking for you,” she said with a giggle. “He’s urgently looking for you,” she laughed. “He needs you to take care of something over there.”
Melissa picked up the bedspread from the end of the bed and her overnight bag from the floor by the closet and headed for the sitting room. “Leave the fan on in the bathroom to drown out the noise. You guys make it really difficult for a girl to get any sleep around here. I’m taking the sofa.” Melissa closed the bedroom door firmly behind her.
Helena stood at the bathroom door looking at her husband. John’s deer-in-the-headlights expression hadn’t changed.
“Helena, I had no idea! Really.”
She made her way to the bed and sat on the foot of the bed, still watching him and still laughing. “You couldn’t have. I called her last night after I arrived and asked her to come down. Since you couldn’t make the trip I thought we could have an evening of girl talk. Where’s the baby?”
"Susan came by this morning and took her home. I thought we could spend a few days together once you were done tomorrow.”
Helena cupped John’s face in her hand. “That would be wonderful. Now, why does my sister think, you are urgently seeking me out?”
John kissed her palm and glanced down. “Um, the mood may have passed.” He was glad of the dim light since he knew he was blushing. “That was a bit of a shock.”
“Let’s see what we can do to get that mood back,” Helena leaned forward and kissed his lips softly. As he began to respond she drew him down onto the bed.
“Your sister?”
Helena kissed him gently along the jaw. She chuckled seductively. “My sister will assume she knows exactly what we’re doing in here, whether we do it or not. So we might as well do it.”
John wasn’t sure he completely grasped that statement, but her hands were working magic and he was at a point where he didn’t care who might be in the next room.
The next morning, he woke to the smell of breakfast. Helena lay curled next to him, still sleeping. The morning sun was streaming through the curtains and the room was brightly lit. He glanced at the clock. Helena had about an hour before she needed to leave for the hospital. He got up and looked around. His clothes were in the other room, with Melissa.
He shifted uncomfortably, uncertain of what to do.
Helena’s eyes popped open. She smiled as she watched him from the pillow next to his. “Good morning.”
He returned to her. “Good morning.” He kissed her lightly. The scent of breakfast reminded him that he was in the air last night at dinnertime. But Helena was an impressive distraction.
Helena looked over his shoulder. “Mel must have ordered breakfast.”
“I think so. Smells great, but my clothes are out there, and I think I’ve already given your sister enough thrills for one visit."
Helena laughed. “I agree. I’ll go get your clothes.” She kissed him again and rolled away from him.
He watched her leave the bed with a feeling of regret. She pulled on a robe and made her way out the door. She quickly opened the door wider and returned. Instead of carrying his bag and clothes, she held a notepad from the hotel.
“Mel ordered us breakfast and left us a note.”
“She’s gone?”
Helena nodded and crawled onto the bed next to him, allowing him to read the note with her.
Dear Sis, Having avoided completing many males ‘twin’ fantasy this long, I think I’ll keep it that way. Three’s a crowd and you’ll definitely have more fun without me tossing and turning on the sofa. Enjoy! Don’t spend all your time in sunny Florida working. Hugs and kisses to you and that well-hung brother-in-law of mine (I’m impressed!) and my baby Tori niece when you get home. Mel
John shook his head. “Helena, I…”
She patted his hand. “It was late. You didn’t expect her to be here. She and I both know you weren’t after her.” Helena glanced back at the living room, then at the clock. “I’d stay here, if I could, but it’s getting late.”
He sat up and kissed her cheek. “I know. Let’s get you to work, then we’ll have a few days to ourselves.”
“I can’t think of anything nicer,” she said with a smile.
Melissa touched the garage door opener and pulled into the driveway and zipped the tiny car into the garage as soon as the door was open. The door to the kitchen opened immediately and Alan grinned at her.
“I love a woman who knows how to drive.”
Mel didn’t bother to put the top up. “That woman had better be me.”
“You know it is.”
Geoff’s white-blond head peered from between his father’s legs. “Mommy!”
“Hey sugar! How’s my little man?”
Alan reached down and swept the boy up into his arms. Melissa kissed her son’s cheek and turned to do a more thorough job on her husband’s lips. Alan put his arm around her and they stepped into the house.
“Where’s Robbie?”
“Upstairs napping. Geoff and I have been playing with his race cars.”
Alan had begun buying Geoff hot wheels as soon as the baby could sit up and watch his father push the cars across the floor. As soon as Geoff could crawl he could make car noises and push the tiny vehicles across the floor. Now with Alan’s help Geoff used blocks to make roadways and bridges for his cars.
“I thought you were going to get some work done this morning while Geoff played.”
Alan shrugged. “Well, I worked last night instead, after the boys went to bed. It was pretty lonely here last night.” He leaned over and kissed Mel on the neck. “New perfume?”
Melissa laughed at him and pulled a Coke from the refrigerator. “Helena’s. John got it for her when they were in Paris a couple of months ago.” She handed Alan a can and they headed for the patio. Melissa settled on the chaise lounge and Alan sat beside her, letting Geoff down to play with his cars again.
“Smells good.”
“John seems to like it,” Melissa said with a laugh. She kicked off her sandals and rubbed Alan’s back with her bare toes.
Alan looked at her. “You sound like the voice of authority on that. I thought Helena was by herself on this trip.”
“She was, but John showed up late last night. Mama came to Houston and collected Tori, so John flew to Miami to join her,” Melissa said with a twinkle in her eye. She laughed and told him the whole story.
When she got to the part where John’s hand was on her breast and he was pressed up against her, Alan stood. “He what?”
“Then Helena walks out of the bathroom and says ‘John what are you doing here?’ And I wake up completely about that time. You should have seen his face!”
“I should punch his face!” Alan said.
Melissa looked at him with surprise. “I thought you’d find it funny. Helena and I did.”
“Find it funny that one of my best friends is feeling up my wife! I don’t think so.”
“Oh, come on, Alan. It’s not like anything happened. I rolled out of bed and left Helena to deal with his ‘needs’. You should have seen the look on his face.”
“I don’t want to see the look on his face. And I don’t want his hands all over you.”
Melissa sat down her Coke and stood. “I wasn’t even fully awake. As soon as I woke up, I got out of the bed.” She put her hands on his shoulders and brushed her lips against his. “He may be very well endowed, but I’ve got my own superstud and I’m perfectly happy with him. He just groped the wrong twin. It’s certainly not the first time that’s ever happened.”
Alan froze at that sentence and swore.
“What?” Melissa asked.
“You’re right,” Alan said, making an effort to calm down. “I’m getting upset over nothing. Let’s change the subject.”
“What is it? Alan, it’s not like you thought you had married a virgin, after all. We’ve both been with others and its never bothered you like this seems to.” Her eyes narrowed, “And why does the thought of groping the wrong twin make you uncomfortable?”
Alan sighed and looked away. He looked down at Geoff, pushing one of his tiny cars around their feet and completely ignoring them. He pulled his wife into a hug. “I’m sorry. I get jealous. I know it didn’t mean anything to you.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “And the twin thing? You know, a couple of times in high school we each lost boyfriends because they were too freaked out about how much alike we looked.”
He smiled and kissed her cheek. “That doesn’t bother me. And I know you both well enough to be able to tell you apart in almost any circumstance. But I can understand how he got confused. I … umm… did it myself once.”
“You did! This I must hear.” Melissa leaned back to look at her husband. He could tell she was more amused than jealous.
With a sigh he sat her down on the lounge and told her about the pain medication Helena had given him on Alpha that made him dream of home, and being on the boat with Melissa. He told her about waking with Helena in his arms as he said the kind of things he knew Melissa liked to hear.
Melissa laughed and hugged him. “You really missed me?”
“Every day.” He kissed her hungrily. “The best thing that ever happened to me was you showing up on Alpha to rescue us.”
Geoff stood and patted his father on the knee. He handed each parent a tiny truck and tugged at their hands. They grinned at each other and sat on the patio to play with their son. They were certain that each man was with the right twin.
Maureen J. Long
April 1, 2001