“Okay, you girls stay here and watch the movie, Marshall and I are going to talk to Ricky for a minute,” Regina said looking over at the girls. They were sitting on the couch still watching their Power Puff girls movie, sharing a bowl of popcorn between them.

“Okay,” they answered in unison. Marshall was right, they got along great.

“Come on baby boy, you and I have to speak to my little brother about his stay in New York,” Regina said patting Marshall’s leg as she stood up.

“What do we have to talk about?” Ricky asked, as he and Marshall both stood up and followed Regina to the chairs over by the window, out of earshot from the girls.

“First of all, you are away from mom and dad, and their fucked up rules,” Regina said and Ricky interrupted for a second.

“Which by the way, thank you.”

“No problem. But there are a few rules with me. Here is a cell phone, a charger, all the necessary numbers are in it. You are to have this phone on you at all times, and it is to always be on, make sure it is charged before you leave and if it is not charged, do not leave. Second of all, if you want to go anywhere without me, you first need to tell me where you are going, why, what’s happening there, and how long you’ll be. Then you will take a body guard with you.” Regina started ticking things off as she went.

“Don’t give out your last name, period, don’t even mention who you know, or what you’re here for,” Marshall added next.

“Third, you are never to leave the hotel without a body guard, ever. And you do not take Catalina or Hailie anywhere without our permission. Just for good measure, you do not take Hailie anywhere.” Regina continued. Ricky nodded in agreement.

“Fourth, if the bodyguard says its time to go, you listen. He’ll know when a situation is getting out of hand,” Marshall continued.

“Fifth, bodyguards will meet you at your room and will bring you back to your room,” Regina replied.

“Sixth, your bodyguard has a list of the places that you can go and knows the places you cannot. Do not try to sneak one past him,” Marshall said sternly.

“Seventh, no drinking, no smoking, no drugs, you can dye your hair any color you want, get as many piercings, tattoos as you want, it’s your body, you have to live with the consequences,” Regina said as she pointed with her finger. Ricky took this all in stride.

“Curfew is one AM, one of us will call the phone in the room and if you don’t answer, we’ll call the cell phone. If you don’t answer the cell phone, we’ll call the security guard’s phone, and then, you’ll be in trouble,” Regina was surprised that Marshall was even going along with making rules for Ricky, but she had a feeling why he was.

“Anything else?” Ricky asked, non-perturbed.

“You have condoms?” Regina asked, even Marshall’s eyes went wide at this one.

“Wh-what?” Ricky asked.

“Don’t play stupid with me, I know you’re having sex. A guy can’t have that many groupies and not have had sex with at least one of them. So answer me, did you bring condoms?” Marshall was surprised with her boldness, but she did have a point.

“Well, uh, yeah, I guess so,” Ricky replied as he turned beet red.

“Yes or no, and don’t lie, cause I’ll know if you’re lying and then I’ll go through your stuff.” Regina snapped.

“Yes all right, I brought them!” he replied looking at the floor.

“Good, so if you bring any girls back here, they better leave the same way they came, not pregnant. Lets see, anything else?” Regina asked Marshall, turning to look at him.

“If anything happens that you think is even a little bit out of whack, or you see someone even a few feet near the girls, that shouldn’t be, you come to us, or one of the body guards,” Marshall said after thinking for a minute.

“I think that about covers it, any questions?” Regina asked.

“Am I sharing a room with Catalina?”

“No, you’re taking this room, Marshall, the girls and I are moving to the suite down the hall. You get this room all to yourself. Just make sure you put a sign on the knob if your busy, got it?”

“No problem.”

“So are you just agreeing and then gonna run around and do all the shit you were told not to do, just like I would?” Marshall asked.

“I don’t drink, don’t like it. Can’t stand smokers, don’t do drugs, gets you in trouble with the dance contests. Curfew till one? I’ll probably be asleep by twelve. As for dying my hair, I don’t think so. Piercings, been thinking about getting my ears pierced. Tattoos, not my style.” Ricky explained.

“See, he’s a good kid, and that’s because he’s always listened to me instead of our parents.” Regina said as she stood up.

“Yeah, she’s the one who would have benefited from all these rules,” Ricky remarked.

“You were a rebel?” Marshall asked.

“You kidding, my parents said jump, I sat down.”

Before it was time to put the girls to bed, Regina and Marshall moved their things to the suite down the hall. Hailie and Catalina would share the bedroom with the twin beds and Marshall and Regina the other.

Regina introduced Ricky to his bodyguard Conner, and Catalina to hers, Johnny. Johnny was the only one Regina would trust to keep an eye on Catalina. Regina had made it clear that Catalina was to be with no one but her, Marshall, Ricky or Johnny himself. Catalina liked him and nicknamed him Señor Piruli, Mr. Lollipop, because of his baldhead. He was thrilled to death that Catalina would talk to him in Spanish.

After all introductions and arrangements had been made, Regina said goodnight to Ricky, suggesting that he stay in for the night, and headed to her and Marshall’s room to get the girls ready for bed.

By the time she got back, Marshall had the girls at the small table in the kitchen playing go fish. The girls were all smiles, having a great time, even Marshall seemed to be enjoying himself, though Regina suspected that he did nothing but enjoy his time with Hailie.

“All right ladies, time for bed, it’s almost ten,” Regina said coming up behind Marshall and putting her hands on his shoulders.

“Brisa, can we go somewhere tomorrow?” Catalina asked as she and Hailie pushed the cards together into a pile and helped each other put them back into the box.

“Where do you want to go?” Marshall asked.

“The Natural History Museum, it’s on Museum Mile with the Metropolitan and the Guggenheim!” Catalina said excitedly.

“You know where the museums are?” Marshall asked, completely impressed.

“I read Marshall,” Catalina replied in a little miss attitude voice as she rolled her eyes.

“Mari, eso no es agradable, se disculpa,” Regina said with a look at her little sister,

“Lo siento,” Catalina droned out with a look.

“What did you say?” Hailie asked.

“Lo siento, it means, I’m sorry in Spanish,” Catalina replied hopping down off her chair. Hailie followed with another question.

“You can speak Spanish?”

“Yeah, I’m half Spanish and half Italian, right Brisa?” Catalina asked as Marshall stood and they walked the girls to their bedroom.

“That’s right Mariposa. Our mom is from where,” Regina asked and Catalina replied,

“Viento Ciudad, right outside Barcelona and our daddy is from,” Catalina replied, waiting for Regina to answer.

“Palermo, Silicily.” Regina finished.

“Cool, have you ever been there?” Hailie asked as Marshall grabbed her bag from the floor and began searching for pajamas.

“No, but Brisa is going to take me one day, right?” Catalina asked as Regina was getting Catalina’s things from her bag.

“Seguro. Go brush your teeth before you forget,” Regina said motioning to the bathroom, “Your toothbrush is in your backpack.”

“You too little lady,” Marshall said, handing Hailie her things.

“Kay dad,” she replied taking her stuff and running to catch up with Catalina. It was strange the way they were mirroring each other’s actions, putting away the bags, fixing the girls’ beds, a stuffed animal each and a night light on each side of the room.

“They’re a couple a pistols aren’t they?” Marshall asked as he tucked a stuffed bunny under the covers of Hailie’s bed.

“Yeah, but I’m happy she’s here. It’s great how well they get along,” Regina replied.

“Your brother is a good kid, I thought he’d freak with all the rules we gave him,” Marshall replied with a slight smile.

“You kidding, he’s in paradise right now. He has his own room, that he doesn’t have to sneak in and out of, plus, no work for a while. At home he’d have to be washing dishes five days a week at the restaurant,” Regina laughed.

“Wow, that’s rough, at least he’ll be able to have some fun,” Marshall replied.

“How come you wanted to make sure you were in on making the rules?” Regina asked after a minute. Marshall paused in his actions for a second, then sat on Hailie’s bed.

“You really care about your family, and what happens to them. I wish I could have been more like that with Nathan, you know, be a real big brother to him. Now, he just fucking hates me, thinks I never tried, and really, I guess I didn’t,” Marshall replied.

“Well, you’ll have to try again. And in the mean time, just to let you know, I think Ricky appreciates that you’re looking out for him, and you’re concerned about him. Our father doesn’t really take that much time to realize he has children. They’re something to add to his collection to make him look good, though I’ll be the disappointment of his life, and Ricky hasn’t exactly turned out the way he’s wanted him to. He has room for an older brother,” Regina replied as she sat down beside Marshall and leaned into him a bit.

“You don’t mind sharing?” he asked with a laugh.

“Nope. Besides, probably by the end of the week I’ll want to hand him over to you permanently,” they both laughed. The girls returned, their teeth brushed and pajamas changed into.

“Okay, into bed,” Marshall said with a clap as he stood up.

“Brisa, could you read me a story,” Catalina asked as Regina helped her into bed.

“Oh Mariposa, it’s late, and if you want to go to the museum tomorrow, you need to rest,” Regina replied sympathetically.

“Please, por favor, per favore!” Catalina begged.

“Oh all right,” Regina complied with a smile.

“Fantastico!” Catalina exclaimed, jumping out of her bed and diving for her backpack. She returned with a rather battered looking copy of the first Harry Potter book and held it out to her sister, still sitting on the edge of her bed.

“Harry Potter, again?” Regina asked with a smile.

“Yes, please!” Catalina begged and even Marshall couldn’t help but smile, she acted a lot like Hailie, impossible to resist her. Hailie looked over from her bed interest at the mention of Harry Potter and Regina caught her gaze as she sat back against the headboard.

“Would someone else like to hear a story?” Regina asked with a smile over to Hailie.

“Can I dad?” Hailie asked. He smiled at her and placed a kiss on her cheek.

“Course you can,” he said as Regina motioned for her to come over to the bed, She scampered happily out and took a seat on Regina’s other side, while Catalina snuggled under Regina’s arm.

“All righty then, lets see here. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, by J.K. Rowling, Chapter one, the boy who lived, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much….” Regina’s voice flowed naturally to the words, the girls grinning as Regina changed her voice with each character. Marshall sat back, watching and smiling. Hailie eventually crawled under Regina’s arm and leaned against her, looking at the words on the page as they were read aloud. Regina really had a talent for kids. She knew how to get the best effect out of the words to get the best reaction from the girls. It was too pretty of a picture, and Marshall didn’t want it to end.

After watching them and listening to her for a few minutes, Marshall left to go to their room and fix a few things up. He threw their bags in the closet, changed his clothes for bed and then made a few phone calls to make sure they had the museum to themselves in the morning. He told the bodyguards where they would be going and what time to meet them in the hall. The limo would pick them all up at ten and then it would be off to the museum.

He grabbed a magazine and climbed into bed, fumbling with his glasses and getting comfortable to read. A while later Regina came into the room. She was smiling. She hadn’t stopped smiling since Catalina and Ricky had arrived. She had someone to take care of. She liked that, he could tell. Too damn bad that baby died, Marshall thought, she would have had a great mother, and a great father, he added, thinking that he would have loved to have been the father to Regina’s child. No, stop, he didn’t need to be thinking that shit. They were working on three months. No room for kids, except for Hailie and Regina’s brother and sister. There wasn’t even room for thoughts about kids, even kids that didn’t exist, especially kids that were not alive and brought pain to the heart of the mother who had to live without them.

“Both of them, conked out right about the end of the chapter. Too sweet,” Regina laughed as she walked over to the closet to get her clothes. Marshall put down his magazine to watch Regina and he paused to realize how used he’d gotten to this. To her, being around, all the time. How used to watching her change her clothes, getting to see the soft curves of her body, her skin winking at him. The familiar dip in the bed as she climbed in beside him. Even the sound of her hairbrush hitting the sink before she came out to go to bed.

Without realizing it, he’d become comfortable with her. He’d become trusting of her. He’d let a woman he’d known only three months to read his daughter a bedtime story and tuck her into bed. Things were getting too good. Too nice. Too fast. Too good to be true. But he didn’t know how to stop it. Didn’t know if he wanted to stop it.

“You awake Marshall?” Regina asked after a minute. His magazine was hanging in midair, poised from when he had lowered it.

“Oh, yeah, just thinking is all, girls enjoy the story?” he asked tossing the magazine to the floor and removing his glasses.

“Loved it. I missed getting to do this for her. I used to put her to bed, every night. My mother never did it. I read to her, sang to her, every night. Even when I lived with Mario, I’d come over, tuck her in, and read to her till she fell asleep. Then after I moved in with Ernelle, well, you know what happens. But now, I get her all to myself,” Regina smiled.

“I know how you feel,” Marshall replied.

“You mind coming with us to the museum tomorrow, so Hailie can come?” Regina asked.

“No, I can’t wait. I made a few calls, we got the museum to ourselves. All set up, the girls can run wild,” Marshall replied with a smile.

“You are too sweet sometimes,” Regina said giving him a small kiss.

“Take it easy, our girls are in the next room. I never make it a habit to have sex with my daughter in the next room,” Marshall replied with a soft smile.

“We’ll have to switch rooms with Ricky a couple times, won’t we?” Regina asked.

“I have a feeling it’s going to be a long summer,” Marshall replied with a laugh, “A very long summer.”