BIRTHDAY BLUES

by Donna and Ev

(Rated B for Birthdays, Blues and Babies)

It was a beautiful summer day. Not too hot, with a bit of a breeze, and Ev just had to get out in it. She remembered that she hadn't gone to the coffee shop since the party before it opened. That would be a great thing to do today! "Jathelle, how would you like to go to the coffee shop with me this morning?"

The white-haired goddess looked up from the book she was reading. "I'd like that. Are we bringing them?" She motioned to Rayden and Theron who were deep in discussion about something.

"Nah. They have a lot of catching up to do. Just us and the twins. Let's go right away, before the weather gets too hot." Ev danced up the stairs to change. She came back down in a floaty, floral sun dress. "I've always wanted to wear this. First time that seemed right." Ev and Jathelle collected the twins who were still alert and not ready to nap anyway. They made sure the babies were in clean diapers and started out the door.

It was a beautiful day for a walk so they put the twins in a stroller and heading down the street towards the coffee shop. Everyone they saw had to stop and admire the twins. They arrived at the coffee shop around 10 just when the morning rush was thinning out. Walking in, they looked around for Katherine but they only saw Jeremy, who was picking up coffee cups from the tables.

Ev grinned. "Hi, Jeremy! You really look nice in that kilt. Now I know what everybody's been fussing about! Is Kat in the back? Any chance she could come out and take a little break for a couple of minutes?" Jeremy grinned. "You look very nice today too. Both of you!" He didn't want to leave out either of them. "This is the first time you've been here, isn't it? You've got to have some coffee and something to eat. You'll love it! Let me tell Kat you're here." He disappeared into the kitchen.

A moment later, Katherine came out of the kitchen. She smiled in greeting as she crossed the room, but both of the ladies couldn't help but notice she looked tired. "Greetings! About time you two decided to show up here!"

Ev stood and gave her a warm hug. "I know. I should have been here sooner. So wrapped up in the babies, I guess. See how big they're getting?" She turned to look at the two pairs of bright eyes watching from the stroller.

Jathelle was very distracted by the delicious aromas and the handsome police detective sitting at a corner table.

Katherine knelt by the stroller and greeted the little ones in Gaelic while stroking them tenderly. She then stood up and turned back to the table. "Can I get you anything? I have some hot marionberry scones that just came out of the oven," she said as Jeremy came to the table carrying two cups of coffee and a cup of tea for Katherine. As he placed the tray on the table, Ev was tempted to check to see what he was wearing underneath the kilt.

"Those sound wonderful! Any chance you can sit down and have one with us? You look tired. Sure you're not overdoing?" Ev studied her face, sensing something was wrong, but not sure that she should pry.

Jathelle turned away from the lovely detective with a grin and a sigh. She looked straight at Kat. "Yes. You need to sit down and take a break. I insist!" She smiled. "I won't take no for an answer."

Katherine sighed and sat down. "It doesn't take much to wear me out now-a-days. But I'm told it will pass in a couple of months."

"Yes. It will. But in the meantime, you don't want to overtire yourself." Ev paused and grinned. "What's a marionberry? Is it named after the mayor of Washington?" She couldn't help but giggle.

"Silly!" Katherine said with a grin. "It's a variety of blackberry. Sarah Jo makes absolutely sinful Marionberry pies."

"I got you to laugh! They sound wonderful! I love blackberries." Ev gave Katherine's hand a squeeze. "Everything smells so good in here, I don't know how people pick something. I'll have to drop in until I've tried everything."

"I agree!" Jathelle inhaled the lovely aroma of the coffee in front of her. "This is wonderful! I'll have to bring Theron in here too!" She glanced back at John Prudhomme, still taking his time with his coffee and pretending to read his paper. "I see you still have the police coming in. They liked it too much to quit?"

"Actually, I think our newest CLim causes so much trouble down at the station they put him on permanent assignment here,"Katherine said with a giggle. "Actually, he likes it here because I have the Louisiana chicory coffee and can sing a few Cajun songs." She looked across the room at the policemen who gave her a half smile before looking down at the paper again.

"Oh..... One of my guys is a troublemaker?" Ev grinned. "But he's cute doing it." She turned and smiled across the room at him, which caused him to look up from his paper, grin and roll his eyes. Then he turned back to his paper shaking his head and sighing. Ev giggled. "Somebody is a little too serious over there." Jathelle looked over at him with a grin. "Much too serious. You have plans to fix that?"

"Definitely. But not today." Ev grinned.

Katherine giggled. "Maybe when I have a little more get-up-and-go I can do something too. So how has it been with SarahJo gone? I know she was a big help for you while she was there."

Ev smiled. "Well, we do miss her, but Rayden and Jathelle help me a lot with the babies. Even Theron sometimes. He's a little afraid to do much with them. Thinks if he looks at them wrong, they'll break." Rayven chose that moment to start to fuss. Ev picked him up and cuddled him against her shoulder. "These little sweeties mostly keep me busy feeding them all the time. You can almost watch them grow."

Jathelle picked up Jae, just not able to resist the bright-eyed expression on her face. "I can't get over how tiny they are. This is a very new experience for me." She smiled at Ev and the babies. Katherine got up and went over to the stage and picked up her guitar. she returned to the table and then began to play a sweet melody in something that sounded like French, but different. Across the room, John Prudhomme gave up the pretense of reading the paper and listened intently. Ev listened, enchanted, and turned Ray so he could see Katherine while she sang. Jathelle rocked Jae in time to the music, not realizing that she was doing it.

When the song was over, Ev couldn't help but ask, "Was that Cajun? It was lovely! What is it about?"

"It's just a simple song. The Cajuns have these parties called faisdodos. The whole family comes to it, and once the kids are put to sleep, the party begins," she said with as soft smile.

"Oh. And this is one of the songs to put the kids to sleep? Its beautiful!" She looked down at Ray. He was starting to fuss again. He was hungry again. "If this little guy wasn't hungry, I betit would have put him to sleep, too. Seems as though he's always hungry." She tickled his chin and he gave her a half smile before going back to fussing.

"You can feed him here or in my office," Katherine said with a smile. "Where ever you are most comfortable." "There aren't many people in here right now. You think it would be all right in here?" Ev glanced around. Actually John Prudhomme was the only other person in the shop at the moment. Katherine glanced over at John and then grinned at Ev. "I don't think he will mind. And it might get his interest up for *later*."

Ev grinned and Jathelle giggled. "The poor guy won't know what hit him." She rolled her eyes and started adjusting the little hidden panels in the dress and settling Ray to feed. She noticed that John was trying not to stare and grinned at Kat. "Its no wonder I'm so hungry all the time. Its seems as though I spend half my waking hours this way. You think I could have one of those scones? I'm starved!"

Jathelle chuckled. "You should see how she eats! Good thing she doesn't need to worry about her weight anymore." "Hey! I need it! I'm eating for three yet." Ev giggled. The little Scot put her guitar down and went to go get the scones. As she prepared a platter of them with some butter and honey on the side, she told Jeremy to go refill their coffee.

He came over, a happy bounce in his walk, not bothering to hide the fact he was enjoying the site of Ev breast feeding her hungry little boy. As he leaned over to fill up her cup, he whispered conspiratorially. "Do you know what tomorrow is?"

"Oh! Thank you for reminding me! You will be able to join us for dinner, won't you? I want to have our little household and Carol with her guys and we'll invite Sarah Jo with her guys and Kat and Connor. She can't complain about it being a party, its just a dinner." She smirked at him. "Think you could wear your kilt for it?"

"I will not!" he said with an indignant tone to his voice. "You and Carol would spend half the evening trying to look up it!"

Jathelle chuckled quietly at Jeremy. "You really do look good in that." She would have said more, but Jae was getting restless and fussy now. "I think we have another hungry one here." She smiled and rubbed noses with her sweet little granddaughter. Katherine choose that time to come up to the table and had overheard the bit about the dinner party.

"No party," she said firmly to Ev. "Don't think I feel up to one anyway." She placed the platter of scones down. "Is Ray done? I can take him while you feed the little lass."

Ev smiled down at the now sleepy baby. "He's done. He'll be asleep in no time now." She handed him over to Kat and rearranged the dress to feel Jae on the other side. "Here's my hungry girl." She took Jae from Jathelle and got her settled. Then she looked up at Kat. "You have to eat, right? So you just come over for dinner. I'm inviting Sarah Jo and her guys and Carol withher guys and the rest is just our household and yours. Consider it a family dinner. No funny hats, no balloons. Just a nice dinner for your birthday. Anything you want. You don't have to fix anything or clean up after anything. Ok?"

Katherine looked skeptical but reluctantly agreed. "Ok, Ev. As long as it is just a dinner." She then turned her attention to the little boy in her lap, singing him a soft song. He drifted off to sleep almost immediately. "I miss having a baby around," she said with a sad smile. "Suz took Kiara home over the weekend."

"I'm sure she missed her very much." Ev sighed and smiled down at her little girl. "I can't imagine being away from these two. Think of it this way..... Now you can get a little more sleep when you're really tired and in a few months you'll have one of your own."

Jathelle caught just an edge of a general feeling of depression from Katherine, although she quickly covered it up with a smile. "I'll still miss her terribly," she said in a soft voice that was barely audible.

"I would too." Ev answered quietly. "I'm sure Suz would be glad to have you visit as much as you want." She studied Katherine's face quietly, using just the lightest mental touch to see what was bothering her. "And you can come and visit with us anytime you'd like, too. You sure you're not overdoing? I remember the beginning. I didn't even show yet, but I was suddenly so tired, everything was overwhelming. You ever feel like that?"

"All the time," Katherine admitted.

Ev reached out with her mind, radiating comfort and support. "Please let me help. The hormones can do that, you know. And you've been going through so many changes lately, that probably makes it even more stressful. Whenever you need a hand to hold, an ear to bend, whatever, I'm here."

"Thanks Ev," Katherine said gratefully. "I really appreciate that."