AN OUTING AT THE CABIN
by Donna, Ev, Toni and Abby

The ladies were gathering at Ev's house in preparation for their picnic at the cabin. Sarah Jo and Katherine had already arrived and were visiting with Jathelle and Ev. They were waiting for Toni and Fitz to arrive so they could leave. Connor had been a little concerned about how tired Katherine was looking, after spending the last several days up at the cabin with the traumatized Lady. She and Sarah Jo convinced him that a relaxing picnic with her girl friends would do her good after all the stress that she had been under lately so he reluctantly let her go.

A little while later, Toni breezed in with a twin on each hip. "Ladies, good afternoon! Sorry we're a little late, but I'm still not used to getting two babies ready to go anywhere....Tia was a little sniffly when Nick had to go off to work, and that delayed us."

Katherine grinned broadly. That's ok. Everyone is here except for the one bringing the food. Where is that *brother* of yours?" she asked as she reached out to take one of the twins.

Toni laughed, then said "He's at the Bistro, making sure everything is *perfect* for our little feast. I finally told him I was going on ahead, and that he should hurry up-he said he'd be as quick as he could. If Rayden was here, I'd send him after him!"

"Dah!" yelled Tia from Toni's arms. "No Dah!" Tia looked around. It wasn't often there were NO Dahs . . . even if it wasn't THE Dah.

Ev was busily loading a couple of diaper bags with some things for the babies. "This is going to be so much fun! A slumber party! I'm ready. Here, Jathelle, you can carry Rayven, I'll carry Jae."

Jathelle held her little black-haired grandson against her shoulder, smiling. "You can almost see him grow, can't you?"

Meanwhile, Toni again had her hands full, as she said to Tia "No, love, Dah is not here right now. He had to go to work."

Katherine chuckled at the interchange between Tia and Toni as she bounced Pem on her lap. Sarah Jo was sitting in a chair with the sleeping Kiara in her arms. "Ev, could you get Rayden to push Fitz along?" Katherine asked her red headed friend.

"Sure." Ev sent out a mental call to Rayden, who said he would see to it that Fitz would be done in a hurry. "He's getting him moving," she giggled. The five ladies continued to chat happily amongst themselves, each of them holding a baby and cooing over them while they waited. Ev was enchanted by Jae and Rayven's new talents of smiling and laughing. Practically everything made them smile at the moment.

Tia was still cranky. Pem looked around with wide eyes, his fist in his mouth, and was mostly content to be with a group of mums. But Tia was at a loss.

There was a lot of giggling over the *poker game* the guys who were being left behind were going to have. Just then a shower of sparks appeared and a shocked looking Fitz stood before them. "My word!" he exclaimed. "I have traveled many different ways, but never like that!" Jathelle couldn't help but giggle.

Tia looked at him oddly. "Dah?"

Fitz' face crinkled into a smile when he saw her looking at him, and he came over to her, smiling "No, little lady, not Dah...more like Uncle Fitz." She put out chubby hands anyway. His voice was deeper than the ladies, and that was good enough for her.

"Ok, Uncle Fitz, lets get this show on the road!" Katherine said with a chuckle. " Sarah Jo, are you going to lead the way?

Ev smiled. "I can't wait till these two start talking. That's so sweet."

Sarah Jo got up and led the group of ladies, babies and one very bemused immortal through the house. Ev had noticed the looks he was giving her castle. "You like it, Fitz? It was Rayden's idea. We can have plenty of room and not have to move."

Fitz was getting accustomed to this new mode of travel, and said, as he looked up at the castle, "I'll bet it has a wonderful kitchen."

Ev giggled. "Oh yes! Rayden likes to cook the regular way once in awhile. He watches the cooking channel."

They steeped out of the castle and into a mountain meadow, just yards from a rustic old log cabin. Jathelle chuckled. "I think we're getting a lot shorter walk than some people have had to the cabin."

"Much shorter!" Sarah Jo laughed. "Rayden had poor Ben go on a five mile all up hill hike to get here."

Fitz's eyes widened in surprise when the castle disappeared in front of him, to be replaced by the craggy side of a mountain. There was now no sign of SimsCity anywhere to be seen. "Upon my word, lady....I know this is a very unusual city, but this....it is going to take me a long time to get used to everything there is to learn here!" he said, shaking his head.

Jathelle smiled at him. "Rayden doesn't have to hide what he is here, so it can make things a little confusing for others."

As they walked up to the cabin, they could see several playpens and a picnic table waiting for them. On the porch, a wrinkled old hound dog got up and bayed a joyous welcome to them and bounded off the porch to come greet them all."I've never seen him move that much!" Ev grinned.

Fitz somehow managed to keep the food he was carrying out of the reach of the dog, as he petted him, and smiled "Hello, old fellow. And what is your name?"

"Doggie! doggie!" shouted Pem, jumping in Katherine's arms. Katherine put him down on the soft cool grass as old Beauregard collapsed in a heap before them. "His name is Beau. And he loves kids."

Tia also tipped over, not saying anything but trying to get to the ground. Toni almost lost her. Putting her down, she crawled toward the dog very quickly. The old dog thumped his tail happily as the two twins mauled him. The adults all laughed at the scene and Toni whipped out her camera. Tia pulled herself to a standing posture by using the dog's ears. She yelped in glee and took a step before plopping down on her butt. As Toni watched, both twins eagerly played with Beau, and she was able to get a number of very good pictures, smiling "Lady will like these - I'll have them bound into a little booklet to give to her

Jae and Ray looked at Beau with the sweetest, puzzled expressions, Jathelle and Ev couldn't help laughing. Chuckling over all the fuss being made over Beau and the babies, Sarah Jo deposited the sleeping Kiara in a playpen and covered her up with a light blanket. "Fitz, why don't I help you get lunch set up?"

"It would be my pleasure, my lady." he smiled, and as they set about getting everything ready, it was obvious that he was paying her more attention than just as a friend, laughing and joking with her as they worked.

"Those will be really cute pictures." Ev smiled. "Let's see if we can get these two to take a nap for a bit." She very gently laid Jae in one of the playpens. Jathelle put Ray down and the two of them fussed sleepily for a few moments before dozing off. The bigger set of twins were rolling around with Beau, pulling his ears and tail while he yawned harmlessly at them. The old dog was keeping a vigilant eye on them. but neither one was showing any sign of wandering off.

Katherine had taken the chairs off the porch and brought them down. "Rayden added indoor plumbing to the cabin if anyone needs it," she said with a grin. She wandered over to the picnic table and nudged Fitz. "What did you bring us to eat, Fitz. I'm feeding two, so I'm starved!"

Ev finally realized she was hungry. "Something smells really good!"

"Well, it's mostly the standard picnic fare, as Toni told me not to get too fancy - roast chicken, a few different kinds of salads, soda....nothing too fancy, except the dessert. I insisted on a wonderful lemon chiffon, it will go wonderfully after we all stuff ourselves with the rest of our meal." he told them, a bit authoritatively.

"MMmmmmm........ Perfect picnic food. Is there some Diet Pepsi?" Ev asked. "Of course. I included that, as well as Mountain Dew, and Dr.Pepper as well, by special request of my sister." he grinned. "Will that cover everything?" "I'll take a DP," Katherine said. "Giles will probably grump at me, but one won't hurt."

"And we won't tell him, so your secret is safe." Fitz grinned, and everyone laughed.

"Why would he grump at you?" Ev smiled as she loaded up a plate .

"Caffine is on my list of no-nos," Katherine complained, a sour look on her face.

Everyone filled up their plates and then found a seat either on a chair on on the ground. Sarah Jo dished up a plate full of food for the older twins and sat down next to Beau, tempting them to eat.

Jathelle was staring intently at their surroundings....... "This place seems familiar. Have you ever seen any unusual animals around here?"

Katherine looked at Jathelle strangely, "I did see something a little strange Friday night. I could have sworn it looked like a unicorn. Couldn't have been though."

Jathelle grinned. "I knew this place looked familiar. And does it have lots and lots of lightning bugs at night?"

"Tons of them," Sarah Jo said as Pem crawled in her lap and reached for another bite of food. Toni smiled, as she saw how even Tia was no longer cranky, alternating between happily eating as she sat in her lap, and looking at Beau.

"Oh, this is wonderful! I'll have to spend more time exploring, then." Finally Jathelle picked out a little food, just enough to taste everything. "This is so nice with so many babies. They're all so sweet."

After awhile, Pem had enough to eat. He squirmed off Sarah Jo's lap and crawled back to Beau and them laid down on him. within seconds he was fast asleep.

"Toni, you have to get that picture! That's so cute!" Ev smiled.

It wasn't long before Tia followed suit, reaching out to the dog and saying "Beau!" quite clearly, surprising everyone. Toni set her down, and she also crawled over to the dog and joined her brother in sleep. Then, following Ev's suggestion, she got out her camera, and snapped a couple more pictures of both twins, using Beau as a pillow as they both slept soundly.

Now that all the babies were sound asleep, the adults turned their full attention back to the food. "I wonder what the fellows are up to right now," Katherine said with a giggle.

"I don't know....probably comparing notes about us!" Toni smiled, and they all giggled.

"Poker, if I know Connor and Rayden. While they talk." She paused and grinned. "Probably teaching Theron how to play. Will he cheat, do you think, Jathelle?"

"Poker? I've heard of it. He might cheat. Depends on his mood. Rayden gets a lot of his mischief from him, you know," Jathelle grinned.

"Sounds like he might be a formidable opponent.....has Rayden taught him to play any other card games, Jathelle?" Fitz grinned, obviously charmed by the beautiful goddess.

She grinned back at Fitz, her eyes glimmering faintly. "Not that I know of. I certainly wouldn't play cards with him. I like to do other things with him." She giggled.

"I can imagine...a handsome couple such as you two are, must have quite a repertoire." he smiled, and as he said this, his eyes again traveled, for about the 50th time, to Sarah Jo, sitting almost opposite him.

Ev started to giggle. "A repertoire? That's one way of putting it." After awhile, the food was all ate. The five ladies sat around teasing Fitz, who was obviously enjoying all this attention. After everyone was done, Sarah Jo helped clean up the mess, then she winked at Fitz. "Would you like to go for a little walk?"

"I would love to, my lady. I dare say the others can manage without us." he smiled, offering his arm to her, and Sarah Jo took it, as they started off along a little path near the cabin. Jathelle and Katherine's eyes met and they smiled. It was working.

Ev grinned and sent a mental image to Jathelle that made her giggle.

The giggles of the other ladies accompanied them as they went down the path, but the two of them ignored the merriment. "They make a cute couple." Jathelle said as she watched them walk away

Once they were out of sight at the bend of the little creek, Sarah Jo stopped and looked up at him. "You know we have been set up, don't you?"

He chuckled, then smiled "I suspected as much. The question is, how do you feel about it? Are you pleased with the "arrangement"?"

"I'm pleased, Fitz. After all, you very thoroughly kissed me, you almost drowned me, and then you rescued me like a knight would a fair maiden. I do want to get to know you a lot better."

"As do I want to with you, my beautiful Sarah Jo. Very much so," he said softly, turning to look at her directly. As as she looked into his eyes, they slowly closed, as he drew her close. His lips softly, gently touched hers in a sweet kiss.

As Sarah Jo and Fitz kissed and began to tet better acquainted amongst the rustling aspens, the rest of the ladies gossiped happily as the babies slept on. Meanwhile, trouble was beginning to brew back at the poker game.

Connor scowled at his cards and threw them down. "I'm out. Damn it Theron. You are cheating again!"

Theron's green eyes sparkled with mischief. "Cheating? How am I cheating?"

Rayden sighed and rolled his eyes. "Father, you're not supposed to use your other senses to see what cards you are getting. I explained that to you."

John Clayton chuckled at the three of them. "I don't know about you guys, but I would like to play a different sort of game."

Rayden grinned. "What did you have in mind? Something where he can't cheat?" He glanced toward his father, who just grinned back.

"How about a little spying game. I would dearly love to see what five lovely women are doing up their on that mountain alone with just one man," he said with a wicked grin on his face.

Theron chuckled. "That sounds like more fun than poker." He didn't say it, but he was missing Jathelle. Now that they were back together, he wanted to be with her.

Connor chuckled. "Poker is fun, but trying to figure out what our women are up to would be a much, much better game" he said.

"I've never done anything like this. What do we do?" Theron grinned as he spoke.

"We just go up there and sneak around and see what they are up too. The object is not to let them know we are there. Well guys, are you game?" Connor asked.

"Game?" Theron couldn't help saying it.

Rayden sighed. "Yes. Definitely. This sounds like fun." The four of them got up and left the card table and headed out into the back yard and up towards the cabin. Connor and John were much better at trying to stay unnoticed, and were constantly having to shush the two gods who thought it was a wonderful lark and really had no idea how to be sneaky. It was John who discovered Sarah Jo and Fitz were pleasantly *Occupied* underneath a small groove of aspens. He steered Connor away so the immortal's buzz would not disturb the two lovebirds.

While Connor and John struggle to get their neighbors away from the possibility of being detected, Ev and Jathelle picked up the now wide awake and fussing Ray and Jae. It was obvious they were hungry. "Let's move into the cabin. I'd love to talk around that lovely stone fire place in the main room. Rayden told me all about it." She suggested, as she also remembered several comfy-looking chairs being mentioned.

As everyone was starting to get their things together to go in, a very happy and content looking Fitz and Sarah Jo reemerged from the path they had taken. They looked slightly rumpled but both were smiling happily, as they held hands.

Ev couldn't help smirking. "You two look happy. Must have been a really nice walk."

The ladies gathered up all the babies and took them into the house. Fitz helped carry the diaper bags for them, looking immensely pleased with himself. As they sat down inside and took care of all the little ones, Sarah Jo started a fire in the fireplace. Ev settled in a chair with her babies and, with only a few moments fussing with the shirt she was wearing, had them both settled in to feed. Katherine had changed little Kiara and was now feeding her while crooning a soft little lullaby. Suddenly she froze and looked up. "Those stinkers!" she cried out.

Jathelle looked up from admiring her grandchildren. "What's wrong?"

"The guys are here. They are sneaking around outside," she said with a grin.

Ev giggled. "I wonder whose idea it was. Rayden and Theron are probably having a blast!"

Sarah Jo giggled. "Jathelle, can you give them a little extra incentive to come inside? Maybe a nice little rainstorm?"

Jathelle giggled. "How wet do you want them?"

"Drenched!" They rest all cried out in unison. The white-haired goddess giggled again and in a moment, the sound of a pouring rain could be heard on the roof. There was a torrent of unhappy male voices and a few muffled curses outside, and then the door opened. Four very wet males dripped their way in, all of them glaring at Jathelle who made not attempt at all to look innocent. They all made their way straight to the fire, ignoring the laughs of the women and Fitz. Even old Beau looked up from his position in front of the fire and seemed to be highly amused by the four newcomers splattering water all over him. As they stood there warming themselves by the fire, Toni knew that John Clayton had been stealing little glances at her, and though she told herself it was ridiculous, she couldn't help blushing and looking down as he did.

Rayden and Theron dried themselves immediately, but they were still feeling cold from the rain. Sarah Jo brought out towels for Connor and John who began to dry off the old fashioned way. Rayden noticed the other two men were still dripping wet and took care of them too. They both smiled their appreciation at him. Theron grinned at Jathelle. "You knew we were there."

John took another look at Toni, with that strange intense look all the Clims had. She blushed when he did so, and started to feel very warm inside. Grinning at her response, he pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. Toni knew it was silly for her to be blushing like an inexperienced schoolgirl, but the way this handsome man was looking at her with those penetrating eyes of his made it happen automatically.

The other men all sat down beside their own women on chairs that appeared out of nowhere as Fitz claimed a spot next to Sarah Jo who was now sitting cross legged on the floor and playing with Beau's ears. There was a grand total of ten adults, five babies and one old hound dog in the room but it somehow did not seem crowded.

"Would you mind if I keep you company tonight?" John Clayton asked Toni, the slightest touch of a feline growl to his voice as his fingertips ran from her check down to the base of her neck in a feather like caress. There was something about that low growl that made her feel weak in the knees.

After a moment, she found her voice finally, and said softly "No, John, of course not. But I-I might not be as good company as I should be; I can't seem to help still feeling bad over what happened to Lady.", as she looked down, trying not to pull down his mood with her sadness.

"Your not the only one feeling that way," he said quietly as he looked over at Katherine who was now snuggling up next to Connor, Baby Kiara still nestled in her arms. "Healing Lady took a lot out of her." The little Scot had a very tired, almost exhausted look to her face. When she saw Toni and John looking at her she quickly tried to cover it up by smiling. John smiled back at her and then pulled Toni into his arms and sat with her snuggled close, as the other couples in the room all followed suit.

Suddenly, she was reminded of her responsibility, as Pem and Tia both started to fuss and cry in their playpens. Regretfully, she left the haven of John's arms to cross the room and pick up Pem. John followed her, and picked up Tia who reached up and pulled on his long hair. She looked at him oddly and said, "Dah?" Both of them sat down to try and soothe the little ones who were squirming in their laps, trying to get down. Laughing at their eagerness, they lowered them onto

the floor with old Beau and the two of them were soon happily mauling the old dog.

The late afternoon soon turned into early evening as time passed quickly. Sarah Jo and Fitz combined efforts and produced a wonderful supper for all. The babies were all cleaned up and fed again and were soon asleep. Then Rayden *expanded* the cabin, so that it now had five bedrooms, all of them complete with it's own comfy feather bed and fireplace. He also provided portacribs in the three rooms where the babies would sleep.

Fitz wasn't the only one who was still getting used to Rayden's magic, as Toni just looked at the "sudden additions" in wonderment while John chuckled at her expression as he helped her take the sleeping twins into the bedroom that had been labeled "The Jungle room" by the mischievous god. Toni followed John into their "Jungle Room", again marveling at the feeling that she really was in a beautiful rainforest (only without the humidity!). She brought Pem to a porta crib, laying her down and tucking her in, and John followed with Tia, doing the same. Then, the babies taken care of, she turned to look at the intent eyed man patiently waiting for her. He sat on the bed, and went over to him.

Fitz led Sarah Jo into the beautiful bedroom labeled "Mountain Music*, and he marveled at the rustic, outdoorsy way it looked, in keeping with its theme. He could almost swear he heard a waterfall flowing! Sarah Jo couldn't help chuckle as say, "Looks like we don't have us a baby to keep us company all night." Just before she closed the door, she called out, "Night yah'll!"

Rayden and Ev gathered up their twins as well and disappeared into their own room which Rayden had named "The Playpen". Jathelle and the grinning Theron disappeared into theirs, which was called "The Schoolhouse". That left only Connor, who had Katherine and Kiara both dozing on his strong chest. He nudged her gently, until she roused enough for him to guide her into the room called "The "Highlands" which smelled of the mountain heather. A sheepskin rug lay on the floor next to the roaring fireplace. He took Kiara from Katherine's arms and tenderly placed her in her crib before he joined his wife in bed.

Outside, Beau stretched and yawned before drifting back to sleep himself, as the peaceful sounds of the night brought a close to a long and happy day for them all.