Toni was first to arrive at Ev's house, just a little bit earlier than they were supposed to. As a result, Ev was still finishing up getting the twins ready in their stroller. She rang the bell, and was met by Rayden at the door.

"Toni! How are you today? Rested from the party?" His eyes shone with mischief. "You're a little early. Ev is still getting the twins ready. They decided they were hungry again." He led Toni into the living room, where Ev was working on a burp from Rayven. He seemed to like to hold onto them.

Ev looked up and smiled. "Hi! Almost ready! This will be fun!"

Toni went over to her and kissed her hello, as well as she could with a baby in her arms. Rayven stared for a moment at the new visitor, then finally decided to let go his burp, pretty much right in her face. She laughed, "Well, that was quite a hello! And hi to you too, young man. And you, Mom."

Ev giggled. "Not civilized yet, I guess. At least it was only a burp! He's done worse. Usually on Theron."

They both laughed. Just then, the doorbell rang again, and Rayden this time ushered Kat into the room. All three women kissed and hugged hello.

"Oh Kat! You're looking great! Starting to feel a little pregnant now, huh?" Ev grinned and patted Kat's tummy.

"Just a little, Ev." She pulled up her shirt to show them the top button of her skirt was unbuttoned. "Getting just a little bit thicker in the waist at this point." They helped get the twins settled into the stroller. Rayden had been told he could come along if he played *babysitter* while they shopped.

Toni smiled at her friend, and said softly, "She looks wonderful. Glowing just like in the books."

"Boy do I remember that!" Ev grinned and Rayden smiled at her and came over to give her an affectionate hug from behind, whispering something in her ear. Ev giggled and kissed his cheek. "You have to behave now, until we get home. Can you do that?"

Toni smiled at Kat, just imagining what he asked of his mate. They both looked so happy together; happier since the babies came than they had been before.

Rayden chuckled at his mate and started towards the door with the stroller. "I'll be good. But will you?"

Ev started after him. "So let's go!"

Katherine grinned back and gave Toni a wink. They then all stepped out of the house and headed down the street towards the mall. It didn't take them long to get to the mall, but once there, they were stopped frequently by people admiring the twins. Their first stop was The Boutique, with Frankie coming over to smile at the twins and ask if he could help them.

Rayden was positively glowing! He loved to show off the babies. He was so glad he came along.

Katherine explained she wanted some looser fitting clothes that she could wear until she needed to don actual maternity clothes. He assured her he had just the thing, and showed her to a section with large, man-tailored shirts and leggings.

"Oh! These are great! I might want some of this stuff myself!" Ev looked through the rack, loving the colors and styles.

"Oh, Kat! This color would be perfect for you."

Frankie also showed her some nice imported Indian float dresses that were high-waisted and looked cool and comfortable to wear. She tried several outfits on for them all to see. Each one seemed to suit her nicely, and Toni found herself letting her daydreams run away with her as she watched Kat model them. Katherine was not really showing yet. She was only two months along at this point. But she was so tiny, even a couple of pounds made a big change in her.

Rayden grinned and sat back to enjoy the fashion show, holding a sleeping Jae in his arms. Finally, Kat made her selections, after a smiling Toni reminded her that they still had a couple of places to go. The next stop on the tour, was Galati's Gypsy Boutique.

She was able to find some outfits there as well. As usual, she was going to have to go home and shorten the dresses considerably. They were made for women about 5-6 " taller than she was.

Ev's eyes lit up. The clothes were so colorful. She just HAD to try on a couple of outfits. And the jewelry caught her eye as she was on the way to the dressing room. Finally she emerged to model for everyone. "What do you think? Does this look ok on me?" In their silent conversation she asked Rayden, ~"Remember when we were gypsies at the Halloween party last year?"~ Rayden only smiled, the look in his eyes being enough to know what he thought of the outfit.

Meanwhile, there was applause from the other women, and even Toni bought a couple of the pretty dresses.

The next stop was the toy store, where they all ohhed and ahhed over the cute little toys for babies.

Toni seemed lost in thought as she looked at them, and Kat asked her if she was all right. She brought herself out of her thoughts, and smiled, "Yes, Kat, I'm fine. Just daydreaming a bit, that's all."

Rayden picked out a couple of toys for the twins. Rayven absolutely refused to nap in the stroller, so the new toy kept him happily occupied. Dani gave all the women a big hug as they left the store, a big happy smile on his face.

"He's such a sweetheart. He seems so happy since he moved in with Sarah Jo. I'm really glad for them both." Ev smiled as they walked away from the toy store. She paused looking at Toni thoughtfully. "I notice you're awfully quiet today. Planning something?"

She smiled, blushing slightly at having been "caught", and said softly, "Well, Nick and I, when we first got together, kind of talked about possibly having babies someday. I guess all this gives me pause for thought."

Katherine giggled and gave Toni a hug. "That would be wonderful!" she said.

"That's not usually how it happens, you know." Ev couldn't help giggling.

Toni blushed a little deeper, and smiled, "I know-I guess you do have to do more than just talk about it, huh?" They all laughed at this.

"I think I've got enough clothes for now," Kat said as she shifted the large bags in her hand. "Do you guys want to eat anywhere?"

"You know, its a long time since I've been on a picnic in the park. How does that sound?" Ev could feel her stomach starting to growl. "I'm starving! Feeding babies is hungry work!"

"Well, ordinarily, I'd vote for the Bistro, but it's such a nice day..I think a picnic lunch sounds great!"

"I could zap your packages home for you, so you don't have to carry them." Rayden offered.

"Sounds good," Katherine said with a grin as she held them out towards him. They disappeared in a shower of sparks.

Freed of their burdens, the little group headed toward the park.

"Where in the park should we eat?" Ev grinned. "Somewhere with a nice view?"

All three got the same idea at the same time, and chorused, "The fountain!"

Rayden chuckled. "Mother will be pleased." He steered them in that direction. Rayden provided a nice lunch for them and they sat around the fountain, giggling and laughing at the little cherubs and winged horses flying around it.

Ev and Kat were kept busy answering questions about pregnancy by Toni. She wanted to know how bad their problems had gotten, and if they usually cleared up by the second trimester, for one thing.

Katherine told her that her problems had been made worse because her body had to make all sorts of changes all at once but she was feeling better for the most part.

"Gee! Imagine me being a semi-expert on something!" Ev grinned. "Let me tell you, I really don't think my experience was typical. My worst problems were at the end. Doing Goodyear Blimp imitations and feeling like I was about to explode."

Rayden smiled at her. "But you were so beautiful doing it." He cuddled Jae against his shoulder.

"My mother had absolutely no problems, when she was carrying me-she said she felt wonderful all the time. I hope that happens for me, too," she said, silently saying a little prayer to make it so.

"You will do fine," Katherine said with a quiet confidence that helped eased any concerns Toni still had. "I'll be there for you if you want."

"The best thing was feeling them move and having this goofy guy here taking care of me. He couldn't keep his hands off me the whole time." Ev grinned at Rayden. "Whatever you need, I'll help if I can."

"Oh, thank you, both of you. I'd feel so much better if I knew you were helping me, especially at the end. I was told by my doctor that I should have no problems giving birth normally, my hips were wide enough. I know Nick didn't get there in time to see his first two children being born, I hope he can make this one." She looked at her friends with gratitude in her eyes.

They continued sitting in the park together, talking and playing with the babies over the next several hours. Then Katherine looked at her watch and said, "It's almost time for my OB appointment! She stood up and gave her friends a hug. When she went over to Rayden, he gave her a kiss as well, doing a quick mental check of her to see how she was holding up.

He smiled at Kat, pleased that she was so much calmer and feeling so good now. He kissed her hand and winked at her.

"Have a good appointment. You'll have to come by for dinner again sometime."

"We will," she promised, then they all went on their own separate ways.