"I tried to warn you, old man." Jolly straightened up and adjusted her tool belt. She wanted a better look at the jeans Mimi had on, or better yet, the movement of the hips in those jeans as she moved closer. "Hi, baby."

"Hey yourself. Busy?"

"Waiting on my right order of wood to get here." Jolly pulled the cap she was wearing off with an impatient tug. Appreciative eyes took in the tall body a little at a time loving the picture Jolly made. Despite the chilly weather she was wearing shorts that were a little longer than the ones she wore in the summer heat, but still showed a good bit of muscled tanned legs. Brown thick socks spilled over the top of the comfortable construction boots, and the leather tool belt hung low on Jolly's hips. "Any more delays and we'll start losing money out here."

The project was one Jolly had agreed to do on a shoestring budget so she was watching the bottom line as much as possible without making the work suffer. It wasn't fair to Tim to share the costs of her good deed. They were repairing parts of an old retirement home near the park as well as adding a rec center for the residents. The peeling paint and worn exterior needed more work than the project had money for, but Jolly was determined to stretch every cent to bring the historically registered building back to life.

"How long before the wood gets here?" asked Mimi.

Ricky put the phone down and held up two fingers making Jolly's smile disappear. "Two f.u.c.king hours?"

"Maybe one and a half but I'd count on about two and some. No sweat, boss, we can pull all that rotten wood out of the back corner until it gets here. That way it gets done and no one goes home. I'm pretty sure we have enough materials to get that part done."

"Thanks, man." Behind her father, Mimi smiled at Jolly's choice of words. Two f.u.c.king hours is just what she had planned. "Go ahead and hand out a.s.signments and I'll be there in a minute."

"Sure thing." Ricky laughed at the gleam in Mimi's eye. It was weird to think of his little girl sleeping with someone, but he had feeling the last thing Jolly would be doing was ripping up an rotten outer wall.

"Hey, beautiful, sorry about that. What brings you down here besides making me feel better?"

Mimi walked toward her slowly setting the bait. "I came to ask you a favor."

"Sure, what can I do for you?"

"The door to the studio is stuck and I can't get it to open."

Jolly let Ricky know where she was going before jumping in her truck to follow Mimi home. He guessed after a few years together, Jolly would learn to figure Mimi out, but today she'd been snagged as easily as a trout in a small aquarium.

"Things are going to be different now, huh?" asked one of the workers who had been with Jolly for years.

"I would definitely count on it. Why, you got a problem?" asked Ricky.

"No way, Ricky, that girl of yours is the best thing that's happened to Jolly."

Jolly's Land Cruiser, which Mimi was now driving, was parked in its usual spot but its driver was nowhere to be seen. "I didn't give her that much of a head start." Jolly was talking to herself as she reached over for her tool belt in case she needed it to fix the door. In full forward stride she turned the k.n.o.b for the front door and crashed into it when she found it was locked. "What the h.e.l.l, she never locks this door."

Mimi heard the muttering from the other side but ignored it wanting Jolly to work for it a little bit. Knocking came next but she still waited hoping Jolly hadn't broken her nose on the door. When the doorbell rang twice Mimi opened the door and looked at Jolly like she'd never seen her before.

"Can I help you?" The annoyed comment about to escape for having been kept waiting died on Jolly's lips when she saw Mimi had changed. "Are you here about the door?" Jolly just nodded. "Good, come with me, I actually have a little project in the bedroom for you to do first."

The blonde waited for Jolly to stop in the middle of the bedroom before saying anything else. She knew her partner was interested since she hadn't talked about going back to work. With a little experience Mimi cursed herself for not painting Jolly's mural naked so they could have moved to this part of their relationship sooner.

"Have I ever told you how hot you make me in this outfit?" The first question got the work boots to move further apart as Jolly tried to steady her stance.

"No, ma'am, you haven't."

"Oh it does. When I was growing up all my friends talked about this hunk and that hunk, but I never got it until I saw you for the first time." Mimi stepped behind Jolly as she spoke and ran her hands over the t-shirt covered back. "You look so s.e.xy with those tools hanging around your waist, and all these muscles showing." The hands moved down to Jolly's legs making her breathing speed up.

With a quick move the b.u.t.ton to Jolly's shorts popped open making her drop her tool belt. "You left this morning and I started to ache for you." Mimi pulled the tie of her robe open and dropped the garment on Jolly's forgotten tools. A soft growl from Jolly followed when Mimi moved away from her, but just as quickly turned into a moan when Mimi sat naked on the bed. "It made me seek out some sort of relief."

Frozen in place, Jolly watched the small hand move over the flat abdomen to one of the perfect b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Mimi circled the nipple with her finger until it got so hard it looked painful. "I think about you, and like the song says, I want to touch myself." The lucky finger moved to the other nipple giving it the same treatment. "Only thing is, I much rather when it's your hands on me." When the circling digit stopped and Mimi pinched and pulled her nipples Jolly almost pa.s.sed out.

"Oh G.o.d."

"I think about your hands on me and it makes me want to make love." Mimi's hands went from her chest down her body. She leaned back and put both feet at the edge of the bed. Slowly, and with a surprisingly steady hand, Mimi dipped her fingers into her own wetness. Holding up the glistening digits she asked Jolly, "Does it do the same for you?"

There was no verbal answer out of Jolly. She just moved across the room and buried her face where Mimi's fingers had just been. Just a little taste was all Mimi was willing to give before she wrapped her fingers in Jolly's hair and pulled. "I want to feel you on top of me, lover. I want you to hear what you do to me."

Two of Jolly's fingers slid into Mimi's wetness but parted before touching the blonde where she desperately wanted Jolly to be touching. The move made the nub almost throb as the pleasing fingers stroked around it still not touching.

"Baby, please, just touch me." Mimi had lost control of the situation and he knew it.

"I have every intention of touching you." The fingers stopped and squeezed getting Mimi to buck up into Jolly's body. The pressure made Mimi claw at Jolly's back until she had pulled the t-shirt up enough so she could feel skin.

Jolly started her soft ma.s.sage again only this time as her fingers slid down they went far enough to just reach the opening of Mimi's s.e.x. "You're killing me, baby."

"You ready for me, Mimi?"

The question had to be a hypothetical but Mimi wasn't chancing it. "Fill me up and take what's yours." Two fingers wrenched a moan out of Mimi that Jolly felt in her bones. When her thumb covered the neglected nub, Mimi ran her nails up Jolly's back so hard it left red streaks. "Yeah, like that, baby. Don't stop."

Jolly went slow, wanting Mimi's pleasure to last, but when the blonde wrapped her legs around her waist, she gave in and gave her lover relief. Mimi's inner walls squeezed her fingers so hard at the end Jolly thought they would leave bruises. They shared a kiss and as Jolly went to sit up, she found Mimi had the strength to roll her over onto her back.

"There's something else I've been thinking about since you left this morning." Mimi stood between the booted feet and leaned over Jolly's body. She lowered the zipper on the shorts so she could slide her hand inside. "Something tells me we're on the same wavelength." Her fingers were surrounded by wet heat and Jolly's eyes looked almost pleading. "Will you charge me extra for the service call if I take a little taste?" The shorts and underwear slid down until they hit the boots.

"Free samples all day long for you," offered Jolly.

"Lucky for me I'm your only client." Mimi started with a flat tongue so she could enjoy the feel of Jolly's most intimate place. When a big hand ran through her hair as encouragement she sucked in the hard bundle and gave Jolly what she wanted. She enjoyed the way Jolly's hips came up to meet her and the way her fingers tightened on her locks the closer Jolly got.

The moans and thrusting Jolly was doing was driving Mimi insane. Her groin was aching again but she didn't want to stop until Jolly had finished. Mimi was surprised when Jolly pulled away getting her to stop. "What's wrong, baby?"

"Nothing's wrong, but things could be more right with one little move on your part." Jolly smiled down at her and held her hand out. "Climb up here and we'll do this together." Mimi lowered herself onto Jolly's mouth before happily returning to what she'd been doing.

"What're you thinking about?" asked Mimi softly.

"Stuck doors." Jolly looked down when she felt Mimi's face grow warm. "Madeline, after everything you did to me that day you're going to blush now?"

"It was nice wasn't it? We had just found out we were pregnant with the girls and I was so happy I wanted to find some way to show you. More than anything, Jolly, I want that part of our relationship to always be like that day. I want to know I please you."

"You're the best, sweetheart. Days like that are what make me want to quit working at about noon." Jolly kissed her forehead before relaxing back into the bed. "Though next time you should give me the opportunity to take my boots off."

"Honey, it was the boots that sparked my imagination to begin with. We had a great time, and think about how grateful that driver was when you didn't scream at him for being over an hour late with your wood."

It felt good to Jolly to just laugh again. "I would've but I was too busy blushing myself to make it sound convincing."

"You never blush for me, but you do it for other people? What made you act so out of character?"

"Your father asking me how I managed to get a hickey on my neck from fixing a door."

The heat on her chest got worse making Jolly laugh harder. "You never told me that. How'd you answer him? G.o.d, I'll never be able to look him in the eye again," whined Mimi.

"I told him you pay all my home repair service with s.e.xual favors." A nurse cracked the door and gave them a stern look when the laughing Mimi's pinch set off got too loud.

"I feel horrible about just leaving them here all alone." Dressed in loose comfortable clothing, Mimi was set to leave the hospital after a week of recovering. She leaned back against Jolly as they both looked in on their children.

"Baby, they won't exactly be alone, and Sam and Ellie said you can come by anytime you want. I'll bring you whenever you want to come see them."

"It's just I've read how important it is for them to connect to us now. I don't want them to think we're abandoning them because they're not perfect." Mimi started crying again making Jolly wonder if she was in danger of dehydration she did it so often. Sam had explained only time and a lot of hand holding on her part would alleviate the problem, so she was taking the doctor's advice. She held Mimi and rocked her until the emotions ran their course. There was no need to say anything since Mimi wouldn't respond to words just actions. a.s.surance would come when her small blonde saw that she was telling the truth, and a trip to the hospital would only be a request away.

Jolly figured they would be at the hospital in the middle of the night or whenever Mimi's mothering radar would start to ping. The truth was she wouldn't mind what time it was, just as long as Laine, Francis and Lee knew how cherished they were. There was no way she was taking any chapters out of Anthony's book of parenting.

"They'll have a lifetime of connecting with us, sweetheart, and the next six weeks won't be an exception to that fact. You have to come at least once a day and feed them so they'll know you, I promise." Mimi clung to her tighter as Jolly spoke softly to her. Another new mother walked slowly to the next section of gla.s.s trying to give them their privacy. Jolly noticed the woman dividing her time between looking at her new baby and looking at them. She smiled at the woman over Mimi's head hoping she wasn't thinking of giving them a hard time.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to bother you but I just wanted to let you know my first child, Bobby was a preemie and he's doing great. When I had to leave him here I felt like the worse mother in the world, like I'd failed him, but it's like they know they have to get better before they can go home." The woman stepped closer and put her hand on Mimi's shoulder. "They're tiny things, but they have a great capacity for love."

"Thank you for telling us that. How old is Bobby now?" asked Mimi.

"He's seven and a terror, so enjoy the fact they can't walk yet. He's still my baby though even after this fifth little one."

Jolly laughed and felt Mimi laugh along with her. "One more pregnancy and we'll pa.s.s you up."

"All three of those are yours?" she asked pointing to the incubators.

"Yep, all three," beamed Mimi.

"Well congratulations, and good luck."

Jolly pulled a chocolate cigar with a pink wrapper out of her breast pocket and handed it over. "Thank you."

"Just what you want to give an overweight hormonal woman, chocolate," joked the woman holding her stomach. She waved to them as she made her way back to her room peeling the wrapper off her treat.

"I still wish we could bring them home. It's so drab in here, they aren't going to get any visual stimulation." It was no time to remind Mimi the staff still had patches over the girls' eyes so Jolly wisely kept her mouth shut.

Sam and Ellie entered the ward as Mimi continued with her list of reasons they shouldn't leave the children alone in the hospital. They pair in white lab coats gave Jolly an idea that would make everyone happy if they agreed.

"Honey, did you hear me?" Jolly's blank expression said she hadn't.

"Sorry, I see our good doctors are here," she turned Mimi around to show her. "Go in with Ellie and say good bye to the girls for now."

The tall doctor stayed behind hoping to get an honest a.s.sessment on how Mimi was really doing. Leaving children in the hospital even over night was traumatizing to young parents. "Is she holding up ok?"

"No, but you and the hospital can fix that." The more Jolly thought about her formulating plan, the bigger her smile got.

Sam crossed her arms and waited for the explanation of how Mimi needed a roll away bed or something brought in to be closer to her babies. "How's that?"

Jolly pointed to the spotless beige walls and started with her pitch. "For the one place in the hospital where most people are supposed to be happy, it looks like a prison."

"Hospitals don't have money to decorate, Jolly, much less buy art. Think of the new babies as our decorations. All you have to do is look through the gla.s.s for works of art."

"True, but lucky for you, the new daughters of one of the city's most talented artists are hanging out here for the next month or so. I bet if you asked real nice she'd liven up these walls for you."

The arms stayed crossed but Sam did crack a smile. "Like I said, administration won't spend money on something like that. I've seen what Mimi's pieces go for, we can't afford her."

"How about you feed her, get her a comfortable chair to work out of and let her hold the girls whenever she wants?" Jolly had her hand out waiting for Sam to seal the deal. "It's a great opportunity that'll make us all happy.

"I think we can swing that past administration, especially when I tell them it's Mimi Mulle doing the painting."

"It's Mimi Andolini now, doc. I don't want my kids and me to have different names, so try and remember that." Mimi stepped out with Ellie and caught the last part of the conversation. "And what exactly am I painting?"

The doctor and Mimi's partner explained what they had in mind watching as Mimi's smile grew brighter and brighter. Since she was herself still recovering, Mimi was talked into starting with the half wall under the observation windows to keep her off her feet.

After the initial excitement Mimi got quiet and walked the hall slowly. Sam and Ellie were about to tell her not to worry about taking on the project if it was going to be too much for her when Jolly gave them a lesson in understanding Mimi. "Each foot she pa.s.ses is one more section of art completed in her head. She gets really focused when she plans, and becomes totally absorbed when she starts. I have a feeling there'll be three new reasons who might change that now. I'll be the one she forgets about now."

"How can I forget you when you're always looking out for me?" Mimi eased her way back into the circle of Jolly's arms and exhaled into her chest. "I love the way you know me. Thanks for thinking of a way to make me not go crazy by the time this is all over. I love you, Jolly."

"I love you too, sweetheart. Come on, let's get you home to your sketchbooks."

They went home until Mimi's b.r.e.a.s.t.s felt like they were going to burst. Once she had fed the kids some of the staff watched in amazement as images started to appear under the wax pencil Mimi had brought with her. Before the afternoon was over, the hospital administrator took over twenty minutes to thank Mimi for her selfless act making Harry, Ellie and Sam laugh. The man was usually one big scowl and his favorite word was no, so to see him be so demonstrative and nice was a welcomed change.

In the next weeks, everyone one in the natal unit watched as Mimi added color to her outline and the three Andolini girls gained weight. The day the tape came off the small sets of eyes, with both Mimi and Jolly looking on, was the day the first section was completed Mimi was so full of energy. It was both strange and wonderful to find colors so familiar in the small faces. The twins Francis and Laine both had bright green eyes like hers and Lee had inherited Jolly's blues.

When the girls started to close in on their goal weight, the staff was almost sorry. Not that they wished the children ill, but with their departure so would the fireball Mimi. It was fun to see the faces of new big brothers and sisters when they came to visit new siblings. The fantasy world Mimi had created made them sometimes just stand in the middle of the ward's hall and stare.

There were dragons flying on the ceiling with flowers in their claws, children playing an a.s.sortment of things, bears peeking form behind multicolored trees, dinosaurs that served as slides, and in the middle, three small babies holding small hammers in their hands building a rainbow.

The hospital had arranged a dedication ceremony the day the new parents were given the go ahead to take the girls home. All that was left was for Mimi to sign her name to the mural and it would be done.

"Thanks for all this, Mimi. When you have the next batch maybe you could spruce up the lobby," joked Sam.

"How about if I just agree to do it no matter what. This long stay was a one shot deal." Ellie frowned and wondered if the trauma had turned Mimi off to having any other children. "Don't worry, Ellie, it's just next time I plan to be here only over night then I'm taking everyone home with me."

They drove home slowly with the new car seats securely fastened, looking forward to starting their family life without all the onlookers. Sophia and Ricky were waiting at home, anxious to get a turn holding their new granddaughters. The only sad thing Mimi had experienced was her mother not calling to congratulate them or ask about her new granddaughters, which meant Anthony hadn't called Jolly either. Before it depressed her too much, Desi had come by with her business partner Tony. The two of them had talked her into a new show before the visit was over, so she would have plenty of other things to think about to dwell on her mother. Tony reminded Mimi so much of herself it was hard to think about anything negative when he was around.

"You're sure you're ready for this?" asked Mimi when they pulled into the driveway.

"All it's going to take is about eighteen years to get them ready to leave for college, so yeah. This will be a piece of cake."

Laine was the last one to be fed that night, and like her sisters, she was rocked and sung to by Mimi until she fell asleep. When she did Mimi put her in the same bed as Francis and Lee. Until they were bigger, Mimi was planning to keep them together since they seemed to do better when they were in close proximity. Once she was convinced they were all sleeping Mimi went to join Jolly on the other rocker in the room. It was still amusing to watch Jolly when she looked at the girls. Mimi had seen more than one deep breath that ended with a big smile and a puffed up chest full of pride.

"Amazing isn't it?" asked Mimi.