Jobs, Babies, Weddings and other such things Who: Isis and Niko What: Hormonal werecat freakout When: Thursday Evening Where: Niko’s Place Warning: See hormonal werecat
Isis had a long day. Having Cleo around helped a lot, but she didn’t work full time and sometimes she swore the human caretakers just didn’t have a clue what they were doing. Especially when it came to teething baby weres. Gods.
Tossing her purse in the table as she stepped into the house, Isis smiled a bit as she smelled cooking. Mmm salmon. Niko was learning. Shrugging out of her coat, she hung it on the coat rack before slipping off her shoes. Salmon was a pretty overpowering scent, but there was something not right. Isis frowned and padded towards the kitchen.
“Hey, sexy, you better be barefoot,” she drawled as she leaned in the kitchen doorway. “It’s only fair, since I’m the one who’s pregnant.”
Niko was indeed barefoot as he finished up their dinner, completely and utterly oblivious to anything that was out of the ordinary for the woman as she entered their home. "Hey there, pretty kitty." he said with a flash of a smile as he finished placing the bit of salmon on one of the plates before moving to do the same on the second. "Hope you brought your appetite. How was work?" he questioned. He planned on getting around to telling her he'd hired someone to help out with his work, but he didn't really think it was that important a detail just yet. How her day had gone was far more important, or so he believed.
Brought her appetite? She was 21 weeks pregnant with twins. Right. Isis gave that stupid question the look it deserved. Especially since he didn’t give her a kiss or anything. “That smells good,” she said. “What are you having? Because that itty bitty piece of fish is not enough for me and the kittens.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Insane. I work in a daycare for baby weres remember?”
He chuckled a little at her question. "There's plenty more, I can pile it on your plate if you want." he grinned, leaning over to give her that kiss she was probably wanting. "Sounds like you're gonna need a foot rub later, huh?" he asked. Lifting his spatula he went ahead and put another piece of fish onto her plate. She was eating for three after all.
“That’s a good start,” she purred, returning the kiss. “A foot rub would be a good chaser. Then a long bath, and if you’re lucky, I’ll let you join me.” She started towards the fridge to get herself a glass of milk, then frowned. “What happened to the plant on the counter?” she asked. “You know, the one I bought when Cleo and I went baby clothes shopping last.”
He smiled at her first few statements, his brain already in that tub with her. Of course then she asked about the plant on the counter and before he could tell his mouth to shut the hell up, his brain had already sent the truth to his lips. "The pot broke so we planted it outside." he explained, the word that would catch him was the 'we'. Of course he was still completely dumb and didn't think twice about the words he'd said as he sat down the spatula and carried the plates to the table. "What do you want to drink, baby?"
We? Who was this we who broke her pot and planted her plant outside? Isis let out a soft growl. “We who?” she demanded, not letting him off the hook that easily. “Did you and one of your buddies play football in the kitchen or something. Gods, Niko, aren’t you too old for that kind of shit?”
He shook his head and realized then that he'd have to tell her about Eden now instead of later. But, still stupidly oblivious, it didn't seem like a big deal. "No, a girl responded to the ad I had about hiring someone for my company." he explained. "She came over for an interview. Turns out she's an elemental. The plant liked her and broke the pot so we planted the plant outside. No big deal." he assured her.
No big deal? NO BIG DEAL? Isis actually hissed. “So some chick broke my pot with her powers and you weren’t going to tell me?” she demanded. “And then you planted it outside? Is that why you made fish? So I wouldn’t smell her? What the hells, Niko?” She was not jealous. She was just- okay, she was jealous and hormonal.
He blinked. Apparently it was a much bigger deal than he'd suspected. "No." he told her, furrowing his brows a little in confusion. "I made fish to be nice. I wasn't trying to cover up her smell." he said. The thought of her being jealous of a girl nearly half of his age was almost laughable, but thankfully he was smart enough to keep the urge to chuckle inside. "She's a teenager and she broke the plant by accident. And I was going to tell you, I just didn't think it was all that important. I mean she's only going to be working on the weekends, a couple hours. It's not like she's full time help or anything..."
It didn’t matter if she was 10 or 30. It was Isis’ plant, he hadn’t told her and the fact she was a teenager just pissed Isis off more. Probably a skinny little teenager with perky tits and Gods, she did not need this. “Why did you have a teenager in the house?” she demanded. “Gods, Niko. Don’t you have an office? What’s she doing part-time anyway?” He ran a landscaping business. Now she was probably just being bitchy, but Isis was tired and hormonal. And usually bitchy anyway.
"I don't really have an office. It's kind of hard to have an office when it's pretty much just me doing the work." he pointed out. "Sure I have a few people who help out, but that was the whole point in the add. I've got the workshop out back, but she came to the front door, so I just did the interview here." he explained. He was trying to think before he spoke to keep everything he said as non confrontational as possible, but he wasn't so sure anything he said was going to make things better. "She's in high school so I can't expect her to work full time, but she's an earth elemental, so she'd be helpful if only for helping with the greenhouse." he tried to touch all the good points, but he probably wasn't doing a very good job of it. The greenhouse happened to be on the property at the house, along with the workshop which meant Eden would be around on the weekends in and around the home which Isis would surely be well aware of. "Is it really that big a deal? I mean... I can't fire her... I just hired her..."
Oh great, she was going to have to watch the skinny teenager traipse all over the place on weekends. “I didn’t say fire her,” she snapped. “I just said I’d like to know. You know, before I notice my plant is gone. Gods, Niko. You aren’t a bachelor anymore. I don’t like the idea of some stranger, no matter who she is, wandering around. I didn’t even get to size her up. Right now it’s just you and me, but after the kittens are born? You are not bringing people in the house all the time, especially temps.” She would lay into him with her claws if he kept dragging people through her territory.
This was going from bad to worse fairly quickly. "I'm sorry." he said, because he was. She made a good point and he should have gotten her permission if only because they did share a home now and since he had no office, Eden would be invading not only his space, but Isis's as well. "I didn't think about it like that. I guess I was just excited to have some interest in the ad. Usually I run it and people overlook it and pretend like it doesn't exist. I mean I've got a few friends that do some stuff every once in a while, but it's just me for the most part and now that I've got you and the babies on the way, I thought some help would mean that I'd get to spend more time with you." He hadn't meant to upset her and now he wasn't sure how to retract the annoyance he'd caused her. "If you want you can meet her and if you don't like her, I'll just have to let her go." he suggested. He couldn't really keep her on if his wife hated her. It would make both of their lives miserable.
Isis was slightly mollified. “I’ll give her a chance,” she said. “If only so you’ll quit whining like that and sit down so we can eat.” Yeah, she was letting it go. She didn’t expect to dislike this girl. It wasn’t Eden’s fault Niko was a dumbass. “You need to hire some more people though. Not just teenage girls to work on the weekends. Twins, especially if they’re weres, are more tiring than you think, Daddy Warbucks.”
Well, at least she wasn't yelling at him. "I'll run all the applicants by you first." he promised her. "And I'll look for male help if that makes you feel better." he added, figuring that the female part was probably getting to her. "Here, sit." he said as he pulled out a chair for her. "Now tell me what you want to drink so I can grab it for you." he murmured.
“I will help you review applications,” she corrected. “And if you are going to hire a bunch of strange men, you are getting an office outside the house. Because yeah, goes back to strangers in my territory. Save everyone, including yourself, the stress of dealing with a hormonal pregnant werecat who’s secure nest is threatened. All right?” She sat down and gave him another look. “What do I always drink?”
"I'm thinking getting an office outside the house is probably a good idea regardless. Bringing strange men around you isn't something I want to do either..." he realized. She wasn't the only one who could be jealous. He headed for the fridge and grabbed the milk from inside it and poured her a glass. "Dumb question." he admitted as he sat the glass before her and put the milk away again. Retrieving some iced tea for himself he moved to the table and settled down across from her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I was going to." he assured her. "I guess I'm just not used to not being a bachelor anymore. I mean... not in a bad way." he was quick to say. "I'm glad you're here with me, I just have to start thinking for more than just myself."
Isis took a long drink of her milk as Niko carried on some more. “The condition for me giving the teenybopper a chance was for you to stop whining about this,” she reminded him before digging into her fish. “This is good, by the way.” She sighed and took another few bites before answering. “Babe, it’s an adjustment. Trust me, I will smack you when you screw up. So stop worrying about that and just remember to tell me shit. And don’t drag a bunch of people through my territory all the time. You’re getting an office not in the house, therefore it is all good. Now shut up about it and eat your fish or I will.”
"Thanks." he said in reply to her compliment. Picking up his fork he started in on his own meal. The office outside of the house would be a good start, he was sure. It would help the both of them and make things a bit less complicated. "Should I febreeze the house?" he teased after a moment, a tiny little smirk playing on his lips.
Isis gave him a dirty look. “If you bring that nasty shit in this house, I will spray the couch with it before I make you sleep on it for a week,” she told him. “Also, I thought you were trying to get invited into the bathtub with me? That is not playing your cards right, buster.”
Well that certainly hadn't worked the way he'd intended. "Well how bout I change the subject and tell you how beautiful you look?" he murmured, flashing her a smile and tucking his hair behind one ear. "And how much I missed you today?"
It was almost how funny he did a 360. Of course, he was trying to get some, so she couldn’t blame him. “How about setting a date for our wedding?” she challenged. “Since you’re the one who was all for the marriage thing, you pick the date. I promise to show up, look gorgeous and make everyone there jealous of you.”
Well if that wasn't the question of the hour he wasn't sure what was. "Well, I guess that's mostly up to you, sweetness." he told her. "I'd marry you tomorrow if you'd let me, but it's your decision whether you want to get married before or after the babies come." He'd make it happen however she wanted. Niko hoped that he could give her the wedding of her dreams.
Oh he wasn’t getting off that easy. Isis rolled her eyes. “See, it’s much more fun for me to watch you outdo yourself trying to please me,” she told him. “Case in point, the absolutely perfect nursery awaiting our little babies when they arrive. So, you set the date, I will pick out my own dress and you do the rest. Ask your mother for help. You know she wants to plan every little detail because you’re her baby and you’re finally settling down and getting married. As for when, just do it before I go into labor. That gives you five more months. So get cracking.”
Okay, so she didn't mind getting married while pregnant, that was good. It mean they could have a honeymoon without factoring in babysitting. "Okay..." he said, trying hard to think of a good time for the wedding. "Well we shouldn't do it too close to the due date because pregnancies with multiples are usually early, so that cuts out the last month and maybe part of the month before that, so I've got even less time. Plus it really depends a lot on where we want to honeymoon." he added. "So how bout you tell me where you want to honeymoon and that'll give me a better idea of the timing restrictions."
Isis laughed. Yeah, he was not getting the message. “No place with snow or the people don’t speak English or Arabic, because those are the only two languages I know. Other than that, surprise me. Like I said, I want to see what you do to wow me. Because you set a pretty high mark with that nursery. So, wow me.”
Well she was no help. Damn her. He was eventually going to be incapable of outdoing himself, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to give it the good college try. "Mom'll insist on at least a decent amount of planning time." he commented, still trying to work out all the time in his head. "December." he told her. "Indoor wedding and reception since it'll be cold, but gives me and mom plenty of time to plan and pick out locations and then I'm thinking honeymoon somewhere quiet and quaint with a fireplace." he smiled. His brain was already forming all sorts of ideas on that count as well.
Oh please. He’d made the perfect nursery and gotten her the most beautiful, unique engagement ring. He’d done it to himself. Isis found that when she put Niko on the spot like this, he delivered way better than she could have demanded. Plus it saved her the stress and work of it. “Well, now all you have to do is introduce me to your mother, so she can get involved,” she told him. She liked what she heard so far, but there was no reason to interrupt his train of thought. Isis frowned and picked at her food. “I won’t blame her if she doesn’t like me.” She had done a horrible thing to Niko and even if she never found out, Gods only knew what she would think of Isis. “You know, because this came out of nowhere.” Damn hormones.
Niko's thoughts of wedding bliss immediately took a backseat when he saw the look on Isis's face. He shook his head as he sat down his fork so he could focus his attentions on his bride-to-be. "My mother will love you." he told her. "My father will probably hate you and tell me you're out for my money, but in all honesty, I don't really give a damn what he has to say. And regardless of where all of this came from, the fact of the matter is that I love you and both of our babies and you're going to be my wife no matter who wants it to be that way." he told her. He had set his mind to this one thing and he was determined for it to happen just as he planned. "The only one in the world that can tell me I can't marry you is you. I'm going to keep doing everything I can to make sure that you don't ever tell me that I can't marry you, but baby, you don't have to worry about whether someone likes you or not. But she'll love you, like I said. You're giving her not one but two grandchildren to spoil, which she will, and you're taking her son off the market and making him settle down before he's fifty." he added, flashing her a smile.
And now she was going to cry because he was so sweet. Isis squeezed his hand and grabbed her napkin to dab at her eyes with her other hand so the tears didn’t ruin her makeup. Stupid hormones. “It does matter,” she told him. “Not what the asshole thinks. I hope it pisses him off to no end. But she’s your mother and obviously she is good, because look how you turned out.” He was a good guy. Not the brightest, but a good guy. “I want her to like me. But you know me. What you see is what you get.”
"My mother will love you. She'll see that you're a good person and that you just want what's best for your babies. That alone will send her into 'yay I finally get a daughter' mode." he assured her. "Besides, if Dad hates you, mom will love you. It's just how it happens. She likes to piss him off, but she also is a lot smarter than him." he smiled, giving her hand a little squeeze in return. "Don't worry so much about this because I promise you're worrying yourself into a tizzy over nothing. I'll invite her over for dinner to meet you. Without my dad. You'll see, she'll have you out there shopping for all sorts of baby stuff before we even get to eat."
His reassurances were making her feel better. And tear up more. It was just a hormone thing. She managed not to ball as he assured her. “Good,” she said. “We can always get it to go.” She smiled at him. “Happy tears. You’ll get used to it.” Letting go of Niko’s hand, she took a few bites of salmon to compose herself. “But just to let you know, you can join me for my bath later.”
He smiled at her words, happy about the invitation of course but more so that she wasn't quite as worried about meeting his mother. He knew well and good that she'd see all the good in Isis that he did and even more. She'd probably curse him for ever letting the girl slip out of his grasp for ever the slightest moment. Picking up his fork again, he took another bite of his own food, eyes wandering over the face of his future bride. Hey, he'd managed not to say 'don't cry'. Baby steps, baby steps.