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Emerson, in bed, in the dark, rolled from one side to another, suddenly awake.

The harvest mouse sighed.

It's my turn, isn't it?

He was a light sleeper to begin with. Unlike Charlie, his mate. (The fox squirrel could sleep through almost anything, to the point of being a habitual 'sleepwalker'.)

But that sound!

There was no ignoring or mistaking it.

It could cut through steel.

Tired eyes snapping open, Emerson shifted to his back and stared, dead tired, at the ceiling as he listened to his kids bawling.

A tempest of screams.

What time was it?

Do I even want to know?

Swinging his legs out of bed, the naked rodent reeled in his boxer-briefs with his prehensile tail. Putting them on, he stood and wobbled toward the door, almost tripping in the process. A squeak! He shook himself, trying to overcome the fatigue.

Making it to the kids' room, he shuffled to their cribs.

"Shh! Shh ... hey, I'm here. I'm here. It's okay," he cooed, picking up his daughter first. Azalea. Or 'Zee' for short. He rocked the baby mouse, who looked just like him. "Yeah, see? There we go ... you gonna stop crying for daddy, hmm? You gonna--"

Azalea wailed even louder!

And mouse babies could cry with the highest of squeaky pitches, too.

"Ouch! Oh, my gosh."

Emerson winced, ears flattening to his head.

"Okay. Okay ... " He gently put Zee back down.

Maybe he'd have better luck with the other one.

Pivoting to the second crib, he cradled his son, EJ (for 'Emerson Junior,' which was Charlie's idea, not his). The boy bore his mother's squirrelly looks.

Holding EJ to his chest, Emerson swayed side to side. "You gonna be more cooperative than your sister, mm? Yeah?"

The baby squirrel shrieked!

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad, is it? I'm here! I'm here," he murmured.

Did they need changed? Was that it?

His nose twitched.

No.

Hmm.

Did they--

EJ nipped at Emerson's bare chest.

"You're lucky you don't have your buckteeth yet, or that would've hurt," Emerson warned his son.

Another nip and a needy bark.

"What are you--"

Oh.

_ _

_ _

Emerson tried everything to wake Charlie up.

He whispered in her ear, tickled her nose, shook her, tugged her tail.

Nothing!

She was out like a light.

Grumbling, the mouse left the room, coming back from the kitchen with a cup of ice cubes. But where should he put them? Squirrels didn't have as many furless parts as mice did. He had to make sure she _really_felt them. Maybe on her face? Maybe on her mouth. Yeah.

He put an ice cube on her lips, rubbing it around. It started to melt, and the bronze and silver squirrel stirred.

It was working!

And then, still asleep, she opened her muzzle wide and took a big bite of the ice, crunching it into countless pieces.

"Hey!" Emerson went, yanking his fingers back before she bit them, too.

Charlie suddenly sat up.

"Oh. Finally!" A pause. "Are you awake? Charlie?"

The fox squirrel did an acrobat spin and flopped back down, face-first.

"Alright, then." Emerson nodded. "Fine." His whiskers twitched. "Time to escalate." He stuck an ice cube in each of her ears.

The squirrel muttered something in her sleep.

"What was that?" Emerson asked.

Another mumble.

The mouse hunched over her, trying to make out the words.

"Snowball fight!" the squirrel yelled, eyes snapping open. She twirled, flailed, grabbed a pillow, and swung it at Emerson.

"Eek!" Hit smack in the face, the mouse stumbled back and crumpled to the floor.

Charlie panted and looked around. "Did I win? Hah, yes!" She raised her arms victoriously.

"What? No! Mmf ... " Getting to his knees, Emerson frowned, rubbing his nose. "I was putting ice cubes on you to wake you up. You were dreaming."

"Oh." Charlie looked around their rustic bedroom, somewhat disappointed. "That makes sense."

"I can get up by myself," Emerson mumbled passive-aggressively.

"Sorry!" Charlie hopped out of bed, helping the mouse to his foot-paws. "Didn't mean to hit ya, mouse-o. Lemme kiss it better." She planted a kiss on his nose.

Emerson's eyes crossed, and he almost sneezed.

"At least it was only a pillow this time!"

"Mm."

Throughout all this, the babies were still crying.

"They hungry or somethin'?" the squirrel asked.

Crawling back onto the bed and shedding his underwear, the mouse curled into a naked, golden ball. "Yes," he stressed. "I tried rocking them, talking to them ... they don't need changed. And I don't have their food."

"Heh, so only my tits have the power to save the day?"

"It's not day," Emerson groused. "It's the middle of the night."

Impervious to grumpiness, Charlie declared brightly, "Pay respect to my tits!"

Emerson tried not to giggle, but he couldn't help it. "Heh!" He uncurled and sprawled out on the sheets, shooting his mate a smirking glance. Then an exasperated sigh. "How?"

"I'm sure you can think of something," the squirrel murmured.

"Go feed the pups," he said evenly.

"You mean kits?"

"Pups."

"Kits!" she corrected.

Emerson mumbled, paws covering and rubbing his face and eyes.

"Go back to sleep!" Charlie knew he had a big day tomorrow, prepping the fields for planting. "Maybe you'll dream about how you're going to honor my boobs," she said, walking toward the door. As naked as him, she didn't bother to put on any clothes before leaving.

She paused in the doorway to add, "I'm basically a superhero, y'know. Super Squirrel! Or Mighty Mom? Hmm. Which sounds better?"

No answer.

"Emmy?" she asked from the doorway.

The mouse, curled up in a ball again, had already fallen back asleep.

Charlie clasped her paws together. "S'cute!"

The babies, sensing their mother was awake, screamed even louder for her.

"I'm coming, kiddos! Hold your horses!"

It was the next day, and Emerson was in for lunch. He had the scent of dirt and earth about him, as he'd been tilling fields on the tractor. The soil had to be loosened and aerated for proper planting. The weather was just right for it. Had a lot more to do, though.

"Mouse-o!" Charlie said as she entered the kitchen.

"Mmf?" Emerson replied, his mouth full of salad. 'Mixed greens' with almond slices, dried cranberries, and avocado chunks.

"Guess what?"

"What?" he asked, after swallowing his food.

"That's not a guess!"

"How can I guess when I have no clues?" he countered, taking a drink of water.

Waving her paw, she said, "Auntie and uncle are gonna watch the twins tonight!"

"Oh?" The mouse perked, sitting up a little straighter. "Really? That's nice of them."

Charlie's relatives happened to be Emerson's neighbors. They farmed the bordering land. That was how he and Charlie had met. She'd been visiting them from Canada, learning the ropes to one day inherit their farm (as they had no children of their own). Charlie was still in line to inherit their land, but had mated Emerson and, well ... here they were.

"Right?!" Charlie exclaimed. It would be the first night she and Emerson would both have free since the twins were born almost a month ago. "Got a supply bag all packed. I've pumped some milk and put it into bottles for the kits."

"Pups."

"Gonna head next door," Charlie continued. "Auntie's gotta plant her sunflower field, eh? Helpin' with that. It'll take all afternoon. She's doing zinnias, too, this year."

Charlie's aunt sold flowers at the Circleville Farmer's Market in the summer and fall (and did surprisingly big business). Fresh singles and bouquets. Charlie and Emerson often got roped into helping.

"When I'm done over there, I'll leave the kits," the squirrel emphasized, "with her, and then Akira's picking me up here, and we're going with Persis to the movies! Ahh!" she barked excitedly, tail flailing. "And also out to eat, but we don't know where yet."

"Ah, girls' night."

"Yup!"

Emerson fiddled with some strawberries. His whiskers twitched. "I hope you have fun ... "

"Aw, Emmy, are you feeling left out?"

He looked up immediately. "Did I say that?"

"You don't have to. We're simpatico! Like I was saying last night. We're, like ... if I'm Super Squirrel, you're Mighty Mouse, and we both have powers and can read each other's minds, and also we are mated with our normal identities, and we--"

"You also said you were Mighty Mom. Can't have a Mighty Mom _and_a Mighty Mouse. That's redundant."

"You're just cranky cause you're tired."

Emerson softened. "When are they going to grow out of this?" he asked, of the twins.

"After they're weaned, probably." The squirrel shrugged. "That's months away! I should ask my sister how it went with her kits. Heh. She hooked up with this grey squirrel back in Ontario, and--"

"I know." He still hadn't met Charlie's immediate family, but he'd talked to them when Charlie did her weekly 'family video chat.'

"Ohmygosh. Hey!" Her tail arched. "Y'know, you should have a boys' night or something!"

"With who?" he asked.

"Your friends!"

"Yeah, okay, let's see." Emerson counted on his paw, his ropy tail curling around the leg of his chair. "That would be you."

"Yay!"

"And Seldovia," he said, of the sultry skunk who owned a diner on Main Street in Arcadia. "And--"

"Uh-huh?"

"That's it." He shrugged, spreading his paws. "All my friends are girls!"

"Ha, ha. That's adorable!"

"Well, it makes it hard to have a 'boys' night,' is what I'm saying."

"Hmm." She stroked her whiskers. "You need more _guy_friends!"

Emerson rolled his eyes. Hadn't he basically just said that?

"Don't you have all those cousins? You're borrowing and swapping farm equipment with them all the time."

"That's family. Relatives aren't ... that's not really 'friends'." He pushed his empty salad bowl aside, biting into a strawberry. "I've always been solitary." He licked the juice from his lips, wiping his whiskers with a paw. "Like, how does one make friends?"

"You just do! Talk to people, get them in your orbit."

"I mean, that's what happens for you." Charlie was one of the most extroverted people he knew. She was also doggedly persistent. "I've never found it that easy."

"Just try!"

"I have," he insisted.

"You should go out tonight, too! Only, not with me. By yourself! Go into Arcadia. Like, eat somewhere or something. Get out of the house."

"I'm out of the house all day," the farmer said.

"You know what I mean! Socially out. You could make a new friend!"

"Maybe."

"Stop making excuses, mouse-o. Do it while you can? We can't loan the twins out every night."

"I know."

Sidling up to him, she ran her paws and claws through his butterscotch head-fur. "Aaaand ... when we both get back, you can finally give my tits their due!"

"Are you still holding me to that?" he asked, looking up with a smile.

"Yup!"

"As long as I get to properly appreciate other parts of you, too."

"Oh, you're gettin' the whole squirrel!" she churred.

Emerson laughed. "C'mere." He reached for his mate.

She bent over and leaned in.

Their muzzles tilted, gold and silver and bronze, smushing and smacking together in several award-winning, whisker-brushing kisses.

Upon parting, he said, "I love you."

"Love you, too, mouse-o."

Early evening.

Persis looked out of her front porch windows.

A wall of grey clouds was retreating to the east, past town limits and over flat, fertile farmland. In its wake, the air told of recent rain. A good old fashioned May storm! The kind that came and went with quick, unquestioned purpose.

It's been a while since we've had a good--

Be-beep!

The painted bat was jolted from her revelry.

Beep!

A car had pulled into her driveway.

They're here!

Purse on her shoulder, Persis exited the porch, locked the door, and went to the back of the car (driver's side). Opening it, she blinked. A thick 'red velvet' otter tail was blocking the way, jutting through the tail-gap in the driver's seat.

"Nah, you gotta sit on my side!" Charlie insisted, from the front passenger seat. The squirrel gestured excitedly, wriggling around and following the neon orange-and-black bat's journey around the vehicle.

Persis finally got in the car. "S-sorry about that," she apologized sheepishly, fumbling for the seatbelt. Once she'd secured it, she put her purse in the middle seat and Akira, the driver, shifted the car back into reverse. Then forward. Then on the gas, taking the road out of town.

Their destination was Circleville.

The 'rival' neighboring town to Arcadia (their town), it was the county seat, with five thousand people to Arcadia's one. Because of this, it had a bigger variety of stores and restaurants. A dentist and doctor's office. A bowling alley. And a movie theater.

That was their destination.

The movies.

"Otter asses take up a lot o' space," Charlie said, ribbing her best friend.

"Says the squirrel whose tail is touching the roof," Akira replied, eyes on the road. "You better keep it in your lap at the theater. We got in trouble last time for blocking the view."

To Persis, Charlie explained, "Squirrel tails flag when we get excited. I couldn't control it!"

Persis smiled and tilted her head. "Must be an adventure having one."

"Oh, it is!" Charlie insisted.

"My tail's just a little stub," the bat said modestly.

"Not the worst thing. No brushing or grooming, eh? No getting in the way like, well," the squirrel said, gesturing at Akira's appendage.

"My tail does not 'get in the way'," Akira insisted.

"You could trip a person with that!"

"Yeah, but I don't."

"Now, Emmy," Charlie continued of her mate, "has a low-maintenance tail, too. 'Get up and go', y'know? Though his species of mouse ... heh, their tails are prehensile. You know what he can do with it?" she asked, waggling her brows.

"Um ... "

"He can fuck me with it. Hah! I didn't know tail-sex was a thing until I met him. But it's, like, legit," the squirrel promised. "Seriously."

"Charlie," Akira said with a sigh.

"She's worried I'm going to overwhelm you. I'm not, am I?"

"Um ... no, it's ... you're okay." Persis cleared her throat. Charlie didn't seem to have any filter! It was a little intimidating. But kind of fascinating, too? Especially as the painted bat was constantly filtering herself. "I'll give you a signal if you are."

"Like what?"

"Um ... I'll chitter?" the bat decided with a shrug.

"Bat sounds! Ahh! S'adorable!" The silver-and-bronze fox squirrel put her paws on her cheeks. "Seriously, you're a cutie," she told Persis. "And you got wings? How cool is that? Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like if I was a flying squirrel."

"They don't have wings," Akira said. "Those are membranes."

"I know that! Who's the rodent here?" Charlie defended. "I was just sayin'."

Looking at the bat in the rearview mirror, the otter flashed her sharp teeth and said, "I didn't properly introduce myself. Akira! I own the grocery store in town."

"Yeah, we ... we've met before." The bat blew out a breath, smiling back at her. Showing off her own fangs.

"I'm not as infamous as Charlie, though," the otter said.

"That's okay."

"Is that better or worse than famous?" Charlie asked.

"Thanks for, uh, letting me be a part of your girls' night. I just hope I'm not ... y'know. Intruding," Persis said.

Charlie looked up the word on her phone. "Hey!"

Akira laughed. Then to Persis, insisted, "You're _not_intruding."

"Are we going out to eat before or after?"

"Normally after. There's this great--"

Charlie interrupted with, "Oh, but look at these syma ... cinna?"

"Synonyms?"

"Yeah, those. Notorious? Legendary! I mean, heh ... I _am_legendary."

"For what?"

"For having twins!"

"People have babies all the time, Charlie. How do you think we all got here?"

"Yeah, but mine were interspecies!"

Persis asked Charlie, taking the baton from Akira (who'd had a long day at work; late delivery trucks, broken jars, the freezer on the fritz again), "How are your, uh ... the pups?"

"Kits! And they're great!" Charlie said, always eager to talk about them. "I have pictures. See!" She gave the bat her phone. "The girl is Azalea, but we call her Zee, and the boy is EJ. Hah, for Emmy Junior." She clasped her paws together. "Ohmygosh! Did you see the farmer outfits my auntie got them? Look at those little overalls."

Persis nodded and returned the phone. "Are you ever overwhelmed?"

"By what?" Charlie blinked.

"I don't know. Just ... all of it? I know I would be."

"Heck, no! Well. I mean, okay, yeah," she immediately corrected. "You have to get up at night, every night. It's constant caring all day. It's a lot! But ... I just love 'em so much, and I know time will pass so quick." She put a paw to her heart. "They'll be all grown up before I know it!"

Persis was about to reply, but--

"Emmy, though! Hah, he's such a worrywart. He almost passed out when I gave birth. Like, he took one look at what was goin' on down there and got all woozy. They had to sit him down next to me." The squirrel giggled. "I told him to close his eyes, and I held his paw to help him through it. But when he was holding 'em both afterwards? He was beaming so big."

"Aw." Persis smiled, then asked, "Did it hurt? The labor?"

"Oh, yeah! It was the worst pain I'd ever felt, but also ... it wasn't? I think there was a bit of a chemical rush involved?" she said. "Not just medication they gave me, but brain stuff. Like, your body knows it's not a 'bad' pain, cause there's a reward at the end of it that you've been working toward for so long. It's hard to explain." The squirrel paused and tried to simplify it. "Afterward, your good feelings override what was happening at the time, so you remember it differently than when it was actually goin' on."

"I see?"

"You gotta feel it for yourself!"

"No, thanks," Akira said bluntly.

"How 'bout you, Persis? You want kids one day?"

Persis blinked. She wasn't used to being asked that question. "Um ... well. There aren't really any other bats in town, so I don't need to worry about it." You didn't need to be the exact same species to reproduce, as evidenced by Charlie and Emerson. But the odds were substantially better if you were.

"That's not what I asked! Do you want 'em?"

The painted bat said, "I guess ... maybe?" If forced upon an either/or situation, she'd rather take a step back and keep her options open. "I'm not sure."

"Is this your new thing, now?" Akira asked Charlie. "Being a professional mom?"

"Matriarch," the squirrel corrected. "I'm the matriarch of a family farm!"

"Matriarch," Akira echoed. She snerked. "That's so old-timey."

"I heard it on a TV show," Charlie bragged.

"Can tomboys be matriarchs?" the otter wondered. Charlie wasn't traditionally 'feminine.'

"Anyone can be anything, is what I say!"

Persis really admired Charlie's confidence. Or bravado? Whatever it was that made the squirrel so fearless and full of life, she wished she had it, too.

It reminded her of Rikki.

The giant Malabar squirrel, Arcadia's mayor, was just as colorful as Persis, except instead of vivid, florescent orange, he was deep 'raspberry red' and purple. And burnt orange. And he was tall, too. Always under the spotlight when he was in public, he handled it so breezily, relishing the attention.

He and Persis were casually intimate. (And she'd sorta become his default campaign manager? Somehow?) Rikki was a playboy, and that was putting it mildly. So, they would never end up being a traditional couple.

I knew that going in.

But I still like him!

"So, Persis, any funny mail stories lately?" Akira asked.

"Mail stories?" The bat, who worked at the town post office, scrunched her face. "Mm ... not really, no? If someone was getting something crazy, I'd never know about it. Unless the package got damaged, and ... I mean, that's more stressful than funny, cause they take it out on me instead of the delivery driver. Because I'm the 'face' of it all." She ran the lobby rather than the mailroom. "May isn't a high-volume time for mail, anyway. April? Now, April, people getting their tax refunds, they tend to splurge online. Deliveries spike."

"What's the busiest time?"

"November through February. The 'holiday stretch,' for sure! Yeah, uh, Thanksgiving to Valentine's." The bat nodded, her wing-arms folded around her body, making her look like a 'bat burrito.' "July to September is our 'slow stretch'."

"Really? Huh."

Persis nodded. "Then it picks up again in the fall."

"How's Mayor Rikki?" Charlie randomly asked, looking over her shoulder and waggling her brows.

Akira shot the squirrel a look.

"What?"

The red-and-cream otter shook her head.

Persis, picking up on this, said, "It's okay! I know people think it's ... I mean ... " She took a deep breath. "I know he's a--"

"Stud?"

"That he 'gets around'," Persis replied.

"Are you guys in an open relationship?"

"Basically."

"Ooh! Me and Emmy have threesomes with Queenie sometimes," Charlie said proudly.

"You do?" Persis blushed, having been unaware of that.

"Mmhmm! So! Who else are you seeing?"

"Um, no one," Persis admitted, explaining, "Rikki is ... well, he's sorta like you, Charlie. Confident, brave, willing to try anything."

"Squirrels be like that," Charlie said with a sage nod. "_Especially_fox squirrels. That's the kind I am!"

"We know," Akira assured.

"Maybe she doesn't!"

Persis continued, "Me, though? I'm shy? Self-conscious. I'm so flattered Rikki's into me. He's handsome, charming, and--"

"Is the sex good? It must be!" Charlie imagined.

"Um, well ... uh ... " The bat's stammering, in effect, answered the question. So, she nodded. "But he pursued me. No one else in town really has, and ... I just don't have the nerve to, like, make moves on people. Or put myself out there?"

"You're just like Emmy! We were having this conversation at lunchtime."

"Yeah?"

"Yup! He was down because I was going out with y'all, and he thinks it's hard to make friends."

"It is hard being an introvert," Persis said, sympathizing with Emerson's plight. "When Rikki wants me, I'm available. When he doesn't, I keep myself busy. Cause making new friends? Or new lovers? It's ... it's like coming to a big, huge barrier with no doorway, no way around. The only way over it is to climb it. And let's say you do? You make it to the other side. You're mentally and physically exhausted afterward. And you know before the attempt that it'll wipe you out, so you withdraw to conserve yourself."

"Hmm."

"Long story short, I haven't had the gumption to take advantage of the situation."

"Aw!" Charlie went. "But you deserve to have it all."

"Thanks." Persis blushed.

"What's good for the goose, eh?"

"Charlie, I can hear the wheels spinning in your head," Akira said, with a hint of worry, flipping her turn signal. Getting off the highway and to a side-road. This would take them to the center of Circleville rather than the side. "You aren't going to meddle, are you?"

"What if, like, I set you up with someone?" Charlie asked Persis, ignoring the otter.

"Who?" Persis asked, out of curiosity.

"Hmm. Queenie, maybe!"

"Seldovia?" The bat blushed. "She's so pretty ... "

"Right?! She's smokin' hot," Charlie confirmed, of the lavender/albino skunk. "You'd be into her? Heck! We could have a foursome. Ohmygosh!"

"Well. Uh." Persis caught her breath. This was getting a bit out of wing! "She's Rikki's opponent for mayor this fall, so--"

"Oh, right! Right. Guess that'd be awkward, huh?"

"A little."

"But at least now I know you're bi! Yeah?"

Persis nodded quietly.

"Bi girls high five!" Charlie said, twisting about and showing a paw to the bat.

"I don't have fives," Persis gently reminded.

"It's just an expression! Tap your thumb on my paw."

The bat did so.

"Woo!"

"If you're this hyper already, you're not getting candy at the theater," Akira swore.

"What? No fair!" In a stage whisper to Persis, Charlie said, "She's jealous I didn't high five her."

"I'm straight," the otter explained.

"How's that my fault?" Charlie asked. The squirrel exhaled. Her eyes lit up. "I got it. Beavers!"

"What?" Akira and Persis asked in unison.

"The beaver family. Local business gurus? They own the gas station, tractor supply store, auto repair shop." She counted on a paw.

"Local royalty," Akira said dryly.

"Practically! One of 'em hit on me when I first go to town. Last summer. When Emmy took me to Queenie's for the first time. What was his name ... Benji! Yeah. He's the one that runs the gas station. I didn't know who he was at the time, but now I do. He's still single. You could get with him, Persis! Or one of his brothers. They have a sister, too."

Persis could only stammer, "I really ... I don't know much about beavers."

"I do."

"Since when?" Akira asked.

"I'm from Canada, eh? They're the second biggest rodents." Charlie waggled a brow and lowered her voice. "They're packin'."

"Packing what?" Persis asked.

"Wood," the squirrel said. "Hah! Get it! Cause beavers?"

Akira, chuckling, reached for the radio and turned it on, setting it to a pop station. She warned Charlie, "Don't change it to country."

"Did I say I was gonna?"

"I've driven with you before, squirrelly."

Making eye contact with Persis in the rearview mirror, Charlie promised, "I'll set you up with someone. Don't worry."

Persis just nodded shyly.

"Hey, look at that sunset," Akira told them.

"Ooh!" Charlie went. "Pretty!"

Persis gazed out the window. It was pretty. Beautiful, even. But it was even better in the company of friends!

Back in Arcadia, two blocks off Main Street, Rikki checked the temperature of the pizza oven and peered at the timer.

Almost ready.

Tick-tick, tick-tick!

The giant Malabar squirrel put 'oven mitts' over his paws.

Three.

Two.

Bring-bring-bring!

The timer went off.

Opening the oven, the colorful, bushy-tailed rodent took the 'pie' out and slid it on a pizza stone to cool a little before properly boxing it up. Once boxed, he brought it to the checkout desk and set it on a shelf, taping a receipt to it. Pickup order.

In addition to being Arcadia's mayor (which, in a town this small, was essentially a part-time job), Rikki owned the only pizza joint.

'Village Pizza. Dine-in & Carry-Out!'

Open: Monday through Thursday: 4 to 9. Friday and Saturday: 4 to 10. Closed Sunday.

It was eight-o'clock on Friday night, and a storm had just rolled through. The squirrel was the only one in the building. He'd sent his two employees home. Rain always kept foot traffic down.

His oblong, fuzzy ears twitched as the bells on the front door handle jingled, the door being pulled open.

Looking up, Rikki smiled. "Well, well! If it isn't the 'Miracle Mouse'! Haven't seen you in a few months."

"Hi, Mayor. Miracle Mouse?" Emerson repeated, before realizing Rikki was referencing. "Oh. Right." He nodded. "Because of--"

"Heh, I've had my share of 'heated' interspecies encounters," Rikki confided, emerging from behind the checkout counter to greet the shorter rodent. "But I've never gotten one into the net. And you got two? Damn." He gave Emerson a boyish nudge.

Emerson squeaked and swayed. "It wasn't really _my_doing. The, uh, doctor said it was pure luck. Probably wouldn't happen again even if we tried."

"Don't be so modest!" Rikki said with a smirk. "And, besides, the fun is in the attempts."

Emerson blushed. "Does everyone know? About the twins?"

"Your mate isn't exactly subtle. She's a talker! No offense," Rikki added quickly.

"None taken." It was the truth, after all.

"Heh! So!" Rikki went behind the checkout counter and picked up a pencil and notebook. "What can I get you, tonight?"

"Oh, right. Um, I just want a small cheese pizza? One of those personal pan sizes? Just cheese. No other toppings. Well, sauce, obviously, but--"

"I got ya. Anything else?"

"Um ... breadsticks?"

"Can do!" Rikki wrote that down. "Cheese cup with those?"

"Yes, please. And a small fountain drink."

"Dine-in or carryout?"

"Dine-in."

Getting the order down, the squirrel said, "Eating alone?"

"Yeah, Charlie and Akira are ... they're, uh, having their weekly girls' night out." He paused and added, "They took Persis."

"Did they?" Rikki asked, raising a brow. He smiled. "She's a sweetheart, isn't she? Only person in town as colorful as me!"

"Uh-huh."

Emerson had heard so many rumors about Rikki's sex life he wasn't sure what to believe. But he and Persis were _clearly_hooking up and had been for a while now. Was their emotion there? Were they a 'hot and heavy' item? Or was it just a friendly fling?

"Sit where you want! We're kinda sparse right now. Rainy nights, am I right?" Rikki said, heading back into the kitchen.

"Right," Emerson echoed.

"I'll have everything ready in fifteen minutes!" the squirrel shouted back.

"Thanks." Emerson blew out a breath, looking for a seat.

Finding a square table with four chairs, he sat down in one, whiskers twitching. There was a flatscreen TV on the wall, set to a sports network. They were currently showing highlights from today's Indy 500 practice. Emerson watched intently, looking for his favorite team's placements on the speed chart.

The footage showed a wreck in one of the turns, a car spinning, smoke coming from the tires, and the pieces of the chassis shredding upon impact with the wall.

One of the rookies.

The front door jingled, and Emerson instinctively looked toward it.

Another mouse.

A Merle piebald.

Sooty grey with irregular espresso and caramel patches.

Oh.

I know him.

That's Akira's mate, isn't it?

"Roanoke!" Emerson said, waving at the fellow mouse. "Sit with me?"

"Oh, hey, Emerson! Sure! Fancy seeing you here." Taking a seat, the other mouse put his pink, furless paws on the tabletop. "Going solo? Me, too. Guess we don't know what to do without our girls, heh!"

"Guess not," Emerson admitted.

Roanoke squeaked lightly.

Emerson nodded.

Both males went 'quiet as mice' for a moment.

The phone rang at the checkout counter, and Rikki popped back in to answer it. "Carry-out? Yup, what'll you have?"

"So, uh ... how was the bank today?" Emerson asked Roanoke. That's where the other mouse worked. He was one of the tellers.

"Went okay. No robberies! Heh." Roanoke looked for Rikki to take his order, but the squirrel had already gone back into the kitchen. "But, yeah, I shouldn't joke about that, should I? But, um, it went fine. Tax season is over, and we survived that." He nibbled on his lower lip, asking the harvest mouse, "Uh, how about you? Your day? The farm doing well?"

"Yeah." Emerson, after a moment, realized he should probably say more than that. "It's, uh ... y'know, always nice to rest during the winter, but here we are. Another busy spring."

"What does that involve? I've always been a town mouse," Roanoke explained.

"First, a lot of preparation. Getting equipment ready, making sure it's in working order. Buying lots of seed."

Emerson's whiskers twitched at the expense. How many fifty-pound bags of different seeds had be bought? Too many, it felt like! Because the profit wouldn't come until it was all harvested and sold, and that took many months. All the while, you had to hope the weather wouldn't screw you before you got your yield.

"Lately, been discing the fields. Gotta give 'em several passes to loosen the soil before you can use the planter."

"What do you grow?"

Emerson counted on his fingers. "Corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa, rye grass ... " A deep breath. "Charlie's aunt grows a ton of sunflowers, too? I'm sure I'm missing something."

"Wow, that much?"

Emerson nodded, looking for something to fiddle with. He found a wrapped straw, tapping it on the tabletop like a drumstick.

"Are the pups gonna throw a monkey wrench into things? Not that, uh ... not that they aren't a blessing, I'm sure!" A brief pause. "But, as a banker, I'm thinking--"

"Yeah. I know what you ... yeah," Emerson repeated with a sigh. "Charlie seems completely unbothered by it, but it's all I can think about. We didn't have any savings built up for ... " He trailed off, twitching. "We weren't planning on it, you know?"

Roanok ears swiveled.

"It's a little rough. With the newborns, Charlie can't help me like she did before. Been rushed off my foot-paws, lately, getting everything plowed. Have to plant everything before it gets too hot so I can maximize the growing season." Emerson shrugged. "I farmed by myself for years before meeting Charlie, though. Right? It's ... I can do it."

Roanoke titled his head, sensing some doubt.

"It's weird. Going from alone to not alone is ... it's a lot harder than the reverse, y'know? Now, I'm toggling between the two. Just gotta get through this first year, hope the weather holds up, and I think we'll be okay."

"Mm." Roanoke nodded, elbows on the table, chin in his paws. "I think you two will be just fine! On the money side, you may have to get creative or frugal, or both, but you love each other so much. I see it in how you look at each other. And that's what matters most."

Emerson blushed. "Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm! Also, you'll be great parents. Already are!"

Emerson smiled bashfully, staring down at the tabletop. "I still can't believe it." Had he said that already? Well, it was true. "Mating outside my species? Closing in on forty?" Almost. Thirty-five was closer to forty than not, and Charlie was twenty-six, nine years younger. And acted like it, too.

Emerson paused, unwrapping his straw and putting the end in his mouth, chewing on it for a moment. "I've only known her for a year. I just ... it happened so fast. I'm usually so deliberate."

"Love is a whirlwind. Same happened with me and Akira! We connected at the Harvest Festival, got a bit tipsy and made out, and ... couldn't stop thinking about her." The piebald mouse looked down. "But, of course, I was too meek to make a real move, relationship-wise. She had to." Looking back up, he beamed and exclaimed, "But I'm glad she did!"

"Did you move into her place, or--"

"Yeah. Hers. A few streets over from the grocery. We can both walk to work. And her place was bigger than mine to begin with." Roanoke, more wide-eyed and innocent than the grounded and low-key Emerson, blushed and confided, "Otters have a reputation for being playful?" He lowered his voice. "Well, I can tell you ... it's all true!"

Emerson giggled.

"It is!" Roanoke said.

"Heh. I believe you."

"I just ... I had liked her for a while? Even before the Festival. But I didn't think it would turn into anything."

"Guess you just never know," Emerson quipped.

Roanoke nodded. "Hey!" he squeaked. "Since our mates are best friends, maybe ... I don't know. We could hang out more? Be friends, too? I'd like to have a mouse friend. We gotta stick together! Or 'squeak' together!" He giggled. "We can even have a secret tail-shake! Y'know, like a handshake but--"

"Heh, yeah, I get it. And, sure, why not?" the harvest mouse said warmly.

The front door jingled again. A buxom female rabbit came through, going straight to the checkout counter for a carryout order.

Rikki appeared and smiled, eyes checking her out as he took a pizza box off the shelf. She paid with a card and left. Upon which, Rikki came over to the two mice. He pointed. "Roanoke? Right?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"Sorry about the wait. What can I get you?"

"Um ... what ... what are you having, Emerson?" Roanoke looked at the harvest mouse.

Emerson told him.

"Oh! That sounds good! Can I have that, too?"

"Sure thing! Yours will be out in just a minute, Emerson."

"Thanks, Mayor."

When Rikki was out of earshot, Roanoke asked Emerson, "By the way: who are you voting for in the mayoral election this fall? Rikki or Seldovia?" Election Day was half a year away, but already sides were being drawn. The race was predicted to be neck and neck.

"Hmm?"

"Is that too personal a question? I'm sorry!"

"No, no. It's ... I just thought everyone knew about me and, uh, Seldovia. Our history." And now her history with him and Charlie. Given, as Rikki had alluded, that Charlie was somewhat of a blabbermouth.

Roanoke tilted his head, blinking.

"Akira really didn't tell you?" Emerson knew for a fact that Charlie had told her.

"Tell me what?"

"Oh." Emerson blushed. "You ... you should probably ask her. Cause. Yeah. I'm ... we're ... well! I'm voting for Seldovia." He swallowed, flustered, subtly adjusting his jeans beneath the table. "Let's just leave it at that."

"Okay." Roanoke nodded, very curious about Emerson's sudden bashfulness, making a mental note to ask Akira what the deal was! "I'm gonna vote for Rikki. I don't know who Akira is voting for. She's been griping that there should've been a third option. She's on Town Council, and I told her she should've run herself! But she's already busy enough with the grocery."

Another customer came in for another carry-out order. A burly male rat.

And the TV was on a commercial break.

The two mice squeaked with each other for a while longer.

Then Rikki emerged with Emerson's pizza and breadsticks, giving him an empty cup to fill at the soda fountain.

"Thank you," Emerson told the giant squirrel.

"No prob! Yours'll be out soon, Roanoke."

"M'kay!"

Going back into the kitchen and waiting for the piebald mouse's order to be done, Rikki pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Emerson had mentioned Persis earlier. Mm. It had gotten the giant squirrel thinking about the painted bat. How her vivid, neon colors ran _all_the way down. How she looked so good pressed against him and felt even better.

He was at a loose end tonight.

Why not see if Persis wanted a 'late-night snack?'

Rikki pulled up his text messages and scrolled for her name.

_ _

Later that night, a few blocks away from the pizza parlor.

"I thought I told you 'bout that?" Akira said, on her knees on the living room floor. In front of the TV. They'd just finished watching the news.

"Did you? Mm, no. Pretty sure I would've remembered," Roanoke replied, seated on the couch. He'd just gotten the 'deets' about Charlie and Emerson's 'relationship' with Seldovia. He'd mentioned Emerson getting flustered when the piebald mouse had brought up the skunk's name, and Akira explained the situation.

"It was the talk of the town back in ... January? Or whenever they first did it."

"I guess my ears aren't aimed in the right direction."

"People just don't gossip around you, Roanoke." Akira noodled about, until she was laying flat on the carpet. "You're too sweet. They assume you wouldn't be interested. And when people go to the bank, they're not gonna drop off-the-cuff conversations like they do in the grocery aisle. So, I'm always gonna hear more than you."

"Hmm. That's true." The mouse paused, biting his lower lip. "I just want to feel like I'm in the loop!"

"Mm." Folding her paws behind her head, Akira adopted a sultry tone. "Come a little closer, and I'll loop my rudder around you."

"Yeah?"

"Mmhmm."

Roanoke squeaked and wriggled to the floor, crawling over to her.

"We should probably turn out the lights before we take off our clothes. Or the whole block might see what we're doing," she teased. "Then _we'd_be the talk of the town."

"I'm sure they already know."

"You are pretty loud."

"Heh! That's not what I meant. I meant because ... because they know we're mates. And mates--"

"Screw each other silly," Akira finished, booping his nose with a webbed finger. "I agree."

Roanoke giggled, getting up to turn off the lights. Then hurrying back to her, undressing on the way. Shirt? Tossed. Pants, underwear? Kicked aside, gone. Just like that.

Without standing or sitting up, the undulating otter slid out of her clothes, too.

The mouse crawled on top of her, hugging, grinding.

They passionately kissed.

True to her word, she curled her thick, muscular rudder-tail around him, locking him into place.

Panting, Roanoke paused to ask, "So, um, h-how does it even work?"

"What do you mean?"

"Y'know," Roanoke said, eyes going wide, whispering, "With _three_people."

"Oh. Heh! I mean, same as it works for two, just ... mmf." Akira grabbed his grey, toffee-spotted ass. "With one more," she emphasized, bucking up against him.

"Eek!"

"You're so damn innocent. Even for a mouse." Something about that turned the otter on. Big time. Being the one to get him all lewd and hot and horny? Being the one to make him squeak louder than he ever had? "Now, remind me of how it works for two, mousey? I'm so forgetful."

He shivered, eyes fluttering shut. "First, you do this ... " Rubbing his sex to hers, he huffed. "And, ah, then this." He reached down with a paw to point himself in the right direction, easing inside her. She was so hot and wet! "And--" A squeak. He sank deeper. All the way. Balls-deep into his mate's hot, snug flower. "Ah, but we're ... that's just the beginning!"

"Show me! Give me more!" she begged.

Roanoke pulled back and then drove himself back in.

Slap!

He did it again, again.

Slap, slap!

"Yes! Oh, yes! Don't stop!"

A minute passed, then two.

Grunts and squeaks and chirps and chitters.

Akira's tongue peeked out of her maw, orgasm imminent. "My cute, innocent ... mmmh, candy-sweet mouse. Don't worry. I won't let anyone corrupt you with group sex. I'm keeping you all. For. Myself."

Roanoke, also getting close, so close, squeaked back, "That ... ah, that! Feels good! To me!"

He'd meant to say 'sounds good,' but the otter didn't notice. She was too busy grunting and pawing at his rump as she clenched and came around him.

Seeing stars, Roanoke went supernova himself, going off inside her. Each twitch and spurt left him reeling. "Oh, oh ... "

Akira sucked air and then sighed it back out, heavily. "Ooh."

"Y-yeah," the mouse agreed, emerging from the other side of his pleasure, trading playful nuzzles and cuddles.

He was no longer worried about being 'in the loop.'

Being in an otter was much better.

At the edge of town limits a half-mile away from Akira's house, Persis stared at her bedroom ceiling. The painted bat's perky, neon-orange breasts were heaving.

Wow.

Rikki's colorful, smiling head casually lifted from her sex, whiskers dripping with her juices. "Are you sure you're not a fruit bat? Cause you taste so sweet."

"I ... I mean, I had an orange for breakfast?" Persis always felt shy when guys went down on her like that. With hungry animal abandon.

"Mm, sweet and tangy! No better combination," he insisted, crawling back up her body.

"Must be why I like pineapple on my pizza." Persis wrapped her wing-arms around the tall, colorful squirrel. Her membranes jet-black, the bony struts vivid orange.

"Heh, you and me are the only ones in town who do." He started to suck on her cheek, but soon lost control of himself and found her lips.

Kiss!

"I swear, you glow in the dark."

Kiss!

"M-maybe a ... a little ... mmh!"

She tasted herself on him as they made out.

In this moment, she felt safe, afloat in a sensual bubble that felt like it would never burst.

She wondered if Rikki would spend the night? He didn't always. He worked two jobs, and this was supposed to be 'casual,' so she understood.

But ...

Tonight, I want to be held while I sleep.

But slumber was a ways off. _ _

Because Rikki was eagerly pushing his shaft, over seven impressive inches in length, inside her, connecting them, fusing them in hot, slick pleasure, already thrusting, hammering away.

Persis moaned! And chittered! Releasing echo-bursts. The invisible sound waves bounced off everything in the room and back to her scoop-shaped ears.

She saw herself lying in bed, beneath Rikki, from outside of herself, like her brain was a camera.

She liked the picture she saw.

At the same time, she was open to seeing other pictures. Other vantage points. Other people. Even ... beavers?

After all, when you had wings, the sky was the limit!

Under the pale light of a full moon, the countryside was still.

Not even a breeze blew through the fields and pastures.

The sheets, however, were billowing in the bedroom as they were kicked aside.

Charlie, on her knees, shimmied onto the bed, shirtless, pant-less. A pair of panties. That was all she had on. She straddled her mouse. "See, I said you could make friends!"

"We only connected because of you and Akira."

"That still counts, mouse-o. A friend is a friend!"

"Mm." Emerson, on his back, completely naked, panted as he reached for her bouncing breasts. "You look great," he said.

"Yeah? You think?" The squirrel struck a 'flexing' pose as her boobs were groped. "Having a hard time shaking the extra weight." She still weighed five pounds more than before the pregnancy. But she'd not been doing as much farmwork since the twins had been born.

"Nah, you're perfect."

"Aw! Mm, thanks, mouse-o." Charlie grinned and planted both paws on his chest, swooshing her coppery, silver-spotted fluffy tail from side to side. "Heh. I need to get a cowboy hat for situations like this. When I ride my stallion? Eh?"

The gold-and-cream mouse lowered his arms, paws going to his mate's hips. "I'm hardly a stallion."

"You're right. You're even better!" she cooed, tracing his burning-hot ears with her claws.

"Ahh ... "

"Just as modest as the day we met! But I know the _real_you," she breathed, cupping her breasts, showing them off. She jiggled them for him. "You wanna suckle my tits. Wanna taste my milk. Doncha?" Paws going to the sheets, she stilted her arms and arched, lowered her upper body onto his. "Since the twins aren't here, they'll all yours."

Emerson, huffing, reached for her breasts, cupping them, fondling them. He teased his digits over her nipples, even giving an occasional pinch.

"C'mon already!" Charlie churred, muzzle falling open. Buckteeth jutting. "Suck on 'em."

The mouse did so, closing his eyes as his lips closed over a nipple, tongue teasing it as he suckled. A warm trickle of milk ran down his throat, and he swallowed.

"Ahh ... ah ... you're so kinky, Emmy!" she moaned.

"Me?" He withdrew and hugged her down on top of him, kissing his way up to her neck. "You goaded me into it."

"Only cause I knew you'd do it. Kinkster."

"You're asking for it, squirrelly."

"Asking for what?" Charlie challenged with a bucktoothed grin, their noses bumping, whiskers tangling.

Turning the tables on her, the mouse suddenly flipped their positions. Wrestling the barking squirrel (who was slightly taller _and_heavier than him) onto her back, laying himself on top of her.

"Ooh! If you keep doin' ... stuff like that, I'm ... I think I'm seriously gonna cum from it," Charlie said, groaning, arching her belly and back. "Mmf! Mm. So hot when you get all 'dommie' on me." Looking down, she groused, "Gah! Why'd I leave my panties on when I got into bed?"

"You started to striptease for me and got impatient," Emerson reminded.

"Prob'ly. Just use your fingers and pull them aside. I'm too lazy to take 'em off."

"You're such a romantic," Emerson said, unable to stifle a giggle.

"Heh!" She laughed, too, rubbing his back. "Mmm ... heck, I want you so bad."

"I want you, too," he promised, using his prehensile tail to tug the lower band of her panties aside. This left his paws free to hold her, hug her. His tip teasing at her entrance.

"Give it to me, Emmy!"

The mouse was going to tease her further but, throbbingly erect, couldn't help himself.

He took the plunge.

As he hilted inside her hot, wet sex, he leaned in for another kiss.

Their lips smacked.

"Do you hear that?" the mouse murmured, eyes half-open, hooded with pleasure.

The squirrel's round-tipped ears stood to attention. "No. What?"

"Nothing," he said, starting to thrust with abandon. "No responsibilities. Just ... mm, mmm, privacy."

"Ah, hah, you mean ... ah, ah, we aren't gonna be interrupted, or ... or wake anyone up?"

"Or get woken up," he added, giggling. "Or thrown up on. Or--"

"So, ah! We can be as loud as we want? And shout curses like ... fuck me! Oh, fuck!"

"Uh! Uh-huh!"

As they careened toward their peaks, Emerson's worries evaporated.

Yeah, being a new parent was hard.

Farming was hard.

Life was hard.

He was currently hard. And tingling. And twitching!

But making love to his mate?

It was like winning the lottery.

As he hit the jackpot inside Charlie's honeypot, he shivered and nuzzled her neck and whispered, "I love you."

"Ah! Love you, too." Reveling in her afterglow, she grinned. "Daddy."

"What'd I say about calling me that?"

"It's either that or dork."

"Since when?" He combed his fingers through her tail-fluff. "You know, I just blew your mind."

"Did you?"

"Mm-hmm." They touched noses, whiskers brushing. "I felt it. Heard you, too. You should be thanking me."

"Oh, I'll thank you when we're done," Charlie promised, rolling them over until she was on top again. She sat up and straddled him.

"Wait. We're ... we are done for tonight, aren't we? Charlie?" He did have fieldwork to do tomorrow. "Maybe we should take a showe--"

"Emmy, we're on stay_cation_," the squirrel said, a sly look in her eyes. Dismounting, she scooted forward and laid atop him, pressing her warm, coppery breasts to his face.

A muffled squeak!

"Milk it for all it's worth."