Three Lovers on the Grift - 10

Nigel's thought that there would be more hurdles before the baby arrived proved to be correct. The first one came two weeks later when Vaughn decided Page was not going to be involved in any more cons.

They had rented the house they wanted and moved in, furnishing it from several near-new shops in the area. The fence had been able to dispose of all the jewelry and other items they had gotten from the gala at the mansion, reaping them a fairly substantial amount of cash even after he'd taken his percentage. With the money deposited in a blind bank account, and what they'd had in their last bank transferred over as well, the trio felt secure in the knowledge that they didn't have to pull off another job for at least a little while.

That did not stop Vaughn from making plans. Plans that did not involve Page. When she found this out, she went ballistic.

"I am not some coddled little society chick that has to be pampered and babied," she yelled so loudly that Nigel wondered if their neighbors could hear her. "I'm having a baby, something billions of women have done before me. Hell, it used to be that farm wives would work until the end and then have the kid in the fields."

"You aren't some damned farmer's wife," Vaughn had replied angrily. "You're my woman, and Nigel's, and we want you to take it easy so there are no complications. It's your first kid, Page. You don't know what could happen."

She'd swung around to look at Nigel for backup. He shook his head. "He's half right, Page. You shouldn't be in on any con that could put you in the line of fire."

"When have I ever been," she growled in reply. "You're the one who does the physical parts of them. Vaughn and I are the ones who do the mind games and there's no way I can get hurt doing that."

"What about the time that wife broke into the hotel room while you were setting up the game to take her husband for a sizable amount of cash to keep quiet about his 'affair' with you?" Vaughn pointed out. "If I hadn't seen her going into the room she could have done you quite a bit of harm before I saved you."

"Okay," Page admitted reluctantly, "there was that once, but that was all. Besides, I'm not really going to be in any condition for us to run something like that again for a while. I'm just telling you, I am not going to sit around here, or wherever we move next, and twiddle my thumbs."

"We'll figure things out," Nigel said placatingly.

"You'd better, or you're both cut off for the foreseeable future."

Nigel grinned. "You'd better come up with a better threat than that. After all, we still have each other."

For a moment it appeared as if Page was going to do something physical to him, or to Vaughn who was also grinning. Then she laughed and the tension was broken.

Three Lovers on the Grift - 9

"No effing way in hell!" Vaughn glared across the table at Page.

She and Nigel had decided to wait to tell Vaughn that she was pregnant until they were at dinner. They figured that way he'd have to keep his cool while he got used to the idea. Now she was beginning to wonder if that would happen. The look on his face said he was ready to explode.

"Vaughn, breathe," Nigel said quietly. "Breathe and shut up for a minute."

"This has nothing to do with you, so you shut up," Vaughn countered angrily.

"Excuse me? The kid could be mine just as well as yours. And I'm behind her one-hundred percent. This kid is going to be born, like it or not."

"Well, I don't like it and she knows it. How could she have been so—so stupid?"

"She is sitting right here so ask me," Page spat out. Then slowly and coldly she explained how she thought it had happened. When she finished the three of them sat there quietly, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

Finally, Vaughn said, "You won't consider—?"

"No." Tentatively, Page reached across the table to take his hand, happy that he didn't pull away. "I know this is the last thing in the world that you wanted."

"Well," he replied, a small smile on his face, "actually it's the third to last. The next to last is ending up in a jail."

"And the last," Nigel asked.

"Losing either of you." He squeezed Page's hand. "This is going to take me some time to come to grips with, but I guess I'm going to have to because one small baby is not going to drive us apart."

Nigel glanced at Page and smiled. "I knew he wasn't going to go off half cocked. Well, not here anyways."

Vaughn shot him a look that was a mix of amusement and annoyance. "Just how long have you known about this?" After looking at his watch, Nigel admitted it had been a whole five hours, give or take. Vaughn nodded. "I suppose this explains why the two of you were more interested in going to get something to eat than in what happened with the realtor and the man who's going to help us get rid of the stuff we got last night."

"Just a bit. After all, in the grand scheme of things this is more important."

"Yes it is." Vaughn beckoned for Page to move next to him on his side of the booth. When she did, he cupped her face in his hands. "We'll make this work," he told her before kissing her gently.

Nigel sighed in relief as he watched them. One hurdle over with, although he figured there would be a lot more before the baby put in an appearance.

Three Lovers on the Grift - 8

Once Vaughn was gone, Page started pacing the motel room, a frown on her face. Nigel watched, not interrupting her. He knew her well enough to understand that she wouldn't tell him what was bothering her until she was ready.

Finally she came back to settle down beside him on the edge of the bed. After a very long pause, she said simply, "I'm pregnant."

"Shit," Nigel muttered. "You're sure? Damn, Page, that's—" he thought for a second then smiled. "Actually, that's fantastic." Hugging her tightly, he asked, "Boy or girl?"

Page nestled into his hug, laughing softly. "It's a bit early to know, silly man. I'm just a little over a month into it." Looking up at him, she said tentatively, "You're really okay with it?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I be? How does Vaughn feel about it?" One look at her face and he knew the answer. "You haven't told him."

"I'm afraid to. He's always made it clear to me that kids were out of the question because, well, of what we do and the fact that it's the three of us."

Nigel nodded slowly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Well, it's sort of a moot point now, isn't it? We'll have to tell him." He lay back, keeping her in his arms, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "He's going to want to know how it happened."

"It was a fluke, I think." She chewed her lip distractedly. "Remember the job we did just before we moved on to the last city? Well, we were so involved in setting it up and all, and I was so nervous because it was a new con for us. I honestly forgot to take the pills for a few days. Unfortunately," she chuckled morosely, "it was the wrong few days."

"Ouch. So you weren't taking them, and we were doing our best to help you relieve your tension." He stroked her hair gently. "He'll be all right with it once he gets past the initial shock."

"God, I hope so because it is going to happen, whether he likes it or not." Her tone of voice was firm as she said that.

"Of course it is. I'll back you to the hilt on that. After all, the chances are fifty-fifty it's my kid and that being the case, he or she is going to arrive and have at least two parents who want him, or her." He tilted her chin up then, scanning her face. "You do want this kid, right? I mean really and truly and not just because you don't like the alternative?"

Moving so that she was lying on top of him, she smiled, tracing a finger over his lips. "Yes, Nigel, I do want this baby, very, very much."

"Then you'll have it, come hell or high water, or Vaughn."

Three Lovers on the Grift - 7

"We made the papers," Vaughn said as he came into the motel room late the next morning.

"Hopefully not 'We' per se," Nigel commented, looking up from his laptop.

"Nope." Vaughn set down two suitcases that he'd picked up from the shipping company. "The last of the lot."

"Decent clothes," Page said gleefully as she opened one of them.

Vaughn cocked an eyebrow in amusement. "There's nothing wrong with what you're wearing now."

"Or not wearing," Nigel agreed with an enthusiastic grin.

"Lechers, both of you," Page grumbled as she began dressing.

Vaughn chuckled, pulling her into an embrace. "Of course we are. You'd excite even a eunuch, my dear."

"Hands off, mister. We have places to go and things to do right now."

After kissing her lightly, Vaughn released her, crossing the room to sit down beside Nigel. "Anything?" he asked.

"Several possibilities." He scrolled through the list until he found what he wanted. "This looks like the best one to me. The area is gay friendly so we won't stand out. The house is small enough, and the rent's affordable."

"I like," Page put in as she joined them, "Just secluded enough with all those trees between it and the neighbors."

Vaughn looked at the information, scrolled through the other ones Nigel had found and came back to it again. "I agree. I'll get in touch with the realtor."

"Who are you going to be this time?" Nigel asked.

"I've got a couple of identities I haven't used yet. I'd rather that than reverting back to a past one, just to be on the safe side."

"Definitely." Nigel waited until Vaughn had written down all the pertinent information and then shut down the laptop. He picked up the newspaper that Vaughn had tossed on the bed, reading the story about the robbery at the gala in the city they'd left late the previous evening. "We did not take that much," he grumbled a moment later.

Reading over his shoulder, Page nodded. "Someone wasn't being very honest."

"No shit," Nigel replied with a snort of laughter. "Glad to know we could help out the larcenous owner at the same time that we helped ourselves." He turned to Vaughn, who was getting ready to leave again. "Have you made contact with someone to handle the jewelry and what have you?"

"I'll do that while I'm out. I have a couple of names from our last fence. People he trusts." After pausing long enough to give each of his lovers a thorough goodbye kiss, he left.

Three Lovers on the Grift - 6

Vaughn bit back the impulse to smile as the security guard forcefully took him to the front door of the mansion, all the while telling him what a bastard he was to treat his sweet, lovely wife the way he had. When the door closed firmly behind him after the guard admonished him not to return, Vaughn leaned back against it, giving in to the need to laugh in relief. So far everything had gone exactly as planned.

Calming himself, he strode quickly along the long veranda to the steps that would take him down to the side of the mansion. From there he walked silently until he was under the second floor window that they had chosen to use. He stepped away and looked up. It was partially open. He whistled softly and then moved back into the shadows. Moments later he heard a soft thud as a small bag landed in the dirt of the flower bed beside him. After a short wait a second one joined the first. He picked them up, securing them to a belt under his tunic. A few minutes later two more bags landed in the flower bed. As he retrieved them he heard a short whistle.

He headed immediately to the back of the mansion, peering up at the second floor balcony. Nigel appeared and Vaughn tossed a strong, thin coil of rope up to him. After tying it off, Nigel swung over the balcony railing and climbed down. Once he was on the ground he gave the rope a sharp tug which undid the knot. Catching the rope, he handed it to Vaughn and then quickly disappeared around the side of the mansion.

Vaughn coiled the rope again as he walked in the opposite direction. When he arrived at the flowering shrub behind which Nigel had left the bag, he opened the bag and changed into one of the sets of dark jeans and shirts that it held. He folded up his costume, shoving it into the bag, and then sat down in the deep shadows to wait for his partners.

They arrived some twenty minutes later, Page first, Nigel soon afterward. Without a word they also changed clothes. Then, with caution, they left the mansion grounds, Nigel carrying the bag that now held all of the costumes.

Once on the sidewalk, Vaughn put his arm around Page's shoulders and the three of them strolled slowly away, to all intents and purposes just three people out for a late evening walk. When they turned the corner of the long block, Vaughn led the others across the street, up a dark driveway and through a well-groomed backyard to an alley where a small, foreign-made car stood parked next to a garage. The three partners got in and soon they were headed out of town. Four or so miles from the mansion, Vaughn pulled into a parking lot. Nigel jumped out of the car when Vaughn stopped by a donations bin. After emptying the contents of the bag into the bin, Nigel got back into the car. Two miles farther on, they disposed of the bag in a dumpster behind a restaurant.

"Done and done," Nigel said with a grin as Vaughn headed toward the highway. Page laughed happily, leaning across the console to kiss Vaughn's cheek. Not taking his eyes off of the road, he pulled her close enough to give and get a real, if fast, kiss. As she sat back, Nigel reached over the back of the seat to cup her chin in his hand. After he'd received his own kiss from her, he leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and soon drifted off to sleep.