Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or Borrowed Hearts.

Chapter 3

Heero glared at Duo. “What are you talking about? Who are they and what are they doing in my house?”

Duo pulled Heero aside and started to whisper. While they talked quietly, Trowa regarded Relena and Evan carefully. A ghost of a smile spread across his usual stoic face as he listened to his friends. He had to admit that Duo’s plan could actually work if they agree. He glanced over when he heard Heero growled. Duo was smiling, and Trowa recognized the mischievous glint in Duo’s violet eyes. He glanced back at Relena and Evan and wasn’t surprised to see a look of worry in her eyes.

Relena glanced back and forth among her three bosses. She kept her hands on Evan’s shoulders to keep for fidgeting. She knew he was overwhelmed with curiosity at the moment, and Evan was. He smiled at the tall man when he looked at them. He was happy because there were three men here, and one of them could be his new daddy. Evan liked the man with the braid and the tall one. The other one was frowning though. He didn’t seem happy to see Evan and his mother. When Heero turned his hard gaze at Evan, Evan panicked and ran behind Relena’s legs. He peeked around her leg.

“Excuse me, Mr. Barton? Why are we here?” Relena asked hesitantly after glancing down at Evan.

Before Trowa could answer, Duo turned around and gave her a big smile. “Ms. Peacecraft, we need your help and your son’s.”

“What kind of help?” she asked warily, placing a hand on Evan’s blond head.

Heero growled at Duo again, but Duo just ignored him. “We want you two to be his family for the next few days,” Duo replied, pointing at Heero.

Relena couldn’t help but let out a laugh as she felt the tension in the air evaporate. “He’s joking, right?” she asked, smiling at Heero.

Heero had to sigh. “I’m afraid not.”

Relena glanced at Trowa. He shook his head. Her smile faded. “What’s going on here?” She looked at each man in the eye, demanding an answer.

“We have a problem. There is a business deal that requires your help. Duo, I mean Mr. Maxwell, made the mistake of telling the people whom we are working with that Mr. Yuy has a family,” Trowa explained.

Duo grimaced under Trowa’s soft, serious voice. He hated when Trowa talked like that. “Well, excuse me for being a mere mortal. I had to elaborate. The Winners deal only with families, and Heero doesn’t have one,” Duo said, defending himself.

“You didn’t have to lie,” Trowa declared.

“Look, forget about that,” Duo shot back. He turned back to Relena and Evan. “Please, we really need your help. We’ll even pay you. How about a thousand a day? I mean, you’ll make more in the next few days than you will in a month.”

Relena looked away while she thought about it. It seemed too good to be true, but can she throw this away? She could use the money for the down payment on the house that she had her eye on. The house that they are currently living was too small. If she did take the job, what was she going to tell her family and friends? Zechs wouldn’t be very happy if he knew. Even though she was a grown woman with a kid, he was still protective of her. She looked back at Duo. “All we have to do is play his family? Nothing else?”

Duo nodded vigorously “That’s all. You won’t to do anything else.”

Evan glanced at the glowering man who certainly didn’t look like he wanted a family. He didn’t understand what was going on, but he could guess. Evan looked up at his mom and then back at the man. Suddenly Evan grinned. He knew what was going on! His mom was getting him a new daddy! The man didn’t appear to be very friendly, but Evan didn’t mind. He knew that he could make friends with the man. He made friends with everyone. Evan tugged on his mom’s jacket to get her attention. “Mommy, do it! Do it, Mommy!”

Relena looked down with surprise at her son. She crouched down and stared at him. “Evan, do you understand what’s going on?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Of course I do, Mommy!” Evan’s little face scrunched up into a little frown. Then he smiled at her with those puppy dog eyes that she couldn’t resist. “Please, Mommy?”

Relena couldn’t turn down that look. She sighed and stood up. She gazed at the three men and nodded. “I’ll do it.”

“Yes! Oh, thank you! Thank you so much. You are an angel,” Duo exclaimed. He had to refrain from hugging and kissing her.

“When do I start?” asked Relena.

“Tomorrow,” Heero said suddenly. “Can you make it?” He walked up to Relena.

Relena thought about all the things she need to do, but the look on his face suggested she put those things aside. “Yes, I believe so.”

“Good.” Heero turned around and was starting out the room when he stopped. He glanced over his shoulder at Duo with a little smirk. “And, Duo, this had better work.”

“Don’t worry, Heero. I guarantee this will work,” Duo reassured his friend. It had, too. He did not like the look on Heero’s face.

“Well, since you guarantee it, there’s really only one thing I have left to say,” Heero stated mildly, starting to walk out again. He paused at the doorway. “Heaven help you if it doesn’t.” With that warning he left.

“You’ll have to excuse my friend. As you can see, he isn’t very happy with the situation,” Trowa declared when he saw Relena’s pale face. “But don’t worry. He isn’t always like that.” Relena relaxed slightly at his words. “Just most of the time.”

‘Great.’ Relena glanced down at Evan. He was smiling as if nothing was wrong. She was going to have a hard time explaining this to everyone especially Zechs. He was not going to very thrilled about it. “Come on, Evan. Say good-bye to these gentlemen. We have to go home now.” She took his hand and led him to the front door.

“Can we expect you two bright and early tomorrow?” Duo questioned, opening the door for them.

“We’ll be here, Mr. Maxwell.” Relena walked out with Evan waving and saying good-bye to the two men.

* * * * * *

“Are you crazy!?”

Relena buried her head in her hands as she listened to Hilde rant. Luckily, Hilde had closed for the night. “Are you done, Hilde?”

The petite woman finally stopped and sat down in front of Relena. “Yes. I am. So again, are you crazy? You can’t do this.”

“Why not?” Relena looked up and stared at Hilde. “It’s not illegal as far as I can tell, and I could really use the money. It’ll be fine if it’s just a few days.”

“Relena, if you need money, you can ask me. You can’t pretend to be your boss’ family. What’s Zechs going to say? I’ll tell you what he’ll say and do. He’s going forbid it, and he’ll probably lock you up in a room for the rest of your life. Do you understand?” Hilde explained with a concern look.

“I understand, Hilde. I know you worry about me, but I’m not going to borrow money from you, and you’re not going to tell my brother,” Relena warned.

“I’m not?” Relena shook her head. Hilde sighed feeling incredibly frustrated. Sometimes Relena was too stubborn. “Then what are you going to tell your brother?”

Relena shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll think of something.”

“Well, I suggest you think of something fast because he’s coming in right now,” Hilde said, pointing behind her.

Relena whipped around to see her brother come into the restaurant. She couldn’t keep from looking shock. What was she going to say?

“You look surprise to see me,” Zechs declared, leaning down and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Uh...I am surprise to see you,” Relena stammered. Then she noticed he was full dressed in his military uniform. “Are you going somewhere, Milliardo?”

Zechs sighed. “Yes, unfortunately. Lu and I have been called in. We’re leaving tonight for Moscow.”

“Moscow? How long will you be gone?” Relena questioned. May be today was her lucky day.

“We won’t be home until next year, so I’m afraid we won’t be here for Christmas or New Years. To make things worse, we can’t call or email you at all,” Zechs explained.

“Why not? Oh, forget I asked. Government stuff, huh?” Relena smiled. “It’s okay, Milliardo. I understand how important your jobs are.”

Zechs smiled back. “Thanks. Now where’s that little rascal of yours? I want to say good-bye.” Suddenly the kitchen door burst opened, and a flour covered Evan came running out.

“Uncle Zechs!”

“Whoa! Hold on there Frosty. You’re going get your uncle all dirty,” Hilde exclaimed, catching Evan before he threw himself at Zechs.

Zechs stooped down until he could look at Evan. “Evan, Aunt Lucy and I have to away for awhile. We won’t be here for Christmas. I’m sorry.”

Evan’s face fell. “Oh...” He didn’t like it whenever his uncle and aunt left. “I had a secret to tell you, too.”

Zechs chuckled and tweaked Evan’s nose, causing some flour to fall off. “You can tell me later, squirt.” He leaned in and in a loud enough whisper for everyone to hear, he said, “And to make up for not being here, your aunt and I will make sure to send lots of presents to you, okay?”

Evan brightened up at the thought of presents. “Okay!” Zechs grinned and walked over to Relena.

“Be careful, Milliardo and Lucy, too.” Relena said, wrapping her arms around him. Zechs hugged her back.

“We’ll be fine. See you next year,” Zechs replied. He let go and gave them a salute. He headed for the door and before leaving he poked his head back in. “Oh, one more thing. Evan, take care of your mother for your aunt and me. Bye.”

“Bye, Uncle Zechs!” Evan shouted. Zechs smiled again and left. The ringing bell marked his exit.

“Well, today must be your lucky day,” Hilde stated, looking at Relena. “So are you really going to do this?”

“Yeah, I am, but don’t tell anyone about this. I have to admit I’m nervous enough,” she replied. “I have a feeling it’s not going to be easy.”

“I could’ve told you that.” Hilde sighed again. She took Evan by the shoulders and propelled him to the restrooms. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up so you can go home.” Once inside she wetted a towel and wiped his flour covered face. “I don’t think I should let you help Jerry anymore. Look at you. You’re a mess.” She dusted off the rest of the flour.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Hilde. I’ll be more careful next time, please?” Evan smiled innocently up at her.

Hilde couldn’t resist him anymore than Relena. She really had to learn how to say no to them. “I suppose. Really you’re getting just to be like your mom.” She turned around to get another towel.

“No, I’m not. I can’t get a daddy by myself. I asked Santa for one, but now Mommy’s going to get one for me, so Santa if you can hear me, I don’t need a daddy anymore,” Evan said aloud.

Hilde whirled around and stared at Evan. “What did you say? What’s this about a daddy?”

“Mommy’s going to get a daddy for me,” Evan said and looked at Hilde with such sincerity that Hilde almost thought it was true.

“Evan, what’s make you say that?” Hilde had to sit down. She pulled him onto her lap.

“That man at the house said Mommy and me are going to be his family. Doesn’t that mean he’s going to be my daddy?” Evan asked.

Hilde was speechless, but then again from his point of view it did sort of look like that. “Oh, Evan. That man’s not going to be your new daddy.”

“But he said...”

“I know what he said. Evan, that man is your mom’s boss, and she’s helping him with something by pretending to be his family,” Hilde explained as best she could. Evan’s eyes started to water, and he began to sniffle. “Oh, Evan, don’t cry.” Hilde reached over and grabbed the towel. She wiped away his tears. “It’s okay.”

“I wanted a daddy,” Evan said in a quiet voice. “Everyone else has daddy but me.” He buried his face in her chest and wrapped his arms around her neck.

“Evan, do you really want one?” Hilde asked, pulling back so she could look straight at him. He nodded right away. She sighed. She couldn’t really argue with him. She thought that Evan should have a father, too, but Relena was still wary of men. But then again...

“Evan, would you like that man if he was your daddy? He’s not very friendly,” Hilde stated.

“Of course I can. Mommy says I should like everyone even if they aren’t very nice,” Evan replied. He had stopped crying and was sniffing occasionally.

A smile started to spread across Hilde’s face as a plan began to form in her mind. She loved Relena and Evan like they were her own family. She wanted to make sure her friend had a happy life. Now Hilde knew that Heero Yuy wasn’t exactly the perfect man, but for some odd reason she knew that he wasn’t as cold and unfeeling as he seem. ‘Oh, Hilde, you’re a genius,’ she thought to herself. She turned back to Evan who was fiddling with his buttons. “Evan, would you like that man to be your daddy?”

Evan looked up in surprise at his mom’s friend. She was smiling. “But you said he isn’t my daddy.”

“Well, if you want him to be your dad, your Aunt Hilde can help you,” Hilde replied.

“How?” She leaned in and started to whisper in his ear. Evan smiled as Hilde continued on. He didn’t really understand everything, but he knew what to do. He may be four, but he was a smart boy like everyone says he is.

When Hilde was done, she leaned back and looked at him. “Do you understand, Evan?” He nodded with a big smile. “That’s a good boy. Just watch, Evan. If your Aunt Hilde is right, you’ll have a daddy by Christmas.”

“I asked Santa for a daddy,” Evan said all of a sudden. He looked closely at Hilde. “Are you Santa, Aunt Hilde?”

Hilde burst out laughing and shook her head. “I’m not Santa, silly. I’m someone who loves you and your mom very much. I want you two to be happy.”

“Thanks, Aunt Hilde.” Evan reached up and gave her a big hug.

“Let’s get out of here before your mom starts wondering what happen to us,” Hilde declared. She took his hand, and they walked back into the dining hall. She said good-bye to Relena and Evan and went in the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen Jerry was cleaning dishes and noticed the satisfied look on her face. “You look like the cat that swallowed the canary. What’s going on, Hilde?”

Hilde picked up a towel and just smiled at the old man. Jerry sighed and went back to washing. He knew better to ask again. Hilde had something up her sleeve.