Constance.

Playing along with her, he kept his eyes closed for a moment. His palms scoured the table with each pat of the wooden surface before he jumped up and caught her. "Come here, you little brat."

With thin limbs, she threw an embrace around his neck. Exasperated words fell from her lips. "I thought you would never get home." Her hair was silky black, and her mouth showed a thick pout. She was a menace to her brothers, and they both knew that one day, she would haunt the man who would win her attention.

Wet kisses covered his forehead until he had to pull her back. "What's this?" Maybe the child knew he was about to meet a fate he wouldn't be able to escape. Constance wore the title of `little sneak' well and often discovered things her brothers needed to know. Naturally, when she did, she bribed them with the information, making sure her snooping didn't go unnoticed.

"I just missed you!" Her china doll complexion broke into a smile. "What did you bring me this time?" Even though she approached the teenage years, she still had a child's innocence, perhaps something her brothers were guilty of preserving.

She crawled up on his bed and sat with her legs crossed, both hands settled on each knee. Eager for her treasures and her true motive revealed, Orlando looked around with his arms spread out wide. "I don't see anything. Do you?"

"No, but I know you better than you know yourself. You always bring me back something. So, where is it? Stop teasing me. Where's my present?" Her words tumbled from a feisty little mouth as she tripped over syllables to make sure they all made it out safely and were heard loud and clear.

Watching her enthusiasm, he was glad he thought to buy her gift when he first arrived in the city that had depleted his cash stores, and happier still that he forgot about it when his luck turned for the worst. Otherwise, he would have taken the gift back for a refund, so he could try one last time to win back what he'd lost.

Walking over to his coat, he called behind him, "You stayed up just to see what I brought you back?" She nodded her head up and down with repetition until he turned around to see it.

He pulled out a box from Tiffany and Company. Orlando had settled on a necklace with diamonds around a charm forming the words `Lucky Player' and couldn't resist. His sister loved games as much or more than her brothers.

He handed the jewelry box over observing how she seemed to rip the expensive necklace from the felt holding the chain in place. "One day, you'll go to Las Vegas, and you'll wear the necklace because it will bring you great luck."

"Like the luck you had, right?" Her innocence magnified. The little darling had no possible way of knowing just how unlucky he'd been.

A creaking sound from the hall made them both turn to find Almonzo in the doorway. Called the older brother, he was in fact Orlando's twin. `Older' meant by mere seconds.

"Yes," Orlando fibbed, "much like the luck I had."

Almonzo approached his look alike and brought him in for a tight embrace, whispering in his ear, "Liar, liar," as he slapped his sibling's back. "Glad you're home."

"Well, brat, let me see that necklace." He sat down on the bed.

The diamonds in the piece seemed to show a truer sparkle in her eyes. "It must've been expensive. How much? You have to tell me how much, so I can tell all of my friends." Her lips pursed while she anticipated the answer, and her chin tilted upward, further showing her insistent request.

"She's turned into a real pain in the ass since you've been gone. If I were you, I'd keep your cards really close to your chest on spilling your so-called truths because tell her a lie, and it will be exaggerated. Tell her the facts and she'll twist them into shocking tales only she believes." Almonzo's gentle hand brushed playfully over her head.

By the look on her face, Constance never knew she was insulted. She patiently waited for a number. She wanted figures and the larger, the better.

Catching his sister off guard, Almonzo picked up her little frame throwing her over his broad shoulder. "Okay, varmint, kiss Orlando goodnight. It's time for little vamps to be snug in their casket."

"I don't sleep in a pine box, you dwarf. Put me down." Her legs kicked as she swatted him on the back a couple of times. The boys loved to tease Constance with tales of an awaiting coffin.

Turning Constance to face the one who had charmed her into sweetness, Almonzo waited for her to deliver a kiss upon the other twin's cheek. "Can I sleep in it tonight?" Her thumb and forefinger held the charm in a tight grip, pulling it out slightly to show him she was, in fact, referring to the necklace and definitely not the casket mentioned by Almonzo...