Jonathan's mother.

Jonathan remained still and quiet, hoping it was room service and they would leave, however, he had no such luck.

There was another rap on the door and he could hear his mother's voice through the door. "Jonathan, I know you are awake. It is your mother."

"Jesus," he groaned into the pillow.

"I'll hide," Crystal whispered and rolled off him and the bed to grab her workout clothes on the floor before hiding in the bathroom.

"One second!" he shouted, grabbing a towel to wrap around his waist for modesty (he was glad his erection had died down because he would die of embarrassment if his mother saw that!). He took a deep breath before opening the door. "Hi, Mom!"

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Iris replied, walking past him into his suite. "I thought you wake up early?"

"I do. I woke up at five," he replied, standing aside to block her path to the bathroom. "I was at the gym and came back for a shower."

"Ah," she smiled. "Are any of the girls up yet?"

"I think they're still asleep after last night."

"They drank too much?"

"Just a couple bottles of wine."

"Aiya, they are tiny girls!" she sighed with disapproval.

"It's okay, Mom, I made sure they weren't so intoxicated that they were vomiting," he reassured her. "Everyone wanted to celebrate before we start our mission."

"They're good girls," she nodded. "You better take good care of them or..."

"...or you'll beat me. I know," he smiled and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, get dressed and we will have breakfast downstairs in half an hour," she ordered. "I will wake up the girls, okay?"

"Yes, Mom," he replied with a salute.

She turned towards the door but stopped in her tracks — for a moment Jonathan was worried she had figured out that someone was in the bathroom — and looked up at him with a smirk. "Julie sent over fifteen dresses but there are twelve girls. Who are Angela Le, Jennifer Cheng, and Gao Ming Yue?"

"Oh, they're colleagues on the project," he replied.

"But they did not appear at the show yesterday."

"They're the backup crew."

"Why do you need backup crew?"

"For whatever reason one to three of the thirteen members of the project can't make it either Angela, Jennifer, or Ming Yue will take their place."

"Oh, I am sorry I did not get to meet them."

"Actually, you may have a chance," he replied. "When do you fly out?"

"Today at four."

"Do you want to check out JPL?"

"What is JPL?"

"JPL is the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Allison, Leah, and Natalie work there so we'll be stopping there for them to pick up some stuff."

"Angela, Jennifer, and Ming Yue will be there?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, to say goodbye to us before we head out to the project site."

"Oh yes, I would like to meet them before you go!" his mother smiled.

"Great, we can arrange a visitor pass for you," he smiled back and gave her a kiss on the cheek before she left his suite. He stood there waiting for her to knock on the door again but when he thought the coast was clear he opened the bathroom door. "It's safe to come out."

"Would your mom have been upset if she found out I was here?" Crystal asked, reappearing dressed in her workout clothes.

"Yes and no."

"Yes and no?"

"Yes, that I would have been accused of taking advantage of you and no, that I actually spent... um, intimate time with you."

"I wonder what she would have thought if my sisters were here too!" she laughed.

"Oh, God, I don't want to think about that!"

"Okay, I'm going to go back to my room," she smiled.

He opened the door and peaked his head out to make sure noone was in the hallway before he let Crystal leave. She tippy-toed to give him a quick kiss. "I'll see you at breakfast!"

Jonathan closed the door behind him and wonder if he could survive against all three triplets by himself. He was sure he would eventually find out one day.