“Look at you all so well behaved. Thank you,” Siobhan said. “Lead them down here, Lettie.”
The girl who had hugged Siobhan on the stairs came to the bottom step, so she was standing right in front of Siobhan.
No. That wasn’t the same girl. Twins, Joaquin recalled as he looked between her and the girl behind her. Identical blue eyes blinked at him with curiosity. In fact, as he looked up the stairs, he saw more twins.
“Señor Joaquin Valezquez is my guest. You may call him Tío Joaquin. And he prefers Spanish?” she asked.
“French and English work, too.”
“Good. Okay. Pay attention,” she warned him over her shoulder. “There will be a quiz later.” Siobhan set her hands on the first girl’s shoulders. “This is Colette, Cinnia and Henri’s daughter and Rosie’s twin.”
Rosie leaned out to wave at him. “You can tell us apart because I like to wear pink and Lettie only sometimes does.”
Lettie did not introduce herself as the bossy one, but she did stick out her hand in a way that reminded him of her father and uncle. Very sure of herself. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is mine,” Joaquin said sincerely as he shook her hand.
“Very nice.” Siobhan hugged Colette and kissed her cheek, earning a wrinkled nose and a happy smile before Colette moved to the other side of the stairs and sat down.
Rosie led everyone down a step. “Are you Auntie Dorry’s boyfriend?” she asked.
“I am,” Joaquin said.
“Hmm.” Her little brows went up in speculation as she moved to sit behind her sister.
A boy came next, tall with dirty blond hair and ice-blue eyes.
“Prince Tyrol of Elazar,” Siobhan said. “King Xavier and Queen Trella’s eldest.”
Right. They were spending Christmas with royalty. Two pair of monarchs, in fact.
Siobhan hugged Tyrol with all the enthusiasm and familiarity she had shown her sister’s children, kissing his cheeks until he chuckled and pushed her away.
“Please call me Tyrol,” the boy said when Siobhan released him to shake Joaquin’s hand. “We don’t use titles when we’re with family.”
“Tyrol is only a few weeks younger than the girls,” Siobhan said. “This is Malik, Prince of Zhamair. His parents are King Kasim and Queen Angelique.” Siobhan warmly embraced the boy who came next. “Play chess against him if you like to lose.”
He flashed a grin. He was perhaps a year younger than the other children with light brown skin and black hair. His intense brown eyes were surrounded by the sort of thick eyelashes women coveted.
The next boy led the group down another step.
“This reminds me of that old movie where the children sing on the stairs at their parents’ party,” Joaquin said with a smirk.
Rosie gasped. “Weshould do that.”
Siobhan touched her lips, urging her to silence as she introduced, “Miguel, Ramon and Izzy’s eldest.”
Did her voice shake a tiny bit? Did she hug this boy a little longer and harder and look a little more distressed as she did it?
Her love for all of these children was very obvious in how well she knew each of them and how much affection they were showing her. It drove home for Joaquin how truly devastated she must have been to have caused any sort of peril for them. He instantly wanted to find this man who had broken her faith in herself and find a way to make him sorry.
She released Miguel and greeted the next boy with an affectionate smooth of his sandy blond hair. “Remy is Henri and Cinnia’s son. He’s turning seven on my birthday.”
“We’re birthday twins,” he said and moved to sit with the others.
“Do us together.Please, Auntie Dorry?” A girl of about five stepped down so she was on the same step as the one ahead of her. The pair of girls had strikingly similar features, but distinctly different hair and skin colors.
“This is Genevieve, Princess of Zhamair.” Siobhan bent to squash the girls together, making them giggle before she released them to cup the other girl’s beaming face. “And Vivien, Princess of Elazar. Our cousin-twins.”
