“Yeah, I have a sister,” Molson acknowledged quietly. Not that he was talking to Jana right now. Not sure that he ever would again.
“Now you have more brothers and sisters,” Ann said firmly. “You’ll have to meet all of us. You’re family.”
“He’s got new nieces too,” Amy interrupted. She was standing by the crib, her little hand reaching through the bar to touch one of the babies’ feet.
“Just how many babies are in there?” Molson rubbed the moisture from his eyes quickly as he turned to the crib. Triplet girls slept peacefully, unconcerned with the noise around them. “All girls?”
“A,B,C,” Amy announced.
“Wow,” Molson responded. “Those are nice names.”
“Here,” Ann scooped up one of the babies then turned to him. “Support her head.”
“You don’t have to,” Molson swallowed thickly as he carefully held the warm bundle. “Which one is this?”
“B,” Ann supplied the answer. She smiled. “You’re a natural at this.”
Molson hadn’t had the opportunity to handle a baby this small yet at the hospital. He felt a pain that part of his life was probably over. A hollow feeling settled on him as he realized without Holly, he probably never would have kids. He didn’t want to be in a relationship with anyone else.
“What’s the matter?” Ann asked softly.
“I just think you both are really blessed,” Molson replied thickly.
“We’ve had some really tough times,” Ann responded as she picked up a baby. “However, we are blessed. Never would I have imagined our life would be like this.”
Michael raised an eyebrow at Molson, knowing that he wasn’t telling them everything.
“Okay,” Molson muttered a confession. He didn’t know what it was about Michael, but the man had him blabbing all sorts of things he wouldn’t tell anyone else. “I was thinking about Holly and how I’m probably not going to have a nice little family like this.”
“Why wouldn’t you?” Ann softly pried. “Who is Holly?”
“She’s special. Too special for me,” Molson sighed as he gently snuggled the baby against him.
“You righted an injustice,” Ann responded. “No one is too special for you. What is the real problem?”
“First, her dad hates my guts,” Molson admitted. “Second, to get those men to testify, I now owe a serious gang leader a favor. That’s not exactly boy scout stuff. I don’t want to put her in any danger if I mess up whatever Tremblay asks me to do.”
“You’re not going to mess it up,” she put a hand on his arm, expertly shifting the baby she held. “You have all of us to help you. Michael and I mean it when we say that if you need anything, all you have to do is ask.”
Michael carefully plucked the baby out of Ann’s arm, smiling down at her.
“What’s the dog’s name?” Molson asked to distract them, not wanting to talk about Holly anymore. It hurt too much.
“FedEx,” Amy answered.
“FedEx?” Molson was a little confused.
“Daddy named her FedEx. He carried her through the rain like a package when he found her because she had a sore paw,” Amy told the story. “Daddy told me in pictures. He draws really well. Someday, I’m going to draw like Daddy.”
“That’s an original name.” Molson commented. He breathed in sweet baby smell. “How do you manage three at one time?”
“I don’t,” Ann smiled tiredly. “I have help come in every day. Between my sisters-in-law, mother-in-law, friends, and now Michael, we manage.”
There was a noise from downstairs. Molson stilled. “Is someone else in the house?”
“That’s FenLei, our housekeeper,” Ann told him. “You’re staying for breakfast.”
“Thank you but you don’t need to have me stay,” Molson hastily said. “I didn’t expect anyone to invite me and I expect you want to spend time together as a family. I’m not really hungry anyways.”
A growl from his stomach belied his statement.
“You’re staying,” Ann repeated. “FenLei would give us a large amount of grief if you didn’t.”
“No one wants to be in trouble with FenLei,” Amy told him with a serious expression on her little face.
