“My question exactly. We can’t allow her to have this baby, not if she’s going to raise it with the same disdain she had for me. I can’t watch it happen.”
“So what? Are you going to take the baby?”
“Whoa. Fuck. Slow down. Pull the fucking reins, cowboy! I was thinking you could take the baby. Not me. I’m not ready to be somebody’s mother. I work like a fucking crazy person and have psychopaths trying to kill me every second Tuesday. But you have a peaceful home that’s already equipped for little humans.”
“Whoa. WHOA! No. We only just found out last week that Emily is pregnant. I can’t be having another one on top of that. That’d be like having another set of twins. Do you have any idea how fucking hard it was to put those kids on a sleep schedule? I was a fucking zombie for the first eight months of their lives.”
“Hold up. Emily is pregnant again?” I ask, making Izzy’s head snap up, her eyes wide with excitement.
“Wait. Shit. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that yet. She’s only a few weeks, but I panicked, and it just slipped out,” he says with a gasp. “Fuck. When we officially tell you in a few months, pretend to be shocked, but nothing super over the top. She’ll see straight through that shit.”
“Can do, big brother,” I say, “but congratulations. Those twins of yours could really use a new baby to boss around.”
“They sure could.”
“Okay, so what are we supposed to do?”
“Foster system?”
I let out a breath, the idea not sitting well with me. “That’s our sister, Jonah.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” he says. “Look, the way I see it, we still have months before a decision needs to be made. I’ll run the idea past Emily and see what she thinks, but I’ve got to be honest with you, Harper, I’m not sure if we can handle it right now. But who knows? Maybe the cops will catch up with Elias and put himbehind bars. Mom will have the mansion and a whole staff at her disposal. Maybe she’ll be fine raising the baby herself.”
I scoff. “Yeah, what a wonderful life that would be.”
“Yeah, fuck. I actually feel like a bit of an ass now,” he tells me. “I was calling to see if you’d be able to watch the twins in a few weeks because our usual sitter fell through, and Emily’s parents just can’t handle it, and Mom . . . That’s a hard no, but if I knew everything you were dealing with, I never would have called—fuck. I mean, I would have called . . . eventually. Well, you know, like at some point, obviously. I just mean I wouldn’t have called about that.”
“I can still watch them if you really need me to,” I say, my shoulders pulling back as a wave of excitement flourishes through me. “If you’re okay with the fact that I have Elias currently after me, of course. I barely get to see them. I haven’t even had a chance to teach them bad words yet. Who’s going to show them how to flip off their father if not for me?”
“Nah, it’s alright,” he says. “I really don’t want to put you out like that. I’ll start looking up local agencies or something like that. You’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“Really,” I insist. “I miss the girls. I’m more than happy to watch them, and besides, with the insane protection detail Knight has me under at the moment, my place is the safest home in the country. They’ll have a great time. I swear, you’re really not putting me out.”
“Are you sure?” he asks. “You remember my friend Troy from high school, right? It’s his wedding, so Emily and I will be back in Blackstone for the weekend. We’ll be close if you need anything, and I swear, they’re completely toilet trained and only wake up like . . . three, maybe four times during the night.”
“Oh, stop. You’re already acting as though I’m going to screw this up. They’re going to have an amazing time. We’ll have a movie night, and I’ll buy us all matching pajamas, maybe getsome permanent markers so I can give them tattoos just like mine. It’ll be great.”
“Holy shit. You’re going to corrupt my babies.”
“How do you think Emily would feel about black hair dye?”
“Fuck. I’m hanging up before I change my mind.”
“Love you, asshole.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters just moments before the line goes dead.
I laugh to myself as I lock my phone and finally put my arm back down, hoping like hell I haven’t somehow managed to screw up the dress by taking that call. Though if I had, I’m sure Izzy would have more than let me know by now.
I glance down at her, and as I do, I can’t help the wide grin that stretches across my face, excitement already blooming inside me as I think about all the ridiculously insane activities I could do with the twins. “How would you feel about a movie night with my nieces?”
“Yeah?” she asks, her eyes going wide with excitement. She loves little kids, but she’s just never loved the idea of having any of her own. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely?”
“Do you think they’ll want to play fashion designer with me?” she asks. “I’ve always wanted to do a children’s line.”
I scoff. “Not if you’re going to stick them with pins like you’ve been doing to me for the past hour. I can put up with that shit, but I draw the line when it comes to my twinnies.”
