Gabriel set down his coffee cup and leaned against the counter. “I'm concerned about her. About what happens after the babies come. She's so determined to do everything herself, to prove that she can handle it. But twins are a lot. More than a lot. And she's already exhausted.”
“That's why we're here. To help.”
“I know. But you won't be here forever. Eventually you'll go back to Florida, and it will just be us. Me and Beth and two newborns and all the responsibilities we already have.” He shook his head. “I don't know how we're going to manage it.”
Maggie studied her son-in-law. She had liked Gabriel from the moment Beth brought him home, had seen the steadiness inhim, the quiet strength. He was not a man who complained or asked for help easily. The fact that he was confiding in her now meant the weight had grown too heavy to carry alone.
“Beth mentioned that Emily offered to come stay,” Maggie said carefully. “To help with the babies and the orchard.”
Gabriel's expression shifted, something guarded entering his eyes. He nodded. “Yes, I’ve agreed to it but…”
“You don't sound enthusiastic.”
He was quiet for a moment, turning his coffee cup in his hands. “It's not that I don't like Emily. I do. The few times we've met, she's been...interesting. Smart. Direct.”
“But?”
“But I don't know her. Not really.” Gabriel looked up at Maggie. “Beth talks about her like she's already part of the family, like inviting her to live with us is the most natural thing in the world. And maybe for Beth it is. But for me, it feels like a big step. We're about to have twins. Our lives are about to turn upside down. And in the middle of all that, we're going to add another person to the household? Someone I've only met a handful of times?”
Maggie nodded slowly. “Those are valid concerns.”
“I want to do the right thing. For Beth, for the babies, for Emily too. But I don't want to decide out of obligation that we end up regretting.”
Paolo, who had been listening quietly, set down his coffee cup. “May I say something?”
Gabriel nodded.
“When Emily needed a kidney, I barely knew her. She was Maggie's stepdaughter, a young woman I had met perhaps twice. But she was family. And family helps family, even when it's complicated. Even when you don't know what the outcome will be.” Paolo's voice was gentle but certain. “I gave her my kidney not because I understood everything about her, but because I trusted that she was worth helping. And she was. She is.”
Gabriel was quiet, absorbing this.
“Emily has Asperger's,” Maggie added. “Which means she experiences the world differently than most people. She's direct, sometimes bluntly so. She doesn't always pick up on social cues, and small talk isn't her strength. But she's also loyal, hardworking, and honest to a fault. When she commits to something, she commits completely.”
“Beth says she's brilliant with plants,” Gabriel said. “That she studied environmental science and knows more about sustainable agriculture than anyone Beth's ever met.”
“She does. And she's been struggling to find her place since college. Job interviews are hard for her. The social performance of selling herself to strangers doesn't come naturally.” Maggie paused. “But working on a farm, with her hands in the soil and clear tasks to accomplish? That might be exactly what she needs.”
The kitchen fell silent except for the ticking of the clock on the wall. Gabriel stared out the window at the orchard, his brow furrowed in thought.
“What does Beth want?” he asked finally. “Really want, not just what she thinks she should want.”
“You should ask her that yourself,” Maggie said.
As if summoned by their conversation, the sound of slow footsteps came from the stairs. Beth appeared in the doorway a moment later, one hand on the wall for balance, her belly leading the way. She wore an oversized sweater that had probably been Gabriel's and a pair of leggings that strained to contain her expanding middle.
“I thought I heard voices,” she said. “Is there coffee?”
Gabriel was at her side immediately, guiding her to a chair. “Sit. I'll get it.”
Beth lowered herself into the seat with a grimace. “You're all up early. And you have that look.”
“What look?” Maggie asked.
“The 'we've been talking about something serious' look.” Bethaccepted the coffee Gabriel brought her and wrapped her hands around the mug. “Let me guess. Emily?”
Gabriel and Maggie exchanged glances.
“Gabriel has some concerns,” Maggie said. “About Emily staying here long-term. I think you two should talk about it.”
