“She has no idea,” Ariel whispers behind me.
Bash comes out of the den to investigate the voices. His smile lights me up inside, despite the niggling concern that our first neighbor to visit is going to meet them both before she has even made it through to the kitchen.
He slides an arm around my waist and mimics his brother, lowering his face to mine and kissing me on the lips. He too, flashes a smile at Margaret, not quite as blinding as Cash’s, but irresistible, nonetheless.
Their smile is their superpower.
Beguile the opponent and swoop in for the kill before they even realize.
“Bash Murray.” He shakes her hand.
Margaret, slightly dazed, her brow furrowed in bewilderment, accepts his hand limply. “Yes,” she says as though that covers everything.
Ariel’s restrained chuckle reaches me from behind.
“Shall we?” Bash gestures to the kitchen and the aroma of coffee wafting through from the machine already.
Cash isn’t there.
Bash pulls a seat out from the table for Margaret and helps me lower myself carefully onto the seat next to her.
Ariel leans against the counter across the room and watches from a distance. It wouldn’t surprise me if she whipped out a notepad and pen and started taking notes purely for her own amusement.
“Twins,” Margaret murmurs to the room in general as Bash pulls mugs from the cupboard and lines them up on the counter.
“Runs in the family.” His wide smile over his shoulder is all for me. “But life will be a whole lot easier for us having one of each.”
“One of each.” Margaret’s eyes slide back to me and then clear. “A boy and a girl. How wonderful.”
Cash wanders through from the garden, holding a bunch of daffodils in his arms. “I thought they would look good on the windowsill.”
“Oh my.” Margaret’s hand rises to the fine silver chain around her throat and subconsciously tugs on the cross resting between her collarbones. A flush spreads through her face. “There are two of them.”
“Twins.” Ariel doesn’t even try to hide her bemused smile.
“Twins,” Margaret repeats. Her gaze darts around the room and finally settles on my swollen belly. “Which one…?” She must realize the question is insensitive and tries to cover it up with, “I mean, the father… they both… I saw you… oh my.”
She stands abruptly, catching the chair before it topples.
I should try to explain. I don’t want her to walk out of here and tell everyone she knows about the strange goings-on at number fifty-one. I can almost hear it:Two men. Twins. Can you believe it? She probably doesn’t even know which one is the father.But I’m frozen to my seat, hysteria threatening to bubble up inside me and explode in maniacal laughter.
So what if people don’t understand.
I can’t expect everyone we meet to be happy for us.
But I shouldn’t let it affect who we are and what we have.
With a flash of determination and resolve, I ease myself back out of my seat, cross the room, and stand between my men. I kiss Cash’s cheek first, and then Bash. “Cash and Bash. They’re identical twins,” I say. “And I’m in love with them both.”
Margaret’s face twitches as though she is about to sneeze.
But before she can express herself, something seems to snap inside me, and water trickles down my legs, soaking through my overalls.
“Dear, I think your waters just broke,” she says.
POST EPILOGUE
REMY
