What is wrong with me? I could blame pregnancy hormones, but I wasn’t pregnant when I first met him, and nothing has changed since then. Even though everything has changed since then.
“We played tricks on her.” Cash shrugs. “It’s a twin thing.”
“We still drive her mad.” Bash is more conservative with his opinions, content to let his brother lead the conversation and step in occasionally.
Seeing them together like this, I can spot subtle differences that I didn’t notice before. Probably because I had my eyes closedand was surfing multiple orgasms at the time. When he smiles, Cash’s lips tilt slightly to the left. Bash has a freckle on his neck, and he sometimes scratches behind his left ear before he speaks.
“Wonderful.” I lick my lips and they both stare at my mouth, hypnotized. “I’ll bear that in mind.”
“Remy.” Bash clears his throat, scratches behind his left ear, and touches the freckle as if he could read my mind. “We want to be a part of the babies’ lives.”
“We?” Because I’m not sure if they’ve forgotten that either one of them could be the father.
“We.” Cash holds my gaze for so long I watch his pupils growing. “We’re all in this together.”
“But…”
“But we’ll go along with whatever you want,” Bash adds. “A regular DNA test won’t identify which one of us is the father as we’re identical twins. We can pay for a genome analysis if that’s what you want, but we don’t want to put you through that.”
“As long as you’re happy to put up with us both.” Cash’s lopsided smile melts me inside.
I climb down from the stool and pace the floor between the kitchen and the living room. “Okay, so you didn’t believe me before, and now you both want to be their dad.” I stop pacing and stare at them. “It’s a lot to take in. What does that even mean, put up with you both? You both want to attend the ultrasound scans? You both want to hold my hands when I’m giving birth and take a baby each?”
Shit.
I never thought that they might want to take the babies away from me. I allowed myself to get so caught up in Ariel’s fantasy land where they bought me an apartment and took on the night feeds while I got some rest, that I never considered the very real possibility that they might want full custody.
If they went to court, they would win. They’re successful businessmen with the money to give my babies a better life than I could ever give them. They could buy the best baby equipment. Afford live-in nannies. Guarantee them entry into the best Ivy League schools in the country.
How could I fight that?
“I shouldn’t have come here.” I grab my purse from the floor where I must’ve dropped it when I passed out. “Thank you for the eggs, but I don’t need your help.”
“Remy?” I don’t know which one of them said my name, and I don’t stick around to find out.
I’m almost at the steps to the elevator before they catch up with me.
“Remy don’t leave.”
“We can work this out. Tell us what you want. Whatever you need for you and the babies, we’ll make it happen.”
“We want to be in their lives, but if that isn’t what you want, we’ll respect that too.”
Tears fill my eyes.
I turn around slowly and face them both. They’re not making this up. The masks have dropped. I see what their mom must seewhen she looks at her sons, and I don’t know how I didn’t realize that they were not the same person when I was in their arms.
“You won’t try to take them from me?”
They both furrow their brows. “Take them?” Bash speaks first. “You’re their mom. Why would we want to take them away from you?”
“Because you can?” I realize how irrational it sounds the instant I say the words out loud.
They each take my hand and shake it.
“Perhaps we should start over,” Cash says. “Hi, I’m Cash Murray.”
“And I’m Bash Murray. Pleased to meet you.”
