“Could hearing aids help? And even if not, with a good speech therapist, she could learn to speak. If she wants to, of course. Some in the Deaf community choose not to.”
“Since when did you become an expert on this?”
“Books. Documentaries on parenting. You should try them sometime.”
I opened my mouth to retort just as the doorbell rang. We were still standing by the entrance, so I pulled it open.
And a hurricane named Trinity Turner swept in.
“Well, look who’s finally findable! Perhaps my son can now explain how I have two granddaughters I’ve never even heard of.”
“Hi, Mom…” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. This was a conversation I’d been actively avoiding. “So… there they are. Aurora and Anna.”
My mother’s gaze landed on the girls, who had now abandoned the TV to stare at the commotion. “Look at them, Logan! Where have they been all this time?” I opened my mouth, but she steamrolled ahead. “How is it possible my grandchildren are so big? Well, everyone knows I was terribly young when I had my boys, and it seems they’ve followed suit.”
My mother was nearly thirty when Sebastian was born. But no one ever dared contradict Trinity Turner when she was revising her own history, least of all when she’d been a famous film star since her teens—her age was a matter of public record for anyone who cared to look it up.
“Oh, and they look just like you, Logan,” she continued, her voice softening. “They’re beautiful. They have my smile, too.”
The only feature I shared with my mother was my blue eyes, which, coincidentally, was the one trait the girlshadn’tinherited. Theirs were a warm brown. But again, contradicting Trinity was a fool’s errand.
“Are you our other grandmother?” Anna asked, curious.
“Yes, darling, I am,” my mother replied, gliding toward them.
“I’ve seen you on TV.”
“I suppose you have.”
“Cool. Want some chocolate?”
Aurora, who had been watching her sister, gently held out her bag of chocolates to my mother as soon as the question was asked.
The gesture seemed to melt her completely.
“Oh, my darlings, you are just precious!”
My mother dropped to her knees on the rug, pulling both girls into a tight embrace and planting a loud kiss on each of their heads. They squirmed, trying to escape her vice-like grip.
“Your father is completely irresponsible, but don’t you worry, my beauties. You will want for nothing.”
“Mom, don’t call me that,” I retorted. I found the label deeply offensive when applied to me.
“But you are! You haven’t been present in these angels’ lives until now!”
She said it as if it had been a conscious choice.
I drew a breath to argue, but Michael’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen, and his expressionshifted. “It’s Sebastian. It must be an update on Bonnie’s surgery.”
The air in the room instantly changed. My mother and I froze, all our attention snapping to him.
He answered, and the look on his face—a flicker of shock, then deep concern—told us everything we needed to know before he even spoke a word. The news was not good.
Chapter Ten
EVELYN
If Logan had been the one to call and ask me to help with the twins at that moment, I would have hung up after telling him exactly where he could stick his paternal responsibilities.
