“Maybe a little. But he’ll tell you the truth.”
Liam speaks again. “What do we call him?”
“What do you want to call him?”
“I don’t know. Da? Or his real name?”
“He’s your father. You can call him Da if you want.”
They both go quiet.
Then Finn grins. “I’m going to ask him if he can teach us to build stuff. Real stuff.”
“And I want to ask if we can go back to Ireland,” Liam adds, warming up now. “I miss the beach.”
Relief washes through me. “So you both want to meet him?”
“Yes!” Finn shouts.
Liam nods, slower but real. “Yeah. I want to meet him.”
“Good. Because he’s very excited to meet you too.”
They go back to their blocks, already planning what they’ll show their father tomorrow.
I watch them and try not to think about all the ways this could go wrong.
Saturday morning arrives too fast.
The twins are more nervous than usual. Finn keeps asking what time Da is coming. Liam stays close to me, following me from room to room like he’s afraid to let me out of his sight.
At two thirty, Julian and Nadia arrive.
“How are they?” Nadia asks.
“Nervous. Finn is excited. Liam is terrified.”
“And you?”
“Same as Liam.”
She squeezes my hand. “It’s going to be okay.”
At two forty-five, we gather in the main sitting room.
The twins are on the couch, both in clean clothes I made them change into twice. Finn’s hair is sticking up despite my attempts to smooth it down. Liam is holding a stuffed bear he hasn’t touched in weeks.
Julian stands by the fireplace. Nadia sits in the armchair by the window.
I’m on the couch between the boys.
At exactly three, the doorbell rings.
Finn jumps. Liam grabs my hand.
“It’s okay,” I tell them. “That’s just your father. Remember what we talked about.”
Julian goes to answer the door. I hear low voices in the foyer, then footsteps, then Cassian walks into the room.
