Austin continued to help Debbie finish getting dinner ready, each of them with a child on one hip, because every time they tried putting the girls down, they cried. Then they both ended up eating with a child in their lap, as they tried to coax the girls to eat something.
“I really think part of their tears at this point is exhaustion. They haven’t slept more than two hours at a time, and one or the other woke up every couple of hours last night, which of course woke her sister up.”
“Where are they sleeping? You don’t have them all the way upstairs do you?” He hated to think of a sleep exhausted Debbie tumbling down the stairs.
“They slept in my room with me last night, but Scott and Rudy are coming over tonight to help move the playroom upstairs and set up the toddler beds my parents picked up for the girls today in the room across from mine.”
“Good. I’ll help.”
“You don’t have to do that. You’ve done enough already tonight.”
Austin contemplated saying it was the least he could do for the woman he was in love with but Dallas piped up. “I’ll help too. I can carry the toys.”
“Me too,” said Cody.
He grinned at Debbie. “I guess it’s settled then.”
True to Debbie’s word, Scott and Rudy arrived a short time later.
After a brief, tense moment where Debbie’s brothers were clearly surprised to find Austin and his kids having dinner with Debbie, noise and pandemonium ensued.
Lucia and Mia started crying again, upset by more strangers, and Dallas and Cody were so eager to help that their voices reached new levels.
After asking Savannah to help Debbie out by loading the dishwasher, Austin finally managed to get the boys focused on carrying the toys from the old playroom to the new, and Debbie took the girls to her bathroom, hoping a bubble bath would calm them down and keep them out of the way.
The whole time they worked together, Austin half expected Debbie’s brothers—well, Rudy, since Scott rarely talked—to give him a hard time about taking advantage of Debbie and her generosity. When neither of them did, Austin decided he had a guilty conscience. Debbie provided free babysitting and dinner for his family every night and what did he give her in return?
Nothing. Except more work.
It was late by the time they had all of the furniture moved and the youth beds assembled, but Austin lingered long enough to make sure the beds were made up with the new bedding Debbie’s parents had bought. The last thing he did after telling his kids to go get in the truck was carry down a twin mattress from one of the bunk beds to lay on the floor of the girls’ room for Debbie, in case they had more rough nights.
Debbie walked into the room holding a girl with each hand as he straightened the bedding on the twin mattress.
Tears again filled her eyes as she smiled at him.
He straightened and walked over to her. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”
“I know. Thanks for being so thoughtful.” She gave him a watery smile.
“I didn’t want you to have to sleep on the floor if you didn’t feel like you couldn’t leave the girls.”
She released the girls’ hands and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He gave her a brief hug and planted a quick kiss on her cheek before releasing her. “I’d better go. I need to get my own kids to bed.” He bent down to the girls and gently stroked their cheeks. “Goodnight, little angel one and little angel two. You sleep well, okay?”
One girl—he wasn’t sure which one, since they no longer wore different colored bows—gave him a shy smile. The other just stared at him with solemn eyes.
As he let himself out of the house, he determined tomorrow he’d have Debbie teach him how to tell the girls apart, because if those little darlings came as a package deal with Debbie, he was in.
CHAPTER27
Debbie checked the clock as she pulled the chicken and rice casserole from the oven. Austin would be here soon, and she wanted to make sure dinner was a hundred percent ready. It still embarrassed her to remember what a mess he walked into on Monday. And how she nearly burst into tears.
Yesterday was only marginally better, but dinner still wasn’t quite done when he arrived to find the boys not yet dressed for soccer. Debbie had totally spaced it because she was still living from minute to minute in a state of overwhelming exhaustion.
One part of her felt so blessed to be able to foster these two beautiful little girls, but every time she thought about what they’d lost for her to have this opportunity, her heart broke, and she had to fight the depression.
Austin had been amazing. Again. He’d quietly told the boys to go get ready for soccer, then he’d helped her in the kitchen, unloading the dishwasher between helping with dinner and juggling the clinging girls. He managed to get most of the dirty dishes loaded before they were ready to sit down to eat.
