Now, I stood behind Amelia in the most adorable pink bedroom overlooking the sound. She was saying, “We keep extras of the twins’ favorite stuffed animal—this is Cloud—in this drawer in case one gets misplaced because they can’t sleep without them.”
“That is very, very smart.”
Amelia nodded. “I did a freelance piece forParentingmagazine around the time I got pregnant with the twins, and that was one of the expert tips.”
She walked to the closet. “This shelf has all the emergency items in case they get sick. Humidifier, vitamins, sore throat pops.”
I marveled at the organization in this house, but that wasn’t what I was actually thinking about. I was thinking I knew who the beautiful woman in the frame on Greer’s nightstand was, but it was nosy to ask.
“Amelia, you are Super Mom. It is so clean!”
She smiled. “Well, we have to stay organized to keep it all together.” She cleared her throat. “And… their after-school sitter is an organizing ninja. This is all her. I’m a little afraid of her. She scolds me if I don’t put a thermometer up properly.”
I laughed. “Well, the good news is that we’re going to be just fine, and no one is going to get sick. But, if they do, I know just how to handle it, and have every tool known to man color coded and labeled.”
Amelia sighed. “You are such a godsend. Seriously. Miss Pat, our everyday sitter, is a little older, and she doesn’t feel confident with overnights. And the pearl twins are wonderful grandmothers, but they cannot comprehend that I don’t want my children raised on Pop-Tarts and Coke.”
I laughed. “I get it. Don’t worry. I will feed them well and keep them on schedule.”
She walked back over to Greer’s dresser to show me how to work the sleep machine—as if I couldn’t have figured that out—giving me the perfect opportunity to say, “Maybe it’s none of my business, but the woman in the frame…”
“Oh, that’s Greer,” Amelia said offhandedly. Yup. That’s what I thought. Then she laughed. “Wait. Sorry. Greer is Parker’s first wife.”
I bit my lip wondering if I was betraying him, then decided I wasn’t, and said, “Yeah. Mason mentioned that you had named Greer for her, and I just think that’s so big of you. I mean, wow. What an incredible thing to do.”
Amelia studied me for a minute. “So I guess he didn’t tell youwhywe did that?”
I shook my head.
“I’m really not that selfless. It’s just that Greer and George are Greer and Parker’s biological children.”
I squinted.
“They froze embryos before Greer died. I couldn’t have children—primary ovarian insufficiency—and so we used their frozen embryos.”
My jaw dropped, and I wished it hadn’t.
“It’s a much longer story. I was actually just going to be Parker’s surrogate.”
I gasped. “And then you fell in love?”
She smiled. “And then we fell in love.”
I had chills. “That is just beautiful, Amelia. I mean, wow.” I paused. “And, man, I wish I had been there when you told Elizabeth and Olivia that you were going to be Parker’s surrogate.”
We giggled like longtime girlfriends.
“The lecture heard round the world!” she said. “But it all worked out just like they wanted in the end, so they have very little to complain about.”
I nodded. “I should say so. Best friends’ kids get married. It’s the dream!”
“Totally. And Parker’s ex-father-in-law—the kids’ biological grandfather—will be here for Easter, so maybe you can meet him too. Just another layer in our family salad.”
On impulse, I hugged her. I felt like an idiot. I pulled back, and she laughed. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I just love this family so much. You guys are so special. This is the kind of family I dreamed about being a part of.”
“Vaguely related, so when they do something crazy, you can say, ‘Well, they aren’t blood’?” Amelia joked. “It’s a disaster. But it’s our disaster. You know?”
I nodded furiously. “Yes! I never got to be a part of an ‘our disaster.’?”
