Page 5 of Risky Move

“Definitely,” Caryn replied. “I don’t know how I managed without you. You’ve spoiled me, and Jenna and Daniel love you, too. You’re part of our family, Cassie.”

Cassie’s heart swelled, and she took a deep breath to prevent tears from slipping from her eyes. These lucky babies would grow up surrounded by love. Like she had during her youngest years—before her parent’s bitter divorce and before she felt like a ping pong ball bouncing from house to house, parent to parent. Andrew and Caryn’s love for each other radiated each time they were together—the same love they showered on the “peanuts,” as Andrew called the twins. Cassie couldn’t imagine either of them putting the twins in the crossfire of a divorce. She couldn’t even imagine Caryn and Andrew arguing, much less divorced.

Cassie had stopped feeling shebelongedto a family long ago, since they divided her days between two homes. When she lived with her mother, Amanda’s bitterness toward her dad, Trevor, seeped into conversations. Even after Amanda convinced her own mother, Allyson—a virtual stranger to Cassie—to live with them last spring, she didn’t feel any sense of family. If anything, tension had increased in the home.

When she visited her father, Trevor, and his wife, Tanya, Cassie felt guilty because she preferred their home. Her dad always spoke about Amanda with respect, and Tanya made a point of including Cassie in their celebrations, especially with her toddler sibling, Taylor. Even though Amanda insisted on referring to the baby as Cassie’s “half-brother,” Cassie loved Taylor as her brother in every sense of the word.

She spent as much time as possible playing with him or babysitting. Getting to see him as often as she wanted depended on her mother’s mood. Whatever good vibes she absorbed while spending time with her dad faded when she returned home. Amanda clung to her bitterness like a shield.Lays a good guilt trip on me just because I want to see my dad, Tanya, and Taylor.

“These sweet angels are so blessed to have you and Andrew as their parents.” Cassie didn’t realize she had spoken the thought until she felt Caryn’s hug.

“And we are all blessed to have you, Cassie.”

4

When the Suns needed one win to progress to the Stanley Cup Final, Cassie encouraged Caryn to attend the game. Jenna and Daniel ran out of energy by dinner, and Cassie knew that the evening routine—dinner, bath, PJs, and the rocking chair—helped lull them into a deep slumber. She sensed Caryn wanted to watch the games in person rather than on TV and tried to assure her she could handle both babies.

“You want to go to the game, Caryn—I know you do,” Cassie coaxed as she sat with Daniel in the rocking chair. “I promise to care for the twins as if they’re my children. I won’t let anything happen to them.”

“Oh, Cassie, I know that. I just feel guilty leaving you with no backup. Lauren, Kelly, and Terri will be at the game. Tom’s working…What if you need help?”

“What doyoudo when the munchkins get grumpy and you have no backup?”

“Cope.” Caryn shook her head, suppressing a laugh as she sat beside Cassie. “I try to get both settled down, but sometimes one of these angels just has to wait—and cry—while I take care of the other.”

Cassie recognized the hesitation in her eyes. “If—and that’s a hugeif—both give me a hard time, I’ll stay calm and do what you would.”

“You’ve heard the set of lungs they have when they’re out of sorts.”

“My little brother sometimes got so worked up he couldn’t settle himself down. I swaddled him, held him, played soft music, sang to him—anything until he fell asleep. His cries sounded more like screams—I was sure the neighbors would call the police!” Cassie pressed her lips against Daniel’s soft baby hair. “And I called my dad or Tanya. That only happened once.”

“You’ll call me if you get overwhelmed?”

“Promise.”

* * *

Cassie’s confidence faded when the twins realized their mother wasn’t the person giving their baths. They looked for Caryn, then made their displeasure known, communicating the only way they could—with angry wails. Cassie spoke gently to them, completing Jenna’s bath and dressing her for bed. After securing Jenna in the swing, she selected soft music and a slow, soothing pace.

Daniel started kicking the moment she lifted him from the second swing. He resisted sitting in the bath chair, arching his back, and screaming in Cassie’s ears. Rather than force him into the bath chair, she dipped his toes in the warm water, hoping that soothed him. Daniel enjoyed bath time, but he wanted nothing to do with the water, the bath, or Cassie. His shrieks grew in volume, and Cassie watched his little face grow red with the effort.

After securing him on the changing table, she used a dampened washcloth to clean him as best as she could. “It’s okay, Danny,” she soothed. She reached across him to grasp a towel to dry him, and when Daniel chose that moment to pee, Cassie saw the laughter in his eyes as the warm water soaked her shirt.

“You are such a trickster!” Cassie kept her voice soft and humorous. “Let’s get you cleaned and in a diaper, okay?” She covered her shirt with a towel and enjoyed a few minutes of calm while she dressed Daniel and then strapped him in his swing. She patted her shirt with the towel, wanting to change but unwilling to leave the twins alone.

Caryn called the swings a sanity-saver, and Cassie understood why as she kneeled between them, singing along with the music. Their eyes grew heavy, the lids at half-mast, and Cassie hoped to tuck them into their cribs before they fell asleep.

She grabbed a clean towel to cover her wet shirt. “Hey, cute girl,” she whispered as she gently drew Jenna from the swing and cradled her against her chest. Jenna’s eyes popped open, and she startled when she didn’t recognize her mom. Her face turned red, and after she drew in a breath, Jenna unleashed a high-pitched wail worthy of an opera soprano. Daniel soon joined in the protest with angry screams that also reached the upper decibels.

“Can you use a hand?”

Cassie turned in surprise when she heard Tom’s voice. “I thought you were working tonight?”

“Slow night. Put on call and sent home.” Tom lifted Daniel, and the infant’s tears and wails ceased when he recognized his uncle. “Are you giving Aunt Cassie a hard time?”

“In the middle of her bath, Jenna realized that I’m not her mom. She voiced her displeasure, and then Mr. Daniel protested.” Cassie grinned as she showed her soaked shirt. “They nearlyfell asleep in their swings…but as you heard, they’re not happy campers.”

She caught the twinkle in Tom’s eyes. “Daniel got you, eh? Join the club. Why don’t you let me rock both of them while you change?”

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