Page 46 of Silver Fox's Twin Babies

AMBER

The past three weeks since Thanksgiving at Jacob and Erin’s house had been tense. So many times I wrestled with how much our news would disrupt the twins’ lives. I spoke to Shelby at length, sat and talked to Mom so many times, and even spoke to the kids’ guidance counselor at school for advice. I was rattled and nervous to say the least.

“You’re really tight,” Evan said as he stood behind me. I felt his hands on my shoulders rubbing the tension out of my muscles, but I knew it would return the instant his fingers stopped massaging.

“I am,” I sighed. “What if it really upsets them? What if they are too emotional or it interrupts their schooling? What if?—”

“Hey,” he said, turning me around to face him as he cut me off, “worst-case scenario they freak out entirely, scream that we’re ruining their lives, and storm off to their rooms.” Evan chuckled, but I didn’t think it was that funny.

When he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head I did feel comforted though. I had taken to sleeping over at his house every Friday and Saturday night with the kids. He had remodeled almost every square inch of his house now tomake it family friendly, including decorating rooms for each of the twins to their own tastes.

Parker’s room looked like a superhero comic book exploded all over the walls, while Vera’s room had every shade of pink imaginable. He left the choices up to them and they loved the spaces. The only thing lacking were the questions. Neither one of them asked if I was dating him or if he was their new dad—nothing of the sort. It made me wonder what was going through their heads when they thought of him and our sleepovers, and now our early Christmas dinner.

“You sure doing this before Christmas is a good idea?” I frowned as I pulled away and looked up at him. I wasn’t sure about anything. Jacob had said to just blurt it out, but even that felt doubtful. I’d never been one to doubt Jacob, but in this case my gut felt torn.

“I’m positive. Look,” he said, kissing my forehead, “they’ll have time to settle in to the idea over holiday break from school. If it’s too much we’ll hire a family counselor for everyone. They get some presents tonight, and then they can have a full second round of gifts with Mona, and then you at your house Christmas morning…Babe, try not to worry.”

The timer on the stove dinged and I turned around to shut it off. “Turkey,” I announced. Evan backed away to give me space to move as we both heard the doorbell ring.

“I’ll get that. You finish up here.” I felt his hand on my lower back before he left, and I pulled the large bird out of the oven and set it on the stovetop. Everything else was already positioned on the table, ready for eating. I breathed in the warm steam coming off the large turkey and reached for the carving knife to begin slicing hunks of meat off the bones.

My hands worked quickly while I listened to happy sounds of Vera and Parker greeting Evan with high fives and laughter. His low baritone rumble mingled with Mom’s gentle chiding asshe insisted the kids remove their shoes by the door to not track snow in the house everywhere. I smiled at the back and forth as they acted like typical kids while Mom thought they should be more mature.

“Listen to Nana,” I shouted loud enough for them to hear me, and I heard grumbles as they obeyed. I was thankful she’d taken them for an overnight last night; it’d given Evan and me time to discuss how we would tell the kids about him this evening.

When the sounds in the living room changed from banter to video game music, Mom joined me in the kitchen. She walked up beside me and said, “This all looks so delicious, Amber. Did you cook?”

“Are you kidding?” I asked with a chuckle. “Evan did this. He has the culinary bug. I’d have made mac and cheese with hot dogs.” I grabbed a hand towel from the drawer and wiped my hands clean after putting the last slice of turkey on a plate. “We’re ready to eat if you can pry Parker away from games.”

“That sounds like a job for his father,” she said to me as she took the plate of food and winked.

Together we walked into the dining room, and I peeked into the living room on the way. “Dinner is ready, guys,” I called, surprised to see Evan battling it out with both children in a game of go-kart racing. “Come on! No presents if you don’t eat.”

The thunder as six feet stampeded into the dining room as the bell rang again was cacophonous. I didn’t even have to go to the door. Erin and Jacob let themselves into Evan’s front room and stomped the snow off their feet at the door.

“Don’t start without us!” Jacob pulled the hat off his head and smiled at me.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I walked over and offered each of them a hug, helping Erin out of her coat. “Turkey just came out of the oven. Everything is still hot.”

We joined Mom, Evan, and the kids at the table and found our seats. Vera scrunched her nose up at the spread, but Parker’s eyes were wide. I heard his belly rumbling and could tell he was hungry.

My eyes flicked over to meet Evan’s gaze and he nodded at me. I wasn’t ready for this at all. I wanted more time, though I wasn’t sure if it was because I was afraid of ruining their innocence or if I was just afraid of the bad reaction I feared would happen.

“Vera, Parker,” I sighed as Parker’s hand retreated from the bowl of dinner rolls in front of him with one in his grasp. They looked up at me as he took a large bite. “Guys, there’s something Mommy wants to talk to you about before we eat.”

Both of them looked up at me with saucer eyes, expecting me to tell them something important, but my throat constricted and my breath caught. I felt tears welling up as fear wrapped around me. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t ruin them. I looked to my mom for help, then Evan, and he smiled and tilted his head.

“You know guys, Mom is having a tough time saying it, so I want to tell you a funny story.” If he were closer to me, I knew his hand would’ve been on my leg to reassure me. “My dad once tried to fix the car by himself. He had no idea what he was doing, so he ended up spraying the entire garage with motor oil. I swear, it looked like a Slip ’N Slide for cars. I don’t think he ever touched the toolbox again after that!”

Jacob laughed at the memory and eyed me carefully. I was trembling, but when he took over, I felt less out of control. “That was a pretty funny day, wasn’t it Evan?” Jacob sighed and turned to Parker. “You have any good stories about your dad?”

He reached out and picked up the dish of corn and added a scoop to his plate then each of the twins while Parker narrowed his eyes and shrugged. “I don’t have a dad, just you.” His honest answer broke my heart. More than anything I wanted them toknow and love Evan as their dad, and that gave me the courage to finally speak up.

“Parker, Vera…” They turned to me again and I sniffled and wiped my eyes. “You do have a dad.”

Vera looked confused, while Parker’s eyebrows shot up. “We do? Is he a superhero?”

Evan chuckled with Mom, who covered her mouth with a hand. Erin started dishing out food as I continued. “No, why would you think that?” I tried not to laugh because to Parker this seemed like a very serious thing. Vera, however, was rolling her eyes.

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