Page 47 of Silver Fox's Twin Babies

“Superheroes aren’t real, dummy!” she quipped and before I got to scold her, Mom beat me to it.

“Vera, that’s not nice. Say you’re sorry.” She frowned and Vera grumbled.

“Sorry, Parker.”

“Honey, why do you ask that?” I asked again, and Parker took a bite of his corn while Erin put some turkey and stuffing down next to it.

“Well, we’ve never seen him. Superheroes have to keep their identities a secret, you know. Like Peter Parker. He’s Spiderman, but he has to pretend to be a picture-taker. Or you know Clark Kent is really Superman.” In Parker’s world this was logic. I thought it was sweet.

“No, baby, your daddy isn’t a superhero, but he is very special to me, and I love him very much.” I looked up at Evan and smiled. I had so much love for this man I wasn’t sure what to do with it all the time. I felt overly emotional and weepy, but all in a good way. “Evan is your daddy, and I think maybe he’d like if you called him Daddy.”

Parker glanced up at him and nodded, pushing his lips out in an expression of acceptance. “Okay,” he said as he shoved another bite of roll in his mouth. There wasn’t the slightest hintof disturbance or upset in his expression as he chewed. I glanced at Vera who was picking the raisins out of her stuffing. She, too, looked happy as can be and not at all disturbed.

“Vera, how do you feel about that?” I was a little confused, still waiting for the explosion or meltdown I thought might come, but Vera tilted her head as she bobbed one shoulder.

“Yeah, okay. Do I have to eat these?” She used her fork to point at her raisins and scowled at them.

I looked at Mom, then Jacob. Evan sat with a cheesy grin on his face, hands folded in front of himself with his elbows planted on the table. Erin had finally sat down with a full plate and was eating quietly. It felt surreal. They weren’t having any reaction at all. It felt as if I’d just told them we were going to the grocery store, or that it was time to have their showers before bed. They had less of a reaction to this than when a snow day was declared for school and they got to celebrate a day off.

“Don’t you have any questions?” I furrowed my forehead and tapped my fingers on the table. I was baffled.

“Yes, I asked if I have to eat this…” Vera’s attitude was something else lately.

“I meant about your dad.” Pressing my lips together I licked them and waited for a response. For as much as I worried about this moment, my fears seemed to be completely unfounded. Neither of them seemed fazed.

“No,” Parker said, shrugging. He continued to shove food into his mouth making Erin giggle. The laughter spread to Mom, then Jacob.

“You don’t want to know where he’s been?” I asked, trying not to laugh too. The bug caught Evan, and he laughed louder than the others. Then Vera giggled.

“Lots of kids don’t have a dad,” he said, “or they visit their dad.”

It was a somber statement that shifted the mood in the room back to more serious as I started to fill my plate with small portions of each dish. It was the most mature, yet stunted, reaction I’d ever seen. I knew there would eventually be questions, which I’d have to face when they came up, but I was happy the news was out. My hands didn’t shake anymore, and my stomach finally felt a bit more settled.

After dinner we shared gifts, then we said goodnight to Jacob and Erin. Mom lingered a while until we tucked the kids in, and then she left us alone.

Evan sat on the couch once the kitchen was clean and the leftovers were put away. He patted the cushion and I curled up next to him. His body was my comfort now; I drew everything I needed by being near him.

“Well, that went better than we expected.” He kissed the top of my head and sighed happily as I clung to him. He smelled like Christmas thanks to the pine scented bar soap I bought him last week.

“It did…But I’m a bit concerned that they’re not fully understanding it yet.” I picked at a loose thread on his shirt but didn’t pull it out. The muted way the children reacted caused me as much concern as if they’d blown up and gotten really upset, except I wasn’t shaking or worrying now.

“Oh, give them time. They’ll have questions for sure.” He hugged me to his side tightly. “And when they do, we’ll have answers.”

The house felt quiet now after all the activity for the day. My eyes were heavy and I knew sleep would come quickly tonight. I’d been on my feet for hours cooking; they hurt a lot. I kicked off my slippers and propped my feet on the table and yawned.

Movement in the corner of the room caught my eye and I looked up to see Vera peeking around the corner of the hallway. She stared at Evan and me cuddling, so I nudged him. I didn’tknow he’d laid his head back and shut his eyes, but he raised his head to look down at me. I nodded at her and he turned to look.

“Vera, do you need something? I can get you a drink if you’d like.” Evan was already on his way upright before she spoke.

“No, I’m not thirsty.” She stepped out and Parker followed her. They both stood meekly by the hallway with matching Christmas pajamas and serious expressions.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, sitting up as Evan sat back down. My heart thumped a little harder as I wondered if this was when they would have their questions.

Vera shook her head but said, “I have a question.” Parker gave her a nudge and she hissed at him. “You ask her.”

“No,” he said, defiantly shaking his head. “You ask her.”

“Ask me what?” I took a deep calming breath. Evan put his hand on my back and rubbed it. It didn’t actually calm me, but him being there helped a little.

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