Her Twin Surprise (Forsaken Sons Book 2) by Elizabeth Lennox (web ebook reader txt) 📗

train set.  Janus carefully laid Harrison down in the bed with the train set, wondering if he was being sexist by assuming that it was his bed.  But Halley curled happily into the flowered comforter, snuggling up to a stuffed elephant.

“They’ll sleep for about an hour and a half,” Stevie explained quietly as they went back down the stairs. She stood there in front of him in the small family room, feeling awkward and…vulnerable.  “Would you like to see some of their baby pictures?”

His face brightened and he nodded eagerly.  “That would be great!  Thanks.”

For the next hour and a half, Stevie showed him pictures of Halley and Harrison from the time that they were born until just a few weeks ago, when she’d taken them to the zoo.  He asked questions, examined every picture with care, as if looking for hidden clues.  He wanted to know everything, from how much they weighed when they were born to what their first words were.

And the whole time, Stevie tried to inch away so that he wasn’t touching her.  Because every time his arm brushed against hers, she felt that spark that she’d long since thought was dead and buried.

“What do you…” he paused, gazing into her eyes.  There it was.  That pulsing awareness that she’d felt since the first time he’d walked into the bar so many years ago was still there.  Her eyes dropped to his lips, then quickly away.

“What else would you like to know?” she prompted.

He turned the page on the baby book and pointed.  “What happened here?”

She chuckled.  “That was supposed to be their first haircut.”  It was a picture of the twins screaming, their little faces red with terror.  “It never happened,” she admitted.  “From the moment I brought them into the salon, they were too scared of the scissors.  I brought them home and, while they were distracted, I snuck up behind them and snipped a little at a time.  It took me three days to finally get their hair to the point it wasn’t wild and scraggly.”

He laughed, the rich sound echoing through her body.

“And this?”

She looked at the picture he pointed to and smiled. The twins had expressions reminiscing of tasting lemons.  “That was the first time they tried a strawberry.  At first, I didn’t think they liked them.  The expression made me assume that the strawberry was too sour.  But they begged for more.  Now, I have to get them every time the kids see them in the store.  No matter how many strawberries I buy, they always want more.”

Stevie was almost relieved when Halley and Harrison came down the stairs, their hair a mess, hand in hand and still bleary eyed.  “Can we play with Dad?” Halley asked.

Janus stayed for the rest of the afternoon. Stevie actually got the whole house organized.  He took the twins into the backyard and threw the ball for Herbie, giving them pointers on how to kick the soccer ball more effectively, and tightened several screws that were coming loose on the backyard play set Stevie had put together last year.

That night, he stayed with the kids while they played in the bathroom, giving Stevie time to clean up dinner and get tomorrow’s lunches ready.  By the time she kissed them both goodnight, then watched Janus hug them goodnight, placing a soft kiss on their foreheads, Stevie was more than slightly off balance.

Janus grabbed his coat off the peg, draping it over his shoulder.  “Thank you for letting me stay tonight,” he said, smiling.

Stevie looked down at her feet, wishing that she had something prettier to wear than her old wool socks.  “Thank you for your help.  It was…great,” she whispered.

He moved closer, his hand reaching out to touch her cheek. “Will you let me come again tomorrow?” he asked.

She looked up at him.  “Will you have time?”

“I’ll make the time.”

“But…it’s over an hour’s drive.”

He nodded.  “I’ve missed four years of their lives, Stevie.  And I missed seeing you pregnant.  I missed the excitement in your eyes when you realized that you were going to have kids and the shock when you heard we were having twins.”

She laughed, shaking her head.  “Janus, I was terrified.”

He sighed and pulled her into his arms.  “Yeah.  And I missed being here to help you through it.”  He kissed the top of her head and pulled away, but his hands held her upper arms as he looked down at her. “I’ve missed out on so much.  I don’t want to miss anything else.”

“That’s fair.  I’m so sorry that you missed this.”

He shook his head. “It’s my own fault.  I didn’t tell my staff to let your calls go through.”

There was a long pause, then he pulled her close again.  For a long time, they just stood there, holding each other.  Each of them thinking about what they’d lost.

“I’d better head home,” he sighed. She heard the regret in his tone.

“Yeah.  I have some papers to grade.”

He pulled back and looked down at her.  “Tomorrow?”

She smiled.  “Yeah.  Tomorrow.”

And then he was gone.  Too quickly, the darkness swallowed him up.  She lost track of him as he made his way to his car, then she saw the tail lights flash on.  A moment later, Janus drove off and she stared after him until his tail lights disappeared.

With a sigh, she turned off the lights in the house, and let Herbie out one more time.  Thankfully, he was too worn out to want to play, so he just did his business, then went back up the stairs, plunking down on Halley’s bed.

It didn’t take long to finish grading her class papers.  Which meant she had too much time to think.  As she got ready for bed that night, she thought about Janus and his touch, the way he looked