Married...With Twins!

by Jennifer Mikels

  Meeting Jenny outside the store, Val relayed what had happened and shared with Jenny a promise to keep an eye on Faith, then loaded her bags into the trunk of her car. An empty sensation lodged inside her as she drove toward Irene’s to pick up the twins. It was clear that Faith was unhappy about a love that might never be, Wendy was wanting love so much she was willing to do anything, and she, too, was clinging to a love that had been and that she prayed truly lasted this time.

  “Cake. Traci do it,” Traci yelled to Luke when he came in the back door that evening.

  In passing, Luke kissed Val’s cheek, then closed the distance to the table and eyed the two-layer, chocolate cake they’d baked for the picnic. “It looks good.” As the girls beamed at him, he sent Val an amused grin. “Frosting has been short-changed, though, hasn’t it?”

  Grinning, she tipped her head to eye the bare side of the cake. “They both had to clean out the bowl.”

  “More went in the bowl than on the cake.”

  “That’s why you’re such a good doctor,” Val teased. “You always see beyond the obvious.”

  Brooke tugged on his pant leg. “Let’s go.”

  “We’ll go as soon as I change,” he promised. With the girls trailing him up the stairs to the bedroom and jabbering excitedly about the carnival, he stripped off his shirt.

  “Soon?” Brooke asked.

  “Yes, soon. Now out.” He scooted them from the bedroom so he could change into his jeans. While yanking them up, he heard the twins outside the door, waiting for him. With a glance around, he wondered where his sneakers were. On his hands and knees, he eyed one under the bed and stretched for it.

  “No, you stay out here,” he heard Val say before the door opened.

  From his position under the bed, all he could see were her feet.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for my second sneaker.” After inching out backward, he raised the shoe in the air like a trophy. “Found it.” His voice trailed off and his eyes narrowed as he stared into the sneaker.

  Val grimaced, guessing what was wrong. The adage that a picture was worth a thousand words seemed to suit the moment. With two fingers, he reached into his shoes then let the sand inside slip from his fingers back into it. “Whose idea was that sandbox?”

  “Yours,” Val backed out of the room, deciding she’d let him cool off by himself. She ushered the girls downstairs in case he spewed a few words unfit for young ears.

  In the kitchen, she wrapped up several carrot sticks, and packed them and bananas into the basket. Hot dogs might be Luke’s idea of a great dinner, but not hers.

  No longer looking so grumpy, Luke raced the girls to the car. During the drive to the carnival, they dutifully nodded their heads to his lecture that shoes didn’t belong in their sandbox.

  Certain his mood was congenial, Val filled him in oh what had happened at the Baby Boutique.

  Disbelief edged his voice in response to her summary of Wendy’s husband hunt campaign. “She is kidding?”

  “No. She was serious.” Val checked on the girls. Content in their car seats, they were talking to each other and their favorite dolls. “What do you think about Faith?” Val asked, still concerned for her friend.

  “I think she’s strong, but being alone, she has a tough time ahead.”

  Satisfied, Val nodded and eyed the crowd gathered in New Hope Park. “I meant to tell you earlier. Gramps called before you came home. He and Myrna will be at the carnival.”

  Luke let his attention drift from traffic as he braked at a stop sign. “He’s still seeing her?”

  “He was making dinner for them. And he wanted to know if I thought white candles would be okay.”

  “A romantic evening at seventy-one.” He chuckled. “The man has class.”

  A setting sun glared off the chrome of the Ferris wheel when they strolled from the gravel parking lot. Smoke flowed up from the barbecue grills that people had lugged to the park. Balloons danced on the breeze. The sound of music floated on the air accompanied by the hand-clapping and feet-stomping audience that was watching the local square dancing group performing on a nearby platform.

  In line for tickets, Luke held on tightly to Traci’s hand, while Val kept Brooke’s snug in her own. Dancing in place, Brooke impatiently tugged on Val’s hand to hurry her toward the merry-go-round.

  After pocketing the tickets, Luke scooped each girl up into an arm. Excitedly they chattered in his ears before he set each of them on one of the painted horses. When little hands were wrapped firmly around a pole, Val sidled close to Traci while Luke took a place beside Brooke. The soft, swaying beat of a waltz wafted through the air as the ride’s whirling motion began.

  “Whee, horsey,” Traci yelled, delight dancing in her eyes.

  Three rides later, they scurried toward the trill of the toy train. While they scrambled into seats, Luke lounged against a nearby post and munched on a bag of popcorn he’d bought. “They’re going to wear us out.”

  Relaxing against him, Val slipped an arm around his back. “You’re getting old, Doc.”

  Even faster, he thought, since they’d become par ents of rambunctious toddlers.

  When the ride ended, the twins raced toward the miniature car of their choice. Clanging the bell on her fire engine, Traci abandoned the steering wheel to wave as she drove by. The always more sedate Brooke had chosen a police car, but her siren wailed whenever she passed them.

  “Where are the little ones?” Val’s grandfather said from behind them

  Val didn’t bother answering:

  His gaze had already shifted to the twins. “Sweet, aren’t they, Myrna?” he murmured almost proudly to the woman standing beside him.

  Looking like a man ten years younger, he gave Val an ear-splitting smile as he introduced Myrna to her and Luke. “Smart,” he said low to Luke about Myrna when she was engaged in conversation with Val about the town’s upcoming annual cook-off. “And a good cook. She knows how to treat a man. Made me chicken and rice and a butter sauce.”

  Val discerned that Myrna had also overheard him.

  She sent Val a discreet wink. “I always cook low-fat, low-cholesterol. It’s healthier for everyone. He said he couldn’t tell, so the food was all right.”

  Val kept a thought to herself. For her stubborn grandfather to make such a concession, he must be in love.

  As people milled around, searching for a place on the grass, Val hurried to the gazebo. While the twins staked a spot, she was stopped once by Pricilla. Val assured her that she’d seen Faith.

  “Going to keep an eye on that gal,” Pricilla commented before walking away.

  That sounded like a good idea to Val, too.

  With the girls’ help, Val spread out a blanket while Luke bought the hot dogs for the twins and hamburgers for him and Val. Seeing him with hands full, maneuvering his way to them, she bounded to a stand to help.

  “Everyone in town must be here,” he muttered while handing her the twins’ hot dogs.

  “Grumble, grumble,” she teased. “You exaggerate,” she said, and nearly plowed into a young boy chasing a Frisbee.

  “Did that make my point?” he asked, shielding her to prevent a group of teenagers who were busy flirting and talking from bumping into her and knocking the dinner out of her hands.

  Val’s low laugh drifted over him when they dropped onto the blanket beside the girls.

  Looking up from digging into the picnic basket, she wasn’t unaware that the eyes staring at her were serious, warm, steady. “Want something?”

  Luke arched a brow. “What a question.” Ridiculously while she knelt and unpacked a picnic basket, and two toddlers zoomed around her, pretending to be airplanes, a flicker of desire rushed through him. Blocking thoughts that weren’t fit for a picnic and the company of two-year-olds, he braced his back against the sturdy trunk of a huge oak.

  Val offered him a can of soda. “The first picnic we went on was more romantic than this.”

&
nbsp; Luke recalled a dash to a nearby barn, humid air, and a kiss that made him ache as if he were sixteen again. A lot of days and a lot of kisses had passed since then. He’d thought he would never love her more than he had on that day. He’d been wrong. Seeing her in the role of a mother, he realized how much he’d taken for granted, how special, how caring she was. “This is romantic,” he finally answered.

  She gave him an interested stare, wondering how he’d come to that conclusion.

  “Sort of.” Luke bent his leg and held the soda can on his knee. “How many men go on a picnic with three pretty women?”

  Her eyes danced with a smile. “Smooth.”

  “More pickles, pease,” Traci insisted while examining the hot dog Luke had just set in her hand.

  Val peeled the pickles off her hamburger and loaded them on Traci’s hot dog.

  As Luke opened his mouth to take a bite of his hamburger, Brooke crawled closer and studied him somberly. He slanted a look at her. “Do you want more pickles, too?”

  Brooke wagged her head. “Pee, pee.”

  “Perfect timing,” Val said lightly, and pushed to her feet, offering Brooke her hand. “Come on.”

  “Traci, too,” Traci insisted, and scrambled to a stand.

  Val looked down to see Luke happily munching on his hamburger. “The least you could do is not look so comfortable.”

  “I’m just glad they’re girls and not boys.”

  Laughing, Val braced her hands on his shoulders, then kissed him.

  This is what they should always have had. His gaze stayed with Val and the girls, walking away hand-inhand. This was what they’d expected. Two people in love with a family of their own.

  Chapter Twelve

  Luke stripped off his operating scrubs. The patient was recovering in ICU, his condition stable. Luke had left word at the nurse’s station where he could be reached, but he’d already consulted with the doctor in the emergency room about the patient’s condition. Foreseeing no complications, the man would be headed home by the end of the week.

  Luke snatched up his sports coat and, hooking it on a finger, flung it over his shoulder. He passed the nurse’s station on the way to the elevator.

  “Good luck today,” one of them offered.

  Everyone knew. Dr. Lucas Kincaid and his wife were scheduled for a court battle today. Luke forced a confident grin and headed for the elevator. A few steps from it, another doctor flagged him down. More words of encouragement, wishes of good luck. If only that was all it would take.

  As he always did on these early morning trips home, he stopped at his mother’s. Her coffee seemed stronger today. “Any more news from your youngest son?”

  “He phoned to tell me that I should remind you of something. Kincaids are winners.”

  Luke thought his brother still a touch naive if he believed that always held true.

  “Who’s taking care of the twins when you’re in. court?”

  Luke rubbed a hand across tired eyes. He’d have to snag a few hours’ sleep before their court appearance. “Myrna volunteered to sit with them.”

  “I would, but Harry wants me in court.”

  “I know, Mom. This is okay. The twins know Myrna.”

  She nodded as if giving her approval. Her hands toyed with her spoon until it was perfectly lined up with a square in the plaid tablecloth.

  She needed assurances, just as Val would, Luke realized. “I think we should take the girls out for ice cream after the court hearing today.”

  Lifting her head, she met his stare with eyes that sparkled. “That’s a good idea.” She fed on his confidence about the day’s outcome. “Why don’t we have a small celebration here? We could invite over anyone who comes to court to support you and Valerie.”

  He thought they’d both be exhausted from the emotional strain. “Sounds great, Mom.”

  As she stood with him, he gave her a hug and his best grin. Only when he reached his car did he allow his own uncertainties to slip in. He wasn’t sure if by the end of the day, he might lose more than the twins. They’d brought him and Val together. Without them, would they drift apart again?

  Since awakening, Val had been trying to pretend this was a day like any other. The tremors in her stomach reminded her that it wasn’t. So many things could happen in court today. The judge might give them final guardianship of the twins. Or Charlene’s lawyer might present enough of a legitimate complaint that they’d still have only temporary custody and be faced with a custody battle. Or they might lose the girls.

  Val shut her eyes at the thought. She couldn’t allow that one to take hold. The girls jabbered, playing with their teacups and dolls before and after breakfast. With Luke at the hospital for a few hours, she was in desperate need of adult conversation. On a heavy sigh, she poured her third cup of coffee, though it wasn’t even seven o’clock yet, then dialed Jenny’s number.

  “You’re lucky you called me or I’d have beat your door down,” Jenny said on a laugh after their greeting.

  Val clung to the amusement in her friend’s voice as if it were a lifeline. “What’s the emergency?”

  “A four-alarm blaze.”

  “What?”

  “What else could it be?” Jenny teased. “I saw the way you and Luke looked at each other Saturday night. That wasn’t part of any act, was it? Something is definitely happening?”

  “Yes.” Val tried to mask her uneasiness about what she might have to face today. “We’re living in chaos, but everything is wonderful.”

  Jenny had been too close of a friend for too long. “You never lie and for good reason. You’re lousy at it.”

  “Okay. I’m worried, Jenny.” Val spoke the fear in her heart. “Over and over, I keep thinking. What if Charlene wins? She doesn’t know that Traci sheds her. shoes and socks whenever she enters the house, or seen her hug her books about horses, or is aware that Brooke is a chow-hound who will eat anything except green vegetables and loves playing with her toy computer.” Val realized that all sounded so trivial, but it was important for stability in the girls’ lives.

  “She won’t get them. The judge will see how much you love them.”

  “It isn’t important that I want them. What matters is their happiness. How can they be happy with someone who doesn’t want to know them? So I keep telling myself that we have to be the ones who get them.”

  “You will.”

  Val knew she’d go crazy if she believed differently. “Thanks for listening to me. I’ll talk to you again after this is over.”

  “No, you won’t. I’ll be there today,” Jenny assured her before saying goodbye.

  Val hooked the receiver back in its cradle. Nothing helped to stop her mind from dwelling on today’s court hearing. They’d turned in tax returns and medical histories. Val didn’t doubt the state worker had also contacted police to check for criminal activities. What the stack of papers didn’t show was how comfortable the twins were with them or how much they loved the girls.:

  Lost in thoughts, she slowly turned toward the telephone and wondered how long it had been ringing. Revving up a bright sound, she offered a greeting.

  “Valerie?”

  “Gramps, hi.” He was speaking, but his words weren’t completely registering. Mentally she shook her head.

  “So will you come over?” he asked. “It’s important.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

  She’d swear she heard a smile in his voice.

  “I wouldn’t have bothered you today,” he said when she and the twins strolled into his kitchen a few minutes later. “I know you have the court hearing to think about.”

  Actually she was grateful for a diversion. “I’m glad you did call.” Unpacking the girls’ coloring books, she noticed her grandfather had set dishes on the kitchen counter.

  “Well, anyway,” he said, “I wouldn’t have called you, but the minister reminded me this morning that the church rummage sale is this coming
weekend. I could pack all this myself, but I’d be up all night.”

  Val thought he was exaggerating and believed he had another reason for asking her over. “So why did you decide to get rid of all this now?”

  “I’ve been hanging on to it for too long. Your grandmother would say I was acting like a silly, sentimental old fool. She’d be right.”

  “I wouldn’t call you that.” Aware the twins were investigating his cupboards for something to get into, she raised a halting hand to him. “I’ll be right back.” She ushered the girls into his living room and delivered a brief lecture about not touching anything before she rejoined him in the kitchen. “Some people might say you’re wonderful for wanting to keep her things.”

  “Could be those people are right. But now it’s time to let them go,” he said with a sweep of his arm in the direction of the plates and cups on the table. “It’s stupid thinking to cling too long to what is over.”

  Val reached for a sheet of tissue and began wrapping one of the teacups her grandmother had collected. She needed busywork desperately. Peripherally she saw her grandfather examining a potholder her grandmother had made. As he set it back in a kitchen drawer, Val wondered how her grandparents had managed to keep love alive, to weather some dark and disappointing moments and not lose that love.

  “You’re kind of quiet.” Over his glasses, he peered at her. “You’ll have a lot of people cheering you and Lucas on today.”

  “I know.” Val offered a semblance of a smile before she left the kitchen for the garage to retrieve more cartons.

  Expecting him to still be in the kitchen, she peeked into the living room to see if he’d joined the twins. Alone, they were somersaulting across his carpet.

  “I’m in here,” he said from the adjacent bedroom. “Got some things in here to get rid of, too.”

  She gave another look back at Brooke who had fixed her stare on a bud vase in the hutch. Before joining him, Val got the girls interested in their coloring books. For the next half hour, Val worked beside her grandfather and packed up clothes.