“Doctor LeDoux,” she greeted in French.
“Kimmy, it’s me. We’ve had some issues here.”
“Oh?” Her level of disinterest assured him she hadn’t put aside whatever she’d been working on when the phone rang.
“Yes. Thomas was shot in the chest. There was a sociopath in town, she boiled over, and Thomas was shot saving my wife.” He braced for her response, ready for the worst, because he deserved it.
“Will he live?”
No change in her tone, barely concern. He was the closest he’d been to taking a drink in ten years because he was eating his heart out. It galled him that the one person in the world who should have had a connection with Thomas, probably hadn’t even looked away from her file.
“Yes. His breathing tube is out now, he squeezed my hand and has his eyes open,” he explained. “Kimmy, it was a freak thing. He’s got a long road to recovery, but the doctors say he will recover well.”
“Good. I’m glad.” The perfunctory, polite reply was all he could expect from her. Had he been thinking, he would have guessed her response right on. “I found the most fascinating strain of virus yesterday, Mark. You’d never believe how utterly simple yet complex a single strain organism can be.”
He gritted his teeth against his anger at her rapid subject change. He didn’t know why he expected her to change, but every time she proved how little she cared about her children, he wanted to scream. “Are you coming to see your son?”
“Why? He’ll recover, and we both know who he wants and it’s not me.” Her honestly surprised tone irritated him even more than her words. “You do fine with him, Mark. I trust you. Pierre trusts you too.”
“My wife is a teacher, so she’s handling the paperwork.” The sarcasm and bitterness in his tone was unavoidable.
“One of our favorite aides is dyslexic. Pierre has refined his opinion of the disorder,” Kimmy explained. “Speaking of Pierre, I only have another minute before we are set to begin. Is there anything else?”
“Why, Kimmy? Why the hell would you have kids just to give them away?” His usually guarded opinion burst out. He was tired and he was afraid, and it infuriated him the boy he loved like his own meant nothing to the ones who had birthed him.
“They’re brilliant children, Mark. Pierre and I are scientists of a different quality, and not reproducing would have been an abomination.” She paused and let out a long sigh. “I know I’m not the mother you would have me be. I won’t apologize for it, because I’m content and so are they in this arrangement. And you can’t tell me you aren’t happy having them.”
“I love them like they’re my own, so I can’t imagine why you can’t.”
“That’s okay, Mark, you don’t have to understand. You just have to get them safely to adulthood and hope for the best. Your wife is all right? She’s pregnant, correct?”
“Yes, she’s six months pregnant with twins. She had to have a few stitches, but like I said, your son saved her life.”
“You might as well claim him as your own, Markie.” Her reply showed a rare glimpse of the sister he remembered from his youth. “He doesn’t call us ‘mom and dad’ anymore, which is for the best. If you’re waiting for permission from me, you have it. You’re his father in every way that matters. You are Kira’s father as well, and have been since they were small. Keep me updated if he has issues or requires further medical care we may assist with.”
“Okay, Kimmy, I’ll do that.”
Mark blew out a heavy breath as he closed his phone. He loved his sister, he really did, but his parents never should have sent her off to a special school when she was ten.
The parking lot started showing signs of a new day. It was still a precarious hour, but he supposed shifts changed. Puddles gathered the excess of the night’s rain shower. At least the sun was shining and no more storms were forecasted.
Across the main road was a mini-mall with a flower shop and dollar store. There was also a liquor store. Mark still held his phone in his hand. He looked at it when it crunched a bit.
He’d broken the screen. It pulled him out of his thoughts. Liquor offered no solace for him. It only took the pain away temporarily, but could affect a situation forever. He wasn’t doing it, damn it. Never again.
“Are you okay?”
He looked away from his broken phone. There was another reason he refused to succumb to the temptation that was slowly ebbing as he focused more calmly. His struggle must have shown because Ben eased away from Kira in an awkward shift.
He needed to get her home. She should be tucked into their bed, comfortable with the babies. Kira too, but neither female was leaving, and wouldn’t until Thomas was out of the woods.
He was grateful they both were close. He should have known in the quiet his demons would make themselves known. Ben slid her arm around his waist and he pulled her close, feeling everything line up once more. He’d gone it alone for long enough to know temptation would have been controllable before buying anything, but it was better with Ben. Everything was.
“I’m okay.” The hall was quiet, and his words barely disturbed that as he rubbed her back through her flannel, careful of her stitches. “I talked to my sister. I told her that her son had been shot saving my wife. I explained how we’d nearly lost him. She told me about her newest virus discovery.”
“It’s unfathomable, isn’t it?” Ben asked quietly. “How anyone could set aside all the love those two kids are full of, for any reason, is beyond me. Mark, I feel sick when I think about what happened. If we’d stayed home–”
“Then something worse would have happened.” He knew the way her mind worked, and she’d been blaming herself. The message he’d had from the sheriff on his phone put the whole situation in perspective. “The police found her car. Victoria had gas and other accelerants in her trunk, and when they asked her about them she said she’d checked by the farm first. She’d been watching us for days, even called yesterday. Her other plan had been to burn us.”
“What?”
Maybe it hadn’t been the right thing to share, Mark thought when she paled.
“Ben, I only told you so you’d know it was her, not you. None of this is your fault. It never has been from day one. She’s crazy, and there’s no foolproof defense against that. We did our best, I believe, and had all the help we could have had. We can’t give up now.” He held her close as the silence from her stretched. “Ben?”
“I… He’s got to get better, Mark,” she whispered. “I don’t know what we’ll do if he doesn’t.”
She was close to losing it and Mark couldn’t let that happen. The pain, physically and emotionally, was more than she needed to handle with the babies as well. If she crumbled, she’d hate herself even more.
“Oh my gosh, is that a liquor store?” She pulled out of his arms, and he thanked God for showing her a focus. “Is that what you were thinking about out here? I’m such a selfish cow. Can I help?” She turned to him with earnest eyes, his practical Ben pulling the part of her that had been so close to breaking, back to center. “I know you have your group. Do you want me to call Pastor Reid for you?”
He pulled her close again. She understood everything about him and even if she didn’t really get it all, she loved him anyway. It was the acceptance the kids showed him, and he’d found that quality of love with another human who he would spend the rest of his days making a life with.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m okay now. It was close for a few minutes, but I’m okay. I promise.”
“If you’re sure…”
He nodded, and she looked like she might cry again.
“What’s wrong?”
“Thomas asked if it was all right if they called me ‘mom.’” There were tears in her eyes when she made the announcement. “Because of the babies, he said, so they don’t get confused.”
“Oh yeah?” Kimmy’s words echoed in his mind. “Makes sense to me, if that’s what they want. If it’s okay with you?”
“Definitely.” She pressed a kiss into his shoulder, the fabric doing little to detract from the affection and warmth he felt with the peck. “They want to call you ‘dad’ too.”
“That–that would be okay with me.” He held her closer and was quiet for a long minute. “God, is this finally over? Can we really just love our kids and work our jobs and be a family? I need some peace.”
“Handsome, we’ve got twins due in a few months, a teenager on the cusp of some major life decisions, and a little girl who is going to be a teenager before we know it.” Ben squeezed him and laughed. “I think ‘peace’ is a little much to ask for. But without Victoria hanging over our heads I think we’ll be able to really enjoy the everyday sort of turmoil.”
“I guess you’re right.” He chuckled quietly. “Maybe we’d better keep the security system in place in case Kira fulfills her angry promises to be a horrible teenager to get me back at me for not letting her eat candy for breakfast.”
“It’s probably a good thing we’re in this together.” Ben hugged him hard. “I was one of those horrible teenagers not too long ago. You’ve got experience with babies, and we’ve both had to make the decisions Thomas is coming up on. Between the two of us and our friends, I think we’ll do fine.”
“Together.” Mark swallowed away the last of his disquiet with Ben in his arms, bolstering him once more against the challenges they had to face. “We can do it all together.”
Chapter 22
Four months later, Halloween
“Eew, gross. Mom! Danny pooped on me.”
With her hands full with Danny’s little sister and the phone pressed to her ear, Ben bit back a laugh. Kira really didn’t think it was funny when the breastfed babies let loose with projectile mustard poop.
“It’s okay, honey, you’ve got time to change. Thomas, can you help your sister, please? Aunt Willy, I would love to talk but I need to get the kids moving.”
“A houseful of children,” Willy said, and Ben could nearly feel her shudder across the phone. “You’re crazy, you know that, right, young lady? What were you thinking, marrying a farmer? You know how they reproduce. Mark my words, you’ll be pregnant and barefoot for the next ten years.”
“Nothing would make me happier than to have a large, healthy family with the man I love. I’m sorry, Aunt Willy, but I really need to go. Take care and I’ll see you soon. We love you.”
“Yes, well, I love you too. Take care of those babies, and I need more pictures. Mable got a whole set of the fancy ones from her granddaughter.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure I get some sent the first of the week.”
Ben hit the off button on the cordless and tossed it aside, using her other hand to halt her wiggling daughter long enough to secure her diaper. Maureen was the champ of kicking out of her diaper.
“I don’t do poop.” Thomas’s voice had deepened in only a few short months and never ceased to startle Ben. He was back to his normal self after having the summer to recover, and also avoided the messy diapers like the plague.
“Just bring Danny here for me,” she called. “I’m almost done with Maureen, and I’ve already got the stuff.”
Taller, skinnier, and smellier–though Ben did her best to keep the young man in body wash, deodorant and cologne–Thomas brought in his tiny namesake, Daniel Thomas. The little boy, not quite eight pounds at two months old, cooed happily at the big boy who cooed right back. They were good together, both of the older kids were amazing with the twins they considered their siblings.
“Here you go, Mom.” Thomas handed her the baby wrapped only in a fresh blanket. “Oh, and he crapped all over your bed, a little Halloween treat for you.”
“Take your sister.” She handed him Maureen after she’d set Danny down on the blanketed floor. “Can you put a bib on her, please? I’d like to be able to get to the party without having to change her again.”
“Can do.” Thomas cuddled the green clad little girl complete with a tiny bow in her fine black hair. “Come on, cutie pie, or should I say sweetie pea?”
Ben cooed to her son, her first born, who’d decided he needed to be out a month early. Maureen was a follower so far, and had happily joined her brother within minutes. They’d been healthy, good stock her aunt had said during her brief visit.
The babies had stayed a week in the hospital, but once home, they’d thrived. Ben hadn’t slept a full night in weeks, but she didn’t care. Mark didn’t care about his interrupted nights, and even though they complained at times, Kira and Thomas didn’t mind so much either.
The last Halloween had been spent recovering after a nightmare. Parts of it were more recent. Only a month before Steven’s body had been found in an Arkansas river, and the Victoria situation had reared its ugly head for a moment.
The ugliness was done and this year for Halloween, Ben had her peas in a pod. Her straw hat was hanging next to Mark’s baseball cap, and they were all ready for the local Halloween parties.
“There you go, little man.” Ben tucked her short legged boy into his green suit and zipped it. “You are so handsome. You’ll have to coo extra sweet for big sis, now that you smell nice. You traumatize the poor girl every time you let loose when she’s trying to help.”
“It’s okay, Mom.” Fresh from her shower, Kira was dressed in all purple with a round tag around her middle declaring her the sharpest crayon in the box. “I know he can’t help it. I’ll shove his face in the watering trough when he’s a lot bigger, though, don’t worry.”
“Oh, I believe it.” Ben smiled. “You look good.”
“Yeah, CeCe and Tory are gonna flip when they read this,” Kira said mischievously. “The ones they have just say ‘green’ and ‘blue.’”
“It is a cute idea.” Mark had thought of it the night before and she’d helped Kira run with it. “Are you ready for trick-or-treating?”
“Yeah, Thomas is only wearing his helmet this year, and is only going to take me to three blocks.”
“He’s seventeen, honey,” Ben reminded her. “And we’ve got three parties full of games and candy.”
“I know. It sucks that he’s old.”
“He sure is.” The transition into young adulthood for Thomas was nearly as hard on Kira as it was on him. They were dealing well, even if the pouting happened often. Ben stood and lifted Danny in her arms, laying a kiss on his bald head. “Is your dad in yet?”
“I’m in, I’m in.” Mark hurried through the living room door and into the bedroom. “Ah, hell.”
“Danny pooped on the blanket!” Kira announced unnecessarily.
“And you just couldn’t have taken it to the laundry room.” Ben winced when she heard Mark curse.
“Right, it was gross, and I was full of poop,” Kira whispered, horrified.
“Okay. Can you help Thomas watch the minions while I help Mark get ready?”
“Yep.” Kira plopped down on the floor. She wasn’t allowed to hold the babies while walking, so she sat on her butt next to Maureen and held her arms appropriately. “Load him up. No pooping, mister.”
Ben placed her little boy in Kira’s arms and tossed the baby paraphernalia in the laundry basket beside the TV. It was the catchall for pacifiers, blankies, rattles, clean diapers, wipes, butt cream and socks. The twins were always kicking off their socks.
She entered her bedroom, also full of baby stuff. The bassinet the twins shared was near her side of the bed, along with a dresser full of baby clothes beside Mark’s.
There was talk of an addition in the spring, and Ben couldn’t wait.
“I’m almost ready,” Mark called, the shower turning off and a curse coming from behind the only partially closed door.
“Take your time, handsome.” She nudged the bathroom door open and watched him dry off his big, furry body. “Kira’s going trick-or-treating with Thomas as soon as I give them the okay. Then we’ll meet them in an hour at Mercer’s party with Danny and Maureen.”
“We’ve got an hour?” He imme
diately perked up with the announcement. He looked up from his drying, and his eyes darkened as her words took effect.
“Yep, and the babies are happy. They just had their baths, and were nursed. Hopefully they’ll nap in their swings when I turn them to vibrate,” she added. “What in the world could we do for an hour while the kids are gone? Any thoughts? Maybe we could whittle or wash windows or something.”
Naked and only half dry, Mark headed for the bedroom. He stripped the soiled blanket off the bed, tossed it in the bathroom, and stretched out on the sheeted bed.
“Ah, gotcha. I could use a nap too,” Ben admitted, and on her way past him got her butt spanked. “All right, all right.” She laughed at his growl. “Five minutes.”
“I’m starting without you.”
“You would.” She rolled her eyes and left the room, careful not to open the door too far as both kids were sitting at the table with their treat bags.
Thomas, the astute little angel, already had both babies in their swings with music and vibrations. “Well, are you ready for trick-or-treating?”
“Yes, finally.” Kira hopped up and down with her pillowcase at the ready. “Come on, Thomas! We gotta stop by the Carmichael’s house. They always give out full-sized candy bars. Bye, Mom. See you at the party.”
“One hour,” Ben said firmly, though Kira’s excitement was pretty much matched by her own. “Wait to eat the candy until we can check it unless it comes from someone we know.”
“We only go to people we know, Mom.” Thomas grabbed his own bag, the biggest pillowcase they had in the house. “You sure you only need an hour? I can go a couple more blocks.”
“You are way too smart.” Ben laughed, Kira already out the door. “Would an hour and a half kill you?”
“Nope.” Thomas shrugged. “Especially if I got another half an hour for curfew next Friday.”
“Movies in KC?” Ben asked, the usual reason Thomas asked for an extension.
“Yep, Melody wants to see some stupid thing that’s only playing there,” he replied, scowling, but the girl had a pretty strong hold on his heart.
Teaching Ms. Riggs Page 18
