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The day that Bliss and Granger’s twins were born, a lightning storm hit Lake Bittersweet. Because of course it did, they always said when they told the story later. Everything else had happened, so why not that?
Bliss started having contractions at the Blue Drake while bringing Alvin some apples she’d bought at the farmer’s market. She bent over with a cry, causing Kendra to drop a frying pan on her right foot. She hopped over to Bliss and held her until the contraction passed. Then she called in the troops.
Granger was all the way on the other side of town, meeting with the board of aldermen. He bolted out of the conference room without a word of explanation. Luckily, word spread quickly.
Jason was the closest first responder. He showed up with his cheerful smile and the paramedic van. Kendra rode in the back with Bliss, talking nonstop about how everything was going to be okay, and pushing the idea of naming one of the twins after her. She kept Bliss from panicking until they reached the hospital, where Granger was the one who opened the doors of the van.
It was so good to see him, she nearly cried. “Someone has to check on Moses,” she told him.
“Already handled. Danny’s going to take care of him for a few days.”
Two orderlies arrived with a gurney, but she refused one this time—that earlier scare had annoyed her—so Jason told them he’d get a wheelchair for her.
Once she was safely in the chair, Bliss caught Kendra and Jason whispering to each other behind the door of the ambulance. It almost looked like Jason was nuzzling her ear. Weird. Bliss remembered something about Jason and Kendra in high school, but then another contraction struck.
Granger held her hand through it, telling her how much he loved her. In between whooshes of breath, Bliss asked Granger, “What’s with those two? Is something going on?”
He whispered back, “I thought the same thing, but then I decided it was none of our business and probably not the most important thing right now.”
“True, but it’s a good distract….ooooooohh!”
They dropped the subject after that, and things became somewhat of a blur. The storm knocked out the power at the hospital. The generators came on, loudly. Jason had to leave to do firefighter type of things. Kendra went with him because Alvin couldn’t find the backup propane camp stove at the Blue Drake.
Bliss was pretty sure they left together on purpose.
Granger didn’t leave her side, even when they performed an emergency C-section and he looked like he might faint. By the time a tiny boy and a tiny girl were placed in her arms, she could barely focus her eyes. It didn’t matter. One whiff of their skin, one touch of their warm snuggly weight, and her heart was irretrievably gone. Talk about seduction.
She had to stay in the hospital a couple of days to recover from the surgery. The first person she FaceTimed with was her mother in Bali. Serenity’s sessions with the life coach must be working, because she gushed and admired and didn’t mention anything about selling photos.
Soon after that, Carly and Conor came to visit and coo over the twins.
“It’s a good thing Granger took the constable job,” Carly said as she snapped a selfie with the sleeping twins in their bassinet next to Bliss’ bed. “Because I was about to go all out to convince you guys to stay in Lake Bittersweet. Teddy needs cousins and Conor’s dragging his feet.”
Conor gently touched the soft cotton baby blanket tucked around the twins. It was a good thing Bliss had knitted so very, very many baby blankets. “I’m not dragging my feet. We’re just taking things one step at a time, unlike some spontaneous types who like to jump into things with both feet.”
“First time anyone ever called me spontaneous,” Granger growled from the armchair he was slumped in, his long legs crossed at the ankle. “But I like it,” he added, at Conor’s worried look.
“Sometimes things just happen,” Bliss said happily. Sure, she also felt some terror when she thought about how small her babies were, and how much they depended on her. She had to stay grounded, after all.But the terror didn’t outshine her happiness. “You know the best thing about having twins?”
“You get to choose two names?” suggested Carly.
“We’re still working on that part. But no, the best thing is that they’ll never be alone. They’ll always have each other.”
Carly and Conor exchanged a glance. “Just like you’ll always have us,” Carly said gently, taking her hand. “I feel like the Gault family is finally getting it together.”
“Right. We all live in one place now. We’re going to be part of each other’s lives the way we should have been all along.” Conor laid his hand on top of theirs in a three-way bond that touched Bliss deep in her heart.
Gault would have…well, who really knew? Their father was always unpredictable. But if he was anything like her, the way he claimed, he would have been happy.
“Oh, I nearly forgot!” Bliss gestured for Granger to hand over her knitting bag. “I made too many baby blankets so I switched gears and made everyone fingerless gloves.” She handed two pairs to Conor and four pairs to Carly, including a tiny one for Teddy. “A pair for everyone in the family. Granger gets one too.” She tossed a pair his way. She’d used the loveliest angora wool in various shades for these gloves. Granger’s were a deep heartwood red, the same color as the ring he’d made for her.
Granger pulled them onto his hands and showed them off. “No middle finger,“ he murmured.
She scrunched her face at him, then watched Carly and Conor admire their versions.
“No one’s ever knitted anything for me before,” Carly marveled as she sniffed the wool.
Granger offered his hand, encased in its glove. “Welcome to the family.”
