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“Connor, you’re not making any sense and now I’m irritated you got me out of bed in the middle of the night to help you look for a pen and to tell me I have to cancel my trip. Can we please talk about this in the morning?”
I slam more drawers and spin in a circle. “Shite, we’re in over our heads. What did I do? I shouldn’t have said yes right away. I should have consulted with ye. I did exactly what I asked ye not to do. I’m so sorry.”
“Are you on drugs?” TJ pulls a face. “Because you’re seriously acting mental and I’m worried.”
“That was Gloria.” I look at TJ. “We’re having twins.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Gloria. She just called. Last call. There’s a teen at the hospital who delivered twins and she wants us to take them.”
“Oh my god, oh my god, this is it. Code Red alert. When, are we taking them? Now? I need to get dressed. Is she dropping them off? She said it could be anywhere from a ten-minute warning to two hours. Oh my god, I’m hyperventilating.”
TJ spins in his boxer shorts and colorful socks, and I know I will never forget this moment. “Love, calm down.” I grab his arms and force him to look into my eyes. “This is it. It’s not a foster situation. The mother is a teenager and wants to give them up for adoption.Twins, TJ. We’ll have to contact our lawyer in the morning. We’ll need diapers and formula, clothes…” I wipe the tears leaking from his eyes and touch my forehead to his. “We had twins.”
TJ squeezes my neck and pushes away. “We don’t need any of that stuff. We have all of it from when we had Benjamin Blueberry!” He walks down the hallway toward the spare bedroom.
“What are ye talkin’ about, Love?” I follow him down the hall and into the bedroom. He opens the double doors of the closet I never go into and I’m stunned by the amount of baby formula, diapers, clothes, blankets, and toys on the shelves.
“I think I went a little crazy before.” TJ nibbles on his fingernail.
“I think yer feckin’ amazin’.” I pick him up and whirl him around. “It’s like ye knew it was goin’ to happen for us.”
“I didn’t know, but I hoped. Are we really having twins? Did she say what they were?”
“Both girls.” I can’t stop the permanent smile on my face if I tried. “We’re so in over our heads, ye know that, right?”
“I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight. I want to go see them now!”
I sit down on the guest bed and run my hands through my hair, my adrenalin high taking a nosedive. “TJ, I’m scared,” I admit. “I almost shat in my pants when Gloria said last call. How are we goin’ to handle two babies? We could barely keep a doll alive.”
TJ sits next to me and takes my hand in his. “It’s normal to be scared. I am too, but my excitement definitely trumps being nervous. Benjamin Blueberry was the devil incarnate and a defective doll that needed to be burned at the stake. Trust me, if we could keephimalive, these babies will be cake. We’re going to be the best damn dads to these two little girls. They don’t know it, but they won the lottery with you and me.”
“Ye think?” I arch an eyebrow.
“I know.” TJ squeezes my hand. “We’re it, Connor. We can’t let them down. Gloria and their mom are counting on us.”
I shake my head. “Yer right, Love. We can’t, and we won’t.”
Because TJ is right, we’re the last line of defense for these babies. We’re their last call.
The next morning,we contact our family attorney and he agrees to meet us at the hospital at ten. TJ and I barely slept a wink last night. He was on his laptop ordering two cribs, changing tables, and more girl clothes than we could know what to do with. I’m pretty sure our credit card is smoking from all the purchases.
We race to the hospital and meet Gloria in the waiting room of the NICU. She gives us a hug and a huge smile. “Congratulations, dads.”
“She still wants to go through with it?” I ask, a lump the size of the Cliffs of Moher jamming my throat.
Gloria nods. “Yes, I spoke with her a few minutes ago and she wants to sign the paperwork. She asked if you would be willing to have an open adoption.”
“You mean where she can have contact with the babies?”
“You can set up parameters,” Gloria says. “You are in control. She can’t see them or contact them without your permission. She’s young and immature right now, but I think she’s got a good head on her shoulders. I truly believe she’ll make something of herself one day.”
“Can we meet her?” TJ asks.
Gloria’s smile dims. “I’m not sure she’s ready for that.”
TJ and I trade a look. “I’m okay with open adoption if you are.”
