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Blane sighed with relief. “Me, too.”
They looked expectantly at the doctor, who smiled.
“You have fraternal, not identical twins,” he said. “One girl, one boy.”
Wow.
Anne’s hand had his in a vise grip.
They left and got into the back seat of the car, the driver patiently waiting for them. They didn’t speak. Blane thought they were both in shock. It wasn’t until they were almost home that Anne turned to him.
“I don’t know what to say.” Her eyes were wide. “What do we do?”
“What do you mean, ‘what do we do’?” Blane took her hand. He couldn’t help the huge grin on his face. “Two for the price of one.” He winked.
“You’re not the one producing the two,” she said wryly.
“We’ll discuss all the logistics later,” Blane assured her. “For now, let’s just enjoy the news. I’m thrilled. Are you?”
“Of course I am. It’s just a bit…overwhelming.” She paused. “When do you leave again?”
“Let’s see…today’s Wednesday. I have a fundraiser Friday night in Miami and a rally there Saturday. Should be back Saturday night.”
“Okay. I can order duplicates of the crib and car seat,” Anne said, “so they’re ready to put together. That’ll be your Sunday. Aren’t you excited?” She was well aware that he’d set a record for cussing a blue streak putting together the last one, drawing on all the foul words he’d ever heard from his time in the Navy. And that still paled from when he’d installed the car seat.
“We need a bigger car. I hear the new Honda minivan is pretty sweet,” he said, wanting to mess with her.
“If you buy me a minivan, I’ll take a baseball bat to it.”
Blane laughed. “Duly noted. SUV it is.”
“Thank you. White, please.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged.”
“And donotget me that Hummer monstrosity,” she warned.
Well, shit. “I wasn’t even thinking of that,” he lied. “I mean, that’s just not practical. You know. For city driving.”
Anne gave him a look that told him his bullshitting didn’t fool her for a second.
“I’ll get something reasonable,” he sighed.
Which is exactly what he did that afternoon while Anne was at home resting. He had his driver take him to the closest Mercedes dealership where he bought Anne a fully loaded white Maybach SUV. The two seats in the back were separated by a console, which he thought was particularly good as who knew if the twins would end up fussing at each other occasionally when they got older.
They spent the evening after dinner phoning friends and family to tell them the news. Anne’s parents were ecstatic. Kathleen squealed in delight. Kade’s acerbic response was, “Always have to one-up me, brother.” Blane laughed.
If Blane thought Daniel doted on Anne before, he was positively her willing slave now. When Blane finished checking all the doors and windows before heading upstairs to bed, he found her sipping tea and nibbling on a small plate of her favorite cookies—a lemon thyme shortbread that Anne positivelyoohedandaahedover when Daniel had first made them for her.
“I think you’ve replaced me in Daniel’s affections,” he noted dryly, pulling off his shirt before climbing into bed next to her. He slept in a pair of loose pajama pants now, except on the nights when they made love. Then they slept naked with each other, curled into spoons.
Anne laughed lightly. “You don’t even like these cookies.”
“Just an observation,” he teased. Leaning over, he gave her a lingering kiss.
She was watching some sitcom rerun on the television while she finished her snack, so Blane picked up the book he was currently reading, slipped on his reading glasses, and dived back in to where he’d left off. It was an historical in-depth account of the assassination of Lincoln and was very good.
Words couldn’t describe the deep contentment Blane felt. His bed was no longer empty. Despite his resignation and pessimism, he’d found the perfect woman for him. He’d fallen in love. Was building a family with her. Building a life with her.
