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“Yeah, and horses,” agreed Gabriel. “We’ve always said that Nancia’s dream job would be as a Mountie in Canada.”
“I would love that,” enthused Nancia. “I could be a cop and ride a horse all day as well.”
“But you don’t even live in Canada,” pointed out Nate, who was clearly perplexed by his twin’s obsessions.
We all laughed.
“Anyway, I’d miss you if you went to Canada,” added Nate.
Nancia playfully pushed Nate’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere without you. I couldn’t leave you without your lucky twin.”
“Lucky twin?” I asked.
“There’s seven minutes between us, and seven is a lucky number. I’m seven minutes younger, so I’m the lucky twin,” declared Nancia.
“No,I’mthe lucky twin—I’m seven minutes older,” disagreed Nate.
“That’s not how it works, Nate!” exclaimed Nancia.
“Okay, quiet now—both of you. You’ll argue about that all night long if we let you,” chipped in Gabriel as the movie started.
As we settled back to watch it, Rafael wrapped his hand around mine. I huddled into his embrace, letting myself enjoy his touch.
***
As we got ready for bed that night, I turned to Rafael. “I’m enjoying Nancia and Nate’s stay with us.” I felt that I was getting closer to Rafael’s siblings.
“It’s good for you to spend time with them so that you can get to know them. I know Nancia was really excited about having another girl in the family.”
“How’s Nate’s training going?”
Rafael hesitated and then sighed. “He’s not particularly keen, but he doesn’t say much. Out of the twins, Nancia has always been the more communicative one. Anyhow, that’s enough about my siblings. Instead of talking, how about we get in some more baby-making practice?”
And with that, he kissed me passionately and moved his hand inside my nightdress.
RAFAEL
The next morning, as I went to walk into the kitchen for breakfast, I heard Nate and Nancia talking with Jessica.
“I heard Gabriel tell Mother about what happened to you before the wedding…you know, with our father,” said Nate. “I just wanted to say we’ll always protect you. We’ve got your back. And you know Rafael will never hurt you, right?”
Sometimes Nate surprised me with his maturity. He was a fourteen-year-old, trying to console my wife who had been raped.
I walked into the room and saw Nancia with her arms around Jess, both with tears in their eyes. They untangled themselves when they saw me and resumed eating, although I could see Jess was affected by the concern the twins had shown her.
I had hoped that Nancia would never find out about what had happened to Jess; however, Nate had overheard Gabriel talking about it and had obviously shared what he knew with his twin sister.
I could tell just by looking at Nancia that she was deeply upset by what she had learned—she was only fourteen and had been shielded all her life, kept in a gilded cage, safe from harm and upset.
When we finished eating, I looked at my watch and told Nate sternly, “You should be at the shooting range by now.”
He shrugged as he got up from the table, not particularly excited or unexcited at the prospect, but I couldn’t help noticing Nancia frowning at my words as she shot a sympathetic look at her twin.
***
That evening, I came home to find Jess in our bedroom holding a box of tampons and with tears in her eyes.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked, as I sat next to her on the bed and took her hand.
