The Twins. Sheldon Cohen

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СКАЧАТЬ know, but three thousand marks?”

      “You want to take this baby?” Helene asked eyes widely opened.

      “I need to hear from you. You’ll be raising it more than me. You’ll be the busy one. Now that I’m going to have a good job, we could afford it. We’d be able to buy a house, and I wouldn’t have to get a loan from my future boss and pay him back for years. We could get a good start, become a family right away, and make a success of our lives. We can still have as many kids as we want. Werner says we’ll be eight thousand kilometers apart and never see each other again. I’d do it, but it’s up to you.”

      Helene stared at her husband, looking deeply into his eyes. She couldn’t believe he had been so considerate of her, communicating with her about every major decision that had to be made. Could she cope with so sudden a life-altering decision? It was clear he wanted to do this. “I have to sleep on this. We’ll talk again tomorrow,” she said.

      But she couldn’t sleep. They spent half the night talking and bleary-eyed they decided that they would accept Werner’s offer and take one of the twins.

      The next day Alfred spoke to Werner. “We’ll do it,” he said the moment he saw him. “Tell me what I need to do, and tell me when we get the money.”

      Werner nodded his head, a sly smile on his face. “Good choice, Alfred. That makes things easier for both of us. First, I have to tell Brigid. She doesn’t know the kids were born. I had to wait to see what I could work out with you. Now I’ll tell her what happened and that you’re gonna take one of the babies.”

      “What are you going to tell her about why we agreed?”

      “You told your wife something about why you’re doing this. Did I ask you what you told her? No. Remember, I said I do not care what you tell your wife as long as you get her to say okay. Same thing goes with me. What I tell my wife is my problem. I’ll know what to say. Just make sure that your wife doesn’t question my wife and I’ll make sure my wife doesn’t question yours. If this works, they’ll never see each other again anyhow. Never.”

      “I didn’t hear about the money yet.”

      “The minute I see you carrying your baby away, I’ll put the money in your hand. We say goodbye and then we don’t see each other any more. You’ll be leaving in a few days, and I’ll be getting a baby room ready, and we’ll both start taking care of our kid.”

      CHAPTER 14

      Now it was Werner’s turn to talk to Brigid. When he arrived home, she was at work in the kitchen preparing lunch. She looked up and saw Werner with a wide grin on his face. “You look like you’ve got something to say,” she said.

      “Do I ever. Forget what you’re doing and sit down. I don’t want you standing when you hear this.”

      “What?” asked Brigid, twisting her apron strings.

      “Your son is here.”

      “My son!” both hands closed over her mouth.

      “Yes.”

      At the news, she stood up and walked excitedly around the room. “But the baby wasn’t due for another month.”

      “The pastor got in touch with me. She delivered early.”

      “Oh, my God,” she screamed as she leaped in her husband’s arms. Then alarmed she backed off and asked, “Is the baby alright?”

      “Pastor Braun said that they’re going to have to watch the babies for a few days. But he was sure they’d be alright.”

      “Babies? They? What are you saying?”

      “You’re right. I got ahead of myself. Let’s get that out right at the start. They’re twin boys.”

      Brigid’s eyes opened wide. She put her hand to her mouth and stared at Werner.

      “Let me tell you the whole story. There’s a lot I found out and you got to know it all.”

      “Oh, my God.”

      Werner told Brigid the identical story that Alfred told Helene, only it was Alfred that had the affair with Frieda.

      Brigid sat staring blank-eyed, absorbed in the tale. When Werner finished she stammered, “But twins? I don’t know what to think now. I’m…uh…I didn’t prepare myself for twins. I’m not…I…”

      “I know. Me neither. So I went and had it out with Alfred.”

      “What do you mean ‘had it out?’”

      “I just laid it all out on the table. I told him the whole story just like I told you. I told him that I knew I was probably going to adopt a baby that could be his, but now that there are twins everything changed, and he should take one of the boys, and we take one, and he goes to the United States, and we stay here, and everyone’s happy.”

      “I can’t believe any of this. What did he say?”

      “Believe me it’s true. We had quite a go around, but then he said he would talk to Helene and let me know.”

      “And he let you know?”

      “Yeah. He said yes. In a few days, we are going to get the babies. He will bring his home, and I will bring ours home. He will leave soon to the United States and we will start furnishing our son’s room. If you see Helene, do not say a word. It would wreck everything.”

      “My God. This is amazing. It’s hard to believe what’s happened.”

      “I couldn’t make up a story like this. Do you want your son?”

      “I want a son more then anything else in the world.”

      “You’ll have him soon.”

      CHAPTER 15

      Werner had two remaining problems. First, Pastor Braun would assume Werner and Helene would take the twins. Werner decided that he would tell the pastor that Alfred had taken one of the boys. By then Alfred would be across an ocean and the pastor would have no options to do anything about it. After all, a man can do whatever he wants with his children, including sending one of them to a relative across the ocean. As far as Ludwig was concerned, he would tell him the story. He knew he could rely on his father.

      The day arrived to pick up their children. Both Brigid and Helene wanted to make the trip, but Werner and Alfred insisted they stay home and await the surprise of their lives. It was a cloudy and cold May morning when Werner and Alfred took the train to Munich. Werner had spoken to Pastor Braun who gave him all the details. The children would be ready for their arrival, and Werner would get a list of instructions regarding the care of the babies.

      The brothers took the trip in silence and deep in thought. The cold dreary day reflected their feelings. They both understood that their impending separation would be permanent. Although there was tension between them before they boarded the train, Alfred asked, “Have you got the money?” Saying nothing, Werner opened a small suitcase and let Alfred СКАЧАТЬ