Christmas Secrets Collection. Laura Iding

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      Jadon couldn’t sleep. Sleeping in the middle of the day had never been easy for him but, with everything seemingly falling apart around him, rest was more elusive than ever.

      He stared at the ceiling over his bed, trying not to relive the moment when Alyssa had seen the nursery, her eyes lighting up with excitement and pleasure.

      He’d once hoped she’d feel as if she belonged here. With him. With the girls, too.

      Marriage was such a huge step. One he hadn’t planned on taking. Alyssa deserved marriage, full commitment. Because they’d made a family with Grace and Gretchen.

      Yet Jack was family, too. His brother.

      His cell phone rang, startling him badly, making him swear under his breath at how he’d forgotten to silence the ringer as he fumbled in his discarded clothes for the instrument.

      His stomach twisted when he realized the caller was his mother. “Mom? What’s wrong? Jack can’t possibly be out of the hospital already?”

      “No, nothing is wrong,” she quickly assured him. “Ah, actually, we’re here to see you.”

      “Here? In Cedar Bluff?” Jadon shot out of bed, frantically searching for his pants, imagining his parents were right now standing outside his front door.

      “Yes, we’re at a restaurant on Main Street. What’s it called, Josh?” she asked his father. “Oh, yes, The Spinnaker. The food was excellent.”

      He tugged on his pants, cradling the phone between his shoulder and his ear, hardly able to believe his parents had shown up in Cedar Bluff. “Ah, okay. That’s not far away.”

      “We were hoping we could come to your house and then visit the babies, Grace and Gretchen.”

      Momentarily closing his eyes, he let out a soundless sigh. Of course they wanted to visit the babies. He couldn’t blame them. But he needed to talk to Alyssa about this, too. So much for keeping his two families separate. “Why don’t you come here first to meet Alyssa?”

      “That would be nice,” his mother agreed, sounding excited.

      He gave her directions that she repeated for his father. He hung up and sank down onto the edge of his bed, running his fingers nervously through his hair. He was nervous. What would Alyssa think?

      His parents hadn’t brought Jack, but what if Jack discovered the news about the twins? He’d want to see them, too.

      There was no use dwelling on all the complications. He had to deal with his parents first.

      He pulled himself together and finished getting dressed. He opened his bedroom door and hesitated, seeing the nursery door was still ajar, and went with his instincts to search for Alyssa in there.

      He saw her sitting in the rocking chair, clutching one of the pink elephants to her chest, tears glistening in streaks down her cheeks.

      “Alyssa? What’s wrong?” Alarmed, he crossed the room to kneel beside her.

      “Nothing. Everything.” She swiped at her eyes, offering a pathetic attempt at a smile.

      He couldn’t stand it. Rising to his feet, he took her hand and drew her up and into his arms. “Shh, it’s okay. Everything is going to be fine.”

      She buried her face against his chest, shaking her head as if she disagreed with him.

      “Yes, it will. I promise.” He kissed the top of her head, smoothing a hand down her back, offering comfort in the only way he knew how. He wasn’t sure how he’d fix it, but he wanted to find a way. For her.

      Slowly the tension eased out of her body and she melted against him in a way that caused his own body to harden in awareness. Knowing that intimacy was impossible for more reasons than just one, he forced himself to ignore the discomfort.

      The doorbell pealed. Alyssa lifted her head from his chest.

      “Someone’s here,” she said, rubbing her face as if to erase the evidence of her tears.

      “My parents.”

      “Your parents?” Her gaze widened in shock.

      “I’ll get rid of them if you want me to.”

      Just that quickly, the shocked surprise turned into exasperation. She swiped the dampness from her face. “They’re your parents. You can’t just get rid of them. Not when they’ve come all this way to see you.”

      Still unsure, he nodded. Maybe one, slightly dysfunctional family was better than trying to divide his time between two families? There was only one way to find out. He held out his hand. “Come on, I’d like to introduce you.”

      She trustingly placed her hand in his. “I thought they were divorced?” she asked as they walked into the living room.

      “They are, but I think maybe they’re working on getting back together.” Jadon still was a little surprised by that revelation himself. The absence of a wedding ring on his dad’s hand and the way he seemed to be renewing a relationship with his mother had convinced him his dad had ditched his second wife. Or, more likely, she’d ditched him.

      He opened the front door to find his parents anxiously waiting on the front porch. “Come on in, Mom. Dad.”

      His parents entered the house, their gazes immediately seeking Alyssa, who stood near the center of the living room.

      “Alyssa, these are my parents, Janet and Josh Reichert,” he said, performing the introductions. “Mom, Dad, this is Alyssa Knight.”

      Alyssa’s tremulous smile betrayed her nerves. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said.

      “It’s so nice to meet you, too.” His mother wasn’t shy, but crossed right over to envelop Alyssa in an enthusiastic hug. “We’re so glad you and Jadon found each other. And we just can’t wait to see the babies. Twin girls.”

      Alyssa’s smile faltered a little as she glanced over at Jadon, her brow raised questioningly. He tried to reassure her with his gaze that the decision was hers.

      He’d abide by her wishes.