Her Triplets' Mistletoe Dad. Patricia Johns

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      Yes, that was exactly what they’d said, but that was before she’d said vows for the first time in her life…before she’d realized that this was her first marriage, and even if she annulled it right now, it would always be her first marriage. Her heart ached in a strange way. She wasn’t sad, exactly, just overwhelmed by it all, and the only thing that would make her feel better was to pick up her babies and hold them close.

      Bea Thibodaux’s little white house had a towering oak tree out front that dwarfed the structure but gave some beautiful dappled shade for the summertime. Seth pulled into her driveway and turned off the engine.

      “Are you coming in with me?” Gabby asked.

      “Do you want me to?” He looked over at her uncertainly.

      “You might as well,” she said. “But mess up your hair, or something. You look too formal and wedding-ish.”

      Seth chuckled softly. “I’m not the one dressed in white.”

      Gabby shot him a smile. “It’s cream.”

      “Same diff.”

      “Let’s just try to get in and out without the neighbors asking too many questions.”

      “You give them too much credit,” Seth shot back. “They won’t ask us, they’ll go ask your aunt once we’re gone.”

      He had a point, and she shook her head. “I guess we can’t help that. And we’ll start telling people soon enough… Let’s go in. I miss my boys.”

      She pushed open the door and hopped out of the truck. One of her aunt’s neighbors came out the side door of her house with a snow shovel at the same time and shot Gabby a curious look.

      “Hi,” Gabby called casually, and headed toward her aunt’s place as if she’d just gotten back from a coffee or something. The neighbor raised her hand in a wave, but didn’t stop watching Gabby. Seth followed a moment later, and Gabby was relieved to see that he’d left the string tie behind and seemed to have dug out an older, more beaten up cowboy hat. Now he just looked like a really well-dressed cowboy. Hopefully, the neighbors would assume he was a date.

      Aunt Bea pulled open the front door before Gabby even had a chance to knock, and the older woman looked immediately at Gabby’s left hand, then over at Seth’s.

      “So you did it,” Bea said, stepping back. “Come in, then.”

      Before they’d left that morning, Gabby had told her aunt the plan and sworn her to secrecy. Bea hadn’t liked it, but she hadn’t tried to stop them, either.

      Gabby headed for the car seats where the babies were all lined up and asleep. Andy was sleeping with his tongue sticking out, and Beau and Aiden were turned toward each other in the car seats, breathing in unison. Gabby squatted down in front of them and reached out to touch their tiny feet.

      “Mommy’s back,” she whispered.

      “I just put them down after diaper changes,” Bea said. “So they should be dry. Except for Andy. He wets his diaper the minute I put a new one on… Lucky he doesn’t seem to mind being wet, unlike Beau.”

      “Thanks, Auntie,” Gabby said, reaching for Andy. “I appreciate it.”

      She put a hand under Andy’s little rump and the other under his downy head and scooped him up. He settled with a sigh against her chest, and she felt the tension seeping out of her. This was what she needed—to hold her babies.

      “So you’re going ahead with the plan to move into Seth’s house?” Bea asked.

      “Yes,” Gabby said.

      “Well, I expect we can put Seth to work, then,” Bea said, turning toward him. “Can you start carrying out some baby things? I’ve got it all ready to go by the side door.”

      “Sure.” Seth looked relieved to have something to do. “I’ll load everything up.”

      “Auntie, we’re not telling people yet,” Gabby added.

      “Oh.” Bea nodded. “Not even your mother?”

      “I will tell her—tomorrow, though. I want a bit of time to think it out before I do.”

      “She’s your mom,” Bea replied. “I don’t know why there’s any explanation necessary besides the actual truth. She’ll understand that you need to provide for your children. She knows what it means to be a single mother, after all.”

      “No, she’ll feel like she let me down,” Gabby said. “And I don’t want her to think that.”

      Gabby’s mother, Carol, had helped her get through college and earn her diploma to be a medical office assistant, and then Carol had lost a few jobs, one after another. None of it was her fault—just the fluctuating economy. She’d gotten into debt, and there was no way she could help Gabby pay for that expensive formula now. Gabby knew her mother would feel terrible if she found out that Gabby was marrying Seth only for health insurance.

      “We just need some time to sort out our stuff,” Gabby said. “But we were spotted in Benton by Taylor Shirk, so it probably won’t stay a secret for long.”

      “I’ll let you be the one to tell her,” Bea said, and as Seth picked up a couple garbage bags filled with clothes and linens, the older woman added, “Welcome to the family, Seth.”

      Seth shot Gabby a half smile, then nodded to her aunt. “Thanks. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of these boys.”

      “And Gabby, too, I hope,” Bea shot back.

      “Most definitely.”

      The warmth in his eyes, the private smile he cast in Gabby’s direction, and the way his muscles flexed as he hoisted the first bags—they were a combination that made it easy to pretend this marriage was something it wasn’t.

      The screen door banged shut as Seth disappeared outside, and Gabby looked at her aunt with eyebrows raised.

      “You’ve got your privacy now,” Gabby said. “What’s on your mind?”

      “What’s on yours?” Bea quipped, and she reached for Gabby’s hand, looking down at the wedding ring. “Why did you do this?”

      “You know why.” Gabby felt the tears rising up inside her. She was tired. She had missed her babies, and she really wasn’t in the mood to argue about something that was already done.

      “I thought you’d come to your senses before you actually went through with it,” Bea said.

      “Auntie, could you afford that formula for the long term?” Gabby demanded.

      “No, but the church could have taken up a special offering—”

      “No!” Then Gabby lowered her voice, because Beau and Aiden squirmed in their car seats. “Auntie, I’m not a charity. And I’m not going to be waiting on church collections to feed my children. Besides, I don’t want them growing up with the stigma of how they came into this world.”

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