Amish Christmas Twins. Shelley Shepard Gray

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СКАЧАТЬ in less than a year.”

      “You never did do anything halfway.”

      “Ha, ha. This is on both of us.”

      Will looked smug. “This is pretty special, ain’t so? We’re blessed.”

      “We are blessed.” She smiled at him. “Next Christmas is going to be mighty special. We’re going to have kinner everywhere.”

      “Two of them will likely be in our arms and the other two running around. The year after? Whoa. It is sure to be mighty busy. The twins will be crawling.”

      She couldn’t believe he was so, so calm about all the changes taking place in their lives. Just as she was about to chide him, she gasped. “Will, where are we going to put everyone?”

      He looked at her strangely. “In here with us.”

      “No, I’m talking about bedrooms. Where are we going to put everyone?”

      “We have three bedrooms. We’ll take one; the babes will be in another. And Jemima and Roy will have the third.”

      “That won’t do.”

      “What won’t?”

      “Jemima and Roy can’t share a room, Will. They like having their own rooms. No, they need their own rooms. Jemima, especially, needs a place of her own.”

      “I understand that, but they’ll just have to adjust. And they will.”

      Her mind was spinning. It was already going to be hard on the siblings to have to deal with the new babes. “I think we’re gonna need to move.”

      “Elizabeth Anne, we cannot.”

      “I know you don’t want to, but it might be necessary.”

      “It isn’t. Not right now it isn’t.”

      “Will, lower your voice. They’ll hear you.”

      “I’m sorry, but I don’t think you are thinking clearly.”

      “I’m pregnant with twins, but my brain is working just fine.”

      “You are one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. But right now, you aren’t sounding smart at all. We can’t up and move so easily. We just got here.”

      They were living on his family’s property. Will had saved a long time in order to be able to buy all the materials for their house. That was followed by weeks of him and his friends working on the house, then paying plumbers and other tradespeople to finish out their lovely home.

      She supposed he did have a point. “All right, fine. Maybe we can simply add another bedroom. And perhaps we can make the kitchen and breakfast room bigger. What do you think?”

      “I think that is not going to happen. Not anytime soon.”

      Oh, but she hated when he got all full of himself! “Will, don’t say no without thinking it through.”

      “I don’t need to.”

      “Please, just think about it.”

      “I am, and I’m thinking that you’ll be home taking care of four children and I’m going to be working to make sure everyone has shoes.”

      Has shoes? Goodness, but her husband could be dramatic at times! “But—”

      “E.A., you’re simply going to have to resign yourself to be patient. I know you want to protect Jemima and Roy from harm, but a bigger haus isn’t what they need,” he said in a new, gentle tone of voice. “I promise ya, all those children are going to need is our love and a safe, loving home. We are already giving them that.”

      His words made sense, but just because they did, it didn’t mean that all her worries were going to disappear. “I don’t want them to regret moving in with us, Will. I don’t want them to think they were getting one thing, but the reality is a whole lot different.”

      “Ah. Now I understand. So, do you regret meeting Jemima and Roy and bringing them home?”

      “No. Of course not.” She was shocked that he would even ask such a thing. “I love them.”

      “I love them, too, E.A. Now, if we already love them and consider them ours, why would you think they would feel different?”

      Ooh. She hated it when he was so right. “I see your point.”

      “Gut. I promise, they took the news about one baby well, and they’ll do the same when they hear about two.”

      “I hope you’re right.”

      “I am. I promise. Life is full of changes and they’ll adjust again. Moving around might be hard for them at first, but then it will all be fine. It has to be, right? I mean, they won’t have any other choice.”

      “I hope they won’t be too upset.”

      “If they are, I’ll deal with it. Not you. I won’t let them worry you. The doctor said that you need to put the babies’ needs first. Remember?”

      Just as she was about to respond, she heard a squeak. “Will, did you hear that?” she whispered.

      He paused, tilting his head, as if he was listening hard. “I didn’t hear anything. Now, can we simply just sit here and enjoy the fire and our news?”

      She snuggled next to him, folding one of her hands over her belly. She was going to have twins! She was going to be a mother of four.

      They were blessed, indeed.

      Chapter 13

      Jemima closed her eyes and counted to five. Breathed in and out, just as Will had suggested Roy do when he and Jemima had first heard about E.A. expecting a baby.

      Since taking a deep breath felt as if it kind of helped, she did it again. It felt a bit silly, but she was willing to do whatever it took to get control of herself.

      She had to.

      But, boy, was it hard to do, because all the words she’d overheard kept zipping around in her head. They’ll adjust. I won’t let them worry you. They won’t have any other choice.

      You need to put the babies’ needs first.

      The babies were what they wanted, not two foster kids who weren’t really theirs.

      The babies were what was important.

      They’d been lying to her. Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz were even worse than Dan and Shirl, because they’d only been pretending to want Jemima and Roy. At least Dan and Shirl had never acted like anything was special about them besides the checks that Social Services sent.

      Sneaking back down the hall, Jemima swiped her eyes and tried to be glad that she’d wanted a glass of water. If she hadn’t gotten thirsty, she would have СКАЧАТЬ