Page 82 of Small-Town Secrets
The twins' eighth birthday was so different from their seventh that I was tempted to pinch myself every few minutes just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. There were kids tearing through our living room and making a mess while playingTransformerswith a set of matchbox cars, but I didn't mind. Chris and Tyler had actually made friends. Over the past couple of weeks, they'd grown closer to Maddie, especially once Aaron told his brother about the twins' relation to him. Suddenly we were invited over for dinner all the time.
Their cousin wasn't the only friend they'd made, though. There were two boys from their karate class too.
Having three children over to celebrate a birthday might not have been a big deal to anyone else, but it sure beat the last few birthdays my sons had had, and they were grinning from ear to ear. I loved seeing them that way.
"You seem happy," Marvin said, approaching me with a plate of cake in his hand as I stood beside the door to the living room, overseeing the children.
"I am happy."
"Good." Marvin glanced at the kids. "Some days I still can't believe that you guys—"
"Stop." I held up a hand because I knew what he was about to say. As much as Marvin claimed to be a bit uncomfortable at the thought that I was 'doing it' with his brother, he sure loved to keep bringing it up. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you back then. You know that." I'd apologized a million times already.
"I do know. It's fine. Just a lot to take in. But I'm glad that everything worked out in the end, even if you went through some difficult times."
Absent-mindedly, I rubbed my left arm through the fabric of my shirt when he said 'difficult times.' Only the week before, I'd been at Raphael's studio to start the outline of my new tattoo. My friend had outdone himself on the design—a marvelous phoenix whose wings would spread over parts of my chest and shoulder, his tail feathers going down my arm as he rose from the ashes of his past life. It was going to be beautiful when it was done. I had so much to be thankful for that I had to blink back tears every time I thought about how lucky I was. I was probably just being overemotional, though.
I'd been the same way when I was pregnant with the twins.
And today they were turning eight.
Eight!
They were growing up so fast.
"Are you okay?" Marvin asked as I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll just um... I need to go check on Aaron."
"All right. I'll watch the kids."
"Thank you." Turning away from the living room, I made my way over to the family room, where we had set up a small table with gifts for the twins to unwrap later. I found Aaron there, in front of the table with Sarge by his feet. In his arms, he held a blanket with something wrapped in it. Something that moved and poked its little nose out from under the fabric.
"You got everything ready?" I asked.
"I think so," Aaron said. Sarge gave one bark to agree with him, and then the fur bundle in Aaron's arms made a yipping sound too. I had to laugh. Seemed like things were going great.
"Should I get the children?"
"Yeah. I can't wait to see their faces."
"Me neither." I gave my mate a smile, and then a kiss, and then I went to tell the kids that it was time to unwrap the presents.
They didn't need to be told twice.
Tyler and Chris were in the family room so fast I could swear I only saw dust clouds where they'd been standing moments before.
"It's a dog!" I heard one of the twins call out before I even reached the family room myself. I couldn't tell which one of them it was because I'd never heard either of their voices at that high a pitch before.
When I stepped into the room, I saw Tyler hold the bulldog puppy while Chris was petting the dog in awe. For now, the other presents on the table didn't seem to be of any interest at all. I chuckled, while someone next to me snapped a picture on their phone camera. It was Marvin. He wore a bemused smile on his face.
"You got your kids a dog?" he asked. "I tried that once. It was such a disaster Aaron made me promise never to do it again."
I shrugged. "I think we'll be okay."
Marvin nudged my side. "You're not worried your mate is going to be playing with the new dog all day? Because I know my brother."
"No, I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen." Because the puppy wasn't going to be the newest member of our family for long. But I wasn't going to tell Marvin that. Not yet, anyway. There was somebody else I had to tell first.
