“Come in, come in,” the older woman urged as she hugged first Tyler, then the girls. She took the flowers Liz offered. “Aren’t you sweet? They’re beautiful and I have just the right vase for them.” She frowned. “But it’s up high and I can’t reach it. Melissa, honey, can you get it for me?”
“Um, sure.” The teen followed her into the kitchen.
“I always wanted to be tall,” she could hear Denise saying. “You’re so pretty. I don’t even want to think about all the boys you have interested in you.”
“Me, either,” Liz agreed, allowing Ethan to ease her down the hallway toward the large kitchen. Abby and Tyler trailed after them.
The kitchen was light and bright, obviously the center of the home. The blue floor tiles warmed up the white cabinets and dark granite. There were stainless steel appliances and lots of storage space. It was the perfect kitchen for a large family.
Through the far door, Liz saw the table in the dining room had been set for nine and there was still plenty of room. Ethan’s family had always been large.
“We’re keeping it simple tonight,” Denise announced as she put the flowers in water. “Barbecued chicken and salads. I made a few fresh pies earlier today, so we have them for dessert. Now let’s go into the family room. It’s more comfortable there.”
She led the way into a big open space filled with comfortable-looking sofas and chairs, plenty of small tables scattered around a fireplace. A long bar stood against the far wall and a big TV was mounted on the opposite wall.
Ethan’s sisters were already in the family room. They stood as Liz and the kids entered, moving next to each other.
“Sweet,” Tyler said as he stared at them. “You’re really Dad’s sisters?”
“Uh-huh,” Montana said. “Which means we’re your aunts. Very cool. I know I’d like me for an aunt. I’m Montana. You’ve seen me at the library and I babysat once.” She pointed to her head. “Long hair. I’m the pretty one, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“You’re a lot of things,” Dakota muttered. “Hi. I’m Dakota, Tyler. This is a lot to take in, huh? Don’t worry. You’ll get used to there being three of us. This is Nevada.”
“Long hair, medium hair, short hair,” Tyler said. “That works.”
Liz put her hands on his shoulders. “Don’t get used to it too much. Women tend to change their hair.”
“We might,” Montana acknowledged. “Nevada just cut hers. She says this cut is more sensible.”
Nevada, the quietest of the triplets, only smiled. “I’m not out there looking for attention.”
“Or a man,” Montana added. “It wouldn’t kill you to date.”
“Like you go out every weekend?” Nevada quipped.
“I’m waiting for the right guy,” Montana explained.
“You mean the perfect guy,” Nevada said. “He doesn’t exist.”
“You’re all making me so proud,” Denise said with a shake of her head. She turned to Abby and Melissa. “You two are sisters. Do you fight?”
Abby grinned. “A lot. But it’s okay. We still love each other.”
“She can be a pain, but I’m used to it,” Melissa conceded.
“That’s encouraging.” Denise motioned to the sofas. “Everyone have a seat. Ethan, you’re in charge of the bar tonight. There’s lemonade for those not yet of drinking age. I made a very nice fruit sangria for the adults. Or we have the usual drink fixings.”
“Sangria sounds nice,” Liz said, taking a seat on one of the sofas. Both Melissa and Abby settled next to her. Tyler wandered over to the bar and sat on one of the stools. Everyone else found a place in the room.
The girls kept glancing at Ethan’s sisters. Finally Melissa asked, “What’s it like to be a triplet?”
“Easier now,” Dakota told her. “We have our own lives. We’re close but because we’re interested in different things, we don’t have the same friends, hang out at the same places.”
“Back in school, almost no one could tell us apart,” Montana said with a laugh. “We used that to our advantage.”
“Your names are nice.” Abby’s voice was low and shy.
Denise brought the girls each a lemonade. “And not my fault,” she stated. “Just remember that.”
“What do you mean?” Liz asked.
Denise sighed. “Giving birth to triplets isn’t easy and I had a very hard time recovering. The boys were scared and being very difficult for their grandparents. To make them feel better and give them a distraction, their father promised they could name the girls anything they wanted.”
Liz laughed. “That’s giving away a lot of power.”
“I know,” Denise agreed. “When I found out, I nearly had a fit. But by then, it was done.”
“I like their names,” Abby said.
“I like yours,” Dakota told her.
“Would you like to see their baby pictures?” Denise asked.
Melissa and Abby both nodded.
Montana groaned. “Mom, please. Not the baby pictures.”
“I was on bed rest for nearly four months with you three. I can do anything I want.”
She opened several cabinets in the storage unit below the TV and pulled out albums. Melissa and Abby joined her, as did Tyler. The triplets exchanged a glance and slowly moved over to where Denise had the albums open. Liz got up and walked to the bar.
“Does she do this a lot?” she asked.
Ethan grinned. “More than she should. It was worse when my sisters were in high school and starting to date. They had to bring the guys home to meet the folks, but ran the risk of the pictures coming out. My younger brothers made money by distracting her.”
“It’s almost enough to make me grateful for my inattentive mother.”
“Don’t get too comfortable,” he warned. “Any second now she’ll start lamenting her lack of grandchildren. I’ll be off the hook for a while because of Tyler, but my sisters are feeling the pressure.”
Even though she was standing in the room and seeing it all as it happened, there was a part of her that wondered if any of this was real. Were there actually families that interacted with each other? That laughed and fought and made up for years and still had that loving connection? While she and Tyler were close, it was just the two of them.
Or it had been, she thought, correcting herself. Her small family had just doubled in size with the addition of Melissa and Abby.
Liz felt her chest tighten and she had to consciously suck in air.
“You okay?” Ethan asked.
“I guess.” She looked at him. “I’m responsible for them. Melissa and Abby. They’re living with me permanently.”
He seemed confused. “That’s not news.”
“I know. Roy asked, I agreed. I never thought about saying no. It’s just…I never really put the pieces together before now. They’re my responsibility. I’m going to have to take care of them. Doctors and dentists and schoolwork and talking about boys. Until now it’s all been theoretical. I’m not prepared for teenage girls. Technically Abby’s not yet a teen, but still.”
He walked around the bar and sat next to her. “You’re doing great. Just keep with the plan.”
“I don’t have a plan. I don’t have anything. What if I mess up?”
“You’ll say you’re sorry and then you’ll start over.”
That seemed too simplistic. The responsibility was suddenly overwhelming. She’d gone from being a single mom of one child to being responsible for three. How could she have missed that?
What now? What would be best for them?
She turned toward the far wall and saw Denise bending over a coffee table, flipping pages in a photo album. Tyler, Melissa and Abby were clustered around her. The triplets hovered nearby, correcting or adding to the stories.
This was good for them, Liz thought. Seeing a big family in action. Feeling a part of something. They’d already been through so much. Not a thought designed to make her feel good about her decisions. Because in a few weeks
