“It was hard. But we’ve moved on.”
Janus turned, looking in the same direction. Halley and Harrison were staring back at them. “They know something is up,” she whispered to him. Her voice was teasing. “They’re going to whisper in each other’s ears in a…” At that same second, Harrison leaned over and whispered into Halley’s ear. The girl nodded solemnly and Janus swallowed past the lump in his throat.
“What are they saying?”
Stevie laughed, shaking her head. “I have no idea, but it isn’t good.”
He would have laughed, except he was suddenly overcome with emotion as he watched his children. They had grey eyes, just like him. And his dark hair too. In fact, they both had his chin as well.
“They look just like you,” she whispered.
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
She breathed in, held it for a moment, then let it out slowly. “Are you ready to be introduced?”
He couldn’t pull his eyes away from the two kids to look at Stevie, but he heard the pain in her voice.
“Yeah.” Then he realized how hard this must have been for her. And how wrong he’d been to assume what he had. The weekend that he’d been cursing her for not calling him, for not being at the hospital for him, she’d been coping with the death of her mother. “If it’s okay with you. And if you think that the time is right.”
Fifteen minutes ago, if she’d told him to leave, he would have called his lawyers and demanded that they file for immediate, temporary custody. He would have punished her for keeping his kids from him. But now, knowing what had happened, Janus felt like a complete ass.
He looked down at her and noticed the startled expression in her eyes. Smiling, he tried to ease the tension. “I’m so sorry,” was all he said.
“Momma?” Harrison called, taking Halley’s hand as the two of them came closer.
Stevie bent down as they approached, but the two only had eyes for Janus.
“Who’s that?” Halley asked.
Stevie swallowed past the lump in her throat, wondering how she would explain. Just spit it out, she decided. Bending down so that she was at their level, she forced her lips to smile. “Well, remember the other day, when you two were in the backyard?”
“Yeah, he was there too,” Harrison said, moving closer to Stevie with Halley in tow.
Stevie nodded, putting a reassuring arm around Harrison, her hand touching Halley’s back. “Yep. He was. This is your father. He found you and he…”
“Really?” Halley asked, moving closer. Stevie noticed that her fingers tightened around her brother’s hand.
“Yeah,” Stevie confirmed. “He really is your dad. Would you like to head back to the house and have some grilled cheese sandwiches with him?”
The pair stared up at Janus, wary but interested.
“Why is he here now?”
Stevie mentally groaned. “He didn’t know that you two existed. He only found out two days ago.”
“He knew the other day, didn’t he?” Harrison asked.
Stevie wanted to cry. This was harder than she’d thought it would be.
That’s when Janus knelt down next to her. “I’m sorry that I didn’t know about both of you. But now that I do, I’d like to be a part of your lives. If that’s okay?”
Halley and Harrison stared at him, then shared a long, silent look between the two of them. Janus wasn’t sure, but he suspected a whole conversation happened in that look.
When they turned back at him, they nodded eagerly. “Yes!”
Janus felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “Okay,” he nodded, wanting to pull them both into his arms and hug them. Instead, he nodded again. “Then how about if we go have those grill cheese sandwiches?”
The twins grinned, relief in their silver eyes now. “You need to be careful with Herbie,” Halley explained, leaning forward confidingly. “He likes grilled cheese sandwiches too.”
Harrison finished the explanation. “He steals them.”
Janus chuckled. “Thank you for the warning.”
The kids led the way down the sidewalk towards the house. Janus held back, watching them. He was momentarily overwhelmed with a strange sensation. Was this love? For two little people he hadn’t known existed only a few days ago?
Impossible! And yet, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off them as they walked down the sidewalk, still hand in hand.
“Will you tell me about them?” he asked Stevie quietly.
He felt her smile. Janus wasn’t sure how he could tell, but he could.
“Well, they are both really good at sports, which absolutely didn’t come from me,” she laughed. “They hide balls in their backpacks every day before school and I pretend that I don’t see them doing it. But I love that they enjoy running around.”
“What kinds of sports?” he asked eagerly.
She groaned. “Harrison loves football,” she admitted, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes. “Yes, you can say it.”
“That’s my boy!” he replied at once, laughing when she rolled her eyes. “What about Halley?”
“Soccer,” Stevie replied. “She loves soccer! She’s irritated that she can’t join a soccer team until next summer.”
“Why can’t she?”
“Because she has to be five years old,” Stevie explained.
Janus grunted. “That makes sense. They probably don’t have the ball control until then.”
“And the head butting issue,” she added with derision.
They’d reached the house by that point and Stevie unlocked the door. Herbie danced around the kitchen that was made smaller because of the presence of Janus. His broad shoulders and tall physique made everything feel smaller.
“You guys go wash your hands. I’ll make the sandwiches.” She turned to Janus. “I’ll be right back.” She turned to the prancing dog. “Come on Herbie,” she patted her thigh. Herbie immediately
