“I’m so surprised that they haven’t told you. I really thought they would.”
“Me too. I was kind of counting on it, actually.” I rolled my eyes.
My heart pounded as the front door swung open. Mom and Fred had gone for a walk and had agreed to pick up the girls from the bus stop on the way back. I heard their giggling in the foyer and looked at Brody. His eyes were practically bulging out of his head.
“That’s them!” he whispered.
“I know. Relax.” I walked to the other side of the island where he was sitting and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “We got this.”
He reached up and squeezed my hands. “Sleeves up, Jensen.”
Brody and I had been saying that to each other for a couple weeks now, ever since his mom said it to us. It’d become a little thing we said to each other when we were nervous about doing something. I kissed the side of his head and took a deep breath as Lucy and Piper came running around the corner.
“Mom!” Lucy squealed, jumping into my arms.
Piper dropped her backpack and sat at the island, propping her chin on her hand. “Can we have a snack?”
“Yes, in just a minute, okay?” I set Lucy down in the chair next to Piper and sat across from them. “We want to talk to you for a minute.”
My mom kissed my cheek as she passed through the kitchen. “Good luck,” she whispered in my ear.
I gave her a tight smile and looked at Lucy and Piper. Their little faces stared back at me, blinking innocently. In twenty years, they probably wouldn’t remember the conversation we were about to have, but I would never forget it. All of our lives were about to change, forever.
“So…” I took a deep breath, preparing myself. “Remember a few weeks ago when you said that there was a little boy at school who said Brody was your daddy?”
They both nodded.
“And remember how we told you that you could tell anybody you wanted that Brody was your daddy?”
“Yes, like we told the man at the hockey game,” Piper stated proudly.
“Exactly,” I answered. “Well, it wasn’t completely true.”
They both frowned in confusion.
“You guys know that I love Brody, right?”
They nodded again.
“Well, before I loved Brody, I loved another man… a long time ago. His name was Zach.”
Lucy’s eyes lit up. “The man from the park!” she exclaimed.
I flashed Brody a quick glance, thankful that he was so focused on the girls the park comment didn’t seem to bother him at all. “Yes, the man from the park. Like I said, a long time ago we loved each other. And we loved each other so much, we made you guys.”
Brody looked down at the table and took a deep breath.
“So Zach is our dad?” Lucy’s little face twisted with such confusion as to where she’d come from; it made my chest ache.
“Yes, honey. Zach is your real daddy.” I swallowed the lump in my throat that formed instantly as those words left my mouth.
“But I want Brody to be my daddy.” Piper’s chin started to quiver.
“I know you do, but—”
“Brody kills all the spiders and he’s really good at tying our shoes, Mom. He should be our daddy.”
“Listen,” Brody interrupted. “Just because I’m not technically your daddy doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere. I’ll still be here to kill all the spiders and tie your shoes and build your forts. Forever and ever, okay?”
“Pinkie swear?” Piper asked quietly, holding her tiny pinky finger in the air.
“How about we change it to Twinkie swear?” Brody grinned. “It’ll be our own secret way to promise each other something.”
“Yay!” Lucy clapped.
“And yes, I Twinkie swear. Forever.” They wrapped pinkies and Twinkie swore before Brody cleared his throat and continued, “Think about it. How cool is this? You guys get one mommy and two daddies! You’re the luckiest kids ever!”
Lucy searched Brody’s face adoringly, thinking about what he’d just said.
Piper, on the other hand, wasn’t affected as deeply. “Mom, can we have a snack now?”
I’d agonized over telling them about Zach for days, and the whole conversation was over in five minutes flat. They hopped off their stools and each grabbed an apple out of the fridge before they ran down the hall.
I puffed out my cheeks as I exhaled. “Wow. That was interesting.”
“Interesting is an understatement.” Brody patted the stool next to him, signaling for me to move around the island and sit next to him.
I walked over and sat, immediately leaning into him and resting my head on his arm. “I’m so sorry about that.”
He played with a strand of my hair but didn’t respond.
“I wanted you here and I know you wanted to be here, but I’m sorry you had to hear it like that, ya know?”
“Don’t sweat it. They’re little. It’s hard to explain all of this without freaking them out and giving them way more science than they’re ready for.” He laughed. “As they get older, they’re going to ask questions, but it won’t matter. They’ll already love me way more than they love him anyway.”
I sat up and grinned at him. “Duh. How could they not?”
He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and smiled at me, showcasing those adorable dimples.
“I love you, Murphy.”
“I love you, More.”
Brody quickly pulled his phone out and looked at the screen. “What time is what’s-his-name coming over?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Trick-or-treating starts at four o’clock. He said he’d be here at quarter ‘til, so any minute?”
“Shit!” He jumped off the stool. “I gotta help the girls put their costumes on.” He walked over to the backpack he brought and took out two sets of black sweatpants and sweatshirts and handed them to me. “Can you take these in there and ask them to put them on? I’ll help with the rest.”
“Black sweats?” I cocked my head to the side. “You guys have me totally thrown off.”
“Good.” He handed me the sweats and smacked my ass as I headed down the hall.
The girls giggled and tortured me the whole time I got them dressed, laughing about how funny it was that I didn’t know what their costumes were. I tried asking questions and digging around for clues, but they just covered their mouths and grinned at each other.
They followed along behind me as I walked back out to the kitchen. “Okay, they have on their—” I stopped dead in my tracks with the girls bumping right into me. Zach stood on one end of the kitchen, leaning against the counter. Brody sat at the island with his hands folded in front of his mouth.
“Hi,” I said nervously.
“Hi.” Zach smiled and waved. “Brody let me in.”
“Well, the evening is starting off on the right foot already. At least he let you in the door.” I laughed, trying to ease the tension in the room.
Zach offered up a fake laugh and Brody cracked a smile.
I considered that a win.
Lucy called out, “Hi, Zach.”
“Uh, you should probably call him… What should they call you?” I stuttered.