Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Serena

Iwake up when my door flies open, and two young children come bounding into the guest room at full speed. The twins skid to a stop right in front of my bed. I’ve already got my niece and nephew’s number. Tommy’s the rambunctious one, while Louisa is shy and standoffish. They are both cute as can be. It’s Tommy who climbs onto the bed, lifts the blanket and crawls under. He immediately turns and holds up the blanket for Louisa. She eagerly climbs onto the bed as well and they both pull the blanket up over their heads to make a tent.

“Are we camping out this morning?” I ask sleepily.

Instead of answering my question, Tommy states, “You’re supposed to be eatin’ now.”

“I see. You two came to get me for breakfast, right?”

Louisa whispers, “Everybody ate but you. You starvin’ yet?”

I open my mouth to tell them no, but just then my stomach growls. Tommy gives me a knowing grin and Louisa giggles.

I sit up and push the covers from overtop us. “I guess there’s no hiding the fact that my stomach is ready for food.”

Louisa agrees, pointing at my stomach. “It’s talkin’ tummy talk.”

That almost made sense. The next thing I know, the twins are both trying to push me out of bed with four small hands. They’re both laughing their heads off like moving a grown up is the funniest thing ever. It’s been a long time since I was around small children. My brother and his wife adopted these two amazing little ones after my older sister passed away. Tommy and Louisa look just like Nicole. That makes watching them running around playing bittersweet. I miss her and my father so much it hurts.

I allow the twins to roll me out of bed and then I stretch my arms all the way up in the air and yawn, which of course they find hilarious as well. I’m starting to wonder if everything I do is humorous or if these two are just determined to laugh at everything today. We go to the kitchen where Cleo is just finishing the breakfast dishes.

“Good morning sleepyhead,” Cleo says. We decided to let you sleep in. I hope that’s okay.”

“Absolutely. Once I start working, I won’t get much opportunity to sleep late.”

Cleo has her toddlers tumbling around in a playpen situated against the wall. I stop by long enough to say hi to each of them. When Sammy and Solomon see me coming, they scramble to their feet and grab the rim. They both start jabbering at the same time, happy as can be. I glance over my shoulder at my brother’s wife, “It’s funny how you and Siege ended up with two sets of twins. Don’t you think?”

Cleo shuts the dishwasher and laughs. “Double the trouble and double the love, I guess twins must run in the family.”

I come to my feet and glance around at all the kids. “I don’t know how you do it. Taking care of four kids and working every day must be exhausting.”

Her expression is happy as she explains, “I’m not doing it all by myself. Your brother helps out a lot and we have two part-time nannies to do the caretaking in the afternoons until I get off work. It’s been a lot easier since Tommy and Louisa started school. That means for eight hours a day they’re under someone else’s watch.”

“Kids are great and all, but I prefer the ones you can visit with and then give back.”

Cleo smiles at my little joke. “Amazingly enough, they adore their Aunt Serena, so you’ll get the opportunity to spend time with them anytime you like.” Without waiting for me to comment she adds, “Come and eat. I’ll heat your food up.”

“Thanks,” I say eagerly. “I’m absolutely starving.”

I quickly settle down at the table, while Cleo wanders off to warm my plate in the microwave. I watch as Tommy and Louisa dump armfuls of stuffed animals into the playpen for their younger siblings. There are whimsical bears wearing tutus, giraffes with extra-long necks and even a stuffed fairy with wings.

When they’re finished, Tommy gives Louisa an assist so she can climb into the playpen. Then he climbs onto a kitchen chair that’s been pulled back against the wall and takes a silver ball out of his pocket. When he digs into his pocket again and comes out with a fist full of tiny pieces of foil that look like they might have once been wrapped around chocolate kisses, I realize my industrious little nephew is making a foil ball. He carefully smooths each new square of foil around the ball and presses it together with both hands. The look on his face is one of determination.

I would make a terrible mom because once Cleo puts my plate in front of me, all I can think about is stuffing my face. I’m clearly too distracted to be responsible for little ones.

When she comes back with a cup of coffee for me, I swallow the bite of food in my mouth so I can speak. “You make delicious pancakes. Is this a top-secret family recipe?”

“Yeah, it’s one your mother gave to Siege. He’s the local resident pancake maker and grill master in this house.”

I’m delighted to hear my brother is such a responsible family man. “Congratulations on domesticating my brother. I thought he was going to be a feral cur forever.”

“You must be kidding. Siege is the last of the great family men. He helps give baths, wipes dirty faces, reads bedtime stories, and gives goodnight kisses.”

I chuckle at her description of my brother’s domestic skills. “Yeah, but does he do that for just you or does he pitch in with the kids as well?”

My sister-in-law blushes furiously. “I was talking about the kids, of course. Siege even has tea parties with Louisa.”

I try to imagine my big muscle-bound brother wearing a floppy hat and squeezed in around all the stuffed animals at her little table with a teacup in his hand. The image is just too bizarre. “I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to see that with my own eyes to believe it.”

“You’re welcome to spy on him anytime you want, but you should know if he catches you, he’s going to put you to work helping out with these kids.”

“He won’t get any complaints from me. I’m growing quite fond of my nieces and nephews.” When Cleo drops down in the chair across from me, I ask, “What’s on the agenda for this fine Saturday morning?”

“The brothers have scheduled a family day at the clubhouse,” she tells me, while looking all kinds of shifty. I say shifty because she doesn’t look at me when she says family day, and her voice goes up an octave.

I eye her suspiciously, wondering what’s really going on there. I hope it’s not some set up for me to meet all the new club members because my brother is hoping I’ll take a liking to one of them. Or it could be the first time they had a family day and she’s not quite sure what it is herself. “Our dad used to have those back in the day. Let me guess, it’s gonna be almost like a carnival, right?”

She nods, “They’re having a cookout, renting a bouncy castle, and setting up a bunch of games the kids can play to win prizes.”

Tommy’s head pops up and he asks, “Foil prizes?”

His mom grins back at him. “You better believe it. We’ve got foil squares in every color of the rainbow just for you.”

I don’t know what it is with this kid and foil, but his eyes light up like it’s Christmas morning. He’s all kinds of cute. Louisa stands up in the playpen and starts climbing over the side to get out. Tommy hops down from his chair, wraps an arm around his sister’s waist and hauls her up and over the edge. He’s wearing a little black leather vest with his name printed on a patch on the front. It’s much like the one his father wears, only without a club logo on the back. In this moment he looks so much like Siege, it makes me smile. I love that my brother finally has a sweet family of his own. He deserves all the happiness in the world.

Louisa comes running over to her mother and climbs into her lap. “We havin’ cotton candy?”

Cleo smooths the little girl’s hair down and replies, “Yes. Your dad made sure to get plenty of unicorn cotton candy just for you.”

Louisa turns to her brother and yells across the room, “Did you hear that, Tommy?”

He shakes his head at his sister’s happy smile. “Yeah, I heard. You’re only going to get one bite though, cos sugar is bad for you.”

Louisa lets out a startled, indignant little cry before turning back to her mother.

“Not what he said,” she says angrily.

Cleo wraps her arms around Louisa and holds her tight. “No, no, sweetness. You know your dad will make sure that you get your fair share.”

Louisa lays her head on her mother’s chest and glares at her brother. Cleo rocks her gently as she turns her attention back to me. “I think Siege left you a voicemail on your phone about family day. Everyone’s hoping you’ll attend.”

I drain the last of my coffee and set the cup on my empty plate. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I guess I should grab a shower. Are we riding together, or should I meet you there?”

“We’re heading out as soon as the nannies get here. It might be best if you met us at the clubhouse. I’m sure you know the way.”

“I know the way so well, I could probably find it blindfolded.”

Cleo comes to her feet, allowing the now calm Louisa to slip from her lap. “Sometimes I forget that you were born and raised in this town and probably know your way around like the back of your hand. I’m gonna go ahead and start packing up diaper bags for the kids. If you need anything at all, just give me a shout.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ve brought everything I could possibly need. It’s just a matter of getting my lazy butt moving.”

She walks off but calls over her shoulder when she gets to the doorway, “There’s more coffee in the kitchen. If you need it, help yourself.”

I decide to forgo a second cup of java. Instead, I’ll make coffee my reward for getting to the clubhouse on time. I take my plate and cup into the kitchen and wash them in the sink. By the time I come back through the house, there are two young girls, each with a baby on their hip walking around the living room. I stopped to introduce myself and make nice with them for a few minutes before heading upstairs.

So far, this day has been a pleasure. I look through my text messages to see if my brother wants me to pick up anything on the way to the clubhouse. He would be vastly more likely to hit me up for a favor than his wife, since she’s wrangling four kids and two nannies today.

I’m annoyed to find more threatening text messages meant for whatever poor soul had this new cell phone number before me. Whoever it is, totally sounds unhinged. It had started just before I left for San Francisco. So far, he’s threatened to rape her, choke her out and kidnap her. The trifecta of dirty deeds. I’ve been thinking of going to the police, but since I don’t even know the woman’s name or the identity of the person leaving the threatening messages, it seems like a moot issue. I tried seeing if I could get the phone to block calls and texts from withheld numbers, but couldn’t figure out the settings. It’s pretty clear however, this person has no earthly idea where she is because they keep texting the phrase whenever I find you amongst all the rambling threats.

I scroll past those and open my brother’s message. He’s telling me most people are going to be there at noon, I don’t need to bring anything but myself and everyone is looking forward to seeing me again. Tossing my phone down on the bed, I race to the bathroom to get a shower. I make short work of getting clean, blow drying my hair and getting dressed.

I know my brother said most people were going to be there by noon but I want to get there a little early so I can greet all the brothers and their families as they arrive. It seems like all the stress of my former life has drifted away, leaving only the pleasure of getting reacquainted with all my old friends. I grab my keys and carefully lock up the house before getting into my car. Taking a minute to sort through my music selections, I choose something with a happy beat. The ride to the clubhouse is relaxing because the sun is out, the traffic is light and for once everything is right in my world.