“And being married to a tech guy, you know you can certainly trust everything you read online.”
“I trust my gut. That’s the important thing.”
He shook his head. “Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.”
“I have.”
The woman had been very kind to stay with the kids—which reminded him that he needed to find them before they became wrapped up in another show.
“Are you okay here? I’m going to go grab the kids and get them some dinner, and then we’ll be back.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine tonight. Take the kids home to their own beds and I’ll be in touch with you in the morning with an update.”
“Are you sure? I don’t feel good about leaving you here by yourself.”
“I’ll be fine. To be honest, after all this excitement—plus the medicine they gave me—all I want to do is sleep.”
That didn’t completely convince him, but he didn’t know what else to do but take the kids home to preserve as much routine for them as possible. He couldn’t spend all night in the waiting room with them, especially if Tricia didn’t need him.
“You’ll call or text me right away if anything changes, right?”
“Yes. Definitely.”
“If you send me a list of what you need to be more comfortable, I can run it back tonight.”
“Just my bag from the car.” She gave him a sheepish look. “I’ve had an emergency hospital bag packed for weeks. Even before I came out here, I brought it with me to Idaho and grabbed it on impulse on the way out the door this afternoon. It’s got my phone charger, a robe and some slippers and a couple of magazines I’ve been meaning to get to.”
This didn’t surprise him. Tricia was just about the most organized person he knew. It was what made her brilliant at her job as director of a nonprofit charity in San Jose.
“I’ll grab your bag. If you think of anything else, call me.”
To his alarm, she started to tear up again. “I will. Thank you, Cole. For everything. You’ve always been the one person I can count on in this world.”
He managed not to snort his disbelief. She must be on some serious drugs if she could say something so ridiculous. He hadn’t been around when she needed him. First he had been too busy partying on the circuit, then he had been paying the price for all that hard living. A good chunk of their relationship over the past decade and a half had been long-distance.
He couldn’t repair all that he had done. If he had learned one thing in prison, it was the lesson that a guy could only fix what was in front of him. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “You know I love you, squirt.”
“I do.”
“Your only job right now is to take care of yourself and those little spudnuts in there, got it?”
“Is that an order?”
“If that’s what it takes. Just rest. I’ll be back in a minute with your bag.”
“Thank you.”
She leaned back against the pillow, looking pale and fragile. Her foot was up on pillows and her big abdomen stretched the sheets.
He again fought the urge to find her SOB husband and knock some sense into the man. Barring that, the only thing he could do was bring her bag back and then take care of his children.
“THAT WAS A good show,” the adorable boy declared when the closing credits to the animated Christmas show on the television started to roll.
His sister gave a dismissive shrug. “I guess. I thought the elf was kind of stupid. I mean, why didn’t he just give the girl’s letter to Santa in the first place instead of trying to answer it himself because he was trying to be such a big deal?”
“People can make all kinds of crazy choices in stories,” Devin pointed out. “If Elvis had given the letter to Santa, the story would have ended there and he never would have learned to care more about helping other people than about how important he looked to them.”
“Maybe.”
Jazmyn looked doubtful, not particularly swayed by Devin’s thoughtful analysis on the nature of elves in fiction and the character journey of this particular elf.
“When is Aunt Tricia gonna be done here so we can go home?” the girl asked. “We haven’t even had dinner yet and it’s almost Ty’s bedtime. I’m okay, but Ty is starving. He has to keep his blood sugar steady or he gets crazy.”
“I do not,” Ty protested.
“You do. That’s what Mom used to say all the time, remember?”
“I guess.” He looked upset at the reminder. From what she had seen, the boy was extremely sweet, with those big soulful dark eyes and endlessly long eyelashes. “I guess I am hungry.”
“If your dad doesn’t come out in a few moments, I’ll grab some crackers and cheese for you. Maybe that will hold you over until you can get some dinner.”
“But when can Aunt Tricia go home? Is she done with the ’tractions?” Jazmyn asked.
“Did she have to get a big cast on her leg?” Ty asked before she could answer his sister. “My friend Carlos broke his arm on a trampoline and had to get a big cast. It’s camel-flage.”
“Camouflage, you mean,” Jazmyn corrected him.
“That’s what I said.”
“Your aunt has to stay the night so we can take care of her leg—which isn’t going to need a cast but will probably be in a brace that she can take on and off. I’m not sure if we have one in camouflage but I can see.”
“What about her babies?” the girl asked. “She’s not going to have them tonight, is she?”
Devin hoped not. “I don’t think so. They’re a little too small right now.”
“She’s having a boy and a girl,” Ty informed her. “The boy is going to be Jack and the girl will be named Emma. That was my grandma’s middle name. I never met her because she died. Aunt Tricia said I can hold them anytime I want.”
“I’m sure you’ll be a big help.”
“I’m going to. She said I could even feed them a bottle if I wanted.”
“Lucky.”
“You don’t even know how to feed a baby a bottle,” his sister said skeptically. “I do. I fed you when you were little.”
Since Jazmyn was only a few years older than her brother, Devin doubted the veracity of that claim, but she wasn’t about to call her on it.
“With two babies, there will be plenty of chances for everybody to hold them and feed them.”
“Don’t talk about food because I’m starving,” the girl moaned dramatically.
“I’m sure your dad will be out soon to take you back to your house for some dinner.”
“It’s not my house,” she muttered.
“It is so,” Ty argued. “Dad said so. We live with him now.”
“Not for long. Grandma Trixie says she’s going to fight for custody so we can come live with her in California,