Risking Fate

by Jennifer Foor

  I looked to Ty, who seemed as worried as me. “What is it? Is something wrong with the baby?”

  My doctor shook her head. “No, nothing is wrong with the babies.”

  For a moment time stood still. Ty’s hold on my hand became loose and he looked down at me, and then turned toward the doctor. “Wait a minute…did you just say…I’m sorry, but did you just say babies…like plural?” Ty’s rambling made me look straight at the doctor.

  She smiled and nodded her head, while she got the position on the monitor and pointed to two separate little peanuts. “You’re having twins. Congratulations.”

  I put my hand up to my mouth and started crying and laughing at the same time. When I felt no reaction from Ty, I squeezed his hand to grab his attention. He had been still staring at the screen. “Babe, are you okay?”

  “She said twins.” He spoke like the doctor wasn’t in the room anymore.

  “Mr. Mitchell do you need to sit down?” She asked him.

  He shook his head, while wetness formed in his eyes, before bending down to kiss me. As he pulled away, he had a huge grin on his face. “We’re having twins.”

  I let out a cackle. “I heard.” We looked back at the screen and watched as she looked at both of the little babies growing inside of me.

  “This one here is a boy.” The doctor pointed to the screen. I heard an air filled laugh come out of Ty as we both awaited the second result. “And it looks like this one is also a boy.”

  Ty just stood there staring at the screen. “Twin boys. Holy shit, Miranda, we’re having twin boys.” He leaned down and planted his lips on mine. “I told you I had super sperm, Baby.”

  Aside from the super sperm comment, Ty did the best he could to contain himself. He made it out to the parking lot before notifying the entire family of our unexpected addition. Of course, I was pretty sure if he could have alerted the media, we would have been on the evening news when we arrived home that night.

  We were still so excited from our news that I had forgotten to ask him about the name until I was climbing out of the car to head back into the salon. I leaned down and reached my body into the driver’s side for my kiss goodbye. “I love you.”

  Ty kissed me twice before he spoke. “Can you believe this shit? We’re having fucking twins.”

  “If they both weigh ten pounds I am going to kill you.”

  He started laughing. “If your ass gets fat, I will still want to hit it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  I smacked him on the shoulder. “Ty can you be serious? I was talking about the size of them coming out of me.”

  “Once the first one comes out the other one will just slide behind him.” He seemed confident that he knew everything about childbirth. We shouldn’t have let him in the room when Christian was born. Now he thought he knew as much as the doctors.

  “Now that we know what we’re having, do I get to name one of the boys?” I hadn’t even considered being able to name this one and refused to get my hopes up about names. Ty knew I had wanted Bella to be named Jacob, but he insisted it was his turn.

  He startled me when he climbed out of the car and grabbed my hand. “What are you doing?”

  He pulled us into the salon and got my bosses attention. “Amy, I need you to clear my wife’s schedule for the day. Is it possible?”

  Amy was the best boss ever. She had given me a chance when I thought I would never have one. It was my job that helped me stay with Ty so long ago. She had done so much for me and our friendship had grown because of my appreciation for her.

  Amy worked her ass off for her family, while her deadbeat husband refused to hold a job. He preferred getting drunk and lying around in his tighty whities all day. Amy would work ten hours a day, sometimes even more, to avoid going home to him. She had even taken on his daughter from a previous marriage. She was sixteen and loved playing with Bella. The thing was, her husband Rick was overbearing. There were a few times where Ty and I had even suspected that she was being abused. I had confronted her on several occasions, and each of them resulted in her giving me the silent treatment for days on end. I cared about her and her safety. I knew firsthand what it was like to be abused by a man.

  Amy gave us a welcomed smile. “Is something wrong?” She seemed truly concerned, which I appreciated since she and I were so close.

  “Not unless having TWINS is a big deal.”

  Even the clients having their hair done gave us congratulatory comments.

  “So, I was thinking she should take the day off and relax, in fact, I was hoping that she could start working a few hours a day instead of eight. Would that be alright? She keeps getting tired and I need her to be taken care of. She could be carrying the next Peyton and Eli Manning.”

  I rolled my eyes, wondering if my husband was more concerned about my well being or his potential football star sons. At any rate, the room filled with laughter. Of course it did…we were talking about Ty.

  “I don’t see why we can’t arrange for that to happen. It will take us about a week to get the schedule straight. I can take her afternoon appointments today if that’s alright?”

  Once we got that all situated, Ty called his boss and told him he wasn’t coming back. They exchanged a few inside jokes before finally hanging up. We both had the coolest bosses and were lucky about that.

  Bella was in school for a little while longer, so Ty took us to a restaurant outside of town. We sat down and he grabbed my hands. “Have I told you how much I love you today?”

  “Not in the past hour.” I didn’t keep track, but I never forgot when he said those words to me. They still melted my heart.

  “Forever, Baby, I love you forever. God, I can’t wait to tell Iz.”

  We ordered our food and when the waitress left, I grabbed his hands again. Well, actually he stuck both hands on the table with his palms up and motioned for me to hold them. “Are you scared about having two instead of one?”

  “Baby, I am having twin sons. We already have the most perfect daughter. As long as I have you, I know we can handle two little Ty’s.”

  “So is that the name you want? Tyler?”

  He grinned a kind of half smile. “Nope. Actually, I have an idea that I want to run by you.”

  I was still focused on his grin. Sometimes it was hard for even me to tell whether Ty was being serious or not. “Lay it on me.”

  “What about Jackson and Jacob? We can call them Jax and Jake for short and they are both strong football names. I can hear it now. ‘Starting quarterbacks Jax and Jake Mitchell’.

  Oh, for the love of God, help me.

  After I laughed at him, he seemed to get his serious face back on. The truth was, I loved the names and the fact that he had picked one of my favorites. “I love them, both of them. They’re perfect, Babe.”

  He pulled both of my hands to his mouth and kissed them. “Perfect just like their mother.”

  Chapter 2

  Tyler

  After finding out our news, we planned a surprise trip to Kentucky. I could hardly wait to celebrate with the family in person. Miranda seemed to be just as excited as I was. Conner even seemed excited. He opted to stay at our place since we had a shipment of cattle that had just arrived. He needed to make sure the fences were secure and everything was in order. If something were to happen, my father and Harvey wouldn’t be able to handle things themselves.

  We packed up my Jeep and got on the road early on a Friday night. Izzy was so excited to tell Noah about having two brothers instead of one. I was surprised she hadn’t asked to video chat with him before we left. Savanna and Miranda had this schedule where they cooked dinner at the same times every night during the week. They would get the kids set up on the computers and they would chat with each other while the women could cook without being disturbed.

  I’d usually help out Conner and my dad when I got home from the shop at night. Miranda hated it, but once dinner was ready, I never went out and took away from our family time to
gether.

  Living with Conner was tough. I suppose living with anyone would be, but he and I just bumped heads too much. He had a problem with me wanting to be with my girls all of the time. I don’t know if he was just jealous, or a total douche bag in general.

  Our last few visits to the ranch were full of drama. Between Conner being out of control and the kids being lost in the worst storm Kentucky had seen in years, then Savanna going into labor, I wasn’t looking forward to going back for a while.

  Things had really changed for Miranda and me at home and we liked being there. Our house went from being a tiny box, to a pretty nice size. My father, Colt, Conner and me had turned the old part of the carriage house into three more bedrooms and a bathroom. We raised the ceilings in the original house part and even rearranged the original floor plan.

  Last year, during the construction, we had to move in with my parents. Just living under the same roof as them made me work even harder to get our place done. Miranda got all weird about sleeping with me in my parents’ house. She refused to even get a shower while we were in the bathroom together. I tried to explain that we were married and they really didn’t care, but she wouldn’t listen.

  After three months of living in my parents’ house, we were able to move back into half of the house, until the rest was complete.

  Since we finished, Izzy had her own wing that consisted of a bedroom, playroom and bathroom. She didn’t seem to mind her uncle Conner living with us, but was a bit more upset about losing her playroom to two little baby brothers. We had added three bedrooms, so eventually the kids would all have their own rooms, for the time being, the twins were going to share a room.

  At any rate, visiting Kentucky just made me miss being at our house, comfortable and together.

  Miranda was getting big quick, due to carrying two babies instead of one. To me, it didn’t matter how big she got, I found her to still be the sexiest woman on the planet. She wore little dresses with leggings on most days, since they were so comfortable.

  Every night I would rub her back, her feet, or whatever else she complained were hurting. During our very long car ride, she complained of being stiff. We stopped three times for her to adjust and pee. I didn’t know what she was going to do when she got further along. Her bladder had gone to shit. In fact, one night we were watching television and she was sitting on my lap. She sneezed and peed all over me.

  I thought it was hysterical, but she got all bent out of shape over it. I wish she knew that I could never love her any less. My little boys were growing inside of her. I would never make fun of her for that.

  We got about twenty minutes away from the ranch and Izzy was pitching a fit for something to eat. It was hard to tell a four year old that we needed to wait thirty minutes. She just didn’t understand time yet.

  “Daddy, please!”

  I turned to look at Miranda who had this dumbass neck pillow wrapped around her face. “Baby, is it alright if we just stop and eat now?”

  She sat up and looked over at me. “I’m kinda hungry, so yeah, that would be fine.”

  We pulled into a fast food joint about five minutes later. Izzy probably wasn’t that hungry, but every damn time we passed a billboard with a fast food picture on it, she claimed to be just dying for something to eat.

  Since Miranda and Izzy both had to use the bathroom, I went and stood in line for our food. They both ordered the same thing everywhere we went, so I always knew what to get them. It was an average crowd of people standing in line and I was about three people from ordering when I felt my daughter plow into the back of my leg. I could see the ladies room door from where I was standing and looked up not noticing Miranda. “Hey, where’s Mommy?”

  “There was only one stall and she wanted me to tell you she wants a milkshake. She told me to run right to you.”

  I patted her on the head and moved forward one spot. The lady standing in the line next to us kept checking us out, more than someone would normally stare. I tried to act like I wasn’t noticing, but it was kind of creeping me out.

  Finally when I was about to get all defensive for the way she was watching my child, she leaned down and started speaking to her. “You are a very pretty little girl.”

  Izzy grabbed my hand and clung to my side as she eyed the woman up. Not wanted to cause a scene, I patted her on the head. “Say thank you, Sweetie.”

  “Thank you,” She said quietly.

  “What’s your name?” The lady asked.

  Now this lady looked like she meant no harm. She had curly gray hair, all of her teeth and continued to acknowledge me as well as Iz. I had no reason to feel threatened by her presence.

  Izzy looked up at the woman. “Bella, but Daddy calls me Izzy.”

  “Is that short for Isabella?”

  I smiled at the woman and felt someone come up at my side. I turned to see Miranda and she was not happy. “We need to leave RIGHT NOW!”

  I looked toward the woman, then back to Miranda. “We haven’t got our food yet. What is the matter? Are you sick?”

  “No, Ty, Please listen to me. Please can we just go,” she begged. She was grabbing me by the arm and pushing Izzy behind her, shielding her from the woman’s view.

  Before I could react, the woman began speaking. “Hello, Miranda.”

  I had no idea she knew Miranda, but it started to make sense when I looked into my wife’s eyes. Miranda was afraid and I needed to get them the hell away from this woman, whoever she was.

  “Ain’t you gonna say hello?” The woman put her hands on her hips and looked from Iz to Miranda. When she bent down to address my daughter, I felt Miranda throwing herself in between us.

  “I have nothing to say to you and neither does my husband or our daughter. Leave us alone!” Miranda and I drug a screaming child out of the food place as fast as we could. Once we all were in the car safe and pulling away, I reached over and rubbed Miranda’s back as she hunched over and began crying.

  “Baby, what is going on? Who the he…..” I looked back at Iz and remembered I was trying not to use profanity. “Who was that?”

  She shook her head and refused to speak. I knew she needed to calm down before she could tell me and as much as I wanted to know, I knew it was best to wait. I got about a mile down the road and pulled into another place to eat. Once I had the car turned off, we just sat there in silence.

  “Daddy, can we eat here? I want some chicken nuggets. Why couldn’t we eat at the last place? Were they out of chicken nuggets?”

  “Yeah, Sweetie, they were out of nuggets. Just sit tight and let Mommy calm down. I’m going to get you dinner.”

  I went to climb out of the car and Miranda grabbed my arm. “Ty, please don’t leave me.”

  I closed the door and grabbed her hand. “Baby, I’m never going to leave you. What is going on?”

  “That was his mother, Ty.”

  “Whose mother?”

  In an almost whisper I heard my wife say the name we promise to never say. “Tucker.”

  Before I could comment, or comfort, Izzy started talking from the backseat. “Who is Tucker?”

  Just hearing that name come out of her mouth was like being punched in the face, no, it was more like having someone rip my heart out of my chest. I hated lying to her, but she was mine. That little girl was all mine and there wasn’t anyone that could tell me any different. I wanted to be the one to answer, but Miranda beat me to it.

  “He was a very bad man that hurt your Aunt Van a long time ago. He died.”

  “Why are you crying? Is it because he is dead?” My knee started to shake as I tried so hard to keep my composure, but the more questions Iz asked, the more it was ripping me apart.

  “No, Sweetie. He was a very bad man. He was even in jail. Mommy is crying because I am just so tired and my back is really hurting me. Your little brothers keep kicking Mommy, making me uncomfortable.”

  I had to give it to Miranda, her quick thinking made Iz forget all about the sore subject
. Within seconds, we were all ordering at the drive thru and on our way to the safety of the Mitchell Ranch. While Miranda tried to eat something, I never let go of my hold on her leg. My food could get cold and even hard, I just didn’t care. Miranda was my priority.

  I knew once we got with our family we wouldn’t have time to talk about what happened until we were going to sleep.

  It bothered me.

  We’d never had a single issue with anyone from Tucker’s family, in fact, from the time Iz was born, none of them had anything to do with her. When we gave Iz my last name, it was just assumed that nobody would ever even ask who her father was. As far as everyone knew, she was mine.

  We pulled into Van and Colt’s place and they came running out to greet us. Miranda calmed down some when she saw them heading toward us. I gave her a squeeze before we opened the door. “I love you, Baby. I will never let anything happen to our family, you hear me?”

  She shook her head and squeezed my hand. “I know, Ty.”

  Noah opened the back door and Izzy went flying out of the car with him. I jumped out and ran over to Miranda’s side. She was already standing up hugging Colt. “Look at your belly. I can’t believe its twins.” Colt rubbed her stomach and then took Christian from Van so she could hug Miranda.

  I reached around her waist and hugged her at the same time, lifting her up off the ground when she pulled away from my wife. “We missed you so much!” Van had a love-hate relationship with my sarcasm. There were times where she couldn’t get enough of it, then other times when I was sure she wanted to kill me.

  I reached my arms out for Christian and she reached back. “Hey pretty girl. Uncle Ty missed you.” Her dimple was so adorable. Since we were older and all so close, it was easier for the kids to call the adults ‘aunt and uncle’. “Did you hear that you are going to have two cousins to play with, in a few more months? That’s right!” My baby voice caused everyone to stop talking to each other and watch me. “What? She loves it. Don’t you?” I kissed her on her head before following everyone into the house.

  Izzy and Noah had already run inside, so there was no need to look back and worry what they were getting into. They both had reason to never want to play outside in the dark and I think we were all okay with that.