Risking Fate (7 page)

“
Language
!” Miranda corrected me.

“I think I can say it this one time.”

A leaf blower was still in Van’s hands. Miranda held the container of flour
, while the kids giggled at my feet with two empty glasses in their hands.

“You were all in on this? You all suck!” I was laughing the whole time. This was, by far, Van’s best prank yet. She was learning. I liked it.

I ran toward her, chasing her into the kitchen until I cornered her and wrapped my body around hers. She giggled and screamed at the same time
,
trying to free herself. “Ty, get off of me. You
’
r
e
getting me all gross.”

“Say you’re sorry and I will let you go.”

She tried to fight me, so I held her tighter. “Let me go. Come on, you are messing up my clothes.”

“Say it.”

“I’m sorry.” I started to let her go and she turned back around. “Not!”

I grabbed her again and shook the powder off of my hair into her face. “Say it and mean it.”

The more she fought the more I held onto her. The room filled with the family, but I never let her go. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry Ty.”

“Now tell me that I am awesome and you love me.”

Everyone started laughing, including me. “Never!”

I rubbed my face over hers, causing her to scream again. “Say it!”

“I love your awesomeness.”

“That isn’t what I said.” I shook my head even more. “Say it right.”

“Fine, I love you and you’re awesome.” She cried out.

I released her and watched as she walked away assessing the mess that
SHE
made all over the
house
. Miranda was shaking her head at me and I attempte
d to hug her, but was shut down
by her death look. I knew she didn’t feel like changing her clothes, so I pouted my way to the guest bathroom, to try and get the flour off of me.

I ended up having to take a shower, while Miranda rode back to the house on the golf cart to get me some clean clothes. When I finally got out they were getting ready to leave. Van couldn’t walk by me without laughing at what she had done. The floor was all vacuumed up and there was no trace of her stellar prank. I pointed to her. “I will get you back, Cuz.”

She giggled. “I’m not afraid. Bring it on.”

Her friendshi
p meant so much to me and Miranda
. I was so glad that we had that. Van and Colt were so in love and they were perfect for each other. I just wished that we all lived closer, especially for the kids.

We said goodbye to the girls and looked back at the three kids in the room with us. I patted Colt on the back. “We got this. They will be angels for us.”

Colt shook his head. “Yeah, when you come back to reality, let me know. In the meantime, I have a crappy diaper to change.”

Chapter 5

Miranda

After Van and I got the house
cleaned up from all of the flou
r, we headed out for a girls day. I hung out with my girlfriends every once in a while at home, but nothing was as fun as spending
the day with Van. I wanted to also see my mother and my aunt, and Lucy was tagging along too.

I had to admit that
Ty had done an awfully good job taking my mind off of Tucker’s mother last night. As much as I would have liked to not wake up an
d think about her, it was easier
said than done. Seeing my own mother, coming to greet us when we entered the church, made me feel a little more at ease.

“Hi, my baby girl. Look at you. Oh, my word, you are just glowing.” She kept hugging me and then looking down at my baby bump.

“So
, we found out what we’re havin’
.” I didn’t want to just bust out the word twins.
Ty had called and told everyone, but my mother was the last person to find out. I made everyone promise not to tell her.

She motioned for me to hurry up and tell her. “The suspense is killing me, Randa. Just tell me already.

“Two boys.”

“Come again?” It was funny how she thought she misheard me.

“Tw
o boys, Mom. Ty and I are havin’
twins.”

Her mouth dropped open before she put her hand up to cover it. She started shaking her head and laughing. “I bet your hubby is radiating excitement.”

I agreed by nodding my head. “Why do you think we drove all the way out here, spur of the moment? He can’t contain himself. Do you want to hear the names he picked out?”

“You let him pick both names?” She sounded sort of shocked that I had given Ty free reign on naming our boys.

My aunt approached us and came in to hug me before I could answer my mother. “It’s so good to see you.”

“I was just telling
Mom that Ty and I are expectin’
twin boys and we are naming them Jacob and Jackson
, Jake and Jax for short.”

My mother’s eyes lit up when she heard me say the word Jacob. She knew I had loved that name. I watched her smile and shake her head the same time. “I should have known that Tyler would give you what you
wanted, he always seem
s
to do a good job at that.” Ty being my husband may have rubbed my mother the wrong way at first, for more reasons than just one. We had married and carried on a relationship in secret. When I went to stay at his
family’s
place for my own safety, I ended up living with Ty right away. My whole family had done so much to try to prevent a relationship between us, but it happened anyway. As much as they wanted to hate the idea, he had proven time and time again that he would do anything for me and Bella, even go as far as making sure everyone knew he was her only father. How could they not come to approve of us? In my mother’s eyes, Ty had become the perfect man.

“I was shocked too at first. I guess I shouldn’t have doubted him. He always comes through for me.”

“That boy adores you girls. It makes me smile just thinking about his love for you,” my aunt added.

Van came up behind me and hugged me. “Did you tell them the good news?”

“Of course I did.”

“Isn’t it great? I can’t wait to see how cute they are going to be. Colt was joking last night how he was going to buy them rival football
team outfits and dress them up in them for a picture. He said he would get his favorite and Ty’s favorite. I think it would be a hoot.”

“Actually
,
I think that is a great idea. Ty would love that. You know he is all for a good joke.” I threw her a wink and thought about him being covered in flour. I should have taken pictures of it. When he had her pinned in the kitchen, I was pretty certain I was about to pee my pants from laughing so hard.

For the next couple hours we hung out with
the ladies. It was good to see some old familiar faces from church, and some were not as friendly, when they saw my baby bump. It wasn’t like I cared. My babies were made out of love by me and my husband. They were planned and highly anticipated. There wasn’t one person in the world that could take that away from me.

Before we left the church, to head home and assess th
e damage that the guys had made
while watching the kids, I pulled my mother to the side. “Last night on the way here we stopped for something to eat. I ran into Tucker’s mother.”

She cut me off. “Oh my God
,
Miranda. You are waiting until right now to tell me something like that?”

“Mom, I was in the bathroom and Bella went running out to her father. I didn’t know she was there until I reached them. She was already bent over trying to ask Bella questions. Ty just thought she was a creepy old lady. He had no idea.”

She pulled me in for another hug. “I am so sorry that happened. Are you okay? Did she say anything to Bella? Is Ty okay?”

I gave her a quick smile as she pulled away and looked into my eyes. She was very conce
rned.
I
could
see it across her face. “We ran out of there and went somewhere else. Bella didn’t understand, but she was fine once we got to the next place. Ty was just worried about me. He said the lady never gave Bella any information. She just
kept askin’
her questions.”

“I am so glad he got you girls away from her. You have no idea how mad we all were when those charges were dropped against that woman. She needs to rot in jail for what she did, but instead is out walking around like she has never done a thing wrong. For the first time, I am so glad you live so far away, Sweetie. I need my grandbabies to be safe. Just knowing you are married to Tyler makes me feel better about it. That boy would move heaven and earth for you and Bella.”

This time my smile went from ear to ear. “I know he would.”

“Are you okay? Is seeing Mrs. Chase still bothering you?”

“I’m try
in’ to be okay, but after seein’
her, I’m just still a little freaked out. I can’t explain it. Ty says it is my hormones playin’ tricks on my mind, but I can’t shake the feelin’.
”

“It could be the hormones, Miranda. I hate to see you worried about something.” She pushed the hair away from my face
. “We won’t let that woman ever
hurt you.”

“I kno
w. I just don’t want her causin’
problems between Ty and Bella. He is her only daddy. It would kill him to disappoint her like that
. Am I wrong for makin’
everything point to Ty being her real daddy?”

My mother shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. She cocked an eyebrow and looked directly at me. “Ty may have been many things in the past. A tyrant, a player, a prankster. None of that means a lick when he is being a father to Bella. That boy is
completely
changed and you girls are the reason. It takes a real man to stand up a
nd
be a father to a child. I don’t think you’re wrong at all. I think you’re lucky. This entire family wants nothing more than for Isabella to grow up with one father.”

“She is blood to him, Mom. He wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She put
her hands on my shoulders. “The
n just stop worrying. She doesn’t even know your last name, Miranda. You need to calm down. That woman is dirt poor. She wouldn’t even have the means to go after you and Ty. Please try to enjoy your visit. I miss you guys so much.”

“
I miss you too, Mom.”

While walking back out to the car, I opened my phone and saw I had a few messages from Ty.

Hour 1- still alive
-Ty

Hour 2- taped up the kids to the couch and have them watching Lady Gaga marathon
–love u-Ty

Hour 3- R u okay? Text me back before I am too drunk to understand you.-Ty

I rolled my eyes and thought about what to say.

I hope Lady Gaga is teaching them about proper
attire and how to be
respectable
little children. If you are drinking, I will cut off your balls.- <3 M

I don’t think ten seconds had passed before my phone chimed with a message.

Cut away cause my super sperm already made two boys at once
-Ty

We decided to go out for dinner. See you tonight. - <3 M

I put the phone back in my pocket and ignore
d
the immediat
e phone
calls coming in. Savanna gave me a curious look while she continued to drive. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I told him we were
n’t
coming home until way l
ater. He is pretty much freakin’
out.”

We both started laughing.

I never doubted
Colt
or Ty’s ability to babysit. They were both excellent fathers, who, enjoyed spending time with their kids. Colt and Noah were very close and he even took him out on the ranch to work with him when he didn’t have school.

Ever since Noah and Bella’s fiasco with the horses, we had to keep a better eye on them when they were together. We were pretty sure they had learned their lesson, but we could never be too careful.

We pulled up at the house and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were no children running around and nothing was on fire. I never expected to walk into what we saw as we opened the door
to the house. On one couch was Colt, sound asleep with Christian on his chest. He was snoring lightly and never even stirred as we shut the door. On the loveseat were Noah and Bella. They were side by side and sleeping as well. Ty was sitting in the recliner smiling up a storm.

We tiptoed into the house and went right into the kitchen. I felt arms around me even before I sat my purse down. “Thought you were going to dinner?”

“Thought you Duct taped the kids.”