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Unable to bear listening to the men seal the fate of the babies she would now lose, Faith swept them both into her arms and carried them to the nursery. They were beginning to fuss for bottles, anyhow. She wanted, needed, to feed them one last time.

After they ate, it would be naptime. There was sanity in the routine.

Suddenly panic tore at her soul. She’d still have to face Brian. She’d have to hide this terrible, wrenching pain.

Blocking out the low murmur of male voices from her living room, Faith mixed formula by rote. She warmed it for Elyse and barely took the chill off for Evan. Since he’d started cutting those three teeth, he preferred his formula on the cool side.

Tears sprang to her eyes, obscuring her view of their sweet faces as she sat in her mother’s rocker and offered a bottle to each baby. How long would it take whatever nanny Brian hired to discover each baby’s idiosyncrasies? A few raced through Faith’s mind. Ellie wanted to be tightly cocooned in a blanket before being placed in bed. Evan sprawled across his portion of the crib. If covered, he soon kicked his blankets off. Certain kinds of disposable diapers gave Elyse a horrid rash, Evan on the other hand, had tougher skin and wore any brand. But he woke up and fussed if the night-light went out. His sister, unless she was sick, could probably sleep through a rocket launch.

Faith hummed one of the babies’ favorite lullabies. Her voice cracked, so she stopped humming and dropped kisses down on the perfect little heads. Kisses mixed with salty tears.

Both bottles were empty, and the babies had fallen asleep by the time Brian appeared in the doorway leading into the nursery. “There you are, Faith.” He bent his head forward and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “With all the excitement of the last hour, we haven’t even said a proper hello.” He started walking toward her, but she stopped him by placing a finger to her lips.

“Sorry.” He whispered. “Do you need help getting them into the crib?”

She shook her head wildly. Already she felt sick. She’d never be able to hang on to any portion of her pride if Brian touched her.

While she sat in the babies’ room, which she’d fashioned with such love, Faith was forced to examine what would ultimately be best for the twins. Their future as it appeared now was the exact opposite of the life she’d dreamed about for the past several weeks. Definitely opposite of what she wanted. A kind word now, or the barest brush of Brian’s hand, would risk shattering her resolve to let him have the twins without a fight.

Brian whispered that he was going into the kitchen to prepare a pot of coffee and that once Faith put the babies down, he’d meet her there.

She rocked for another five minutes. The babies were already sound asleep, but she needed the extra time to compose herself. Even then she hoped Brian wouldn't stay in her apartment long. Things should move fairly fast for him once she stepped aside and called off David Reed. Of course, the court would approve his taking both babies. As she’d told Brian, she had no heart for trying to split up the infants.

The babies could be gone as early as next week, she thought, as she got up and moved around in a daze. She laid the twins down and crept out of the room.

Brian had brewed a pot of the new coffee she’d bought that day. Faith followed the fragrance into the kitchen. It seemed longer than three hours since she’d ground the beans and filled the half-pound bag.

Hesitating in the hallway outside the kitchen, she closed her eyes and smoothed her fingers across them, taking care to rid herself of any last tears clinging to her eyelashes. With a false smile on her face, Faith breezed into the kitchen and plucked a cup off the mug tree.

Brian bolted up from the table where he’d been reading the article that took up most of the front page.

“Here, let me pour you a cup. That’s some article.” He acknowledged with a jerk of his thumb. “Now I can see why you were upset when I showed up at the door with Nick and his father in tow.”

Folding the paper, Faith tossed it in the trash. She drew in a tired-sounding breath, accepted the full cup and then sat as far from Brian as possible, given the small diameter of her kitchen table. “I really don’t see any need to cover old ground, Brian. It’s a lucky break for you that Nick followed you to Boston and didn’t wait to drop this bomb until we’d wasted time gathering at Monday’s hearing.”

“Lucky break for me?” he stopped with his cup halfway to his lips and stared at her through the curl of steam.

“Yes.” She waved a hand over her own cup, keeping her eyes averted. Then she fingered the watch on her arm and cleared her throat. “I...I uh, still have time to phone David and tell him he’s dismissed from the case. You’ll want to call James. It’s important to get the permanent fate of the twins settled. The sooner the better.”

“I think so, too.” Brian gazed at her oddly. The moment Faith reached for the telephone that still lay off the hook, not meeting his eyes, he clamped a hand over her wrist.

She flinched but was unable to control a shudder. When he remained silent, Faith was forced to turn and look him in the eye, against her will.

“We can sit here and you can tell me what’s going on inside your mind,” he said carefully, “or we can take our coffee into the living room and duke this out in more comfortable surroundings. Either way, we will get to the heart of the problem, Faith.”

“There’s nothing to duke out, Brian. You’ve won. There’s no reason for me to appear in court.”

“Woah!” he held up a hand. “That’s the wrong pronoun. Don’t you mean we've won?”

Tears welled again and slid down her cheeks. “Why are you dragging this out? Why are you torturing me? I won’t hold you to any of the promises you made before you learned Nick was going to relinquish custody of Elyse.”

“Big of you, I’m sure.” Flinging off his suit jacket, Brian loosened his tie before crossing his arms defiantly. “Could you be more specific? Exactly what promises are we referring to?”

Faith had sucked in her upper lip. She released it with a sigh. “The wedding. There’s only the chapel to cancel. It’s lucky for you the weather turned bad. I never arranged for flowers or the brunch.”

“Wedding, you say?” His blue eyes, normally so sympathetic, burned like two smoldering fires. Digging into his jacket pocket, Brian hauled out a blue velvet box. He snapped it open with one finger and thrust it under Faith’s nose. A two-karat, warm pink diamond glowed softly against a backdrop of white satin. The ring’s setting was unique. Threads of white gold wrapped the prongs holding the diamond, and intertwined, forming two hearts around smaller stones in a bright platinum wedding band.

A less ornate man’s ring with three similar diamonds embedded in its curve, completed the trio of wedding bands. “I would have been here a day earlier, Faith, but the jeweler at Tiffany’s, who agreed to make these to my specifications, had a few finishing touches. He knew I wanted them to be perfect before I slipped it on the finger of the woman I love.”

Faith’s chin rose, then her mouth gaped open.

“Love,” she breathed in the shallowest of whispers, “But you’ve never said you loved me.”

“Asking you to marry me, to be the mother of my children, isn’t telling you I love you? I thought we both felt how much I loved you the last night we spent together...” he trailed off, swallowing.

“I—I thought you just needed a wife to parade past the judge.”

Brian leaned over the table and bracketed her face with his hands. He settled his lips on her briefly, but with feeling, then straightened away. “I love you so much. These last two weeks without you have been pure hell.” He pursed his lips slightly. “I loved your sister, but not like I should’ve. What I feel for you is what a man feels for a woman he can’t bear to live a day without...what I feel for someone I intend to spend the rest of my life with.” He kissed her again, as if to punctuate his words. “I wanted to do everything right for you, Faith.”

“It’s all right, Brian. I agreed, with my eyes open to marry you for the sake of the twins. If you haven’t changed your mind, and...and especially if you love me, I’ll be happy to keep your house, and cook your meals-—and I promise never to say a word about the hours you spend with your patients.”

“Faith, hush.” Dropping his thumbs, Brian ran them lightly over her lips. “I sold my half of the practice. I’m moving to Boston for good. I’ve negotiated a teaching post at the medical school. I did it because I want more time with you and the twins. I want us to be a regular family. Is that what you want, Faith?”

“Brian...” Faith’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She said with an emotional catch in her voice, “All I’ve ever wanted is you. You and the twins. I want to cheer Evan at football games and watch Elyse's dance recitals. I want to help them grow into fine adults. I don’t need backyard barbecues and weekend camping trips, or...or even a silly little word.”

“I do. I want it all. My heart is in your hands now...” Brian slipped the engagement ring on the third finger of her left hand. “Right here...” he kissed her hand, his lips brushing the ring as he smiled meekly, "Don't go breaking it." Pulling her out of the chair and into his arms, he put all the love that filled his heart into a kiss. His hands skimmed the cool skin hiding beneath her white blouse; buttons gave way and Brian’s palms smoothed against her stomach.

Strident cries erupted from the nursery, driving them apart. Clearly fighting passion, Brian stepped back and took a moment to repair Faith’s clothing.

Smiling wryly, she trailed her fingers lovingly along his smooth jaw. “If we can get through the twins’ teething, Brian, I predict we’ll be together fifty years from now.”

“I’m in for the long haul, lady. The twins will eventually sleep through the night. So make a note of where we left off, please.”

“After teething comes potty training.” She reminded him gently.

“Yeah, yeah. And sixteen years from now, someone’s got to teach two kids to drive cars.”

Faith glanced over her shoulder at him as she approached the crying infants. “I don’t drive, remember?”

Brian stopped her with a soft kiss. “Make that three learning to drive. I know you’re trying to shock me into reality, but honey, I’m looking forward to every minute I get to be a father and a husband. By the way, I love you. I love, love, love you. Let me know if you ever get sick of hearing me say that.”

“Oh...I never will, Brian, I love you too.”