A Mother for His Twins (6 page)

Her smile was small but her eyes sparkled with interest. ‘OK.’

‘Excellent.’ With a matching smile, he turned and entered the change rooms, leaving her feeling as though she’d just taken a very important step towards living.
Really
living.

‘D
ADDY
!
Daddy!’ Both girls hurled themselves at the door the instant they heard it open, and within a moment Jasper had an identical twin wrapped around each leg. He laughed as he dropped his briefcase and bent down to scoop them up, one on each side. Jennifer couldn’t believe the absolute delight on his face, especially when they put their arms around his neck and began kissing his cheeks—again, the attack was performed with perfect synchronicity.

‘Hello, my monkeys.’ Jasper kissed them both, one then the other and back again for a repeat.

‘We’re not monkeys,’ one said, blonde ringlets bobbing from side to side as she wriggled in her father’s arms.

‘We’re princesses,’ the other replied, then rolled her eyes at her sister. ‘He always gets it wrong.’

Jasper bent to put them down and it was then Lilly, or maybe it was Lola—Jennifer was having a difficult time telling them apart, especially in their matching pink princess pyjamas—looked over and saw her.

‘Jen.’ She stood there with her little hands on her little hips and angled her head to the side, a ringlet springing up and down. ‘What are you doing here? You’re s’pposed to be at Sara’s house.’

‘Jen? Why aren’t you at Sara’s?’ the other one said, mimicking her sister’s pose.

‘Hello, girls.’ Jennifer smiled at both of them. ‘Jas—er…Daddy invited me over to have breakfast with you.’ Jennifer licked her lips and rubbed her tummy with exaggeration. ‘He told me he’d make pancakes and they’re my favourite.’

‘Mine, too.’

‘Yeah. Mine, too,’ repeated the other twin.

‘I’m gonna tell Grandma.’

‘No.
I’m
gonna tell Grandma.’ With that, the two of them raced off towards the stairs and a moment later footsteps could be heard above them as they ran through the upper floor.

‘Sorry.’ Jasper shed his coat then picked up his briefcase from just inside the door where he’d quickly put it down before being bombarded by his daughters.

‘What for?’

‘Uh-h…’ He stopped for a moment and looked at her. ‘You know? I’m not sure.’

Jennifer smiled at him, liking the way he looked in these surroundings, liking the way he looked when he looked at her with twinkling, shining eyes. She turned away, indicating the living room which contained a wall-to-wall bookshelf, a large television and DVD player, two comfortable sofas and lots of big, bright throw pillows on the floor. On two of the walls were various pieces of abstract art which no doubt the girls had done at pre-school.

‘I like the way you’ve decorated.’ It was then she remembered that he’d mentioned his wife had decorated their bedroom. Had she done this room, too?

Jasper turned and looked at the room, then laughed. ‘Lots of…colour.’

‘That’s what children do, isn’t it? They fill your world with colour.’

‘And a lot of other things along the way.’ He picked up two soft toys that had been left on the floor as he walked through an archway. ‘Come through. Let me take your coat.’ He threw the toys onto a nearby chair then quickly hung up his own coat before helping her off with her own. Jennifer was conscious of his nearness, his warm, earthy scent surrounding her and making her very aware of him. ‘You can either sit at the table or keep me company at the bench while I cook.’

He hung up her coat, then headed into the kitchen, his voice a little deeper than before. He cleared his throat to try and make it sound more normal. Jennifer’s perfume had wound its way about his senses and for a split second he’d found himself unable to move as he’d helped her out of her coat. There was definitely an awareness between them…or at least that’s the way he was reading the situation. The woman was stunningly beautiful and intelligent and although he knew she was fresh from a shower, as was he, whatever it was that she wore would continue to drive him crazy long after she’d left.

As he entered the kitchen, he was glad he’d spent the few extra minutes cleaning up before heading to work the previous morning. The bench was wiped, the dishwasher cycle was finished and the stove was ready for him to cook on. It would have been embarrassing to bring home a woman—for the very first time—to a messy kitchen.

‘Coffee?’ he asked.

‘Actually, a cup of tea would be lovely.’

‘Tea coming right up.’ He filled the kettle then switched it on.

‘So do you make pancakes most mornings? I’m only asking because the girls seemed overly excited at the prospect.’

‘Usually only on weekends. I think their overexcitedness pertains to having someone over to share it with them.’

‘Oh. That’s nice. So why did they need to go and tell your mother they were having pancakes?’

Jasper’s eyes twinkled as he spoke. ‘They’ll be telling her about you, not the food.’

‘Oh,’ she said again, not sure what to make of this news. He didn’t seem to mind so she could only presume he was all too happy to introduce her to his parents. Was that good? Did that mean things were moving way too fast? Or was it simply a fact that she would meet his parents sooner or later, given their connection through Sara? ‘Is that a problem?’

‘Not at all.’ He brushed her worries aside. If he told her he’d never brought a woman into his home, into his life, she might start to feel even more self-conscious than she already was. ‘Now, as pancakes are your favourite food, I’m expecting an open and honest assessment of my secret recipe.’

‘Secret, huh? Very intriguing.’

He leaned a little closer, then looked first one way then the other, as though he was about to impart the greatest secret in the world. ‘I use buttermilk.’ He straightened, then shrugged. ‘Not so secret but, oh, so light and fluffy.’

Jennifer licked her lips. ‘I can hardly wait.’

‘But wait you shall. It’ll be easier if I feed the girls first.’

‘Of course. That’s the one problem with making pancakes at home—unless you have a big griddle plate, you basically can only make one at a time.’

‘You make them often?’

Jennifer shrugged. ‘When I was living in Melbourne, I did. It’s been a bit hard at Sara’s to just whip up a batch at two o’clock in the morning when I’ve finished wading through my mound of inherited paperwork.’

Jasper laughed. ‘I’m so glad the paperwork is your
headache now and not mine.’ As he spoke, they could hear footsteps coming down the stairs.

‘Heads up.’ His words were soft as he continued to pull out the utensils and ingredients for pancakes as well as the eggs and bacon.

‘Good morning, Jasper.’ His mother’s calm tones greeted him as she came in to the room. Jasper’s mother was no taller than Jennifer, had short grey hair and sparkling blue eyes, big and vibrant, like those of her granddaughters.

‘See!’ Lilly remarked.

‘We
told
you Jen was here.’

‘So you did,’ their grandmother replied, and held out her hand, not waiting for Jasper to introduce them. ‘Hello. I’m Iris.’

‘Jennifer.’ The two women shook hands. ‘I’m happy to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.’

Iris arched an eyebrow in her son’s direction but Jasper shook his head. ‘Not from me, Mum.’

Jennifer smiled warmly. ‘I’m a friend of Sara’s. I’ve been staying with her for the past few weeks so I’ve seen the girls there a few times.’

‘Oh.’ Iris came and sat down beside her. ‘That’s what the girls were talking about. They said that Sara’s friend was here but that their daddy had brought someone home for pancakes. I was getting confused so I thought I’d come and see what they were on about.’

‘As it turns out,’ Jasper said, whisking the mixture, ‘Jennifer is my new boss.’

‘You
work
together?’ Iris was stunned as she looked pointedly at her son and then back at Jennifer.

‘Yes.’ Jennifer was working hard at not squirming—and she wasn’t doing too badly, if she did say so herself. She’d been scrutinised from all angles before, given her job in
medical administration, yet she hadn’t been looked at this closely by a man’s mother before. ‘Is there something wrong?’

‘Remember how I said I like to keep my private and professional lives separate?’ Jasper reminded her as he put the first pancake on to cook. He spoke in a quieter voice but knew full well his mother could hear him.

‘Ah.’ Jennifer clicked then as to why his mother was astonished. ‘I take it you usually don’t invite colleagues home for breakfast after a gruelling night in theatre?’

‘No. Mum, Jennifer’s looking to buy a house,’ Jasper added before his mother could say anything more. ‘We’re going to have some breakfast, then go and see Mr Attenburgh.’

‘The house down the road?’

‘Is there another one in the street for sale?’ Jasper asked pointedly.

The phone rang and the girls, who hadn’t been very interested in the adult conversation up until now, immediately shouted, ‘I’ll get it.’

‘No.
I’ll
get it,’ one said. ‘It’s my turn.’

‘No, it’s
my
turn.’ They both started jostling each other out of the way as they raced from the room towards the phone.

‘How about if I get it,’ Jasper said, and stalked after them, shaking his head. ‘At least that will stop World War Three,’ he muttered, and Jennifer couldn’t help but smile.

‘They argue over who should answer the phone every time it rings at Sara’s place,’ Jennifer pointed out as Iris still stared at her. When the woman didn’t stop, Jennifer shifted in her seat, beginning to feel rather uncomfortable. ‘Is something wrong?’ she couldn’t help but ask again.

‘Wrong?’ Iris pulled back as though she wasn’t aware she’d been staring. ‘No. Nothing is wrong. So, you work…closely with Jasper?’

‘We’re both the only orthopods employed full time by the hospital so I guess you could say that. He’s been great at helping me get settled in.’

‘And you’ve just been in Theatre all night long, right?’

‘Pretty much. Bad motor vehicle accidents. Lots of casualties.’

‘And you’ve obviously met the girls before now. They appear quite comfortable with you.’

‘They do?’

‘Oh, yes. Usually when they meet a new friend of their father’s…If they ever get to meet them, of course, they normally hide behind his legs until they get to know them better. Naturally, though, they don’t get to know them better because Jasper’s far too fussy.’

‘Fussy?’ Jennifer wasn’t quite sure she was on the same track as Iris but decided to go with it.

‘When he dates!’ Iris seemed surprised that Jennifer wasn’t sure what she was talking about. ‘He doesn’t introduce his dates to the girls, which is fair enough because he wants to protect them as any father would, and I’m in complete agreement, but you’d think that after a few times of seeing the same woman he’d eventually introduce them, but no.’

‘Jasper’s dating someone?’ Jennifer wasn’t quite sure why the news made her feel instantly miserable.

‘No, no.’ Iris waved her words away. ‘I’m talking about in the past but now here you are, as plain as day, invited over for breakfast, and he’s only been working with you for a few weeks.’

Jennifer wasn’t sure what that meant but as Jasper came back in to the room she had no time to contemplate it further.

‘Was that the hospital?’

‘No. It was Megan.’

‘Oh?’ Iris was instantly concerned.

‘Megan’s my sister,’ Jasper informed Jennifer.

‘Is everything all right?’ Iris was on her feet, getting ready to head for the stairs. ‘Why is she calling you and why so early?’

‘Relax, Mum. She was just ringing to see if the girls’ dresses had arrived yet.’

‘And have they?’

‘No.’

Iris shook her head and took another step towards the stairs. ‘I’d best go call her. She’ll be fretting over that.’ Iris started off then stopped and turned to Jennifer. ‘It was really nice to meet you.’

‘And you, too.’ As Iris left, Jennifer turned to watch Jasper flipping the first pancake. ‘You’re quite good at that.’

‘One of my many talents. I’m thinking of adding it to my résumé.’

She smiled at that. ‘I’d certainly hire you.’ She paused then asked, ‘Why is your mother so concerned about your sister?’

‘Megan’s getting married in three weeks’ time. Lilly and Lola are her flower girls.’

‘And the dresses haven’t arrived.’ Jennifer nodded as though everything now made perfect sense. ‘That should be enough to make a bride go completely berserk.’

‘You’ve got that right and Megan’s stress levels are already at an all-time high.’ He frowned a little. ‘Problem is, Mum and Dad don’t approve of her husband-to-be. He hasn’t done anything to help plan the wedding, not that that’s totally unusual but whenever Megan’s asked him, he’s flatly refused. It’s made things more burdensome for her. Add to that fact that she’s due in Theatre in another hour and she’s one mega-stressed puppy.’

‘Theatre?’

‘She’s a general surgeon over at Sydney General.’

‘Hmm. Quite the medical family.’

Jasper smiled and flipped another pancake. ‘She’s incredibly smart. I was two years ahead of her in medical school but she was the one helping me out and explaining things.’

Jennifer laughed. ‘Should you be confessing such things to your new boss?’

‘Not to worry.’ He set two butterfly placemats on the bench next to her and added cutlery before cutting up the pancakes into little squares. He did it all so naturally she could tell it was part of his routine. He was clearly a dad who spent a lot of time with his children. ‘I passed my exams with flying colours and haven’t had to rely on my baby sister for quite a number of years.’ He called to the girls, who came barrelling in and clambered up onto stools. Lilly managed it quite easily but Lola got stuck and Jennifer quickly picked her up and sat her down before Jasper could come around to help.

‘Thanks,’ he said.

‘No problem.’ She smiled at him as he added syrup to the girls’ breakfasts and watched as they devoured the food in next to no time. ‘You must have been very hungry,’ Jennifer commented.

Lilly nodded enthusiastically. ‘I was.’

‘Anyone would think your daddy rarely feeds you.’

‘We had dinner at Grandma’s last night ’cause Daddy was in surgery,’ Lola added matter-of-factly.