Melissa McClone - Double Trouble - Pregnancy Surprise - Two Little Miracles / Expecting Royal Twins! / Miracle - Twin Babies

She shook her head. ‘Max and I don’t talk about business now.’

‘No. Good idea, not taking work home. Doesn’t sound like Max, but babies change you. Did you know we’ve had a little boy?’

She smiled. ‘No, I didn’t. Congratulations—and make sure you see plenty of him.’

‘I will. In the meantime, I’d better go and join this meeting.’

‘I think they’re in Max’s office.’

‘Cheers. And it’s lovely to see you again.’

He shut the door and left her there to contemplate the bombshell he’d dropped.

When had Max decided to sell Yashimoto’s company back to him? Yesterday? Today? Or much earlier, and she just hadn’t known because they hadn’t discussed business at all, as she’d told Stephen?

She had no idea, but she was puzzled, whatever. Did it mean he was taking her seriously and cutting back on his business interests? Or had it already been in the pipeline? She needed to know, because the difference was crucial. She didn’t want to go thinking that he was making sweeping changes when all the time he’d been following one of his incredible hunches.

Oh, well. She’d find out later. In the meantime, she had bigger things to worry about, because shortly she was going to see her mother-in-law again, and she was feeling curiously apprehensive.

She needn’t have worried.

Linda Gallagher took one look at her with the girls, clapped a hand over her mouth and burst into tears.

‘Oh, Julia, my dear girl—oh, my dear, dear, girl!’ And, without another word, she threw her arms around her and hugged her hard.

Julia blinked away her own tears and hugged her back, and then she was released, and Linda was exclaiming over the babies and crying on Max and hugging him until she thought his ribs would break.

‘Come in—come on in, all of you. Richard? Look, it’s Max, and he’s brought Julia and—’

And she started to cry again.

‘Julia?’

Richard, Linda’s partner, studied her for a moment and then gave a fleeting smile and kissed her cheek. ‘It’s good to see you again. And you’ve been busy.’

‘A little,’ she said wryly. ‘I’m sorry to drop such a bombshell on you. It seems to be a day for them.’

Because Max had only decided to sell back to Yashimoto this morning, she’d found out. So he was taking her seriously, and going to huge lengths to change things.

Max took charge of the babies, tucking one under each arm and heading into the house with his mother fussing, clucking and mopping up her tears, and Richard helped her take the seats out of the car and into the house so the girls could sit in them to have their lunch.

‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ he said quietly as he closed the front door. ‘Linda’s really missed you, and Max has been—well—difficult doesn’t even scratch the surface.’

She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No. Don’t worry about me. But Linda probably deserves an explanation, when you can give her one, and—it’s between you and Max, really, I guess. But it’s great to see you again, and to see him smiling. And a father. That’s not something we thought we’d ever see.’

‘No. None of us thought that.’

Well, not as long as he was with her, at least, what with her medical problems. But apparently miracles did happen, and she had two of them.

Three, if Max turning his life around was to be believed. She still wasn’t sure he was, but time would tell.

In the meantime, she followed Richard into the sitting room and found Linda on the floor with her back to the sofa, and Libby crawling busily over her while Ava headed for the plant stand in the corner.

‘I don’t think so,’ she said, disengaging her fingers from the fine mahogany legs of the stand before she pulled it over on herself. ‘You need to be put in the stocks, young lady. Come and say hello to your grandmother.’

And, turning her round, she dangled her across the room by her fingers, while her little legs tried valiantly to keep up.

‘She’s going to walk early,’ Linda said, shaking her head. ‘Just like Max. He was a nightmare. And she won’t be far behind,’ she added, grabbing Libby, who was climbing up her front and trying to get on the sofa. ‘How on earth do you keep up with them?’

She gave a tired laugh. ‘Oh, I have no idea. It’s getting worse by the day. I thought when they were in ITU and I’d just had my C-section that it couldn’t get any worse—’

‘You had a C-section?’

Max’s face was shocked, and she realised she hadn’t actually told him anything about their birth.

‘Yes,’ she said softly. ‘I had to. The adhesions were too bad, they wouldn’t contemplate letting me deliver, especially not at thirty-three weeks.’

His face was ashen. She had no idea why the idea had shocked him so much, but obviously it had, and she realised she’d done yet another thing wrong. Oh, Max .

‘Hey, it’s OK, we’re all fine,’ she assured him, but he still looked pale.

‘You should have called me,’ Linda said gently. ‘I would have come and helped you.’

‘And told Max?’

Her face contorted, and she swallowed hard and bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry; it’s none of my business.’

‘It’s not you,’ she said hurriedly. ‘We were just having problems—’

‘You were having problems. I was too wrapped up in my life to realise,’ he said, his fairness and honesty amazing her yet again. ‘Julia pointed out to me yesterday that I’m only eleven years younger than Dad was when he died. And I don’t want to go the same way.’

‘Good,’ Linda said, her eyes filling. ‘He was a good man, your father, but he didn’t know when to stop, and I’ve been so worried about you. Maybe this was exactly what you needed to bring you to your senses.’

‘Well, let’s hope so,’ Julia said quietly. ‘Linda, I could do with heating some food for them. They’re going to start to yell in a minute; they’ve had a long morning.’

‘Of course. Come on through to the kitchen; the men can look after them for a minute.’

And, Julia thought realistically, it would give Linda a chance to grill her about her motives.

Except she didn’t, not at first; she just put the kettle on, put the baby food in the microwave and then turned and gave Julia a hug.

‘Oh, I’ve missed you,’ she said, letting her go. ‘I realise you couldn’t contact me if you felt you couldn’t talk to Max, but I have missed you.’

‘I’ve missed you, too,’ she said with a lump in her throat. ‘I could have done with a mum while they were in hospital. I had Jane, but she’d just had her own baby, and it was difficult for her.’

Linda’s face was troubled, and after a moment she said, ‘Do you mind if I ask you something? Why didn’t you tell him you were pregnant? Was it because of Debbie?’

‘Debbie?’ she asked, a feeling of foreboding washing over her. ‘Who’s Debbie?’

Linda’s face was a mass of conflicting emotions. ‘He hasn’t told you?’ She said in the end, and Julia shook her head.

‘I know nothing about anyone called Debbie. Who is she? Don’t tell me he’s having an affair—’

‘No! Oh, good grief, no, nothing like that. Oh, my goodness—’ She covered her mouth with her hand and stared at Julia, then shook her head and flapped her hand as if she was seeking a way out. ‘Um—I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s not my story to tell. You’ll have to ask Max. Oh, dear God, I can’t believe he hasn’t told you.’

‘Is it something to do with why he doesn’t want children?’ she asked, watching Linda carefully, but Linda obviously felt she’d said more than enough, and she shook her head and held up her hand.