Leigh Michaels - Assignment - Twins

“That makes you their closest kin at the moment. I’m only a friend of the family, with no legal standing at all. So the bottom line is that you’re the one who has to make the decisions.”

Seth’s eyebrows raised slightly. “If it’s my choice, then I choose to let you keep them. You’ve been doing a fine job so far.”

Nikki couldn’t decide whether to scream or kick the nearest piece of furniture. “I have a house sale closing tomorrow, and I can’t even change the time because too many people are involved. I can’t find a sitter by tomorrow morning because I haven’t the faintest idea where to start looking. Seth, I’m begging. You have to help me out here.”

“Why me? You signed up for this duty. I didn’t.”

“Because I can’t take a set of year-old twins to a mortgage closing, that’s why!”

“Well, I can’t just hang them from my tool belt while I rebuild Mrs. Cooper’s closets, either.”

Nikki bit her lip. “I don’t suppose you can. But surely you can put Mrs. Cooper’s closets on hold for a day or two. At least till we find out what’s going on on that ship.”

“Obviously you’ve never met Mrs. Cooper, or you wouldn’t say that.” He lowered himself to the floor and began to put the panels on the dishwasher once more.

As soon as he finishes, he’ll leave. You have to do something, Nikki—and fast.

She put Zack down on the floor. “How about that cup of coffee you were wanting earlier?”

“I expected better from you in the bribery department than that, Nikki.”

“All right,” she conceded. “I won’t waste your time by making coffee.”

“The truth is, there are so many dishes in the sink you couldn’t get to the faucet for water anyway.”

Nikki ignored him. “Let’s talk about this like adults. I can’t miss that closing. If you’ll just keep the twins tomorrow morning—”

Seth was shaking his head.

“You won’t even do that much? Just till noon.” Nikki knew she sounded desperate. She didn’t care.

“I can’t. I’ve got a supplier delivering a load of materials at eight o’clock in the morning.”

Nikki chewed her lip. “Eight? My closing isn’t till half past nine. Maybe we can work this out after all. Surely that gives you enough time.”

“Depends on how fast the crew unloads. It’s a big order.”

“Well, the closing is downtown. If I get the babies up in the morning while you go sign the receipt for your supplies, then I can swoop by and drop them off with you in Rockhurst—it’s almost on my way—and go straight to the closing. You can bring them back here and—”

His eyebrows raised. “How do you know I’m working in Rockhurst?”

“Laura, of course.” Nikki surrendered the last of her pride. “Seth, if you’ll just bail me out for a couple of hours in the morning, I swear I’ll come straight back after the closing.”

“What about your new client? The fancy executive at the auto plant?”

She’d forgotten. For a moment there, she’d actually forgotten a client, something which had never happened before. So it’s not just an old wives’ tale. Spending countless hours with babies really can turn your brain to mush.

“I wonder whether he likes kids,” Seth mused.

Nikki gritted her teeth.

“If he’s divorced, maybe he has children of his own. He might even enjoy having the twins around. It’s such a cozy little domestic image—you, him, the babies, looking at houses…”

Nikki had no trouble at all creating that picture in her mind. She sighed. “I guess someone else will have to show him around tomorrow.”

“Hey, kids,” Seth announced. “She’s giving up the tycoon for you. Bet you’re tickled to hear that.”

Anna clapped her hands as if in delight. More likely, Nikki thought, the baby was pleased that she’d managed to pile all her plastic blocks into an unsteady tower. Now she was eyeing her brother’s supply.

“Nobody else in the office could possibly be less prepared than I am,” Nikki said almost to herself. “I haven’t even glanced at the multiple listings all weekend. All right, that covers tomorrow.” She rushed on before he could argue the point. “Now about tonight—”

“What about it?” Seth sounded wary.

“I don’t have any real clothes here, just jeans and stuff. I’m going to have to go home and get something to wear to the closing.”

“Do it in the morning.”

“It’s impossible to get all the way out to my place and back downtown before half past nine. Not if I’ve got the twins, because they move like molasses in the mornings.”

“Then go shopping on your way.”

“You can’t be serious. Try on clothes with two babies in tow? Besides, the malls don’t open that early. And in any case, you can’t just go and buy a copy of that blue jacket we have to wear—the real-estate company has them specially tailored.”

“Okay, okay, you made your point. Let’s go.”

For a moment she was too thrilled at the hint of cooperation to take in what he’d said. Then it hit her. “What do you mean, let’s go? It will take me an hour. Ninety minutes, tops. All you have to do while I’m gone is dunk the kids in the tub, put their pajamas on, and tuck them in.”

“That’s all.” It was obviously not a question.

“Hey, I’ve been doing it all weekend. I’ve gotten pretty good at it, too.” Nikki couldn’t resist taking a jab. “You’ll probably still be wrestling with diapers when I get back.”

“I have a better idea. We’ll all have an outing.”

“You would actually drag two kids halfway across the city at this hour just so you don’t have to give them a bath? Maybe it’s just as well if you keep dating lame-brained blondes, Seth. If you actually ever break down and marry one, maybe she’ll be dim enough not to notice that you’re ducking all the work.”

“I’m not ducking anything. When we get back, we can both pitch in for bath and pajamas, and we’ll get it done in half the time.”

Nikki doubted it, but at least he sounded willing to try. That made her even more suspicious of what he was really up to. She stared at him, eyes narrowed, and finally all the pieces clicked together in her mind. “You don’t trust me to come back at all, do you?”

“Would you trust me, if you were in my shoes? If I put on my jacket right now and said I’d see you later—”

“Probably not,” Nikki admitted.

“Then we understand each other quite well—and we’re square to start with.”

She said carefully, “You mean you’ll actually help? All that protest earlier about not wanting to be involved—”

“Earlier, you weren’t asking for help. You were trying to dump the whole mess on me.”

He was probably right, she admitted. Relief surged through her.

“I’ll pitch in, Nikki,” he warned, “but don’t get the idea that you’re off the hook. Come on, let’s go get you some clothes.”

She went to get the twins’ jackets from the stroller, which was still sitting just inside the front door. As she wrestled Zack’s arms into the sleeves, the television bulletin caught her eye once more. This time the jumpy, grainy picture on the screen showed a helicopter hovering over the deck of a ship, lowering bundles of supplies. Everybody within range of the camera was wearing a surgical mask. A few were fully garbed in protective gowns and gear.

For a disease that wasn’t supposed to be severe, Nikki thought, it certainly looked scary.

Seth came into the living room, with Anna already bundled in his arms. “Are the kids’ safety seats in your car?”

Nikki shook her head. “I wasn’t planning to go anywhere, so I didn’t bother to put them in. Seth—what if they’re not all right? Laura and Stephen, I mean. What if it’s worse than the health department’s saying? They don’t take this sort of precaution for just any little bug.”