Risking Fate (Mitchell Family #4)(11)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Little Christian was the cutest thing ever. She was only a few months old, but her little smile was just perfect. She loved hearing the kids talking and would turn her little body toward where the sounds of them were coming from.

“Did you hear the women are leaving us with the kids for the day?” Colt laughed while taking another bite of his food.

“Yeah, Savanna informed me last night. I think we can manage. I have a whole roll of Duct tape in the garage.”

We both laughed while the girls sat there with their mouths open. Of course, the first thing that came to mind for me was the ABC party that brought Miranda and I together. I looked over to where she sat and got a quick reaction from her. It made me smile just knowing she got me so well. I threw her a wink and mouthed the words ‘I love you’ toward her.

A gagging sound caught my attention. “Don’t do that while I am trying to eat.” Van gave me a disgusted look. I picked up a roll and threw it toward her, causing her to scream because she was so shocked I’d actually done something like that.

“I think the children are being better behaved than the adults this morning,” Lucy teased.

We all settled down and tried to set a better example for our kids, but even Lucy knew us adults had caused commotion at the table since we were Izzy and Noah’s age.

Colt and I hung out and helped Lucy clean up breakfast while Van took everyone else to their house. The house got quiet without the kids there. Once we finished we met them at their place. I should have been expecting retaliation from Van, but my dumbass forgot to keep my guard up. Colt walked into the house and I followed behind him. As I grabbed the screen door, I felt something wet hitting the front of my body, followed by a loud machine coming on and then just an explosion of something white hitting me.

As I opened my eyes and tried to assess what the hell had just happened, I realized I was completely covered in flour. I wiped my eyes and looked at Van, who was hunched over laughing her ass off. “What the f**k?”

“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’re 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 attempted 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 friendship 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 flour, 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 and 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.

“Two 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.”