Baby Chase. Hannah Bernard

you do magic?”

      She watched Nathan frown as he tried to follow the child’s train of thought. “Magic?”

      “Mom took us to a photographer once. He did magic tricks. Mom said he did that to make us laugh.”

      “I’m not that kind of a photographer.”

      “What kind, then?”

      “I take pictures for the newspapers,” Nathan explained. “Do you guys have a camera?”

      The twins shook their heads.

      He stood up and deposited one little boy back on the chair. “I’ll show you mine,” he said, returning a few minutes later with his camera bag. The boys abandoned the computer game and crowded around him as he opened it and showed them the different lenses and tools, even allowing them to handle the delicate equipment.

      “Be careful!” she reminded the boys. “Nathan, they’re only kids. Don’t let them damage anything.”

      To her amazement, the two hyperactive youngsters sat quietly and listened as Nathan explained in simple terms how the camera worked and how to take good pictures. Then he got two disposable cameras from his pack and gave one to each boy. “They’re even waterproof,” he told them with a smile. “If you’re going swimming with your sister, you can take pictures underwater.”

      “Wow!” the boys echoed in unison. Erin grinned. Both boys loved the swimming pool, and she often took them there, but both balked at putting their heads underwater. She had a feeling that was about to change.

      “I’m going to take one of Your Boyfriend,” Daniel yelled, running out of the room, followed by his brother. Their noisy footsteps echoed around the house as they trampled up the stairs.

      “Your boyfriend? Your boyfriend is upstairs?” Nathan looked confused.

      Erin chuckled. “Follow them and you’ll see.” Looking quizzically at her, Nathan strode upstairs, following the sound of the twins’ voices to her bedroom. She followed the crowd, finding the two boys up to their elbows in her fish tank, both pointing a camera at one of the two multicolored fishes swimming amidst swaying strands of greenery.

      “Meet Your Boyfriend,” Erin said, pointing at the male fish with the huge, colorful tail. “And next to him, Your Girlfriend.”

      “Interesting names.”

      “It’s a long story. Originally they were called Romeo and Juliet. Then my sister began using Boyfriend and Girlfriend. That stuck, and the boys added the ‘Your’ to it. Don’t ask me why.”

      “Are they Sally’s?”

      The room had never seemed small to her, but it seemed to have shrunk with his presence. No matter where she was standing, he was too close for comfort. She moved back, attempting to put some distance between them, and finally opted for sitting on the bed.

      “No, they’re mine. I couldn’t very well leave them at my flat. They’re my pets. But believe me, moving them was quite a challenge.”

      Nathan leaned back, his elbows on the high window sill. He looked at her speculatively. “I’d have taken you as more of a cat person.”

      “I am,” she confessed, “but I’m allergic to most animals, especially cats and dogs. If I indulge myself and scratch a feline for a second my face puffs up and I cry non-stop for the next hour.” She made a face. “I’d have thought conditioning kicked in and relieved you of the longing to cuddle a kitten when you have to suffer as a consequence.”

      Nathan chuckled. “Allergies can be a pest.”

      “Yes,” she agreed in a heartfelt tone. “Fortunately dust doesn’t bother me, for some reason. If it did I’d have a hard time working in a library.” She grinned sheepishly. “And I would have sneezed under your bed and given you the fright of your life.”

      Nathan’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “That would have been terrible. We’d have missed all the fun!”

      Erin looked away and opened her arms as one little boy maneuvered himself into her lap. “What were you doing under Uncle Nathan’s bed?” he demanded.

      He was Uncle Nathan now? Some serious male bonding must have occurred while she had been getting dressed. Before she could come up with an explanation that would not reach her mother’s ears, Nathan came to her rescue.

      “We were playing hide and seek,” he explained smoothly. Erin sent him a grateful look, but it went unnoticed as Nathan picked up a picture from the dresser.

      “Is this Natalie?” he asked.

      He didn’t even recognize the child.

      Her softening attitude towards him hardened again and her voice was icy when she confirmed that the picture was of their niece. The changed tone of voice did not go unnoticed. He looked back at her, holding her gaze for several seconds. Then he shrugged and replaced the picture, smiling again.

      “Well, I need to be going.” He glanced at his watch, then pushed himself from the window and ruffled each boy’s hair. “It was nice meeting you guys. Perhaps I’ll see you tonight. You too, Librarian,” he added with a grin, reaching out to tousle her hair too. She yanked her head back, and justice was served as he snatched his hand away at the sting of static electricity.

      “Why don’t you make him your boyfriend?” Samuel asked, thankfully after Nathan had left the room.

      “She can’t, stupid; people who are related can’t be boyfriend and girlfriend.”

      “Nathan and I aren’t related,” she told the boys. “Yes, you are.” Daniel looked very sure of himself. “See, Nathan is related to Natalie and Natalie is related to you, so he is related to you.”

      “But Mom’s related to us and we’re related to Daddy and they’re married!” Samuel countered.

      Erin grinned, pushing thoughts of Nathan and his family away. Logic lessons. Her favorite activity with the two growing minds.

      Already it was dark outside. Nathan stretched out on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. He could hear the faint sounds of Erin and the boys upstairs as she got them ready for bed. The unfamiliar sounds of children’s voices and running water as the boys brushed their teeth reminded him of his own distant childhood. He frowned, dark brows coming together in a brooding line as old memories began eating at the barricades he had erected around himself for so long. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. There was no use in thinking back, no purpose in reliving things no one could change.

      This was why he hadn’t been home in so long. Just being in his sister’s house brought back memories he had decided long ago were best left untouched. He’d believed they had lost the power to hurt him, but he’d been wrong. To look on the bright side, he thought wryly, at least the nightmares he’d been suffering hadn’t visited him last night. He might not like the fact that self-pitying thoughts about his childhood had erased the horrors he had witnessed on the job, but at least he had been able to sleep again.

      With determination he forced his thoughts in another direction. By degrees, a smile began to warm his thoughts as they strayed to his reluctant housemate. She did think he was a complete bastard, he acknowledged with some regret, picturing the frost in her eyes when he had asked if the child in the picture was their niece. And she was probably right. He could have been more considerate of his sister’s needs, even if he did not share her desire for contact. Although he had had parents and a sister, he had never really been a part of the family. He had told himself that staying away was for the best, not only for him but also for his parents and his sister. His family had never fully known the dangers he faced and he had been happy to have that excuse not to allow them participation in his life. Even after their parents’ death, he had continued to convince himself that the lack of contact protected his sister from unnecessary worry. But perhaps he had inflicted hurt in its place.

      Mentally he shrugged, pushing the regrets away. What’s